Happy Birthday

This is such a special day. There is no day greater than today. What could it be? If you know me well enough, you guessed it even if you didn't remember.

Today is my birthday!



Yippee! I am so excited.
I like my birthdays every one.
Yes, I stole that line.
I'm having a party tonight at my parents' house. If you read this and live within 87 minutes from my parents, I expect you to be there!

I must now rest. I'll need my energy. It's takes a lot to be the most amazing 26 year-old west of the Mississippi.

Now Playing

I attended Les Miserables at Tuacahn tonight. I have never seen the show before. Overall I was pleased. I'll save the complete review for another time. My favorite part of the whole evening was this line:

"You play a virgin in the light but need no urgin' in the night."

Stop by and enjoy the music

I'm sure you noticed the playlist at the top of my blog. These are some of my favorite songs from before I was born. I like these songs so much that any time I use my computer, I open my blog in a new tab or window and let the music play in the background. Running iTunes seems to slow my processing speed down, so this is a far better option.
When I grow tired of these songs, I'll create a new playlist. I'm sure the next one will be music from the 80s.
Stop by and enjoy the music any time you want.

Read The Spectrum

Check out today's paper for the article on my summer camps. It's on the front page of the Southwest Living (feature) section.
For those of you who aren't local, you can read the article online.
It fills practically the whole page. I couldn't be more pleased.
Check out more pictures and information from my most recent camp here.

I am grateful

I expressed some bitterness today, and my sister said that she wished I would use that energy for something else. I am going to expend some energy listing just a sampling of the things that I am grateful for today.

I am grateful for my friend, Jodilyn. She was on my mind all day since it is (or was since I'm burning the midnight oil) her birthday. I was privileged to get to know her when she was elected president and I was elected vice president of our Elementary Education cohort. I'll admit it. At first I thought she was being ridiculous with all the crazy things she wanted to do for our cohort. Who has time for all that? I sure didn't. Fortunately, we began to balance each other out. I soon learned that she wasn't being ridiculous; she is just so darn compassionate and enthusiastic about serving others. I began turning to her with school related questions and requests for assistance. Soon, we began sharing our lives with one another and became the best of friends. There is much joy and love in my heart every time we do something together. She is a treasured friend and confidant. I am grateful for Jodilyn.

I am grateful for my family. I called the house looking for some love and found my sister and mom available and willing to go for a Sunday evening drive. We picked up my sister's friend and began our adventure. Time spent with my family lately has been amazing. Since my little sister got home from her mission, we've randomly (not scheduled) spent evenings together. It is the most fun I've had in a long time. Being with my family makes me incredibly happy. I am grateful for my family.

I am grateful for this beautiful world. For our Sunday afternoon drive, we went to Snow Canyon State Park. We went on a (Sunday-appropriate) short hike and admired the beautiful world that God has created. It was so very peaceful and absolutely beautiful. I took a lot of pictures (for a gift I'm working on for Jodi's birthday). Taking the photographs made me appreciate more the beauty of that which surrounded me. I could have gone through countless rolls, because everywhere I turned I noticed more and more beauty. I am grateful for the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the earth.

I am grateful that I solved the mystery of the missing debit card. I have been looking for my debit card all week long. (I didn't realize how few places take checks these days.) I picked up a few papers that were on my bed side table and saw what I thought was my debit card fall to the ground. I searched the floor and only found a cool sticker of the earth from space. I figured that was the blue I had seen fall to the ground. I crawled back up on my bed, and there was my debit card resting on the bed frame. I am grateful that mystery has been solved.

I am grateful for callings at church. I got sustained today as a Sunday School teacher. I am so tickled since this is a dream calling of mine. Hopefully, I'll teach next Sunday. There is another teacher, so I won't get to teach every week. Nonetheless, I am excited. I am grateful for opportunities to serve at church.

I could go on forever. I am so very blessed.

Maybe it really is WHO you know

The Spectrum is going to send a reporter and photographer to my camp on Monday to do a story on Aggie Adventures. It is a result of emailing a former Relief Society President of mine. The story will run on Monday the 23rd. I'll make sure I have a link to the story on the blog.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Happy Birthday, Amy!
My dear older sister turned 28 today.
She sure is a joy to have around.
Will, Amy, Casey, and I all went out to lunch together.
I do love my brother and sisters very much.

Aggie Adventures has begun

Camp Slimy, Gooey & Disgusting started on Monday. The experience has been great. I have nine kids ranging from 8-11 attending this week. They are crazy but a lot of fun.
As the name suggests, we have been learning about everything gross. The first two days were spent discussing the disgusting things about our bodies. We answered the questions what is that oozing from my body and why does my body do that.
I can't even pick out a favorite activity. I have enjoyed every single one of them. We made fake blisters and wounds yesterday. As you can see, our campers are ready for jobs in Hollywood makeup.

Bugged by recent discovery

I arrived home in the wee hours of the morning after babysitting for a friend. I opened my closet to pull out some pajamas. I was bugged to discover an infestation of ants. (Pun intended.)
The ants were marching one by one up the corner of my closet. They had reached the first shelf of clothes. As you can see, they were making themselves at home. I am normally a great hostess, but ants are not welcome house guests.
I considered waiting until after church to take care of it since it was such a late hour, but I just kept having visions of a scene from the latest Indiana Jones flick. Although I knew these ants couldn't pull me into their hill, I didn't want to know how many ants would be around after so many hours.
Begrudgingly, I drove to Wal-Mart and purchased ant spray and deterrent traps. Even now, my closet and clothes smell of that awful scent.