April, Moving Day!

I decided to move in with my best friend Desi, it was better for a lot of reasons. I would save 500$ a month and always have good company. I live now in the basement of her Grandmas house, it is a basement apartment, so we have our own living space, kitchen, living room , laundry room etc... Her Grandma is wonderful!!! I love living here, but getting in was very eventful. About a week or so before I moved in, the basement flooded... The carpet in my room was completely ruined, and they had to tear it out, and get new carpet put in. They carpet guy was scheduled to come in the day before I was moving in...


Nate, Milan, and me tearing out carpet, inner circle picture :) Desi is taking the picture, so it counts haha...

This is me hanging up the T.V. mount on the wall for my T.V. This was a few days before move in, before carpet guy was supposed to come, and after everything was flooded....

So, carpet guy called and rescheduled, for the day I was supposed to move in... BLAH! He said he would be at the house at 8 a.m. and would do my room very first so that by the time that we got there with the furniture (people were meeting at my house at 9:00 a.m. to load) we would have somewhere to put things. Keep in mind, everything was flooded so everything in the basement was crammed into the living room, which happened to miss the flood.... So, turns out, carpet guy was WAY late, and didn't do my room first. So by the time we showed up to my NEW house with everything all ready to download, carpet guy hadn't even started laying the carpet, he was still doing the padding.... BLAH! So, we decided to take a lunch break. I took everyone that came to help out to Burgers Supreme, GREAT place to eat... By the time we were done eating and relaxing, we came back and carpet guy was about finished. We got everything unloaded and into the house, but it rained ALL day, we had no real furniture casualties except my mattress got dropped in the mud, lol, it is funny now that I think of it, but I had to take my carpet shampooer to it for a while to get it clean.... :) My friend Nate brought a HUGE truck to help move, and we got everything into it in one load, sweet!!!

Me and Desi, at my old house, pausing for a photo-op :D

Me and Amanda, my newest friend, walking buddy, and soon to be gym partner :D

The men, moving my fridge out, thank goodness for the muscles!

It was a CRAZY day, but I am so glad to be living here. I finally got everything finished and put together this weekend, Desi is coming back from vacation to see her family, and it is all done, its a surprise :D She will be so happy when she sees everything. I even put in a new kitchen sink faucet for her (she wanted one with a sprayer) and a cabinet thing up on the wall in the bathroom! I cant wait for her to get back and see it!!!!

April Last Ladies Night and Giving Foxy Away

I decided to move in with my best friend Desiree, and I could not have Foxy with me at her place, so I needed to find her a new home. This guy I work with decided to take her, and she is doing very well up there (Ogden) at her new home with his family. There is another dog there for her to play with, and two kids too. I miss her but I am so glad she is doing well.... Here is Foxy on her trip up to Ogden with me....
Now, my friend Milan, (say it like My-lan not like Milan the city :)) decided to go to Alaska for the Summer to do tours up there. He goes every year, and loves it. Milan is my very best guy friend, and also a lady lol. Every since the start of ladies nights he has been included.... I am not sure exactly why, but no other man is allowed to come to ladies nights except Milan... lucky guy :D. So, since he was leaving, and ladies nights would not be the same until his return, we decided to have one last ladies night before he left, at our favorite restaurant in Trolley Square, Rodizios....

Milan, he is a very manly lady....

Me and Milan watching the trolleys race around the square... They got de-railed... it was a very sad night :(

The ladies, Milan, me and Desiree..


The ladies on Milans last day at church for the summer. I miss him already!!! COME BACK MILAN! :)

March

I really cannot think of anything remarkable that happened in March, but here is a great picture of me and Foxy :D

February

February was pretty uneventful... But here is a good place to introduce the 'inner circle' my group of closest friends. We went to Rodizios at Trolley Square for my Birthday. Here is Milan, Desi, me, and Nate.

These are quality people, my closest friends. These are the people I feel most comfortable around here in good ole Utah. I can just relax and be me around them. I am SO grateful to have such good people in my daily life....

This month I also had a great opportunity to attend the homecoming of the missionary that brought me back to the church in Hawaii. He came home and I was able to go with his family to the airport in SLC to pick him up. Then my best friend Desi and I drove up to Wyoming for his homecoming. It was a lot of fun. It was cool to reminisce about all the crazy things that happened in Hawaii and all the rough things that went on before I came back to the church. His homecoming was on my Birthday, and it was a wonderful birthday gift to see this amazing person again. I am so grateful for him and his persistence with my stubborn self.... Thanks Trevor!

January

I have gotten really close to a few people here. I went on a stake tubing trip, and here are pictures of a few of those people. Below, left to right is Desi, Milan, Eric, and Moi....

Here is me and Desi, my BEST friend.... I love this girl so much, she has been through so much, and her strength gives me strength. I know I can count on her for ANYTHING, she is one of the rocks in my life....

I got the chance to go through the Draper Utah temple open house. It was amazing inside, and I felt so much at peace while there. Here is me, Desiree, Sam, and Milan.

January was just SO COLD! We are defiantly not in Hawaii anymore Toto. I live in Orem, and drive to Salt Lake every day for work, and a few days when it snowed a lot it took me 3 hours or more to get home! Crazy!!! People forget how to drive in the snow :) People ask me a lot if I am going to move to SLC to be closer to work, but I have no plans to do that any time soon. I really love where I live, and I love where I work, so for now this is the way it is going to be...

Gratitude

I had a GREAT Christmas! It was so much fun to be home with my Mom, her new hubby, and Tyler! Christmas Eve I rode home with Brandon, it was great to catch up with him and we had a great time talking and catching up. Then, after I got home, my friends from Orem called and sang Christmas carols to me and my mom. It was great! It is so wonderful to know such great people. Tyler came over to Moms house for Christmas eve, and we stayed up and talked long after everyone had gone to bed. I really enjoy being so close to home, especially after being gone for so long. It really makes me appreciate the simple things like being home for Christmas, and late night chats with my brother (did you see that Tyler, I appreciate you :D).

Christmas day was great. We got on webcam and opened gifts with Jenna and Reilly, and then Rods daughter and her family came over. It was sweet, she gave us each the card game phase 10 and some peanuts, haha, me and Tyler played Phase 10, and even got Mom involved, and I bet you didn't know that card game was a contact sport :D, well, it is with my family haha. That night, I went to pick up Brandon, and we were going to stop by and see our friend Brooke who is on leave from the Army, but we didn't get ahold of her in time... So, we headed back, right into the snow storm. It was nuts, we had to pull over to the side of the road because we couldn't see. We drove about 10 mph all the way to Scipio, but were lucky enough to be able to drive 40 on the freeway all the way back to Orem. It snowed pretty bad the whole way. Luckily we took my car, thank goodness for AWD! :D Anyway, I am grateful for the chance to catch up with Brandon and Brooke! I know this is the billionth time, but it is SO nice to catch up with old friends!!! LOVE IT!

Today I took my final exams! I aced both of them, and will get As in each class. YAY! I did some post holiday shopping :D went on a date, and has movie night with a bunch of friends. It was a blast! I am SO grateful for my friends here. They are such good people, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Thanks everyone for being AWESOME!

Last but not least, I am SO grateful for the Lord and his Atonement. Some of the conversations I have had with a few people in the past little bit has really opened my eyes, and helped my testimony grow. I am amazed at the power behind the Lords love for us, and I am so grateful for his hand in my life. I have had a rough few years, and certainly made huge mistakes, but now, as I straighten my life out, I can see the blessings pouring out, and my heart is so full of love for our Savior and his sacrifice for us. There have been some very hard times even in the last few months, but I know, that the Savior has felt how I feel and he understands, and that makes all the difference in the world. I know that the Atonement is real, and through it we can be forgiven of all our sins, and for that I am most grateful. I know that with his help I have made it through the rough times, and with Him I can make it through anything.

I want to thank everybody for their help, thoughts and prayers, and especially the Lord for blessing me with such great people.

And then some...

What a month!!! Life has been so crazy, but so great! Where do I start? First of all, I LOVE my job. I work with GREAT people, and it is a GREAT company, and every day I don't go more than thirty minutes without laughing. I could not ask for more. Well, actually, I do drive 45 miles for work each way, and that is a little rough, but it is also great time to just think (which is dangerous sometimes, when I think that is haha). It did however take me two and a half hours to get home last Friday in that huge snowstorm... YUCK Anyway...

I LOVE where I live! I am in the GREATEST ward ever! There are some awesome people in my ward, and the ward here is an 'older' ward, which is great, I guess the average age is 25 :D. I am making a lot of new friends. I am so grateful to have such awesome people in my life. I would name names, but I don't want to leave anybody out, just know that I appreciate you! I do have a fun experience... One Sunday at ward prayer I met a guy who served his mission in Korea! We talked forever about anything and everything Korean, and all the fun stuff that we miss. It was totally awesome to be able to have a conversation about it with someone who actually knows what I am talking about. Just like with the Army, it is great to meet soldiers, I can speak about the Army without having to explain every other acronym. :D LOVE IT.

I HATE the COLD!!! People, it sucks, I know you know, and I know it is going to get colder, but that doesn't mean that it is not freezing now!!!! I just got so used to the year round warm in Hawaii my body doesn't know what to do in the cold. I came home from work one day, and this is what my lawn looked like....

The people that live below me shovel my sidewalk, LOVE THEM.

Foxy has to have a special patch of grass shoveled just for her to do her business, that dog is so spoiled...

OH, I have another friends story!!! On Sunday I met up with an old friend from high school! I love catching up with people, and he came over Sunday and we watched movies and played Wii with my other GREAT friend Desiree. It was so much fun to catch up, and tonight, we are going to drive back home together, to keep company and have someone else to push the Santa Fe if it gets stuck hahaha, jk. It is supposed to be really yucky weather and it will be so nice to have the company!

On that note... I am SO excited to be able to go home for Christmas! This will be the first Christmas I get to spend home with my family (minus Jenna) in five years! Jenna is stuck in Arizona, but it will be great to be around my mom and Tyler! I cant wait!

Speaking of Tyler, he is probably going to be moving in with me. I am going to start taking bets of how long it will take for one of us to kill the other hahaha. We have a great relationship as long as we live apart, it will defiantly be interesting, plus it will be great to have him around to do the man work haha. Brothers.....

Anyway, that's about it for now, nothing too exciting, but I need to do my homework (blech) and get packed to head home. I wish everybody Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!! To my battle buddies in Iraq, you will be home in one month! I love you and miss you! God speed!!!

Jules

Veterans Day

I just wanted to give a shout out to all my soldier friends and family!!! Thanks for everything you do!!! I miss you all, especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, I miss the Army, and in some ways wish I was still in, and fighting with you. To all you I served with, God Bless you! You are my family, and I pray every day for your safe return home. God speed, and I hope one day we meet again. Here are some old military pics I dug up, enjoy the memories!

Saluting the troops as they fly off to Iraq

Dark Marco and Hernie :D BALLIN'

P-I-M-P

Combat Commo!

Catching up with Julie...

So, I have lots of new stuff!!! I have been slacking on my blogging a bit, so here is a catch up...

Halloween.... So, Halloween is probably my LEAST favorite holiday... Not sure why, and I am not going to go into the many things that irritate me about it right now, but I did end up going to a party with my cousin Jenny, and I EVEN dressed up lol, I have no idea why I decided to even go but my costume turned out pretty cool... Remember those troll dolls? The ones with a jewel on the tummy, and if you rubbed it it was good luck? Well, I decided to be one of those. I got a nude color leotard from a dance store and put it together. I decided to be a beach troll since I didn't want to be a naked one hahahaha... so here is a picture :D

So, I got an AWESOME job!!! I start Monday the 17th. i will be doing technical support (computer stuff) for L-3 Communications-Communications Systems West. L-3 is the sixth largest defense contracting company in the country, and they have locations worldwide. I am SO excited, and lucky to have gotten this job. The job is in Salt Lake City, so, looks like I will be moving again lol. I don't mind, just have to find a place now... Anybody know of any good places to rent in Salt Lake county that will let me have my dog?

So, I got a new (used) car! I ended up getting a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. I LOVE it! It only has 14,000 miles on it, and it is AWD (great for the commute to SLC from Orem in the winter). I got a GREAT deal on it! I am glad I did my research on it first, I went in there with stacks of papers I had printed off about the car lol... It was great! I ended up getting it for $4,000 less than suggested retail. :D Anyway...

All in all life is getting much better. It is so much fun to be able to catch up with old friends, be within driving distance of family, and I defiantly can see the Lords hand in helping me get my life back together. As bad as things have been, they are getting better, and I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life. There are a few people I have been meaning to catch up with, and if you want to catch up with me, just let me know, I love to see people I haven't seen in years!!!

BTW, it is SO COLD!!! I am going to have a hard time in the winter... BRRRR

Ever have a day where you just feel like you got run over by a semi truck???

Well, yesterday I actually did... A semi truck trailer plowed right over the top of my car, oh, and btw, I was in it... So, most of you know, I am accident prone, and long over due for a near death experience hahahaha... here is the latest adventure... :D

So, I was driving on my way to work, (good old Payless btw, I am long overdue for a 'catch up' blog, maybe in the next few days I will get around to it...) and I was in Payson, at an intersection getting ready to turn right. I was following a diesel truck, who was in the straight lane, so I got into the right turn lane, and started to turn, when the semi truck (pulling a flat bed trailer) started to turn too. He was STILL in the straight lane, and just turned! Not straddling the two lanes, no blinker, no brakes, just TURNED! RIGHT FROM THE STRAIGHT LANE!!! Now, I drive a little ford focus, not exactly a good match for a HUGE TRUCK, needless to say, I lost... The trailer smashed right into my car, and shoved it right up onto the curb.

All the time, I am in the car with a trailer headed straight for my head (drivers side...) and all I could think was 'How the heck am I going to get outta this mess!" Seriously folks, totally life-flash-before-your-eyes experience! My left arm is sticking straight out towards the drivers side door, like hey, if the trailer hits me, maybe I can stop it with my arm, lol, ever read Twilight? I was totally gunna have an Edward-saves-Bella moment... Seriously, luckily the truck stopped, one more foot, and I would have been stuck under the trailer...

So yeah, at this point I am totally freaking out, and all I can think is GET ME THE CRAP OUTTA THIS CAR! Too bad the drivers side door is under the truck... I had to climb out the passenger side door... I was shaking like nobodies business... Anyway, nobody got hurt, not even a scratch for me (LUCKY, AGAIN!)... but my car has definitely had better days... It is in the shop now, and I will find out tomorrow if it is totaled. For not, I have a SWEET rental car, all at the expense of the insurance company :D There are so many more details to this story, but I am sure as things happen, I will fill you all in. (Yes, there is going to be a battle :D) So, for now, I am still alive, and one more straw has been added to this camels back... Life sure is rough sometimes....

I will post pictures when I get them uploaded :D NIGHT!

Julie