FUN IN CANADA!!!

Last weekend, Jessica and I took a trip North to the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was my first experience EVER using my Passport! I was so excited. The guy at the Port of Entry was a bit scary with all of the questions that he asked but he was nice enough to stamp our passports. :) After waiting in heavy traffic for a while, we finally arrived in Vancouver. We looked around the city for a bit and then quickly found a delicious local restaurant for dinner. It was called Earl's. The food was delish! :) We then headed to the hotel. We stayed at the Empire Hotel. And, although it was a bit run down we found that it was clean and definitely a safe place to stay for the night. Plus, the price was right...and let's be honest, that is always a plus! The next day, we did some window shopping in Vancouver, drove around a beautiful park, Stanley Park, that reminded me a lot of Point Defiance (one of my most favorite spots in Washington), and found a suspension bridge that I walked across in the middle of a lush, green forest...Jess was a good sport. She is totally afraid of heights but was patient so that I could have my experience. We then drove south to Langley where the new Vancouver Temple has been built. It was the second day that the temple was having the open house and so we got to go through and see everything. The temple was breathtaking! Honestly, one of the most beautiful I have seen! The colors they chose to decorate with were beautiful...greens and blues. Plus, there were paintings of beautiful areas in British Columbia that adorned the walls. I was also a huge fan of the upholstery that they chose to use for the pews...I know it might sound strange but honestly...so classy and elegant. I loved it! After the temple, we began our trek home. We once again passed through customs...this time the guy didn't stamp our passports and actually laughed when we asked him to. But, it was still fun to be able to use the passport. This trip was a lot of fun and was definitely a nice break away. It was a great ending to a nice, relaxing Spring Break! :)

Tip Toe Through The Tulips

On Friday, my friend, Jessica, and I began our trek North. We first made our stop in Skagit Valley at the Tulip Festival. This is an incredible event that occurs every Spring. If you are a fan of beautiful flowers...this one is a must! There are so many different types of tulips. It is amazing. My favorite ones this year were the beautiful red ones, "Isle de France," and the deep purple ones, "Negritas". Jess and I enjoyed our "tip toe through the tulips!"

Spring Break...2010

This week is Spring Break for my school district and I am going to be the first to admit that I am super happy about it! It seemed like it would never arrive! I honestly think that Spring Break is more for the staff members than it is for the kids. If we did not have Spring Break, I don't think that we would have educators. Anyways, I have thought a lot about what I am going to do this Spring Break and came up with the conclusion that I just want and need a break. So, instead of going on some big trip where I run myself ragged trying to do everything, I have decided to stay home this year. So far, so good....I got to sleep in this morning! :) I also am planning several trips to the gym, catching up on some reading, attending the temple (and doing work for an ancestor that I just found via http://www.familysearch.org/), and spending some good quality time with some of my awesome friends. The biggest thing that I am going to do is take an overnighter with my friend, Jessica, to Vancouver, BC, Canada. We are planning on leaving on Friday and making our first stop in Skagit Valley for the Tulip Festival. I went last year and it was absolutely beautiful! We then are going to continue our journey north and end up in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Neither one of us has ever been to Vancouver and so we are excited to go up and see the city that just hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. The thing that has really inspired this journey northward is the Open House for the Vancouver, BC, Canada Temple. We are going to see the temple on Saturday before we make our trek back home. I love the temple and am so looking forward to this Open House. The faithful Canadian saints definitely merit a temple closer to them. The temple will be the first one in British Columbia. For several years, these Saints have been driving long distances to come to the Seattle Temple and to other temples in Canada (This will be #7 for Canada). What a blessing it is that we have temples on earth and that the work of the Lord rolls forward with more temples being built each year. I am so grateful. Until this weekend... I am enjoying my much needed break! :)

2 Things I Am Looking Forward To...

FHE...

Tonight was great! My friend, Jen Hayes, invited me to go to a Family Home Evening up in Seattle. This family home evening is based out of a ward that is actually a magnet ward for the mid single adults (age 30-45) in Seattle. The ward is a family ward but anyone that fits into this category is welcome to attend, too. Anyways, the family home evening was held at the home of an older couple in the ward, the Halls. There was a group of about 20 of us that got together and talked about General Conference and what we had learned. It was really a neat evening and I felt the Spirit once again confirm to me of the truthfulness of the messages that were shared this past weekend. I am so grateful for a Prophet and other leaders of the church that guide us and tell us what Heavenly Father would have us know at this time. There really is safety and comfort in their words. After our conversation, there was time to mix and mingle a little bit. I ended up talking with Sister Hall for a little while. She told me about her daughter that had gotten married but then divorced a few years later. She told me that when her daughter was single again she pursued an education and became an elementary school counselor. Sister Hall told me that her daughter was truly happy. In a conversation that Sister Hall had with her daughter, her daughter told her that in regards to the dating situation she was going to let go and put it completely in the Lord's hands. Sister Hall went on to say how her daughter had done just that. Out of nowhere, a friend's brother came along and this daughter began to date him. Well, the rest is history. They are now married and are very happy. After hearing this story of success, I told Sister Hall that I was trying to do what her daughter had done. That I am trying to work on putting this "marriage situation" completely in the Lord's hands. Sister Hall then looked at me and said that she would be right back. She came back and gave me a little favor from her daughter's wedding that had the following quote on it... "God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." -Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It touched my heart that she would give me this. I believe this is true. God is so good to me. There really is so much happiness to be had and sometimes it is easy to let my mind and my heart get clouded over with thoughts of what I don't have rather than on focusing on what I do have. I am so abundantly blessed by the Lord. I need to work on trusting Him more and putting my faith in Him and His plan for me....to focus on the gifts that He gives to me on a daily basis. I know that in time, I will see this great gift unfold for me in my life but until then, I have to remember that I am living the life He would have me live right now......and I am finding Joy in the Journey!

Easter Weekend...

It is now officially SPRING BREAK!!! And, I kicked my Spring Break off with a fun-filled weekend with my awesome family in Issaquah, Washington. My amazing aunt and uncle live there and they invited Jeff, Ashley, Ty, Charlie and myself to join them for the weekend. My super cool cousins Tom, Debbie and Austin and the newlyweds, Zack and Jeanette, joined us, too. We had a lot of fun eating yummy food, dying Easter Eggs, playing at the park, dancing and singing to the movie "Annie", talking and laughing together, and enjoying a spiritually packed weekend of General Conference. It was a great time for all of us! I know that I have mentioned this before but I am so glad to have Jeff, Ashley, Ty and Charlie close enough to be able to spend some good quality time together. (It always makes me sad when they have to go back to Oregon, though). I am also still trying to figure out how Charlie has so much energy!!! I love these boys and am SO happy to be their aunt!!! I look forward to the new little one that will be joining the family in November! :)