'NUFF SAID.....

VISITING TEACHING HANDOUTS & CATCHING UP

So, I'm kind of bad at visiting teaching. I have the CUTEST ladies (including the Relief Society president) so I've been trying to be better. The other problem is my companion works nights. I work days. Our schedules aren't super compatible! Last night my companion and I were actually able to coordinate schedules and we went on a "drive by" visit as she affectionately called it. Usually I just take the Bubs with me. He is, after all, the best companion of all! My visiting teaching consists of dropping by the house, chatting for a minute (because these ladies are seriously cute. Plus we've had some of their kids in our primary class, so we love to see the kids too!) and dropping a goody off. I thought I would start posting what I do on a monthly basis for my ladies. Of course, I only have two, so it might not be feasible for some. Then again, I usually make extras for my mom's ladies, so maybe it is! This month I found some calendars via Skip to my Lou. You had to like her on Facebook and then you can download them. Or, if you don't want to download them or aren't on Facebook, let me know and I can email them you. They were stinkin' cute! I punched some holes in them, tied ribbon on the top and then threw some magnets on the back so they could hang them up or stick them on the fridge.Then I put together some fortune cookies (with some dipped and sprinkled) and attached the following: "We hope this year brings you nothing but good fortune." Quick,easy and cute! Next month I'm thinking cake pops or something with Rice Krispy treats. Not sure yet! I also stole the following from work.Okay, I didn't steal them. My boss happily gave them too me. He thought I was crazy because in his words? They were REALLY ugly! Of course they're ugly....I'm not keeping them for the pictures! I want the frames!

I have a friend who's brother was turning 50. She asked if I had any good ideas for a cheap but fun gift for his party. I came up with the following:I didn't have time to get vinyl for the bowl and the stupid stickers kept falling off. But, I stuck some glue dots on and called it good. Both she and her brother loved it! Yeah!

In October I got the Bubs tickets to see the Foo Fighters for his birthday. Cage The Elephant opened for them and then the Foo Fighters played for almost three hours. It was one of the LONGEST concerts I've ever been too. They did an amazing job! I didn't know a ton of their stuff, but all in all it was a good night!
For the Bubs Christmas work party they decided to have an ugly sweater contest. The Bubs found his at the Salvation Army and ended up getting it for free. Score! After being much loved by the Bubs and some other friends, it was returned home to the Salvation Army so next year someone else could love it.
Finally (sorry! I completely forgot about most of these pictures until I was looking through the pictures the other day) we have some pictures of our trip to Moab. The Bubs decided to run his first ultra-marathon in October. We decided to make a little trip out of it and stayed in Richfield the first night and then headed to Moab for a couple of nights before heading to Goblin Valley State Park for the race. On the way down to St. George is a little place called Cove Fort. Ira Hinckley was asked to establish the fort as a stage coach stop between St. George and Salt Lake. It's still completely standing and everything in it is pretty much authentic. If you're ever down in the area, stop by for a tour. It's pretty dang cool!

Phew! That was A LOT of catch up! I need to stay more on top of things! Hope everyone has a great night and wonderful weekend!

LIFE LESSON'S - #2

You are not what happened to you in the past. – No matter how chaotic the past has been, the future is a clean, fresh, wide open slate. You are not your past habits. You are not your past failures. You are not how others have at one time treated you. You are only who you think you are right now in this moment. You are only what you do right now in this moment.

Life is interesting. Think back to when you were a kid and what you wanted to be when you grew up. Did you ever think of where you wanted to be and what you wanted to accomplish by the age you are now? Of course, when you're a kid, anything over twenty seemed to be pretty dang old. Now, raise of hands, who has accomplished everything they set out to? I don't think many of us have. I know I haven't. In fact, I'm FAR from where I thought I would be at the ripe ol' age of 31. Of course, there's still time. Well, unless you're one of the one's that thinks the world will come to an end in December. And then, well, I guess it sucks to be you! Anyway, moving on, I have a lot of things I'd like to accomplish this year. Some might call them goals, others aspirations. Me? I'd like to call them completed or in progress. For instance, I REALLY would love to go back to school. I'm one of the one's that had a past school "failure." I dropped out when it came time to really decide on a major. I thought I would take a little time off, nanny for a while and see what was out there and what interested me. Then of course I would go back, finish school, make tons of money and live the dream life. Um, yeah. Actually, I can't really complain too much. Due to the nanny thing, I met my best friend and love of my life. I've also had so many adventures with this great man I KNOW I wouldn't have had otherwise. So,what's holding me back now? I STILL don't know what I want to be when I grow up! I told the Bubs if I was going to go back, I want to do something I LIKE. Why waste the money otherwise? I know what I'm good at, but that doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with what I like. Of course, what I like doesn't really go hand in hand with money. Sigh. But, finishing school is something that would give me a huge sense of accomplishment. So, here's to finding myself in the here and now! ;)

LIFE LESSON'S - #1

While browsing the Internet, I found a post about life lesson's. Since it's January and a new beginning, I thought it appropriate to post them a day at a time. I also thought, as it's my blog, I would post how I feel about them and how they affect me. It's a little more personal information than I would normally post. But hey, c'est la vie!As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back.

#1) The end is a new beginning. – Say to yourself: “Dear Past, thank you for all the life lessons you have taught me. Dear Future, I am ready now!” Because a great beginning always occurs at the point you thought would be the end of everything.

How many times has that happened to you? You're at the point where you can't possibly go any further without completely breaking. You know something has got to give. You're just worried it might be you! Then, the clouds part just a little bit and you get a small glimpse of what could be. And you realize whatever is it you are dealing with at the time is worth it. And not only will you get through it, you will be a better person for it in the end. Of course, it's easier said then done. You just have to hold on long enough to get that future you want and let go of the past you don't need. I felt this way about my parents divorce. It was long. And bitter. I longed for the day when it would finally be over and we could put it all behind us (yes, I was naive). Of course, we are still working towards that point (and in a small way probably always will). Yes, it's gotten easier over time and we've had time to re-group and re-evaluate. But, I don't know if it will ever be completely behind us. It's different now and we actually are better people for it. We've learned how to stand on our own, sibling wise, without needing our parents. We've learned how to be the parents as sometimes that's what I feel I am with my mom. We've learned to appreciate each other as siblings, our spouses, our friends and our extended families. We've also learned what we want out of our own marriages and how to achieve it. But, a little piece of me still longs for what was and having that happy, whole family together again. Especially during the holidays. However, that will never happen and I'm learning to let go of the past and look towards the future. After all, that's what we are here to do, right? Especially this time of year?

NEW YEAR.....NEW WORD!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, we don't do resolutions around here for the New Year. In fact, if anyone is friends with the Bubs on Facebook, you probably saw his HUGE rant about it! If not, he posted the following: "Can't wait to hear every ones planned failures for 2012... aka new year resolutions. Face it, you won't follow through, just like every other year. I'm gonna lose weight, be nicer, save more money, bla bla bla. When all is said and done, you'll be on your butt on the couch watching tv, eating Domino's wondering how you got so fat and broke. You're welcome!"

Um, yeah. He can be SUCH a little ray of sunshine sometimes! Love him anyway! But, moving on, we do dedicate a word that will be used and worked on throughout the year. I actually had a word all picked out. And then I talked with the Bubs about it. I wanted to do individual words and then a word for us as a couple. After some thought, he came up with a word that was all encompassing. So, for 2012, our word is:It's perfect! It's something we an work on individually and together. I'm pretty excited for this year. We didn't have a horrible year last year. It was actually pretty great. Yes, we had some problems, but we were also able to accomplish some goals. But, for some reason I just feel this year is going to be a great one! So kids, can we do it?What about you? If you had to pick one word for the year, what would it be?