Christmas in Henryetta

Here are some pictures from our wonderful time in Henryetta for Christmas....

Emmy, Jessie, and Mazee really enjoyed the Cheetos, can't you tell

Had to capture the family game

Dad and Trey, just adorable

Emmy and Jessie opening their many gifts

I have been blessed to have a wonderful family on both sides...I love them very much!!

White Christmas

It was my first white Christmas!!! I was so excited to see this on Christmas Eve...

Kaleb, Kyten, and I were so excited that we were literally jumping up and down! Mark enjoyed it also as you can see...

Christmas morning we opened gifts...


Then played in the snow some more...


It was a great Christmas and it had nothing to do with the presents, even though I did get some nice gifts. I enjoyed spending time with my family from both sides. I loved the snow and it was just so fun. Mark and I went to his parents in Henryetta the day after Christmas and we had lots of fun there. He was able to play Simpsons Scene It with his brother and friend and I was able to have quality girl time playing basketball with my wonderful sister-in-laws.

Recent Dance Video

Last night I video taped me dancing because I wanted to see if I have improved in my lindy hop. Well I watched the video and I was quite proud of myself. My instructor says how well I am doing and that i am "great dancer", but of course I just think he is being nice but watching this video I know I am doing well...not being prideful just confident (which is something I need to work on). I hope you enjoy watching! (Oh and pause the music on the bottom of the page so you can hear the music in the video)

I am Grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I have so many blessings and listing all these blessings would be impossible. I am seriously grateful for everything I have in my life, yes even the bad things that happen. We are given so much. Sometimes it may feel that we have nothing but if we just take a minute and ponder about all we have been given we will realize that we truly have everything. Life in itself is a blessing that we should treasure. The very fact that we can breath is amazing. If everyone in the world would stop and realize that they truly are blessed this world would be one happy place. So let's take a minute and be grateful! Say a prayer of thanksgiving. Don't ask for a thing from the Lord because He has already given you so much just thank Him for everything! (yes even the trials)

Hanger Dance 2009

Last night I went to an annual Hanger Dance in Tulsa. It was just amazing! More than a thousand people came. The dance was to commemorate the Veterans and it was WWII themed...aka 1940s. It was nothing but swing dancing all night. There was a live big band and it was just awesome dancing to a live band! I had a blast! I mean of course I had a blast when do I not have a blast when dancing!!

Three Things to Remember

I had a professor at BYU whom I loved and learned a lot from. He taught us three important things in each of his classes. He told us that if we remember only one thing from his class he hopes it would be these things. I have never forgotten.

1. TTT=Things Take Time

2. When things don't go as planned, make the best of it!

3. Life is hard but with the help of the Lord we can do hard things.

Every time I find myself in a hard spot or when I get frustrated because things don't go like I think they should, or even when I'm so tired of waiting for something that I think I need right now...I hear these three things in my head. I repeat them over and over again. I can't tell you how many time these wise points have helped me relax and realize that everything is going to be okay no matter what. Life is a test. We learn and we grow. It is not always easy but if we remember that there is a plan and a purpose to it all, life can be a joy. Yes trials can be joys when we realize that they are molding us into who we need to become. So when life goes wrong remember that in the end the things that go wrong helped to make everything go right.

Videos from Southern Fried Swing

So here are some videos from the fun weekend. I hope you enjoy! (Just a tip scroll all the way down my page and pause my playlist so you can hear the videos instead of my blog music)

This is the Musicality class. It was one of the funnest. Each group had to come up with a little routine that went along with a certain part of the music. I was in the second group.

These are videos of the small competition I was in. I'm the one in the pencil skirt and blue shirt if you have trouble figuring it out! :) (look at the right of the screen at the beginning of the video and you will see me!)

I'm close to the stage in this one so at the beginning of the video I'm at the very back.

Fun Routine Marcus and his partner Janie did!

Finally two fun and difficult aerials classes that I took. These are the instructors doing a summary of what we learned. It was hard but I did it and it was great!!

Southern Fried Swing is Amazing!

It is all over! It ended yesterday and let me tell you it was exhausting but the most fun I have had in awhile. I danced and flipped and danced and flipped. My body is sore but it was so worth it. Just in case you don't know southern fried swing was a Lindy Hop fest. If you don't know what Lindy Hop is then youtube it and be prepared to be wowed and amazed. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. The most I took from it is to be more confident in myself. All my life I have felt like a backup singer when it comes to my talents. In other words I'm really good but I don't display it and no one pays much attention to what I can do or doesn't even know I do it! It is kinda frustrating, actually it is really frustrating. I'm tired of being a backup singer and I will no longer be one! I will absolutely not be afraid to display my talents. I will no longer fear what others think of me. Thanks to this weekend I have learned to dance my tail end off and be who I am...a dancer! Who cares if I don't look like so and so. I look like me and in my opinion looking like me is dang good! haha! I'm not trying to be prideful but trying to be too humble is what has made me weak! I am good at dancing and just wait and see where I will go!

Remembering 9/11/01

8 years ago I was getting ready for school and as I walked out the door I saw the second plane hit the second tower. I remember the feeling around school. Everyone was scared and worried about America and the world's future. We watched the news non-stop at school and many were moved to tears. It tore my heart in two to see the footage. This past Tuesday I watched with my family a documentary of 9/11 and again I was moved to tears for many reasons. I thought about those who died innocently, those who killed so many, those who were brave and sacrificed their lives for others, those who are still sacrificing so much for our and others freedom. I thought about how so many have forgotten. Let us always remember please what happened on 9/11. Shame on you if you ever forget.

8 years ago the night of 9/11 I was reading my scriptures and was reading Alma chapter 28. I found this very interesting as I started to read verses 4-6 and 10-14. I re-read this every year around this time so I can remember...

4 And now this was a time that there was a great ^amourning and lamentation heard throughout all the land, among all the people of Nephi—

5 Yea, the cry of ^awidows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.

6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much ^afasting and prayer.

10 And from the ^afirst year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.

11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are ^amoldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are ^bmourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.

12 While many thousands of others truly ^amourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the^bpromises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending ^chappiness.

13 And thus we see how great the ^ainequality of man is because of sin and ^btransgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning ^cplanswhich he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.

14 And thus we see the great call of ^adiligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the ^blight of Christ unto life.

Talent Show-Lindy Hop

Marcus and I performed at my church Talent Show. It was a ton of fun and it was my second performance ever! I was really nervous and Marcus wore a button that said "RELAX"...needless to say it did make me laugh but I wasn't quite relaxed until the middle of the performance. I hope you enjoy watching me do what I love! (turn off my music at the very bottom of all my posts)

The Blessing We are Hoping For...

Lockheed Martin is an aerospace company that Mark has always dreamed of working for. This past Monday representatives from Lockheed Martin came to UAFS to recruit May 2010 graduates, which would be Mark (yay!). Mark, of course, applied for the available positions, which could be anywhere! They said that if he is chosen they will be holding interviews in October. We are definitely crossing our fingers and praying that he gets chosen. Mark's dream has always been for him to be an Air Force pilot but since his eyes are not perfect his dream has become to be a part of the process of designing and creating fighter aircraft. Lockheed Martin does just this. We are hoping that this company is where Mark is supposed to work but we also know that Heavenly Father knows what is best. So please pray with us that Mark will find a job soon after graduation that will bring him much joy and contentment and maybe throw in that we would greatly appreciate if that job is at Lockheed Martin.

Southern Fried Swing!

So I'm excited for September 25-27 because it will be the best dance weekend ever! My instructor, Marcus, is hosting a Lindy Hop festival in Fort Smith and I am so excited. There will also be a small competition that I most definitely will be involved in. All day there will be Lindy Hop classes and every night there will be a forever long dance! Yay! If you read this and want to come or have friends who do PLEASE come and tell those amazing friends of yours! You will not regret it! Here is the website so you can read more about it and register if you want to....you can register for individual classes and days. www.southernfriedswing.com

A Weekend Away

This past weekend my mom, sister, nephews, Mark and I went to Oklahoma City. It was great fun. We were able to go to Bricktown (which I didn't find that wonderful unless you liked going to bars), White Water, the Mall, Cheesecake Factory (my new love), Myriad Gardens, and the Science Museum! We also were able to see Uncle Paul, Ben and Breanne. It was a much needed vacation for me because it was my only one during the summer. I just took the Friday off and had to be at work on Monday so the vacation wasn't actually very long unfortunately. So here are a few pictures of our fun-filled weekend...

Twelve Irish Tenors

So in Branson, MO there is this singing group called the Twelve Irish Tenors. Every time we would go my mom and me would tease my dad and Mark about going to see them. Every time we would see their billboard we would say, "Ohhh...the Twelve Irish Tenors...". I mean they are 12 attractive men who can sing! Come on! You would do it too! Anyways my mom and dad went to Branson this weekend and my mom calls me this morning to tell me she is going to their show! I'm so jealous. Later she calls me and says she is about to meet them all and asks if I want a picture of them and their autograph, of course I say yes! Anyways like 2 seconds later she calls again and tells me that they want to talk to me...sure enough the phone gets passed down to each member of the group. I got to talk to the Twelve Irish Tenors! It was so hilarious. Well the first one I talked to asked why I wasn't there and that I need to come. He also said my mom was "lovely"...how sweet. It was just funny and unexpected. Well I told Mark and my nephews and now they call them the "Twelve Irish Sinners"...haha. I love it!

Singing with Taylor Swift!

Okay so I like to sing and I have been told that I sing good...and of course I don't believe them. So I decided to record myself singing a song I really like by Taylor Swift called Breathe. You can hear her singing in the background. Mark told me that I sounded really good and that I should post it so that is what I am doing...not sure if I made the right choice...enjoy!...well maybe...

(you need to pause or stop the music on my blog before listening...scroll all the way down the page to find my playlist so you can turn it off)

My Future...

I hope to be as good as them one of these days. Dax and Alice have become one of my favorites. I just love watching them dance!

Okay so this man not only helps cute little girls make mud pies, he also helps cute big girls fix their air conditioner in their car! He is truly amazing! So this man is my father-in-law and he is a genius when it comes to fixing cars...seriously he is! Lucky the only problem with my a/c was that it need to be "charged" (whatever that means). He came down on Tuesday and made my life that much sweeter and cooler. I have been driving in a small black car that can't go over 55mph with no a/c in this awful heat. I hate being hot and I was tired of being a sweaty mess everytime I drove my car. I am so grateful that he did the simplest thing to fix my car. I don't think he realizes how grateful I am for this small act of kindness. He also has done a lot more for me than he realizes and I love him to death. I am so grateful to have such an amazing man for a father.

My Dear Friend...

You are now looking at a face that has truly blessed my life here in good ole' Arkansas. When Mark and I moved back here everything seemed to go wrong. Let me just tell you the list...please don't get bummed out because there is light at the end of the tunnel...

My best friend from high school passed away shortly before we came back and I was looking forward to spending time with her when we moved. Then every bank that Mark applied for would not hire him even with 3 years of experience! It took me a year of living here to get a job even with a bachelors degree. Mark finally took a job at FedEx after 2 months of searching because we needed the money badly. Then after working there for a short time we realized that it was the worse job in history! I greatly missed my friend, Amanda and my dear friends Angie and Mandy in Utah. I started to think that moving to Arkansas was not a good idea. Yes I had my family but things seemed easier and great for us in Utah...everything worked out when we moved there! It was amazing. Coming home seemed like a mistake.

Then with time things started working out...I got a good job and Mark was blessed to work at UAFS with a much better job. Then a gained an amazing friend who you see in the picture...Kelly. Kelly is my visting teacher and when I first met her I instantly liked her a ton. She impressed me so much and just being around her I felt the Spirit and loved. She is an amazing woman who I looked up to a lot! One Friday night I was really lonely and Mark said I should call Kelly and before he said that I was thinking the same thing so I knew I must call so I did. After that every Friday night was Kelly and I's night (Mark tagged along at times haha). It has been wonderful and hanging out with her has been a joy. She makes me happy and I love her too death!

In the beginning the road to happiness in Arkansas seemed impossible but we have been blessed through our trials. I made an amazing friend who I will cherish and who has blessed my life. She was an answer to my many prayers. But sadly she is leaving in 12 days to move back to Utah...I know I said there is light at the end of the tunnel but there is. I will miss her greatly and I'm sad to see her go but I know that Heavenly Father will bless me again with a great friend like her. He always does but each time it takes time and I will wait patiently...okay sometimes I won't be as patient but most of the time I will! I am just very grateful to have so many people who have touched my life in some way and who I can call "friend".

A Day Outside

So the weather was beautiful today. Mark and I went to my parents as usual and we spent some time outside. Here is some fun pictures...

Mom and me...how sweet...

I think I look rather tiny compared to Mark

I LOVE this picture of my cute Mister! Isn't he so cute?!

Mark teaching Kaleb how to cast

Kyten helping Nana clean the car...doesn't he look happy!

I love this picture...one of my favorites!

Kaleb and me looking cute!

Kyten and me making goofy faces..Kyten's is the best

Yes I Can!!

Okay so Mark was talking to me today and was getting extremely frustrated at me because it seems my favorite words are "I can't". He tells me I am too hard on myself and that I need to stop thinking so badly about myself. Well the funny thing is that a couple hours later at my dance lesson my teacher, Marcus, said that I say "I can't" too much. He told me that it frustrated him that I said it alot and that if someone says "I can't" then they won't. He told me that I needed to stop being so hard on myself and that he has enough confidence in me that it should be able to rub off. I realized in that moment that I needed to change. I do have trouble believing in myself in all aspects of my life and it is awful. I know I can do hard things. I can! Yes I can!! So if you ever catch me being hard on myself and saying "I can't" you better like hit me or something! 

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we went to Heather's house (Mark's sister, my wonderful sister-in-law). It was nice to see everyone since we haven't seen them since March! Wow! I didn't realize that it has been that long. Here are some adorable pictures of the kids, because come on we all know that is all that matters in family gatherings!
I love this picture of Emmy Lou
    Of course Marley is one of the kids
Making yummy ice cream...so good!
Mazee and Dad making mud pie
   Adorable Jesse had fun with the slide

My Sweet Nephew

This is one of my favorite pictures of Aiden. It is on Easter when he was searching for eggs. He is so adorable. I pray I will have cute kids like my nephews.

What a Cat!

Well my husband is amazing and he was cleaning the apartment. I walked into the bathroom while he was cleaning the tub and this is what I found...

Clueless...

Okay so I realize I haven't blogged in like a century! Yeah well not a century but a very long time. I kinda stopped because I thought to myself and I said, "Self, no one reads my blog anyway so why write." Then myself said, "Wow that is so true." So needless to say I stopped for awhile. I also have an uninteresting life so I don't really know what to blog about. So I wanted to blog but I'm very clueless on what to write about...so yeah...we will see how this goes. Hey! Maybe I can do an update...yeah sounds good, self agrees by the way.
So my update is...
I danced last Sunday at a festival in Van Buren, AR. It's called Old Timer's Day. Yeah I know it was a Sunday and Mother's Day but it was a good opportunity for me and my mom loved it so it was a gift to her. I danced the Lindy Hop which I am doing so much better at. This was my first performance and it gave me a boost of confidence. It also helped that Mark, my sister, and mom said I was the best up there. Which I know they were just being nice but hey it always feels good to hear. We didn't get video which stinks but it was still a ton of fun.
My job is still annoying as ever and hard but I keep telling myself only a year left. Mark is graduating in a year! I can't believe it is almost here! Oh my we will be celebrating like crazy when he is done. We are hoping to move to Dallas/Ft. Worth area so he can hopefully work for Lookheed Martin. I sure hopes he gets his dream job. He deserves the very best! He works so hard.
Umm...Achilles our cat is as cute and sweet as ever. He is getting fat and big and kinda lazy now. Still a little feisty and playful but has trouble jumping up on his climbing post as quickly and he doesn't play very long.
What else...OH! Well I made a friend here, Kelly and well she is leaving me in like a month! Sadness. It seems right when I make a good friend they either leave or I leave. I am not liking this pattern in my life. I am going to miss her dearly. We hang out every Friday night and now I'm going to be clueless on what to do now. I need to make another friend but I don't know who...this stinks! So anyone need a friend?
Well I'm not pregnant, Marks still in school, I'm still working, nothing has changed, life goes on just as it always does. No exciting news so I hope, reader, that you have enjoyed this update. (well if there is a reader out there...)

The Ministry of Angels

This talk has given me much comfort from the very first time I listened to it at General Conference. I have read it over and over again. I know that there have been many angels in my life in which I will be forever grateful.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I'm so excited for this movie! Just to show my excitement I wore my Harry Potter shirt to work today and even did my hair like Hermione! (haha, okay not really but I did wear it curly) I hope you enjoy the trailer as much as I did and that you can't hold in your excitement either!!

Jaws in 60 Seconds

Okay so my nephews showed me this video today and I thought it was HI-larious. My family has seen Jaws I dont know how many times and so we all had a good laugh watching this. No need to watch the movie now, just watch this and you will know what Jaws is all about!

The Resurrection

I am grateful for my Savior and His love for all of us. He suffered more than we can ever comprehend. His Atonement and death made it possible for all humankind to become perfect and have a body of flesh and bones for eternity. I am grateful that the Resurrection makes it possible for all to live again. Through the knowledge and testimony I have of my Savior and His Atonement and Resurrection I know that this life is not all. When we die we will live and have joy if we are righteous and repent. What comfort this brings me to know that this life is not the end. When we leave this world there will be much waiting for us. We will see our loved ones again and we will be with our Father and Savior again. We will finally be home. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He in reality lives and was raised from death. I know that He has a body of flesh and bone and that through Him all mankind can be saved. I will be forever grateful for this knowledge and testimony.

Easter Message

Hot Springs/Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break and lucky for me I work at a job where I get off for all the school breaks!! It was a very relaxing week. If you don't know I work with pre-teens and teens with behavior problems. They are a handful and hard to deal. Work is a stressful environment and when we have breaks it is the most amazing thing ever. So for Spring Break you can imagine my relief and excitement to do absolutely nothing for a week and not have to worry about kids all day. Well on Tuesday and Wednesday my sister, nephews, mom, and me went to Hot Springs, AR. It was a blast! Hot Springs is a beautiful place. We went to a wax museum that was not all that cool (in my opinion) but I did get to blow a kiss to President Obama for Mark! Then we went to this science museum that was WAY more awesome then the wax museum. Kaleb and Kyten had a ton of fun and I had a ton of fun with them. I love them with all my heart and they are so gosh dang fun. I am going to be sad when the day comes when they no longer say, "Play with us!" I need to play with them so much more because I know one day I will miss this. Anyways it was a ton of fun and the rest of my break was wonderful.

Yes, we all drank from the toilet!