My greatest Joy!!!

Okay so it really isn't my greatest Joy but it is really high up there! Anyone who truly knows me knows that i have always wanted one thing in life that I have never had... until now anyway. What is it you ask?

A childhood best friend or best friends. That i have grown up with and just
have that unspeakable connection to.
That no one can explain but it is just there!

See my parents moved me around a lot as I was growing up. So I never really had that one or two people that i grew up with that I still have the close connection to.

Well after hanging out with two of my best friends pretty much all day today i was driving home thinking about the things that had happened and silently smiling to myself. Then I realized something. These to amazing people that I have in my life are my "Childhood best friends!" even though I only met them this semester thats what they really feel like to me!

We went on a hour and a half walk today and we decided to all live in the same area on the same street and all stay the best of friends. Just like little kids do when they are "planning" the rest of their life's. We had a good laugh trying to imagine us all married! and living in a neighborhood (near a fire station just for Brandon silly fire fighter lol) We talked about anything and everything on our 3.9 mile walk today (yes Katrina it was that long i used a map and figured it out lol) I did the entire walk in flip-flops (not something that i recommend.) However I couldn't have enjoyed the walk anymore then i did. i am so thankful for these friends. Weather they be true "childhood friends" or not they still mean the world to me and have been a total answer to my many many prays!

So even though they may not be my greatest joy! they are still one of the greatest! thanks guys for giving me my dream even though you had no idea that you were doing it at the time. Love ya

Finding My Faith and Using It

Today has been very interesting. Normally I'm loving Thursdays. And not that today was a totally bad day but it wasn't the best. Normally I start my Thursday with going to the temple and doing baptisms for the bead. (If you don't know what that is just ask an ill explain) I cant ever think of a better way to start out my day. However today I wasn't able to go due to the fact that on Wednesday I was diagnosed with Pink eye and a lung infection. I got more sleep then normal which I'm sure helped me since I'm sick and all but i really missed that break that i get when i go to the temple. Then later today when i would normally go to to the MTC and volunteer for teaching appointments i decided to stay at the institute for a conference with some evangelical Christians that came to talk to us and give us a better chance for us to understand their religion and for them to understand ours. This was an Amazing experience! I learned so much about my own faith while I was learning about others. While i was talking to one of the girls that I was talking to she disagreed with one of the things that i believe to be true. I am so glad that she did too because as she was doing so i had this question cross my brain. "Do I really believe what i just told her that i believed?" the answer is yes but if i hadn't have had this experience i don't know if i would have ever asked that question to myself for a while. This however would be the set up for my day even hours after I had left the conference and my new friends. Recently I have had the feeling that I needed to do a few things to prepare me for the future. one problem came of it today. I have worked my rear end off giving myself two options. and today it hit me. One of the options i will be finding out soon as to what happens with it. the other wont be a while. others have already heard from the first one and i haven't. It hit me that I might not have either of my choices for next year. in which case I have no idea what i will be doing with my life for now which i don't like because i know that I was supposed to do what i have been doing to change my life and plan out the future and I have been feeling really good about it but just today i had the feeling that it could all fall through! This left me in tears. I am glad that I was able to go to the conference because it reminded me that i needed to use my faith! Which i am trying to do right now. proverbs 3:5-6 please pray for me! My friend Lacey made a good point I was telling the lord what to do and not let him direct my life. That is what i am willing to do so i am just going to have to do it.

I am such a cheese ball sometimes this would be one of those times!

Recently I had the opportunity to sing with an octet for a fireside that the Orem Institute Choral put on tonight. These seven people have helped me grow more then I could have ever expected.

You know when you do something with the same 5 or 7 people for countless weeks and by the end of it you guys are such good friends that it almost seems like this will never change. Then whatever it was that brought you together ends and those friendships either seem to end or change? Well that is just how i am feeling with these 7 people. I realize that some of them may not be in my life forever but today i realized something. I have always believed that everyone is put in your life for one reason or another most are to help you learn something. i have Already learned the importance of unity because of this experience that we have been able to have together. however I feel like i can learn so much more and I'm not planning on just letting that go. However no matter what happens I will forever remember these guys and what they have already taught me and how i grew and most importantly the way i felt around these guys. I love them all!!! I am happy to say that I can honestly call some of them my best friends :)my best friends :)

I'm Learning Manderin!!!!!!

So I work at a Chinese restaurant In American Fork called China Isle. I have worked there for about 3 months and absolutely love it!!! Sandy, One of the managers is so funny!!! She is Chinese but she will pull out random languages or accents like yesterday for example she was sporting and Australian Accent!! I almost died laughing!!! I'm not totally sure on weather or not she likes me yet but she is a character and I love her! She is just one of the many Characters that work with!!! I Absolutely Love this place!! I love these people they make me laugh so hard! They like to make fun of me in mandarin all the time. And I never understand what they are saying! So yesterday when two girls came in and asked for an application (because for some reason we still have our now hiring sign out) They were informed that we are really not hiring right now. As the were leaving one of the waiters said something about me in mandarin. (I know because my name doesn't translate so it is still Charmaine...well it sounds more like Chow Mien but hey I take what I can get!) They all started laughing after he said it so i just assumed that they were making fun of me yet again (this happens a lot if you cant tell :D ) Well I asked what was said then one of the managers say "he said that you are pretty" Then another person translated everything that he said he says that he said "We don't need those two girls we already have Charmaine and she is very pretty unlike them!" Now these girls were very pretty so im not sure where he got that from but oh well. Then the owner of the place told me to have Ben (an American that i work with that knows mandarin) to teach me how to speak it. So every Friday (Ben only works Fridays) I learn Mandarin now!!! I'm So excited!!! I love these people!!! They make my day!!! I'm excited to communicate with them better!!!!

The world around me

I'm taking The book of Revelation class at the Orem Institute of Religion this semester. Its an amazing class! I have learned so much about that book and i understand it so much more about it now then ever before and will probably be taking this class for the rest of my life so that i can gain all the knowledge from it that i can. I'm not going to lie thought parts of the class can be kinda scary. Not in a I'm shaking in my boots kinda way but more in a doubting that I'll ever be able to measure up kinda way. We are talking about the 7 seals of the book we just finished the fifth seal and are on the sixth these two seals cover the last days. AKA the days that we are living in now. There is so much evil in this world today and for the past couple of days I have been looking at it as just that Full of evil and that's it. Well even though that its true I wasn't seeing any of the good in the world today either. Until today when i was driving back to school after I was out running some errands. the best part of My university is that there is this road that isn't that busy that if you take it up to campus you can see across Utah lake and at the mountains that are on that side of the lake. Today because of the storms that we have had the Mountains had TONS of white clouds wisped across them. At this same time the sun was getting ready to set. It was poking though the clouds and IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! I wish that i would have taken a picture of it but i didn't. The best way to describe it is you know the picture of Jesus at the Second coming? Those clouds surrounding him and glowing in His glory. That's almost what this looked like only better!!! That was the first thong that popped into my head when I saw this view. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ descending from heaven at his second coming. Then I realized something, Yes this world is a very very wicked place! However The Lord sends us little reminders that there is still hope! and that He is coming and he is coming soon! How soon I don't know. But soon all of this will be over there will be no more wickedness on the earth and the world will be at peace. If we can keep the fait hand flollow his comandments. We wont have to worry about the economy or weather or not we are making ends meet. The world will be made perfect and none of this hurt that we fell today will be there. President Hinckley and many other prophets and apostles have counseled us to pray for the second coming to happen. Now I can start to understand why and as I work to become a better person everyday I also look and pray for the second coming to happen and soon!

My Little Tender Merceies

This past week has been a HUGE blessing. I was able to shake Elder Robert D Hales hand. which is something that at the time I took for granted bug time!!! I have had the opportunity to meet plenty of "bug names" in the church. And for the past little while have been acting like it was no big deal. while others from out of the state of Utah were saying how badly they wish that they could meet the people that i have been blessed to be in the presence of. One girl in particular commented every time on how lucky I was. Later that day I found out that a dear friend of mine has cancer. It happened to be the girl that kept commenting on my face book page. This hit me so hard. Why was i being so blessed when my friend, a 17 year old girl in her Senior year of high school was now going through treatment for leukemia. and would be for the next 2 years. why was she there and I here? we shared a lot in common when we lived near each other, we even found out that we are related. And now two and a half years later she has cancer. i would give anything to see her right now. but have no way to do so because she is in Minnesota and i am here in Utah.

Later this week i found out that another one of my friends is going through a really difficult time right now. I wont say what it is but she is very strong because she is trying to make things right! she is suck a blessing to me.

that night i didn't know if i could handle anymore bad new for the week..not that all of it was bad but it was a lot of stressful news that's for sure. then i realized that my best friend just gave up a relationship with and amazing guy. She was totally happy with him and everyone approved of him. in fact i was so excited for them i thought for sure that they would be getting married within the nest year. and from what i understand so did they. But because they were having a bad feeling about continuing their relationship they called it off. Which is something that i cant even imagine doing or even imagine how hard it was for her. She has been such a blessing in my life and I really cant wait for the day that she gets married because she deserves to be so happy. she is my best friend and sister i don't know where i would be with out her in my life today.

these three girls have become my hero's this week. they have taught me amazing lessons. ones that i couldn't have ever learned with out them. I'm so thankful that the Lord has placed all three of them in my life. I am forever grateful for these girls and many many others. The Lord is looking out for us and he loves us! I know that if we rely on him we will be able to get through the worst. WE ARE LOVED! if only we could remember that.

Revelations 7:14-17
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came ^aout of great ^btribulation, and have ^cwashed their robes, and made them ^dwhite in the ^eblood of the ^fLamb.

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his ^atemple: and he that ^bsitteth on the throne shall ^cdwell among them.

16 They shall hunger no more, neither ^athirst any more; neither shall the ^bsun light on them, nor any heat.

17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of ^awaters: and God shall wipe away all ^btears from their eyes.

random tagginness

Lacey Tagged me in a random-facts-about-me tag.

1. Make a link to the tagger's blog.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I love making people laugh. I may not mean to do it all of the time but I do love to do it! Making them smile makes me smile and also makes my day!
2.I would love to move out to Boston Mass. some day and get my theater Degree out at Boston conservatory for the arts. That is only a dream though and one that I would be willing to give up for something better.
3.I have decided that i want to open my own bakery, because I LOVE TO BAKE! and i already have the name thanks to Ian Jones and Brigadoon senior year.If you know of the bakery "flower girls and dough boys" in American Fork, UT thats kinda what i want my bakery to be like. I want to name it Charmaine's corner bakery and yes there is a story behind it, k maybe i wont name it that but i am planning on opening one for sure!
4. I am trying to become more service oriented this year as one of my goals for the new year. the world is in hard times and i would like to help out as much as i can.
5. I LOVE TO SPEND TIME WITH MY FRIENDS! Especially my best friend tiff. We have so much fun together. with our caffeine free MT. DEW and out panda express and shoes shoes shoes my friends and i have a blast together no matter what we do we have fun!

6. My favorite place in the entire world is the temple. it doesn't matter which one they all bring me the same peace. My goal is to be married there to my future husband someday. I would love to be married in the Nauvoo Temple but like i said before they all bring me the same peace so anyone of them would do :).
I tag Shawnett, Annette, Jim, Holly, Ellen, Ashely