Vision: May 2012

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Willowcreek 5k

This morning I woke up to do a 5k in Lehi, Ut. The 5k was to help with the funding for the education program at WillowCreek Middle School, the school that I work at. I jogged it but hey, I FINISHED! What I was really proud of was my girls! They had a 1k kid race after the 5k. It was the first time I entered the girls in a race and It was EXTREMELY REWARDING TO ME! Being a mom ROCKS!

Here's the girls at the starting line. They were behind a bunch of bigger kids. They looked excited but didn't know exactly what to expect.

Can you spot Eve?

Can you spot my little Esther in this crowd?

Esther won the hearts of the crowd. She was the last to start, and when she started she was so stinken cute. I felt so overwhelmed I started to cry! I was so proud of my little girl. I wasn't sure if she was going to keep running so I jogged on the side of her cheering her on the whole way! Telling her that she was so awesome! Mark and I split up so he could cheer on Eve because she was REALLY FAST! Once we told them that they could get candy at the finish line they started to run faster. Both girls never stopped they just kept running until they finished. I'm EXTREMELY proud of them. My heart was full of so much JOY! Times like this being a parent is so fun. Can't wait to get these girls in sports. We will tear it up!

At the finish line everyone cheered for each child and each child got a medal and candy. Hip hip hooray for their first race. Can't wait to sign up again. I seriously can get addicted to this.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Master's Graduate

On May 3, 2012 Mark graduated from the University of Utah with his Master's in Political Science. As I sat in the auditorium pregnant, trying to manage my 3 girls from making to much noise, I just felt extremely proud and happy for us. I say US because the sacrifices that went through in obtaining this degree were spent on both parties. He has worked so hard and continues to work hard on behalf of our family. His love for his family is immensely large and I'm so grateful to be apart of it. Obtaining an education to me has always been a priority. I'm so grateful that I married a man that feels the same way. For the next 2 years we will be living in New Jersey. Mark got accepted to a very prestigious & rigorous program called Teach for America. Essentially he will be teaching inner city kids English in Newark, NJ. It will be very challenging but VERY rewarding at the same time. Here's to another adventure!

P.s. Mark will probably kill me for posting this because he's so reserved with his accomplishments, Oh well!

Juanita's Conversion Story

I feel that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the desire to play softball. The fact that the Lord was guiding me to play softball became more evident to me when I was offered a scholarship to play ball at BYU-Hawaii. The thought of attending BYU-Hawaii just seemed right and good at the time so I attended college there. My first year in college I was so excited to learn, play, and party. I discovered real soon that the students who attended the university had fun without drinking. I also discovered that the people were faithful and they had a strong sense of purpose and Identity. This compelled me to go on a spiritual search. I decided to take the lessons from the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I took the lessons I was taught things that I heard before and things that were new to me. Such as the Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith. These were things that were a challenge for me to believe. So I took these challenges up to the Lord and I asked him if the Book of Mormon is the word of God and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. I'm so delighted to share with you that I do know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the Prophet Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. I know that it's true because of the power of the Holy Spirit, because of these truths and much more I decided to be baptized and serve the Lord. Getting baptized was the best decision I ever made. It's because of this choice that I enjoy the blessing of life today. The church is true and I find myself indebt to the Lord forever.