Best Buddies Day!

So every year for the last few years my work has participated in the Best Buddies program by hosting a Best Buddies day. Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with intellectual disabilities. There are over 1,300 chapters of this organization. A local high school, Kearns High (this is where I went to school) has a chapter. Each year it is those students who make the trek out to Lehi to brighten our day.
When presented with the opportunity to participate today I jumped at it.
The agenda was as follows:
9:00 am - employees gather in lobby
9:30 am- Best Buddies arrive
9:30-10:30 am - Welcome Message from XanGo pres. Kent Wood, arrival of Leo the Lion of the Salt Lake Real, pictures.
10:30-11:15 am - Tour of building and work space
11:15-12:00 Pizza Party in the break room
12:30- 1:20 pm- 3D movie: Dinosaur Alive
1:30 pm- Best Buddies return to school



My little Buddy was Jose (I shared him with Erin Curran) He was such a sweet kid. He has four names and was proud of that, he said that his brothers called him Chewy and that we were able to as well. He is a senior this year and looking forward to graduation in about a month. He was quick to tell us that all girls are pretty and then as the day progressed he would tell us all girls are pretty especially you two. Wouldn't it be nice if all people thought like that. He loves to sing. He made mention that his brothers tell him that he doesnt sing well, and then he would proceed to bust out Shaggy's, Angel and ask us what we thought. I think he serenaded about half of the employees today. He loved the movie what he saw of it he fell asleep about half way through but was woken up when the dinosaurs fought. He let me know it scared him. Life doesnt get much better than that. I am so grateful that I was able to hang out with some of the Lords elect today. I love the company that I work for between what we give to Operation Kids and Best Buddies day, I feel proud to say that I work there.

If you would like more information on the Best Buddies program click here.

Moving, moving, moved!

Finally it has happened. I have moved to my wonderful new place. The big day was last Friday April 18. Many thanks to all those who helped me. Its great to have friends and family that you can count on it makes things like this go by so much faster. I can't believe how much stuff I have, and how it just accumulates over time. I think moving with a family would be a nightmare. I absolutely love my new roommates well so far I do. Its such a nice area and is so much quieter.

I needed to buy some furniture and I have done a lot of research on this. I wanted to make sure that I got the best deal that I could find. I feel very confident that I did. I found this beautiful bedroom set at Knights furniture outlet in Lehi and they were having a web deal so I got it for almost half price. Here is a pic of it, please excuse the mess to the left side. I am still not all the way unpack, my clothes are still all packed up but I am getting there. It is my goal to be done with it by this weekend. Wish me luck. I will post more pics and stuff later but I realized it had been awhile since I posted and I owed an explanation for my slacking.

Yay and Boo!

YAY: The 70 degree weather we had yesterday. Spring is finally here

BOO: The snow we had today

YAY: A new place to live, and a new ward, and roommates.

BOO: Moving

YAY: Otter-pops

BOO: Eating the whole box in 4 days

YAY: $5 foot long sandwiches from Subway (I dont really even eat there like maybe twice a year)

BOO: This will not last forever, so it will probably only help me once

YAY: Alicia Keys As I Am album.

BOO: Her theories that the government started the bi coastal feud between Tupac and Biggie to stop another black leader from existing. Read about it here.

What are some of your yays and boos?

Fondantlicious!

So I have always wanted to learn how to make cakes, but never got around to taking a class. Finally I took matters into my own hands. The perfect opportunity arose and I embraced it. I made a chocolate fudge cake with cream cheese frosting and polka dots for a girl in my department, it was her birthday. It turned out delicious. The dots were made out of fondant and this was my first adventure with fondant. It was a very pleasant one and I like the way it turned out. I am excited to learn more about this and get better at it.

In other news, I am going to Orlando. Ah yeah, we will be there for work May 28- June 1. A couple of us have decided to make this a vacation. We are leaving Salt Lake on May 24 and will return with the rest of the employees on June 1. I am stoked!

General Conference

I was lucky enough to be born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So every year for as long as I can remember twice a year, we have general conference. When I was younger and in primary I remember our teachers giving us things to color or to take notes on. My parents were so happy if we agreed to watch at least one of the four sessions.

It wasn't until I was on my mission that I truly felt the importance of general conference and what it meant. I remember my first general conference in the field, I had been out for about five months. I wanted to shout it from the roof tops that today a living prophet of God was going to talk to us, and give us the prophetic counsel that the world so needed. It was then I realized that general conference was like the superbowl for missionaries. We look forward to it, we count down the days, we taught about it, we were excited for about a month prior. Now at times I will admit that I was a little homesick, and the opportunity of seeing home on TV was indescribable, maybe just maybe I would see someone I knew.

This year I found general conference extremely uplifting. Especially the Saturday session. Saturday morning we had the solemn assembly to sustain President Monson as the 16th president of the church. What a historic and sacred thing to be able to participate in.

My favorite talk was probably the one give by Elder Gerald Lund of the quorum of the 70. He spoke on opening our hearts and being able to listen to the spirit. He said, "I say again the condition of our hearts directly affects our sensitivity to spiritual things. Since we are the guardian of our heart, we choose to do so. We choose what we let in or hold out". The holy ghost carries messages UNTO to heart not INTO, it is up to us to have an open heart so the message can be delievered. I loved that thought. I think he said that Pres. Monson pointed it out first. We need to be humble, continue to repent, and serve in order to have an open heart.

This was a great conference, and it gave me the uplift that I needed. I hope that it will last until October. What a long way I have come since the days of primary.

I'm ticked!

I have turned into my mother. I use to hate it when she would get mad at me for not keeping the house clean and for making messes. I know understand her frustration.

I live in an apartment (only for a couple of more weeks) with 4 girls, there is really 5 but one is never ever there. Our apartment is never clean! I try and try and try. I clean about once a week, like really clean. Mop the floors, clean the counters, the microwave, etc. With in a couple of hours it is a total mess again. There are a couple of others who try as well, but lately it seems that they have given up. I have tried everything. I have gone on strike and only washed my dishes. I have cleaned really well and left a notes on our white board asking that they all try to keep it clean.

On Monday I went home from work early because I had a doctors appointment ( I have this horrible sinus infection) I decided to clean the house. I wasn't upset or anything. I realized that it needed to be done and I had a few minutes so I did it. I spent about 2 hours cleaning the house. When I was done I wrote a note again asking them to clean up their own messes that we all can do better, and to please respect each other.

I go to work on Tuesday morning and I come home to a mess. My roommate who doesn't have a job had her "friend" over and they cooked and left their pans on the stove, with food still in them. They left their plates in the living room, and the sink was full of dishes. I was a little annoyed because they left as I was walking in. I figured that they would come back and clean it up, so I left it. She came back and put the dishes from the living room in the sink. That is it. It was late, I was tired, I just went to bed. Yesterday when I came home, the mess was still there. I left and came home fairly late. I just went to bed as to not have to talk to my roommate who caused the mess.

This morning as I was leaving I noticed it was still there, I was really upset. I can't get mad at her, I can't tell her to clean up. I am not her mother, it is not my house, etc. I am so mad about it. I don't even want to go home and see her because I know she will be in the same spot that she has been for weeks on the couch with her blanket watching tv. I will just get madder as she has not done anything all day. All I want is to come home to somewhere where I can relax and feel like I am home. I think maybe I should move sooner.

Suggestions anyone?!?