A Piece of the Puzzle...Journey Through Life (Stacie)

My Last Post for 18 months

2010-07-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

So this is my last post for 18 months. I will be headed to Utah to see family and Friends on Friday July 16th and then my parents and 2 younger sibs will drop me off at the MTC on Wed the 21st. Im so excited to be going but nervous at the same time. Its going to be hard to say good bye.

Yesterday was a good day. I gave my talk in sacrament and it went so well. I'm glad its over but it went well. It was a hard sacrament meetin cuz it was my last one for a while and the spirit was so strong. After Church I went home and we got dinner ready and then ate w/ my family. My aunt and uncle were here w/ their kids from Tucson it was nice to see them. We also had our wonderful family friends the Allreds over for dinner..it was so hard to say good bye to them. They left this mornin for Safford AZ where they just moved back. She got a good job offer at the elementary school so they moved back. it was so hard but i know i will see them again when I get back.

Saturday was a good day as well. I had an open house/good bye party. There was a great turn out and it was good to see everyone.

Well so long for 18 months...Have a great day! :)

Time is quickly runnin out

2010-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

So Yesterday was 1 month til I report to the MTC! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Im no where near ready to leave. I still need to do so much. Im so excited to be going but so stressed and so nervous. TIme is diminishing and im not sure where it all has gone. Im tryin to finish up all my shoppin before I leave and w/ out gettin too frustrated, which I might add is harder than you think.

SO an Update:
On June 12th I went through the San Diego Temple and took out my Endowment and it was a wonderful experience. I loved it so much. My absolute favorite part was seeing my Parents and 2 really good family firneds all dressed in white waitin for me in the Celestial room. It was so great! The entire experience was amazing.

Now Im just finishin up my todo list. It will eventually get done. I hope.

Talk "Farewell"

2010-06-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Im speaking in church on July 11th. It should be good...dk what im speakin on yet but I will know soon then I will start preparin my talk so that i don't stress over it. SO if anyone wants to come feel free. Church starts at 11, any questions feel free to ask.

6 or 7 weeks til departure

2010-05-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

I will be serving the wonderful people of Spokane Washington. I will report to the MTC in Provo on July 21st. I am so excited!

ADDRESSES

Sister Stacie Winterton
Washington Spokane Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, Ut 84604

Sister Stacie WInterton
Washington Spokane Mission
820 S Pines Rd. Ste 101
Spokane Valley,WA 99206-5420

ITS ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

SO THIS WEEK IS THE WEEK!!!! ON FRIDAY MAY 28TH MY MISSION CALL SHOULD BE HERE!!!!! ITS GONNA BE A GREAT WEEK!!! I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE WHERE I WILL BE GOING TO SERVE!!!

My last few days in Thatcher

2010-05-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

So today I will finish pakin and will see the stake pres again. Last night I saw him but I wasn't wearin Sunday clothes.. He needed to add my shot record to the computer so he said "how about you come back tomorrow at 630 and wear missionary clothes" So I will be goin back at 630 and I will push the submit button myself. I'm so excited. Then tomorrow I WILL GRADUATE!!!!! Then dad will be here and I will be movin out.

There Is A God

2010-05-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

I love this music video and song. It really makes you stop and think. There is really a God and each and every day there is evidence of His creations and all the wonderful things on this earth. I am truly thankful for the life i have on this earth and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. We are all here for a reason and have a purpose on this earth. Life is a journey and we need to enjoy it and live it to the fullest. How much proof do we need? Well there is proof all over the place. The moon, stars, sun, flowers, etc..they are every where. Just because science can't prove it doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. I believe w/ all my heart that there is a God. I have seen His hand in my life so many times to count not to believe. So just look around and enjoy all the wonderful things and blessings that you have been givin, then stop and think about your life. There is a God!

COMING SOON....

2010-05-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I have been waitin a long time for this day. On Wed May 12th at 6:30pm I will be meetin w/ the Stake Pres! Then my papers can be sent to SLC!!!!! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IM SO EXCITED!!! So w/ in 2 weeks I could have my call!!!!!!!!!!

On A Spiritual HIGH

2010-04-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today has been an amazing day to add to Sunday! This morning I was able and had the wonderful privilege of going through The Gila Valley Temple open house. Oh my goodness there are no words to describe to you how I felt. It was so wonderful. I loved every moment of it. Seeing all the Sister missionaries there made me so so so happy inside and I'm sure that it showed on the outside as well. As I went through the tour I could just tell of the conviction and testimonies that Brother and Sister Kempton have. They bore a strong testimony of the temple and I could just see it in them that what they were sayin was true and it touched me so much. The temple is am amazing place and I can't wait til I am able to enter w/ my mom and dad. It will be the greatest moment of my life at this point. It is so beautiful. The first instruction room was amazing. The walls were painted to portray this Amazing and Beautiful valley. The man who painted it spent 3 weeks here in the Gila Valley sketching and then he painted. It is so beautiful and real. There is such a peace in the temple its amazing. The celestial room and the Sealing room were amazing. I loved looking in the mirror and thinking about my life and it was awesome. There is no beginning and there is no end... I love that so much.

Tonight in Mission Prep Brother Palmer showed a video to us about missionaries and their testimonies of the amazing work of the Lord. After the movie was over he opened it up for us all to share our testimonies. It was a great class. The spirit was so strong and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. As a class we became a family. We became so close. We laughed alot and learned alot from this wonderful man who loves the gospel and loves us enough to share it w/ us. It was an awesome last class of the year. I am going to miss that class so much but I know that I have grown so much from the day I walked in the room and sat down unsure about what I was doing. This gospel is so true and the greatest blessing in my life. I'm so thankful for the Atonement in my life and for my big Brother and Savior Jesus Christ. For the Love that He has for each and every one of us that He died for each and every one of us. He is so Patient w/ me and has NEVER given up on me and I know He will NEVER EVER give up on me. I'm going to Truly miss this wonderful Valley and all the amazing people that I have met here and grown to love w/ all my heart when I leave and move on in my life and serve the Lord and His Children. I am ready to serve who ever I come in contact w/ and help them to know and feel the joy, happiness and love that I have and feel.

I LOVE SUNDAYS!

2010-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Today in Sacrament Meeting the spirit was so strong. It was a program that one of the girls in our ward put together on the life of Joseph Smith. It was so amazing. Great talks and musical numbers. I have always know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God but this mornin in church it hit me real hard and testified to me that he was a True and Living Prophet of God. His wife Emma is such an incredible woman as well. She is my hero. She endured alot and was always right by Joseph the entire time...if Joseph was hurtin so was she. They shared the most unconditional love anyone could ever have in there life. Thinkin and Ponderin their lives really makes you stop and think about your own life. My trial a so small compared to what they went through and endured. I love that so much...no matter how hard it got Joseph never ever gave up or denied his testimony of Christ. He was a strong man spiritually. So when you think that your life is hard and rough.....even though it may be, think about Joseph and Emma who gave up so much for what they believed in. The suffered so much so that we can have the restored gospel back on this earth today and so that we could have the Book of Mormon. Remember all that they did and your problems will seem so small. Joseph went through so much but he never stopped serving or loving. When we get into a rut and can't get out or our road is bumpy forget your self and serve others. Service always help to stop thinkin about your self. Never stop loving or serving.

Tonight in Mission Prep we all split up into companionships and we went to an apartment complex and we knocked on doors telling everyone about the temple and inviting them to go. We gave them a card w/ info on it about the temple. I was in a companionship of 3. We talked to 4 people. One girl was out side feedin her cute little turtle and we invited her to go to the open house of the temple and she told us that she had already been through it. She enjoyed it. I'm not sure if she was a member or not. The next place we went to we talk to a guy and a girl. The girl seem interested and the guy im not sure, he was too busy playin the WII to pay attention. We left a card w/ them and invited them out. Idk what will happen but whether or not anything comes of it we planted a tiny seed and tried. The next place we knocked and someone peeked out the window and never opened the door. We left them a card on the door. The last house we went to I talked to the lady who lived there and I asked her if she had seen the temple and she said no and I'm not interested. I told her ok and thanks and to have a great day and she said it back. I had my first rejection and I know there will be many more. She was nice about it so it makes it a lot easier. I love this gospel w/ all of my heart and soul and glad that I am able to have so many opportunities. I'm thankful for my parents and for raising me in the church. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve a mission soon and I'm so excited. This gospel in my life brings so many blessings into my life. Sundays are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

These Days

2010-04-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

Life is goin well and Im happy. School is goin well and i love it. School is almost over and that is even better!!! I will graduate May 14th and am soooo stoked!!! Im gettin really antsy for my papers to be sent. I need to see the stake pres then my papers will be sent. I can't wait. I will most Likely be home in Yuma when I get my call! Im ready to move home. It will be wonderful to be w/ my family and spend time w/ them before i leave. I will miss this lil town but its time to move on and have other adventures. Well thats all for now. :D

One Step Closer

2010-04-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

I just got my wisdom teeth out on Thursday and am in recovery. Im still hurtin but definately not like I was. A lil swollen and bruised but recovering very well. Now Im just waitin for the Executive Secratary to call me and make an appointment to see the Stake Pres. Im so excited! Then as soon as I see the Stake Pres, he can send my papers to SLC!!! :D

2010-04-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

I was on my way home from Yuma on Sunday and I was thinkin about things and I was thinkin about how I have been so blessed w/ a great family. All of the sudden words to a poem came to me.

FAMILY

A Family is a mom and a dad who loves you so much that they would do anything and sacrifice everything for you.
A Family is brothers and sisters to fight w/, to talk to, to love each other.
A Family is loving grandparents who spoil you w/ ice cream and treats.
A Family is aunts and uncles who support you in everything you do, they help in anyway they can to make life possible.
A Family are people who love you w/ unconditional love.
A Family is not necessarily two parents and lots of kids, its anyone who will love you and take care of you.
A Family is love and sacrifice.
A Family is something Heavenly Father blesses you w/.
A Family is a wonderful blessin I have been given in my life.
A Family is love and sacrifice.
A Family is havin good times and makin memories together.
A Family is helpin each other out and sharin your love w/ them.
A Family is a support system full of love.
A Family is always there for you no matter what, they will always love you.
A Family sacrifices so much for you to give you a good life and make it a lil easier.
A Family laughs together.
A Family sings and goofs around to make other family members smile and laugh.
A Family who prays together stays together.
A Family talks to one another and enjoys time together.
A Family is not perfect.
A Family is FOREVER.
A Family is full of love and sacrifice.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

"On My Way Home"

As I sit here my thoughts turn to you.
My heart is so full of emotion and confusion my thoughts turn to you.
When I have questions and am frustrated my thoughts turn to you.
As I sit here lookin at the stars my thoughts turn to you.
As I ponder and figure things out my thoughts turn to you.
When I start questioning thing and askin myself why my thoughts turn to you.
As I sit here talkin to you, you help my thoughts turn to you.
As I turn my thoughts to you I feel peace and my confusion and frustration leaves.
As my thoughts are turned to you I’m at peace w/ my life and my surroundings.
As I sit here tryin to process I smile when my thoughts turn to you.
As I stare down this long road my thoughts turn to you and then the long road becomes a journey or adventure.
As I sit here my thoughts turn to you.

As I was on my way home last night from Yuma
I was thinkin about a lot of things and it was overwhelming to me. Then this
poem popped into my head. I didn't have paper or anything to write w/ so I
pulled out my phone and recorded my thoughts. I have been thinkin a lot lately
about life and such and how I need not take it for granted because Idk how long I have left or how long someone else has left. So sit back and ask your self, How often to
I share my love w/ others? How often do I say I love you? How often do you
express gratitude or show that you appreciate someone? Just ask your self
these questions and improve if you need to. I know that I need too. I believe
that there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

Pre-Mission Conference!!!

2010-03-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a Pre-Mission Conference and I loved it so much! As I walked in I was givin an envelope w/ my call in it...I was so excited and nervous...it wasn't even a real call but I was pretendin that it was. I opened it and I was called to the Chinese speakin mission. I was excited. I wrote Sister Winterton on my mission tag and proudly put it on. It just felt so natural to have it on. I loved it so much. We did an opening, we had a musical number that was so amazin, prayer and then they told us how the night would work. My first work shop was called Member Involvement. It was taught by the full time missionaries that work w/ the College wards. It was so great because they had Kyle Fink come in who was baptized about a month and a half ago. She was there to answer questions and things on how members helped her. They were tellin us that we have responsibilities as members of the church which are:
WORKING WITH THE MEMBERS:
Finding:
They have Non-Member Friends
Gain Trust
Be Examples
Teaching:
Experiences
Testimony
Retention:
Friends in the ward
Trust:
WORK-DO IT!!!
Contact
Tract
Share the gospel w/ members
Spirit
Invite:
INVITE-EXCITEMENT!!!!

As missionaries sometimes we have to knock on doors in order to find investigators and we need to get the wards/members excited and once they are excited then missionary work will continue. As members we need to find investigators for the missionaries to make their job easier and if the members find people to teach its better because then they will have support and fellow ship. Missionaries are in an area up to about 6 months and can't continue to help the new member active. A member will most likely live in an area the rest of their lives. Its up to us as member missionaries to help the Full time missionaries. WE CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!

The next work shop was on Conversion Process. They had a man come in that was not always a member and he told us his conversion story. He started out as a devout Catholic then not believin in God and then he married and LDS woman. It took him 6 yrs to become a member. He would let the Elders talk to him but then would ask questions they had to look up and then he never saw them again...he knew this would happen and he loved sendin then on wild goose chases.LOL. He then told us some Sisters showed up and he tried the same thing w/ them and they always returned w/ the answers in the scriptures as well as from the apostles. Because of these wonderful Sisters he joined the church. The help of his wife, and supporting 2 step sons on a mission helped his testimony of the church. its amazing to me how things work when its time and in the Lords time. He sang us a song he wrote for his wife one Christmas. This song is called "I finally found the one" he said that he finally found the one...his wife but also he found Christ. It was such a great and heart warming song and his testimony was amazing. I love this gospel. He said something that touched to so much "We can not change anyone but we can help them find them selves" -Dr. Tom Sullivan-
It was so cool and touched me. I believe that we can not make a person join the church but help plant that seed and help them find out who they are and who they can become. It was an amazin testimony.
Some one asked an question on how we as missionaries could introduce the gospel to investigators and he told us "Share testimony and then listen to them and really listen to them"
I loved this because we can't just teach and then hope they get it, we need to let them know how strongly we believe in the gospel and then let them talk to us and let them tell us how they feel.

It was such a great conference. The last work shop I went to was called Game ON! 3 Return Missionaries taught it and explained to us what a missionary did on a daily basis. They would let us ask questions and they each would answer w/ the experiences that they had. I loved some things that they said
"Never get discouraged" -Cheston Thatcher-
"The Spirit will come if you are ready and willing" -Sean Crockett-
They gave really good advice about nasty foods...."tell your self that you like it and you will like it" -All 3 boys-
They told us to Prepare Spiritually, Pray, Read Scriptures, and Build a testimony. As we do these things out Testimony will be stronger.

IDK if I have a favorite work shop because they all were so amazing. Im getting so EXCITED for the day that I am able to open my Mission call and when I can actually can go out and serve the people and the Lord!

SO EXCITED!!!

2010-03-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

I just submitted my papers to my Bishop. I need a Hep A shot and my wisdom teeth pulled then I can see my Stake President. After I see my Stake President my papers will be sent to SLC!!!! Im so excited and can't wait!!!!! I will get my teeth pulled on April 8th and hopefully a shot soon. :)

Update

2010-03-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I have posted so it may be a little long but I will try to update Ya'll on my life up to this point. SORRY SO LONG! Here goes:

So I have decided to serve a mission for the LDS church and I am so EXCITED and can't wait! I was tryin to figure out my life and was depressed all the time so one day I was thinkin and decided that I was goin to see the Bishop and start my papers. I am now almost finished w/ my paper work. I need to be cleard by the doctor still but until my blood preassure becomes normal he won't clear me. I will see him again monday hopefully and hopefully all will be good. I then need to get my wisdom teeth out and then I can continue the process by seeing my Bishop for an interview and then seeing the Stake President. Then I will move home for the summer and get ready some more and hang w/ the fam for a while til I leave. My papers will hopefully be submitted to SLC in like September if not before. So I am hopin to get a job to help pay the rest of my mission. My mom and dad are gonna pay $100 a month plus pay my student loans while Im gone. My Gma is gonna help w $100 a month as well, and this amazing family in my home ward back in Yuma are gonna help me as well w/ $100 a month startin the day I enter the MTC. I am so thankful for all the support that I have recieved during all of this. Thanks Everyone!

During the 3 day weekend for Veterans Day, Wendy (My roommate) and I took an adventure to Prtales New Mexico where Wendy is from. We left that Friday Afternoon at like noon. We were havin fun singin lud and talkin. All of the sudden we saw some rubber fly and we had to pull over. A little background.....Portales is an 8 hout drive, and when the tire blew we were in the passing lane. Anyways we pulled over on the wrong side of the road as far off the free way as we could. We got out and the tire was shreaded. Here we are two girls not knowin what to do. We jacked up the car and took the tire off...but to out dissmay the donut tire didn't have enough air to drive on...we really didn't know what to do know. Wendy called her dad and he told us to hitch hike to the nearest town to fill up the tire. We were a little scared, we had never hitched hiked before. So I tried to flagg someone down while Wendy tried to get someone we knew to come help us. I finally got someone to stop but by the time she could turn around to cross traffic she just took off. Now we were back to the begginnin. Finally an nice guy in a beautiful truck pulled over and came to help us. We later found out he was a Boarder Patrol Man off duty. He took us to the town over the hill and we got our tire filled up w/ air. Now this man couldn't stay cause he was headed the wrong way to take us back and he had to head to camp...some kind of trainin. So we waited for the Sherriff that was there at the towin place gettin his oil changed. Well we waited like an hour for a ride. The sherriff finally called a New Mexico State Police to come and take us back to the car. Now this was an experience all of its own. I got to ride in the back of a State Police car and I didn't break the law.....how amny people can say they have done that. Well this man was a good man and had interestin stories. He knew where Thatcher or EAC was. He had buddies there and went there him self. He told us that he hung out w/ all the LDS kids and had read the Book of Mormon like 3 or 4 times and believed it but didn't want to give up his coffee and didn't want to get married. He wanted to stay single for ever. It was an interestin conversation. He said he knew he needed to be married in the temple but didn't want to. I think that one day he will beocme a member when the Lord knows he is ready. It was a cool experience. Well it doesn't stop there. The officer put the tire on for us and we had to go back into town for a new tire. We eventually found a place that had a tire. Wendy went to go pay for it and couldn't find her card.....the whole time we were laughin and tellin each other it could be so much worse.....but by the time we finally found the tire and my mom and dad payed for it we were hungry and tired so we weren't laughin anymore. I was glad that I grabbed the Discover card in case of an emergancy. We finally got back on the road and had fun. Singin real loud and laghin. we made it to Portales about 11 that night. We arrived about 2 or 3 hours later than we wanted but we learned alot from this experience. We learned that there are good people out there that are willing to help us. And that in a rough or buppy part of life we can laugh and make it seem better than it is at the time. Well we had a lot of fun w/ Wndy's family and helped her mom out alot. We had to leave Lex there (Wendy's puppy) so we made here a pen so that she could be in it durin the day til someone could train her and play w/ her. It was so fun. We enjoyed no school for a while. It was so fun!

Lately I have been thinkin alot bout my mission and all kinds of things. I realized that I was so excited bout serving the Lord that I FORGOTT bout the blessins before I go on my mission. I forgott that I will enter the Tempe before I will ever go out into the mission feild. So I change my way of thinkin alot. I have started not only preparin for my mission but preparin my self to enter the Lord's house. I can't wait til I can make those covanentst w/ the Lord and recieve the WONDERFUL and AMAZIN blessins that are waitin for me in the Temple. Also I have been thinkin about Service and Sacrifice alot. I prepared a lesson for Sunday on those two wonderful topics. I have been thinkin that if it weren't for these two Amazin principles of the gospel I wouldn't be where I am today. I asked my mom if she could help me w/ an experience from her life and I was not prepared for what she shared w/ me. I will share it w/ you....I cried the entire time I read it. She basically shared her testimony w/ me and that was so wonderful and what I needed. Its kinda long so bare w/ me. A little background my dad has a disease called Seriousis and its deadly and that is what my mom is sharin in this email.

As far as a story there are many, and they seem to have always been helping someone who is extremely ill or has a disability. And sometimes just the regular take a dinner or clean someones house. But mainly the terminally ill or disability. I think they have all helped me get to this point in time with your dad. He can't do some of the things he used to do and he gets warn out very easlily these days. First of all I have always been afraid of people with terminal illnesses. Not the people persay just the illness. The illness scares me in sense because of what it can or is doing to them, and I get all emotional to watch them go through what they are going through and I stay away or shy away. Not a good thing to do. I guess it all started when Sister Hammond was my visiting teacher, she was the greatest lady. I learned alot from her, She was diagnosed with ALS She taught me not to be afraid, and that was the time too that grandpa was diagnosed. That was the most devastating time in my life and in others as well. She helped me through that. Soeven though she was my visiitng teacher I would go over and help her clean her turtles, hlep her sort beads,cause she was making watches and braclets at that time. She taught me not to be afraid, I always thought I was a compassionate person but, I was not.She taught me how to love the disease and not to be afraid of it. Going on the trips I took with grandpa and doing a service for him was the greatest of all. I learned alot about the man who was a stranger to me. I learned that even the strongest of a man can become weak physically, but strong spiritually, I learned things about myself, how grandpa and I hold the steering wheel the same as we drive, how he loves family, grandpa was always about family, that is why it is so important to me to have my family around because you don't know how long you have with them and to cherish evey moment together. My cousin Byron in colorado who has ms taught me many things also. He taught me to laugh at my self, he would screw up things all the time cause he didn't at the time move well at all could barely feed himself and if he missed his mouth he would laugh and say this time will be the one, he told me to laugh at the mistakes I make because we can always fix them, and it is not the end of the world. Then their is your dad, he can't open water bottles or candy bars, cause his hands won't let him, he gets tired really easy and can't do like he did. I have learned not to take things for granid, and to just go with the flow of things. I still take things for grandid but then I stop and think about things. I have learned and benefitted greatly for know these people in my life that have taught me to love and to live and love life to the fullest, and to always thank my Father in Heaven for the life that I have and for the people that has loved me to the fullest. I always wondered why I always had had the visiting teachers that would seem to get the terminal illnesses, or be put in a situation where I had to be with or watch someone who is terminally ill. It is so I can understand what your dad and other people are going through. Could this disease kill your dad? Yes, could it put him in a wheel chair Yes, The things I have learned will hopefully make me a stronger person so if that happens with your dad I will be able to face the things head on and be ok.

My mom is a great woman for sure. She is the greatest example to me about Service and Sacrifice. Well other than My Savior Jesus Christ of course. She has taught me so much and I am thankful for her in all the she does. I am thankful that she shared so many personal things and special experiences w/ me. This helped me prepare my lesson so much. I am thankful for all that people do for me and my family.

Another Awesome Expereince. On February 20th I was able to go to a baptism of this amazin girl. She started investigatin the church when a friend invited her to attend Mission Prep w/ him. She loved it the first day and told him she wanted to go on a mission. He simply told her well you have to be a member first and she said "well get those missionaries over here right now" thats how it all started and now she is a member. As I sat there at her baptism I had this HUGE rush of PEACE, JOY, LOVE, and EXCITEMENT to go on my mission and be able to help change other people's lives like this amazing girl. It was so wonderful, I loved it.

Thats about it for now. I am just workin hard in school and lovin every minute of it. I am still currently servin as the 1st Councelor in the Relief Society and love every minute of it and love those I serve and serve w/.

The Blessings of Sunday

2010-01-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

Today I taught the lesson in Relief Society and it turned out great. I was havin a rough day yesterday and last week and when LoraLynn asked me to teach I told her I would and then thought later "What am I doing? I can't do this" Well i know that things happen for a reason. There was a reason that I was asked to teach the lesson. It helped me tremendously and I am thankful for the opportunity. I also received a blessing today and am Thankful for the power of the Priesthood. It is a miraculous gift that I have been able to receive. Brother Phillips gave me the blessing and not knowing the specific reasons gave me an amazing blessing that helped me alot and gave me reassurance that everything will be ok. It has been a rough few months but I know that I can take it and will be ok. With Faith anything is possible. I am glad to have the knowledge that I do!

My Brother

2009-12-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Who is my Brother?
He is one who is close to my heart
Who is my Brother?
He is one who died for my sins
Who is my Brother?
He is one who came to earth to save me
Who is my Brother?
He is one who comforts me through all my struggles
Who is my Brother?
He is one who suffered so much for me
Who is my Brother?
He is one who loves me no matter what
Who is my Brother?
He is God’s son
Who is my Brother?
He is the one
Who is my Brother?
He is my Savior
Who is my Brother?
He is Jesus Christ My Brother

Today while I was at the Christmas seminar these words started flowing through my head and I had a few tears in my easy. I love My big Brother with all of my heart.

God's Light

2009-12-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

God’s light is always on for us
Going through life, it’s not easy but with God it’s a little bit easier.
Like the temple lights that are on always for us to see the glowing purity and love of Christ for us.
God’s light is always on for us
No matter what happens in our lives we can always be happy with Christ and Heavenly Father in our lives.
God’s light is always on for us
Even if we feel that we are unworthy of His love and feel that we are not worthy to be forgiven.
God’s light is on for us
Through prayer God is always with us no matter where we are in life and no matter where we live. He is always waiting for that phone call from us and His phone line is never too busy for us. So pick up the “phone” and talk to your best friend, he is waiting for us to share our day with Him.
God’s light is always on for us
When we are baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost we receive the light of Christ. Never let your light turn off. Keep commitment and keep that light on always.
God’s light is always on for us
Through thick and thin, through happiness and joy, through trials and struggles, heart ache and pain, birth and death, through it all,
God’s light is always on
When out with friends your mom and dad will keep the light on til you come home.
God’s light is always on for us
No matter what you stand for, do what you know is right and keep that light shining bright. Even if you know it or not you are setting an example to all those around you and will have some kind of effect on them that may remain unknown to you forever. Be that example and share God’s light with all you meet.
God’s light is always on for us and will always stay on for us

This poem was inspired by a testimony shared today at church by a young woman in the ward. It stuck with me and the thoughts just began to flow.

Meeting My Nephew

2009-11-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Kari and Patrick came to T-Town on Wednesday Night and I spend Thursday-Monday with them. It was so good to see Kari again. The last time I saw her was at the end of May and she was still prego. I was able to meet the new addition to her family and he is the most precious little boy ever. I really had fun playin Auntie for 5 days! We left for Mesa on Friday to go see her family and had fun. Saturday we all went to a baseball game and had so much fun then afterwards we had a huge BBQ at the park and mingled and had fun. Sunday we went to Church and visited some ppl that Kari knows. Monday we went shoppin for somethings that Kari needed and I was able to get Presents for my family and it was nice. Then later on we packed up our stuff and came back to T-Town Monday night. I had a lot of fun playing with them and was glad to give Kari a lil break. Her baby's name is Patrick Allen Jensen, he is 2 months old and so great.Kari is such a great mom and I know that she loves being a mom too. She has this smile about her that I know that she loves this little guy so much.

Proud Gma holdin her lil man
Baseball game, I was going for the grey team but the white team won
Playin w/ the Camera
Again, Creepy Eyes
The happiest little Patrick
I just love him so much
Proud Mom and her little Angel.

Halloween

2009-11-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

Halloween was awesome. My roomies and I made costumes and it was so fun. Then we went to a block party at the apartments and had a blast there. I was an inmate or a convict. Wendy and Steph were my Sexy cops!

The Finished Project

Steph and Wendy(My SEXY Cops)

Wendy, Me, and Steph/They caught me:(

The Backs of our costumes

Jordan Boltinghouse, Jennifer Ball, and Justin Boughman

Idk her name, Amber and Jennifer Ball and me

Me and Jen.

My Get Away Trip to Utah

2009-10-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

I just recently got back from an awesome trip to Utah. I have been asked why did I go and well I simply tell them that I needed a break and time to destress. Kinda like runnin away. I stayed with my friend Chelsey Beck. She is so great. we had lots of fun together. So I left on Wed October 14th at 6:00 am to drive to Phoenix to catch my plane that flew out at 11:15 am. Stephanie my awesome roommate took me. We arrived about 9ish and got to where I needed to be. I waited about an hour and a half then off I flew to SLC airport. This is where my Friend Janice picked me up and we met Chelsey at the Walmart in Orem. Chels and I ran some errands then headed to Salem where she lives. We unloaded my stuff and ate dinner with her family not long after that. After dinner for like 2 hours or so we did homeowrk then we could play. After Homework we watched Monsters VS Aliens. Its such a funny movie. On Thursday we lounged around the house doing homework and we watched tv and then we watched Wolverine. it was a great movie. Friday we had a game night with some friends. Tank(Heather) and Rainy came down and played with us. they slept over and we played so many games. Guitar Hero was one, Mario Cart races, Ultimate spoons, and many more. It was a great night. Saturday we lounged until Chels had to go to work. Then Tank and I went to the batting cages and hit about 50 balls. It was fun and I did well for not hitting in a long time. We played mini golf as well. it was awesome because it was all lit up by black lights and all the paintings on the wall were florescent. Then we played arcade games. About 7 we went and saw my Gma in Riverton. She invited us to stay for dinner. We were just gonna stop on the way back to Salem but how can you turn down Gma's free food and it was Steak! So we stayed. It was so fun. My Gmas brother was there with his wife,Uncle Ken and Aunt Annaliece. Annaliece was trying to plan my life but I wouldn't let her. We left at like 11, wasn't plannin on bein there so long but we were. Watched Emergency with Chels til we fell asleep. Sunday we didn't do anything at all. We watched more episodes of Emergency. It was nice to relax. Then it was time to pack up and shower. I packed up and headed to Riverton. We made a pit stop in Provo so that I could see my really good friend Amber Martin. Man I love her so much. We talked for a good hour or two. Finally at Gmas, Lindy made some good dinner and then Heather(Tank) headed home. Brad and I watched football and the Chicago Bears STUNK it up and I was so disappointed! Monday rolls around and I have to get everything ready to go. Gma and I ate Breakfast and then headed to the airport. I didn't want to go but I had to. My flight went well til we were about to land. It was a rough landin and I had been feelin sick all mornin and as much as I tried to hold it in the faster it came. I PUKED all over the seat next to me. It was so gross and EMBARRASSIN!! Then I get off the plane and find a bathroom to clean up and I find out that Stephanie is stuck in construction and will be late pickin me up. So I call a friend and she picked me up til Steph could come. Feelin so sick we drove home. I hurt all over had a headache and my tummy hurt so bad. Well we got stuck in construction for like 30 minutes. Finally home and I got ready for bed and then went to bed from 8:30pm til about 4:30 pm the next day. It was a great trip minus the getting sick all over the plane.
Tank and Tiger chillin
Rainy trying to mess Tank up, only in reality messin herself up! HAHA
Rainy bein.....well crazy
This is Rainy playing backwards and she did pretty good for doing it backwards. She is pretty crazy...if you think that this is crazy she also played upside down and left handed...im sad I didn't get pics of her doing it.

Albuquerque New Mexico Balloon Festival

2009-10-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

The Balloon blowing up first thing in the mornin!!
So 2 friends and I made a trip to ABQ one weekend to visit Asha and Lisa. We were going to see the balloons and have a great weekend spending time with friends. It was so great and I have never seen balloons like that up close. So we got there on Friday afternoon and we played and had a BBQ later that night. We woke up on Sat morning at 5:30 am but in Az in was only 4:30 am and oh man was that early. SO we left the house and went to the launching of the balloons at 6:30 and it was about 37 degrees and it was pretty cold. But it was so fun. It was way cool to watch them launch. We bought some souvenirs and then went back to Asha's house to warm up and nap. while we chilled we watch football and slept. It was great. Then we went to this Wing place and had some great wings with the girls. After lunch we met up with Jon(Asha's boy friend) and went back to the festival. We hug out played ate walked until it got dark then we went to watch fire works! We sat in the pit...it was sooooooo SWEET!! the ground shook and it was just amazing. Went home and slept. Sunday we woke up showered and headed back to Az.

The National Anthem was playin while the balloon went up in the air. It was so cool!

I took this one for my mom. She loved it

That Gang is back together again!!
Isn't this the BIGGGGEST Cow butt you have ever seen!?

BIG Darth Vader Head
These Balloons are so small compared to when they are on the ground. Its so Incredible!!

This is an AWESOME video! We were right up close!

Conference Weekend

2009-10-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

So I was able to go to General Conference in Utah and it was such a blast! Me and my two roomies Wendy and Stephanie went together. It was such a long, crazy, wild, and fun drive. We listened to music loud and sang loud. We ate junk and had tons of fun. On the way up we were starting to fall asleep so at every long long curvy turn we would scream so loud til the curvy road was over. It was so fun. At one point of the trip we stopped at some random spot and stretched and took some pics. It was kinda cold and the wind was blowing but it felt good to me. Wendy and Stephanie were FREEZING!!! We arrived in Spanish Fork Utah at 3 am on Saturday morning. We left Thatcher at about 1ish Friday afternoon. Saturday was a loooong day but it was so worth it! We saw some people that we knew and it was fun. We had tickets for the Saturday afternoon session and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong in the Conference center. It was a great experience for me and my roommates. They had never been to conference before and Wendy had never been to Utah. It was so fun. We went and walked around Temple Square afterwards and I met up with some friends there. I met up with Emily(Red), Brynne(Sage), and Sherry it was so great to see them. I miss them and wish that they didn't live so far away. After Conference we went and ate lunch/dinner. Then after we ate we changed and went to Provo Towne mall and shopped around for a while. It was so fun. Sunday we watched Conference at Steph's cousins house and then after the session we packed up and got ready to leave. We ate lunch and then went to Salem Utah to see Chelsey. After that we were on our way back to Thatcher. On the way we were able to listen to conference and it was so great! On our way home we stopped at this place called Vermillion Cliffs and played in the rock house and on the many humongous rocks. We had so much fun and took lots of pictures. We got home about 1:30 am Monday morning. It was a long drive for sure. WE HAD A BLAST!!!

This is my favorite picture!
Wendy Jumpin up and down because she was cold Both Wendy and Stephanie freezin
SLC Temple. It was a beautiful day
This really AMAZIN rock house
Wendy in the door way of the rock house
Steph and I in the window
There were 3 toilets!! It was so great
"I'm King of the rock and there's nothin you girls can do about it"
This cool lookin Rock that looked like an Ice Cream cone. I loved it alot

From Camp to School..The Real World is Back

2009-09-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

So from living in the mountains all summer long and lovin every minute of it. I of course miss the great mountain air, the amazing stars at night, the rain that we got, the AMAZZZZZIN friends that i met. I loved being with them so much. I am now back to reality and the real world. I'm not sure that I'm ready to be back in the real world yet but I have been for about 2 weeks or so. School is going well and things are working out for good. I seem to go to school everyday and every night i have sooo much homework. Its comin out my ears. But thats the life of a college student. This year is going to be a great one. So far this semester I am loving it. I love my roommates, my ward, and the amazin people that are here In Thatcher. I'm getting so EXCITED for the temple to be finished here shortly. I am the 1st Counselor in the RS and am loving every moment of it. The girls that I work with are so great. I am so blessed with so many great things in my life. I love everything about it. I am glad that I have friends to talk to because it makes all the difference in the world. I talk to a Sage (Brynne Lyttle) and Tank (Heather Mathisen) pretty much every day through text messaging. Its nice to talk to them but i miss them so much, there are no words to describe how much i miss them. Sage and I talk on the phone once a week. Usually on Sundays but this weekend she is with her fam and a Mountain Man Rondevu and so I will get to talk to her tomorrow on my Bday. It will be great! My lil brother Hyrum became a Deacon today and its so exciting! I am sad that I wasn't able to be there for it but I have responsibilities here so I stayed in Thatcher. That is my life this far into the semester. I'll keep you posted if anything else happens.
Thanks to everyone who has helped me these last few months and weeks. I appreciate it so much!

Where has all the time gone!?

2009-08-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

So the summer is all gone...where did it go? I am currently in Yuma w/ my fam and on Friday will be headed back to school. I start school on Monday and am not excited about it. But I can't wait to see my roommates and other friends. The summer was long and too short all at the same time. I am glad my job is over but sad that i had to leave the cool weather and the most amazin friends in the world. I need to now keep my routine and schedule like i had it this summer. like eating 3 meals and 2 snacks, going to bed at 10ish, waking up at 7ish...oh the days of a schedule and daily routine. I need to keep up on good habits. Well for those of you reading this have a great day! :)

Its HERE!!!!!!!!

2009-08-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

So the summer is coming to a close. I have mixed feelings on this subject. I am so glad that I'm going to be done with work but not so excited about leaving all my amazing friends. Its going to be a hard thing for me to do. I don't want to leave them but I need to go back to Az and see my family before I go back to school. Its been an interesting summer to say the least and am glad its almost done. I will be done this weekend.....idk where all the time went. So Its here and I'm SUPER happy!

CAMP IS ALMOST OVER!!!!!!!!

2009-07-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

I can't belive how fast this summer has gone. I'm kinda glad thought because i'm ready to be done. Camp is not what I was expecting and its alot harder than last summer. I love the staff that I work with but its just been hard this summer. Alot has gone on and its time to go home...I'm so ready to be w/ my family but not excited for the Nasty Az heat. I have made alot of wonderful friends and its gonna be hard to say good bye. I have 3 weeks left then I'm headed back to Az. I will miss Utah and all the amazing friends that i made this year and the ones from last year. I'm not ready for school to start either. But I have to do what I have to do.

Pre-Camp is Over!

2009-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

I made it through all the long ours of Pre-Camp. It was so fun but so long too. I have met so many wonderful people. I will have my first set of girls in 2 weeks. On Monday we will be helping Cloud Rim to help them get ready for their girls. Th-S we will have 700 people here for a camperee and that should be fun and interesting. I'm loving it up her so much. All week it has rained and its been great. Yesterday I saw the most AMAZIN and BEAUTIFUL rainbow ever!! It was so big and bright. Yesterday Mo, Shorty, Blue Eyes and I went to town for a program run and it was so fun. We were gone for 4 hours. I bought this amazin hat and shirt. WE HAD A BLAST!!

2009-06-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

the first week of Pre camp was great. I'm having so much fun and meeting alot of cool people. Its been alot of work and long days but its been good. I love the mountains and its so beautiful. I'm currently in American Fork Utah w/ some friends and just relaxing for the weekend. I have had so much fun and have had great times so far. I'm excited about camp starting.

UTAH BABY!!!

2009-05-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm finally here!!! I am here in the cool weather and am loving it. I'm currently in Salem with my friend Chelsey Beck aka Boots. I start camp on Tuesday and am so excited. I will hang out with Dory and Squishy Tomorrow and am so excited. I will try and keep this updated as much as possible.

Its Almost Time!

2009-05-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

Its finally here. On Friday or Saturday I will be on my way to the amazing wonderful weather in Utah and can't wait! ADIOS AZ heat! I will miss my family tons but its time to do something productive. I'm off to Utah to work in Provo Canyon all summer at a Girl Scout Camp and am OOBER excited! I can't wait to see all my friends again! I can't wait to see Becky and Chels! It will be such a great reunion. I"M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

Update on life at the moment

2009-05-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

So currently as I write this I am in Yuma with my family. I have been here about a week or so. I will be here all this week and a few days next week. In 11 days on the 29th of May I will be traveling to Utah with my Dad and possibly Ryan my brother. I have to be up Provo Canyon on June 2nd to start training. I'm so excited. I will be working at a Girl Scout Camp for GSU or Girl Scouts of Utah. I'm ready for something to do and some cool weather. I haven't really done too much since being home. I was sick most of last week and it sucked...so I slept a lot. I played volley ball w/ some friends on Friday night. When I got there I saw Josh and I instantly got butterflies in my stomach. I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet. I go out and went over to play. I was so good to see him again after 2 yrs. He is the same ol Josh that I knew before his mission. I am going to ask him on a date sometime this week I think...as soon as I find some guts to. Saturday I took my lil sis Ashli to a Student council interview...She wants to be in the student council next year. Can you believe it she is going to be a Freshman in High school...I can't. Then I helped mom clean and then we went shoppin most of the day. It was fun but not as well. I found this amazing BRIGHT GREEN swim suit! I love it! Then we went to find some shoes for Ashli and I ended up buying a pair of flip flops and some really cute shoes...idk what to call them but I love them. Then we went Bra shoppin.....NOT MY FAV AT ALL!! It was a successful day for sure. Sunday I attended my parents ward and felt very out of place. It was weird being there. Today I am hangin w/ mom at her office. Its been a good summer so far! More to come later. I will fill you all in later about how the that goes...if I ask him. I want to go on a picnic and just talk and get to know him again. But we will see how that actually goes! Have a great day Y'all!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

2009-05-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

“Life is a Gift”
Dedicated to my mom the best woman EVER!!!

Life is a gift sent from God
Life is a gift that you gave to me
Life is a gift with joys and sadness
Life is a gift of love and happiness
Life is a gift of hope and faith
Life is a gift and time to spend with you
Life is a gift of learning and growing
Life is a gift of starting over each new day
Life is a gift of peace and happiness
Life is a gift to grow closer to your Heavenly Father and Brother Jesus Christ
Life is a gift and an adventure
Life is a gift that was possible because of you
Life is a gift so love each day
Life is a gift so live in the moment
Life is a gift so make the best of it
Life is a gift to learn as much as possible
Life is a gift to make the very best friends
Life is a gift don’t waste it
Life is a gift cherish every second of it
Life is a gift thank you for giving me life
Life is a gift thank you for sharing parts of your life with me
Life is a gift so laugh often
Life is a gift so SMILE always
Life is a gift so share it with others
Life is a gift worth living
Life is a gift and I’m glad I’m part of your life and you are part of mine!

Temple Day

2009-05-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the temple with Wendy, Steph and Kendra(Wendy's sister). It was an AMAZING day. I love the temple so much. It brings me such peace and comfort. I love sitting in all white and pondering on life and pondering on the scriptures. Its a great place to find answers. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I felt that in the temple. I felt a reassurance that I'm being taken care of and that EVERYTHING will be ok. I know that the Lord has a plan for me and He knows what will happen in my life. I'm so thankful for the knowledge that I have of this. The temple has blessed me greatly. I love serving others and helping them receive the gospel. I have learned so much through the temple in my life. The feelings that I had in the temple yesterday are unexplainable. They are the most incredible feelings ever. I can't wait for the day when I will be married in the temple and receive the other blessings from it. "Trust in the Lord and all shall work out for good or fall out of our lives forever"(IDK if these are the exact words) this quote hit me so strongly yesterday and I know w/ all of my heart it is true. I'm so very thankful for all the blessing that I have received from going to the temple. I have made it a goal to go to the temple more often than I do. I know that the blessings of going to the temple are so great and powerful.

Wendy Loved these flowers so she took a picture of them. This is the first time she has ever been to the Mesa Temple.

She loved this rock and wanted a picture on it. I got one too!

COUCH BURNING CERIMONY!!!!!!!

2009-04-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

So on Tuesday night April 28, 2009... after an AMAZING enrichment meeting Hannah Jackson and I removed my couch from my little apartment. Keith Payne and some of his buddies loaded it up in the truck an off we went to find some desert. Hannah Jackson, Wendy Carling, Stephanie Lunt, and I rode on the couch in the bed of the truck...it was so fun. When we go the the spot where we were gonna burn it...the boys strapped it down tighter to the truck and then we went off roading on the couch..it was a BLAST!!!! After a while the couch started to break. Then we drove to a better spot to burn it where the wind wouldn't be so bad. The boys soaked it w/ gasoline and then lit it!!! oh man it was so great!!! After it was on fire...Carol Perkins ran and jumped over the FLAMING couch!!!!!

Wendy, Steph, Me and Hannah

Wendy and Hannah...Love this one

Keith wouldn't hold still and then Hyrum popped up!

Before the burning

Couch Burning...Wendy put her finger in the way as I took the picture!

During

Carol Perkins Jumping over the fire!

Keith posing for me!!

This night was so great! We had so much fun. No more couch...BRING ON A NEW SEMESTER!!!!

MY BEST FRIEND IS HOME!!

2009-04-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the greatest days of my life! My best friend in the whole wide world got home from his mission. He got home about 3pm and then was released as a missionary about and hour later. I know all this because of his awesome cousin Matt. I am so excited to see him. I will be making a SURPRISE visit home to see him and my family and then make it back to T-Town before Institute Graduation...it is going to be a very quick trip but TOTALLY worth every hour I have to be in a car. I wasn't going to be able to see him until I went home after school got out but then I found out he is speaking on Sunday and so Wendy said "If you want to go home I will take you if you pay for gas" I was so excited....I said " you would do that for me?" she told me yes she would. I'm so excited and thankful for her and her love for me!!! Wendy is coming with me and its going to be great. I will update everyone on my weekend after it happens. Last night about 9:00 or so Wendy and Stephanie(my new roomies for next semester) went out to the hot tubs and had an amazing night! I love the two of them so much and am glad that they are my friends.

WHY won't he leave me alone!!!!!?

2009-04-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had someone who wouldn't leave you alone!? Well I have and I don't know what to do. This person that I dated for about 2 weeks won't leave me alone. I'm afraid that he still has feelings for me and its making our friendship AWKWARD!!! He thinks that its funny to annoy me and I just shrug it off because I'm trying to be patient. Well ignoring doesn't seem to work that well cause he didn't get it the first time. Last night at the dance he grabbed me in the hall way while I was talking to some friends and he was dancing w/ me but it was an AWE dance....then he walked away and came back and rubbed my back and said...keep in mind he is rubbing my back "Sorry to make that awkward for you" then he walked away. He made it very AWKWARD for me and idk what to do. I know I need to tell him that we can't be friends if he is gonna act like this but idk how to do that either w/ out crushing his heart again. HELP!!!!!!!!! I wish I knew what to do but I'm definitely lost on this one.

The EGGventures of Yuma!!

2009-04-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

Shelli and I went home to see my family on Friday. I was so excited to see them. We were in Tucson and we got pulled over by a police officer...she was a very raunchy lady. Anyway as we got back on the road I got a text from my brother Ryan and he told me that he got a surprise for me and he wouldn't even give me any clues to what it was. In the mean time I was reading New Moon to Shelli as she drove. I read 3 chapters that day. I was also sick so after the 3rd chapter I had to stop because my voice was going out. It was a great ride. We talked about all kinds of stuff. So about 4:30 We finally made it to the fair and saw my family! Ryan showed me what he had made for me! I love it so much! Here it is

We had a great time at the fair. It was so fun and it brought back great memories. I miss it a lot. I never thought I would miss it so much but I do! So while we were there Shelli and I were able to pet a Kangaroo Joey and saw some really cute pigs and other things. We saw them in the petting zoo. The Joey was so cute and so soft and fluffy!

Also while we were there we saw some cute sea lions but wasn't able to get close enough to take a picture. My little sister went on stage to help w/ a magic trick. We were waiting for the hypnotist so to start. She was so crazy. I have never seen her so crazy before. While passing the goats on time we saw this cute little pygmy goat and it was inside of its food. It was so cute.

I went with mom into a building to get a Cinnamon roll and I saw Aunt Janet and Uncle Steven w/ the kids. It was great to see them. I miss them so much. Well While I was waiting to say hi I overheard Janet telling someone that Josh is coming home on April 22nd!! I can't wait to see him! My best friend is finally coming home!!!

The best part of the whole trip! So Sunday afternoon mom told me to take some eggs home w/ us and give them away. So I took 4 dozen because that was all that would fit into the cooler. So she told me to call Emilee and have her bring me some more. Well so Emilee got the other cooler and put eggs in it but they wouldn't fit. So she Brilliant as she is thought of some other way to put them in the cooler. Shelli, my mom, my dad and I laughed so hard when she told us the story. Well she couldn't fit them in the cooler w/ the cartons so she took them out and put them in a gallon sized freezer bag!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 3 DOZEN!!!!!!!

We laughed for so long! We laughed all the way home from Yuma! It was the funniest thing all day! Only one of them broke and Emilee broke it while bringing it to the fair. We strapped the eggs down like children in the car. It was a funny site!! We got back to Thatcher and to our surprise all 7 dozen eggs survived!!!!! YAY!!! It was a great time!

A Friend

2009-03-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

FRIEND

A friend is someone who is there for you know matter what happens in life. Someone who listens to everything that means a lot to you no matter how silly, stupid, or ridiculous it may seem.
A friend is someone who listens to you vent when having a stressful day. Someone who is always there when you need them.
A friend loves you because you are you. Someone who will bring a SMILE to your face everyday.
A friend is someone who spends long nights having fun and enjoying each others company. Someone who watches movie after movie with you no matter the time.
A friend is someone who will help you become a better person. Someone who will help you strengthen your testimony and be there when you mess up and help you fix it.
A friend is someone who will NEVER ask to do anything to jeopardize your standards! Someone who will help you to remember who you are, when you slip away a little.
A friend is someone who believes in you no matter what even when you don’t believe in yourself. Someone who helps you believe in your self and who helps you to remember that you are worth more than you think you do.
A friend is someone who cares if you are having a bad day, hurting, feel alone, or just needing a hug. Someone who will let you cry on their shoulder and let you spill your guts about the one you love.
A friend is someone who will let you call them anytime you need to talk, even if its 3 in the morning. Someone who will talk to you til you fall asleep.
A friend is someone who can tell anything to and you know they will keep it you themselves. Someone who you can laugh with all night long til you are crying so hard.
A friend is someone who will take walks with you. Someone who will look at the stars with you and know that there is so much more out there.
A friend is someone who will drive around town with you to cheer you up. Someone who will get lost with you in a strange place.
A friend is someone who will give you comfort when you need it. Someone who knows you are having a bad day and you never told them.
A friend is someone who will put up with all of your weaknesses and tries to help you become better at those weaknesses. Someone who can put up with your crazy family.
A friend is someone who you can trust with all of your heart. Someone you can trust with your heart.
A friend is someone who calls you to see how you are doing. Someone who cries when you cry.
A friend is someone who is there to support you when making decisions no matter how big or small. Someone you can fight with and then become even closer friends.
A friend is someone to just have fun and talk about anything and everything a person can talk about. Someone to be completely RANDOM with.
A friend is someone who helps you get through the biggest to the smallest trial. Someone who will NEVER lead you astray or let you go astray.
A friend is someone who will warn you about your decisions that you make in life. someone who doesn’t put you down.
A friend is someone who will congratulate you when you do something so exciting. Someone who will be by your side always.
A friend is someone who will tell you when they don’t approve of your life style. Someone who cares and love you enough to help keep you safe at all costs.
A friend is someone who will help raise your (future) children. Someone who will stand by you when you make the biggest decision of your life (marriage) no matter what.
A friend is someone who won’t get jealous of you when you get a boy/girl friend. Someone who will give you advice on anything and everything.
A friend is someone who shares a smile with you. Someone who wishes the best for you and wishes you to have a happy day.
A friend is someone who teaches you something new everyday. Someone who teaches by example and who is a good example to everyone no matter what it costs or takes.
A friend is someone who will go sit at a baseball game for 5 hours and get burnt with you. Someone who will go with you to give service and have a good time doing it with you.
A friend is someone who will sing at the top of their lungs with you in the car. Someone who will act goofy, silly, ridiculous, do embarrassing things with you.
A friend is someone who will drive from Arizona to Utah with you. Someone who will drive all hours of the night to get home, then leave on 3 hours of sleep to head back to school to see their boy.
A friend is there when you tell them you are expecting a little bundle of joy. Someone who will never let you starve.
A friend is someone who will be there when you are sick and miss home. Someone who will drag to you the doctor when you are sick.
A friend is someone who will keep you awake in church by poking your sides. Someone who will rub your back when you are stressed and overwhelmed.
A friend is someone who will listen and be there after a break up. Someone who will just sit and listen and give no input.
A friend is someone who will help you and support you in your goals. Someone to encourage you to be better at achieving your goals.
A friend is someone who you can eat junk food with all night long. Someone who will go to parties with you.
A friend is someone who will help you get out of a date. Someone who will keep you company on long nights of studying.
A friend is someone who will make you say positive things about yourself after being negative. Someone who things you are special and unique in your own way.
A friend is someone who will always think you are a great person. Someone who will help you think clearly and logical.
A friend is someone who will take you to the prom because you need a date and he needs a date. Someone who will make you feel like an important person.
A friend is someone who will really get to know you for you. Someone who doesn’t care if you are tall, short, fat skinny, black, white, purple, pink, red, young old, loud, quiet, athletic, artistic, musically talented or not, someone who cares about your heart and the intent of your heart.
A friend is someone who loves you no matter your talents. Someone who cares enough for you to help you fix your mistakes and will be there to the end.
A friend is someone who will help you get back up when you fail miserably. Someone who will pick you back up when you fall.
A friend is someone who will help you read. Someone who will do silly skits that were made up on the spot for little children.
A friend is someone who will be there for time and all eternity. Someone who help you through your struggles in school and in life.
A friend is someone who will go watch a play with you no matter how lame it is. Someone who will watch your favorite movie when it’s not their favorite movie.
A friend is someone who will watch Grease 4 times because you are in it. Someone who will listen to you sing, and who supports you in your performances.
A friend is someone who will help you do things that you never would have done on your own. Someone who will paint your toe nails just because.
A friend is someone who wants you to be happy no matter what. Someone who will help you to become happy.
A friend is someone who loves you NO MATTER what! Someone who is there ALWAYS for you!
A true friend can sing the song in your heart, back to you when you forget the words. Someone who knows your thoughts.
A friend is someone who you can look at each other and laugh for no reason. Someone who you can have inside jokes with (You + Me + No Sleep = Comic Book!).

“A person’s a person no matter how small!”

MY LIST

2009-03-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

So every girl who has ever been in Young Womans has made a list or two or three. Well today in institute Brother Norton asked us if we had a list and if it changed or stayed the same from when we were younger to now. Well mine has definitely changed from when I was 12. I don't know if I even have those lists that I made but its ok. So I'm going to make another one for myself for NOW!!

What I'm looking for in a Husband!

1)Loves the Lord more than anything and everything
2)Holds and Honors the Priesthood
3)RM/Served a Honorable Mission/Loved his mission
4)Loves and treats his mom like a queen and w/ respect, because I know that if he does this then I know that he will treat me the same way!
5)Loves Me for who I am
6)Loves children
7)Caring/Loving
8)Can make me laugh
9)Spiritually/Physically Attractive
10)Willing to work hard and provide for a Family
11)Is my BEST friend
12)Has a good sense of humor
13)A Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ
14)Someone that I can talk to about everything and anything possible to talk about
15)Be a good father to our children
16)A good EXAMPLE to everyone around him
17)Someone who will sing to me, even if he doesn't see well at all
18)Someone I can feel safe with always
19)Ambitious: Willing to get a career. Knows what he wants and will do what ever it takes to get there.
20)Serves in church callings and willing to do them
21)LOVES to SMILE and make me SMILE
22)Honest
23)Someone willing to put up w/ me and my weaknesses
24)Will be by my side always!!
25)Spend ETERNITY w/

I thought about this list a lot. Sitting in class made me think about what I really and truly want in a husband. These are a few of many. I know that if I want these things in a husband then I need to live up to these standards as well. I know it may seem silly to have a list because I sure did when I was younger and didn't take it too seriously but I know that it is important to know what I want before it comes. I know that I need to be prepared before it happens and that it will happen in the Lord's time. I learned today that I need to be Faithfully Patient and he will come! So if you don't have a list then I encourage you to make one. It really does help to put an Eternal Perspective on things.

My first SONG!!! "WENDY!"

2009-03-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today I was so bored and I was talking to my friend Wendy and she told me to write a song! I thought to my self a song...I have never written a song. So she told me it was like a poem..I'm not good at poetry either! So she told me to play the piano...I can't play the piano...I'm musically challenged! So I tried to write a song...well I did it after thinking about it a long time! TADA!!! Here it is...I hope you like it as much as I did. Its ok if you laugh because I laughed the whole time while writing it and I'm definately a humorous person!! ENJOY!!!

WENDY!
Written by Stacie
March 24, 2009

You are the LIGHT in my LIGHT HOUSE
You are the carrot in my salad!
I truly love your blouse
It’s your turn to write me a ballad!
WENDY!
There’s a special place in my heart for you!
I love that you can be your self!
OH W-E-N-D-Y!
You can be part of my family!
Thanks for the long night chats!
Thanks for being my crazy friends!
OH WENDY! WENDY! WENDY, WENDY!
I love you Wendy!

Am I Ready? When will I be Ready?

2009-03-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

So today in institute we learned about marriage. We were talking about Why man can not be alone. It was a great lesson and it got me thinking. We learned that men need women and women need men. Well you are thinking that's silly we don't need each other or you are asking yourself why do we need each other. Well its simple....we need each other first of all to multiply and replenish the earth, learn from one another, and work as a team. We learned that oxen have what is called a YOKE around their necks to teach them to work together. If one is doing all the work the ox will not go anywhere or it will be going in the wrong direction. So the YOKE is to help the ox to work together and learn from one another! So the YOKE is there to help the man and the woman to work together. A marriage is a two way street, a partnership, UNITY, and nothing less. There are definitely more things a marriage but these things are important.

President N. Eldon Tanner said

"When young people come to me for advice about courtship and marriage I usually suggest that they ask themselves the following questions:

What kind of mother or father do I want my children to have?

What kind of parent am I prepared to be?

Do I want to associate with someone because of his or her popularity only, or do I look deeper for spiritual and moral qualities?

Am I analyzing our similarities and differences in background, culture, and intellect?

Am I prepared to adjust to these differences?

Do I realize that such adjustments need to be made before marriage?

"These considerations will certainly help in making a proper choice for a companion with whom one is prepared to spend eternity. Then after the marriage there are many responsibilities that cannot be taken lightly; but with each contacting party assuming his or her full share of responsibility, there is nothing in this life that will bring greater satisfaction and happiness."

I loved this quote when I read it. It helps me to know what I am looking for. These are questions that EVERYONE should have in mind when getting into a relationship and when deciding to get married.

I think that all this will come in time. I think that Marriage is something that is definitely worked at....its not a free ride on life's roller coaster. Its definitely a two way street and that is the only way that it will ever work.

I know that we learn about marriage a lot because we are in college but this lesson is a great one to learn and I think that EVERONE should hear it no matter if you are 18 or if you are older. It helps put life into prospective for sure. It helps when making decisions as important as marriage. Marriage is definitely for all ETERNITY and that is a long time to be unhappy. So choose wisely when making this decision. Fasting a Prayer is a HUGE part of this decision. Our Heavenly Father is there to help us no matter the decision...no matter how big or small it is, He is ALWAYS there for us! So don't try to do this on your own....its not worth the unhappiness in the long run!

"Tender Mercies of the Lord"

2009-03-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Kami Pullen had this song posted on her facebook and I absolutely loved it!

Sometimes when I'm feeling scared,

I kneel down and say a prayer and ask Him to help me through the day.

Sometimes when I'm feeling sad for hard times that I have had,

I ask Him to help me find my way.

Then a message will come from my Father up above in a song or a dream or the beauty that surrounds me.

If I try to obey and remember to pray I'll see the tender mercies of the Lord.

Sometimes when I'm all alone and long for my heav'nly home,

I ask Him to help me feel at peace.

Sometimes when I'm feeling pain or standing in pouring rain,

I ask Him to help me feel relief.

Then a message will come from my Father up above in a song or a dream or the beauty that surrounds me.

If I try to obey and remember to pray I'll see the tender mercies of the Lord.

Sometimes when I just don't know the path I should choose to go,

I ask Him to help me make a choice.

I know He is always there to guide me through simple prayer and help me to hear His loving voice

And a message will come from my Father up above in a song or a dream or the beauty that surrounds me.

If I try to obey and remember to pray I 'll see the tender mercies of the Lord.

go to this web site and listen to it. There are alot of good songs on this website. I never knew they were there til now. Go check it out

(listen to this song at NewEra.lds.org)

TRIALS

2009-03-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

I hate trials but love them at the same time! I hate them because they are hard, frustrating, struggling, and hard. I love them because I learn so much about my self while going through what I'm going to call a Blessing in disguise. I have had many trials in my life and I have grown stronger because of them and I'm a better ME because I was able to Rely and Trust in the Lord! The Lord is always there for us no matter what happens in our life or no matter what we are facing. I love that I have that Knowledge! I would be so lost w/out that knowledge!

TRUST IN THE LORD AND HAVE FAITH!

WORRY

2009-03-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend today and she showed this AMAZING quote to me...I wish I knew who said it!

"Worry is like a Rocking Chair-it will give you something to do-but it won't get you ANYWHERE!!"

I love this quote and it applies to my life a lot! I worry a lot and I never seem to get anywhere when I worry...I'm gonna keep this quote near me always! It has helped me a lot today and will help me a lot in the future!

SMILE!!

2009-03-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

Tonight at FHE we had a lesson on SMILES! I love to smile, it makes me so happy! Smiling makes everything so much better! When I can to college my goal was to Smile all the time no matter where I was. Well it works....even when I'm having a rotten day I always told my self to smile. So I smile everywhere and at everyone even if I don't know them. Some people will smile back and some just keep walking but I know that it helps others even if I don't know it did. To me a SMILE is a simple act of service to everyone! Smile all the time everyday and it will change your life and change the life of someone else! I challenge you to always have a smile on your face even if you are not having a good day! My philosophy is Fake it til you make it...it really works! Smile to every one you see where ever you even if you don't know them. Try it and you will see a change in your life...it becomes CONTAGIOUS!!!

SMILE it makes life more enjoyable!!

Why am I special?

2009-03-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

So today in Relief Society I had an AMAZING lesson taught by Jenni Hoffman. She is an AWESOME girl and I love her. She read the book about the little wooden people and how Ponchanello was not liked because he couldn't jump high or what ever so he had dots....well This lesson was FANTASTIC!! She taught us why we are special and how we need to listen to the Lord like Ponchanello did to Eli. Eli represents our loving Heavenly Father and we are the little wooden people. If we know and believe that we are special and we listen to what God think and no one else then no gold star or grey dot will stick to us. We are special and unique in our own ways. We all have talents that we share each and every day w/ others and if we aren't then we should. At the end of the lesson Jenni handed out a small piece of paper that said "You Are Special" and she asked us to take a few moments and write what makes us special. It was a great lesson. Its always nice to be reminded of our self worth to our Father in Heaven. Bishop talked to us as well about how it doesn't matter what others think about us. It only matters what we think or our selves and what Heavenly Father thinks of us. Bishop asked us what the first part of the YW theme was and we told him " We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him" and he told us that if we live by this we will never forget it. He also said that if we didn't have this on our walls then we needed it there to remind us often. I'm so grateful for this lesson.

"Let us ALL recognize that each of us is a son/daughter of our Heavenly Father, who LovesALL His Children" -President Hinckley-

So if you are reading this and thinking "why am i special?" I would challenge you to find a piece of paper and write why you are special.

"You Are Special"

I'm always happy
I'm a good listener
I'm loving
I love teaching and am good at it
I'm a daughter of my Heavenly Father
My heavenly Father LOVES me
I can do anything that I put my mind and heart to and with help from My Father in Heaven I can DO ALL THINGS!

"Small and simple things are great things brought to pass"

Taking A Chance

2009-02-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

Have you ever taken a chance before? Well sometimes it is a hard thing to but it could be worth it. I took a chance once and it was fun but in the end it hurt a lot. Well I have had to make some decisions in the last few days and I decided to take another chance in life and I think it was a good choice. Its kinda a big change but not to huge. Its a good change and its another piece to the puzzle of life. Finding puzzles pieces in life are hard but its kinda fun...its very interesting sometimes. So if you are feeling ambitious then take a chance at something new in life.

OH MAN!!

2009-02-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt like you did something to lead someone on? Well if you did what did you to fix it? How did you tell that person? Did this person like you a lot? Were your emotions all mixed up and confused at this time....if so what did you do? Did you think you like the person more than a friend or was this person just a friend? I'm struggling with the answers to these questions so if anyone could help that would be great.

Gila Valley Temple Groundbreaking

2009-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentines Day and one of the best days EVER!! So this morning I woke up at 6 and got ready for the day. I walked to a friends house to see if she was ready to go. We then left and arrived at the Central Ball Field at about 6:45am and it was soo cold. There were seats that were put up and sat all night. There was frost all over them all. Anyways so we were waiting for the groundbreaking to start as well as trying to stay warm. It was so Amazing. Neil L. Anderson was there and spoke and gave the prayer before they dug up the dirt. Before they dug the dirt they showed us what the temple will look like. It is so beautiful. The spot where they did the groundbreaking is where the Celestial Room is going to be. I thought that was so neat!
This is the Gila Valley Arizona Temple!
I'm so EXCITED for it to be done! I definitely will be her for the Dedication after its built! Its a very EXCITING and JOYFUL time for us here! It makes me soooo happy that we are going to have 4 temples in Arizona soon.

I will post other pics from the groundbreaking!

NEVER A DULL MOMENT!!!

2009-02-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

So yesterday afternoon I was at the Tute watching the BYU dancers perform for the elementary school. After it was over Isaac Hughes came up to me and asked me "Stacie are you going to the Living Legends and do you already have a ticket?" I replied "yes" and then he told me that he would be back.....I was so confused and I was like OK!!! So he comes back and he says "Will you go w/ me to it?" Yes I will. So I left so I could go to class. I then got all the things ready to go out of town. SO Isaac picked me up at 6 and we went to DQ! He asked me what I wanted and this guy that was standing next me said "You can buy me something" Isaac was like "Idk if you noticed but we are both dudes!(awkward smile). The guy said to me...."Sorry for hitting on your boyfriend." I was like "He isn't my boyfriend" Isaac said " actually we are on our first date...thanks for ruining it!" The guy felt really bad. Isaac bought him a small cone. It was definitely interesting. So the boy was like " can I give you a kiss? Isaac was freaked out and so was I. He told Isaac that he would settle for a hand shake. The other guy that was there too gave Isaac an awkward hug. We left and we laughed the whole way to the Fine Arts Auditorium!!! It was great! I'm still laughing about it now!! We waited for like an hour to get in so that we would have great seats. We had amazing seats....it was right in the center and the 3rd row. After the show I said good bye to Isaac and Kristy Partridge and I left. We went to her apartment and got everything ready to leave!

BEST DRIVE EVER!!!!
So we left the apartment and headed out of town singing loud to music. It was a great drive. Well we got into Globe and we were still singing and talking about random stuff. All of the SUDDEN......KP FREAKED OUT!!! She was like oh SH...AHHHHH!!!! I looked in the mirror and we were getting PULLED OVER!!! So I was like OH CRAP!! SHe kept saying my parents are going to kill me!!! I hope he doesn't give me a ticket! So we pull over and waited....mean while KP is still freaking out!! He comes to the window(He was a smart ALEC to us)and said "How are you doing tonight?" KP was still freaking out and she said "FFFine" Police: Do you know why I pulled you over? KP: I was speeding? Police: Do you know how fast you were going? KP: Ummmmmm........I actually don't know (she was being honest) Police: He chuckled.....hahaha....you were going 54.....if you were going one more you would be........ A FELON in the state of Arizona...did you know that? KP: Nnnnnoo (scared out of her mind) Police: I need to see your license and registration and I will be right back. After he leaves KP: AHHHHH this cannot be happening to me!!! My parents are gonna kill me!! The officer took sooooooooo long and we were both scared! He finally comes back Police: Do you think that you deserve a ticket? KP:.......YYYYES (still scared to death). Police: Well........(Anticipation).....I'm not going to give you one. KP: SIGH!! Thank you so much...I will think about you always. Thanks so much. I will slow down I promise. Police: You really need to SLOW down!!! Have a great night! KP: I will slow down and you have a great night as well!
KP rolled up the window and we both screamed out of relief! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We left and then we were paranoid and she drove slow the whole way to the gas station! we looked for speed signs every where. We finally got to the gas station and the both of us SCREAMED again!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was great....its a good thing that no one was there or they would have thought we were NUTS!! Well we got drinks and then left. We went to SONIC to eat because we were starving at 11:30 at night. So we got onto the 303 and found out there was a.......DETOUR!! Could our night/morning get any worse? So we sang loud and talked the rest of the way to Wittmann........you are probably thinking "Where is that?" Well I did too...Its a little no where place by Surprise Az. Its great! There is nothing here!!! So we arrived at KP's house at like 2 am and went straight to bed after I almost knocked a few things over in the house.....mind you it was dark and I couldn't see anything. It was great...I just met her mom..well sort of, so it would have been bad to break something.

THAT WAS OUR NIGHT!!!! IT WAS AWESOME AND IT ROCKED. At the time it wasn't funny but now its FREAKIN HILARIOUS!!!!

Math Class EVERYDAY!!!! AHHHHHH

2009-01-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

So I'm currently taking Math 156 and 57 which is Priciples Math for elementary teachers. I HATE the class so much!!! It is so boring and the teacher doesn't help. He talks about nonsence. I go to class to learn about math not steak and beer. He talks about why he doesn't teach children and why he doesn't have any of his own. Its really lame. Its a waste of my life and time every day. But I did this to my self because I want to graduate soon. So on MWF I go from 12-12:50..not so bad but TTh I'm in there from 12-1:15 and it kills me so much!!! They are the longest classes of my life and it makes me want to scream. But I entertain my self by drawing pictures. I will survive some how!! Any ways the pics are great. Today I drew a Sunshine pig...he is cute. There is a pig that I drew and he was so cute and then my frined Wendy drew facial hair on him and called him Adam(my professor) and we were laughing so hard. Its probably not nice but it was soooo funny cause it kinda looks like him!

Pictures from Christmas Break

2009-01-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

MOAB
Becky(Snicker Doodle)

Pumpkin Tarts that the Kids made....mmmmm Yummy! Children had fun making them and eating them.
I'm not sure what this is called but it is Carrots, Cucumbers and Ranch Dip. The children loved them.

I made these for when I taught about Russia. These are Babushka dolls. K'Lenna(Spud) and Becky(Snicker Doodle) made fun of me because it took me an Hour to color them and cut them out....They made fun of me because of my ODC problem.
We had pizza for lunch and Becky was posing so I snapped a pic! Isn't she just so cute!?
We were cleaning up the mess that all the kids made and Becky found the bowl of pie crust and ate some of it. I told her it looked like she was puking. She said well then this is my "Puking Face" it was so funny. We both laughed for a while.
I taught the girls how to make their own ornament. It was fun. The girls had fun too. They had a little bit harder time then I did but we all survived!

OGDEN
Me, Amy(Juniper), and Janice(Squishy) Our last time seeing our good friend Juniper before she reported to the MTC! It was beautiful outside.

WEST VALLEY CITY
Grandma and Grandpa Winterton's backyard. I loved this so much. It was so beautiful. I love how the tree has spots of snow all over it and the yard has a beautiful blanket of snow!

MESA
Kari's cake. It was a beautiful cake. The cake topper has the bride dragging the groom w/ a fishing pole. It was so funny. The reception was very nice.

YUMA
This is what my hair looked like after we added blondeto it! Its very orange. It looks a lot better now.
My dad w/ Baby Taylor...I don't have any nieces or nephews so we claim others. My Friend had Taylor so we claim her as family. So Taylor is sitting on Grandpa's lap. My dad loves this little girl and she loves him.
Ashli and Taylor.
This one of Taylor is my favorite. She is a very cute baby. I think she is about 9 months old. She is so precious and sweet.

My Christmas Break!

2009-01-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

Utah
So on Dec 10, 2008 I took my last final and then headed to mesa to catch a plane to SLC and I was so EXCITED!!! I went to Utah too see some friends and to play before I went home for a wedding and Christmas w/ my family. So Kari dropped me off at the air port at about 2ish and I got through security and checked my bags in w/in 15-20 minutes, My plane wouldn't leave til about 5:50. I found my terminal and started waiting.....and waiting....waiting...and waiting. Finally I decided I would try to read....nope didn't work. So I colored in my coloring book...yes I was coloring in the Phx airport. So after I colored about 2 pictures I was bored again so I just sat listening to music and people watching. There are so many interesting people. So at this point I had been waiting for about 2 hours board out of my mind and then all of the sudden.......DUN DUN DUN...... this little family w/ 3 cute kids fom Alaska on their way to Bear Lake to see their grandma came and sat near me. The oldest girl was about 5, the little girl was 3 or 4 and the little boy was about 2. I can't remember the oldest girl's name but she was way cute. The little girl's name was Gracie and the little brother was Kovai. These two little girls talked to me for like 45 minutes and kept me entertained. It was great. There dad offered to pay me and I told him that his girls were entertaining me and it was fine. I told him he didn't need to pay me. FINALLY after like 3 hours of sitting and waiting it was time to get on the plane. I wasn't able to board yet but the dad of the family told me that if I held both of the girls hands I could board w/ them.It was so cute I had one in one hand and the other in the other hand. Gracie gave the lady my ticket and then put the stub in my pocket..... it was so fun. No while on the plane I was able to meet this really neat girl who was going home to see her family in SLC. She just go home from her mission in September. She was a cool girl. We talked for along time while flying. We talked about our families and other things that we thought of. I wish I would have gotten her name. After a little bit of flying I started coloring again and then it was time to get off the plane. I got off the plane and met Becky and Chels then went and got my bag. The little girls saw me and wanted to tell me bye so they gave me a high five and said bye. So the 3 of us crazy friend left the airport and went to eat. It was great to see them again. It had been since the summer that I saw them. Well after dinner we drove around and chatted. Then it was time to go to my Grandparents house for the night. I stayed in West Valley City w/ my dad's Parents. It was great to see them. Thursday I spent the day w/ Becky and had fun. Friday I had an interview w/ Amy Hughs of the Girl Scouts Of Utah and then K'leena, Becky and I loaded up the rental car and headed to Moab for a minni camp. It was fun to talk to them both and catch up on life while driving for like 4 hours. we had so much fun together. We spent friday and Satuday in Moab, it was fun. Sunday morning I woke up to "Harold are you goning to shovel snow?" and grandpa saying "HUH!!" So grandma went to the kitchen..I asked her if she need me to shovel the driveway and she said "no your aunt wil do it" well grandma I can help and she said ok. So i put my coat, beanie, and boots on and headed outside. It wasn't deep so it didn't take too long. It was a great experience for a Yuma girl. A little bit later I left w/ Squishy(Janice) and headed to Ogden for a farewell. It snowed on us the whole way there. I love snow. When we arrived the church parking lot was covered in snow and it was deep. Lucky for me I remembered my boots. So I out them on and went inside. I probably looked funny...oh well. My friend Amy talked on Charity and it was an amazing talk. She is going to be an AMAZING missionary in Chile. After church we went back to Amy's house and ate and had fun w/ alot of people. ON monday Becky and I went to the movies and to lunch it was so fun. then later that night Sheldon and Katie and Sheldon's sister drove from Logan to West Valley and picked me up. We then drove to SLC to see the temple lights. It was so beautiful, I'm sad to say that I forgot my camera. Oh well it was still fun. I got to catch up w/ Katie after not seeing her since summer. We drank hott chocolate and walked around Temple Square. It was so Beautiful! Tuesday I played w/ Squishy. we drove up to Snow Bird so she could get her pay check. I loved it up there, so very beautiful and cover in snow. I loved it. Then we went to dinner and then Christmas shopping. Then Wed Squishy picked me up and took me to the airport so I could go home. I didn't want to leave. It was hard for me. I wanted to cry and did cry a little while on the plane. Well that was my trip to Utah.

Mesa
I flew into mesa on Dec 17th. I stayed w/ Kari's family for that night then the next morning Cam came and picked me up. I called my mom and had a break down but it was only a short one. I spent that night w/ Cam and her family. On Dec 19th I went to the reception all dressed in my outfit. Sorry no pics of that either. It was a great reception.

Yuma
It was good to be home. My grandma came down to visit and stayed for like 2 weeks.Christmas was so wonderful..just being home w/ the family and enjoying there company. I had a hard time leaving. I was able to see a very good friend and we talked for along time. the night before i left to go back to T-Town or Thatcher I saw some other friends that i havn't seen since they left on their missions and have come home. I stayed in Tucson for a few days til school started because I didn't want to come back. It all went so fast. But I really enjoyed my time w/ the family and loved every minute of it. I learned to make Potato Rolls, Rasberry Jam, Corn Bread, and many other things. oh ya I almost forgot...I colred my hair...I looked like a carrot when my mom got done. So I went to WalMart to get some Blonde to put back in it. It looks batter now but oh man did i look funny.

My Day in Tucson

2008-11-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

BIOSPHERE 2

This is what the inside looks like. This is the structure and what it is made out of... it was an amazing place.

This is looking at the Rain Forest from above it.

These are the sprinklers that water the Rain Forest. They look like normal sprinklers but they are not! They poor rain like a real Rain Forest. We didn't get to see them work but OH MAN I can imagine what it would be like!!!

These trees look kinda sad! Well the reason some of them look dead and the others are alive is because they were conducting an experiment. The experiment lasted about 11 months. The idea was to see how long the trees could live w/ a certain amount of water or none at all. So the dead ones didn't receive any water at all or very little if any. They are testing them so that they know a general idea how trees can survive in different types of places.

This is just some of the vegetation that is in the Biosphere 2.

These pictures are taken just before we got to the desert.
Desert Area

The Beach Area... this was a cool area because it looked like a real beach w/ real waves, sand and trees. They had a wave maker making the waves.

These rock walls or "mountains" are not real... they are hollow all the way through. They are made out of cement and wire. the reason for this is to allow air to flow as shown in the next picture

These windows is so that the air can flow through the Biosphere.

This is how green the plans were on the beach. It was Amazing

The Rain Forest was amazing as well...It was very hot and humid...it was nasty feeling but amazing to see how things grow and how it felt in there.
The things on the wall are roots from a plant that are growing to the wall because of the moister it has. It is so moist in there that anything can and grow, its CRAZY!

These are huge tank that water is in and flows through the pipes all trough out the Biosphere!! There are about 4 of these tanks just in this area we were in.... Think that there are a lot more.

This is the BIGGEST RO (Reverse Osmosis) System that I have ever seen in my life!! It was COOL... and to think that this System cleans all millions of gallons of water in this place.
This is a cool door because I didn't have to duck but everyone else did.. it was great. And short people get made fun of all the time but look at that a door I didn't have to duck for!! YAY!!
I had to duck for this one...it was way short!! SO i had to take a picture w/ it because how often do I have to duck for things.........Not very often and its GREAT!!It was cool to see all the signs to know where... And Just think that just above us is the Desert!!! It was so coo!!

I took a picture of the Nemo fish in the under the ocean area... it was cool down there. Also there was coral and it was cool looking.

This is probably a weird looking picture to you but I thought that it was cool... This is the floor.. there were sea shells in the concrete floor. I thought it was neat so that's why I have a picture of it.
SHARK!!! AHHHHH!!!!!

Don't worry its not real!!! It hangs on the roof but it does look real.
This is the lung of the Biosphere 2... it is cool. It breathes just like we do.. it was weird but cool at the same time.
This piece it how it breathes... when the room fills up w/ heat it has to breathe but then it would shatter all the windows in this place. So as it heats up this rises to the top of the roof. and then when it cools down it lowers back down to the ground. it was AWESOME because we actually were able to watch it lower, it was neat!!

So I had an Awesome time here at the Biosphere 2. It was a great learning experience and would be cool to go again.

Ecology

2008-11-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

So I am currently taking an Ecology class. It is an amazing class and I love it!! This section that we are learning about is Fire Ecology and it is amazing to me how nature works inorder to keep it healthy. In order for a forest to be healthy it can only have 25 trees w/in an acre and that is crazy. Also everyone thinks that fire is a bad thing for nature but in all reality it is a great thing. When something burns it helps the soil to be enriched w/ nutrients and then helps things grow better. When the trees burn and die they will be able to grow back bigger and stronger. It is so amazing to me how things work. I love it alot. Today in Ecology Lab we went up the Mountain here in the Gila Valley (Mt. Graham), it is a beautiful place. Anyways we went up there to look at the recovery status of the mountain after burning in 2004... we saw the trees that are dead and also all the new baby trees that are growing. We looked at all the trees that are changing color because its getting colder and there is no longer photosynthesis going on in the trees. Well at one point of the lab out professor had us sit and listen. It was a great thing to just reflect on life and nature. As I sat there I was listening to the wonderful sounds that the trees make while swaying in the wind, the sounds of birds chirping, and the little insects buzzing all around! It was so peaceful to be able to do this for class. How often do we actually have an assignment to sit and enjoy nature? Well none that I know of unless you are in Ecology. DO we really need to be assigned to stop and reflect on nature? I don't think so...we should just do it our selves and enjoy what we have been given. We don't truely appreciate all that nature has to offer us, but if we sit once in a while and really and truely enjoy it, it will surprise you what you will see and hear. You will learn to love it and wish you could be in it all the time and feel peace. Well during this time that I had to reflect on the nature around me I thought of my Grandpa and all that he taught me when I was young. I also thought of the wonderful place I live this summer where I was around nature all the time. It was a great experience that I had this morning in class. If you ever have an hour just to sit you should go somewhere quiet and enjoy nature....trust me you will love it!! :)

Reading Update!

2008-11-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

So on October 23,2008 Kari and I started reading Twilight and we are now done w/ it. It took us 10 days to read this book. We started the 2nd one today!! Mind you neither one of us like reading at all......this is the fastest I have ever read a book in my life. I'M HOOKED!!!! Its a great book and I will finish them all. Thanks mom for giving these books to me I LOVE THEM!!!

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

2008-11-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm not much of a Halloween person but this year was a BLAST!!! Kari and I had the best costumes EVER!!!! We were trying to decide what to be and Kari was like "You can be a trash can!" I was so excited and I loved that idea!!!! So here goes the process! Kari is cutting out the bottom of the trash can....It was not an easy process at all.

Now the bottom is finally cut out of my trash can and I'm getting more excited now!!

I loved it so much that i had to look through it like a little kid!!!

Yes i admit it is silly but Hello have you met me....that is the story of my life.

Kari was looking for her Raccoon and thought at that it was under the bed. So she took all her stuffed animals out and was sad to realize he wasn't there....where was he? DUN DUN DUN!!!!!

Here he is.....he was in the closet all along!!! I laughed a little..HAHAHA!!!!

This is what it looked like finished.....

Here is my crazy roomie!!! She is awesome! She is becoming Mertyle Louise!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! What happend here!! IDK....Kari helped me out! It is the best hair do ever!!!

Here is another great picture of my AMAZING hair!! I love my hair........

And another.....

Its great isn't it!!!!?

I love the CAMO look!

Here is Mertyle Louis (Kari) she is great!! She pulls off the Hill Billy look well!!! She loves to be a Hill Billy and can do the accent very well!!!!!

This is the great Complete Project!!! We had a great time!!! Here we are at the dance!!! We had a BLAST!!!!!

Everyone LOVED our costumes...idk how many people came up to us and asked "Can I take a picture of you?" So we let them take pictures of us!!

So I really wanted a cupcake and so Kari peeled off the paper and gave it to me....much to my surprise I couldn't get it to my mouth but I really wanted to eat it!! So my friend Marilee Jones helped me.....helped me TOOOOO much!!! SO for the rest of the night I Had chocolate all over my face as well as face paint!

So we were so tired from dancing that we needed to sit down...it wasn't easy. It was hard and it hurt so bad....we had to have help getting up because we were stuck!!

MAN WE LOOK GREAT!!!!

So now we got home from the dance and we were so tired and exhausted. We were getting ready for bed and I looked at my arms that were hurting so bad from the trash can! They had bruises on them and OH MAN they hurt!!! I guess this is what I get for playing in a trash can!!!

ALL this was all worth it!! Kari and I had a BLAST!!!! I am glad that I have a crazy friend that loves to make things!! I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did!!

Testimony Meeting

2008-10-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

So today at church we had testimony meeting because Stake Conference is next week. Well as I was sitting in the Chapel many people got up to bear their testimonies and a lot of them talked about trials and how Christ can help us w/ them. I gained so much from those who bore their testimonies. Then Lisa Wilkins got up and her testimony stuck me so hard. She talked about going to Camp this summer and not having a lot of LDS coworkers and how hard it was but a good experience for her. She is so amazing and testified that the church is true. It touched me so much and it helped me. I'm grateful for friends and their testimonies. They help me more than they know. I'm glad that I have such great friends. :)

Reading Update.....

2008-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

So I started Twilight and Kari and I are on Chapter 6 and it is so exciting. I love the book and can't wait to finish it and start the 2nd one!! So I think that learning to read is going to be a peace of cake and I'm so excited.

Nature

2008-10-22T19:48:00.001-07:00

So you all now know that love sunsets.....bet you didn't know I love nature just as much as I do

sunsets. Nature gives me a sense of peace in my life. I think that i have always loved nature but the older I get I appreciate it a lot more. I started loving it when my Grandpa took me camping and taught me to fish. Girls camp helped too because the mountains help to feel peace and think about life. I love the outdoors and all that God has put there for me and everyone to enjoy. I guess its kinda hard to express how I feel about it so I will have to show you how passionate I am about it. I love it w/ all my heart and wish I lived in the mountains so that I can see all of the beautiful things that God gave me w/out the rest of the world to interfere w/ my peace.

This is the mountain that I got to see everyday when I was in Provo. It was snowing up there and it was great.
On the way down the canyon.
The clouds are so beautiful and interesting to me. There is never a set a of clouds that are the same.
This is BEAUTIFUL Provo Canyon...this is where I lived all summer and LOVED it!!
A creek that I was able to see on a hike that I took my first week of Girl Scout Camp......I heard this a lot "Sunshine are you coming?, She is taking nature shots again" I loved it...They teased me but they didn't do it in a mean way.
I love horses....this little baby horse, I was able to watch get bigger as I lived here at camp....A few of us went the wrong trail on our way to go make lunch. We had to walk up the road and oh man can I tell you that it was a long walk, but totally worth it because I got this awesome picture of these beautiful horses.
I loved driving up or down the canyon because I got to see these amazing animals. These little baby cows, I was able to watch them grow up and it was so amazing to me. Its amazing how fast babies grow up, and I mean a baby of all types...human or animal.
I loved it when it would rain because the mountains looked like this....Its an amazing sight to see how nature does its own thing. Its amazing to me that it looks so dark but it is still one of the most wonderful and beautiful views in the world.
Here is one where the mountain is almost invisible but you can see just enough of it to love the picture....This is a far away shot where as the one before is a closer view.
We went to the Bountiful temple and it was great....the view there is so incredible and LOVELY!!! Nature just AMAZES me so much and I'm glad that I have the opportunities to enjoy it everyday. Its amazing what we miss when we are caught up in the world, our daily routines of life, when we don't take the time to look what is really around us. This world is full of surprises and nature I think that the most surprises out of everything else..We need to take the time to enjoy them and to see what God has given us. Stop and reflect on what you have....it will make a huge difference in your life...I Know is has for me.
This is part of the Bountiful Temple.

Nature helps me to become closer to My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I see things differently when I am really looking at the things around me. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the Earth that I live on.....I learned to appreciate all this while living in such a beautiful place all summer and just by pondering life. Going camping, fishing, or just in the mountains reminds me of not only my wonderful Heavenly Father and his son and my brother Jesus Christ but it reminds me of my Grandpa who taught me a lot about nature and how to love it. If he were still around I would love to thank him. So I hope you all see a different view when you walk out side. There is more to life than technology.....while I was living in the mountains and sleeping in tents all summer I loved not having communication w/ anyone. It was nice to be able to email but phones I didn't have service and it was great. Its was nice to kick out the world in my life. I mean its necessary to have contact w/ people but it is also nice not to. I learned a lot about my self while in the mountains. It was a great experience.

Sunsets

2008-10-22T16:08:00.001-07:00

So idk how many of you know but I love to take photos of the sunsets...this is one of the ones i took shortly after I got my camera for Christmas. This is from my drvie way in Yuma. This isn't the best one I have ever taken.......
This is my ABSOLUTE favorite on I have ever taken. It is the greatest picture of the sunset I have. Sunsets in Az are the best....I have never seem them this good anywhere else.
This is one I took on my way back to Thatecher from Mesa....Kari was driving and I noticed the sun was going down so I opened the window and snaped this shot as well as these..........
Trees got in the way but it was still a good pic.

I got this one just as it was passing the tree. It was great...and i was zoomed in pretty good.

This was Pretty cool as well. It was the last one I took while leaving Mesa.

Here are some from the Fair in Thatcher...........
This was over by the animals....I loved is so much and it was a great shot so I took out Kari's camera and snapped the shot.
I tried not to get the fence but unfortunatley I'm vertically challanged or in other words I'm short.
I was trying not to get the trucks....I love taking sideways shots.
This was taken in Salt Lake City Utah outside the temple gates...it is amazing....I have never seen a sunset like this in Utah and if I have its been along time.

Somtimes when I don't have a camera there is a perfect sunset and I miss it...well actually I miss alot of them because I'm not prepared. I need to start carrying a camera where ever I go so I will be prepared for that BEAUTIFUL shot.

Learning to read again......

2008-10-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

So when I went home over the weekend my mom came home and gave me a bag and told me that the bag was hers but the stuff inside was mine.....what could it be?.....DUN DUN DUN.... so I Looked in it and to my surprise I found 4 books....my thoughts were "what and I going to do w/ these?"

I was planning on borrowing Twilight from my sister because I was curious what the fuss was all about. Well I have all 4 of them now and I have to learn how to read again. I have a hard time reading because I can't sit still for too long at all. Kari and I are going to read them out loud together every night. We will see how long this last because I havn't finished a book in years. I have started the Harry Potter series and only go to #4, and I started the Tennis Shoes Amoung the Nephite series and only made it to #4 as well....I know how lame. Oh well, This will be a new challenge for me and something to do on my spare time which I have alot of.

Great Adventures w/ MOM!!!!

2008-10-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

WEEKENDS AT HOME ARE THE BEST!!!!!!

So the other day I was talking to mom and she told me that Aunt Janet was going to be having a Baby Shower on Saturday..... I told her "I want to come soooo bad" and so she said well why not. So Kari and I drove to Yuma on Friday afternoon to see my MAMMA!!!! So she was so excited to see us and I was so excited to see her as well.

So while we are at my mom's Kari love my brothers and loves to mess w/ them. Hyrum loves to tease Kari and steal her stuff so GUESS WHAT HAPPENS!? this is what happens when you mess w/ the ICE BOX (Kari). Hyrum didn't appreciate it too much but it was very funny. I wanted to take a picture w/ all of them but Hyrum was being a stinker and fighting w/ Kari. It was great!! Here is the BEST part!!!

I laughed so hard during this whole thing. Mom watched all of it and was laughing so hard. Hyrum was making such a ruckus and it was so GREAT!!!

So needless to say that we had a great weekend. We were only going to stay til Saturday evening but mom really wanted us to stay til Sunday but Kari didn't want to so my mom convinced her to stay by bribing her w/ a new church out fit. My mom bought us a new church out fit and it was great. I hate to shop but it wasn't too bad. Ryan my 16 yr old brother helped me pick out mine.....it was great. On Sunday we ate dinner w/ my family as well and it was amazin...nothin like a home cooked meal made w/ love by the BEST mom ever!!! We didn't get home til this morning about 1:00, but it was fun!!! :)