Breakfast of champions

If I don't have any bananas, this is usually what my breakfast consists of. 

It's delicious and we have a ton of them from Sam's Club. They perfect for putting in my purse and taking them to work. Did I mention they taste amazing?

Sunshine on my face

I used to think people were absolutely full of it when they would say that sunshine makes you happy. I was a fairly happy person growing, but there is no way I was going to give credit to the sun. That is until I became one of those people.

I sit in an office all day with no windows and no one to talk to. When I go outside, all I want to do is sit in the sun and just bask in its golden rays. The sunshine targets every single one of my little cells and brings a smile to my face. The sun makes me happy, and I'm proud to admit it.

That's probably one of the saddest things about growing up and starting real life. You don't get to take time whenever you want to go lay outside and soak it in. I guess I'll just have to appreciate all of the times I do get to enjoy the sunshine, I'll take full advantage.

Dance lessons

Last night for our ward party we did a service auction. I would say the majority of the people offered to watch kids for a night (we have a TON of kids), others offered talents, and me? I offered a plate of homemade cookies.

It was also a BBQ and since Ethan is in the elder's quorum presidency, he got put at the grill and I sat with a couple girls from the ward whose husbands weren't able to come. We talked and had a great time and had good conversation.

To pay for the services we earned money points. They had a sheet of paper that you filled out. You got points for doing any of these things within the month of May:

• Attend temple
• Read scriptures
• Said Prayers
• FHE
• Attended devotional
• Etc.

There were quite a few more activities and they were each worth between $50-$100. We ended up having $1,000 out of $1,400 to spend. They read through a few of the services and I had my eye on two of them, 3 lbs of beef or dance lessons. The auctioneer was going about a mile a minute (just kidding, but I hope you started saying that like John Michael Montgomery singing "Sold"!) The auctioneer wasn't really that great at all but it was fun. I figured the meet was going to be a hot ticket item, so I decided I was going to bid on the dance lessons. There is a couple in our ward here who are on the Dance Alliance traveling team here at BYU-Idaho, so I knew they were going to be good. 

The bidding started and I raised my hand each time someone challenged me. I got to $1,000 and was ready to keep going. Luckily, I got it for that amount because it took me looking back down at my paper to realize that's all I had! We won and I couldn't be more excited. Ethan and I have talked multiple times about going and trying dance up on campus. Now, we don't have to feel ridiculous in front of everyone because we get a free private lesson!

The activity wrapped up and everyone had a great time. The meat went for the full $1,400 amount so I'm happy I didn't wait to bid! But we definitely didn't leave empty handed. The bishop had lots of hamburger left over so we took a sleeve of patties that we can grill up ourselves. Score! All in all a success. 

Finding a place

I feel that I can honestly say that I'm finally finding my place here. This weekend I had the baby shower that I went to that was so fun. There weren't many girls there but they were all from our ward and I got to know them a little bit. I was 1 of 2 girls out of 7 that wasn't pregnant, but it was fun to hear all of their stories. I enjoy listening to other's experiences because it gives me little hints as to what I may be able to expect when the time comes for me!

We then went over to that same girls house last night to play Apples to Apples with her and her husband. We seriously played that game for hours! We talked, laughed, yelled and did pretty much everything you shouldn't do when there's a little two-year-old sleeping right about you. Luckily, it didn't phase him a bit and we had a great time.

It's amazing how just that one friendship can change almost everything. I couldn't wait to get out of this ward. I was looking at other places, since ours is up for sale now, but now, I'm frantically looking to stay in our same complex so I don't have to do this all over again. I finally feel like I'm belonging in this ward.

I suppose whether we leave or stay, this has been a learning opportunity for me. And, although I would never want to go through it again, it's made me more aware of how much I rely on friendships and how much they mean to me.