A Story About Prayer

Let's be honest. Wednesday was not a good day.

In fact, it was a dreadfully terrible day.

And I sat on my bed thinking angry, dreadful, bitter thoughts.

I prayed to the Lord and asked him why things like this happen in my life? Why now? I asked the Lord how I was to overcome this hurdle and how in the world I could let go of this anger and bitterness inside my heart-- I didn't think that I was able to overcome the anger that I had all by myself. I knew I needed a heavenly hand to come to my aid.

So I sat, and waited for an answer.

Just then, the song on my iPod ended and changed to a familiar song. It was one of mine that I wrote a long time ago (about 3 years ago) while I was in Cancun. As I listened to the song, I realized that it was an answer to my prayer. Although the song was not written to be necessarily religious, it spoke so much comfort and strength to my heart at that moment. I knew that it was my answer from the Lord. The chorus goes like this:

My fallen angel
Come back to me
The only place left to fall is back down on your knees
The world offers you loneliness
I offer you my heart
So fall back to me
My fallen angel

I know that the Lord hears our prayers, and there is no doubt that the Lord heard mine that day. He answered it just the way that he knew would benefit me the most, even if it wasn't the way that I expected. I know that the Lord is aware of our struggles, and wants to bless our lives so much, we just need to let Him.

Everything Will Be Okay

Hello everyone!

I just had the most amazing weekend! Allow me to share....

So, I had originally planned on going to Atlantic City for my spring break this year. Basically, the camp that I'm going to work at is amazing, so that's why I was headed in that direction. BUT, things didn't really work out and so I couldn't go.

Let's be honest, I was bummed. I not only couldn't go to Atlantic City, but I also had to work. I love my job at ILP, I do, but vacations are vacations and I was anxious to get away for a week.

So, one night I was praying and asked "why couldn't I go to Atlantic City? I understand that I may never really know the reason why, but if I can get an answer, that would be fantastic".

I got that answer, and I'd love to tell all of you about how good the Lord is to me in my life. Although Atlantic City was "taken away", I received something so much better than that.

1. I got in all of my hours of work last week that I would have missed if I left- so my paycheck in a couple of weeks won't be affected.

2. I got pretty sick the first few days of that week, and being in a whole different city may not have been the best for me.

3. I was able to go on a vacation with my mom, dad, and younger sister on Thursday and Friday to Capitol Reef. I had SO much fun! Really, I can't remember the last time where I had that much fun on vacation. I was so thankful that my parents want to take me to do these great things! It had been far too long since I had taken a break and really gotten to spend time with my family.

4. So the second I got home, I called this guy from the BYU ride board who said that he and some other people were headed up to Rexburg at 12:30. It was 12:20 by the time I got home, so I quickly set up a time to meet all of them so I could go up to Rexburg and see some friends. It was definitely a last minute decision, but it was one of the best decisions that I had ever made. The timing for the vacations lined up perfectly (thought I was a little bit rushed), so I could go on two vacations during Spring Break.

5. I got to see my beautiful Tehuacan girls, Sylvia and Christina. They are the sweetest girls, and although it hasn't been too long since I've seen them, it felt like forever. I had so much fun talking and hanging out with the both of them! Christina made me green pancakes for the morning of St. Patrick's Day, and packed me a lunch when I was headed home (THANKS MOM!)

6. It had been 1 1/2 very long years since I had seen my dear friend Bonnie Mikelle. The last time I saw her, I was at her wedding, and now she is prego with a baby boy (I'm practically an aunt!). The time that I spent with her while I was up there was amazing. I got to talk with her, listen to her play the guitar, and talk with her some more. It had been far too long since I had seen her, I had forgotten how much she heals my heart with her beautiful voice.

So, in conclusion, I got the answer to my prayer. Although I'm sure Atlantic City would have been really fun and beneficial, nothing heals my heart quite like my family and friends.

The Lord knows what we need, and although it may not be exactly what we think we want, it will benefit us far more when we listen and obey. The Lord loves all of us- and thank goodness He cares enough to give me a great spring break!

Sopa de Limon/ Lime Soup

Fun fact: The name for lime in Spanish is "limon", and lemon is "lima".

LIME SOUP!!!

This soup is super delicious- and is a staple in Mexican food. Often you'll have it as an "appetizer" for lunch. It's really really simple to make too! Bonus!

Ingredients: 1 Large Onion, 1 Jalepeno, 4 cloves garlic, 4 tomatillos (will explain later), 5 tablespoons chicken bullion, 2ish pounds chicken, limes, and a bushel of cilantro.

First you're going to dice the onion and the garlice cloves and put them in a crockpot. I know, I use the crockpot for everything- I guess I'm just combining the Mexican and Utah cultures.

Next you're going to dice up the (cooked) chicken and add that to the crockpot as well 

Now let me explain the tomatillos (to-ma-ti-yos). These look a little bit like green tomatoes, with a sort of husk around it when you buy them. You want to make sure that there is no damage to the "husk" or the actual tomatillo before you buy it. I once heard that a tomatillo is most similar to a pomegranate... I don't know why they would say that. So, you remove the husk, wash the outside (because they are actually pretty sticky on the outside) and....

Put it in a blender with some water AND the jalepeno (seeds and stem removed) Then....

 Blend that sucka! Add the mixture to the crockpot. 

Then you add water (fill it up about halfway) bullion (to taste), oregano, and the juice from 2 limes

Cook for about 3 hours on high and garnish with more limes and cilantro. Enjoy!

Easy right? Sorry about the low quality pictures, my camera ran out of batteries and so I had to use my cell phone. I know that the last picture looks sort of sketch, and perhaps you're wondering if you should actually eat that- but I promise it's a combination of the lighting, and my cell phone, don't worry. 

So- what do you think? Do you like these recipes? Would you like to hear more about my life? Touching stories? I'm never really sure everyone wants to hear or enjoys the most about this blog- so if you have suggestions, let me know! :)

Mohawk: A Hairstyle, and the BEST CAMP EVER!

Hello everyone!

I feel like I always apologize for it being so long in between posts- but I won't apologize this time.

I'm busy- and if this is the thing that keeps your life happy, you need to find another hobby.

Anyway! I've sort of posted a little bit about my new life developments on Facebook, but I decided to come over here and post in a little more detail about what I'm doing this summer.

So, I just got hired to be the Leadership Director of a camp in Connecticut called Camp Mohawk! Seeing as I have been going to camp both as a girl and as a leader for..... 8 years now, I think that it's time to make my hobby into a job where I get paid (though I would gladly do it even if I didn't get paid.... but don't tell my boss that!)

So from what I understand, the Leadership Director is the one that's over what they call CITs (counselors in training- the 15/16 year old girls). Basically, I teach the girls what it takes to be a good counselor including things like public speaking, self worth, creating lessons, (among other things) It's sort of like being a head teacher- but instead of going across the world, I'm going to Connecticut!!!

The camp is about an hour away from Hartford, and a couple hours away from NYC and Boston- so I'm going to do lots of travelling as long as I'm there! I leave on June 11th (more or less) and I come back on August 21st (more or less). So I'll be gone for 2 months in total. Are we all on the same page? Good.

This camp is AMAZING from what I've found. Everyone there seems so nice and welcoming! I'm so excited to work with such great people. Also, they have THEME NIGHTS like PJ party, toga dinner, Halloween night, super hero and villian dinner. Can I really ask for any more?

I am so blessed! I never expected such an amazing opportunity to happen to me! I know that it will be a tough, but rewarding summer. Did I mention I was excited? Because I am. 98 days until I'll be at camp!