Sicky Poo Jax

I'm sick. I really hope it isn't swine flu. I feel awful. On top of that I have a butt load of school work to do and I really just want to lay here and be miserable with the delightful company of my sweet doggies. They always make me happy no matter what.

I am almost through with James E. Talmage's Jesus The Christ. It is by far the most informative and well written book I have yet to read. It is amazing. I am learning so much about Christ which is making me really feel as though I know him. I have never really had a problem believing that Jesus is the Christ, but I did have a problem feeling like I knew him personally and that I loved him. I mean sure I loved him because of what he did but to really know and love the man was something else... This book has helped me to get to that point and I am very grateful for it.

I am also reading Glenn Beck's Arguing with Idiots. It is very informative and simply hilarious. Glenn Beck is so funny to me. I really like the layout of the book as well. It keeps me interested.

In school right now I am taking Environmental Law, Introduction to United States Government and Politics, and Microeconomics. It is kind of cool because they all supplement each other. What I learn in one class I learn in another.

I am going to walk my sick self out to the mailbox and then come back in and recover from the cold.

Merry Christmas from the Masons

I finished my 17 credits on December 9, 2009. It was 10 and a half weeks of hell but I finished with 4 As and I could not be happier. Right now I am really enjoying my break. It is awesome to not have to think. I don't think I could have handled another single minute of school work. My brain was about to explode. I will never take that many credits again. I am in no hurry so I do not know why I did that in the first place. At least my grades did not suffer from my over load. Right now General and I are making Christmas ornaments. They are delightfully tacky.\ General is so good at it is disgusting. The first one, the pink one is mine. The other two are Generals but the one with the heart is not finished yet.

My First 10K

I was pleased with how buff my legs look in these photos. Craig took these with his new BlackBerry. Horray for Blackberries. YaY! So anyway, the race was pretty hard because it was super duper uphill but then it was downhill on the way back. When it was all said and done I finished the race and ate some celebratory cantaloupe afterward. If you would have asked me two years ago if I'd EVER run a 10K I would have said you were nuts. Now look at me! WooT! I love it. I am a running fool! Now I deserve a freaking cookie.

How I like my Jesus

10K Route

Severed Heads

Madison and I are going to attempt to make severed heads out of papier mache wrapped balloons. Hopefully they will totally rock. Madison is going to be my fellow cauldron stirring witch. We should totally get matching outfits. That would be so awesome.

I just finished Glenn Beck's Common Sense and it rocked my face off. He is so smart and really gives it to me straight. I saw a sign that said, "Fox News: Modern Day Paul Revere" or something like that. I think it was worded cooler but that was the gist. So I figured that Glenn Beck's book was going to be totally far RIGHT but he is totally independent. He insists that both sides are leading our country down the drain and calls America to action, but certainly not arms. It is an excellent little book that can be found for 8 bucks in Wal-Mart's best seller section. Beck's Common Sense is first followed by Thomas Paine's Common Sense to finish up the rest of the book. Another awesome bit from Glenn Beck is his conversion story called, "An Unlikely Mormon". This video made me laugh, made me cry...it is wonderful. It is very heartfelt but also entertaining. I dig it.

My Best Friend Colleen

I have found in trying to write about Craig's baptism and about the very sacred things that I have experienced lately that I am unable to do so. I am unable to express myself when it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, I just read a blog post from my dearest friend Colleen Kelly in which she "likens the scriptures unto us". I read this once to myself and once to Craig. It proved far more difficult to read it out loud. Please follow the link in the title and read this wonderful post. It is a talk she gave in church. Oh how I would have loved to have been there to hear it from her own mouth.

Going to the Temple

Craig and I are getting our Patriarchal Blessings in a couple of weeks. We are both giddy with excitement and anticipation. It will be an awesome experience I am sure. We will also be going to the Temple shortly to do baptisms for the dead. This will be Craig's first time going to the temple and my first time in ten years. I am so excited to be there for Craig's first time. I think he is going to be so smitten with the Temple that he will want to go all the days of his life. I know I want to go as often as possible. The greatest thing will be when we get to go in a year to be sealed. I love him so much and am very excited to be sealed to him for time and all eternity. Our lives are headed in such an awesome direction.

I got to talk to Colleen today which was awesome. I hope there is some life altering event (a good one like marriage or a birth) that brings us into each other's presence once again. I love being around her and just seeing her bright smiling face. I have always loved her and know that I always will. We are truly sisters by choice.

I ordered myself an Oregon State Beavers hoodie which I will proudly sport this winter season. I am so happy to finally be going to OSU. I am going to look rockin' awesome in my black cap and gown with my honors tassel! WOOT! That is my grand master plan anyway. I wanted to be valedictorian but you have to have attended the same school all four years in order to qualify. Since I attended Ashford University for my first two years I am automatically ruled out. That bites because I have been working hard to get all 100s.

I ran six miles yesterday to make sure I was able to do it before my big 10K run this Saturday. I know I won't win the race but I am just hoping I am not last. That would bite. I am a slow runner. I guess I am more of a jogger but it certainly feels like running to mine own widdol self! Snoop is finally slimming down and now winter is sneaking up on us again and he will not be getting much exercise. Hopefully having the puppy will keep him running around in circles for a while. I don't want him to have the health problems that come with being overweight. I need him to live a super long doggy life. He is my canine soul mate.

Craig and I are putting on a haunted house for the church kids. I might have already written about that. It should be awesome. We are going to make it progressively scarier so that kids of all ages can enjoy it. I just hope it is not super cheesy. I want it to be scary for the teenagers. That will likely prove difficult to do. I think if we can get enough people jumping out of dark places in the basement we should have a successful night.

I met this one family in the church, the Hill family, and they are awesome. Denise is young and sweet and I just simply adore her. She is just my kind of people. Her and her husband Travis have four kids all of whom are awesome. The youngest one, Avery, hugged me before I left their house on Sunday and said, "I LOVE YOU!" in her sweet little voice. It was awesome. Madison is going to dress up like a witch (so am I) on Halloween and stir root beer in a cauldron full of dry ice. It should be fun. She has a ton of ideas for the haunted house which I am going to put to good use. The oldest boy, Taylor, looks uncannily like this portrait of a little dead boy hanging in my entry way. The painting is old and looks as though it might have been painted after the kid was already dead. It is eerie. Taylor is going to be the haunted house tour guide. Then there is sweet Chance who is worried he is going to be too scared to participate. He is so sweet. We have a good role for him that shouldn't be too terrifying.

I almost just lost this whole post but thank goodness blogger now auto saves drafts! PHEW! Okay I think that is my cue to sign off. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

Movie Night

Craig and I just went to see Inglorious Basterds. It was good. It was a nice change from typical Nazi movies where they try and try to get Hitler and never do all for him to wind up offing himself in the end. I have the next two days off which I plan to spend making Halloween decorations for the Haunted House Craig and I are planning. Hopefully we will be scaring the creepers out of all our church kids. Yay! It should be a blast. I might as well title my posts, Dear Chavonne, because I think you are the only one who actually reads this thing. I appreciate it! haha.

Craig's Baptism

I won't go into too much detail on here because it was a very special experience that could only be shared by being present. It was a weekend we will remember for all eternity. Craig's baptism and confirmation was a spiritually moving...rather, JOLTING experience. I am such a happy woman. Our lives have taken on new meaning and new direction. We have so much to look forward to in this life and in the next. We are going to be getting our Patriarchal Blessings hopefully within the next several weeks. In a year we will be sealed in the Temple in Hawaii for time and all eternity. My Daddy will be there to witness that union as well. I just simply could not be happier. I never honestly thought that Craig would join the church. I was such a bad example of what a Latter Day Saint should be for so long. I am glad he did not discount the church based on my previous affiliations with it. I know Craig was taking a "leap of faith" in getting baptized and I know that it was worth it because it worked. I don't think either one of us were prepared for the awesome power that is the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful time to be experiencing in our lives. We are both truly happy and truly blessed. It is so awesome to notice all the other positive changes that are accompanying Craig's baptism as well as my own conversion. It is as if a whole new world has been opened up to us, indeed it has.

I love Craig with all my heart. He is so awesome.