Thursday Three | 01.30.14

• My left lower leg was numb the majority of the day and it kind of freaks me out. 
• I've got a constant fear of falling down, so I refuse to shop alone. Makes buying stuff for Greg rough. 
• My left eyebrow is wigging out lately... it does it's own thing and looks like I pluck/shave it weird.

Thursday Three was developed by Kristin from RUKristin. You can read more about it {here}, then play along over on Instagram and follow me @bre11414.

A Simple Photo 3

 This one comes from about 16 years ago. This is the only "professional" family picture that we had taken of all of us. Isn't it awesome? Oh gosh, my hair, and my overalls! Wow. Not to mention Shari's bangs, and Kennan. Then there is McKenzie who informed me that the reason her hands are like that is because I kept smacking her hands down. Isn't it so funny? When I went home for Christmas, we visited Grandma, who is apparently the only one who has a copy of this photo. We sat around and just laughed at each other and how different we look. Dad has wanted to recreate this photo for some time now, so with us all being home for Christmas, we took advantage. Now keep in mind, none of us were prepared for this, and it was pretty late at night. The photo was about what we expected.

We haven't changed a bit, have we? We all had a good laugh at both photos. One thing that I am so grateful for now days is the ease of being able to take photos. I so wish that we had more photos like these from when we were all younger. We could have some really great laughs. I fully intend to take lots and lots of pictures of my family as they grown up, and want to take some form of  "professional" family photos at least once a year (or at least every few years) instead of waiting sixteen years, though we do have some family photos from weddings, though they aren't the same. I just think about what a treasure photos are. Without them, how else would we remember all these fun things, and recreate them?

Inspiration | 01.27.14

Like last week, I found this wonderful quote while searching through various General Conference talks. This one comes from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk called, "The Infinite Power of Hope"

Before I first started letting people in my ward know about the scleroderma diagnosis (or really that anything was wrong) I had a man and his wife who were sitting behind Greg and I in church mention that I didn't seem like myself. At this time I was super emotional, so I started crying as SI told them about the diagnosis. The sister came over and crouched down in front of me, and held my hand as I told them what was going on. This sister also happens to suffer from an auto-immune disease. They both told me they would pray for me. A few days later I received this gift from this wonderful couple.

The little balloon says hope. As I've been trying to come up with topics for my lesson on Sunday, hope keeps coming to mind. I love how President Uchtdorf phrases this. We need hope to get us through trials, and to have that little glimmer of hope that better things are to come. Read the talk. It's fantastic.

What are your thoughts on this quote? What does hope mean to you? How does having hope help you through your tough times?

January-ish

And another month has flown by. Crazy how that works. Especially since in the moment it seems to be taking forever. It has been a good month, though. Work is good. The two new people are great, and they fit right in. There is an entirely different atmosphere, and it's great...Unless we have the red vs orange debate, then I have to plug my ears and ignore them. Apparently no one knows what orange or red look like.

But really, it's been really good. I love my co-workers. We have a lot of fun. Plus, I've been learning a lot about doing loans. I'm still not sure how I feel about having to do them, but it's been kind of cool to learn new skills.

All my Instagram photo taking has paid off. I won a $10 gift card to Coldstone. Heck yes!

I decided to splurge and purchase a Studio Calico subscription. It's basically some awesome scrapbooking supplies. I'm really excited about it. Now to just create some fun projects.

Relief Society is going well. For our January activity we had a lady come and show us how to do Zumba. I, of course, just sat around, however we had a great turn out, and the ladies seemed to really enjoy it. It was good to see so many sisters out. We've got a fun activity planned for February that I'm excited about. I have to teach this coming Sunday, and I'm pretty nervous about it. I am still not 100% sure what I should teach on, so we'll see if inspiration hits.

It has been pretty cold around here. My hands aren't loving it so much. I had a Dr. Appointment on Wednesday that was good. I'll post about it later.

And I think that's about it. Nothing has really happened. Just same ol' stuff. Hopefully it doesn't stay super cold. I don't mind if it snows, but just don't be super freezing. Life is great.

Week in Review | 01.26.14

Well, another week has come and gone. Here are a few highlight:

Week in Review: 1.19-1.25

• Last Sunday, a member of our ward turned 95 years old. She is an amazing woman. She almost always is at church, even though she has some difficulties getting around, but she still makes it. What a wonderful example. Betty, Kelly and I went over as a Relief Society Presidency to see her and wish her a happy birthday. Definitely one of the perks of being in the presidency.
• I didn't have to work Monday! Woohoo! I didn't really sleep in, but I didn't get dressed until probably noon. I spent the morning trying to perfect my Daily Life planner, thought I had it, but now I'm not so sure. I'll get it eventually! We did a little shopping, and I picked me up some sweets.
• Tuesday was my first day with my new work schedule. I work from 10-3:30 with a lunch at 12:45. I feel super lazy for some reason, but hope that it will be for the best. Going in later is nice because I don't feel so rushed, and I have a bit more time read and get a few small things done around the house.
• Wednesday was my appointment with my rheumatologist. I will post more about that over on {this blog}, but in short, it was a really good appointment. He also upped my meds, hence the three massive white pills. Love them, plus I got to give more blood. I am getting used to the pokes, I think.
• Thursday Greg had parent teacher conferences late, so I decided to watch the new One Direction movie, that I got for New Years and still haven't watched it. It was awesome. I loved it.
• I also scrapped my first layout in over 3 months. SuzyQ Scraps has this adorable new bundle, and I tried my hand at pocket scrapping (or Project Life). It was fun to get back at it, and try something new. I think I like simplicity.

• Friday we did our grocery and Hastings shopping so that Saturday we could just relax.
• Sure enough, Saturday was another great day of relaxing. I updated my blog designs, then we grabbed lunch from Center Street Grill, watched a movie, and just relaxed. It was so great. Those are the best kind of days.

What did your week look like? Jot down just the highlights. Keep it simple, or put together a fun photo collage of your week and post it on instagram using  #MyDailyLife_WIR.

Bucket List 1

Ever since I was little I've always wanted to travel. Maybe it comes from being from a small town in Wyoming (population 506...not even kidding), or maybe it comes from watching too many movies and seeing too many beautiful pictures of places outside of where I was. Needless to say, my bucket list is going to be full of places I want to visit.

 

 (image found on Pinterest)

New York City has always been some where I've wanted to visit. The big city life just seems so interesting to me. I want to see the busy streets, the massive crowds, not to mention all the touristy sites. I'm not going to lie, I'd be a total tourist, with my camera out, taking pictures everywhere I go, staring in awe at everything that is new. Now of course, this isn't something I'd be able to do in a day. I'd have to take a week or so, so I don't miss anything. I guess I'd better start saving up my money!  

 

(image found on Pinterest)

Before I go on all these wonderful trips though, I plan to create a travel journal, with places within the places that I would like to visit. Because if you have it written down, then you have to do it, right? 

Have you been to New York City? Share your photos, or your favorite places to visit!

Thursday Three | 01.23.14

• I watched the One Direction movie with a cheesy grin on my face the entire movie
• I ate five 'meals' today - breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, second lunch, and dinner
• I feel really weird today...something about my Dr. appointment yesterday kind of bothered me. Not the doc or the actual visit, more like an unfortunate realization on my part.

Thursday Three was developed by Kristin from RUKristin. You can read more about it {here}, then play along over on Instagram and follow me @bre11414.

A Simple Photo | 01.21.14

 

(Me in front of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC. I forgot what that building was and spend 30 minutes googling different things to figure it out. I finally got it!)

When I was little, my Aunt Marcie was a nanny in Boston. We would write letters back and forth and she would occasionally send me pictures. One time she took a trip to the Washington DC temple and sent me the most beautiful pictures of it. From that day on, it became my favorite temple, and I swore that I would visit it someday.

Fast forward to my junior year of high school, and there was a boy that I met when I went to visit my sister Shari up at BYU-I who was serving a mission in the Maryland area. We wrote back and forth, and he too sent me some beautiful pictures of the DC temple and the Baltimore area. It made me want to visit that area even more.

Fast forward another seven or so years and my sister-in-law Adrienne and her husband Mark moved out to Virginia, and I hoped and hoped that I would get to visit them sometime. I finally got my wish, and in November of 2011, I flew out of SLC with my in-laws. I was beyond excited. While I definitely wanted to visit the DC temple, I just wanted to see the DC area. I was lucky enough to get to do both. The temple was absolutely beautiful. We went at night at got to see it all lit up. So pretty. Then we were able to spend a day in DC itself. It was beyond amazing. There is so much history there, it was unbelievable. I could have spent a lot more time there. One day just doesn't cut it. Just walking around the museums was an adventure, but to see the architecture there and all these buildings that you only see on TV, incredible. I didn't want to leave. I didn't get to see enough, but the memories I have of that place are amazing.

I hope to be able to visit there again someday, and be able to see everything all over again, plus the places that we missed. I want to learn more about the history of our country so it will mean all that much more. I also want my future children to be able to experience it and to have fun adventures with their parents that they, too, will cherish forever.

Inspiration | 01.20.14

 

The past few weeks I have been  struggling to come up with a lesson topic. Being in the Relief Society presidency, I get to teach the first Sunday lesson in February. It's so interesting to me how last time I was teaching, I knew exactly what I wanted to teach. I felt good about it as I was preparing, and I felt good as I was delivering it. I knew that the Spirit was guiding me. This time, however, I am really struggling to come up with a topic. I've got about five that I could do, but I don't get the "this is it" feeling from any one specific. As I've prayed about it over the last few weeks, I decided yesterday in church that I would just start going through old  conference talks and see if anything jumps out. The good thing about that is there are a lot of great talks that I've been able to read, the bad thing, nothing jumps out still, so I guess I'll keep going. Not that that's a bad thing. Anytime you have the opportunity to read the words of our prophet and apostles is on that you should take. I have found some great thoughts, and this is one that I wanted to share. It comes from President Thomas S. Monson's talk called, "I Will Not Fail Thee, Nor Forsake Thee."

When I heard this talk, I just knew that it was a direct message from the Lord, for me. As I have experienced many trials over the last few years, I know that it is only to help me learn, grow, and become stronger. I also love how it doesn't say "the trials through which we MIGHT pass," but rather "through which we MUST pass." We are going to have trials, it's part of why we're here on earth. It's part of our learning process. We can do it. We have a Heavenly Father who is there to comfort and guide us through the trials. They are necessary for us to be able to return to Him someday.

Week in Review | 01.19.14

 

(A few pics that didn't make it on instagram)

It's amazing how during the week it seems to just be dragging, but by the time the weekend gets here and you look back over the previous week, it seems to have just flown by. Here are some highlights from this previous week.

Week in Review: 1.12-1.18

• Greg was released as Elder's Quorum President, only to be called to speak in sacrament last week and to be a Gospel Doctrine teacher. He did a great job speaking, and I've heard quite a few people say how glad they are that he will be teaching.

• We went to Coldstone Monday night, in the freezing cold, but it was oh so worth it! Love our Coldstone date nights.
• Enrichment on Tuesday. We had my friend (and enrichment board leader) Melanie's neighbor come and teach the ladies Zumba. I was impressed by the number of sisters that showed up, and by the amount of fun that they had. It gave me hope for our future enrichment activities this year.
• Wednesday I went out on visits with the Relief Society president, Betty. I am still so nervous about meeting new people, but I'm happy to go visit with her and at least say hi to the new sisters. I'm hoping that I will soon get over that fear and be able to be more effective on the visits.
• My mom stopped by with some yummy taco soup and pizza pockets. Thanks mom!
• I received my Studio Calico kits in the mail. So, so super excited to get to use them.
• Spoke with my boss about my work hours. He told me to talk it over with Greg, and let him know what I was thinking. Since it's really something I've been thinking about for a while, I decided to try working a little less. I was really nervous to make that decision, but hope it will be for the best.
• Got to work yesterday with Donna. She's awesome. I'm grateful that she is still there and that I get to work with her on a daily basis (and one Saturday a month).
• We ordered pizza from Papa Johns (the best) and watched Face Off. Then just sat around. Super exciting!

What did your week look like? Jot down just the highlighs. Keep it simple, or put together a fun photo collage of your week and post it on instagram using  #MyDailyLife_WIR.

Thursday Three | 01.16.14

• I told my boss that I wanted to work less hours
• I always look better in the mirror than I do in selfies
• I closed my first loan all by myself today

Thursday Three was developed by Kristin from RUKristin. You can read more about it {here}, then play along over on Instagram and follow me @bre11414.

A Simple Photo

I was in Cokeville visiting family, and while we were waiting for dinner, my nephew Aidan wanted to go play XBox. Since it was Sunday, Nana (aka, my mom) didn't want him to, so she told him that she knows how much he loves to draw, and I was artistic (ha!) and maybe I'd like to go draw with him. He was so excited, and went into the playroom where Nana and Papa had a table and chairs just his size, plus crayons and paper. So we set to work creating works of art. He taught me how to draw a city with Spiderman (his favorite). It was so fun. I just sat and watched him and his creativity just go crazy, and it was amazing. I loved how thoughtful he was with his art, and how he would get frustrated sometimes, but I wanted him to just keep going and know how great I thought he was doing. I enjoyed every second of it, and really will cherish this moment forever. I'm glad I was about to share it with him. It also made me want to be able to have those same moments with kids of my own someday. Whether it be spending time drawing, or doing something else they're interested in, I want to be there to work with them and continually encourage them to keep going.

Inspiration | 01.13.14

Lately I have had service on my mind. I don't know if it's because of my Relief Society Calling, or what, but I feel like I just need to serve more. Whether it be actual go out and serve, or just send a note or treat, I NEED to serve. I probably pass up way too many opportunities to provide some type of service, and I always get this knot in my stomach when I do. You would think I would learn to quit passing up these opportunities, but I don't. I need to just do it.

I love this quote because really, if you're searching for something more, lose yourself in the service of others. You won't regret it. You'll find that you are happier, and that in turn will spread to those around you.

What are your thoughts on this quote? Have you had the chance to "lose yourself in service?" Write it down. Journal your thoughts.

Christmas + the New Year

Christmas this year was great. Low key, simple, relaxing, awesome. I got to work on Christmas Eve, but luckily we closed at 2 (which really is just an hour before I get off anyway, but who cares?) We got Café Rio for dinner, then headed home for an evening of relaxing. I took a short nap in order to fulfill one of our Christmas Eve traditions. Since I hadn't seen many Christmas movies this year, Greg popped on in for me to watch. Oh, Elf! Love that show!

 

 

 

Then we stayed up until midnight playing Xbox. Best Christmas tradition ever!

 

After a good night's sleep and a sleeping in a bit, I came into the living room to see a few sticky notes around the house on some items we had purchased for Christmas, but not really for Christmas. We'd been arguing about whose presents they were, and I guess this made it official... 

 

And then we enjoyed this delicious feast of food!

 

 

The best part!

 

And Greg's precious gravy bowl.

 I got a new blanket, and some headphones, and some strengthening balls, some candy, plus a few things to help me around the house. It was a really nice relaxing day, one that went way too fast!

 

New Years was just as eventful, only we didn't even make it to midnight. New Years day we were going to go to a movie, but the theatre was packed, so we just went home and chilled instead. 2013 was an interesting year, but I'm kind of excited for 2014. Bring it on!

Some December

December came and went super fast. I can't believe how that month seems to always just fly by. It was a good month though. We spent way too much money on Christmas this year, and ate way too much junk food. Now that January is  here, hopefully things will slow down a bit.

Work during December was quite interesting. I don't say a lot about the actual craziness that goes on there, but you have to know that it was getting pretty bad...in more ways than one. Then one of the full-time employees decided to quit which kind of shocked us all. We were already in the process of hiring someone to replace Lauren, who left about 3 months ago, so they just decided to hire two instead of one. Now you'd think that they would offer the part time employee that had been there for over 3 years the full-timers position, but instead they offered one of the new people full time, and didn't even mention it to the part timer. It was kind of an odd thing for them to do, in my opinion, and a bit frustrating. Therefore I'm still a part-time employee. I guess it's okay, but I do have my reasons for being angry, even if they were 'just looking out for me.' Anyway, so there was a week where there were just three tellers, and one of those days there were just two of us, and man alive was that a crazy day. Who the heck has to go to the bank two days before Christmas? We survived it though, we always do. It's what makes the Logan Branch so great. The full-timer starter last week, and the part-timer starts tomorrow. I'm not quite sure what we'll do with a full staff. Knowing our luck, it'll slow down tremendously, and we'll all be bored out of our minds. I do really love my job though. I've been blessed to have it and to continue to work there, and to be able to work with such great people. I'm excited for the changes that have come.

We had our work Christmas party towards the beginning of the month. We just had dinner at The Coppermill, then went to the Juanito Bandito Christmas play. It was interesting. Funny and a bit racist, but somewhat long. It was good to get out though. Always good to hang out with people from work not at work.

 

Kandyce and Clay are always so good to let me know when they're in town so they can come over and visit. I really appreciate it, because they always bring Liam, and let's face it, he's the cutest. But I do appreciate it when they come over and say hi.

 

 

We were a bit late getting it up, but we finally put our Christmas tree up like 10 days before Christmas. Since we got a new TV, we were waiting to get the new stand, and get it all set up, plus get the old TV out. We finally did it, and we did an awesome job decorating. There are a total of 10 ornaments on the tree. Okay, not our best decorating job, but we did it!

 

 

It really hasn't snowed a whole lot this year, but when we did finally get it, it was a pretty good amount. As much as my body hates cold, I love winter and snow. Just not on the roads where people can slip, or crash and die.

 

 

The weekend before Christmas, I was able to go spend some time with my side of the family. The Davies' Family Christmas party is always the Saturday before Christmas, so I was able to drive down with Kenz and Kyler who came to Logan to visit Kyler's brother. It has been a really long time since I've been to that Christmas party, so it was really great to see aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. All my siblings were there, even Brady and Ashbee who I didn't know were coming. We were just missing Greg and Ben, but it was a lot of fun. I had at least two aunts ask me who I was. Apparently I've lost about 30 pounds and I look a little different. It was actually kind of funny. They kept thinking I was McKenzie. I'll take it.

 

 

Back: Kyler, Brady, Kennan Clay, Kandyce, Mom, Dad & Liam
Front: McKenzie, Ashbee, Shari, Alex, Me, Mom, Lilli & Aidan

 

Then we headed back to Cokeville. We were lucky that the roads were so good still. That drive always scared me, winter or summer, but it's one of my faves. We stayed up for a little, then went to bed so we could get up for church the next day. We got up early and enjoyed Kenz playing with the dogs and Alex.

 

 

Church was good. I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a while and talk to some friends. I had quite a few more people tell me they didn't recognize me....I'm not sure what it was. Oh well. It was still fun. Coming home Shari got the van stuck. This is something that has happened to just about everyone I know who has tried to come up to our house during winter. You'd just think someone who had lived there for 30+ years would be able to make it up there....jk Shar.

 

 

Back home while we were waiting for dinner, Aidan and I decided to color. He was the cutest. He told/showed me how to draw a city and spiderman. It was so fun. His creative mind just blew me away. When I drew spiderman though, he looked at it and said, "that doesn't look like spiderman." Apparently I'm not so skilled, but we still had a lot of fun.

 

 

After dinner we built gingerbread houses. Not gonna lie, I kind of sucked at it, so Aidan and I busted out our secret weapon...

 

...SPIDERMAN!!!

 

Liam was scared of Macey....she's a massive dog, I don't blame him, but he like Sid.

 

Then we got to go in and visit Grandma. I love visiting Grandma. I don't see her near enough. We also played a fun game of keepaway from Alex. Poor kid. Just didn't get it. Look at this train that Grandma made though. I always love her canvas projects, and I think this is my favorite. Grandma, if you're reading this, I know what you can make me for Christmas next year. I'll even buy the supplies. Also, Grandma, mom didn't tell me you wanted me to make you more ornaments until AFTER I visited, so I'm planning on making some for you.

 

 

And then guess who got stuck a second time in one day....

 

 

Good thing we've got Kyler.

 

Then when we got home, I had Liam open his Christmas present from Greg and I. It was a cute little piano with a microphone. He loved it. At one point Aidan was trying to push different buttons, and Liam got mad and would turn the piano over or push it away then turn away from Aidan. Little stinker. It was pretty funny.

 

And then came the real fun. So about sixteen years ago, we had this family portrait professionally taken. I don't even know how old I was, like 10-11?

 

 

Well, dad wanted to recreate this adorable photo, so therefore, I present...

 

Haven't changed a bit, have we?

 

After that we stayed up for a little longer just chatting. It was good to talk to the sibs and spend some time with the family. Unfortunately I had to work the next morning at nine, and since that was the day there was only going to be two of us, I had to be there. So mom and Shari got up bright and early with me to drive me back, and I was able to make it to work right on time. Thanks guys!

 

It was a great weekend, and really made me excited for Christmas.