Vacation Over

As many of you know (if you read my last post) I recently went on vacation. I cannot tell you how much I needed this vacation, and how much fun I had!
I started out my trip on the 3rd, and ended up in Phoenix. Not a bad place to be! I spent the first part of my week with my good friend Kacey who had a baby about a month ago now.

Seriously, this was the only picture Kacey and I got together, and we met up with my Uncle Lee right after this! So, I spent the first part of the week with her, and her ADORABLE little boy, Aiden. He's a cute one!

We just had fun hanging out and catching up on everything. I got to just sit and shop if we felt like it, and of course snuggle with Aiden. Who doesn't love the smell of a baby????

On Wednesday night I met up with my amazing friend Ami from Oklahoma. Sounds weird huh? She moved out to Arizona in September, and we couldn't pass up a chance to see each other when we were so close!



I also got to go to the GREATEST gas station in the world. QT. Now, many of you may not know what a QT is. It's only one of the greatest things to be put on this Earth. I'm not even kidding. You want a cheap soda? QT's got it. You want a cheap soda on tap?? QT's got it. I swear. Their drink selection is bigger than anywhere else. Not only that, but they also have pretty darn good food for a convenience store! And it's cheap! They blow 7-11 out of the water. I go on about this only because they don't have them here in Austin. Jonathan and I are seriously contemplating writing their HQ's everyday until we get one here.

Ok enough about that. Thursday afternoon I met up with Uncle Lee, and we drove through the side streets to get to his and Tami's house. It was great to have a whole hour to just talk to Uncle Lee about everything. I seriously have the coolest family. (That includes all my Nicholas and Wright family!) My cousin Ben was sitting at their house waiting for me (at least that's what I tell myself) and got Ginger and her family and his wife and kids to meet us all for dinner. It was a blast! On Friday I worked on some homework and heard Lee outside so I went and cleaned the boat with him. Can I just tell you how nice it is to send time outside instead of in an office all day? that afternoon after picking up Tami we all met up at the lake. Oh how I love the lake. Got to spend some time with my cousins and their kids. So from here on I'll just post pictures and tell you a little about them.


This is Missy. She's adorable. She is Ben and Sarah's daughter and her birthday was on Saturday. More pictures to come on that one.


This is their other kid, Parker. He wasn't too sure about me at first, but about halfway through boat trip I was his best friend. My favorite line from him was, "You're funny. I like you!" He's too cute.


These are the dolls. They are Ginger and Brian's. They are adorable too! Eliza and Melania.

I completely fell in LOVE with all my cousins kids. It was so much fun to finally meet most of them! I really loved spending time with everyone!


Ben was super crazy and did some wake surfing. The water was freezing so no one else was brave (read crazy) enough to get in!



Here's Ginger and I. She's the mother of the twins. I forget how much I miss this girl until I spend some time with her! She's about 6 months older than me, and it's a blast anytime we get together!



Tami, Lee and I with one of the girls. I love these two. It's always fun to see my aunt Tami and Uncle Lee. I appreciate that they took me all the way to Target there in Arizona to get some Chocolate Twizzlers since they are apparently NON existent here in Texas. It's a crime really. I love that the night before Tami and I tried to watch a movie, and both ended up falling asleep at like 10 because we were both so tired! Thank you again Tami and Lee for letting me hang out with you a couple days!


Josh and I. He showed up to Missy's party before I left so I got to see him...

Tami and Lee took me out to see Alan and Teresa and Sammy (he will always be Sammy to me) on Thursday, but I didn't get a picture with them unfortunately... I will just have to make another trip out there! :)

In all it was a great week, and I'm happy I got to take a break from work and everything. I had a wonderful time, and wish we all lived closer and could see each other more often.
My next trip will be Utah. I promise all my Utah cousins you're next! :)

Love, Joyce

Vacation

You know how sometimes you plan a vacation, and you are so excited for it?? Well, that's me right now. I leave on Saturday to see my friend and her cute little family with her brand new little baby boy. I also get to see my amazing Aunt (you know who you are!) and hopefully another friend if we can figure out how to meet up since she lives a little farther away than we thought. I'm so excited that it's Wednesday, and I've completely checked out from work... Seriously... to make matters worse, we are going out to dinner tonight at my office at the Hula Hut. So, I'm getting ready to go spend an evening at a restaurant, by the lake, in my flip flops. SERIOUSLY??? How am I supposed to make it through the rest of the week???

I will have to suffer through 2 more days... Which reminds me... I should really think about packing and making sure my plans are all taken care of...

Texas

You know what I love about Texas??? This time of year when the weather is PERFECT, and the wildflowers are blooming EVERYWHERE!!! I'll post some pictures later, but I just thought I'd share that!

Elder Bednar

So, on Saturday our stake/institute was invited to San Antonio to listen to a general authority speak. We had no idea who it would be, but we all guessed, and Jonathan was the only one who got it right. It was Elder Bednar. What an amazing man! He started off by telling us that we wouldn't be getting what we expected from the fireside... It was a question and answer, so we would get more than expected! Needless to say, I loved it, and was really excited to have the opportunity to go.

There were a ton of really great questions asked, but here are the highlights from the session:
(I swear there were a TON of marriage questions... these aren't just the ones I wrote down! Ask anyone who was there!)

-"The role of a teacher is to invite learners to act."

Q: How should I read my patriarchal blessing?
A: -It applies to the many phases in life
-Look for the layers and be patient

Q: What attributes are you striving to obtain as a General Authority, husband, and father?
A: (I believe Elder Gonzalez of the area presidency answered this as well)
-Christlike attributes
-Pick one or two and work towards them.
-Increase in the character of Christ

-Focus on others when you want to focus on yourself- something E. Bednar said, can't remember the question-
-Faith is the principle of action then power.

(1st marriage question/statement)
-You do not find the right one. You find the one with whom you can continue to get better with.
-Bind yourselves to God and to each other: Think of a triangle- God is the top point and man is one arm and woman is the other. As you both grow, you will grow towards God. (Pretty cool huh?? I've heard it before, but I still like it!)

Q: E. Bednar was there for the calling of Pres. Monson. What is something he learned at that event that would help us better follow the prophet?
A: -The Lord has a plan and order for calling the prophet
-Pres. Monson is not "managing"-he is a shepherd in the the Lord's work.

Q: While graduating soon from college, and choosing a career, how do you stay faithful, and follow standards/principles of gospel?
A: -Be bold enough to stay strong and stand up for beliefs.
-There is a line for everyone that they set. We are not judged by the line that others set, we are judged on our line. Know where your line is! D&C 101:78

Q: How do you ward off fear of the next level? How do you blend spiritually?
A: - WE ARE DIFFERENT! (E. Bednar referred a lot to the "boy brain" and "girl brain," and how they work differently...)
- You will NEVER figure them out completely.
- Talk about the issues. Don't play games or skirt around the issue.
- Learn to build upon each others differences.
- He recommended a book: Terry Warner - "The Bonds That Make Us Free" (He said he doesn't usually recommend anything but the scriptures, but he thinks this is a great book that needs to be read.)

E. Bednar then asked us what we were observing and learning. Some of the answers were: Don't get an answer if you don't ask. Study principles to solve our own issues. (A principle is a gospel based guideline) JSH 18:20-Learn for yourself. The gospel demands are very rigorous and spiritually demanding, but very sweet. Pray and never give up - Alma 19:33.

-"Don't be a weak link in the chain of your generations"
-"The tentacles of grace reach out to the children"
-"The more you serve the more you know, and the harder it may become."

Q: How do I know if it's me or the Holy Ghost?
A: Quit worrying about it! All good things/thoughts come from God.
- If you are doing what is right - you don't need to worry.

These are all the notes I took. I'm sure that if you talked to other people who were there they would tell you that they heard different things, but that's what I love about the gospel and the Holy Ghost. We each are able to learn what we need to learn, and find an answer! Elder Bednar said that there were a lot of people who wanted to ask a question, but he didn't get to them, but asked for a show of hands of those who's question wasn't asked by anyone, yet they still received an answer. Most hands in the room went up.

What a glorious thing we have in the gospel! I love it! To know that there is a Prophet and apostles living on the earth today is so amazing to me! I love that we are able to receive personal revelation, and learn for ourselves. Agency is such a powerful thing, and we have to use it correctly to get back to our Heavenly Father. I love this church, and the gospel. I'm so grateful for the Atonement, and my brother Jesus Christ. He lives. I know He lives, and I'm so grateful for Him.

Sorry this is kind of long, but it was a really great fireside! I love y'all! ;)

Fancy Dinner

So... A perk of dating someone who's involved in politics is that I got to dress up fancy and go to dinner with a lot of other political people... I'm not gonna lie... it was pretty nerve wrecking. I got the call on Monday afternoon, and the dinner was on Tuesday night. So, luckily, I was the Maid of Honor at a wedding a couple years ago, and the bride (Kacey, I love you for this!) said to just get a black dress that I would wear again. So, I was able to use my fancy cocktail dress again for the dinner. It was horrible rain/humidity so my hair of course went completely flat when I stepped out of the house despite the half can of mousse I put on my hair before! It's alright though, because I still looked pretty alright if I do say so myself! :) I had fun, and met a ton of really high up there people, and had a REALLY yummy dinner... So, I will mark this down as one thing off my list of things I was scared to do, and have done! Meeting big-wigs is not my favorite thing! We sat at the table with Congressman Carter's wife and children since he was up in DC voting on something (I don't follow politics, if you couldn't tell!). She made it very light hearted, and we just had fun talking to the Carter kids who were there. I'll have to post a picture another time.

In the mean time.. enjoy a scene from my new favorite show, GLEE!!!! Love this show, and can't wait until the second season starts in April!!! Artie is one of my favorite characters on the show... Ans this is my FAVORITE song on both soundtracks!