tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75287245554555617412024-03-21T10:30:28.265-06:00Whoop dee dosWhoop dee dos aka... what is whoop and giggle and holler worthy from my adventures. As a single girl what more could I ask for than great friends and a little bit of adventure. I'm going to try to update this regularly but we'll see how it goes.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-56430189258319841462013-04-02T23:42:00.002-06:002013-04-02T23:44:33.487-06:00The End of Courtship... No wonder so many of my friends are still single<div>
So I just want to say that men are confusing... I'm sure none of you have ever had that thought cross your mind. Although in men's favor I will admit that woman are confusing as well (thanks mostly to a constant roller coaster of hormones and emotions linked to our favorite "friend"). And to be totally honest I am probably one of the most confused hard to commit people out there. In my defense I have been doing something right because I have been on *several **dates in the last six months. And finally I'm beginning to get some kind of an idea of what attributes a "keeper" might have... Currently it would take far to long to explain any of my prospects or hopefuls because... well the jury is either still out or the suitor has already been deemed a no go and I would just be wasting my breath... err energy in typing... </div>
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... Anyways as this article from the New York times entitled "The End of Courtship" explains it seems why moving beyond dates... (which I'm counting my blessings that I have at least been on) and worse than that beyond "hanging out" and "conversations" via text messaging and facebook seems to indicate "commitment"- a foreign concept- to the majority of the 20-30 something group. </div>
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I think it's an interesting read. However I do want to warn you that this is written from the perspective male/female relationships of a typical 20-30 yr olds in America so sex and drinking are mentioned. Yet again two signs of what has happened to our society. However I think this clearly answers several questions brought up in conversations I've had with my friends who are single and searching for "Mr. Right". And feel free to leave a comment about what you think about the article. </div>
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The End of Courtship: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/the-end-of-courtship.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&smid=fb-share">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/the-end-of-courtship.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&smid=fb-share</a></div>
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*meaning with multiple guys and with a handful of them on repeat dates<br />
**dates referring to guy ask girl meeting the 3 P's- Planned ahead, Paid for, and Paired off.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-82757911855454177582013-02-21T21:56:00.000-07:002013-02-23T00:29:01.494-07:00Define "Love" and why am I hyperventilating?...Side note this is a post I started the weekend before Valentine's Day. So the details are actually not referring to last night anymore, but I don't want to have to rewrite everything! <br />
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So I don't know if it's the 2 hour drive home from Boise I had last night with a top 20 list of 70s love songs; or various discussions that I've had as of late including but not limited to "what are you looking for in your 'Mr. Right'" (also part of the Boise car ride) and my favorite- just because of the fact that this question was posed by a guy in the foyer after church among a group of socializing singles- "how do you you want to be proposed to?"<br />
Throw in the whole post mission awkwardness and the sudden realization that I am in the dating game for real this time. Prior to my mission I always had in the back of my mind the thought of "Well, I know that I still need to serve a mission, so there really isn't a high probability of this date going anywhere beyond a few dates." Now (unfortunately???) it's not like that. Right after my mission a friend that I had gone on a date with just prior to my mission came home to IF from North Dakota and took me out the first week I was home and then a couple more times later on when he came back into town for my homecoming talk and then I just kinda started to well for lack of better terminology... internally freaked out. I realized that this guy was serious, HE DROVE HOME FROM NORTH DAKOTA 2X! and we had "gone out" 3X as well as an interesting experience where my parents invited him to join me and my extended family for my homecoming dinner (no other friends were there, I had just wanted family!) - and well I had been home for 3 weeks and well hadn't even thought about the guy in anything other than a friendly manner, and my parents were already planning on having him over for dinner etc. And I realized that I had never really seriously considered what I was specifically looking for in a significant other. Obviously, I needed the "basics"- Active in the church/ converted to the Gospel, RM or equivalent (life experiences leading to solid conversion) etc. However it was with this guy that I realized the he met these basics, (is it sad to say that many guys that I've gone on dates with in the past didn't meet the basic level?) and then I realized, well there obviously must be more to wanting to be with someone than those alone and being able to have a conversation with someone because here I am HYPERVENTILATING!<br />
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And I would have to say that somewhere up the ladder of church hierarchy where they make assignments for General Authorities to speak at firesides someone was inspired... I want to say President Monson makes these assignments, but I'm not positive! Because as I'm coming to terms with the fact that although this guy meets the basics for some reason I'm not seeing myself with him the way the rest of my family already is! Anyways--- Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy comes to speak at a YSA fireside in IF. Which was interesting because he had spoken in my mission while I was serving as well so apparently I need to fully hear and apply what he has to say. One of the topics that he discussed in his Q& A was about love. Both the Christlike kind that I'd learned so much about as a missionary and the romantic love that I was so perplexed about. And he talked about how "Falling in love" and how IT DOESN'T EXIST. We do not fall in love. We choose to love and be in "love" and that this develops over time and that it really is a decision that each of us makes. After serving with various companions I can definitely attest to this. Somethings kindness and love come easy, other times you have to learn how to love and choose to love.<br />
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Well I have so much more that I want to say, but I am going to have to pause and just post what I've got right now. I've taken a week hiatus already in this post and if I wait any longer its not going to make sense! Stay tuned though because this is just the tip of my relationship iceburg...Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-9904392360418759272013-01-20T01:48:00.000-07:002013-01-20T01:48:39.606-07:00Of Treasure Hunts and Future Plans<br />
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Remember when you were a kid and going on an adventure to find a treasure was as exciting as being allowed to eat ice cream and cookies for dinner or getting to stay up past your bedtime. Perhaps there'd be a map with a dashed line leading somewhere with a GIGANTIC "X" marking the spot. <a href="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/andreykuzmin/andreykuzmin1205/andreykuzmin120500047/13712408-pirates-treasure-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/andreykuzmin/andreykuzmin1205/andreykuzmin120500047/13712408-pirates-treasure-map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Or maybe there were individual clues that led you to the final treasure. Oh! the excitement that radiated through your bones as you embarked on The Ultimate Treasure Hunt grasping a plastic compass and a paper-towel roll "spyglass", because you knew there was the coolest treasure where "X" was. Half the joy coming from solving the mystery of just figuring out what the treasure was going to be at the end. And to be honest sometimes the treasure at the end was kind of dinky compared to your expectations (Although in reality are you really going to find a Leprechaun with a Pot of Gold, a Space Alien Time Capsule, or Pirates Treasure with Authentic Spanish doubloons). In the end, however, it was the thrill of the adventure and the excitement of the unknown that made the whole experience worth it! </div>
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Now flash forward a few years and your childhood treasure map has been converted into a life map so to speak. Various obstacles and achievements dot your map. Photo albums, scrapbooks, and boxes of loose photos have documented life's adventures. Perhaps you can even add a few trophies, passport stamps and diplomas as evidence of life's adventures. Each picture and memento marking a step in your journey. Tears have been shed and lessons learned as you forge ahead towards the "X"- that Ultimate Goal. And upon reaching the goal you jump and you scream and you declare to the world that you have conquered and you now have achieved success. But after reaching this goal are you content to set up camp or do you start to wonder- what's next? Surely this can't be the end of my journey? Yes Hollywood tends to draw the movie to a close around this point, but haven't most of us asked, WELL WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? and then we're left to wait for the sequel to come out or we have to come up with our own continuing story. <br />
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In Life, unlike the movies, we unfortunately don't get to wait for the screen writers to come up with a new plot for the next movie. Nor does someone draw a map for us like when we were kids. Instead we smack straight into those really big X's in our lives. Maybe the rest of you are a little more coordinated with the whole Life "X" thing than I am, and don't smack into your "X"s. But lately I feel like I've smacked so hard into my last "X" that I got vertigo and my head is spinning as I try to plan my path to my future "X."<br />
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Now in the umpteenth attempt to write about what I've been experiencing lately I think I've finally been able to, in a way, summarize my current perplexities with life. <span style="line-height: 115%;">I honestly did't know what I was going to be writing about, but I just started writing and I'm figure it out as I go, and you've been blessed to come along for the ride. I don't think I've bored you to much, at least I hope not! I've noticed, however, that my blog is in a way my free </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">psychologist---</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> so at times I'm sure you feel like you're holding a notebook and saying "Ah huh. Tell me about that... How does it make you feel?.. etc" And right now I have to admit that at the moment I'm in a funk. Probably brought
on by several culprits, PMS probably being one of them, but a lot of it is just
I feel like I'm at a really awkward moment in my life, the feeling brought on by my last head </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">whacking</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> with my last "X" and the ensuing vertigo it's left in my life. </span><br />
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<a href="http://janetlane.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/question-marks2.jpg?w=300&h=243" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://janetlane.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/question-marks2.jpg?w=300&h=243" width="200" /></a>I guess now I'm headed into a monologue "Each of us have those really big milestones in life that cause us to reflect and ponder and go, WHOA! WHERE AM I HEADED???<br />
Then we set dates, adjust plans, or reinvent our vision of the future and then continue along with Life. Moments like these can be classified as Wake Up Calls, midlife crisis', or Graduation. :) These moments are often associated with tears both of joy or sorrow, sometimes whoops of excitement or even just a blank stare at the wall. <br />
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Well for me, stepping off the plane and leaving "Mission Life" and reentering "civilian" life has left my head spinning as I try to figure out my future. I remember in college someone mentioning how important it is to have something concrete to come back to when you return home from a mission. Go back to school, to work, whatever. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the way my life post mission ended up. <br />
I got my BS degree pre-mission and I had worked for over a year and I really liked my job, however upon coming home there have been some big changes in the field I was working in and it isn't really possible to return to my former position. And really once I got past my week of "I'm not going to think about work and my future" I thought about my possibilities. Plan A- get a job in a similar position, with the same company or different company, Tried looking into possibilities and they just didn't feel right. So I started thinking about Other Plans. Plan B is a job offer I got in Twin Falls, part time, but I could live with my cousin Jenn and get a fresh start. Plan C go back to school to see if I want to become an Occupational Therapist, the idea's been there since I was an undergrad, but timing has never felt right. Or Plan D- Work Full time somewhere or Plan E- Vege in my Parents Basement, and actually why not throw in Plan F- Get married. <br />
Well Plan A had been eliminated, Plan B- The idea of moving to Twin Falls piqued my interested, Plan D- didn't really know what I would do. No dream job caught my attention, Plan E- was kinda what I was doing post mission and it didn't have any future potential and Plan F- well I don't really see that as a "near future" option. So that left Plans B and C. Plan C well it was the middle of October by that point and in regards to Plan C- hard to start classes in the middle of the semester. So I started to look into potential options. If I were to become an Occupational Therapist I would need to get into a Grad School Program, but in order to do that I have to take all those fancy science classes I didn't have to take as an Education major including Anat. and Phys. & Chemistry. As well as Statistics and Speech. <br />
Being post-grad and no longer having a scholarship to cover the cost of my tuition I started looking into my options for the undergrad courses I still needed- ISU where the Grad Program is $300+ a credit, BYUI ~$150 a credit, and CSI $100 a credit and they charge your county $50 if you're not from a neighboring county.Well knowing how much I will potentially be paying for Grad School I want to keep these classes as cheap as possibly. So ISU out. And being 26 and going back to school and not wanting to live in "BYUI" approved housing , nor drive a half hour to get to school each day or deal with Honor Codes (hence no BYU option) has led me to CSI and Twin Falls. Which works in conjunction with Plan B.<br />
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And so I moved to Twin Falls just before Thanksgiving. I really like it here. I moved into a YSA ward that's for 24+ cap kinda at 30, but not really. I think I know more people over 30 than under... I've made friends, been to a couple of birthday parties, went to the Idaho Potato Bowl and I've been on a couple of dates.<br />
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Classes start Tuesday and I have to be honest, I'm kinda intimidated. I haven't been in a lecture since 2009 and I'm not signing up for any fluff classes and after seeing the initial cost of my textbooks from the bookstore $679.00 it has been very tempting to back out. (Thankfully half.com has saved me again!) Taking these classes has been something I've thought about, probably since I was a Sophomore or Junior in college, but part of me has rationalized saying it's going be several more years of school, yuck! Why put yourself through that torture? A BS degree is enough. Go earn some money! It would be nice if Life's map would just place a gigantic X saying "Hello Dee! Do you see me, this is what you need to be doing!"<br />
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But now here I am, post mission and really after "achieving" so to speak all of my former goals or "X"s, BS degree, mission, go to Philadelphia and D.C., the thought of working the rest of my life just doesn't sound appealing. I know that the answers are there and that Heavenly Father is very aware of my needs and concerns and what my future will be, but unfortunately/ fortunately this appears to be a time that he's going to let me decide what I want my "X" to be. I haven't got a yes/no answer. Instead I get reminders of "I trust you. Keep doing what you're doing and if you are going to do something stupid I'll let you know." Okay, so the answers are probably phrased a little better than this, but that's the general idea. <br />
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And so I try to figure out my life, even as my head swirls around with the confusing of to many options. Someone once asked me this question and it's obviously stuck with me. He said- "At night when you look at yourself in the mirror, can you say that the work that you do makes a difference?" And I think that work can be replaced with whatever thing we're taking part in in life. Lately I've been thinking a lot about this question and trying to picture myself in 10 yrs and figuring out where I'll be and if what I will be doing to make a difference. As a missionary I could say that no question I was making a difference, although I wasn't really doing the work the Spirit was. And pre-mission I definitely felt like the work I did made a impact on the world. However, considering where each of the options I currently have would take me in 5-10yrs being an OT seemed to be the one to make the most difference. I guess I should add that of course marriage and motherhood will also make that difference, but there really isn't a whole lot you can do about those until the opportunity presents itself.<br />
And so given the options that I've presented and most of my rambling thought process , for the here and now, Grad school Prep sees to be my current "X". And I just realized that I've talked your ears/eyes off and I need to get to sleep. Goodnight! Hopefully I'll be able to update you much sooner about how classes and work are going. Thank you for taking the time to be my pseudo therapists.<br />
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<br />Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-60939771879924308692012-12-11T22:02:00.000-07:002012-12-11T22:02:40.584-07:00Zoom... zoom...So I'm still not in the habit of blogging. Probably because it's hard to blog when you're still trying to figure out the details of everyday life. I'm excited to say that I finally made up my mind about a car. <br />
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I'm pretty sure that I visited every dealership in Idaho Falls, and several in Eastern Idaho and logged several hours on KSL and Craigslist and I still wasn't finding something that I loved. Finally I decided to open my price range some more. Initially I'd wanted to get a car that I could pay for from my savings and be done, but I decided I wanted to get a car that's more reliable and that can last for well ever! So I decided it was worth it to pay car payments now so I wouldn't have to worry for several more years about buying a car. Not to mention that I can still have some money in savings for the unforeseen stuff that always seems to come around. I got an incredible interest rate and so it would actually cost more for interest potentially with student loan than my car loan so I figured it was worth it. Also the picture below is the same make model and color of my car. I bought a Ford Fusion that's black and I'm still searching for a name that fits it. So if you have any ideas on what this poor nameless car should be called. I've accidently called it "Marty" his older brother's name (aka my last car), but it's like when your go through the list of family members trying to figure out who you're talking to. He needs his own name and it needs to be a masculine name. So Black Beauty is a no go... Marty's name totally fit. It was a gold color and I named it Martinelli since I bought it on New Year's Eve, but so far I haven't figured out an acceptable name. I've thought about Indy in honor of my mission, or Andy in honor of my last area Anderson, my Dark Knight just because it's a dark color, but none of these names really seem to fit. So if you have any ideas for my attractive ride please feel free to comment!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYuY0nG4X1go2wTbcMdX20e3AUPJTmgp1DAtgfRN_UupdCecK2El1ywBSp2qwaABNIx4zfrbLSBNGPSde3Tu-POLHOQuXOqZB5PtP_xTALqaj3qBbEk_RWQhd-ZQHMhNtA7Z5p3RM2-ZC/s1600/Ford-Fusion-2011-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYuY0nG4X1go2wTbcMdX20e3AUPJTmgp1DAtgfRN_UupdCecK2El1ywBSp2qwaABNIx4zfrbLSBNGPSde3Tu-POLHOQuXOqZB5PtP_xTALqaj3qBbEk_RWQhd-ZQHMhNtA7Z5p3RM2-ZC/s320/Ford-Fusion-2011-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2011 Ford Fusion </td></tr>
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Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-70323108711367876812012-10-06T00:58:00.000-06:002012-10-18T20:05:06.740-06:00Welcome Back... TO REALITY....So I think I've now been back on Idaho soil for a grand total of 3.5 days... guess it means that I should update my blog. Thankfully this still seems to be mostly the way I remember it.... Although I was somewhat surprised when I typed in my email and hoped to see my blog on my dashboard and discovered no blog... I apparently started this blog with my old email address. <br />
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So being that it's late I'm just going to do a quick bullet list of all the wonderful "joys" that come with a return to reality aka post mission life. <br />
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*Our plane flying out of Indianapolis was delayed an hour because one of the motors couldn't independently start. Took an hour for them to get the paperwork done and an external motor thing to start the motor so we could fly out. Making everyone on the flight super delayed for their next flights. I had 15 minutes to get to the next concourse (sp?) and catch my flight. <br />
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*Which was also delayed when they were about to take off when a warning came up on the computer inside the plane and computer tech people had to be called and figure out what the problem was. We thankfully only got delayed 30 minutes and arrived actually pretty close to on time. Apparently it's possible to take shortcuts and speed in airplanes.<br />
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*Technology has advanced a lot. Why can't you just pick up a cell phone and dial anymore? You have to go through menus, slide/swipe your finger, wiggle your nose, and say a prayer, and hope that the number you just clumsily dialed still belongs to the person you intended to dial. (The result of also getting your contact info from an ancient address book you saved in your computer 2 phones ago)<br />
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*Did I mention that sometime in the last 18 months my old cellphone went MIA? It's also chosen to hold all of the numbers it's gained over the last 4-5 yrs hostage as well. <br />
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*I've gotten at least 1 nose bleed a day due to the lack of humidity... Not to mention I now have skin that's starting to look like a Crocodiles!<br />
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*Getting back into the social swing of things... I did go to Institute this week... however awkward that may have been... Nothing like having a huge pause everytime you try to introduce yourself and having to rethink what your name is... (No, not Sister Taylor, Deanna or Dee, remember no more name tag) As well as Brother Toone addressing you in the middle of class and asking you how long you've been home for and your mind going blank for a second and then saying "Uhhh, 2 or 3 days..." These are probably going to be very minor in comparison to the rest of the fun that comes with coming back... the approaching 1st post mission date... (imagine being alone in a car with a boy... I haven't even been alone in a room with a boy for 18 months!)<br />
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*The reality that I'm going to have to get a car. Which also means that you have to get a job to pay for the car.. or at least the gas etc. that goes into the car after you buy it. ANd then there is the dilemma of do you wipe out your savings and pay for a car flat out or get a loan and get a better car and keep paying for it and still have some money to live off of in case of an emergency. <br />
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*<span style="font-size: x-large;">AND the biggest Question of All... Now what??? What do you want to do with the rest of your life???? And where? Just work? do prereqs for Grad School??? Idaho Falls??? Go somewhere else??? </span><br />
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Thankfully as much "joy" as all of these things have been bringing me, they are all part of the opposition in all things that's mentioned in 2 Nephi 2:11. There are good things I'm home, I'm with my family, and I have a testimony of the Gospel. So with those questions on my mind, boy am I excited to have General Conference this weekend!<br />
<br />Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-11814710832100761052011-02-07T21:54:00.000-07:002011-02-07T23:52:22.252-07:00Happy Birthday to Me in the City of PhiledelphiaSo as a Birthday gift to myself (a week early, but still a very good gift if I say so myself) I went on vacation one last time before I enter the MTC.<br /><div><div><div><div><div>I went with my cousin Jennifer first to Philedelphia and then to Washington D.C. area to visit my cousin Derek and his family. (Washington D.C. pictures to follow in another post) </div><div><br /></div><div>In Philedelphia we went to to Independence Hall</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcxtcxZtdZqiuRJwk4oPIKXfKeMJUFUVfPOpeHSk84vzY9MoNq-LjHVWawQZxwQ1gLrVqnskJ16sw0JwkiRw3wegQcIDTAZk-v7ej26Axfzv4nwoRHZ8LBNUh6IDN0gxf_58q4BvZR4HQ/s1600/P1050242.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571189792222034290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcxtcxZtdZqiuRJwk4oPIKXfKeMJUFUVfPOpeHSk84vzY9MoNq-LjHVWawQZxwQ1gLrVqnskJ16sw0JwkiRw3wegQcIDTAZk-v7ej26Axfzv4nwoRHZ8LBNUh6IDN0gxf_58q4BvZR4HQ/s200/P1050242.JPG" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Birthplace of The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution </div><div><br /></div><div>(The seat at the front of the room is the Sun Chair that George Washington sat in)</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q7JIdmr-d2ndstgC_OooSDixiApcQTp_zIIRKK8jUaJmbcUORBnqj1s9ipHLLUKnp4ygbvklGGoR6s1-VlPQ_yaymFaJYn6hGuDazVCXAV16zfXtae4Labi4_lt3aPKMMJeNf-nTTzEN/s1600/P1050346.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571194382682499298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q7JIdmr-d2ndstgC_OooSDixiApcQTp_zIIRKK8jUaJmbcUORBnqj1s9ipHLLUKnp4ygbvklGGoR6s1-VlPQ_yaymFaJYn6hGuDazVCXAV16zfXtae4Labi4_lt3aPKMMJeNf-nTTzEN/s200/P1050346.JPG" /></a></div><div></div><div>This room is also in Independence Hall and it's a courtroom and the iron barred area would be where the accused would "stand trial." </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAeo_SMM6omgxBen4cePVyltiBgjbvusZc3hN9CipMX4Gr1DeDCw6OOiNMJHRw8ZGqp6Oz_k5X9iLhzdW8-EaH1AIeugRxVyzlb_dG2-UXd_vUMLg9hUayykgJ_hD2ZSW1CMPuwvuGAJHw/s1600/P1050340.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571194387597937842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAeo_SMM6omgxBen4cePVyltiBgjbvusZc3hN9CipMX4Gr1DeDCw6OOiNMJHRw8ZGqp6Oz_k5X9iLhzdW8-EaH1AIeugRxVyzlb_dG2-UXd_vUMLg9hUayykgJ_hD2ZSW1CMPuwvuGAJHw/s200/P1050340.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div>It was really an amazing feeling to be walking in the same rooms that so many "Greats"- Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, George Washington, had walked and where the documents that founded our nation were literally written. </div><div></div><div>Also following in the footsteps of these great men we went to Christ Church which was just amazing to consider the workmanship that went into this place. </div><div></div><div>This is an outside view </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckLRffpaUN9QeuiSiaistzQGrRfBxGBEJsLbX7wFsPFqJJ_lTtpaj9KDBrnHZWqtpvqASAbNCSKDQjtoOZoAobMpGGpDyhIYXLmAtnzKVoLnBK2jwALDD-IjjJGfrCG-ozzhppWhBexcB/s1600/P1050400.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571203631483046626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckLRffpaUN9QeuiSiaistzQGrRfBxGBEJsLbX7wFsPFqJJ_lTtpaj9KDBrnHZWqtpvqASAbNCSKDQjtoOZoAobMpGGpDyhIYXLmAtnzKVoLnBK2jwALDD-IjjJGfrCG-ozzhppWhBexcB/s200/P1050400.JPG" /></a>And a view of the interior</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVq3C3PQwEkgsEQSGt41Wa11KhnLwhmAX6KrSH5zaiU2Cgp-gjo1VwBKFHAjrZfzHC2KeYXPNifIAr6RjoyZGvIGZhhm10lVnDpq-ZMI1LzQO6oZql9ZCe628b1uQPjfKNfMOeLQxgjRx6/s1600/P1050410.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571203626168832498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVq3C3PQwEkgsEQSGt41Wa11KhnLwhmAX6KrSH5zaiU2Cgp-gjo1VwBKFHAjrZfzHC2KeYXPNifIAr6RjoyZGvIGZhhm10lVnDpq-ZMI1LzQO6oZql9ZCe628b1uQPjfKNfMOeLQxgjRx6/s200/P1050410.JPG" /></a></div><div></div><div>This is the symbol of the English King and it was hung over the pew that he used to sit in when he came to the Church. The pew below later became George Washington's. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sI_s7lfxKKkPQUhng1i0FP8BqfmAkbfHlZQE3bIxyQniJNue6zhIP5qHT2HB7Tvx-pTk20NMmq6LNaaJPOTQA9sMw8qkTXunNw3gEKasByQlHpA_zDia_GkStxVYrzn_bazHKrvAdTNe/s1600/P1050404.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571203636372239314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sI_s7lfxKKkPQUhng1i0FP8BqfmAkbfHlZQE3bIxyQniJNue6zhIP5qHT2HB7Tvx-pTk20NMmq6LNaaJPOTQA9sMw8qkTXunNw3gEKasByQlHpA_zDia_GkStxVYrzn_bazHKrvAdTNe/s200/P1050404.JPG" /></a></div></div><div></div><div><div>Really this building was amazing. These pictures do not do the building justice and it's over 400 years old!<br /></div><div>And of course we had to eat some Philly Cheese Steak since of course Philedelphia is home to the original.<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSMXjEc5s9fSsMB4_ZerGuv70aWokYrL65JqbOcqG9EthoAUdr9l3YsYm3c9em34fZU7nRGW0O1IbdiMw8STZfvvs-pqSZM9e7cOXK7KZM7XSdD2tPFHMxYs7uheSaXRCaYzlXIdn5_FM/s1600/P1050373.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571200806877715474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSMXjEc5s9fSsMB4_ZerGuv70aWokYrL65JqbOcqG9EthoAUdr9l3YsYm3c9em34fZU7nRGW0O1IbdiMw8STZfvvs-pqSZM9e7cOXK7KZM7XSdD2tPFHMxYs7uheSaXRCaYzlXIdn5_FM/s200/P1050373.JPG" /></a>But that was not the only good food we had. We also ate at </div><div></div><div>The City Tavern</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqoXhoX9druH-8RcQlQSCajlQ6b65sJF5_CdsZvC13_rqjlPbQ5UlP3915QOH6QF6_qjZjwIFTs_mKgefkpGJ5Q2oPxMBTh-J0LTZZtb17pfwCeMvUq_A2aRZAAtu5U03INL_HU2Oabkv/s1600/P1050450.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571201781765786930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqoXhoX9druH-8RcQlQSCajlQ6b65sJF5_CdsZvC13_rqjlPbQ5UlP3915QOH6QF6_qjZjwIFTs_mKgefkpGJ5Q2oPxMBTh-J0LTZZtb17pfwCeMvUq_A2aRZAAtu5U03INL_HU2Oabkv/s200/P1050450.JPG" /></a></div><div>a restaurant that still uses authentic Colonial recipes including those from Martha Washington and others</div><div>This was my yummy chicken!!</div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHQX8lm9nReU4B3rsCigr1nhZddDsM-reJrU9-Z2oUkkj2Vsdjcs31ISKXhK8YO_1Cikr6uttMg7WAw_r1l9uTQTe9hKt1__OBrtNW_tbgVbEknEchcJQX5KimCPeeNZpgBdcsXFzT8iY/s1600/P1050452.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571201785073813522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHQX8lm9nReU4B3rsCigr1nhZddDsM-reJrU9-Z2oUkkj2Vsdjcs31ISKXhK8YO_1Cikr6uttMg7WAw_r1l9uTQTe9hKt1__OBrtNW_tbgVbEknEchcJQX5KimCPeeNZpgBdcsXFzT8iY/s200/P1050452.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>But we couldn't always be eating cause there wa a ton of stuff to see in and around Philly. </div><div></div><div>We also saw the Liberty Bell </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcPs8fU5XYy8TkL6BQsnpxEH9kLTwqvUqcFudtFTx7Ff8HqpqUTa4HX4Bbl4XyyEPsjCDZ6PYNpW43b0v0qkQpS0R-r38F1qKmBAqTMz3-03Bb3fy882Hekaonn1uCwaTWVUMTDGDjMae/s1600/P1050333.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571189799529450514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcPs8fU5XYy8TkL6BQsnpxEH9kLTwqvUqcFudtFTx7Ff8HqpqUTa4HX4Bbl4XyyEPsjCDZ6PYNpW43b0v0qkQpS0R-r38F1qKmBAqTMz3-03Bb3fy882Hekaonn1uCwaTWVUMTDGDjMae/s200/P1050333.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div><div>And We visited Valley Forge the place where George Washington and his troops camped outside of Philedelphia during the winter of 1777-1778<br /><br />This is a recreation of one of the cabins the troops would have built there. The picture on the right is an example of the beds they would have slept on. Notice there's 3 levels... I don't know about you, but I don't know many people skinny enough to sleep on the middle bunk, not to mention grown men!</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDj4fTUCDV-yTBQxqicJ4mMtlN4QuumZpyKU8q09sbngz4YM-W91NIVHcL5TKwFgpx37b9CuajBSKbTBWZr0TPrW62o6wThBFSy2dELiy0s6GPJGf5Ky4aaMMoArq4aYLb_5J-20BZujnV/s1600/P1050249.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571183717494968130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDj4fTUCDV-yTBQxqicJ4mMtlN4QuumZpyKU8q09sbngz4YM-W91NIVHcL5TKwFgpx37b9CuajBSKbTBWZr0TPrW62o6wThBFSy2dELiy0s6GPJGf5Ky4aaMMoArq4aYLb_5J-20BZujnV/s200/P1050249.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDFIVf-pVJTEHzXMCpXwp8fgPh5Tb0oBAASxTlTFGySnK8YeGdhk0CB1bRkdN1yr5WkbuA2zLMvGEM_A4gH0I7czoFXkM8UfjWTP-A79KpdQ5qfmqcY3ikCFibN9zGSMXP3vcIF5DCrns/s1600/P1050256.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571180284393302866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDFIVf-pVJTEHzXMCpXwp8fgPh5Tb0oBAASxTlTFGySnK8YeGdhk0CB1bRkdN1yr5WkbuA2zLMvGEM_A4gH0I7czoFXkM8UfjWTP-A79KpdQ5qfmqcY3ikCFibN9zGSMXP3vcIF5DCrns/s200/P1050256.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A view of the area in Valley Forge, not a whole lot of trees, so not a lot of protection in the winter time, especially when you think about how many cabins they had to build.<br /></div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhVeLvM8zyZt3aXiM73nHviXR7r2GUbsVrbQoIzYVIhlxgAAu_WxQ7dWgCS_io443zUnlR-9qYtUllZYLiOXm-7zm5bfY6aLZYxJYf1YQr2gDnADUEuqI_UIDQEIlhzuM8TkYJzLunylW/s1600/P1050246.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571180278306168194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhVeLvM8zyZt3aXiM73nHviXR7r2GUbsVrbQoIzYVIhlxgAAu_WxQ7dWgCS_io443zUnlR-9qYtUllZYLiOXm-7zm5bfY6aLZYxJYf1YQr2gDnADUEuqI_UIDQEIlhzuM8TkYJzLunylW/s200/P1050246.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>This is a monument that Congress had built in honor of those who were at Valley Forge.<br />There were wreaths surrounding the monument, each representing the men who were there.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrhiUULHTtB6k__ph1IPho0SwpKR-pOvXjnjlTeXHlWR1sTNNrsVEerJiTZxdzWxcG8T8OS-vyOWw7yqZnwBBszJdyuEwt0MZGqssUF7VZxVPYHzu8rbWdt6DgJjuVTtRjSfx9S1Fg0e4/s1600/P1050280.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571180287743951234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrhiUULHTtB6k__ph1IPho0SwpKR-pOvXjnjlTeXHlWR1sTNNrsVEerJiTZxdzWxcG8T8OS-vyOWw7yqZnwBBszJdyuEwt0MZGqssUF7VZxVPYHzu8rbWdt6DgJjuVTtRjSfx9S1Fg0e4/s200/P1050280.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBI2l9HJMlO0o1veXV2AexpKpBm9SJGC5iJKsVcwL_ukVki7PtTu9dNQZNpmzxa7qXNosXGYD10w4ikNlB_Rr_pnfHvfs55124q_XTZMZOsQPdYcK4Sw4cHc4S0U6SUG3QR8kBuwL4x67/s1600/P1050293.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571180288570595202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBI2l9HJMlO0o1veXV2AexpKpBm9SJGC5iJKsVcwL_ukVki7PtTu9dNQZNpmzxa7qXNosXGYD10w4ikNlB_Rr_pnfHvfs55124q_XTZMZOsQPdYcK4Sw4cHc4S0U6SUG3QR8kBuwL4x67/s200/P1050293.JPG" /></a> And a deer that we came acrossed while we were walking there.<br /></div><br /><div>Inside the Valley Forge Park was a Chapel dedicated to George Washington<br /></div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvzZDSSKN58WHyRZ5hjgIVHwA54lE0B1nfYnM7JWKoOBkjBmL-NJbA2nzZyM07lZXorYUEr3HQQ8B8f2MgD6Rc7x-D-zQoqkv3fg6f8h1MGx3E0SBvZH4vwWOl3mjIDNkxVYJl98b20yh/s1600/P1050304.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571181310398250802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvzZDSSKN58WHyRZ5hjgIVHwA54lE0B1nfYnM7JWKoOBkjBmL-NJbA2nzZyM07lZXorYUEr3HQQ8B8f2MgD6Rc7x-D-zQoqkv3fg6f8h1MGx3E0SBvZH4vwWOl3mjIDNkxVYJl98b20yh/s200/P1050304.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxmq8FxAJoxvgpGD_5ePDg0ZlZdLZie5NUqbi-EN88Y2EnW6ND-OX7qbgt5eRaBVgD0X85tNYyuNFBPvHwV-VPbM-P1MU1LIn7OOZ2PjhQbV4HDjA8Gvvvfiv69kW6XBxRfNIa75EpubI/s1600/P1050306.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571181309723831250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxmq8FxAJoxvgpGD_5ePDg0ZlZdLZie5NUqbi-EN88Y2EnW6ND-OX7qbgt5eRaBVgD0X85tNYyuNFBPvHwV-VPbM-P1MU1LIn7OOZ2PjhQbV4HDjA8Gvvvfiv69kW6XBxRfNIa75EpubI/s200/P1050306.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIsUP1a4c1MEV0FvA-5kV9sfe_0WOgH39o_ie4IIbrE4basHXeC3qmnn5RB1-MZUhVyNhYriGZQbIYFi5GNh9iWpzCcR7ifE0pSpDI05CHLBXZR2JSUoC3LMMIKWRYAPuqYz8tCAyI8tE/s1600/P1050307.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571195062908265378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIsUP1a4c1MEV0FvA-5kV9sfe_0WOgH39o_ie4IIbrE4basHXeC3qmnn5RB1-MZUhVyNhYriGZQbIYFi5GNh9iWpzCcR7ifE0pSpDI05CHLBXZR2JSUoC3LMMIKWRYAPuqYz8tCAyI8tE/s200/P1050307.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgWy8ayBPCvnztnb3pf6o6E8LFsqudT-j_88fBlaax-i1Jj_JLheq6WQXx9w0tkBnVX7m2tgZJ36ro8T4kZq1o_8uraZfuNMNFlw9TgXL60_Xba6t8voZDwpcwBWaQKT0vY3uOt32Ccpg/s1600/P1050313.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571183726159473282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgWy8ayBPCvnztnb3pf6o6E8LFsqudT-j_88fBlaax-i1Jj_JLheq6WQXx9w0tkBnVX7m2tgZJ36ro8T4kZq1o_8uraZfuNMNFlw9TgXL60_Xba6t8voZDwpcwBWaQKT0vY3uOt32Ccpg/s200/P1050313.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcdbRS-dRSa-lg1LtVzw2Ocxck3k-hNBA5IztGPTJy9F1xEMEGXN9Z_j198tJjuPQtJxbRUrecUSJXQkKqpjU1o5N0xJzEciq2zMQRLpmLKL89Pxr6DDIY01KKGFoZbE7InombOkXQfrzg/s1600/P1050309.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571183721027777282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcdbRS-dRSa-lg1LtVzw2Ocxck3k-hNBA5IztGPTJy9F1xEMEGXN9Z_j198tJjuPQtJxbRUrecUSJXQkKqpjU1o5N0xJzEciq2zMQRLpmLKL89Pxr6DDIY01KKGFoZbE7InombOkXQfrzg/s200/P1050309.JPG" /></a><br /><div><br /><div>There was beautiful woodwork and stained glass inside all in tribute to George Washington.</div><div></div><div>We also went to the Betsy Ross House where our first flag was created (and apparently a lot of musket balls!) </div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwc5GdS32BAzWv4Yes2fKlZc0D7_ZUKVpkWGYlo89dsT2XbbUL2WnGF6InRgb5Ux1dzQN6kB5MXtKiFyNKudZQubKTuNzxo5HhZoC3EJE2HIa78k7GVqaLD07rr4MmhtQGBUmhUicZlVmu/s1600/P1050388.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571201782623283554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwc5GdS32BAzWv4Yes2fKlZc0D7_ZUKVpkWGYlo89dsT2XbbUL2WnGF6InRgb5Ux1dzQN6kB5MXtKiFyNKudZQubKTuNzxo5HhZoC3EJE2HIa78k7GVqaLD07rr4MmhtQGBUmhUicZlVmu/s200/P1050388.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><br /><div>It was an awesome trip! And that's only what we saw in Philly! Hopefully I'll get D.C. pics up in the next week or so. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-69338833660143251292011-02-01T11:23:00.000-07:002011-02-01T12:15:14.539-07:00Announcement.... Announcement... AnnouncementSorry I've been really bad about keeping all of you my faithful readers up to date... The news I'm about to announce has probably already hit the rumor mill, but time wise I just haven't had the time to sit down and do a blog post... at least not a meaningful one. In fact I ran into someone the other day and we were talking about what was up in our lives and what we were doing and this coming announcement came up and she was like "Seriously??? How did I not know __________?" So don't feel alone it not knowing, I'm just a poor publicist... It's a good thing I didn't go into advertising because I wouldn't be very good at announcing my products. <br /><br />But this goes out to all of my peeps that I haven't forgotten, I'm just really slow with updating my blog...<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The following is a map... </strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Q1wI3EM4KUEjqCVtvXc6txR2qCzalnsCZ27LHIwWS0-LEkGItXKVmj468eotH6gZq1gXv3Ra1mcX3Rk3oeSBP2mex0_ON5MoXRMsd23SUJ4JzChk_tBEehyphenhyphenxJQ2PLwsMtrWM1L0qv4g0/s1600/united-states-map.gif"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 121px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568795826106665346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Q1wI3EM4KUEjqCVtvXc6txR2qCzalnsCZ27LHIwWS0-LEkGItXKVmj468eotH6gZq1gXv3Ra1mcX3Rk3oeSBP2mex0_ON5MoXRMsd23SUJ4JzChk_tBEehyphenhyphenxJQ2PLwsMtrWM1L0qv4g0/s200/united-states-map.gif" /></a><br />A Map of the United States... go figure... I bet you never would have guessed that....<br /><br /><strong>And I'm a going to tell you a fabulous story that is going to lead you to a place on that great big map</strong> of the good ol' United States. .... It will describe a place that's nestled below the Great Lakes and Michigan, To the East of Illinois, and to the West of Ohio and North of Kentucky.<br /><br /><strong>Okay I'm going to give you a moment to scroll back up and look at that map and see where I'm talking about. Do not read ahead until you find the place on the map.... </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Good job... I'm very proud of you!</strong> You survived the geography assignment. And I promise that is the only time I'm going to make you think that hard about United States geography.<br />Now that you've found this place you're probably going... <strong>ummm okay.... you've lead me to Indiana.... why am I looking at Indiana???</strong><br /><br /><strong>Because....</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><br />.....<br /><br /><br />.........<br /><br /><br /><br />............<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>I want to make sure you know where you're going to be sending me letters for 18 months!! :0) </strong><br /><strong></strong><br />I've been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Indianapolis Mission.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg919E60iyzBrp3bZLFT03knJlgAJ3l1T1i8e3JjpqzkC0cigmvkMMCPQAGrVYkIZw7onhDI1JfpwV817jqafY9r0YjRVC-COxJZZPoOd_oZB-5FxMDqsznVdeDj9rgK5Lez0jxmrFvaUXT/s1600/Indianapolis+Mission+Boundaries.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 126px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568791069029913570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg919E60iyzBrp3bZLFT03knJlgAJ3l1T1i8e3JjpqzkC0cigmvkMMCPQAGrVYkIZw7onhDI1JfpwV817jqafY9r0YjRVC-COxJZZPoOd_oZB-5FxMDqsznVdeDj9rgK5Lez0jxmrFvaUXT/s200/Indianapolis+Mission+Boundaries.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />I will be entering the MTC on March 16, 2011.<br /><br />My "farewell" will be in the St. Leon 2nd branch at 1 pm. on March 13, 2011.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-81840484079974063382011-01-03T21:39:00.000-07:002011-01-06T08:27:33.617-07:00I'm going to blame it on the Deacon ShuffleSo it's all Brent's fault!!! There I was at the New Year's Eve dance happily celebrating 2011 which of course will be the greatest year of my life this far. . . and mind you it will be hard to top 2010. 2010 was AMAZING!!! But anyway I decided that the best way to start the new year off was to make sure that I wasn't going to be a wall hugger on the first slow dance of 2011. So as Brent was smoothly trying to make his exit for the refreshment table where he'd hung out for every single slow dance that night I intercepted. And we danced. And as we danced we talked.... I know imagine that...<br />But I guess I should also mention that Brent (who is single, mind you) is also in our Branch Presidency. So he asks me how I was doing and what my thoughts were concerning Brandi coming back... REWIND.... I guess I should mention that Brandi was the chairperson of our activities commitee. And she's been on vacation to Hawaii since November. And I was was left in charge of the Branch Activities while she was away. .... And I was like I'm doing fantastic... I'm so happy it's over...<br />....FYI never plan a ward Christmas Party and a Ward Tithing Settlement Blowout with food in one week..... It tends to drive the person in charge of Activities a little crazy that week. And then we added a service project for a family in our stake into the mix and this yours truly became one BUSY chica...<br /><br />Fast forward to Sunday now... I rejoice as I wake up at 10 am. Knowing that I don't have to go to Branch Council again at 11am. That Brandi is going once again! In fact I even end up making it late to the Activities meeting held just after 12pm. (it takes about 20 mins for me to drive to church and it took my roommate and I a little longer to get out of the apartment). So I'm late And then after I get there I go to hand Brandi her the stake calendar etc notes from meetings etc... And she's like go ahead and keep it... this should have been a clue to me that I should have quickly made my exit first after the meeting... but NO dumb me I linger... trying to stuff the calendar and other junk into my already full purse.<br /><br />And then I realize that Brent (the 2nd Counselor in the Branch Pres.) is still holding onto his chair... he hasn't put it away. And as I stand up he's like can you wait for a minute I'd like to talk to you for a second. And of course he asks me if I'd be willing to take over as the Activities Chairperson. . . .<br /><br />MAN!!! I totally thought I was off the hook when Brandi came back and was applying for a new job here in Idaho Falls. Of course I said yes, like I've basically been fulfilling my new calling for like the last 2 months... but still it maybe if I hadn't cornered him into the deacon shuffle I'd still happily be only the Institute Representative for our stake. Oh well I guess we both got cornered this week.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-84021135555977360752010-12-04T01:13:00.000-07:002010-12-04T01:53:15.803-07:00Go for 10 in 2010?So amazingly enough I have been to 9 states so far this year, although some of them for longer amounts of time than others.<br /><br />Since January 1st 2010 I've been to the following states:<br /><br />Arizona- Phoenix and Mesa areas<br />Nevada- via I-80 and I-15<br />Utah- SLC and Northward<br />Idaho- IF, Rexburg, Crater's of the Moon, Twin Falls, Boise, Lava Hot Springs<br />Montana- West Yellowstone<br />Wyoming- Drove through the state to get to Casper and then back via Martin's Cove. Later Jackson Hole<br />California- LA and San Franciso and Healdsburg<br />Oregon- Portland and Salem areas<br />Washington (although it was only the Seattle airport...)<br /><br />But still wouldn't it be wonderful to make it to one more state in 2010 and make it an even 10? I've still got 27 days left in 2010 so now I just need to find a place and someone to go with me. <br /><br />Anyone want to tag along?Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-64223926567142958522010-10-04T21:03:00.000-06:002010-10-05T00:10:29.749-06:00My Grandpa<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhyKYBI09MVxA-lrZlQmyXQh6d9W0Ae253x7eJDqkcOKWMg0YfILGuSxTuRtrv-SQgyI3dC0Aj0HaUn4enfr4_tLNpTyxkdnfu6JpwU3uLkt_PLF5BO9TPO41LwBVPA0myhE0MWfpwRdy/s1600/Ralph+Kauer+and+Deanna+Taylor+1987.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 189px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524410455922085458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhyKYBI09MVxA-lrZlQmyXQh6d9W0Ae253x7eJDqkcOKWMg0YfILGuSxTuRtrv-SQgyI3dC0Aj0HaUn4enfr4_tLNpTyxkdnfu6JpwU3uLkt_PLF5BO9TPO41LwBVPA0myhE0MWfpwRdy/s200/Ralph+Kauer+and+Deanna+Taylor+1987.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />My grandfather, Ralph William Kauer was remembered today for the great man that he was in funeral services held today at the Burton Churchbuilding and the cemetery.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhOl_3kzlOHGLBj45ix60OlJgNFmE2ksx5eJ7NSvykREcVD1Cm0Fez5fMpvQHA7zbajhXdrArMCOCOh59AT6_b6jrEHfFoQM_KppmJJJJxlzLV4qXtC-pUDO20vD9Lb_kkybbTrPYsXkt/s1600/Grandpa.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524420026631204930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhOl_3kzlOHGLBj45ix60OlJgNFmE2ksx5eJ7NSvykREcVD1Cm0Fez5fMpvQHA7zbajhXdrArMCOCOh59AT6_b6jrEHfFoQM_KppmJJJJxlzLV4qXtC-pUDO20vD9Lb_kkybbTrPYsXkt/s200/Grandpa.jpg" /></a><br /><br />He was born on January 12, 1918 out in Burton (just west of Rexburg). He was the fifth child of Ernest Ferdinand Kauer and Rosalie Karoline Beck, one of eleven children. He had five brothers and five sisters.<br /><br />He was married to my grandmother, Bernice Hazel Clifford on August 17, 1942 in the Salt Lake Temple. And they enjoyed 68 wonderful years together. They had 4 wonderful children, 3 daughters and a son.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqvhvT_Z1ufWrRf01sfYIx8oheK2VoJb-j6magfVs4hUGfZgPLinwhucvxwyzb-AYfIuxSW6bZ_qg0nISvpnBRdhKnY9G4hVYdrk8RKt6nBq2yrT2Wu3G5M4TfonNAqCS1NvF9_WP8GRR/s1600/Grandpa+and+Grandma+Kauer.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524408213290466930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqvhvT_Z1ufWrRf01sfYIx8oheK2VoJb-j6magfVs4hUGfZgPLinwhucvxwyzb-AYfIuxSW6bZ_qg0nISvpnBRdhKnY9G4hVYdrk8RKt6nBq2yrT2Wu3G5M4TfonNAqCS1NvF9_WP8GRR/s200/Grandpa+and+Grandma+Kauer.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Grandpa worked hard for everything that he had in this life. He was a caring and supportive father, grandfather, and great grandfather. In his youth he worked on his parent's farm, and then served a mission to Germany just prior to WWII and then returned to the US and completed his mission in the Western States mission once the war heated up in Europe.<br /><br />Both of his parents died by the time that he was 16 and he helped to support his younger siblings throughout their lives, as well as their children's lives. (He and my grandmother welcomed two of their nieces into their home and raised them with his own children at the death of his brother and his wife.) He ran his own farm out in Burton, Idaho, served in World War II in Europe, during which time he gained the rank of Captain, and taught 5th and 6th grades as a teacher.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtlwmSNwWRFlEr9JKPuJELPMzXBV1_RJfQ5xY8jzu3GODt_qLfIkl8tdqAHw3n8qoT1KrMlmy6fSOqTcsHKH9yTuEfGg-_NvVKbEZLdT0Is-r5hA8l0qpsBUvuaosnpAUPD-Seq_oXHWN/s1600/Deanna+Jean+Taylor+with+Grandfather+Ralph+William+Kauer+Jan+19,+1987.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 196px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524408228747801906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtlwmSNwWRFlEr9JKPuJELPMzXBV1_RJfQ5xY8jzu3GODt_qLfIkl8tdqAHw3n8qoT1KrMlmy6fSOqTcsHKH9yTuEfGg-_NvVKbEZLdT0Is-r5hA8l0qpsBUvuaosnpAUPD-Seq_oXHWN/s200/Deanna+Jean+Taylor+with+Grandfather+Ralph+William+Kauer+Jan+19,+1987.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxP62knsshRPBMlC_iPp7Qy9ojw_ov-8wPl7tyPs3P1QM8iEE2fwyyaW2e2ahEDhCoRALucAnhPXLV2O-y-zlip83Mf9MKvilb7-Rd0YVxaB3uwRUJBw7CrLJ5RKN__xlQ7BUwkeezp_zp/s1600/Grandpa+Kauer+and+Deanna+Taylor+Dec+1987.jpg"></a><br /><br />Many of my favorite memories of my childhood all happened while visiting my grandparents at their farm in Burton. I remember sitting at a card table near his chair in his living room and playing Chinese Checkers on Sunday afternoons. Somehow I would always end up winning. Early summer mornings out picking raspberries with Lard cans hanging from belts around our waste, that started out empty and a couple hours later we would have crates overflowing with berries that would then be canned as yummy jam and bottled fruit. Sunday dinners that always ended with a bowl of bottled raspberries or peaches. Or french vanilla ice cream. BBQs on their back porch and splashing through their irrigated lawn on hot summer days.<br /><br />And memories of scouring my grandparents' lawn on Easter afternoons finding the loot that the "Easter Bunny" had scattered across the lawns and hidden in the bushes, up trees and on the roof. And at Christmas time, our family FHEs at Grandpa and Grandma's house. That always ended with Grandpa reading the story of Christ's birth from the New Testament.<br /><br />I also remember camping trips in Island Park, and fishing up by Medicine Lodge. And Grandpa's coat pockets always being full of peppermints from JJ Norths whenever he came to visit and McDonald's hamburgers after a long day of cleaning one of his rentals.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmf89f9u9z7ePg7dtZGXvsmNb3B3BbMMauWGCuWz_w4z9K3XxfGo4HACzllZLvLIweYRs-mfYyIESgB0t4Wek3hORR3bbyzQ3p8fJIkslOZYikVVYsRTn_w2I6ajVW3MFSFxQl7PhOUkZ2/s1600/1990+Ralph+Kauer+Dancing+with+granddaughter+Deanna+Taylor.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 144px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524408218645813554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmf89f9u9z7ePg7dtZGXvsmNb3B3BbMMauWGCuWz_w4z9K3XxfGo4HACzllZLvLIweYRs-mfYyIESgB0t4Wek3hORR3bbyzQ3p8fJIkslOZYikVVYsRTn_w2I6ajVW3MFSFxQl7PhOUkZ2/s200/1990+Ralph+Kauer+Dancing+with+granddaughter+Deanna+Taylor.jpg" /></a><br />Grandpa and Grandma's headstone reads <em>Families are Forever. </em>I know that although my grandfather is no longer here with us physically in this life, I know that he will forever be a part of my life. He and Grandma have served our family past and present all of their lives. They have completed the temple work for the majority of my ancestors and they have set the example for our living generations with all of my married cousins being sealed for time and all eternity in the temple on their wedding day. I hope to continue that tradition.<br /><br />If there was any one thing that I could say that my grandfather taught me, it would be to work. Work was and is expected in our family. We can have fun, but only after we had done all that we've promised to do. Whether it was on their farm, cleaning some of their rentals, or just doing your best in school or fulfilling your calling to the utmost of your ability. We were of steadfast German Swiss stock that did not shy away from hardwork.<br /><br />I hope that when I find the man that I will someday marry that he can some day live up to be half the man my Grandpa Kauer is.<br /><br />I know that Grandpa Kauer was greeted by a large gathering of relatives on the otherside when he passed away Thursday September 30, just after 12pm. And I know that he has now received a well deserved rest. Families are Forever and I know that I will see Grandpa on the other side. I am greatful for the example that he has set for me and the rest of our family.<br /><br />"God saw he was getting tired<br /><div>And a cure was not to be,</div><div>SO He put His arms around him</div><div>And whispered, "Come with Me."</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div>"With tearful eyes we watched him suffer</div><div>And saw him fade away,</div><div>Although we loved him dearly</div><div>We could not make him stay.</div><br /><div></div><div>"A golden heart stopped beating</div><div>Hard working hands to rest,</div><div>God broke our hearts to prove to us</div><div>He only takes the best."</div><div></div>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-83681744682258635342010-10-03T21:09:00.000-06:002010-10-03T23:01:20.888-06:00The Power of God's Chosen Servant<div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4d933xrS_tUxbvjhI72GIFFn1QQ9QlDlKYmWMheigimpYxmcGynRQYUj5efdlTbtoV2SBMcPy4cjmHA_qpJiiSdhtQ_SNvdwif_1A3_I8TZJ5XznGKfnbSi7sW3U4_rWs7CkOqkk9t3_/s1600/1002000932.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524050711025144402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4d933xrS_tUxbvjhI72GIFFn1QQ9QlDlKYmWMheigimpYxmcGynRQYUj5efdlTbtoV2SBMcPy4cjmHA_qpJiiSdhtQ_SNvdwif_1A3_I8TZJ5XznGKfnbSi7sW3U4_rWs7CkOqkk9t3_/s200/1002000932.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>The last few conference sessions I have always tried to prepare myself for the conference sessions and to pray during the week before and ask that I might be prepared for the messages and that the messages will contain guidance for my life today. Sadly I really hadn't had time to prepare this time. The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy. I had been home mostly during sleeping hours. I had been working 10-12hr days typically leaving before 8am if not 7:20, and then working all day and then running to whatever other commitment I had had. Then I would return home around 9 or 10pm. Then I would quickly get ready for bed, quickly pray and grab my scriptures and quickly read a few verses, perhaps a chapter, and tumble into bed. And in the prayer I would mumble some expression of "please bless me to learn from Conference" if I even remembered to think about upcoming conference. </div><br /><div>I had really taken no thought of what to pray about. I was just too busy to really think about what I truly needed. Or at least I allowed myself to be that way. </div><br /><div>This year my roommates and I and a few of our friends from our branch were able to get tickets to Saturday Morning Session. We drove down the night before around 9:30pm and arrived at our hotel about 1am. And crashed around 2am. And got to wake up around 4 hours later at 6am so that we could get ready and take the Trax up to downtown and make it to the morning session. Thankfully we got to conference about 9am so we had about an hour to wait for conference to begin. We were able to get seats in the 3rd row of our section of the upper balcony. It was so calming to just sit there, without something else to day while I waited. To just listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir warm up and feel the spirit that was there. This time I truely had time to ponder and wait for the messages to begin. </div><br /><div>Conference began and President Monson gave an opening address like none other. We were excited at the temples, but it was the topic that he addressed after those announcements that I know I and a couple of the guys that I was with, needed to here. </div><br /><div>President Monson always uses some story or experience to share to help get his point across. But this time, this address, he did not mix words in anyway. This is what he said. </div><div></div><br /><div>"Now before we hear from our speakers this morning may I mention a matter close to my heart and which deserves our serious attention, I speak of missonary work. "... "I repeat what prophets have long taught" ... "Young men I admonish you to prepare for service as a missionary." At that moment there was no question that the prophet of the Lord had stated that it was the duty of each young man to serve a mission. Then he continued to say concerning sisters- "While you do not have the same priesthood you also make a valuable contribution as missionaries and we value your service. " Confirmation that I was making a wise decision to serve a mission. The song following that opening address was <em>We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet</em> I again had it confirmed to me that Thomas S. Monson is called as our modern day prophet and that he is our Father's chosen servant at this time. </div><div></div><br /><div>There were so many amazing and powerful speakers in that session, and all of them seemed as if the topic was exactly what I needed. Especially President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's address about Simplicity and not adding business to our lives. A topic that I've greatly needed. </div><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVp8xE_wYsxIMV31e6CVGPZfeqTCR6ILRqbMunBukW-rXhUxQhYb-GYVn5JLTXkqLU9dIshAqb1alX8a6iNnYLthDlSCQaU22d7a9I4YRLmwCFeMtBFCIVo6rLsctA7RHsRGzEW09t8p7/s1600/1002000919.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524050706256722738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVp8xE_wYsxIMV31e6CVGPZfeqTCR6ILRqbMunBukW-rXhUxQhYb-GYVn5JLTXkqLU9dIshAqb1alX8a6iNnYLthDlSCQaU22d7a9I4YRLmwCFeMtBFCIVo6rLsctA7RHsRGzEW09t8p7/s200/1002000919.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I am forever greatful for the tickets that we got to the Saturday Morning Session. This was the session that I and the others in my group needed to hear. </div></div>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-27558651161232848982010-09-25T22:51:00.001-06:002010-09-30T19:32:13.521-06:00Pink Monkey Notes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jaHgxZm1PVdaPGsLehz_YJrx04g99RrVvOWrXpFJQArr37C2WaS82ZVwADf60hxoSG0SOWg1tapjO3AO39912ubHGgYRCGgODTUbo8xAOISVmB6utJPioHmD6RqnwCavD_P4vpSJg92y/s1600/FreeBookSummary.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521082148263776562" style="WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jaHgxZm1PVdaPGsLehz_YJrx04g99RrVvOWrXpFJQArr37C2WaS82ZVwADf60hxoSG0SOWg1tapjO3AO39912ubHGgYRCGgODTUbo8xAOISVmB6utJPioHmD6RqnwCavD_P4vpSJg92y/s200/FreeBookSummary.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div>In reference to the title of this posting, the next few postings are the Pink Monkey version of the last couple months. For those of you that don't know what Pink Monkey is, it's like Cliff Notes, but with a cooler name. So instead of writing a whole novel about my goings on since my last post I'm summarizing. There are 3 other posts so read on!</div><br /><div></div>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-10872475699921083802010-09-25T22:51:00.000-06:002010-09-29T21:16:35.212-06:00Pink Monkey Part 1I went on vacation a couple times in since the middle of August. The first trip was my graduation gift to myself. I've always wanted to go to Europe or back east somewhere, but unfortunately I didn't want to wait long enough to save for that. So I chose to go to California and visit some friends.<br /><br />My first trip I flew out of Idaho Falls to LA where I had lunch with my friend Karen at Johnny Rockets and then I flew up to San Franciso where I stayed a couple days with my old roommate Jamie and some of her family and then drove up to Healdsburg and Cloverdale to say goodbye to her family before she drove back to Idaho with me. She was coming back up to school this fall I rode back with her and then she stayed on my couch for a few days before school started.<br /><br />The first night I flew into San Franciso about 10pm and then took the hotel shuttle to my hotel and then got to enjoy a lovely evening in the company of Me, Myself, and I. The next day Jamie and some of her family met up with me.<br /><br />I loved San Franciso. We spent a lot of time on Fisherman's Wharf including Pier 39 and then went out to Alcatraz, drove over the Oakland Bridge, by accident (I'm happy to say I was not the one driving) and the Golden Gate Bridge. And we went to the shore where we found some sand dollars right on the beach and got to feel the waves come in from the ocean.<br /><br />We bought a city pass for each of us and were able to go see a lot of incredible things while were were there. We went to the California Academy of Sciences where there was an incredible aquarium, an exhibit on Mammals, and an Rainforest habitat. We went to the Aquarium of the Bay and rode a cable car. And walked through the De Young and the Legion of Honor Museums.- Both museums were inside city parks. Pretty cool. I also ate at my first Hard Rock Cafe and at a really good place called Wipeout Bar and Grill. I also got to try some authentic San Fran food including Clam Chowder in a sour dough bread bowl at Boudin's Sour Dough which is a bakery right on the Wharf and supposedly the moist bay air makes all the difference in their Sour dough start.<br /><br />Unfortunately I've been trying to upload pictures for an hour and my internet connection just doesn't like that idea, so I unfortunately don't have any pictures.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-85051032584020405172010-09-25T22:50:00.000-06:002010-09-29T21:07:59.362-06:00Pink Monkey Part ZweiMy second trip was a couple weeks later to Portland Oregon. Marlene Nelson one of my old roommates got married.<br /><br />My roommate Maria and I got an awesome deal off of Priceline for both a hotel room and Portland and plane tickets from Boise to Portland both ways and a rental car, for less than we would have paid to fly out of SLC!<br /><br />We obviously went to the wedding at the temple and the reception, which was cool because they had hung fabric in the cultural hall to make it a tent, did some touristy stuff such as visit Multonomah Falls (sp?), but really mostly we did a lot of eating. BowThai, All you can eat Indian food at a place called Nameste, Baby Back Ribs, P.F. Chang's, VooDoo Doughnuts,Moonstruct Chocolate Cafe etc. We had a ton of good food. We didn't really pay to do much besides eat and drive so we got to try some amazing food. Unfortunately my internet connection doesn't like uploading lately so I'm going to give you a link to VooDoo Doughnuts because they were amazing doughnuts! With names you will find no where else. <a href="http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/">http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/</a> <br /><br /><p>We went to the Portland Art Museum and saw in person WaterLilies by Monet, another piece by Van Gogh </p><p>We went to the Rose Gardens in a city park there and they were just gorgous.</p><p>We went to Powell's bookstore which was several floors high and covered a full city block.</p><p>We bought a lovely wedding gift that didn't make Marlene blush, and just had an awesome time! It was kinda a sad trip home knowing we had no other future travel plans. Overall an awesome time! The more and more I travel though I've decided that I agree with Saint Augustine when he said "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." We all know how much I love to read, and I think traveling is becoming as big of an addiction for me. :0)</p>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-37672819257303219182010-08-20T21:09:00.000-06:002010-08-20T23:44:03.885-06:00The most cliche lines known to Mormondom...Well Mr. Guy Friend and I finally had that date he's been talking about since like December. After a million suggestions for dates via text message and questions about random "have you tried sushi?" and "what would you think about this" but never with any actual follow through.<br /><br />Well finally about a month ago (I know I've done a crappy job updating you, but it's been a busy summer) I got a text me about 10pm asking me one night if I want ice cream. We went to DQ and had some ice cream. And although we touched on many topics including some of his regrets about how he wished that he actually did have something to show for the last 5 yrs since high school, he never breached the topic of dating. So I finally commented on it when he dropped me off. Because honestly this had gone on long enough. I could tell that he was still interested in me, but I could also tell that he wasn't going to ask me in person, I was going to get a text about it afterwards. Seriously!!! We're friends? Am I that intimidating? Well, because we were friends and really I wanted to make this as quick and pain free as possible so I could quickly climb out of the car and go to bed, I somehow I ended up saying a couple of the most cliche lines known to Mormondom. "I think you're a great guy" but "I don't want to get into a relationship because I'm planning on serving a mission." And then I told him that odds are that he'd be engaged to some cute little 19 yr old freshman while I was gone and that he could mail me an announcement. I know not the best way to tell someone you're not interested, but honestly it's the truth. And I think that it's nicer than saying "Well, you're just not really going anywhere right now and I don't want to risk getting into a relationship with someone who'd I'd have to support for the next few years." - Yeah I don't think that would go so well. So I went the cliche route, and I was being honest. I am planning on putting my papers in as soon as I save enough money to go and really comparing the two options or dating him or going on a mission I feel better about the latter.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-12209389381674709882010-07-31T14:30:00.001-06:002010-07-31T19:47:54.262-06:00"Vege" Day<span style="color:#9999ff;">“You pile up enough tomorrows and you’ll find you’ve collected nothing but a lot of empty yesterday’s . I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth remembering”<br />-“Oh, so would I…”- Quoted from The Music Man</span><br />I whole heartedly agree!!!! I’ve definitely been making anything but empty yesterday’s at least this month.<br />So Maria and I are currently lounging here watching The Music Man. Today has turned into our “vege” day. You know the day you try to impersonate…. well mimic…. a vegetable such as a couch potato. It’s been a busy couple of weeks… even month…. for both of us. And being busy has been fabulous, but there comes a point where the thought of doing one more thing just makes you want to collapse. That one final thing that turned into the “straw that broke the camel’s back” or that caused Dee to collapse onto the couch around 1 am and say blow it was the thought of leaving before 8am to go hike to Iron Bog Lake. And apparently I’m not the only one that said to blow it. Maria my roommate collapsed on the couch at the same time as I did. Out of exhaustion!!<br />And when 8am rolled around- out of guilt somewhat, I suppose, since I had been so gung ho about the idea until last night- I texted first Matt who was supposed to go with us- and found out that he was sluffing to sleep as well, and then checked with Emerson to make sure we weren’t going to be sending him off alone into the wilderness- and low and behold he wasn’t planning on going either in fact he hadn’t made it back from working the week in Island Park. He was still sleeping… oopps!!.<br />So now here we rest watching The Music Man. And I’m going to try to give you a quick update of what I’ve been up to lately. – It’s been nearly a month since I’ve posted last- Unfortunately my internet keeps cutting out too so I doubt I’ll be able to get all my pictures up. (if any… ) but here’s how I’ve been making the “todays” of July worth remembering.<br />-4th of July weekend typical 4th celebrations plus my roommate and I went to Crater’s of the Moon and did some hiking, up cinder cones and across lava fields etc.<br />- My friends convinced me to sing karaoke at Applebee’s after FHE<br />-Survived an audit at work- Not a pleasant week while they were there, nor were the weeks leading up to it<br />-Walked the greenbelt a few times<br />-Walked to Taco Time from my townhouse and back with Maria (we figure it was probably close to 4 miles after we were done)<br />-My mom broke her ankle so I’ve been trying to help out at home and with my grandparents when time and work allow me too<br />-Was one of the people in charge of a trip to Casper, Wyoming with a group from my YSA branch- we stopped at Independence Rock, Martin’s Cove, crossed the Sweetwater River Pulling a handcart etc. and came back with around 25 mosquito/ horse fly bites<br />-Had a massive waterfight with some friends followed by a movie night, and had we not had to be responsible and be to work by 8 the next morning we would have gone hot tubbin’ at midnight.<br />-Had a stake Pioneer Day Celebration followed by Snow cones with friends<br />-Had a couple of cousins and several friends get married, which unfortunately I was only able to make it to one of them<br />-Finally hung the pictures that having been laying in our living room waiting to be hung since we moved in two months ago.<br />-Deep cleaned the kitchen counters and floors and the basement bathroom<br />-Add in 40 hour work weeks (with the exception of the couple days I took off for the branch trip and a family wedding) Institute on Thursdays, FHE on Mondays, Munch and Mingle, and Break the Fast and whatever other branch activities came up in the month and I’ve been an extremely busy girl.<br />Here’s to an exciting August and tomorrows to come.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-24435166435969722032010-07-03T17:21:00.000-06:002010-07-03T18:14:11.874-06:00If only!!<div><br /><div><div><div>So I'm hoping to go on a vacation towards the end of summer with one of my roommates. Currently we're looking for tickets back east. However when I got onto Delta I saw some very attractive deals that would take me to a much more exotic destination. - Well not exotic, but definately amazing destinations! If I were to purchase a ticket by Monday I could travel from SLC to Paris for $469 or $529 for a flight to Tokyo (cost each way mind you) but still for Paris, that would be less than $1000 before taxes, fees and all that additional jazz. I can see me now, standing on the top of the Eiffel tower, <a id="aimgMain" href="http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020zQzC9MfDsAnGKjzbkF/SIG=1210f4h94/EXP=1278287440/**http%3a//www.flickr.com/photos/sstop/135980667/" target="_top"></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l5WqI5nUZ8iq0ls13nmevfmCXK_6EZrCZ-mAGE5lq-QzLz4C1jSD-N3ghwxOUQXDgXE2hh1QY1D1dEjcZaKxnUB3884MBO3FCqOtb0Ok1QTFxIUI0kdyEcw5s_xyho2odw0d9almiy8M/s1600/Eiffel-tower.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 150px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489834684334248850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l5WqI5nUZ8iq0ls13nmevfmCXK_6EZrCZ-mAGE5lq-QzLz4C1jSD-N3ghwxOUQXDgXE2hh1QY1D1dEjcZaKxnUB3884MBO3FCqOtb0Ok1QTFxIUI0kdyEcw5s_xyho2odw0d9almiy8M/s200/Eiffel-tower.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>or spending hours in the LOUVRE!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84lFnY0cdopiZ7Uif0rLItI0Ua1OveYEuaSa4LquhmEfKCfo3H23Rhfb__91-TGcw3azwX4nwfTs_sCDdT44y5ZzysAYfg4XnHVd4dexMLXgbNfVW7IzvYS9vc-VbkclJhb9gE1veoWpC/s1600/Louvre.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489834695588143186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84lFnY0cdopiZ7Uif0rLItI0Ua1OveYEuaSa4LquhmEfKCfo3H23Rhfb__91-TGcw3azwX4nwfTs_sCDdT44y5ZzysAYfg4XnHVd4dexMLXgbNfVW7IzvYS9vc-VbkclJhb9gE1veoWpC/s200/Louvre.jpg" /></a>or check out Notre Dame<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLb3mJ2FeqAy5fQscoBcFtLTvBlnEw4av8twKbkblVANUkbPKlwNR-t8uajDtLVOyGOOzfIjSGKQJXtWsABDve1M_bYzyVBsEIA6rdZXZwkl4NAl1sRKM83ik96CrSyPHFcrnfjHBG5Ib/s1600/NotreDame6.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489834683406704178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLb3mJ2FeqAy5fQscoBcFtLTvBlnEw4av8twKbkblVANUkbPKlwNR-t8uajDtLVOyGOOzfIjSGKQJXtWsABDve1M_bYzyVBsEIA6rdZXZwkl4NAl1sRKM83ik96CrSyPHFcrnfjHBG5Ib/s200/NotreDame6.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Or just hanging out in the middle of a ton of high rise buildings in Toyko (perhaps with my own camera hanging around my neck like the Asian tourists in Yellowstone). </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4Tb04h__uxe6qYo0HhcftbTT7L7MzTvZ7VDbchzCT3onXr-U99qfcii6_2NdXN_vg6Ac6tAQ2ccMhy4Grc4v5pG2tQis4tsisAm74I15RD4K9oGDu11pkSsjvaeWfMQJSO-alsIyrfi0/s1600/Tokyo.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489837075115206066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4Tb04h__uxe6qYo0HhcftbTT7L7MzTvZ7VDbchzCT3onXr-U99qfcii6_2NdXN_vg6Ac6tAQ2ccMhy4Grc4v5pG2tQis4tsisAm74I15RD4K9oGDu11pkSsjvaeWfMQJSO-alsIyrfi0/s200/Tokyo.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>Well those are going to continue to be figments of my imagination. Here's where the bummer comes in that says no not a good idea. I have a very small window of time for when I can take my vacation. It has to fall between now and August 24. After August 24, Jen the other full time Developmental Specialist will most likely go out on materity leave. Well these tickets unfortunately are for flights after August 29. Probably not the best time to be leaving. Andrea is another D.S. in our building and comes in 2 days a week and Lonna Joy the head tech would still be there, but I know how busy our building gets and it's nice to have at least 2 supervisors there when at all possible. That way one person can be handling the chaos and one person can try to get some work done. (We have well over 60 kids and over 30 adults passing through our building on a typical day.) The days that it's just been me there supervising that many people I honestly feel busy all day, but I don't feel like I got any thing done that I could honestly list out as an accomplishment. So taking a random flight across the glistening oceans to a foreign country, at least at the end of August.. not that wise of an idea. </div><br /><div>Not to mention there are a few other things that I am trying to save for, and I think that it would probably cost a lot more to spend a few days in Paris or Tokyo than it would be for us to split a room in a couple locations on the east coast. </div><div> </div><div>So these are the dreams, I'll let you know where I actually end up. </div><div> </div></div></div></div>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-25324208092878178072010-06-29T22:37:00.000-06:002010-06-29T23:53:28.781-06:00I LOVE MONDAYS!!<div><br /><br /></div><div>Wow! That's a phrase I never thought I'd say! But I do. I love Mondays! especially now that I don't work on them. Tuesday is far from my favorite day of the week now, but someday has to take Monday's old rap, might as well be Tuesday. To everyone reading this blog, it'll probably seem like a pretty boring day, but considering the contrast that I typically have being at </div><div>work for 10 hrs and being indoors Monday was great. <br /><br /></div><div>Well I'm done with my class to offically become a Developmental Specialist and I've finished the obnoxious assignments that came with it. I have taken my state test and I'm offically certified. And I now sign my paperwork at work "Deanna J. Taylor, BS, DS" </div><div><br /></div><div>And now that I'm done with that I'm actually able to enjoy my day off again! Without doing homework.</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>So I was fortunate enough to be able to sleep in until 9:30 on Monday and then I woke up and my roommate Maria and I did Pilates for an hour. I absolutely LOVE pilates!! Well I LOVE how I feel after I do them. (Even if sometimes I have a pain in my abs afterwards, because that means I'm flattening them.) </div><div><br /></div><div>And then Maria and I decided to take a little walk for lunch. Well a 4-5ish mile walk to and from lunch. We walked from our townhouse on Woodruff just south of Kearney, to Taco Time (Crossing Hitt on foot- which FYI is being chipped and the traffic lights were disabled that day) where we enjoyed a yummy taco salad and a sample of Mexi- Ice- which is FABULOUS!! - I recommend it. So far we've tried the Berry flavor and the Peach flavor both of which are really good. </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div>After our delicious lunch we walked back. Wandering up and down several of the streets between Hitt and Woodruff and looking at some of the fliers for houses for sale in our neighborhood. There are some really nice houses in our neighborhood, and they are really actually pretty affordable at $139,000 for a 4 bedroom 2 bath and remodeled. I've always loved looking at houses and it was a nice relaxing walk. </div><div><br /></div><div>Afterwards Maria and I decided that we were finally going to get some plants for our outside our place so it's not so drab. Well we got the plants, but didn't realize how much dirt we were going to need. OR really how much we actually ended up with. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbHkPNkHT49cCt4h8IsDt_oQHb56yHfSLtRGmx0fAo_KJuu3ESpqV272t-Oj_HRRBwviYJkxR-OscQBASE7ZUb3qo3RhBo1Iy7XdiDcsPOjgVuLHPZR6LA3apsCTNLM_HujaLLc_AMYyd/s1600/P1030979.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488437663308893106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbHkPNkHT49cCt4h8IsDt_oQHb56yHfSLtRGmx0fAo_KJuu3ESpqV272t-Oj_HRRBwviYJkxR-OscQBASE7ZUb3qo3RhBo1Iy7XdiDcsPOjgVuLHPZR6LA3apsCTNLM_HujaLLc_AMYyd/s200/P1030979.JPG" /></a></div><div> So we made a quick trip to Walmart, where we somehow came out with more plants... and we hurried home and dropped them off at our place and quickly drove to Tautphaus park for FHE. </div><div><br /><br /></div><div>FHE was a lot of fun. We played 500 which was enjoyable, more because of the company playing than out of my enjoyment of throwing a football. :D but it was fun and then we went and got a snowcones. Which provided some great refreshment as our small crowd stood around and chatted. </div><br /><br />Then after the snowcones we went and watched part of a softball game at Tautphaus again with some people from our branch and then Maria and I came home and we dug right in and started planting our flowers.<br /><br />Well around 11pm we ran out of pots for our flowers so we made a quick run to WINCO and invested in some more new flowerpots. And raced home to finish planting. <br /><br />By 1am we finally finished planting and this is the finished result on our front porch-<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRMVop057nzhqczyzzGkS5oPC5wKvzN5KxP7OH-3KkyhNNTsXmC-S68ZAEaLnphYVjnB1_bHyErFWCCn_jfNjDZ07MNJUzvRgQEu32hwn25vhzAAwIgZqpsSr3xuSdorcSpdzwzldptSx/s1600/P1030982.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488437680164813906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRMVop057nzhqczyzzGkS5oPC5wKvzN5KxP7OH-3KkyhNNTsXmC-S68ZAEaLnphYVjnB1_bHyErFWCCn_jfNjDZ07MNJUzvRgQEu32hwn25vhzAAwIgZqpsSr3xuSdorcSpdzwzldptSx/s200/P1030982.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We also have several by our back door but I haven't taken a photo of them yet. But we got a variety of herbs, peas, and flowers including Gazanias, Marigolds, Geraniums, Salvia, Coleus, and Vincos. <br />Our townhouse is really starting to look like home for the three of us. And it smells pretty good too!Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-9711609808660080582010-06-10T23:07:00.000-06:002010-06-16T22:02:34.632-06:00Lions, and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZfYrN1cjy-zSxFkxnhvWZz7pZGI0nTMdkEFtFQ1N248krangbAn6B2sWnZgDqiu36K85P94cWpjNu9ivzRnRfTAg-ew_3U3MVVdgayYZFEkzMXtBUDQxH9AL6JxyImskMUUSBGU1spHU/s1600/P1030863.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483583621864657506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZfYrN1cjy-zSxFkxnhvWZz7pZGI0nTMdkEFtFQ1N248krangbAn6B2sWnZgDqiu36K85P94cWpjNu9ivzRnRfTAg-ew_3U3MVVdgayYZFEkzMXtBUDQxH9AL6JxyImskMUUSBGU1spHU/s200/P1030863.JPG" /></a><br /><br />So my roommates and I have made a goal of having a life this summer... imagine that. Well our first adventure was to go to the circus. (About a week ago, I've had trouble getting onto my blog and uploading without losing internet signal). Anyways it was a ton of fun. The circus was held at the State Fair Grounds in the arena there.<br /><br /><br />My batteries died like less than halfway through so I don't have a whole lot of good pictures to post, but it was still fun and it had all of the classic attributes of a circus- lions, tigers, a bear, people in weird get ups (both as part of the act and the audience), except there were no clowns, kinda strange, but I guess kid friendly. According to my roommate clowns are scary.<br /><br />But it was a fun night out with the girls. And considering we had buy one get one free tickets, we actually were all able to go for cheaper than what it would have cost to go to a movie at Edwards.<br /><br />And it appears impossible for my internet connection to upload more than one picture at the moment so please feel free to imagine all of the incredible acts at the circus.Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-66286023704162242632010-06-01T22:42:00.000-06:002010-06-01T23:50:14.095-06:00On to a better month- HOPEFULLY!!<span style="color:#33ff33;">So yeah I have some complaints about May. </span><br /><span style="color:#33ff33;">-First off- have you tried moving while you work 40s+ a week?</span> In addition to working 40 hrs also be doing incredibly stupid and mostly mindnumbing assignments to get another Credential from the state of Idaho that allows you 1st off to sign the paperwork that you complete at work rather than have someone else sign it that has completed this pointless class instigated by the state of Idaho to basically soak up tax dollars and reteach you everything that you learned in college. And to force you to take something that you normally do, but to reflect upon it and think about it and basically just B.S. about the purpose of why you write this document and what the document really means... which honestly I just want to say that I write these documents this way because in order to meet the pointless rules and laws that have been written by legislatures that really have no idea what happens in a DDA I have to include this information and this information. So summed up I write an IPP or a PIP or a Developmental Assessment based off of a SIB-R because basically those are the general hoops that Medicaid (sp? I don't care to find the correct spelling at the moment) and the state Legislator have decided all DDAs need to jump through. And as if that stuff is not annoying enough, every couple of years we'll come through and audit everything that you do and make sure that you've dotted this i and that you've killed about a million trees to get a copy of every single document that's been created in the last year with Client A's name on it. Documents including reports from outside services that will generally only be looked at once and that will be glanced at occasionally throughout the year just long enough to make sure that the date is still current and that you don't need to rerequest. But if you forget to sign this by this date, or you forget to request one of the items or have a current physical for one of your clients we might just will take back a lot of money that we've paid you.- Well there's more to it than that, but general idea....<br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Sorry back to why I don't miss May at all- </span><span style="color:#ffffff;">so yeah working 40+s hours on salary so I get paid the same whether I work 40 hrs or 50hrs (thankfully it hasn't technically been that bad)<br />-I'm doing homework again, like 3 or more assignments a week that take a fair amount of time to day and completely blow my days off of work and that unfortunately have caused me to have to refuse a date because I have homework I have to do.</span><span style="color:#33cc00;"> <span style="color:#ff0000;">How is it I made it through 5 yrs of college without having homework interfer with my dating and now when I should just be working then homework rears it's ugly head?</span> </span><span style="color:#ffffff;">And so you spend the night you could be on a date doing a crap load of homework and you think you have all of the assignments done and you go to submit them by email and your internet doesn't work. So you take your "trusty" jumpdrive to work to email them, and you find out that 2 out of the 3 assignments haven't saved so you spend the day redoing what you've already done!!!<br /><br />And after the homework is done and I finish reading a lot of dry information on assessments, child development, behavior, data collection, etc, usually 30-60s a week, then I end up sitting through a couple hours of lecture once a week all so that I can take a test this month that will allow me to sign documents at work "Deanna Taylor, BS, DS."</span><span style="color:#33cc00;"> </span><span style="color:#3333ff;">it will be worth it, but geeze, what a pain in the butt now!!! </span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="color:#ffffff;">-It's been raining and snowing like more than I care to think about lately. Which completely ruined most of my plans for moving on the days and times I wanted to. And instead I ended up doing random, it's not raining better move some crap, moving sessions.</span> </span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">-I had to finish moving/ cleaning out my old place this weekend and </span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">-I got food poisoning the night before we had to be out. So I'm throwing up all through the night and then the next morning I'm expected to wake up and have a spotless apartment. </span><span style="color:#3333ff;">Well I did it, but I DO NOT RECOMMEND it!!! </span><span style="color:#ffffff;">This also ended up being when I ended up turning down a date to do homework and then having it not save!!</span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">Sorry I've been blowing off a little bit of steam, the last couple of weeks have not been fun. And you add a little bite of relationship drama *see previous posts and you have a month that has been a complete pain in the butt.<br /></span><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">JUNE BETTER BE FANTASTIC- the whole opposition in all things- you have to experience the crappy stuff to appreciate the excellent stuff. SO A WHOLE BUNCH OF GOODNESS better be coming my direction! </span><span style="color:#33cc00;"></span>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-92196521818586926722010-05-25T00:00:00.000-06:002010-05-25T00:33:44.181-06:00AHHH!!! Answers PLEASE!!!So remember how I was debating about whether I wanted to date one of my friends or not. Well I've finally figured out my personal decision and honestly as of late the guy has become annoying. Like there has been an increase in text messages and facebook chatting, but seriously he seriously hasn't made any real effort to see me in person or talk to me verbally since he asked me if I wanted to be serious??? I told him let's go on another date and see where it goes .... you know the first few dates I thought were the hey, you wanna do this and since you happen to be my friend and a girl we'll call it a date, kinda dates, now I needed to kinda look at him from a different perspective ya know????<br />But my question is- he wants to become serious, and yet we've been within a couple of miles of each other and yet he's made no effort to see me face to face? How can you be serious with someone if you don't actually see each other for a few months? His interest is still there, and he still brings it up, but usually more in asking what I'd like to do and I told him to plan something, *be a man and actually plan the date- I didn't say this but I wanted to. But honestly now months later I'm just not feeling it.<br /><br />I did actually see him this weekend. He actually helped me move some furniture from my old place to my new place. But there were 2 other guys over helping too, and really I wasn't to focused on any of them of them. And honestly, it kinda felt like a couple of them were both kinda doing the see how masculine and tough I can be. I'm trying to impress you thing. And then afterwards he texted me saying that he was would be there for ANYTHING and ANYTIME- Seriously those words were in caps in the text message.<br /><br />So how do you break it off (when it's not even really on????) easily with someone you've been friends with forever, but that seems to have taken an intense interest in you of late and yet you still have only seen him in person like once since Thanksgiving? How is it possible for someone to be extremely interested in you, and yet, they still can't get around to planning a date? I honestly don't want to tell him by facebook or texting, because honestly, that would be a lot easier, but I think this guy needs to hear it to his face and I want to give him some pointers to save the next girl some trouble. Should I just basically plan a meeting/ DTR and just be honest with him or put up with the texting/ chatting until he finally gets a date together? And then after that just be honest with him? I'm leaning towards the later idea, but seriously he popped up on Sunday and asked me how church was and what our talks/ lessons were on. And I really didn't want to tell him- they were Repentence and ---- LOVE--- in Sacrament Meeting Class was on "Choose Ye this Day" and Joshua- and I've basically made the choice about him, and then the ultimate no topic with a guy you've decided your not interested in Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from Conference- "Happily Ever After". Those were not topics I wanted to chat about. So I just said Joshua and a talk given by Pres. Uchtdorf. It was the truth... sort of....<br /><br />So yeah any advise would be helpful!Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-58300320206909716272010-05-08T13:17:00.000-06:002010-05-08T14:19:01.918-06:00Small World<p>So yet again I'm discovering how small a world it is, especially in the church. So today I did a little bit of facebook stalking I guess you could say... I saw that a friend from my first ward up on campus was in a relationship. So I decided to go to the guy's profile to just see what kind of guy she was dating. On his profile I also found a link to his blog. . . Yes I wasn't kidding when I said I was a facebook stalker. I've got to say I am totally impressed by this guy's blog. It appears that he's a convert to the church and served his mission in Ogden, Utah. </p><br /><p>He had a posting on there about the movie Blindside and then compared the difference that the family in that movie had made for Micheal Oher. Then he talked about a family that had done a similar thing for him, just by welcoming him into their home and treating him like another member of their family. He had gone to day one of a weekend debate tournament or something for school and had needed a ride home. So he had asked a guy for a ride home. Since they'd be going back to the same place the next day his friend just offered to have him stay overnight and they could ride back the next morning. This was how Jared had got invited into the home of the Hydes'. He got to know the family and then the next school year he ended up having several classes with one of the sons. And he just really got to know this family and he was welcomed like another son. </p><p>The funny thing is that Jared, grew up and was introduced to the Church in Memphis, Tennessee. And the family that he was talking about were the Hydes. Well as I read on he ended up talking about the different members of that family and the impact they'd each had on his life and one of the members of that family was Ben Hyde, who strangely enough was the 2nd year teacher who ended up being my cooperating teacher at Jefferson Elementary where I did my practicum. </p><br /><p>I just find it really funny that with a guy that I'll probably never meet, that I've actually got at least 2 connections with him. - My friend who's dating him and Ben Hyde. But because I found this guys' blog I was also able to find a link to Ben's blog. Where I got to see pictures of his precious cute little girl! He wife was about 4ish months along when I was helping out in his classroom. And now his baby is like 3ish months? </p><br /><p>Also while I was on this guy's blog there were several likes to his favorite youtube videos that had made a difference on his life. And I found this one that I'd seen a couple of times before as well, entitled Small and Simple things. One of my old roommates had shown us this clip for FHE one night and everytime I see it it just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.</p><object style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/ZSKUEVamgc0/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSKUEVamgc0&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSKUEVamgc0&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="425" height="344" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><p>It just reminds me of what a difference each of us can make in the lives of those around, whether we serve a mission or not. The missionaries ultimately taught this guy the gospel, but they play a small part compared to what happened before or what should happen after the missionaries taught and baptized him. </p><p>I hope that I have the opportunity to share the Gospel as a missionary, but if not I know that there are a lot of opportunities to share the Gospel just by example and being a friend. So often I think the friendship aspect is missed and new members are brought into the church and they're name is added to the ward roster solely for the purpose of another tally mark to say look we had this many baptisms. </p><p>The Church should not be this way. People should be our friends and welcomed and invited out to things whether or not they are interested in the church. You never know what kind of influence you might have on someone, but you also shouldn't be interested in their friendship just because you want to get them baptized. <br />And this guy Jared, who's blog I had found, I know that the Hyde family had welcomed him into their home, not because they saw him as a potential convert, but because they truely loved and cared for him as a friend. It was their example I think that taught him more of the precepts of the gospel than any missionary could ever fit into a series of discussions. </p><p>I encourage each of us to teach and share the Gospel through friendship and example. <br /></p>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-56841977451435984482010-05-04T22:13:00.000-06:002010-05-05T00:11:24.676-06:00Daring to dreamWhy is it so easy to dream when your little, but once you get older, it becomes so much harder, because now they're not wishes you're daring to dream, they're wishes your daring to <span style="color:#ffccff;">LIVE!</span><br />I've got a good job. It's basically the same salary as a teacher, but when I leave for the day I'm basically done. I don't have to take a pile of assignments home nor do I have to prepare for the next day. In that aspect it's great. And I currently have a fabulous apartment, however I'm moving at the end of the month to a bigger 3 bedroom townhouse in the same "complex" and one of my old roommates is going to be moving in with Hada and I.<br /><br />But currently I'm trying to figure out what the next step is going to be in my life. <br /><br />Obviously I hope for marriage to be somewhere on that list, but right now I don't appear to be heading that way. Mr. Right has a lot of hoops to jump through and bars to meet. <br /><br />Graduate school?? Maybe.... when I get over the last 20ish years of schooling! I need a break... and to figure out what I'd study? Occupational Therapy? Social Work?<br /><br />Mission! --- This is high up on the list, but need $ and at the moment with my grandpa's health I don't really want to leave at the moment. Not to mention I've at least got to make it though the audit at work before I even consider skipping the state. <br /><br />Vacation--- YES!!! Hopefully! I've got a couple in the works, but at the moment they seem months if not years away. So until that time I'm going to be going on short day trips like I did last weekend where we drove throughout Central Idaho- hopefully I'll get some pictures up on my next posting.<br /><br />SO I'm still not sure what dreams I'm daring enough to live... I guess only time will tell. Hopefully all of the above.....Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-13974065729178320452010-05-03T12:48:00.000-06:002010-05-03T13:01:26.636-06:00Testimony of the Book of Mormon<p><object style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/CkKblIMfmjI/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CkKblIMfmjI&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CkKblIMfmjI&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="480" height="295" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></p><p>What a powerful testimony! I want you all to know that I know the Book of Mormon is true. It was prepared for our day by ancient prophets and through its words and the power of the Holy Ghost it can provide guidance and direction for each of our lives. It has given me strength and peace and I know that if you read it with an open heart you will feel the blessings of Heavenly Father in your life. </p>Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7528724555455561741.post-49146552745171185432010-04-25T23:48:00.000-06:002010-04-26T00:38:49.338-06:00To date or not to date that is the question?*To protect the innocent, names have been changed or just altogether left out of this blog.*<br /><br />So I have a guy friend, who would like to be more than just a friend with me. And honestly, I can't bring myself to commit one way or the other. <br /><br /> And if circumstances were different I would probably feel differently about this whole situtation.<br /><br />Honestly, we are close. We know a lot about each other and when we are together it's comfortable and easy to talk to him. And we have fun together. So on the good guy friend scale he's pretty high up there, which is where you would like someone who you're considering dating.<br /><br />But see like any girl there are a few things that I'm kinda looking for, some are more important than others, but some in my opinion are really unnegtiable- unless there is a sincere and honest reason for why they didn't happen. And until he started asking me if I'd like to take it to the next level, I honestly didn't want to know/ feel it was really my right to know some of this stuff.<br />And I'm afraid that if I were to get into a relationship that I could fall into love. He does have some good qualities. But here are some of the reasons that I'm really not sure it would be a good idea to put myself into circumstances that could lead to something as eternal and binding as a sealing. <br /><br />*he hasn't served a mission- from an old conversation I remember him saying medical reasons, but talking to a mutal friend it sounds like it was a matter of a few pounds that prevented him from serving. And I'm not judging but a matter of a few pounds to me, could later mean a few dollars later off of a full tithe or I came close to fulfilling a calling etc, but _______ prevented me. If you want something enough you will do everything you can to have it. Not to mention there's just the fact that guys generally grow and mature a lot on their missions.<br />Not to mention I still want to serve a mission myself when I have enough money to go and when the time feels right. -Now I think it would seem to much like I was running from this situation.<br /><br />*Still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life- he graduated the same year as me so he's been out of school for nearly 5 yrs and tried school for about a school year I think and then flunked out when he couldn't decide what he wanted to do/ didn't put the needed effort in. <br /><br />*When he quit school he moved back home and lives with his parents still and as far as I know doesn't plan on moving out anytime soon. He is trying to get back into school, but I'll believe it when it happens.<br /><br />We still keep in touch, but communication is by texting and facebook chatting- Hello?? If you can't call a girl up on the phone, especially if you're considering a relationship there's a problem!<br />I know girls can be intimidating, but that's one of the risks you have to take. <br /><br />And then there's the fact that the last time we spoke he was like did I ever tell you what my mom said after she met you? Quoting him: "She thought that you were so cute and that she decided that you and I were going to get married one day." And you know his mom is great, a real sweetheart, however I don't want him to use that as some kind of string to get my interest in some strange way? And maybe if the circumstances were different I could honestly consider it, like that's why this is so hard......<br /><br />He still has potential. Like personality wise and he's way up there on the guy friend scale, and he is temple worthy, it's just the grown up, maturity scale that he's lacking.<br /><br />And I've had some roommates say to at least date the guy and just work on developing that type of relationship in preparation for the future. <br /><br />But at the same time I know that if I seriously were to become more commited there is interest that could lead to a lifetime of supporting a guy who still hasn't really figured things out for himself or prepared himself for life....<br /><br />Would it be bad to give him some of these reasons. I told him that I wasn't sure that we hadn't dated enough for me to really to have even considered taking it to the next level. So we're going out again when he figures out some fanatstic "girlfriend winning over date" of some kind probably. So like after that date, when I'm sure this will come up, should I be honest and give him some of these reasons or just say, I'd just prefer to remain friends. <br /><br />Cause honestly I think a lot of this, is changable. Even the mission part, it would take a lot of effort, but odds are he could still be able to go. And if he were to figure a lot of this stuff out, there's really wouldn't be a reason for me to worry about being in a relationship with him.<br /><br />And if I tell him these things honestly, when he does find a girl who is SERIOUS about him, when he is SERIOUS about his own life and what he's doing, he'll actually be better prepared then???Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17724220762769443032noreply@blogger.com5