Four Thanksgivings

This year Thanksgiving was a little different. Josh and I were blessed to be able to see a lot of family - extended and immediate - and literally had four Thanksgivings.
Thanksgiving 1: An early taste of all the delicious food that means "put on your stretchy pants and buckle down for a third serving of sweet potatoes."
On Sunday, November 21, we shared an early Thanksgiving with Josh's mom and Josh's siblings, namely, Casey and Becky and their children, Kaya and Jamison; Amanda and Kagan; and last but not least, Braden, the youngest Robison. (punctuation?) Josh fried his first turkey (it was a pretty big deal, we read up on it for a few days before to make sure we weren't going to burn the house down) and it was delicious. I made potatoes and sweet potatoes. Becky made stuffing and gravy. Amanda made a graham cracker dessert, and Sue made my favorite pretzel Jell-O. It was good to spend time with them...a great way to start the week : )
Thanksgiving 2: The real deal.
Turkey Day Thursday we spent at my MorMor and Papa's house with my mom's side of the family. Amazing food, including a bacon mushroom salad I surprisingly loved and Josh will continue to salivate over provided by my Aunt Brooke. Jonathan and Tricia drove from Colorado to be here so that was a treat. He and I played flute and piano together at the request of my Papa. Later that evening, Rachel and our cousin Kirsten came over to spend the night so we could wake up to a day of Black Friday shopping! Yes, I agree it's one more way to commercialize Christmas, but there is no harm in saving money on Christmas gifts.
Thanksgiving 3: Black Friday and a Thanksgiving with Josh's dad and grandparents
Every year Josh and I go Black Friday Christmas shopping together. We pick out each other's Christmas gifts (not much of a surprise on Christmas but we still love it) and just spend the day together. This year I went shopping with Rachel and Kirsten starting at 5am, got home at 9:30, and then went shopping with Josh. We got home around 12 and took a 3 hour nap! After the nap we went to Josh's grandparents house and had pizza for dinner with Josh's dad and uncle/aunt/cousins as well. After we ate, we decorated his grandma's tree. This was probably my favorite thing that happened all week. It was neat to see all of her ornaments and find out any meaning behind them. Josh's grandma is a very special lady and you could tell she was so happy to have a lot of her kids and grandkids there to share in helping decorate the tree.
Thanksgiving 4: Nana's house and the Great Leslie
On Saturday night, my family and Josh and I decided to visit my Nana and have a Thanksgiving leftover dinner. I've decided that throughout all these indulgences, I have consumed about 2 sticks of butter...the thought made me briefly reconsider making chocolate cookies yesterday, but only briefly. Anyhow, my Nana is an amazing woman. She grew up in Hollywood and as a result, loves these spectacular old-timey movies. The one we decided to watch is called The Great Race All of the Luke children love this movie. It was a staple on road trips, so how could someone not love it? Well, we had two new Great Race viewers, Josh, and Jonathan's wife Tricia. I think the breaking point for both of them was when the main character, The Great Leslie, gives a sultry, sensual stare at Natalie Wood, and someone producing or directing had the bright idea to make his eyes actually sparkle. Well, Josh became quickly jealous of this eye-twinkling ability and we decided to go home. Blaming it on my needing to prepare a lesson and the snow storm coming. I will still insist at one point or another that we finish the epic film.


So those were our four Thanksgivings. Each one I am grateful for and grateful that we have that many special people in our lives to spend holidays with.
To end the week, Josh and I built a snowman in our front yard yesterday. We decided to name him Dick Butkis, after a famous football player whose parents obviously did not love him. (Football and Sunday go together for Josh, hence the name).
It's a little grainy because it was taken on Josh's phone and it was snowing, but here's a better one that I took today.
Happy Holidays!

Conglomerate Post

Seeing as it's been since July that I last posted, I have a lot to "catch up" on, if the things I talk about could indeed be described as having to be told. Mostly they are just thoughts and not necessarily things that have happened...
Numero uno: I absolutely dislike freshmen. College freshmen! I had no idea I may have acted that way...but isn't that always the case? At the University of Utah, I do imagine the maturity level of freshmen there as compared to BYU is marginally significant. So I can give myself some comfort in that knowledge. But if I were good at math I wouldn't be in this position. The math class I am taking is stuff I started doing in elementary school through my sophomore year...anyway, let's just say we aren't the brightest crayons in the box in that auditorium. I could rant on about how the two most annoying girls sat behind me yesterday, but this subject has already had too much undeserved typing devoted to it.
Dos: Lately I have enjoyed getting little craft ideas, but that's just the thing, they are ideas. And they float around in my head waiting to come to fruition, but I don't exactly have the most amazing craft supplies. My next idea: a craft closet with every little sharp razor, spool of ribbon, and scrap of fabric my heart desires (also a sewing machine)......I'll start with garage sales. Hopefully that will get me somewhere.
Tres: I love my job (and am happy to be back with it!). I think I've posted about it before, but the people I've met through working at Rise have had such an impact on me. The best part is that it's an ongoing thing.
Quatro: Josh and I are glad to be back home. It's good to be with family : ) some not so happy things have happened, but in the end when we really stick together and care for each other, things will turn out alright.

exciting things are happening!

My list of fabulous things happening to me in the next month is pretty full!! I was sitting in my living room, thinking, and then realized my head was happy. Here's why:
1. Today I approached my boss to tell her what day I planned to be my last. August 13th! That's less than a month away! That was the first lovely occurrence of the day, and I felt like a burden was beginning to lift off my shoulders.
2. I received a message from my wonderful flute teacher who taught me while we lived in Louisiana. She will be performing in Santa Cruz at the Cabrillo Music Festival and I get to go to one of the concerts to see her! Today I perused the website, cabrillomusic.org, and listened to a few clips here and there, and it made my heart feel full. I regret to say that I did not bring my flute to California, and I had the strongest urge to play!! I'm definitely kicking myself for that...but I was extremely excited to start planning the trip to Santa Cruz.
3. My birthday is coming up. I love birthdays. They mean cake, and presents, and mostly love from people who care. Also, it means our next trip to San Francisco is coming up soon : ) Josh and I are going to see the impressionist art brought to the de Young museum from the Musee de'Orsay in France! I am quite excited for this little excursion, and hopefully it will help me make up my mind a little as far as a major goes...(I am most definitely still undecided)
4. Josh and I are going on a date tonight as we do every Friday, but they never get old : ) And he is currently impatiently stating that I should get ready or we will never leave! So have a lovely evening : )

negative and positive thoughts

So, depressing thoughts first so I can end on a good note. I think I've expressed how I am not a fan of my supervisor at CPC. She can most assuredly be counted on to be rude; her gas tank of tact always blinking on empty. Recently, the branch has made some changes regarding another employee and where they think her most useful. I noticed last week when my supervisor called this particular woman into her office to discuss something behind closed doors. This usually means that individual is in trouble, or there is something about to happen. In this case it was the later. This employee was moved from one department to another, and without any prior notification to myself, I was told she would be taking over my desk and I hers. I had no immediate problem with this. My desk was smack dab in front of my supervisors and the hole she burned daily in the back of my head was throbbing for relief; however, I was never told exactly what I would be doing now that I was moved. The conversation and concern was directed solely at the employee who was changing departments. I was told I would possibly be taking over a different group of paperwork, and that was it. Today I was confused. I admit, part of it was my fault in not asking what my specific jobs were, but I felt jostled. I realized I missed the people I usually sat around and directed my questions to. I realized I didn't really know if this woman had taken over my responsibilities and I hers. It didn't seem as if she was doing the things I had done. Nothing was explained. So I assumed my regular tasks and asked around if anyone needed help with their things as I usually did. Later, I heard one of my fellow employees ask our supervisor if I was still helping with a certain department. Her reply,"You guys get comfortable with distributing the workload amongst yourselves and we'll use and abuse Sarah for the other stuff while she's here." And later, she walked right by my desk and said to the employee seated next to me," Feel free to ask Sarah to do whatever you'd like her to." Never once telling me directly that she would like me to help the other employees with their workload, which in fact I had been doing since the first day on my job. Come to think of it, she never told me what I should be doing from that first day. I got the jobs that eventually became routine by asking for them in the first place. I wish now that I had approached her to tell her she could speak to me and that I had ears. And I don't care if this seems over-exaggerated, she clearly does not do her job well if she cannot communicate with the employees she should be supervising. Now that my desk is further away and she cannot see every little thing that I do, today she walked by and around my desk more frequently than I'd ever seen her approach that particular side of the room. She is a micro-manager in every way except that she does not ASK. She merely makes me feel low and stupid by reprimanding and correcting after the fact, not explaining and understanding before. I do my job, and I do it as damn well as I'm capable, even if it does involve stuffing envelopes. I never remember feeling this much anger towards a person...She's entirely a troll.
Which brings me to a happier note. I am re-reading Harry Potter 6 at the moment. The movie that came out last year has been my favorite so far, and even in the first few pages I had forgotten how much they excluded from the movie. It's been fun to not remember certain things that happen and get excited about it all over again. I wish I could go to the amusement park and try some butterbeer...mmm. I imagine it tastes like butterscotch or something. (I just realized this paragraph could be read quite easily in a British accent. Even the words enclosed in parenthesis). haha
Josh and I have a pizza night a week. Or maybe two. But usually we don't have a set day to get a pizza. We just decide that we want it one day. Today happens to be that day! And the thrill of pizza night is still as amazing as it ever was. I also typed this as a status on facebook and decided there were too many ways to say I was excited for pizza...I ended up putting down maybe the fifth or so thought that came to my head. Why can't I just say what I mean? haha...

Sunday Thoughts

I just finished reading Cold Sassy Tree. This book was often mentioned as one to be read over the summer in high school or as a book of choice, and I finally got around to reading it. What a fantastically humorous and witty book. It reminded me so much of what it is to be southern. All the good and bad. And how life just...IS. And how people just ARE. Told from the perspective of an adolescent boy, it was pure and refreshing...I don't mean to write about books all the time, and this does sound like a review...but it's more about what the book made me feel. Quite plainly, it made me mad about southern pride. And how I feel it's changed one of my favorite people in the world. It made me sad about how people gossip and spread rumors that aren't true, and how people can be stuck in their ways and hate others just because of a simple offense or difference. It made me appreciate the truly good people in life. The people that aren't afraid to do what they feel is right. It made me feel that God is close and more real. Honestly, I felt like I understood Him more....Mostly, it made me miss family. And the bond that is just naturally there. It's been a little tough for me this summer to not be around them...last summer it seems like I was OK with being on my own, but this time I feel lost. And I shouldn't because I have Josh here...so it makes me angry at myself for that. I just want to be home....
This is a quote from Cold Sassy Tree that help put things in perspective for me today...
"Faith ain't no magic wand or money-back gar'ntee, either one. Hit's jest a way a-livin'. Hit means you don't worry th'ew the days. Hit means you go'n be holdin' on to God in good or bad times, and you accept whatever happens. Hit means you respect life like it is--like God made it--even when it ain't what you'd order from the wholesale house. Faith don't mean the Lord is go'n make lions lay down with lambs jest 'cause you ast him to, or make fire not burn. Some folks, when they pray to git well and don't even git better, they say God let'm down. But I say thet warn't even what Jesus was a-talkin' bout. When Jesus said ast and you'll git it, he was givin' a gar'ntee a-spiritual healin', not body healin'. He was sayin' thet if'n you get beat down--scairt to death you cain't do what you got to, or scairt you go'n die, or scairt folks won't like you--why, all you got to do is put yore hand in God's and He'll lift you up. I know it for a fact, Love. I can pray,'Lord, hep me not to be scairt,' and I don't know how, but it's like a eraser wipes the fears away. And I found out long time ago, when I look on what I got to stand as a dang hardship or a burden, it seems too heavy to carry. But when I look on the same dang thang as a challenge, why, standin' it or acceptin' it is like you done entered a contest. Hit even gits excitin', waitin' to see how everthang's go'n turn out....Jesus meant us to ast God to hep us stand the pain, not beg Him to take the pain away. We can ast for comfort and hope and patience and courage, and to be gracious when thangs ain't goin' our way, and we'll git what we ast for. They ain't no gar'ntee thet we ain't go'n have no troubles and ain't go'n die. But shore as frogs croak and cows bellow, God'll forgive us if'n we ast Him to." - Grandpa Blakeslee, Cold Sassy Tree.
I feel like it's so true that we expect God to just give and give and give...but there are times when it's not right for Him to give, and we need to suffer a little, but ask Him to help us get through whatever it is we're going through.
This is long already, but really quickly...My family (Mom, Dad, Rachel, and Hannah) went on a stake trek this past week. They got hit with a wind storm going 85 miles per hour and rain on top of it. There were ten buses that brought the 500+ people out to the trail, and not all could not come back the night this happened; everyone's things were wet, tents were blown down, and hardly anyone could sleep. Luckily, they were able to get three buses out so some people could sleep in them, and a visitor's center on the trail was able to house a few hundred of the trek members. My mom and dad's tent was reinforced, and they stayed out that night since there was not enough room in the other shelters. My mom said she imagined this is what it would be like before the Savior was going to come. She said that despite all the problems, it was a good time to ponder and read the scriptures since she and my dad couldn't sleep...A way to look at the good side of being able to come closer to God on a night like that.
Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about today...I know God will always help us be able to endure.

New Things : )

Josh went to Best Buy today to finally replace our finikicky (hahaha!! I was trying to type finicky and that is the result...I had to leave it up, it almost works). computer charger! The old one had wires sticking out of it (which we "resolved" with tape) and we had to put bottle caps or books under/on top/to the side of it to make it stay charging. It was also probably unsafe. So that was a wonderful thing to finally get. I can (and am) now typing with the laptop in my lap where it belongs instead of leaning over the coffee table afraid to move anything lest we lose the charge. : )
I also went shopping this week for slacks. I have owned maybe one or two pairs in all my life, and never knew what it felt like (or looked like) to have ones that fit properly! They are surprisingly much comfier than jeans. Yay for that : )
This morning on the way to work, the Mini Cooper received yet another rock-bullet to the windshield. It is probably made of paper. We now have five lovely-sized chips in the windshield. One that has spread in a matter of minutes, and will probably reach the other side by the end of the week without so much as a bump in the road to help it. So we are getting a new windshield, and told Clark to make it bullet proof.
I am currently reading a book called Hand of Isis. It's historical fiction about Cleopatra and her two half-sisters and the growth and struggles in Egypt at the time. It's incredibly interesting. The author states at the end that all of the technology and facts of Egypt are real. At the time, the Egyptians were in the process of creating a steam-powered jet engine called an aeliopile that they thought if they could make it powerful enough, they could fly to the moon! The author says that if the Dark Ages hadn't happened, we might have been flying to the moon a lot sooner. It just made me think about God's plan for the world. Maybe we weren't ready for such a big step in world development...
Anyway, to finish the random post now inappropriately titled, I was watching America's Funniest Home Videos and there was a clip of a hound dog hitting keys on the piano while howling at the top of his lungs....bahaha.

What character are you?

Today I thought about the office I work in and if they were all characters, what would they dress like every day? Like a Dilbert or Charlie Brown type character...What brought me to this question? Today I wore a plaid shirt. Plaid shirts remind me of my boss. He wears plaid shirts (with the occasional Hawaiian pattern thrown in there) and khaki pants every day. So today I said to Josh, "I look like Ron today." Ron's character would be the plaid and khaki guy. Then another girl always wears black. She would wear a black turtle neck and polyester pants....and so on. So I thought, if I were a character, what outfit would I have 15 duplicates of in my closet? I haven't really answered it...it's just something funny I thought about.

I've just realized something. This blog doesn't have to have exciting things logged into it every time I want to write something. The boring and mundane little things in life can be here too.
Josh's and my day today:
Woke up at 8 AM to get ready for the day. Took showers, ate a lovely breakfast courtesy of lovely shopping trip the previous night, and headed off to the Clark office.
9 AM - Arrive at Clark office. My day begins, Josh heads off to start his team meeting.
9 AM-12 PM - Answer phones and re-file the whole commercial accounts filing cabinet (this has been ongoing for this week). Josh is somewhere in the Vacaville area knocking on someone's door trying to sell them pest control.
12 PM - lunch (Josh is still selling....)
12:30 PM - (I know, short lunch) back to the filing and the phone answering and the paperwork. Josh is still selling...I think.
1:00 PM - Josh is definitely home, playing a video game or something. Lately he has been into soccer? So perhaps watching ESPN as well. who would have thought : ) (I'm still working)
3:00 PM - Josh picks me up at the back door of the Clark building and whisks me away to relax at home. We have an hour...
4:00 PM - Josh leaves again to work. I catch up on the shows I missed the night before and read my book. Finally got the last Shannon Hale Books of Bayern book. Turns out they aren't as popular in California libraries : ) Good thing for me.
8:00 PMish...Josh will come home along with 5 other guys. All tired from a hard day's work. They fill out paperwork and talk about the day - sometimes there are funny stories involved : ). My smiley face has a mole.
After they leave, we finally have a late late late dinner...then try to accomplish any errands we need to run.
bed time is at 11...we are both tired by then. PS, the bed is not a bed. But a rock in disguise. Nighty night.

We are here, we are here, we are here!!

We arrived in California this past Wednesday, braving storms and deserts to get here...haha. Maybe cold deserts, but definitely the storms. There is a mountain pass about two and a half hours outside of Vacaville we had to go through as it was the fastest way. Lucky us, we caught it right in the middle of a snow storm. It had snowed the night before as well and there were "chain checks" for snow chains before we were allowed to go through. So Josh and I were forced to buy 70 dollar chains. yuck. But they ended up being quite useful. We probably would have died without them. Or ended up in a snow bank. No exaggeration. It was a stressful, white knuckle experience. So we were both very grateful for the prayers said before the trip and in our behalf!
Since we've been here, Josh has already started working and on his first day (yesterday) got a sale! I'm so proud of how he is handling his team and teaching them. He is such a great leader, and one of the rookies yesterday even had something to show for it with his own sale on his very first day. As for me, I will start work sometime next week. We're waiting on my drug test results.
Other things: Josh and I both came down with some weird bug when we first got here. Just headache and dizziness/ maybe fever. Who knows? But I think we're getting over it. hopefully...Pippin is getting used to the new apartment. We follow him around everywhere just to make sure he's not going to claim anything in a nasty way. Silly boy.
That's about it! We're not that exciting, but we love our life.

rant

I hate it when people openly say their situation is worse, or better than mine. I hate it when people belittle or degrade something I'm proud of. I hate when people judge my life and decisions. I hate being judged period. If the world didn't judge, we'd all be friends. I hate that I feel awkward and stupid around people-basically I choose to be antisocial because I think people will think I'm weird or have a bad impression of me. I hate that I care about what people think of my personality, myself, me. Mostly, I hate being controlled by these thoughts.
I hate pessimists. Though hypocritical of what I'm typing now. I hate when people aren't appreciative of my time, thought, and care. No one ever suffered from a thank you.
I hate the word hate...but if I had used "dislike" or simply "don't like" my rant wouldn't be a rant.

Basically, this was word vomit.

leaving soon!!

Josh and I are leaving soon to California!! It's a little bitter-sweet. Missing last summer here in Utah we missed weddings and family vacations and get-togethers..this summer will be that way too. We'll miss my mom's side of the family's reunion and my cousin's sealing and people that I love coming to visit here..and I've formed attachments to some of my rise kids/adults. That job has become more and more likeable, and even lovable. It just makes me sad...but we're also grateful for the opportunity to go to California and start saving that money to pay off Josh's credit as well as just to start a savings. Being away from family last year also made it possible to be more independent as a couple with Josh and I feel like that's one of the best things a married couple can do. We're excited though!
This last weekend Josh and I went to the Melting Pot (both our first times). It was an Easter/de-stress celebration. Chocolate fondue never disappoints : )
Easter and Conference are probably the best things to happen all in one weekend. I can never remember specific things about Conference, but the feelings and promptings were wonderful. I do remember a bit of Elder Holland's talk. He said something like,"Let's all try to be as pure as we were made to be." (although it always comes across better in their words). It was good to hear that and good to remember that we started out in heaven as pure spirits and came to earth pure as well in our first eight years. And the talks about Christ were just beautiful...can't wait for the Ensign.
Just as a side note, I work with a sweet girl in the mornings to get her ready for school with her mom's help. Her mom is extremely health food conscious especially since her daughter has food allergies. Every morning there is something new that I find out about healthy, organic, and green products. It's fascinating. I think I'm becoming more aware of stuff like that and I thought I never would. I've really enjoyed my time talking with her though and learning more about healthy alternatives and green products. this morning it was sunflower seed peanut butter. so delicious!

It's coming together!!

I have had such a blast decorating our first place : ) And I wanted to share some pictures of what's going on so far. The living and dining rooms are the closest to being done. We're still painting our room (can't quite seem to get the colors right! decided to paint over the cookie monster blue...) and the kitchen just needs some curtains and paint and it will be done too! It's just really exciting : ) so here they are...


the dining room...


the detail on the upholstery


the living room


fireplace and mantle

: )

Spring has sprung!!

So somehow while I was writing this, I got distracted and started multitasking and forgot about it. Here's me remembering. So this was supposed to be posted yesterday. Though it may not matter much.
When I got home from work today (yesterday) I really had to use the restroom and didn't have time to do anything else. My dog was upset that I didn't say hello and jumped me while I was on the toilet (yesterday), flailing on my lap leaving huge scratches down my leg. ouuuch. They feel like paper-cuts/rug-burns...(not so much anymore) anyway...
Today (yesterday) was a let down weather wise. It rained/is (was) cloudy. But yesterday (the day before yesterday) and the day before (the day before before yesterday) got into the 60's! It's like, hello spring! all of a sudden. I loved it. And I hope that there are no more snowy days. This (yesterday) morning I took Pippin for a walk and found flowers sprouting from the ground around the tree in our front yard! It makes me so happy :) Yay for spring! *end of yesterday's writing
Today today. It snowed. So much for the hoping...but that's Utah :)

hooray hooray!

About a month ago, I gave a sacrament meeting talk and mentioned that I play the flute...it came back to bite me in the rear...well, sort of. And in a pretty good way. Two weeks later I played in sacrament meeting with an old friend Jenna Cason (we played "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief". The same arrangement that we played at a youth conference our tiny Shreveport Louisiana stake hosted for us in Nauvoo, IL). It was a really moving experience to be able to play with her again. When Jenna and I would get together when we lived in LA, we would often sit around my parent's piano and play arrangements and that was how we had our fun. Jenna and I have not been so close lately as our schedules and lives have interfered too often...so it was good to play again with her and relive that experience. I texted her later "I feel like we're still attached at the hip musically.." Then in sacrament after we played the arrangement we noticed people's eyes were watery. We still got it if we can make people cry : )
With my job at Rise, I work with variously challenged special needs people ages ranging from the smallest toddler to the elderly. Recently I was paired with a mute woman in her 50's. Before I went to meet her and her mother who still cares for her, my boss told me they were both the sweetest people I'd ever meet. The description didn't disappoint. As I came in the door, the most loving, welcoming feeling came over me. It almost brought me to tears and I hadn't even spoken to either of them yet. The mother, Elsie, was leaning on her kitchen counter with her walker near by and her daughter Carol sitting at the table, face downcast. I later learned she doesn't like to look people in the eye. The conversation that proceeded was not utterly special, just normal details. Then Elsie started to tear up. She was so grateful that Rise had not just given up on Carol and that I was there to work with her. That they couldn't have picked a better person. She then told me to grab a handful of chocolates on the way out and to leave-we were going to be late to Carol's Special Mutual. This was about a month ago and I've since had the privilege of working with Carol many more times during the week. It's meeting people like Elsie and Carol that make life worth it for me. Elsie's stubborn determination to take care of her daughter and her sweetness and instant grandma-esque attitude make me want to try harder to be a better person. I already love them both so much and there's so much more that has impressed me about them that I couldn't begin to account for here. Just know there are people out there that will love unconditionally without even really getting to know you. Christ-like love are the words.
The title to this blog post was just my happiness for being able to write about these things I guess. haha. Just the words that I first thought of. Much love to all.

I'm Back!

After a long hiatus from blogging, I decided (after seeing my sister-in-law pick it back up, and after watching a recent House episode in which the sick girl was addicted to blogging) to start telling the one person that reads this more about my life. :)
Josh and I are waiting on one of the best things that happens all year: tax returns! Our plans are many though the return probably won't be enough to cover them all. A dining table is highest on the list (KSL has become my friend lately). A new bed, new clothes for both of us, a welcome table? for the living room, a remodeled master bath, a new recliner to replace the old stinky one in the spare room, and maybe a Wii game and some scentsy stuff. haha. never going to all happen. but it's a good wish list.
We're planning on going back to California this summer. It's something Josh and I are really looking forward to! It's the time of the year we can both work and earn great pay - so there are no worries on whether or not we can pay the bills. We also get to save money which is wonderful as well. Last year if we hadn't gone to California, we probably wouldn't be living in this mobile home for lack of a down payment, and we probably couldn't afford to live anywhere else besides one of our parent's houses. So so grateful that that has never been the case...basically, Josh working for Clark has been such a blessing and we're happy to do it again.
That's mainly what's happened...and it's not really all that fun to write about catch-up things. haha ketchup...but one more thing. I'm reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. It acts as a sequel to Eat, Pray, Love. Both books I highly recommend. They are fantastically written and will give you insight to your own soul. I felt like I was reading a self-help book, yet being very entertained at the same time. Both are non-fiction as they are about the author's life. (I tried looking in the fiction section for Eat, Pray, Love when I first heard of it and grew very frustrated when it wasn't there!) So read it!
Much love, and here's to hoping I write again sooner than 6 months!
p.s. my header looks so stupid...I tried using power point to use the font, color, and positioning I wanted and it wouldn't take the file. Does anyone know how to fix it?