Being single has it's advantages

I'm 34 and still single. And I hate it. Well....sort of. Ever since I was a little girl, all I've ever wanted to do is be a mom. I never could decide what to major in in college, because all I wanted to do was stay home and raise kids. For some reason unknown to me, my Father in Heaven has had other plans for me thus far. I don't know I'll ever get the chance to raise children in this life or not. Only time will tell. In the meantime.......I try to make the most out of life and enjoy the freedom I have, and I have to admit that being single does have it's advantages. For one thing, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and I don't have to ask anyone. If I want to do it, I do it! One of the things I love to do more than anything is travel. I have been very blessed to have a good job that not only sends me all over the country, but also affords me the luxury of being able to afford to travel for fun as well. I have been a less than stellar blogger to date, missing lots of opportunities to share some of the fun trips I've had. So over the weeks and months to come, I will be back-tracking and reliving some of the fun I've had so you can all be jealous that you're not still single and childless :)

Another really great advantage to being single is all the attention we get in the church. I recently started attending a singles ward. It's not quite the dreaded "31 to dead" age group but it's close. Did you know there is a whole stake in the Salt Lake Valley dedicated to single adults ages 31-45? A WHOLE STAKE!! 3 separate wards. That's a lot of single people! Since our church is one that is very much focused on families, there has been special care given to see to the needs of the single people in the church. One of the perks of attending a singles ward is the "special visitors" we sometimes get. Last Sunday was such a day. I almost didn't go to church because it was cold and snowy and my jammies were so comfortable and I didn't want to get up and get ready. But alas, I miss so much of my own ward because of all my travels that I thought it best to get up and go. And I'm so glad I did! It was the 5th Sunday of the month which means a combined Priesthood and Relief Society class. I missed the first few minutes of sacrament when they were doing the announcements (our sacrament meeting is first) so I didn't find out until later that we would be meeting back in the chapel for the last hour. They didn't open up the partition to the cultural hall so we were packed liked sardines in the chapel and boy was it warm! We had an opening hymn and then a member of the bishopric started "introducing" our guest teacher and what a surprise! It was none other than Virginia Hinckley Pearce, daugher of the beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley. What a treat!! And since this was a class, there was a lot of interaction which was different and fun.

Sister Pearce talked about Truths. Truths with a capital 'T', truths with a little 't', and non-truths. We talked about how our actions and behaviors are largely determined by our thoughts, which are influenced by that which we know to be true, that which we believe to be true, and that which we are told by others is true but we have not studied out for ourselves.

She related a story of a time when she was up on a ladder dusting shelves. She said she must have really gotten into it because before she knew it the ladder was swaying and she eventually lost her balance as the ladder went into the wall and down she slid to the floor. She said as she was falling, she noticed there was no "grab" from her "core." The core muscles in her body did not respond to help her in her time of need. They are muscles she has not had to use for some time, and they had become weak. This made her think about how the time to prepare our "core" is before we need it. Whether that be our core muscles, or our core beliefs. Just like we work out to strenghten and train our muscles, we need to work out and train our spirits. We need to constantly be filling our reservoir and strenghtening our core 'Truths' so that in our time of temptation, we will have the strength we need to keep us steady. What a great thought!

Another One Bites the Dust

My cousin Amy got married this month, on the 14th. She's 3 years younger than me, which means she's 26. OK......OK......maybe she's a little older than that (like 31) :) She and I are really good friends. Last October we went to Hawaii together and decided our to make vacationing together our new yearly ritual. We talked about all the places we want to go.....the Caribbean, Boston, New York, New Zealand, Canada, etc. etc. etc. We figured if we can't be married and have kids like we really want, then we might as well have fun being single, right? WRONG! Hawaii was only 6 short months ago, but dangit all if Amy didn't go fall in love and get married!!! Or as I like to say.......another one bites the dust (congratulations Amy!!)

Amy and me at Pearl Harbor on Oahu.

Her wedding was beautiful and so much fun. Amy lives in Mesa, AZ, and Grandma and I got to go down for the wedding. I was one of the lucky bridesmaids. It was a special trip for Grandma because she had 3 new great-grandbabies she'd never met (that makes a total of 9 now). We stayed for almost a week and had a great time hanging out with family. Grandma especially enjoyed playing with all the babies.

These are the 6 who live in Mesa. Dwayne (who didn't want to sit on the couch), Autumn, Henry (only two weeks old in this photo), Brynn Joyce (named after grandma), Mattox and Aiden.

The good-looking bride and groom, Nate and Amy West.

Amy and the bridesmaids (Crystal, me, Esther & Liz)

Aiden and Mason getting to know each other and becoming buds (their dad's are cousins).

Aunt Nellie with her FAVORITE nephew :)

My beautiful niece Samantha (on the right) with her best friend Tristyn (also beautiful), who's mom, Rebekah, also happens to be one of my best friends.

The day after the wedding was my brother's birthday. Though he wasn't thrilled at the fact that they had a 6 hour drive home on his birthday, it was fun for us to get to celebrate with him. We decorated the house while he was still sleeping, and my sister-in-law made 3 different birthday cakes for him! Not to mention all the left-over wedding cake!

Me and my buddy David (one of Amy's younger brothers...there's 8 kids all together). Dave came to live in Salt Lake for a summer when he was about 14. We spent a lot of time together and bonded. We're buds now. He's like my little brother, but one of my best friends at the same time. I love this kid!!