A Sad Day

I sent John off for his deployment yesterday. He will be at Fort lewis in Washington for 2 months before he goes to Afghanistan. I don't want any pity, but I am pleading for your prayers. I know people who read my blog are my nearest and dearest, and I know you'll all have the same questions, so to make it easier for me, I'm going to just explain it all... John speaks Arabic, and is in the National Guard. He has been to Iraq before but with a less than ideal unit. This deployment however will be mainly to create relationships with the people in Afghanistan, and to try to find the "bad guys". We both feel very fortunate because John's unit are all LDS guys, 2 out of the 10 are inactive but still GREAT great guys. His deployment will be for a year, so I'll have him home next February. :) I am beyond proud of him, and I know the Lord will keep him safe. He will be one of a few hundred priesthood holders in the entire country, and the relationships he will build in Afghanistan I know will prepare people for the gospel truth, even if they can't receive it for a long time. Without that reassurance I would not be nearly as faithful and hopeful as I am.

Here's a news clip, you can actually see John passing by in the group of soldiers in the first clip of men...he's carrying a black breifcase type thing :)
http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=F2B4ECD59E0EA82DBE7448E12777D400?contentId=5886465&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

While he is gone I will be staying with various family ( I don't do well alone, I need people! ) SO yesterday after he left I moved into Laura's house with her husband and one son at home. (Laura is the Teacher I work with at school who set me and John up in the first place) I will live with her until the end of May when school gets out. Then I will move farther south to live with my brother and his wife and kids, and be close to Ben, Kristen, Dylan, and Kaci. I'm still waiting to hear back from the Nauvoo Pageant for the summer. At the end of August I will move to the country Jordan for 3 months and live with John's parent and 2 youngest brothers. John's Dad Lane is a Colonel in the Army and will be the Attache for the U.S Embassy in Jordan. That means we will be entertaining dignitaries from all over the world for dinner, Queens, Prime Ministers, Presidents and the like...(What will i WEAR???!!!) I'll get to go to Jerusalem and See all the sights in Jordan. John will hopefully take his leave (2 weeks) in September or October and we'll go explore Egypt, and Scuba Dive in the red sea :)!!! Then I will come home to Oregon for Christmas and either stay with my folks for a few weeks, or go back to my brothers in Utah till John comes home in February. Man I am exhausted after just writing that! I'm hoping to stay very busy, maybe the time will go quickly:) Oh, I forgot to say that I'm not teaching next year, I will be getting my masters degree online starting in April, so I'll be busy with that as well :)

I just wanted to give you all the update, Thanks for your support and phone calls everyone- I spent my whole life looking for my best friend to spend forever with, and it's almost unbearable to let him go for a year now.

I know I'll be taken care of, I have an amazing family and wonderful friends who make sure of that, and I know he'll be taken care of too. Keep him in your prayers...

Auditions and Scuba Diving....

This weekend I auditioned for the Core Cast of the Nauvoo Pageant...a show in Nauvoo that I did last year with my brothers, but this was an audition for one of the full time, and speaking roles. Okay so first of all I was so so nervous! The audition consisted of having to sing 2 songs and do a reading of some material from the Pageant you've never seen before...so I was so nervous and totally bombed the singing part, if you know me well, then you know that I do NOT sing solos, so that in itself was a feat for me :) The music director did say though that I was very sincere when I sang. Then I went into a room with a group of about 11 other people for the reading, we introduced ourselves and why we were there to audition, I said that I was there because I have testimony of Joseph Smith and The Restored Gospel, and that I wanted to be a part of sharing the gospel through the pageant. We read from a part of the pageant where the Relief Society was organized, it was amazing! We discussed what it would have been like for these women at hte beginning of the organization of the RS and it was very powerful. All I can say is that it was very uplifting, very spiritually filling, and I loved it! I got a call that night at like 10:30 saying I made it to call backs...I was ecstatic! So excited, Call backs were ALL day starting at 7:30 AM. It was a day full of reading and discussing and trying this or that again, we took a break for President Hinkley's Funeral and then continued to work. My favorite part was reading a scene where Joseph and Hyrum have just been martyred, and the saints are relating what it was like, I read a line that went something like this: "That Day, an unspeakable sorrow settled upon all the saint in Nauvoo, and Abroad." Boy did I relate to that feeling of loss...I know President Hinkley certainly wasn't martyred, but the love I have for Him and his service in my life gave me a beautiful insight as I read those words in that scene. The day was an emotional one for many of us there, being touched by the testimonies and hardships of the early saints. I feel so privileged to be a part of it. It was also Heaps of fun! I got paired up with a man who was my "husband" and we both were to have heavy british accents, oh man...he came up to me and said hey, looks like we got stuck with the accents, lets just have fun with it! And we did! It was awesome!
I won't know for like a month if I made it into the Cast, I would love it so much, But honestly, just to be a part of it yesterday was delightful! I met a lot of wonderful people, and Nate came to help out (reading with people since he's been in it before) It was really fin to be there with him!
The only bummer thing was it lasted ALL day, and John actually had the day off from his Army Training! He did bring me a picnic and watch the Funeral with us though :)

Also, My birthday is in a couple weeks, and for my birthday I am taking Scuba Diving Lessons! RANDOM I know, I'm still a tiny bit unsure about it, Ive been reading my books and doing my homework though, and my first class is on Tuesday! I'll let you know how it goes! In the fall when I am in Jordan, John will get a 2 week leave, and we'll go Scuba Diving in Egypt, the Red sea I think...It sounds so so Crazy, I never would have imagined myself doing this, but here I am! Here's a picture of me tonight, John was finding me all the gear I'll need for my class on Tuesday, I've got my Divers Log in hand...Man that snorkel sure is flattering!