Living Loving Larsen

This morning at work I had a gentleman who needed a book to read and wasn't really sure what to pick up next. I know I have felt this way when wandering through the stacks at libraries and bookstores. As he was talking about what he liked to read I remembered an author who I had read and was able to recommend. It was a great success to be able to match a library patron with a book. My life brings me such great joy.

Okay so for the past month the Relief Society presidency has been focusing on visiting teaching with doing interviews the past two weeks and doing our workshop on Sunday. Last night I was able to go visiting teaching and then also have my visiting teachers come. I was able to really have a great experience and then this morning the things we talked about last night really helped my scripture study. To me it was just proof that the programs really does work and that we gain so much from doing the things the Lord has asked us to do.

Also this morning I woke up with a nasty cold. Eric and I had agreed to clean the chapel this week and I just wasn't up to going. So guess what he did!?!?!?! He went and cleaned the church by himself. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and someone who loves me so much. I can't even think about what my life would be like if I wasn't married to him.

Have you ever been thankful for really weird things. In a very round about way I am grateful for all of the meth addicts and the laws against them. For years I couldn't take cold medicine. Now because of the new laws due to druggies using cold medicince and the companies changing the ingredients I can take cold medicine. Also I am really grateful for waking up sick this morning. Because I was taking the morning a lot slower I was able to have a deeper scritpture study and prayer which I really needed.

So every year DMU hosts a Winter Gala that is a fancier version of prom for med students. In recently started looking for a dress since the dance is black tie optional and I have decided some where along the line (maybe with economy being so bad) there is a limit on how much fabric can be in a dress. When the sleeves get longer the dress gets shorter!!! The irony is the prices are still astronomical. So I am not sure what to do. If any one has any suggestions or a dress that I could borrow that would be great.

It's Monday and I am at work and it is barely after noon so here are few random thoughs going through my head.

1) I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and the sisters in the 2nd ward enough to let me feel normal last night for Visiting Teaching Interviews. With the endometrisis I get really bad cramps and they started after church went away when I walked into the building and then started right back up when I left. I love miracles.

2) I think I am finally adjusting to the cold weather!! I am not as bugged by the cold weather as much any more.

3) Portrait Innovations needs to teach their employees some basics of customer service. The pictures turned out great because of a great photographer but the rest of the staff was not happy at all.

4) There is a huge eagles nest in the lobby of the library!! (no thoughts to go with this just a sharing moment)

5) I love being able to read about all the cute baby things people post about their kids on their blogs.

Okay so for those of you who don't know, if you look online you can find some sort of holiday to celebrate everyday of the year. Today I looked just ouf of bordeom and found that today is MEASURE YOUR FEET DAY!!!! Now how cool is that. Granted with my husband studying feet I am probably a little more excited than I would otherwise be. But I thought I would share the joyous news.

So this morning Eric had to be to work at 6 (yep in the AM) so I was lazy and slept in until I had just enough time to get my butt out the door before I had to catch the bus-yep like back in high school. Well I double checked the bus schedule and I had ten more minutes than I thought I had so I even did the dishes. Then I went to the bus stop and waited and waited and waited and waited in the very cold weather. Yep you guessed it the bus was late. And not 5 minutes late but TWENTY MINUTES LATE!!!! Needless to say I was late for work. Then I finally get on the bus. At the bus stop I was chatting with the man who was waiting with me and mentioned that I was late for work. When we got on the bus he mentioned that he hoped I didn't get in trouble for being late. Another man heard that and from the front of the bus was yelling things about not being late for work since there are so many people looking for work and if you are supposed to be there at 9 be there at 8:45 etc etc. A few minutes later a gentleman who is a regular at the library (if I am being honest a regular pain) got on. Could he find his card and let the whole bus get going? Of course not so then we sat there while he found his card. I finally got to work at about 9:15. This was not the best start to my morning but luckily my boss understood and my feet are finally defrosting. I think I will be able to keep all of toes.

Today as I was waiting for the bus there was an elderly woman on the other side of the street waiting to cross. She was very petite and also hunched over so it would be very hard for cars to see her. A gentleman pulled his car to a stop in front of Wal-greens and before going into the store made sure that the elderly woman got across the street okay. When she got to the bus stop the two people who were on the bench got up and made sure she had a place to sit. It was nice to see that in a world that feels like it is losing its morals there are still people who are willing to do the right thing.

Starting last night I was in a awful terrible mood and I couldn't really figure out why completely. This morning I was a little better but I was still kind of snappy. So I am trying to be happier and brighter and I changed my blog background to try and match how I want to feel rather than how I was actually feeling. I don't like being in a bad mood but it is even worse when I am not really sure why I am in the mood that I am in.

I have been reading everyone's blogs about how awful winter is right now and I for one am really doing okay with it. Now this is a shocking thing because I hate cold and snowy weather. But today I had a ton of things to do at home and was grateful for the chance to stay at home and get things done. Today I was able to go through my bedroom closet and the spare bedroom closet (which had spilled out into the entire room). It was so refreshing to get rid of so much junk and stuff that doesn't really have any use or purpose for me. So right now old man winter hasn't really caused me too much grief and my closets are cleaner.

Because of my cyst I have been unable to sit normally or lay on my back in bed. The other day I woke up sleeping on my back and it felt so great. This just made me think about the little things that I have in my life that I take for granted. Even though my body has given me a lot of grief the last couple of months I am grateful for what I can still do. When I stop to consider all of what could be wrong I have to stop and take a moment to be grateful. I am also very grateful that we have health insurance so I can go and get the medical treatement I need when I need it.

So I get really uncomfortable cysts in really uncomfortable places (if you want more details I wil tell you but I promise pretty gross) and have been in pain for about a week and half now because of it. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and was able to have the problem mostly taken care of. Even though I wasn't the best patient, I am so grateful to be able to have doctors and medicine and family to help me feel better. Plus it was kind of nice yesterday to have a whole day to not have to leave the house at all. I even got a lot done considering I couldn't sit down I could only lay down or stand for short amounts of time.

Eric came us with this acronym to help us remember what we wanted to get done for our New Year's Resolutions. It stands for Journal, Scriptures, Prayer, Exercise, Christ and Study for Eric Self-improvement for me. There are all things we wanted to be doing anyways but this way there is a renewed desire to do them more fully. Plus it was a fairly broad way to do it so we could each interpret the way we needed to. For me the focus on Christ can either be working on my calling or my personal goal of something I need to do to come closer to Christ and more like Him. For self-improvement right now I am trying to implement different techniques to help with my anxiety. There is nothing like a New Year's resolution that you are already doing to help you feel like you can keep up with things.

So I thought I would share the highlights of the trip to Utah. I have already posted about a few things but I wanted to do the whole trip at once. So I'll start at the beginning.

Monday Dec 22nd: In the morning we went to Cabelas to try and find paintball things for Eric. We ended up getting stuck and Rebecca, Eric and I had to push the car up the hill. The great thing was it was the wrong hill. We did make it to the store but they were all out of what Eric needed. That night we took Trax up to Salt Lake to see the Lights at Temple Square and to see the movie about Joseph Smith.


Tuesday Dec 23rd: In the morning we were able to go to the Jordan River Temple with Eric's parents and his grandma. It was great to add another temple to the list of ones we have visited together. That afternoon for lunch we went to Braza Grill for some really yummy Brazilan food. I was so full I could do nothing but go home and sleep. That evening we went and met with Eric's dad's mom's step mother. Grandma Christensen. She is 98 years old and still very with it. She started telling stories that were so much fun.



Wednesday Dec 24th In the morning we went to Kneaders for a yummy breakfast. We had to do a bit of shopping and then Eric had us get all bundled up to go sledding. I was scared sily because I hate hills mixed with snow. We had a good time and that evening enjoyed a calm Christmas Eve. Since we were all together we took the chance to get family pictures. Getting a three year old and a puppy to look at the same time took some work.



December 25th Christmas we got up early and opened presents and then ate breakfast. in the afternoon we went to Eric's uncle's house and enjoyed dinner with family.

December 26th For Christmas we took Eric's mom on a girls day. We went and got pedicures and then out to lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home and doing odds and ends getting ready for the baby shower.

December 27th-In the morning Amanda and Jeremy had their baby shower and then that afternoon we went and had a family dinner with Eric's mom's side of the family. It was a day full of food but really good.


Sun Dec 28th- We went to church with Eric's parents and then had dinner at home.

Mon Dec 29th- In the morning I was able to visit with my friend Joella from college and found a new favorite store in Ikea. That afternoon I went to Eagle Mountain to visit with a friend from high school. It was great to see Rheanna. So much has changed since we met almost 10 years ago and it some ways nothing has changed. That evening Eric and i went to Provo to visit with a family I taught on my mission. It was so great to see them. They are doing so well.




Tuesday Dec 30th- We were able to hang out at home and get ready for the long drive home.

It was a great trip and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with family and enjoy the time and make such great memories.