Golfing

Last Tuesday Kyle had a day off of work, so the minute I got home from work he informed me that we were going golfing. It was a beautiful evening! And I didn't do too shabby for my first time out (probably better than I did any time last year!)

(we can't add...but that's not the point, I beat Kyle!)

Timeout

My little brother Mitch just called to inform me that I haven't posted any pictures of him recently. He said a lot more people would look at my blog if I did.

Here you go Mitch....this one's for you.

(isn't he such a stud?)

3 down...1 to go!

I just found out I passed test #3. One more test until freedom (and hopefully a larger pay check :) )

VISITORS!

Two weeks ago my parents were able to come and visit for a week. We had a great time. Kyle and I were able to take a couple of days off of work to go touring with them (see posts below).

Chicago!

*warning...the following pictures contain some extreme tourism.


While my parents were here this past week, we made a quick trip to Chicago. Unfortunately it was raining most of the day, but we still had a GREAT time.

The highlight of the trip however, was probably seeing Wicked. My mom, Kyle and I had all seen it before in New York, but we all loved it just as much the second time!

Kentucky

On the Friday before my parents left, we took another day trip, this time down to Kentucky. We drove from Indianapolis, to Louisville, to Frankfort, to Lexington and made it back to Indy just before the largest storm since the early 1900s hit.

Our first stop was Churchill Downs in Louisville.


In Frankfort, we toured the Kentucky state capital. (My dad is the assistant majority leader for the House of Representatives in Idaho, so when we are in other states, we always migrate towards the state's capital city to look at the various capitol buildings...I been to many capitol buildings, but you know the odd thing...I don't think I have ever been in Utah's....anyways)

After the capitol, we ate lunch and then went and toured Buffalo Trace Distillery. That's right, a bourbon distillery. Turns out 98% of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky. The tour was actually very interesting.

When in Indiana...

...do as the hoosiers do.

...and go to the Speedway [in the pouring rain] the day before the Indy 500 for Carb Day!

Master Kyle

At the beginning of May, Kyle graduated with his Masters in Biology from the Purdue School of Science on the IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis) campus.  

Kyle, now that you have graduated with your Masters, what are you going to do?  Well, work at Costco...(and THEN go to Disneyland, of course!)

Be Grateful

*NOTE: I am about to do something I have never done on my blog before--share the spiritual side of myself.  So I am warning you now, I am going to just start typing (no proof-reading, no holding back!)  But I have a lot of things that I have been wanting to get off of my chest.  So if you read any further, remember you were sufficiently warned!   

One day at work this past week I was having a really bad day, it seemed that everything going on in my life all seemed to cross paths within the matter of one hour. The stress of everything had finally gotten to me, and you know what, I cracked.  Right there. At my desk.  At work.  This caused me to have a moment of self-reflection.  (This [self-reflection, not cracking...luckily] actually happens quite often at work...I am always thinking of things that I could (or would rather) be doing or even more typically, I am thinking of things that I should be doing to improve myself.)   Well this particular time, I decided it was time to get rid of the coulds, the woulds, and the shoulds.  Now, I realize this is a lofty goal and something that I definitely cannot accomplish over night, so I started brain-storming to come up with a plan of attack that would baby-step me into the person that I can potentially become.  Almost instantly I was reminded of a talk that President Hinckley gave my senior year in high school, "The Message: A Prophet's Counsel and Prayer for Youth," affectionately referred to as "the 'Be' talk."  

In this talk, President Hinckley states, among many other really great things, "I make you a promise that God will not forsake you if you will walk in His paths with the guidance of His commandments."

I decided that I would focus on one of His "Be's" each week and occasionally report my progression on my blog.  (Don't gasp, you can choose not to read it!)

Week One:  Be Grateful! 

I don't think that it is any coincidence that gratitude is the first on the list.  I have come to realize that you can make it a pretty long ways on gratitude alone! I am so grateful that this was the first one on President Hinckley's list because I have a lot to be grateful for that I often take for granted.  

Today is Mother's day so that is where I am going to start.  I am very grateful for my Mom.  Aside from Kyle, she is truly my best friend.  I love her so much, and rarely give her the credit that she deserves.  She is my number one supporter, and my number one fan.  She sacrifices so much for me and my family.  I think that each one of us, including Kyle and the dog, could honestly say that we each think that we are my mom's favorite! I don't know how she does all that she does!  I love you Mom.  

I am so grateful for Kyle.  He truly is my compliment.  We have so much fun together, and I love being around him.  I am so proud of all of his hard work and I learn so much from him and his character each day.  I am so happy that he got into dental school and gets to fulfill his dream of becoming a dentist.  I know that he is going to be an awesome one!  (I could go on and on and on....but let's be honest, this isn't the place!) I love you Kyle.

I am so grateful for both of our families.  We both have great parents that raised us well, taught us the gospel and led by example.  We both have amazing siblings that are all doing amazing things.  We are excited that we will soon be a little closer to them so we can share in more of their excitement.

I am grateful for my close friends.  Looking back, I have made so many life-long friends over the course of my life.  I have learned so many different things from each of them...but the common denominator is they have helped me become a better person.

I am grateful for my education.  I don't really like to work every day, and even more so I don't really like to spend all of my free time studying for the CPA exam, but I am grateful that I can have a good job that supports us right now and will allow me the freedom to scale back when the time comes.  I am thankful that when we move to California my accounting education will allow me to easily find a job.

 I am thankful that I was able to attend BYU and to have professors that cared about not only their jobs but also about me individually.  I am thankful for all of my classmates there, I just wish that I had say three more years.  

I am thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I am thankful that we have had the opportunity to live here in Indiana because it has really helped my testimony grow.  I have been able to share with my co-workers about my beliefs, and I have able to know what a ward-family really means.  I won't bear my testimony here, but I am really thankful for the guidance that I receive by knowing just an inkling of the greater plan for me.  

I am grateful for so many other things, but I am afraid that I have already bored you all to tears.  But this has been a good exercise for me.  I rarely publicly (I say publicly, because I don't know who will see or read this) express my feelings.  I challenge each of you this week to think of all of the things that you are grateful for! 

Blogging

Hi everybody! I realize I have been away for a while, and I promise that I will come up with something cute, creative, AND exciting to write about in the very near future! Until then...keep coming back :)

P.S. I DID talk to my boss (even though Keith wouldn't have). And I think that it went as good as it could have. The only reprucussion so far, is that I won't be able to attend a week of "tax camp" training during June. Bummer. I am sure that it would have been v e r y fun AND exciting. ;-)