Good Times

So Shaylen is having a hard time starting to crawl but has started to be able to stand up holding on to things and tried to pull herself up on a jumper the other day. Maybe she will be one of those sitting to standing kind of kids.

No one had school except for Reilly this week so that made for some good times. I got to play with Connor which doesn't happen all that much and we had some fun playing the Cooties games and laughing while trying to make up our own accents!

My Cooties, they are married and are holding hands!

Connors Cooties, the one on the right is supposed to be confused ha ha

The funny part about playing with Connor is he tries to cheat so you will win! What little boy do you know that wants to let you win? He will be such a good big brother if he keeps that up always letting the little ones win. We got to spend time alone while the rest of the kids took naps and had some good times.

Once Shaylen woke up from her nap we wanted to see how many ways we could get Shaylen to laugh I took a video of one and every time I watch it I just crack up it is so funny! There is just something about little kids laughing that hard that makes it so you can't keep a straight face.



Lyndsey, Reilly and I all had a fun week also. We watched No Reservations (Lydnsey loves to cook and will watch anything that has to do with cooking!) and Reilly got to dance with me in my room and spin around until we were both sick and dizzy while me and Lyndsey tried to make as many animal noises as we could! Last night Lyndsey and I watched Gilmore Girls (My favorite show ever and the only show I actually own any seasons of. I have them all) and got a midnight snack of Nutella with Graham Crackers and leftover Chinese food :)



All in all it was a great week now the rest of the week will be child free as they are all going camping. Jill and I are going to stay home, she works and I want some time to get things done (like my laundry I have been procrastinating) and so far have gotten nothing done. I guess I better try harder!

As Time Goes By

So as of right now not much has changed. Still loving Arizona but still jobless. I am babysitting once a week at nights but this is only temporary and I have started institute. I am taking 3 classes that I absolutely love! Time is going by so fast I don't even know what to do with myself! A week from today I will turn 20 years old and in my book that was always really old. As with a lot of other years I have heard from several sources that this is yet another one of those awkward in between years of not being a teenager but not really being an adult yet either. Makes me so excited for this amazing upcoming year! Hopefully it will be as amazing as this past year and bring more changes. We will just see what kind of changes though. 

As with most things that you notice time you start to think of the past. I have been thinking about what has happened in my life since my last birthday and can I just tell you it's been a lot?? A year ago I had no plans of moving out I was in a relationship I thought would last forever and that nothing would change the way I felt right then. I had everything figured out I was going to stay home keep working wait for my boyfriend to get home from his mission and get married. Maybe if I felt impressed to I would go on a mission of my own before he got back. Now a year later I have lived in 3 different cities within 6 months and now live about 500 miles from my family. I don't have a boyfriend and am planning a trip to Europe and going to go on a mission once my next birthday approaches. My attitudes towards things around me are completely different and my views on the world have been drastically altered. 

I feel like I have grown so much in this past year and hope to grow just as much this upcoming year but preferably with less hardships. I can always hope right? It will be my first birthday not at my home with my family. It will be interesting to see how it all ends up panning out. The statement is true though birthdays get less and less exciting as years go by. As a kid you never believe that statement but it is such a sad truth. That's okay though because I'd rather know what I know now and be older than give up what I know just to be excited about my birthday. Goodbye all remaining days of my teen years you shall be missed.

Rolling with the Punches

So for the past couple of weeks I have spent over 10 hours just getting and filling out applications. That doesn't include the bringing them back in and the interviews I have been in. Still no luck! I do however now have a once a week babysitting job but I'm pretty sure this won't pay for Europe and my mission. Nice thinking though huh? So in the cold wind and rain Amber and I trudged through the outdoor mall getting more and more applications. Now we get to fill them out and start all over. It really is a long hard process.


I had 2 very promising interviews last week and unfortunately neither of them worked out. I have another one tomorrow with Amber and we will see how that goes. Still doing everything I can to keep busy and so far I have completed about 13 pages in my quote book I am making which is really cute! Also have accomplished watching more movies in one week then I can ever remember watching ha ha.


I really know I am so blessed I live with a very loving family that I feel right at home with and totally love. I am slowly starting to make new friends and have really felt like I am making a life here. Even if it is for such a short time! When I start to feel down and wonder why I came I always get these rejuvenating days where everything seems to go perfect. Its those days those simple things that make everything worth it in the end. They are what make life enjoyable!


So far my New Year has been very wonderful just a couple of snags in my great plan. I am doing well with my New Years resolution and we have changed it to once every 2 weeks if any at all. So far this new year I have had 2 spoonfulls of cookie dough and that is all. It has had its really hard times but right now at the moment it is getting a lot easier. I just know not to get anything and I know my body will survive. I just go for the mandrin oranges and 100 % real juice fruit snacks. Its been wonderful!

Saying Goodbye....again

So my decision led me to the Powells and for New Years my family came for a couple days and helped me get settled in. We had so much fun watching movies playing games and just having moments of random laughter. I got to spend beloved time with my family and I always try to cherish every single minute of it. Now it is all gone. Who knows when I will see my family again. It is one of the hardest things to watch them drive away without me. I know right now that I am supposed to be here still but being without my family is the hardest part. Having life go on without me back home and going back to see so many changes that I am missing hurts sometimes.

Again on a lighter note my 2009 was incredible I got to face so many challenges but got to accomplish so much as well. I moved out on my own and grew up. I can do things without my mommy now even if I don't want to at times. I am able to sorta navigate my way around town and learning everyday its ok to get lost ha ha. I am such a different person from the beginning of 2009 and granted I still have a ton to learn at least I am learning little bits every year.

As for 2010 Amber and I have set the New Years resolution that we are not to eat sweets like, candy, pies, cakes, ice cream and such including fast food and soda for a year. It will be hard as I have already noticed how much more junk food is actually around me and have noticed how much more I actually eat then I think. It will be good and well the goal is to just be more healthy in general. We did cheat and said we could eat one thing a week but it has to be little and it can only be one thing. Candy and soda are totally out though so for no reason whatsoever will I be eating candy or drinking soda. I am happy I don't drink soday anyways because that wont be so hard.

Given it is still in the early hours of the day I am going to try to go back to sleep and then when I wake up I'm going to try to be as busy as possible. I really need to find a job because its when I'm not doing anything that I feel the homesick monster the most. Crossing my fingers and hoping its not too much to ask for two jobs! I hope all of your News Years were wonderful and that we all get to take a look at everything accomplished and everything we want to accomplish. Happy New Year everyone!

What to do?

My last little while at Jills was pretty bittersweet, I got to really get close to Lyndsey but at the same time it was getting a little closer to going home. I packed all my stuff up and moved it over to the friends house I had thanksgiving at a week ago Thursday. I got to spend some time with them before I flew back up home. I am here for Christmas while I decide what to do next. I can either move back home and try to find another job or go back down to our friends house and live with them since they offered me a room there. I don't have any permanent jobs either place and they both have their ups and downs. I thought I had all the answers and then life just throws it back in my face that I don't. Now I am back to square one with no job and Christmas just a week away. My family is going to our friends house for New Years and I will either just be staying or would be packing up my stuff and coming home. I'm still in the process of deciding, and yet at this time of year when my problems seem so little compared to how much is going on around me, and me being so worried about me makes me feel selfish. Maybe part of my decision making should be less me and more of others.

All I know is my heart is torn it two. I love being home and being with my family but at the same time the Powells have really become a second family to me and I really feel at home there. I am trying to weigh all my options and be absolutely sure that I pick the right decision and I know that I can't make this decision by myself and am trying to get all the help I can. I was so sure I would be going back to Arizona but now waking up today it makes me so sad to have to make a decision to pick.

On a lighter note I love this time of year it absolutely makes me so happy. It is just magical I got to go to a family Christmas party on Monday and got to go see lights at the temple and it was just amazing to be with my family and get to do something like that together. I also got the chance last night to go drive around with a friend and look at all the lights around town which was also very exciting. In our house we are still working trying to get our Christmas tree up when usually we try to be the first house with it up. Everyone at my house is just always so busy and no one has had time. Hopefully we get it up by the end of this week!!

Angela has a band concert tonight I am so excited to go see it and see some of the people that will be there. Being home really is amazing and I really have no room to complain I am just so amazed at how much I really have been given and that I get opportunities to choose what is best for me. I will update with my final decision and with all the rest of things to update. Hopefully I will be in a much better mood ha ha. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving brings changes.

I went over to some really really good friends of our families for Thanksgiving. They are closer to me then any cousins I have so thats what we call each other. Now that is cleared up I got to spend the whole weekend there. Amber comes from this family and it was so good to spend time with her and to stay up late talking and watching movies just to fall asleep and wake up and try to watch them the next day falling asleep all over again. She is my replacement sister as I have been down here and really love having her around. They took such good care of me while I was there they really are a blessing to me!

Now for the bad news, once I got home from this fantastic weekend it was to the realization that I would need to be leaving my home here with Jill and the girls. I am so sad that things didn't work out they way they were supposed to and have already shed some tears even though I'm sure there will be more. I love them so much and have been my family here for the past 3 months. I know I will always try to visit them when I am down this way and will keep in touch. They are really great and it will be sad to leave but right now that is what I need to do. Things didn't work out with Jennifer and I need something that will be paying me more money so I can go to Europe and save up for my mission. I will be going home for the holidays and trying to figure out my next step after that.

Here are the pictures of Thanksgiving and my weekend with Amber and her family.

Dinner done now its time for after dinner talk.

The wonderful hostess and cook of my weekend Sue!

Lounging on the couch.

Now the weekend begins!

Taylor  at the shaved ice place not eating any shaved ice...

Amber and I were twinners it was so fun.

Me being the funny face person like usual...

Mmm shaved ice

Ambers idea :)

It really was a fun weekend! It was a good weekend without having to worry about kids at all and getting a little break. Even though at the time I didn't know I would be having a bigger break then was to be expected from the girls :( I know things happen for a reason and I will be ok even if sometimes it doesn't seem like I will. There are harder things out there to go through and its time to move forward.

Making Memories

So I haven't updated in awhile but now that I am getting to it I have a couple things to post! We had some fun times recently. These girls are so much fun and I am really happy I have got to get to know them and have them feel comfortable with me.

We made a fort while Jill was visiting Brent and it was just me and the girls for a couple days. Amber came and stayed with us which is always a blast.

                                                             Our Sleeping Area

                                                          

                                                            Our Game and Activity Area

The bed, Amber and Reilly

Reilly was excited!

King Blitz taking over.

Then we went to TGI Fridays and were extra giggly and took some pictures there also right after Jill got back from seeing Brent. It was so much fun and here are the pics

 

Yummy Lemons!

Reillys attack mommy time! ha ha

 

Whos eye is which?

Hmm?

Got all three of them so far?

Last one

Reilly coloring with Christmas colors!

So first eye was Jill, then Reilly, then Lyndsey and then mine. Not like that was to hard to figure out or anything but there ya go!

Then the other day since Reilly didn't have school we made a surprise tea party for Lyndsey for when she got home from school. We cooked and cut and cleaned and got dressed up. It was so much fun all it was missing was a teapot! We made place mats with our names on it that Reilly made and it was so much fun. We made caramel hazelnut cookies, chocolate milk, rolls, had fruit cheese crackers and nuts. We had it all set out and it was just so much fun.

 

 

These are memories I always want to keep with me as times are hard and sad I want to think of moments like these that just make me feel a little big happier. It really was a fun couple of weeks trying to finish all the things we started!