Tag, You're It!

Angie - thanks for tagging me...I'm gonna go tripping head first down memory lane now...and since I'm older than you, I guess I'll have to go a little further back...

25 years ago...I was still a "believer" if you know what I mean. Mind you...I was 13! The following year I guess I was being a brat one day (can you believe that?!?!?) and all of a sudden, Mom just blurted it out. I started crying! I couldn't believe it. But, then the "magic" of knowing made me a believer again in a different way. I got to help. I got to share in "the secret." Wow, what joy! And now, Taylor has finally joined the ranks in this special group. Congrats Taylor! Experience the joy and the magic rather than the sadness of "knowing!" It will bring you far greater and more important pleasure!

20 years ago...I was 18 and just getting ready to finish high school. In the fall I would be off to BYU (which I thought was the end all of all schools - little did I know at that point how untrue that was - sorry Duffys, I know your love of BYU - but I unfortunately experienced a lot of the bad part of BYU). There were some truly fun times there, but mostly it was a lot of tears. I just realized this past week or two that this year would have been my 20 year high school reunion. However, I never got invited to this one or the 10 or 15 year reunions. Hmmm...would I have actually gone? Probably not. But, lately I've been looking at classmates.com and have come to realize one thing...most of the people have all changed in the way I have (added poundage) and so we're not in that "look what I've accomplished" mode anymore...we're all just regular people now. Wow, I can't believe that 20 years has passed!

15 years ago...I was 23 and newly married. I would soon make the move to Arizona. Little did I know what that would bring, but in the end, all turned out just as it should have. Let's just skip over the next 15 years.....y'all know what happened (well, actually most of you don't know 95% of what happened in those 15 years, but that's okay. We'll just leave it lay.)

10 years ago...I was 28 and still working for Discover Card. Life wasn't great, in fact, it was incredibly difficult. Mom had just had her transplant and Rex tried to commit suicide while I was helping her recuperate. Enough said.

5 years ago...Things were seeming like they were looking up in my life. I owned a home, had a good job, 'thought' I had a good marriage. Little did I know where life was about to go.

3 years ago...Experienced my first Christmas alone (without a husband). A very, very dear friend came in from California with her new husband and spent Christmas Eve and the better part of the day with me. My Arizona family (Lisa, Craig, Auntie Sigie, and Uncle Ward) and my friend Becky also joined me, along with Craig's brother, Curtis. It was like a new beginning. We had a lovely Christmas Eve program. Shortly after the beginning of the new year, the divorce was final - on my birthday. I was crushed that all those years felt like they had been wasted. But, I finally gained FREEDOM from the oppression I had felt for so long. Who ever imagined that just four short months later I would meet someone on the internet and 16 days after first meeting in person we would be engaged? Not me! But, from the second date, I KNEW we would get married and I KNEW he was sent to me for a reason. He is so good to me and loves me so much. He makes me so happy. And, that is what we both deserve after all the years before.

2 years ago...I had just gotten remarried. What a wonderful day that was. I couldn't wait to get to him. I wanted to run to him. Such a wonderful memory and feeling! Too bad all my pictures of that day are gone now........... :( (See prior posts)

1 year ago...Clint and I were waiting patiently for our letters to come from the First Presidency saying my sealing to Rex had been cancelled and that Clint had been cleared to be sealed to me. Day after day we waited. Nothing. Nothing again. Christmas came and still nothing. Then, the day after Christmas, Clint came in the house and said, "Call your dad" as he handed me an envelope that read "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" on the return address. My heart skipped about 47 beats as I held it in my hands staring at it. We both opened them at the same time and noticed that both letters were different and had different instructions, but essentially meant the same thing - that we could finally go to the temple to be sealed together for eternity! Rather than calling Dad, we immediately called the Jordan River temple and made an appointment to be sealed in 4 days. Four days! Then, we called Dad and told him. I think we then called the family and then we immediately made the plane reservations, car reservation, hotel reservation, etc. All of a sudden, it hit us that we needed living ordinance temple recommends! Oh no! What if the bishop or stake president were out of town? It was the week following Christmas - they very well could be! Luckily, both were in town (at least in the general vicinity - the SP lives in Wickenburg which is about 35 miles from Surprise) and we were able to get our recommends two days before we were to go to Utah. That December 30th was a GLORIOUS day! The sealing was so special and as we looked into each others' eyes and held each others' hands, once again, I KNEW I was doing the right thing!

I love Clint so much. He may tick me off once in a while and I may get frustrated about some of his habits, but he is so good to me and puts up with me. I'm so lucky.

Yesterday...was my first day back to work after being off for 11 days. It felt GOOD to get back. It was incredibly busy, but good busy. I got to talk to three of my four sisters. I went and did a little Christmas shopping. The Christmas lights work again after the rains we had over the weekend. I turned the heater on in the truck on the way to work for the first time this season. It was just a good day.

Today...a little bit of a scary day. More to come on that later. Went Christmas shopping with Clint this evening. Bought a couple special gifts for a very special someone. Again, more to come on that later. Willingly gave up something I wanted to buy because I wanted to buy these other special items instead. Hmmm...makes me think of Mom. Saw the missionaries in the Fry's parking lot trying to share the Gospel. Bought them dinner at KFC. Gonna go try to put the lights on the tree - finally. Well, maybe not...it's 10:30 p.m....need to get into bed.

5 Snacks I Enjoy...Auntie Sigie's Brownie/Heath bar trifle, fresh smoothies, a really good orange, a piece of Chompie's fresh rye bread with butter schmeared all over it, a bowl of room temperature Bratten's clam chowder on Christmas morning.

5 Things I Would Do with a Million Dollars...Pay off my truck, sell our current house and buy a bigger one, go to Italy for a few weeks, take a month long vacation to Kauai, invest the rest wisely so I could have more money to do other things such as help with college and missions for my nieces and nephews.

5 Places I Would Run Away to...Kauai, Italy, Montana, all over Europe to experience it, a bigger bathroom with a huge jetted tub to relax in.

5 TV Shows I Like...Dancing with the Stars, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, MASH re-runs, I can't really think of a fifth show...I don't watch a whole lot of TV.

5 Things I Hate Doing...Cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the kitchen, picking up dog poop, doing the laundry, mopping the new floors....hello, Merry Maids?

5 Biggest Joys of the Moment...Feeling the spirit of the holiday season, talking to my sister everyday, feeling loved, feeling love for others, reading all the blogs and seeing the pictures of what everyone is doing in their lives since I can't be with them.

Cindy - Angie already got me - so now it's my turn to get you! Tag, you're it!