AUTUMN

NEW BLOG...

2010-01-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

For those of you that always read my crazy posts and for those of you that NEVER do... I am moving my adventures to the married blog. click HERE for the transfer, and make sure to click FOLLOW button at the top after you do. Sorry for the lame design I will re-do it as soon as I can.

Miss Britney Jean

2010-01-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

It all started with yesterday. Evil, evil yesterday. I SOMEHOW slept in until 1:09 Post Morning (that’s P.M. for those of you who aren’t up-to-date with the Autumn lingo)! I am not sure how it happened but it did, and the WORST part about that is the fact that I only had 2hours and 21minutes to do everything I could think of to prove to my hubby that I was productive… needless to say, it DiDN’T work. :( So! I had some friendly inspiration to have a productive day today, and Miss Britney Jean was it.

Here’s how my morning went:

6:00 A.M. - woke up to my husband laying in bed sick and deciding if he should go to work.

6:30ish A.M. - I said a morning prayer together with him in hopes to make it all better (and so I could go back to sleep).

6:45 A.M. - felt a little better, so he left for work. I rolled over and went back to sleep… YEAH RiGHT! I definitely did not have the right intent for my prayers this morning and that sweet spirit whispered to me that it was time for me to start my day and that I was not going back to sleep.

7:00 A.M. - I rolled (literally) out of bed. Normally 7 is not that big of a deal to many, but since I slept for 14hours the night previous and had troubles falling asleep last night, my body’s sleep schedule was extremely MESSSSTED UP!

7:15 A.M. - made a healthy breakfast consisting of 2eggs scrambled, piece of whole wheat toast and an orange.

7:30 A.M. – went to the gym . . . and . . . worked out. ( I guesss that’s a “duh”) [sorry]

8:30 A.M. – 9:30 A.M. showered and got ready for the day

9:30 A.M. startled by the alarm clock set for me to wake up!

At this point I couldn’t believe all the amount I had accomplished by the normal time I arise in the morning. After this point I went to work… from my living room. I love this working from home stuff!

I made 4 skirts for Les Miserable (showing at Westwood High School) hopefully that will finish off what we need for that show.

Cleaned my kitchen

THE CULPRiT:

If it wasn’t for these AMAZiNG things… that kitchen would not have looked so good!

Did a load of laundry… that was MUCH needed!

Practiced my song for Relief Society this Saturday ….

but something just wasn’t right about it…. so…..

I rearranged it.

Hope the Composer doesn’t care. :)

After my music time, I made a YUMMY pasta salad. It was soooo good that I decided I’m makin’ it for dinner too.

After getting all my work done, I got to have fun with some scraps of material… and this was the masterpiece.

MY NEW HEADBAND!

watch out! there will probably be more to come!

After making more of a mess… I tried to clean the house but just as I started…..

my wonderfu l hubby came home from work!

WHAT: OUR HONEYMOON

2010-01-15T11:29:00.001-08:00

WHO: Mr. and Mrs. Scott Dark

WHERE: Cabin. Located in Christopher Creek, Az.

WHEN: January 3rd until January 7th 2010.

WHY: Why not?

PiCTURES? Yes, Please.

We finally came up for air and left the cabin to go for a walk. We waited for the warmest day so my little Mesa-born self wouldn’t freeze.

Things we saw on our walk…

a cool old sign… totally placed in the wrong spot… but still cool!

a snow woman…

some cool birdhouses

a sign for Scott…

close-up

the Christopher Creek church building… it was soooo small and cute.

And beautiful scenery.

The back of our cabin was so unique.

The next morning we sat on the back porch of the cabin bundled up in a giraffe snuggie and our super soft comfy blanket.

and ate a DELiCiOUS breakfast that consisted of an omlet, rasin toast, blueberry cobbler toast, morning medley (my new creation) and YUMMY Pomegranate Ruby Grapefruit juice.

I miss that relaxing, worriless, stress less honeymoon world.

WEDDiNG PiCTURE SNEEK PREViEW…

2010-01-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

TO SEE THE REST… GO HERE!

New Year’s Eve

2009-12-31T23:24:00.000-08:00

This is how we PARTY the night BEFORE the new YEAR!

ONE WORD:

FILIBERTO’S!!!

This is one of Scott’s favorite places to eat since he moved to AZ. So it seemed fitting that we corrupt his best man and groomsman.

Cade was such a gentleman to set the table. :D haha

Soon-to-be newlyweds.

The crazy, amazing best friends.

[T] e .M. {p} .L. e

2009-12-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

♪ ♪ I {l.o.v.e.} to see the TEMPLE . . . I am going there ~~someday~~ SATURDAY! ♪ ♪

I have LOVED that song since the first day I heard it.

Sometime about 4 years ago when I joined the church I started learing more and more Primary songs. This one, among many others took a toll on my life. I love the temple and am so excited to enter the Lord's Holy house. I have looked forward to it for the last 4 years! If you are a current temple recommend holder and wish to share this experience with me, I would love to have you there. The more the merrier, RiGHT? Just e-mail me at autumn28[at]tmail[dot]com and I will promptly e-mail you back with the details!

:[Void this message after Sunday, December 27th]:

NO WAY!

2009-12-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

The countdown is ONNNN...

Scott gets to Arizona in FOURTY-EiGHT hours. Oh my goodness! I have so much to do to prepare wonderful Arizona for him. This is my home and my {second} love and I can't wait to share it all with him! If you want to meet him... the best place would be the Mesa Temple on Thursday, December 17th. We will arrive before the performance that starts at 7:00 pm. For those of you that attended Mountain View High School you should definitely come and support Chorale as they perform an amazing concert for all to hear! If you weren't lucky enough to attend Mt. View, please come and listen to this wonderful program anyway. Hope to see you all there!

Good NeWs!!!

2009-12-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

So....
or should I say
'Sew'....

That's CORRECT. There has been a ton of sewing going on today. I can assure you that today it was not me, however I have definitely been involved. I got a call this morning that the wonderful lady working on my wedding dress was ready for me to come over and be sewn into my dress. That's right. She molded it to me, pinned, snipped and tucked until she got it where 'we' wanted it. THEN... I was sent home :( She said she would call me later on in the day if all was going well and when she was ready for a second fitting. Only 3 short hours later, I received the call I had been waiting for! She needed me again. I went over there, played dress-up for about 15 minutes, poked myself a few times after being warned, of course... haha. After the dress-up time was over I had to leave again. It's so sad to leave my beautiful dress, but HOPEFULLY the next time I return to her house it should be ready for me to wear on my BiG DAY! Wooohooo. I can't believe there is only 4 short weeks and 2 days left! OH MY! Lots to do.... anyone that's serious in wanting to help, please text me!

TiCKiTY {tock} . . . {TiCKiTY} tock.

2009-11-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

I simply couldn't help myself! The last 2 blogs that I told you about made me hungry for crafting! I did it... I drove to D.I. searched Hi and low for the perfect mantle clock to make-over and items to fix-up. While walking through the wooden section I found this adorable decoration!

I had actually seen it a few days ago when I went to D.I. to search for frames for my reception... I really wanted to buy it, but I knew it wasn't a necessity. Well, this time I said to my self, "self, you can justify buying this cute decoration... since it's still here, it must be meant for YOU"...
so I did, and do I regret it? haha. Not {OnE} bit! So, that's that. From there, I continued my search for my clock... I finally stumbled upon this wonderful thing...

However, at the time of purchase, it didn't have that colored circle around the face.... that was just me forgetting to take a before picture... so that's your sneak peak!

ALRiGHTY....
here goes nothin'

So for project numero uno, all I did was protect the center with a plastic grocery bag and painter's tape and went to sprayin' with some brown paint... here's the finished product that will be hanging in my living room once I'm married... I absolutely L.O.V.E. it and it was sooooooo inexspensive! Take a guess how much it was, I dare you!

Project number {tWo} wasn't as easy... but it was so much more fun! I decided since I still have a whole can of turquoise paint left over from the projects that I completed earlier in the month for my wedding, I'm gonna make use of that paint... here's the outcome. I used scrapbooking rub-on letters/numbers for the face. I might be adding some BLiNG onto it, but for right now this is how it will be!

OH EM GEE!

2009-11-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

I just recently stumbled upon this blog and can't be more excited to start making some of the things she has created! She's my kind of gal! She sews, but hates patterns and isn't afraid to try some new styles and ideas! A lot of her stuff is inspired by Anthropologie and amazing new styles! Please go check out her blog!

Last night before coming across her blog I came upon this blog that I believe will be my new friend for decorating my new house once I'm married! Go check it out as well!

Oh my goodness... I can't wait to start being crafty again!

My new OBSESSiON!

2009-11-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

This may sound a little crazy and far-fetched, but I decided I really want a horse drawn carriage for my get-away on my wedding day... however I can't find anyone that knows someone that has anything similar and I refuse to pay a large sum of money to have one. If anyone can help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.

WEDDiNG WEDDiNG WEDDiNG WEDDiNG....

2009-11-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

That is the only thing that can be processed by my brain right now. I'm not gonna lie, it's SUPER ANNOYiNG. I wish that my brain would go back to normal, but the way things are going right now... that is proving to not be how this is gonna happen. Here is a list of things I still need to do- just using this as my thinking pad, or these things probably won't get done.

Make centerpieces
*still need canning jars, glass beads
Get wedding dress altered
Decide on a photographer, florist and cake maker
so much more to do... but the most important is
finding a job to pay for my wedding..... :(
Just my thoughts... will post a better, more exciting overview of my life when it happens.

LATE POSTS

2009-10-26T16:56:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the two late posts, but I had to get them put on there before I go crazy with wedding plans and run out of time to blog! Speaking of which, if anyone wants to help with my wedding, please text/call or even e-mail me… however you want to contact me is fine! I’m going to be making a list of things I need volunteers for, so please let me know if you’re interested! Thanks so much, and please keep posting… it’s the only things that makes time go by for me… besides ripping off those paper links of mine! haha Have a great week everyone! Love and miss you all!

FUN ON THE RANCH!

2009-10-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

So, before I move back to Arizona to plan our wedding Scott and I decided it was best to make our rounds and visit family. Our first stop was to see his dad and stepmom (John and Judy) who live on the ranch where Scott lived until he was 17. We got there Friday night around 10 PM and went right to bed. We awoke to the smell of waffles and bacon cookin’ away! We had breakfast and then sat down to watch General Conference. After listening to the wonderful speakers, Scott and his dad went out and did some house work putting up a porch. Meanwhile, Judy and I did some baking. I learned how to use an apple peeler and make apple pie filling.

BEFORE and AFTER:

Taste testing=pure happinessss.

After the boys were done outside they saddled up two of the horses so Scott and I could go for a ride. I have only ridden 2 other horses in my life so I expressed to Scott my desire to go for a good ride between sessions of conference. We rode around the ranch property and enjoyed the wonderful creations the Lord has made for us- from landscape to the cool breeze that blew away the sun’s rays. This is me on Maggie…

Following the ride, we ate an amazing lunch that consisted of homemade chili, potato salad and buttered bread. When our tummies became full, we relocated to the couches to watch the second and final session of conference for the day. After the session was over we watch The Best Two Years and then made dinner. While dinner was being prepared, I made my mom’s famous Chocolate Meringue Pie. I realized how much I miss baking and CANNOT wait to be a cute little housewife! I learned a lot of little tricks in the kitchen from Judy and even more life lessons from Scott. I loved listening to his mission stories he told throughout the day and his insights from the words spoken today in General Conference.

TODAY’S BiG ACHiEVEMENT: learning to cut men’s hair!

I have been able to cut girl’s hair for a few years now, but I never knew how to cut guys hair ‘til now. Scott took the time and patience to teach me, and let alone… on HiS HEAD!

It probably wasn’t the smartest idea the day before we plan to get our engagement pictures taken, but oh well. He reassured me that he could fix it if I messed up and that everything would be alright. I must admit it didn’t turn out too bad…

Don’t worry… that isn’t the finished project… You’ll just have to wait to see the engagement pictures for the final look!

Speaking of engagement… we also got a look at our FiRST wedding gift! John sent me a picture of it last week, but I finally got to see it today! It’s my FAVORiTE color and I will definitely need one in our first house. Can you guess what it is?

It is…..

A WASHiNG MACHiNE!

Isn’t it cute?!? The best part is that it’s ELECTRiC and it actually works… I’m not too sure how clean it will get our clothes, but I guess we’ll have to find out.

WHiTE FLURRiES…

2009-10-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

FORECAST for September 29, 2009: Eighty-five degrees

FORECAST for September 30, 2009: Thirty-four degrees AND…

I know for some of you that snow is no big deal… well for an Mesa, Arizona girl that has only been in snow a handful of times… this was a BiG deal! This was also the first time I remember being in snowfall…

Scott and I wrote on our cars… I know, it’s silly but cute and fun!

Sorry for the short post, but it’s late, and I’m super tired, so I’m off to bed!

Good 'ol fashioned PAPER CHAiNS...

2009-10-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

That is Scott's paper chain taped to his wall... ready to start being torn apart!

Yep, that's right. Scott and I went back to the first grade level and made paper chains as a countdown... forget calendars and the new high-tech flashy buttons that are digital countdowns.
We chose to do these and hang them in our rooms so we could count down the days 'til we get married.We made it color coded so that each color ends the small countdown to the next check point so to speak.
Orange-13 days to Halloween.
Yellow-26 days to Thanksgiving.
Pink-2 days to my BiRTHDAY.
Blue-17 days to Scott's BiRTHDAY.
Green-2 days until Scott comes to ARiZONA!
Red-8 days to Christmas.
WHiTE is 8 days until OUR WEDDiNG!!!

WOOHOOO I'm so excited for this countdown to BEGiN!
Leaving for ARiZONA tomorrow morning!

Engagement photos...

2009-10-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

So I have a few of the many pictures we had taken for our engagement picture photo shoot. When I get the rest, I will definitely post them as well!

I have two other posts that I have saved on my computer that I haven't posted yet, because I haven't had access to Wi-Fi, so when I get the chance, I will post them asap... yes, they will be a little out of order, but oh well!

To check out our AMAZiNG photographer- www.bellajourneephotography.com

Mmmmm

2009-09-21T10:49:00.001-07:00

So last week on my days off work, I took a short road trip to go visit my AMAZiNG fiance! I stayed with his step-sister, and hung out with her while he was at school. Scott and I had a BLAST exploring the town where we’ll be living after we get married!

The night before I left, the three of us were hanging out and I had just changed into comfy clothes to get ready to lounge around. Somehow the size of pants came up and Scott made the comment that he bet he could fit in my pants… so I challenged him and gave them to him to try on… sure enough, they fit. I was kinda upset at first, but then had to laugh. Especially when he started modeling them around the ‘flat’ I HAD to get some pictures… so enjoy. haha. The best thing about Buckle pants is that they look good on anyone!

Sorry the picture is crooked... he was too tall for my camera.

The rest are close-ups of him showing off his backside, so I won’t show those off in public. ;) Only mostly because he knows where to find my blog and I don’t want to upset him. Anyway… enjoy!

“MOST WANTED”

2009-09-05T20:34:00.001-07:00

Well, it so seems that other than the news, the only thing people want is pictures… I love how pictures are most desired when there is limited quantity.

Scott claims that he is NOT photogenic… I think he is amazingly good looking NO MATTER WHAT! However, I have realized that we really don’t have many quality pictures of the two of us together. There are a few, but I am a picture NAZi and won’t post any that I don’t like (specifically of me). So, you will all have to wait until we get pictures taken… We’ll be getting our engagement pictures done hopefully pretty soon, so after we choose what we want to put on our announcements, I will put a few others up for all to see! On another note, I do have very few pictures of the ring, and in my opinion, they don’t do the ring any justice because it’s more beautiful in person… however, for those of you that aren’t near me to see it, the pictures will just have to do for now.

This was me in my room being silly and taking pictures literally like an hour after he proposed.

It’s a little out of focus on the stone, so you can’t quite see all the facets and small details, but I love the picture!

This is the side view of the Tulip style setting that my ring has… the ring looks as if it’s made of yellow gold and not white, because it’s so shiny that it reflects my skin and makes it look different… but in reality it is white gold.

Anyway, hopefully that will quench your desires until we can get some professional/ higher quality pictures up. Please give me feedback and if anyone wants to help with wedding planning, please let me know.

ENGAGED!!!

2009-08-31T23:59:00.001-07:00

When I lived in Arizona I met a sister missionary in the visitor's center of the Mesa, Arizona temple. Her name was Krista Stewart and she referred me to take the missionary discussions. Long story short, about a month later I was baptized. Since that day, I have been dreaming about my dream guy and wondering when he was gonna enter my life. Never did I think it would happen as fast as it did.
When I moved to Montana I got the chance to be reunited with her and catch up on life since her mission. After spending some time together, she told me about this guy she thought would be an AMAZiNG match for me. On Saturday, we spent the night at the Maughan's house. They live in her ward and the following day I went to church with her and the Maughan family. Little did I know that they were serious about setting us up as well... although it didn't take much work for them, I'll still give them some credit.
I ended up being strategically placed next to Scott on the bench in the chapel- not by choice, but I definately was NOT complaining. I sat and read scriptures before church began and as I did, one of the speakers came and sat in front of me. He reached over and tapped my knee to get my attention and to start a conversation with me. I tried to end it as quickly as possible and get back to my reading. After the unwanted guest returned to his seat on the stand, I put my scriptures away and prepared myself for church to start. Scott left to go bless the sacrament and while he did my mind was going CRAZY. So, after he blessed the sacrament and returned to our row, the fun began. I know... I should have been paying attention, and I was, but he was distracting me a little too much. I was instantly attracted to him and couldn't help but be curious as to what was going through his mind about this obvious set up. SiDE NOTE: The Maughan family are his cousins and the night before they had been grilling me to see if we would be a good match. They had warned me about his pet peeve of being touched- due to his recent return from his mission last March. Because of that warning, I made extra sure that I sat a good 8-12 inches away from him so he wasn't uncomfortable. HAHA. Anyway, after the first speaker had finished and sat down I felt a nudge in my left side. I looked down and saw that Scott was passing me a note. I read the note and wrote back... he asked "Who was that guy?" (referring to the guy that had just spoken, which was the guy that had sat down in front of me before church began to strike up a conversation). I hesitantly wrote back "My exboyfriend. We haven't seen or spoken since we broke up." Scott replied something along the lines of 'oh, so that knee tap had to have been awkward'... the conversation continued for another few minutes and then stopped so we could listen to the second speaker.
I asked him if I could sit with him in Sunday School, because Krista was going to teach and I didn't know anyone else. He of course agreed and our conversation started once again a few minutes after Sunday School began. He started the conversation, again, on his little note pad this time asking me what perfume I was wearing... 'WOW' I thought to myself... I won't go into all the details, but in our conversation I gave subtle hints of an interest in a possible future of even just a friendship and it didn't stop there. We had a potluck after church- sat next to Scott. I went back to the Maughan's to spend Sunday with an LDS family, and obviously with the hopes of getting to know this Scott guy better. We played a few family games where Scott coached me- I ended up winning. Later on, we sat on the couch talking and I accidently hit his leg with my foot and then later on bumped his arm with mine, both times apologizing greatly. He asked why I was so sorry, and I went on to explain about how his family had warned me about his dislike of being touched. He started laughing and went on to tell me about how it was just being touched by his family that he didn't like... girls weren't a problem. Many know, I'm an affectionate and touchy person. Needless to say, after that conversation the day ended up with the result of us holding hands and cuddling on the couch watching the Work and the Glory. I know, no biggie, but when I had been warned the night before about NOT touching him, I thought for sure I would have to break him out of the recent Returned Missionary mode...
The next day he drove through town on his way to Idaho for a rodeo, and made a point to stop and visit me. We watched a movie at a friend's house and then he took me back home. He was supposed to leave to start his LONG drive to Idaho, but we couldn't help but to keep talking. A *few* hours later he finally left, after our long get to know you session. Oh, and P.S. our first kiss happened that night- can I say ''AMAZiNG''?!? (and for you Premiere/LiGHT girls, you know how much competition he had!). We talked constantly as often as we could and didn't let a minute go by without thinking of each other. A few days later he asked if I wanted to go to a rodeo with him in a town an hour away from where I live. I of course accepted and excitedly prepared myself for this experience to come. I had never watched someone I cared about ride in a rodeo, and I NEVER realized how dangerous it was until I saw him get bucked off that BULL... yeah, you read that right... a B-U-L-L! Anyway, there's so many more details to come, so I'll skip the little ones there. We went to Applebee's after the rodeo and then made a pitstop at a pull of on the way home. It was origionally to let Scott 'stretch his legs', but ended up in a SUPER romantic star-gazing date. We sat and watched the stars... wished on shooting stars and enjoyed the presence of the spirit. I have never had such a spiritual revelation in my LiFE! I ignored it at first, because I thought it was just butterflies... but when it hit me, Oh my, it hit me hard.
That night we said 'I love you' and it was so natural... the next morning I woke up and realized I KNEW I was gonna spend the rest of eternity with this WONDERFUL (that's an understatement) man. I proceeded to tell him that he was probably gonna think I was crazy, but I needed to tell him something. I went on to tell him that all I could think of was the words "When you know, you know." I waited anxiously for Scott's reply and it wasn't as crazy as I thought it was gonna be. He told me that the ONLY words he had in his head the night before were ''when you know, you know.'' We shared our wishes with each other that had been made on the shooting stars the night before, and how we love each other so much. Things just went from there... he moved to the college town 3 hours away last saturday to go to school, but we know that's what is best for now. We will both be making trips to see each other as often as possible.
Now for the part you have ALL been waiting for!

August 30th, 2009

After getting off work, Scott met me at my house. We had planned a casual picnic for the 45 min he was gonna have in town to visit me. So, I made chicken salad sandwhiches and packed some other snacks that morning before work. We went to a place up here called Giant Springs... we found a little place by the water to sit and have our picnic. We ate and talked, A LOT. That's what threw me off. Other than the fact that I knew the independent jeweler we went through for our rings was out of town... Scott wasn't acting nervous AT ALL. I was just convinced that he would be nervous when he was getting close to asking me, but HE WASN'T! So, about 10 minutes before I knew we had to leave, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his CHAPSTiCK! I thought for sure he was gonna ask me... haha nope. I knew that the jeweler was out of town for the ENTiRE week, so I didn't know why I was hoping he would have the ring. It would have been impossible, because to my knowledge, and their sneeky planning, they had led me to believe that Scott hadn't even called about the ring yet. Smart men, I'll give them credit. I tried so hard to figure out a time when Scott would have had the chance to meet with him... it just wasn't possible. So, he put his chapstick away and fiddled around in his pocket- pulled out his hand, still nothing. Then I felt guilty for wanting it and getting mad he hadn't asked me, so I left it alone. Literally three minutes later he said "ok, I don't know how I'm gonna do this without messing things up" I looked down and there it was in his HAND!!!!!! I just wrapped my arms around him and hugged him really close! He held me, and then said 'so, can I please have your hand?' I just laughed, felt like an idiot and slowly made my hand off his shoulder and into his view. He looked me in the eyes and asked "Autumn, will you marry me?" AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I QUiETLY said 'yeah...'
Then he slipped the ring on and kissed me! Its was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

I would write more, but this migraine is killing me. I owed EVERYONE this story and didn't want to tell it eight thousand times... so there you all go...

Maybe I will edit it and make it better/more detailed. If you have questions, please ask!

The spirit of God, like a fire is burning...

2009-08-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

I have never had such a burning bosom experience in my life, and am SO THANKFUL for everything that has happened in the past few days. I have gotten the opportunity recently to be reunited with an amazing person from my past, and her brilliance has opened doors for certain people to come into my life... again. Let me explain...

The first time miss Krista Stewart came into my life was at the Mesa, Arizona Temple. She was serving as a missionary in the visitor's center and was in charge of the presentation of a video entitled "The Testaments"... long story short, she referred me to the missionaries that taught me the discussions and then she went home 2 months after I had been baptized. Upon moving up here to Montana, I met a friend that re-united me with Krista.

Low and behold she was going to eventually set me up with a WONDERFUL guy. I don't know what it is about our connection, but she is OBViOUSLY supposed to be in my life. I have been praying about him and we feel that our relationship is perfect thus far and can't wait for what life is gonna throw our way. I have never felt so right about someone and can't wait to see where this goes. I love my life.... couldn't be happier!

I just want everyone that has been an example to me to know that I love them and hope they realize what they have done for me.... more examples to come.

5 things that make me realize how much I {LOVE} life.

2009-08-12T00:23:00.001-07:00

{ONE} My puppy!

Even though Roxii isn’t technically a ‘puppy’ I still see every dog as a puppy regardless of how old it is. My little GiRL just turned 3 years old last month and she is seriously my pride and joy. For those of you that aren’t dog people, you probably can’t relate, but she is seriously my baby! She makes me so happy and does the CUTEST things to brighten my day. She wakes me up in the morning by gently pawing my arm and grrrring at me in her cute little playful way. I have loved every minute of the few months that I have had her…

Roxii

Posing with the big puppy statue at the dog park

{TWO} My FAMiLY!

The number of nieces and nephews I have seems to constantly be growing. I don’t have many recent pictures of them because they don’t tend to usually want their pictures taken.… I’ll try my best to get them all up here within the next few months.

Lillee (age 3) and Amelia (age 5)

Joel (age 10) and Talia (age 4)

Kyla (age 13 1/2 months)

Mason (sister-in-law’s nephew… still part of the family)

Well that’s 5 of my actual niece’s and nephews… only missing 2.

{THREE} Photography! [0’]

View from the cable car in Switzerland

Girls jumping for joy at the top of the mountain where the cable car ride stopped.

Random pictures I took at the last family reunion I went to.

The wonderful streets in Great Falls, Montana.

{FOUR} My Friends! Not only do I miss my friends from back home, but I love the few I have made here.

Kelsey Thomas with the puppies (left to right: Autumn the Puggle , Roxii the Yorkie and Gus the Pug) Kelsey Pettis, Monica, Patienz and I going on the YSA river float trip!

{FiVE} Last, but the most important is the Church of JESUS CHRiST of Latter-Day Saints.

Without the gospel in my life today, I would not be the person I am! It has changed my life for the better in so many ways and has given me a positive outlook on life when I needed it the most. Unfortunately it is sometimes something I take for granted, but it definitely is such a part of my life. I can’t wait to strengthen my testimony, share my passion with others about the thing I love the most and make the next steps in life to be closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ and My Father in Heaven.

Pictures I took- Salt Lake City, Utah Temple…

Around Temple Square

and the San Diego, California temple…

Hope you enjoyed!

BiRTHDAY!

2009-08-04T16:27:00.001-07:00

My family is BiG on birthdays and it has always been tradition up here to go out to eat with the whole family for dad's birthday. Saturday, August 1st, my good ol' pops would have been 66 years old. I can't believe it's almost been 2 years since he passed away. SOOOO much has happened since then.
The family keeps growing, so it's getting a little more complicated to go out to eat all the time... Eventhough a few members of the family couldn't make it, we still went out to eat in remembrance of our dad (also grandpa, and father-in-law for others in the family). It's hard to go out to eat and talk about him without everyone getting teary-eyed and sad, so we just eat Mexican food (dad's favorite) and spend time with one another. All of my dad's 4 kids handle his passing differently so we all went out to the cemetery at different times. My sister and I saved it for later in the evening when we could leave the kids at home with their dad, and enjoy eachother's company. Breanna and I went out to see dad, shared a few memories and told a couple of jokes. My dad was ALWAYS telling stories- hmmm wonder where I got that from?- and so we found it fitting to share a few things with each other that we thought were funny/ interesting about dad. All-in-all, the over all experience was peaceful, and humbling.
My testimony of Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation was once again strengthened as I pondered the feelings I felt at his grave. I am so happy that I will be able to see my dad again where he will be pain free, happy and hopefully accepting of the things he has learned. I love him so much, miss him greatly and love the lessons I have learned from some of the good examples he set for me during the short time he was part of my life.
I couldn't help taking pictures while I was there. I find something interesting with grave sites and L.O.V.E. the ancient look of some of the head stones.

Sorry but the pictures weren't uploading with this post, so I added them in separate posts... AND some of them got cropped because they were too big, so feel free to click on them and hopefully you'll get the full effect!

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{J.E.W.E.L.R.Y.}

2009-07-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday I started my first day on the sales floor as a sales associate in the JEWELRY department at JCPenney. Oh my goodness, I absolutely L.O.V.E. i.T! It definitely is difficult to memorize all the security rules, policies and expectations. I have made a few good sales already and am looking foward to getting more! I just love making people happy and this cute little old lady was my first customer. What a coincidence, right? I leave one job working with elderly, and then my first customer is one... I'm thinking they are just drawn to me! hahaha. ANYWAY, she said she was soo happy with our (me and my trainer) service and that she would take our JCPenney servey and put our names down so we could recieve a pin for GREAT customer service.

One of the guys I work with is starting a competition with me to see who gets the first pin.. it's probably a little confusing to those of you who aren't sure about what I am speekng of but I'm kinda too lazy to explain everything. I was just realizing that I hadn't written in a few days, so I put a little boring update up. Ok, well I'm gonna go babysit my other nieces so be prepared for some more adorable pictures!!!

GRRRRR!!!

2009-07-23T16:53:00.001-07:00

So, I totally figured out the whole 3 column thing and then tried adding a background. The background didn't fit of course, so then I messed with editing the 3 column thing, and now it won't let me go back to the 3 column info. I am SOOOOO angry. I had it and then lost it! :(
If anyone can help, PLEASE DO!

KYLA ANNE

2009-07-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today I got the opportunity to spend time with my youngest niece while her immediate family attended a funeral. Kyla recently had her first birthday on June 25th. In the beginning of every relationship, Kyla is very shy and doesn't like you unless she's known you for a while. Understandable, right? Well I seem to have this charm with kids, not to brag, but right away she was comfortable with me. I think she has only whimpered once while being held by me and that was because Daddy walked in. She is ALWAYS happy and laughing or smiling.
She has the CUTEST and most unique facial expressions. I'm pretty sure she takes after me, because I rarely smile in pictures due to the fact I'm too busy making a funky face.
This is how our time together went:-We watched some baby DVD's and then played on the couch-Ate some raisins and butter crackers
-Played Peek-a-boo with Blankie-Then went outside so Aunt Autumn could play photographer

-We played in the grass and with the puppies... pretty sure
that was her favorite part.

-Then we got tired and laid down for a nap... perfect timing
for updating my blog about our wonderful few hours.

DON'T FORGET ALL THE BABY KiSSES i GOT TODAY TOO!!!

FiNALLY

2009-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I am FiNALLY happy with what my blog looks like and am excited to share it with others.

Life has been crazy the past 3 1/2 weeks with getting settled into my new living arrangements and adjusting to the new scenery of MONTANA! I am closer to the bigger half of my family and get to see my siblings and their kids. I love family and am looking forward to opportunities to share with them the knowledge I have of eternal families and the Faith that has helped me on this journey we all call life.

I miss everyone in ARiZONA and can't wait to come home to visit! Please keep in contact and I will continue to update here to let you know how the BiG SKY COUNTRY is treating me! Love you all! YEE-HAW! (that was for you, dad)