Christmas weekend!

Christmas was wonderful! I love it. The only thing I think that could have made it better was being able to spend some time with Tyler. We only were able to talk to each other on the phone on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Neither of us thought it felt like Christmas this year. It was kinda strange. Anyway, I think one of the best parts of Christmas this year was watching my nieces and nephews open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They got an awesome red wagon and went for a ride in it later since there wasn't any snow (LAME). All of them got books and toys and some clothes. Makayla got the coolest pair of shoes, courtesy of her favorite Aunt Katie (even though Grandma's name was on the tag). Seriously, if they came in my size I would totally wear them! They were gold checkered and they were shiny on some squares and the others were sparkly. Who wouldn't want awesome shoes like that?! I wish I had a picture...a description just doesn't do it justice. Hunter had a Cars Christmas...Cars chair, Cars books, Cars jammies, Cars bean bag, basically just Cars everything.

Dainin got an Aggie T-shirt and we were twins on Christmas. It was precious so we took a picture. He also got a frog Pillo Pet that's way cute and books. Andy and Shaunee got storage shelves. Shaunee's face when they opened that one was so epic! You would think that she had just won the lottery. It was funny.

This is a photo of Christmas Chaos! It was a mess but cleaned up rather quickly. My stash is on the far right on the couch. All the books lined up on the back of the couch. I have a lot of reading to do...it's not going to get done before school starts probably. Darn. At the bottom you can see Dain sitting in his wagon. He didn't want to get out. It was cute. Anyway, over all it was a really good Christmas.

On another topic, Sunday I finally got to see Tyler. His family was doing a progressive Christmas dinner and he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have meet them. It wasn't just his immediate family either. It was Aunts, Uncles, cousins, everyone. It was fun. They're good people. We each got a lot of questions cuz apparently his family doesn't get together very often, which is weird to me but that's only cuz my family gets together all the time. We live close though so it's easier. Tyler's family doesn't. He's got cousins in St. George, one of his aunts family lives in Singapore, his sister Julia lives in Minnesota, and his oldest sister Charity lives in New York. Those arrangements make it hard to get together a lot. So now I can say I've met the bulk of his family...probably. I don't know how big his family is though. I still have yet to meet his dad, step mom, half brother, and his oldest sister Charity. That's going to be another adventure. It was good to meet them though. They were really nice. I was a little nervous though cuz, ya know, meeting the family for the first time. I hope I didn't disappoint. I look forward to spending more time with his family and getting to know them better. It'll be a good time.

'Tis the Season

I love Christmas, everything about it. It's such a happy time of year. Here are some of my most favorite things about this season:

Christmas Carols
Christmas Trees
Candy making
Giving gifts
Christmas lights
Hot Chocolate
My VHS of old Christmas Specials from the 80's (pretty great, right!)
Memories from past years and making new ones
My crazy family
Aardema Christmas Eve Homemade Chinese Dinner
Christmas parties
Talking walks in the snow
Watching the snow fall from my living room window
My Christmas quilt that I made
Spending time with family
Getting up early on Christmas Day

Just like the song says "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" I look forward to it every year.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Take a look at this beauty. This is my Christmas tree this year. I chopped it down and drug it off a mountain in knee deep snow myself. It's pretty great, right. True it's not the perfect pyramid you imagine when you think of the perfect Christmas tree. It's actually rather square...it has character. ;) This year I was quite lucky just to get a tree. Here's the story.

Every year my family and some neighbors go up to Soda Springs, Idaho the day after Thanksgiving to hunt for that perfect tree. It's one the most looked forward to traditions that my family does (at least I think so). We get up at 6 AM and head north and make to the ranger station about 8ish or so, get our permits and embark on our journey through snow covered mountain roads. We'll find a good spot that looks promising, pull of the side of the road, pile on our eskimo gear and trudge through the groves of pine trees searching for the tree to represent the Christmas season for the year. Once we find it, out come the hand saws and tape measures to cut it just the right size. Then once all the trees are cut and accounted for we all gather for lunch and Hot Cocoa and then load back up and head home. We can normally make it home by early evening, enough time to decorate the Christmas tree before it's time for bed.

This is what happens on a normal Christmas Tree Cutting Excursion. This year, however, was not a normal year...

It started out the same. We still got up at 6 AM, we still got to ranger station around 8, we still drove the snow covered mountain roads. It was those very snow covered mountain roads that caused the problem. A few days prior to this little adventure the 2010 Blizzard hit with a vengeance. Idaho, so I hear, got hit harder than Northern Utah did. The group we ventured with consisted of 10 vehicles, all of which were 4WD capable. Half of these vehicles were also pulling trailers, to make it easier to haul the trees home. There was so much snow from the storm that every car in our party got stuck at least once. The car I was riding in with my brother, his wife, and my nephew got stuck three times alone. The snow was knee deep on the roads and it wasn't the good snow that will pack down once driven on it was that soft powdery snow that you sink into really well. Let's just say that on this trip we spent more time digging people out of the snow than we did hunting for trees. Once we decided that it wasn't worth all that digging and that the roads were just to snowy to go further with anything but a snowmobile (which we didn't have) we decided to back track to the only semi decent spot and try our luck at it. It's about 3 in the afternoon by now, which is usually when we finish up and head home in a normal year (I told...not normal this time around). As you know around this time of year it gets dark at like 5. So we park and bundle up and search the woods for a tree as fast as possible. And that is why my tree look sthe way it does this year. It's basically the middle section of a semi decent tree, but with the disastrous events that took place this year I'm lucky to have a fresh tree that's not from a lot. Basically instead of saying that I just have a crappy tree...I say it's the cousin of Charlie Brown's tree. All it needs is a little love.

I survived the 2010 blizzard!

It was intense but I made it through alive. :) I'll start at work. I went in to work at 10:15, not much different than any other Tuesday. Macey's was insanity with everyone preparing for the end of the world but the credit union wasn't so bad. Around 3:15 we got the call to close the branch and head home cuz the storm was that bad. That was pretty awesome. Driving home on the other hand wasn't so awesome. I think it took me at least twice as long to get home. I could barely see a car length in front of me it was kinda scary and anyone who knows me well knows how much I hate the snow...driving in it makes it a million times worse. I had to take a detour road to my apt cuz I knew my little car wouldn't make it up the hill...not a chance. So I circled the block on a flatter street but then my lot hadn't been plowed yet so I could park at my house anyway. Luckily I have Tyler who came quickly to my rescue. :) Love him. I called him and asked what I should do. He said that I could come park at his house and once the storm cleared up we would try to get back into my parking lot again. So that's what I did. My car ended up spending the night in Tyler's lot and he picked me up this morning before I had to go to work. I thought I had plenty of time but when I went to start my car to get it warmed up and defrosted a little (there really wasn't much ice left on it thankfully) it wouldn't start. It would just click angrily at me. It was that cold! Tyler pulled out his trusty jumper cables (mine were too short) and we got my car started. Once I let it run for a minute I was about to leave for work and I realized that I left my phone in my apt so I had to go back there and get it. The key to my apt is on the same ring as my car keys so in order to get in I had to turn off my car. Bad idea, in the five seconds it took to get in my house, grab my phone, and back out to my car, it had frozen again and wouldn't start. :( sad day! By now it's like 9:55 and I'm supposed to be at work at 10. Yeah, that's not happening, so I called the branch and told them that I would get there as soon as I could. I called Tyler back up and said that my car wouldn't start again and he's have to come bail me out. One problem, I was in my parking lot and Tyler had tried to pull in earlier that morning and his car couldn't make it up that blasted hill. Curses! Anyway he came over anyway and tried the driveway into the parking lot again, and Celine (Tyler's car) pulled through, no sweat. Yay! =D So we got my car jumped...again...and I was on my way, finally! Needless to say it's been an eventful morning. I don't think I hit 30 the whole way to work (I'm paranoid driving in the snow, my car doesn't like it almost as much as I do). I eventually got there though around 10:30...only a half hour late, not too bad considering. I'm just hoping my car starts when I get off tonight. That could be problematic...fingers crossed!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and be safe!

Update

So I was just noticing that it's been over a month since I last posted anything. I've been really busy as of late. School and work will do that to ya. :) Life has been incredibly wonderful and happy. School isn't as stressful as it has been in the past (with the exception of today's Calculus test...epic fail) I love my classes for the most part. Work is still the same as it's always been. So nothing new there. Life in general has a new little fun thing that I'm totally a huge fan of. =D It's by far the best thing ever...or I should say HE'S the best thing ever. His name is Tyler and he's so adorable. We met at the end of April last spring at Relay for Life. He pointed out that he was also in my ward at the time too. Nothing really happened after that and then school ended and (I found out later) he went and spent the summer working at a scout camp somewhere. Then we met again with a group of friends that sing under the Institute building every Sunday. At first it was just like a hi/bye thing but then we would get talking more and more. Pretty soon we would get talking for almost an hour afterward. Then one week he asked me to go to the IMA banquet (Institute's Men's Association, the IWA for girls too) with him but I couldn't go cuz I was working that night. I was sad but we exchanged numbers and he said he would call me to go out another time. I was pretty excited the rest of that night and was really hoping he would call me. The next morning he sent me a text wishing me good luck on the test I had that day. It was so cute, the first of many. :) So Thursday came and I figured since I couldn't go with him to the IMA thing I decided I would invite him to go bowling with me, Karlie, and Drew. He came and it was so much fun. We were talking the whole time and bonus...he's worse at bowling than I am. That was fun haha. Anyway, Sunday came again and we were talking after singing like usual and he asked me out again for the following Thursday. I said yes cuz I was free that night...or so I thought. The day before I remembered that I had a staff meeting at work that I totally spaced. I told him about it and that I would still like to go out if it wasn't too late for him, it pushed us back to 8:30...which isn't too bad. He said that was fine and that it was going to be a short date anyway cuz we're both crazy busy with school. Thursday came and for the date we went to Aggie Ice Cream first. There's a funny story here. We get our ice cream and he goes to pay and he forgot his wallet...so he asked the cashier if he could come back the next day and pay for the ice cream. She said that was fine as long as he promised he would come back. I said I wouldn't let him forget and I didn't. Anyway after that we went to Border's and read Dr. Suess books until they closed. It was super short but it was fun. After that we would text each other pretty much everyday. The following Saturday I invited him over to hang out with me and Karlie cuz Jessika and Tess were up visiting. Sunday we saw each other again at Hymn Singing and we would text each other everyday and he asked me if I wanted to go out again that Friday. Wednesday I invited him to our weekly "movie night" I put it in quotes cuz it's usually just me and Karlie that's there. We watched Horton Hears a Who cuz Tyler had never seen it. There were two reasons for this...first is the one I just mentioned, Tyler hadn't seen it, and the second more important reason was that I was hoping that Tyler would make a move to hold my hand. Sneaky, right? I know. Well my plan worked perfectly! It was so exciting. The next night he invited me to go see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with him and his room mates. That was a great movie as well. So now here we are at Friday the day he asked me out for. We went to the corn maze in Hyde Park. And of course we had to go after dark so it was haunted. I had previously told Tyler how big of a wimp I am...he said we'd have to change that. It's ok though he protected me from the chain saw guy, the guy with the pellet gun, the wolf people, the scarecrow that popped out of the corn, and the creepy clown that followed us for like 5 minutes I swear. I jumped several times and Tyler would just laugh. I lived though so that's good. Then after that we went over to Walmart to get some ice cream and toppings. One of the couples that was with us ran off to get toppings and when they came back with two choices they consulted the rest of the group, Heath Shell or Reese's Shell. Me and Tyler were talking in the back and and the same exact same time without skipping a beat in our conversation we both said "Reese's". It was so funny! Everyone just looked at us weird. So great. Then we went back to Tyler's apt and ate ice cream, talked, and watched old episodes of Goosebumps. After that me and Tyler would see each other pretty much everyday. We decided to make this official about a week and a half ago. Life has been pretty awesome ever since. =D A little bit about him: He's from Centerville. He'll be 24 in December. He's the youngest in his family (just like me...tender!) He's studying Biology and wants to be a pediatrician. He's pretty much amazing and I'm super lucky to have him. ;)

Anyway that's about all the update I can think of right now. I'll try to stay on top of things better...but no guarantees.

It's that time of year again

Well here we go. School is once again upon us. Isn't it a wonderful thing. I know it's been going for two weeks now but I keep forgetting to post an update. So here goes. This years schedule includes: Geography, Big Band Swing, Accounting, Philosophy, and Math 1100. It's not too bad of a schedule I just gotta stay on top of things and all will be well. :)

Geography: This is one of my generals. It's a freshman class that is just one of those that I have to take. I take a notebook everyday and haven't taken a single note. Exciting right. My teacher is a little weird. He has an inflatable globe that is like a giant beach ball on a string. He uses a laser pointer with his power point presentations that he doesn't know how to put in a slide show. It's pretty wonderful.

Big Band Swing: Love this class! It's so much fun. It's something I've never done before. I've done country swing and regular swing and every other kind of dance you can think of. It's different and I love it. I haven't taken a dance class in a really long time so this is awesome.

Accounting: This class is really great too, surprisingly. I like it a lot. I actually get it, which is super nice. There are like 10 girls in the class and the rest are guys which makes a nice ratio. ;) It's a lot of fun.

Philosophy: This is another general class. It's in Old Main. It's a lot of Greek and weird concepts and stuff like that. Nothing too special there.

Math 1100: This class has me a little worried. It's Calculus and I've never taken calculus in my life so it's a little intense. The teacher is absolutely insane. He runs around the room like a crazy person and if he's not running around he sends his TA's to run around for him. It's very entertaining. Oh the other day...haha...this is funny. He was taking questions about the class and a girl asked if he would post the answers to the practice test before the actual test so we could how he wants us to answer them. He went on about how it was such a good question and that he would never do this but he really felt like he could kiss her right then. Oh but he didn't stop there but he went on to say "I've done a lot of bad things in my life, but I have never molested anyone." haha it was the highlight of the day. It was great. His comments are what make the class actually fun to go to.

So yeah that's my school schedule this semester. It's gonna be a good year. =D

The Good Old Days!

So last week me and Karlie took a little road trip to a wonderful place called COLORADO!! It was so much fun! We went to visit our amazing room mate Heather. =) Love her! We had a blast together, as usual. We met up with her family in Salt Lake and followed them home. We became VERY familiar with the back of their car and can even tell you the license plate number. It was a long drive. Anyway, of course once we got there we had to go to a Rockies game. The game was lame but it was fun to be there anyway. We soaked up the sun, went to the mall, and just laughed together like we used to. It was great to see Heather again and I can't wait till she moves back to Logan.

Holidays.

I love holidays, and not just because I get bankers holidays (YES!) I love them because they are just so much fun. This last weekend was so great! I was able to chill with my family and see old friends that I haven't seen in a while. Here's what went down.

Saturday July 3: I slept in because I could. I got up around 10:30 and took a shower before I headed to work at 12. I was lunch coverage for the day and so I was only at work till 4. Somehwere in that 4 hours I lost $.05. I'm pretty sure I know what happened but there's not much I can do to fix it seeing as it was an exchange and I didn't get a name, account #, or anything like that from the member meaning that there's no way to get ahold of them if I wanted to. So I took the outage (it was a bad balancing week for me). After leaving work I went back to my apt and gathered up all my shiz to spend the ENTIRE weekend at my parents house, something I haven't done since I moved to Logan. On my way out of the valley I realized that my gas tank was pretty close to empty, luckily I realized this before I had already passed the gas station. So I detoured and filled my tank and then realized that I had forgotten my camera and the shrug to wear over my dress for Sunday. So I had to back track back to my apt to grab that stuff. Finally, an hour and a half after I was planning on leaving I was on my way for reals. I made it to my parents about 6:45 which gave me enough time to drop off my stuff and then head to Jessika's to pick her up before games and fireworks.

Sunday July 4: I was able to sleep in again, something I haven't been able to do on Sundays for a while cuz my ward in Logan starts at 9. I visited the Ben Lomond 2nd Ward which was my singles ward before I moved north. That ward has changed SO much. I only recognized a few girls in Relief Society and then a few more guys in Sunday School. Most of the people I recognized I went to high school with but it was good to visit the ward again. I even helped out with ward choir after. After that I just chilled out at my parents house all alone cuz my parents were in Salt Lake with my grandparents who are on a service mission down there.

Monday July 5: This is the day I got off of work. This was also the funnest day of the weekend. My sister-in-law Shaunee (Andy's wife) had the brilliant idea of foing a giant slip and slide in my parents backyard since it's on a hill. So that's what we did. It was so much fun! I'll have to post pictures later (I'm at work...can't do it right now). All the adults went down several times. Even Hunter and Dain did it, with help of course. We all had a blast and are now suffering from sore muscles and sunburns (for some of us...not me I was smart this time). We concluded that it should become a yearly tradition. After we had our fill of water and sun we gathered up and headed home. Andy and Shaunee left first, I left about an hour later (I had to get back for a date), and then I'm assuming everyone else stayed for fireworks in the street, but I don't know for sure on that one...I wasn't there. But for my date we went to the fireworks in Hyrum, which made for three fireworks shows in four days for me it was great! It was fun.

So yeah that was my 4th of July weekend. It was such an awesome weekend. And now it's back to life and the daily grind. I hope everyone else had a fun and safe 4th as well. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

Fabulous day!

It may be dark and gloomy outside today but for me the sun has never been brighter than it is right now. I'll tell you why. I got up this morning just like any other day. I didn't have to be to work till 11 so I got to sleep in for a while, which was nice. My plan was to get up and take a shower before I had to leave but I went to let the water get warm...and there was no water. Super weird I know. So obviously the shower was out. I made sure that nothing had happened with Logan City (cuz the utilities are in my name) and everything was fine there, I still don't know why we didn't have water this morning. Anyway, back on track...focus! I left for work early cuz I was ready early. Nothing out of the ordinary there. I was lunch coverage today so I was off at 4. (Come in late, leave early...so great!) So at about 3:50 I start balancing my drawer so I can leave on time. I count my cash, which didn't take long since I didn't have much in my drawer at the time, and then move on to my checks. Checks: balance, easy. Cash: short 10 cents, not so easy. I recount my coin...it all matches what I have in the system. I have my manager count my coin and he gets what I got. So after a quick glance through my work for the day, with nothing popping out as to what would cause such an outage, I leave work with an outage on my stats for the month. Now I know what you're probably thinking at this point: "No water this morning, an outage at work...how can this be a fabulous day?" Well I'll tell you, today was my ward's temple day. I went and did baptisms for the dead for the first time in too long. Also for the first time at the Logan temple, and the first time ever going by myself. I've always gone with a YW group or with friends from my ward. Not this time, just me, and it was the best thing ever! Going with friends isn't a bad thing but going alone I wasn't distracted in any way from the Spirit that you feel there. It had been so long since I'd done baptisms that I forgot just how wonderful that feeling is. After I got done I sat in the lobby area and read 3 Nephi 11 there was one verse in there that said something about after being baptized how we must become like little children. I know I wasn't being baptized for me, but I still need to be like a little child. Humble, submissive, teachable.
I came home after that and sat in my room thinking about that and I realized that my focus has been on the wrong things. I've been dwelling on things that I don't have that I want and everything I've given up in the past. I was forgetting about everything that I have right now. I have a family that loves me, I have friends that care about me, I have a job (and a good, stable one at that), I have a roof over my head, I have a car that gets me where I need to be, I'm getting an education, and the most important of all of them, I have a Heavenly Father that loves me more than I can comprehend and He's always there for me when I need Him, and I ALWAYS need Him. It doesn't matter that I haven't been dating anyone in the last year and a half. It doesn't matter that I haven't been on very many dates in that time either. As long as I know I have the love of my family and my Heavenly Father the rest is just filler and everything will fall into place.

And that knowledge is what made my day so great.

Changes

This summer has brought a few changes for me already. The first being, new room mates. It's been almost six weeks now and I still don't know a lot about them. We all kinda keep to ourselves, which is much different from the way things were during the school year. So that's an adjustment I've had to make. Another change, a good change, has been that I've changed branches at work again. I'm now working at the Providence Macey's branch. I love it so much! It's super fun and it's made going grocery shopping so much easier, cuz it's like right there. I have also resolved to be more active this summer too. I go walking/jogging on my days off. I would like to go everyday but I don't get home from work till 7:30 and I don't want to run the risk of going by myself in the dark. Smart, yes? I think so. Another change has also come at church. I recently got a new calling. I'm now a Ward Prayer coordinator. Ironically my partner in crime is the same guy I was paired with for my previous calling as Institute Rep, which I thought was kinda funny. This Sunday will be our first week putting it together...we'll see how it goes. Anyway I think that's all I have to report for now.

Bittersweet...

So I'm all done with school for the semester! It's been a long road but I made it. I have loved this last year, it has been so much fun! I've made so many friends. There's my room mates Karlie, Lauren, and Heather...LOVE them! We've had so many good memories. Here a few of the best ones:
Our random trip to Colorado
Lauren on a stick
Dancing in the kitchen/living room
Late nights laughing
Heather's English project
Thursday night bowling
Cookies and Brownies
The sperm and egg on the cupboards in the kitchen (HAHAHA)
Drew ALWAYS washing our dishes when he came over.
Lauren's mistletoe
Gwilltaycolick (this is all of our last names combined)

Those are just the memories that have stuck out to me. I love those girls so much and I will miss them a ton while they're gone for the summer. That's ok me and Karlie and Lauren are all moving back in together in the fall. Heather won't be with us because she's getting married...silly girl ;) That's ok I love her anyway. I have so many other memories from this year that I wish I could go through and tell them all but that would take forever, so I'm not going to do that. A lot of them are with my other friends like Ritchie, Drew, Ruth, Hilary, Jess, Ember and many many more. I love all of these people so so much! I've learned something from each of them. It's been a great year and I'm hopeful that the coming summer and following school can be just as great if not better!

I Believe!!

So today in Sacrament meeting we had an Easter program. We don't get programs a lot in single college wards but this one was AMAZING!!! It was such a reminder to me that Christ does live and He loves me so much! It was exactly what I needed today. I can't say I've been struggling exactly lately but I just haven't really been living the way I should. I haven't had my priorities where they should be. I've gotten so overwhelmed lately with being in school and working and trying to stay social (which doesn't always happen). I got stuck in a selfish rut a little bit, doing the whole "why me" bit. I've always known that the religion I live is true, I have no doubt about that, I just haven't been living it recently. I have since resolved to be and do better. I've started reading my scriptures every night before I go to bed no matter how tired I am or what time it is. It's almost to the point now that it's becoming routine. I've also starting saying my prayers every night as well. Just those two little things alone have helped me so much to get myself back on track. Last night as I was saying my prayers I asked my Heavenly Father to help me recognize His presence in my life and to also feel and live closer to the Spirit. Today during the program my prayer was answered. One song that was sung was Hymn #134 "I Believe in Christ" as the choir was singing it I just sat and listened to the words and let them speak to me. I've always loved this song but today it struck me in ways that it never has before. I got chills and had goosebumps on my arms when I felt deep in my heart the truth of the words in that song. It was almost as if there was a voice in the back of my mind telling me that He's there and aware of me and my struggles and He knows exactly how I feel, and with His help I can do anything. It was an amazing reminder of who I am, what I believe, and most of all it helped me find my testimony again that He really does live and that He guides my live everyday whether I'm aware of it or not. I love this gospel with all my heart and I'm so happy to be apart of it. "I believe in Christ; he is my King! With all my heart to him I'll sing; I'll raise my voice in praise and joy, in grand amens my tongue employ. I believe in Christ; he is God's son. On earth to dwell his soul did come. He healed the sick; the dead he raised. Good works were his; his name be praised. I believe in Christ; oh, blessed name! As Mary's Son he came to reign 'mid mortal men, his earthly kin, to save them from the woes of sin. I believe in Christ; who marked the path, who did gain all the Father hath, who said to men:'Come, follow me, that ye, my friends, with God may be.' I believe in Christ- my Lord, my God! My feet he plants on gospel sod. I'll worship him with all my might; He is the source of truth and light. I believe in Christ; he ransoms me. From Satan's grasp he sets me free , and I shall live with joy and love in his eternal courts above. I believe in Christ; he stands supreme! From him I'll gain my fondest dream; and while I strive through grief and pain, His voice is heard: 'Ye shall obtain.' I believe in Christ; so come what may, with him I'll stand in that great day when on this earth he comes again to rule among the sons of men."

so...

I accidentally deleted my original blog...oops. So this is the new one. I hope all of you find me again. =D