together

forever, no matter what.

{family pictures 2009}

"the love of a family is life's greatest blessing"

they are my best friends

for eternity

Happy Happy Birthday Jakers!!

Ok.. ill admit i thought i was his second mom when he was little. i loved to change his diapers, feed him and carry him on my hip..

i mean.. just look at him. . he was THE CUTEST little brother.

he was the happiest, lovable, best little brother.

i love that i get to be his big sis.

i've always been a protective sister.. now he's my protective brother:)

jake is so much fun to hang out with.. he's friends to so many and i love him so much

he makes me laugh.. he's cooler than simon..

and has BIG muscles

.. he is even more athletic than shaq

and he gives the best hugs

i love being around him because he loves to randomly sing music like me..

and he is fun to take pictures with

basically he's a stud and i cant believe he is fifteen..

happy birthday jakers. i love you more than you know. it's been so much fun sleeping in your room with you and having late night talks and playing mario kart while eating jelly beans.. you are the greatest. i'm so glad i can be here for your birthday. thanks for blessing my life and being the best little brother.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

i am so grateful i'm home in beautiful arizona to celebrate thanksgiving with the ones i love. i love life and my savior. i love how thanksgiving is all about family.. with no gifts involved. i love how i can reflect on this past year and be "thankful" that i went through all i did.

we all have so much to be thankful for.

{happy thanksgiving}

my dearest arizona,

i miss you more than ever before..
maybe, just maybe.. its because you are hogging my WONDERFUL family, dogs, some of my cutest friends, favorite kids, WARM weather, the 60/my favorite freeway, gecko grill, neds krazy subs, hobby lobby, QT, bj's, sprinkles and now yogurt land (even though i'm poor i can afford one of them:) not to mention you have to BUY snow and can make a snow man while watching the perfect sunsets go down, CAN'T wait to give you a BIG hug arizona.. 2 daysss!

ok- utah, i'm sorry, maybe i'm hurting your feelings.. you are amazing too.. but i have the right to miss arizona because you're too cold for me.

thank you

mr. kris allen i love your new album. thank you for winning american idol. remember that one time after your tour when you signed my arm? i do.

love this song the most

{live like we're dying}

"sometimes we fall down and can't get back up

we're hiding behing skin thats too tough

how come we don't say i love you enough?

til its too late, its not too late..

our hearts are hungry for a food that wont come

and we could make a feast from these crumbs

and we're staring down the barrel of a gun

so if your life flashed before you, what would

you have wished you would've done?

yeah, we gotta start lookin at the hands of the time

we've been given,

if this is all we got, then we gotta start thinkin'

if every second counts on a clock thats tickin'

gotta live like we're dying

we only got 86, 400 seconds in a day to

turn it all around or to throw it all away

we gotta tell em we love em why we got a chance to say

we gotta live like we're dying

and if your plane fell out of the skies

who would you call with your last goodbye?

should be so careful who we left out of our lives

and when we long for absolution, there will be no one on the line

you never know a good thing til it's gone

you never see a crash til its head on

why do we think we are right, when we're dead wrong
we gotta live like we're dying."

i love

that there are SO many temples near me. .

i've been to five since i moved here. they are all SO beautiful. i love the temples. i've been able to go once a week, sometimes more..

{provo}

{draper}

{oquirrh mtn}

{mount timp}

{salt lake city}

i love to see the temple, i will be sealed to the one i love for eternity one day. i'm so grateful for temples. . they are heaven on earth.

how i feel:

rascal flatts- here

"there's a place i've been looking for

that took me into buildings behind windows walls and doors

and i thought i found it.. couple times even settled down

and i'd hang around just long enough to find my way back out

i now know the place that i was trying to reach was you right here in front of me

and i wouldn't change a thing, i'd walk right back through the rain

back to every broken heart on the day that it was breakin' and i'd relive all the years

and be thankful for the tears i've cried with every stumbled step that led to you and got me here,

right here.

it's amazing what i let my heart go through

to get me where its got me in this moment here with you

and it passed me by, god knows how many times

i was so caught up in holding what i never thought i'd find

i know now there's a million roads i had to take

to get me in your arms that way

in a love i'd never thought i'd get to get to

and if thats the road god made me take to be with you..

i wouldn't change a thing, i'd walk right back through the rain

back to every broken heart on the day that it was breakin' and i'd relive all the years

and be thankful for the tears i've cried with every stumbled step that led to you and got me

here, right here."

{dear hot chocolate,}

i love having you every day. there is nothing like you.
--OK. so today was officially FREEZING! i walked out and this was my face.. it was my first time ever driving in the snow and i didn't like it.. i think i like the idea of snow better than snow.. good thing my utah family has given me warm things..

nicki HAND made me leg warmers! I just love them!!!
last night the heaps suprised me with my favorite CHEETAH print shoes and blanket!

Lets just say i enjoy sitting by the heater in my room, drinking hot chocolate with my leg warmers, cozy shoes and wrapped up in my blanket:) plus, i have a man to keep me warm, i wont freeze.. or at least i hope.

this week was so busy and fun. russ and i had a taco bell candle light dinner, he suprised me by taking me to cheescake (my favorite), we went rock climbing with his roomates and friends! SO much fun! We are really sore now, but it was worth it. we watched a lot of movies and are trying to pretend the snow isn't shocking us..

i am loving my internship, everyone in the salon is so kind to me, i'm learning a lot already. that kept me busy this week along with working at a convention in salt lake.. i worked at a christmas booth that sold vinal glass decorations and then i was a cashier the next day for a steam mop booth.. we sold nine thousand dollars in mops.. she asked me to be her cashier next year, i guess i did a good job:) it felt good to earn money. ohhh and they are fixing my camera for free and i went over 200 minutes this month trying to find a job .. tmobile must love me because they took the charges off and told me about their new plan that is 20 bucks cheaper than i'm paying now and is unlimited everything. yayyyy!

so, i got a package this week from my daddy.. it was a package of sloppy joes.. background: when i was a little girl, i ate them one night and then got sick and threw them up as and lets just say i STRONGLY DISLIKE them.. my dad knows this because when I lived at home, i would find the box in my shoes, closet and now he sent it all the way to utah.. on the back of the box it stated: joslyn, when you are out of funds and out of food.. please open, add H2O, stir and enjoy.

P.s at least you wont starve, love mom and dad

ya.. i wasn't going to open it until my grandma told me too.. it had a check inside. my dad isn't as big of a tease as i thought, i guess. :)

I CAN'T wait to go home this weekend. we are driving down on friday.. I miss my family and i miss these kids..

life is a beautiful thing. <3

you got me

{colbie caillat}

favorite favorite song right now..

"you're stuck on me and my laughing eyes

i can't pretend though i tried to hide

i like you, i like you..

i think i felt my heart skip a beat

i'm standing here and i can hardly breathe

you got me, you got me.

the way you take my hand is so sweet,

and that crooked smile of yours it knocks me off my feet

you got me.."

<3

--first day of my internship at radiance. such a nice salon; love it! check it out. http://www.radiancesalonutah.com/

still job searching-- but am working at a boutique just for this weekend & am excited.

boy do i love having a schedule.

life is good. i miss my family. i'm grateful for my friends & i love being with a guy who makes me happy.

(a little dose of disney..)

{zip-ee do-dah, zip-ee dee ay my oh my what a wonderful day, plenty of sunshine headin my way. zip-ee do-dah, zip-ee dee ay!}

:]

this whole job search all day thing is getting reallyyyyyyy old. i've applied to be a nanny, clothes stores at the mall, build a bear, the disney store, a million salons including dollar cuts, credit union, temp jobs, ok so i've basically tried everything besides taco bell.. i was close, the application is filled out.. i know something will come, i know it. besides it easy to have faith when you have money and are doing fine.. its the times where you are struggling where faith is needed. i'm so blessed and am soooOOOoo excited to go home for thanksgiving. i love my family.

OK, so..

My interview today went well, i got the job HOWEVER when he asked me if I had any questions and I asked how much the pay was, he said oh, it's voluntary.. OK, so not the answer I was expecting.. Although, It's a REALLY nice salon and I would do an internship for a couple of months, assist for the sylists, take classes and learn a lot.. so I think I'll take it. It's only ten hours a week, so I'll have time for a job. Utah sure does things different. Oh well, I'll do what I love and get a job soon. I know I will. I'm excited to start on Wednesday morning. YAY, for learning. I figure pres. hinckley has said to further your education.. he has said to sacrifice things for education. BOY have I sacrificed everything for both of my cosmetology licences and I can sacrifice no pay for this internship. I'm so blessed. I love that It becomes natural to count my blessings during trials. I'm so thankful for all my trials. I am who I am today because of them. I know that the Lord NEVER gives us any trial that we can't handle.

smiling

because of how blessed i am, is what gets me through not having a job. having faith is hard, but its the only way. if we center our lives around christ, nothing will ever be permantely wrong. heavenly father knows the desires of our hearts. i know he knows mine, i have felt it.

YES! The rumor is true.. i have a boyfriend & he is my best friend, he treats me amazing & makes me smile really big.

[p.s. future job i need you more than ever now, just thought you should know.]

YESS..

we went on a little scooter ride yesterday. it was such a beautiful day. i love spending time with this guy. he brings out the best in me and i'm completley myself. we might be having too much fun together.. good thing thats allowed.

yay for lots of laughs, smiles & for wonderful moments.

{job interview tomorrow for a super nice salon.. my fingers & toes are crossed this time}

and..

..i think to myself

what a wonderful world.

{life is grand}

dear future job,

i'm going to find you if it's the last thing i do.

loveme

i haven't been this happy in a long time

{favorite current song. . an oldie but goodie}

"We should get jerseys cause we make a good team
But yours would look better than mine, cause you're outta my league
And I know that it's so cliche to tell you that everyday
I spend with you is the new best day of my life
If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I gotta say is I must've done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I must've done something right
I must've done something right
Maybe I'm just lucky cause it's hard to believe
Believe that somebody like you'd end up with someone like me
I must've done something right"

:]

wow

job searching in a college town in a bad economy is wayyy harder than i thought.

i came across these gems today, fell in love and made me feel less discouraged.

now all i need is a big hug & ill be set.