"He is not here: for He is Risen"

I couldn't imagine a more beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon. It's been a beautiful day to reflect on the many blessings that I have. Today I had the opportunity to sing with my ward choir. We sang a song that before a few weeks ago I had never heard before. It's found in the Hymnal on page 198 "That Easter Morn". It has a beautiful message and it really made me thing of the reason behind we really celebrate Easter every year. Check it out here

Every year as I get older it seems that I get more and more excited to hear the words of modern day prophets and apostles when conference comes around twice a year. I am so excited for he upcoming conference next weekend. Downside? I have to work next Sunday so I'll have to catch up on Sunday's sessions during the week. Originally I had to work Saturday too but someone needed a trade for this last Saturday so I am lucky enough to not have to work both days of conference.

Something that I have been thinking about alot lately is Standing in Holy Places. That is this year's YM/YW theme and it's the topic that my Bishop taught on today during the third hour of church. I did a lot of thinking and standing in a holy place doesn't necessarily have to be a place. Weird I know but it's true. The more I think about standing in holy places it seems to be it's the things I'm doing with my life and the people that I choose to have in my life. Last year when I was preparing to go to the temple for the first time I realized that I had some friends that weren't the best influences in my life. They are good guys but not the kind of people I should choose to spend my time with. I stopped hanging out with them as much and I noticed a huge change in my life. The spirit was much stronger in my life and there wasn't as much negativity. I love those guys and I know I count on them if I ever need anything but it's such a testimony to me after going through that experience that I know that the people you have in your life truly can have a huge impact on the choices and decisions you make in your life and that's one of the reasons why I choose to stop being around them. I needed to do it for me. Because I needed something more and something better in my life.

This video perfectly depicts how I feel this Easter Sunday and the things that we should really celebrate. I know my Father lives and I know that it was a sacrifice what Jesus did for every person on this Earth. If you ever feel that no one understands what you have gone through or are going through. our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been there and understands what you are going through. That is the whole purpose of the Atonement. We could never individually be perfect. That's why we have a Savior that was there to take the pain and suffering in our behalf.

Basketball Goals?

So earlier this week I was spazzing out and stressing over some stuff at work (surprise, surprise) and I was talking to my boss. He told me that I just needed to calm down and take things in stride. He then proceeded to shoot some baskets into a basketball hoop that we have hanging around for our March Madness Competition. He made 3 different baskets and before shooting each one made a statement that if he made the next shot then something would happen:

Basket #1: If I make this shot then we'll meet our performance goal this month - He made this shot
Basket #2: If I makes this shot then you (meaning me) will start my own department at work and become the manager of said department - He made this shot too
Basket #3: If I makes this shot then you (again meaning me) will be married in the next 12 months - you guess it, he made this shot to

So apparently I'm going to open my own department and get married this year. I thought it was kinda funny so I thought I'd share. Also, since I'm getting married I told Jordan (my boss) that he needed to find me a man to marry. He then proceeded to give me the names of 2 different people to email at work. Oh geez. Jordan's got marriage on the brain or something. Haha. 

Pre-Summer Trip?

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just decided that I'm taking a pre-summer vacation. April 29th-May 4th I will be in New York City with my brother Jacob and my sister in law Nicole. I've never been to NYC before and I'm so excited for all the awesome things we're going to do and see while there. Not a lot of planning has been done yet but I'm stoked to plan our trip. Best part: I found plane tickets round trip for under $400. Win? I think so. This was all made possible by an awesome boss he gave me some time off. Yes!

Happy Spring

It's been a while since I had a craft day so a few weeks ago I decided it was time. I didn't have a wreath for spring time and I made one on the hopes that the weather would warm up. As it happens, it's been beautiful the last few weeks and I have been loving it!! It was warm enough (40-50 degrees) that I wore shorts or a skirt every day last week to work. I know, I know, 40 degree weather isn't what you traditionally think of as warm but when you've had a winter that's been mostly in the negatives your definition of warm changes.

Valentine's Day?

For those of you who know me, you should know (shame on you if you don't) that I hate Valentine's Day. And no, it's not because I'm single. I have a legitimate reason why I don't like the "holiday". I think it's stupid that how much you love someone is measured by what you do for them on February 14th. In reality, if you really love someone you should show them that every day (not through gifts and cards and candy) but by how you treat them on a daily basis.

Well, I had kind of an interesting day. I started out the day by wanting to gag from all of the Valentine's day stuff I saw on my Instagram and Facebook feeds. Ick. Then I get the following text message from a cute boy: "Happy Valentine's Day. :-)" It kinda made my day.

Then when I got to work this is what I found:

Someone heart attacked my desk and I have no idea who. I really what to know who it was. I thought it was this one kid because he knows I hate Valentine's day but he told me it was like that when he got into work. I'll probably never know. 

Something else I got on Valentine's day was my Christmas present. My mom made a quilt but it wasn't finished at Christmas so she finished it up in January and sent to be with someone that was going into the MTC. I also didn't get it because they called me on the day they were leaving while I was at work. Luckily, I just gave them my address and they dropped the box off at my apartment because they couldn't come to work to give it to me. I love it!! It's so pretty. The picture doesn't do  it justice at all. 

Compliments

Back at the end of December, I applied for a promotion at my work. Over the last month I've seen several people that I work with have interviews for said position. I was starting to think that my application got "lost" even though I applied online or that I'd been forgotten. 

And then this morning I got the following generic email form a recruiter:

"Briana Winegardner:

Thank you for your time and interest in the Customer Care Lead Supervisor position with Vivint. We appreciate the time you have taken to present your qualifications to us. We have received a large number of inquiries (resumes, applications) from highly qualified candidates for this role. At this time we have decided to pursue other candidates for this opening.
We will keep your information on file and it may be evaluated with respect to other positions that become available in the future. We encourage you to keep us in mind when considering future opportunities. We invite you to visit our website periodically to review new positions as they become available and update your profile as needed. Again, thank you for your interest and we wish you the best for your employment search and continued success." 


When I first saw it I was so mad. I didn't think it was fair that after all the hard work that I've put in recently and all for nothing. After reading it this morning, I just tried putting it out of my mind and ignoring it. But it kinda hurt that I wasn't even given the chance to interview when I knew for a fact that 4 other people I work with have gotten interviews. 

Something happened at work today that completely changed my mentality and my attitude. Part way through my shift today, my manager comes up to me and says he wanted to talk me for a minute. We talked a little bit about why I wasn't chosen. He wanted to talk to me before I got that email but that didn't happen. He gave me some really amazing compliments that made this whole thing a really amazing experience. My boss told me that during an interview he had with someone else that they said they wished there were 10 Briana's that worked there because so much would get done. I was a little speechless because I didn't know what to say. 

Something that I found so awesome that I can't put it into words is something that my boss said to me: I didn't choose to interview you because you aren't there. Yet. I know you are a great leader and you just need some more time and experience before I think you are ready for this kind of position. Over the last year, 6 months, 3 months and even over the last month I've seen such a change in your abilities and you surprise me constantly at how much you are improving and becoming such a good part of the leadership team. 

This was simply amazing to me. I don't think I could have received a bigger compliment that what he gave me. I really love my job and the position that I'm in. So I'm totally fine with staying where I'm at. Doing this other job would have been cool but I'm fine with staying where I'm at for now. He recommended that I do everything that I can to learn from Jordan (he's the lead supervisor over me right now) to try and make myself into a better leader in order to make myself a better leader and ready for a higher position in the future. 

One other thing that I though was really interesting: My boss told me that he thinks that I left the old, emotional me at our old building and at our new location I don't ask him to fix problems for me but come to him with solutions and ways to fix things. Pretty cool huh? It was a very draining day: both emotionally and physically but it was a good day overall. Hopefully, I can stay on this track and keeping on improving. 

Blessings

Today it was confirmed to me ow wonderful it is to be a member of the restored church in the latter days. I'm a very firm believer in modern day revelation.

Today I got set apart for a new calling at church and was a little surprised by something my bishop said. He expressed not only some blessings for my calling but in my personal and professional life. It was really very comforting and time and time again the amazing blessings of the priesthood :)