Work Christmas Party

Today was my work Christmas Party! It was a fun day. I came into work at 7am and at 8 we had a staff meeting. In the staff meeting they told us that all employees were getting a Christmas gift and we DID!!!! I left with $50.00 in cash! It was great! I love receiving unexpected money. Then they had a huge brunch with tons of food for all of us. There were muffins, fruit, eggs, keesh, croissant sandwiches, juice, and lots and lots of cookies. They had a cookie throw down, which reminded me, that yes, I am very much in Utah. :) But people went all out with their displays volcanoes and real christmas lights. It was so neat! After work I was able to go and do a little more Christmas shopping!!! It was a very fun day!!!
I also got another unexpected gift today as well. My mom called and told me she payed my car insurance for the next 6 months! She didn't need too, but she did and I love her for it! My mom is the greatest in the whole world!!!!!!

This weekend was great too. Well, my Sunday was great! Eric drove down from Star Valley and surprised me at church. Afterwards my roommate kim, eric, and I all had dinner with our friend Kory from college. The best part was that I made my famous biscuits and gravy. YUMMMMMMMM!!! Afterwards Eric and I got to cuddle up and watch a movie. My favorite on a sunday night!!!

I love my life, and I am so grateful to have such wonderful people all around me. My friends and family are the best! AND.....I have found the most amazing man who treats me like an Angel! I am a very blessed person! I just feel so much gratitude today for some reason and just thought I should announce it publicly :)

Home for the Holidays

The last couple nights, my roommate Kim and I were talking about how we needed to decorate our apartment for Christmas. Neither one of us has any Christmas stuff. Okay I take that back :) I finally brought down my Huge Christmas Wreath that I made for my door a couple years back that I've been storing at Eric's parents place for awhile now, but other than that nothing. We both have always been at home with our own families for Christmas. Well this year I won't be making it home for Christmas, and I work Christmas Eve, but thankfully once again the Hale family has warmly offered me a place at their home for Christmas. Nevertheless, We decorated tonight anyways. The only thing we are waiting on is our tree which Eric is chopping down and bringing to us this weekend, but all the other decorations are complete. Here are a few pictures of how they turned out. I was pretty proud of them. :)

                                        This is Dan and Kyli's tree Eric and I helped decorate

                         My cute door handel to my bedroom (also made one for the coat closet)

                           So I was super excited about this Santa!!!! His face glows. It's our hall light.

                                                                 Kitchen Table

                                                Mantel Decoration ( I made !Thank you! :) )

 The whole fireplace decorated (This pic doesn't do it Justice...it looks awesome with the lights off)

                                                       My white elephant gift put to use :)

A close up of my centerpiece (Just took a vase I had and filled it..stole the idea from Kyli :) )

Ward Christmas Dinner

Last Night was my single ward's Christmas dinner. :) Eric is new to my ward but we went together and had a blast. Dinner was catered by someone in the stake, and was super delicious. There was all sorts of goodness to eat. After dinner and dessert, we played White Elephant. My roommate Kim won us some tubberware (we really needed some more) and some dish towels.

                                   Kim showing off her gift (she's the one in the white pants) :)

                                               More of the Ward Playing White Elephant

I ended up with some Dish towels too, but mine were cute with snowmen on them.  My gift also came with some hot pads too :) I was excited seeing as how I don't really have many Christmas decorations. Eric was excited about his gift too. He stole his gift from one of the Elders who came, and ended up with a book about the Tabernacle. After the diner, Eric and I went back to my place and watched Four Christmases and laid by the fire. It was a wonderful night, and again, another wonderful part of the Christmas season to enjoy. The ward is small, but the leaders are great! :)

Festival of Trees

Last night, Eric and I went to the Festival of Trees at the Southtowne Expo Center in Sandy. Every year this is put on and all proceeds go to the Primary Children's Medical Hospital. It was Fabulous!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many ornate, creative christmas treees. But they also had other things too. They had live music and perforamances, gingerbread houses, door wreaths, a christmas shop to buy gifts, tons of food stands, and other tables with crafts. There were over 800 trees to look at alone. When you walk in you almost don't even know where to start. I took some pictures of some of my favorite unique trees and crafts. Its such a great way to start the Christmas season and I can hardly wait till we make it down to temple square to see the lights. I also have someone I work with who is getting me and Eric tickets for the Tabernacle Christmas fireside. :) I can't wait. These I guess are some of the benefits of living in Utah! :)
There's always so much to do!

PA School Update

So most of you know that I have been in the process of applying to PA school. I appled to Salus University in Pennsylvania. I also today decided to apply to a school in Deleware called Arcadia University. They have a dual Masters 3 yr program for PA and an MPH for Public Health which is awesome because after I did my internship with the Public Health Department I couldn't figure out what I wanted to get my Master's in. I was torn, but I do this program then I get the best of both worlds. The east coast will be a whole new experience if I get in to either schools, but I am really excited and keeping my fingers crossed. Hope I can give more of an update soon. I know that Salus has my application and it is under review. :)

Turkey Day in Star Valley

Friday morning Kyli, Dan, and I headed up to Star Valley to meet up with the rest of the Hale family to celebrate Thanksgiving. Everyone was somewhere different on Thanksgiving day and so Eric's parents decided that we should celebrate on Saturday instead. So Friday when we arrived, we unpacked, Kyli and I showed off all our great purchases, the boys went and cut wood while us girls stayed inside and played with the nieces. Then we ate dinner and visited, and the boys played games, and I went to bed early. Saturday morning we woke up and Eric's mom made us all French toast. Then us girls made and decorated gingerbread houses while the boys chopped wood again. It was so fun, and we got to watch Home Alone while we decorated.

After the boys were done chopping and showered, Eric and I went and took Christmas pictures at the park there in Afton. It was so much fun!!! We had a blast playing in the snow, and the pictures turned out great. His cousin Cassey took our pictures and she did a great job. I can't wait to see them in our Christmas cards.

After pictures we went back to the house and helped cook dinner. I was in charge of making the sweet potatoes. I decided to make my dads recipe. Kyli, Eric's niece Maddie, and I all headed to to the grocery store and picked up everything we needed. Then after making the food, Eric and I packed his 3 nieces in the car and headed to the Christmas parade. It was short and sweet but sooooooo cute. All the floats were decorated in Christmas lights and downtown Afton was decorated with lights and decorations. After the parade all of the Hale family headed back home for our Thanksgiving feast. It was delicious. All the food was Amazing and the bird weighed 30lbs. It was massive!!! My favorite part of the meal was the slush!!! Talk about amazing. I know another event in a few months coming up that would be great for ;) Then we played 2 rounds of spoons. Eric one the first round and I won the second round! Then we played a great game of Cranium. Eric, Tommy (Dan's brother), and Leah (Eric's cousin) won. Kyli, Dan, and I were a close second, and Susan, Van, and Cassey came in last. We all had a ton of fun, and I am pretty sure my abs are sore still fro laughing so hard all night. Anyways, today was church and Sunday dinner and then we headed out of town. But as we were pulling out of the driveway, Eric's brother Eli backed his truck into Dan and Kyli's car I was riding in. It dented the whole side panel of the door. Thankfully we were all okay, and after 5 hrs. in the car we finally made it back to Utah safe and sound. The roads were slick, and the blizzard didn't help, but at least we are all safe. Eric stayed in Star Valley to work on some "things". Things I am not aloud to ask questions about. So hopefully he will be back in Utah in a couple of days. In the mean time its back to work for me. I hope the week goes by quickly. I can't hardly wait till Christmas and New Years. Disney here we Come :)  

!Black Friday Madness!

The day of Thanksgiving I ended up having to work half the day. Turns out you can't leave a bacteria sensing machine alone. So when I got off at 9:00pm I headed over to Kyli's place. I ate some left over Thanksgiving dinner they saved me, and then we mapped out the stores that we wanted to hit for Black Friday. We decided that a couple malls, Target, Walmart, and Old Navy would be the best route. The Fashion Place Mall opened at 9:00 so we left at 11:00pm and headed there. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a mall more crowed in my life. It was insane. Police were everywhere trying to keep order and certain stores had lines curving in front of other stores. It was AMAZING :) I love shopping. Kyli and I left the mall with a birthday present for my sister. Next, we headed to the Southtowne Mall near my place. It was packed too, just not as bad because the mall is about twice as big. We hit a lot of stores enjoyed the live music and bought lots of clothes. Next we headed to Old Navy. It was by far the craziest place we went. We had to wait outside for 30min in 15 degree weather. 

People were getting hostile and agitated. Kyli and I couldn't help but laugh, but after we made it in and found what we were looking for, we had to wait in line to checkout for 2 hrs. 

The line curved around the entire store. Then we headed to Walmart but they didn't have what we were looking for and then headed over to Target. We reached our wall in there after grabbing some hot chocolate. We were in the table cloth section when we decided to give our legs a rest. We hung out on the floor, delirious, and had flashbacks to our trip to Vegas a few years back. haha We wandered around the strip at 2:00 in the morning trying to get back to our hotel. :) We were all so tired we thought everything was funny. Thats the point we hit during our Target adventure. We hit a few more stores after that and then made it back to my apartment so I could pack for Star Valley at 7:00am. We spent 8 hrs shopping in madness, but it was definitely worth it. We had a total blast and got some amazing deals. I was converted to Black Friday shopping this week. :)

"Cowboy Up"

Today I stayed home from work sick. No...there was no faking involved. In fact, I haven't been this sick in a very long long time. I just hardly ever get sick, thankfully my immune system is a "powerhouse" as Eric likes to call it :) It all started last night when I was driving home from work. I had plans to go to the grocery store but those all ended when I reached my house. about 8:30 I started throwing up and didn't stop till 6 this morning. After almost fainting last night, sweating, freezing, fever, body aches, headache, nausea, and congestion, oh yeah and lets not forget sore throat, I'll head back to work tomorrow. I was able to get lots of rest, and thanks to my roommate Kim and my boyfriend Eric I was well taken care of. Eric brought me 3 kinds of soups, crackers, gingerel, candy canes ( I guess peppermint helps with nausea), gum, and 3 new movies to keep me occupied while couped up inside my apartment. He stayed and fetched everything for me. He wouldn't let me do anything. :) If I needed my rice bag heated, he did it. Soup made, he did it. water, he got it. Movie switched, he did it. So the 3 movies he brought were The Christmas Carol ( the new one with Jim Carrey) we have both been wanting to see it for awhile, Fireproof, and 8 seconds. 8 Seconds is one of Eric's all time favorite movies, and couldn't believe I hadn't seen it. So today he took care of that. One of Eric's favorite lines is when Tuff says to Lane, "I've got 2 words for you Cowboy Up". So thats what I'm doing. Cowboy up and go back to work through Saturday, and pray Thanksgiving gets here fast. We'll be headed back to Star Valley the weekend of. :)

Rexburg...Home Away from Home

This weekend Eric and I decided to go up to visit some old friends of ours from college. So the story goes that when Eric and I first met it was the second semester of my freshman year. We had a class together. We have been great friends ever since. So needless to say since the time Eric and I met we have associated with the same group of friends. I know his old roommates, he knows my old roommates (only a select few he chooses to remember hahaha) and then some of his closest friends. We used to do everything together....trips , sunday dinners every week, dates, country dancing, movies, hot springs, and concerts. Life has kinda drug us all in different directions, but its nice to know that know matter what, when we all get back together its just like old times. Friday morning Eric and I headed up to Rexburg. When we got there we went to Texas Roadhouse....LOVE that place....we especially love the scones :) After lunch we shopped around at some different stores and at the mall.

Eric Trying on UGLY SWEATERS for our Christmas Pictures

 We then headed over to our friends Tyler and Janae's place for dinner. Janae was working so I played the Wii with their 2 yr old harrison while Eric and Tyler cooked us steak for dinner. We ate and watched a movie and I took off to my friend's place in Rexburg for the night and Eric stayed at Tyler's. When I reached Rexburg I realized I had contracted Erics disease as I like to call it :) and had forgotten my purse in Idaho Falls. This is the part I get to brag about how much my wonderful sweet boyfriend loves me. hahaha. So anyways Saturday morning I met up with some old roommates for breakfast at Jamba and Eric had Tyler drive him to meet me so that I could have my wallet to buy breakfast. It was pretty early especiallly for the 2 boys who stayed up till 4am playing XBox. :) So while Eric went to our friend Jordan's house to take a nap I went to breakfast and then to Walmart and Porter's Just to look around. I think I came up with some good ideas for Christmas gifts. Then I drove over to Jordan's place, woke up the boys, and then Jordan, his girlfriend Angie, and Eric and all went and saw the movie RED. Eric and I had already seen it, but we loved it. After the movie we headed to Winger's for lunch. We had fun catching up. Right afterwards we dropped those two off we headed to Applebees for dinner hahah. Good thing we didn't really eat at lunch. We met back up with our friends Tyler and Janae, and with our friend Tyrel. We had an awesome dinner, watched some football, and chatted for a while. Then Eric and I hung out at Tyrel's after dinner and watched a movie. Sunday, We went to church, then ate, went and said bye to some friends, grabbed some hot chocolate, and headed home. It was a wonderful weekend. As we were driving away, Eric and I both looked at each other and neither one of us wanted to leave. Rexburg was just home for both of us for so long, and with our friends all there, it was hard to leave. Maybe one day we will end up there together.

Star Valley Baptism & Birthday

This weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in awhile. Friday after I got off work I drove over to Eric's and picked him up and we headed out of town to Star Valley, Wy. We got in about 10:00 and ate dinner and stayed up watching bun notice with the fam. Saturday morning Eric's mom woke me up early, and his cousin Leah, his mom, and I all went to the grover ward souper saturday. This was a ploy of his mom's to make me more crafty and turn me into a homemaker :) and I love it!!! hahaha So while we were there we made some christmas books...a story for everyday during december about the Savior. We also etched glass pyrex pie dishes.

That afternoon we all got ready and went to his niece Caellie's baptism. It was wonderful that the whole family was there for her. She was so cute all dressed in her pretty white dress. It was really special to be there to witness that special event in her life. After the baptism and pictures we headed back to the house changed again, and I helped his sister Kyli decorate a cake for his neice Brooklyn's first Birthday. Once the cake was done we grabbed all the presents and food piled in the truck and headed about to the Rainbow ranch for Caellie's dinner party to celebrate the baptism. Once dinner was over some guest left as others arrived for the birthday party. Brooklyn opened her presents and we all ate cake and visited.

Sunday morning we all went to church together. After church, we had a large break the fast dinner at the Hale home and then Eric loaded up his mattress into the back of my car. I officially now have a bad instead of an air mattress to sleep on. It is wonderful. :) His mom also gave a brand new amazing pillow (Eric's a little jealous about that one) and loaded me up with brownies and rolls to take home. And that was the end to our amazing weekend in star valley.

Oh yeah I almost forgot...Eric's dad stiched up the hole in my bumper! My car looks like Frankenstein!!! But it gives her character I think :)

"13 Nights of Halloween"

This week of Halloween has been so fun. Friday was my single's ward Halloween dance but since I had to work late Eric and I didn't make it to the party. SO.......instead we had our own. :) Thursday is usually our date night..and then Friday is Dan and Kyli's and we stay in and watch their little girl. So while they were at the temple, Eric and I watched Brooklyn and watched some of the scary movies on TV. We caught parts of the Sixth Sense, Predator 2, Halloween H2O, The Corpse Bride, Hocus Pocus, we rented The Box...but that one didn't get watched, so tomorrow is movie night when I get off work. ABC Family had the 13 Nights of Halloween showing all weekend...so needless to say we movie marathoned it. :) Eric and I also went to the Gateway mall on Saturday. Kids were dressed up and going from store to store trick or treating. I thought it was kinda funny that people brought their kids to the mall to trick or treat. Afyer the mall we picked up food and games and candy from my place and Wal-Mart and then headed back to Dan and Kyli's, We had four trick or treaters in all, and then a handful tonight. Because we had such few trick or treaters, lets just say we were very generous with our candy stash. I'm pretty sure we made a few kids very happy! :) Hope Everyone was tricked or treated this Halloween!!!

Me, Kyli, and Dan's Pumpkins

Salt Lake Living

So I figured before I post anything else about whats going on in my life, I should probably post about my life so fa in Salt Lake.

Yes, it's true! I live here. Actually on the boarder of Sandy and West Jordan...and West Valley (where Eric lives). I'm still adjusting thats for sure. I never lived the city life. I grew up in the suburbs and then college in small town Rexburg. So this is all new to me. But other than the crazy traffic, red lights that mean yellow to Utahns, I think I am enjoying the variety of stuff to do around here. I wish I had more pictures of what I've been up to but the lens on my camera is broken so all the pictures I have are from my phone and computer.

 

Me at work in the lab

I am enjoying work at ARUP Medical Research Laboratories as a component technician in the blood services department. It has made me grateful that I have an education. It's only a stepping stone for me, temporary for the time being, but it pays the bills and leaves extra to enjoy my time in Utah.

I work with only a few other people in the lab and we have this old stereo. I took a picture because I thought it was funny that we used a coat hanger as an antenna to get a signal. hahaha

The clock says DIE for the day too! :)

Also we just got our first snow fall. This Picture was taken from my bathroom window. You can see the Jordan Rivers temple in the distance...its 2 blocks away from my apartment.

"Baby its Cold Outside"

Trick or Treat

It's the week of Halloween and all the festivities have begun. Eric and I made plans a few times to go to Cornbelly at Thanksgiving Point , but just haven't made it there yet for one reason or another. They have a corn maze, hayrides, a jack-o-lantern tree, pig races, a giant jumping pillow, and tons more. SO instead we grabbed some pumpkins from Smith's and carved them last night. We had a lot of fun, and after two broken knives , and a couple cut fingers we were done.

Mine is the spider and Eric's is a werewolf

This week we probably do a lot of different stuff to get into the Halloween spirit. Maybe a haunted house or some scary movies. :) Tonight is dinner and games at my place.

"Lost but Holding Hands"

So, Monday. 30min before I got off work Eric text me letting me know that he had driven up to Ensign Peak, and if I didn't hear from him by 6:00pm that he was still there because he lost his car keys. Its about a 30 min hike to the top. Sadly it rained the whole night before so it was muddy and slippery. Once I got off work I decided I better head up there anyways to make sure he was ok. When I pulled up Eric was outside his car trying to break in with a stick. hahaha sad but true. His hands and face were freezing, and he hadn't eaten anything more than a granola bar. He sat in my car for a few minutes to warm up, and then I was able to talk him into hiking up the mountain one more time. As we started up the peak....we met a young couple. We told them our situation and they told us they'd look for the keys. We headed up the side that had no path...the place eric decided it was a good idea to get off the course.

we reached a cliff and then the top but still no keys. Looking through the sage brush for an hour it all starts to look the same. We headed down the mountain and as we slipped through the mud our shoes got caked and so did our pants, and still NO keys. We finally made it back down near the car even dug in the trash but no luck. But after many prayers, as we approached his car...his keys were placed right on the windshield of his car, a whole 5 hrs later. AMAZING...it was definitely an answer to our prayers. We are almost positive that the couple we ran into found them and left them there for Eric. We were so happy so I took Eric to Rumbi for dinner to celebrate hahaha. But even though it was an unfortunate event with a fortunate ending, the view from the top was outstanding and breath takingly beautiful. I actually felt for one of the first times since I moved to Utah that I might actually have started liking it here.

We didn't have a camera but this was about the closest thing I could find of our view. We are planning to go back up there again soon. And this time I'll hold the keys :)

Life as a college Grad!

I am now a college graduate. I graduated with my Bachelor's in Health Science, emphasis in Public health and a minor in Chemistry. I found a job with ARUP Medical Research Laboratory in Sandy Utah in their blood services department. I process, test and ship blood to local hospitals within the Salt Lake Valley for transfusions. I just completed my training in 2 1/2 months, its supposed to take 6. So I am really happy that part is over. It gets pretty old going to work everyday and taking quizzes, reading 30 page modules, and having a trainer watch your every move for 2 months. So needless to say I am extremely happy that the hard part is over. I also recently completed my CASPA application for PA school. I applied to Salus University in PHILLY, kinda scary, hahaha :) but I should be hearing from them soon, since I have previously completed a preliminary application process.
As for the juicy and fun stuff happening in my life...well theres not much to tell. Eric has moved to Utah and was working as a marketing manager but recently the company is shutting its doors, so he is on the job hunt again. We are happy, and in love, and spend every minute of are spare time away from work together. We have started the 90 day book of mormon challenge a couple weeks ago, and so far I haven't missed a night hahaha. We are both really looking forward to the coming holiday months, and especially New Years. His parents are paying for their entire family, kids and grandkids and all...oh YEAH...and ME!!! To go to Disney World in Florida..my neck of the woods...for 7 days. They are taking care of our airline tickets, park passes, and lodging. We are pretty much only responsible for our food and souvenirs. :) I'm so excited...and while we are there we are all participating in RUNDISNEY...a 5K through disney world. It is going to be amazing. The only sad thing is that I won't be able to make it home for Christmas. :( Thankfully I was able to see my family at my graduation, but I missed seeing my little brother Aaron because he was in afghanistan. Thankfully he is back and safe in the states, but I will really miss seeing him at Christmas. I am happy Eric had the chance to meet my family at graduation but I really want to take him home to Alabama to meet all my friends and family at home, and to show him around the town that I grew up in. He has tried to plan a trip or time we could make it down there..but we are both poor..so I refuse to let him pay for anything...and that almost applies to everything. hahaha Sometimes he tells me I have to let him be a man and pay for things, but I always feel guilty when he pays for or buys me anything. I know he is more hurt for money than I am. Anyways, it doesn't matter that we're are poor, because with him in my life I have the world. I am so excited that I have found the man I will share forever with. Its just a matter of time until we will take the plunge. But to know that we both have received an answer and know that  we want to get married is so exciting. And because no one really reads this blog hahaha I can say that ring shopping and wedding planning with him is probably some of the must excititng and fun times I've spent with him. We are both really excited and can't wait for the day that we say "I DO". :)

"I Don't Have to be Me til Monday"

I have no classes scheduled for fridays and I love it! Thursday is my friday, so I pretty much have a three day weekend every week. I know this, won't last for too long, so I am really enjoying it for the time being. Friday was the first  friday night in a a few weeks that I've had off. so after spending all day in the library cramming for my Biochemistry test saturday morning, my boyfriend Eric suprised me with tickets to a conert on campus put on by Nashville Tribute. It was absolutely wonderful. We showed up early and got great front row seats. We had both seen them perform before, but this time they performed their new album that they've been working on called The Work: A Tribute to the Missionaries. It was Amazing. They also brought along Catherine, she played Emma in the Emma Smith movie. She sang a few last night too. AMAZING! Then after the concert we got to go talk with the band and Eric bought me a Due West t-shirt, and I was able to get it autographed. I LOVE it!!!!

Then afterwards we were both pretty darn hungry so we went to Applebees. While we were there the whole Nashville Tribute band came in too, so we got to see and talk to them again.

This morning I woke early, took my test, and then went to Eric's place. He made me lunch. A skillet meal in a bag, just like mamma makes hahahaha. Sad but true! hahaha Anyways, then I went to work at four, and afterwards Eric came and picked me up and we doubled with his roommate Mike. We went to Robin Hood! Awesome, and i totally recommend it! Anyways tomorrow is sunday and then the week starts back all over again. Ewwww! Where did this weekend go?

My Life is an Experiment

So I thought I would go ahead and give this whole blogging thing a shot! Why not? Right? :) So for those of you who might find my life interesting enough and decide to follow this blog, I thought I should give you a quick summary of my life!

I am from "Sweet Home Alabama". Being raised in the south is one of the things I charish most about my childhood. Born and raised in Daphne, AL. I grow up spending most of my summers at the beach and living life as a fish in the water. I have always been what one might call a girlie girl, but I love my sports too. I have played just about every sport: softall, track, cross-country, soccer, ballet, jazz, tap, gymastics, I play the piano and clarinet somewhat, and most recently learning the guitar.

I am completeing my last semester at Brigham Young University-Idaho and graduating in July with a BS in Health Science, emphasis in Public Health, and a Minor in Chemisrty. After graduation my temporary plan is to move to Salt Lake City, hopefully find a job in my field until I start a Physician Assistant Program. For the rest of my future plans, well thats an experiment. I have reached the point in my life when I no longer get to be a selfish 20 yr old. The big decisions that I plan on making in the near future not only affect me, but also a future spouse and family. I can only pray that I make all the right decisions!