Christmas Cheer

Over this past Christmas I met this woman who was new to our ward during a rehearsal for our Christmas program. She briefly explained her story of being a mother to a beautiful daughter and handsome son of which their father had passed away a year ago leaving her with nothing. I only got her name and that she lived close by. A few weeks go by with her constantly on my mind, and I hadn't seen her since that night. We talked to our bishop since we knew she literally had nothing, furniture or anything, and we wanted to go visit her to see what we could do to help and what she needed. After much consideration and thought, Steven and I decided to go visit her and bring her our little futon we have sitting in the other room. That futon has come handy numerous times with friends and family staying over, but we decided that in this case of someone having nothing, we would feel guilty of keeping this luxury and having it just sit there in the other room as months go by with no one visiting, also eventually it will have to go if it is to be filled with a child if we get to that point soon ;)

After visiting this woman and meeting her teenage daughter and 10 month old son, we wanted to still help. That night I sat at home thinking how I could possibly do so? I'm not loaded with money, we're still in school and beginning our careers trying to figure things out. I decided well, maybe friends have some extra items on hand they could also do without. I knew it was a long shot and wasnt expecting the outcome that we got. I posted on my Facebook status asking for help with anything from anyone. I had friends quickly respond that were from both in and out of the state with ideas or saying they had friends who might be able to help. The word got out and within a few days I had numerous emails from people I have never met but were friends of my friends saying they wanted to help and had extra things they wanted to donate. There were families that were going through hard times themselves that wanted to help with the few extra items they had. I couldnt believe it, and to this day I still cant. My garage was full by Christmas Eve. My younger brother who lives in Provo was staying with us for the holiday so the night before Christmas we sat in our living room digging through garbage bags and bins full of clothes,toys, and blankets people had donated and sorted through them. There were about 7 huge boxes of diapers and wipes about a dozen or more huge cans of formula, 3 big cases of toilet paper from costco a brand new carseat! a jumper and so much more! We had so much that we were able to give some things to other families in the area! We finally packed up the car and delivered a christmas surprise that brought tears of happiness to these families. Words cannot express how thankful I am for those who have helped and participated in getting the word out for help. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to serve another family in need. Since then I have felt so foolish catching myself saying,"I want this" or " I wish I had this". I have so much to appreciate. Here are some pictures to show you how much "Christmas cheer" we were able to spread :)

It didnt even fit all in my car! We had to take 2 cars!

(slowly but surely I will get caught up on this blog :) )
Have a great night!

Those things people do at the beginning of the year and forget 1/4 of the way into the year..

It's so true. Those New Years resolutions that people make at the end of each year are always done so faithfully the first few months of each new year, and then it dies come April or so. haha. Well, despite this given fact, Steven and I decided to make our goals for the year 2012 and are hoping to complete them by the end of the year. I am going to post them, so I feel some what obligated to update on how each goal is going. I made my goals more realistic and specific so I don't barely get by on completing my goals like this year, one of mine was to lose weight, I did, but I didn't set a specific goal. So Lets start with my goals..

1. 1.Fit into my senior prom dress

a. Set exercise schedule

b. Plan and eat healthier meals

2. Build my clientele

a. Pass out business cards

b. Advertise on facebook/twitter

3. Read the Book of Mormon

a. Set a reading schedule

b. Put reminders in my phone

4. No soda for the WHOLE year

a. Drink more water

5. 365 things I’m grateful for in 2012

a. Keep journal/blog about something I’m grateful for each day.

b. Make a small book/scrapbook to look back at years later.

Steven's Goals

1. Study Spanish

a. Spend 1 hr 4 days a week.

2. Reach 200 lbs

a. Lift weights twice a week

b. Drink protein shake twice a day

3. Study the Gospel

a. Read Book of Mormon 1 hr everyday

b. Study priesthood ½ hr every day

4. Learn to play the piano

a. Practice 2 hrs every week

5. Get into drawing

a. Buy materials & book

b. Spend 2 hrs a week 1 day out of the week

I'm really curious to see how Steven will do on his goals this year. He has some difficult ones I feel, but he says they are realistic to him, So I'll keep you posted! We then proceeded to make our own goals as a family. That I will leave out of this post, but will talk about them once they have been reached :) because they will happen! What are your goals for the new year?!

One Full Heart = One Long Post

November came and went like that! I still can't believe that 2011 is coming to an end! 2012 seemed so far away and now its just around the corner. I have so much to be thankful for. One being my amazing husband. He does so much for me and loves me with every bit of his heart. The other day he told me "You know, even though we've been married for a little while now I can't help but saying I am so happy to be married to you and to have you forever. through all the garbage we may go through, I'm so glad you are right by my side to get me through it, I love you so much babes". How can your heart not melt from hearing those words? He's more than I could ever need. If "the world went stupid" (as steven would say) all I would want is my him right by my side.
This past month as people were posting what they were thankful for each day of November, I thought about the many things I am grateful for. I have 2 jobs that I am so grateful for despite the fact the I struggle with them both in different ways. Macy's not enough hours, or the wrong hours when I'm supposed to be at the salon so I have to forfeit those days. Not really doing makeup like I thought I would at a makeup counter, I've learned its all about the sales & numbers. (which is totally not me!) But I am so blessed to have gotten the job when I did when we first moved to SLC. At the Salon, I LOVE it. Everyone I work with is so nice and amazing at what they do. I assist on Wed. , Fri, & every other Sat. I work for the most talented and knowledgeable stylists who are so willing to teach me their tricks and tips so I can succeed as they have. This month I also started Booth Renting here at this salon part time, Tues., Thurs, & the Sat I'm not assisting. Its a HUGE risk I had to take, but if it wasn't now, when would I do it? December is usually a busy month because of the holidays everyone wants to get their hair done. Well..here I am writing this post at my station at the salon, waiting for some clients to sit in my chair. I can only pray and constantly advertise my services. So I am torn. I know booth rent is the best way to go, Its just these first few months while I'm building my clientele that will be hard. But I am motivated. :) Since I'm busy between both these jobs, I feel like I never see my husband. THats how its supposed to be right? I hate it. He was gone for 4 months. We havent had a vacation with just us two in I dont know how long. He went straight to school when he got home and our date nights have diminished slowly. Partly because dates cost money, and we dont really have that. especially in the month of December. I guess there are free dates, I just put off searching for ideas. my bad. Since we dont have much time together besides the few hours in the evening when I get home from work we soak up as much time as we can get together. and I am thankful that my husband wants to hang out with me even if im dead tired and just want to snuggle on the couch. (lets face it, I have a cuddly husband as you may have seen on facebook with our dog lol) I'm grateful for his love and support in everything I do. He wants me to reach my dreams and motivates me every single day.
I'm so thankful for the cute little townhouse we live in, no matter how ghetto people think the neighborhood is. I'm thankful for everything I have in my home, my washer and dryer, kitchen full of food, tv, internet, running water, my bed and everything I possibly have. Especially POWER! With the huge wind storm last week, a massive tree fell over onto a truck and took down a power line with it. We had no power all day and night. It was freezing! but needless to say a huge wakeup call! We were definitely not prepared. we dont own one single flashlight, hardly any food storage, somethings in our pantry could probably pass, but still. I've got lots to do to be prepared! I'm just glad no one got hurt. I love my life, my husband, my dog, my career, my religion, my families, the trials I go through and the things I learn each day I awake.

The Newest Crosby Family Member

Why yes, we have a new addition to the family; Meet Benji!

I had my morning off before work that evening and Steven and I had some errands to run. We had been talking about getting a dog for months now and we decided since we had some extra time to kill we would just go take a look at the Humane Society. We've done tons of research online on craigslist trying to find the perfect fit for us and found a few, but they were all such expensive puppies so we decided to look at ALL options before we hand out the chunk of cash for a new friend.

For those of you who may not know, I am a HUGE animal lover. Especially of dogs. I've grown up with them all my life and spent all summer with 2 dogs while Steven was gone. As shown in my previous post with Benz my best friend in Cali. Well that being said, we walk into the Humane Society and go through the doors to the cages full of smaller dogs. As we were walking in Steven said "Babes, I dont think I can do this..I'm gonna want to take them all home they are all screaming pick me!" hahah We both were crushed at how many dogs were there, and wanted to take them all. Well Ok, maybe not all, some were not the cutest dogs Ive ever seen. I spotted Benji and knew I wanted to take him for a walk and see if he would warm up to us as quickly as I fell in love with him the minute I laid eyes on him. We continued through to see some of the bigger dogs to see if there was a medium sized dog out there that would fit for us as I would hate to have a big dog in this house with not enough room for him to run and play. Although I saw the cutest Labradors and German short haired pointer!..someday. We go back and get a leash to take Benji outside. He wasn't super hyper in his cage which I loved, and when we took him out, he was indeed excited to be outside ( I dont blame him after sitting in a cage all day!) But he knew how to sit, he was super soft and loving and chill..aside from being so thrilled to wander around on the grass. I wanted him. His papers say he's good with dogs, cats, and children. perfect! Oh before I go any further his name was originally Dakota. But, I didnt feel it fit him very well, so we changed it to Benji and he's responding to it really well!
We had to run home and get some dog food and bowls before we brought him home to nothing. He was very dirty and his rear needed a little cleaning. They checked him out while we were gone and updated him on his booster shots and cleaned him up. Well When we got back to pick him up, they said "oh we had to shave him because he was pretty matted from not being groomed properly" I thought, oh maybe just a little shave and he still had some fur, NOPE! He is completely shaven to the skin. haha

He got Pigified as Steven would put it. Sadly he is 12-15 lbs overweight! Which is alot for the type of dog and size hes supposed to be. Hes a Standard Schnauzer mix.(we think with poodle because his fur is so white {whats left of it that is}). He is such a chub! Hes got a butt and some hips! I couldnt help but laugh when I first saw him, as does everybody else that meets him. haha I couldnt stand it, I felt bad for the poor guy, So I went and got him a little sweater to cover most of his bareness. And to keep him a little warm since its pretty chilly out. Well here is our sweet chub chub Benji after we got his last shot and microchip! I sure can't wait until his fur grows back like his head. Its so soft and pretty!

A Blessed Sunday.

This past Sunday (10/23/11) was a wonderful day. One I feel we havent had in awhile due to work and military responsibilities. We had a missionary homecoming talk in our ward and had a wonderful sacrament meeting. The Bishop informed us he finally got our records transferred from our previous ward, so we met with him after the first hour. He wanted to get to know us a little bit so we told him where we are from what our life consists of at the moment and what are future hopeful plans are. He then proceeded to extend a calling to me. Primary! I dont know what I will be doing in the primary yet, but I'm thrilled to be around little kiddos every Sunday :) I was a little shocked that Steven and I weren't given the calling like usual. But I guess we are growing up now and will have separate callings in the ward. haha. Bishop told us he had something else in mind for him. We also were able to finally get our temple recommend interviews to be renewed.FINALLY. Well I had to work last minute to help out so we were scheduled to meet with the Stake President or one of his Counselors right after I got off work. I was so excited to finally get these things renewed so we can go to the temple together again. Its been too long and Ive been dying to go! Well Stevens interview took forever. My husbands a talker! But then it came time for me, and it was real short and sweet. Steven was brought back in, and he was then extended a calling! We were not expecting this at all, but he is the new Elders Quorum President. We dont even hardly know anyone in the ward hah. But we feel so blessed to be apart of this wonderful loving and welcoming ward. We know the lord has prepared both Steven and I for this great journey ahead of us as we strive to serve in our new callings. We are so thrilled and couldn't be more excited! Also side note, our Stake President (who is an amazing man!) is part samoan and part tongan...no wonder Steven and him talked for so long! haha.

Life as we know it.

Like I said before, I would update everyone on what the Crosbys are up to nowadays..soo here we go! Once we got home from Missouri (oh how i love that place..) we did a little exploring around SLC and figured out where things were, where freeways took us, it was quite the adventure sometimes. I looked for places to work and couldnt find a thing at first. Then I had interview after interview. nothing. I was so frustrated! Each place I interviewed at said they would call me by a certain day, that day came along...no call. But, after a MONTH, that seemed like eternity, I got a job offer from Macy's! It was for their flex team for cosmetics/fragrances dept. which is basically on call and I make my own hrs by scheduling myself every sunday with the left over hours from the other employees. I was just thrilled to have a job! I went through tedious hrs of training on a computer for a few days and then I was out on the floor. I was so nervous because I had to learn about six completely different make up/ skin care lines! holy smokes. Everyone that works at these counters was so nice and helpful when I first started...they still are :) The first week on the job my manager called me one evening and said there would be a part time position for the Clinique counter and asked if I wanted to do a phone interview with them. Absolutely! Well it was a week ago that I had the interview and the manager of the counter came up to me the first day we were working together and said that I had scored the highest ever on the interview and her boss called her demanding that I worked for the counter because she loved me! I don't quite understand how they would grade me on the interview by the type of questions they asked, but oh well I'll take it! Yesterday my manager made it official and told me they were dying for me to work in Clinique and that I had scored so high as to be a counter manager! Of course I hadn't been working there very long so she said down the road she will talk to me about that position if I wanted. I am so excited to be working for just one make up counter! less stress of having to know everything about the products when people come up and I have no clue about the line. haha. AND it is better pay that what we had expected! double score! So thats ONE of my jobs. My good friend Alli from Paul Mitchell has been working at this salon called Taylor D' Shaw as an assistant and told me she was going to be moving to a stylist doing booth rent and if I was interested she was sure they were going to need an assistant. After a few weeks of not knowing if they needed me yet and what the schedule would be I assisted one Friday at the salon as my "audition" i guess you could say. Well I just found out a few days ago that they want me to stay and work for them part time as well! So I have two part time jobs. Wed, Fri and every other saturday I will be working at the salon assisting and the other days I will be at Macy's! I get the best of both worlds, makeup and hair! I am so excited and feel so blessed to have gotten two wonderful jobs that I love. Nothings better than loving your job!

So that's my life. When I'm not working, I'm experimenting things from Pinterest whether it be cooking or sewing or..anything! Also in case you don't already know this I'm addicted to Zumba, so if i'm not working during the class, I'm at the class! And when I'm not being crafty or working out I'm with my husband on a date or at home playing board games or watching TV. Life is simply wonderful right now! As for Steven what does he do? He works hard in school keeping his grades up and also does a lot of things around the house for me when I get caught up in work like mop the floors, do the dishes and sometimes make me dinner :) Hes a keeper I tell ya!

In other news, we got a new car! My first ever owned vehicle...I'm all grown up now! haha Its a 2008 Ford Escape and I'm loving every minute I drive it. We always name our cars and so when we picked her up (they are always ladies of course) Steven came up with the name Roxy (short for Roxanne). :) I never thought I would get a red car. My favorite color is indeed red but I was never a huge fan of red cars for some reason, but this one I am definitely ok with :) Life is so much easier now that we have both cars. I dont have to worry about if Steven will be home from school on time for me to get to work without being late, or me not getting off work in time to pick him up from school. Our schedules are so opposite one of us was stuck at one place or the other and it was just very inconvenient and we are feeling so blessed in our lives right now.

I think that is all of the new news for now...Enjoy!

P.S. I am SO excited for fall! :)

Summer Recap

Alright so from my last post I put that basically all I did this summer was lay out by the pool and...not much else. In reality, I did have a great few months at home. I will admit I was a little impatient sometimes with sharing a room with my little sister again...but then again..siblings still fight right? haha. I'm so grateful for the wonderful family I have and miss them already. So here's some of what I did this summer in case you didnt follow what I started on facebook with my Project 123 album.(that I failed to complete in the end)

I spent a lot of time with my cousins in Utah while I was finishing school.

A lot of time was spent with this amazing girl in my last days of school.
The girl who got me obsessed with zumba, MaK...I miss zumba with you!
I discovered the most amazing shaved ice place EVER! nothing has beat it.
I reunited with my best friend Joanna from the good ol days :) Miss her!
I packed and moved all of our stuff and packed it into this storage unit!(this isnt what it looked like in the end )
One of the many days I spent with mom and Add at the pool watching these kids in their swim lessons :)
I received many love notes from Addie
We got to spend the night at Uncle Dennis and Auntie Judys house, my favorite. we went on the paddle boat, ate some good food, played with Willie, and Addie got a lil fishing lesson :)
We went to the Flea Market, Denios? lots of yummy food!
I spent a lot of time with these two, painting nails and laughing...this picture makes me laugh at how curious Benz is with Add painting her toes.
We attended a beautiful wedding :)
We met Justin Beiber, maybe caught some Beiber fever this summer..so?
We went to the Orange County Fair!
We were the cooks for Girls Camp this year, a very exhausting but fun week, my moms pretty much amazing..even though she chopped off the tip of her finger :)
We found moms wedding dress!
We had matching shirts and a wonderful 4th of July!
I chopped moms hair off and colored it!..several times :)
Willie G :)
Haha this kid was full of jokes this summer
I attended Miss Placer County Pageant...man did it bring back memories that I REALLY miss!
Family Day in SF, my favorite..love my "orphans"! hah
I flew to SLC to house hunt and went out to dinner with 2 or my beautiful Sister-in-laws!
I did a mini photo shoot with Addie :) Isn't she cute?
Mom, Addie and I had a lil road trip down to So-Cal to visit the inlaws and have a mini vaca. It happened to be the twins birthday! They are all growing up so fast I wish I could see them more often! Here is me with all my adorable neices and nephews :)
I also got to me my newest lil nephew Noah....Hes so precious:)
Oh and this is my new best friend, Benz. He went every where with me that I could take him..I miss him A LOT!
We watched the Bachelorette together..
Played Zelda together..
Went on car rides together..
Hung out in our room....
He kept me good company :)...maybe mercedes did too kinda..

Well, there is a little taste of what my Summer was like without my husband! Pretty dang exciting eh? (nacho quote) On top of all these wonderful events, I got to see almost every new movie that came out thanks to $5 movie tuesdays at our theaters. Also I got introduced to Pinterest and became immediately addicted and still am :) But my husband has no problem with it now because he says, "It gets your mind thinking and you're using your creativity and talents, unlike facebook where you just stalk people.." haha so true. Well hope you enjoyed this picture filled post! I will make another update on what we are currently up to since we've been home..lots of exciting news ;)