General Conference

I love that it is General Conference time again. I sure do love hearing from the Prophets and Apostles. I am so very far behind on my home inspections that I had to work today, which completely bummed me out because I really wanted to watch both sessions of Conference. I did watch the morning session, but left to do photos around noon, so had to work through the afternoon session. I heard a lot of the talks that were given (well, parts of them) because I listened to it on the radio, but just found out that I missed something very important by not watching the session.

Yep, my surrogate little brother who is on a mission (Go Archie!) was part of the MTC choir that sang today.

I'm sorry I missed it. For the talks too, not just for not seeing David, I promise. :)

I got this photo here.

Weekend in ID

I took this for Jordan, just to make her super trunky. I may or may not have been going 85 mph when I took this picture. Safety first.


One of my very favorite people in the whole wide world got married on Saturday in the Twin Falls LDS temple. 

Libby and I met in college at Utah State and were originally neighbors, then roommates for 2 (glorious) years. She is one of the best people alive. I would share more pics from the past, but they're on my other (old) laptop, and it's so much work to get them off, so I'll just post a picture from Saturday.

I'm so glad I got to go. She looked so great. I'm so excited for her new adventure!

My parents came to Twin to take me to lunch and it was so great to see them. We ate at Cafe Rio which is delicious as always. I have the best parents. I am one lucky gal.

Mom left for Lava to spend the week with her mom and sisters and Dad took me to Boise to stay with Beth so I could go to Libby's wedding reception and see my cute nieces and nephews. It was a super short trip, but a great one. It was so great to spend a couple of quality days with my Dad. He is so awesome. He came just to spend time with me. It was good to catch up with him.

Oh, the most exciting part is that I CAUGHT LIBBY'S BOUQUET! Woohoo!

Although, I also caught Beth's bouquet like 15 years ago, and that didn't really do anything for me, but it's still fun. Libby totally aimed for me. She's awesome.

The 6 hour drive home took me 10.5 hours. Sooooo long! But it was good. I stopped to see my grandparents, my aunt and cousins and Cade and Krystal. It was really hard to get up in time for work the next day.

{I didn't want Utah to feel left out}

My New Ward

The biggest unexpected adjustment of my move has been my new ward. Don't get me wrong, the members have been very welcoming and very nice, but it's been really hard for me.

I'm the only single member in the whole ward under the age of 80.

Seriously.

There were about 100 active single people in my old ward and there's 1 in my new ward so I definitely feel like a pariah. Plus, I have a really great talent of feeling sorry for myself so I basically cried through church for the first 2 weeks. Embarrassing, I know.

The first Sunday, I kept a stiff upper lip and made it through sacrament okay, but when I had to introduce myself in Sunday School, I totally almost cried. I was able to cover it (I hope) because I had bronchitis.

Well, I have already spoken twice (once in sacrament meeting, once at a Relief Society dinner) and taught a lesson. Oh, and I'm saying a prayer in sacrament tomorrow. They are quickly putting me to work, which is good.

I also accepted a calling about a month ago, but haven't been sustained and set apart yet. When I asked the Bishop about it last Sunday, he said that they might be extending a different calling so I guess I have to wait. Weird.

I'm trying really hard to get to know people's names, but it's not an easy task. It's so embarrassing when people say hi and all me by name and I just have to smile and say "hey!"


The best part of this experience is the realization that there are good people everywhere - and that the Church is the same no matter where I go. I will become a part of this ward family just like I have with every other ward I've been in. I'm so thankful for that and makes this adjustment period a little easier.

Catching Up

So, yeah, not even one post in all of February. I guess it's okay since it's a short month and all, right?

No, it's not okay.

I feel like I'm really busy. I have a lot to do (just like everyone else), but I also seem to find lots of time to lay on my couch and watch TV, so that's not really been my issue.

We'll just say that I'm still hibernating. Even though this has been a super mild winter, the short days and l-o-n-g nights really get to me. 

I really miss the sunshine.

So, there will be no griping from me when we move our lives ahead by an hour this weekend. Although, why is it so hard every single year? It's just an hour, but it's pure torture for weeks. I am really pumped that it will be lighter longer though, so I guess it's worth all the pain.

Oh, and I LOVE my house. My lack of blogging about/posting pictures is no indication of how excited I am to have my own space. I am loving every second of it! I don't have to share anything which is a middle child's dream come true.

Although, sometimes it's too quiet.

Oh, and also, I'm still scared of my basement.

And of the big black cricket that it currently on the wall in my garage. I can't bring myself to kill it because I can feel it as it's dying - under my shoe or in a napkin. Gross. Maybe I'll go out and hit it with the broom. I'll do it tomorrow if it's still there when I leave (uh, maybe).

Speaking of insects, did I post that my dad found a BLACK WIDOW in my garage? No, because I haven't really blogged since then. But, he did and I've been really freaked out about it ever since. I have to check my bed thoroughly every night just to make sure none of her babies have gotten inside. (Don't worry, I'm going to spray).

And, yes, my dad's a freak and was touching a live black widow! She was just cold from the garage so - thankfully - she wasn't moving around. He named her Charlotte. He's such a weirdo! We put her in a pill bottle and when she woke up and spread out, she was HUGE! So gross! I wouldn't let my dad kill her right away because my Institute teacher is way into spiders and I thought he might want her, but he didn't. So, we kept her in the bottle for a couple of days. My dad wanted to take her to the empty lot at the end of the block but I didn't want to hear about some neighbor kid dying from a black widow bite, so dad said he would just release her somewhere between here and Idaho. Fine by me. Like 10 minutes after he and my mom left, I realized that they forgot to take her so I made them come back.

I'm such a chicken.

***

So, I haven't really taken many pictures of my house. 95% of the time I'm home it's dark outside and pictures in artificial light aren't that great. Plus, it's not how I want it yet. I've just been taking my time and unpacking little by little. My mom is a rockstar and had me mostly unpacked when she was here for one weekend. She's crazy/amazing and I'm so glad she got so much done. Here are a couple of pictures. One of the living room and one of my bedroom:

How tacky that I didn't even make my bed or clean up at all, huh?

In my defense, I was sick for quite a few weeks (see the humidifier and Kleenex?). And, please don't pay attention to the bag of Salt and Vinegar potato chips on the floor. How embarrassing!

Here's a picture of the main bathroom (guest bathroom?)

And my bathroom - yes, my very own.

(I got a new lens for my iPhone - yes, for my phone. Cool huh? It's 3 lenses in one: macro, fish eye and wide angle and it's so cool! Go here if you're interested).

Here are a few of my favorite things about my house:

I love that the microwave says "good" when the food is done.

It's hard to find a letter 'C' that looks cool and I really like this one.

Justice lives about 2 blocks away which is awesome!

I bought myself a house-warming gift. I couldn't pass it up!

I loved this flower so much, I bought one for each of the bathrooms.

So, it's coming together - slowly. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is MY house sometimes. It's surreal, but great.

For the most part, I've gotten used to living alone. I'm kinda a scardy cat, so little noises and the dark and being alone freak me out sometimes. I have started to feel comfortable as I get used to the noises a house makes. I never hear my neighbors, which is nice, but sometimes a little too quiet.

So, just as I was getting the knack of living alone, there was a burglary 8.04 miles from my house where a guy walked around the neighborhood - to like 2o homes looking for an open door and when he found one, he went into the house, into the couples' bedroom, told them he had a gun and demanded that the husband get his keys and take him to the ATM to give him whatever was in his accounts. Well, the husband got up and went to his closet telling the burglar that he was getting his coat. He came out with his gun and shot the burglar, who instantly died. So scary, but I'm so proud of the homeowner for taking action. Better the scum burglar than him or his family. I can't imagine having to make that decision and living with the knowledge that you killed someone, even though the circumstance called for it.

So, Cade has been a huge supporter of me getting a gun. That also kinda scares me because the statistic of women getting shot by their own gun is pretty high. But what if it had been my house? I would have been so defenseless. I am completely locked up tight, with deadbolts so it would have to take a pretty serious effort for anyone to get in, but what if someone did? What would I do? I've lost a lot of sleep this past week worrying about it.

So...I bought a gun.

Seriously, I did.

Not something I thought I would ever do, but Cade found a 9mm Smith and Wesson that's basically brand new on KSL for me so I went for it. Actually, he got it because the guy was closer to him. I don't have it yet, but I'm kinda looking forward to a new hobby. I've shot guns many times (I'm from Idaho, after all) so I'm not worried about gun safety. And, I will shoot my gun at the range to know it well. I'm also going to take a concealed weapons course soon. I won't ever carry a gun with me, but I want all the education I can get. And I'll get a gun safe for when kids are visiting.

If nothing else, at least I'll sleep better.

Oh, and I'm getting an alarm system. And a Beware of Dog sign...not an actual dog because I'm not really into pets (plus, the poor thing would be alone all the time), but the sign could deter a would-be robber.

Anyhoo, that's what's new with me! Hopefully this won't be my only post in March...