Challenge Day #17

Today's challenge is to post a picture of myself and tell about my day. I'm going to stretch it a little and tell about yesterday and maybe some of today.

Yesterday was a great day, but it was also very bittersweet. It marked three years since the day my sister passed away. I keep thinking that the next year is going to be easier when it just doesn't seem to be that way.

We didn't get going until about noon which was nice. It made the morning relaxed and laid back. We, my mom and I, went and picked up my sister and her boys then we went to Olive Garden for lunch. After that we went to Kohl's and shopped for a bit. Then we went to Cocoa Bean and got cupcakes for dessert. By that time it was time to get Gigi from daycare, so we dropped Kate and crew off then rushed home. Then my mom and Gigi and I went and got flowers and put them on Brittany's grave then went home and got ready to go to the temple. We took Gigi to another babysitter and then went up to the temple where my cousin and his wife were going through for the first time. It was a perfect ending to the day.

I then came home and watched The Duchess with Keira Knightley and Dominic Cooper. It was such a good movie. I highly recommend it. I had not wanted to see it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I even dreamed about it. When you watch it, I'm sure you will also dream of Keira Knightley and her big hair in that movie. It is definitely impressionable.

Today has been pretty chill. I woke up, did Zumba workout, ate, got ready, helped my sister while the boys were getting their haircuts, then we went to Wendy's and surprised my mom with some lunch. Since then I have cleaned up and now I'm just hanging out. I go to work in about an hour, but I am just covering for the Rexburg store, so it will still feel like a day off. Ha!

Anyway...there ya go.

Elder Christofferson

Yesterday was an amazing day! I went to church early because I had been warned, beforehand, that there would be a shortage of seats because Elder D. Todd Christofferson would be coming to my little branch to speak. That is right, an Elder in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was our speaker in little ol' Idaho Falls Community Park Branch. How cool is that?

Apparently his daughter-in-law used to be in my branch and is still very good friends with my branch president. Elder Christofferson was in town to bless her baby and my branch president asked if he could come speak to us.

He spoke about gratitude which is a subject that I think the leaders of the church are really emphasizing lately. Gee, you think they're trying to tell us something? He said we should all strive to be the one leper who returned to thank Jesus Christ for being healed.

After that he bore apostolic testimony of the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was such a beautiful reminder of this great gift that I know I take for granted a lot.

At the end of the meeting we all got to shake hands with Elder Christofferson and his wife, Katheryn.

If you want to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, click here.

Miss Patty

This morning we lost a very special person. Her name is Patty, and she lived in Arcadia, FL where I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was near the end of my mission and Arcadia was known around the mission as being a harder area. Even amidst our struggles as missionaries the members were awesome there. Miss Patty was not afraid to share the gospel with all of her friends. We could all take a page out of her book.

Pictured above is an amazing couple. Ernest and Patty got married and he was baptized a member of the church in 2004. It was because of Patty's fearless love of Christ that Ernest got interested in the church.

During my time there we experienced a hurricane, Charley, that devastated the little town of Arcadia. I have never been through anything like it. For a few weeks we served the people by bringing them food and helping them with other needs. Even through all of this Miss Patty remained diligent, positive, and happy even through all of that.

Patty was such a great example to all of us of just being a good person. When I think of my time in Arcadia I think mostly of her because she was such a big part of everything we did there. She will be missed but we will all get to see her again. I love the gospel and how we can know that we will see our family again after death. Miss Patty no longer has the restrictions of a physical body even though she never made her ailments an issue. She was the most positive person I have ever met even though she was bound to a scooter. Such a fantastic example of pure Christlike love. She is one of those people who affects lives just by knowing her.

We will miss you, Miss Patty! We know, though, that you are in a better place that is brighter and happier and that the Lord has use for you and your sweet spirit. Love you and rest in peace.

Answer to Prayers

I realized something just a moment ago. My prayers had been answered and I didn't even realize it.

My idea of going to Utah was put off for a bit simply because I had finally found a social outlet that was actually wholesome and fun, so I figured I would stick around for a bit and see what happened. At the same time I was really confused about my aforementioned feelings to be moving to Utah. I had been so excited about the prospects of breaking away and starting over in a new place.

Things happened and I slowly forgot my excitement.

So I decided to pray about it. I prayed hard too. I kept bugging and bugging God to tell me what to do and that if I was supposed to stick around then let me know.

Yesterday my boss decided to give me a real nasty "review" that basically told me it was time for me to move on. Despite my anger at his antagonism and after some reflection I realized that he was actually being used to answer my prayers.

It is time to move on.

So, even if there are some very cute girls in my new branch, I am going to get back on track about moving to Utah.

There ya have it.

New Directions

Ha! I kill myself. I was going to name this post something lame like "Community Park Branch" but I decided to be more creative. Then I was thinking that the main point of this post is how things are changing in my life. So I thought..."New Directions." Why does that sound familiar?

Probably because of...
The Glee Club in the tv show is called New Directions.
So glad I could start this post with an aside.

But, first, I read an article in OK! Magazine (we get the subscription mysteriously at our house and we're not sure why. Don't judge) about the upcoming season of Glee and its already popular Britney Spears episode. I really hope all the hype is worth it. It's Glee of course it will be worth it. Right?

I am so excited for that episode because it is where they will expand the character of Brittany, the ditzy blonde cheerleader that dances like a maniac. She is one of my favorites.

Looking at this picture, Heather Morris (Brittany) actually sort of looks like Britney Spears. I never would have guessed. Anyway...if you could not tell...I am stoked about the new season starting in like two weeks.

Anyway...

On to the real purpose of this post.

I have switched wards (if you don't know what I'm talking about by wards click here). The singles ward in Rigby was just not doing it for me. It took them a year and a half to give me a calling and, even then, three or four weeks to set me apart (they have yet to actually do it. I guesstimate that it would have taken six weeks for them to actually set me apart). Stick a fork in me; I am done.

I work with a girl who goes to this awesome branch in Idaho Falls. She was telling me about it and had been telling me all about their fun activities while I just sat around being mad about how dumb my ward was. She had invited me to come but I was going through a bad, dark part of my life and so I never really wanted to go. But things have been changing for me lately and so when she invited me to a dance they were having on the Snake River pier in Idaho Falls I decided to go. It had been a long, long, long time since I'd been to a YSA dance.

Man, am I glad I did! It was so much fun! And I met some really cool peeps, most of which were really cute girls.

So that Sunday I went to the branch with my coworker/friend (Lindsey). It was such a breath of fresh air. The Spirit was so strong and I could feel the love the presidency had for the members and the unity within the branch.

Since then I have been to their FHE and a visiting night in which we go around and invite people to come to the branch. If you know me, the last couple years I have been pretty antisocial (not all entirely my fault really) so this is a big step for me. I loved it though. This has been such a good week!

So, Rigby Singles Ward, hasta la vista!

Hellooooooooo Community Park Branch!

Woot!

Adieu.

2010: A Year of Goals

New Year's Resolutions for 2010:

1. Finish second draft of the novel, do rewrites and revisions as needed, and have it ready to be sent to publishers. (I am currently working on setting an actual date for when I want to have this done.)

2. Travel like crazy! I currently have the option to go to either Hawaii or Europe (I will most likely choose Europe) and I am planning on going to several other places within the US.

3. Get a new job. I need to get out of retail and Deseret Book fast because this situation is not good for me right now.

4. Stay in shape, keep working out, lose at least 5 more lbs. I actually want to focus on getting a little more ripped now, possibly bulk up a little but have a nice toned shape.

5. Be unafraid to try new things.

6. Do more service. Random acts of kindness are the best.

7. Pay off my car loan! Yes! It should be all paid for by July but I want to get it paid for earlier than that.

8. Find someone to love, but not rely on that to give me happiness.

9. Do Jacob-Gigi dates like Brittany wanted me to do. I've been slacking on it. Britt always mentioned that I should take Gigi out once a month.

10. Organize my life!

That is all I can think of at this juncture. I will add more as time goes by I'm sure.

Hope this year is one of happiness, blessings, and growth for everyone. Love you all!

2009: A Year in Review

January:

I was living at Mike's house in Rexburg and started my final semester at BYU-Idaho. During this month I began reading The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde for my senior capstone English class. Also, on the 16th, my sister gave birth to two beautiful twin boys named Morgan Rico and Wyatt Bruce Chacon. They are an awesome addition to the family.

February:

Still plowing away at the last semester of school. Another Valentine's Day without a significant other to profess my love with flowers and chocolates to. Oh well.

March:

This was a great month. We had Giselle (Gigi) sealed to my parents and also did Brittany's temple work. It was a very special and spiritual experience that I will not forget. It was after this that I finally felt at peace about the whole thing. We have also continued the tradition of going out to eat as a family on birthdays, so we went out for Britt's birthday.

April:

We celebrated Kate's 27th birthday on the 8th. And I graduated from BYU-Idaho FINALLY! My degree was in English, professional writing, with a minor in public relations. The world was my oyster and I was ready to hit the road running!

May:

This month found me moving out of Mike's house and back in with my parents and Gigi. It has been a good move because I have been able to save up money while looking for a big-kid job.

June:

Gigi had her second birthday. On her birthday we took family pictures which would eventually be the motivation for me to lose weight.

July:

I started a workout regimen using my parents' Bowflex and their elliptical machine and saw immediate results. Also, this was the month I went to Tori Amos' concert in Salt Lake City. She was AMAZING and by far the best concert I've ever been to. Somewhere either in June or July we had a big Art Taylor family reunion up here. We had a big bbq and then the next day we caravan'ed up to West Yellowstone and other hot spots. It was great to be with the clan again.

August:

I turned 26 on the 4th which puts me closer to 30 than 20. It's hard to think of that simply because I thought I would be in a different place in my life at this point, but what can ya do? It has been hard for me to get out of a jaded funk about girls and dating.

September:

Still plugging away at work at Deseret Book. They were starting construction on the remodel. We added a distribution center to the store which was a big undertaking for all involved.

October:

We moved the store out into a tent for a week while they finished up the store's remodel. I went down to St. George for Jeremy and Megan Young's baby boy's blessing. They named him Hadley Taylor Young. It was great to get away and to see my friends there, so much so I really didn't want to leave. I even toyed with the idea of moving down there. It is still a possibility.

As soon as I got back I pulled a 14-hour day at work putting the store back together. What a mess!

November:

I officially lost 20 lbs. this month. What a great feeling to be in shape. I forgot what it was like not to cringe whenever I looked in the mirror. :)

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's house near Rexburg. I was good and didn't overindulge even with all the yummy-yummy food to eat.

December:

Insanity! Deseret Book became my second home because I was there so much. Tension was high the last couple weeks but we survived the Christmas rush. Now we get to take a sigh of relief as January comes and gives us some time to think and recover from the madness.

Also, I finished the rough draft of my novel! What an awesome thing to have that done. I have already started the rewrite and am very happy with the results thus far.

I am in a much different place in my life now. Much more at ease and comfortable with where I'm at. It's not that I'm getting complacent. I just know that I'm not going to sit around and wait for life to happen to me anymore. 2010 will be a year of changes, travels, and LIFE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope your Christmas is merry and bright! I know mine has been. I love you all.

(I will post pictures and detailed summary of my Christmas soon, so stay tuned!)

Insanity

Will the insanity ever end?

I know Christmas is next week but, wow, I just can't believe how many people keep coming in to Deseret Book to buy Christmas stuff. I didn't even know there were this many people in Idaho Falls. Where are they all coming from? Seriously!

Today was a "slow day" and we did nearly $13,000 in revenue.

I've actually been really good this year, despite the insanity at work, at being in the Christmas spirit. The First Presidency devotional this year seemed to have the main message of focusing on the reason for the season rather than the hubbub of the commercial side of it. I am determined to keep my feet firmly planted and fight against the "commerciality" of the season.

Onward and upward, my friends!

Christmas Time!

I've worked retail for forever it seems. Okay. That was an exaggeration. I have worked retail the last five years not counting the summer I worked at K-Mart. That is besides the point. Man, I get off-track so easily. The point is retail is horrible during Christmas time. It has a way of sucking the Christmas spirit right out of you. I worked at Wal-mart for three of the last five years and, let me tell you, the big, happy, smiley face is a big ol' lie.

Now, there are other reasons I've been a Scrooge during Christmas seasons. Snow is a huge one of those reasons. I'm perfectly content with having a warm Christmas. Call me crazy. I've seen what it's like to have a sunny Christmas and it's not all that bad. White Christmases are overrated thanks to Bing Crosby's song.

All of that aside, I have found myself in total Christmas mode this year. I am stoked about Christmas! Not only about the gifts and all that mumbo-jumbo, but also about the true meaning behind it. I have gotten most of my Christmas shopping done already so that I can focus on the birth of the Savior. In one of Tori Amos' songs on her new Christmas album (which is fantastic) she calls the Savior's birth "our salvation's hour." Angels, I'm sure we were among their number, rejoiced at the birth of Christ as it marked the beginning of our redemption.

At Deseret Book I see the commercialized side of the Savior's birth. Nothing against the book store. We sell good stuff that do good for people. It just tends to make the Nativity scene less special when you are surrounded by it all the time. So I am making a greater effort to be more awed by them and to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. It will be no easy task with customers who are stressed out about Christmas, grumpy coworkers who need to take chill pills, and hearing the same Christmas songs over and over and over...and over...and over...and...oh...You get the picture.

So I challenge you, dear reader, to focus on the beautiful story of a virgin mother who gave birth to a Son who would grow up to be our Salvation. Focus on the intricacies of the story: how Joseph must have felt when he found out his betrothed was pregnant, how Mary must have felt when she first received the visit from the angel, and how both of them felt when they first laid eyes on the baby Jesus.

One last thing before I close this monstrous rambling post.

This last Sunday I woke up to Sounds of Sunday. Glen Rawson was talking about the story of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. At first it was a nice little Christmas story, and I was half-asleep so I was just barely listening. Then he started talking about when Christ died, there was only Mary there. Glen Rawson said it really well. He said that the absence of Joseph shows that Christ can empathize with us in EVERY aspect of our lives including the loss of loved ones. This, of course, made me think about my sister and I got kinda weepy, but that is besides the point.

I refuse to get too caught up in the retail side of Christmas this year. Instead, I want this to be about my Savior who I know empathizes with me in all my trials and heartaches.

This won't be the last post this month but I just want to say:

Merry Christmas!

Namesake

This weekend was amazing! I got to go to St. George, Utah to see some really good friends of mine and meet my namesake. His name is Hadley Taylor Young. He's an awesome little baby. I am so used to my niece and nephews who are now getting so big that I was stunned at how tiny Hadley was. He's a beautiful baby with a great head of hair thanks to both his parents who both had full heads of hair when they were born as well.

I left for St. George on Friday, but I stayed in Sandy with my mom, sister, niece, and nephews that night. It was nice to split up the long trip into two days, but I totally could/should have just gone all the way on Friday. Oh well. Live and learn. Besides, I did have fun with my family that night. We just went out to lunch, shopped for a bit, then ordered pizza in at the hotel.

The next day I drove down to St. George where it was sunny and beautiful weather. I have completely fallen in love with this city. It's a great place to be.

Once I arrived, I called Jeremy (Hadley's father) and then we went to lunch at Arby's. At Arby's we met some interesting people including a pregnant girl who was not shy to tell Jeremy how great he smelled, a guy who told us the history of vampires, and an odd but friendly employee at the fast food joint. I began to question the sanity of St. George residents, but Jeremy assured me they're not all like that.

After lunch, we went to another lunch (not because we're pigs but because we weren't sure about the plans) at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. This was my first time at the new chain. We do have one in Idaho Falls. I was not too impressed. They don't even have milkshakes. What kind of burger joint doesn't do milkshakes? And, while there, I randomly saw an old friend, Chelsea, who was working there. It's a small world.

Also, at Five Guys I met my namesake. Pictures don't do the little guy justice. He's awesome. Maybe I'm just biased.

The rest of that night we just hung out at Megan's parents' house (Megan is Hadley's mommy) with her parents, siblings, and nieces and nephew. Somewhere in there we watched the BYU game. By the end of the night I was so very tired.

On Sunday we had the baby blessing. It was a great experience and Jeremy did an excellent job as voice in the blessing. After that they had a great testimony meeting in which I got to hear both Jeremy and Megan's testimonies, both of which were very powerful and spiritual.

We had lunch at Megan's parents' house that afternoon. I got to meet Megan's grandparents and Jeremy's mission president.

That night I went to Matt and Meree Hadley's house for a great Italian dinner and then we just hung out. Matt's mom made some amazing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. My head was spinning during dinner because of all the different conversations going on. It reminded me of the dinner scene in While You Were Sleeping.

The next day we had lunch at Cafe Rio and then I hit the road with abandon. The miles were a blur to me, but I clocked them. It was 518.5 miles from St. George to Rigby, so I did 1027 miles (approximately) in one weekend. It was all worth it. What amazing friends I have in St. George! Jeremy, Megan, Matt, Meree, and crew I love you all. Thanks for everything!

(Note: Jeremy Young is an amazing guy. Matt and I taught and baptized him in Bradenton, Florida nearly 8 years ago. In those short years he has become a solid convert to the church, proclaimed the gospel in the Idaho Pocatello mission, married an awesome girl in the St. George temple, and bore a beautiful son whom he named after Matt and me. What a great honor to have a child named after me.)