Glass half full

Last year a storm hit Calgary and flooded many areas. This was tragic for many people, and there was a lot of discouragement. Calgary came together and showed support and love for those impacted. My friend Cealy and I went to help down in Bowness, and it felt great to help those around me. There were many discouraging posts on Facebook and Instagram showing pictures of the horrible flood. As Cealy and I saw this, we decided to try to add a post that was positive. There was a huge puddle outside of my house, and we decided to go puddle jumping. We got floaties, goggles, and beach balls to go and play in the water. It was absolutely freezing, but I could not stop laughing. My dad came out and took this photo, and it makes me smile just looking at it. In the middle of a hard time, we were able to find joy.

Christmas Moment

My sister is serving a mission for our church in Mississippi, and has been gone for 9 months. She only gets emailing time once a week, and my family and I have not been able to actually talk to her since she left. I have always admired my sister for being such an amazing person, and I have always looked up to her. No matter what I was going through, I knew that I could talk to her about it. Even though we fought growing up, she is my best friend and I miss her so much. Christmas was always a special time when there would be no fighting between us, and we would spend hours laughing.  My sister and I have many traditions together around Christmas time. For example, each Christmas Eve, we watch Miracle on 34th Street together. This was the first Christmas that she had been gone, and I knew that it would be difficult for me without her there. Luckily, each missionary gets to Skype with their family on Christmas for a couple of hours.  I was so excited to hear her voice and actually see her! As my my entire family gathered around the computer and talked to her, I felt such joy! I looked around the room and felt so close to my family. It seemed like we were trying to tell her everything exciting that had happened to us! My nieces and nephews were jumping up and down screaming because they were so excited to see her again. She told us about her life, and how much she loved being out there.  Laughs filled the room during those couple of hours. This was the one moment over Christmas holidays that I truly will never forget. Talking to my sister for the first time in 9 months was the best thing I could have ever received on Christmas Day.