A few random pictures...

A random skype picture of Parley that I found.

Meet the new spokesperson for the "Slanket." No I do not own a Snuggie, I own a Slanket. Be jealous.

Taking their naps....

Grandma had the chance to skype with Ruth (Uncle Gary's mom). They had so much fun and it was so fun to watch two eighty year old women skype! :)

Enjoy the Journey.

Marriage License!

Jared and I went and got our marriage license this past weekend!! Crazy! But this was too good not to take a picture of and remember... FYI Jared signed first.

Enjoy the Journey.

Mom's Birthday!

We had a small party for Mom's birthday in the community room at the hospital (when Grandma was on the 6th floor). Jared made waffle cones and we had ice cream. Adam was even able to come up and party with us during his break. Karissa was behind the camera and we didn't get any pics of her, Dad, or Adam. I am lucky to be blessed with such an awesome mom! :)

I really love this picture- I need to get it printed....soon.

Enjoy the Journey!

Christmas

I finally remembered to get the pics off of mom's camera from Christmas! It's never to late to blog about something that has past in my view! So here is our Christmas!! :) Christmas this year was very different than we all planned it. Grandma had a heart attack on the 23 and was in the hospital for a few weeks (she was still there when I moved back to school). Jared and I had plans of how we were going to spend our time during our break, and a list of things to get done during it as well. But when we got the call to meet Aunt Sherry at Grandma's and then spent the rest of that day in the hospital we decided to play it by ear from there out. We did get quite a bit of stuff done that we needed to-we were able to register and who know's what else! I promise we had a check list we were marking off! But now I don't remember! We spent Christmas eve a little at the Messick's, then went to Jared's grandparents where we changed and went to the hospital in our Christmas pajamas. We arrived to find Chad, Lisa and family on Skype about to say goodbye. Parker and Julia excitedly told us about their pajamas they found on their back porch and they just happened to match ours! Mrs. Claus must have been working hard this year with how our family is growing! :) (Sorry the pics are out of order, my blog uploads them strange and I need to figure out how to change that.)

Jared bought some Bucky Balls and they are so much fun to play with! Grandma loved them too!!

He always made sure he was comfy! Grandma told him he could eat all of the cookies that she made and I think he did eat most of them over the course of our days at the hospital!

Later Christmas day with Grandma in the hospital.

Ready to go have Christmas at Jared's house!

The pics' got "locked" on mom's camera so I can't turn this one... drats!

The boys eating breakfast.

Karissa and I- A Christmas Carol was on... mom was so excited, I was not!!! I still don't know why Chad loves it!?

This is the best picture that we have of all of us. We had a better one but I accidentally deleted it when I was showing it to Grandma. Jared "locked" the pics on mom's camera after that.

Dad got stuff for when he goes shooting.

Chad encouraged us to read the account in 3 Nephi before we opened presents, so this is me ready to go!

Enjoy the Journey!

Matchy Matchy

Last night I got to skype with this cute boy. I busted up laughing when the web cam finally came on because I was also wearing a hot pink polo shirt!!! (sorry I didn't get a pic of me) It made me happy. I can hardly wait to get to see this boy this weekend!!! :)

72 days.

Enjoy the Journey.

Island Park

Over Civil Rights Day weekend I was able to go to Island Park with Jared's family. Jared and I were there on Friday and Saturday then we headed to Shelley to spend some time with mom and Dad for Sunday and Monday. It was a nice weekend and nice to have a break even though Monday I had so much to do and was super stressed. I am looking forward to this next weekend to be a little more relaxed. :)

Enjoy the Journey.

YEAR in REVIEW

I know January is almost done with but I have been wanting to do 2010 in review, so I am still going to do it!

January:

My January was spent making cakes and recovering from foot surgery. :) I had a simple joy of being able to shower without a shower chair!

February:

Was spent celebrating Grandma's 80 birthday, and making more cakes. I was able to wear two of the same shoe for the first time in 4 months!

March:

LAS VEGAS trip with Jared. More cakes.

April:

Conference, Finished my internship, Finished the Book of Mormon, and started a new semester!

May:

Started running again, busy with school, awesome devotionals, and tender mercies. I was also able to do Julisa's hair for PROM.

June:

More school, trip to Yellowstone, and water fights with Ashley. More running.

July:

Water fights, running, finished the semester! Trip to see Alicia and her cute family in CA with mom!

August:

Birthday, Trip to Vegas and NEW RUNNING SHOES!!!

September:

New semester, I-Team leader and being involved in Get connected. Remembered how thankful I am for technology and skype.

October:

Roommate pictures, GOT ENGAGED, Halloween

November:

Engagement pics, busy with school.

December:

Forgotten Carols, Finishing the semester, Graduated with my Associates degree, and having a very different Christmas-spent in a hospital room with Grandma. :)

2010 had a lot of good times and I was able to make a lot of memories. So far in 2011 I have made some good memories and have been busy planning a wedding and working on school. 2011 has some good things in store like: GETTING MARRIED and GRADUATING with my bachelors, I wonder what else it holds in store for me!!

Enjoy the Journey.

This Girl....

Is a good workout partner! I have had many a good workout partner in my day and she makes the list! We have been hit and miss so far this semester but now that we are getting into a schedule we are going to put that in it! :) 9:00 abs. FOR SURE!!!!

Life is still good. I teach for the first time for my preschool class on Tuesday-kinda crazy that I already have to teach, it is the 3rd day with kids! BUT since I am the first one to teach I will be the first one done with everything for this class. I will have all of my assignments done by the 17 of March! Then all I will have to do for that class is come to Lab on TT and set up on MW! Not even class on MW like I have normally! It will be so nice to have the second/end part of my semester kinda chill! I am sure I will still be busy with my sewing class as well as my special ed and HFED 380 classes though. Yesterday I had a dress fitting in the Hinckley bathroom! Sister Toy had to come up for a meeting and she had me meet her. I laughed pretty hard, but we only had one person come in and give us a funny look, but hey, that is the price you pay for an AMAZING dress right? :)

p.s. 78 days.

Enjoy the Journey.

He has my heart.

I honestly wonder how I got so lucky. Jared is simply amazing and he definitely has my heart in his possession.

Here are a few of the many reasons that I love him:

1. He always makes me laugh.

2. He loves me even when I am being a brat.

3. He always tells me how beautiful I am-even when I am in sweats.

4. He laughs with me when I am being really weird-which happens more often than not lately.

5. He wouldn't take me anywhere but the temple to be married.

Enjoy the Journey.

Countdown.

Felicia and I are twins generally... (this pic is kinda trashy but... we matched-down to the red shoes).

Before the semester started Felicia, Alyssa and I made a chain as a countdown. I cut white strips of paper and then we colored them, wrote on them, and made them pretty-and random. It has been fun to take them off, but I definitely like it better when I forget one day and get to take off more than one the next day. Like this weekend since I was gone, tonight I got to take off 4!!!! :) Felicia likes to take pictures of me taking them off because we both get so excited. Here are the ones we have taken-it will be interesting to look back on these later and see how I changed throughout the semester. :)

Please forgive me for the cheesy faces. As you can see it is was almost down to the bottom of the window. As of tonight it is only across the top and the other side now!!! :)

These last two are out of order.

80 days!

Enjoy the Journey.

"Out with the Old"

Here are a few excerpts from my final paper in my Critical Thinking English class from last semester. We had to write a paper about how we had changed our mind on something and when we were given the assignment I knew that I had the perfect topic.

Out With the Old

3. Marry a RM in the temple; One of the many things on my “TO DO” list for my life that I made numerous times when I was younger. The placement on the list didn’t matter but there was a reoccurring theme of this being on every list that I created. Being raised in the church and learning the importance of missions, I KNEW that I would marry a boy who had faithfully served a full-time mission, returned with honor and swept me off my feet. Before school started this semester I was faced with a decision of marriage to my best friend who had not served a full-time mission and my long-time standard was challenged.

This decision wasn’t something that came from nowhere to blindside me, but has gradually been building the past few years of my life. During my junior year of high school I made a new friend, Jared Fielding. As our friendship grew, my feelings for him also grew as I realized that I liked him as more than just a friend. Two months before we graduated from high school we started dating. When August came, a new chapter in our lives opened as we started a long distance relationship and headed to BYU schools; him in Utah and me in Idaho. As we continued dating we talked about the future and how he would serve a mission and I would keep going to school-not talking about what would happen to our relationship when this change came. On black Friday of last year the big white envelope came in the mail, and he was called to serve in the Salvador Brazil Mission for two years, leaving in April. As the months passed and the preparation continued, April came quickly. The day before he was to leave we said our goodbyes and he left my house, with me thinking that I wouldn’t see him for two years. Later that night I received a phone call that he wasn’t leaving. As the next few months passed and after a lot of meetings with proper leadership, we found out that Jared wasn’t going to be serving a full-time mission due to health circumstances. And that is wasn't what he was supposed to be doing at this time in his life.

My heart started a battle with my head; Jared and I had been dating for just over two years and my feelings for him were strong, but I had always dreamed of marrying an RM. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t supposed and was unable to serve; all worthy and able young men are called so serve missions, and he fit into both of those categories. The next few months this battle would continue as I started searching for advice. I started with studying the scriptures, my patriarchal blessing and attending the temple on the matter. I talked to my mom who had previously made a statement about how when I got married she would have four returned missionaries in the family. As we would talk she would remind me about how amazing Jared is and how it didn’t matter if he had served because she would rather have me marry someone who would regularly take me to the temple. Her words comforted me a little bit, but that characteristic had always been on my check list and I couldn’t dismiss it.

(Yada yada... some more in the middle...)

One day Lisa sent me a link to an article entitled “Confidence Tests: From Fear to Faith in the Marriage Decision” by Elder Lance B. Wickman of the Quorum of the 70. As I read through this talk it became a source of comfort and reasoning for me to be able to take control of both my head and my heart in making a decision. One part of his talk stood out to me when he talked about courting and preparing for marriage. He warns against basing our experience off of what he calls “superficial ‘ticket punching.’” He boldly says:

By that, I mean do not base your decisions solely on whether someone has served a full-time mission or holds a particular calling in your ward. These things can be, should be, and usually are indications of devotion, faithfulness, and integrity. But not always. That is the reason you need to get acquainted. Know someone well enough to learn his or her heart and character firsthand and not just his or her “gospel résumé.”

When I read that quote I knew that I was making this decision much harder than it needed to be. My standard was changed from that very moment; I had been upholding a standard for shallow reasons. I had thought that those men who had served full-time missions were the only ones who were worthy of marriage, something that I was conditioned to believe through my upbringing. As I informed Jared of my new realization, happiness came upon me that I can’t describe but I knew that changing my opinion had been one of the greatest things I had done. I am now engaged to be married to Jared on April 9, 2011 for time and all eternity and couldn’t be happier.

Enjoy the Journey.

Someday...

Someday I will do a post about the untold stories of college. For now... they continue. Late nights, early mornings, long days, laughing so bad your sides hurt, quote boards, dance parties, not enough sleep, random pictures, the balcony, Sheniqua, closets, She's the Man, beanie pillows, "dress up"... just a start. Living with 5 other girls sometimes is stressful and other times is pure... joy? I don't know but I hope that I get to have girls in my home-I know they can be drama but they are so much fun and I am a girlie girl, you should all know this.

This semester is still off to a running start in classes, but I feel like I am starting to catch up with all of my schedules. Felicia is definitely helping me make this a semester that will be lived up and enjoyed. While I look forward to April with great anticipation I am trying my best to live in the moment and enjoy each day. I think this is the most laid back that I have ever been at school- I have yet to decide if that is a good or a bad thing. ;) For now, it's snowing and has been all day but it is so nice outside-it actually feels warm (thank you clouds!). The roads are terrible and Jared is driving to Shelley so we can go with his family to Island Park for the weekend-well Friday and Saturday, then Sunday and Monday in Shelley.

I finally finished my student teaching application and also registered to take the PRAXIS. Am I really that close to being done with college? Kinda scary. Anyways the student teaching advisor emailed me back my intro letter with my picture attached to it. This was taken at a meeting in October, and this is the first time I have seen it but I really like it. :)

This is what the school district, principal and teacher will get before they meet me... What do ya think?

Enjoy the Journey.

Will I have eyes to see?

So far this semester I have had to jump right in-no warming up to being back at school. Most things have worked out perfectly though, for my preschool class I got the partner, the rotation, the topic, and the head teacher that I wanted-and we weren't even allowed to put in requests. I knew that Heavenly Father was looking out for me and that He knows what I need. A couple of other things have happened this week like that as well and I have been able to see Heavenly Father's hand in my life so strong. But there are a lot of things that are so different from semesters previously. This semester the roommate dynamics are already completely different and definitely cliquish, which makes me really sad. It is just hard to transition semesters after you have had one where all of the girls get along so well and you don't really have any problems-Last semester I was so blessed.

Last night while I was talking on the phone to Jared I was venting, complaining and probably whining, but he was just patient and listened. He knew that I needed to get it out. He kept reminding me that we have had semesters apart before-7 of them so far and this makes 8 but it will be our very last one apart. He knew exactly what I needed to hear. Then this morning while I was getting ready I had the Sounds of Sunday playing on my computer-I was raised listening to it so it is not Sunday if I don't have it on. "What Heaven Sees in You" came on and it really hit me this morning. I was thinking about it and asking myself if I have eyes to see. I was thinking about how my life is changing and how I am about to enter a new "chapter." How I am preparing to go to the temple and make covenants and how excited I am for that. About how i will be getting married 3 months from today to my best friend. And about how Heavenly Father knows what I need. He has the eyes to see and I need to do better at making my eyes so that they can see too. That is my goal this semester-to train myself to have eyes to see what Heavenly Father sees in me. I need to remember not to be overwhelmed this semester when I have a lot to do because Heavenly Father knows that I can do it. He will not give me anything that I cannot do. I will be stretched this semester to new dimensions but I will learn and grow and be prepared for the things that are to come. I just need to remember to keep up on the little things and trust in my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. I can do it.

What Heaven Sees in You

(Doug Walker / Sherry Marks Walker)
Performed by: Doug Walker

Sent to this earth
You were saved through the ages for this day
and time
Child of great worth
Child of promise, daughter of the Divine
Pure and holy in a little, white dress
You were held in a circle and you were blessed
And the Father looked down
And the angels surrounded that place
They knew the truth, all that you could do
And you will, too, if you have eyes to see
What heaven sees in you
Dressed in white once more
Making promises to follow in God’s way
So much lies in store
For the little girl who enters at the gate
Pure and holy in a little, white dress
You were led into the water and you were blessed
Repeat Chorus
Do you understand who you are
Part of the Father lives in you
If you continue on this path
Every promise God has given will come true
Heaven on earth
In the house of God, so much fills your heart and mind
Woman of great worth
Woman of promise, daughter of the Divine
Pure and holy in a long, white dress
You promise forever and you are blessed
And the Father looks down
And the angels surround that place
They know the truth, all that you can do
And you do, too, ‘cause you have eyes to see
What heaven sees in you
Will you have eyes to see
What heaven sees in you

Really, I will say it...

I am in love. With an amazing boy. But tonight I got two of my roommates and three of the girls from across the hall to preform in the ward talent show. We did a lip sync to "Won't Say I'm in Love" from Hercules. It was really fun and totally spur of the moment. We decided to do it at about 2:45 then didn't get to practice until 5, then messed around with it until 5:30 and did it tonight. We were even the first act. It was fun though and something that I will definitely remember. :)

Enjoy the Journey.

Convocation

On Friday the 17 of December I had convocation and graduated with my Associates Degree in General Studies with a cluster in Family Studies from BYU-Idaho. It was awesome because President and Sister Clark were there as well as Elder Marlin K. Jensen First Quorum of the Seventy. Both of their talks were really good, and I am so thankful that my mom took notes. Unfortunately for blogging purposes I left those at home. Pictures were taken on 3 different cameras, so as I gather them I will post more. :)

Me with President Clark

Mom, Dad and I

Jared and I

Karissa and I

Grandma and I

The group of us at Convocation.

Enjoy the Journey.