Love this little Family!!!

This is my lovely mission "Mom" (trainer), Sissi, and her husband Tom who was my very first district leader and their baby Sam. It was the first time I've seen them since the mission, as they live in Germany near where Sissi is from. They were up for the holidays visiting Tom's family in St. George. I was so happy to see them and meet their little one! Hopefully it won't be so long until we see each other again!

Ich habe euch Lieb!

Sister Christmas Cheer

Oh how I love my baby sister! She is the bomb dot com!!! :) This was at Temple Square on Thursday where Alyssa performed with Timpview High School Acapella in the Joseph Smith building as well as the Assembly hall. It sounded beautiful!!!

One Fine Christmas on Prezi

Cheerful Courage

I feel blessed to have so many wonderful friends who inspire me to be a better person. I'm grateful for the courage that so many of my friends have to face whatever trials they are dealing with--whether it's physical illness, mental illness, challenges at work or school or in the family, to name just a few. I'm also grateful for the positive outlook on life that so many of my friends have even when they're dealing with difficulties that would seem insurmountable to me.
Recently I spent the evening with a friend who is one of the best people I know. She has a very cheery outlook on life and she spreads happiness to everyone around her. I found out that she's having some physical problems that are quite debilitating. But true to her innate cheerfulness, she didn't complain about it, she just told me the way it is and how she'll just keeping living life anyway. I was so impressed by her faith and courage. I'm truly lucky to know her. This is a shout out to her and people like her who just go forward one day at a time placing their faith in God and still loving life despite challenges.

Today I...

• Talked with my lovely Grandma on the phone in the morning. I love that she calls me on Saturday mornings to find out what fruits/vegetables I got in my Bountiful Basket and to catch up on my life!
• Took a FREEZING cold shower....For some reason our hot water wouldn't work at all! BRRRRR!!!
• Left SUPER late for my shift in the Temple, but luckily some friends from my shift saw me walking about two minutes after I left my apartment and gave me a ride. I love how in Provo I can count on the fact that when I begin walking to the Temple on Saturday mornings I never get all the way there without someone stopping and giving me a ride!
• I LOVE volunteering in the Temple! There is an incredible spirit there and I always feel refreshed, revitalized, and back in touch with God after spending the majority of my Saturday there.
• Bought a Christmas tree!! Yaya!! My wonderful Mama gave me money to buy a Christmas tree & lights as an early Christmas gift. She is seriously the BEST! I love the smell of real Christmas trees! My friend was super nice and gave me a ride & helped me haul my Christmas tree in his truck. AND he even helped set it up. How nice. Buying a Christmas tree makes me feel like a real grown up.
• Our apartment manager came over on short notice (and on Saturday night to boot) to look at our water heater. Discovered that the temperature had gotten bumped and was set way too low. No wonder our hot water wouldn't work! About 20 minutes after resetting the temperature we miraculously had hot water again. The wonders of modern technology!
• Since the apartment floor was covered in pine needles, my fantastic roommate Kim and I borrowed my family's vaccuum and (after a short ice cream break with them) we had a dance/cleaning party! Blasted the music, sang, and rocked out all the while cleaning! Our apartment looks sparkly clean now and it's always great to have an excuse to dance!
• Ate dinner with my Mom and sister Alyssa then spent a while playing the piano and singing with Lyssa. We played/sang: Christmas songs from Josh Groban's Christmas songbook, "For Good" from Wicked, and "I Never Saw Blue Like That Before" from Runaway Bride. The last two songs are two of our favorites.
• Drank pumpkin spice (Stephen's hot cocoa)
• Got ready for bed. I love nice relaxing days! I only felt slightly guilty for not doing homework. Will have to wake up early Monday morning now.
• What a great day!