Mes Belles Lettres

Today was my graduation from law school. It has been a busy week full of travelling around with my parents and little brother and showing them some of Vermont's finest sights, but today has been pretty emotional for me. If I don't think about it too much then the fact that tomorrow is my last day in Vermont until who knows when doesn't bother me. Inevitably I end up thinking about it and it does. This might sound crazy but I really think Vermont saved my life. I was a mess when I came here in 2009. I was miserable, heartbroken, sad, angry, and terrified about going to law school. Now here I am three years later and I did not just survive, I have thrived. I feel like I have been searching for a place to call "home" for some time now. A place where I can put down roots and stay for forever. I know that Vermont is not that place for me, but looking back on my life over the last eight years, I know I've left little pieces of home everywhere I have been. I ju

It seems that while I was taking my last final this morning I was blissfully unaware that Maurice Sendak passed away today. In case you didn't know, Where the Wild Things Are happens to be one of my most favorite books of all time ever. It holds a special place in my heart. You also might not know that I have a nephew who is a very special kid. He comes with his own special set of needs. This summer I really wanted to find a book that I could read with him where he would actually sit and pay attention, and let me finish a page before trying to move on to the next one, and maybe even start to repeat some of the words he heard me saying. I knew that Where the Wild Things Are would be that book. It was, once I found it in my sister's room and read it to my niece and nephew. This became a daily occurrence, often multiple times per day. My niece began memorizing it of course, at nap time she wanted me to read it to her and then she would repeat it back to me. When the wi

One thing I forgot to add to that to- do list was "make sure you have your temple recommend." See us Mormons believe that families can be together forever, that is why we get married in our beautiful temples.  In those temples a marriage ceremony means that you are sealed for time and all eternity, not just until death do you part. My sister and her husband were married in the Mesa, Arizona temple.  (My personal favorite... if that is really possible to pick...). However, because of the sacred nature of temples not everyone can just walk in to one. You have to maintain certain standards, and you have to have a current temple recommend. Well, I have one, but I left it in Vermont. Luckily, in just such situations someone who works at the temple can call your bishop (like a pastor) and make sure that you currently own a temple recommend and are worthy to use it (we are a record keeping church ya know) so I still was able to go to the ceremony, I just felt stupid for forget