Our first Valentine's Day was a nice, low key evening. We went to Chili's for dinner at about 4:30 (we both didn't eat much for lunch), then ate the leftovers at about 9 later that night. We avoided the crowds and had good food, so I won't complain there. Then we just stayed in, watching movies and relaxing. Most of the time, that's all I need.

At work, one of the hours I assist a student in a Jewelry class, which so far has been a lot of fun for me. I have to be careful not to take over his projects, but am glad to assist when he needs my help getting things started or things like that. Right now they're making decorative pins out of twisting copper wire and adding beads and coils of colored wire. I'm helping my student make one that is shaped like a guitar and he's really enjoying that he made something he would actually be proud to wear. He is getting the hang of this assignment, so his teacher said I could make my own pin :) I made a design with a treble clef and some circles and like it a lot. It isn't done yet, but you may see me wearing it at some point in the near future.

I finally got some prints from my wedding and our trip to Idaho for Matt and Ali's wedding. We got a collage frame for our wedding and finally just filled it this week. I've also ordered an 8x10 print of the Nauvoo Temple. I had taken the picture a while back when the ward went for Fall Break and I used my newly learned skills from Digital Imaging class to edit it and make it look really nice (it's the current profile picture). I'm excited to get that, as well as some other prints I got for a gift... details on that later.

Not a lot has gone on the past couple of weeks. Last week I was sick half the week and the other half was at Mandt training (it's the school district's choice of method for assisting and restraining students when necessary and is based on building relationships to try and prevent incidents from happening). This week I've just been SO EXHAUSTED every day that I just come home after work and can hardly function. Many naps have been taken in preparation for the upcoming week of concert events for ACDA. Today after work Luke and I both accidentally slept for about 4 hours. Ah well. I guess we needed it.

On a less personal note, the teaser trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie came out on V-Day and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I'm just glad they're not trying to make super old Harrison Ford look like he hasn't aged. They make note of his age and allow it to contribute to the humor of the movie. We'll definitely see it, along with a long list of movies that we plan to see: Juno, Fool's Gold, 27 Dresses, The Bucket List, The Spiderwick Chronicles (and those are just movies that are already out... we haven't been to a movie in a while).

Life is good...and exhausting. Good night.

ACDA

I am sick again, I cannot believe it. This time Luke is sick too, so usually if something is strong enough to get him (he has the immune system of a rock), then I'm a goner.

I am going to be singing with the KU Concert Choir at the ACDA conference, which just happens to be in Kansas City this year at the end of February. They're doing a couple of pieces that they did last spring when I was in the choir, including a piece where I was featured, so that's why I was asked to do it. It should be a lot of fun... I haven't sung for real pretty much since then, so I'm pumped... but that also means lots of practice will be needed. Back when we first sang it, I posted it on my xanga blog, so here's a link if you want to hear me singing "David of the White Rock." I'm the soloist throughout. This is the other piece I'll be singing with them, called "Jamaican Medley," which was written by our director, Paul Tucker. These recordings are from last year, when we performed them at KMEA Convention as the featured group.

Also, my dear friend Lori will be at ACDA with her group from Colorado (UNC), so I'm way excited to get to see her!

Tribute to the late LDS President Hinckley

I don't know if you're familiar with Glenn Beck, but this is his tribute to Pres. Hinckley.

“‘Here and there, and now and then, God makes a giant among men.’ President [Gordon B.] Hinckley was such a giant – a giant of knowledge, of faith, of testimony, of compassion, of vision.” --President Thomas S. Monson

President Hinckley's Funeral today was beautiful; I was able to watch it from the computer. It emphasized the hope and inspiration that he radiated and was able to share in his example to everyone he met. It emphasized his wit and good humor, his commitment and dedication to his family and to the church. It emphasized his desire to continually be better, to stand up for something, to be willing to stand out from the world, to serve with confidence in the Lord. I know I can continue to learn from his example and I will. I look forward to the great things that will come to pass because of the hard work of the new prophet, who will most likely be President Thomas S. Monson. I am grateful to know that until Christ comes again, a prophet will stand on the earth to do His work.

http://www.enjoylawrence.com/Kids_Calendar.html

My adorable niece Elise is on the cover of this month's Lawrence Kids' Calendar. It's a free monthly publication that let's you know everything fun going on for kids during the month. They have it at grocery stores (I saw a bunch at Checker's today), the nature center, places like that. My sister Lori submitted that picture (along with one of her older daughter Ava, that was also a great picture) kind of on a whim, so that's fun!

Life is good. I'm re-reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card because I was jealous that Luke was reading Ender's Game for the first time (one of my all-time favorite books, if anyone wants to borrow it). Ender's Shadow is parallel to Ender's Game... takes place at the same time, but from a different character's perspective. I like it just as much, as well as its 2 sequels, which I will read again after this one. Ender's Game has 3 sequels as well, which I I haven't read yet, but I plan to read all of those books after I'm done with the Shadow ones. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed reading as much as I have been lately. I guess it's the advantage of having no kids, no homework, and a husband who likes Call of Duty 4 :P (I really just use his gaming as an excuse to read or do something on my own... sometimes I need the me time -- I remember when I used to actually be pretty independent).

And I'm almost 100% well! Almost.

Life is good. Enough to say it again.

And I love that Luke enjoys watching HGTV as much as I do :D

the necessity of pain and consequences

On the eve of Luke and my first combined payday in a while, I am GRATEFUL for Luke's birthday (and the cash donations he received on its behalf) and for late wedding gifts that have granted us financial survival until this payday could finally arrive. I really feel like this struggle is making us stronger... like when you're working out muscles, they tear only to be strengthened as they are rebound. Each time they tear, they become stronger and stronger.

If you do not have a public library card, I highly recommend it. How often do you read a book that you want to own? Definitely less than every time you read a book, right? I don't understand why people buy a book if they have wanted to read it. Umm, hey. That's the entire purpose of the library... so you don't have to spend money on something you'll just read once (or twice or however many times you want to check it out because it's free!). I just finished reading The Giver by Lois Lowry on Saturday. Most people my age read it in about 6th grade, but I never did for some reason. I really loved this book and guarantee that I'll read it again (and now I know that at some point I do want to buy it :P). It was a great reminder to me of the important (and often necessary) purpose of pain. Is it really to our benefit to try and eliminate it? Of course we can minimize the amount of pain in our lives by making good choices, but I also know there are some causes of pain that are essential to our personal growth and character. I may decide to never touch a hot stove because my mom told me not to, but I can tell you that I learned the lesson a lot more personally when I burnt myself... and I realized that there are worse things than burning yourself on the stove. While it definitely does hurt, I probably don't need to live in fear of the kitchen stove.

A couple of Sundays ago we were talking about Lehi's vision in 1 Nephi 8 - 12 (in the Book of Mormon) and we were discussing the mists of darkness (which represent temptation). In order to eventually get to the tree of life (which represents eternal life), you must hold fast to the rod of iron (which represents the word of God -- I see it as kind of a guardrail), which is the straight way leading to the tree. It is so easy to forget that in this vision, the rod of iron passes directly through the mists of darkness. You can't just avoid the mists altogether, but you have to pass through them, while still clinging tightly to the iron rod. You have to OVERCOME the temptation by choosing to hold to the better path, rather than trying to take a different route to avoid it altogether. Then you're just fumbling for your own way, thinking it will be easier -- and it very well may be easier, but life is hard for a reason. If it's easy, then it probably won't get you to the place (or allow you to become the person) you ultimately want to be. Anyway, those of you who have read The Giver hopefully understand what I'm talking about, but I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it.

It's silly to even mention this, but whenever I think of the principle of pain, it reminds me of an episode of Grey's Anatomy I saw in one of the first seasons... there was a little girl who thought she was a superhero because she could feel no pain. She would always tell kids to punch her in the stomach to prove that she was invincible. Just because she couldn't feel the pain doesn't mean that the blows to her stomach weren't causing her body harm. She was internally bleeding because she was allowing herself to be damaged over and over again ... because she didn't even know there was anything wrong. My point if: We may complain about pain, but if we didn't have it as a warning, we would just keep doing things that were harmful to ourselves. Granted, sometimes people ignore the pain and continue to hurt themselves (and I don't just mean physically), but at least we have that warning if we are willing to react to it. Instead of running away from pain, maybe we should be figuring out what is causing it and learn how to solve whatever is causing it. Then we know how to press forward instead of just running away from anything that may challenge us.

That's all, really.

I'm starting to feel better... all day I felt like my ears were getting ready to pop, but they never did. I'm really hoping to feel well enough to go back to work tomorrow. I know they rely on me for a lot and I want to be there to fulfill my duties.

I've decided that life is so interesting because 1. we're supposed to enjoy it, and 2. we're supposed to learn from it. I don't really enjoy boring things and I'm not usually very willing to learn from them either.

Now, that's all.

President Gordon B. Hinckley: Remembered...

President Gordon Bitner Hinckley, the prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints passed away last night about 8 p.m. CST. Honestly, I thought I would be a lot more devastated when this finally happened, but at 97, I can't think of how his life could've contained more goodness within it. His wife passed away in April of 2004 and all I can feel is the joy that he must feel right now as he can finally be with her again. President Hinckley has been the prophet since 1995, so for pretty much all of my adult life, he is the one I have looked to the most for guidance and direction in my life. He was called to be a messenger to all the world... a mouthpiece to direct us through the words of the Lord.

I know, through the many things that President Hinckley has brought about, that he was truly a prophet of the Lord (by his fruits ye shall know him). Not only that, but the Spirit has testified it to me, every time I have heard him speak. He would speak with humility, good humor, and with great authority because he had confidence in the Lord.

He has accomplished so much for the Lord's kingdom and I am so grateful to have been able to learn so much from such a wonderful man. I know the next prophet, to be named after President Hinckley's funeral, will be just as inspired as President Hinckley, and I look forward to learning from him as he is directed by the Lord.

I always was too slow for this game...

... that's right, I got tagged by Beth , so it's my turn to answer some questions about myself. Then I get to tag several of you who may by the end regret that you frequent my blog (if you don't already regret it, that is).

A. The Rules are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people, posts their names, and goes to their blogs letting them know they've been tagged.


5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. Counting down the months/weeks to when I could attend church dances (at age 14).
2. Playing on the 8th grade girls' basketball team at South Junior High.
3. Playing on a city co-ed soccer league (yes, at the same time as bball)
4. Being REALLY awkward .. and somewhat boyish (this is when the baggy pants began to appear)
5. Listening to Backstreet Boys shamelessly.

5 Things On My To-Do List Today
1. Figure out how to breathe with all this gunk in my nose
2. Get better so I can go to work tomorrow.
3. Start a new book (I just finished The Giver by Lois Lowry yesterday and it was amazing)
4. Take a shower
5. Eat a full meal (a queasy stomach doesn't make this one an easy task)

5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. Reese's Puffs Cereal
2. Minute Maid Limeade and Cherry Limeade push popsicles
3. Oranges
4. Yogurt
5. Sour Cream and Cheddar Baked Ruffles

5 Things I'd Do if I Were a Billionaire
1. Pay off all our debts and those of our family members.
2. Buy a hybrid/energy-efficient car (or 2).
3. Backpack through Europe (especially Italy, Greece, Austria, rural: France, Scotland and England)

4. Donate money to the church welfare programs and go on a married couple mission with Luke for the church

5. Build an energy-efficient house or 2 in locations to be determined.

3 Bad Habits
1. Being grumpy for pretty much no reason.
2. Running late.
3. Not being physically active enough.

5 Jobs I've had
1. Data entry at NCS Pearson (now called Vangent)
2. Sonic Car-Hop
3. www.Infoition.com (I shouldn't specify more, for the sake of protection from competitors of this company)
4. EFY Counselor, Building Counselor, and Field Coordinator
5. Special Ed Paraeducator at LFSHS

5 Things People Probably Don't Know About Me (this was hard for me, since I'm pretty much an open book)
1. I actually enjoy watching Luke play Call of Duty 4 on XBOX 360 Live (I'll be sitting in the same room reading a book and then without even thinking about it, there I am saying, "Oh, he's right there! Watch out!")
2. I enjoy making homemade cards for people's birthdays, weddings, Christmas, etc... so much that I started just making sets of cute cards with my scrapbooking supplies
3. I've had to fire someone before ... and it was not fun.
4. I'll be jobless come June (until August), but will find something temporary until school starts again.
5. Luke plans to make me audition for American Idol this summer ... I think it would be a fun experience (and wouldn't expect anything to come of it -- I personally think it's kind of rigged), but I don't know what songs I would sing.

Okay, I tag: Lori, Laura, Karen, Al, and Gaia

And Happy Birthday LORI!!! Your last one! :)

In other news, Luke and I got to go to the Winter Quarters Temple yesterday and it was a wonderful trip. We rode with Matt and Ali and I didn't get sick until the way home, so I was able to enjoy my time in the temple. It was an extremely needed trip for us, so yay.

In my last post, I mentioned my friends Karen and Adam getting married. They posted their first dance from their wedding reception on YouTube and it's. awesome. I don't know why I was even kind of surprised.


So, Luke started as a para on Friday. I think it'll be really great working together. Both of us are out of the building for hours out of the day and we really only saw each other for about 20 minutes, so I don't think we'll get sick of each other, but we can still carpool to work and all that. It's also really nice to have someone to talk to about everything that happens each day (every day is packed full of the unexpected... i'll just put it that way). I'm really excited about this... and so is our bank account. I'm just glad it worked out. He won't get his first paycheck until the end of January, so things are a little tight for us until then, but I think it's building our character :)


I'm starting to really want a dog. We won't get one any time soon, but I go every morning, Monday through Friday, to the Humane Society animal shelter for over an hour with a couple of students. We've been playing with puppies, teaching them how to play right, and petting bunnies and rats and it's been a lot of fun. To get to the puppies, we walk by all the kennels of the slightly older dogs and I've fallen in love with a few of them (particularly the ones who don't bark, but just stare at us longingly as we walk by). It's a nice change from just being at school all day, but it does also have it's disadvantages (the hint of dog smell in my hair and the fact that the 2 puppies we worked with on friday managed to pee a total of 3 times on the linoleum floor within the hour that we were there).


I let my sister Kelly take scissors to my hair yesterday. I let her cut some bangs and she made it about shoulder length with a slight layer. I'll probably have to go get it done right soon (eventually), but I was just needing a change. I really like the bangs, but Lori kept telling me today that she wished she could see my face. I might post a picture at some point if I decide I'm not too embarrassed to be seen with it.

Life is good. I'm grateful for that.

Oh, and I love Sara Bareilles.

Yay KU! I am so proud of KU's football team in how well they played in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night against VTech. It was an exciting game and a great (free :P) birthday present for Luke.

Saturday marked 3 months that Luke and I have been married. We didn't do much to celebrate because I wasn't really home, but we've already been through so much in just the 3 months. I mentioned in Fast and Testimony Meeting yesterday at church that marriage allows for so many opportunities to be refined. Compromising and forfeiting selfishness... I find myself often submitting my will to that of the Lord and it has truly made my life better. Of course being able to spend every day with my best friend has helped with that, but sometimes we just get under each other's skin. I'm grateful for the principle of forgiveness. I do stupid and insensitive things. So does Luke. But we've made a commitment for eternity and we love each other a lot, so we're willing to get through anything and we're willing to try harder in the first place, so we can prevent those larger issues that could arise.

On Saturday, Karen and Adam's wedding reception was gorgeous. They did mostly black and white with red roses/petals on the tables. It was apparent that everything they did was well-planned, like they had a slideshow and an original song sung by Karen's brother-in-law. I loved how they put a small engagement picture in the center of each page in their guest book. I was able to help them set up and had a lot of fun catching up with Adam and Karen's sisters, who are all hilarious and gorgeous. It's funny how every wedding/reception is so personalized. The highlight of the evening was Adam and Karen's first dance where they did a choreographed routine to OK Go's "Here We Go Again," which is the song famous for its music video -- a choreographed treadmill dance. I ended up making a card and envelope for them and really enjoyed using my creativity for the first time in a while.

Luke is going to be starting this week or next as a paraeducator with me at Free State. I think it will be a great situation... we'll be able to carpool, we'll have the same schedules (at least until he starts school), and we'll both have benefits and decent pay. I'm excited about it. AND we'll both be busy enough that we won't be in each other's hair too much.

I am grateful for friends who remind me of the blessings that come from the temple.

Christmas, New Year's Eve, etc.

Luke has gotten me slightly hooked to Need For Speed: Most Wanted on the XBOX360. He borrowed it from my brother Craig, but also has it for his PS2. I few days ago I started my own profile on there and have had fun racing, winning money, evading cop chases, and souping up my cars. I realize this makes me even more of a huge nerd, but it's fun for every once in a while (lately it's been more than once in a while since I don't go back to work until Thursday).

Christmas was a great and busy day. Luke and I went to family celebrations both on his side and mine. That's the blessing and the headache of having the majority of both of our families here in Lawrence. We started out in the morning at Luke's brother's home to watch our nieces McKenzie and Madison open their presents from Santa. Later that afternoon, we went to the Stock family gathering, where we ate a delicious meal, opened some presents, then played Pictionary for a while (we didn't have the actual game and were just making up the words for the other team... I had to draw Postpartum Depression. Amazingly enough, Marty guessed it!). We had a lot of fun there.

At about 5:45, we went to the Schellman gathering at my parents' house, where they were just finishing up dinner. We did our Dirty Santa gift exchange (like white elephant), then opened regular presents starting with the youngest and moving our way up by age.

With both of our families being vast in number, we're glad that they both draw names for our regular Christmas exchange, so we don't all go completely broke. We had 2 desserts that night and everyone was in a really good mood. I wish I'd taken some pictures, but I didn't even think of it with everyone being so busy.

For New Year's Eve, we had our friends Matt and Ali over. We played games, watched a movie, ate Papa Murphy's and yummy grape jello cake with cool whip, then just took some goofy pictures (to come soon) and called it a night. It was a lot of fun.

Luke's birthday (as well as the Orange Bowl) is on Thursday, so I think some snachos and festivities will be in order.

Happy New Year, everyone!