You still want that pony...don't you?

This line along with "And for you it was the choo choo train, and you wanted a red wagon...and you wanted the easy bake oven huh! Ho ho ho, MERRY CHRISTMAS!" rang through the halls of Pioneer Place Mall this past month, and I had the privelage of witnessing it. Well, the Santa job is almost over and I couldn't be HAPPIER!!! There's nothing like working with Santa EVERY SINGLE day to drive the Christmas spirit right out of ya. :) Nah, I'm just kidding. Besides the fact that the company I work for is extremely unorganized, I enjoyed being reminded of my childhood, back in the day when I believed in Jolly Ole St. Nick. Honestly, I believe Santa is a great step for kids. Something pretty tangible for them to believe in...an insentive to be good and help others, especially around Christmas time. Then, eventually, and hopefully, it evolves into a strong belief in Christ. Santa is no longer our insentive, but the Savior is and the rewards we receive for what He has done for us. I'm so thankful for the true reason for this season. :)

On another note...it looks like we're having a white Christmas here in Portland, OR. CRAZY!!! This is the most snow this area has seen since 1968!


I hope y'all have a very merry Christmas!

December 1st!

I can't believe it. Christmas is just around the corner. Ok, honestly I'm only making this post because I'm sittin' here at my sister's apartment, waiting for her to get ready to go shopping. There's not a whole lot to do and she suggested I make another post on my blog. So here it is.

Life is nice. Nice and busy. Thanksgiving did not seem like Thanksgiving this year. Probably because I had to work. But it was good none-the-less. The best thing about Thanksgiving food is Chuck's homemade turkey soup. I don't love turkey all that much. If it were up to me, we'd have steak. But, I absolutely LOVE Chuck's turkey soup. He's the best turkey soup maker ever. :) And this year it was extra tasty because my step-sister, Penny, made the turkey and she marinated it. So, put in the soup, it was DELICIOUS. I can't tell you enough how much I love turkey soup. Probably almost as much as I love sushi, which I'm going to have today...so I'm really excited about it.

For those of you who read this and care, Elder Colby Smith is still in my life. We continually write letters once a week, and I'm expecting a second tape from him this week. He's a doll and I can't wait to see where this all takes us. He gets home February 25th. The time seems to be going by slower and slower...especially in between letters. Now, I just need to focus on getting into shape in the next couple months. :)

Working two jobs isn't really my thing, but luckily it will only last up until Christmas. Being on my feet for 12 hours straight or more every day has really been hard on my feet. They're swollen...they didn't even fit into my church shoes this Sunday! Goodness. But, I know I'm gonna love it when I start seeing the money come in. :)

By the way, I absolutely love Sundays. Church is wonderful. I was recently called as a primary worker and I'm enjoying that. And, I LOVE the family dinners we have every Sunday where my sister and her boyfriend come over, along with my cousin Sundy and her husband Tyler when they can. It's so much fun. I LOVE my family.

Ok, so this was the most boring post I've made I think. Oh well. It made the time go by faster. Buh bye!

Bleh...Blee...Blah

Do you ever feel like you're in one of those "blah" moods? Well, that's what I'm feeling right now. Just...blah. There's no other word for it. I have to work tonight from 11:00 p.m. to an unknown time (that's the beauty of working at the theaters...you never know when your shift ends) but it's probably going to be 2 or 3 a.m. Why? I have Twilight to thank for this lovely shift. Because of all those nutsos who insist on seeing the movie opening night, I get to work in the middle of the freaking night...and into the morning. Because, obviously, everyone knows that opening night is different than the rest of the several weeks it will be playing in the theater, right? WRONG. Nah...I understand the excitement of seeing something opening night when it's been anticipated for months. I stood in line for one of the Harry Potters and also one of the X-Men movies. Back then, however, I did not really realize the sacrifice the workers were making. :) But it's all good, right?

So, another funny thing. By the way, this post is not the least bit interesting, I'm just venting here. I was out of work for about 3 months. I finally found the movie theater job a few weeks ago, and was also hired to be the assistant manager for the Santa's photo booth in the mall. So...I went from ZERO amount of work for 3 months, to work EVERY day for the next month. Now, believe me, I'm thankful for the work; I really am. I'm just kind of dreading the fact that I won't have a single day off of work from now until after Christmas...not even Thanksgiving or even Christmas day itself. But...it's all good, right?

And what about this? I have college education. THREE years worth of it. Sure, I never got my associates...but only because I didn't apply for it. I have all the credits to qualify for it. I am going back as soon as I save enough money to get my self up and running again...in order to finnish and get my BA. But, don't you think that 3 years of college should get me something better than the movie theaters and santa's helper for now? I'm just a little confused by that. But again...it's all good. Hopefully I'll still have friends when I'm 62 and still working at the movie theaters...

Posting to post

Nothin' new is happening. That's the risk I take having a blog as a single chick living at home...working at the movie theathers. I don't have much of a life...YET. But I'm ok with that. I love hanging out with my family. :) Here are a couple new things in my life.

We had sibling bonding time at The Spill Canvas concert.






And, thanks to a friend and her weight loss efforts, I have now kicked my butt into gear and started working out. Leslie Sansone and I are becoming best buddies.


I LOVE these videos! I'm tellin' ya...they're amazing! They give me the best workout, but they're not intimidating and I have FUN while doing it. It's the greatest!

I know what I know.

There is no doubt about this people. Jesus Christ lives, and along with His and our Father, He appeared to the boy Joseph Smith and restored his perfect gospel to the earth in its fullness. I testified of this for 18 months in Mississippi and Louisiana, and I will continue to testify of this for the rest of my life. Satan is working harder and harder to attack the righteous, specifically targeting families. This is obvious in every worldly thing that surrounds us. But while Satan continues to fight, so does Jesus Christ. And even Satan himself knows that he's on the losing side. I've chosen my side and I hope and pray that when I stand before my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ they will take me into their arms and say, "Well done, you've fought a good fight; welcome home."

Odd Jobs

I just absolutely love this limbo time...especially with the economy as it is...when I get to frantically search for a job, any job, that will take me and ultimately, pay me. After three months of no income, I now have two sources. Where? Don't be jealous...


That's right...free movies for me and all my homies! :)

And...where else?

Yep...y'all better be good, because I'm the helper of Santa, the one and only. :)

Thank goodness for temporary odd jobs...to tide me over until I can afford the "real" life of school, school, school again.

Quick Goodbye

The beauty of blogging and facebook is the fact that one can keep in touch with hundreds of people from elementary school, middle school, highschool and college, for years and years, when before, this wasn't the case. When I returned home from my mission I checked my facebook page and found that several people had discovered me in the internet world, and wanted to be my "friend." One of these individuals was Heidi Johnson. Heidi and I go back several years. Her mother, before Heidi was born, was my dad's highschool German teacher. As my dad's life came to an end, he found this teacher and contacted her in order to thank her for making a difference in his life while he was young. Through this contact we discoverd that she had a daughter my age, Heidi. From that point on, Heidi and her mother were in our lives. Pam Johnson, Heidi's mother, lent her helping hand to my parents when they were in need of a sitter or relief from the kids for just an hour or two during the trying times of my dad's cancer. They attended my dad's funeral, and Pam continued to help. Heidi and I became fast friends. We spent time together, swam together, went to the park together, had sleepovers and birthday parties together. We had a great childhood bond. As is often of childhood friends, we drifted apart in later highschool years, but never forgot the bond we created as children. When I came home from my mission, I noticed she had found me and I wrote to her, excited about renewing our friendship. Two days ago, I recieved a message from another highschool friend, notifying me that she had seen my message to Heidi back in August, and thought she should let me know that Heidi had died in a car accident earlier this year. I was completely shocked, and it's consumed my thoughts for the past two days. Now, I don't want to be misleading about this. I'm not grieving terribly over her loss as people often do over close close friends. But, it has sadddened me and hit me in such a strange and powerful way. The morning of her death was just and ordinary day for her, for her mother, for her boyfriend, for her one-year-old son she left behind. In a matter of minutes, however, ordinary was gone, along with Heidi and her boyfriend...a head on colission that killed her boyfriend instantly, and Hiedi minutes later. The other two victums lived. I never realized more than I do now, how quickly things can happen. I will continue to say "I love you" to those that I love, continue to serve whenever I can, spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ as long as I live and never leave an argument un-mended. I feel for Heidi's mother. She needs the gospel in her life and I plan on helping her find it.

Wishin' for the Mission...

So, I'd just like to announce to the world that I miss my mission too much. Can you miss something too much? Probably, when it prevents you from moving on in life. Well, I'm doing my best to move on...jump back into the fake world. But the mission was so wonderful. It just taught me so much and let me love so much...oh it was great. Ok, I know my first post was about the mish...so for this one I'm just going to post pics. I can't help it...this is what I've been thinking about for the past couple of days so here's a small peek inside my mind.

Our FAVORITE place to eat...we tried to eat there once a week. :)


Johnnie was the greatest investigator. This was taken at a baptism she attended with us. She passed away while I was still serving.

Sista Love was the greatest trainer ever. :)

Sista Jensen and I poppin' a squat on a hot HOT day. :)

Our coolest investigator in Ruston...Desiree.


Desiree's baptism day!




Ah, tender, Roach is wearing the BOPS shirt I got her. :)

Me and my "girl"...gotta love what the rain and humidity does to the hair. :)

My girl, Sista Wiechmann, and our favorite investigator in H'burg, Garren.


Sista Tuakoi joined us for a threesome...we had such a fun Christmas.




Chamberlain and I used the couch as a coat rack. :)

Eatin' pickles with kool-aid powder in the ghetto

Supposedly the first Latter-day Saint church in Mississippi...cute huh!

Pres. Heim and I strummin' a little guitar

S. Till snapped this picture when I wasn't looking...it's in Quitman, MS.

Helping out on a chicken farm...HARD, SWEATY work, let me tell ya!

Maureen and MaryAnn...Maureen ended up getting baptized right before I left Meridian.

So, Sista Draper and I set our cameras up to take a "candid" shot of us crossing this little bridge in Stonewall, MS...but then one of our cameras began to fall, so we started running to save it and it actually ended up being a real candid picture. :)


LeAnn, James and JaNiah Walden making the Quitman branch a little bit stronger. They're the greatest.

I just loved the ghetto street lights of Meridian

Oh how I love these sweet sweet memories...

8 Things I Like About You

So, this is my first time being tagged like this in a blog...I feel special. :) I find it interesting that it's 8 things...but hey, 8 is a cool number.

8 TV shows I like to watch: Most of mine are old shows...I watch the re-runs
1. Gilmore Girls
2. American Idol
3. Survivor Man (is that what it's called?)
4. Judging Amy
5. Dr. Quin Medicine Woman (remember that one? I LOVED that show!)
6. Charmed
7. I used to LOVE Friends, but eventually stopped cold turkey
8. I only really watch the top two of this list, so I can't make it to 8

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Woke up in a hotel room
2. Ate Taco Time Chicken Fiesta Salad
3. Talked to Amy McCormick about Smitty
4. Watched a demonstration on how to be Santa's helper at the mall
5. Ate home made steak and potatoes with Bobby and Kayleen
6. Received a letter from Smitty
7. *Warning* If you're reading the Twilight series and haven't finnished yet, don't read this one...:) Figured out that Jacob imprints on Edward and Bella's baby thing before it even gets close to revealing that in the book (and got ticked, by the way...when I figured that out)
8. Scheduled a job interview with the Movie Theaters for Monday

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Meeting the Savior
2. Getting a car
3. Seeing Smitty
4. Moving to Utah
5. Christmas
6. Seeing my dad again
7. getting married and starting a family
8. Loosing weight

8 things on my wish list:
1. Get married in the temple
2. To have some of my songs on the radio some day
3. Learn to play the cello
4. Get my own recording studio
5. That it would snow in the winter in Portland
6. That I could master humility and overcome pride completely
7. To go back to my mission
8. Be a mother

8 People I am Tagging: Do 8 people even read my blog?
1. Lacey Jean
2. Ashleigh
3. Paul Gregory
4. Donna
5. Crystal and Mitch
6. Um...oh, how about Noel...if you're reading this, that means you have to update your blog. :)
7. Landon
8. Sundy Lynn

I'm not gonna lie

Alright, so, I have a missionary. Ok ok, I know a lot of you already know a lot about it. And, I also know that a lot of "you" aren't really out there. You probably don't even read this. So, I'm not taking any big chances by making this post. But, if I am taking a chance, I don't care...I can't help it anymore. I have to talk about it. I just have to. I really really like him, and he's in the majority of my thoughts.

Yes, this missionary is serving in my mission right now and by "my" I mean the mission I served in. The MJM...the Mississippi Jackson Mission. That's right, we served there at the same time. Actually, we were in the MTC together. I was one of three missionaries in our MTC district to go to the MJM. He was one of the three as well. "He" is Elder Colby Smith. The other one was Elder Burton, who is now one of the A.P.s of the MJM. But anyway, back to Elder Smith, or Smitty as I like to call him. :) Well...never in my life had I even had the thought "hmmm...maybe I'll find a man on my mission...maybe I'll find my future husband." In fact, I didn't want to serve a mission. The thought of a mission scared the pee out of me. Seriously. I was in denial that it was probably my calling. But, finally, a dear dear friend/cousin convinced me that I needed to pray about serving. That I owed it to myself and the Lord to find out if this was something that I was pre-destined to do. Well, the thought of praying about it scared me, because I pretty much knew the answer, which is why I put it off. But, when I did, I said, "Heavenly Father, I'm not going to serve a mission. Are you ok with that?" Not even two seconds after I said those words, I knew they were wrong and I said, "Actually, I'm supposed to serve aren't I? I am." And when I said that, I felt like I was floating. So, from that point on, I wanted to serve...for the Lord. I knew that the Lord wanted me to, and that's why I did it. And that was the ONLY reason I did it. The Lord wanted me to. So...to say I ever thought I'd find a man on my mission is stupid. It never crossed my mind. A mission is WAY TOO hard of an experience to just do it because I might find a man. Now, some may have that thought...and more power to them. But it just wasn't my case. With that said, I did find a man. Well, to say I "found" a man leads one to believe I was looking...so I suppose the situation presented itself. Ok, enough of that. We met in the MTC and became good friends. I mean, yeah. We were both missionaries. There were only three of us going to the same mission. We all became friends. There might have been something deeper back then inside me, but I pushed it aside because I was at the very beginning of what then seemed like a "never-ending" journey. Well, we went our separate ways in the mission, occationally meeting up for zone conferences and what not. But, we never wrote. So, we'd only hear about eachother if other missionaries would talk about us.

And THEN...my second to last transfer he was called to be my district leader. NICE. Yeah right...it wasn't that nice. I was already getting a little trunky if you want to know the truth. I had just killed someone off ( hope everyone understands mission lingo...trunky:ready to go home...Kill:you're someone's last comp. and sending him/her home.) Ok, so I had just killed someone off, and was in the process of killing another person off, only to be left in the same area for 7 1/2 months...and then die myself. And then they put me with Smitty my second to last trasnfer? Right. I constantly had this internal battle of "Stop thinking of him like that. You're not done with your mission yet...but he's so great, I like him lots....stop you fool, you're a missionary...you should be ashamed of yourself." So, after struggling with this for a while, I finally brought it up with the President. And guess what...he didn't care! Of course, he didn't want me to act on it, but he really didn't care. In fact, I think he found it amusing. :) It was fine though...cuz the next trasnfer Smitty became zone leader and was trasnferred. And supposedly, President and his wife tease Smitty about it whenever they see him (cuz I guess people know now.)

Wow, this is turning into a novel. Anyway...come to find out, he likes me a lot too. I always had a hunch, but we, of course, never talked about it. When I got home I wrote him...and now we write all of the time, and right now I'm expecting a tape from him that I should have gotten by now because he sent it on Monday. Anyway, I got a letter from him today...and yeah, it was TENDER. I love this experience. Who knows what will happen from it. Either it will work out, or it won't. I obviously hope it does, but what I do know right now is that I'm having lots of fun with it. There's no doubt about that. Am I crazy? Stupid? A little girl? Maybe. But I don't care. It feels great. :)


Sweatin' it up on the chicken farm...why is my mouth open that wide?


My MTC homies...Smitty's on the left (looking at the pic) and E. Burton's on the right

Blended Family Home Evening

Being a part of a blended family is hard. It really is. I'm sure being a part of a family that is not blended has its own ups and downs, challenges and heart breaks. And, if I'm blessed with the opportunity to marry, I'll know what those are one day with my future family. But, since the age of 11, I have been a part of a blended family, and this is what I know. Taking two individual families, with several different unique personalities, and pushing them together to create a new, law formed, family is quite the challenging experience. Feelings get hurt much easier, grudges are held much longer and misunderstandings are bent even farther out of shape than imaginable. Why? Because blood runs deep...but in a blended family, there is no blood. Last night, however, our family gathered together for the first of many monthly Family Home Evenings. And, as one of my nephews bowed his head and offered the opening prayer, tears began to form in my eyes. I love these brothers and sisters that I've acquired. I really do. What are families for? On my mission I came to the realization that this life is a time to prepare to meet God, our chance to make it back to Him. (I know it tells me that in the scriptures...but I'm slow, it took a mission to make it really sink in.):) And so...our job on earth is to do all we can to not only make it back to Him ourselves, but to help eachother there as well. And that, my friends, is what families are for. We have to help eachother make it back. So...what if we aren't blood? Who the heck cares? God sure doesn't, because we're ALL His children. And for whatever reason, He gave me the chance to build bonds and relationships with 6 more beautiful people, plus their spouses and children, who I get to claim as my family. Is it easy? Heck no, but nothing is. Where's the fun in easy?


Me, Crystal and Kayleen...yes, there are two Crystals in the family. :)


Kayleen and our nephew, Luke


Katy, Jesika and me


More of the fam at FHE: Crystal, Penny, Rachael, Jon, Ellie and Jesika-I LOVE the way they spell her name. SO cute. :)


Chuck and Mom leading us in "The wise man built his house upon the rock" or whatever it's called


Bobby, Kayleen and Kevin


Ben!