Better Moods

Ok, so I had some pretty harsh feelings about what happened at work last weekend. And now we have had rain two days in a row here. I guess I should have kept my mouth shut, I love the snow and the winter time.

I do however feel much better about life. Work is getting better although still challenging, it always is this time of year. I am feeling better thanks to the medicine that I started on while I was in Idaho Falls. I am sleeping much better than I have been for awhile and I worked enough hours last pay period that I might even have some extra money after I pay bills on Friday. So here is to the New Year, hoping it is better than the last, and starting it off right, with a little money in the bank. I will ring in the 2009 with a few close friends and wishing I was with some family.

Crazy Days of Christmas

So as this week comes to an end I can honestly say that I am soooo happy it is finally over. I was so glad to go home for Christmas this year, it had been 4 years since I was able to celebrate this holiday at home (aka my mom and dad's house) with my family. The first part of the week was not at all what I had hoped for. I start my work week on Saturday afternoon so that is where I will start my story.

Last Saturday it seemed as though it would be a pretty normal day at the airport. My Mom was trying to get home from Texas which was proving to be more of a challenge than we had thought but it was working. She arrived in Boise around 1030 that morning so I picked her up and brought her back to my house to rest for a little while since she had spent the night in the Seattle airport I knew she would like a nap and shower. Besides Seattle is the coldest airport in the world in the middle of the night, we learned this a few years ago on our way home from Alaska.

So anyways, I dropped her off and headed back to start my shift at 12pm that day. I clocked in and went about the first part of my day without any major events. It was trying to snow but it wasn't anything to get excited about. I picked Mom up at 4pm and brought her back to the airport, I was scheduled to work until 8pm that day. She had a flight at 940pm back to Idaho Falls so she decided to just spend the afternoon at the airport reading. So around 5 that evening is when the holiday season turned into something that I will never forget as long as I live. Seattle and Portland we forecast for freezing rain... what does this mean, well it means that we still had 8 flights that were scheduled to leave that night and only if I remember right 3 of them did, Mom's was one of them. Well while they were canceling flights for the rest of the night I was rebooking passengers that were getting more and more upset that due to this horrible weather in the Pacific Northwest their holiday travel was being interrupted. I got off work that night at 230am... after 3 Alaska 737 aircraft came to Boise to get more fuel to try to land in Seattle, one from Kona HI, one from Newark NJ, and one from Cancun MX.

I returned to work the following morning at 715am with about 2 hours of sleep and very little patience for what the day held for me. That Sunday of the 20 flights that our airline was suppose to operate out of Boise we sent 3 or 4. We spent the entire day rebooking people for the next day hoping that things would get better overnight. Well they didn't and on Monday I returned to work again to spend the entire day rebooking passengers. By this time I was on a first name basis with about 200 people that had been trying to get out of Boise now for 3 days to no avail. Tuesday was more of the same although we did send more flights that day we got several phone calls telling us not to send anyone to Portland or Seattle if they had connecting flights to anywhere else in our system. Because Portland and Seattle had felt the worst of the displaced angry passengers they had thousands of people they were trying to move. At one point there was a 4 hour wait in Portland just to get a chance to speak face to face with and airline agent. Tuesday was the last day of my work week this week. I was headed home for Christmas and come freezing rain or not I was going to make it. And I did, Dad offered to drive round trip from Idaho Falls to Boise that day to pick me up, but I decided that I would take my chances with the flight and see what came of it. Well come 940pm that day when I should have been climbing onto and airplane for a short 45 min. flight home, I was climbing onto a bus to transport me across that state. I got into Idaho Falls as 130am where Dad picked me up and took to me home. I got sick, some kind of upper respiratory crap, I am sure I got it from one of the hundreds of boarding passes I handled in the 4 days I spent telling the same passengers over and over again how sorry I was that the weather in Seattle and Portland was so bad and that we would get them there as soon as we could. In those 4 days at work I put in approx 49 hours give or take a few. We had great support from our leadership at the airport, they brought in food when we needed it and they tried to make sure that each of us had the chance to sit down and eat at least once a day. I know that I did not put in any more hours than at least 4 of my coworkers. My hat goes off to the people in Seattle and Portland that dealt with the same thing on a much larger scale. As a company things like this really show our true colors and the fact that most of our passengers still had smiles on their faces as they were finally boarding flights to various destinations makes me proud to be a member of the team. We are doing something right.

I spent 3 days at Mom and Dad's house. It was a great mini-vacation, I got to go sledding with my niece and nephews and we had a great holiday together. So I came home to Boise today, where we got 6 inches of new snow and dealt with more delayed flights. I have a feeling that last weekend was the worst of the winter weather but it is far from over. I have never worked so many hours and been on my feet for so long, and still felt so useless. No matter what I did, those people were not going to get where they wanted to be in time for the holiday. At work today I saw several of them just now getting to board a flight that they should have been on a week ago.

So as this holiday season in upon us, for those of us that were lucky enough to spend it the people that we love I hope that we can remember all of those that did not have that chance. Because of things that were out of their control. For the soldiers over seas and for the families that suffered loss this year or in the years past. We are truly blessed when we can be surrounded by our loved ones during this season.

Another Day at the Office

The winter is in full swing here in Boise, we have had snow in some form or another everyday this week. I always forget how crazy things get at work during the winter time, and I have decided that is a good thing because if I always remembered what it was like last winter then I don't think I would still be working for an airline. So, with that I look forward to having tomorrow off work because we are forcast to have an other storm come through here this weekend and I think that I am going to need my sleep to get through the weekend of angry passengers yelling at me because the flights are late because of deicing and other things that only happen when it snows. So, please think of me while you are all at home in your warm cozy homes and I am at the airport trying to get everyone home for Christmas.

Family and the Holidays

I found this little guy and just had to post him. It is so true.

Planes, Trucks, and Automobiles

Ok, so here is my story. I feel like I need to spend the next 3 days in a hot bath to get rid of all of my muscle aches and pains after the last week of my life.

Last Friday I flew to Idaho Falls to see my family for Thanksgiving, it was a great weekend, we ate and played and just hung out together. On Tuesday morning Hollie and I went to the airport to catch a flight back to Boise so I could work for a few days before the Ekstrom Family Christmas Party on Thursday. So we got to the airport and found out that our flight had been canceled.... So dad picked us up and took us back to the house where we woke mom up and started figuring out how I was going to get home to Boise. We decided that I would drive Dad's truck and while I had it in Boise, Hollie and I would pack it full of her stuff and then Dad would fly over Thursday morning and drive it back while Hollie and I drove her car to Idaho Falls. So Thursday morning I got up at 5:30am and met my dad and the airport where we headed for Idaho Falls. We got to Mom and Dad's house at about 11:30 we unloaded the car and got into Mom's car and headed for Salt Lake City.

It was great to see the family and visit with my cousins and aunts and uncles, I really enjoy the family christmas party.

So then Friday morning CJ and I got up early to go to the airport to catch a flight to Pheonix. Thanks Dave to taking us. Well CJ got on the flight that we had intended to but I did not, the joy of traveling standby I guess. So I waited at the airport for the 10:30 flight and got to Pheonix just a few hours behind CJ. Then the two of us headed north again, we drove as far at St. George on Friday, this trip was to drive his second car from Pheonix to Idaho Falls, they left it there when they moved this summer. We spent the night in St. George, Thanks Matt (Shayla's Dad) for the hotel for the night. We got up this morning and drove to Salt Lake where I am spending the night tonight with Misty and Dave, Thanks again guys. Tomorrow another day of traveling, I am driving the second car back to Idaho Falls and spending the night with my parents and then getting up on Monday morning to head back to Boise where I will start my regular work week on Tuesday afternoon, after the hour and a half massage that I scheduled.

In the last week, I have traveled more than I ever thought possible. I have been on 2 Flights with 1 still to go, I have driven round trip to Boise from Idaho Falls, and round trip to Salt Lake from Idaho Falls, I flew to Pheonix and drove to Salt Lake, just to recap my story. I have no clue how many miles I have traveled but I do know that I have traveled approx. 26 hours in the last 7 days.

I don't think I will be traveling again in the next little while, I am just about traveled out for the year. If anyone has any ideas on how to relieve the pain in my butt and neck please let me know, I will take any advise I can get.

And to those that I have traveled with and those who needed my help to get the things done that needed to be done on these many trips I have taken, I love you guys and I would do it all again in a minute.

Guess What

Hey all you out there that want to keep track of more and more of our family Hollie started a blog..... Check it out MK!!!!

hollister83.blogspot.com

The plague is spreading... Watch out.

Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving Gone

I had the chance this weekend to visit my parents house and have a family dinner since I had to work on Thanksgiving Day. It was nice to be home and see my family all in one place, except Jennifer, I missed you sweetie.

We gathered in Mom and Dads kitchen for a family dinner on Sunday evening after we had all gone to our church meetings and done all of the other things that keep our restful Sundays so busy. Mom made a ham and I made Parker House Rolls, we all love those things don't we. And we ate and ate and ate, we played with the kids and watched Christmas movies. It was nice to just have the time and not feel like someone had somewhere to go or something else to be doing.

Hollie and I helped Mom decorate the house for christmas on Saturday, that is always a bit of a job but it is done and it looks great. I am looking forward to actually being home for Christmas this year, I have had to work the last few years and haven't been able to be with family. So as I head back to Boise and back to work until the next holiday comes, I have to say how truely thankful I am for my family this holiday season. I love them all and look forward to the next time we can all really be in the same place for a holiday, hopefully that day is not to far off with most of my family on the move who knows what next year will bring.

The Weekend

So this weekend I had the chance to hang out with Hollie for a little while. Since we are not living together anymore we don't see each other much because we are living on opposite sides of town. So we went to see Michael McLean in his Forgotten Carols Concert which was awsome if anyone has a chance to go take your families and go. It is such an amazing thing, his music is so uplifting and I reminds me of when our parents took us when we were younger. I think I need to make this a tradition that I carry on to my own family.

Well anyways after 2 hours of being spiritually fed we decided to go see Twilight, yes I saw the movie against my better judgement because I have read all of the books and the movies never seem to meet my expectations after I have read the book. BUT it was great. I was so surprised how great it was, I guess this is the first movie I have seen that might have improved the story for me instead of making me want to burn it. It made me want to read the books again because I know the story continues and now I feel like I have to find out what happens next. I was a little taken aback when they had to change the time line in the movie and so some of the things that happened closer to the end of the book happened alot earlier in the movie but they did a great job all in all and it is one that I will be adding to my movie collection, I already have the books in my book collection.

So Megan, since we have both seen it and we did not get to have our sister-in-law date and go together what say we see again huh...... maybe we can convince mom to go she seems to think that it wont be that great but I think that we can convince her to see it if we both work on her.

I can't wait to see what happens with the second book.

Another Year

So I just had my anniversary at work, it has been 7 years since that fateful day I started my job with the Airline. I am so glad that I met the people that led me to this job. I know that I don't speak the them anymore but they are great people and I am grateful for the affect that it had on my life. Without them I would not be where I am professionally. I love my job, and as the holidays are upon us I will be working hard to make sure that everyone that wants to fly to visit family and friends will be able to get there safely and enjoy the time that they have.

It is a great thing to have a job that you really are passionate about. I know that there are a lot of people out there that only do what they do to provide for their families, and my hat goes off to those people because it takes a lot of courage to do what you know you have to instead of what you really want to because the doors have not opened up for you yet. I count myself very lucky to have found a job at the ripe old age of 19 that has made me as happy as mine has with very little education needed to be valuable to my company.

I am grateful as well that I am not the only one that gets to share in the benefits of working for an airline. My family gets to share them as well. I wish that there was a way to share more of them with my family but I do offer what I can and I am glad to do that. I have been able to see a lot of places that had I not been blessed with the great benefits that I have I otherwise would not have gone. I hope that I can continue to travel and enjoy what I do. I look forward to another year with a great company and hope that it gets better.

So here is to year 8 in a great job with great benefits and great opportunities to go and do things that otherwise would seem impossible.

Thank You QX for 7 great years.

33 States to Go

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

MOVED.... Finally

So I got moved into my new place today, it is nice to be unpacked finally. There are still a few things that I need to get done but for the most part I am settled in. I did loose a few parts to my bed frame in the move somehow so I have get those replaced this weekend when I get paid again, other than that things are looking good.

I will post pictures after I get my stuff on the walls, I have lots of pictures and things to hang but I can't find my hammer, I think it found a new home with a previous roommate somewhere along the way.

Not sure who in my family has my for christmas this year but a good idea:

I need a tool kit, a pretty decent one would be nice but anything would be fantastic.

Anyways, Have a good week all.
Love You

The Holidays

So as the holidays are upon us and I try to prepare mentally for the many challenges that are on the way with work I can only hope that it will be a good winter. I hope that the snow falls, that my family can enjoy some time together and that we can all be so thankful for all of the things that have been good this year.

Before Thanksgiving arrives I have some things that I would like to mention that I am thankful for.

1. My fantastic family, my brothers for being good brothers and my sisters for being good sisters. My sister-in-laws for taking such good care of my brothers and my brother-in-law for being such a good husband to my sister.

2. My nephews all 8 of them and my Niece and the one on the way. I am so thankful to have the chance to be part of the lives of all of these wonderful little people that will grow up and become who we help them to be.

3. My little sister and the example that she is and the friendship that we have since we are still single and sometimes we have to stick together so that we don't feel so out numbered.

4. I still have a great job in an industry that is struggling everyday to keep going.

5. Great friends that become more like family everyday. Without whom I don't know where I would be today. And the husbands of those friends (Ben) for showing me that everyone deserves to be happy and that if we really want to overcome our past we can find eternal happiness with the right person.

6. The gospel in my life, when the times are getting harder we have to turn to our faith and it up to us to use the resources that have been given to us by the leadership of our church.

7. My health, I have had to many friends this year have things that have really taken a toll on the health and well being of their bodies. As I pray for friends with cancer and with other problems, I cannot help but be thankful that what health problems I have had this year have been taken care of and thanks to great doctors I am healthy and happy.

So as the thanksgiving holiday approaches please take a few minutes and remember the things this year that have been great and count the many blessings in your lives, it has been a tough year for many and I can attest to that but it is still and good year when we all make it through and can be thankful for the trials that we have survived once again. Our father in heaven does not give us anything that he knows we cannot handle. Keep your heads up and your eyes focused the new year is coming and it is up to us to make it a better year in 2009.

Halloween

So I dressed up for the holiday for the first time in a long time. I was a scrub nurse... thanks dad for the inspiration. I got some pink scrubs and a cap and went to work. I did the pink because October is Breast Cancer awareness month. I sported the pink ribbons and all for my friends and family that have had this terrible thing happen in their lives. I hope that you all know how amazed I am at how strong you have all been when things have been so hard.

I saw some great pictures of my nephews and niece all dressed up for the holiday as well, great job to the parents they had some great costumes guys. I wish that I could be around for more of the fun times with the kids and I will be as I get into a better place in my job and can hopefully get better days off work.

Love you guys.

A Place To Live

I finally found a place to move. I cannot wait to get this over with. I am going to be moving in with a couple of girls that I found on the LDS Institute bulletin board. I am going to get the master bedroom and my own bathroom and everything I am so excited. Plus my new roommates are both older than I am so I am hoping that the drama will be much less. I will take pictures and post them when I get moved... the big day is planned for Nov. 15th.

Big Move

So Hollie and I are moving this week so things are a bit crazy, so I will just say that we are moving and I will post more later after things quiet down for us.

8 Obsessions

This one came from Jennifer.

1. My phone, I can't leave home without it. I keep it in my back pocket all day long, it however disappoints me a lot because the people I want to hear from are never the ones that call.

2. My work, I work like a crazy person. I cannot see myself ever finding another job that makes me as happy as this one does. I spend more time at work than I do sleeping or anything else for that matter.

3. Reading, I am always working on a novel of some kind. I carry it everywhere I go and read as much as I can without becoming a bump on a log. I read sometimes 3 or 4 books a week.

4. Traveling, I am always planning my next trip. I just got back from NYC and I am already planning a get away for May yes that far away but May it is, I cannot plan anything else closer because there are a few things still pending for those events.

5. My Hair, I am never happy with my hair. I cannot ever fix it the way that I want to look. When it is long I want it short and when it is short I want it long, I cannot find a color and cut that really just make me think, "that really fits me"

6. My family, I am always thinking about my family, it can be what is going on with them right now or what they have got coming up. Birthdays, Anniversaries, and all kinds of things like that, I try to keep all of my dates straight but the bigger the family gets the harder it is.

7. Movies, I am always keeping my eye on the newest movies coming out and planning what I want to go see and what can wait until it comes out on video. I buy the ones that I cannot live without and I rent the rest.

8. Greys Anatomy, I love this show, I watch every single week. I try to be home on the nights when it is on otherwise I watch it on the internet the next day or so. I have the first 4 seasons on DVD and cannot wait to see what is going to happen next.

I tag Kristen, Megan, Shayla and Shawn.

My Dirty Secrets

Thanks for the Tag Kristen.

1. I am a workaholic, I spend 6 days a week at my job and don't think there is anything wrong with it. I love my job and love to make even one passengers day better.

2. I am lonely. I wish that I could find and eternal companion. I hate being alone, I miss being married and cannot wait until I find the person that will spend the eternities with me.

3. I am baby hungry. I know that usually comes with marriage but I got it now I think because all of my family members are having babies or just had babies. I want to be a mom more than anything.

4. I miss Idaho Falls. I say all the time that I would never move back there to the people here in boise that I love but I can see myself back there raising kids someday. I want to live close to my family so that my kids can have the relationships with their cousins that I did.

I tag Megan, Misty, Shawn, Jennifer

The Pictures Are Up

Ok folks, I am back in the mountain standard time zone and holy cow that was a long and exhausting flight. Here are a few pics of my trip.

Sad Day

So tomorrow ends my adventure to the big apple. I am very sad to be leaving this amazing place, although it is always nice to go home and sleep in a real bed..... I have sleeping on Nat's futon mattress since I got here, it is a comfortable bed but still not mine all the same.

I have decided that this may be my first trip to this great place but it is sure not my last. I am glad that I had the chance to make this trip on my own for the first time however. I am glad for the time that I had to spend with Natalie while Miles was in San Fran this week and I am glad for the little bit of time I have had with Miles. I am glad that I got to brave the city on my own for 2 days after Nat was around to show me the ropes when I first arrived.

This place holds so much history and culture I think it is impossible to take it all in. I was however able to get to most of the really good ones on the limited budget that I had. I will be back to spend more money and see more things up close, I am sorry that I didn't get to take the ferry to Ellis Island even though I was able to get some good pictures of it, or the ferry to Liberty Island to visit our Lady Liberty those are things that I will be back to do.

I saw a lot and I experienced a lot and for that I am grateful. I am so grateful for the family that I have here and for the generousness that they shared with me while I was on my visit. I am grateful for the cake at Max Brenners, the Lemon Bars at the Corner Bakery and the Hot Chocolate at City Bakery. Thanks Nat for showing me your favorite spots.

So goodbye to NYC for now but I will be back and you can count on it.

Finally Arrived

Well, I made it to NYC without a hitch in my plan which is always a great way to start a trip. I arrived yesterday afternoon and after a small panic attack at JFK waiting for my bag to come in I made my way to the AirTran to catch the train into the city to meet Natalie.

I made it all the way to her apartment without any trouble which was a little surprising to me to, I thought for sure that something was going to go wrong that I was going to miss my subway stop or get off on the wrong one. I made it though thanks to Natalie's very detailed directions and after she got home from work we went for some food and I saw my first glimpses of the city with my eyes wide open since honestly riding the train from the airport I tried really hard not to look at anything but the floor.

Today we walked through Central Park and went to Time Square and the Rockafeller Center took a few pictures and then took a nap.

Tomorrow is another day and we will see what it will bring. I will post pictures after I get back home I promise.

Going to the Big Apple

Ok, so I am pretty sure that most of my family knows by now that in about 2 weeks yes just 2 weeks from today I am going to be having dinner with one of my best friends and lucky enough for me one of my cousins in NYC. I am going to visit Natalie and Miles for 5 fun filled and I am sure chaotic days in a city that I have always dreamed of seeing and for a long time thought that it would just remain a dream.

I cannot believc what my next vacation holds for me, just thinking about all of the things that there are do see and so in that city blows my mind. I am so happy that I am going to be able to see it with family and friends. This trip was just a thought I had a few months back and then Nat and I started emailing and all of the pieces just fell into place for me to be there over Conference weekend.

I was talking to my awsome Gram Ekstrom this last weekend while I was in SLC to see a friend of mine, and we were discussing how lucky we are as a family to have the friendships that we do with our cousins. I get strange looks from so many people when they find out that I am flying across the country in almost every sense of the word to visit a cousin, not a brother or a sister, they think that it is odd that I feel such a bond to my extended family that I would make that kind of effort. I cannot imagine any other kind of relationships, we are such a close family, and I am so grateful for that. For those of you out there that I have not been able to see in the last year, I miss you and I wish that there were more days in the month and more months in the year to visit you. As we grow up and spread out and start our lives as husbands and wives and mothers and fathers, we had great examples set for us by our parents and our grandparents. They taught us to love and to forgive and I don't think that there is any greater gift in the world than the relationships that we share now. I consider my family my friends and my friends my family, you are all so important to me and have had an impact on my life and I love you all for that.

So, as I am getting ready to go on the biggest adventure that I have ever had in my life, I cannot wait to see the city and feel the energy, to experience NYC and all that it can offer me in the short time that I will have there, I am more excited to see Natalie and Miles, it has been to long and I hope it is never this long again.

I know that no one from my dads side of the family reads this but to them I have to say that I love you guys and that you have played and important role in my life. I am going to Ellis Island while I am in NYC, I want to go back to the place that brought our family to the USA and made all that is my life possible. Without the courage of my Grandmother and my Great-Grandparents to leave all that they had known in England and start a new life, our lives would never have been possible. Thank you Grandma Mabey, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Hartley you are an inspiration to me, to want to make my life all that it can be, and to do that I must be willing to do things that may be scary and may even seem impossible but in the end are worth every prayer, tear, and heartache.

My Family

Today I had the chance to be here in Idaho Falls while my oldest brother Shawn blessed the last edition to their little family Porter. I am so blessed myself to have such a great family. It amazes me to spend time with them and to see them with their children and the way that we have all grown up and where our lives have taken us.

I have 8 nephews and 1 niece and 1 niece on the way and I can't wait to meet her and see what kind of person she turns out to be. I have really enjoyed watching the others learn and grow and become little people that have opinions and fears and everything that we feel. I can't wait until I have the chance to have children of my own and see what kind of little people they become.

I also started thinking about the rest of my family, my many cousins and the families that they have started and the little people that they are raising. I just can't be anything but greatful for the amazing people that I have in my life and the examples that they have set for me.

To all of you out there and I am sure that most of you know who you are, You are great and amazing parents and I pray that someday I can grow up to be as great as you are. I love you all.

Airlines.....UGH

So I guess if anyone really watches the news you know that the travel industry is less than stable these days. Well yesterday the 2nd airline in the last year pulled its service out of Boise. I know that may not seem like big news to those of you that travel out of places like SLC and JFK and all those really big airports but it is a big deal here when there are only 7 airlines here to start with. The only benefit is that the customers have to go somewhere else to buy the tickets so hopefully our business will pick up soon. Things have been really slow since school started again and there is always a bit of a lull this time of year, but in 7 years of doing this I have never seen one like this. I just pray that Horizon will keep on doing whatever it is that they have been doing so that they don't have to lay off anyone. It seems like an endless battle to please the customer and keep the business alive. The big companies like United, Delta and Northwest start making big changes in the fees that they charge and the customers get mad and start traveling other companies like Horizon/Alaska and Southwest but then we have to follow suit in order not to go under ourselves and then the people just seem to stop traveling all together. I know alot of families that normally would have gone on some big vacation this year stayed home because the cost of gas was to much to drive anywhere and the cost of airfare was to much to justify paying. I know that the ecomony is bad and that people have to make changes in the way that they are spending, I just hope that I don't have to find a new job because of it.

PS.. I don't see travel getting any cheaper in the near future, I guess it is going back to the way it used to be, Flying somewhere used to be something that the rich and fabulous could afford. We came to a place where it became easy for the masses to afford a ticket, and now I see it swinging back in favor of the rich and fabulous again.

I want to take a poll.... Please awnser one question for me....

Would you rather....
Pay more for your plane ticket and be able to check more luggage..
or
Have cheaper airfare and have to pay for your extra luggage....?
Keep in mind that if it is just you traveling and not your entire family aka your kids and all the stuff you need for them how many bags could you pack into and would you have to check them or could you carry it. Since Horizon changed its policy to only allow each passenger only 1 checked bag free of charge, it amazes me how many people can carry on what they need for a 2 day trip.

Busy Life

So I know that I am suppose to be updating this blog alot more often than once a month. Things have just been a little crazy lately.

Last weekend Hollie and I had the chance to go rafting with our singles branch. It was a total blast. It was the first time I had been with anyone buy my family. I have so many great memories from when we would go on our family trips down the Snake when we were kids. It took me back and made me feel a little bit homesick I guess for that carefree and fun life that we had. We have an amazing family, to have the friendships that we do with one another and for them to keep on growing even as we start our own families, I feel really blessed. Back to the rafting trip.... It was the first time I can remember being ejected from the boat, I had never gone over the side in a rapid until last weekend and it totally rocked. I had so much fun with my ward family and with my sister. Unfortunatly there are no pictures to document the trip because my camera is not waterproof and the elders in the ward took the pictures that we did get and I have not seen then since.

I am back home in good old Idaho Falls for the weekend visiting the folks and my brothers since they have both moved here. It is nice to come here and visit more than just my mom and dad although when it was just the three of us we had some good times together. I feel like now at this stage in my life I can call my parents friends and not just my parents, we have done alot together over the last few years and really had the chance to build our relationship to a different place, it is awsome. I am hoping to visit some old friends while I am here, I miss the people that I don't see everytime I come to visit.

That is about it though, it has been a month and the only thing that I have to talk about is a rafting trip.... What a sad social butterfly I turned out to be.... can we say I work to much ;-)

Here Goes

So, I figure that if I have to read blogs to keep up on everyone else then they can start reading to keep up with me.

I have been in Boise now for just over 3 years and I love it there. I am still working for Horizon Air at the ticket counter and I truly love my job. Some days as the industry seems to suffer more and more I worry if I will still have it in a year but I guess we cross that bridge right...

I try to spend as much time as I can with my family, I am sharing an apartment with Hollie right now and that seems to be going pretty good. We are still sisters and we do fight but not like we did when we were kids. We attend a singles branch together and we have made good friends and have a great time. I finally feel like I have found a place where I can go to church and people don't look at me and see my divorce instead of the person that I really am. I love my life right now. The last few years have been a challenge as I have been dealing with the emotions of my divorce and the challenge of moving on with my life, but I have managed with the help of my family and few close friends that I had and the ones that I have made in Boise. I have been very lucky to know the people that I have known and to have the family support that I have had through this challenge in my life that I never thought I would have to face.

I have to thank everyone who has been there for me. As a shoulder to cry on or just to listen to me vent as I fought the battle some days just to get out of bed. My life is what it is because of my own determination to keep going and the love that I have received on the days that I thought I would never make it through. I am so lucky to have so much family that loves me and wants to see me happy. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and how much it has helped me, I struggled for awhile questioning my faith, but I found my way back and I love it more now than I ever thought possible.

It has been a great thing to rediscover my faith and my strength in myself.