Still alive

January is half over. What the heck!? I still haven't pounded out all the new years resolutions so that'll have to wait. I'm working overtime everyday just to try and stay caught up. I may die when Becky has her baby, if you don't hear from me after next week, you'll know what happened.
I start at the temple tomorrow as an ordinance worker. I'm pretty stoked about that. "Friday night!" you exclaim, "but Cathy, Friday nights are for dating and partying and such." Right. Let's look at the last 2 Friday nights of Cathy's life. 2 weeks ago: asleep at 8 p.m. Last Friday: pjs by 5:30. I really don't think it's going to hurt my social life any more than it's already hurting. It may just be the best thing to happen to my Friday nights since, . . . . ever. It'll be great!

2012: Let's recap

The year of monthly challenges. Yay for being able to do something for a month! And for just doing fun stuff.
Best April Fool's joke ever!
26.2 miles. Marathon. Check.

Skydiving. Take 2.
Shot a gun for the first time.
Saw Wicked. Totally awesome.
Moved again.
Got a new job- Fort Knox
Rafting

No sugar, no meat, no facebook, service, temple, no spending, dating, Book of Mormon in a month, new recipes, running. Success

- Go on a cruise '11
- Go skydiving '11
- Learn Italian
- Visit Italy
- Learn to play the guitar
- Go to the festival of colors '11
- Run a 1/2 marathon '11
- Ride in a hot air balloon/ go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico
- Shoot a gun '12
- Write a children's book
- See Josh Groban in concert '11
- See Wicked '12
- Go to all the temples in Utah
- See a firefly
- Watch a meteor shower
- Hike the Y '12
- Be in a flash mob
- Visit Prince Edward Island
- Swim with dolphins
- Visit all 50 of the United States
- Be the voice of an animated character
- Be complaint free for 30 days
- Ride a tandum bike
- Run a Marathon '12
- Run a Ragnar
- Go to a Brad Paisley concert
- Visit Europe. A lot of it.
- Go on a spur of the moment trip. on a plane. to somewhere random.
- Be a volunteer at a telethon

Christmas with the Candy Bomber

This morning I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert in conjunction with Music and the Spoken Word, featuring Alfie Boe. When I heard Alfie Boe would be the guest this year, I knew I needed to try for tickets.
My mom and dad went to his concert when he was at BYU-Idaho and RAVED about him. That's really not my dad's thing, so I knew if he was raving about it, Alfie Boe must be pretty amazing. I put my name in the lottery, as well as my mother's and waiting. No dice.
I had friends who had tickets and were so excited to be going, but no invitation for me. Sad day. I tried not to dwell on it and really it didn't bother me too much.
Miraculously my cousin got tickets to Music and the Spoken Word and invited me to come. It may not be the full performance, but something is better than nothing. We arrived in plenty of time and waited for the performance to start. Lloyd Newell came out and told us that we would not be allowed to applaud for the first 30 minutes because of the live broadcast of music and the spoken word. He drilled it into us that no matter what we couldn't applaud. We would REALLY want to, but we couldn't applaud. NO applauding. I think we got it. Little did I know.
The concert began and it was great. Wonderful orchestra and choir. Alfie can really sing! Then came Tom Brokaw. And he began to tell the story of the Candy Bomber. I had never heard this story and I was not prepared. I'll try and sum it up, but here's a link to a news report on him.
After WWII Germany was in need of supplies and we would ship in flour. Hal Halvorsen, a pilot, noticed children watching the planes take off and land and went to chat with them. He noticed they didn't ask for candy like other children often did. He gave them two sticks of gum and then decided he would see what he could gather up from other pilots to give out. They then dropped the candy out of the airplane using handkerchiefs as parachutes. Millions of pounds of candy were dropped to the children of Germany. As the story was told, images of the planes and children were shown and then, Hal Halvorsen himself came on the stage. AND WE COULDN'T APPLAUD!
I was crying. Hard core, no makeup left, crying. I think in light of the horrific events of Friday it was an even more powerful message of hope and love. There are awful people in the world, who do awful things. But there are also wonderful people who can, and do, amazing things. The rest of the concert was great, but the Candy Bomber has given me hope in humanity and a renewed desire to do what I can for those around me.

 Thank You Hal Halvorsen and everyone who reaches out to offer what they can.

Hal Halvorsen (who is now 92 years old)

oh hello December

Here it is December 9th and I find myself wondering where has the year gone!? With the upcoming end of year, I also find myself starting to think about New Year's Resolutions. You may recall that I did it a little different this year. For a refresher you can look here. Instead of thinking a few things to do throughout the entire year, I broke it up into month long challenges. Some were silly and others more serious. Spiritual, temporal. I had quite a variety. I think I'm going to do the same thing for this next year. I haven't put a ton of thought into it yet and so I'm going to start by asking for suggestions. Maybe something you did to challenge yourself or improve your life that you really enjoyed or just something you think would be a good one. Maybe we can do it together and report to each other. At any rate, I'd like your suggestions. So use the comment box, send me an email, write on my facebook wall, do what you got to do. Ready, set, GO!

An Attitude of Gratitude

November 25
Babies!! My cousin blessed his little baby today and it's such a miracle that babies arrive the way they do and that those little tiny people grow into adults! I love the joy children bring to life and I'm grateful that if I can't have any kids of my own at this time in my life, at least there are people around me who do, and I can feel of the special spirit that comes with them. Talmage. You're my favorite.

November 26
Missionaries! We went to temple square tonight to see the lights for FHE and of course saw all the sister missionaries. There was even a group from the Philippines doing a special Christmas musical number and I couldn't help but think of my sister out there as a missionary. Hurray for missionaries and their sacrifice and dedication to the Lord and his work.

November 27
Options. I am grateful I live in a country where I have options. If one thing doesn't work it's not the end of the world (even if I feel like it is in the moment) and I have other options I can go to to get what I need.

November 28
The Priesthood. I am so grateful for God's priesthood restored on the earth and for worthy men in my life who can use that to bless me. I am also grateful for their willingness to use that, no matter the time of day.

November 29
Life's lessons. I'm grateful for the life lessons I've learned first hand and the lessons other people have learned and shared so I don't have to experience them first hand.

November 30
The gospel of Jesus Christ. It gives me direction and purpose in life. Helps me to keep going even through the hard times.

So much to be thankful for

November 18
My parents!! Today is their 29th wedding anniversary and I'm so grateful for them and all they've done for me in my life. I'm grateful they have worked through the hard times and given me a good example of how marriage can work. :)

November 19
Optimism. I really am grateful for optimism and optimistic people. As I sat tonight doing a service project at FHE with a few people on the cynical side, I was grateful for all the people in my life who will try and look on the bright side instead of seeing and commenting on all the bad things. I understand realism and knowing that the world isn't sunshine and roses all the time, but it really does make like easier and better to try and find the positive in a world that sometimes feels like it's filled with darkness and thorns.

November 20
Modern Medicine. When you feel crappy like I did today, it's nice to take some medicine and feel better. I'm a fan of somewhat instant pain relief. People who like to just endure it are crazy in my book.

November 21
Great people in my ward and their willingness to serve. Tim and Alex get the shout out on this one for lifting the giant motorcycle engine out of my trunk into Hollie's car for me. Pretty sure that one wouldn't have happened without them.

November 22
Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday and I really do have so much to be thankful for.
November 23
The gospel! I grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I know why I'm here and where I'm going and that I can be with my family forever!

November 24
My patient mother who is a wonderful example of love and service.

Let's be thankful some more

November 11
I've really been trying to not pick a person, outside of family, specifically by name to be grateful for, but I just can't help myself today. My old home teacher Kory is in town visiting and at church today he gave me the hug I've been waiting for, for a month! He really just made my whole day and reminded me that sometimes you just have to wait through the bad times to get to what you really want and God knows the little desires of your heart. Prayers are eventually answered.

November 12
I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to serve a mission. I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Sub for Santa program tonight, for the Spanish speakers. I just LOVE Spanish! Aside from the Spanish, the mission was just a great opportunity to serve, share the gospel, strengthen my own testimony and build lasting friendships. Hurray for missions!

November 13
Technology. It may bring with it many evils, but it has astounding good. I'm grateful for the ease it creates in keeping in touch with people and making our lives easier.

November 14
Visiting Teaching. I'm grateful for this program within the Relief Society to make sure that every sister has someone checking up on them. It's another boost to the testimony and a great opportunity to make new friends.

November 15
Talents! I'm grateful for the talents I have been given and for the talents of other people. It makes life more interesting and sometimes much easier. :)

November 16
Little miracles. I'm grateful for the little miracles that a lot of times we don't even notice. Like tonight when my computer wasn't working and then I just did something that I didn't think would fix it, but it did. God is good.

November 17
Fabric. It's the little things in life that make it worth living. ;) But really, it makes me really really happy.