Heather opened an eye tentatively as the sun manifested it's existence through the partially opened blinds of her bedroom window. Rolling over, she encountered the sleeping form of her little sister, Mary, laying next to her. Heather reached for her cell phone and read the time displayed-8:31-no-8:32 in the morning. I don't want to get up yet. She thought to herself as she closed her eyes once more. Heather continued to awake throughout the ongoing morning and at around ten o'clock decided to just lay in bed and think.
Do I really want to go to Japan? She mulled this question over and over in her mind and she weighed the risks and benefits. Risks: possible high levels of radiation, which may be fostered in my cells and one day activate as a live form of cancer and possibly affect my children--if I am fortunate to have any. Any others besides the normal fears and anxieties? Nah. Benefits: same as before. Hmmmm.
At around eleven o'clock, Heather quietly got out of bed and pulled the sheets and covers up, smoothing them nicely on her side. She had not taken her contacts out and her war paint was still mostly acceptable from the night before. She made a quick stop by the tearai (ahemm--"john") then went to check her email. Heather looked at her most recent emails. Ah! One is from Fumi! She exclaimed to herself. Heather read the email, not anticipating the feeling she would have as a result. Heather's visa had arrived and Fumi was sending it to her express. Fumi instructed her to get her plane ticket as soon as possible and to send her the itinerary. Wow! This seems to be happening really fast all of the sudden! I'm not sure how to feel. She thought as a wave of nausea hit her.
This continued all day Saturday. She, her brothers, and Mary all went down to their dad's house to play lightning in his driveway. This relieved some stress and was quite refreshing. Heather had not played basketball or lightning since her mission (ahhhh...how sweet). Heather, Seth, and Kurt were invited to stay for dinner, which was spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner, Heather made sure her dad, Mary, Seth, and Kurt had all joined Skype so they could chat while she was away.
Heather, Seth, and Kurt returned home and watched a good ol' old favorite: Robot Jox.
"Wow! This movie is so old-school now!" Heather exclaimed to her brothers. "It's amazing what we thought was so cool 20 years ago with CGI...and floating cars! Ha!" The movie continued and ten minutes later Heather cried "He's killing her! He's killing her!" with her hands pressed against her cheeks, absolute horror pouring from her beautiful green eyes.
"Ha ha!" Kurt responded. "Isn't it funny how we remember so much from this movie?"
"Yeah. And I was only about 9 when I saw this last. And you two were only 7!"
It was getting late and church began at nine o'clock in the morning. As Heather tiredly laid her head down on her pillow, she prayed that the anxiety would leave her and that she would feel at peace. I need Thee every hour most gracious Lord she sang to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Patience is a Virtue
Well, on Thursday, March 10 I booked it for Boise where my adventure to Washington to see friends and family before leaving for Japan began. As Mom and I chatted away somewhere in Oregon, my Aunt Linda calls to tell us about the 9.0 earthquake that hit Sendai, Japan and the devastating results. We listened on the radio but all the local news had to say was regarding the 3 and 4 foot tsunami waves hitting Oregon and California.
When I arrived at my aunt and uncle's home in Kalama, WA, I emailed my employer to see if she and others on their island were alright. She emailed back promptly that there was no destruction to her part of Japan and that she would let me know when she received my working visa and express it to me. I was surprised but relieved.
Within 24 hours the news was focused on the nuclear reactors. A Fukushima reactor was approaching partial meltdown. All the safety measures put in place already had failed and they were starting to pump sea water into the core to cool down the rods. Radiation was released at one reactor in Fukushima Daiichi and the Japanese government set an evacuation area of 12 miles. Iodine tablets were distributed to those in the immediate area. Within another day or so the government had expanded the safety area. The U.S. Department of State cautioned all U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Japan until at least April 1st. And a few days later advised all Americans in Japan to stay at least 50 miles away from Fukushima Daiichi as an extra safety precaution.
The likelihood that I am going to Japan still is unknown but I have high hopes still and know things will turn out the way they should.
Besides that note, my visit with family and friends in Washington was great!! I was able to visit with Aunt Linda, Uncle Brian, and Grandma Allison for about 4 days after which I traveled north to Port Orchard to stay with my sister, Lara, and her daughter, Daran, for a couple days. On Thursday, I traveled further to Sequim, WA, the town where I grew up. Holy tourist town! It was so small 20 years ago and now it's crazy!! After an hour or so there, I continued to Port Angeles where I met up with my childhood best friend, Traci (Wasankari) Dunn, whom I have not seen in 12 years. It was such a great visit. There wasn't a dull moment and we chatted for 6 hours. She has 3 beautiful girls and a really great guy taking care of them. What a great blessing it was to reminisce about old times, catch up on what each others family's were doing, and what we want for our future families. Friday, Mom and I started our drive home to Idaho. I am currently staying at my sister, Lorinda's, home in Boise before I head back to Rexburg on Monday. The trip has been wonderful...but I am ready for Japan whenever it comes! I pray every night that the reactors will be controlled and no more radiation will but released, for everyone's sake.
When I arrived at my aunt and uncle's home in Kalama, WA, I emailed my employer to see if she and others on their island were alright. She emailed back promptly that there was no destruction to her part of Japan and that she would let me know when she received my working visa and express it to me. I was surprised but relieved.
Within 24 hours the news was focused on the nuclear reactors. A Fukushima reactor was approaching partial meltdown. All the safety measures put in place already had failed and they were starting to pump sea water into the core to cool down the rods. Radiation was released at one reactor in Fukushima Daiichi and the Japanese government set an evacuation area of 12 miles. Iodine tablets were distributed to those in the immediate area. Within another day or so the government had expanded the safety area. The U.S. Department of State cautioned all U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Japan until at least April 1st. And a few days later advised all Americans in Japan to stay at least 50 miles away from Fukushima Daiichi as an extra safety precaution.
The likelihood that I am going to Japan still is unknown but I have high hopes still and know things will turn out the way they should.
Besides that note, my visit with family and friends in Washington was great!! I was able to visit with Aunt Linda, Uncle Brian, and Grandma Allison for about 4 days after which I traveled north to Port Orchard to stay with my sister, Lara, and her daughter, Daran, for a couple days. On Thursday, I traveled further to Sequim, WA, the town where I grew up. Holy tourist town! It was so small 20 years ago and now it's crazy!! After an hour or so there, I continued to Port Angeles where I met up with my childhood best friend, Traci (Wasankari) Dunn, whom I have not seen in 12 years. It was such a great visit. There wasn't a dull moment and we chatted for 6 hours. She has 3 beautiful girls and a really great guy taking care of them. What a great blessing it was to reminisce about old times, catch up on what each others family's were doing, and what we want for our future families. Friday, Mom and I started our drive home to Idaho. I am currently staying at my sister, Lorinda's, home in Boise before I head back to Rexburg on Monday. The trip has been wonderful...but I am ready for Japan whenever it comes! I pray every night that the reactors will be controlled and no more radiation will but released, for everyone's sake.
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| Me and Mom |
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| Me and Uncle Brian |
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| Mom, Aunt Linda, and Me |
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| Me and Grandma Allison |
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| House on Priest Rd |
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| My childhood best friend, Traci & her 3 kids: Michaela, Haley, and Chloe. Me |
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| Lu and Me |
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| Me and Mom |
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| Me and Mom |
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Prologue:
The purpose of this blog is to share my new life experiences with my friends and family...and perhaps inspire others who have similar problems making life choices devoid of anxiety, doubt, and fear. I find it necessary to give you a little bit of information about myself which, hopefully, will describe where I am coming from.
I was born in Washington State and moved to Idaho when I was 8 years old. My parents divorced when I was 10 and the majority of my family (all of whom were active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints previous to the divorce) chose to walk a path other than the LDS religion soon after. I became active again around age 13 and have been so ever since. I began college at Ricks in Rexburg, ID receiving my AAS from BYU-Idaho in 2003. I then served a LDS mission to Baltimore, MD from 2003-2005 after which I attended BYU in Provo, UT where I received a BS in Psychology in 2008.
Deciding what to do with my life has always been a challenging issue. I have so many interests, hobbies, and desires that it has been difficult to settle on one occupation. Like most LDS girls, I chose to study what was interesting (people) and assumed I would be married by the time I graduated-which would give me someone to help m make other life decisions focused on us as a couple. Yes...I am an indecisive Libra. Well, it didn't happen so here I am trying to reorganize my life and make it the most amazing adventure imaginable. Traveling has always been a passion of mine as I love to see new places, cultures, and history and to meet new people but I have always limited what I have done based on my fear of disobedience to God's will. So, when the opportunity to teach English in Japan came up...I was tortured with high anxiety, fear, and doubt that it was not what God wanted me to be doing. I supposed I always believed that there was an actual direction God wanted me to go in instead of believing that I could still fulfill God's will and plan whilst doing what I wanted to do with my life. I chose to go to Japan to overcome my fear of being far away from my family for a long period of time--and to LIVE MY LIFE by leaping into the dark and learning to balance prayer for direction and my making my own decisions. In short: to learn to have confidence in my own righteous decisions as I continue to live righteously. So, without further ado...welcome to the story of my new life which is still and will always be focused on the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I was born in Washington State and moved to Idaho when I was 8 years old. My parents divorced when I was 10 and the majority of my family (all of whom were active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints previous to the divorce) chose to walk a path other than the LDS religion soon after. I became active again around age 13 and have been so ever since. I began college at Ricks in Rexburg, ID receiving my AAS from BYU-Idaho in 2003. I then served a LDS mission to Baltimore, MD from 2003-2005 after which I attended BYU in Provo, UT where I received a BS in Psychology in 2008.
Deciding what to do with my life has always been a challenging issue. I have so many interests, hobbies, and desires that it has been difficult to settle on one occupation. Like most LDS girls, I chose to study what was interesting (people) and assumed I would be married by the time I graduated-which would give me someone to help m make other life decisions focused on us as a couple. Yes...I am an indecisive Libra. Well, it didn't happen so here I am trying to reorganize my life and make it the most amazing adventure imaginable. Traveling has always been a passion of mine as I love to see new places, cultures, and history and to meet new people but I have always limited what I have done based on my fear of disobedience to God's will. So, when the opportunity to teach English in Japan came up...I was tortured with high anxiety, fear, and doubt that it was not what God wanted me to be doing. I supposed I always believed that there was an actual direction God wanted me to go in instead of believing that I could still fulfill God's will and plan whilst doing what I wanted to do with my life. I chose to go to Japan to overcome my fear of being far away from my family for a long period of time--and to LIVE MY LIFE by leaping into the dark and learning to balance prayer for direction and my making my own decisions. In short: to learn to have confidence in my own righteous decisions as I continue to live righteously. So, without further ado...welcome to the story of my new life which is still and will always be focused on the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
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