Hurrah for Israel!

I could spend days on this post. How does one simply recount their adventures to the Holy Land in just one sitting? All I can say is that I had a marvelous time with some wonderful friends and associates. Here is just a glimpse of the things that I saw and did while I was in Israel.

At the Dead Sea. Yes, the mud made my skin so soft and smooth. I'm in the green headband!

While awaiting the official group shot, lets just get a candid one! What up to my homies in DC!

The Dome of the Rock. Wowza! Muslims say this is where Muhammad was lifted into heaven.

Sure I paid 5 bucks to ride a camel by the tour bus but you know what they say...when in Israel, ride a camel...#yolo

Kathy and I in the Lazarus's tomb. What up, Laz!

Masada, the place where Herod built many palaces. Wanted to do a creative picture, so here we are looking like a bunch of crazies. Weird Americans.

Friends from DC at the Jerusalem Center. I love my peeps.

Selfie in front of the Garden Tomb.

Damascus Gate. Don't you love my pigtails?

One more selfie...Jeru in the background.

Bet'Sheian. Roman ruins at its finest.

Happy New Year from Tiberius!

Bethlehem. Spirit was so strong there. I kind of look awkward, whatevs.

Hezekiah's tunnel. A former irrigation system back in the day.

I look so serious here. Or reflective. Or hot. You take your pick. 

Sure we may look like we belong to an Arab polygamous family...but we're not.

Roman toilets. Yowza.

Happy New Year (again) from the Sea of Galilee. I thought this pic was pretty clever.

Another Synagogue.

Getting tough with Syria...pictured in the way way back!

Just call him Captain Boyd!

Greetings from Capernaum! Where Jesus performed miracles and taught the bread of life sermon.

Ok, this is awesome. Pat on the back to me...and instragram for touching it up a bit.

Mediterranean Sea in the background.

The Garden of Gethsemane. No words.

Some more Roman ruins action. Jumping pictures are a must.

The streets of Jerusalem.

The group at the Jordan River.

Cartwheels are also a must.

Scriptures study, singing, laughing, dance parties galore, nativity sets, shalom, wally, Samir, falafel, diet coke, call to prayer, story of my life, traffic jams, spotlights, fun, a trip of a lifetime.

Thank you, Israel. A must see. 

Yay for Melissa!

My awesome roommate, Melissa graduated from nursing school a few weeks back! I am so proud of her. She also was chosen from her peers to give a speech at graduation. She did a wonderful job!

I'm so blessed to live with/know these lovely ladies!

Selfie Swag

Selfie is the word of 2013. Did you know that?

Anyway, it's nice to know that students sometimes want to take selfies with me, their teacher. 

Exhibit A

And exhibit B

Most popular teacher? Probably not. But these selfies convince me to think I may have some type of swag amongst my student population.

The belle of the bell choir?

Back in September I signed up for the stake handbell choir that plays each Christmas at the LDS visitors center in DC in addition to our stake Christmas program. 

Why did I do this? Well it should come as no surprise that I'm not one to back down from a challenge. Also, the bell choir always seemed like the nerdy, yet cool thing to do!

We started practicing in October and every Sunday it was me with the bell choir. Reading music again challenged me but it was fun to do something different and to be musically involved. I played Middle C, B flat and B natural. 

Compared to other choirs, this was a big deal. When I sing in a choir, if I don't come in or get my note right, it doesn't matter so much. With this choir, it matters! I easily felt needed in this 14 person bell choir! And that presented some challenges in addition to some perks.

This experience also allowed me to share the Gospel with others. I invited about 25 coworkers and 4 of them came to my performance. With the others, it led to some discussion about temples and about the LDS faith as a whole. 

Here I am below in action. 

And if you want to see some footage, check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5mXYLcEOio

Note: you see me at the very beginning on the right. Not the greatest clip of me but you get the idea.

So was I the belle of the bell choir? No. But it's a nice thought, don't you think?

In His hands

Sometimes I have some pretty vivid dreams. I never share them publicly through the blogosphere but feel like I need to for this specific post. 

A few months ago I had a dream that I was spending some time with Christ. I had the impression that I shadowed him for the day though I don't recall our exact activities. However, I can easily infer that the time we spent together was time serving others. The scene I remember the most was when Christ was getting nailed to the cross. I laid down by him, ready to take part in my own crucifixion. The nails began to press into my own flesh and it hurt so much. The Savior told me that I didn't need to do this, that it wasn't my place, and that it was His burden to bear. I nodded my head in resignation and I no longer had nails driven into my hands. The next scene in my dream immediately goes to me watching the Savior on the cross. The nails have already been placed, his head is looking heavenward. I stood there crying. And that was the end of my dream.

I didn't understand the full extent of this dream until weeks later when I realized what it symbolized and what it means to me personally. I wake up and think about this dream and wonder what applications I can take from it.

Here's what I know so far: I am in His hands. In the last few months I have felt some intense loneliness, doubt, and at times despair. Luckily I come out of these moods rather quickly and move on with my day, thinking of things I'm grateful for or trying to think of others. But during these moments, I cry out to my Savior and ask that my burdens, fears, and doubts be removed from me. In those instances I feel so much peace as I know that I don't have to bear them alone. I know that he already suffered for my trials and grief and sins and I can take comfort in His enduring love for me.

I don't know how things will work out or why life hasn't turned out the way I've wanted it to, but I know I am in His hands. And when I choose to place my trust and faith in those once wounded but now perfected hands I know I will be ok. 

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that we are all in His loving and giving hands. 

Feeling Cute

So I just felt really cute last night before going to the temple. And since I had no man to really show off for, here I am showing off for my blog audience, however sparse you may be.

And yes, I'm growing my hair out and it's kinda fun!

I feel like a tween

This has been on my mind lately...that I feel like a tween. I know, it sounds a bit awkward, but isn't that what being a tween is all about?

First of all, I am happy to report that I am no longer 11 years old and I don't have the unattractive pre-adolescent body that I used to have.  (no offense, 11 year olds).

So what do I mean?

First, some context. I've been reflecting a lot on the fact that I have lived here for a long time! 4.5 years to be exact. When I moved to DC I was a cute 24 year old who had no idea what a real job entailed. For about 2 years I basked in the Golden Era of DC singledom. And then it got kind of old. I'm at this point now where the DC scene doesn't hold the same glow and many of my friends are moving, getting married, having babies, getting further education, etc. So, what am I left with? A bunch of 24 year olds who are jittery to live the high life of the city. I love 24 year olds, don't get me wrong, but I'm 29 and it's just a different stage of life.

So here I am caught between worlds. I go to my ward--with a bunch of youngins'--but I'm not quite old enough to be in the mid singles activities either.What's a girl to do?

Well the good news is that this tween thing is really just a first world problem. But I had to get it off my chest anyway...