It's the most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Well, I apologize that I have not written in a while.  I have been busy the past couple weeks.  I have to keep this one short too because it's late and I need to go to bed.  I have finals this week and that means two things, lots of studying and I get to go home when it's all said and done! Yay!!! I am pretty excited to be spending Christmas with my family.  Speaking of Christmas, I love this season.  The music, the lights, the Spirit, the trees, the smells, the food, and so on and so forth.  Anyways, I have a new district of Missionaries right now.  There are 3 of them and all are doing great.  The are all headed to the Alpine German Speaking Mission and are going to be great.  Hillary only has like 9 days left in the MTC or something like that.  I cannot believe that.  She is going to be so great.  She is going to really do amazing things there in Portugal.  I am excited for her.  Christmas is the time to celebrate the birth of the Savior, but I would hope that we remember Him every day of our lives.  He lives.  I know that and am very grateful for that.  Today at church we sang, "I head the Bells on Christmas Day" and it was just so touching to see the contrast between the third and fourth verses.  "Then in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men."  What a sad verse!  How disheartening that is.  And yet then comes the next verse, "Then pealed the bells both loud and sweet, God is not dead nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men."  How comforting it is to know that Christ came to the earth.  He died for us, but He lives.  I know that to be true and invite you to find that out for yourself as well.  It will truly change your life and make it that much more wonderful!

garth brooks standing outside the fire official

This is one of my favorite songs and music videos. What a great message it shares!
It is wonderful!

You are Special- Max Lucado

This a reading of the children's book, "You are Special" by Max Lucado. I love this book and even more so, I love the message it shares with us all. You really are special. Don't you forget it!

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Here is my favorite rendition of the hymn, "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing"

2 Year Anniversary!

Not that I am counting or anything, but I have been home from my mission for 2 years now and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by.  I really do not know what else to say about that.  I will say that this evening we had an awesome musical fireside in my ward and it was great.  Zach, Richard, a few other German speakers and I were able to sing "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing" in German. That was so cool.  There are so many talented people in this ward.  It is great that so many were able to sing this evening.  It was wonderful.  I will post my favorite version of that song shortly.  Anyways, that is all I have for today.  Love you all!!!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

This is a great message appropriate for this time of the year and always! Hope you like it! Remember, it's a wonderful life!


In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Lessons-I-Learned-as-a-Boy

This is just a really cool video from President Hinckley. Go make someone's day!

Lessons-I-Learned-as-a-Boy

"Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice!"

Hillary talked this past week about how she was able to hear Elder Scoot as he spoke at the MTC.  I remember that he also came and spoke as I was in the MTC, twice actually and I was able to shake his hand.  What a great blessing that was.  Today at church, we had stake conference, or a larger gathering for a few of the congregations here in the area.  Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came and spoke to us.  What an amazing blessing it was to hear him speak.  I will give a brief summary of the meeting and what was talked about.  First, a woman by the name of Kristy Rogers stood up and spoke about how this time in life is a time of decision making.  We pray and ask for Heavenly Father's help in doing things but we ask to be shown the entire next chapter of our lives.  Instead, Heavenly Father shows us only the next few sentences, or lines.  That was kind of eye-opening for me.  It gives a whole new perspective to line upon line, precept upon precept. That is how the Lord has always taught us, so it makes sense that He would continue to teach us that way.  President Brenchly then stood up and spoke about hope and faith. In the Bible Dictionary of the LDS King James Version of the Bible, Faith is said to be a confidence in something or someone.  That led me to the thought, "How many Times has the Lord let you down?"  It has never happened.  When we put our trust in Him, He will guide us and help us every step of the way.  He never lets us alone.  What a great blessing that is.  The next speaker was Elder Kevin J. Worthen of the Seventy.  He spoke about Trusting Jesus.  He told the story of a little 4 year old girl who one day came up to her mother holding some papers.  She gave those paper to her mother and said, "Mommy, do you know what these are?"  The Mother replied, "No I don't."  "They are the scriptures. Do you know what the scriptures say?" "What do they say honey?" "Trust Jesus!"  What a profound statement from the mouth of a child.  That is truly what we must do.  Trust Jesus.  That is oftentimes easier said, than done, but as we do so, things will work out as they should.  Then Elder Hales got up and began by saying something like, "We sing the primary hymn, 'I am a Child of God'.  Do you really believe that?"  He then encouraged us to believe that.  Everything he talked about tied back into that message.  Heavenly Father really is our loving Heavenly Father.  He really does love us and wants what is best for us. We have to remember that.  If we can understand that, then it will mean all the difference in the world.  Wow.  The closing song was "We thank thee O God for a Prophet."  How truly grateful I am that we have a living Prophet and living Apostles on the earth today.  That is truly a remarkable and Wonderful truth.  What a Wonderful Halloween it has been!

What a Week!

Well, does it get any better than having your brother go through the temple and then have your sister go in to the MTC?  If it does, it can not be by much!  I am super excited that Hillary is going to be able to serve a mission.  Her first letter came this week and she seems super excited and I am excited for her.  I am grateful I am able to work at the MTC and still see her every now and again.  Jacob will also be a great missionary.  He is super excited for Tonga and checked out 4 books this week on Tonga.  He has a really good personality and is gets along well with people.  He will be great.  In addition to all these happenings, I had 3 tests this week and all things considered, I think they went well.  I have another test coming up this next week, so there is no rest for the weary.  Halloween is coming up and I am pretty excited about that.  I am still debating about what I should be.  Whatever it is, it will be fun.  Well, I know that is a lot of events and I could write more, I just feel that this is enough for now.  So, there you go.  Remember, life is wonderful, look for the good in the world, and Jesus Christ lives!!!

Just a Weekly Message

Nothing particularly over the top exciting for this week.  I had two exams and was able to do pretty well on them.  I have another one coming up this week.  We'll see how that goes.  I will have to take it before I come home on Friday for my sister Hillary's going on a mission talk.  She will be preaching the teachings of Jesus Christ for 18 months in the wonderful country of Lisbon Portugal.  How exciting for her.  She will be an amazing missionary.  I am excited for her, but also saddened.  I will miss her but know that she will be doing the Lord's work.  My brother Jacob received a mission call this week to go to the island of Tonga.  How great is that! He leaves in January and again, I will be sad to see him go, but feel that he will be an amazing missionary.  What an exciting time for my family.  I love them very much and am so grateful for them.  I need to tell them that more often.  This past weekend (the first weekend of October) we had General Conference where the Prophet and 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to the world.  You can see what they said on lds.org.  Their messages were great.  I particularly liked what Elder Holland shared about the individual.  The Lord truly is concerned with the individual.  It is all about the one.  In 3 Nephi 11 (a book in the Book of Mormon) it talks of Jesus Christ's visit to the Americas after his resurrection.  It says that the people went to feel the prints in his feet, hands, and side, but they did so "one by one."  What a powerful message that is.  Salvation is a personal, one on one experience.  I know that is true and I hope I am not sounding too preachy, I just feel very strongly about that and wanted to share that with everyone who reads this blog.  Jesus Christ lives and I just think that is wonderful!

Continue in Patience

This was a great talk by Elder Uchtdorf about patience. How we all could use a bit more of that in our live. The Lord will fulfill His promises, but oftentimes it will happen in His time, not ours.

Wer war der Prophet Joseph Smith

This is a really cool website about the Prophet Joseph Smith and it is is German! Even better!

Wer war der Prophet Joseph Smith

The Ike Special - Varsity Edition

I thought this was a great show of sportsmanship.  Hats off to both teams and congrats to Ike!

Das Alte Deutsche Haus Winter 2010

I'm back!

Alright, I know it has been a while, but I have repented and am back to blogging. Just to update what has been going on, I have moved to Alta Apartments right by the stadium. The people and church congregation is really awesome. I am enjoying living here. I have started a new semester of classes and so far, it has been great. I also have a new assignment at church. I am a ward missionary. I am looking forward to serving others in this capacity, I think it will be a wonderful opportunity to learn and to grow. BYU football has started up again, but they are not doing so well. Hopefully they can get it together this coming week when they play against Nevada. We'll see how it goes. Well, it is pretty late and I have to get up early in order to finish up some homework, so I have to keep this post short, I will try to be more diligent in the future though. I love my Family and am super excited for Hillary and the 6 other friends who all have mission calls. That is awesome!. Love to all and remember, It's a Wonderful Life!!!

One Week More!

Just one more week before the summer 2010 term comes to a close. I have two finals, one in Accounting and the other in Chemistry 105. I had my last regular test on Thursday and I got an 80% on the Multiple Choice part and felt good about the written part. A highlight this week was the training meeting we had on Tuesday afternoon. We spoke about the Christlike Attributes from Preach My Gospel as well as how they related to Personal Revelation. At the meeting I met a few of the Portuguese teachers that will probably be teaching there when Hillary enters. So, that was pretty exciting. I was able to speak with one of those teachers about Hope. There were a lot of insights that I received concerning this eternal principle. First of all, it was brought to my attention that this attribute is the one that is attacked the most by Satan. He would have us believe that hope is simply wishful thinking, but that is simply not true. Brynn, the other teacher I spoke with, brought up the idea that Hope is the other side of faith. We have faith and belief that we should do something. We have faith and belief that Christ atoned for us and that He is powerful enough to save us from all things. Hope comes in when we recognize that we will be blessed by Heavenly Father. He will grant us eternal life if we "do all that we can" (2 Nephi 25:23). Too often, for me at least, I find myself trying to do that best that I can and yet I do not fully believe that that will be good enough. I find myself doubting or not truly believing that the Lord will fulfill His promises. But that is where Hope comes in to play. He will fulfill all He has promised to do. That must be our belief. He will fulfill His promises. We really can obtain the Celestial Kingdom, if we do our best; if we do all we can do. Anyways, I think that is enough for this week. I love you all. Life is so wonderful. I hope that you all remember that!

Happy August!!!

Tomorrow Hillary will turn 21. Isn't that crazy? That is the right age for her to be going on a mission, thought. Well, this week has definitely been full of ups and downs. I guess that is how life is a lot of times. The trick is to remember the ups and let them carry you through the downs. So I took two tests this week, one in Accounting and the other in Chemistry. Needless to say, they did not go well. I guess I will need to hit the books a little harder in preparation for the next tests. We did have a super awesome training this week at work. It was all about the new Mormon.org website and I would encourage everyone to go and visit this site. It really is amazing! http://mormon.org/ There is the address, so you can just cut and paste. There are so many people on there. The face of the church is changing. No longer will the missionaries be the only people remembered by everyone. Instead they will be able to see friends, neighbors, "regular everyday average joes" if you will, who are living their religion and seeking to be good people. It really is amazing what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does for people. It makes them better. Well, I should change that and say that it helps people to have the desire to be better. What a great blessing that is. I bore testimony today in church about how happy I am. I know that there are hard times in life. Life is not easy, in fact it is downright hard at times, but I am happy. I have friends. I have a great family. I am healthy and I have the opportunity to study at a first class university. In the words of Louis Armstrong, "And I think to myself, What a wonderful world." It truly is. I am grateful to be alive and I am grateful to have a knowledge of my Heavenly Father. I love you all. My invitation for you tonight would be to remember all the ways that Heavenly Father has blessed you. Can't think of any, try a little harder and think of the little things, because every day truly is a gift from Him.

The Other One Year Anniversary!

Well, exactly one year ago, I was in the hospital after attempting to walk from Provo to Salt Lake City, Utah. Needless to say, I have not made the attempt again. But I have learned a lot since then. I have not been as good about exercising, but I have set a goal to lose 5 lbs before the end of the semester, so I am going to start exercising again. This week has been a really good one I would say. I got a 92% on a Chemistry Test which is a huge improvement from last time. Then this weekend I was able to go to Price, Utah for the first time and see where Grandma Stevens was born and married. Not only that, but I got to see lots of cousins and second cousins who I had either not seen in a really long time or had never met in my life. It was really kind of amazing to think that we are all related. I think I was really feeling the spirit of Elijah and was just grateful for the great family that I am a part of. I had to leave on Saturday to come meet with the Missionaries in the MTC and boy, they really are a great group. It is awesome. Today at Church we had a few great speakers, but then I took off for Salt Lake where I was able to see President and Sister Thompson for the first time since last August. They are back from their 3 year Mission to the Hamburg, Germany Mission. Wow. It was really awesome to see them again. They are just such great people. It was also a great blessing to see so many of the other missionaries there. So many are home now. It was like a huge mission reunion or Zone Conference. It was just a lot of fun. We had a little BBQ afterwards with other missionaries and then I headed back home and think it is time to hit the sack. So, I will conclude this entry simply by saying that I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. What a marvelous blessing that is. How wonderful it is to be associated with so many wonderful people. I love you all and wish you all a wonderful week!

One Year Anniversary

Well, one year ago to the day, Josephine and I had our adventure on the Provo River where she got hypothermia and we had to take her to the hospital. This year, I decided to not do something so intense. Instead I went to church, heard many great talks about the importance of the Temple Interview and was able to get all of the Sunday School classes staffed with teachers. The past two weeks, since I last wrote have been full of ups and downs and ups and downs. The Fourth of July was great. The fireworks were fun and the testimonies shared in Fast and Testimony meeting were very uplifting. The new missionaries are not new anymore, but are learning both the German Language and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. President and Sister Thompson are now home and so next week, when they give their homecoming talk, we will go and see them. I am looking forward to that very much. I also heard from Klaus and Solange Gloeyer a couple from my last area in Altona. Solange is from Brazil and has met Hillary, so when Hillary gets back from Portugal, they will be able to converse with each other. Pretty exciting, huh? Well, I said that there had been ups and downs, but through it all, I think the Lord has been carrying me. I need to turn to Him more. Today's lesson in Priesthood was on the Atonement and well, I guess too often I try to white knuckle it and do everything on my own. That is not how it works and I cannot do it on my own. I need the Atonement and well, I am learning that more and more. Alright, I think that is all I have to write for now. I will try to write again next week, on the one year anniversary of my adventure to Salt Lake. Until then, have a wonderful week.

Summer Time

Summer is here and that means more school, but also a bit more time to get out and enjoy time with other people, especially family. This week I played soccer and softball and it was just great to get out and play sports again. It had been a while since I had done that. I enjoyed the time my family and I had together as we drove up to Provo. I got a new district of Missionaries on Wednesday and boy, I tell you what, they are awesome. Last night (Saturday) each of them went around and just bore testimony and wow, even in German, a language which some of them first began studying on Wednesday the spirit could be felt. It was great. Hillary, Ellen, Jacob, and I were able to spend some time together this weekend, both at Aunt Melissa's house and at Uncle Tom's birthday party today. It was fun to see family again and just kind of talk about life, death and everything in between. I love our family. I love that the Gospel makes it possible for us to be together forever. I love having Jacob and Hillary here. I was a little unsure about what to expect when I knew we were all going to be here, but I am very grateful we are here together. I am learning that we are all very different and well, that is okay. Jacob is having a ton of great experiences in his first week. He had such a good personality and really loves people and is very sincere about things that he does. Hillary has such a good heart and love for the Gospel. She wants to continue to learn more and share the Gospel with others. I am excited that she is going to be able to serve a mission. She is going to do great. I am still trying to figure the whole chemistry thing out. It is going better the second time around and so that is good. Life is not easy, but it is going forward. I sometimes have doubts concerning myself and abilities but I guess that is the best time to turn things over to Heavenly Father, right? We may not be strong enough, but He is. Well, I think that is all I will write for now. I love my family and yeah, remember it's a wonderful thing to be alive!

Another week gone by!

Well, we only have about 1 and 1/2 weeks until it is time for finals. Boy, these spring and summer terms really go by fast. I experienced some discouragement this week, but also a lot of joy. I was especially grateful to have gone Home Teaching this week. That just means Richard, (my Home Teaching companion) and I were able to go and visit Megan, Liz, and Camilla of the Spanish house and speak with them about how they are doing. We shared a brief message about "letting your light shine" and not hiding our talents. It was really a great meeting. Those girls are really great and I am glad we were able to talk about the importance of being grateful for you are; of being grateful for the talents the Lord has blessed us with. What a blessing they are. We are all different in how we think, act, believe, etc, and the Lord has blessed us with so many different talents. It is up to us to use those talents in a manner pleasing unto Him. We just have to do the best we can. I just have to be the best Russell I can be. I do not have to be the best Jo Schmo. That holds true for us all. The importance of the temple was also addressed today and it became apparent to me that I need to keep seeking opportunities to go the the temple; to go there to be guided by the Lord and to be a blessing to people who did not have the chance to accept the gospel while on this earth. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for His son Jesus Christ. Again, I am not trying to sound preachy, these are just things, that I really feel very blessed to have in my life. Anyways, a few more highlights from this week involve missionaries, both returned and newly called ones. Hillary received a mission call to the Lisbon, Portugal Mission which is very exciting news. I am happy for her and know she will go amazing things there. The other involves a recently returned missionary. Cherie Gulliver has returned home honorably from the Belgium Netherlands Mission (the name changed while she served there). I spoke with her for about an hour on Thursday and it appears to me that she had a very successful mission. It was good to talk to an old friend. Alright, I think that about does it for me tonight. I love you all, especially my family. They are just great. I am very grateful for their love and support. Remember to keep looking for the good in the world. As you do so, it is easy to see how wonderful things really are in life. Hard? Yes, but absolutely wonderful.

Spring has arrived...with a snow storm

This week the weather was great, except for the day when it snowed. Yes. I realize that it is almost June and therefore spring should be giving way to summer, but winter poked its head in for one more visit. I pulled out my winter coat and drove to school. I have to say it was fun to see the snow again, even if it was very unexpected. I don't know if everyone was a fan of it, but hey there you go. I was reminded of a story I heard about President Boyd K. Packer in my Teaching of the Living Prophets class. He was one day preparing to go outside and paint his house when it started raining. He declared his independence from the weather and painted anyways. Kind of a cool story about not letting the weather determine your mood. Anyways, I got to teach the English Sunday School today. There two other people there besides myself. (everyone else was in their respective language class). The main topics we spoke about were the power and influence of righteous parents and righteous friends. We spent so much time on those two things that we did not get to the stories of Gideon and Samson with their lessons about having faith in God and making and keeping covenants with God. It went very well. In the combined meeting we had after Sunday School I had a very strong feeling of gratitude for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I dont mean to be all preachy with anything that I say, I am just very grateful to know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ and that we have scriptures on the earth to help us in our every day lives. I was excited to hear about Scott's homecoming. I found the pictures of the cousins on facebook. He looks good and from what he talked about, the letters I read, and all of the other things that I have heard about him, he was a very successful missionary. That story that mom told me about him meeting another missionary on her way to California from the Netherlands was, well a great example of how small the world is. Wow! I love you all. Wish me luck this week, I have another Chemistry test. I am determined to do better on this one. I am excited for Hillary. If your call gets there before Thursday, feel free to call me up and we will all listen in as you read it. We could even do the skype thing so we can see it. I love my family and am so grateful for my life. It is not always easy, but it is worth it and most definitely wonderful.

Faith

That was one of the big themes at church today. Its one of those great themes in life that is always good to have repeated. This week was a busy one. The big event of the week was a chemistry test on Friday. I didn't fail but I got as close as I could. Its a very difficult class. After church I went with one of my roommates and visited a guy in my apartment complex and we just had a real nice conversation. They are both in their masters program and shared their experiences in getting into their programs. That was a really comforting conversation for me. I guess I have been worrying and second guessing whether physical therapy is the right field of study for me. Basically, the main thing I got from this conversation was that the Lord is in control. If I am supposed to go into Physical Therapy and I give my best, the Lord will take care of the rest. That is not always easy for me to accept, but I know that that is how it is. The Lord knows what He is doing, even if I don't. Anyways, I am grateful for church and even more grateful for Jesus Christ. I love you all. Never forget what a wonderful thing it is to be alive.
Russell
PS This is a great video just talking about the importance of being strong. Enjoy!
PPS To see the movie on a bigger screen just click on the little button in the lower right hand corner.

This is a video that I thought was neat. It is about the amazing gift to choose. Choose to make today wonderful!
The Freedom to...

Adversity

That was the theme of our sacrament meeting this morning at church. What an appropriate theme. I have more tests coming up this week as well as lots of work and responsibilities for all of the above. I worked a lot this week, with the busiest day being Thursday where I was working from about 11:30am until almost 10:00pm. It was really interesting how not tired I was throughout that period of time. Of course about midnight I started getting loopy and really realize that I was pretty tired. Anyways, from what was said today, I just was very grateful for Jesus Christ. My roommate Zach said something pretty interesting last week, "I know that the Atonement can help you through [anything]." And boy that is true. We just have to be willing to let God help us and He will willingly do so. I am grateful for experiences that are hard. That is not always true in the moment and it is often hard for me to realize in what ways a certain trial has helped me, but I know that Heavenly Father is there for us. I guess that is the important thing to remember. I am also very grateful for my family. In times of hardship it is really great to know that we can have loved ones to whom we can go for love, support, and someone who will listen. I love my family! On Saturday evening, I went to the Provo Temple and was baptized on behalf of 19 of Uncle Ron's relatives. It was great! (For more information on LDS Temples and the service done there, visit www.mormon.org) I also did some Chemistry homework and last night I did not sleep well because I was having nightmares about Chemistry. Maybe something is seeping in or I am just really not getting it. Anyways. I love you all! "I believe in Christ, so come what may." With that in mind, you can always remember that it truly is a wonderful life! And if its not, well, it will be, just you wait.

Happy Mother's Day

Well today is Mother's Day so for all the Mothers reading this, know that I appreciate what you do and have done for me and for your children. I love my Mom very much and have only spoken with her briefly today. She is awesome and I am very grateful for her. At church today, we had some really great talks about Mothers. The first talk was given by Thomas in the Spanish house. I can echo a lot of the things that he said about his mother because they apply to my mom, too. She is always checking up on me to make sure that I have everything I need from hangers in my closet to food in my fridge. I know I annoy her sometimes with my quirks, I am just trying to be what she and my Heavenly Father want me to be. Sorry about not posting last week, I got caught up in other things, I guess. I have decided to not take Physiology until I take some Chemistry, but right now I am wondering if that was the right decision. Chem 105 is killing me. It is just a General Chemistry class, but it taking up most of my time right now. Between that, Stats 221, Working with Brother Minert and at the MTC teaching German to a group of Missionaries, life is pretty busy. But I can not complain. It is simply too wonderful of a life. Yes it is hard at times, (most of the time right now) but I know that my Heavenly Father is always there and that He is watching over and protecting me. He is giving me strength to do things I did not think possible (like Chemistry Homework). Anyways, I am grateful for all of you and hope your week goes amazingly well. Have a wonderful week, because it should be. It's a wonderful Life!

School's out! oh wait...

Well, this week I finished up my classes for Winter 2010. Yay! I think it will turn out ok, grade wise. It has been nice to not have to worry about classes for a little while, but tomorrow Spring Classes begin again. Wahoo! I am taking Physiology and Statistics. That should be enough to keep me busy. I also got my first district of missionaries on Wednesday. They are all going to Hamburg and I think will be the last group of Missionaries that will have President and Sister Thompson as their Mission President. It is crazy to think that President and Sister Thompson are going to be coming home so soon. It will be great to see them again. With the beginning of a new semester, there is a big turnover of people moving out and into my apartment complex (Foreign Language Student Residency). Yesterday at church we only had about 30 people and will max out in spring at 74. 12 apartments were closed, but it should still be fun. There are a lot of things to do here in summer what with all the trails for hiking or riding bikes. It will be fun as well as challenging to manage my time as best I can. Ashlyn was baptized on Saturday, but I still have not seen her since then. Oh, well. I am planning on driving down with Aunt Melissa on Friday and driving back on Sunday. So it will be a quick weekend trip down to California. Life is going well, Janae is amazing. She baked cookies that we were able to take to Ashlyn's little party on Saturday. I guess that is about it for this week. I hope everyone is doing well and remember, come what may and love it. It really is a Wonderful Life!

I know, I know, finally!!

Well, I have not joined the ranks of Facebook, but I have decided to give blogging a try. We will see how this goes, I would ask for patience as I am not very good at this yet. Basically, I am setting this blog up because I am not as good at keeping contact as I should be and figure this can give family, friends, really whoever would like to, the opportunity to see what is new and exciting in my life. Most of all, I hope to be able to just share with everyone how wonderful life is. God lives and even though times are sometimes tough, I believe that He watches over us always. So I guess we will see how this goes. Love you all!