13 days till CHRISTmas

Today was one of those awesome Sundays.  I went to church and felt the Spirit then I Skyped with my cousin Lynae for an hour plus, then off to a Stake Family Christmas fireside where again I felt the Spirit.  Have I ever mentioned that I love the Christmas season?  Todays advent is D&C 76:22-24:  Even though Jesus was born two thousand years ago, He has appeared to prophets of this dispensation.  As a family, read and discuss today's assigned scripture.  I love this scripture.  Since I had to memorize the Living Christ for my Faith value project and this scripture is part of that, I can recite it, and it's even better when I think of it in the context of the Living Christ statement.  Jesus Christ lives and He loves us!!  How great is that!  Prophets are real and Heavenly Father has provided us a living one to help us in our day.  Doesn't get any better than that, now does it?

14 days till CHRISTmas

Today marks the 2 week mark till Christmas and I'm excited... though I have acknowledged that time is going by way too fast and I know it'll be over before I know it!  Today at work, I hung all the paper snowflakes that my friend helped me cut out, and hung stockings on my curtain wall above the counter.  It's so cute now.  I just kept staring out into the lobby with a smile on my face, because Christmas has come to Arctic Circle.  I'm extremely pleased about how it turned out.  In other news, I got to go out to dinner tonight with my adorable cousin Landon and his adorable fiance, Hailee.  They are my favorite people to hang out with.  They are just so sweet!! I love that Hailee will soon be my cousin in law and then we will be family!!!!!!  :)  

Tonights advent is 3 Nephi 12:9 Jesus Christ promised to bless peacemakers.  Sing a reverent Primary song to help bring greater peace to your home.  My favorite favorite reverent Primary song is Reverence is Love, so I sang that and I did feel more peace.  I love this season.  It's so nice to be able to remember Jesus every day (of course I should be doing that anyway).

15 days till CHRISTmas

Can anyone else believe that Christmas is 15 days away!! CRAZY!!  This year I got a $100 gift card from work in lieu of the dumb Christmas party.  I bought me a DVD and The Christmas Family Songbook and a new Wii game!! I didn't wait for Christmas for any of them, and I am seriously addicted to the Wii game... you are all so lucky I'm blogging!!!  Anyway... today's advent is D&C 33:11-12:  Jesus taught the principles of His gospel.  Memorize and recite the fourth Article of Faith.  Since I already have it memorized I just quietly recited it to myself.  It reminded me of an activity we did a few months ago for Young Womens.  We got the achievement day girls together and Holly set up the gym with different activities for us to teach them the Articles of Faith.  For the fourth one, she had stairs with each of the four principles written on them, and once they had said the article of faith and climbed each stair representing the principle, they got to jump off the stairs into a love sac.  It was awesome to see how many of them learned this article of faith, because they got to fly off the stairs into the cushy arms of a giant love sac!!  The principles of the gospel are important, and I'm glad that through following Jesus Christ and obeying the principles, we can go home to Heavenly Father.

16 days till CHRISTmas

Todays advent is: 3 Nephi 27:7:  Jesus told His disciples to call the Church in His name.  Sing "The Church of Jesus Christ."  This one seems a little silly, but I did it, sitting all alone in my house.  I was talking with a friend today about how grateful we are that Jesus Christ is leading the church and that He has control over who He calls to lead it, because we are quite impressed by the leaders of the Church.  It's nice to know that we belong to the true church.

17 days till CHRISTmas

Today's advent is: 3 Nephi 27:29:  Jesus Christ promised that Heavenly Father will answer our prayers.  Write in your journal about a time when He answered one of your prayers.  One that happened recently was a few weeks ago I was struggling to memorize The Living Christ for my Faith project for Young Womens.  I was having a hard time remembering what I had already memorized and so I said a quick prayer that Heavenly Father would enlighten my mind and when I closed the prayer, I began to focus more easily and by the time I put it down I had remembered all that I had previously memorized and had also memorized 3 additional paragraphs.  I know that our Heavenly Father helps us even in the small stuff.  Even if it seems mundane and meaningless to the world, it is important to Him and I am so grateful for that.

18 days till CHRISTmas

Today's advent is D&C 25:12:  With family or friends sing Christmas songs about Jesus!! I live alone, so I sang to myself.  I love the Primary Songs about Christmas.  The Nativity song is my favorite!

19 days till CHRISTmas

Okay so let me start with a Happy Birthday shout out to my 30 year old "little" brother!! Love you Todd!  I finally got my Christmas tree up today.  I don't know why it took me so long, but now I'll have to leave it up till February to make it worth it...
Todays advent is: D&C 21:1, 4-5:  Our prophet tells us what Jesus Christ wants us to do.  Read a talk given by the prophet in the last conference. I chose The Three R's of Choice from the Priesthood session.  He emphasized how important it is for us to make choices that will keep us on the path to Heavenly Father, rather than justifying our way to a different path- one that leads somewhere else.  I'm grateful we have a living prophet today who helps us to make the right choice and stay on the path back home.

20 days till CHRISTmas

Let me start by saying I can't believe it's less than three weeks till Christmas.  Better get my Christmas tree up!!  Today's advent was John 13:34-35:  We show that we want to follow Jesus Christ when we love other people.  Show your love by helping someone today.  It's sometimes hard for me to get out of my comfort zone and help others, but I've found that when I do, I am the one being blessed.  Today in Sacrament Meeting one of my favorite families sat next to me.  They have three kids and the middle daughter just loves me!!  She is sometimes a handful, but I just love her!  I know it's hard for her mom, when she's being irreverent, but I like to think I can try to help a little.  During the Sacrament, I was reading in the Book of Mormon, and she grabbed her scriptures to be like me.  She was entertained for all of 2 minutes, but you have to take those minutes whenever you can get them.  I hope Abby knows that her kids are not a burden and I love them all!!  If it's helpful at all for me to sit by them, I'm thrilled to do it.  If not, I'm sorry that I contribute to Sarah's irreverence, but she's just so cute!!  Anyway, this season I hope I can find more ways to show people my love!

21 days till CHRISTmas

Today's advent says:  Mark 10:13-14 Jesus showed that children are very important to Him.  In your personal prayer, tell Heavenly Father about your day and the things that made you happy.  Now remember this was a little kids advent calendar, but it's kind of fun when you read in the scriptures that we need to become like little children.  I think it's important for everyone to kneel down and tell Heavenly Father about things that make us happy.

22 days till CHRISTmas

Todays advent calendar was 3 Nephi 12:6:  Jesus Christ taught that we will be blessed for seeking righteousness.  Spend ten minutes reading scriptures or scripture stories.  I have been reading the Old Testament this year so I started with that and then finished up in the Book of Mormon.

CHRISTmas Advent Calendar --24 and 23 days till CHRISTmas!!

Last Christmas I felt like the season went by much too fast and it was over before I realized it had started.  This year I don't want that to happen, so I was trying to figure out how I could appreciate the Christmas season.  I found this kind of silly "little kid" advent calendar online, but what I liked about it was each day you read a scripture and then do an activity that goes along with the scripture.  After the activity is completed you add a puzzle piece to the Nativity, ending with Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve.

 I had so much fun every day thinking about the things I was thankful for in November, I thought my December installment would be my adventures with the activities on my advent calendar.  Each day I'll post the calendar with the puzzle pieces and you can all count down with me.  I forgot yesterday was December 1st, since I was up so late doing month end the night before and so was asleep on my living room floor by 6:30 pm, so I had to do two today.  The first one was D&C 1:37: Jesus counseled Latter-day Saints to study His commandments.  Think of one commandment you keep and one blessing that you enjoy.  I chose tithing as the commandment I keep and the blessing I enjoy is being able to pay all my bills and still have money to live somewhat comfortably.  The second one was 3 Nephi 18:6-7:  Jesus asked His followers to always remember Him, especially when partaking of the sacrament.  Write in  your journal how you feel about the Savior.  Since my blog is kind of my online journal, I'll write it here.  I am in awe!  I cannot believe that the Son of God loves me enough that He would "descend from his throne divine, to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine" but He does.  He loves me in all circumstances and I am so grateful.  Jesus Christ's Atonement provided me the way to go home!  He is my advocate with the Father, who also loves me.  It is a blessing to know the Savior and to feel His love for me every day.

Sabbath Musings

Today in Sacrament Meeting we got a new bishopric.  One of the counselors is moving with his family to Saratoga Springs and so the reorganization was necessary.  The whole Stake Presidency was there and it was a joy to feel the Spirit in the Bishop's decision about his new counselors.  I thought he'd keep the one that was staying but it turned out that they were both released and two new ones put in.  As the new counselors took their seats on the stand, I felt the Spirit and knew that both had been called of God.  As the new second counselor stood to bear his testimony he talked about how it would be easy to get up there and talk about how inadequate he was, but he also knew that this calling came from the Lord, Jesus Christ and to question His authority would be putting the man's will above that of the Lord, the leader of the church.  I had never thought of it quite like that before.  One of my favorite quotes says, "The Lord doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called."  I truly believe that and I decided today that I would strive always to put the will of Heavenly Father above my will, by not questioning what he asks me to do.  I have felt inadequate in most of my callings, but every time I am blessed beyond words as I have done my best to do the Lord's will.  It's a good lesson and I 'm grateful for the reminder today.

One Fantastic Saturday

Today started out just like any other Saturday.  I woke up tired, dragged myself to work trying to pretend I wanted to be there and then began what was probably the longest day ever!!  It was seriously slow and I was upset that I had to be at work instead of watching the Utah vs. BYU football game.  In the middle of an atypical rush (that only lasted about 20 minutes), I was standing in the pass thru (where all the food comes out of the kitchen) and I heard my name from the drive thru window.  I turned to see who was yelling at me and saw my friends Hayley and JC.  It was awesome, because a few months ago Hayley and JC moved to Idaho and Hayley was just weeks away from having a baby.  I ran outside to see the baby in person (I've seen pictures) and talked to Hayley for a few minutes.  She said she didn't think I'd be there, but she was glad I was, and I was glad I was.  I love seeing people I don't get to see so often.  I got off work at 5 and went out to my car, and was surprised to find out that Utah beat BYU by one point in the last seconds of the game.  I had gone out to my car 2 other times just to get the score and BYU was ahead both times.  What a surprisingly pleasant Saturday!  

I'm Thankful for...

I missed my thankful yesterday and since today is Thanksgiving I think this will be my last "thankful" post.  At least the last one that I head with this title.  Today I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for his son Jesus Christ.  This year my mom and I have been discussing ways to put the Christ back in Christmas, and through all the discussions and things we've talked about, I can see how much we need to remember the amazing love our Savior has for us, that he was willing to condescend and become lowly so that he could be raised above all and then as a "final" act of love, atone for me.  It is completely impossible for me to consider how he could love one such as I in all of my imperfectness and moments of pure idiocy, and yet he does.  He loves me, He paid for me, and He wants me to come back to him.  It fills me with gratitude to think of Him, so today and everyday He is the one thing I am most thankful for.

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for my washer and dryer ( I know Nicole did this one yesterday, but I promise I had the idea before I read hers).  Tonight I got home from work an hour after the "Blizzard of 2010" started (seriously disappointing blizzard), and I needed to wash my work clothes for tomorrow.  It's so nice to just throw them in the washer on my way to the shower instead of having to pack up all the dirty laundry and heading to a laundromat or at very best the laundry facility at my apartment complex.  It's nice that the apartment complex has a laundry facility, but in the snow, even across the property is too far.  I knew when I moved out of Mom and Dad's, I wouldn't survive long without a washer and dryer, and so off I went to buy one, and now 4 years later I am so grateful for that purchase!!  It really is a blessing to have the ability to do laundry whenever I need to.

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for Skype.  When I found out that Todd and Nicole were moving I went out and bought myself a web cam and then found out from my cousin Lynae about Skype.  Since then, I have had the opportunity (not as often as I'd like) to be allowed into their homes and share a bit of their days.  Tonight I "skyped" with Lynae and Tyler and my Aunt Cheryl in Alabama.  Before they moved to Alabama, Lynae and Tyler and I would get together and have FHE on a few Mondays.  Tonight through the web cam, we had the opportunity again and I'm so thankful that we have the technology that lets us see each other and share in each other's lives even for just a few minutes.  It's definitely cheaper than a plane ticket!!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for old friends.  Today I was about to go into a Presidency Meeting at the church, when I looked up the hall and saw a face that didn't belong in that environment.  It was the face of my mission trainer, Naomi.  I called out her name and she turned around and we had a great short talk in the hall and I met her new (4 month old) baby Mason, and it was so stinking awesome to see her.  Her in-laws live in my stake, and meet in the ward just after mine.  When I got home, I logged onto facebook and had a post on my wall from my friend Chantal who lives in Missouri, just saying that she missed me and had been thinking about me.  That got me thinking about how few really good friends I have that live here in Utah and how far away we all are from each other.  It's so nice that we have the ability to keep in touch faster than snail mail these days, and therefore having friends far away is easy!  I'm so thankful that the Lord has allowed these people to be in my life and I 'm so thankful that today has been so full of renewing past relationships!!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for snow.  I know there are a lot of people out there who don't agree and wish it would just go away, but today after I got home from work, I looked out my window and it was falling, and looked so pretty.  I love winterscapes and especially the ones right outside my window.  I think I'll grab a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy the wintery weather with some showtunes!!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for Excedrin.  I don't get headaches all that often but when I do I am a cranky pants!  I appreciate that there are over the counter meds that can save me (and my crew) when the headaches come on.

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for my regulars.  I'm sure that didn't make sense to most people so let me elaborate.  At work, we are encouraged to get to know our guests by name, and it's pretty fun when you do.  Every day there are probably 10 or so guests that come in that I can call by name and we chat and sometimes I know their order before they say it, and sometimes I see them at church or something and it's really fun.  Some of my favorites came in today.  I had to work till 8 and Carma came in and demanded to know why I was still there.  Bonnie is in my ward, and comes in almost every day for a caramel shake.  Sherlyn and Alane come every Monday for hamburger kids meals, one with no pickle.  Kevin comes in with his little boy every so often, and I saw him in the foyer at church.  He must meet in the ward after mine.  Becky and her seeing eye dog come in two or three times a week for a large drink and Hannah makes me laugh because she really likes brown toppers, but she likes when the chocolate is still runny before it hardens so we try really hard to get it from the topper can to her window speedy like!!  Sometimes I feel like I made a bad choice when it comes to career, because I have to work 60 hours a week and it causes serious burnout sometimes, but then Larry the mailman comes in for his double burgers no pickle and since he's from Indiana, we always have something to chat about.  He is sure, even when I'm busy, to take time out to make sure he's told me to have a good afternoon, and sometimes... that is the only reason I can.  I love my regulars and I hope that I can continue to make their experiences worthwhile because I need them to come in every day to brighten my day!

I'm Thankful for...

I missed a day so you get last nights post this morning and then I'll do today's post tonight.
Today I am thankful for peace.  Last night I came home and found my roommate had moved out and taken the bad feelings away with her.  It was not an ideal relationship, things had changed in her life since the last time she lived here and all I felt upon finding her gone, was joy and peace.  Now I can get back to being who I am, doing what I want, and not having to worry about her and her boyfriend doing whatever they do in my home.  I am grateful that Heavenly Father watches out for me and helps me to know what I should do.

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for my mom!  Tonight we did 3/5 of a girls night out.  Nicole is in Arizona so is absent for all girl's nights out now and Kris had to stay home with her kids cuz Daddy had school.  Mom and Carolee and I got together to make heating/cold packs.  Mom dug out a bunch of flannel scraps and we bought feed corn at IFA and  proceeded to make them.  Now for as long as I can remember, my mom has been an awesome seamstress and I can't sew, cut, or even think a straight line to save my life, but my mom would not sew mine.  She forced me to do it.  She gave instruction, turned the sewing machine down to low, and pushed me into the chair. When we were all done, I was so proud of my heating/cold pack and Mom said, "See, aren't you glad you did it yourself?"  I was actually very glad I did it myself.  It was actually pretty fun!  So thanks for pushing me Mom!  Love you lots!

Mom helping Carolee get started.

My finished product

Me and Carolee being silly!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for mops.  I got to work this morning and proceeded to put my food order away.  I walked past the walk-in refrigerator and glanced into the window to see how much there was to put away in there.  What I saw was a fairly good sized order sitting in half an inch of liquid ice cream that covered my 12 x 8 walk-in nearly corner to corner.  Upon further investigation I realized it was only 2.5 gallons of ice cream.  It's unbelievable to me that so little ice cream can cover so much space.  After putting garbage bags down outside the walk-in to put stuff on in an attempt not to spread it, I put the order away the best I could and then proceeded to turn two hot soapy mop buckets into nothing but cold vanilla ice cream water.  Thankfully I was ahead this morning because I had done some extra work yesterday and so the 40 minute mop job didn't put me too far behind, but I was ready to throw it all and go home at 9:30.  Here's to another Arctic Circle adventure.  Let's hope tomorrow goes better!

I'm Thankful for...

Tonight I am thankful for the Priesthood.  Each and every time my home teacher comes he leaves a blessing on my house and he may as well have his hands on my head for the way it makes me feel.  Every blessing has the phrase, "Bless this home to be a place of peace and safety."  The last few days have made the need for that blessing even stronger and I know that Heavenly Father is granting it for me.  Today I was so worried about so many little things, that I can't even control and I had a prompting to pray.  Immediately I felt the promised peace and now know that whatever happens, I will be okay.  So without actually putting his hands on my head, I appreciate that home teacher who exercises his priesthood on my behalf through blessing my home.

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for the lessons I get to teach in Young Womens.  Each week as I look through the book and read the lessons I am impressed by the caliber of lessons the leaders of the church have come up with.  This week the lesson is on Gratitude and I'm so excited to teach it!!  Part of the lesson is to write a specific note of appreciation to each of the girls.  It was very eye opening as I thought about what I could say to each girl to help them feel of my love and gratitude for each of them.  I'm so blessed!!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for prayer.  It has become apparent to me more in the last few days that Heavenly Father really cares about the mundane, little things that are important to me and has blessed me by answering the "stupid" questions.  It is really comforting to know that he really is there, he really does love us, and he really does care even about the small things.

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for my friends!!  I love to get online and scan through my blog list and see who has updated and then to read about their awesome lives!! I'm so glad that we care enough about each other, that even when we're hundreds of miles apart, we still manage to keep in touch whether through a blog post or a facebook message.  I love you guys!!

I'm Thankful for...

Tonight I am thankful for my calling.  I am the Laurel advisor in my ward and I am so blessed to work with some of the world's most amazing young women!  Next week is our Young Women in Excellence program, and one of the Beehives is planning it for one of her value projects.  She decided on a Hollywood theme so tonight we met together to get ready.  We had each girl make a star (like on the walk of fame in Hollywood) and then we gave them gray poster board and black paint to do their hand prints in the "concrete".  Then they signed their names and wrote a quote that best describes them.  There were so many awesome scriptures and quotes that I am just so pleased to be acquainted with these girls!! I promise to post pictures of the Bountiful 12th ward Stars next week, but today I am just grateful to be a part of the magic!!

I'm Thankful for...

I really had to think today about what I am thankful for.  Someone at work asked me around 2:00 what I was going to write, and I told her I didn't know yet.  Tonight I came home to a sink full of my roommates dishes and a dishwasher full of "clean" dishes (my water is so hard, my dishwasher really struggles) so I emptied the dishwasher into the already full sink, stacked the dishes neatly, turned on a Friends episode, put the Finish Dishwasher cleaner in the dishwasher, and started washing and drying every dish in the house!!  Literally!!  So today I am thankful that my kitchen is clean, the dishwasher is empty, and the cupboards are full.  And I'm thankful that it only took 2 Friends and half of The Biggest Loser!

I'm Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for the fact that I got that whole last post done.  Nicole and Todd were kind of bothering us yesterday that no one had blogged the Pumpkin Walk that happened 3 weeks ago, and I told them I had tried, but the pictures were giving me grief.  You can't blog the Pumpkin Walk without pictures but the last time I got so frustrated I gave up.  Tonight the pictures were cooperating nicely, so for Todd and Nicole... I'm grateful that I finally got that post done!!