End of 2009

I don't blog... not hardly ever, its too time consuming. However, I do love to read other peoples blog and I love following their lives!

This Christmas we sent out a couple of Christmas cards (not very many at all), but no Christmas letter. I just didn't have the time to sit down and write about myself and my husband. Also, how in the world am I supposed to remember a whole years worth of information? Luckily, I received many letters from friends and that got me thinking about what I would have written in my own. I have had the past few days off and have though even more about so I thought I would write a blog letter! So here it goes!

We have had a fabulous 2009! We took many vacations which included trips home to California and Indiana, a lovely cruise and St. George. I love to travel, Tyler hates it. We manage well :) We started the daunting task of decorating our home. I love it! I have learned what it means to take pride in my home and I now understand why my mom was always telling me to clean.

I switched jobs (THANKFULLY) from being an account manager to an orthodontist assistant. It was a nerve wracking switch considering my lack of experience in that field, but it has gone quite smoothly and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Some of my biggest accomplishments this year are as follows:

I have continued to workout and eat healthy (most of the time) resulting in some much anticipated weight loss

Mastered my new job without permanently injuring any patients

Finished out the year without ANY car accidents! (I guess there is always today)

I can accurately predict (within about 20 seconds) when Toby will give us back all the water and food he has so quickly swallowed

I've learned that dishwasher soap cubes were the answer to all my problems

I can cook just about anything!..... in a crockpot (including desserts)

Learned that if I were to ever not work I would be bored out of my mind

I have met and made friends with so many wonderful people in my ward

I have gained a strong testimony of my calling as Enrichment Board Leader

Tyler continues to be an expert in his field. He is currently a coach, mentor, webinar instructor, frequent article writer for his company (the one most of his family works for). His job has only slowed down a bit and for that we are grateful. Here are some of Tylers accomplishments:

Tyler has:

Written over 50 articles for his companys magazine

Started and followed through (unlike his wife) with a fabulous blog that is all about the stock market and (because he wants you to know) has had 60,000 pg views this year

Taken on new responsibilities at work that include mentoring and teaching webinars

Become a first rate dog trainer and has taught little Toby many amazing things

Taken on the task of doing the dishes

Learned that if you don't shovel the snow after the first dump, you will sorely regret it

Learned that when buying a house, in a place that snows, make sure the sun actually hits your front yard

Become very involved with local and... not so local politics

Conquered the art of being an assassin (twice)

Brought the spirit into our home by honoring his priesthood and working his hardest at his calling with the Elders Quorum

Our lovely Toby is growing like a weed (a huge weed, like a tumble weed you find in your backyard). He now weighs in at about 86 lbs. We hope he is done growing. He has become much like his father and is quite the genius. Some of his accomplishments are:

Jumping over Tyler on command (without kicking him in the face)

Sit, stay, heel, front, down, off.... and all those other useful commands

Sitting in place whenever told to do so

Swallowing food and water so fast it comes back up looking the same as it did in his bowl

Never barking (unless you are wearing an Obama mask)

Shedding all that unwanted hair of his

Mastering the puppy face

Eating just about anything his teeth can chew through

Playing nice with little kids

We had too much fun this past year and we hope to continue to enjoy ourselves. We celebrated one year of marriage in August and honestly is was a good year! We already have many plans for next year and I can't wait to get started.

California

I love my new job! I am getting alot of time off to get things done! A few weeks ago I had the whole week off so I convinced Tyler to also take the week off and drive to California with me. We left on Tuesday night after his workday. We drove down to St. George and stayed in a sweet condo. That next morning we spent a few hours with our good friends Amanda and Jeff. Tyler and Jeff went golfing and Amanda and I spent the hours talking ( I miss having her close by! ). After our morning of sunshine we continued our drive on to Cali. We arrived in time for Dads birthday dinner. We spent the next few days visiting the beach and friends and family! I was excited because we got to do some temple work in the LA temple for my moms family. It was there I learned that my Grandma was a cradle robber (not my words, the temple sealers!!) My Grandpa (who had passed on) was like 9 years younger than my G-ma. The beaches were a bit cold and overcast, but it was still nice to visit. As you can imagine, Tyler, the kite flying guru that he is, loved the wind!

We had an excellent time over and hope to go back soon. My family is coming up in a 2 weeks for a stay out here. I hope they dont mind the bi-polar weather!

He looks so innocent right?? Today I got a call from Tyler telling me that Toby had chewed through his rope and run away!!!!! He put Toby out at about 11 and I got the call at about 6. We don't really know how long he was out for. I got home and started my search. I yelled into open feilds, stopped groups of kids on the street, then decided to pray. I felt impressed to check KSL. I got online and lo and behold there was a found ad for a dog in Eagle Mountain!!! I called the girl (annie) and told her what Toby looked like. I asked her where I should come pick him up at and she told me she lived in Hidden Canyon!! ( this is where I live) It dawned on me that she is my newest Enrichment board member!! I ran on over and picked him up. They are so nice! The kids were very friendly and told me that they had even BATHED him!!! I think Toby might be running away more often haha. I am so grateful for kind neighbors!

I truly think this was a blessing, because last night I was not as grateful for my neighbors. We are having trash can issues on my street due to some strong winds ( that blew all the cans around last week). The neighbor a few houses down took ours last night (because it had his serial number on it) so we found our number and found out that the beighbors across the street had ours! Tyler talked to them and promised that on trash day he would help them find theirs... Dang wind!!

zipline

While we were on our last cruise we went on a zipline adventure. This is me coming to the last stop

Sophies mad face

This is a video Tyler and I took while babysitting Sophie awhile ago. She never ceases to make us laugh. I think she is telling us she is going to be sassy.... Nisha?

Reading so far...

I have had to play a little catch up with my reading but so far I am doing good. It has been really easy for my to understand what I have been reading.
We have had a few blessings that I have recognized and thought I would share. First of all, last night I started my reading and Toby started his barking. I realized though, that he would not bark as I would read, only if I would stop. It was nice to know that someone has some control over my dog!
Secondly! A few weeks back I went to an interview at an orthodonts office. I had not heard back and have since stopped thinking they would be calling. Well, today I got a call from a number that I didn't recognize. The lady started saying something about Dr. Watson. I thought it was my dentist..... Then she asked if I wouldn't mind coming in for a second interview tomorrow! I really couldn't believe it. I feel as if I am being truly blessed as I read.

Reading the Book of Mormon

Last night we celebrated Easter with Tylers family. We had a wonderful ham dinner with all the fixings! It was very yummy. While we were there Tylers brother in law, Rusty, told us about how he and Hilary read the Book of Mormon every year starting on April 7th and finish it by July 1st! That is the time that it took for the Book of Mormon to be translated.
Tyler and I decided to take the challenge. It is going to be about 6 pages a day this month, 7 pages a day next month, and 6 pages a day the month after that (my numbers could be wrong).
We think it will be amazing and as Rusty said, "If they could translate it in that amount of time, I sure can read it".
Nisha forwarded on the e-mail about the challenge. It comes complete with a website where you can enter in your start and finish dates and you will receive daily e-mails telling you how much to read and I think maybe something about what you read (we start tomorrow so I haven't seen one yet). It will also take your dates and calculate how much you will need to read daily in order to meet you goal, so if you need a little longer (or maybe even less time) you can just adjust it to those dates!
The website is www.ReadTheScriptures.com just go there and sign up. I think it is fabulous that someone has created this site!!
We start tomorrow night! Wish us luck. I hope some of you take the challenge as well.