Home Sweet Home

A couple of weeks ago, I went back to Northern Virginia/DC to visit my sister and her family. I took like 0 pictures while I was there, but here are the few that I did take. We didn't get out and do much due to illness and freezing rain, but it was lovely to have some time off from work and not have a set schedule to follow. The trip involved a night in DC followed by a morning of breakfast with Mr. Lincoln(see picture below), then walking around the city just taking in the beauty of the buildings. There were several redbox movies watched and games played. Lots of time spent with my niece doing whatever she wanted, a viewing of the movie Frozen(SOO good by the way), and catching up on our lives. 

The trip home to Utah was eventful. It involved a delayed plane leaving DC, running to catch our connecting flight to Utah(man did I learn how out of shape I am doing that!), and a sigh of relief when we finally got home. And boy did it feel good to be home! As much as I grew to love Northern Virginia and DC, I know without a doubt I was supposed to come back to Utah and that feeling was strengthened as the plane landed in Salt Lake. 

Speaking of home, I have a new one. I made a couple of really good friends in my singles ward who told me sometime back in August or September that they were planning to move out together and wanted to know if I would want to live with them. Well, of course I did, but I was stuck in my lease until December. Turns out the landlords of the new place were remodeling it and wouldn't have it ready until November. She spoke to them and asked if we could stagger our move in dates so that I could finish my lease in the current house. They said that wouldn't be a problem, so at the end of November, I moved in and have loved it so far. It's an older townhouse, but everything inside it is brand new so it is almost like living in a newly built place.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves and bid you adieu.

It's Been Awhile

Life is funny. Life is unexpected. You live your life day to day and it just surprises you sometimes. At least mine has. I moved back to Utah, completely unsure of what path my life was going to take. I got to Ogden not knowing anyone. I moved into the house where I live and didn't get the living situation I was expecting. I spent a good two weeks hidden in my room unpacking and hoping for some time alone in the house so I could roam comfortably and not feel like I was in anyone's way. I started my new job and quickly fell in love with it. I went to my new singles ward and everyone was really friendly, but it took a couple of months before I really felt comfortable there and like I belonged.

Those first couple of months were not the easiest as I adjusted to my new life, but looking back on it, things happened exactly how they were supposed to. And in some aspects, things changed quickly and unexpectedly.

One Sunday I was at church, content, but still relatively friendsless(in the aspect that I would do things outside of church with people) and the next, I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and things totally changed. I got invited to a movie night(which led to making some really good friends), got asked out on a date, had another guy talk to me and ask me out a week later(which led to a relationship). All of a sudden I went from "why am I here?" to "life is so good, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be."

But things changed unexpectedly again last week when that relationship ended. Things were going so well between us it completely shocked me when it was over. I didn't understand what had happened. I still don't, but I am so grateful for my friends and family that have helped me through it. And I am grateful for the comfort I've gotten from a loving Heavenly Father. My path may have veered a little from where I thought it was going, but I'm going to have faith and trust that whatever happens now is what's supposed to happen, even if it's not what I want to happen.

And I'm going to try and blog a little more frequently, but no promises...

My Birthday in the Mountains

Independence Day(No, I am not talking about an Alien Invasion)

I spent a fabulous Fourth of July with some of my favorite people ever. Still training in my new job means that my brain has been fried, so I was happy to have a day off to relax and empty my brain. I went down to Salt Lake to my Aunt Bonnie's house and spent the day with her and my mom. We watched movies and played games, did some shopping, and had a bbq. Then, I got to see three of the most handsome little boys I know(and their parents(a.k.a my brother Ben and his family)). We watched a little fireworks show at my aunts neighbors house, and then we walked down the street and watched the Sugar House fireworks. It was the perfect way to end a fabulous day. 

Didn't I say these boys were handsome? I love my nephews!

I hope you had a great holiday as well!

Summer Changes

This has been the summer of change. I don't have a ton of pictures to document it, but I will post just a few so that you don't get bored reading this. The summer started out with me packing up my stuff and flying across the country to my newest adventure. It was hard leaving the city that I have come to love, my new friends that I had made there, and the family that I lived with, but at the same time I was excited for the new opportunities that awaited me back in Utah(and the fact that I would be closer to the rest of my family). One of the very first things that I did when I got to Utah was buy a car. I had done lots of research when I was still in Virginia and had three makes and models in mind. As soon as I saw this blue color (in the pic below) at the dealer, I knew that regardless of what kind of car I got, I wanted this color. It is so fun and different than your standard car color and SO me. I ended up buying a 2013 Toyota Camry and have not regretted my decision one bit. I am still searching for the perfect name for her, so I would love your input on it in the comment box. Right now I am thinking Cam(short for Camry), but don't know if I want to be cliche like that.

 My second priority was to find a place to live in Ogden. After lots of looking and rejection, I went and saw this cute little house(below). I wasn't so sure of the neighborhood, but the landlord told me that it was safe and that I would have two great roommates(turns out I actually have three. One of the girls boyfriends lives here too. Surprise!) The rent was phenomenal and even though the available bedroom was a bit on the small side, I told her I would take it, and moved in the next week. 

This house was built in the 20s and could use some work on the inside (and out, you are probably saying to yourself), but I like it. Here's a picture of part of my bedroom. Props to my Aunt Bonnie for the adorable bedding. Gracias tia! 

 I had a few days to unpack and get my things organized, and then I started my new job at the beautiful Mckay-Dee Hospital(below). I am an eligibility counselor there. Basically what I will be doing is helping patients who are un-insured get financial assistance to help pay for their hospital bill. It is a bilingual position so I will get to use my Spanish every day which I am excited about. I think I am going to love it...

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I just wanted to do a quick re-cap on what has been happening lately in my life before I get to what this post is really about. My time here in the DC area has been fantastic, but like any person might do, I started to miss being close to my family. I love, love, love the city, but when the opportunity of a new job in Utah presented itself, I decided to apply and just see what happened. I was very torn over what I was going to do if I got offered the job. The pros of saying yes far outweighed the cons, but at the same time, I did not want to leave this area I have come to love. The answer came in kind of an unexpected way, but it came, so when I got the call that I got the job, I accepted it. Like any major decision, I have had my doubts about it, but am trusting in my Heavenly Father and the answer He gave me.

Since I am leaving in just a little over a week, I went to DC with my sister and her fam to see some of the sights I haven't seen, but wanted to. We went to the Library of Congress first. Oh. my. wow! This building is  amazing. The architecture, the books, everything. I can't get over how much history is located here in DC. That is one thing I am going to miss about it. We also went to lunch at this local burger place called Good Stuff Eatery. It lived up to it's name. Everything was delicious and homemade. It hit the spot.

After lunch, we went to the National Gallery of Art. That place is huge! My knowledge of art is pretty much limited to what I learned from playing the game Masterpiece, so I didn't know much about any of the art pieces there or the artists, but it was enjoyable to walk around anyway and look at everything. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday. I am going to miss this place!

Easter Weekend

This Easter weekend was a pretty good one. It kicked off on Friday when I met up with one of my good friends and we went and saw the movie "The Croods." Besides the parents that were there with their kids, we were probably the oldest people in the theater. That aside, the company was good, and the movie was too. After the movie, we walked around and looked for a restaurant to eat dinner at. There were several local places we wanted to try, but being a Friday night, they had ridiculous waits, so we settled on The Cheesecake Factory instead. It was delicious! 

Saturday, I took my niece into DC to go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival. When we first got there, we went to the Museum of American History for lunch, and then we walked around the museum for a little while so my niece could see some of her favorite exhibits. No matter how many times we go to the museums, it's still fun to see everything there. 

After lunch, we walked across the street to the open fields on the mall between the Capitol and the Washington Monument for the kite festival they were having in conjunction with the cherry blossom festival.  The fields were crowded with people and their kites, but it was a gorgeous day with beautiful weather, so it was worth fighting the crowds to be there. Here is Emma with her kite before flying it. She was beyond excited.

All ready to go. 

Trying to get it up

Attempting to get a picture of the two of us:

(can you see the scaffolding on the Washington Monument? They are finally starting to repair it after it was damaged in the earthquake in 2011)

I LOVE this picture below! All the kites in the sky with the Capitol in the background.

One of Emma's favorite things to do at the mall is to ride the carousel, so we took a break from our kite-flying and took a spin on her beloved ride. She was grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

After the carousel, we went to the Smithsonian castle and walked around a little bit. Like many of the buildings in DC, this one has beautiful architecture. 

At this point in the day, my sister and her husband met us at the mall to go see the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately with the colder than usual temperatures we'd been having here in March, they weren't out as had originally been predicted. This was on Saturday, and today(Monday) on my way home from work, I noticed a few cherry trees blossoming near the airport I go by while riding the metro. This means another trip to the city is in order...

On Easter Sunday, we put on our best spring outfits(even though it was raining) and went to church. I always love church on Easter Sunday. Before church, I watched the video "He is Risen" that was posted on lds.org. It brought tears to my eyes as I thought about all that Jesus Christ did for me(and all of us) to make it possible to gain a resurrected body and be able to live again with Him forever. More tears came to my eyes as the spirit testified to me that my elder brother Jesus Christ loves me and that through His sacrificing atonement, I can be forgiven of my sins. He died on that cross, but it was for us. This I know to be true.

After church, we went to my sisters in-laws where my niece went on an Easter egg hunt and then we ate the traditional ham and potatoes for dinner. It was a wonderful Easter day(and weekend). I hope yours was too!