LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

I have realized that I am a horribe blogger!  I guess it is kind of like I am a horrible journal keeper... Both of these things are things that I would really like to get better at!  Today I just want to be grateful.  I guess this time of year we especially are trying to be grateful as it is so close to Thanksgiving and all.  

But today I am truly grateful!  

  ---   I am grateful to have 3 jobs and be able to provide for myself!

  ---   I am grateful and happy to be single

  ---   I am grateful for a wonderful family who loves and cares about me. 

  ---   I am grateful for wonderful friends who listen to all my ramblings and really care.

  ---   I am grateful most of all for the gospel in my life and for the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ and                                                that with his help we can make it through this life!

I have sooo many things to be grateful for and will post much more of my gratitude shortly but I just really wanted to say thanks for all that I have.  I know many times I like to complain and think my life is difficult but today I am saying thank you and realizing how great life really is!

Where I'm at in Life!

 
 Well, I don't really even know exactly where to begin with this post!  I guess that is because I am not exactly sure where I am at in life!  I think this is a good thinking picture and I feel like I do a lot of thinking lately.  Sometimes I think about how behind I am in life because I am still single, not making babies, and just doing my thing every day.  Other times I think about how lucky I have been to be able to travel the world and just life life to the fullest!  I also think about how lucky I am to have such an amazing job working for Mark and Jenn taking care of their beautiful daughter Sydney.  I feel so lucky to say that I love going to my job everyday!  
  

I many times think about all the other places in the world I would love to go but how I don't necessarily want to go to these places alone and single.   I am hopefully planning a Europe trip for this next summer but fear I may have to do it single!  I think about teaching English in China and how rewarding and fulfilling that would be!  I would love to work in the orphanages of Africa giving love to those beautiful babies who don't know what love is.  I would love to explore Egypt, Jerusalem, and so many other amazing and incredible places in this world.   I many times find myself thinking I would be fine being single for a while longer while I continue to find myself and figure out this life.  I think that there are many pros to the single lifestyle!  But I also find myself thinking maybe I am too comfortable being single.  Maybe I'm only thinking of me and no one else.  Other days I think to myself how amazing it would be to teach English in China side by side with the man of my dreams!  


       Other times I find myself thinking and wondering if the man of my dreams even exists!??  That is definitely debateable....   I wonder if we will ever find each other and what events in our lives have to come to pass before we can be together.  I find myself thinking about how much I would love to be a mother and take care of my own babies.  I think about how lonely it can be being single when you are the only one in your family who is of marriage age that is still single and alone.  I think it changes from day to day and I'm not really sure which one wins out most of the time!!  Do I want to be single or do I want to be married?!  That is also a great question...  
   


       So really this blog is just a rambling on of my thinking!  I feel so confused in life and many times wish to be married and having a family.  I spend time with my nieces and nephews and wish so much to have a family of my own.  I spend time with my sister and miss the special bond we used to share before she found a new best friend... and wish I had such a new best friend to fill the void of where she has gone missing.   I spend my days taking care of the sweetest little baby ever and wish to be able to have my own someday!   I think in the end I really just wish I knew when that day would come.  If it isn't for five years that is fine...  I will travel the world until then but at least I won't wonder if that day will really come!  This really is not a poor me blog I have just realized in the last few months that I would really love to progress to that next step in life!  I would love to find someone and start the next great adventure of our lives wherever that may lead us.   I feel though that I may have to find a lot of patience as the Lord tries my faith.  I don't so much believe that now is the time for me to have that in my life!  It is so difficult to want something so much and to not be able to have it.  But in the end I would rather wait for the right time, the right place and the right man and to be happy than to just marry to be married.  

   Until that time comes I am grateful for amazing friends who help me through the loneliness.  I am grateful for family who are always there no matter what.  I am grateful for the Savior who understands my heartache and who I should be a better friend to.  I am grateful for my amazing wonderful niece and nephew who always seem so excited to see me!  I am grateful for singles wards who have so many different activities to try and help us single people meet each other and get to know one another.  I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for a knowledge that my Heavenly Father loves me and that he has a plan for me and my life.  I am grateful to know that his plan will bring me much greater happiness than my own plan!  I am grateful for all the things I am so blessed to have in so much abundance in my life.  I am grateful for the time I was able to spend serving a mission and learning so much about me!  I am grateful for the person I am.  I am grateful for the hard times we have to go through which tend to make the easy times that much better.   I know that I am so blessed and just have to remember to count all those blessings when life starts to feel lonely or I start to feel behind as I see so many of my friends enjoying the blessings of motherhood!  I too am so lucky to have had the life experiences I have and hope that those experiences will help me to be the best mom I can be someday!

I'm SOOO Behind!!!

So if you haven't noticed I have been the biggest slacker with my blogging! I don't know if it is because I feel like noone reads my posts, if I'm just being lazy or what really. Or maybe it is just like my scrapbooking! I feel like I am so behind so I have no idea where to start! Let's just say that in all reality I haven't even finished blogging the trip Mandy and I came home from over a year ago! I have done so many things since and guess I am feeling a bit overwhelmed... Anywho, for now here is a small update in my life!
As you can see from my last posts I have been living in Ogden since January. Well that has now all changed and I am trying to settle into the Salt Lake City area! In between Ogden and Salt Lake I made a small pit stop back to Orem where I was living with Louise and Sophia for a couple of weeks! It was sooo much fun to be living with the old roomies even though I didn't see a whole lot of them... :) Anywho... the change came because I got a new job!!! I was not finding myself super happy at the deli and felt like I needed something different. I started searching on the internet and found a nanny position in Salt Lake City. I kept telling myself it was too good to be true and to not get my hopes up! I contacted the family and found out they had not yet hired anyone and landed an interview. I met them and was getting even more excited about the position. I was pretty much freaking out on the insides because I wanted the position soo bad but had no control over whether or not I would get it! In the end I did get the job and have loved every minute of it since! Here are some pictures of sweet little Sydney that I get to spend all my days with.

This is a picture of the sweet family I work for right after Sydney was born! They are so much fun and I totally feel like I am just a part of the family. Mark and Jenn are soo great and I look forward to going to work everyday! I guess so much for using my college degree! I decided happiness is better than a college degree job where I'm not so happy. :)

I have so many more things I need to post but this will have to due for now! I'll try and get caught up in the next little while!

3D movies are the new thing!

Here we are flaunting our awesome 3D glasses! We went to see Alice in Wonderland and loved it!!! I am loving the new 3D movement. I've lately seen Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon all in 3D!!! I have loved all three and think it is amazing what technology we are blessed with in our world today...

I thought the starts made for a super cute backdrop! I'm not sure what I was thinking when I struck my pose but we did have lots of fun! And that is most important.

This is Cami and I! She is getting ready to send in her mission papers! I'm sooo excited for her!

And this is my dear Racheal... I love this girl to pieces. She has been a Godsend in my life and I am so thankful to know her and to have her near my side! And yes... we leave on our vacation in just a few days!!! 5 days to be exact...

DATE NIGHT!!!

Yes I know it is hard to believe but I actually went on a date!!!

In my ward we have had a couple coming to our FHE activities to talk to us about dating. They told us we should be thinking positively about dating and making it fun and exciting! Well, my dear friend Christina talked me into asking a boy out on a date... I can't believe I actually did it.

And let's just say I was a little out of my comfort zone!

We decided to have some fun with it and ask in a creative way. Well, ok I have to back up and tell you what a fool I made of myself. I didn't know who to ask because I didn't really know anyone from here! I ended up deciding to ask my friend Cody who had also just moved to Layton. I did a dumb thing and called him before to make sure he would be ok with going!!! I think I made him feel like he was my last resort because of my fears! He definitely was not my last resort..

Anywho, the asking went something like this... We made some little sayings on different pieces of paper and stuffed them in balloons. The first one they had to pop said, "because I think you're great, I hope you'll be my date!" The next one had the "who" information, another had the "what" information, one had the "when" information. The last one had the way they were supposed to respond! We dropped the balloons off on their doorsteps then sent them a text that said, "come to your front porch now... bring a knife!"

We then sat in the car and watched them pop the balloons! It was sooo much fun and we laughed our guts out!

The actual date night was also loads of fun. We really just wanted to have a good time. First we made spaghetti dinner and made everyone eat with their hands tied together! It was fun but I think I had a really hard time remembering to let Cody use my hand to be able to eat!!! (Sorry Cody!) After dinner we had better than sex cake for dinner! It was also delicious...

To end the night we headed to the comedy improv night at a theater in washington terrace. We had soo much fun there. It reminded me a lot of who's line is it anyway!!! I seriously laughed my guts out!!! Well at least my stomach was killing me by the end of the night! All in all it was a great dating experience and I believe we are planning for future date nights!

Here are some pictures from the evening!!!

As you can see, this is me! They told me to act surprised because I had just won a pageant or something! I believe I got my surprised face mixed up with my scared face!!!

This is Cody and I trying to eat our dinner! I don't know how well you can see it but we were all tied together. Not just to our dates but also to the other person sitting next to us! It definitely made for an adventure!

This is me, Tammy, and Racheal... There is a story that goes with this but you'll have to ask me about it if you really want to know! Kinda an inside joke between the three of us!

The girls hanging out on the VIP couch! I am so grateful for so many amazing people in my life!!! I have seriously been blessed with the bestest friends I could ever ask for!!!

This is Scott and Christina who of course were the VIP's at the improv night! Aren't they adorable... I think so!

This is the whole gang!!! It really was loads of fun and I'm looking forward to future date nights! Now that I've lived here a little longer I am getting to know some

more people! Hopefully it won't be so scary next time. :)

BABIES!!!

So many things have been going on since I blogged. I just wanted to put up some pictures of the most adorable babies in the whole world!!! I guess I am a bit biased but I love these guys loads. I am currently living with Courtney and Brandi and Umbria. I love being able to see her every day! She is so beautiful and so much fun to watch as she figures out the world around her!!! I can't believe that I never even posted the birth of Conner. I guess it just goes to show how busy life is and how fast time goes by. He was born December 16th, 2009 and is growing so fast!!! It is hard for me to realize how big he is. He's a chunck that is for sure but he is so adorable. I'm happy to only live 30 minutes from him but don't make it down to visit often enough! I would have to say that babies are loads of work and I'm grateful for a little while longer of living up the single life! I'm loving Ogden and all the many wonderful friends I've made. I bought a new camera so there will be future posts all about what I've been doing the past few weeks!

The above pictures are from Conner's blessing day!!! Isn't he adorable?!!? I sure think so. He is starting to be super smiley and actually awake for more than five minutes at a time! I do have to say though he is heavy and makes my arms tired!

I'm not sure who likes daddy time more!?! -- Daddy or Conner! They are a pretty adorable pair and Jeremy is a great dad!

Courtney is also a really great dad!!! It is so fun to watch him with Umbria. I never knew what a worry wart he can be! Umbria good luck with the teenage years!

And all the rest of these are just her being her adorable self! She is sitting up all on her own and laughing and playing more... I love seeing her everyday. She is learning so much about the world around her and just makes me happy every time I see her! She always has a big smile for me every time I walk in the door... :)

Hopefully I'm Blogging Again...

So I realize that I have been an absolutely horrible blogger. I guess that I just didn't feel like there was anything too exciting in my life to be blogging about! I have now realized though that there are many things I could have been telling the world all about! I didn't even finish the wonderful amazing journey Mandy and I were able to take to Europe. Not to mention my trip back to Europe, the birth of Conner, Mandy's wedding, my moving to Ogden, and all the daily occurrences of madness in my life...

Let's just say that there never tends to be a dull moment in my life! I like to keep things extremely exciting and have been loving my new life in Ogden. I don't have a camera anymore because the one I bought to take to Europe with me is still somewhere in Europe. I believe it got left on an airplane or at an airport somewhere along the way! I'll try and get another one soon so you can have pictures to go with all the stories...

I'll try to catch you all up with my old memories and new ones over the next few days. Honestly most people probably don't even look at my blog but for the few who do I'll try to be better at keeping you posted. By the way my new life motto is: Awkward Moments make Life's Memories. I'll try to keep you updated on all my AWKWARD MOMENTS!!! I think they are usually a daily occurrence!!!