I Love My Jessie!

Tonight I got home late from a long day at work and saw that I had a missed call from my sister, Jessie. I checked the messages, and she just brought a smile to my face as she spoke. I'm terrible at keeping up with phone calls, so it had been a really long time since I had talked to her.

I called her back and caught her right after American Idol. We talked and caught up with each other over the next hour! So great. I really love and admire her. It was a lot of fun to talk about this and that, but I especially enjoyed our conversation on struggles in our lives right now. I gained a lot of strength from her during that time.

Thanks for the help, Jess. I love you so much!

To My Best SIL

It's Ashley's birthday!!!!

To give you an idea of how amazing it is to have Ashley in the family, I composed a small tribute to the necessity known as my SIL Ashley

Why I Love Ashley:
1. She will be there WHENEVER her family needs her. I hurt my back last May, and Ashley not only came to take me to the hospital when she had a very young son to take care of, but she cooked me meals, scheduled times for me to go to physical therapy, checked on me daily, and helped me SO much! I would have died without her. Really.
2. She has melted right into our family and claimed a very essential role in the Isenbarger Clan. A lot of things get organized and carried out because of this woman.
3. She never gets sick of me coming over and bothering them. I love going to their house because I get the royal treatment. Even though I invade quite a bit.
4. She loves and takes care of my brother. Since Kyle was all I had of my family in Utah before he got married, we became close. I am really glad to know that he has someone to help, motivate, and support him.
5. She is the craziest cook! She can substitute anything for missing ingredients, and the food still tastes fantastic. No, really. I have witnessed this phenomenon on many occasions!
6. She and I have a lot of the same 'likes': Wicked, Twilight, cooking, music, books, teaching, puppies, Braden & Kyle :), driving fast, laughing, and What's Up Doc?. Awesome.
7. She supports me in whatever I do. She helps me make decisions by listening to my thoughts, and then offering very wise advice. I love that.

This is a very short list, but you get the idea. I could go on for a long time! Thanks for all the love and support over the years, Ash. I love you and hope 25 is as great as 24!

Susan Boyle Is Gonna Win!

I get chills when I listen to this woman sing. There are a few shaky parts in the song, but who wouldn't get nervous in front of a crowd that laughed at you from the very beginning?! I think she has a great talent, and I love how she is the underdog. GO SUSAN!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg

It's OFFICIAL!!!!

Oh. My. Gosh.

I received my passport in the mail today and booked my flight to London. This is weirding me out. I'm going to be an international traveler. There will be a stamp in my passport. It's not just something to wish about anymore. It's actually happening.

I'm so excited, but I don't quite think it has set in yet though.

Wow.

My New Bike!

Here she is. I got a bike today, it's been such nice weather and I really miss getting out there and biking. Having a paper route made it so we had to bike all the time, and I have not been on one since. Utah has a lot of really pretty areas to go biking in, and a lot of them are pretty flat so I didn't need a mountain bike. I like biking while sitting up anyways. not a fan of the hunched-over look.

One of the guys in my ward has already sung the theme song of the Wicked Witch of the West at me as I was riding. No I don't have a basket, but the bike is a little on the classic side, so I see where he is coming from.

I've only been able to ride her once, since we actually got over 6 inches of SNOW in the last few days, but it was a great ride! Here's to a little exercise and a lot of pretty scenery! Any suggestions on a name?

My Little Buddy Is Sick!

Today we had a little scare at the hospital. When Ashley went to her pregnancy check up, she had them take a look at Braden because he was wheezing and having a really hard time breathing. They diagnosed him with bronchilitis, and admitted him to the hospital. He is going to be there the next few days, and hopefully will be feeling better soon. They have to suction him every four hours, and there is someone checking on him constantly. He has a slight fever as well. Poor little fella!

Well, the good news is that he will improve here in the next few days, and hopefully will be out of the hospital soon!!! He's still relatively happy, he just gets upset when he gets suctioned and when he can't get down on the floor.

Please keep him in your prayers though!

Dat's Dat Dat Dragon!

Cole emailed me today! Woo hoo! I almost started crying at work when I got it- I haven't personally heard from him in awhile. Of course, he mentioned Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (which I had just watched yesterday!). He wrote:

"Hey, girrrl. How's it going? I was looking through my companion's DVD collection and noticed that he had the two-disc special edition of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and I thought of you. I immediately said "Got any ketchup handy?" and he said "my stew can stand on its own two feet." Yeah, I love this guy."

SO FUNNY! I love that part of the movie. And I love that Cole remembered the line. When we were younger we used to not only watch the movie all the time, but do the dances as well. We both had that movie memorized backward and forward. What is really sad is that I got the two disc edition as well, and I could tell minute differences in the two versions. They had to film the movie twice- once in Cinemascope, and once in the normal version. Subtle differences, but I caught a ton of them!!!

Yeah, I'm still a nerd. But I love you, Dragon!

Conference Is Seriously Amazing!

No, really. It is. This Conference was one of the best I can remember. I didn't fall asleep once because I was so afraid I would miss yet another AMAZING talk! So great. And I really feel inspired to try and change some things.

Favorite talk- NO SUCH THING! There were so many tidbits that I was able to take, so I can't come up with one. I did love that so many general authorities emphasized the temple and temple work. Our ward temple night is Tuesday, so we'll see if I can get off work early enough to do it!

Favorite quote from Conference- "You are never lost when you can see the temple" -Gary E. Stevenson. Sooooo good!

T-Diddy turns . . . 21!!!

I'm just kidding. T-Diddy, you are an invaluable member of the Isenbarger family. Thank you so much for putting aside our family faults and marrying Sarah! :) No, really. You have been a really great presence in the family over the years. Heck, you've been a brother for as long as I can remember! Thank you for being an example to me. You have a patience I could never even dream of having, and I work to build that quality in myself constantly.

Happy birthday, Todd.


Oh, and THANK YOU for plucking my eyebrows all those years ago! They look so much better these days! :)

Curt's A Boilermaker!

Today I got a text from my brother telling me that he got into Purdue!!! Woo hoo! He's a Boiler! As my mom said, "Boiler Up!" You legit, Bro!

Busy day!

Today was a lot of waiting in line at different places: the Orem DMV, the driver's license bureau, the post office, and the passport office! Phew! Luckily I had a book, but I will admit I got a little impatient a few times. I would be very happy not to see another line for a few weeks. But at least I am legit now! I have a Utah driver's license, and a passport is on the way.