"It is not the happy people that are thankful, it is the thankful people that are happy."

Okay, so my car is totaled. 

Because it's an Acura, the parts are so expensive and my car doesn't have enough life left in it to fix.. so it's time for a new car again. I get a new car once a year, cause I have TERRIBLE luck with everything car-related. So I think I'm going to be getting a newish car. like just a few years old, instead of like 16 years old. ha. I'll keep you updated on the car search. But I have to say that I've been very grateful for my mom letting me use hers whenever I need to, even rearranging her schedule to fit mine. she's awesome.


Kade's birthday was on Sunday, so we had a whole weekend of festivities. lol. We went to his best friend's house on friday night. ALLLL of his friends were there. I got to meet them all at once. Talk about intimidating! They are all super cool though. They were really good about making me feel comfortable & included :) plus I left with a good ab workout from laughing so hard. We ate dinner, played the bean game, watched some basketball, played water poker, and then played the bean game again. Kade won the first time we played (only cause I didn't know how to play ;)) & I won the second time. It's way fun. No wonder I kept hearing about it. 


Saturday night I met the parents. For like 2 seconds. They were way nice, even though Kade tried to tell them I said they were scary. Definitely didn't happen. Brat. Lol. Then we went to Chrissy & Dustin's to watch the fights and hang out. Jordyn & Ryan Duke came too. We played apples to apples, hung out & watched home alone until we were all tooo tired. lol. Sunday I put up Christmas lights with my little sister. My house looks so festive! I love it :) Then I went to Kade's and gave him his gifts. I got him a green hoodie, a white and gray striped henley, and the League season 2. Plus a navy blue henley I gave him on friday night. Yeah, I guess I dress him pretty well ;) lol.


Tuesday night I went to Kade's to watch the new episode of the League. So good, by the way. Then we watched some basketball, & hung out with his parents. Oh the shenanigans! They are hilarious. Then we watched a season of Archer. Even funnier than the League. Love it. New favorite show forsure.


Wednesday this week was the last week of institute and it was SO good. All about covenants. Pres Wilson stressed so much the fact that the Lord asks so little of us, but blesses us so much in return. 10%? 1 day a week? That is nothing compared to all that we receive from him. As Pres Wilson put it, you buy a horse & you get the whole herd :) He stressed how important home & visiting teaching are and that we cannot be considered "covenant keepers" if we do not fulfill our callings. So, once I get my assignments I will do my best to stay on top of those :)


I had lunch with my dad today, & I think I finally convinced him to go back to church. I told him that since I've been going back to church, I won't settle for anything less than getting married in the temple. & I expect him to be there. So he needs to get it together! 


I'm thankful for Christmas shopping. I love finding the perfect gift for someone and getting so excited to give them their presents. It's my favorite :) I'm done with my mom's present, & I got a part of Kade's so far. Everyone else.. I'm slacking on! lol. 


But I'm gonna go finish a concert critique for a concert I didn't attend. This will be interesting...


so long for now ;)

changing plans, thanksgiving, & a new start :)

Okay, numero uno thing that has changed. I am not moving to Salt Lake City anymore.. At least not yet. My car is JACKED & is gonna be too expensive to fix. So maybe next fall.. So I'm just going to take sign classes at CSN & stay at my job. Which I'm super happy about. I love my kids, & I would have been SO sad to leave them. 

These are my nannying kids. They're too cute. & kinda excited for Christmas. I may or may not have started playing Christmas music for them like 3 weeks ago.... haha.

This would be my goofy boyfriend (: We have SO much fun together. So far, he's a keeper (;

We decorated my house a little for Christmas last night & started a Christmas puzzle. I might be a little too excited for Christmas... (:

I'm actually pretty glad that I'm not leaving my ward too. I'm just starting to get to know people (:

So I've missed a couple thankful Thursdays, and in light of the recent holiday, I need to catch up. always good to count your blessings! & I have a lot of them!

I'm thankful for my parents. I use this one SO much, but they really just are the best.

I'm so grateful for my best friends Gloria, Emilie, Chrissy, & Kayla. They are so worried about me all the time, and I get annoyed sometimes, but I know they are really just looking out and trying to protect me. We have so much fun together (:

I'm thankful for the Church. I don't know what I was doing before I went?! It's so much fun, there are so many cool people, & it's just so good for me all around. I'm so glad I'm getting back into it. I've been SO blessed since I have been going.

I'm grateful for the Christmas season. Everyone is so happy. I love the music. I love buying presents for people. I love to see how happy they get (:

I'm grateful for the book "Putting on the Armor of God." Bishop told me I need to read it, & it's so good so far. It's about how Satan works, & understanding him better to protect ourselves better. It's awesome (:

I'm grateful for my photography class. It's been so fun to learn how to use my mom's camera & I feel like I've gotten slightly more creative. haha, & I got to take the Littlefield's family pictures on Saturday. That was hilarious. They are the funniest family. Here's some of the cutest ones! (:

love this family (:

So for my thanksgiving, my mom was out of town taking care of her terminally ill father in law. I wasn't too happy about her being gone, but it was necessary. So my dad, gma, little sister & I went to Mimi's cafe for a thanksgiving lunch.

It was nice to just hang out with family for a while. My brother called and we all got to talk to him for a while which was really nice. The holidays are alot harder that he's gone than any other time of year. Then I went to Gloria's & hung out for a couple hours & that was way fun. I love when she's in town. I'm kinda sad that I'm not moving close to her like I thought! buuttt her house is always crazy & a good time :)

Then I went to Emilie's house for dinner. & that was super chill, but really nice :) After dinner we went to Lala's house for a bit. 

Then came to my house & watched Burlesque, which is a SUPER good movie, btw. 

Oh & last tuesday Kade & I went to see blue man group. SO much fun.

a thousand pictures later... that's all I got ;) hah. Life is good. I'm very blessed, & very grateful <3

The Wisdom of Pres. WIlson..

I have recently started going to institute. I've gone the past two weeks with Kade, and I LOVE it. President Wilson punks everyone. All the time. It's hilarious. Last wednesday was about the spirit of the Law of the word of wisdom. You know- getting enough sleep, going to bed early & waking up early, & eating healthier.. Not just not drinking and smoking and drinking coffee..
So Kade is always getting on me about going to bed earlier, because I'm a night person, & he's SO not. lol. So I got punked real good by a few scriptures about "early to bed, early to rise." Kade kept nudging me, & I told him he can't tell me what to do, & he was like, "That's not me, that's Jesus!" lol. So anyway, this week we've been trying to wake up earlier & exercise more.. So far, I've only been successful on friday.. But such is life.. hah. We went & played soccer at 6am on Friday morning. It was FREEZING, but still fun. So anyway, we're trying to get better at it!
At church today, Pres Wilson taught Sunday School. He's seriously my favorite. He doesn't beat around the bush about anything! He challenged us to write down a list of the things we would like to be remembered for.. So here goes nothing!


1. I want to be remembered for always putting my family first.


2. I want to be remembered for having a home that is warm, that you can feel the love and that everyone always feels welcome.


3. I want to be remembered as someone that people can talk to for advice without being worried about judgements being passed.


4. I want to be remembered for having patience & dealing with stress with grace.


5. I want to be remembered as someone with a good sense of humor. Who can tell a joke as well as take one. :)


6. I want to be remembered as someone who is approachable.


7. I want to be remembered as someone that is an excellent friend.


This is all I have for now, but there's definitely more to be added later.


oh & here's a picture of me & the cutie that's been occupying my life for the past 2 weeks ;)

Kade... I kinda adore him (:

Thankful, again :)

I've been super slacking. So here goes nothing..


1. I'm thankful for the BOM. I've been reading it nightly, because I've never read it all the way through (bad, I know) & it's crazy how much reading it helps. I don't remember the last time I was this happy with my life :)


2. I'm thankful for our Bishop. He's amazing. He is just the sweetest guy, & has such a strong testimony. I just adore him. I'm kinda sad to be moving because I don't really want to leave my ward!


3. FHE. I went on monday night, & even though I was late(stinkin' work), it was still so good to be there. Then I played wiffle ball with a bunch of people from the ward & it was SO much fun! :)


5. I am grateful for new friends. It's nice to be around people who are encouraging me to do the right things. It's nice to be around those who have been through what I'm going through & understand. It's hard to get back into church, but it's SO worth it. It's amazing the difference just doing the simplest things right can make!


6. Mama's advice. I found a few sayings my mom used to always tell me when I was little written in the back of my scriptures in my little kid handwriting. hah. The first is "It's none of your business what other people think about you." The second is "A good friend is someone who makes it easier to live the Gospel." & the last one is "If you're happy with yourself, & your relationship with God, what everyone else thinks doesn't matter." I used to care so much about what other people thought about me & their judgements of me based on my past mistakes, but now I'm realizing that if they're gonna judge me, they aren't worth my time anyway :) I'm working on myself, & my relationship with God, & so far so good :)


7. Institute. Last night's lesson was about Marriage & it was SO good. Brother & Sister Wilson are the cutest. The most important things I got out of the lesson were trying to work on yourself instead of trying to find the perfect person, and to start preparing yourself for an eternal marriage right now, because that's the reason we've been put on this Earth :) Oh and out of all the mistakes you make in your life, don't let this be one of them. Don't pick the wrong one! hahah.


8. Nice Cops. I am a really inattentive driver & rear ended someone today & it was all bad. The guy left because "he had work" and his car was barely scratched up, but mine is prettttyyyy messed up. I didn't get a ticket, (the cop said because I was honest with him about it being my fault) but I was still really shaken up. I was shaking a little, but fine until I talked to my mom. then I started crying. hah. but I need a new radiator, new headlights, & a new something else that sounds expensive, but Em's dad is gonna try & take care of it for me. I'm glad I was only a block away from his house, cause I would have been a lot more stressed if I was farther. Anyway, I'm glad I'm okay, & it definitely could have been worse, but I feel bad for my baby car :/

I've been slacking! so here's a BUNCH of pictures & stories :)

Let's see! A week & a half ago Kimmie came into town for her birthday! We went to Yama sushi on Tuesday night & then went out on Wednesday night. I was the designated caretaker all night. ha. It was fun though. I'm so glad that she came :)

 Me & Patrish at Yama

Me & Jakey at Yama

 Birthday Girl :)

 Bestfriend.

 La!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Last weekend I went to STG for Kayla & Angie's HC football game! Em, Patrish, & I drove up on Friday afternoon. We went to see Kimmie at Texas Roadhouse & ate dinner there. It was delish!

 Me & Em before dinner

 Pretty Patrish before dinner

La(:

I did a few fun things with my nannying kids this week too! did you know if you write a disney character they will autograph a picture & send it back to you?! So awesome! So Emma wrote a letter to Sleeping Beauty & Zach wrote a letter to the Mad Hatter. Connor just hates doing everything, so of course he didn't write one. lol.

 

The twins' friend Anna Marie had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's on Friday too, so I got to take them there. It was surprisingly fun! 

Emma.

So I've been SO unlucky with cars lately. On friday when I was supposed to be leaving work to go to Chrissy's so we could leave for Salt Lake I went outside & my battery was DEAD. I didn't even leave anything on though. So I had to have Chrissy & Dustin pick me up from work & that got us out of Vegas SO late :/ buuttttt the trip was actually super fun. We saw a truck completely ENGULFED in flames on the other side of the 15, so we called 911. That wasn't fun, just crazy. But Chrissy, Dustin & I all saw the same shooting star on the way up. That was pretty cool. We made weird lists. mine is getting pretttyyyy long. haha. Towards the end of the trip everyone was get deliriously tired though. ha. We got to Chad's around 2:45am. Way too late! I slept on the couch upstairs, while Em slept on the floor next to the futon with Dustin & Chrissy. Shoot, that couch was comfortable! So the guys had a flag football game at an unheavenly hour in the morning so when they were getting ready, they tried REALLY hard to be quiet, but i woke up anyway, so I talked to them for a while before their game. Then I went back to sleep for a bit, then they woke everyone up by graciously blasting "How to Love" when they came back to the house. But at least they brought breakfast! :)

Saturday we all got ready, decided to skip going to look at apartments because Chrissy & Em just wanted to have fun. lol. NIIICCEEEE guys. but whatever. we'll just wing it! :) So we started decorating the warehouse, then the guys sent us (now officially called "the golden girls") to get more stuff to decorate and hook up the stereo & whatnot. That took a while, but we got it figured out! Then we went to lunch at Cafe Rio & it was yummmmy! Then it was time to practice the TIme Warp dance (we performed it at the party) and get ready. Can I just tell you that I have never worn that much makeup before?! It was intense, but fun :) here are some pictures from the party!

 Flapper, Hamburgular, Zombie Baseball Player, John Cena!

 She's alright I guess ;)

 Dustin was SO creepy all night.

 Kristie's cute costume! Congrats on your baby girl :D

 See?! Creepy!

 Parker :)

 Zipper face. Chrissy did his makeup SO well!

 Zipperface, Cliff Clayvin, Colby the Hamburgular, & Me (:

 Chad (:

 The Falling Face! :O

 Yeah, I'm not sure.....

 Sean & Cory. Geek & Beagle Boy from Duck Tales!

 Me-"What are you doing?!" Chad-"Just taking a picture of her taking a picture"

Such a nerd. lol

 Mummy, John Cena, Flapper, Cliff(-mustache)

All in all, this was the best weekend I've had since Chrissy's wedding :) It was so fun, I danced all night & took a risk or two ;) & I'm glad I did. It's been so good for me. I just need to move to Salt Lake already! It started snowing there today & i'm jealous! Hopefully we'll go up there one more time before Christmas so we can do fun Christmas stuff! :D

oh this was on the way to lunch. Dustin was upset cause we told him vanilla ice wasn't cool anymore. lol.

& these are my nannying kids in their costumes :)

Luigi, Mario & Princess Peach.

& this is what I wore to the Singles Ward FHE Halloween party :)

 Jenna was a bum & didn't dress up! :/

...UNTIL NEXT TIME!! :)