Christmas

So, can I just say how much I love decorating the inside of my house for Christmas. My family and I went out to the hills of Nevada and cut down trees, like we do every year and I got a beautiful, big tree. I could never do anything huge when I lived in my apartment. It smells so good and I'm loving having a big tree in my family room.

I have realized a lot how many people really expect you to buy them gifts for Christmas, even people that you really have no contact with. It kinda blows my mind to be honest with you. I am completely broke this year and haven't been able to do things like I've done in the past. Although Christmas will be small, its not the reason we celebrate it. The best gift of all has already been given to us through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christmas this year has been rough without my brother, Ethan, around. How much I miss that kid and can't wait for August to come, so we can play. We've also added a new member to our family this year and I'm wondering how he's going to feel about Christmas in my family. He tells us constantly that we're weird. Family dynamics are definitely different this year.

But, with everything else, I love this time of year, with the music, the cheerfulness of people, the love that seems to permeate everything. I love Christmas!!

I Need A Life!!

So, I have decided I need a life. Not sure what that entails right now, but its definitely time.

Pictures of my Sister :)

Here are some pictures from my sister's bridals. Hope you enjoy :)

She had her pictures taken at This is the Place :)

Life in General

I've been realizing that I don't have much going on in my life right now, but how truly blessed I am for everything I have been given and continue to receive daily.

I have such a wonderful family and have received my big brother (finally!!). My Dad just received a promotion at work and is actually working normal work hours. No more getting up at 4:30 a.m. for family prayer :) Mom continues to amaze me with all of her surgeries and family health problems, she continues to be the one that seems to hold us all together. Michelle and Joe are in la la land and I expect they will be for a while, but marriage has been good for both of them. Matt (aka "Fatty") is going to school full time and working as much as he can. He's dating lots of girls and enjoying life. Ethan is still serving his mission in the Washington Everett Mission. This kid is my hero. He is incredible and has grown so much on his mission. I miss him like crazy, but I have no complaints, because he's where he needs to be.

The new house is AWESOME!! I finally have most of the bugs worked out and most of the unpacking done. I'm loving my new house! I am still looking for a third roommate, which has been a difficult process, but I'm praying one comes.

I love my new ward! I think I pretty much have the best Bishop ever! He is different than any of the other bishops I've ever had. He takes the time to get to know you and he wants to be there to help in anyway. I currently have 3 callings in my ward. I'm the choir director, mingles committee chair and a member of the compassionate service committee. They are definitely keeping me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm growing and learning. My ward members are great to include and make sure everyone has someone to be with. No one sits alone in Sacrament meeting, which is such a wonderful way to engage people. Yes, I have been truly blessed with my ward.

Friends . . . not quite sure where to begin with this. I have so many marvelous friends in my life. I've decided that because I didn't have many friends growing up that my Heavenly Father finally took pity on me and gave me the best of friends. I couldn't begin to name everyone that has had such a positive impact on my life. I'm sure that if you're reading this blog, you are one of them and I thank you for allowing me to be your friend. I cherish my friendships because they seem hard to come by for me.

My job. Well, I've had quite the humbling experience with my job a couple of weeks ago and it taught me some valuable lessons. I hope that I never have to repeat those two weeks. I've learned that sometimes, you just can't say anything that will make things better for your employees. You can't be friends with your employees. You have to be the boss, a kind boss mind you, but not someone that your employees call and you hang out. I think the hardest part of my job is being a manager, but having employees older or the same age as me. I'm learning though and I pray that my Heavenly Father will continue to guide my hands on the best way to approach being "the boss."

I seriously love my roommate. I pray for her constantly and hope that she knows how much I love her. :)

That's my life in general. It comes with its ups and downs. Its happy and sad days, but I'm generally happy and am grateful. :)

Wedded Bliss!

No, its not my wedded bliss (who knows when that will happen), but my younger sister, Michelle, got married on Friday to a marvelous man named Joe.

It was a hectic week last week and I didn't get many pictures, but I'm hoping that as soon as I can, I'll post some pictures for your enjoyment.

Wednesday: Time for Bridals. Michelle and Joe wanted to wait for Joe to get here before they did Bridals. Well, after months of waiting for the visa, he got here the Thursday before the wedding. So, I was in charge of the makeup for my sister, so I left work early to head to my parents to get her makeup going. Michelle is one of those girls that just has such a natural beauty. I had a good time playing around with the makeup. We settled on a brown mid tone, a ivory highlight and a cranberry accent. It looked beautiful with her subtle red highlights in her hair and her fair skin and blue eyes. I think she got it all when it came to the gene pool :) After the bridals, we headed to her and Joe's apartment (my old apartment) to spray for spiders. That basement is notorious for spiders and not little ones. I hope we killed them off :)

Thursday: Whew! Where to begin? I took the day off of work and thank goodness I did. We started the day by decorating for the reception and getting things ready for the next day. I got to meet some very attractive British men and ride in cars with them. Note to all: British people drive on the wrong side of the car and will give you many scary moments, especially if its a truck and you're sitting in the back :) Once we got that done, I went home for a quick nap and then headed over to my parents to get my sister's dress clean. She had accidentally rubbed up against the car the day before and left a black mark on the front. Unfortunately, we couldn't dry clean the dress, so we scrubbed at it with baking soda and got most of it out. I was pretty proud of myself. Then I had the opportunity to hang out with the British Bachelor's and Claire for the Bachelor party. We went to Chili's for dinner and it was so fun. The waiter took good care of Joe when he found out he was getting married the next day. Joe ended up with two glasses of lemonade and proceeded to hold them up and proclaim "I love America!" It was awesome! After dinner, we headed home for some sleep. :)

Friday: The Big Day! I woke up when the alarm went off, but I think my roommate forgot to turn her alarm on, so I was running around trying to get showered and ready to head over to my friend, Angel's house for her to do my hair. I just didn't want to worry about it and Angel did a magnificent job. Then we headed off to the wedding lunch. We went to a place called Madeline's and it was so awesome! I just was so happy to see Michelle and Joe together and know that they made the right choice. Off to the wedding at the church. Michelle asked me to play the piano for the wedding ceremony itself and I was scared to death. I didn't want to screw anything up for her. I am happy to announce that the practicing paid off :) The wedding ceremony itself was very touching. I am so happy for the two of them. Then we had pictures and then the reception itself. It was pretty ordinary, until I had to run home and find the garter for Michelle. Found it just in time for me to catch the bouquet. Everyone keeps asking when its my turn, I keep telling them I don't know :) For the couple's first dance, Matt went and tapped on Joe's shoulder so Michelle and Matt started dancing with each other and then Joe and I started dancing. At this point, Joe looked at me and said that he feels like we're going to be good friends. It made me feel like a million bucks. Then I looked at Joe and said we should probably switch partners, Michelle overheard and she and I started dancing together and Matt and Joe started doing the cha cha. Joe fits right in :) Once the reception was over I took Joe and Michelle's gifts over to the apartment and then to their car. I kinda hid their car, but the British folk found it and wrote in soap on the windows and filled it completely with balloons. We got them on their way and they are now happily playing at Disneyland.

Its kinda weird to think that my sister is married, because its just been the four of us for so long. Its a happy union though and I'm thrilled to death that Michelle found someone that can make her happy. I'm also thrilled that Joe accepts me and wants to be a part of our family's life.

That's the wedding. As soon as I have pictures, I promise to post :)

New Adventures

Adventures are always fun and I'm always finding new ones to get myself involved in. This weeks adventures includes canning, yard work, and unpacking boxes.

First, canning. As a little girl, I used to help my Mom can peaches and other things from my Dad's extensive garden. I never really appreciated canning and the fact that you are able to store the food that you've worked all summer to grow. Now that I have a very large room (the pit of despair is what I like to call it) to store my food, I decided it would be a good idea to learn how to can and bottle food that we grow. I called my Mom up and she and I are going to attempt Salsa on Saturday. I'm grateful my Dad is letting me steal all of his tomatoes and peppers and onions out of his garden :) I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Second, yard work. As a first time home owner, I never really appreciated all of the hard work my Dad went through to have grass that you could lay in and watch the clouds. My yard was a mess when I moved in. There were definitely more weeds than grass and I was a little nervous because I swear that none of my other neighbors had any problems with weeds in their lawns. Well, I had a sprinkling system that came with the house that needed some TLC badly. Dad and I got that running, did Scott's Weed and Feed (which I swear by) and then I started working my 60-80 hours a week at work. So, my lawn looked good for a bit, but I've noticed the weeds are starting to try to take over the lawn again. So, I took initiative and went to Western Garden Center and bought some powerful weed and feed. I sprayed it last night and I'm supposed to water the lawn tonight. I hope it works :)

Third, unpacking. Well, amongst all the other fun things going on in my life, work, trying to date, yada, yada, I never really got to unpacking. Now that I'm not dating anyone and working normal hours at work, I finally get to unpack and organize my house. I'm actually really excited to get everything unpacked and get my house ready for my Dad to come and dedicate it. I feel that it needs to be as nice as possible before I dedicate it to my Heavenly Father. It's going to be awesome!

Thank goodness for some fun adventures :)

Life Changes

Well, lots has happened since my last post. So, here we go!!

I had one roommate move out and another one move in. My new roommate, Katie, is absolutely amazing! She's so helpful and kind. I love spending time with her and I'm truly grateful for the blessing she is in my life. Its amazing how when you put your trust in the Lord, he'll make sure that you're taken care of :)

Work has been insane like usual. We actually have a deadline for the first time ever in our 124 year history. We are pushing our cap and I'm denying people. Its actually been very hard for me. I had such a wonderful experience here and hate knowing that I'm turning people away that could have that same opportunity. I just pray that the Lord will guide my hand to find those people that need to be here.

Things with the house are going good. I just wish I was home more to enjoy it. I'm hoping to get off early today to mow my lawn. Its growing super long! Never realized how much work a house was, but I feel the effort is worth it. I love seeing the house that was ready to fall apart take on a character of its own and thrive. Its been wonderful :)

Its been a busy couple of months, but life is good :)

Pictures

So, I know you've all been waiting for this, but I finally have some pictures of the house. Its been a work in progress and I'm still unpacking and finding places to put things. I didn't realize at the time, but this house has absolutely no closet space. So, hopefully I can fix that in the next couple of years, but for now, don't look at the boxes and mess :)

This is my living room/music room. Its so nice to have my piano in my own house that I can play anytime I want.

This is my kitchen. I had to replace the cabinets on top and will hopefully be able to replace the cabinets on the bottom, eventually :)

This is the outside of the house. I just got the siding put up and it looks like a brand new house.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures :)

Plumbing Woes

So, I know I've been talking a lot about the house and all its problems. But, hopefully, this is the last one in a very long time. So, apparently, if the house is vacant for a while, it can cause your sewer drain to clog up. Tuesday night, after getting all of the other plumbing fixed in my two sinks, my toilet started making a funny gurgling sound. I walked downstairs and found that my feet were suddenly wet from water in my carpet. The drain had apparently backed up and I had a good inch of water on the floor. Thank goodness my friend, Scott was there, to help me get the carpet lifted and fans on it. So, phone call to the rooter place. I found a place that actually was much cheaper than most and he did an excellent job. So, plumbing woes should probably be done for now. Now to get the carpet dried. Its still not dry after 3 days of fans on it. Maybe I should break down and rent a rug doctor :)

Just when I thought nothing else could go wrong . . .

It always does!!! So, if I didn't know that buying this house was the absolutely best decision, I would tell everyone I know not to get sucked into it.

This house of mine was a foreclosure. It had a lot of work that had to be done, but no problem. I know lots of people that can help me fix things. Well, before I could close, I ended up paying $3,200 for repairs so I could actually get a home loan. Ridiculous, you say? I thought so, until I started working on the house. I had to paint the whole house, rip out kitchen cabinets, get rid of the dandelions and morning glory growing in my lawn and other places. The air conditioning wouldn't work. It was $300 to get the electrical wiring redone to it. Apparently all of the electrical wires were cut. I have to get new siding on the house to replace the rotting wood before winter sets in. So, two months and almost $9,000 later, I'm moved in. Still some work to do, like the fact that I only have one sink working in the whole house and you can only get hot water out of that sink. I have a friend that will be finishing up the kitchen sink and fixing the upstairs bathroom sink.

All I can say is, thank goodness all of this is almost over. I would like to not be so exhausted and sore anymore :)

I'm sorry about the lack of pictures. I've definitely been slacking. When all is moved in and settled, I'll post pictures :)

It's Mine, its finally mine!!!

Pictures to come!

The End

New House Continued

I've decided that things that are worthwhile are as such because you have to work really hard to get them. There have been so many complications, costs and such in regards to me buying this house. I still feel good about it, but I'm kinda wishing I had a rich uncle who would just take care of it all for me and allow me to just breeze through the process, but alas, no such luck for me.

On Tuesday, we rescheduled the appraiser to come and look at it and verify that the work had been done that needed to before we could close. Well, the report came back and stated that none of the electrical work that needed to be done in the basement was done, so he couldn't give us clearance to close. In talking with my contractor, he wasn't even aware that work needed to be done in the basement. It was going to cost an additional $215 to get all of that done. No problem, my realtor stated that we were going to pursue the sellers to see if they would reimburse me for the $1,400 I already paid to get some of that work done. Well, my realtor got back to me last night and its a no go. They offered the $500 towards repairs when we went under contract and they will not go anymore. So, as I'm figuring out how to go ahead with all of this, my contractor called. He was feeling really bad that he missed the work, so he went ahead and did it because he was sure the seller would be paying for the work. Alas, so I have to pay him the $215 and then we'll be able to reschedule the appraiser, get the final inspection done, and hopefully close on the house.

So, that's the up to date version of my house purchasing woes. I have to keep smiling or else I think I would cry :)

New House

So, I did it! I'm in the process of buying a house. Its such a huge process and has cost me around $4,000 already and I haven't even closed on it yet. The house is a foreclosure house and the people beat it up pretty badly before they left. When the appraiser went to look at it, there were a few repairs that had to be made before they would even consider closing on the house. So, here we go!! We got all the electrical back up to code, replaced the kitchen floor, patched up the 20 + holes in the walls, replaced most of the doors because they had holes in them, had to paint some wood and the likes of all of that. Needless to say, I'm really stressed out about the whole thing because I am buying a house and that makes it hard to spend money on anything else, especially if you don't have it.

Well, last night, I was talking to one of my best friends about all of the stress and angst over this whole process and she asked me if I'd had a blessing. I hadn't even thought about it. (I know, awful, eh?) I went over to her parent's house and received a beautiful blessing from her father and am feeling peace over the whole process. I know this is the right decision and I didn't make it blindly. How grateful I am for the Priesthood and the blessing it is in my life.

So, alas, we are proceeding and it'll be awesome when I finally get everything taken care of. It's a big enough house that when/if I get married and have my family, I truly will never have to move. Here we go, off to another great adventure in the life of Dawn :)

Big Decisions

So, lately in my life, I've decided to make some pretty big decisions. Sometimes I wonder how my decisions will affect my life for the positive or negative.

I made a decision about men a while back, and I'm still feeling good about the decision. I tried the online dating scene for a bit, but after some creepy guys emailing me and asking me out, I decided I was done on there forever. But through this process, I realized that I really was tired of pursuing men. It seems if I ever wanted to go on a date or my married friends wanted to do something, I was always asking the guys out. So, I decided that I was tired of pursuing, but instead wanted to be pursued. I'm not quitting dating altogether, although with my dating experience, it may look that way. I just feel like if a guy wants to go out with me, he can call me and ask me.

I've also been toying around with the decision to purchase a house. Its such a good time right now to do so and now that I'm mostly out of debt, I'm considering taking a huge leap of faith. I will be making a 30 year commitment. I've prayed about the decision and feel good about it. I'm hoping to find some roommates that can help me if I get into a house.

I've also been toying around with getting a second job to help supplement my income. I love my job at LDSBC and I love teaching piano, but I'm thinking another steady job to help me put money away into savings for a rainy day would be good. I'm single right now, so why not. Its an interesting idea for me to think about.

So, with all the big decisions I'm making, I'm hoping that they are the right ones. Things will work out for the best, I know they will. Now for that leap of faith . . . sometimes the first step is the scariest. Wish me luck!

Family and Friends

This last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with two of my very best friends, Cynthia and Kalon (aka KC) and their family. Cynthia has been telling me for quite some time that her family loved me as their own and I was basically adopted as one of them. I never quite believed her, but I have come to realize that I'm truly a part of the Evenson family and I love it. Its so nice to get to spend time with them and I have come to love them as my own family. We had quite a lot of adventures this week.

Last Friday, I went over to Elly's house (Elly is Cynthia's older sister and I love her dearly) and taught her how to make baby receiving blankets. I had to get four blankets sewn for two baby showers I had the next day, and Elly was so nice to help me out to get them laid out, pinned up and ironed. All I had to do was the sewing, which is my favorite part :) I had such a blast and am looking forward to many more sewing/play dates with her.

Saturday morning, I woke up to dark clouds in the west, KC and I were determined to go to the zoo. So, we hopped in the Moose and drove up to Hogle Zoo for a fun time. It was pretty chilly up there, but the animals were really active. I even saw the Cheetah attack a magpie for trying to eat its meal. It was awesome!! Once we decided it was time to go, the snow started falling. Wouldn't you know? So, we headed back for home. Then we had dinner and got to play Chippy Chasers. Chippy Chasers is an awesome game that KC came up with. I'm getting my very own copy soon and I can't wait! I love it!

Sunday and Monday were normal days. I was released from the FHE Committee Chairman position, so I decided to skip out and I rejoined Weight Watchers. I'm so committed to losing this weight. I bought a pedometer and plan on going for lots of walks and I'll be skinny for my sister's wedding :)

Tuesday, I went over to the Evenson's for dinner and play time. I always have such a great time with the family, so it was an enjoyable time.

Wednesday, I had the awesome opportunity to go to the temple with the Evenson Clan. Caleb is getting ready to leave on his mission to Japan, so he was able to receive his Endowment. I love the temple so much and it was awesome to be there. I was honored that Caleb asked me to be there. During the session, I had the opportunity to sit between Elly and Cynthia, and as we were getting ready to leave the temple, there were numerous comments on how the three of us could be sisters. I won't complain. I love them both dearly and would be honored to call them my sisters. After the temple, we were going to go to the Mexican restaurant, Rafael's, but it had closed early, so we ended up going to Chili's for some family fun. I really love this family!

Thursday, KC, Roo, Caleb, Mariah and myself headed to Braza grill. Its a Brazilian restaurant with some amazing food and Guarana on tap. For those of you that have no clue what Guarana is, its a delectable drink and I would recommend it to anyone. Then we went for a walk next to the Jordan River and had a great time.

Friday, I took the day off and cleaned my house and got laundry done. I'm a bit OCD about my house being clean and it was driving me crazy. It was nice to get it clean.

Saturday, it was time to head back up to Logan and take KC back. Roo and I went and picked them up and kidnapped Mariah and made her come with us. It was so much fun. We went for a walk next to the Bear River and saw wild turkeys, some rodents, but my favorite of all, we saw a Great Horned Owl. I think they are such beautiful creatures. Then we went to Gossner's and got cheese, then off to get Aggie Ice Cream, then we made some homemade pizza. KC is brilliant when it comes to making pizza. It was an enjoyable time for all, but alas, it was time for us to leave. Its always so hard to leave KC behind, but we only have 7 weeks until they are done with the semester. On the way down from Logan, Mariah and I had the opportunity to talk school. I really hope she decides to come to LDSBC. The College is marvelous and I think she's have a great experience here. Once we got home, we headed to Elly's for games and socializing. I headed home early because I was exhausted, but had a wonderful time.

I love spending time with the Evenson's and Lauber's. I'm looking forward to many more opportunities to spend time with them. Thanks for adopting me into your family. Its an honor and I love you all!!

Huzzah!!!

Well, as I had said in other posts, I have a disease called Hypothyroidism. It takes its toll but its a manageable disease. I take a pill every morning that allows me to function throughout the day. Well, in the last three months or so, I started putting on the weight that I have been working so hard to lose, suffering from depression, utter exhaustion and a bunch of other things. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I was doing everything I was supposed to, eating right, exercising, going to bed at 9 p.m. so I could get up at 5 a.m. It was maddening!

Needless to say, I turned to the Internet to see what people's thoughts were in regards to losing weight with they hypothyroidism, because I wanted to lose weight for my sister's wedding and all I was doing was gaining weight. I noticed a trend with symptoms of people suffering from the disease, like weight gain, depression, etc. etc. So, I finally called my doctor because I was being awful, I felt awful and I knew that people around me wanted nothing to do with me.

I went in last week and met with the doctor and got some blood work done, and huzzah, my thyroid medication had indeed quit working for me. I had been on the same dosage of the meds since I was diagnosed three years ago. So, they have me on a new dosage and I can't begin to tell you how wonderful I feel. I am so grateful for modern medicine that has helped me feel like a million bucks. Now, I'm off to the struggle of losing the weight again. It is a harder process for me because of this disease, but I think I'm up to the challenge. :)

Long weekends are the best!

This weekend was a ton of fun. It started out with me working from home on Friday. I've been having some health issues of late and can't seem to function properly, so my boss allowed me to get my work done from home. I got more accomplished in three and a half hours than I got done in two weeks.

Friday night, I went to my friend, Jennifer's house for a girl's night party. We had tons of food and we watched "I Hate Valentine's Day." It was actually a really cute movie. None of us ladies had a Valentine this year, so it was a fitting movie. :)

Saturday, I went up to Logan to see two of my dearest friends, Cynthia and Kalon. These two are such awesome people. Cynthia has helped me through some rough patches in my life, especially the health issues one that I'm dealing with right now. Her brother, Caleb and I headed off early in the morning, only after I got my awesome new apron (Thanks Elly!). Caleb and I actually had an enjoyable visit all the way up. When we got up there, we, of course, had to go by Gossner Foods so I could get me some cheese. I'm so addicted to cheese. Then we ran off to Lee's, a local grocery store, to get Cynthia and Kalon's shopping done. While there, we found Guarana and I had to buy some for our homemade pizza later that day. Then we headed back to their apartment, where Kalon, the master chef, made us Chicken Parmesan. Then we headed up a canyon to Hardware Ranch. For all of you who don't know what Hardware Ranch is, its like a winter camp for a herd of Elk. We got to ride on a wagon right among the herd. I hope you enjoy the pictures :)

This is the view from the top of the hill

Cynthia and Kalon

Cynthia and Me

A bunch of the herd

After that, we went and got Aggie Ice Cream. I have to say that I'm a huge fan. I got their chocolate almond, two of my favorite things in a waffle cone. :) Then we headed back home to play Chippy Chasers and get ready for some homemade pizza.

After pizza, we played some more games and then we headed home. Caleb had some awesome music and I have an awesome stereo in my vehicle, so we had another party on the way home. (Actually, Caleb was doing his civic duty and was trying to keep me awake)

Sunday was actually an okay day. It was Valentine's Day and it really holds no significance to me, it really never has, so I just went to church and then went home and sewed.

Monday was the day I went to the doctor to hopefully help figure out what's really wrong with me. I get my blood work done today and I'm hoping that it'll be something that they can fix. Then I went to FHE with my old branch. There was an Afghanistan War Veteran there and spoke to us about what's happening there and the people there. It helped me remember how grateful I should be to be born into the United States of America. It also reminded me that everyone in this world is my brother and sister and I need to be better to make sure that I treat everyone as such.

What a wonderful weekend!!

This last weekend was one of the best I've had in a long time.

Friday night, I went to my friend, Jennifer's house and made homemade macaroni and cheese for the two of us, we went and played games and Jalene's (a new gal in my ward who'd pretty much awesome) house and then I got to sewing my baby presents I'm making.

Saturday morning was my little friend, Rosie's baptism. Her mom, Angel, is one of my very dearest friends. I love participating in baptisms because it reminds me of the covenants I made and how very grateful I am for them. After the baptism, we had a luncheon for Rosie and I got to meet a lot of Chris and Angel's family and friends. I am so grateful for Angel's friendship and the opportunities she gives me to be a part of her family :)

After the luncheon, I went home and got back to work with the sewing machine. I'm absolutely in love with sewing right now. I've been making quilts, baby blankets, and pillows. So, I put in some movies and got to work on my project. It only took 5 hours, and I'm not quite done, but I got a lot accomplished.

Saturday night, I got to see one of my very best friends, Cynthia and her husband, Kalon, who came down from Logan for a baby blessing. I love this family and they have officially adopted me as one of their own. We played games and just had a grand ol' time. I need to go over and spend more time with them. They make me happy :)

Sunday morning was little Timothy's blessing. Timothy belongs to my friends, Matt and Elly, who also happen to be related to Cynthia and Kalon, so they're pretty much family :) Going to a singles ward, I don't get many opportunities to experience baby blessings. It was a beautiful blessing. I love holding baby Timothy and realizing where he came from and what a valiant spirit he must have to come into the world at this time. Its also so nice knowing that he was born into a home where the Gospel is lived. I am so excited to see where this little guy goes in his life. After the baby blessing, we went to Matt and Elly's for a potato bar. It was so good to be surrounded by people that just love one another. I had such a great time!

Sunday night, we celebrated my sister, Michelle's 25th birthday. We just did the normal, cake and ice cream and presents. I absolutely love my sister and I'm so excited for all of the adventures she's about to embark on. :)

So, with all of that said, I could really use another day to get my laundry and my house work done, but I wouldn't trade any of it away.

Suffering from Hypothyroidism

Many of you may not know, but I have been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism about 4 years ago and have been suffering the effects of this disease. I didn't realize how much your Thyroid and the TSH hormones did in the human body. Because of this disease, I have a much lower metabolism (through the floor actually), I get cold easily, and I can't take off weight as easily as most people can.

I joined Weight Watchers about 2 years ago and I absolutely love their program of making good eating choices and physical activity. I did really well with their program and took off 25 pounds in about a years time. Although I never changed my eating habits, or my physical activity habits, I have put all of that weight back on.

The reason for this post is to ask any of you if you may know of things that will help me get my disease in better control and that will help me through my journey of weight loss and combating my disease.

The end of January

Does anyone else feel like time is flying? Time is sure flying for me and on this day, as I reflect what I've done in January, I wonder sometimes what else life has for me. I'm grateful nothing serious is truly happening. Sometimes no news is good news, but I also wonder if I'm ever going to feel like I am accomplishing something marvelous. I have worked at LDSBC now for coming up on 6 years and a couple of weeks ago, my boss pulled me aside and said things that I am trying to take as constructive criticism, but am wondering if I'm actually doing all that I need to there. Most of my dearest friends are dating someone, engaged or married and having families and I wonder if I'm supposed to be on the sidelines cheering everyone on while they seem to be able to move on with their lives. My ward is wonderful, but I'm not feeling like I'm growing at all. I feel like in my callings that I'm alone and there is no one to help me accomplish them. I'm trying to involve everyone, but their willingness to help is greatly lacking. I have wondered what else I should be doing to make me feel like I make a difference in this world, with family, with friends, but I've had a lot of questions this last month wondering what I could do more. Life is truly a blessing and I'm grateful for all I have learned and all that I have been blessed with. The Lord truly does take care of us and is mindful of us. I guess we all land in ruts and I think my rut is full of really sticky mud and I'm not moving much at this point in my life. Hopefully my 4 wheel drive will kick into action soon :)

Questions & Answers

So, my younger sister, Michelle, is engaged to be married to a wonderful man and we are thrilled to death that she has found someone so wonderful! The fun part is that Joe is actually older than I am, so I'm finally getting the big brother that I've always wanted. Joe is the baby of his family, so he's pretty excited to be my big brother. Hopefully, I don't make him regret it. When I found out that Michelle was getting married, it was a rough couple of days for me. I'm the oldest, I should be getting married first, right? Well, I realized how completely selfish I was and I needed to be happy for my sister. So, here we go for the adventure of planning a wedding. Joe is British, so we're going to try to figure out the Visa stuff (fun, eh?) and get them married on October 15, in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I am so excited for the two of them. They are really a sweet couple and when my time comes, I'll be ready for it. :) Here's a picture of the happy couple for you to enjoy!

Life in General

So, sometimes I wonder why I keep a blog, because I live a very boring life and really don't have much to say to anyone. I had a wonderful Christmas with my parents and my brother. One brother is on his mission in Washington state and my sister was in London with her boyfriend, now fiancee. I figure I'll just post pictures and tell you what they are. Sorry to take so long to blog.

This is the quilt that I made for my parents for Christmas. Its called "Trip Around the World." It was so much fun to make but even more fun to see their expressions when they opened it up :)

One of my dearest friends, Michelle, got married in October. We all have people in our lives that change us for the better. Michelle is one of those people for me. She's always been an example of Christ-like love and patience. I was so happy for her when she met her sweetheart and wish them an eternity of happiness :)

This is one of my best friends, Cynthia. Every time I go up to her house in Logan, she always makes this incredible homemade pizza. I love her dearly and get to visit her tomorrow. I'm stoked :)

This is the beautiful Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I had the opportunity to receive my endowments in this temple and went again on Wednesday. Sometimes, my life seems to be falling apart and I'm not sure how to deal with it or how to succeed, spending time inside the walls of the temple always seems to make life livable again.

I'm sorry for the random post, but when something exciting happens with me, I'll be sure to post again.