Needing a break...

I am here at school on my instructors computer working on my resume. It's crazy to think that I will be done with school in 7 weeks. I can't believe how fast this past year has gone! I feel like I just started and now I am about to be thrown out to the wolves and am completely terrified. Dont' get me wrong, I am super excited to get to start working and making money for what I have been trained to do. I just don't know how I am going to do without being able to rely on an instructor any time I need one to tell me if I am doing something right or to fix what I have screwed up. :) But I have confidence that I will learn a whole lot more whereever I decide to go. There is ALWAYS something to learn! I am trying to decide between Master Cuts or JC Penny salon at the mall, or Sitting Pretty salon. I just need to go in and check them out to see what would be best for me.

I have an awesome support team. My mom, who has done so much that I cant even list everything. Bethany and Doug, who has let me practice on them :) My bestie Sarah, who is there at any time of day, even at 2 in the morning just to vent. My close friends here in Idaho Falls who come to my school regularly to help me learn and give me motivation to keep going. And Chris. He is the best boyfriend I have ever had and brings me so much happiness. He makes me lunches, stops by to give me hugs, lets me cut his hair even though I shaved off his side burns :), rents me chick flicks so I can relax after a long day, and is just so amazing! I just gotta get through this last push!

Hi

Last weekend Chris and I went to Island Park with our singles branch, stayed at our branch presidents cabin, and went snowmobiling! It was super fun, super cold, and super awesome!

We are going to go see The Bodies exhibit tonight that came in town. I am a little nervous about it but I think it will be pretty cool. I guess it's a big thing in Vegas and the tickets are super expensive. My work is taking all of us for a long overdue Christmas Party. haha :}

I am still waiting for my new phone to come in the mail since mine fell in the toilet a week ago and hasn't worked the same since. My communication has been a little off this week so hopefully it will get here in the next couple days!

I have 500 more hours of school! I really wish it was less cause I want to be done but I also get super nervous when I start thinking about finishing and having to go out on my own. I don't feel ready enough yet.

Our snow is melting! It makes me really excited to think about that, but then I get back to reality and remember that I live in Idaho and of course we aren't done getting snow. We will probably get it way into May!

A Month of Love

Well it's February, which we all know what that means....it's the Month of LOVE! And let me tell you, so far, I am IN LOVE with this YEAR! Seriously, this year has been the best year of my life so far! It's been awesome.

I got the biggest tax return that I have ever had in my entire life. It feels so good to be able to pay off a little bit of debt and have a little left over to do whatever I want with!

I bought Chris a blue ray player for his birthday on Sunday (don't tell him!.....he's going to be 27! He is a little depressed about it cause he says he is super old now. If that makes him old, then I am right there with him, and I don't want to be OLD! haha

He took me to Red Lobster this past Saturday. It was AMAZING! He told me he would take me there if I went all of January without drinking any soda. You have to know that first of all, the closest Red Lobster is about 45 minutes away, and also I really needed a good motivator to cleanse my body of all the soda I drank during christmas break so it was definitely something special for us to do together! It was his first time going there and also first time eating crab and lobster. He loved the crab!

I have 3 more months of school. It kind of feels surreal still. I am still working on figuring out what I am going to do once I am finished. I am guessing that I am going to stay here in Idaho, seeing how things are going with this certain boy of mine, but I still gotta be patient and see what happens! So I gotta go out and visit some salons to see which would be best for me.

Smiley

I have a really bad habit of putting pieces of fruit in my purse in the morning on my way to school, and then totally forgetting about it and then days later, finding moldy fruit in the bottom of my purse. I had a crazy dream last night that my school was on a really high mountain and had to climb hundreds of stairs to get to it everyday. I would stand at the bottom of it and look to the top and just wonder if it was really worth it! But then different people who are the most important people to me would show up next to me every time I was standing at the bottom, and would walk up the stairs with me encourage me to get to the top. That's probably due to the fact that I had a breakdown last night because I have been feeling overwhelmed with everything, and wonder if my crazy schedule and sacrifices are all going to be worth it later on. It's because of my amazing cheerleaders in my life that I am able to get out of bed everyday and make it all seem easier. So thank you everyone who has been supporting me and cheering me on through everything in the past year. I couldn't have done it without you!

I found these really cool things at Walmart today for your nails:

They are stickers that go on real easily and come in a bunch of cool designs and colors! Here they are on my nails. Please forgive my chubby fingers haha

I have gone this whole month so far without drinking any soda!! I wanted to see if I could do it and if I last these last few days, Chris is going to take me to Red Lobster next weekend! Yay! I am so excited! We watched Shrek 4 tonight. It was way cute. I just LOVE all the Shreks! Well, I gotta get to sleep. I am tired! I will be back soon!

Sunset

I am sitting here in Chris's kitchen watching the sun go down across a huge field of snow. The boys are downstairs watching the football game. I watched the Bears and Packers. I couldn't sit and watch a whole nother game! I have paid my dues for today. :) Life has been awesome and I wouldn't ask for anything more. It's busy, it's stressful, I am learning, we are growing. I spent last weekend with my sister and brother in law in Vegas for a few days and got to hold their little babies and it made me so happy. I had a great time with them after not seeing them for many months. It's hard at times being away from my family. But I really do love it here in Idaho. We watched movies, I did their hair, I held the new little baby, played with Ryder, went to Olive Garden and the Bellagio gardens and water show. It was a very relaxing weekend, and I am so grateful for Chris who allowed me to go down there and see them. I missed him bunches and I really wanted him to meet my family since he hasn't met anyone yet and I have met his WHOLE FAM DAMILY! :) But we will take a trip once I finish school and he will be able to meet everyone then. Here is a little bit of documentation of my trip:

I have about 600 hours left of school left! Its coming so fast. I would like to work at this salon called Defining Line when I get done. They have an awesome assistant/training program for people right out of school and it's a pretty high end salon that has a pretty large clientele, so I think that would be really great. But we will see! I still have a little bit of time to figure everything all out. :)

Well, I started this post on Sunday and it is now Tuesday. I am just going to post it now and finish telling my thoughts on a later day. I am going to bed now. :)

It's Finally Christmas!

Well, I am finally posting about Christmas! Yay! :) haha I seriously wish there were more hours in a day. I just can't seem to fit everything in! But Iwanted to tell you about the awesome Christmas I had with Chris and his family this year. Christmas Eve day I went over to his house and we all drove up to Rigby to his grandma's where we had a DELICIOUS Christmas dinner with all of his aunts and uncles and cousins. I met some more family of his that I hadn't met yet. We had a great time eating and talking and laughing. We sang Christmas carols and had a white elephant gift exchange. I got a cake serving plate (that was absolutely hideous) and Chris got a box of bullet shells. On our way home we stopped at this house that does this really cool light show every year. They spend so much time and money on making this light show on their house andhave it matched with music and you sit in your car in front of the house and turn your radio on to the station they tell you to and you get to sit and enjoy theshow! It was awesome! We then went back to his house and I stayed the night so we could all wake up christmas morning together andopen presents! So we woke up that morning and opened presents! From left to right: Chris's Mom (Esther), Dad (Jared) Grandpa, Sister (Sarah), and Chris:

I really wasn't expecting anything this year since I was away from my family and didn't want his family to get me anything, but they totally spoiled me! Here is me with my gifts:

I got Eclipse, and the new Rascal Flatts cd, and jewelry, and socks, and boots, a gift card to The Buckle, and church shoes, and a plane ticket to Vegas! Here is Chris with his presents: :)

We then ate a very yummy breakfast of french toast and orange juice, and then konked out for a little bit! Here is the evidence of the Chris and his brother Steven zonked out amongst the presents:

The rest of the day was spent lounging around, Chris and I went to the movies and saw Little Fockers, had ANOTHER delicious Christmas dinner at his house, and sat in the hot tub! It was the perfect Christmas (other than not being able to be with my family. The Allen's took great care of me).

Merry Christmas!

Hey Everyone! I am not very good at the whole "christmas cards, holiday letter, gift giving" thing, so I decided that the best thing for me to do is just do a post on my blog to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and let you know what's been going on with me!

2010 has been both, the worst AND best year of my life! The first half was full of lessons to be learned, heartache, and pain. Even though it was very hard, I wouldn't trade it for anything because I am a stronger, better person because of it and I wouldn't want those experiences or knowledge taken away from me. Through it all, I was prompted to start Cosmetology school which I absolutely LOVE, and I am so glad I listened. It helped get through and find something that I am good at and enjoy doing. I spent the summer going to school, working part time, trying to workout regularly, throwing my best friend her bridal shower, and then going to California for her wedding in Oakland. :) It was beautiful and I am so happy for my bestie Sarah. Cuyler is an amazing guy who treats her so well and makes her so happy! They are truly perfect together. I am so glad that I have them, as well as Bethany and Doug, as such great examples to me of happy marriages and what I am striving to have one day myself.

I met Chris at the beginning of the summer. We hit it off right from the start. We went out and then became good friends. I really enjoyed talking to him every time he would show up at my ward's activities and sacrament meetings. I could tell there was something special about this guy and I wanted to get to know him better. Things started happening, he took me out for my birthday, and have been together ever since. He makes me so happy and makes me feel so special. I will be spending Christmas Eve as well as Christmas day with him and his family, who have also been so good to me and has taken me in like one of their daughters.

School is going well. By the end of the year I will have 1200 hours done, which means I only have 800 to go! It has flown by and makes me a little nervous to think about how NOT ready I am going to feel when I finish my hours in May. But I know that everything will work out how it's supposed to and I will find a place that I love. Chris and I are planning a trip to Vegas next month to visit Beth and Doug and see their baby boy they will be having at the beginning of the month. I am so excited! I haven't seen them since July and that is TOO LONG!

It's hard to be away from family, but I am truly loving it here in Idaho. Its a great place to live and I have awesome friends here. One of my goals this year was to lose 30 pounds, and so far I have lost 22 pounds! I don't think I will be able to lose 8 pounds in a week, but will try to lose it early on in the next year. Well, I wish I had a bunch of pictures to show you, but I promise to take some during christmas and put them up for you all to see. Hope your holidays are great! I miss you and love you all!