Easter Treats

So, we were invited to have Easter dinner at our bishops house and assigned dessert when we asked what we could bring. I was pretty excited about this because I had some cute ideas in mind. Also, this would be my opportunity to conquer a seemingly simple recipe that I murdered a couple of Easters back. They are super cute and the recipe is SO simple and the idea that I couldn't make them has been plaguing me for years. Well all! I have joyous news! I master the chocolate nests! Here they are.

The recipe says to make them in a regular size muffin tin, but they are rich and I figured they would go a lot further in the mini muffin tin. I'm well pleased with the turn out. I am satisfied and feel like I can move on with my Easter treat endeavors. I'm sad the picture is all blurry though!

I also made these as a back up...just in case. It's just Rice Krispie Treats formed in the same muffin tin in case the chocolate ones were too much for people like myself. I think these turned out pretty cute too.

On a side note. I have decided I hate peanut butter. I hate the taste, the smell AND it is both sticky and greasy! Two of the worst textures EVER! I know many others adore good ol' peanut butter. All I can say to that is...you can have my share too! BLEH!

Happy Easter everyone!

A very important day

This may be a little personal, but I wanted to document somewhere I knew I could always find this most important event. I've tried several times to keep a journal, but it only lasts a couple of days and then I stop, forget about it and most times happen upon some of the random pages when I'm looking for a fresh notebook for school or something. This is too important for that and I guess in a way, it's a testimony...which are meant to be shared.

Today started out pretty normal. I woke up early to take my car to get an oil change, came home and went back to sleep until the dealership called to say it was ready, got ready for the day, ate some Trix(which I realized are just balls now instead of the fruit shapes...lame!), cleaned up the apartment a little, went to pick up my car, then off to go tanning. While in the tanning bed I had the most overwhelming feeling that I needed to go to the baptism today for two new members. One is Thomas who will be 12 in 11 days and the other is his uncle Josh who is 26 and really reminded me of my estranged big brother. So much so, that I just wanted to grab him in a hug and not let go...I didn't of course. Anyway, I went off on a tangent. Back to the tanning bed. I'm laying in the tanning bed about halfway through the session and I get this overwhelming feeling that I HAVE to go to the baptism today. It was so strong I wanted to jump out of the bed right then, but the baptism wasn't for hours still. It struck me as odd because I always consider going to the baptisms in my ward because I love them, but Saturdays always seem to be packed full of errands and studying. After tanning, I went home and tried to start studying and almost talked myself out of attending the baptism because I have a big important test on Tuesday to prepare for, but I ended up getting dressed and even arrived early, which is HUGE for me! I walked in, sat down, and everything was just normal. I honestly forgot about the earlier feeling of urgency until Necia(the relief society president) walked in and sat in front of me. She turned around and was talking to me and mentioned that she was surprised they made it, because just a half hour earlier she was at home with someone working on her home when she felt like she needed to get to the baptism. She wasn't dressed and didn't know if she should just leave the person at her house to come, but she felt like she really needed to attend. That was when I remembered my feeling from earlier. It was amazing and I almost cried because I realize, for the first time in my life, without the slightest doubt, I felt the spirit speak to me. I know I must have felt it before. I've guessed that the spirit was what guided me in certain situations, but this was the first time I KNEW it was the spirit. There was a huge turn out at the baptism and the spirit was so strong. Nothing crazy happened. I don't know if anyone would even count me among the people who attended if asked, but the spirit wanted me there for whatever reason. I am just so thankful that I felt it and followed the prompting and that Necia happened to mention her experience. I think Necia telling me about her feeling the same thing is precisely what helped me realize what I had felt earlier in the day. I don't know how to put it into more eloquent words, but it's really a wonderful feeling to know that God really does know each one of us and that He chose little ol' me to speak to. I always believed that He knows each one of us and that we're all important to Him, but today, for the first time in my life, I KNOW it.

My hope is that I can look back on this often and always remember what I have felt. Maybe just being there to talk to Necia was the reason I received the prompting. Maybe I was just a filler in the crowd so that the newest members of my ward family knew that they were supported and loved. Maybe this was my opportunity to better understand the true significance and meaning of Easter, which will be celebrated tomorrow. How perfect is that?! Whatever the reason, I am so thankful.

Happy Easter everyone!

New Haircut Part II

So, I finally did it! I chopped it all off. I mulled over it for months and finally got up the nerve to go for it. Most of the motivation came with the fast approaching expiration date on my Groupon, but I have good reasons for for my apprehension. I can honestly say I do not recall ever having a GREAT haircut. They haven't all been blunders, but none of them have ever great. Also, in addition to that this time I was planning on going super short, so there was not going to be any pulling it into a pony tail to hide my misfortune if this one went awry. THANKFULLY!!! It turned out great! Best haircut I've ever had. If no one else likes it, I wouldn't care one bit because I am in love. I have volume! I did not think that was possible with my super fine, super limp, super rebellious hair. So, without further ado, here she is!

I like it so much I even got sassy!

Here's some side shots. You can see the highlights and volume better in these ones.

I like it so much I don't want to wash it or sleep on it and mess it up. If I were rich, I would hire someone to keep my hair this way. LOVE!

Spring???

So, right after I finished blogging about springtime, I looked at my phone and noticed a cluster of cute little snowflakes by the weather thing...SNOWFLAKES?!?! I looked out my bedroom window and this is what I saw.

WHAAAAAAT? So then of course I had to go outside and make sure that it was in fact real snow...It was. And like most snow it was freezing! I did make a point of playing in it a little before I ran shivering back home.

Then, I had to make sure to give Steven's Jeep a smiling...well eyes too. I can't leave the Jeep out of the fun just because his driver happens to be away during all the fun. I just did eyes because I thought the grill made a good enough smile. They don't look as good as the ones on my car because I was too short, but still cute!

Oh, and I stopped to get a picture of the tree with the pretty pink spring blossoms I mentioned in my earlier post.

Spring Time is here!

Aw, Spring Time is beginning in NC. We've seen some nice sunny days, mostly spring showers, pretty pink blossoms on the trees, birds and squirrels chasing and playing and...GINORMOUS SPIDERS! Lilly was sitting on my lap and kept looking at the roof funny (the way she does when she spots a bug). I'm expecting to see a bug. Maybe a skeeter eater or some flying bug. I look up and see one of the biggest, ugliest spiders I've ever seen in my life. Totally caught me off guard and freaked me out. Of course Steven is out of town right now, but honestly he's afraid of leaves blowing in the wind and butterflies. This is not my way of talking crap about my spouse, this is just the facts of life. However, for some reason, even though I would have been the one to kill it either way, being alone made it ten times scarier. No joke, I was so afraid I thought I was going to barf. It was out of reach, so I was going to have to knock it down with the broom and chase it down with a shoe. Every time I went to knock it down though I came up with more and more terrible scenarios. Scenario one, what if I get close with the broom only to find it is a jumping spider? Scenario two, what if it gets caught on the broom and rather than flinging away from me it flings onto me? There were others, but those were the most realistic, least embarrassing ones. I'm wearing a hoody, so I decided to pull the hood over my head and tighten the strings as tight as I could. I could just imagine it flinging into my hair or onto my neck or down my shirt. All of these would have surely lead to my death by heart attack. Hood up, broom in hand, shoe beside me ready to hammer the not so little bugger...Broom flings and bug FLIES! Not like with wings, but he is FAST! As he should be. He's got eight legs! Anyway, the speed of this thing took me by surprise and I didn't want to take my eyes off of him to grab the shoe so I run after him with the broom and rake him back and forth across the carpet leaving little buggy pieces all over. Of course, after every kill, I mourned my pray. I always feel bad no matter how ugly or mean the thing was or looked. Then, Lilly ate him. I cannot say I'm excited for Spring. I definitely do not enjoy being cold, but I do appreciate the absence bugs and their bites which I always manage to acquire plenty of the latter. I'm also not excited about the humidity I'm sure is not too far behind. Hopefully, you at least get a good laugh out of this.

Thoughts of the day

Today at work I decided I want to make a conscious effort to always be kind to people no matter what I'm going through. It is no one's fault that you're having a bad day. Why make it worse by mistreating other people, putting them down and making them upset too? How is someone else being sad or pissed off going to make you feel any better? Here's the answer...It's not! Especially the ones that can tell you're upset and are either trying to help you or going out of the way, ignoring your bad attitude to be nice in spite of your attitude. I know my coworker is not the only person guilty of this. I know for sure I am guilty of this. Being on the other end of it today made me realize just how much I don't ever want to be that person again.

Then, on my way home from work I noticed(and I've noticed this before) how people seem to get totally perturbed if you pass them. Why is that? Why should everyone want to go the same speed you are going? If you want to be a slow poke and slowly glide your way to your destination, that is perfectly okay! However, most other people are on their way somewhere and most times in a hurry in this fast paced day to day we call life. Let them pass! It is not a personal insult...unless of course they flip you off as they're passing. I happened to be exhausted and not in any particular rush, so I noticed these things. One car just coasting along in the "fast" lane, cars lining up behind him, plenty of room for him to get over and let the cars behind him pass, but he just stayed. So, the first car behind him gets over to pass and this guy punches the gas. Car trying to pass gets back behind him because he's coming up on another slow car and the annoying car starts to slow back down. They get to another opening and the cars behind try to pass again and the annoying car speeds back up. I wasn't even involved and I was getting irritated! This is what causes road rage and traffic jams. Why does annoying car feel like he has to be the leader?! Why does he feel he should be in control of the speed of his fellow drivers? This puzzled me the rest of the way home. I can honestly say I need not improve in this area. I am a very courteous driver. I never ride the "fast" lane and I always move over if I see a car coming up on me quickly, clearly wanting to go faster than I'm going. I move over for cars on the side of the road. I've got this one. I may be flawed in most aspects of my life, but courteous driving is not one of them. This makes me well pleased. :0)

Finally, nothing makes a hard day better than the loving welcome of two very affectionate kitties, loving texts from family and friends, and having dinner ready for the eating. Thank you mom, Abby, bishop and Marilyn for sending me texts the other day reminding me that I am loved and very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!

So, this post took more than a day to finish. I didn't work today and I saw those texts before right now. ;0)

Irrational Fears

I have this irrational fear that terrible things are going to happen when I am least able to fight back or escape. For instance, every time I get in the shower, without fail, I freak out at every noise and make up a few noises in my mind as well. I have this ridiculous fear every time I get in the shower that the house is going to catch on fire or someone is going to break in. What do I do if this happens and I'm right in the middle of shampooing or my body is covered in soap? There is no quick remedy or escape. Face it. You're naked and covered in soap. The only chance you got against an intruder is the fact that you're slippery and hard to hang onto. However! What if you grab something to club said intruder with and it slips out of your hand?! You can make a run for it, but careful, don't slip! Not to mention having to run outside naked and then the suds are going to dry and make you itchy all over. I schedule my showers around times when Steven is home and STILL have these thoughts plaguing me. The shower is just so loud that you can't hear anything and then there's the shower curtain blocking your view. I need a guard dog for my showers.


Then you have your regular visits to the porcelain throne. Number 1 is not a big deal. It wouldn't be the most pleasant thing to be rudely interrupted while carrying out operation number 1, but it is doable with only mild regrets. However, number 2 is a whole other story. This fear plagues me mostly in public restrooms and the occasional at home alone, heard a noise situation. In public restrooms performing operations 1 or 2 I have this irrational fear. Just think, you're squatting, doing your thing and then someone grabs your bag off the hook and runs. Like I said, number 1 sucks but I will live and get my purse back. Number 2 though! Just forget about it. There is no escaping this one, unless your handle is big enough to hang your bag around your neck. There's no way I'm sticking anything on the floor. You might as well just burn it because I will not be able to make myself touch it again without a thorough cleaning first. Besides, I would think that would make it easier to grab. OH! Or what do you do if someone turns out the lights?! Ugh! This is my life. These ideas run through my mind and give me anxiety attacks every time I use a public restroom or take a shower. I don't even know where these fears originated.

Halloween Happiness

I know it was forever ago, but it was so much fun and I actually remembered to take pictures!!

This year I decided to throw a Halloween party because I had decided on a great costume, had yummy and fun snack ideas from Pinterest and we had made enough friends to pull it off. I was nervous because my only other attempt to throw a party was a couple years prior which was also a Halloween party and it turned out to be an epic fail(yes, I used epic, because it was). I feel like this year was a major improvement.

We started the season with pumpkins of course! Sad to say we never even carved them, but I love pumpkins and they were able to stay with us through Thanksgiving this way, so I'm not that heartbroken about not carving them. We went to a little pumpkin stand across the street. They had all colors, shapes and sizes. It was really fun.

Alas, Steven and I found our pumpkins and took them to their new home where they underwent a thorough Tiger inspection...they totally passed. Look how perfect they are!

Next, it was decorating time! Cobwebs go a long way!

We also had the Halloween wreath on the front door and the count down calendar, but you've seen those in previous blogs. To take pictures and blog about them again would just be tooting my own horn, haha!

Next it was time to invite the peeps. I made some invites that I thought were pretty stinkin' cute(so much for not tooting my own horn...). I used a free printable cupcake topper as the main embellishment.

Before the party people started arriving I tried to make all of the yummy treats I had found on Pinterest. I think I tried to rush it too much because almost none of them turned out very well. I tried to make Oreo "eyeballs" and they just kept falling apart and I couldn't get the chocolate to work right so no pictures. Also no pictures of the witches broomsticks. The Reese's peanut butter cups kept splitting down the middle. Here's a picture of the pumpkin shaped rice crispy treats! Those turned out well.

Then, Steven and I put on our costumes just in time for friends dressed in their Halloween best to start arriving!

Maegan and Landon Hansen. Maegan was a potato farmer and Landon was Mr. Potato Head. They completed they costume by bringing some delectable potato skins. They won the best couple costume award.

The Vanderwerkins(I know I totally butchered that) were our insurance agents for the night. They were Flo from Progressive and the guy from Nationwide. Super creative costumes! I loved it. Charisse won the best costume overall. Technically I won(toot toot!) but I was the hostess so even though I was super flattered, I gave it to the runner up...That sounded so bad, but I want the people who voted for me to know that it made my night! I worked really hard on that costume! Anyway...

Jessica and Taylor McClellan spiced up the night dressed as salt and pepper.

Britney and John Holbein dressed as a house divided. They are attending rival schools and dressed accordingly. Britney for UNC and John for Duke.

Caitlin and Ryan Sweeney skipped the biker bar just to come to our party and entered with a roar, literally. Ryan's motorcycle is amazing and LOUD! I totally loved it and I've never seen Steven so fascinated by a motorcycle.

Maile and Mitchell dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and the Huntsman. SOOO cute!

There were SO many cute and creative costumes. Everyone was a lot of fun and really got into the Halloween spirit. We ended up walking to Chili's for dinner, in costume. It was fun, but a lot of people gave us that "y'all are crazy" looks. Especially when Maegan had to park her tractor to eat. It was great! Then, we came back and did a Halloween mad lib which turned out hilarious! Watched Hocus Pocus and made caramel apples. Which Mitch helped chop with his real hatchet! It was a really fun night!

Thanks friends for making it such a fun night!!!

Get 'er done...we'll start with Thanksgiving!

I made a to-do list of things I need to get done before school starts back up MONDAY was to get the blog updated. So here goes my best effort. I get bored with it really fast though, especially when the computer starts acting up, but I'll try because these are important memories and I'd like to share them. There's a few though so bare with me, I don't know how to turn off the automatic email notifications I setup when I first started this thing. Also, yes I am aware that they are completely out of order. I'm just blogging in order of memory and which ones are going to be shortest, haha.

This year was the first time ever that Steven and I spent Thanksgiving with just the two of us. We haven't been able to spend it with family for the last 3 years, but 2 of those years we spent with friends. It was a little different. Pretty quiet, but we had a good time and got all of the yummy food to ourselves. We used our fine china, drank sparkling apple cider and cooked dinner together. We totally went the easy route though and ordered a Honey Baked turkey (it was good, but weird. I don't think we'll go the easy route on the bird again), Stove Top stuffing, Rhodes rolls, pumpkin cheesecake from Costco...we did go all natural for the potatoes because I love real mashed potatoes. Earlier in the day we watched bits and pieces of the Thanksgiving Day parades and went on a small hunt for the Thanksgiving paper. I know you can find the sales online, but it's more fun to go through all of the adds together after dinner. Below is a picture of our Thanksgiving spread. Not to shabby if I do say so myself.

The next day we went "Black Friday Shopping." We didn't camp out or anything, but we got some really good deals on dvd's and went to the outlets. We got pretty much all of our Christmas shopping done in one morning. It was fun, but I don't think we'll do it again. You can get most of the same deals online and can even find better deals after Black Friday we found, but it was fun just spending time together and going out to lunch.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Feeling Blue

If you're looking for a peppy, upbeat post this isn't going to be one. This is my stinkin' blog and I'll whine if I want to!

Today started pretty good. I got up and made some yummy potato bite things for my English class which were a major hit, even though I didn't think they were that good. I got dressed and felt pretty good about my outfit, hair and make-up, which is rare for me. Then, my super amazing visiting teachers came over with their adorable baby girls and we had a nice chat. THEN! I checked my grades and it all went downhill from there. I got C's in both of my science classes. I was kind of expecting that with the one, but the other caught me completely off guard. I cried a lot. I really don't think I will be able to get into any of the Dental Hygiene programs I was looking at with two C's out of four required science classes and a couple of the programs don't accept do-over grades. It broke my heart. I worked so hard this semester for nothing. Then, Steven and I had reserved the theater out our apartments and invited some people to come over to watch a movie with us. I wasn't really feeling up to it anymore after learning about my grades, but figured it might be nice to have some friends over, watch a fun movie and take my mind off of things. No one came. I had a lot of fun still with Steven, but I was really sad that no one wanted to come. I don't make fiends very well, but I keep putting myself out there hoping with practice I'll get better at the friend making thing, but then I just end up feeling bummed and wish I hadn't tried.

I don't care if you think I'm throwing a pity party because I KNOW I am and I warned you not to read it if you were looking for something uplifting and happy.

I'm about to start crying again now, so I'm just going to go to bed and end this stupid day. Even venting didn't help. ARGH!

New Haircut

So I went to get my hair cut today. I was nervous...like I always am, but excited too. I had decided I wanted to try bangs. I looked like a big dork with bangs when I was younger, but I feel like my looks have improved somewhat with age and bangs are in right now, so what the heck? Let's do it. I also wanted all over layers so I could attempt to pull off more volume. It doesn't really look at all like what I was hoping for, but it's not really a bad haircut. I kind of like it. Here it is down...

Not too much volume going on. Blake, my hair stylist was like, "I'll show you a trick to give you more volume"...He did the trick and this is how it turned out. I was like, "oh yeah! That looks great!" trying to be nice and he just had a confused frown. Then, he did something in the back with scissors that was supposed to add volume, I guess and that also did nothing. He's like, "I think your best bet is going to be products." THEN, he decided to use texture cream to add a little definition...HAHAHA! I've given up on having super cute hair. It's just not in my genes. Here it is up...I like it best up.

And, I can even still pull off my Keeley signature do!

I think I'll let the bangs grow out, but I'm glad I tried them. You have to experiment and see what works best for you!

In My Head

Here's a glimpse at how my mind operates....

My drive home from school is a long one and sometimes I get bored with the same music on the radio, so I'll just turn it down and let my thoughts entertain me. Take it away thoughts!

I'm not sure where it came from, probably a bad driver triggered the thought, but I developed a fun new anti-swear word. Bucket sucker. Go on try it. Say it with feeling. Imagine you're really ticked off. Ugh! Son of a bucket sucker. Then, when I added the "son of a" part it triggered a new train of thought....

Why is it when someone gets really mad at a person they start taking it out on that persons parents? Exhibit A- Son of a bleep. Their parents have nothing to do with it. The person they're yelling at probably doesn't even care because they're not the "bleep" they are just the son of the "bleep" and if they're yelling at a female it doesn't apply at all....

Then, a good song came on in the background so I turned it up and started singing and doing a one armed robot.

It was a fun ride home.

Our Apartment & Giant Gummy Bears

So, I promised family and a couple friends from afar that I would show off our new apartment when we got here.... Better late than never! Come on, it's only been two months. It's small, but we love it! It was brand spankin new when we moved in so that's nice. We had to take the packing material out of the dish washer. You would think they would take that out for us, but hey, I was happy because I knew for sure it had never been used. NICE! Here is our apartment sign...

And, here is the driveway...yes, the driveway. I like the ranch style fence. I love pulling into our apartment complex.

Our lovely, little living-room.

This is our dining room that leads to our patio and storage room.

And the patio mentioned above.

This is our fantastic kitchen. There's a big ol' closet to the left that serves as our pantry and LAUNDRY ROOM!!! I'm SO happy to have an in unit washer and dryer again.

And this is our bathroom. It's actually really big. I had to take two pictures to get the whole view.

I didn't take pictures of our bedroom or the walk in closet, because it's very cluttered and our bedding is disgraceful. But, it's a good sized room. We're happy with it.

As for the giant gummy bears! We drove to Raleigh with some friends (Jeremy and Emily) to witness a 5lb gummy bear live and in person. When we got to the candy store we saw what we thought was the 5lb wonder and it was really not very big and to be honest we were a little disappointed at how underwhelming it was. It was still bigger than the average bear, but I didn't even take a picture because it wouldn't have been something to blog about. I mean, this thing was featured on the travel channel. It should WOW us, right? Well, we were still in a candy store and each of us a kid at heart, so it wasn't a total let down. We grabbed our little bags and started collecting goodies...then we spotted these guys!

Now THAT is a 5lb gummy bear! And this is some of the other things that caught our eye. We ate most of it before I took this picture though.... I LOVE CANDY!

Oh! And look at this cool Lego candy! Pshaw!

Durham So Far

So, I figure I should blog something, anything, since it's been so long since the last and because school has started and I don't want things to get too crazy before I can get this done. No pics this time. Those will come later. Pictures are really what keeps me from blogging. Sad, but true. I just hate how you have to upload them one at a time. It really bothers me. Then, heaven forbid I work on this for any length of time only to have something go wrong before I can post it. The idea of doing the same thing more than once really gets to me for some reason. I even have a hard time eating left overs. Call me weird, but that's just how I'm wired. If I JUST did something or ate something, I don't want to revisit it again right away. I've started quite a few that have been left undone for that very reason. Anywho, about Durham. It's a lot different than I expected. There's 3 major universities right here, so locals are few and far between. Steven and I went for a walk around our apartment complex and saw a license plate for all but I think 11 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. There's not much of a chance Steven or I will be developing a southern drawl anytime soon. The bugs here are HUGE and weird. Some I've never seen before and they love me. I get at least one new bite a day. On the upside, I have seen lightning bugs on several occasions and that just thrills me to no end. I love them! There are so many trees and they are huge and dense. There are so many shopping areas here, but you have to be here a while to realize. You can't see them until you're right up on them because everything disappears in the trees. Driving is different too. People hall tale around here. You'll get run over if your not going about 10 MPH over the limit. Even in neighborhoods the limits are high anyway and people just fly. That really freaks me out, because you never know what's going to be around the bend. A kid, an animal, a jogger... speaking of animals. I hit my very first roadkill on our drive here. I hit a raccoon. I'm not going to lie, I cried. Steven was in front of me in the moving truck hauling a dolly with my car on it and somehow the little guy escaped being whacked by him and then here I come in the Jeep and POW! I saw him rolling across the street in the rear view mirror. :0( People are really tan here too. It's weird. I think I've seen more tan people here then in California. The weather was absolutely terrible when we first got here. I would change my clothes about 3 times a day because I always felt sweaty. My temper kicked in for a while. It would make me angry how uncomfortable I always felt. Especially, with my long hair. I felt like it was closing in on me trying to take over my neck. It's better now. I'm getting used to it. Steven actually LIKES it...weirdo. The radio is different here too. The dj was saying how he went through his daughters facebook account and made her delete people that he thought seemed like inappropriate people to be friending his little girl. He opened it up to the listeners to call and tell him if they thought what he did was right or wrong. I can guarantee most people in California would have been livid telling him how he needs to trust her and not invade her privacy. Here, EVERY caller said he was right to do it. I agree, but it was nice to here some people still feel like there's a place for parenting. Then, on the same station they have a segment called "Chaps My Crack". People call in and say what's eating them or chapping their crack. Well, every once in a while they'll have someone call in and Crack Attack them...That means that someone calls in pretending to rant about something that chaps their crack, then you hear static and they yell "CRACK ATTACK!" The static is supposed to be the person rubbing the phone on their bum. Only in a hick town. Let's see...what else is there to tell?...Oh, apparently, we are in a good part of town, because thankfully, we have not witnessed the crime that Durham is notorious for, but sadly, our missionaries have seen it first hand. We had them over for dinner last week and the one elder was telling us about how he has had a gone pulled on him 3 times! And how his old companion got a full Big Gulp thrown at his head and another time someone drove by and opened their car door into him sending him flying off his bike. They aren't allowed to carry wallets or backpacks to avoid being mugged. The one elder is huge. I don't know who would want to mess with him, but he had a smaller companion before we were here who I guess was being surrounded by a gang with knives until the bigger guy came running at them and they took off. I guess there are Spanish missionaries who are protected from the black gangs by the Mexican gangs. They don't want to here the gospel message, but they watch out for them because their parents/grandparents like them, haha. There's certain places their not allowed to go period, because they'll get shot by the locals. I feel so bad for those poor guys. That's all I can remember for now. So far, things are going well. I definitely do not have any desire to stay and I don't think Steven does either, but we will make the best of it while we're here...You never know what the future will bring.

On the road again!

Well, at least we don't have to worry about catching moss!...Rolling stone catches no moss...Ahem. So anyway. For those of you who haven't heard yet. Steven has been accepted to the 2nd year residency program at Duke University in North Carolina! We are actually very excited about it. I think we were more nervous and unsure of moving to California. Sure, we are nervous about picking up and hauling ourselves across the country away from everything we know and love. But, we are so very excited about the adventure ahead of us, the new things we get to experience and the endless opportunities that will come from Steven working so hard to further his knowledge. We're even a little excited about possibly picking up a slight twang while we're there. Wouldn't Steven sound so stinkin cute?!?! I keep trying to explain to everyone the way I feel about this, but it's hard to fully express it without knowing the feeling yourself. To be completely honest, I have known in my heart that we were going to North Carolina since Steven first mentioned the program. It was the weirdest thing. He hadn't even decided on applying yet, we didn't even know whether he would even get an interview and I just felt it and it felt right. I'm sure when the time draws closer and the realization that we are moving SO far sinks in I won't be as excited, but so far this has just felt right and I'm ready for our next step towards forever together. California has been AMAZING and we will miss it and the wonderful friends we've made.

3rd Anniversary!!!

Can you believe it? 3 years!!! I will post more tomorrow maybe, but I wanted to let you all know I posted our Anniversary pictures on facebook. I'll try to get them up here tomorrow too for those of you who don't use facebook. :0D

Ugh! Time to catch up...

There's just not enough time in the day... So, now that I'm behind, I get to share three things I'm thankful for all at once. It still counts though because I thought about them the days I missed. I just didn't have time to record them. So, here goes! I am thankful for photography. Looking through pictures recently, brought to the surface really get memories that had been lovingly tucked away. You can most times remember moments, but it's so much fun to be able to see those moments again and even to see some things I missed the first time around. It also makes it possible to share those moments with people who couldn't be there. Remember how I promised to share pictures of my brother in laws open house whenever I got my hands on some? Well, here's a few. The bride and groom, Tyler and Kassie! Steven's eldest brother, Kevin and his wife, Kristi and their little munchkins, Kimble, Karter, and Koltyn. Next in line, Steven's only sister, Julie and her husband, Kevin (yup, two Kevin's!) and their little ones, Kylie, Jacie, Landen, and Avrie. Then, there's Keith and his wife Beverly and their cute Klan, Hailey, Jamie, and Spencer. Then, Steven is next with his wife...me! Then, it goes Tyler and his new wifey, but you already saw them. Scroll up again for your own viewing pleasure, but be sure to come back because next, we have the youngest, the magnificent, the grrrrreat BRIAN!!! ;0) And of course, the ones who started it all...well one half anyway...the parents of this amazing family, Darwin and Sharon. Here's a couple group pictures just so you can see how well we all fit together. I told you they were good, didn't I? Okay, back on track now. Two more things to be thankful for. I'm thankful that God has a sense of humor and blessed...most of us with a little bit too. I love laughing. I LOVE making other people laugh. Again, looking through pictures the other night brought on quite a bit of laughter. Here, see for yourself... For some reason, even now, this picture just cracks me up. I guess it might be because in my head, I'm translating this picture into something funny...do I share? Meh, why not? Sorry Darwin! My interpretation (which is completely untrue to the real situation) is Steven: "Dad did it!" Darwin: "Huh?" Except, in my mind, "Dad did" something else. Anyway... An this one... I'm looking from left to right at each person, thinking "this is a great picture"... then I get to Steven. See what I mean? Thankfully, I happened to marry someone who has a GREAT sense of humor and shares it with me quite often. Lastly, I am thankful for good friends. The ones who love you for exactly who you are. The ones that forgive you when you don't call as much as you should. The ones that know just what to say and when to say it. The ones that are brutally honest even if you don't think you want to hear it. The ones that are kind and caring when you're feeling fragile. The ones that make you feel like you're always welcome and never imposing. The ones that are always happy to see you. The ones that give the kind of hugs that make you feel safe and loved without a single word. A few of these friends in my life are Deidre, Bishop and Marilyn, Jessica and Emily (my visiting teachers)and of course, my Heavenly Father. I have lots of great friends to be thankful for, but for some reason these are the ones that just completely stood out in my mind. Thank-you for being so amazing even when I might not deserve it!