I believe in Christ.

"I believe in Christ; he is my King! 

With all my heart to him I'll sing;

 I'll raise my voice in praise and joy,

 in grand amens my tongue employ.

 I believe in Christ; he is God's Son. 

On earth to dwell his soul  did come.

He healed the sick; 

the dead he raised. 

Good works were his;

his name be praised." 

-Hymn written by: Bruce R. McConkie

Listen to the whole song here. 

Jim (my wonderful husband) and I have been thinking a lot lately about how we can be better examples and better at sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we know. So, today for family home evening Jim challenged us to make a goal of helping to spread the gospel to all the world. Our goal, as you might guess, was to use social networking to share our testimonies of the Savior.  This hymn that I shared above has been a huge part of my testimony of Christ since I was a small girl. A little back history on me then-- I started to play the violin when I was 6 years old and so music has been a monumental part of my life. When I started playing the violin one of the most exciting things for me was that I was able to play hymns and I thought maybe one day I might even get to play in church!
As I grew and was able to progress in my musical talents I was able to start playing hymns and "I believe in Christ" is one of the first songs I was able to 'pick out' on my own. I know that the spirit of the Lord can help us to feel the truth and I also know that music can be one of those ways that the spirit can 'speak' to us or help us to feel closer to our Savior. As I learned and mastered this song the music spoke to my heart and the words spoke to my mind telling me that I have a father in heaven and a brother - my Savior, who love me and who can help me along this journey of life. I came to gain a greater understanding of what our Savior did for us. I came to know Him on a personal level. Music brought me the beginning of my testimony and continues to help me build that testimony.

I know that each of us can have a personal relationship with our Father in Heaven as well as our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that the way to begin this relationship can be something as small as a piece of music or a small and simple prayer. Our Father and Savior love us and they are willing to answer our prayers if we will but ask.

 "If any of ye lack wisdom, let his ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5

Image used with permission from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

BVHS 2007 Class Reunion

I don't know how many of my classmates look at my blog but I am trying really hard to make sure everyone knows about our up-coming class reunion.

http://paperless.ly/NkOf2j

 http://www.integratechs.com/

This is a very exciting time in our lives and gives us (Jim and I) confidence that we can survive outside of the college world that we have been living in for the last two years.

Jim just got a job offer for this company called integraTECHS. (I borrowed the picture from their site, thank you to them)  He will be working in their southern Utah office in St. George. For now he will work part time from home until he graduates, then he will be put on their salary. YAY, we are actually going to have jobs!

Now for the story...at the same time Jim got offered this job I also got offered an internship (as an alternate in a position, they were waiting for the first choice applicant to decide) in the Alpine school district at Manila Elementary. This was a very difficult decision to make because both were really great opportunities for us.

An internship for teachers means that I would have been the full-time teacher for that year and I would be paid 1/2 salary and 1/2 benefits, so this was a really good offer and not everyone gets these kinds of opportunities. I really wasn't even planning on hearing back from them at all. I really don't mean to boast but the story is really neat and it gave me confidence that I am marketable in my chosen profession. A teacher and the principal came to our college class and asked each of us, who were interested, to fill out a one page information sheet and then come in and interview. I did this mainly because it would be great experience for me seeing that I have never interviewed for a teaching job before. They asked me to send references, and I did later that day Then a couple days later I got the email from them stating that I was an alternate for the position. I was so surprised; I thought they must have called my references... but no, they didn't. I was even more surprised when I found this out. I felt very honored to be given that opportunity with only a bit of information on one page and a 5 minute interview.

As we weighted our options and counseled with the lord, we felt like the job in St. George was the one for us. I am so thankful for a father in heaven who loves and cares about our lives here on earth. These decisions are not easy ones to make, and having his guiding hand makes these decisions much more simple. I  know the lord helps us in our lives and often that help comes in revelations through the spirit.

DIY book page wreath

I have been dying to do one of these wreaths ever since I saw one at my cute friends house about a year ago. She told me how simple it was and I was so excited to try it and now, finally, a year later I have accomplished this task. Just a precursory note: this project was so time consuming, I couldn't believe that something that looked and sounded so easy could be so... so... yup, time consuming. Although, I am super ecstatic about my results.  

Also, for those of you who visit my blog pretty regularly (family, that's you)... this is my very first try at doing a tutorial, tell me how I do, ok? (leave out the spelling and grammatical errors, I know they occur quite frequently) 

Here is a super quick tutorial about how to consume your time with wreath making....

Supplies: 

• Foam wreath between 7-10$ at Jo-Anns
• An old book that you will never read again or buy a cheap one from D.I. or a thrift store, they are usually about .50 -$1 
• An un-sharpened pencil (or two, just in case)
• Hot glue gun ( and if your like me and have a super old hand-me down one that 'leaks' while its plugged in you will need lots and lots of the glue stick thingers...whatever they are called) 

Caution: Librarians please cover you eyes and ears .... okay basically don't read the first instruction it may be a bit graphic for you. In fact, you may want to choose an alternative wreath making activity. ;) 

Instructions:

*Think about popping in a movie or plugging in those ear buds while you are doing this, maybe you will be faster than me but this took me about 4, 2 hour sittings to get done. Its probably that I am just slower than all get out though. 

1. Take that old book and just rip the covers right off (HA remember the movie Up..."I ripped this right out of a library book"  *gasp*-- Gotta love Disney movies).  

2. Proceed to tear out the pages, I found it easiest to tear out 3 at a time and keep them together. Tear into pieces of about 2"X2". This is up to you how 'out there' or 'puffy' you want your wreath to look. 

3. Use your pencil to make a hole in the foam wreath.

4. Put a little dab of hot glue into the hole.

5. Put the 2x2 piece of paper around the pencil 

6. Stick it into the hole where the hot glue is waiting to do its job. 

*Just a suggestion... I found I was a little aggressive with poking the paper into the foam wreath and when I used the un-sharpened edge of the pencil I usually tore the paper so it wouldn't stick as well. So to remedy this I used the eraser end when poking the paper into the hot glued hole. 

7. Repeat steps 2 -6

8. Enjoy the great looking book page wreath that you just spent SO MUCH TIME making. :) Good Luck and Have FUN. Would love to see some others end results... 

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ahhh *Sigh of Relief*

For the last month I have been studying my little tail off to take the Praxis: elementary content test, so I haven't had much time for anything else. The test was at 7:30 this morning and I feel like I did really well and now it's over.  I can find out my scores in about 3 to 4 weeks, but all I care about is that it is done. I don't have to spend that extra 2 to 3 hours studying everyday(minus the weekends of course).

As you can tell life has been pretty busy around here and besides studying for the praxis I also have regular class work, a part time job with kindergartners who wear me out and of course a husband who has homework + work of his own. Our lives are going great... busy, but great. Jim graduates in May and he is starting to look for and apply for jobs. We are both really excited to be done with school and Jim has senior-itis SO BAD! :) What symptoms have I seen you ask? Well, it goes back to the deer hunt in the end of September to October. First was the muzzle loader hunt, which wasn't so bad, he left me for a few days (because I didn't have work off) and then the rifle hunt. This is where the senior-itis comes in, he hunted from   the weekend till Wednesday of the next week. He originally wouldn't have been able to do this because he had a test scheduled for Monday (or Tuesday, can't remember) but after talking with his teacher she put it off till Friday! WHAT!? None of my teachers would have ever let me do that. So finally when he got home on Wednesday night at 11:00 he told me that he didn't even want to come home and especially not to go to school. He then hunted till Saturday with his brother here in Cedar. After it was all over he had lots and lots of catching up to do. So as you can tell from my story he is contracting a little bit of that senior-itis. :) BTW, he didn't even get a buck! Can you believe that? All that time, and not even a little 2 point to show? Oh well, at least he enjoyed himself. It isn't often that he gets to spend time like that with his family doing one of the things he loves the most. And that's why I don't mind so much that he leaves me all alone... I know he loves it and if he is happy so am I. :)

Besides the deer hunt, what else have we been doing? Well, lets see.... there was Halloween! We dressed up as the Harlem Globetrotters(It was pretty sweet) and we went to a Halloween Party with awesome food, music, movies and friends. You can't celebrate Halloween with out the Sanderson sisters right?

 

Oh yes, I remember what else happened since I blogged last. Jim is now serving as a second counselor in a singles ward bishopric. He was released from the Elders Corum in August and 1 week later he was sustained as the second counselor in the Cedar City Young Single Adult 23rd Ward. He is gaining some great experiences and having such a great time with the people in the ward as well as those in his Bishopric. It has been an adjust for me. I'm a little sad that I can't sit by him through sacrament anymore and I miss hearing him singing right next to me, but I always sit right where I can see him and it has been a fun experience to be back in the singles wards and not having to worry about what singles worry about...Marriage. Yep, got that one checked off already. :)

Our lives are busy and sometimes a little overwhelming but through the last couple of months I have learned some awesome things (other than who the president was in 1981 and what osmosis is), I have learned that we are not alone in this life. Not even if we are single or our husbands leave us to hunt or what not. We are not alone, our Savior Jesus Christ is always there for us, he has always been there and he will forever be there. He LOVES us. I have learned that often times in our lives we have to struggle and work ourselves hard before we receive answers to our prayers, but guess what? They will come. Faith is a huge part of my life now, before this time it was still a part of my life but now the part it plays is much greater than before. To all who read this blog I want you to know that I know our Savior lives and that he loves me and he loves YOU! and as I have come to know him I know that he wants us to learn to love him the way he has loved and continues to love us. I challenge everyone (even myself) to strive to do this, love the Savior as he loves you.

Here are a few pictures Jim and I took back in the first of September. I loved the sunset that night and I think we did a good job of capturing it.  :)

<3

Projects + Jims Birthday.

In August, between ending summer school and beginning the regular school year I was able to do a few DIY projects.  First I made a wreath with yarn, I found the idea on Pinterest (which is my new favorite thing, Thanks Erin!)
 

I also spray painted a work bench that was in our garage and am now using it in my kitchen. I love it so very much and I now have a new love for spray paint as well.

I love, love, love the blue color. Sorry the picture is so dark.

I also tried to make a Hula Hoop rug, I found the idea on the Disney family fun site. I was so excited to make it and then when I had finally finished and took it off of the hula hoop.... it turned into a floppy basket. :(  I wove it WAY too tight in the center and so it made the sides turn up.  I am not going to post a picture... it is too embarrassing to show you.

+Jim's Birthday+
On August 18th my amazing husband celebrated his 23rd birthday! Wow, I know that's not really old in the whole scheme of things but I really cannot believe how old we are getting.  The reason it probably gets me is because I remember when we were 16 just starting to date. I remember day dreaming about him and like many young teen-age girls wondering if he could be *THE ONE* and guess what?? HE WAS!!  ohhh cute, right? ;)  I absolutely LOVE Jim. He is such an awesome husband and he truly is my very best friend in the world.
This year for his birthday, he had to work... blahh BUT he did get some pretty awesome presents. Although, I don't take much credit for them because he picked them out. I am really terrible at keeping secrets and surprises from him. He ALWAYS guesses right. 

See here, this smile is right after he guessed what his present was and... he was right. It was clay pigeons and shot gun shells. The really exciting gift for his birthday this year was a new 42 in. Samsung TV. Yes, he is spoiled. Unfortunately I don't have a picture but I am sure most of you know what a TV looks like. ;)

Kodachrome and surrounding areas... Pictures for Geology 1050

These are a few pictures from Kodachrome that I am putting up for my geology class.
The first pictures are from the national geographic magazine that was printed in 1949. It goes through their visit and talks about the history of the naming of Kodachrome. Originally Kodachrome was known as Chimney Rock State Reserve but then national geographic wanted to name it after the new color film from Kodak. It was quite the ordeal and the name was switched two or three times before it stuck at Kodachrome Basin State Park

These next 5 pictures are of the cottonwood canyon trail

 All the next pictures are of Kodachrome State Park.

 chimney rock ^

 kodachrome ^ v

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. :)