Conference weekend.

One second you're walking up the stairs and the next second you're laying on them.
This phrase is both literal and metaphoric.
My conference weekend started out AMAZING. Thursday night I went to a Clay Walker concert with some friends maybe I already wrote about that. I think I did. Anyway, so Friday after work I drove up to Salt Lake to eat with some friends who were down visiting for the conference weekend. We ate at Tucanos. It was very yummy and I didn't even have to pay, just making it that much better. But really it was just so great. So fun to see my friend Rachel and her family. I love her mom!!!! Too bad my conversation skills need some help.













This is Rachel and I at Tucanos. Picture complements of her brother Josh who took at least a whole minute to finally take the picture.

I left from the dinner and headed up to Kaysville for my mission reunion. IT WAS SO GREAT. I almost cried when President and Sister Mellor were standing on the stage getting ready to talk to us. It was fun to see people although I didn't really talk with many people since I feel like I don't know them! I did however get to talk with my favorite Senior couple the Marlers. They were in my first area and are just my most favorite people ever. Elder Marler is hilarious!!! Love them!!!!




















































After that we went and stayed with Denae and got up early to head back up to Salt Lake to go to conference, but not before we had a delicious breakfast prepared by Denae's mother-in-law. It was very tasty.
At conference my friend Pam had a ticket to go in the conference center so I dropped her off and then parked and watched conference in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building with Rachel and her family and then afterward I went with them and ate at The Roof. The view was spectacular and the food delish. Still need to work on the conversation skills.
After lunch I was off to the conference center with Pam. Conference was a delight and I enjoyed being in the conference center. After conference we headed to the food court. Since I had ditched Pam for lunch, she was starving. We ate with an Elder from our mission and then headed to Deseret Book so Pam could get her free wall hanging. We watch Alex Boye and Jericho Road, got our free thing and then headed up to Bountiful to see my friend Dana who was up for conference from Arizona.
IT WAS SO GREAT TO SEE HER!!!! Dana and I have been friends since the 2nd grade. Bestest friends from 2nd-8th grade. Then she moved away but we were still good penpals and we have somehow stayed friends until this very day. Who knows why. I think maybe it's because we need to keep tabs on each other and make sure the other doesn't share any of our deep dark embarrassing secrets. :)
We headed out for ice cream where we got somewhat caught up on the last two years of life since we had seen each other. We laughed a lot and had a wonderful time. What a fantastic way to end an already fabulous day.













Dana and her new baby.

So after leaving Dana's we headed down to stay with another sister, Marie, from our mission. Surprisingly we didn't even get lost. I was out cold when Pam finally stopped talking to me about her love and putting her freezing cold feet on me.
Sunday morning we decided to stay with Marie for the first session and eat breakfast with her and her friends. We left half way through to avoid the traffic of conference. Sadly this is where the literal part of my first line comes into play. We took our stuff out to the car and were headed back in to say goodbye to Marie. One second I was walking up the stairs and the next I was laying on them. Some how I didn't quite get my foot up high enough to clear the step and soon found myself getting very familiar with the concrete steps. My poor hand took most of the impact along with my poor bleeding toes. We hurried in and said goodbye and then were on our way. Pam had yet another ticket to the conference center so after walking around a bit she headed there and I went back to the Joseph Smith Building. Sadly Rachel and her family weren't feeling well and stayed in their hotel room to watch conference so I watched it alone in a room full of 500 people. Maybe it was the fall, maybe just life, the close of a great weekend and conference or a combination of everything but I was crying and wanted to just crawl into a hole. Thus the metaphoric part where sometimes in life you are walking along just fine and the next second you find yourself saying hello to a concrete floor. But when that happens all you can really do is get up and keep going. We may be a bit more bruised than when we started but that's part of the journey.

Figures

First of all I just want to say I LOVE BEING ALIVE. Life is rough and I know I definitely could have it a lot worse, but I really just like being alive. I like to learn, even if sometimes it's the hard way. Today I'm really grateful for prayer and forgiveness. As a human being I do some really dumb stuff. I'm not going to go into details on this, and really isn't wasn't anything huge, but yesterday I received some news that should have been very happy. It was good news, but because I'm a very selfish person I didn't take it the way I should have. I was kinda bitter and iritated. Then I sat there in my car and asked myself why do you feel this way. This is obviously a very good thing, why should you be upset by it. Once I saw that I was just being an idiot and that my life would still turn out just fine, I focused on the positive and asked God to forgive me for being such a brat. I felt much better and today it's like the greatest news there ever was. Well maybe not ever, but it's still good news.
In other news, I had to buy a new battery for my car yesterday, I went to a Clay Walker concert with some friends, I completely moved out of my old apartment and in with Katie, cleaned out my car, was in an awesome movie where I was the star and might I just say I'm an amazing Wendy. Peter Pan's Wendy. It's gonna be awesome. Pretty much life is good, can't complain too much. Shouldn't complain at all.

Happy October!

The change begins

Here comes fall, the changing of the seasons, the leaves are bright and colorful, and I'm changing right along with it. I've decided to move in with my friend Katie and her family. We, my current roommate and I, looked for somewhere to live together but it just wasn't coming together. We really wanted to live together and she really wanted to stay in the sames apartments where we are now. We talked and looked and it just wasn't there. But then I had this epiphany, she could go to an apartment that had an opening in the ward and I would do something else. So now I'm going to live with Katie until January and then I get to change again. It'll be great. Moving all my stuff hasn't been fun and I'm really going to miss my roommate and being close to so many single adults in my ward.
Right now I'm also getting a lesson in how to not be jealous. I'm finding it to be a bit difficult. Someone help! I feel like once I'm finally on top of one thing there's something else. It's so lame. Lame but necessary. I remember on the mission my Zone leader gave me a pep talk after I had a breakdown. He told me the mission (and life)is a refiners fire. If it's not one thing it will be something else.That's how we learn and grow. I'll catch onto this life thing sometime.

Decisions, Decisions

Not gonna lie, I'm not a huge fan of making decisions. I do okay with your everyday tasks, what to eat for breakfast, pants or a skirt, straight or curly hair, but the bigger more life impacting decisions aren't so easily made. I've known since January when I signed my lease that it ended in September. Now here we are in September and do I have a new place to live yet? Of course not. Have I thought about it? You better believe it! Have I gotten anywhere with it? Not really. I think I've come to the conclusion that maybe I depend on others too much. What are they choosing, what will help them the most, blah, blah, blah. Well here I am waiting for them to choose, trying to help out someone else and the answer came yesterday that I shouldn't wait on her anymore. Maybe that's not a good way to phrase it. The answer was maybe you should just make a decision. Now I'm stuck. I was gonna stay where I am with my one roommate, but that just doesn't look like it's going to work. I can move in with another friend which I think is what I want to do, the only problem is that I drug my feet long enough that now the place we were going to go is full until next semester. So now I need to find a place to live for 3 months until I can go to the place I should have gone with 3 weeks ago. What's my problem?! Where to live, where to live?

Sunday will come

Somedays you're on top of the world and somedays you have a melt down. My melt downs seem to occur around Labor Day. I just take one a year but I make it count. The end of last week was interesting. Thursday I started crying at work. Poor co-worker he wasn't quite sure what to do with me. Offered me a hug, which I really wanted but I knew I'd totally dissolve so I passed on that. Then I was fine. Friday he had a crappy day and it was my turn to offer him a hug. Saturday was fine, Sunday was great. Monday was a Monday. Tuesday though, that's where it went downhill fast. I work collections, not the most desirable job, but it pays me. Anyway we have this account that is 22 days past due and I saw the guy walking down the street so I called him up. Well he actually answered and he didn't have anything nice to say. After listening to as much profanity as I could stand I hung up. My co-worker, Aldo, looked at me and asked what happened. I told him and so he picked up the phone and called the guy back. He wasn't nice and put this guy in his place. Between the guy swearing at me and Aldo standing up for me I completely lost it. I went in the back and composed myself and then I was okay I guess. Watery eyes and not feeling super great. I decided part way through the day that I didn't really like feeling so sad and always on the verge of tears so I decided to ask my neighbor for a blessing. This is a hard thing for me. I don't know why but it always is. Well I did okay for the day, but at the end of the day I really just wanted a hug so I asked Aldo for a hug. Being the nice guy he is, he gave me one, but that set me off and I just started crying. I left work and went to the temple where I cried through the session off and on. Then in my car I completely dissolved. I got home and after I cried to my roommate my neighbor came over to give me a blessing with another guy from my ward. , I told the guys my "issues" for lack of a better word and cried some more. The thing that bugs me the most is that there really wasn't anything wrong. Maybe change and stress? Anyway Simeon gave me a blessing and I calmed down and wasn't even crying by the time it was over, but then Simeon gave me a hug and I just couldn't keep it in.
Satan was definitely working on me, but I'm feeling better now. After breaking down one more time for the night with my friend Katie I felt much better. I'm grateful for the priesthood and good friends.
Life really is okay, but sometimes it's just hard. Maybe a bit overwhelming. It will always be that way, no matter the stage of life. I get that. Right now it's my lot in life to be single and to sometimes feel lonely, overwhelmed, confused, and maybe a bit lost. But it's okay. Heavenly Father loves me. He's given me the tools I need to make it through. I don't have to go it alone. No matter how bad things look, it's like the talk Elder Wirthlin gave a few years ago, Sunday will come.

Family

Already this week has been quite delightful and filled with family. As a single girl living away from home it's always nice when I get to go home and see my family. This week has been a bit different. Sunday I got to drive up to Tremonton where my cousin Jon lives to pick up my cousin Emma. Emma is from Pennsylvania and I hadn't seen her in about 9 years. She will be going to BYU this semester. She flew out last week and my cousin Jon picked her up from the airport. Then my aunt came down from Idaho and took her shopping for everything she'd need at college. Then it was my duty to make sure she made it to BYU. So we had a nice chat getting to know each other a bit on the way back, she stayed the night at my apartment and then we got up bright and early to take her to school. We dropped her stuff at her dorm, got her an ID card and books and then I left her to go on her retreat. I sure do like that girl.
Then to add to the day my grandpa called me to see if I was working, which I was. He then called me back to see what time I got off work and invite me to dinner. He then called me back again and asked me to go pick up my cousin Connor and meet them for dinner. So after getting off work late I went and got Connor and we drove to my great aunts house. So the reason for this get together is that my cousin McKenna is also starting at BYU this fall and her family drove her out from Michigan. So we all went out to dinner. My aunt Shelley is insane. That woman can TALK. It's very funny. Sadly McKenna and Teresa don't remember me and hardly even knew how we were related. I find this quite ridiculous since I saw them last year when they brought Connor to school, but what are ya gonna do? It was fun to see everyone and chat for a bit and free dinner is always appreciated.
In other news in the wonderful world of Cathy, I decided to work this week instead of taking a vacation. I didn't really know where to go and I didn't want to go by myself. It saves me money and I'm earning money and I get to work with my awesome co-worker one more week. I didn't like working by myself but it would have been easier to leave if I hadn't gotten a new awesome co-worker. He's hilarious and he keeps trying to convince me to stay. If I didn't dislike the job so much he might be able to convince me. So as of now I have 4 days left. The summer is coming to a close. It's been great. I'll be moving soon. Lot's of new adventures to come.

New Job!

I got a new job!!!! I'm SO SO excited about it. I called on Friday to check up and then they called me back. It took a lot of restraint to not jump up and down while I was on the phone with the man. After I hung up though, there was no restraining going on. I was jumping and yelling and I was so excited! Good thing no one else was in the office. :) Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful to have a job at all, but it's just not very fun when you dread going to work everyday. It's even worse now because my boss and only co-worker quit two weeks ago so I've been working 6 days a week all by myself. Luckily that ends tomorrow when the Manager from St. George transfers to my office. Sad day for him that I'm putting in my two weeks notice tomorrow. I think my position will be filled easily so I don't feel too bad. I don't start my new job until the 2nd of September so I'm thinking of maybe going on a vacation to somewhere awesome for a week or so. I just don't know where. Any suggestions?