We did it! For the first time in our marriage we have no car payments. A few weeks ago we paid off our truck! What a feeling of freedom that was. This last year we have really tried to get out of debt. Besides our mortgage we only have one more loan which will be paid off probably in June. It is amazing the sense of security and freedom that comes with being out of debt. It is something I highly recommend!
.... and here's why
Maybe it will get big enough that we can make an ice sculpture out of it.
Sunday morning I received a call at 8:15 am asking if I would be able to sub in Primary. I understand people get sick and whatever so I was happy to help out. We have church at 9am and we leave at 8:30 so I can have the programs there before everyone shows up and then Jon helps set up chairs and works in the library. This didn’t give me much time to prepare a lesson, which I have to admit I did a lot of preparation during Sacrament Meeting. I was thinking what I could do for a lesson and then I fell back on the classic throw together a lesson in fifteen minutes “Plan of Salvation” lesson. It’s one of those things you learned over and over in Primary. Now I know why – the subs were called 45 minutes prior to church.
As I was giving the lesson I was really impressed with what they comprehended. We were talking about the veil and how we can’t remember what happened in the Pre-Mortal Life, and then one girl asked if we will be able to remember things we learned on earth after we die. I knew this answer but luckily I was prepared with a scripture that we could read which explains that any intelligence we gain in this life we will be able to have in the next. She was really excited to learn that.
We were talking about how we come to earth to gain a body and be tested. A boy speaks up and says that he hates test and never does good on them. I then told him that this is a easy test because it is open book (scriptures, prophets etc), we can ask for help (prayer), and if we get something wrong Christ is there to make it right for us. Later in the day I really got to thinking about that. It really is that easy but then why is it so hard as well. Pride and life just seem to take over and then I somehow lose why I’m really here. It is nice to have a reminder every now and then about what is really important. I think I learned just as much as they did.
I finished it! I kept hearing about this book you could make from your blog and so I thought I would try it out. I was a little scared because I wasn't sure how it would turn out and if the quality would be good, but I decided to give it a try anyways. Once I finished the design and layout and sent in my order the anticipation was killing me. I was super excited to see how my first book would turn out. I was surprised when I received an email two days after submitting my order telling me that my book was ready to be shipped. I had my book one week after placing my order. I was impressed with the response time. The morning came that the book was to be delivered. FedEx showed up at work early that day - Yeah! I got the package opened it up and .... it was way better than I expected. I had really expected the worst. I know so positive huh? I am really pleased with how it turned out. Jon was making fun of me when I told him what I planned to do but now that it's here and he can see it he is impressed as well. The idea of this book was the reason I started blogging. I am not a scrapbooker or journal writer and this book wraps it all up in one and looks way better than any scrapbook I could make. So I give it two thumbs up - way up!
When I was eleven my mom started a tradition that I think even she didn't imagine that would go on this long. In 1989 my mom gave me my first Christmas Bear and continued giving me Christmas Bears until I got married. She only missed one year, I think it was 1990. When I got married I told Jon that it was now his responsibility to continue on with the tradition. He has done this faithfully, never forgetting a year. Most of the time he picks it out and buys it on his own, which he does a fabulous job. One year he even took me to Build-A-Bear and I built my own bear. Two years ago this tradition had slipped his mind and he was having a hard time finding a bear as it was so close to Christmas. That year he enlisted my help and we found a cute little black bear. I love displaying my bears around my tree. With just the two of us we don't have many presents around the tree so the bears pull the attention away from the bare tree. I am running out of room for my bears so I may have to just start getting smaller bears to fill in the gaps.
2008 Chrismas Bear
The tree with my bears
Last weekend we went up with some friends to see the lights at Temple Square. As always the lights were beautiful. It was cold and crowded, but that's to be expected. We were with a bunch of friends who are in their early twenties and we ended up eating dinner at the Gateway and then bowling afterwards. We stayed out till 1:30 am. This thirty year old is not accustomed to staying out so late. Everyone could tell how tired I was. Needless to say, Jon and I slept in till 9:30 the next morning.
This year our Black Friday was spent traveling to Moab. When I was younger I thought it was crazy to get up early just to go shopping, well now I get up early just to go wheelin'. We got to spend a few days with good friends wheelin'. It was such good weather. The trails were muddy from the rain in previous days but we had sunshine the whole weekend. My father-in-law, who sat in the back of our vehicle, even got a little sunburnt. It was one of the best wheelin' trips we have had. The weather was nice, there wasn't too many people and there were no major breakdowns.
You can see the mud on our tires. This makes it really hard for the tires to grab the rock. We made it up though.
My father-in-law had the great idea of having a contest to see who could throw a wood airplane over the cliff and have it go the farthest. This cliff overlooked Moab. Here's a picture of some of our group wathcing an airplane. Most didn't make it too far, the planes would hit the wind and the wind would take them back into the cliff. 
