An Example of the Believers

This post may be a bit late, but here it is, nonetheless.

There is a woman who I have had the privilege of knowing for the last 4 years or so of my life. She has been an example of kindness, goodness, love, caring, charity, service, and a disciple of Christ. This woman and her husband took me in for 6 weeks while I anxiously waited for my mission call. While I was living there, I got to see the every day living of this phenomenal wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. Alice showed me an example of how to live a Christ-centered life in a humble, every day way that didn't require flash or praise from anyone. She lived her life the way she did because of her testimony and desire to do what was right, not for the praise of others. I got hugs all the time from her, and I know that she was genuinely interested in the things we talked about, and our conversations were meaningful to me then, and precious to me now.

When I moved back to Utah after my mission, I got to see a completely new, and amazing side to Alice. Her true love was battling for his life, and she was (if it was possible) more dedicated to Joe. I saw every time I was over at their house her love, concern, and devotion to her eternal companion. In the midst of this, she still made sure that her kids and grandkids knew without fail that they were fiercely loved by this amazing woman.

After Joe passed on, I got to see yet another part of Alice. She showed strength, dignity, and faith that still inspires me. I feel blessed to have been able to witness the example of this woman.

Recently, Alice joined Joe to continue their eternal life together. I was able to go to her funeral, and to be uplifted by her children. I am inspired to be a better person because of the lessons, memories, and examples shared by her children and family. She lived her life humbly and would probably be upset at me for going on and on about her so much. Anyone who met her knows of her incredible capacity to immediately love. You never left the house without at least one big hug and an expression of love whispered in your ear. I have seen Alice live her life in a way that you KNOW, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Alice knows and loves her Heavenly Father and her Savior, Jesus Christ, and was striving each day to become like Them. I am privileged to have a real life example of the believers.

Even now, I get to see the legacy Alice (and Joe) left in the Raynes children. I see love and concern and the genuine desire to do what is right and best for everyone. I am blessed to have my part in their lives.

Here is what they shared about their mom:


Alice Nielsen Raynes, age 63, passed away peacefully November 9, 2011, surrounded by her eternal family.

She was born March 31,1948, in Provo, Utah to Vernon C and Olive Nielsen; she was the oldest of eight children. Her childhood was happy and filled with love. She graduated from Granger High School; kind and fun, she was voted by her student body as the Lady Lancer.

While attending BYU, Alice met Joe, her Prince Charming—it was love at first sight. They married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 27, 1969. They have ten children, all redheads like their parents. Being a mother was central to Alice’s life. She was a constant example of Christ, especially evident in the nurturing of her family.

Life is all about choices, and Alice humbly made the right choices. Alice always chose kindness. If you have met Alice, you have felt the Savior’s love. She never said an unkind word about anyone. She loved others the way the Savior asked us to love—unconditionally and without reserve.

She chose to have ten children. They were born to a mother who cherished them and their differences, a mother who was constant in her love, guidance and example. All of her children know secretly that they are their mother's favorite. Her grandchildren also felt her never-ending love. She spent every moment she could with them, cuddling and "smell-kissing" them. Her home was always open and everyone felt welcomed and known by her. She was a mother to all.

Alice chose lifelong learning and had an amazing mind. She graduated from BYU with her Bachelor's Degree and used it every day in raising her children. She participated on the BYU Ballroom Dance Team, and could rumba and cha-cha like no other. She read voraciously, played and graciously won all trivia and word games. She was a master of the English and Spanish languages. She was an accomplished tailor and clothing designer. She sewed each of her daughters’ wedding dresses, each one custom made. She drafted designs for her homes, and Joe built them—for her.

Alice chose music as her talent and love. She played the piano, organ and cello with incredible aptitude and found great joy in music. As a teenager, she took organ lessons at Temple Square in the Assembly Hall. She instilled a love of music in her children, and was happiest when they were singing. She shared her talent by happily accompanying vocalists. There was always music playing in her head. Joe would often ask her what song was in her head and she would name the song and composer and hum him a few lines. Heaven will be richer because of her music.

Alice happily chose to serve; spending her days in constant service of others. She was a proud and faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She magnified her every calling, serving as Relief Society President, temple worker, organist, and in a myriad of auxiliary positions at both the ward and stake level. She spent thirty years playing the organ weekly in the temple, offering peace through music.

Alice chose to follow Joe to the distant corners of the earth. Wherever he was, running water or no, Alice was by his side. When her eternal love and companion in life was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Alice chose optimism and faith. She led her family with her example of turning to Christ and finding strength in Him.

She chose to be humble. She chose to be loving. She chose to be charitable. And her children watched and learned. They know where to turn for peace because they watched their mother find it in Christ.

We choose now to honor her legacy by being happy, ever-serving and faithful.

Alice Nielsen Raynes is preceded in death (by only 10 months) by her adoring husband Joseph Lincoln Raynes, and her parents, Vernon C and Olive Nielsen. She is survived by her ten children: Janelle (Nathan) Gerber, Michelle, Denise (Paul) Pitcher, Alison (Marshall) Smith, Melanee, Stefanie (Nate) Farnsworth, Jonathan (Daniela), Danielle (Bryan) Kennedy, Derrick (Alexa), David (Sydney), and 17 & 8/9 grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings: Ruth (Tom) Rich, Chad (Karen) Nielsen, James (Giana) Nielsen, Kathleen Nielsen, John (Gayla) Nielsen, Lillian (Sterling) Clark, and Jocelyn (Michael) Goldberg.

Epiphany

I am not getting my life back...I am moving my life forward.

It is nice to have it simply put. I came to this realization last night, and it is simple and concise, and yet it is everything I need. Sure, it will still be hard at times, and will hurt, BUT I am moving forward. I can't expect to get the things back that I had before this all went down, but I can expect the new things in my life, and if some things are supposed to remain in my life, eventually, someday, in some way, I will have the things that I need again in my life.

To everything there is a season.

Heavenly Father is always aware of my 'seasons' and knows what I need more than I know what I need.

I am blessed.

1 step back

Have you ever been going through a process, and you are making progress, and then you do something that you know isn't good for you, but you just HAVE to do it? AND then you end up at least 1 step back from the progress you have been making?

I am not sure why I do that. Am I a glutton for punishment? Am I testing myself to see how much progress I really have made? Do I enjoy the pain? Or is that I hope the person somehow, in an odd way sees my pain and realizes how much hurt I am still experiencing?

I know I am doing well most of the time, but then there are moments where I know it will hurt, and yet I give myself that pain. (I am not physically hurting myself, just so you don't worry) Does it help me feel alive in an odd way??

2...already!

My niece, Charlotte turned 2 today! She is one of my best friends. I love that she calls me "lala" which is relatively close to aunt in Bulgarian. I just love this girl and how she hugs and the kisses she gives, the light she brings to my life. I love how she dances, and that her body automatically responds to music. I love how she breathes life into everything around her, even at the age of 2. I have been blessed by having this amazing girl in my life, and am fortunate to be her aunt.

Music

It is so interesting to me that songs about VERY different things have touched me so much recently.

Songs that have touched me as of late:

Adele: Rolling in the Deep
Adele: Someone like You
Adele: Make you Feel My Love
Adele: Don't You Remember
(Really ANYTHING by Adele because she basically rocks at life and her music speaks to my soul)
Kelly Clarkson: Behind These Hazel Eyes
Kelly Clarkson: My Life Would Suck Without You
Sara Bareilles: Uncharted
Sara Bareilles: Gravity
Coldplay: Viva la Vida (this one ALWAYS feeds my soul)

I may add more as I find them.

Feelings

I have realized that the question, "How are you?" can be a very tricky one, especially when you don't really know how you are. How do I feel? There is a tumult of emotion and feelings in my life right now, and I am not happy not really knowing how I am feeling. It is frustrating to not know how I am feeling, to try to know, to try to feel, to allow myself the full spectrum of emotions.

I apologize if I am answering that simple question in an odd way if you ask me for the next little while.

Lost

What do you do when you don't know what to do? Where do you go? How do you feel? How do you find the direction?

I think there is a bit of time of self-exploration and going through processes that help you to be ready to make whatever that next step may be. It is hard, especially when you REALLY don't know the direction you are supposed to be going.

What do you do in that time before you move? How do you have that peace while you are preparing yourself?

What do you do if you feel like you have lost a part of yourself in the process? How do you get that back?

How do you become unlost?

MADE ME LAUGH

I stole this from a friend's facebook status, who also stole it from a friend. I hope you enjoy!

For all you single ladies who are in such a hurry to find someone, here's a quick piece of biblical advice: Ruth patiently waited for her mate Boaz. While waiting on YOUR Boaz, don't settle for ANY of his relatives: Broke-az, Po-az, Lyin-az, Cheatin-az, Dumb-az, Cheap-az, Lockedup-az, Goodfornothin-az, Lazy-az or Married-az..... and especially his 3rd Cousin Beatinyo-az !!!!

Blessed Assurance that He Cares

It is interesting how amazed and yet not at how blessed I have been in my life by the people, and more specifically my close friends. They have seen me through my worst moments, which have included heaving sobs, gushing tears, splotchy and red eyes, and the silent hugs that wrap me in healing. They know when to give me words of wisdom, and when to let the quiet teach me what I need to learn. They know me better than I know myself at times, and help me to see where I can stretch and grow. They gently, yet firmly help me understand my life, my issues, and my solutions, especially when I don't necessarily want to see them for myself. They show courage when they challenge me, and point out ways I can improve, always showing me love. They want me to become more.
There are also so many tender mercies from those who I have come in contact with, who reach me when I need them the most, when they don't realize what strength and love they show for me in the little ways. From a message from a sister in the MTC on facebook to a comment on my blog to a thank you from a stranger that I helped at work...these all help me more than I can say.
They truly are tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father. While I may say I am amazed at the love He shows me, at the same time, why wouldn't He show me that love? I am His daughter. He wants me to feel His LOVE and it is there, every day. The question is, do I look for it? Do I allow it in my life? Sometimes it has to be like a 2x4 for me to get it, but other times, when I take the time to pay attention, it comes over me like a light whisper of the summer breeze. He is always there, always loving. I am truly blessed.

Reasons Why....

Summer Storms make my heart UNBELIEVABLY happy!
*The weather is warm enough that I can stay outside in the rain for a LONG time and not get cold.
*The rain isn't too hard, but enough to make it worth walking through and dancing in as much as I want.
*The smell of rain always makes me happy, but there is something about the smell of rain on warm pavement.
*The sound of rain.
*The sound of rain on leaves.
*The lightening not only illuminates the entire sky, there are bolt of lightening that cut through that illumination at the same time!
*The rumbling and crackling thunder completes the dance of thunder and lightening in its own time, sometimes in a softer, almost whisper of a thunder, and sometimes announcing its presence with a loud, majestic roll.
*The feeling I get of calm liberation from the heat of summer. There is a general liberation as the rain comes down and fortifies my soul in a way that I can't exactly describe.
*The knowledge it gives me of Heavenly Father...yes, even in a rainstorm. I can see His hand, His power, His love.

BEST Vacation EVER Recap (part 4, the grande finale)

After spending a day making the most of Paris, we were TI-RED!!! We had a pretty chillaxed day, just hanging out at the house, with Spencer's family. We got to make pizza. By make, I truly mean make from scratch. It is SO good! We watched a few movies and then headed off to bed before our next grand adventure the next day.

We set out a little later than we thought (when on vacation never stop, or else you might not be able to start again) but we headed off to Stratford-upon-Avon. Yes, we went to Shakespeareland. We were able to see his birthplace, his grave in the Trinity church, as well as the theatre there and some really neat shops.

It was a lovely village with really neat buildings and structures.



It was pretty funny because they ask for a donation before you can go see the actual grave, and we didn't have enough small bills/coins, SO we went to the gift shop to break a larger bill to be able to see the grave!

They say this bust is quite the likeness to the bard himself because it was sculpted while his wife and daughter were still alive and they were a part of the creation of the sculpture.


This is the theatre that is there. It is a beautiful building.

The closer we got, the more detail jumped out at us.

I did a little happy dance when I saw this shop. I immediately thought of my parents, my dad especially.

It had A LOT of ornaments and such. Spencer stayed outside while I took it all in. I am my daddy's daughter in this way :)

After we wandered around a bit, we headed off to Cambridge. We had some AMAZING fudge, I had authentic fish and chips and we were able to go to King's College Evensong. It was so beautiful and spiritual and I felt the testimony of those who sang, and I know they weren't singing for us, but singing a praise to the Heavens.

SO DELICIOUS!!!


GORGEOUS

We had a bit of an adventure getting home, in that we thought we lost the car key, and after a stressful few minutes and a phone call or two, we found the key! YAY!! Celebrate good times! We made it home in pretty good time, and were able to watch a movie with family and friends.

Now, here is the thing. I don't generally watch scary movies. There is a very good reason for that. I get scared. Freakishly so. I jumped and squealed and possibly even screamed a little. We watched "What Lies Beneath" which I have seen, but only once and it was YEARS ago. Well, I survived the movie well enough and was doing fine, until I went on the computer to check my flight information for the next day, and Spencer comes creeping up behind me and scares the living daylights out of me! You better believe I screamed. His mom was not happy with him and gave me permission to do basically anything to him for retribution. We were then talking and someone came up to the front door (the ride for some of the kids). BUT he didn't just knock on the door, but he popped his head in the window next to the door. Mini-freak out again? You betcha! I did get to sleep that night, and didn't have a scary dream, thankfully!

Spencer and I made our way to the airport the next morning, but I had to take one last picture:

This is the place I called home for the last 10 days. Let me tell you, I felt so welcome and comfortable, it just added to the awesomeness that was my best vacation ever!

The airport proved to be an adventure as I misread which terminal to go to, so we ended up taking trams and escalators, and getting through to security was an adventure too, and then in Chicago I took a million more escalators and trams, but I made it back in one piece.

I hope you have enjoyed this walk with me through vacation memory lane. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go to England (and Paris), and for the generosity of the Bugg family. I have precious memories of the BEST Vacation EVER!

BEST Vacation EVER Recap (part 3)

Are you ready for some more of a grand adventure??
So, our next stop was to go BACK to London. Man. We got to take a train into the city, and it was beautiful. I love taking trains because you get to see parts of the country that you would not normally get to see when you travel on the road.
So, we went to London and went to Westminster Abbey. Something that made me laugh was one tourist asking where exactly the wedding took place, and the information man so patiently pointed out exactly where everything went down. I wonder how many times he has been asked that question. The different tombstones and markers are so intricate and beautiful. There are so many people there! We saw Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Chaucer, William Wilberforce (he's the man!) Winston Churchill, and of course many royals that are there. There is amazing architecture throughout, even on the outside. There are some more recent people that are honored on the outside, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's me! SURREAL!


Dr. King is 5th from the left.


It's SOOO big!

We then headed over to a little theater, to see a little play you may have heard of. It is called:

That's right! I have finally seen Wicked! I love it when you know music from a musical pretty well, and then you finally get to see the show and see how the storyline comes together and weaves through the music.

While we waited, I took in the granduer of the theatre.

What am I looking at?? The COOL ceiling.

Now, it isn't really this color, but this picture turned out so cool and shows the detail well.

We can't wait!!!! YAY!!!!

The show was absolutely amazing! The music, costumes, actors, chemistry! Our Elphaba had some soul to her, and had the most amazing voice! I really liked the chemistry she had with Galinda (the "Ga" is silent) as well as with Fiero.

We also wandered around Piccadilly Circus for a bit and bought a 'pocket watch' because we needed one for the next day, and neither of us had one!

Pretty sweet, right? Made us laugh.

Our next stop was a whirlwind, one day tour of Paris. Yeah. Crazy, I know! When Spencer first suggested it, it was a cool thought, but I never thought it would actually happen, but he made it happen! We got to take the train through the Chunnel over to Paris and hit all the big spots we wanted to see.

We started the day in the Louvre. I kept thinking about the book/movie The DaVinci Code while we were there.

The Louvre is HUGE. We could have been there for days and not seen everything, so we had to see a few things that we really wanted to see.


It was so cool to be there!


Apparently, I am a funny photographer. Actually, I think a random person was unaware of anything around them (including us) and had been in the way, or something like that.


SO intricate and detailed and ornate!


So many people!


Yes, that is Spencer. Yes, that is the Mona Lisa. Yes, I was there too. It was quite the battle to actually get our pictures with her!


Venus de Milo is beautiful.


I loved the paintings!


Beautiful art.

We headed out and towards our next stop, and while on our way, we passed the pont neuf and also the bridge with all the lovers' locks. There is a LOT of love!

Our next stop was historic...well, pretty much everything we saw is, but this one was so epic and historic that Disney has even invested in the story. Yep, we went to Notre Dame!

I half expected Quasimodo to come out at some point, alas, he did not. BUT I did get to see the French police with their BIG guns patrolling the area. I thought something was going down, but I was informed that they normally do that.

The next 2 places we went were absolutely beautiful. We went to the Musee D'Orsay as well as Musee L'Orangerie. Musee D'Orsay had amazing art of Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, and many others. It used to be a train station and is the perfect size and not too overwhelming.

It is just a beautiful building.

Spencer is trying to become one with the art!

It was pretty funny because we got there at a good time, the line was going pretty quickly and then, just as we were going to go in, the guard stopped us, and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get into the museum because there were too many people in there!

I could have stayed in the Musee L'Orangerie forever. You want to know why? They have huge murals of Monet's Water Lilies. Take a look!

This will give you a little perspective as to the size of these murals. (plus, I love the fact that I match the paintings!)


They have benches in the middle of the room, and you can just sit there, taking them all in.

I love this one, with the sunset colors and the extra depth to it.

They all took my breath away.

Makes my heart happy!

Of course, we couldn't go to France without partaking of the deliciousness known as a crepe.


Let me tell you...these things can be so messy...but SOOO good!

Our next stop of the day was to this little known place called the Eiffel Tower. I have one word for this place. GINORMOUS!!!!! Seriously, the closer you get, the bigger it gets, but you think it can't get any bigger, but it does!

Just taking it all in. The day was beautiful and breezy. I ended up taking a little nap right here :)

I couldn't believe that I was actually there!

Spencer liked it too!

It was so neat because there were people just there on their lunch break, having a picnic by the Eiffel Tower!

We had fun with a little photo shoot. However, we were by no means the only ones. Some people were ALL sorts of into posing in all sorts of ways!

Seriously. GINORMOUS!

I could have strained my neck!

Beautiful!

Looking up...pretty cool, huh?

There was a nice lady who came up and offered to take our picture. NICE! We were able to be in a picture together that gets more than an arm's length of scenery :)

We headed to Arc de Triomphe and walked along the Champs-Élysées. While there, we saw the Abercrombie and Fitch models just hanging out...




Our last stop of the day was the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, or in English Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. There are a bazilliondy steps to get to it, but it is SO worth it. The view of the city is breathtaking and the Basilica itself is gorgeous.




It was the perfect end to our one day in Paris.

Now, there are a few things that I found in the train station in London that you might enjoy. I love the statue of the military man and the details on the base:



We also found a very magical part of the train station:



Thus ends this part of the recapping joy. I do believe I can get the rest into one recap, so I am almost done. I know, I know, you will miss these grand adventures, BUT don't fret, there is still one more recap!!! See you soon!