Living the Dream

My cousin Natalie always "It will all work out." My parents always say that when you look back in life, you'll see that things did work out. I think I'm finally getting old enough that I can really start to have that experience. :)

If you asked me a year ago where I wanted to be now (you know, in the midst of my quarter-life crisis as I tried to figure out what to do after grad school), I would have told you that I really wanted to stay in Provo. I wanted to stay at BYU, I wasn't ready to give that up. But at the same time, I wanted to be done with school. I wanted to get a job doing research. If I could have picked any topic to focus on, I would pick marriage education, like what I'd studied in my program, but I realized I would be lucky to even get to research a family topic. I didn't even think there was anyway I could use my writing skills in the relationship education arena, besides an occasional post in the blog I made for my family life education class.

But here I am. Living in Provo, working my absolute dream job, researching marriage education and also having the chance to write for a marriage ed blog (and even run social media on the topic!). It occurred to me yesterday that I really am living out my dreams right now. I could not have designed a more perfect situation for myself, and I am so grateful that God guided me to this position. Looking back, I don't think it was a coincidence that I was nudged away from family therapy and onto the marriage education pathway. I don't think it was a coincidence things lined up so that I learned how much I loved research and self-directed methods of education.

Things really did work out. They always do, eventually. I need to remember this in the other areas of my life, too.

Adventures in Florida

This last week I had the chance to go to the American Psychological Association's national convention to present a paper on work-family issues. One of my co-authors and friends Jeffrey Hammond came with me. We flew into Orlando on Wednesday, presented Thursday, and flew back on Friday morning. It was a quick trip but we still managed to have fun. :)

First, the conference. It was HUGE! I couldn't get over how many people were there, and it was spread out over multiple ginormous conference center places.

 Our presentation went pretty well, I think! It was my first paper presentation at a professional conference, so I was a little nervous going in, but it all worked out. :)

After the convention, we headed over to Cocoa Beach, which is near Cape Canaveral. We could see the NASA building out in the distance as we drove along. First we stopped at Ron Jon's Surf Shop to pick up some trip souvenirs. (I got a cheap pair of flip flops since I'd forgotten to bring any... and a cute little sand dollar pendant necklace too). Then we headed to the beach! I wish I had pictures to share... Maybe I can put some up later. We got some, but they were all on Jeff's camera. Jeff taught me how to play paddle ball (kinda like ping pong or tennis but just on the beach, and the ball doesn't really bounce on the sand so you have to keep it in the air). I'm not the most athletically gifted person but I got better as we went along. Jeff told me I did pretty good for a girl, haha. Turns out paddle ball is especially fun to play if you're out in the water.

When we got hungry, we drove over to Downtown Disney. It was PACKED. I can only imagine what the theme park is like this time of year! We went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. We got there around 9 I think, but we didn't get in until 9:40 (I guess that's not too bad). Rainforest Cafe is fun. It's decorated like a rainforest (okay, okay, I know, duh, right?) with leaves and flowers hanging from every inch of the ceiling. There are displays of animatronic critters here and there. Every so often they move around and make noise.

We sat by the elephants.

Every twenty minutes or so there is a "rainstorm"-the lights dim, thunder roars, and all the animals freak out. It's pretty cool. Oh, and also there are some giant aquariums scattered around... We got to sit right next to this one. Since we were at a Disney park (well, I'm guessing that's why...), all the "Finding Nemo" kinds of fish were inside. We saw Nemo, Dory, Bubbles, and Gil.

 I could never get over how green Florida is. There are SO MANY tall trees every where! I felt like I was in a jungle. The beach was so beautiful too! The water is a lot warmer than the Pacific Ocean (Jeff says it's about 15 degrees warmer on average) which is nice. Also the beaches tend to be flatter, so you can wade out farther before you get to the really deep ocean part (a big plus if you're not the strongest swimmer, like me!)

I had a blast on the trip! I just wish it could have lasted longer. Someday I hope I can go back again and stay for a while and just play!