Field Day Fun!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Last Days of School
Swearing-In Ceremony
So, another milestone happened in our family on April 24th, when Todd was sworn in as an attorney for the State of Kansas. It was said this was a special swearing-in because this ceremony hadn't been held in the courthouse for over 30 years. So I guess budget cuts and furlough days can be a good thing sometimes :)
It was a short and simple ceremony. A few of the judges spoke, one in particular about his immigrant grandparents, which I really enjoyed. They were given the State of Kansas oath, and then the Federal oath. That was basically it! Oh, and they got their giant "diplomas" stating that they can practice law in the Sunflower State :)
Here are a few pictures from our day!
This day was made even better because in the afternoon, Todd got a job offer! Hooray! Lots of more exciting changes are in our future!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Thank goodness for the gospel!
Here is a picture from our Kansas City temple events page. Our celebration will look fairly similar!
I've been pondering a lot recently about how life just isn't fair. Maybe it's a blessing that I've gotten to age 28, and never really realized how unfair it really can be, especially when it's happening to ME, but recently there have been a lot of reasons to reflect on why things that I want that are GOOD and RIGHTEOUS are not happening in MY timetable.
I'm so grateful to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. The right path for us is not necessarily the one we thought we would have, the one we grew up wanting, or especially the easiest one. I have said a lot of prayers for righteous things, and sometimes being PATIENT is not my strong suit. It's sometimes hard to see other people with things that you so desire and still feel happy with what you have been given.
If I allowed myself to think this way all the time, I probably wouldn't be a very fun person to be around. No one wants to spend time with someone wishing they had things other people had, without recognizing the blessings in their lives! That's where I realize how lucky I am to have so many blessings! I have a wonderful marriage, to a good husband who loves the gospel and tries his hardest to keep the commandments. The other night as we were leaving the temple, I thought about how I just wanted to badly to be a GOOD person in the Lord's eyes. It helps to marry someone who really is GOOD and genuine and humble. Todd is the perfect person to have around when I need someone who will listen and make me feel better. He doesn't have to remind me how lucky I am, he IS the reminder.
I've been lamenting the demands of my job recently, but I really have felt grateful for it many times. For one, it keeps me busy, which helps me think less and less of what I DON'T have. I'm surrounded by wonderful women (and a few men!) who work really, really hard and are GREAT at what they do. At this point in my life, if I didn't have a job I felt was worthwhile, I don't know if I would feel as...needed? Necessary? I don't know. I'm also grateful for a decently paying job that covers our bills because Todd has been studying full-time, and now is looking for the best job. We don't have to worry about how we are going to pay our bills while we look because I have a job.
We are also grateful for our wonderful families. It seems like they check in with us at the best times. We love their support, we love our families, we are SO BLESSED to come from wonderful parents and have faithful siblings. We are SO BLESSED.
There are a lot of changes happening in our lives right now. It's one of those times in my life where I can't sleep because my mind is swirling with the what ifs, and the big decisions, and the where do we go from heres? I think maybe I am learning the hard way that answers to prayers do NOT always come in time and way that we would like them to.
That's when I again am reminded that Heavenly Father knows better than me. He loves me, and I have to have faith that whatever it is I'm waiting for may be not what I need at this time in my life. Of course I want to question why, and feel frustrated sometimes, just like everyone does, but I know that I won't be given a trial that Heavenly Father doesn't think I can stand and face. I know that faith requires a few steps into the dark before further light is given (okay, sometimes it is LOTS of steps in the dark!)
I'm so grateful for the faith that I have, for this gospel I have been given, for the Holy Ghost to guide me. I would be lost without all of those things. All of these trials wouldn't seem worth it if I didn't know there was something more wonderful after this life to work for!
I've been pondering a lot recently about how life just isn't fair. Maybe it's a blessing that I've gotten to age 28, and never really realized how unfair it really can be, especially when it's happening to ME, but recently there have been a lot of reasons to reflect on why things that I want that are GOOD and RIGHTEOUS are not happening in MY timetable.
I'm so grateful to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. The right path for us is not necessarily the one we thought we would have, the one we grew up wanting, or especially the easiest one. I have said a lot of prayers for righteous things, and sometimes being PATIENT is not my strong suit. It's sometimes hard to see other people with things that you so desire and still feel happy with what you have been given.
If I allowed myself to think this way all the time, I probably wouldn't be a very fun person to be around. No one wants to spend time with someone wishing they had things other people had, without recognizing the blessings in their lives! That's where I realize how lucky I am to have so many blessings! I have a wonderful marriage, to a good husband who loves the gospel and tries his hardest to keep the commandments. The other night as we were leaving the temple, I thought about how I just wanted to badly to be a GOOD person in the Lord's eyes. It helps to marry someone who really is GOOD and genuine and humble. Todd is the perfect person to have around when I need someone who will listen and make me feel better. He doesn't have to remind me how lucky I am, he IS the reminder.
I've been lamenting the demands of my job recently, but I really have felt grateful for it many times. For one, it keeps me busy, which helps me think less and less of what I DON'T have. I'm surrounded by wonderful women (and a few men!) who work really, really hard and are GREAT at what they do. At this point in my life, if I didn't have a job I felt was worthwhile, I don't know if I would feel as...needed? Necessary? I don't know. I'm also grateful for a decently paying job that covers our bills because Todd has been studying full-time, and now is looking for the best job. We don't have to worry about how we are going to pay our bills while we look because I have a job.
We are also grateful for our wonderful families. It seems like they check in with us at the best times. We love their support, we love our families, we are SO BLESSED to come from wonderful parents and have faithful siblings. We are SO BLESSED.
There are a lot of changes happening in our lives right now. It's one of those times in my life where I can't sleep because my mind is swirling with the what ifs, and the big decisions, and the where do we go from heres? I think maybe I am learning the hard way that answers to prayers do NOT always come in time and way that we would like them to.
That's when I again am reminded that Heavenly Father knows better than me. He loves me, and I have to have faith that whatever it is I'm waiting for may be not what I need at this time in my life. Of course I want to question why, and feel frustrated sometimes, just like everyone does, but I know that I won't be given a trial that Heavenly Father doesn't think I can stand and face. I know that faith requires a few steps into the dark before further light is given (okay, sometimes it is LOTS of steps in the dark!)
I'm so grateful for the faith that I have, for this gospel I have been given, for the Holy Ghost to guide me. I would be lost without all of those things. All of these trials wouldn't seem worth it if I didn't know there was something more wonderful after this life to work for!
April Update
Where do I even begin??
First off, after a fretful five weeks, we got some amazing news. Todd had passed the bar! He worked so hard, it was such a relief to finally KNOW and be able to move on. There were lots of tears and hugging and jumping and yelling (I was doing the jumping). Great job honey!
The school year is nearly at an end. It's been a stressful year. State test results were not good, the behaviors were a challenge day in and out, the students struggled and flourished and struggled again. After testing, it was time to do some fun stuff :)
We made states out of graham crackers and frosting....
Read Grandfather Tang and created some animals out of tangrams....
They wrote about their own angry birds and then created them...they turned out really cute!
Also in the month of April, I helped throw a baby shower for a friend of mine here. It was fun to work with the other two girls. Thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest, I think it turned really cute!
To say that I have been driving myself to exhaustion with this busy schedule would be the UNDERSTATEMENT of the year. My body just can't seem to keep up with the demands of work and my calling, and it seems like every single weekend, my body gives out! But the weekends have been so busy too! It's all for a worthy cause though, because our temple cultural celebration is in two weeks. We, as leaders and youth, have been spending SO MUCH time and effort helping our youth get ready.
I will be going up May 4th and 5th overnight with the girls and youth from our stake, as we travel to Kansas City to put on the celebration for our prophet (Elder Holland is coming too). I'll be backstage and won't see much of it, but I'm so excited for the kids. Like I said, it's a lot of work and we have put in a lot of extra time, but I know it will be worth it.
These are some of our cute girls presenting the camp theme (GLOW=God Lights Our Way). I'm pretty sure our stake YW president and her camp directors are glad they chose a camp this year where NO meals have to be cooked and NO DIRTY DUTIES! We'll need it after the marathon we've been running mentally these last few months with the temple cultural celebration!
We also were tour guides for the temple open house last night. Todd led two groups, and I led one. When one partner is leading, the other one is sweeping and making sure no one gets lost at the back of line. We were grateful to be tour guides, because we got to keep moving our entire shift, and of course, walk through the temple three times! It was so fun to see the reactions of all ages. Of course I got the group with all the hard questions...but it worked out okay. I did get teary-eyed in the sealing room where we bear our testimonies about the temple. It is such a special place! The coordinator said that about 7000 people came through on our day. It really was fun, although I was really nervous at first. It's hard to believe that this experience will probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity!
First off, after a fretful five weeks, we got some amazing news. Todd had passed the bar! He worked so hard, it was such a relief to finally KNOW and be able to move on. There were lots of tears and hugging and jumping and yelling (I was doing the jumping). Great job honey!
The school year is nearly at an end. It's been a stressful year. State test results were not good, the behaviors were a challenge day in and out, the students struggled and flourished and struggled again. After testing, it was time to do some fun stuff :)
We made states out of graham crackers and frosting....
Read Grandfather Tang and created some animals out of tangrams....
They wrote about their own angry birds and then created them...they turned out really cute!
Also in the month of April, I helped throw a baby shower for a friend of mine here. It was fun to work with the other two girls. Thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest, I think it turned really cute!
To say that I have been driving myself to exhaustion with this busy schedule would be the UNDERSTATEMENT of the year. My body just can't seem to keep up with the demands of work and my calling, and it seems like every single weekend, my body gives out! But the weekends have been so busy too! It's all for a worthy cause though, because our temple cultural celebration is in two weeks. We, as leaders and youth, have been spending SO MUCH time and effort helping our youth get ready.
I will be going up May 4th and 5th overnight with the girls and youth from our stake, as we travel to Kansas City to put on the celebration for our prophet (Elder Holland is coming too). I'll be backstage and won't see much of it, but I'm so excited for the kids. Like I said, it's a lot of work and we have put in a lot of extra time, but I know it will be worth it.
These are some of our cute girls presenting the camp theme (GLOW=God Lights Our Way). I'm pretty sure our stake YW president and her camp directors are glad they chose a camp this year where NO meals have to be cooked and NO DIRTY DUTIES! We'll need it after the marathon we've been running mentally these last few months with the temple cultural celebration!
We also were tour guides for the temple open house last night. Todd led two groups, and I led one. When one partner is leading, the other one is sweeping and making sure no one gets lost at the back of line. We were grateful to be tour guides, because we got to keep moving our entire shift, and of course, walk through the temple three times! It was so fun to see the reactions of all ages. Of course I got the group with all the hard questions...but it worked out okay. I did get teary-eyed in the sealing room where we bear our testimonies about the temple. It is such a special place! The coordinator said that about 7000 people came through on our day. It really was fun, although I was really nervous at first. It's hard to believe that this experience will probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Spring Break
Well, I'll be the first to say that I'm so glad the stretch between our birthdays and spring break is OVER! It was a yucky few weeks filled with the flu, the bar, and the recovery from both of those things!
The weather this winter/spring in Topeka has been beautiful! Warm temps, no snow, sunshine. So of course it had to rain most of spring break! That's okay though, because we still had a ton of fun. Here's how our spring break went:
Saturday, Mar. 17th--we headed to Lawrence so I could get my hair cut. It's much darker now and I love it! While there, our car got trapped in parade parking, so we stuck around for the very long, but fun, St. Patrick's Day Parade! Massachusetts Street is a fun street to walk and people watch, and we included a stop to Pita Pit, which reminded us of our Boise days :) There was even a giant, green cotton candy involved in the day there too!
Monday and Tuesday--I'll have to think about it, but I'm pretty sure it just involved sleeping in, taking it easy, and NOT thinking about work!
Wednesday--We headed up to Kansas City early in the day for an overnight. We had watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and wanted to follow Guy Fieri to some of the more out of the way barbecue places in KC. WE started the drizzly day with some amazing pulled pork and baked beans at Smokin' Guns. The atmosphere was fun and VERY busy!
After Smokin Guns, we headed over to the Sprint Center to go to the College Basketball Experience. It was a fun two-story "exhibit" with the College Hall of Fame, lots of informational stuff, and a bunch of gyms that let you practice your free throws, 3-pointers, and even some pick-up games going. We accessed our inner basketball child and shot lots of free throws (I was so sore the next day!)
And I thought I had big feet!
Todd as a K-State Wildcat!
One of our high scores on free throws :)
Our Cougars were represented!
And now that we live in Kansas, we like our Jayhawks too!
I so almost beat Todd at this game! I totally rocked it, and then he had to come back and beat me :)
After the CBE, we had lots of time, so we headed to the Vera Bradley store so I could take a look around. It was fun, but it'll be more fun someday when I have more money :) We wanted some custard too, so we went to Foo's Frozen Custard. We'd heard it was good, but honestly we weren't impressed. The custard had some ice chunks in it, and we think our local favorites--Freddy's, Sheridan's, and Coldstone--beat them any day.
HOWEVER, we did head to a store next door called "We B Nuts." We were lulled in by the displays of nuts and candy inside this large store! The owners were so friendly and let us try anything we wanted. As soon as I found chocolate covered cinnamon bears, I knew we had found the good stuff :) We bought some toffee-colored peanuts, cocoa-covered almonds, sponge chocolate, marzipan, etc. etc. We had a good time :)
As we were leaving Lenexa (a suburb of KC where We B Nuts was), we saw a...SAVERS! We were in a nicer area of town, and hadn't seen a Savers since we lived in Boise, so we stopped in to check it out. Savers is a thrift store, and it sounds silly we were excited, but the thrift stores in Topeka STINKKKK, so it was a fun find. We spent a few hours there perusing!
It was time for some more BBQ, so we headed off to RC's. It was pretty good. I don't remember anything in particular, so I don't know if it was because the food was just fine, or if it was so late, and I was tired! I do remember they had good sweet potato fries!
After that, we were exhausted! We headed to our hotel, Hotel Phillips, and felt pretty fancy as we gave the valet our car when arrived (to be fair, it was late, and that was pretty much the only parking available). You would think a 4-star hotel would have a pool...or a hot tub...or it's own parking garage...or hot breakfast. I guess not! Next time, we will save our money for the Marriott! It was still a nice room, but I think we would have liked some more amenities!
We woke up and relaxed in the morning, and then headed out for...some more BBQ! This time, we were way out in Olathe at Johnny's. We figured it had to be good since the entire parking lot was filled with firefighters. It was busy, but we didn't wait long. The food was delicious...we had some great fried mushrooms.
A few weeks ago, I knew we would be in KC, so I bought a Groupon for cosmic mini-golf. I'm sure it would have been funny to be a fly on the wall as we played. We each got a hole in one, and there were a few holes that really stumped us :) It was fun to play, it had been a while!
We wandered around their mall for a few minutes, but it was pretty old, and didn't have many stores.
After mini-golf, we hit the outdoor shopping center, Legends, on the way back, and ran into Old Navy during a real quick thunder shower!
Believe it or not, there was still some more fun to be had on our vacation :) We spent Friday night with some good friend at Panera
Saturday, we left Topeka early to get one last BBQ trip in. It turned out to be a good thing because Woodyward BBQ's ribs were awesome! It's a funny little place, but the food was great, and it was busy with all kinds of people. We'll go back!
Our main goal for the trip was to attend the Open House/Host training for the new KC Temple. We are going to be tour guides on April 21st! I'm excited, but nervous to be responsible for helping guide people through our new temple.
The coolest part was actually getting to go inside the temple and see it before it is dedicated. It's so beautiful, and I already felt the Spirit there. I can't wait to have visitors so we can go there together after it is dedicated in May. I have been spending a lot of time helping the youth practice for our cultural celebration, so it's going to be an amazing weekend that I know I will remember forever!
That wrapped up our spring break! Getting back into work has been hard, especially because state assessments are coming up, and it's crunch time.
But, only SEVEN more weeks of school! Woo hoo!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Birthday Girl
Veinte OCHO!!
I am grateful to still be in my 20's. I'm pretty sure I will be sad turning 30. When Todd asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I think he was a little taken aback by my answer. My reply was, "A sheet cake with buttercream frosting and roses on top." Yep, it's sort of a Ross family tradition (especially my Granny) to have that kind of cake, and it's been ages since I've had one. Because we don't have kids, we don't hit too many parties with this kind of cake, and I've been craving it forEVER. When we were in Guatemala and Brazil, I CRAVED buttercream! So, I was quite thrilled when a gorgeous, delicious, sugary confection appeared in my kitchen on the evening of my birthday :)
I was also presented with cake pops and a Hazel Hill apple, so either my husband doesn't mind if I gain 20 pounds in the next week, or he truly knows the way to my heart is through my stomach :)
Oh, and you'll notice a new fashion accessory :) On Wednesday night, the Mia Maids and our advisor, Shenai, showed up with a cake, music, and feathers :) So, I now have a hot pink feather in my hair, that I quite like. And yes, I DID wear it to parent teacher conferences...I'm that kind of rebel :)
Capping off my birthday is a wonderful four-day weekend that is almost half over already :) Yes, I am counting down to the end of this school year and we are anxiously awaiting to see how our future here in Topeka goes!
I was also presented with cake pops and a Hazel Hill apple, so either my husband doesn't mind if I gain 20 pounds in the next week, or he truly knows the way to my heart is through my stomach :)
Oh, and you'll notice a new fashion accessory :) On Wednesday night, the Mia Maids and our advisor, Shenai, showed up with a cake, music, and feathers :) So, I now have a hot pink feather in my hair, that I quite like. And yes, I DID wear it to parent teacher conferences...I'm that kind of rebel :)
Capping off my birthday is a wonderful four-day weekend that is almost half over already :) Yes, I am counting down to the end of this school year and we are anxiously awaiting to see how our future here in Topeka goes!
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