Temple square Christmas lights

I cropped these pictures in hopes that that would help them get posted. (I've been trying to post this for a solid week) Last Thursday evening I went to see the lights with Wendy :) we had fun and the weather was way too nice. My camera wasn't working so Wendy let me use her iPhone to take these.

I also got to visit with Ben & Holly again some too. Oh and Wednesday night I got to visit with Will. It was good to see friends and family since I didn't get out of rexburg for thanksgiving.

Ps....can't wait to go to Ohio for Christmas!

I'm not on Facebook anymore...and other things

I don't think its easy to notice for everyone so I just thought I would announce on my blog that I'm no longer using Facebook. I still use the internet plenty. I check my school email and two other emails regularly. I LOVE reading blogs, and I LOVE watching a few different families/couples/singers on Youtube. I have not given up the internet. I even will sometimes get on keek.com or instagram or even twitter. 

While reading one of my favorite blogs I found this little gem of a quote.

You can often tell if the media and technology in your life are having a positive or negative effect on your soul by the quality of the media conversations you are having. We should regularly ask ourselves three questions: First, am I having media conversations, or am I simply consuming media? Second, what conversations am I having about media with my family and those closest to me? Third, what am I doing to improve the conversations around me when I use media to communicate?   -Amy Peterson Jensen 

This wasn't necessarily the reason for my quitting FB. I mean, I didn't find this quote and then realize FB wasn't helping my soul, however, I feel like it fits the situation. 

None of these other places I go to online ever make me feel so defeated and wasted and unproductive and lazy. Facebook did. 

Every blog I go to read is uplifting to me. I have found places that I go to that help me think and are quality. I have conversations about them with people in my life. Just ask anyone who has heard me use the term, "my youtube friends". I still live my life and keep busy doing things I love but the internet is something I am trying to get better at purposefully using. Thank goodness for google when it comes to my cooking needs. I don't have my recipe box with me and searching the internet has helped lots. Oh, and I have even found some blogs that I like through watching people on Youtube. I'm not one of those people who only use Youtube to watch the viral videos that are most times out of control stupidity. I watch it like its TV. Soooo it's not a big deal that I don't watch TV and I'm not better than anyone else for not doing that. And its possible I waste just as much time as the next guy, but I'm choosy with my content intake. 

About one of those other blogs I read. This here has been a good read for me in the last few months. I liked his last post and talking about self perception. It got me thinking about who I am. It can be slightly uncomfortable being me sometimes. I am trying to be better at BEING me and not being who others want me to be. I've got a very different life that most people I know. I do things that don't always make sense. 

Oh I guess this is the perfect time for me to say/announce that I accepted a position with Alaska Coach Tours. I'll be training to get my CDL feb-april, then I'll be moving to Skagway, AK to work until Sept. I'm going to be a tour guide/driver for groups that come on cruise ships. I'm going to defer a semester at BYU-Idaho so that I can go make some money instead of spend for a semester. Then in January 2014 I will be coming back to finish up my medical assisting classes. Hopefully I'll be able to do some massage on the side up there. I will never regret having all that schooling out of the way. It has been nice to be able to work here and there doing massage while I've been in school this semester. 

Maybe this is an abrupt ending, but I have to go take a test, study for a final, pack to drive home, pack to move apartments and then sometime fit in lunch and get ready to go see a play tonight.....oooo and I hope my birthday package comes in the mail today :)

Flight to Reno.

I wish I had time to document all of my life and interesting meetings. As I stood in line at airport security sporting my Ohhh so Mormon byui gym tshirt I made a most unsuspecting friend. Apparently we were both headed to reno. This unnamed woman shared some good stories of her travels. She gave me some much needed company and advice. "Only in Utah" and "the odds are good but the goods are odd" were two phrases she used liberally. She told me of her traveling and adventurous lifestyle. Who knew I would run into a gal who had been born in fremont Ohio, lived in mesa Arizona and then spent a good portion of her adult life in Kodiak AK would have so much to talk to me about. Like her dads unexpected death after she got out of the military. Her inherited money that moved her to Alaska (all inspired by her teenage dream to find a good Alaska man that oprah talked about). She actually did marry only to have two kids and then find out her husband was cheating on her with a transvestite. I can't make these kind of stories up! I really wish I would've asked for her name. She went on to tell me about how she set out to finish her degree in cedar city Utah. Her road trip out to Utah from Alaska which took 6 days ended in a flat tire near Logan Utah. She told me how this nice gentleman changed her tire then kept in touch. A week later her drove down south to see her again. Two weeks later he proposed and 4 weeks after that they were married. I may have had a sore neck by the end of the flight but it was worth it. I love people. Thanks to unexpected meetings and great life adventures.

Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful relaxing thanksgiving break. Here are a few pictures of my actual meal and the tree we decorated after dinner. I'll spare you the picture of Walmart later in the evening.
On my break I got ahead with my homework, went to the temple a couple of times, did lots of packing and organizing, watched all the harry potter movies plus a few Christmas ones, saw the king tut exhibit in Idaho Falls, and went bowling with some friends. That's the short of it. I'll save the long of it for in person conversations.

Heavenly

A lot has happened in the last month. Some good, some not so good. I think I'll just try to tell the good because, honestly, that's what I would like to remember.

I always have to remind myself how blessed I am to meet and make great friends. Too many to name drop right now, but some people are great and help build me up when I need it most.

Last night I went to a Relief Society activity where we shared our cooked crock pot meals. It was a small little gathering. We had some good food and treats. I met a gal who does acupuncture. I sat around talking to her for awhile asking all of my questions. I got her business card before I left and told her I wanted to try it some day. I was hoping that I would be able to do a trade because money is something I don't really have any of right now. I think my massage skill is all that is keeping me going right now. This girl text me after I got out of my morning class and we set up a time to do a trade TODAY! Who knew I would get my wish granted so quickly. I think it was probably best that I hadn't studied up on any acupuncture or else I might have backed out. Or maybe its a good thing I've been in a medical assisting program and been having people give me saline shots for the last few weeks. Needles just don't seem to phase me so much. I just thought, sheesh, if they are going to help me....lets do it! I gave her a lil massage first and then it was my turn. We started with a little assessment. She took my pulse I assume since she was holding my wrist and then asked to see the top and bottom of my tongue. I could've asked so many questions but I just tried to explain some of my complaints. We decided to work on my neck, lower back and feet/legs. She wiped all the places she was putting needles in with alcohol swabs. I think it felt like there were 8 or so needles near my neck and then maybe that many in my lower back area. Then there was a couple in my ankles and one in the area behind my knee and one off the to the side of my shin. It was the strangest thing that I couldn't really feel some of them going in. I specifically remember her telling me in the ankle area, "this might be tender." It wasn't. Then after she had placed all of the needles she told me how to focus my thoughts, or I could just sleep. She said she would leave for 20 minutes with on check in half way through. As I sat there I could feel different needles at different times. Just crazy how energy flows through you. When it was all said and done she took them out and she gave me some time to get up and put my shoes on. I can not believe how wasted/tired/relaxed/loopy/out of it I was. I would say it was pretty close up there with my hot stone massage response. Took it all out of me. So she told me to go home and take a nap. I am not sure how long of a nap I took when I got home but I was in bed or on the couch for at least 2 hrs just paying attention to all the places that just had needles in me. My ankle was actually more tender when the needle was removed. SO weird and yet so cool. I was probably needing to go to the gym today but I skipped that since it took me awhile to even be able to drive away from her office :) Sooo that's that. I just wanted to share my experience about my first time having acupuncture. She sent me a text later telling me that her massage was heavenly. I couldn't think of a better word for my experience too.

Oh yeah, and I watched Conference...

I have many blogs that I read. I wish I could write like these people. They are amazing. However, they don't have the same stories or life as myself....so it is bound to be different.

This week I spent more time in Utah. It was going to be a trip to St. George, but I sorta felt like I needed to change that up last minute for a few reasons. Ended up spending time in SLC. I got in on Wednesday evening. I had a lovely drive with another ride board stranger. I sure do love getting to hear life stories from strangers. Maybe its circumstance that allows them and myself to share things we might not otherwise....but it was entertaining. Not very often that I take that drive with no radio on. Me and strangers always seem to click long enough to have a good chat. I picked up my uncle after I dropped the stranger off, then back up to clearfield for the night. It was a fun short night at my aunts house. Got some tv watching in and slept on the couch.
Thursday, I got up in time to make it to my appointment at SII downtown SLC. (www.siiutah.org) Check them out, they're amazing. I had gotten a pretty sweet dealio on a 90 minute session. I was in need of serious help with my foot. I have been pretty much in pain on and off for 4 or 5 weeks with this foot junk. I have been wearing a boot around trying to help my foot get better. The bodywork helped again. I just have to get a friend here in rexburg to do some maintenance work every couple weeks I think. ANYWAY....that was a perfect way to start my thursday morning. Then I had another chance to spend time with my friend Holly. Its so much fun seeing her so pregnant. I left her house early evening....(should've left earlier...traffic was awful) and went to Provo. I got to go see the 30 Strangers exhibit on BYU's campus with my friend Wendy. Justin Hackworth's photography is amazing. It was pretty awesome. I felt like I was in a room with a bunch of friends that didn't belong to me...but I was glad to be with them. They were fun people. There were four ladies who read essays and then one who sang a song. Mostly all about motherhood since that theme of the 30 strangers stuff was all mother daughter related. It was cool to reflect a little about my mom on a time that wasn't mothers day. Love you mom :) Then we bolted out of there and headed back to the mall. I tried to find some shoes. I need better things to wear to take care of my feet. I have found what I need but I was hoping to get it on sale or something. I am going to spend an arm and a leg on a pair of shoes. Thank goodness they will probably last me over 2 years. At least thats how long the last pair lasted me. I got back home to Ben & Holly's house late that night.
Friday morning wasn't anything eventful. Ben's cousin was staying at their house so while Holly worked on her paper I took myself and the cousin to the Distribution center on 1700 S. I got a few things I needed and he loaded up on things he needed. He is just a recently returned home missionary. Oh special :) THEN when I got home was more exciting. Wendy had come up to SLC this time. Yay! more girl time. We went to a mall downtown and met up with a friend from Ohio. Sarah McKinley. She just recently got engaged and is living in florida but came to SLC for conference weekend with some friends to shop for wedding dresses. We got to meet up with them, have lunch then we got to see her try on her dress. I can not believe she got the first dress she tried on in the first shop they went to. So lucky. I guess it was just perfect. I am ashamed to say we didn't think to get a picture. I did get to hear the engagement story though, which was way better in person that it ever would've been over the phone or via text. Congrats Sarah! you're a doll! Hope somehow I will be able to attend your wedding. I'm not sure that will happen...seeing as how it is in Florida June 15 of next year. Just too far out for me to try to plan right now. I don't know where I will be in my schooling and what not. After shopping around some more for shoes we finally made it back to Holly's house again. We sat around and talked some more...ate more food, because thats what we do when we are with friends...food food food. I guess we do have to eat everyday no matter what. When Ben got home from work we all went to see The Amazing Spiderman at the cheap theater. It was pretty good. We had gotten some treats to have later that night, but surprise! my friend from one of my classes called me to hang out. I sorta ditched Holly Wendy and Ben at that point. The movie was over and they probably had ice cream without me and Wendy probably drove home...but I went downtown to Temple Square. I was sorta surprised my friend would call. He had just went to a mission reunion and I told him we should get together while he was in town. So since he was on his way back down to provo and wanted to stop in and see Temple Square anyway...he called me up. We sat around chit chatting and catching up whilst watching a TON of couples walking around and some of them making out. I had no idea that was the place to be. Maybe it was slightly awkward, but fun all at the same time. I probably could've talked to him way longer than I did. Pat me on the back for restraining myself. Either way...it was good to have a few unexpected reunions on Friday.
Saturday I got up early to go get another massage. I figured, its free, why not fit in another one from the student clinic at UCMT. It was worth it, but such long wait. I had my old UCMT Masters Program classmate meet up with me to chat/catch up while we waited for our massages. It was so much fun to see her. I really love when I have friends that are so good at picking up right where we left off.

I am cutting this short because there was still more to saturday and then sunday, but I just mostly am so glad I have so many friends. I sit around my apartment up in Rexburg on lots of days getting depressed because I feel like I don't have any friends because most of them aren't up here. I have to sit back and realize I have taken a long time to build trust and friendship in the people that are in my life right now. The ones that matter take a little longer in cultivating something that is lasting. I have no idea why am I so close with the people that I am, but I do know that they are HUGE blessings for me. God's hands on earth in a way. My prayers are answered so many times by the people I am surrounded by....even if they aren't my closest of friends. So  please bless that I can somehow let all these little angel people know how much they mean to me.

The End.

Falling A P A R T

Today while I was in my Medical Assisting Lab the fire alarm went off. I grabbed my snacks and my cell phone and our classes headed outside along with every other class in the building. Just funny/interesting because we had just done a drill for this last week. We tried continuing on with class outside to talk about pulses and where to read them, but then it looked like we could go back in. We migrated to the other side of the building. Not true, we couldn't get in. I believe a pipe fell/broke and flooded a good portion of the building. We don't know how it really happened, but we do know for sure there was flooding and a really bad smell in the building. It smelled like an electrical fire or something like that. They let us in briefly to get our things and then rushed us out. Tiles from the ceiling were falling and as we were leaving a cleaning crew was coming in. So much chaos. We got our picture taken by the school newspaper and one classmate was even interviewed. Entertaining and unexpected. Now to get back to my homework and studying so that I can get out of town this week. Its a shame our building is falling apart, I wonder if we will have class on wednesday or not??

on another falling apart subject ...my roommate angie left to move back to cali, sad, I like her, I hope I don't emotionally fall apart later today. My room is so empty. I look forward to a trip to california someday to go visit her.

Biggest Winner competition started this week. Im t...

Biggest Winner competition started this week. Im team pink. Helping with nutrition. We have a great team with a few great trainers.

Here I go again on my own...

I have started another semester at BYU-I. I have stopped counting semesters. It may be the habit for some students to ask what semester you are on...I never have a good answer. I am currently taking Medical Assisting 105 with its lab class and Anatomy and Physiology with its lab class. 9 credits. Classes started 2 weeks ago. I feel a mess still. I haven't figured out what this teachers deal is. One teacher is still in the process of figuring out how he wants things done, and the other is just different because only half of the information is online and its just not set up the most functional way. Whatever though, I guess I have to learn how to deal with it. I'm not planning to write a full blog to complain about things. There is plenty of good to be had. I am getting to do a lot of volunteer work. I was looking for work work, but nothing has turned up. I am doing an occasional massage (two tomorrow) and doing volunteer work to make myself useful. I am helping as an Usher for devotionals, helping with the temple to temple relay that is on Saturday, and I am going to help out with the Biggest Winner competition on campus that is starting up this weekend. Ohhh and on top of that I have a weekly shift working in the laundry room of the temple every Tuesday night for a few hours. I have met way more people this semester than last. It feels good to be busy with good causes. My struggles are disorganization and a foot injury. Its going on two weeks of having something wrong with my foot too. I have been icing it and I have had my friend work her massage magic on me for an hour and half one day. I have tried to stay off of it as much as possible. I'm waiting for my good shoes to come in the mail. Hopefully that will all help and it will eventually get better. I am finally going to get a blessing today too. Every little bit helps.

I have had some serious highlights of my last couple/few weeks.
*Getting to go out to dinner with the Keele Klan, Emily and her Mom. Love them :)
*Meeting someone who twitches more than I do. (its the little things that impress me)
*Getting another calling in my ward (mix and mingle committee)
*Getting my brother to fix my computer that I dropped :)  (still patiently awaiting delivery)
*Having my roommate talk to me mostly in her sleep. ( "If rexburg were a garden, you would be my yield, can I eat you? awww, I feel so loved right now, good night, awww friends say good night, we are friends....I gotta pee" )
*People watching at a singles dance. SO much awkward I didn't know what to do with myself.
*Blogtv - watching my youtube friends.
*Bountiful Baskets goodness
*Massage to help my foot by Molly :) (hopefully more to come too)
*Dinner parties with new friends in my ward

Upcoming adventures
*My best friend holly having a baby boy sometimes in October
*Going to St. George with another best friend to see Ohio peeps and to experience St. George UT.
*Thanksgiving vacation time
*My 32nd Birthday (December)

Well that's the long and short of it. I'm still living in the same house I moved into in April. I'm setting a record for my Rexburg living. I have never lived somewhere for two semesters in a row out here. I will find out in October what track assignment I will be on...then I will know when I have to be in Rexburg. I said I wanted winter. I don't know what I was thinking because I do not love the Rexburg winters. Maybe they will give me something else...I can't wait to start though. Having health insurance would be nice. I have to spend an arm and a leg to get a physical for my class and I have to get a chicken pox titer. I guess if there was something else you wanted to know about me...maybe it will show up in another month or so in my next blog.

If I could do anything right now it would be to have the confidence (and equipment) to vlog and post it on youtube. That's my thoughts on that. I would love to just be able to talk to myself while people watching on campus to just let others see how I experience this campus and my life here. I think my expression is way more apparent in a video as opposed to a written blog. until next time friends...I'll be working on this.
Peace out-
BB

I spent some time in slc

Snippets of my week

Break time.

Ive spent some time away from rexburg. Wish it were easier to post pics and details. It bites not having a smart phone. I dont even have favorite pics. Im almost ready for school to start back up again. Sept tenth will be here before i know it.

Life's a Dance....

I just wanted to share this little bit of happiness that I found today. If I could only have the confidence of these two young gentleman. Life can be fun if you make it that way, right? This is just proof. Enjoy. The second clip is much shorter than the first. No I didn't ask for permission to post these, but they are on youtube and not private....so I thought it was fair game. I know some pretty great people.

Peruvian festival day

The peach tree

We made peach cobbler.

A little bit of Rexburg

I couldn't decide on any one certain picture to describe my last week. School got out and I visited Utah. I guess I could've posted some pictures of that but there were too many. could've should've ...eh, you get what you get. I went to a Peruvian festival with my good friend Wendy. Got to experience a little more peru for a day. We had fun watching dancers and eating some yummy food (and some not so yummy food). Then we stayed at Holly and Ben's house in SLC that night. (hopefully next time we visit Holly and Ben will actually be there too) But, thanks guys! It was nice to have a place to stay for me and Wendy to catch up on life. We picked a ward at random to go to on Sunday at the institute building in SLC. We met some characters for sure. Then on Monday morning I headed up to Clearfield to spend some time with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Michael. Perfect timing. Sue had just gotten home from Ohio. We watched quite a few bollywood movies. A favorite thing of mine to do while I'm there with them. Then we pulled out the stuff for my quilt that my aunt is making. Its almost done :) I'm pretty excited. I will have a nice comfy warm homemade quilt once winter roles around. We also went out back and picked a ton of peaches from their peach trees. Rewind....I was also pretty excited to get to pick black berries from Holly's back yard. Fast foward...We haven't even gotten to the cool part about how I picked this raspberries in my back yard here in Rexburg. I also picked some peppers that went in the quiche pictures below too. I stayed at Sue and Michaels house until wed night. I also got to take a short trip up to my other Aunts house in Eagle Mountain. Thursday morning I woke up bright and early to get to Education week. I went to a few classes above and beyond what I had signed up to volunteer for. A few different classes on lots of different topics. Just mostly reminders of things to do and how to stay happy and good stories that were uplifting. I volunteered thurs. fri. and sat. Friday night was pretty awesome. I decided that I wanted to go to the Janice Kapp Perry family musical night at the Kirkham building on campus. It was 5 bucks and I'm sort of ...okay really broke, but I needed to go. So we had a fun filled night of their songs. They had a portion of the show where they had a few people volunteer to come play name that tune with the primary songs. I raised my hand faster than I knew what was going on. It was pretty awesome. I actually knew the song....and won. Not that the prize was any different for the winners as opposed to the loser, but I was pretty excited nevertheless. I went home with a free CD. It was cute. I just can't seem to care about getting their autographs though. It was cool being there and feeling like we were in some sort of family night together. I do love their music, but what on earth would I do with an autograph. I don't feel like I have done anything with the ones I have....I'll walk away with a fun experience and a story of winning a CD and I'm set. It was a fun night. Saturday was when I picked the berries...after I got home from education week festivities. Then on sunday morning my roommate Kerry and I had this quiche. (pictured below) I used the last of our eggs from the chickens out back and a few other things in the fridge to whip us up something delicious. Then we went to the singles ward. I don't know what to think of 5th Sunday lessons. I was doing so good at avoiding the dating lesson topics. It wasn't totally on that, but it was mentioned. And it wasn't really totally on any one thing in my opinion. I walked away wondering what I just heard, or what was I really supposed to have taken away from that. Ohh and out of order again in my story telling, but the night I got home from Utah I got to google hangout with my friends Jenny and Ben. I miss them. We had fun and laughed for a good couple of hours. That sums up a portion of my break so far. I am currently reading Malcolm X's autobiography, the Book of Mormon, Jane Eyre...and when those are done I want to read more from a book I have on parables, Anatomy Trains, and possibly Les Miserable if I can check it out at the library. Sort of a mixture of things going on in my world. Hopefully I get a job soon. I have ventured out and asked about things and I've searched online awhile and I've asked around too. Nothing has turned up yet, but I'm not completely worried. Maybe I should be.

Education.

   I have no idea what I'm doing with this layout. Sending things from my phone isn't as easy these days. It's not a smart phone. Sorry if this looks horrible. Friday July 20th I graduated with my Associates in General Studies. Most people have asked, whats next? Well, I am going to keep going. I realize it took me forever to get to this point so I wanted to make sure I took the chance to walk and do the whole graduation ceremony because I didn't want to miss that opportunity, plus its a good motivator to keep going with my education. My awesome friend Cami came to support me and my new friend Melanie let me sit by her and her sister. It apparently doesn't matter where you sit for the commencement portion. We got front and center. It only took us 15 minutes to pile everyone in. 1679 degrees...the biggest graduating class thus far. I assume it will only continue to grow since that's all it has done since summer of 2000 when I first started. We heard lots of good advice from lots of speakers throughout the night. I was reminded that I need to keep a journal to record my thoughts, keep my covenants, realize times get hard but I can make it, keep reading, be a leader. Those insights weren't necessarily word for work from the speakers, but they were the things that I want to remember. It was a long semester with lots of adjusting. I loved my teachers even if I didn't always love the subject matter. I could've done better, but I'm not killing myself over my grades...I'd rather have my sanity. I think I still have a B average overall. I made a couple friends and hope to keep up that habit of friend making. I have a 7 week break before classes start again. I hope to find a job to keep when classes start up again. I will be taking the first medical assisting class and lab and the second portion of Anatomy and Physiology. 9 credits again until I can apply and get accepted for a track as a tradition student. This past semester I changed my major to Health Science with a public health emphasis and minor in medical assisting. I guess we will see how it goes. For now, that's the plan. Now to go find all my shot records that are probably hiding in a storage unit that might as well be burnt down because no one wants to find my information once its been put away in a box with hundreds of other old patients things too.

Writers Block

You know when you have so much assigned writing that its hard to get anything down on paper. I think the forced deadline freaks me out every single time. When I want to blog, I just sit down and start writing. I take a mental dump of everything on my mind and then its easier to get to other tasks at hand. Actually I had a hard time really getting anything of this paper down all last week. Instead, I cleaned my house, did the dishes, made a meal in the crock pot. I started to do more too. I actually got a lot of other homework done instead. I got so motivated to do everything else. I am the queen of putting things off this week. I have been sitting at the library for 4 hours or more working on this paper. AND currently, I'm blogging and then I'll be on my way to watch some juggling or something.
peace
B

Special moments.

Reasons why I love BYU Idaho this week.
*Monday's FHE was lesson was by Bro Baron. He is a stake president in the area and he told his conversion story. He grew up Jewish. Went to Hebrew school. He told how he found Jesus. It was a really captivating story. Glad to have met him.
*Tuesday- Reilly and John Butler came into town and I managed to feel like I had caught up enough on my homework to take a day off of school. We headed to Yellowstone. Camped that night in the freezing cold. Why do I always think this will be a great idea when its cold weather. I ended up in my car. Not good sleep, but a nice drive up there.
*Wednesday- Um...can't tell you why I love BYUI. I was definitely NOT in Idaho. I was off taking fun pictures and enjoying a drive around God's beautiful earth.
*Thursday- Spent all day on campus doing homework, meeting with group people. Went to a cultural night where we got to see all kinds of strange dancing and acting. Oh the awkwardness never stops. I also witnessed an angry library goer. Apparently the exit music was "exceedingly annoying" tonight. I think I should post all of the creeper pictures I took today too. I just got invited to a string theory party. I was read a wrap that was written in a text message. AND my favorite part ever was being able to partake of beautiful music. Me & and a friend hung out in a stairwell at the library while some stranger played his guitar for a few of us. I think it was the most perfect thing for my night. I asked to take his picture then shortly after we were asked to leave because we were apparently being too loud. Should you care to listen go here for the sweet sounds of the stairwell. We will see what tomorrow brings. I just have to say that I am not loving all my learning and growing right now so these brief moments of goodness that make me smile are things I'm grateful for. I know I'll make it through the classes, but....I worry too much and stress too much and don't quite get things as fast as I would like. Okay, I'm just hard on myself. Things will get better. I am looking up.

20 wk pregnant holly, me, and Wendy. Slc Utah 2012 memorial day weekend.

My simple life....or not so simple

Simple and exciting :)
I get to go see Bill Cosby tomorrow night. I would normally write about an event after it happens, but I will be busy writing a paper for a class. I went to devotional today. Brother Rudy Puzey was the speaker. I wanted to maybe shout RUDY RUDY RUDY a few times, but I remained calm and reverent. But he really did have a great topic and I took a few notes to go back to in a few days. The musical number at the beginning of the meeting was pretty amazing. I probably could've left after that and called it good. Music is touching.
The last two weekends in a row I went to Utah. ( guess this is sounding not so simple after all) I got to spend time with my old roommates. I sure love them. I am glad that we are at least within a weekend drive of each other. I took a cute picture of me and Holly and Wendy. We didn't really do anything too out of the ordinary. We had a cook out at Holly and Ben's house and then Wendy went home and me and Sam headed back up to Sue and Michael's for more food on a grill. I love that we have the ride board/bulletin board to find people to come along on our fun lil trip. We met a kid who I actually brought back to utah with me the next weekend. Nice kid from Tooele, which just makes me laugh.
Other things to talk about. Some days I should work harder on my peacmaking skills. I have too much attitude perhaps sometimes in my life...especially when it comes to people being rude/distracting in class. Only one of my classes gets really bad. I sit in the back in all my classes (all 3 of them). One a few occasions I have asked someone to stop texting or whatever, but this day last week I about lost it on this girl. Her and her friend were out of control. I won't even give too much detail. I don't want to get worked up too much. But I maybe spoke out of line, and I was responded to with profanity. MAN ALIVE I wanted so much to put this girl in her place. Instead I started to write in my book. I ended up emailing my teacher. He said he would police the situation a little bit better in the back of the room. I'll survive. My grades are decent. Its my attitude that needs work.
Other things I've been up to... I've decided I want to do medical assisting as a minor and go back to health science as my major. So if all goes as I hope. I'll get an associates degree at the end of this semester in general studies, and then in a couple more semesters get another in Medical assisting and then in a couple more I'll have my bachelors degree in health science with an emphasis in public health. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with it yet. I'll probably just stick to finding an office job in a medical office. That's really the stuff I love, and then continue to do massage on the side. OHHHH
and how could I forget my favorite part of my trip to salt lake. I got a massage from a student at UCMT. Best massage ever. Honestly its probably the first time that anyone has ever done a half body drape on me to. (which may mean nothing to anyone who reads this) It was interesting. She was really good and I was really sore. I gave her my card. She is going to be coming back to rexburg in the fall. She is a BYUI student too. I was pretty excited to meet her. I love it when meeting people comes together so nicely like that. Speaking of meeting people...I have started to talk to some more people in my ward a lil bit more regularly. Hopefully my being on the RS welcoming committee will help me get to know more people too. I just decided, even if its an awkward way to do it ...I was going to start adding people on fb that were in my ward so that I could just be in contact with people from the ward. I think this is all i want to say for now. I have more to write for another day.  ps, I need a job still. Not sure how I'm surviving through the summer. hmmm

No title needed

Sometimes I just need to write when its not required of me. If I only write when I have to I begin to feel like its only ever going to be a chore. When you have to worry about form and content instead of just getting out something that's on your mind it starts to make everything cloudy. So today I write to just dump out whats on my mind. My last few weeks in Rexburg have made me think a lot about my options of what I'll be doing the next year. I wish I could get past the idea of next year and think about next 10 or 20. I don't know why that thought is so scary. I can't even get around to calling someone to ask if my major can be changed. So I don't know if I'll be graduating with an associates degree now or later. Apparently I have too many credits to just easily do a major change. They want a plan with a change. I've thought about switching to medical assisting. I will have to say...everything associated with that major sounds like something I would love to do with one exception: drawing blood. I'm honestly not sure I can do that. I'm not sure I can let people practice on me. Maybe its not the wisest choice for me. I'm still thinking about it.

I'm not sure how much longer I can balance the blessing of being here at BYUI against the annoyances. I realize its a great thing to be here, but I can't for the life me easily get over being around stupidity or immaturity in such large numbers. Its enough in my own personal life...then try to pull in at least 5000 extra cases. I'm too critical. I know. Tuesday is devotional day. I love to hear the speakers but I can't avoid the distractions. I've tried listening on the radio at home and I fell asleep. I did have one good experience, but this past Tuesday was just a super special experience. A married couple sat right in front of me and my friend. I don't know how to comprehend what happened next. The kid couldn't even separate himself long enough to fold his arms for the prayer. And shame on me, I can't even really remember the topic because I'd rather talk about their craziness. They were looking at each other the whole time and blowing in each others' ears and giggling and rubbing each others backs and head and shoulders and...ay yay yay. I looked around and there were some better behaved couples, but man. Baby steps, I'll try again next week. Hopefully I'll have better luck at finding a less distracting set of neighbors. Other things that have made me laugh is just hearing phone conversations sitting in a court yard. I have to think to myself. Does this girl not care if the rest of campus hears her talking about her new boyfriend and how they aren't ready to get married yet? Or does it never dawn on her that the seemingly secret things she is discussing with an obvious good friend might actually be in front of someone who knows him? Maybe it doesn't matter, but such personal conversations had in the wide open spaces of campus crack me up. I don't know how the rest of the community can deal with such crazy kids running around their town acting like crazy fools. A college campus is just a phenomenon wherever you go I'm sure. It's not so much a drinking problem here...but people do enough crazy other things to make up for the lack of alcohol involved.

Another thing I was going to mention was how I wanted to go to Ukraine to do a volunteer program. I got accepted for the fall. I just don't know where I would come up with $3000 in two weeks from now. (passport and paperwork is due June 1st) If I can't come up with the money I don't want to sign a contract saying that I WILL. Its a charitable donation that can be deducted from your taxes should anyone who is reading want to contribute to my cause :) It's a volunteer program to help teach English to kids in foreign countries through a specific method and volunteer/teacher play and interaction. (www.ilp.org) I would love to be able to go do that. It seems like a great opportunity to experience another country and get to make a difference in someone's life in the process. I've known a couple other people who have done it and they have only had good things to say. I have heard of another friend backing out last minute too. I can't imagine I would back out after making such a huge commitment. Especially because I really want to go. They did tell me that most of the other volunteers are much younger so if I was okay with that they would love to have me. I could handle younger girls and guys in smaller doses :) Its all high standard living. As if I was just living the BYU Idaho honor code but in another country. I had thought about selling my car to go, but then there is the whole issue of getting another car when I get back. And where am I going to be going back to too. I guess I really better get on this decision train here pretty soon.

Just Blahgging here...

I have heard a lot of people around campus say that they have gotten the assignment to write a blog. Why do I wish I was in that class. I write stuff for my English class and I honestly wonder if its really getting read. I'm not too hurt about it if its not being read, but I wish I had extra incentive to continue my blogging...or vloging for that matter. I think I would really love to sit and tell the stories of my life to a camera over writing them here. I know some people can hear my voice as I type, but not all can. If I could show my expression as well in word perhaps it wouldn't be as intimidating to me to just write out some of the stuff I've learned and the things I've gone through.
I went to dinner with a couple friends. One I know better than the other. So I decided to tell my history of being a student here in Idaho to the girl who didn't know me too well. I was giving dates and filling in cool/interesting stories every now and then. Some with more excitement and enthusiasm than others. I have no idea why I think its fun to tell some stories and not others. Like the time I was dared to take a picture of the kid that worked at the chiropractor (so I did) and later that summer I went to the temple with him and his friends. Why can I not even remember that kids last name right now. I even wrote him a few letters on his mission. Or the time I got a kid fired from a job on my first day working there. (that's a cool story for a good reason) My boss, who was the owner and my old Sunday school teacher, actually called and asked me how my first day went. Turns out I really didn't need to say anything. A prompting in the middle of the night woke him up and made him go to the place we were cleaning and he saw how the night went for us. As he tells it, they would've lost the cleaning contract if he hadn't woken up and gone to check our work. The kid leading me that night never did get to finish the week of work. Or there are the stories of the guys I've somehow gotten myself involved with. I don't know if I should be embarrassed or glad that I never did end up with any of them. Its not until I start telling stories that I realize that I have had quite the multicultural dating experience (online counts right?...for the sake of my stories it does) There was the Peruvian, the Brazilian, the Indian, the African, the Mexican.....those are some of the ways my stories start. The "crazy" is usually another descriptive word I use too. I should be more kind. The only truly clinically "crazy" one was the blind schizophrenic one from Idaho actually. I would never take back any lesson learned but some days why I chose to learn them the way I did. ay yay yay. My self worth and testimony were never challenged as much until I was actually dating. How do you not find out for yourself when someone you are around every day decides to try and convince you that your beliefs are false? I don't know if I'll ever really understand why opposition is so strong. I know we should welcome change but that inevitably means hard times will come. Just a few weeks ago I was up on cloud 9. I knew it would rain me out soon enough. I don't really mean for that to sound depressing or anything. Just that...its time for me to do hard things. I'm having some growing pains I guess. BYU Idaho is a great place. I get that. I like being here most days. I just don't think I have to fake like everyday is a great day. I have been blessed with a few great classmates and a few smiling friendly faces, but I've also been blessed to know what its like to feel alone in a huge crowd. Not a blessing I particularly asked for. I'm not really sure who is reading this, but I don't think it hurts for anyone to. I have to be up in a few hours...best be getting my beauty rest.

Dare to Trust Yourself

Today I was forced to think about some of the reasons I really should dare to trust myself.

• If I don't, who will?
• It doesn't always matter what others think
• I am the only one who knows the promptings I get
• I'm the only one who knows what I think and feel
• It helps me figure out who I am
• I'd rather figure out who I am now and not 20 yrs from now
• At the end of the day I'm the only one who has to live with me
• So I can learn to stand alone
• Not everyone will always agree with me

So much more I would like to say but where to begin.

I am taking 3 classes right now. English (creative writing class), Natural Disasters, American Foundations. I honestly think different things in each class are making or breaking it for me. But the people in the class play a big part. I always get so nervous about English classes and they turn out to be some of my best classes. Lots of reading, but its all good topics. I have learned a lot more than I would've expected to learn in my American Foundations class. Again, lots of reading. Perhaps I would learn more from Natural Disasters if I could get in to the reading. Tomorrow I'm going to a study group, maybe that will help. I think I have okay quality teachers in each of my classes....some I like better than others, but Its all good. The thing that I have found that's the cherry on top is the people I come in contact with in class. Some are better than others. I guess I have many weeks left to meet people still, but I have had some pretty positive experiences so far in meeting kind people. And I have had less than positive in some classes. People drive me crazy that just sit in class and play angry birds or text. My bad for sitting in the back. I want to remember this so I have to make a comment about my sitting in the back and the conversations I've had around that. One kid has been sitting next to me in one of my classes. He came to class one day and was so serious....He asked why it was that I sat so far in the back. He really really wants to sit up front, but doesn't want to leave me in the back alone. I think its that or he doesn't wanna be near that masses of girls that are flirting with the other boys in class. Who knows....either way. I'll take it. He can sit next to me and listen to my ranting in class.

Lasting Positive Change

This video made me happy :)
That's when I decided that is reason enough to make me want to blog tonight. Tonight its just to remind myself of the good things that have happened to me...beginning with today. I woke up early enough to take a walk around town while it was still cool morning air. I woke up ten minutes before my alarm. I love it when that happens. I finally have my schedule for work. Finally employed again, yay! I haven't worked since January. I finally made cheeseburger egg rolls that "Ourlittleplanet" made a video with the recipe. I got to go to G's Dairy tonight with my friend Sam. While we were there I ran into an old Jacob Lake friend. Good times. We had a few laughs then I went and made Sam take me for a tour of the Hart building on campus by way of the BYU-I center. I have found a few more places I want to frequent while I'm in Rexburg. Before hanging out with Sam I finished reading the second book in the hunger games series. I got a package from home with lots of things that I needed. I got to take some time to use my foam roller to work on my feet and stuff with my back and arms. Its one of my favorite things.
I'm glad I have made friends in many places and I always seem to run into them time and time again.
I'm glad I have had free time to get some resting done and start up good habits again.
I'm glad I have a super cool aunt and uncle that have helped me a lot while I've been away from home.

a new look?

I guess I haven't posted a picture of myself for awhile, and I probably won't even do it today. I did however cut my hair last month or so. Wow, that was in feb. I guess time really does fly. I just thought I'd say a few words since blogger has a new look. I thought I would try it out. I changed my phone number recently. Talk about a pain in the tush. I still have to get around to calling people to update that. I got some fresh foods at the grocery store the other day. It wasn't worth it to me to drive to another town to get a different price, perhaps next time I'll spend less. It'll do for now. I think I need to try to go more whole foods. I have had about 3 or 4 instances in the last few months were I feel like I'm having a gallbladder attack or pancreas issues or something. I have had a couple friends have these problems, and lets be real, I don't want to end up in a hospital too. I have read lots recently that makes me think I should just change habits before I'm more forcefully compelled to. Inner gut pains should be enough warning, right? So , no more salsa for starters :( sad day. I have to learn how to love different things. I guess the new look I am going to be having is the look on my plate.

Remembering...

A couple paragraphs from the end of last year that I read that I would like to remember.

News Death Notice

CURFMAN, Laura Emily age 30 of Xenia Ohio passed away Wednesday November 16, 2011. She was born on August 18, 1981 to her parents Steven and Angela Curfman. She is preceded in death by her precious daughter Savannah and her beloved Uncle Harold and Aunt Juanita. Survived by her parents: Steven and Angela Curfman, her daughter: Madison; fiance: Darren Mapp; sister: Karen Curfman; Grandmother: Alice Curfman; Aunt Janet and Uncle Richard Varvel; Aunt Billie Peterson, Uncle Keith Peterson, Uncle Phil Peterson, Cousins: Jeffrey (Elizabeth) Varvel, Ryan (Alyssa) Varvel, Shawn Peterson, Shannon Peterson, Zach Peterson, Zeb Peterson, her fiance's family Kent and Sharon Mapp, Brenda Mapp, Laura Mapp, Jason Mapp and Justin Mapp. Funeral services will be held 11 AM Saturday, November 19, 2011 at McColaugh Funeral Home, Inc., 826 N. Detroit St., Xenia, with Pastor David Conrad officiating. Interment to follow in Valley View Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends 10 AM Saturday until the time of service at the funeral home

1977 ~ 2011
Bryce Mitchell Foulon passed away peacefully on November 18, 2011, at the age of 34, after a month long battle with seizures from an unknown cause. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, November 23, at the Tooele Stake Center (253 South 2nd East) at 1:00 p.m. Viewing from 11:30-12:45 p.m. Interment at Tooele City Cemetery. Our sincere appreciation to the Staff at Intermountain Medical Center for all they did for Bryce and our family.


Honestly, more important than remembering reading those things I would like to remember family vacations with laura, staying in a cabin with her cousins taking silly pictures, and laying out on a house boat getting burnt to a crisp, skip bo games with her dad, hanging out in pigeon forge, spending the night in the hospital with her first lil baby savannah christine, sleepovers at her house in high school, couch roll offs, phone calls that could last all night, walks around the block. 

For My Future Self

I should do updates for myself every now and then. I was trying to figure out where I was a few years back, and I do so much and go so many places and see so many people...I sometimes just forget. So - My life as of recently. (To whom it may concern who ever cares to know) You know how the year starts out and everyone is so pumped to do new things with their life, make / set goals? I was no exception. I had a whole list, I left them on the chalkboard wall at my old apartment. 35 N wright ave in fairborn. That place was good while it lasted. Bless my mom and a few friends for helping me clean it out and paint it up back in august right before Holly & Ben's wedding. Blue walls were not going to be a part of my life. Finally on my own again in an apartment. January- signed up for online classes, back on a good personal reading schedule and working one less day to free up some time. I was ready to vlog my life weekly. Things were all set for a fine upcoming semester. I cant say what specific day it was, but thank goodness it wasn't a normal january in ohio. It wasn't as cold as it normally gets. Well I got home from work one night and I was so tired. Nothing worse than coming home tired only to have to deal with a problem...one that you can't shrug off. I think my gas stove is leaking. It doesn't smell right I thought. I text my landlord (the lazy option) asking if he thought I should call the gas company. WHAT WAS I THINKING....if there really was a gas leak I couldn't very well sleep through it. I finally get up the energy to make the phone call. I sat in my car because I know they were going to freak out on me. you say gas leak and its almost quicker than calling 911. So I had a vectren worker show up at my house super late. He told me there was a leaky valve. He gave me a work order for my maintenance guy and gave the specifics to me on paper so I could tell someone what it was. easy fix, just needed to get it done. I think after the Vectren guy left my landlord finally text me back telling me not to call Vectren and that if it was a gas leak they would disturb everyone and have them leave the apartment and we wouldnt wanna do that to the whole bldg. OH REALLY? you wouldnt want to do that. He makes no sense. Either way. What's done is done. Mr. Fix it (Harold) showed up the next day and told me he would order the part. Sure enough it wouldnt be in for another week or so. So I'm stuck with cooking everything in the microwave. I'd improvise, no big deal. At least my place and things didn't blow up. Then I think I was 2 days in to this whole waiting to get the stove fixed....and I went to bed early...but woke up FREEZING my nose off. I looked at my thermostat and realized it was set at 70 but my place was more like 50. I called the landlord and Harold. I guess they didn't think it was a big problem. It was afterall, pretty nice out side. I called Harold back and let him know, I realize its cold outside but the furnace isn't working and my house is a freaking ice box! I can't sleep when its so cold. Bless my friends and family for letting me stay with them for a few different nights. I can't remember the whole sequence of events, I just remember when I did get the landlord to call me back he told me sorry, my phone was dead for a couple days, sorry I didn't get back to you. It took them wayy too long to get my furnace fixed, and then that with the stove, and it was the first week of classes. I couldn't stay focused at other people's houses enough to get my homework done, I was missing deadlines, couldn't keep things straight. Then I needed to make sure I had all my stuff with me for work, oh crap, I gotta do laundry again. I hated only having two sets of work clothes for 4 days. I was constantly doing laundry. Then the washer broke. I guess I felt like that was the third strike. I finally got up the nerve to ask Mr Landlord how he would feel about me breaking my lease early. Let's be real. The place was one nightmare after the next for me and I really am not a fan of living on my own. Sure it was good on an occasional night to have a quiet home to myself, but more times than not I had wished I had someone to come home to....even if it was a difficult roommate. Mr Landlord told me he would be more than happy to let me go and he would even give me my whole deposit back. He also told me he would give me a good reference. Nothing but praise for me as a tenant. I have no idea why he was so anxious to let me go. I realized if I was going to be moving I didn't want to have to deal with keeping up with my classes. Online classes, at least three at a time, are NOT my thing. I called the school and found out it was still within the time frame for tuition reimbursement. good. I dropped my classes. Then I called my mom. Told her I wanted to move out, my house just wasn't being good to me. I needed to change things up. Plus I had written that list on my chalkboard wall. Getting out of some debt was on the list, maybe I needed a roommate or something. Well as it turns out my littlest brother had been living with my parents but he found a job and moved out. Parents attic was open. Mom and Dad said I could come save some money and stay with them. I figured, sure why not. I would have the whole attic to myself and I wouldn't have to pay rent. I might get out of some debt afterall, well after I found a job. Portsmouth is sort of a no mans land, but I would find a job there for sure. I couldn't find one in utah last summer where no one else seems to have trouble but me, so maybe portsmouth was the place for me. Everytime I would sit and pray about my decisions...day by day...things felt okay and I kept taking one step at a time. slowly moved stuff to my parents house. I had it all out except for the furniture. I ended up selling that to the landlord. Guess that place is being rented furnished these days. So I talked to work somewhere along the way and decided that instead of me trying to come back for the two hour drive for work a couple days a week...I was just going to put in my two weeks. I really only worked one of those weeks though. People getting on your case about you leaving for two weeks really wasn't a fun experience. So at the end of week one I made sure I wouldnt be on bad terms if I just didn't show up the next week. I didn't say goodbye to many people. I didn't tell many people I was even moving. Telling people just makes it harder for me anymore. Everyone wants explanations and answers. Usually ones more than "I prayed about it and its what I need to do" That's never good enough. So I ended up completely moved to my parents house 2 carloads and 1 truckload later. Sister missionaries at home helped me settle into my room. I had everything basically set up, and I had spent a few evenings online looking for jobs. I applied for 3. (I got one of those rejection emails yesterday) I even had one visitor stop in and see my new home and room. I felt okay about everything. I didn't know how it would all work out, but it would. Things always do. (that's what I keep telling myself and I hear everyone say) Then I had planned on staying with my friend the whole week before she was getting married just to help with stuff. I mean, I wasn't really doing much in Portsmouth other than just helping my mom with things and cooking for my dad while my mom was gone. I could spend a few extra days helping Jessica and then have some time to look for jobs online. It was such a fun time helping Jessica get ready for her wedding, it was busy and exhausting and sometimes I don't know why we put so much effort into weddings. It sure did turn out beautiful though. So then I planned on going out to Utah to help Wendy move. She was moving to provo...driving the truck clear across the country. Its always best to have a side kick on a road trip. I guess I am the go to girl for road trips to help people move (ex: helping will to Florida back in august) I ended up spending a few days in Findlay helping Wendy repack her things to a more condensed state of boxes :) just working my magic a little bit. I had a good, uneventful trip out to Utah with Wendy. Then I took another road trip with Marie and Megan up to Idaho. I had never had a tour of campus until I went with them. I figured why not, so much has changed since I was there last as a student. I guess that was my deciding day that I needed to apply to just take my last few classes at BYUI, right there on campus. I put it off for a few days. Making sure I really wanted to do it. So on a Wednesday I applied, on Thursday I got the acceptance email. Kind of shocking that it was that quick. Then I decided it wouldn't make much financial sense to take my flight back home when I would just need to come right back out here three weeks later. I cancelled my flight back home. My super cool aunt & uncle are letting me stay with them until I make it back up to Idaho. In the meantime...I went on another lil vacation road trip. Went down to Vegas with Holly & Ben and ended up staying a couple extra days with my old pageant friend Brittany. (Pageant=Hill cumorah, not todlers and tiaras) That trip is when I applied for a job in Idaho Falls. I just got back from Idaho today again. I went up for an interview. I got offered the job at yet again....another Massage Envy. So as soon as I get my license application in & I make it to rexburg the boss man will get me some orientation and put on the schedule to do massages. The same day I interviewed I signed a lease too. When I get back to town to start working I will have a place to live. Month to month lease. Part time students apparently aren't allowed to live in approved student housing. I was mad at first, but I think it will work out to my benefit anyway. So thats that. I could've put way more detail but I think this is almost to the point where it needs to be a chapter book.....and peace out....more to come later (as always) we just dont know how much later

Sometimes I have chill evenings with friends when the weather gets bad. We made homemade pizza then I helped rip some seams while Miranda cut squares for a quilt. After we talked a few subjects into the ground we popped some popcorn and watched "I hate Valentines day". It was a way fun movie. When I got outside to my car it was frozen shut. I was just glad it was such a relaxed night.

I'll eventually have a better version of this photo, but I didn't want to let that stop me from sharing it. Everyone but Jordan. This was taken at Joe & Wendys house on Christmas day 2011. Talk abt a full home.

A highlight of my Sunday. This picture could say close to a thousand words. Justin and I went to see Jordan again today. Visiting hours 1-4. I'm always impressed that we get there promptly at 1. We signed ourselves in and busted out the cards to play a game of golf. I had never played but Justin taught us how. It went 9 rounds. Jordan won. Then they played some baseball dice and peg game. Seemed pretty intense. Somewhere in between we got cousin vinnys and had a lil chow fest. Delicious....and yet disgusting when I think how much nasty I just consumed. My body hates me for that kinda crap. I'm going to be better. The hat in the photo is a gift Jordan got from Alex. That girl is way too good to him. So that's how I spent a few hours of my day. I hope he learns how to be a better functioning citizen soon so he can get outta that half way house and get a job and take over my crap apartment
. I need to be a little more choosy next time. My furnace and stove broke this week. And neither got fixed in a timely manner. Sigh. I'm so glad I'm ending my weeks on Sunday. We had a CES fireside tonight. I watched at the gullion home and that chatted with my girls. They are refreshing to me. The end.

Today I got to spend some time with these lil rascals. I learn more about myself everytime I'm around them....because kids aren't shy about sharing what it is you look like or do that isn't normal to them. I won't share todays info, but on Christmas eve I took the girls to our family get together. On the way Jennifer told me that I don't have a family....then she just said, I need to find some kids. She paused then apparently changed her mind and told me I needed to find a daddy without a mommy & kids. Hahaha so there ya have it. Add that to my list of things to find this year. I'll be on the lookout... and should anyone else find one of those for me....just leave his name and number in the comment section :)

We all had dinner together and watched a movie in this comfy king size bed. The homemade quilts kept us warm n cozy. It's been too long since I got to spend time with my girls. And....bonus, it was a good movie.(Water for elephants)

Yesterday I went to lunch with Wendy & Holly & Ben. It's always fun to spend time with friends. We got to catch up with wedding stories from back in August when Holly & Ben got married. Then....

Prepare for change

I just wanted to post a couple pictures out of my folder of the last month. So much has happened in a month that it seems like there is no way I could possibly blog about it all. This was at the beginning of December. On the 3rd to be exact. I was asked to be a part of this musical presentation on the parable of the ten virgins. It sure was a roller coaster of emotions getting it all planned and carried out. It was a good experience when it was all said and done. I got to be the narrator and 10 other girls played the different parts of the different virgins. Lots of talent and hard work all came together. We had a pretty full gym. I think I could've done better, but its not broadway. Lets be honest, I haven't sang a solo in a really long time, so the fact that I got up in front of a lot of people and sang at least 3 solos. Hey, it was a leap. I got to think a lot about that parable too. Made me realize that I have so many areas in my life that I could be better prepared in. Got me thinking early on in December what I want to change in my life. So I started then on some things...others I still haven't gotten to. Baby steps. If there is one thing I'm not sure I'm prepared for, its change. Hmm, funny how that happens. Change. suggestions? how do you prepare for change? I've got a few ideas...and I'm starting on them now. Better get going so I can get to all the change that's happening this year. Hello January, nice to see you again.

set for our musical production of the parable of the 10 virgins