Today is World Hello Day

Hello!
I am done with school for the week (kind of). I am grateful for the break; it has been a pretty intense couple of weeks. As I previously mentioned, I have been going up to LDS Hospital to watch surgeries, and last week I watched some interesting surgeries, mostly orthopedic surgeries. I have also had about 4 papers due recently, and a midterm as well. Needless to say, I am looking forward to Thanksgiving.
Many of you have written your "thankful" lists, which I think is a great idea. I would like to add a few things of my own.

I am thankful for a church that teaches us about Good News, a Plan of Happiness, and the many tender mercies and everlasting love of our Lord. I am thankful for my Savior, and for a living prophet. I am thankful that families can be together forever.

I am grateful for family. All my family- the family I was born into and the family I married into. They are all wonderful, and I am so grateful to have many of them so near. It is great to have my sister living just up the road, and many in BJ's family living only a few minutes away. All the members of our families that are not as close as we like are missed, thought about, and prayed for.

I am thankful for my (and BJ's) grandparents. I appreciate the wisdom of their years and experience that is much greater than my own. I appreciate the sacrifices that they made for their families and for their country.

I feel so blessed to have a kind, patient, fun, and handsome husband! He is a hard worker and a very creative and smart guy. He makes me very happy, and I love him very much.

I am grateful for the opportunities that I have. I realize that BJ's and my situation (school, other responsibilities) is a great blessing, although it seems difficult sometimes. I don't know if I can fully appreciate living in a time and place where women getting a college education is possible, but it is something that has great worth to me. I am thankful for my job, and for BJ's job. Things have worked out for us just when we thought there was no way we could do it on our own.

I am grateful for the world we live in today. Our lives are so much easier than our grandparents' lives, and I take that for granted sometimes. I am grateful to live in a free country, where I can make my own choices. I am grateful for modern conveniences! I'm thankful for email, cell phones, blogs, and airplanes that connect families!

I am grateful for the many beautiful surrounding me. I am grateful to have blue sky and fluffy clouds in November, and mountains with a little snow :) on them. I am grateful for the holidays coming up, and for the wonderful things that we celebrate.

Well, I know I can't possibly write everything I am thankful for, but these things especially have been drifting around in my head for the last couple days. Love to all.

Thanks Giving

As I look at my life, I can think of absolutely nothing to complain about. I am indeed grateful for everything that has happened, including many things I wasn't so grateful for at the time. I could make a list of things that I am thankful for, but there are too many things that need more description, and no possible way that I could ever make a list long enough to include everything that I should include. And so I will do this as if you were sitting here talking with me.

First and foremost, I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me. In my challenges, in my triumphs, He was there with me. And I don't mean to say from a distance, but He was there beside me, standing with me to hold me when I needed strength, and to cheer me when I had done well. He has never been far. Though I look forward to the day where I can see Him face to face, I can never see Him more clearly than when I look back at my life, and see all that He has done.

I know also that my Savior lives. He too has been a constant presence in my life. His triumph over sin and death has brought my life hope and joy. His mercy towards me and my mistakes gives me the encouragement I need to continue. His love fills me when I reach for Him.

I must say too that I have the most wonderful wife. I don't mean to brag, but she gives me every reason to. Loving her has taught me what love truly is. I know without her I would not be the person I am today. I am indeed grateful for her and her love for me.

I am grateful for a wonderful family. I have never felt closer to my siblings and my parents than I do now. I think you are all wonderful. I look up to each of you, and learn from all of you. I love you and am proud of all of you. I must say also that I love Rochelle's family too. I have heard horror stories about the "in-laws" and I can't even imagine what that would be like. Whenever people make jokes about staying away from "the wife's family" I don't even know how to respond, because I can't even comprehend how it would be to have those struggles. I think you all are the greatest, and I love you all as my own family. (I'm just glad that I get to be the "big brother" in this one!) ;-)

I am grateful for my job. Ever since I have been home from my mission, Heavenly Father has heard my prayers in regards to my job. I have always had employment, and He has always led me to the jobs that I could learn the most from and that worked the best for me and my skills. I feel a great responsibility towards my jobs too. I feel very strongly that I have received the jobs that I have received in order to care for Rochelle. This is one of those things where I can look back in my life and clearly see Heavenly Father's hand in my life. I got a job as a tester at Waterford quite a while ago. That job didn't require much out of my resume, but gave me much to put on it. It was the basis off of which I have received all of my jobs since. My job at Novell paid me quite well for a student, and gave me the flexible hours I needed to work and go to school. It also gave me much experience and training. I was called in for an interview for my Novell job just a week or two after I met Rochelle. To celebrate my new job, Mom and Dad took me out to dinner, and we sat at the same table as Rochelle (not to mention her then boyfriend Evan). And when I graduated, I received a great job at Property Solutions where I have ample room to grow, and have received much training, as well as great additions to my resume. They hired me on as a salaried employee just in time to pay for Rochelle's tuition this Fall. I can see quite clearly my purpose in working is not to buy myself toys or to build my own ego, but to take care of my family.

I am also grateful for prayer and the scriptures. I know my prayers are heard. I have no doubt about that. And when I read the scriptures, and can feel the Holy Ghost in my life. My daily scripture study gives me strength to do whatever is required of me. It gives me hope, and an optimistic view on life. It keeps life in focus.

I would be foolish to forget one last thing... during my lifetime, I have had some of the best friends one could ever hope for. I could always go to them for council when I needed to make a choice, I have always found great comfort in them when I was struggling, and I have always had some great laughs with them about some of the foolish things that have done. Many of my friends are family to me.

Ok. I have said enough. For those of you who actually get through this list of things, I'm grateful for you too! Have a wonderful Thanks Giving Day (and don't forget... You're Welcomegiving day is Friday too!) ;-)
Love ya!
BJ

Good Tidings to You

Well, this week has been a good week. At work, I have been doing more IT stuff than I have programming. We've bought a bunch of new computers and have been doing what we can to set them up and get everything in order. The business is growing from a small business to a medium business and so the computer infrastructure needs to do the same. I enjoy what I do, but I must admit, I know very little about it. I can only hope I'm doing everything correctly. Rochelle has been VERY busy this week.
She had a paper due on Tuesday that she underestimated and ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning. I tried to stay up with her, but sacked out around 2. She was up another hour before she went to bed. And then she had to get up bright and early in the morning. She only got three hours of sleep. But she got up and went to class and did her assignments, and even went to institute (which we do for our calling) without a word of complaint. I on the other hand got just a little more sleep than she did, and grumbled about everything. ;-) She is just now catching up on her sleep. I came home and found her awake, but dead tired, and told her to take a nap. She didn't fight that to hard. I'm supposed to wake her up in a bit and then we are going to go running. I don't know how she does it. I just know that I couldn't. She's not alone, I know. Many of you reading this are probably thinking you wouldn't mind taking a nap right now. I don't blame you. My hat's off to each of you. --Please don't mind the messy hair.
On another note--you Taylor family members... it's coming up on Christmas time, and Rochelle and I are wondering what Christmas activities you all would like to be involved in. Here are our ideas, and you can tell me what you think.

Rochelle's family traditionally has a night where everyone gets together and sings Christmas music together. There's a bit of a "talent show" for them, but that isn't necessary if we don't want to do that. The point of it all for them is to simply enjoy the Holiday music together. Would you all be interested?

We were also thinking that it might be fun to go up to temple square the day after Thanksgiving when they turn on the lights for the first time. I think we are planning on going, but if any of you would like to join, I think the more the merrier.

We are also thinking that for all of you who have little ones and need some time to shop or just get away for a bit, Rochelle and I would be happy to come over and tend the kids for an evening to allow you to do that (one family at a time of course). We've been thinking about some fun Christmas activities that we could do with the kids while we are there. If you would like that, the offer is on the table.

I think those are the ideas that we have discussed thus far. I'm sure more are to come. And most of them have come from Rochelle. Hope you all have a good evening!
Love ya!
BJ

A day in the life of a super-hero

Ok, so I'm not much of a super-hero, but I can pretend. Rochelle and I have had a quiet Sunday. Church didn't start until 1:30, and we just finished with dinner of my own make. Good ol' fried rice. Learned how to do it in the mission field, and it has served me well as a "quick fixer". I think we are planning on going to bed early tonight, getting a good-night's sleep in, and getting up in the morning to go exercise. We've been going to the Provo Rec. Center this past week for our exercise as Rochelle mentioned. We are going to try to do that more. It has been good. We've enjoyed the morning time together, and the exercise that we have been getting. It has also forced me to go to bed earlier. I'm typically a night owl, but lately, going to bed around 10 pm sounds really good to me. We have been running together, and I have been playing racquetball with Charles, and some co-workers. I have been constantly sore since I have started, but it has helped me feel better during the week. I'm not quite used to my 8-hour work days yet. They seem awfully long sometimes, but the chance to exercise before I go to work helps me feel like I do something more with my life than sit in a cubical, just barely big enough for me to stretch out my legs. I'm also trying to avoid the "geek physique," you know... the skinny arms and legs, and the big ol' round belly-- usually full of pizza and soda. So... that represents one goal I have in my life that I'm working on. Some other goals that I would like to work on need some attention too. One other goal I have is to get to the temple more often. I should have more time now than I used to, and so temple attendance needs to go up. I also need to start reading more. And that includes all types of reading. Reading for fun, reading for study, and reading to keep up with the times. I keep waiting for some poor desperate scout to come around and offer us a deal on the Daily Herald, so I can say "Yes! I want a paper!" and make his day. It seems like when I was in school, we had one every so often come by and ask, but now that I'm done, we don't see him anymore. Well, I suppose that is fine. I can ready most everything I'm interested in on the internet anyways. But having a paper on your door step is a good reminder that you haven't heard what's happened lately. Rochelle and I are both reading Eragon after mom went and bought herself a copy, and put it into our hands. I'd also like to re-read some of my sociology books that I never got to spend quite as much time in as I would have liked when I was going through the course. Some of them were quite good, but we would have 100 page assignments that I would never get through. I've also been looking at Jesus The Christ lately and thinking... "dare I go at it again?" I read it on my mission, and I remember enjoying it, but I don't remember much else about it anymore, except that it was very slow reading, and a very thick book. I think if I start that one again sometime soon, I'll finish it sometime around my birthday in 2012. ;-)
By the way, the picture is just one that we took up at temple square a couple of months ago. The background was just sky, and didn't turn out so well, and so I made it green.
Well, have a happy Sabbath everyone, and I hope you are all doing well.
BJ

Well, I can't believe that it is Thursday already! This week has just zoomed on by. On Sunday, we woke up early, not remembering daylight savings, and then had an "extra" hour before church. BJ had some fun with his camera, and he took some pictures of us with his remote. Here is one of them:
On Sunday night, BJ, Marissa, and I went up to visit Darla, Doug, and their family (Darla is our cousin) and to have dinner with them. We really enjoyed visiting and playing games with all of them.
BJ and I started running/ working out at the rec center this week (Monday is the first time we have gone together). We are going to be going early in the morning before work/ class. I am hoping to run a half marathon this spring with Marissa and several of my friends from nursing classes, so it's time to get exercising! BJ has also been going there a few times a week to play raquetball with various different people, co-workers and friends.
On Tuesday, we were lucky enough to hear from President Hinckley at our devotional! We had a hard time getting seats, and by the time devotional started, there was hardly a free seat left, even in the bleachers behind the stand. President Hinckley's appearance wasn't really announced way ahead of time, for security purposes, I assume, but enough people found out--it was completely packed. His address was a series of vignettes and short stories/ experiences that he told us had shaped his life and made him into the person he is now. Some of the stories were very somber, and some were lighthearted. He encouraged us to write down things that make impressions upon us, help us to grow, etc. and to read over those things often. I enjoyed everything he said, and was especially impressed with two things. First, the Spirit that accompanies our prophet. As he entered the room, a feeling of reverence and love filled the room so strongly! Even with nearly 23,000 people in the room, you could practically hear President Hinckley's footsteps as he walked in. This spirit remained in the room for the whole devotional. Second, I was impressed with President Hinckley's ablility to connect and communicate with his audience. Not only were his comments very poignant, but I think most people felt that his comments were applicable to them. We were all hanging on every word. As he finished speaking, I found myself wishing that it wouldn't end! The devotional finished, and as he left, he turned and waved in all directions to the students. It was a very sweet moment. Everybody quietly and with the utmost respect, waved back! I felt so blessed to have been in the presence of a latter- day prophet. My outlook was changed, and I felt uplifted, able to bear the many hours of work and school ahead of me that day.
I only worked 10 hours instead of 12 hours today in clinical... we have been getting out early because we have more clinical hours than all the groups at other hospitals (since we have little driving time). During the next two weeks I will be in the OR watching surgeries. I really have little idea of what to expect. It should be exciting though.
There's not too much else to report... BJ and I are both reading a book that most of you have probably already read, and which has been very highly recommended to us- Eragon. I haven't gotten that far into it, but I am impressed with the creativity and rich descriptions this very young author uses! I wish I had more time to read, but alas! There is reading, and midterms, and research papers, and case studies- all waiting to be done... Well, such is life!