Mosaic About Me

I found this idea on my friend Evelyn's blog. Basically, this is a mosaic about special symbols/places to me. I'll explain each picture and then you can make your own if you want.

The first row is all about special places to me. I find that places have as much meaning in my life as symbols and people.

1. This is a picture of Lake Blanche in the Wasatch Mountains. Lake Blanche is only a 20 minute drive and a 3 hour hike. Justin and I have made it our tradition to hike up there every 4th of July weekend. This is where the best tasting water on the earth is (that I have found). It is also gorgeous and has special romantic memories for Justin and I. I love it there. Heaven on earth.

2. Telluride, CO. To me, Telluride represents a second chance, healing and redemption. I moved there for 4 months after a traumatic relationship with a boy and to get away from everyone, to start fresh. I worked long hours, snowboarded every morning, ate healthy organic food and enjoyed the therapeutic mountain air. It represents so many things for me and was a place of healing. I haven't been back since that time, but I plan on it.

3. This is Jackass Pass in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming. I have only had one absolutely perfect day in my life. The day Justin and I went fishing for the first time together in the Wind Rivers was it. First of all, I love fishing and reminds me of my relationship with my Dad and his father. Second, it was Justin's first catch and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We did nothing that day but hike, fish, eat and nap in the backcountry. Absolute perfection.

4. Although this picture doesn't do it justice, this is Nelson County, Virginia. I feel so drawn to this place and always have, as if a part of me belongs there at my grandparent's house in the rural town of Roseland. I love it and I feel like the story of who I am begins there.

5. Aspen trees. I love aspens. I love the leaves, the way they sound in the breeze and love the fact that a grove of aspen trees is not a bunch of trees stuck together but is one giant organism. It is a global community of oneness. What a beautiful symbol of unity, growth and beauty.

6. Yoga. Yoga is my sanctuary and the most grounding force, besides my family and mother earth, in my life. It reminds me to slow down, breathe and appreciate my own strength.

7. Grapefruit. My favorite food. Nothing else satiates like a cold, big, juicy, red grapefruit.

8. Bluegrass music. As you can see, I am a bit of a earthy/granola girl. I love bluegrass music. It reminds me of my southern roots, Nelson County, Virginia and my paternal side of the family. I love it, it makes my soul soar.

9. Water. I am drawn to it like a magnet. If I see a river/lake/ocean/pond then you can bet that I'm standing knee deep in it. Give me a pool and I'm like a fish in water. I love it. I drink lots of it (and almost nothing else), bathe in it more than once a day and seek it out.

10. Canning. Canning is awesome. I love it because you can grow your own food, preserve it through the winter and it tastes so much better than buying store-bought canned crap. Plus, it is a family tradition that my mother and her mother did. It makes me feel closer to them and reminds me of the strong, proud feminine heritage that was passed onto me.

11. Anatomy. I guess you can say I am an anatomy geek. It is the one subject-along with physiology-that is a pure joy for me to learn. I love the human body. The more I study it the more I realized that we from a divine source. There is absolutely no way we crawled out of the ocean as bacteria a bazillion years ago. God made us after Him and our bodies, when taken care of, are as perfect as the plant that we live on.

12. The Book of Mormon. A true testament of Jesus Christ and the only book that can bring me so much peace. It teaches the story of life, death, hope and redemption. It is the road map for life.

Now do your own! http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php

End of this line....

Last week Justin and I graduated from college!! Finally, we are done with our undergrad careers!! Phew! It felt like the longest road ever and at times I thought I might drop out because of the pressure, but we endured and we now have diplomas to show for it.

In some ways it feels surreal. We didn't attend our convocations and this last week was pretty hectic with finals and I had 40 hours of training at work. However, we are ecstatic.

Where do we go from here?

In a week we are going to Cancun for 9 days.

In 3.5 weeks I go to India for a month. More updates to come post-vacations!

He is Risen

http://youtu.be/u4Mp9qmjfQQ

Today I woke up next to my best friend who had surprised me with a night downtown, dinner and plans to go see Music and the Spoken Word on Temple Square with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.... he knows me too well. Easter is my absolute favorite holiday of the year. Reasons why I love Easter?

The message. Christ is risen. He no longer sleeps in the tomb, but is a resurrected man with flesh and bones. Scars of the nails, symbols of the freedom He granted to all of us, embedded in the hands He healed with and the feet He walked miles and miles on to bring this message to us. That we can have eternal life. That life is more than just the monotany of every day routines and we don't just return to the dust of the earth when we die. That we are not separated from our families by death. We live on. We have lived before now, not with bodies, and we will live again, and our bodies and spirits can unite like His did. This message gives me hope. I love my family and especially my dearest friend and husband. I want to be with him forever. Not til to death do us part. The world says that marriage is a ball and chain. But I say that marriage is freedom and love unending and peace unlike any other. I want to be with Justin forever because I love him and he makes my life vibrant and full of color. Because Christ has risen, I can rise after death with Justin and be together forever.

This year has brought us so many miracles. Of course there have been hardships and weeks where we wondered if the hard times would end. I was without work for 2 months, we had illnesses, my Granddad passed away and we have had our hearts break with family trials. But through the rain came the sunshine. I got a great job. We are graduating college. We moved closer to our families so we could help take care of our sick family members. We saw the birth of a nephew and two nieces. And though my Granddad is gone, his spirit lives on and one day he will be reunited with his body.

Yesterday Justin told me an insight that I have realized is true. Many people think that marriage is built on a foundation of common interests. While Justin and I have similar interests and we enjoy doing similar things together, that is not what our marriage is built on. He said that what makes a marriage stick are the trials you face together. Either you learn how to deal with them together as a couple and you face them head on with a common goal in mind, or you sink. I feel that in the past 2.5 years we have been together we have seen hard times. But we endure the storms together, arm in arm, knowing without a doubt that we will stick together through it all. Through these storms I feel that we also learn to rely on our Savior. There is only so much that we can do. But with faith in His love, I know that we have seen miracles.

That is why I love Easter. Today was warm and sunny. The perfect Easter Sunday. I look forward to the next year with my sweet husband. Even the hard times because I know the sun shines through and the Savior's love can be felt in the warmth of it's rays.

Tribute to my amazing Granddad

On March 28th, approximately 4 am, I lost my dear Granddad. His blood sugar had been out of control for a week and on Friday night he slipped into a coma. My Aunt Liz flew out from New Jersey, cousin Ryan flew from Oakland, and other cousin Mike flew out from Denver. We all gathered around him Friday, Saturday and Sunday, singing bluegrass songs and telling stories. Then on early Monday morning he slipped away.

Today we had the funeral. Though there were only a few people present, it was a great service, loosely structured and very much a McAvoy gathering. A few of my aunts and uncles from my mother's side attended. Other than that it was my family, my aunt Cathy's family and my aunt Liz via speakerphone. Each of us had a few things to say, my cousin Ryan played on the guitar and sang a song he had written in tribute to my Granddad and we listened to country/bluegrass music.

My Granddad, Russell, was an amazing person. He lost his mother at only 5 years old and was shipped off to live with aunts/uncles while his father looked for work during the Great Depression. He barely had enough to eat and certainly never enjoyed the nice things in life as a child. His father and, later, step-mother were extremely hard on him. His childhood was spent in poverty. Before he turned 18 he lost his father. At age 17 he got his step-mother's permission to enlist in the Navy so that he could join the armed forces in WWII and leave Fayetteville, West Virginia. He spent the war as a gunner in the South Pacific.

After he returned from the war, he went on to get his degree in Chemistry from Bridgewater University in Virginia. Later he worked for the US Geological Survey in hydrolysis doing clean water control. He married my grandmother, Edith Saunders, in her parent's living room. They went on to travel around the country as he was working for the government in northern Virginia, Alaska, Louisiana, North Carolina, Salt Lake City and Denver. When their four children were grown, they eventually settled in Roseland, Virgina.

I wrote a few things about my Granddad that I read at the funeral this afternoon. I'll write them here so that I can have a permanent record.

I have to admit that I was always jealous of my cousin Michael. Being the oldest grandchild, it seemed like he knew Granddad better than anyone. He always had the best stories about Granddad from the 80s and 90s. The only time I saw Granddad was when they made the long journey from Virginia to Utah either driving in their camper or a few times when they flew. My favorite memories had to be from our famous McAvoy camping trips.

Every few years when I was younger we would all take a vacation together and go camping. Granddad seemed like he was so at home in the great outdoors. I was fascinated as a little girl that when he roasted marshmallows, they were always perfectly toasted with the inside being completely fluffy and melted. I would beg him to roast me one and when he did all the other cousins were jealous and would also beg for his perfect marshmallows. He was always the first one to wake up in the morning. I remember crawling out of the tent, being filthy and greasy, and he would be preparing breakfast or working on his fishing line, clean and well slept. I remember standing on the banks of the lakes, casting my line out only a few feet and he would be patiently, slowly casting perfect lines. I got bored so easily but he would patiently wait for those mountain lake fish to bite. He was calm and happy in the outdoors, the most peaceful and serene that I can remember seeing him.

The first time I remember going to Virginia to that beautiful house in the countryside, Granddad was so proud of the garden. He showed me all the strawberries, asparagus and the cherry tree. Their house didn't have any exciting toys or movies, but the beauty of the pine forest he helped plant with my Grandma and the big garden were enough to entertain me. It was there that for the first time, I tried their home grown asparagus from the garden. It was love at first taste and to this day, I crave their home grown asparagus sauteed in a little bit of butter. It was at that house that I fell in love with the Blue Ridge mountains, the big blue sky and those rolling green mountains were, to me, tranquility. Granddad took so much pride in that land, in his garden, his barn and their pine forest.

I am no longer jealous of Michael. I have realized, within the past few weeks, that my relationship with my Granddad blossomed in his later years. Although I got to know him better when he was affected with Alzheimer's, I would see glimpses, now and then, into the true man he was. One day he and I were sitting next to each other on the couch talking about nonsensical things, he started telling me that he missed his daddy, his mommy and wanted everyone to be happy and get along. I believed then, and I believe now, that he was making sense and that his mind was working fine in that moment. I really learned to love and appreciate Granddad as the disease progressed.

It's hard for me to sum all my feelings and thoughts about the entire life of my Granddad. How do you do him justice in a five minute speech? I am sure Granddad is listening. And what I would say to him is this: thank you. Thank you for teaching me to love the great outdoors. Thank you for teaching me, though it has taken til now, the value, both literally and metaphorically, of standing still on the side of a lake, patiently casting my line waiting for something good to come along in perfect stillness and patience. Thank you for teaching me to love vegetables and the wonder of digging your hands in the earth to grow your own food. Thank you for teaching me the art of roasting the perfect marshmallow. Thank you and I love you.