A Weekend Away

Around the second weekend of December some friends and I took a road trip to Vernal, Utah. That seems so exciting, I'm sure. However, I went along because it was a place that I had never been before and so I went. We arrived in Vernal late Thursday night, or I should say, early Friday morning. We stayed at a friend's sister's house.

Nothing to exciting happened during the trip so I will just list some of the things.
~Slept 20 minutes total the first night and three the next night
~Waffles for Breakfast
~Watched some good movies
~Played Wii Fit
~Had push-up and sit-up contest with my friend's nephew (I won the push-up one)
~Saw deer (10-20 at least) in the backyard
~We almost got hit by a deer.
~Ward Christmas Breakfast
~Beautiful scenery

Here are a few pictures from the ride home.

A Gift For You!

This year it has been kind of difficult for me to get into the holiday spirit. My roommate was in charge of our Ward Christmas Program in sacrament meeting. This was a huge blessing to me, even though it caused her some stress. For the week leading up to the program, there were people at our place practicing. It helped to bring the spirit a little stronger into the house and also the season. The program turned out fabulous!

One of the quotes in the program really hit me hard the first time I read it and it appears to have had the same impact on many. I want to share that with you all as a Christmas Gift via the Internet.

"Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.

It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it. It is faith. It is faith in God and His eternal Son. It is faith in His wondorous ways and message. It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.

We testify of His living reality. We testify of the divinity of His nature. In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowlede His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith. This is what Christmas is really about.

For each of you may this be a merry Christmas. but more importantly, I wish for each of you a time, perhaps only a hour, spent in silent meditation and quiet reflection on the wonder and majesty of this, the Son of God. Our joy at this season is because He came into the world. The peace that comes from Him, His infinite love which each of us may feel, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for that which He freely gave us at so great a cost to Himself - these are the true essence of Christmas."
~President Gordon B Hinckley - "A Glorious Season" - The New Era - Dec. 2007

Merry Christmas to You All! May your Christmas be full of rememberance, love and joy. Thank you for being who you are!

An Enlightening Convo

Tonight for Home Evening my roommate volunteered me to do the lesson for another group. I was actually excited to go with that group because it is always wonderful to spend time with our Bishopric. They are great guys. After the lesson and game, we had refreshments. When I was getting ready to leave, this bishopric member started to talk to me about a few things.

Somehow, we got on the topic of guys and he asked the million-dollar question. What is that you may ask. It is Do guys date anymore? This one question started a pretty long conversation (at least 40 minutes) about guys. We talked about there are some amazing girls in this area and how the guys do not seem to notice. He then proceeded to call the guys numbskulls because they don't seem to get what great girls are around them weekly. Through this conversation we talked about a few things like:

~ How some guys are intimated by girls because they are "too perfect".
~ How guys seem to think that girls have certain "expectation" of them and so they don't ask them out.
~ Why people don't date anymore.
~ How dates do not need to be expensive or elaborate.
~ Dates can be fun things that allow you to get to know the other.
~ Why it seems like people seem to prefer to "hang out" rather than date.
~ How guys expect to get married without dating
~ What not dating does to the girls.
~ How women tend to beat themselves up over everything. For example, not being good enough for guys, what to do with the rest of their lives etc.

This was really an interesting conversation. He admitted that he married later than most people in his age group, but that people his age would go out and date and have fun. He was surprised with how clueless the guys seem to be about how important dating is in the grand scheme of things. It was really enlightening to know that he agrees with many of the thoughts and ideas that us single ladies have these days.

*I wrote about this conversation because I thought it was interesting and learned a lot. The priesthood leader was saying these things out of care and concern for those over whom he has stewardship over. Please take it in the spirit of love.

So.......

For you faithful followers of this blog here is an update on the post below. Though much of what is said below is so True, there has been a slight --- well make that a major --- change in the situation.

Without too much detail the job mentioned below did not work out.

I found this out Wednesday morning and am so grateful that it happened on a day after the huge snow storm when I could come home and spend time with my family and try not to focus on it too much. My family has been amazing over the holiday, even when I may not have been the most festive person. Thank you all!!!!

So, what does this mean? It means it is time to continue the job hunt relying on faith, prayer, and the spirit.

I Am Amazed!

To be quite honest, I hesitate to share this post. My fear is that it will be taken the wrong way. I do not do this to be boastful or toot my own horn. Rather, I do this to share how amazing our Heavenly Father truly is and how much he loves us.

A little while back an impression came to quit my job then. I tried to rationalize but it was clear it needed to happen. Though I was confused of why to quit when I had nothing else, a calm feeling assured me that I would be taken care and would not have to go without.

Through lots of study, prayer and temple attendance, I gave my three weeks notice. During those three weeks, I had a job interview and felt really good about the possibility. When I heard back from them, I had learned that I was their second choice. Though I was unsure of what was going to happen, I still felt that what was happening was right.

I was so grateful to have a job where I was able to support myself. Quitting was super-hard. The first week of unemployment was interesting. I went to some institute classes with some friends, helped my good friend Jenny and spent some time with her (love ya and thanks. It helped me more than you know), did a lot of job hunting, went to the temple and ran some errands. By the end of the week, I was discouraged, but I figured if I kept busy, then I would be taken care of.

The next week, I went home to Pocatello. I had an appointment and felt like job searching would be easier there with the computer and everything there. Plus having parents there to help and guide me would be great. On Monday, after an appointment and turning in a resume, I left the room for about ten minutes. When I got back, my phone was ringing. It was the place I had just applied. He said he had been swimming through a sea of resumes but when he saw mine, he just had to call. We did an interview then and there. He asked me to come in the next day for another interview, which I did. This meant traveling back here. After the interview and observation time, I headed back to Poky. My parents and I headed to the temple that afternoon. On our way, I got the official phone call welcoming me to the team there.

I know that we are divinely guided. This new job is such a good fit for me and I am so blessed to have it. Heavenly Father knows us and everything that will happen. We will receive so many blessings after the trial of our faith. We are asked to look to him in all thing without doubt or fear. We need to trust him that all thing will work together for our good. Although I may not understand completely why this had to happen the way it did, I know it was the Lord's will and he will not lead us astray. It is truly amazing how much he loves and cares for us.

Hop Hop Hop

This fly girl had a pretty crazy Halloween. Ha Ha. She was hop, hopping like a grasshopper. (For those keeping track that is two bug references. The funny part was that it lasted all weekend long. The hard part was trying to make it everywhere that I was invited. Here is the story of that crazy weekend.

Friday evening I had three parties to attend. I ended up only making it to one and it was good. We made sugar cookies and watched a movie. The company was good, but the best part was the cookies.

HOP!

Saturday morning, some friends and I went to Salt Lake to observe the gardens (which were non-existent because they had been dug up in preparation for winter). Then we went to the temple. What a great way to spend Halloween, helping the spirits. After the temple, we walked over to the Gateway (and chased some seagulls while doing so) and ate lunch. We had a window table and we could see the little kids walking by in their cute costumes. Then we headed home.

HOP!

That evening, I went a party with my roommate and some of her friends. We ate food and talked.

HOP!

Then, I went to another friend's house for a party she was having. They played games and have soup in bread bowls. Yummy!

HOP!

Next, some friends and I went to another party with a lot of people and a picture booth. I was not dressed up so I was not in the pictures, but it was interesting.

HOP!

We then went to a friend's house to "trick-or-treat" and ended up spending some time there reading jokes from Laffy Taffy wrappers.

HOP!

I wanted to go home, but there was one more stop. We went to another party with some amazing food. I really like the cake balls that were dipped in white chocolate. There were a lot of people.

HOP!

Lastly, I spent some time talking a little with a friend before going home and falling fast asleep for the rest of the night.

Thank goodness Sunday was pretty calm and there was church and the meetings with that. I had a friend over for dinner and took it pretty easy that night. It was the perfect ending to a crazy weekend, because this grasshopper was tired.

Good Times with Friends and Family!

I am a little behind in posting, but it is better late than never. I was able to spend some time in Pocatello a couple of weekends ago with my family and friends there. Friday night, I went to a comedy show and caught up with some friends.

On Saturday some of my high school posse. We try to get together every once in a while and do something fun. (Lisa, we missed you tons and it was not the same without you.) This time we decided to go to Applebees and and then do "girly" stuff.



We always tend to take some random pictures.






For the "girly stuff" we decided to paint our nails. I have not worn nail polish in a long time so this was out of my comfort zone. Ha ha. Here are the finished outcomes. Bet you can't guess which ones are mine.







Here are some other pics






Saturday night I spent some time with my brother up in Rexburg for dinner and talking. Sunday I was able to go to church and spend some time with my parents. It was a fabulous weekend and I am so blessed with amazing family and friends. Thanks Everyone!

Becoming One With Nature

A couple of Sundays ago, I learned that I was going to need to make a HUGE leap of faith and that it had to be soon. As I stressed a little, I decided to take the advice that President Uchtdorf gave and become one with nature and take time to slow down and make good decisions for life. A friend invited me to go to her institute classes with her the next day, and where it was a federal holiday I decided to go.

Here is the rest of the story:

We decided to ride bikes up to campus. At that point, I did not have my own bike so I borrowed one from another friend. We lowered the seat and were on our way. At one point, I realized there was a slight problem. The bike was too big for me and stopping was very difficult. Also, I had not been on a bike for quite some time. I am sure some cars got a laugh as I went running across the street, pushing the bike, because I could not get on it. It was a woman's bike and because I am somewhat vertically challenged, I only fit on youth bikes. After that little incident, I thought I would be fine. Boy was I wrong.

You see, there is this little ledge between where the sidewalk and grass meet. The bike tires got caught in that, and dear little me lost control of the bike. My friend turned around in time to see a scene like from a movie as I grabbed the bush to try to stop the fall and failed miserably. Needless to say, I become one with nature at the moment and probably gave a few more people a good laugh. Needless to say, once the bush and I separated, it made sure I have little souvenirs. Long story short I was pulling leaves out of my hair, had dirt all over my pants and later found a chunk of mud on my shoe and dirt on my forehead.

So, what did I get from all of this. Well:
Some pretty fun bruises (The pictures don't do them justice)





The opportunity to limp around and be sore for a couple of days.

And I finally got around to using my birthday money (six months late) and getting a new bike and helmet!

That is my story about how I literally became one with nature!

Whitney's Bits of Wisdom

Here is a list of things that I learned the past four days, starting Friday night and ending this morning.

1. When going to a restaurant with a big group, make reservations first or else you will end up waiting for over a hour just to get seated.
2. Sleeping in is so great.
3. Those days when you want to stay in your pajamas all day, end up being the days when you are asked to become a movie star and you have to get ready in 5 minutes.
4. Don't argue or try to compromise with spiritual promptings.
5. Big news can affect the rest of your day.
6. When you plan a day of "me time" it usually does not turn out to be "me-time".
7. I need to remember that I do not fit on adult bikes. I have to ride a youth bike.
8. No matter how beautiful they are, bushes are not the nicest things in the world (Story to come later. I need to get a picture of the culprit bush).
9. Walking around with dirt on your pants, shoes, and forehead (thanks Andrea for not telling me ;)) gets people looking.
10. It is important to live by principle and not circumstance.
11. Riding a bike is really fun.
12. The Dollar Store has some good buys.
13. Not having a washer and dryer leads to mounds of dirty clothes. (So glad we have one now).
14. Spending time outside reading, pondering and praying is FABULOUS!!!
15. We are ALWAYS divinely guided, even when we don't understand why.
16. Having good friends is the best!
17. Making a good peach milkshake requires less ice cream and more peaches. YUMMY!!!
18. Being creative can be fun.
19. After combining items 7 & 8, pain will follow. It may take time to appear but it comes. Believe Me!!!
20. Also, with 7,8, & 19; the morning after you will find yourself walking like an old women (or man) and bruised all over (Maybe in the story to come later, I will include pictures of the bruises!).

Look for a story soon!

What a "One"derful Weekend!

Back in July, we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family. Since then we have all been busy with different event such as my brother moving to go to college, one nephew starting Kindergarten, the other nephew starting preschool, and keeping up with our lives. Needless to say, I had not been able to see them since July. That made this past weekend extra special and fun.

The main reason for the gathering was BIRTHDAYS!!! My niece turned one earlier that week. It is so hard to believe that she is one already. The last time I was at their house was when she was blessed. Also, my dad's birthday was on Friday. It was so nice to be all together again. We met at my sister's house. I arrived on Friday and my brother was already there. I know it had been less than 2 years, but I realized that I missed that boy. My parents arrived early the next morning as we were finishing breakfast.

We were all able to watch conference together, which is something that I missed last conference. There is a different feeling watching conference with the family than by yourself. In between the Saturday sessions of conference, we had a small party for my niece. She got some cute clothes and toys. I stole this picture from my sister's blog.



So Cute!!!
After the second session we went to Dinner as a family. Then the guys took off for the priesthood session. Sunday was much of the same with conference. My parents and brother left that night. However, I wanted to have a little extra time there, so I stayed through Monday. On Monday, I got to experience the life of a stay-at-home mom. They are amazing. We took one kid to school, did a quick shopping trip, went to a play group, picked up the kid from school, lunch, naps, homework and played.

I had so much fun and really did not want to leave. I learned so much from the kiddos this time. I will share one thing I learned from each. C~ Pure love. He gives the best hugs and when I told him I had to go, he wanted to hug me so I could not leave.
T~ Happiness. He has the cutest smile and knows how to make those around him happy. It was so fun seeing him share that with his little sister. K~ I can't think of a word to describe this, but whenever she was a little grumpy, we would sing "If You're Happy and You Know It." She would calm down and usually by the end start doing different parts with us. That showed me that you can changed and be happy whenever you chose to. :D That was a great lesson.

Thanks Heather for playing hostess and letting us all have a great weekend.

Conference Time

For those of you who know me really well, I love General Conference. It is a time when we are able to hear inspired words from out leaders and also make new commitments to do and be better. The October General Conference was no exception. There was so much said and I am grateful for the opportunity that we have to live in a time when we can participate in such events through modern technology.

I would love to hear what everyone else thought of conference and the thoughts and ideas that they had. What were you favorites talks and why? What were the themes that you saw? Call me strange, but it is always fun to hear what others learned and liked and share your own thoughts. Since this is my blog, I will share my thoughts first, but I look forward to hearing what everyone else has to say too.

One of the talks that impacted me the most was President Uchtdorf's talk. This was one of the talks that I needed in my life at this point. I loved how he told us to slow down and simplify. Life does not have to busy, because a lot of times when we make it busy, is when we forget to do the small and simple things. Also, I loved the four relationships that he outlined between, family, fellow men, God, and ourselves. His advice to us to get to know God better by making sure we made a quiet time for him was much needed. Also, I loved the part where he talked about our relationship with ourselves and how we should not be so hard on ourselves.

There were a couple of themes that stood out to me. There was a lot said on gratitude and trust, as well as agency. There was also an emphasis on paying attention to the spirit and making ourselves worthy to have the spirit with us throughout our lives.

Please share your thoughts and ideas and check back frequently. Hopefully, from other thoughts and ideas we can all learn and apply more of the conference in our lives.

The Adventures of Broads at the Broadcasts: Part 2

(Part 1 is below, so you may want to read that before this one.)

Sunday morning started early. Most of the girls had not slept very well. They stayed at a friend's house and had to leave there around 7:15 to get to their next destination on time. You see, Cassie is a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square and had to be at rehersal early that morning. While she was in rehersal, the other three walked around Temple Square and took pictures. Below are some of the pictures they took.







Reflecting at the Reflecting Pond



The next step was going to the Mormon Taberbacle Broadcast to see Cassie perform. It was an amazing experience and the spirit was there so strong. The pictures below may be a little fuzzy.



After the broadcast, the girls returned home and made it back in time for church on Sunday afternoon. They had a fun and exciting weekend!

The Adventures of Broads at the Broadcasts: Part 1

Once upon a time there were four girls who got tickets to the General Relief Society Broadcast. Their names are Andrea, Cassie, Stacey and Whitney. They decided to make a fun weekend of it. The adventure started on the drive to Salt Lake for the broadcast. It took a while to get out of town because important things were left and forgotten. Once they got on the road, the trip to Salt Lake was uneventful. It was full of good conversation and fun.
The girls arrived at made it to the conference center with enough time, even though they were running a little late. Another girl met up with them for the broadcast. It was amazing being in the broadcast. Whitney enjoyed watching it in person because the strongest sermons were taught by actions. Before Sister Thompson spoke, Sister Beck reached over and patted her leg will a warm and reassuring smile. She watched and President Uchtdorf did the same thing before President Monson spoke.
There were many great sermons shared during the broadcast. President Monson told a story about a woman who judged her neighbor because her laundry was never cleaned the right way. One morning she looked at her neighbor's laundry and saw that it was clean. Her husband told her that he had finally cleaned the windows and that was why the laundry appeared clean. It was a great lesson on judging.
After the broadcast, the girls left the conference center and decided to find somewhere to eat before going to the place they were going to stay. They ended up getting to know the area they were staying really well. In other words, they went up and down streets and turning around, trying to find certain places. It was great.
There were numerous other adventures had that night. These include "milking cow videos", cats trying to jump up on beds and keep them awake, and staying up late talking with random stories being shared.
The girls tried to sleep that night and prepare for the next day.

Let's Brainstorm

Welcome to our brainstorming session. I hope you all brought some fabulous thoughts. This is going to be like those kinds of exercises you used to have in school or church activities where you are presented with a problem and you have to work together to find a solution. Are you ready??? Here we go.

There once was a girl. She had never been a good sleeper. She cannot takes naps, it has to be dark when she sleeps, and many others things like that. This girl has been struggling getting a good night sleep for a while now. Recently her sleeping situation has gotten worse. There was one night where she did not get any sleep at all. Another night, she was unable to get to sleep until 4, and one night she even tried sleeping in her car (YIKES). She has tried to find ways to make sure she gets to sleep at night including getting the right temperature (She can't sleep if it is too warm), pain control, eating a small bit so the hunger pains don't keep her awake, using ear plugs and not eating chocolate after 9 p.m.

She is at her wit's end and is now looking for some helpful ideas on how to get some sleep. What are some things that may help this girl sleep? Let's make this a lively discussions so that this girl can get some sleep as soon as possible.




PLEASE!!!

Angels

According to the Bible Dictionary, under Angels,it says, "that there are two classes of heavenly beings who minister for the Lord: those who are spirits and those who have bodies of flesh and bone." Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the many different angels in my life.

"When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees. There's always been someone there to come along and comfort me."

I have the greatest friends and family ever! I cannot imagine life without any of you and your kind words of love and support, along with the sweet spirits and life lessons I have learned from you. Recently, my life has not been a bowl of peaches and cream. However, when I have been going through rough times, someone always steps up and makes me feel loved. Thanks! ~You are all Angels to me!

"And ain't it kind of funny that at the dark end of the road, someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope."

Things have gotten better daily and I know that comes through the blessings of the Lord. Like the Bible Dictionary mentioned, I know that there are spirits that also serve as angels for us. Thanks to a lesson from an inspired institute teacher back in February and some personal pondering and praying, I have come to understand that angels have been given charge over us and will run to us in our moments of need. There is no way I could have overcome some of the trials in my life by myself. There was definitely more help and strength then my own.

"They grace us with their mercy, in our time of need. Oh, I believe there are angels among us, sent down to us from somewhere up above. They come to you and me in our darkest hours to show us how to live, to teach us how to give, to guide us with the light of love."

Life is a wonderful thing, and it truly helps to know that we have angels watching over us, whether they be a neighbor, friend, family, or a spirit. Thank you for all you do. I love you all and you are all my Angels!

(The portions in the parenthesis are taken from the song "Angels Among Us" by Alabama.)

Ch Ch Ch Changes

They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius

Life is to have joy, and if, as Confucius said, that requires change, my life must be fabulous right now! There have been some pretty interesting changes.

On Sunday, there were a lot of changes made to the Student Wards here. They are now called YSA wards. The other changes that they made are great and it will be exciting, but change always bring a little bit of trepidation. Because of the change, they created new stakes and wards for the YSA boundaries. Both my stake and ward have different numbers now, but I still have the same priesthood leaders. However, I was not as lucky with the rest of the leadership in the ward. Our whole Elders Quorum and Ward Mission are gone, I am the only one left in the Relief Society Presidency, and only about 25 people in the ward are from the old or "original" ward. On the plus side, we gained a lot of people and I have had the opportunity to get to know some of them and I already knew others. I am so excited for the change, even though I will miss those who aren't in the ward anymore. These next couple of weeks will be interesting as callings are extended and friendships are made.

Also, in other changes, my health has had some interesting potholes recently. I went to the doctor and am trying to get some help with the problems. The doctor and I both thought it could be one thing, but after two tests, we found out it is not that. It was strange because I was hoping for some answers and got none. I allowed myself a couple days to be upset and now I am focusing on the positive. Thank goodness for a Bishop who is a doctor and helped me to see some huge positives in the situation. I am so blessed.

Speaking of changes, I have changed my music at the bottom of the blog. Lately I have realized how many songs really relate to my life. Some of the are more directly than others. It took me some time to read lyrics and listen to songs before it got to the point where I wanted to post it.

Change and Whitney have not always been friends. I learned to like change a little more a few years ago and, although it still can be scary, it is super-exciting. It adds spice to life and also allows you to learn and grow. That is what I hope happens. I want to be able to learn new things, have new experiences, and grow stronger physically, socially, mentally and spiritually. I am so EXCITED!!!!!

Why???

Here are some "whys" that I have been pondering lately. Let me know if any of you have any answers.

1. Why must thunder scare me so bad when it is just a part of nature?
2. Why does going to a doctor always make me anxious?
3. Why do I always tend to miss the things that I really want to do?
4. Why does the house feel so cool during the day, but I start sweating when it is time for bed?
5. Why is my body doing odd and strange things right now?
6. Why must we wait for answers when someone has them and they know, but won't tell you?
7. Why am I not able to take naps on Sunday?
8. Why do people always tell me, "I just don't see you with him" or "I just don't see you two together"?
9. Why do people put up false pretense instead of coming out and saying what they are thinking?
10. Why does it seem that a lot of things in life are my fault?
11. Why is it that cereal makes such a good dinner?
12. Why can't I travel instead of work?
13. Why am I writing this post again?
14. Why is the most common answer to why questions, because?
15. Why does it rain when I am supposed to be doing something outside?
(This list could go on and on and on and on. I will stop here for now, but may add some more at a later date.)

~A New Goal~

On May 14th, I wrote about a goal I had to run a 5K in September and also said that I would post updates on the progress on the blog. Here is the update that I have.
I did really well in June and even made it to the point that I should have been at for the month. July was a crazy month and I did not get a whole lot of exercising in because of traveling and my laziness. In August, I decided to start again, with a renewed effort to train harder. However, this past week I was hit with an issue from my health condition that has knocked me down and kept me down. With the date of the run less than a month away, there is really no way I am going to make the run in September.
Never fear though. On Saturday, I was thinking about this. At first, I was really discouraged because when I set a goal, I do all I can to achieve it, because I do not like not meeting goals that I set. After thinking things through, I decided that even though I could not make the official 5K run that I was planning does not mean that I still cannot complete a 5K. Once I am back in a position to start running again, the training will begin again. One day, I will complete a 5K. Hopefully by November I will be at a point where I can do the run. If there is one thing that I have learned in the past couple of days, it is that there is always hope. I will one day accomplish this goal!

One Year Later....

A year ago today, I left Pocatello with a suitcase full of the necessities and came here. I remember leaving around 7:30 that morning so that I could get to the new job and be trained. At that point, I had a job, but did not have a place to live or anywhere to put my stuff. Thanks to a good friend who lives here, I was able to stay with her until I found a place. Since then a lot has happened and I can say that I am so grateful to have had these experiences. Here are some of the blessing and experiences that I have had.
EXPERIENCES
~Finding a Place to Live - This was an adventure, but it happened quickly. I was able to meet some amazing girls, have some fun times, and live in a pretty big townhouse.
~Adapting to a New Job - Change is hard sometimes and it took me a while to adapt to the new job. Now, I have been here a year and have learned a lot from the attorneys and the research.
~New Ward - My ward helped and forced me to grow. When you go into a ward, not knowing anyone, you have some options. You can keep to yourself until others come to you or you can be social and meet people. I have met many great people who have touched and changed my life.
~Health - One of my biggest worries when moving away, was dealing with my health. This has been a whirlwind year of medical issues. There have been so many people here who have helped me when I was going through some of the rougher times. Thanks to those who offered blessings and prayers, helped keep my spirits high, and dealt with me when I could not sit or stand too long!
~Moving - I have learned the joys of moving and not having family around. At least it was not a huge move. However, when my parents came down to help me unpack and get settled, everything was already taken care of.
Traveling - In the beginning and more recently, I have traveled at lot to and from Pocatello. The trip has become natural to me and I can usually tell what time it is, based on where I am at on the road. Through all this traveling I have learned car maintenance skills, liking adding oil, transmission fluids, and more.
BLESSINGS
~New Friends ~Being Close to Old Friends too ~Great Church Leaders ~Having a Temple Close ~A Calling (that has taught me a lot) ~Patience ~ Humility ~Independence ~Strength (Physically and Mentally) ~New Experiences ~Trials ~Understanding ~Peace ~Finding Joy in the Journey ~And More

This year has been crazy and there are so many experiences that have changed me and made me who I am now. The funny thing is, I can tell that I have changed, but sometimes it is hard to believe when people tell me that. Though there have been hard times and struggles, I would not change anything that has happened. This has been an amazing experience and I am so grateful to be here!!!

Amie's Wedding.... (and Josh's too)!!!

On Friday, July 30th, I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of one of my best friends in the world. It was such a special day for her and those of us there. The wedding took place in the Idaho Falls temple on Friday morning. The sealing was a great experience filled with the spirit and with humor, which is perfect for them. After the sealing there were lots of pictures taken outside of the temple with family and friends. After the temple, we returned to Pocatello for an amazing luncheon with tons of food. My friends and I ended up sitting up the kids table, but we had a blast there! That evening was the reception. It was so bright and cheerful and there were quite a few people there. The bride was beautiful and glowing and the groom was happy. It was a wonderful day.





Some fun flowers that were outside the temple!!!






It was a beautiful day!!!





CONGRATULATIONS JOSH AND AMIE!!!!!

Read Any Good Books Lately???

Well, I have. One of my passions has always been writing. I love expressing myself through the written word. I also love reading. Lately I have been reading quite a few books. I love LDS books of different genres, or any book that is uplifting. A while back, my mom got me hooked on Amish books, or better said, books with stories about Amish families. I love good, clean literature. I tend to avoid the fantasy types books that are popular, although I have read all of the Tennis Shoes and the Nephites series (that are out).
With that being said, I have started a book blog where I take books that I have read and write a brief summary and reviews on those books. This is a new thing for me, so for now the blog is private. Right now, I am going through the books that my roommate has lined up on her bookshelf, but those will not take forever to read.
~If you would like an invite to this blog, let me know your email address and I will send you and invite.
~Also, if you have any suggestions on books that you would like me to read or review, please leave them under the comments as well. Please make sure these books are clean. (Just a note, I will not review any of the Twilight or Harry Potter books. They are not my thing)
Thanks!

Bridal Shower (Not Mine)

The case of the missing camera has been solved, and none to soon. I will be needing it this weekend. For now, I will re-trace the event I missed. From earlier posts you can tell that July has been a crazy-busy month. By the end of the month, I will have been in Pocatello every weekend but one. (For those keeping track, the one weekend that I have not blogged about is the 16-18th.) With that being said, here is the reason why I was in town that weekend.
My dear friend Amie is getting married and on the 17th we had a Bridal Shower for her. I am not a huge fan of bridal showers, but I still go to support my friends. I actually helped plan this one, which was nice. That meant there was no games of dressing people up in toilet paper and making words out of the happy couples' names. Another disclaimer, I did not take many pictures because another friend was taking care of that. The pictures I did get were not all that fabulous, but we had fun.

"The bride with her niece"
There were two games. For the first game consisted of 14 pictures of her at different ages and we had to figure out how old she was in each picture. It was a lot harder than it sounds.


The second one came from the game Imaginiff. We had to match our answers with her's. It was really fun and something that I had not done at a shower before.


After the games, we had treats! We had "personal pan" fruit pizzas. That is right, we made sugar cookies and then people could top them how they wanted. It was pretty fabulous!!!

My Mini-Vacation

This is going to be a little out of order, because my camera is MIA right now, and it has some pictures that I want to post with the blog post that would have come next. However, once I get the camera, I will post about the pictures and fun!!!
This past weekend, I was able to take two days off work so I could enjoy a mini-vacation. This month has been full of trips to Pocatello for one reason or another. For this reason, I called this past weekend my mini-vacation because it will probably be the most of a vacation I will take this year.
I arrived in Pocatello on Thursday night and got there at the same time as my Aunt and Uncle from Tennessee. It was good to spend some time with them this weekend and get caught up on their lives. We went to dinner that night at Buddy's (which is somewhat of a tradition when they are in town). I was also able to get together with a former roommate that night. It was so much fun.
This weekend was the Pioneer Day Celebration. We were able to watch the parade. Later on that day, we went up to the fairgrounds for the festivities up there. There was tons of food, games for the kids, events in the grandstands, entertainment and more. We spent a couple of hours there talking with people we had not seen in a while and also enjoying some amazingly talented performance. My sister and her family arrived that night and we spent some time with them.
The main reason for this trip was to hear Brady speak in church. I love hearing some of the experiences he had on the mission. His talk showed me how amazing he truly is. His testimony is so strong and is such a great guy! I am so blessed to have him as a brother. After his talk, we had a bunch of family over for dinner. As is normal, there was tons of good food, which made for lots of leftovers!!!
On Monday, I was able to spend some time with a friend who was visiting from Arizona and visited my old job at the day care. It is always fun to spend a little time with the kids. When I got home, there was a Wii Fit marathon going on. All who were home were playing the Wii. This ended taking most of the afternoon and we had tons of fun! Also that night, we had family pictures. I rediscovered that I am a blinker. Oh well, I think she took enough pictures that my eyes had to have been opened in one of them. This is the first time we have had family pictures taken when all of us were there since before the mission for me. We have all grown up and there have been three additions.
I drove back home that night. It was a nice trip and it was wonderful to spend so much time with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who made this trip so much fun!!!

He's Back!!!!

On Tuesday, I worked a half day and headed up to Pocatello. I arrived to Pocatello and there was already a house full. My sister, her husband and three kids were there. I had not seen them in a while and it was so good to see them. Later that afternoon, we all loaded up, in two different cars, and headed out to the airport. We were all anxiously awaiting the return of Elder Parkin.



While waiting for the plane to come in, the nephews kept seeing planes coming and going and asking if every plane was Bubba's. We had to explain that most of the planes were fire planes to go help with a fire. His plane arrived shortly after the 5:51 (which was the scheduled time).



I am not sure why, but my pictures from the airport did not turn out that great. It could have been the excitement, or the case that the nephews were playing with my camera, or that the lighting in the airport was not the greatest. Anyway, this picture was taken at home, later that evening, after he had been released.



It is so nice to have him home. It had brought back memories for me of coming home from the mission. WELCOME HOME BRADY!!!!!

Fourth Fun!!!

First of all, I did bring my camera on some of these adventures. However, I forgot I had it so I did not take any pictures at all.

The Fourth of July is probably one of my favorite holidays ever. There is just something about it that makes me happy. Fireworks make me happy. :D This weekend was fabulous!!! Here is the breakdown.

FRIDAY: Where the 4th was on a Sunday, some cities decided to celebrate on different days. That was great with me! Friday night was the local celebration here. I met up with some friends and walked to the church parking lot to watch the fireworks. They were fabulous and the finale made me smile. It was so much fun and I learned that in China they have names for the different types of fireworks.

SATURDAY: I woke up early and was packed, had my room clean and on the road to Pocatello by 9:00. There was hardly anyone on the road, which was a little unusual where it was a holiday weekend, but it made my drive nice. That afternoon we had a family reunion for my dad's family. There was a lot of food and family there. I made root beer cookie that were a hit. It was nice to see some cousins that I had not seen in a while. That night, I got together with some friends and had a campfire with smores and fireworks (of course)!!! It was so relaxing and fun!!!

SUNDAY: Church was great and after that, I had some time to relax while my parents were in their ward. That afternoon(ish) we went on a picnic with my mom's aunt and cousin that I had never met before. It was good to get to know them and talk about life and hear more about my grandpa's family and the traditional band concert in the park. That evening, Pocatello had its firework display. They were pretty amazing as well. I loved watching them. More importantly though, I gained a stronger testimony that this is a chosen land and how blessed we are to live in America. I just happened to be reading about the Title of Liberty that day and spent the weekend reflecting on that.

MONDAY: The day started with breakfast with my mom's aunt and cousin before the had to catch their plane to leave. The rest of the day was spent relaxing until it was time to come back. I got back in time to go to a dutch oven dinner that some friends were having. After dinner, we figured out that there was going to be a firework display in a neighboring town, so my friend and I decided to go to that. I Love Fireworks!!! This display was smaller and they played the same song the whole time, in different variations. It was still good though.

On a side note, I met my June goal (on July 5th) for running. Now I am working up to July's goal!

Where Did June Go????

CRAZINESS!!!!!
I cannot believe that June is almost over. This month has gone by pretty quick and I thought that I would write about this before July comes, because July is going to be the craziest month of the year! It makes me tired just thinking of the July schedule. So here is the June update.
- I am all moved in, organized, and settled in the new place. I love my roommates! They are a huge blessing in my life.
-The second weekend of June, two of my roommates participated in a triathlon. It was so much fun to see them swimming, biking and riding. We even followed them for a while during the biking portion.
-We had a pretty neat Relief Society activity that was called "The Great Campfire Competition". The weather was not that great this month, so we did not go with the original plan, but it worked out. The girls were divided into teams and had to pitch a tent, build a fire (though they did not have to start it because we were on the church lawn), and cook some food. There was cobbler at the end. We all had fun!
-Last weekend, I went to a campfire. It was awesome because some of the people there are amazingly talented. At one point, a girl had her guitar out and she was playing her personal songs (which are so good) and then her and one of the guys there started singing together. I enjoyed it a lot!
-One week, for home evening, we had a hoedown. It was fun to learn how to square dance. My partner was an 11-year-old girl and I was in the position of the male. It was a lot of fun. I forgot how much energy girls that age have.
Other than these, there have been little things here and there, like work, exercise, keeping up with the World Cup (GO U.S.A!!!!), and more. It has been a great month. We'll see what adventures July brings. (It should bring a lot:)

The Crib

At the request of my sister, and thanks to a visit from my padres, here is a picture of me at my new place. Woo Hoo!!!

Moving Right Along

Last week proved to be an interesting week. It seems that I tend to post when I have crazy weeks, but there is a purpose to this one. On Monday there was the usual home evening activity and then I helped my roommate move her stuff to a new room in the house. Tuesday, I did not get home until 11:00 due to social engagements and also Relief Society visits. Wednesday there was a class that I am taking and trying to get a meeting setup for sometime in the next couple of days. That was successful, and we ended up having that meeting on Thursday. Friday was a night of "pan dulce" from a local "Panderia" (Mexican Pastry Shop) and watching Mulan in Spanish! (That was fabulous, might I add).
In between all of this, I had to find time to pack and move. Luckily the place I moved to was not too far away and I was able to bring stuff over throughout the week, as I got it packed up. I was blessed with good friends who came and helped me pack through motivating and packing with me. Friday night allowed me to rest up for the next day. Saturday was the day when all the big stuff and everything else got moved over. I was also faced with the daunting task of unpacking and finding places for everything. Guess what???
I DID IT!!!
I unpacked as much as I could that day. It felt good! To celebrate I went to a campfire/dutch oven night with some friends. That night, I was able to get a good night's sleep for the first time all week and relax the next day! I am going to miss my old place and my roommates, but I am super-excited for new adventures, learning experiences, and tons of fun!

A Running Start

I learned to love running as a missionary. We were given some time in the morning for exercise and my preferred exercise quickly became running because it gave me a chance to think, reflect, and plan. Plus, it made for an excellent start to the day. When I got home, I had to stop running because of health and weight concerns. As mentioned in the previous post, I recently got clearance from a doctor to start working out and it has been fabulous!
First, I am so out of shape. The first couple of workouts were really tough. The second day, I was pretty sore. However, I have kept working out. Now I have a new goal for myself. I want to run a 5K by the end of the year. There are two that I am interested in running. One is in Idaho and the other in Utah and they are both in September. Hopefully I can be ready by then. My ultimate goal is to run a half-marathon, but that one is going to take more preparation so I am aiming for next May.
I have started "training". In fact, yesterday was supposed to be my first day of working out somewhere other than the basement. However, as I got into the workout clothes and set the pedometer, I heard thunder. One of my biggest fears in the world is thunder and lightning. I decided that if I heard another one, I would stay inside and workout in the basement. That is exactly what happened.
Needless to say, I decided to test my endurance and focus. I made it running a mile yesterday (maybe more, but I am not sure I set the pedometer right and that it was working correctly). It took longer than I wanted it too and I realized that I have a long ways to go. If I keep training and working hard, I should be able to do it.
It feels so good to be running again. I will try to keep this updated with my progress.

Life is Good!

It is time to update the blog again. However, this time, there is not one subject that seems to stand out that I want to blog about, so this is just going to be a random update on life.

UPDATE 1 - JOB
I am still working at a local law office. Things were pretty busy the past couple of weeks and my boss told me yesterday that we could potentially be picking up some more new clients, which should increase the workload more. That makes me happy because I love being busy and learning new things in this field.

UPDATE 2 - HEALTH
This is the one where a lot has been happening lately. I have been going to a couple of doctors lately to get some help with the gastroparesis and figure out how to deal with the neuropathy type issue. One week, I had GI appointment Monday, and Neurologist appointment on Tuesday, phone calls from both on Wednesday, an EKG on Thursday and more calls on Friday. Needless to say, the GI wants to try a new med and the Neuro found one small thing, not nerve related, that has been taken care of. I am doing better than I was, which is always good.

UPDATE 3 - EXERCISE
Because of my health, exercise has not been something that I have been able to do for a while and I miss it. At one of my appointments, the doctor mention some exercise could be helpful, so I have began to exercise again. I Love It!!! I can tell it has been a while, because my stamina is not there. It feels so good! There have been some sore days, but it feels so good and makes me happy. The best part is, I think that it may be helping the nerve issues too!

UPDATE 4 - TEMPLE
I love being in the temple and have been there at least once a week. It totally makes my day. There is a story with this one. There have been some interesting things happening lately and I have learned that I am not so good at being blunt. Well, Friday night, I was super frustrated because I was confused about a bunch of different things that were going on. I even spent some time with some friends trying to talk it out. The next morning, I went to the temple with my friend Stacey. While we were waiting, I picked up a The Book of Mormon and opened up to the Doctrine and Covenants. As I read, I just about busted up laughing, but controlled myself because I was in the temple. I continued reading that section and there was a lot in there for me. I learned that when we are doing what we should be, we will be given an answer and that the answer can appear funny, but there is usually a lot more truth to it than we realize at first.

UPDATE 5 -
A trip to Pocatello was inevitable this weekend and I decided to make it a longer one than I had originally planned. I had originally though about going there Sunday, after my meetings, so I could be there for my appointment on Monday morning to make sure the retainer was working right. Instead, I ended up going down Saturday afternoon and got to spend some time talking with my parents, hanging out with some good friends, and more. It was a needed break and I had so much fun watching movies, catching up with friends, going to church and spending lots of time talking.

That is my life of updates for right now. I am not sure what else people want to know about me. Life is Good!!!!

FaBuLoUs FiEsTa!

Gone are the days of being sung to at church (not that I really miss that)and getting special privileges on your birthday like being line leader or other "important" tasks. However, birthdays can still be very special and fun times, no matter what age you are. This year was great!

On Wednesday, my parent came down to see me. They surprised with a cheesecake and some presents. They also took me out to dinner. We had a good dinner at a local Grill and talked a lot. Unfortunately we all forgot cameras so there are no pictures to document this part. Thanks for the food, gifts and fun Mom & Dad! That same night I received a gift from my Pocatello friends (via a nephew who lives here). It was a good night and I was able to talk to my sister and some good friends.

Thursday brought more fun. That night I had some friends over for cake and ice cream, because what birthday is seriously complete with them. It was a good time and I, once again, did not take pictures there. However, a friend took some pics, but I have yet to see them. That night I got a couple of great presents too. Below is a picture of all my gifts!



One of those gifts is no other than a "Dating Kit". It made me laugh so hard and I loved it. Here is a closer up view of the contents!



All in all, it was a fabulous birthday!!! This is not a great picture of me, but it shows that I was "present" at the party!



THANKS TO ALL!!!!!