General Conference!

I'm watching General Conference right now with Brooke and Taylor.  We're watching it live on www.lds.org - second session of the day with one hour left!
This morning's session had some exciting news!  There will be a SECOND temple built in Provo!  Last year the Provo Tabernacle burned down and it's going to be rebuilt as a temple!  That is incredible! 
The other new temple locations are as follows:
Durban, South Africa
Kinshasa, Congo
Star Valley, WY
Barranquilla, Colombia
Paris, France
There have been some wonderful and inspiring talks given this morning and afternoon!  I've noticed there has been quite a focus toward the youth of the church.  As well as priesthood and temple ordinances, family history work, raising families, the importance of scripture study, spiritual priorities, and wise time management.  Richard G. Scott was the first speaker this morning and I really enjoyed his talk about scriptures and their importance.  He said that we can face difficult challenges using the scriptures and that they are a type of handbook for God's children.  They bring not only peace, hope, and restoration, but also physical healing.  I liked a question he asked: "Do you use ALL of the standard works, including the Old Testament?"  He also emphasized the importance of charity and that without charity, we have nothing.

After this conference I'm going to get a hair cut.  I'm looking forward to that - it's time for a new 'do'!  I'm going to have a fun colorful extension thrown in as well.  I hope it turns out alright!  :)
After my hair cut, Brooke and I are going to my place in Provo to hang out while Taylor is at Priesthood session in Orem with family.  Then once that is over, he'll come pick up Brooke!  And by the time I get home, Michael will most likely be finished with work at the BYU Testing Center.  Bless him, he has to miss both sessions today while he works, poor thing!  He'll catch up with them online though.  We came up with the most perfect Family Home Evening plan the other day!  There are 4 main sessions of conference - 2 Saturday, 2 Sunday, as well as the Relief Society and Priesthood conferences.  And there are 4 weeks a month, and sometimes 5 - so we're correlating those sessions with weeks.  Each Family Home Evening [Monday nights], we will listen to and discuss a conference talk from the most recent conference.  If it's the first Monday of the month, it'll be from the first session [Saturday morning], and if it's the 3rd Monday, than 3rd session [Sunday morning], etc.  And on the occasion of a 5th Monday, we will alternate a talk from Priesthood or Relief Society!  And that way we will be able to utilize these talks and keep them fresh in our minds even after conference.

Case File: Alexis vs. Klamath Falls

AKA: Why I am Moving back to Rexburg!

Premise: Over the past couple of weeks, I have been considering various options involving living somewhere else. For a little while I was thinking it would be way fun to live in the SLC area and be able to visit my BYU-I friends occasionally. But, for some reason or another, I just never really felt like it was a good idea. So I thought, “why not live in Rexburg?!” I love it there, I have TONS of friends, I can walk anywhere in town, so while at work I generated a “Pros & Cons” for staying here vs. moving to Rexburg. Here’s how it went:

Tulelake

Pros:

☼ I have no living expenses here, other than gas.

☼ I have a job at Staples.

☼ I can always be around Mom & Dad!

☼ GOOD FOOD!

Cons:

₪ The gas is killing my bank account!

₪ I spend a lot of time commuting back and forth to work.

₪ The people here are gross and grouchy. That makes me sad.

₪ There is nothing to do here and no one to hang out with.

₪ The occasional getting home from work at 10:30pm, then waking up at 4:00am to go back to work makes me feel like a corpse. It can’t be healthy, lol.

Staples @ unnatural hours of the morning.

Rexburg

Pros:

☼ #1 Pro is the Rexburg Temple is right there - I can go all the time!

☼ I have a job available there.

☼ I’ll be around thousands of young LDS people! Yay!

☼ I have friends there and there are fun things to do.

☼ Once I’m there, I’ll essentially have zero transportation expenses!

Con:

₪ I’ll have to be self-sustaining, pay rent, food, utilities, and any other expenses.

So, as soon as I situate a place to live, and finish out my scheduled hours at Staples (I handed in my memo of notification this morning), I’ll be moving! Hurrah! I might spend a day or so in Utah on the way back up there. I like Utah! And I love my sisters who live there!!!

Has anyone been watching the Democratic National Convention stuff?! What do you think about Joe Biden! Will he help or hurt Obama’s campaign? I certainly don’t think he can be considered an asset, in my opinion. But that’s good in relation to my point of view!

I probably have to go to bed soon-ish. I was sooo tired this morning! I was so unbelievably happy when I got to go home! This was my 9^th day in a row or working without a day off in between. And I’ll continue to work every day until Sunday! Twelve consecutive days of non-stop work! Is that legal?! Jk!

Brooke and Taylor apparently had a heart-wrenching anxiety yesterday! They tell me that their kitten “Hector” is turning into a teenager and prefers to spend time out with his neighborhood cat friends instead of at home! In fact, last night he stayed out ALL NIGHT, causing Brooke and Taylor unbelievable distress and grief! They were soooo concerned! I think they probably secretly cried about it. They walked around the neighborhood for HOURS, calling his name and jingling his cat toy, but no sign of his presence! They hoped that he wasn’t stuck in a tree or found by people who wanted a new pet...lol. Taylor even got up at 4:00am and walked all the way to the Trax station, searching desperately for their missing pet, and still no sign! They were so distraught, they couldn’t sleep, they couldn’t stop worrying about their beloved cat! Then Taylor had to get ready for work, he looked outside – still no Hector. This must have been the saddest day of their lives up to this point! Then Taylor came back moments later, with none other than Hector in his arms! Brooke exuberantly shouted his name and held him in her arms! No words could possibly describe the feelings that attended their reunion! But Brooke says “he’s sooo grounded! No playing outside anymore unless I’m out with him!” Poor cat. They treat him like a human. Did you know that he sleeps in their bed with them almost every night?! And uses a pillow with them and sometimes the covers!

So, enough about Hector. He’s just a spoiled cat anyways.

Tonight we had a delicious dinner (as always!) Mom made some awesome salad with tomatoes from the garden! AND fermented carrot stuff! It was lacto-something, preserved with salt, whey, and ginger! It was good! And gingery! Dad and I got to make fun of Michelle Obama too (no offense to Obama supporters). But, it’s inevitable, she does a very strange thing with her mouth ALL the time! Especially when she’s unhappy about something. I tried to find a picture of it, but none sufficiently depicted the true essence of that priceless expression of hers! If you’ve seen her on TV for any amount of time, you know what I’m talking about!!!

Peace out!