When You Got a Good Thing

I have felt so impressed these past couple of weeks to mention how grateful I am for all of my wonderful, wonderful friends.  I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such AMAZING people! Throughout my life God has placed people in my life at the exact moment that I have needed them and I feel blessed to say that I have stayed close friends with so many of them!

From EFY counselor friends, high school friends, college friends (Chi Omega, Sigma, roommates, groups of friends), work friends, mission friends (Companions, members from Canada, etc), etc- I feel so blessed!

A couple weeks ago, my friend Lauren Murakami (from Chi Omega) got married and I was able to attend her wedding.  From the second I got there, I saw so many familiar faces that I hadn't seen in forever! Tom Raynor, Jen Friedel, Angie Nielson, Sarah Reale, and so many more friends- they were everywhere! (And not to mention that my good friend Baz came a long with me and I am so so grateful for her in my life! She keeps me strong!)  That night we went to the reception and I just was going to run in and run out since Baz was with me.  Once we got inside, I didn't want to leave! Girls that I hadn't seen in about 4 years were there and it seemed like no time had passed at all.  Girls that I wasn't even really close with seemed like such long time friends.  I remember talking to Angie out in the parking lot and getting an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my lifetime friends of Chi Omega.  It's so great to know that even when you go on a mission, move to another University, and get married, I will still have a huge set of girlfriends that will always support me.  (And let's not forget how so many of them supported me on my wedding day! I literally wanted to cry with happiness when I saw their faces in the line! CHI-O forever! :) ).

What a great group of girls! (I realized after this that it was the middle of July and I had sat out in the sun one day back in May during the whole summer- time to hit the pool!)

My wedding- Thanks girls for coming!!

Nothing better than a Onsie Chi-O Christmas!

One of many Dinner Clubs

Around the same time I got an invite to go to Spencer Nelson's surprise birthday party- oh my was I so excited and so grateful for the invite! It had been a LONG time since I had seen all of my old Utah State buddies- It's hard when everyone runs off and gets married and then you are left a lone wolf standing in an open field! HA- (Don't know where that came from!)  But seriously- when Karly asked me if I wanted to go I was so excited! I was excited for Andy to meet all these great/crazy people! We showed up and it was like no time had passed (except that there were little children running and crawling everywhere!)- Chad and John were their usual quirky selves, Spencer was so outgoing like usual, and all the other guys were cooks! And I can't leave out my girls- my girls are wonderful! Seriously- It was so great to spend time with everyone!

Just the greatest group of people ever! All of them added so much to my great experience at Utah State!

Karly and I as crazed basketball fans!

Our first of many S.O.'s (Sleep Over (Which always ended with everyone going home at about 3 AM)) We had an agenda (which included painting rocks and Chauri giving us a presentation on how Alaska is different than Utah), and then we did face masks- the guys only of course!

So much fun- Go Aggie Football!

Spring Break in Mexico- nothing beats 18 people crammed into a 2 bedroom house! (Oh and we didn't have reservations- We dropped Brett off in the middle of downtown and he searched out a man that rented the place to them the last year- everyone led him right to the bar where Brett did his thing and the man let us use his place!)

Just a little Utah State Birthday Party!

... and John Neil... In all his glory!

I am grateful to our friends Dave and Lara- who would've thought that two sets of best friends from the Canada Calgary Mission would go home and marry each other and create the perfect dynamic for a friendship to grow.  Dave and Andy are so much a like and are giddy little boys when they are together. Lara and I are able to be there for each other when times get rough and be each other's bestie's!  Every little girls dream is for you and your best friend to marry best friends and then live next door to each other forever- who would've thought that this would happen?! (Dave and Lara just put an offer on a condo in a near by complex- it would be so so nice to have them so close by!) Thanks Dave and Lara for being answers to mine and Andy's prayers!

The week before Andy and I got engaged- we all went out to breakfast with Alicia before she left on her mission.

USANA Lagoon Day!

(Most of )All of my best mission friends together!! (I am also very very grateful for Jered and Mariah and I can't wait for them to move back to Utah so we can hang out!)

Some friends and myself have felt inspired to start doing Personal Progress again- I know, I know.  I bet some of you think we are crazy for doing that over again! But let me tell you- such a blessing in our lives! Seriously! We have a blog where we share our ups and downs and our spiritual insights- it is such a great place for us to come together and inspire each other and help each other through our trials.  We are starting to get together once a month (over dinner or going to the temple) and it is so much fun.  This past month we went to dinner- Janna, Chelsea, Lara, and myself.  We had such a blast talking about pretty much everything but sharing our testimonies throughout the night. I feel so blessed to be surrounded with such amazing, inspiring girls.

Chelsea, me, Janna, and Lara- Such a fun fun night!

Because of putting such an emphasis on the Gospel, my relationships with everyone has increased with an abundance of love.  The #1 person being Andy.  I cannot tell you how amazed we are after each day goes by and we recognize His hand in our lives so much.  We have put Family Home Evening and Scripture Study a #1 in our relationship and we are reeping all the benefits! We are more patient with each other, we support each other, we love each other so much more it seems! Elder Hinckley told us at our sealing that we should always be worthy of a temple recommend and to go as often as possible.  We slacked there for awhile and things weren't going our way! We would just complain about things going on, we got stressed out easier, etc.  But after we spent time serving the Lord, He is helping us out in our lives- we can feel it!

March 12, 2010- Best Day of Our Lives! We got a good thing!

Today I got online and read my friend Elizabeth's blog.  She is going through a pretty hard time and I just pray that she will have the courage to stand strong in her life.  She said that she had stumbled across a blog that made her so much more grateful to be a mother. I decided to click on the link and my life has changed.  This blog belongs to two complete strangers but my heart goes out to them.  The pictures of them and their beautiful daughter caught my attention right off the bat.  The blog sucked me in as I read of how in a matter of a week, their life had completely changed.  I marvel at their strength and testimony.  Reading this blog brought back a ton of memories from when my dad was in the hospital for about 1 1/2 months due to a rock climbing fall.  Reading this blog has made me grateful for my husband, my family, my friends, and my life. 
I want to thank everyone that has played a part in my life.  I know that I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for you. 
Lady Antebellum said it right when they said "Oh there's going to be some ups and downs but with you to wrap my arms around I'm fine.  Baby hold me tight, don't let go, hold on to the love we are making, cause baby when the ground starts shaking, You gotta know when you got a good thing."
I am so aware that I have a good thing (All of you).  Thank you again-
And I need to give a shout out to other people that have changed my life!

My amazing sisters and friends

SIGMA SISTERS!!!

EFY Friends- I had one of the best summers with them!

Back in 20 D there were two amazing guys that lived above us in 20 F- Skyler and Kevin have played such a great role in my life, introduced my to some amazing people, stayed such great friends, and I have just loved all of them so much! (Strong, Jordy, Rhett, Coy, Tyler, just everyone!) This picture is of us in Lake Powell last year- Butch was not included in this picture, but Butch made the trip!

Here is Butch in all his glory- we probably showed him the best time of his life down there in Powell! (Him and his Wolf'ems)

Amanda singing the National Anthem at Block Party: The Monistat Invitational... bah.

The Crew

Mission Besties! Oh my- I love these girls so so much!

Just a huge misunderstanding... and hearts were broken...

Mission Reunion- So great!

And Kaylee- the BEST MTC Roommate ANYONE could ask for!

And I love this picture of Jessi- I don't have a picture of her and me on my computer, so this will have to do until I get one! Jessi was sent from heaven straight to my Gender Communications class at my first day of the University of Utah.  What an angel she has been in my life and I am so so happy for her and her life!

I love all these people so much!! I need to give a shout out to Sanders for making the drive from Canada down to our wedding- what a stud! And Erika was one of the best roommates ever- probably the most spiritual person ever!! And can't leave out Carly- my new seester! She is so great to me and has made me feel like I have always been apart of their family!!

All in all, I love everyone- and unfortunately I don't have pictures of everyone! (Like last night I went to such a fun Baby shower with Brighton, Kate, Hilary, Shannon, and Jen- I love them but I don't have pictures!! Someday!)

Please know that I am so aware that I have a good thing- I have hundreds and hundreds of good things in my life! I love you all!!

Stole this from Miss Kate. Luf it so much!

I love this song! Thanks Katelin Floy for such a great intro! :)

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

This makes me want to be a mother!! Don't worry friends- I won't be jumping the gun because of some very moving words by Elder Holland, but it is very comforting to hear these words. Sometimes I worry that I won't be able to do it! It is so nice to know that even when I am working a full time job, I can still rely heavily on my Heavenly Father and He will help me make it through so that we can support our family. In time, these blessings will come into my life. Until then, I need to do everything I can to strengthen my testimony so that when God sends little ones to me, I will be ready to teach them the ways of the Lord.

"Motherhood is an eternal partnership with our Heavenly Father"

Colorado

Two weekends ago we went to Colorado for my cousin Andrew's homecoming.  I have been talking up Colorado to Andrew forever so I am so glad that we were able to go see it! On the way there we drove late in the night through the Wyoming way- nothing too exciting.  But on the way home, I made sure that we went through the mountains, through all the big ski resorts and everything- good thing I did because Andrew FELL in LOVE with it!! Someday, we will move there, or have our 5th home there :) and we can just ski all day, and he can fly fish in the summers! It will be perfect!

So we got there at 3 in the morning on Saturday morning.  We woke up at about 9:30, and the day was JAM PACKED with fun-ness from the beginning! Andrew was swept away to go play Basketball with all the cousins, while I stayed home and layed on the massaging bed for a good hour and then got in the steam shower! It was like I was at the spa- all I needed was someone to give me a facial, and mani and pedi and the morning would've been complete!

After that, we watched the US soccer game (bummer they lost) and then we were swept away for boating! I love, LUF boating! It is one of my most favorite things! My calf's had horrible charlie horses in them, so I stayed on the boat and watched the boys go- it was a good time! Andrew went surfing and got up on his first try- I was so proud of him! What a hottie! :)

With the cousins

Nick and Christian

Chris was flexing his arms and legs for this picture!

There he is! What a stud!

Just chillin on the boat!

Once we got home, my aunt and uncle had reserved a court to play walleyball (don't know how to spell it!) so we rushed over there and played Walleyball for about an hour and a half! It is not a good idea to get about 25 people in the same small room that carries echoes like nothing else! Trying to organize that game was a nightmare, but once we started playing, our team was dominating so it was so worh it! The underdogs came out on top!

We went home, had dinner and dessert, and then we played catch phrase! Seriously- when you are with the Holmes, you never EVER stop going! It is just one thing after the next, but it is so much fun!

On Sunday we went and heard Andrew speak, see Scott get the Melchizedek Priesthood, raced home and ate dinner and then we hit the road! Our two day adventure felt like a five day vacation because of all the stuff packed into it!

I love Colorado and I wouldn't mind living there someday!