October-ness

General Conference weekends are always my favorite! The talks are always fabulous, and I always learn so much. This year I got sick over this weekend. It was sad, and unfortunate, but luckily it was on the weekend, and I could stay at home and just listen to conference.

Also, this medicine is about the only medicine I actually like. I've tried others, and they are just awful. So, thank you Kroger. You are a life saver!

It's always beautiful when it rains. Always!

October always reminds me of Gram, since her birthday is the 10th. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to live right next door, and to be able to visit her whenever. I just wish I had visited her more as I got older. I can't wait to see her again!

Oh church ball. Greg is over the stake sports, so he gets to go set up volleyball nets and play. I went this first night because one of my volleyball girls is in our ward, and I wanted to make sure she knew someone. It's always good times watching people play.

We had a Relief Society Activity on the 13th. We did a "Witches Night Out" with dinner (potato bar), and "Speed Friendshipping." In the last 3 years that I have been in this calling, I have never had an actual committee. It was just Melanie and me for the longest time, then we added Shaye.

When Melanie moved in March, I told the RS President that I would not do any more activities until I got a committee. Well, we had 3 accept callings, and then we sent around a sign-up sheet for additional help, and got one more. It was the greatest thing ever! They did such an amazing job, and it turned out so fun. Plus, the fact that I had very little to do made it even more awesome.

The dinner was delicious, and the speed friendshipping was super fun. Even with all the complaints (which, honestly, I wanted to smack a few of the older ladies!) in the end they all had a great time, and I heard so many comments about how fun it was, and how they loved getting to know the sisters better. Jerks. If they would just trust us!

Last Saturday, Mom and Dad were in town. They were going to come visit and see our house, but since we were at Wal-Mart, they decided to visit Uncle Dick & Aunt Joanna. Since we were right there, I had Greg drop me off so I could go see them too. It was a really fun visit. I was always terrified of Aunt Joanna, and when I told dad, he said, "well, everyone is terrified of your grandma." I had never noticed how similar they are, but since Grandma is my grandma, she doesn't terrify me like Aunt Joanna did. :)  It was really fun to visit them though.

It's been raining quite a bit, and it's just perfect!

About a month ago, I realized that my computer only had about 10 GB left, on a 1 TB hard drive. I could not for the longest time figure out what was taking up that much room. It just didn't make sense. I even went through and deleted a lot of stuff, but nothing worked. Finally I downloaded a program that showed what was taking up all the space, and learned that my Norton back-up was backing up stuff on my hard drive. 850+ GB over the last two years! We deleted the file, and watched as space on my computer opened up. Now I don't have to worry about where to save my Holiday orders!

And October means Halloween. We may have spent way too much money on decorations, but they are fun, so I suppose it's okay.

Happy October all!

The Rest of March

+I really need to do better at staying ahead with my blogging. I think about what I want to write quite often, I just fail to actually write it.

We were able to convince our Relief Society president to do quarterly activities instead of monthly. We just didn't have the attendance or budget to justify monthly, so my activity leader and I decided to try and make the quarterly ones super fun and exciting to get more attendance.

Our first activity was held one March 11. We went with a Superhero theme. We wanted to do kind of a get to know you, so we asked people to share their super powers (aka talents, etc.) We had an awesome turn out, and we had a lot of fun. We had pulled pork sandwiches, fruit and cupcakes for dinner, followed by a get to know you BINGO that was a lot of fun. Then we had one of our board members give a little talk on how we are all Superheros, tying in our Relief Society theme. She did a great job. I wish I had asked for a copy of her talk. It was really great.

We had a lot of fun, and I was happy about the turn out. I had an inactive sister come up to me and say, "This is the funnest church activity I've ever been to." And another sister said, "I wish we could do this every month." After complaining about our lack of budget, the stake relief society president told my president that I could, "Have as many activities as I wanted, and to spend as much money as I need." It was awesome, and made me feel like I was doing something right...(Even though Melanie was the one who did everything. She's awesome!)

Here is the poster I made for our activity. We were able to advertise for close to 2 months which was awesome. Funny story though. So we share our building with another ward who comes in after us. I had put this up outside the relief society room before our class. There is one of those clip things on the wall that is long and can fit more than one poster. Well, I come out after class, and the other ward had put their flier right over top of ours, instead of sliding ours down and putting it next to ours, right over top. I was not happy, but instead of throwing theirs in the garbage, I just calmly took ours out and slid it down. It was hard, let me tell you!

For our reminder, we made these superhero suckers with the information on the cape.

Due to some issues with the other ward, last year we moved our activities to Thursday evening, which we felt was not very convenient, so this year, we asked the Young Women if they would like to combine with us every quarter  so we could get the YW leaders out, and not have to spend another night away from their families. So we moved our activities to Wednesday night with the YW.

My partner-in-crime and I. We served in Young Women's together many moons ago, so when Bishop (NOT ME!) suggested her as my activity board leader, I didn't say no, even though she had just had her third baby. I knew that she would follow through and work hard to make or activities successful. So far she hasn't disappointed! ;)

At the end of February, Greg and I were asked to speak. Before we got up, our stake president got up and told us that they were rearranging our Bishopric in two weeks. Apparently lots of people thought that it would be Greg since we were speaking. Luckily they were wrong! I even had a sister tell me after I spoke that I would "make a great Bishop's wife". Not sure what that meant, but whatever.

I had been teasing Greg about it all week because he was actually a bit worried, but when we didn't get a call we knew we were in the clear. That was the week I went to Casper, and on Thursday when I got to Cokeville I called Greg and he told me that the Stake President wanted to meet with us. I started laughing and said, High Council? (One of the new bishopric members was previously on the HC, so there was a spot open.)

Sure enough, when we went in to meet with the stake president, Greg was issued a call to serve on the High Council. This meant he would also be ordained to the office of High Priest.

Greg's dad ordained him, and his older brother and his four kids came. We don't get to see them too much even though they're only about an hour away, but it was a lot of fun to have those kids there. They are the cutest.

The next weekend, one of my friends and teammates from college was getting married and had her reception here in Logan. Her mom coached with my dad over in Bear Lake for many years, so we've known Katie forever. She also played with Kandyce in college, and then they roomed together here at USU, so Kandyce stopped by so we could go together.

Liam is probably my favorite child. He is a little stinker and was crying while Kandyce was getting changed, so I just kept asking him questions until I finally got a good response. From then on we were BFFs. We sang songs in the car while waiting for Kandyce to get some cards at the dollar store, and then we went and played outside. Even though he can be a bit of a stinker, he's so dang cute. I just love him!

And of course, chubby little Myka was there also. She is just the happiest baby. I love her and her cute chubby cheeks.

So, after everything went down at work, I was working Saturday with Kim. Steve stopped by with a drink for each of us. Awesome! Then maybe an hour later, Donna showed up with drinks for us as well. The reason definitely deserved two Dr. Peppers. No more changes please! My heart can't take it. It was pretty funny though

For our 5th Sunday lesson, we had the LDS Employment Resource Services (?) people come. I was totally paying attention, when I looked at the board, and what was supposed to spell LDS ERS, totally looked like LOSERS. It was funny. About 3 minutes after I noticed, the high councilman sitting next to us looks up, leans over and says, "I thought that spelled LOSERS on the board." It was awesome.

Greg surprised me by taking me to see Insurgent one evening after work. Oh my, I loved it! I thought it was so good. Thanks hubby for taking me. It was a great way to end March.

September Ramblings

September has also just flown by. I've been meaning to blog at least once a week so you don't get bombarded with random pictures and my nonsense thoughts, but that obviously hasn't happened. I feel like I really haven't done a whole lot this month. It's just the same things day after day.

I didn't have work on September 1. We slept in, then ate breakfast, went to Greg's room at the middle school to drop some stuff off, went to Hastings, then we had shrimp tacos for dinner (my new fave!), then we went for a little drive from our house to 10th west, to Arctic Circle where we got huckleberry shakes for the second time this year. So delicious! I love days off!

Of course, we had to go back to work the next day. Back to the daily grind and being an adult.

I am in charge of creating the monthly Relief Society newsletter, which is fine with me since I really enjoy doing stuff like that. I started out creating the regular boring newsletters, but it wasn't doing it for me, so I decided to open photoshop, pinterest, and create something awesome. It took me all dang day, but it turned out super cute.

September 8th was a wonderful day. I woke up to read that One Direction is releasing another album soon, and they were offering one of their songs for free that day only! Of course I had to get it, and I absolutely loved it, I think it's definitely one of my favorite. Take a listen here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L2AaRJrV0E

Since creating that newsletter, my creative juices have started flowing again. I have been meaning to download a trial version of Adobe Illustrator for a while now, so I finally decided to do it. Holy cow, I had no idea what I was doing. I took a class about 7 years ago, but I remember very little of it. I have been slowly learning and teaching myself how to use it and I've had a lot of fun with it. I'm excited to get back into designing, and hope to be able to open an Etsy shop soon.

(By the way, I'm more than willing to create a few free Christmas cards for anyone interested. I'll design it to your liking, and send you the digital file.)

For our September Relief Society Activity, we had a service auction. We got the idea {here}, and it turned out really great. We had a lot of awesome donations, and had a great time bidding against each other and having a good ol' time. This calling can be quite challenging because we never know what to expect when we plan activities. We never know how many will show up, or if they'll even have fun. My board leader is amazing though, and always comes up with the funnest ideas. Please support your RS leaders in the activities. I know that it can seem like just one more thing to do, but the activities board puts a lot of effort into planning and carrying out these activities. Plus, it's a whole lot more fun when more people show up.

My mom and dad were in town Saturday the 13th, and texted me to go to lunch with them. It's always good to see them, and they surprised me with this Samsung Neo 2 watch. Greg and I had talked about getting something like that after my {latest incident}, but figured we would wait until Christmas or until we upgraded our phones, so this was a fun surprise. I can call people and text, plus it tracks my steps, heart rate, and sleeping. It's pretty sweet. It makes me feel better about being alone, just in case I happen to leave my phone in a place I can't reach. Thanks parents!

Last Sunday the Relief Society Presidency were asked to speak on the Relief Society. We were asked the Thursday before, so we really didn't have much time to prepare, but I think it went okay. I wasn't really nervous, though I was sweating something awful. But no one fell asleep during my talk (that I could see), so that's always great. I haven't spoken in church for over 10 years, so it was a fun experience.

I did get to go on a fun trip this last week, which I will post about real soon. I think this is enough for one post!

Inspiration | 2.10.14

This quote comes from {this talk} by President Uchtdorf. I can totally relate to many of the things he said. Especially as of late. I have noticed that my health is not where it should be (more so than normal), and it makes me super tired after work which then makes me 'too tired' to do my Visiting Teaching or other church related things. I also just want to sit around instead of do things with my husband. I had a talk with my boss and he told me, "I don't want you to get so worn out here at work that you can't enjoy the rest of the day." It really got me thinking about what it important, and what matters most. Because of that I made the decision to not work quite as much. It's only an hour less each day, but I feel like I'm more able to do things that I previously neglected (scripture study, housework, etc.) I also have more energy after work to do other things as well. and enjoy time with my husband.

Sometimes it's hard to give up what you're used to, or even what you enjoy doing, but if it's causing problems or stress in other areas of your life, it really is time to re-evaluate on what matter most.

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?

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.

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.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

It's been quite the month here at the Aullman household. We go years without changes, then all of a sudden, quite a few all at once.

We had Greg get a 'real' job (which doesn't change much except now we'll earn a second income. YAY!) I do have to say that we've been very blessed to be able to go a year on a small single income. (I only averaged about 30-35 hours a week) but we had many blessings in disguise that helped us make it through. So what if we had to go without a few luxuries for a year. Guess what? We survived!

Second change - Last Saturday we decided to upgrade our phones and join the world of Smartphones. Now, we did this for a couple of reasons. One, we were both due for an upgrade (Greg still had a flip phone...that's how behind in the times HE was). Second, we needed to upgrade our plan anyway. The plan we were on had me a 500 non-Verizon texts, and Greg at 50. He kept going over, and since the only plans you can get now days are data plans, we decided to just go for it. We spent about 2 hours deciding what to do, and ended up going to Best Buy where the phones were cheaper, and the insurance plans were better. I got the Samsung Galaxy S3, and Greg got the S4. It's taken some time to get used to, but we both really love them. I'm excited about it...and luckily I can pick up some Wi-fi at work if I really feel the need to get on the internet.

Third change - I've been in the Young Womens presidency for nearly 5 years now. 2.5 under Melanie as president, and the last 2.5 under Farina. It has been a great experience for me, and I've really enjoyed it. A couple of Tuesdays ago, Greg got a call from the ward executive secretary asking Greg and I to meet with Bishop that evening. We tried to guess what it might be. We knew Greg wasn't being released, so we narrowed it down to it being about me. I joked saying maybe I was going to be called to be the Relief Society president. Well, imagine my actual shock and surprise when I was called to be the Second Counselor in the Relief Society presidency. My jaw literally dropped. Apparently everyone else was a little shocked as well. But I have to say I'm quite excited about it. Extremely nervous as well. It's only been about five years since I was last in relief society. But it will be good to get to know the other women in our ward. I feel like I only know a select few (ie, the ones that have served in YW). So it will be a good change. I guess this is what I get for not doing my visiting teaching or going to any enrichment activities. I guess that better change. <--yet another="" change="" p="">
I think that's about all for now. Luckily these have been good changes...

Today...

Where did you go today?

I went to church, then I came home. That's about it. I may have walked outside to take our garbage out...but Sundays are pretty low-key. It was okay, because I slept so poorly last night...and I don't function when I don't get a lot of sleep. Also. Today was the first Sunday in 3 years that I didn't have to lead the music (not counting Sundays I missed). I was actually at church...sitting in the congregation. It was awesome!

Lately in Feb

Lately...life's been about the same.

Work is alright. I love my job, just not some of the things that go on, but we  have a lot of fun. I have some great co-workers that keep me laughing.

My baby sister is getting married...that's kind of weird. She's like 10, so it's a bit crazy.

We had New Beginnings tonight. It turned out really well. We had our girls choose a pair of their favorite shoes and how they help them to "Stand in Holy Places." Our girls are amazing. I love hearing them talk. They're pretty fantastic. It was a great night.

Ummm...think that's about it!

Today I Am Feeling...

a bit stressed...
overwhelmed...
cold...
hurt (as in physical pain)...
tired...
hungry...
angry...
(it was a rough day...)

But, I had the opportunity to go to a meeting with all the Stake Young Women's Presidencies. The talks given were awesome. Sister Thurber gave one on time, and gave a great example from 3 Nephi about when the Savior was visiting the America's, and he told them to go home and ponder on the words that he had spoken. And though he had other things that he was supposed to do, instead, he took the time to bless the sick, and the children, and all the people that were there. She compared it to us as Young Women leaders, and how we need to take time to make sure that our young women are doing okay, and take time to see how they are doing. She, of course, told it a lot better than I did, but it was awesome, and much needed. I complain a lot about my calling, but I wouldn't rather have any other one (except ward organist...because that's the best calling ever). But we have some amazing young women, and I am blessed to be able to work with them. I just need to take more time to be a better leader for them. It was a great meeting. (and much needed after my day!)

After, I had told Brother Tyler from my ward that I would referee some church volleyball games. It was so fun. I have never seen so many poor players having so much fun! And I have to say, it was some ugly volleyball, but I was quite impressed with how 'decent' some of those ladies were. I'm sure most have never played anything other than church ball, and they weren't too bad.

When the games were over, I was walking out, and this girl looks at me and says "How are you?" I smiled and said, "Good, how are you?" Then we kind of stared at each other, me thinking, "do I know you?" Then she said, "I'm from Cokeville." I just stared at her hoping for any form of recognition...finally I said, "Who are you?" It was Jennie Sorensen. I didn't even recognize her. In my defense though, when she said she was from Cokeville, I was thinking of people my age, because she looked young enough to be my age. It was kind of cool though to see someone I 'knew'.

Anyway...that's how my day went!