Short story, long.....

I came into my room to read my scriptures (Richard G. Scotts talk from saturday morning conference first session just made me want to lose myself in the scriptures, I seriously need to make reading/searching/pondering the scriptures more of a priority in my life and not just a thing I do before I go to sleep at night...but more on conference later). Conveniently my laptop just happened to be sitting on my bed. Heres my thought process:
- If you open that laptop you ARE NOT going to even touch your scriptures.
- uhhhhgghmmmm yes I will. I'll just check my facebook REAL FAST and then be done and get on with the reading.
- Pssshhhh yeahOK.
- no really this time I'll just check it fast kine.
- Ok............................
annnnnnd an hour later after checking facebook, playing bejewled, and reading everyones blogs...here I am...my scriptures still on the floor and me still on my stupid laptop. BUT I am still going to read my scriptures after this. I HAVE TO. So I will.

Short story about myself and......

THIS GUY, my father :) Taken 2/28/93 my birthday and baptism day.

...so I've been living in Utah for 4 1/2 months already and only last month decided to clean my room. Gross right? ahh whatever when I moved to Hawaii 5 years ago somehow my Utah room became the leftovers room for everybody. Literally my mom got rid of my dresser and put like left over storage crap in my room. She has a whole corner devoted to her craft things. My sisters decided they needed an overflow closet and it was full of extra tops, dresses, and jackets/coats. Ridiculous. So when I moved back in I kind of didn't really feel motivated to clean THEIR things and make room for all of mine. Since I had no dresser a lot of my clothes ended up in folded piles.....on the freaking floor. RIDICULOUS. haha Anyways since I have a super awesome boyfriend he noticed my need for a dresser and last month he got me one. So as I cleaned to make room for it and moved some things around I went through a drawer in my room. It was full of old cards..birthday cards, valentines cards, christmas cards, etc. So I started going through them to decide which ones I should keep for sentimental value and which ones could be thrown out. I started to notice that A LOT of them were from my dad :) I don't think he ever missed a birthday even if they were late.

*short story within my short story that's actually starting to seem not that short: for those of you that don't know I was born in Hawaii. We lived there until I was nine then my parents decided together that we should move to Utah  so that me and my siblings could all get a better education...hawaii's public school education is less than stellar. My dad owns a landscaping business in Hawaii and the plan was for him to sell it and be with us in Utah. Well work was always so busy and he never sold his business so he would just go back and forth between work (hawaii) and family (utah). It was a HUGE sacrifice on his part, but he did it for us and it really says a lot about him and his love for his family. And that is just how we grew up. With my mom raising us and my dad working in hawaii and being with us when he could, it was normal to us but to other people it was hard to understand. Everyone would always think my parents were divorced or something because my mom lived here in utah with/raising us kids and my dad lived in hawaii, working. But no my mom and dad are and always have been happily married. In fact just this year they celebrated their 30th anniversary. They are both great examples of selfless love to myself. Only now that I'm older do I realize how abnormal that living situation was...I can't imagine being my mom or dad and being apart from their other half for extended periods of time. It must have gotten lonely at times. Man, my parents are amazing! But this story explains why I always got birthday cards from my dad on my birthday...because he was usually in Hawaii and not physically there. Now back to my long short story....

Anyways I started reading through all the cards my dad sent me and well....I'm just going to let the cards speak for themselves, heres some excerpts from his cards:

" 2-23-99 8:30AM" (yes he wrote the date AND time lol)
"I can't believe that you are 14 yrs old. I miss your birthday but remember that I think of you and the rest of the family everyday. Got to go now work is calling me. I love you. Stay well and you be good."

"Jenny I am sorry that this card comes in late. I am also sorry for not being home for your birthday. You are now 15 years old? Time sure goes so fast. Anyways I want you to know that I think about you and the rest of the (our) family everyday. As you know how I stuck here in Hawaii with my work. I would love to someday soon be able to work in Utah and be with all of you. I miss being with my family. Here is a few $$ for your birthday. Jen always remember to travel on the straight and narrow and follow the church teachings, mom and dad's teaching and keep the Lord's commandments. I love you, Dad."

*MY PERSONAL FAVORITE*
"Jenny, I am sorry again that I am not home for your birthday. Anyways here is a few $$, go buy yourself a present. It is a gift of God that we are well and grow. It seems like only yesterday that you were this cute big eye curly hair baby that I and mother brought home from the hosp. Now you are 16 and it is hard to believe. Where have all the years gone? Even though you're 16 here are some of the things that you can't do.
1. Cannot date
2. Cannot drive
3. Cannot have freedom to do any undesirable things.
Please seek to do the things that is desirable to the Lord. Like stay in the straight and narrow path and keep the Lord's commandments. Give thanks to the lord for your being well now that you're 16 and pretty as ever. Read Proverbs 3:5-6. Promise me that you'll read this scripture, ok? Happy b-day. Love Dad."
My dad thinks he's pretty funny...but I'm pretty sure his list was all serious haha. But Proverbs 3:5-6 reads "5-Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6-In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

This is a valentines card-
"Jen always remember my advise and counseling or preaching- Stay home sometimes do not go and hang out all the times- It is safer at home. Work hard at school. Pray, read scriptures everyday and obey- do not go to sleep after school."
(apparently I had a problem of coming home from school and sleeping for a few hours and then staying up all night. My mom always tried to wake me up cuz she hated when I would stay up all night and not get sleep for school. It wasn't my fault though....it was just a normal teenage circadian rhythm, look it up...I learned THAT in school.)

"2/27/03
Jenn, I know this will get to you after your birthday. Late is better than never. However this doesn't mean I love you any less. I want you to know that I am proud of you. You've been a good daughter despite the fact that I refer to you sometimes as the lazy one. I want you to know that I love you as you are. We have had our differences but it is so because I care about you and the rest of my children. You have grown up so fast I can't believe it. You are about to graduate from high school and go on to college. It is all a blessing. Stay in the straight and narrow and you'll be blessed. Happy Birthday. Love Dad."

One Christmas card that I must have kept because it makes me laugh-
"Jen, Despite our differences when it comes to boys. I want you to know that I still love you. Love always, Dad."
HAHAHA right?

My mom and dad helping set up for my sisters wedding.

Anyways I am soooooo eternally grateful for the family I have and for the parents I was born to. They are just the greatest examples of hard work and sacrifice to me. They have shown me what love is and what it means to show love for your family. I have the hardest working dad ever. He has given up so much for his family I can't even begin to imagine the half of it. Although he wasn't physically there a lot of the time he has always made sure to keep us in line. I love that in almost all his cards he constantly reminds me to stay in the "straight and narrow" and "follow the Lord's commandments". I think it's pretty apparent through these cards that my dad did his best to teach us the Gospel through word and through example. He has always been a good example of giving thanks for what we have be it a little or be it a lot. He has always told us to be grateful for what we have and has constantly reminded us that what we have is from the Lord and to give our thanks to him. He has been a great example of relying on the lord even when times were hard for him. I admire my fathers strength. He is the strongest man in the world to me and I love him so much. I hope the man I someday marry is as great an example to our children as my dad has been to me.

In Hawaii. Missing my older brother.

My dad, me, and grandpa (moms side) in Florida at a miami heat vs. jazz game.