Hey everyone!
It's Jacquelynne and apparently I get a turn to write on the family blog. I'm not really sure what to write so here we go...
Just about everyone knows that I'm going to Cosmetology school. I started in June and I'm just about to the halfway mark [1000 hours down, 1000 more to go]. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE it! I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing. I could go on for hours about it...

In addition to hair school, I go to early morning seminary Monday through Thursday, then I have a first period at my high school. This makes for about 12 hours of school everyday. I know, it's long.

Well, a few weeks ago I decided I should get a job in all my spare time. I can handle it, right? Lucky for me a brand new Smith's Marketplace [think SuperTarget] got built down the street and that's where I spend what time I have left in the day. It's INSANE! I usually work from about 6 to 12 most nights plus Saturdays and Sundays. It's basically a zoo there. But on the bright side, people are starting to get over its brand new-ness and things are slowing down.
I just tell myself everyday to count my blessings. It kinda works. Try it. =]

Along with work and school, it's time for college applications. Yay. Last week, I applied to BYU-I and the "regular one" [Provo]. My cousin, McKenna, was the inspiration on that choice. If we both get into BYU-I, we could be roomies. =] Go us. Today, I applied to the University of Utah. Talk about the Holy War. Pray I get into the U and get a scholarship. It would be my dream come true.

The U had a tour thing a few weeks ago where you could go up there and go around the campus and see the doorms, ya know. I went up there with my mom and my boyfriend, Richard. He's a cutie. =] Anyway... The doorms are like 752 miles away from everything else and it took forever to get up there. After seeing the dorm, we ditched for lunch because all that walking made us hungry I guess. This picture looks really really bad. It's from a phone. Look at it, and then pretend you didn't... This was the bridge that linked the dorms and everything else. Depite the distance, I still want to go there. You have to get exercise somehow.

Okay so I guess that's the main points of my life these days. It's pretty much the same routine everyday. I really have no idea what's going on with the rest of everyone in my family which is sad. And I miss them. But maybe they'll post soon and I'll be able to read about it! ;]

Peace!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we're grateful for all of our blessings! We had a wonderful day hanging out with our friends, Rachel, Brian, and their kids, and our family, including Nate and Jessica. Having Thanksgiving with the Parrish's is becoming an annual tradition! And even though we are so lucky to have Nate and Jess close by, we haven't seen them in at least a month, so we're glad that they picked our house to come to! Both Brian and Nate are two of Zach's favorite people-so he was really happy!

So, I had this great idea to have everyone dressed to take a family picture when the Parrish's got to our house. That way, everyone would be fresh (hair, clothes, smiles) and then we wouldn't have to worry about it later. Well, with the wind, the cold, and the swaying grasses-wait, weeds with stickers in them, the only thing that was fresh by the time we were done was the language some people were using! (I hate my hair, Jaymison is doing some sort of pee pee dance, and Zach kept making weird faces!) Next year, I'm going to do one of those family pictures where you just see the back of everyone. That way, we won't have to worry about smiling or whether everyone is at least looking at the camera. No one will like that either, though...who wants a picture of their bum?!? Anyway...While the photographer, aka Brian, did the photo shoot, Rachel put the green bean casserole together and finished the salad (thanks, Rach!). We took a little longer than I expected, and Nate and Jessica arrived while we were out in the field.

I was not as organized as I thought and this little adventure made the food timing a bit off...I realized that everything was pretty much ready, but yikes! The rolls still needed to be rolled out!! Luckily we had plenty of appetizers to keep us busy while we waited for the rolls to rise (thanks to Brian who rolled out the dough!) Jeff tried to help me with potatoes, but then I bossed him around too much, so he gave up and moved on to making sure that we had enough chairs. We finally got everything done- everyone pitched in to get drinks on the table, food on the table, people at the table. We had a great feast that included: turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, strawberry pretzel salad, and green salad. We followed that an hour or two later with pumpkin pie and a delicious grasshopper pie that Jessica made (thanks, Jess!). That might have to be a new tradition!

We all have our expectations about what holidays should be like or include, so I hope that everyone had fun! We are so grateful for our family and for our friends, but we're especially grateful for Heavenly Father's plan and for the meaning that it brings to our lives!

Ok, here come the gratitude posts...

Here's my first gratitude post...We do have a lot to be thankful for, and today I'm starting with friends...Let me first just say that it's a blessing in itself to have one person in your life to call a friend! It's an even greater blessing to have more than one friend. And I don't know why, but I have won the lottery when it comes to friends in my life. I don't know what I did to deserve such good friends and I don't know where I'd be without them! I am especially grateful for my little group of friends from Temecula-Julie, Kate, Amy, and Tammye! I have been lucky enough to keep these friendships going. Since we have moved to Utah, as a group, we have met halfway, gone on trips together, stayed at each other's homes, and some of us still talk on the phone at least 2 or 3 times a week. We have made alot of memories together...most of which involve lots of yummy food, some sort of craft experience, and little or no sleep! Life is so much sweeter with friends, and even more so, when those friends are kind and thoughtful! Case in point...Check out my fabulous new apron from my friend Kate...this is an early Christmas present from her...I don't do it justice, but trust me, it's the cutest thing ever! Thanks Kate, for all of your good advice and being such a good friend! And thank you for the apron, too!

Loathing!

I've really enjoyed what some of you have been writing about gratitude. So, I've been thinking about jumping on the gratitude bandwagon, too...maybe like...TOMORROW! Today, though, I'm in a funk, so I've added a song from the Wicked musical, that just about sums it up...Loathing, unadulterated loathing...let's just say, I loathe it all...Except, don't get me wrong here, this is not about a person, it's just about everything that seems to be piling up...kids fighting, bills, bad attitudes (mine included), kids fighting, homework, oh yeah, did I mention kids fighting?

BIG NEWS!!!

I just got the letter in the mail...I was accepted to the UVU Nursing program!!! I will start in January! I don't want to sound pessimistic, BUT... it does depend on me finishing the two classes that I'm taking right now, Microbiology and Anatomy- plus their labs, with a C or better. This is looking a little "iffy" as these are super hard classes and it doesn't feel like I'm doing that well. So, I honestly have no idea what will happen.

These past few weeks have been especially stressful with mid-terms and we've had to do an awful lot of juggling with schedules, sick kids, work and callings. I think that everyone is feeling a bit overwhelmed! However, I have felt all along that this decision was inspired and I know that things will work out if they are supposed to. So, I'll just keep doing my best...it's all I can do. Jeff has been totally great!There have been many days recently, that I've been gone all day, like 9 am to 10 pm, and he is doing a good job of picking up the slack! He's always really positive and good at making me feel better about things and good at helping the kids keep everything in perspective, too! I'm so lucky to have him! So, we'll just keep going forward, but just wanted to share the news!

What??? Yep, that's snow!

We got our first snow on Wednesday. Here's the what it looked like from our back window...please say it's not winter, yet!!! It's already got me dreaming of a warm, sunny vacation!

Trick-or-treat!

Gigantic pearl-wearing, neck-biting, Elvis-loving, fairy dust-sprinkling, purring, Jacq-o-lantern FUN! Dad took the kids to the trunk-or-treat at the church, followed by a lap around the neighborhood. It was a little rainy, but that didn't stop them from collecting over 20 pounds of candy!!! (Yes, Zach and Kirsten weighed it.) We finished the night with home-made potato-cheese soup. Yummy!

Zoe and Jaymison with one of their best friends, Katie!