Kimberly's Journey

New blog

2011-09-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ok... so it seems like I have been posting on our family blog more than on my blog... so go there and check it out!

briankimberlyandthekids.blogspot.com

Day 4

2010-06-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Ichiban to eat with Brian before he played with the Curnow band. After eating, the kids and I played Scrabble Slam while Brian was setting up.
I tried to finalize the schedule for the kid's chores, but Brian came up with a new idea and so I will work on it tomorrow.
I really wanted to go to Disneyland more so than normal. I started thinking about when we are going and I got really homesick for Disneyland.

Journal Day 2-3

2010-06-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today has been great! Brian and I laid in bed until around 9:30. I was awake since 8:30 or so but he was asleep until 9:30. Around 9:00 I decided to get up and get ready to go for a walk/run, but I didn't. Around 9:15 I got up and got dressed and almost ready to go. Then Brian turned over and reached out his arms for me. I really can't resist that- a time that he wants to cuddle - so I laid back in bed and cuddled with him for a few minutes. I asked him if he wanted to go on a walk with me and he said sure, after he had been up for a while. This is when I found out that he had watched West Wing until 2:30am... no wonder he stayed asleep so long! We then went upstairs, looked through the kids hair for lice and had breakfast. Yes, I said lice. Elijah brought it home from school about a week and a half ago. We though we were in the clear and then we found out Wednesday when we picked Quianna up to go out for dinner that she had it too! Elijah has come home from school every day this week with it. We checked his hair in the morning and found that he was ok. Then he would come home with eggs in his hair. Last night Quianna came to live with us for about a month and we found out that she still has it. Brian went off to play in Annie Get Your Gun (he is subbing for the bass player) and I got to deal with looking through and treating long hair. I got desperate and looked on the internet for some other tips and solutions. I read that vinegar dissolves the lice and it's eggs. I had Quianna use it in the shower last night and she complained that it got in her mouth.

This morning Brian only found 2 in her hair but I found 5 or 6 in Elijah's. He was clean last night! I don't understand it! I have washed his sheets/pillowcase every day AND sprayed his mattress and pillow. We thought school was the source since we would always find it when he came home.

I just have to say- I am tired of lice. I have done at least 3 loads of laundry every day since Saturday- sometimes 5 because regular laundry needs to be done. I am tired. Just go away lice!

So this morning I gave them vinegar rinses. This time I had them lay on their backs on the counter with their heads in the sink and I washed their hair. Quianna kept wiggling which made it hard to do but Elijah did great- he just giggled. Hopefully the vinegar helped because I am getting to the crazy.

We went to Riverfront park today. The kids got to ride the rides and Brian and I played catch with the NERF football and the frisbee. Running around was a part of my exercise.

Day #3
Today I subbed in the nursery today. It was fun, I just really miss Relief Society. We also had Family Home Evening today. Since Quianna will be living with us for a while it will be easier to start a schedule with it for the kids to teach the lessons today. I created a FHE chart with ice cream cones. I printed it out, I just need to put it together. That's a tomorrow project.
Tomorrow is the first Monday for a long while that I don't have to go to school. It's wonderful.
It's been a long day. I've gotta go put the kids to bed.

Jounal #1

2010-06-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

So far today I have said my morning prayers (2 points), exercised for 45 min (20 points) ate 5 fruits/vegetables (10 points), had 7 hours of consecutive sleep last night (5 points) and had 5 glasses of water(1 point each) and now I am writing in my "journal"- which is 2 points. Tonight I will say my prayers (2 points) and read my scriptures for 5 points.

I am doing a "competition" thing with some girls at church. It's called "A New You" and is to help with establishing healthy and spiritual habits. For everything you do on the list you get a certain amount of points and we are divided up into teams. The team with the most points at the end of the 6 weeks wins. We are ending our 6 week program with a celebration and a 5k.

It has given me great motivation today to get out and exercise, to eat so many fruits/vegetables, and to drink so much water. Although after exercising it wasn't so hard to drink a bottle of water.
There is an option between tracking weight loss (1 pound lost= 10 points/week 1/2 pound lost= 5 points/week) or Journal writing. Since I am not trying to lose weight particularly, just trying to get fit I am doing the Journal writing. I am excited because one of my goals has been to do better at keeping this blog going and so this will be good motivation.

In doing all this today I have thought about goals that I want to accomplish- especially in the area of exercise:

I want to be able to run a mile. I have NEVER been able to do this. I have always had a problem with breathing every time I run- no matter how short of distance. Even walking fast makes me short of breath so my goal is to be able to run a mile and not have my chest pound and feel like I am going to die.
I want to be able to touch my toes without bending my legs. Again, I have NEVER been able to do this- maybe when I was two, but since I can remember I have always struggled with this. The "sit and reach test" in elementary P.E was always my nemesis. Ok, so not that I rocked at Pull-ups or running the mile but you would think "sit and reach" would be the easiest of the tests.
I would like to build up my back, core, and arm muscles. I haven't figured out a measurable goal on this except for keeping track at how many inches in my arms I gain but hopefully by building up my core muscles it will help my back gain strength back from my many car accidents.
This is not on the point system, but I would like to start taking multi-vitamins every day. I'm hoping that getting the vitamins that I need it will help with my breathing problems I have been having.

These are my goals so far. Also in the point system you chose a goal at the beginning of the program- something you want to accomplish each week- and then you receive 15 points for every week that you accomplish it. One of the examples is to organize a room each week in your home. Almost everything on my summer's ToDo list is organizing a room of the house- including the garage, so I though that my personal goal is to cross off one thing on my Summer ToDo List each week.

This week since it is only Friday-Sunday (we started this last night) I am choosing something off of my to do list that is easy- clean our bedroom. I figured organizing it isn't a priority right now because it's already pretty well organized and as the rest of the to do list (like organize closet, office, and turn office into closet) our bedroom will become reorganized.

So I just have to say that I am really excited for this program. Not only for the points and doing it as a team but for the habits I will establish in the next 6 weeks.

Extra note: I am done with school for the year! After my last final on Wednesday I had an appointment with my endocrinologist. I was really worried because I hadn't been logging my blood sugars and carb/insulin intakes in my book since my last appointment. I thought that I would be getting a scolding from my doctor because of my lack of records.... but it was the opposite! I passed my diabetes final for the quarter! He told me that he wanted me to leave the appointment feeling that I have my diabetes well controlled. He then told me that my A1c was 6.7! In the beginning when I first started my appointments in January my A1C was 8.0 and now it is 6.7! I was so excited I had to give a "WooHoo!" right there in the middle of my appointment. I then couldn't stops smiling. Yeah me!

The Health Care Issue

2009-09-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Not to start any political debate, but I have been reading some stuff on the internet about the health care issue, and I don't understand how people believe that health care is not a right. I know that being a diabetic is not the worst of things. There are a lot of people that have it a lot harder than me. If I take care of myself, I can have a normal healthy life- when in other cases no matter what people do, they aren't as fortunate. But it just irritates me to hear people put up such a stink about health care reform and how health care should not be a right. Here's a quote from an article I just read:

" (quoting a representative)"I am committed to working with President Obama to pass comprehensive health care reform. High quality, patient-centered, affordable health care is the right of every American and the time to act on this mandate is now," Polis said.

No, health care is not a right. We have the rights to free speech, to keep and bear arms..."

-http://media.www.collegian.com/media/storage/paper864/news/2009/09/11/Opinion/Pros-And.Cons.For.Health.Care.Reform-3769142-page2.shtml

That's like somebody walking up to me and saying, "No. I'm sorry, you don't get your insulin. Your blood sugar will rise to dangerous heights, then you'll go in a coma, and eventually you'll die. Oh yeah, but you can have a gun instead because bearing arms is a right but living isn't."

I'm not a very politically smart person so I really don't know if the Obama plan is going to work- and I don't completely understand it, but I gotta say, at least someone is trying. At least someone is concerned about this issue.
It scares me that Brian doesn't have insurance and with him being in the artistic world we see people with out insurance all the time. Brian was setting up for a gig at a place that had a lower door frame with a sharp edge. He saw someone carrying in sound equipment walk into it and gash his forehead open. He hit it so hard that he fell back and he was bleeding a lot. The people around had asked him if they could take him to the emergency room or a doctor and he declined because he didn't have health insurance, so he kept on doing his job with a rag to his head.
There is something wrong when people can't go and take care of themselves in an emergency because they are afraid of not affording it. Somebody should do something about this.
I just wanted to record my thoughts.

I'm engaged!

2009-04-17T08:42:00.001-07:00

Brian took me out on a date last night and he proposed! Amanda and I made a skirt right before my date because I had been trying to figure out what I was going to wear all day and 2:00 came around and I wanted to wear the polka dot skirt that I had been planning on making. So finishing the cutting and starting the sewing a little before 3, I stopped working at 4:50 so Amanda could finish up the hem while I did my hair and make up to meet Brian at 5:30.

Brian took me to Mongolian out in the valley. During dinner he asked if we could go to the church bookstore. I said sure and mentioned we should go walk around the temple grounds since it is close to the bookstore. The bookstore was closed, but we went to the temple any way. On our walk he mentioned as we looked up at it, "this is our temple, not the one that we are going to get married at, but the one that we will go to on a regular basis- together." We had walked around once and I was cold- it being 7:00 and me wearing a skirt (who's idea was that?) so we were going to go back into the car but at last minute I decided I could brave the cold one more time around. On that time around the back of the temple, we stopped and he pointed out the sunset to me. It was beautiful! My one regret about this night is that I had left my camera out in the car and I want pictures to be able to show this night. Anyways, while looking at the sunset he said, "I love you so much" and I replied with "I love you so very much." Then the truth came: "I didn't really want to go to the bookstore, in fact I knew it was going to be closed. I wanted to bring you to the temple though, and so I am glad you suggested it." and then he got down on one knee, held out a box with a stunning ring and asked, "Will you marry me?... I want you to be my wife" I had a huge smile on my face and was shocked- not at the question, but at the ring (it was eye capturing)- and then I said, "Yes". He got up and I looked at the box and said, "that's a pretty box" which Brian thinks is comical that I mentioned the box and not the ring. I looked at the ring and said, "Do I have to put it on myself?" and he put it on me and I kissed him. The funny thing about smiling a lot and really big, is it's really hard to kiss someone. It was one of those happy blissful kisses. He told me that he wanted to propose at the temple because that is where he wants our relationship to be centered and built off. It was perfect.

We walked back to the car and said, "7:41" and I thought, 'you know what time you proposed to me?' and then he continued, "is when the sun sets in Spokane". He planned that whole thing! It was perfect, He's amazing. After our night, we had returned home and watched an episode of Commander and Chief with Amanda who was babysitting for us that night.

When Amanda and I got home, she wanted to take a picture of me because she said I looked "hot". so here I am:

and here's a picture of the ring:

It's absolutely brilliant. I woke up at 6:00 this morning and couldn't get to sleep because I was so excited. I kept on thinking, "I'm engaged, I'm engaged" Then around 6:30, I texted Brian, and then I waited for a couple more minutes and I went into Amanda's room who was half asleep and I kept saying, "it sparkles.... I'm engaged..... I'm going to marry Brian- and I have proof." For the last couple of weeks when I would say "I'm going to marry Brian," Amanda would always say, "prove it" and I couldn't, but now I can. this deserves a big smile because I am so excited.

I'll Cast All My Cares Upon You

2009-02-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

I’m at a point in my life where I don’t know exactly what the Lord wants with me. I have so many options in front of me. I haven’t been the best at reading my scriptures or saying my personal prayers on a regular basis so I have a new plan of scripture study. Last week was ward conference and the week before, we were challenged to read Moroni 10 every night. I didn’t read it every night, but I read it a couple of times. Then during combined relief society and priesthood, we shared our treasures that we had found in our studies. It was a really cool experience. As I’m up here at the cabin, I’ve been reading my scriptures a bit and sitting and pondering and an idea that President Lee shared with us popped into my head. The quote is “Studying a segment of the scriptures for an extended period of time is like attending the temple, where we study the doctrines of the temple over and over, for the rest of our lives.” The last couple of days I have been wishing I could go to the temple to receive revelation and be closer to Heavenly Father but then I thought of this quote and I thought that if I study a segment of the scriptures and get into the habit of making the scriptures a bigger part of my life it will give me greater faith to receive the revelation I need in order to follow what the Lord has planned for me.

Side note: Remember in the Doctrine and Covenants when Heavenly Father chastises the church for not using the scriptures more and so in return they weren’t ready for more information? I guess that’s kind of like that, I need to better utilize the tools I have before I receive more in the temple.

This week I have decided to study Mosiah 2, because I like King Benjamin, he tells me how to be happy. Would you like to know some of my findings so far? If you want, you can read the chapter too and post your treasures as a comment, but if you don’t want to I understand because some of my jewels of revelation can be too personal for me to share. I’m really excited for my little “project”- it’s like a journey through the scriptures, to know the doctrine and stories better for my profit and learning.

In vs. 9 it says “I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me…” After reading that, I thought how simple that is and how I have looked over that in the past, but when I have thought about that phrase I remembered all the general conferences and stake conferences that I went to be spiritually edified and I learned great things but then I didn’t apply them, or maybe I didn’t listen with the spirit as much as I should have. Mosiah 2 is where King Benjamin calls his people for a stake conference to give him his last words of counsel.

Vs 14 I have always read that and thought “Cool! The king has labored along with his people” but if you look at how the sentence is phrase it continues to show the reasons and benefits of King Benjamin’s actions: “that (1) I might serve you, and (2) that ye should not be laden with taxes, and (3) that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne”-which makes sense because if you’re the king and working beside you people, you’re not going to make them do something that you would not be able to do yourself. King Benjamin was a smart man.

In vs 17 (scripture mastery) the word wisdom reminded me of a couple of weeks ago when Brian and I were having scripture study with the kids and we read this verse. He related finding wisdom to the Super Mario Galaxy video game that they had been playing: In the game you have to find all 5 pieces of the star to pass the level, SO Brian told the kids that finding wisdom is like finding the pieces of the star all throughout the scriptures. It was really cool and so I wanted to mark it in my scriptures so I knew that was a piece of wisdom.

In Vs 34 it says to “render to him all that you have and are”. He says this after he goes through the explanation that we will always be indebted to our Heavenly Father, but we need to give him all of ourselves because it is the only thing that we can give.

There’s more but I’ll skip to the last vs 41. I’ve always liked this verse, which is the reason why I chose this chapter to start with. It’s so clear and simple of how we can be happy. Obey the commandments and you will blessed, hold faithful to the end and you will be received in heaven- It’s never ending happiness.

Now here comes the Reading Rainbow challenge….But don’t take my word for it…Budum bum!

Brian has a cd of “God songs” that the kids like to listen to along with the primary cds and it has a song that’s been going through my mind all day, it goes like this:

I’ll cast all my cares upon you.

I’ll lay all of my burdens down at your feet

Any time I don’t know what to do

I will cast all my cares upon you.

I firmly believe that in this difficult decision time in my life that if I cast all my cares upon the Lord that He will straighten them out and help me know what it is he has in store for me in my life. I know this to be true, now I’m just taking that leap of faith to do my part so I can hear His voice more clearly.

cake and chocolate

2009-02-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

Brian's one year anniversary (is that what you would call it) of joining the church was on Tuesday. So I made him a cake.

Amanda had 3 cake mixes to choose from so I chose the Funfetti one, and she had left over blueberry filling from a wedding caked she did in June. It was really good. Amanda came over to Brian's and played Wii and kept me company while I decorated them when Brian was at a rehearsal. I made two 6 inch cakes and decorated one in the shape of a CTR shield and then circle one that said "Congrats Brian!". The three of us ate the circled one that night and then Brian, Elijah, and I ate the CTR one the next night after scripture study.

Last night I went over after doing some shopping and Brian popped in the kitchen while I was looking in the fridge and gave me a card and a chocolate covered heart shaped brownie. I said, "It's not Valentine's day yet" and he said, "It's not for that" and then went and sat on the couch. The card was a quick little note that said he wanted to do something to show how much he appreciated me. The brownie was really good. I would have taken a picture but I didn't want to waste time before I ate it ;-)

Megan's Quiz

2009-01-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

1. "I am speed"

2. "I DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH PEASANTS!"

The Emperors New Groove

3. "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!!"

The Princess Bride

4. "Of course wrestling isn't fighting! (wink wink nod nod)"

5. "You sit on the throne of lies!"

Elf
6. "But I don't want to use my head!"

Toy Story 2

7. "Fish are friends, not food"

Finding Nemo I just bought those fruit snacks today :-)

8. *"Hellooo Nurse!!!!!"

Annimaniacs

9. "This book is filled with amazing woman like Marie Curie... who died of radiation poisoning..."

Enchanted

10. "But I don't want to be a pie! I don't like gravy!"

It's Halloween! It's Halloween!

2008-11-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

Well, the night first started with a Monkey.........? actually, the night first started with Me finishing up my costume and amanda turning on Psycho. Then in the middle of it we headed over to Brian's. Elijah got dressed in his costume and then we told him to jump around like a monkey. Eventually all of us were jumping around, "yelling", and "searching" eachother for bugs like monkeys. Soon afterward we all piled into Brian's car and headed up on the hill (that's where all the "loot" is *wink*) and we took Elijah around trick- or- treating for about an hour and a half. It was lots of fun. I'm sure we got some weird thoughts towards us, "three adults for one child?". Then we headed over to Quianna's great Aunt's place so we could see her costume which was a whitch! She looked very cute.

Amanda I went home around 8:30 to finish psycho and get ready for the dance. We had lots of fun getting ready, I did her makeup because she had no ideas on how she wanted to do it. We had some fun girl time :-)

TO THE DANCE!!!!

It was fun, we got to see everyone dressed up! I ran into Christina and Ariel Johnson! Christina said that she got her mission call to Chile and was going to the temple on saturday (which was a couple days ago). I saw Amy Liestad, who is our old relief society president. Doesn't she look great! Check out the roller skates... She danced in those! Quite awesomly I might add...

And we saw the other Amy (Wagner) Who I use to go to church with my first year at Cheney but then she moved out to spokane, so now I'm in her ward!!!

We also saw Tyler who was an awesome Peter Pan.

And for the moment you've all been waiting for..... OUR COSTUMES!!!!!!!

Camping Trip

2008-09-05T13:13:00.001-07:00

I know it was a long time ago, but I've been meaning to write about my camping trip but I've been busy.

This was where we camped. It was just above CDA. It was an ok spot for a late night camping trip. We got there at about 7:30 and everybody was hungry so we just decided to stay. If I had my PERFECT camping trip I would have probably kept searching for a place with more trees around the site so you couldn't see the tents next to you. But it was cool. It was right next to "Beauty Creek"- which was a dip in the ground with rocks. I'm guessing there was water there once. This was the "creek".

The night went pretty well. Brian started barbecuing the hamburgers and hot dogs while Amy, Tyler, Amanda and I set up the tents and the kids explored looking for "firewood".

During dinner I thought I had done a pretty good job at planning my first camping trip, I thought everything was going smoothly... until I got thirsty. "hey, did anyone bring the cooler?" "the red one?" said Tyler... "No, the Water Cooler". We talked about it for a while, "which car did it make it in?... I set had Brian set it next to Amy's van." amy said, "We didn't load a water cooler." so I started freaking out. "Did we leave my parents water cooler on the side of the road? oh shoot".... so i then started frantically looking in both cars where no water cooler was to be found. a couple minutes later amy said, "is that why some man was shouting at us?... He was saying igloo, and i thought 'it's in the middle of the summer' " So then I said, "no, that's the brand of the cooler" oops.... So then Brian calmed me down by saying, "if it was one of my neighbors in my complex they would bring it inside, and if not then I'm sure you're parents wouldn't mind getting a brand new one from us." Which was all fine and dandy, but that means our cold water-gone. Luckily that was the only other glich in the trip. And thankfully, Tom, Brian's neighbor who lives in #3 found it and put it downstairs in the basement for us.

After dinner, we had a fire built- not with the wood that Quianna and Elijah brought, Amanda and I went a bought some from the head camp site. We roasted marshmallows and had smores and cookies... on yeah, and strawberry marshmallows, which are really good but you can't really taste the flavor when they are roasted over the fire. Then it was time for bed. So the boys went in one tent and the girls in the other (the bigger one ). Well, as always the boys were pretty quiet, but the girls- well that was a different story. Amanda, Amy, and I were giggling up a storm for some reason... well we're camping, and it's like a slumber party, so what do you expect? but it wasn't about anything really, just random stuff that I can't even remember. It was funny though because I looked at Quianna and said, "how you doin?" and she said, "confused" which the girls and I laughed at more.... So about 5 minutes later Quianna said, "Let's all play the quiet game..." which we thought was hilarious because normally it's the adults who say that to the children. Infact we laughed so hard that amanda said, "I can't breathe!" it was funny, so we finally quietned down... but then i had to cough, and then amanda had to cough, and then me, and then her.... until then amanda was like, "stop copying me". and I said, "i had to cough first!" and amanda and i started laughing to which quianna said, "Kim and amanda are loosing, Amy's the one winning". It was funny.

The next morning Amy got up early (she was the pyro of the group) and built us a fire. Then We pulled out Amanda's stove and started making breakfast. It was fun because we only had one pan so we had to cook everything in stages. First the Hashbrowns, Second the eggs, 3rd the Bacon, and 4th the sausage- I think that was how it was, I 'm not sure. but here's the stack of food.

Here's Amy putting the bacon on the grill.

Tyler cooking... uh, I can't remember, I think it was the bacon.

Amanda and her apple cider. Doesn't this look look evil?

This is the creek that was next to the site.

This is the bacon grease... we had to do something to it. so we put it on a plate and then put it in the fire.

There was a bee in the tent when we were trying to fold it up, so Amy and Brian put it in the bottle. Brian was fascinated by it.

After we had everything packed up we went to CDA lake, and swam in it. It was lots of fun. Tyler borrowed a pair shorts from me.... he fit in them- should I be worried? (just kidding) Amanda and Amy taught Quianna how to tread water. We swam for a bout an hour and watched a water plane land on the lake it was really close to us.

When we got home, a missionary that we knew was being transfered so we invited him over to the house for some BBQ chicken- which was amazing. Brian is an excellent BBQ-er. It was fun because Tyler was able to see the missionary who baptized him since he was the companion who was being transferred.

and THAT was our camping trip! It was lots of fun!

Bigger than Big Spider...

2008-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

...IN MY ROOM!!!! I pulled up the one (1) pair of pants on my floor to put them away and all of a sudden a big spider ran out from under neath it... It was freaky. Erin and I captured it in a glass for Phil to look at it when we get home... Here are the pictures... It's bigger than a silver dollar!

It's "guynormous" as Callie put it.

My Room

2008-07-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

I think somebody misses me...

Amanda sent me a bunch of post-it notes and i put them all over my room... just like she would do at home!

Rock Climbing

2008-07-20T21:13:00.001-07:00

Linden, She's really cool. She was a great help when I was having a mental break down.

Me and Shana.

Shana made it before I did. I had fell a couple of times, and wanted to rest a little bit.

Me still climbing... this time I was working hard to make it!

Trent and Linden watching me.

That was such an awesome feeling, and a beautiful view!

Jason and Shana Climbing. Jason is creating a route.

I'm climbing the route that Jason just made.

That was such a fun route. So much easier the second time around

So amazing!

Doug leading the 9. It was cool to watch them lead the routes

Linden is such a stud!

This was an intense route... it made me tired just watching Jason and Linden climb it.

Feeling Misunderstood

2008-07-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

I want to come home. Not now, but I want to come home sooner than I expected. I have this amazing opportunity to work at the summer Jazz camp. Something that I thought I never would be good for, at least right now, but Rob told me I would be perfect for the job. I want to give it a shot, see if I like it. also, I get $200 out of it. :-)

I know what I want, I think I've been around enough that I should be able to know what I want, and I have questioned it enough that I know that I have it.
I have a job at home. I have opportunities at Eastern. Opportunities that I wouldn't have anywhere else at this time in my life.

Yes, I want to come home because I miss Brian, but it's so much more than that. I miss Amanda, I miss feeling a purpose, I miss feeling needed for something that only I can do. I've been reading so many books this last month, and I know that this is the path for me- at least right now. Even more important, I know that Heavenly Father will tell me if I need to redirect that path, and right now He has clearly told me that I'm doing ok. This wonderful peace, i just want to keep it in my heart, but with so many sounds and voices going into my head, it's so hard. I don't want to let anybody down, especially my loved ones, but I've gotta be happy, truly happy.
I have loved it here, it has been great, but there's a time when you've got to stop playing and figure out what you really want and need, do it, and then go back to playing. This is my time to make my decisions.

I'm just tired of people looking down on me because I'm not choosing the life that they think I should have. I understand concern and love, but if someone loves you, shouldn't they think about your wants and goals?

Girl's Night

2008-05-26T23:44:00.001-07:00

FHE was canceled tonight since there was only 15 people at church on Sunday. So Amanda and I decided to get dressed up and go out for the night. We went to Ichiban and had a wonderful dinner, it was great music along with it! Afterwards we went to Safeway and got some club soda so we can make Italian Sodas. I think the most fun about tonight was the getting ready together. We looked through each other's closets to find what we were going to where. I cut Amanda's hair and that was fun, then we did our make up and headed off. We've had a lot of fun! And now, I am headed to bed.

pretty freakin aweosme nails!

2008-05-12T00:53:00.000-07:00

Erin did my nails tonight. I have sculpted acrylic nails with a two toned holographic effect. They are pretty fun. A bit hard to type, but it's fun for the vacation.

Happy Easter Island - Candy Blog

2008-03-23T13:53:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

These are some fun greetings that you can copy and send to your friends!

Happy Easter Island - Candy Blog

The other cool thing that I'm excited about is that I just found out about a Windows Live Writer that enables you to write a blog from your Internet browser. When you're at a website you can push the button "Blog It" and it'll start a blog with a link to that website (that's how I did this one). It opens up in kind of a word processor and so it has easy Insert Buttons and also format buttons. It's pretty cool. PLUS a spell checker, better than the one on firefox. :-)

Valentine's Day and President's Weekend Recap

2008-02-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

The night before, the girls and I had a chocolate night. Amanda and I made a dozen chocolate Covered Strawberry Roses and put them in a vase, and Bea made Oreo Truffles for her boyfriend.
For Valentine's Day I gave Amanda a box of chocolates that said "For my Best Friend". I also decorated her room with red streamers and posted a sign that said "Happy V-Day" and "I (heart) You!"... apparently that wasn't enough because the next day we were sitting on the couch and she had said, "That box you gave me, it only had 4 pieces of chocolate in it"... it didn't matter though, because I had a wonderful valentine's day. Brian surprised me and gave me a bag full of gummy bears, peanut butter m&m's, a symphony bar and a Hershey's Peanut butter chocolate bar.... it was amazing. I guess that was his way of saying thank you for everything with his baptism and the business.

For his kids he gave them bags full of candy and also bought the game twister...We opened it up on Friday (because of the three day weekend, nothing at the institute was going on and everybody went home)... it was fun. Here are some pictures...

Elijah would get twisted up- no matter what was called. His arms were always crossed and his feet would be sprawled out, it was a pretty funny/cute sight.

After a couple of rounds, the kids challenged each other so I had them take a "vs." picture where they struck *Strong poses*.

oh wow! I look huge in this picture compared to the kids.

Brian had a gig playing with the Harry James Orchestra in Kennewick this weekend, and since I don't have a working car yet, I took the opportunity of driving home with him on Saturday. It was really great to be home. The Singles Branch was lots of fun! It was great to see all of my old friends, and the old cliques have broken up, or have at least become less prominent. Jennifer's the relief society president, which is cool! I'm excited for her. I realized this weekend that I need to get more involved in my calling and take it as my own, after my struggle of 10:30 coming around and knowing that there wasn't a piano player in Cheney and I was 2 hours away. I had the program done and everything but I tried getting a hold of my music committe all weekend and nobody answered, so I had to call somebody last minute who also didn't answer, but then graciously at around 10:42 called back and said she would play the piano... I need to start figuring out other people who can play, or maybe even as music chairperson (my co- left me!) I should learn the piano and play for sacrament meeting... or! I can have the people in my committee learn one song each week and they can take turns for each song... we are so desperate for piano players now... i think we have one? plus a sister missionary who doesn't always come. Anyways, had some really good meditating time on Sunday. It was great to have silence and not choir practice to rush off to after church.
Oh yeah! so the weekend. I think i have come to a more finalized decision (that is, it fits together, for the day...it'll probably change tomorrow!) for the summer. I think I'll come home and find a job (i don't think the ARC) and spend time with Jennifer, and Elizabeth, and then maybe I'll take 2 weeks and take a road trip (maybe with Jen) to go visit Phil and Erin in Provo. I had thought about going down to BYU for Summer term, but then I realized i would be missing all the fun time i can be having at home with Jennifer and at the singles branch home.
I'm realizing that you can have fun any where you go. Of course I know that, but I've been in this slump and not wanting to go to activities because I have a hard time getting out of my comfort zone. I guess it might come from not really having close friends (i'm starting to!) and not living at the institute building like everybody else. But I called up Tyler and went to FHE tonight and it was great! We had a great lesson, and then we had a dance class. We learned the fox trot, the tango, and the waltz. All of which I learned in my dance class last year, but it was great to be laughing and having fun with the singles ward here. fun in cheney!?! Whoda thought?!?! :-)
Well, I should wrap this up, it's pretty long. Tomorrow I start a busy week. I have until the 25th to get 25 hours of community service done AND a paper on it for my communications class, PLUS a speech analysis to get done for monday for my comm class... YAY for communications! (i really don't like my teacher, but! I'll be done with it in about a month!)
Thanks for reading if you have got this far :-) Love you all!
-Kimberly

Born of Water and of the Spirit

2008-02-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

Baptism of Brian McCann
February 10th, 2008
9:00 AM

This morning Brian was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The baptism and confirmation was performed by Todd DelGiudice.

It was such a good baptism this morning. The kids were both excited. The ward was also excited. Brian chose good hymns to open and close the meeting. We started with Lead Kindly Light, and then Elder Giles said the prayer. A member of the Elders quorum presidency gave the talk on baptism. After Brian was baptized, Todd(the sax/clarinet instructor at ewu) played Come Follow Me on the clarinet. it was beautiful. Then I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. I was so excited to be a part of it. Then the Bishop spoke, and then we sang the closing song, "How Great Thou Art", after which Brian gave a couple of words. He said that for the longest time he was taught and believed that this church isn't true, but after watching his friends closely waiting for them to "slip up" and asking questions of what he thought we had believed, The Lord guided him to where he needed to go. he said, "I can say now that I believe this church to be true, I know this church is true". Then he thanked all of us for being who we are and told us to keep doing what we do. It was a great way to end a baptism.
Then in sacrament meeting, at 11:00, Todd confirmed Brian and he received the gift of the holy ghost. Todd gave a beautiful blessing of peace and courage to do the right things and to be strong with his family.
It was very good. I'm very grateful for the gospel which I know to be true. I'm so glad that I have friends that can strengthen me and help me learn the priorities of life. I'm grateful for Brian and the good example that he is to me.

My Beloved Prophet

2008-01-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

Let us rejoice that the church is true! Let us cherish his memory and honor the words he spoke. Our beloved Prophet has passed, but he lives on!

We learned about prophets today and I was just talking to Brian about how much I love Pres. Hinckley. I love how he rejoiced in life and how frail he was but he was so strong. I had a hard time of explaining to him how I felt, but all I could get out was "When I look at him, I feel peace. I know that the Lord speaks to him and he is so close to God". I know that President Hinckley loved us, I could hear it in his voice everytime he spoke to us. He really felt the feelings that Christ feels towards us. He was so humble and filled with love. I love him so much and I know that he was a Prophet of God. God bless his family and our church as our hearts turn to thee in this sweet sadness. He is with his wife and our Father now, and I am sure he is happy.

SALT LAKE CITY 27 January 2008 President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from cause’s incident to age. Member of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/

Gingerbread Houses in Jan

2008-01-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

We made gingerbread houses! well...ok...graham cracker houses... :-)

That one's mine, my picture didn't turn out so I won't post it...

Just a thought

2007-12-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

The "right" one is when you see all those weaknesses and shortcomings but your still excited to see them at the end of the day.

Jobs

2007-12-06T10:31:00.001-08:00

I'm stuck in a dilemma. I've been thinking about it for since thanksgiving break when my associate for the EWU Jazz Festival suggested that we would be great planning numerous festivals together. I had the same thought and knew that I could learn a lot from him.
So here's the dilemma, for the past year I have been involved with the Spokane All-Cities Jazz Ensembles, and it is growing. It has doubled this year. It's a non-profit organization that has students involved all over the Spokane area forming Jazz Ensembles. Rob Tapper, my trombone instructor at Eastern, is the director of these groups. That is how I became the Administrative Assistant. Like I said, it is growing. This year it doubled from one high school group and one middle school group to two of each! It's a great opportunity for these students- and for me. The other day Rob shared a vision with me of where he see's it going. I am honored that I get to be a part of this process.
I also was just recently offered a position, one of which I can't say right now, at a place that is also on it's way to being the best thing in music business in Spokane. The problem is, I need to jump on right now, which actually... is great! because I need money. This position will hopefully fill in the gaps that SAJE income doesn't cover. Ok, this is sounding great, but for the past few months I have been thinking of going on a mission, but my reply to that thought is, "we'll see what happens this year" since I turn 21 in the end of august. When I have had that thought of waiting and seeing was a direct correlation to an inward thought 'am I going to get married this year?'. The problem with accepting these positions, or not accepting them is I have to decided about a mission now, or make a more further decision. A company is not going to want to me to join and leave right as the growth is taking way after a 9 months of training and learning all about the business. AND what about the last year of work I have done for SAJE? I can't leave them hanging with someone new, I was the first one to hold this position so I know what's going on.
Rich keeps on telling me that I don't have to go on a mission to be a missionary, which is true, but I feel that I won't focus on it unless it is my focus 24/7, which I feel is kind of selfish on my part. I guess we'll just have to see where this year takes me.
On another hand, I'm really excited because I've been struggling lately with some personal issues and last night Amanda and I hung out since she had work off and I decided to not go to the concert. We talked a bit about this issue and I asked her if she would do scripture study and prayer with me before we go to bed each night. This means I will have to stay up and wait for her to get off work every night, but I think it will help me, and help us become closer together.
I'm excited for Christmas time! I'm excited to be with my family again. I just need to figure out this new position and how much work I'll have to do in spokane so i know when I can come home.
Well, that's all for me. Love ya'll!

Halloween Pictures

2007-11-13T22:51:00.000-08:00

I need to make this quick because I need a good night's sleep tonight, but mom wanted halloween pictures so here they are.

I was a “Mardi Gra Queen” and Rich was Roul from The Phantom of the Opera. Mike was the Phantom and his girlfriend was Christine. It was a fun Tuba solo night…. I won the costume contest! It was lots of fun getting dressed up. Afterwards, Rich, Bea, Amanda, and I went out to Sharie’s all dressed up. That was lots of fun too!

Mom and i made the corset and blouse and Sara let me borrow her blue skirt. The mask is from when Dad went to New Orleans for his work conference. Not bad for being put together in a little over a day, if I do say so myself.

In Remembrance of Charlie Wicklander

2007-11-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2007

Today I dress in honor of a very special man, someone who affected many students and adults who in return affected and will affect, even though he’s gone, families and generations to come. This person gave so much service for the Pasco High Marching Band. Since I was a freshman, I remember Charlie Wicklander coming to every rehearsal, every performance, and every competition. He took care of the podiums, yard makers, water/hot chocolate, and later the large pit that we obtained. He showed up early to rehearsal and stayed late-sometimes even later than Mr. Newbury because he was waiting for individual students to get picked up by their parents. Later, I remember him coming on Jazz and Wind Ensemble trips, hanging out with us on the bus, and in the concerts. Mrs. Watson and Charile made the basketball band trips memorable with jokes like “Chips’ cane!” Charlie took care of us. Just as Mr. Newbury was our father, Charlie Wicklander was the fun loving uncle of our band.

The work that he did was great for the Music Program, but he did something that was much less obvious but even greater. He was kind and thoughtful. He saw potential in everyone and treated them that way. I don’t think I ever saw him when he was thinking of himself. On band trips he would bring footballs and hacki- sacks for us to play with on down time, he even joined some times J. I remember on a basketball band trip we ran into him at the mall and he showed us a new “toy” that he bought for us. He was so excited to show us what he had found and to let us play with it.

Because of him and other’s like him, the Pasco School District saw more in the music program and fought to bring a great teacher to the department. They grew to think more than, “oh there’s someone there teaching and taking charge, we don’t have to worry about them” but realized that there were students there worth working for.

He told me once that the reason why he enjoys working for the band was because he saw students that were going to do something great. Being drum major my last two years of high school, I was blessed with the opportunity to work closely with Charlie. It was great to be working side by side with him, talking about how far the band had come and where it had the potential to go. I knew that not only did he see the band as one, but as individuals also and the potential we each had. A couple months after I left high school, I came back and visited. On my way out, I ran into Charlie and he told me something I will never forget. He said, “You’re going to be great. I can see you being a mayor in the community you live in, or maybe on city council.” After telling him no I couldn’t see it he reassured me and said, “No I’m serious, you can, you’re going to make a difference”. This is how he affected us. He saw something great and in inspired us to do better.

I kept what he said in the back of my mind and now, I’m a communications major and I can see myself making a difference. He impacted my life more than I think he knew. I want others to know how amazing he was, how much he blessed the lives around him, so today I fast for his family and dress for the success that Charlie saw in me, a small token of remembrance that I can give back to him.

-Kimberly Nicole

Sunday, Oct 28, 2007

2007-10-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

Tribulation
How many tears must roll down my face?
How many times will the question be asked with no answer, "why?"
Why am I even more confused at the place where I am supposed to be enlightened?
How many more times will pairs of hands shake in frustration?
How many nights will I go to bed lonely, longing for some connection that can't be there?
I am so tired of this. I don't know if I can make it through.
Unlike the other times, I think I might.
Is this where I shatter the glass that has been knocking me down? Will I break through?
Will I see light through the tunnel I am trying to dig?
I want to be strong, but it's to easy to be weak.
I want to be happy, but it's so hard to remember what I had.
Some say I have to forget, but I won't because I need to know what to be looking for.
I won't forget him, because I won't settle for anything less.
I won't settle.

-some thoughts that I started to write during sacrament meeting, which started out so dark and painful because that's what I was feeling. I just finished it and though it's not clear, I have a new feeling along with confusion and pain, it's empty determination.

In church we sang The Lord is My Shepherd. I have always kept that one in my mind since we sang it at Grandpa's funeral, and as it has stayed with me over the years it has given me strength and inspiration. It is one that is truly beautiful.

Thru the valley and shadow of death though I stray,
Since though art my Guardian, no evil I fear.
Thy rod shall defend me, they staff be my stay.
No harm can befall with my Comforter near.

In the midst of affliction my table is spread.
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth over.
With perfume and oil thou anointest my head.

"There is no peace in reflecting on the pain of old wounds. There is peace only in repentance and forgiveness. This is the sweet peace of the Christ, who said, ‘blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ "

-Pres. Hinckley

Halloween Costume ideas

2007-10-24T11:11:00.001-07:00

So there's a dance on Saturday night for institute. I'm thinking of coming home on Thursday to get the things i need. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Mardi Gra Queen
I can use the mask that Dad brought home from New Orleans.
Any more ideas of what I can do for a costume?
Ok, so that's all i have so far... lemme know what you think!

Randomness: An update on college life

2007-10-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in theory today and I looked down at my book and there
was a lady bug crawling around on it. I’m guessing it was from walking underneath all the trees to get to class, but still it was a fun surprise! I showed it to Peter, who sits behind me and he was like, “what? It’s a book” and I was like, “no! look!” Then I put the book on the floor so the lady bug could climb off of it, but it wouldn’t because the book is way too thick, so I opened it so it would only have to climb off one piece of paper, but it didn’t. Don, my teacher, almost stepped on it while walking by so I took it downstairs and let it down on the grass.

I cut Amanda’s hair last night. It was my first experience cutting hair, aside from cutting my own bangs or making sure mom’s hair is straight when she cuts it. It was fun. It was a learning experience. I think it turned out really cute, and I think she did too. When she walked in the bathroom I heard, “Cute!” and I was really relieved. She asked for me to cut it, but then she said “oh yeah, I want layers too”, so the first thing I said when I had the scissors in my hand was “Ok, disclaimer!... This is going to be fun!” it was fun… Amanda even let Rich cut her hair. He said, “can I cut it too?” and automatically I said, “no!” and Amanda said, “sure… if you let Kim show you where to cut.” Both rich and I were like “really?” and she said, “sure, it’s just hair, it grows back.”

That was fun. We got some cool pictures of it. Her hair was quite long, we probably cut off about 4-5 inches.

Last Friday was a Relief Society slumber party, and I found out my favorite kind of soda! It’s Sierra Mist with cranberry splash. It is amazing, AND its diet! So even better. It tastes like a carbonated melted slurpee. It’s pretty darn good.

We also had a clothing exchange at the party and I found a CUTE skirt which I wore to Eliza’s blessing… that I was 2 minutes late for (I should have gone 80 for more than one minute).

Oh! I got my paper back today in theory and I got a 36 out of 40. Not bad for writing it an hour and half before it’s due. 90% for starting my research and analysis the night before…. NICE!

Last night, our friend Rachel was set apart as a missionary. Rich and I had the privilege to be present. Her family was there too. It was a beautiful blessing. She left for the MTC today. She’s going to Manchester New Hampshire mission. I’m so excited for her!

Rob saw the poster today, He loved it! I got a huge high five from him. He also put 20 bucks on the computer. I wasn’t expecting anything, so that was a nice perk. I decided to use half of that money to buy chocolate and black licorice for Nate. The other half is for groceries… more soups! CTC is having a sale on Campbell’s chunky soup. The chicken cheese broccoli potato soup is really good. Mmm mmm good.

I am still in the process of looking for a job, but it looks like i can get a work study position in the library doing organizing, brochures, and posters. hopefully this lady will get back to me soon.

This is a fun blog to write, I hope I’m not boring you. I’m really avoiding my homework right now, so I should get to that. Love ya’ll!

New Hair!

2007-10-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

-I wrote this Wednesday night but couldn’t post it until this morning, so when today is mentioned it means wed. and when last night is mentioned it means Tuesday night.-

Ok, random fact: Today was one year ago, from when I thought I was going to lose my finger. Right about now last year, I was fast asleep with the help of Percocet, on my couch so I could keep my hand up (so the blood circulating to it wouldn’t hurt). Lemme explain. Last year I kicked a sound proof practice door shut onto my pinky finger. It was a fun experience, I learned a lot of things like where the Rockwood Clinic is, and Percocet is my favorite pain killer, and Kenny and Brian are more squeamish than me.

Anyways, I thought about posting pictures, but that would be pretty nasty, so I won’t. BUT I will post pictures from when I colored my hair. I wanted to do something random, so we went out and bought some hair dye. Beatrice colored and then highlighted my hair. I really like the way it turned out, but I think I might need to put some more high lights in it because you really can’t tell, but I guess that’s how I want it so it’ll look more natural. Since it’s hard to tell on the pictures, I’ll tell you what color it is. It’s a Brazilian brown with Chesnutt Changes highlights. It turned out more red than brown, but the high lights toned it down a bit more. The original kit was “Almond Roca” but that was too expensive so we made our own color combination. The final product, we decided, was chocolate cherry since it was a brown with a red tint to it. It was fun. It was my first time actually coloring my hair. Last year during thanksgiving break, Carrie highlighted my hair, and that was my first time doing anything besides cutting my hair, and now I colored AND highlighted. I was kind of nervous when Bea said that the color was going to be darker than my actual hair color, but it turned out all right. I’m happy with the results, and I think it looks similar to my natural hair, that it won’t look to bad once it grows out. Well, here it is! The first one was my hair at chrismas time. It looked pretty much the same before I colored it.

And this is the process of Bea actually dying it.

Here it is!

I don't know if you can tell, but there's a real strong red glow to it, especially when I stand in the light. You'll just have to see it in person sometime...

two years ago...

2007-09-16T21:05:00.001-07:00

Today I was frustrated with things so I was looking through my journal and was reminded that during spring quarter I wanted to have everything figured out, but I had faith that it would work out. Then looking back that the summer, I saw how my prayers were answered with a new friend entering in my life. This friend helped me stay strong by believing in me and the power that I had to be a better person. Even through my weaknesses he always made sure I knew my strengths and the worth that I had being a daughter of God. Well, I was briefly describing in my journal how my prayers were answered and I shifted it to what I was thankful for. I have parents and siblings that love me and care for me. I am going to school for an experience that will prepare me for life. I have some amazing friends who are close to me and I am so glad they came into my life. I have a body that is healthy and an ingenious device that helps keep me healthy.
Two years ago, I wouldn’t have said that. In fact, two years ago from today I was in the hospital feeling so tired I thought I was either going to die or explode. I was going through so many tests and procedures while I was still in shock about the dramatic news I had received about my body. I was sitting through so many lectures that were hitting me like a ton of bricks. Lectures about what had happened, how a part of me was dead. Lectures from super happy people excited to tell me about my *new* life to come and how it will never be the same again. I am so grateful to my family who, that day supported me from near and far. They gave me the support that I had never before that time knew I needed. That day seemed like an eternity. Those 4 days felt like they would never go away, but it did end and I was able to go home.
That first month was a struggle with meetings, doctor appointments of all kinds, education meetings, dietitian appointments- it seemed like it was a constant thing stirring in my life. It did eventually settle and now with the help and love of my mom, and the caring priesthood blessings from my dad- the constant reassurance that even though they didn’t fully understand they would always be behind me. The loving phone calls from my brothers and sisters were a great start to learn how to deliver all the explanations I would have to give to people I would come in contact that next year and the years to come.
I relied so much on my Savior. It was so hard to understand why it was this trial that had been allowed to hit me. Still, at times of frustration and resentment, I was able to look to Him for peace and comfort, then I felt the small push I needed form Him to keep going.

These two years have been an amazing learning experience. I used to not understand why this change had to occur in my life, but now I say that Heavenly Father blessed me with this challenge. I am constantly learning self control and how to start and keep a schedule. The relationship with my mother was deepened so much when I saw her go through everything with me, along my side. I developed a greater understanding of the atonement and the importance of the resurrection and having a perfect body again. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for everything I have and all the trials that I have been through to make me the person that I have become today.

“If you could see the woman God intended for you to become you would rise up and never be the same again”

The adventures of Amanda and Kim

2007-09-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today, we built a fort, ok so that wasn’t the only thing, but it was a highlight. We started with watching mummy returns and then we had lunch. We went to the dollar store and bought a hammer, nails, a screwdriver, and a shower curtain! Heheh… Amanda just thought I said a shot gun… unfortunately…or maybe fortunately, they don’t sell shot guns at the dollar tree. (I’m beginning to think that it was a crazy idea for us to move in together) After we got home, I put together my vanity and put it the perfect spot in the bathroom. I love having a big bathroom! I organized my bathroom stuff, and then moved on hanging pictures. Amanda helped me put together a collage with my frames for above my bed… well when my bed gets here. As I was actually hanging them on the wall, Amanda started to build a fort with all the toilet paper rolls that had fallen out of the bag. After she had built a wall, she continued to build around my bed mattress with items that were in my room. The funniest thing about this, is when all the rolls fell out of the bag last night, I asked her what we were going to do with all this toilet paper and the first thing she said was “build a fort!” and then started throwing them at me. Back to building the fort…she finished by closing me in with my printer and a box of envelopes at the foot of my bed. She then pointed and laughed at me and the fact that I was “trapped”. Then we both collapsed on the floor (inside the fort) and started laughing hysterically at ourselves after she proclaimed “I can fit too!”.

Though it may not sound like it, we have gotten a lot of things completed the last two days…. Like what….wait a second, lemme think…. Nah! I’m just kidding, My closet is organized, and Amanda got all of her stuff moved out of the living room into her room, which means, the living room is almost clean and we can move all our furniture in there. Amanda turned a closet into a vanity. See, the bathroom by the girl’s rooms is really small and there is a closet for everything outside of it, so Amanda was thinking and she made that closet into a vanity so one can be doing makeup while the other is taking a shower. It’s quite clever, take a look…

Last night we had an awesome thunder storm. We even had hail for like 5 minutes. It was WiCKeD! (As Amanda says) Yesterday I got our utilities turned on, made copies for rob, unloaded my car, AND talked to Rich’s boss for an application. We also sanitized EVERYTHING, even the shower curtain rod… did you know it was silver… we didn’t when we walked in, then Amanda cleaned it.
Well, I need to get going so I can get some work done for Rob. I’ll talk to you later!

Topsy TURVY cake

2007-08-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

Next I went to Amanda's house to work on my cake. which has turned out beatifully! Here's a picture. The cake was an adventure. We made the perfect shade of blue for the top layer. then we worked on finding the shade of purple to match... it worked well. As I as admiring my work, I noticed that the top layer of the blue was sliding causing the cake to tilt and about to fall over. So we stuck a wooden dowell in it, but then didn't know what to do, so we put the blue layer on top of the purple and pushed the dowel through. Then we worked on the green. Amanda only had "leaf green" food coloring, so we tried it, but it was way too pastel for the bold colors we already had. So we ran...ok we drove, to Alberstons and found Green food coloring. Finally at about 10:50, we had the cake all frosted and put together-with the wood cut down, and were planning the decorations we will put on tomorrow.

At about midnight, Once I got home and I was in bed, I received a text message from Amanda asking if I was still up. I said yes, and she told me that the cake was falling over and she didn't know what to do... So she called me and she told me that she kept on trying to save it but she didn't know how. She ended up sticking 11 wooden dowels in the cake to get it to stop moving... Later she sent me pictures... It's frightening... I have spent about 10 hours on this cake... I guess I shouldn't have forgotten to put the supports in the cake before we put it together. Amanda "the cake master" didn't think of it either... we just had to make sure that top layer was going to stick it together...
It's so sad... now I don't know what I'm going to do for my party. I'm really sad, I don't think it's salvagable...
Well, I'm going to bed, extremely tired. I have a busy day tomorrow.
Have a good night. Love ya'll!

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I woke up this morning and called Amanda to check how the cake was and she said, it's gone. i went over there, and it was all over the table. She said that when she woke up, the top two layers had fallen off. she tried to pick them up and save it, but it had just fallen apart. So when I walked into the kitchen this is what I saw. Her dad just said, "The Party Never Ends!". she has two extra cake mixes, and we have extra frosting and filling so we are going to try and do a bottom layer and then the rest with styrofoam. hopefully it'll all work.

2007-08-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

My day today was a lot better than yesterday. Let me explain. Yesterday was a hard day for me. No real significant event that happened, it just started out rough. I woke up and wanted to roll back over and fall asleep. You see, when I'm asleep, I don't think as much. Lately, once I'm asleep I'm really out, I think it's because there were about 5 days where I maybe got 10 hours of sleep total, and my body is just trying to catch up from that and all the hard work it's doing. ANYWAYS, from the moment I woke up, I just felt like it was going to be hard. I missed someone, and as much as some people just want me to get up and go on with my life, it's hard. I'm trying to do the best I can, but when that person was so much a part of your life-even when not in the same city, it's hard to pick up where you left off two months ago. It's also hard when some many people didn't see what I saw, and I guess that was my fault because I didn't let that person come and visit the people who I care most about. Anyways, yesterday I was tired. I was tired of not talking to him. I was tired of not seeing him for a whole week. I should say now, before any one jumps to conclusions, no I didn't see him. But I did text message him. Actually, I got a message from him, and it was just about when I was going to message him. It wasn't huge, just a simple text message conversation to see how the first week of school started. Anyways, it was really nice to have a light friendly text conversation with an old friend. It brought a smile to my face to escape the stresses of reality for a split second.

Anyways, yesterday wasn't too bad, it's just I was really anoyed by things, work, people at work, and then randome things. it was strange. But it was ok.

TODAY was and adventure. I showed up at work at about 9ish, but the person I was working with didn't show up until 10:15ish, so i had an hour of nothing... good thing I brought Harry Potter with me...

well, we finished up the closset, and then shoved everything into the shed. all I have to do (hopefully) at the arc is organizing the arts and crafts, unless Donna calls me in on monday and asks me to do something...which I hope not because that's my birthday, course it does give me more money for college, or maybe to splurge on something small for my birthday...

When I arrived at home, I had to parrallel park my car... in front of my own house... heheh, i thought that was comical. Carrie, Tallia, Christina, my mom, and Diane Jacks were out in the back yard talking so I was able to to and spend time with them for like 4 hours. which was lots of fun because I haven't been able to do that yet. I also was able to hold Eliza for a long time, which I haven't done in about a week or so. She is such a pretty baby. I have been an aunt for so long, that I look forward to the day when I can hold a child in my arms and have the feeling of, "they're mine". It'll be such a nice feeling to know that everything turned out right and I have a family- for eternity.

The next part of the day was about my cake, so if you want to read about the cake aventure, go to the next blog...

cars, computers, cakes

2007-08-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a very eventful day- exactly what I needed. I needed to keep busy so I could keep my mind off some things.
It started with my Dad asking if I wanted to work on my car with him. Over breakfast, we planned out our day. We started on our list by giving my car a tune up. Dad taught me some "auto theory" as he called it, and then I learned (and got to do it) how to change the air filter, the spark plugs, rotor, and distributer cap. that was fun! When we went to Shucks for some parts, I saw Sarah Ballard who had a flat tire on her way home from work. She told me her story of going to Les Shwab because one of her lug nuts was stripped, who said they wouldn't cut it off. so she took it someplace else and got it taken care of. It was fun to visit with her for a couple of minutes and she showed me that she was still peeling and some of her 3rd degree burns from our adventure down the river. That'll teach ya not to wear sun block! poor girl :-(
Afterwards, we went on a quick ride on the motorcycle. Then we took my computer into Best buy to see what we needed to do to get it fixed. After learning that we would have to send it in for a couple of weeks, we decided that we should go home and back everything up on an external hard drive.
Next came the luau with Carrie's in law's ward. Amanda came along to that and it was fun to spend some time with her and my family. while i was there I got a text message from Kevin Kenedy who asked me if he could come to church with me tomorrow, which I thought was pretty cool. I just wish some guy he knew was in town so he could have a friend in elders quorum, but oh well, maybe next week.
Next amanda and I decided we should make a cake and try our newest idea to make it lopsided- which we actually got from a friend, and later my mom suggested the same thing. This idea was to put something under the pan while it was in the oven that the cake actually cooked lopsided. Well... we tried it, and it overflowed. we thought maybe that if we didn't fill it so much that it would work, but after close examination we decided it wasn't good to have the thinner side of the cake over done, and the thicker side barely just right.
We decorated the cake while watching the movie The Holiday which we really liked because we could relate to a lot of the relationships that were displayed there. We wished it wouldn't have such tedious parts in it though. maybe it's a one time deal.
After the movie we looked on the internet to find ideas to decorate my birthday caked, and after a couple of searches and thought changes on searches we found how to make a lopsided cake! It was awesome! We were so excited that we found the actual way of doing it that I think we might have woke up mom and dad downstairs... oops... sorry... :-S but to all those who were wondering, here's the website... check it out!
http://members.nuvox.net/~zt.proicer/message/saved/TILTEDCAKES.htm

and that concluded my night. Amanda went home, and now I am going to go to bed after I read a little of Harry Potter... g'night. :-)

I knew there was a reason why...

2007-07-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today was an interesting but good day. I had a new girl today at work. She's a one on one, but she's so easy, which is nice. Anyways, it was a busy day today. We went and fed the ducks/geese at the duck pond in Kennewick, and it was REaLly HOT! Then we went to memorial for lunch and swimming. During lunch one of our one on one counselors got hurt by his camper. It looked pretty bad, he seemed in a lot of pain. So since he was out and also our site director, we were short staffed in the pool which made things interesting. Then loading up on our vans, we were 25 minutes later than usual, which made us really late getting back to the ARC.
When I got to my car, it was really hot inside, and my water was all gone, so as I was driving on George Washington Way, I saw Arby's and i remembered that Jonathan was working from 4-closing today. So i pulled in and he saw me. He asked me how I was and I said, "I want some water" so he brought me in and got me a glass of nice cold ice water, then he said, "do you want a milk shake?" and i said, "i would love one!" he said, "what flavor, I can make anything you'd like" and I requested a strawberry chocolate one, which he replied to with, "well, i'll do my best, i've never made something like that before..." So I got to spend about 10 minutes drinking ice water and sipping a milkshake [which was free :-) ] just relaxing in a cool air conditioned place before I headed home. It was really nice... I knew there was a reason why I was interested in a Arby's man... :P
heheh... ok so I know that it's not the reason why, but it's a nice perk! :)

My 4th of July

2007-07-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

Today was Amazing! So it didn't start out too good. I wasn't feeling so hot. But after 4 naps- 2 half hour, 1 ten minutes, and the other 45, I started to feel ok. I had this stomach thing, and I have no idea why. Anyways, so i got to eat a nice dinner with some of my family. Then headed off to the movies with my best friend Amanda, and also this really good guy Jonathan, his two kids and his cousin, Elizabeth. It was a blast. The movie was a great kid movie, but since the previews started at 7:00, it didn't get over till 9, and the kids were getting really tired during it, which made for a cranky ride home. Then we went back to the Hale House, and walked down to the fireworks. We got to meet Christina's family, and Tallia's family, and Carrie's family there. I wish I could have been there earlier so I could have mingled with them more, but oh well. Since the kids were falling asleep on the blanket and us girls didn't want to walk back by ourselves, we left early-which turned out to be just before the finale, so we stopped in the parking lot and watched it as we walked away.
Then we got water, and Amanda and I drove home. It was so funny... Since Amanda had been working at her house all day since 7:30 in the morning, she was so tired so she was talking a bit of nonsense while I was driving. I don't know what was funnier, Amanda in the car, or Christian trying to sleep while on his dad's shoulders...
aww, life is good.

A Fun day!

2007-06-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

So I was running about 5 minutes late this morning for work so I was really worried when the person in front of me was going slow on the freeway. There was a truck in the middle lane going 60 so i was went into the left lane to pass him. Right then I noticed the sign that said, "left two lanes closed". As I moved into the right lane, I saw a line of cars ahead of me and immediately a flashback came from last year when those lanes were closed and I was stuck there for over a half an hour and I was late for work. So right then I pulled off onto the Rd. 100 exit, and gave Jared a call. It took me forever to get a hold of him. I finally had to call Connie at the front desk and fortunately he was right there. We agreed to meet at the broadmore mall. Because I knew he wouldn't be there for about 15 minutes, I stopped at a gas station and was able to buy me some breakfast. Then headed to the mall and found the perfect parking spot right under a big tree. After finishing my breakfast I started walking to a spot where he could pick me up at and right then he came!
We had a new kid today who's 7 years old, and he reminds me of what Philip would have been like when he was younger. that kid new a lot of stuff. I had to use my pump to see what time it was and he said, "you take insulin?" and i was caught off guard, because most of the kids wonder what it was. Then later he started talking about the van and asked "is that a CB radio? C B stands for..." and started saying what AM stands for and FM was. One fun thing that he said was "kim do you have paper and pen? I need to make myself a reminder note" "What do you need to remind yourself?" Jared asked. "To go to taco bell when I get home" We thought that was funny.
When I was dropped off at my car, it was nice and cool since it had been in the shade all day instead of in the weed field by the ARC. THAT was glorious. :)
It was a nice day, everything worked just like clockwork.

I created a new one!

2007-06-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Since it has been so long since i had a blogspot, I decided to create a new one...
For my first post, I wanted to let all my family know something very exciting! I found out yesterday that I received a 1000 dollar scholarship from Seattle Jaceey's Scholarship Program.
Also, I decided on a new place to live for next year. I canceled my other lease and got a new one. I found this place on craigslist and I hadn't seen it but I prayed and THIS one felt right. I had this haunting feeling about the basement apartment I was going to do, and as soon as I talked to the guy about this house, that haunting feeling disappeared. Before it was a 3 bedroom 1 bath, W/D, for 850 + 50 for yard care. The one that I'm going to be living in now is 3 bedroom 2 bath, W/D, Dishwasher, for 800, including yard care. AND it's a house.
It's a small block away from the institute which means it's close to the school also. I'm really excited. He sent me pictures of it yesterday.

Here's the front

here's the living room

and the front bathroom (i'm guessing)

So i'm really excited for this place. My lease starts in July so i'll be looking for a twin bed to take up there also a dresser. i'm not sure if i want one or not... depending on how my bedroom turns out. So that's it! what do you think?