Thankful Days Continued.....

Day 8: With the time change it's pretty dark in the morning still but the other day I was driving to work and in my rear view mirror I could see the beautiful sunrise beginning. The sunrises and sunsets in New Mexico are by far one of my favorite things about living here! I wish I could've gotten a picture of the one I saw but I'm posting one that I've taken here before. So grateful for beautiful sunrises that make my day start off wonderful :)

Day 9: Today I am grateful for the Word of Wisdom. Every year for work we have an annual dinner celebration that is paid for by the company. This year it was at St. Clair's Winery here in Farmington. I was reluctant to go for more than one reason but my biggest reason was that at this restaurant they offer free wine samples to go with you meal. I knew that most of my co-workers would be drinking wine and really I don't like being around those that drink. After much thought and even a little prayer, I decided that I needed to go. And it was actually a good experience. I had the opportunity to share with some of my co-workers why I don't drink. Talked a little about the word of wisdom with them and it was good.

Day 10: Grateful for hymns of praise :) I have the opportunity to be not only in one but TWO choirs and I'm kind of excited about it. My branch president was a little worried that I'm "spreading myself too thin" but I told him that I love singing and taking long naps on Sundays while sometimes is great....singing is greater. All day throughout church and choir practice we sang hymns and I just love them!! Each one is unique and special and a reminder to me that we can sometimes communicate to people better through song and the spirit touches them in a wonderful way. I'm excited for December when I get to sing hymns and melodies and be in the Christmas spirit. What a great opportunity and I'm so thankful for it!

Day 11: Happy Veterans Day!!! I know many wonderful people who have served or are still serving today. I am grateful for their service for our country and I'm proud of their choice to serve!

Day 12: Grateful for days off to catch up on some much needed rest and to update the blog haha. Plus I get to work on my crafts and projects for christmas that I'm excited about so it's all worth it!! :)

Updates in 2013

Okay okay..... I KNOW it's been a LONG time since I've last blogged. Kind of crazy really because I love it but life just kind of got busy ya know? That's still no excuse.... I need to blog and write down my thoughts and life so my friends and family can keep in touch ;)

So anyways....here's what is happening or has happened in the past months since I last blogged.....warning...it might be a lot to read but there are pictures to keep you entertained as well :)



October 2012:

Had to work on Halloween.... don't worry it wasn't too exciting. I did stop by my adopted family afterwards to see the kids all dressed up. Nothing really to report other than spending time with friends and working a ton ;)

 I've been blessed to be able to go to the temple at least once a month now and it's just so great that I can actually go!!! It's hard moving from having the temple 10 minutes from your house to 3 hours away. But it definitely makes me appreciate the temple more and the blessings that come from going!

I spent Thanksgiving with the Hathenbrucks. They are my adopted family here and I just love them! I wasn't able to go home for the holidays so it was nice to be able to have somewhere to go.

I also spent Christmas with them and I just love these two! Not going to lie....Thanksgiving was hard not being with family...my first time ever by the way away from family (extended included) for the holidays and it was rough but I felt so loved. They made me feel right at home. Christmas was even harder but I am so grateful for the love and kindness this family has show me.

Also spent New Years with them....surprised don't be haha. This isn't the greatest picture but it shows you we like to have a good time ;)

It's always nice to feel appreciated and that's exactly what the Elders Quorum in our Branch did for us! We had a women's appreciation night it was awesome. Of course with friends like Brittney it always is a blast! I just love her!

 This guy is still going strong on the mission and I just love hearing from him and getting pictures!!! I had to add one just so you know he is doing well and having a good time. I just sent him a care package and I'm dying to hear how he liked it. According to Auntie he loved it though so that's good ;)

 I hit my one year mark at work. Weird how fast time has flown by.... I miss these lovely ladies though! I think a little reunion is much needed and soon!

 We've gotten snow... not as much as other places but enough for this Cali girl! This was at work one day.... the most I've ever seen at work and it was falling hard. It was pretty though...just didn't like driving in it!

Okay I hate to admit it but I was sick ALOT this winter. First I got a cold, then got over it and would get another one. Then....got even sicker before I got better. And then something else hit and it was like a never ending process of bad health. Don't worry though I'm doing ALOT better! Minus the allergies but they are under control for the time being. :)

 Got to go tubing with the Branch and it was loads of fun. Next time though I need to remember to bring gloves!! That was a mistake haha but it was fun!

 Went shooting and had a blast!!! Shot my first shot gun ever and it was so cool!!! I'm a newbie at it but it was a blast! I want to go again!

 This lovely lady got her mission call to the Birmingham Alabama mission. I just love her she is fantastic! Our good friend Alissa took pictures of us and we had a blast! Steph kept saying the camera loved her more than me but we all know it was pretty much equal ;)

 I FINALLY got to see my mom and Bret!! They came out for like two days and it was so great just to have them here to visit!! We went to the Four Corners Monument and Bret thought that was pretty neat to stand in 4 places at once!

 I just love this kid! He makes me smile!! I miss him....BUT I get to see him soon so it will be awesome!!

 Breakfast at IHOP before Steph left to report to the MTC. I miss her ALOT but I hear from her weekly so it's good :) I just love her so much!! And I'm so proud of her decision to serve and teach others the Gospel!

 Had a lovely girls night down in Albuquerque. I had a blast with these two. And of course I loved doing two temple sessions while we were there :)

 Okay....I just can't believe my little brother is 18 and his papers are IN! We are just waiting for a call! How crazy is that?! I just love him and he is going to be an awesome missionary!

 I recently went to my first carnival ever.... I know I know. Crazy right?! We have them in Cali all the time and I have never gone!! It was so much fun though! We had a blast!! And I caught some fish!!  It was a blast and of course I was with some pretty awesome people which made it so much fun!!

 That's pretty much the happenings right now. I am in the works of moving into another place with two friends of mine. It's a work in progress only because I may not be able to get out of my lease early but I'm trying to....so we will see what happens :)


In less than 3 weeks I will be going home for a week and a half and I'm SO excited!!! It's been 9 months since I've been home and seen my family all together so I'm EXCITED!!! It will be awesome!!! And I will try to be better at blogging. This blog is probably still going to go private so make sure I know you read this so I can add you to the list when I do make it private! Now it's time for me to clean and get ready for the rest of my day :)

Random Thoughts:

*I am seriously loving this colder weather....however I only like it when I have a blanket I can cuddle in or a warm jacket and scarf to wear as well :)

*I would say I'm about 1/3 packed up for moving haha and I'm not even moving yet!! What can I say I'm a little excited and it's an excuse to clean out my room. There is still A LOT to do but I'm pleased with the work I've done so far.

*Biggest Loser is still one of my favorite shows I just haven't updated about it in a long long time. Reason: Um probably because Jillian isn't on there any more and I miss her. At least Bob is still there but I miss Jillian. Maybe I will do a post about it this week....maybe. Let's just say I'm glad that the people that really irritated me are already off so that's good :)

*I've failed at my Goals list for the year.... I think I've only accomplished one or two of them but the others are all a work in progress. My blanket that I'm crocheting will probably take years but I actually love working on it little by little. I just hope my idea for decor in my new place will fit with the blanket I'm making and all :)

*Water For Elephants is a good movie. If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest it. I didn't really think I would like it that much but I liked it....over all. There were a few parts that I felt could've been left out but oh well....there are those in every movie.

*Disneyland!! It's been on my mind a lot lately mainly because we haven't gone in a while. I can't even remember the last time I went but it was at the end of summer I believe. Sad day. I have plans to go this next week and the weather better not mess that up. I'm dying to go! My pass expires soon so I need to go because I'm moving I'm not getting it renewed :( so I have to go as much as can!! Or soak it all in for a whole year because that will probably be how long it will be before I go to Disneyland again once my pass expires.

*I found the cutest apartment and I'm sad that I can't even rent it yet. What's the point until I have my license there I can't work. :/ Frustrating. But I know things will work out...and I'm staying positive they will. I just hate the waiting game.

*Made the cutest napkin holders for Thanksgiving ever! And I'm totally excited about Thanksgiving Dinner this year! It's going to be GREAT!! Ah I just can't wait. The menu is all planned and the food I'm making is going to bomb!!! Don't worry I'll make it's own post about that no worries :) So excited for food, fun and family!!

Alright... hope you all enjoyed/endured my random thoughts.....and yep I wrote that all out in about five minutes! I've had a lot on my mind and there's more but I'll save it  for later. No pictures because I'm too tired haha but I will post in depth about some of this stuff later I promise!!

What I've Been Up To:

So I have family coming into town!! YAY! I LOVE when family comes to visit!! Anyways, I wanted to get some blog posts done because the next few weeks are going to be crazy busy!!! So what I've been up to:

*Applying to jobs like crazy....praying I get one soon!

Image Found Here

*Exercising hard core.... gotta get back to being super fit lol that's been my challenge the past few months :) 

*Temple nights with the ward

*Swimming with family :)

*Laundry .... life is like laundry...loads of fun :)

*Reading new books... currently reading Something Borrowed which is now a movie...hmm...guess if I like the book then I will have to see the movie lol (I still need to work on my book list but I'm taking a break and enjoying some fictional reads for the moment) 

I still have some other things to blog about but that will probably be tomorrow because I've got tons to do the rest of today and we are going to Cafe Rio for dinner! Yum! So enjoy what I've wrote for the time being. I will write more later! Promise! Not that anyone is really anxious for my next glamorous blog post lol but I will be posting for family and friends to read about the happenings in my life... after all life is an adventure worth taking :) 

The Help

So remember my news years list on how I was going to read 10 books?? Click here to read that. I'm still working on it and I've done a few of them but that has nothing really to do with my post today haha. I've been reading some fictional good-read books and I've FINALLY finished the book called "The Help". I put finally in caps because it was an extremely hard read for me. Weird huh. I love to read but this book was super hard for me to get into, let alone read. I think because it was written in a different way that it was hard for my brain to translate the writing style. Literally, I read this book so slow, that's rare for me. Of course I'm not my mom and finish a book in two hours lol but I consider myself a fast reader and it has literally taken me MONTHS to read this book. Taylor first introduced it to me when I asked her if she had any suggestions on some good reads. Thanks for recommending it Taylor and I'm sorry it took me so long to read!!

 Image found here

I have mixed feelings about the book. There are some parts that I wish weren't in there but overall it was a good read. I guess they are making it into a movie so we'll see how that goes. Overall though, I would definitely recommend it. It gives a distinct point of view on things back in the 1960's. Anyways, now I need to focus on my list and cross off a few more of those books. I started reading Mother Teresa's biography but sadly I've mis-placed the book so I need to find it so I can cross that off too.

Random Thoughts for June :)

I love doing random posts and I don't think I've really done one this month. If I did, oh well you get to hear from me again. I have pictures to post so I thought a random post would be the best :)

*Friends are AMAZING. I've been really blessed with a few pretty awesome friends. They understand me for me and know exactly what to say when I need to hear it most!

Emily and Me... you can kind of see my sunburn...don't worry it turned into a nice tan :) 

Friends are awesome even if they cheat like these two in phase ten lol 

*Missionary Work!! Yay for missionary work! It's so awesome to have 3 people super close to me out on missions and be able to write them! I don't get to hear back from them very often but when I do it totally makes my day!! If you want to learn more go to www.mormon.org :)

*Clouds..... Do you ever see the clouds and make out figures and stuff?? Maybe I'm weird and that's just me haha. My Grandma Thompson used to tell me when I was little to look while we were driving. Ever since I find myself (when I'm sitting in the passenger seat of course) staring at the clouds making out figures whenever I drive somewhere. It's pretty cool. You should try it sometime.

*Random Fact: Peregrine Falcons are the FASTEST in the animal kingdom. No joke. If you don't believe me, google it. If you want to know how I ended up learning that tidbit of info... well... you can ask me and I will tell you the story haha

*Going to see a friend play is pretty amazing. I've got a friend who is in a band and he played some solo songs a few weeks ago and it was so fun to see him play. I haven't been to one of his shows in a LONG time so it was fun to go and hang out with friends.

**Remember to always look for the good not matter what situation you are in. This was by far one of the worst weeks I've ever had BUT there was SO much good that came also. Count your many blessings. They are there, sometimes you just have to look a little bit harder to find them :)