Let's play catch up!! 2010 in one nice post!!!

2010 started out with me still being unemployed, in school, STILL a teacher in the Primary, and STRESSED about financial matters!!! But... I was finally the proud owner of a Bachelors degree in Psychology!!! December of 2009 I had finally completed all the requirements and received my degree!!! What an accomplishment for me!! In May, I read a friend's Facebook post about a Scenty party she was having at her house (in Montana) and I decided on the spot that I could go to Montana if I wanted to!!! I talked to Marcia about having some of her kids come up to Logan for a visit and told her that I wanted to go to Montana and if the kids came we would go to Yellowstone (I've never been). So the first weekend of June, John (my brother), Monica (niece), Shannon (niece), Landon (nephew), and I packed up my car, programmed the GPS (Sean) and were on our way.
However, a couple of things may have thwarted our trip. First, the day before we left I became sick with a cold; which only progressed as the trip went on!! Second, the weather was rainy and wet!! Once we reached Idaho I thought we were going to float away; the rain was coming down so heavy!!!

We debated about skipping Yellowstone and going right on to Montana, but in the end we decided to chance it going to Yellowstone and right when we arrived at the West end entrance of Yellowstone...the rain stopped!!!

Yellowstone was fantastic!! We didn't see very many animals though...except the bison!!

We spent about four hours driving through Yellowstone looking for animals, seeing the waterfalls, sitting in traffic since they were doing road work, and generally having a GREAT time!! As we left Yellowstone, I stopped to take a picture of the exit signJust as we were driving under the arch, the rain started again!!! How lucky we were to have such a great time without worrying about the rain!! After Yellowstone, we drove to Bozeman, Montana where we stayed the night at the Come On Inn!! Catchy isn't it!!! :)

The next day we drove to Harrison where I got to visit with my friend Jamie Taylor!! It was so fun to see her again since it had been 13 YEARS since we had seen each other. Thanks Jamie!!!
We then drove back to Logan and collapsed from exhaustion!!! The very next day we drove to Hooper because my niece Taylor Michelle was being blessed and Monica, Shannon, and Landon were going back home.
In July, John (who was living with me while he goes to school) and I had to move out of the mobile home we were living in. Luckily, we only had to move across the street and around the corner to Aggie Village!! Man, a person really finds out how much stuff they have when they have to move!!! I have decided that packing to move is THE WORST!!! Thanks to Bobbi and Aunt Luie and Uncle Doug for helping out!!! John and I lived in 17 Aggie Village Apt E for 5 months; until December.
Which brings us to the present and all caught up for 2010!!! On December 17, 2010 I completed all of my class work to receive my Masters in Family and Human Development!!! Despite my best efforts and having applied for over 100 jobs and having several interviews, I remained unemployed through the whole year of 2010 which added STRESS, FRUSTRATION, and a dab of DRAMA to the events of the year!!! :D And after many days and nights of crying, praying, and pleading with Heaven that there could be an alternative...I moved back to my parents home in Payson.
However, a bright spot in all of my sadness was my friend Steph calling me and asking if I would want to go with her to Las Vegas to pick up a friend from the airport. Of course I said YES!!!! So December 22, Steph and I drove down to Las Vegas and stayed at the Excalibur hotel. Now, my feels of Vegas can not be adequately expressed in this blog post, so I will just say 'Sin City' is an accurate nickname!!! Despite my dislike of Vegas, we had a TON of fun!!! I mean, where else in the world can you meet an orange Santa??

To be fair, in the morning light, the Santa on the left wasn't as orange (skin tone, tan) as he was the night before!!! Before we left on our trip, Steph had decided that we should go down the night before Leslie's flight came in so that we didn't get lost trying to find the airport!!! In a HILARIOUS twist of fate, the Excalibur is roughly a 1/2 mile from McCarran airport and we could see and hear the airplanes coming in and taking off from our hotel room window!!! Steph and I joked all night that we should call Leslie and tell her to walk toward the Excalibur and we would just met her somewhere!!! But Steph and I decided to be nice and on the 23rd we drove to the airport and picked up Leslie. I realized that you know you have a true friend when you haven't seen a person in about 10 YEARS and you can pick up right where you left off!!! We went to New York, New York and rode the roller coaster where I thought my head was going to fall off from banging side to side!!!(they need softer padding for the head and shoulder rests!!), then M&M world (not as exciting as I had hoped :D) and the Stratosphere where Leslie and I rode the INSANITY!! I have to say that that was the HIGHLIGHT of my trip to Vegas!!! It was so fun, we had to ride it a second time!!!

We then went to the Luxor and walked through an Artifact Exhibition of the Titanic. What an awesome experience to read about the people on the Titanic and to see actual items that have been recovered from the wreckage!!! We even got to see an ACTUAL side piece of the Titanic, there was still glass in the portholes and you could see pieces of the beams where it was riveted to the rest of the ship. On Christmas Eve day, we drove back to Utah!! Even though I have a strong dislike for Vegas, those three days were a MUCH needed rest and relaxation vacation!!! Thanks Steph and Les!!!! I had TONS of fun!!!
So...as 2010 comes to an end, I am forced to reflect on the good and the bad that has occurred over the past 12 months!! I am truly proud of myself for completing a Masters degree and I am most grateful for the WONDERFUL, AMAZING family and friends that I have been blessed with!! I continue to be unemployed which is currently the BAIN of my existence, but I look forward with tentative hope to 2011 and the adventures that the future holds!!!