the first born in the wilderness

well i finally have a moment to blog again.  i am thinking it may take me all year to get through this tribute to my mission companions but i think it would help make it a great year.  most of my pictures from my early mission are on my parent's computer so this is the only one i could find of me and my trainer, sister jesica lopez from argentina.  this is the traditional "generation picture."  sister glancy was sister lopez trainer, sister lopez trained me, and i trained sister mckay (stay tuned for a tribute to her later on).  i can't think about sister lopez without thinking about love and service.  there was not a day that went by when we were together that she did not serve me.  and she had such a intense love for everyone we met and taught.  God knew what he was doing when he inspired President stewart to put us together. she has such a big heart and was a hard worker.  i used to tease her that she used to teach in her sleep.  i would wake up in the middle of the night to her saying something like, "Heavenly Father loves you, yes."  i eventually took after her months later when i was in montana i started teaching in my sleep.  i guess it runs "in the family."  i will always have a special place in my heart for sister lopez.  i wasn't good about showing that appreciation while we were together, but i hope she knows how much i love her.

since the mission, my sweet jesica is now married and has a little baby (pictured below) that i refer to as my baby sister.  jesica refers to me as "her first born in the wilderness."

cactus and palm trees, all in white, second parents

i was so excited to olivia (aka prochazka) sent me a message on facebook telling me that she was going to be in phoenix for a conference.  remember that last march she was our tour guide in switzerland when we surprised simoncini at her sealing.  she spent so much time with us so we wanted to show her a good time here in phoenix when she came even though we only got her for a few short hours after long days of conferencing. 

when i was thinking about what we should take her to see, i had remembered on the mission her talking about how cool she though the mesa, az temple was.  it isn't like most other temples because it doesn't have an angel moroni on it.  anyway so i knew that would be one of our first stops.  we went to the temple and found some cactus that she thought was so cool.  she loved seeing the palm trees and the cactus. 

i also wanted to hike camelback with her since i think it gives a great view of the city.  too bad we took a wrong turn on our way there so only made it about half way up before we decided to turn around so we were walking down in the dark.

there is nothing like friends from the mission.  i truly believe that you always have a special bond with mission friends because of the things you go through and experience together.  i has seemed that this has been mission friend month.  we started off the month with one of my companions weddings.

 
a few of the other sisters from the great montana billings mission drove down from utah to be there.  so i got to spend time with 2 companions that day.

these last couple days we have spent with blake's mission president that were down visiting friends.  what amazing people.  we got to go to dinner with them and another missionary that served with them as well as his wife.  then the next day the went to blake's seminary class with him and then we went to lunch with them and spent some more time with them.  i loved being with them and feeling of their spirit and their love for the Lord, the gospel, and for blake.  we unfortunately didn't get any pictures but here is a picture from their mission. 

blake and i both loved our missions and the people we served with.  and we very much love when the come visit so we can spend time with them and be reminded of the many miracles that we witnessed together.

my cheeky sheila

today starts a tribute to my missionary companions.  there is not a day that goes by that i don't think about my mission.  i learned so much about the gospel, church history, people, and myself.  i owe everything i am to the Lord, but He also assisted me by giving me the most amazing companions that a missionary could ask for.  each one taught me what i needed to know right when i needed to know them.

i remember being in the car with my dad pulling into the parking lot a the mtc and finally having it hit me that he was going to drop me off and i would stay there... and be on a mission.  i was nervous to meet my companion after hearing horror stories of sister missionaries.  sister ward was the perfect mtc companion.  this cute little aussie not only taught me the australian slang and how to get a good accent but she taught me how to love.  she taught me that we don't have to be perfect.  being a perfectionist, i am very hard on myself.  and since companions are suppose to be united, i was unintentionally hard on her.  somehow she loved me in spite of my imperfections and she remained one of my closest friends throughout the entirety of my mission.  and she is one of the most beautiful girls ever so being in the mtc with a cute companion with the cutest accent you ever heard made of some stalkers.

thank you liz for patients, your testimony, your love, and that cute laugh that i can't wait to hear again.  i really need to plan a trip to australia.

girl of his (and my) dreams

so nate has been my best friend for years and years.  i was always so afraid of the day when he would fall in love.  mostly it was fear that i wouldn't like the girl and would therefore lose my best friend.  i am SO excited that he fell in love with one of the coolest girls ever.  not only do i still have my best friend, i get to have another great friend "join the family."  nate and kelly got engaged on monday and will have a joyful wedding this summer in denver.  words can not express how happy i am for these two.  i think they are both very lucky to have each other.  i have always said that he will be an amazing husband to whoever he ends up with, and she is his perfect match.

now i just dream of when nate graduates dental school next year and will move back here with his cute wife.  life will be grand.  since i am in hygiene school, the plan has always been for me to work for nate when he finishes and we would basically have a blast all day long in the office.  when i get bogged down at school, i just think of that....

i am suppose to be studying for my national board exam but i just wanted to document this important event in history.  now, back to the books.

"cool house, cool house, cool house for me"

i am not a believer in valentines day.  i feel like it is for children and high school couples.  once you get married i think that your anniversary takes its place.  or maybe its that just a 2 weeks ago we celebrated both our birthdays.  or that i think getting flowers is kind of a waste of money.  not that i don't love the gesture, but after a few days of admiring them, they die.  needless to say, i'm not a big romantic when it comes to the traditional stuff. 

what i do LOVE is spending time with my blake.  he has been sick lately so he didn't go to teach seminary class this morning so i got to spend time with him this morning and we went out for lunch (cheeseburgers of course) and he took me to school and came back to pick me up.  we then drove around looking at houses in phoenix.  this is one of our favorite activities.  the poor quality photo above is my favorite house i have ever laid eyes on.  it is prefect and about $4.3 million outside of our price range.  we love weaving in and out of old historic districts in phoenix and choose the ones we like the most, or pointing out what needs to change about the ones that are "close, but just not quite there." 

i love having a husband that loves to spend time with me.  so i guess i do like valentines day if it means just spending time with my sweet boy.  i don't need flowers, chocolates, jewelry, gifts, cards, special meals, or anything like unto these things.  i am perfectly content and in love with the moments when we just sit next to each other.  he gets me.  he encourages me.  he cheers me up.  he serves me to no end.  he is so perfect for me.  i don't think there is anyone else that gets treated this good.  good thing we have forever for me to try to show him how much i love him.

brycen cade

friday, 27 january at 8:38pm the most precious baby was born to my brother and his sweet wife.  this handsome guy fought through the odds of uncertainty and was born.  he was suppose to be a miscarriage, he was suppose to be stillborn, but this tough guy fought through it all and was born and lived for an hour and twelve minutes here on earth.  i'm so grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that allows me and my family to find peace and comfort in knowing that families are forever.  my sister-in-law and my brother will have their baby again.  he was such a valiant spirit that he did not need to be tested in this life.  i look forward to meeting this sweet boy someday. 

a two and a five

happy belated birthday to my love.  saturday was blake's birthday and be have been celebrating for days.  and oh how i love the celebration.  he means so much to me.  i can't imagine what life would be like without him.  he is so good for me because he treats me so well and loves me for who i am, yet at the same time inspires me to be better and better each day. 

friday we celebrated his "last day" of being 24.  i brought him and his work partners cupcakes from sprinkles. 

saturday, i made him his special breakfast and we went all around town getting free food then celebrated that night with his family.

sunday, we had a combined birthday party at my parent's house.  we ate lots of good food and of course angel food cake (my favorite but a standard birthday treat in my family).

monday, we went to the sun's game to watch them get creamed by the mavs.  the tickets were a gift from blake's business partner.  they were great seats.  its just too bad that it was just bad basketball.  steve nash wasn't playing.

tuesday (today), one of blake's gifts came in the mail... the complete 3rd season of the mentalist.  we love the mentalist and it is pretty much the only show we watch.  (and i like to watch the bachelor, even though it makes me so angry to see ben caught in the evil snares of courtney).  we already have seasons 1 and 2 but now we have a whole new season to (re)watch together.  blake says that if i cheat on him with simon baker that he would understand.  joking of course as i am way too in love with blake to ever even be tempted by simon.  but, he is a good looking guy.  i think blake has a man crush on him.

happy birthday, sweet boy.  here is to many more birthdays to share together.