Am I Scandalous?

Life has been pretty enjoyable since Clinton finished his first year of medical school. During the weekends we actually get to go DO things. Yesterday, we drove down to this little restaurant that I have been begging him to go to since we moved here. It is called Apple Holler. It is ADORABLE! The restaurant is a converted barn and the insides are all lit up with thousands of Christmas lights. There are old country signs everywhere and there is a cute little country shop attached (with country prices to boot!) There is a bakery in the back and the food is all homemade. Anyway, there is a restaurant and all of the food served is also homemade. We went to their lunch buffet and it was delicious! The food was so yummy and the atmosphere was just so much fun! I guess they have a dinner theater as well, so hopefully some day we'll be able to attend that as well.

After our lunch we decided to head down to the outlet mall to find some shorts and sandals for this Wisconsin summer we are/will be having. I found a few pairs of shorts, Clinton also found a pair and a couple of extra shirts (no surprise here...they are all plaid button-ups...but he did buy shorts, so I'm slowly helping him become more casual...he's even been wearing open-toed sandals folks!!!;)! Anyway, as we were rounding the corner we came across a White House/Black Market outlet store and I couldn't resist--their clothing is so fashionable, but with the fashion comes a heavy price! However, this was an outlet, soI thought I could maybe just peruse. I scanned their $60 discount racks (ha!) but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on something full-priced, let alone "discounted"! I continued to scan the racks until my eyes fell uponthe most amazing little-black-dress they ever did see. I looked at the price tag and this originally $200 dress was marked-down to $20! It was gorgeous! There is no way this dress could be made for $20. It is covered in black lace, it had cap-sleeves and came down to the knees. I HAD to at least try it on.

I went into the dressing room and the zipper slipped effortlessly up my back...I looked AMAZING! I came out to show Clinton, passed all of the gasps and twitters from my dressing room companions as I graced their presence in this gorgeous dress. I come around the corner while Clinton turns and looks at me--sheer boredom on his unimpressed face. I ask what he thinks, and with a brief shrug he nods and says, "Do what you think." Um....(sound of balloon deflating)...I walked back into the dressing room as the women literally pull their friends out of their respective dressing rooms to show off "this girl" in "this dress" (AKA:Me!) A much better reaction than the one I got from my husband outside the dressing room. So, I'm feeling pretty at the moment and since it is ONLY $20, I decide I would be more sad if I didn't get it, than if I did. I take my purchase up to the counter and the clerk looks at the tag, exclaims how much she loves "this dress" and how tiny I must be to get a size 0 (it's a dress folks, I'm not really that little)...so my balloon begins again to inflate. I leave the store a little lighter than when I walk in. It was a great moment!

So, all evening I'm thinking about how I'll fix my hair and how I'll do my make-up for church the next day so that I can best show off my new dress. I woke up and took extra care to get ready. I ate in my tank top and slip so as to not spill on "the dress". Then the moment came to put on my dress. Again, the zipper slid up my back like warm butter does on hot buns (pun intended). I glided down the stairs (feeling like a skinny-million-bucks) and rounded the corner into the kitchen so that Clinton could hook the loop at the top of the zipper. I turned around, expecting a complimentary "Dang girl!" and got, "Um...should this dress be so low in the back?" (sound of record stopping abruptly) "What?!" I responded. "What do you mean? My garments are totally covered (no tucking or anything)...What do you mean?" He said my dress was almost scandalous. Scandalous?! Really? The $20-antidepressant was scandalous? I couldn't see how, but I was running out of time to get to church so I marched back up the stairs, yelled down to him to come help me with my hook and eye, rapidly changed into something WAY less satisfying and walked out the door for church.

This brings us to the purpose of this post. As I was contemplating what to blog about today I thought...perhaps I should ask my friends what they think.I had Clinton take pictures of me with my dress on and I want to know, honestly, what you think. Is my dress actually scandalous or was Clinton just seeing an optical illusion of, as he put it-"half of [my] back hanging out" perhaps because my hair is short? Was there no optical illusion at all for him but for me in thinking that my dress wasn't really scandalous at all? So, please let me know what you think.

I thank you in advance for being gentle with your words :)

Wonder of Wonder, Miracle of Miracles

These last couple weeks have been filled with wonderful stuff. First off,

CLINTON FINISHED HIS FIRST YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right! I can now say that my husband is a second year medical student! The first message he sent me when his exams were complete said "The grass is greener, the sun is warmer, even food tastes better!" He has been free to sleep-in and rest. He has been laughing more and it is so nice to have my husband back! Congratulations Honey on a job well-done and one year under your belt!

The next set of miracles have been more apparent in my personal life.

I have been dealing with a series of health issues lately and wasn't sure how to deal with them. To keep a long blog short, I'll list what's happened in Cliffs Notes version...
1. As mentioned in previous posts, I have been having problems with my vision. I had been told that there was damage to my eye and it would need time to repair. This made me very nervous as I'm sure you can imagine since I only have the one eye left. I had my follow-up appointment a couple of weeks ago and my eye has completely healed! I can see again and I am so grateful!
2. In order to avoid extra personal details, suffice it to say, my cycle has not been regular ever, but especially since the beginning of this year. It became a large enough problem that I made a hasty appointment to some no-name doctor. This doctor wasn't very personable and wasn't really helping me solve my problem. She told I needed to see an OB/GYN and I was quickly scheduled with the first available doctor. She is a WONDERFUL doctor. She met with me regarding my current issues and asked questions about my long-term goals. She tried one treatment on me and it didn't work and told me I needed to have an MRI to make sure my brain was normal. This scared the crap out of me. I only know MRIs as necessary procedure when someone has a brain tumor or something else terminal. Here's where the miracle comes in...

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Hold on, I need to preface this: A few weeks ago, before I started going to the doctor, I had Clinton give me a blessing. The blessing counseled me to go see a doctor and to trust in them to find the solution to my problem and to follow their counsel. A week or so later, when I found out I needed to have more testing done I talked to Clinton about my blessing and how I thought I might need another one. He gently reminded me that blessings are not a fortune teller, they are an ordinance and once the ordinance is given the blessing is complete. It is then up to our faith for the healing to take place. I thought about that for quite a while and studied up on it that evening.

I came across a talk by Pres. Faust called, "Spiritual Nutrients". In it he counsels us to incorporate the counsel of the scriptures into our daily lives. We need to shape our lives by what the scriptures teach and by doing so we will be blessed with a closeness to the Lord, an increase of our faith in Him and a better understanding of the answers to our prayers.

I then found a talk by Pres. Kimball called "President Kimball Speaks Out on Administration to the Sick". This talk is a great reference! Here are a few of my now-favorite quotes...

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"It is felt that sometimes the holy ordinance is abused...It is felt by many that too frequent administrations may be an indication of lack of faith or of the ill one trying to pass the responsibility of faith development to the elders rather than self."
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"It must be remembered that no physician can heal. He can only provide a satisfactory environment and situation so that the body may use its own God-given power of re-creation to build itself."
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"It must be remembered that whether the Lord sees fit to heal instantaneously or gradually, whether it be through surgery and treatment or without it, the healing is still the Lord's miracle."

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I am a hypochondriac. I worry about things that no normal person worries about. However, every time I thought about my MRI I knew I was going to be okay. That, in and of itself, is a miracle. I had brought to my mind certain phrases from my patriarchal blessing that reminded me that my life was nowhere near over. I went in for my MRI and was blessed with peace while the machine banged and squealed all around me (for 40 minutes, I might add). I was called about my results and my brain is normal! There were no growths or abnormalities and she said that my cycle issues can be fixed with medication! The other "hidden" miracle to this is that an infertility issue (solvable) has been found! We would have had no idea had this scan not been made. What a miracle!
3. I really love my job but have been struggling with working with one of the doctors. It was so bad a few weeks ago that I had to meet with my supervisor to see if she had any recommendations for me. (I had been praying for help to read this doctor's mind and do a good job.) My supervisor offered for my coworker (who is paid the most and has the most time on her hands) to take him on instead. I thought about it and began to pray about it. As soon as I started to pray I felt an answer, "Don't you already realize this IS the answer to your prayers?" The last couple weeks since the change have been wonderful! And you know what? He has been so much nicer to me! He has even been coming to me for assistance with some projects instead of my coworker which is a HUGE compliment to me! Yeah for miracles!
4. A couple Fridays ago I went home sick from work with a really bad stomach ache/nausea. I was sick for 3 days. After I read the articles listed above, I prayed specifically for my faith to be strong enough to remember all of the times I'd been healed and to be healed again, in a quick way. Almost from the moment I finished I felt better. The next day at work, I was back to normal. Before I had started my prayer I was still quite sick...this truly was a miracle!
5. The other day I went grocery shopping and ended up shopping at a store in a "sketchy" part of town. At first I found myself beginning to judge the people walking in, I was the only white person, but I didn't. I had a feeling of brotherhood with them. I did my grocery shopping, put my groceries away in my car and walked back up to the front of the store to return my cart. As I was walking back to my car I heard the security guard (yes, this store has a security guard) call out to me. I turned and saw him holding my wallet! He asked if it was mine. Shocked, I replied "yes!" he said that someone had found it in the parking lot and brought it in. All my cards, ID and $20 cash were still in there. It just goes to show that you really can't judge a book by its cover!
6. Lastly, last week I took Peter to the park to play fetch with his favorite toy "Squeaky". On my last throw I looked away for a second and lost track of where the ball had landed. Peter was looking all over for it and couldn't find it. I walked over to meet him where I thought it may have landed. I LOOKED EVERYWHERE! I scanned the same areas about 4 times each. I said a quick prayer pleading with Heavenly Father to have mercy on this pup and to help me find his favorite toy. After another 5 minutes of searching I decided it must have been lost and started to walk back home. I stopped by a family that was playing on the equipment nearby and asked if they had by chance seen his toy. The father said he saw Peter pick it up, drop it and the next moment he saw us looking for it. I decided to go back one more time and see if I could find it. I again said a quick prayer and I looked in all the same areas again. I couldn't find it. I started to walk back when I heard a man call behind me "Ma'am?" I turned around to see who it was, but no one was there. I looked down for a second to catch my footing as I started to walk home and right in front of my foot was Peter's toy! I know I walked over that exact area several times, but this time I was looking with the eyes of the Lord. I couldn't believe it! The Lord cared not only for me, but for my little dog too!

Sorry for the overly-long post, but I just had so much to say. I really have been blessed by the Lord and am so grateful for opportunities to see miracles in my life. They exist today just as much as they ever have!