One of my really good friends was getting married on Friday, March 23, 2012. I looked into getting a flight to Arizona to go to her wedding, but noticed that my passport had expired like a month earlier.  I just assumed that I couldn't go because I figured it would take weeks to get my passport renewed. I found out like a week later that there is such thing as an Urgent Passport Renewal. Obviously it came with a cost, but that meant that I could get my passport renewed, and get to Arizona for my friend's wedding! Here's the sketchy part about it though... in order to prove that the situation was "urgent", I had to buy my ticket, drive to calgary to show them, and hope that I was approved and that I could get my new passport the next day.

I bought my tickets on March 17th, drove to Calgary on Tuesday, March 20th (keep in mind, my flight was for Friday morning!). I went to the passport office and talked to these 2 ladies.  Long story short, they liked me and thought I was funny so they pulled some strings for me so that I could pick up my passport the next morning (I was so blessed!) Then I went to my really good friend, Camilla and Ryan's house and got to play with them and their sweet little girl, Everee.

I am so smitten with this little girl!

So I have a little experience that I don't think I will ever forget or take for granted. It is so insignificant but such a powerful testimony builder to me of the power of a positive attitude and a smile.  I was in a really good mood that morning.  I went to the passport office to get my passport, and as I walked into the big hall, I gave a big toothy grin to the 2 security guards, which in turn caused them to smile a big grin.  I kept walking and I saw a group of LDS Missionaries. So I smiled big at them and said hello. They were caught of guard, but super happy that I knew who they were and they all gave me a big smiley hello and a wave.  I walked into the room where I needed to pick up my passport, and grinned at 3 more security guards. Guess what? They grinned back at me. The same ladies that had helped me the day before were working again that day and as soon as the first lady saw me, she burst out laughing (because I was such a gong show the day before) as she said hello to me and asked me how my day was going. I was chatting with her for a minute, when the second lady who was helping me was walking past, and as she looked over and saw me, she also burst out laughing (I wasn't joking when I said I was a gong show the day before...) and she stayed and chatted with me for a bit as well. Both ladies had a big grin on their face. I said goodbye and on my way out, I noticed the 3 security guards that I had smiled at 10 minutes still carried that same big grin on their face.  The elders that I had said hello to, were much more allert and happy. The other 2 security gaurds I smiled a big toothy grin at were still smiling from ear to ear.
So this is what I took from the situation... Before I had smiled or said hello to any of the 10+ people around me, I noticed their countenence and their body language as well as their facial expressions. None of which were showing a particular enthusiasm about their being there. But the second after I smiled and said hello, there was a distinct difference in their countenence, body language and facial expressions! By one little smile and inquirey about how their day was going, I noticably changed their outlook on their attitude.  Not only in that moment, but from what i witnessed, in that 10 minutes I was in the passport office.  As I was leaving, every. single. one. of them was still grinning from ear to ear.  I may or may not have had an impact on their mood for the rest of the day. I don't know that. But I DO know that I had an impact in that 10 minutes for sure.  Now just imagine for those 10 minutes that these 10+ people were smiling to the people they were interacting with.  They may have passed that smile on, which may have been passed on.  And so on and so forth.  How many people could have been impacted for the better because of a simple smile?? I don't know why I found that situation to be so profound, but it sunk deep into my heart as I felt the Spirit witness this little tender mercy to me. 

Anyways... On Thursday, March 22, Ricky Duane and I went to watch my momma perform in the play The Sound of Music (along with Payton Dudley who played Rolfe-- he did great! So did Momma G!) After the play, Payt and I gave Ricky a tour of the theatre (our second home... ooh the memories!). Me, Ricky, my mom, and Desmond ended up being the last people in the theatre and we randomly ended up having a dance party out in the middle of the street in front of the theatre at like midnight (Isn't my mom the coolest?!)

I was supposed to be leaving to Bozeman at 3:30 am that morning for a 6 1/2 hour drive. But we didn't end up leaving Raymond until after 1 am. Ricky helped me pack and kept me company until 3:30 and then I was on my way! I did really good about staying awake all night! I had about 2 more hours to go when I stopped to ask for directions. The guy gave me directions, but threw in ONE wrong turn in there... that's all it took for me to get lost and end up in a farmers field! There was one single little farm house that I pulled over to so I could ask for directions. They weren't home. (of course) Long story short. I got lost long enough that I missed my flight be 15 minutes.  Yup. 15 Minutes... I drove 7 1/2 hours just to get lost and miss a flight. I bawled in the airport for... 2... hours. (I was tired and emotional. Give me a break!) Multiple cry baby phone calls later, I finally got up the ambition to drive 2 hours to Helena, MT to stay at my relatives house for the night.

This is what a tired, grumpy, cry baby Amy looks like

 I'm actually quite surprised I stayed up for as long as I did... I expected to go straight to bed as soon as I got there, but I ended up chatting with everyone, playing some weird sandwhich game, going out for dinner, and then dessert, and then hangin out with my cousin and his friends past midnight. I was awake for over 36 hours... don't think I've ever done that before.

The next morning, I woke up at 7:30 and left for Great Falls to catch my flight. Except my flight was delayed because of the weather. I ended up missing my friend's wedding, another friend's birthday, and the Firefly concert (which was all on Friday) That was pretty much the only reasons I was going to AZ but I was set on going to AZ! There was no way I was going to drive 14 hours and buy a flight for nothing!

Aren't they so perfect for eachother?! Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Hon!
(In case you didn't catch the memo... this is my friend Chelsey.
And I missed her wedding.

To be continued. (mostly because I have been writing this post over the span of a week or so and it is all over the place. I'll finish the story when I have the ambition to sit down for more than 5 minutes)