Shelter

As some of you know, I made the huge jump and bought a condo about a month ago! I moved out of Provo and on to bigger and better things. :) I am now closer to work, around lots of other young single adults, and living with two of my best friends. Life really is amazing. Although the place is not completely put together, I figured I'd let you in to a little bit of my house...so sit back, relax, and enjoy!

View from the outside

Garage. Ain't she a beauty?? :)

Front entry. I will eventually get a little table to put my Welcome sign on. For now, the floor will do. :)

That door on the right is the half-bath downstairs.

The kitchen.

The kitchen opens up to a little dining area. This wall is still in the process of being put together...

The dining area opens up to the family room.



Now let's go upstairs!
Washer and dryer

Roommates' rooms

Roommate's bathroom

One of the selling points of the place--the upstairs loft AKA the CRAFT CORNER!! :)

My bedroom. The least of my worries--I just got my bed 2 days ago. :)

My bathroom. Entirely too big for one person, but I'll take it. :)



The deck off of my bedroom.

The VIEW from my bedroom. Can you see what that is?? (Mt. Timpanogos Temple)

I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with in order to do this. It's a fun and scary world to be an adult, but I am loving it. It has been so fun getting my own place set up. And now I finally have a place to store all my "junk!" :) I am also grateful for being able to have my two best girlfriends live with me. We've been friends for a long time and are loving living together again. Now it's your turn to come visit the place!!

Education

I am grateful for education. I know I HAVE to say that because I'm a teacher. But I'm also grateful for teacher education! And even more importantly, the feeling I get when I finish a class. :) This feeling came last Friday when I finished my 2-year math endorsement. Lots of people ask what that means. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. Dictionary.com says an endorsement is an approval or sanction. So I guess I am now finally approved to teach math. OR it means that I spent the past 2 years taking 18 credits worth of classes in order to improve my ability to both teach and understand elementary mathematics.
I know, I know. Elementary math? That's easy stuff! Let's have a chat and I have a few questions for ya to see if it really IS easy stuff. :) I'm grateful for my teachers and fellow classmates who endured the past 2 years with me. I learned a TON and will actually miss it. I know, I'm a nerd!
Yes, this really is up on my fridge.

Now bring on the Masters of Education!! (To be started this fall...)

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day, where we celebrate the men in our lives. Most importantly, our dads. If you want to learn more about my dad, you can read his birthday post here. But I always have more great things to say about my parents!! So, following the trend I started with Mother's Day, here are the top 10 reasons I'm grateful for my dad. (Some may sound similar to his birthday post.)
1. My dad loves his grandkids. And they love him! He plays with them so well and is so willing to just get on the floor or throw them around. They love it!!
2. My dad knows how to be silly. A word I often use when describing my dad is "punny." He is so good with playing on words, even though sometimes we don't get it. :) When he and his "peer group" friends get together it is just a crack up. Whether they're speaking in their own made up B-language or remembering things they did in their childhood, it is fun to just sit back and listen. I'm so glad my dad has a sense of humor and can have fun. :)
3. My dad loves his kids. He always lets us know how proud he is of us and is always willing to give his squeezing bear hugs. (I think he gets the squeeze from his dad. :) )
4. My dad loves taking trips, even day trips. My dad loves to learn and is always looking for a place to take the family where we can be more "cultured." I love that about him! Arizona has been harder for us to get out on those trips after living in the Baltimore/DC area with SO many things to do so close to us. But we have discovered different kinds of things that don't involve just going in the backyard for a swim. He we are after hiking to some place where people used to live. Looks like I sure learned a lot on this day trip. :) Oops!
5. My dad is an amazing Christ-like example to me in my life. He is always trying to do what is right and has such a great eternal perspective. He has been an amazing support to me in the church my whole entire life and continues to be that great support.
6. My dad is smart. He has an answer to every question, it's insane. He loves education (he works with it for a living) and is always ready to learn more and to teach others. I remember having flash cards at a very young age learning to read. This picture is more of a joke--he's really not that big of a nerd. Just a little one. :)
7. My dad can sleep anywhere. He works so hard that once he gets home (or anywhere comfortable) he is out. Here he is sleeping at Melanie's reception (before it started, don't worry. He's really happy and friendly when he needs to be awake.)
8. My dad was a great missionary in Norway back in the day! He has kept in touch with at least one family he taught while he was there. A couple years ago we were able to meet the daughter of the couple he baptized while she was on HER mission at Temple Square. It was so neat to see the results of work he did as a 19 year old boy come to pass.
9. My dad loves to catch little creatures. There are lizards all over in Arizona so maybe it's not as exciting anymore, but as a kid I always remember him catching frogs or lizards or turtles. Anything he could get his hands on. We wouldn't keep them, he just wanted to catch them for the fun of it. Actually, one time we did keep a few tadpoles he caught and we watched them turn into frogs. That was a lot of fun!
10. My dad loves my mom. And he's not afraid to show it. I can't remember one moment in my whole entire life where I saw my dad get upset with my mom. I knew without a doubt that he loved her and worked hard to protect and care for her, as well as the rest of my family. President McKay once said "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." I know my dad did and continues to do that!
I am so grateful have my dad in my life. I was at the wedding of 2 friends yesterday and I about lost it at the end when the father of the bride gave his daughter a huge hug. The love parents have for their children and the love children have for their parents can be a bond so strong that emotions pour out like crazy. I sat there and told myself I can never get married. I'll just cry my eyes out. :) Thanks, Dad, for all you do for our family. I love you!

Family

I know I often talk about how I'm grateful I am for my family, but it is true!! I just spent the greatest weekend with them all in Albuquerque for Xander's baby blessing. It was a wonderful weekend of eating, swimming, holding a cuddly, sleeping 5-week old, eating some more, holding Xander some more, and going to the zoo! It was exactly what I needed to end my school year. (Oh by the way, I'm grateful for summertime!)
Here are some pictures so you can enjoy my family ALMOST as much as I do. :)
Lots of laughter:
Brandon is such a good uncle! And he's getting so old...
I just love these two so much!!
All of the grandkids. Wow, this was a hard picture to take!
Obviously, we had to take family pictures now that we have a new one in the family!!
Mason and Adeline helped me blow out my early birthday candles!
I just loved holding this little guy. So cute!!

It was a GREAT way to start off the summer vacation of 2010. Now on to other fun and exciting things!!!