Ginger

So when I was came home for Thanksgiving, my mom warned me that our dog, Ginger, was looking pretty sick. She would always tell me on the phone how she didn't think she was going to last much longer, but she made it to Thanksgiving and I got to see her. She was a lot skinnier than she had ever been, but she still came to see me when I walked in the door. When I left back to school after Thanksgiving, my mom told me to give her a really good goodbye because she might not make it to Christmas. I kept just hoping she would make it even though I knew she was in pain. I flew into Arizona on Sunday, but didn't actually get home until Monday night. Monday afternoon, my dad called and said that Ginger died in her sleep and our exchange student, Sunny, found her. I guess Thanksgiving really was my goodbye to her.

All the dogs last Christmas when they were so pooped after opening presents. They are just so cute.

We got Ginger over 14 years ago when she came to my grandparents house on my grandma's birthday. We brought her to live with us in California after that. She's been with us ever since. Ginger was such a good dog. She's basically the first dog I really remember. Our house just won't be the same on Christmas without her. I've never seen a dog get more excited about opening presents.

It seems silly to write about a dog, but somehow they just become part of your family. I feel like we lost part of our family. It's weird not seeing her around and I'm not sure I'll get used to it. Even just thinking about her makes me sad. But it was a great 14 years with her.

Thoughts

Somehow I always seem to do my thinking at the most inconvenient times...like right now. It's 3am and I have a final in 5 hours that I haven't started studying for, and a presentation, take home final and paper due at 2pm...none of which are finished yet. I've been thinking about so much stuff lately. That's really what it is, just stuff. None of it ever seems like enough to just blog about, so I guess I wait until I compile enough "stuff" to talk.

I've been thinking about patience a lot. Everyone always says to just be patient and everything will work out. I'm getting really tired of being patient. I've been single and patient for 23 years...I just don't get how much longer I have to be patient. I think that being patient so long is making me impatient. How ironic.

The last couple weeks I keep hearing how I've been different. In some ways, I think it's a good thing. There are so many things I've had to let go of and I feel like I'm slowly learning how to do that; however, at the same time, I'm not sure if the different that I am right now is so great. Things I used to care about and put a lot of effort in just don't seem as important to me anymore. Maybe that comes with readjusting my priorities or something, but I'm still trying to figure out how things should be.

Before Thanksgiving, I went to a camp for the weekend and was a counselor to high school age boys and girls. The first night we had to give our testimony. That always makes me a bit nervous. I don't mind giving my testimony anymore because I'm comfortable with it and know that it got me where I am now, but I am never quite sure how I should say things. I wonder how I would react if I were hearing someone give my testimony for the first time. I do know that when you ask God to strengthen your testimony...He'll strengthen it in ways you never thought you could handle...and then some more.

Tonite I'm really thankful for friends who will bring you energy drinks at 3 in the morning just to keep you going for the next few hours.

5 more days until warm weather!