Latest Craft Project, etc.

I'm sitting here waiting for Ryan, Aubrey & co. to arrive at our house and thought I might as well do some blogging. I took today and tomorrow off work. Tonight was Grandma's viewing. I chose not to go. Honestly, I'm sure Grandma would not have cared if I were there or not. She would have probably rather not had a viewing. There will be a viewing before the funeral tomorrow, so I will say goodbye then. And that will be plenty hard. I only want to have to do it once.

Tonight I made cute headbands for the nieces using buttons. (I got the idea from pinterest, of course.)

Also, I got a beautiful picture of Christ from Seagull Book today for $20. I'm really excited about it.

That's all for now. More updates to come.

God is in Control

This is something that's been on my mind this past week and now more so that my Grandma passed away yesterday.

My grandma was a widow for 14 1/2 years. She was lonely. She wanted to die and expressed that several times. But the Lord kept her here for a long time. (She was 90 years old)

Yesterday she finally took her last breath. And I bet she was more than happy.

When we step back and look at the whole picture we can see that we really have little control over many things about life. God has his purposes, but we may not discover them until the next life.

God has control of when we come to this earth and when we leave it and, honestly several other aspects of our lives in between those two events. It's hard for me to understand that some people don't believe this. How can you possibly explain the miracle of birth or death without faith in our creator?

It has been said that "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." How true that is.

I'm just so grateful for my knowledge that there is more to life than what we are experiencing now. I don't know all the answers, but God does. He has a plan. It's called the plan of salvation. I know who I am, where I came from and where I'm going.

Of course, this life was not meant to be easy. I think it's a life-long process to trust that God is in control. It's called faith. It makes us stronger.

We're here to learn, grow, and become what our Father in Heaven wants us and needs us to become.

Project at Work

I've recently taken over a weekly e-mail project at work. Members of the Chamber send me their announcements, events, press releases, etc and I post them in an e-mail and send it out to 800+ people every week. It's nice because we have a program called "Constant Contact" that has e-mail templates already made. This project is great resume material.

While there are many ups and downs with my job, which I can't really get into here, when I step back and see the whole picture I realize how blessed I am. I actually am using my degree in several ways at my job. I'm at a great spot to be networking with others to help me get my career where I'd like it to be. I have a car. I am making payments on my student loans. I'm saving for my future.

It's easy to get caught up in what we don't have, but when we take a step back we realize how very blessed we are!

Look What I Got!

My good friend Nicole just got back from Scotland and Ireland and brought this back for me. I wonder if it's called "clotted" cream fudge because it clogs your arteries?! Ha ha. Anyway, I'm jealous. I hope to go visit those cool places someday.

On another note- I have some fun stuff coming up and am really excited! My mission "mom," (trainer) her husband and their daughter are coming into town this week. I have a former roommate coming into town this week as well, and am hoping we get to see each other. This weekend I'm going to the Manti temple pageant with my ward. Next weekend I'm going to the Lehi Round-up rodeo (yeehaw!) with my ward. The weekend after that I am going to the Malloy's cabin... Kelley and co are coming into town!

I love summer time! Wish I didn't have to work so much (kind of jealous of teachers right now), but at least I still get to do some fun things.

"Do More of What You Love"

I saw a pin on Pinterest a while back that said, "Do more of what you love (or makes you happy...something to that effect)." I've thought about that a lot. And, I've decided I need to do more of what I love. That includes photography. So, I've gone ahead and created a Facebook page for my photography business in efforts that I will get more photo jobs. Somehow I'll make time for them :). My gift of photography is a blessing from Heavenly Father and it makes me happy. For a long time I've been scared to put myself out there, but I'm just going to do it. I finally have the resources (photoshop, a car, and an SLR). So, please, feel free to "like" my page! I have a maternity photo shoot coming up soon, so be on the look out for those pics. :)

https://www.facebook.com/#!/CarrieCoxPhotography

More Busyness = Less Blogging

Well, life has been busy... as usual! On Friday, my work hosted a golf tournament. It is held every year to raise money for breast cancer prevention. I had to be at the golf course at 6 a.m. I was in charge of all of the money. It was crazy. We made thousands of dollars.

Side note- I got really sunburnt. I've never played golf in my life (other than mini-golf), but after watching those golfers on Friday, I began to think maybe it's something I should look into. It seems pretty relaxing. I hear it's an expensive sport though.

Work was crazy busy leading up to the tournament, as you can probably imagine. By the end of the week I was exhausted!

I'm still trying to figure out how to organize my life. It's comforting though, after having talked to a few people. They told me it took a while to adjust to working full-time. One person explained that it's like spinning plates- when one area of your life needs more attention you give that "plate" a spin. I guess that's how it's going to have to be. I have all of these great ambitions- start my own photography business, travel the world, lose weight, fulfill my calling, be actively involved in my ward, have a social life, spend time with family. But, there's only one of me and 24 hrs in the day. I have SO much more respect for the working parent now, especially working moms. I don't know how in the world they do it. They are superheroes. It's hard enough doing this as a single person with no kids.

So, that's life as I know it lately!

Stewart Falls- Minus the Falls :(

Early this afternoon I went hiking with a few members of my ward. (It was actually a stake hike, but I was with just a few people.) We were going on a easy hike up to Stewart Falls. On my way to the parking at the trailhead, I got lost. I ended up driving 5 miles up the mountain. Thankfully, when I found where I was supposed to be, I found some people I knew. We got hiking and were SO close to the falls (like 1 minute away), when we were told we had to go back. I was SUPER bummed. But, a guy had climbed up the falls and fell. It was really sad. Turns out, he died. :( I am SO glad I wasn't at the Falls when it happened. I honestly think I got lost so I wouldn't be there at that time. I've seen enough tragedy lately. I don't know what the deal is. I guess I really need to learn to be grateful for the gift of life! A few of us were chatting with some girls from the guy's ward. They were really shaken up (understandably so). Turns out their ward encompasses Campus Plaza, where I used to live. It's really sad. Once again, I've learned the lesson to not do stupid things! My thoughts and prayers are with all who were affected by today's tragedy; especially the guy's family.

What's Up...

Sometimes I get in this cleaning mode and I start cleaning every thing. Well, that was tonight. I WAS going to go to the temple. But, I drove over there only to see the gates closed. It is closed for two weeks. So, I came home and the cleaning started with my car. I vacuumed the inside and washed the outside. Then, I came inside and vacuumed a couple of rooms and hallways. Then, I took out the trash. And finally, I took a bubble bath and am going to paint my nails. It's actually been really relaxing! It feels good to get all of that done!

Obviously, my life hasn't been too exciting lately if I'm blogging about my Friday night cleaning experience. Lol. Tomorrow I am planning on going on a stake hike up to Stewart Falls, so that should be fun.

I got to spend a little time with my sister and my niece and nephew this week. They're adorable. Also, I have a new little niece, whom I can't wait to meet. She's in AZ and I'm hoping to make a trip out there sometime in the coming months.

So, that's life lately!