Blog Bum

So I have decided that I desperately need to blog. I haven't done it in quite a while and I have to apologize for the lack of ambition in doing so. Thanks for all of you who gave me some good advice on my last blog post, it's always comforting to know that other's (not just me) have gone through the same trials and have overcome them. Just as an update, things are going better between my grandma and I, she even let me buy her lunch the other day!

Anyways part of the reason why I haven't blogged in so long is the fact that I have been insanely busy. From planning a wedding, to starting a new career, to even trying to purchase a house; life has been crazy! It's all happening at once!

Brandon graduated from Nuclear Medicine school in May. He actually got an award for "Top Nuclear Medicine Student", I'm proud to say he had the highest GPA in his class...what a stud! He got hired at both Banner Desert and Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center as a on-call tech. We are praying for a full time position opening soon!

Below is a couple pictures...

Here is a pic of the house we have a contract on.

It's very clean/cute inside. The only thing that has to go is the mint green countertops! Not really my style!

Here is a picture of the quilt I'm making for Brandon. It's a hunting quilt. This is what I do on the night's I have to stay up late for work. It keeps me sane. It's a very tedious process. I'm finished with the "cutting" part and now it's ready for the "sewing" part. I'm excited for the outcome.

Sorry that this blog is so boring. You'd think that with everything going on in our life there would be something other than boring to blog over, but really there ain't. I'm ready to get outdoors and go fishing or something. Usually this time of year Bran and I are up north catching trout or sitting a water hole watching a herd of elk come in to it. We've just been way too busy to enjoy these things. I miss it :( In the end, it just makes the simple things in life that much more special.

God Bless

Why does religion gotta be so complicated?

So I'm in need of some advice and comfort. Here's the deal, some of you may know the story and some of you may not. I was raised a Catholic girl. Went to church every sunday, went to sunday school every week, went on church retreats regularly, and even got confirmed as a Catholic. Up until a couple years ago I did everything a good Catholic does, but, I never felt right about the religion.
I started going to a non-denominational church. It was this church that changed my life. I felt a freedom I've never felt. I felt like I was closer to God than ever. This church didn't place judgements on people, anybody that entered its doors could get the body of christ (not just the members), I didn't have to confess my sins to a priest in order for them to "go away", I no longer felt guilty for my mistakes, but finally forgiven. There were no man made rules telling me what I could and couldn't do but rather it encouraged me to do what God wants me to do in life. A weight had lifted off my shoulders, and finally I felt like I was in the right place to finally grow in Christ.

So here's the problem. My Grandma on my mom's side is all about Catholicism. She doesn't know anything else but that religion. When Brandon asked me to marry him I had to make a very very hard decision, do I get married in the Catholic Church, or do I get married in the place I want to get married? With lots of prayers and lots of time, I decided that I needed to follow my heart and not get married in the Catholic Church. Telling my Grandma this was like putting a knife in her heart. She wouldn't talk to me for days, she wouldn't even tell me she loved me. This killed me because I was the closest granddaughter to her, and I am the first grand kid getting married.

Last weekend my family got together for my cousin's graduation. My grandma was there. She never asked about how Brandon was doing ( I think she thinks it is him who encouraged me to switch religion's). She has never once asked about the wedding. I would catch her staring at me throughout dinner (and it wasn't a nice stare). I'm just so depressed because I feel like an awful person to be putting my grandma through this, to let her down in such a way. My relationship with her is never going to be the same and that is what hurts me the most. I do know though that I would always regret my decision to get married in a Catholic Church. It would be hypocritical and wrong. I need some encouragement through this because it really gets me down. Sorry this is so long. I needed to get this out though.

Momma's Day

This blog is for my mom. I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful role model in my life. This woman is one of the most beautiful, hardworking, dedicated, and selfless people I have ever met. Her personality is contagious and any one who meets her falls in love. She is the prime example of love and I could never ask for more in a mother. I wanted to take the time to thank her for everything she does. Thanks mom for all the great advice you have given me throughout the years, thanks for having the ears to listen when I'm feeling down and the wise words to speak to lift me up, thanks for the discipline when I needed it, thanks for the humor that made me laugh until I cried, thanks for not only keeping your marriage but also making marriage look easy, thanks for all the great memories you have given me, thanks for always being yourself, thanks for putting Christ in my life, but most of all, thank you for your friendship. You are very loved, and very very special to me. Happy Mother's Day!

Gobble Gobble

Thursday after work I headed up North for some good ol' turkey hunting. I went with Brandon, his brother, and his dad. Even though we had fifty mile per hour winds, the hunting trip turned out to be pretty fun. I decided I like turkey hunting. It is totally a girls perfect hunt. All we did was drive around in a truck and about every mile or so, Brandon and his dad would get out of the truck and use the turkey call to try and get one to gobble. If one would gobble we would have to get out of the truck, hike a little ways, and keep using the call until we got the turkey to come in. Because of the wind though, this proved impossible. The turkey's couldn't hear the call! So we just drove around and around, and I got to sleep! We actually ended up coming home early because the wind was so bad. The season opens again in mid May so we will probably try it again then. Clint's uncle (Brandon's best friend's uncle) is supposed to go with us on that one and I guess he's a turkey callin' son of a gun. We are sure to come home with gobbler's!

On our trip we saw tons of Elk, a porcupine, and a badger. I've never seen a badger and a porcupine in the wild so that was pretty neat!

Some other exciting news happened to me on Thursday (please don't interpret this as me tooting my own horn). On Wednesday I took my boards to get my RN and on Thursday I found out that I passed them. I am very excited about this, but at the same time very stressed. I start working nights tomorrow.

Sorry I don't have any pictures. I took my camera hunting but totally forgot I had it until I got home.

Fun at the Zoo!

I like animals, Brandon likes animals. We both had the weekend off so we decided to go to Wildlife World Zoo clear over in Litchfield Park. We are both big ol' kids at heart so we were excited with this plan. It was a neat place. I thought it was way cooler than the Phoenix Zoo. We got to get really close to the animals. Of course Brandon always finds a way to embarrass me. He decided to wear his camo hat to the zoo. He kept doing varmint calls at the animals and people were looking at us like we were killers and evil people. I kept hitting him the whole time to stop but he just couldn't handle himself. He threatened to pretend to draw back an imaginary bow and arrow like he was going to kill the wild deer. I was extremely scared at this threat, I promised to buy him cotton candy if he didn't do that. Of course he took my offer. I knew nothing would get past the cotton candy.

We went to the petting zoo and I think we were the only adults in there. Brandon drug me into the petting zoo by my shirt because I didn't want to go. I particularly don't care for goats trying to eat my jeans and my purse. Brandon was excited to feed the deer. He would show the goats and the deer that he had food in his hand and fifty of them would swarm to him like children swarm to the ice cream man in mid-summer. I would run away from them when they tried to swarm me and they would follow me like piranhas, it was scary. I was glad when Brandon ran out of food to feed them, that meant we could leave.

Overall our Zoo trip was pretty dang fun. I can't wait to have little one's one day and see how they react to all the little critters at the zoo, that will make for some good memories. Here are some pictures. Sorry I only took two. I like turtles so I just had to take one of the turtle.

I guess Brandon had the sun in his eyes, poor little feller.

Am I too turtley for the turtle club?

With Spring, Comes Breaks!

Brandon and I went to Pinetop during spring break. I've got to say, it was pretty darn nice to get away for part of the week. We didn't do much. Just sat around the cabin, watched movies, ate, and enjoyed our time together. We did try our luck at some fishing, but we didn't catch anything. Oh well...maybe next time. I just love being up north!

I love it when Brandon actually smiles for the camera.

My Besty is in Town!!!

I am so excited because my bestest friend ever is in town! She moved to Texas about a year ago with her husband Nich so he could finish up school. I have missed her like crazy! You can imagine how happy I was when I finally got to see her again. This time she brought back with her someone very special. His name is Weston! What a cutey pie he is. Brooke gave birth to this handsome man all natural, not even pain meds! What a tough cookie!!!