Whew

Time for a quick wrap up. Sorry it's been so long since I posted, but things have been crazy!

Wednesday = Truffles

I went over to my friend Jamie's house and we made truffles all morning. Yummmmm I literally smelled like chocolate all night long, DJ was in heaven. I had a great time and am so glad to have a baking buddy - Thanks Jamie :-)
And thank you to her beautiful daughter Ashley for being such a great quality control tester. I can assure you there was no bad chocolate in the house, Ashley made sure of that :-)
Thursday = Last day with the IRS & VT Conference

I drove into Phoenix for the last time on Thursday morning,. I can't say that I'm gonna miss that drive at all. I cleared out the rest of my stuff and went packing about 11am. Woo Hoo, I was already feeling so relaxed by then it was unreal. I got to talk with a couple of people that I'm really gonna miss (sniff, sniff: hi Dave and Grace) so that was really nice. But you couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I sauntered outta there!
Then that night I went to our VT conference, which was a progressive dinner. It was a ton of fun to get to see the beautiful decorations and hear the wonderful messages and musical numbers through out the night. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with some of the sisters I don't always see every Sunday. We had Mexican themed food with the pot luck main course of enchiladas - yummers! I left with a greater desire to be a diligent visiting teacher for sure - great job kudos go out to the ladies who put the conference on - it was beautiful.

Friday = Scrapping good time and old friend.

I took my last sick day on Friday so I decided to go over to Amie's house with Toni and do a little scrapping. I t was a great time even if I didn't manage to complete more then 3 lay outs. Oh well the juices jut weren't flowing, but I do like what I created so everything worked out for the best in the end. Here are two of the LO's, the third hasn't been photographed yet - sorry.


Then that night a good friend, Jessa, who I met when she taught me the missionary discussions flew into town. She was down for a wedding and we got to hang out that night and all of Saturday. I just love this girl. She can make me laugh right out loud and feel so loved. I wish she lived closer so we could hang and scrapbook together. Jessa you better plan on coming down for one of our retreats girl!

Saturday = Errands and a party

I ran around in the morning with Jessa doing some errands and then we went for a nice drive up to lake Pleasant, across the Carefree Hwy into Wickenberg and back to the house. We thought it would be nice in the Mustang she was upgraded to by the wonderful people after finding out she was an RM :-) We had a great talk and the scenery was beautiful.
Then I came home and got ready for Heather and Dave's Christmas party. Oh my goodness I had so much fun durning the white elephant gift exchange. All I can say is holy naked mannequin batman what a great group of people that was; thanks for the invite you guys!

Sunday = church and family time

We went to Sacrament with my mom at 8am and got to see a bunch of wonderful friends! I so miss my Catus Lane buddies something fierce, so many sincerely wonderful people that just make me smile - no drama and all love - ahhhhhhh.
Then we ran over to our ward. DJ sang in the choir - it was beautiful. Amie and Heather played a duet of What Child is This with the piano and violin - so wonderful, the Spirit was unreal in that room. Then there was a great lesson by Brother Jay - he is every bit as amazing as Brother Moss I can't wait to get to that class every Sunday.
Then Relief Society. I loved the lesson, but RS has been making me sad lately. I have never been one to let people in to truly know me and when I joined this ward I felt so loved and so safe that I let some people really know me. I'm wishing I hadn't now, and that's making me sad. You know how you make friends and you think they really like you and that makes you happy then you start to notice things then they start to do things then you are wondering if you were ever really their friend or if you were just the flavor of the month? Yea that kinda sucks, but oh well I put myself out there and I have come away with some amazing girls in my life now so the little bit of hurt I guess is worth it for the girlfriends I have now - love ya!
After church I went to my mama's house for girlie time. We hung out, talked, made some amazing sausage and mushroom soup (so good I am still full), played around on the computer, then gave into temptation and watched the Survivor finale. I was right about who would win - in my opinion it was just a bad final four I didn't like any of them. Oh why James, oh why didn't you play the idol when you could have?

Monday = 1st day of the new job.

Wow the City of Surprise really knows how to treat their employees! We had goody bags stuffed with great supplies and tons of instruction (I don't feel lost at all - that's a big change from the Fed) and pizza and I really feel good about my decision. The growth in this city is amazing and what is coming will blow your socks off for sure. The city has grown so much and the current plans take the city right up to the edge of Wickenburg. The city has grown from 150 employees 7 years ago to 700+ today (full time). The businesses coming in are big and bringing with them a great working opportunity to ensure we won't be a bedroom community in the very near future. I was drooling over the mall plans alone :-)
I spent the second half of the day at the new office with my new co-workers. I really like them all and just know I will fit right in (already got my first task done and reorganized the files for pending cases woo hoo), except for the scorpion problem - yuck. The building is brand new - like 3 months old - in the middle of a bunch of desert land and they are building right next to us so the critters come into our area. Yikes - I don't do bugs! There are also some really big very hairy spiders and some mice. Amie and Toni I'm thinking we'll be able to camp soon cause I'm gonna have to get over my fear of the bugs real quick - or learn to levitate.

Now I'm gonna curl up with my HR paperwork and pick out my health plan. Good night all!