Learned

Hmm first week of summer classes and im already onto my 2nd night of sitting at the computer to Oh 12:30 or so. I am wondering why i thought this was a good idea again. Anyone else ever feel like going to school is like the first 30 minutes of long run? That is literally exactly how i feel at this moment, it is all mental and i just need to keep going.

I really need to find more picture time, i also need more clients. This hasn't really bothered me since im not advertising much and i am so busy but i had 2 shoots last week and well they were absolutely amazing and i feel so uncontrollably happy when im taking pictures. Just ask Lindsi Morrison, im sure shed tell you i looked like an idiot smiling behind my camera through her adorable families shoot.

I need to be a better friend. Seriously i think i spend way too much time focusing on myself, and i have gotten to the point where i don't care a hole lot to have many friends. I have an amazing husband, wonderful sisters (including sister in-law) and great parents and in-laws. After going to an old friends wedding last weekend i realized i really do miss that. I wish i would have taken the time to still know her. I feel that way literally about all of my friends, even the people i consider my best friends i rarely talk too. My new goal is to try harder and to reach out to people and really have good friends.

Lived

Woo Hoo! Elder Kirk is home! I had the amazing opportunity to be at the airport when Bryce landed in Las Vegas. Honestly i can not think of words that describe how much this family means to me, how much i have learned from them, and continually do. My life is continually blessed just by being able to spend time with them.

For some reason when i told people i had a Leavitt family reunion they thought i was kidding, I think most people imagined like a thousand people to be there. Ha there really are like a billion Leavitts but this one was pretty small. I really enjoyed it though. It was nice to see everyone in the family and to spend time with them. Especially the girls. I can't get enough of them. I do love my nieces quite a lot!

Kaden is no longer a Jiffy Lube employee can i get an Hallelujah? And i quote this strait from Kaden's facebook "I have the best job in the world. who else gets to blow shit up for money." Ha really? my husband never swears i am the one with the bad mouth in our family. He is unbelievably excited though, and today he got an official card in the mail pretty much saying is authorized to play with explosives.

Loved

Alright i know that i already mentioned this, but I loved taking pictures this past week!

I loved spending time with my husband this weekend. On Saturday we both did different jobs at my parents house and it honestly amazes me what a hard worker my husband is. Last weekend Kaden helped my dad clean out the garage and then Saturday he transformed their back yard. He is so amazing and i am so grateful that i was lucky enough to marry him.

Are We Sure Its May?

Learned

I will never live in Utah again after we are both graduated. Yes you may quote me on that someday.
I hate the snow, and what i hate even worse than the snow is... Snow in middle of my summer vacation. I might only be May 18 but i start classes again in 13 days. Can i get some sunshine please!

I have the ability to run a lot further than i physically thought possible for a Hendrix. Seriously i am thinking if i could find my stinken ridiculous track coach on face book i would send him a video of my 8 min miles, not amazed? Well i ran 10 1/2 of them.  (yes in a row)

12 credits is still full time for the summer, so guess who added another class so they could afford tuition.
Doesn't make a hole lot of sense does it? Well the school wouldn't give me my entire pell-grant unless i added 2 more credits, so 3 credits late im saving 700 bucks. Please cross your fingers and pray that i pass.

I'm thinking i desperately need an Ipad. Here are 3 reasons why
1. I am taking 13 credits this summer and will be out of town a lot (i promise to do homework on it.) 2. Kaden and i wont have to fight over the computer so i can pay the bills and he can search for bronco parts. 3.  If When we ever have kids, there are some awesome teaching apps on that thing including Montessori ones.

Lived

Survived my last week of the spring 2011 semester. I am also no longer a Junior, woohooo here goes my first Senior year. Oh and i kicked that stupid 12 lesson plan finals butt 80 pages (yes, 80 full pages) later i was done with it forever! Oh and grades came out. 3-A's and 2-B's I was happy.

I got job and already got fired, but thats alright because Kaden decided he would move up in the world instead. Kaden got offered a job at the Iron mines last week. It is amazing how tithing blessings work and how the Lord truely knows our hearts and how much we can handle. Kaden came home in a melt down one night over how much he hated his job. My heart literally ached for him trying to imagine how unpleasant it is but I knew in the end everything would work out how it was supposed too. We truly are so blessed. Who could have imagened that just last year we were jobless and living in aunt dianes trailer just trying not kill one another.

2 weekends ago we went to California for my cousins wedding and to visit my other cousins. We were so grateful that we were able to go.  The wedding was beautiful and i absolutely loved the L.A. Temple, what a neat experience being able to attend temple weddings. The sealer really pointed out that you truly are in the presence of God and Angles in the sealing rooms, you can only imagine the spirit that is present there. The rest of the weekend was a blast! James and Justice just adore Kaden and it was so fun spending so much time with Jimi and Heather. We played games, shopped, ate until we literally couldn't anymore and watched the boys play some awesome baseball. They really are some great athletes.

Last Wednesday my mom went to the Hospital. I found out from a text from a neighbor that said I love you, let me know if there is anything i can do for your family. Instantly i though oh goodness Malcolm must have died. (He didn't and he is doing good). Sarah and i drove down to the valley though and after being in pain for awhile  my mom found it was a UTI and a Kidney stone. I honestly asked why in the world she got to be rushed in an ambulance to the hospital after probably 45 mins of pain when one time i had to endure a huge stone for 2 days before my mom would take me to the hospital and even then I got to wait in the er waiting room of UMC for 5 hours before i got any meds. My mom  said next time she would call the ambulance herself. I am just glad that she is feeling better and that she didn't have to feel pain for very long. Seriously Kidney stones are just ridiculous.

Loved

I love how in shape and how energetic i feel. I also love how happy i feel. This is getting personal and i am very hesitant to share this but i hope that no one judges me by this. I am not looking for sympathy or anything like that. I just think my posts would make more sense and so would all this working out. I started fertility hormones about 5 months ago and they have done a number on me. Between the hormones and then having to switch to birth control for a month my body has no idea how to handle itself. Also I can't take my migrane pills as often in case by some miracle I do end up pregnant so running is my only way to control that. But really I am now doing at least 60 mins of cardio and working on going to the gym at least twice a day. I'm praying these endorfens I'm releasing kick those hormones butts.

(I wrote this over a week ago and forgot to post. So sorry if the timing is confusing.)

Feeling a little sarcastic lately

Learned

Tuition has gone up and pell grants didn't, Woo Hoo! (i hope you can hear the sarcasm in my voice)
Thats right we now have to save 800 a month for the rest of the summer to pay for school next year, Yes! (again sarcasm)

Grace does not like ice cream
Ha seriously what kid is not a huge fan of ice cream? I tried to get her some like 5 times and she never wanted any.

Kaden is super grumpy when he works on Saturdays
I haven't been home with Kaden when he has had to work a Saturday for so long that i forgot that asking him out on a date would only end in a fight. Kaden needs food and sleep before i get to spend time with him after work.

Lived

Started Job Hunting
I seriously started job hunting again last week. I absolutely love my job, but with our high rise in needed savings a second job seems essential. If anyone knows of job out there that i should apply for, please tell me.

Laura and Grace Time
Grace got to come stay with us last Thursday  night. I loved it! I have so much fun with her and she always has something to say, it is so entertaining. Thursday  night we watched Tangled (it was my first time) and the Friday we went to Kaden's Aunt Tami's funeral. Then we got some soda's went to the dollar store and played at an awesome park. We had a blast!

Taught my 5th grade practicum for the last time.
Which could only mean the semester is almost over. Yes! for that. I am so ready to have 3 weeks of school. That is right, my break this year is only 3 weeks long. I start up 10 summer credits in June. I am thinking i am in desperate need of a lap top, anyone want to donate one to a poor college student?

Loved

Coming home to a clean house
Wednesday night and Thursday morning Kaden and I deep cleaned our entire house. Now i have been a freak about keeping everything looking amazing! I have done the dishes like 3 times and scrubbed the counters every night. That honestly is like some sort of record for me. It has been so nice actually working towards my goal of having a clean and organized house where the spirit can be.

Working Out
I broke down and started working out at Gold's again. I swore once in my life that i never would again, but already the results have been amazing. I do way more cardio since i can watch tv while doing it and there are way more machines to work with. I haven't weighed myself yet but i am pretty sure i have already lost a few pounds, at least thats what my pants are telling me anyways.

Spending some extra time with my husband
I got my hours cut at work last week so it freed up some time for me to be at home. Kaden was home a lot when i was and it was really nice. We cleaned together, and watched some netflix together. It was pretty nice.

Be Positive and Turn to The Lord

Learned

Trust my husband, somehow he knows what is right.

I told Kaden that i didn't want to go to Logandale this weekend. He said no we are. Our car breaks down and luckily he and his dad can fix it there. We would have been down to 1 car for a while if we were home.

Be positive and Turn to the Lord.

 I have honestly been striving to be more like Julie. These are the first two ways.

Lesson Plans do not write themselves.

I still have 12 out of 12 lesson plans to go for my final in two weeks.

Lived

Julies funeral

I stayed in Logandale for several days last weekend. It was such a tender blessing to me to have been a part of everything. I felt the realness of how thin the vale is as i prepared pictures and food for the services. I also was asked by Malcolm to take pictures so the boys can have some idea of what was going on. It was something i never thought i could do but i am grateful for the task that he gave to me. 

Catching up in my classes

I was so far behind in my classes from the funeral and missing for other things that i desperately needed to catch up. I put myself into working mode and got everything caught up except for my final due in two weeks, woo hoo!

Cleaned out my closet and bedroom

Our room for some reason has turned into a disaster and my closet was even worse. Somehow on Saturday i decided i would tackle it and get organized. It is amazing the difference i feel when i am in there. I found this scripture on a piece of paper while i was going through stuff. This is totally my goal for now on.

organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God (D&C 88:119).

Loved

My blue wall

Kaden wasn't able to come with me to the Valley for the funeral, this really upset me and i was pretty mad at his boss but i got over that as soon as i got home Monday night and saw that Kaden had started painting our bedroom. Ill post pictures as soon as its done. My one blue wall makes me very very happy.

Reading this book

Jeffery R. Holland has a new book out. It is small and it is simple, but it has comforted me in ways that you would not believe. I have really been through a lot of personal trials lately that i wont share but know that as hard as your trials may be and as lonely as you may feel at time you are not alone and other are going through hard things too. I honestly feel so blessed for all that i have. I am loved by an amazing husband who is supportive and caring. I have an amazing family and i have good friends. This book has honestly helped me to have so much more perspective on how i should feel each day.

Queen of Procrastinating

Here is a little list of what i have to do tonight, and instead i am procrastinating and writing it on my blog.

Engl 2900- 

3 page paper critiquing the two best and worst teaching sample lessons from the semester

and

Study for the pedagogy quiz that i have in class tomorrow. ( i haven't even glanced at my notes)

EDRD 3900-

Read chapter 11, write notes, and study for quiz in the morning.

and

Write at least 3 Journal entries for practicums.

ELED 4000-

Look up state standards for lesson, write out rough draft of lesson plan.

This quote has been on mind. Hope it brings comfort to you as well. :)

If for awhile the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived. 

- Jefferey R. Holland

Julie Kirk

So i had a very long post written out about the events of finding out and telling katie and spending time with the Kirks. Instead i feel it to be more appropriate to keep this short and sweet. 

This was Julie's facebook post the night before she passed.

Just have to say that life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful, and mine is sure wonderful. Feeling extra blessed, loved, and thankful today! Yay for 

conference weekend, so excited!!! I love my friends!

With everything that was going on in her life, Julie Kirk was so optimistic. I can not imagine being in her shoes and finding so much joy in the small things. I hope to one day be as loving, kind, generous, beautiful, spiritual, and uplifting as Julie. I hope to be as great of wife, daughter, mother, and friend as her as well. I have looked up to Julie ever since i first met her. Any woman who can raise four boys is amazing. It has truly been a blessing in my life to have been able to be so close to her and her family. Julie practically helped raised my youngest sister Katherine and has always made me feel truly special. Every time i got to see her i knew i was loved. The past couple of years it has been very neat for me to see Julie and her family grow so near to the Lord. At one point i can remember having the opportunity to kneel for bedtime prayer with her and her family. This was right after one of Malcum's surgeries. I remember being so overwhelmed with the spirit there in Julie and Malcum's bedroom. After i left i emailed Julie and told her of the strong spirit that dwelled in their home. I told her that the only time i have ever felt angels so near and the spirit so strongly was in the Celestial room of the Temple. Julie's home was and is holy place filled with angels. I have felt it to be such a tender blessing to spend so much time with her family the past few days. I hope that i have been a help for them as they have been for me. My heart and prayers are with Malcum, Lance, Bryce, Chase, Pierce, Grandma Handy and the rest of the family. I am so grateful for the knowledge i have of my Heavenly Father, I am so blessed to know of his plan and to know with out a doubt that if we live righteously here on this earth will be in the Lord's presence. If anyone is worthy of residing with the Lord it is Julie and i can not wait for the day that we will meet again.

Catching Up

The past couple of weeks have been crazy, i have worked almost 40 weeks and been catching up with school and we have gone to the Valley every weekend for awhile. Here are just a few quick updates.



Lived- 

I went to Logandale for part of spring break and hung out with my family.

I have been working a ton and skipping a couple classes to do it. This is ending this week.

Kaden and I have spent a lot of time in the valley and guess what, Kaden is actually working on the Bronco, Woo Hoo its a miracle!

Drove to Sundance for conference weekend to pick up my little sister and visit my cousins and uncle.

Loved-

Cuddling with Kaden at the end of the day and watching The Pacific together.

Went on a little date with Kaden to Serendipity. Carrot Cake and Black/White Sunday Yummmm!

Learned-

Do not wipe bugger noses with out washing your hands immediately! (Sinus infection, again.)

Costco on Saturday's is worse than Vegas traffic in rush hour. My Tom's got ran over a billion times.

If you want to work out, be prepared to not fit into your size 26 Jeans :( pure muscle legs and up a pant size.

Do not drive a Honda Pilot that isn't 4wd down an icy hill, you will have to gravel the entire thing. (this happened while i was in sundance.)

Family is the very most important thing we have here in this life, and it is all we can take with us.

Puppy Love

Loved- Saturday morning Nancy and I went out garage selling. There really was not much that was any good, but i did find something pretty amazing at a place we didn't even stop. We did a "drive by" and i saw a woman holding a little puppy. Instantly i knew i needed it, or someone needed it ha but i had to cuddle with it. So after Nancy took me back to my parents i gathered up my sisters to go to breakfast and made a little stop on the way. There was one puppy left and it was a miniature dachshund for a super price. Yes, we took it home. Meet Delilah, or Lilah for short. She is absolutely perfect. So perfect, that i kept her with me all day, and took her to the family bbq (which was awesome by the way. It was so great to see everyone.)

 Seriously these two photos (above and below) are two of my favorite pictures ever! I have already made frames for them and i am so putting them in my living room as soon as i get back to Cedar. (I am in the valley for spring break woo hoo!)

 Annie and Tara i have a few more pictures of your girls. I just need to go through them still.

 ha ha Alaynna overload, but she is so adorable and was my little buddy the other night.

Boxes are the Best!

Lived- This was such a great week at work except for the constant migraines i had. Monday morning i went downstairs and instantly got excited. This great huge box was down there for the kids to play with, and even though i might have been more excited about the box than they were at first, they have had a blast every day with it, and yes it is totally still alive. I have fixed it up with some duck tape every once and a while but i am making this baby last as long as possible. There is nothing better than a little creative play time with a huge box!

Besides box time, nap time has been amazing too! Seriously this quickest way for a child to melt my heart is to fall asleep in my arms. I love nap time, not just because the kids fall asleep, but because they are tired and sweet and it is almost like magic when 6 kids in one room are all quiet and listening to a story.

Overly Obsessive

Learned- Well i learned absolutely nothing in school this past week. Honestly, i could not focus at all. I was so ready for spring break its ridiculous. I did learn though that i am a little obsessive about a few things right now.

1. Getting my thighs to shrink, seriously my butt and thighs aren't fitting into my pants because they are too muscular. This is a serious problem because i am not giving up my designer jeans for anything. So  to fix this little problem i have been doing lunges and ball work outs and staying at the gym for like 2 hours, someone please help me with this (telling me i am already thin or look great does not help the problem) and sorry if there is anyone out there who wants to shoot me for posting this.

2. I want a car very badly, i am not quite sure why this has hit me right now but i am terribly sick of my Saturn, the poor thing is sick of me too. We have been through way too much and together for way too long. So i spend my nights designing my dream cars on the ford website and then crying because i cant afford a 30,000 dollar car. So i have settled for a used 10,000 car that yes i still can't afford for like the next 5 years.

3.Figuring out what to do with school. After this semester i will be like 9 credits into my senior year and then i will still have 2 more years to go. Yes, two more years. Ah i know i made the choice to go slow, but since i have decided this i have been debating on focusing on early childhood or English and literature. So far i have switched my focus 3 times and my major twice since starting school back at UNLV. Well, I am switching again. Hopefully this will be the last time. On Sunday while sitting in church i realized that everyone woman in the education world that i hope to be like someday has majored or had something to do with early childhood. The more i pondered this, i thought about why and well that is because there is so much to be learned from children especially in the early years. I think i will really enjoy this change.

So basically besides learning that i work out too much, can't afford the car i want, and that i need to change my focus once again, i have learned that i am totally overly obsessive over things that i really shouldn't worry so much about.

Oh i almost forgot, i also learned to never where this outfit or any outfit like it, while driving Luke's truck or any truck for that matter, again. This was quite the adventure. 

Awkward Gym Moments

I literally have so many awkward moments at the gym that i think i should post them. They are always pretty funny and the majority of the time at my expense.

Im on the elliptical, earphones in, YouTube on, and set for a 45 minute run on a level 10. I just took a migraine pill full of caffeine was feeling a little ambitious and in a really good mood. So i noticed this guy next to me was on his cell phone walking on the treadmill when i first got on. 10 minutes into my oh so amazing workout i hear this guy say, i really should record this for you, i have never seen anything like this before. I am thinking what in the world is he talking about and just go back to dancing to my song, yes that is right, did you catch that? He was totally talking about me, i was dancing to this music video and yes just like Leighton, (Summer Girl by Leighton Meester) while on the elliptical and didn't even notice. Oh goodness its a good thing i'm already married.

(And this is what 4 miles in 40 minutes while dancing looks like in the end)

A Little Note for My Amazing Husband

May you always know that you are not alone, 

that in fact you are very deeply Loved.

(Sappy i know, but i just found this going through pictures and i love it.)

Writing With Purpose

This weekend as I was thinking about all of the things I needed to do during the week, updating the blog was at the top of the list. Writing is such an outlet for me and I absolutely love it but sometimes I feel like there is no purpose to my blog. All I do on it is write out these huge stories about the exciting things that happen and I am probably the only person who finds them exciting. So for the sake of my own sanity I decided to have a purpose I. What I write. Each week I plan to have at least 3 posts. Learned, Lived, and Loved. Each post should be about something from that week that kaden or I (probably I more than Kaden) have well learned, lived, or loved. I also plan on writing out things that help me know more about myself, I'm am pretty much a selfish blogger and kinda think somedays I'm the only person that looks at my blog anyways.

Here's My Learned, Lived, and Loved for last week.

Learned- It is way smarter to take 13-15 credits and have time to breathe and graduate a semester later than taking 18 and wanting to kill yourself (just a little dramatic) every single day. Yea, I dropped a class, but I can finally breathe again.

Lived- Saturday morning My Mom, Sarah, Katie, and I packed up and headed to Great uncle Joes 90th birthday. (so not even a joke ha ha) he is the oldest son of 12 kids. On our way there we picked up my cousin Brian and his wife Tiffany. Then we stopped by temple square. There happened to be like 10 brides there and I happened to have my camera. Would it be terrible I happened to post the pictures I very conspicuosly took of them on my website? Ha ha.

Loved- I am totally in love with sappy make me cry chick flicks lately, and Friday Night Lights (the show) totally falls into this category. I finished all of the seasons on Friday and I cried because I don't have anymore to watch. Uh then I watched Country Strong. All I have to say is you will listen to the music non stop after you see it.

 

2 Years and San Francisco

Kaden and I have been married for two years now! I can not believe how fast time has gone by. When we were first got married we talked about things we wanted to do in the next 2 years. Pretty much i can only remember a few of them because of course we are terrible at writing anything down or making goals, so they were just ideas. The ones i remember were that we will buy a house, i will be graduating, we will start having kids, We will both have awesome cars, and i am sure being ridiculous rich was somewhere in there too since we thought we would be having kids ha. Luckily we do own our very own amazing house, but everything else is still a ways away. Ha i am now not graduating until April of 2013, we probably wont have kids for awhile, i am driving the same car that i had in high school and Kaden no longer has his awesome truck and we really are about as poor as possible with going to school and owning a house, but we absolutely love our lives together right now! We were just talking last night about how weird it was that just last year we were living in Aunt Diannes trailer fighting over who got to take a shower first because there was only enough hot water to last for one person. We have had some pretty good experiences and some really hard times but we both agree that we wouldn't trade the past two years for anything because we have both learned so much and grown up so much. Honestly if the first 2 years of your marriage really are supposed to be your hardest then we have succeeded and i can not wait to see how awesome the rest of marriage is.


San Francisco! Yes, again. I know we go all of the time but that is because we love it! And it helps that is pretty inexpensive, and very easy to get around, and there is quite a bit to do. This time we went with my family. It wasn't really an anniversary trip but it was fun going with my parents and sisters. We did a lot of shopping and a lot of eating. Honestly i crave the food there so much and all i have wanted since got home is some good soup, since we really ate soup like every day. Before we went i had been pretty sick, all of the kids at work were sick, and our home teachers brought their daughter over who had croup. So the day we left i actually felt a lot better, until we got on the plain. I had no idea that flying when you were sick could be such a miserable experience. I literally felt like i had been punched in the face once we landed in San Francisco and our first night there i ended up having to go to an emergency doctors visit. I had a sinus infection and he said i was lucky that i my ear drum didn't explode from the plain ride. I ended being on a ridiculous amount of medication and Afrin 5 times a day the hole time we were so i would be able to fly home.  That was not the best experience, but i learned a lot of awesome tricks to keep from getting sick from the doctor. He was expensive but the best doctor i had ever been too. Not even kidding if we ever end up moving to San Francisco he will totally be my main doctor. Anyways, more about San Francisco. On Friday we got to see Mary Kate and Allen, and it was so much fun catching up with them. We walked around the warf with them and then later that night my sisters went shopping while the rest of us snacked at a little bar in union square. We had a lot of fun spending the day with them, i know Sarah misses Mary Kate so much so it was so nice to see them. Dad did a little splurging on the trip and bought all of us girls including Mary Kate and Grandma  a pearl from one of those pearl places were we choose an oyster and open it up yourself. It was fun doing that and all of pearls turned out different, it was pretty cool. Saturday my dad and hannah and katie went to the exploritorium while me, my mom, kaden and sarah got on a bus and road out to the beach. Kaden and I had never been to that part of town and it was such a nice day it was perfect. We went to the cliff house and took pictures, and we ate lunch at a little hotel cafe that was right across from the beach. They had the best chicken strips Kaden and I have ever had. After that we met up with my dad and the girls at the Golden Gate bridge. We took the bus,and they walked the entire way from the exploritorium, i have no idea how they did it because it really is probably like a 5 mile walk all along the beach and then up a huge steep hill. They were troopers though and were still ready to eat at Scomas after. Sunday we just hung out around Union Square. Kaden and my mom and i fell in love with Bristol Farms and searched around in there for awhile. It is like a miniature whole foods and we bought some of the weirdest stuff to eat before we got on the plain, including chocolate covered bacon. No one liked it except for Sarah. Our flight back was nice, i had to wear an earplug for the flight and until we got back to the valley but i slept almost the entire time and that is always nice. Kaden and I had so much fun and we have a hole list of ideas for next time we go, but we decided we will never do a midsemester trip again. It was way too hard trying to catch up once we  got home, and the next family trip we do, we are thinking a cruise would be nice. :)