Happy Thanksgiving!

I am really grateful today for my family, all of which are going to be here except my brother Richard who is serving in Iraq, but should be back in the states for Christmas. I am grateful for all of my friends who continue to bless my life and are such great examples to me. I am grateful for all of the many blessings in my life...I have a roof over my head, I have a job, I have a car, I have people that I love and love me, I have access to technology, I will be partaking of a delicious Thanksgiving feast, I live in a free country. I know I have a Heavenly Father, and that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth for me, so I have the opportunity to return back to live with Him someday. So many blessings, for which I am truly grateful!

Happy Halloween Birthday

So, it's my Grandpa Marley's birthday today, he is 78. His full name is James Cleon Marley. I want to name a son after him (James). He still golfs, skis, plants a huge garden, and in general enjoys life to its fullest. At Christmas time he gets asked to play Santa. So this is a tribute to him!

October

October has been full of traveling and other events. I flew up to Utah for General Conference. I was able to stay a few extra days because of Fall Break (yippeee!). My Grandma Coffey's headstone was put in that Monday. So, I drove up to Morgan with family: Uncle Scott, Aunt Teri, Grandpa Coffey, Heather and Jon (Karleene's middle daughter) and their daughters Bailee and Makayla. Grandpa Marley grew some huge pumpkins in his garden, so I took some pictures of those as well. I was also able to visit some friends, Camilyn, Norma Thomas (Karen LeSueur's mom), Jenny McKinney, Bonny, and Bekah. P.S. I saw all 4 sessions of General Conference in the Conference Center. It snowed on the mountains and was very cold while I was there.

My mom and I drove to St. George last weekend because my cousin Spencer was getting ready to leave on his mission to Rostov Russia. He spoke in Sacrament Mtg. last Sunday, where he ended his talk with "peace out and see you in two years" LOL. We also celebrated my Grandpa Marley's birthday. (It's actually on Halloween, but since everyone was there, we decided to celebrate it last Sunday, October 21st). He is going to be ? yrs old. For your viewing enjoyment, my Aunt Beth's friend, Tammie dressed up as a a witch...such a fun costume!

On Monday morning (October 7th) that I was in Utah, I received a phone call that my good friend Tim Filichia was killed in a car accident. Such a tragic loss. Three days ago (October 24th), one of my colleagues Chris Rainer was killed in a car accident. These two young men will be missed. Such good examples of how to live your life and touch other's lives. Today is All-State Jazz and Show Choir auditions at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale. So...this is all I can type for now.

BOYZ

Well, this Saturday I was supposed to go on a date with someone that has been previously mentioned in other blogs. Wednesday I called to confirm the date and he said everything was on. Last night he called and everything was off. Hello??? What happened in 24 hrs. So needless to say, today was full of man-hating, self-pity, and chocolate (almond joys and chocolate milk to be exact, oh yah and junior caramels that a wonderful friend gave me). ARRGGGHHH.

BOYZ/MEN-What do we do with them, what do we do without them!?

Truth

Feeling Crafty

So...I have been decorating my office at school, and I decided that I needed something on the wall. Then I decided that the wall hangings should be magnet boards. So I bought some wood and had it cut into 3 16x24 sections. Then I bought magnetic paint and some spray paint to go over it. Well...the first spray paint job didn't go so well. I repainted the board with magnetic paint and decoupaged scrapbook paper on top. Well, then it wasn't really magnetic. But board #1 got finished and I can use push pins to stick things up. I started and finished board #2 tonight. I did it different. I went to ACE Hardware and bought two 12x8 sections (I think those were the dimensions) of sheet metal. Then I glued them on using E6000. Decoupaged scrapbook paper over that. Works much better! YEAH!!! While I was making these magnetic boards I decided to experiment with MS Word and MS Publisher and I was able to make an original creation that looked like the scrapbook paper of words. Basically I layered text boxes in Publisher after typing what I wanted in Word (small type) then blank with 30% translucency then (large type). I love learning new things on the computer. Now if I could just learn how to change my blog to a cute scrapbook layout, then I will be thrilled! I will change my header soon, promise!

School

So, school has been in session for a week and a half now. I feel like I know all of my students names and a little bit about their personalities. We took Concert Choir to Camp Pinerock in Prescott AZ, Friday and Saturday. It was a great trip. This choir has a neat synergy. Short of a bus breaking down and two trips to the emergency room, it would have been perfect. It was so beautiful and cool (especially at night).

I'm Home!

So, yesterday I returned home from my journeys the last three weeks. I went to Las Vegas, St. George, Ogden, Idaho Falls, and Provo. After I left Las Vegas, I went to St. George and on Sunday we went for a drive up to Hurricane, down through Zion, and Sand Hollow reservoir. (I love Sunday afternoon drives!) On the way to Zion there is an ostrich farm. I was so fascinated, so we stopped and I took some pictures. They came kind of close and then walked away. I couldn't believe how huge they were.

The next morning my Aunt Beth and her husband John and myself ventured up to Ogden. They were picking up a minivan to drive back to St. George. We stopped in Provo to drop some stuff off at the apartment that I rented. Then we went to Costco (gotta love Costco) to get some lunch and gas. Then we headed up to her parents (my grandparents) house in North Ogden. Her son TJ and his wife Chelsea and their kids Hallie and Cameron came over. Hallie loves to play the piano and Cameron has just learned to walk. It's so cute! BTW My grandma makes the best soups and salads and dilly beans (mmmm my favorite!) All fresh veggies from her garden. They sent me back to Provo with Red Potatoes, Cucumbers, Zuchini, Banana Peppers, Corn on the Cob and yummmmm is all I have to say about that.

The next day I drove to Idaho Falls and stayed for 4 days with my mom's Uncle Johnny and his wife Nell. They come down here and visit from Feb. - April. This last time I was down, they invited me up. So, they actually live in Ammon and their kids except one all live close by. We went to Blackfoot where my Great Grandma lived and was buried. She was a wonderful lady! She was the last of my great-grandparents to pass away. It was fun to see my second cousin Jen and her two little boys, and Stephanie expecting her first, and Rebekah and her little boy. We went for a lot of walks, one around what they call the greenbelt. It was rainy and cool most of the time. I got hooked on this movie series by Hallmark, and its called Love Comes Softly. Great series...total chic flix. I went to the Idaho Falls Temple on Friday, it was really neat! On Saturday, I headed down to Lava Hot Springs to see mom's Aunt Erma. She was down there with her son Blaine and his wife Leslie and their son Dillon (they live in Tremonton). Erma's husband Le was there with some of his children too. I went down the (Portneuf) river twice the second time with waterfalls and everything. Then we went up to Blaine's lodge. He has been building it for two years. It is huge!!! 10 bedrooms 4 bathrooms, game room, dining room, kitchen, living area, lots of windows. I think it would be neat to have a place like that where all of the family could go for reunions, or just to get away. Then I headed back to Ogden.

Back in Ogden, I went to this really cool YSA Ward in N. Ogden and I met one of my Institute Teacher's (Bro. Barker who now has moved to N. Ogden and lives on Barker Parkway) nephew (Tyler Barker) who taught our Gospel Doctrine class, which I enjoyed very much. So, after church I picked up my Grandpa Coffey (my dad's dad) and we went up to Morgan where my Grandma is buried. She is buried right underneath the tree that my grandpa is standing next to. I can't wait for her headstone to be placed. I miss her, but I know she is much better off!

Monday I headed down to Provo for the Summer Choral Academy at Brigham Young University. It was warm in Provo, and having a third floor apt with a/c not working made it kind of miserable. But then the next 3 days it rained, which made it much cooler and much more tolerable. The workshop wore me out. I learned sooo much about being a choral director. On Thursday evening, I was able to sit with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in their rehearsal. SOOOOO cool! They passed around their music and we were able to sing with them. Great people, lots of talent. They sang this song about the Temple. While they were receiving some pointers from Craig Jessop (one of their directors) I pondered on some of the lyrics. The Temple is a holy place, in the Temple there is joy. I know this is true! I know that good, uplifting music, allows the Spirit to touch our hearts and when we sing in a choir, there is a unifying power by singing uplifting music together. (Sorry, I blinked in all of my pics....I think I am allergic to flashes!)

So know you know all about my trip. Oh yah, did I mention I found the CD Coco by Colbie Caillat at Borders. Guess what I listened to????!!! Such good music, and lots of smiles thinking about________, well wouldn't you like to know! I also found the book The Secret on CD and I listened to that all the way home. It makes perfect sense, its just really hard to do, but I am going to try.




Well, I head back to teacher workshops tomorrow and preparing for school to start on Wednesday! Until then...

James Kaleb

Tonight I met my second cousin (Nick my cousin and his wife Elise's son) James Kaleb. He is 41/2 months and such a doll. He smiles and has really deep dimples. He coos and makes little infant sounds. He just cuddled on my shoulder. I love this little guy!

Today we were trying to make these cute notebooks that I made at Enrichment. The only problem...finding gaffer tape. I found out its a new product made by 7 Gypsies and it won't be out until August (according to the scrapbook store we talked to here in Las Vegas). So we will just have to wait to finish them.

brothers and sisters

So my aunt's cat and dog are like brother and sister...they love each other, they fight with each other, etc. They even share food, and in this case potato chips. Yes, that's right, potato chips. Last night they fought over them and shared them. It was so cute. Here are some pics!

p.s. just in case you were wondering, Zoe loves to be put on her back and upside down...she has been my sidekick since I have been here, and yes she is somewhat of a spaz, schizo dog, and she is only 41/2 lbs.

Roadtrip

I started my three week long roadtrip by driving to Las Vegas today. It took me 61/2 hours, but only because I hit rush hour traffic after following slow buses through the dam. I am now at my Aunt Pam's with her cute dog Zoe and cat Lindsay and crystal clear and refreshing swimming pool. Pictures and more info to come!!!

p.s.

I would like to thank my friend Britney Bunker for making my birthday amazing! I was in Flagstaff for part of my birthday, and we went to the mall and out to dinner and to STARBUCKS, (yes you can get drinks without coffee). The next day (which was actually my birthday), she made me homemade enchiladas (yum, yum).

On another note, have you ever tried Blue Bell not to be confused with Blue Bunny ice cream? Wow, what a nice, cool, yummy treat! Who can resist with flavors like Banana Pudding, Mango, Lemon Ice Box Cake, Strawberries and Vanilla...ummmmmmm good! What is your favorite flavor? Or, if you were an ice cream flavor, what would you be? Think on it!

To an amazing guy, who still will remain nameless (hehe), what an incredible sense of humor you have. You have such tremendous spiritual perspective and strength...you are my spiritual giant. The perfect mix, a perfect compliment, if I could be so blessed!

Thankful

I love this color!!! I am so thankful for people that encourage me to do good things that I either don't want to do or am uncomfortable doing. I am thankful for technology so that I can keep in touch with friends that move away. Thankful for my life and those that have set an example on how I should live my life-no regrets, no wasted time, not worrying about "stuff". I am very thankful for my education and my employment even though there are rough days. I am thankful for the gospel and for opportunities to serve and grow within the gospel. I hope I can remember to be thankful and grateful more often!

Bubbly

Well, first of all, reading the title to this song makes me think of blowing bubbles, taking bubble baths, bubbles from soda and or champagne (even though I don't drink champagne). Then listening to this song makes me think of a certain someone that will remain nameless at this point. Thinking about him and being near him makes my heart pound really fast and I get this feeling that I have never had before. Thank you COLBIE CAILLAT (and Brit for finding it!)

COLBIE CAILLAT | COCO | BUBBLY

July 9th, 2007

SOOOO...Summer is flying by. In June I went to Flagstaff (3) times. Yikes! I love my friend Britney, she is like a sister to me and her husband Nephi and their daughter Skye. We had fun hanging out and Skye is so cute!


July 1st made me one year over the quarter century mark! My sister decorated my room with twirly things on my ceiling and balloons on my bed and made a homemade German Chocolate cake (yum, yum, scrumptious!).



I finally got my own digital camera, which started this whole blog thing. So, wish me luck!

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox