Looking back...

My cousin Shawna did this on her blog and I thought it was so fun that I wanted to do it too! It is fun to reflect back on your life and see where you have come from and where you are going. So here goes

20 years ago:

• I was a unruly 2 1/2 year old terror. My parents called me the "corkscrew" because I never sat still. My Grandpa Ed would hold me during Sacrament Meeting to try to keep me contained during prayers, but inevitably I would end up on the stand waving at the family.
  
• It was probably about this time that I was receiving my first or second surgery for my kidney/bladder.
• I was also probably receiving my very first mushroom cut, which was the staple haircut that I would have for the next 5 years. Haha...gotta love it.

10 years ago:

• I was a 6th grader going through the awkward stages of bangs and purple glasses. We all loved our bangs so much in fact, that it was probably around this time that Haylee, Anneka, Camille, and I signed a pact that we would never get rid of our bangs. Well...that sure didn't last.
• The boundaries changed so I had a choice to stay at Sunnyside Elementary or go to Longfellow Elementary. Haylee and I chose to go to Longfellow and we never regretted it! That is when the two of us hooked up with Anneka and Camille and we became best friends through the rest of our school years.
• My rebellious nature had not yet subsided...this was the year that I cut a boy's hair in class, wiped dog poop on another during recess, and left books under my desk at night on purpose so I could fill out a "refocus" form in the next classroom.
  
• Hay, Anneka, Camille and I played YMCA basketball, started calling boys, took group counseling to get out of class, and rode our bikes to McDonalds for lunch from time to time.
  
  5 years ago:

• I was 17 years old and a junior in high school. I hated junior year because I took a lot of hard classes, including honors English, chemistry, and trig. I loved sophomore year and I loved senior year, but junior year? UGH.


• By this time we had expanded our group of friends a lot and we had all sorts of fun together.


• I moved to Rigby with my mom. That was really hard for me, but needless to say, I started "living" at my friends' houses instead.
  
• I was working at "Options Inc" where I worked with developmentally delayed children. I started doing a "home base" assignment that year with a sweet girl named Amy who had downs syndrome. I went to her house in the morning and got her ready for school and then I went back after school and worked with her until 6 pm when her dad came home from work. I learned so much from that job and I miss Amy like crazy.

1 year ago:

• I was engaged to Devin and we were going to school and preparing for our wedding


• I was taking the bulk of my social work classes and a marriage and family class with Devin


• I was living with Kylee, Camille, and Steffy...my favorite set of roommates. We had a great time together


• I was about to be promoted at work (finally!) after our manager transferred to another center.

So far this year:

• I have been as busy as ever, getting ready to graduate in April.
• I have been loving my internship at Wasatch Mental Health. It has been a really good learning experience
• I have enjoyed spending time with Devin and our friends and family

Yesterday:

• I went to my internship from 8-2
• Went to look for new housing with Devin at 2
• Did some homework
• Went to class from 4-7
• Came home and got ready for Valentine's Day
• Spent the evening with Devin eating dinner and relaxing

Today:

• Going to one Loooong class from 11-2:30.
• Calling my best friend Haylee to wish her a happy birthday!
• Going to work from 3-7
• Take Devin to dinner to finish off our Valentine's Celebration

Tomorrow:

• What a boring life I lead. I work from 8-1
• Go to my internship from 2-6
• Write a paper
• That's all I have planned! Whoopee!!!

In the next year:

• Hopefully Devin and I will move to a larger apartment where we actually have storage space
• I will finally graduate!
• Maybe I will get a new job
• Maybe I will get pregnant
• The rest of the future is a mystery!

I also tag whoever is reading this. I would like to learn more about EVERYONE! I think this is an interesting way to do it.

Farewell Mom and Dad P.!

Today Devin and I went down to his hometown of Fairview for his parents' farewell. They are leaving on a two year mission to Russia next Monday. Even though I know it will be a sacrifice and it will be hard for them and hard for the family to have them gone, I am so happy that they are willing to serve the Lord and I know that their doing so will bring blessings upon the entire family. Devin's oldest brother, Travis, has asked each sibling to pitch in every month to help them pay for their mission as it is one of the most expensive missions. Travis specifically asked that everyone pay what they can to the point of sacrifice. I am excited for this challenge as I realize it will bring further blessings upon Devin and I.

I am so blessed to have married into the family that I did. I love each and every member of Devin's family and I feel that they are my own. I couldn't ask for better in-laws and for better examples to follow. Being in their ward today, it was obvious that they are a huge part of their ward and that they are going to be missed. So many people spoke of the service that Mom and Dad Perry had given them and for the Christ-like attitudes they always have. I am also grateful for the son that they raised who is so good to me. I watch his dad and I know that Devin had only wonderful things to see of the way his dad treated his mom and his children growing up. Although raising 8 kids would be a challenge for anyone, they seemed to raise all their children to be great people. We will miss them, but we are so grateful for their service!

Devin's brother Travis and his wife Jenny, also blessed their 3rd little girl today. Her name is Samara and she is now 9 weeks old. She has got to be the cutest, wide-eyed little girl I have ever seen. A trend in Devin's family is that normally all your kids are all one gender. Its pretty funny...only one of his sisters has one boy and one girl and all the rest have either all girls or all boys. I wonder which we will get??

Speaking of babies, the funniest thing happened while we were all there eating lunch afterward. Devin's sister had us over for dinner last weekend and she told me that there had been some pregnancy rumors flying around the family about me and Devin. So there we were after lunch just hanging around and Devin gets everyone's attention and tells them that we have an announcment. His sisters started screaming and everyone was jumping up and down and so excited, then Devin announced, "Kim and I are not expecting a baby!" Hahaha!! They were all so mad. So funny. One day when we really are, it will be like the boy crying wolf and no one will believe us. Oh well.... :)

Enjoy some pictures of Devin's cute family.

B: Aaron, Mesha, Alisa, Travis, Jenny, Kim, Devin, Shane, Marcene, Travis, Kirston

F: Slava, Shawna, Mom, Dad, Jana, Karl.

PS. We dedicate this new blog background to Shane, Devin's brother who complained about our old one. He admitted that the problem is just that he is too old to read the print. Hope this works Shane.

Good Ol' Times at LA

Me, Ashley, Lisa, and Megster

There have been many ups and downs of my job, as with most jobs, but overall I can say that it has been a real blessing in my life as I have been able to provide for myself and pay my way through school. Besides that, I have made some of the best friends that I have while working at good old LA Weightloss. Since I have been there for 4 years, there have been quite a few people that I have worked with, but I count most of them as really good friends.

About twice a year we have a big event that we like to call "Open house" where we plan and prepare for weeks and weeks for a one day huge celebration and sale. I always enjoy Open House days because it takes a lot of preparation and we definitely see the fruits of our hard labor. I also like the adrenaline rush on the day of of getting ready and being just so busy all day long that I never have time to even sit down and barely have time to eat and drink. We have had some pretty fun open houses over the years. Well, this past Friday was another big open house day. I have been the "Assistant Manager" at LA for about 10 months now but we have no manager. Another girl, Meghan, and I are co-assistant managers since neither of us can work the hours to be a manager, nor would we want to. So this Open House was the first time that we together had the chance to prove ourselves. People sometimes under-estimate us I think since we are both young. But we had a great day and proved everybody wrong! Here are some pictures of us, of course at the end of the day, so two of the other girls had already left. But oh how I love those co-workers of mine!



Meg will probably kill me for putting this picture on my blog, but seriously this is what we look like after 11 straight hours of working so hard !

Again, Ash might not like this picture so much, but hey, she let me take it so its fair game! I am not really quite sure what to say about this other than it is her celebratory pose that we made it through the day. Haha!

Our cute decorations, it was cuter earlier in the day, but you get the idea!

In Tribute To President Hinckley

I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right?

When I heard the news of President Hinckley's death, I had such mixed emotions. First, I felt really sad and almost immediately after, I was so happy for him that he was again with his dear wife. I wrote about it in a previous blog, but I read the book "Letters" by Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley this past summer and it was so refeshing. I loved getting a glimpse into the everyday life of the prophet and his wife and to see how human they were. The love that they shared for each other is something that I have always admired and something I want to emmulate in my own marriage.

I remember vaguely when Presidents Benson and Hunter were prophets, but I was young enough that I don't remember that much about either of their presidencies. I will definitely remember President Hinckley's vibrant spirit and the way he lived his life. Although I never met him, here are a few of the things that I will remember about his life and legacy:

*President Hinckley never seemed upset, down, or angry. Every conference, every appearance, every interview, he was always so happy and friendly. He had such a way with the media and I admire his charisma. His example of love and kindness no matter the situation is something I think we can all improve on.

*I will always be grateful for his legacy of temples. I always took for granted growing up that we had a temple so close by. I didn't know what it meant for saints all over the world to have to travel to the temple. Now I understand more fully his desire to extend the reach of the temples to members worldwide. I read in the Church News today that President Hinckley had the vision for the smaller temples while he was traveling on a bus in Mexico and wondering what could be done to help strengthen the saints there. I love this story because it just illustrates the love that he had for all people as well. This picture is of Devin and I at the Palmyra Temple this summer from the family reunion, one of the small temples built under President Hinckley's presidency.

* I just love his personality and wit. Never did a conference go by that he didn't have everyone cracking up with his jokes. When we were listening to the news last Sunday after we had heard the news of President Hinckley's death, the news interviewers were talking to some people walking around Temple Square about what they remember most about the prophet and a story that came up repeatedly was that once during a conference, President Hinckley got up and started to pretend to lead the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with his cane! Though I didn't see this, I just had to laugh because that seems just like his personality!

*I love that President Hinckley was so forthright and knowledgable about what is going on in the world today. He never beat around the bush, but he came right out and said things how they were. That is just another testament of his divine role because I don't know too many 97 year olds who were as in touch with all the technology and problems in the world today. Never did we have to question his stance on anything, he was honest, yet loving in his conference talks.

*Finally, I love that President Hinckley had such a strong testimony of the gospel and the work he was engaged in. He was such a hard worker and acheived so much through his presidency. I hope that what I can remember from President Hinckley is that he loved the Lord, loved the members of the church, and lived the gospel through his service! What an amazing legacy he left and an amazing example for all of us to emmulate.