Greyson Chance

I saw this kid on Ellen—unbelievable! There are some people that are just born music protégé's. I love his voice! It is incredible that he has never had a voice lesson, that he is 12 years old—that he is so articulate at 12— and that he composes his own music/lyrics—unbelievable!

On this first one he is being interviewed on the Ellen show but he actually plays the song at around 5:23 so you can skip to that part if you want.



A song he wrote and is playing at home:

American Idol

One of my all time favorite songs and one of my all time American Idol Performances—chills!!:

Prayer Answered

I have always heard these stories about people praying they would be able to find lost keys, or a wallet or some other seemingly meaningless thing that they didn't think they should bother the Lord with but did anyway, and their prayer was answered. I have always lived without that as apart of my collection of miracles until a few days ago. I let my kitty, Nika, outside to roam around one afternoon knowing that she always comes back after a few minutes. Well 6 hours later I started to get really scared that she was either stolen, lost, or worst cast scenario dead. It was getting dark and cold and I was worried she would try to find warmth in a car engine again (something she did previously in Utah). I went looking for her around our apartment complex a few times throughout the day but I couldn't find her anywhere. It was so strange because she always comes when I call her. I kept having this calm feeling that I would end up finding her but I pushed it aside as the hours passed by. After searching and searching I became hopeless and lost it and began thinking the worst—I would never see her again. I got on my knees and prayed, I texted people in my family to pray, I called my mom and she told me she would say a prayer, and then I just sat on our couch and felt this overwhelming sadness come over me. Nika is seriously such a big part of our little family; she's my Valentines kitty. She is also a cat I feel is irreplaceable just because she has one of the most incredible personalities. She is my little buddy; she follows me around everywhere and we both have grown to find comfort in each others presence. I know that one day I will have to say goodbye to her; I know she can't live forever, but I wasn't ready to lose her yet. Moments after I sat in our living room in silence I had this strong feeling come over me that clearly told me to go into our back room and open the window and call her name. I had done that already during the day and so I let the thought leave me. A few moments later the same feeling came back to me and I listened. I opened our window which looked into our back complex, quite a ways from our front entrance, and called her name. I immediately heard this faint meow. I looked up and she was hiding under a staircase terrified and paralyzed. I popped out the screen to our window and climbed out, attempting to drag her out from under the stairs. When I had her safe and sound in the house, I got in my knees and thanked the Lord for answering my prayer. I called my mom and told her the news and she informed me that she just got off her knees before I called. What a MIRACLE! Another faith promoting experience and a testimony that the Lord does care about all of our pains, our worries, and has the ability to help aid us even with the most seemingly insignificant problems, Mike and I are so happy to have Nika home!!

Swagger Wagon

Our new favorite TV commercials have been the Sienna MiniVan ones. If you need a good laugh, check all of them out at:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Sienna&annotation_id=annotation_227749&feature=iv#p/c/30DA2DAB5702C7D1/9/KXUMHNH0XVs

For some reason they remind me of Dave. Laurie posted this new one on her face book and I had to post it on our blog! :) Remember to mute our music before watching it :)







Another Fav:






AND another one—haha!!

Washington

We just got our internet hooked up so now I can FINALLY update our blog. Mike and I packed up both of our cars (I got everything in by the way—yeah :), and headed to Oregon last Tuesday. It was a long drive; Nika wasn't very happy about being a caged animal for 13 hours, and I wasn't happy seeing her that way, but nevertheless she was a trooper and made it thanks to Laurie getting us tranquilizers from her local vet because we forgot to get some before we left. The drive was pretty decent other than a near death experience driving through a scary blizzard in Nevada with semis whizzing by—freaked me out. Thankfully Mike wasn't driving with me because I was yelling things out loud to myself trying to relieve the terror :). We made it tired, safe, and sound in Oregon about 10pm. Unfortunately our visit was cut short; we only ended up staying there one day. We got some much needed help from our wonderful brother-in-law Jared; we are so grateful for him and the knowledge, love, and support he has passed onto us—he is such blessing in our lives. It was so nice to see those we could while we were there; I LOVE my family! It is always a treat when I get to be around them, especially my dear mother who is such a love, strength, and support to me.

We headed out early Thursday morning and arrived in Renton at a good time—4:30. We moved into our new apartment, which was surprisingly nice and in pretty good condition. It is a little old but it will suit us well till we move again in October. We are in a one bedroom and we love it. It really is an amazing feeling to know you can live without so much and live so simplistically. We've both talked about selling all of our things and moving into the city for two years and getting a scooter—so fun! Everything is so close to us—grocery stores, restaurants, gyms, Ikea, the temple, airport, church, the city (20 min away); it is so nice and so convenient. Although I would never want to live in Renton permanently, it is a good place to be for the summer. The only negative thing so far about Washington for me is ALLERGIES! But as Mike helped me remember I get allergies no matter where I am every time this time of year. So hopefully they will subside once summer kicks in. It is so gorgeous here; it is so green. The weather has been pretty good, a bit rainy, but it tends to clear out and be sunny by the afternoon. We love Seattle so much, it really is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to. The people here are some of the nicest, warmest people we have ever met. We are still not 100% positive if we are going to move here permanently; we are going to take a drive up North on Sunday to Bellingham and take another few Sundays to drive around to a few other towns to get a feel for things before we decide about our future location.

Mike is in a really good office this summer—some great guys and a great manager. We are looking forward to a successful selling season, making new acquaintances, finding some new yummy restaurants, enjoying the city, and planting some temporary roots.

Below are a few pics of the city.

Seattle

Graduation Weekend

I can't explain how much it meant to have my family here to celebrate this weekend with me. It was so amazing spending time with them and seeing everyone! Thank you again for coming! And thank you to Mikes family for the wishes and for coming to the events you could, it meant so much to me! Thank you for all of the thoughtful cards, gifts, letters, and most of all love and support.

Here are a few pictures of the weeks events. (I have now come to realize our camera sucks ducks so sorry about the blurry/dark photos). We spent so much time laughing, having good conversation, eating good food, playing games, and spending quality time together. It was sad to see the weekend come to a close; I feel like we created stronger friendships with each other and for that I am so grateful everyone could make it. (And yes Stace, you were missed :). I am so excited to see everyone and create more memories at Christmas. I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Future plans: Mike and I pack up and relocate to WA in TWO WEEKS—crazy!! We are excited and overwhelmed at the same time. We hope to make Washington our home and fall in love with it there. If any of you are traveling through the Northwest give us a call, we'd love to see you!

Again, thanks for such a fun week!!!

Oh and those that took pictures please send them to me :)

Graduation Weekend

Graduation - photo slideshow

Education

I can't believe it is here! When Mike's dad asked me last night what day I was graduating, and I told him Thursday, he said "this Thursday?" "Yep, this Thursday"—that is when it really hit me! WOW! I can't believe the day is finally here. Of course I am ecstatic but I am also sad to see this part of my life come to a close. I didn't think I would be as emotional as I was my last day of class, but as I sat in my seminar and heard my brilliant professor give her lecture for the last time, I cried. Yep, I cried in class—not sobbed—but definitely cried. She was telling us to never be afraid, as we move on and live in our various communities, to push the envelop, to ask the hard questions even if it makes people around us feel uncomfortable—"this is how you arrive at truth, and this is how you will always keep learning." It was hard thinking this was the last time I would sit at the feet of brilliant minds and have my mind expand beyond what I ever thought capable. I have truly cherished this experience, through the defeating moments, the moments that have pushed me to engage the state of intelligence of which I was born , the moments of giving up fear and control in order to augment faith in the Savior and his ability to "comfort the feebleminded, support the weak," and teach me to "be patient toward all men" including myself (1Thes. 5:14), to the moments of allowing all that I have learned to mold me into the person I am today.

Education is not easy, but I now realize it isn't meant to be. It is supposed to push the limits and capacity of ones ability to reason with truth in order to augment truth; in order to tap into the mind of the author/creator of all things that are, and will be—God. Education is eternal. I felt that more evident the last day of class than ever before; I knew that I had accepted and accomplished a commandment of the Lord: "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith" and through doing so I have felt his love, blessings, and awe-inspiring power in my life (D&C 109:7).

The most important person in my life that has been there to listen to me ramble on and on after each day of school about all the things I have learned, and has been there to support me when I didn't think I could go the distance, is my wonderful husband, Mike. I can't express enough what a blessing he is in my life; he is a gift from God and I am eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for answering so many years of prayers through the manifestation of him. I couldn't have done any of this without him; he has helped me see things I didn't see in myself, believe in abilities I didn't think I had, and he has acted as the reminder for a goal I set so many years ago—to succeed in getting my education. Among so many other reasons why I love Mike, is that he selflessly sacrificed so much so that I could live out my dream and for that I will be eternally grateful to him.

Thank you, to everyone, for your support in this journey I have been on, and thank you for all the sacrifices you are making to be here to celebrate this accomplishment with me. I couldn't have done it without any of you.

2 days left!!!

I can't believe school is almost over—two days left and then finals, that's it!!! I am so thrilled, I don't know how to contain my excitement. What an awesome journey this has been!

You all know how much we love music; check out our new playlist of favorite songs!

ICE CREAM

"I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream!"

I can't believe I am making a blog posting about ice cream but I really love trying out new ice cream brands/flavors and I found one of my new favs: "Lovin Scoopful" (you can get it at walmart). It is low fat and you wouldn't even know it, it is so creamy and the flavors are so yummy! So far we've tried the following:



Out of this World Chocolate
Carmel Chocolate Heaven (tastes kind of like Mocha with carmel chocolate chunks in it)
So Good Cookies and Cream
Yummy Cake and Cookie Dough
Oh My Blueberry Pie (yummy chunks of pie and swirls of blueberry)

Are you salivating yet?
Yummy! Go out and get some! :)

House for Rent

It is official: we have put our house up for rent!!! I can't believe it!! We are hoping we get someone to rent our home by the time we leave, mid May, so we can take all of our stuff with us when we go to Washington for the summer. We will be working in Kent, WA which is located 20 minutes south of Seattle. We hope to explore different cities in WA while we are in Kent and at the end of the summer relocate to the area we love the most. Right now we are leaning towards Seattle and Bellingham (which is so interesting because Bellingham is a place I have always wanted to live and actually attend college).

We are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and are quite excited to explore Washington and partake of all of the wonderful things it has to offer!

Here are a few pictures of Kent, I am excited that there is a fun shopping center, similar to The Gateway, right in the city:



Pictures of Seattle and my favorite—Bellingham (I will be jealous if Mike gets to go there for school): :