Baptism

7 years (and 4 days) ago on May 26th, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I wanted to take some time and reminisce that very special day and what it means to hold a membership in the church that I know to be true. I am so grateful to have this gospel in my life and it has brought me so many amazing blessings. The growth I have experienced spiritually and as a person is phenomenal and way beyond anything I ever expected. I have been extremely blessed with so many spiritual gifts and I am so eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for the unconditional love He has shown me. I am also grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel and of my brother and my Saviour, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the atonement, the sacrifice and the example Christ has made so that we can return to live with Heavenly Father. Because I was baptized I have been made clean of my sins and have taken the most important step to being exalted so I can be in Heavenly Father's presence one day. I know this church is true and I know this gospel lives. I know the Book of Mormon is true and is another testament to the Bible given to us for the restoration of the true church in these latter days before the return of our Saviour. I am very grateful to the missionaries who so willingly came and knocked on my door and exuded such a heavenly light and presence about them that they looked like angels. They were sent from God and He knew that I would accept His gospel. I'm thankful that the missionaries met with me diligently and taught me the discussions so I could be baptized. I am grateful that the missionaries asked me if I wanted to be baptized... I was baptized a week later because I couldn't wait. I love this church with all my heart. I couldn't imagine my life without it. I really want to keep typing because I'm feeling the spirit so strong that I don't want to stop! I hope you have enjoyed my testimony. If I could tell the whole world the joy I feel I would. I pray that all children of God come to know His restored gospel and be baptized. I pray that the people who have passed on will come to know and accept His gospel so that thier temple work can be done and so that they too can be baptized. I love temple work. I am a saint in these latter days who can perform temple work so that all who have ever lived can have the opportunity to walk with Christ and return to Heavenly Father. I love my life and I love everyone in the world and I aspire to be like Christ one day. I love my family with all my heart. I am so extremely happy to know that families are forever and that in the temple I can be sealed to them all one day so that I can live eternally with them! I feel blessed that I can do sealings in the temple for others who have passed on who haven't had a chance here on earth. I love you all and I say these words in the name of our Heavenly Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Biatch Session

Yup, this is a biatch session. I know that when I wake up thinking about something negative that it's obviously bugging me. I am not a negative thinker and especially when I wake up in the morning!

How in the world do people who live in the U.S. deal with the medical insurance here!!?? It absolutely SUCKS!!! And, since when are insurance companies allowed to make up thier own rules as they go along and only pay out whatever the heck they want?? I realize that we don't have the best insurance policies with Chad being a student and with me owning my own business but c'mon!! What's the point in even having insurance when it costs WAY more for you to pay for it than what you actually use... WAY MORE??!! I'm sure for some people who are sick or have problems it's good but definitely not with our insurance policies! I guess you get what you pay for... or not!

So, this is the story with my policy. I go to get testing done - preventative. The nurse calls my insurance to verify coverage and tells me my insurance will cover up to $1000. A month or so later I find out that they are only going to cover $350. I'm glad I paid $2000 for that policy (for only 6 months of coverage)... I could have not gotten insurance and paid out of my pocket and I'd still be way ahead! With that said, Chad and I will unfortunately not be getting any insurance coverage from now on... please pray that nothing happens to us! I'm a healthy person, I never go to the doctor so I basically only chose to get insurance in case of an emergency... like a fatal car accident or something.

They say money is the root of all evil. To be more specific, it's more like the huge corporations taking advantage of people who simply want thier health covered so they can simply exist as effectively as possible.

The doctors here seem good. The clinics and hospitals seem good - except some of the clinics in Las Vegas where you feel like part of a herd of cattle and the clinics look like they're 100 year old morgues. It's really hard for me to come to this "new concept" when in Canada where there is socialized medicine, it is just as good if not better than here. You pay for healthcare based on your tax bracket and whether you have dependents but it's still extremely cheap. Alberta is the richest province in Canada and relatively independent from the rest of the country so as of 2009, healthcare will be absolutely free... for EVERYONE... rich, poor, sick, healthy, etc.

Despite what anyone thinks, the healthcare in Canada is great. The hospitals are clean, the clinics are nice, there is no waiting - not anymore than here. When I was in the hospital for 3 days in Alberta after the fatal car accident I was in, I was seriously treated like a celebrity. I had 3 nurses tending me at all times and an option to stay in the hospital for much longer than I did. My head was literally the size of a basketball from taking out a street light and then bouncing around in the truck and rolling down an embankement however many times. I was rushed to the hospital after being "cut out" from the vehicle with the "jaws of life" and as soon as I arrived there, the doctor called a plastic surgeon from Edmonton (I was at the hospital in Red Deer which is 1 1/2 hours away from Edmonton) at 12:30 in the morning. A surgeon was immediately on his way in case my face bones were crushed. My face was so messed up, they couldn't tell if I'd need surgery and they had to wait until I was stabilized and get priority x-rays done (in case I had a broken back/neck) before they could take me to get more x-rays done. Thank goodness I didn't need plastic surgery! They have to perform plastic surgery right away before your face starts trying to heal because if you wait the results could be much worse. I think that was the proper thing to do by having a plastic surgeon come right away and I'm not trying to say that the doctors were going out of thier way. I was just very appreciative of how amazingly I was taken care of and knowing that I had that medical care with me in such a time of need was the best thing that could have happened to me at that time.

I am highly appraising socialized medicine in Canada and I truly do think that the U.S. should follow suit whether anyone thinks so or not but I have had the opportunity of experiencing both sides. That's my rant for the year. I feel much better now!

Junior High Dance

Our niece Sadie went to a junior high dance (in Alberta) and I had to take pics and post it because she looked so beautiful! She's almost all grown up now and is a beautiful young woman at the ripe age of 12! I remember just before I moved to Utah she was only in grade 3! I have a memory of her back then of dropping her off at school and going to the Calgary airport to move to Utah - watching her run from the car into the school with her cute little pigtails - knowing that I didn't get to be there while she grew up... it was a very sad day! I had the same kind of memory when I dropped her off at her junior high dance last month except this time she wasn't so little anymore - already at a height of 5'7"!! It wasn't quite as sad this time because I'll be with her soon. In case you didn't notice, I'm very attached to my niece. My sister (who is her mom) had problems raising her and so I stepped in and helped with Sadie (sometimes took over) so I really feel as though Sadie is a lot more than my niece because I was more like her mom through several years of her life. She is my baby (big baby) and Chad has really formed a bond with her also. She comes and stays with us for a month each summer - first in Utah and now in Vegas. She really likes Vegas because she thinks it's cool and also because it's close to California where we are taking her this summer for a week! She even has her own room at our place (but we do let other people stay in it)!

Sadie with a couple of her school buddies...

Ballet, Tap & Jazz!

While in Canada we went to my niece Megan's dance competition. Megan is 8 now and has been in dance since she was 4 or 5. She had a competition for each event - tap, ballet and jazz. They had to wear different costumes for each event and it was an all day event so she was really tired when it was all over. I didn't manage to get any pictures of her in any of her costumes but I got some of her in her show makeup. She did a really good job and I'm very proud of her. She makes a very beautiful dancer and she's my little "squeezy". Cam & Chad beating each other up (Cam won)...

Brookie & Megsy...

My nephew Cam (Megan's brother) playing Guitar Hero... he just turned 13, wow time flies!

Sadie...
Dawson...
These are all of my nieces and nephew's on my side and one on the way who all live in Alberta. We have 3 cute nieces on Chad's side who live in Texas and we can't wait to see them soon!

Kiwanis Festival

My niece Sadie went to a band competition called the Kiwanis Festival with her band in school. She plays the flute and is very good at it! She's from Rocky Mountain House and they competed with other schools from Red Deer and various towns from central Alberta. She did a trio where she placed 1st, a woodwind ensemble where she placed 2nd and then her band placed 1st. She's pretty good! And I brag too much about people but I enjoy it. It brought back memories from when I was in band in school where I played flute. I loved it so much that my parents put me in summer music college for 2 years! I learned to play the clarinet and loved it so much I went into competition for it. Probably some of the most intimidating moments in my life being the youngest player in the whole band (8) and playing in front of hundreds of people. I also had one of my most embarassing moments before we did a show but I won't get into that.

Here are some pics of Sadie during her 2 days of competition.

Her and some of her band members warming up...

The adjudicator sharing her advice...
Her band getting ready to play...

I Love My Family!

I am so incredibly thankful for my wonderful family! I've had such a great time in Alberta! I have many amazing things to share while we were here for the last month. We are going home tomorrow and I am so sad to leave but I think I'll survive... I hope. My mom said I would be the child (out of 4) that would be the least likely to move away from home but look at me now mommy... I live in Vegas! I may as well live halfway across the world, I'm sure it would still feel the same way! I do live in a different country - does that count for living so far away even though it's only a 3 hour flight from Vegas to Calgary?? I just have to keep remembering that time goes fast and that Chad will be finished with dental school one day although it seems like such a long time away!! Wow, I think I really sound like I'm whining... at least I feel like I am. That's okay though because I'm not afraid to admit that I'm too attached to my family and friends to live away from them. What's life if you're not surrounded by those you love, right??? Don't get me wrong, I love the people I've met in Vegas but no one can replace family. Thus, I am very grateful for them and I will miss them dearly.

Here is a cute story to share. I went to Costco in Red Deer with my older sister, my niece and my mom. My niece (Brooklyn) was hungry so I took her to the fab sampler stations they sometimes have in Costco so we could get her some food. We did the loop around the stations about 3 times. I was hoping the people giving out the samples wouldn't recognize me, although I'm sure they did. It was a little embarassing to keep getting food samples for my niece but she was hungry and she loved the toast and lemon cheesecake so those ones may have been visited a few more times that the others... I wasn't going to let her starve! We just picked her up from kindergarten so it's not like she normally goes hungry... just to set the record straight. I'm the aunty, I have more rights than mom's do as far as getting away with stuff right??? Anyway, because we had lost my mom and sister in the store somewhere (and after stuffing ourselves with samples) we decided to do some shopping on our own. Whoever thought shopping with a 5 year old would be so much fun! We were walking down the isles and she proceeded to tell me that she was the queen of all Brooklyn's. She told me she was the queen of all Mandy's too but after looking at my face (I must have looked disappointed that I wasn't the queen of all Mandy's), she then informed me that I was the queen of all Mandy's too and then we continued to chat about all the other names of people she was the queen of. I just love little kids! They say the cutest things!

We got to the end of one of the last isles where the fresh flowers are and we were sniffing all the different kinds. Brooklyn asked me which ones I liked and I told her that I like whatever the smelliest ones were. I bent down and and smelled a beautiful boquet of purple and white chrisanthimums so I picked them up for her to smell and she said "do you want those ones aunty?". Not thinking she was considering buying them for me, I told her yes. I went to take them from her to put them away and she said she would carry them for me. She carried them all over the store and then paid $10 for them! That's a lot of money coming from a child's allowance! I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world! I proudly displayed them and here is a picture of them.

Here are some pics of when we visited my sister in Red Deer. She has 2 darling kids, Brooklyn and Dawson and we just found out that she is pregnant with a third! Congrats Darren & Merrily! I'm excited to be an aunty again!
Here's a pic of Brooklyn and I...

This is my nephew Dawson who is 2...