Families can be together forever

I have been compiling a little personal family history of my parents, grandparents, and great grand parents. It has been so fun to talk to Great Uncles, and Aunts, and get some information about family members I never got a chance to meet, and those I barely knew. This recent surge of family has led me to this blog here and now, I really have an amazing family! They are all so loving, and wonderful! I am sad I am not around most of them often enough! I wanted to kind of chronicle a short little blurp about each member of the fam. Brace yourself, this could (and probably will) be very long! haha

Dad-Well what can I say he is my dear old Dad. He is the hardest worker I know, and has always worked hard and played hard. He always has some sort of project he is working on (and involving the family with). Growing up we butted heads quite regularly, but being older (and thousands of miles away) I have come to respect and love him even more. I have been able to step back and see his love for me! I really do love my Dad! I am glad we have become closer over the years, of my parents he is the chatty one, the one I talk to for hours. He just got an iphone, so his favorite new thing is to face time with me. So fun! :) 

Mom-She has always been the best example of staying strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Growing up I watched her pour over her scriptures, learning something new each time. I am so grateful for her example of what a good member of our church should be doing. She always encouraged church attendance, and fulfilled every calling she has ever had to the best of her ability. I was always grateful for her love and mercy when I had a head butt with Dad growing up. I am forever indebted for all of the help she has given me over the years, and the unconditional love and pride she has conveyed to me. 

Little Bro-He was the biggest pain in my neck growing up. Always torturing me, teasing me, fighting with me. It was pretty rough. We fought like cats and dogs. Road trips were the worst! The consisted mostly of "He's touching me!" "She's on my side!!!" I could not wait to get out of there. Now that we have both matured...A LOT I can honestly say that I am proud of the man he has become! Jeremy is one of the kindest people I know. I realize now that when we were younger he just wanted to hang out with me, but of course being the cooler older sister I pushed him away. I think we both missed out on a great friendship. I am glad that we can love each other from afar though! 

Sister-In-Law Heather-Honestly I haven't even met her yet which is a shame! I might have to revise this after we finally meet, but from what I have seen on facebook and heard from my family she is awesome! She makes my brother so happy, and that is what is most important! She is an amazing cook, and loves her family! I can't wait to meet her and find out more for myself! She has quickly bonded with my awesome family!

Niece Lexi-Don't know her yet either, but from what I heard she is the sweetest little girl, and she has a heart of gold! Can't wait to get to know her as well! 

 Nephew Tristan-He is the cutest little newborn ever! I didn't think i would be the kind of aunt to pull out my phone and show kids off, but with him I just can't help it! I love him already!

Aunt Brenda-She was always my favorite aunt growing up! (shhh!!!) I loved going to her house and hanging out with her playing with my cousins! I LOVED it when she would french braid my hair. She is so loving! I absolutely love seeing  her because she makes me feel like the most beautiful niece in the world! :) I remember her working at Dairy Queen forever, I used to think that was so cool! She is so bubbly and excited! I love talking to her. I loved listening to her sing! Especially when she would sing Celine Dion songs!

Cousin Nicole (coco)-I love Nicole! I wanted to be just like her. I always thought she was so cool. I remember her introducing me to hip hop, rap, and R&B music. I thought it was awesome! She always greets me with a huge hug and smile, I will always be her little cuz! I remember when we were little we would go to Grandma and Grandpa Hobbs and "bake bread", which consisted of us taking a slice of bread out of the bag, breaking it into little pieces, rolling them up, and putting them on a pillow (baking sheet) then under a chair (oven) to let them cook. haha good times! I am so grateful for her love! 

Cousin Aaron-He was always way nicer then Jeremy, but him and Jer were always the best of buddies. They would play video games together, go catch animals together, they did everything together. Aaron was always so much more mellow, and kind then my own brother. I loved it when we would go visit Aunt Brenda's house, and I remember playing Mario Cart with Aaron, Nicole, Marshall, Terry, and Jake! So fun!

Grandpa Hobbs (Lee)-I loved growing up just around the corner from my grandparents. It was always so fun to ride my bike over and hang out for a bit. I loved it when Grandpa would cook "hot cakes" his specialty! He loved it when we would come visit! We loved playing card games together and visiting. I loved family gatherings at Grandpa Hobbs' house when we would all get together and play cards (his favorite was Oh Heck), and drink soda, and visit. He loved camping, and hunting!

Grandma Suzie-I don't remember much of her, because she died when i was in kindergarten, but I remember her always in her dark room to try to get rid of her migraines. Other then that I have been told she was the most loving woman! She was so generous and kind. She loved her family, and was a great cook. She was a wonderful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wish I would have got to have her around longer!

Great Grandpa Homard Hobbs-He was a hard working man, and held many jobs throughout his life. he was most remembered for being a farmer and a rancher. he loved to hunt and fish, and took my Dad and uncle on fishing trips when they were growing up. His sons would say he was onry, but his grand kids absolutely loved him! He would spend time with them, and give them money every time they came to visit. It sounds like the Hobbs temper started with him (or perhaps his father, and so on), but from what I have heard he was a great man!

Great Grandma Artie May Hobbs-I really don't remember much about her, but I do remember we would go visit her, and we loved her! Her house was always so fun. She had a huge yard, and it was fun to play. She was an amazing cook, and would let you rummage through her fridge. She had a kind heart, but was also hard working. She was previously married before Grandpa, and had three kids from her first marriage, then had four more Hobbs kids. I don't really know Dale or Jack too well, but Bob and Loraine are awesome!

Great Uncle Bon, Aunt Deena, Cousins Randi and Josh. Uncle Bob is so loving and fun! I remember visiting Bob and Deena and just having a blast! Bob is quite the talker. He has some great stories. Deena has the best laugh! It is so infectious! I don't remember hanging out with Randi while Jeremy hung out with Josh. good times! I love my grandpa's brother! Talking to Uncle Bob is one of the reasons I decided to write this blog! He is so awesome!

Great Aunt Lorainne, and uncle Jess-I loved going to visit Lorainne and Jess! they were the fun part of the family! I remember one camping trip to Arizona Beach in particular that Nicole and I would wait for Aunt Lorainne to get drunk, then BEG her to sing "The Little Blue Man" I could not tell you anything about the song now, but we sure loved it! haha. We would beg her to have one more beer so she would sing it to us! haha. Her and Jess are so fun, and loving, and I remember their daughters Deb and Dianne were so kind as well. It is so great being part of an extended family! :) 

Step Grandma Bobbie and her kids (Rick, Doreen, Dave, and Russ)-Bobbie is an amazingly sweet person! She was the best woman for my Grandpa Hobbs in the later years of his life! I am so grateful these awesome people are in our lives! Doreen is the only of her children I really got to know, and she fits right into the Aunt mold! She is always telling me how beautiful I am, and I love being around her! She always made me feel at home and welcome in her house. These are the best people that happened to our family! 

Great Uncle Darrell and Aunt Nona-I LOVED visiting them in Sacramento! They are amazing people! Darrell is funny, and he reminds me a lot of my own Dad, only more loving haha. Nona is awesome! I loved shopping with her! Something my own mother didn't like to do was fun with Aunt Nona!

Second Cousins Kacey and Kelly- Absolutely love them! Kelly and I would always say "best cousins forever"! We got along like two peas in a pod! We always said we would open a salon together and I would do hair and she would do aesthetics. Fun times! I loved Kelly's spunky personality and sense of self. I love these cousins of mine!  It is so crazy how times change and now Kelly is a wife and mother! 

Great Grandma Eldora (Kacey)-I didn't know her, but I grew up hearing what a shame that was! She LOVED my dad! He was the favorite grandchild. He could do no wrong in her eyes. Aunt Brenda told me she was a hip grandma, they used to trade jewelry when Brenda was in high school. She was an amazing waitress at Wong's in her later years and actually got my dad his first job at Wong's. I wish I knew her!

Great Grandpa Duff Konopasek-He was the third husband of Kacey (they had no children together so technically we are not blood related). He is the reason we have Uncle Darrell in our family! I never knew Duff either, but I hear he was a good man, he owned a heating business. 

The Baker Clan! David, Susan, Jim, Mike, Dale, Bill, Mom, Nancy, Beth. :) Loved the Baker gatherings! Always lots of laughter, and cousins! I'll try to go one by one by family. 

So David, the oldest I don't have a picture of his family, but they didn't live in Klamath Falls, so I didn't know them very well. I really don't know much about his family. I remember he has a son and a daughter that are a little older then me. 

Aunt Suzie and Uncle Gene-I loved going to their house because Aunt Suzie would go all out for holidays! I loved her cow themed kitchen, and the dolls she had. It was always so much fun to go visit! 

The Badker Family! Cousins Jenean, Rick, and Ryan and their families. Honestly I don't even know most of their kids! I remember when Justin Shannon was born going to visit and getting to hold him! I remember Bailea Rick's daughter too. She was always fun! I was the flower girl in Jenean and Kevin's wedding. Awesome picture from that! haha

 Uncle Jim and Aunt Elaine-Jim loves airplanes! I took my first ride in an airplane with him in his small plane. He also loves remote control planes, and I remember he used to have a hawk. Aunt Elaine is a jokester! She is funny! She also taught me in seminary for two years I think. She did not like Elyse and I in seminary together! haha. I always loved being around their family. I remember when they used to live behind the drive in theater and had a play ground right behind their house. So much fun!

Baker kids and their families: Shirley, Ann, Guy, Tad, Jackie, Marie. I never got to know Shirley too well because she was out of the house and married by the time I came along, but I loved hanging out with Ann, Jackie, and Marie! I remember my first year of seminary Jackie was a senior and I used to ride with her from the church to the seminary building. I love Jackie, I always wanted to be just like her! Ann is just like her mom, so funny! I love talking to her! I was so glad she came out to Utah this summer, and actually helped me get my job at my salon, and I cut her and Ellie's hair! Tad married Megan, and before they moved Megan was my Beehives leader. We all LOVED Meg, she is an AMAZING cook! She is so much fun, and so sweet!

 Uncle Mike and his wife LaDonna, Aunt Juile, Cousins Allison and Amanda-Uncle Mike is so funny! I love it when he tells stories! I love Julie too! I loved seeing her at church all the time! I think I am closest with Allison and Amanda of all my baker cousins. We were the closest in age. We were also in young womens together. Allison is hilarious! I remember playing that game in their back yard where you throw the velcro ball, and catch it on the velcro mit. Haha, random memory, I also remember sleep overs with the girls and painting our nails together.

Uncle Dale-I don't have a picture of him by himself either, but I remember one trip to Medford and I wanted to ride with Uncle Dale because he had a red corvette! I thought it was so cool! He introduced me to LeAnne Rimes on our litte trip! So fun!

Uncle Bill, Aunt Nancy, Cousins Krystaleia, and Kinsley. I love my little cousins so much! I remember babysitting Krystaleia every day, and I couldn't wait to get home to play with her! We used to dance to music in my room, go on walks around the neighborhood, blow bubbles, pretty much anything she wanted to do I would do with her! She was the best baby! I remember this blow up green alien that I won from a fair or something Krys loved! I didn't get to know Kinsley too well because I moved away when she was still pretty young, but those girls are so adorable! I am so grateful my uncle Bill got amazing children! He is awesome! As most of the Baker fam, he is funny! He loves riding motorcycles! Aunt Nancy is so nice! I was so glad she became part of our family!

Aunt Beth-I could not find any pictures of her, but I found some of two of her daughters Alisha and Jennifer, there is also Christina! Visiting Aunt Beth in Utah was always so fun! I loved it when she would take us to Temple Square, or a Jewelry show! It's always so much fun to hang out with Aunt Beth! She has been a big support in my life! I am so grateful for her! I remember visiting on one occasion, and hanging out in Alisha's room, and she had a poster of a Tiger, and I thought it was so cool! She also had a bunch of string knotted bracelets and taught me how to do that, I was obsessed with tying bracelets for like a year!

Aunt Nancy-Also don't have a picture of her, and I don't really know her that well either. She has lived in California as long as I can remember. She would come to visit from time to time, but not super often. I actually feel like her since I live so far away from the family and rarely go visit.

Grandpa (Carl) Baker-He LOVED puzzles! The best part of going to visit him was the new puzzles and toys he would buy! He also had lots of fun bikes, and scooters for us to play with. He played the harmonica, and I loved his player piano. He was quite the jokester. I remember when he first got the piano he set it to play and started pretending to play along! I remember him always watching Wheel of Fortune. haha He was such a loving and fun grandpa! I loved the swings in their back yard as well! Another random memory I have is of Grandpa barking like a dog. He was really good at it! haha

Grandma (Leila) Baker-Grandma hand made me a Christmas Ornament every year until her hands couldn't do it anymore, then she would just buy them. I loved getting our yearly ornaments! Grandma made me cute knitted blankets, and is always excited to hear about my life! She reminds me a ton of my mom! I loved looking around in the toy closet at some of the toys from my mom's childhood! I also Loved her sewing room, and attic where the kids rooms are. The roof is slanted, and it gave it an adventurous feel! I loved visiting Grandpa and Grandma! I remember at family gatherings I LOVED to pass out the desserts! So grandma would plate the cake and ice cream or whatever it was, and i would go around asking what people wanted and bring it to them. I felt so special!

Great Grandpa Wallace, and Great Grandma Avilda Baker-I never knew either of them, and I don't know much about them. 

Great Grandpa Norman, and Great Grandma Eleanor Harvey-I don't remember Gr Grandpa, I think he died before I was born, but I remember visiting Gr Grandma a lot! She lived by the Home and Martin Church, so every time we went to church I thought about her. :) She had a lot of fun nick knacks to look at. I remember Mom was always so good about remembering to visit her. I remember her and Jeremy doing a lot of yard work in her yard one summer too, and I remember us cleaning the inside of her house together, and helping her tidy up.

Well I think I am done! unless I forgot someone, in that case..WOOPS! :) I love my big funny family! I can't wait to go home and visit everyone! :)

When life's too fast I take a longer road

I have been pondering a lot lately about the pre-earth life, the Plan of Salvation, and what will happen after this life, and why we are even on the earth. As I have had this in the back of my mind these last few months I have received some amazing insights!
Where did we come from and why are we here? Lds.org had a great quote and video on the topic-"Your life didn’t begin at birth and it won’t end at death. Before you came to earth, your spirit lived with Heavenly Father who created you. You knew Him, and He knew and loved you. It was a happy time during which you were taught God’s plan of happiness and the path to true joy. But just as most of us leave our home and parents when we grow up, God knew you needed to do the same. He knew you couldn’t progress unless you left for a while. So he allowed you to come to earth to experience the joy—as well as pain—of a physical body.

One thing that makes this life so hard sometimes is that we’re out of God’s physical presence. Not only that, but we can’t remember our pre-earth life which means we have to operate by faith rather than sight. God didn’t say it would be easy, but He promised His spirit would be there when we needed Him. Even though it feels like it sometimes, we’re not alone in our journey."

We had spirits, personalities, relationships on the other side! We lived with God, Jesus Christ, and everyone else we will ever come in contact with! After reading the Great and Terrible Series by Chris Stewart I really got to thinking about the Pre-Earth life. The series starts out in heaven and follows a family as they make their mortal journey. We are the same spirits that existed with our Father in Heaven . We had the same talents, and personalities there that we have now. The purpose of our mortal life is to prefect our spirits, and return to live with God. One of the most interesting thoughts I heard recently was that the trials we are now enduring are individualized specifically for each of us so that we can work on the short comings we need to overcome which we didn't conquer in the pre-earth life. We need to prefect these flaws in order to return to live again with our father in heaven. How comforting to know that our individual tests are things that we didn't quite get right in the pre-earth life, things that we still need to figure out, and not just a random pile of unfortunate events. We need the trials we are going through to learn and grow. 

Another interesting thought I've had is about choices. 1/3 of the hosts of heaven chose not to make choices. They chose to follow Satan's plan. Everyone that ever has been, or ever will be on the earth ultimately chose to be here. I imagine waiting in line to ride a roller coaster, we were excited to come to earth, but also completely terrified, not knowing exactly what to expect. One by one as our friends disappeared before us, we wondered if we would make it back, if we would see our loved ones again. 

The fact that we chose to come to earth shows that we wanted to be here, we knew what we signed up for. We knew there would be hard times, refiner's fires to go through, but we believed that ultimately it would be worth it, and it is the only way to return to live with our beloved Heavenly Father again. 

God did not leave us alone. he did not send us out on the roller coaster of life defenseless. He sent his Son to atone for our sins, and to succor us, and to comfort us in times of trial. Jesus Christ is our ultimate friend and confidant. He endured every single mental or physical pain every single inhabitant of earth will have to endure. He knows how we feel in any situation because he has felt it. He knows us, and loves us. He, along with our Father in heaven "..Do not want us to fail, but to succeed gloriously!" They want us back, but the choice is ours. 

We also have amazing tools like the gift of the Holy Ghost, priesthood blessings, patriarchal blessings, and so on. I am going to take a little detour and talk about patriarchal blessings. I was talking to a friend yesterday and she was telling me about an acquaintance who's patriarchal blessing specifically listed what tribe her husband would be from. She ended up marrying someone not from the tribe listed in her blessing, and now every time anything goes wrong in their marriage she questions if it was ever right to begin with. My friend and I then concluded that maybe our subjective individual blessings are okay after all! They are up for interpretation. God does not want to take away our agency in any way. He wants to give us help and guidance, but we ultimately have to be the decision makers of our own lives. My friend and I were discussing how confusing it is that our blessings are so vague, and could mean a myriad of different things, but I think that is just how God intended it. It is a guideline, not a cheat sheet, and depending on decisions we make it could change dramatically. 

One of the most amazing connections I have made is the fact that God loves his children so much that he created plans, then back up plans, then back ups to the back up plans. God does not give up on his children. He gives us endless opportunities to choose the right, and find the gospel. he wants all of his children to know the truth, understand the plan, and return to live with Him once again. 

When we sin, we are given the chance to repent.

When we repent, and sin again, we can repent again.

All throughout life we have chances to humble ourselves before God, and get back on the straight and narrow path back to Him.

Even in the after life God doesn't leave us stranded. If we don't accept the truth on earth God hands us one last back up of back up plans, and allows us to have that last opportunity to accept the truth, and be baptized into his church by proxy work on earth. 

Working in the Temple has been such an amazing blessing and testimony of God's love. I see his plans for us becoming a reality every time someone does their own temple work, or the work for the dead. 

"The most dangerous things on earth are the things that keep us from returning to our Heavenly Father." 

Understanding the Plan of Salvation means that we know where we want to go, and what outcome we want to receive from this life. Satan tries to lure us with sin, and lusts. He tries to make us focus on the "thou shalt not's", but does not mention all of the freedom we really do have. He wants us to feel suffocated and controlled by rules, and commandments. The irony of the whole thing is that When we choose God's way we really choose freedom, and choice. When we give in to sin, we are suffocated by addiction and controlled by oppression.

Now that we better understand The Plan, what can we do to ensure we get back to our loving Heavenly Father, and be happy? Bishop Summerhays gave an amazing talk about how to do that, so I will share his insights:

First we need Hope-We need to choose to be happy. Make a bucket list and achieve your goals! All God wants is our heart in exchange for His help. Once we give him our heart we will see it change. 

Second we need Faith-Keeping the commandments brings peace to our lives. God will not ask us to do anything without a reason. We are given commandments to keep our lives tied to the truth, and with no room to allow Satan in even just an inch. Eliminating sin will make us happy. 

Third we need Charity-look for opportunites to serve others. Helping others helps you!

Fourth we need to Love-The greatest commandment is to love God, then to love others, and before we can love others we need to love ourselves. Forgive others, don't fill your heart with hate and anger. Focus on the positives and show gratitude. Overlook your faults so you can love yourself. 

Choose happiness in a world of darkness

This past month The Lord has made His hand in my life very evident! I am so grateful for all of the blessings I have received lately! Not only did He guide me to my current job, but today just as my bank account was depleting another tinder mercy occurred and my old co-worker gave me a windfall of cash just to "help out". She may never know just what she did for me tonight, but I know that my Heavenly Father was working through her to bless my life. I could have made it work until payday, but I feel like The Lord was showing me that he is happy with the choices I am making, and I am so grateful to Him for everything that I have, and everything that I am! I just wanted to share this little tid bit, and keep it to remind me that God is real, and he does know my life, and what is important to me. He loves me, and has a plan for me.

No Reservations

So I was cleaning out my email, and I came across this scholarship essay I wrote:

At your ten-year high school reunion, you look around the room seeing what your peers have made of themselves, and wondering if you were only friends with them because you had classes with them your whole life. You still somehow feel a pressure of competition as nervous questions dart through your mind.

            Are you as successful as everyone thought you would be? Did you accomplish all that you sought out to do? Did you accomplish your goals? With the help of this scholarship I hope to be able to answer these stinging questions in the affirmative. I want not only my high school peers, but everyone I meet to know that I did what I always said I would, and that I am successful doing what I love.

            I have wanted to be a cosmetologist since age 10. All of my life people have tried to discourage me, telling me in good faith that I could do better. I could be a doctor or a lawyer, and I would simply reply, “I wouldn’t be happy, and I wouldn’t be doing something that I loved.”

            Among goals of success, happiness, and prosperity my main goal in life is to be happy. I want to wake up every morning and be excited to go to work. Being in school for almost a year now I know that I made the right choice in coming to cosmetology school. I love everything about this industry; the possibilities in cosmetology are limitless.

I can do whatever I want to do in this field. As of right now I want to work in a contemporary salon, and live the life I always thought I’d live. The feeling I get when someone walks away from my chair with their head held high and a huge smile on their face is worth more than words could possibly express. I love making people happy, and I love the personal satisfaction I gain from that.

            I am a business license yielding cosmetologist, just as I always told people I would be. I have accomplished at least half of my goal, which was to graduate with an AS in business. The second half is to graduate from cosmetology school. I am almost graduated, but as the graduation date speedily approaches I am wondering how in the world I will ever be able to afford to pay off the loans.

            Money is always an issue in the world today, and I would love the extra monetary help in accomplishing my goal of cosmetology. My parents work very hard to make a life for themselves, but in today’s economy they are struggling, and simply cannot support me through my schooling. All through business school I made it without having to take out any loans. It was an amazing feeling to be able to pay cash up front each semester, as good as that felt, my savings account is depleted, and I am living paycheck to paycheck working part time every day after school which I do full time.

            As the days go on I cannot help but think how much debt I am accumulating. As much as I work it never seems to be enough. I feel at this rate I will never be able to pay off my debt for school. With the help of this scholarship I hope to be able to take out a chunk of my loan, and be able to make bigger payments when I start working to get out of debt as quickly as possible. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this essay. I hope I will be highly considered for this scholarship.

It's you and me forever, it's you and me right now

I love to see the Temple, I'll go inside some day. This is a blog dedicated to the house of the Lord. I LOVE going to new/different Temples. It has been quite an experience going to all of the current Temples in Utah! WOOT WOOT! Seven years living in Utah and I finally did it! It is really cool to think that for now I have been to all of them! They are currently building Provo City Center, Payson, and Ogden. So soon I'll have more to go to! Brother Woodward one of our Stake High Councilmen spoke on Sunday and he said when he returned home from his mission he had a goal to go to every temple. There were ten at the time so the goal seemed attainable. Haha. So crazy to think that our lovely temples are definitely dotting the earth! I love it! 

 Draper, have done everything 

 Bountiful, have done baptisms and a session 

 Mount Timpanogas (I definitely need a better one this summer now that they are done fixing the spire), did baptisms  

 Jordan River, have done everything  

 Vernal, did a session 

 Oquirrh Mountain, have done everything  

 Logan did sealings 

 Manti, did a session 

 Salt Lake City, have done everything 

 St. George, did baptisms 

 Monticello, did baptisms 

 Brigham City, did a session 

 Provo, did baptisms 

Those are the lovely Utah Temples that I've been inside. So amazing!!! Now as a bonus here are the Temples I've been to outside of Utah:

 Portland, Oregon, which I have still never actually been inside which is heart breaking, but I went to Brea's wedding and waited outside all day haha

Las Vegas Nevada, did baptisms 

Medford Oregon, did baptisms 

Los Angeles California, did sealings 

San Diego California, did a session 

Newport beach California, did a session 

This is my journey thus far, we'll see what the years bring! I hope the Temple remains as important in my life as it is right now!