I'm Now Allowed to Return to Church

The Friday night before moving day, me and a few ladies formed a group outside of Cafe Rio, to baptize me..........again. I had been on the outs with the church, because I had not partaken of the fruits of Cafe Rio, however, as of May 7, 2010, I did partake.........and it was good.

If you have never been to Cafe Rio, it's like Subway on Mexican food crack. Taralee Truman ordered for me, since I had no idea what the heck these men were talking about. She likes the pulled pork, however, I don't usually like that sort of thing, but she convinced me try it. It was really good. Still didn't like the texture (since I'm a texture person), but the flavor over powered that. It was good. I was told that I needed their version of Ranch dressing, so I listened and got it. We got to the check out, and she informed me that she was paying for my dinner. Isn't she a nice date?! She didn't pull out my chair for me though, or open the door for me...........hmmmm.....maybe she didn't like-like me. Maybe she just liked me. O'well. HA!! Just kidding.

Anyways, I sat down, with the other ladies (and Crew. Can't leave him out. He was such a sweet little baby. He made sure I sampled all of his food. And whatever I couldn't sample, he would leave it for me on my shirt to try later. HE'S A NICE DATE. So thoughtful!) outside. Tara informed me that I will be dipping my enchilada style burrito into my green ranch-like substance. I hesitated, but I saw Trina and Barb doing it, so I went with it. IT WAS YUM! Tara kept telling me, in the days leading up to the event, that she always gets a child burrito because she can never finish a regular one. Yea.............I almost did. I got half way through, and totally could've finished, but then I remembered what she said, and didn't want to embarrass myself by eating the whole Arnold-Schwarta-Burrito. I could've. I would've paid for it later, but it would've been so worth it.

Oh, side-note, Kristin Chesnik wasn't able to come with us ladies, because she had a previous engagement with her husband, to stuff their faces.............where else? Cafe Rio! I was bummed I wouldn't be able to see her for our night out, but there she was! I was happy to see her for a second.

After we were done stuffing our faces and chatting with Kristin, we went to Neilsen's Frozen Custard. Now, I'm not an ice cream person, by any stretch of the imagination, but when I talked to Tara about going out Friday, I knew that I would easily be able to get people to go if I mentioned ice cream afterwards. It worked. HA! As soon as we walked in, who did we see?? Kristin and Josh. HA! We felt like we were stalking them. It was a funny coincidence. While we were all sitting, and chatting, a group of kids came in, maybe early 20's. They all got their orders placed and sat down. All of the sudden, the blonde version of the Osmond's came out, sat down on bar stools in front of this girl, and sang! Before they started singing, the "lead singer" proposed to the girl, and then all of the singing men, broke out into song! It was tooooo cute! Tara, of course, cried. (I don't know why she says she doesn't cry. She totally does all of the time. So sensitive.) While Rebecca and I provided commentary on the song, saying how certain events won't happen, or it's not going to be as much sunshine as he's singing to her about. So cute though.

Afterwards, we went back to Rebecca's house, where I exposed Tara to Weird Al Yankovik's "White and Nerdy". I don't think she found it quite as funny as I did...........I found it very funny. HA! The segway part kills me, HA!

ANYWHO! It was a really fun night, and an awesome way to end 2 weeks of packing and moving. I really enjoyed spending some fun time with the ladies, stalking Kristin on her date with her husband. Good times. I am especially blessed that I have been allowed back into the fold. The mexican men sang to me from behind the counter, and all is right with the church once more.

Last Day in the Warm Springs Ward

The Sunday before we moved, Allan and I, along with the kids, attended the Warm Springs Ward for the last time. It happened to be fast and testimony meeting. It was a really good one!! Except, poor Taylor had a cold and was just miserable. So I spent a lot of the meeting getting up and going out in the foyer. The times that I was sitting, Allan kept pushing me and silently yelling at me to go and bare my testimony.............that's not going to happen. He almost had me up there, but darn it! The meeting ended. I really felt bad that I didn't. This ward has meant the world to me, and I really should've shared those feelings with them. Another regret to add to the list.


After the meeting, I went to my class (I teach the 11-12 year old girls), and informed them that this would be my last Sunday with them. They weren't too happy about it, which made me kinda feel good. Charm spoke up, "Who's gonna yell at us and bring us snacks?!" HA! She was very concerned about that. She has been one of my more challenging girls. I've had to teach her how to behave in primary (I'm not sure how that went) and how to be reverent, and even how to pray, since she's a convert. She's never had to do any of those things. I loved watching her get better and better at things, and even if she thinks I was yelling at her, which sometimes I was, she didn't mind. She listened and really tried. I loved those girls. They taught me a lot, especially about snack items. HA! Anytime I didn't know something, I could always look to Julia to fill me in on the back story of the lesson. And then Madison would let me know that White Cheddar Cheese-It's would be good in that scenario, at which point, Nika would argue that they are disgusting, which would begin our weekly debate about White Cheddar Cheeze-It's. Thank you Sunshine products! You know how to bring the spirit.


I really feel like my testimony has been strengthened since being in this ward. The Lord really does place you where you need to be, at the time you need to be there. I am grateful for the examples that have been shown to me, and the wonderful spirit that this ward has. I am especially grateful for the friends that I have made, and hope to continue the friendship, even though I'm not on that side of town.


I am very excited to meet my new ward though. I am really excited to be able to be in a ward for years and years, since the max amount of time we've ever spent in a ward is a year and a half. I'm excited that my children will be able to grow up in a ward and have friends that they will grow up with. It's such an exciting time for our family, and I couldn't be happier.

We've MOVED!!

We have finally moved into our home! We can't be more excited. You know, we didn't plan on moving. On a Thursday, my brother in law, Lincoln, and his wife, Cecilia, told us that we should look for houses, and that Sunday we started looking. A week and a half later, we put in an offer, that got accepted 2 hours later, and 2 1/2 weeks after that, we owned the house! A week after we signed the papers, we moved in! Crazy how things work out just as they are supposed to. That's just how we operate I guess. A friend of ours, Scott (the picture guy), said to Allan, "It takes me longer to choose a shirt to wear, than it does for you guys to buy a house!". I think that pretty much sums it up.

I went on Craigslist and found some stainless steel appliances for the kitchen, and Allan bought a new plasma (OOOHH AAAHHH! You have to humor him.....). Allan and my step-dad spent all day, the first Sunday, installing them all for me. It took a trip to the GE store on Monday, but finally, they are in and working!! HORRAY! The house came with appliances already in, so now we have a ton of appliances in our garage. It looks like a showroom against one of our walls. It's pretty bizarre looking. Not sure what we're going to do with them all.

On Tuesday, the gardeners came to spruce up the yard and cut everything back that needed to. It looks sooooo pretty out in our back yard now. And it smells yummy! I walk back there when the kids are napping, and it smells like the gardens outside of the temple. I LOVE it.

We moved on a Saturday, and we had all of our boxes unpacked by Monday. I can't stand living out of boxes, or leaving something undone. It drives me bonkers! The only thing left to do is the garage. We're not looking forward to it, but hopefully, by the weekend, I will be able to park my van inside of it.

I don't have pictures yet, because we're still putting pictures up and things. I am planning on taking some this weekend. (Sorry Cassie!! I know you're waiting!)

Allan and I feel so incredibly blessed to have been given the ability to buy this house and provide for our family. It's a great gift. We were talking last night, and we both feel so comfortable, and calm. We are HOME. It's a feels wonderful to not feel temporary any longer.

Look out for the house warming party! BBQ!!!

Regrets

I can't say that, in my life, I have more than 1 or 2 regrets. Even the things that I've done wrong, I can't say I regret them. Those things that I've done, have made me who I am today. HOWEVER, I have been thinking about some things that I wish I would've done. Apparently, I have some regrets I had no idea I had!

Regret #1: I wish I would've taken piano lessons. I played the violin, from 6th grade until I was a senior in high school. I played for my schools, took private lessons and even the Las Vegas String Ensemble (and did pretty well!), but, I didn't really enjoy it that much. I liked the emotions that the songs I played, made me feel, but I didn't actually enjoy playing it that much. It was just something I was good at, but not something I was good at AND loved to do. I always wanted to play the piano though. I love listening to people playing the piano, and am secretly jealous of them. Maybe when I'm older, and the kids aren't so demanding, I will take lessons.

Regret #2: I wish I would've taken gymnastics. I know, I know. Don't laugh. I know I'm 6'0 tall, however, I LOVE watching it on tv, and I've always been attracted to the sport, and how to do things. I always wanted to try out for cheerleading, but never did. I think because I was scared to not get on. I was on the dance team in junior high school and LOVED it. But high school was a different story. HA! But now, I'm definitely NOT going to, but I think I wish I would've been a little braver and just tried things.

Regret #3: I wish I would've taken a photography class, when I had the chance. I've had so many chances to, and I haven't. Now, it would be so great if I knew what I was doing. Photographs mean the world to me, and I love taking pictures and editing them too! I'm just not very good at it. I am still going to take a class though, eventually. Maybe when I start school again, but for now, I will just wish I was good at it.

and finally,

Regret #4: I wish I would've tried to get into OSU. Since I was young, it has been a very little known fact, that I was obsessed with going to OSU. I am from Oregon, and have always loved the school. It's a FANTASTIC school, and just really wanted to attend that school. But, it's not an easy school to get into either. Especially if you don't play a sport. HA! Which I don't, and am not allowed (I will break myself trying, HA!). My grades were pretty good, but again, I think I was scared to try, because there is always a chance that you will be rejected.

Well, what I've learned from all of these regrets is that, I have really allowed fear to hold back what I wanted to do, no matter how silly it is. It's ok to have the rejection, because those are the moments that help you grow and learn. The acceptance is nice too though, HA! I can learn just as well from that. HA!

What A Flashback!

Lately, I've been keeping my 300+ cd's in Allan's car, and I listen to them on the way to work. They all pretty old. Well, not THAT old, cause I'm not that old, but at least 10 years old.  Anyways, today I put on one of my Trisha Yearwood CD's. A song came on called "Little Hercules". I wanted to cry as soon as this song came on.

Back when I was trying to re-activate myself in the church, I used to wear out this CD, because I just love her voice and the use of the piano on her cd's is so gorgeous. I remember listening to this song over and over. At first, when I started listening to the song, it reminded me of my mother, because she worked so much, and put so much on herself, and had so many stresses in her life, that this song just seemed to say what I wanted to say to her, and what I felt about her and all that she does. But, when I started to return to church, and I felt so much pressure from my friends, and even some of my family, that I was overwhelmed a lot, and felt like maybe it's not worth all of this. I felt an overwhelming amount of pressure, being the only member of my family, that is able to attend the temple, because I knew that there were a TON of people waiting for me, to just get things right, so that I could help them with their work. I just didn't know if it was really possible or even worth it.

Anyways, I remember listening to this song, and how applied to my own situation. It, sort of, explained what I felt. It didn't really make me realize anything, or make me feel like my problems were solved, just made me feel validated. I felt like it was ok to feel overwhelmed pressured, and to take a second to breath, and just live, as long as I got back on the horse, and kept going. I am not the type of person that just likes to endure things. I think everything means something, and everything that happens, gives us an opportunity to learn something about ourselves or other people. I TRY to find the positivity in everything, and learn from it. I don't want to just endure to the end. I want to experience, and learn, and grow. Sure, sometimes you just need to push on, and you feel like you are just pushing on and trying to get through one moment, but I HAVE to find something to learn from it, otherwise, all of that enduring, meant nothing. (......and more rambling)

As I listened to the song today, I felt all of the same emotions that I felt then, about my mother, and then later on about myself and my situation. It made me so grateful for the atonement, and so grateful that Heavenly Father loved me so much that he gave me the family that I have. My parents have helped out my family so much and given Allan and I so much support and love. I don't want to say that we couldn't do it without them, because I know that we could do it without them, but I'm so grateful that I don't have to. I am grateful that I can remember those things in the past, so that it can remind me of those feelings, and make me work harder today, so that I don't have to go through it again.

Not only that, but now, when I listen to the song, I think about Jesus and the things that he had to endure, and how strong He was, and how, even when he felt weak and alone, He still kept going, completing the work, because He knew it was just what He had to do for us, to make all of the wonderful things we have today, spiritually, possible.

Growing up, my mom always told us that Heavenly Father has a packet of problems that each one of us has. None are more than we can handle or bear. Sometimes I felt like I couldn't handle it, but I did. She said, some of them are just how it is, and some of them are tests, to see what we'll do and how we'll react to the problem. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father gave me the problems that he did, and the brain that he did, so that I can deal with those problems in a healthy way, and always try to find the positive in them.

In my rambling way, this sweet, yet powerful song (to me) reminded me of all of that, without actually talking about any of this, HA! I just love music, and the ways that it can speak to our hearts and souls in such different ways, each time we listen or play something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdAJENIXQd0 Here is the song if you wanna take a listen.

One other thing that I am amazed by, listening to my music again................I STILL KNOW ALL OF THE STINKIN' SONGS, on all of my cd's. HOLY COW!! How much space is that stuff taking up?? I mean, I still know everything. From my Wynonna cd's to Eminem/Dr. Dre to my Brittney Spears (weird faze I was in). That blows my mind. That's at least 12 songs, on roughly 300 cd's (3600 songs! I totally used a calculator. Those songs ruined by ability to do math anymore. Sucks, I used to be WAY good at math.) Next up on the remembering memories from songs, "The Thong Song". HA! If you don't know it, DON'T google it. HA! But I know it..........still. Wow.