What side of the line are you on??

This past weekend Jenny Phillips came and spoke to the women in our Stake. She spoke of making good choices. She said that in every decision that we make WE CHOOSE which side of the line we will be on: meaning the side of the adversary or the side of the Lord. The Spirit touched me as she spoke to us. We should keep this in our minds always because it truly applies to each decision that we make. Whether it be choosing to not watching a certain television show anymore because it has even just a LITTLE bit of immoral behavior. Or to wake up 15 minutes earlier in the morning because we know that it is the only way that we will be able to make time to read our scriptures that day. It is so important to take a good look at what we are doing with our time. It is vital in these days that we are NOT afraid to let our light shine. In order to do that we must choose the side of the Lord. We can not stand on the line and choose later. That is no longer an option. We must make the choice everyday that nothing matters more than HIM today. I saw this quote on a dear friend of mine's blog and I had to add it to my blog. Now, keep in mind this quote was given in October of 1978.....

{Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

-

'This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

-

Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do.

We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself.

-

Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.}

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Meeting the Challenges of Today," BYU Devotional,October 10, 1978

Latest news from Texas.......

Alright, I know that we have been horrible about blogging lately. Okay, okay we have been horrible about blogging FOREVER! I'm pretty sure our last post was in July. Hence....my new goal. I am going to try (no promises) to blog once a month! Yes, it is a lofty goal. However, I think I can do it. BACK TO BUSINESS: First things first, Kyle and I didn't end up getting the house that we previously posted about. I was pretty upset for a while, but it ended up being such a blessing. The deal fell through for reasons that were completely out of our control and we couldn't be happier with the outcome. Next on the list....In September I was offered the Manager Position for the OB/GYN practice that I have been working for since Aug. '07. It came as a complete shock to Kyle and I. It has been a crazy couple of months trying to adjust to my new position. There are times that it is very difficult...mostly emotionally. I have never been in management before so it was a big change going from working a 9-5 to managing 15 (women) employees and 3 (male) OB/GYN'S. As hard as it can be at times, I am truly enjoying my job. I love going home knowing that I have worked my tail off all day long. I'm sure I will be staying at my office for a long while! Alrighty, what's next??? Hmmm. Kyle and I are still working with the Youth in our Ward. We absolutely LOVE our callings and our Youth! They are such a great group. We just took our entire youth group canoeing last weekend and had a blast. Kyle and I are seriously covered in bruises. I am still recovering from the FREEZING cold water. You know, there would have been no need for a recovery if my SWEET, LOVING HUSBAND hadn't tipped me over in our canoe about 10 times! Okay, so I may be exaggerating a little. None the less, we had a BLAST! So that is what has been going on! Now, for what is coming up soon.....NADA! Just kidding. We are very excited for Thanksgiving because we will be driving up to Missouri to see my sister and her kiddos! Woo Hoo. My dad will be there too! Yeah. I am so excited because I have not seen either of them since J's funeral. Wow, that means that it has been over a year. So, that is Thanksgiving. For Christmas we will be staying in Good Ole Denton! So, I'm pretty sure that I have nothing more to blog about! I will try to post some pictures of our canoe trip with the youth in a couple days. I am sure that you will all enjoy those. I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving Holiday. We love you and miss you all!

Memories Anyone???

I saw this on a couple of friends' blogs and I just couldn't resist. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to reminisce! I just could not help myself. Here goes.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me well or not; just anything that you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. Its actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume that you are playing the game and I will come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog or if you don't have a blog I will post my memory of you in my comments! Sounds fun right....well, start thinkin'!

Update

Okay, Since this is Kyle and Tara's blog and not just Tara's blog, Tara has decided it is my turn. We haven't blogged in quite a long while, but that is with good reason. See, Tara works 45 0r 50 hours a week and I work 50 or 55 hours a week, plus Tara is the 1st counselor in the YW program and I am the 2nd counselor in the YM program. The YW president has been out of town for two months, which happens to be during girls' camp and youth conference. Tara has been extremely busy taking over for a while(and she has been doing a wonderful job!). Oh yeah, and we just aren't really natural bloggers. We have a mindset of "We will blog when _____ finally happens," and when _____ happens, we start waiting for something else. For example, I was looking for a new job so we decided that we would blog when I finally found one. Well, once I found one, we were started looking at buying a house, so it we decided we would blog when we put an offer down. Then we decided we would blog when we signed a contract. Then we decided we would blog when we closed on a house, but that has been taking a while and I made a promise to blog by tonight. So here I go. I still work at Tractor Supply about twenty hours a week, but I added a new job. I now work for AkzoNobel(this is Bruce). I work at the ICI paints Warehouse in Carrollton, TX. I guess my title would be forklift operator/material handler. I really like my new job a lot. It is really fast paced and I work really hard. I come home every night with sweat stains in the outline of a 5 point safety harness(if you don't know what that is, google it). It is really nice to come home just physically beat. It is really nice feeling like I put in a hard day's work. Some of the perks of my job are nice, too. I get gallons of Glidden, Ralph Lauren, Dulux, Devoe, and other brands of paint for 12 dollars. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but when a gallon of Ralph Lauren sells at HD for 33 dollars, it makes decorating a house hundreds of dollars cheaper. Which happens to be really good for us because we may have a new house soon. We made an offer on a house back in May and signed a contract towards the end of May. We were supposed to close a few days ago, but there have been a few holdups. Hopefully, if things work out, we will be living in our new home in the next few days. This is a photo of the house we may soon own. The sod hadn't been put down when this picture was taken, but when/if we close, we will put new pictures up. It is now time for me to go to bed, so I am done blogging. Goodnight!...There, are you happy now Kathy?

100

100 things that make me happy huh? Well, here goes!

1. Kyle
2. Long conversations with my sister, Tiffany.
3. Talking with all of my siblings...they are so awesome and fun to talk to.
4. All 20 of my nieces and nephews!!! That's right 20 so far!
5. Watching the Suns play well.
6. When Florida wins National Championships!
7. Drinking Hot Chocolate.
8. Hearing a baby cry for the first time....I always cry!
9. Hearing my favorite songs on the radio.
10. Seeing a friend succeed.
11. Seeing Kyle after a long day at work.
12. The Young Women Program-it is truly an inspired program.
13. Hearing my father share his Testimony.
14. Hot bubble baths with candles and music...yes, its pretty girlie! LOVE IT.
15. My in-laws.....I'm being totally serious. I love them all so much. I have married into such amazing family.
16. The Temple. Such a blessing that we can attend as frequently as we do.
17. Rocking babies to sleep. Not much better than that.
18. Cheesecake. OHHHHH cheesecake!
19. Watching my wedding video. :)
20. The first 5 minutes after a headache goes away. Ahhhh.
21. The feeling I get knowing that General Conference is right around the corner.
22. Hair-ties!
23. When Kyle tells me he loves me....we honestly say it probably 20 times a day still. So cute.
24. Watching my siblings parent their children.
25. Soft blankets.
26. Volleyball-when I'm playing well! :)
27. Watching a good Softball game. I love the competition.
28. Watching American Idol. I know...I know!
29. Hot Towels right out of the dryer.
30. A CLEAN apartment....I mean spotless clean.
31. Watching a young woman's testimony growing right before my eyes.
32. Knowing that Kyle will be mine forever! :) yeah!
33. When Kyle hugs me and tells me how much he loves me when he thinks that I am sleeping!
34. A long conversation with Laura Jo.
35. A good massage.....at least an hour and a half!
36. Reaching goals that I set.
37. Watching Kyle when he is SO happy.
38. Watching Kyle play with our nieces and nephews on both sides of the family.
39. Guava Jumex! So good.
40. GCCs and RCCs. Those of you from Buckeye will get that!
41. The feeling right after I share my testimony.....especially when I am so scared to do it.
42. Watching Kyle share his testimony....and not be scared to do it at all.
43. Watching strangers serve each other because it means there is still goodness out there.
44. The smell of Roses!!!!!!!!!
45. Daytona Beach, Florida
46. When my entire family gets together. This is very rare.
47. A refrigerator full of food!
48. My birthday!
49. Reading my friend's blogs!
50. A good writing pen. They are hard to find. I'm picky.
51. The feeling I get when I think about being mom someday.
52. Thank you's
53. Knowing that my sweetheart loves me best in a t-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes with my hair pulled back in a ponytail! Love him for that!
54. Knowing that he is going to be an exceptional father.
55. Watching Brooke be a mother. It is amazing. I want to be like her!
56. Knowing that Kyle has a 4.0
57. Music. Music really has a huge influence on me....and I'm not even musically talented. I just love music.
58. The feeling I get when I think about my Grandmother Hill.
59. Watching the Lord work in the lives of my loved ones. No greater gift than that.
60. When I have more money in the bank that I thought!
61. Thinking about my future with Kyle.
62. When we lay on our bed and talk about our goals for the future.
63. Watching Kyle use the Priesthood.
64. Concealer---love concealer....and mascara!
65. Frozen Grapes!
66. Learning from my Young Women.
67. When I actually have the time to make a good meal for Kyle. We are such busy people.
68. When Kyle and I both have the same night off from our duties. That's sooooo nice!
69. Dancing with Kyle. I really don't think it gets better than that. Honestly, its my favorite.
70. The feeling right after a good workout---geez, haven't felt that in a while!
71. Knowing that I am a very organized person....for the most part.
72. When I take time for myself....even if it is just sitting down to do my own toenails!
73. Knowing that my 1 year anniversary is next month!!!!!!!!!
74. Voicemails from Kyle just telling that he loves me and misses me that day.
75. Getting a raise! Wow....that's always nice.
76. A really good hair day. Especially a really good curly hair day....that's harder to achieve.
77. Knowing that I got a lot done at work that day. That is such a nice feeling.
78. Having all of the laundry done and folded and put away....even for just a night!
79. Thinking about Devin visiting next month from Arizona. We haven't seen family for a long time.
80. Watching "While You Were Sleeping". I just love that movie.
81. Thinking about what our life will be like in 1 year. So much can change in a year.
82. Thinking about how much I have grown in the past year.
83. Calendars......I love calendars.
84. Crossing things off of a "to do" list. I am a list maker.
85. Hearing my sister, Tiffany, laugh so hard that she is crying. This happens all the time.
86. When Tiffany and I laugh so hard that I know that both of our nostrils are flaring! hahaha
87. Having a skinny day.....you ladies know what I'm talking about!
88. Watching Kyle's face when he is cracking himself up.....it is so funny.
89. Taking a really good picture. Sometimes this can be pretty difficult.
90. GOOD make-up.
91. Compliments from a stranger....or from anyone for that matter.
92. Water....I LOVE WATER! Waterfalls, Rivers, Ocean, Puddles! Seriously love water.
93. Reminiscing. I think people think this is annoying sometimes....oh well.
94. Advice from my brothers....They are both so wonderful at giving advice.
95. Buying Christmas presents in September.
96. Listening to Christmas music!!!!!!!!!!!!
97. When I am truly confident about myself or about knowing something. I love that feeling.
98. Knowing that Kyle is always by my side.
99. Baby blessings. Oh man, they are so amazing!
100. Knowing that I have so much more that makes me so happy. I could keep going forever. That makes me the happiest of all.

Check this out!

I was poking around on youtube and I found this music video. Noteworthy is so amazing. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9FzmcWzvko

What a party

Friday night was our annual Christmas party for my work! From what I hear the Doc's always make a big deal out of our Christmas Parties...after all, last year they flew the entire staff to Vegas for 3 days. This year they decided to have a private party at the Embassy Suites here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. It was so much fun. The entire staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves, however, Kyle and I are possibly 2 of the only people there that remember our wonderful evening. For starters we all left work early (thank heavens)! Check in was at approximately 4:00pm. We then found out that Embassy Suites provides a "Manager's Reception" each night from 5:30-7pm, which in all actuality just means that you get as much free alcohol as you want in that amount of time. At 7pm we all went to our private banquet hall where we ate delicious food and chatted for a while. This was a ton of fun because we were all dressed up and got to see each other actually wearing make-up and wearing something other than scrubs. After dinner came the black-jack tables. You see, here in Texas it is not legal to gamble for money! What my boss came up with was renting a black-jack table, a Texas hold-em table, a roulette table and a craps table. We were given a certain number of chips (around about $2,000.00 worth I believe) and went at it. At the end of the night we were to "cash in" our chips for tickets. The tickets were then entered in a drawing for 9 prizes that have been donated to our office by our reps! Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself...back to roulette! The roulette table is where I stayed all night. Kyle was with the Doc's playing Texas Hold-em. That was probably not the best choice for Kyle seeing as how our Doc's go to Vegas at least once every month and a half to play "for real"! He hung in there pretty good for a while (which is great seeing as how we don't gamble) but eventually he was beat out. As for me with roulette....I think I did alright. I know that roulette is pretty much all luck, but hey, if you got it...you got it, right??? I think I won what would have been equivalent to $3,500.00 or $4,000.00 worth of tickets to put in the pot for the drawing! There were 9 prizes all together they were giving away. Just to name a few there was a $50.00 gift card to a nice movie theater, a portable dvd player, $100.00 gift card to Target, an Ipod and A FREAKING NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR A CAR! Seeing as I get lost driving to the bank for goodness sakes, I seriously could have used the grand prize! Unfortunately, we didn't win the navigation system. We did win the $100.00 gift card to Target (which was fourth place)! We were pleased. After THAT party, some of the staff went to a club up the road to get more alcohol and dance the night away! Kyle and I decided to just go up to our room to relax(oh yeah, did I mention that we all stayed in our own suites for the night too?)!!! After all, my heels were KILLING me by that point and I don't think that dancing would have been an option seeing as the 3 days prior to our party Kyle had the flu! Overall, Kyle and I had a blast. We were THOROUGHLY entertained by the party and by everyone at the party! It was so nice just to get out of our apartment for a night and have a good time! Oh yeah, my camera was dead, of course. So as soon as I get some of the pics from the night I will get right on posting them. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!