New Year, New Goals...

new years resolutions!!!! i made more goals than actual resolutions:

• get straight A's this semester (having a semester off has made me lazy and i'm nervous to start again, but i'm bound and determined to get back in the grind and kick schools butt)
• be better at writing in my journal (i'm terrible)
• be better at daily prayer and scripture reading (always need for improvment!)
• learn more & cook more
• save $$$$ and budget better
• be a more friendly person and a better person all together
• ultimately be happy

these are just a few, but i do hope to accomplish lots :) with the decision to stay home and go to school here, i'm sacrificing a lot and unfortunatly i have second guessed my decision many times...don't get me wrong, i LOVE being home and with my family, this is HOME! having no social life is making me sad though, i miss my friends in arizona and i do worry about being here with few people my age with my standards, but i remind myself that i did pray about this decision and know that right now i need to be home. i am also quickly reminded with just a smile from one of the 14 little kiddos that i love dearly!!! with that i hope the new year brings new challenges, new experiences, and HAPPY HAPPY days.

Bring on 2010...Happy New Year

Christmas 2009

I love this Holiday!!!! I had a White Christmas again, and honestly its not Christmas any other way :) One bad thing is that we really didn't take family pics like we usually do, oh well next year right??

Well we did our usual, Christmas Eve everyone came over and we played the gift game that my mom just loves...she buys the same number gifts as people and we all pick a number, #1 goes first (which is the worst!) picks a gift, #2 goes then and either can steal #1 gift or pick their own and so on...it really gets interesting, this year my present that I picked was a bunch of 2 dollars bills, and anyone who knows my brother Jake knows that he is a BIG fan of those, and just my luck he was after me so you guessed it, he stole them so fast haha and my next present I picked was McDonald's coupons, I don't like McDonalds...yuck! so my dad got them, so needless so say I got ripped off haha the worst part was that I was with my Mom when she bought most of the gifts and I knew what I wanted... it sure is fun though. The Kids got to play pass-the-parsel...

At the end, all the kids got something...the boys got their own truck and the girls all got lip gloss hehe everyone was in their glory!!

We sang Christmas songs, played Murder, talked, ate, laughed a lot and ate some more. It was a fun night with everyone :)
Me and my sister while watching the kids play pass-the-parsel :)

Dad got his jacket that he wanted!!! I have the BEST Dad!!!

Opening Presents...all so very happy!!

Catch up...

Wow has it seriously almost been a month already since my last post?? Crazy crazy, I mean I don't even have a full-time job or just getting done with finals to blame it on haha but I figured I would catch up before Christmas when I know I will have more to do then.

First weekend in Dec, my parents, treated us all to another night at Tundra Lodge (Indoor waterpark resort in Green Bay for those of you who don't know) Well this year we had decided that it would be fun to have lunch at Chucky Cheese before, and let me tell ya, it was a hit!! By the kids and the adults haha The whole weekend was a blast..Thanks Mom & Dad!!!!!

Jas & I put our winning tickets together and we got Pop-Rocks!!!! Best prize ever! Totally rip off though, seriously we had like 200 tickets and we got 5 small pop-rocks. haha its the experience I guess

So you all know that job interview that I had?? I GOT THE JOB!!!!!! I'm super excited about it, it's entry level clerical support at the Clinic in the Hospital and its going to work PERFECT with school. Just had orientation and a small shift to show me how it goes. I officially have my first day on the 28th and let me tell ya, I'm way looking forward to it, a few months without working can make you go crazy and I'm excited to actually be doing something now. I also will be going on the schedule at Corner Bar, I've been filling in whenever they needed me, but since I'm staying here, I will be working more. To be honest, I'm not all that excited about it, don't get me wrong, I love the people I work with and the regulars that come in, its just that working friday and saturday nights SUCK! Oh well, I gotta suck it up if I'm gonna work myself through schooling with the least amount of debt possible and I'm bound and determined to do so.

Also last weekend was the Youth Temple trip, which I totally tagged along, We left Friday morning and we stayed the night. We went to the Mall of America and just enjoyed the night, it sure beat getting up and having to leave at 5am. Anyway it was such a good weekend. Mall of America-Spongebob Roller Coaster!!! I screamed like a little girl, but I LOVED it!

Us girls!!
I'm a big Elvis fan and I saw this a fell in Love!

Christmas!!!!!! I LOVE this holiday, and I'm so excited that we have tons of snow! I'm a BIG fan of having White Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone!

Our Christmas card :)

I had the Best time...

I love the Stoehrs!! And I love it when I get to see them...laughing,inside jokes, games, girl talks, and more laughing! Sadly I, along with a good portion of my family, got sick with the stomach flu on friday, which totally made me sad because saturday was their last day here :( But I had a great week with them and am counting down the time until I get to see them again!!

Me and my turtle buddy having fun shopping...she loved the jacket so much she bought it, I tried it on as a joke-fur is totally not my thing!! haha

Us at our very BEST!!! :)Exhibit A: Jeana wanting to take a pic of all of us girls (Heidi & I are were very much against this idea due to not showering yet that day...as you can see I'm not pretty!) First attempt, however, Jeana, who is the oldest of the bunch, tickled Stephy's feet the whole time and this is what we got haha
Exhibit B: Second pic, good one with Stephy giving a BIG cheeser-ohh how I love that girl!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! Oh my goodness I haven't been home for this holiday in 2 years and let me tell ya..it was AMAZING!!! As much as I love Arizona, its so good to be home again for the holidays!! Oh how much I have missed Thanksgiving dinner with the all the family...my Grandma's YUMMY Food and just being with the family again! So now as I sit here with Thanksgiving almost over and thinking about my day and all that I am thankful for...I am so very blessed its not even funny!

1. First of all I am most thankful for my Family...seriously I have the BEST family in the world!!! They put up with me which in itself is amazing haha Any given day my family can tell what type of mood I'm in and they call me out if I'm crabby and they definitely know how to make me laugh! I couldn't have picked a better family!!

2. This year the Stoehrs are out visiting!!! No joke, everytime we get together there is constant laughing and talking very loudly haha us girls are told numerous times to talk softer and to be quiet. Games, girl talks, and so much more...what more could I ask for? I absolutely love the Stoehrs and am so HAPPY that I am home becuause I would've been so upset if I would've missed them being here!

3. My friends!!! I am one lucky girl and I have the GREATEST friends on the planet!! Again, my friends put up with me which is a miracle seeing that they don't have to, but the fact that they do makes me ever so grateful for them! I would have to put up a million pics up to show all my friends so I will just put a few...

Just a few...

4. The Gospel...This includes so much!! I know it sounds cheesy, but I really don't know where I would be without it or what type of person I would be. I can't explain it any better than that, its just AMAZING!

5. My Life! I may complain a lot and wish somethings were a little different at times, but I seriously love my life and everything in it!!! I couldn't ask for more, I have the BEST family, GREAT friends, WONDERFUL gospel, GOOD education that I have the opportunity to continue, I could go on and on, but I'll stop there.

Sorry if this was boring, it was more for me like the majority of my posts, anyway HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

One decision down, more to come...

I got the call this past monday....someone dropped out of the program in Mesa and I got in!! The class starts Jan 4, and so I told my advisor I would talk with my parents and call her the next day with my answer. Let me tell ya, I had tossed around every possbible outcome of this decision and I honestly was at a standstill. My sisters were at my house that night so I talked with them and my parents, they all gave me adivce and opinions on what and how I should make the decision. I turned to my mom and dad mainly though, but in my mom's words, "I don't know Jen, its your decision..you have to be the one who makes it" This makes me laugh, my entire life my mom has been making decisions for me and when I finally turn to her and say ok mom what do I do...she leaves it up to me!

My dad gave me a blessing before I went to bed and oh my goodness did that help. I knew the next hour or so I would need all the help I could get. Right after the blessing, I broke down ...I don't even know why. My bro-in-law told me to write out the pros and cons so thats what I did. I also called Dee right away, she's me other half and she knows what and how I see things and almost every single time we are thinking the same thing...we talked for 2 hours (Thanks so much Dee, I know you had homework and studying to do but you knew I needed you and you just let me vent and gave me adivce!!) And Dee gave me a chain of scriptures to read about personal revelation and what we sould seek after. So there I sat til about 1 or so in the morning...

I called my Advisor the next day and told her it just didn't feel right and that it wasn't my time to go to Mesa or just not the right place. I was just very frustrated and confused everytime I thought about Mesa and after I turned them down I felt calm which was really weird. I seriously have the BEST family though. First thing tuesday morning, my bro-in-law (who I think saw tears in my eyes the night before and knew how worried I was) asked what I had decided and the rest of my family were completely supportive. Thank you guys!!! I know I've been the Mayor of Crazy Town, but Thanks!!

So one decision down, more to come. I have yet to hear from Tucson and I just got my acceptance letter from Northcentral Tech College in Wausau. Crazy thing happened though Monday afternoon before I got the call, my neices were over right after school and as they were walking out, my sis-in-law said..."I don't know..ask her." Then B comes around the corner and asked.."Are you moving?" I laughed because I honestly didn't know myself, but I had been leaning towards staying here and said "Probably not B, I'm more than likely staying here" What happened next broke my heart, after I said this my sis-in-law goes "see B, Auntie is staying here you don't have to miss her anymore" oh my goodness, break my heart, like I said I seriously have the BEST family!!