Progression

Hey Readers,
So see this picture....See me bottom row second person from the left. Yes that is me in a basketball jersey without makeup and wearing those sporty head bands that keep your hair out of your eyes. Yes those are my cute little legs slightly blinding white but the point is that they are little and quite shapely if i can say so myself. This has been my latest endeavor. Now some of you may think it's no big deal to be on a basketball team that you didn't have to try out for or let alone play really well and still be able to get time on the courts but to me it's been a big deal.
I guess some people have considered me sporty but for those of you who really know me know that I'm not really sporty just knowledgeable about sports. For background I do have 5 very athletic and gifted brothers and I did play football and basketball with them regularly but I didn't play very well. I started ballet at the age of 4 and retired from that "sport" right before my 20th birthday. I still dance but just so you can all picture it all my "sporty" stuff is now done with a classically trained ballet mode. I run with my feet turned out and with proper posture. My husband who has perfect running form and could run 26.2 miles without any training and do it in record time has tried to correct my form to "improve" my running ability but he's fighting 15 years of ballet and old women with rulers yelling at me and constantly correcting my form so ballet always wins.
Jeremy has been really supportive of me running even if he silently snickers at what I consider my fast times and my long distances but when I told Jeremy I was going to go play basketball with other women Jeremy just couldn't take it any longer. He gently reminded me that I was not an athlete to help spare me embarrassment. Now maybe if I was a different woman I would have heeded his council and been satisfied with my pilates and running. But I'm prideful and his comments if anything spurred me on to prove him wrong.
Our first game I was completely intimidated. I could tell by the form of 9/10 of the women there had at least high school experience and wasn't shocked to find out many of them had college time as well. I play basketball like a ballerina trying to play basketball. My one and only advantage was that I was some what in shape and could run up and down the court without being winded. I still hyperventilated every time I was passed the ball and did my best to either pass it away or dribble a couple of times and make a ridiculous shot that somehow by a miracle at least came close to touching the basket.
But I played and was blown away when people said I was fast (because really I'm not) but I knew I was in shape enough to run about 4 miles without stopping.
Fast forward a few weeks and me feeling a little more comfortable about touching a basketball and actually being able to get it in the hoop. In addition I remembered how to guard and make other people feel intimidated by my "large" stature just as I'm starting to feel more comfortable the wonderful women I play with inform me that we're actually going to compete. I then start preparing my excuse why I can't play against other women and hope that for some reason I wouldn't be able to make it. But unfortunately I feel connected to these women and although my talent is so pale in comparison to theirs I know that I'll play with them. We practice a couple more times and sure enough the competition is here. I am so nervous by this day but that's where my competitive nature comes in. I have this fail safe feature about me that holds on to the fact that I'm AWESOME. As I contemplate my own awesomeness I realize that regardless of the out come of the competition I will remain AWESOME. It's how I've been my whole life and has gotten me through so much of my life but it's been awhile since I've had to rely on it.
We play a couple of games and do not look even close to the team that we've been as we've practiced together but I have a great time. We lose terribly but have a great time cheering each other on and show all the other teams how teams should look and act. As I looked at our defeat I started to wonder if this was just my lot in life. Always losing, coming in 2nd never really excelling and being my best. When my inner moderator (my personal biggest fan) reminds me of what I've accomplished. In a matter of weeks I went from barley being able to shoot a ball to being able to dribble a ball down a court calling a play and actually knowing where everyone should be after I call the play. I have improved and because of the friendships and pure awesomeness of these ladies I am continually improving.
Here's where I bring everything into perspective for everyone by yet another story from my life. I have had the privilege of getting to know nearly all of my great grandparents and have learned so much from them. My Father's maternal grandparents have by far been such role models to me. My Great Grandpa Warner was raised in a small community in Utah County during the great depression he met his wife on a blind date and was smitten to begin with. They were so in love with each other and were able to raise a beautiful family. My father was very close with them as the oldest grandchild and they loved him more than I'm sure he will ever realize. As my father aged and started his own family we were able to have a very unique and close relationship with my great grandparents. I remember spending many days fishing, gardening and enjoying the company of my great grandparents. When I was little I didn't realize what the great meant and honestly thought they were called great grandparents because in fact they were GREAT. Grandpa was always learning. Many times we would stop by around lunch time and find Grandpa reading some sort of book usually trigonometry or some other informative book. When Grandpa was in his mid-80's he bought a computer and started to teach himself how to use it and began writing out his own personal history. Sadly enough Grandma died and 3 months later Grandpa died of a broken heart. They were such a power couple always learning and progressing themselves and improving upon what they were given.
Now here I am 28 years old and I know that I need to also be improving and progressing. Right now it's easy to improve my health and be physically active. But with Basketball I was also able to improve my mind, my relationships with others and my overall self worth. So here's to more progression. More improving who I am and pushing that envelope of what I'm comfortable with all the time.
Thanks to the Charlie's Angels/Nancies/working girls that I play with and help me improve myself. And for any of you out there feeling really comfortable where you are try pushing yourself out just a little bit more and remember that this life is to progress and improve upon what we've been given.

It HAD to be said.

Wow. Who doesn't love fast and testimony meeting? Our ward here in Tooele is so awesome. There are so many people who are rooted deep in the gospel and truly help me to see how to live better and become more like my savior. This Sunday's meeting was not any different either. We had so many Youth share their budding testimonies thanks to a little "challenge" from the bishop. I think the Young Women won there seemed to be more of them but the Young Men did a decent job as well. Just as the contest was getting really heated between the YW and YM a sweet sister in our ward got up whom I've learned and grown to love. She's very oppionated and has no qualms sharing her oppinions. She will be the first to admit this and always will give a side note that she may offend you even though that is not her intentions it's just the way she is. Well she began to tell about her trip to the Draper Temple Open House and how miserable it was because there was a mother and father who had the odacity to bring their 7 young children to the temple and amazingly enough the children where less than well behaved. She continued to complain on how she couldn't feel the spirit in the temple and this young family was all to blame. (K side note she has three children the oldest of which is 28 and then has an 18 year old girl and a 12 year old boy). She said to top off the awfulness when they got on a shuttle bus there was another young family with crazy kids and she had enough and let the father of the young family know that he needed to control his kids. Then she felt the need to let our very very young ward (we have a giant size ward with a humongus primary) (we had just had 3 baby blessings before the sacrament and there are quite a few sister in our ward ready to deliver even more babies) that our ward is hard to feel the spirit in because of all the kids are really loud and we need to get control and make our kids shut-up. A sister struggling with her own kids in front of me turned around and said "well, i've officially been rebuked." and another mom struggling with her 4 children behind me let out an audible gasp of horror. The sister continued on and said how her husband is really good to let things like this not bother him but she wasn't like him. As she finished up her testimony I couldn't even hear what she was saying because my heart was beating so loud and hard. I then had a mini dellima going on was my heart beating because I was mad and wanted to put that sister in her place or was I really feeling the spirit. I began to pray as I wrestled with my apparently "out of control" children to dechiper really what I was feeling as soon as I finished praying a childhood memory flooded back into my mind in full force and color and I knew that I HAD to share it.
I walked up to the super packed chapel with my crazy loud baby boy in my arms and shared the following story: (side note I promise I was lead by the spirit and what I said I'm not quite sure but I can tell you the memory but it may not hit you with the spirit that I felt while sharing that and for that I apologize)

In 1984 the Manti Temple was refurbished and updated to be a little more modern for the ease of accomadating the temple going people of the area. My parents had recently moved into the Manti temple district and decided to take their young family (My older brother was 7 I was 3 almost 4 my younger brother was 1 and half and my mom was pregnant with another baby) for the two hour trek to the temple. When we finally arrived to the temple I remember leaving my shoes at the front door. I was really apprehensive of leaving my beloved fancy church shoes at the door but was reassured by the fact that I knew Angels where at the temple and would protect my shoes. We walked through the entire temple I remember being confused at the baptismal font and why there were cows holding it up but we moved on. The next part I remember was walking up the spiral staircase to the sealing room and seeing my face in the mirror. As we began to go down the stairs I was terrified. My dad picked me up in his big Daddy arms and carried me down the steps and I knew I was safe. When we reached the bottom of the steps my dad gently placed me to the ground and knelt and looked at me he then said "Andrea, the next time you walk down these steps will be with the man you will have for all eternity."
We went on our merry way and I thought back on those moments from time to time and knew that I wanted to be married in the temple. It wasn't always easy to make the right choices but I knew that is where I wanted to be. Almost 18 years later I walked down those very same steps holding the hand of the man that I so deeply love. We had just been sealed and as we reached the bottom steps I couldn't help but think of my father and mother and the sacrafices they had made to make sure I knew how important temples are.

As I am now a parent of three young children sometimes it's really hard to get out and go to the temple. You have to find babysitters and often times it would be much easier to stay at home and know that someday when it gets easier we'll go to the temple and I remember the example of my parents and I know it's worth it now.

I finished my testimony and sat down but to you my readers I want to finish some thoughts. I am so grateful that my parents risked the chance of being scrutinized for having so many little kids and risking people judging there lack of parenting skills. As we took our own three little kids to the draper temple open house we worried if they would behave, if they too would disrupt the spirit there and worried that other might be upset as well. Jeremy woke up that morning with a serious sinus infection but still wanted to go to the temple with the kids so that they could have their chance to feel that spirit. To be completly honest our kids were by far less than perfect. Abby wanted to run all over and touch every single thing. Will fussed and cried and Lizzie had a hard time wanting me to hold her hand the entire time which was hard while I was trying to steer my sinus driven husband in the right direction while holding my squirmy two year old and comfort my one year old baby. But we went, a spirit was felt and now all I can do is continue to teach the importance of temples and show the blessing that my covenants are in my life.

When we make the effort the results may not always be perfect but the blessings will always be there. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have to teach my children and the reflections I have of my own childhood. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ resides here on this earth today. I know that Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and truly restored the gospel in all of it's glory. I love my Savior and know that as I strive to live as he would I can be made perfect through the gift of the atonement.

For those of you who would like to go through the Draper Temple you still have time here's the link to get tickets. The tour ends March 14th.