September 28, 2011 - 11:11 P.M

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!! On September 28, 2011 at 11:11 P.M the man of my dreams got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and I said YES!!! Here is the story... Jared works down in Idaho Falls so on this day I decided to go down to Idaho Falls with him and hang out with my soon to be sister-in-law Kinzie while Jared was at work. So he dropped me off and took of with his brother. While Jared was at work me and Kinzie decided we wanted to do a craft so we went and got everything we needed to make a flower ball (which took us forever to figure it out) Anyway while me and Kinzie were making our craft and watching t.v her husband Daniel and Ben said they were going to finish painting the dining room, Daniel had come up with this idea to put sheets up to keep the smell in the room so we wouldn't have to smell it, I bought it, I thought it was a great idea, and as far as I could tell it was working! So finally later that night Jared got off work and he came in and warmed up some food and ate his dinner, we were just sitting there when all the sudden Daniel looks at Kinzie and says, "When is this movie suppose to be back?" Kinzie said it was suppose to be back last night and that they needed to take it back now and then Ben looked at his watch and said, "It's 11:00 I need to get home and go to bed I have to get up early for work." So then he left and then Kinzie and Daniel were both gone and I was still oblivious just sitting there still watching t.v when all the sudden Jared looks at me and says, "come on lets go." I was so confused at where he wanted to go and then he grabbed my hand and took me over to the dining room and pulled the sheet down, the room was covered in rose peddles and lights, and our song was playing. (Always will be yours by T.J McCloud) Now a little background on this part, while me and Jared were dating we would always make wishes at 11:11 and a long time ago I made a wish that Jared would dance with me to that song, cuz I know how much he loves to dance :) So he told me that he was making that wish come true. So we danced and he said I want to make that wish come true to always be yours and then he got down on one knee at exactly 11:11 and asked me to marry him, and I said yes!

Take two things I love and this is what you get!

Two things that I love are volleyball and coaching, now add 12 crazy, energetic, great girls and you end up with one fun season! I coached the 8th grade South Fremont volleyball team! Go Lady Cougars, Hoorah! (that was their favorite cheer) along with "south side south gangstas!" Haha I had a lot of fun coaching these girls they always made me laugh and we had a good time! Here are some pictures of my team they are a little dark but they will have to do.

Labor Day

I know I am a little bit behind but I wanted to share some fun pictures from Labor Day. On Labor Day we took our four wheelers up in the mountains and had a great time! It was really dusty but we still had fun! Here are some pictures from the day.

COUSINS!!!!

Growing up I spent a lot of time with my cousins and they became some of my very best friends! Luckily we have all stayed close through out the years. Yesterday Kayla and Tayler were in town so we got all the older cousins together and went to dinner at Wingers. Here is a picture of us all after dinner!

As I was downloading this picture I thought it would be fun to put up some old pictures of us growing up together.

 This is me, Kayla, Scott, Tayler, Ryan and Derek. I can't quite remember what we were doing but I am sure it was fun!

Halloween!  Tayler, Kayla, Ashlie, Scott, Staci, and Kylie

This is all of us at my baptism

Scott and Tayler best buds

Us girls, aren't we soo cute and so young!

I couldn't resist, I had to put this one up of me and Ky its one of my favorites!

Family Kickball!!

If you know my family you know we love to get together and play games! This is one of the many many reasons why I absolutely LOVE my family! This Sunday we all got together and for dessert and even though it had been raining a little bit we put together a kickball game! Here are some pictures...

                 Yes! That is my grandma pitching!!!

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!! My grandparents are just the GREATEST!!

                I am getting ready to kick a home run!!

        Grandma and McKenna! I think this picture is so cute!!!

      This is everyone that played minus a few that had to leave early

I am Grateful!

I am sitting at work and it is a slow day, so I stated looking at peoples blogs and at my own, I decided it was time for a new post but what should I write about?? Besides school being out and starting back at Valley Wide I don't have a lot going on. So I thought it would be fun to make a list of things that I am grateful for and I wantd to see if I could come up with something for every letter in the alphebet, so here is what I came up with!
A: Atonememnt of Jesus Christ! The Atonement holds a very special place in my heart, it has helped me through some of the toughest times in my life!
B: Boys!! Yes I am grateful for the boys in my life!! I have the most awesome boys in my life that are worthy to hold the priesthood and are ready and willing to use it! :)
C: Cars. I am grateful that I have a car and way to transport myself to and from places!
D: Daddy daughter dates!! Me and my dad have seen EVERY Harry Potter movie toghether, now that they are done we are going to have to find other date night movies! :)
E: Earth! I love this earth, it is beautiful and perfect!!!
F: Family!!! I could go on and on and on about family!! My parents, brother, sister-in-law, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!! I love them all and they are some of my bestest best friends!!
G: Grandparetns!! My grandparents are the best they are so supportive of everything I do!
H: Home! I am so grateful for my home that I grew up in, a place to protect me from the ways of the world, and where I could be myself and feel of the love of my family!
I: Ice Ceam!! I love Ice cream, who doesn't?? It always picks me up when I am feeling down!!!
J: Jared!!! This boy makes me continually strive to be better! He brings out the best in me and is such a great example to me! I am so grateful to have him in my life!!!
K:Kylie! My best friend sice I can remember. I don't know of anyone that is as lucky as me, I mean how many people have a cousin who is thier best friend, someone you can tell absolutley anything to knowing you will not get judged! I am truly lucky!! :)
L: Love! Love is what makes the world go round!!!
M: My mom!! My mom has raised me into the person I am today. I am so grateful that she was able to be a stay at home mom and be with me as I grew up. My mom has sacrificed so much for me and taught me so much!!
N: Nail polish! I love having my toe nails painted! I luckily work at a spa so I get to change them often!!
O: Older brothers!! I have the best older brother in the world! We have so many fun memories growing up, and even though I got him in trouble when we were growing up (thats what little sisters are for) he still loves me anyway!
P: Prayer! I am so grateful that I can pray to my loving Heavenly Father night or day!! It is comforting to know that He hears and answers my prayers!!
Q: Quilts, a few years ago my friend Whitney helped me make a quilt and I have made a few since, although I am not very good at it they are fun to make and I love the final product!
R: Rainbows! Rainbows are just so pretty! I love all the colors especially blue!! :)
S: Sundays!! I love Sunday, 1. because I get to renew my baptismal covenants and 2. It is a family day, no one has to work or go anywhere so it is a day that we usually sit down and play cards!
T: Trials and Testimonies! I had to put these two together because of the trials I have had in my life I have a stronger testimony. So as hard as I think my trials are I am grateful for them because they strengthen me and they show the trust that God has in me that I can get through them, and I am thankful for my testimony because it is a blessing in my life to know the truthfulness of the gospel.
U: Umbrellas! They keep you dry from the rain and can shade you from the sun! :)
V: Volleyball!! I LOVE volleyball!!! I am grateful for the talent that I have been given to be able to participate in my favorite sport ever!!
W: Work! I am so very grateful that I have a job! There are so few out there these days and I am grateful that I have one!
X: X-rays... I don't know any other X words but x-rays show us how medical findings have improved over the years and they continue to imporve everyday
Y: Yards, and not just any yard but my backyard! My mom and dad have worked hard on our yard and it is perfect for outdoor parties!
Z: ZOO!! Yes I love the zoo! I think it is such a fun place to go and just have a fun day! I love looking at the animals especially the monkeys!!

" We lost the game but won everything else"

So this semester I was able to have the opportunity to coach a girls basketball team at BYU-Idaho. At first I wasn't too excited because I didn't think I had enough time to coach, but it was one of the best things I have ever done. We by far had the BEST team in the league!!! We had the funnest girls on our team, not to mention the most talented as well! I was also lucky enough to coach with two of my fellow teammates and two of my best friends, Andy and Chalyse! We could not have had a better season! We made it to the championship game but lost by six, but as a team we agreed that we gained so much more than we ever could have by winning that last game. I stole my title from one of the girls on our team,"We lost the game but won everything else" I couldn't have said it better myself. So many great friendships were formed and strengthened from this season, something that any win could not have done! I love these girls!!!!!

GIRLS NIGHT!!!

Every girl needs a girls night every once in a while and I am lucky enough to get to have girls nights with theses two girlies!!! We had a night full of fun and laughter!! We went to dinner at Gringos and after that we couldn't decide what we wanted to do so we went to the park to people watch...while we were there we saw a couple getting ready to finger paint when we had the idea to fill balloons with paint and throw darts at them!! It was so much fun, here are some pictures from our night!

 Eating dinner at Gringos!!!!

           Yes we were wearing garbage bags to protect our clothes!

         Filling the balloons with paint... worst part of the project!

                      We are so excited to get started!!!

                                      Final result!!!!

A Day At The Zoo

Today I went with my Aunt Allison and her two kids Justin and Megan to the zoo! It was a little cold but we had a good time. Megan's favorite animal was the baby kitty's and Justin liked the BIG snake! We had fun looking at all the animals and we especially had fun feeding the birds!

Greatly Needed!

This week I had this video shared with me twice. The first time I heard it I was somewhat distracted and had other things on my mind as I watched it but I heard a few good points that I really liked. But then again today on Sunday it was shared in Relief Society, and when I realized it was the same video I took it as a sign that there was something that I needed to hear, and I was right! This video is amazing and if you have a few minutes to watch it you will not regret it...I promise!

Why Finding Joy in the Journey?

So my friends Chalyse and Mikaela finally convinced me to start a blog... I have always been a little hesitant on starting one because I thought it was a "married persons" thing, but I have come to realize that it is not and this can be a great journal for me! I realize that most peoples first posts are about how they have no clue what they are doing, well this is true for me too, but I would like my first post to tell you all why my title is "Finding Joy in the Journey."

"Finding Joy in the Journey" by President Thomas S. Monson is one of my absolute favorite talks ever! He starts his talk by saying that we will all have changes come into our lives, its going to happen, some of these changes are good and we are excited for, but some are unexpected and unplanned. We must continue to move forward, to take chances. This is our one shot at mortal life, we have to give it all we have! We have to find joy in our journey! President Monson talks a lot about not putting things off for tomorrow, live for today! So that is why "Finding Joy in the Journey" is the title of my blog, to remind me that changes will come my way, heartache and pain may knock at my door, but I must move forward because the future is bright, and no matter what I can find joy in the simple things of life!