A thank you note...

Dear driver of the maroon suburban I followed home from work today,

Thank you, sincerely, for leaving your cheerios on the rear end of your vehicle. It was my day maker.

Sincerely,

Exhausted from a long day and now smiling,

Kelsee

Greatest friday moment of the month!!

Grand Opening!

My work just opened their brand new North Ogden branch. We are solid now. No more trailer home. Yes, this is a true statement; I used to work in a double wide...that was a NCUA certified Credit Union...in a double wide! Redundancy is only fitting in this particular case.

I thought it only appropriate to take a moment in memory of the trailer. It will always be remembered. Despite my outward conveyance of annoyance and desire to have it obliterated, there are twinges on my heart strings when I think of things like the way it smelled like shrimp when it rained, or times when I remember gazing through the prison-like bars on the windows on a sunny day longing to be free. You might catch me missing the full scale kitchen with enough cupboards to keep all my junk food in, or the homey employee bathroom complete with a shower. I might choke up a little on any given day if I think of the special moments when Dalene, my boss, walked out of her office with "that look" on her face and I knew it was time for me to put my game face on and go in after the spiders lurking under her desk. I may even miss, from time to time, the yelling we had to do when it hailed or rained hard in order to hear what the members needed us to do over the pinging on the metal roof and siding.

The double wide... ::sigh:: ... it will be missed in all it's mold growing glory...

WHO ARE WE KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!

Our new building is BEAUTIFUL!! I feel spoiled now going to work every day. It is keeping us busier than we are used to or know how to handle, but I have loved every minute of it! I am learning so much and have even have my own office for which I am training to be the Loan Officer. I'm so grateful to have a job and work with fun people and feel like I am in a safe and healthy environement. "Appreciate" has been the word on the brain these days.

The radio station, K-Bull 93 came out to help celebrate our grand opening.

Brides and babies

Yes that is all that seems to be going on these days, weddings and baby blessings. I don't remember when I got old enough to have all my friends in this stage of life. Somewhere along the line we grew up...I didn't catch it. Went to my sweet friend, Sam Nielsen's, bridal shower tonight. She is so adorable. I am happier than a daisy in May for her and her fiance Austin. She is so happy and hearing her talk about their plans together is a testimony builder to me of the plan of savation and the reality of eternal families. Tawny and I went a little crazy at the store getting her shower gift. Printed off her registry and went to town! We filled up a extra large laundry basket with all sorts of usful kitchen things. The theme was "Time of Day" and we had 6:00p.m. so figured the kitchen would be a safe bet for that time of day. She was so grateful and loved all of it. Just one more Tawny/Kelsee random tangent success story :)

Fireside

I got to see an apostle of the Lord tonight!!
Elder David A. Bednar of the quorum of the twelve apostles came to speak at a young single adult fireside tonight at Weber state universities institute building. This was HUGE! Even though we all knew it was a big deal that he was coming we had no idea just how crazy it was going to be just trying to get into the building.

The line was all the way up the street and around the corner from the south west doors of the building.

We stood in line forever and we didn't even get there early as some. 

Some people got there as early as 2:30 to ensure they got good seats. At one point we were worried if we would get in at all because of how many people we saw going in and how far back we were. So while we were waiting ever so patiently to get in, we decided to take some more pictures...

These are two of my favorite people in the world. Tawny Parker and Cindy Olmstead. Cindy is my Visiting Teaching Coordinator and she is simply a saint. Oh and she is also super woman. She does sooo many amazing things with her life. I appreciate her so much.

Best friends!!

We are definitely some fun friends! :) These girls make me soo happy!

We finally got into the building and even though we were in the over flow of the over flow, we could still see him pretty well. He gave an amazing and inspired talk. More than a talk it was tid bits of advise specifically for us as young single adults in that area from a general authority. I recall getting goose bumps several times. my favorite message, however, had to be "Feed them ice cream!" Council from an apostle on raising children. I believe we'd all be a little happier with a few more scoops of ice cream :) It was a great evening. 

Date night

Went on a date tonight. As surprised as I know you all are, it is true. It was so great. His name is Lane Boyer and he's the elders quorum president in our ward. Very impressive guy. We doubled with his friend Wess and a date. Fun couple. They took us to The Bistro on 25th St in Ogden. I will say, hands down, it was the best meal I've had all year!! I got something called black and blue penne...penne pasta with creamy Alfredo sauce, fresh, cooked to perfection, sirloin on top, with a little bit of traditional vinaigrette. Brilliant!!

After fat and happy hour, we went to the store to pick up some supplied to make eclairs. The twist is that we were going to make them over the fire. Greatest alternative to s'mores ever! They were delicious. We took our supplies out went where Wess' family had some land, had a fire and made our desert. There was a bunch of machinery out in the field and at one point Lane and I decided we should go explore a little bit. We found a tractor and I was pretty excited. I'd never been in one before so I climbed on up and felt cool for about 10 seconds...then was bored. haha The night flew right by and next thing we knew it was 1:00 in the morning! Time to head home. It was great. I was glad I didn't let my inhibitions keep me from going out tonight. Here's a few pics.

Bessie...with a flood light

My date :)

Me and Bessie-BFF's

The first 60 days of my
[135 Days]
of gratitude

(A list compiled and started to appropriately countdown the days till what I am most grateful for in this roller coaster year sets foot back in Utah)

• Day One: Grateful for the double rainbow, spread across an entire evening sky
• Day Two: Grateful for the strawberry taste that tingles my tongue 
• Day Three: Grateful for optimism
• Day Four:Grateful for the scriptures
• Day Five: Grateful for music and the way it can get to me like nothing else in this world
• Day Six:Grateful for peaceful moments, no matter how brief 
• Day Seven: Grateful for new appreciation of important things of a spiritual nature. oh and the announcement of the temple prep class starting up in my ward, which I will be participating in :) stoked!!
• Day Eight: Grateful for emotion and heart that's growing.
• Day Nine: Grateful for my spare car key and green lights on my way to work.
• Day Ten: Grateful for heartache...it makes me appreciate happiness so much more.
• Day Eleven: Grateful for Jeffrey Paul Hofheins.  You discover what true friendship is when the difficult times arise and they stick by your side and fight with and for you.
• Day Twelve: Grateful for brisk mornings and kisses from the sun :)
• Day Thirteen: Grateful for my blogs (yes, plural). They keep me real and spirited. 
• Day Fourteen: Grateful for Sunday evening chats with my mom.
• Day Fifteen: Grateful for random fun, laughter and tennis shoes.
• Day Sixteen: Grateful for my bed and rest after a long day.
• Day Seventeen: Grateful for my job. I am employed and work with great people. I am blessed.
• Day Eighteen: Grateful for rain!!
• Day Nineteen: Grateful for friday cookie day at work. (Though my jeans that I put on this morning are telling me the last thing I need is free cookies at work.)
• Day Twenty: Grateful for all the things that never worked out in my life so that there can be room for all the things that will. 
• Day Twenty-One: Grateful for my family and the chance to see my brother and spend time with him.
• Day Twenty-Two: Grateful for those who are honest with me, even when it kills me inside.
• Day Twenty-Three: Grateful for absolutely amazing friends (who's love made me cry), laughter, chatter, smiles, and country swing dancing late into the night. I am truly blessed.
• Day Twenty-Four: Grateful for a peaceful sleep that allowed me to feel refreshed this morning.
• Day Twenty-Five: Grateful for Bluebel cheese! So yummy. Oh and applesauce :)
• Day Twenty-Six: Grateful for fresh water to drink.
• Day Twenty-Seven: Grateful for my grandparents. Sweetest people on the planet!
• Day Twenty-Eight: Grateful for the organization of Visiting Teaching. Truly inspired.
• Day Twenty-Nine: Grateful for the down poor as I ran from the house to my car. For some reason it made me happy, like a kid again :)
• Day Thirty: Grateful for being able to get organized toward the beginning of the week for once instead of the end. Feels good.
• Day Thirty-One: Grateful for my sense of sight and that I see such beautiful things with vibrant colors on a daily basis.
• Day Thirty-Two: Grateful for tears because when I cry it reminds me I'm not a heartless, ungrateful, desensitized person.
• Day Thirty-Three: Grateful for fresh morning air. It just felt so good breathing it in on my way into work today!
• Day Thirty-Four: Grateful for friends and the fun reunion we had at Angela's wedding last night.
• Day Thirty-Five: Grateful for fast and testimony Sundays. They are such a blessing.
• Day Thirty-Six: Grateful fro a day to re-group and being able to take lots of deep breaths in a row.
• Day Thirty-Seven: Grateful fro time. Short as it may be, little as we have, it is a gift. Don't forget.
• Day Thirty-Eight: Grateful fro individuality and the unique personalities it gives each of us. When unique personalities collide, it sometimes makes for a pretty fantastic evening :)
• Day Thirty-Nine: Grateful for my camera and the wonderful memories it helps me to capture.
• Day Forty: Grateful for being 40 days away from where I was 40 days ago. There's a sense of accomplishment when you look back at something you aren't proud of and can look in the mirror and say, ya know, I think I'm going to be just fine.
• Day Forty-One: Grateful to be able to get some rest when I'm sick.
• Day Forty-One: Grateful for the watch care of a loving Father in Heaven who helps me do what I am not physically able.
• Day Forty-Two: Grateful for communication and the ability to talk to others.
• Day Forty-Three: Grateful for people who care enough to listen to my life stories and don't judge me.
• Day Forty-Four: Grateful for cough drops with Vitamin C and their thoughtful delivery.
• Day Forty-Five: Grateful to have made it to work on time even though I missed my alarm by a long mile.
• Day Forty-Six: Grateful for the corn husks I saw on my way to work. Tickled my insides because I'm so excited for fall!!
• Day Forty-Seven: Grateful for my feet. They took me dancing on a beautiful night and my heart was light.
• Day Forty-Eight: Grateful for mistakes and wrong choices. They make me realize what the real problem is when I'm having a bad day.
• Day Forty-Nine: Grateful for imagination. Limitless and costs nothing.
• Day Fifty
• Day Fifty-One:
• Day Fifty-Two: Grateful for dreams. Even when they're really strange...at least I know I'm still alive even when unconscious.
• Day Fifty-Three: Grateful for the sound each string on a guitar makes. Put a few together and you can create your own little piece of heaven.
• Day Fifty-Four: Grateful for 409 and men who take responsibility for their actions. Sleeping on the cold ground is much more pleasant with lingering laughter brushing past your lips.
• Day Fifty-Five: Grateful for the warmth of the sunshine and the chance to doze in its' rays.
• Day Fifty-Six: Grateful for love. If fills me up all warm and bubbly inside.
• Day Fifty-Seven: Grateful for responsibility. It helps me grow.
• Day Fifty-Eight: Grateful for the pumpkin truck that was PILED with pumpkins in Smiths parking lot. I couldn't help but smile as I thought of what the this fall will be bringing...
• Day Fifty-Nine: Grateful for my washer and dryer and the smell of clean laundry, warm towels and soft t-shirts.
• Day Sixty: Woo Hoo!! Day Sixty. Grateful for time. All the time I have put behind me and turned into who I am today, and for all the time that lies ahead.