Background of Sunshine

Hello everyone! 

This has been another week full of some crazy ups and downs, but the one thing that has stayed constant for me is my background of sunshine. Happiness is something that I have really come to be SO GRATEFUL for! It is something that I definitely used to take for granted. But now, no matter how dark or gloomy my days get, I can always see the little rays of my background of sunshine peeking through! It's the best feeling ever! And I know that those little rays of sunshine come from my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

This week we did a spiritual thought with Karyna's little boys (she's our super awesome investigator who is getting baptized soon) and we talked about how we can all be Jesus's Sunbeams this week! We sang the primary song "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," and then drew pictures of how we can be better sunbeams! So I would invite you all to think of how you can be a better sunbeam this week :)

Transfers also came this week, and I'm going to Ulm in Germany! This will probably be my last area, so I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for me! It's sad to leave beautiful Switzerland, but I guess it's time to move on! 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Liebe Grüße,Sister Thunell

Constant Motion

Usually on Sunday nights, Craig and I compare calendars and make a list of the things that need to occur during the week for us, for the house, for the kids, for our callings, for his job, etc.  I like knowing what to expect and having a plan.

But lately, every Sunday night I look at that calendar and think, "Oh good, this is a pretty easy week," and then the following Saturday night, I look back at the week and think, "Holy cow!  It's a good thing I didn't know last Sunday that all this was coming, or I wouldn't have gotten out of bed."

It's pretty much constant motion around here.  The days are filled with unexpected and unscheduled things that take up our days before I even have a chance to put them on the calendar or document them on Instagram.  They're good things and necessary things, and things that bless our lives, but they're mostly things I don't have a chance to plan for.  I'm getting better at being spontaneous, though.  I'm more relaxed about the condition of my house.  I don't feel obligated to stay up and wait for missionaries to come home or to entertain house guests 24 hours a day.  And I almost always have a pantry and outside fridge stocked with water bottles and plenty of extra food.  (Thank you, Stephanie, for that little life tip.)

Last Monday morning, my neighbor texted at 6:00am, "I'm available for lunch or shopping or just hanging out at either of our houses any day this week.  Call me and let me know when you're free."  She NEVER initiates social things.  And she almost never wants to leave her house.  Craig said, "She's missing you.  You should find some time to visit her."  So I found a space between some doctor appts for the kids and I let her take me to Olive Garden for lunch.  It turned into a great afternoon.   

A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from a random 801 number saying, "I'll be in Alabama...tomorrow!"  I let that one wait for a couple of hours before I finally gave in and texted back, "Great!...um, I'm sorry I don't recognize this number.  Who is this??"  It was one of the sister missionaries who had finished her mission and gone home, but was coming back to Birmingham for a funeral.  That weekend, I squeezed in a pick up from the airport, and two houseguests from Saturday to Tuesday.   Craig had the great idea to let them borrow our van, so fortunately, I didn't have to spend those three days driving them all over the mission.

In a typical week, people need rides, visits, and dinners.  There's usually a missionary dinner in there, a trip to the temple, and a random youth activity at our house.  On Sundays, we either pick up someone for church or have early morning meetings and lessons to plan.  After church, we either make visits to old people or have someone coming over for dinner.  The kids have their school things and work things...and there's that cute missionary whose emails I can always count on sometime between 4:30am - 11:30am on Monday mornings.  

Between the scheduled things, and the unexpected things, we are in constant motion around here.  

But somehow, at the end of every week, I look back and I'm amazed at all the things we've done.  And I'm even more amazed that even though there's a steady stream of activity, it never feels frantic.  And I'm not stressed out, crying, or curled up in a heap in some closet.  

This week, even after All State band auditions (including daily after school rehearsals for Megan and McKay which meant a whole lot of juggling schedules and driving back and forth to the HS for me,) two different auditions for two different kids at two different high schools at the SAME time...one of which was almost 3 HOURS away...
Even after an impromptu going away dinner party for the Bishop and his wife last night...  
Even after two different kids had doctor's appointments that took an extraordinarily LONG time...
Even after VTs who like to chat for 2 or 3 hours...
Even after a dishwasher installation on Thursday, a microwave that decided to die on Monday, and two overflowing trash cans that someone forgot to take to the curb last Friday...

I still managed to go to lunch and a movie with a friend, sit down at the table for dinner with my family 5 out of 7 nights, watch the latest episode of This is Us, do some family history, have a handful of conversations with my husband, take a few pictures, complete the MONSTER level of Wordbrain, and do a little pre-Spring cleaning.  

The point is that even though my days are filled to capacity, somehow there's still enough time to do the things that make me feel productive, fulfilled and happy.  Remarkably, the constant motion has not turned into constant chaos.  Somehow, with the increase of all that is required and requested of us, Heavenly Father has also managed to increase our capacity to manage it all.  Divine compensation.  And for that, I am extremely grateful.

'The promise to you and me in the last days is not that the power of God will be poured out on us to do whatever we think is best, but to do what is God’s will. And the promise is that after seeking him and serving his children with unwearyingness, we will come to know his will. The promise is not just that I will have the power to do what’s on my list of tasks, but that I will know what to put there. On those occasions when I have known what should be there, I’ve found myself glancing at it as a source of joy, not of anxiety." - Henry B Eyring

Jesus is Alive!

Guten Tag! 

Just another foggy day here in Switzerland!  This week was awesome.  I don't think I've worked harder, or been more exhausted, my whole mission.  Or my whole life!  

Monday evening started the downpour of miracles for the week. We had an appointment scheduled with a little family we found last week while dooring, but sadly they weren't home. So we decided to do some more dooring! One of the very last doors we knocked, a big scary man answered. Your typical biker/thug looking guy, with scary music coming out of his apartment. We smiled cheerfully and told him that we were there to share a message about Jesus Christ, and we had a video to show him if he had time. His face stayed stone-cold, and he just stared at us intimidatingly, so we just quickly pressed play and hoped that the video would touch him somehow. Well, his face just melted into a puddle of wonder and hope, and he asked us what exactly our message was. We had a great 15 minute conversation, and made a return appointment to teach him more the next day. Right before we left he said, "Wait! Do you have like a book or something that I can read more about Jesus Christ?" We smiled and said, "Yes. Yes we do!" We have met with him three times since then, and he has SO many great questions, and so much desire to learn all he can!

Tuesday and Wednesday I was in Bern on tausch with Sister Puckett, from my MTC group! She is such an awesome missionary, and it was so fun to work together. We did lots of finding, and LOTS of talking! It was great. Some highlights from the rest of the week:

-Sister Multamäki and I have managed to find basically all the Finnish people in Solothurn, and one of them invited us over to make Finnish food with her! So yum!

-We did an Ausstellung in Biel with our whole district and the French elders, and it was FREEZING but pretty successful!

-I've been having pretty bad headaches for about a week now, and I mentioned it to a lady in our ward, and she decided to give me a foot-reflexology foot massage to see if that would help! I was just sitting there thinking, "Wow I'm getting a foot massage in Switzerland. This is the life!"
-It was American day for district lunch on Tuesday, and Sister Rasmussen and I made chili dogs for the district! No one knew how to each them, and everyone was confused...haha #europeans

This week I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 4th time on my mission! I was studying with the theme of Jesus Christ, and holy cow has my testimony of Him grown! He is our Friend, our Counselor, our Healer, and our Master. I know that He lives! I know that He loves each of us PERFECTLY and that He is our light, life, and direction. He is my Brother and my Redeemer, and I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that through Him I can return to my Father in Heaven, and live with my family for eternity! I'm also grateful for the opportunity that I have had for these last 15 months to wear His name on my chest EVERY SINGLE DAY! And that I will be able to continue doing that for these next 3 months, and continue bearing my witness that I KNOW HE LIVES! I will love Him and follow Him, and be fierce in my testimony of Him, because He has given me everything.

Love y'all!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Thunell

Kids Using Tools

I had the world's dumbest photo assignment for my CSM calling this week...at least that's what I initially thought when they gave it to me.  (...and I'm totally gonna be struck by lightning for saying that, I'm sure.)

Kids Using Tools

Seriously, don't you think that's dumb?  First of all, I hate taking pictures of people.  And second, how in the heck am I supposed to stage a photo shoot of a toddler using a table saw?  

That's where my head was for the first few days of the week.  Grumpy.  Frustrated.  Uninspired.  And procrastinate-y. And then a seres of unexpected events and fantastic timing all conspired into what was perhaps the best-staged photo shoot I've ever actually done...and I didn't even have to leave my home!  

• Yesterday, the second of my two new barstools finally came in after a handful of shipping delays.  
• This morning, McKay finished all of his Saturday jobs in record time, rearranged his bedroom furniture, vacuumed the whole house, and then happened to be wandering around moping about how bored he was because it was raining.  
• He likes putting stuff together, especially when drills are required.
• The rain stopped and the sun was pouring in my bedroom windows.

After all that, the obvious thing to do was to have him put together that barstool while I inconspicuously took pictures of him in that amazing light!  

First, he just needed some good background music...so I let him borrow my phone.  How to Train Your Dragon but the Michigan Pops, because what else would you listen to if you were  putting furniture together?  

In less than an hour, he transformed that box of random pieces and parts into this...

Sheesh...I love that kid so much!  He's the most industrious teenager I've ever met.  

And without even knowing it, McKay helped me not only complete that dumb photo assignment, but actually love it.

Winter Wonderland

Hello everyone! 

This week was crazy busy! It has also been snowing non stop the whole week, so we are living in a winter wonderland here! 

Highlights of the week:

-Sister Multamäki learned how to pray in English! She asked me to say a prayer first, and then she would try after me, and wow, I cannot pray in English anymore. It's embarrassing. But she did great! :)

-We had a tausch with the Zollikofen sisters, and I brought Sister Rasmussen back to Solothurn with me for a couple days! We stayed super busy with appointments the whole time, and then we ended our tausch with an appointment at a member's house eating Chinese food!

-We also had Zone Training this week, and Sister Multamäki practiced for a long time trying to make it good. It was a really great Zone Training, and I learned a ton!

-We met some new Finnish people here that we will hopefully start teaching this coming week! (Perks of having a Finnish companion.)

-We had a lesson in French with one of our investigators. We brought the Elders from Biel with us, because they both speak French, and I have realized that I can understand more Finnish than French...haha.

Something I have been thinking about lately is goals. Everyone always makes so many goals and New Year's resolutions at the beginning of the year, but by this time, or maybe in a few weeks, they all start to fizzle out. Sometimes it's like that on a mission too. We make goals as missionaries for the week for how many new people we want to find, lessons we want to teach, etc., and by the end of the week sometimes we have forgotten what our goals even were! Sometimes goals can be frustrating and demotivating if we don't achieve them. But I've learned on my mission that goals are more of an eventual motivational end point, rather than something that absolutely has to be achieved within a certain amount of time. If we make the goal to be more disciplined or diligent, and then forget, or get lazy, then that doesn't mean we have to just stop trying! If we make the goal as missionaries to teach 12 lessons, and we only hit 4 by the end of the week that doesn't mean we give up! Goals are something that always have to be reevaluated and carefully decided, with the help of the Lord. What goals do you have this year that will bring you closer to Him? Don't give up, every day is a new day. Have faith, work hard, and keep an eternal perspective!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Thunell

Bridges

For as long as I can remember I've been afraid of bridges. Especially bridges over water.  And I don't love tunnels all that much either.  Mostly, I like to be on long stretches of level surfaces with 100% visibility in all directions that don't overlook anything or have water anywhere near them and don't go underground.

That's the way I like my life to be, too.  Unobstructed, flat terrain.  100% visibility.  Free of any difficulties and uncertainties.

Unfortunately, in order to get to the good stuff you have to travel across a few scary bridges and through some long, dark tunnels.  That's not my favorite part of road trips...or mortality.  

While we were on the Great Christmas Road Trip of 2016, we had to pass over a handful of bridges, and through two or three excruciatingly long tunnels.  Those weren't my favorite parts of the trip.  

But because I knew this was waiting on the other end...

...I made myself close my eyes and press forward. (Wait, not while I was driving...don't worry, my eyes were ALWAYS OPEN while i was driving.) 

This afternoon, I drove 2 hours to my uncle's house in Scottsboro to pick up my mom who's visiting from Hawaii.  She's staying with us for the weekend.  I took a different route there than the one I took last July when she was here and surprisingly, in the last 10 miles of the trip, I came around a corner, and found myself not only on an amazing and expansive overlook, but also overlooking a giant lake, and headed straight toward a bridge.  A huge one.  Over that giant lake.  Nothing but water as far as I could see...

I didn't even know there was a lake there.  I didn't even know it was coming it until I came around that corner, until my entire GPS turned blue and all the streets disappeared.  That's an unsettling feeling.  

Luckily, I was a little distracted by the beauty of the view.  And also a little irritated that I had forgotten my camera on this road trip.  (Note to self: always throw the camera bag in the car.)

But guess what I realized halfway across that bridge?

I wasn't scared.

My hands weren't sweaty.  I wasn't panicked or gripping the steering wheel.  I didn't cry.  And I made it across.  Trauma free.  

There is stuff happening in my life right now that's a lot like that bridge. Changes.  Improvements. Transitions. Stuff that's unexpected and a little scary.  I have no idea how long it's going to take to get across and I can't see all the way to the other side.  Normally that would freak me out and I'd be panicked, worried, crying, or obsessively cleaning something.  

But I'm not.  My hands aren't sweaty.  I'm not hanging on as tightly to things as I might have in the past.  I haven't cried yet.  And I know I haven't made it all the way across, but I feel confident that I will.  

And I bet whatever is on the other side of this particular bridge is pretty dang good. Maybe even better than whatever my imagination has conjured up.  Wouldn't that be the greatest thing?...if the compensatory reward for doing a hard thing was in direct proportion to the amount of courage and sacrifice it took to make it across?  Oh wait, it is.  Because that's how Heavenly Father works.  He gives us challenges, sometimes the same one over and over and over again, to help us build confidence in ourselves, to increase our faith in Him, and to learn to trust His plan.  And then, especially at the end, but also along the way, He pours out His blessings in abundance.  

I know some of the things Heavenly Father has in store for me.  I know that there is a plan and it's not mine.  And I know that this bridge I'm currently on and the ones coming around the corner are designed to help me improve and draw closer to Him.  And I'm super grateful today for that bridge in Scottsboro that reminded me of all that stuff.  

Who would have ever thought I would be grateful for a bridge?  

Glimpses

Our dishwasher has been having problems since Thanksgiving and the home warranty people are super SLOW about getting here to fix it for me, which has mostly been an inconvenience and a bother, but yesterday I had a tiny change of heart.

I don't love hand washing dishes...especially silverware and especially after big dinners.  In the past two months (which have included three major holidays, 8 batches of Christmas cookies, a couple of youth activities and a few get togethers with friends) I have become intimately acquainted with every pot, pan, and serving utensil in my kitchen.  That was not on my bucket list.  :(

But...Heavenly Father or someone else really wise, perfectly placed a window right over the sink which happens to overlook that pretty lake we live on.  Yesterday morning, we had a late start for school so while the kids slept in I washed a few of the previous night's leftover dishes.

...and I happened to look up and notice the amazing sunrise. 

Honestly, there isn't a day that I don't stop to notice the sunrise, but to have the extended opportunity to be standing at the kitchen sink at the very moment this spectacular-ness happened in the sky was pretty amazing.

...especially since it changed to this about 20 minutes later when the kids finally wandered downstairs for breakfast. 

The clouds rolled in and stayed there all day long.  It was cold and grey and kinda dreary, but I was so grateful to have been washing dishes and to have caught that first and only glimpse of the sun's appearance yesterday. 

Stuff is like that around here lately.  Fleeting.  It happens fast and then it's gone before I can catch it.  I see a beautiful thing, but I'm driving too fast to stop and take a picture of it.  Or I have some great inspiration, but I don't have the time to write it down anywhere.  My blogging and journaling have become brief and inconsistent at best.  My IG posts have changed from daily inspiring photography to casual iPhone snapshots of things that disappear in 24 hours.  It's frustrating.  

My desire this year is to stop and catch more of those little glimpses of Heavenly Father's influence in my life.  I think there are a lot more of them in a day than just the ones I happen to see.  I want to acknowledge those moments more often and take pictures of them so they last a little longer, so those glimpses become more than just brief and fleeting.

If a glorious sunrise can make me grateful that my dishwasher is broken, that's a pretty miraculous thing Heavenly Father accomplished in just ten minutes.  What else is He doing that I'm missing?  or forgetting?  

Schnee

Hello everyone! 

Wow it has been a CRAZY week! First we had tausch Tuesday and Wednesday with the Burgdorf sisters. I got to tausch with Sister Mickelsen, my MTC companion, and holy cow it was the best tausch ever! I missed working with her! She's a bomb missionary, and we just talked each other's ears off the whole time!  We also found two potentials, and had a couple of appointments with some old ladies, and that was super fun :) 

Thursday and Friday we went to Munich for MLC!  I've missed Germany so much!  This was probably one of the best MLC's I've been to. I came out of it just so inspired to change and be a better missionary, and companion, and person in general. I've made lots of new goals for myself for this New Year, and I'm excited to work my butt off for the last couple months of my mission!

Random highlights of the week:

1. I tried Finnish food for the first time—fish soup! It was delicious.

2. We found three new families that we are going to start teaching this week!

3. We got to ride a boat across the Bodensee on the way home from MLC.

4. It finally snowed!! Snow in Switzerland is seriously MAGICAL. And it finally feels like Christmas. Oh wait, too late!

5. On Saturday night Sister Multamäki and I were tired of walking on our way home, so we stopped to make some snow angels in a parking lot :)

6. Sister Mickelsen inspired me to learn how to brush my teeth with two toothbrushes. Much more efficient!

Well, today for pday we went sledding in Biel, so I'm exhausted! 

And the whole week has just been running around like crazy people, but we have seen SO many miracles it's crazy.  And I have a feeling that this week we will see even more!  I feel like I have finally gotten out of the way, and I am letting Heavenly Father teach me and mold me into what He wants me to be, not what I want for myself!  And it's so much better that way!  I have really learned a ton this week about the Holy Ghost, and how that is really the most precious gift in my life!  And, once again, when you give Heavenly Father a little, He gives you a Gurke!! 

Love you all!! Have a wonderful week!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Thunell

Inspiration

After a really pitiful Thanksgiving (I was pitiful, the day was not...) and after moping around this place for the better part of three months complaining about all there was to do and all there wasn't to be inspired by, Craig gave in and decided to take us to Utah for Christmas.  

What I thought I wanted from this trip was to reconnect with family (mostly my father in law because he reminds me always of what is important and who I am,) to have a change of scenery, to shirk all my new responsibilities for awhile, and to TAKE PICTURES!  I also wanted to go back to a place I felt connected to and to be inspired by the people and the surroundings so that I could come back here and get back to work with a better attitude and restored confidence.  

Because honestly, how can you not be inspired by this place?

Everything about Cache Valley makes me want to spend the entire day exploring and taking pictures.  I feel that way in every season, in every temperature, and under any circumstance in that place.  I love it and I could easily spend the rest of my life there photographing every beautiful thing and never tire of it.  And that's exactly what Megan and I did every morning that we spent there.  We got up as soon as the sun made an appearance, which is surprisingly late on that end of the time zone in the dead of winter.  We put on layers and layers of snow gear, scraped and shoveled ice and snow out of our way, and drove in vehicles equipped for treacherous weather just so we could get the pictures we had been dreaming about.  It was exactly what I needed to help me remember that I love my camera.  

But, as always on those trips back to places we've lived before, there are unfulfilled expectations.  It may not help that my particular form of expectation is the ridiculously high, unattainable kind.  While the picture taking and barn hunting were completely fulfilling and exactly what I wanted and expected, the other stuff wasn't.  There wasn't enough time with people I wanted to spend time with.  There wasn't enough quiet time to take advantage of the limited time I did have with a few people.   And the fact is, we don't live there anymore, so as much as my heart longs to 'belong" to Cache Valley, I just don't.  

That's the thing about moving around a lot.  It gives you an amazing perspective when you leave a place and come back to it, but it also comes with this agonizing void of not belonging anywhere.  Seven years, no matter how pivotal in may have been in my opinion, is really such a short amount of life.  The people we left in Mendon don't think about us during their average days, so there's not a lot to connect us anymore.  Our family has moved twice in the six years since we left Utah.  People have since moved into our old house, replaced us in the church callings we held, and filled whatever voids we may have left when we drove out of that valley in 2010.  And we've changed, too.  Some of our kids have now lived away from Utah for longer than they lived in Utah.  They're different.  We all are.  

So after my super high expectations came crashing back into reality, and after I spent a few hours crying about it, I went upstairs and talked to my dear, sweet father-in-law who is a wealth of wisdom.  We talked about life in Birmingham, about weighty responsibilities and busy schedules.  He asked if I felt spiritually challenged and if I was magnifying my new calling.  He asked about temple attendance and scriptures.  He asked how this experience is different than our experience in Allen.  And after sifting through all of my answers (and all of my whining) he talked about the amazing opportunity we have in Birmingham to BE THE LIGHT that we have been gathering in all the other places we've lived.  He talked about the responsibility and the blessing of that LIGHT and mentioned the vast capacity my particular heart has to love life and the people I am surrounded by.  And he said that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.  He's not the first person who's told me that since I've been here, and to hear it from a second person that I love and respect in almost the exact same words was totally overwhelming. Sheesh...if you think that didn't make me cry for a million different reasons, you must not know me very well.

On our way home, Craig asked me if I had gotten what I wanted to out of the trip.  I think I did.  It came in a different way than I expected, but I left there with renewed confidence, greater purpose, more motivation and inspiration to come back to Birmingham and work hard, and a totally different idea of what "belonging" is.  

I don't really have a hometown.  I never know what to say when people ask me where I'm from.  I don't belong to Hawaii where my mom and sisters live, or to Utah where Craig's family lives.  I don't belong in Allen anymore, or Atlanta, or Seattle, or any of the other places I've lived.  But they are all part of me.  And right now, I have brought pieces of them with me to Birmingham, where I currently "belong" because my home, my ward, my daily life, and most importantly my family are here.  

This place is beautiful and challenging and uplifting and inspiring just like all those other places I've lived.  I don't need to plan a "Utah fix" regularly to regain any of those things I think have been drained out of me in this place.  I just need to remember those wise words from wise people and stop complaining.  I need to make more of an effort to look at Birmingham the way I look at Cache Valley, with hope and love and with the expectation that I will find something beautiful.  Because there's certainly plenty of it here.  It just looks a little different.  

January

I was feeling especially sluggish this morning and lamenting the fact that I haven't yet done even one noteworthy thing in all of 2017.  And then I remembered that this is January 7th! 

I NEVER do anything noteworthy in the first 6 days of the year.  I don't think anyone really does.  And this year was no exception, especially coming off of that crazy long road trip we took across the country and then Craig and I taking turns having varying degrees of the flu for the better part of the whole week...

But, what I also realized this morning is that I LOVE January 7th.  

Here's why:

1.  Even if we've stayed home for the holidays, I usually need about 7 full days to pull myself together after a whole season of partying and overindulgence.  
2.  By January 7th, I've usually stopped trying to be amazing, I've stopped feeling discouraged because I'm not amazing, and I've gone back to just being normal.  
3.  Always, by January 7th, all traces of Christmas have finally been packed back in boxes in the garage and I've stopped mourning the loss of color and the absence of Santas in my house.  
4.  January 7th is almost always the day that I feel life breathing back into me.
5.  By January 7th, everyone (mostly me) has let go of any ridiculously high expectations they might have had in December, and any leftover guilt about gifts they might have forgotten to give and cards they might have forgotten to send out.  
6.  On January 7th, I always, always sing really loud.  I just always do.  

and...
7. In exactly 7 weeks, it will be my birthday, and that is my second favorite day of the year!

So, Happy January 7th!  Hopefully it's a great day where you are, too!

Priorities

Over Christmas break, I made some decisions about eliminating a few things that are taking up way too much of my time in proportion to their place on my priority list, like keeping track of my daily water intake and every bite of food I eat.  ugh...who wants to do that?   And I also made a mental list of the things I want to make MORE time for because I love them and they make me happy.

1.  Connecting with PEOPLE!
I've met so many people in the few months we've lived in Birmingham.  More, probably, than I met the entire time I lived in Utah.  Most of them are really interesting.  And for some reason, the ones here ALL like to talk!...or maybe I just never knew how to ask the right questions before.  There's a way to connect with everyone, you know?  If I ask enough questions and listen well enough to the answers, I can find something in common with everyone.  We all can.  There are people in my ward that I want to know better.  There are people in my family who need me to stop being in constant motion and listen to them more often.  There are missionaries and teenagers and VTing sisters and sometimes even complete strangers who just want someone to talk to and connect with.  And this year I want to be more available for those connections. 

This year, I'm delegating as many of the planning and administrative duties in my YW calling to my counselors so I can TALK TO THE GIRLS!  Holy cow, it's been so frustrating to have had SO many interactions with this handful of girls and yet still come home from a thing and realize I've barely said any words directly to them.  The past three months have been filled with way too much setting up and planning and not enough sitting down and making eye contact with people.  

I've also decided that I need to REMEMBER people more.  I like thoughtful people who call me when I'm sad (well, text me actually cuz I hate to talk on the phone.)  I like when people ask me how I'm doing when they haven't seen me in awhile.  And I really like when people remember my birthday.  It occurred to me over Christmas break that maybe everyone likes that stuff.  

So I found a space in my planner to write down every single birthday I want to acknowledge this year.  I've reorganized and restocked all my birthday, thank you and just because cards.  And this year, I'm going to just CONNECT thoughtfully, enthusiastically and often.  

2.  Taking PICTURES.
I love taking pictures!  Like, I seriously LOVE it!  I love driving around hunting for beautiful things.  I love finding them in unexpected places.  And I love capturing them and keeping them forever.  While we were in Cache Valley on our morning photo shoots, Megan and I decided that we were going to come home and carry our cameras everywhere with us and take at least one picture every single day.  Well, we haven't.  And I feel the void.  She does, too.  That's going to change...  

3.  WRITING stuff down (journaling, blogging and social media)
Everyone already knows that I have a crazy obsession with documentation.  I am a compulsive hoarder of pictures, memories and words.  And the more days that pass when I haven't made time to write something down somewhere, the easier it is to tell myself that there's too much I've missed and I should just not bother.  And then there's another void in my life.  The void I feel when I'm not writing and remembering is even bigger than the void I feel when I'm not taking pictures.  Nothing fills that.  

This year, I've deleted a few apps, purged a few unnecessary habits and I'm replacing them with a handful of intentional things that will hopefully make me more balanced, more effective, and more influential in good ways.  I'm not going to start anything new.  I'm just going to pick up all those things I've put down for way too long.  

So, be patient while my fingers try to remember how to type again and while my photographer eyes learn to readjust and find beautiful things not just in Utah, but here in Alabama.  


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