His Presence

I have to admit, I cried today.  My heart was broken by the thoughts of the reality of what the world is really coming to.  I can only imagine the reunion that each person received today as they crossed over to the other side of the veil to meet again with our Savior and our Heavenly Father.  I have no doubt in my mind that those children are in their comforting arms.  I chose to become a teacher, for many reasons, but one of the main reasons was because I love the presence of children in my life.  They are so pure and precious, it really is so hard to not to love them. I could not imagine being a teacher in that school in CT today!  11 days from today is Christmas, a day of gathering with family and others who we love.  The day we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  As I thought of all those families today who had bought Christmas presents for those children who they lost, I then couldn't help but remember the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas.  It's not about the presents or the candies or any of the other worldly things which come along with the holiday, but it's about His presence.  It's about recognizing things which we need to change in our life, to be able to be more worthy to have that presence with us all year round.  With His spirit, comes eternal comfort and the feeling of pure hope which is what is much needed in the world today.  I hope as I continue on through this time of year, I will all remember the true meaning of Christmas, and strive to share His Spirit this Christmas! Because of a babe born in a manger, all those families who have lost loved ones will see their babes again.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Some where only we know...

I always get super excited when Kyle and I get to go to Anchorage, even if it is only for 24 hours.  Yesterday, an old friend and mission companion of mine had an open house in Anchorage, and Kyle and I decided to go and make a weekend of it.  As we were driving to Anchorage, I just kept thinking about how excited I was go to, and I was thinking about why I was so excited to go, then I realized all the things I was excited about were just things to do in Anchorage that really I could do anywhere.  Then, the thought came into my mind, "Why do I love Anchorage so much?"  And this is my conclusion...   There is no one else in the world that I would rather steal all of their attention than Kyle's!  I want him to be giving me his attention all the time, because I always want to be giving him my attention.  I don't want to have to worry about this or that, I just want to spend my time worrying about, "how can I make Kyle laugh?" or "What would be the best angle to take this picture of us from?" or "What time is snuggle time?"...I love Anchorage, because that's our place!

:)

Alaska really is so beautiful...the whole state!  No matter where you go!

All the waterfalls freeze on the side of the rocks through the pass

Christmas lights in Anchorage!

To Never Looking Back....

I am never looking back to what I weigh today!  I joined weight watchers!  I am going to do it, and I am going to give it 100%!! Putting this on my blog helps me to feel as though I have something/one to be accountable towards!  I want to be healthy for my future!

I Dare You!

As of lately I have been reflecting a lot about the my life and how I am living it.  I always find myself saying, I know I can do better.  How do I know?  Because I've done better in the past. While today I was doing more reflecting I came across a Mormon Message  with our dear prophet, and he talked about standing alone.  Which is so hard to do, but really, we're all doing it one way or another.  Each of us are going through things that we can't find anyone to relate to, except for our beautiful Savior, of course.  But we are all standing alone, fighting our own demons, developing our own testimonies, the list could go on and on.  None of which are easy, but are much more easily done when we have a purpose and a desire to what is right, and to rely on the God Head.  I am never alone!  I can do hard things!

"Dare to be a Mormon

Dare to stand alone

Dare to have a purpose firm

Dare to make it known"

                                               -- Thomas S. Monson 

AL-CAN 2012

We did it!  We made the long haul from Paul, ID to Homer, AK.  Google Maps said it would take us around 62 hours, but it really isn't that long, it was only 58 (3,114 miles or 5011 KM)!  Four 12 hour days and then one 9 hour day.  and ironically, the 9 hour day was the LONGEST!  Probably because it was the last!  I do have to admit, I am really glad I made the drive, but really hope I never have to again!  It was absolutely beautiful, and my wonderful husband made it a very fun trip!  I really believe the pictures are what are going to do the best explaining...
Day 1: Paul, ID to Calgary, Alberta

Day 2: Calgary, Alberta to Grande Prairie, Alberta

Day 3: Grande Prairie, AB to Watson Lake, BC

Day 4: Watson Lake, BC to Tok, Alaska

Day 5: Tok, Alaska to Homer, Alaska!

The animal count throughout the drive:

• Moose: 4       
• Caribou: 2     
• Deer: 2 
• Fox: 3
• Mountain Sheep: 11
• Porcupine: 1
• Buffalo: 112
• Mosquito: 1 million  
•  Wild horses: 3
• Black Bear: 1

               It really was a fantastic time and honestly, these pictures don't do any justice to how beautiful it really was!! And the best part is, my husband still loves me after it was all over!! :)

Leaving Utah...what a curse!

For the last 4 months Kyle and I have been living in Utah so I could finish my education and do my student teaching down there!  We found a great place to live, we had a pretty good ward, Kyle had a great job, and we lived very close to my older sissy Shawna and close to our sweet Patey family members.  We were loving it!  Everything was so smooth, until we decided it was time for us to leave and head off to the great north, Alaska.  

   One huge problems we had was Connie!  Who is Connie?  Connie is one of the kid's cars that we had purchased years ago.  The beautiful 1994 Crown Victoria.  We were desperate to sell her, because my dad said Kyle and I could have the cash and use it as some traveling money as we drive to Alaska.  HUGE BLESSING! But Heavenly Father was not going to give it to us that easily!  We got a lot of offers on the car, but never real promising ones that were dependable.  So we ended up take her to CarMax to try and sell her there.  Well, all we had was a title which said my dad sold the car to us, and we needed to have a bill of sale or Title saying we were the official owners.  This whole thing went down on a Saturday, when nothing was open.  Frustrating!

                                                                            Connie

   Another huge problem was, the saying, "we really don't have a lot of stuff!"  Everyone has a lot of stuff, and when you get married, you have a lot more stuff than when you were just packing for one!  I started two days before we planned to take off, granted, everything got finished, but it wouldn't have without a few mental/stress breakdowns and my sister Shawna and her roommate Lisa!  They were angels!!  We had so much stuff and packing was a nightmare!!!  I should have started the day I ended my student teaching!

                                                                           Stuff!!!

                                                          The two who saved my life!!!

   One other problem is our blasted apartment!!  I could scream at the management!  Okay, so, the shortest lease you can buy through our apartment complex is seven months.  We knew from the very beginning we were not going to be there that long, but figured because we were buying our contract from some friends of ours who were looking to leave the place, we'd be able to do the same.....WRONG!!  Apparently, they got in some huge trouble doing that in the short four months we lived there and they will not work on you anyway, at all to sell your contract!  Therefore Kyle and I for the next few months, will be paying for a place we wont be living in, but some one else probably will!!  You're welcome Farmgate Apartments!

    The last problem and probably the biggest of all was my husband!  No, he didn't say anything or do anything bad, in fact, he was doing what I had asked him to do when it all began!  

  Me: Kyle, will you take out the trash?

  Kyle: Sure.

  Me: Thank you, it's already sitting outside. (**Thought--Should I tell him there is glass in the bag?  No, he'll hear it and figure it out!)

  Kyle: ah!  Babe?

  Me: Yeah, what happened?  (**Thought--Did he just kind of scream?)  

I then go outside to see my husband crouched over our conversation continues...

 Me: What's wrong do you need something?...**I got closer and my eyes widen!

  Kyle: Yeah, I need the first aide kit, can you find it for me!

I was then speechless because he has this huge 5.5 inch gash in his leg that he's trying to hold together and he's hoping the butterfly band aide in our first aid kit will hold it together!  I then look at him, and said, "You need a Dr. and stitches"  The glass in the bag, that I felt to warn him about, had very much cut his leg!

  Thank goodness Shawna was there!  She ran and got her car, I ran and found the most similiar thing to a band aide we have: duct tape and paper towels (keep in mind we are moving!) and wrap him up, he hobbles to the car and off to the instacare we roll!  Kyle ended up getting two layers of stitches, 25 on the first and then 39 on the second.  Which left me with a husband who was in a lot of pain and was unable to lift heavy things...Like I had said, Shawna and Lisa were angels!!

  Even as challenging as it was for us to start our new adventure, we really do feel the way which we are going is the way we need to go, and we are definitely excited to start a new chapter and we feel extremely blessed that we have each other.  What would I do without my favorite person!?

Ahh!!

Nothing like graduating from college!!!