Waiting impatiently!

We have...

5604 minutes until we are married!

Thought I would share!

The Flood

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent a few days of break with Joseph's family in Nephi. It was full of two Thanksgiving meals (one on Wednesday and another on Thursday), some delicious pies, and lots of family games.

We came back to Provo because I worked all weekend again. We decided to get a head start on Christmas shopping and have the majority of Joseph's family done now. Friday night, we went shopping and then went to our new apartment to unload some of our stuff to move in. We expected an uneventful evening... and this is what happened.

Joseph walked down the stairs to our front door and stepped in a puddle of water. Me, trying to be optimistic, thought it was from the washer that is in the room adjacent to our entrance. Joseph opened the front door and you could hear the rushing water. Yes, that is correct- our apartment was flooded. We had about 2-4 inches (depending on the area) of water on our carpet and floor. The tenants that live upstairs left for Thanksgiving break but turned their heat off prior to leaving so... A PIPE BROKE! We estimate the water was running into our apartment for about 3 days.

Luckily, I had not unpacked most of my stuff yet so it was all in rubbermaid bins, which kept the items dry. Our new mattress is soaked and we will be getting a new one. Some of our furniture, games and books are wet and destroyed but life goes on. Ceiling tiles fell everywhere- on the bed, closet, floor... The bathroom is ruined as well because the drywall was soaked. But, looking at it optimistically, we will get a new bathroom, new ceiling, new mattress and new carpeting all by December 17th, before our wedding! While it does stink, we get an apartment makeover!

At least it did not look like this:

Making Stanley

This is the image we found online to carve our pumpkin with. We knew with our mad pumpkin carving skills, our pumpkin would turn exactly like the picture. And it did, if you use your imagination...
Isn't he gorgeous! Joseph named him Stanley. By the way, Casie colored the fish in the background that is on Joseph's fridge.
Okay, we will give it a better try next year but for our first Halloween together, it isn't too bad.

Home Sweet Home

Joseph and I found our place to live once we are married. It is really nice and perfect for us. We got some furniture this past week including a microwave, couch, two chair, dining room table and chairs and a box spring. We still need to buy a mattress, nightstands, coffee table and some more decorations. Yesterday, I found Halloween stuff on sale and I bought some to save for next year. Now, I LOVE thinking of how I am going to decorate our apartment! Here are a few of my ideas!

What Being Engaged Has Brought Me...

Here is my schedule of most days as an engaged girl:
6:30 wake up and get ready
7:00 eat breakfast with Joseph
7:30 leave for work
8-12 work at BYU
12-1 lunch with Joseph
1-9pm class/studying
9-10 Joseph normally has something going on at school or we go to the Temple
10-11 eat dinner FINALLY
11 sleep!
Wake up and do it all over again

When does wedding planning take place you may ask? NEVER!!!

That is why I am excited for Conference weekend. Our weekend starts at 2pm on Friday and will last until Monday morning! I get to tie 250 ribbons onto our invitations AND stuff the envelopes!

However, there are other reasons I am excited for General Conference to begin:
Family meals with Joseph's family for 3 whole days
The potential announcement of new temples (probably Wisconsin this year- just kidding)
Elder Holland's talk- always a good one
Laughing at funny stories that the General Authorities tell
Birthday celebrations (in case you have forgotten, my birthday is in 5 DAYS)

Is now announcing...

The 2nd release of Avatar!!!

Just Kidding...

In case you don't know yet, Joseph and I are engaged! Joseph proposed to me Friday night in the most romantic way I could ever think of. He made a crossword puzzle with all the clues talking about reasons he loves me. When I finished that, Joseph told me he had one more game for me. He turned the sheet over and made a hangman game. The two words I had to figure out were "Marry Me." I started freaking out and asked him if he was serious. At that point, Joseph got down on his knee and asked if I would marry him. We haven't stopped smiling since...
I am so happy to finally be able to tell the entire world that I am marrying my eternal companion and am so happy and estatic. We will be sealed for time and all eternity on December 18th in the Manti Temple. We cannot wait to begin our eternal marriage together.
Here are the few pictures I have of the beautiful ring Joseph gave me (and he knew I liked it because I took a picture of it when we went ring shopping and showed him it everyday).

Trying New Things

The world has failed to tell me that having a boyfriend has perks. The biggest perk by dating Joseph is his push for me to try new things. These are some things I have tried recently because of Joseph:
- Blueberry Pomegrante Chocolate Ice Cream- I like the chocolate part
- Pineapple- DISGUSTING
- Bean Taco salad- delicous
- Playing Ticket to Ride and Boggle- AMAZING
- Taking the back roads from Nephi to Provo- it was beautiful
- Playing goalie at FHE soccer- SCARY
- Watching Star Trek, the movie- Pretty good

And it has only been two months! Wonder what else I will try with Joseph around... Maybe trying new things is okay.

Trip to Salt Lake

Two weeks ago, Joseph and I went to Salt Lake City with Joseph's brother, David and his wife Erin. We went up mainly because my friend had her wedding reception in the evening. We went to This is the Place Monument and also Temple Square. It was very enjoyable to spend the day walking around with no strict or set schedule. We could spend as much or little time at any place that we wanted. Sarah's reception was beautiful and great to see some family friends. This is the Place monument was cool. I can only imagine Brigham Young announcing that this would be the place to settle. I always love going to Temple Square and seeing all the sister missionaries hard at work.

Pictures

This is what my last few weeks have been like: Camp and seeing Joseph. These pictures show why I am SO HAPPY and SO BLESSED!

Joseph and I travelled to the Oquirrh Mountain temple because the Provo temple is closed for cleaning. We finally took a picture together! Joseph is just amazing and makes me the happiest girl alive! Oh and by the way, we did not match on purpose! It was a complete coincidence.

This is the outside of the Oquirrh Mountain temple. It is so beautiful inside and out.
One of my campers, Petra and I smiling together right before our big cook out!
This is camper Meagan and I. She was by far, one of my favorite campers this summer! She made me laugh so much when we pretended to be ninja princesses together!

The rest of the summer is full of relaxing, sleeping, moving to Provo again, seeing Joseph A LOT, and making homemade meals again!

Fun in the Sun

Besides spending a billion hours at camp each week, I try to find fun things to do in Utah during the summer. This past weekend, I was able to spend time in Nephi and Manti, the farthest south I've been in Utah EVER!!! For the weekend, I went to meet Joseph's family and spend time with them.
Friday night, we went to the Manti Pageant and I absolutely loved it. It told many stories from the Book of Mormon as well as the process that Joseph Smith went through when he translated it for all the world.
Saturday, Joseph and I watched the Ghana vs. United States soccer game. GHANA WON!!! It was an amazing gme and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Since I wanted Ghana to win anyways, it was a perfect day.
Later that day, we all went to some hot springs south of Provo. It was quite awesome and very refreshing! I also saw a HUGE rattlesnake! It scared me terribly!
Sunday, we went to Church and I was able to go to a family ward. I loved it because I got to see little adorable kids in their Sunday best! Awesome! Joseph's mom made this delicious taco salad meal and I tried it! Good stuff!!!
I wish I had pictures but I didn't take any. I was just too busy having fun! This next weekend, I am visiting Provo and doing some fun things again with friends! Great times are to be had by all!

Camp Pictures

PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!

Camp Goodness

The first week of camp is over and I have nine more left for this summer. This week, we had adult campers with all sorts of disabilities. In specific, I had one camper with spina bifida and was confined to a wheelchair. I had another camper who had mental retardation and was a joy to work with. This week, I took my campers horseback riding, canoeing, fishing (and we caught a few!), on the high ropes course as well as nature and field games. It was tons of fun but a lot of hard work. Saturday, which is normally our day off, we were required to work from 8am to 5pm. Later that night, I worked in Provo so it was a busy "day off" for me. Camp starts all over again tomorrow with teenagers with cognitive disabilities. Off to work I go! (Pictures will soon come)

Eternal Families are the Best

I have a family here on Earth.

They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them through all eternity.
Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my whole family, and the Lord has shown me how I can. The Lord has shown me how I can.

Here are some highlights of my visit to Wisconsin.
Playing with my niece
Visiting the Mall of America Aquarium
Making Scandinavian cookies with my Grandma
Visiting family!
And now here is what I am up to in the good old state of Utah.

The day has arrived...

Sadly, the day has arrived where I had to buy jeans. Now, that is not the sad part. The sad part is that I had to buy jeans that were EXTRA SHORT! Yep... I think I am shrinking. Stores need to learn that it lowers my self-esteem when I have to buy short jeans but then to buy EXTRA SHORT (and they are still a few inches long) just damages me completely. It was a sad day in my life.

Long time comin'

Well, due to technology issues (my power cord blew up) as well as midterms and school, I have failed with blogging lately. As I was reading the other night about Moses dividing the Red Sea, I kept thinking about miracles. God performed so many miracles in the Old Testament including the burning bush, saving Daniel in the lion's den and protecting Joseph from the law. I was pondering all of these events in the Old Testament and realized it is the same God today as it was in the times of the Old Testament. If there is a God that could save the slaves out of Egypt, rescue Moses from the river and allow a barren woman, Sarah, to deliver a son in her old age, then there is a God today that can perform miracles today. I have witnessed miracles and truly know they continue to happen just as they did in the Bible. Miracles come in all sizes: small, large, quiet and loud (such as a baby crying in the night). I am grateful to know that our God is powerful and truly a God of Miracles.

Now, aside from my thoughts of the Old Testament, I have been up to a lot in my life lately. School is done in about a month now and then I come home for three weeks in May. Anatomy is finishing up thank goodness! I am looking to next semester's classes as I have NO lab classes! Some friends from church and I went hiking in the snow about a week ago, which was quite fun and adventurous. I will post pictures later...

A day late...

I've been thinking a lot about faith lately and the importance of it on my life. I am so thankful I had the faith to ask questions when investigating the Church. I am grateful that I have the faith now to ask the Lord questions that enter my mind and the knowledge and understanding I have that answers will come. This week in Genesis, I read about what happens when someone is weak in faith.
"And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainting, for he believed them not.
And they told him all the words of Jospeh, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived." (Gen. 45:26-27)
Jacob/Israel didn't believe the words his sons spoke to him but the moment he saw Joseph's wagon, his spirit "was revived." I think it is amazing that many people (including myself) won't believe something until they actually see it. But with so many things in this world, we have to rely on God. I never saw the First Vision take place but I know, through faith, that is it true. I don't need to see it. I am grateful that I don't need to see everything in order to believe it is true.

How Do You Spend Your Day?

Brigham Young once said, “Life is best enjoyed when time periods are evenly divided between labor, sleep, and recreation…all people should spend one-third of their time in recreation which is rebuilding, voluntary activity, never idleness.”

He further explained that having 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work and 8 hours of recreation each day makes your life have meaning. As I've been reading the Old Testament, I think a lot about how the people filled their days. For them, there was no texting, calling, emailing or blogging. This past week, I decided to look at my time and how I utilized it to see if I fit what President Brigham Young urged us to do. Here are the results:

Sleep: 37% I slept for about 62 hours of my week. How can I do that and still feel exhausted today? That is nearly three days out of seven!
Church: 8%
Getting Ready: 4%
Eating: 7%
Class: 9% It seems like so much more than that.
Study: 16%
Socializing: 8% I even had a bunch of people over last night and it still is quite sad.
TV watching: 3%
Work: 5%
Service: 3%
I then placed those things in three categories: Sleep, Work/School and Recreation and added up percentages. According to President Young, they should all be even around 33%. Here are my results
Sleep 37%
Work/School 33%
Recreation 30%
I am closer than I thought I would be. I just need to increase my recreation time, which should be easy to do as I am recreation major!

Blessings of Being Prepared

Continuing on with the Old Testament this week, I read about the whole situation with Joseph and his brothers. Joseph is cast off into prison and there he interprets dreams. Eventually he is able to interpret the Pharaoh's dream about the seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Because Joseph could prophesy of this, it allowed the people to gather and store food during the plentiful years so when the famine came, they were able to survive. Not everyone listened and followed this. Ironically, the many brothers of Joseph who wanted to slay him needed food during the famine and their father, Jacob tells them to collect food from their own brother in Egypt.
Now, the prophets and leaders of our Church today tell us to be prepared for emergencies and even more stress food storage. I think the story of Joseph stands as a testimony of how important those principles are. We have been told to store food and be prepared for emergencies just like Joseph was told through the dreams of Pharoah. Because Joseph prepared not only himself but the nation, he and others were blessed.

Aside from reading the Old Testament, this week was filled with memorizing all 489 terms for my anatomy midterm tomorrow (yep I counted them). So if you ever have a question about which muscles insert on the intertubercular groove in your humerus, you can ask me!

The Fall

So to start off strong with this new goal of mine, here is my first blog.

These past few days, I read the beginning of Genesis, which tells the story of creation, the Fall, the flood and some other things. It was delight to read them this week.

But I wanted to focus on one thing in my blog. That is the Fall and when Satan enters the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This time around, I read it and this question came to my mind: Was Satan aware that he played a crucial part in the plan of salvation?

Allow me to explain. Sin had to occur in the Garden of Eden in order for Jesus Christ to become the Savior of the World. So Satan did that; he brought sin into the Garden and essentially into our lives. It was crucial for that to happen. So my question/thought is: Did Satan know he was bringing to pass the work of God? He rebelled against God in the war in Heaven and would nevver want to do anything that would please our Heavenly Father. I spoke to a leader at my church about this and he helped me with a few things. He explained that there must be opposition to all things and that Satan wants us to be miserable just like he is for all of eternity. Satan probably did not realize that by tempting Eve he was assisting in the plan of salvation but rather God knew the characteristics and desires of Satan's heart and knew Satan's power. God, being all-knowing, used that to His good.

It made me think a lot about the power of our Heavenly Father and how much He loves us. It also reminded me of the manipulative power of Satan and how he actively tries to, through sin, make us as miserable as we can be.

To make this post worth it even more, here is a picture of something I thought was cute.

Casie's Goal

Today, while waiting at the doctor's office, I picked up the January issue of Friend and browsed through it. I read an article entitled, Amy's Goal (click to read the article). And the idea came into my mind that if an eight year old could do that, so could I. I have the read the Bible multiple times but never cover to cover. So for the next (insert the time you think it might take to read it), I will blog weekly about one lesson I learn through reading the Bible. It begins tonight, right after I finally finish studying at the library and studying the brain in anatomy!

Edible Eats

This is what I made for Sunday Dinner tonight. For my first time making both, I think they tasted alright. Of course, it never tastes as good as Mom's!

Family Famous recipe: SCALLOPED CORN!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie! Before Picture

After Picture!

I don't know if I can top this dinner!

Update on the Quest to Feminity

Well, the week has come to close and as promised, here is my update on how increasing my feminity worked.
Almost everyday this week (besides the one I woke up super late... late being 7:45am), I did my hair and all. I accessorized by wearing a necklace one day and a bracelet another day. I also spoke to a few guys in my classes (I know, astonishing) and one guy was really embarassed once. I was at a review session for anatomy and he introduced himself and then asked me my name. He thought it was Jaycee and went on this whole entire story about how he had known a Jaycee in a previous life (okay, not really but it was a weird connection) and then he told me, "Oh my goodness, that was embarrassing and you didn't need to know that nor do you care." It was funny. Oh and his name is Hyrum. In addition, I tried to let guys hold the door open for me even though I really don't like it but there weren't many opportunities. Most guys chose not to hold the door open so I think the next lesson in Elder's Quorum should be how to be more gentleman-like.
Now, Emily suggested I dye my hair blonde, buy some bumpits and tilt my head. Well, I have tried to dye my hair blonde before and it was an epic failure. I am bias against Bumpits currently but I can tilt my head. As I learned from Janet and her Visiting Teachers, tilting of the head is a method of flirting and more specifically, tilting it at a 70 degree angle. That is my challenge for next week- tilting of the head. It is a art form and I am determined to master it!

The Quest to Find my Feminity

Today in Relief Society, the Bishop's wife spoke to us on.... DATING! I discovered that I am doing a lot of things that decrease my chances of marriage such as I hang out with girls and sometimes by myself, I am not feminine and I spend my Friday (and sometimes) Saturday nights studying.
Janet, my roommate took a quiz in one of her classes about feminine versus masculine and she gave me the same quiz a few weeks ago. My results declared that I am masculine. So in order to become feminine, I have to change a lot about me. Here are some things I thought I would try in the next week or so.
- Actually DO my hair every morning rather than brushing it and rushing out of the door.
- Wear makeup more often.
- Not wear sweats to class.
- Accessorize more meaning I actually have to plan my outfits!
- Let guys hold the door open for me.
- Help my roommates become more feminine.
- Have nicer manners.
- Talk to guys in my classes.
Man, this whole feminine thing sounds like a lot of work for me. It better be worth it!
So those are my ideas. I will be sure to report on how it goes. Any other suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!

Let the fun begin!

I have an assignment for the next few days and that is to become a person with a disability. For my Accessible Recreation class, we are given the task of becoming disabled in any way for a day. We could choose to not use an arm, leg, go on crutches, be deaf, mute or blind or any other physically-disabling condition. I have chosen to be paraplegic and got a wheelchair for the weekend. The assignment is to do it for only one day but I really want to do it for more to receive a better understanding of wheelchairs usage as it is most likely the population I will be working with. I think I will become "paraplegic" both on Saturday and Monday. I can't do it on Sunday because church is on campus and it would take FOREVER to get there. It might be a little tricky getting up to my apartment on the 3rd story (I may just be miraculously healed for a few minutes when walking up the stairs with my wheelchair). But all in all, I am sure it will be a learning process!

Here are some pictures of what I think I will try to do in the next few days:

Alas, It is Over

Winter break has come and gone once again and now I am back in Utah. Break was quite exciting this year as I did many things with family and friends. Some of the activities included:

- Getting and decorating a Christmas tree

- Seeing my niece Megan and playing with her a ton

- Visiting with my whole family over the holidays

- Seeing friends from high school

- Dominating the Obstacle Course on Wii

- Playing games and doing puzzles with my family

- Sledding

- Going to the dentist and getting a clean bill of health

- Sleeping in a little and taking naps almost every day

- Making Christmas Eve dinner for my whole family by myself- and it was very edible.
- Suffering in my house with the temperature at 55 degrees because the furnace went out with a power outage

Now that I am back in Provo, it is time to refocus on classes and all that jazz for the next few months. The perk of coming to Provo is that is a lot warmer than Wisconsin. When I left, it was -24 in Wisconsin and in Provo, it is the low 30's. I don't mind the warmth one bit!