Thunderbirds

Every year, when the Air Force cadets graduate, the Thunderbirds put on a show. Here in the Springs it is tradition for everyone who can to go outside and watch. It's pretty impressive! I tried to film them this year to give you an idea of how awesome they are... But you're probably better off watching clips on youtube. :) ... No really, you are. My camera apparently can't zoom in, and on screen the tiny dots that are the planes aren't very impressive. Still, I took the video, so I'm going to share it, dang it!

After the planes' entrance, they disappeared for a LONG LONG time while this little helicopter jetted around. I don't know if that was part of the show or the Secret Service detail (Pres. Obama was the commencement speaker this year) but I got this awesome little clip for ya:

Parable of the Contact Lenses

For the past several summers, I have worked as an optometric technician at my dad's office. One of my responsibilities there is to teach people how to wear contacts. This is actually something I really enjoy. People tend to get really excited the first time they get their contacts in and they can finally see without glasses. :)

Most people who come in have never seen someone get trained for contact lenses. Their experience with contacts involves watching people pop them in and out of their eyes, easy as pie. What they don't realize is that it takes a lot of practice to get to that point. A lot of my trainees expect to be able to get their contacts in on their first try, or even their second. But it takes that majority of trainees quite a few tries before they get the contacts in. That is NORMAL. We usually block off an hour for contact lenses trainings. Some lucky few do get their contacts in on their first try, but most take longer-anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to a few hours. No matter how fast they learn, most trainees are convinced they are the slowest contact trainees ever. They apologize over and over again for being so slow. Some of them get frustrated that they can't learn faster. What they don't realize is that they are doing fine-in fact, they are doing better than they think! Since they don't have experience with contact lense trainings, they can't see their experience in the proper light. I can. I do these things all the time. But when I reassure trainees that they are doing great, they don't always believe me. Sometimes they think I am just being nice.

Here's the other thing: it really doesn't matter how long it takes them to learn. Take a person who learned in five minutes and a person who learned in three hours and compare them one or two months down the road. You probably won't be able to tell which was which. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get the process down, it just matters that you keep trying and keep practicing until you can do it. Your end results will be the same.

I was stressing out recently about something I've been going through lately, something that requires me to do some growing and stretching. I've been frustrated at times, trying to get it down. But my experience training people to wear contacts came into my mind. I realized that in much of life, we are treading new ground for ourselves. Sometimes we haven't seen anyone else ever do this before, and we wonder how we are doing compared to others. Maybe we have seen others go through similar situations before, and we judge ourselves by how well we are doing in relation to their experiences.

But that is not how God judges. He knows that we all learn at different speeds. He knows that each situation is different, and He knows EVERY detail of everything that we go through. God does not judge us in relation to each other, He judges us with infinite mercy in relation to how well we are improving and growing for ourselves. He knows that with His help and with His grace, we can conquer all challenges before us. We can master the things we seek to study and learn. We need to have patience with ourselves, because God has patience with us. And from His perspective, we are likely doing better than we think. We just need to keep trying and keep doing our best. If we do, then we can become what we need to become.

Growing Up

You always believe in other people, but that's easy. Sooner or later, you gotta believe in yourself, too, because that's what growing up is. It's becoming who you want to be. You have to try. -Gary, The Muppets
     Who knew that a quote from the Muppets could be such food for thought? Hahaha, but it was for me! Growing up is becoming who you want to be. As children, we all dream of what our lives are going to be like. We make big plans-to be a veterinarian, an astronaut, a movie star. When we get a little older, our dreams change. In school and then especially in college we discover our gifts and talents and we chart a more sure course. We start taking specialized  classes and training for careers that are a little more realistic. 
     But at some point, the preparation ends. It's our turn to be on stage and live life for real. And that's where I'm at. It's my time to put those dreams to work and actually make something of my life. It's time for me to become who I want to be. I CAN if I want to and if I truly put my mind to it.
Not all childhood dreams come true, of course, but every kid dreams of being a hero-the good guy in their favorite stories. (Well, at least MOST kids. :) If we do our best to make the world a better place, we CAN make a difference, even if it's a small one, even if it's one that doesn't go down into a history book.
     Sorry that this is a little cheesy... I'm writing this during the ending scene of the Muppets and all that cheesy, happy finale music is getting to me. ;)

Updates!

So the last couple weeks have been pretty eventful!

This happened:

Yep, two years of hard work have officially paid off. I am a master of Marriage, Family, and Human Development! Haha, funny story on that... For my last class (Outreach in Family Life Education) we had a chance to be interviewed by the communications students on our "areas of expertise". The communications professor introduced me to my interviewer by calling me a "marriage preparation expert." The girl (happily married and a couple months away from delivering her first child) asked, "Wait, you're not married? How can you be an expert on marriage preparation if you're not married?" Hey, first of all, I wasn't the one who said I was an expert... that was the communications professor! And second of all, I DO know all about marriage preparation-I'm probably better versed in that than some people who have been married for a while and started to forget the preparation stage! :)

After graduation, I successfully moved back to Colorado. I have loved being with my family again! I've taken things kind of easy the last couple weeks, but now we're kicking it into high gear as we get ready to move to a new house later this month.

In other exciting news, last night this happened:

We fulfilled a years-long dream of seeing the Wicked musical!!! It was AMAZING! It way surpassed my expectations. The plot is awesome-I love how they tie everything into the original Wizard of Oz story. The music was excellent-no one ever missed a note! The sets were spectacular. I want to go again!!! They really need to make a Wicked movie so I can at least somewhat relive the experience over and over again in my living room.

So basically, life is going pretty well right now. It's looking like it's going to be a fun summer. :)

Finished

I just went up on campus to turn in the very last assignment of my academic career.

You'd think I'd be feeling relieved and excited, but instead, I just feel sad. I've loved my life here at BYU. I am really going to miss it. Graduate school has seriously been the best two years of my life, and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be a part of this program.

I have started packing up my carrell at the grad lab. That about tears my heart in two!!! For the past two years, I have basically LIVED in the grad lab. Not just me, but everyone in my program. I am going to miss hanging out with everyone there everyday... but even if I stuck around, things would change. Most people from my cohort are leaving and moving on to bigger and better things.
School isn't meant to last forever. Life isn't meant to be static. I keep reminding myself that I've felt a little sad every time I've reached a transition point in my life... going from elementary school to middle school, from middle school to high school, from high school to college (well... okay, I wasn't all that sad to leave the pits of high school, haha), and even from an undergraduate program to a graduate program! But every time, the next stage has ended up being so much better than the last one, and I haven't regretted moving forward. I know that will probably happen now too... It is just so hard when I don't know what the next step is going to be!!!

But we will see what happens. I have started putting applications in to social science researcher positions around the country. Hopefully I can find a job somewhere and then go from there.
My freshman year, there was a quote hanging in the common room by President Packer on having faith. I tried to find it just now. I think this is a longer version of what I've seen before:

"Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counseled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counseled me to do.

I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counseled to go. He said, "The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning." I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: "You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you."
I guess I am learning to take a few steps into the darkness. Any second now, the light will show up and help me see what to do next.

Hair Again

So my blond look never really grew on me. So today I went in and got it fixed. :) I am back to my normal color with just a few subtle highlights. And I LOVE it. :)

Ready

I caught myself saying something I didn't expect to this week.

In a conversation with my roommate, I said, "You know, I still don't know where I'm going to be in a few months or where I will  find a job. But I'm ready to graduate and move on to the next thing. I don't know what life is going to bring next, but I'm ready to move forward and find out."

It was one of those things where you don't realize how true it is until you say it out loud. But I really feel like I am ready! Somehow over the last week or so I've stopped worrying about the future, and I've started trusting that it will work out. I will do my best and things will come together. I have a good feeling about things, like I am on the right track and everything is going to be okay.