Pics with my dad

These are just a few of the pics. we took before my dad had to go home. We had a great time with my dad being here. At least we have the memories.

Me, Dad, and Paul

Newest pic of just me and my dad

Dad and Paul

Papa Joe saying goodbye to baby Jack

Baby Jack
Can't believe how big he is getting

Halle and Papa Joe

One of Sarah's many faces :)

Johnson Family

Aunt Kelci and Halle

Just the boys

Dad and us Girls

Can't wait for your next visit Dad!

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year, was very eventful. My family has had many changes this year, so I was unsure of how everything would turn out. I knew no matter what we would have a great Christmas and would be able to enjoy our time together with family and that everything would be great. I guess I was just a little unsure of what to expect. We had so many things happen that I wasn't sure what traditions we were keeping and what new things would come up. I love my family and I love the traditions we have. This year was very different, with my parents divorce and my mom moving, and having family in town. The whole month of December has just been very chaotic.
I'm not quite sure if we came up with new traditions but we had a great season. My brothers, sister, and I all went to the Allred Christmas party and were able to celebrate the season with them. It was nice to be able to get together with family we havn't seen forever. We all went out to eat, then went to Heber for the Christmas Talent Show/Program my family puts on. The kids all sing, read stories, or come up with a way to show their own talents, then they all dress up and grandpa reads the Christmas story and the kids are the nativity, then grandpa also has another Christmas story to top the night off. Its lots of fun and was great to see everyone.
Grandma Elms flew out early in the month to spend the holiday with us. It was fun having her here. Hopefully one day she'll have a normal trip out here. She was here when my mom had to move and she was a big help in that. My Aunt and Uncle and Cousins from Cali also took time to come here before Christmas. We were also able to get together with Pauls side and make our gingerbread houses. They were fun, but I get very impatient with it by the end. Paul ends up finishing it for us.
With my mom having to move and her house not being done we were unsure of where we would all be for Christmas. It ended up being spent at my sisters. It was a great day.
The thing to top off my Christmas was my dad came out here for a week to spend Christmas with us, thanks to my amazing step mom Stacy. This is the first Christmas he has been here and the last time we had Christmas with him, I was a JR. in highschool. He just left this morning. It was hard. I hate goodbyes, but i'm so glad he was here. That was an amazing gift Stacy. Thanks a lot.
With all my stress and worries Christmas wasn't too different at all. We spent most of Christmas Eve with my family, then went over to the live nativity in south jordan and drove around Pauls neighborhood to see the luminears. It was weird to see that most of the stake don't do it anymore, but Pauls home ward had them all out. It was pretty cool to see. We spent the night at his parents this year, so we wouldnt have to do more driving than necessary. We also were invited to my brother-in-laws family Christmas party on Christmas Eve. He has one of the best families I have ever met. His grandma went all out and did a nice dinner then we did a gift exchange with a game. It was way fun. Thanks for the invite Jage. We had Christmas breakfast with his family and exchanged gifts. Then we headed to my sisters and did gifts there then had a huge Christmas dinner. IT was a relaxing afternoon then we played games that night. It wasn't very unusual but it was way fun. I love my family and am grateful to have them in my life. I'm also lucky to have Paul and I couldn't ask for a better husband. I hope you all have a great New Years.

Family Pics 2009

Christmas Traditions

Traditions are a big part of this time of year. I'm curious to know what some of your favorite traditions are. People have many traditions through out the year. I know we do, but my favorite ones are the Christmas and holiday season ones.
Paul and I each grew up with a lot that we want to continue with our kids. We also have been trying to add new traditions to our small family for when we have our own family.
Some of my favorites are getting together with one side of our family and going out to eat then heading up to Heber to our grandparents for the Christmas story, gift exchange, and more visiting with our family. We also get together at my moms on Christmas Eve and do a sibling exchange. Then we go over and do the same thing at Pauls. Usually on Christmas we do the traveling right now and go to one side for breakfast and gifts, this usually ends up being the family we spent Thanksgiving with. Then we go to the other side for Christmas dinner, gifts, and Christmas Day activities.
Paul and I have been trying to figure out some of our own and we found that we both enjoy doing what we've grown up with. We have come up with a few new ideas. Some that we have enjoyed the last couple of years is going to each others family parties and so forth. We also try to stop at each family on Christmas Eve. After we leave his parents we go around his stake to look at the luminiers set up at each home if the weather is actually cooperating. Then we go see a manger that is set up in a field in South Jordan. After that we usually go enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa. We watch a couple Christmas movies together then he wraps my gifts and other gifts last minute, while watching Scrooge, the musical.
I'm excited for the one this weekend. The year we got married his parents bought gingerbread house decorating kits. We usually get together a week or 2 before Christmas with all the brothers and sisters and decorate the houses. Its fun to be around everyone and to see who is creative and what we all come up with. This has continued the last 4 years and I hope it will go on. Its way fun.
K so I started going off on ours. I'm anxious to hear what you do. I love this time of year. I especially love that we get to spend more time with our families. HOpe you all have a good day.

Christmas Child

The Christmas Child

"There is a magic in Christmas. Hearts are opened to a new measure of kindness. Love speaks with increased power. Tensions are eased...

"Of all things of heaven and earth of which we bear testimony, none is so important as our witness that Jesus, the Christmas child, condescended to come to earth from the realms of His Eternal Father, here to work among men as healer and teacher, our Great Exemplar. And further, and most important, He suffered on Calvary's cross as an atoning sacrifice for all mankind.

"At this time of Christmas, this season when gifts are given, let us not forget that God gave His Son, and His Son gave His life, that each of us might have the gift of eternal life" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Son of God," Ensign, Dec 1992, 2).

Santa Claus

The Story of Santa Claus
A Christmas Story

Once upon a time a man called Nicholas lived in Patara, a town in the East. Because he was very fond of children and was kind and generous to them, they came to think of him as their dear friend and their beloved saint. So it was that after a time the wonderful things he did were woven into a beautiful legend. You know that Santa means Saint and Claus stands for Nicholas, and that is how he came to be known as Santa Claus.
In Santa Claus's own town, Patara, lived a great lord who had three daughters. He was very poor, so poor that one day he was on the point of sending his daughters out to beg for food from his neighbors. But it happened that Saint Nicholas not long before had come into a fortune, and as he loved giving to those in need, he no sooner heard of the trouble the poor lord was in than he made up his mind to help him secretly. So he went to the nobleman's house at night, and as the moon shone out from behind a cloud, he saw an open window into which he threw a bag of gold, and with this timely gift the father was able to provide for his eldest daughter so that she could be married. On another night Santa Claus set off with another bag of gold, and threw it in at the window, so the second daughter was provided for. But by this time, the father had grown eager to discover who the mysterious visitor could be, and next night he kept on the lookout. Then for the third time Santa Claus came with a bag of gold upon his back and itched it in at the window. The old lord at once recognized his fellow townsman, and falling on his knees, cried out "Oh! Nicholas, servant of God, why seek to hide yourself?"
Is it not wonderful to think that this was so long ago, sixteen hundred years, yet we still look for the secret coming of Santa Claus with his Christmas gifts? At first he was said to come on his own birthday, which is early in December, but after awhile, as was very natural with Christmas so near, the night of his coming was moved on in the calendar, and now we hang up our stockings to receive his gifts on Christmas Eve. In some countries children still put their shoes by the fireside on his birthday. In others they say it is the Christ-Kindlein or Christ Child who brings the gifts at Christmastime. But it is always a surprise visit, and though it has happened so many hundreds or times, the hanging up of the Christmas stocking is still as great a delight as ever.

Merry Christmas From Heaven

We all have someone we have loved and lost. This post is in memory of our loved ones we have lost. As much as I love this time of year, there have been years where it is harder for me because it seems to me that most people I have loved and lost in my life has been around Christmas time. I've had a grandmother who passed on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago and a grandfather a few years before two days after Christmas, But come on, who really wants to be bummed and grieve during the holiday season? When I think about my loved ones I like to celebrate who they were to me and think of good things and their life, not just their death. I've also been thinking about and missing my brother who passed away a few years ago lately and found this Christmas poem that really helped me the year he died. I felt like I should share it.

Merry Christmas From Heaven

I still hear the songs
I still see the lights
I still feel your love
on cold wintery nights

I still share your hopes
and all of your cares
I'll even remind you
to please say your prayers

I just want to tell you
you still make me proud
You stand head and shoulders
above all the crowd

Keep trying each moment
to stay in His grace
I came here before you
to help set your place

You don't have to be
perfect all of the time
He forgives you the slip
If you continue the climb

To my family and friends
please be thankful today
I'm still close beside you
In a new special way

I love you all dearly
now don't shed a tear
Cause I'm spending my
Christmas with Jesus this year

Copyright 1990 (can't read name)

I really hope you all have a great holiday season! Merry Christmas!
Love the Gardiners

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

This year has totally flown by! I love the holiday season. It's been an amazing couple of weeks. Busy too, no surprise there. We had a great Thanksgiving, being able to see family and celebrate the holiday. Luckily, both Paul and I had a long weekend. One of our traditions is to get our tree up Thanksgiving weekend. We put some time aside Saturday night to set up our tree and decorations. Little did we know what a big ordeal it would be. We got a new TV last year and it takes up some of our Christmas tree space, and because Paul wouldn't let the branches touch our stand or TV in fear of them scratching it we had to totally rearrange our living room. For those that have seen our apartment and the weird space we have to work with, you know what little we can do. We finally came up with something, and I actually like it. My next obstacle was now I'm going to have to redecorate and since my old entertainment center is in our 2Nd room I had no shelving. I had no idea what to do with most of my decorations. Luckily we came up with a great way to display most of our stuff. I'm happy with the way it turned out. Besides the holiday season there isn't too much going on with us. Sometimes I feel like we need some type of change. Its all good though.
I aced my medical terminology final. I am so excited. Now on to Human Anatomy and Physiology. That's been kinda boring. I'm stressed about my test this week, but I think it can go well. I just have to be optimistic. Paul has a big paper due this week and is also preparing for finals. I'm kind of jealous. I don't get a Christmas break with school. I have to go through. Its only closed on Christmas. Luckily I do most of mine at the beginning of the week.
Paul and I had the opportunity to get together with some friends that we havn't seen in forever over this last weekend. We did a holiday Dinner and played games and just had a great time catching up. We were spoiled. They actually cooked for us. They did a wonderful job.
Other than that, we are looking forward to Christmas. Its such a special time of year. This year will be interesting. Totally fun. My grandma is coming this week and staying through Christmas. Its always fun to spend time with her. My dad is actually coming out for the holiday. He has never been out this way for the holidays. The last time I spent Christmas there was in High School. It will be so much fun. I love the spirit of the season. I love the smells of the season. I love everything about Christmas. I hope that as we celebrate it we will all remember the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.
Love you all.

Welcome Baby Jackson

Jackson Joshua Johnson
11/20/09

Halle and Jackson

I love being an aunt. I love that when Jackson is awake he is very alert. He's also cuddly. I love that.

Welcome to the family Baby Jackson. We love you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a great day! I sure did. This is the time of year to take a chance and really reflect on what you are grateful for and what you have in life. People may take advantage of or really not recognize that even the smallest things that might be huge to somebody else. I have a huge list of what i'm grateful for and I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the biggest things and maybe just even a few fun things.

I want to start out by saying how much I love and appreciate my family, especially my husband. I am so lucky to have found Paul. I'm also very thankful for his family and for what great people they are. They set an amazing example. I love being able to spend time with them. I'm happy that i'm one who really can't complain about her mother-in-law. I've heard scary stuff about mother in laws and i've also seen people with crazy in laws. I'm happy to say that I have wonderful in laws. I'm also thankful for my mom and for what she does for our family. She too, is a great example and has a lot of strength for everything she has been through. I'm so glad to know that FAMILIES ARE FOREVER. I'm also grateful for my extended family where ever they may be. Paul and I really love and appreciate you and your love for us.

I'm also thankful for my religion and for being brought up in it. I'm glad to know what I know. I'm thankful for the Lord and for being able to have our own relationship with him. I'm thankful for the blessings of the priesthood and for temples and missionary work. I'm grateful to have a living prophet here on this earth and for the many before him.

I'm thankful for all the people who have been brought into my life for whatever reason. I'm thankful for the friendships I have built. I'm thankful for the love that Paul and I share. I'm glad that we both have jobs in this economy. I'm glad that we have the opportunity to go to school and to get an education. I'm glad to be able to celebrate this holiday season. I am thankful for many other things and can probably go on and on, but it will sound like i'm rambling. I think i'm at that point anyways. Thank you for being a part of our lives. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and that you will enjoy the rest of the holiday season, cuz guess what? It's time to get the Christmas stuff out now. Have fun and stay in touch. We love you all!

Pregnant Turkey

Pregnant Turkey

*This is priceless - would love to do this.*

One year at Thanksgiving, my mom went to my
sister's house for the traditional feast. Knowing
how gullible my sister is, my mom decided to
play a trick. She told my sister that she needed
something from the store.

When my sister left, my mom took the turkey out of
the oven, removed the stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen,
and inserted it into the turkey, and re-stuffed the
turkey. She then placed the bird(s) back in the oven.

When it was time for dinner, my sister pulled the
turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the
stuffing. When her serving spoon hit something,
she reached in and pulled out the little bird.

With a look of total shock on her face, my mother
exclaimed, "Patricia, you've cooked a pregnant
bird!" At the reality of this horrifying news,
my sister started to cry.

It took the family two hours to convince her that
turkeys lay eggs!

Yep..................SHE'S BLONDE!

Happy Thanksgiving!

How to Stay Young

HOW TO STAY YOUNG:

1.Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!

Worry about nothing, pray about everything!!!

Gratitude

Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. We should regularly express our gratitude to God for the blessings He gives us and to others for the kind acts they do for us.

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING at PLYMOUTH

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Brownscombe

"Our harvest being gotten in , our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice togehter."

Edward Winslow

In early autumn of 1621, the 53 surviving Pilgrims celebrated their successful harvest, as was the English custom. During this time, "many of the Indians coming... amongst the rest their great king Massasoit, with some ninety men."

That 1621 celebration is remembered as the "First Thanksgiving in Plymouth." For more about the "First Thanksgiving," click HERE.

Detail from Brownscombe's First Thanksgiving at Plymouth

The Pilgrims did not call this harvest festival a "Thanksgiving," although they did give thanks to God. To them, a Day of Thanksgiving was purely religious. The first recorded religious Day of Thanksgiving was held in 1623 in response to a providential rainfall.

---

LATER SIGNIFICANCE OF THANKSGIVING

"The Pilgrim Fathers incorporated ay early thanksgiving day among [their] moral influences... it blessed and beautified he homes it reached."

Sarah Josepha Hale, 1865

"Thanksgiving is celebrated at the expense of Native Peoples who had to give up their lands and culture for America to become what it is today."

Linda Coombs, Aquinnah Wampanoag, 1997

The religious day of thanksgiving and the harvest festival evolved into a single event: a yearly Thanksgiving, proclaimed by individual governors for a Thursday in November. The custom of an annual Thanksgiving celebrating abundance and family spread across America.

Some presidents proclaimed Thanksgivings, others did not. Abraham Lincoln began the tradition of an annual national Thanksgiving in 1863.

Thanksgiving is an enduring symbol from which millions of immigrants have learned "Americanism." While not all Native Peoples celebrate the day, the story of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag sharing a harvest celebration remains an inspiration to many.

The Turkey, the Parrot, and the In laws

I'm so excited for this time of year. I love the holiday season! I've come to notice in everyone preparing for Christmas and the season, Thanksgiving tends to get passed over. You go from Halloween decorations in the store to Christmas. What about Thanksgiving? This is the time of year where we should look at what we have and be thankful. I decided for the month of November, I'll try to focus on Thanksgiving. I have found a few people who do a weekly post of something they are grateful for for the week. Its nice to read those. I don't want to do the regular post i've done on everything i'm grateful for, but I do want to tell you I am thankful for everything I have in my life. There is a lot that I find that I may take advantage of, but I'm glad to have it or not have it, whatever it may be. This month I'm going to post some cute Thanksgiving poems, stories, and jokes I find. My father-in-law called the other day and told us to have some type of joke or short story for Thanksgiving Dinner. I think he plans on everyone sharing what they found. This has caused me to look online for some things and I've come across some great stuff. I found this cute little joke that I might use, and thought i'd post it today. Enjoy. I hope everyone has a great November and great Thanksgiving.

The Turkey, the Parrot and the In-laws

Martha had a parrot called Brutus, the only problem was that Brutus cussed something awful. Now Martha was having her in-laws over for Thanksgiving, and so she needed to train Brutus quickly not to swear.

Just before her Mother-in-law was due Brutus cussed terribly, so Martha but him in the freezer for 2 minutes to literally cool off. Then she opened the door and took out the parrot along with the turkey.

'And have you learned your lesson about cussing?' Martha asked the parrot.

Brutus the parrot took one look at the dead turkey and said: 'I sure have. But I have one I have a question, "What did the turkey do?" '

Happy November

I can't believe it's already November! This year has really flown by. I hope everyone had a good Halloween. I actually enjoyed it this year. Decorating before really did help me to look forward to it. I usually do as far as it kicks off the holiday season, but other than that, I never really got into it. I preferred to be home watching scary movies. We had good company and way fun games. We also watched movies but I actually fell asleep during it. Thats not a big surprise. I hope everyone has a good November. I am especially looking forward to the holidays. HAPPY NOVEMBER!

Pumpkins!!

One of the things I love about the holiday season are traditions. One of my favorites for Halloween is that my family and I get together at my mom's house to carve pumpkins. This year I decided to put together a collage of us. The first one shows each of us hard at work on our pumpkins. My mom decided to get a little creative and started adding feathers and sequins to hers. It actually turned out to be pretty cute.
These are a few of the good pumpkins that turned out. Pau's is a scarecrow or something. JJ and Halle made a cute little monster. Hunter's pumpkin is a freaky face. Wish I got better details on that one.

Hunter hard at work. He actually made two when I didn't even complete mine.
Halle only wanted to work for a few minutes. She lost interest and wanted to
go play with grandma's toys.
Now these are my kind of pumpkins. I tend to lose patience and didn't want to take time to carve pumpkins. I love doing it I just lose interest very easily. So I decided to make glitter pumpkins. The good thing is these will also last during fall. I saw this on Good Things Utah at the beginning of the month. I'm not crafty, but these looked easy enough to do. I love how they turned out and am excited to not only use them for Halloween but I can use them through Fall and now have Thanksgiving decorations.

Halloween Decorations

This is my 3rd attempt on this post. Let's see if I can finally get it right. :)

Next to Christmas, Halloween is Paul's favorite holiday. This year I decided to take him shopping and let him pick out our decorations. The only say I wanted was what we did with our balcony since I came up with what I think is a fun idea. These are pictures of how our apartment has turned out and there will be more to come once we are done.

We decided to use the blood and bloody hand prints on our bedroom window.

For the balcony we got web and spiders to weave through. We also bought some ghosts and a bat to hang. It looks pretty awesome when the light is on.

Our living room has ghosts looking out on you. Its kinda creepy cuz if you are in the apt. they are also looking in on you. Cool though.

We also have monsters hanging out in our 2nd bedroom. As you come up the stairs to our apt. and feel something looking at you... thats whats waiting.

The thing that has gotten me most is that we have a watchman or something that is 6 ft tall and its right next to our door. As you come in its right there. It has creeped me out a few times.

We also have something (obviously I have no idea what it is) that reminds me of Moth Man Prophesies that we have hanging over our couch right now. Its fun too.

I'm not really much of a Halloween person. I never really got into it, but I love the activities and parties that go on in October. I also like Halloween because it is the start to a holiday season. I have to admit though that getting into decorating has been fun and is making me look more forward to Halloween. I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Spring Pictures

I know they are a few months late, but these are some of the pictures that Paul and I had done back in May.

Happy Fall

I love this time of year and living in Utah. As much as I hate winter, i'm glad to live here where we have all the seasons and can enjoy watching it change to fall. It is so beautiful here with the mountains and the trees changing colors. It makes me excited for the holidays, not matter how much I don't like the cold. I can still appreciate it though. I never really got too much into Halloween but it just happens to be Paul's favorite. One thing I do love about it almost being time for Halloween is that it means the holidays are right around the corner. I also love football season. As weird as this sounds I also like the smell of fall. Its hard to describe but its totally there. I guess with the holiday season coming up i've been thinking more about what im grateful for and just appreciating more in life. I do try to have a positive attitude (even with my last post being complaints). I also love that fact that we have most of our family here in Utah. It will be hard when we go out of state for school and stuff but I know it will be worth it. One thing I've been thinking about today is how grateful I am to have the time on the weekends to spend with my husband. Our schedules are so chaotic right now that I really appreciate every second I have with him. Today was a good day for us and I'm glad to have spent a day where I wasn't stressed, could take time to relax, and to just be with Paul. We were able to get up and go to the temple this morning. I love the feeling of peace that you feel there and hopefully can carry with you through the rest of the day. We also went and got Halloween decorations and are looking forward to take time to decorate our apartment in the next few days. Tonight we were able to spend time with the Gardiner side of the family. Its Paul's sisters birthday and we had dinner and watched a movie over there. It was fun being able to spend time with them. They are so much fun to be around. It's also my nieces birthday in a couple of days so we did a party for her last night. I guess its just a weekend full of birthdays. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY AND HALLE! We love you guys. Happy Fall!

Complaint Department

WARNING: Homework Day = Bad Day

I have so many thoughts going through my head right now that its very overwhelming. I thought maybe if I put them into a post I will feel better just to have them out of my head.
I have been a little overwhelmed with the whole school and working full time thing. Its not so bad its just a lot of busy work and I feel like I don't ever have time. So today, I decided to take a day off from work and dedicate this day all to homework. The course i'm in right now has been the busiest for me. Not only does it include the courseware (even that is set up differently), I have my text and have exercises at the end of each chapter. Each unit had at least 8 chapters in it. I only have a month to finish the course which pretty much evens out for me to do a unit a week. Each courseware chapter has 9 or more lessons in each chapter/unit. The text is a step by step version for my course. Its easy enough just busy work. Then of course I have my labs and unit test once a week. I guess i'm just not that use to it, since its been a few years. I feel like I shouldn't complain about it, but I just get overwhelmed so easy and that doesn't really help. Anyways I woke up early this morning and started my school work. By 2:00 I still wasn't nearly close to finishing. Since I haven't done anything but school work I decided to get ready for the day and take a much needed break. I had a few earrands to do and took off for that. It was nice to have a break, but now my next complaint comes in...
I hate stupid people. Today has just not been my day. I go to the store and there is construction everywhere! It doesn't matter what main road you take, the construction is horrible!
So I get to Jordan Landing and go into one of my favorite stores that I just happen to have a gift card to. I was so frustrated with everything that I guess I wasn't in the mood to shop. I just couldn't find anything. Oh well, At least I'll have credit when I find something there later on. I go pay my card at Target and the guy that was helping me had no idea what he was doing. He tried three times to use my card and make a payment and just didn't get it. He finally called a supervisor who did it the first try. I was annoyed but not complaining. The supervisor was very nice and gave me some apology money. I now have store credit there. She apologized and said it shouldn't have taken as long. I was happy about that. It was nice. I also went to a store to buy new scrubs. I got there and there were three kids ranging from 5-9 talking and fighting non stop. Then they started playing leap frog in the middle of the store. Their mom did absolutely nothing about it. I can understand when the kids are little but you should at least acknowledge it and try to solve the issue. The mother did absoulutely nothing. And to make it worse she was looking in the same area I was so they were all close together in a tight area. UGHHH!! My last errand included taking ibuprofen to Paul at work. He had dentist work done today. Not that good of a day either. I decided to be nice and take him some dinner too. I got to the drive through of Del Taco and nobody was taking my order. I got very upset and just drove up to the window since a line was forming behind me. They also screwed up the order. At that point I was just trying to take everything in stride. I feel like if I wrote it down that I would feel better. I kinda do. I think to relax and calm I'll give myself a time to stop homework for the night and to take a nice hot bubble bath and read a great book. Thats sounds way nice right now. I guess all I can say is that I hope tomorrow is a better day. At least it will be a new start.

Sweet Moments

This past little while has been a little hard for me. Paul and I have been married for 4 1/2 years and we still have the same schedule, where our schedules are completely opposite. It gets hard a lot of the time. Especially since i've gone back to school. It seems like the only time I get with him is Saturdays and even with that our lives are busy. Anyways I knew it would be like that for a while and I think i've done pretty good without complaining. I just want to say though how much I love Paul and I'm lucky to have a thoughtful guy. He is still romantic even when I tease him thats he's lost his romantic side. It definitley becomes different when you are married.
Last night we had a plan to where Paul would pick up dinner and I would stay up for him when he got off work. He called to tell me he had something to finish up and that he would be home soon. What was supposed to be not a huge thing turned out to take longer. He called me about an hour later and apologized then said he was running later and didn't know when he would be home. He didn't want me to wait up for him so he came up with the idea to tuck me in over the phone. I honestly can't remember a night (except for when I went on a girl's vacation) that he wasn't there to tuck me in. Anyways it was really sweet. We said our prayer together over the phone then sat and talked for a few min. It was pretty much what we do everynight without the cuddling. I like that best, but at least he was there with me when I went to bed. Sounds cheesy but I totally loved it. Thanks for a good idea Paul. Love you.

Thanksgiving Point

Mom, Halle, and I

Dance Hall at Thanksgiving Point
Joe, Mom, and Halle

This goat came and jumped up to mom as soon as we stopped to look at all goats. It was way cute and even had freckles. It was a favorite for everyone.

Halle didn't really like the horse. She decided to ride but was the first one on. She made it as far as them loading all the kids on horses. She was very cute, but scared to death.

The sheep was more her style.

I loved the baby goat

This made me want a goat. I still do!

I was very surprised at how soft the llama is.

Mom and Halle trying out their Halloween costumes :)

This is pretty much what I do when I don't work Fridays and when I'm off early. I am lucky enough to be able to go spend some time with my niece. One Friday my mom and I decided to go to Thanksgiving Point. We took Halle to the petting zoo. My little bro Joe decided to come too. It was such a fun day. We fed most of the animals. The goat was my favorite. I think my mom's too. I would love to get one someday. My brother loved the llama. It was funny cuz everywhere we went the llama would follow him around. I had fun just being with Halle. She is too fun. We also shopped around and had a nice lunch. It was nice to be able to do something and not be rushed. Just thought i'd post some pics of our day. Hope everyone had a good September!