My New Year

So, HURRAY, it's a new year! I can hardly believe how fast 2008 went. I was all set to have a fun New Years Eve. I mean, aren't you supposed to automatically have a date for such occasions when you're dating someone? I guess I'm still learning. I woke up Wednesday (12/31) morning feeling like a cold was coming on, but still feeling ok. I thought I had several options for spending the night & ringing in the new year. I found out that Derek had a party he was going to (no, apparently I was not invited) and then a friend of mine decided to go out of town @ the last minute. I could have hung out with my grandparents @ their annual party with 2 other couples, but by the afternoon my cold was getting worse. I figured I probably wouldn't be much fun with my congested head. As the night went on, I just got worse & felt achey. I ended up waiting in line @ Walgreens @ 11:45 thinking I would welcome 2009 with a bunch of sick strangers. I did make it home in time to watch the ball drop then quickly make it to bed with the help of Nyquil.

I was still congested the next morning, but not feeling as bad as I had & headed over to Grandma & Grandpas for a late breakfast....yummy! I stayed for a few hours, then headed over to Dereks for the rest of the day. Gotta love drugs that relieve sinus congestion!

Friday (1/2), I headed to Grand Junction. Some of those elevation changes were killer! I thought my head might explode. It's not my favorite way to travel...stuffy then runny then pressure... I made it well enough.

It was fun to be home & I got to celebrate Christmas with my parents. I was excited to have them open the gifts from me. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see Craig, Keri or Ryan. My parents were very generous as usual. My big gift was a Wii! How fun is that? I also got some great flip flop slippers. I think this was one of the first years that pretty much everything I got was from my list! :) I got several movies (thanks to the CABirds too!)

I spent the weekend sick & grateful to have my mom taking care of me. It's always nice to have someone around to help you when you're sick. My dad gave me a blessing Sunday night which I know helped since I felt tons better Monday then even better Tuesday.

I got to spend a few hours with my friend Monica on Tuesday before I left for St. George. It's always fun to catch up. It's funny how you can be away from a friend for a while & when you see each other again you can start up where you left off. I guess that's a true friend. I'm blessed to have several. I was sad that I couldn't visit with my friend Jolie too. I'll be back!

Yes, I went to see Derek when I got home. I'm still not sure if this was my best decision. My car got hurt while it was parked outside his house. There is now a lovely dent in my rear driver's side door & a little on the driver's door. I realized how bad it was today when I went through the car wash & ended up with some soap suds in my back seat! It's been over a week & I finally heard from the insurance company of the car that hit mine. They informed me that they are going to accept my claim & fix my car. Well, isn't that nice of them since that's why drivers have insurance....so they can take care of these things! The thing is, I wish I could get them to pay for my whole car to be painted! It is in desparate need of a paint job! Oh well. Here are a few pics.

I'm hoping there isn't more damage than the dents. The rear wheels were moved closer to the curb. Derek said he could see the marks left by the move. The rear door is hard to close & my door sticks a little.

I hope your New Year started off much better than mine. Oh, I'm not really complaining. I know it could be much worse!

HAPPY 2009!

Christmas 2008

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to commemorate my Christmas day this year....so sad. It was an interesting day & quite different than any other Christmas. I started my day working at the hospital (8-12). I then made a few phone calls. Ty & Lori were way too distracted with the excitement of the day to talk much, but I got the lowdown from Zack & Michelle. When I called Mom & Dad...Dad was home alone starting dinner & working on his life story (I'm excited to read it). Mom was at the movies with Craig, Keri & Ryan.

Next, I set out to deliver a few things to my cousins & Aunt & Uncle. I struck out at the first 2 houses. This left me feeling quite sad. I mean who doesn't want to spend some time with family on Christmas? I finally found my way to my cousin's house (I'd never been there before). Here I found my aunt & uncle. I told them I had been hunting them down! It was fun to spend a few hours chatting & watching the chaos that tends to go along with the day.

My final visiting stop was @....yup....Derek's. He had his kids most of Christmas Eve & Christmas morning. (We went to the movies Christmas Eve while his kids were @ a family party with their mom) So, Derek bought a Wii & to go along with that Guitar Hero Aerosmith & World Tour. He got me started on a song and was supposed to get ready so we could try to find some place to eat. Let's just say that I got to his house about 6 PM & we ordered our (mexican) food @ 10 PM. I was starving! We did have fun playing Guitar Hero & bowling. I must say that I kicked butt in the bowling....watch out Ty! I even beat him on a few songs, but I don't really count those as he was playing on medium while I stuck with easy. I did play medium with him on one song & he got a little perterbed because he felt things should be even. (I know ahhhh...so cute, right....blah. Okay, it does make me smile a bit) He is pretty funny when we've played games. He is pretty competitive, but still tries to help me out so I don't fail miserably. We played Monopoly on his Xbox & I was the second one to go bankrupt....he said he was sorry & set out to kick the other computer players trash! :)

So, that was my day. Exciting, I know. I look forward to having Thanksgiving & Christmas off next year so I can spend it with family. It's just not the same without them. I love you all....my wonderful family (and those friends I consider family & ok....all my friends)! I hope everyone had a great Christmas & made some wonderful memories.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Oh Alright!

So I was wondering how many people would comment that I mentioned Derek's name in my last post. I certainly wasn't disappointed....so thanks! :) So there....I mentioned him again! I have to admit that there have been a couple times in the last 2 months when I thought that maybe I was more interested than him. This is such new territory for me that I am struggling with these new situations & trying not to be a psycho girl. (haha....is that possible?) He has more of a life than I do so sometimes when I want to hang out...he's busy. I don't make a big deal out of it....who wants a girl like that? I know that would be a major turn off for me. He has moved into a house. He is really happy to be out of his parent's basement. He has a cat now (hmmm...I am more of a dog person) & she is quite skittish. I have not met his kids or his family....that is up to him to decide. He hasn't met any of my family either. I thank my family for being fairly patient even though I know it's hard for you. :)

I've decided that I'm not such a fan of this "dating" stuff. Wouldn't be nice to just find someone & get married without all this uncertainty about how you feel....how he feels....blah blah blah. NO! I am not saying that I am ready to be married anytime soon. There are definitely still those times when I see a young family with adorable little kids & I long for that day to be much closer. But, there are also times I continue to enjoy being single. I think the longing for a family of my own is still much stronger than wanting to be single & have my own space. I think that dating someone has made it a bit easier to handle not having that family...does that make sense to anyone?

I hope this helps some of you & your curiosity about the Shelly/Derek situation. I still don't have pictures of him....sorry.