First of all, Kam and I bought a new car! So, instead of all the adventures I used to take in order to get to work, I get to blast whatever music I want for an hour or so. I can plug in my smartphone to the stereo, so I've gotten pretty creative with that recently. I also get to listen to conference talks, which is really cool. But sometimes I just turn the music off and think. This was one of those mornings (and it makes for a super exciting video!).
So, even though this may not seem like the most exciting thing, it often saves me about an hour each day, if traffic isn't too bad. And it is much less likely to break down than the train (surprising, huh?).
And it's kind of nice to just have time to think. Today as I was driving home I remembered one thing I am definitely grateful for that I have not thought of in a very long time.
When I was growing up, I lived in the same house almost my entire life. It's the only house I remember. So moving was new to me when I was planning to leave for college. I had graduated high school with some of my same classmates from kindergarten, and I was really nervous about making friends in a new place, and especially about making friends with my roommates. I remember the day I chose my dorm room. You did it online at a designated time, and the time that I was given happened to be when I was in Mexico visiting my uncle. So, we got on plenty early to make sure the internet connection was strong, and we hurried and looked through the buildings closest to campus, and the only information about the other roommates who had already picked rooms that you could see was what music they liked, how tidy they were, and when they went to bed. I was supposed to choose who I'd be sleeping in the same room as for the next 4 months at least based on just that! But there was one apartment I stumbled on that just felt right. I had literally been praying that I would get along with my roommates for weeks leading up to this, and when I saw that particular apartment layout, I felt calm. My mom encouraged me to keep looking, but I said, "No, I think this is it."
Turns out it definitely was it. These are the beautiful girls I lived with for my first year away from home, and I owe so much to them.
These three went on to live with me for another year and then some, and were even the bridesmaids at my wedding.
These girls are some of my best friends. I am positive I blessed with these roommates because my Heavenly Father knows what I need. Every move since then has been equal proof. When I was apartment shopping and found Alta, I got that same good feeling and ultimately, I and two of these, my best friends, met our loving husbands there (and I will take credit for that. ;)). When Kam and I were shopping for our first home together, a hard-to-get Wymount apartment fell into my lap, and I snatched it up with confidence that it was no coincidence. We have made many dear friends in this ward, and they have made this new stage in our life together so much more enjoyable.
It's a comfort to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me no matter where I go. But it takes for me to remember that he has a plan for me even when I'm staying in the same place.
Beginning working full-time has been a little bit hard to adjust to. It's not like school where you know you're going to get to start something new every four months, and if you don't like something enough, it's alright because soon it will be over. There are a few of those projects, but most things go on and on. You're continually improving. It gets me thinking about what it means to endure to the end. So much of my life until now has been about completing milestones. And those milestones have been very tangible. My successes seem a bit more gradient now. But I'm learning to appreciate little milestones throughout the past few months.
Our office decorated for Halloween and handed out candy to all the office's kids. So much fun! Just a little something, but definitely noteworthy.
And Kam and I made his Halloween costume this year! We both wanted to give up a couple times, but I'm glad we didn't! It was a really fun project to work on together. And it was fun to see Kam sewing! I wish I'd gotten a picture.
I made squash lasagna for the first time, and in the slow cooker! It was pretty good, but we decided to add tomato sauce at the very end and that made it a lot better.
I bought our first Christmas tree! And set it up! And then took it back down because it's not quite Christmas time yet, but I sure wish it were! It's getting so close! (You probably already heard in the video how impatient I'm getting for Christmas.)
I did a little decorating...
And I got started on my family history! Kam and I taught a lesson about it in Sunday school last week and I decided to practice what I preach, and it was actually super exciting! I found out a lot about Kam and my families. I even found a transcribed recording of my great-grandfather singing songs that I heard from my parents growing up. I can't wait to continue that tradition.
So, that's what's new here. Not a whole lot for over a month since my last blog post, but a good bunch of little things. And I'm grateful for those little things. :)
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