I delight in loving my little life.

this is the quilt i'll be making (although i'll be doing a different version but essentially the squares are the same).
work:  Today, I was a commuter in the Salt Lake Valley.  Oi!  Going to the Sandy Clinic was such a great experience!  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to observe so many awesome clinician's during my "training" period.  There are so many things I am excited to incorporate into my own practice as an SLP.

learning:  Today also marked me doing the URLEND+AE program "official."  I'm really excited, a little nervous to embark on this 2 year post-grad fellowship but it will be so good.  Its amazing all the people I've just happened to meet to make this happen, and who will help to make it a success!

family:  Tonight the parents went out on a date, aw.  So it was me and C and C for the evening.  LB wanted to 'finish her own stuff' (aka making necklaces, because she is the most thoughtful kind soul ever), Craig was watching wagon train, and I was...doing nothing (my brain is reaching its capacity, i swear).  Well, then I hear someone go outside and soon,  there was Christin with Ruby all leashed up, knocking on my window, ready for a walk.  So off the three of us go...Christin in one hand, Ruby in the other.  I'm sure we were quite the sight, and we got some great looks (story of my life).   And I just relished in every moment.  For so long I thought living at home was so bad, but it is so good!  I get to come home to this!  And so, tonight as we walked, I really felt like it was one of those 'perfect moments' to be filed away into the permanent happy thoughts file in my brain.  (And Ruby is the best dog ever!  Story of the dog not on a leash, dog comes running up, Ruby of course, got her mohawk, but as soon as I said, "Rubes" she twirled in a circle, and came and sat at my foot, still attentive on the runaway dog, but sitting and being obedient.  High praise for the pup!)

talent development: i may have signed up for a quilt square group.  yes that means that starting next month, every second saturday i will be at sew and save, taking in my made up square and getting the pieces for a new square to have done by the next second saturday.  thankfully i have the best mom and neighbor to teach me the tricks.

gospel studies:  i've been stuck on the same chapter and verse all week. I start the chapter over again, only to end up at the same place, pondering and pondering and pondering.

 "I will give away all my sins to know thee..." (Book of Mormon, Alma)

right?  It just makes me think, reflect, and ponder change and repentance.  Intentional change.  Intentional repentance.

mission: President 2 got home earlier this month.  Roadtrip this weekend to his homecoming with fellow sisters.  I'm super excited about it!  As I talked to one of my companions the other night, I couldn't help but think about how I am so grateful for the experience of a mission for a million different reasons.

I delight in mother-daughter time.

picture not taken today...taken back in July/Aug 2008 in Rock Springs, WY.

Today I was able to spend some time with my Mom. This does not happen very often so it is kind of a big deal when just she and I get to do something together.

Mom is always game for anything with enough warning to sufficiently prepare. Who else would go to a sewing sale with me at 6 in the morning and actually enjoy it! Who else would love talking to, laughing with, and meeting other lovely sewing/fabric lovers who line up outside stores for early-bird sales? Nope, I can only think of her! :)

I love that we have a lot of things that we both enjoy doing together. Lately, we've (well I've been more than her but it all started with her) been into sewing more than normal. We're taking a sewing class together this week so we needed to get all our stuff so we'd be ready. Now we just have to figure out how to attach the walking feet we bought to our machines so we don't look like clueless goonies at our introduction to machine quilting class later this week. It's going to be an adventure full of lots of laughs. I can tell already!

My mom is fantastic when it comes to helping me develop my talents. She lends a great amount of support and can answer or direct you to where to find answers to any question. At the same time, she let's me just figure some things out since I like to be a little rebellious like that sometimes.

Later in the day, we went to the antique show, one of our oldest and most long standing traditions. It's great to see our "friends" aka the vendors who we know and to run into our "antiquing friends" who we tend to only run into on Saturday mornings at Acorn's Antique Shows. Some themes of this antique show included: Beatrix Potter (a long standing love of mine), some 1930's-1940's "fair" ride toys, and jewelry.

The rest of the day held other various adventures like a trip to the mall, where I usually don't go.

All and all, I loved spending quality time with my Mom. I believe in mother-daughter bonding time. Thanks Mom!

I delight in February 2012.

How many pictures have I taken in February? Hence the picture from October.

Today I am missing Fall. Don't worry, this is normal behavior for me. Winter is not my favorite and winters especially like this one (sans snow) are not my favorite. However, it has almost been too busy to notice. January brought a big learning curve {hello externship} and I LOVED IT.

But February, by the time your 29 days are over...a lot will have been accomplished!

February brought some big decisions. I'm pretty excited about all the potential! February brought a lot of serious contemplation regarding what I really want and how much I really want it. It has been a time of hard work--mentally, physically and emotionally. I've developed a lot of clinical skills and challenged myself to become comfortable doing things that I was so uncomfortable doing. I have also studied for the praxis, A LOT this month.

Outside of school/job hunt: I've developed my sewing skills this month. The four basic Bernina classes that came with my sewing machine are now over, but I really loved them. Mom and I also took a Introduction to Machine Quilting class through Village Dry Goods this past week. It was fantastic but SO much harder than it looks. On another note, I have transcribed some of the most interesting children yet. Additionally, I have had fantastic studies in my scriptures this month and have found a way to take my scripture study to the next level. And finally, I started carrying out some of my health and fitness goals I made back in January.

All and all February has been good to me. I'm exhausted but it is oh so good!

I delight in a new kind of quilt.

Why my computers camera reverses the image in photobooth, I will never know.

I feel like this always happens.

I get busy or a new phase of life comes along and I stop blogging. Its not intentional. I just have to adjust into a new routine, I haven't found it yet.

I may not find it for a while--just saying.

In the meantime, Christmas happened. For me I experienced it in kind of a "whoosh...Christmas is over?" Though, I'm really happy Christmas was on a Sunday this year. Going to church on Christmas seems more than appropriate and helped me to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, on Christmas.

Christmas at my house is a pretty magical experience in terms of the maintenance of the "childlike love" of Christmas traditions. Could Christin be any more excited or any more full of hope of the treasures not only for herself but for others on Christmas morning? Could Craig smile any more as he opened "oldy moldy movies and CDs" that remind us all of the good 'ole days of "worry free media." (Pardon all of those quotations...geez!) And could I enjoy my siblings more? I'm so blessed.

Since Christmas, lots has happened. Lots of good, a little bad, and some in between.

Currently, I'm working buried in a project--a luxury of my last "Christmas break." It is a t-shirt quilt I started an entire year ago. I'm pretty proud of how its turned out thus far. The binding...well that's the last part and I've never done it before but I found a fantastic tutorial here that's proving to be very helpful!

What I've really been thinking a lot about lately is how to approach all I want to do in the following year--habits to be refined and developed, hobbies to enhance, time to be spent doing more worthwhile things, jobs to be found, and always always things to learn and people to help.

And so, I think I need to shake it up this year--approach it in a new way, only I have no idea what kind of new way. All I know so far is that it has to be something different.

How do you approach your new year?