a treat

Saturday evening Evie and I went to Walmart because it was SUPER hot and we needed to get out of the house. Since it was too hot to want to be outside Walmart seemed like the next best place to explore. :) Evie was very good and I told her that she could get a treat (she's usually really bad when she and I go shopping). We were in the frozen veggie aisle when I told her this and she got really excited and started saying "treat! treat!" Then she opened one of the glass refrigerator doors, grabbed a bag of frozen peas, put it in the cart said "treat!" again and then smiled up at me. Frozen peas can be a treat I guess! What a funny girl I have. I love her. :)

Music

Earlier this week while driving in the car I heard a song on the radio that has significant meaning to me. It wasn't Sunday, so I wasn't listening to Soft Sunday Sounds on FM 100, but I'm pretty sure it was FM 100 I was listening to (there was nothing on any of my other pre-set stations except commercials). It was "I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone." Why on earth would this song have any meaning for me? I'll explain in a minute. Years ago, my dad became friends with a member of the church. Her name was Peggy and I've mentioned her in a previous post. He was at BYU visiting her and some other friends from home while he was still investigating the church. He says that at that time he was working his way through the Book of Mormon, and trying to decide if this church was true and if he really wanted to get baptized. He says that he was reading the Book of Mormon in one of the boys dorms that he was staying in and all of a sudden he could hear the "Carry on my Wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done, lay your weary head to rest don't you cry no more." You, know... that song by Kansas. He says that those words touched his heart and were the answer to his prayers about what he was reading and about joining the church. I love that story. It shows that the Lord knew my dad and knew what he wanted to know and answered his prayer in a very personal way- that was meant just for him. I know the Lord loves my dad and wanted him to know the truth. I love, love, love this part of my dad's conversion story. :)

Now, back to my own musical experience. When Ryan and I first started dating, it was before he left on his mission. People who know me really well know what that time was like. I was soooooo in love with him (and I still am!), but his mother was not happy that we were dating. Things got so bad that I broke it off with him, which was the hardest thing in the world for me to do. I started to have these weird anxiety attacks after that. I couldn't really sleep and eating was hard. I felt like I had lost my love forever, that he would never know how I felt and that I would regret letting him go for the rest of my life. Up to that point I had never prayed for anything so hard in my life. I figured that if my desires were righteous then the Lord would help me. I prayed for peace, because I sometimes felt like I was going to die- I couldn't even think clearly. I prayed that Ryan's mom would somehow like me and Ryan and I could at least be friends. I needed serious help. At that time I was working in the mornings, when it wasn't very busy. This was bad because I had lot of time to think about everything that was going wrong. :( But then this song would come on and this intense feeling of peace would come over me.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright
Sun-Shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin' for
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright
Sun-Shiny day.

Look all around, there's nothin' but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright
Sun-Shiny day.

I bought myself a copy of this song (by Johnny Nash) and listened to it over and over again. The dark clouds that had me blind were Satan trying to make me feel like my world was coming to an end and there was nothing I could do about it. The rainbow I'd been praying for was help, and help did come in the form of more answered prayers. It's hard to really put into words, but this song was like a hug from the Lord, a pat on the back and, a keep going- I promise everything will be OK. And when the Lord makes a promise, He keeps it. It was a serious answer to my prayer for peace and I knew the Lord knew me and loved me at that time more than I had before in my life. I know He knows us each and knows what we need, when we really need it. And He will answer our prayers privately and in the most perfect personal way for each of us if we trust in Him and sincerely ask for His help. It happened for my dad and for me and I know it can for you too. And who knows, maybe it'll be through Kansas and Johnny Nash. ;)



Lyrics | Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now lyrics

.75 cents and more

Sorry I haven't posted in a million years... life has been pretty busy lately and things have changed a bit since Oct when I posted last. I'm still working at the American Fork Old Navy and even though many people may think I've been doing the same ol' thing for a long time, my job is ANYTHING but the same ol' thing. Being the type of store that we are (Project ONE), there's always something. :) But anyways... Ryan finished his independent study class this past week so that means that he is officially a BYU grad!! I cannot tell you what this means for our family. Ever since we found out he had to take that class it felt like we were stuck, unable to move forward. :( It was a little rough. But now we're excited about being able to apply for jobs and say truthfully that Ryan does indeed have a degree from BYU. Happiness. :) Other things that have changed around the Watkins' house are the number of Sunday newspapers we get: three! Are we crazy?? Maybe... I started couponing about 4 months ago and I'm hooked! Here's an example of my couponing awesomeness: Yesterday I went to Smith's and got a Schick Hydro 3 razor, ice cream, heavy whipping cream (the last item I needed for a meal), and lo mein noodles (another last item for a different meal), and only spent .75 cents!! The razor was on sale for 5.70 and I had a coupon for $5 off PLUS an ecoupon loaded onto my smith's card for another $4 off the same item (you can use one physical manufacture's coupon and an ecoupon on the same item), so I ended up getting the razor for FREE and having $3.30 left over! Holla!!! So I spent it on items we were missing for a few of our favorite meals and a treat. If I had REALLY planned ahead I could have purchased items that I had other coupons for and got even more with my free money, but I was kinda in a hurry. But I'm still SUPER excited about only spending .75 cents for what I got. :)

baby reminders

Sometimes when I get home from work Ryan has already eaten dinner, which means that Evie and I eat dinner together. This past week I had made her some noodles and had put them on to her tray and had turned my back to her to put the dirty pan in the dishwasher. When I turned back around to look at her she was sitting in her little chair with her arms folded waiting for me so that we could bless the food. What a little sweetheart. She knows that we bless our food before we eat it and was waiting for me to do it. What a cute little reminder to do what I should because someone is watching. ;)

Krispy Kream

This morning I had to be at work at 6am. Because I live in Provo, but work in American Fork this means that I drive through Orem on my way. This means that I pass the Krispy Kream... and I brought in 3 dozen donuts to work today. Old Navy paid for them, but still. So I saved a dozen in the office for the managers and one of the other managers was telling me that she couldn't tell if the one she ate was cinnamon or wheat. What?? How could you not tell those two flavors apart? She said, "It had brown flecks in it." Oh, boy. Seriously... I don't know it I'd want to eat a wheat donuts. I was laughing pretty hard. "I couldn't tell if it was cinnamon or wheat." Hahahahahaaa. :)

It's just another manic Monday...

"It's just another manic Monday I wish it were Sunday 'Cause that's my funday..." Oh, what the Monday I have had! It all started this morning, like most days do... with a morning. I woke up feeling slightly less congested than I felt the night before and realized that the lady who manages our apartments was going to be coming over with a fellow from the city to check out the plumbing. All because the owner of the complex needed to renew their contract or whatever with the city. So I got up and noticed that nothing had been cleaned after I went to bed. So much for hoping that it would. :( I cleaned under both sinks, the bath tub, the actual sinks, and kitchen in 45 minutes. I then vacuumed and got dressed, with about 5 minutes to spare. We were told they would be at our house at 10am. At 12pm, when Ryan came home from work they still had not come, or called or emailed anything about why they were late. So I got ready for work quickly, because I had been waiting for the people to come over before I showered and so now had to rush to be at work by 1. I got to work just fine, but got a flat tire on my lunch. :( Plus I was wearing my whitest pants today! AND I didn't have the right tool to unscrew the bolts from my tire so that I could change it. A co-worker had to drive to his dad's work to get a bunch of tools and then we were finally able to get the wheel off. We were seconds away from calling a tow-truck when we were finally able to get the flat tire off. So that worked out... I drove back to work and began to get things ready to close. I began to count the drawers and the printer to the money counter wouldn't print!! I had to write out all of the totals by hand. It was very bad. My white pants got even more dirty because I crawled under the counter a bunch of times trying to figure out what was wrong. I plugged and unplugged everything and nothing worked. :( :( And then, when I went out to my car at the end of the night, the sprinklers were going on the patch of grass that separates the two parking areas. So I had to run through the sprinklers to get to my car. :( :( :( And the founder of Gap/Old Navy died today. He had cancer and I know that he's happier now, but I bet his family wishes he was still here. It's so hard to loose a family member. My heart and prayers go out to Doris and the rest of their family... sounds like their Monday was a little rough too. :/ But, I'm blaming my bad day on these stupid white pants!! ;)

My dad's conversion story and Peggy :)

So a few weeks ago I went home for Tricia and Ethan's wedding, which was beautiful and well worth the trip. :) While at home I noticed a wedding invitation on the kitchen counter for someone I didn't know. Which is pretty rare because everyone getting married recently from the Fairfield stake is someone I either went to school with or my sisters did. I asked my mom who the people were and she said, "That's Peggy's daughter." "Peggy? Who is she?" I asked. "She's the one who got your dad into the church." Mom answered. "Oh, wow." I replied.

I have thought about this woman many many times in my life when I have thought about all my blessings and how much I have received as a result of my dad joining the church and my being brought up in it. I think that for you to fully understand this I need to explain exactly how my dad and Peggy met. It all has to do with an A's game, Star Wars, and Jack 'n the Box, and in that order. :) My dad and his roommate from Sonoma State had decided to spend the day thus: Catch an A's game in the afternoon, go see Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back, I believe) in the evening and then see what we can do after that with the little money we have left. Well, after the game and the movie, my dad and his roommate decided to go to Jack 'n the Box. Cheap, yes. Well the girl that took their order caught my dad's attention. Seriously, she did. He didn't know what it was about her, but he needed to get to know her better. He asked her for her number and she turned him down. Poor guy. ;) But my dad knew he needed to get to know her. So he applied for a job there. He was hired on and the funny thing is, when he started Peggy was on vacation with her family and so when she returned to work, there was that guy who asked her for her phone number working there. I can't imagine what she thought when she saw him there. But, she was nice, and talked to my dad about herself and her beliefs and because of her and her example my dad took the discussions and joined the church. He later served a mission, moved to Provo to attend BYU where he met my mom and they were married in the Oakland Temple. When I think about this story I can't help but think about Peggy. My dad knew from a very short conversation with her that he needed to find out more about her. You always hear in Sunday school lessons that the way you live your life will be an example to others; That people will be able to see what you believe by the way that you talk, act and even dress. I know that was the case with Peggy, and I cannot thank her enough. I know that my dad's membership in this church has blessed his life greatly and it has blessed mine and my own new little family tremendously. As I looked at the wedding announcement and saw that she too was being blessed with the marriage of a daughter in the Las Vegas temple I thought of the blessings that must have come to her and her family too as a result of the way she was living her life. Doctrine and Covenants 18:15 "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" I hope with all my heart that through the years Peggy has had joy in her life for the blessings her life has brought to my family and that the years to come will be filled with joy and happiness as well.