Moved In...AGAIN :)

So I promised pictures to some, but I can't find the camera...I'm sure it's here somewhere :) Janna and I are officially moved into our new apartment and LOVE it!!! I had fun painting the bedrooms (she picked a nice light blue for hers and I picked a pre-mixed half-off paint that turned out to be a sage-ish green) and will hopefully get the rest of the apt painted in the next two or three weeks. Now it's time for all the fun arranging and organizing!!!
I was looking through pictures/blogs of family and appreciating all the time my siblings put into sharing with those of us that can't visit as often as we like...then I realized I've been slacking on returning the favor! Colleen and Olesia both seem to be pretty good at calling me out on it and getting me to share the updates, but I need to work it on!
A couple weeks ago I made what I call my 'suicide trip' to Utah for my MTC companion's wedding up in Logan. Two of my companions from the mission met me at work and we left at 6:30pm Friday night. We drove through the night and arrived in SLC about 7:30am. We stayed at another companions house for a couple hours (getting ready for the wedding) and then drove up to Logan. After the sealing we took pictures and went to a LOVELY luncheon at Hamiltons and then drove down to Provo to meet up with mission buddies at Denny's. When midnight rolled around we were exhausted and ready to crash! We drove back up to SLC to stay the night and decided we wouldn't set any alarms, just get the sleep we needed and wake up whenever, find a random church to attend Sacrament Mtg and then head back to Mesa...we left SLC about 2 pm! Mesa welcomed us about 3ish AM!!! To my surprise work Monday wasn't so bad...probably because it was so slow...which I attribute to people assuming we would be closed on President's Day.
That's the latest adventure in my life...other than moving of course. I'm really loving this new apt though, it was definitely a good choice! Janna and I are so excited to start decorating the place! The best part is that we're still in the same ward...which means I get to keep my amazing calling that I love so much!!! Nothing beats being able to teach from the new gospel principles manual...it's my little piece of the mission that will never end :)
I've also been working on trying to attend the temple twice a week now, versus my once a week routine I've developed. I figure I need to take advantage of the blessing of living only 15mins from the temple! It's amazing the insights and increased understanding that comes from regular temple attendance! I'm so grateful for a family that has set such a great example of that for me and supported my desires to learn so much about the temple...I absolutely LOVE all the books I received for Christmas this year!!! I'm learning so much and couldn't be happier!

...and the rains came tumbling down

IT'S RAINING!!!!! I'm so happy right now it's ridiculous! After work Saturday (about 4:30/5) I drove off to California with Lei (one of my companions from the mission). We had a fun roadtrip with lots of reminiscing about the mission...we even called a couple people from the mission. We made it to Chris and Olesia's house about 11:30/12. It was fun to see them...Kenneth came down from Bakersfield too! I'm realizing more and more how much of a California girl I am! I miss it there so bad, but for some reason I know I'm supposed to be here in AZ...oh well, life goes on...in my head I know I'll make it back to Cali :)

We had a great time visiting and just hanging out with family. Chris and Olesia's house is really coming along...I can't wait to help them move in! Sara is growing up so fast too...I can hardly believe how talkative she is now. She's still so friendly and loving. It was so hard to say good-bye to her...she has the best hugs and kisses! I was holding her and giving her my last good-bye when Chris and Olesia told her to say good-bye she kept hugging me and then waved good-bye to them as if she was coming with me! It was so cute! They walked us out to the car and as I drove off she even kinda followed me for a second, I wanted so bad to just turn around and stay!

The drive back to AZ was LONG!!! We left about 2:30/3 (you can tell I'm really attentive to the time when I leave places, haha) and I didn't walk in my door until 12:30/1am!!! Granted that includes an hour time change, but ONLY an hour! We saw SIX accidents on the way home that created a LOT of traffic! It was insane! The weather wasn't very nice to us either...we traveled through some pretty wicked rain and wind, but somehow we managed to make it home alive and well. Probably has something to do with the prayer we offered as we left....or maybe it was because we gave a bum some crackers and sobe life water! You can always count on something random when I'm around :) He asked for spare change as we walked out from a bathroom stop, and we truthfully told him we didn't have any...but as we loaded back in the car I got some crackers and water from the trunk for him...good thing he didn't ask for a tennis racquet, tennis balls, tennis shoes, a temple bag, a red maglight, blanket, or a front license plate holder...all the things I forgot to clear out of the trunk before our travels :)

Once I finally made it back I was so wired from trying to keep myself wide awake that I had a hard time getting right to bed, but I knew I had to sleep FAST cause I was lucky enough to open the day after a 3-day weekend...CRAZY busy!!! We had a TON of night drops to run before opening, an insane amount of ATM deposits to service and the branch was steady busy all day! It was great though because I didn't have time to think about how tired I was. And the best part about it all...as we came out after closing it was POURING rain, we got DRENCHED running out to our cars!!! It finally feels like winter!!! Supposedly we get rain all this week :) I'm so happy!!!