My Scrapbooking Area

Tonight I accomplished a goal that I have had for over two months. I finally cleaned up my scrapbook table so that I can get back to my scrapbooks. I haven't created a page in over 6 months. I haven't had the creative spirit in me and it was because my creating space was such a disaster area. I have made a goal to get my scrapbooks caught up by Christmas. It will take some work but I know I can do it. Now that my space is cleaned up I can feel the creative spirit coming back. If it wasn't so late I would start working tonight.

Just one more step to having everything completely organized. My rooms are looking a lot better and I can actually find things in seconds rather than an hour later after digging through my storage boxes. I am even starting to feel less stress which is great. It's amazing how just a little organization can make such a huge impact.

New Moon

I am having a harder time with the second book in the Twilight series. I In fact I started September 4th and I am just barely half way through. I had to put it away last night because it actually frightened me a little. I shouldn't read in the middle of the night. I start hearing things and begin to think I am going to be attacked or that I am being watched. It is freaky. So New Moon only gets to be read during daylight right now. I know I am just a big chicken, it's only a book but my mind takes things so literally and I have to remind myself that it is just a book or just a movie. I don't watch horror movies or even some suspense movies because I have nightmares for weeks after. It's kind of sad really. I don't really enjoy Halloween for that reason either. I like the idea of dressing up and the holiday itself but I hate Haunted Houses and the horror movies. The funny thing is that I am fascinated with witches. I went to Massachusetts a few years ago and made my friends drive all over to find the Salem Witch Museum. We finally found it and the museum was only open for 1 more hour. I was so sad. It was a pretty creepy place though so maybe we were glad we didn't get to see it all.

The Wedding

Yesterday my younger brother Trent got married. The day was wonderful. It looked like it was going to rain but when we got to the temple in the afternoon the skies cleared up and we had a beautiful afternoon. They were married around 4:00 and then we had pictures taken and went straight to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for a big dinner reception for friends and family. They did not want to do a regular Utah reception just a nice dinner for close friends and family and it turned out beautiful. The dinner was fabulous and the entertainment even better. Anne is from England and her father was able to come over from England for the wedding. He was the emcee of the party. He is very entertaining. However, the best part was the best man's speech. The best man was my youngest brother Brandon. He gave a funny and also touching speech about Trent and Anne. Trent and Brandon have become very close friends over the past few years and it was nice to see just how much they really care about each other. It is strange to think of Trent being married but I am very happy for him and I am excited to have another sister-in-law.

Having some fun!

My three handsome brothers and handsome nephew Ethan trying to find his pockets. The photographer told them to put their hands in their pockets.

Don't smile!

The happy couple.

The fun wedding cake. Trent surprised Anne with this cake. They were not going to have a cake. She had told him about this cupcake tower that she saw at a friends wedding when they first got engaged but then they decided not to have a cake since they were serving dessert with the dinner. Not only that but Trent wanted a cake like my brother Jared had at his wedding. This was a compromise. His cake is the top and her cake is the bottom tower. SURPRISE!

I'm Finished...

and now on to book 2.

127 Pages Left

I am reading every minute that I have. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately I had Young Women's tonight so I was not able to read. My darling Young Women's group kept my mind occupied though. I teach the 14 and 15 year olds, the Mia Maids, and they are absolutely the sweetest girls ever. I was feeling a little down tonight and didn't really want to go to the activity. Work has been very stressful the last two days and I have been tired from staying up reading the past two nights. The minute the girls walked in the door they cheered me right up. It was so fun to listen to them talking about school. They are just so cute. They often tell me that "I rock" or that "I am the coolest leader" which I know they say to the other leaders but it always makes me feel good that they like me. I am glad I am having this experience to be with these girls.

Unconditionally and irrevocably in love!

I have resisted for months and finally could not resist any longer. Everyone was talking about him and how wonderful he is. Everyone was telling me to just give in and as much as I didn't want to I couldn't resist the curiosity any longer. I gave in and started reading Twilight. Over the weekend in St. George I picked up the book at Barnes and Noble. We had some time between dinner and one of the plays so we went to B&N to look around and there it was sitting in the middle of the aisle on a table as it has for months. Just beckoning to me to read it. I passed the table several times and finally I could stand it no longer. I picked up the book and found myself purchasing it. On the way home yesterday I made my friend drive the second half of the trip so I could read. I was hooked after 10 pages. I could not stop reading. I read all the way from Fillmore to my friends home. After unpacking and chatting with my family for a little while I went back to reading. I read until I fell asleep. I took the book with me to work hoping to have a chance to read during lunch. I only had time to read 5 pages. The minute I got home I was reading again. I am a little more than half way through and I had to force myself to put it down so I could do my laundry and nightly chores. Once they are done you can bet that I will be back in Washington State in a small town called Forks.

Road Trip

I took advantage of the holiday weekend and drove down to St. George with one of my friends. I have been wanting to see the plays/musicals at Tuacahn this year. It was a great weekend. We drove down Friday morning and went to see Big River at Tuacahn that night. It was fabulous. I have never seen this musical before. I wasn't familiar with any of the music or even the storyline. I knew it was about Huckleberry Finn and that was it. It was amazing. The Tuacahn theatre itself is amazing. It is set back into the red rock canyons in Ivins just outside of St. George. The backdrop to the stage is the red rocks of Snow Canyon itself. They use those red rocks and the stage becomes the whole area surrounding the normal platform stage. Saturday we went shopping at the Outlet malls and hit some great sales. Another reason to go to St. George over Labor Day. After shopping for a couple hours we decided to go swimming in the pool at the hotel. It was so relaxing. I have not been swimming for such a long time. I forgot how relaxing it is to swim. Of course I wasn't swimming like Michael Phelps or anything because that doesn't look relaxing. I just floated and cooled off. Then lounged in the sun for a few minutes. Just enough to get a little tan and then jumped back in the nice cool pool. Saturday night we went to see Les Miserables at Tuacahn. Les Mis is one of my favorite musicals. They did a great job. It was possibly one of the best versions of Les Mis that I have seen. Sunday we drove to Las Vegas to do some more shopping. We headed home today and for once I feel completely relaxed after a vacation. It is a great feeling. I should be tired since it was a lot of driving but I don't. I feel relaxed and ready for a few more months of work and life until my next trip.