Billy Joel - Piano Man

Dave Matthews Band - You & Me

Love it!

The Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers- One of my favorite Songs!

More Awesome Music!

Amos Lee

Take a Listen

James has introduced me to many new music artists in the time we've been dating. Joshua Radin is one of my favorites he has shown me. And, he got me Joshua Radin concert tickets for Christmas!!!!! What can I say, he loves me. If you've never heard Joshua Radin's music before you should definitely click on the link above and take a listen.

2010

Nine days until 2010 is officially over. What a year! Below are some highlights of my 2009 and 2010.


Balloon Festival September 2009-James and I barely knew each other.


My Colorado friends Krissy and Stina came to visit for Thanksgiving 2009.


Jazz game with James.


James' first snowshoe adventure.


James and I took a trip to Colorado for his younger brother's high-school graduation. While there we stayed with his Nana and Papa.


Our friend Kevin was baptized in Utah before he moved back to Ohio. We miss the Yosts and Kevin. They were a happy part of my 2010.


James and I went on a few road-trips this year. Most of them were to Colorado.


During one of these trips to Colorado I was able to visit my lovely friends. Krissy, Stina, and Rachelle are all going to be bridesmaids in my wedding. I miss these girls everyday.


Stina's last Miss Colorado Pageant ever! She was beautiful as always.


My Mom, Dad, and I went to Texas for my Aunt Elaine's 80th surprise Birthday party.


We got to spend time with the Texas family.


Fountain @ the Gateway in SLC-I tried to dodge the water, but it still managed to get me!


My dad, James, and I went on a backpacking adventure. Or as James would call it, "The March of Death!"


My friend Ashley recently moved to California. The girls got together to say goodbye. We all miss her but I'm happy she is doing well in the sunshine of Cali.


My family took a trip to Seattle to visit our family there. I can't believe how big Bella is now!


My Aunt Chrissie had her first baby. He's precious.


I turned around right after this picture was taken and......James proposed!


This is what I was staring at. I love sunrises!


Florida for Thanksgiving 2010-We are engaged!


We had to say goodbye to our beloved pup Solomon.


Ugly Christmas sweaters 2010.

2010 was a good year.

2011 will be full of new adventures.

I am looking forward to it.

Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

It's True

We have fun together.

Goodbye Summer...Hello Teaching!

The summer flew by! A lot of good memories were made though. I traveled to Colorado, Washington, and Texas.

My favorite memories of the summer

1. My great Aunt's 80th surprise birthday party

2. Backpacking with my dad and James

3. Stina's Miss Colorado Pageant

4. Hiking in Seattle with family

School started up again this week. It is my second year teaching 3rd grade at this school. I'm really enjoying it. My kids are great. I've only had three days with them, and I know it's the honey-moon phase, but I have a feeling it's going to be a great year.

"I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."

-Psalm 9:2-

DMB!

I went to my first DMB concert this week. I never used to listen to DMB but it's James' favorite band and he got me listening. I must say that they are AMAZING musicians! The sax solos are pretty much my favorite. If you've never listened to Dave Matthews you should give him a try and let me know what you think.

Raindrops Are Falling On My Head!

My family and I went to Seattle this past weekend, and we had a grand time.

My Aunt Chrissie came out from California. She's going to have a baby boy in October :)

My Grandma Sarah came from Montana.

We got to visit with my cousin Desi and her daughter Bella. They live in Washington.

And, we got to meet Princess Leia the suckling cat. My Aunt and Uncle in Washington raise a type of wild cat. This is one of the cats that gets to live inside the house. Leia's mom bit her ears off when she was little so she has nubs in the place of ears. They look a bit like Princess Leia buns. Leia Loves to suck on peoples hands. She's kinda weird.

Lexy came with our family. Well, she practically is family now. Brian and her will be married next June. I'm excited to have a sister-in-law!

It was a good little trip. The only thing that could have made it better would have been having James there.

Ash the Pash

I met Ashley during Spanish class in high-school. We had so much fun in that class! It was in that class that Ashley gave me the nickname "Burrito." We only lived a block away from each other but we hardly spent time together outside of Spanish class. It wasn't until college that we really started hanging out. I have many enjoyable memories with my buddy Ash. She's moving to California at the end of this week. I'm super excited for her, but I'm sad she won't be here anymore. I guess that gives me an excuse to visit Cali.

We love playing games

taking pictures wherever we go

and being silly

We will miss you Ashley!

A is for Adventure

Boy did I go on an adventure this weekend! My dad invited James and me to go backpacking with him on Saturday. James and I showed up at his house as planned on Saturday afternoon. I had my tent, sleeping bag, a sweatshirt, and the clothes on my back. I've been backpacking before but apparently wasn't thinking straight. I forgot to bring long pants and forgot to tell James to bring warmer clothes! Ooops! We ended up borrowing from my dad. We finally finished packing and then drove up to the Uintah mountains.

My dad wanted to take us to this beautiful lake that his friend had hiked to. Since my dad had never been to the lake we were kind of going off of his friend's directions. We followed a trail for a while until we came to this sheer mountain of rocks! The motto of our trip soon became, "I wonder if it curves." We needed to get up and over somehow. So, we started climbing up the rocks hoping it would turn at the top and there would be a way over. I made it the farthest up and realized it was a horrible idea to keep climbing. By this time we were a long ways up. I was kind of paralyzed. James took off his pack and graciously helped me down. It took a lot of him saying, "Just move a little to your right. It'll be okay. You can do this" before I had enough courage to budge from the rock I was gripping. We eventually made it down the mountain and back to our car. It was dark by this point so we drove to a car camping site and stayed the night.

It was beautiful! The trip definitely didn't turn out the way we had expected it to, but I'm glad it happened the way it did. I had to put a lot of trust in James to help me down that mountain, and it felt good knowing I could trust him. He even took beatings from some rocks to get me down safely. All in all, it was a great adventure full of memory making moments. And the scenery was breath-taking!

Crazy Kids

I love watching kids dance. It's the best! I've had a fun time dancing and singing with the kids at Bible School this week. :)

I also love hearing kids sing :)

Recite

and play instruments :)

Fellowship

There is something about fellowship that refreshes the soul. James and I have recently started attending a Bible Study together every week. We both look forward to the fellowship and study of God's word that takes place here. The talking, laughter, guitar playing, and singing speak deeply to me. One of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced is a room full of people worshiping the Lord together and praying together. Prayer is powerful and God uses it for sure! I wouldn't doubt that James and I are now a part of this group as a result of someone's prayer. We have only been going for four weeks and it already feels like home to me. I think James would agree.

Things That Make Me Smile

Friends!

I love talking to my Colorado Friends on the phone. They are simply the best. Unfortunately, we're all so busy we hardly get to talk much. I usually call and leave messages and wait a few days or weeks for a reply. But, Krissy called me today!!!! And then I called Rachelle and we talked for a while. :)

It's kind of the same way with God. Sometimes I'm so busy with life I forget to talk to him. While I wait around to hear from my Colorado friends, he waits around to hear from me. And when I do finally talk with God I'm happy I did.

Tiny Little Ant

I spent a lot of time staring out the plane window on my way to Texas this past weekend. The things I saw on the ground below began to look smaller and much less significant as we moved farther up into the air. The cars on the road appeared to be little specks. The people couldn't even be seen. Seeing things from this perspective helped me realize how selfish and self-centered I can be. I'm really just a tiny speck in the scheme of things, but yet I can be so me centered. There are so many people around me and there is so much more to life than my small existence. To God we must all seem like specks. And even though I'm just a speck God still loves me.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Love

"Owe nothing to anyone- except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law. For the commandments say, you must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet. These-and other such commandments-are summed up in this one commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself." Romans 13: 8-9

Love. What is love? Love is a word that I use and hear other people use many times in a day. People use love to describe things that they enjoy. "I love this book!" "I love that movie!" "I love hiking!" People say "I love you" to one another. But, what does love really mean? The Bible tells us that love is from God. 1 John 4:8 says "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Genesis 1:27 says that we were created in God's image. Because of this, God has given us the capacity to love.

The Bible describes two different types of love. These two different terms are used in the original Greek translation of the Bible to show the difference between God's love and our conditional human love.

Agape Love

• God's love for us
• asks nothing in return
• self-sacrificial
• keeps giving
• has no conditions
• requires God in our lives

"This is real love-Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." 1 John 4:10

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Phileo Love

• brotherly love
• based on conditions
• based on feelings

In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says that the two greatest commandments are to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself."

I believe love is shown through action and not just said in words. "My dear children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in action and in truth (1 John 3:18)." I can say I love someone 1,000 times but until I show the person by the things I do, I have no love. The amazing thing about God's love (agape) is that it has no conditions. God made the ultimate sacrifice for our lives while we were still sinners. If God's love were merely words it would mean far less.

There are certain people that I have a difficult time loving. It is hard for me to love people who don't give the same in return. It is hard to love people I find annoying. It is hard to love judgmental, selfish, arrogant, people. However, the Bible does not call us to love the easy-to-love people. The Bible calls us to love all people. "

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44)." We are even called to love those who hate us. This seems an impossible task. How am I to love the people I don't get along with? God is my only answer. God equals love. If God equals love, He is what I need to even be able to begin loving others.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is a great passage on love. It is a description of agape love.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Agape Love is: patient, kind, unselfish, truthful, hopeful, protects

Agape Love is not: jealous, rude, boastful, arrogant, selfish, angry

Lord, help me to love with an agape love.

Blessings

Bible

Love

Eternity

Savior

Salvation

I love you

Nature

Grace

Sushi

My life is full of Blessings! :)

Favorites

1. Hiking with good friends!
2. Sitting on top of a mountain and looking out
3. Naps
4. Jimmy Johns Subs
5. Sunshine
6. Barbecues
7. Spiderman

It has been a great Monday!

Nerd Fest

James is a nerd!

He loves these pictures and pretty much anything relating to Star Wars.

http://www.geekologie.com/2010/06/fancy_your_pants_are_star_wars.php

www.bite.ca/bitedaily/2010/06/disneystar-wars-mash-up/