Tis the Season To Be...........

Thankful
For the Gospel and how it influences my life
For the wonderful, loving people in my life
For my good health
For my cute puppies
For my prayers being answered when they are supposed to be answered
For being able to provide for myself
Jolly
Because it's almost Christmas
Because I am almost all done with my shopping
Because work is finally fun again
Because there are lots of fun things coming up that I get to do
Because I can listen to Christmas music....officially
Because Madagascar 2 was so stinkin funny
Stressed
Because I start meet season in TWO WEEKS!!!!!
Because it is going to snow soon and I HATE HATE HATE to drive in the snow
Because I have to have 24 kids ready to compete in TWO WEEKS!!!!!
Because I have to get up extra early because it takes me extra time to get to work because of the snow
Grateful
That I can go to the Temple whenever I want
That I have someone to go to the Temple with every week
That I have been adopted into a family that loves me just the way I am
That I live in a wonderful neighborhood
That Ryan hung the Christmas lights this year
That Trish loves to cook and I assume that she will make yummy holiday treats
That I still have TWO WEEKS until meet season!!!!!
Giving
To people who need it....no matter what it may be
To the people who mean alot to you
The best of yourself

Realizing what we have

This past Tuesday my sweet friend Julie Nawrot had a seizure while driving and hit a tree head on, killing her instantly. She was on her way home from a doctors appointment when it happened. She leaves behind her husband Jeff and her two sweet children Siera and Cooper. I have know Julie for about 11 years and will miss her dearly. She was so full of life and by far the loudest person I know. She was the friend who would do anything for anyone. I got to spend many fun times with Julie over the years and have so many crazy memories. I can still hear her saying MISS WENDY! You always knew when she entered a room.

Having had a lot of loss in my life, I know too well how hard it is to lose someone you love. My heart aches for her family. It seems that over the past few weeks I have had numerous chances to see past my trials and to find blessings. I have realized how much I am loved and how much I love others. I have seen the light of Christ shine through so many people in so many different ways. I have seen the importance of service and how it feels to be served and to serve. How often do we forget what we have? Do we get so caught up in the little things that we forget about what is really important? Do the people we love know how much we love them? What if today was our last day on earth. Would we be ok with how we were leaving things? I am not sure if I would be. I need to be more forgiving of the people who have hurt me. I need to tell the people that I love, that I love them more often than I do. I need to put more effort into my callings and my job. I need to read my scriptures more and I need to pray more. I need to not put off things that need to be done because I might not have a chance because tomorrow I could be gone.

I am comforted in knowing that Julie is in a good place. I know she is up in heaven just making everyone laugh there pants off! My life is better because I knew her.

Friends and Blessings

You wouldn't believe the week I just had! Even if i tried to explain it in this post, you would not even be able to make sense of it all! So, instead of telling you about it, I will tell you what blessings have come from it. Heavenly Father blesses my life with lots of wonderful people. People who love me and care about me and who brighten my life. He also blesses me with people who need my help. He has blessed me with so many things.

This week I am feeling extra grateful for my a few of those people that He has blessed my life with.......

The one who still loves me and forgave me even though I yelled at her for no good reason.

The one who turned the car around and picked me up and took me where I needed to go even though she was on her way to do something else

The one who answered the phone and was waiting at the door when I got home to comfort me. And the same one who always asks how I am doing when she knows I have been stressed about something.

The one who is just always there to let me vent, to make me laugh and help get my mind off everything. The one who went out of her way to get me places even though she is so busy.

The one who is always there. The one who knew what to do when I didn't. The one who rearranged her whole schedule to help me and didn't complain even once! The one who sat in people stew with me. The one who has called everyday to make sure I am ok. The one who went to all ends of the earth to help me.

The two who saw a need that I had and took care of it without even asking. The two who hardly even know me and have made me feel loved.

These are just a few of the things these people have done to bless my life this week. It would take me hours to tell you all of the things.

We are so lucky to have a Father in Heaven who loves us and knows just what we need. I am so grateful that he put these wonderful people in my life because I don't think I could get by without them. Sometimes I can only see the bad things in my life and worry too much about the things that I can't control, but the things that my friends have done for me have made me stop and be grateful for all that I have.

So, the blessings that have come from my crazy week have been worth every tear and moment of nerve racking stress I have had.

Ok Bonnie!!!! Thanks for Tagging me!

Well here it goes..... 6 insignificant things about myself that no one really knows!

1. I have almost no cartilidge left in my right hip

2. One time I had the hicups for 4 hours straight. Then I threw up and they were gone.

3. I hate to read, but if I have to, I love to read autobiographies

4. I love love green olives and maraschino cherries.......and I will eat a jar of each at the same time

5. I secretly want to be a princess

6. I can only fall asleep if the back of my heel is inbetween my big toe and the one next to it



Well there you go. I bet you will all sleep better tonight knowing all these new things about me!
I'm supposed to tag 4 other people--So...if you read this....I'm tagging Kristi, Suzanne, Teresa, and Julie!

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!!!

It's not a vacation until someone gets hurt. . . .

Last weekend I traveled down to Arches National Park for a quick hiking / camping trip with some folks from the neighborhood. We had so much fun and had many adventures. We had to be back for the Primary program on Sunday so we were really only there for about 24 hours. Here are just a few of the things that we did.

Here we are at Delicate Arch. It was quite the hike to get there especially since it was smack dab in the middle of the day.




So we all decided to jump over this bush and land in the sand. Well it did not go so well for Amy. She may look like she is having fun, but come Friday when they harvest a tendon from her hamstring to repair her ACL that she blew out while landing the jump, I think fun will not be in her vocabulary.


This is Kristi and I at an arch. Not sure which one but it was still neat!


Here are some of the kids. It was fun to follow them around and see all the places they found to explore. They took us into tiny slot canyons and up huge rocks and they never ran out of energy.

Should we free the Gorilla's?????

My dear sweet friend asked me the other day while driving, what I thought about keeping the Gorilla's caged up.....Yes very random but that's what I love most about her. If these animals can learn sign language and communicate with humans she said, maybe they could function in the real world. I thought about it and think that maybe it could work. I am not sure what would happen if you ran into a Gorilla's car while driving.......Would it give you the finger....or eat you!!!!


Sure he looks nice......until he gets hungry!

Life.......From a different point of view.

Do you ever have those moments where you stop and think hmm....wonder what the world looks like from a different point of view? That's exactly what I did on my fun Canyoneering adventure with the girls a few weeks ago. I went with Kristi, Amber, Suzanne and our oldest friend Nicki (haha). We spent the weekend in St. George and in Zion's National Park. We canyoneered through Pine Creek and spent the rest of the time relaxing, eating, watching the Olympics and Laughing. It was a much needed vacation! We may have had to swim through some mucky water and get sand lodged places that sand should never be, but most of all it was so much fun and really good to reconnect with each other. There was never a dull moment in conversation and we got to experience Suzanne's first Chinease fire drill! We hid fake bugs in Amber's bed, had a heated debate over dinner one night, teased hard, took pictures with giant wire animals in someone's front yard, talked and laughed, sang.....belted out songs on the way home and came home with one more adventure under our belts and lasting memories. I can't wait for our next adventure.....I will give you a hint.....there will be donkey's involved!!!


Amber and I wondered what the world looked like upside down

All of us Girls after we finished the last repel



This is me on the last repel. It was 100ft and so much fun

We had to hang onto a tree to get down. It was cold and very stinky as you got closer to the water


This is what we had to swim through when we got to the Cathedral. If you could have seen the look on everyone's faces......

We must have been having an interesting conversation!

This is us walking up to the final repel. It got really windy.