the week that ends it all

It all boils down to this folks. the last week of my school days. I have class on Monday, class on Wednesday....then i'm off on my own.

After being with my class homies for two years, sometimes spending more time with them than with my own family, they have become family to me. i have an emotional attachment to these guys, needless to say.

Especially since i am the baby of the class, my older classmates have taken me under their wing. i was the young grasshopper for some, the techno-savvy powerpoint adviser for others, the i'll-try-your-strange-filipino-food person, the observant listener for all, the one with crazy socks, the comment-contributor in conversations, the mediator [it's true], the encourager, the one to email random catch phrases and inside jokes to....I played my part well.

There were so many times that i just wanted to rip my hair out because of my annoyance towards some of my classmate's tendencies [i.e. complaining]. it's the sisterly, child-parent relationship i have with them. i could talk about every one of my classmates on such a personal level though. for great and bad. and i've gotten to know myself more. that's what happens when you get put through the wringer for various reasons over the course of two years.

Like i said, we've gotten close from experiences we'e had together. from teacher's being fired for being unethical, to teachers taking vengeance out on students, insane classmates that literally had some mental disease, field trips to Touro and other places, hoarding wheelchairs against our will, contracting for fieldwork placements, mystery classes, financial aid, teacher's stepping up and taking responsibility just when we need them, confession sessions, not accepting a 2nd year class for probationary accreditation reasons (there was an article recently in the Las Vegas Sun that did a great job describing that situation)....all this? REALLY!!
Great career! needy program. it's had some definite improvements throughout the past year and is on the path to recovery (thanks to some amazing instructors and to us! the students).

This picture is old, we need a more updated group photo.


This is cheesy, but i don't realize how much people mean to me until i see my relationship coming to an 'end.' sure, we'll keep in touch. we'll see each other in the real world. but we'll never be together in a class setting like this ever again. the L-building where we've laughed, yelled, studied, ate, played [seriously, the OTA program owns toys and a swing set], chatted on multiple emotional levels, and even bawled our eyes out/teared up a little at the appropriate times [the happy, the frustrated, the stressed...all of it]. i love these guys! i'll get over it, but i'm going to miss them. i see a lot of nostalgia in my future coming up after this week.

Sue, Tia, Lucy, Amer, Maria, Jeremy, Dave, Carmen, Erika, Kate, Jessica, Kristin, Wendy, Thom, Leanne, Michelle....

WE DID IT!

It's the end of the road. this is our last week together. we have clinicals now and will go our separate ways. but we will need to get together to study for the board exams later this year. so we'll still be there for each other....won't we? i have small moments of fear that we'll all move on and never "need" each other again. that must be the Manasseh in me.

But. we're here. here at the end of all things (ahem, what movie is that from?)
This is what we've been waiting for!
Let's DO THIS!!

amanda

This is Amanda.

She's brazilian. she has a really strong accent but i understand every word she says. i visit teach her. when she opened the door today and saw us she jumped up and down, squealed a little bit, and clapped her hands together. i have to restrain myself from doing the same thing when i see her. she is awesome.

I love her.

Conclusion: i shall make her banana bread.

writing in a journal

I decided to use the most serene time of day to bust out writing in my journal.

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1:30am-5:30am

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It felt so good! totally worth doing again. i don't like writing, but i love having things written down!

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Same time tomorrow?....i'm serious!!

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That's 7+ pages of memory, typed, single-spaced that is now recorded forever. NO REGRETS.

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end of GC challenge

Feb 7th marked the end of a seven-day experiment, or challenge. everything i read, watched, or listened to was supposed to be related to general conference. well, like i said, day one was just getting my feet wet, but i'll give you a briefing of the rest of the week:

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2/2/12, Day 2

On this morning, i woke up with resolution to download the entire oct 2011 general conference onto my mp3 player. i downloaded in three parts: sunday morning, sun afternoon, sat morning, sat afternoon, priesthood session, relief society session. that's pretty much one session a day for the rest of the week (even though i didn't finish them afterall). i listened to it as i washed dishes or sat with my feet folded up onto the couch. i can't tell you how relaxing it was on the first day to fill my mind with the deep, composed, reassuring voices of the apostles of God. it was like listening to zen music. i listened intentenly on this day to every word that was spoken, and i realized that the time has gone by so fast since the oct general conference! i could still picture the speakers in my head as i they spoke, and i realized this is the first time i've really truly listened to general conference since the time the talks were delivered 4 months ago. on day 2, i noted that the more i listened to the talks, the more i wanted to keep listening.

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2/3, Day 3

I continued to tune out television and music that didn't relate to general conference. when i started the sunday afternoon session, though, i tryed multitasking and checking my email or something while listening. i suppose the talks need my full attention - or my multitasking stinks - because i don't remember much that was said. gc isn't meant to be a subconscious learning tool. it needs active attention. that's how the Spirit will point specific lines out that pertain to me specifically. i went to work later in the day at LooCG Spa Party...so even though i made an exception to the challenge for work and school, listening to girl spa party music the rest of the night was sort of a 'break' from conference talks i guess you could say. i felt like it was cheating. escpecially compared to this awesome friend who did the challenge with me.

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2/4, Day 4

I look forward to every time the tabernacle choir sings in between talks. it's important to include music as much as possible in your review of gc. i remember a story that an investigator was given a recording of gc, but all the music was cut out of it. when the investigator finally heard the music of gc later on, it was the music that touched her heart and convinced her to become a member of the church. especially in gc, music may sometimes speak louder than words. i'm sure you've all heard that before. the tabernacle choir music brings the Spirit so quickly. from this week, one that i liked the most was Consider the Lilies. it's even sweeter knowing that it was President Gordon B Hinkley's favorite.

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Click here! http://youtu.be/nh8Hp1fzFek (you might have to right click then open in new tab)

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I included the video because i am a very visual person, but i strongly recommend that you relax your mind, close your eyes, and just soak in the music for one moment. the feeling you get - peace, joy, gratitude - that's what i felt as i listening to the gc music. that alone change my spirits for the week.

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2/5, Day 5

I actually didn't listen to much gc on sunday. it was one of my busiest days to be honest. but i did bare my testimony (which i haven't done in months), and i went to two different ward blocks. does it matter that i did it to make the fast sunday go by just a little faster?

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2/6, Day 6

My birthday. a day spent entirely in school. there's actually a funny story that goes to that though. like i said, i have some drafts saved up, but i'll have to post about this day. it was the most amazing day ever. when i came home in the evening, i spent the night with my family. so not much gc went on this day. i seriously picked a challenging week to do this experiment fordalovapete. but before bed i managed to turn on the talk i left off at. i don't remember which one it was because i fell asleep in the middle of it.

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2/7, Day 7

The last day! i was excited to make it this far. it wasn't a perfect experiment on my end. especially when riding in someone else's car and they have the radio blasted up. or when sitting down to eat dinner and lapsing into a tv show that catches your attention for 5 minutes before reminding myself to get up and rip away. i'm not big on tv anyways. or at least that's what i say to myself...because in my household it's sometimes hard to really escape from. or those short moments when i tune on 89.7fm [classical music station] because my conference downloads are in my backpack. little things like that.

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But what i realized from this experiment was the overall feeling of confidence in my life. ok, yes. there comes the feelings of peace and love for the prophets and the Savior. i totally expected that and was relieved when i felt it. but from a perspective "looking back," i can see that my week was SO FULL OF OPPORTUNITY many of which i haven't even written about in this post. i also felt more genuine when interacting with people this week, which made me feel really happy that i could just be myself....with a calm mind. that's the confidence component that the prophets must be talking about when they say that if you hear and study the Word, you will become more confident not only in the "presence of God," but also in God, and in yourself. D&C 121:45

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I have so much to be grateful for. general conference helped me to open my heart to myself, God, and the people i interacted with this week. it also helped my to recognize the smallest of blessings in my life and feel joy for having them... that mostly includes wonderful people who do little things that bless my life.

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The General Conference 7-day challenge took discipline and conscious decision-making. but by the end of the week i didn't feel the automatic urge to turn on the radio every chance i got. i even enjoyed the frequent moments of silence around me which usually led to moments of just thinking about my life and loving it. i felt more productive with my time since it was consciously spent.

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What surprised me the most is that i feel increased love/appreciation for myself. it's easy for me to love other people, but loving myself is sometimes another ball game. i felt so whole and complete.

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I've also been involved in an ongoing Heart-to-Heart experiment. no wonder i had such a great week. combining the two experiments is like giving jackie chan a weapon. inconceivable!

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It's by Virginia H Pearce: A Heart Like His

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If you feel so inclined to try the same experiment(s). i say DO IT. you won't regret it and who knows? you might even learn something about yourself in the process.

inn crowd...?

One of the bishopric members shared a thought with us. it got me thinking.




Lately i've been interested in this book by Susan Easton Black called 400 Questions & Answers about the life and times of Jesus Christ [i've learned so much already and gained a whole different perspective of His life and i'm only at the beginning]. she mentions something about the so-called "inn" that Joseph and Mary came across.

"It is not likely that Joseph the carpenter sought shelter for Mary in a public, noisy caravansary [place where travelers stayed]. It is more probable that he looked for a private room to rent in Bethlehem."

She also says, "Failing to find such a room, Joseph and Mary possibly lodged in a nearby limestone cave. Several caves on the hillside of Bethlehem were artificially enlarged, creating an upper chamber used as a dwelling place and a lower chamber intended for animals. It is possible that Joseph found shelter for Mary in a lower chamber in which there was a manger or feeding trough intended for animals."

That paints a slightly different picture in my head that i've never gotten from admiring countless nativity sets over the years. the picture in my head goes from a shack-barn-type structure of wood on the edge of town, to a wet, cold cave in a hillside. when Mary had baby Jesus, she was no older than 15, and Joseph was only about 20. they were both so young.

They were shunned and very much alone as they prepared to raise the Savior of the world. while Mary gave birth to a King in a lonely, smelly cave i wonder where i would have been that night.

I hope i would have been one of the few that believed Mary and Joseph and resolved to do everything possible to support them and make their burdens lighter. i hope i would have been in that stable to witness the divine birth of our Savior and welcome Him into the world and worship at His feet.


I hope that i can keep God's commandments today so that i can have a place with Him in the stable few.

And although the stable few may experience loneliness and discomfort, just as Mary and Joseph did on that night, there is no amount of comfort or warmth i would trade if it meant i would excuse myself from the presence of the Savior. i hope that He can rely on me to be His witness and stay with Him in any circumstance.

It may not be inn, but it will always be stable.

very special day

Well yesterday was the day before the day before christmas. there's a movie by that name and everything. as megan put it, Christmas Adam, the day before Christmas Eve. :)

But December 23 is special for an even better reason: it's my daddy's birthday. last year was so depressingly sad because we didn't do anything for his birthday....or as he calls it, his "birfday." so this year, we searched high and low for two things we know for sure he would like. a cartoon tie, and a dolphin. dad has a collection of dolphin things; he's a dolphin at heart. so ash, mom, and i set out on a mission to find these two things. and DAAAAANG it was hard. i even texted my friend kathy who works at fashion show mall down on the strip. and we went there. amid the crazy christmas shoppers we went to the fashion show mall the week leading up to christmas. gosh we didn't even try walmart first. turns out there was a store that sold some cool-looking ties. the man approached us and said that the "top row is a little pricey. those ties are around $250, and the bottom row are about $80." whaaaa? no way hozzzay! we asked if they sold cartoon ties...you know, bugs bunny and the like. he said that no place at fashion show mall would (who were we kidding). he told us to try walmart. slap.in.the.face. it was funny. ',:|

Sidenote. we stopped at tivoli village [pronounced tI-voli, not ti-VO-li in case you say it wrong like me] for various reasons and saw this kid-sized toilet. it was literally a foot tall.



So for his birfday, we never ended up finding a good ole tie, but we did find a dolphin!
Who doesn't like plush dolphins. dad is a spoiler. he guesses everything right, so before he even finished unwrapping it he knew what it was. at least he liked it. it's name is debbie so apparently it's a she.



We're saving the best for christmas though and guess where i found it....walmart.

I love my dad so much! shh don't tell, but he turned 45 this year. and that's the truth. i'm pretty sure. that's what grandma said anyway, but i thought he's been 45 for like 4 or 5 years now. i never know. i thought this year he might be 47 or something, i've never done the math. dad always claims that he's 18...or 24...or 30...it's been bouncing around quite a bit.

It is also his first year as a grandpa! that's still weird for me to write. writing makes things official. but it's been official since November 5, when emma was born. and even before! when she was still in the belly.



I have goosebumps right now thinking about what to say about my dad. i really don't know what to say. i love him. just for being himself. my dad is the funniest guy around. people would leap through hoops just to swing a comeback at my dad. and some have become proficient at it too, but my dad always leaves the final word that makes everyone roll around in tears from laughing so hard.

But my dad is also very common sensical and reasonable. he's so smart and has crazy intuition about almost everything. he can sense people. he can feel what things to say or do at what times. he can read people and know pretty much what to expect out of them. and i have so much dang respect for him. he's no push over. but once you get to know this 6'2" big bald white guy with a booming voice, you realized how much of a cuddle monster he is. especially with kids, i just love seeing him with emma. how they look at each other with 'knowing' eyes, like they are speaking not only through words, but also through understanding and their spirits to one another. apart from being a dolphin, my dad is such a child at heart.

My biggest regret for his birthday is that i never got to give him a hug and BIG birthday kiss since i dozed out on the couch right before bed. i can today, but it's not exactly the same.

It was a wonderful day nonetheless. dolphin plush pillow pet thing, amy and jamison came over for a nice turkey dinner, emma was here of course which makes everything a thousand times amazinger, and dad loved their gift which was a molded handprint from emma. he found a placed on the living room wall to hang it. and we sang to him with awesome colorful candles that turned the fire different colors and ate pudding pie.

This is my mom. she's cute.

Colorful candles

Post-candle blowing.

I promise dad loves you more than debbie. he just needs a moment

Emma's handprint from 11.21.11

Now on the wall. & right above a picture of baby amy


Overall: mission accomplished.

Happy Birthday DADDEEE!!

emma was blessed today

Emma looked so beautiful in her little white dress that abuelita corazon and my mom sewed. it was simple and pure white, with a line of braided strand wrapped around the front and arm sleeves. emma also wore a cute headband with two white flowers sewn on.


She was so good during the blessing, and her daddy Jamison did such a good job giving it. amy looked so pretty today too, even though she's been dead tired from lack of sleep. but there was a certain glow to her today.


We had family come from all over to see the blessing. what a special day for the pruitt family. what a special girl emma is.

a late thanksgiving story

Once the classwork chaos was finally over, this week has been absolutely wonderful! i'll spare you the details (i'm a VERY detailed person, so this will be hard for me).

Tuesday night i got an email: congratulations Tiffany, you have been awarded the Wing and Lilly Fong Scholarship....$1000!!!!!!!!!! if you say the award out loud it doesn't sound good. wing and lilly fong, wing and lilly fong... see what i mean. but i was so excited!! i read the email at 2am and it took a couple hours before i could fall asleep after that. honestly, this is the first academic scholarship i've ever gotten. I'M SO EXCITED I FEEL LIKE A HUGE YELLOW GLOWSTICK IS INSIDE OF ME AND WON'T STOP GLOWING!! That money is enough to pay for the rest of this AND next semester...along with the millenium! :D the timing couldn't have been better either! YEEHAWWW.

Then comes Wednesday. i had thanksgiving a tidbit early with family here in vegas so we could have it with amy, jamison, and emma. it was so fun, we laughed and ate a lot. then we watched harry potter 7, part 2. a&j&e didn't leave until after midnight. we love them and that baby girl oh so much.
Thursday morning, off to see the Blasers. if you're going to be a part of my world, you HAVE to know about the Blaser family. they are so much a part of me i can't stand it. that's just a saying though. i LOVE the Blasers.


This is Jimmy and Rachelle's family. they weren't there this year because they live in brasil....he is ceo of a huge company so they are always busy and moving around the world....:( i wish i knew them better.


This pic includes some of Roger and Tod's family


Tod and Jenifer


Their kids: ashlyn, kailyn, josh, jaidyn


Kailyn, second oldest


Joshua and Jaidyn...Josh is so handsome, and Jai is a little fireball


Lisa and Roger


Four gorgeous girls, it always takes me a minutes to organize their names in my head. oldest to youngest is Erynn, Kylie, Dani, Dilynn


Roger and Kylie


Erynn and Kylie


Aren't they so cute?


This isn't the best picture, but it's Paulo and Star. he's a chef, and one time they came over and made the BEST homemade ice cream i've ever eaten in my life. it was chocolate butterscotch ice cream. my dad was best friends with paulo growing up in hurricane, utah. want proof?


They were hooligans. i love seeing them together even now....they're both SO funny and totally alike.

So even though i stole these pictures from facebook, at least you have a glimpse of the awesome people i spent thanksgiving with. it's almost a crime not to go to "the Blasers" for thanksgiving, and we missed the past couple years. dad grew up with this family, so even though i'm legally not related to them, i still feel like i am. i wish i had pictures of grandma and grandpa blaser (which is how i've always called them). all the families gather at their house for the holidays. i love them so much! it's sort-of like a blast to the past whenever we spend holidays there. i feel like a kid again and i think my dad feels that way too. i mean, it's even the same "blaser" house that was his second home as a teen.
This thanksgiving was definitely awesome!

On saturday i had a third thanskgiving dinner with another family get-together in St George. we visited grandma (my REAL grandma...dad's mom)before coming home. it was good to see her. i love my family!

If there's one thing i'm grateful for every single day of my life, it would be my family. they bring me so much joy. especially my dad, mom, matthew, amy, ashley, and benjamin. it's starting to grow too, with jamison and emma as my new favorites. especially ashley, i feel like she really understands me. i love my friends too, but there's not as many of those in my life, and not as constant as ash.

Heavenly Father must love me to bless me with such wonderful people in my life. for this, i am so grateful. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! i hope yours was just as memorable. :)

Emma is finally here!!!

Mommy had such a hard time -- 36+ hours in labor with several obstacles along the way, but she is such an inspiration and my hero for pulling through and overcoming the odds the way she did.

I've been in and out of the hospital so much that i just wanted to give a brief blog update. most pictures have already been uploaded by my dad on facebook, but i'll do my best to give a more thorough storyline on here when i get the chance.

This is the update:

Emma Lee Pruitt
November 5, 2011
9:34 pm
6 lbs, 11 ounces
19 inches long



Emma, not even one hour old.


Your mommy and daddy....there are no words that describe their love for each other, and for you.



Welcome to the world dear baby girl. my little niece!
I love you so much!