Composed of Sunshine and Thunderstorms

Productive, or something.

2011-01-14T12:53:00.001-08:00

I don't totally want to leave this blog yet. It makes me a little sad.

So I'll update it. :)

We got tons of snow, I love it! And by tons I mean...about...6 inches. Its melting slowly, and the wind blew it all around so some spots are totally bare and others have piles up to my waist. What?

I've been cleaning for the past two or three days. Just one room too. It may sound pretty pathetic, but I assure you, it isn't. I've totally gone through everything in my room, thrown tons away, and have a bunch to take to Goodwill or something. Its looking so much better!

I'm also attacking laundry today. I hate laundry. But it needs to be done and I might as well do it while I'm on a roll, instead of waiting till laziness hits again, which will be soon, I'm sure.

And thats it for now. Back to cleaning. :)

P.s.

2011-01-02T00:21:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog. I'll gradually be switching to that one, so if you read this and like it...follow the other one too!

Here is a link!

Follow!

Betrothed, yo.

2011-01-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging! I need to get better at this. I'll make that a New Years resolution...even though I never do those. Oh well, its official! My New Years resolution is to blog more! And we're kicking it off NOW!

Kay, so the biggest news in my life right now is that I'm engaged! To Drey, obviously. It's pretty exciting, but I'm already getting way too stressed out about the plans. Fail, right? I'll work on it.

Here are some pictures.

Ka pow! Kay. That is all for now. I'll post again tomorrow, hows that for exciting news?

WOO!

I may be a little excited...

2010-11-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter!

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRY POTTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

*explodes*

Bean and Bot

2010-11-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Need cute hats for you or your kiddos? Look no further!

My friends opened up this Etsy shop, selling super awesome crocheted hats. Buy one! Buy two! Buy ten!

Want or Need? Both.

2010-11-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

Oh my heck. I was partying it up on Etsy, and found this shop.

I want just about all the prints they have. The ones of hot air balloons, the ones of cameras, the ones of animals, the ones of fairytales. All of them. I'm for sure getting the hot air balloon ones. There is a thing where you can buy three and get one free. There are four hot air balloon pictures. In my head, that means it is meant to be.

Seriously, go look. Am I the only one who finds these completely amazing?

Marriage.

2010-11-08T11:33:00.001-08:00

So many of my friends have been getting married. Within the past two months, I've been to four weddings. And there was another one a few months earlier. It's so insane!!!

I don't have much else to say other than that. But I'm putting up pictures of some of the newlyweds in my life. Hopefully they don't mind. :)

I took the first two, then I snagged the third from here. Drey snapped the last one while I was standing up there too, as a bridesmaid. Hopefully more pictures from that wedding to come!

I wish them all the best of luck in life! I hope they love being married, and never stop!

My awesome day off.

2010-11-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

Blog blog blog. This is me blogging.

Like it?

No but really, I got the day off yesterday and it was SO FUN. So I'm going to blog about it. Because I can.

I went to Dreys house early-ish, and for some odd reason, I decided that his bathrooms dirtiness level had gotten too high and we needed to fix it right there and then. So I forced that poor sleepy Drey to clean his bathroom, with me helping of course. We blasted Muse, and cleaned. It looks SO GOOD NOW!

Then after all that icky hard work, we decided we wanted breakfast. So off we went. To a place that has breakfast food. All the time. Those are the best places, I think.

I got french toast. Drey got a mix of everything. Also, I drank chocolate milk. SO good.

We talked, laughed, and ate tasty food.

We were walking out to his car, and Drey spotted a pet store. He asked if I wanted to go look around. Of COURSE I want to look around! We went in, and it was so sweet! They had tropical fish and parrots just out in the open, willing to be pet and held. They had puppies and kitties, rabbits and turtles. Oh man it was a blast. And let me just say, there was a puppy I for sure fell in love with. He was a cockapoo and so so cute. But I suppose there are more important things I need my money for right now, right? Yeah...maybe.

We stopped at a grocery store to get some snacks, then went back to Dreys, and decided to watch a movie. We started watching Angels and Demons, cause Dreys never seen it and its good! He got pretty into it. Then we got talking to his roommate, who loves Asian food. He got me wanting to go to Asian stores in search of a popsicle I used to get in Korea all the time. So Drey and I hopped into the car and took off in search of melon popsicles. We didn't find any, but it was fun to wander and look at all the stuff in the market. Then we got a banana split at Dairy Queen, and went back to Dreys, and finished the movie.

Such a good day!

Drey and his new bff. He fell in love with this happy bird. Its an Umbrella Cockatoo, apparently. Who knew? Haha, also, its $1400. Yeeeah no.

Explosions.

2010-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like if you don't create something, or exert some creative somethings from your brain, you will explode?

I feel like that right now.

Stay tuned. I am off to find something creative to do.

Utah

2010-10-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

I'm in Provo! I have been for about two weeks or something now. It's crazy. It's been fun, it's pretty awesome to have the mountains right smack dab in the back of the house.

We went to a Halloween party, we've gone to a dinosaur museum, a Halloween/pumpkin/fall festival. I've seen old friends, one that I hadn't seen since sixth grade, who is now married with a baby. I've gotten to know Drey's sister a bit better. I went to a friends wedding reception, and this Friday I have another friends wedding to go to, in which I'm a bridesmaid. It's been a full trip!

Drey comes out on Thursday, then is helping us drive home. I can't wait to see him! It'll be a blast. I miss him or something.

I hope every one who reads this is doing well!

Skyping, Sandwhiches, and Singing

2010-10-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

So right now, I'm skyping with Drey, and he's making a sandwich and singing at the top of his lungs in my empty house (we're in Utah, and he's taking care of Penny).

What a funny boy I've found.

Drey, in search of things to add to his sandwich. Here I think he was talking about pickles. Or maybe it was mustard. Ignore my awful face.

Costume Birthday Party in Pictures

2010-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

They are in reverse order, but it doesn't really matter. In attendance we had a vampire, a princess, a newsie, a southern belle, the fish from the Cat in the Hat, two Things, a flapper, a mime, a medieval beauty, a frat boy, a Julie, and a stripper fireman.

Concerning the Boyfriend...

2010-09-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

People keep asking me about everything to do with him, and how it all happened. It's kind of a long-ish weird complicated story, so I figured I'd type it out and then when someone asks, I can just link them to this! Hello magic!

Kay. Back when I moved here, they were doing dance classes. I went to one and met a super hyper ridiculous guy who talked a lot. His name was Drey. He was dressed really nice, talked like he was gay, and I found out later, he listens to Lady Gaga, which is fine...but when put together with the other things, made me wonder...

We danced and talked and he was perfectly pleasant.

He became my friend, but a super irritating friend that I could only handle in small doses. I usually tended to go over to his house for about thirty minutes at a time.

I'll admit, I was always a little mean to him. I teased him about being so feminine and dressing so nice. But you would have too, I know it. We talked about the different guys I liked, and Drey would always shoot them down and give me reasons why it would never work out. It was frustrating.

Everyone always told me that he liked me. I always chose to ignore them. I heard it ALL THE TIME.

He came to my ward one time. On a Sunday when I was having a bad day. After church I was irritated with who knows what, and poor Drey came up and was lucky enough to say something that upset me just enough for an explosion. All on him. All I remember from it was that I told him he irritated me. He backed off, I left church, went home, fuming at life.

After that, we didn't talk for a while. I didn't notice at first. Then, after about a week, I realized there had been no Facebook chat windows popping up with an excited 'HEATHER!!!' or 'Hi!!!' or whatever else he felt like starting the conversation with. I felt a little bad.

Then a group of my friends and I were going out to eat together. One of the friends organizing it invited Drey. He said he'd go, but told her about how we had a falling out. She texted asking if she had screwed up by inviting him, and I said no, knowing full well I needed to apologize to the poor guy. I'm so mean.

We got to the restaurant, and Drey pulled up in his little silver car that he likes to drive too fast. He got out, and looked super sad and almost scared of me. I felt HORRIBLE. I hugged him and told him how sorry I was for flipping out, and how he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then we all went in to eat, and for the whole night he didn't act hyper. Not even once. Again, I felt awful. He was quiet and reserved, which is so VERY unlike him.

We talked a bit more often again. Things went back to normal, except that I noticed he was still always less hyper when we were together.

There was a YSA dance recently. It was a USO Support the Troops dance. I was planning on dressing up super cute with some friends. I told Drey what I was going to wear, and he said he'd dress to match me. I didn't think he was serious. We got to the dance and there he was, totally matching me in colors. He looked good, but I wasn't focused on that. He maaatched me! What a strange guy.

The next day, I was at a friends house watching a movie. Then I went to Dreys house. One thing led to another (Brian Regan anyone?) and we ended up kissing.

And thats kind of the end of my story. Since then we've spent every day possible together, talking and realizing that we get along really well. I went away to New York and missed him way more than I ever thought I would. All the annoying things I used to see in him aren't at all annoying anymore. I don't know what happened. But now they're endearing and quirky and hilarious.

And...thats my story. :) I hope you enjoyed it!

And I'll end with this picture I took of him a few months ago. Cause he's super handsome.

Dreybot.

2010-09-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is Drey.

He usually annoys me to no end...

But now he's not so bad. Oh goodness.

100% or Something

2010-09-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what my thoughts are right now. I'm just grumpy. Good time to blog, yes?

Why does it seem like every time I like a guy, they're super interested, long enough for me to get interested, then they stop. It goes from all flirty and fun to me being flirty and fun and the guy only joining in occasionally, but the rest of the time acting completely indifferent.

I don't get it. All that this does to me is frustrate me and makes me realize how truly wonderful Mitch is. And we went through a seriously crappy year of mostly not being allowed to talk. But when I go on dates or really have anything to do with guys, they do something, or don't do something, and I get frustrated and confused, and the main thing that comes to mind is how that wouldn't have happened with Mitchell. How Mitchell is my best friend, and totally gets me. I don't have to worry about ANYTHING involving my personality or anything to do with who I am, because I know that Mitch loves it all. The fact that I love and laugh at violence in movies, especially involving a ridiculous amount of blood. That I laugh at pretty much everything. The fact that I don't like sports at all.

I sometimes just feel like...I'm so willing to open up and be 100% for people, and it seems like apparently that isn't the normal thing to do. Most other people I meet don't seem to do that. I should stop. But I don't know how.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

So yes. The moral of this story is that I miss the guy in Taiwan. A lot. And I love that he's on a mission but hate that he's away for so long, because I fail at other guys.

Bloggers-block?

2010-09-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

I feel this crazy desire to blog about something amazing...then I try and nothing happens. I think my fingers are broken. Maybe they aren't, but I'll blame them anyway. So, instead, I will leave you with these two ADORABLE pictures.

Thinking Some Thoughts...or Something

2010-09-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

There's something I find amazing. So I'm going to blog about it.

Almost everyone who ever enters our lives, whether in a good or bad way, for a short or long period of time, adds to the person that we become.

If its a dear friend, they help shape and mold the person we are. We pick up things from others just by being around them and sharing experiences.

Someone who makes our life difficult, or adds to a trial, is (probably unknowingly) making us stronger, depending on how we handle it. If we handle it the best we can, from all awful situations, we can become stronger, more experienced people, able to help others going through hard times, and able to deal with more trials that will inevitably come our way.

I don't know if I'm getting the point across the way I wanted, but does that make sense? I hope it does.

Everyone in our life, whether they be a friend or someone who hurts, makes us 'us'. They shape and mold and add to our personality and character. Isn't that an amazing thought? I really love to think about that. It makes all the hard times I've gone through seem a little bit less awful.

Rock on blogosphere. Hope your Labor Day weekend was smashing.

Youtube?

2010-08-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

I posted a video on youtube. I guess its kind of a vlog or something, I don't know.

But whatever it is, I think YOU should go watch it and comment or something. And share it with others. Cause I'm curious about what your answers will be. :)

Here it is!

Dear Life,

2010-08-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

I like you.

Sometimes.

And other times you confuse the heck out of me.

Right now there are so many thoughts swirling in my head and it seems I'm constantly trying to solve the issues that are deciding to appear in my life. Not all are necessarily bad issues. Just...issues. Constant solving. In my head. Too much. Stop. Overload. STOP.

But not really. You don't have to. Because times like this help me appreciate the good calm times more. Opposition my friend, opposition.

Please just...be kind. And sprinkle those calm times throughout, often enough for me to catch up. Deal? Deal.

Love from,

Heather.

*ahem* Sorry for that. As an apology for the odd 'letter' to life...I leave you with an adorable picture.

Hair, Engagements, and Taiwan

2010-08-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I'm alive!!!

I got a haircut. Did I show that already?

*goes and checks*

I didn't! Well, now I have. I got my hair cut. It's a short bob, kind of flapper-esque.

So...about four or five of my friends are either about to get married or married.

It's surrounding me. And its ridiculous. Exciting, but completely ridiculous.

I don't know what else has gone on lately. Mitchell is in Taiwan, and absolutely loving it there. He says everyone is super polite, which is lovely.

And...thats it I think. Rock on blogland.

Amadeus meets Moulin Rouge

2010-07-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

There is a stage musical in France, called

Mozart l'Opéra Rock

I am completely in love with the songs I've heard. Obviously I haven't seen it, cause, well...I live in America. Not France. But still. You can youtube the songs and watch music videos that they filmed of some of the songs, for promotional reasons, and they're marvelous. All in french, but still, amazing.

This one is my favorite. I can't get over it.

It's a musical about Mozarts life. In this video, Mozart is the one with the girl, and Salieri, Mozarts rival, is the one singing. He's basically jealous of Mozarts skill, and jealous of all people in love, he says. Poor guy.

But yes, watch it if you'd like. The other two I really like are here and here.

Enjoy!

The Missionary

2010-07-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

I miss this guy dangit.

Penny

2010-07-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

I just realized I haven't said much, if anything, about Penny!

She is the puppy we just got! She's a pitbull mastiff mix...maybe. We really aren't sure. But she's adorable, and getting to be more and more well behaved every day. Every day, she's also getting bigger and bigger. That part is crazy to me.

Here are some pictures, from the first day we got her and so on, till yesterday. :)

The little ladies have arrived!

2010-06-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Lily Spring Allen

Autumn Rose Allen

They are two precious little bundles of ADORABLE, and I love them already.

Patience.

2010-06-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm really very pleased with this, so I figured I'd put it here. It's my talk for church, on patience.

This past wednesday at institute, we went over two of President Uchtdorfs talks from this past conference, one of them being his talk titled 'Continue in Patience'. I enjoyed it so much, during class I underlined all that stood out to me, then, when I went home that night I looked over it again before going to bed. The next afternoon I read it again, underlining and absorbing more of his words.

Then that evening, I got a phone call from a Tucson number I didn't know. I was in the middle of feeding the boys dinner, and for a split second I thought about just letting it go unanswered. But I didn't. I answered, curious to see who it was, and as we all know, curiosity killed the cat.

It was Brother Drake. And as soon as I found out it was him, I knew why he was calling. And the topic? Patience. And more specifically, patience when waiting for blessings. A topic designed especially for me? Probably.

So, needless to say, I'm going to be taking a lot from President Uchtdorfs talk on patience.

First, isn't it wonderful to be able to KNOW that blessings will undoubtedly come? To have the privilege, and really, the blessing in and of itself, to know that we aren't enduring all these hardships for nothing. If we are living righteously, and doing what we know the Lord has asked of us, everything will be okay. Blessings will come.

When we do something nice for someone, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, we don't call them everyday afterward, asking when they're going to do something nice in return. So why should we live obediently, then become impatient when we do not receive immediate blessings from our Heavenly Father? We know we will be blessed, but who are we to demand when?

Alright. What is patience? Why do we need it? In his talk, President Uchtdorf says that "Patience-the ability to put our desires on hold for a time-is a precious and rare virtue." he also says "...without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect." I'm going to repeat that. "...without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect."

Since a huge reason we're here on Earth is to be tested, to do our best to obey and please God, and to eventually become like Him, a perfected being, patience seems to be of some importance. Without it we cannot become perfect. We cannot please God.

Think about that for a minute.

Patience. A seemingly small, almost frustrating virtue. One that I'm sure many of us can remember being upset with at one time or another. That little virtue is really not so little at all, and it is so necessary in our lives that without it, we're stuck.

When I was little, my mom taught me a song from some old tv show or something, about patience. She used to get me to sing it all the time. My grandparents thought it was cute. I have a very vivid memory of singing it for my grandma loudly in a restaurant, but anyway.

The words to the song are:

Have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry.
If you get impatient, you only start to worry.
Remember, remember, God is patient too,
and think of all the times when others had to wait for you.

Even though this is just a small childrens song from years ago, it teaches something so important. Have patience. Slow down. If we rush things, we'll only worry ourselves, and miss out on so much. God is patient with us, so we can and should be patient with ourselves, with timing, with others.

Neal A. Maxwell said: Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less”

If we want to become like God, we must learn to master the virtue of patience.

Going back to President Uchtdorfs talk, he says this: "Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can-working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

When living each day, enduring trials and experiencing life here on earth, we must do it with the right mindset. We cannot trudge through it, constantly noticing the bad, noticing the negative things that seem to happen all around us, and even to us. Though that seems easy, and maybe in some strange way satisfying, how does that benefit anyone? We certainly don't grow from grumbling. We make it easier for ourselves to sink lower and lower, becoming more bitter and negative with each unpleasant experience that tries us. Waiting out those times is not good enough. Like President Uchtdorf said, patience is not simply enduring. It is enduring WELL.

President Hunter once said:

“While waiting for promised blessings, one should not mark time, for to fail to move forward is to some degree a retrogression. Be anxiously engaged in good causes, including your own development. The personal pursuit of hobbies or crafts, the seeking of knowledge and wisdom, particularly of the things of God, and the development and honing of skills are all things that could productively occupy one’s time.”

We must look around us and find joy. We must notice the tender mercies the Lord has put all around us, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. We must busy ourselves with good activities, to help us grow. When waiting for something, what better way to pass the time than bettering ourselves, spiritually, emotionally, or even physically?

If we are enduring, we might as well endure well, make the best of our situation, and keep our faith growing strong, knowing that when the Lord sees fit to give us blessings, He will. He knows what is best for us. We always hear people talk about our time versus the Lords time, and how we have to trust in Him, and know that His timing, ultimately will result in the joy and happiness we are so desperate to find.

Neal A Maxwell also says: "Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe—rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance”

Heavenly Fathers plan is a marvelous thing, something that we can just barely begin to grasp. We should try to sit back and take in its intricate, yet simplistic beauty, and rejoice in the fact that it truly is the Plan of Happiness, created for us, and that we never have to be alone, and that we are surrounded by opportunities to grow, and to better ourselves, and become more like Christ.

Here is a story from President Uchtdorf:

I remember when I was preparing to be trained as a fighter pilot. We spent a great deal of our preliminary military training in physical exercise. I’m still not exactly sure why endless running was considered such an essential preparatory part of becoming a pilot. Nevertheless, we ran and we ran and we ran some more.
As I was running I began to notice something that, frankly, troubled me. Time and again I was being passed by men who smoked, drank, and did all manner of things that were contrary to the gospel and, in particular, to the Word of Wisdom.
I remember thinking, “Wait a minute! Aren’t I supposed to be able to run and not be weary?” But I was weary, and I was overtaken by people who were definitely not following the Word of Wisdom. I confess, it troubled me at the time. I asked myself, was the promise true or was it not?
The answer didn’t come immediately. But eventually I learned that God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways. Years later I could see clear evidence of the temporal blessings that come to those who obey the Word of Wisdom—in addition to the spiritual blessings that come immediately from obedience to any of God’s laws. Looking back, I know for sure that the promises of the Lord, if perhaps not always swift, are always certain.
Just like President Uchtdorf, we may see times when it seems like we aren't benefiting from what we've been asked to do by the Lord. It may seem like the commandments we're struggling to understand just limit us and make our lives more difficult. It may even seem like others around us are benefiting from NOT obeying the commandments. But we know Heavenly Father loves us, and knows everything. Heavenly Father isn't going to ask us to do something that doesn't help us. Whether that help comes immediately, or in the future, it will come. Heavenly Father isn't going to have us do something that hurts us rather than strengthens us, He wants us to be happy. Truly happy. And He is the one who knows how we can achieve that true happiness. We must view things with an eternal perspective, with steadfast faith in the Lord, and know that everything WILL be okay.

Times get hard. What are we supposed to do when we feel we can't take much more? We must remember that the trials in our life will not last forever. Alma 13:28 says:

We must remember that we will not be tested with anything we truly aren't able to handle, and we must remember that we never need to be alone. Heavenly Father is always there, just waiting for us to ask for help, just as it says in Luke 11:9.

There's a story in the Bible, about a father who asked Jesus Christ to heal his son. I'm going to read from Mark 9:23-24

This story isn't really specifically about patience, or having patience while waiting for blessings, but I think it can be tied into our lives anytime we are struggling. If we are struggling to have patience, as long as we do our part, and try our very hardest to be patient and live the way we know we should, the Lord will make up the difference. In anything. He won't do it for us, but He won't leave us alone either. All He asks is that we try.

I know that if we are patient, and have faith that the Lord knows much better than we do, we will receive blessings from the Lord when the time is right. We will find so much joy and satisfaction in knowing we were patient, and I know that we will experience that much more, and grow that much stronger after going through that waiting and enduring. I am so grateful for this Gospel. For a Heavenly Father who knows each of us personally, who knows what we need and when we need it. A Heavenly Father who is there for us, ready, and willing to help us, as soon as we ask it of Him.

Jeffrey R. Holland said:

"Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help, and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come till heaven. But for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God, and believe in good things to come."

I know that everything we go through here on this earth CAN and WILL be worth it in the end, as long as we follow the example of our loving, perfect older brother. He knows exactly what we're going through. EVERYTHING will be good and just in the end.

Patience is a Virtue

2010-06-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be speaking in church this Sunday. I think I'll post my talk here, because so far its seeming pretty decent. :)

But, for me, writing the talk isn't the hard part. It's giving it, and not speaking too fast or saying 'um' too much. We'll see how it goes.

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.

2010-05-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was dead set on not talking to that guy unless he started it. And he did! I was quite stoked. Even if it was him asking if I had ever eaten beets. I said just pickled, bought at the store ones. He said he had some from his garden that he wanted to share, and asked if he could come over to make them and have us taste, and duh, I said yes.

He came over, with beets and games, and got to work making them. Boiling and adding stuff on top and all sorts of things. In between times, he and I played with the boys. Harrison is still shy and unsure of him, so he just kind of had me hold him the whole time, while watching Austin and Warren playing from a safe distance. Austin loves Warren cause he plays rough with him. There was one point where it got too rough for the sensitive little guy, and he cried, but Warren was quick to scoop him up and kiss whatever was hurt better, and Austin was soon ready to play and wrestle and fight again.

We sat down with the boys and watched youtube videos of old musicals, mostly Singing in the Rain, cause thats Harrisons favorite. While the boys were watching, Warren grabbed my hand and started dancing with me. The boys watched and it was cute, even though I fail at dancing compared to Warren.

Then I went up to talk to Dallas and Riana, and came back down to find both boys sitting with Warren, watching a scene from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It was cute. Then we ate the beets, (all of us but Riana, who was upstairs) talked, and ate more beets. It was random but delicious. Harrison ate the most I think, he LOVED them.

Then the boys went to bed, and Warren and I went upstairs and brutally forced Riana and Dallas to play some games with us. We're so mean. Ha.

And...it all rocked. Ta dah! :D

Making Bread.

2010-05-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Riana, the boys and I, went to the Gila Valley Temple open house. It was amazing. :)

Then, on the way home, I saw that I had a missed call from a Tucson number I didn't know.

I texted it, and asked who it was, and it was a guy from my ward, Warren. He rocks, just so you know.

He asked me if I wanted to come to his house and help bake bread. I was sooo stoked.

He picked me up at six, looking just as cute as always, and we went to his house.

We talked the whole way there, and kept it up the whole time I was there. We talked about our lives. Childhoods, families, happy memories. He asked wonderful questions. When going through the list of places that I have lived, like I always seem to with new people, he asked me to slow down so he could remember them, then he went through each one again, and had me tell him a happy memory, or my favorite thing from that place. And he LISTENED.

We made some AWESOME bread. Then he brought out some freezer jam that he had made, and we ate lots of bread and strawberry jam, while looking at pictures of both me and him.

It was so so fun! He's a fantastic guy. He sings, dances, and bakes. He plays the piano, and is wonderfully religious.

AND he's handsome. :D

Oh man. It rocked.

He also told me that last Sunday was his last in the singles ward! I was shocked and upset to hear this, and apparently you could see it on my face, cause he laughed quite a bit at me for it.

He said he might come back next Sunday, just for sacrament meeting, to sit by me, since I'll be alone, cause my friends are all out of town this weekend. I hope he does!

Ahhh, I'm on a high. I love this.

*sidenote: I love living with Riana. It's like living with an older sister. I can ask her opinion on how I do my hair and what I wear and stuff, it rocks.

Strawberries.

2010-04-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Macaroni and Cheese by the little Mister.

2010-04-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

Austin made lunch! I may have helped a little, but still. He rocked it. :D

The Allens

2010-04-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

These are my favorites from the photoshoot I had with the family I nanny for, and their grandmother and great grandmother.

Just so you know, cause I'm sure you were curious, it's a ton harder to take a good picture of seven people than it is of one or two. Holy geez.

But I think they turned out decent, especially these. :)

Also, if you have a facebook, and are interested, here is my little 'fan' site. You should become a 'fan'. Cause it's nice to have 'fans', is it not?

Have a great day everyone.

After Conference...

2010-04-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

I was walking to my car after Conference today, and I saw this. I was amazed...maybe its not that crazy, but I thought it was. Two different colored flowers, on the same plant. So pretty. :) I didn't have my camera, so these were taken on my phone, so thats why they aren't super clear.

Conference Time

2010-04-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

I've been spiritually fed, have you?

If you're interested, check it out here. It's wonderful.

I am a Woman.

2010-04-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

I probably wont be able to put everything I want to into words, but can I just say that I really like being a woman? I'm just starting out at it, of course, but it is truly such a wonderful thing.

Our bodies have such amazing powers. We are able to (with help, obviously) create life. That, in and of itself, is HUGE. We can create life. Our bodies were made to do that. Specially, by our Heavenly Father. When I think about that, I get such a feeling of self worth.

I am a daughter of God.

I was designed, and created, by God, specially, with love and care.

I was created to be soft, kind, comforting, and gentle.

I was created to be attractive, desirable (to a certain man out there, please not all of them), and 'feisty' at the same time.

Mothering is something that has come natural to me, and I'm not even a mother yet.

I am able to turn on the 'cute' and get what I want, which, may to some of you, sound bad, but I think its a skill, when used right. Guys can't do that. We females can. How awesome is that? Very.

I am more emotional than a man. Therefore, letting the man do his part to be protective solid, and all around manly.

There are more, but I'm getting kind of tired and ready for bed.

But seriously. How awesome is it, that we women were created to be us. To be feminine, loving, and loved.

I didn't like it when I was younger. I longed to be a boy, to do boy things, cause they seemed cooler. They are still cool, of course (sometimes), but seriously? I wouldn't trade what I am, and who I am, for anything. I think all girls should embrace the special being that they are, realizing their true worth, power, and destiny.

I am a woman, and that is something truly divine.

Little sleeper.

2010-03-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

This is a hilarious video of Harrison, super sleepy, trying to eat dinner. Watch it. Love it. Laugh, he's precious.

Little moments.

2010-03-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

Spending time with Austin and Harrison has really been teaching me how special little moments are. They do so many little things that make me so happy. But if I don't pay special attention, those little things are easily forgotten.

One of the first days I was here in Tucson, getting to know the boys, we went outside and played with bubbles. The sun was starting to go down, so everything was golden, and the boys were completely delightful (which is not always the case, haha). Austin jumped and danced and tried to pop all the bubbles, and Harrison ran with the ones that were too high to reach, and squealed 'byeee bubblessss!' through his pacifier.

Today Austin came into my room, and grabbed my glasses. He put them on, and told me that he was not Austin, he was Grandma. Then, for the next twenty or so minutes, he called me 'my dear' instead of the usual 'miss Heather'. If I took my glasses away to tease him, he squinted his eyes and said that he couldn't see anything, and would wander around blindly bumping into things till I put my glasses back on him.

While he was grandma, I dressed him up AS a grandma. It was pretty hysterical.

Every time I come down the stairs, from either waking up or just being alone in my room, Austin shouts 'Miss Heather!!!' And runs to hug me, and then Harrison toddles over behind him and shouts something that sounds kind of like my name, and smiles really big and either wants to show me something, saying 'Yook! Yook!' or holds up his arms to be picked up.

I really love these two little guys, they're teaching me so much. Patience, and finding those little things to appreciate in life.

My day with Austin

2010-03-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

Today Austin and I had some alone time, so he could feel special and have fun on his own.

We played at the playground.

Then we decided to go get some Jamba Juice.

Here we are waiting for our Jambas. He got something with lots of orange, I got Aloha Pineapple. It's my favorite.

He was pretty excited that he got one all to himself.

We enjoyed the sunshine while sipping our fruity cups full of heaven, and Austin told me that it was a beautiful day, then insisted on going back into the Jamba Juice store and telling the workers that "they made a very good orange Jamba Juice." So he did. They thought he was pretty adorable.

And he finished it all.

Hum hum hum...

2010-03-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Today I saw a hummingbird, while walking back to my car from church. The little bird was perched on a tree branch, and he fluttered around, scratched his head with his foot really fast, and changed branches a couple times, but let me get pretty close. (You can't see him too well in the picture, I didn't want to scare him away.) But it was fabulous. It made me so happy, and it was so intriguing to watch. I sat and watched him for almost five minutes. I kind of want him as a pet.

Today!

2010-03-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

The dogs can tell somethings up. They stood there the whole time, watching me pack and get ready.

I'm leaving today! Wish me luck and stuff! Have an awesome day!

Tomorrow, tomorrow.

2010-03-08T22:15:00.001-08:00

I'm moving to Arizona tomorrow. I'm excited and gonna miss it here all at the same time. I sat folding laundry tonight and started crying a bit. I'm such a loser.

It's going to be an awesome experience though, and I'm so so excited. :) I'll keep you all updated, for sure. Wish me luck!

I'm reeeally going to miss this cat. And my dogs. Oh man. Even my fish, my fish! Oh how I'll miss his sparkling personality!

Have you heard of the drink called Naked? Its fantastic, and I love them. Well, I've heard some are icky, but the ones I taste are good. Esepecially the ones called Red Machine, Strawberry Banana, and Mango...madness. Or something like that. Well anyway, on the mango bottle, it says: 'An amazingly exotic, incredibly yummy multitude of mango'. And it makes me laugh every time. Go try them. They are tasty.

Alright, I'm off to sleep. I hope you all are well. :)

I hate coming up with blog titles.

2010-02-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Mitchell got his mission call. Taiwan. Same as the last one that got canceled. I'm proud of him, and excited for him. We haven't really been able to talk lately...its been making me sad, but it'll all be okay. I just miss him and such.

I'm still waiting on insurance difficulties to sort out before I go to Arizona. I'm so so excited. I wish I could just be there already, for goodness sake! Oh well. Soon. :)

Other than that...nothing new really is going on lately. I got my hair cut? Woo. Hahaha. And...thats it. I hope all you that read this are doing well. <3

Comic type thing?

2010-02-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.

This made me laugh. Plus, it's useful.

Parisian Love

2010-02-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

Please watch this. It made me smile, and there's a good chance it will make you smile too. :)

<3

Finally, a real update!

2010-02-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything substantial in a while, so I figured I should get on that.

Nothing much has been up lately. Valentines day week was nuts and stressful and fun all at the same time. I work in a flowershop, so it gets pretty busy. The missionaries volunteered to help out a few hours everyday to give Mike some free help. It actually helped out TONS having them there, they did a lot of little stuff to help give us time to do other things. It rocked, and was way kind of them.

I'm really excited to go out to Arizona, and hope everything works out. It will be such an awesome experience, I'm stoked!

I miss Mitchell, but he should be leaving on his mission soon, and I'm so so proud of him for that. He's been through tons of crap and handled it admirably.

I hope any and all of you who read my blog are doing well. I hope you all had a Happy Valentines day, and are having a good end of winter time! Stay safe. Much love. <3

Today was...

2010-02-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

Ever have a day when you just want to cry to your best friend? Yeah. That was today. And the whole best friend thing? I can't talk to him. It's crap.

*sigh*

I'm a whiner. I'm sorry.

Also, happy Valentines day folks! I hope it's full of love and happiness, roses and chocolate. <3

Smile Worthy.

2010-02-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was kind of...down. I got in SB, to go pick up Ammon from a meeting.

As I was driving, I flipped through the radio stations programmed into the car, and found a song I really like playing. And as soon as I got excited for it, it ended. I was bummed. I flipped to the next station, and guess what? The same exact song I just got let down by was starting on this radio station. I was stoked. It made me smile.

Simple pleasures. Something so small was able to help out my mood.

Rock on radio, rock on. <3

Little Visitor.

2010-02-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

I went to get into my car today and noticed this on the driveway. For some reason it was adorable and magical to me. We had a little bunny visitor last night. He went all the way up to our front door, according to his tracks! How very delightful.

Tucson

2010-01-31T21:41:00.001-08:00

I'm quite bored. So I figured I'd blog again. Cause I've been slacking off lately, heaven forbid.

Soon, I'm moving to Arizona. I'm going to live with the Allen family, a family who used to live in my ward here in Nebraska. They have two little boys, Austin and Harrison, and are expecting twin girls in a few months. Its quite exciting. The husband, Dallas, is very possibly being deployed, and Riana needs help with the boys, because she can't do simple stuff like lift them anymore.

So I'm off to Arizona sometime this month. To be a 'mothers helper'. I'm so excited. :) Lots of new opportunities and things to learn and grow from. And plenty of new pictures to take! It'll rock.

You've Got Mail

2010-01-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

I love this. So much.

"Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one! It got on at 42nd and off at 59th, where, I assume, it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake, as almost all hats are."

Something important...

2010-01-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

Phyll is the BEST.

:3

We...

2009-12-20T22:15:00.000-08:00

Got into a car accident. As seen in the pictures. We are all okay and such though, so its good. Right after we crashed, Elder Stahn didn't get out of the car...and I'm a little sensitive about people bringing that up, I cry easily about it, cause for that minute I thought he was hurt...but other than that, its okay.

The Elders don't have a car anymore. Obviously. But Pama's car, the one that was on top, is okay, just missing the front bumper now.

But yes. We're all alive, and thats what is most important.

Post number 200!!!

2009-12-15T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today was eventful.

Pama and I put Vaseline on the elders car door handles.

Then we went to Walmart to look for sleds.

They didn't have any, so we left and once in the parking lot realized Pamas keys were locked in her car. And she doesnt have another set. Anywhere.

The missionaries came to try to unlock her car.

Mike came to help too.

We waited in the cold for ages. Freezing.

Mike finally succeeded in breaking into her car. Woo!!!

Mike forced Pama to go back into Walmart, and get a spare key made. She did. He paid and told her it was an early Christmas present.

We went to Mcdonalds, ordered food, and went to Staceys to eat it.

We went sledding with Stacey, Elder Campbell and Elder Stahn. It was super fun. I only went once, cause everyone else kept getting hurt...and I'm not stupid. Haha.

Then we went back to Staceys for hot chocolate. Yum.

And then I went home and slept for a few hours by the fire.

Snow! Lots of it!

2009-12-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

We made a slide.

It was fun!

Phylls poor buried car!

The snow drifts got really deep on our deck.

Ammon made a little tunnel cave.

Oh look! Snow!

I climbed a snow drift!

Ice on the side of our house.

...

2009-12-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

*sigh*

Stuff has happened. And it is frustrating.

That is all.

Need You Now...

2009-11-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, so at work, the only radio station Mike will play is 103.1, a country station, cause its one that little old ladies wont be offended by, even though Mike and I both aren't huge country music fans.

But here is a song that has been playing lately, and I love it.

Need You Now, by Lady Antebellum.

I didn't watch the music video, I hope its not inappropriate, it shouldn't be.

Cherry and Apple

2009-11-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Makayla and I were watching Pushing Daisies. This, as it always does, made us want pie. So being the awesome people we are, we jumped into SB and drove to Walmart, bought pie, and sat in SB, ate the pie, and continued to watch Pushing Daisies on my laptop.

It rocked.

So hard.

Oh man.

2009-10-31T00:26:00.000-07:00

Johnny Depp.

So attractive.

That is all.

Do this, and that will happen.

2009-10-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in our missionary coordination meeting, our ward mission leader, Brother Smith, told us something.

Pretty much, if you have a problem in your life that you can't sort or figure out, work harder in your church calling. You will find answers and your problem will fix.

I thought that rocked. Such a straightforward promise. Do this, and that will happen.

It's straightforward, and totally makes sense. Thats how the Gospel is. I'm so lucky to be apart of it.

Sing loud young ones.

2009-10-24T22:54:00.001-07:00

Primary program tomorrow. I'm excited. I hope they sing up!

In other news, Phyll got to talk to Mitch. *sigh* That boy. Ugh that boy.

You might belong in Gryffindor...

2009-10-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

...Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart...

Is it bad that I honestly and truly find joy in being told I belong in Gryffindor from every Sorting Hat quiz on facebook?

Probably.

Maybe not bad, but nerdy for sure.

*sigh* I love Harry Potter.

Toniiight...

2009-10-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

I had a good talk with Corey. It was nice.

We're better at talking in person than through texts. He fails through texts. Corey, if you read this, you fail at talking through texts.

Basically...I don't want to be a best friend unless he's gonna be one back. You know?

*sigh* My life is full of drama lately. It shouldn't be that way.

I'm...gonna go to sleep.

...

2009-10-15T09:38:00.001-07:00

Apparently I'm trying to be involved in every part of Coreys life. I try to be friends with allllll of his friends, so that I can see what he's up to constantly.

All this came from me adding Emma on facebook, to be nice. Like...really. I really just wanted to be nice. Thats it.

And he flipped. He lashed out and told me lots of people think I'm doing this, not just him. Too bad his examples didn't work at all. One friend I talked to once, one is Dan, we used to hang out all the time, but because Corey wanted us all to hang out. I haven't seen Dan in ages though. The next was Makayla, his sister. We're friends, because he used to want us to get along, and we did. The last is Emma. I was just trying to be Christlike. I promise. I wanted to be friendly. He sent the meanest texts I could ever imagine, I've never been treated so badly, ever. And I'm not exaggerating. It was terrible.

All cause I was trying to be nice. And he won't believe me on that.

It was disgusting, and I feel so crappy.

I even called the missionaries and cried. It was embarrassing.

Pray for Corey, he must be super stressed with school and stuff right now, cause it wasn't like him at all. :(

Jeremy Kunz

2009-10-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

My cousin was killed by a drunk driver. Click this for the news article.

Rest in peace Jer.

Halloween Party

2009-10-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

We're having a halloween party at my house this month. It's going to be Disney themed.

One room, our living room, will be based off of the Evil Queen on Snow White. Filled with baskets of apples, and jars and bottles filled with different colored 'potions' (water).

The dining room will be based off of Alice and Wonderlands unbirthday party. We'll decorate it like its a birthday party, have lots of boxes wrapped to look like birthday presents, piled up to the ceiling, all crooked and awesome, a cake, cupcakes maybe, and thats where all the other food will go too.

The basement will be based off the gypsy Court of Miracles, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We're going to hang lots of different colored sheets and material from the ceiling and walls to make it seem more like a tent, we'll have fake nooses coming down from the fireplace, and it should be awesome.

I'm excited. I hope it works out!

List of things I still need to get:

Apples
Boxes
More sheets
Wooden pallets
Rope

Aaand I think thats everything?

Gah, I love halloween. :D

Oh so corny, but oh so fabulous.

2009-10-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

I had the best dream that I have ever had EVER last night. Ever. Everrr.

So I'm going to blog about it. Cause you know how throughout the day, how dreams tend to fade? I don't want that to happen.

So in the dream I was with some friends at my place of work, the Snapdragon. I looked across the street at The Avenue Grill, a restaurant in town (thats not really directly across the street from the Snapdragon in real life, but whatever, this is just a dream) and I see a big group of people coming out of it. And one of them is Mitchell. He and his family started walking down the street, and I ran outside and chased them, but they were getting farther away.

I stopped running and was sad. Then, Mitch turned around, saw me, smiled sadly and waved. Phyll then came out of the Snapdragon and started running after them, caught up to them, talked to Mitch for a few minutes, then came back to where I was standing. And who is behind her following her?

Mitchell.

And my heart stopped. It might have stopped in real life too, I don't know. It just made me so happy, in real life and dream life, to see Mitch. I can hardly explain how I felt. Just...super, super happy.

Then his family went away, without noticing he was gone, haha. I don't know where they went...nor do I care too terribly. It is MY dream, after all. And he came back home with me, except really we went to a church building (?) and pretty much went through the whole 'look who followed me home dad, can he stay?' thing, and they were like O_o 'Hi Mitch...where'd you come from?'

And then the rest of the dream was with Mitch, and it was awesome, and I'm in a fabulous mood, and I miss him, and I'm really just quite ridiculous. Cause, as most if not all of you know, I have NO contact whatsoever with that boy, and it's awful. So any little bit counts. And this rocked.

This is kind of just me ranting. Sorry.

2009-09-29T08:59:00.001-07:00

So, I no longer have a boyfriend. We're back to being best friends, which is working pretty well, but now he's thinking he wants to get back with his ex. It's a stupid decision really...every one I've talked to about it agrees he's going to get hurt, and I hate having to sit by and let it happen. He deserves better. SO much better. And here he is, going for her.

She's also the reason I stopped talking to him for three years. Well, not the whole reason...but a good part of it. I didn't like her for him then, and that hasn't changed now. If anything I like her less. But the poor boy is being swept up in old emotions, and feeling like he needs to try again. Blah.

We'll see what happens though. But this time around I'm determined to be there to comfort him if/when it all goes bad. Thats what best friends are for, and I failed at it last time.

Carbon Leaf

2009-09-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

They rock. Favorite songs:

Life Less Ordinary
What About Everything
This Is My Song!
Raise The Roof
One Prairie Outpost
Let Your Troubles Roll By

Ohhh so good. I love them. Listen to them.

Click here for Let Your Troubles Roll By

Typo gloriousness.

2009-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

I am a loverly Loverfly. And so are YOU.

What I want.

2009-09-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, I want this. The cream one. Look at it! I want it so baaad!

Pictures of us.

2009-09-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures we took to hang up in our house, replacing way old, slightly crappy ones that I took when I didn't know what I was doing at all. Enjoy. :)

A cute story.

2009-09-07T12:36:00.001-07:00

This is Corey back around his freshman year.

Back when Corey was a freshman and I was a senior (actually I think it was the summer after), Corey decided it'd be okay to go out and get drunk. He got hardcore drunk. Alcohol poisoning even, I think he said. He woke up in some random bathroom, soaked and confused.

Our friends at the time, Treygan and Jasper, told me about what had happened, and I got really upset, cause I really thought Corey was smarter than that.

When I talked to him next, I told him how upset I was, and how that was a stupid thing he did, and made him promise to me that he'd never drink again, cause no good comes from it, ever.

He promised me he wouldn't ever drink again, back those three years ago.

And I'm proud to say that to this day, Corey Kenter hasn't had one sip of alcohol, because a.) drinking is stupid, and b.) he promised me he wouldn't.

Isn't that cute? And pretty much all around fantastic? Yes. It is.

This is us at the Arbor Day Tree Adventure a couple days ago. Woo!

Read!

2009-08-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

My brother Ammon got a blog. I suggest you go read it. He's only posted like, twice so far, and I don't know how often he'll post, but the two he's put up are amusing. And ridiculous. But hey, he's fourteen. Its to be expected.

Click here to go to Ammons blog.

A real update.

2009-08-25T23:33:00.001-07:00

Hmm. So I havent blogged for a while. Well...I have...but not like, one actually telling whats gone on lately.

Soo...stuff thats been going on.

Corey's gone away to school. He's only an hour away...but still. Thats like...55 minutes more than I'm used to. I went from seeing him every day to...weekends. With some random stuff in between if I'm lucky. I don't like it. It's weird adjusting to dating him and not seeing him as often all at once.

Also I've been super roller coastery (yep, roller coastery) with my moods lately. One second I'm like 'woo! Corey!!! He's the best!' And the next I'm like 'wow. I miss Mitch.' I don't like this either. I'd like to stick with one please. Which I'm sure it'll settle down once I get used to stuff and stuff...cause you know, that sentence just made lots of sense. >_>

But yeah...life. It's crazy.

I've been doing quite a bit with the missionaries. We have a lady who has set a date for her baptism. Her name is Stacy. I'm really excited for her.

Also, I speak in church this upcoming Sunday. Guess what my topic is on! Corey! Haha, no joke. I'm speaking in church for five to ten minutes on my boyfriend. It'll be fun. And I'll bet you five dollars that the missionaries count how many times I say 'um'. Cause they do that to me. Rude.

And...thats it I suppose. Rock on my friends.

Boyfriend.

2009-08-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Corey got glasses. They're freaking adorable.

Maggie.

2009-08-16T22:55:00.001-07:00

This is Mag. I love her. I'm either giving her to my friend Pama, or keeping her as a mostly outside cat. She's a flame point siamese. My friend Phyll's mom told me this. Thats why she's crosseyed. And as she gets older, her ears, face and tail will get more orange, but the rest will stay this light color. She's about 6-9 months too, according to how orange she is so far. Mag rocks.

Also, this song, right here, is so gosh darn cute. Go listen. Please?

Today...

2009-08-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Today was eventful. I went to the dentist, as seen here.

I helped Corey move into his new apartment in Counsel Bluffs.

Found a cat. Named her Mag. Brought her home. Bathed her. Want to keep her for forever. This picture makes her look big, but she's tiny, and skin and bones.

Aaand...Corey and I are now dating. :)

This is his 'I'm grown' face. But he's not as manly as he sometimes acts. He cried tonight when we were talking and saying bye. The cutie.

Corey Kenter.

2009-08-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is Corey. He was my bff in High School. I was a jerk and kind of stopped talking to him after school. I shouldn't have, but it happened. We've become really close again, and I love it. He's an awesome guy. He's about to leave for college...tomorrow. x_x He'll only be 45 minutes away...but still. He's about 5 minutes away right now. 40 more minutes...icky. He's helped more than he could ever know through all this Mitch stuff, and I will be forever grateful.

You rock, Corey you crazy cat. ;)

P.s. I stole this picture from his myspace. It's one of his senior pictures. He's dang cute. Proof above.

Ben.

2009-08-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

This is Ben. He is my cousin Mikayla's fiance (If you go to my photography blog, you can see their engagement pictures) . I met him this past weekend at our family reunion.

I really like him. Over the course of the reunion, with other family members asking what was up with Mitch, Ben heard most of what is going on with that whole situation. Today he and I were talking online about it, and he really helped. He 'prescribed' some scriptures, let me vent about it all, then gave me his thoughts and opinions, and seeing as he's pretty much the same age as Mitchell, and a boy, I think they were quite spot on. It was so nice. I'm still sad about it all, thats inevitable, but it was comforting to talk to Ben about it all.

I'm happy Mikayla found Ben, and I'm excited for him to join our family. Three cheers for Ben Kimble!

New Pictures!

2009-08-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

On the photography blog. You should go check them out.

Kunz Family Reunion '09!

2009-08-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

We had the reunion at our house this time. We spent a day in Nebraska, did baptisms at the Winter Quarters Temple, then we went to Missouri for a day at the farm then a day of church site seeing. It was so fun, and here are some of the awesome pictures.

This is my cousin Klint, being an otter, or a penguin, depending on who you talk to. And IvyEllen, jumping awesomely too. (I don't think awesomely is a word...hm.)
This is Hannah and Klint. Klint is a funny funny guy.

A bunch of us cousins hanging out on the floating dock.

Homeade ice cream with freshly picked blackberries. So good.

Liberty Jail.

A bunch of us on the mule.

Our family picture.

Grandma and Grandpa and their kids. Well, all but Uncle Bart, who had to leave early.

I <3Photography.

2009-07-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

I have a photography blog. I've had it for a while, but I haven't done much on it till recently. Check it out, comment, and enjoy!

http://hlkunzphotography.blogspot.com/

Word.

2009-07-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

I have good days and bad days. Do you have that too?

I've also noticed that I have issues...

Okay okay, I've always known that. But...when I'm upset, I don't sleep in my bed. I sleep on the couch. Like, whenever Mitch and I aren't allowed to talk, I don't sleep in my bed. I haven't slept in my bed for over a month. I don't know why this is...but its odd.

Stuff going on lately...I'm speaking at Corey's baptism, on the Holy Ghost.

I'm going to Catholic mass this week every morning with my friend Phyll, and in return she's coming to church with me. It'll be fun.

I'm reading Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown. It's good so far.

Aaand...thats it I suppose.

Peace, yo.

Embarrassing.

2009-07-12T15:08:00.001-07:00

You know when you read something, then talk without totally focusing on talking, but still focusing on the reading, and you say a word from the reading instead of what you mean to say?

Yeah well I was just talking to my aunt online. I said "Hiii aunt Brenda!"

...

My aunts name is Denice. But I also have an aunt Brenda.

Fail.

Fail fail fail fail faaaaail.

Im going to go die now.

Goodbye.

Things.

2009-07-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

For the fourth of July, we went to Missouri and watched fireworks!

Boom!

Also, Corey is getting BAPTIZED!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

This is Corey.

I drink Naked.

2009-06-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Ammon and I really like drinking Naked. Seriously.

So good.

Our Walmart in town doesn't sell the flavor I like though (Red Machine).

Yesterday Ammon and I decided to go to every gas station in town to see if they had it.

One does.

I am so excited. I even did a happy dance in the gas station when we found it.

SO good.

It's happy juice. Seriously, Eryn, you can attest to that. Amanda, did you taste it on the roadtrip?

2009-06-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Fail? Yes. Yes I do.

Stuff thats been going on...

Life in the Kunz household is crazy weird and topsy turvy. I don't like it, but there isn't to much I can do to fix it.

Every night my Ammon and I pretty much have a sleep over together. We've taken to sleeping on the couch and chair in our basement, cause its cooler down here, and we just talk and watch a movie or two till we're tired. Every night. It's fun.

Mom's about to get surgery. Woot. Pray for her to heal quickly.

I got my hair cut. Shorter. No more pony tail. I like it, and want it a little shorter. We'll see.

My bud Corey is investigating the Church. As I'm typing this, he's at his house reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon that the missionaries assigned him yesterday. We're meeting with them again tomorrow. It's awesome. They actually got him to set a 'soft' baptism date, as my dad called it. Basically he's still not sure if he wants to join, but he has a date to work towards, and the missionaries promised him that if he puts for the effort, he WILL be ready to be baptized by the date. It's so amazing. I definitely felt the Spirit when we were talking with them, and Corey said he felt really content and peaceful, so he must have too, even if he didn't 100% realize it yet.

He's also coming to church with us. Well...he's come once, and he helped me with primary. He loved it, and wants to do it again this upcoming Sunday, so thats cool. He really hit it off with my primary class.

Right now Ammons asleep in his usual spot in the basement, wearing pink Tweety bird pajama pants, cause he didn't feel like going all the way up to his room to get his own pajama pants, and those were in the give away pile down here. They look awesome on him.

See? Manly? Yes. Well...no, not really, but still.

Hm. Not much else is new I don't think...well, I almost got hit with a water bottle thrown out of an ex boyfriends car, cause he saw me with Corey, but thats just cause he's crazy. Seriously.

Ok. The End I suppose.

Dang cute.

2009-06-11T01:44:00.001-07:00

Hope ya know, we had a hard time.

2009-06-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing Mormon Message...watch it. Even if you've seen it before. Watch it again.

I feel silly...

2009-06-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

...but I really just...want to get married.

*sigh*

Blog Makeover.

2009-06-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

I redid my blooog! Woohoo! Its a lot more simple...but I'm thinking I like it this way. :D

O Remember, Remember

2009-06-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to start doing this.

I even bought a new journal for it.

Elder Rammell the camel!

2009-06-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

I love getting emails from him. Today I said life has been kind of icky, and he demanded to know why. (He happened to email me when I was online, so I replied and he was still on so he replied again and so on.) So I briefly told him whats going on, about the stuff with my parents and the stuff with Mitch.

Brendon sent me an email that was so sweet and kind. About Mitch he said 'If your friend (meaning Mitch) has been having a tough time preparing for his mission, that just means that satan knows how great he'll do and he doesn't want him to do that. A lot of what is keeping him from going on a mission is his own decisions. He still has his agency he just needs to make the decision and go with it. I'm sorry to hear that he's being like that. He must really like you.'

Now...I don't see how, from what I told Brendon, he got that Mitch must like me...I'm assuming its a weird boy thing...but it was nice to hear it. I think that in all this, I assume that boy hates me and just...meh. But if Brendon can get it from a paragraph in an email...I need to start getting it too.

So here is a shout-out to Rammell the Camel, even though he can't read this, cause he's on his mission. You're awesome Brendon!

Exercising Freddie.

2009-05-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is Corey.

This is Dan the Man

We took Freddie for a walk in the park. Then we decided to have Corey stand on his skateboard and have Freddie pull him. It worked pretty well for the most part. Freddie and Corey went around a lot of the park, twice I think? And its a pretty big park.

Notice I said it worked pretty well for the most part. Sometimes Freddie saw squirrels, and felt the need to chase them. Here is the result, that I was just lucky enough to record with my cell phone.

Needless to say, after a few pulls Freddie was exhausted.

Sidenote...these are the guys I was with when I got that huge tear in my pants from the previous post. >_<

Adventures.

2009-05-30T00:37:00.000-07:00

I was out with some friends, and we climbed on top of a building by an old train station. We were sitting on the roof talking, and we saw a car come by. We weren't totally sure if we were supposed to be up there, so we climbed down really fast...and this is the result. >_>

It was fun though. :D

Life's not fair...deal with it?

2009-05-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

This is all my opinion...but I hate when people do things then justify it with 'life's not fair'. I know that life is indeed not fair all the time, but that doesn't mean we should continue to add to the unfairness (is that even a word?). We as individuals can do as much as possible to be kind and fair. There are some things, of course, that we can't do anything about, and thats fine. Thats life. But in a perfect world, things would be fair, always, right? So isn't that what we should strive for?

Stereotypes and a Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-24T20:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Mitch and I had a discussion on stereotypes, and how they are way too easy to believe, and how we constantly have to work on not assuming things about our fellow human beings.

Today at church, I saw the father of one of the little girls I teach in primary. She is always kind of dirty, wearing the same dress over and over, and the other children in my class comment on how she smells a little odd. But she's the sweetest girl ever, loving to answer questions and listen to the stories in the lessons. Anyway, I saw her father for the first time. He was scruffy and kind of dirty, just like his children seem to always be, walking with a limp and using a cane. I immediately assumed that he was just lazy, feeling sorry for his children and feeling icky towards him, but realized I was being rude and brushed the feelings to the side.

Then, at the beginning of our meeting, our bishop asked all those who had served or were currently serving in the military to stand up so we could see them and honor them. As I was looking around, I saw the father of those little children stand up. I felt SO rotten...this man was very possibly injured serving our country, protecting my life and the lives of all those I love.

Assumtions and stereotypes are terrible. People are beautiful, such amazing creations of our Heavenly Father. I'm going to work so so hard to get my head in the right place and notice the beauty in humans rather than the flaws that we all unavoidably have.

Also, I'm so greatful to all those who have protected this fabulous country in which we live, so grateful to those who have sacrificed time away from family, body parts lost to injuries, and all those who have sacrificed their lives, for me, and for everyone else in this great land.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. <3

Something awesome.

2009-05-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Want to read something awesome?

Click here.

I love this.

2009-05-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Life lately.

2009-04-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

I was sick. Then I got better. Woo! But right now my throat is starting to hurt. Hopefully it goes away though. I don't like being sick.

The weather is getting warmer, and stickier (ick to the humidity) and because of all the rain we've been getting, everything is super green and blooming and gorgeous. I love it. All of a sudden everything was like BAM lets look beautiful! And it did.

siiigh

2009-04-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

I'm sick. And I'm hungry...but because I'm sick, I can't taste anything.

I hate that. >_>