4 months from now I'll be camping on a beach

Brandon and I are planning a trip to Southern California for our anniversary in May. We are currently figuring out places we want to go, and what hotels to stay in. We decided that one night we are going to camp on a beach. This is the beach we picked. It is the San Elijo State Beach near San Diego.

We paid for our campsite last night. It was one of the only sites left on the water side for the day we wanted.

I'm so excited to stay here and watch the sun set from our camp site. I'm also excited to walk down these stairs. And of course I can't wait to get in the water.

Hardware Ranch

Brandon's family came to Logan on Saturday, and we all went to Hardware Ranch. Hardware Ranch is a place where wild elk are fed in the winter. On the weekends the ranch provides sleigh rides for people to look at the elk. I am indifferent to animals so I wasn't planning on having a great time. Honestly, I think I would have been more excited to go look at real hardware rather than Elk. Thanks to our nephews I did have a great time. Everything is more fun when seen through the eyes of a 2 1/2 year old. Weston was especially excited when I pointed out the elk poo. After I showed him the first pile of poo he started pointing it out to me.

If you want to go to Hardware ranch here is the link. http://wildlife.utah.gov/hardwareranch/. It is $5 for adults and $3 for kids. We had to wait in line for about an hour to go on a 15 minute ride. There is a visitors center with a few displays.

I'm an Aunt for Real

My sister Lindsey had her first baby on Saturday. So I am now an aunt for real. Here is a picture of my new little nephew, Rocklond Tanner Pickett. He is a little camera shy in this picture.

Going to the gym

Confession: Last semester I completely wasted $40. I had all these great plans to go work out at the gym with Brandon and so we bought me a spouse card so that I could go to the campus gym. Brandon gets in free since he is still a student. We thought $40 for 4 months, what a great deal! If we go 40 times that will be like a dollar a time. And the more we go the less it will cost. Well we went once. One $40 gym visit.

But now we are trying again. Brandon renewed the spouse card yesterday (another $40), and last night we went to the gym. I think it went well and I am totally planning on going back tonight. Here are somethings that I am planning to do so that I don't waste $40 again.

1. Go in the evening. Before we had always tried to go in the morning. But I hate getting up in the morning. I really don't like getting out of bed when it is cold. Actually, I hate getting out of bed.

2. Distract myself. Exercising is boring! I hate the gym where all I have to look at is either; other people who are skinnier than me, the wall, or the boring TV programs. I read a suggestion to bring a book on tape to listen to while working out. I tried out that suggestion last night and I loved it. I was so into the book that I didn't want to stop exercising. Half the reason I am planning on going back to the gym tonight is to hear more of the story.

3. Do what I want. Brandon likes to go to the gym and do lots of different things. I used to try to do all the things he did, but I just couldn't keep up. Also I'm worn out at night. I've spent the last 8 hours at work. I don't have a huge desire to lift a bunch of weights or even stand up and run. I decided that for now all I want to do is use the exercise bikes. I can just sit on the bike, listen to my book, and peddle. Maybe later I'll work up to other things but for now I like the bike.

4. Bribe myself. If I didn't reward myself with DVD's for going to class every day or getting good grades I probably wouldn't have graduated from college. I plan on using a similar bribe system to get me to the gym. Right now my current goal is that after I go to the gym 25 times I can buy myself a cute pair of gym pants. (The ones I have right now are puffy and make a horrible swishing noise. )

So there is the plan. I'll keep you posted on how it works out.

This is not a rant or a sob story but . . . .

sometimes it seems like every married girl I know is pregnant. Most of my friends have two kids, and some are even on their third. Sometimes I just feel so left behind and out of the loop.

And then there is the guilt I feel when I realize I am glad I'm not pregnant yet. I like working, I like earning money, and most of all I like the self indulgent life I can lead right now.

So I go back and forth between wanting a baby and hoping that I'm not pregnant. I've been like this since I first went off birth control almost a year and a half ago.

Back in October I decided that I would enjoy the life that I get to lead and not wish for other things. I think I was doing a pretty good job at that, but then a few more friends announced that they are pregnant. So for the past few days I've been back to the wishy washy feelings.

Well starting today I'm done with those feelings. I'm back to enjoying the life that I have. And I do have a lot of things to look forward to. Spring is coming so I am starting to plan my window box garden. I've already decorated the house for Valentine's day. And I am super excited for the anniversary trip that Brandon and I are planning. I'm taking a whole week off of work and we are going to southern California. One whole day is going to be spent at Magic Mountain riding some of the best roller coasters in the world. That is something I couldn't do if I was pregnant.

Nursery

I wont lie, I have had a really hard time with my calling. I am the first counselor in the Primary. But the only people in the primary are two nursery aged kids. I really struggled with this calling because I just don't know what to do with kids that age. Well I should clarify that, I don't know what to do with most kids that age. I'm fine with my niece and nephews and cousins, but that is because I know them and I know their parents. The nursery kids scared me to death because I didn't want to do some crazy thing that the parents would be shocked by. Maybe it is an irrational fear but I still felt it just the same.

Well yesterday I realized that I've come to the point that I know these kids. And I am no longer scared of them. Abby and Peter are so cute. Abby is super smart for a two year old and so loving. She is learning how to share and take turns. Yesterday she was riding a rocking horse and then got off it and said "your turn" to me. I tried to get on the horse and could have done it if I wasn't wearing a skirt. She is also developing more of an attention span. She used to wander around the room playing with what ever was in her path, now she will do little activities like putting "blankies" on a baby. (the blankies are actually carpet samples that the other ward uses for nap time) She had the baby on one side of the room and would pick up a carpet sample and carry it over to the other side of the room. She then put it on top of the baby. Then she went to get another sample. she probably did this with 10 carpet samples. It was so cute.

Peter is exactly the opposite of Abby. She is a social butterfly and he is super shy. So shy that when we first came into Nursery back in July he would just sit in the rocking chair. The other leaders told us that they usually just let him sit there and would carry him to the snack table when they needed to. Brandon's goal instantly became to get Peter to have more fun and to enjoy nursery. For months Brandon has been working with Peter. We used to play rolly polly and Brandon would have to help Peter push the ball. Then Peter progressed to being willing to push the ball himself and then to actually chasing the ball. He now will play and interact with us.
A very important thing happened yesterday with Peter. Up until yesterday the only word Peter had said to us was "Yeah" as in "Peter, do you want to color?" "Yeah." Well yesterday Brandon was reading a book with Peter. Brandon would ask Peter to point to certain things in the book such as the cat or the dog. Then Brandon pointed to something and asked Peter what it was. To our surprise Peter said "bird." He then named lots of other things that Brandon pointed to. I know the reason I have this calling is so that Brandon could be there for Peter. Anyone could play with Abby, but it takes a special person to get Peter to feel comfortable.

At one point Abby decided she wanted to hear the same story as Peter so she sat on one of Brandon's knees while Peter was on the other. Brandon read them a story that had spiders on every page. He would have them smash the spider. He made a squishy sound effect that Abby started imitating. I couldn't have been more proud.

I don't know why we don't have kids yet, but I am glad that we do have our nursery kids. And I am glad I have this calling. (Though if I got released I would also be glad)

1 year anniversary

It's my anniversary today! No, not that anniversary. It is the anniversary of when I started working as a billing manager. I've gone from being in training and knowing virtually nothing about utility billing to being in charge of billing 69 properties every month. I've also been able to pass off all of my certifications and can apply to be a team lead if I want to. I'm so glad that I have had this opportunity. Before this job the longest I had worked anywhere was 8 months (seasonal student jobs and such.)

For the most part I love my job. Sure there are occasional crappy days and sometimes weeks and once there was a really bad month (September), but there are also times that I can't get over how lucky I am to work here. I love the level of respect that I get from my bosses. Even the company president knows my name. I enjoy the amount of responsibility that has been given to me. I have a huge desk all to myself. (Seriously this thing is huge and it is always covered in papers, files and highlighters.) I have two 15 inch flat screen monitors. I love just about everything about my job. Even the crazy residents who tell me how many times they flush their toilets are at least entertaining.

I'll be here at for another year at least. Brandon graduates in December and we do not want to stay in Logan. It is odd to know that I am halfway done with working as a billing manager. I hope that this year is at least as good as last year. In fact, I know it will be.