The Lindholm Life

Sunshine Sunday!

2012-02-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from another blogger and thought how cool! I have never actually met this blogger in real life, but stumbled upon her blog from another friend. She has some really fun posts and often makes me laugh, feel free to check her out here. Anyways, every Sunday she posts an inspirational quote, or blurb. I am going to try to remember to do this every Sunday too, key word is try.

We would do well to

slow down a little.

Focus on the significant &

truly see the things that

matter most.

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

You can refer to the talk that it came from here. If you have some free time, I highly suggest you read it, it is a great message.

Fitting In

2012-02-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

*Note this is mostly for journaling purposes, so if for some reason it bores you or you think I am in a pity party, I'm not. I just feel the need to write down my thoughts at this moment before I explode :) Feel free to scroll down as you need, I won't be offended :)*

I have been lucky in my life. I have always found a place to fit in. I have always had at least one best friend, that I could go to at any moment and share my good and bad times with. I have had a few really close friends, and for reasons which are unknown to me, we have grown apart. That happens, I think it is part of life. I am thankful to be able to have fit in, I can't imagine being without friends, because there were some moments in my life where just hanging out with friends was all I needed in order to cheer me up. There have, however been a few times that I have felt like I didn't fit in. Let me tell you it is a hard stage to be in, and not fun.

The first time I remember really not fitting in was the crazy time in my life when I got married. Let me give you just a little background on how my church works in order to help you better understand this story. When teenagers graduate from high school and up until they get married, they are able to go to what is called a singles ward. It is a church service meant only for young single adults, in order for you to meet and mingle, and give kids in that weird gap a place to have friends and basically a place to fit in. If you do not go to a singles ward, then there is the basic family ward, which you probably guessed, is meant for all those who don't fall into the young single adult category. Ok back to my post. So when Kenny and I got married, he was home for 2 weeks before he was deployed to Iraq. So here I was a non-single (but technically single) young women, living with her parents attending a family ward. Man was that a hard time in my life. I felt like nobody understood what I was going through. I couldn't hang out with my single's ward friends anymore because they all went on group dates, and were looking to find marriage companions (which I definitely didn't fit into), and I didn't fit in with the family ward because here I was a (semi)single young adult surrounded with people in their middle ages with kids. Hard as I tried, it just never really worked. We had nothing in common, and I struggled with finding a place in which I felt comfortable. Thankfully, after many tearful phone calls with my dear husband he finally convinced me to get together with his best friend's (who was deployed with him) fiancee because they were both sure that we would get along great. Luckily Carissa and I set up a time to meet (which let me tell you is super scary considering you don't know the person from Adam) and we never looked back from there. Finally, someone who knew what I was going through, someone who had much in common with me, and actually we didn't realize it, but we had gone to elementary and high school together but never really met until years after high school. How Crazy is that!? She definitely was the answer to my heartfelt prayers as I asked my Heavenly Father to help me find somewhere to fit in.

Many years later, 2 deployments and a baby later, I find myself in the same place. Struggling to fit in. No my husband isn't deployed, and no I don't live with my parents, but I now have a (soon to be) one year old, and several friends who don't have kids. As much as they try, and I try to explain, it is just hard to understand having a child unless you actually have one. Whether you like it or not your life now revolves around this child. They have feedings, diaper changes, nap times (or else they are totally grumpy), schedules, don't do well in public places (let me tell you going out to dinner is definitely an adventure), now that she can walk she feels the need to walk everywhere and doesn't like to be held, which also narrows down the things that we can do, and so on and so forth... Is any of this making sense?? Maybe I am just rambling. Oh well it is for my purposes anyway. So here I am trying to explain to friends why we can't hang out at a certain time, why we can't go to a movie, why we can't go to that restaurant or why sometimes just keeping baby girl at home is best. I also feel bad when she cries at all. Sometimes I feel like if you don't have kids the crying and fusiness can get annoying super fast. But sometimes there is nothing I can do about it. She is a baby and sometimes she just gets uncomfortable, tired, irritable etc, in fact most adults have these issues to. So then I find myself frustrated and continually apologizing because she is not smiling and happy, but then I think to myself why am I apologizing for her being a baby? There is no need to apologize. So here I am again, feeling like I don't fit in, where do I find friends who will understand, who will know what it is like? I know you are probably saying find people who have kids, but then sometimes I feel like they are too old, and they will find me too immature. Here I am praying again, for that chance to fit in, and I know sooner or later Heavenly Father will answer my prayers, as I try everything I can to find my place.

This is what happens, when Daddy does baby girl's hair

2012-02-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

I think he may need a little more practice before our sweet little girl leaves the house... What do you think?

Blog Link Up

2012-02-14T20:14:00.001-08:00

I am definitely a blog stalker. I am always looking for new blogs to follow and new fun ideas for blogs. Well my awesome friend Carissa wrote this little ditty about a blog link up that was going on and I thought why not follow the crowd, get my blog out there and find more friends! The original link up is through:

So here is a little bit about me!

I originally started blogging as a way to keep my family in the loop. I had quite a few friends that were doing it and thought it was a neat idea! I love being able to express my feelings through writing and sometimes it is the only way that I can clear my head. I am going to make this sort of short and sweet so here it goes.

This is me and my husband Kenny. We will have been married 5 years in May. He has been on two year long deployments to Iraq during our four year marriage. The hardest thing I have ever done, is having to say goodbye and sending my husband away to a foriegn country not knowing if you will ever see him again. But with much faith and support from family and friends, we made it through.

This is our beautiful daughter. She is the light of our lives and is so much fun! She definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps me exhausted. I would not trade it for anything in the world. She grows too fast and I wish time would slow down a little.

Since you now know the basic facts, I decided I would do a little random info about me. Here it goes:

*I love Disneyland. It holds a special place in my heart. If I was well off, I would definitely have an annual pass and a vacation house in Cali.

* I love Hot Chocolate. But I am very picky about the kind. Quick Trip has the best Hot Chocolate, followed in second by Dunkin Donuts. Starbucks has quite possibly the grossest Hot Chocolate. I know, I am picky.

*I love popcorn, and my husband hates it. Which creates a little problem. When we go to the movies, I have to have popcorn, but am the only one that will eat it.

*I have a B.A. in Psychology from Arizona State University, but secretly wish I would have gone into some sort of design degree. I want to design websites, digital scrapbook pages, greeting cards etc. Who knows maybe later in my life I will go back to school for this.

*I love my family more than anything, and cannot imagine life without them.

*Writing is therapuetic for me, and I have this weird thing about people watching me write. Sometimes my husband tries to read as I am writing blogs, I can't stand that. It messes up my mojo. I have to be alone while writing, or it messes me up. Weird I know.

Well there is a little about me! Hope to get to know more of you!

Life's About Moments and How They Affect Our Lives

2012-02-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

So like probably about 90% of the rest of the population tonight in celebration of Valentines Day my hubby and I went to dinner and then to see the movie The Vow. The story line is a very fascinating one. Imagine being in a car accident and enduring a head trauma that caused you to loose your memory, more specifically to loose memory of a specific period of time. In this case, the main character Paige, looses the period of memory involving her current husband. She has no recollection of them meeting, marrying and spending the past together. Can you imagine your husband or wife having no recollection of you? Of your past? Of the time you have spent together? The movie is based off of true events, and I cannot even imagine this happening to me. What struck me the most though, was a line in the movie where Paige, in trying to remember her past, asks her "supposed" husband if she might have kept a journal in order to help her memory come back. His response was no, not to his recollection.

One reason why this hit me so hard was because I have been a terrible journal keeper. It is something that is highly emphasized in my church. We believe it is important to keep your history in writing, for future generations. I always thought the idea of a journal was nice, but to actually keep a journal? How boring. I mean somedays I don't feel like I do anything interesting enough to write about. While I know this specific memory loss case is probably rare, that is not the point. I keep thinking, of all the important moments, that have affected my life, I feel like I should be writing them down, for future generations to read. I mean what if by some awful circumstance I pass before my children grow, I want them to have something to remember me by. I want them to be able to go back and read this blog (which you can print out into a book by the way) and other journal entries I have written in past years, in order to get a feel of what I was like. When reading someone's writing you can definitely get a feel of their personality, everyone has a specific writing style. Just last month I went back and read all my blog posts from when I very first started, it was fun to read my moments and experiences and how they have effected my life.

This post was not meant to be a debbie downer post. It was simply my jumbled thoughts that I was trying to convey in writing. If you are not a blogger or journal writer, I encourage you to start. Whether it is scrapbooking your pictures which are your "moments" or just simply keeping a journal by your bed, or blogging for the world to read, anything counts and trust me, your future generations will greatly appreciate the chance to peek into the "moments" in your lives, because the majority of your "moments" have made an affect on your live.

Future Ms. Fix-it

2012-02-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Today I caught girlfriend helping her dad install the child locks on the cabinets. The first two pictures are girlfriend crying because her daddy told her no, the rest of them are just snap shots of her feeling like she is helping. She is definitely going to be a big helper for her dad.

Our Love Story Link Up

2012-02-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

I was tagged in a love story link up by the wonderful Tyah Haro, you can see her post as well as the link to the original post here.

Unfortunately I am not smart enough to figure out how to copy the cut original button that Tyah had so you will have to see it on her blog. So here is a little summary of our love story in honor of Valentines Day!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We have been together about 5 years

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Kenny and I grew up together. We were in the same stake through church most pretty much all of our lives. We became best friends in high school and had a little bit of a confusing relationship from there.

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We will have been married 5 years in May! Crazy how fast the time flies!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We were married and sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We had our reception at a local church and it was beautiful! Due to some crazy circumstances our wedding was smaller than anticipated, but we appreciate everyone who changed their schedules to be there. To make a long story short, the day after we sent out our wedding invitations, Kenny got the dreaded call (while we were in getting our marriage license no less) that he was being deployed in a very short time period. In fact he was to deploy before our original marriage date. So we had to call all those we sent invitations to, move up the wedding and get new napkins printed out with the new date of our wedding. It was a very stressful time let me tell you.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another?

Babe is pretty much what we call each other, sometimes you get a dorkface or nerdtron in there too.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

Just three things, that is super hard, but let's see.

1.) My husband is hardworking! I love his work ethic and his willingness to do anything that needs to be done. He works hard to support our family and I am so thankful for that.

2.) He makes me laugh. No matter what is going on he can make me laugh. Sometimes all he has to do is look at me a certain way and I laugh.

3.) He is a priesthood holder. He is spiritual and has a relationship with our father in heaven. Without that our marriage could not withstand the craziness of this world. I am so thankful for his wonderful spirit.

7. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He is definitely a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy. Although he is doing better at being more romantic. :)

8. Tell us how he proposed?

I was attending BYU-Idaho at the time and had asked my mom if I could come home for the weekend to refuel. I was having a difficult time and my mom agreed. One night while I was home Kenny said he wanted to take a drive, to talk about things, but he had to stop at his house first. He was acting funny and I had a feeling something was up. He went to his room and got something, put it in his hat to hide it and off we went. He took me out to a spot where we had star gazed many times before. He first turned on the song that he had used to ask me to our sophmore homecoming. Then as I got out of the car and came around to the drivers side I was admiring the beautiful sky when I turned around to see him on one knee with the ring ready. It was everything I ever dreamed of. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. I then went back to BYU-I where I finished a semester and planned a wedding at the same time. :)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Pop in a movie, and relax on the couch.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

We would love to go to Hawaii! We have talked about it for a long time now. Eventually we WILL get there. I would also love to visit the Czech Republic and see the city of Prague. Of course any kind of travel would be great for me!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing this Valentine's Day.
Nothing. Kenny has scouts so I will be sitting at home with baby girl.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's Day?

Just a date night with the hubby, dinner and a movie is good enough for me!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Communication and patience. Without communication, your relationship will fall apart, and patience is a must. When you are putting two different people in a marriage where lots of time is spent together, patience is important.
14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Real Life Law and Order

2012-02-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

This past week I participated in a real life version of Law & Order. No I wasn't a detective investigating a crime, no I was not a prosecutor or defense attorney showing evidence to prove/disprove a crime. But I was a member of the jury. I have been summoned to jury duty many times but have always defferred due to school, or previously planned vacation. This is the first time I have ever participated in the complete process. I did not realize how intense and detailed the process really was.

We started out in a big waiting room of sorts, with probably 30-40 people. After waiting for what seemed like forever (probably an hour or so) they finally came in and read off about 20 peoples names. Those names were the lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) ones who got to stay and the rest were realized from jury duty. The remaining people were taken in to the court in front of the defense team and prosecutor and were asked to state various things to better identify themselves and a little bit about them. After this round of questioning we were brought back in to the waiting room and a few of the jurors (me being one of them) were called back in, one by one, to sit on the witness stand while the prosecutor and defense attorney ask you questions in order to better explain the answers you gave in a group setting. After this we were brought back into the waiting room, where we waited for them to decide who would be on the actual jury. There were 7 of us picked, again lucky or unlucky depending on your opinon in the matter. We began the jury selection at 8:15 and did not finish until about 12:30. Not to put the situation lightly but my goodness it is an intense process, I never realized how serious the business of jury picking was.

The actual trial was boring and interesting at the same time. We had to listen to a DUI case. Let me tell you, I learned more about NHTSA cues and impaired driving tests than I will probably even need to know in my lifetime. I definitely give law enforcement props for risking their lives and keeping us safe, but man the rules and speciality testing they have to learn and train for is amazing. There are 24 total NHTSA cues to look for if you are suspicious of someone driving impaired. 24! Can you imagine trying to remember all 24 cues. It just blew my mind. Sometimes I don't think Law Enforcement gets enough credit.

The second major piece of information that was testified to over and over again is the BAC levels and how blood is actually tested. My goodness what a process that is. In just one reading the criminologist had to test 43 samples of blood! 43 samples in one round, I cannot imagine doing this on a daily basis. They are very exact and precise when testing someones blood as well. Everyone who has blood drawn has 2 samples taken. Then they have a control sample, a validity sample, and a random mix sample that the lab has created in order to make sure that the machine is calibrated right and taking the right measurements. I have to admit there was much more to the criminologists testimony but the terms used were way more technical that I could understand. What an interesting experience it is, to listen to a Criminologist and take a step into her everyday work experience.

It is very intimidating to sit in a jury, with the defendant sitting across the court room, looking at you and your every emotion. It is nervewracking to have to judge the decision that someone has made, knowing that your desicion will have an impact on their life pretty strongly. Although I know the evidence and facts were overwhelmingly pointing to one verdict, it is still such a nervewracking thing. Then being in the courtroom while the verdict is read. Super intimidating.

Overall I think serving on the jury was a fun and interesting experience. It is nice to see how our judicial system works and to get a better understand of the law, more than just what I see on Law & Order. :)

Another month older

2012-02-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

Can you believe my little baby is now 11 months old!? Time has flown by and I can't believe that she will be a year next month. She is doing all sorts of fun things. I wanted to record them for journaling purposes, so forgive me if some of this stuff is boring. At 11 months she can:
*Walk and almost run
*Wave bye almost on command, sometimes its a lot of work to get her to wave haha
*Plays independantly with her toys, giggles and has lots of fun
*Loves to eat, preferrably real food but she likes baby food as well
*Hates peas and green beans (we think it may be the color she doesn't like as well)
*Can suck out of a straw (which totally ruins us having drinks)
*Can drink out of a sippy cup
*Makes lots of sounds and babbles
*She LOVES baby dolls and carries them around with her
*She is VERY determined and has a one track mind

Here are some fun pictures and a video I finally got of her laughing. I just love her laugh it is definitely infectious.

Yuma

2012-02-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

My mom, baby girl and I recently took a trip to Yuma to visit my grandma and her husband. Baby girl had just started walking and grandma was anxious to see her walking. Unfortunately the weather ended up being extremely windy and we couldn't really leave the trailer. Baby girl was a little grumpy and not feeling well so we ended up going up Friday and going home Saturday. But I am thankful for all the moments that we get to spend with my grandma. She lives in Utah and is a snowbird, so it is not that often that we get to see her. I have always had a special relationship with my grandma, maybe because she really is the only one I really had. Or maybe because it always seemed like when we did visit, we spent lots of time together. I even spent a couple weeks in Yuma with her during my spring break one year. There is not much to do in Yuma (aka olf folks town) but I remember we didn't do much but that didn't matter. The quality time I spent with her those two weeks are ones that I will never forget. I want Kenzi to have a relationship with my grandma, afterall she is named after her. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

This last picture is just a random one. But I thought it was cute so I posted it. :)

Life is rough...

2012-02-02T18:51:00.001-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that baby girl is a daddy's girl? If you haven't read my previous post on this subject you can read it here. Well lately when Kenny comes home from work, girlfriends face lights up and she giggles as she sees her dad walk in the house. And when he walks out of the room without her, this is the reaction that we get....

(Please daddy, take me with you, I have my jacket on and I'm all ready!)

And this is what happend when daddy can't take that sad face and the cry. Yep, baby girl gets her way and out she goes to work in the garage with dad. When daddy gets home, I become invisible. Some days, after Kenny comes home and then goes outside, she will stand in the hallway and cry until he comes back in (or I end up taking her out to him), and there is nothing I can do to comfort her. What a stinker!

A good butt kickin'

2012-01-25T19:26:00.000-08:00

I just got back from doing Z*U*M*B*A! Let me tell you, if you want a serious kick in the pants take Zumba. I love this class because not only do you get a work out, but it is FUN and seriously if you can make working out fun, I am all for it. I hate working out, I have never enjoyed running, or walking on the treadmill. I get bored on the bike and the elliptical oh my goodness, totally hurts, something about the way my body is moving is not natural. So when this whole Zumba craze came along I jumped on the band wagon and decided why not try it?? I promise you will NOT be dissapointed. At least give it a try, so fun!

Try it! :)

Food for the Soul

2012-01-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed how influential music is in everyday life? I have always loved music. It can bring the spirit or push it away in a matter of seconds. It can put you in a good mood. Make you happy, sad, angry and a range of other emotions within the couple of minutes of the song. For me, music is an outlet. I have songs I listen to when I am in a good mood, or when I want to be in a good mood. This song is great for that. (Thanks to Carissa Townsend for introducing me to this video)

(P.S This is also the song in the Disneyland commercials, which does not help my extreme desire to go there again soon! Wish it wasn't so dang expensive!)

I recently saw the movie, Joyful Noise, and the music was incredible. I love hyms as well. They fill me with such joy and hope, for a better world and a better life. Here is one of my favorites:

I wish people (teenagers and young kids especially) realized how much music can influence ones life. Although many people don't listen to the lyrics closely, they are still being taken in. Just a food for thought, or for the soul...

Ode to Mater

2012-01-15T10:46:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty sure my husband shed a tear this weekend, as he bid farewell to his beloved Mater.

This truck is/was my husbands pride and joy. He bought this truck before we were married and it has been semi faithful. This was his play truck, he would take it out in the desert and "find some mud" as he called it. Somehow he was able to find mud no matter where he was going. He spent many hours working on this truck, buying parts and trying to fix it up to be better. Unfortunately, it would never work for what we needed it for. He would get frustrated when he couldn't take Kenzi somewhere because it wouldn't fit her carseat, or because I refuse to ride in it because the door handles didn't work. (you would have to jimmy-rig it or reach through the window to the outside, pull on that handle and then open the door...lots of work!).

This truck will be (semi) missed. There have been many fun memories. I decided the best way to remember Mater would be to recall some of the fun times we had in it.

*I will never forget when I had taken this truck when preparing for my wedding. I had to run home and get something and I had to take my grandma and cousin with me. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the truck is very high off the ground. I had to boost my grandma into the truck while my cousin tried to pull her in. We were all laughing so hard that it took us forever to get her in the truck.

*My poor mother is also too short and there were many times she struggled to get in the car.

*This truck was/is UGLY! We had a neighbor who (jokingly) used to ask when we were going to get rid of this "white trash" vehicle because it was bringing down her home value haha

So many fun memories in that truck. I hope that my husband finds another vehicle he loves as much as that one. Here's to finding a new family friendly vehicle, that my husband can fall in love with.

Picky people and eating healthy

2012-01-09T17:50:00.000-08:00

I have come to the conclusion that picky people (that's ME) cannot eat healthy. I mean have you seen healthy food these days. Not only is it expensive, but it is gross. I just cannot get myself to force it down my stomach. I have looked and looked for healthy meal options in order to help me with my new years resolution of eating healthy and being more fit, and I have found nothing that even looks remotely delicious. I guess picky people just aren't meant to eat healthy.

This year I'm serious...

2012-01-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, I say this every year and every year I fail, BUT this year I will not fail! This year, I am determined to better myself, and my life. So here is my cliche post, to go along with all the others this time of year.

Sometimes I feel like the reasons why so many New Year's Resolutions fail (mine in particular) is because they are often too lofty and unrealistic. Although my intentions are good, I often come up with too long of a list of things I can do better and therefore am overwhelmed with the so called list that I need to complete. So this year I have compiled a short list, that I feel can be achieved if I put my mind to it. So here it goes:

1. Get in shape and maybe even loose weight. I want to do something active 2-3x a week. Whether it be walking around the block, taking a zumba class, or just walking from one end of the mall to the other. Something, whether small or big, to get me moving and in shape. I want to be able to play and run with my kids, and live long enough to see them grow and have kids.

2. Become a better homemaker. I want to make more meals and eat out less. I want to be able to expand my cooking talents to more than just the basics (Mac and cheese, boxed dinners and pasta-I know I'm pretty lame). I want to learn the basics of sewing and be a better house keeper. I wanna spend less time on the couch and more time on my house.

3. Be a little kinder. You always here that phrase "Be kind because you never know what battle someone is fighting within." I think sometimes I forget this, and I definitely could be kinder. I want to do random acts of kindness, make someones day a little brighter and just be a better friend.

4. Improve my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Let's face it, life is busy and sometimes my priorities are a little backwards. I push the snooze button too many times, then end up running behind and forget to say my prayers. Or I'm too tired at night and I end up not reading my scriptures. I know these are typical "primary" answers but they definitely make a world of difference. I definitely need some improvement in this area.

5. Get my finances in order. Money is such a hard thing. Sometimes I feel like I can never get a good grasp on it. I want to learn how to budget, pay of my debts and eventually become debt free (as much as possible--the car and home will not be paid off anytime soon!) When you have the weight of a credit card debt on your shoulders sometimes it makes life that much more stressful, when it is completely uneccesary. Most of the time credit card purchases are petty and should never have been purchased. I also want to build up a rainy day fund, for when our tires need to be replaced, or something major breaks. It would be nice to have enough money set aside to get those things fixed.

I think that these goals are attainable and hope to make progress every month. With only 5 goals there should be plenty of time to get them accomplished. I am excited for what 2012 has to offer. 2011 brought us the end of a deployment, a baby and a new life without the gloom of deployments hanging over our heads. I am confident that 2012 can only get better!

Christmas, New Years and a Wedding

2012-01-04T16:04:00.001-08:00

(First I would like to apologize for the poor quality of some of these pictures, they were taken off my camera phone.)

Whew this season has in fact been a busy one. Let's begin with the Beautiful wedding of my brother and his lovely wife Jordan. They were married at 8am Friday December 9th 2011 in the Snowflake Arizona Temple. Let me just say it was FREEZING like 4 degrees out or something, we could see our breath and there was definitely snow on the ground. But the Temple was BEAUTIFUL and so was this bride and groom. After the wedding we rushed down to Gilbert for the luncheon and reception at the Shenandoah Mill. Here is a picture of my lovely family with the bride and groom. (I am not sure what Kenny is doing, he kind of looks fake but I promise he was there haha)

Next came Christmas, Baby girl's first Christmas. I don't know why but I never really got into the spirit of Christmas this year, which is so sad. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried it just never really felt like Christmas. But we still had fun nonetheless. Here is a pic of my family (minus my dad, he was at Church already) on Christmas morning.

The next few pictures are of baby girl opening her pajamas on Christmas eve and her presents on Christmas day. She wasn't quite sure what to do with the presents or the wrapping paper so we had to help her, but overall I think she loved her toys and all the attention!

New years just happens to fall on Kenny's birthday (or maybe it's the other way around :)) but anywho it is always fun to have 2 celebrations at the end of the year. This year we went up to iur friends cabin in Pine. It is always fun to get together with our friends (who are pretty much family) and play cards, eat, laugh, eat and even play some dance on the Xbox kinnect. We always stay up too late, eat too much and have too much fun (is that possible?) and I wouldn't change that for anything. Baby girl sure had fun too being spoiled and passed around, she even took four steps multiple times throughout our stay, I bet she will be walking soon!

Santa Claus

2011-12-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

Baby girl has been blessed with many opprotunities to see Santa Claus this year, and thankful she has not cried with any of them. We first took her to Bass Pro Shops to see the santa there. She did a great job and even smiled at the end. (Sorry for the poor picture quality, I was taking a picture of a picture).
The next opprotunity she had was to sit on her own dad's lap as he played Santa for a work party we had. It was really funny to see her try to figure out what was going on. She would look at him as he spoke, like that is my dad's voice, but that is definitely not my dad. It was so funny. I unfortunately only have a picture of this on my phone and cannot figure out how to get it on the blog. So you just have to imagine Kenny in a Santa suit with Kenzi on his lap. :)
Tonight she had another opprotunity to sit on Santa's lap. There is a cute old couple in our ward, that sets up a Santa station in front of their house, and allots 2 hours for anyone to stop on by and take pictures with Santa. The man dresses up as Santa and the wife as Mrs. Claus and the put up a backdrop on their garage and sit and talk to the kids and give out Candy Canes. It is so adorable. We even got some pictures with Kenzi's friend Aftynn (they are 3 weeks apart).

I can't wait for many more Christmas's on Santa's lap! So fun!

6 years, a husband, and a baby later....

2011-12-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

That's right folks, 6 years, a husband and a baby later and I finally graduated from Arizona State University!

It is hard to put into words the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment I felt as I stood in Wells Fargo Arena and as I walked across the stage and recieved my "diploma." As I went through this process sometimes it felt like I would never make it. It was a long challenging road but I finally made it. I am so grateful for all of those who supported me, helped me with homework, and watched baby girl. I could not have done it without the support of family and friends.

The actual ceremony was super fast and really enjoyable. The speaker was short and sweet. I really enjoyed what he had to say. It seemed like he only spoke for five minutes and then they were reading off names. They read names quickly but efficiently, you can tell that they must do this every once in a while haha or like a million times a year! What a great experience my college career has been, now I am not sure what to do with myself. I may take classes here and there just to keep up the learning. What a fun day!

I am thankful!

2011-11-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of November I saw a friend doing the 30 day challenge. I thought it was a good idea so I decided to jump on the band wagon and play along. Each day I have posted one thing I am grateful for. This experience has been amazing. It is so interesting to think that even though I am very blessed and have a thousand things to be thankful for, it is hard to make sure I am not repeating the same things. Some days I have honestly had to sit down and think for a few minutes, about what I am thankful for that day. For journaling purposes I am going to recap what I am thankful for here. You can scan through this part if you want.

Day 1: I am thankful for my wonderful family. A supportive husband who helps me more than ever, a beautiful daughter who is the sunshine in my life and a wonderful family who loves and supports me. Family is amazing! :)

Day 2: I am thankful for the roof over my head, the clothes on my back, the food I enjoy and the bed I am laying in right now. So blessed!

Day 3: I am thankful for my best friend Carissa Townsend, who is always there for me! We have shared deployments, laughs and tears and there is nobody I would rather share those things with. She builds me up when I need it, but is completely honest as well! Here's to many more years and many more Taylor Swift concerts! I love you Riss Bliss!

Day 4: I'm thankful for beautiful weather and rain! The Lord definitely made a beautiful world for us to enjoy! I don't, however, enjoy being rained out of a football game :).

Day 5: I am thankful for my senses. I am thankful I can hear my daughter's beautiful laugh, and see her gorgeous smile. I am thankful I have 2 hands to hold her, and working legs to chase her around. I am thankful!

Day 6: I am thankful for my father in heaven. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and his church that was restored on this earth. I am thankful for Sundays and the spirit I feel when I attend church. I am thankful I am a mormon and how even though I am imperfect, Heavenly Father still loves me. If you wanna know more about me, visit this link:http://mormon.org/me/677J/

Day 7: I'm thankful for technology! Oh what advances we have mad. Makes life much simpler.

Day 8: I am thankful to have a fairly nice car, to get me to where I need to go, and one that's reliable.

Day 9: I am thankful for music, it is my outlet when I am mad, sad, stressed out, whatever it may be. I love music!

Day 10: I am thankful for my puppies! As annoying as they can be sometimes, I do love them! They show such unconditional love and are always excited to see me.

Day 11: I am thankful for veterans! The military does so much for us. Thank you to all those who have fought before, who are fighting currently, and who will fight for our country! Especially thanks to the vets in my life: Kenny Lindholm, Nathan Townsend, Kelvin Baldwin and Danielle Hollahan! You guys are amazing!

Day 12: I am thankful for photography. I am thankful for the ability to capture moments in time, to save them for future generations. We had a great photoshoot today and I can't wait to see them! Thanks to Cortney Talbott Photography!

Day 13: Today I am grateful for my ongoing education. As much as I complain about it, I really do love school. I enjoy learning and growing as an individual. Luckily I will never be perfect, in this life anyway, and I will always have things to learn. I am so blessed to live in a country where education is so prevelant and opportunities are endless!

Day 14: I am thankful for friends! They are wonderful, I have no idea what I would do without them!
Day 15 & 16: I am thankful for modern medicine. Medicine that eases the pain of my poor teething little girl, and helps her gets some rest, which in turn helps her parents get some rest!

Day 17: I am thankful for KEZ who is already playing Christmas music and helping me get into the holiday spirit! I LOVE christmas music!

Day 18: I am thankful for modern convienence stores where I can buy my meat instead of having to raise and kill it myself. I am thankful for the farmers who do this for me.

Day 19: I am thankful for strollers! What a great invention they are! Seriously one of the most useful baby gifts I got!

Day 20: I am thankful for my job! I love being able to play with kids all day!

Day 21: I am thankful for great coworkers who make my job so much better.

Day 22: Today I am thankful for restaurants and fast food. Sometimes I am just too tired to cook, I am thankful there is someone else willing to do it for me!

Day 23: I am thankful for the family that was able to travel to AZ for thanksgiving tomorrow. So thankful. We have such a wonderful family!

I will be finishing up the rest of the month and blogging about it later, but I want to challenge you all to do the same thing. Every day, sit down and write down one thing you are thankful for! You will be amazed at all that you have, and all the little things you do not think about and even take for granted.

I have had a hard time getting in the holiday spirit this year. I am not sure why, maybe because it is unusually warm for this time of year, maybe because I have been too caught up in other things, but I pledge right now, to slow down a little. To think about the holidays and what they really mean! I have so much to be thankful for and so much to appreciate. Here comes the holidays in full swing and I want to celebrate it to it's fullest. I always look forward to this time of year, so why not bask in it while it's here!

CHRISTMAS!!!

2011-11-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have already started listening to Christmas music. I decided it's not too early. I love KEZ.

Don't.Judge.Me. :)

Daddy's girl

2011-10-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

Remember how I told you baby girl is absolutely a daddy's girl? She definitely has him wrapped around her finger. Well lately my wonderful husband has been watching baby girl when we get home from work so that I can finish my homework without any disturbance. This babysitting usually consists of taking Kenzi outside to work in the garage with him. Let me tell you, she absolutely loves it! She is so content to sit out there with him and watch him do whatever he is doing. Well today I went out to check on them when I was done with my homework and here is what I found:

She is so content outside with her dad. She is definitely gonna be an outside girl! We love our Kenzi girl!

Sparks Definitely Flew

2011-10-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Guess who got to see this amazing, talented, lovely person in concert last Saturday?

Yep, you guess right! ME!!! (and my best friend Carissa Townsend, my two brothers Skyler and Chris, my soon to be sis-in-law Jordan Ottley, and my lovely husband!)

This is my second time seeing T-Swift in concert and let me tell you, she never disappoints! She is simply amazing! I think she puts on the best performance. Her concert is always moving, even when she is not on stage (because of outfit changes, etc.) there is always someone on the stage performing and keeping you entertained! Sparks definitely flew that night!

Another thing I love about Taylor Swift is she is so personable. I feel like she could be everyone's best friend and get along great with anyone. She never fails to thank her fans and always makes an effort to move around so that no matter where you are sitting, you get a good glimpse of her. This was a time during the show where she moved from the end of the stage she was performing on, to the opposite side, so that the fans on the opposite end could see her a little bit closer. As you can see in the picture above (sorry it's blurry) she also makes a point to go in the crowd and meet fans during the concert! One of these days I WILL be on the floor, so I can simply shake her hand!

If you ever get a chance to see Taylor Swift in concert I would highly suggest you do it!

*Thanks to Carissa Townsend for all the fabulous pictures!

Transitions

2011-10-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you that know me well, you know that I am a creature of habit. I HATE change, and think if somethings working why change it. Obviously I can't live by this theory all the time, although I would like to. Sometimes things change because they have to, and sometimes by choice. But change is inevitable. One famous philosopher once said, "The only thing constant is change itself." Well Sunday night was a big night in our house. Yes, baby girl slept in her own room, for the first time in her life. I know she is 7 months old, don't judge me. :) I told you I don't like change.

While she slept like a champ, and I knew she would, I did not sleep at all. I have this irrational fear of not being able to hear her breathe when she is in another room, which is silly because I can't hear her breathing when she is in my room either. And I have watched too many news stories, TV shows (Criminal Minds, CSI, Law and Order etc.) and have this fear of someone breaking in her window and stealing her while I sleep through the whole thing. While I know the chances of these things happening are slim, I cannot seem to shake the images from my mind. Anyways I will get over my irrational fears and accept the change that is inevitable.

Here is baby girl sleeping in her own bed for the first night in her life. :)

Fall

2011-10-15T10:48:00.001-07:00

Since everyone is else doing a "what I love about fall" post I decided I would do one too. Here are things I love about fall, in no particular order.

High School Football

More specifically, Chandler High School football, where my brother is on the varsity team. (You can pick your jaws up off the floor now.) I know, who would have thought I would enjoy football. Well, the only football I enjoy is high school, maybe because I know the people playing, maybe because it's on a smaller scale, I don't know, but I enjoy going to his weekly games. I love the atmosphere of high school games, there is just something about them that puts a smile on my face.

Hot Chocolate

More specifically, QT hot chocolate. They have perfected the art of making hot chocolate. I have

yet to find one that is as good as theirs. Trust me, I am the expert of hot chocolate, I have tried every hot chocolate around. I love QT hot chocolate, and fall gives me a reason to drink it every day. (well almost)

Cooler Weather

More specifically, being able to open the doors and windows. Hang out outside without sweating. Driving with my windows down and my music up loud. Cooler weather. Since Arizona really only has two seasons, I feel the need to soak up the "sweatshirt" weather.

Halloween and Christmas

(I know the pictures are out of order but I couldn't get them to cooperate)

More specifically, watching children enjoy these holidays. I love to sit out on the front porch, or at a trunk or treat and watch all the cute kids dressed up in their costumes. I love seeing the excitement on their faces when they are given candy. I love watching children open up presents and seeing the joy that comes from it. I love the spirit of Christmas and everything is stands for. I love rereading the birth of Christ in His humble circumstances, and I love seeing the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, it is something I recommend for everyone, whether you are LDS or not.

and last but not least...

Grandma

More specifically, I love that this wonderful lady is a little bit closer for a few months. My grandma lives in Utah, but is a snowbird. So in the winter months her and her husband come down to Yuma, to avoid the cold winters in Utah. This makes her only 3 hours away instead of 12. I enjoy that. I love that she is here for Christmas and Thanksgiving, because I feel like I don't get the chance to see her much. And I want Kenzi to know my grandma, she is such a sweet and kind lady. We have lots to learn from her and I want to soak it all in. I love having Grandma close for a while.

It is the simple things in life that I love about Fall. Nothing elaborate, but all these things bring a smile to my face, and that is why I can't wait for fall every year.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home...

2011-10-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

There is a song often sung in our primary (children's classes) at church that goes like this, "I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be. Clap my hands and shout for joy and climb up on his knee, put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this. Pat his cheeks and give him what...a great big kiss!" When my aunt was living with me it was a song she used to sing to Kenzi to get her to sleep. Of course she didn't understand the song or what it means, but man does it ring true today. This little girl LOVES her dad!

When he walks in the room after not seeing her for the day, she lights up. If he walks by without picking her up, she cries. He even takes her outside with him, as he cleans the garage, messes with the car, whatever it may be and she is completely content. Many nights they fall asleep together, in fact I can't put her to sleep, her dad has too.

Many nights and afternoons you will find them like this:

They definitely have a bond that is unbreakable. I know that they will be best friends throughout their lives. She is a daddy's girl and there is no doubt about it. I am glad that he only missed the first 3 months of her life. She will never remember him being gone and they still bonded greatly.

At 4 months old they had their first dance...

And I am sure that this is just the first of many.

I cannot wait to see this relationship grow. It is so sweet to see your tough guy husband (kinda) melt at the sight of his beautiful little girl. He is not so tough anymore. He is a great father to her, and I know she is blessed by his love.

Pay Your Tithing!

2011-10-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Let me start this out by saying, we are not rich, by any means. If I budget well enough, we have enough money to live comfortably. I have always had a testimony of tithing. At a young age. You always hear those people in church say..."one month I only had enough money to either eat or pay my tithing, it was a hard decision but I decided to pay my tithing, and then they go on to state something happened in which they had just enough money to eat, or pay the bill that was due, etc." Well I have one of those stories too. There have been months that I have been short and I get a check in the mail for the exact amount I was needing. Or I find money hidden somewhere that I forgot I have. These past couple weeks, money has been extra tight for us, and I could not figure out why. Neither of us was bringing in less money, we didn't have tons of added expenses that I didn't know about. I was racking my brain and just could not figure out why I felt our money was so tight. Well today while we are sitting in church Kenny pulled out our tithing envelope (with the check from 2 weeks ago still in it) that he had yet to turn in to the bishop. And at that very moment, I realized, no wonder we have been so tight on money. We were behind on our tithing, not by choice, just because my sweet husband forgot. But it still made a difference in our monthly budget. Paying my tithing regularly has definitely blessed my life. I know that if I did not follow that commandment, my life would be very hard.

*For those of you who don't know what I mean by tithing. We have been commanded by the Lord to give 10% of our earnings to the church in order to be used for many things in the church. Our money is used to build churches, temples, provide landscaping, supporting missionaries, helping those in need and so much more. In Malachi 3:10 we learn " Bring ye all the ^atithes into the storehouse, that there may be^bmeat in mine house, and ^cprove me now herewith, saith the Lordof hosts, if I will not ^dopen you the ^ewindows of heaven, and pour you out a ^fblessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. "

You may find out more about tithing and other blessings of our church at www.mormon.org

6 months

2011-09-08T20:49:00.001-07:00

Can you believe baby girl went from being this big:

To this big, in just 6 short months????

I cannot believe how fast time is flying and how big by little girl is. Here are a few things I want to remember for journaling purposes:

*She can sit up really well and can even balance on her hands and knees.

*She LOVES the water, splashing in the pool or bath whatever it may be.

*She is eating some baby food and rice cereal and for the most part loves it.

*She definitely knows her mom and is beginning to cry when I leave.

*She loves her dad, he makes her laugh and she loves spending time with him.

*She is super strong and will be crawling in no time!

*She can grab anything and everything with her hands.

*She even grabs her pacifier and puts it in her mouth.

6 month stats:

*Head circumference: 16.5--42nd percentile

*Weight: 16.5 lbs--55th percentile

*Length: 27 inches --90th percentile

And some more pics of our beautiful baby girl.

Helping Dad in the Kitchen
She has enough hair for a mohawk, can you tell Dad got bored?

First time with baby food.

I'll never understand....

2011-08-30T16:43:00.001-07:00

I will never understand how someone could hurt a face like this:

I have always had a soft heart. Sometimes too soft. My mom says when I was younger all she had to do was give me the "look" and I that would be enough to let me know whatever I had done was unacceptable. Let's face it, if you know me you know I wear my heart on my sleeve. I am definitely emotional, just ask my husband or my family. I remember growing up I wanted to be a social worker. Then decided against it because I would have 100 children and wouldn't be able to handle the situations that I would find most kids in. Which brings me to my topic.

Why is it that lately I have heard more stories about child abuse than I can count on one hand. So sad. I have always loved kids, their sweet spirits are ones that cannot be matched. They are so innocent and full of an unconditional love that I wish more people in this world had. They are precious beings given to you from a loving God. You are all they know. They love you with all their heart. They TRUST you to take care of them, feed them, change their diapers, keep them safe etc. Every time I see a story of a poor baby who has passed away due to their parents shaking them too hard, leaving them in a HOT car (come on people it's 115 degrees outside, would you want to be left inside a car for 40 min, absolutely not, what makes you think your child (or animal) does! Sorry that's another tangent in itself.), being hit, kicked, burned with cigarettes, oh and the newest one, a mom blew marijuana smoke in her child's mouth because the baby wouldn't stop crying (really? so sad), I just feel the worst pain. My heart aches for that little child who trusts you and loves you with everything they have. Then I think of those moms who would give ANYTHING literally ANYTHING to have a baby because they don't have the ability. I can't imagine what is going through their heads as they witness the abuse of a child that they would give anything to love. Why can't people be smarter and more caring? I can not stand hearing these stories. I know being a mother is not easy, trust me. There have been times that I could not get Kenzi to stop crying no matter what I tried, so we cried together as I sent my mom a text asking for help. No matter how it bad it gets there is someone to help you! Even if you need to put your child in their crib for a few minutes while you compose yourself. Please spread the word, children should not be abused. It just breaks my heart. What precious beings they are, they don't deserve that at all.

I Love You This Big

2011-08-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

I know I'm still young

But, I know how I feel

I might not have too much experience

But, I know when love is real.

By the way my heart starts pounding

When I look into your eyes

I might look a little silly

Standing with my arms stretched open wide.

I love you this big

Eyes have never seen... this big

No-one's ever dreamed... this big

And I'll spend the rest of my life

Explaining what words cannot describe but, I'll try

I love you this big

I'll love you to the moon and back

I'll love you all the time

Deeper than the ocean

And higher than the pines.

Cause girl, you do something to me

Deep down in my heart

I know I look a little crazy

Standing with my arms stretched all apart.

I love you this big

Eyes have never seen... this big

No-one's ever dreamed... this big

And I'll spend the rest of my life

Explaining what words cannot describe but, I'll try

I love you this big

So much bigger than I ever dreamed my heart ever would

I love you this big

And I'd write your name in stars across the sky

If I could, I would

I love you this big

Oh, eyes have never seen... this big

No-one's ever dreamed... this big

And I'll spend the rest of my life

Explaining what words cannot describe but, I'll try

I love you this big

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVq8nEHCKd4

This Girl

2011-08-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Turned 5 months old yesterday! Can you believe it? Where has time gone? I cannot believe my little baby girl is growing so big! This is her in her new (borrowed) bouncer, thanks to Aunt Charnae and Uncle Ryan, she absolutely loves it! She has figured how to rotate herself around to get to all the toys. She definitely is a great baby. She hardly ever cries, does great in childcare all day long, and doesn't need to be held all the time (although she is so spoiled that she is held often).

We introduced her to swimming recently and she loves it! We bought her a tiny whale pool and she kicks and splashes around. When we take her in a regular pool she cannot contain her excitement and my face is usually soaked from her splashing. Here are just a few pics of her first swimming adventure.

This is our favorite, we call it the "KISS" picture. We wonder if she is related to Gene Simmons.... :)

We are sure thankful for our baby girl! I have no idea what life would be like without her. She makes life fun and interesting. Her smile lights up our whole life.

Utah Trip

2011-07-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

We recently got back from a fun trip to Utah. Both of our families are there and we sure love visiting. The weather is nice, family is close and it is a nice relaxing get away. Kenzi loved sitting outside on the hammock and swing just enjoying the breeze. We also think she must really love Utah and Grandma because it was at Grandma's house that she finally decided to roll over. What a fun event that was, we sure love seeing her grow. She also got lots of love from grandma and it is so fun to see the interaction between them. Grandma fed her all kinds of food, she was definitely spoiled and loved every minute of it. She also got to go to her first rodeo and man she was a trooper. We were definitely blessed with a great baby. I am sad I didn't get any pictures of Kenzi and grandma this trip. But she should be back soon to capture all those fun moments. Enjoy the pictures.

Kenzi's Blessing

2011-07-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

So these posts are totally out of order. But our beautiful baby was blessed on July 3rd. I am so thankful to have a husband that is worthy to bless her, to give her a name and to be able to receive the spirit and inspiration that Heavenly Father has given him. We are also thankful for all the love and support from family and friends. I am thankful for this church and the gospel. I don't want to think about where I would be without it.

Fun fact: This is the dress that I was blessed in. Passed down to Kenzi, and maybe other girls in the future :)

Ry and Char's Wedding

2011-07-31T15:55:00.001-07:00

We had the pleasure to see these two amazing people sealed in the temple for time and all eternity! We sure love them! What a great couple, we are so thankful that they will be able to enjoy all the blessings of a temple marriage and celestial family. Of course as most weddings do, we also got to visit with lots of Kenny's family that we haven't seen in a while. So fun! Prepare for picture overload, there are so many cute ones.

This is Kenzi's new best friend Seth (Kenny's cousin) he carried her around, took care of her when she was fussy, put the pacifier back in her mouth and as you'll see in the next photo, even took a nap with her. It is exhausting to take care of a baby you know :).

This is Kenzi with her grandma (Kenny's mom) and her new cousin Bentley. They are only about 6 months apart. I can't wait until they are old enough to play together. I hope they will be great friends.

Kenzi also had her first daddy daughter dance, and her first dance with a boy :)

It definitely was a fun weekend! We loved spending time with the Utah family! For more pictures check out my facebook.

Whew.....

2011-07-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

Once again it has been too long since I have posted! There has been so much that has happened that I am going to separate the posts so feel free to continue to scroll through them.

4 month check up

Here are the stats....

13lbs 10oz

25 inches long

15.75 head circumference

As usual her height is really high on the scale, like in the 80th percentile, her weight was about 50th percentile and her head is small, being like the 40th percentile.

A few fun facts....

*She loves to be facing out, to observe, and she sure wished she could play with the kids. Soon enough.

*She has not learned how to roll over (well she hadn't by her 4 month check up anyway, she can now)

*She is very interactive and playful, always afraid she will miss out on something!

Time Limit

2011-06-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

I wonder what life will be like without a time limit. My whole married life there has been a time limit. 12 days after we were married Kenny deployed, then R n R, we got 2 weeks. When he returned from that deployment we knew it was just a matter of time before he was deployed again. Let me tell you it is the worst feeling always having the thought of a deployment looming in the back of your mind. It is hard to live life every day knowing that eventually your husband will have to leave again. So when the second deployment came we were back to our time limit. This time he was sent to California first. So our time limits were more brief, 3 or 4 day passes here or there. It's hard to live your life knowing your husband is deploying, while he is in another state and there is nothing you can do. Wasted time. That is what it feels like. During this deployment we were back to the 2 week R n R and now finally our time limit will end. We are in the single digits and then we will never have to have a time limit again. I won't have to live with a looming deployment. I won't have to latch on to my husband afraid that he will be called up again. I am not sure how to live without a time limit, but I am SO excited to find out what it is like. These deployments have taught me many things, one of them is appreciation. I appreciate being able to come home to my husband every night, I appreciate all the little things he does for me. I am so thankful for him, and when he is gone, I realize all the small things he does that I take for granted. He is my rock and best friend. I can't wait until our time limit is gone!

So Many Things...

2011-06-13T19:41:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I know... it has been way too long since I updated last. There are so many things running through my head that I can't seem to organize them in a fashion in which they will be understandable to a mind other than my own. But I will try my best. Here it goes....

The freshest thing on my mind is the passing of the sweet, loving, kind Lanae Peck.

I did not know her that well, but her impact on my life is one that I will never forget. I remember when Kenny and I first moved into this house, and into this ward. The ward was so big and overwhelming I wasn't sure if we would ever find our place. I was sure that we would be lost in a ward of 600 people and never fit into the cliques that were already formed. But Lanae (Sis. Peck) proved me wrong. I remember her sweet smile and kind words as she welcomed us into the ward. I remember seeing her at Fry's and her stopping to talk to us to see how things were going. Such a small act, but one I will never forget. I don't know why her passing has hit me so hard, maybe because she was so young, only 40, I can't imagine loosing my mom at such a young age. My heart aches for her young children who now have to go one without her. I will forever be grateful for her kindness and welcome spirit. She was truly a gem.

On a happier note, this event will be happening SOOOO soon!

That's right folks, by the end of this month my sweet husband will be home and we will have kicked this deployments butt AGAIN! Man I can't wait to have my hubby home and for my little family to be complete again. I am now counting down the days and my excitement is growing. Come on time, go faster. I'm ready for homecoming!

Another noteworthy event: my beautiful baby girl is now 3 months old! Can you believe it?! Man time flies by. I can't believe she is that big already. She is finally beginning to get some rolls and chubbin' out a bit, but still not as big as I was at this age. She is absolutely adorable and I love her more than anything. She is definitely the light of my life and my best friend and confidante while Kenny is gone.

(Don't you just love that face :) )

Our Growing Girl

2011-05-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

I took baby girl in for her two month appointment yesterday. She had to get 4 shots and one oral vaccine. Poor girl. She weighs in at 9lbs 15oz, which puts her in the 23rd percentile. Her head circumference is 14.75, which puts her in the 17th percentile (yes she has a small head but it is proportioned right with her body). And her height is 23 1/2 inches, which puts her in the 86th percentile! Our baby girl just grows long! She is definitely going to be a tall one! Some fun facts about our baby girl:

*She LOVES her blankie! If she is upset, you put it next to her face and it almost immediately calms her down. If she is tired you tuck it under her head and she is asleep in no time.

* She has a very strong neck and loves to be sitting up and facing out. She apparently thinks she is going to miss out on things and doesn't want to be left out. Often times we sit her in the stroller (see pic below) and she is completely content.

*She loves her carseat and going for walks. This also calms her down and often puts her to sleep. And she often sleeps with her mouth open haha such a cute face!

I cannot believe that she is already 2 months old! She is definitely growing too fast! But is so fun and such a happy baby!

Excitement

2011-05-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but for some reason today as I drove home from work I got this overwhelming feeling of excitement. Excited for this deployment to be over. Excited to have my family whole again. Excited to not have to spend every holiday and anniversary apart. Excited to finally get our life back to semi-normal. Excited to not have to carry my phone with me everywhere. Excited to not have to answer the question "when will your husband be home." Excited to have date nights again. Excited to be able to call my husband on the phone. Excited to share every moment of our baby girls life again. Excited to go to church together. Excited to be able to share my ups and downs and excitements with my husband the day they happen. Excited for family vacations. Excited to hang with friends again. Excited to not be the odd one out. Excited to not have to stand in line at the post office forever to send out a package. Excited to be able to buy my husband real presents instead of just food, things that won't melt or spoil, and things that won't get in his way and he will just end up sending home. Excited to just sit on the couch and watch TV with him. Excited for baby girl to have a dad again. Excited to see him interact with her. Excited for the spontaneous lunch dates, and flowers. Excited to not have to sleep alone. Excited to have my handyman back. Excited to not have to worry that every time I talk to him could be the last. Mostly I am excited to have my best friend/husband home and safe, to be able to share our lives together in the same state. Excited for this moment:

We still have a few months left in this deployment, but by all means I am ready for homecoming. I wish I could put into words the feeling of seeing your spouse for the first time after a long separation where phone calls were few and far between, video chatting was sparse because of stupid internet and when you long for that bear hug. The rush of feelings that you get when you see your spouse walk off that bus is indescribable. It's like the first kiss all over again. I cannot wait for that moment. It is so special and one that I will never forget. Come on homecoming! I am ready for you!

There is Sunshine in my Soul..

2011-04-23T22:29:00.001-07:00

There is sunshine in my soul today. Why you ask? Because of this beautiful little girl. Everyday I thank Heavenly Father for such a sweet little girl. The love I feel for this little beauty is indescribable. I will admit I was scared to death to have a baby, and that is one of the reasons among others, that we waited so long to have kids. I was the one holding Kenny back. I always joke that if Kenny would have made the decision, we would have had a baby in the first year of marriage. He was ready from the day we got married. I wasn't sure that I would ever be ready, I felt completely inadequate. I know that you can never really be ready for a baby. But I felt that I wasn't even close to being ready. But Heavenly Father definitely has a different plan for us. This pregnancy wasn't planned, but I guess Heavenly Father felt we were ready, and although being a parent isn't easy, I wouldn't trade this beautiful girl for anything.

Mostly I think that Heavenly Father blessed us with this little girl because He knew that I needed her. I know that I am supposed to be the one to help her learn and grow, but she helps me learn and grow everyday. She has strengthened me and given me hope. And on those days when I feel like giving up, like throwing in the towel and saying this deployment is too hard, I look at this beautiful daughter of God and realize that I can't give up, I have to do it for her. I take her in my arms and cuddle her until that feeling goes away and that smile gives me the strength to go on for a few more days.

It is kind of an overwhelming feeling to have someone who relies on you. I have never been a very independent person. It wasn't until Kenny's first deployment that I was kind of forced to find some kind of independence. I have always kind of relied on other people. But now I have this little human being, relying on me. To make sure she is fed, changed, safe and secure. But I love this little girl and hope that I can be a great mom to her like my mom is to me.

Time

2011-04-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

A wise woman once said: "The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead" — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

When I read this quote one word comes to mind. Time. I never really contemplated how much of an impact time has on life. Our whole life is made up of time. This quote actually makes me feel a little guilty. I feel like half of my married life I have wished away my days waiting for better ones, the ones where my husband would be home and we would be back to our wedded bliss. I am constantly trying to figure out how to truly enjoy life, when my everyday is filled with worry, stress and wondering if my husband will every make it home. How do I truly enjoy life when my best friend and husband is in constant danger? I can't seem to figure it out and then I think of this quote and I am completely baffled and begin to feel like a failure. Is it possible to TRULY enjoy life like this? I wish I could figure it out. But sometimes I feel like it is hard NOT to wish away my days, I am constantly counting down the months, days and weeks until I see my husband again. I guess I need a new perspective and I am not sure how to gain it. I am not saying that I don't enjoy my life, because I do. I have the best family and friends and for the most part I do enjoy my day to day life, but when you add the word TRULY I am not sure I qualify... but I am definitely trying to enjoy my time.

This deployment brought a whole new sense to the word time and this quote in general. The first half up until Kenny's R n R (rest and relaxation) I would say I wished away the days, until my husband came home and our sweet baby girl was born. But now that I have this sweet baby girl, time and I have a love-hate relationship. Baby girl is growing up too fast. I can't believe it has already been 6 weeks, and I want time to stop so that she can be in this cute cuddly stage for a while. On the other hand I want time to speed up because I want my husband home to enjoy this sweet baby girl and all the fun cuddling time that I get. Time- something I love and Hate. Will I ever be satisfied, probably not, just something I needed to get off my mind.

If anyone figures out how to control time. Please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.

1 month!

2011-04-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

This is basically for my own recording purposes. We took baby girl in for her one month check up and she weighed in at 8 lbs 14oz, 22 1/2 inches long, and her head circumference was 14.25! She is sure growing big. She is much more alert and eating like crazy. She also got a shot today and cried during the whole thing. A few funny things about her: she HATES being naked and will scream until you get her clothes back on, which in turn means she hates baths, she doesn't like being poked and prodded (so you can only imagine how she reacts at the doctor's office :)), and she is super long and can no longer wear newborn footsie pajamas because her legs are too long. We can't believe how big she is growing and at this rate Kenny won't even recognize her when he gets home.

We sure love our baby girl! :)

The Garden in Heaven

2011-04-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

The garden in Heaven must be abundant with all kinds of delicious vegetables, because you see heaven gained an angel, an excellent gardener and cook. Heaven gained one of the most amazing women I knew, and I pray everyday that I can be more like her. Kathleen Rushton, or Aunt Kay as she was known by most (even though she was most of our great aunts), passed away leaving this world and a lot of pain. Although we are most sad to see her go, it is a true blessing because she is no longer in pain.

Aunt Kay was kind, generous, giving, loving and so many other things. She was always always serving others. She was constantly cooking something delicious and giving it to someone else. I remember as a kid being so anxious to go to Aunt Kay's house because we knew she would be cooking something (if she didn't already have something made for us) and it was sure to be delicious. Aunt Kay could throw anything together and make it taste good, I'm not kidding. Not only was she a great cook and baker, she LOVED her garden. In fact, I think working in her garden kept her healthy longer. And even in her last days, when she was so weak her husband said he couldn't keep her out of her garden. Her son even shared a story at her funeral, one day she went out to tend to her garden and fell. She called for her husband but he was nowhere to be found. So she began picking the weeds around her, and moving around to get the weeds close to her. Eventually she was able to get back up and go inside, when her husband asked what she was doing she simply replied, "I was out picking weeds in the garden." She was always out in her garden, and it was the best garden I have ever seen.

The story above shares another great attribute of my aunt Kay. She was always positive. Aunt Kay has been sick for YEARS, but nobody ever heard her complain. She made the best out of every situation no matter what and that is something that I wish I could apply into my life. I never saw Aunt Kay without a smile on her face, and you never got away without getting a hug from her. She was truly happy and great at keeping positive, when I am sure that most would have surely given up.

I am sure that I will never meet anyone like Aunt Kay, and I am grateful for the summers I got to spend with her. I am sad that she did not live to meet my own little girl, but I hope that I can pass on some of her great attributes.

We love you Aunt Kay, you will be missed. Say hello to grandpa for me.

Blessed

2011-03-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

I have been contemplating the title of this blog for a while now. So much has happened in what seems like such a short period of time. But for some reason I was having a hard time finding a title that would encompass everything that I have to say tonight. So excuse me if this blog is long, or scatterbrained. I will try my best to keep it as organized as possible. Back to my title....

Blessed

First we were blessed with this event:

After a very long and emotional journey (I was given several different dates and times that he would be arriving at the airport and unfortunately none of them were accurate). Kenny arrived home, for his R n R, very late Saturday night. Although I was kind of irritated because I originally expected him Friday afternoon. We were blessed that he made it home in time for the birth of our baby girl. I was due to be induced Sunday morning at 7:30 am, and although we didn't get much sleep Saturday night, I am thankful that he was at least home by Sunday morning.

Second we were blessed with this event:

The birth of our beautiful baby girl, Kenzi Ranae Lindholm. She was born March 7, 2011. 7lbs 12oz, 20 1/2 inches tall. She is absolutely beautiful and such a joy in our home. We love our baby girl and can't imagine life without her.

The next 2 weeks we were blessed with:

family and friends and lots of them. The above picture is my grandma, mom, Kenzi and I, four generations. How cool!

We were also blessed with:

Time. Blessed to be able to spend almost 2 full weeks as a family of 3. I was so blessed to have my husband home, and Kenzi to have her dad home, to help out for 2 weeks. I am blessed that he got to spend that time with her before he had to go back to stinky Iraq. For those that don't know we found out I was pregnant the day Kenny left for Iraq. Talk about an overwhelming event. So he has missed the entire pregnancy and it was a very real possibility that he would miss the birth too. That is what I prepared myself for. So for him to be here for the birth was a complete blessing. The Lord was definitely with us and watching over us.

We are also blessed with a great support system; family and friends, to help out until Kenny returns.

We definitely are very blessed. And although I can find many things wrong with this stupid deployment, Heavenly Father is constantly reminding me that there are also many many blessings.

The last event happened to be this one:

These were the last minutes Kenny got to spend with his little baby girl. Let me tell you, I thought watching him have to leave me was hard, watching him have to leave his baby girl almost tore my heart out. My heart ached for him as I watched him say his goodbyes and turn and walk away. He already has so much love for this little girl and it is apparent as you watch him interact with her. Which brings me to my next blessing. I am blessed with a husband who is stronger than I could ever be. I can not even imagine having to leave my baby knowing that I won't see her again for months. That has got to be one of the hardest things to go through. But my wonderful husband was strong, for us. He held it together while I fell apart. I am blessed

with an amazing husband and now father who gives me the strength to make it through.

Lastly we are blessed that this stinkin' deployment is almost over. Kenny will not miss much of our sweet baby girl's life, and for that we are both so grateful. Kenzi will never remember her dad leaving or returning for that matter, and for that we are so blessed. She will not have to relearn who he is, and he won't have to miss major milestones in her life. We thank Heavenly Father everyday for the blessings that he has given us.

On a side note I love this photo:

I think it describes both Kenzi and I's feelings toward this deployment. It mostly just makes us want to cry. :)

Strength

2011-02-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

I once heard a quote that said "You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only option." This quote definitely has defined my dealing with this deployment. People tell me all the time "I could NEVER do that.", "I don't know how you do it, knowing your husband is off to war," and many other statements. Well guess what, I don't have a choice. When I found out my husband would be deploying only 2 weeks after we were to be married I thought, how am I supposed to do this. I could NEVER make it a whole year with my husband, knowing he was in constant danger and never knowing when I would hear from him next. But unfortunately the military does not ask if you can handle these situations, in fact they don't even care. I had no choice or say in the matter. If they say your husband is deploying, all you can say is okay, and pray that somehow you will find the strength that you NEVER thought you would have had.

So that is what I did. I sucked it up and day after day I put on a smile, pretended that everything was okay and that this deployment was no big deal. When people asked I always made it sound like everything was great, and I still do to this day. And for the most part it helps, if I keep telling everyone that it's not that bad, maybe I can convince myself of the same. But what do you do when you just don't feel like pretending everything is okay? What do you do when your all out of strength and are exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally? How do you find more strength? The past few weeks I have wondered this. Preparing for this precious baby, on top of all of the other things I have going has become exhausting. And I just don't know where to find the strength to continue. As I was looking through a deployment support website I found this quote, "Some days... no matter how hard you try you're just going to feel empty, and broken and like you're the only one in the world who's ever felt this way. There's no being positive and talking you out of it...It just hurts. But tomorrow has to be better."

Tomorrow HAS to be better. So what do I do when that strength is gone. I take a mental health day, or even just a few hours. I cry, I eat junk, I let myself miss him and just wish he could come home now. I lay in bed and watch TV, whatever it is, I just let myself be sad. This is much needed. And then I tell myself tomorrow HAS to be better, and usually it is. The strength comes back and it is often enough to get me through a few more weeks. So next time you have run out of strength, for whatever reason it may be. I highly suggest this method, I think it works. Please know, I did not write this blog for sorrow or pity, I don't expect you to feel sad for me. Blogging for me is therapeutic, and I only hope that someone can get something out of the blogs I write.

My Heart Is Heavy...

2010-11-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

My heart is heavy tonight.

I know this may sound silly but I am a member of a group on Facebook called "Dear Deployment I hate you." I joined this group because first I totally agree with the name, and second it always helps to hear experiences of people who are going through similar situations as you. No matter where we live, what branch of the military we or our family members are in, we all know what deployment feels like. We all know what it is like to live with our loved ones millions of miles away in a dangerous warzone. We all know the worry that comes when you don't get contact for more than a couple of days (although the military's rule is no news is good news), we always jump to the worst conclusions when we go without hearing from them for long periods of time.

As I read over the experiences and posts that they make, I become more grateful for the deployment that I am going through. For example, I am grateful that Kenny is not part of the submarine team, where they go under water for months at a time, which means no contact with the family members. There are girls that haven't heard from their husbands for months at a time because they are underwater. Luckily I get to hear from mine at least every couple of days, it hasn't been more than 3 days this deployment. I am thankful that my husband was sent to Iraq and not Afghanistan, because Iraq is much calmer than Afghanistan right now. Not that Iraq is safe by any means, but it is definitely calmer. I am thankful that this is ONLY my husbands second deployment. I have met women that are on their fifth and sixth deployment. I cannot imagine having Kenny gone six times for a year every time. This group has been good for me because it has definitely put me into perspective. My trial is nothing, compared to most of these ladies, and as much as I wonder why us, why again, why two deployments, Heavenly Father is constantly reminding me that my trial is very easy compared to those others going through deployments, and for that I think Heavenly Father everyday. He definitely needed to put me in my place.

But today as I read through the posts of the ladies my heart sank when I read this "Dear Deployment, he is dead now...." He is dead now. My eyes teared up as I read that line. Unfortunately you hear of troops being killed in the line of duty too often. My heart cries every time I hear this, but when I read it today from this girl who just lost her best friend and boyfriend, I can't keep the tears from running down my face. I mean I know death is possible, it is a risk you take when you choose to serve your country, but this made it all too real. As I read more into her story, she said the last time they talked it was an argument and she wished that she wouldn't have wasted those last precious moments.....If only she had known.

This definitely reminded me of a few things, whether your loved one is deployed, sitting right next to you, in another state, off to school, whatever it may be, how are we spending those precious moments. Are we wasting our time arguing about things that don't really matter in the long run. Are we reminding our loved ones of how much we actually love them? Are we taking every precious moment to let them know that we care? Because tomorrow is not promised, and I think too many times we take that for granted. Yes I would like to believe and hope that all my loved ones and friends will be with me until their old age, but Heavenly Father has a plan for some of those people, and at any moment He can take them to be with him again.

This makes me thankful for the gospel. I am thankful for eternal families. I am thankful for the plan of salvation and knowing that I will live with my family again in heaven. I know that this life is not the end, and although it will never be easy to loose a loved one, and I can't imagine the thought of my husband never coming home from this deployment. I have to have faith in God's plan for us.

My heart goes out to all of those that loose loved ones during deployment, I can't even imagine how that would be. Especially because it has been months since most of them have seen their loved ones. They make the ultimate sacrifice, and for that I will be forever grateful.

ITS A........................

2010-10-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

GIRL!

and we couldn't be more excited! :)

A bun in the oven

2010-09-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

Its been a little over three years since this happened:

We have sure enjoyed our time over the years

We have laughed

And we have cried (ok maybe me more than Kenny, but he has definitely shed a few tears)

We have added new family members

And finally after much begging and pleading from our parents :) and much joy for us, this family of 2....

Will become a family of 3

So put in your guesses folks. Boy or Girl??

Cool Experience

2010-07-18T15:36:00.001-07:00

This experience was sent around in my ward. If you have not read it yet I highly recommend it!

http://crazycluffcrew.blogspot.com/2010/05/we-thank-thee-oh-god-for-prophet.html

He lives.

2010-07-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

He lives. Two words. Such a simple yet profound phrase. A wonderful couple in my ward sang "I know that my Redeemer lives," as a duet today. This song has always been one of my favorites. Each time I hear it the Spirit testifies to me that He does live. The words of the song are amazing and if you haven't truly listened to them I encourage you to. Whenever I am in need of comfort these words seem to bring immediate ease:

He lives to grant my rich supply.

He lives to guide me with his eye.

He lives to comfort me when faint.

He lives to hear my soul's complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives to calm my troubled heart.

He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives my kind, wise heavenly friend.

He lives and loves me to the end.

He lives and while he lives I'll sing.

He lives my Prophet, Priest and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath.

He lives and I shall conquer death.

He lives my mansion to prepare.

He lives to bring me safely there.

Oh sweet, the joy this sentence gives. "I know that my redeemer lives!"

What a great blessing this song is. What comfort it brings to my often troubled heart. There are often days that I realize that if it wasn't for Him, for his life and death, I would be in an awful place right now. I am so grateful for the atonement, for His example, for both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. There are many days that they have to carry me, because I just cannot do it myself. I know through this next year they will continue to carry me, and they will never tire or complain. Even when sometimes my prayers and thoughts are nothing but complaints. They are still there. Preparing my mansion, and helping me conquer all the trials, tribulations and situations that I just cannot do on my own.

I feel as if I need to bear my testimony. I don't know if I have ever done it in such a public venue before, but I hope that you can take something from it. I Know that the Lord with NEVER leave you alone. I know that He will never give us more than we can handle. I know that he prepares us for the trials and tribulations that are coming our way. And even though sometimes I think He forgets who I am, I know that He will never leave me alone. He knows each and every one of us. He knows our trials and tribulations, our strengths and weaknesses. He is my Savior. Amen

I've been waitin' on this long hard day to get over So I can rest my head right here on your shoulder

2010-06-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life is tough. There is no doubt about it. Sometimes Heavenly Father throws you curves and you wonder how you are going to handle it. Sometimes all I wish I had was some time, and that sometimes time could be extended. When I was a little girl, I had the same dream as most others, grow up, get married, be a mom, live "happily ever after." When I was a little girl, this was definitely not the life that I dreamed about. But is anyone's life really what they dreamed about? Most likely not, because we are thrown curves, sometimes they are easier to cope with than others. As I think about life, and the next year that will be full of curves, I often wonder what will be the hardest. How do I prepare for those curves so that they are not as hard to deal with when they actually get here? I know that I have done this before and with the Lord anything is possible, but that doesn't mean that it still won't hurt, or be hard. These days I find myself lost in thought more, my mind is constantly running every possible scenario, and often I am wondering what life would be like if Kenny was still here participating in the everyday activities with me.

So what triggered this post? I seemed to have gotten off of topic, but that happens when my mind is running a lot faster than my fingers. Blessings. That's what has been on my mind lately. We are so extremely blessed. The Lord has never left us "high and dry" and the saying goes. We always seem to have enough money to get by (even if we are scrapping by), we have always had a roof over our heads, food to eat, clothes to wear, opportunities for work and education. We are so extremely blessed. Besides the materialistic blessings that we have been given, we have also been extremely blessed with nonmaterialistic blessings. We were both brought up in the gospel, we both have great families that would do anything for us. We have a temple marriage and are sealed together for all eternity, along with our future children. And it is those blessings that I am most thankful for, those treasures that I will keep with me for eternity. That is what I am most thankful for. As I often tell Kenny, I would rather live in a cardboard box on the side of the road with him, than have to live life without him. Nothing else really matters.

Which brings me to the title of my post, "I've been waitin' on this long hard day to get over, so I can rest my head right here on your shoulder..." What I miss the most, is just being able to come home and rest my head on his shoulder, what I miss the most is all those little blessings, moments and treasures shared with my best friend. I feel like so much time was wasted watching TV, sitting on Facebook, and on many other unnecessary things. I am going to try harder, not to waste such precious time, because you never know if that second will be your last. It is not worth the few extra minutes checking statuses, or seeing who wins some reality TV show. Make sure you are recognizing your blessings and making those small moments count now, while you have them, before they are gone.

3 years

2010-05-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today, this happened. We were married in the Mesa Temple for all time and eternity. I am so thankful for that day and for a husband that was worthy to take my to the temple. He is pretty much the most amazing man that I know. He is always willing to do anything for me, literally, like even serving in Iraq and Afghanistan so that the war will be kept off our soil. I don't know an adequate way to express how much I love him and all that he does for me. So here are just a few of the thoughtful things that he has done for me, and the things that I am definitely grateful for!

1) He recently sold his Bow, and quads so that we could take a trip to Disneyland before he deployed. (if you know my husband you know what kind of a sacrifice that was for him)

2) He has stayed up many nights into the wee hours of the morning helping me study for finals and test, most recently last night he stayed up and texted me until one thirty in the morning to keep me awake so I could study for a final, even though that meant he probably would not get much sleep that night.

3) This past month during the most stressful part of school for me; finals, projects and so many other things, I would come home to find the house clean and dinner cooking, so that I would be able to dedicate my time to my schoolwork.

4) He has placed his hands on my head many times and given me personal blessings of strength when they were much needed.

5) He has given up hunting trips, camping trips and many other things when I am feeling neglected or we just really didn't have the money for him to go. (Again if you know my husband, you know this is a huge sacrifice for him).

6) He was deployed our first year of marriage, but managed to make sure that I received a gift for every occasion, anniversaries, holidays, birthday etc, all while being in Iraq with limited internet and phone

*most recent example, I received these at work today*

7) He is always willing to drop everything when I need him.

8) He is positive, optimistic and always looking at the bright side even when I may not see a bright side.

9) He constantly calms me down when I am stressed, frustrated, or upset.

10) He is my best friend, which is luckily not a sacrifice for him :)

So here is to 3 years and an eternity more.

I love you with all my heart to our star and back, forever and eternity.

Mom

2010-05-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Since it was recently mother's day, it would be appropriate to honor my amazing mother. Although I think mom's should be honored more than once a year. So here is my amazing parents. My mom is the most amazing person I know. Kind, selfless, giving, caring, and a great example to those around her. I am ever grateful for her help and example that she has shown to me. I do not know where I would be without her! I hope that one day I can be half of the mom that she has been to us. She not only supports us kids, but is also known to take in all of our friends and adopt them into our family. Amazing. She is simply amazing. I am so grateful for her! I love you mom!

*P.S props to my dad who bought flowers for all of the girls in our family, mothers or not.

My parents are AMAZING!

Friendship, Mission, Deployment....

2010-04-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is post is going to be long, I am just warning you. I will try to break it up so all of my thoughts don't run together.

Friendship

Friendship has many meanings, and for each of us, we probably define friendship slightly different, but when I say friendship most people have an idea of what I mean. I am in awe of the friendship between these three men in the above picture. Kenny, Kelvin and Nate. For those of you that know them you know they come as a packaged deal. In constant communication, always checking in on each other, and for the most part they always know what is going on in each others lives. These 3 also served in Iraq together, about two years ago, and their bond just grew stronger. For the past couple of years our lives have continued, intertwined as we are always doing the same things (they all joined the army at the same time, we all got puppies at the same time, purchased houses around the same time, and went through a deployment at the same time.) Then the news came that would change these three, and I am amazed at how they are handling it. There has been rumors of a deployment for a long time, so we all slowly prepared for the day that we would get those orders.... but in this case Kenny was the only one that got orders this time. For the first time in a long time, these boys would be separated by thousands of miles, and let me tell you, they were not happy about it. Because of their friendship Kelvin and Nate did everything they could to be deployed with Kenny, they volunteered to go, they do not want their friend to be in the war zone alone. Now that to me is friendship. How many of us would volunteer to go to a war zone in order to defend a friend? Unfortunately, they wont let Nate and Kelvin deploy with Kenny, and that has been kind of tough on the 3 of them. But the outpouring of friendship these 3 have has really been a strength to me. What an example they have shown. And I know while Kenny is away, I will have at least two men that I can call anytime for anything.

Mission

Man this year and last year have been the year for missionaries in my family. We have had so many farewells and homecomings that I think my ward thinks I am inactive. What a great blessing missions are. We have been so blessed to have such great missionaries in our family, and this next one will be no exception. This is my cousin Karl. He will be leaving to serve his mission in Texas in the next few days. I know he will do great, and we will surely miss him. But he has been a great example to me of preparing for a mission when it is not always the easiest. He has trudged through as there have been many tries by Satan to hold him back. I cannot wait to see what an impact he will have on the people of Texas. We love you Karl and are so proud of the decision that you have made.

Deployment

And as I already said briefly, Yes we are preparing for deployment #2 in 2 and a half weeks. The road will not be easy, and yes those of you who went through it last time with me I will probably cry whenever I talk about it. Sending your husband to a war zone for a year is not the easiest thing let me tell you. Never knowing when you will hear from him, keeping your phone on you 24/7, it is not fun. Not to mention he will miss many milestones, our 3rd anniversary, Holidays and even my college graduation. But the Lord has a plan, and even though I may not understand why, or may not agree with it right now, we will grow from it, and something good will come out of this in the end. He never said it would be easy, but He did say it would be worth it, and He would never give us more than we can handle. So I am putting my faith in Him to get through this next year. We did it once before, I know we can do it again.

Awesome Giveaway

2010-03-09T18:15:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't posted in a long time, this is just a quick shout out to a great website, I promise I will update more soon, but in the mean time check out:

http://ourbeautymark.blogspot.com/

Jewel

2010-01-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

The world lost a jewel on Monday, heavenly father gained an angel, and today she was buried. You see this beautiful fun lady is Grandma (Kay) Kirkham. While she is not related to me, she still was my Grandma, just like everyone else she came in contact with, as her son says, you are automatically adopted into her family. There was not a time I did not see this wonderful lady that she was not smiling, and giving hugs. She was full of love. She was a fun, strong, faithful spirit, that I will be forever grateful for knowing. Although she was only in my life for a short time, the imprint that she made in my life is one that I will never forget. I will always remember the contagious laugh, crazy stories, and unconditional love that she showed to those around her. Her family and friends will always cherish the memories that she gave us. THank you Grandma Kirkham for the love that you gave me. For bringing me in to your family and loving me like your own. I will be forever grateful for the love that you showed me. I can only imagine the love and laughter you are now spreading around in heaven. I hope I can take your passion, love, and service and use it in my life. You will be truly missed, but there is peace in knowing you are in a better place, and no longer in pain.

Rest in Peace Grandma Kirkham

---God be with you til we meet again---

Happenings...

2010-01-07T20:32:00.001-08:00

I am sorry my blog has been very neglected. Life has been busy and I just don't have the time to upload pictures right now. But I will do a little recap on our Christmas and New Years.

Christmas was great in our house! We both got what we wanted! I got a Cricut Expression, and although I was a little mad that my husband spent way more than the limit, I am very thankful that he got it for me. I got him a Carhartt Jacket, something that he has been wanting for a very long time. Thankfully both of our families live close enough that we could spend Christmas with both families. We spend the first half of the day with my parents because my brother called in the morning. He is enjoying Hungary and has a lot of investigators and baptisms. After the great time with my family we headed to Kenny's family so we could be there for both (yes 2) of his brothers to call from their missions. We heard from Cameron first who is in Minnesota, he said it is cold but he is enjoying himself. Next we heard from Ryan who is in Tennessee and is due home on the 27th (YAY) he is also doing well and enjoying his mission. It is so great to know that we have such valiant missionaries around the world. Please remember them in your prayers.

New Years also happens to be Kenny's birthday so we tend to have a party to celebrate. This year it was at our house and just really had our family over. We played games and had cake and did the usual things. The next day we got up and headed to our friends cabin in Pine. We stayed there for a few days and man it was so amazing! I can never get enough of that retreat! We enjoyed ourselves by playing cards, eating, playing cards, eating, playing mario, playing cards, eating.....(I think you get the pattern) and we enjoy each other's company. I am so blessed to have such great family and friends. We took Addie with us and played in the snow she seemed to enjoy it and just enjoys being outside.

We also were able attend my dear friends college graduation! I am so proud of her and can't wait to be there! Only 2 more semesters!!!

For drill in December Kenny had family day, it was pretty boring and unorganized as usual (isn't that sad) but we did get a chance to tour and ride in their hummers that the use in battle. Man can I just say a ride around the parking lot made my claustrophobic. I can't imagine driving around in those for 12-14 hours a day. Just another experience that made me truly grateful for those that are fighting for our freedom!

I also am kind of ashamed to admit that I fell into peer pressure and read Twilight. Can I just say I read the whole book in about 2 days and I can't wait to get the next in the sequel. I still refuse to see the movies but for all you skeptics like me out there, the book is really good. I am not into vampires and all of that fantasy stuff, but the love story definitely makes up for it!

Well I think that is it for now, here are some pictures of our recent happenings....

FInding Joy in the Journey

2009-12-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

A few things have occurred lately that have led me to ponder on my life and what really means the most to me. A few weeks ago I went to a relief society activity where they handed out a christmas gift to all of us. It was a homemade spiral bound book with an activity for every day of December, based off of President Monson's talk "Finding Joy in the Journey." Each activity is something that is supposed to helps us to remember our joys and gratitude in this journey. I have to admit I was very excited, for a few minutes each day I now have the opportunity to complete the little activity for the day and ponder on what I might get out of that particular lesson. Well as you can imagine our first "mini-lesson" as I would refer to it was to read President Monson's talk, and highlight any points that stood out to me. Well I could almost highlight the whole thing! I strongly suggest that you read it if you have not already! So to save you from a very long post, and because I want you to read it yourself, I am only going to go over a few points that really popped out at me.

*Time never stands still, it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes...I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey-now.

*Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.

And lastly President Monson's testimony:

"He (Jesus Christ) taught us how to pray. He taught us how to serve. He taught us how to live. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. The time came when He stood alone. Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed Him. The Roman soldiers pierced His side. The angry mob took His life. There yet rings from Golgotha's hill His compassionate words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.".... "No room in the Inn" was not a singular expression of rejection-just the first. Yet He invites you and me to receive Him. "Behold I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude."

My new goal is to focus more on Finding Joy in the Journey what a blessed life we have and to not show gratitude is selfish. Let those you love know that you love them and how much they mean to you. You will never regret it.

Give Thanks

2009-11-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

In case you can't tell what this says, cause I know the lighting is bad, it says "Give Thanks." And instead of doing my usual paragraph post I decided sometimes I write too much and go on tangents and it becomes hard to read so today I decided to just do a list, of things I am thankful, and while I could go on for probably 100 items, I am going to start with only 10.

In no particular order:

1. My crazy, lovable, sweet, adoring, thoughtful, smart, brave, strong, faithful, handsome HUSBAND.

I am so thankful for a husband who is always considering my feelings, who sacrifices hunting trips with the boys when I am feeling neglected, who takes care of me when I am sick, and works so hard to support our little family, he would do anything for me and I know that. Most of all I am thankful for a husband who is temple worthy, and holds the priesthood, who presides over our family, that is an amazing feeling.

2. I am thankful for my crazy, sarcastic, loving, fun FAMILY.

I am thankful for an amazing family that has stood by me for, let's face it, my whole life. We have been through fun times, trials, tribulations, laughing and crying and our bond gets stronger every day. They understand my emotional, fun, crazy self. I don't think I would have made it through Kenny's deployment without my wonderful family taking me in and understanding. This include not only my immediate family, but my aunts, uncles and cousins who are so great as well!

3. I am thankful for the Gospel, and most importantly Jesus Christ, my SAVIOR.

I am thankful that He died for my, that I may repent and live again. I am thankful that He bore the sins of the world, and knows the paid that everyone of us has been through so that we are not alone in ANY situation. I am thankful that He loves me and knows me individual and is watching over me as I live my life. I can't wait to see him again someday.

4. I am thankful for this energetic, sometimes annoying, fun and loving puppy ADDIE.

(if only she was still this little) Addie has definitely become a part of our little family. She has kept me company all the nights and weekends Kenny is working or camping/hunting. She protects me from harm, and makes me feel safe when I am home alone. Without her I think I would go crazy.

5. I am thankful for my FRIENDS.

This one in particular has been through thick and thin with me. Our friendship was kind of a random unexpected one, in fact we went to elementary school and high school together and did not meet until we were in college. We survived a deployment together and without her I don't know where I would be today. She is definitely one of my best friends!

6. I am thankful for my CAR.

Although it may not run well, and it literally just gets me from point A to B, I am thankful that I have it to get me to work, school and other activities. I am thankful that I don't have to walk everywhere or share my car with someone else. I often take this for granted, but recently I have been reminded that having a car truly is a blessing.

7. I am thankful for my EDUCATION.

Although I often complain, and hate having to spend the gas to drive down to ASU-Tempe, I am thankful for my education. I am thankful that I am able to learn and grow and mature. I am thankful that I will have a degree in order to fall back on and further my career as I am starting out.

8. I am thankful for a SHOWER and HOT WATER.

There is nothing better in my mind than relaxing in a hot shower. I am thankful that we live in a country advanced enough to have running water and hot water.

9. I am thankful for my FREEDOM.

Not only my freedom but also the people who fight for it everyday. I am thankful that I can worship freely, speak freely and live as I want. What a wonderful country that we live in!

10. Lastly, I am thankful for the CLOTHES on my back, the BED I am sitting in and the PILLOW to rest my head on. These comforts I enjoy everyday and often take for granted. I am so thankful for these things that keep my comfortable every night.

I hope that everyone else remembered their blessings and came up with things that they were thankful for. *On a total side note, if you have not yet seen Blindside, it is a MUST SEE. It helps to remind you what you are thankful for. Definitely worth your money.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Veteran's Day

2009-11-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, growing up all Veteran's day meant to me was a day of school, usually resulting in a three day weekend, often spent up north to a weekend get-a-way. Wow have times changed. Although I am still grateful for the day off and usually it does fall on a Monday, the meaning of Veteran's day has definitely changed for me as I have grown older, as I hope it has for you. Now as most of you know, I am a proud Army Wife, my husband is in the Army Reserve and has served one tour in Iraq. As you can imagine, this brings a whole new meaning to the event of Veteran's day. I am excited to celebrate all of the soldiers who have fought for this country, past or present. Especially for the one's who have lost their lives fighting for this country. I greatly enjoy the freedoms that come from it and don't know what it would be like to live in a country were freedom is not practiced regularly. I have experience the stories my husband has shared as he described the war torn country of Iraq, how they live and die, and how the freedoms we so often take for granted are not the same to them. On this Veteran's day I hope that you will take the time to thank a Veteran, for what they have done for us and this country. I hope that we remember this day not only as simply a day off from school, but a day to truly remember those who have lived, died, and fought for this country. I also pray that we would keep special mind of those killed in the recent attacks at Fort Hood. What a sad situation, those young lives should be remembered. Parent's I encourage you to teach your children the real meaning of Veteran's day, fly your flags high and be thankful for this freedom that we enjoy every day.

Thank you baby for serving our country, for sacrificing all to keep us safe, for this I am truly grateful and am so proud to call you my husband.

October 26, 2009

2009-10-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

I am sure most of you have heard by now of the incident that occurred on the Arizona State University Campus yesterday. If you did not I will briefly explain it to you or you can look up the story here http://www.statepress.com/node/8727 . Yesterday a graduate student committed suicide in his professors office while they were talking. He just pulled out a gun in the middle of their conversation and shot himself. Wow. I am almost speechless. But as this happened I feel the need to write out my feelings, so this is it. Feel free to read on or not. While I am saddened by this event and my thoughts go out to his family and friends, I have mixed feelings of sadness and thankfulness, I am also a little scared. I am of course, sad for the family of this student, who now has to figure out how to live life without their loved one. I too had a family member commit suicide and let me tell you it is very hard on the loved ones left behind. So I pray that his family is comforted in this time of need. Next, I am thankful that his intent was only to kill himself, and not to go on a shooting spree and kill other innocent lives. You hear about school shooting, more often then most of us would like, but we still think, oh that would never happen at my school. I thought that too, until this event that brought the story a little to close to home. Luckily, I was not on campus yesterday, but what if this man had decided to kill many others before he ended his own life? What if friends of mine that were on campus yesterday were involved in more than just one man's suicide? I am thankful that this man only took one life, his own, and did not kill other innocent lives. And lastly, this event instilled more of a fear in me. This man came onto campus with a gun, and nobody knew. Nobody. That is so scary to me. As I got in the elevator today and there was one other student in there with me, I could not help but think, what if he has a gun too. What if he is going to shoot? I know that situations can happen anywhere and that you can be injured doing almost anything. But it is scary to think that people around me could have weapons without anyone knowing. I am sure going to be more cautious and careful, doing what I can, but if the weapon is concealed, I guess there is not much I can do besides put my faith in Christ and hope that if it is my time to go I am ready. I hope I am ready.

When I Grow Up...

2009-10-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

When I grow up I want to be a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, a firefighter, a policeman... This is along the lines of what you will hear when you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up. When I was asked that question, I often answered I don't know maybe a teacher? I just want to help people. Well here I am a Junior and college, I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Human and Family Development. But what do I want to be when I grow up. As everyone else in my major begin applying for graduate school, doing research and devoting every waking minute to the program I think, is this what I really want? To be stuck in school, and having it own me for the next 4-5 years?? Not really. Honestly I want to be done with school as soon as possible! But then I think to myself. Well if you don't continue with school what are you going to be? With such a competitive market out there, there is not much you can do with a bachelors degree is psychology, I have to do more schooling. Maybe I should have thought of this before I picked my major, but I didn't, I picked my major because I thought it was interesting and because I wanted to help people, more specifically be a counselor and help people overcome their problems. The type of counseling I have wanted to do has varied, from marriage and family, to marriage and family with an emphasis in military and helping spouses and children survive deployment, cause I know it was easier to survive a deployment when I had someone going through it with me. Then I thought school counseling would be ok too. I could help young lives find direction. But I really don't know what I want to be. I just want to help people. The more I ponder on what to do next, the more stuck I am. To me, success is not measured on how much schooling you have or how much money you make. If you tell me you have a Master's degree I don't see you anymore successful than a mom with 5 kids who has been at home raising them. To me she has a Master's too, only she did not sit in the classroom to get it, she earned it through years and years of trial and error, and her reward is much more sweet, and pays more than any Master's degree does. As as I ponder the roles of the mothers I know, my mother, aunts, grandmothers, and friends I think, wow what a job! Isn't the job of a mom helping people? Changing lives, and molding them to choose the right and be God's children? Maybe what's best for me is to be a mom, to help people that way. I don't know, maybe I will never decide what I want to be when I grow up.

Hey there Delilah (I'm at the MTC)

2009-09-30T19:58:00.003-07:00

To all my LDS friends, this is so funny! Its a must see!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1157595773724

will update more later!

Pay Your Tithing!

2009-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

The economy sucks! I am sure that we have all figured that out by now. Most families (unless your filthy rich) are struggling right now to pay the bills, support their families, find work etc. Our little family has been no exception to that. Kenny works for a construction company, as most of you know construction means work is not always available and there are quite a few days that he has been told to stay home, due to there being no work for him. But I am truly thankful that he still has a job! At least he is making something. But as we struggle and most months I am stressed because I am not sure how I am going to pay the bills every time something happens and we have enough money to carry us along. A personal experience that I want to share in particular is this month we were struggling with finding enough money to pay our mortgage. It came down to the last minute and the pay checks just weren't enough. Kenny called me at work and told me that he had received a check from the Army for backpay that they owed him, and you guessed it, it was just enough to help us pay the bills. I can testify to you that this is because we strive to pay our tithing first every month. That is not something that is skipped over. We put our faith in the Lord and do all that we can with budgeting and watching what we spend, paying our tithing, attending church meetings, saying our prayers, etc. The Lord has definitely blessed us in this time of need and I guarantee that it will be the same for you if you heed his commandments and PAY YOUR TITHING!

Rely on the Lord and He will help you. As I sat through church pondering the past week, we sang "Come Unto Jesus" which seemed appropriate for my past week.

"Come unto Jesus ye heavy laden, careworn and fainting, by sin oppressed.

He'll safely guide you unto that haven where all who trust him may rest."

"Come unto Jesus from every nation, from every land and isle of the sea.

Unto the high and lowly in station, ever he calls, 'Come to me'"

I love church. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have a testimony of this gospel. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. I know that the Temple is the house of the Lord, and that we can go there to be refreshed and renewed. I am thankful for my temple marriage and that I can be with my wonderful husband forever. I am thankful for my husband and what a wonderful man he is.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday and always remember to say your prayers and thank God for your blessings!

8 in the morning

2009-08-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

So it happened, the thing I have been dreading ever since we moved into this ward. We changed to the 8am time slot. I have to admit, I have been complaining and moaning and groaning ever since I found out that our stake changes times when school starts and that our next time slot would be at 8 in the morning. For those of you that know me, you know that I am NOT a morning person whatsoever! And I had a hard enough time getting to church at 10am. This means no more late Saturday nights for a while and getting used to a whole new schedule(can I just say I am so thankful I don't have kids that I have to get up at that time too!). So we showered Saturday night (so as to sleep in as late as we could) and set the alarm for 7:00. The phone on my alarm has been finicky lately and doesn't like to go off! And guess what! it didn't go off this morning either so we woke up at 7:30 instead of 7:00. Still we hurried around and hustled and bustled so that we could make it to church on time! And can I tell you something! The Lord definitely blessed us for making the effort (and sacrifice for me) to go to 8:00am early morning church. Today was also Fast Sunday, and the spirit was so strong! The testimonies of those in the ward touch my heart so deeply! I am so glad that I made it to church today! And will make an honest effort to make it on time (and hopefully even early) to church every Sunday! It is getting a little better and we are getting to know a few more people, but I still feel lost in a huge ward! Maybe it will get better soon! School will be starting back here in a few weeks and I only have a year left before I get my bachelors! I am so excited! If I can just chug along til that point all will be better!

Perspective

2009-07-14T22:35:00.001-07:00

So its late and I need to get to bed as my husband is snoring next to me :) But as I met with a friend tonight and we unloaded all of our stresses and frustrations (trying to decide how to get our lives more organized so that we felt more in control and better about ourselves) on each other we came upon this quote which I love but completely forgot about. Just something to think about. I will update more soon!

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums, the Lord would take the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

~Ezra Taft Benson

ADDIE!!!

2009-07-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

So it has been forever! Most exciting news though is that we got a puppy! She is a black lab and we absolutely love her! We call her the terror cause she definitely is active and always wants to play, but we do love her! We also took her on her first camping trip, which is what these pictures are from! She did so well but was way dirty! haha she loved being out and exploring and rolling around in the dust! She found a patch of grass that she loved! She would go there to play with her toys, or just sleep! She definitely keeps us active, but is such a good dog. She was already using the doggie door not long after we got her! She is already learning to sit and stay! We love the new addition to our family! Our friends Nate and Rissa have a lab just older than Addie and they love playing together! That is the first picture that you see! Sorry it is so blurry but it is hard to catch them not moving! Other than that life is the same, its a bit more busy with a puppy to take care of but we cant wait to see her grow up!

Photography

2009-04-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

So Monica is an amazing photographer and I think you should check out her blog and hire her!

www.monicajohnsonphotography.blogspot.com

Rissa's Wedding!

2009-04-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry to all those who are stalking my blog ha ha and have noticed I haven't updated in a while, truth is I have just been busy! Today I decided to blog about my good friend Rissa and Kenny's battle mate Nate's wedding! We were so lucky to both be in the wedding party and participate in such a beautiful wedding! I am also very lucky that Rissa's loves and understands my beliefs enough to let me alter my dress so that it was modest. They were married April 4, 2009 at the Shanendoah Mill in Gilbert, thank goodness the wind subsided for one day so that their outside wedding could be so beautiful! I will also throw in a few of her bachelorette party which was held at Rustler's Rooste and some of the rehearsal! Here are just a few pictures! Check my facebook for a more comprehensive listing.

In other news we are getting ready for yet another brother to leave on a mission who would have known that between Kenny and I we have 3 brothers and 2 pretty much brothers on a mission all at the same time! This past year and a half has been crazy with missionary farewells! I can't wait until the homecomings, but I know they are all doing great and serving the Lord, Kenny's brother Cameron is having his farewell this sunday and will be leaving in the beginning of May and then Ricky who is practically my brother will be leaving shortly thereafter! They are all such great guys and we are proud of them all!

I am almost done with this semester and I can not tell you how excited I am! This semester has been a tough one, a lot of hard work and I need a break, too bad I am going straight into summer school! eek! But i'm trying to get as far ahead as possible!

That's it for now and I hope this blog is long enough! haha

lots of love!

DISNEYLAND!

2009-03-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we went to disneyland. It was a total blast I love Disneyland! I think it is one of the happiest places on earth! And it was a relatively inexpensive trip since Kenny had an Army conference in Newport, the Army paid for our travel, hotel and food expenses, nice huh! So we went a day early and totally enjoyed ourselves! We also stopped by Newport Beach since Kenny has never been to disneyland or the beach! It was cold but we enjoyed it. We took a ferry to Balboa Island it was such a cute little place and the weather happened to be beautiful! We didn't wait in line for very long on any of the rides, it was just the perfect trip and I can't wait to go again!

And at the last Home Enrichment night we made this really cute signs! I am so proud of them that I thought I would show them off to you!

Visiting Teaching

2009-02-26T19:07:00.001-08:00

So I have to admit I have never really been visiting teaching, not by choice but just because I have never been put in a companionship. Well my aunt sent me this in an email today and I think it is worth watching what a profound impact it had on me, and I can't wait to begin visiting teaching, hopefully I get put in a companionship soon!

http://visitingteaching.blip.tv/#804254

In other news I know that I have not updated the blog in a long time. I have been so busy between school and work and being a wife! I had midterms this last week, there are advantages and disadvantages to having all your classes on one day. I save gas by only driving down to ASU two days a week and save time as well. But when mid terms come, I get stuck with more than one midterm on one day, which is alot for me and undoubtedly one of my tests were going to suffer which was evident when I got the grade back for my Memory and Cognition midterm. I didn't do as well as I thought, luckily we can drop one of the tests. I did really well on my Abnormal Child Psych midterm, but then again I love that class and the teacher makes learning the subject a lot of fun which helps alot! I have yet to see what I got on my Courtship and Marriage midterm. But hey! now I know what kind of pressure I am going to be under and how much time studying should be put forth for each class. I will do better next time. Other than that life is going good. No complaints here! Hope everyone is doing well!

you can win!

2009-02-12T06:32:00.001-08:00

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}

4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It might be a story. It might be poetry or even some creation I haven't even invented yet (but heaven knows it will most likely be super shiny or look like it got attacked by a bedazzler). I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, thats for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

We love you Mater!

2009-02-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today my husbands dog Mater, got out and got hit by a car. (he is living with Kenny's parents right now) So my mother-in-law took the dog to the hospital, but he has some pretty bad wounds. He broke his leg very badly and has some scrapes and bruises. They said it would be $4000 for the surgery in order to fix his leg. REALLY! $4000! Unfortunately we do not have that kind of money, it was $1000 just do be able to do monthly installments, and we don't have that either. So Kenny and his parent's came to the decision that they would just put Mater down, that was their only option, although my husband really did not want his dog put down. So I dropped him off at his parents so they could go take care of it and he could see his dog again. And it turns out that the Vet won't put him to sleep, cause he is still a puppy and has a full life ahead of him. So what do they do next? We have to pay for him to stay in the hospital for the night (at $650 a night) and then my father-in-law has to go tomorrow and take him to an adoption place where their vets will fix him up and then put him up for adoption. But guess what, they said we can't adopt him back. Man oh man this has just been a terrible night. We are going to try to convince them tomorrow that they should let us adopt him back, My husband loves Mater with everything he has. I hate to see him so sad. So please send your prayers this way, for Mater and for my husband.

FIrst Day of School!

2009-01-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

So today was the end of winter break and the start of a new school semester! I have to say I am kind of excited for school! It is going to be alot of work, but my classes seem like they will all be fun and interesting. It is also my first experience with ASU size classes. Last semester the most I had in my classes was 20 people. Which I know is not typical of ASU classes but I liked it. Well this semester most of my classes have 100 people or more! But thats ok, I know a few people in each of my classes which helps out a lot! So the classes I am taking are Memory and Cognition, Abnormal Child Psychology, Social Class/Stratification, and Marriage/Courtship and family relationships. My last class the Marriage and Family relationships is going to be a great class! We were laughing the whole time we were in it. My teacher is Fay, and he is a single dad with 3 kids, who has been married and divorced twice. He says if he doesnt have experience in this subject then he doesnt know who does haha he has seen it all! I am se excited for this semesters classes and hope that I can actually learn something this semester! I am so thankful that I got the FAFSA filled out and the loan went through(thanks to help from Cara! THANK YOU!)

In other news, for those of you that don't know my husband Kenny works for Netsian Technologies which is kind of like a construction company, and of course because of the economy they are super slow and called today and told him not to come to work, cause they won't have work for a few days. Which is way bad for us considering all the bills we have to pay! But anyways I got a call from my former manager saying that he wanted to talk to Kenny about a job opprotunity! What a blessing in times of need! I hope that this all works out because it would be with a company that would always have work! The Lord will never leave you stranded and I know that for sure!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-02T06:15:00.000-08:00

I have never been really good at actually following through with my New Year's Resolutions but I heard that if you write them down you are more accountable and more likely to succeed! And I figure if I write them out here, you guys can help me be accountable too!

1) Loose 20lbs before Nate and Rissa's wedding! and many more by the end of the year!

2) Pay our debt.

3) Learn how to budget my money and stick to it! ( if any of you have a good budget sheet and would like to share with me that would be fantastic!)

4) Get Straight A's

For now, that is all. I will update if I think of anymore.

In other news, I am so excited for tonight! My boss gave my tickets for my husband and I to go see the Lion King at ASU Gammage, they are good seats! I love free date nights! That helps alot! Also my old work is having a reunion party tonight! I can't wait to see everyone! I miss them terribly, they are like family! We were all so close! I will post pictures later!

Many Many updates!

2008-12-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

Holy wow, sorry I have been such a blogging slacker. Like all of you I have been dealing with finals and work and finishing out this school year. Also we have been decorating our new house for Christmas! I love this time of year! We bought a real tree!(i cant do fake i need the smell) and decorated it together as we are celebrating our first real Christmas together! Also we have been cleaning and preparing to have families stay with us for this holiday season! We went and saw the temple lights, twice because I just can't seem to get enough of them! They had many new displays this year! It gets better and better every year! We took a friend of my brothers who is not a member, and she seemed to enjoy it too! Especially the Nativity displays inside the visitors center! I love spreading the Joy of this season! Christ's birth is truly a reason to celebrate! and i hope that we all keep the real spirit of christmas in our minds this season. I do feel like Christmas came too fast this year! I feel like Thanksgiving was just yesterday and now we are doing Christmas and before you know it that will be over and we will be in 2009! Where did this year go!? My land time is flying by so I try to enjoy every second!

Well on other notes, Kenny has been throwing up all night and is now finally asleep so I decided to blog. He wasn't going to go to church this morning, I was just going to go to sacrament meeting alone, but he decided he could at least make it to sacrament meeting. So we went and are sitting there as they are doing the releasing and callings, and sure enough they call us to be CTR 5 teachers, funny thing is they never asked us first! They never met with us to have us accept the calling, Kenny and I were stunned and in so much shock we didnt even stand, haha so apparently we are now CTR 5 teachers. Not that we won't have fun, we just expected to be at least notified first haha. The joys of Primary! We really are excited! I hope all of you are having a great Christmas! Be safe!

Soldiers Return Home...

2008-11-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

So I was watching the news this morning as they showed a division of soldiers returning from a year tour in Iraq (which brought tears to my eyes for sure!). And as I was watching I saw a girl I know, waiving her flag as she waited for her fiancee to be released to her! What a joyful Thanksgiving this will be for her and all those 60 families of the returned soldiers! It was a year ago this Thanksgiving that my husband came home from Iraq for his two week leave. That Thanksgiving you can bet I was most thankful for having my husband home on Thanksgiving. But this isn't about me. This is about being Thankful. And as you celebrate Thanksgiving this week with your family and friends, please take a moment to be Thankful for your Freedom and those Soldiers that sacrifice so much! I never understood the magnitude of their service. I don't think most people do until you really experience it. But coming from someone who spent a year without her husband, and many of our first holidays without him, each holiday is more and more special. Be Thankful for your friends and family and the time you have with them as well. Oh happy day for those Soldiers returning from Iraq. I salute you and your families and will be taking a moment of silence, remembering all those who have fought and will continue to fight for our freedom!

FAmily Pictures!

2008-11-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

So we took family pictures before Chris left... here is my favorite one. I altered it a little using PiKnic But i like it!

In other news, we finally got the keys to our house and started painting it! Its so exciting and stressful to own your own house! I cant wait to move in and decorate and go grocery shopping! But at the same time I am scared to think about the house payment and how poor we are going to be! Oh well it will be a blast! So we hope to move in the next few weeks! Definitely before Thanksgiving! Life is busy for us right now. We are full with work and school and moving in. Kenny's truck has been broken too, so he has been fixin it up! We are trying to move in before the holidays, but time is going by so fast I cant believe it is almost Thanksgiving and then after that is Christmas! My goodness, someone asked me the other day if I had started my Christmas shopping yet! ARE YOU KIDDING! haha I haven't even thought about it and I probably wont start til the week before! Im such a procrastinator when it comes to that stuff! Well i wish I had more exciting things to write but thats about it right now!

Chris's MTC Pictures!

2008-11-03T20:06:00.001-08:00

So I finally got some of Chris' pictures from the MTC loaded up here are a few of the best ones.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

So in case you didn't know I work in the childcare at Mountainside Fitness! I love my job! It has its up and downs but the kids are my favorite! You can bet how excited I was to see them dressed up in their cute Halloween costumes! Well continuing the tradition I bought candy to hand out to the kids as they left today. As a last minute thing I decided to get some pretzels (they were shaped like pumpkins and bats) and some teddy grahams for the younger ones who may not want the chocolate and sweets! So I have my basket mixed with my goodies and could you believe that most of the parents refused the candy for their kids and insisted that they have the pretzels and teddy grams (although you may be thinking well it is a gym...) I was appalled! It's HALLOWEEN for goodness sacks! Let your kids have some Candy! What is this world coming too! I mean everyone is so ridiculously set on being in shape, having the perfect body, and insisting that your children to the same! Well I am all for feeding your kids healthy things, and not letting them have candy on a regular basis, but this is Halloween! Let your kids have some Candy! Man o man i just wanted to say this one little piece wont hurt. Of course you are going to manage their intake tonight because they will get loads, but making them refuse 1 piece at the gym! Ridiculous! So you parents out there! Please let your kids have some candy tonight! For me!

Which leads me to another point! Why is society today so focused on appearance, again I believe in being healthy and managing your food and sweet intake. But come on spending all of your time at the gym is really unnecessary! and getting ready to go to the gym to work out is even more unnecessary! I see people in full on make-up at the gym! Come on it is just going to sweat off! I wish people were not so into their appearances. I feel like today's society is obsessed with their appearance, I mean I guess one would have to be if their role models are those fake people that you see on TV and magazines, what makes me so sad is that people fail to realize that they are just that Fake! They are airbrushed and photoshopped and put in the right camera angles so that you can see their "best side". It just depresses me that society is going where it is. Be who you are! That is who god made you to be! Believe in yourself! Know you are beautiful! Everyone is! And you are much more real than those fake people in the media!

Called to Serve

2008-10-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

wow, i have not updated this in a while! I promise to be better! I love these things! They help keep everyone informed!

Well this week has been a very emotional one! We took Chris to the MTC on Wednesday. That is quite an experience! He is serving in the Hungary Budapest mission and is so excited! Anyway, we flew up there on Monday night. We got in real late and didn't make it to my grandmas house until like 11:30. The next day was filled with visitors. You see my Grandma lives in a small town in Utah, Howell is the name, and it is comprised of mostly related people. So four of her five sisters live there, along with some of their children and so forth. The house was filled with a steady stream of family members all day long, people wanting to say their goodbyes and good lucks. It was great but exhausting as well. Then the next day, was THE day. We all woke up and showered and were out of the house by 8:30am. There was much anticipation and hesitation as we made the drive up to Provo. Chris was very ready, but the rest of us had mixed feelings. This is something that we have grown up with our whole life. We knew it was probably going to happen. And it is something that we are so proud of him for. But still, how were we going to say goodbye, for 2 years!? It was tough. Walking into the MTC (missionary training center) was so cool! It was an experience i will never forget. Seeing all those anxious missionaries and their family members, the spirit was so strong and we just knew we were in the right place. My mom and I held up remarkably well, we didn't cry through the whole thing like we imagined. There were tears at the beginning, I will never be able to make it through "Called to Serve" anymore without crying through it. It is such a great song, and experiencing it in the MTC is like nothing I have ever imagined. Then we made it through the rest. Until the very end... the goodbyes. The president of the MTC said that it would be easier if we acted like it was a bandaid, the faster you do it the less it hurts. And Chris took that to heart. We all start crying, Mom, Dad, Chris, Skyler, it was insane and he hugged us all and then left, in a split second he was gone. But you know what, we are at peace with it. There is just something about knowing that he is out serving the Lord, that makes it a little bit easier. Don't get me wrong we still miss him like crazy, and life won't be the same without his crazy sarcastic comments, he was always the one that kept us laughing. But I know that he will be great! I know that the people of Hungary will love him as much as we do! He is definitely doing a great work. We are so proud of him! And the MTC is something that I hope everyone gets to experience in their lifetime, it is just so awesome!

Flowers are nice except when....

2008-04-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

YOU GET SCAMMED!!!!

So I was looking over our bank statement online, like I usually do, and I noticed a charge from Easy saver 800-355-1837 for $14.95. I have no idea what it was for so I asked my husband if he had bought anything online lately. He told me no so I decided to research the matter further. There was a number so I called it and of course it is past business hours. So I decided to just copy and past that whole section in to google to do some research and guess what! There are about 20 other people I found that were scammed and had the same charges as I did, but they did not authorize them or buy anything! They said the common thread was that they had all ordered from Pro-Flowers at one time or another. I am so frustrated and it turns out that they had charged me before for $1.95 as well. Just like the other complaints that I found online!

So this is just a warning to all of you! Please be extra careful when you order from Pro-Flowers, apparently there are some boxes that are checked when you go through the ordering process and if you don't uncheck them they charge you for some service fee your not even using! Now I have to go through the bank with all this fraud stuff. So please be careful and read the fine print when ordering anything online. I know I will be telling my husband too because he is the one who ordered from Pro-Flowers and I don't think that we will ever order from them again!

Counting down the weeks!

2008-04-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well friends it is getting down to the weeks! I am almost to a single digit countdown! Life has continued to be so busy for us! School will be over in a few weeks, and I feel so overwhelmed! It seems like I have a project and paper due in every class, with final exams as well. But I know that if I can get through this then I will then only have about a week until Kenny comes home from his deployment! AHHH it feels so good to finally be at the end. Although I HATE deployments and having to spend a year away from my husband it has definitely strengthened me. I knew going into this that the Lord would never give me more than I could handle but I have to admit I thought maybe he forgot who he was giving this trial too. But like every other trial I continue to be amazed and know that the Lord helped me through this whole thing. What a strength he is and I am definitely blessed to have his hand continue to help my life. I have learned so much about myself and even Kenny while he has been gone. This experience was tough but it has enriched my live I know. I cant wait! Counting down the days...... :)

We are so close

2008-04-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have written. Life has been so busy. School is going good and work is as well. I have been taking a Boot Camp class at Mountainside Fitness. It is hard but I really enjoy it. I feel so much better about myself. I hope that I will continue to work out after this class ends. Kenny says that he would like to work out with me when he gets home. So we can work out as a couple. Aww how cute!

The first two sessions of General conference were today. It was weird at first to hear them say President Thomas S. Monson as president of the church. But I know that he will be a great prophet and he will so so well for the church. He truly is an instrument in the Lord's hands. The talks were all very good, but tomorrow I need to pay closer attention I think, and definitely get more sleep tonight so I am not dosing off during conference.

I got to talk to Kenny today. That was nice cause it has been about a week since I have actually got to talk to him and have a conversation with him. We are starting to make plans for when he gets home, which is getting closer and closer! We can't wait to start our lives together, we need to find a place to live and move our stuff in, we plan on taking a couple little trips and a big one to Hawaii as a kind of "make-up" honeymoon and I can't wait! We are going to have a blast! Here is just another day in the life of an army wife.

Children

2008-03-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

As many of you know I am a primary teacher at church. I teach the CTR 8 class and what sweet spirits they have. I learn more from them each Sunday then I think that I can ever teach them. As I was teaching the lesson today on Enos and the power of prayer and forgiveness, I was asking the kids questions about the story and what sweet spirits they have. They give the most simple answers but they are completely correct. It is such a great experience to teach them every Sunday and to learn from them. Then we went into Primary and to listen to them sing is a tear jerker. We are currently practicing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". When the children sing the last verse it brings tears to my eyes. They sing it with confidence and you can hear them bear witness of the redeemer and their savior. You can hear their testimony. I am so thankful for the calling that I have and for the sweet spirit of the children. They are such a great example to me! I am truly thankful for all that I have and what the Lord has blessed me with.

Being in an Army Life

2008-03-01T20:09:00.001-08:00

Living with your husband thousands of miles away in a danger zone is really stressful. Not to mention so frustrating because I never know when I may get a phone call or when he will get on Yahoo messenger. I don't want to miss an opportunity to talk to him, but I also need to have a life, I can't just sit at home and wait for him to call or write me. It is very hard to balance a life and waiting all at the same time.

But I did get to talk to him today. He is doing well, he is ready to come home and I am ready to have him home. He says that the atmosphere is getting more depressing as all the soldiers are tired of being away from their families and their lives. What a hard thing. I can't imagine having to pick up my life and move to a country I can't even find on a map and have to live there for a year with people that don't want you there. Constantly having to look over your shoulder and make sure that you are safe. My husband, along with all the other soldiers, are my Heroes. What they do for this country is amazing to me. A concept that I have yet to grasp. The love that they have for their fellowman is great. They are willing to fight, leave their friends and family for a year, or even more and even possibly die for people they don't even know. What a great example of Christ-like love. I look up to my husband greatly. I definitely think that I married someone better than me, and I learn something new from him everyday. What an amazing man he is. For those of you following the countdown, he will be home in approximately 2 and a half months! :)

Blogging

2008-02-23T22:14:00.001-08:00

I noticed that many people have these things, what do they call them Blogs, and I thought to myself what a cute idea! I want one to. So here is me testing out this thing they call blogging. I was sitting in my room today talking to Kenny on webcam (what a fabulous thing that is if I do say so myself ) and my mom called me out to the living room. I go to the door and the mail man has dropped off two massive crates, with locks on them from my husband. Apparently it is stuff that he no longer needs in Iraq and he decided to send them home to me. Now can I ask a silly question... why did he not send me the key. Man I love my husband, sometimes doesn't think of the most obvious things. Well you may say well why is she sharing this story about her husband sending crates, well him sending his stuff home means that HE in fact will be coming home and that is something I can not wait for! I am so excited to finally have my husband home so we can start a real family. He served his country well and now I want him back :). To add to the excitement I recently purchased tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert on the 31st of May, which Kenny will be here for. We are very excited for that and our "first date" when he gets home.