Show Me The Money

First things first. Here's a picture of my quilt that I was supposed to post in my last blog....



Pretty cute eh?

Here's a quick update of life as I know it:

*I had a job interview yesterday as well as one today. Yesterday's went pretty well. The opening was for an administrative assistant at a company called eVenture. The job pays $10/hr for the first couple weeks, and then once training is complete, it bumps up to $10.50/hr. The interview went well...but they are looking for someone to work 11:30-5:00, Monday through Friday...and I can't work until 1:00. The girl interviewing me said that she really liked me and was going to talk to her manager and see if they could work something out. I'm supposed to hear from her today....so keep your fingers crossed. My job interview today is at Stampin' Up. My two cousins that I'm living with both work here, so I have a couple ins. The opening here is for phones. I'm not a huge fan of talking on the phone, but it seems like a good business to work for. Hopefully I don't botch the interview too badly :S

*I had my first 3 quizzes due over the weekend. I am pretty happy to say that I got 100% on all of them! Okay...so they were open book...and only 5 questions long...and I had 30 minutes for each quiz....But I'm still happy about it!

*I am in desperate need for a good book. My work load for my classes has been a lot lighter than I anticipated...and I have quite a bit of spare time between classes where I don't know what to do with myself.

*I downloaded skype last night. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I haven't tried it out yet....so I'll let you know once I have actually used it.

*One disadvantage of ordering text books online is the waiting for them to arrive.

*This guy in one of my classes today informed the class that his wife hit him last week...with a car. On purpose. Be careful who you marry.

*I really dislike people who argue a point with the professor. Or try to have a one on one conversation with the professor while he is lecturing. There's a reason professors have office hours people!

*It seems like my gas tank is forever running on empty....oi. This wouldn't be as bad if I had an endless amount of money to put into it.

*I absolutely love falling asleep to the sound of rain and thunder.

*Life is good. I am happy. I just need money :)

My Standard Break From Life

I've decided to finally break my fast from blogging. It's funny how when I am not at all busy, I can never find time to blog...but when I should be really busy, I somehow manage to squeeze it in. I think there's a word for that. Procrastination? That may be it.

I was telling my sister-in-law and mom the other day that I wanted to wait to blog until I had my quilt and blanket done that I had been working on. I've had the blanket done for a few months (Thanks to my Aunt Debie for letting me use her quilting frames!). I just barely finished up my quilt about a week before I moved to school. I had SO many people help me with this quilt! There's no way I would have finished it on my own. A few shoutouts to my Grandma Couch, Mom, Camille, Aunt Joan, Aunt Sharon, Aunt Tammi, and Sarah! I absolutely LOVE the final product! I don't have a picture of my blanket yet, but I'll post one of my quilt. It's adorable if I do say so myself. (I can't get my picture to post now, but I WILL post is shortly)

For those of you that don't know, I'm now living in Herriman, Utah. I live with two of my cousins, Mindy and Jessica Couch. The townhouse we're living in is really nice and I really love it! The only downside is the commute to Orem each day for school. It's about a 30 minute drive, but it usually goes by really fast so it's not too bad. I've officially decided what I want to be when I want to grow up...and that is a Paralegal. I just started into the program this semester, and I should be able to graduate in four semesters.

So far I am really enjoying my classes. I have one class that is a bit ridiculous, but all the other ones are great! I actually WANT to do the homework and finish all the reading...which doesn't happen very often. I'm excited to take classes that are challenging and that I can't just coast by in. These intro classes that I'm taking this semester aren't too tough of course, but they're still interesting to me.

One last thing....It's my baby sister's sweet sixteen today! She's seriously the funnest (yes, it's a word) person to be around! She can make anyone laugh. She's also the sweetest person I know....she feels bad when she tells even the littlest white lie and can't handle making anyone feel bad at all. I love you Mill! Have a great birthday!

Vegas! And some happy news...

This weekend Luke and I went to Vegas! It's only two and a half hours away from Cedar, so we were able to just make a day run of it. It was so much fun! I was able to find a blog that someone posted that lives in Vegas that outlined the 'must-sees' of Vegas for someone that is only there for one day. It kept us pretty busy throughout the day, but not so much that it wasn't fun. We had a very good time.

We started out on the lower part of the strip. The first place we stopped was the Luxor. I'd never been in here before...but it's very cool. The architecture was awesome. The only downer was that the blog I had mentioned something about it having a hidden away garden, and we weren't able to find it.

We then went through Excalibur and then on to New York, New York. We decided to splurge a little bit and go on the rollercoaster. We were going to go on the rocket thing on top of the stratosphere, but you have to pay like $20 to even get up there and then another $15 to ride the ride! Not exactly worth it to me. But I'm very glad we decided on New York, New York because the rollercoaster was very fun! I suggest it to anyone that decides to road-trip to Vegas sometime. Definitely worth the $$.

From there we went to check out the Bellagio. This was definitely my favorite place. I've decided to start saving up for a room there....It's sooo gorgeous! I have always loved the fountain show out front, but I had never been inside before. They have this cute little conservatory in the lobby. The flowers are GORGEOUS! And they have cute decorations like gigantic ant statues, mushrooms, and gardening buckets and shovels. They also had giant butterflies and such hanging from the ceiling. I'll attach some pictures. It was a really cool place.


We then went across the street to the Paris hotel. I was really excited for this one because I think the Eiffel tower is awesome. It ended up being just as cool as I hoped. They offer this Eiffel tower ride where they take you to the top and just let you look out across Vegas. We didn't end up doing it because I would want to go up after dark, and after dark it was twice as much as during the day. Not worth it to me or Luke. There was this cute little walkway that we wandered through past the casino and eating area. It's called the Streets of Paris walkway. It was a walkway that led to Bally's that was designed to look like the streets of Paris. Very cool.

We then stopped at the M&M and Coke factories. If we were to go back again, I would want to spend more time here. We kinda had to rush because there was still SO much to see. But both factories were very cool.

We then stopped by the MGM on the way back to the car. The lion habitat in there is very cool! AND there were new baby cubs! I guess they let a certain number of people play with the cubs in the mornings...Definitely jealous of those people. The cubs were adorable. Also, MGM was hosting the ACM Awards the next day, so we hung around where they were going to be for a while...hoping to see someone famous. No luck :(

Once we got to the car we drove to the upper part of the strip. We decided to bypass the Fashion Show Mall because I wasn't in a shopping mood (and neither was my wallet!) and we were a bit behind schedule. We did check out the Mirage, but I was definitely let down. They have a White Tiger and a Dolphin habitat here, but it was rather pricey to get in. I assumed that since the Lion habitat in the MGM was free, these ones would be too. They did have a mini tropical rainforest area near the lobby which was pretty cool. I was still disappointed with the Mirage overall though.

We walked through the Caesars palace area for the next bit. The place is so huge that it was kinda a waste to even try to see everything, so we just walked through the grounds on the way to our next stop and looked in on the Forum shops area. The Venetian was next on our list and it was VERY cool. The wax figure museum that Luke wanted to see was pretty expensive (are you noticing the trend here yet? I didn't realize how expensive EVERYTHING is in Vegas! Except for the parking: absolutely free), so we didn't end up checking that out. The Grand Canal and the Grand Canal Shoppe areas were awesome! The gondolas were really cool and unique. I wanted to ride one, but didn't bother checking into it. I'm sure it was out of the budget we set for ourselves, and we were still pretty tight on time. I still enjoyed the Venetian very much.

We decided that it was about time to eat then...we walked to SO many different places trying to find a buffet that wouldn't break the budget....We had seen a buffet at New York, New York that was $20 a person for dinner, so we were hoping to find one around that same price. We didn't want to head back to New York, New York because we were clear on the opposite side of the strip, and our feet hurt VERY BAD. We weren't able to find a buffet that was less than $30/person on the upper strip, so we ended up trying this New York Pizza place that was in a food court near Herrah's. The pizza was huge, dripping with grease, and delicious! It may have taken a few years off my life, but it was definitely worth it.

After eating, we decided to head towards our last stop, downtown Las Vegas. I had researched ways to do this beforehand and had decided the Trolley was the best way to go. Turns out-no one has ever heard of the Trolley. We asked various workers at Harrah's and they all gave us blank stares. We decided to try out the monorail, but once we walked ALL the way to the station we found out that it didn't go downtown. By this point I was super frustrated. I was a dummy and decided to wear flats with absolutely zero arch support. Biggest mistake of my life...My feet were seriously killing me, so you can imagine my despair at finding out the long walk to the monorail was not only pointless, but that we had to walk all the way back out front of Harrah's to catch the bus. Once we got outside of Harrah's, we couldn't find the bus stop anywhere. What a joke. We found out that the closest bus stop was at the Venetian, so we headed there.

When the bus FINALLY came we were lucky enough to step on, only to be told by the driver (quite rudely) that we had to get off and wait for the next bus. So we waited around for about 30 minutes or so for the next bus. The other people that had to wait with us were very entertaining though. They were very nice and super funny. They were cracking everyone up. When the next bus came, our new little group of friends were all able to get on. We ended up heading to the second floor of the bus and hanging out up there. There weren't seats, but we were just happy to finally be on the bus. At the next stop, the bus suddenly decided to stop working. I guess the doors wouldn't shut or something. This cleared people off the bus real fast (with lots of language!) so it was a blessing because we finally got to sit down. Even though the drive to downtown ended up taking nearly an hour, I don't regret it at all. The people on the second level were SO funny. It made the ride very enjoyable and ended up being one of my favorite parts.

When we FINALLY got to downtown I was worried that it would be a let down after all the hassle it took to get there. It was not. Even though by this point I wanted to die rather than take another step, I still think it was worth every problem we had getting there. The light show on Fremont street was really cool, and we had a nice surprise afterwards. It turns out that Miranda Lambert was having a concert there! I'm not really into any of her music, but it was still enjoyable. The place was packed though! It was a little bit nuts. After we watched that for a while, we checked out some of the shops and hotels around there. I was very impressed with downtown Vegas. And we were able to find a Walgreens and I got some arch support insoles. Made a world of difference.

The bus ride back to the strip was as much of a hassle as the bus ride there. We finally got back to where we parked, only to find the parking garage closed! There were no signs ANYWHERE saying that it closed so we were freaking out. We saw some workers walking down there, so Luke ran after them and talked with them. They pointed out the one gate that was left open and then told us that we should hurry because it gets pretty scary down there....Needless to say, I've never hurried so fast to a car before. Yikes! We got out of there pretty fast and then we both felt immensely better. From there we just headed back to Cedar (getting back WAY later than planned). It was an AWESOME trip. I enjoyed spending the day with Luke and seeing so many fun things. We both had a blast and were reminded of how much fun we can have together. I'm very lucky to have him! He didn't complain once about how slow I was walking or my complaining about my feet. He's a sweetheart :)

And now for the happy news.....For those of you that don't know, Luke was given the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday. He's been working towards this with the bishop for a few months and I'm VERY proud of him. He's now working towards getting the Melchezidec (I have no idea how to spell that) and should be getting that within a month or so. I'm so very happy and proud of him!

I think it's safe to say this is the longest blog EVER. I sometimes have the gift of gab and don't know when to stop. But I'm very happy with where I'm at and who I'm with...I can't wait to come home this summer though!

Easter Weekend

I am proud to write that Luke and I actually DID accomplish one of the activities this weekend that was mentioned in my last post. We made it to Zion's...and it was beautiful!

Our Friday started out with my parents pulling into town to pick up the things that I had packed for them to take home on their way from St. George. Luckily, the 5 bins, 2 cabinets, and multiple boxes fit just great in the back of my dad's truck! I was a little worried! After that I got showered and ready for the day and headed to work. After work, Luke and I watched 'The Princess and The Frog.' Such a cute movie! I was singing and smiling the whole time we watched it. Luke endured the movie and my commentating. After the trip to return the movie to redbox and pick up some things at Walmart, I was pooped and went promptly to bed. Lately, I've been getting WAY tired very early. I find myself occasionally skipping dinner because I'm just too tired. This may be what is contributing to my tiredness....

Saturday morning began with me completely sleeping through the majority of morning session of conference. I woke up in time to listen to Eyring's talk, and was able to watch the remainder of the morning session. I really look forward to conference, so I was not a happy camper about sleeping through a session! After morning session, Luke and I decided to head to St. George to check out this boot store he had seen when we were down visiting my family last week. It was a really cool little store that was going out of business. The owner was a nice guy that reminded me a lot of my Uncle Frank. There was a cute purse there that I ALMOST bought...but Luke advised me to wait and if I decided I really wanted it, we could come back. I've decided I really want it, and when we head to Vegas, we're going to stop at the store again.

From St. George, we headed up to Zion's! I was so excited that Luke agreed to go! He was really good about it...Didn't complain even a little! We ended up going on the Emerald Pools hike.

This is us near the end of the hike. It was so pretty up there!

We ended up taking the shuttle through the park after the hike and enjoyed all the gorgeous scenery. The only bummer about the day was that I ended up missing the morning AND the afternoon session of conference on Saturday. Good thing that they're online!

Today has been pretty great so far. I did an Easter egg hunt for Luke! I'm a firm believer that Easter isn't Easter without the egg hunt! He's waiting patiently for me to finish this post so that he can go hunt for them. He also made us some breakfast this morning and has a nice dinner planned for tonight. I'm one lucky girl :) I'll be posting pictures of our Easter activities soon.

I hope everyone's Easter has been great and that you all enjoyed conference as much as I did! How blessed we are to have such a firm knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I love this church!

Four. More. Weekends.

Since I'm heading home so soon, I've decided to make a plan for every weekend that I have left in Cedar to go and do something fun.

This weekend is Easter weekend, so I've decided to do Easter activities to make it fun. I convinced Luke to let me do an Easter Egg hunt for him. I'm pretty much a kid at heart, I know, but I can't imagine Easter without at least one Easter egg hunt! I'm way excited for it! We also are planning on dyeing some eggs. A friend was telling me about this cool way to dye eggs that involves onions and tea. It sounded really awesome and I'm going to try to attempt it.

Luke and I have already decided to make a day run to Vegas on one of the weekends. It would be nice if we could make a weekend trip out of it, but we don't know anyone there and neither one of us has enough money for hotel rooms, so a day run it will have to be. I don't exactly know what we'll do there (I've never been a huge fan of Vegas), but it's only a couple hours away so I know I'd regret not making the trip while I'm so close. I'm sure that we'll find something to keep us entertained all day! I'll just have to remember to keep my eyes closed as we're walking the strip. Yuck.

I also really want to make a trip to Zion's. I went with my family on a short hike on Saturday. It reminded me how much I love it there. It's my absolute favorite place for thinking. Relieved me of almost all the stress that I've felt lately and holds some of my favorite memories! I would really love to hike Angels Landing or The Narrows before I head back up to Idaho, but I'm not sure we'll have time. I'm really upset at myself for not making a single trip there since I've moved here (other than this last Saturday with my family). Luke DID agree to go on a hike at Zions with me if we have time. I'm thinking of either doing Emerald Pools (The hike I just did with my family) or maybe just Weeping Rock. I'm leaning towards Emerald Pools simply because I wasn't as impressed with Weeping Rock as I thought I would be.

There's also this state park called Sandy Hollows that Luke and I and a couple of his friends went and visited over the summer. I think we'll probably visit there again on the same weekend we do Zions. It's this hidden little lake that has a really awesome spot to jump from the red rocks into the lake. We had a lot of fun there, so I'm hoping we'll be able to find a weekend where the weather is warm enough for us to enjoy it again!

Somewhat related to my Zions trip, I want to make a trip to Bryce Canyon as well. I don't know Bryce Canyon nearly as well as I know Zions, but from what I've seen, it's gorgeous! Bryce is only an hour or so away, so we'll probably be able to do that on one of the Saturdays that we have left.

We only have four weekends left, so I think that's all we'll be able to do before we leave here. It's funny that I finally get to go home...and now things here are looking up for me! I have a nice job, I'm close to graduating, the weather is getting nice, and I finally have time to go do the things that I want to do! Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY excited to go home, and I definitely don't want to stay down here, but I wish I had gotten out a little bit more in the short time that I've been here. My biggest regret is not making it out to Zion's while I've been here, so hopefully Luke and I can make it out there before we leave for Idaho!

A couple quick P.S.'s. My family is in St. George this week. I was able to go down with them this weekend. So fun! I'm planning on making at least one more trip down to see them while they're there.

My other P.S. is that I have officially packed everything that I don't need for the next five weeks I'm down here. I decided I have WAY too much stuff, and got rid of quite a bit. I'm very proud...and I really hope that my stuff that I'm sending home can fit in my dad's truck :S.

Home!

I'm currently sitting at day number 2 that I've been back in Cedar since Spring Break...and I'm already very homesick. Spending Spring Break at home was wonderful.

I was lucky enough to get to go up to the cabin with two of my best friends and Savannah and her roommates. All together there were eight of us girls up there. It was so much fun! Me and Savannah mostly reminisced and read old Parry Posts together. It was nice to get to spend some time with her since we don't get to see each other very often. It was also nice to spend some time with my friends Kelley and Jessie, who I also don't get to see very often! Overall, it was a very fun weekend! Despite the fact that my dad had to drive up to bring the spare key to my car up.....(I have an awesome dad)

I worked for Frank and Tammi on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday-which made the days go by fast and helped remind me that I'm really not making up some of the memories I have of certain customers there. There's always a good story to be had at Work Wear House.

Thursday was a pretty lazy day for me since I didn't work and my family was either at work or school. It felt so nice to do absolutely nothing for a day! I have always been a fan of being lazy when possible, and I haven't had a chance to do so in a while.

Friday was Tanner's 14th birthday! I can't believe my baby brother is getting so big! He is almost taller than me...a fact he is constantly reminding me about. I think he had a pretty great birthday. His big present was a basketball hoop from my parents. I'm definitely as excited about it as he is. I miss being able to shoot around outside the house...I think we'll make some good memories around that hoop!

Also on Friday, I went to a friend's wedding reception with Luke. It was gorgeous! It was at the Shelton Church out near Ririe. It was a cute little chapel that I wasn't aware existed. It was definitely a great place for a reception! The newlyweds are one of the cutest couples I know and it was great to see how happy they are! It made me even more excited for when my big day finally rolls around!

On Sunday Tanner was ordained to the office of Teacher. It was a really cool moment and it reminded me how lucky I am to be blessed with a family that is active and loves the church as much as I do. Sitting next to my mom and Camille as my dad ordained Tanner to a Teacher was a really peaceful moment. Another blessing that I'll have to tack onto my ever-growing list.

The absolute best part of my week at home was deciding on my plans for the summer. I have officially decided to move home! It feels so good to finally be able to know what my plans are for certain. The only downer about moving home is that I had to put my notice in at my job in Cedar. I love my job here. I enjoy the people that I work with and I enjoy my day-to-day duties. I put in my notice yesterday and they were very nice and understanding about the whole thing...even though I've only been working here for about two months. I'm definitely going to miss this job...but I am really excited to be living at home again. Now I just have to find a job for the summer.....

As far as next fall goes, my plan is to head back to Utah State and finish up my degree there. Hopefully by next May I'll be preparing to move back to Idaho Falls permanently. It feels nice to have more solid plans for my future :)

The next best part of my week was finding out that my family is coming to St. George for their Spring Break!...which means I get to see them soon! They are coming down on Friday and are picking me up to go down for the weekend with them. It will be so nice having them only forty-five minutes away for a week! I'm glad that things worked out so that they are able to come!

That's my Spring Break in a nutshell. I had a great time at home and I'm very excited to see my family on Friday and the rest of my family all summer long! Jack's Pack here I come!

Katie The Creep

I have always been weirdly interested in watching people...I don't really know why I find it so interesting. Lately though, I've become OBSESSED with this.

Other than the time I spend locked up anti-socially in my room, all I am ever doing is watching people. And not like the 'Oh, that dress looks cute on her' or 'That kid has a weird walk'....but the full out sitting and watching a person for as long as I possibly can. I don't know what my problem is---but I'm much too aware that I'm a full-out creep. I'll find myself pretending to look at the clock at the back of the room in order to get a glimpse of what the girl that is sitting behind me is doing or seeing how long I can watch a person before we make awkward eye-contact one too many times.

Recently, I've started a new hobby of keeping count of how many times a certain person does something. For example, how many times will the person behind me cough or how many times will that boy click his pen throughout the class period. Usually, I just keep count in my head since Luke is in most of my classes and he is not aware of this habit, but when I'm alone I keep track of these kind of things on paper. I don't know if this hobby is just a result of me getting bored very easily, but I'm not fully comfortable with it. I'm so aware that I'm a creep, that I'm even creeping myself out. It's not normal.

I was reminded of this a few days ago when I was casually making conversation with the girl who works the morning shift when I came in to relieve her. I brought up the fact that there is a boy who walks past the office at least 6 times every time I work and asked if she had seen him. She responded by saying she had never noticed him but had noticed the sticky note that read "Running count of how many times the kid with the glasses walks by" with 54 tally marks under it. She then continued to look at me like I had a serious problem and promptly leaving the office.

My obsession with watching people isn't limited to a certain type of person either. I'm obsessed with observing girls, boys, blonds, brunettes, skinny, overweight, dark-skinned, light-skinned, pretty, ugly, good-smelling, bad-smelling, cheerful, depressed, annoying, chill....well you get the idea. EVERYONE. It's like the crush you had in middle school where you wanted to know what that person was doing whenever possible....except it extends to everyone I interact with. I constantly find myself thinking 'I wonder what that kid with the dreadlocks is doing this weekend' or 'I wonder how that girl in Operations would handle a certain situation.' It's not that I find any certain person more interesting than another person, I have these thoughts about almost everybody that I interact with. It's seriously the weirdest thing ever. I try not to think about it, but it's like an extremely annoying song that you have stuck in your head...or an eye-twitch that just won't go away.

Even as I'm writing this blog I've been staring at the employee at the Pizza Hut across the parking lot that is taking a smoking break. He has rubbed his nose six times, has kicked the side of the building with the toe of his shoe twelve times and has walked in six and a half circles...now seven.

My name is Katie Couch and I am addicted to being a creep.

My Amazing Great Grandmother

Today is my Grandma Parry's birthday. Since I am not in Idaho Falls, and therefore am not able to wish her Happy Birthday, I have decided to make a list my 5 favorite memories and things I admire about this wonderful person.

1. When I was younger, I looked forward to going to her house to spend quality time with her. Sometimes we would make different crafts. I'm sure all my cousins remember making Santas. I remember wanting mine to be different from everyone else's, so I decided to paint his cloak green instead of red. Grandma made me feel so special for my 'creativity' that I glowed for days. Othertimes we would play Phase 10. She always let me win. I can still remember all the little compliments that she gave me...like telling me I would be amazing at Kanasta because a couple times I drew the exact amount of cards I needed to deal. She has a way of complimenting you in a small way, that makes you feel like a much better person. This is just the way she is. She's a genuine, sweet, loving person.

2. Another thing I remember is the family dinners. I took them for granted when I was younger. Now, being so far away from home and not being able to go to the family dinners anymore, I realize how much I love them. It's amazing how large of a family I have, yet everyone knows nearly everybody else. This is because it's important to my grandparents. I'm so grateful for the close ties that I have with my cousins, second-cousins, uncles, aunts, great-uncles, great-aunts, etc. If it weren't so important to my grandparents to keep the family close, there are many ties that I have now, that I probably would not have otherwise. The tie that I have with my Grandma Parry is something that I treasure. The most amazing part about that tie with her is that it links me to SO many other ties with my family members. She's not content simply having a relationship with her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or great-great grandchildren, but she wants every one of them to have a relationship with their extended family. I'm grateful this is so important to her and that she has passed it on to me. The relationships that are most dear to me are my relationships with my family, and I don't know who I would be today if it were not for them.

3. My Grandma is SO much fun to be around. She has an amazing sense of humor. She can make anyone laugh at almost any time! One memory that sticks out to me is playing Kanasta at the cabin with my family, Grandma, and either the Hopkins or the Roes (I can't remember! Sorry!). I have not enjoyed myself that thoroughly since. It was one of the first moments in my life when I was able to actually take a step back and realize how great my family (especially my great-grandma) is. She lit up the whole night with her teasing and quick remarks when someone was trying to pull something. It still makes me smile every time I think about that night.

4. My Grandma is ALWAYS there for me. I remember her coming to nearly every one of my sporting events as I grew up. What patience that must have taken! And it was not only for me that she did this! Ask any one of my cousins and I can guarantee that it was a rare event when Grandma wasn't able to make it to one of their games. It always made me feel so important when I saw my great-grandparents up in the stands watching me play. It was a wonderful way to remind me of their love.

5. My Great-Grandma has always made me feel loved. Even when I was an obnoxious child being rude to one of my cousins, she showed her love even as she scolded me. She has so much to do with how I turned out. She's made me want to be a much better person than I am. Every time I am having a rough time, I think of her example. She has been through so much in her life, yet I have NEVER heard her complain. Every time I see her, she has a smile on her face and everyone around her is enjoying her company. She is the strongest person I have ever known in my life, and the absolute biggest example to me of how to be an amazing person. Although I miss my Grandma Roe every day, I am SO blessed to have my great-grandma in my life. She has made me understand the true love of a grandparent. She has taught me so much and I treasure everything I have learned from her over the years.

I love you so much Grandma! I hope you have an amazing birthday! Thank you for everything you have done for me and continue to do for me. You are my biggest hero and I hope that you know that.

So Blessed

I've decided to try out this blogging thing. I make no promises as to how long I'll keep it up though. Lately, some things have happened that have led to me having lots of time to myself...So I'm finding new ways to keep myself busy. I've figured out that I'm a lot more cheerful on days when I actually accomplish some things than I am on the days when I'm just lazy all day. Hopefully, this blog will help me feel a sense of accomplishment on days when I have nothing to do.

The past week or so I've been thinking a lot about how truly blessed I am. I have an amazing family that never fails to cheer me up. I've been blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. Whenever I get lonely or homesick, there's always someone for me to call. My friends are such a strength to me. It's not a rare day when a text or phone call from a friend turns my entire day around. I'm not very good at expressing my love and appreciation for the people in my life...But I want you all to know how much I love you all!

I'm also blessed with having the means necessary to attend school. I know this is a lot more than a lot of people have, and I take it for granted most of the time. I love learning new things and am SO grateful that I am able to pursue knowledge. I'm also grateful for my parents who have helped me learn responsibility. I hate to not have a steady job or be self sufficient. I know that this comes from the years my parents have put into raising me to be a responsible person and I know that it will help me as I go through life.

I'm also incredibly grateful for my amazing boyfriend. He's such a strength to me. He helps me be strong in my areas of weakness. He makes me want to continuously strive to better myself and my relationship with God. I take him for granted a lot more than I should, but he is everything that I need. I hope that I never stop being amazed by him and his goodness.

I'm grateful for you all. I know I don't say it as much as I should, but I love all of you. I appreciate all that you do for me, even though I'm not very good at expressing it. I hope that this mood of gratefulness doesn't fade too quickly for me and that I am able to keep realizing all the many things that I have been blessed with.