Very Exciting News!!!

Ok, so you all might not think that it's all that exciting.

But I think its marvelous.

Today I put in my time-off request for Nov 20-27 to

PICK BRENNEN UP AND BRING HIM HOME!

I can't even tell you how excited I am for this! 

I don't know if it will help get me through the next month

or make it go by super slowly, but in any case,

it's awesome.

I still have to buy my plane tickets and all, but this is a step

in the right direction.  One of the best parts is that I'll only be missing

one day of class because my trip will be over Thanksgiving vacation.

Sad that we won't be spending it with family this year,

but I'd definitely rather be with my hubby.

We have a huge trip planned out--if the Malibu will make it. 

Details to come once everything is bought and paid for.

Originally I was only going to go out for a weekend

(because Brennen works nights Tues-Fri)

but had a super hard time justifying paying that much for 

plane tickets and a hotel

(I can't sleep at his apt because technically it's single men's housing)

And then he told me he'd be done just before Thanksgiving.

There have been so many blessing lined up to make this all happen.

1. Thanksgiving break is Wednesday-Friday, so I'll only miss one day of class

2. My parents have offered to pay for my flight (both ways if I so choose) as a Christmas present

3. I had the feeling I should start putting a portion of each paycheck into savings, and now I have saved over $800!

So I can pay to stay in a hotel for a week.

4. This blessing is totally unrelated, but I just had to give a shout-out to my ward...they are the best.

Seriously.  I am so, so sad that I'll have to leave them next year.  My home- and visiting-teachers are

the bomb dot com, and everyone else is great too.

Yesterday my ward fed me. I was invited over for meals for both lunch and dinner.

They take such good care of me.  And I SO appreciate it.

So happy!

A Quick Note

Hi there.

It's me.

Here's the dealio..

I don't want to clean. 

I mean, I REALLY don't want to clean.

Don't tell Brennen this, but the apartment is a mess.

Turns out I really only clean up after myself when he's here

so I can get on his case about not cleaning up after himself.

Whoops.

So, as soon as I'm done procrastinating I will

Clean the kitchen,

Clean the dining room,

Clean the bedroom, 

and then maybe break out the Journal Jar if there's time.

Yes, that's how messy my home is.

There might not even be time for journaling...

And I would like to add to this post a random conversation I had with

my hubs last night...er...this morning:

 4:39 am Him: I have to work late

4:40 am Him: Can you talk?

4:40 am Him: I love you!

4:41 am Him: I'm on a conference call

4:42 am Me: Oh really? A conference call before 6?

4:43 am Him: The meeting has ended

4:44 am Me: I see. You know it's 4 here, right?

4:46 am Him: 446 to be exact...i didn't think i would wake you

4:48 am Me: You know how I always look at my phone right before you text/call? Apparently it's true for the wee hours of the morning too.

4:52 am Him: Uh o. Well i better not text at the wee hours anymore.

4:53 am Me: I'll text you in 1.5 hours when i should be awake.

Why is he texting me at 4 in the morning, you ask?

Because now he's on the night shift.  Which sucks.

He works 7:30 pm to 7:30 am

and then sleeps from 8 am-5 pm

I have yet to ask him what this was all about.

He was either extremely bored or very loopy.

What you do when you have nothing to do.

Since the hubs has been gone, I have had lots of time to sit and reflect on life.

As well as get a few projects out of the way.  

Namely one, but I'll start with the Journal Jar first.

Have you ever heard of a journal jar?

I had one once when I was in Young Womens. 

I didn't do a lot with it, and don't know what ever happened to it.  

But at this journaling class, we got a Journal Jar:

This is mine.  Inside are tiny slips of paper with suggestions of things to write about in your journal.

What a genius idea for someone like me, that has nothing interesting to write about?

Well, with a cute Journal Jar, i needed a cute journal, right?

So, about this next project.

My dad is an EXCELLENT woodsman (?)

Not sure if that is even a word...

He has a knack for finding things around the house (made of wood)

that are starting to get old and rickety, or that we just don't need anymore

and turns it into something awesome.

A few years ago, he made me this headboard out of some old BUNKBEDS we had:

Seriously people, that headboard used to be a bunkbed.
Like i said, amazing.
It's white and made of pine.

Pine tends to yellow a little, so I wanted to paint it.

At first I had all sorts of visions of what color i wanted, designs, etc.

And then I kept putting it off and putting it off because

1. I'm busy

2. I can't lift that by myself

3. I'm cheap.

So what happened, is: One day I decided I was going to do it.

I went to Wal-Mart and got some paint.

Then I asked the Beardsley's if they would help me move it.

Ta-Da!

Ignore that little sploch up there, that's where I tested my paint.

And so, I set to work.  It was about a 3 week process

where i didn't buy the right kind of paint, so it required lots of 

coats and drying, plus I was studying for 2 big tests and working full time.

I love it already.  It makes the room so much warmer and gives it more color.  Also makes it not look so big.

And here is something silly that I did:

Did you know that you can get these wallplates at Wal-Mart for $0.37? each?

I got this brown one thinking it would go along with the new headboard, but it 

just looks kind of ridiculous.  So I will be getting a new one that

matches the color of the switch unless i can think of something creative.  

There was a Pinterest thing of painting/stenciling them to make them

unique.  I don't know if I'll have time to even think about doing that.

 Well, that is all for my projects as of late.

A Bit on Journals and Sunday Thoughts

So lately, I've had this feeling to start journaling.

You know, so your posterity can read it and be amazed at the life you lived.

HA.

The reason I haven't started a journal is because this is all it would say:

"October 19, 2012...

Today I got up and went to work at 8.  Then I went to school after work.

Then I went home to do homework and eat dinner.

Then I went to bed.  The end."

[REPEAT]

I've told Brennen that there is no one on the face of the planet that would ever want to read a years worth of that stuff.

Then I went to a 'Super Saturday' with my mom.  Together we took a class on journaling.

And you know what? It actually got me excited to write.

It gave me a few ideas of what to do, 

but first here 10 tips of how to keep a record of yourself:

1. Find what type of journal medium is right for you.

Do pen and paper work best for me? or do I type faster than I write?

Do I enjoy writer's cramp?

2. Decide what kind of journal you'd like to keep.

There are lots of different kinds of journals.  I know when I was 8, my grandma gave me a thankful journal.

3. Find the perfect place (or places) for writing

Where am I going to write that's comfortable and conducive to the thought process?  Where will I keep my journal so that I REMEMBER to write?

4. Find a time that's right for you

For me, this is the easiest.  At night.  Because i'm most coherent then.

5. Relax 

Because journaling isn't supposed to be stressful.

6.Find sources of inspiration

For me, this is music.  I find that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir station on Pandora is great and I listen to it when I'm doing homework or anything that requires my full attention.

7.Use your journal to work through the hard stuff

This I love because I always put my thoughts together better on paper (or computer) than i do in speaking.  It allows me to completely express my feelings

8. Fill your journal with whatever you like (don't forget the spiritual)

I heard today that there is an apostle, i forget which, that keeps a seperate journal for all his spiritual experiences and it's just for him to reflect on.

9. Reflect over what you've written now and then

Speaking of which, what a great way to track progress and growth.

10. Keep your journal safe.

Keep it in a safe place, out of places where it might be ruined.

More later on my Journal Jar.  

And now for my Sunday Thoughts

1. Obey the Word of Wisdom, and great blessings will come.

2. "If this law [the Word of Wisdom], that is adapted to the capacity of the weakest of us, is obeyed, it will be a foundation upon which may be added many great blessings that our Father will be pleased to bestow, that otherwise we would not be entitled to and could not receive   How can any of us feel justified in ignoring a simple law of God that He, by His own voice, has said any of us can obey?  Can we expect to be able to keep a higher law, and be able to attain great exaltation, if we fail to keep this simple requirement?" (Teaching of the Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, pg 208)

3. What things in my life do I need to give up to become as a little child and grow closer to Christ?

4. Something that I remembered our Elder's Quorum President said in a talk before he and his family moved out of our ward that really struck me: When the Savior was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was praying to the Father.  His disciples were outside the garden--the Savior had asked them to tarry there.  He returned to his disciples who had fallen asleep--twice.  He asked them if they could not stay with him but one hour.  The Savior was doing the single most important act known to mankind, and the could not even stay awake for him?  The sacrament is a similitude of the atonement.  Can WE not tarry one hour?

Halves

I would like to blog about two significant halves.  Normally, two halves would make a whole.  

But. I'm blogging about one half of two separate things. 

Half No. 1: Today is October 14th, which means that Brennen is HALF way through his internship.

Hallelujah.

Have you ever had those months that drag by so slowly, yet fly by so quickly?

That has been my plight since September 2.
Thanks to my incredible friends the Beardsley's for letting me use their
Internet so that I can Skype him.

Ok, this isn't a real-time skype picture.  I actually took it when I was in
Iowa and he was in Pennsylvania.
and there wasn't very good internet so it was all choppy.
But still.  Thanks to my awesome friends.

Half No. 2:
Tuesday, October 16th marks my half-iversary.  Which means
Brennen and I have been married for 5 half years.
In real terms, that 2.5 years.
At least, that's what a pessimist would say.
An optimist would say
"We have eternity left."
With that in mind, I dedicate this next picture to my husband of 2.5 years:

He can have the other half in April.