Believe in Miracles

When I was 16 years old, I was following my dad to drop off a car at the mechanic. Along the way, my tire blew out. I didn’t have a cell phone, I didn’t know how to change a tire, and I didn’t know what to do. So I sat on the side of the road for an hour hoping that dad would eventually figure out where I was and find me. It was slightly traumatizing for me, and one of my biggest fears is breaking down on the freeway.

I have been feeling a bit on the edge of my limits lately. I occasionally have flair ups of intense pain in my neck and jaw, and I’m going on 3 weeks of the worst flair up I’ve ever had. Nothing that I do seems to make a difference, and it’s consumed most of my energy just to make it through the day. The combination of this plus the end of my internship has put me in bit of an emotional whirlwind.

So when my car made a huge THUNK on the freeway this morning, complete with the check engine light and the smell of something burning, I felt like I couldn’t handle it. One of the hardest parts of living far away from family and close friends is that I feel like I don’t have anyone I can call when I’m in trouble. My family and friends I have invested in – we’ve helped each other, and I’ve invested so I feel like it’s ok if I ask for help. I hate inconveniencing people. And in Texas, the closest person I have who I feel like I can call is 4.5 hours away.

However, I have AAA just for such occasions. I happened to break down where two freeways split, so not on the side of the road, but in between 5 lanes of high speed traffic. I was too nervous to even get out of my car. Tears were rolling down my face before I was even connected to the right dispatcher.

Imagine my surprise when a jeep pulled up behind me and out popped a girl from my church. She didn’t know it was me – she had driven past me on her way to church, thought about stopping but said to herself that she didn’t know anything about cars, but the feeling to turn around and go back came harder and stronger, so she did. And she sat with me for 90 minutes in her brand new car with traffic swirling around (12 cars almost hit us, including a semi), waiting for the tow truck to finally show up. And she happens to live and work in the same places I do, so she’s giving me a ride to work tomorrow.

Without her help, I would have been scared and nervous. I would have been on the side of the freeway for 90 minutes in 100 degree weather without air conditioning. I wouldn’t have had a way to make it to church, or a way to work in the morning. In essence, she turned an extremely traumatic experience into a tender reminder that the Lord is aware of me, that He knows what’s going on, and He answers my prayers, even the ones I haven’t offered yet.

I’m so grateful for technology and air conditioning. For mechanics and tow trucks. For a loving Heavenly Father who takes care of me. And for amazing people who listen to random promptings that save the emotional well-being of others. 

30 Before 30: Crazy Enough to Live a Little

Denis Waitley said, "It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in the happiness of pursuit." I'm one of those people who finds great joy in crossing things off my list of things to do, and in experiencing new things. My 30 Before 30 list was all about pushing myself to do things I wouldn't otherwise do, or things I have put off. I didn't get through them all, but I'll give you the justification below and you can judge my efforts for yourself. :)

COMPLETED GOALS

Do Work in 30 Temples - The goal that took the most amount of time, and was probably the most well-known due to my constant posting about it. I have such a special place in my heart for the temple. It is the place I feel most myself, the place that I feel closest to my mom, and the one place on earth I always feel peace. As special as the temples are, the people who made treks with me to them are more so. You know who you are - thank you for being a part of my journey.

Read 30 New Books - Anyone who knows me probably would call this a cheat goal, since I read constantly anyway. I wrote an entire blog post about reading - it is my escape and my refuge from life. Many thanks to the two book clubs that pushed me to read things I wouldn't have otherwise!

Learn Archery - I'm an all out geek. I love Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games and superheros, so this one was flat out amazing fun. Planning on continuing to improve this one.

Random, Inconvenient Act of Service - So often, I find excuses to only do "planned" service, rather than helping the people around me. This isn't the kind of thing that I would write about, because it's very personal, but making this goal gave me the fortitude to do something that was very difficult for someone who really did need help.

Paint - I've always loved art, and always loved to paint, but once I got it in my head that I wasn't good at it, I stopped. I actually ended up doing three different painting classes, and while I think we can still solidly state that I'm not good at it, it was a great experience!

Hike Mount Timpanogos - It's a long experience, including hiking up and down the same mountain a couple of times in the dark, and it didn't go as we planned, but my goodness it was a good story.

Fire a Gun - Loved it, loved it, loved it. Who knew how much fun that was going to be???

Disney World - Walt Disney said, "Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever." I love all things Disney, but Disneyland is too convenient, so I had to make the goal to make it all the way to Florida. Lovely week, but I think I still prefer the California version.

New York - Yes, it was everything I dreamed it would be. Broadway, 9/11 Museum, the Met, Max Brenner's . . . perfection.

Top 10 Movies on AFI's 100 Greatest Movie's List - I didn't love all of these, but I thought it was fascinating which movies shaped the history of movies. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. (See what I did there?)

30 New Recipes - I really do love cooking, but I have absolutely no confidence in it. Some of the recipes were spectacular, some were edible, and some were thrown away, but it had the desired effect - I've become much better at just looking stuff up and giving it a try!

Wax Museum - I know, I know. Really strange goal. But I got it in my head because I knew I would never go to a place like that, and if I'm honest, it kind of terrifies me. Face my fears and all that.

Interview Dad - One of my most treasured possessions is a recorded interview of mom. If I could become half of who my parent's are, I will have been successful in life. So I interviewed dad about life, family, the gospel, and everything. It is, without a doubt, my favorite on this list.

30 New Restaurants - I'm a creature of habit, so I tend to go to the same places over and over. Much like the recipes, I found some amazing ones, and some that I won't be going back to, but it was really fun.

Drive a Race Car - Red Ferrari. Amazing. Felt really silly getting back into my Honda. #lifegoals

Go to Hawaii - I believe the picture speaks for itself.

CPR Certification - This will sound unintentially sad, but the night before I was supposed to do my CPR certification in High School, mom passed away so I didn't make it. Ever since then, I felt like I should follow through so I have a basic knowledge of how to handle emergencies.

Learn to Tie a Tie - Courtesy of one of the guys I dated while I was working on this list, I learned several knots. Don't know that I could recreate them without a YouTube refresh, but I've got a good start.

Order Room Service - Mac and Cheese on my balcony. Lovely.

Get a New Job - When I wrote the list, I was unhappy in my position at work, and sometimes it's hard to move jobs just because it's comfortable. I think I can feel confident that I've crushed this one.

Ride a Segway - Several years ago I was walking about a mile from my car to an event I was going to, and someone on the side of the road was renting Segways. I wanted to use it just to get to the event and back to my car (they weren't too keen on it) but ever since I've wanted to try one out! Super, super fun. Only (almost) died twice.


INCOMPLETE GOALS (So far...)

30 Races, Olympic Triathlon, Full Marathon - These three goals were well underway until I hurt my knee. I haven't completely given up on running, but it most likely will require a very risky surgery, and I haven't decided if it's worth the risk yet. Stay tuned.

30 Songs on the Guitar - I haven't touched my guitar in a year. My goal is to get started on this one once I get back to Arizona and see where I can go with it.

30 Arabic Phrases - No excuse on this one. I just need to buckle down and make the flash cards for myself.

Take a Dance Class - I kept searching and searching for a tap dancing class for adults and I could never find one. I'm still determined to make this one happen, and Kelley has promised to take a modern dance class with me once I graduate.

Write a News Article - Does this blog count? No? Dang.

Drive in Movie - I had this one all planned out for 2 weekends ago. I went online to buy tickets and then I noticed that it was an "Idle Free Zone." As in, car off. As in, no air conditioning. So yeah, that one is going to wait until fall.

Record Dad Reading Dr. Suess - I tribute my love of reading to my dad and my oldest brother, both of whom read outloud to me, and could be found reading constantly. Anytime I read Dr. Suess, I hear it in dad's voice and I wanted to capture that. To be honest, I had ample opportunity to complete this one, but the more I thought about it, I couldn't make this one work in execution. I wanted it to be classy, not cheesy, and I couldn't figure it out. Might still happen - I'll have to see.

And there it is. It's been wonderful and hard and fun and fulfilling. Not sure what the next set of crazy goals will be for me, but I wanted to list a couple of things that I've done in addition to this list. Moved 2 states, went to grad school, changed jobs twice, went to South Africa, and did 30 shots of Diet Coke on my actual birthday. It's a good life!