What to call this? Family history? Adventure mishaps? Or the feeling of home?

Russ and I have had so much fun these past two weekends! We normally work at the temple Saturday mornings, but since the temple was closed for cleaning we got to have a mini-vacation.

The weekend before last we had this great plan to visit the San Juan Islands. We can see these islands from the bay that borders our town, but Russ had never been. Since my parents only live about 30 minutes away from the ferry dock we decided to spend the night at their house on Friday, and then head to the ferry from there. Well, turns out that the Navy base was having an open house with airplanes on display celebrating 100 years of Naval Aviation. My dad invited us to go with him. I figured that would be fun and if we only spent about an hour or so at the Airplane Show (as I call it) we would still have plenty of time to go to the San Juan Islands.

On Saturday morning my dad cooked us breakfast. Have I ever mentioned that I have the best dad ever? We were a little late leaving for the

Airplane Show, but we still had plenty of time to go to both she show and the San Juan Islands.

The first thing we saw at the show were these cars.

Russ said "Wow, look at all those Dorloreans!"

I said "They look like the car on 'Back to the Future" (this is a typical Annajean comment, I am so pop-culturally illiterate that its not even funny!)

Russ and my dad then explained to me that the car they used on 'Back to the Future' WAS a Dolorean. Ooops.

As we continued on we saw some information about the plane my cousin will be flying when he gets his wings in just a few months.

We are so excited from him! Even more exciting is that he already has his orders to NAS Whidbey!!!! Not only will he be a 3rd generation Naval Officer but he will be the third generation Naval Officer to work at NAS Whidbey. We were bragging about him to everybody who cared, and being on a Navy Base EVERYBODY cared! It was so nice to have so many people share in our excitement! I LOVE that I grew up in a Navy town!

After that my dad spotted two of the planes his father flew in the Navy.

This one he trained in;

and this one he flew.

My dad also spotted the plane that he flew in the Navy, except it was the Marine version and painted a different color.

Here is a model we found later of the plane my dad flew with the right color and markings.

I had a plan that if we just circled around the airplanes and not doing anything else then we would still have time to visit the San Juan Islands. My eye kept drawing itself to a hanger though and I felt the urge to go in and look around just that hanger, but I didn't want to diverge from my plan.

Then my mom and Russ had to use the restroom, and the restrooms were right next to that hanger. So we went into the hanger, and I figured that would be okay since the other side came out near the entrance to the Airplane Show. As we entered the first thing we saw were a collection of quilts on display. I suddenly remembered something. Several months ago my Aunt Gina entered a quilting competition to commemorate Naval Service, and her quilt won 2nd place! It features photos of the three generations of Navy Aviators in our family; my grandfather, my father, and my cousin, and it is on tour throughout the country.

Upon remembering this I wondered if it would be there, and as soon as I glanced around I spotted it immediately! I announced to my family its presence and my dad (who is very quiet, shy, and soft spoken-until you start talking about politics that is) promptly turned a deep shade of red. After learning that the quilt had won 2nd place and would be on tour throughout the country my dads exact words were "I don't know about this, now my picture is going to be on tour throughout the country." And here it was practically in his own backyard! Even better yet, here it was a short walk from the building he goes to work in every day!

At this moment I knew we would NOT be going to the San Juan Islands that day. And I was completely okay with that.

As if all this wasn't enough, a reporter from the Whidbey Crosswinds was impressed by the presence of my dad with his picture on the quilt that featured 3 generations of Aviators, ALL of whom either had been or would be at NAS Whidbey and decided to include his story in an article she was writing about the quilts. Imagine how red my dad turned after that! I say this: Too bad dad, you deserve your moment of fame!

Here is the article if you would like to see it.

It was a great day. But that isn't even the end! After viewing the quilts my mom asked if I had ever seen my grandfather's name on a memorial in downtown Oak Harbor. This is a memorial that was constructed fairly recently and I had not seen it. My parents hadn't seen it either so we decided to go take a look.

It was such a humbling experience. We were standing in a park that I had spent time at before it was even a park. In front of blackberry bushes that I had grazed off of years before, staring down at my grandfather's name that was there because he had been in this town over 40 years before I was even born, before he even met my grandmother, across the street from the College I had attended for over a year, and no more than a mile and a half from my parent's home. My entire life I had felt unsure about calling Oak Harbor home. I was not born there. My parents were not born there. It always felt like home, but I never felt like I had any deep roots there. But then suddenly I realized that I DO have roots there. My grandfather will now have five members and three generations of his posterity living in the vicinity. I wonder if that ever crossed his mind back in 1945 when he stood upon those soils. And now I really can feel like this IS my home.

Even better yet, this park is walking distance from most of the Navy housing. There is a good chance that my cousin, his wife, and their three young children will live walking distance from this park. I am so excited for my cousin's kids, my grandfather's great-grandchildren, to come to this park and see the name of their ancestor. And after all-isn't that what life is really all about? (Malachi 4:6)

Oh, and P.S. We DID get to go to the San Juan Islands the next weekend. More about that next time!

Since May...really?

I can't believe I haven't posted since May. A lot has happened. I'll have to give the details later, but here are just a few hightlights:

1. We moved (not far, just to the next town over)

2. I worked my first 59 hour work week in my life (yup, the same week that I moved!) and actually survived...okay, there were a lot of tears involved, but I survived.

3. We got a new (to us) car. You do crazy things out of desperation. In the past three years my car has left me stranded on the side of the road three times and almost stranded two times. I currently drive 60 miles every day to get to work and back and every day I was getting nervous. Definitely more about this purchase later!

4. We went on an outing with my parents and saw a fun surprise! I can't give any details about this without spoiling it. You will just have to wait as this merits its own post.

5. Russ got to see the San Juan Islands for the first time. After a year and a half of not being able to take any trips whatsoever we are having more than our fair share of fun! Pictures to come!

For the men

Okay-so I'm pretty sure there aren't any men that follow my blog (my husband can't even seem to hold interest-blogging just isn't a "guy" thing) but I LOVE this song. I think every husband ought to make it his theme song. So this one's for the men...even though they don't know it...

And by the way-this is how I blog. I will not post anything for a month or two, and then I'll do a whole bunch of posts at once. Enjoy it while it lasts!

For the men

Okay-so I'm pretty sure there aren't any men that follow my blog (my husband can't even seem to hold interest-blogging just isn't a "guy" thing) but I LOVE this song. I think every husband ought to make it his theme song. So this one's for the men...even though they don't know it...

http://youtu.be/yLr6G8Xy5uc


And by the way-this is how I blog. I will not post anything for a month or two, and then I'll do a whole bunch of posts at once. Enjoy it while it lasts!

My 42 roommates

I recently commented on a friend's blog that I have had 42 roommates. It occurred to me that she may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I have really had 42 roommates. I even remember all their names, except for one of them. And just to prove it to you here they are:

Set number 1 (First Semester at BYU-I):

Kristin

Christy

Cassie

Karla*

Andrea

Set number 2 (Second and Third Semesters at BYU-I):

Angela*

Stephanie

Charlotte

Charlene

(can't remember this one right now, but only because I'm having a brain freeze)*

Marilyn

Emily

Set number 3 (Missionary roommates and companions-by first name only to protect their identity):

Jenny*

Laura*

Carmen*

Aleyda*

Erin*

Lorna*

Wendy*

Stacy*

Yvette

Robin

Brittney*

Cara

Claudia

Set number 4 (SLC roomates, after the mish):

Brittney (different Brittney than the last set)

Tacy

Abbey

Set number 5 (Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Semesters at BYU-I):

Darlene

Brooke*

Nina

Chong-Suk

Set number 6 (Summer internship in Oregon)

Angie

Brandy

Set number 7 (Seventh and Eighth Semesters at BYU-I):

Eliza*

Trisha

Melissa

Camille

Set number 8 (Kirkland set, after graduation):

Melissa (different Melissa than from the above set)

Courtney

Shayla

Kamie

(The * indicates I shared a bedroom with them.)

Some people have tried to argue with me that I can't count missionary companions as roommates. My response? Hello! Not only did I share a room with them, I was within sight and hearing distance from them 24-7 (except while in the bathroom/shower of course).

And here are some fun fact about my roommates:

0 of them I was friends with before we became roommates

1 of them was in my wedding

1 of them is currently engaged

2 of them had the name of Melissa

2 of them had the name of Brittney

2 of them influenced me to serve a mission

2 of them are not members of my faith

2 of them I have lost contact with and DESPERATELY want to reconnect

3 of them have blogs that I regularly follow

4 of them I ran into in unexpected places (one at the Salt Lake City institute, one at the distribution center in Canada, and 2 at the temple open house)

6 of them served missions, but not with me

6 of them speak English as a second language (some better than others)

7 of them have pursued post-graduate work

7 of them are citizens of a country different than my own

12 of them I have considered to be among my very best friends

13 of them have kids (that I know of)

14 of them are not married but would like to be

18 of them are fluent in a language other than English

19 of them served missions

22 of them are married (that I know of)

28 of them are college graduates (that I know of)

30 of them I am friends with on facebook

40 of them are members of my faith

42 of them I have cried with, laughed with, loved, or been angry at

42 of them have influenced me to become a better person

Comfort

One thing I'm pretty sure most of you don't know about me is that I came pretty close to marrying somebody else before I met Russ. It was somebody I had known, loved, trusted, and admired for 6 years of my life. You can only imagine my excitement when we went from being "friends" to being "a couple". I was 24 years old. I had been home from my mission just over a year. I was only a few semesters away from getting my degree. The timing in my life was perfect. We began to speak of marriage more and more often. He began to speak to me more and more often about his own fears and reservations. You can only imagine the heartbreak I went through when he very abruptly ended things. At the end of the Summer of 2006 I returned to school with tear-filled eyes and a broken heart. I had two very brief phone conversations with him that Fall and after that he never spoke to me again-even the one time I saw him in person he would not speak to me. The heartbreak I felt was more than I could possibly bear. At that time more than any other I had to call upon the atonement of Christ to mend a horribly broken heart. I also cried all the time. One of the places I cried the most was in the temple. It was such a peaceful place, but all I could think about while I was there were the incredible blessings of the Sealing Ordinance that almost could have been mine. Then one day, while crying in the temple, I felt to read this scripture:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and ^akindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and ^bpalms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb... And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came ^aout of great ^btribulation, and have^cwashed their robes, and made them ^dwhite in the ^eblood of the^fLamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his ^atemple: and he that ^bsitteth on the throne shall ^cdwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither ^athirst any more; neither shall the ^bsun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of ^awaters: and God shall wipe away all ^btears from their eyes.

And then I understood that as I was there serving in the temple, at that very moment, God was wiping the tears from my eyes. And God did deliver His promise. I did mary in the temple, to a worthy Elder in Israel, just as He promised I would. I vowed then that I would never doubt the Lord's promises again. I am sorry to say that I made a vow that I have not been able to keep. I am learning though, continually learning. In church today I was re-reading another scripture that I think will have as much of an impact on me as the one I just mentioned did:

And then shall that which is written come to pass: Sing, O^abarren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into ^bsinging, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the ^cdesolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy ^astakes; ... For the ^amountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my ^bkindness shall not ^cdepart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy ^astones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And ^aall thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the ^bpeace of thy children...No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the ^aservants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

Now I know this scripture is really about the gathering of Israel, but it really speaks to me personally on so many levels. It tells me to sing or be happy in the situation I am in. It tells me that my work is to enlarge the stakes of Zion. It tells me that the comfortless and afflicted will have treasures given to them. It tells me that, yes, there are more unwed women who have children than those that the married wife has, but MY children will be taught of the Lord and have great peace. It tells me that no weapon (and I take this to mean the evil and conspiring works of men, not just physical weapons) formed against me will prosper. It tells me that this is my HERITAGE as a servant of the Lord. However, my favorite message from this scripture is that the Lord doesn't rebuke us for feeling afflicted or not comforted. He simply lays out what our blessings are and acknowledges our pain. And isn't that what He's always done? Isn't that what he did with Lazarus' sisters only moments before he raised Lazarus from the dead? He wept with them. And then, in His own very special way, and with healing in His wings, He wiped the tears from their eyes.

A few thoughts on modesty

I am very much an advocate for modesty. I believe in modesty. I very much believe that our bodies are sacred temples and that we ought to treat them as such. This does not mean that we have to dress like nuns or uncomely. I believe that one of the ways we stand as witnesses of Christ is in how we dress and how our image portrays ourselves to others. How we dress also shows how we perceive ourselves. I saw the following video on a blog I follow. I thought it was enlightening on how we as women have a tremendous amount of power and how the way we dress has an effect on everybody around us.

That being said I now want to share with you what I think is hands-down the BEST discourse on modesty. It is from a fireside given at BYU-Idaho by Susan A. Bednar in September 2001. You can read it here.

I love womanhood. I feel like I'm just beginning to understand our profound influence on the world that we carry as women. I pray that each of us can live worthy of our responsibilities and that we can make choices to influence others for good.