My heart is broken for Aaron and McKensie Bingham and their sweet baby Koston. We will get to meet this sweet boy someday and he will be perfect and wonderful. I hope that in all moments of our lives, we will be able to see God and the tender mercies he offers us. I have always been a firm believer that we need to grow and learn and progress in our trials. We need to always remember to Praise God, Seek God, Worship God, Trust God and Thank God every day of our lives, and He will do the rest.
When I think about the past month, literally, all I can think is, "What a month!!"
Life has been soooo great lately! (Minus the sprained ankles and whatnot..)
Here is a little taste of what has gone on in the life of Amy and Jermaine this month...
This one time, Jermaine and I went to get some sushi at Osho's. On the way there, we were having a heated discussion over who could eat the spiciest food. I was pretty confident that I would win, and he was pretty confident that he would win... So to settle the debate, we needed to have a spice-off. We got some extra wassabi; I was going to prove this guy that I was the ultimate spicy champion!! We mixed large quantities of wassabi into our soy sauce, and started eating our sushi. Jermaine and I were tied the whole time. The moment of truth came when my roommate, Alica, said she would only eat a piece of sushi (she hates it!) if I ate a whole glob of wassabi! (Does she want me to die?!) while I was debating the challange at hand, the fountain of snot and tears that would be dripping down my face, and the victory I would achieve... Jermaine popped a wassabi ball into his mouth, swallowed it, and didn't even bat an eye! ...Are you kiddin me?! No streaming tears?! No pouring snot?! No panicking while the inferno is is raging inside your mouth?! Needless to say... he won fair and square. Well played sir....
Roasting smores on the eternal flame torch (or whatever its called) at the cemetary. Mmm... propane tasting mallows... yum.
Cookie bake off!! Jermaine must have been cocky about winning the wassabi challange, because he thought he could beat me in a cookie bake off... booooy was he wrong! I won fair and square =)
Helped Momma G sew our zebra onesies
Donated blood... I couldn't believe it was J's first time!! He was a trooper though... I was so proud! haha
Went to Calgary for SCREAMFEST!! and to hang out with Jermaine's sister and fam! We had SUCH a good time!!
We went shopping in Calgary =)
For Halloween, we went out to Raymond to take my nephews trick or treating! We also got to wear our Zebra onesies!! Yayy!!!
Hung out with the fam lots. Birthdays galore!
Another Calgary trip?? Suuuuure... why not?!
On a side note... don't you LOVE when you go to church and every lesson seems to apply to you directly?? Almost like, the talks and lessons were prepared specifically for you?? That's not just how my sunday has been, but my entire week! It has been great. Exactly what I've needed.
Also... Jermaine is great and I love that man of mine! He sure is something special =)
The only reason I'm blogging right now, is because I can't sleep, I can't move, and I'm bored... I sprained my ankle last night in practice-- that's the second time this month!!
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I sprained my right ankle in indoor soccer. I was going up against this guy, I kicked the ball and on my follow through, I stepped on his foot, and went over on my ankle, smashing my face on the sideboards. (it's alright if you laughed while picturing this pathetic display.. I'm sure it looked really funny)
This is a bad angle, but you can get the jist that my right ankle was like twice the size of my left
The reason its all lumpy and stuff, is because I had it wrapped right before I took the picture. My ankle was still really swollen and bruised by my heel as well as going up ankle.
I was on crutches for the week, and had to go to athletic therapy to get it worked on. It was raining and cold that week that I was crutching around, and I had to walk back and forth, back and forth from the institute building to the college multiple times in one day. I was a half hour late for one of my classes because it took me so long to hobble over there! On my way back to the institute building, I crossed paths with Nigel. He must have sensed my frustration and fatigue because he offered me a ride. I politely declined, assuring him that it wasn't that far. "Are you sure you don't want a ride? Do you want a ride?" he says. Me- "Well... kinda, yeah..." Him- "Alright, hop on!"
hahaha I thought it was so funny! What a nice guy eh? He was on his way to the college, and I was juuust leaving the college, so he piggy backed me all the way from the college to the institute building, and then had to run back to the college. Whaaaat a gentleman =)
So basically, I had been cleared to play again this past weekend, I played in both my indoor games (kinda tweaked my ankle in my monday night game), and then I somehow managed to sprain my OTHER ankle in practice last night! It's official. I have cankles.
I didn't fall asleep until 3 am last night because my ankle was so uncomfortable (and I left my pain killers in the car), then I woke up at like 7:30 am when I moved and tweaked my ankle. I tried to get out of bed, and realized I can't put any pressure on my foot! I had to get my roommate to grab my cereal, milk, bowl, spoon, and ice (for my ankle), and then I literally had to crawl to the fridge to put my milk away, and then crawled back to my room! I feel so pathetic, haha.
So here I sit, undecided on whether I should suck it up and go to class, or stay home and relax.
Hmph...
I am on soccer overload right now! It's pretty much my life these days... but I love it! (Minus the fact that I'm perma-tired)
I made the college soccer team =) It's kinda a random story how it happened... During the first week of college, I was walking to the institute building after school and I passed the soccer center. I had somewhere to be right at 6... and it was like 5 min to 6.. but I saw some guys playing soccer and my gears started going... I wanted to play soccer! I wandered into the soccer center and talked to some guys, asking them if there was a womenss college team... and if I was too late for tryouts... annnd how I could get ahold of the coaches. They told me the girls were practicing somewhere on the south side and that I should go find them and talk to the coaches. I was on a mission! I drove all over the south side until I found them... on the college fields (surprise, surprise..) I asked the coaches if they were still accepting players on their team. They told me that they have had their team for 2 weeks already, but that they are always accepting new players if they are good enough. I asked them if I could try out or something... or just scrimage with them. Barry, the coach, asked me if I had my soccer stuff on me by any chance... "Just so happens I do!" So I had my own little mini tryout right then and there! Barry gave me a schedule after, "So I made the team!?" "Yep. See ya tomorrow" Sweet. So now I'm on the team.
I'm also playing on 2 indoor leagues.. and our Raymond drop-in league is coming to a close. So this is my soccer schedule for the time being
Monday- Indoor soccer game around 10pm
Tuesday- 6 am college practice, 5:30 pm college practice, indoor soccer game around 10 pm
Wednesday- 6 am college practice, 5:30 pm college practice, 7pm Raymond soccer scrimages and world cup
Thursday- 5:30 pm college practce
Friday- 5:30 pm college practice
College games on the weekend.
Needless to say... I'm a happy girl... but I'm a tired girl..
"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who aretender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who arekind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who arerefined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women offaith. We have enough greed; we need moregoodness. We have enough vanity; we need morevirtue. We have enough popularity; we need morepurity."
I decided to take the risk of taking my dogs for a walk while I rollerbladed tonight...
I think these pictures speak for themselves...
I'll just tell you about 2 of my many close encounters with the pavement...
1. My dog saw another dog. I think you all know what that means... Hunny and Hank took off... and I definitely followed. I screamed for my dog to stop as my wheels peeled out! Hunny was swerving back and forth in front of me, knocking my rollerblades as she ran. I'm so surprised I didn't bite the pavement. When I finally got my feet on a patch of grass and stopped, I noticed the 3 onlooking guys... I tried to catch my breath as I began to explain "...dog...phsyco.... I ...almost... had a ...heart attack..". They just continued to stare and didn't say a word.
Big Gulps huh?... Well... see ya later!
2. Two dogs in one block? Yep... We were in the home stretch as this huge mother dog came barreling towards us. Off I go again. I'm pretty sure when I say "Hunny! No! Stop! Heal!", she takes that as a, "Hunny! Go! Run Faster!" (did I mention she's crazy? A cute crazy though)
Then I proceded to watch my dogs get in a big scrap fight as I hollered and tried to get the dogs away from eachother.
Stupid idiots.
I'm never taking them on a rollerblading walk ever again!
Today was an all around, good day. It started off with a nice long visit with my Grandpa Garner. He is such a wonderful inspiration to me. I love him so much. He is so amazing, that he deserves his own blog post! (That is saying a lot folks! haha), then I went into Lethbridge to run some errands. I am one step closer to getting school figured out. Happy day! Mid errand-run, I decided to take a stroll to the LDS book store... and ended up leaving with a few more books than I had intended to. But I'm very excited to read them! I got the first volume of the Gospel Studies Series for the Book of Mormon, that I can't wait to crack open! I have a student manual for the Doctrine and Covenants that breaks down the verses which gives more insight into the chapters and I love it! So I know I'm going to love my BOM study book too!
After my pit stop at the book store, I went to visit Marnie Pasterfield. Poor dear had a double knee replacement! I am so excited for her to get all healed up and running again! I am amazed at the wonderful positive attitude Marnie always has! (She is also amazing enough to have her own blog post dedicated to her! Marnie is that great!) The Pasterfield's are wonderful! Then I went to hang out with some new friends of mine. We went out skeet shooting. I am just going to pretend that I didn't hit myself in the nose when the gun kickedbacked after my shot. And I'm going to pretend that I didn't accidentally throw the entire skeet thrower instead of just flinging the skeet out of the thrower thing....
We went to Moxies afterwards, then hung out and played games afterwards. It was just a good, chill day. I'm content =)
"Many times a bishop will write, "I feel he has suffered enough!" But suffering is not repentance. Suffering comes from lack of complete repentance. A stake president will write, "I feel he has been punished enough!" But punishment is not repentance. Punishment follows disobedience and precedes repentance. A husband will write, "My wife has confessed everything!" But confession is not repentance. Confession is an admission of guilt that occurs as repentance begins. A wife will write, "My husband is filled with remorse!" But remorse is not repentance. Remorse & sorrow continue because a person has not yet fully repented. Suffering, punishment, confession, remorse, and sorrow may sometimes accompany repentance, but they are not repentance. What, then, is repentance?"
(Elder Theodore M. Burton, Ensign, Aug. 1988)
I came across this little ditty tonight during my scripture study. I have an idea, for myself, what repentance is. What do you think repentance is?! Get your gears goin and really focus on how you perceive repentance.
Feel free to tell me if I am getting too preachy these days, hahah. Night ya'll <3
I LOVE Sunday.
Today was especially fabulous.
I had the opportunity to sing this song in church with an amazing group of people, as the theme of sacrament today was music
It sounded so good and I'm so thankful for everyone's willingness to sing with us! We even got invited to sing again next week in another ward =)
I also got to listen to my momma speak today and she did such a wonderful job in portraying her message of how to bring music into your meetings. The spirit was so strong today and I loved how you could see my mother's sweet spirit shining through. She is positively delightful.
There were a couple quotes I really liked from her talk!
From Elder Jay E. Jensen's talk on the Nourishing Power of Hymns. Quote:
"Hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord. They often do this quicker than anything else we may do. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. said, 'We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing, except prayer'".
So true.
Elder Bateman also talked on Music as a form of Worship. Again I quote (I love the description Bateman uses here!!):
“Each time I hear “How Great Thou Art,” something happens inside. I think my spirit becomes taut like a string on a violin and begins vibrating with the beauty of the music and the hope expressed in Stuart Hine’s words. In particular, the third and fourth verses, combined with the lyrical nature of the chorus, cause my spirit to swell with deep appreciation for the Lord’s Atonement and mercy:
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin, …
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, “My God, how great thou art!
He continues:
Music is one of the most effective forms of worship. In our hymns, we praise God, give thanks for His love and mercy. I am impressed with this statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Sacramental hymns are … like prayers, … and everyone can give voice to a prayer!”Although I had thought of some hymns as prayers, I had not thought of each sacramental hymn in that form. And yet it is! …… As the priests break the bread, the entire congregation is given the opportunity to voice their prayerful thanks through music. Sacramental hymns focus our attention on the Lord, His atoning sacrifice, and the gospel plan.”
I'm tempted to just quote her entire talk since it was so good! Buuut I'll refrain...
Basically, Momma G is the best. I don't know if she realizes how much I appreciate the bonding time we get to have through music and theatre. I have been involved in theatre almost every year since I was 8 with my mother and my sister. We consider the theatre to be our second home hahah. I love to hear my sweet momma sing (while her emotions get the best of her as she cries every time hehe)
My life flows on in endless song
Above earth's lamentation
I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
That hails a new creation
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing
It finds and echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?
Go sing a hymn with your family, friends, or by yourself and have a happy sunday everyone! <3
If I had 10 minutes to live with no restrictions.. what would I do... I don't know if it is because of this melancholy mood I'm in or not...
but I think I would just want to sit and read my scriptures.
Part of me thinks that I should want to feel the urge to jump out of planes for the ultimate skydiving experience or dive off the tallest bridge in the world to get that ultimate adrenaline rush...
You would think I might want to be surrounded by people so that we could all share eachother's love (If you asked me the same question tomorrow, I might be in the mood for this kind of parting.. but not tonight) That would be too overwhelming and emotional for me.
Another route to take would be to tell a significant person how much they actually mean to you, or to share a kiss with a certain someone one last time.. But that just doesn't seem fitting for my mood right now either...
I just want to bask in the Lord's love and read. Let all my cares of this crazy world slip away. Nothing seems more peaceful and reassuring than to cleave unto this book that God had prepared a way for us to recieve. In fact... that sounds so appealing.. that I think I might just go get lost in the pages of Alma right now.
P.S. I got myself a gourmet pack of colored SMENCILS... they are just like smelly pencil crayons. They are my new scripture marking pencils! I love them! Nothin beats reading and coloring while getting whiffs of cotton candy, very berry, bubble gum, root beer, grape, orange, watermelon, cinnamon, black cherry and tropical blast! Mmm mmmm!!
I'm sure we have all prayed for things that we wanted so strongly, only to have that desire left unfulfilled. Think back to one of those times where the answer was no. It was alright, wasn't it? Maybe even better off that you didn't get what you were longing for?? The thing that I need to wrap my head around is that the Lord knows us so much better than we know ourselves and he truly knows what is best for us... mind boggling, right?! =P I was reflecting back on past yearnings that I fervently prayed for because I wanted it SO bad.... and I am indebtly grateful that this naive little Amy didn't just get everything "handed" over to her! (It's actually quite comical- the desires of young teenage girls. BAH!)
"When I think of all the answers in my life, I would have to say, there's no doubt it was always for the best when I didn't get my way".
BUT I am also grateful that I have been given opportunities to be humbled. There have been times where the Lord lets me learn the hard way... W'hen I get to "venture off" and "find my way back" so to speak. Sometimes it's harder to find our way back than other times. (The important part is that we find our way- back to Lord, that is)
Hahah.. anyways... those were my random thoughts for the evening. Thank you B Paise for inspiring this blog post.
By the way... if anyone is in the mood for a good scripture reading, Alma and Amulek would be glad to share their thoughts with you. Alma 8-15. Alma & Amulek rock. Zeezrom is a stupid idiot... until he realizes his stupid idiot ways. Although all 8 chapters are flippin sweet... Alma 14 is so hardcore!! Gooo read it!!
Life has been busy busy lately! I have been a workin machine these days (which I love!) I worked on Thursday and Friday til 9 pm I worked on Saturday til 6 and then rushed home to get ready to go fishin!!
Alli's first time fishin!
I love this picture! It was such a kodak moment.. I think this was right after Alli almost snagged Kody and I on a cast
we had 4 people crammed onto this little fishin boat! Equipped with propeller and fish finder! (Nothin but style and class for this crew!)
Captain Ferguson.
Oh just a perfect sunset, that's all =)
fishing took a turn for the worst when Tanner's rod snapped on a BIG FAT.... chunk of weeds. No... we didn't even catch any fish.
the crew with our fishin boat!
There were thousands of bugs on shore...They all swarmed into my hair.
Sunday was amazing. As per usual.
Wanna know what else is amazing?? Kyle Stringam. I love that man so much! We chilled at church =)
We were reunited this night at the ugly sweater party... and life got a whole lot sweeter! =)
I worked late on Monday because we had renovations to the store. So we had to take every single shoe, purse and shelf off the walls (There was alot more than you would think!) It was so bare after! it was weird!
Then I went over to my Grandpas house to prepare his basement suite in preparation for this cute Arizona boy to come visit me!!
Anyways.. I got 3 hours of sleep and then had to get up super early on Tuesday morning (my day off) to help get the store set up so we could open on time. We were all wearing grubby clothes with no makeup and greasy hair (I guess I can only speak for myself... haha) and when we opened, we still had to help customers. Gross. haha.
I got done work by noon and had the whole day ahead of me! (I'm not used to getting off work this early!!) So I called Valena and we went for a bike ride and out to lunch. I love that girl!! Our afternoon was full of smiles and laughing and planning our futures together. We decided that the whole purpose of us moving out to yucky Saskatchewan was so that we could bond. I'm almost certain that is why I was meant to move to Saskatoon... We were meant to be together hahah. Our paths just keep miraculously pointing us both in the same direction.... soooo we'll see where our futures take us ;) I'm really excited about our plans! They are going to work! We'll make them!! =D
After our little hangout sesh, I went to play with ma boys! I was greeted by Batman, Superman... and Batman. Ashton, Nolan and Nixon had blue and red kitchen towels as makeshift capes as they flew in for big hugs for Aunty Amy! We built forts and played Tigers in our "cave". Oooh how I love my nephews!
I went home after and did some stuff around the house for a bit. About 45 minutes before I had to leave for my soccer game, I laid down for a "half hour nap" which consisted of me sleeping through my alarm and waking up at 9:30 pm. Brandon tempted me with homemade brownies and ice cream. That was the only reason I rolled out of bed. So I went over to his house, ate a brownie, went home and fell asleep half way through watching Sanctum (I was claustrophobic just watching it!)
Wednesday... I worked and then played on my women's league. We dominated! I think the final score was 9-0 for us =)
Today I worked til 9 and it was super busy! Usually on a good day I can sell like $1000 worth of shoes but today I almost sold $2000 worth of shoes! ...I'm tired.
Annnyways... Wesley and Preston gets here in 38 hours!!... not that I'm counting.. k, so I'm a little excited... haha last night I kept having dreams that Wesley was going to be here in like an hour and I was getting so antsy that it kept waking me up! I thought it was for real *deep breath* I can wait a day and a half... and then I have a whooooole week off work to chill with this fella!! Daaaah... life is good...
This little treasure was when we pulled an all nighter and watched an AZ sunrise! =)
