Young Women's Spa Night

On Wednesday March 26th, we had a spa night with the Young Women. We put on mud masks and then gave each other manicures, pedicures, and massages. It was a really fun night and I think the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It’s nice to get pampered every once in awhile.

Ashley and Me.

Another shot of me & Ashley.

Big Changes Are Headed Our Way

*Sings* Ch ch change

If you couldn’t guess from the title of this post and the opening line some major changes are coming our way. Several months ago Andy had a big meeting at work. During the meeting it was announced that the company would be consolidating some of its teams and departments. They gave the employees a time frame and said they could either relocate to the company facility in Oregon, find another job, or take a severance package.  As luck would have it (yes, I consider it luck), Andy was one of those affected by this announcement.

We have done a lot of thinking and praying over the last few months and have decided that Oregon is where we need to be at this point in our lives. We are very excited for the change!

I’m excited about:

Being closer to my family.
Living closer to the ocean.
About being in a new place, I literally do not know anybody in the town we will be in.
Trees, lots and lots of trees. In case you couldn’t tell, I love trees.
Not living in such a dry climate.
Being outside the Utah “bubble.” Missionary experiences here I come.
Having a fresh start.

Things I will miss:

My job. I absolutely love my job.
My friends.
My ward.
Having the mountains in my backyard. I really like hiking.

As of right now the plan is to head to Oregon at the end of May. We don't have a place to live yet, but we are hopeful that we will find one soon.

Happy Birthday To Me

This year my birthday wasn’t very fun, I spent the day home sick with the Plague. Okay, it wasn’t really the Plague but I sure felt crummy. I had a fever for 3-4 days and I was incredibly tired. I don’t remember a lot about my birthday that entire week is kind of a blur. Andy and I did grab a bite to eat and I picked out a new purse for myself. That weekend I started to feel better so we did a little thrift shopping and I found some awesome stuff. We also went to see Divergent at the movie theater, I loved the movie. The movie is slightly different from the book but it was still really good.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who called to say happy birthday, it helped brighten my day! Maybe this next year will be more memorable and won’t be spent sick in bed.

St. Patrick's Day

As a kid, I loved St. Patrick’s Day. My Mom would dye all of our food green and I would pinch all of the random strangers at the store who weren’t wearing green and laugh, I know I was a naughty kid. As an adult St. Patrick’s Day is just sort of another day for me. This year I woke up, got dressed, and arrived at work before I realized it was St. Patrick’s Day. I realized it was St. Patrick’s Day as soon as I saw the guy who sits next to me; he was dressed as a leprechaun. He was even sporting a red beard; he said he has been growing it out for the past year. One of my co-workers pinched me really hard; I wouldn’t be surprised if it bruises. I guess it’s true what they say that karma will come back to get you. I pinched lots of people, therefore I got pinched. Hopefully I will remember to wear green next year.

Pi Day

Have you ever heard of Pi Day? Can’t say that I had heard of Pi Day before coming to Utah. Pi Day is kind of a big deal down here. Lots of workplaces order pie for the employees and people invite their friends over to eat pie. Friday night our neighbors (Aaron and Jessica) invited us over to eat pie and play games. They made a strawberry balsamic pie and some sort of custard/cream pie. Both pies were amazing! I’m going to have to get their recipes.

After we stuffed ourselves with pie we went over to Andy’s friend’s house for “Nerd Night” as I like to call it. All of the guys and their wives sat around and played Magic. For some reason I am not intrigued by the game and have no desire to learn how to play it. For me, “Nerd Night” was kind of boring but Andy really enjoyed himself. He loves Magic and is always coming up with new decks and wanting to buy more powerful cards.

An Opportunity To Serve At Chick-fil-A

I’m not one who likes to eat out very often; I’m a kind of a food snob. When I do go to eat out typically find myself wondering why I even wasted my time and money eating out because I could have made something tastier for less money. On this particular day (3/14/14) as I was sitting at work I felt like I should go out to eat. I text Andy and asked him if he wanted to get lunch almost instantly he replied and said “Yes, see you at noon.” As I was sitting at my desk I thought to myself, “We should get Chick-fil-A.” I think Chick-fil-A tastes good but it does not react well with my body. For some reason the feeling persisted, “Go get Chick-fil-A.” When I got in the car the first words out of Andy’s mouth were, “Let’s go to Chick-fil-A.” Chick-fil-A it was.

As we walked up to the restaurant I noticed a man sitting at one of the outside tables, this man didn’t look much older than me. As I looked at this man it was as if I heard a voice saying, “This man is hungry, get him some food.” We walked into the restaurant and I asked Andy to get a table and told him I would order the food. While I stood in line I noticed a second man who looked very much like the first man. This second man walked outside and sat down with the first man. The two men had each ordered a very small bowl of something.

Before long I noticed a third man, he looked similar to the first two men but appeared to be much older. As he walked up to the cash register he handed the cashier a coupon for a free bowl of tortilla soup and that was all he ordered. I thought to myself, “That’s what those other two men ordered. That can’t possibly be enough food."

I ordered mine and Andy’s lunch and walked to the table. I looked at Andy and said, “Did you notice the man sitting outside?” He hadn’t noticed. I said, “There are three of them and they are hungry. Would you like to ask them what they would like to eat or would you like me to do it?” He said he would ask them. I told him to order whatever the men wanted. He promptly got up and walked outside to see if they men would like some food.

He quickly learned that there were four men in total. One man was from Washington and one was from Portland, Oregon. The men had been hopping trains and were trying to get to Colorado. Andy asked if they would like a sandwich and they said yes. He ordered each man a full on meal and took the food out to them. They were so excited. One of the men said, “A drink. I haven’t had a drink in days.”

It made me really sad every time someone in the restaurant looked at these men, they looked at them with disdain and like they didn’t belong. I grew up being taught that you shouldn’t judge another person, especially by their appearance. People experience different things in life and you likely do not know what is going on in the other person’s life. Some of the best people I know have had a similar appearance to these four men. I was reminded that day that in God’s eyes we are all the same. I am no better than these four men. Who am I to not help them? I am really grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve these children of Heavenly Father. That was the best $30.00 Andy and I spent all week.

A Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend we had planned to take a trip to Las Vegas. During the course of the week Andy and I both felt incredibly tired, Daylight Savings will do that too you so we decided to stay home instead. We talked about going on a hike but decided against that idea when we looked outside Saturday morning. The wind was really blowing and Andy said it was incredibly cold, so we ended up staying home. We cleaned the house, watched a movie, and just enjoyed each others company.

Sunday we went to church, came home and made dinner. We made one of Andy’s favorite meals, Dill Chicken with salad. We also made these cute owl cookies. We ran dinner over to the neighbors, their baby has been in and out of the hospital. And we took some cookies to the families that Andy home teaches.

Eat cookie had its own personality.

Asian Owl.

Angry Bird.

This One Was Just Cute!

Our weekend was simple and relaxed, it was just what we needed. Sometimes it’s nice to just slow down and take a break.