25 Days to go

It's been a crazy week. Sam was in Utah for work until Tuesday night. He missed his flight but caught a later one. Then we sped (or tried) out of town for Thanksgiving. We hit horrendous traffic and drove to El Paso to spend the holiday with my brother's family and my mom and dad. We got back late Friday night and have been getting our house ready for Christmas. I really loved seeing my nephews and spending some time relaxing with family. I didn't take pictures - I forgot. Sounds terrible (but Tallin said I am his favorite aunt anyway). I think his exact words were "Heidi who?" I still have some work to do with little Colt, who called me Aunt Hilary behind my back. I have been called worse though. They are handsome little buggers, and I can't wait to see them again soon. I'm having a hard time gearing up for this week, but I am pleased at the thought that we have 15 days of school, 19 actual days, until Winter Break! I am more excited than my students. And in the meantime we can start Christmas shopping, baking (I got a new Kitchenaid!) and singing Christmas carols. I love this time of year.

Count Your Many Blessings...

We just had a lesson about adversity in Relief Society today, and I can't help but feel that I have been remiss in giving thanks for the blessings I enjoy. I'm always shocked and amazed to discover the trials that others experience. I felt like an ungrateful wretch today, and I realized that too often I am quick to gripe and complain about stupid, inconsequential things. So today, I am grateful to have:

1. a husband whom I really love and who treats me wonderfully
2. a wonderful family
3. a job that I enjoy most of the time
4. a coteacher to help me with 6th hour
5. a husband with a good job at a great company
6. a healthy body
7. the knowledge that I am a daughter of God
8. knowledge of the plan of salvation
9. long naps on Sunday afternoons (because we have EARLY church.)
10. warm, sunny days - in November
11. great friends and neighbors
12. opportunities to develop talents
13. nephews to visit on Thanksgiving!
14. more nephews and a niece to see at Christmas
15. parents who taught me how to work, cook, and clean
16. plenty of food to eat
17. a nice home (or two...)
18. renters
19. health insurance
20. an education

That just scratches the surface, but at this time in my life I have SO MUCH to be grateful for. I am going to try really hard this week not to complain about getting up early to go to work, making dinner, or even about my 6th hour class.

Postponed Until Further Notice...

We don't have much to report, except that we have postponed having children until we can agree on some names. You would think that after dating for uh...some time that we would have this all figured out. Sam would like to name our first boys Hose A and Hose B. I vetoed that. His other suggestions include Buzz, Golden, Titan, and Quartz Aaauuugghhh. He also likes October and November (the names - not the months). He also suggested Gordon. Yuck. Sunday or Monday? Avalon? Weird. I like Porter and Mason. He doesn't want our children's names to be professions. I also like Cole, Tate, Parker, and Carter. He is now suggesting Phillip. Phil? HUH? Who is this man I married? Hero? or would it be Hiro? I hate weird spellings! Bruce? Wayne? Both? NO WAY. There is a huge gulf between the names Sam likes and the names I like. We might actually be able to agree on girls' names. But here's the second problem. We both really like the name Bella, but I HATE Twilight. I cannot imagine myself naming a child after a vampire wanna-be. It's back to the drawing board, folks. We'll keep you updated. We have a huge gulf to cross.

A First for Everything

Slowly, but surely, Heather is helping me get immersed in social media. For years now she has tried to convince me to join Facebook and, more recently, to blog. For a few of those years I resisted the suggestion to join Facebook based on the misconception that Facebook was for meeting people to date. As Heather and I were dating, I could not understand why she thought it would be a good idea for me to sign up. As for blogging, I believe it was Heather's brother Justin that declared blogging is for girls.

After a few more nudges from Heather and Shawna and a brazillion requests from other long-lost friends (which I found out later were actually from Shawna), I gave in and recently joined Facebook. (Heather is concerned I am now a Facebook junkie. Not so. I am just making up for the amount of time she has had to find everyone she has ever known to become friends with. Now the race is on. First person to 250 friends wins. In fact, I had a heck of a time getting her to agree to be my Facebook wife. I think she still liked the idea of being able to still have a foot in the Facebook dating pool!)

That being said, it is with much fanfare that I present this, my first post ever to a blog. I am sure it will not meet the standards which the great bloggers of the past have set, and I am sure I will offend one or all of the people I have ever met as I venture into this strange new world of spilling my guts to family, friends, and total strangers. Yee haw.

So for those of you looking for thought provoking, deep, intellectual discussions about life, please read Heather's posts. If you are in the mood to change it up a bit, trying clicking the 'Next Blog' button above. Otherwise, feel free to pull up a monitor and read a few ramblings. Who knows. You might even want to expand your own footprint in the world of social media.

And Dear, you better keep at it; I have four friend requests waiting for my acceptance!