BIG NEWS!!!

THE "SING OFF" IS BACK ON!!! Season 3 is promising to be an excellent one! I am loving it already!! Love those BYU Mormon boys.....

Oh wait... that's not the big news you were all wanting me to post... was it? Whoops! ;)

First off... I love that this is the first post I have done in almost a year. Oh gees. I.am.a.huge.slacker. S.O.R.R.Y.!

Okay... Here is the story for those of you who want to know...

Wait.... FIRST.. Meet my fiance, Mike...

I LOVE HIM.

So.... I have technically known Mike for a long time. Grew up with his brother. Sister married my dad's friend's son. Worked with his mom at The Dell for 5 years. Ever thought I'd date him?? NEVER. The first time I remember actually talking to him was the morning of Ashley and Brian's wedding. I went to their house at about 6 a.m. to do Ashley's hair.. Mike had gotten kicked out of his room for the guests staying there for the wedding, so he was asleep on the couch.. kinda. Apparently Ashley and I were talking too loud while doing her hair and we disturbed Mike's beauty rest.... So... the first words I remember Mike ever saying to me?? "SHUT UP!!!"

He claims he was half asleep and didn't know what he was doing... ;) ha ha

We started "dating" in January... "officially became a couple" on March 1st.. and have been attached at the hip ever since. We "broke up" for a little bit in the middle, but if you ask anyone who was around... we didn't really break up. I still saw him almost every day and I was still constantly talking to him.

Mike instantly became my best friend. I have never been so comfortable around someone. I can talk to him about anything. I can act insane. I can cry. And no matter what... he makes me feel like it is the most normal thing going on. I have never met anyone like him. He is so patient. So kind. So giving. And he loves me. HE loves ME! He even loves me when I am in a bad mood!

He really is the most perfect person for me.

I was asked by a friend last night how I knew I was marrying the right person... my response was this... Mike makes me happier than I have ever been. I love him more than I ever thought was possible. I have never loved someone as much as I love him. I honestly would give up my own life for him. Just like I know he would do the same for me. He treats me better than anyone ever has. And finally... I cannot, and will not, imagine my life without him in it. Next to me. As my eternal companion.

OKAY... NOW I will tell you the engagement story! Thank you for letting me brag about my amazing man first. :) You needed to know him. The story is much cuter that way.

So.. Mike has had my ring for over a month. He picked it out himself... And wanted it to be a surprise... but I'm a brat, so of course I ruined that idea... oopsies! Well, I have been nagging him and nagging him and bugging him and nagging him to give it to me. EVERY day. For the past month... And he kept telling me... "You'll get it eventually." EVENTUALLY?!?! UGH! We all know that patience is NOT a virtue in my world. The word doesn't even exist. So... I was getting frustrated and had a few meltdowns.. But.. Mike wanted it to be a surprise.. and a surprise it was.

I work at Dimple Dell Rec one day a week. Wednesdays. And I ALWAYS look like Hell beat me with an ugly stick on those days. I promise I do. But yesterday was especially bad. Of course. So I'm at work and I wander away from the front desk to help lower some basketball hoops for some of the juvenile delinquents that frequent The Dell. When I get back there is a vase full of flowers waiting there for me. With the most adorable note.. and a ticket into Disneyland. (It was an old ticket from when he and his family went a month ago... but the proposal is Disney themed... you'll understand in a bit.) (Also... I'll post pictures later, when it's not 2:30 a.m.) So the adorable note said, "Hey beautiful. I wanted to send flowers on this very special day. You're invited to this once in a lifetime journey. Truly unforgettable. Wait for the clues to come and follow thier directions. To be continued...... I love you! Michael Hiatt". (So at this point I'm pretty sure he's going to propose... but I don't want to get my hopes up and have it not end in a proposal... so I didn't actually admit it to myself that that scenario was really a possibility. And everyone I know was playing dumb... like they weren't a part of it..)

So I wait for a bit and his sister, Ashley, comes in with a poster and 2 Disney princess figurines. (Taped to the bottom of all of the figurines were reasons why Mike loves me.) The poster says, "There is only one place where princesses dwell, go to your castle and all will be well." and on the back it told me to go home and find the surprise waiting for me. So Ashley tells me to stop freaking out that I look like death rolled over, because Mike knows me better than anyone, and he has already planned for all of this. Of course he has. He is brilliant. :) So then a couple of hours later his mom comes in with his nephew and hands me 2 more figurines. (Fairies this time... Tink being one of them, of course.) FINALLY it is time to leave work and go home to find out my surprise waiting for me.

I get home to find more figurines making a trail into my front room... and on the two big arm chairs I have a couple of things waiting... 1st one... a poster that says, "Cinderella had a gown made by mice, look for the brown one, it's sure to be nice. Step in your charriot and go so fast, head to the place where we want our marriage to last." on the 2nd chair was a brown dress he had bought me. We had seen this dress while we were together one night... and I had mentioned how I thought that maybe I'd buy it to wear to my best friend's wedding.... Well.. he remembered and went and bought it for me. He is the best. Anyway... on the back of the poster it told me to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Leave at 6:30. And meet Abby there. So.... I had 3 and a half hours to get ready... so I used all 3.5 hours! :) I jumped in a shower... waxed my eye brows... curled my hair...and full on put on make up... (Although... let's be real.. anything would have looked better than what I looked like that morning! ha ha) Finally... it was 6:30. So I headed to the temple to find Abby.

I got to the temple and found Abby. She had another 2 figurines and another poster for me. This poster said, "Hurry, Cinderella, the time's at hand, to journey to that place where we ate on the land. I'll tell you Princess, it's in the park! Please get there before it gets too dark!" Well... Mike was in contact with Abby the whole time... so he told her he wasn't quite ready for me yet so she had to kill time before she could let me go.... so... we took some awesome pictures and talked about the day so far... and if I knew what was coming.. etc.. and then FINALLY Mike gave Abby the "go ahead" to send me over. And away I went... taking the scenic route... not on purpose. ha ha I turned on the street too early.. so I took a detour to the park. whoops. (He made me wait all day... I figured it didn't kill him to have to wait. ha ha)

So I get to the park where we celebrated our 1 month anniversary... I parked next to his truck.. got out.. and walked down the hill to where he was waiting for me.. With my sister-in-law, Tara, filming us... and my sister, Misty taking pictures... He had a table and chairs and dinner all set up for us... with more figurines as decorations.. When I finally got to him I gave him the biggest hug and cried a little bit.. I had missed him so much throughout the day. It's crazy. But true. So he told me to come over and sit down... so I did... but he was still standing up... so I was looking at him, feeling a little awkward.. and said.. "Was I not supposed to sit down.. do I need to stand back up?" So he kinda chuckled and reached down for this darling Tinkerbell figurine.. and said.. "I was hoping you'd notice this, but I guess not..." and he grabbed my ring off of the top of Tink's head... walked around the table... got down on one knee.. and said. "Brindi Rae Nichol... will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" And I said... "OF COURSE!" So he put this amazingly gorgeous ROCK on my finger and gave me a huge hug and kiss... and his family, who had been sitting up on the hill (I seriously didn't even notice they were there!) all stood up and cheered! And then they all hugged us.. and we hugged our paparazzi (our camera crew.. Tara and Misty)... and everyone left us so we could enjoy a romantic dinner together. In the park. With a random soccer game going on behind us. :)

So... random side note... and to explain the Disney theme...I had always thought I wanted to get engaged in Disneyland... so we were going to do it when we went for Mike's best friend's wedding in December... but I am, again, impatient. So I said December was too far away. ha ha so... Mike brought Disneyland to me. Hence the princesses and fairies, Disneyland ticket, princess themed posters, and all of the Tink stuff!

It.was.perfect.

I honestly couldn't have planned it better myself. He did such an amazing job. He had all of the places that are important to us as stops. And he was so clever about all of it! And.... I was completely surprised! I had no idea what day or how he was going to propose... and he totally pulled it off!

Michael... I love you! More than anyone ever will. I promise to continue to make you the happiest you have ever been. Thank you for making me the luckiest woman ever. I am so honored to be your eternal companion. Thank you for choosing me in our pre-mortal life. I can't wait to continue building our future together!

And just so you can all see my ring..... because I'm obsessed with it...

It's a New Year!!

Welcome to 2011!!

I realize that we're over two weeks into the year, so this new years post is a little late, but I figured it would only get later and later every day! :) So I'm finally getting around to it!

So far, Two-Thousand-Eleven has been AMAZING!! I have the most incredible friends! The best family anyone could ever ask for! And I feel so unbelievably blessed!

I didn't set specific resolutions this year... (Of course, I have the usual... eat healthier and lose weight.. that's normal for most people...) But this year, my resolution was to over-all have a better year. Twenty-Ten was a rough one. But I'm bound and determined to make this one LOTS better. It has worked so far!! :)

Let's quickly do a recap of 2010, shall we?

January- Kicked off the year with a trip to Bear Lake!! :) We discovered that I have weird neurological problems with my migraines when I eat MSG! (Monosodium Glutamate) Blake started walking! Kade turned 26!

February- I was excited when I thought I only had one more year of writing missionaries left. (HA! Wishful thinking!) We also found out about Blaine's brain tumor. I started my Lifeguarding class. I spent a week and a half as a single mom with Wade's kids!

March- I finished my Lifeguarding class and started guarding at The Dell. I officially met and became friends with Paul. Baby Sadryia was diagnosed with SMA. I burned my eyelid, with my curling iron, while trying to curl my hair. Some hairstylist I am. ha ha (It was nothing serious... I just still feel like an idiot about it! And it's funny!) Miss Mia learned to walk! Tara turned 26!

April- We went Jeeping with the Cline's and Boyd Colton. This is the trip I peed my pants on. Yup... 22 and I wet my pants. It wasn't funny then.. but it is sure hilarious now! ha ha Kacey and I found some super cute swim suits at Lime Ricki! Gavin turned 9! Grandma Phip turned 75!

May- I went back to being more of a blonde! (Side note- No more being a brunette.) Miss Mia turned 1!!! Kacey turned 34!

June- Summer weather FINALLY started to show up! I was busy Lifeguarding.. and hating a couple of the guards. I discovered just how great people watching was at a pool. Summer Bear Lake trips officially started! Oh! Tasha told me what my F.E.C.'s name is... Pie-on-a-Potato... I'm still searching for him. :) Maggie turned 22! Grandpa Phip turned 79! Grandma Helen turned 90!

July- Two Bear Lake trips! Kacey and I found "Bee" swim suits from Lime Ricki that I HAD to have. An amazing "Cousin's Weekend" at Bear Lake! Beautiful Saydria passed away, she had the most beautiful memorial I have ever been to! What a precious little spirit! And we all miss her dearly! Tasha turned 4! Bryston turned 13!! And the twins turned 8!!!

August- More Bear Lake! Grandma Helen (my dad's mom) came with us for the entire week we were there! It was so fun having her there! She did great! And it always amazes me that she is 90! We made our final visit to Blaine. Josh turned 34!

September- The twins were baptized! Misty brought some awesome friends up to Bear Lake that we just LOVED! Adult DISNEYLAND trip with Kacey and Josh!! Blaine's funeral. An awesome "S'more Party" with Kade, Tara, and Mia in our backyard! Misty turned 32! Collin turned 11!

October- I got home from Disneyland and headed straight to Bear Lake! (Not even 24 hours in Utah! ha ha) Everyone came to visit us on Halloween! We had the cutest Monkey, Buzz Lightyear, Clown, Cinderella, Ladybug, Ghost, Knight, and Clone Wars something-or-other (sorry, Gav, I have no idea what you were actually called!) Misty brought me a pumpkin she had carved for me that was of Tinkerbell's face! And I had painted a warty pumpkin to look like a witch! :)

November- We found out Kade and Tara are having a baby in April! The stupid snow showed up, for real.. not just a little flurry. My dad's father passed away. Thanksgiving with the big extended family was a success! We had our usual food assignment- PIES! I made two new pies this year! Both delicious! Wedding in Phoenix, AZ for my dad's cousin! Dad turned 55!! Greg turned 34!

December- Grandpa's fineral. We found out Kade and Tara are having a BOY! Zach came home from his mission! Mom and I discovered the most amazing necklaces EVER!! magnabilities.com <---visit! you won't be sorry! :) I officially became friends with Dallas! Mag and I realized we've been joined at the hip for 11 years! Christmas was AMAZING! I love my family! I love spending time with them! New Years Eve was also AMAZING! My sisters and their families came over to play games and they all slept over! So I made them Swedish Pancakes in the morning! :) I turned 23! Blake turned 2! Mom turned 55!

We ended the year with a BANG! And 2011 started perfectly!

It is now the 18th of January.. (I started this post like 5 days ago.. and never finished it! Oops!) These past 18 days have been so excellent! I have some super amazing friends.... But I have two of the greatest guy friends you could ever think of. Their names are Dallas Olsen and Paul Stratford. And these boys make my life so fun! Paul is leaving for his mission, to Japan, next Wednesday, the 26th. So we have been trying to make these past few weeks amazing! We have had some super fun adventures!

These adventures include:

- Singing at the top of our lungs in Dal's car!

- "Got BUDDHA on my neck-uh-lus"!

- Trip to the McDonald's RedBox to get "Inception".

- Dinner and a movie at Dal's house!

-Dal made us dinner! :)

- Being sooo confused by "Inception" and Dallas and Paul trying to explain it!

- Matching bracelets!

- Fruit snacks and Pop Rocks surprises!

- Surprise Peanut M&Ms while I was at work!

- Catholic Mass at Juan Diego...

- Since Paul graduated from Juan Diego he had

to explain a lot to Dallas and I! HA! Three

Mormons in a Catholic Mass... I'm sure we stuck

out! Big time! :) But I'm super glad I went! How

grateful I am to be LDS!

- A trip to the Super China Market!!

- Paul finding us unusual "treats"...

- Dallas pulling some of the funniest faces while trying our Asian Market gems!

- A trip to Sonic to get Lime Ricky's...

- Then off to Sinclair to take pictures with the Dinosaur!

- A Harmon's stop... we went to get cherries, but they're out of season so we settled for a "kiwiano"... it was probably the coolest fruit I've ever had!

- Domino's Pizza!!

- Parking in the Park... Eating Pizza... fogging up the windows -three people breathing and two steaming hot pizzas = sssuuuuper fogged windows...

-Poh-Poh stopping and telling us the Park closed at 10. (It was 10:03.. ha ha)

- Going back to the Juan Diego parking lot to pick up my car and sitting there talking to the boys for almost two more hours!

- Trip to the D.I. -yes, these boys got me to walk into a D.I. .. big accomplishment!

- Buying a $15 couch and $8 skis..

- Building a scouch! (a couch with skis nailed to the bottom of it.)

- Going down a hill on our scouch five times!

- Warming up with some hot chocolate at Starbucks!

- Kidnapping Dallas to go DDR at the Union Heights movie theatre!

We have 8 more days until Paul leaves.... And I have no idea what adventures await us! :) But I am so excited! These boys have made me so happy! And I love them!

So far 2011 has been better than 2010!! I've started to make some big changes in my life! I'm happier than I have been in a very long time and I am so grateful for good, supportive friends. Amazing parents with unconditional love. Super supportive siblings! Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Siants! An incredible Branch President. Knowing my Heavenly Father loves me! And most of all... I'm grateful for the Atonement. Oh, how blessed I am!

Ode to the Mom...

Today is my mom's BIRTHDAY!!!

So I wanted to give her a very special blog shout out!! :)

Today, my mom is turning 55...

so I thought I'd do 55 things that I love about my mom!

1. She is so kind.

2. She is always taking care of me.

3. She loves my dad more than anything,

4. She loves her kids.

5. She loves us AND she constantly shows us she does.

6. She LOVES being a grandma.

7. She acts like a child when the grandkids are around.

8. She has a hard time saying "no".

9. She spoils me.

10. She gets crazy when she is tired.

11. She has gone to every important concert and event that any of us were a part of.

12. She denies that she's crazy! ;)

13. She is so fun!

14. She taught me how to bake.

15. She makes the world's best cookies.

16. She makes some pretty tasty pies, too!

17. She is actually a really good cook all around.

18. She taught my sisters how to be really good mothers.

19. She taught me how to be a good mom, too... I just haven't put it to use yet.

20. She adopts all of my friends as her own kids.

21. She loves it when my friends call her Mama Nichol.

22. She loves Disneyland almost as much as I do!

23. She has loved me, unconditionally, for 23 years.

24. Today, she told me I was her favorite Birthday present.

25. When I told her I was born 3 and a half weeks before her birthday, so I didn't really count as a present, she told me the best presents always come early.

26. She is obsessed with Penguins.

27. She acts like a child when she hears the word penguin.

28. She has a season pass to the Living Planet Aquarium just so she can go see the Penguins any time she wants.

29. She loves being with her family.

30. She loves chocolate.

31. She makes really good treats.

32. She is funny.

33. She is loving.

34. She is generous.

35. She sings when she has saggy socks.

36. She gives great hugs.

37. She always makes me feel better when I have a bad day.

38. No matter how hard I try... I can't hide anything from her.

39. She always knows when something is wrong with me.

40. Her grandkids think she is awesomely cool.

41. Her grandkids think she is fun to play with.

42. She gave me her good looks! ;)

43. She and I share clothes.

44. She loves Bear Lake.

45. She has taught us all to play at Bear Lake.

46. She passed on her love of Bear Lake to my dad and the rest of us.

47. She likes to read books with her grandkids.

48. She let's me come visit her at work and take her to lunch.

49. She taught us to love music.

50. She has the best parents, so we are very close with them.

51. She loves her mother-in-law and has one of the best relationships with her.

52. She is very helpful.

53. She has to have me help her work her phone.

54. She loves the Gospel. And taught us how important the temple is.

And best of all..........

55. She is my best friend.

I love you, Mom! Thanks for being the best mom in the world! I can't imagine where I would be without you! You are amazing and I am so grateful I chose to be one of your kids!

ugh.

have you ever been in one of those moods... and you can't explain why you're in it? it's a strange feeling, really. i feel like i'm in a funk. i do this every so often. maybe it's part of being a girl. stupid hormones. or maybe everyone has their funks. i don't know.

it's not like today was bad. or tonight at work was terrible. neither are even close. my day was great! i got to hang out with abby and i took her lunch. and work was totally fine. it was the same as it is on tuesdays and thursdays. busy for like an hour... and by 7:30 it's pretty slooow. which is great. because then paul can stay and talk to me and hang out for a bit. :) i love it when paul visits. he hates it, but i really do enjoy it. ha ha (i don't think he actually hates hanging out at the front desk and talking to me for so long... or else he wouldn't do it, right? i think he just likes to pretend to complain about it...) 

paul is so funny! he is usually so busy and running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get a million things done in a day. so it makes me feel good if i can get him to hold still for longer than 3 seconds! (that's right, two hours is quite an accomplishment! i rock! ha ha just kidding.) paul really is awesome. we've had some great chats, some that weren't so great, and some that were definitely interesting (the one involving la jolla, california... interesting? yes.. super funny? most definitely.. was it all brilliant? oh yeah..)

it is going to kill me when paul leaves on his mission. dimple dell really won't be the same. oh yeah, that's right. one more missionary. i have found myself another friend to write. go figure. ha! thanks, for proving my friends right. paul. they said i'd find another friend to write. drats. :) but i'm so excited for you. japan is getting one freaking excellent missionary!

but paul... i hate "fighting" with you. even when it is all fake. ha ha it's ridiculous, but even fake fighting puts me in a bad mood. so i'm sorry if i'm ever crabby when you're giving me a hard time. i try really hard not to think about it. and keep in mind... i am a girl. and sometimes we can't help but get insecure. however, tonight's bad mood wasn't your fault... so i really am sorry you thought i was grumpy with you at the end of the night.

tonight's bad mood came from another member of the male gender. i have to admit... it drives me crazy when people bail. (really, who doesn't that bug?) but when people give me crap about "never hanging out" "being too busy" etc., etc., etc. and then i try to make plans with them... like so....

boy:"we never hang out. when can we hang out?"
me: "when can you?"
boy: "my schedule is pretty open now that i just finished my classes."
me: "okay, how about this weekend? friday or saturday?"
boy: "i think either would work.. but saturday would probably be better."
me: "okay, let's do saturday then."
boy: "okay, what do you want to do? it needs to be cheap because I'm trying to save money."
me: "oh, that's fine. i'm okay with whatever you want to do."

. . .  two days later . . .  

boy:"hey, are you working?"
me: "i sure am!"
boy: "you suck. ha ha jk. i was going to watch a movie so i was going to see if you wanted to come chill."
me: "oh, sorry."
boy: "it's fine, what time do you get off tonight? 10?."
me: "yes!"
that's too late, woman."
me: "too late for what?"
boy: "too late to hang out."
me: "sorry!!"
boy: "it's okay. we'll hang out another night."
me: "yeah, aren't we hanging out on saturday?"
boy: "yeah, i guess we could. i have a wedding reception and then i might have a date. but i'm not sure about the date."
me: "let's just hang out another time." <---why bother to make plans when they forget about the plans anyway??? am i the only one finding the conversation he and i had two days before this one completely pointless??

then like fifteen minutes before i was off work the boy said... do you want to come chill or should i go to bed? i thought he had said it was too late to hang out!?! make a decision and stick to it, dammit. i told him i was going home. ha ha

ugh. boys are stupid sometimes.

23 birthdays.....

I've had some amazing birthdays! But I really must admit that I feel like this year's was one of the best!! It was an insanely busy day!

I usually spend my birthdays with my parents! They are always fabulous!! My 21st birthday my parents took Maggie and I to The Roof for dinner and then we walked around Temple Square. It was really fun! And I'm so glad Maggie came with us! Last year, for my 22nd birthday, my parents and I went to Asian Star for dinner and then to see The Blind Side! We LOVED the movie! And dinner was delicious, as always!!

This year.... was different. I knew it would be. My parents' ward had their Christmas party the night of my birthday. The parents were in charge of a lot of the food. So they had to attend it. I worked on my birthday this year (I know, weird for me, but I thought it was time to act like a grown-up). So I got up early so I could shower and get ready before I had to go in. My parents were just getting ready to leave for work so I got to see them for about 5 minutes at 7 a.m. I went in and worked until 3 p.m. But during work I had some really cute deliveries! Abby brought up balloons to tie on to my computer. And Misty, Greg, and Tasha brought me in MORE balloons! All the patrons asked who was having the birthday and I got millions of birthday wishes from complete strangers! It was embarrassing, but very sweet of everyone to think of me!! After work I went over to the Blackhurst's home and made a banner for the missionary! After I finished that I went to dinner with Kade, Tara, Mia, Kristen, and Abby! We went to The Olive Garden and it was very tasty!! (Thanks, Abby, for paying for my dinner!) After dinner, Abby and I ran to Old Navy and bought me a new sweater! (I had forgotten to pack extra clothes to change into after work, so I was in a shirt from The Dell and I looked gross and homeless!!!) After the Old Navy trip we went to Kade and Tara's to hang out and we watched "17 Again".  As soon as it was over I had to head back over to the Blackhurst's house so we could head to the airport and pick up Zach!!! Zach was supposed to land at 10:37 p.m., but his flight had been delayed until 11:13! Poor Elaine! The wait almost killed her! Zach FINALLY got off the plane and we all got HUGE hugs! I'm not really family, so I stood in the back and let his family hug him and celebrate... but then he spotted me! He looked at me and said, "BRINDI!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" And gave me the biggest and best hug I've gotten in a long time!! (Like Wa-wa... oh how I have missed those hugs, Little Brother!) I couldn't believe he remembered it was my birthday! I told Zach he was the best birthday present ever! We went back to the house and hung out for another two hours! It was so nice to visit with him! I have missed my little brother so much! I finally got home at about 2:30 a.m. talked to my parents and headed downstairs.... There I found my door completely decorated! Misty had come to my house to decorate my door! (It's our birthday tradition around here. You can see the pictures from last year on my blog post here, in my recap of '09.) While she was here decorating, Nick, Stephen, and Jared came to visit me.. they called while I was at the airport, but I guess they had a surprise for me... so they left it in front of my door. They got me SUPER cute slippers!! Such cute boys they are! Thanks again, fellas! I love you all! Finally, I was in bed by 3!! It was a verrry long day, but so very worth it!! :) I got a million texts, a handful of phone calls, and a million FB messages wishing me a happy birthday throughout the day. I had no idea I was so loved by so many!! Thank you, everyone!

Tonight we had the family party! It was so fun!! I love my family, but it is always chaos when we're all together! There are 17.5 of us now... and that turns a house into a zoo in a hurry! We had homemade Costa Vida chicken salads for dinner! They were so good! We had them last year for the family birthday party and they were such a hit that they were requested again for this year. My mom is so awesome and worked so hard to make dinner a success. I love her! (I made the tortillas... actually, I just cooked them... but in doing so, I burned my fingers... this is why I shouldn't be trusted in the kitchen!) After dinner we had F.H.E. Colby gave the lesson. He read a story out of one of the Friend magazines. (story found here.) He did such a good job! Sometimes I forget he is 8!! After the lesson we had a family prayer. It seems strange, but there is something so powerful about an entire family kneeling down for a family prayer. We then opened presents. We were celebrating our three December birthdays- Me, Blake, and my mom, so there were a lot of presents. Blake got a Thomas the Train, a Playmobil racecar, new jammies, and a Buzz Lightyear. My mom got a cookbook and a Playmobil penguin set (my mom is obsessed with penguins and Playmobils...), and Kacey and Josh have my mom's present, but Kace refused to celebrate my mom's birthday so early. She is waiting until it is closer. I got the new Keith Urban CD, a gift card for iTunes, and Kacey and Josh are taking me to The Hale Center Theatre to see "A Christmas Carol". After presents we all hung out for a little bit, and in the meantime the kids were off to do their own thing. Oh man! At 7:40 p.m. I was super sick of the screaming, fighting, and over-all loud noise going on!! So we finally had ice cream and brownies (since I don't really like cake due to the frosting...) and everyone packed up to leave. I love my family, but family functions can be exhausting!! ha ha

Thank you EVERYONE for making my 23rd birthday so excellent!! I honestly have the greatest friends and family in the entire world!! I love you all!!

(I'll put up pictures on this post tomorrow! .............. as soon as I find the cord to my camera to download pictures onto my computer! ;) )

It is officially...

DECEMBER!!!

My favorite month!

There are just so many reasons why December is such an excellent month!! So many things to love about December!!

1. It's my birthday month! 

     -I actually share my birthday month with a lot of people I know! The 1st through the 7th-my cousin, Jennica (1st), Oakland Hinkley (1st), Jackie Colton (2nd), Britney Spears (2nd), (I'll get to the many on the 3rd...) Elise Reneer(4th), Julie Osborne(4th), Kelly Strebel(4th), Megan Casperson (5th), Tyson Case (6th), Brianna Newton (7th). The 8th through the 14th- Kody Cook (9th), my cousin Lindy's husband, Mason Smith (10th), Fielding's mom, Terri Smith(11th), My Blakey (12th), Jeri Brown (13th), Shella Durling (14th). The 15th through the 21st- Mandy Merriman (15th), Dianna Freeman (15th), Daniel Burgess (16th), Taylor Keffeler (17th), Ai Blackhurst (18th), Jessie Rossi (20th), Vienna Goates (21st). The 22nd through the 31st- Brandie Hansen (22nd), Becky Terry (22nd), Tanner Barlow (23rd), Victoria Anderson (23rd), Kelley Gwinn (25th), My mom!! (27th), Stephanie Taylor (27th), Leda Chavez (28th), Megan Guest (28th), Shelley Bradfield (28th), Brent Jessop (30th), and Taylor Nordquist (31st)!!! I probably forgot a few.. so I'm sorry if I did! But I think you get the point!

2. My Birthday is 3 weeks before Christmas, so decorations can go up as soon as my birthday is over and they're still up for a pretty good amount of time!

3. I get to share my birthday with some of the most amazing people I know!

     -My dad's good friend- Jeff Goodell, two of my cousins: Eileen Rojas and Heather Olsen, the funniest woman I have ever known- Nic Hillary, two friends from elementary school- Kristin Barnhill and Stuart Rogers, the beautiful Kendyl Bell, my friend Brandon's dad- Ron Strebel, Then there are a few "famous people" I share a birthday with- Brendan Fraser, King Charles VI, Rowland Hill (the inventor of the first adhesive postage stamp..) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Daniel Bedingfield, Anna Chlumsky (she was the main girl in "My Girl"), Amanda Seyfried, and Michael Angarano. (there are a LOT more, but I didn't really know any of them... so I didn't put them on here..)

      -OH! And a couple I'm not terribly proud of... Ozzy Osbourne and the famous Polygamist- Warren Jeffs. And my sister's dog, Buster.

4. Maggie's half birthday is in December! (on Christmas, actually...)

5. I know THREE missionaries coming home this month!! And all three of them are kinda like my little bothers!! Var Black gets home TOMORROW! Zach Balckhurst gets home on Friday!! (He left on my birthday and he's coming home on my birthday! He served exactly two years! How cool is that??) And Dustin Wilson gets home on the 18th!! So exciting to be getting all these men back home!!

6. It's Christmas!!!

     -I LOVE all the Christmas lights!

         -Especially down at Temple Square!

     -I LOVE the whole feeling of the Christmas season!

     -I LOVE having a Holiday devoted to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

     -I LOVE spending so much time with my family!

     -I LOVE Christmas Music! (December is the only month I'll listen to it..)

     -I can watch The Grinch as many times as I want during December and NO ONE can tell me I'm crazy! Like they do when I watch it in March, June, August, October, etc.)

     -I LOVE giving gifts to the people I love and making them happy!

     -I LOVE Carolers!

     -I LOVE Strawberry Waffles on Christmas morning at my Grandparents' house!

I hope everyone enjoys this amazing month as much as I do!! :) Enjoy the holiday! (And for many of you, your birthdays!!)

"Let it be thanks we're givin'!"

For those of you who have read my blog for the past year, you all know it has been a rough one. (sorry, for being a Debbie Downer...) But for all of this I am very grateful. I know it sounds so crazy, but without hard times, we wouldn't know what the good ones were like. So thank you all for sticking by me as I haven't always acted like myself! 

We have had too many loved ones who have passed away. We've known others who have also lost loved ones. And we have had many friends in and out of the hospital. But because of this... I have grown closer to those who are still here with us. And I have learned how grateful I am to know of the Plan of Salvation!

I am so grateful for my family and all of their love and support. I think I got blessed with the best parents. They are both so amazing and have put up with so much from me! I am grateful to have an amazing relationship with my dad, because he never had one with his own. I'm grateful he tried so hard to make sure we knew how much he loves us! (I'm sorry you lost your father yesterday, dad, and that you never got to have a relationship with him. But thank you for learning from his mistakes! And treating all of us like we are the most important things in the world!) I am grateful that my mom is one of my best friends! I am grateful for three incredible siblings! Who all let me be their kids' favorite aunt! I am very grateful for my 5 nephews and 3 nieces and that mystery baby!! (Tara and Kade will find out what they are having next Thursday, December 2nd.) I am grateful to have three (out of six, yes, six) grandparents alive and kickin' it! My mom's parents are so awesome and I am so so lucky to have such an incredible relationship with them! My dad's mom (now the last grandparent alive on my dad's side) is amazing! She is 90 and you'd never guess it! I am so grateful to have such a loving grandma!

I am grateful for all of my friends! I can't even tell you how often my friends save me! They are all so incredible! And I am so very lucky to have so many people close to me who love me so much!

I am grateful to work at Dimple Dell! :) Four and a half years later and I still love it! I have met so many great people because of that place! I love my coworkers! And I am so grateful to have friendships with them!

I'm grateful for HAIR!! I LOVE being a cosmetologist! Going to hair school was the best decision I've ever made! It has brought people into my life that I really needed. And it has also brought me so close to my family members! I love that my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents love me enough to support me and let me do their hair! I have developed such great relationships with all of them... and for that... I am extremely grateful!!

I am grateful for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Without it, my life would have no meaning! I would be so lost! I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon! And oh how grateful I am to have amazing church leaders!

I am so grateful for this time of year and the reminder it is to have us all realize how blessed we are! I am grateful for the reminder to tell the ones we love how much we love and adore them! I am grateful for the Holidays and the time we get to spend with family!

I love all of you! I am so grateful to know you!! And so grateful for your love and support! Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you all enjoyed it! And that you can each list at least two things you're grateful for this year!