A New Beginning

So I realize that I have been a little MIA lately... so here's an update in a nutshell...

...job hunting, working part time at the VA, trips up to Logan and down to Payson, cousin's wedding out in Nauvoo = flight to Kansas then drive up to Nauvoo, basically the best trip ever, more quick trips up to Logan and down to Payson, General Conference, 25th Birthday, job offer -

I am the newest employee at Desks Inc. of Utah! We are located in South Salt Lake City, and so far so good. There is tons for me to learn but I am feeling confident and excited to be working. I am an Interior Designer for them, so I will be doing lots of drafting on a new program (to me) so it should be fun to find the differences in comparison to the drafting programs I am already used to.

I am currently looking for an apartment in Salt Lake, we are gravitating towards the Sugar House area. I am excited to find one and move down there to cut the commute to work, and just being in Salt Lake is awesome.

I went to the IIDA Fashion Remix 2012 last week - and it was fabulous! My favorite was Architectural Nexus/Forbo dress.

My latest thing is I have been up to is rekindling my love of plants. It slowly started picking up last year when I tried to save 'Mr. Darcy', and then got 'Tiana' as a replacement. Tiana is alive and well, I recently transplanted her into a larger pot and she is very happy. Then I found some old hibiscus seeds from our hibiscus bush back in Alabama, no sprouts yet, but all seeds take time to germinate - *fingers crossed!* Our plant had dinner plate sized red flowers. It was so beautiful! My next addition was an 'Orange Star'. It is so cute, and I love the vibrant orange blooms. I got a nice gray pot for it, and it has followed me to work. It is a nice addition to my desk!

I love giving living flowers as gifts, if cared for they are the gift that keeps on giving - although you can't really go wrong with a bouquet either. Anyway, a while back my cousin and I picked out a little rosebush for our Grandma. Today, I found it out on the back porch clinging to life... along with an Azalea 'tree' that she had also received as a gift. They were both looking pretty sorry so I took pity on them. I took all the dead leaves off for good measure.

My patients: Rose and Azalea

My new project is to bring them back to life... so I took a trip to Lowes today to pick up another pot and some Miracle Grow.... I can't tell you how excited I was to be there. It was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining, it was warm and the plants were all out and happy looking. If I had a house of my own, I would have walked away with some fruit trees today - but instead I was inspired to start an Herb Garden from scratch so here is my other project:

Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Coriander/Cilantro, and  Oregano 

Yes, they had more mature herb plants, but what is the fun in that? I like the satisfaction of having grown something from a seed myself. *fingers crossed* I get this need to grow things once the weather starts turning. I am excited to help my grandparents this year - their cherry, apple, and apricot trees are in bloom! Next week I'll be heading over to help plant the tomatoes. Perfect. I <3 Plants! Hehe if I were a Batman super villian I would totally be Poison Ivy.

Hello February...

I have had quite the February so far...

I took last week off to do a bit of travelling and have some 'me time'. It started with dinner and a show with my brother. We went to see 'Something Funny Happened on the way to the Forum' at a local theater here in South Ogden. It was pretty funny. Then the next morning I drove up to Logan. Good times! My darling roommates decided to have a 'Flying the Coup' party in honor of Annika and I moving out and on to other things. It was a blast. Sunday was great as well - it was great to be back in my church there, then we had some friends over for Hawaiian French Toast - yum! and to end the night, the annual Joseph Smith Memorial Fireside.

Most of Monday and Tuesday I spent, looking and applying for jobs. Monday night we had FHE at our place where we made mormon.org profiles. (Here's mine) I had already made one  a while back so I just helped others make theirs. Then we made pancakes :) Tuesday I went to Institute with some friends, then worked on my portfolio and applied for another job in SLC. (I have an interview on Friday!) then I was able to go to the temple. It was so nice. I love the Logan temple. After I got back, my friends picked me up for Taco Tuesday at Cafe Rio. Yum! I haven't been there in ages. Wednesday was my roommate's birthday so we partied it up a bit, had pizza, hung out, and then I went country dancing. :) Thursday I was able to go to Institute again - it was so great! Then I had lunch with another friend I haven't seen for a while... and despite the threat of snow - drove down to Provo to hang out with another friend I haven't seen in years! She did homework, I read my book and then we went to Guru's for dinner! We had hummus and pita bread to share then we each had the Thai peanut pasta. Yum Yum Yum! I will definitely be going back there!

The rest of the weekend I spent in Payson. I got to go to school with my cousin and see her awesome class. We made cheesecake, and all sorts of amazing things, which was even more amazing because her fridge was broken! Then Monday night I headed back up to Ogden, because I was working on Tuesday...

If you happened to be driving east bound on 400 S. between 8:15 and 9:00am yesterday morning you may have noticed a black car in the right lane with the hazard lights on about 80 ft from the intersection at 700 E. ... that was me.


After I had exited I-15 I made it a couple of lights when my radio died. Then there was a slight clicking noise and a new warning light (normally I have three regular ones that pop up... but don't really mean something is wrong, I just haven't had them reset)... again I was concerned, but I was also in the middle of traffic so my goal was to make it up to the hospital and then see what could be done... it wasn't meant to be. When we stopped at the light on 700 E. Sassy gave it up.

I then spent the next half hour, standing in the Shell Gas Station parking lot, on and off the phone with my insurance and the tow company. I had a SLPD Officer pull up behind Sassy, park and put on the blue lights so no one would rear end me. I am very happy he showed up. I was even happier when the tow truck showed up, and because I had died far enough from the light, he was able to pull up in front of Sassy and get her on the truck. The driver said that usually when he comes to tow a vehicle and the driver is a woman, she is hysterical... but that I was surprisingly calm. The way I figured it, my car broke down with the best possible scenario. It could have happened on the free way... or it could have been snowing. So really, for as inconvenient my car breaking down was, things worked out really well. I was towed to Little Garage, where they were too busy to check out my car right away so they gave me a ride to the VA and then called me later. After work I got a ride back to the garage where my car was ready to go and I drove home - with a newly installed alternator.

I didn't work today so I stayed home, watched Castle - the Blue Butterfly episode, and Ocean's 11 with my brother, did laundry, baked wheat bread, followed up on some e-mails and things for work, and finished reading Three Cups of Tea: One man's mission to promote peace one school at a time ... It is such an amazing book! I highly recommend it, and checking out the Central Asia Institute and finding out more about what they do. It could change your life.

Up coming plans: work tomorrow, job interview on Friday in SLC, then down to Payson, dress shopping on Saturday and I am sure lots of adventures in between!

ps. The bread recipe we used tonight was from a 1962 Better Homes Cook Book. My Grandpa gave it to me after my Grandma passed away. I was looking through the rest of the pages and there are tons of great recipes in there! I am so excited to try more of them. The wheat bread was perfect. I just followed the recipe exactly (well, I didn't use quite as much flour but I went by the texture of the dough) and voila! Delicious home made bread. I am taking some to work for lunch tomorrow, but had to sample some tonight. One of my very favorite things to eat in the whole world is fresh, warm home made bread ... and with honey!

Random fact about me: I LOVE cook books!