Yes, I still Learn :)

This year has been a year of eye opening realizations. I neared my 30th year last year with great reservations. I had always believed that I would be in a certain place in my life by the age of 30 and I found myself looking 30 in the face and wondering if I had come even close to any of those expectations. Questions like.. Am I the person I always imagined I would be at this time in my life? Have I made a positive difference in the lives of those I come in contact with? Have I experienced life as I should have by now? Ya know, things like that. :) As I found 30 creeping up on me, I found that I wanted to just skip it all together. (Is that even possible, LOL?) I really wasn't looking forward to it in the least bit. Thankfully I started thinking about things several months before the actual day hit because on my 30th birthday I was in a really good place. I embraced where I was at in life.

Having said all that, I have to say that 30 has been a fantastic year for me. Ok ok, I still have a few more months left to enjoy my 30th year. :) But I can honestly say that for dreading the big 3..0.. it has treated me really well. I see several of my friends going through some of the same reservations that I went through. It's funny how we sometimes confuse life's markers with age markers. Friends out there who struggle with age, don't! It's just a number. It doesn't define you. Let what defines you be WHO you are. And if you don't like who you are, start making changes in THAT regard. For me, it always comes back to this.. Life is what you make of it. You are going to be miserable if you allow yourself to be. Or, you are going to be happy if you allow yourself to be. I notice that when I find the simple and small things to be grateful for, I am amazed at how blessed I am and how happy I am that I'm continually thought of by a loving Father. And yes, that even means being happy about your AGE! lol. Take it from a gal who is going to be turning 31 in a few months. Now I know I'm going on and on about age right now, but if it's not 'age' for you, fill in the blank. It doesn't really matter, the concept is the same. YOU are the one who decides whether you pick yourself up from hard experiences and move forward, taking with you the lessons learned. YOU are the one who decides whether you allow yourself to move forward and to grow mentally, spiritually.

Now, the real reason for bringing up age. lol. This year has provided me with so much insight into my own life. Who would have thought that at age 30 I'd be learning such great things still! You'd think I'd be an expert in life by now! :) It's been a treasure I will keep with me always. I am SO grateful for that. It just goes to show, that yes, even when we think we are grown, we learn great things. :) How fantastic is that?!

Never take for granted

It's always so interesting to me that it takes incidents in our lives to put life into perspective.

Friday night a friend and I put together a group to go sledding. It was a good sized group and things were going well. It seemed as though everyone was having an enjoyable time. We had a few bumps and bruises but nothing too crazy. Just your normal sledding wounds. As time was going on, my friend David was showing signs of boredom with the hill we were playing on. We talked about it and I was telling him about the other side of the hill and how there's a bigger drop off but that people get hurt on it. This seemed to entice him more and he decided that he at least wanted to try it. Ugh! Our group stayed on the west hill but David went on the other side. Knowing that he was going over there, I made sure to watch him to make sure he was alright. He went down and took some serious air off that drop. He got up and looked like he enjoyed it. I was just glad he looked unscathed. There was some commotion on our hill so I turned my head and got involved with that and forgot about David. The next thing I know is that several minutes later a few of our friends were screaming to call 911. There was something laying in the snow over on the other side of the hill. My thought was it was David, he must have gone down again without my knowing! We all went running. I got there pretty quickly. I was kneeling at his face. His body was still on his sled, his face was in the snow, body laying there looking broken. I yelled out not to move him. I then proceeded to try to call out to him to see if he could here me. There was a bit of blood in the snow and on his face. We didn't move him because thankfully he WAS breathing! You cannot imagine my relief at that! When the ambulance finally got there he started to rouse a little bit but he was so out of it we had to prevent him from trying to move. I was mostly worried about broken bones, internal bleeding, etc. They took him to the trauma unit but he was released late that night. He's 'ok' but still seeing double and fighting dizziness. I'm so grateful it wasn't worse! He is so lucky!

Some things I learned... That even though I previously doubted that I could handle a seriously scary situation where someones life could be in jeopardy, I did! I know that sounds strange but I'm really proud of myself. That was a really scary situation and it involved someone I know and care about. I never thought I'd be able to be calm and collected, but I was and I was thinking clearly. It wasn't until I wasn't in the throws of it all that I had my moment of sickness and nerves. None of us panicked and I'm so glad. I learned, once again, just how powerful the Priesthood is. I learned that no matter what, go in PAIRS!

Thank U for Helping me Attain my Goal of 100 Firsts

I did it!!! :) Most of you are well aware that my goal for this year has been to make this year a year of firsts. My goal was to reach 100. I am overjoyed to report that I have succeeded. :) Truth be told, I have exceeded my goal but that really isn't the point. My journey is the real reason for the 100. Here are a few things that I have learned in the past year...

I have learned that no matter what, I am the one who decides whether I can or I can't. Which is very empowering. In realizing this, I have tried to make a more conscious effort in deciding what I really want. Rather then an automatic response, I try to really ask myself do I or don't I really want to do or try this? I try to make this my first question rather then allow my thoughts to go immediately to "I don't think I can or I don't think I'd be any good at it or I don't know if I'll like it". I'm not going to lie, sometimes I find myself still defaulting to my old ways, but for the most part, I really DO what I want when it comes to trying new things now. That also doesn't go to say that sometimes I have to give myself a little pep talk in order to find the courage to do what I really want to do, but I end up doing it. It has been a very fun, insightful journey the last year.

I have also learned a lot about myself. Believe me, there are several things on my list that are harmless and were not very hard for me to try in comparison. But there were also some things that really pushed my fears to the limits. Although at times VERY embarrassing to me to allow others to see, I REALLY wanted to push my fears and push them I did. Though I know my friends would never judge me for my fears, I just hate that they are not logical. The fears I mean. And when horrible fears are not logical, and you realize this, it just makes you feel all that more silly to have them exposed (repeatedly in my case) haha. Regardless, I am grateful to have had the experiences to push myself in these ways. For example, I would never have realized just how much fun rock climbing (still working on it), Sliding down Timp Glacier, White water rafting, etc would be. I don't think I would have ever tried any of these because I would have let my fears get in the way.

I have also learned that more often than not, I ENJOY trying new things. This was a huge surprise to me. I jokingly say that I must have lived in a bubble the last.. well the last x amount of years. :) Growing up, we did not have a lot of money, we couldn't afford to travel or vacation places and as I became an adult, I guess I just stuck to the same mentality. Ironically, I'm the one in my family who has really been able to visit places and have fun in that regard. Kind of sad when I look around and see just how much is new to me still. I will not stop my year of firsts. I will continue to seek out fun firsts to try and hopefully get better at some of the things I've learned that I like to do. We will see. :)

I didn't mean for this post to be lengthy since I just barely posted, but I wanted to update on my year of firsts. I am grateful for friends who have helped me attain my goal by taking me to new adventures, participating with me, and supporting me in this silly little goal of mine. :)

Happy New Years Friends and Family!!!

Tis the Season

Wow, I cannot believe it is over. Although Christmas is over, I hope we all make a better effort to always remember Christ in our lives. That is one thing I love about Christmas, it is a time to REALLY focus on our Older Brother, His birth, His life. I love that we have a designated time to focus on Him. I'm going to try to make Christ more of a focus in my life.

On a different, lighter note... :)

This Holiday Season I've decided to experiment with baking. I've had so much fun. I really like to cook but I hate cooking when it turns out terrible. Rather than admit defeat before I've even tried, I decided that I was going to have fun baking and cooking things I've never tried before. It's been fun. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pics of them until LATE in the season, but here are a couple creations that were really yummy. :)

 
Chocolate Oreo Bon Bons! I dare you not to love them!!! :)

 
Orange Cinnamon Swirl Bread

 
Crunchy Chicken Roll-ups (Now I'm hungry for this goodness, mmm)

Going to see the Lights on Temple Square is a Tradition. Not only is there so much symbolism there, but I just love to go there. Christmas just isn't Christmas unless I go to Temple Square and see the lights. It was sooo sooo sooo cold! Thankfully we went on a night that wasn't snowing, but we were freezing regardless. Brrr. I love that I'm not the only one who participates in this tradition. Any day of the week, you will find crowds of people enjoying the beauties of the lights. What a blessing.

 

 

We spent Christmas Eve at my brothers house (like we have for the past few years). We munch on lots of yummy finger foods, talk, play with the kiddies, and read Christmas Stories. This year our crowd was some what smaller than past years, but you'd never know it with the volume levels we can reach. Poor great-grandpa! lol. Boy the kiddies get so excited this time of year. I LOVE it!!!

 
This is right before Christmas Stories. They were pumped and ready to hear stories. But definitely good sports about letting TT take a pic of them. :)

 

Two of the four nerdy bro's I have. I couldn't help it. I had to post this one. It makes me giggle at my grandpa's face verses my two bro's. Hahahaha. Still laughing. :)

I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

I can't believe Christmas is almost here!!!

I really cannot believe Christmas is almost here! I swear it was just Thanksgiving the other day!!! Any-hoo, I'm trying to embrace the Christmas spirit by doing everything I love that is Christmas-y but there are so many things that I'd LOVE to do.

See Temple Square Lights (still need to do)
Go to Christmas Lane (still need to do)
Watch cheesy Christmas Movies (have only seen a few, not Nearly enough)
Drink Hot Chocolate in front of the Christmas tree (still need to do)
Ward Christmas Party (check)
Work Christmas Party (check)
Decorate the house (check)
Listen to Christmas Music (check)

As you can see, there are still a few more things I'd really like to do before Christmas arrives. But overall, it has been a really good start. I love Christmas time. I love the lights all around and the music. I love that most people are cheerful. I REALLY love that all of this is centered around 'The Birthday of our Savior'. Just wish most people REALLY remembered that when preparing for the special day.

Wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! :)

We are the DANCERS

Seriously the funniest video...except I wish they still had the whole skit from SNL. The commentary from the backup dancers was HILARIOUS!!! Try to find it on the actual SNL website. It's worth it. I was laughing so hard. Apparently NBC wasn't happy that people were posting the skit everywhere so they took it off or something. Still, this video is funny. Hello, guys in heels and a leotard is pretty much funny enough. But mix in some dance moves while dancing to a song geared towards GUYS and you get this goodness. :) I will admit, perhaps I think it's funnier because I've actually seen the skit...but still. :) It does my heart good to laugh this hard.

Side note, I totally want to move like Beyonce one day. She's a smooth dancer. Holy toleto! I think that I must move like that in my dreams. I mean, think about it. We've all got to be the star of something right? And since I don't really like the lime light in real life, I think my stardom is in my dreams. And apparently I'm a smooth dancer there. That's all I'm sayin'. :)

Thanksgiving Happiness

This years Thanksgiving was a little different. Usually we have tons of family to celebrate with. The attitude is kind of, the more the merrier. Perhaps this is why it is one of my favorite holidays. As you get older, and all the kids start having families of their own, it's hard to get together for holidays. I guess selfishly I've really loved that (for some reason) Thanksgiving works out for us. For some reason the last several years we have all been able to see each other and be together for a time on Thanksgiving. Whether that means one family has to zoom off after a short time or not, I've really loved it. This year wasn't that way. I actually didn't even get to see half my siblings, but that's ok. Life happens and we can't always get what we want. Haha. Thanksgiving was still wonderful.

I started Thanksgiving off by putting together a co-ed Turkey Bowl with some friends. Yes, you read that correctly. A GIRL put together a Turkey Bowl. Listen, I've never played football before and why let the guys have all the fun?! Besides, we did it last year and I missed out because of my broken elbow. So I wasn't gonna let that happen again. :) Guess what?! I totally made a touchdown! Yup, it was great. I even took a ball to the face once. Let's just say I'd rather not repeat that one! Ouch! But overall, it was a blast!

After football, it was off to the brothers. My sweet little nephew was my cuddle buddy all day! I'm not really sure what got into him and why he didn't want to play. Maybe he just missed me, but he just wanted to cuddle. So cute regardless. At one point, we were sitting there and he was playing with my hands and he notices that I have a ring on my right hand. He got really curious and asked me why I was wearing a ring like his daddy (it's a plain band). I tried REALLY hard not to laugh. He obviously thought girls only wore rings with a diamond on them. lol. Anyway, I told him I like rings and girls can wear all kinds of rings. I also asked him if he was wondering why I wasn't wearing the special ring that goes on the special finger, kinda like his mommy and daddys. We had the cutest conversation. Boy, I just love talking to kids. They say the darnedest things and I love to see where their minds end up going. Too cute!

As usual, I read the kiddies my Thanksgiving children's books. They are starting to remember the books. Perhaps its about time I look for a few new books to bring into the mix for next year. :) Overall, a very good day.