December 2010

I can't believe that this year is almost over! It has been such a good year for me and I am excited for next year also. Here are a few things that I have been up to in December ---

We started December off with my first ever trip to Joe's Crab Shack for Mark's [my dad in law's birthday]. It was delicious and I am definitely going to branch out and try new food more often because it tasted sooo good! My family always makes me laugh and this time was no exception.

I went to Disney on Ice with my Mom, Alishia, and my Aunt Christie. It was a lot of fun and good to spend some girl time with my family.

This is my sister Kacee & Astorea on Astorea's birthday. I thought it was a really cute picture.

Piggin out for dinner -- I'm actually finally learning how to cook and have a desire to cook things. It's fun.

Schnitzel in her cute winter coat. She won't go anywhere without it. I don't blame her though. She has tiny legs and her belly drags through the snow.

Our Christmas Tree. It has been fun decorating in our new house and I love that we have a place that is our own and that we can put up a Christmas Tree in for a lot more years. Don't mind our dog's evil eyes. haha.



This is my Grandparent's Christmas Tree. I helped them set it up this year and last year too. It is fun going over there and hearing stories from my grandpa. He showed me pictures of his mission in Germany. It is incredible to me that just by looking at the picture he can tell you where it is at and how far into his mission that was and what the people were like there. He is a great example to me and I love hearing all about his past and Germany which is where he is from.

And lastly, because my computer won't let me upload the pictures from our new camera -- Alishia, Kacee, Astorea, RJ and I made Gingerbread houses the other night. It was so much fun. Alishia made the first house in the picture, Kacee and Astorea's is second, and the little village that looks like it was hit by a candy tornado was RJ & I's. Let's just say I'm not the most patient person. It was great to spend time with 2 of my sisters.

Christmas is only a few days away!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

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God Always Has a Way of Straightening Things Out

This is my all time favorite Christmas story so I thought I'd share it with all of you. It's not really a Christmas story, I just love it this time of year. It's actually after a song by Clay Walker.

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road. Even in the dim evening light he could see that she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with a smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he was poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson." Well all she had was a flat tire but for an old lady that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under her car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire but he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never though twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help she could give that person the assistance they needed and Bryan added, "and think of me". He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill of before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered, Bryan...

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a $100 dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be; then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady had written: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Don't let this chain of love end with you." Under the napkin were 4 more $100 dollar bills.

Well there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard...

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered softly in his ear, "Everything's going to be alright.

I love you, Bryan Anderson."

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Bittersweet

I just read that Brian David Mitchell in the Elizabeth Smart case was found guilty with no mental illness. This makes me happy and sad on many levels.

I will sleep better tonight knowing that there is justice for Elizabeth Smart. She deserves this closure and end to all the hell that she was put through. I hope that she is a little bit more at peace tonight. I hope that she can find the closure that she needs and will be able to move on with her life. I think she's already done a great job at trying to sort everything out and not blame the world for what has happened to her.

I think she's a very strong individual and I hope that she is happy.

I'm also a little bit sad for everyone involved. Sad that this happened at all, sad that no matter what justice was served or how things have turned out, some if not all of them will have emotional damage from this. It may make you stronger as a person but no one should have to go through losing a daughter/sister/father or anything for that matter. I feel sad for Brian David Mitchell's family. They'll be sleeping a little worse knowing that their son/father/friend didn't turn out to be a very good guy. His step-daughter in this situation gets the lose/lose end of the deal. Even though she knows that what he did was wrong and that he needs to be in prison, it still means that she has to live without him.

It makes me grateful for what I have and that I have had a relatively good life with little to fret over. I'm happy that there is a verdict and that decisions have been made so that everyone has closure, but I think a little sadness is there.

I remember back when she was kidnapped. She's only a couple  years older than me and it scared me a lot thinking that it could happen to me and that she must be feeling so empty and so alone. It makes me very grateful for what I have and all the loving people in my life that I can hug a little bit tighter.

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Ron Weasley and uh... babies????

So for all of you that don't know... I love Harry Potter. No, I don't love the movie characters or even the movies, but if he was a true person (er.. "wizard") and not a mythical book character, I'd totally be all over him. But more than Harry himself I have a huge thing for Ron Weasley. Huge closet fan. haha.

So much to my surprise and delight guess who the star of my dreams was last night? You guessed it, Ronald himself. Weird dream actually, it didn't seem like anything was happening. All I know is that he was in it. And I liked it. Don't worry, nothing X rated. RJ was actually in the dream too.

So this morning after I wake up, RJ is doing his hair and I jump up and down and say... guess what I dreamed about, guess what I dreamed about?!?!?!!?!

I proceed to tell him my whole dream and he just laughs. Then he tells me that he had a really realistic dream and so I have him tell me.

His dream was that we were at home and he remembered that we needed to go pickup my birth control prescription. But... as he reminds me I sit him down and tell him that I don't need it, that we're going to have a baby. And he was happy about it. 

Everyone knows that RJ and I are not ready for a baby yet. He avoids everything about babies at all costs. Our parents hound us day and night about grandchildren and he distantly says... someday. So this wasn't a pleasant dream for RJ. haha. More like a nightmare I think. So I teased him this morning and told him that it was a premonition and we should get busy having babies. With the dullest voice I think he could muster he says... sure.

sure.

Like if I had asked him if he'd like to have his fingernails ripped off one by one. Sure.

Anyway, I think it's hilarious and I think this is teasing worthy for at least a couple of days.

But back to things that really do happen...

We went to the Jazz game last night! It was so much fun. They played the Grizzlies and won by a handful of points. It was a great game to follow and watch. When they win by a million points it's not fun to watch, also when they lose it's not great to watch either. My boss gave me 2 tickets to go and I couldn't have been more excited. Thanks Joe! We don't get to go very often but I think next season we'll try to make it to a few games.



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