Ride the River With

When I was young, I always struggled with knowing who my TRUE friends were. The girls in my grade were always so catty and I spent a lot of time crying or being sad about the way my 'friends' were treating me. I remember coming home from school one day and finding my daddy sitting on the couch waiting for my arrival. He said he had something important to talk to me about. I quickly reviewed my daily actions to make sure I hadn't done anything that would've upset him and I was pretty sure I was off the hook, but the conversation that followed has been something that has stuck with me throughout my life and also a conversation I will be sharing with my kids when the time is right. This is a little of how it went...

Dad ushered me over to the couch and asked me to look up to the ceiling. As I glanced up, my eyes became focused on about 10 rectangular shaped pieces of paper. He continued to explain that they were cheques that were made out for different amounts of ranging from .02 cents to $1000.00. I shot a sly smirk his way and he continued to tell me that he was going to give me one chance to jump up and grab one of the cheques. If I got the $1000.00 cheque on my first try, it was mine. I, of course, didn't believe him, but he assured me he was SERIOUS, which in our family means it is the truth and there's no going back, so I took the challenge! I quickly scanned the ceiling for the winning cheque as visions of my future shopping spree played in my head. I finally zoned in on THE ONE and I leaped like M.J. to the ceiling.

I was pretty sure I had it... I turned it around... 5 cents... :( Disappointment quickly flowed over my face. Dad goes 'You know, I'm pretty confident... I'll give you another try'. So again I leap up... more like Lebron this time and grab another cheque.. I'm pretty sure this one was $2.00. Just when I thought my luck was gone, what does Dad do, but give me ANOTHER try, so up I go and down with my last chance cheque... it was made out for some measly amount like $1.24.

My dad then had me sit down with him as he explained that in our lives, we have the chance to meet many individuals with different values and more often then not, those values are not always measured up to our goal or desire. My wise father explained that many of the so called 'friends' I had at that time in junior high were not horrible friends, but they didn't treat me the way a TRUE friend should. He then had me jump up and grab the rest of the cheques... after a few more jumps I came down with the $1000.00 cheque and a big smile on my face. He then explained that every now and then in our lives, we are blessed to have a $1000.00 friend come into our lives. He reminded me that our family will always be a consistent friend in my life and that if I am patient and practice being a good friend to those around, I will be lucky enough to be blessed with a couple more of my own.

I thought I understood what he meant when I left the conversation, but as I have grown a little older and experienced life a little more, I have gained a strong testimony of this. My dad has always said, 'Find a friend you can RIDE THE RIVER WITH' and I have always remembered and used this saying with my close friends. To me, the river represents our lives. Sometimes the river can be rough with quick turns and sharp boulders poking out of the rapid water that flows down the narrow way. At times the river can be peaceful and flow at a steady pace, but you never know what's around the corner and what peace and a blessing it is to have a friend to help guide and support you through those rough, good and wild times on the river of life.

I have recently gained another friend to RIDE THE RIVER WITH. Her name is Robin and she has become one of my closest friends. We met early in Fall 2010 when we both entered our first year of the Education After Degree Program at Concordia University. We were put in the same group for a project in school and began bonding as friends. It didn't take long for us to realize the similarities we had in both our values, goals, and desires in life. Robin has consistently pushed me to be better every day. When I was feeling down about life or school, she found a way to make me feel like superwoman. She made and continues to make me feel like I can accomplish anything and I know she will be right beside me every step of the way!!!

I got flooded out of the previous house I was living during the school year and you know what Robin did... offered for me to move in with her family and her. She talked to her parents and explained my situation and they welcomed me in their home for the summer with open arms. I feel so blessed! They have been so supportive and kind and I will never forget the humility and selfless service they have shown to me! It's no wonder Robin in such a great individual... she comes from a quality and inspiring home!

Robin is driven!! She works harder than anyone I know. She always gives 120% and doesn't settle for less than she deserves. She does the little extra things that make a significant difference in your life. She has been an amazing help with my wedding plans. Her, along with my family, have kept me partly sane during this wedding prep business. Robin will text me randomly with ideas to help with the wedding! I truly cannot thank her enough. She is beautiful, talented, selfless, kind, funny, and a wonderful wonderful friend!!! It is her birthday today and I wanted to dedicate a little blog to her to remind her that I am so thankful for her friendship! Robin... love you eleventy-four (this is something my family say to each other and it means the very most love you can love someone :))

Happy Happy Birthday to one of my BEST friends!!!! You are AMAZING!!!!

Opportunity

Tonight I got to thinking a little.. reflecting if you will... where has my spiritual desire for growth gone!?!?! Not that I have turned all rebellious and all, but tonight I was sitting on my bed and decided to log onto the lds.org website and check out some of the new mormon messages. I honestly don't remember the last time I logged onto the website and it made me a little sad. My scripture study hasn't been as prime as it should and my prayer really haven't been given a lot of sincerity or thought... they've become more robotic and that ain't cool yo!!

After watching one video on thoughts by new mission presidents, I felt inspired to be better, to serve more, to have more faith in Heavenly Father's plan and to serve those around me more whole-heartedly. I'm embarrassed to say that I've let Satan distract me a little. It is a very subtle change, but it has had an influence on myself. It took one little video to give me this reality check!

So... you are probably thinking... well what are you going to do about it... well...let me tell you! I am going to make effort to read something from an Ensign I choose from the LDS website daily. I remember when I decided to do this in Korea and although at the time I didn't think it was making THAT big of a difference in my life, I WAS happier, I WAS healthier... I WAS closer to my Heavenly Father and it felt amazing!! I don't want to settle for mediocre. I want to strive to be the best me I can, and I know how to do that... it's doing the little spiritual things daily and not becoming distracted by worldly things and thinking our lives are too hectic to spend 10 minutes reading scriptures or praying with real intent. So I make my re-commitment tonight and I am excited about it :)

Life is still great! I have amazing friends who I know love and support me. I have a family who lead by example daily and push me to be better in subtle and at times not so subtle ways :) I know the church is true and I am so thankful for the sacrifices Christ made for me through the atonement so that I can be forgiven for the many sins I have made and will make in the future. I'm thankful for the scriptures and the joy they can bring to one's life. The power in the Book of Mormon is undeniable and I am so thankful for the testimony I have gained and will continue to build on of the scriptures. I am thankful for the temples and the opportunity Dustin and I have to be sealed in the temple in 50 days :) (not that I'm counting haha) I watched a clip on the re-opening of the Hawaii temple and it was so neat to see the joy in the faces of those living there and how relieved and blessed they felt to have it open again! What a gift we have been given to have a temple SOOOO close and to have the opportunity to be in the Lord's house and to feel the protection and strong spirit within! I just simply feel blessed... the end :)

Picnic for Two :)

So the other week, I was sitting here thinking about Dust and my schedule for the summer. You see, we have opposite work schedule and it's made for some challenges for quality time we spend together. I start work in the morning and work till early evening and Dust starts work early afternoon and works till late at night. Most nights we spend together, he gets over to my place around 10:30 ish... sometimes 11:00... well that is past my bedtime, so usually when he gets here, we'll chat about our days, maybe watch a show and then say goodbye. I decided that this was unacceptable and that we needed to be more creative about how we spent our nights. I tried to think of places we could go.... most places are closed at this point... then I thought we could go for some late night strolls... the last thing Dust wants to do at the end of the day is walk around some more :)... so... food was the result...but I decided to be a little creative about it.

I told Dust to not stop somewhere to get food and that I would have something for him when he got over. I worked for hours and hours (ok maybe not that long) to make sure everything was cut, cooked, and set up perfectly and I must say... it turned out pretty stinkin good!

We had a little picnic on my bed, which turned out to be quite a fun night! It still was late and we were both still pretty tuckered, but we had a lot of fun and it was a little more exciting and gave us something to look forward to! Now I just have to continue to find different fun ideas to do after 10 at night... I also need to find a way to be more awake at that time too... no promises for that one... I like my sleep too much!!! :)

Colors, Bridesmaids, Shoes, Dress, Ring, Food....

All of the things in my title, I have been pondering every now and then... mostly to satisfy my father. I know how seriously he takes this wedding thing and I wouldn't want him to be disappointed. I think he'd mostly be impressed with us putting him as our MC... so I'll just move him to the top of that list... oh I should have him sing a solo too.... oh he would just beam with joy to do that in front of everyone... perhaps a choreographed dance to represent mine how he feels about letting his second daughter go...let's see what else can I add to make this the most fulfilling wedding for my dear father... :) hehe I'm actually trying my best to keep daddy out of the planning because he thinks everything is ridiculous and that we should just take off on a trip after the ceremony, which I will admit... is quite tempting some days :)

Let's see what else have I been up to!?!?!? Well I finished up my spring class which was a big relief! It was super busy, but I know I will be soooo thankful when I don't have to take the class next Winter semester! I also finished up doing my SWOOSH basketball boot camps, which I am missing now, but am thankful for the extra time I have now! I met and bonded with some really great kids and we were able to see their growth over the couple of months training with us, so that was pretty satisfying!

I also started selling Scentsy, which I LOVE!!!! (oh that's another thing I can add on my daddy list... get dad to smell and fall in love with all the scents and pick one to be our theme smell for the wedding... :)) I had my launch party this Monday and it was super successful! I made some peanut butter squares and mom's speciality 'sex in a pan' dessert! Both were a hit! I'm hoping to do at least 2-3 more parties this month through other hosts, but haven't booked one yet, so we'll see what happens. By hosting the party, I received $111.00 worth of free product because the sales were so good! Yay for me :)

Dust and I are planning on heading home this weekend to get some pics done and hopefully set up a lil chat meeting with Brenda, Kenz and my mom to get some planning done!! Go team!!! Oh here's a sad story... so we were supposed to be getting my REAL ring this past weekend... but the jewellers called Dust last week and told him the ring wouldn't be in till July 4th... sad day, but it is only a couple weeks away, so I suppose I'll just have to suck it up a lil longer :)

I am still LOVING my job at Bridal Debut and have made some really good friends with the job too!! I am officially facebook friends with one of my brides who cried when she found her dress and was just so dang cute! I always thought it was silly when brides to be cried when they found their dress... I didn't cry, but for some reason when a bride I'm helping gets tears in her eyes, I start to tear up too.. i'm such a baby!! But really it is so fun to see the joy in their face when they feel the most beautiful they ever have!! So fun!!

And that's my life in a nutshell for these last couple weeks! Life is GREAT!!!

What's New... oh not much... just that I'M ENGAGED!!!

It has come time for me to do a little blog again. Something special has happened. Something spectacular! So the story goes like that... Dust and I went to church... after church Dust asked if I wanted to go for a walk on the bridge that goes over the river. I responded that there were a lot of bridges over rivers in Edmonton and wondered which one he had in mind. He replied that he drove past one a couple days before and knew where it was. So after church we got changed and ventured out to find this bridge that Dust wanted to walk over. He started driving and I immediately could tell that he wasn't sure where he was going, so I, very kindly, asked him if I could help him find this bridge and he said he knew where he was going. A few minutes later he pulled into an alley parking lot off of 109th and admitted he may be a little lost, but was pretty sure we were close, so we got out of the vehicle and started towards 109th street.

He pointed to the high level bridge and said "ya see... that bridge"! He could have said the bridge that goes over the sewage water river... but he didn't :) Just as I was about to head to cross the street, he stopped me and said to come this way, he wanted to show me something. Now Dust had been talking about looking at trucks and sharing his desire to buy one maybe, so I thought he was going to show me one of the trucks he wanted to look at. So we started heading south on 109th and after a few steps, he looked over at me with this huge grin on his face and said "can you see it?" I responded "Ummm what am I supposed to be seeing" I looked up in the sky and down on the ground and didn't see a darn thing. Just as I was about to lose my patience and tell him to explain what it was he wanted me to see, I looked up to the Garneau Theatre sign which had some movie's playing and at the bottom read "KRISTEN HILL WILL YOU MARRY ME!" I was speechless... like seriously... speechless :) (that was a first haha)

He turned me sideways and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I nodded my head up and down (remember I was speechless) and took the ring ($1.50 one he got to hold me up till mine came in, which we've ordered and should be here in a couple weeks) and put it on my hand and gave him a big smooch on the lips with my arms wrapped around him :) Just as I was releasing he shot a thumbs up down the street and I looked where he was giving the sign and saw our dear friend, Jenni Peterson, who is doing our photos. He had called her up and asked if she would come and photograph the proposal!! Talk about creative eh!?!? He may have gotten a little help from my very close friend, Robin Norsworthy who I am living with right now :) I was pretty stinking impressed and so incredibly happy!!!!!

Dust and I have quite the history. I had quite a big crush on him in high school even though all the Raymond boys mocked me constantly about it. We hung out a little in our first year of college at LCC and then he headed on his mission to the Philippines. While he was on his mission, Kenzie and I became the best of friends, so when he came home I was hanging around Cardston and the Sheen's house quite a bit. At Christmas time, I was spending the night over at the Sheen's hanging with my bestie and it just so happened that Dust and I had a little cuddle sesh after Kenz had fallen asleep :) I headed back to Edmonton after the holidays and Dust made a trip up to visit to figure out where we stood. I may or may not have shut him down :( but for good reason.. I needed some more life experience :) So off to Korea I went while Dust dated a bunch of goonie girls trying to forget about the best looking, me, of course :)

When I came home from Korea, he was dating a girl named Kristi and I had a man myself. But fate played it's part and soon we were both single again. I made a few trips home throughout the year to visit family and Kenzie and it just so happened that he'd be around. We started hanging out some more and decided to give it another go. The difference with this time, is we were both in it the same amount and loved the time we were spending together. We skyped every night while I was in Edmonton and he down in Lethbridge. It just clicked this time. There's really no explanation, but that is felt exciting, fun, and right! We're having a blast together and are both very excited about our future together. We've had numerous friends and family say things like "It's about time you two got together" and "That makes so much sense, why didn't I think of putting you two together before", so we have a lot of support and love and are thankful for that!

So the date is August 27th, 2011 in the Cardston, Alberta temple! Save the date, cuz it's gonna be an amazingly perfect and stellar day!! :)

Bring On The Sun!!!

Well my update begins the week of my lil bro's wedding. I took off a week from work to come home and spend some time with family, my man, and friends. It turned out being a great week full of fun!!! I drove home Saturday night right after work and got home to Raymond quite late. We spent Sunday afternoon rolling Easter eggs down the coulees and skeet shooting with the Hill and Tolman clan. It was pretty windy, but we didn't mind... we just were enjoying the heck out of spending time with each other.

We also ended up doing a siblings group date where we went bowling and then out to Moxies for dinner. Carson and Dustin, or course, had to top us all with their 'irresistible adjusted outfits' in the beginning and although our team kinda stunk it up, we had a blast!!

Dust had to go back up to Edmonton early to start working with Vivent, so I got to spend more time with my fam prepping for Carson and Shelby's wedding. We had a lot of fun decorating the church for their receptions! It was nice to see family that I hadn't seen in a while and to catch up with some old friends too.

Carson and Shelby's wedding was beautiful! It was a bit rainy on the big day, but it seemed like the rain stopped just when we needed it to which was really nice! Shelby looked absolutely stunning with her hair pinned up in an amazing dress! And Carson looked just like the stud he's always been, but he had a bit more sparkle in his eyes! I'm so happy and excited for their future together and Carson and Shelby Hill (sounds so cute eh!?!?) haha

My life up here in Edmonton has been BUSY!!! I have two jobs right now and am also taking a spring class. So this is how my schedule goes Mon-Tues, Thurs-Sat I work at Bridal Debut from 9:30-5:00, Mon and Wed nights I have class from 6-9, Tues, Thurs and Fri nights I do basketball boot camps from 6-8:30 with SWOOSH Canada....whew. I actually really enjoy how busy I am right now. I have Wednesday daytime off, so it's nice to catch up on some sleep and do random errands that need to get done. Dustin usually comes over a couple nights a week and then we spend Sunday together. I'll be excited to have this spring course done so I can do more basketball camps and it will definitely clear up my schedule a little better for next year too.

Yesterday I had an appointment with a specialist for my ankle, which has been having little spasms in it and I recently found out I have a evulsion fracture in my ankle too, which may be the cause of all the pain and discomfort I've been experiencing these past few weeks. Long story short, I'm getting scheduled for an MRI and hopefully am on the path to getting surgery on BOTH of my ankles in the (hopefully) next year or so. Nothing is for sure yet, but I'm looking forward to the idea of having stronger ankles again, so I don't have to be looking down every time I walk to watch out for those baby pebbles that cause me to sprain my ankle on a regular basis!

This is my next new hair color.... be prepared ya'll!!

I'm really enjoying both my jobs and living with the Norsworthy family and feel so blessed that they opened their home to me. Robin and I are having a blast together doing assignments with our spring class and both working at Bridal Debut. She's amazing and has been a great friend this past year! I look forward to more good times and chats with her throughout the years!

Where To Start!?!?!?

I know... it's been too long this time. I have been reminded by my dad numerous times in the past month about how I have shafted my blog. My excuse earlier was that I was in practicum and had zero time to sit around playing with my blog. My schedule went like this... wake up 5:30 a.m go to the gym come home at 730 and shower... got to my school... teach till 330, meet with my cooperating teachers till 4-430, go home and eat then start lesson planning for my next day, and go to bed. Some nights I also had fhe to plan and go to and tues and thurs I had the basketball camp I'm working with from 6-8, so it was a busy few weeks. After my practicum... well no excuse, I just haven't sat down at my computer long enough to blog about my life, which has been pretty fun this past month or so.

My practicum was great!! It was super busy and gave me a pretty good idea of the time and effort that is going to be going in my first few years of being a new teacher! I grew to really love my kids and the teachers I worked with and my evaluations with them went really well! They both offered to write me reference letters which will really help in my interviews later on. I have applied to do my 9-week practicum next fall in Raymond and I'll hear back about that at the beginning of June, so I'll cross my fingers for that because I feel like it would be a great opportunity when that is where I want to be teaching anyway... in a small town somewhere.

We had spring break in the middle of my practicum and I had a blast during the break. I got to catch up with some of my girls and even scooped up a boyfriend too :) I know, ya'll want details... the will come later :) Kara Leavitt, Jen Salekin, Jena Bolen and I all got together and had a little lunch party together, which was delicious and a lot of fun! Kara hosted the party and the meal still makes my mouth water when I think about it. We had bbq'd salmon with mixed steamed vegetables and a salad.

I also had my first take trying out snowmobiling and I LOVED it!! I went with Dustin Sheen (my man :)) and his little bro, Riley. I was a little hesitant in the beginning trying to get a feel of just how it worked, which way I should lean and other little tricks to being a professional snowmobiler :) Dust and Riley, of course, were pros and were taking jumps and riding on one ski... it was pretty fun to watch. We had a great time and by the time we got back to the truck, I felt pretty comfortable standing up and leaning side to side.

When I got back to Edmonton, I was welcomed home with room that was beginning to flood. My box spring was soaked and it quickly spread 3/4 of our room by mid week, so I spent the next two weeks trying to move Kait and my stuff upstairs out of the flooded room, find a new place to live, contact the tenant/landlord advisory board, and health services while also finishing up the last two weeks of my practicum.... whew... it was quite the two weeks! Our landlord was not helpful at all. His response to my phone call letting him know about the flood was 'ya the room floods every year and unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it"... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! So my response to him was to call the tenant/landlord advisory board and get the health services inspector to come check out his dungeon house. Let's just say he should've been more helpful when I first called. He's pretty much going to have to redo the whole house in order to rent it out again. Serves him right... and he's a freakin radiologist... so he definitely has the money to fix the place up so it's liveable... anyway... I have been very blessed to have grown close with a couple girls in my ed program and one of them, Robin... has adopted me. Her family offered for me to move in with them for the summer without paying any rent. They refused the money I offered them and said my only job was to make sure the milk and bread were always available in the house :) So sweet of them! They have been so welcoming and kind and I feel really comfortable at their home.

I got a job at 'Bridal Debut' as a consultant... meaning I pretty much pick out dresses for brides to try on and help them pick out jewelry and shoes if they want too. I still have a lot to learn. I've never been the girlie type who knows all the designers and fittings of different dresses, so I'm learning a lot there :) Its been really fun and I've already picked out 'THE dress' for a few brides to be.