I love this!!!

During conference, Elder Lawrence of the Seventy talked about our youth theme for the year:  Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."  I love this verse!  It's one of my most favorite ones.  It's such a wonderful promise, that He is here, no matter where and when.  I loved how he applied it to the parents of the youth right now.  I think it is so important that the parents are strong and have good courage, to stand up for what needs to be done.  I liked how he talked about how if you saw your daughter sitting on the train tracks and heard the train horn honking, would you run and get her off the track or be worried about offending her and let her make her own decision about getting off.  The train is a physical threat, but there are so many other threats that aren't, that parents need to step up and take care of.  I loved it!

In other news... ReAL is in 1st place for the first time ever!!!  (Except of course, winning the actual MLS championship last year).  Of course, this will be ending in about 20 minutes, when the LA Galaxy vs. Chivas is over.

TIM MCGRAW!!!

I got Tim McGraw tickets for my birthday!!!  It was at USANA on July 30th.  He's hot!

This looks like a cartoon!

I've gone to Tim every time he's come over the last 12 years.  The concert was awesome!  The crowd was ridiculous!  I can't believe the decline in the type of people that were there.  Collin and I stood out in the crowd, because we were dressed modestly and not drunk!

Lady Antebellum opened for him.  We were late, because I needed to eat first and Collin needed Dad's cowboy hat, so we had to go back to my car.  I was way sad, because I'd missed out on hearing them at a different concert, because of traffic.  Right after we sat down, they came out.  I was so excited!

Blessings... :)

I am so grateful for the many blessings my Heavenly Father has given me!  It's amazing to see the power and love of God daily!  As many of you know this summer has been a huge struggle!
 Here's just a few examples of the Mighty miracles that have taken place in my life...

• First of all, my family doctor had suggested that I have a gallbladder ultrasound in May '09.  I didn't, because he said I should wait until I have insurance, which I never got.  I know this doesn't sound like a miracle, because obviously he had a concern.  However, the blessing in this is that, because I didn't have that ultrasound at Tanner Clinic, I didn't have to be treated for this at Davis Hospital.  (Davis Hospital is so scary!!!)  So, because of my lack of insurance, I didn't have to suffer through being there.
• My surgeon, Dr. Varela, is really young (and cute :)).  The procedure (T-TUBE) has not been done for decades.  The fact that he knew this from so long ago, and was able to make it work IS a miracle.  Every injury or sickness I have ever had is always worse on me then it is on whoever gave me the sickness, so I just planned on that.  Overall recovery was easy!
• The many priesthood blessings I received.  The wednesday after my surgery, my liver numbers were still extremely high.  I called Collin for a blessing, and the next morning, my numbers were near normal.
• I have never felt better in my life!  I never realized how sick I actually was until the past two weeks where I have felt amazing! 
• I've had a sinus infection for the last five weeks.  Instacare had said it was a virus, and wouldn't give me any antibiotics.  So, I went to the aforementioned family doctor, and because Collin and his son played on the same comp. soccer teams, and he's known me, he gave me a free doctors appt, and prescribed me some antibiotics, that are working quite well!  Thanks Collin and Krystal for your help here!
• My business has been quite slow, and piano lessons have been at a minimum with people moving and going on vacation during the summer.  So, it's been a financial struggle, not to mention my hospital bills and no insurance (more on this later!).  Had business been good, there is no way I could've done it during the last few months with me being so sick, having surgery, and the six week recovery.  However, within the last week, I've had four design contacts and new piano students referred to me.  I start work on a house next week and new piano kids in two weeks! 
• My hospital bills were over $34,000.  My surgeon was about $2500.  The anesthesiologist was about $2500, as well.  There is no possible way that I could do this on my own.  I'm extremely grateful for the kindness of those that are close to me that have helped with this situation.  The hospital has financial assistance and they've been amazing.  Up until today, they were taking care of 80% of my surgeon's fees, and about 89% of some of the hospital bills, and no word on the largest part.  So, I've been able to pay the doctor, except for $25 that will be taken care of soon.  Today I got a bill in the mail saying that I owed $24,862 that was due in full on August 10.  I was having a total meltdown, so I called the number on the bill to really hear my balance.  After hearing it, I was pretty certain it was mistaken or not all inclusive.  So, when I got home, I got online to check.  All of it was there except the anesthesiologist.  My total balance is just over $300!

I am completely humbled and so extremely thankful for all I've been given!  I know that the Lord's hand has been in all of this.  It's His plan, and I am in awe!