So things are not very exciting, I think January is one of the hardest parts of the year. It is way too cold to spend time outside, the air quality here in Utah is terrible, the semester begins way too soon after Christmas, and it feels like forever! I want to share a few little things that brought me joy:
We are trying to save a few dollars at our house. Most of our money goes to food so I decided on a semi-flexible rule: We only go to the store once every two weeks, unless we need milk. Anyway, my office decided on Tuesday that they wanted to have a potluck lunch on Wednesday (crap I can't go to the store till Friday, and we have a basically empty fridge) I searched the food storage and ended up putting together a fruit salad of mostly canned fruit and some grapes but it was really good and I didn't have to break my rule! I was pretty excited
I woke up late today, as usual, and I forgot to grab my lunch. So I stopped at the Subway by my work (free cookie Friday). I discovered something amazing. I am trying to drink more water but so many places water tastes like a swimming pool to me so I really struggle. But they had these awesome little packets of lemon juice, and lemons make water so much more refreshing! and I don't have to think about how many people have stuck their hands all over the fresh lemons. So Good! I took a handful and have been drinking lemon water all day!
I was able to assist in the conversion of my sweet sister to the apple family. She has been talking about getting a new computer for years and it took her ancient computer throwing sparks out of the cord for her to finally get one but she did! I went to the bookstore yesterday and bought her a new macbook pro. This was my first time opening a brand new computer (Jon usually gets this honor). It was really fun formatting it a little bit and adding on office and a few other things to make it easier for her to use. I like figuring things out, even though I had to call Jon at work a few times. 
And of course, This Guy! Jon makes everyday better. I love it when he gets home from work, I love it when he answers all my silly questions, and I really just love almost everything about him (come on, nobody's perfect)
There, I feel a lot better about my January.
We had a great holiday season but I did not take very many pictures. We have this great camera but it is so bulky that I don't carry it with me everywhere and therefore don't have very many pictures.
Starting early in December Jon graduated from Weber State! It hasn't really set in yet, hopefully he will find a better job soon now that he is done with school. If you hear of any openings in the computer networking area let us know
Jon's parents were set apart as full-time missionaries, twice, they were originally set apart for the Kinsasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo mission but while they were in the MTC the doctor told them the malaria medication would interact with some of Bob's other medication so they received a new call to the Orlando, Florida Mission. They left the day after Christmas and drove down, it took them about six days. We have only talked to them a little bit, (different rules for senior missionaries they can skype us whenever they have time and still have their cellphones). From what we have heard they are doing great and working really hard.
Here is a picture of the family at the second setting apart, only missing Mark (he was on his way to the Vegas Bowl) and David, Amanda, Luke, and Sam (Sam was only a week old at this time)
I went to see my favorite cosmetologist and chopped off my hair
before:
after:
It took me a little bit but I am figuring out some fun ways to style my new do, I totally love how much easier it is to dry and style. Though looking at the before pictures I do miss my longer locks. I always want what I don't have.
Some of my girlfriends came over for a chocolate fondue, quilt tying party. Here is a pic of the girls that made it, we missed everyone that were not able to come:
I just picked up the quilt a few days ago from a sweet lady that finished the edge for me, here is the finished product:
This is a humanitarian quilt, I picked up the pieces from Deseret Industries and I will taking it back to be put in a humanitarian kit
These are all the pictures that I have but we had a lot of fun with my sister Kady's family coming to town and spending lots of time with all of our family. I am back in school now, though my schedule is incredibly light compared to last fall, Jon told me just the other day that the only way he knows that I am in school is that I get up early. I guess he is right I am able to do all of my homework while he is at work and nothing has been terribly difficult yet. I guess there is a plus to taking my time to finish school, while all my classmates are loaded up to get ready for student teaching I have taken everything already and I am just coasting to the finish. I guess that is about all.
I thought it was funny, hope you like it. Merry Christmas.
It is a group of high school students showing how silent monks would sing Halleluia
I am so proud of Jon. He has worked so hard to get to this point and has done it gracefully. He made this announcement himself on Photoshop, the ones from the school were outrageously priced. I had to beg him to let me take his picture for the top and he took the picture of the stadium at the bottom with our camera. I love the announcement it turned out better than I had hoped when I told him my idea. Congratulations Jon, I love you!
So I have been reading a lot of thankful blog posts but this was by far my favorite and I hope this touches your heart the way it touched mine:
I hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving, i sure did!
I have a few spare minutes a work today and I have a bunch of pictures on my flash drive so I decided to put together a catch up post so here you go:
In September we were able to spend a weekend at my uncle Chris's cabin in Island Park and it was so beautiful. Here is a pic of the whole group:
From left to right: Taft, Chelle (Colby's sister), Lesha, Logan, Grandma Leslie (holding Lincoln), Me, Jon, Marsha (Jon's Mom), Bob (Jon's Dad), Colby, and Libby. WE had so much fun hanging out together.
Here is one of Lincoln inside a tub of kitchen stuff, he got in there all on his own:
For the James Family annual spooky dinner I made moldy and mildew dip with fingers an toes for dipping (spinach and artichoke with celery sticks and baby carrots)
Halloween at work:
My work is awesome for Halloween, it is like being a kid again (with work added in) we decorate our doors, dress up, have a pumpkin contest, lunch, and tons of fun
Here is the Friends of Scouting door (my department)
We made our zombie scout without spending any money at all and he was so scary!
I then went with Libby to a party thrown by our Aunt Emily (she is awesome!) here are the two of us with Marley (Emily's middle and craziest child)
For the actual day of Halloween Jon and I carved pumpkins, did homework, and went to the trunk or treat at the Paulsen's (Jon's sister's family)
Here I am holding the cutest chicken ever!
For my last Halloween pic her is one of our pumpkins. This is our first tradition for our small family. I have two, the flying witch was for the work contest and the witch head was my home pumpkin. Jon carved the head of the grimm reaper.
On Sunday November 1st we were able to attend the blessing of our newest nephew and he is so adorable! Here is a pic of the little guy
That is all for now, we are really busy with school because Jon graduates this semester he is now on the job hunt so if you know of somewhere local that needs a computer scientist (that also speaks French) let us know. Hopefully I won't have so much to share at once next time because I will be more caught up. Thanks for reading
We have had a lot going on that I will try to share later but right now I want to share something that is weighing heavily on my heart and mind. My favorite professor past away yesterday with complications due to bacterial pneumonia and the H1N1 virus. She was in class on Monday and went home feeling ill and passed away early Wednesday morning. The class I currently am taking from her is Geometry for Elementary School Teachers. I have had other classes from her in the past and she was such an amazing teacher. I couldn't bring myself to attend class today but a good friend of mine told me she kept thinking "this is not the way Diane would teach this, I know I would understand this so much better from her." She had a really special skill not only did she have a great understanding of math and not only could she teach math but she was teaching us how to teach math and she was so entertaining while she taught. Tonight as I try to do my homework I keep seeing notes in her handwriting (she hand wrote almost everything and made copies) I am reminded over and over that she is gone, it happened so quickly. On Sunday I was able to attend our stake conference broadcast and President Eyering was the main speaker, his talk centered on put the Kingdom of God before our personal gain. I wish I could find a copy of his talk to share, I cannot find it on lds.org yet but I will keep looking. His talk along with losing Diane has helped me to realize that my priorities are not what they should be. I skipped the adult session on Saturday to work on homework and if I were to go tomorrow would the lord really care if I finished my homework a day early? I really don't think so. How many times I know I have been told this lesson? The picture above is of the priorities jar lesson where if you try to do everything you think you should do first and then try to add it what the Lord asks you to do it doesn't fit but if you do it the other way around it all seems to fit. I know I haven't been doing things the way I should but I know the experiences this week will help me to make better decisions when I decide what to do with my time. I hope everyone that was taught by Diane can carry on her enthusiasm for life and share it with everyone around you. There an article and video about Diane on KSL.com to read more about it click HERE.
Last night was Brooke's concert and she was amazing! Benton Paul opened and I really liked him, he is a local guy from Salt Lake and he is so talented. Michael Johns was also on the bill and I loved his set! It was a totally awesome concert. Here is a picture of a few of my family that were able to attend:
This isn't even close to everyone that came with us we had so much fun!
Here is a picture of my sweet Grandma with Brooke:
Also David Archuletta came out for a few songs at the end and all the girls in the crowd went crazy, I can't wait for Brooke to come again. Thanks to my sweet husband for coming along and showing support even though it's not really his scene.
So If you have kept up with this blog at all you already know that I love, love, love! Brooke White, you might recognize her from American Idol. She is good friends with my older sister and I have seen her in concert a few times. So what you might say, we have heard this all before, well my friends . . . she is coming in concert to SLC on Sept 26 (a week from this Saturday!) Here management company has not advertised for this at all, so there are still plenty of tickets. Here is a link to the ticket website and I hope to see you all there ( the tickets are just over $20 each with fees, a pretty good deal for an awesome concert if I do say so myself!) 
Click Here for a link to the ticket website
