VirtuallyMe

Enter_School

2011-08-21T23:44:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe that summer is over! Friday was the last day of my fun job that I have loved for so long and where I have made some awesome friends. I have started at a new job now and it’s been quite the change in atmosphere- I gotta say there is a difference in professionalism when you’re in a place where there aren’t the highest of values leading the crew.

We are finally pretty settled into our new place. I like it a little bit better now that I have things on the way that say {my home} and it smells a little better now too- hopefully the smokey smell doesn’t come back any time soon.

It’s still hot and I’ll get out- sometimes I wonder if it’s really healthy to live in this heat…but then I think of the alternative and the cold that comes with it and I quickly become thankful for the sun that shines 99.7% of the time.

I have some thoughts and goals for this school year though that I think will help me have a better experience:

-Read my scriptures everyday, or at least listen to them in the car

-Eat a healthy dinner that I have made time to prepare

-Work out at least three times a week, running has to be one of those days if not two

-Do my visiting teaching EVERY MONTH!

-Have FHE every week, even it has to be on Sundays.

I have to make Christ my top priority and I have to do it every single day. I really need his help to make it through this tough semester and I know that I can do these things and that it will make a difference in the outcome of my daily activities.

Good luck this upcoming week! God bless and keep smiling no matter how hard things get. If you can’t find anything to smile about think of this:

my baby sister was falling asleep in the car tonight on the way home from dinner, she couldn’t keep her eyes open but apparently her hands and mouth still worked because she was still eating her pretzels while she slept.—oh to be young again!

Family Sunday

2011-08-21T23:30:00.001-07:00

Once a month my mom’s family gets together to celebrate birthdays for the month and to have a family dinner.

This month was pretty strange because it’s the first time we have really been altogether since my grandparents have gone on their mission. We met at my aunt’s school because it was pretty in the middle of everyone and we have a yummy dinner and then we did an activity.

My aunt Becky was the one in charge so she came up with a Halloween idea to send to my grandparents in South Africa. She printed pictures of all of the grandkids and we cut out their faces and then put them on a poster. Then each of the kids drew their Halloween costume around the picture of their face. It was pretty fun to see what everyone came up with.

**we are pretty hard core BYU fans in this family**

It’s so great to get together with family. We miss so much the family that we don’t get to see very often and grab any chance we can to all be together.

Enjoy the pics!

{Hugs for Grandma and Grandpa Kimball

2011-08-08T20:08:00.001-07:00

So I have a brilliant aunt- ok that's a lie, I have a lot of brilliant aunts. But this one that I am talking about came up with the idea to send my grandma and grandpa hugs while they are on their mission in Africa.

Well I have kind of slacked on sending some to them-- but I will fix that! (tonight actually)--and I wanted to share them with you all cuz I think they are cute and uplifting and inspiring. If anything, this will be good for posterity sake.

So here you go- hope you can enjoy these. (ps, these are totally not in the right order so forgive me)

Here are a few of the hugs that have been sent. Others have been as attachments:

A HUG FOR EVERY DAY YOU'RE AWAY!

Mom & Dad,

Just a few words about the hugs. Though I will be sending them here to this address they are directed to the both of you. Each family will be assigned a certain number of days, depending on the size of the family. You'll get hugs in the form of quotes we've heard, funny stories or jokes, musings or memories from one of us. Pictures the kids will draw for you, photos of parties you've missed, etc. Most times, as is such in this email, the hugs will come in one email but will be meant to read progressively over time. So don't read ahead! Just read that day's hug that day and the next the next, and so on. To minimize the temptation to read ahead I've put big spaces between each one. Refer to the subject line to see how many days are included in the one email. Originally I was going to put these all on a file in your computer and label them "TOP SECRET", but life turned so completely upside down in the months before you left that I never could get it coordinated with all the family in time to make it what I wanted it to be. So... through email is really the only way I could do it so that it wasn't a huge project for each of the families all at once. Don't worry about printing our hugs. I will be printing them as we go along so that they can be saved in a binder. Hugs are not meant to be replied to, unless you wish. They are merely for your enjoyment and a means of being connected to your kids and grandkids while you are away, just as if we could give you actual hugs.

love, Cari and all of us

Here is your first hug!

HUG-July 5, 2011

Some Quotes about hugs:

A hug delights and warms and charms,
that must be why God gave us arms.
~Author Unknown

I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war. Where everyone hugs instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.
Shel Silverstein

" A hug is a great gift - one size fits all, and it's easy to exchange."
Unknown
Love you Mom and Dad, miss you already! -Cari

HUG-July 6, 2011

“The greatest good we can do in helping others become what they can become will be to lead them to the Savior.”
D. Todd Christofferson
Law Allows Us to Reach Our Potential

HUG- July 7, 2011

Picture of Cari and Jared (Sorry... couldn't get it to copy and paste right...)
"LOVE YA KID!"

HUG - July 8, 2011

This reminded me of Becky and Aaron's, "grown another head" skit. "then I could be my own companion...."
HUG - July 9, 2011

I'm especially grateful for my parents for going on a mission--I got their house" Drr!
It's still clean by the way!! Love you both!
HUG - July 10, 2011

Corinthians 16
20And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people;

21He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he ^areproved kings for their sakes,
22Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.
23^aSing unto the Lord, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation.
24^aDeclare his glory among the people; his marvellous ^bworks among all nations.
HUG - July 11, 2011

"Group Hug"
Happy Sunday Mom and Dad!!
I wish we would've taken a goup hug picture when we were all together. Don't these leemers seem so happy, snugled and content?Maybe you'll get to see some leemers!!

HUG - July 15, 2011
Last night I met with the pianist to discuss our plans for ward choir.
We've adapted this song (We thank thee oh God for a prophet) to add a choir. I've been preparing it all week. She loved it! And that made me feel good. Wish I could share the details with you, and sing for you what it'll sound like but I can't do that. Here is a link to hear what the piano music sounds like. If you like his music you can download it to your computer and listen to it when you get ready in the mornings or any other time. Love ya. -Cari
http://hymnarrangements.blogspot.com/2007/09/we-thank-thee-o-god-for-prophet.html

HUG - July 16, 2011

BOTSWANA COAT OF ARMS

Safe journey to you as you travel to Botswana! - Cari

HUG July 17, 2011

This really is a sunday this time. Happy Sunday!!

I came across this video this week on the church website. LOVED IT! Hope you enjoy!

http://lds.org/pages/international-video-contest-winners?lang=eng#life

If you want to see more of these fun “hugs” see my “Family Newsletter” page.

We relocated…again!

2011-08-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

Because of a lot of drama and gross mistakes we had to relocate to a new apartment.

I was joking with my friend one night that I had made it a goal to move every year that I am married. I told James this story and he VERY strongly disagreed. He hates moving! And after this time, we both really hate moving. It seemed like one wrong thing after another happened.

Yes our place is cute but not exactly in place that I would have liked. We had to sell one of our beds, one of our couches and give back the jetta to my parents. On moving day I sprained my ankle within 10 minutes of loading up the truck. Oh and the night we moved in, my parents were helping and just happened to be parked in the wrong lane outside our apartment and when we walked out- well what do you know, the cards were gone! Both of my parents cars were towed and 500 shiny green ones later, we finally got them back. And top the whole thing off! Our apartment smells like SMOKE!

**if anyone who reads this smokes or does anything like it, please stop. among lots of other things, it really makes my clothes stink and my husband’s head hurt**

Ok that’s the story with relocating. Don’t worry- I am completely {in}sane and totally coming to grips with everything that has taken place. Regardless of the hardships that seemed to be lined up at my door I feel so blessed to have clothes in my closet, food in my fridge, a car to drive me to work where I can earn and save, and I have cute pictures on my wall so I don’t have to stare at ugly white going to bed and waking up. Oh and I have a good sweet husband who lends me his shoulder every once in a teary moon.

I am happy and I am excited to start this upcoming school year and to be in a new place. I think it’s a great adventure and as long as I have my dear James, I will be totally fine

ps—I used the font “elephant” for this post because I felt like I had a huge hunk of stuff to get off my chest. (ya I know, pretty corny- but you liked it )

Monday Again

2011-08-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

Hey all- Love this talk. Hope you enjoy it too :) Have a great Monday!
http://speeches-files.byu.edu/download.php/Wilcox_Brad_2011_07_12.mp3?type=2&fname=Wilcox_Brad_2011_07_12.mp3

Electronics overload!

2011-07-10T13:31:00.001-07:00

So James is a techy sort of guy. That was one of the things that I love about him. But I have a confession to make- one of the major reasons we have a two bedroom apartment is to make room for ALL OF HIS COMPUTER STUFF!!!! One day I was organizing and I thought to myself- you know what I need to document how much “stuff” around this house is really James’ and how it really does make what I keep a little less daunting! We have two closets full! I thought I would share

free SD’s from some company...

Thousands of cords!

8- seriously- EIGHT! computer towers!

Other computer parts

The current tower that he built

The T-shirt he obsesses over- for the company he works for.

These pictures do not include his dual screen desk set up, his two laptops, his TV, or his HTPC (home theater PC)…. And he says I spend too much money on clothes- ya whatever ;-P

And just a little plug of where my funny cat likes to sleep. Hehe

Massive Update Time…

2011-07-10T13:15:00.001-07:00

It's the summer time and I am desperate need to catch up! So...here we go:

Meet Bu!

She is our new car.

She is a 2007 Chevy Malibu and we really like her. We still have Crayola- she and James have actually become well acquainted recently since he took her out on a dirt road and busted the oil pan. He and the young men took it apart and fixed her all up. Then the battery had to be replaced haha. Crazy adventures with Crayola- I guess it would be us to have a car that requires so much up keep. And every time we decide we are going to get rid of her, we keep her for some reason?! Oh well. Everything has a purpose right?

My crafty side of life that I don’t have a lot of time for

Yay for weddings!

Brett and Tia

Olivia and Taylor

It was a lot of fun to be at these two weddings of such good friends and to see friends and family we hadn’t seen for a while. And it is so awesome for the eternal families that they each have made- it makes me happy when I see how getting married in the temple brings so much joy into my friends’ lives.

Along with the trip to see Tay and Olivia married, we also go to go to California!

James and Coug at the beach

We got to meet up with our friend Johnny and Kisa and their baby Coug at the beach.

Kisa was turned into an Octopus!

(gross picture of me :{ ) Johnny was made into a MerMan hehe

It’s always fun to play at the beach especially when you get to see good friends.

We also saw my Uncle Mitch, and my Gma and Gpa Whitaker while we were in California. It was a quick trip but a much needed trip! And we love to see Mitch and my grandparents at any chance that we get.

In June James’ Grandma Christiansen had a stroke so we sent James on a plane to get there in time to say goodbye because the doctors said it was probably the end for her. He got there a little too late but he was able to be there as a support for his family during the tough time. I got in the car and drove to Colorado after work and I took Mason with me. He was there for moral support as I drove the long journey all by myself.

It was a sad time but also a happy time for the family because everyone was able to be together. She had some great services and James was able to dedicate her grave- which was pretty cool. We had the graveside service in Castlerock near the place that James’ mom grew up so we got to go around and see all of the places that she lived. That was a really neat experience!

Old house

Old school

Creek behind the school

Apparently making sand used to be a fun thing to do ;-P

Having fun on the playground!

Random tub on the playground haha

Make a wish

It was a really fun trip to Colorado and I learned a lot about James’ mom’s family- I love educational trips! (I know, I’m weird) I got a pretty good record of some of his mom’s memories that I want to type up for her and put in a cool book…shhh! don’t tell!

We celebrated my grandparents wedding anniversary by throwing them a huge party and kind of recreating their wedding! It was a lot of fun and the family all dressed up in animal print since they are serving their mission in Africa haha.

Baby Hinzlee

Cute cousins

Funny Brother

Mom got to see a few old friends from college

James was Indiana Jones haha

We re-wrote a “I just can’t wait to be King” from The Lion King and changed the words to “I just can’t wait to serve my king”

Crazy family pictures! haha

The cake cutting!

Love you grandpa!

101/1001

2011-03-20T22:31:00.001-07:00

I was blog surfing tonight and I ran across this blog and this idea and I decided that instead of just making new years resolutions I was going to do this idea. So miss Kait (who spells your name like my sister ) I am going to fulfill your number 14. Love this idea and thank you so much for sharing!
So here’s the deal:

About The Project

Sponsored by Day Zero, the home of the 1001 Day Project. A unique challenge that inspires you to set and achieve your personal goals in life.
The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.
(Taken from www.dayzeroproject.com and http://sethandkait.blogspot.com)
Start date: February 6, 2011
End date: November 3, 2013
bold means I am working on it
~~strike words mean I am finished oh happy day!~~
1. finish personal progress
2. finish book of mormon in 100 days (here we go james!)
3. go on a date once a month
4. go to the temple once a month
5. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet
6. inspire someone to make a 101/1001 list
7. finish wedding scrapbook
8. print my blog into a book for 2010
9. dance in the rain
10. kiss someone at midnight
11. buy a gun...i think
12. and learn to shoot properly
13. make pillows and finish drapes
14. make a quilt
15. prepare names and take them to the temple to get work done
16. write my grandma and grandpa on letter a month while they are on their mission
17. go sky diving
18. hike through a canyon
19. run a 5k
20. run a 10k
21. get a bachelor’s degree
22. pay off my car
23. make James’ mission scrap book
24. write a letter to all of the people that have impacted my life for good
25. drive the California coast ( the PCH)
26. Take James to New York
27. ~~Go with James to a Broadway show~~ -- we went to see wicked together this year. (2011) and surprisingly, James loved it! Can't wait to go see another one!
28. Fit back into my Wedding Dress—I saw on a blog somewhere, this lady takes a picture of her babies in their blessing outfit and her in her wedding dress…That would be quite the accomplishment! We’ll see if I can do that…
29. Watch the series movies: Lord of the Rings; X Man series; Bourne Series; Oceans series; Batman series; Harry Potter series; Star Wars series; Anne of Green Gables series; Chronicles of Narnia series…and James will probably want to add more
30. Read at least one book every month
31. Make a red velvet cake
32. Go camping on the beach
33. Learn how to snow board
34. Go to General Conference in the Conference Center
35. ~~Go through the Salt Lake Temple~~ Best experience EVER! I got to go through with my cousin CR and with the rest of my mom's siblings. All 8 kids in my mom's family were able to be in the temple at the same time. It was a great experience. And it was a live session which was pretty remarkable- I really would like to go back some day soon!
36. ~~Volunteer at a hospital~~-- I work at the Northwest Medical Center in the Cardiopulmonary department. I help with stocking and going around to the different departments in the hospital to make sure that all of the Respiratory Therapists have what they need to do their job. I love going and participating in the great service environment. This hospital has an awesome volunteer department. I didn't realize how many people volunteer- it is quite amazing. I feel like this experience is also helping me get ready for school! (which i start Respiratory therapy school in the fall :) )
37. Make one new meal from a recipe once a month
38. ~~Give someone a Book of Mormon with my testimony in it~~ For Christmas this past year, I gave one of my friends a Book of Mormon. I just kept feeling like I needed to write down my feelings in a letter and give her something special. Well what better place to write down feelings in than a Book of Mormon! I have no idea if she will ever pick it up and read it, but I know that I feel good about giving her the gift that I did.
39. Build something out of wood- like a bed frame or a shelf
40. ~~Plant a garden- make sure to include Jasmine!~~ We planted corn, tomatoes, beans, green onions, watermelon, red pepper, and Jasmine. We have picked several beans that were oh so amazing to eat. We also have picked one tomato and have three more almost done! There are ears of corn already growing and the watermelon is vine-ing like crazy! The Jasmine smelled amazing when it bloomed! I love having that smell right there before I walk into the house. We are still waiting for the red pepper and the onions to do something more... Oh we also did cilantro and basil. The cilantro I think would be best as a potted plant because it didn't last long being in the ground, and the basil did poorly at the beginning but then shot up and we love being able to season food with fresh herbs. It's been super fun to grow a garden and I have learned a ton for my next garden! This is something that I really want to make a big part of life though- it is so wonderful to see fruits of labor literally.
41. Make a family history book
42. Build up a good food storage supply
43. Learn how to can food

The New Stuff going on in Young Womens

2011-03-20T22:29:00.001-07:00

This year has been fun in young womens so far! We have done some new things that also some old things but I really feel like my girls are getting something from Young Womens. One very satisfying things that has come from Young Womens was a letter that came from one of my girl’s parents- she e-mailed and said that her girls work on Personal Progress every Sunday. They read their scriptures every night and they are just excited to be sisters and daughters of God.

Oh my goodness! What a great feeling it was to hear that! It makes me want to do my job the best as I can and even better! It reminds me how grateful I am to be in Young Womens and how strong these girls are.

In January we set goals for 2011- I had the girls make book marks for their scriptures and write their goals on the back of the book marks. There was on short term goal, one long term goal, and two goals for personal progress. On the front of the book mark was the 13th Article of Faith since that is the theme for this year and the year in big bold letters.

In February we had New Beginnings. The theme was Come Unto Christ- we had tons of pictures of Jesus all around and some cute mood lighting. We also had a big banner that said Come Unto Christ in the front. Each of the members of the presidency got up and talked about difference aspects of the Young Women’s program and how it would take the girls closer to Christ. We also had all of the Laurels and some of the Mia Maids get up and bear their testimony about how the Young Women programs has helped them learn more about their Savior. It was a really fun night and we had some comments from the girls that it was the best New Beginnings they have every had.

Also in February I set up all of the girls to be on the personalprogress.lds.org website so they could use that if they wanted to. I felt like the girls are on the computer so much anyway, this would be a perfect way to keep them completely in-tuned with their progress. Some of them really like it, others really like the book. It was a very simple thing to do and easy to use. If you would like help getting started let me know

In March, we went back to the basics, and with Choice and Accountability #1 we taught the girls how to pray and how to study. Then we read all of the required scriptures and spend the rest of the time letting the girls study on their own and pass things that off that they needed to pass off.

Now it is Camp season so our activities will be sparse but I am way excited for our next one- we are going off of Integrity #3. There are tons of scriptures to read but we are going to have the girls act them out, each will be in a group, they will read the story together and then act it out for the other girls and then explain why each story has to do with Integrity. I will let you know how that one goes.

Next Sunday is the Young Women’s general broadcast. Our stake is also going to be recognizing the girls that have finished or are close to finishing their young women medallion. We wanted to have as many girls finish as we could so we have been encouraging them like no other to try to finish or at least do as much as they can- we probably have about 5 girls that are going to be recognized and it has been so fun to see them all working really hard to finish for this night! I am thinking of having a big ice cream party at the end of the year for all of the girls- for each value that you have finished, you get to add a topping to your ice cream…or something like that, still fun for everyone but the girls that have been working really hard get an extra treat.

I have become a little crafty

2011-03-20T22:26:00.001-07:00

It has been a way long time since I have posted and I feel terribly bad. Life has gotten extremely busy and I don’t know where exactly time has gone. I can’t believe that it is the middle of March. I am counting down the days til the end of this semester so I can be finished with my associates and move on to the stage on life.

James is doing very well in school and is enjoying all of his classes. It is so fun to see him learning so much and understanding things that I could only dream of understanding. He works so hard all the time in school, the two jobs that he has, and with his side business of PC Repair. On top of all of that, he is always a good husband to me He plans to graduate in December of 2012! That makes me so excited! I can’t believe it is only 1.5 years away! Closer than we have ever been before!

My schooling is going well. I having officially applied to the NAU nursing program so I am now just waiting to hear back on their decision. If I get in, I will start in the Fall and it will be a 5 semester program. I am going to work full time this semester too…oh the joys of having to pay a car payment and all of the other bills….

We haven’t really had a whole lot of relaxation time this semester, but we have gotten away a couple times. We went to Phoenix with a two of our couple friends and went four wheeling and shooting. That was an awesome weekend! It’s great to have friends with connections to fun toys! Another weekend we went to Phoenix and stayed in a fancy hotel (thank goodness for Priceline!) and went to a Boyce Avenue concert- James’ favorite band. It was probably one of the more entertaining concerts that I have been to. They were very good at getting the audience involved and because it was in a smaller venue, it was easy to hear and see. We have also been able to get together with friends on multiple occasions for parties and just to hang out which is always a good break.

One of the things I like to do in my spare time is blog stalk. I love seeing all of the things that people create and make and how cute everything is. Well for Christmas I got a sewing machine and I decided that I needed to make a few things around my home. I decided I needed to be a little crafty. So I have done two things so far for my home in the sewing department, painted something, made some pictures for my wall, and sewed a hat with my friend Loni’s help.

The things that I sewed for my home are two pillows, soon to be 4 because I needed new couch pillows. The ones that I had before didn’t really match the scheme of my family room so I needed something different. So I found some cheap drapes from Walmart and decided to make new pillows. James wouldn’t let me just buy some because he said that they are a waste of money cuz they just get thrown around anyway…..this is conversation that we choose not to have lol.

Next sewing project will be to finish the other two pillows and also add fabric to my drapes so that they actually touch the floor. These projects are very easy sewing things and completely beginner. The hat that Loni helped me sew was so not as beginner but it was way fun to learn! And I am very proud of the final outcome. I look forward to making more fun things like the hat and the pillows….maybe someday my sewing lines will become straight….

The pictures that I made just say “HOME” and they are now on a vacant wall that will soon be painted and need more décor on it. These were super each and cheap- I got a package of frames from Walmart for $12 and a booklet of paper for $5. Then I used my sister’s Criket to cut out the letters and tada! The pictures are finished. Soon there will be the accompanying words “FAMILY”, “LOVE”, and “FOREVER” on there…or something to that effect…it’s a work in progress. And hopefully I will be able to finish!

I have tons of plans for other things to do and I can’t wait until I get a good moment to do everything. There have been many times that I have told James I am going to quit everything and just stay home to play with arts and crafts…he never really says yes or no, just kind of laughs.

that’s pretty much all for now—I will post lots of pictures later…I have to wait til I upload them on a different computer cuz my computer sd card drive is broken and in order to fix it I would need a whole new computer inside thing (no idea what it is, that’s James’ job).

Til next time!

Happy February

2011-02-06T22:47:00.000-08:00

So a long time ago I had this theory that I hated Valentine’s Day. Like seriously, I loathed the holiday and I was determined the no one was ever going to change my mind because the hate ran that deeply in my soul.
Well I am here to say that my heart has been softened a little bit by my best friend James. See the thing is, I kind of feel in love with this best friend and now I feel happy to have whole day where I can tell him and show him and do funny totally girlie things to show him that I have a corny side too and I really don’t mind showing it off to others if it is telling them that he has a wife that just can’t get enough of him.
In conclusion- this post is to declare happy loving! If you have a man show him that you care and totally go crazy with valentine’s day. be corny, be cuddly, be cute, by a new outfit, get a few more candles, buy some yummy lotion, put on some lipstick and make the day all about him.
I personally have this book that I like to add to that is filled with coupons and letters to him (that I will never let my mom read, type of letters-sorry mom nothing against you) and places for pictures. The purpose of this book is for not only James to let him know how much I love him. But for my future generations. I don’t ever want anyone to ever question how much I love James and how much he means to me. I want our memories to be written down and shared.
So friends, happy loving! If you have a fun idea for valentine’s that is appropriate to share leave a note, I would love to hear!

Time Flew

2011-02-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

So last thing I wrote about was before Christmas and sadly I have not blogged since.
James and I had a great holiday season and we feel so blessed for having such wonderful families that make the holidays so much fun!
We spend Christmas day here in Tucson with my family. This was really quite a unique experience for James, especially since my family has such a specific way of doing things when it comes to Christmas. A few days following Christmas we took the fun drive up to Colorado to spend New Year's with James' family. We were both pretty under the weather the whole ride up and let's just say it was just short of a miracle that we made it there in one piece. Thank goodness for Mama and Papa Mertz and their cure all vitamins that had us better in no time. I will say, I am sorry to them for showing up at their home smelling like a car ride and looking like a train wreck and for having a tissue box as my companion for most of our time there.
Here are some pictures of our Christmas season.

It is a very sad thing that I did not take more pictures….I will have to get some copies from my mom’s camera and I think James’ mom took some too so I will need some from her.
*Goal for 2011: take MUCH MORE pictures!*
And then all of a sudden it was the new year and it was time to come home from Colorado and go back to work. Getting back to work set my new year goals and all of that back a little bit sadly. And then it was time to go back to school for both James and myself. So then I was set back even more, and laundry piled even higher.
Finally it is February and I feel like I can really start the new year. I have organized my home, planned out my school year, started my last semester at Pima Community College, and I am happy! I am not depressed, I am not sad, I am more patient, I can go a full week without getting discouraged, I am so ready for 2011.
Within the next couple weeks I will be posting more about Christmas- I have some funny stories to share. Things like:
^The New Bu
^New Diggs
^$250 spare
^101/1001
Also, I will be updating my Personal Progress page because there are TONS of fun things that I have planned for that this year. And my recipe page because *Goal: Cook more for James- more specifically: *Cook two new meals a week*Cook two freezer meals every other weekend*
And there you have it. A quick blog update about how fast time flies. I look forward to sharing more because lemme tell ya, I have missed sharing my thoughts and writing things down: *Goal: Blog every week*Goal: Journal every Sunday*
With love
-ness

Coke and Mintoes

2010-12-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

So I should be doing homework right now but I had to share this-
James and I were talking about what we are going to do about our car situation tomorrow. I asked him I was going to get to class at 1pm while he is working and he has the car.
He thinks for a minute (or maybe he was sleeping) and then he replies, " The answer is simple. Here's what you do. You take a couple of bottle of Coke and some Mintoes and you stand by the side of the road with the Coke bottles lined up just so. Then you put the Mintoes inside of the Coke bottles and a bunch of Coke will go everywhere and someone will feel sorry enough for you to offer to give you a ride. The plan is seriously flawless."
I sat there and all I could do was say, Oh goodness.....

I think I may have a very sleep deprived husband on my hands.. BUT he did clean the entire messy home while I was gone at the Relief Society Christmas Program. I guess he really does see what I need done. :)

Finals week! Here we come! You shall be conquered!

The Spirit of Christmas

2010-12-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

What shall we give?

What shall we give to the babe in the manger,
What shall we offer the child in the stall?
Incense and spices and gold we've got plenty-
Are these the gifts for the king of us all?

What shall we give to the boy in the temple,
What shall we offer the man by the sea?
Palms at his feet and hosannas uprising;
Are these for him who will carry the tree?

What shall we give to the lamb who was offered,
Rising the third day and shedding his love?
Tears for his mercy we'll weep at the manger,
Bathing the infant come down from above.

Enjoy what I am enjoying too :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/MormonMessages

Tonight at mutual we worked on Divine Nature #3. We wrote letters to people that we wanted to serve for the next too weeks in the spirit of Christmas. We talked about the different traditions that the girls have that have to do with service- the things they do with friends and family at Christmas time. Some of the stories were way cool to hear and a lot of fun to share.

In closing tonight I tried to express to the girls how wonderfully blessed they are to know that they are loved daughters of Heavenly Father and it because of His Son that we are able to celebrate life and learn how to return to live with Them again.

I am now lying in my bed thinking about how crazy it is that the year has only a few days left. As I look back on the past year, I am trying to think of the times that I spent an extra few minutes to just pass on the Spirit of Christmas by servicing someone else- regardless of the month that we were in.

I am also thinking about how many people have served me, and how grateful I am to have friends and family who love me and care for me and for James so much.

Christmas is my favorite time of year- so I am resolved to take it with me throughout every month of every year. Why wait until Christmas to make the effort to love and help other people.

I love nights like this where I can ponder and just think about the way my life is going, about the different things going on or the things that I would like to have going on in my life right now.

I hope you can take a night every now and them and think about what gift you would give Christ if He were here this Christmas. Ponder where you are in life and where you want to be. Give thanks for the blessings that have been given to you- both good and bad.

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and hope you are able to find the Spirit of Christmas and take it with you into each month this next year.

If you have any fun traditions- I would so love to hear :) I always love a good story.

with love- Ness

Hunting in Morenci

2010-12-05T22:49:00.000-08:00

James recently went to Morenci to go hunting with his buddy James. I tagged along to visit my friend Noell- his wife- and their baby Aubree.
James Hughes took James Mertz bear hunting for the first time. They had a great time! While Noell and I loved to the time to visit and catch up. We also did a little project for Aubree's room.

I think James looks hot in army clothes :) --my james of course, no worries Noell

Our Aubree project.

We love our good friends and jump at any chance we get to see them.

Photo Shoot- Glam style

2010-12-05T22:35:00.001-08:00

So while we were at Thanksgiving, I was taking pictures of Camri, when some of my other cousins came up and asked if I would take their pictures. Of course I said yes, and the next thing I knew, I was laughing and smiling at these cute 4 years olds glammin' up the camera.

See for yourself!

There's been a change in plans....

2010-12-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

James and I have been through quite the up and down week! Thank goodness for blogging and be able to clear my head. For my readers- welcome to my brain, I won't be offended if you think I am crazy after this, I promise. For my future generations who will read this when it is printed in a book and passed on, please know that it is because of weeks like this that James and I somehow fall more in love than ever before and that I feel my Savior's more strongly than ever. I know that I am not asked to do more than I can handle and I know that if I turn to Him and rely in Him, He will help us make the right decisions.

So you've read about Crayola. Well she got fixed! I just don't know if she is mine anymore (she legally belongs to my dad) because Braden is getting his license pretty soon. I have now done about 24 hours worth of car shopping I think and let me tell you I hate it! If anyone has any good advice about picking out a car- please fill me in!!! How is it that I can choose something that I will be using everyday, that doesn't cost 20 bucks like a pair of tennis shoes? How is it that I choose a reliable vehicle that I can trust? How is it that I can find out I like something in a matter of minutes, have the deal work out, and then have no return policy?!
So there's the car situation.

Here's the change in plans.
All the way back to Thanksgiving.

James and I had originally planned on driving to Colorado to be with his family for Thanksgiving.

The weather had other plans in store.

Enter: huge blizzard warnings.

Enter: roads closed through the pass.

The ending? We can't go to Colorado.

Don't get me wrong, I love being with my family during the holidays and we ended up having a great time!

I just wanted to get out of Arizona! and spend time with James' family-

we miss them!

So you've heard the saying, when a door closes, find a window? Or something along those lines, well

James and I decided to invite his Dad's brother and sister and grandpa to come

to a second Thanksgiving dinner with us and James's sister and husband.

I am SO glad we stayed for that one reason!

We had a such a great time with his aunt and uncle (grandpa couldn't make it).

It was so nice to be able to hear them reminisce about their childhood, and their favorite parts of visiting

family. I am such a sucker for old stories. Not to mention, some pretty darn good food was made. I also tried a new recipe for rolls and made a yummy apple pie.

This Thanksgiving helped to remind me that family is so great. I am so blessed to be part of

two families that love the Lord and love each other. I am blessed to have married a man who wants

to make those things a priority in life, and cares enough about me to

help me to do better every single day.

Isn't it great that we have a whole day to remind us of the things that make us who we are, the

people that bring us great joy, and the blessings that are being poured upon us

everyday.

So here is a look at our thanksgiving day.

All in all- I fell so blessed to be who I am, in the place I am, with what I have, and the purpose that is in store for me. This is what I thank the Lord for everyday.

Dear sweet Crayola

2010-11-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

My dear Car Crayola,
How sweet you have been to me these past 5 years. How reliable and fun you have been to me. How handi you have come. How many memories you hold.
My dear Crayola, the time has come that you must now pass....I have put many band aides on you and even some complete replacements, a few enhancements, and sadly a lot of my dad's money. (Thanks dad!)
You have taught me a ton and helped through some pretty tight spots. I will always remember you as my first car. The car that I learned to drive stick shift with. The car the people looked at me funny when I told them you took Diesel. The car that no one could ever start. The car that went fast. The car that I will always remember....And don't worry, you can never be replaced.
Sadly, you broke on me. You gave it your all until you could not go anymore. You tried to make it a safe spot but half way through the turn the smoke and brokeness got in the way. I know you wanted to keep going, I could hear you still trying, and thankfully no one ran into me when you had to pushed off the road.
I hope you will always remember me Crayola. I hope you maybe find a new owner to take car of you and love you like I did. I hope you can take car of someone like you took car of me.
I hope I find a good, new car, just like you.
Good bye Crayola.....

Holidays smell SO good!

2010-11-29T11:30:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving and Christmas are seriously just around the corner and I am so excited! This years James and i will be traveling to Colorado for Thanksgiving. I think it will be fun to see the traditions that

James grew up with and to spend some fun time with his family. Last year, we were with my family and

it was filled with babies and a lot of people! We had such a great experience though- there were three baby blessings and so many people that we love. What a great way to

spend Thanksgiving, and what a great reminder of what Thanksgiving is all about.

This year, I am looking forward to making great memories with my other family :) It'll be fun to have some different weather too- maybe even some snow!

Lately, James and I have been so busy with school and work,

that we have had little time to think of the upcoming breaks or vacations, but we have had the amazingly fun

chance to have Rex and Amy and their little boy Adam live with us for the

month of November. Rex has been doing a rotation at the VA here in Tucson

and we had the extra room, so they came to live here! It has been so fun to have a little one around

all the time and to be able to spend time getting to know Rex and Amy better. (Rex is my mom's brother fyi)

I think one part that James has really enjoyed has been the amazing meals that Amy has made for dinner!

Check our Favorite Recipes page for some of the ones that we love that she has made.

It has also made me realize that I work too much! I want to be home cooking

dinner and trying these yummy recipes out....How many years til we're done with school again?

The other things that are going on around here-

We just had Young Women's in Excellence for our ward it turned out GREAT! I am so glad that

I am able to work with these wonderful girls and to be able to see them

create and grow and gain a testimony or the love their Savior has for them. Check out the Personal Progress page for more about that night.

well a few days later and Thanksgiving has already come and gone...see next post :)

Apartment 65-103- Welcome :)

2010-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Colorado Trip

2010-10-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

after spending the hot months of june and july we decided we had to get to some place cooler. thankfully james' sister becky was having a reception in colorado. james and i took off work, packed up the car, loaded lucy into the car and started to drive toward the cooler parts of the earth: montrose, co.
have i ever mentioned how i love it up there? no?...ok, well i love it up there! this trip was kind of bumpy for me because i was feeling oh so not good. i don't know what i had but it made me sick and tired and i felt nasty. no i am not pregnant but i sure think i fooled my in-laws ;)
the reception turned out lovely! becky made such a beautiful bride. and tyler made a handsome groom. i am so glad that they close to us now so we can hang out and stay good friends.
i played with my camera at their reception. here are some favs:

while we were in colorado, we also went to the park and to a cute little town called glendwood springs. it was fun to be able to just relax and spend time with family. james' family is wonderful and i am so glad i can have the last name mertz :)

Best friends, the Mertz'

2010-10-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

So you already met Lucy. The cute tabby cat that we added to our happy home. Well after our trip to Colorado and falling in love with the kitten who was there, we now have Rickie added to the bunch. So, Rickie and Lucy now have best friends, The Mertz' :)

Camri's First Birthday

2010-10-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby sister is already a year old! She turn 1 on September 16, 2010 and she walked around all day waving around her 1 finger. I don't think she really knew what she was doing, other than getting a lot of claps and good jobs from everyone.
She has become quite the little character and I can't wait to see what the next few years bring!

Mertz Camping -Take 1

2010-10-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

so I know it was like a month ago that we went camping but life got busy once again and I have yet to post about the fun experiences that we had on our fun camp out.
my history of camping has been:
*Girls Camp- 6 years
*Ward Campouts- probably just a handful
*Family camping- maybe almost 10 times in my life....
in other words....not much REAL camping experiences.

so here is what i learned from real camping:
1. get to camp with plenty of light left in the day
2. make sure you bring extra batteries, a working lantern, and dry wood
3. setting up your tent on an incline= a restless night with a slight feeling of falling
4. check to be sure you know where the bathrooms are before it gets dark
5. hand sanitizer is a MUST
6. if you are going fishing, make sure you go to a lake that has alive, swimming fish
7. close the tent doors, especially if there is a baby sleeping baby inside the tent

the purpose of this camp out was for James' 24th Birthday. we wanted to go on some sort of vacation but lack of money didn't give us very many options. so I decided I would surprise James and we would go camping with some of our good friends. I had it all planned out- where we were going, who was going to bring food, how much it was going to cost, what time we were going....everything that was necessary for the weekend stay in the wilderness.
we got up there friday night just as the sun was setting. we hurried to unload the truck and to set up our tents so we could see with the little amount of light that we had. after the tents were standing the men tried to start the fire. sadly the wood and the dirt surrounding was all wet so starting this fire took three men, 2 hours and a bike pump to get a slightly good fire going.
dinner was amazing and i am happy to announce that i, Jenessa Mertz, ate not only one hot dog, but TWO whole hot dogs that night for dinner and let me tell you they were not half bad....but i think that i will stick to my initial response to hot dogs: gross, no thank you. but that night on the mountain, with lots of mustard and the fire to roast the outside crisp, i loved those hot dogs.
for dessert, james and i made peach cobbler which was delicious! and i love that camping makes food taste so much better than at home.
we all sat around after dinner and just enjoyed the break from every day life. the one thing that i do know about camping and that i love, is that you are just separated from everything worldly. unlike any other type of vacation, you are completely immersed in natural living and that state of living helps to remind you what things are the most important. for me, that feeling, is good. *maybe that is why girls camp has some of the most amazing testimony meetings ever???***
sleep was pretty chilly and i don't think james and i have ever slept as close as we did that night (our air mattress was a little deflated so we gradually sunk closer and closer to each other all night ha. ) but at the same time, we kept each other fairly warm and it was really nice to think about all the stuff that i didn't have to do the next morning.
james and i were in charge of breakfast the next morning and let me tell you, that was yummy stuff. pancakes with an eggs, sausage, and bacon mixture were on the menu. james did the mixture and i did the pancakes. it was extremely filling and yummy.
after breakfast was all cleaned up and we had pretty much everything put away to be ready to leave in time for check out, we went to the lake and just chilled. some people road in the kayak, while others, like me, just laid in the sun and soaked up the good feeling of being outside.

we went back to the site, finished packing up the trucks, said our good byes and "we have to do this again"s and made our way back to civilization. it was a fantastic weekend and i think james loved his birthday present. :)

Personal Progress ONLINE!!!!! :)

2010-10-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

I am so excited!!!!
The new interactive personal progress website has finally started!
This is a very user friendly website and very fun to work with. Thank goodness there are techy people in the church headquarters who realize how helpful this is now going to be for Young Women leaders.

So the website, if you would like to start working on it or would just like to check it out:
personalprogress.lds.org
In order to begin working with the interactive part, you have to create an LDS username and password.
I am going to be starting my own personal progress again so keep checking the personal progress page for updates on how things are going or if I find any cool new ideas.
Young Women in Excellence in coming up VERY soon. I will be posting exactly what we are going to be doing soon. I am so excited for this year and it feels awesome to be planning something again.

Another fun thing that is available for help with missionary work:
www.mormon.org
As a member of the church you can make a personalized profile where you are able create your own place for your non-member friends and acquaintances to go and see what your religion is all about. If you are a non-member, visit the site, or stay tuned for my personalized page for you to check out.

I hope everyone enjoyed and feels blessed from the wonderful General Conference that we just experienced. I know that I feel more committed to be a better person and do what I can to be a better example and member of this church.

Pictures and updates of what's going on with our lives to follow :)
-Love always
-Ness

Life's Measurable Accomplishments

2010-09-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to my parents home to have a family dinner and family night. We had yummy waffles and sausage and eggs and bacon for dinner and then after. I think having breakfast for dinner is something that I will always remember as a favorite past-time. Hopefully it will be something that I continue to make special with my future family- I think James is still having to get used to that idea though. He is more of a good roast and potatoes for Sunday dinner type man. (I am totally fine with this though, because he makes an awesome roast, if I do say so myself).

After everything was cleaned up we sat around on my parents new couch and just talked. It has been awhile since we have done this because of the crazy lives we lead. It has been especially crazy lately because my parents are re-doing their home. New carpet, new floors, new walls, less walls, new doors, less doors, and more- that's for a different day though.

James and his amazing techy sense set up my dad's computer to the TV and we were able to watch some different Mormon Messages and talk about how blessed we are to be members of a true church and to be a forever family.

My dad also talked about some of the training that Elder Christopherson gave when he was here a couple weeks ago. What stuck out the most to me was "Life is not just about activities. Change the "just activities" to Life's Measurable Accomplishments.

we went around the room and said one thing that we could work on individually to make our accomplishments more measurable. It was good to here that we are all working together to be better people. It was good to hear that I have a support system near to me and who love me.

Goal for the week: to make the things that I do more measurably accomplished.

hope everyone have an awesome sunday and has a fantastic week. next time: i will fill you in on the great learning adventures of the mertz camping weekend. :)

sincerely,

-nessa

Dear friends....

2010-09-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

this weekend my dear james and i are going camping with some good friends. we are going b/c of james' birthday. here's the slight problem though.....i don't really know how to camp lol.
any good tips or ideas?! any and all would be extremely helpful <3
-ness

2010-09-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

Found this Cd off of the Nie Nie Dialogs and i love it!-- although i have not heard the whole thing yet....a friend of mine gave me a copy of the cd Sum of All Grace years ago and miss mindy has been an inspiration to me ever since! check out her stuff! http://mindygledhill.blogspot.com/
-ness

Julie and Julia- My new favorite

2010-09-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Much to James' dismay, he walked in to our room on Friday night to me watching an chick flick, the sort of movie that he would probably sleep pretty well through. For me though- I was browsing Netflix and found this movie. It looked like a normal love story and I had heard of it before, but hadn't heard anything about it. To my surprise, two minutes into the movie and i was hooked! i was going to really love this movie.

if you have never heard of this movie before, i suggest you go watch it because it is amazing. well let me rephrase that- if you are anything like me, or you like to watch movies that make you want to get up and be something/ do something huge, then you will like this movie. added bonus: if you are a netflix account holder, you can watch this movie on instant play!

anyway- this movie made me want to be more organized with my life- to have things in order so that i have the ability to just try new things and go on new adventures.

some things that i would like to start doing:

-train with a group of friends to run a 5K (i am actually going to start this a week from tomorrow if anyone is interested in joining the team to train)

-make some cool Christmas presents for my young women, my young women leader friends, my parents, james' parents, and james' sister. and i mean like actually make something that's really cool and something that they will each love and use.

-i think i would actually like to start cooking. but not just any cooking, i want to learn how to be a provident living cook. so that would mean that i would make freezer meals so that we have something to just thaw out when we need something quick and easy, i want to learn how to can fruit so i can add to my food storage, i want to be able to save us some money by the way i cook....

-i want to devote more time to being a good young women leader.

-i want to start and finish my wedding scrap book

so here it goes- yesterday i started with organizing. i made my own little (and i mean really little) lab-or-i-tory for all of my little knicks and knacks. i cleaned out all my closets actually and threw away everything and i am not using and that is not necessary to my everyday living. it feels great!

next step- finish the 5K training plan and send it out to all friends. i am super excited about that one :)

til next time!

-ness

Meet the new addition!

2010-07-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

So i would like to introduce everyone to the new addition to our family :)

ignore me...look at cute kitty :)

everyone-- this is lucy :) my new pretty kitty! she is a very playful kitty and just ask james- she loves playing at 2 am (hehe...i love that i am a deep sleeper). she was given to us by my aunt and uncle mike and anna to watch while they are staying in a different house for a little while. so i went out and bought a cute pink collar and a tag that says her name all pretty like and a fun carrier case. she goes with me where ever i can take her and i love her :) hopefully we'll be able to keep her for a while!

just for kicks :) here's camri at the pool

Birthday!

2010-07-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

my yummy birthday restaurant :)

so i am finally 20!
no longer a teenager...and james did awesome at making this weekend a wonderful birthday weekend. i felt like i had a birth-3-days instead of just a birthday.
friday night he took me a beautiful restaurant called Luna Bella then we went to cold stone for some yummy ice cream (cake batter ice cream with crunch bar and crunched inside to make it really crunchy)
then on saturday james invited over some awesome friends and surprised me with a fun party!
sunday we had a bbq with some really good friends and got to catch up on being young and having fun.
Monday was the big day and pretty much i worked all day and then went to see the awesome movie inception at night.

the very good and cute cake that the office shared with me at work on monday :) thanks ladies!

so stinkin delicious! and so pretty too!

I had a wonderful birthday and i love that i got to spend so much time with my baby james :)

Under Construction....

2010-07-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so...it's a work in progress and i am still learning, but this is all i can do in one day...if you have any feedback please feel free to share! one day i will get this blogging thing right! :)

and just for my sheer enjoyment i would like to share a few pictures with you that i love:

post signature

Long time no see....

2010-07-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

it has been a super long time since i have posted anything....last night the young women had a personal progress party and my friend loni showed a mormon messages clip that inspired me to post again- and to make it habit...kind of like journal writing. so when i woke up this morning with a terrible stomach ache and the wonderful feeling of well...ya....i decided that i would re-vamp my blog and make it something i enjoyed doing. i decided that blogging needs to be something that is part of my journaling, something that will be kept for future generations to read about.
i feel that once i have kids, my blog will become more interesting but for now, i have other joys in life that i would like to share and things that i feel blessed about.

This summer has been one of the best. even though i had summer school, james and i have been able to do some pretty fun things.

to begin with, james' sister Becky was married on July 4, 2010 to Tyler :) it was fun to help with the planning and hectic chaos of making a wedding happen but it was even more fun to in the same room that james and i were married in and here the amazing words of the sealer saying that they (and remembering that we) can being together forever.
james' family stayed with us for almost a month during the wedding time. thankfully james and were house sitting for a good two weeks of that time so the family kind of had our place to themselves and we could have our together time. we miss being close to james' family and we are grateful for any opportunity we have to be with them.

I started working full time as soon as school ended and it looks like that's what i am going to be doing for a while. i like working at my dad's office- it's fun to interact with different people and hear what different things people have to say about things.
a couple weeks ago my dad and i were sitting on the beach watching my brothers and james play in the ocean and my dad kept making comments on people who would walk by and different clips of the conversation we would hear or the expressions on their face that we would see but had no story as to why it was there. it was pretty fun to imagine why they were saying the things they said or why they looked they way they looked. it also made me realize that 1- my dad really enjoys people watching, and 2- each one of us truly is a little bit different than the next person. we all came from the same place and from the same eternal parents but we are here because of a certain purpose.
one of my young women gave a talk couple weeks ago and she said something that i thought was pretty profound. she said: "there is something that we are each here to do that no one else can do." talk about such a divine role!

continuing on...
james and i been married for one year!!!! i can hardly believe how fast it has flown by and how wonderful it has been. we have definitely had our learning moments but i think that is pretty normal for the first year together.... :)
for our anniversary we went to disneyland with my family and had an awesome time! there is a new show at california adventure that i HIGHLY recommend and i think i want a copy of it so that i can project it on my wall at night while i fall asleep. --ok maybe that's a little bit too extreme but it is pretty incredible! the show is called World of Color, and if you have the chance to experience it, please do! ( oh and coming soon to california adventure? RADIATOR SPRINGS!!!!- for not so fluent Cars freaks, that's from Disney and Pixar Cars :) my "secret" obsession)

we also spend some time at the beach and just driving along the coast. it was a much needed vacation and we had a lot of fun!
i have been to disney several times in my life and it has yet to lose its magic for me- but each time, it's a little bit different. :)

coming up in our wonderful summer- we are working a lot so weekends are pretty welcomed around here. we will probably do a lot more swimming, maybe a few bbqs, hopefully a birthday party (please james?!), going to merinci (sp?) to visit some dear friends and their precious new one and at the end of the summer we are going to colorado for becky and tyler's open house (yay for weather that is not killing hot!).

that pretty much wraps it up in the " this is what we've done department" and in the "what's next aisle".

i feel so blessed to be the person that i am today- i enjoy so many things in life that sometimes, actually a lot of times, it becomes kind of overwhelming. last night at our personal progress party we learning about faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, and choice and accountability. even though i am old and i have graduated from the actual program, i learn something new every single time i sit down to either prepare something for the girls or teach a lesson. this program is not only for the girls from 12 to 18, it is for every woman that lives in the beautiful world. it is a gift to us from our heavenly father.

with that: things that i am joyful about
* my dear husband
* my family -both near and far
* a fun summer!
* being done with school ;)

until next time!

Busy

2010-04-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

My life is just busy. But I love it. And I love my husband. We are finally upgrading to a bigger place and things are just really good right now.

I also want to say, that I love that I have amazing friends and family.

Hope everyone is having a happy spring!

2010-03-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Time

2010-01-14T11:44:00.001-08:00

Dear Time,

I am 19 years old. I am married. I have been married for like ten months! (HoLy GoOdNeSs!!!!).

It is now 2010. I have been alive for almost 2 decades!---that makes me feel kind of old.

I am almost starting my Sophomore year of college. I still remember my Sophomore year of high school like it was yesterday-kind of. Sophomore year of college seems to have less drama but costs more....I haven't figured out which one I would rather live without.

And even though I have dead lines and I am always late because of TIME, I also have a lot of thanks that goes to TIME. (oh and because of no time, no one but James and my parents know what has been going on in my life....)

School is so crazy. Thank goodness for no homework Sundays that give me a break from the constant school demands. James and I both are either going to school or studying for school...and when we are not doing either of that we spend our time making a little money to help pay for school.

Since I have been so stretched for time I will give a quick summary of what has been going on in our lives lately:

-Let's start with December

*James and I finished our semester strong and very glad that it was over. We quickly

packed up the car and our suit cases and got in the car with James' sister Becky and drove to

Colorado. It was an ok drive- I strongly dislike driving- but I made it ok.

*James and I spent Christmas with his family and had a TON of fun. Sadly it wasn't a white Christmas

which we were all hoping for, but it was definitely cold and it was so good to be with family.

*For Christmas presents, we gave Kaeti and Gloria "new rooms". It was hard work but I think they really

like them. (I hope they do anyway...)

*James and I also got to spend some really good time with his grandparents. Although situations weren't

exactly ideal, we all came out stronger in the end.

*And probably one of the most important things about the trip was David's baptism. Way to go David! James got to baptize him and his dad did the confirmation. What a special moment for all three of them :)

*Our time in Colorado was short but sweet. But we had to come home quickly to get to two

really good friends' weddings. Both brides were beautiful and both grooms looked very happy. Congrats to

them both and thanks for letting us spend time with you on your special days.

-Happy New Year! (January)

*Shortly after we returned to Tucson from our holiday travels, James' family came down to visit us!

It's so fun to be with family and friends for holiday seasons and thankfully we got to be with both families

when we brought in the New Year

*Also during their stay here, we were able to throw a surprise party for James' dad where a lot

of Willcox friends came down. We all had a wonderful time and we actually managed to make it a real

surprise!

*Sadly all vacations have to come to an end...I had to go back to work, James had to go back

to school and our house needed to be cleaned really bad.

*School started up again and after that, time just seemed to fly....next thing we new, it was February!

-February

*Not too much happened in February...we spent countless hours working and going to school

and thankfully we got to play with friends on the weekends :)

*I am the Personal Progress leader in Young Womens and for the I was able to go to the temple

with the youth and be the leader for the first time. It was such a special experience. I can't remember how

many good temple trips I had while I was in Young Womens and I am so grateful to be able to be apart

of these girls lives and the experiences that they have at the temple.

*Valentines Day brought some fun events. Aro Hale (my mom's nephew) was baptized

and the whole family on my mom'sside had a family party. Also, James and I had a fun dinner

with some of our good friends. We also were able to see Becky, James' sister, shortly after

she was swept off her feet and agreed to marry her prince charming, Tyler. Yay!

Two weddings in row for James' family! James and I were able to spend a quiet night together-

he got me some nice bath salts and a chick flick that he agreed to watch with me (which is a HUGE deal!)

Over all, Valentine's Day was very, very good!

*The end of February brought my Dad's parents. I so LOVE when Nana and Papa come. They

were able to be here for the Candler's priesthood ordination. Candler, finally turned 12 and is officially a

Deacon. It was good to have all of the family together and to see Candler so happy.

*Along with Nana and Papa's visit, was a wonderful Family Home Evening lesson from Papa.

The told us all great stories form when he was a boy and things about his family that none of ever knew.

Thank you so much Papa for sharing your stories and also your testimony with us. And thank you both

Nana and Papa for coming and sharing your time with the family.

*Oh ya, and Becky has been so wonderful and has let me help her with some wedding plans.

So during Rodeo Break, Becky and I went to Mesa to look for a wedding dress. :) Found one! But I'll let her

do the showing of her special dress.

-Now...March

*One of my classes is ending (next week actually) and so my life is going into double time for a

week. Hopefully I will make it through...

*The week after next is Spring Break and James and I are going to IDAHO! ...ok sounds weird

but I am excited because we get to see Chase. My cousin who has been on a mission and he is finally coming

Home :) Oh and, we get to ride on and AIRPLANE! I may hate driving, but I love flying!

So I think that's about as good of an update as any...Time sucks sometimes but for the most part, I am thankful

for time. For the time I get to spend with James, my family and such great friends. For the time I have to learn

about good things and about the wonderful gospel.

Sorry for the forever long update but I hope you enjoy!

~Ness

Got a little catchin up to do....

2009-11-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

October seemed to fly by without my permission. So many days just began and ended without even a blink..ok, I am exaggerating a little bit but not much...

We started out the month lovin on my new baby sister Miss Camri Abigail Whitaker. She is a doll and such a perfect little angel. We are so blessed to finally have her in our family. I still can't even believe she's here sometimes, but it feels good to have all of my direct siblings here with me. :) If you ask James, I was a little obsessive about her the first couple weeks, and then it was just obsessive the next couple weeks and now I have a calmed down to almost normal (I think...). Many people are askin if I am getting baby hungry and I am just puttin out there now: I want to be a mother really bad but I know that now is not the time for that. Right now I am livin and lovin every moment I get to spend with my sweet husband.

Speaking of that dear man. The weekend after we got home from Utah, he decides to take my dad up on the offer to go to San Diego for a BYU game. He would leave Thursday night after class and drive to Yuma. Friday they would get up early to drive the rest of the way to San Diego and go to Lego Land. Friday night would be the time to play at the beach. Saturday, get up, get all BYU Blued out and go to the game. After the game, drive all the way home. Quick trip and ALL BOYS. That's right, I stayed home. **My frist night alone since being married ** sniff, sniff...
But I was really glad that James got to go. It was all the boys: Dad, Braden , Candler, Mason, Bennett, and James. Alot of the cousins went too and Grandpa. It was a good break for all of them and they all had a blast.

I did get to spend some time with Becky, my mom, Kait, and Camri. Oh and I dyed my hair all brown. Well medium copper to be exact- but it looked really brown and dark. I was kind of scared what James would say...
It's lightened up, so he was ok with it :) It's been a fun change.

The next week was crazy with mid terms and work and cleaning the office every night and mutual to go to...the list can seriously go on lol.

But we made it through and ended it with a way good trip to the temple and then out to eat with my aunt Cari and our friend Brett. We got home pretty late but we had an awesome time at the temple and being with good friends.
Saturday was another road trip and party.

First was my mom's baby shower. She got tons of way cute clothes and things for Camri. It was good to see family and friends and kind of relax from a long week. Then later we got to go our friends wedding reception in Douglas. We had a great time and it was so good to see Johnny and Kisa so happy. :)

The last week of October was a rush of a ton of things going on. The semester is fast ending so teachers are piling everything on that they can. James and I are doing all we can to stay caught up and alert in class...Dang, real life is hard! But again we ended the week way fun. Since it was Halloween there were a lot of festive things going on.
Friday night we went to the institute dance with our friends Loni and JB. They had this way cool "Vortex of Doom" thing there that was extremely trippy to go through. We didn't stay at the dance for too long though. After, we went to Loni and JB's house and watched a movie. Although I think it only ended up being James and JB who watched, Loni and I kinda fell asleep after a little while...

Saturday was a very special day. Mason, my brother was baptized. James and I both have brothers who turned 8 this year and both were in October. But David, James' little brother isn't going to be baptized til Christmas time when James and I can be there.

Anyway- Mason's special day was on Halloween. What a cool day to get baptized! And he'll never forget the date, well I hope not at least lol.
Family and friends came and Mason was even a great missionary and invited two of his awesome friends from school to be there. Way to go Mas!
It was so fun to remember my baptism and how great that experience was and to watch Mason have that wonderful day of his own. How blessed we are to be apart of the true church and have these amazing experiences with the ones we love.
After the baptism was a luncheon with some very yummy food and some fantastic pumpkin bread that I made :) Jk, well kind of hehe.

For Halloween night James and I went to Loni and JB's house again to have dinner with a few other couple friends. We had dinner in a pumpkin which was so so good and ghost potatoes and pumpkin squash. It was way good and we had a lot of fun. After dinner we played a funny egg game and then Catch Phrase. It was a pretty intense game! After a while it's hard to come up with creative ways to describe things lol.
(Sadly I don't have any pictures from that night. But it was really fun :) )

Finally, it's November. I can't believe how fast this year has gone and how many things have happened. We are excited for the holidays and the family that we are going to get to see and the friends we will see on their special days :)

That's all for now :) ~Enjoy

Did I really just say that?

2009-10-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

So there have been a few times that I have been really out of it and said something that has given James a pretty good laugh. James wanted to make them into a comic strip and call it "Sleeping with Jenessa". I am not sure if that will ever happen but I thought I would share some of them with you...

Somewhere around 1:00 AM

Ness: (suddenly sits straight up in bed) James! I know why your back hurts!

James: (noises that indicate he is waking up) What?

Ness: I know why your back hurts. We need to flip the mattress!

James: What?

Ness: (lying back down slowly) We um need to um flip the mattress....

James: Ness? Ness?

Ness: (breathing/ snoring soundly)

James didn't really like that one, it was funny but he said it took him forever to fall back to sleep.

8:00 PM--Doing homework

(Both James and Ness working on homework on the computer)

Ness: (Error screen pops up on computer that says "Connection Interrupted) James, you connected my interruption!

James: Haha, what? (smiling like he has a secret)

Ness: Oh wait, did I just say that backwards?

James: Ya....but I will connect your interruption anytime honey.

Same day but earlier

Ness: (talking to friends) You should text her and see if she has a brothered name David!

Ness: Oh my, did I really just say that? I meant, a brother named David....

I think I have dyslexia of the mouth.....

Ok last one for now....

3:00 AM

Ness: (awakened suddenly) James! Do you smell that?

James: (again noises that indicate he has been woken up) Smell what?

Ness: There is something cooking in the oven.

James: (Thinking, who would be cooking at this hour?!) Nothing is cooking Ness.

Ness: No James, really there is something in the oven. It smells familiar....

James: (noises that he heard me but he's not really wanting to stay awake)

Ness: It smells like chicken! Like chicken nuggets!

James: Are you serious?..... Ness?....

Ness: (Snoring/breathing steadily)

James: seriously?...

I hope this doesn't happen too often! ......Enjoy <3

Hey James, wanna go to Utah?

2009-10-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Thursday October 1, 2009. Apt 910, 10:30 pm

I am looking at my house with suitcases packed and cooler out wondering oh my goodness what have I gotten myself into.
The plan was this: Wake up in the morning, James would take off work to get the car ready and I would go to class to take a quiz. James would get the car serviced while I got some of my lecture notes from class. James would come pick me up, we would go pick up my brother and then head off to Utah. We would then drive pretty much all night to get to Utah.
I was excited yet somewhat nervous about leaving on such short notice when we had so much homework to do and other things to get done. But for some reason, none of that seemed to matter.....so we finished packing, got into bed later than I wanted to and tried to get some sleep even though both of us were really excited to be going to Utah.

Why would we do this crazy thing on such a spur of the moment? Well pretty much, it's because we can. And because I think we were meant to go....
My uncle called by some miracle and said that we could stay in his home, which meant that we didn't have to pay for a hotel. Such a blessing! My dad let us borrow his car we didn't have to worry about whether my car would make it or not. Another huge blessing! My brother Braden and James were able to go to the preisthood session in the conference center even thought neither of them had tickets when we went up there. That was an amazing thing for both of them and I am so glad they were able to go. I think the biggest blessing of it all was that we were able to see some of James' family.
James' sister Becky was traveling up to Utah with some friends and James' mom with 2 sisters and David were driving over from Colorado. Sadly we didn't get to see the entire family but being with the ones who were there was so wonderful.

Driving wasn't too terrible but I still hate sitting in cars for such long hours. Braden kept us company until he fell asleep...and for the rest of the drive we just talked. Even James and I had some great talks it was still such an amazing feeling to finally get to my uncles house and go to sleep.

Saturday we watched conference at the house and then got ready for the afternoon session (got all dressed up in church clothes) and went to Temple Square. We sat on the lawn by the visitor's center and listened to the 2nd session of conference. It was fun to just be surrounded by family and hear the wonderful words of the apostles and prophet.

After the session was over, we went into the visitor's center to look around a little, then over to the church history museum-- it's amazing what they have been able to preserve for so many years! I have always found it so fun to hear the church's history and all of the amazing people who were apart of it.

After the museums Braden and James went to the priesthood session and all of us girls and David went back home to change and make dinner.

I had so much sitting and talking with James' mom and sisters. We had an awesome time and I think that this trip will be something we will remember for a long time.

Another part of the trip was letting Braden see some of his friends from EFY. I took him over to one of the girl's house Saturday night while James and I went to the store to buy food for breakfast the next morning. He had a really good time :) If you want details....I'll tell you later ;)

Sunday morning, my friend Cortney, her roommates and her boy :) came over for breakfast before the first session. To keep up with tradition, I made biscuits and chocolate gravy. I also made regular sausage gravy and eggs and muffins for anyone who didn't want to eat the yummy chocolate. For my first year, I would say they turned out pretty good but mental note for next year: make the biscuits from scratch, not the ones that come in a tube that you keep in the fridge....

Braden's friend also came over that morning, to watch the first session with us. It was kind of sad that our trip was coming to an end really quickly but it was so awesome to be with James' family and feel of the spirit.

After a rushed effort to get everything packed and the house back in order we were all loaded up into the car and ready to go...Sadly....but we needed to get home, it was already getting to point where we would be arriving home pretty late. After hugs and kisses and last minute bathroom stops we were on our way. We had to drop Braden's friend off first, and bless her mom's heart, she made us a plate of goodies for the road. Then we stopped at my friend Marah's apartment to say a quick hello and have her finally meet James. We got back in the car and the second session was just starting so at least I had something fun to listen to on the way home :)

Aside from wind and a meeting with a handicap sign we had a pretty uneventful ride home. Wind slowed us down quite a bit sadly but we still made it in less than about 12 hours. The meeting with the handicap sign was not exactly the best thing but to make a long story short, a car rolled through a parking lot knocking over a handicap sign and wedged it under my car. Damage was minimal and the man who did it stuck around so we were able to get insurance things worked out.

Now finally home and back in the swing of things we are grateful for the opportunity we had to go and see conference and be with people we love. We had a great time and it helped to get us back on track in remembering what things are the most important in life.

Apt 910

2009-09-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

So I have finally gotten pictures of my apartment. Sorry it's not the cleanest but you get the idea :)

Enjoy ~<3

Happy 23rd Birthday James!

2009-09-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

August 29, 2009
James is officially 23 years old.
James and I have officially know each other for exactly one year.
I am officially not good at making cheesecake.
Our friends are officially awesome and thank you for sharing this special day with James and me.
Becky is officially a great pianist.
Fruit is officially amazing.
James and I are officially blessed :)

I think this post is officially over ;)

~<3

Barefoot Slushies

2009-09-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I have updated and some pretty exciting things have happened :) School has officially started and life has been SO BUSY!!! But James and I still thankfully find time to do random things....
Like our Friday night date night a couple weeks ago (August 28 actually). We were watching Indiana Jones and I had the sudden urge to go to Sonic. So we grabbed a whole freak load of quarters and got in the car. We decided finding shoes would be a waste of time, so we went barefoot :) For people who know me, I hate wearing shoes anyway, so this is really not out of the ordinary.
We then came back and played Settlers of Catan card game which turns out to be pretty fun. And I feel pretty proud cuz it was my first time and James actually felt pretty threatened that he was going to be beat. What can I say, I guess I'm just good ;)

Here are some fun pictures :)
He looks so excited huh ? lol

Yay! SONIC!

They asked us to wait............it was pretty difficult.......

Yay for slushies! :)

My bare feet. James says I have stubby toes.

Playing Catan :)

We had a really fun night. I have really come to love our Friday night date nights. It's been an awesome time to just relax and just have fun. Anybody have any fun, creative, cheap ideas for us?

~Enjoy <3

Would you Rather??

2009-08-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

So here are some funny videos of both me and James. I think I got the rotten end of the deal, but either way we both have fun :)

Other summer adventures before we have to say goodbye to our sweet summertime and begin the awesome life of "in school" mode.
My dear friend Cortney played with me a lot this summer...I was sad to see her leave. But good luck Cort and have tons of fun at BYU this semester. I'll be happy when you come home again though :) (ps- so not an attractive picture of me...)

I went to Willcox with James and Becky to see the place where they grew up and also to meet their grandpa. It was a very fun trip and I had some amazing root beer!

Megan and Paige also came to visit this summer. Two girls that I love and I am so glad that I got to see them and they were able to be apart of my wedding this summer.

Hopefully the next post will have pictures of our apartment. It's been fun to get it all organized and all prettied up.. but I'm not going to lie, this whole being and adult thing takes a whole lotta energy!

Well that's it for tonight :)
-til next time...

Inspiration on a hard day

2009-08-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

So yesturday wasn't exactly the greatest day of my life. It wasn't the worst either, but there are just some days where I think, Dang, I should have stayed in bed.
The details of the day don't really matter, but what does matter is the light and inspiration I felt at the end of the day.

Most of the time when things are hard, I will sit down and write or I will lose myself in a book. With writing things down, I am able to get the mess out of my mind. With a book, I become lost in another world and my own feelings don't matter, I live with the characters in my book.

Well last night as I was lying in bed pretty much feeling sorry for myself, I chose to enter the world of Emma Smith in Anita Stansfield's Emma: Woman of Faith.
First of all, here I am throwing myself a pitty party when I have the comforts of nice home and the support of family and great friends and the love of a wonderful husband (who isn't perscuted wherever he goes).
Ok so strike against me- I am way too good at being sorry for myself. That has def gotta go.
So I start reading. The part of the book I am in, Emma is given her own revelation through Joseph Smith. Well for some reason I couldn't keep reading without the nagging feeling that I needed to go get out my lovely Quad and read this section in the D&C. I got up and went to living room and started to look for the section- it took me a while to remember which one it was.
Finally I found it, D&C section 25. I started reading the section heading and found out the the previous chapter (ch. 24), this chapter ( 25) and the following chapter (26) were all given for the reason of encouragement and loving guidance while the early church was going through some difficult times.
Well I decided, I think I need some encouragement, I could use come guidance out of this selfish rut. So I started reading with Ch 24. I found some great versus in both 24 and 25 and I still need to read 26 to find what more great words await.
I thought I would share some of these versus with anyone who wants to read. :)

D&C 24:8
Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.

D&C 25:3
Behold thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady whom I have called.

D&C 25:9
And thou needest not fear, for thy husband shall support thee...

D&C 25:13-14
13. Wherefore, lift up thy heart and rejoice, and cleave unit the covenants which thou has nade.
14. Continue in the spirit of meakness, and beware of pride. Let thy soul delight in thy husband, and the glory which shall come upon him.

So after reading these things, I felt a whole lot better. I felt like I have a whole to improve on, but I felt better. I am so grateful for prayer and for scriptures, to know that my Heavenly Father's love is real and that He really does know me.

Well that's my bit for today. Maybe this will help someone else who may be havin it rough today.

Pro Wedding Pictures

2009-08-16T20:09:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Lucky me

2009-08-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

So the last time I posted, I wasn't married and I was no where near as grateful as I am today. A lot has happened in the past, well since June 26th, however long ago that is (approximately 1224 hours ago exactly) and during this time I have learned more than I ever thought I would learn without being in school.
To start off I want to say Oh my goodness thank you to everyone who was supportive and helpful and loving and so much more with the wedding. Both James and I feel that everything turned out so perfect. For those of you wanting pictures let me know, I will give you the link to be able to order some of your own. If you just want to look at the pictures then here a slide show of all of the professional pictures, I warn you though, it is A LOT of pictures!(It is actually a different post but I think you will be able to find it)
To start off the festivities we had an awesome family dinner the night before the wedding. This was put on by James' family and it was great. We were so happy to be surrounded by our loving family and friends and to have a good time with everyone. James and I were extremely excited about friends and family that came into town just for our wedding. We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.
The next morning started off bright and early. We had to be ready to go at the temple at 6 am for pictures. We had a lot of fun with the pictures and even though it was early it so nice not to have to be out in the hot hot sun for two hours after the sealing. Early morning was def a good choice for pictures.

The sealing was amazing. So much could be said about the wonderful things that sealer talked about, but to sum it all up, we felt like the spirit was so strong in that room as well as the love that we felt from the people surrounding us, both in person and in spirit. We couldn't have been blessed with a more beautiful setting to be sealed for time and all eternity.

The reception was SO MUCH FUN! At least that is what we thought. So many people that we love and are such good friends were there and it was great to see everyone. Although we were extremely tired by the end, it was great to see everyone and have a good time. Someone was telling me the next day that they had talked to the guitarist we had there. He was so impressed by the amount of fun that everyone was having, he said, "I have never seen so many people have so much fun with out any alcohol!" Hehe, that made me chuckle. Thank you everyone for coming and supporting us, we really did have an awesome time and it was because of everyone that was there that it was such a great day.

After the wedding we staying the night at Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort which is the place where James purposed. It was a beautiful place and I have resigned myself to thinking that it will be a long while before I will ever be able to afford to stay in a place like that again...

The next day we started our honeymoon off with a quick stop to sat bye to James' family (who were all staying at James' and my apartment) and then my family- both places took to teasing us after a little while and we decided it was time to go. Although we did get in a few more bites of cake from the reception and that was very enjoyable. (Thank you again Kitty!) James and I went to California for our honeymoon. We stayed near Disneyland and for those of you who know me well and know my family, I have grown up LOVING Disneyland. I am a huge Mickey fanatic and if I could, I would live there. We got to California on Saturday night and pretty much just crashed when we got there. Sunday we took a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was such a beautiful day and it was so much fun to just drive. We had a fun little car so that made things pretty cool too :). We had dinner on the beach that night and just kinda enjoyed the nice weather and the realization that the stress was over and we were finally married!
Then Monday we went to Balboa Island and rented bikes. That was really cool. It was a little overcast so it was just perfect weather for just riding around. Towards the afternoon we turned in our bikes and I got pulled into the water...IT WAS FREEZING!!!!!! But we did have a good time.

The next couple days were spent at Disneyland and we had an awesome time. I think our favorite ride was Space Mountain. The fireworks show and Fantasmic were a lot of fun too. I think we will def have to go back :) The picture of the Barbershop Quartet is an awesome story. I'll have to tell that one at a different time...

After some really really fun days at Disney we got in the car and drove to Colorado. A very pretty drive but extremely long! (For those of you who know me well, I DO NOT like long car rides, just as my parents and siblings, and now you can ask James, they will all confirm this statement)

The Colorado reception was a lot of fun. But I think I will write on that one at another time too because I think this post is really quite long...

Now James and I are pretty settled into our new home. It has been very fun getting our new place all put together and decorated. I'll get some pictures of that and be sure to post those soon too.

We are very happy and very thankful for the life that we have been blessed with. We have so many blessings and are thankful to the Lord everyday.
We are also getting ready to start school comin' up here soon and getting really exciting for my Momma to have her baby :) (I'm gonna have a new baby sister!)

Hope everyone is doing well. I will try to keep this up to date more often, I'll get this whole blog thing figured out, I promise!

Enjoy!

~Nessa and James <3>

Counting Down...

2009-05-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

Not too much longer left before the big wedding day! Lots to do, not a whole lot of time to do it and I have to keep reminding myself that breathing is a good thing...

Right now I am in California with my family :) Oh how I love the beach! And thankfully it does wonders for my stress level. So as I enjoy this wonderful California weather and water I will update on the latest happenings..and there have been quite a few.

First and probably the most exciting thing is that invitations are finally done! Oh what a happy day it was to say, "I am finished." But there was like a full week of morning to night work to get these invites ready to go. Thank you those that helped! You were a very awesome blessing.

During this time of getting invitations ready to go, James was on his last straw of being sick. He went through about a full month of one sickness after another. Finally after going to the doctor we found out that James had the wonderful sickness of Mono. So with pain meds and naps and not a lot of eating James so willingly helped with the invites and then packed his bags to go back to Colorado and catch up on rest. Thankfully he was feeling a whole lot better when he left to go home so he was able to have a good trip and spend time with his family.

A few other good things that have happened: -I finally got a job. I will be working for Social Security. A full time job and good pay. Just what I was looking for. -James has a job in a lab at the University. He will be working with one of our friends and it is in the field of study that he wants to go into. James will also be taking a Calc class this summer to get ready for the upcoming fall semester. -School for me is finally over! Very relieving and after long ours of studying I was able to pull off a good semester. :) One down...uh I am not exactly sure how many to go. -My mom found out that she is having a GIRL!!! We are all so, so excited!!! It is also pretty exciting because two of Mom's sisters will also be having girls, Shaleigh and Becky, and we can't wait to find out what Amy is having. (James is just worried that with all of these babies coming around, I am going to get some weird ideas... ;) hehe. No worries babe, that's not in the plans right now)

Well I think that is about all for now. James and I are so excited that the wedding is so close. We have just about a month left! Time has seriously flown by. We are anxious to get to see those that will be coming into town and those that won't be here will be in our hearts. Hope everyone is doing well!

Music and Lyrics

2009-05-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hey,

So for the wedding I am planning on trying to use people's love songs. But I need your help. I need for anyone and everyone to tell me you and your sweetheart's song. If you don't have a sweetheart, then what is your favorite love song?

I hope to hear from everyone soon! :)

(Sorry this entry is so short. I am kind of short on time today. I will hopefully be able to get an update done this weekend.)

Up to date...

2009-05-03T21:58:00.001-07:00

So I have decided that it would be a good idea to start a blog to keep those who want to know, informed about wedding plans and details. If I can keep it up to date, I will posting maps and addresses, times and places, who's and whats and anything else that is important.
I can't believe how fast time is flying!
May is already here and we will be getting married like next month!

So here is what I know so far.
The official date of the wedding is June 26,2009. The sealing will be in the morning at the Mesa Temple and the reception will be later that night at the Rancho Vistoso Building in Tucson. There will be maps and addresses posted later.
The next week- July 3- we will have an open house in Colorado for James' family, there will also be addresses posted for that one too.
Honeymoon details-for those that want to know, I am in that same category too. It is going to be a surprise from James' Mom and Dad. We are so grateful to them for helping us out with that! And we are very excited to see what they have planned. :)
Also, special thanks to everyone else in the family and all of our wonderful friends who have helped with planning and doing different things to help us get ready for this wonderful day. Thank you for all of the hard work you already have done and the things that you will all have to do! We really appreciate everything that everyone has been doing. Your help has really made our lives easier.

Invitations will be coming out soon- we are def. excited about that one. These wonderful little pictures have been the main focus for like way longer than I would have liked them to be, but I am excited to finally get them out and finished.

Other things going on in our life-
James is starting a new lab job at the U of A that he is very excited for. He will be helping do research with of friend of ours- they are both going to school for medical engineering. The work that they will be doing sounds very interesting however, I do not, in any way, know how to explain what it is that they will be doing. :)
I am just finishing my first semester at Pima Community College. Finals are this coming week, I am actually not too nervous about them, just more excited to be done with the semester. I am looking for a job for this summer-I have had one somewhat promising interview so we will see what happens..
James has moved into the apartment that we will be living in. It is a cute little one bedroom with no washer and dryer and I love it. Ask me if I like when I have a full load of laundry to do, and I just may tell you different..

Not much else happened worth telling. Hopefully next month will be more eventful. Since school is out we have more time to play. :)

Love you all and hope you are having a fantastic week!

And so the Story began...

2009-04-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

This love story begins with a weekend out of town with some awesome friends and a car wreck.