26 Things To Be Grateful For

So Friday at work as I was pondering my 26th birthday the following day I was thinking about how it seems so old.  I know it isn't but in context with what has happened in my life it seems old.  I have known Brant for 12 years, I have been out of high school for 8 years and married for 6 years.  I guess life flies when you are having fun.  While I was pondering my life and the last 26 years I realized I have so much to be grateful for. So this year I am starting a new tradition each year on my birthday I am going to write down things I am grateful for the same as I am old.  So here are my 26 things I am grateful for in my life.

1.  Brant - I have such a wonderful husband he is kind, gentle and so patient with me.  I love him with all my heart.
2.  Mom -  I consider my Mom one of my best friends.  I have really enjoyed spending time together.  We have had so many fun adventures sewing, Corn Wagon browsing, and the James Taylor concert.  I love you Mom.
3.  Dad - My Dad is probably the best Dad in world.  He has a way of making me feel so special, important and strong.
4.  Kyle - I have an amazing brother!  He is a great example to me and I have enjoyed living close to each other so he can visit from school.
5. Chelsea - What an fabulous person.  She is so sweet, fun and outgoing.  It is fun to be grown up sisters and I am looking forward to spending more time together as we get older.  :)
6.  Job - I do like my job and I am grateful to have one.  It is work but at the end of the day still find myself very content.
7.  Home - I love our little home.  It has been really fun making it our own.
8.  Jack - Yes, I am grateful for my cat he is very sweet and loves to cuddle me while I am sleeping.
9.  Ninja - Yes, we do have another cat.  She is so playful and silly and I love watching her be so mischievous.
10.  Mia - She has been such a good dog.  She is always so happy to see me and has taught me a thing or two about unconditional love.
11.  Springville 5th Ward YW - I am so grateful to have such great young women to work with each Sunday.  I look forward to seeing them and watching them grown.
12.  Springville 5th Ward - I am grateful for the members of our ward there are so many who have made us feel welcome and like we are family.
13.  Friends - I do not have enough space or time to write about all of my wonderful friends.  I have an amazing group of friends from home, California, work, and in our Ward.  You all know who you are and I appreciate all of the time you spend laughing and crying with me you are wonderful.
14.  Cute Shoes - Yes I am grateful for cute shoes.
15.  Sewing Machine - I love my sewing machine it gives me some much needed therapy on a long day after work.
16.  Rainy Days - I love a nice rainy day when everything smells super clean.
17.  Joann's - I am not quiet sure what I would do without a place to buy all my crafting supplies.  I love to go in there and just browse.
18.  Church - I am grateful to be a member in the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  There is so much comfort and peace with the knowledge I have of life.
19.  Sweet Potato Fries - Do I need to say more?  They are amazing!
20.  Infertility - I know this seems like a weird thing to put on this list.  I have been able to grow a lot throughout this very hard journey but I know it has made me a better person.
21.  Puzzles - I love to do puzzles they are so relaxing and enjoyable.
22.  Running Water - Every time Brant takes me camping there is no running water or even restrooms.  I am so grateful to live in the time we do.
23.  General Conference - I am grateful that we are able to listen to counsel from the prophets and get guidance in our lives.
24.  Tulips - I love tulips and this year is a great time.  We have tulips in our yard and they are wonderful.
25.  Temples - I love going to the temple and the wonderful feeling that is there.
26.  Music - I am grateful for music and how there is always a song for how you feel.

Well that about settles it.  There is so much in my life that I can be grateful for.

Everything is Ch, Ch Ch Ch Changin

Wow we have had a lot of new changes recently.

I started my new job over at the sister company and it has been going really well.  I am working more hours a day and when the weekend is here I am really grateful.  I took my insurance adjuster exam and failed by 1%.  I needed to get a 70% to pass and got a 69%.  So I have to take it again but at least I know I am close.  So I am going to do some more studying and will be re-taking my test on November 25th.  Keep your fingers crossed that I will pass.

Well after years of begging I finally gave in and let Brant get a dog.  She is a German Shepherd and her name is Mia.  She is very beautiful and has one blue eye and one brown eye.  She is super sweet and I am sure as soon as her and the cats get comfortable together we will all be happy she is part of the family.

We have looked into adoption with LDS Family Services.  We even turned in our application and started some of the paperwork.  Well during the LDS General Conference I kept feeling this prompting that we should just be patient.  Well patience isn't one of my strong qualities, so I didn't tell Brant.  Well the other day I decided to ask him what his thoughts were on the adoption process and he told me that he had the same impression that we should wait to finalize our adoption paperwork.  Although this has been a heart wrenching situation I feel oddly at peace.  Brant and I both want to have kids so bad that I know for me at least that it makes me ache.  But our decision to wait is what we know God wants us to do so we are feeling pretty calm.

I am still loving being in my church calling as a Young Women leader.  It has kept me really busy but I love the amazing women that I work with and the girls are fabulous!

I haven't done hardly any sewing lately because I have been so busy.  But I have several projects that are a couple of hours from being done.  So I will post pictures soon!

Sunshine & Summertime

Wow!  I can not believe that I haven't updated our blog since Christmas time.  Needless to say we have been really busy.

We have really been enjoying living in Utah!  I was able to go home for Mother's Day this year and be with my Mom.  It was fun for all 3 of us kids to be home.  I have been able to have Kyle and Chelsea over for a weekend.  My Mom and Chelsea were able to come and have a sewing weekend with me.  It was really fun to take a day off of work and make maxi skirts together.  We have decided we should do weekends together more often.

Work for Brant is going really well.  He received a promotion and is now an editor.  We are grateful that he is he able to work for a company that appreciates him and the abilities he has.

I am going to start a new job tomorrow at our sister company.  I will be working there as an insurance adjuster.  It is a great opportunity and I will be making more money.

We have decided to start looking into adoption.  We haven't had any luck getting pregnant and think it might be time to start looking into having a family another way.  We have looked into international adoption and would love to adopt from the Congo but the cost is really high.  We will be going to a a seminar for adoption through LDS Family Services to get more information in a week.

I have now been the 1st Counselor in the Young Women's presidency for a month.  It has been a really enjoyable experience.  I have been really busy with all of the planning and meetings.  I love the young women they are amazing.  The leaders I work with are so neat and I am looking forward to becoming better friends with them.

Our garden is growing really well.  I have peppers, tomatoes and yellow squash growing.  I am really excited to be able to eat the fresh vegetables.  

 I have planted some sunflowers and they are starting to get really tall.  It will be fun when they are all in bloom.

 Our grapes are doing really well and have started to turn purple.  They are not sweet yet but soon they will be and it will time to make grape juice.

 We had a funny strip of lawn in front of our fence and decided to dig it up.  I planted red fountain grass and it is doing really well.

 Brant really needed a truck for all of his mountain bike trips so we looked around for one and found one he wanted.  We bought a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche and have really enjoyed it.

So we are doing really well.  Things are busy and we are getting excited for Halloween!  Hopefully I will update again soon.

2012 Christmas Letter

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas!  We hope that our letter finds you all healthy and happy.  2012 was another exciting year for the Hansen Family.  We hope that you had as much joy, success, and fun as we did.

Brant is still working at Kaleidoscope Pictures and is grateful for the opportunity to work in his field.  It is nice to see him really enjoy his work.  His education has really come in handy and he is very successful since he knows the software so well. 

He is still staying busy riding his mountain bike.  He has gotten to know a group of guys that he has taken a couple of road trips with.  He went to Moab in the spring and loved riding his bike there.  He went to Red Bull Rampage in Virgin Utah this fall and absolutely loved it.

I started a new job in January at Subrogation Division, Inc., the company is a third party administrator to insurance companies.  I am an administrator there for 6 adjusters and it keeps me on my toes.  It has been interesting to learn a new industry.  In October I had the opportunity to go to a convention in Las Vegas.  It was a great experience.  I am currently studying to take my insurance adjuster exam and hope to take the next adjuster position that becomes available.

I am still busy with sewing and have had the awesome opportunity to be part of a sewing group almost once a week, work and life permitting.  I have learned a lot of new ways to do things and enjoy chatting with the women.  I have finished a couple of projects and started many others, needless to say my unfinished project list is growing.

            In March we bought our first home!  It is orange brick 2,000 square feet with a yard that is a 1/3 of an acre.  We are still getting the house put together there is always something to do, sew curtains, rake leaves, water the lawn….etc.  We planted a little garden this year.  Our pepper plants did well but everything else was eaten by deer when it came up.  This I know for a fact because one day I went into the back yard to check on the garden and sure enough there was a deer right there.

We now have two cats, Jack and Ninja.  Ninja is our latest addition she is really wild and eats paper and steals things like my eyeliner and craft supplies.  But it makes life really fun and there is always something going on.  Jack is as sweet and loving as usual.  He is happy to have a friend around.

We feel very blessed to have had such a great year.  We are grateful for your love and friendship.  Have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

Love,

Brant & Rachel Hansen

Our Home

Well this is our cute little home.  We have been here since March and finally every thing has a place.  So here are a couple of pictures.

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Front Room

Crafting Room

Family Room

Brant's Office

Cool shower in basement bathroom

Garden

Brant's pump track

Summer Update

Well it is time again for another update.  We have had a lot go on in the last couple of months.

Brant dug down to the main line.

 A couple of weeks ago we noticed that there was a wet spot in the carpet in Brant's office.  We called our Home Warranty people and they sent out someone to look at it.  The repair guy cut a small hole in the wall and then continued to cut the full length of Brant's office.  He looked around at a couple of things and then decided that the main line from the meter into the house was leaking.  He said that the warranty would not cover the pipe and neither would our insurance. We waited a while trying to figure out where to go from here.  We were told that it would probably cost a couple of thousand to get it fixed.  We decided to have a second opinion on what was going on but the warranty people were having a hard time getting someone to come out.  Brant decided to try to dig down to the main line, he made in really far down.  Meanwhile, our amazing Realtor called us and had found out who had helped with some of the plumbing in the house.  He came out and looked at it and decided that the sink was leaking not the main line.  Sure enough he fixed it and the meter quit running like it had been.  Now we just have to get the Home Warranty people to fix the sheet rock and damage they did in Brant's office.  Brant had to fill in the hole that he dug for no reason.

Brant's Office

 We have a garden going this year.  I really hope that things continue to come up.  I think that we have had a deer eating some of the plants that have come up.  I will go out there one day and something will be coming up, the next it is gone.  Well last week I went into the backyard and there was a deer just a couple of feet away from me.  We also have some grape vines in the back yard and there are lots of little grape bunches.

Our Garden

 One of the things Brant was looking for in a house when we were getting ready to buy was a place where he can make a pump track for his bike in the back yard.  Well it is all finished now and he is really happy to be able to ride back there.  Unfortunately, it has been so hot that he hasn't done much riding.

Brant's Pump Track

 I have been staying really busy.  I have joined a sewing group.  I sew every week with my friend Julianne and her mother, who is an amazing seamstress.  I made the apron in the picture below.  I have been baking, as always, lately.  I have become quite amazing at pie crusts and can make them really fast.

Fun apron (I Made)

Time is flying here... I will try to update again soon.

Spring Time Update

We have been in Utah for six months.  We miss our friends in California and the weather occasionally.  I miss my job at Saddington Shusko LLP most days.  But we have had some amazing opportunities here.  Brant is able to work in his field which is a huge blessing to us.  We have been able to be home for very important family events that we would have had a harder time to make it up for otherwise.   

We have been spending a ton of time with Brant's brother Trevor and his wife Brianna they live close to us and we see them almost every weekend.  I absolutely love being so close to my nieces and Brianna and I have a great time shopping, talking and being crazy together.

We get to see our families a ton.  Brant's parents were able to come down for big birthday party to celebrate Brant's, Trevor's and their Mom's birthday.  It was fun to see them.  Both of our parents have been down to the house to visit.

We got snow in March and it was wonderful.  We did not have a white Christmas so when it was snowing in March I had to go out and dance in it.  It has been fun to have a couple of different seasons.

Brant is still working for Kaleidoscope pictures, he really enjoys it and it is really nice for him to have a job he likes.  I have been working for a third party insurance administrator group.  It is interesting learning about the insurance world and the people I work with are really nice and relaxed.  But I do miss lunch with the girls in California and the busy tax season.  In fact, I missed the tax world so much that I started working Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturdays at a tax office.  It has been fun to get back in my element but I am starting to burn out.  I worked my last day yesterday.

Well that is all for us, we are still here just staying busy.