So Thankful

I just wanted to express how thankful I am for all of the marvelous blessings I have in my life. I have a wonderful family that love and support me and I just married into another family that does the same. My heart is so full right now. Our new ward is wonderful. They make us feel so welcome. I am meeting new people each and every Sunday that I attend church and they are so nice. I am so glad that our ward is full of newlyweds just like us because we're all about at the same point in our lives.

My husband is amazing. He loves me for who I am. He is my rock. My past doesn't matter to him. He's all about making a future for us. I know that we will continue to learn about each other and I think that's a marvelous thing. He can really surprise me sometimes. He's making plans so that it will be possible for me to be a stay-at-home-mom someday. I've always wanted that when the time comes and I hope to be able to make it a reality. I believe the womans place is in the home and it is our responsibility as a wife and a mother to be there for the family. I know that is how it was meant to be. It's hard to have that in todays society but if we work hard and continue to pay our tithing, I know it will work out. We'll just have to make sacrifices.

I am thankful that I have a job at a time when thousands of people are losing theirs. I have worked at the same company for almost 5 years and it's so nice to have a bit of job security. It's a small company and I don't think they could keep on their feet with any less people, so I feel pretty safe.

Anyway, I just got a burst of thankfulness in my heart tonight and I wanted to share some of it.

Can I Get A Napkin, Please?

I had to share this video. These guys are known for doing different kinds of improv comedy and then posting the videos on YouTube. This is one where the actors break into a spontaneous musical in the middle of a food court. I love it. Enjoy!

Bountiful Temple

Last night I had the great opportunity of attending the Bountiful Temple with my friend Angie. I was so glad she was willing to come with me because I really did not want to go by myself! She's so nice to help me on my goal of attending every temple in Utah. I loved this temple. I don't know what it was about it, but I felt the spirit so strongly last night. All of the temple workers were super nice. I can definitely see why so many people choose this temple to get married in. It's a great one for pictures. I think my next temple to attend will probably be the Mount Timpanogos. I'm just going to keep going further and further out. My brother and sister-in-law might accompany me to the Vernal one. We'll see. We may just make a little roadtrip out of it since it's three hours away. The Monticello one we'll get to when we go down to Moab in May with some friends. St. George, I have no idea! Hopefully we'll make it there, but it's not looking good so far! Ogden and Logan should be relatively easy to get to. We'll just have to take a day and head out there. This is a fun goal I've set for myself. I'm really enjoying it. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's some information I found about St. Patrick. Even though he did a lot of good in bringing Christianity to the Irish, Ireland really doesn't recognize St. Patrick's Day. It's much more of an American thing, surprisingly. Anyway, here's a little tidbit about the guy anyway.

Some 1,500 years ago a teenage boy from what is now Great Britain was kidnapped and enslaved by marauders from a neighboring country. Not since Paris absconded with Helen of Troy has a kidnapping so changed the course of history.

The invading marauders came from fifth-century Ireland. The teenager they captured eventually escaped, but returned voluntarily some years later. In the meantime, he had become convinced that he was handpicked by God to convert the entire country to Christianity.

Apparently, he was right.

In the process of converting the primitive people of Ireland, however, the former slave experienced a conversion, too. In the years that followed, he not only shared God with the people of Ireland, but also grew in his understanding of God through them.

And so it was that a young Briton named Patricius died an Irishman named Patrick. And neither Ireland nor Christianity was ever quite the same.

Origins of Friday the 13th

I decided this morning that I was curious as to the origin of Friday the 13th and why it's considered such an unlucky day. It especially peaked my interest because I found out that we don't only have ONE Friday the 13th this year, but THREE! This month is the second one, the first being in February, and then the final is in November. According to Wikipedia (which is not the best source in the world, but it will work) Friday the 13th occurs at least once, but not more than three times a year. So who knows how long it will be before there is another year where we will have three! (2012 according to Wikipedia)

There are lots of theories on the internet that you can find in regards to how it became so unlucky. The one I found the most interesting was this one:

The number twelve, in numerology, is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve Gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse Myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.

Fridays have been considered an unlucky day since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

Wiki also goes on to talk about the rate of accidents reported on Friday the 13th. They are actually quite a bit lower because people tend to be more cautious and stay at home. So, there you have it. That's my little bit of research on Friday the 13th. Be safe!

Adele - 19

Adele is a new singer that I recently found out about. I've heard her song on the radio called Chasing Pavements, but I didn't have too much of a desire to check out her CD.

I saw it at Wal-mart for only $10 so I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did! Her voice is so amazing! I love the entire CD. She even did a re-make of the song Make You Feel My Love and I love it. It's one of my favorite songs on the album. If you're looking for something new to listen to, please try her out. Amazing voice. I added Make You Feel my Love to my music playlist incase you wanted to check it out.

Google Picture Blog

A friend of mine did this and I thought it would be fun to try out. I just googled all of the pictures. Try it for yourself!

AGE: I am 26 years old. Come July 7th I will be 27. I'm getting so old! Haha. It's all good. I feel I've only gotten better with age.

FAVORITE COLOR: Pink! I love pink. I don't necessarily like EVERYTHING pink, but I love to wear it. It's such a fun color.

WHERE I GREW UP: Salt Lake City. Born and raised! I have liked living here. I hate the bad snow seasons and super hot summers, but the Fall and Spring are awesome. They are my favorite time of year!

FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: So far, it's the Mediterranean. I went on a Mediterranean cruise in October 2007 and loved every country I visited! I went to Italy, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt. It was an amazing adventure and I can't wait to do some more!

WHERE I'D LIKE TO VISIT: I'm going to have to say Ireland because my husband can't seem to get past the idea of going there. It's the next international trip he wants to take. We're thinking about just visiting the entire UK because I went there in 2006 and planned the whole trip myself and I remember how to get around. It's quite easy. Their transportation is VERY easy to use.

FAVORITE FOOD: Mexican Food. It's a big time comfort food for me! I think chimichangas are my favorite. And quacamole. I can never get enough of it.

FAVORITE TREAT: The Chocolate Molten Lava Cake at Chili's! The picture says it all!

PAST LOVE: This is so funny, but I used to have the biggest crush on David Bowie in The Labryinth. I thought he was SO hot! I just remember watching this movie and thinking, "Oh, there he is! There is Jared!" In retrospect I tell myself "What were you thinking?" But I had the hots for him BIG TIME. White tights and all.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: This one is hard because I can't pick just one. I decided to go with my favorite zoo animal which is a giraffe. I always love to look at the giraffes. I also like to watch when the zoo workers are feeding them. They are so odd and yet so neat to see.

FINALLY!

Look out! I'm doing a happy dance! So, I have always considered myself pretty good with money and finances. I even used to work for a credit card company and would laugh at how bad people were about taking care of their debts. Or just how clueless they were about what they had gotten themselves into. You would THINK I would be wise enough not to get a credit card after dealing with those types of people. But, no. I decided when I turned 19 that a credit card was a great idea and I would pay the balance off every month. Did that happen? No. It went from using it a little bit here and there to relying on it. I got comfortable in my spending habits and decided I was "managing" my debt just fine because I could make a payment on it each month. Well, one credit card turned into three and before you know it I was racking up a nice pile of debt. I'm such a sucker. Credit cards are evil! Well, the reason why I'm doing a happy dance is because we have officially PAID THEM ALL OFF! Oh, it's the biggest relief. I can't even tell you. During a Relief Society meeting one Sunday, we got onto the topic of debt and finance. My Bishop said it best when he said "Those who understand interest, GAIN it. Those who don't, PAY it." That's when it finally hit me that maybe I DON'T manage things as well as I thought I did. So, Howie and I decided that something HAS to change. So, we worked hard and we got it done. Our tax return helped out a ton, too. But now we only have two debts, Howie's car and our home. His car will be paid off within the next month. This is such a great thing for us. It will enable us to do so much more. I am proud of us! :)

Phantom - Hale Centre Theatre

Last night, Howie and I went to the play "Phantom" at Hale Centre Theatre. It was absolutely fantastic! I knew it wasn't going to be the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, but it was pretty close. This play gave more of a detailed explanation why the Phantom is the way he is and how his face got all messed up. And of course the music wasn't the same, but it was all still very enjoyable! The lead actress was amazing! Her voice was probably the best I have ever heard at Hale Theatre. We both loved it. I would go see it again in a heartbeat. If you're a fan of The Phantom of the Opera, go and see this play! It's playing at the Hale Theatre in West Valley and it goes until April 18th. Buy your tickets ASAP though because I bought our tickets for this show two months ago and it was already almost sold out then! Don't hesitate! You will love it!

www.halecentretheatre.org