I Love To See The Temple

About 2 weeks ago I found out that I would be getting a new calling, which I was officially sustained as today. I am my ward's new temple prep class teacher. When he extended the call, my Bishop suggested that I consider going through the temple sooner, rather than later, though he made it clear that it was not a requirement for accepting the calling. I had been considering going to the temple for quite some time now, and I knew that this was no coincidence. So, about a week later,on Friday, February 12th I went through the temple for the first time! My dad and Daniel had the day off and my mom and I ditched work for the day. We headed over to Newport Beach...just the 4 of us. Since I have absolutely no desire to be the center of attention and avoid big "to do's" at all costs, I just kept it simple with only the few people that live in my house. I think the Newport Beach temple is SO beautiful (aren't they all though?). Plus, that temple just holds a special place in my heart for a few different reasons, which I'm not really going to go into on my blog. Anyhow, we went to the 1:30 p.m. session and it was pretty awesome! I definitely have so much I still need to learn, but I am grateful that I can now go there and be completely at peace. Truly, it is the House of the Lord and it was a huge blessing to go there. Here are a few pictures from the day:








Afterward, we went out to eat and then headed home. We got stuck in traffic. Rush hour traffic + holiday weekend traffic = a very, very long ride home. BUT I'm glad I decided to go through Newport Beach for my first time through. The next day, I got to go through the Redlands Temple with David and Melissa and it was awesome too!The feeling in the temple is indescribable and I can't wait to go back again and again!

My Magical New Year Celebration

So...this new year's eve I wanted to do something a little different. I decided against going to any of the parties going on, in favor of spending a little time by myself. I looked online and found a super cheap room at the Howard Johnson in Buena Park.I was extra excited because my room had a kitchen in it, which meant I could bring my own food and not have to have fast food the whole time. I went out and bought Pop Tarts, cereal and milk, microwave popcorn, and some other snacks. I thought that the kitchen would just be a mini-fridge and a microwave for TV dinners and stuff like that. Instead, this is what I found:
There was a full size fridge, a sink, and a stove with an oven. Since my TV dinners and popcorn were now out of the question, I took a drive to find a grocery store.Here is the Stater Bros. down the street from my hotel. It was the most old school grocery store I've ever seen AND the most crowded! I bought some cooked chicken pieces, juice, a frozen pizza, mozzarella sticks, dish soap, and a sponge, since now I was going to have to use pans to cook. After that, I was on a quest to find someplace to buy a pizza pan and some foil, and cooking spray. Look what I found!YESSS!!! Target aka the Place Where Dreams Come True! And my dreams certainly did come true! I had wanted to buy a Christmas tree and some decorations for my hope chest on the day after Christmas sales, but the Target near me sold out of that stuff before I could get there. Sad! BUT at this Target they had stuff left and I got my Christmas tree, a way cool tree skirt, and some cute decorations! Score! Somehow, I just knew Target wouldn't let me down! haha! I bought my stuff and then went back to my room. I just relaxed, colored in my trusty Care Bears coloring book, put on the New York New Year's Eve thing in the background and took some time to read "the news" Here's what I consider to be "the news":haha!

At about 11:15, I decided to have some Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, but I couldn't get the bottle open! AHHHHH!!! It isn't New Year's without sparkling cider and I knew that both Target and Stater Bros. closed at 10:00. So, at about 11:30 on New Year's Eve I found myself wandering around a strange city on the prowl for a liquor store. I went to one and the guys in there were WAY too creepy, so I went to another and was in and out with my bright purple key chain bottle opener...just like a genuine alcoholic! HA!

Anyhow, I rang in the new year and went to sleep on my way comfy king size bed!The next day, I just chilled in my room and watched "Night at the Museum 2", colored, watched TV. Then, I made the frozen pizza and had some Martinelli's for dinner. MMMM!

Later that night, I realized that my vacation was almost over and I decided that I wanted to go on an adventure. I thought of all the places I could go and then decided on my favorite:The Newport Beach Temple
It was a beautiful, clear night with a huge, bright moon! The temple is gorgeous and I really feel like it was the perfect way to start off my year!
The one bad thing about a solo vacation is that there's nobody to take a picture of you. so here's my self-portrait from my new year's adventure!

HAPPY 2010 EVERYBODY!!!

2009 In Review: December

December was a family month, for sure! My cousin Steven got married, and family members came from out of town. So, Daniel, cousin Brad (who lives in N. California), and I went to see the Christmas lights on Thoroughbred in Alta Loma. We had fun goofing off.





I actually went to see the lights 2 other times this Christmas. Once was with my friend Melissa and her boyfriend and the other was with people from my ward and my nephews. Here's a picture of the boys enjoying the lightsAlso, in December, Mom and I went to Disneyland to see the Christmas firework show and the snow. We had a great time!We had our big family Christmas at Aunt Cheryl's house, as usual. This year, however, Santa came, which the kids seemed to loveSince I was often the one taking pictures, I'm not really in any. So, here's my self-portrait taken at family ChristmasJacob, Josh, and Dylan joined in this year too!Here's a picture of Nancy and Wiss the family gathering. I think they both look so pretty in this picture!Last, but not least, we had had our immediate family celebration on Christmas Eve. This is my favorite family tradition! We went caroling and then came home to open presents. Here's most of the family after caroling at a house. Wiss took the picture as we turned around.I LOVE my family and would not ever want to be without them. This year was definitely crazy and difficult, to say the least. However, at the end of the day, I can look back and know that I have all I could ever need. I have the best family ever and I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life; I have been truly blessed.

2009 In Review: November

November was a hodge-podge of stuff:

We had a girls' night and learned how to sew aprons. We had lots of fun and I got to make the first apron I've ever owned! Later, I taught Nancy and my cousin Kristi how to make aprons too.Mid-November, New Moon (the movie of the 2nd book in the Twilight series) went into theatres and I was able to go to the midnight showing with Daniel and a few other people.The next night I went up the hill and saw the movie again with Melissa and her friends. We all met for frozen yogurt and then went to a late showing.
Then came Thanksgiving. Since I didn't have to go to work I had the opportunity to go up the hill to Joey's school and see him in the Thanksgiving perfromance. Here's a picture of the adorable pilgrims with my very favorite on front and center!On the actual day of Thanksgiving, we ate dinner and then we decided to go to Bass Pro Shop and see Santa. They had tons of cool Christmasy stuff to do and, of course, we got to see all the usual cool stuff too!David, Wiss, Joey, Aaron, and Cy looking cute with the snowmanMy mom and meCy got to sit at a table that was just his size...so cute!Aaron loved the train! He just kept watching it go around and around!Here's sweet Joey playing with one of the remote control cars they had thereHooray for pink rifles and target practice! Nancy and I are just havin' fun!The boys got to pose with Santa!Yay! Christmas is coming!