Safe Homes

Lately i have been made so thankful for those homes that are open for the young people to come over whenever they want. The homes that you walk in a just know you are welcome, the homes that are always stocked full of food, the homes where i can talk about meetings and not be looked at like i'm crazy, the homes where i know i'm safe!

So i'm living in a trailer....i finally have a schedule... i pretty much work 6-6 5 days a week but that's kinda just a rough schedule and only until may when mark goes back out to sea. Anyways when mark gets home i can leave and go where ever i want, well i don't like to stay in my trailer, it's cold and pretty lonely. Which is why i have become so thankful for safe houses, and for invites to eat dinner or spend an evening playing games with the friends.

So of the houses i have found to be a safe place for me are...
Ulshafers-they were the first safe house that i ever discovered, i still lived at home but i loved to go places and their home was always open to me. it helped that two of my best friends lived here!

Fileners- i know that i can drop in here whenever i need a place to stay or a place to hang out. This one is always loud and full of kids and fun!

Davitos- i was never as close to them as i was to some of the others but i did know that i could come here whenever i wanted to...plus they built a lovely home with space just for the college kids to come study and play.

Steirs- they were my "family" in San Luis and i loved everything they did for me. Always had the fireplace warm and a chair waiting for me so i could come over and read after work anytime i wanted to

Vances- Everyone knows that i loved to go see my little Gracie girl, but i did truly enjoy talking with Truitt and Heidi as well! I always felt more than welcome there and enjoyed every minute spent with that family!

Cruz- They still had a million kids at home that i loved to hang out with, but it also seemed like Julie always had an ear open to listen when i needed to talk and i loved being there!

Shoryers- They are my new washington "family" i was so thankful for the invite to come over after work anytime i wanted to and during work they said i could bring Micah if i needed a change of pace. They also have kids my age which is wonderful!

Of course all my wonderful family, aunts and uncles, grandparents have made me feel more than welcome and i loved going to their places to...

Anyways i guess i just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has ever opened their home to any of the young kids...especially the college age ones. It's a hard time in life so full of decisions and questions, and influences and it is so wonderful to know that there is a safe place that we can go and get away from the world and the busyness of life and slow down and have fellowship! I hope someday i can have a home that is able to be opened to a safe place!

special meetings!

Well i got really lucky this year and got to go to 3 1/2 special meetings! All were WONDERFUL and i felt like there was a special message at all of them just for me. Just a few thoughts from them are.
we need to make this way real to us, we can't just be walking blindly
Sheep can only eat when moving forward, they can not eat when looking back.
and last night during gospel meeting Mark Huddle spoke from John 2 and he had some really interesting things to say. He started out by saying that every marriage needs Jesus, and i was so excited i thought that maybe he would talk about marriage and dating but it turns out that wasn't what his focus was. He then went to mention that this was the happiest day of their lives but even on the happiest day they needed Jesus. Mostly his focus was on our need for Jesus in all situations and it was just wonderful! So what i needed to hear. This morning when i woke up i was thinking about what we had heard at Mt Ranch a few years ago, or maybe just last year i'm not sure which! Anyways it was about stop signs and how prayer is a stop sign that we can't afford to just roll through. Those are just some things that have meant a lot to me lately and i thought i'd share them with you all!
Now after special meetings there were get togethers which where amazingly fun! I love my friends so much. Hanging out with them is the greatest! They make me laugh so hard, and i always feel so encouraged after being with them. Anyways we played lots of games and fun stuff like that. So pretty much what i'm saying is that this last month has just been amazing and i'm thinking that 2009 will just end up being wonderful! :)

back to washington

I'm back in Washington and guess what Micah has learned a new trick! It's pretty impressive let me tell you! That kid can force a burp almost as good as my uncles....and he thinks it the funniest thing ever so after lunch today he was burping at the dogs for at least 5 minutes. Another new thing he has decided he no longer needs to take a nap everyday, I beg to differ. He went to bed after lunch like always! lol

So i already broke one new years resolution! I probably shouldn't be so excited about that but i find it pretty amusing! I managed to hurt myself again, well wait it was my hip so old injury so maybe it doesn't count. Anyways i'm not sure what i did (it could have been the 3 inch stiletto heels i wore to special meeting but i doubt it they're too cute to blame pain on!) but it was an interesting night let me tell you. I'll not go into too many details that would just be boring. Lets just say it involved some tears, pain killers, and me not driving anymore that day! Really it wasn't that bad!

So now i'm back in washington, i had an appointment for a massage today and am supposed to take it easy for the rest of the day so i'm not going to the gym i'm just going to scrub down the new to me trailer i live in from top to bottom, it's so dirty! :) Oh and my car window fell down again....

New Years Resolutions

Well I read Shawna's blog and she said that she wanted to read everyone else's New year resolutions so here mine are. Just to warn you i haven't given this much thought so who know what i might come up with!

Number one...i'm not going to get hurt at all this year! this is a thought motivated by the currently hurting shoulder that i hurt on the 31st! (anyone want to make bets on how long this lasts?)

Number two... loose 30 pounds by june! lol this is going to happen! I'm so determined to finally get into good shape!

Number three...go to Ireland with shawna! :)

Number four...learn sign language (this thought came as i watch little Lucas Vance sign that he wants candy please!)

Number five... buy a house hey if the market stays like this it might actually be possible!

Ok i think five is enough for now! Like Shawna said i want to read everyone elses so start posting!