That's a HARD choice!!

I went house hunting yesterday. That's pretty much all I can think about today. I found two very good options. Both have their pros and cons and I honestly couldn't tell you which one I would rather have. I'm leaning more toward one...maybe a 51-49 split. I'm waiting for a little more information, a trip to both with my family, and then maybe I'll make a huge, giant leap and buy a house!! Here are my choices:

Choice #1:
Townhome - 3 bedrooms (BIG bedrooms), 3 bathrooms

Pros:
It's brand new so it qualifies for the $6,000 grant from Utah
The builder will "buy down" a percent on the interest rate
The builder will throw in $7,500 in incentives - one option being a fridge, washer, and dryer
2 car garage
I would not have to do yard work or shovel snow
Swimming pool
If I had to live alone (without roommates) I would feel safer in the townhome

Cons:
$100/month HOA fee
Townhomes don't appreciate like houses do

Choice #2:
House - 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms

Pros:
Newer house - 2 years old
3 car garage
Beautiful kitchen
Very close to elementary school
Potential
Running trails very close

Cons:
It's bank owned so it could be a process and the price could be higher than it's listed
It's on the west side of the freeway
The bedrooms are a lot smaller - sharing would not work for the 3 friends who would live with me
The basement is unfinished - could eventually be a pro, but for now it's a con
There could potentially be commercial development across the street

Change of seasons

I think my emotional season has switched from winter to spring. I feel like things that were once bleak and grey are coming back to life. I love it! Maybe it's because the seasons are changing (slowly, but surely...hopefully). Who knows? Whatever the reason I couldn't be more grateful!!

Today was a great day. Work went by fast. It was kind of an adventure. Rocky Mountain Power came to fix something in the area. They turned our power for about an hour. But, they had told us to expect it to be off for 3. And then they changed the expected outage times on us. Our plans for the day changed many times.

I got paid to run a 5K today! I love my job. We're putting on a new 5K in May. Before I send out the flyers with the race map on them, I wanted to be sure it was actually 3.1 miles. So I went out with Wendee's GPS watch and measured the course. It really is 3.1 mile! Well, I might have to do a little bit of tweaking, but I'm confident enough to send out the map! I will be so relieved when those flyers go out! I hope the race is a success!

Yesterday Wendee got cinnamon rolls from our sweet next door neighbor. I was jealous. I wanted cinnamon rolls so bad!! I got my hands on a copy of a killer gluten free cinnamon roll recipe. I started making them at 8:30...two hours later I got to enjoy the deliciousness that was gluten free cinnamon rolls. I'll probably end up regretting the fact that I have the recipe. But man they are good!

Tender mercies

I love good days!! Today was a good day full of many tender mercies from my Heavenly Father. He must have known I needed them. I woke up this morning - 40 minutes late!! Somehow my alarm didn't go off. I got ready super fast and still made it to the Monday morning staff meeting...even with the snow!

We had a wonderful staff meeting. We pretty much laid everything on the table. We discussed all the concerns we've had for the past few weeks and you know, I think we actually got somewhere. It was amazing to me how an hour long conversation can change thing so much! The whole atmosphere in my office is just better. I didn't hate being there. I'm hoping it will keep getting better until I have the super fun office we used to have! Until then, I'm just happy to not be dreading work in the morning!

I'm protesting the snow. It's just not fair that I was wearing shorts on Saturday and it's snowing today!! Granted, it probably wasn't quite warm enough for shorts on Saturday...but I couldn't help myself. To protest I've been shopping. I bought 2 pairs of shorts (buy one get one half off of course) and sandals (also on sale) online. I figure I might as well buy them now while I have some extra money. If I do buy a house in the near future, those kinds of things won't be quite so easy to splurge on!!

A new week

I don't know how the weekends go by so fast...but I really wish they wouldn't!! I feel like I just got done with last week and now it's time to start a new week already! Hopefully this week will be better than last. I've been a little off this week - work stress, no running, being super tired all the time...it hasn't been a very positive combination for me. But, I'm making some steps to fix that. We're going to hash out all the work trouble at our staff meeting tomorrow. I'll be praying my little heart out that that goes well! It has potential to go very well, or very badly. We'll see. Hopefully Wendee and I will be able to get out running this week. She seems to be feeling better. And, even if we don't, Jill and I have made a committment to go to Alta Canyon on our lunch break. Alta Canyon is the recreation center in Sandy. Eventually they're going to add on to the building and our office will be there. But that won't be for another year or so. So Jill and I are going to go work out for lunch. It just amazes me that something so small could make me so excited! Hopefully the endorphins will help me bounce back after the slump of last week.

Today the Draper temple was dedicated. I got to go see the broadcast at the stake center. I didn't get as much out of it as I should have. I wasn't prepared - I was tired and maybe even a little distracted. But, it was still an amazing experience. It strengthened my testimony of temples. They really are houses of God. I am excited for the day that I will be able to experience the blessing of the temple more fully. It also strengthened my testimony of prophets. It was awesome to see three of our prophets dressed in their temple clothes in the house of the Lord. Those men really do speak with God and you can tell!

Funny, irreverant story from the dedication - I was sitting between Anne and Krista. We stood up to do the Hosanna shout and before we even got through the first Hosannas, Anne's white hankerchief got caught on mine. Anne waved her hankercief away from me and my hankerchief flew right out of my hand and onto the floor in front of the row in front of us. It was pretty terrible. I laughed and did the rest of the Hosanna shout without a hankerchief!

Patience

I'm convince that the Lord is trying to teach me patience. It seems every day something new comes up that causes me to take a step back and wait - wait and have faith. Currently I'm being patient for the following things:

1. My ear. Yes, I am still deaf in one year. No, I have not given up hope that it will get better. No, the doctors don't know what's wrong. Yes, I really, really do wish I could hear out of both ears!!

2. My house...or rather, my future house. This one isn't taking so much patience, just time. I really enjoy house hunting. I wish there was a little more progress for all the hunting I've done. But I'm not in any hurry so it's not hard for me to be patient.

3. The sun. It rises every morning, only I wish it would rise a little earlier than it does. I need to run!! Granted, I probably wouldn't be running this week even if it was light. Wendee is really sick! Hopefully she'll start to feel better soon so we can get out there...and so she can feel better!

4. Being single. I know I will get married, but it's getting tough to be patient for that day. I want it now!

5. Probably the biggest in my mind right now - work. We need to have an awakening at work. It's getting to be very, very ridiculous! I had to fight really hard not cry all the way home today. I am so frustrated!! The people there are just not being very kind and it's really getting to me. I feel like they're just waiting for me to mess something up so they can point it out to everyone. And I do mess up - I'm just stressed about trying to get everything right! And, I don't think they understand that I'm still learning! This is my first spring season and I don't have my mentor anymore. Not only do I not have my mentor, I'm supposed to help Jill too - which is not hard for me because Jill is my sanity in that office. I would do anything for her! I'm going to chat with my boss tomorrow. I sincerely hope he will say something more than the, "I don't know what to tell you." answer I got today. Patience with people - that's what I'm learning at work.

It got better

Every once in a while I am blessed to have a day like today. It didn't start out the best. I had a really hard time getting out of bed! I've had a harder time in the past couple of weeks than I think I've ever had in my life! I like to blame daylight savings - I think it's throwing me off! But, it got better from there.

Work went by fast without being super chaotic. The crazy stress of getting soccer all set up is over. But, I still have the baseball leagues to keep me busy enough to keep from getting bored. I already have 40 hours for the week the work week isn't over until tomorrow night. Bring on the comp time!

I have been blessed with great home teachers! Home teachers are a bit different in a singles ward. They're either very faithful, or non-existant...mine are faithful. They contacted me last week and set up a time this week "home teach" me. Instead of the standard visit to my house with a message, they shook things up a bit. They invited me to one of their houses where they fed me a fabulous dinner and shared a message - a message I needed to hear. I am constantly grateful for the gospel and the blessings it brings to my life. I love the support system that comes with being a member of the church. It's awesome!

I really need to work on getting to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier! I wish I could train myself to be a morning person. I used to be able to wake up at 5:45 every morning to play racquetball. Now I'm lucky to pull myself out of bed before 7:30! Good thing Wendee's been sick - otherwise she would have my lazy butt out the door every morning to run! But, hopefully she gets better soon. That running does me good!

He answers

I'm exhausted and would love nothing more than to be sleeping right now. But, I would be ungrateful if I didn't write tonight. I left work last night stressed about a few different things. I knew these things would either resolve nicely, or blow up in my face. So this morning when I said my prayers, I asked my Heavenly Father to please bless me that these things would work out all right. And, so far so good! I was able to resolve one of the issues with minimal damage. The other two seem to have worked themselves out, but they still have potential to blow up. I was just so grateful to have my prayer answered. I asked my Heavenly Father to help things work out well and He blessed me and they worked out well.

I have a training planned for my referees in the morning. Whoever thought of a Saturday morning training was crazy...that may have been me! I sincerely hope that the guy who said he would come run the training shows up. And I hope it goes well. And I hope it's beneficial for my refs. And I hope it doesn't take too long!

I went out looking at houses tonight with Aaron and Jack. I think I might be in trouble. The one I like the most is the one that is tucked away in the mountain in Draper. It would still be a commute - and the commute would be terrible in the snow. But, the townhouse is beautiful and big for a townhouse. I wish it was closer to work! We're going to look at some more houses tomorrow. Maybe we'll find "the one!"

Slacker

I admit it. I've been a blogging slacker. It's Thursday night...almost Friday morning...and I haven't written since Sunday. But, I have a good excuse. I've been in a rotten mood. When I get moods like this I don't really like to write because I end up writing all the bad things, which is not necessarily what this blog is for. I just haven't been very good at recognizing the tender mercies of the Lord lately. I actually feel like things are combining against me.

Work is consuming my life at the moment. I worked for 10 hours today, and I still didn't get everything done. I'm super frustrated with work. I feel like I'm juggling so many things that I'm dropping the ball on the little things. I just can't keep up with everything. I know any day now I'm going to make some huge mistake. I just hope there's a way for me to fix it when it happens.

Now that I've got a bit of the bad stuff out of my system - on to the good. I love music. I love it when lyrics to a song mean something. I love it when the message of the song on the radio is just what I needed to hear. I was driving home tonight, close to tears because I'm tired and overwhelmed - and this song comes on the radio "Are you going to keep it strong? Move along, move along just to make it through. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along like I know you do..." Perfect. It was just what I needed to hear. This time at work and in life is not my favorite. But, I will keep it strong and I will move along. And even if my hope is gone, I will move along. But my hope isn't gone - not yet. In a few weeks all this craziness at work will be over and things will be running smooth again! I know it! I just have to survive until then!

Also on the plus side - I'm going to look at house tomorrow night. That's the plan at least. Hopefully it works out. I hope it's a fun experience...I need some good excitement in my life!

Joy in serving

My Sundays are a little bit busier than they used to be. I have wake up a bit earlier so I can be at church earlier. We have a Relief Society Presidency meeting before church every week. Church isn't quite as calm as it used to be. There are things to worry about and get done. But, even though it's more hectic, I love it! I love feeling like I'm serving in my ward. I walked out of church - a little later than usual, and I just had this overwhelming feeling of satisfaction. There really is joy in serving. I learn when I'm serving and I think there's joy in learning too. I'm grateful for this opportunity I have!

I'm having mixed feeling about daylight savings. I have always loved daylight savings, since the time I was very little. When it stayed light out longer, we used to be able to play until 6:30 instead of 5:30. I don't get to play any longer when it's daylight savings time now, but I still appreciate the sun being up longer. However, I don't like that it will be darker in the mornings. Wendee and I have been running outside and I just love it! We won't be able to go outside if it's super dark. I know it will start getting light earlier soon...but I don't know if I can be patient for that!

I am still looking at buying a house. I feel like I'm at a stand-still. I've done a lot of looking online, and now I need to go out and actually walk through some houses. But, I haven't heard from Jack yet - Jack is a family friend who is also a realtor. Aaron said he would have Jack call me, but he hasn't yet. We'll see what happens.

I sincerely hope that this week will be better at work. I am so tired of all the stress and tension in the office! I'm tired of having bad feelings toward my co-workers. I hope that this weekend has given everyone a chance to calm down so we can go back to being a friendly work place!

Going on strike

Today was not my favorite day. I am so sick of the office drama. It's getting to be ridiculous. I had to bring home 2 hours worth of work because other people refuse to help. Dumb! Wendee gave me a great idea - I think tomorrow I'm going to go on strike. I'm going to close the door to my office and refuse to take any phone calls or answer anyone's questions. If they're not going to help me, why should I help them right? Uugghhh! So frustrating!

The search begins...

The whole house idea has taken over my thought processes. I stopped by Aaron's house on my way home from work today to get his take on me buying a house. I appreciated the things he had to say. I am so blessed to have older brothers to learn from. I love my brothers! Aaron helped me work out the numbers and now...the search begins!

Answered prayers

I love fast Sundays. I love the special spirit that always seems to accompany it. As I considered what I wanted to focus my fast on today, I thought about the things I am currently struggling a bit with. The first thing that came to mind was the idea of buying a house. I seem to go in out of wanting to pursue the endeavor. I decided to take the matter to the Lord. I said a prayer and explained how I am feeling and asked for His guidance and direction. I know that no matter what, if I do what the Lord wants me to do, it will never be the wrong thing. So that is what I was pondering in my heart as I went to church. In Relief Society we had a lesson about personal revelation (among other topics). The teacher (who is our new Relief Society President) talked about how important it is to listen when we are seeking revelation. She passed out some paper and told us to take 5 minutes and be absolutely quiet and just ponder and reflect and really listen to what Heavenly Father had to tell us. I pondered about buying a house - all the pros and cons and I asked, "Heavenly Father, what do you think? Should I really pursue buying my own house?" He put the scripture in my head - D&C 88:119 "...prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God" Holy cow!! Talk about an answer to prayer. It just doesn't get more clear than that! As I look back on the happenings of the past couple of week, I can see that Heavenly Father really is paving the way before me. He always does that for me! And now I get to act on the promptings I have received. So exciting!! And so scary! But it just feels right.