at the end of the day

At the end of the day,

after all the work is done;

At the end of the day,

as we watch the setting sun;

After all the trials,

and after all the pain;

After all the struggles,

to make it through the day;

I thank God for peace and rest,

and for little smiles from you;

I thank God for rising stars,

and for little hugs from you;

For there is no blessing,

such as this I found so true:

It’s such a pleasure just walking home

at the end of the day with you!

Building My Wall

There is a quote by Elder Maxwell that I taped to our mirror, "Sometimes the Lord hastens His work in our spiritual development by a compression of experiences... sometimes the best people... have the worst experiences... because they are the most ready to learn."

This semester has been a very trying one for me as I have struggled more than usual with a trial I've had for over four years now. But for the past two weeks I have learned one incredibly valuable lesson about how to handle such problems - take it one day at a time. Sure, everyone knows that is the way to go, but saying it is so different from actually doing it. During a moment of weakness it does not do any good to think about how you will also have to fight it tomorrow and the next day and the day after that, because that only leads to hopelessness. There was a story in an old issue of Reader's Digest from Will Smith, who I absolutely love, that really rings true:
"When my father got out of the Air Force, he started his own refrigeration business. I might have been 12 and my brother 9 when one day he decided he wanted a new front wall at his shop. He tore down the old one - it was probably 16 ft high and 40 ft long. And he told us that this was to be our gig over summer. We were standing there thinking, 'there will never, ever be a wall here again.' We went brick by brick for the entire summer and into winter and then back into spring. One day there was a wall there again. I know my dad had been planning this for a long time. He said, 'Now don't you ever tell me there's something you can't do.' And he walked into the shop. The thing I connect to is: I do not have to build a perfect wall today. I just have to lay a perfect brick today. Just lay one brick, dude."

So that is the lesson I have been trying to put into practice the past couple of weeks. Just lay one brick today and eventually there will be a wall that I can take pride in and feel accomplishment for mastering.

In my Health Behavior Theory class we talk about the tools necessary to make an effective and successful behavior change. One of the tools mentioned was assembling your crew - meaning, get a good support system to back you up, someone that will be there when you don't think you can lift the brick any higher or your fingers and back hurt from all the labor. I can testify to the great boost your crew can give. Their faith in you and their comments about the progress the can see in you gives a great surge of power, particular at the times you feel weakest - someone is there to help you lift that brick. One crew member that can never be forgotten is our Savior. Just as Elder Maxwell stated, sometimes we are given these experiences because we are the most ready to learn and He will not abandon us during those times when we feel most weak.

Four months a promise was made to me that within the year my wall would be complete, and perfect. Well, TODAY my brick will be perfect.

Dreaming Big

I finally got it! I am one step closer to my dream job! As of now I am officially an employed Personal Trainer at Gold's Gym. After 5 months and $350.00 in certifying fees I have finally done it! The next step is actually doing the job. I really hope I am a good trainer and give these people their moneys worth.

Just another thought: the woman going over the pay and how everything is set up in the system made a comment that seemed very profound. She slipped in saying "when there is a problem..." and then corrected herself by saying "when there is a challenge..." As she put it, problems are things that don't have a resolution, like not having legs or arms, but a challenge is something that can be resolved - a task that can be overcome. For one thing, that is a great motto in the health field. With the right course of action, even our toughest challenges can be resolved. I think the word "problem" should be added to the Bad Words List.

Call the Doctor!

No one ever really mentioned how painful it is to see the one you love most in excruciating pain and know there is nothing you can really do. Friday night after work I went to Erin's for a Halloween party and not even 30 minutes after being there I get a call from David. He was practically incoherent, muttering things like "cold.... cold... cold.... body.... ache.... cold". I immediately rushed out the door to his side to discover how horrible a condition he was really in. My heart just sank and I silently wept seeing him in so much pain. The only thing I knew to do was to call upon the Lord. So I called my bro-in-law and his best friend over to give him a blessing. When they left I saw a great deal of improvement in him. In that moment my testimony was strengthened once more by the power of the priesthood and the love Heavenly Father has for us. There is no way I could have nursed David back to health in that condition and it pained me to see him in such agony. But the Lord immediately came and made up for my inabilities - He is the ultimate doctor and to Him I am forever grateful.

"one day older and wiser too"

David's 23rd birthday was quite the weekend. Starting with Friday we went to Tucanos for dinner because he got a free meal pass in the mail. What he didn't know though was people were back at home waiting for us for a SURPRISE! One glitch however was they couldn't find the candles so instead used sparklers! Talk about celebrating. We had to scrape off the top though to get the metal out. Next, I sent him on a scavenger hunt all over, highlighting meaningful memories/places throughout our relationship. The biggest surprise of the night though was I got off work early and was waiting for him at the end of the hunt. Later there was a string chain he had to work through backwards, ending at Tim Tam Cookies (he loved them from his mission and I found them at the Asian Market). Finally, he got his presents and 23 notes of why I am glad he was born. Kira also was a God-sent and made his favorite meal for him - Enchiladas.

Boom Boom Pow

We finally developed the pictures from the honeymoon, unfortunately, according to David I have lost my right to take pictures because my finger aparently didn't add a good touch. So here some of the uncontaminated ones...

The Disney parade at Hollywood Studios. It was really cool watching

them sing and dance in the streets.

In front of our future home! =]

At the end of Splash Mountain. We were in the very front!

Mickey's Magic Hat

Sunday night while we were in Clearwater

and walked along the beach. It was so serene!!

Proclaiming our love at the shores of the Gulf at Honeymoon Island.

When walking back I noticed though that someone else had come

alongand written their names in a heart as well!

All of the shells we collected at the beach - which is now nicely

displayed in our apt. We found 11 sanddollars! That's 10 more than I

have ever seen at once

To: Mom

Kitchen from another corner (the storage room is behind me)

Kitchen from one corner

Bedroom

The cow shrine between the front door and closet

Our archway

One corner of the living room

Facing the entrance

What you see when you come in

Outside of OUR house

Outside of THE house

Beautiful Disaster

Some days getting out of bed is hard.

Some days you just don't get that A.

Some days going to work is miserable.

Some days you just want to be alone.

Some days you won't be perfect.

Some days you won't meet every goal.

Some days you feel like a failure.

Every day I will give you a hug.

Every day you are learning more.

Every day you have a source of income.

Every day I will be there.

Every day you learn humility.

Every day you have a new chance to succeed.

Every day is yesterday's tomorrow.

Dreams becoming Reality

When you wake up in the morning you have two choices - go back to sleep and dream your dreams, or wake up and chase those dreams.

As Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." I decided to use this blog as a means to stop and look around once in a while. There will be dreams we've dreamed and ones we've chased; although sometimes there may even be bumps in the night but we'll embrace each one.

I recently acquired the name Holladay and love the sound of it, but I wondered what exactly it means, so looking it up I discovered - "one born on a holy day." Well, I was not born into mortality necessarily with this name but the way I see it, August 11th 2009 will forever be a holy day - the day David and I knelt across from eachother and reverently uttered that amazingly powerful word, "yes". Everyday truly is a Holladay though when you get to wake up each morning, look over and see that your dreams of laying next to the most amazing person are actually reality.