Our little one

No.  Not a pregnancy announcment.

We call our parakeet, Sierra, little one, little girl, our child, etc.  My mom calls her the grand-bird. 

When we got home from Breckenridge, we tried switching her food over to pellets because they're healthier.  We were mixing the new food half-and-half with her old food.  It seemed like she was eating the pellets, so we completely switched her over.  The night we did that was a bad night.

Neal got home that night and when he walked in Sierra tried to jump from the bottom of her cage to her perch, and failed.  Miserably.  She also kept fluffing up like she was super cold and was being SUPER clingy (which, if you've met our bird, you know is weird).  She couldn't fly very well, and her grip was super weak.

Neal called me telling me all of this and I started Googling.  Then I freaked.  I was convinced she was going to die, and I needed to go home right away (having a sick kid is going to be interesting when we have an actual child).  We talked to Neal's cousin Melissa who told us it might be the food, so Neal put some of her old food in her dish and she INHALED it.  The next few days she started getting better and better.

I felt so bad.  We were literally starving her to death, and not even realizing it.  We've been cuddling her and loving her SO much lately because we feel SO bad!  I think she is enjoying it though.  She's been so much easier to handle lately, and she's been super cute!

Sierra being well behaved and sitting on the computer

Apparently the nativity is comfy, and the tree lights are pretty :)

Breckenridge

Neal and I went to Breckenridge for a little RNR the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Between the intense training that I was doing at work, and Neal building a new show, we didn't get to see each other much.  It was so nice to be able to go up there and stay at a beautiful lodge (The Breckenridge Lodge and Spa) and just be together.

We drove up to Breck Sunday night after having a wonderful dinner with the family of one of the kids in our Sunbeam class.  They made us a wonderful pasta dinner, and we sat around the table and laughed with them.  It was wonderful.  We headed up to Breck about 7 pm.  When we got up there it was FREEZING, so we hurried to check in and get to our room.  Our room was an awesome "rustic" mountain suite, complete with flannel chairs and cow hide bar stools.  We also had a fireplace and an AMAZING view out our window (which we didn't see until the following morning).

Our gorgeous view

Monday, we got up late, went to breakfast at the Blue Moose, and wandered around Breck for the day.  We did a lot of shopping, Neal showed me the River Walk Center where he works sometimes, and then we ate dinner at a super cute little restaurant.  We decided to split a calzone, and we were so glad we made that decision when our food came because they were HUGE!!!!  Then we headed back to the hotel, sat in the hottub, and then went back to our room and watched Bones and the new Spiderman :)

Cute little Italian restaurant

This was HALF a calzone!!

The next day we went SNOWBOARDING at Loveland!  It was fun, but it was still early season, so it was crowded and the snow was meh.  My day ended on my fourth run because I ran into a guy accidentally and messed up my knees (I STILL have bruises...a week and a half later).  Neal kept at it though while I hung out in the lodge and took a nap in the car.  We then headed back for dinner and a movie.  We had dinner at an awesome BBQ joint named Moe's BBQ (highly recommend it) and watched Snow White and the Huntsman.  I actually enjoyed the movie, which I wasn't expecting.

On the lift!  The reflection in my goggles is pretty sweet!

Wedensday we headed home.  We stopped in Silverthorne to do some Christmas shopping and to get lunch at Quiznos.  I also made my very first pies that night for Thanksgiving the next day!  They actually turned out really, really well :)

PS.  Did I mention we spent more money at Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory than anywhere else?  Hahaha

My view on the general American population

****DISCLAIMER**** I realize this does not apply to EVERYONE in the American population.  Therefore, if this ISN'T you, please don't be offended.  This is just my general observation.

I do not like this time every four years dubbed the Presidential Election.  Don't get me wrong.  I am very grateful to live in a country where I have the opportunity and ability to vote.  I am grateful for the men and women who have given their lives to ensure that I have this right and privilege.  What I dislike is the hatred, contention, and stupidity that come out during this time.  I hate the lies, the half truths, and the general fact that I feel like I can't trust what anyone says about politics.  I dislike the fact that I can't watch a TV show or listen to the radio without hearing so-and-so said this but they were lying, or so-and-so says they're going to do this, but they really won't.

Normally I can tune it out, but this year, something that I find very odd and saddening about the commercials and the discussions I've had.  My questions are as follows:

Did the majority of people never take a general economics class?  Or are they just not remembering what was taught in that class?

Majority of what I have heard is that "we" the American people want taxes to be cut.  We believe that a stronger middle class will happen if they do not pay as much in taxes.  Tax the rich!  Their the ones with money!!  Who cares if there are "99%" of us and only "1%" of them!  The government should be able to off-set the money they lose from decreasing taxes from us as long as they increase the rich people's taxes!!!!!  Forget economics...how in the heck does this even logically make sense??  I won't bore you with all my math mumbo jumbo, but this doesn't work.  You cannot expect the government to cut taxes drastically on the "99%" of us "poor people" and raise the taxes on the "1%" of those "rich people" and have them offset.  Basic math.

This leads me to my second point.  I've heard a lot of commercials and people talking about how ridiculous the government's debt is, and how unbelievable it is that the government is spending so much money.  However, we want the government to pay for our higher education, help us buy a house, pay for our health care, and have a good military, among many other things the general population thinks they should pay for or assist with.  I'm sorry, but this doesn't make logical sense to me either.  Decrease how much the government spends, but at the same time, pay for all of the stuff "we" don't want to pay for.  Again, basic math.  You cannot pay for more things, but decrease your output.

Here is where my question about economics comes in.  How can the general population expect the government to decrease taxes and therefore decrease their "income" but then expect them to turn around and pay for all of these things like health care, higher education, etc., and still spend less money?  Its general basic economics that this is impossible.

If this is how the majority of people run their personal financial lives as well, its no wonder debt runs rampant in our society.

My first Time Out for Women

Yesterday my friend Elissa texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Time Out for Women with her in Denver.  She had an extra ticket, and boy am I glad she asked me!  It was SO nice to take a day (that otherwise would have been spent at home by myself since Neal had to work) and literally go have a time out.  A time out from social media, my work email, the house not being clean, and worrying about daily life.  It was so nice to get to know my new friend Elissa better, too!  So many wonderful presentations were given, and Mercy River (my new favorite thing to listen to) did all of the music.

TOFW started at 9 am.  We walked into the room (which was 4 ballrooms put together) and I could just FEEL the strength, power, and faith of the women sitting in that room already.  I'll admit, I even began to cry when I looked out over the crowd at all of the women sitting there with one goal in mind: to somehow come closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We sat down in the fourth row from the front (I know, right?!?) and the day began with a wonderful song from Mercy River.  As I would come to find out throughout the day's events, these women are REAL women, which is part of why I loved them so much.  They are wives and mothers who truly write their songs based on their daily lives and testimonies of the Savior.  I loved hearing their stories, and especially loved hearing the songs that they "re-did" (like "Bye, Bye, Bye" about bed time...HILARIOUS!).

Then the presentations started.  They were as follows: Chris Williams, Sarah Wells and Kate Jones, Anthony Sweat, Julie De Azevedo Hanks, and Laurel Christensen.  Each presenter was so wonderful, and each had something that the Spirit spoke to me about.  In fact, they were all so wonderful that it would probably take over an hour for me to post everything I loved about each of them.  I really have been asking Heavenly Father what things I could be better at lately, and each of these presentations helped me realize an area of my life that needed to be worked on.  The even better part?  I feel empowered and hopeful rather than down and depressed about these things!  I really truly feel like I can and will do them!

One things I do want to post about is something that Julie De Azevedo Hanks, an LDS therapist, challenged us to do.  She talked about how we, as women, need to develop our most authentic selves.  Her equation for this was as follows: Heavenly Father's will + my unique gifts and experiences = my most authentic self.  She also pointed out that it is really hard for us to give ourselves and our will to Heavenly Father if WE don't even have ourselves.  One of the things she said we could do to help with this process is to celebrate the good in ourselves.  She said that many people believe the myth that acknowledging our own strengths is prideful.  The truth is that owning our strengths is humility because we are acknowledging the talents and blessings that God has given us.  Then she challenged us to make a list of 10 strengths AND 10 weaknesses.  She challenged us to go public with them, and truly own them.  So, here it goes.

10 Strengths
1. I have a strong desire to do the things my Heavenly Father has asked me to do through my priesthood leaders.
2. I forgive others easily.
3. I have a beautiful voice that I love using to bring the Spirit into peoples lives.
4. I do really well with small children.  I am able to calm them and help them learn more easily than a lot of people.
5. I find loving other people very easy.  I often find myself thinking about why they make the decisions that they do, and trying to act as Christ would (except for Weakness #1 below).
6. I don't struggle with the temptation to listen to music that offends the Spirit.  I love listening to my "church" playlist any day of the week.
7. I love public speaking, and I think I'm pretty good at it.
8. I can kill, dress, butcher, and grill my own meat.
9. I can get dressed up and act like a lady (as Neal puts it, I can actually look like a girl) but when it's time to get down and dirty to work on cars or go hunting, I am strong and able.
10. I do really well at my job, and always put my best effort into it!

10 Weaknesses
1. I get offended VERY easily when someone seemingly attacks my religion or my family.
2. I am not the best cook.  If we aren't eating grilled meat, we are probably eating 1 of about 5 things.
3. I have a tendency to put my feelings before Neal's when we are arguing.
4. I don't do well inviting people to learn about the Gospel.  I don't mind answering peoples questions, but I won't bring up the subject (probably as a result of #1).
5. I procrastinate.  A lot.  I tend to sit and do things like watch mindless TV rather than things that really should get done.
6. I always say I'm going to do something, and then I either don't do it, or I start the project but don't finish it.
7. I'm really over cautious.
8. I am impatient.  I am ALWAYS trying to hurry my life forward instead of just enjoying the present.
9. I tend to talk a lot about myself and not ask many questions about others (I'm already working on this one...I almost had a friendship ruined because of it).
10. I am not good at doing my visiting teaching...I always think about it and then put it off (see #5).

There.  TA DA!  That was actually harder than I thought it would be.  Now I challenge you to do the same.  It actually feels kind of good!

Hopes for the future

I'm watching a show on BYUtv called "Army of Faith: Inside the MTC."  It makes me think of all of the hopes and dreams I have for my children; all of the excitement I have built up inside of me.  There are many times in primary that I have looked back at the children sitting behind me and seen their testimonies shining through their eyes, and I think to myself, "This is our future...these are right children who are future righteous young men and women who will go on to be missionaries, wives, husbands, and parents," and I start to cry because I feel the joy and hope that comes from that.  I cannot wait until I get to see this light in my own children.  I cannot wait until I get to teach my children about the Gospel and help them begin building their testimonies and learning to love their Lord and Savior.

Our "interesting" day

Saturday was a rather interesting day for us.  It started off going to be at about 1230 am (yes, from Friday night...).  My sister was driving in from Utah and I wanted to see her before we went to bed.  It probably wasn't the SMARTEST idea since Neal and I had to get up at 4:30 am, but I didn't care.  We stayed at my parents house so we didn't have to get up any earlier than that.  We slept on the floor, and well, lets just say neither one of us got very much sleep.

We got up at 4:30 am to go dove hunting about an hour and a half away from my parents house.  We were so tired that neither Neal nor I woke up when my alarm went off at 4:15.  My dad actually had to come wake us up.  We dragged our butts out of bed though and were on our way by about 4:40.  We got all settled in at our spot and waited for the birds to fly in.  We shot like poo the entire day.  Neal was able to shoot his first bird (and therefore his first animal...yay!!!!) and we were very excited about it.

We left hunting at about 10 am because Neal and I were supposed to be at a wedding in Winter Park by 3 pm.  After we had showered and gotten ready at my parents house we started on our way up.  After about 20 minutes in the car I PASSED out.  I was so grateful that Neal was able to sleep a little bit on the way home from hunting...between my allergies and my lack of sleep there was NO way I was going to be able to drive.  Neal woke me up at about Colorado Mills to tell me he just saw a sign saying it would take an HOUR to get to Idaho Springs, and then at least another hour to get to Winter Park.  We looked at the time and realized there was no way we would make it for the ceremony, and that if we did make it for the reception, we would be cutting time uncomfortably close.  Neal had to be to work at 7, and we realized that with how bad traffic was, there was a probability we would not make it back in time.  After discussing it, we decided to invite our friends over for dinner sometime soon and celebrate with them then.

The 2nd best part of the day (next to Neal shooting his first bird) was going home, sitting down on the couch, and passing out until Neal had to leave for work.

I am quickly realizing the importance of sleep...the entire day that day my reaction time was SO slow, and I couldn't have made a decision to save my life.  I think it was Heavenly Father's way of reminding me how important it is to get the sleep I need while working such a high risk/stressful job.  Its something that I hopefully will be able to remember at all times!!!

New Life...sort of

We are doing well!  I started my new job, and I LOVE it.  Getting use to the hours is hard/strange, but Neal's been super helpful and supportive.  We've been super lucky that he's found stuff to do every night so he didn't have to sit at home by himself.

We also love our new home.  We've finally got everything unpacked, set up, and put away.  We are also loving our little bird Sierra (even when she wakes up at 7 am and I went to bed 4 hours before that...).
With our new home came our new ward, which we are also loving.  Everyone is super nice and caring.  We've been called to work in the Primary teaching the Sunbeams.  SUPER fun!

Neal has been working on getting the Candlelight's production of Fiddler On The Roof up and running.  It's a wonderful production that everyone is LOVING!

That's just a quick update on us!