Our ba....I mean toddler

Our son has started to walk, finally. I know what you're thinking--we're in trouble now. I don't really see that as the case; at least not yet. He will be 15 months old next week. He was 10 lbs. when he was born and has been the size of a child twice his age his whole life, all thanks to my genes in the mix. Let me tell you, it is tough carrying around a tall and skinny, but heavy, baby--especially when kids his size or smaller (that are older) are walking. So finally, these last couple weeks he has gone from walking little and mostly crawling to mostly walking and crawling only if he fell, trying to walk. He has been fun to watch grow up and develop; I can say that now that my wife's and my arms are getting a break from having to carry his dead weight everywhere.

Sickness is not fun....

especially when it is your wife. She has been sick for the last week,  and, for the most part, I think I've done a pretty good job holding down the fort here at home. I don't have many cooking skills, but I gave her everything I had while she wasn't feeling well. Because she's hooked on veggies, I even made her a stuffed pepper with ground turkey and melting, gooey cheese. I was so proud of myself for being creative.

Luckily I, nor the baby, have gotten what she had. I think that's because I don't get sick easily and the baby was getting her anti-bodies from her milk. So, in closing, all is well, or at least getting there as she is feeling better today.

I'm addicted

My wife thought it would be fun to sign up for the free month trial of Netflix (the streaming plan). We signed up the day before Thanksgiving, and by Friday, the day after, we had watched about eight movies; that doesn't beat the record, I'm sure, but it beats our record. Needless to say, it has been fun, especially since we don't own a TV and the only way we watch movies is on her laptop; however, now her DVD drive is screwed up or worn out--because of all of the movies/Gilmore Girls episodes we've watched on it--and it skips a lot during playback which is really annoying. With Netflix, you just hit the play button, provided the movie is available to stream. It has been fun, I just know we would get nothing done if we had a membership on a regular basis.

This Blogging Assignment

I have to admit that this blogging assignment hasn't been half bad. I dare say it has been fun; although, I can't say for sure that I will continue to write in it after this semester, but it has been fun. Who knows, right? I'm a numbers guy and so far I have had more fun in my writing classes than my science/math classes. Kind of strange how that works huh? I guess future semesters will be interesting as I get further into my major. I will say that I still prefer a multiple choice test or a test like that to an essay test. I can't write when forced like that. I like to do that at home on my own time, when I am able to work on it a little here and little there, and let what I want to say, or how I would like my writing to flow, to develop in my head for a while. I've noticed an improvement in my writing and it has been good for me to learn the basics like grammar, etc. to help improve my writing.

Time

It is getting to the point in the semester where there is never enough time for everything that needs to be done--at least it feels like there isn't enough. What if classes started every two months, wouldn't that be nice? Forget the idea of loading up your schedule all at once, no more mid-terms, or other assignments or tests coming all at once for all of your classes. Why not start 2 or 3 classes every two months? Then the assignments and tests would be staggered instead of all at once, there would be shorter lines for finals, and other tests in the testing center, because the entire university wouldn't be trying to take a test at the same time, just the few who signed up for that four-month class period. It would help you get your degree done faster. While classes are ending and getting harder, other classes would be just beginning and easy for now. it would be a constant flow of learning instead of stop and go with the semester's as they are with breaks inbetween. and if you did need a break, just wait and couple of months, finish the classes you are in now, and then sign up for more once they are done.

I don't like how everything comes at once in all of my classes. When I realize I have a test or a big assignment in one, it turns out its the same story for all of my classes. Oh, if I were in charge....

The Real Story

Another week has passed and, once again, I have nothing specific to write about. Towards the end of the week, both my wife and I got sick, because our son got sick earlier this week and gave it to us in payment for his care. Oh, the joys of parenthood.

I learned something pretty cool, at least to me, in my religion class. We are studying the New Testament, and in this semester, we only go over the gospels. My professor explained that in scriptures, descriptions are deliberate when they are included in the text by their authors. Have you ever thought about what Eve looked like? Was she blonde, brunette, tall, short, strong, anorexic, etc.? The reason we don't know is because her physical description was never included by the authors of the creation and Garden of Eden stories. A description of what Eve looked like is not important--almost irrelevant--therefore, the author chose not to include a description of her in the text..

With this concept in mind, we discussed the birth story of the Savior as described in Luke 2, and more specifically the traditional picture we have of the stable, manger, and swaddling clothes. Why were the descriptions of the inn, the stable, the manger, the wise men, etc. included?

A stable in the time of the Savior and in Bethlehem was a cave, which they would put animals in and partially cover the opening with rocks to give them protection in the night. The manger was not a cute little wooden object that most of us put on display each Christmas season with our nativity scenes. It was a trough carved in stone, sometimes simply dug out in the side of the cave where the herders and shepherds would place food for the animals. The swaddling clothes that Mary placed the baby Jesus in after his birth were strips of fabric, not a blanket or quilt like we use today, to swaddle the baby and keep him secure. The use of strips or pieces of fabric was also the way that dead bodies were treated and wrapped with embalming agents (such as myrhh--gifted to the Savior by the wise men). With this more historically accurate image of the birth story, we are able to see similarities in the place of birth and also of death of the Savior. The author of Luke painted the picture that this baby, the Savior of mankind, was born.......to die.

The descriptions are there for a reason, the scriptures are not a best-selling novel that the authors put as much description into the text as possible to make it more interesting--no, the descriptions are there to help us understand the symbolisms and lessons that the authors, and ultimately God, would have us learn, and it is up to us to take note of these things as we read and study the scriptures ourselves.

a.k.a. Life

I don't have anything specific that I wanted to write this week. I think it is because I've gotten to the point that when it is the weekend, I check out of all things school. I don't have any dates that I can write about, I don't go to any parties; the weekends are for family at this point in my life. During the week my schedule, and my wife's schedule consist of what one of us can get done while the other watches the baby. I didn't think that this type of a routine would be so difficult--that is until I lived it. I wish that things could be different. I wish that, instead of my wife being done with her master's, that I could be the one done with at least my bachelor's and she could still be in school.

I think the hardest thing about all of these "wants" and "wishes" is that everything had to be the way it is now, or else I would have been in a completely different place, or stage, in my life. I can wish all I want for things to be different, but what I really need to do is just accept, and appreciate more, the way things are. If my wife weren't finished with her master's, she probably would have been younger. If she were younger, she wouldn't have been working at BYU for as long as she has, thus allowing me not only the opportunity to study here, but also to get a free education like I am. While I was in high school, my school district had several programs at each high school, and one school that was a vocational school. I was able to get college credit while I participated in one of the programs, and had I not gained those 30 credits hours in high school, and enrolled in a plumbing apprenticeship program here in UT after my mission, I would not of met the requirements needed to transfer and apply to BYU, let alone be accepted--even with my wife being a full-time staff.

I could go on and on about how the puzzle pieces have come together and how doors were opened when we, or I, thought that nothing could be done. It is amazing to me how much we are cared for and watched over by the Lord, even on some of the smallest, and simplest matters in life. I know I don't show or communicate enough gratitude as I could, and that is something I plan to work on. It's crazy to think how much we get wrapped up in trivial things, a.k.a. life, and how easy it is to take things for granted.

The Lord has had His hand in my life throughout many aspects as I look back. The greatest time of all is finding and marrying my wife. If either of us had not of served our missions--she to Paris, France, and me to Campinas, Brazil--we never would have met and obviously would not be married today. I knew before I went I my mission that I would learn throughout my time in Brazil why I had to meet the particular people that I did in each of my areas, and that I had a responsibility to meet specifically them. I always thought it was for the few people that I was privileged to be an instrument in their conversion, but it was more than that.

My wife was working here at BYU and I was living and working up in Salt Lake City after my mission, and even though we only lived 40 mins apart, we never would have met each other if it weren't for a member in the last area of my mission, named Joyce, who randomly found my wife's email address on her mission website. Joyce was trying to learn English and French, and she wanted to write someone who would be willing to help her. After several months of emailing between Joyce and my wife, and also between Joyce and I, I emailed my wife because Joyce thought we would be good friends.We found out that we lived so close, and two months after the first email, we met and three weeks and a day after that first date, we were engaged. There was no other way that my wife and I could have found each other except by this member thousands and thousands of miles away on the other side of the world.

The Lord does know us; He does care about us, and He does want us to be happy. Everyone has received blessings from Him, and I hope that we can all remember His hand in our lives and show/tell Him how grateful we are for those blessings and guidance. I know I need to.