March Entertainment

SO, In February, my mom and my sister, Sh'Nell, came to visit me...We had a great weekend.. I felt bad that I had to work, but we went to the Temple on saturday and had a great time talking and just hanging out... and they came to primary with me to watch me at work.... and the same weekend a really good friend of mine moved down from Washington.... Sh'Nell has all the pictures from their trip.. I keep forgetting to ask her to send me some....

Then in March, my niece (Marcy) came to visit for her spring break from college.. Now, the day she got here, I got sick... before she arrived :) :) but she also came down sick.. so the first day she was here, I worked.... all day long... the second day she was here, Dawn, the kids, Marcy and I piled into Dawn's car and went to Galveston to play.... we toured the pirate ship :) :) we took pictures of a Carnival Cruise ship that was loading and getting ready to leave... one day I will be on there.... we took a tour boat of the Harbor... it was so much fun.. saw dolphins... My camera ability did not help me to get a picture of that... went to the beach, relaxed, watched Bailey play in the water....


this is where the water reached during Hurricane Ike


An old oil rig, hanging out in the bay






The Pirate ship








This is the cruise ship that one day I will be on....






So, the next day, day 3, we were both so sick that we didn't even go to church. I could not quit coughing, my head was killing me, sneezing.... you name it I had it... both of us took the day off and slept.... The next day... day 4, we took off for San Antonio... apparently I didn't take any pictures there..... so after hanging there for 5 hours, we headed to Corpus Christie.... stayed the night in a fine Best Western hotel.... day 5--- USS Lexington.... 4 hours ... 1 hour on the flight deck itself... it was so much fun....

this is a jet--don't know what-- on the flight deck.. thought it was cool...






this is a view of the Lexington from the beach







and this is the beach..... had to put my feet in the water.... and then we headed back towards Houston... so we decided to take the long way home and follow the water... For some reason I was talking to Dawn on the phone while I was driving and we hit this bridge.... and all of the sudden... there was NO LAND. ANYWHERE..... I just about lost it.. I could not see the end of the bridge and there was no land on either side.... or up in front... It was hilarious....

this is the bridge

and this is what it looked like on both sides..... and I am not lyin.... ask Marcy :) :)


Then, day 6... another do nothing day... went to Walgreens to buy drugs.... we were so sick....
Day 7.... hhhmmm... let me think....oh yeah..showed up to work for 10 minutes to meat the Big man from Bristow in the UK... he was really nice, then ran out the door, no looking back, drove by the Temple, took pictures, and walked around the grounds while having a good conversation... it was fun, then drove up to Hunstville and toured the Texas Department of Corrections Prison Museum... it was pretty cool... then drove through Hunstville and looked at the Prison I used to work at and a few others.... then home to sleep some more....
Day 8.... slept in, vegitated, then showed and went to have mani's and pedi's and then.... Mexican Food... Mamacitas..... It was sooooo good.... and then back to lay on the couch.....
Day 9, dropped Marcy at the airport.... went to work..... yes, that was a saturday.... Oh well had to catch up....

It was great.. I am glad that she spent her money to come and visit me for her vacation.....

Vacation In January

December 30, 2010!! So, there I was, sitting at my desk, looking at the clock and counting down the minutes until I am off on a very very COLD adventure... high of like 9...... what was I thinking. But oh when I got there... let me tell you the fun that I had.

This is Max.... he is do dang cute and that thing he is FLYING around is bigger than he is... I am sitting there with Emma going "there is no way he is going to swing around that thing" He can't even get his arms up high enough to do that... Guess he showed me.. He is a star :) :)
This is Ally and she is so cute... and she is so great... look at that form on the beam.... I think I took like 900 pictures the hour and a half we were there... so dang cute....
Ok, so the below picture is how I had to get dressed to go outside.... and that was before I put on Emma's coat... Yes, I took one, but it was not the right kind and I would have frozen more than I did... so there was this DIRT hill up the road from the house that had a "skiff" of ICE and what did we do... we stinking went sledding... oh my gosh how I laughed and how my rear end was bruised when we were done....
This is the "This is the Place" monument with the mountains in the back ground.. I so love the mountains.. That is one thing that I miss tons... They are so beautiful and the view around Kyrk's house is so awesome.... I could wake up to that everyday.. Except... the cold....
this is the lights on Temple Square.... Ok, so smart me... didn't take a coat with me... But oh so Beautiful.. I had not been there forever, so when Dad suggested that we go.... it was awesome.. thanks dad...
This is Kyrk, helping out the kids with their snow cave.... it was huge. I had him lay down and extend his arms and legs all the way out and he still had room......
Kyrk cracks me up.. he says that we are going to dig out the trampoline... I thought he was kidding.... I should have known better... so the first day, he and I start shoveling.... next day... he and I start shoveling and his wife comes out and Kyrk disappears... he is over talking to the neighbor while the WOMEN are doing the manual labor :) :) if I stood in the middle, it was almost over my head...
This has got to be my favorite picture I took the whole week I was there... It was so much fun and I do have to admit that I was having a hard time coming back

But, I can not forget little Kami..... I laughed so hard watching her... she is so cute...

wow, how time flies......

So, how do you catch up the past 7 months in just a few sentences.... post lots of pictures...
home for my birthday!!! June!!!



this one speaks for itself.....








this one speaks for itself also... My boss thinks that she is sooooo funny :)
















There has been tons of things happen in the past 7 months... moving from Conroe, back down into Houston, closer to work. Moving to a new ward... Goods and bads of that one. Halloween with a bunch of crazy people at work.... Thanksgiving at my bosses house.. laughing until our guts hurt and we all thought that Michelle would laugh herself into labor...

All in all life is pretty good... Taking a few days off and just doing nothing.. but looking forward to going to Utah for New Years and hanging out with as much of my family that can be there....

oh yeah.... almost forgot.... got a new calling..... everyone sit down....

Primary Music Leader..... Reaffirms that the Lord DOES have a sense of humor :)

Me Cooking!!!

I probably should not be telling you all this story, but I can't help but laugh at myself. So, there fore I must share. So, my sister in law is a fabulous cook and when I moved here to Texas, I convinced her to give me a few of her "family secret" recipes. One of them are these brownies that are so fabulous, when she makes them, that you can't just eat one.

SO, today, I decided that I was going to make some and take them to the Lanes' for FHE. I go there just about every Monday. That is another story. Anyway, so I go to the store, get what I need and come home to commence making dessert. I mix it all up, put it in the pan, compensate for the change in climate.. but when I take them out of the oven, they are just still way too gooey. So, I text April and ask her a few questions and as I am asking her I decide to read the recipe again. (which I swear I did like four times) but there is one line that I obviously didn't pay any attention too... it says 1 1/4 cup of FLOUR!!!! I could not believe it. I totally forgot the flour. What a retard!!!!

So, I laugh at myself and I start all over. And it is ok that I wasted all that because tomorrow I am starting my diet again anyway.... So, after READING the recipe the right way, I put them in the oven and they look so much better. They smell great, now I just hope they taste great. I don't think they will taste as good as April's but I hope they come close. :)

And the picture... well my oven door likes to close on its own and if you don't get your arm out of the way, this is what happens. SO, when I get to the Lane's, I will ask if she has anything for burns so that this will stop hurting...

So there I have done it. I have told you my retarded moment. But trust me, this is just one of many. I would be here all day long telling you everything that I do that is retarded.

Go ahead. Laugh. I did!!!

Cool PIctures with Cheap cameras

I was looking in my mission photo album and remembering. These are pictures that I took with my mission camera. It wasn't any thing spectacular, but these pictures turned out fabulous.

The first one I didn't take, cause that is me in the picture, but my comp took it and it captured the trees all frozen. It never really snowed in England, but when it got cold everything froze. The second one is the Wolverhampton Cathedral. I took that one and it looks like a post card.
This last one is priceless... This is one of our members in the Harborne Ward. I can't believe I captured the water in the air...
I just thought these were cool pictures and wanted to share them with you.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Ok, so it isn't quite my birthday, but I decided to get my present early!!! It is so nice and so much fun to drive. And I might say it is BEAUTIFUL!! The only complaint :) no tinted windows. But I will take care of that one of these days when I got a few more pennies. And I have paid off my debts :)!!!

It is a 2010 Ford Fusion SE. Tuxedo Black, which means it has little sparklies in the paint... black interior. Just fabulous.

I am excited to be back in Houston. My job is going great. There are going to be opportunities for me to move up and learn more. Today I was really busy and it was great. I love to be busy. My apartment is cute. It is small, but it is just me and my puppy and it is all that I need. The ward I am in is fabulous and I am playing my a softball tournament this weekend. well, Friday night and Saturday night. But that is good for me.

Life is going good.... and my new car is FABULOUS!

By no means is this a recent picture, but for those of you who know me, I have always taken "self portraits"... this one I just came across. It was from Aug, 2008 at mom and dads 50th.... I'm still this retarded, just haven't taken any pictures recently.... just thought I would add this for fun.

7 months update!! :)

Halloween 2009-- what a nut!!

My Uncle Bill's Funeral... Classic way to go to the cemetery!!!!

Beautiful things God does for us!

Mt Rainer!!!

The view off my sisters deck!!

So, I know, it has been forever and not all of you know what has been going on... Well, I am in Texas now. I was the last time I posted on here, but in between there, I was in Washington. I went back up there in hopes that a good job would pan out and that I would get back into the groove of being there. But, since I am here again, the job thing never really happened. I did have a job, that paid my bills, well kind of, and I worked for a great guy, but it just wasn't what I wanted and or needed. Being near my family was a blast and I had fun, even with Kevin :)!!! It so made me laugh talking about our lack of remembrance of things that may have happened in the past. It is good to laugh about it all... I love my family!!!

But, now, it is time to move on. I am back in the Houston area start work tomorrow at Ceva Logistics. I am excited to be moving forward. I am also working towards that Temple and hope that by the end of April or May, I will be heading back there. Life is good. I am happy with the choices I am making and the direction that every thing is going.

My dog, is not all that happy about being back in an apartment, but he is learning..... poor little thing...
but isn't he cute!!! :)

I will do my best to update more often....

Confused!!

Ok, there are so many things to play with on my computer that I just can't keep up... There is MySpace, Facebook, and this. And guess which one is lacking the attention... Plus, since I have gradeated from college and got my "BS" degree, I have not had the desire to be on the computer for any amount of time because I DON'T HAVE TOO!!!

it is such a great feeling and now I am thinking about my masters.... Why some of you might ask... well a few reasons... bragging rights in the family... first one to have a masters.... because I can is the second reason... and maybe because if I am in school, I can't get in trouble... HAHAHA.... haven't decided yet, but thinking about it...

Anyway, I will do my best to keep updating here and maybe even take some pictures to put on. Good luck Tif and family in your move to the south...

Happy Birthday to me

21 years ago I graduated from highschool on my birthday... neat huh.... so yesterday, I was done with college the second time.... got my BA..... and then today, the Washington Huskies women's softball team won the college world series....

Happy birthday to me....

Did you know, you are only as old as you act.....

WOOHOO, I'M DONE!!!!!

Since I am refusing to even find a place to attend graduation this time, I thought that I would post some pictures from my last one to make ya all feel better :) !! I am so done. I just finished my last team project and we are waiting to turn it in.... then I have one more easy thing to do and

THAT IS IT!!!!!


Can you believe that Kyrk, Sh'Nell, and Reed were ever this little... aren't we cute??

This was my crazy group from Ricks... Man did we have fun and cause a little havoc at the same time....

There is no way I can do this to Reed now... skinny little runt....

The blessed day.... Hope this makes up for having any pictures this year... :)


And this speaks for itself!!!!!!!!!


I am grateful to be finished. I am tired, I am so sick of reading stuff I have to instead of stuff that I want to... But, I have to admit, some of the stuff that I have "had" to read has been pretty interesting...

Now, I am going to take a nap... A really, really long one... Yeah right....

And then.... Tuesday is my Birthday.... WooHoo.....

10 more days

10 more days!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to tell you all again....

and Erika... OJT-- On the Job Training..... :)

Almost Done!!

I know that I have been a little slack on here, but you will just have to give me a break.... I finally got out of the academy and I was .3 behind being top in the class. That means 1 question different. I was a little on the irritated side, cause I should have had that. But I guess being second in the class of 88 will just have to do.... :) And now I am on OJT... Sitting in a classroom again... Do you know how tired I am of sitting in a classroom?????

But on the upside, I only have a few days of school left.... I am so excited to be done. On June first, I will turn in my last assignment, and on June 2nd, that is my birthday... Just thought I would throw that out there... So, after I have taken a break from thinking, I will do my best to post on here a little more. :)

Sick and Tired

I just wanted you all to know that I have 22 days of school left..... And that means that there are 23 days until my birthday..... So how about that.... And my goal is to not be sick by the time that comes... I have been sick for way over a month and I have had just about enough of it.... and oh yeah, I graduate from the Corrections Academy on the 15th of May.... so, look at me go...

Now if the rest of my life didn't suck, I would be ok.

Busy Busy Busy and sick

Ok, I know that it has been awhile and I have no pictures... but.. just like the title said... Busy, Busy, Busy and sick... I started the Academy 3 weeks ago and I have been sick the whole time. Do you know how much I hate to be sick? It makes me tired, it makes me grumpy and I want to smack someone.... How is that???

But, the academy is 3 more weeks and school is 5 weeks and I am done with both and living like a normal person. A job, a job, and a job.... that is it... NO MORE SCHOOL... I am so excited. Just wanted you all to know....

I have not dropped off the face of the earth although I would like to sometimes.. this being sick is for the birds....

1st day with TDCJ

Ok, I am so cotton picken tired!!! Today was the first day of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Academy. I sat on my rear end for eight hours.... Now you know why I am tired.....

Anyway... I think it is going to be great. I am going to get into shape, and learn more for the next 5 and 1/2 weeks. There are 86 people in my class and my Sgt said that he has not graduated a class with all of the people that started, so we shall see if we can be the first. I don't want to be the negative one, but I am not sure that will happen.. First impression can be changed though.

Anyway....my Sgt is pretty cool. There are actually 2 of them. But, for now... class work, PT, and the last week is qualifying on 2 rifles and a pistol.... I will keep you all posted, but right now... I am going to sleep....

No Longer Jobless!!!

So, my stint of not having a job did not last long..... I have been offered a position with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a corrections officer at the Wynne Unit in Huntsville Texas. I go into the academy on Thursday April 9th. It is 5 and 1/2 weeks of training and learning and so on.... I am excited... I have been told goods and bads of the area and the job, but everyone has their favorites and stuff..... I really wanted to go juvenile, but this is good for me too. I have an interview on tuesday with the Juvenile department here in Montgomery county, but it is only part time... I will see what they have to say and go from there...

I didn't think it would last long me being unemployeed, but i sure was liking the sleeping in part... Ok, wait.. I didn't sleep in. My house hold decided every day that since they were working, that I needed to be up too.. I don't think that is very fair, but oh well... what do I do. I tried beating them all, but there are too many of them and it wasn't a real fair fight... :)

Life is good.. Today I played 4 games of softball, spent the day in the sun and I am tired as all get out. Tomorrow I will make up for it and watch conference.... I know, kind of in the wrong order...

My body is sore.

NO JOB are you KIDDING ME

Ok, so I may not have a job, but my room mate is a slave driver!!!!! :) I have done more in the past 3 days since I got laid off than I have in a while... Here is proof... Today, I stacked wood!


I weeded the flower bed in the front yard, not done yet!!!!

Burnt leaves and stuff from the flower beds!!!!

And cleaned these two flower beds out and replanted... Ok mind you, Danni was here doing it with me, but she worked me to the bone....

And then there was the dinners.... Yes, I am learning how to cook more. I know how to cook, but when it is just you and no one else, what is the point. So, in the past few days, I have cooked. I made ribs last night and potato salad and if I do say so my darn self, they were both pretty dang good... And then Monday it was chicken noodle casserole.... and for lunches I made chicken fajita stuff to put in wraps..... and it was good too.... Danni decided that since I was home, I could do the cooking so it would be on the table when everyone got home... so nice of here... :)

So, if anyone says that I am slacking since I have been laid off..... come on and visit me.... there is a lot of yard to be cleaned and work to be done and things to learn to cook... Look at me go.. I even want to try making bread one day.... We shall see though, that is pretty domesticated!!! Not sure if I can handle that one.

I really do like not having a job for the moment... but I am really tired....