Randomness

The last couple of weeks via my phone:

We had to go to Salt Lake for a meeting at the corporate offices. The one advantage of this is that the Cheesecake Factory is nearby. The peppermint bark cheesecake was divine! 

Target had creepy snow globes.

I am a huge geek. I had to have this Death Star tea infuser. I love it.

My apartment is really cold in the winter. I have the space heater on quite a bit. Socks likes to lie on the arm of the couch right in front of it so he's warm.

I wanted to see Wreck-It Ralph so I kidnapped Erin so I would have an excuse to go see it. The movie was adorable and the company was fabulous.

Snuggles from Ashlyn!

Whew!!

My Math 1010 class has been a thorn in my side for several semesters. The way Weber State has it set up is not good for me. It's self paced and pretty much self taught. After not completing it last spring I signed up for it again this fall. I was getting behind and I was worried I wasn't going to pass again. I finally hit a point where I decided I wasn't going to let it beat me again so I dove in head first. It took hours and hours of time and brought me to tears on more than one occasion. But I was determined to pass. On December 10th I took my final and passed it. By passing the final I passed the class with a very solid B. I wanted to dance and cry and cheer right there in the middle of the computer lab.

I had to stop and get a celebratory brownie on my way home.

I still have another math class to take but after the hell of 1010 I think this one will be a breeze.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I managed to spread my weekend celebration out over several days. Janelle bought me this fabulous mug. It's so me!

My actual birthday was on Sunday. Between homework and church there wasn't much else going on. Erin made me a super yummy and gooey oatmeal cake. She is such a sweet girl!

On Monday I met Mom and Dad in Salt Lake for dinner. We started at City Creek, having dinner at the restaurant at Nordstrom's. I can't remember the name but it was yummy. The Christmas decorations were gorgeous!

After dinner we went to Gourmandise for dessert. It was so good!!

Tuesday I went to lunch with Aunt Kathy, Amanda, Amanda and Bonnie. We went to Sonora Grill, which is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. Kathy brought a birthday cake- it was chocolaty goodness!

I also went to lunch with my co-workers but I didn't take any food pictures that day. I really need to be better about taking pictures of the people I'm with instead of just the food we're eating.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I went to Panguitch for Thanksgiving. It was a quiet weekend with just me, Mom and Dad. I spent hours and hours doing math homework. Because it was just the three of us I didn't take many pictures. I did take a few on my phone. 

Mom had cinnamon rolls waiting for me when I got there. She spoils me! 

We went to Clark and Flora's for Thanksgiving dinner. We took quite a few side dishes with us. For some reason I only took a picture of the Sunday School potatoes. I guess because they looked so yummy. Mmmmm!

When I to work on my homework I discovered that Dad had put a few accessories in my bag. He said that if I was going to carry a military bag I should use it properly. I told him I didn't think I should be armed when I was working on math.

My parents neighbors are a little excessive with their Christmas decorations. This is just half of their yard. Yes, those are wooden dalmatians. I think they are working on getting 101 of them. 

The sunset behind the house was gorgeous!

That was my weekend. It wasn't all that exciting but it was great to be at Mom & Dad's and to have undivided time to work on math.

Will's Baptism

The first Saturday of December was Will's baptism day. I once again, failed at taking pictures. I took a test just before his baptism so I'm going to blame being brain fried on my lack of pictures. I did get a couple of cute ones of Ben and Will. I love the second one because they both had their cowboy boots on. 

I also got this one of Spencer and I being silly.  

On Wednesday as I was driving to work I drove passed an elementary school, just like I do every day. But that day was different because of the pink ribbons tied around the trees in memory of Emilie Parker. Emilie was one of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown. Her family is from here and they are burying her here. In an effort to let the family know of Ogden's love and support pink ribbons have been tied all over town. 

I had heard on the news that this would be happening so I shouldn't have been surprised. But when I saw these ribbons it became real. I was so overwhelmed that I had to pull over to the side of the road and just cry. I cried for Emilie and for every other family that had lost a love one in this tragedy. I cried for lost innocence and for what might have been in each of their lives. 

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.” ~Washington Irving