Cornbread, Temples, Macaroni & Cheese

My birthday!

It was wonderful. I woke up. Took a really hard microbiology test.

Later, Benji, Chloe and I drove home for the most amazing cornbread in the world and chili.

And French Silk Pie.

And gifts.

In which Chloe gave me the most darling nurse doll, and my mama found me a cozy sweater, and my parents made me the cutest video about my life, and Benjamin completely surprised me with an assortment of goodies including but not limited to Michael Bublé tickets! YES. That will be excellent. November 19th, can't wait to see you.

And then the next day, my adorable parents took me to dinner and then to do an endowment session in the Salt Lake Temple because I had never done a session there and it was BEAUTIFUL. I love the legacy of the Salt Lake Temple and the sacrifice that it took. I love the Temple. 

Birthdays are great. And yes, I did have Taylor Swift on repeat the entire day. I was feelin' 22. 

And then, Wednesday morning, I woke up and was promptly hit by a train. A train full of body aches and headaches and congestion and fever and nausea and profuse sweating. Sick enough that my parents galloped down to Provo and brought me home so they could monitor me. And so I could have a big bathtub. So I've been pretty down and out for the last three days, only consuming apple juice until yesterday when I developed an absurd craving for macaroni and cheese. What??? I'm sitting here eating another bowl of the stuff as we speak. Only explanation: I'm so calorie deprived that my cells were screeching for the cheesy buttery soft noodle goodness. And I don't even want to put ketchup on it, which is not normal for me. I just want unlimited apple juice and macaroni and cheese. 

Also, yesterday was the first 24 hour period since August when I did not get to see Benjamin. I hated it.  Congratulations to everyone who DID get to see him yesterday. 

I've got to go get more mac and cheese. 

(From when we floated the Provo River back in August)

Service List

Thank you so much to everyone who performed service this past week in response to my birthday wish for service. It added such a wonderful feeling to the whole week.

• giving my hubs back rubs every day whether my arthritis hurts or not.
• My visiting teacher had a cyst that she was waiting to burst. So she was in a lot of pain and had to go shopping with her three little children to costco. So I offered to go with her to help with the kids so she wouldn't have to pick them up, etc. So I got to hang out with some pretty cute kids.
• I was planning a playdate with a friend and then she said she couldn't come because she didn't have a car, so I offered to give her and her daughter a ride to the place and we all had a great time.
• I made my roommates bed when she was gone
• So all last week I was looking everyday for just simple ways to serve somebody. The first thing that I was able to find was a neighbor who posted on our Ward facebook page. He needed help with his bike and I've been learning a lot about how to fix my own (the hard way normally) so I jumped on the opportunity. I also really don't know the guy that I helped either but it turned out to be a good way to get to know him. I was at his house for about an hour and all that I ended up figuring out was that he would have to take it to a shop. I knew what was wrong and how to fix it but we didn't have the tools or parts to fix his bike. We had a good time getting to know each other while freezing and getting nowhere with his bike. But from the moment that I commented on fb telling him that I'd help him, the opportunities to serve just came flooding in
• I scraped the ice off of the car next to mine
• Today we hosted a family for dinner since they were returning from a couple months absence to an empty house. What a treat to come home to a full meal and roll into your own bed... without cleaning up or shopping!
  I thought of doing it for her cause... i knew, instantly when she said she was on her way home, that she'd do the exact same for me. so that's how that was thought of.
• I'm going to my grandpa's house after work (he just had back surgery) and I'm going to pick the flowers out of his flower bed, cut the bulbs off, lay the bulbs to dry and then pack the bulbs away so that in the spring...we can plant them and he will have nice fresh flowers again. I'm really looking forward to the time spent with my grandpa.
• Keeping others in mind and focusing on lifting the burdens of others was just what I needed last week.
• I took supper to my sister after her pacemaker was replaced.
• I cleaned a lady in the ward's house
• I did the dishes that weren't mine

Thank you! And thank you to the ones that were done unconsciously--to Deanna for cooking us dinner and for Benji and Levi for bringing it. To Sierra for sharing her migraine pills with me. To Rachel for working my shift so I didn't have to on my birthday. I love service and I love all of you for doing this for me!

Tender Mercies

I've experienced many tender mercies this weekend.

As I posted on instagram/facebook, I am home this weekend supervising my adorable siblings so that my parents could go on a business trip/getaway together.

The plan was SUPPOSED to work: Bethany works night shift Friday, comes home Saturday morning, goes back to Provo Sunday to work a night shift Sunday night, wakes up and takes microbiology exam Monday morning.

But when I got here, I discovered boogers and vomit and fevers and coughs, which I tried to attend to while studying for said microbiology test. Also, I failed to mention the lingering migraine from Friday that was threatening to come back full force.

Tender Mercy #1: Benji and Ronnie. Giving Abigail a priesthood blessing that allowed her to sleep well, despite her achey body and congested head.

Tender Mercy #2: realizing too late Saturday night that we did not have enough toilet paper to last through the weekend with all these stuffy noses. So I prayed of course. And voila, two mega rolls of toilet paper were discovered tucked away in the back of the house.

Tender Mercy #3: Benji and his darling brother Levi showing up with delicious food prepared by their mom (whom I adore), and it happened to be exactly what was appetizing to all these sick people and they ate it and there was peace on earth.

Tender Mercy #4: Benji and Levi being silly and fun and playing with Nate and making Abby smile and everything felt like sunshine golden happiness.

Tender Mercy #5: I tried to call in sick at work for my night shift tonight, based off of the migraine and the sleepless night with vomiting, feverish children and the general sense of ill feeling, but work said they were short CNAs and needed me to come in anyway. Which was discouraging, disappointing, and ever other dis- word you can think of. So as I was dressed in my scrubs, heading out the door to Provo, hoping my parents get home ASAP, work called and said "we found someone to replace you. You can stay home." miracle, people. Miracle.

So my testimony is that Heavenly Father is aware of us. He is aware of toilet paper shortages and microbiology exams and college students who are feeling overwhelmed and run down. And He sends angels, seen and unseen, to lift and bless and encourage in whatever degree of distress you may be in. He does not leave us comfortless, He runs to us.

I Like My Birthdays Every One!

So my birthday is a week from today.

I will be feelin' 22.

An absurd age, if you ask me. I don't feel 22. I told my mom last week that I think I feel 12. Or maybe 92. Sometimes I feel very old indeed.

Anywho. I have an idea for this 22nd birthday. Something I want you all to do for me.

I would like to compile a list of service. That's right, I want everyone to do some small act of service between now and October 21st, and I wanna know about it. I want to post a great big long list of service. It makes my heart feel happy just thinking about it.

It can be service in any variety, including (and encouraged) sharing the Gospel with someone, even in a very small way.

Or perhaps you picked something up off the floor without grumbling, or did a chore that wasn't yours, or scraped the ice off of someone's car, or held the door open, or smiled at the cashier at Walmart (because they are nearly always grumpy), or stuck a nice note on the wall outside of the testing center, or got out of the shower 5 minutes early so your roommate could have hot water, or made her/his bed, or saved a plate of dinner for someone who was stressed, or whatever. It doesn't have to be big. I just want you to think outward for this week, for me.

And then tell me about it. Post a comment here, or email me (bethany . coleman 21@ gmail . com) or Facebook message me, or post it on my Facebook wall on my birthday as is customary in these parts, or send a telegram, or whatever.

Maybe we will all have the most love-filled week ever.

12

I remember the details of this day 12 years ago.

I remember being excited for my third baby sister, I remember being worried about her little heart (and she still has the sweetest heart) and believing that my ten year old prayers would be enough to heal her heart from the inside out.

I remember she was born, and unlike the two baby sisters before her, she didn't come home with my parents.

I remember when she did come home I felt so protective of her, so much more like a mother and less like a sister.

I still feel that way about her, our angel blonde haired Abby. She has a special tenderness and sweetness that is unique and rare. I got to spend all day today with her, just the two of us. Our first stop was the Temple, because she is 12 now and worthy to participate in ordinances there.

We then took a trip to The Bead Fairy to get our craft on

And then, per family tradition on your 12th birthday, she gathered up all her bravery and got her ears pierced.

Afterwards, we went home to celebrate with the family.

We love our Abby

My Life is a Gift

Let's talk about what its like to be a hospital employee/nursing student.

You wake up six hours after you go to bed so you can make it to class. You return home two hours later, mess around on your computer for a while, spend some time in the Gospel of Mark (because I love the New Testament) and then proceed to go back to sleep so that you will be awake and alert during your upcoming night shift.

Hours later, you wake up to prepare a midnight snack to take with you on said night shift. You open a brand new can of spaghetti sauce, and then spend 10 minutes looking at google images of botulism-ridden cans trying to decide if the can is infected or not because of a dent in the top. Thought process goes something like this:

Well, its probably just a dent from being dropped or something. I'm probably even the one who dropped it. But maybe it really is infected. Dumping it out would be such a waste. I should just eat it. Botulism is a disease of the nervous system...how much can I afford to be paralyzed for a few weeks? Do you think they would freeze my grades where they are at right now if that happened? Is spaghetti sauce worth paralyzation? Probably not...I could just dump it out. Ugh that would be such a waste! Benji never wastes anything. I guess its not worth the risk, even if I am the one who dropped it in the first place....but remember that patient I had with botulism? That was scary....Bethany you would never have these issues if you didn't study them. 

Anyway. After getting over that hurdle (which included dumping out the completely new can of spaghetti sauce) and finishing your midnight snack preparations, you look down at your phone.

It is the hospital.

Putting you on call.

Which means, I'm not at work, so I could have gone to nanny my absolutely darling little baby, but I'm on call, so if I drove all the way up to Sandy to be with her, karma would bite me and they would call me back to Provo.

Also, if I chanced going to do an Endowment Session in the temple, they would call. So my focus the entire two hours would be off and stressed, so its not worth it.

But if I sit here, and blog about it, they won't call.

So. I'm grateful for nursing school and hospital jobs that save me from potential paralyzation.

And also, General Conference is tomorrow. It's like Christmas. I LOVE General Conference.
Everyone should watch it.

www.lds.org