BYU Football

So anyone who knows me knows I am a huge BYU Football fan! I've been going to them for years and never miss a game if I can help it. This season has been so fun! I've been able to sit with some of my great friends from Jerusalem at the home games, and for the away games we've had awesome football watching parties! Saturday November 8, when we played San Diego State, I realized that it was my last home game I'd be going to as a student. The time seems to have just flown by. Anyway, here are some fun pictures from this season. Go Cougars!!!

New Nephew

On October 15, 2008 my new nephew, Marcus Spencer White, was born. He was 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 and 1/2 inches long. Glenn sent us a picture of him as soon as he was born, and we were all so excited! I am so grateful a new little spirit has entered our family. I am so grateful families are forever! Anyway, all of these pictures are ones sent to us by Glenn and those posted on Glenn and April's blog, but I thought it would be fun to share them as well.

Laura's Mission Call

So on Friday, October 24 we all gathered at our house to watch Laura open her mission call. Dad, Mom, Krista, Lyssa, Amy, Dave, Courtney and I were there, with Heather, Spencer, and April on different phones. Laura was both excited and nervous to open her call, and we all waited with anticipation as she read, "Dear Sister White, You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Italy Catania Mission." The look on Laura's face was one of surprise and happiness. She was so excited and couldn't stop smiling. We're all so excited for her! She will leave on January 28, 2009. Congratulations Sister White!!!!

Fun At Zurchers

In another August activity, Krista, me, and my cousin Melissa went to a party store called Zurchers and took some crazy and fun pictures. It was one of the most random things I've ever done, but tons of fun!

Glenn, April, Miriam, and Bekah Visit

In August, Glenn, April, and the girls came out from New Jersey for a visit. It was so wonderful to see them! They stayed for a little over a week with us, which was so much fun. Every morning Miriam would get up and go in the Toy Room to play. Those were some of my favorite times of their stay! We went swimming a lot, went to Seven Peaks, the mall, and just played around at home. We also had a fun day at the park where we played tag, mother-may-I, and hide and seek. The visit went way too fast. I wish they could have stayed longer, but we had lots of fun while they were here! I Love my Family!

Music for a Summer Evening on August 5, 2008

In August Dad, Mom, Krista, and I, along with some friends, attended a Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert up in the Tabernacle. The performance was called "Music for a Summer Evening", The first part of the performance included LDS artists such as Kenneth Cope, Hillary Weeks, and Michael McLean, among others. Those wonderful performances just set the stage for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. You could feel the spirit so strong in the Tabernacle as the choir performed. My favorite moment of the night was when they sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". The music and the words are so inspiring, and the choir sang it magnificently. I was glad I was able to share this night with my family and with one of my good friends Elise Gubler. It really was a wonderful night.

Carmel July 2008

So this past July Spencer, Heather, Lyssa, Laura, and I spent a week in Carmel. It was so much fun!! We took walks every night, went to the beach, had breakfast in Monterey and explored the shops, and spent a day in San Francisco. Point Lobos was gorgeous as usual and the weather was perfect. My favorite part about our time there was going out on the porch early in the morning to do my scripture study. The beauty and peace you see and feel there just makes the spirit all the more powerful! It was really a fun experience!

A New Chapter

So I've been thinking lately it's really about time I start posting on this blog more often. It's a great way to journal, and to keep in touch with family and friends. As a start to this new resolve I'm updating what has happened in my life since my last post.

I am now more than half-way through my last semester at Brigham Young University. I am completing my capstone on the Labor and Delivery Department, which I absolutely love! I am stressing with projects and last-minute details I need to take care of, but overall I am pretty happy. I have great roommates and live in a great ward, where my uncle happens to be the bishop. I am enjoying working, going to school, hanging out with friends, and watching BYU Football! Go Cougars!! My family is doing pretty well. Dad, Mom, and Krista are at home and are trying to keep themselves busy. Laura, Lyssa, and I are in school and Heather and Spencer are working. Glenn, April, Rebekah, Miriam, and the new addition to the family, little Marcus, are living in New Jersey. It is really a great time to be alive! I am having so many wonderful opportunities, and am looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life.

Dad's Birthday

On July 9 we celebrated dad's birthday. We were really excited to give him his gift, and from the picture you can see he was pretty excited too! We pitched in and gave him a Clear Play machine so we can more freely watch movies without worrying about the bad stuff. Then we had Angel Food Cake with raspberries and fruit sauce for dessert. I think he really enjoyed his birthday! We love you Daddy!!

Mary Ellen Edmunds Dinner

On Wednesday, April 9, I was able to go to a dinner for the Mary Ellen Edmunds Nursing Chair. Some of the nursing students had the opportunity to go for free. The special guest was Kenneth Cope. He is absolutely amazing!! I had met him before when he performed at grandma's house, but I introduced myself again. He was so kind and thoughtful! His presentation was wonderful! He spoke a lot about how we are all children of God and need to develop a personal relationship with Him. It was evident he had that relationship. He performed a couple songs from his new album "All About You". They were called "Your Father's Child" and "Broken". He also sang his version of "Because I Have Been Given Much" and another song called "Come to Jesus". It was a great evening! I managed to catch him after the concert and he took a picture with me and signed my copy of his new album. I am so glad I had the opportunity to go!

Crunch Time

Well, it's getting close to the end of the semester. I can't believe how fast time has flown by! The end of the semester in the nursing program is actually a lot less stressful than the rest of the semester. Since clinical is done two weeks before the semester is over, you pretty much only have to worry about finals. This semester, however, I seem to have a lot more to stress about. I have a final presentation for my Psych class that is worth a significant portion of my grade, I have remediation to do for two ATI tests I took this semester (long story), I have to complete scholarship applications by the beginning of next week for both the university and the nursing program, I have to get logistics worked out to study for and take my LPN exam, and on top of that I figured out I have to get 95% or above on all my final exams to pull off decent grades this semester. Talk about a lot of pressure! I just need to take this process one step at a time and work very hard over the next couple of weeks. Then I can worry about studying for my LPN exam and getting a good summer job. Oh, did I mention I also need to find housing for spring/summer and fall/winter. I am going to need divine intervention to get through these next couple hectic weeks. We'll see if it can be pulled off! Wish me luck!

Christmas (In April)

I figured it was time for me to start updating my blog. These pictures are from Christmas of this past year. The thing that made this Christmas so special was that my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces came out from New York to be with us, so we had the entire family home. We had so much fun watching the little girls open their gifts! It was neat to see them get so excited! Of course having Glenn and Spencer together is always entertaining and makes life all the more fun! It was just wonderful to have everyone there, especially after not having seen them for 4 months after being over in Jerusalem. Here are some cute pictures of the wonderful time we had together.

Miracles Do Happen

Yesterday I experienced a miracle. I was on my way up to my clinical up in Salt Lake with two other girls. The roads were horrible because of the huge snow storm the night before. As we were driving, a huge semi-truck pulled next to us and started to drift into our lane. The girl driving tried to move over a little, but hit a patch of ice. We were headed toward the median. She tried to correct herself, but ended up overcorrecting to right underneath the semi. That is as much as I remember. Apparently witnesses told the police our car was spinning UNDERNEATH the semi, and just as the rear tires were about to come up over the top of the car, the car shot out from underneath the semi. We ended up spinning a few more times, but miraculously didn't hit the median. The car ended up between the carpool lane and the left lane, facing ongoing traffic. We were all in shock, but managed to get our stuff and get out of the car. The lights on my friend's car didn't work, so it is a miracle no one hit us as we were getting out. We headed over to the middle of the highway next to the median. The two girls who sat in the front seat had scratches all over their faces from the shattering of the winshield (a part of the semi had crushed most of the winshield and there was a big hole). The driver had some cuts on her hands, but other than that, they were fine. I managed to walk away with one little cut on my face, and my glasses flying off and losing a lense. It took a while for the police to get there. Apparently there was a line of accidents, and we had to wait our turn in line. A really nice guy stopped and asked us if we were alright. He had a first aid kit and then he began directing traffic away from the car and where we were standing. The next person to show up was the driver of the semi we had hit. He was very apologetic and began helping with directing traffic and making sure we were okay. The tow truck came next and helped to steer traffic away from the car by blocking the lanes with his car. The girl who was the driver of the car was frantic. She just kept apologizing over and over again. We all called family members to tell them we were safe. Mom had been really worried something like this would happen. She hadn't wanted me to go up to clinical because the roads were so bad. But rarely do they cancel clinical, even for a snow storm. Anyway, Mom took it a lot better than I thought she would. I was surprisingly calm, although whenever I would straighten my legs they would start shaking. I knew it was the adrenaline pumping through me that was keeping me upright and for the msot part pretty calm. The ambulance came and we got in the back so they could check our vital signs and make sure we were okay. I realized at this point how cold it had been standing outside in the snow storm. Our vitals were all within normal limits (I won the blood pressure contest with a 106/67--the lowest;)), and none of us had any serious injuries, so we elected not to go to the hospital. The ambulance took us to a gas station where one of the girl's husband came to get us. We had to wait for the police to come so we could fill out an accident report. After that we were on our way home. As we drove home, I knew within my heart that we very well could not have survived that crash. If that semi had come up on top of us, it could have been fatal. I know there was truly divine intervention.

This accident helped me put my life in perspective. It made me recognize that my priorities have been off. I really need to live life to it's fullest and not waste a moment, because you never know what life will throw at you. I am so grateful for miracles. I know they happen because my family has experienced them first hand. The Lord is truly watching over us. I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ who love me so much and protects me. I know He is there and watching over me. I am grateful to be alive.Miracles Happen! I truly have a testimony of that.

Hello Again!

As most of you probably know, I am back from Jerusalem. Sorry I didn't post pictures from the last couple weeks I was there. I'll be sure to do that when I get a break from my hectic nursing schedule this semester.

Christmas was wonderful! My brother and sister-in-law and nieces came in from New York and spent the holiday season with us. It was wonderful! The time went by way too quickly.

I am now starting my 4th semester in the nursing program at BYU. It is definitely going to be a tough semester, but I'm excited to practice my skills again. I am currently living at home, as my housing fell through. I am currently looking for an apartment, so we'll see what happens.

That's about it for now. My life is pretty boring compared to when I was in Jerusalem ;), but I look forward to the new opportunities and experiences I will have this semester.