Thankful day

Here are today's 3 things I am grateful for:

1. My friends: The past, present, and future ones. They are so wonderful and can't imagine going through this life without them. They have been there for me through good and bad times, they lift me up and remind me of the love God has for me. Lately I haven't had the time to be around them as much as I'd like but they are so awesome!

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.”

 

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

My two unconditional best friends

 

 

2. Repentance- I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me realize that I need to ask for forgiveness, and for forgiving me even when I commit small, or large mistakes. None of us are perfect but knowing that we can repent, helps us strive to be a better person and example of our savior Jesus Christ. 

Neil L. Anderson said "Repentance is a blessing to all of us. We each need to feel the Savior's arms of mercy through the forgiveness of our sins."

3.  My mother! Today was her birthday. She is such an amazing woman that has taught me so much. She is a great example to me about having charity in our hearts, and showing charity to those around us.

Melany with grandma on her bday

Celebrating with my sister and mom

Thankful heart

Here are today's 3 things I am grateful for:

1. My pending Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree and here is why:
     -I feel it makes me a better mother, wife, friend, and overall better, more conscientious human
      being
     -I get to learn about human behavior, social policy, mental illnesses, child development,
      injustices, the human brain, psychopathology, etc..
     -Empowering those who have been treated unfairly and unjust is truly a priviledge
     -And lastly, because I can do all of the jobs shown below! What a versatile degree. Truly
       a blessing!

2. Books! 
-They teach us so much, take us to far away places, stimulate our brains, are heartfelt, and have been so important in helping me draw closer to the Lord.

I just finished reading this book and loved it!

This book changed my life

3. Jokes/funny cartoons! I can't get enough of them. Plus, I love to laugh!

In the spirit of thanksgiving

At church last Sunday, one of the ladies was talking about how last year, around this time she blogged about what she was thankful for. She did this every day but since I don't have the time for that, I will try my best to blog as much as possible. I know we should be thankful every day and I am, but I felt it would be neat to get in the spirit of thanksgiving and use this mode of communication to do so. I will also encourage Enoch to take some time when possible post what he is thankful for as well. 

To make things simple, I told myself I would only pick 3 things. This is really hard for me because at a very early age I felt it was important to be thankful to God, people, and to life for what has been given and not been given to me. So here are today's 3 things I am grateful for:

1. The Atonement of Jesus Christ- "Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of life, from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment. But the atonement of Christ can lift us up in beauty from our ashes on the wings of a sure promise of immortality and eternal life. He will thus lift us up, not only at the end of life, but in each day of our lives." 

--Bruce C. Hafen, "Beauty for Ashes: The Atonement of Jesus Christ, Liahona", Apr. 1997, 39

2. My family- "We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.  ~Erma Bombeck

3. Humility- "Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real."-Thomas Merton

Milestones and More

Oh, how our little Melany is growing! We are in awe at how much she has changed both physically and developmentally since we first brought her home. She has doubled her birth weighing in at 15 pounds! She is so tall too! She loves to stand and is no longer content lying down, she wants to discover this new world and loves to smile! She melts our heart when she coos and smiles back at us. She is teething now and loves to put anything in her mouth. Today she tried baby food for the first time, she had some apples and although she made some faces at first, she loved it:) In 9 days she turns 4 months! We love to see her personality flourish and enjoy being her parents.

Getting cozy before heading out for a night around the town

Melany loves to eat her teddy bear. Go trojans!

We stopped at my mom's house so she could take a look at her cheetah granddaughter

The cutest cheetah on the block

Cat Family

First time eating baby food from a spoon

Family home evenings

Enoch and I have been trying really hard to take a "break" from our very busy schedules and work on some projects together. He finally convinced me to go work on one of my passions, which is painting.
My concentration when I was doing my undergrad degree was Art. Hence, my love for all kinds of Art: painting, performing arts, photography, and interior design. I am lucky Enoch shares these same likes (except for interior design;). Most of the projects took one day to make, but painting the canvas took a couple of days.  We were very happy with the results.

 

Heart Pizza: wheat dough, turkey, tomatoes, bbq sauce, shredded brocolli

Picasso getting the materials ready for painting

Ta da! Not too shabby for Enoch not having painting experience and me not painting in about 4 years!

I love quotes so I decided to put this quote in our home:)

Military News

Friends and family,

      Earlier this year I realized that the path towards pharmacy I was pursuing was not really where I wanted to be. For a while I was confused and debated what career and education I should pursue. Sonia and I, in fasting and prayer, went to the temple. For those not of our faith I will share that the temple is a place of inspiration where we can be close to God and learn His plans for us.
      During this visit to the Lord's Holy House I felt a strong and distinct feeling that I should recieve miltary language training and become a language analyst. It was a surprise to me because I had never before seriously considered joining the military in any aspect.
     Despite the inspiration I had felt, the road to actually receiving my assignment was not so easy. I spoke to two recruiters who essentially said I was too old and that the language training assignments were too competitive and that I should join with the intention of taking any job.
     Through the help of Sonia we found another local recruiter who admitted the difficulties involved, but still decided to work with me. Not only did I get the linguist analyst job I had been prompted about, but I am able to stay with my family until a couple of weeks before my birthday. (A couple weeks later and I would be ineligible due to my age). I leave on January 24, 2012 for 8 weeks of basic training in Lackland, Texas. I will then fly to Monterey, CA for Defense Language School.
     I'm grateful to God for him guiding me and helping me through every step in this process. I'm grateful for my wife and all her support. I'm also grateful for my recruiter who looked at me and saw a potential airman rather than just a difficult case.

Basic training for 8 weeks: Lackland, Texas

Location of Defense Language School: Monterey, CA

We are excited to call Monterey our home in 2012!

Lessons from a baby

     Lately I've been thinking of how our lives have changed and how blessed I feel to have the family I have. We value morals, giving service to others, kindness, social justice, equality and being able to share life with those you love. I feel grateful to my own mother for instilling in me those values, and to God for allowing me to meet a husband who shares those values as well. I apply these values at home, school and internship.
      I am learning in school about neurobiology and the impact of being a good mother or caregiver has on a child and the development of their brain. In my internship, I work with children who are struggling with challenges like: Autism, learning disabilities, mental illness, and other issues affecting their lives.  I have learned how much mothers and fathers sacrifice for the happiness and well-being of their children. I have learned that the love a parent has for a child is uniquely special and will always be eternal.
     Amidst my school readings, papers, meetings, trainings and internship, my daughter is always on my mind.  She inspires me to help others, be mindful, kind, make righteous choices and to always remember my Heavenly Father. It's a challenge to handle everything that is going on in our lives, but I always take the time to look in to my baby's eyes and count my blessings.

2 1/2 months old

My favorite doll

She always brings a smile to my face