Dancin in the Rain

I sort of moved.

2011-11-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Well as you can tell I don't do a good job at keeping up this blog. :-( But so far I am doing a good job at keeping up my new blog. It is over here. So all you family members. If you have been wondering what I have been up to just go on over.

Love,

Me

Zumba

2011-08-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well, my Fella and I are having a good time. We just had a good little vacation and now am getting back to reality (School and Work). My life has been full of fun things recently. One of the reasons is that I get to help plan the Reliefsociety meetings. July was health night. We had a Zumba instructor come teach us for 15 minuets. Then we got healthy smoothie recipes and had samples of them all for refreshments. We also formed exercises groups so we can have workout buddies. Can I just say that zumba is awesome. I HATE to work out but zumba was actually fun. A group of us girls are going to start taking a zumba class during the week. Yea! For those of you who have a hand in planning activities for a group of adult women I highly recommend this for an activity. It was probably the highest turnout we have had. People even brought friends (wich we were more than happy to have) and we danced and giggled as we all enjoyed trying to imitate the moves being taught to us. It was definitely a success.

Garden Ridge

2011-06-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

So I found this store through a post of a blog and so on and so forth. From what I can tell it is a ginormous home decor store full of all sorts of things for your home. Like three big rows of decor pillows.

Unfortunately this store is only located in the south. WHAT!?! Don't they know that Utah is the crafting capital of the world!?! Well I guess it is a home decor store so technically we don't have the claim to that one.

Anyways, for all of you people in the south (like some of my family members) you should check out this blog post about this store and then go to this page to see where they are located.

Whare to get the chair

2011-05-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

I think I found that chair at crate and barrel. It was about $900. EEE!!!! However, Target has this chair.

Now, Chocolate brown is not the color we are going for in that room, but it is only about $70. Plus their is a Target in your town so they might have it or be able to get it in for you without charging you shipping. Unfortunately you will have to upholster this beauty but I bet you could do that for less than $200 plus the price of fabric which would still leave you at less then half the cost of the chair I showed you for an example.

Good luck.

Rissa

Amber Living room option 1

2011-05-25T11:12:00.001-07:00

Hello This is for my sister Amber who asked me to come up with decor idea for her new living room.

DON'T BE ALARMED!! I know I used gold picture frames but small amounts of ornate gold accents are in style. The plus side to this is that most of the world has not caught on to this so you can find them on clearance and in garage sales. Happy bargain shopping!

Now I know that the flowers on those pillows are rust colored, but did you know that real rust also comes in blue too? At least the picture I saw that said it was rust so we are going to roll with that. Copper could also work here so you choose. I recommend that you use this as an anchor color to bring warmth to your room and bring it down to earth through pillows and a throw to go on your couch and chair.

Now that blue that I mentioned. I am thinking egg shell blue. The color that mom likes so much. If you can't find a slip cover in it then go ahead and accessorize your couch in with two rust pillows, but about 4 egg shell blue pillows as well and skip the slip cover.

Onto chairs. I love the design of this chair. It has simple clean lines. While you could go for something more ornate I like this one. I recommend that you use a fun fabric that is mostly a cheerful yellow. A bold floral design could make it feel more homey where the one I chose has more of an airy feel to it.

Coffee table. I was trying to find one like mom's (which would work) but I like this one even better as the wood seems slightly rugged and therefore more earthy and inviting. When picking this one out remember that this piece should NOT be painted. You might have to stain a piece but you are going for wood here.

Plant. I like this plant because it reminds me of the tropics but even better than that is the fact that the leaves are different colors.

Last but not least, the lamp. I say get a solid ceramic egg shell blue like the one above.

That is everything unless you want a rug. If you do let me know and I will tell you my thoughts. I can come up with more ideas if you would like. Let me know what you think.

Hugs,
Me

This Week

2011-04-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

This week I am,

Feeding the Sister missionarys
Going to an Easter dinner with new found friends
Preparing the house to receive the wonderful Vanessa in a few days
Hopefully seeing an old Roommate
Going to Utah

It is going to a great week

My New City

2011-04-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here are 5 things I like about my new city.

1.There is a market every week with lots of yummy things to try.
2. I can see glimpses of the ocean through my windows.
3. There are lots of fun little shops and eateries near by.
4. I found a little grocery store that reminds me of a place my grandma use to shop at frequently while I was little.
5. I can drive 5 minuets one way and be by sky scrapers or I can drive 5 minuets the other way and be surrounded by trees.

2011-04-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well world, the semester is almost over. Onto the loveliness (and warmth) of summer So what am I doing this summer. Well, I am going to try to decorate my lovely little apartment, take an online class, enjoy the weather and the ocean, have visitors and write a story. Now I just need to pick one to focus on. Decisions Decisions.

Parts of my new home remind me of Australia. Maybe its just the twisted old tree I can see outside my living room window.

Exciting!

2011-03-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs some excitement in their life. I think that it should be an almost daily thing. It doesn't have to be a big thing it just has to be a "OH YEA!" thing.

These are 10 things that I get excited over. They aren't in any order and some aren't even my top 10.

1. A sugary treat (lemon bars, cupcakes, Daddy N's pumpkin pie, Mum's molasses cookies)
2. A LDS based conference of sorts (General Conference, Women Conference, EFY)
3. Anything that my sister or mom makes
4. Trips (especially when they involve family, the ocean, a new place, a familair place I haven't been to in a while or a foreign country)
5. Eating out
6. Hugs from Super S
7. Seeing little people (anyone under the age of 8, which makes shopping at a busy time great)
8. When Brett comes home from work (I even did this when we were just friends)
9. Christmas
10. Changes in the weather (it changes my wardrobe options)

Whats great is that today will probably include four of those things. I just have to plan it so that I visit my sister when she is cooking. :)

Cardigans!

2011-03-04T09:20:00.000-08:00

I recently heard about a place that sells a plethora of cardigans. The place is LOVEculture. Not only do they have a plethora of options but they are inexpensive. Since they are inexpensive AND I am moving to a new city in a new state, I decided that I could splurge and get one. Now I just have to decide which one.

Owl

2011-02-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

I have this thing for owls. A few years ago I made owl stationary with some card stocks and my mothers stamps. Just recently I found this necklace at the Etsy shop Melmic. It is on sale for $5. I like it but I am not going to buy it because I am on a budget. But I think that someone should. After all, its a wise old owl.

2011-02-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

SNOW is falling all around,
on the house tops, on the ground,

SNOW is falling every where,
on my head and hands and hair.

I don't know who wrote that song but we sang it in primary ( primary: a class where LDS children sing songs and learn about the basic principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ)

Just so you know, it also snows in you car if it is really powdery and your AC is accidentally set to bring in the air from out side. It is not much but is still a weird thing when you are driving.

Happy February.

MyTemple

2011-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday Brett got time of so I could come see him. We drove up to Mesa and he took me to the temple. I love seeing the temple but I especially like to see this one because it is my childhood temple. I have visited it many times to see the Christmas lights, Easter pageants, to go inside and just as a little girls whose father took her to get ice cream and walk around the temple. I am so glad that there is peace there and that my family has taught me the importance of the temple.

School!!!

2011-01-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

School has started again and even though this means that my life will suddenly be full of deadlines it also means that I get to take my creative writing class. Yea!!!! Of course I am excited for my education class too. And since I happen to be lucky enough to live by my school for part of this semester I even get to attend my classes in person until I move away. Thank you community colleges across the United States for being flexible.

Eccentric Lady

2011-01-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

When I get older I want to be the eccentric lady that lives down the street.

I want my house to be the the colorful one that always has kids and teenager running in and out of it. Not only my kids but my kids friends too and the neighbor kids that just like hanging there because there is something to do. I want there to be a plethora of craft supplies, games and books. Snacks and baked goods should be abounding on the kitchen counter. There will be rooms in my house that will never seem to be clean. My backyard will have various contraptions and forts that will make it necessary for people to sign a waver before they can go in my backyard.

I am going to wear colorful and some times ridiculous clothing that may not be very functional for certain mom doing responsibilities. Like fancy clothes to a soccer game just for kicks. I am going to have delivered a baked good to every sister on the ward roster if I have lived in the ward for more than a year.

Its going to be great.

2010-12-01T06:09:00.000-08:00

This is going to be my Christmas tree (well something like it) until Brett gets home for the Christmas holiday.

I found this tree on Friis and Company. They are a bunch of girls that are "fashionistas". I found this image through google. I had never been to their sight before but the little bit I saw looked like they had fun.

When Brett gets home we are going on a date to get a "REAL Christmas tree". He said that growing up he loved getting to pick out a Christmas tree with his family so we are going to do it too. He just doesn't know it yet. This (and hot chocolate with LOTS of marshmallows) is his surprise date (.......I don't even know if he likes hot chocolate.......maybe he will drink eggnog instead.)

Moving Out

2010-10-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Part of getting married is officially moving out. True When we got married Brett had to temperaraly deposit most of his things at his parents house (we will be getting all of his stuff when we move to CA). I on the other hand have been trying to get rid of the momentums of my childhood that I have clung to. Can you beleave that when my parents moved to TX all those years ago that I never bothered to unpack. I get to now though and it is proving such a task. Lucky me The Nester is having a 31 days to a less messy nest blog run. This post is going to be a great thing for me. And I get to put it to action as soon as I find my apartment. YEA!!!!

Dealing With White

2010-10-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

I love color!!! Color creates a happy, energized mood. I want it in my home. ALL OVER!!!!

Problem. I will not be living in one place for a LONG time. This means that I am destined to live with white walls. So whats a girl to do? Well I have noticed a trend in the Australian Blogs I read. Those Aussies are Brilliant when it comes to decorating with white walls. The walls may be white but everything else is full of color.

This is a picture (and the two bellow) I found over at Absolutely Beautiful things. she has a decorating store called Black and Spiro. It is located in Brisbane. The next time I go to Australia I want to stop over and have a look. One of the things that I love about this picture is that I can paint wall art like that and I have all the things to do it.

The blue shutters are a little much for me. I would paint them a different color, but you get the idea. Speaking of shutters my mom, sister and I have a plan for some shudders that are going to go in out homes. I think I have picked a color for mine.....I guess I should pick a home for it to be in too. Hmmmmmm. We will see.

Halloween Card

2010-10-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is the card I made for Halloween. I think that it is cute. I cut the tree out myself with Bee Scissors. They are great for tight places.

Mommy Practice.

2010-09-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

My Mom has headed to Oregon to see family. She left me with Miss Lou (10) and S(6). This morning they got dressed with almost no hassle except that S was saddened by the salt in his eggs. Oh well. On the way to school I asked them if they had remembered to bring this or that. Sometimes they get annoyed with all of my questions so I decided to ask them if they had remembered to bring their brains. It worked and they joked about it the rest of the way to school. I am so glad my mom taught them to be silly.
One other thing that was cute in the car ride to school. S and Miss Lou play this game where if you see a yellow car you say bingo and you get a point. Brett and I play this game too only we trade our points in for kisses. So today I saw a car that S normally gets parked on the side of the road and called it for bingo (how was I supposed to know he normally gets that one). He handled it great though. Instead of pouting and saying "that's mine" he asked "do you want to trade it in for a kiss?" Of course I said yes and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Then he says "Bingo!! When you trade it in I can have it." Its nice of him to let me know these new rules.

An Unplanned Visit

2010-09-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

On my way to AZ my tire went flat. This caused a three hour delay in my journey. As a result I was to tired to drive all the way so I stopped off at my cousin Kourtney's for the night. It was great to see her. This was great. I got there about midnight and we stayed up even latter unpacking her new apartment an talking. In the morning we did our hair and talked some more. Out of all the girl cousins that I have on my Mom's side Kourtney is closet to my age. I also got to spend allot of time with her growing up because we lived in the same city. In fact I saw her almost every day at one point. Kourtney has always been a great cousin to me. Sometimes when all of us girls were playing I would get locked out of the room. Kourtney always came and unlocked the door for me so I could play too. Now she is a great cousin to me for other reason. She has a great testimony and knows how to tackle life. She has a good attitude of just do it when it comes to the sometimes unpleasant things of life. It has always motivated me to get over my emotions and get things done.

Cousins make great friends because you get to keep them forever.

I love you Kort.

Going to the Temple and We're Going to Get Married

2010-08-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

We did it!

On the 20th of July Brett and I were sealed for time and ETERNITY in the beautiful Manti temple. It was a bit of a drive but well worth it. We were also blessed that so many loved ones were able to make it.

Here are some pictures celebrating the day. They were taken by the talented Mindy Kidd.

Busy Two Weeks

2010-06-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard I started EFY as a counselor again. This year they even decided to pay me. That is a pleasant bonus. My first week started the last Monday of May. It was held in Montpelier Idaho. It was great. The spirit was strong and I enjoyed it. During this week I also go to stay with a host family. Im this family there were five young kids aging form 12 to 3 or 4. They were so so wonderful. I think they are one of the greatest families in the world. This is greatly due to the parents. Some things that stood out about them.

1. They are easy going and open.
2. They are kind and patient (this was greatly displayed when dealing with their kids at the breakfast table)
3. They are giving and they truly care.
They delight in the joys and successes of others and feel sorrow and concern for them as well.

I could go on but the goal is to keep this short so I will get some sleep tonight.
Anyways, I was so exhausted from EFY that I got sick and spent all Sunday morning throwing up. As a result EFY decided that it would be better to stay home this last week.

Lucky me because I ended up getting engaged this last week.

The wedding is set for July 20th. We are going to be married in the temple for time and all eternity. I will try to post more soon.

Good night.

Temple

2010-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Lucky me. I got to be in Arizona for this the Gila Valley Temple dedication. Since they opened the local chapels to the dedication yesterday I got to listen in. It was such a privilege.

What really drove it home for me was that night when I was doing genealogy work. My dad pulled out some family history stories. The one I read was the story of a lady who settled Australia. She was a true pioneer. She closes her history saying this.

"The arrival of the fortnightly mail always brought the longing for the home folks left behind....I had always looked forward to the time when we should come away from the bush, and letters to and from ones family would not be so vital, but that time has never come in my life, for though I have come down to more civilised country (she moved to Brisbane towards the end of her life) the old folk, alas, have passed on, and the young ones have their homes as far away as I was, an so it goes on. I am still away from it all, but I am still living at the beginning of things."

Because of temples like the Gila Valley, my ancestors get to have eternal families even though that was not available to them in there life. I am glad that and thankful that this lady will get to be with her family forever.

A lesson from the Olympics

2010-02-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

I have herd many things on confidence lately. Apparently it is very important and can make all the difference in the level of success you have. However, I have never seen it in such outright performance as I did while watching a snowboarding event in the Olympics. It was the one where they go down a half pipe and do all sorts of tricks. For those of you who don't know they get two runs and then their best run is there score. This guy was the last to go. No one had beaten his score so he already knew that he had the gold. He already knew that he was good enough. However he still had one run left so off he went. He decided to do one of the most difficult tricks on this run. It is important to have good speed going into this trick so you will go up high enough and therefore have enough time to pull off the trick. He didn't have allot of speed/momentum going into it because of the previous trick he had just done (so the announcer said) however he still pulled off the trick. I'm pretty sure that the snowboarder knew that he was not going into the trick well but he decided to do it anyway. Why because he had the confidence that it would be ok. He already knew that he had won gold and that he has great capabilities. You know what happened, he pulled of the trick and improved his score by like two points. Hows that for the importance of confidence.

A I wrote that I thought this. We are just like that in life. We have two runs. The first was the in the preexistence and we won gold. Now we are on our second run. Yes, there are times that it looks like the odds are against when we go into things or it may seem that we didn't quite do so well in preparation for our next attempt in life. But we already know the out come. We already know that if we do our best we will win gold again because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Therefore we can go forward with confidence.

Loved

2010-02-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been sort of crummy. Actually January was sort of a bu....um, that's a bad word to my Australian family...... Well just say it wasn't full of sunshine. Just some frustrating things. This week was much better though. It is because of the little things. For example,

My sister posted a funny picture of my nephew on her blog. It made me laugh.

While cleaning I came across a list of talents I posses that I had started that my TX Dad finished. I had written it so I would work on developing those talents but because he added to it it made me feel appreciated as a person and like I have something to offer.

I got a fun package from my Mom.

My AZ Dad sent me beautiful flowers

My parents in TX bought chickens. I know I'm not there now but knowing that they will be there when I get home makes me happy because I use to be a farm girl and in all honesty I miss it.

I was accepted as an EFY counselor. My cousin Kort says she is going to live vicariously through me. She is getting married so she can't be a counselor this year. I give her regular updates.

Yesterday I watched a ladies kids for her so she could go out. Her day had been crummy (sick kids, 5 hours at the doctors office.) but she said it was better because I was here now. She also said that I was going to be a great mom. Any compliment with the word mom in it is my favorite.

I got to talk to my mom on the phone today. She told me a funny story about my nephew who sure loves his dad.

As I walked home from work today it was snowing so I decided to eat the snowflakes. A guy in his fifties crossed the street to come say hi to me. He that I was the coolest person ever for eating snowflakes. We were walking the same way so he talked to me for a bit. He is from TX too. Since he is from Texas it is not abnormal to talk to a complete stranger as Texans are very friendly people. Before he left to go his way he told me that I have a special light and that Utah doesn't know it yet but they are lucky to have me.

Now THAT made my day. It was 't just that the guy took the time to cross the street to come say hi or that he ave me some really good complements. It is that Heavenly Father prompted him to give me those compliments. I needed them and I needed them then and that guy was in tune enough to listen. It was a tender mercy. All of those things are tender mercies that Heavenly Father set up for me. It is so nice of him and lets me know that he really does love me.

Family Time

2010-01-14T10:03:00.001-08:00

This week I have gotten to spend lots of time with my family.
Sunday was game day at Grandma and Grandpa's. We played the Great Dal-moody ( I don't think I spelled that right). Amber and I think that we ought to make hats for each position. Me and my cousin Katy decided to take down the boys. Actually Katy just wanted to beat her husband. I am pleased to say that the game did end with her and I on the thrones. Then we played Bullet. It just so happened that it ended up being boys against girls. Regrettably we lost. We had fun and laughed allot though. Laughter is one of the great things about being with my family.

Since I mentioned laughter I should tell you that I got my nephew, B to laugh. He has finally put it together that if you are being tickled you are supposed to laugh. His tickle spot is on his tummy. I love that when he laughs his mouth stretches as far as it can go so that his chubby cheeks are accented. Apart from this he likes to talk to me and enjoys being an airplane.

Life is great.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

2009-11-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone. Isn't that picture by Norman Rockwell great.
I hope you had a wonderful Halloween. I did. In fact I even dressed up as a flapper and thanks to Grandma and Amber I had the proper accessories. I would post pictures but That would require a camera cord so I am currently lacking. I was told I was cute and authentic though.

Now that Halloween is over we can move onto Thanksgiving. Have you all seen the clip from church yet? If not you should click on the link.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

I just wanted to let you know of a few things that I am thankful for.

1. The privileged of having the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.
2. That I have a wonderful eternal family that brings joy into my
days.
3. That I get to live in Utah and be by allot of those family members
(Thanksgiving will be so fun).
4. That I have a job that meets my needs
5. That I get to further my education
6. That technology allows me to stay in touch with my family that
isn't close by.
7. That I temples are close by.
8. That I live in America.
9. That I have roommates and friends that take care of me and make
me laugh.
10. That Heavenly Father knows and has a plan for me that will give
me many more things to be thankful for.

Have a happy Thanksgiving. Feel free to share what your thankful for.

2009-11-04T09:51:00.001-08:00

Amber wants updates so here you go.

I am loving my life. My roommate Eden is wonderful. She feeds me all the time. The only problem with that is that she doesn't eat when I cook even though I want her to.... Maybe what I'm making doesn't look good to her. I shall have to make things that are yummier more often and see how that goes.

I am truly a "starving student" in thought. If it wasn't for Grandma, Amber, Church Activities and Dates I would probably not eat at all. It just disgusts me when it come to food prices. However I have learned to eat whenever food is offered. I have also learned to be considerately less picky about what I eat. For example...

My apartment complex has many ants living in it. For the most part they are not as bad as when I first got there. However we do find them in our food from time to time. This morning I was eating cherios and sure enough there was a dead ant floating in them. I was half way through the bowl at this time so I almost ate them anyway. Then I thought to myself. "No, my dear, you are not desperate enough to eat bugs for protein." I then dumped the cherios down the sink. It hurt because it felt like I was dumping money down the sink.

Alas such is the life of a college student. At least if you're me.

p.s. This is not a cry for food. I intend to make it on my own as much as possible. If I get desperate enough I will go on more dates in an attempt to get more food.

Provo

2009-09-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hello!
In case your wondering what I have been up to here you go.
I have been loving Provo. My apartment is full of cool girls. They are Eden, Andrea, Rozanne, Ashlee, and Julia. In true Y form Rosanne is engaged as of Monday. My apartment complex is full of fun people which means my ward is full of fun people. If you ever need anything around here you will find people that are willing to help. That goes to almost every hour of the day to because very few people seem to sleep around here.
Apart from the great new people I hang out with I have gotten to spend time with my family. I see Grandma and Grandpa at least once a week. They even let me do laundry at there house. This is great because I would much rather visit with them then a stranger in laundry mat. I also see Amber, David and Brody at least once a week. Brody is almost twice the size he was at birth. Provo is the place for visitors. My TX parents have both been up along with lots of other family members.
At the moment I am working for a preschool/ day care center. It is a good job and normally a fun one. We play games color and snack. Of course my kids have days when I am very glad I don't have to take them home with me. They give me hugs though so it makes up for there bad moments. All in all it's a good job and I am getting lots of practice.
Sorry that there are no pictures I will take some after cleaning checks this weekend.

Kids

2009-09-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Why do we go to college?
S-"So we can learn to get married"

When picking up Miss Lou's rental violin S spotted a little one that was HIS size. He was very excited and thought he should have it. When telling him that it was to expensive didn't work Miss Lou took over. It went something like this
Miss Lou-"If you get a violin you have to take lessons so you will know how to play"
S-"No we can get it and I will play MY way"

After my mom wrote out the check for the violin Miss Lou said "Thank you so much mom." Impressed the cashier said he had never heard a child thank his parents before. My mom told him that it is very important to Miss Lou to be nice. Miss Lou told the cashier "I AM a nice girl" When my mom tells the story she adds "and so humble too."

My Aussie Dad was recently watching a BYU football game (see, football is so cool even Australians like it). He gets into watching games so he was yelling at the TV. Most likely somewhat surprised that his dad was yelling A says, "Dad, I'm right here. You don't need to yell"

Kids are the best. I am very thankful that my parents have blessed me with three cute kids that I have gotten to see grow from babies to their personality-filled selves.

Sweet Pea

2009-08-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

According to my Mum it is my duty as an aunt to keep the photos of my nieces or nephews coming. Since Sweet Pea decided to come early that duty starts now. I won't give you to many details as the mother to be will probably want to do so herself. But here is what I will tell you.

At 11:00 am on the dot a beautiful baby boy came into the world. He was a little early (two months), but he is healthy at 4lbs. 11 ounces. He only needs a little help breathing so that is good. I can also say that the mother, my wonderful sister, is also doing fine and is on her way to a quick recovery.

He is endlessly precious, cute and dear to our hearts. I got to sing him lullabies while David filed out paper work. Amber is still at the other hospital recovering but she should get a pass to visit him tomorrow. I'm glad that he is here and safe. Now he just needs a name.

Monday at EFY

2009-07-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

All this summer I have been being an EFY counselor. It has been a fantastic experience. I have learned so much. I loved going to EFY as a participant. I started looking forward to next year the day that is ended. Being an EFY counselor has been 1000 times better. I grew spiritual and learned valuable lesson. Those lessons came not only from my fellow counselors, BCs, coordinators, teacher, directors and their spouses but also from the youth themselves. I was also better able to learn from the spirit.

So what do we do at EFY an why do we do it? Here are some photos, thoughts and explanations. Some of my explanations are the reasons that made sense to me others are what they told us. There are also random thoughts I thought I would throw in. Lets start with Monday.

MONDAY
Check-In
This is when the youth say "I'm here. Um, now what do I do" It is intersting to see how nervous some are. Thats ok though becasue we give them things for braving it. The things are a handbook (this thing is actually cool. It doubles as a journal, hymn book, agenda and study guide), a lanyard, nametag, cd, dvd and shirt.

Meet Your Counselor
After they spend sometime practicing patients we divide them into groups. Normally each councelor has about 10 youth. Here we do a get to know you game (Mine involved starbursts), out line the rules, set personal goals and I gather up the information I need. In my case this came to involve taking pictures so I could write down there names and study who they are. These are some of the pictures I took for that reason. Aren't my girls lovely.

Meet Your Company
This is when my girls meet the other counselor groups in our company. There is always at least one boy counselor and one girl counselor. Here we do more get to know you games, make a short cheer, tell the kids what our company name is and from what scripture it was taken.
Orientation
Here we gather as an entire EFY session. It is when the youth first meet the session director and are told about things like the BIG FIVE. The BIG FIVE are the rules that when broken the youth will be sent home with out question. This is also when the counselors perform the legendary EFY dances.
Dinner
If you want to eat first on Monday you had better hope your counselor can dance because that is how they decided who gets to go next. This dance competition is held in front of the entire youth so hopefully your not to self conscience. If you're a counselor you probably aren't.
Session Director Lesson
This is basically the spiritual part of family night. The lesson is taught by the session director to the entire session
FHE Games
I like these games allot. These are played in a company. One of my favorite games was Anteater. In this game 3 or 4 youth are pulled from the company. They are the "Anteaters". Their job it to tag the other youth or the "ants". The other youth start at one end of the field and try to get to their "ant hill" at the other end of the field. Once the game starts the only safe side of the field is the ant hill. If the ants are tagged as they try to get to the ant hill they must lay on their backs with their feet in the air.

Then the other ants try to rescue them. It take 4 ants to rescue a fallen ant. The 4 rescue ants must carry them back. While an ant is attached to a fallen ant they are safe unless their are more then 4 ants attached. In order to win all the ants must make it back to the hill. It is a fun game.

After they play the game for awhile we sit down and ask them what they have learned. They come out with all sorts of things. Then we have them find examples of what they learned in the scriptures. As counselors it is our job to direct them. One question I would ask is it was more fun to sit in the ant hill and watch or was it more fun to go save the ant. They always say it is more fun to save the ants. When they do I turn them to D&C 18:15-16
"15. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in
crying repentance unto this people and bring save it be
one soul unto me how great shall be your joy with him
in the kingdom of my Father!
16. And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that
you have brought unto me into the kingdom of Father,
how great will be your joy if you should bring many
souls unto me!"
After that I asked them how they could apply it in their lives. So I will ask you too.
How can you apply that lesson in your life?
After they think about we move onto the next game and do the same for it.
Goal Setting
Goals are important things to have. They help you get the most out of life. Because we want our youth to get the most out of EFY we have them set personal goals. We also set company goals. That we do during this time. There are four areas the the youth set goals in. They are physical, mental, social and spiritual. We as counselors are not to set the goals. We collect there thoughts and compile them into to one goal that seems to cover what they hope to achieve. Then the youth agree with it or not. Through out the week we review these goals.
Counselor Devotional
After we do goal setting we break off into counselor groups. Mondays devotional is on recognizing the promptings of the spirit. I think this one is important to have on Monday because the youth will have many opportunities to feel the spirt and be prompted by it. We want them to realize where those feeling and promptings come from so we teach them.
Personal Scripture Study/Journal Time
It is rather selfexplainitory. We have it though so the youth can learn the good habbit. Why is writting in your journal important. It helps you remember the feelings you have and put them into words. Then later when you read them again you can feel the same feelings you had. This is important becasue we want the youth to take home what they have learned and felt at EFY.

Prayer Meeting

This is with the session. It is when a few of the youth share something they liked about the day and then we have our clossing prayer. Then the youth go home

So...What do we do when the children go home?

EFC!!!

This is when we share some of the things we liked about our day, ask questions and get insturciton. It is also where we are aloud to give hugs.

Carlucci's

2009-07-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

When I first got to Utah in May, Ceptember and I went to grab a treat at Carlucci's in Salt Lake. It is a little cafe. Admittedly the prices were a bit up there but the food was good and it was a one time only treat. I had been craving cheesecake so that is what I got.

Ceptember came for her favorite. The fruit tart. Doesn't it look yummy?

Anyone know of a hidden treasure place(s) to eat.

Pebbles In My Pocket

2009-07-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is the scrapbook store of scrapbook stores to me. I can remember going here before I reached my first set of double digits. They have all sorts of fun things. They also have stuff designed specifically for LDS people. I could spend hours in there store looking at all there cool ideas and merchandise. It will be hard to stay away while I live in Provo. For those of you who didn't know They have a blog. The blog tells about them but it also has some cute ideas.
Anyone know of other fun scrapbook stores in the Provo area?

A Roof Over My Head

2009-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

For the last four weeks I have been volunteering as an EFY counselor throughout Utah. I have loved it. But that's not what this post is about.
Being me, I didn't realize until the day before I left for Utah that EFY does not give volunteer counselors a place to stay. GULP. I was stressed but a little voice inside my head said Go ahead and get on the plane. It will be taken care of. So off I went. I had no clue where I was going to stay and the people I had called to see if they knew someone who would let me stay with them had no idea either. Finally I got a call form my wonderful Dad N.. My cousin Bre had been going to School in Logan and I could stay with her. That was a major blessing. Three weeks down two more to go. Of course, after Logan is all taken care of I get an e-mail asking if anyone needs a place to stay while in Logan for EFY. Nope but what about Sandy. So I called the session coordinator and she said they would find me a place to stay Sunday night. Sunday night comes around and I still don't know where I'm sleeping that night. What if no one takes me? I can't afford a hotel for two weeks. Ahh. Not until the very end did someone say they cold take me. That week I also found a girl who would take me for the week after.
Why am I telling you this? Because there is a principle. I did not know how things would work out. I only knew that ths was what I should be doing. I also had to put forth the faith that Heavenly Father would take care of me before it was evident how he had planned for that to be accomplished. My help also came from others.
Just like in life we have to put forth faith before we can understand. Sometimes when we are told to do something it seems like help is not going to come but it does and most often trough other people.
I am thankful for being taught this principle.

Utah

2009-07-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to live in Utah. Now I get to. But lately Utah seems even better then it I thought it would be. Want to know why? Hope so because I want to tell you.
Craft stores
Yummy places to eat
BYU sports (FOOTBALL!!!)
My grandparents are here.
My cousin Emily from Australia is going to school in Utah
Church related things are EVERYWHERE
My sister, her husband and their soon to be here baby boy are moving here in a week.
My Cousins Tressa and Mindy are here (maybe they will let me babysit some time).
I have lots of aunts, uncles and cousins here. Some very close by and others just a few hours away. (I haven't lived so close to family since I was in kindergarten)
My Aunt Kim and Uncle Roger from Australia are coming in October and I will be here for it. (I think we ought to go to General conference together since they will be here for it)

I could go on but I will leave it at that. I am so happy and excited and being all of those things makes me thankful too.

A lesson form a sport

2009-07-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

For any of you who have seen me at a sporting event you would know that I like them.....allot. Why do I like sports? Apart from the fact that it is fun to see a good, out of no where tackle, people celebrating, the feel the energy, and the great shots made by unexpected players, I like sports because their are lessons to be learned for both the athlete and the spectator.

Recently John Bytheway published a book called Sports. Life lessons form court, field and gridiron. My grandparents just happen to have it and I have been reading it. I'm not done. I haven't even made it to the football section, but here is one of the quotes. Its found on page 38 and Spencer W Kimball said it.

"I have special luck with my shots tonight, the ball goes through the hoop again and again, and the game ends with our high school team victors against the college team. I am the smallest player and the youngest one on the team. I have piled up the most points through the efforts of the whole team in protecting me and feeding the ball to me. I am on the shoulders of the big players of the Academy. They are parading me around the hall to my consternation and embarrassment. I like basketball. I would rather play this game than eat"

Obviously he must have been a good player. I think that in life if we want to be truly good at something we have to want it more than anything. Like food. This made me think of fast Sunday because fasting is not one of my favorite things. But I should want to obey the law of the fast more than eat food so I will have to be better at it.

Make Up Your Mind

2009-07-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

At the moment I am in Provo. I have also decided that that is where I am going to stay for a bit. At least the fall semester. Yes, I was planning to go to Tucson for the fall but that changed so now I am going to stay here. I think I found an apartment that I like. I went to visit it today and it seemed nice. It also has a pool and a game room. I don't know who any of my roommates will be but in the same apartments I have a friend from Tucson so if my roommates are horrible then I will hide there. Or I could hide at my Grandma and Grandpa L's place because it is only a block or so away. The ward is rumored to be great but I think most people would say that about there ward. My hopeful apartment is also right by campus so while I am not a student there I will still be able to enjoy most of the fun things that BYU has to offer. Now all I need is a job and a way to get my stuff in TX here.

EFC

2009-06-06T18:34:00.001-07:00

My first session as a volunteer EFY counselor was amazing beyond description. I am so thankful that I get to do this. Every thing was awesome. And I got what I prayed for, patience. I didn't mean to pray for opportunities for it I just prayed that I would have it. I guess some of my kids were sent there so I would know I was being helped with it. Despite that I still love those kids. They have bright testimonies and great potentials. The reason I can see that and love them is because I wasn't just loving them for me. I was loving them for Heavenly Father. I love them because he loves them.

So, what is EFC? It's what happens after an area session of EFY when the kids go home. Especially for counselors was very fun. We got to say the things we enjoyed that day, eat, cram to many people in a car, and flirt because the kids aren't there to see. There are rewards to being a volunteer. Regretably I forgot to bring my camera cord so I cant add my pictures just yet. I'll tell you when I do.

EFY

2009-05-27T22:06:00.001-07:00

Tommorrow I leave for Utah and on Monday I have my first EFY session. Provided I actually find a place to sleep durring the week. We shall see. Wish me luck.

Madsen Cycles

2009-05-27T21:58:00.001-07:00

I like these bikes. They cost an arm and a leg but I like them. They are currently having a giveaway. All you have to do is add a link to there site. If you win you get two.

There is no Arizona

2009-05-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well that would be sad because their are allot of people I like in that state. Like my soon to be roommate Stacie.

Yep, I am moving back to Az at the end of July. I am so excited. I have never lived without family before so it will be a different sort of adventure. A more grown up and responsible adventure. I have been pinching pennies in preparation for this. I haven't pinched them this much in years. I am so happy. I have been dreaming of roommates since I was a kid. Of course I am a little nervous. I have never had roommates before. Stacie is wonderful so I know it will work out. She went to the trouble of finding us an apartment and roommates. She even made sure the apartment met my only requirement. That it be in a particular ward. In true fashion to the way my life works out that requirement won't matter by the time I get there because they are probably changing the ward boundaries. Oh well, even more new people can't be to bad.
We have two other roommates, Kristi and Mia. They are sisters. I don't know htem very well but I got to know their older sister when I was there and she is awesome. Kristi is the oldest of us all. I met her once and she seemed nice. I have it on good authority that she is. Mia is the youngest of us all. I haven't meet her but Stacie says she is nice too. Supposedly she doesn't have a bubble which is good because me and Stacie don't either. I am also told that she has lots of energy all the time. This will probably lead to lots of crazy roommate nights but hopefully Kristi will remind us of our neighbors before they remind our landlord of the noise policy. Actually I don't even know if there is one. I guess I'll find out.

A Favorite

2009-05-25T16:01:00.001-07:00

Meet your Match is one of my favorite books. It has no real message but it is full of silly things that make me laugh. For some reason I also get really into the book too. The first time I read it I was cranky when the main character had a hard time. Talk about living vicariously. The author is Stephanie Fowers.

Another book she wrote is Rules of Engagement.

I like it too.

Comfort Food

2009-05-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

These are some of my comfort foods
Gingersnaps
Ice cream
Hot chocolate
Moms spaghetti that she makes with the curly noodles
Chocolate banana milk shakes
French fries
Frosties
Grandpa L's favorite cereal
Oranges
Grape fruit
Peaches
Anything that reminds me of Australia
Brown sugar

What are some of your comfort foods

Birthday Boy

2009-05-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

This boy decided he didn't want to have a birthday. After months if wishing it were his birthday he decided he didn't want to have one. He didn't understand that it's not in your control. Finally on the day after his birthday he let us make him brownies and sing to him. Silly boy. I hope he doesn't change.

My Mother

2009-05-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."
-Abraham Lincoln

Here are some reasons that I'm glad my mom is my mom.

1. She has endless patience. She has never yelled at me when I do things I shouldn't. If I was her I would have yelled at me.
2. She loves her children more than anything. Even when we are annoying and stress her out.

3. She knows when I need things or am having a hard time. Even when I am states away and don't tell her about it.

4. She talks to me and keeps my secrets.

5. She understands me.

6. She is creative. I love the things that she comes up with.

7. She gives without a thought of return.

8. She is an example of living by faith.

9. She makes me laugh at myself and she laughs at the silly things I do.
10. Shes who I want to be when I grow up.

Thanks, Mom, for being the best.

Slacker

2009-05-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, I was supposed to blog about my conference trip. I know it is a little late but here goes.

IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!! I had a blast. I got to see my amazing grandparents, awesome cousins, my great sister and brother-in-law along with 2 of my best friends. I am so spoiled sometimes.
So what did I do with all these fun people in one of my favorite places in the world? We bowled, ate at the creamery (aw grapes, now I'm hungry. oh well, I'll be there soon enough), walked around BYU, got a few jamba juices, avoided the scrapbook stores (I didn't want to break my little bank), ate yummy food that Grandma made, played games, studied (WOW! Stacie is a super good influence. Oh, for those of you that didn't know she is the friend that drove up with David, Amber (and Sweat Pea), and Kourtney), watched General Conference and went to General Conference. Apart from that we talked and talked and talked.
I love my family. I am so privileged to be related to the wonderful people that I am. I learn so much from their examples and am lifted up from their spirits.

Some things that made the trip special.

-The trip down memory lane to when we would watch General Conference

in the tiny play room at Grandma and Grandpa's Mesa house.

-Getting to have scripture study with Grandma and Grandpa. They know

so much

-Going to General Conference as an extended family. It is always a special

experience to hear the prophets voice, especially when you can see him in

person. It is even better when you are surrounded by your family.

-Taking the picture of all of us cousins in front of the temple. It was a

reminder that my relationship with them gets to continue on for eternity.

TV

2009-04-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

I had planned on posting tonight but E, S and my Dad are having a sleepover. They are using the computer as a tv because our tv has decided to go to electronic heaven. I suppose if there was an electronic heaven that our tv would go there because only clean things are shown on it. This is due to my parents teaching us high standards about what we watch. Thanks parents.

Going Home

2009-04-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a blast. Today I fly back to Texas and to my family. I am happy to go see them but I am also sad to leave all the wonderful people that are here (or just left). On the bright side I will be back up here at the end of May. Yea!
So do you want to know all the fun things I did? To bad. You have to wait until I get home, sort through my General conference notes and get my pictures from cousins. Hopefully that will be soon.

A little up date.

2009-04-01T20:21:00.001-07:00

Monday- I started my Lion oil painting. It is coming along ok. After work I made a lemon cake. I am told it tasted very, very good.
Tuesday- I made a friend chocolate covered strawberries. I can't eat them but I wanted to make them.
Today- I completely spaced that it was Wednesday and went to class very late. Ops.
Tomorrow- Early in the morning I am off to the airport. I get to go to Utah to see my Loveland family and go to General Conference. I am so excited.
Friday- have fun with family
Saturday-General Conference and the traditional between sessions pizza. I think we girl cousin should have a mini girls night while them men are at the priesthood session
Sunday- I get to go to Conference in the conference center. Yea! Then back to grandma and grandpas for the last session and most likely games.
Monday- I fly back to reality.

I am going to have a great time. Yea!

Hair Cut

2009-03-26T16:56:00.001-07:00

Since I am going to Utah for General Conference I decided to get my hair cut. It's been about 5 months so it was time. The great thing is that it only cost me $16. And the girl styled it for me too. I love good deals. the thing I like about my hair style is that I can run around and have fun and my hair won't look messed up afterwards. Yea!

A Great Mail Day

2009-03-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

These days its unusual to get happy things in the mail (unless you order it yourself). So, today when I got two great things in the mail I was thrilled.

First, I finely got my general conference tickets. I thought I was only going to get 4 but nope, I got 12 for the Sunday morning session. This is great because with the 4 that amber got for that session we will have enough for the people we had planned for. Yea! Thank you President Powers. :) I am so excited to go.

Next, I must say thank you to My Aunt Kim. Earlier, I blogged about Possum Magic., a children's book that is popular in Australia. In the blog I mentioned that I wanted it for my collection. So she sent it to me. Not only did she do that but she also sent me 3 other Mem Fox books. Wombat Divine, Time for bed and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. Thanks Kim!

Oh, did I mention that she sent them to Amber too. She's the greatest!Amber said she was extra excited because she wanted to start a collection of children's books to read to the baby. Thanks for jump starting that Kim.

Makes me Happy

2009-03-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

This is a random list of things that make me happy.

Watching good old(as in the actors are now dead or close to it) movies with my mom or Amber. One of my favorites is Major and the Minor.

Anything to do with Australia. After all, I was born there. Then again it could be the food, air, scenery, beaches, reefs, animals or the people and there easy going, fun loving nature.

Good Food. I love good Food. It makes my taste buds happy. Oh and it is even better when it looks good too. In case you didn't know, I have dreamed of food. I like those dreams........until I wake up.

Traveling. I love to travel. Even by car if you make a trip out of it. It is fun too see new places, and people. There are so many wonderful things in towns to see. Especially the old little ones. Also if you ask around while you're there you can find some pretty good places to eat. Plus you get a lot of time to get to know the person you're driving with, or, if you're alone, you get a lot of thought time.

A good book on a rainy or sunny day. If it's raining you can curl up in a blanket. If its hot then it gives you an excuse to go outside and tan.

Babies. I love them. They are so cute. I always hate giving the babies back at church. That is why my friend says I steal them. Silly friend.
I don't know who took this picture but they did a good job.
Oh, in case you didn't know, I am going to be an Aunt. That makes me happy too.

Little Hat

2009-03-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

While I was in Oregon my Aunt AJ taught me how to crochet. So, I made a little hat for my little cousin Ava. I started it in November but due to procrastination I don't think it made it to her until she was born. Oh well, it's not like she was going to wear it in my aunts tummy.

Bootsie Barker Bites

2009-03-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

This is another book I liked when I was a kid. In first grade I tried to read this in front of my class but I got nervous and couldn't do it. Oh well, it is still a funny little book.

Albertsons

2009-03-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

I am now employed. Actually I have been employed by Albertsons for about 3 weeks now. They have been keeping me very busy lately. That's ok though because the more they keep me busy the more money I can earn and save for adventures.

Errr

2009-02-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

So I had a list of things to do today between 11am and 1pm. Among them was not get stuck on campus because my key would not turn in the ignition. I should be able to turn my key in the ignition. It is not that hard. But no, I spent 35 minuets trying to start my car. The entire time I was thinking please don't let anyone I know see me like this. I felt like an idiot. I even prayed. Because I prayed I assume that the reason my car still wouldn't start was because of some very bad, no good and horrible car accident that I needed to avoid. Or maybe if I hadn't prayed I would still be sitting in the parking lot trying not to yell at my car.

Possum Magic

2009-02-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

I think almost everyone has a few books they remember being read to them when they were younger. This is one of mine. The illustrations in it are beautiful. I need to remember to ask for it for Christmas or a birthday. Hopefully I will come across this post around that time so it can remind me.

Monotone

2009-02-19T16:43:00.000-08:00

This is an oil painting that I did in class. It had to be in monotone. Can you tell it is so post to be a flower?

EFY 2009

2009-02-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

I get to be an EFY counselor this summer!!! I have 3 sessions that I get to work. I am so Happy. My sessions are in Logan Utah, and they are stay at home sessions. The sessions are spaced though so I will be in Utah from about May 30th to July 11th. Yea because I love being in Utah. I also love youth. I think they are awesome with so much potential. I also love the gospel and want to help the youth see how much it can bless their lives. I am so excited for summer now.

Cards

2009-02-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

I have been bored to tears lately. Way to much free time, so I made some cards. The pictures are a little fuzzy. Sorry.

Do you like my tree? I cut it out myself. For the leafs I used a hole puncher.

Hello Again.

2009-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Well in my 2 months of not blogging things have been a little busy. As for Christmas and New Years, they were great. Amber and my mom blogged about those though so I don't have to.
For those of you that didn't know I moved from Oregon to TX at Christmas. I miss Oregon but I know that I am so post to be here right now. So on the hard days when I want to be anywhere but TX I remind myself of that. How long will I be in TX? I have no idea. On the bright side I get to enjoy the company of my family.
While I wasn't planing on going to school this semester I am. Insurance is important and I can't be on my dads of I'm not attending school. My classes are oil painting, drawing and psychology. I like them. Drawing can be tedious because it is 3 hours straight and some of the mediums (that's what they call the different types of things you draw with. ex. color pencil, charcoal) are very annoying to use. In oils we have been doing monotones but were starting color in our next class. This is great because while you learn allot when doing monotones I was getting tired of blue and brown.
Well I have a class I need to head over to. I hope you are all well and that life treats you great.

Future Blog Makeover

2008-12-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

So I get to go home on Wednesday. After I have hugged my family set up the two remaining Christmas trees, grown two love handles (one for fudge the other for caramel) I am going to give my blog a real makeover. My own personal header and everything. I am so excited. My mom is really good at it and can teach me to use her program. I admit that it is rather pathetic that my mother has to teach me a computer skill when computers are so post to be my generation. On the bright side having my mom teach me things makes me feel like a kid again.
Lucky Amber gets home on Tuesday. I am so jealous. That is ok though because then I don't have to compete for arrival competition. Hopefully I will have lots of pictures to show you soon of all the fun projects we are planing on doing. Of course there will be lots of pictures of my family. All 13 of us.

Pictures

2008-12-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

Did you think I forgot to take pictures of people while out in the snow? Nope. Here they are.

This is Serena

She is new to the high school scene and is handling it great. I am very impressed with her self confidence. She doesn't seem to care what others think. If she likes it she likes it, even if some people would see them as childish or immature. Not that they are but that high school nerves would seem to make them though. Not Serena though. Her out going, fun loving, general happy personality and dedication to her goals conquerors all.

This is Jeremy.

No he is not part Chinese. He just has the eye squinting smile like some of us in my family. Jeramey loves to help in the kitchen when it comes to cooking and, like most boys, just wants to have fun. He also seems to want to be older then he is sometimes. I have tried to explain to him that being a kid is fun and he should enjoy not having the responsibility of various things. It didn't work. Oh well.

Here is Autum.

While in many ways she is a girlie girl she has the energy to keep up with her two brothers that are close in age. She also loves one on one attention, the cat and fisher price dolls. Apart from that she has a set of lungs made for singing. At the ward party Santa came. Darcy, the lady who cut my hair, told her to go tell Santa what she wants. Autum said she didn't know what she wanted. I think in many ways Autum has the ability to be content with what she has as long as there are people to be around and interact with.

The youngest is Wes.

Don't let his size fool you. He is small but is more then capable of holding his own in a squabble.

He also has a tender heart and can be quite the gentleman. Lately he has taken to pushing my chair in for me. He will sometimes even hop up out of his chair so he can. Wes is very creative in a silly way. Sometimes he will tell joking stories about why such and such happened to so and so or they could do this next time that happens. Another thing I find so cute is that he wants nothing more then to be like Jake and Ross. I think that says many good things about the kind of big brothers they are. One of the ways Wes is trying to accomplish this is by eating allot. He is succeeding very well.

Then there are Garn and Aj. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of them. They are wonderful though. They both give excellent advice that is based on spiritual understanding and their life experiences. They have taught me so much and I am very grateful for it.

A Walk in the Snow

2008-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

Today I was woken up to someone telling me it had snowed. A minuets later someone came and told me breakfast was ready. I must admit that if you have to wake up that those are some great things to wake up to. A special treat to breakfast was hot chocolate. Thank you snow for giving me an excuse. The snow also canceled church. I guess people are a little scared of snow here or maybe it is way worse in other places. Oh well. To substitutes church we watched music and the spoken word along with other programs from the BYU channel via the Internet. The music was especially wonderful because it is Christmas music. I love Christmas music. After lunch we went on a walk. Here are some pictures for you.

A little lesson from a little branch. This branch is very thin yet supports allot of snow. I think people are like this. We are very little, yet we can support allot of things.

It's a Wonderful Life

2008-12-13T22:06:00.000-08:00

For years I would never watch It's a wonderful life because all I could remember about it from my childhood was the sad part from when he jumps off the bridge and then no one knows who he is to when he gets back to the bridge. I don't think I ever really got to see the end where things go back to being happy. So today, after Uncle Garn reassured me that it was not sad, I watched it. Very very good movie. I did ALMOST cry though. I wold also like to add that James Stewart is a great person from what I can tell. Someone went to do a Biography of him and they couldn't find any scandal that he had been involved in. That is awesome, especially when you work in Hollywood.

Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

This morning was the ward Christmas party. Part of the activity involved making gingerbread houses. Here is mine and Autum's. Do you like our deck?

Here is Wes's. He is very proud of his garage.Jeramey had a house but he had a tornado come through and destroy it. It was actually rather nice. Not your normal gingerbread house though. He had done something different with the roof.

Christmas Card Garland

2008-12-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

Aj was telling me how she will sometimes hang the Christmas cards she gets. She already had some red yarn so I decided to dress it up a little. This is what I came up with. It only cost about $5. Don't you just love the dollar store. Now all I have to do is hang up the cards on the red string.

It doesn't show up on the picture very well but there is glitter glue on the pine cones.

Christmas Garland

2008-12-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays

Lately some of the blogs I follow have been very into garlands. I was going to add pine cones and might later, but I am so post to help decorate the other thing in the house too.

Christmas Cake

2008-12-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

My final in LCOP was a potluck. In order to pass we had tor bring something so I brought a cake. Due to the season I decorated it with some holly. Sadly the frosting turned out pink. Apparently the kind of die in my kit dose not make red. Oh well, now I know. On the plus side I can make neon pink which is funner anyways.

Christmas Movie

2008-12-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

Every year at Christmas, and sometimes when its not, my family watches Miracle on 34th street. Lucky for me my family here has the movie too. I am watching it as I type.

Another movie my family likes to watch at Christmas is Christmas in Connecticut. What holiday movies dose your family love?

Pepernuts

2008-12-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

A Christmas tradition from my Mom's family is the making of pepernuts. We made them a few days ago. Sometimes it is a long process but when you have 3 other pairs of hands to help out it it makes things go fast. We had all the cutting done in about an hour.

Cut,

Place,

Cook,

Eat.

St. Nicoals Day

2008-12-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

This morning my Uncle Garn woke me up saying that the kids wanted to wake up now and see what St. Nicolas left. Huh?.......Oh yah, we left our shoes out last night so he could fill them with candy and presents. For those of you who don't know St. Nicolas day is a German tradition like our Christmas, just on a smaller size. Because Garn and Aj lived in Germany they celebrate it too.

Thank you St. Nickolas.

Here are some pictures.

Waiting for everyone to get up is Autum and Wes.

Here are my shoes, and they've never looked better.

Hidden behind all my candy was this book.

St. Nicolas must have been inspired because when I opened it the first few instructions were things I need to remember. One thing I really like about this book is that below the instructions is a scripture to go with it. I love having the scriptures right there to back guidance and instruction up. I think Santa would be well liked by any young adult or teenager for leaving this in there Stocking. I know St. Nicolas is.

Thanksgiving Activies

2008-11-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

My Thanksgiving Started off fixing the pumpkin pie mistake I had made the day before. Thankfully, after a call to my Grandpa N, I was able to fix it. I was told by many a person that it tasted great. That made my day.

After that we went on over to the zoo. They were having free admission for everyone in thanks for the tax money that is going to be given them by popular vote. It was nice of them to say thanks.

In case you didn't know, elephants are my favorite non-Australian land animal.

They also have a little museum in the zoo dedicated to elephants. It was full of statues am a baby elephant bike. The bike is much bigger then it looks

This is Wes. He stopped to smile or me.
I just love these turtles
This hippo turned around just so I could take it's picture. Apart from that the view was non to pretty.After that we went home and prepared the last touches for dinner. Then some friends came over. It was cool because we had ran into all of the people that were coming to our house at the zoo.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Every Thanksgiving my family watches A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I got to watch it last night. It made me happy.

Traditions are wonderfull things and I am thankful for them. Here are some other things I ama thenkful for

Amigos: They make me feel special.

Books: They allow me to have adventures without risking anything.

Cooks: They make some of my favorite things.

Dogs: They chase cats and can tell when you are having a hard day.

Education: It empowers your mind.

Family: Sorry there are to many reasons to list.

Games: They keep me entertained.

Heavenly Father: He loves me and let his son die so I could live with him again.

Instruments: When played well together creates music that arouses the soul.

Jesus Christ: He died for me and in doing so gave me so much.

Kids: Their innocence and simple happiness brings joy and life to everything.

Laughter: It chases tears away.

Money: It allows me to do the things I need/want.

Notes: A simple thing that can make a persons day.

Opinions: People have such interesting ideas sometimes.
Prophets: They tell me what I need to hear.

Quotes: They make you think, laugh and/or smile.

Religion: People who actively practice a religion are know to be happier and have more hope.

Scrapbooking: It allows my creativity to flow.

Telephones: They let me call home.

Utah: It is where the saints found refuge and I always feel extra good there.

Voting: It lets me voice my opinion even when it is not popular

Work: When accomplished it makes a person feel good about themselves

X I'm substituting it with the letter H: Holy Ghost: It is the comforter and tells me things I need to know

You: I'm sure you've done something nice for someone which makes me happy.
Zoos: I have lots of fun memories at them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Classes

2008-11-25T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I finely registered for my classes. It took me a while to figure it all out but I was finely was able to make a schedule that allows me time to work. With this I am finely getting to learn something that I have wanted to FOREVER!!!!!!!

I get to take swing dancing lessons.

Yea!!!!! I am trying to get a guy friend to take the class too so I know there will be a male there that is taller then me. Hopefully it will work out.

Brown Sugar

2008-11-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

Somethings are handed down from generation to generation. One of those things is eating plain brown sugar. This quirk I inherited from my mother who inherited it from her mother who it seems to have inherited it from hers.
When Grandma was a girl her mom would use it as a reward. This makes me think that Great Grandma must have liked it or else she wouldn't have used it as a reward.
I love that I do things that my mother, grandmother and great grandmother have done. Even though it might seem strange to some people (Becca, Serena and Jake) I still like it.

Fall Cake

2008-11-20T21:49:00.000-08:00

I decorated a cake today and I even took pictures for you.

Isn't i so seasonal. I had wanted the darker orang to turn out more red but lost patients when I was mixing my colors.

If I was a real cook I would have had carrot cake on the inside. Will just pretend. Then the cake will be perfect. :->

Deep in The Heart of Trouble

2008-11-18T14:02:00.001-08:00

My Mom bought me this book for my Birthday. It was a very good read. Essi, the main character, is full of spunk.
What I didn't know then that I know now is that this book is the second of two the other isSomething Else I did not know was that Deeanne Gist Also wrote This is a book my mom had checked out of the library and liked. I look forward to reading it too. another book by Deeanne isShe also has one comming out this march.

Music

2008-11-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for music
It entertains, enlivens, calms, motivates and uplifts.
I found this picture. I particularly like the legs.

Cupcakes

2008-11-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

One of the fun things I have found that I have in common with Serena is the desire to decorate cakes. Lucky for us I got a cake decorating set for my birthday. Instead if decorating cake we decorated cupcakes. We figured it would be funner because we could do different designs. This is what we came up with.

Serena's

Mine

Yep this is what you think it is.

Pebbles in my Pocket

2008-11-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

While I was in Utah I got Grandma to take me to Pebbles in my Pocket. For those of you who don't know they are a super awesome scrapbook store. We were in a hurry so I had to shop fast. As I have learned in the past the faster I shop at a scrapbook store the more I spend. This held extremely true. I spent more then I spend in clothes. EEEEEEE.
At least I got some cute stuff. See.

When I get married my poor husband had better hope that I spend a long, long time shopping. To get use up some of the supplies me and Serena made some cards. It was fun. My floor is still a mess but it was fun.

Birthday Trip

2008-11-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, as a birthday gift from Garn and AJ, I got to go to Utah and visit Grandma and Grandpa. It is always wonderful to see them. They are wonderful people that laugh, love, give, are wise, active, fun and giving. They even love visitors they have never met before which gives an extra welcoming feeling to their home. Grandma is almost always cooking something good and grandpa is often busy in the backyard, watching football, the news, helping Grandma or going to get something he or Grandma needs.

Ohhh football!1 I FINELY got to go to a BYU football game. It was even a home game. Of course I loved it. Football is wonderful to watch. Its even better when it is your favorite team. To top it off the crowd was active, my seat was on the front row and... we won! Naturally I tried to take some pictures. They are not very good because my camera would not go very fast and I was to into the moment of things when they happened to remember to hit the button. All the same I still got some and yes they will be going in my scrapbook.

On Sunday I went to sacrament meeting with a friend. He likes a girl in his ward. Due to my teasing nature I asked him if I could scratch his back. For those of you who don't know, scratching someones back in singles ward is claiming territory. Naturally he said no. I got a good inside laugh out of it. After that I went to Priesthood in Jake's ward with my local family. Jake was being set apart as an elder. I felt very privileged to get to go. Afterwards the man leading the meeting had them all stand up as the ladies left. There are about 100 of them so it was a little weird but very cool that they would all be so respectful. After that we went to Grandpa's and Grandma's house to eat and hang out. It was wonderful to see everyone. Here are a few more pictures.

Great Books

2008-11-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Grandma sent me this book.

I loved it and was very pleased to find that there are sequels. They books together are called the Books of Bayern. For my birthday, last week, Grandma gave me the next book.I started reading it the night before I left Utah. So my friend Alyssa wouldn't have to sleep with the light on I read in the bathroom (there were people sleeping in every other part of the house) Around 4am someone needed to use the restroom so I had to retire. An hour and a half later it was time to wake up and leave so I did. Then I risked and got car sickness to finish reading. Don't worry, I finished before the carsickness reached vomiting. Now I just need to read the the last one.Hmmmm. I know what I want for Christmas.

Fall

2008-11-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Fall is my favorit season. That is because of all the wonderful color. Due to the fact that Tx doesn't have 4 seasons I have been missing my favorit time. Lucky fo me Oregon has been makeing up for that.

I Know Enough

2008-11-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Last General Conference Elder Neil L. Anderson gave a talk entitled You Know Enough. In Only a few days after conference that talk became very important to me. Through a class I am taking at the local college I made a friend named Peter. He is returning to school due to injury. His son Jacob is 10 and has been asking him many questions about gospel things. His most recent question has been about baptism. Peter, knowing that I am a "religious person" mentioned it to me. I was short on time because I had institute right after class so I asked Peter to come to that with me saying after that I would have time. Knowing what institute was he decided to come. Peter was great in class. He even participated. After that we went to the library so we could talk to him about baptism. Thankfully I had my scriptures with me so that helped me answer his questions. After that though he had more questions. I was starting to feel slightly inadequate when the thought came to me "You don't know everything, but you know enough". That wonderful thought helped me to have the confidence as I did my best to listen to the spirit as I answered Peter's questions. I am thankful for the Holy Ghost that whispers and reminds of the words I need to hear and for church leaders who listen ahead of time so I can hear the words that I will need later.

Privliege to Vote

2008-11-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hurray for the privilege to vote. Today was my first time I had the privilege to participate in the election of the people who will be actively taking care of my country. While some of it (not the presidential candidate part) was confusing (measure and what there really trying to change) it is an opportunity well worth the momentary confusion. It is also the first time anyone from my Dad F's family to get to vote in American elections as they are all Australian citizens, except for my mum that is. For some reason I just thought that that made voting an extra special privilege for Amber and me. Even if things don't turn out the way I want them to I am still glad I was able to participate.

Hair

2008-10-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

For an early birthday present Garn and AJ paid for me to get a hair cut.
Thank You Garn & AJ!!
So I cut my hair off again. Mom, don't panic. It was extra nice because the lady (Darcy) cuts our hair at home. She is going to come over and teach me ways to style it later when I have more time. After talking to her I decided to let her surprise me. It is cut in a way that I have to do it. This I decided to do so I would finally learn to do my hair. Talk about sacrificing for education or beauty being pain. My hair is my one vanity after all. (kind of funny since I rarely do it; I just like the color and that it is thick and ok maybe I have more then one). I have always never really done my own hair. It is a shower, brush, air dry and go kind of thing, or skip the air dry and go immediately into a ponytail. This style is cute so Darcy is awesome. I'm sure I will think she is even more awesome when she has taught me more about how to make my hair stay cute. However all of this dose mean "investing" in some good hair products. I hate spending money on unnecessary things so this could be tuff. On the bright side I will look extra cute for the family photos we are taking at Christmas. Also by the time I see my Daddy N again my hair will be long enough to brush. That is one of my favorite ways he shows me love. He likes it when I have long hair and after I get in the habit of fixing it it WILL be grown out again.
Oh, and when I figure out the whole picture thing I will put some up with this post. Hopefully soon

Eggnog

2008-10-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

Recently S had been asking my mom if they could buy some eggnog. He had been asking her for about a month. Every time they would would go to the store S would remind her to check. Finely it was in the store so of course they bought some. When they got home my mom put it in a sipy so S could indulge. After taking a sip S said
"Ahhh, one sip and it's like your in the spirit world"
So cute and it continues.
Today my dad got S to talk on the phone to me. Normally all he says is "I really really love you. Bye". I decided that I would try to get him to play our old game. So I say "I love you more then pickles". We continue this for a bit before he says "I love you more then picking up couches" I figured I would comment on how strong he must be to puck up a couch. He liked that. I didn't know that he actually does this now. To think he is only four. I mentioned it to my mom later and she told me how on the way home from church E was talking about a little girl named Sydney.
She is about S's age. S pipes up "I tried to tell her that I could lift couches but she wasn't listening". Yep, he's already bragging to the ladies. How cute. It's a good thing he has brothers and sisters that will help him understand humility when hes older. For now it's just plain cute.

Thankful

2008-10-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling blue and starting to go on a pity party. Those are not fun so its time to count my blessings.

(I wish I could figure out the computer so I could put up some pictures. May be I'll update later)

Family- They make me laugh. There fun to talk to. They cheer you up on your down days. They give you hugs.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints- I love everything about it. It provides me with peace, direction, Friends every where I go, and things to do. Through the church I learn about my savior.

College- It provides me with classes that help me better myself and some fun things to do too. I want to take the horse back riding class next term.

Friends- They offer a change of pace and our the new people that you get to know.

Summer Vacation- Breaks and changes in pace are wonderful things

Little kids- They are so cute and generally cheerful

Craft Stores- A place to get your creativity going

Cars- They get you where your going faster.

The city buses- If they didn't exist I would be walking.

Restaurants- It means you don't have to cook.

Sugary Foods- They were made just for me.

The person who started cake decorating- The opportunity to be creative with out having to haul around the results when you move..........well, kind of.

Seasons- The constant change in scenery is refreshing.

Rain- an excuse to drink hot chocolate and it sounds pretty on a tin roof.

The list could go on but I will end it here for now.

Sorry

2008-10-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

So I would blog but I want to add some pictures. The only problem Is that I don't know how to on this computer so I will have to wate untill AJ gets home.

I'm Smart!!

2008-10-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

At least that's what they told me. My professor asked us what success in work is. So I told him it is "when you get what you want out of work and work lets you get what you want out of life." Apparently he thought that was good because he added it to his curriculum and will now be sharing that definition with his other classes. The rest of the class thought it was good too. Well now that I have finished bragging.....Life in Oregon is going good. I like my ward, enjoy seminary, think its fun to mess around with my cousins and am improving my cooking skills both at work and at school. I even smell like fruit when I get home (OK, maybe that's in my head). Eventually I am going to get the cousins to pose for me so I can try to take cute pictures of them.

A Quote for the Day

2008-10-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

"Patience is Passion Tamed" -Lyman Abbot

College

2008-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

It was the first day of college for me. My teachers seem great. I bought my book. Only 12$. I am so lucky. the other books are so expensive. I even got some homework and am kind of excited to do it. My teachers are nice to because they let us eat in class. They gave us a tour of campus again. It is my second and I still get lost. Good thing I am at a small college. I know my schedule is not full and that I'm not taking a normal class but I think I will like college much better then high school.

GPS, Jamba Juice and Me

2008-09-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well everyone I am now in Oregon. Garn and Aj are letting me live with them. It has been fun. Aj let me use her car to go job hunting. I was kind of nervous to drive it. I also would have gotten lost were it not for the wonderful invention of the GPS. It is my new best friend. Now, mom I know that we (Dad in particular) do not agree with the whole new car thing. However when I finally do get to buy a car I am getting one with a GPS in it. That thing was made for me. Of course I do need a job so I can support myself. I wanted somewhere that the workers seemed happy and friendly. I also wanted somewhere that I wouldn't spend all my money or that if I didn't spend my money It wouldn't have a negative effect on me.

Tadah, Jamba Juice. The best part is that I have to memorize the recipes. Now I will be able to have them where ever I have a blender and the right ingredients. Can you say yum. Apart from my job I will be starting some classes at a local college. I am attending the local singles ward which is small but still has good people in it. On Monday we had FHE and our activity was cranium. My team won. The best part was that we weren't even being competitive like the other team. Thankfully we also have an institute up here so I will get to go to those too. Wish me luck.

Big Sister Withdrawals

2008-09-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry, this is another one I started but never got around to posting.
The week E started school again I was very sad that I wasn't there to help her pick out her supplies, get ready, do her home work and eat breakfast with her. It nearly broke my heart. I waited for more then 10 years to have her and then I miss her starting school again. I practically prayed her into existence because I wanted a little sister so much. I miss her waking up at night and coming to lay by me. I miss helping her decorate her doll house too. I also miss how she sometimes says words wrong.

Then There is Spencer. He has been playing Age of the Empires. Spencer does fully understand that there are codes that give you the things he needs to win. His only problem is that he can't spell them. That's something I can do. He has also been waking up at night again. Normally he would come and snuggle with me but I am to far away. I miss his snuggles and hearing him say (as I taught him) "One for the money two for the show three to get ready and a kiss to go". He also sings songs. I miss that too. He is even saying big words like "converted" now. Oh well, I will see him at Christmas and he will give me hugs then.

I'm Moving Again

2008-09-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

So I meant to post this awhile ago but got lost in packing and hanging out with Amber. We had an awesome time together and I am super excited to see her again. I wouldn't mind seeing David too if I get to win at settlers. Anyways I am now in Oregon and will post more about it here later. If it seems that the following cuts off it does. I never managed to get around to finish it.

Next week I get to move to Oregon. Garn and AJ are letting me stay there for a while. I am excited for another adventure. I get to meet a new singles ward full of new people. I love meeting new people and seeing what makes them tick. I get to get a job. (Maybe in a scrapbook store.... that would kill my pay check). It also rains and snows in Oregon more then anywhere I've lived recently. The last time I check I liked the rain and the snow. I've also sort of wanted to live in Oregon since when we had our family reunions there. I like that there is the beach and pine trees in one place. I also like bundling up in fall clothes so the cool weather will be great. It also gives me a great excuse to go shopping. I haven't had a good winter jacket since we moved to Texas. Yay!!!
Well all of those things are wonderful I am still going to miss all of the great people here. Amber and David have been great. They are a fun and happy couple that understands my sense of humor. It's also been wonderful to have my sister with me. In some ways it made me feel like a kid again. She plays with my hair, paints my nails, talks to me and makes me yummy things to eat. What could be better. Then there are all of the friends. Stacy has been wonderful and it is amazing how fast we became friends. She is a great person who actively seeks for ways to bless the lives of everyone around her. She succeeds all the time. I am thankful for people like Lydia and Tiffany who who invite people over to their house for game nights. Stuff like that makes people feel that others like having them around.

M is for Molasses Cookie

2008-09-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

I spent Sunday and Monday visiting my Dad, Mum, Ammon and Brother(he's a dog) A lot of time was spent playing Lego Star Wars on their Wii. I think its a great game because when the people die they burst into Lego pieces instead of getting all bloody. Much better when it comes to the no violence thing. Its a game for all ages so if a dad or big brother wanted to spend some time with a little brother they will both be entertained. Not that that's the best thing if you're trying to get to know the person but it will pass the time. I know because me and David played until two in the morning. Another thing I did while I was there was make molasses cookies. I love these cookies and eat them by the dozens as I drown them in milk. They're one of the few things I can make too. Unfortunately I have now eaten all the ones I took home with me and want some more. Sigh.

Sorry

2008-09-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for the lack of posts. I have actually done things. I even took pictures of some of them. I just need to sit down and plug in the camera. I will do that when I get back from visiting my Dad, Mum, Ammon and Brother.