Things to remember....

Things I want to remember when I have kids....

- Breakfast and Books. I want to give my kids the gift of reading. The gift of escaping into mystery novels, and love stories. I want them to have adventures in Narnia, and especially The Book of Mormon. Something I would love to do is in the mornings with breakfast, let my kids bring a book to the table and read while they eat.

- Letting my kids make their own decisions. When times come that my children can decide for themselves to do something or not, I hope they choose the right. I however, want them to do it because they WANT to do it. I don't want to force my kids into doing the right, I want them to WANT it. I guess there are exceptions to this rule, but all in all I think that if I have a gospel-centered home, my children will understand the difference between good and bad.

- Family Home Evening, Scripture Study and Family Prayer - I didn't grow up with these things. I want my kids to have them. I want my kids to look forward to Family Home Evening and time with their scriptures. I understand it's not easy, but I want it to be essential.

- Treat my kids like people. Kids are people too. They have bad days, they get grumpy. I want to remember that, even though I am their parent, that they are spirit children of God, and they have struggles too.

- I don't want the TV to raise my children. This includes, video games, iPads and phones. I know I will use them from time to time to pacify them, and to help them learn things. But I don't want my kids to rely on electronics for happiness. When my kids grow up and they are teenagers, I want to have a rule of no phones or TV at dinner. (First I have to break myself of that habit. I can't eat dinner without watching TV.) I want to TALK to my kids, and learn who they are.

My number one goal in life is to become like Christ. My number two goal in life is to get married in the temple. My number three goal in life is to have children (born in the covenant) and be a MOTHER to them.

I think those are pretty good life-goals.

MY PERSONAL BEST.

I've had a lot on my mind lately. When I work at the lawyers office, I put in my headphones and listen to the Mormon Channel. It's a radio station with a bunch of different programs that you can listen to and hear, uplifting music, inspirational stories, and conversations with General Authorities. It is a REALLY good station, and very inspiring.

Something that I realized while listening is that, although the stories are inspirational and amazing, they make me sad. Mainly because, I don't feel like I'm good enough. Which is stupid, and doesn't make sense. I listen to them and I think, "If that were me, would I feel the same way?"

There was this one story with a girl named Megan. When she was young she was out hiking with her friend in St. George. She was jumping from boulder to boulder and suddenly, she went to jump and she fell, 30 feet, off a cliff. She broke both of her legs and arms, and her neck. Leaving her paralyzed from the chest down. This girl was SO HAPPY. She was positive. Despite all of the trials that came along with her "last jump" she insisted that she would do it again. She wouldn't want her life to be any-other-way.

How. On. Earth.

During her interview she recounted a dream she had while she was in the hospital. She dreamt that she was dressed in white, and sitting at a picnic table with a man. She was signing papers, and the man was telling her about how she would be paralyzed, unable to walk. She was readily agreeing with him and signing away on all the papers. Insisting that SHE could handle it, and that SHE would do all she could to bring her brothers and sisters back with her.

Now let me get to my point. My point is, first; I am not her. I am not anyone but myself, and my trials are different from other people's trials. Second, this makes me wonder what types of papers I signed. What I agreed to do before I got here, and what I knew before this time here on earth.

I can tell you what I do know. I know that my life is not mine, but it's not the same as anyone else. I know that before I came to earth, I chose to follow Christ. I fought in the war in heaven, so that I could have my right to choose. I understood the fullness of the plan, and with time and learning I can understand it again. Heavenly Father has a plan for me. A great and marvelous plan, that has it's highs and lows. God is indeed great, and if I do MY PERSONAL BEST, and leave the rest to him, he will ensure my return to live again with him.

i-Phone Update Numero Tres

 I can't even. I just. I die. Every-single-time. This is hilarious.

 Don't mind my super scary face here. This is just Janaye and I, on New Years Eve. We went to this crazy dance party in some guys garage. There were probably 200 + people there. It was awesome, and weird all at the same time. There were a lot of people I knew there, and it was like a high school reunion. Which really freaks me out for some reason.

 This is horrible but priceless.

 My Mom had to go in for some major surgery recently and I took this picture before they wheeled her back. She is healing and doing much better now. Hopefully by the time I leave on my mission she will be in tip-top shape. I love her with all I've got and just want her recovery to be super fast, but patience is a virtue, so eventually she will start to feel 100%.

 Janaye sent this picture to me. I knew there was a reason why we are best friends. I laugh every time I see this. So cute, so funny.

 I took this picture the other day from a blog I was reading. I thought it was super funny but the people I sent it to didn't respond. I still think it's funny. hahaha furring all deh pants at ones. hahaha

Oh and who could forget, my little guy Carter started preschool! Hello old!? He is getting so big, and so smart. He is the cutest kid ever, and he loves school which is good. Hopefully he can carry his excitement about it through-out life. He got to use glue, and scissors! He was extra excited about that. 

Office Space

 I have two jobs, and my morning job (my favorite job) is at a law office. I work as a file clerk. There is a storage room in the office that was in pretty bad shape. So, with my great enthusiasm I took on the project. I really wish I would have taken a before picture. But this is the view from the door. On the left side is a wall full of binders and on the right side is a wall full of paper. Just picture everything on the shelves on the floor, and you have the before picture. I'm really proud of my organization skills.

 Sometimes at the lawyers office things get crazy. This is my desk in the middle of audits. The desk next to it is full of all of the files that still need to be audited. UPDATE: I rearranged my desk, so that the computer tower is on the floor now. There is much more room to spread out my papers now. It's glorious. It's sad to think that I won't be at this job for very much longer. I really like this job and hope that when I get back, I can find something like it.

 The other day at work, a client came in and gave us these mango jelly packets. She brought them in because she loves us, and because it was Chinese New Year. They were super delicious and I would recommend them to anyone. They taste like jello, but have little pieces of mango. YUH-MMM. Every day I thank God for good people who bring great treats. Because those people, are my favorite people.

i-Phone Update Numero Dos

 One time, I filled my shoes with baking soda and salt to see if I could get them to not smell so bad. It's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I have super sweaty feet, which doesn't smell like roses. It worked for a while, but then they just went back to normal. I guess you have to be consistent with it. It just takes a lot of time!

 When we went to see Santa Claus, little Ryan was not having it. He really didn't like Santa, as you can see from the above picture. Poor little guy.

 I decorated my room for Christmas. The flags are always there, but the tree and lights were an added thing for Christmas. After the holidays though, I couldn't take down the twinkle lights. They are cute, but their only downside is, you can't sleep with them on. YOU WILL BAKE LIKE YOU ARE IN AN OVEN. AGAIN. DO NOT SLEEP BY CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! Okay, just a public warning. Because one night, I left them on and I woke up in the middle of the night dripping in sweat. Gross.

 Sometimes, I go to sushi with these guys. They are really funny and totally awesome. I love them.

 Our sushi table. Other times, I go to sushi with just Blair and Rachel and we laugh about random things, and talk about how we hate to throw up. Then Blair makes gagging sounds to try and get me to puke. Which almost works, but then I hold it in.

Back in December I was teaching my family history class to a bunch of chairs. They weren't very responsive and never asked any questions, which is pretty much the same thing as teaching to people. (I really wasn't teaching to the chairs. I just didn't have anyone show up for class, for three weeks in a row.)

Spanish Lessons

 Remember that time when I got called on a mission for my church and I needed to learn spanish? Yeah, this was that time. Luckily, my best friend Blair went to the New York, New York NORTH mission, and spoke spanish. So the other night, we had a little spanish lesson.

 I'm pretty much completely lost. But I'm sure that I will get the hang of it eventually. I'm pretty hard on myself, so I'm sure I'm not THAT bad. I guess the only person who can judge that is someone who actually speaks spanish.

The only thing I can really say in spanish is, Soy una misionera. Which translated means, I am a missionary. Cool huh? One day I'll be able to have full conversations in spanish, and it will be awesome. Until that time, I will learn as much as I can.