I love this dog

In an effort to save on utility bills, we bought a space heater. *Side Note: If I can endorse this heater for a minute, it's freaking awesome! You set it to a certain temperature & it will heat the room until it reaches the set temp and then turn off. When the temp drops beneath your setting, it starts up again. How cool! Any way, the husband and I did a little experiment because our dog, (Jack), loves heat & loves to snuggle. Of course, within a minute or so of us setting up the heater, he was right where we thought he'd be. :O) Love him!

The big wedding day part two

I decided to post the pictures in a separate post because my words look all weird when I post them together - I haven't figured everything out yet! Any way, the pictures below are from my just younger brother's wedding a few weeks ago. It was such a fun family day & the Temple was amazing. I love my family!

The big wedding day

Thank you, Jenifer!

Ever since I have been recruited to the blogging world, I read blogs almost every day. Jenifer's blog had this awesome idea about carving pumpkins, and I've been thinking about it for the last few days. Tonight, I made the idea come to life; although my pumpkin clearly is not as cool as the examples from the pros, I'm still pretty happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for the idea, Jenifer!

High School Tag

I saw this on a friend's blog & thought it was cute. Go ahead, try it yourself!

1) Did you date someone from your school? Yes. I had multiple boyfriends in high school...but not at the same time...or maybe once or twice at the same time. :O) The ones I would call steady at one point in time or another were Chance Harding, Chris Hooley, & Bryant Williams.
2) What kind of car did you drive? I didn't drive except for a few days here & there, & that was usually just whatever family car I could get my hands on.
3) Did you pass your driver's license test the first time? Yes.
4) Were you a party animal? For awhile until I learned healthy coping skills.
5) Were you considered a flirt? In some sense of the word, I guess. I was very outgoing & was friends with lots of people, so I think that was misconstrued from time to time. But, I was a bit of a flirt when I felt comfortable.
6) Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was in a traveling show choir & I LOVED LOVED LOVED it!
7) Were you a nerd? In some subjects, yes.
8) Were you on any varsity teams? I was President of the Sports Marketing Team, but I don't think that counts.
9) Did you ever get expended or expelled? No.
10) Can you still sing your fight song? If I thought about it long enough, I think so...CRAP. Now I'm going to be thinking about it.
11) Who were your favorite teachers? Tiffany Nutter, Brenda Peterson
12) Where did you sit at lunch? I always went out, even if that just meant eating outside of the building.
13) What is your school's full name? Lehi High School, (isn't that SO lame!!)
14) School mascot and colors Pioneer, Purple & Black.
15) Did you go to homecoming and who with? Sophomore year - No, I wasn't 16 but that was an excellent excuse because I got asked by a friend's ex-boyfriend, & that would've been a mess. Junior Year - Yes, Chance Harding. Senior Year - Yes, Chris Hooley.
16) If you could go back and do it again, would you? Some things, yes, some things, absolutely not. If I could have done anything differently I would have been more carefree & willing to put myself out there like I was in Senior year. I participated in a lot of extracurricular activities & made a lot of really great friends during Senior year because I was willing to put myself in new situations.
17) What do you remember most about graduation? I cried, A LOT. I'm not sure why, but I did. One of my close friends also sang a song he wrote at graduation & that was really cool. That night, I hung out with Chris Squires at Jonelle Wilkey's house with a bunch of people, & that was fun. Chris is still one of my closest friends today. Oh, graduation day was my birthday, too, so that was pretty sweet.
19) Were you in any clubs? Yes. Encore Show Choir & Sports Marketing. I was in a play & was a sterling scholar too, but I don't know that those count as clubs...
20) Have you gained weight since then? Yep. Blasted thyroid problem started ruining everything in 11th grade.
21) Who was your prom date? I only went to Prom senior year, by choice, & went with Chris Squires.
22) Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Probably - we'll see what happens. I've have this theory about reunions, & that is that they are a lot of work for the people that plan them & are completely pointless. I keep in contact with the people I want to, so why go pretend to catch up with people who never cared about me back then? Kind of a rant...sorry.
23) Did you have a job while in high school? Yep. I worked for a catering company for awhile, then KFC, then a Tanning Salon, & then KFC again.

I tag all of you, so there.

Why Now?!

For the past three weeks or so I have had this recurring thought that I was hoping would disappear if I pushed it into the back of my head long enough. It hasn't. For all of my life I have known that I wanted to be a "people helper." I went back and forth between wanting to be a therapist and wanting to be a special education teacher, but finally decided on taking the play therapist route, and felt concrete in my decision, until NOW! Now, when I have paid the fees and am filling out the applications for the Masters of Social Work program. Now, when I have passed out the letters of recommendation for that program. Now, when my life was mapped out so strictly and when the deadlines for applying are only getting closer. I keep having this thought that maybe I don't want to be a play therapist and that maybe I do want to work with individuals with disabilities. I mean, I know that being a play therapist would be good for the world and that there certainly is a shortage of them. I know that I would be good at being a play therapist and that I would enjoy my job. But, when I think about working with people with disabilities, I have a warm feeling, a sentiment, that I don't have when I think about being a play therapist, and I am finally allowing myself to realize that that must mean something.

Today in church, this amazing man in our ward bore his testimony. He has down syndrome and has the most pure, sweet spirit. I love when he bears his testimony because it is so simple and so strong. During his testimony today, I felt that unsure feeling even more, and it was strong enough that I know I have to pay attention to it. *Oh, and as a side note, I looked over at Paul during the testimony & he was wiping away tears. So cute! But, of course, he denied it until later when he felt okay admitting that he was touched & isn't always macho all the time. :O)

So, this is where I am now, using my blog as a journal to sort out all of my feelings. I just need TIME to explore both career options, and time is what I don't have now. Maybe, after I get my Bachelors, it will be time to take a break from school for awhile, which isn't what I planned, but possibly something I need to do so that I can be sure I end up where I truly want to be. How inconvenient.

HELP

One more post & I'm done for the day, promise. Can someone please tell me how in the world you do all the crazy things you do in your blogs, like insert pictures in your posts & things? I'm generally a computer savvy person, but you explaining things to me would be easier, and more fun.

Lastly, my Dad's surgery saga continues, & I feel awful for him. He called me this morning & was in so much pain that I asked Paul to take him to the ER. The doctor looked at things and decided another surgery was necessary. When I heard that news, I felt strongly that my Dad needed a blessing before the surgery; he has been and continues to go through so much in relation to the initial surgery and I hate for him to be in so much pain and to have so much fear. I asked a family friend if he could meet Paul down at the hospital to assist in the blessing, & he is really what this story is about. He was in class when I asked him to help, but responded in the perfect way. Within a few minutes of my asking the favor, he sent me a message that said he was leaving class & was headed to the hospital. I expressed my appreciation & he said, "This is God's work." His simple phrase was the comfort that we all needed today, & I hope that comfort can continue throughout this healing process for my Dad and for our family.