Anne Shirley says it best

"My future life seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe the best does.”

My life has certainly had many unexpected bends in it, but hopefully I can keep believing, like Anne, that the best lies around the next bend. 

Four Beached Whales 2015 part 1

Once upon a time my sister called me to see if I wanted to go to Hawaii with her for her MTC companions wedding. I had to think about it for about 3 seconds and then said yes. I gave her a hard time later, that she only invited me because I'm old enough to rent a car.

The preparation for departure was a little bit stressful, plane tickets, car rentals, places to stay, what to do while we were there, but we got it all nailed down and then we were off.

To say the least Hawaii was beautiful. We got in really late, or what felt like really late for our Mountain Time programmed bodies and we crashed when we finally made it to the place we were staying, after a ridiculous fiasco with the shuttle to the car rental place, getting turned around and trying to enter a military base, and driving on the very slow speed limit roads of Hawaii.

We decided to go for a walk the next morning and see where we were. We went up to the resort nearby and checked out the beach. Then decided to have breakfast at the resort. That was one expensive breakfast. Later that day we went and bought some groceries. Still expensive, but much more economical that eating out every morning. 

Our first day after exploring Turtle Bay we headed to Kualoa Ranch for a jungle tour. Our driver was very entertaining and aside from the screaming 8 year old who apparently hated life, it was a fantastic ride. It started pouring, but we didn't let that deter us from having fun. We got out to take pictures and got this gem. ^^ Beware of dinosaurs.

Friday was Rebecca and Eddie's wedding so we headed to the temple. We dropped Julie off to join the wedding party and then Kari and I headed over to the temple. Temples are all pretty standard and this one wasn't much different. A little on the small side,  but great just the same. And check out the landscaping. Definite win there.

Julie was with the wedding party the rest of the day so after the temple we headed to where the reception was going to be. Once we located it, we headed for the nearest beach. We were not disappointed by what we found. Can you say tropical paradise?

Saturday we went kayaking in the morning. That was a bit of an adventure. Everyone survived, but I can easily say that was my least favorite activity of the trip. Maybe if I had been wearing my seabands to fight the motion sickness and if we had stopped where we were supposed to to see the turtles. Live and learn. After kayaking we headed back to Kualoa Ranch for our movie sites tour. It was interesting to hear about all the movies filmed there. The most iconic one (and one of the few I had actually seen) was Jurassic Park. The famous Gallimimus stampede? Happened on this hill here.

And the stump they hide behind? This very same one.

The dinosaur was back with a vengeance and I was the sacrifice. At least Julie was trying to save me. 

Penny my CKC Spaniel

I went to the movies last night with Katie. We saw Age of Adaline and I fell in love with her dog. I have never been a dog person. I'm pretty anti-pet, but I want this dog so bad. Such a beautiful dog and look at these adorable puppies! If only I had the time, money and space for one! Someday. My future kids are so lucky I watched that movie. :)

And so it goes

Life is full of ups and downs. I know that. But knowing it, doesn't really seem to make anything any easier. Somewhere between knowing things will be okay and how they actually feel, there is some kind of disconnect and it's much easier to get swept away in the drama and narrow vision of my experiences. Trusting in God's timing is one of the hardest trials of my life. I think it finds it's way into most of my trials. It's always about timing. It's not that the things I want and seek after are bad, it's just that it's not the time for it right now and that is not easy to swallow.
       And then there is the fact that it seems like when it rains, it pours. It's not just one thing that's hard, it's the 67 things that seem to happen consecutively or even at the same time to just really beat you down and hurt your spirit. Maybe it's partly an attitude problem and I know for sure my patience and humility need some work, but again, knowing it doesn't always make it any easier.
My friend Camille sent me this article from the LDS Ensign magazine. It was very enlightening, but this paragraph really showed me how much I need to work on my pride.
     Because patience tests us at a very personal level, our focus is often inward. But Elder Maxwell taught that “patience also helps us to realize that while we may be ready to move on, having had enough of a particular learning experience, our continued presence is often needed as a part of the learning environment of others.”³ Not only do we need patience, but others also need our patience or the example of our patience. This idea had never dawned on me, and it helped me to view patience as a noble quality, very closely tied to charity, the pure love of Christ, which “never faileth” (Moroni 7:46). 
      I don't really want to be patient so others have an example. Honestly, I'm kind of tired of being patient. My patience has run out. But I know better. I know that I need to look outward. That I need to be positive. I need to be optimistic about the future and more importantly I need to be optimistic about my present. No matter what my present is. Life changes, people change, things work out, things don't work out, and it will be okay. All of it. It will be okay. 
      “Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey…delays…sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” 
 ― Jenkin Lloyd Jones
 So today I'm going to try and be a little more grateful for the ride and keep moving forward.