Heaven On Earth

There have been a couple things that have been on my mind lately...and one of them is how beautiful the world is! I have to admit, my morning is my favorite time of the day. I used to always complain about how early i have to wake up, but lately i have had some really meaningful moments in my mornings.There is nothing i love more than driving to school or work, and seeing the sun ready to come up over the mountain. The clouds and sky always look so beautiful. My morning drive is my perfect 'me' time. I can think about real things that i don't really have time to think about during the day when i'm studying, or sitting in class, or working. I think about the simple things in life that i am so grateful for. A couple of weeks ago, i had just gotten to work and it was about 7 am. There was a bunch of trash that needed to be taken out to the dumpsters, and so as i was walking outside...i looked up at the mountain and it seriously was breathtaking. The clouds were like red/pink/purple! It's morning like this that give me a 'I can do this! I can get through this day!' It's morning like this that i can't help but think of my heavenly father.

Last night...me and my roomates went up to park city to do some shopping, and as we were going through provo canyon, i could not get over how beautiful it was! All of the fall leaves were changing colors and i was seriously soo happy! This is my favorite time of year! So tonight, me and Jordy took the Jeep...and we decided to drive the Alpine Loop. For me to say it was beautiful...is a major understatement! About half way through our drive, when i couldn't stop talking about how beautiful everything was, Jordy said to me "If you think this is pretty, imagine what the celestial kingdom is going to be like!" That got me thinking about heaven...and how we tend to forget little 'heaven on earth' experiences here. It got me thinking about a few things that are 'heaven on earth' for me....
-Heaven came down to earth for me tonight, as i saw how beautiful the mountains are. Heavenly father really created all of this for us! We are so lucky!

-Heaven comes down to earth for me when i am in the temple! I honestly cannot wait to go through one day. I know it will be a special day for me. Being the youngest in my family...i will be lucky to have my entire family in the temple with me when i go through. Picturing my entire family in the Celestial room together is heaven on earth!

-Heaven comes down to earth for me when i get to hang out with my entire family! Unfortunately, this doesn't happen very often with all my siblings living in Texas and Idaho. But there isn't anything i love more than playing with my nieces and nephews...and hanging out with my brothers and sisters & inlaws. They are all such great examples to me, and i often feel like i have it so easy...because i have such good examples to follow, and mentors to help me through everything.
We're gonna have to wait until Christmas to get a family picture of everyone together... but here are some random ones i found...

My oldest brother Steve and his family! I am so excited they are moving to Idaho now, so i can see them more often! I just love them. Steve is my most protective brother..and i always act like i don't like it, but i secretly love it.

My brother Jon, and his cute wife Lisa..and my Mommy! These people are the greatest examples to me! I wish i could be as good as them! This is at Jon's graduation from Baylor College of Denistry. He is now a Pediatric Dentist! My parents have always supported all of us siblings in everything. They wouldn't miss a night like this for the world. Jon and Lisa have the 3 cutest boys that you've ever seen!

Aren't these girls adorable? Well they belong to these two...

(these 3 photos courtesy of raeportaits.com) My sister and her husband! I miss them so much! Seriously, i could hang out with my sister for my entire life and not get sick of her. She is the coolest.

My brother Rob dog, and his wife Jessica! I love them! They are crazy. They just abandoned me this summer to live in Texas for Dental School too...and i'm still adjusting to Sunday dinner without them. Now it's just me, mom & dad. It's a HUGE party.

Last but not least, my daddy! I think this is a great picture of him. It says much about him. :) He really is the greatest daddy in the world!

I know this was long...but i just wanted to share. Life is good! I'll stop.

practice what you preach?

I hate flossing! You may think this is funny, but no one understands how hard it is for me! My biggest problem is that i hate sticking my hands in my own mouth. When i do floss, i have to be at work, and i HAVE to have gloves on. Is that weird? I feel like a terrible person when i tell patients at work all day long, to make sure they are flossing well to prevent cavities. I'm such a hypocrite. Anyways, so during July me and my friend Andrea at work made a flossing chart...and we had a competition to see who flossed the most during the month.

I obviously lost! But i'm super proud of 9 days i did floss! I will get better...i promise!

Obsession

I have a terrible obsession....

chocolate covered cinnamon bears.

It is a terrible obsession. Tonight, i got home at 10 and i could not stop thinking about how badly i wanted them. So finally i grabbed my wallet, and was at the Winco buying a pound and half of these suckers by 10:30. Someone help me. I hate to admit it, but they really solve ALL of my problems! 

School? Really?

So it is officially my last day of Summer today! School starts at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Yuck. I'm not even going to think about it until I am actually driving there. There are probably a million reasons why i am dreading it so badly, but here are just a few...

1. Rob and Jess won't be there anymore. Who am i going to study in the library with....go to friday devotionals with....sit and talk with when i don't even want to study? I never was able to go to the same school as any family member until i got to college, and it just hit me...i really am going to miss seeing my brother at school!
2. I have my Physiology lab on Thursday nights. This is a HUGE issue. This is why: my friend Angela Hart got me hooked on bunco this summer! She has a group that she plays with once a month, and she has let me come for the past two months while i was out of school. It is seriously a riot. Last month i think my blood pressure exceeded 180/90 during the game. It was the last round and me and my friend Liz were tied for having the most bunco's. Neither of us got bunco on the last round, so we had to have a bunc-off to see who would get the $25 prize. guess what? WE TIED THE BUNC-OFF! So we had to have a double bunc-off. This was intense! I was seriously sweating, while i had like 5 girls over my head just counting for me so i could roll really fast! While i was speed rolling, one of my dice fell off the table...and needless to say, i lost. It was so disappointing. So anyways, Bunco night is this Thursday again and i'm having a really hard time facing the fact that i can't go. I'll get over it.
3. I have no life when i am in school! I wake up...go to school, go to work, go to school, go to bed...and do the whole thing over again 5 days a week.
4. I get chubby because i never have time to work out..and my diet consists of cereal, granola bars, pb & honey sandwiches, and crackers every day! I may try and mix that up this semester.
5. I just realized i only accomplished like 2 things on my summer bucket list. Thats just sad.
6. I don't have a summer tan to show off.

There actually are a few reasons why i am like .2% excited to start school....
1. I start Institute again! I have always loved Institute. I just registered today, and i'm taking "Parables of Jesus". I am really excited and i know it really helps me to break away from school for an hour and focus on Christ.
2. Fathers Blessings! I always love the beginning of the school year, and opportunity i have to get a blessing from my dad! It is always a special experience for me, and always gives me an incredible amount of motivation, and a knowledge that i can do anything i need or want to do! I am grateful i can go to my dad at ANYTIME i need a blessing, and he is always there ready and willing. What would i do without my daddy?
3. I can't think of another good reason...

Anyways, it's a school night so i'm off to bed!

Here I Am!

Did any of you think this day would really come? I didn't think so. I still can't believe i talked myself into the blog world! On Sunday night I was talking to my brother Rob, and his wife Jess, on the phone and i told them i was starting a blog and their responses went something like this...

"WHAT?"

"NO YOUR NOT!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

"OH......MY.......GOSH....."

"WOW"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

So after ALL that encouragement, i still did it!

Here is the real story of why i decided to do this...

So one Wednesday morning, (like a month ago) I was sitting at work early in the morning. We had all just got to the office and were just talking about about who knows what before our patients came. One of my dear friends, Natalie, who is our hygienist on Wednesdays walked in (she is always full of fun surprises when she comes) with these HUGE books. They were books that she had for both of her little girls that she had made from her blog posts from the past year. I was amazed! It was such a cool book of everything they did and all their little fun family moments. I spent like the next 2 hours at work just looking through those books. From that moment on... i decided that since i am the WORST journal keeper ever...i need to try a blog that way i can have somewhat of a history when i die. So here i am. Still 6 feet tall, and the biggest blonde ever. Read or don't read, i don't really care. I just want my big book of life like Natalie's! :)