My favorite picture of all time!

pictures

computer illiterate or something

This one is for teri and jessica who both recently left comments on one of my blogs. I would love to get in touch with both of you. I am an idiot and have no idea how to find your email addresses or blogs if either of you have one. So, please email me at angieredford@hotmail.com. Hopefully, I will have some pictures (as requested) on here pretty soon.

nauvoo

Last weekend my little family and I attended our ward chili and pie cook off. When we arrived, I was surprised to see a good friend of mine who had recently moved to Nauvoo to build her dream house and retire with her husband there. She was back in Boise visiting family and babysitting her grandkids for the week. It was so fun to talk to her and to hear about her romantic dream life on the Mississippi. She had a picture of her newly constructed house which, by the way, is situated kitty-corner to the temple. It is a beautiful home and was built according to the traditional Nauvoo-style two-story brick house. Her and her husband wake up to a beautiful view of the temple every morning. They're serving as temple workers and they are loving every minute of their time spent in Nauvoo. She said people are moving in every week and Nauvoo now has TWO wards! Amazing! The church has also within the last few months completely torn down the monastery and school with no plans to build anything in its place. They want to preserve the view of the Mississippi from the temple.
As I sat there talking to her, our bishop's wife asked me how I had become so familiar with Nauvoo and its residents. I explained that I had an incredible opportunity to study in Nauvoo for a semester while living in a pioneer home and that I attended classes in the visitor's center. It got me thinking about my decision to go to Nauvoo and the effect it's had on my life.
When I was a senior in high school, I felt very confused and frustrated about college and what I was going to do with the rest of my life. It seemed like all of my friends knew exactly where they were going to go to school and what they wanted to study. I didn't quite feel ready for college and I had pretty much coasted through high school. In my junior year (I think), I had really gotten into the Work and the Glory series. Say what you will about Gerald Lund (ie: incredibly cheesy writing and unrealistic story line), those books sparked a love of church history in me and caused me to seek out real church history books. Anyway, one day I came home from school and was flipping through the Church News and at the bottom of one of the pages in a little box, was an announcement about the newly-started BYU Nauvoo program. I can honestly say that it was one of the few times in my life when the spirit seemed like a very clear voice telling me that Nauvoo was where I was supposed to go. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord wanted me there. Several conferences ago, Elder Ballard (I think) gave a talk about missions and how everything good that has come into his life was a result of him serving a mission. That's how I feel about my Nauvoo experience. Looking back twelve years later, I can see how Nauvoo has strengthened me and taught me and led me to so many good things in my life including Adam. It's amazing how our memories can continue to teach us even years after the events have occurred. I'm so grateful for Nauvoo. It completely solidified my testimony of Joseph Smith and of the Restoration of the gospel. I also made some amazing friends and I know we'll always have that connection and love of church history. Thank you Nauvoo for the memories, for your magical spirit, for the peaceful lapping of the river, for the sunsets and for the people that made you great.

blah!

i haven't written anything for a long time. not that my entries are all that exciting or thought-provoking. i've been in survival mode. i'm about two and a half months pregnant and i've been puking my guts out for the last two months. needless to say, it's really hard to care about anything when you're wishing for death. i wish men could experience this for just one week. adam is very patient and understanding and helpful but i know he has no idea what i'm experiencing. i have such profound respect for any woman who has more than a couple of children. it is so hard! i think it's the hardest thing i've ever had to go through physically and emotionally. i'm so thankful there's an end to it. i can't possibly imagine being literally deathly ill, having to take chemo treatments and feeling this way for months or even years. and i know there's going to be a happy ending for me. i'm so thankful for my health. you don't realize how wonderful it is to feel healthy until you're knocked to your knees. we are definitely on this earth to experience opposition in all things. everything has its opposite and of course we wouldn't learn if Heavenly Father hadn't designed it that way. sometimes it sucks. it truly does. but i have savored those moments where, for a few moments or for a few hours, there's a reprieve from the nausea and i almost feel good. it's a wonderful feeling.