Who Needs Sleep

I have to say right off, that I'm very proud of the fact that I made it to the gym 5 times this week and one of the days I missed I still managed to get a good cardio workout. WOO HOO to me! All bragging aside, it felt great.

Wednesday night I went and stayed with my grandparents. I love visiting with them. Grandma is so cute and she always catches me up on all the goings on in the family. We watch old westerns with Grandpa, while Grandma and I crochet and visit. She loves to talk about the family and brag about how her sons and grandchildren are doing. It's so cute and fun. I also love to watch her and Grandpa interact with each other. They are so loving and considerate of one another. Grandma likes to say that they never took a honeymoon when they first got married because they were too poor, so for all intents and purposes, they have been on one long honeymoon since the day they got married. How sweet is that? :)

Friday, I went to dinner with Bert and then we met some friends and went dancing in Idaho Falls. It was a lot of fun. They had a live band that played mostly oldies music, which was awesome and fun to dance to.

Saturday, my bosses and I worked at a booth for the health fair. It was a poor location and there wasn't a lot of traffic, but sometimes you just have to say "Oh Well!" After the fair, I had to busta move home so I could get ready for a Multi-Stake Singles Activity I was in charge of. We had one of the lowest turnouts I've seen for a singles activity in a long time. On the upside, we were done early and that left the evening free for a few of us to get together and watch movies at Janell's. I'm sad to say that I pulled a Stephanie and fell asleep during the show. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Janell is the only one who managed to stay awake the entire time. For that she definitely has bragging rights. :)

We had such an awesome testimony meeting on Sunday and both classes had great lessons. I really enjoyed all three blocks. After church, I spent the afternoon with Mom, Dad, Casey and Oakley. Casey and Oakley have terrific news. Casey asked Oakley to marry him on Saturday night and she said yes. Congratulations to both of them! Casey is definitely getting the better end of that deal. I've tried to warn each of my sister-in-laws respectively about my beloved brothers faults before they were committed. I wanted them to be able to make an informed decision. Despite my warnings, they have all still said yes. It's must be true that love is blind and it's probably a good thing! :D In any case, I'm glad all three of them have absolutely no sense and married my brothers anyway. They are all sweet and have been a great blessing to our family. (And yes, I'm well aware I'll deserve any paybacks I may receive from beloved brothers for the above comments! I love them, but then again, I really am blind.)

Sunday evening, Bert and I went to a dinner at Janell's with Chad, Kriss and Jason. It was a blast. Janell made really yummy Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan and we played games after dinner. The men became overly confident in their ability to stomp us into the ground and even named their team "Male Dominance, Inc." (MDI for short). I would make fun of their complete cockiness, if it wasn't for the fact that they really did dominate the stupid game, but I'm not bitter. :) (Maybe we should just call it a tie. - lol)

Anyway, all-in-all it was a great week!

:) Weekend (:

Considering how this week started, the weekend turned out pretty great.

Friday, I went dancing! It was one of our best turnouts for a dance and we had a great time! I was a little nervous about the DJ since he did the music for the dance last month and it was really strange. Except for a few moments of insanity, he actually did really well this time. The only low point of the evening was the fact that Sherma wasn't there and she's the life of the dance. Since she had to miss this weekend, I told her I would go dancing with her next Friday. She really didn't have to talk that hard, since I love to go dancing. :) Let's not confuse enthusiasm with talent, however. I love to dance, I never claimed to be good at it.

Saturday, I felt like I was constantly on the go, maybe because I was. :D I was able to get a lot accomplished, so that was good. Jill and DJ went with Casey to Boise to watch Oakley's state basketball game. She WON!!! Way to go Oakley! While they were gone, the kids stayed with Mom and Dad, so I got to see them for a while in between work and play.

A group of my friends got together Saturday night to watch a movie at Janell's. Since we had all stayed out until after 1 the night before, we weren't too enthusiastic about anything more vigorous. We ended up watching "Horton Hears a Who" since Dee Jay brought Keisha. I was totally fine with it since the movie is completely hilarious. Afterwards, we visited until Janell threw us out. I not kidding either, we were all too comfortable to move and she had to finally remind us we all had church in the morning. :D

This was probably the first Sunday since we switched to 9:00 church that I've been on time for sacrament meeting. I credit it the the harassing phone calls and text messages that started around 7:30 in the morning. I have great friends, but I pretty sure I haven't done anything to deserve continual harassment from so many sources that early on a Sunday. You all know me, sweet and innocent. On the upside, every meeting in church was great.

Donevan and Christine came and spoke at our fireside on Sunday. They did such an awesome job. The spirit was very strong and it was a terrific message. I really appreciate their time and effort and how inspired they were. Thanks for listening to promptings you two! And thanks to all my friends who felt so guilty for teasing me that they stayed and helped clean up afterwards. You're all wonderful.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Stephanie's Sweet Grandma

Stephanie called me this week to let me know that her sweet little grandma has passed away on Monday. Stephanie has spent almost the last two years taking care of her Grandma Rowberry and I know this is a difficult time for her and her family. Because Steph has been staying with her grandma, her friends have been given the opportunity to know and love this wonderful woman. Grandma Rowberry was always so sweet very time we invaded her home. She was always quick to smile and I know that she loved having Stephanie there with her just as much as Stephanie loved being there. I will miss her gentle, loving nature and I hope that Stephanie and her family continue to feel her presence in their lives.

Brother Anderson

Brother Anderson was a gentleman in my ward, who was quite a character. He never failed to bare his testimony every fast Sunday. It was something I always looked forward to every month. He passed away Sunday night and will be missed. You were never quite sure what he would say or do, but one thing was always certain, he kept everyone on their toes. He was always quick with a smile and loved to talk to people. Towards the end of his life, he really had the innocence of a child and it was very sweet and endearing.

At his viewing on Wednesday, the family had a plaque with the following saying:

The best way to have a little piece of Heaven in your home is to have someone you love in Heaven.

I know this to be true and I hope his family finds the peace and comfort they need at this time. He was loved and he will be missed.

...And My Weekend Never Slowed Down

One of these days I'll actually learn to just relax during the weekend, but in the mean time - Life is FUN! :D

Despite the fact that it was frigid during the day on Friday, my friends and I went ahead with our plans to snow machine and pull each other around on the tube. I really thought we would freeze, but it turned out to be pretty fun. We had enough cloud cover move it that it wasn't really that bad temperature wise. :) I also drove a snow machine be myself for the first time. It was a prefect beginner sled, not too fast and easy to turn, but I had a blast anyway. Those of our little group who were too wimpy to come outside and play with us really missed out, but we still let them drink hot chocolate with us afterwards. :)

Quinn and Kari came down this weekend and it was so good to see them. Kari has me hooked on watching "The Gilmore Girls" and she had brought me the first 4 seasons at Christmas to watch. She totally left me hanging at a crucial spot and then she forgot to bring me the last 3 seasons this weekend. I suspect it was on purpose, but I'm not bitter - well maybe a little, but I still love her. Of course that could change if she forgets them again. :) J/K

Jill and DJ were down with their kids as well as Josh and Natasha, so it was a great weekend! I got to spend time with all of my family. Caden is officially taller than me, although I suspect cheating or maybe I'm just in denial. Reese had her hair twisted into a heart on the top of her head and Elijah lost another tooth while he was at the house. He refused to sell it to Dad for more than the Tooth Fairy would give him because "She would be very sad with me." He carried it around in a little plastic baggie and was very proud of the fact that it still had some blood on it. Boys are so funny! :)

For Valentine's Day, my friends and I had a "Singles Awareness Party". Some of us wore black and Sherma had decorated her house with black and red hearts and all the paper products were black. I thought it was really funny and we had a lot of fun.

Something that was really cool this week was how every spiritual lesson I attended flowed into one another. For FHE, Mike gave an incredible lesson on the atonement and Christ's love for us. He talked about personalizing the atonement and how it isn't a blanket deal since Christ suffered for us individually. He is aware of our personal needs and is the only person who can truly understand what each of us goes through since he has already gone through it for us first.

Then on Sunday, our Sunday School lesson was on the 4th Article of Faith and how faith, repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost all play a part in Christ's love for us, while Relief Society's lesson was on Apostasy, but our teacher focused more on the blessings we receive by being true and faithful. She also focused on Christ's love for us during times of difficulty.

Sunday night I attended a Singles Fireside. The speaker was Brother Kivet, who is a religious professor for the college. He talked about the importance of faith, hope and charity during times of adversity. He talked about being able to find happiness and peace today in the promise of tomorrow's blessings. It was amazing how everything just flowed together and very neatly tied up any loose ends from the other lessons. It really is awe inspiring how the Spirit works in our behalf. How people can give us answers to questions or trials we may be facing in our lives without ever realizing that is what they are doing. The funny thing is that I'm sure everyone else came away with something different, yet it was exactly what they needed to hear. :)

Well, it officially that time. All my love to everyone and I hope you all have a great week! :)

And Life Continues...

At the risk of jinxing myself, I'm pretty impressed that I've blogged two weekends in a row. :) It's a little scary and I know everyone's shocked. This last week was pretty interesting. For FHE on Monday, we watched "Groundhog Day". Seriously, it was February 2nd, what else could have been more perfect.

Tuesdays, I volunteer at the Youth Activity Center, and I love it. Those kids run my fanny off. (I could only wish it was a little more literal.) :)

Thursday, Mindy Howard came over. She's one of the girls that I taught in Young Women's and I think she's just the cutest thing ever. She's been learning to crochet, and I taught her a new pattern and got her started on an afghan. It was such a nice relaxing evening, and I really enjoyed spending time with her. I taught Mindy as a Beehive and she's actually graduating this year. It's crazy how fast time seems to go.

Friday was awesome! We had a girl's night at my house. Some of my friends came over and we ate fresh veggie pizza, dipped fruit in chocolate and made slushies. We gave ourselves pedicures and facials, talked, laughed and in general were just silly and had fun. Then we lined up a bunch of mattresses on the living room floor and all crashed while watching a movie. Who says big girls can't have slumber parties too. :)

The next morning we had crepes for breakfast and then went snowshoeing and cross-country skiing at the golf course. Afterwards we did a little shopping and then met some friends for dinner. I made the girls walk from Walgreen's all the way down Main Street to Puerto. They were really good sports about it, but I'll admit walking back afterwards was a little chilly. Dinner was a disaster! The worst service I've ever had. But I can't complain about the company, so the evening was still fun. My only regret was not being able to spend time with Reese and Elijah. Mom had them Friday night and most of Saturday and I didn't even get to see them. :(

Janell came over for dinner after church on Sunday and then we went for a walk. We ended up going a little over 4.5 miles, so I feel pretty goody about that. It was such a gorgeous weekend! The weather was fantastic and I loved being outside so much. After Janell left, I spent the rest of the evening relaxing with Mom, Dad, Casey and Oakley. It was the perfect ending to a practically perfect weekend.

Fun Weekend!

This weekend was pretty crazy, but it was worth it! :) I ended up working late on Friday, but I got everything done so I didn't have to come back in on Saturday. Very nice! Then I decided since I was already on a roll, I'd pull a "Karen" and stayed up until 3:00 getting stuff done at the house. Needless to say, my butt was dragging Saturday. :) But I got everything done on my list and was able to party the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, I went to Dubois with Mom and Dad to watch Caden and Rhett play basketball. It was their last JV games of the season. They played Mackay and they won both games. It was so fun to watch them! Let me insert here that I'm not a sports fanatic and have no idea what is going on when I watch any type of sport other than they are trying to get a ball of some sort from one end of the field/court/place/whatever to the other. I don't know any of the terminology and most of the time I'm really not watching the game. That being said, it's so different when it's your nephews playing! I was really getting into the game and when Caden's game went into triple overtime, I was seriously stress out until they won. I have discovered that I can yell made-up stuff with the best of them. :D I had sooo much fun watching Caden and Rhett play! Good job boys! You both ROCK! I also got a kick out of Zack and Brylee. Zack is the self-delegated water boy and he takes his job very seriously. Brylee is a cheerleader, of course. Jill made her a cute little outfit and she loves the attention. :)

After we got home, I met Janell, Stephanie and Max for a movie. We went and watched "Yes, Man" at the cheap seats. I loved the message of the movie, but if you want to watch it, I would suggest you wait and rent it from Clean Flicks. Afterwards, I went to Steph's and helped her get ready for the Super Bowl party. We rearranged the furniture in the living room and got everything set up. Needless to say, it was another late night for me, but I have no regrets. :) Or at least I didn't until I had to drag my butt out of bed for 9:00 church. Let me tell you, that was a killer!

Sunday was my very first Super Bowl party. Nathan told me that it doesn't count because I didn't actually watch the game, but I disagree. I worked on a blanket and downloaded some CD's for Steph, but I was in the room the whole time and I did glance up occasionally and I even cheered for the red team at one point when everyone else got excited! :D I also laughed at several of the commercials and brought Super Bowl type food, so I feel it totally counts.

All-in-all, it was a great weekend.