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Muddy and wet and colorful and AMAZING! I loved it! I am in NO way a runner, and do not plan on ever being one, but I think that everyone needs to experience something like this is their life.
I talk about my nieces Lucy and Lydia like they are my own children. Having babies in the family brings a whole new element of happiness. Even when they are bossy and whiney and dirty and stinky, these babies are just pure joy.
I'm cleaning up the pictures on my phone and I realize that the vast majority of my photos are the girls and the puppies... just capturing some precious moments. Get ready for the dump!
If you don't have a baby or a dog in your life... take my word for it... its time!
My family. Over the years I have come to find that the one stable thing in my life is my family. We have a very complicated blended family that is changing and growing very quickly. There were many years in my life that we lived far apart in several different states, and dynamics changed frequently... it hasn't always been easy, or fun, or stable... but right now, the thing I am most thankful for is my individual relationships with each member of my core family.
You know the people that you grow up with, that you have memories with... As you get older people change, people come (and go) from your family unit. For me those six original core Conner family members are the MOST important thing to me. I have an amazing relationship with each one individually. I can be with any one member of my family for any period of time and talk about anything, or do anything, and be perfectly content and happy. I feel like in this world that is so rare.
The best times in my life and the best memories are from when we are all together. It hasn't happened very often lately, but when it does its like time has never passed. Mom, Christie, Melissa and I all now live within a couple of miles of each other. That is a miracle in its self and SUCH a blessing for me. Dad and Kailey live in Saint George Utah. We see them very frequently and are so lucky to have a lot of time with them. Scottee lives in Tacoma, and we do not see him nearly as much as we need to. It's been twice in about 2 1/2 years that we have all got to be together.
Scottee came down a couple of weeks after Christmas, so of course dad and Kailey came for the weekend to make a party out of it. The best week I have had probably all year! The weekend was full of late night deep thinking conversations, Pitch perfect (several times) loud music, card games, food and laughter.
- We celebrated Chris's birthday with some major fajitas at Mondos.
- We spent the day at Wild Life world which was the MOST amazing zoo ever! Scottee touched all of the animals including actual lions, tigers, panthers, etc.
- We got a lot of bonding time listening to music and having deep conversations. I feel more close to my family than ever... so ahmahzing!
Hoping 2013 brings many many more weekends like that one. Scottee, move to Arizona!!
Some humans complain that I need to update my blog (Aunt Karin). For some reason I have not been very bloggy this year. It could be the fact that I hate my job and all of the joy in life has been crushed forever... but also that I am lazy.
Heneyway.... in November I:
-Finally got to see my best friend! Nikki came to visit from Rexburg. We hadn't seen each other in ages. It was a great weekend spent catching up and eating and lounging... so perfect. AND I lost all of the pictures from when my phone crashed, tragic.
- Got a calling and am now serving on the Relief Society additional meetings committee with my two sisties.
- Went to the breaking Dawn part 2 premiere at the movie grill with Chris, Melis, and Christie. I loved it and will be buying it. Its like a big chapter in my life is over, so crazy!
- We went to St. George for Thanksgiving and had a great time as usual. Food, movies, family, shopping... the best time!
Here are some random pics from my phone to document the happenings:
The Breaking Dawn Part 2 Premiere with my sistie's and BIL
I got my teeth whitened for a pre-Christmas present.
Black Friday madness... you cant even see Target in this pic, but that's where we were headed!
From the blog title did you think I was going to say that I am moving again?
Let's be honest and say that I have not lived in one residence for longer than a year since, lets say 2001... I am crazy... And I hate moving, so I will not be doing that for quite a while.
BUT, I did get a NEW CAR!!!
We bought our Explorer in 2010 the day before we moved from Washington to Saint George. Basically we needed a car that could pull the Uhaul.
Diego was the name. He was a great car, and I loved him. That is until I moved back to San Diego and gas was over $4 a gallon. No thank you to paying $80 a week in gas. I had been trying to sell him for a while, and thanks to my awesome dad we finally got that guy out of here!
I work about 18 miles away in Tempe, so driving at least 40 miles a day gets expensive. My baby sistie let me drive her car for a while until I got a new guy, and I was so greatful to save some money. But then the weather started getting cold and Kailey was not trying to drive her scooter in the winter (she lives in St.George) so she wanted that car back... rude. So I started looking for a new car.
I pretty much decided to get a combination of reliable, stylish, and sensible. I did a lot of research so I would know exactly what I wanted.
I went ALL BY MYSELF to brave the car salesman word of car dealerships. It was super intimidating, but I am proud of myself for getting a great deal!
I ended up with a 2013 Toyota Corolla S!!!
Introducing COOL WHIP... aka "The Whip"
I love that it is brand new and I don't have to worry about things going wrong with her for quite some time. Also, my fave Uncle is a Toyota mechanic, so I am basically set in that department. She gets about 34 miles to the gallon and supposed to get 40 MPG highway. I love her. Best decision I have made.
Have you seen Pitch Perfect? If not, you need to cause it's amazing and hilarious... first day buy!
Wow! What a week I have had! It was not only the most awful, stressful, disgusting week of my entire professional life, but also one of the most fun, spontaneous, crazy busy weeks I have had in a super long time...
Monday was the first day of Fall semester at the University that I work as an Academic Adviser. If I haven't told you about what an amazing job that I have then be grateful, because I would be lying to you.... I work for an online for profit University, which means that our students are people who frequent as guests on Jerry Springer and Judge Judy (to put it nicely). They are not very nice people. The beginning of a semester is always very busy doing students schedules and books and transcripts and changing majors... blah blah blah... Monday morning started a 7 am with all 10,000 of our students calling at the same time. Apparently the class room web site was down. So fun. I have never had so many people screaming profanities at me in one day, and I use to work in juvenile hall so...
Monday was just setting the stage for an awful work week. Its really tough to help students that treat you like you owe them something and are always blaming someone else for their problems, like failing all of their classes... yes that is my fault that you were kicked out of school for having a zero GPA 3 semesters in a row... cool.
On a better note, life after work was super fun! Tuesday I was able to go to the Mesa temple with my friend Holly. I love ending a long draining day at the temple. So blessed to have it so close and a new temple opening up even closer next year!
Wednesday Chris, Melissa, Christie and I went to a concert!! Yippee!! Complements of Lisa, we had tickets to Brad Paisley with The Band Perry and Scotty McCreary. Oh how I love country music! Besides the AWFUL concert traffic and the contact high from all the pot smokers around up, it was so fun! Brad Paisley is so great and his music is amazing! The Band Perry is my fave and they were awesome live.I decided that I need to go to concerts more often.
Thursday we got to deliver a special early birthday package to my mom...
We all know that Kailey is mom's fave, so it was the best present ever! So fun to have Kailey here for the weekend... she is amazeballs!
Then on Friday, I had to jet off to Vegas for a 16 hour trip. Dad got us super amazing seats to a pre-season Lakers vs. Kings game (ummm 6 rows off the floor next to the Lakers bench thank you). Things turned out that I was the only one able to go, so I met dad for a quick night at the AWESOME game! The Lakers (aka Kobe) have been a fave of mine for a long long time, so seeing them SO close and personal was great!
Dad was super excited to see Jimmer and Isaiah Thomas on the Kings too... I was enamored by how tall and talented these guys are in person. I hadn't been to an NBA game for so long, so it was definitely worth the trip.
I got back Saturday evening, just in time for a girls night with my sisties! I am so lucky to be so close with all of my siblings. I miss baby brother all the time, but hanging out with my 3 sisters is so fun! I am not sure why we didn't take any pictures but good thing cause I was looking hagrid after the long week!
Sunday was momma's birthday! We had a great dinner of Chicken Parmesan and pumpkin pie at our house.
Fun week, I am dreading Monday coming... but there are fun things to look forward to!
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