Things I love vs. Things I hate

Things I love:

I loved having Dad come visit! He came about two weeks ago for work. We went to dinner a couple of times (which I also love) and we went to a show for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. It was a live radio show, kind of like a Prarie Home Companion. It was actually pretty funny. We had a ton of fun and love when Dad comes to visit! We're hoping he'll come out during the summer to do some backpacking up Lamoille Canyon and also that we can go do some rafting trips with him.

I also love JC Penney. Every time I go to JC Penny there are cute clothes and the total is always cheaper than I expect. It baffles me because I'm pretty good at math, yet I always overestimate. Luckily, there is one in Elko!

I love playing the claw game. You know, the one where you use the little metal claw to try to pick up a stuffed animal. Love might be the wrong word...addicted fits a little better. I play almost every time I go grocery shopping. And, I won last time! There's nothing like the rush of winning...

I love not going to Salt Lake so often. Now don't get me wrong, I love the end result of going to Salt Lake (visiting with family/friends), but the travel can kill you. No matter how fun your weekend is, when you start traveling too often it just feels like you lost your weekend. We went at least once a month last year, sometimes more! We're down to going every month and a half for now and we are a lot less stressed out. And if any one misses us (hint, hint), you should come visit!

You know, I had a whole post in my head of things I love vs. things I hate, but I had so much fun going on about the things I love that I can't remember the things I hate! Go figure.

Close call

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile, but we have been sick! Cam especially. They sent him home from work he was so sick! Now for my close call. I was in class the other day (there's only four of us), and one of the students mentioned that she couldn't believe we had to get our substitute license before we turned in our application for student teaching. (It's $155 to get a substitute's license). I was just sitting there thinking, "We have to apply for student teaching! Why didn't any one tell me this!?!?!?!?!?!" Luckily, the due date is Feb. 15, so I didn't miss it, but that 's cutting it pretty close! I was pretty frustrated that my advisor had forgotten to inform me of this matter. I guess alls well that ends well.

Truck

I almost forgot to post a picture of our truck. Cameron decided to have a six inch lift kit put on it. He loves it, but it sure is hard to get into. But it does look pretty sweet!

Goals

I really liked Todd's post on goals, so I decided to use the website he recommended to make some of my own. Nothing too big. I'd like to update my blog more, practice organ more, and cook dinner more. I'll probably add doing my homework once school starts. Like I said, nothing big, but it's a place to start.

As for news, I have received a new calling. I was released as Relief Society pianist and called as Relief Society teacher. Fairly ironic, especially if you read my reply to this post. I'm pretty nervous. And, I'm about half the age of everyone in there! I thought we were taught to respect our elders. They don't want to learn from a young whippersnapper like me!

We also had to take Cody in for another vet visit. That dog is starting to cost us a lot of money! He got a burr stuck in his ear. He's doing a lot better now, but he scratched his neck so much that tore his neck up. That's taking longer to heal than his ear!

Nothing too big going on here, but I just wanted to check in.

Cody and Cam

Cam and Cody playing together. Cody loves this! It looks like he's angry, but he's having the time of his life!

Christmas

Well, I haven't posted for awhile because we took a week long trip to Salt Lake. We had a great Christmas break visiting with family and friends. Cameron's brother came home from his mission, so that was very exciting. Also, we received some great presents. Cam got some movies, books, and belt buckles, a nice watch, and a miter saw. I got Final Fantasy XII, a memory card for my camera, some books and movies, and a Bosch mixer. I was so excited that I made some bread right when I got home. Having a Bosch makes it so much easier to make bread! We had a great Christmas and hope every one else did too!

Finals

I'm almost done with finals! They've been pretty darn stressful. So far I have to grades back and I did pretty well, but not as well as I would have liked. I'm definitely ready for a break from school though! That's our only interesting news for now!

Blessings

I had an experiences I wanted to share. It requires a tiny bit of setup first though.

A while back, Tammy introduced me to the book The Five Love Languages. Basically what I pulled from that book is that every one is an individual and if you really want to make a relationship work you need to figure out how the other person feels love. Well, one way that I really feel love is when a person takes care of little details for me. It makes me feel like they know me to the very last detail of myself.

Yesterday, I was not feeling to great. I'd been having trouble sleeping and I think I was getting a sinus infection. It was Sunday though, and I had to play in Relief Society and sacrament meeting. Relief Society is first and during the whole lesson I just really wanted to go home and sleep. I knew that I could make it through and play for sacrament, but I really didn't want to. So, at the end I finally got the courage to ask Sister Alger if she would cover for me in sacrament. Nothing special needed to happen for her to cover for me. I could have just loaned her my hymn book and everything would have been fine. But, she had brought her organ shoes and her hymn book and had thought to herself that morning, "I don't really need these. Why am I bringing them?" Like I said, that was not necessary, but it sure did help me feel like less of an idiot.

So, to bring it all together, that experience really helped me to feel like the Lord knows me as an individual. He knows my "love languages" and has been willing to show me individual love more than once this year. That experience didn't need to go that way, but it was just one small detail the Lord took care of to show that He loves little old me even if I am not perfect. And, if he loves me individually he most certainly loves all of you individually. Sometimes you just have to be able to recognize those experiences. And I guess it's not about blessings or lessons He can teach you, but just about Him showing that He loves you.

*Disclaimer: I am not a great writer at the best of times, but most especially not a great writer when I am talking about something emotional. So, I hope you get the point of my ramblings.

Testing

Testing, testing... Just checking to see if I can get my blog to work.

Kathryn

I had to do an assignment using Microsoft Photostory, and I have to say it's an awesome program! It's free to download and easy to use. You can even use it to burn a copy of the photostory onto DVD, so you can watch it anywhere. This video is mostly for Shane and Sarah. They just had so many pictures on their blog! If anyone else likes it and wants to send some pictures I will make one for them or just download photostory and make your own. Shane and Sarah if you like it I can email you a copy, even an editable copy. And yes, I know the song says Delilah, but I just like it so much.

Cody

Cody's OK! We got him back two days ago and he's doing great. He sure bounced back pretty fast!

Halloween

We got our one trick-or-treater this year, and we even advertised:



Also, here's the pumpkin Cam and I carved together. I scoop it out, and Cam carves it:



And my favorite part. Pumpkin seeds!

Cody

My puppy has parvo. The vet says his chances are pretty good, but this is a pretty serious virus. Also, it's not too likely that Kayla will get it. I'm very worried though, because this virus can be deadly and the black and tan breeds are more susceptible. I'll let you guys know as soon as we have any updates.

cody in a blanket

This is one of Cody's favorite games.

Dad

I still need to tell everyone about Dad's visit. It was awesome! We were all working, so we didn't do anything "vacationee", but it's nice to just interact on a daily basis sometimes. We went to dinner a couple times and I actually cooked a couple times! We talked a lot about (what else) politics and we even just hung out and watched TV together. One night we drove up Lamoille Canyon, which is always beautiful. It was all around just a lot of fun.

On another note, yesterday I was driving to work and I saw someone hit an eagle! It just kind of rolled off the windshield, so it was fine. It was in the middle of town too. It was just the weirdest thing I've ever seen!

Roof

Here's some pictures of my roof and one I just thought was cool that I took while I was on the roof.

Praxis

I passed the Praxis!!! YEAH!!! The praxis is a pre-professional assessment test for teachers. I thought I did horrible on the writing section, but I passed.

Also, we have to re-shingle our roof. It's not complicated, but it's tedious work. I have even helped out, which is pretty amazing, because I hate heights. HATE. I'll post some pictures soon!

I ROCK!!!

I rock. Yes, that's what I said. I rock! We had to give a mini-mini lesson in class today just using a "hook" and purpose. Basically, you get the students interested and the state an objective. Normally you would continue and teach a lesson, but we were just doing the basics. Well, I was the only one where every one was so hooked that they actually asked me to explain! My lesson was on buttons. What's interesting about buttons, you ask? Well, on men's shirts buttons are on the right and on women's shirts they are on the left. That's because when buttons first came out only the gentry could afford them. The gentlemen would dress themselves, but the ladies would have others dress them. Pretty neat, huh?

I also rock because I get Dad for almost a whole week! He's coming out to Elko to do some work at the Indian Health Clinic out here and he's staying with us. I'm pretty darn excited.

ERAGON TRAILER

I can't decide whether I'm excited or not.

Teaching

I'm not sure how many people know, but I decided to go back to school and get my teaching certificate. I've been busy! My job has been very flexible and worked with my school schedule, but that still means I'm working about 40 hours a week and taking 19 credits. Add organ lessons and actually spending some time with my husband and there's not a whole lot of time left over. That's about my only exciting news right now!