Where did July go?

OK. All I can ask is, where did July go?
I can't believe that it is gone. This week will tie it up completely.
It went so fast. A lot has happened this month. First of all, it is my busy month at work, it is my Christmas like December is for Wal-Mart. Have held on to first place for this month which is my first time ever and it isn't quite done yet. When all my students classes are finished, then I'll sing, but for now, this is where I stand...#1. I have worked a lot of overtime too in order to make ends meet while school wasn't in session for Nathan and we have been extremely blessed :o)

My birthday was the first weekend of July and my friend Amiee came from Fort Collins, CO to visit for the first week, then I had a really fund BBQ Pampered Chef Party that I did that was all fathers/men/dads!! It was so much fun. I could do those all the time. They were so funny and we had a great time. The following weekend, I graduated with my masters from UOP in Glendale at the UOP Stadium...that was fabulous. Nathans family came to visit and have lunch with us and that was so awesome, it was quite and quaint.

I attended a Party Lite Candle Annual Party at the Comfort Suits in Peoria off of Camelback and the 101. I won some candles and saw the most fabulous Nativity Scene. I am going to get it and its going to be free because when I have my party in October...oh yeah, everyone else is going to buy stuff and I'll get it because of them. The new candle scents and new fall stuff is so beautiful.

Claudia Pace and I also did our visiting teaching. We found that one of our sisters doesn't live in the ward boundaries anymore, however, I think I'm not going to say anything yet until I know for sure. I got the feeling that the family/friend was protecting her. She's Latina and they can lie pretty well so I want to go back and check first before we take her off the ward list.

I love the fall. That is my favorite season!! I love the colors, the change in the weather (everywhere but here in AZ) and the feeling that the year that has been exciting thus far is coming to a close.

Nathan has been with the youth at the JCS and has enjoyed it. He has learned a lot and wants to be able to assist these boys in any way possible. He'll be great!

We found out today that a guy in our ward that was less active who had his mother staying with him committed suicide this past week. My heart goes out to his mother is so sweet and so kind. They were from Rexburg, ID and she came down to stay with him and she was teaching school out here and when the school year ended she went back to Rexburg and she was going to come back for the 2008-2009 school year. I don't know what is going to happen to her. I hope she stays there so that she takes care of her family, however, she has another son and grandchildren down here so she just might come back down. My prayers are with her, that is for sure, either way.

My parents are leaving for Hawaii this week because Grandma is getting old and she is getting "weak" so they are going to go say HI. Kenji and I are planning a trip for September. If he doesn't go, I'm going by myself and hanging out with my mission president who lives in Laie. My dads family can't accommodate anybody. Everyone there lives together to save space and money so I'm going to see if I can stay with them. My friend Traci Astle has a time share out there so if she wants to go and we can get the Condo...we're out of here!!
Yahoo.

I have another week of work to do. I'm going to finish this up and get ready and close this Sunday on a good note!!

Have a great week.

Happy Graduation

Oh yeah, can I just say that it is over!! YAHOO. I can't seriously believe that little ole small, quiet yet big mouthed Karen has a Masters Degree. That doesn't mean that I am smart, it just means that I can come up with a different way to get what my family and I need, want and should have...without being manipulative...which happens often. Oh yeah, our key note speaker was Stedman Graham. Who is that you ask? Well, none the less, the boyfriend of Oprah Winfrey. Yep, just think of Job and you'll get the idea of what he spoke on. It only took about oh, 15 minutes thou...it was pretty awesome.

Lunch was fabulous...we had a few people come by and we weren't home yet because graduation ran over the time that I thought so when I got to the house, there were awesome, cute little gifts at the house and those people couldn't stay...so needless to say, only family was here and they were all from Nathans side. It was funny and awesome nonetheless.

I was shaking as I walked up to the stage, my hands were totally sweaty and I didn't want to shake anybodys' hand but I did anyways and had to wipe it off as soon as I was done. It was gross!

I received some awesome things and so grateful for them. I am actually really surprised and still haven't gotten over that shock yet.

We made alfredo white sauce and wheat noodles, we had chicken BBQ pizza, there were crackers and 2 different dips, we had 2 different punches, brownies and oh yeah, Orange Sherbet!! Yummy.

We have pictures but not a lot. There is a picture with myself and my friend Toni Young. She finished MAED/CI (Masters of Arts of Education/Cirruculum & Instruction). There were a few people that I know that graduated too. Andrew Juergensen finished his BS/IT (Bachelor of Science/Information Technologies).

Oh well...it was fun...it was a long day and it was very fruitful. Hope all is well with everyone.

I hope the pictures come through.

Love everyone~

Monsoon Season

Hi everyone,
I have had a simple, yet busy week. Nathan had a productive week and helped me clean the house so that it is clean and ready for graduation this next.
We have had tons of heavy rains from the Monsoons and it is so awesome. It feels so good and it has been well needed. The thunder and lighting is awesome though. If you stand outside, it is so cool to see and watch. There is no way that I'd stand out there long enough to get hit by the lightning though, never the less, it is so awesome.

There have been friends that we attend church with that have had surgery this week or will be going in for surgery this Wednesday. It is going to be a sobering week for everyone for the next couple of weeks. David Jones had a triple bypass this week and is barely hanging on.

This next week, finally is graduation and I am so excited. It is going to be fun. We'll be having pasta, salad, pizza and a drink for lunch afterwards. It'll be great! I am very excited. Nathans parents will be here along with a few of his siblings. I have some friends from work and from church coming along too, which I hope will be great.

Work has been a bore. It has really slowed down so it is very hard for me to stay there during an 11 hr day. For 2 weeks in a row, I have been the #1 person in the department. It is kind of exciting yet kind of scary because I have to be the example for everyone else to do the do same. Natasha Maldonado has been right up there with me so we'll see who ends up at the top at the end of the month. I usually do really well at the beginning of the month and then flop at the end and Natasha is just the opposite, she flops at the beginning and then takes off running at the end, so we'll see.

Well, I have some work that I need to do and get done before work for the week. It is raining and it smells so good. I am doing laundry and cleaning our second room so that someone can stay here if needs be for graduation.

Everyone, have a good week.

Oh, we had an real estate agent swing by the house to tell us that it isn't smart to sell the house right now and that the market is now stabilizing and to hold on to the house for at least another year. We can do that. It isn't bad and I'm really grateful for that.

Happy 4th of July

Good afternoon everyone.
I hope Sunday is being good to everyone.
I have had a very long and tense week. My very good friend Amiee Finster flew in from Fort Collins, CO to spend time with me for the week. She is 4 months pregnant and actually looks like she is ready top pop any day!! She has been a little miserable because of the heat and probably a little family deprived as Max her husband and two kids, Portia and Payton are in Utah visiting family and doing some work on his parents home. However, it has been a treat to have her here for the 4th of July to celebrate the nations and mine birthdays!!!

She also was able to meet Nathan for the 1st time as well, which has been quite interesting because they are so smart and so intellectual, that I can't keep up with their conversations so I just get up and go do something else while those two converse. It has been interesting.

Amiee and I have swam a couple of times and the water in the pool felt so good. It was like bath water. It was for me almost kind of gross because it was like taking a shower. For Amiee, it felt pretty good and that was at 9 PM.

Friday afternoon we went with Traci Astle to the parents home of Jason Walker. He is married to Jessica and they are due the end of July so she was feeling pretty under the weather. It was great fun though. We got in the pool at their home too. That was very nice...it felt so good.

My birthday was calm. As mentioned, we just kind of hung out and didn't do much.

Thursday though we got up and went and saw two movies, Wall-E and Hancock. Both were pretty good. Nathan and I are learning that it isn't worth the money to go to the movies anymore so those two were probably the last movies we'll ever see in the theater. We can wait for them to come out on video.

I was given a cake and plant at work for my birthday on Wednesday which was so sweet for those from work. It was nice.

Today as we went to church, it just seemed so scarce because of the holiday. There are a lot of families having their babies so there were some mothers not there as they had their babies this past week. There was a family there, the Ramirez family who had their baby on 06/27...so she braved it and attended church which was awesome.

My friend Traci and I are going to be doing paper invites for graduation this week so that I can pass them out this next week at church.

Nathan has seriously reconsidered graduate school for Marriage and Family Therapy. There is a school here in AZ that he can attend for 2 years, 60 credits later and have an MS in Counseling with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy. He will be fantastic with it. He's so in tune with feelings and meeting peoples needs that he'll be awesome with that type of work. I'm actually really excited for him. At first, I was a little skeptical because I know nothing about about the degree and what the benefits of it will be but after reading about it and considering it through prayer and talking to Nathan about it, I've actually learned a lot about it and feel that it is an awesome field of study.

We're on our way to the Tuggles for the monthly ice cream social. We're going to take Amiee so that she can meet some of the families in our ward. It'll be sweet, it usually is because of the different families that attend.

I'll write more later this week.

Love everyone...hope all are healthy and happy.