almost tardy

my alarm goes off at 5:10am. i get up at 5:20am.

today i got up at 5:59am today.

i must leave no later than 6am to be on time.

i didn't leave until 6:13. (which means i got ready in 14 minutes)

somehow, i managed to only be 6 minutes late to work. (don't forget, i work in charlotte)

those extra 40 minutes though, really felt nice.

s.s.s. no. 10

of course, today has to be about gratitude.

and why shouldn't it be? this is the season that celebrates all the beautiful things we have been given and i need to partake in that in written form.

so here is a short list of some things i am grateful for.

my sweet, funny, and wonderful husband.
my awesome family! my parents, sister, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws... the works.
a job that makes me happy!
2 crazy but super adorable puppies.
our little rental home in the ghetto.
a new car that gets 34 mpg!
sweater season. i love when the weather cools and i can pull out my jewel tones.
being a girl. i wouldn't trade it for anything, especially being a boy.
my friends. i have the most wonderful friends of anyone. and people who say you never stay close to your high school friends don't know me and mine. they are like sisters to me. i love you 3!
good entertainment. music, movies, musicals, concerts, games, tv, i love to veg and be entertained
the internet. i am thankful to have so much at my fingertips including facebook and blogging to stay close to those i normally wouldn't be able to.

lastly, but most importantly, i am thankful for my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. without them in my life, i would be lost. i am thankful that our Father loves us so much He sent His son and that His son, our brother, loves us so much He gave His life for us that we might live again. how sweet that message is.

i hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving. matt and i surely did in ky with his family. and now, let the Christmas festivities begin!

this really saddens me

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_declining_marriage

i usually try and avoid posting anything political on the internet, especially on facebook. so i decided this might be the safer place to post.

i saw this article on yahoo today and the title was so shocking i couldn't help but read it.

i am so saddened by what i read in it. the statistics break my heart.

marriage is the fundamental element to family and family should be the fundamental element to society. i am eternally grateful for marriage and to be married. i am thankful to have been raised in a home with married parents and am thankful that my children will have that same blessing.

i hope that many of you are also upset by the findings in this article. i know i for one, will always stand up for the family and for marriage. how sad that we are denying ourselves and our children one of the greatest gifts God has given us, the bonds of matrimony and the blessing of children born to married and loving parents.

anecdotes from recent weeks

i don't have anything particular i want to tell so i will tell a bunch of few things.

1. right before matt and i go to bed, we often put the puppies up on the bed with us and play with them for a few more minutes before we put them in their cage for the night. well last week i noticed they had done something to my phone while they were on the bed but i didn't worry about it and went to sleep. when i woke up and tried to call my dad, i saw what they had done. don't ask me how but they put the cayce police (who were in my phonebook) into my favorites list. matt said it was a cry for help. i'm just glad they didn't call them, that would have been interesting to try and explain...

2. my job is going so well! i love it. seriously. the sweetest thing that has been said to me is a senior girl came up to me after class and said thanks mrs. smith. i said oh.... and she said i mean thanks for being our band director. that was sweet.

3. matt went to the swamp this weekend. he loved it! not only did he get to witness the win (GO COCKS) but it was his first time in the swamp and he had really been wanting to go to that stadium. he said he had to console a lot of gator fans who were crying just like tim tebow though...

4. i felt like i was so on top of everything Christmas and now, i feel so behind!!! i do not know what to get anyone in matt's family, they are very difficult people to buy for! and i don't know what to get my grandparents. i do know what to get my parents, but i need to get it! and i need to finish up with all but one of my church gifts. what has happened to me? not to mention i need to write our Christmas letter and get those ready to go out... ahh!!!!!

i hope you all have enjoyed this myriad of information. i also hope you all enjoy the remaining few days of your week. thanksgiving break is oh so close, hang in there everyone!!

s.s.s. no. 9

i love the youth programs of the church and the youth themselves!

tonight was our ward's young women in excellence, a night where all the girls ages 12-18 show what they have accomplished this year.

they did such a beautiful program and bore amazing testimonies, it is so reassuring and inspiring to hear them say what they believe and know to be true.

i know i am not that far removed from them and i can still remember most everything about my young women's experience, but i am still so impressed with how strong they are at their age. it takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe in day in and day out. it takes even more courage at that age, and especially as a girl, to know you are special and beautiful and beloved daughter of a Heavenly Father. these girls definitely don't know exactly how amazing they are, but you can tell they know they are special. how sweet and invaluable that knowledge is at that precious time in your life.

i am so honored to have been able to a part of the program tonight and to have worked with them for the past few weeks on their music. i hope they know how much i love them! they are just a great group of girls!! and i am so proud of them. i am proud of them for what they did tonight and what they do every day for the gospel and to show their love of our Heavenly Father. they inspire me.

first day of school... in november?

yep. today was my first day of school...

as a teacher!!

yay! that is pretty much all i have to say. it was wonderful. i am under no delusion that it will be everyday, trust me. i have taught enough through student teaching and such to know better than that, but today was the day i have been waiting for for a long long time. to finally be a teacher and a band director.

it was great. it was crazy. i cannot believe i'm still awake and alive and functioning. here is the play by play.

5:20 woke up, got dressed.

6 left my house, took 3 slices of turkey bacon and a vitamin water with me for breakfast

6:03 called matt because my car wouldn't shift

6:10 matt came and traded cars with me

7:33 arrived, 3 minutes late, to my first day of work went into the front office and signed a w-4 and some insurance forms, waited around to meet with an administrator but that never happened

8:20 went to the band room. i spent the rest of my day here and in my office. i cleaned out my desk and a filing cabinet (filling a trash can) and organized like crazy

11 met with the band booster president and a super active mom, they were both great, which is incredibly comforting

12:25 ate a chocolate pudding and a bag of 100 calorie goldfish

12:30 ran the 2 band classes. it was crazy, totally on a whim and off the top of my head, but great!!

2:40 helped a girl with mozart 3 horn concerto

3 lesson planned for tomorrows band classes

4 left for columbia

5:45 taught a piano lesson

6:30 home! ate 4 slices of pizza while watching wheel of fortune

all in all, the moral of the story is, I SURVIVED!! and am happy!!!

s.s.s. no. 8

i start my new job being a band director tomorrow and oddly, i don't feel nervous or anxious. and here is why i feel peaceful about it all.

for months (maybe even pushing a year) i have been fasting and praying for me to find a job in my field. i have run the gamut of feelings about my situation through this time. finally, for about a month or two, i have felt peace with where i was in life. and now, that i have humbled myself, stopped my whining, and accepted God's plan, he has blessed me with this incredible opportunity. 

so here is what i have learned through all of this. that i know nothing about what is supposed to happen in my life. sure, i can try to figure it out, but in the end, it is always best to live the best life you can and then turn all of that over to He who can see the end from the beginning, who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who ALWAYS has our best interest in mind.

so today, i want to say a million thanks to my Heavenly Father for giving me all of these blessings. i want to say that i have already grown through this experience and i'm ready to feel more growing pains as i begin this journey of teaching. thanks for you all, for your support, love, and patience with me.

i hope everyone has a happy monday! i know mine will be!!

reverb in williams-brice?

i just need to say something.

i, sadly, did not get to go to tonight's game. well, not that sad because it was awful, but sad because i love all carolina games. but i did watch the game on tv and here is what i have to say...

really carolina fans?? the stadium was so empty every single thing the band played in the second half had MAJOR reverb to it. that's pitiful! i mean i'm glad i could clearly hear the band, but not for that reason.

so, as everyone in the band always yell when people are leaving the games early, your tickets are still good!!!! even if we are sucking it up, you don't need to suck it up as a fan.

end of rant.

most people use halloween as an excuse to dress sexy...

clearly, matt and i are not of that mindset. in case you can't tell what we were, i was an elementary school teacher and matt was the p.e. teacher. i must say, we were the hit of the party. definitely got the most laughs.

sadly, most people said to us "you know this is a snapshot of your alls future." i really hope they are all wrong.

the other thing everyone said is "my mom had a vest just like that." sadly, i think all of our moms did.

we really had a great halloween (on the 29th...) we went to a fun party at church and then a fun party at my sisters! and to think, a super fun college party that had no alcohol at it! i don't think some people know that's possible....

i hope everyone had a super fun and safe halloween too!!

s.s.s. no. 7

nothing is popping out for me today as a topic to write about. so i will just write a simple testimony today. something short, sincere, and something i know i should share more.

here are some things i know:
-that we have a Heavenly Father who loves each and everyone of us so much. i know we are all His literal children. these things i have known this since i was a very small child.
-that Jesus Christ, our older brother, is real and He too loves each and everyone of. He loves us so much that He suffered for every pain, suffering, sickness, sin, sadness, or woe we ever have or ever will have. He gave His life for each of us. what an amazing thing and what a loving brother.
-that families can be together truly forever.
-that there is a prophet of God on the earth today and right now that man is thomas s. monson. this is something that shakes me to the core every time i think about it, because i could never doubt it. the feeling of confirmation i receive every time i hear him speak is undeniable.
-that the gospel of Jesus Christ is restored on the earth today and that it is lead by our Him and our Heavenly Father through the prophet. that gospel is contained in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
-that the book of mormon is true. all of it. every word.

i know more things than this. my testimony is larger than this. but these six points are at the core of it all. i want to share the things i know with more confidence. i also want to not just share by living a good life doing good things, which i try to do every day, but with my words and actually speaking what i believe and know to be true. this is a big goal of mine. because it can be scary to share what you know, especially when you know others don't agree with you. but these are my thoughts. my beliefs. and if you are reading them, i hope you will think about what your beliefs are and maybe share them too.

-kellye

the wizarding world of harry potter

i know this is way over due. basically i have on thing to say about the whole thing:

it was amazing.

my only complaint is that too me, they used too little of the park for it. i wish harry potter world was a lot bigger. here are some photos of the day. my back was absolutely KILLING me the entire day which is why i am severely slouching in almost every single picture. it was such a fun fun day! read more under each picture.

here is our first view of hogwarts. me, my mom, and my grandmother went through suessland while everyone else went to ride the dragon roller coaster in harry potter. i don't do coasters. this is from the sneech train in suessland.

this is what greets you when you enter from suessland. 

here is me, my mom, my grandmother, and my aunt at the train.

this is what greets you if you enter from jurassic park. AMAZING.

mirror of erised inside the castle.

the counter for the team points inside the castle. even though i would be in slytherin, i'm happy to see that gryffindor is winning.

a huge hall of photos. and yes, they moved. and talked.

entrance into dumbledores office. i'm not going to lie, this almost brought me to tears.

pensieve in dumbledores office.

dumbledores desk.

gryffindor common room

matt and me waiting to get into the ride inside hogwarts. by far the best ride i have ever done.

us in front of the 3 broomsticks anxiously awaiting lunch and our first butterbeers.

matt's first butterbeer

my first butterbeer

katie's first butterbeer

they had turkey legs for lunch, i had shepherds pie

matt and me enjoying our day

katie and me in the street

inside olivanders

the whole gang! me and matt plus my parents, my sister, my grandmother, my aunt laila and uncle jason and their 3 boys, nickolas, zack, and gavin

the family on the bridge for one last look at harry potter

it really was an amazing day. if i could go back a million times, i would. and i don't think i would ever get bored.

s.s.s. no. 6

sorry to be a day late again, this has been a crazy busy weekend with lots of visitors! i will fill you all in on all of that later, for now i want to post something short and sweet.

my something spiritual today isn't so much a topic as an observation. i know all of you can relate, no matter what you believe or what church you attend.

it is amazing to see someone grow in the gospel. to watch the process from the start is extra incredible. matt is that person for me. he has been LDS for a year and half now and every day he does things all the time for the gospel that amazes me. just from this past weekend, i have 2 examples.

the first one was while his parents were here. they were only here for about 48 hours and the one thing he wanted to make sure they saw was the columbia temple. we took them there saturday and then matt answered all of their questions without any hesitation. and the way he answered was so inspiring to me. he is straight forward and in every answer he tells exactly what he believes with his testimony. i know he doesn't even realize how strong his testimony is.

the second one happened last night. matt had a busy sunday because of a band rehearsal he had to attend from 2-5:30 and was not that happy when he found out that he had to go back to church from 7-9 for a priesthood meeting, a meeting for all the men of the church over 12. he asked my dad to go with him and he agreed so they suited up (literally) and went to church. when he came back, he could not stop talking about how amazing it was. he told my grandmother and me what all of the talks were about and how they made him feel. he told us what inspired him and how he felt about it all. he was just on cloud 9 after the meeting.

it truly amazes me the fire he has for the gospel. he is such an example to me. he gets upset with his current work and school schedule because it limits his ability to participate in extra church activites. all he talks about right now is how he wants a job that will allow him to be home at a good time and to do all the things for the church that he wants to do. of all the things i admire about matt, his love for the gospel of Jesus Christ is number one without a doubt.

i hope i can catch some of the fire from him. he makes me want to be a better saint. and all of us know someone like that, so let's do it! let's emulate these wonderful new-comers to faith and be strong and up front about what we believe not just in word, but in action!

the secret life of our puppies

matt and i have come to a horrible conclusion about our puppies.

we think they may be drug lords.

they aren't dealing the kind of drugs we humans typically think of as being illicit. no, it's much crazier than that.

they deal and trade.......... pine needles.

we have noticed this weird behavior for a while. whenever they go outside one of them (usually fergye) comes back in with a single bunch of pine needles. how do we know they have this in their mouth? because whichever one doesn't have the needles, usually porkchop, will bark incessantly at the other because they want them. they usually go to a corner in a room matt and i aren't in to do this. we hear it from somewhere else in the house, look at each other and say "pine needles". is this not ridiculous?

so why do we think they are like drug lords with it? well, these pine needles tend to have the same effect on the puppies as drugs do on humans. including (but not limited to);
-feeling like the NEED to have them all the time
-trying to try and sneak them past us, even when we have already taken them away
-not wanting to share and becoming aggressive when someone else wants some
-when the needles are taken away, they act absolutely crazy including running around in tight circles, running as fast as they can from room to room for no reason, getting in the laundry basket and biting all the clothes, etc.
-having the munchies for strange things. namely, poop.
-feeling ashamed and embarrassed when they realize what they are doing is wrong

we don't think they actually deal, just trade. porkchop will bring fergye a q-tip from the trashcan as an offering for the pine needles. if that doesn't work, which it never does, matt and i think it's cause she wants more. maybe a lysol wipe? or their butterfly? or maybe even the rubber chicken?

they are crazy dogs. i hope we can get them help for all of this behavior otherwise, they have a rough road ahead of them. and i'm worried, because the first step to over coming an addiction is admitting  it....

and they can't talk.

a crafting realization

i don't use hot glue enough. it's an amazing thing. it's fast, like i want all glue to be, it's strong, like i want all glue to be, and it's easy to fix your mistakes.

so why do i rarely use it?

i don't know. but this has got to stop.

hot glue- be prepared. i'm coming for you. we are going to be good good friends. i may use you too much but guess what, you will have to deal.

s.s.s. no. 5

i cannot believe it's been an entire week since my last post! there will definitely be a couple in the week to come to catch everyone up, this week has just been super busy!

so for today's something spiritual there is only one thing on my mind: family.

for the past 4 days matt and i have been in florida with my family, staying with my aunt and uncle and 3 cousins and spending a day with my parents and grandmother. this coming weekend my parents and grandparents plus matt's parents are all coming for the weekend! i can't wait!!

this past weekend was just such a wonderful few days, and as always, way too short! all i could think of the whole time was how blessed we are to have families. to have people around us whole love and support us no matter what, it's amazing. just hearing their loving words and talking to them about things on our mind and having nothing but love poured back out to us is truly awesome.

the most amazing blessing in my life is undoubtedly my family and even more than that, the fact that we are an eternal family. in the LDS church, we believe that families continue after this life and into the next. we truly believe families are forever. the family is, in my opinion, the central unit in our religion and the thing that everything is based on, after our love and belief in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father.

i cannot say enough for how blessed i am to have my family. i also cannot express my belief in what they family is and what it's role in the Father's plan is any better than the leaders of the LDS church have in the document The Family: A Proclamation to the World. so although it not short, it also not long, and i would love for you to read it. i have pasted it below.

just know that nothing in this world can replace family relationships. president david o. mckay, former president of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said "no other success can compensate for failure in the home". i know this to be true. i am who i am because i was raised by MY parents, who are wonderful amazing people and did everything they could for katie and me to turn out to be good and happy people. i am eternally indebted to them and i believe the way i pay them back is when i am fortunate enough to have children of my own, i raise them the right way and love them and support them as much as my parents did me. that way this cycle is a great one that benefits the world and those around them.

i hope we can all take time to thank our families for everything they have done for us and to thank our Heavenly Father for the blessing of putting us into family units here on this earth. i am going to try to show and express my gratitude this week. thanks for reading and please, take the time to read the pasted proclamation below. whether it will be your first or one hundred and first time reading it, it's worth the few minutes of your day it will take. it is inspired and true.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

In 1995, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” This proclamation is a declaration and reaffirmation of doctrines and practices that prophets have stated repeatedly throughout the history of the Church. It contains principles that are vital to the happiness and well-being of every family. Family members should study the proclamation and should live by its precepts.

“We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

“In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

“The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

“We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

“The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

“We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

“We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society”

s.s.s no. 4

i know i'm about 10 hours late for this actually being posted on the sabbath but it's all for a good reason and in line with todays topic (which i was already planning to write about yesterday)

today i want to talk about the miracle that is creation and life.

this is something all religious people share, the absolute awe that is life and the world around us. yesterday, matt and i took the puppies for a walk down the river walk. all i could do was look around and think how beautiful this world is. as the season really begins to change here and a few leaves are starting to fall, you see how beautiful the life cycle is and how amazing the world we have to live in is. matt says people over use the words awesome and amazing, and i know i do, but it is truly awesome to look around. the world is beautiful! hearing the river and seeing  it, walking under the shade of very old and large trees, seeing wildflowers blooming in a field, watching streams flow over rocks to create little waterfalls on their way down to the river, it's all so wonderful and i think this time of the year reminds us especially of all of that. i simply do not know how anyone could see these things and experience the world around them and doubt the existence of a Creator. God is real and if you don't know about that, just look around. there is absolutely no way all of this just happened, it's planned, it purposeful, and it's because a Heavenly Father loves us. it's all a blessing.

the reason i didn't post last night was because right when i was about to, my best friend allison called me to talk. she was driving back to indianapolis (where she currently lives and works) from visiting her family back home (in lexington, ky, where i am from). her sister just had her first baby and allison's first niece. she is such a beautiful baby, i can't wait to meet her in person. but she isn't the only new baby now, 2 of my other friends have had babies in last 3 weeks and i have many friends and cousins that are expecting within the year. it's just that time in my life where everyone around me is having babies! all of this to say, babies are truly awesome. the fact that the Lord trusts  us and loves enough to enable us to bring life into the world and to raise His children as mortals is unbelievable and awesome all at the same time. what a privledge yet a huge responsibility, to love and nurture and teach one of His beloved spirit children. i can't wait (but am) for the day i get to do that.

the summary of today's something spiritual, look around and take in all of the beauty and wonder God has provided for us. how blessed are we? do we all take time to thank Him for it all? i know i could thank Him more. i could thank Him more in prayer and by going out and experiencing all that He has provided for us. i am so eternally grateful for this earth, the miracle of life, and the love our Heavenly Father pours out on us everyday.

counting down to harry potter

this time next week, i will be in the wizarding world of harry potter. am i excited?

YES

in case you don't know this about me, i am a huge harry potter fan. always have been and definitely always will be. i have read all of the books many times. i have seen all of the movies many times. i just love harry potter!

when i was in the 7th grade, i had a wonderful english teacher named mr. ball. at this point, there were only 3 books out. mr. ball hadn't read any of the books and wasn't convinced that he should. so me and all of my friends worked super hard to convince him to read them and he did, and then became a crazy huge harry potter fan. he started a harry potter fan club for our 7th grade team, which of course i was in, where we met just once a month and played harry potter trivia. it was awesome. (7th grade was just an awesome year, i loved middle school)

the first movie came out when i was in 8th grade. this was before theaters did midnight movie premiers so mr. ball, who was still teaching 7th grade english, arranged for the first showing to be a private showing for his 7th grade team. well guess who else, he invited, the original harry potter fan club. we all dressed up and missed school to see it, it was amazing!

well of course the news was there to see how everyone liked the movie, and since we were the first people to see it, they wanted us to do the movie reviews for the news. so mr. ball picked me and my best guy friend brett to be on the news to do all the movie reviews. it was so much fun and so cool to be on the news that night.

this is just one story of my love for hp. there will probably be more to come to lead up to the big event next weekend. i really just cannot wait.

s.s.s. no.3

my third installment of something spiritual for the sabbath. and i have a great topic to share this week. if you aren't a member of the lds church, this will hopefully teach you something new about our beliefs. if you are a member of the church, i hope you share the testimony i do of my topic and have had it strengthened this weekend.

todays topic: a modern day prophet.

in the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, we believe that the heavens are currently open and that God has a prophet on this earth today. ever since the boy Joseph Smith prayed to our Heavenly Father and through Him and His son, Jesus Christ, restored the gospel of Jesus Christ onto the earth, we have had a living prophet on the earth. once a man is called as the prophet, he retains that calling until his death. there have been 4 prophets in my lifetime.

the current prophet is Thomas S. Monson. he is an absolutely wonderful man. i remember the talks that he gave before he was prophet and was a counselor to previous prophets. even as a child he stood out to me. he is such a wonderful story teller. i remember katie and i would get excited when it was his time to speak at conference (twice a year broadcasts from salt lake city) because he could keep our attention even as children. every time i hear him speak or see him on tv, i am absolutely positive he is a prophet of God. i could never deny it. a warm feeling of absolute assurance of his authority overpowers me.

what is the role of the prophet? he is the president and leader of the church but he also the prophet to the world. he receives revelation directly from the Lord in regards to anything and everything the Lord wishes to share with his people. it is an amazing feeling to know that our Heavenly Father loves enough to give us a man who we can completely rely on to share the Father's will with us. i know he would never lead us astray. i know he loves and prays for everyone. i know that the prophet is truly a man of God.

i hope that if you still have questions about what all of this means, you will ask me or visit www.mormon.org. what i have shared today is my testimony of the fact that there is a living prophet. i know with everything in me that everything i have shared is true. and if you know it too, i hope this has in someway has inspired you.

awesome new game!

last night was the most fun matt and i have had in a while. seriously. our friends bob evans (not a joke) and colt hosted a game night at their place with some of our college friends. we all brought food and pretty much snacked the whole night, the way every good party should be. i made yummy little bite size cheesecakes from scratch! i told matt, i'm not a newlywed anymore, i'm a wife. i need to start making things from scratch. so i did. we also brought the puppies, it was their first party, who were a big hit with everyone except colt's cat. after everyone got there we started the gaming.

it began with a fun game of taboo, girls v. boys. the first game was a tie! 55 to 55. the second game though, the ladies took charge and we won by 5! cause girls are better than boys. duh. that was a lot of fun but it was nothing compared to what was about to happen.

hillary, colt's girlfriend, suggested we all play the picture game. a lot of us had never heard of it but we all agreed to it, we all love new games. she went and got a bunch of computer paper and cut them into quarters until everyone had 13 pieces of paper, the number of people playing the game. we all numbered the papers 1-13 and put them in a stack in order.

to start the game you have to write a phrase on the paper labeled 1. it can be anything, seriously. mine was "ring around the rosies pocket full of posies". matt's was "san diego: it's german for a whales vagina", from anchorman. so needless to say, anything goes. you have 2 minutes per round, so you had 2 minutes to come up with a phrase. then, with that card on top, you pass your entire stack to the right. 

the person to your right then has to draw a picture based on the phrase you wrote down on the paper labeled 2, again in 2 minutes. they then put paper #1 on the bottom of the stack and pass the entire stack to the person to their right with #2 on top.

now this person has to write a phrase on card #3 based on what they believe the drawing is telling them. this is basically a big game of telephone but you rotate every round drawing and then writing. it goes on like that all the way around to person #13 (who would be the person to your left) and then the real fun begins.

once everyone gets their stack back, you do not look through your stack yet. someone in the group starts and goes through their stack with the group. it is absolutely hilarious! oh my gosh. i have not laughed so hard maybe in my entire life. the drawings are super funny but the sentences are where you just die laughing, they get so far away from where they started! here is an example.

hillary's sentence was "cuckoo burrow sits in the old gum tree". she passed it to bob, who did an excellent job of drawing who then passed it to katie who wrote "cuckoo burrow sits in the old gum tree". well katie handed it to matt, and he did not know what a cuckoo burrow was exactly but he was pretty sure it was a man (wrong) so he drew a man with a hat on sitting in a tree. when he handed it to me, the only thing i could think of was a line from the best you-tube video ever, the mobile leprechaun, and i wrote "i think a crack hear got up in a tree and played a leprechaun". from there, it just went crazy. i can't remember how it ended because i was crying so hard from laughing, i couldn't even think straight.

you don't think this game is going to be nearly as awesome as it is but i'm here to tell you, you will have the best time playing it. so if you want to get a game together, call me and matt first!!! we want in!

i am trying to lose weight

is this a good place to talk about this/announce it? why not? everyone says the key to successful weight loss is that you are open about it and have a good support system. who better to support me than the people who care enough about my life to read our blog?

why am i trying to lose weight? well.... because i'm overweight. not obese, yet, but overweight definitely. how do i know this? well other than the fact that my bmi says so when i calculate it, i don't feel good in my own body. i am self conscious because my clothing is not flattering anymore and i always picture myself as my smaller self and then when i realize i'm not that, i get sad. 

here is my weight history: i don't really have one! i have been a size eight for as long as i can remember. i honestly believe i went from a girls 16 in 7th grade to a size 8 in 8th grade and have never looked back. as a matter of fact i know this to be at least slightly true because i just got rid of clothing from 8th grade that still fit, it just had to go! i am still a size 8, after i squeeze into all of my clothing! not only do i not have a desire to move up to the double digit sizes (it's not right for my height/body type) but i cannot afford it!

one of my major motivators: the fact that sometime in 2011, i want to try to get pregnant. is this tmi again? maybe. oh well. if you gain at least 30ish pounds while you're pregnant, that means i would be approaching 200 pounds!!! i am only 5' 5"!!! this is not a good thought and i know if i don't take control of all of it now, it will be impossible later.

so here is how to sum up the why: i don't feel good in my body, to keep my current wardrobe, and to be healthy and in control of my weight before i decide to bring life into this world.

so how am i doing it? counting points with weight watchers. i am doing it all online/on my phone. i hope i can stick with it! i'm also trying to get more active. this is a hard goal for me. i am not athletic at all! i have really bad knees which prohibit me from doing a lot of exercises. and it's not something i find to be enjoyable. that's why it's a goal!

so everyone, i will keep you posted on my progress. my goal is to lose 25 pounds by april. that 6 months away. can i do it? yes. will i do it? you will have to follow me on this journey to find out!

something spiritual for the sabbath no. 2

here goes my new weekly tradition! although today i am reporting from matt's computer, mine internally exploded!!! (i guess...) here is what i saw when i opened my computer up today

i know this isn't the best picture but you get the just. i know this has nothing to do with today's topic, i just had to share.

now for the good stuff. today's topic: fasting. the what, when, and why.

what is fasting? fasting is denying yourself food and water for a set amount of time. typically in the LDS faith, we fast for 24 hours at a time, which is essentially 2 meals. if you eat lunch on saturday, you would skip dinner that night and breakfast sunday morning then eat lunch on sunday after church. a proper fast begins and ends with prayer and includes a donation to the church in the amount of the 2 meals you skipped called a fast offering. this goes to help those less fortunate in our area.

when do we fast? in our church, we fast at least one sunday a month. typically, the first sunday of the month. this month was one of the exception months. we fasted on the first sunday, typical, but we also fasted this sunday to be october's fast, because next week we have a special meeting that is church-wide called general conference. (more on that next week, i'm already predicting it will be the bulk of my post next sunday) on these sundays that the whole church fasts we also have a special service which we call fast and testimony meeting. this is where no one is actually assigned to speak during the service. people get up and bear their testimony of the restored gospel as the spirit moves them too. it is usually a wonderful meeting where the spirit is especially strong. it is so nice to hear the testimonies of friends and ward family members.

why do we fast? we fast for some sort of spiritual reason. perhaps you have a particularly troubling issue that you would like extra help with. maybe you are feeling weak in some area of your testimony and faith and need to feel a confirmation of the truthfulness of that principle. or maybe you are fasting to just to show gratitude to the Lord for all of the millions of blessings in your life. no matter what, you fast with a purpose, otherwise you are just starving yourself. in your opening prayer of your fast, you make it known to the Lord what that purpose is. fasting is a chance to  actually feel sacrifice, to submit yourself to the Lord physically. the blessings you can receive from a fast are endless and very real. here are some personal stories of how fasting has helped me.

when i was a mia maid (14-15 year old girls group) we fasted as a class for two girls who were less active (not coming a lot). you can fast as a group too, by the way. i wrote in my journal that night that i had fasted for that, this was in october. we kept contacting them frequently, visiting, sending letters, calling, etc. not much happened. then in the following february, the girls showed up! and they never stopped coming. now, 7 years later, they are still active members of the church. it wasn't until after all that happened and i was rereading my journal that i remembered all of those efforts began with a fast.

i vividly remember when elizabeth smart was kidnapped. she was also a member of the church and she was the same age as me. even though so lived in utah and i lived in kentucky and i had never met her, i felt really sad and affected by her kidnapping, so i decided to fast for her. (you can fast anytime you want to, it doesn't just have to be once a month and on any certain day) i have a feeling many many other people were fasting for her too. she was eventually found and i know that my prayers had a little part in that.

last month was not a good or happy month from me. i was really really down about my job situation and spent a lot of nights feeling really sorry for myself. nothing could shake it off of me. so i decided that on this months fast sunday, i would fast simply for peace. that was my whole prayer. i cannot even explain to you the difference in this month from last. my family has commented on it and i feel a little better every day about my current situation. it's not like i still don't have bad days and i still don't pray every day for something better to come my way, but i have received peace.

these are just a few stories. the point of them is to bear testimony to you all reading all of this that i really do know the power of the fast is real! if you've never tried it, do it! have faith in the Lord that he will bless you for your faith, cause he will. 

gearing up for Christmas

yes. in september. don't judge.

the thing is, i really like buying people nice gifts. my soul sister lauren says it's cause i'm materialistic and i like to receive gifts so much. while, i do enjoy a nice present, i must disagree with the materialistic thing. i just like for me and those around me to have nice things! is that such a crime?

so here is how, more than three months in advance, i am already preparing.

1. i have started buying my service christmas gifts. at church, we have the opportunity to buy specific gifts for needy families in our area. there are four families my ward is responsible for so i took four items to buy, all dresses. i took them early and i took dresses specifically because i am avid shopper. this does not mean that i am avid buyer. i check particular places at least once a week for their sales. target for example. i look at target at least twice a week because they have a 75% off rack. sometimes, there are AMAZING things on that rack, and i buy stuff. more often, there are not and i don't buy things. it's very hit or miss. but to find those amazing things, you must look often. well, i looked today and found the cutest modest dress for an 11 year old in her size and i bought it. 1 down 3 to go.

2. i bought my sisters Christmas gift. this is entering into unmarked territory. i have never purchased a Christmas gift for a family member this far in advance. let me just say, i am proud of myself. i cannot give to many details but i will tell you this much: i COULD NOT pass this up. not that it won't be there closer to Christmas but why wait? seriously the most perfect gift from here. they were however in no way on sale (and no, they won't go on sale) so now matt and i have 1 down, cause this gift will definitely be from the both of us.

3. i bought all the ribbon i'm going to use to wrap my gifts. again, i am a major sucker for a sale. i went to carolina pottery and there was all this beautiful ribbon in huge quantities for $2 a spool. i couldn't pass it up. now i'm on the hunt for beautiful and Christmassy gold wrapping paper because the ribbon is a spool of deep pink and deep purple. let me know if you find any at a good price!

4. i am handing out Christmas recital music to all of my students this week and next. this means i have been playing a lot of Christmas songs on the piano and of course, singing along. this is more out of necessity than desire. i want each of them to play 2 songs, 1 spiritual and 1 fun, and i expect them to memorize them so in order for those to be realistic expectations of 5-12 year olds, they need time. i'm really excited about it though. it's going to be an excellent evening! (more details to come)

hopefully i keep this trend of being proactive up! it's not only exciting now but it will be really exciting when i avoid all the craziness that is december shopping. now... if i could only think of what to get matt early i could get that gift out of the way.... got any ideas for an awesome Christmas gift for a husband? let me know!

something spiritual for the sabbath

i want to try something new. i would like to post something every sunday that is spiritual. maybe it will be a reflection on what happened at church. maybe something matt or i have read recently that is provoking. maybe just an onslaught of thoughts. regardless, faith, religion, and our relationship to our Heavenly Father is the central part of our life and marriage. it's sometimes a scary thing to talk about. so this is where i want to start, in an open and safe place. take it or leave it, but i hope you take it. if for no other reason, just to learn a little more about us and perhaps to gain a better understanding of "mormons".

todays topic: callings. magnifying them and what they are. so here are the facts.
1. in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (from here on out referred to as the LDS church) we do not have any paid ministry.
2. due to this, everyone in the church offers service.
3. we do not pick where or how we serve.
4. we are called, literally, by our bishop (the man in charge of our congregation), to do something. he has prayed and received inspiration as to what it is that we should be doing. so really, we are called of God through our bishop.

i currently hold two callings.
1: organist
2: 12-13 year old sunday school teacher

matt is currently the second counselor in the young mens, which means he is the leader of the 12-13 year old boys.

magnifying our callings, or performing your calling to the best of your ability and in the way the Lord wants you to, is a topic that has particularly been on matt's mind lately. he is such a busy man. he is a grad assistant for the carolina bands, which requires a lot. he is a full time grad student, which requires a lot. he is preparing for a conducting recital, which requires a lot. but above all of this, lately, he has felt the urgency and desire to magnify his calling. he has come to a true realization of the importance and impact he has in these young men's lives. he understands that this is the time you get them or you loose them. he puts in time everyday for these boys. it may be praying for them. it may be preparing a lesson. but everyday they are on his mind. he told me tonight, when he got home from a leadership training meeting at church, that he feels like he is being tugged in two very different directions. one side is school work and the world. there is a lot of pressure on him at school and the level of expectation on him this year is drastically higher than it was in his first year as a masters student. everyone wants to know where he wants to go in his career. the other thing pulling the other way is the church and his calling. and although to so many, they could never understand, that is the side he wants to go with and try to follow. it doesn't give us many earthy rewards in the eyes of man, but the blessings and eternal rewards are unmeasurable and incomparable to anything a career could provide us with.

i'm inspired by matt's dedication. i know that it's all a balancing act. we must learn do what is necessary to survive in this short time we have on earth while giving all we can to the Lord. it doesn't mean we give up everything. it means we must find a way in everything we do to serve the Lord.

i know these thoughts may appear a little random. like i said in the beginning, it's hard to talk about these things. they seem so personal and while they are, they are meant to be shared. they need to be shared. i hope someone learns something or is inspired in some way from reading this. i know it helps me to be better just to get it all down in words.

totally terrific thursday

this past thursday was a great day. work was work and im pretty matt would agree, school was school. it was after all of that that it became terrific.

it all started on my drive from work to teach my thursday piano lesson. the radio station i listen to (99.3) had been advertising that they were giving away ben folds tickets wednesday-friday. i really wanted to win. i have seen ben folds live once before and would love to see him again. so the thing was you had to answer a trivia question to win. the question was "what's ben's brother's name who was in some bands in raleigh?" well, i had no idea. but i was at a red light. and i have an iphone. so i looked it up! i called and i won!! (his name is chuck for all of you wondering) so now katie and i are going to see ben folds live in charlotte on november 20. we are both so pumped!!

then i went and taught my piano lesson. it was a great lesson. i have been struggling to get through to mckayla on reading music and i feel like we had a major break through thursday. progress!!! her mom gave me a wonderful dinner and then i headed out. well, matt and i had a date planned for the night to go see the sc philharmonic play a concert. i was not appropriately dressed and i did not have time to go home. so, i stopped at the only place i pass on my way to campus from their house, wal-mart! i got a super cute dress for only $13 and shoes to go with it for only $7. i'm not a frequent wal-mart clothing buyer (as in this is my first thing since of my freshman year of college) but i really love this new outfit! and it looked nice and fit! i changed in the car (i know... so classy!) and headed to pick matt up.

matt looked super nice. he had brought a nice outfit with him to school to change into before the concert. i brought him dinner and a diet coke and we headed to the concert. when we got into the koger center, a man saw us getting in line to buy tickets and said" here, i have an extra ticket, you all can have it." wow! i was a $36 ticket too! we were planning to buy the $12 tickets, for the second balcony. these were on the first floor row p, pretty good. so we went up to see if we could get another ticket near that one. there was and because matt is still a student, it was only $14 so we got to hear an amazing concert for only $14!

after the concert, we went out for dessert. we went to nonas in the vista because matt had never been there. we walked there it was such perfect and clear weather out. that is one nice thing about columbia, its pretty walkable. we shared a flaming dessert. pineapple caramel over pound cake and french vanilla ice cream. it was so good!!! truly the perfect way to top off the evening.

i really love dates. we dont go on them often enough frankly because we dont have time to do it often enough. i'm so glad we got to go on that one though and i can't wait for katie and me to go on a date in november to the concert!

wonderful weekend

wow. we had a such a great weekend. my parents came in on friday and my wonderful dad fixed the brakes on my car (for a $200 savings!). we had a great evening with them. matt then had to get up at the beautiful time of 5:45am saturday to be at marching band practice by 7am (he had to pick someone up and be there early). my parents and i woke up soon after and headed to bi-lo to prepare for our tailgating extravaganza! after purchasing way too much food, we headed to williams-brice to tailgate! we had a such a great time. many friends stopped by and ate with us. we played games and walked around to all of the booths. it was a great time.

here is a picture from tailgating. the girl in the middle, shelley, is one of my best friends and is a bride-to-be. this is a picture of all of her bridesmaids except for one. one is a georgia fan, but we let it slide.

after tailgating we went to the game, me and my parents. this is not a joke, we sat in the top left corner. i don't mean near it i mean my dad was seat 1 row 39 in the upper left section. it was way up there but it was nice and breezy and relatively cool. made for a nice and comfortable way to watch the cocks kill the bulldogs. gosh that game was amazing!! so much fun! but i was careful not to scream too much, since i sang at church on sunday with my friend dacia.

after the game, my cousins came down from fort mill. aaron and lani have the sweetest little baby, nora. we all fought to hold her. she was so good and loved everyone!! aaron warned matt to watch it, cause they're contagious. here are some shots of matt with sweet nora.

too cute! sunday, of course, was a wonderful day. i really just love the sabbath. i sang, prayed, and played in sacrament! matt did a lot for young mens so he wasn't home much but, it's worth it. we ate a wonderful dinner, made by yours truly, with katie and her friend. i just can't tell you how much i loved this weekend!

the puppies

meet fergye

meet porkchop

tell me they aren't the cutest things you have ever seen. i dare you. if you do, you will be a liar... and we all know where liars go. and if you don't know the you should read 2 nephi 9:34. they are imperial shih tzus. they turned 10 weeks old today. they both weigh 1 pound 13 ounces as of their vet visit yesterday and they won't get any bigger than 5 or 6 pounds. they are truly the sweetest puppies ever.

they are litter mates and the only two in their litter, i'm so glad they didn't have to be separated. my mom's first cousin breeds them and when we went down to alabama for my great-grandmothers funeral, we came home with these little guys as a gift. porkchop was a gift to katie and fergye to me and matt but now they both live with us, which is definitely for the best since i'm pretty sure they would be uber sad without each other. during the day, when we aren't home, we keep them in a baby play pin. they run around and play and love it!

the amazing thing about them is that they have such different personalities. fergye is definitely the dominant one, although matt says she is just the louder one. she is also such a drama queen. if you even come close to her with something she isn't interested in, she screams bloody murder. she is timid to try new things but if she sees her brother do it, she is right behind. she really is a sweety and definitely a moma's girl. porkcho, on the other hand, is much calmer and over all sweeter. he loves to hide under the recliner and behind the couch and is fairly adventurous. he is real easy going.

some of their favorite things are strings (especially matt's shoelaces), battling each other (which is when fergye is her loudest), destroying paper, licking matt's ears, and following me around (specifically and always when i go to the bathroom).

they have brought a lot of joy into our home and our family in just the 4 weeks we have had them. we love them so so much!

is it really already september?

time really does fly. i'm excited that it's september though. here are a few reasons why:

1. the weather gets a little cooler. in case you aren't familiar with the summer climate of columbia, sc allow me to inform you, it's hot, humid, and all around miserable. september brings that cool breeze that all of us have been literally dying for. this week, we took the puppies on their first "walk" (we went a total of 14 houses and they just turned circles the bulk of the time) at 6:30am and our house temperature felt hot when we came back from the 15 minutes they survived outside. i love that.

2. college football. recently, in an effort to save money, we got rid of cable. college football is the only reason we hesitated to do it. thankfully, matt gets to go to all of the carolina games and the ones i don't get to go to, i have plenty of friends who do still have cable. i am so proud of my alma mater and our opening game thursday night. i wish i could have been in williams brice. i know it was awesome! here is a picture of matt at the game. no idea what he was doing or thinking. GO COCKS!

3. you can start thinking about the holidays. i know, i know, stores having their christmas decorations out already is truly out of control but i like that now is the time you can make the holiday plans and start thinking of christmas gift ideas and what kind of card i'm going to make this year (because i AM sending out cards this year and i AM going to make them). i just like the planning and anticipation that begins now for the upcoming months.

this time of the year just brings back the best memories for me. this is when marching band really gets going, and that makes me excited. this is when you can start visiting orchards and farms. this is long sleeved t-shirts with shorts weather (one of my favorite outfit combos). it's just the beginning of the craziness that will be the remaining few months of the year. it's just a great time.

the first post

i have been trying to start a blog for a while. why haven't i been able to do it yet you ask, because i absolutely could not find a background i like. i'm still not sold but, it will do for now.

so why blog? other than the fact that everyone does it and i'm a big fan of conformity, i love to journal write and this is like a journal, but for everyone to read. not better, cause when it's your real journal you can write whatever you want, but not worse, because this allows us to connect with people and people to connect with us. it's just going to be an exciting new way of writing about my life.

so here are the fact. matt and i have been married for just over a year, it was a year on 7.18. we have living in south carolina during all of that time and really really love it. matt is in his second year of grad school and i am, well, currently, i am a nanny with a bachelors of music in music education degree. not ideal but, like the background, it will do for now.

we live pretty typical lives. we both work a lot but when we're home we like to watch movies (love netflix), play games (current obsession: skip-bo), and play with our babies (two 8 week old shih tzus). we play words with friends a bit too much, but it's so fun! we love our church and our ward family is amazing. we miss our families, mine lives all over and matt's lives in kentucky, but we really enjoy living here now.

this is just the beginning. so much more to come! i am excited about figuring all of this out and getting way too into it.

-kellye