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?

I love to read. Most recently, children's books because of how clean and innocent, and how really fun they are. My most recent find is that Gail Carson Levine has written more than just Ella Enchanted. Dozens of cute fairy tales are part of her collection, and all are just as good as the last. It's made me remember my childhood fascination with fairies and mermaids and all things mythical and wonderful. I remember loving to sketch all these creatures. I realized that all of that is behind me now. I don't draw anymore. I don't think about writing a novel or anything not school-related. And on a slightly different note, I don't play my flute anymore. What kind of a person have I become?
I watch TV daily. I go to school. I read. I work. Looking at that, you wouldn't know I like to write, imagine, sketch, design...I'm not really sure what I'm getting at. I just wish that I could do so much more of what I want to do. And I suppose I still can. It's just the matter of getting into a design school or declaring a major and them accepting me. I hate the fact that you can't get into a program without being "good enough." Like me trying our for BYU school of music. I did not get into the program because I wasn't good enough. It doesn't matter that that was what I wanted to do, I simply wasn't good enough. It's just frustrating. Anyway, I hope to eventually do something that I love, and that others think I'm good at.

So, Josh and I are doing well though. We are in the process of getting approved for a loan to buy our first little place : ) I am extremely excited to start decorating. We've already bought couches to fit the living room (since the one we currently have is upholstered in a sixty's, velvet floral pattern and pretty tiny). And I'm already picking out tile and rugs and all kinds of things to put together. It makes me so happy : ) That's the update on our loving life.

And we have school starting to your left...

Alas, yet another semester of school. I am excited to get it over with... Two religion classes and a Strengthening Marriage and Family class puts my self-analysis levels to boiling. Perhaps I am to figure out more of who I am this semester. That sounds like a good thing right? On the one hand, I am taking the first half of the New Testament (which is basically about Christ's mercy), and on the other hand, the first half of the D&C, which is totally directed towards this generation and how we need to fix our lives before the Lord comes. Again, one hand, mercy, the other, damnation. But both extremely beautiful books of scripture I might add. It will be a challenge to keep focused on both of them. Another challenge: classes at the Salt Lake center are not so big. This leaves me not being able to sink into the background like I so often do. Well, you get what you pray for. I think this is going to help me with my confidence in who I am, not to mention help my testimony grow.
Josh has also just started school and loves his English Science Fiction class. He's been into writing lately and has started a little novella based on one of his favorite video games, Fallout. It's a post-apocalyptic story about a kid who leaves "The Vault" (said vault being protection against the outside world which is filled with all manner of mutated creepy things) on a quest to find his recently disappeared father. Needless to say, the story so far is quite entertaining. Yeah, we're kinda nerdy : ) but writing is one of the best ways to express yourself, and I'm proud of Josh for doing that.
What else is going on in our lives...we are both searching for jobs. The fall semester has not been too kind to us so far money wise. It just slips away so fast. Basically, I hate money. That's all I have to say.
I want to express one wish: Josh and I living in a small town in a comfy cottage that, right as you walk in, you feel at home. You can smell that chocolate chip cookies have recently been baked, and the spring breeze coming from the open, airy windows only wafts that fresh baked smell a little more until you find you're at the kitchen table and have eaten three of these delightful treats. Josh could be found watching a football game or reading the paper, and I could be found in my crafts room, painting something not for sale, but something Sarah wanted to paint, no matter the mess of a painting it is.
In my wish, you can see that there are no jobs, no school, no stress. Don't we all wish for that? But if that was all we had, would we know that my wish was good? Would we see it as something desirable, or would we wish for something more? I believe the stresses in our lives have a purpose. They let us realize the bad from the good, even though all we might want is the good. Hopefully, ten or so years from now when my wish might be attainable, I'll look back and know that Josh and I worked hard for what we got. We earned it.

Catching Up!

So, Josh and I have been extremely busy lately!! He's been working FULL days. And that means we get up at 8:00, leave at around 8:45 for the office, he has his meeting with the rest of the guys, and he's gone until 9:00 that night. :( needless to say, I do not like having him gone for that long. He's working hard though, and it's almost the end of the summer! Yes, we're coming home soon! We leave August 23rd. But wait! We are taking the long way home...Josh and I have decided to take a trip to Southern California! We will drive 6 hours to Los Angeles with all our stuff in tow, and look around where Josh used to live for a few hours. Then we'll travel further to San Diego where we will stay with one of Josh's friends and have a few little adventures-maybe go to Sea World! I love aquariums...although I'm not quite sure that's what Sea World is called...hmmm. Anyway, two days later we'll continue up to Utah! Vegas might be a stop along the way since we will have driven for so long already. Anyway, we have some busy but fun weeks ahead!
Update on the last month:
Lake Tahoe was great. We got to know the members of the team a lot better, and in some cases, decided we didn't like some of them as much as we thought. Our room had two full size beds. And the married couples were supposed to get a room to theirselves...makes sense I think. But one of the team members decided to stay with us in the other bed. Just him. haha. woowwww....what an experience. Let's just say I didn't sleep well with all the snoring coming from that side of the room. (I am thankful Josh has not yet developed this unfortunate sleeping habit...)No hard feelings against the guy. I just wish he had decided on a foam mattress placed outside so no member of our group would have to suffer through his loudness.
I think everyone enjoyed the fireworks display over the lake pre-sleeping time though. We all had perfect seats on the balcony, and the rest of the night was filled with good food, fun people, and rolling-on-the-floor-laughing games.
Let's see, in between then, my family came to visit and we had such a good time in San Francisco and enjoying the beach at Half-Moon bay. It was so good to see them! We made them all fit in our small apartment miraculously. haha.
My birthday was this past week! And oh how fun birthdays are :)
Josh and I started the day waking up to someone from a landscape company taking a sledgehammer to a shrub right outside our window at 8:30 that morning...so we didn't end up sleeping in all that much, but it turned out to be a good thing since we had a busy day ahead. Josh brought me a few of my little presents in bed :) so fun. And then we went to the grocery store to get a few toppings for our crepe breakfast (bananas, nutella, and blueberries!) If you have not tried nutella and bananas on a crepe, you MUST do so. Oh goodness it was so delicious. We got the idea from a crepe company in San Fran we saw at Pier 39. We both got ready and headed out to Monterey Bay! I love that place. (Thanks Lindsey for the suggestion!) We went to the aquarium after making a stop at an outlet mall, and just enjoyed the views and the beautiful weather. We got to eat on the balcony of a restaurant that overlooked the ocean, and ended the day by stopping on the side of the road to watch the sun set :) perfect birthday. Thanks hubby love :)