Everything falls together

And by fall together I mean are placed that way by a loving Heavenly Father. There have been many changes in our life lately. We were both a little stressed here and there wondering where we would be in life in a few months. Isaac was looking for a second job for the summer. We were looking for a new place to rent, with hopefully quieter neighbors. I was looking for a new job with a more consistent schedule, and with not so late of hours (secretly also hoping for better pay as well). 

We almost bought half of a lawn mowing company for Isaac to have something to do during the summer. Then he almost worked for someone mowing lawns.

We toured so many houses and apartment complexes. Drove around looking for rent signs for days on end.

I applied for so many jobs. Spent hours and hours looking for one on every job website. Asked around to everyone I knew. Filled out a few applications, sent my resume in. And it seemed like nothing was happening in any direction.  
After a few months there were still a lot of unknown variables. Also plenty of worrying, praying, and hoping that something great would happen for us, we started to see some great opportunities. 
Thanks to our friend Cardon, Isaac was able to land an internship with the Idaho Department of Transportation. A paid internship with a guaranteed 40 hours a week. So it will be a busy summer for him. He will stay on at FedEx, with the around 20 hours a week. With a total of 60 hours a week. 
We applied for an apartment with Five Star Property Management, our application got approved, however the apartment got rented that same day. We looked at a few of their other properties, but none of them seemed quite right. While driving around one day looking for signs, we found our new apartment! It is exactly what we had been looking for! Two bedrooms, laundry, bigger living room, better closets, more kitchen space, quieter neighbors, we get to stay in our ward, so many wonderful things. Needless to say, we are excited to move in a few weeks.
After continually looking around, I finally got an interview. And then a 2nd one at the same place. Now I work at Five Star Property Management. Had we rented an apartment from them, I wouldn't have been able to get a job there. It is going to work so much better during the school year, and I get 40 hours a week during the summer. Which is going to work out so well.
Between the two of us, we will be working 100 hours a week. Yay for earning money during the summer. Things happen for a reason. In the right timing. In the Lord's timing. 

Lucky

I am such a lucky girl. I've got so many people who love me and who help me out constantly. I don't know what I would do or where I would be without any of them. Also, I love my job at domino's. For the most part. It is
I started this post on Sunday July 1st. And then fell asleep with my laptop open, so there were about a trillion f's across the screen. I think I wanted to finish that sentence with fantastic? Who knows.

All I know is, on Sunday I didn't really know how incredibly lucky/blessed I really am. I could only fathom a very small portion. I have so much to be grateful for, and instead of telling you all about my past week, I am just going to make a list of things that I am SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL FOR:

1. My life. I am so blessed to be here today. It is amazing

 how one experience can change your outlook on

 even the simple things like having more time here.

2. My family. I am so grateful that families can be forever,

 and that my family will be together forever. With that, I am 

grateful for the temple and my ability to go there often.

3. Isaac DeMar Wood. I can't even explain this one. 

The impact he has had on my life is not even explainable. Even though

 I haven't seen him in 18 months, the impact he has on me continues to 

grow. I am a better person because this man loves me.

4. Miracles.

5. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have no idea

 where I would be without it. It means the world to me.

6. My jobs. In this economy, there are so many that don't

 even have one job, and I am lucky enough to have two. To help me

 pay for college, and also all of the things along the way that come up.

7. My loving Father in Heaven. Who knows me, loves me

 unconditionally, and is always watching out for me.

8. My parents. My dad is the most incredible man ever.

 He would do absolutely anything for me, and he loves 

me so much. My mom is amazing, and does 

a lot for me. I love them both so much.

9. America. Not only am I grateful for it, but I am grateful to live here. 

There are so many freedoms that I have that I have taken for granted in the

 past, that so many men and women have fought to protect. I am also

 grateful for the founding fathers, and that they were led and 

guided to write an amazing document such as the Constitution.

10. The power of prayer. Not only am I grateful that I can pray 

to my Heavenly Father, I am also grateful that He answers 

our prayers with so much power behind them.

 

Faith and Works

My Heavenly Father loves me. Lately school has not been going well. I've been struggling, a lot. I have been so stressed out the past month because it seemed like I was sinking lower and lower. It seemed like nothing could help. But, I prayed. A few million times a day, every day. I asked for a father's blessing. I came to the conclusion that I needed to just have faith. That I needed to do all that I could, and that if I had faith, my Heavenly Father would do the rest. I have been given opportunities that most other people wouldn't be blessed with. All because I have the faith, and I did my part. I probably can't count on one hand how many times I've learned this in my life, and I have finally had to apply it.

When you cannot hold on any longer, just have faith and keep holding on. The Lord will make up the rest. He wants nothing more than for each of us to keep holding on and having faith in Him. He wants nothing more than for us to succeed and return back to Him someday.

College is hard, and it sure has taught me a lot. The Lord still has plenty in store for me. And I'm ready to grow closer to Him through all the trials that are yet ahead.

17 Miracles

Tonight for family home evening, we went to the movie 17 Miracles. It is about the Willie Handcart Company and the miracles that helped them to make it to the Salt Lake Valley. It was one of the most incredible movies I've ever seen. The 2nd movie that has ever made me cry (I don't cry in movies, EVER!). It just put a lot of things in perspective to me. They went through so much, and yet they never gave up. They had faith through each trial along the way. The first thing they did in each time of need, was pray. How many times does prayer come as our first thought? Some of them never complained once. I am a big complainer, and I haven't gone through anything like what they did. They were some of the most amazing people to ever have walked this earth.

It's things like this that make me extremely grateful for everything I have. The trials I'm going through, seem like nothing in comparison. They believed so much in this gospel that they were willing to do whatever it took to have all the blessings of it. They were willing to obey the commandment to go to Zion. They wanted so badly to have the blessings of the temple. From where I live, the temple is about 15 minutes. How many times do we take for granted that we can go to the temple so easily. These people couldn't. They traveled for MONTHS to go to the temple and be sealed as families. Through snow, rain and freezing temperatures they traveled to come to Zion. Some of them died, just to follow the command to come. Remarkable faith. Remarkable people. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend doing so.

Last Thursday my best friend, Courtney, and I went to the temple to do baptisms. Whenever we go, it is always a great day afterwards. I have the Spirit with me throughout the day. When we got to the temple at 8:15ish, there had only been 2 other people so far that day. It was very quite, and extremely enjoyable. The font water was bathtub warm, and the temple workers were just as sweet as always. I love attending the temple. As we left, it seemed as if it was a perfect day. Nothing could go wrong. We made our traditional trip to great harvest to get free slices of bread. We drove over there, and we lucked out with an upfront parking spot. Normally I lock my car, even though we aren't gone long. That day, I had a feeling to just not lock it. I hadn't thought anything of it, but decided not to lock it. I got out of the car, turned around and closed the door. With my finger in it. I realized that wasn't supposed to happen, and hurried and opened my door. My finger hurt worse than anything else in my little life so far. It didn't look too bad at first, but I was completely shocked. We continued to go in and get our bread, and then left.

On the way home, I was trying to be positive about the situation. And then I realized that had I locked the car, I wouldn't have been able to open my door. The way my finger was stuck in, made my hand block the lock. I discovered that it could've been a lot worse than it was. Had my finger been in that door any longer, it would've been a lot worse. It would've caused a lot more damage. My Heavenly Father was watching out for me. Even in a tiny situation like that. He loves each and every one of us. And cares about us. He wants the best for us, and shows us in small ways like this. Some people may look at this and just brush it off, saying that it is just a coincidence. But. At youth conference almost three years ago, an EFY speaker told us that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Every large and small thing is a miracle. To prove that Heavenly Father cares about us. He will do whatever it takes, to do what is best for us. Whether we know it or not at the time. So. See it as a miracle or not, it is one to me. It may not be on a big scale like those of the pioneers, but each one of us is given many miracles in our lives.