Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!! :) I hope this holiday season has been one full of love and happiness. 

I know that for some in the Shelley area it is also a time for grieving, but I know that this Christmas season is full of remembrance of our Savior and everything He has done for us. He lived, suffered, died, and rose again for us. Because of Him, I know that we will also rise and live again. 

I'm so grateful for my Savior and the gifts I have in my life because of Him! I know that He is my Savior, Redeemer, and brother. He is the Prince of Peace and we call Him Wonderful. I know that we can receive peace through trial and comfort through pain because of Him. We are never alone. I hope we all take some time to look for the true meaning of Christmas. I also hope that we can continue to carry this Christmas spirit with us into the new year and remember our Savior more. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!

Week 11-14

Don't worry I'm still alive!! 

Week 11- I made English Toffee with my roommate Kaycee! I can finally say that! I went and spend the night up there with her at ther apartment. (Speaking of her, I move in on the 2nd! Yay!!) I don't know if we have ever made English Toffee here at my house, but boy was that good! I still need to get the recipe from her! I'll post it when I get it! :)

Week 12- Ok, this is going to sound super lame... BUT it really was such a beneficial thing for me. I made a to do list every night before I went to bed. I would put everything I needed to do: get ready, pray, breakfast, work, pictures, mom's present, post office, etc., etc., you get the idea. And boy was I productive. I don't like not finishing a task that needs to be done so with this list before me, I made sure to get it all done before I went to bed or I'd put it on the list for the next day. I would definitely suggest the to do list to anyone! 

Week 13- I slacked.. Insert sad face here 

Week 14- A post with pictures?! Yes! Finally! My mom and I put together some goodie plates for neighbors and I made cake balls for the first time. I'm definitely not a pro yet, but I'm pretty pro at eating them, that counts for something right?!

It was probably past my bedtime when we were making these

That's all for now! I have something else to post on Saturday and it will have lots of pictures and be a good one I can promise you that; Come back on Saturday!!

Happy blogging!! :)

Where's my big girl panties?!

Alright, I promise my next post will have pictures, but I just need to let myself breath a little here. Since May I have been enjoying not going to school and working and things like that, but I'm starting to go a little stir crazy. Good thing school starts in January.. right?! And photography. I love it, but sometimes I compare my work to others a little too much and it kills my self esteem. I don't know why but the past few days I have been somewhat freaking out about all of it.

It's like all of a sudden I'm doubting everything.  I recently changed my mind about what I'm going into, was that really the right thing? What if I've lost all of my smarts?! What if I miss home?! What if I can't do everything as well I need to?! What if, what if, what if?! It's been plaguing my mind for the past few days and yes I'm excited to go, but what if I can't find my big girl panties and get over all these fears in time?

I think I'm not really used to the idea of being away from home and trying to figure everything out on my own and it has definitely overwhelmed me.

But today as I thought of all these little freakouts I started to think about the gospel. And I realized that yes, I can freak out, but I have the gospel in my life. I have the true restored gospel. What an empowering sentence. I have that. I don't need to figure that out for myself, because I know it's true. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the earth at this time. I know that the scriptures are true and prayer is real; and in the midst of all those freakout moments, I can find peace through prayer and through the scriptures. I'm so grateful for this gospel.

"I have a lot of growing up to do, I realized that the other day in my fort"

"Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be" -George Sheehan

"If you are not willing to look stupid, nothing great is ever going to happen to you" -Dr. Gregory House

"All great changes are preceded by chaos"

"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful"

So yes, I've been freaking out, but I'm feeling OK now- I just needed to have a little rant blog. I'm excited to go, I know it's time to go, and I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing. 

And don't worry, I found my panties, turns out I was wearing them all along :)

Thankful Thanksgiving

I pinky promise this will be the last post for today! But it may be kind of boring because there aren't any pictures for this one. But I promise, it's a good one.

First of all, Happy late Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with friends, family, and loved ones. I hope it was also a time to reflect on all the blessings we have. I know I had a lot of time to reflect on those things.

Blessing- Priesthood power. Thanksgiving was eventful to say the least. That morning I woke up to help my mom get some things ready to take to Ashton and we were planning on leaving earlier to go up and help my grandma set some things up and Dad, Jared, Cody, and Kinzie, would come up a little later. Jared and Cody were playing football in Shelley with some other people from the area; as my mom was outside putting stuff in the car, Jared calls. He says "Cody got knocked out and he has a concussion. We'll be home in a few minutes." Awesome. When they get here Dad and Jared give him a priesthood blessing. The feeling that overcomes me whenever a priesthood blessing is given in our home is very overwhelming. I truly know that the priesthood is God's power here on earth. I am so grateful for it. Kinzie's sister-in-law's dad (did ya follow that?) is a doctor so they called him up and he said that he would be ok!I'm grateful for Cody and the priesthood power that my dad and all the boys hold.

Blessing- Protection and guidance. I had to work black Friday at Downeast and I also got hired at the Children's Place for black Friday. Employee shopping hour at Children's Place was 10:30- midnight and I had to go to the nieces and nephews some stuff right?! As I was driving up Sunnyside and was about to go through the green light on Sunnyside and Rollandet, I was prompted to look to the right and I see a car that isn't slowing down for the red light. This light had been red for that car for a long time and mine had been green for a long time so I don't know what they were doing. I slammed on my brakes and the car flies by barely missing my car and hits the van in the lanes next to me (going the opposite direction of me). The van rolled onto its top; I pulled over and called 911 and ran to help. Luckily there was no serious injuries- I'm amazed that the man in the van wasn't hurt. How easily that could have been me if I didn't listen to the prompting. I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost and it's still small voice. I'm grateful to be alive. I'm grateful to be watched over and protected. 

I could continue to list me blessings, but there are too many and it would make this post way too long! 

Enjoy those turkey leftovers and the wonderful hustle and bustle of the holiday season!
Happy blogging :)

Week 9 & 10

Week 9 has to do with week 8 so I can't tell you about that one! I promise I will blog about it at a later date, just not today! 

Week 10- I am sending Elder Killpack a Christmas package and for part of it, I'm making little hand warmer rice bag things (Pinterest)! They're so stinking cute and I promise they work; I made me a pair too and used them when I went for a walk yesterday! 

Materials-

Fabric- I used fleece

Rice- You can fill it with other things and I just used the great value rice from Walmart

Sewing machine

OK! I started cutting out little squares of the fleece and then I just sewed around the square leaving just a little gap to flip it out. After you flip it out pour some rice in, hand sew the little opening closed and voila! You now have yourself some cute little hand warmers! :) I'm sending Elder Killpack a pair for him and his companion! 

Raking Leaves

A couple weeks ago I was raking the leaves in our front yard and I had some impressions and thoughts come into my mind. I didn't want to blog that day about it because I felt like I had become a blogging fool..  Well today I will probably have 4 different posts by the end of the day so there goes not being a blogging fool. I'm writing this experience down for my own benefit so I won't forget what raking leaves taught me about life.

For a couple weeks, I had noticed how many leaves were all over the front yard and it was driving me crazy. But I thought I have so much to do and plus mom or someone else will take of it or it will snow and cover it all up. No one ever did and I continued to think I should just do it, but I just had too many other things to do.

Finally the day came that I couldn't handle the leaves anymore. I dropped what I was doing (which wasn't very important anyways) and went out to rake. As I was raking I grouped the leaves into piles all over the yard. One by one I took those piles back into the back and threw them over the fence. It wasn't something I could do really fast and it wasn't something that in the blink of an eye was over, but when it was all done, it felt good. I could look at the yard and think of all the leaves that had been there and feel accomplished to get all of that taken care of.

Then I compared life to the yard (ya, I'm weird I know- that's just how my brain thinks). Our lives get cluttered with trials, frustrations, etc. We can see and feel it every day, but we just have too many things going on to clear it all up or it's going to "snow" soon and that will cover it up for awhile. But then there comes a day that we are tired of seeing all those "leaves" and we choose to get to work. It takes time and we sometimes we have to take it one pile at a time, but when our raking is done, we can feel that peace of mind and heart knowing that our lives have been raked up.

This may not be something you need right now, but I know when I was raking leaves, I needed that message to hit me and hit me it did.

I'm grateful for the lesson I learned and I'm grateful for the leaves I have raked up in my own life. Those leaves have made me the person who I am today and I'm grateful for that.
Now get out there and rake those leaves :)

Truth is...

I know, I know- you're probably thinking "Here she goes again, blogging about some random weird things" and you're right! :) 

There has been this big thing on facebook about "like my status and I'll tell you a truth is." Well, this amazing friend of mine, I won't mention names (cough, cough Sarah Roy) challenged everyone to write a truth is about themselves so here we go.

Truth is...

I am NOT perfect

I AM a perfectionist

I worry and stress about little things

I live to be busy- sometimes though, I get myself too busy and then comes the stress

I love school

Truth is...

I love photography-Its my passion. It's the one thing that I feel like I live, breathe and sleep

I love music

I am weird- aren't we all?!

I love people- Story time: Yesterday while I was working at Downeast I met all these ladies who were so awesome to talk to, one of them even hugged me (ya, kinda weird). But I have learned so much about others through meeting and talking with new people every day. I have realized how much of a difference I (an insignificant sales associate) can make by being happy and kind. I've also seen the difference that it has made in my own life to have met these people and how their attitudes have affected my own. 

Truth is...

I love to be in sweats and no makeup

I love to be all dolled up and ready for the day

I'm a VERY picky eater- it's kinda ridiculous sometimes

I love to pop my back- gross I know

I love being with my family

I love to talk

I like my short hair and I like my long hair- I am missing my long hair right now though

I LOVE skinny jeans

Truth is...

I have been through a lot of tough times, but those times have made me who I am today. And I wouldn't trade where I am today for anywhere else

I can't wear the same pair of socks for too long- it grosses me out

I love to cook 

I love to play games and watch movies

I like quotes

I love to pretend to be crafty and look at Pinterest

I love getting flowers

Truth is...

I admire and look up to my brothers- Story time: I look up to all my brothers and I am so grateful for their examples, but I have always wanted Jared's "approval or praise." Tonight as I drove home from work, he called and we talked. And tonight he told me he thinks I'm pretty smart. Ya, I was practically beaming. Good thing he couldn't see my face or he would have taken back that comment, just kidding! Jared is awesome to sum it all up and that made my whole night to hear him say that about me.

I love to dance

I play the piano- not well and not in front of anyone. But I do like to play

I love sports but I'm definitely not amazing at them

I don't like my handwriting

Truth is...

I have a very tender heart- it's one of my favorite things about myself.

I hate contention

I love the color purple

I'm a hopeless romantic- I rewind the lantern part of Tangled every time I watch it :)

I love fuzzy socks

I love Christmas

I love to blog :)

Truth is...

I am a daughter of God
I love Him and He loves me

I am not perfect, but I know He loves me regardless

I have weaknesses to make me strong

I have trials to make me better

I have a Savior and His atonement to help me with the rest

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true

Truth is...

This is me and I am happy being me :)

Sorry.. I probably just bored you to tears with a post all about myself, but truth is..It feels good to write all of that down. I challenge you to take a moment and think of who you really are and your own truth is..

Week 7 & 8

I would say that I am going to get better at blogging about the things I do every week, but I would be lying. And that would be bad :)

Week 7 (October 30- November 4)

I made cinnamon rolls from Our Best Bites. Best cinnamon rolls EVER!

Carrie made them while I was in Iowa and I had to try them. They are so easy and so quick! A definite must try, especially for the holidays! 

But I must fess up, I took mine out of the oven a little too soon and the bottoms were doughy. The rest of it was super good, but you just had to stay away from the bottoms. I took them out before the timer was done. I was little anxious. Don't be too anxious if you make these. I promise they are worth the full wait :)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/06/everyday-cinnamon-rolls/

There's the link to the recipe!

Enjoy!

Week 8

I can't blog about this one! Sorry! I promise I will at a later date, but right now I can't! It was a good one though! 

Happy blogging! :)

My mom

I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but for some reason I didn't feel like I had all the words I wanted to say. If you haven't noticed yet, family is HUGE to me. It may be because of things that have happened in my life that gave me a need to be close to my family, but I'm very close to all of my family. I love my family and I am truly blessed to have been able to come into the family that I did. My parents are one of the biggest blessings in my life. I need to take a minute and blog about my mom. 

If you didn't know... She's amazing. 

I have been through quite a roller-coaster ride of life and she has always been there every step of the way. Recently we were coming home from Idaho Falls and we made a stop at Walmart. Earlier that night she had shown me the Red Solo Cup song by Toby Keith, and for the life of me, I couldn't stop singing it. As we stroll along through Walmart I keep singing it and she keeps laughing at me- 30 minutes later, I'm still singing it and she's still laughing. As we get into the car to drive home, we turn on the radio to get the song out of our heads and we start singing our hearts out, singing in our hick voice, and cracking jokes at one another. And that's how life is with her and I. We're weird- end of story.

And then there's nights like tonight- which quite frankly have been happening often in the past couple weeks. I can't get an understanding on life and she's there to listen every time. Most of my frustrations, confusion, and tears are usually from the exact same things too, but without fail she listens, laughs, and gives hugs when necessary. And by the end of the night we end up in relentless laughter that seems to continue on because we laugh alike and to hear how ridiculous the other is laughing brings another fit of laughter. 

I guess I just need to tell my mom thanks. Thank you for all you do.

Thank you for marrying such a wonderful man so I could have him as my father.

Thank you for laughing at my stupid mistakes. Thank you for believing in my dreams.

Thank you for all the hugs. Thank you mom. 

I love you

And yes mom, I'm gonna miss this.

Major decisions

The past couple weeks have been pretty interesting to say the least. I've had a lot on my mind and a lot on my shoulders. I'm not saying that I don't still, but I feel like a big load of that I have been able to take off these past few days. 

For the past two years my heart and mind has been dead set on majoring in photography through the BFA program at BYU-I. Well, last week I heard some very conflicting opinions from students who have been in the program and they started to add to my doubts about the major. To hear that on top of everything else that was going on I broke down; the one thing I was sure of with everything in my life, I wasn't sure of anymore. I went home and talked to my wonderful mom about it and I made a plan of action with her of steps to take to figure things out. I was going to 

1. pray, pray, and pray some more.

2. Talk to my brothers

3. Talk to some photographers I admire

4. And ultimately do what I felt was right for me

That night I prayed and read my scriptures anxiously seeking a message. What did I read in my scriptures? Nephi seeing the vision of the Tree of life. Ok, well that didn't help- at least not right then. The next night Cody had a flag football game at BYU-I that Jared, my mom, and I went too. Afterwards we went to Cody and Kinzie's apartment and we all had a little chit chat. I was hesitant to bring up what I was thinking about school, but I decided why not. I can't even begin to tell you all the things my brothers brought to my attention; everything they said I was trying to soak in and remember. I guess I should tell you what we discussed so the next part will make some sense. As I looked into the photography major, there really wasn't any room to take electives or some of the Home and Family classes I had been looking at, and I couldn't have a minor with that major. Well why not major in Home and Family? I would be able to take all the classes I was wanting to and classes that would definitely benefit me for when I become a wife and mother. 

On the way home, my attention was brought back to my patriarchal blessing. It talks about talking with my brothers when it comes time to make big decisions in my life. It made me so very grateful to have that blessing in my life and the family that I do to help me when I don't know how to help myself.

I'm so grateful for my brothers' examples and the strength they give to me

I also thought back to what I read the night before. It was about the tree of life and getting others to come and hold to the rod as well. I feel like a Home and Family major would help me have a better understanding of raising children in the gospel and how to be a better mother and example for them.

That night I also emailed a photographer who I love to follow from the east coast. I honestly didn't think she'd have the time to email me- a girl from a little town she's never heard of from the land of potatoes. But she did; she answered my questions and replaced my fears and doubts with excitement at the future I have before me. 

Today I went to BYU-I to talk to the advising center and some home and family professors about some questions I had. But before I spoke with them, I went to devotional with my friend Kaycee Turner (I'm rooming with her next semester). It was one of those talks that I thought to myself.. "Wow, how does he know what's going on in my life?" Rex D. Pinegar was the speaker and I loved every moment of his talk. 

"How are you? I'm happy" & "Faith is the force of life" were some of my favorite quotes from today's devotional.
Today was one of those days that everything seemed to fall into place with this decision in my life. It definitely wasn't an easy one, but sometimes I need to accept that our Heavenly Father has a bigger plan for me than I have for myself. Some people have told me that I'm learning to be a "professional mom" and that may be true, but I know that's where I need to be. I'm so grateful to have the family that I have. They lead me to see the future I have before me and gladly kick me in the rear when I am stubborn about it.

I'm grateful to be going to BYU-I. It is a wonderful campus and the temple in  view only adds to the spirit there.

And just so ya know...
Next time you ask me- How are you? 

I'll tell ya- I'm happy :)

Week 4, 5 and 6

Yes, I'm a definite slacker on blogging! And yes I was a definite slacker on week 4. 

Week 4 was my epic fail week. I didn't get any of the things done that I had wanted too. 

Week 5 (October 13-20) I made dinner one night after work.  I made loaded mashed potatoes. Yes, the recipe came from Pinterest. What can I say, I'm addicted! It turned out really good, but I would say layer it. Put potatoes then the "loadings" then more potatoes then more "loadings." The recipe calls for just bacon and cheese; I put red peppers and green onions in it as well. Super good! :) If you love potatoes give it a shot!

5 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1/2 cup milk

1 8oz. cream cheese- softened

1 c. sour cream

2 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 c. shredded cheese (I love cheese so I used more than that)
8 slices bacon- crispy and crumbled

Preheat oven to 350. Peel, quarter, and boil potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and beat until smooth. Add milk, cream cheese, sour cream parsley, garlic salt, and nutmeg. Beat until creamy. Add salt/pepper to taste. Top with your "loadings." Spray a 9x13 baking pan with Pam. Cover with foil and back for 30 minutes. Uncover and back 5-10 more minutes, or until cheese is all melty goodness :)

Week 6- GHOST POOP! :)

Yep, ghost poop. Another lovely Pinterest idea. My mom and I made these for some friends and yes I sent some to a friend in Washington :)  And I don't even know if my friends thought they were as funny as my mom and I did. I laughed and laughed at them. But anyways... the picture is self explanatory! I'm not a scrapbooker so they probably could have been a lot cuter!! 

Have a happy week!

Little kid twinkle

Today I sat and watched my dad during a missionary welcome home talk and I watched as he played peek a book with the little girl in front of us. Did she know us? No, she sure didn't. But I feel like there's a twinkle in my dad's eyes or something that all little kids love. Whatever the reason is, little kids love my dad. And my dad loves little kids. It's been such a blessing in my life to see that love from a father so I know what I can expect from a husband someday. I mentioned in my previous post that Sister Dalton's talk was one of my favorites this conference and she talked about how to raise a daughter. I may not be the best daughter, but I know that I have learned so much from my dad's example; I'm grateful for the love that he has for my mom and that I can see what I deserve and want. I'm so grateful for my dad's influence in my life. I know I don't thank him enough, but I'm truly so grateful to have been blessed with him as my dad. I love you dad!

I must just be a people watcher, but when my family and I went to my brother's house this evening I watched my brother Jared play and hold my nephew Logan. And I see that same twinkle come out in his eyes. The nieces and nephews love Jared. They love all of the uncles, but there's something different about Jared with them. I love watching the way Jared gets excited to skype with Katelyn, Kylie, and Mason, or how he just knows what to do to make them smile. He loves little kids like my dad does and I know that one day he will be an amazing father. 

All of my brothers are amazing. I was just being a people watcher today. I know my Trent and Troy are also amazing fathers and husbands. And Cody is also an amazing husband; I'm grateful to have them to look up to as well!

Iowa!

There are so many things to say about my trip to Iowa, but one word that sums it all up is blessing. For those of you who don't know, I'm juggling 3 jobs. I work at Downeast Basics, Kiwi Loco, and do my photography; and to say that my stress levels have been high would be an understatement. I needed to go and take a break from all of that and be able to have time for me. I can't tell you how good it was to come off that airplane in Des Moines and walk down the stairs only to see my nieces racing up the stairs, screaming my name, and nearly knocking me over to give me a hug. That night Troy had to work, so just Carrie and the kids picked me up. We went to the mall and got a bite to eat and let me tell you, that mall is HUGE! That was the only time we went there, but it was huge! That night I got to be a part of their family scripture study, prayer, and sing to one of the girls. Sunday was general conference and I woke up to Carrie making a wonderful breakfast! Sis. Dalton's talk was one of my favorites. How do you teach and raise your daughter? Love her mother. I'm grateful for my dad's example in this and I know that Katelyn and Kylie have an amazing dad raising them as well. At the end of the morning session, everyone was asleep but me and Kylie so we walked to the little ponds at their apartment complex and she caught some frogs, yep, she not we. I just take the pictures! :)

Once everyone woke up, we went to the mall to feed the ducks and fish at the pond there!

Don't worry about it, Mason just wanted to take a swim with the fishies :)

Gotta scratch!

Mason HATES being in the stroller, he'd much rather push it!

That night I introduced Carrie to Pinterest and let's just say we found her new obsession.

Carrie and I made multiple trips to my new favorite store- Hobby Lobby. It's this awesome craft store that led us to feeling pretty crafty. On Pinterest we found a Halloween wreath we wanted to make, so we set out to make 2, one for her and one for me. It took a few late nights to finish but here's the outcome to part of my week 3 challenge outcome!

Pretty cute huh?!

We also made another trip later in the week to Hobby Lobby to make some cute Halloween frames! Also from Pinterest...

And one last Week 3 challenge outcome- I don't know what to call this other than Reese's Heaven

The middle layer- Peanut Butter cheesecake

While I was out there we did so many fun things. I got to go to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard with them. And let me tell you Carrie and I sure can keep up with these kids! :)

Kylie took this one- She's going to be just like her aunt :)

Kylie- yup I know they're the cutest little girls ever

Katelyn

Being a teacher

What large pumpkins I have! Hahaha

The BEST part of the pumpkin patch- Wiggle cars! Someday mine and Carrie's wiggle car plans will come to be!

Funniest moment ever. Only Carrie will get it though!

I also got to see what Katelyn and Kylie do every week! Swimming, preschool, and gymnastics being just a few!

Mason "patiently" waits for them to be done

Last but certainly not least, Carrie took me to Nauvoo the last day I was there; Troy was sweet enough to stay home with the kids. It's 3.5 hours from where they live and it's beautiful. I was so grateful to be able to go there with my sister. In all honestly, I felt emotional at a lot of it. At the graves of  Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum, I sat in awe of everything that was done for this gospel and for me. I'm so grateful for this gospel and the sacrifices the saints made to be a part of it. 

We also drove to Carthage Jail. There is truly a different spirit there.

I love what Joseph and Emma say about each other

Joseph and Emma's home

Where the Saints crossed the Mississippi River

The view from the Trail of Hope

Add caption

The original door in Carthage

Sisters

The drive home seemed to take FOREVER, but I'm so glad that Carrie and I go to go. I learned a lot about my sister in law and a lot about myself through her example. I stand in awe of her strength and love. Her patience and happiness. I look up to her. Thank you Carrie for taking the time to listen to me and supporting my dreams and goals. Thanks to both Troy and Carrie for letting me stay for a week so I could learn about myself and enjoy time with them. Just a few more pictures from the trip

Before preschool :)

This is what 95 percent of this trip was like- so tired from staying up the night before

!

Winner, winner chicken dinner, fist pump- YES!

Feeling crafty :)

Shiver me timbers

She's one of my best friends

I'm terrible at saying goodbye. I'm a baby, always have been, always will be, and saying goodbye to Carrie is always hard for me. But I'm so grateful to have been able to go to Iowa and spend the time I did with my family. We pulled way too many late nights, ate way too many sour patch watermelons, and watched way too many movies, but I wouldn't trade any of those memories for anything. Thank you again Troy and Carrie. I love you! :)