Spring Break!

I usually don't have a spring break because I work full time, but this year was a little different. My roommate, Rachel, is from Orem Utah and was headed up to see her family. I have really been wanting to go to Utah so we were going to make a road trip out of it. Then we got our friend, Natalie, to come with us. About a week before we were to leave Natalie got us airplane tickets for a really good price (she works for US Airways). We flew to Utah early Tuesday morning. It is nice to be there in two hours rather then the approximate 10 hours.



Rachel, Natalie and Me!





Natalie and I after doing a session at the Salt Lake Temple.





I love spring time. It was still kinda cold for me but I loved seeing the flowers and newness of spring.

I was able to visit with one of my mission companions and see her adorable new little baby.

Me and Baby Bridger! He is such a cutie!

One of the days we went to Provo and had breakfast with our friend Chelsea. Chelsea and I used to Visit Teach Natalie...just another testimony to me of visiting teaching.

I was so excited to see one of my old roommates, Kathleen, who lives in Provo and for the first time met her daughter Symphony.

One of the evenings we went and saw the newly dedicated (actually it was in the middle of being dedicated) Draper Utah Temple. It is so beautiful!

The same night we also went and saw the Mt. Timpanogos temple.

I almost didn't have time to visit with my mission president and his wife. I am so glad that I took the time to do so. Just like all the other wonderful people I visited with it was so nice to see President and Sister Evans and reminisce about the good times.

There is so much more I wanted to do in Utah and so many more people I wanted to see. Five days is just not enough time to see and do everything.

Our Best Friend

Valentines day doesn't mean a whole lot to me. I think that we should tell people we love them everyday....and no it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't have a significant other...that is just the way I am. Well this past valentine's day is one I will remember, but in a different way then you may be thinking.

Our family dog, Princess, passed away. She has been a part of out family for the past eighteen years. I don't care what anyone else says....she was part of our family. It was really sad to see her finally go because was one of us.

She usually went everywhere with us especially when we went camping. There was one time she was curled up by my dads feet in our camp trailer. When my dad moved around somehow she ended up outside.

She was such a good friend too. She always knew when one of us was having a hard time and would come cuddle with us. She was also a good listener when you needed someone to talk to or vent to! Who could have asked for a better friend.

Here is a picture of her a year ago. She is a miniature collie blue heeler mix.

Super BOWL!

Last year my roommate thought of this idea to do a super bowl party and it was so much fun that we decided to do it again this year. This is not an ordinary super bowl party it is a Super BOWL of cereal party. Anyone who came brought their favorite kind of cereal and it was added to the bowl. Then everyone digs in......well getting their own smaller bowl of course! It was acctually pretty good.

Even though the Cardinals lost we still wore the colors proudly in support of our team.

Time Flies!

So I realized the other day that I haven’t updated this in awhile. My intentions were good but ….well…. life happens. The whole month of December was hectic and even ended with a bang. January was a little better but then again who am I kidding. This will be a long post so I understand if you get bored and only look at the pictures.


Family Pictures
Just before my birthday we had family pictures taken. The last time we had them taken was about 5 years ago and we have since added a few more to our family. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Surgery
A few days after my birthday, I had surgery on the front of my mouth. I had a small hard bump on my gum just above my front tooth. I think they call the procedure an Apicoectomy?? They basically cut open my gum across a few teeth and pull the gum back to expose the teeth and bone. Then jab, poke and scrap the mysterious bump out of the bone. They only used a local anesthetic so I was awake for the whole thing…..not so fun.

Here is a picture a few hours after the surgery. My roommate said I looked like a Chipmunk.

I had a total of 9 stitches. This is the first time in my life having stitches.

It was interesting to see the reactions on people’s faces when I told them that it was stitches in my teeth and not food! Although I can see why at first glance people would think that I had something stuck in my teeth.

Christmas
I spent a lot of time with my family this year. Any time I wasn’t at work or a party I spent at my parent’s house.
Of course the real reason we celebrate Christmas is the Birth of the Savior. So my roommates and some friends and I did the twelve days of Christmas to someone. We decided to do a piece of the Nativity scene for each of the twelve days. On the last day we gave the baby Jesus and the manger, completing the scene. It is so true in life that without the Savior nothing would be complete.

I was lucky enough to go to the Teample lights several times this year.

I don't normally like to dress my dog up but this santa outfit was just so cute.




World Turned Upside Down
The Saturday after Christmas was a very hectic day and ended on a bad note. My Dad was having some problems breathing and well to make a long story short we had to call 911. It really shook my whole family up. He was admitted to the hospital for a mild heart attack. After some tests the doctor decided my dad was too much of a risk for open heart surgery, so they would just put stents in. It was suppose to be a pretty standard procedure. Well when they went to take the catheter out the tip of the sheath broke off into his blood stream. This has never happened, so my dad was the talk of the hospital! He was put in a medical induced coma to prevent the sheath from moving too much…wherever it was. It was so hard to see my dad like that, completely vulnerable. He had so many tubes and IV’s in him. Thankfully they found it wedged in a blood vessel near his heart. This ended up causing more problems.
My dad spent the next week and a half in the CVICU. I guess you caould say my mom did too because she couldn’t stand to be away from him and he wanted her there. So sweet! He was finally able to come home and is trying to get better. He is eating a lot better and has already lost a lot of weight.

Through this whole ordeal and all the time I spent in the hospital I had time to think about life. Life is so precious. I know there is so much I can do better at. This sounds horrible but my family needed this experience to help us get back on track.

Good Bye Chad!
Ok so Chad is a car, my sisters’ car to be exact. This car is one of those cars that goes from one sibling to next. My older sister and I got this car for Christmas one year. It was totally a surprise and we loved it. Well my younger sister Sara has had it for awhile. While my dad was in the hospital Sara and Jessica went to visit him and on the way back were involved in an accident. A hit and run accident none the less and Chad was totaled. On the bright side of things though, my sisters are ok other then a few bumps, burns (from the airbags) and whiplash. If anything it gave Sara a real reason to get a new car.

Hiking!!!
My sister Jessica has started a hiking club. We have been going hiking every Saturday. The group is for the most part who ever feels like waking up ridiculously early on a Saturday. At first I was even a little skeptical, but I have had a lot of fun! I am usually the one to get to the top last but I am ok with that at least I make it there. I have decided that parts of Arizona can be really pretty.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the hikes!

Birthday Kidnapping!

So the Friday after thanksgiving I was at my parents house chilling with my sisters when all of the sudden some girls come barging into the house. It was my friends Lisa, Juli, Kim and Laura. Several months ago we started this thhing where we kidnap the birthday person and take them out to dinner. The birthday person usually has no idea. In my case I knew they were up to something but I didn't think they were going to do it that day. So they totally surprised me and I had no way to escape them. They blindfolded me and tied my hands up. They put me in Juli's car and drove around for awhile to try and confuse me. They did a preyty good job distracting me so I couldn't figure out where we were going. We ended up at Bellagios Pizzeria. I had to guess everyone who was there before I could take off the blindfold. I guess my sisters were in on it too becuase they were there. They were all very sneaky. All in all it was a lot of fun though. I can't wait to kidnap Lisa!!

This is a picture with me and my birthday flowers!

No Good Very Bad Week

So November has been kind of a rotten month for me this year. I am not even sure why but it seems as though so many things have gone wrong. I usually consider my self really blessed and I still do, but right now the roller coaster has a lot more downs then ups. This week started out really good..not really sure what happened.
I went to the Momorial for my co-workers husband earlier this week and cried my eyes out. It is still hard for me to think about with out crying. Death is a part of life yet it is still so hard.
Then I found out this week that I am going to have to have surgery on my front tooth.....so not fun. I broke my front tooth when I was younger. The dentist did a root canal and put a crown on it. About 4 years ago they took that crown off and did another root canal and put a new porcelian crown on. Well the alst couple of months I have noticed some pain above my fornt tooth. Being stuborn and not really wanting to go to the dentist I put it off as long as possible. My dentist refered me over to an Endodontist. Instead of doing another root canal they are going to save my tooth/crown and do surgery. I thought ok I can handle that but then they started talking about a few of the possible side effects and kinda got me scared. We will see how it goes.
So today I had to run to home depot and was driving out of the parking lot when I heard a pop. Eeek! I got home only to find a huge screw in my left front tire. Great! So Jimmy being the great brother that he is offered to take it to Big O Tires and have them fix it. Easy right...NOT. Since my tires are old they couldn't just patch it. All my tires are bad and they suggested I get all new tires. I couldn't afford that so I only got two new ones. That is just life I guess.
There were a lot more bad things that happened this week but I guess they are little. Sometimes it is those little things that get me frustrated. I hope this next week is better and end November on a good note.

Stars and City LIghts

I had the opportunity to go on a night hike Monday night. It was so incredible and the weather was perfect too. As out of breath as I was I it was still calming and peaceful. At one point half way up I stopped to take in all the amazing things. It was a clear night and you could see all the stars. That is something you don't see as well in the city. Then I looked out and saw all the city lights and was even more in awe. I could see the outline of a cactus which reminded me I was still in the desert. Who would have thought that hiking at night in the middle of the desert would be so awesome.