A Show of Gratitude

So I am rereading the BOM hoping to finish before Conference, which is soon. Yea, for conference I am sooo excited!!(I might actually see it in the conference center this year!) Anyway, in Nephi whenever a task is completed/commandment obeyed, Lehi and his family offer up burnt sacrifices and a prayer of thanks. This got me thinking about the things I am most grateful for in my life. Wanted to mimic their actions and show my gratitude, so here goes:

My HF, Jesus Christ and the spirit that helps guide me everyday
The Atonement
Prayer
My mom (she is a saint and someone whom I aspire to be like) and family. I love you all!
The scriptures
My life, my health, my job ( I really do love my job!)
Good Friends
Personal Revelation
Education
The Temple
My car
Good Food
Vacations and travel
Liberty and freedom
Agency
Big chunks of cookies in Cookies N' Cream Ice Cream
Good Hair days
Joy
The Internet
Peace
Books even though someone thinks I'm not a "reader" (love ya Nanc)
Hammocks
Dancing (Just ask me to do the Carlton from Fresh Prince) and music
Earth, nature, stars (I love astronomy and star gazing)
Dating and men who treat me with respect and kindness (where are you? LOL)
Intellect
Laughing and good humor
Love
Babies
my singing voice
Kissing
High Heels
Milkshakes
Rain (I love listening to the sound of rain hitting the rooftops)
Days when I can sleep in!
Musicals
Movies
cameras and pictures
A smile
Good running shoes

I am sure I have missed a lot of things I am grateful for but the list had to stop somewhere I guess. Thank you for all who are a part of my life. You all truly make me a better person just by knowing you!

Night to day...or should I say day to Night

Here is my latest event. That's right...I've done it again...dyed my hair. Not the color I expected but I'm ok with it. Should lighten a little with time. Now I will truly know the answer as to whether blondes or brunettes have more fun?!!

Camping in Aspen Grove...yes that's right Aspen

This past weekend Vicky's family, Beth's family and I went camping in Aspen Grove just outside of Heber, Utah. It was beautiful and we all had so much fun! It was hilarious because when we arrived the Host told Vicky and Zac that bears frequent the camp sites about 2-3 x/week. This made Vicky paranoid and the rest of us were made to lick up any spills or crumbs that dropped on the table or ground to decrease the chances of an attack. LOL. Since the campsite was so high in elevation (~ 8000 ft) the nights and mornings were chilly. I turned my car on one morning and it registered 36 degrees. I was all set though because I bought this zero degree sleeping bag that kept me nice and toasty...one of those mummy contraptions. We had camp fires, s'mores, and dancing a plenty. We were even treated with a shirtless dance from Chris. The food was great. Vicky put alot of effort into planning the menu. We had foil dinners and dutch oven cobbler the first night. The next AM we had pancakes, which yours truly cooked over an open fire(I still have all of my eye lashes but did sustain a few scalds to my hands, arms and face)sausage, and eggs. Beth and Chris had to leave so they packed up camp and headed home. Vicky, Zac, Jonathan (Zac's Brother), the kids and I all headed down to the resevoir to swim, catch crawfish, and fish. Okay so let me say that this water was freezing! I mean the kind of cold that when you jump in it's hard to catch your breath. Proud to say that I was the first to go in and stay in despite the cold and choppy conditions. I then proceeded to try to fish. Never have done it before but I think I have the basic concept down. I would love to learn more and go fishing again. We all got a little sun and Zac and I got a moderate amount. Just ask Zac about his sunburn...he he he. We had chicken and vegetables in the dutch oven for dinner then s'mores-which are some of my favorite things when camping- That night we were treated with loud neighbors, who were obviously drunk and repeatedly said "Toy Boat" to see who could say it the most times without becoming tongue tied. We were treated to this craziness until about 2 or 3 in the morning. Also...I mean, I like country music, but these folks took it to a whole new level. Lets just say I've had my country fix for the year...maybe two. Woke up made a fire, then had yummy biscuits, sausage and gravy. Packed up camp and we all headed out. Camping was SOOO much fun and I can't wait to go again. I am a little disappointed that we didn't encounter any bears as I'm sure Vicky would echo this sentiment.

Star Treatment

So...Vicky and I went to see WICKED in L.A. almost two weeks ago and it was a lot of fun! Went to Huntington Beach, Hollywood and had great food! We had some really good times and one really bad one :) It was a miracle that we and my car survived the trip. Probably thinking..."why was she worried about her car, it's a 2004?" Well I'll let you in on one of the secrets to why I never want to live in Cali:
Vicky and I are driving along- I was driving- and we come upon an active construction zone. They have blocked off one lane and even have a construction worker holding one of those "SLOW" signs. Usually I interpret that to mean I should slow down, right? Well this truck behind us thought differently. He came up on my tail fast, flashed his brights and continued tailgating. I'm guessing to signal me to speed up or change lanes. Well since I couldn't change lanes nor go faster (hence the ACTIVE construction zone) I kept at my same steady pace. As the zone was ending and the lanes changed from one to two this big diesel truck speeds up, comes even with me, flips me the bird and proceeds to throw something directly at my car. Now you all know how much I love my car. I immediately had this sickening feeling in my stomach when first, I realized that something had hit my car at the speed of 60 mph and second, that there are such ignorant and dangerous people driving the highways.

Moral of the story:
Don't live in L.A. and I don't recommend driving 18+ hours in the span of three days (more if you count the hours once we got there) Maybe this experience was payback for when Andrew and I were little and got caught throwing berries at passing cars at the bus stop.

Jumpin' on the Bandwagon

So I was hesitant to take part in the whole "let's start our own blog thing" that was posted on the family website until well...everyone created a blog and then I just felt left out. A second thought that came to mind was...who wants to know about my life? I mean, I don't have cute kids to post things about, I don't have a man to ga-ga over, and well to be honest I don't know enough spanish to have a bi-lingual blog site so what's the point, right? Then a certain Saturday Night live skit came to mind...I ran to the mirror and said I am Rachel Palmer I'm worth it and gosh darn it people like me(it went something like that). So here I am jumpin' on the bandwagon and creating the most wonderful blog site ever! Enjoy...at the very least I can probably promise an interesting RN story every now and again!