October 2015 Edition: November 2013

Friday, November 29, 2013

And Lickety Split, We Hear Jingle Bells.

Thanksgiving this year was memorable because it was hectic and full of loved ones from both sides of the extended families.

The Camp family celebrated Thanksgiving at 1:00 pm with a lunchtime feast. We ate amazingly well, as we much expected to do and did not hold back on seconds. After our bellies were full and we got to converse with everyone, we loaded our little clan back into the car to drive to Tio Hector's house for another (yes, ANOTHER) full feast awaiting us there for dinner.

It was a difficult predicament we put ourselves into; the Juan and Stacia Chavez family are NOT ones to say no to a delicious morsel, and though our bellies were full, we eyed the Thanksgiving spread like we had been fasting all day. I would have been pretty proud of my self-restraint at the buffet, but alas my taste buds were shouting and I could not hear the voice of reason in the background, luring back into sensibility. I came home with a bit of a tummy ache after the party due to two teeny slices of pie I had eaten in haste before leaving.

Oh Thanksgiving, how you treat us well yet bring out the savages in us.

Speaking of Black Friday...

Juan is out and about right now because he loves the thrill of a sale and likes to be in the frenzy of crowds every once in a while. As long as he gets his fill now, when prices are low, I'm all for it.

Here are a few pictures of our holiday:

Siena, posing as a pilgrim for Canyon Crest's Pilgrim's Day on Tuesday.

I was asked to bring seven flower arrangements to the Chavez feast, and since I spaced out on Wednesday afternoon that the wholesaler was closing early, I was left to forage for most of the goods. Luckily, with Tristan's help we were able to find most of the "fillings" around her yard, her neighbor's yard, and my yard. To finish it up to look nice, I purchased a $9 pre-made bouquet at Smith's and divided the cut flowers amongst the containers. It was awesome how it all came together. I will try to do that every year, depending on the weather.

Crafting a turkey and a Thanksgiving tree at the kid table

Three hours later...

Bow for Qiana we made from Grandma Camp's lace stash

Tomorrow morning we'll be driving down to carry on the annual tradition of scouting out and chopping down a Christmas tree. Hopefully the weather is as nice as it was today.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving Eve

It's the eve before Thanksgiving and I feel compelled to write my blessings and the true sentiments of my heart. Who cares if it's cliche and if I ever read this post again, but it's a list that's long overdue to be written.

I'm thankful that I have a healthy family... every one of us. Illness or physical limitation is something we don't have to live with day after day and I can't imagine how hard it must be for others with those trials.

We've been blessed with a good education, a good job, and a warm home. I sometimes feel discouraged because we are in major student loan debt, Juan works long hours, and we're still renting. I just yearn to put paint on a wall! It's a ridiculous thing to aspire to, and I feel weak and susceptible to prioritizing those things over others that carry more importance. However, I'm grateful for the moments that provide self-analysis like Thanksgiving and other holidays, taking the sacrament every Sunday, and even (dare I say it...) pretty rough trials that bring you to an awareness of what you really have/had.

I'm grateful for the skills I have been taught or have learned through experience. Siena and Qiana think that we can fix almost anything simply because I've been able to sew, or hammer a nail into, or repurpose whatever was broken. Those skills were not just taught by my parents (who really did put in the most effort in getting those teachings and experiences into my life) but were also taught through the generations. That is quite a treasure, to know that your talents or skills come largely in part by a network of ancestors pooling in their labors to the education of their posterity.

Today, I feel especially grateful for the proximity of family, even for the random third cousins that I see once every four years or so. I was looking at these pictures my brother scanned and my aunt sent to the extended relatives:

We're not sure on what occasions these were taken, but it's clear that we come from a close-knit group of people. I'm also thankful for the feeling that I am cared and loved for by people beyond my living relatives. Many of the people in the pictures have passed on, but I am grateful for their influence in my life and there have been times when I've felt their proximity.

My husband and our children are mine--today--tomorrow--and forever-- and I don't think you could get a better gift than that. I don't have to worry about "losing" anything just because of death. Life goes on. Life really DOES go on. It's kind of a cool thing to think that my dad will get to see and talk and be with his father again and that my great grandparents have a future together again.

I am grateful for the time and place I am living in this world. I'm grateful for vaccines and medical breakthroughs, the speed of communication, worldwide accessibility, an huge library of the arts (music, lit., film, photo, art, etc.,) modern transportation, and most importantly, the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness. It feels like we've all won the Roulette of eras.

Nothing really matters if you don't know know that you are a child of God who loves you and who created you individually for a specific purpose. He has blessed me with that knowledge and a map for what I can do with that knowledge. It's an enormous gift. You can't help but feel relieved and okay with the way this life turns its corners and does its loop de loops because as long as you are following the map you're given, why worry? That's not to be confused with following blindly. It should be a matter of personal, deep and intentional study. You have to put your faith in something. Why not put it in God who does not make mistakes? There can be a million things confusing me and trying to distract me from a real and concrete truth; but I'm grateful for the map to remind me that it doesn't have to make sense at the time but if I take the small and simple steps to seeing truths each day and attributing them to God, those confusions will be resolved. That new clarity will open my view greater than it would have been if I had negated the will of God in my life.

(I knew I would be writing this)
THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS TO WRITE DOWN! I've gotta call it a night, as it is 1:00 in the morning.

Happy (official) Thanksgiving!