Christmas

I have wanted to make a gingerbread house for a long time. So this year I decided to buy one. I didn't know it when I bought it but the kit was pre-assembled except for the tree, so all I had to do was put the decorations on it. I have a good friend who I have been providing service for over the past couple of weeks. She was accidently run over by her car (long story) and has needed help driving to doctors appts and help taking care of her 7 week old daughter. She also has a three year old son. I went over to her house and had her son help me decorate it. I had a blast. It might not be perfect as its shown on the box but I don't care. The picture is the final result. Oh and thats what my kitchen table looks like.

In this season of giving I am so very greatful for the opportunity I have had to help this dear friend of mine. Im also greatful for the service I have been able to give to my husband and his guys at work by taking a meal and goodies. I hope all of you appreciate all the hard working individuals who make it possible for you to get your gifts sent ontime. I know I have a new appreciation. They work VERY long hours and have a very stressful job. John just told me he felt bad today that he hasn't had time to do anything for Christmas. This year Im more excited to be able to spend the day with him and have him open the gifts I have gotten for him. My only wish is that my entire family was here to celebrate with us. I love you all very much.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Im so greatful for my Savior who made all this possible for us. My wish is for all of is to Remember the Reason for the Season.

Where to Begin.

My mom requested that I finally update my blog. I have been meaning to do this for a while but life has been crazy. First off John and I really enjoyed having my mom here for a couple of weeks. She helped me get our yard ready for winter. This was quite a project because John had not been able to work on the yard for reasons many of you know for a couple of years. Now that a lot of the work was done I feel like we will have a head start next spring.
Shortly after she left I was put into the Relief Society Presidency as the First Counselor. In my ward it was decided that "since Im the creative one" I should be in charge of Relief Society night. This new calling has come with many challenges and has definitly been a growing experience and I have learned a lot. So far Heavenly Father has quided me in what activities we should do as a ward relief society. Im now working on comming up with a theme for January and so far have no ideas but I'm working on it.I am blessed to be able to work with a couple of amazing sisters who have been very helpful.
Johns mom and I decided that we would share the cooking duties and actully cook Thanksgiving dinner. In the past it has been a family tradition to go out to dinner at one of the casinos. As my family will tell you I have been a bit homesick missing family so it was important to me that we do this. I was super excited about it. I made a pumpkin and apple raisen pie and was working on the sweet potatoes when I forgot the all important rule of tucking my fingers in while chopping. This is what my finger looked like after I had 9 stitches put in at the Urgent Care. Yes that is my finger and not a part of the male anatomy. I got my stitches out yesterday and while my finer looks much better I have a lot of healing to do.

This week I have had the opportunity to serve one of the sisters in my ward who is also a pretty good friend. She was run over by her car after her son started it. She sustained a couple of pretty serious injuries which have made it difficult to care for her 6 week old baby. Its been a joy to help her out and came as a help when we lost a dear friend who was older. Im apart of a group of ladies who go to movies each Tuesday and this dear sister had become like a grandmother. I was there along with another sister and her son as she collapsed, and subsequently later passed away, while we were entering the movie theater.
Life is so short and one thing I have learned is that we should take nothing for granted. Love each other and take the time to spend it with the ones we love because we never know how much time we have left on this earth.

YAY

I know its been a while since I have posted anything, for that I apologize. First off I'm so excited to have my mom here for a while. Not having family near by has been difficult and I'm so greatful she came..Dad thanks for allowing her to be gone so long. I only wish both parents could be here but thats ok. Second as most of you know I was recently put in as the first counselor in the relief society. Usually I would be in charge of the teachers but the president decided to do things different so I'm in charge of Relief Society Nights..Formerly known as Enrichment nights. We had our first one as a new presidency tonight. I prayed and prayed about it and stressed over it. I knew the theme we were supposed to do and was trying to think of someone to teach it and just felt like I was supposed to do it.
The theme we chose was Be Prepared. I decided to focus on Emergency Car kits and 72 hour kits. I was amazed at the amount of very helpful information I was able to find online. I narrowed it down..put a lesson together along with handouts and a quiz to see how prepared each family was. I even had John help me put together an emergency car kit and asked my president to bring her 72 hour kit. I must say that with Heavenly Fathers help it went off amazingly well. The sisters had a great time and learned something as well. Oh and Dinner was yummy too..Soups salad and bread..I made with my moms help Chicken Curry Rice soup..YUM and it made me miss my family who are far away..
I hope to get pictures up of my new guest room soon. I can't do it now because my moms staying there but I promise to post some of that room and our office.. Its nice to finally feel like I have a home...
Now if I could just find that missing key.....

Testing Testing

So I don't feel like calling, texting emailing ect everyone in the family so Im posting it here. If you don't like it tough :) Today I was called to be the First counselor in the Relief Society. And to mix it up they decided that I would be over enrichment instead of teachers. Im very overwhelmed right now and feel totally unprepared but know my father in heaven will help me. Prayers in my behalf are much appreciated.
Also Im hoping to get pictures posted of my new room sometime this week. There are some finishing touches I want to do before I post them
love you all

Saga of the dog who's afraid of the kitchen

So as some of you may know we have been dealing with a small problem involving our dog for over a month now. At the end of May one day we realized that our dog would not go into our kitchen. Why is this a problem you ask? Well because in order for her to get to her food and the back yard, she has to go into the kitchen. I noticed at the first part of that week that she (Cheyenne) wasn't eating. I wasn't too worried because John told me that sometimes she doesn't eat when it get warm outside. What worried me was when I realized that she wasn't drinking water. She finally got so thirsty that she drank out of Johns cup one day. It was then that we realized what the problem was. We couldn't figure out why she wouldn't go in the kitchen. So we moved her bowl by our dining room table while we searched for a resolution. When we went on our cruise Johns parents watched her and they said she had a hard time going in their kitchen as well. Well a few weeks later we noticed that she would not go on any non carpet floors. It was then that we discovered that her nails are so long that the pads on her paws don't hit the floor properly. Yes we need to take her to the vet but thats not in the budget right now as they have to put her to sleep to do it. She doesn't like anyone messing with her paws.
What we ended up doing was buying some rugs from the JCPenny outlet this weekend and putting them in the kitchen. Sure enough that was the problem. She was scared at first but we immediatly moved her water bowl and food dish back into the kitchen and she will eat. What was cute was the greatful look she gave John and I when she felt the carpet under her paws. I will post pics later.
Shes a sweetheart and yes we ( actually its more me) spoil her rotten.

Job? What Job

I couldn't think of anything more origonal for a title haha.. I just realized I hadn't updated the blog in a bit so I thought I would. First off no I still haven't found a job. Although I was given a lead on three positions which I could have had any, but after some rather quick soul searching, prayer and after talking with John I decided to decline all of them. Why you ask? Well long story. As some of you know I have been rather homesick since moving here, but I have been working really hard to become involved in the ward and some of the groups. Had I taken any of them it would have required me to work nights and weekends. This would also have taken away from the little time I would have to be with John. I asked John if it was selfish to turn down jobs because I wanted a life. Of course he said no. I realized while doing my swimming workout, that Heavenly Father, by giving me these opportunities was saying if you really want a job here. However if you continue to be patient I will provide one. I also realized that he wants me to have a job that makes me grow and utilized me to up utmost potential. So that's the job front. I'm very grateful to a wonderful husband who's been so supportive.
John and I continue to go to the gym three times a week. I am able to swim a little over a mile, and recently set new best time of 45 minutes. We also bike and do weights. I love going to the gym. I'm slowly losing weight and have felt better than ever for a while. Also recently I have been reading The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. I highly recommend it to everyone. I have a whole new appreciation of what the atonement is and how much our Savior loves us. Sometimes I am truly Humbled at how much he has seen fit to bless me.

Alaska

Here are a couple of pictures from our cruise. I have posted many more on Facebook for you all to see. Also to my family back in Oklahoma I am sending a DVD with pictures on it to mom and dad as soon as I can get it together. To the rest of you well if you want to see more you have yet another reason to come visit. Let me start of by saying that noone should wait until retirement age to see this wonderful part of the country. Its amazing that there is so much of this great state that is untouched by human hands. There is so much rich history that Im so glad there are many people who are working to save it. We absolutely loved it and soaked it all in. Pictures just can't do the beauty justice.

Fun Facts.

So as some of you know I have been having trouble sleeping at night. One thing I have started doing to try to help this is to listen to podcasts at night. Two of the ones I listen to are from Howstuffworks.com. The other night I listened to one about the Vikings. I must admit I fell asleep shortly before the end but one fact I found interesting is that the Vikings didn't wear hats with horns as is depicted.
One other fun thing I have found while searching out podcats was the collection of CBS Mystery Radio Theater. I remember as a little girl listening to this from time to time in the car with my parents on KSL Radio. I don't know if the program was still on the air at that time or if itwas a replay but I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to those again as well. I also found a podcast that plays some of the old time radio great dective stories. It makes me wish we still had wholesome stuff like that today.
As for life with us we are busy. John more than me. I have enjoyed getting together with some of the ladies in our ward. On Tuesdays I go with a group to the movies. It has been fun to see some of the new releases. I will say that if you haven't seen The Clash of the Titans heres my recommendation. Don't pay the extra money to see it in 3D as most of the movie isn't even in 3D so you are only getting ripped off. John is still really busy with work and school. Hes taking 2 classes at a time and this time hes finding he has to read a lot and deal with a teacher with a crazy grading system. Fortunately he will be done by March of next year. I am still looking for a job and am staying positive. We are leaving on Saturday for our cruise to Alaska. Im excited to spend some time with some family in Seattle as well as seeing the beautiful country.

What to see in Reno

As John and I were driving home from Utah yesterday, we started to talk about the things there are to see and do here. I decided that I needed to give you all a list of things there are to see and do here to entice you to come visit us. Yes we do expect visits, and we don't want you to wait to see when and if we have children. This morning I did some research and compiled a list of things to do and added it to the list that John and I made yesterday. Some of these are things that happen once a year, some are seasonal and some are year round. Some of them are in towns that are an hour or less drive from us. I was surprised at how big the list was and I left a lot of things off. If you have questions on any of it feel free to ask. We look forward to each and everyone of you coming to visit. So without further adu here's the list.

1. Lake Tahoe of course
2. Mormon Station State Historic Park
3. Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center
4. Nevada Discovery Museum
5. Wild Island Family Adventure Park
6. Great Basin Adventure
7. Arboretum at Rancho San Rafael Park
8. Sierra Safari Zoo
9. Nevada State Fair
10. National Automobile Museum
11. The Balloon Races
12. The Air Races
13. The Best in the West Nuggett Rib Cookoff
14. Bartley Ranch Park
15. Bowers Mansion Museum
16. Chollar Mine
17. Comstock Firefighters Museum
18. Glendale School House
19. Great Basin Adventure
20. Golfing and lots of it
21. Mills Park Railroad
22. Nevada State Railroad Museum
23. Radio Museum of Virginia City
24.Sparks Heritage Museum
25. Steamboat Villa Hotsprings Spa
26. Stewart Indian School Museum
27. Virginia and Trukee Railroad
28. Jazz Festival
29. Blues Festival
30. Art in the Park
31. Chamber Music Festival
32. Skiing
33. Camping
34 Reno Rodeo
35. Street Vibrations
36. Hot August Nights

If I haven't given you enough of a list of all the great things there are to do here then well I will be back with list number 2.

Don't be Afraid

My dad forewarded an article to me today from Elder Dallen H.Oaks entitled " Fundamental Premises of our Faith." This was a talk he gave at Harvard law school. After reading this I realized how often I don't share the gospel with my non member friends and family. I discovered where some of my weaknesses are in being able to share the gospel. For those who read this who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I encourage you to read this so you can better understand what it is we believe.
http://http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/fundamental-premises-of-our-faith-talk-given-by-elder-dallin-h-oaks-at-harvard-law-school

Blessed

I have truely been blessed over the last couple of days. I have a true testimony that my father in heaven loves me and knows who I am and what I need. First off I have had difficulties getting my car tagged. Thankfully it looks like the last obstical has been overcome. Second, I have been looking for a job for the last couple of months. I have applied for four and found out today I got one of them. Its a job I know Heavenly Father blessed me with. Again because he knew what I needed at this point in my life. I feel truely humbled right now and very greatful for all the blessings I have been given.
My goal with this job is that once we purchase a bike for me and once it warms up I will be able to ride a bike to work. This may shock some of you but yes me not driving to work and its all my idea :)

New Year

With the Christmas season approaching and my desire to decorate I finally was able to get all the way unpacked and to get our house decorated. I know some of you are wanting to see what our house looks like. Sadly the only pictures I have at the moment are from Christmas but I wanted to share because I loved how it all turned out. We had a wonderful Christmas. Johns parents were able to close on their house and made it up here in time to share the holiday with us. It was nice to have some family here especially since I have been pretty homesick. We had a wonderful Christmas.

The holiday was dampered with the passing of my grandpa. He died December 7th and I was able to attend his funeral and see my family which was nice. I was also able to go see the lights on Temple square with my cousins. I love christmas lights and being able to spend time with cousins I rarely get to see was a great joy. Especially my cousin Amy who I had not seen in three years. Through this grieving process I have learned that things are just things and that the most important things we can get from our loved ones is the memories and to spend time with them. Its sad to see what greed can to do people.

In other news Im in the hunt for a job. Hoping just for part time but will take full time. As my husband put it I need to get out of the house and go places other than the gym and the store, so we will see what happens. Also John started back to school this week. Hes taking two online classes so between that and work he should be pretty busy. I have begun my craft projects which keep me busy and entertained. I am also finding that getting married and changing your name brings on a lot more headaches than I think I like, and John can tell you its testing my patience..Something I need to work on.