Can't Stop Thinking About...

I logged onto lds.org today to take a look at my lesson on my lunch break. Of course the little "Mormon Messages" video at the bottom caught my eye and I decided to watch just a part of it to see if it is any good this week. I loved it! It brought tears to my eyes and strengthened my testimony even more. I feel like Prayer is such a strong pathway to heaven and the easiest one to forget about. It seems so much easier to get out of the habit of praying than to get into it! And it makes such a difference in my days and weeks when I am regularly communicating with Heavenly Father. Such a better perspective. I don't know why sometimes I am silly and don't make it my top priority! This inspired me to make sure I am saying them every morning, meal, and night! You can watch it HERE if you would like! Just another little thought for the day. Also, if you are planning on doing better on your prayers, feel free to include me in them!!! :) I am teaching this week and it will be my first time since the switch to Old Testament! Yikes!

Gospel Doctrine

For those of you who don't know Michael & I were called to be Gospel Doctrine teachers. This has been a really good calling for both of us. We teach separately and it has really forced me to step out of my comfort zone and do a lot better job at my scripture study! A few weeks ago I had the privilege of teaching on the Family. It was one I wasn't too excited about but it was my favorite lesson I've taught so far! I'm sure most of you had the same lesson and may have read these but there were a couple quotes we read that I really loved!...

“If there is to be a return to old and sacred values, it must begin in the home. It is here that truth is learned, that integrity is cultivated, that self-discipline is instilled, and that love is nurtured. …

“Sisters, guard your children. … Nothing is more precious to you as mothers, absolutely nothing. Your children are the most valuable thing you will have in time or all eternity. You will be fortunate indeed if, as you grow old and look at those you brought into the world, you find in them uprightness of life, virtue in living, and integrity in their behavior”

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “When you are married, be fiercely loyal one to another. Selfishness is the great destroyer of happy family life. If you will make your first concern the comfort, the well-being, and the happiness of your companion, sublimating any personal concern to that loftier goal, you will be happy, and your marriage will go on throughout eternity” (“Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Dec. 1995, 67).

I loved this lesson! It really made me think a lot about my family and the values and character traits I have because of them as well as the values and character traits I have and will pass onto my children. I spend a lot of time thinking about how I want to do this and that when I have children and I have really been realizing that Michael & I have a great opportunity right now to work on ourselves before we start having children. The habits that we form now will most likely stick with us for the rest of our lives. Just my thoughts for the day.

Don't Mess with TEXAS!

Well as most of you know I have been visiting my big sis in TEXAS! Whoot whoot. I got home last night, it was so bitter sweet. (I will get to the emotional parts later.) All I wanted to do was go to sleep! But there was family to visit and people to see so we didn't get to bed til 12! What do you know this morning I am wide awake at 7! So I decided to update the blog before Michael wakes up and needs the computer!

I landed in Texas on Tuesday afternoon. I could not stop smiling the whole morning, whole flight, and the whole way walking to see her. I felt like a giddy school girl! I was so excited to see Breana. Being the good little mother figure she is she had a delicious tuna sandwich, pickle, chips, and drink waiting for me. :) Thanks Dillan. We drove to their house so we didn't hit traffic later and hung out for awhile. When Joe got home we ate AMAZING Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Veggies, and Texas Style Rhodes rolls! (They were huge) Of course I overate! Then we all went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks! Ha ha. Joe couldn't contain his excitement!

The next day Breana and I slept in a little, and then Met Joe for lunch!

We went to this seafood place, I can't remember the name. It was really good. They had a bunch of combination plates, I decided to try frog as part of mine!!! It wasn't my favorite thing in the world but at least I can say I tried it!

After that Joe took us around to see all of the refineries. (Where Joe works.) But there is a ton of them down there and they are huge. It was neat to be able to see a little bit of what he does. I had never seen anything like that but it is an everyday thing for the people down there. I didn't take a picture of them in the daytime duh. But here's what it looked like on our way home.
All of those lights out there are refineries hard at work!

After we left the refineries we drove out to Galveston. From Galveston we took a Ferry to a different island to go to the beach! It was my first time taking a ferry! So crazy! I don't know how it doesn't sink with all the trucks and cars on there! We had some extra crackers from the restaurant and we put them to good use! I have never seen so many seagulls in my life!!!!

We were so afraid we were gonna get pooped on!!!They would eat right out of your hand!
After we ran out of crackers Joe tried feeding them fruit snacks but they just dropped them out of their mouth. He was so disappointed.
We made it to the beach!
It was FREEZING!!!
The love birds.
Ha ha. These pictures make me laugh. We are such goof balls! We went to this place called Salsas for dinner. It was in Galveston, and it was really really good. Texas knows how to eat!!!The next day Breana and I went to the Galleria. It is their HUGE mall. It was 3 stories, and had an ice skating rink in the mall! I felt like I needed $1 Mil just to walk in the doors! The parking lot looked like a GMC Dealership and tons of way nice cars! We found a few good things but mostly it was super expensive! We had Sephora do my makeup! That was really fun! I was a little unsure about it but it was fun for a day! I had to take a pic by Dylan's Candy Shop. I had only seen it on TV! It was really expensive so I didn't buy anything but it was fun to see!

We went to lunch at Panera Bread. It was kind of like a Paradise Bakery or something along those lines! It was AMAZING!
I couldn't stop making MMM noises. It was so good!

The next morning we went to go visit Michael's brother and sister-in-law. They live in Houston about 20 minutes from Breana and Joe. We had to be there at 8:30 so we had to wake up at 7 which was 6 our time. It was a little rough, but so worth it! This is Taina. She loves to play dress up! I had her show me her dress up clothes, you'll notice she's in different ones in these pics! :)

This is Gavin! He is really shy but alot of fun when he warms up to you!
This is Gavin on the left and Dustin on the right!
It took awhile for us to get a shot with all 4 of us in it! But this is Kelly with the boys!
Taina refused to come take a picture with us. This is where she was. I don't know what I was thinking but I didn't even get a picture with Johnny! Johnny made us breakfast and it was really delicious! Thanks guys! After we left from Johnny & Kelly's we went to some Outlets for Day 2 of shopping! Breana hadn't had too much luck the day before but she hit the jackpot here! :) It was cold and rainy but we had alot of fun! The workers would laugh or give us weird looks because both days of shopping we would go into a store and look around, if we didn't see anything that popped out we just left. Sometimes it was less than a minute! :) But we didn't care. With so many stores to look at we couldn't waste time!
I saved the rest of my money for this store! It is a place called Sam Moon. Strictly purses and accessories in this whole huge store! This picture doesn't even do it justice for how big it was! I found some really cute things!
Every morning while I was in Texas (besides when we went to Johnny & Kelly's) Breana and I ate this glorious breakfast! It consisted of Frosted Flakes, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and bananas! Oh my! It was delicious! I couldn't wait for breakfast every morning! Let's just say I will need to make a stop at the grocery store for some berries!
On Saturday morning when Joe was there at Breakfast he made himself a "Texas Breakfast" He shared some bacon. :) Thanks Joe.
I had to get a picture by this store! Anyone who knew me when I was younger knew that one of my many nicknames was "Bucky"! (For good reason!) I don't think i'll ever live it down so I decided to embrace it!

For lunch on Saturday we went to a place called Freebirds! Every night when we would make dinner Joe was like, "We're not going to Freebirds?!" Ha ha. So I was excited to go here after all the talk! It was a burrito place, not to be confused with a Mexican place. (Ask Joe.) They had these MASSIVE burritos! Breana and I split the same size Joe ate and I was almost sweating at the end! It was so big!They also had amazing Queso. It was so hard to not overeat! After lunch we went to this Ceramics place. We each got to pick our own ceramics piece and paint it however we wanted! Breana picked two small bowls.
I picked lit'l Salt & Pepper Shakers.And Joe picked a Soup Bowl. Stay tuned to Breana's blog for the finished projects! They won't be done til this Saturday! Joe made a really cute Texas bowl! And then he put a cockroach on the inside of it! Breana thought it ruined it but I thought it was pretty funny!

After ceramics we went to Joe's sister Serena's house for her daughter Maggie's 2nd Birthday. I didn't take pictures there but it was really fun! I got to see James & Shelby & Bob & Sharon. And I got to meet Serena's husband Dave for the first time. They made me feel really comfortable and it was alot of fun!

After Maggie's we went to play some 3-D Miniature Golf! We also got some game tokens for the arcade games and things and we also got to shoot some balls at each other with these little launchers! I got nailed right in the grill! Joe and Breana got nailed in the Nogin! It was crazy fun!These were just some fun pictures we took while we played mini golf! I played horribly! Joe won, then Breana, and I got dead last.
For dinner we went to Lupe's for dinner! I was really excited about this place. My parents went here when they came down and loved it and Breana and Joe love it and now I do too!
They have the most amazing fajitas! The steak one was my favorite! I couldn't stop eating it! I had never tasted flavors like that before. It was like an explosion of flavor in your mouth! So good!
On the last day I took a picture of my bed! This was my little room while I was there and this is the most amazing bed ever! I found myself saying, "I can't wait to go to sleep again!" It was so soft!!! I slept like a queen! On Sunday when I woke up I started to cry in bed for a little bit. It was hard to know it was my last day.
I had to put this on here too! This is in their bathroom! I didn't realize how much time I spent in there til I realized I had this plaque memorized! I receited it to Michael last night! :)
Texas has something unique to them and that is Blue Bell ice cream! It was AMAZING! I'm talking better than the Creamery amazing! On the first day Breana took me and let me pick out a flavor! I picked Carmel Turtle Fudge and it did not disappoint! I wanted to bring some home with me! And if it wouldn't have melted on the plane I would have! On the way to the airport we stopped downtown and they showed me around! I think this is called the Wall of Water. It was HUGE!

Breana and I were getting so wet during this picture!It was HUGE! Also note, the weather was sunny and warm this day! I decided Griffin's bring Utah weather with them to Texas! It was still warmer than Utah but not as warm as I was expecting! There stop lights caused me to think alot! Why in the world are they sideways in Texas? I had never seen anything like it! My theory, is that they are attached on the pole more since their is bad wind and weather down there. Also, maybe so they don't have to put the poles so high for trucks to go underneath. Joe also suggested it might not be this way in Utah since the snow would sit on top of it and weigh it down! Who knows though. Let me know if you know why!
These were our last moments together! Earlier when we were singing a hymn in church I broke into tears which caused Breana to break into tears.
By this point I had already been crying, not the most attractive. But the last together.
It was such a fun trip! I had so much fun and got some great bonding time with both Breana and Joe! They spoiled me so much and I felt so loved everyday! It was a much needed vacation, and much needed time with my sister! Thanks so much for everything, I will never forget it! I can never thank you enough.

Everything's Bigger in Texas!

Just so ya'll know...there will not be any blog updates this week! Breana & I are, as a this song so beautiful states...Reunited and it feels so good! :) We will be having lots of fun, and plenty of adventures! I have already brought BWA to Texas. I think I may have startled an elderly group of people at the airport. Breana said next time wait til there isn't people right next to us! :) I'll update when I get back! :)