Peach Adventures

Justin and I decided that we wanted to can some peaches to start on some food storage. Are we adults now or what? haha. We honestly had no idea what we were doing so after calling both of our mom's to get some advice, we got to work. Fortunately for us the hardest part was peeling them- ugh that was sucky. But when all was said and done the lids popped and sealed and now we have some bottled peaches. Yay. And because I like to document everything... here are some pictures of last night.

Job Dilemma

I have recently caught one of my co-workers using the company computer to look at porn and have an online affair with another woman- he is married and has two children. While I don't want to be a tattle tale, having to delete pictures of naked girls in our recycle bin every morning is becoming tiresome. And having his IM pop up with inappropriate messages from his lover is starting to get really annoying. Not to mention the fact that this kind of behavior at work is completely ridiculous and uncalled for. If I don't do something I feel like I am an accomplice to this kind of behavior. But if I do say something to my manager will he lose his job? What will his wife and kids do without his income? It makes me feel so icky! What would you do???

Memo

Attention Jobless Friends in Logan:

The Comfort Inn now has open positions for a housekeeper and a maintenance man. If anyone is interested let me know!  

Blog Therapy

Today has been a hard day of trying to remember that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. But boy does it sure look like it sometimes! One thing that I wish I could change about myself is how jealous I can get of other people. I want what they have and don't want the trials that they don't have. Does that make sense? I must admit that I am a fairly jealous person. I am always comparing myself to others. I know this is an unhealthy way to live and sometimes I just want to scream at myself to STOP IT but it always seems to come back in one form or another. I had an institute teacher say that life isn't like ordering at a restaurant. We can't listen to one person order their life and then say, "I'll have what they are having." And this isn't Burger King, we can't always have it our way. I try to keep in mind of all of the blessing that I have- which are very numerous right now- but there is always that ONE thing that I want that I cannot seem to obtain. And you know what, for me anyway, it's hard to not focus on that one thing. Because it is the one thing that I want right now more than anything! How is it that I get caught up on that one thing so easily? There is a quote that says. "Jealous people poison their own banquet and then eat it." Isn't that the truth?! I know that when I focus on the things that I want, rather than the things that I have, it literally is poisoning me. But let's face it, I am human and I will have days like this. So what do I do? Well, my solution today was to go to lds.org and type jealousy into the search bar. The very first talk that popped up was called, "The Divine Gift of Gratitude" by President Thomas S. Monson. It was a very good talk and it helped me a lot. Here are my favorite excerpts from the talk that really said, "This is for you Kristi. Pay attention!":

"We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Said the Greek philosopher Epictetus, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

"How can we cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude? President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, provided an answer. Said he: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!”

"When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given."

I really loved these words. They comforted my heart today. It didn't change the fact that I still wanted that one thing, it just made me focus a little more on all the other zillion blessings that I have in my life at this moment. I love the quote that says, "Love overpowers jealousy." Maybe I can try a little harder to pour out love to those people who are living in the greenest of grasses, even if it is only green to my eyes.

HaPpY bIrThDaY!

Yesterday was my mamma's big 5-0 birthday. Happy birthday Mom! My dad was really sneaky and planned a great big fun weekend for her birthday. He even flew  my aunt and uncle and cousins in from Florida to celebrate with us. I wasn't home at the time, but I guess the story goes like this:

My Mom knew something was up but had no idea what. She tried to coax the secret out of all of us but we wouldn't budge. Thursday was the day that everyone was flying in to surprise my mom. My brother told my mom that there was something wrong with the basement toilet and as my mom came down the stairs to check it out  her family was there waiting to surprise her- and surprise her they did!

On Friday everyone drove up to Bear Lake where we checked into a condo and went to dinner and a show at The Pickelville Playhouse. There were friends, neighbors, and family from both sides that came. Dinner was great and afterwards the employees did the electric slide for my Mom and everyone sang to her and we had cake. The show that was playing that night was called "Forever Plaid", and it was SOOO funny! We were all laughing our butts off! Everyone should go and see it! After the show everyone was pretty much exhausted so we all came back and crashed.

Saturday morning me, Justin, Cassie, and my dad woke up at six to get to the beach by seven. We staked out our spot for the seventy people that we had coming, set up the pavilion things, and decorated them for a birthday party. At nine we picked up the wave-runners. Oh my goodness how I love those things! My dad rented four of them for eight hours and so we all got pretty good turns. I was so freaking sore the next day! They totally kicked my trash. My neighbor, Brother Barlow, also brought his boat and was kind enough to let us ride it- which was tons of fun too. Justin and I also brought our four-wheeler for people to ride up to the potty so we just had all sorts of fun toys at the beach that day. There were a ton of people there so it was just a lot of fun to get to talk to everyone, to play on the toys, to swim, and to of course, eat a bunch of crap. Beach food is the best!

After the beach my dad claimed that it was YOYO for dinner that night- and at our house that translates to 'You're On Your Own'. Justin and I ended up going to LaBeau's for dinner with my Aunt Teri ,cousin Kylie, and Justin's parents that had come up for a few hours. After dinner Teri, Kylie, and I met up with my cousin Carlie and soaked in the hot tub for a while to relax our soar muscles- it felt great! And Carlie got a boy's phone number... Score! haha.  After the soak we headed back to the condo just when everyone was getting home from their own dinner. We sat around talking and laughing so hard we were crying, and then it got late and we had to call it a night cause we were again, exhausted!

On Sunday check out was at ten, boo! So basically we woke up, packed, ate a quick meal, and drove home. Justin and I stopped at the in-laws to pick up Zorro and then headed home for a nice long nap before dinner back at the in-laws.

Monday was my mom's actual birthday so everyone met up from the Paulsen family and ate at the Olive Garden, after which we all headed to my house to socialize and have my mom open up her presents. We also got to see the surprise that Cassie made for my mom. She tied 50 messages to balloons that family, friends, and neighbors had written telling my mom why they loved her, and she stuffed all of the balloons in my moms room. I could tell that all of the kind words meant so much to my mom. There are so many people that love her and she has truly touched so many lives.

Justin and I had to say goodbye to everyone from Florida because they are flying out today and we headed back to Logan. It's always so hard to say goodbye, but it was so much fun to see everyone! I actually had two little cousins that I hadn't even met yet so it was so good to see them and meet them. They are too little to remember me I'm sure, but hopefully we can see them again soon. Family is just so important to me and I love spending time with them, especially the ones that live so far away and I never get to see. I know my dad was really nervous that this weekend would go smoothly and that everyone would have a good time, and I am pretty sure it was a huge success! Good job Dad!

Hallelujah

As of right now, my job is safe. Hallelujah. Seriously, that was most stressful couple of days ever! I guess what happened was that my manager asked the old owners to just keep every single employee and they agreed. Yay! Huge relief in the shoulder area haha.

*Thanks for any prayers that were said in our behalf.

Limbo

The hotel that I am working at has changed ownership practically overnight. Basically the gist of the story is that the previous owners went into bankruptcy. The bank bought the hotel and hired Prism to run it, and Prism hired me. For the last four months Prism has been managing the hotel and trying to get it back up to par. But due to some legality thing that I in no way understand, the bank had to give the hotel back to the previous owners, aka NOT who I was hired by. In fact, most of the employees here were hired by Prism and only a handful had worked for the previous owners. To make a long confusing story short, my job may possibly be in jeopardy. Oh yeah, remember how we moved into our house last Saturday? It's just such a freaking fantastic time to be out of a job when there is a big fatty mortgage payment on the horizon. NOT! I guess the hardest part is that I feel like I am waiting in limbo- I have no idea what is going on. Do I have a job, do I not have a job? Practically everyone at the hotel is freaking out. Our maintenance guy just up and quit yesterday- our head housekeeper may be looking for a new job- and I am wondering if I should be doing the same thing. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so I am trying really hard to see a silver lining here, but basically I am just stressed out and trying my darndest to not have a panic attack. I'm at work right now- I clocked in with the previous owners- people I have never even met-and I just keep wondering what the next few days will bring and how they might affect our lives. I don't like this waiting game. I don't like it one little bit..... Pray for us. Please. 

SO! NOT! A Morning Person!!

This week mornings and I have not gotten along. Not at all. The other day I got ready for work in a sleepy haze only to find that I had gone to work without a bra. Fortunately for me I didn't realize this fact until I got home from work and undressed out of my work clothes. I call this fortunate because I would have been super self conscious had I known. Well today I was getting ready for work in the same sleepy haze. While I was doing my hair I grabbed what I thought was my hairspray bottle and sprayed thoroughly. Turns out, it wasn't my hairspray but my aerosol deodorant.  Dang my freaking life. I am definitely not a morning person. We just don't seem to get along. Mornings make me do stupid things. I sincerely wish I could boycott mornings!

Pinterest Find!

I found such a smart idea on Pinterest the other day and I just HAD to share it. It was an article about how you should protect your house from burglars. At the bottom they gave you an idea if you couldn't afford one of those fancy pants security alarm systems. What they said to do was to keep your car keys next to your bed. If you hear a strange sound at night like someone is breaking in, just simply grab your keys and hit the panic button so that your car alarm will go off. This will scare the intruder off because they know that the annoying car alarm will most likely wake up the entire neighborhood and people will be looking out of their windows to see whose stupid car is going off in the middle of the night. It will draw a lot of attention to your house- which is the last thing the intruder wants. And the alarm won't stop until your battery dies or you hit the button again. And if neighbors get really annoyed- they will come pound on your door to make you shut it off- which is good because you can tell them what happened and they can help you make sure that the coast is clear. Genius!!

Blessings! Blessings everywhere!

Justin and I are feeling like the luckiest people in the world after this weekend. Friday we went and signed our lives away- okay not really- we actually signed all of the papers to get into our home. Which feels kind of like signing your life away with the amount of debt that we just entered in to. After Justin got carpel tunnel from signing his name so many times we went to Olive Garden (my favorite!) to celebrate. After a delicious yummy meal we went back to the he** hole and spent our last night in our crappy apartment. The next day, Saturday, was moving day. Thank you SOOOOO much to those family members that helped us with the move! We honestly could not have done it without you and sincerely appreciate your help. That day we also picked up our washer and dryer, which I am beyond thrilled about because now I can do laundry at home which will be just super fantastic! It was a long, hot, sweaty, tiring day- but I am so relieved that it's over and we are in! We spent our first night in our new home and it still hadn't hit me that we actually LIVE there. I can't believe that we live there! I love my new house. We are so blessed to have it as our home- it already has a good spirit to it and I know that we will have many happy memories there.

Sunday was Tenley's (our niece) blessing day. She looked so adorable in her little blessing dress. And she was such a good sport! She didn't cry, fart, or have a blow out at all during the blessing. My sister in law was REAL nervous about that. After the blessing we went to Grandma and Grandpa Olsen's house and had a good meal with lots of family. I just love family time.

Another blessing that entered our lives this weekend is named Zorro. Zorro is an almost three year old Toy Australian Shepherd that has joined our family and stolen my heart already. We picked him up last night and honestly, I am in love already! He is such a funny dog. He makes this old man groaning sound when you pet him cause he likes it so much. He is completely toilet trained. He loves to swim and play and chase his Frisbee. And the best thing yet, he never ever has to be put on a leash. He is so obedient that when we take him outside if he starts to wander too far we just call him back and he comes. This may not sound that amazing but he even came when there was a lady walking her dog past our yard. I have never had a dog that is as obedient as he is. I was a little concerned about his first night away from his previous owner but he actually did great. He whined once but I just called his name and he jumped into bed with me and snuggled down for the night. As some of you might know, Justin works graveyard so it's kind of nice to have a snuggle buddy again. I don't know why I feel so much safer when there is a dog in the house, but I really do. It hasn't even been 24 hours but already I am thankful for the companionship that Zorro brings to me.

I feel like the blessings have just rained down on us this weekend. I know God is looking out for our little family and I am so grateful for Him.

Job Funny

I just had a guest at work tell me that I do not look old enough to work here. Whaaaat? I can't possibly look like a teenager can I? haha hmmmm. I don't know how to feel about that one.

Revision

Hi friends. I just wanted to apologize for my last post. I may not have worded it exactly right or something, because I had a friend tell me that it had hurt his feelings. To this friend (you know who you are) I am deeply sorry. It was not meant to be an anit-gay post in the slightest. In fact, I am pro gay rights. I have a few friends, or friends of friends, who are gay and I completely support their right to love and marry whomever they choose. I would just like to make it clear that I am in NO WAY supporting WHAT the president of Chik Fil A said, but only his RIGHT TO SAY IT. I hope that clears things up a little, and if the previous blog post hurt your feelings, know that I am sorry and didn't mean to offend anyone.

Let Me Just Jump In...

I have tried to stay quiet during this whole 'Chik Fil A fiasco', but I cannot stay silent any longer. Guys! This debate has NOTHING to do with gay rights!! Sorry, but it doesn't! This is completely dealing with the first amendment of the constitution, the freedom of speech. The president of that company has the right to say whatever he thinks, feels, and believes in without facing retribution. I've heard that some of the gay community has decided to boycott Chik Fil A and that honestly makes me so upset. No one should have the attitude of 'It's my way or the highway'. If the gay community wants everyone to respect their decisions and beliefs, than they should respect everyone  in turn. Tolerance goes both ways. Boycotting a business because you don't have the same beliefs? Sound familiar? Hitler would boycott Jewish shops for the same reason. The president of Chik Fil A could have announced that he is against any minority and the point would be the same- he has the right to say it. If you want to be in a country where everyone is forced to think the same way as everyone else, go find some country with a dictator cause you won't find that here!

I Guess it Could be Worse

Have you seen this episode of 'Friends'? Well let's just say that I can sympathize with Chandler today. An earlier quote from this episode:

Joey: Why’re you so tired?

Chandler: Couldn’t sleep last night you know, then I started worrying about this big divisional meeting that I have later today, the more I worried about it the more I couldn’t sleep.  Y’know? I was like, if I fall asleep now I’ll get six hours sleep, but if I fall asleep now I’ll get five hours sleep. Not matter what I did I couldn’t fall asleep.

Joey: You know what you should’ve done, you should have told yourself that little story.

That is seriously what I did all night: "If I fall asleep now, I'll get five hours of sleep". And so on and so on. When I hit two hours to go I moved to the couch to see if that would help. Yeah no. It didn't. End of the story: I didn't even get ten measly minutes of sleep last night. I am so freaking tired right now. I really wish I was not at work but in my bed. But hey it could be worse right? At least I didn't tell my boss that I would move to Tulsa! haha That was a really boring post. I guess I should have followed Joey's advice last night and told myself that story- maybe that would have helped me sleep. It was pretty much the only thing that I DIDN'T try.