Last Days

It's nearly the end of summer break, and surprisingly this has been one of my best summers in a long time. Typically my summer consists of working, working, some church activities and a random movie night or other activity with my friends from school. This summer was different, yes there was working and worrying about not enough work, but something changed when we moved to Charleston. Coming home it was easier to appreciate everything mom does for me, the comfort of home and the blessings of family. But not only do I have my family, I felt free to be myself, unconcerned with what others thought, and even better I made friends who have helped make this a wonderful summer! I got to see my friends typically twice a week, where we would just hang out, goof off, laugh, and talk. We didn't go anywhere that cost anything, we spent most of the time in parks, swinging or gazing up at the stars. There was hardly a dull moment when I was with them! It's sad to think that I will be, once again, leaving my friends behind. You would think I'd be used to this by now, but I want friends who are going to stay! I know I can text them, talk to them online, call them, but I want that friend who is there by your side in your most exciting and most difficult times! I've never really had that. Pama was always there to talk to, but we didn't get to hang out all that often. I had my school friends, but sometimes they just don't understand the things church friends do. I guess I should count my blessings that I have friends in many areas, so I'll always have a friend to turn to.

This is a picture of us goofing off one night, we are a bunch of dorks :)

As I'm getting ready for school I'm looking at my financial situation and trying to figure out what to do. I'll scrape by this semester, but next semester will be a different story. I have yet to find a job (I'm going in person soon though, hopefully that will help), and I just don't have the money I need. I would like to go on a mission, so I want to get all my debt paid off, and it's hard to do while going to college. So my alternate plan is to attend a 2yr university near home so all I have to pay is tuition and books. I want to get an associate degree in psychology, then go on a mission, go back to BYU-Idaho and finish up my bachelors in business with a minor in computer information technology.

So sometime this summer I did something to my left thumb. Not sure what, I just know that it hurts, kinda bad. Then tonight I was teasing Miranda and my thumb got knocked and now it hurts really bad. So I'm going to try and see a dr tomorrow and see what's wrong with it. OK, that is really all I've got right now. It's strange that I'm heading back to school, but I am excited to get back. I hope all is going well for everyone! Have a great week :)

Sudden Reminder

After returning home from work today mom had Sam and I read a news article and watch a short movie on what had happened at Beaver Lake in Nebraska. A 23 year old male had fallen off a boat, then got hit by the same boat and wasn't seen after that. His body still has not been recovered, but they are still searching. Confused at why I was watching this I asked mom if she knew who the boy was, since no name had been given. She said yes and told us that it was her cousin (I won't give the name since the news hasn't released it yet..) I've met him once or twice and was of course saddened by the news. At first I wanted more details of what happened, who he was with, his activity in the church things like that. Then I got to thinking about how our lives can be cut short! Every day could be our last day, do we leave the house saying kind words to our loved ones? Do we go to bed with a hug or a kiss? What small gestures could we give to remind our loved ones that they are special to us? How horrible would it be to leave after an argument and never see the other person again...Sure, it's sort of depressing, but I think it helps us keep our lives in perspective. We need to live each day to the fullest.

..Live each day as if it were your last..
I think that if I were to die tonight I would regret being upset with my brother
I'd regret not getting to know my family better
I'd regret all the times someone passed me by looking down, and I did nothing to help
I'd regret not constantly striving to be a better person.

Remember that each and every day is a gift, not a promise. Treat it like a rare possession, and never take it for granted.

Family update!

Well I guess we are pretty much settled in. Mom is still going through stray boxes in the basement, but otherwise we are doing great! We love the new house and we like the town still! Miranda and Shaelyn are gone until Friday at girl's camp, Austin is bored without them! Sam and I are now working for KIMA cleaning. They always have a couple weeks where they get really busy and offered us 40hrs/week. So we are cleaning college apartments..they can get REALLY nasty! Sam heads back to Utah on the 22nd, I think and I go to Idaho at the end of the month! I'm excited, but it's bittersweet. I've made some friends up in the singles ward and it'll be sad to leave them! Dad recently traveled to Tennessee for a couple of days and came back exhausted, he works so hard! Mom is at home most the time, sacrificing and letting the kids use the cars so we can get where we need/want...she's a great mother!

So the people we bought this house from offered to pay Sam to take down the playset that had been left in our backyard (it was HUGE) and told him he would need some help so offered to pay Austin and one other person that Sam found. So they were outside working on the playset and Austin was climbing off the playset onto the ladder that was standing next to it. He was probably on about the 3rd wrung from the top when the ladder collapsed and down came Austin! He landed on top of the ladder and also the mulch. He stood up and acted all tough telling Sam and Brandon that he was ok, and then made his way into the house with a bleeding knee. He called for mom and we could tell something was wrong. Mom went in and started cleaning the cut and decided to take him to the hospital for stitches. As they start cleaning the cut they find that one of the wood chips from the mulch had stabbed into his knee and the cut was deeper than it appeared. So they gave him stitches to help the cut heal. Also while he was there they gave him his "Tetris" shot (Tetnus--Austin kept calling it tetris) and another shot for his school vaccinations. Early the next morning Austin was up sick to his stomach. He reached a fever of 104 degrees when mom gave him ibouprofen and called the hospital. Anyway, Austin is ok, he was cold all day but is much better now :) So that's our little adventure for the year. This is Austin's 3rd set of stitches, i told him he was getting stitches for me, since I've never had to go to the hospital for anything!

Well, I think that pretty much covers what's going on in our lives! Oh, well Sam is dating a girl, she goes to BYU-Idaho. And well, that's the end of the story! Have a good week!

New Blog!

I have added a new blog simply for me to list the things I'm grateful for and to help me keep a positive outlook on life and keep in perspective everything I have and have been blessed with! If you are interested it is titled Buckets of Blessings...i'm not very creative..I'm still trying to come up with a new name..! Anyway, just thought I'd let ya know! :) If you would like we can turn it into a group blog, or you can just comment and whatnot! So what do you think? Should I add people and make it a group site to help us remember what we've been blessed with??

Quick Little Update

Well, the 4th of July was cold and rainy, we went to the parade. It was a little miserable. We went to the fire works Sunday night since they got rained out the night before, it was nice! We are starting to feel settled in in our house, though there is still stuff to do to finish moving in. We like it here, and it really does feel like home.

Well I applied for a job in Rexburg and would be going up there next week if I had gotten the job. BUT I did not get the job. I'm having a hard time finding work up there and I was really disappointed that I did not get the job. But to make me feel a little better there were 130 applicants and only 40 made it to the interview process...I was one of those. There are only 15 openings. So I'm a little bummed about that. I had felt so sure and it felt so right it was hard to take. But I know the Lord will provide as long as I remain faithful and keep the commandments. Thankfully I do have a job right now, and I have a little time to find a job in Rexburg. I'm just grateful that I have a job, and a fairly decent paying job at that. :D

Have a good day everyone :) I need to get ready to go to work :)

A day of rest!

On Friday June 19 2009, my parents closed on our new house in Charleston Illinois! That afternoon we began the projects we had planned. Dad had all of the next week off and we figured things would go quickly and easily and we'd be moved in by Saturday June 27th. However we began the tedious task of peeling wallpaper. The top layer is the easy part, but to our horror we found that the 2nd layer would be worse than normal. As we began peeling away the bottom we found that whoever had put the wallpaper up had neglected to prime or paint the drywall before putting up the wallpaper (this means the wallpaper was getting all ripped up adding a patching/mudding step to our process). Now that was not the only thing! It appears that wallpaper is the first thing they put on after the drywall was up. No bother to put the door frames or the floorboard on first! So the wallpaper is underneath the wood, making it difficult to get the wallpaper so it wasn't visible! It took hours to complete ONE wall. Anyway dad tore our the upstairs and master bathroom and redid the flooring (they had CARPET in the bathrooms..eew.) We had flooring people come and redo the dining room (to currently be used as an office) and kitchen in vinyl that looks like wood floor, it looks good! They also put new carpet in the living room and the master bedroom. They will also replace the carpet on the stairs and upstairs hallways and closets as soon as we finish the wall in the entry way! You see, the entry way which is like 16ft tall also had wallpaper on the walls and seemed even harder to get off than the kitchen! It's been an interesting task! Anyway, the kitchen is ready to be painted! So we will be moving the rest of our stuff over to the house tomorrow (all that is left is what we have left in our apartment). After we get moved in we will work on the entry way some more! Eventually we will get to the basement...but we aren't rushing anything, we've had enough with home improvement projects for a little while! Oh I forgot to say that we also peeled wallpaper out of the upstairs bathroom and mom painted it yesterday! Dad was supposed to get an offwhite color for the bathroom, but I guess he got Shamrock White. I haven't seen it, but mom says it has a green tint...so I guess I'll see tomorrow after work what it really looks like! Dad goes back to work tomorrow, I think we are all glad this last week is over and we all looked forward to today, a day of rest! We would wake up around 7am everyday and get done at the house no earlier than 11:30. Last night mom and dad didn't get home until after midnight! Anyway so we are all very grateful for a day of rest. Dad said on the way to church that he now understands why the world has forgotten Sunday as the day of rest...none of them work hard enough to need a day of rest! lol

Ok, new topic. So a friend of mine in Rexburg got me an application for a new place opening in Rexburg, some sort of family fun place! I'm hoping to get the job, and if so I'll probably be returning to Rexburg earlier than I planned, only catch is that I will have to find a place to stay for a month! So I'm really hoping for the job, it would be great and I have a great availability schedule this next semester! Tuesday-Friday I'm done with classes by 11:15! Also ALL of my classes are really close to my apartment! They are all in the Smith building except one, which is in the Clark (not that that means much to most of you) But they are pretty much the closest buildings to my apartment! Like a 7 minute walk at most! I'm really looking forward to getting back to school!
Have a great week everybody! :D

Slow News week?

Well aside from Alissa and Victory's exciting announcement, it's been a pretty slow week for blogging! So I thought I'd share a little dumb moment of mine:

I was at my computer typing when this stupid little bug kept flying around my face, so getting fed up with it I swatted. I definitely made contact....WITH MY FACE!

Anyway that was one of my many DUH moments, and thought I'd share it with hope that it would bring a smile to your face :)



and here is a quote that one of my counselors in the bishopric at school liked to say a lot: "Put a smile on your kisser, and if you are lucky someone will plant a kiss on your smiler."