Youth Conference

This past weekend our ward went up to Heber Valley Camp for Youth Conference. Youth Conference is typically held in the summer, but this year we decided to be different and have it in the winter. I admit that I wasn't a fan of the idea because I hate being cold more than anything, but life is about experiences so why not live it to the fullest. With the help of new, warm boots and a dorky-looking hat, I stayed warm and had a great time. We went snow-shoeing, built a little snowman, and drank lots of hot chocolate. My favorite thing about my calling is being able to spend time with the awesome leaders and girls, even when we are all trying to prevent frostbite. The Young Women in my ward are amazing and I am so proud of their good examples and testimonies. Here is a picture of all us girls on the last day right before we left...thanks TeriSue for the picture that I stole from your blog!

This and That

I really don't have anything exciting going on in my life right now, but I am tired of looking at the face of the dumb criminal every time I come to my blog and I have a little time, so I thought I would post. Hmm...what's been going on. We got our truck back last week and it is so nice having 2 cars again. Thanks to the family and friends who helped us out during our predicament by giving us rides to work, church, etc. It was nice to not have to rent a car the entire 2 1/2 weeks. American Idol started again this month and that is a little bit of sunshine in the midst of my winter blues. I know I'm a dork but I LOVE American Idol. Everyone needs their guilty pleasure, right? Carl and I have spent a lot of time recently putting the finishing touches on our organizing endeavors and I can finally say, after living here for almost 4 months, that I feel settled. It's not quite 100% completed, but we are REALLY close. I worked in Tooele for 3 days straight earlier this month because the owner had to go to court. A little over a year ago his pharmacy was robbed (at gunpoint) of Oxycontin and the case finally went to trial. The robber was arrested that same day but maintained his innocence and wouldn't settle out of court, so the case finally went to trial, jury and all. The verdict was guilty and I think everyone is relieved to have some closure. Click here to read the story. The Oxycontin drama never ends... The nice thing about being in Tooele for 3 days is that I got to stay in a cozy hotel where I didn't have to worry about laundry, dishes, or even making the bed, and I got to see my friend Jenn from freshman year. She lives in Tooele and was kind of enough to feed me dinner one night.
I hope everyone is doing well and surviving the winter!

Dumb Criminal Award

I saw this story on the local news and it made me laugh. You all know that I have strong feelings about prescription drug abuse and this just proves my point that abusing drugs of any kind is stupid. I am so grateful that my body is not a slave to a chemical. I wish there was more I could do to help prevent this kind of thing from happening.

Is January Over Yet?

I am sure you can tell by the title of my post that I love January. The cold, short days, the treacherous driving conditions, and the chaos at work all combine to make January one of my least favorite times of the year. I probably sound whiny but I have been in a winter rut lately. I think I am going to self-diagnose myself with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. I have been tempted for the first time in a LONG time to go to a tanning salon (even though, out of principle, I am against it and swore I would never do it again) just to have some semblance of sunlight. Despite my lousy attitude, I have had a few good moments recently. The Saturday before last, Carl and I drove to Green River, WY for my nephew Ryan's baptism. Unfortunately for us, our truck slid off the road on I-80 about 20 miles outside of Green River while driving there. Carl was able to pull back onto the interstate and drive the rest of the way, but the truck received some damage and is still at an auto-shop in Green River getting fixed. Despite the inconvenience of only having one vehicle for the past week, we feel so blessed that the damage wasn't worse. We were going 60 or 65 miles an hour when we slid off and should have rolled, but we didn't. We didn't hit anybody or anything in the process and nobody was hurt. Plus, we were able to spend a little more time with my sister Chrissy and her family that day which was nice. Here is a picture of her family taken at their home after the baptism: Also, my little brother Issac and sister Izzy turned 7 yesterday. We went over for a family birthday party which improved my mood. Of course I don't have any pictures of the party itself (because I didn't have my camera surprise surprise) but here is a picture of my mom, Abby, Isaac, Izzy and me taken last summer...the most recent one I have of the twins. I can't believe how big they are. It seems like they have grown up so fast.

Along with the baptism and birthday party, I also recently had a great girl's night out with some friends, spent time with my wonderful friend Amie and her beautiful kids, and am slowly getting my house organized and unpacked, so I guess January hasn't been so bad. I will keep trying to "look on the bright side" (which is easier-said-than-done when all you see when you look outside is every shade of gray known to man) as I muddle through January, but I won't be sad when February is here.

Christmas Decorating

So when Lindsay started this blog, she told me that it would be a good idea if I did a post now and again. I'm not a big blog person myself so I haven't really contributed anything to this blog...until now. Lindsay has been pretty busy with work so I've had to pick up some of her responsibilities around the house, including updating the blog. One of our avid readers was asking me about how the tree is coming along so I decided to make an updated post about it. Normally Lindsay sets out all the Christmas decorations and we decorate the tree together but this year I got to do it all by myself. And here's how our tree turned out this year:



Our Christmas tree is actually one of only a few traditions we have around Christmas time. Ever since we've been married, everywhere we go, we try to get a Christmas tree ornament as a reminder of where we've been and what we've done. So when Christmas time comes around, we relive all the fun places we've been and the fun things we've seen when we decorate our tree. We've got ornaments from our honeymoon, from trips to Mexico, Canada, Alaska, Orlando, New York, and Boston. We've also got ornaments for each of the schools we've attended (Lindsay went to both BYU and the U and in case you're wondering, the BYU ornament is always a little bit higher on the tree) and one ornament for each of the years we've been married. So it may be a little bit cheesy but it's a fun tradition we have. Sorry for the blurry picture. I took it with my phone and it didn't come out to great. I'll get a better one up soon.

Our Poor Christmas Tree

There are only 7 days before Christmas and this picture of our tree was taken about 5 minutes ago. It is a nice tree and we do like it, but it has been sorely neglected this holiday season. Carl insists on a real tree, which is fine with me, but you can't just pull it out of a box and put it together at your convenience. We finally got around to picking out the tree and buying it last week but still haven't found time to decorate it. Carl put the lights on Tuesday night while I was at a Christmas party so at this rate the tree should be decorated by January 2nd. If and when we finally decorate it I will post a picture. Merry Christmas!

The American Fork Symphony

Carl played with the American Fork Symphony last Monday in their annual Christmas Concert. He has been wanting to play his violin more since graduating last April and finally found the time to join the community symphony. I wish I had a fun picture to post but I forgot the camera...story of my life. The concert was wonderful and we enjoyed being able to spend time with Josh, Mandy, and Gabby who came to see Carl play, as well as Carl's parents. I am proud of Carl for making the effort to play again and grateful for a studly husband who takes time to be well-rounded and cultured.