Time is slipping away....

Well here it is another birthday-another year gone... I wish I knew where the last decade went really?! It is really weird for me to think that I am now 34 yrs old...another six years and I will be 40, how can that be possible? I so do not feel that old and I don't look it so I guess that is good, age is just a number I know but its hard to tell that to my heart sometimes. I think the part that really gets to me sometimes is that I want to be a mother so bad...I want to have a child of my own and to give my parents the chance to be Grandparents more than anything! I just feel like time is running out and I have not accomplished a whole lot in those 34 years, I mean what difference have I made really? Birthday's are weird for me now and have been for the last couple of years...it seems like I'm an up and down basket case riding on an emotional roller coaster the whole month before stressing about the day when I should be looking forward to it, looking forward to celebrating with my family and friends. I do have to say though that when I do have these sad moments of feeling old and worthless cause I am still single there is nothing better then to read Sister Oaks' book: A Single Voice. I have read that book twice now and highlighted the thing to death... she is such a wonderful lady and her words bring such comfort to my aching heart sometimes! I always seem to turn to just the right pages to read the parts I need to at the time which I know is a blessing... this is what I just read earlier when I was having one of my break down moments: "Time is a precious commodity. Make your moments count, first, by making an effort to stay close to the Spirit so you can function at your best; second, by planning and setting goals for a more balanced life; third, by cultivating an eternal perspective; and fourth, by spending time with family and friends. When the winds of loneliness are whistling around us and we feel assailed by life, may we remember the Savior. There exists in all of us the ability to persist with patience one day at a time. When the clock is ticking and the tempest is raging, consider it an opportunity to rise up with all the beauty and strength and wisdom within you to become the woman the Lord wants you to become." So yes time is slipping away but I just have to remember its going to be okay... married or not I'm going to be okay!

Samantha's Baptism

My cousin Sam turned 8 on March 24th and so on April 10th a special event took place in our family...her Baptism. I should find some pictures of my Baptism and post those too cause Sam and I look very similar. We could be sisters instead of cousins. She's so cute!

We got our Grandmother to pose for some pictures with us which for all of you that know her that is very rare!

She doesn't look to happy with me but it was so worth it to me...I'm glad I made her :)

Ha ha I struggle with blogging sometimes have no idea why this picture ended up on there twice... oops!

Sam with her "favorite cousin" and her mother (aka: her primary teahers :)

Ok so I know its been a while since I've updated my blog... I have been a slacker in this department lately but I will try to catch up here on some of the happenings of the last two months. Back at the beginning of March (I think that's when it was anyway ha ha) My cousin Cindi and I were driving down State Street in Orem one day when we noticed a sign that said "The Chocolate A Dessert Cafe" so of course we had to go check that out!

It's a cute little old house that they've turned into this heavenly dessert place!

They have all sorts of cakes, brownies, cookies, gourmet cupcakes, icecream and just plain yumminess

We shared a warm cookie just out of the oven with ice cream on top

SO GOOD!

Valentine's Day...

My mom gave me this balloon that was in a mug full of chocolates. I straightened my hair that morning ... I usually do on Sundays cause that's the only day I have time to but I didn't realize quite how long its getting til I see it in a picture like this and well you can tell I just touched up my teeth with my bleach trays! Working for a Dentist you've got to show off those pearly whites on a regular basis :)

My cute primary class

Again I can't figure out why its putting certain pictures on here twice? Oh well... anyway Cindi came down for dinner and she suggested that we have heart shaped pancakes but then we realized we didn't have any syrup so my mom thawed out some steak. I then decided to get creative and took the time to cut our steak into heart shaped pieces before I grilled it. Cindi was absolutely thrilled about that and wanted to take a picture...its all about simple pleasures!

Valentine's Date :)

I couldn't have hung out with a cuter guy or felt more loved than I did Saturday evening when I babysat this handsome little man! He was my Valentine's Date last year when is mommy and daddy went out for the evening and well we followed tradition again this year. My friend Toni and her husband went to dinner and a movie and James and I spent the evening taking my cousin Cindi grocery shopping (that is her Frog in the picture) ate pizza with her at her apartment, then went back and played cars and while watching Cars :)

He's so cute and reminds me so much of my brother when he was little with his red hair

I love being his adopted "Aunt Tami"

Have no idea why this picture ended up on here twice but hey its cute so its worth repeating!

Special Surprise...

So the end of last week I had a SURPRISE waiting for me when I got home from work which totally MADE MY DAY! Opened up this manilla envelope to find this inside...a special Valentine from my friend Krystal's two little boys Spencer and Owen, so cute! Thank you Krystal for thinking of me and making my Valentines Day special!

Before and Afters....

So several people have been asking me when I was going to post my before and after pictures from having my reduction surgery...well I'm finally getting around to doing it. I had to wait until some of the swelling went down which they say can take up to six months or more til it is completely gone but I figured it was at least down enough that I could post a picture now. Most of you have seen me in person since the surgery but well these pictures really put it in perspective why I was so miserable before and why I was so self conscious about it. Cause there is such a huge difference! A weight has been lifted from my shoulders literally (almost six pounds believe it or not) I cannot even begin to describe what a difference this has made in my life. I am so much more confident and happy these days that's for sure! I still have some pounds to lose of course but at least now I can finally exercise a lot easier than before :-) It was so worth all the pain and misery of recovering for months and months and the still on going financial drama and trauma of it all! I would highly recommend it to anyone who is ever thinking about it cause its the best thing I've ever done and the best present I could ever give myself!