family additions.

I AM AN AUNT!

My sister-in-law had her sweet baby last night.

William Howard Stutz

November 20, 2009

10:11 p.m. at 8 lbs. 5 oz.

Everyone is healthy and happy. I will let his momma be the first to upload pictures of him. He is DARLING! I always thought it was silly that my friends are so obsessed with their nieces and nephews, but I haven't even seen him in real life yet and I already understand! I can't believe my oldest brother is a dad. Congratulations Kenny and Megan!

And congratulations to my other big brother! Jacob and Pierina got engaged!! I'm a little late, it was a couple of weeks ago, but another sister-in-law! I am so excited! January 15, 2010.

Our family tree is growing! My parents are grandparents now. Which makes me laugh. And my brother is going to be a HUSBAND. So much wonderful news and change.

This is what life is all about.

The best part? It's for eternity.

And I get to go see them all in three days.

And I never have to truly say goodbye.

these words are better than mine.

longing for the art of conversation.

human being: noun. a man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapien, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance.

Dear dictionary,

I know my mental development is NOT superior, I am not in the least bit articulate, and I have horrible posture. But I am very much human.

This morning was not my morning. It was the blotchy face, teary eyes, "what's wrong Miss Stutz?," kind of morning. Trying to hide exhaustion and disappointment from six-year-olds is harder than you'd think.

I probably vented on six different people. Some close friends, others just acquaintances. And I am sorry to those six people. But can I tell you something? Everyone who noticed, everyone who took the time of their day to see that my eyes were full of overwhelmed, emotional ridiculousness, had something encouraging to say. It was far more than just those six blessed souls. Concerned, caring human beings that owed NOTHING to me, reminded me to smile, gave me hugs, and promised that things would get better soon enough. They asked if they could pray for me, offered me a cooked meal, and even wanted to do my grocery shopping so I could take a nap.

Nothing huge happened to me. It was just one of those days. But my overwhelming ridiculousness turned into overwhelming gratitude for the human being.

There are scary things happening in our world, but mankind is still compassionate. I don't care who you are, what you look like, how much you own, or what you believe in. Every soul has light and love. Of course they do. They are literal children of a Heavenly Father who is the sole Creator of light and love. That should be the definition of human being.

My heart was warmed and my spirit was comforted by the hug from the loud-laughing girl in my math class, by the reminder from the plaid-shirt-boy who is always in the tech lab at the same time as me, by the encouraging email from my liaison, and by the random high-five from that total stranger as I walked down the hill to my humble abode. I realize that was a run-on sentence. It is expressive of my run-on appreciation.

In fact, this whole post is a run-on. Hey, I warned you about my poor articulation, did I not? I'm going to go develop my mind and work on my posture now.

Love Flows,

B.

and then there was light.

Let's talk.

Lately, I've felt like I've had a full time job, a 45 minute commute, and homework to top off my nights. Even being a teacher's helper is so time consuming. Planning lessons, teaching lessons, preparing materials for lessons. I love it with all of my soul. However, it has completely thrown my priorities out of whack. Which has thrown my brain out of whack. I'm an organized girl, but the past two weeks have been chaos!

Me and dearest Kendra's bathroom lights haven't worked for two weeks. That's right, we've been using a flashlight. Awesome, right? How long does it take to call maintenance?

And 3 bulbs in our living room have been out. Our stairwell light has been out. Our downstairs light has been out. We've been living in a cave of darkness.

My room has been a disaster.

Laundry was far overdue.

My gas tank has been empty.

My car has been dirty.

The bills have been unpaid.

I had no milk, no bread, no eggs.

My shampoo and conditioner bottles have been dangerously low.

Today, there was no school at Copperview Elementary.

I slept in.

I cleaned my room.

I did my laundry. I cleaned my apartment.

I filled my tank. I got a car wash.

I called maintenance and replaced light bulbs.

I went grocery shopping. Got milk, bread, eggs, shamp & condish.

I worked on my bills.

And now I will return to my life of lesson planning.

I love today.

Besides the gospel, my key to happiness is productiveness and cleanliness.

Oh wait, that is the gospel. Awesome.

Also, we finally got the conference issue of the Ensign! Awesome x2.