One and a Half Years

As of last Tuesday, Feb. 17, Dan and I have been married for 18 months! Time sure does fly! It seems like just yesterday that we were walking out of the Cardston Temple together on our perfect wedding day. But now we are closer to our two year anniversary than we are to our one year! It's crazy to think of it that way! These past 18 months have been the best ones of my life. I love Dan so much and I couldn't ask for anyone better to spend the rest of my life and all of eternity with.

Family Day Long Weekend

I love the February long weekend. It's nice to have something between the Christmas holidays and Easter to look forward to. It was a pretty busy one for us this year. We spent it mostly with Dan's family as they were all in Calgary to celebrate Dan's Mom's (Sue) 60th birthday later on this month. Friday night we went out for dinner to Joey Tomato's with no kids! It was different from what I'm used to and it was so nice to actually have adult time without the interruptions of little voices chattering and screaming in the middle of a busy restaurant. A definite suggestion for my side of the family! Dan's sisters Pam and Jackie travelled up from California and Oregon. We haven't seen them since before Christmas! Pam came by herself without her kids or husband, which she really enjoyed a small break from. Jackie, however, brought her new fiance, David along! We all met him for the first time on Friday night. Dan's brother Will and his wife Heather came from Lethbridge to join us too. Spencer and Laurie brought along their new baby, Cullen Samuel, who is their 3rd child and 3rd boy to join their little family. He was born Thursday Feb. 5, 2009. (Congratulations!)

(Picture taken from Facebook)

We were seated in a separate section in the restaurant so we had a more private dinner which was quite enjoyable. The food was great and the company was even better. I love being with Dan's side of the family, it's not very often that they are all together, but when they are, it's a fun time to be had.

After dinner, Dan made an appointment with himself to shave off his beard that he grew in for a couple weeks. It was really quite thick and grew in pretty good! He's definitely a Glenn. I really enjoyed him having a beard, but I think I was one of very few people who felt this way about it. Here is the process of the big event.

Anyways, back to the birthday celebration that lasted for most of the weekend. On Saturday (the 14th), we were initially planning on all going to the Temple in Cardston, but instead, we had a dinner at Dan's parents' house. This time the kids joined us and they really enjoyed seeing and playing games with their Uncle Dan. He seems to be a favorite among the kids on both sides of our families. I just wish we could have stayed longer that night. When the extended family started to arrive, we had to leave because Dan was scheduled to DJ a 30+ singles dance that night, which turned out to be a dead night for them. I didn't mind that Dan had to DJ on Valentines' Day because lucky for him, I'm not a big fan of the holiday. I think that showing love should happen sporadically throughout the year, and not have a scheduled date each year to spend more money than usual to buy gifts or candy.

Sunday we went to church and taught our CTR 5 class, came home and napped for about 4 hours (I so needed that!), then we headed over to Dan's parents' house once again and made candy popcorn and played "Ticket to Ride" with Jackie and David. That was such a fun time!

Family Day Monday came and Dan really wanted to go to Banff for the day. However, we slept in quite late and I didn't really feel like going for half a day and have it be super busy because of the holiday, so we went out shopping instead. Dan bought a new shirt and I got two pairs of jeans that are actually quite comfortable! If you really know me, then you know how much I hate wearing jeans, because on the girl's styles, they make them all so tight in the hips and thighs, I can barely sit down without having all of the blood being cut-off to the lower half of my body. But I finally found some that are more loose and breathable, and surprisingly enough, I didn't even have to hem them up! Once I saw that the jeans were the perfect length and width, I knew that these jeans were made especially for me.

On Monday night, we had a shift at our building where we live, but Dan so graciously offered to do it himself while I stayed home to have a bit of a nap. I really appreciated it. I usually have to do them alone because Dan has class in the evening hours. Thanks Dan :) That's about all for our long weekend. I'm sad that it's over, but now we have Easter to look forward to!

A special congrats goes out to Jackie and David on their engagement! They are planning to be married in the Cardston Temple on June 5, 2009. We are very excited and very happy for them both.

(Picture taken from another blog)

Also congratulations to Sue for turning 60 at the end of the month! In this picture, left to right: Pam, Jackie, and Sue.

(Picture taken from another blog)

First Birthday Surprise!

I guess I was wrong about the plans on my birthday. Turns out, I had no idea! I wrote my last post right before we left to go out for dinner to Santa Fe Grill and that's when it all started. It's tradition in my family that when we go to Santa Fe Grill, we get the deep-fried ice cream for dessert. SO GOOD! So I was shocked when Dan didn't want to get dessert, plus, it was free for my birthday! Then I thought, I really wasn't in the mood to have everyone come out make a big scene and sing to me. So I agreed that we would just get the bill and head out. During dinner my sister Kristie called my cell to wish me a happy birthday, but I missed the call, so I called her back when we were heading out of the restaurant. I told her where we were and she asked how the deep-fried ice cream was, and she flipped out when she found out that we didn't have it. She just couldn't understand why! So Dan assured me (as I was still on the phone with Kristie) that we would have something even better! Of course I didn't believe Dan. What's better than deep-frid ice cream?! I told Kristie that Dan was now pretending that he had something planned! We thought it was funny, except Dan. Then we made a stop to Chinook Mall, where we went to Marble Slab to pick out an ice cream cake! Oh my, he did have a plan! I chose a small one, because we really don't have any room in our place to store the left overs. Dan then convinced me to get the bigger size because "his parents were going to pay for it". Alright! I then find out that we are going right to his parent's house to eat the cake. I didn't think it was too strange, so I wondered what all we could do with this parents? I assumed we wouldn't be that long there. We finally arrived and Dan opened the door, and Meaghan and Dallin were there!! I was so confused at first! Did Dan actually have this whole evening planned?! Shortly after we got there, Kyle and Pam then walked through the door! I couldn't believe it! I've never had a surprise party before! And Dan actually pulled it off quite nicely! We got the cake out and lit sparklers on it as everyone sang Happy Birthday to me :) I think I was still in shock that I had NO IDEA about this whole thing! So as we started eating the cake, Dan told me that my younger sister Kimberly was supposed to be there too, but that she was probably lost. It's also tradition in my family to be really late! So after Dan was on the phone with Kimberly for awhile, giving her directions because of course she got lost, she came too! We spend the night playing Extreme Uno! Such a fun game! And I actually won the first two rounds! YAY for me! The night was such a blast and I'm so happy that Dan did this for me. But I also feel really bad, because I didn't do anything for Dan's birthday. I spent his birthday being sick, then I eventually gave that sickness to him. Every year Dan is going to out-do me in birthday events just because my birthday is last. I'll never win. Thank you Dan for doing this for me, and thank you Meaghan, Dallin, Kyle, Pam, and Potatoes for celebrating with me! I love my husband so much :)

One Year Older, and Wiser Too!

Today is my birthday! I'm 23 years old now. I still feel like I should be younger than that, but I'll take it. Dan had a test this morning, so I woke up alone, but we are spending the rest of the day together! We plan to go out for dinner tonight to celebrate both of our birthdays, but I think that's all the spending we can afford right now.

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes!

The Big 2-7

Today is Dan's birthday! We decided that we aren't going to give gifts this year because we are trying to save up for a house. So instead, we are going to pick a night to go out for dinner for both of our birthdays (mine is in about a week).

I love Dan so much, and I just want him to know how much he means to me. He's always watching out for me and cares about me so much. Especially yesterday and today as I have come down with a head cold that won't go away. Dan is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me and I really appreciate all of the hard work and kindness he shows.

This is one of his favorite pictures. You can probably guess why.

Happy birthday babe!

House Maze

Dan and I have been looking around for a new home lately. We want to buy a home in the NW part of Calgary because we are both familiar with it and miss it very much! Both of our families are close to that area, so it will be nice to not have to travel so far just to visit. We looked at a few show homes and saw one that we liked, but we didn't want to jump on it right away. It's a lot of money to invest so we wanted to put our money in the safest and smartest home investment. And it's a good thing we continued to do our research! We found that if we put up a bit more cash, we could afford a lot bigger and practical house! While we were out with some friends, we made a stop by their place because there was a spec home that I found in my research and I wanted us to take a look at. Right when we walked through the (unlocked) door, I fell in love with it! The flooring, appliances, and toilets weren't installed yet, but I could picture it all perfectly! The colors on the walls and in the Kitchen were the exact ones that I would have chosen anyways! I thought that this was it! I was so excited, I couldn't stop thinking about it! Heck, I still think about it! So on Wednesday night we went to go look at it and talk to the builders about what all we needed to do to make that house ours. But before we could ask, they told us that it was conditionally sold! I almost broke down in tears right then and there. We asked how much it would cost to build that house ourselves and they told us it would be $440,000!! Holy crap! Let's just say that's WAY out of our budget! I had such a great feeling about that house, I thought for sure it was made for us. However, the people who bought it, have a bit of problems with their finances. Great sign! Then we thought: even if their sale did fall through, how could we get the money for a down payment that fast? Our initial plan was to let them know that we were interested in that house, and then wait a couple months for the price to drop because the housing market is really slow and there's not that much competition right now, so we wanted them to get desperate for our sale, and it would give us a bit more time to save more money to put down. Dan will be finished school in April, so with us having a second income it will be a lot more helpful to make mortgage payments and to actually be able to furnish our home. Unfortunately it didn't work out as planned... yet. After we got the sad news, we went to go look through it one last time, but this time the door was actually locked (like it should have been in the first place). So we walked around just looking at the outside, and we noticed the house next door was also a spec home, just built by a different company. We thought we might as well give it a try, and low and behold, the door was unlocked! It had already gotten dark out and the lights weren't yet installed in the house, so we really had to watch our step. This house was pretty big, and well planned out, but we didn't know the price of it so we really didn't want to get our hopes up. We thought for sure it would be close to $500,000. I looked it up the next day and it was a lot less! Not as much as we'd like it to be, but we're hoping to pull a few strings and get a better deal on it. Finding the perfect house sure is a lot of work, so I'm grateful that I don't have any work to do at my job all day. It gives me a lot more time and more focus on finding the best deal on what's out there and to find what builder will give us the best treatment. My emotions will be going up and down through this process, but I know that when it's all over, we won't settle for less, we will be happy with the home that we choose. I just wish it was sooner rather than later!

A Glimpse of Light

Maybe it's because I just came back from a great holiday not too long ago, but being at work really stinks right now. It may be just "one of those days", but whatever it is, I'm not feeling too good about myself. Is there such a thing as taking a break from being bored? By the looks of it, I don't see myself getting anymore work to do at work anytime soon, even though I was promised it on the first day that I came back from holidays. I know that I've brought this up a lot, and I'm sorry if I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I'm really upset with myself because I feel like I'm wasting my life away, one slow, boring day at a time and I'm not really doing anything to change. It's really starting to effect my own lifestyle.  I'm just not motivated to be active at all. I sit around in an office chair all day just waiting for myself to think of something to do. I feel lazy and useless. But I know that they really like me at work, and I am getting a great amount of income from them, and I know that will help Dan and I get that much closer to buying a house. This is a huge sacrifice for me to make in order to achieve our goals this year. I just wish I could have an end in sight.

This is my workspace at the office. It has recently been changed around to add another desk. I get the dark corner.

To brighten the mood a bit, in my free time (who am I kidding, my whole life is free-time!) I have been looking into getting involved in photography. I think it's something that I would really enjoy, and just before Christmas I got my first photography camera! I really have no idea where to start and what to do, so if anyone reading this has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it! Since we are a bit low on cash this year, I didn't want to spend too much in taking classes, so I found a website where this photographer has free lessons on her own website and it's free to take! Plus she even helps you along the way and gives you advice through the assignments that she gives at the end of each lesson! I thought this would be perfect, since I can do most of this during my work hours! So I read through the first lesson and I loved it! I had already learned so much! But then for the assignment, I haven't been able to accomplish it yet. See, cameras make noise when you take pictures, and there's not much to take pictures of in my quiet office, so the assignments I would have to complete at home. But I still like to think it's something that I can do in my free-time both at work and at home. I was hoping that I could finish all 10 lessons and assignments by the time Dan is finished school in April. I'll have to work really hard at it, but I think it's possible. And it'll keep me occupied and more motivated to do more with myself. After high school I never really had any interest in a specific subject to have it worth going to college or university for, so now I feel like I'm slowly finding my way. And maybe when I'm actively involved with this, I will be able to feel better about myself and not think so much about my situation at work.

Good Ending, Great Start

Happy New Year!! It's been awhile since I've posted so I thought I should recap the last part of 2008. Christmas was great! We stayed the night at our own place on Christmas Eve night after we went to go see the Nativity at Heritage Park with Dan's family. They do this every Christmas Eve and I love it. It's a great way to bring the spirit into the season. On Christmas morning we slept in, opened our gifts from each other, and headed to Dan's parents' house. There we had a wonderful dinner, opened a few more gifts, and enjoyed each other's company. Dan's brother Spencer and his wife Laurie were there with their two kids Ethan and Will, as well as Dan's grandma. We then left for my parent's house in Carstairs. We got there at the same time as my sister Amanda and her boyfriend Randy, and my brother Arlen and sister Kimberly were already waiting inside. My Dad read the Christmas story from the scriptures (which is also a tradition for my side of the family), opened gifts, of course took a million pictures, and relaxed and laughed with each other. I loved seeing my family! I miss them so much as I don't get to see a whole lot of them all the time, even though we all live in Calgary. On Boxing Day is when my family got together for the big Christmas dinner. This year with the economy being the way it's been, we didn't think it would be worth our time to head out shopping. We didn't really need anything anyways. Dan had to work that morning at Banana Republic too. This year we had our family dinner at my sister Kristie's house. The whole family was there except Arlen. The food was great and the company was even better! That night we played games and had a lot of fun!

I know in my last post I mentioned that I was "on call" for work, and thank goodness I never got the call! I was able to spend my whole Holiday away from the office. After Christmas we were pretty busy finishing up planning for the big New Years party that Dan and his friend Andrew put together. Which we had a really good turn out for! I was working at the door taking tickets/money, and helping Andrew out. We charged $10 a ticket to purchase ahead of time and then $15 at the door. The party was open to YSA and Young Married Couples. And honestly, for such an older scene, you would think that they would know how to make a line and let us help them one or two at a time. Instead they all thought it would help us if they all gathered all around the front table shoving tickets and money in our faces waiting for us to help them who just came from the back of the "line". Are you kidding me? I'm sure we had a lot of sneak-ins because of it. All in all though, it was great! People really enjoyed themselves and they really enjoyed the prizes that we were able to give away thanks to a sponsor. The prizes included an iPod, Playstation, Wii, camera, and an Xbox. You should have seen the people's faces when they heard what we were giving away! Then there was the incident that we had with a couple of streakers. I didn't see a thing, because just by chance I was away from the front door when it happened. It makes me sick what people will do at an LDS party. We are still representing the church as individuals and just because it's a party doesn't mean we forget what we stand for. I feel bad for the people who saw everything...SICK! After the party was done at 2:00am, we started cleaning up. Just to let everyone know, don't use balloons at a New Years party!! That's what took the longest to clean up! Every balloon was popped and the broom wouldn't pick up the pieces. All that hard balloon pumping I did before hand, and for what? The half-second loud, popping sound that some people like (I personally hate that sound). Not worth it! My hand was aching afterwards from that balloon pump. Oh, and we didn't get home that night/morning until 6:00am!! After the building was clean and the DJ equipment was packed up, we had to go to Andrew's house to sort out the money, drop off the Van and the equipment, unload it, and then finally go home. The year 2009 started off with a lot of sleep that's for sure!!

On New Years Day, Dan's parents invited us over for an early dinner because Dan's Grandpa  and Aunt Betty were coming over as well. We were supposed to be over there at 1:00pm, but we didn't wake up until then. Even when we finally got there, we were still exhausted. But it was really nice to see everyone there again. After we were finished mingling, Dan and I were invited over to Kristie's house for some more games with the family. It was like Christmas all over again! The holidays were definitely busy, but we had a blast! I just wish it wasn't over yet.

I'm back to "work" now and on my first day (yesterday) I had my 3 month review. The meeting went great! I have to admit, I was really scared for this day to come because I thought for sure that they would get rid of me because the lack of work they have for me to do. But they love me! They couldn't stop telling me how efficient I am and how well I was working. They even apologized for not giving me enough work to do! I didn't even have to bring it up myself because they already know. They told me that they will try to be better to give me more things to do, and I see a very promising future ahead. I love how flexible they are and how they are sympathetic to my needs too, not just theirs. At my last job, I wasn't treated the way that I should have been, I was totally taken advantage of, and I was told that I would never find something like this (pretty much telling me that I would never be satisfied or happy with myself or others), and I proved them wrong. I'm even making more than $10,000 more a year at this job than from my last, and I feel more appreciated than ever. I like to think of it as a small victory because I was so distraught from hearing that being said to me. IN YOUR FACE!

For the year 2009 I see mine and Dan's lives changing for the better. We are hoping to buy a house at the market's lowest peak. We have both wanted this so badly for so long, we are really trying to save our pennies to make it work. Dan is also going to be finished school in April this year!! Finally!! We get to have a normal schedule and see each other way more often! I've been waiting for so long, and we can see the end coming closer and closer. And with that, it will be much easier to afford a house with two incomes... if Dan is lucky enough to find a good career with the economy being not so great. But I know if we just put our trust in Heavenly Father and work really hard towards our goal, things will fall into place. I never really make New Years Resolutions, but this year a house is my goal. That, and maybe get back into shape. I've been saying that for awhile, so maybe I will be more motivated to actually do it with all the other changes happening around me within 2009. We'll see.

I think that's enough blogging for today. Best wishes for 2009!

Free-Time Madness

Today is my last day of work for the year! Well, I guess I'll be 'on-call' next week just in case some people need to send out a package... wait, send out a package?? Yup, I think I just figured out why I was hired here. This package would be sent out via FedEx, and I would have to be on-call to come into work, fill out a waybill, print out a commercial invoice and place the package up at reception to be picked up. Oh the stress. It amazes me that Programers and Geophysicists can't figure it all out on their own with such a simple thing. Sure this might sound like a dream job for most people, I even thought so when I first started here in September! But after you go through day after day of having no work to do and running out of things to come up with online, it starts to get to your head. A LOT! I know what you're all thinking - "Why don't you ask someone if there's anything to do?" Here's the thing. My job is to do all the crappy jobs that no one else likes to do; the things that just get in the way of the more important things. So why would I ask for more crappy things to do? Even if I did, I already know that there wouldn't be anything. I work in a company of about 8 people, so I know if and when there's work to be done. And the work that I'm given usually takes me about 5 minutes to complete. I know it sounds awesome to be getting paid to do nothing and to really just "look after" the company. But after awhile I'm thinking that I'm not very useful. I feel like I'm not using the experience that I've already gained to my fullest. As if my brain is shrinking because it's mindless jobs that I do. I feel like if I die, the company wouldn't lose a thing. They would actually just gain my paycheck. 

So today I thought I might make myself feel useful by blogging my thoughts and concerns. I am happy that it's Christmas time and that I get "off" work to spend with Dan who is finished school until January. But I know that the time that we will have will go by faster than ever. Doesn't that always happen?

I think that's enough complaining for now as it is so close to Christmas, it seems sad that I would be writing this blog at this time of year. I love this time of year! For our Primary class last Sunday, we invited the junior primary into our class and they all decorated gingerbread men! (That was after the Christmas story of course) I know, we are the coolest teachers ever! I just wish these times could last longer then what they normally do.

I feel like I haven't posted a picture in a long time, so I thought that I would leave you with this one.

Chester loves this quilt for some reason. He's just so cute wrapped up all snugly!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Reflection on Myself

As most of you know, I don't have a lot to do at where I work. Personally, I really don't know why I was hired in the first place. So with this extra time, I've really been able to research and reflect on myself and other things. With the recent passing of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, I came across one of this talks that he gave called 'Come What May, and Love It'. I read it over for the first time today and I feel like I really needed to hear it. I haven't been the best at self-disciplining myself with some things that are so important. And I know that in hard times, is when I really need to get over myself and do what's right. I do want to be better, and I think that's the first step. I make a lot of excuses for myself and I feel that's when I am most vulnerable to drift away from what's really important. I need to "put (my) trust in the Lord, do (my) best, then leave the rest to Him". That's the simple secret. It's the "do my best" part I need to work at. I guess because I go to church, fulfill my calling, and pay tithing that I thought I should have things pretty good, but as time goes by, the same thing keeps on coming back to me. It's the little things that make a big difference. Being a member of this church isn't just a "Sunday" thing, it's a lifestyle. I need to bring it into my life, home and into my relationships more with both my husband and my family. I need to take life's challenges and laugh and learn from them. I'm usually quite the happy person, so I don't know why this would be so hard for me to do. But I do enjoy life, I guess I need to embrace it more and let things fall into place as I work hard strengthening my relationship with Heavenly Father. I can't believe how easy it was for me when I was younger, and why I have a hard time with it now. So from now on, I am going to remember this revelation and do my best no matter what excuse I come up with. I have to be happy with myself first before I can be happy with other things in my life. Thanks Elder Wirthlin, for helping me better myself.