Sunday Night Photographs

Here's just a little peak of what we've been up to this week. 

Sunday Night Pictures

I was editing some photos tonight and realized I never shared some from our nightmare road trip. Despite the fact that I will never ever drive from Utah to Michigan and back again, it did produce some really pretty pictures. 

Conference Weekend! Yay!

This weekend was Conference weekend! And it was my first General Conference in Utah. T's mom got us tickets to the Saturday morning session. I can't tell you how blessed I felt that I got to go to a session my very first year in Utah. We got up far too early and got there far too early (I blame my mother for making me paranoid about being late to everything. ;) ) But it was way cool. 

I got to hear a Prophet speak. I got to hear the second Provo Temple announced and felt the goosebumps when the entire conference center gasped at the same moment. It was a pretty gosh darn good session, and it was only the first one!! 

I had a lot of 'favorite' talks this conference. I always do. I can usually find inspiration from all of the talks but President Uchtdorf's talk on Saturday morning was one of the best. (I about jumped out of my seat when he was introduced. He's one of my favorite general authorities.) 

Some of my notes from that talk (these aren't direct quotes, but close to them. I didn't edit anything that I put in my journal) :

We are nothing compared to God, but to God we are everything.
No matter how meager your appearance, you are not invisible to Heavenly Father. He knows your humble heart and he cares for you.
What you experience now is not what it is going to be what it's like forever. 

God sees you as his child. You matter to him. 

How awesome is it to think about those things? We DO matter to Him. No matter how forgotten, invisible, or sad you feel, you are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You will not be sad forever. 

Another one of my favorite talks was by Elder Niel Anderson. It was about the family, children and motherhood. His talk gave me two of my favorite quotes: 

"Motherhood is not a hobby. It is a calling." 

&

"Having children is not something you do if you have time, having children is what God gave you time for." 

I cannot wait to be a mother. I can't wait to start a family. Elder Andersen's talk reminded me of that and he reminded me of how important the family is to our happiness. 

In other picture related news, I failed to take ANY pictures of me & T at conference! Bummer dude! But here are some pictures from after. :)

Sunday morning, I watched the morning session by myself. It was nice to roll out of bed, roll onto the couch, turn on the TV and listen to amazing men and women teach me. I watched the afternoon session with T and his family. As much as I liked watching it alone, I like being with other people while watching conference too. :) 

We went on a little drive before dinner. Every day I have to pinch myself to remind myself that I do really live in this beautiful place. 

I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!!! :) 

just another day in paradise :)

Thanksgiving Point  is at the half-way point between T's house and mine and on Tuesday's they do this way sweet 'two dollar Tuesday' promotion where all of their venues are just 2 bucks to get into. Thanksgiving point is quite awesome for a girl that's new to Utah. They have a petting zoo of sorts, natural history museum, and a whole bunch of cute, touristy stuff. Including a garden. I have a thing about gardens. I'm obsessed with them and will one day have the prettiest garden in my neighborhood. ;) 

These gardens didn't disappoint either. 

What do you mean I don't leave for 2 weeks?!

First, let's get a few things out of the way. Once I tell you two facts about me, this entire post will make complete sense. First, I worry about pretty much everything. Worry isn't quite the word I'm looking for...stress...I stress over things. The second is that I get overwhelmed quickly when it comes to huge decisions/life changes/moving. Give me a panty bar to straighten or a fuming donor and I'm cool as a cucumber but when it comes to my personal life? I'm a slight mess sometimes. 

Now that you understand me, I can continue on with my story. I leave Michigan in 10 days (it's still really weird to think I'm moving so far away). I have to pack up my entire life, a dog, and a mom into my Escape and drive a whole lot of miles. Instant stress. The whole packing thing has got me worried. I attempted to begin packing my car today. I've already got pretty much everything in boxes from my Grand Rapids move, but I was still feeling way overwhelmed. 

I stopped. Then, Kelly and my mom came to my rescue (as always). My mom is a packing queen and she was bound and determined to get all of my stuff into my car. And wouldn't you know it, she did! I still have a bunch of stuff to fit, but we managed to fit all of the big stuff I wanted with me!!! 

 Thirty minutes later my car looked like this: 

Mom's magical packing skills

Charlie even got his own bedroom!

It just reminded me that I have to continue to have faith in myself, the people around me and in Heavenly Father. I was sure taught a lesson tonight: never underestimate the power of a mother. 

There's only a slight problem. I don't actually leave for another 10 days! My car is ready now and frankly, so am I! It's going to be hard driving around with these in my car, knowing that my adventure is so so so close. 

Oh, and to make today even better, we added a new family member to the household! Meet my nephew Frederick James Blueblood III: 

twenty days

I leave for Utah in a measly twenty days. 

TWENTY DAYS PEOPLE. 

To say I'm getting a little nervous would be an understatement. 

I've had zero second thoughts though.