Thoughts about the future

Ah!  The future is always a little scary AND exciting to me.  I have never had so many opportunities and options open to me as well as fears and hesitations.  I am one who likes to have a plan.  I have always had a plan for the past 23 years of my life.  After high school I knew I was going to college.  After 3 years of college I knew I was going on a mission.  After a mission I knew I was going back to college.  Now that I am finishing college...I have NO idea what I am doing and I am kind of freaking out about it!  Now really, if I am calm and rational, I know that things will work out just great and that I will get some direction.  However, if I think about it too much I start stressing about where I am going to live, who I am going to live with, what my job will be, etc. etc.  And then I reflect on the past and I remember how the Lord has always guided me as I have tried to do things that are right and trusted in Him.  I am reminded of all of the good things that are taking place in my life or things that will take place in the near future.  Here are a few of them:

• I passed my final Praxis exam and I am on track to graduate May 5
• I finish my first of two blocks of student teaching tomorrow
• I have a plan for the summer-starting my own preschool and summer camp
• I have a number of job interviews lined up for teaching positions

See, things are so good and I am so blessed!  I am so thankful for the scriptures and prayer and other means that I have to help me know what direction the Lord would have me go at this time in my life.  It is my new resolution to replace this fear about the future with faith!  

Party Hardy!

This is Corb's big weekend before he leaves to serve in the Bangkok, Thailand mission!  Tomorrow he will be speaking in church.  Because we had many family members come in from out of town and many that live close by we decided to have a little bash tonight.  We reserved a church building and ordered pizza and Wingers sticky fingers and everyone else brought treats or desserts.  We had such a fun time together!  Our family sure loves to party!  These are a few of the pictures I was able to snap...I didn't get too many because I was too busy playing!

And here is the missionary (one on the left) and Lance (future missionary)!  He is such a stud and I am so proud of him!

Mormon Messages: Create

This weekend I thought a lot about creating.  It is quite amazing, when I take the time to think about it, that we have the ability to create things and benefit from others who also create.  This weekend I really benefited from the creations of others!  

On Friday night, after I returned home, my nephews created a smile with their sweetness and goodness.  They were so happy that I was back from "Nogan" and that created a sense of belonging.  My aunt created a dinner for us and invited us over that night.  My grandparents were also there and they always create a spirit of love.  

 Saturday morning Brooke came over to finish off some creations she had made for a friend's baby shower.  Aren't these jars and serving plates so cute?!  Her example motivated me to also want to create selflessly for others.  Saturday night all of my siblings gathered together to create music.  My little brother's mission "farewell" is next week and he asked us to sing a musical number together.  This is the first time that the six of us will be singing a number together so we are all a little nervous but also thankful for the ability to create something (hopefully) beautiful that will invite the Spirit.

 On Sunday morning my parents created a spirit of peace and unity in our home as they invited us to gather together to study from the scriptures.  Those who gave lessons and spoke in church created an atmosphere for learning and personal revelation and guidance.  After church, we went downtown to attend the Jordan River Temple Presidency devotional.  My mom works at the temple and because of her service we were able to attend.  I am thankful for the temples that have been created.  

Today my mom, sisters, and I worked together to create.  My mom came up with the idea a few months ago to do a clock wall in the living room.  She wanted seven clocks so that she could set each one to a different time zone of the missions members of our family have served in (Japan, Texas, Romania, Florida, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Thailand).  She has been collecting these cool clocks for a few weeks now and we helped her purchase her final two today!  It was so fun working together to hang them and create an inviting and interesting room.

No matter who you are or the talents or abilities you have, you have the ability to create!  I am thankful for this message from President Uchtdorf that inspires me to create!

The Best Valentine's EVER! seriously.

It all started on Friday when we went to Beauty and the Beast together.  It continued on Friday when I made the goodies and decorated the apartment.   Last night we had a great time at our HE speed dating/Valentine's dance.  Finally, the Valentine's celebration came to its climax today!

Steph, Tish, and I woke up this morning to the scent of french toast and scrambled eggs!  Wendi surprised us with a Valentine's breakfast with all of the fixings!  She also left personalized cards, lip balm, gum, and CDs by our place settings!  What a perfect way to start a perfect day!

After we all finished up with work and school we gathered together again.  It was Steph's day to make dinner and she went all out!  We had pasta with two kinds of sauces, asparagus, coleslaw, bread, and a fruit pudding....YUM!  We even had sparkling cider in our glasses!

Then Tish started her surprise!  She wanted to share a tradition with us that she usually does with her family.  It was a scavenger hunt!  Our first clue led us to the family room where we found...

Paper, scissors, glue, and all kinds of crafting goodies...

as well as clue #2!  We were going to make cards to visit the elderly at the Legacy House.  That is one of our favorite places to go!

While we were busy making the cards we had some visitors!  Sarah, Kiersten, and Kristie stopped by!  It was so fun to see them!

We headed over to the Legacy House when we were finished and delivered our cards.  We met some of the most amazing people!  That will have to come in another post!  There is just too much to share!

We found clue #3 when we got back into the car, which led us to...

the temple; another one of our favorite spots!

We found these goodies on the bench and it was such a fun surprise!  Tish had made the chocolate kisses all by herself!  Since she knows that I don't love really chocolatey things she made mine white chocolate!  So thoughtful and so delicious!  The balloons were so cute too!  While she was setting things up the balloon on mine escaped...hopefully someone else finds it and it cheers them up!

Sitting by the kisses and balloons was clue #4.  We went back to our apartment to see...

these beauties and the sweetest note ever!  

 Valentine's is seriously the best!  I am so thankful for those of my friends and family who made it so special this year!  I hope that you had a great day as well!  If nothing else, know that I love you!

For the love of plays

Oh my goodness!  I just have to share my happiness that I just saw that Hale Center Theater will be doing Father of the Bride and The Sound of Music this spring/summer!  Seriously!  They are two of the best stories/plays/musicals ever!  My hopeless romantic side is soooo excited!  I will be buying tickets soon, very soon.  These are two shows that I can't miss!

I'm in love with love!

Yes, I hate to admit it but it is true...I am a hopeless romantic.  It wasn't until my sister bluntly pointed it out while we were watching The Sound of Music a few months ago that it was brought to my attention.  But I have finally accepted the fact that I am in love with love!  That is exactly why I LOVE Valentine's Day!  Who wouldn't?!  It is an opportunity to let everyone around you know that you love them!  I started preparing for Valentine's a week ago.  Today, while my roommates were not around, I decorated our apartment with 29 hearts with 29 reasons written on them why I love my roommates!  I am sending out a bag full of Valentine's tomorrow!  I made a number of these cupcakes in a jar and delivered them tonight!  It is so much fun to spread the love!  

 Speaking of love, this whole weekend was focused on it!  I attended Beauty and the Beast on Friday night with my roommates.  It was phenomenal!  First of all, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale of all time, and second, I was blown away by the students in high school who pulled this off!  If you have the time, I would totally recommend seeing it!  Here is my cheesy hopeless romantic bit:  I wanted to be Belle and fall in love with the beast!  I wanted to wear her pretty dresses and sing and dance!

 Saturday night I went with Tish, Becca, and eight others to The Slipper and the Rose.  Again, another night of wonderful talent and dreams coming true.  It was great!  And what made it extra special was seeing Sarah Driggs (now Lundskog) after the show!  She was in the musical!  Sarah served in my mission and I haven't seen her since I have been back so that was a special treat!

So after all of this talk about love, I hope that I one day find my prince charming and that we live happily ever after!  I still want to believe that dreams really come true...and not only in fairytales!

Reunited!

It is so fun to be reunited with the fam...even if it is only for a minute!  Yesterday I left school a half an hour early to drive down to Salt Lake.  I had a follow-up appointment with my rheumatologist at 4:30.  My Mom met me at the doctor's office and we went to the appointment together.  Afterward, my sister, Brooke, was so kind to bring her kids and meet us at Cafe Rio!  Carli and Corbin were already there so we had a fun dinner together!  I was sad that my Dad couldn't make it but I got to talk to him as I drove back up to Logan last night so that was good.  On my way back up I made a quick stop at Brandt and Kelly's house in Centerville!  It was so wonderful to see their little boys for just a few minutes!  

 My Mom was so thoughtful and surprised me with a little Valentine treat/gift!  She made this and filed it with the candies.  Isn't it so cute?!  Guess what...the stand is a martini glass!  Cool, huh?!  I love it!  And she also surprised me with supplies to make little Valentine's for my friends.  She is always so thoughtful and kind!

I loved being reunited with them!

It's great to be eight!

This weekend my oldest nephew, Rhett, was baptized.  It was so special!  I am thankful that I was able to be home for the baptism.  He is such a good kid and I am so proud of him!  I made his cake!  It was a lot of fun.  This is how it turned out:

 He told me some of his favorite things and I added them to the cake to make it a little more personal.  Some of the things that Rhett loves are...

 dinosaurs...

 legos...

 smurfs...

 and basketball!

 Rhett was glowing the whole day!  So many people love him and were there to support him!

We love you Rhett!