Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A Crazy Little Thing Called Love
9:54 PM
Just a few of my favorite engagement pictures. Definitely not all of them. But a few. Enjoy. I know I did. :)
P.S. Only one of these pics was on our wedding announcement. Yes. I did that on purpose. Cuz I'm so clever and sneaky.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Ellen Jackson
10:01 AM
Most of you will remember that I went to Texas for two and a half weeks at the beginning of June. I did not dedicate a post to the trip, though I wish I would have, because of other things going on. Needless to say, I have been slacking quite a bit in the blogging department. So it goes, I guess. I will try to get better, though with getting married in less than a month, I can make no promises til after that.
This post is super special. Tuesday evening, my mother-in-law Ellen Jackson passed away. She has been battling cancer for a number of years and was doing magnificently. When we saw her in June, she was very ill. She spent most of her time in bed. However, her spirit was strong and fighting and I learned so much from her in that brief time I was able to spend with her. She was an incredible woman and I am so so grateful for her and all that she passed on to her children - especially Best Friend. I am sad that I did not get to spend more time with her here on this earth, but I am grateful for Eternal Families and the belief I have that I will have the opportunity to get to know her better at a later time.
For now, I will know her mostly through her son - and that is wonderful miracle and blessing in and of itself.
We love and will miss you, Momma Jackson. Thank you for your wonderful care and influence. Thank you for allowing me into your home and to be a part of your family. I can't wait to see you again and be able to spend more time with you. It will be a happy day indeed. Thank you for your son and the wonderful man he is. Until we meet again, we Love you.
--
Ellen Jackson
April 26, 1953 -- July 5, 2011
--
Ellen Phillips Jackson, 58, and mother of 11 children, passed away Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at home in Woodway. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, July 8, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7201 Viking Drive, in Waco. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd.
Ellen served in many church capacities in music, teaching, and at various times and on many occasions as a leader of children, youth, and adults. In recent years she substitute taught at Midway ISD, particularly enjoying working with the special education students.
Ellen is survived by her husband of 37 years Lawrence, 60, of Woodway; her mother, LaRue Phillips Pack of Idaho; brothers and a sister Brent, Ray, Paul, Wayne, Vaughn and Nancy; her 11 children, Heather (Allen) Shutt of Greenville, Lorraine (Jack) Starks of Waco, David (Chelsea) of Dallas, Sarah (Matt) Svedin of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Eric (Callie) of Dallas, William (Rebecca) of Austin, Rebecca (Travis) Woodsworth of McGregor, Mary (Luke) Mott of Waco, Daniel of Provo, Utah, Mark who is serving a two-year church mission in Rancagua, Chile, and Matthew of Woodway; and 18 grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the LDS Philanthropies Humanitarian Aid Fund are welcomed.
( http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/ )
This post is super special. Tuesday evening, my mother-in-law Ellen Jackson passed away. She has been battling cancer for a number of years and was doing magnificently. When we saw her in June, she was very ill. She spent most of her time in bed. However, her spirit was strong and fighting and I learned so much from her in that brief time I was able to spend with her. She was an incredible woman and I am so so grateful for her and all that she passed on to her children - especially Best Friend. I am sad that I did not get to spend more time with her here on this earth, but I am grateful for Eternal Families and the belief I have that I will have the opportunity to get to know her better at a later time.
For now, I will know her mostly through her son - and that is wonderful miracle and blessing in and of itself.
We love and will miss you, Momma Jackson. Thank you for your wonderful care and influence. Thank you for allowing me into your home and to be a part of your family. I can't wait to see you again and be able to spend more time with you. It will be a happy day indeed. Thank you for your son and the wonderful man he is. Until we meet again, we Love you.
--
Ellen Jackson
April 26, 1953 -- July 5, 2011
--
Ellen Phillips Jackson, 58, and mother of 11 children, passed away Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at home in Woodway. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, July 8, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7201 Viking Drive, in Waco. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd.
Ellen served in many church capacities in music, teaching, and at various times and on many occasions as a leader of children, youth, and adults. In recent years she substitute taught at Midway ISD, particularly enjoying working with the special education students.
Ellen is survived by her husband of 37 years Lawrence, 60, of Woodway; her mother, LaRue Phillips Pack of Idaho; brothers and a sister Brent, Ray, Paul, Wayne, Vaughn and Nancy; her 11 children, Heather (Allen) Shutt of Greenville, Lorraine (Jack) Starks of Waco, David (Chelsea) of Dallas, Sarah (Matt) Svedin of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Eric (Callie) of Dallas, William (Rebecca) of Austin, Rebecca (Travis) Woodsworth of McGregor, Mary (Luke) Mott of Waco, Daniel of Provo, Utah, Mark who is serving a two-year church mission in Rancagua, Chile, and Matthew of Woodway; and 18 grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the LDS Philanthropies Humanitarian Aid Fund are welcomed.
( http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/ )
Friday, July 1, 2011
JUNE-lites
10:27 AM
JUNE:
1. Saw the suspension bridge in Waco, Texas. Wow it was cool.
5. Happy Birthday to my Dad!!! Love him!
5. Happy Birthday to my Dad!!! Love him!
6. Called on an apartment. Did a wedding registry at Wal-mart. It took three hours! It was really really long, but actually quite fun.
7. Made breakfast & cookies & dinner. Yummy. Worked on my flowers - got to see my bouquet and Daniel's boutineere. They look awesome!
7. Made breakfast & cookies & dinner. Yummy. Worked on my flowers - got to see my bouquet and Daniel's boutineere. They look awesome!
8. Drove to Austin, Texas to see Daniel's brother and register at Macy's - also a great experience and lots of fun. I loved it. We also got the first draft of our wedding announcement (we did them online since we were in Texas and the girl doing them was in Utah). Yay!
9. Went to the Dr. Pepper museum. Did you know Dr. Pepper was invented in Waco? I sure didn't. It was awesome.
11. Flew from Texas home to Salt Lake City.
12. Got to see our new apartment - and we LOVE it!
18. Drove to Provo and ran errands with Best Friend. Then drove back to Vernal so I could be there for the final dress of 'The Wizard of Oz'.
20. Opening night for 'The Wizard of Oz'.
24. Received our announcements in the mail. They are awesome.
25. Best Friend came to visit. Moved lots of stuff out of my room. Crazy! Had a great weekend together. Just like always. :)
28. Happy Birthday to Megan! She is 10. Wow. I can't believe it.
29. Packed up everything in my room except stuff that I still need. It is so weird that it is so empty... especially cuz there are no more boxes in the closet or under the beds.
What a great month! I will probably blog more once the play is over and life slows down a little... Or maybe I will wait til I'm super crazy busy again. Go figure that that is when I have the most time for everything. Haha. So it goes. But I promise to be back soon. If nothing else, with a link to a NEW blog, one for Best Friend & I! Woot. :)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
MAY-lites
11:02 AM
MAY:
1. Moved to Vernal. It was quite possibly one of the hardest things that I've ever done. But the right thing.
2. Started work at Sunburst Day Care for my (can you believe it?!) fourth summer. Wow. I can't believe how long it's been. ALSO had my first meeting with the production staff for 'The Wizard of Oz'. It went great.
5. Rehearsals for 'The Wizard of Oz' began. Read through. Long, but necessary.
6. Started choreography for the show. Began at the beginning with the munchkins. What a fun and crazy group of kids! (There are twenty between the ages of 6 and 12.)
7. Best Friend came to Vernal! We went to see sister in 'Nunsense' at the high school. She played the character Sister Amnesia and was the best part of the show. The best part of that? I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. I'm being very serious. She was incredible.
14. Drove to Provo and GOT A WEDDING DRESS! Happy. :) Took a STATS test. Met up with Best Friend, then went to Lagoon with Best Friend and the family. It was a great day.
20. Got extremely sick. Like, extremely extremely.
24. Last night of choreography rehearsals for 'The Wizard of Oz'. Finished all the dances and cleaned them - they looked great.
25. Left Vernal at 5 am. Took Final STATS test in Provo at 8 am. Errands with Best Friend in Provo. Hopped on a plane bound for Dallas, Texas at 5 pm. Arrived in Dallas that night!
May 26 - May 31: Spent time in Dallas and Waco meeting all of Best Friend's family. Met all of his siblings (minus one serving an LDS mission in Chile) and nieces and nephews. Saw some of the sights and planned more of the wedding. All-in-all: a FANTASTIC time.
Super sorry for not posting more! Go figure that summer time would be more busy than school time. Seriously. I work from 8:30 til 6:30, go to play practice from 7 til 10, then go to bed and sleep from 11 til 7. Phew! But it's been great. I love it. We are in Texas til June 11th. I'll try to post more when we get back.
Signing out.
Me.
20. Got extremely sick. Like, extremely extremely.
24. Last night of choreography rehearsals for 'The Wizard of Oz'. Finished all the dances and cleaned them - they looked great.
25. Left Vernal at 5 am. Took Final STATS test in Provo at 8 am. Errands with Best Friend in Provo. Hopped on a plane bound for Dallas, Texas at 5 pm. Arrived in Dallas that night!
May 26 - May 31: Spent time in Dallas and Waco meeting all of Best Friend's family. Met all of his siblings (minus one serving an LDS mission in Chile) and nieces and nephews. Saw some of the sights and planned more of the wedding. All-in-all: a FANTASTIC time.
Super sorry for not posting more! Go figure that summer time would be more busy than school time. Seriously. I work from 8:30 til 6:30, go to play practice from 7 til 10, then go to bed and sleep from 11 til 7. Phew! But it's been great. I love it. We are in Texas til June 11th. I'll try to post more when we get back.
Signing out.
Me.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
APRIL-lites
10:34 AM
APRIL:
2. General Conference! Each session at a different house. It was great fun. :)
3. General Conference! Each session (again) at a different house.
8. Passover date w/ Best Friend.
13. Last day of classes for Winter 2011 semester at BYU. wa-BAM.
18. Watched 'The Tale of Despereaux' for the first time. LOVED it!
20. Gave Best Friend his ring. Untraditional? Yes. Very incredibly awesome and exciting? Very very Yes!
21. Computer got sick and died. Sorta.
22. Double date night to Five Alls w/ the parents! A marvelous time.
23. Easter Egg Hunt w/ the family. Best Friend's first time. He had a good one. So did I.
26. Decided to move to Vernal. Very stressful decision. Very hard to make. But definitely the best decision to make. *sigh* Summer always goes fast, though, so that's a good thing. :)
27. Drove Sister #1 back and forth between Spanish Fork and Provo three times both ways (six total). WOAH. Stressful. But fun.
28. Worked at Women's Conference. 6-8 am: made salads. 8-9 am: made rolls. 9-12 pm: cut and delivered brownies. 12-6pm: sold Kettle Corn. A really long and stressful and boring day. Oh well. Best Friend helped make it better.
28. Worked at Women's Conference. Cashiered from 8 am to 3 pm. Much better than the day before. Date night to Trafalga for mini-golfing. SO fun.
30. Took engagement pictures!!! Oh. It was so so so so fun. :) I'm very excited. Movie & dinner & a great time with Best Friend.
2. General Conference! Each session at a different house. It was great fun. :)
3. General Conference! Each session (again) at a different house.
8. Passover date w/ Best Friend.
13. Last day of classes for Winter 2011 semester at BYU. wa-BAM.
18. Watched 'The Tale of Despereaux' for the first time. LOVED it!
20. Gave Best Friend his ring. Untraditional? Yes. Very incredibly awesome and exciting? Very very Yes!
21. Computer got sick and died. Sorta.
22. Double date night to Five Alls w/ the parents! A marvelous time.
23. Easter Egg Hunt w/ the family. Best Friend's first time. He had a good one. So did I.
26. Decided to move to Vernal. Very stressful decision. Very hard to make. But definitely the best decision to make. *sigh* Summer always goes fast, though, so that's a good thing. :)
27. Drove Sister #1 back and forth between Spanish Fork and Provo three times both ways (six total). WOAH. Stressful. But fun.
28. Worked at Women's Conference. 6-8 am: made salads. 8-9 am: made rolls. 9-12 pm: cut and delivered brownies. 12-6pm: sold Kettle Corn. A really long and stressful and boring day. Oh well. Best Friend helped make it better.
28. Worked at Women's Conference. Cashiered from 8 am to 3 pm. Much better than the day before. Date night to Trafalga for mini-golfing. SO fun.
30. Took engagement pictures!!! Oh. It was so so so so fun. :) I'm very excited. Movie & dinner & a great time with Best Friend.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
When Life Changes
6:07 PM
Well. I won't belabor the point with the big long story, so I'll just cut right to the chase:
I'm moving to Vernal on Sunday.
And remaining there until a time to be determined.... Or July 30, whichever comes first.
I know, I know. I'm freaking out too.
But believe me when I say that Best Friend and I decided this is the best choice.
It SUCKS more than anything, but it's what we've gotta do.
We are already making plans to see each other every single weekend, and don't forget our AWESOME two-and-a-half-week trip to Texas for me to "meet the fam". (For which I am undeniably excited. Like, beyond excited.) So.... It should work out mostly ok.
It is going to be SO stressful planning wedding-ness. Yes. I know. Thankfully, we have loving family who have already offered to help us out whenever and however. And so it is all going to work out. I just know it.
This summer is going to be ridiculously rough. Hopefully we will be able to talk more often than not, unfortunately, our schedules will be tough to coordinate. But YAY for weekends! **you know how people say they "live for the weekend" cuz they have a stressful job or something? yeah. i'll be living for the weekend, though not because my job is stressful.**
A HUGE thank you has to go to Best Friend for this. He is standing by me (even though he admitted he doesn't want me to go) and is willing to work with me to make this an awesome summer of weekend-adventures. And even maybe weekday adventures and story-telling about those adventures on the weekend. Hmmm. I could be ok with that.
BESIDES! We have eternity together. And THAT is the most exciting thing EVER. My Grandmother said these weeks will be a "blip on the radar" in 50 years. Well, Grandma, I'm holding you to that!
So... When life changes.... Even though it's sucky and hard.... And your fiance will be living three hours away from you (better than three days, but still).... And you're scared to death for what will happen....
JUST REMEMBER! (wow I'm full of morals lately. At least I'm learning, right? Sorry. Not trying to be preachy.)
When you have a Best Friend to rely on - or even better two! (Best Friend and Jesus Christ) - You know life will work out. And everything will somehow eventually be ok. And you'll be all the stronger for it.
We will be stronger. And at the end of the summer.... Eternity will begin. BAM! :) :) :)
Signing out.
Me.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Expectations
11:18 PM
We all have expectations in life:
How we will turn out as a grown up...
Who are friends will be...
What our job will be...
Where we will live...
How many kids we will have...
What school we will go to (or not, as the case may be)...
etc. etc. etc.
I think it is funny to notice (as a girl especially - as Best Friend would pointedly add) how much my expectations change depending on the situation.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Growing up - I loved Loved LOVED bossing my siblings around. I made not only my own choices, but THEIR choices. It was the best. I was in power. I was in control. I made the choices. I was the Boss. Woot!
Now - I love being the Boss... sometimes. :) The rest of the time I am perfectly content to let someone else make my choices for me. I want someone to say "Alright, be here at this time and there at that time" - with SOME liberties of course (i.e. I reserve the right to change my mind or choose my classes, etc.). But when it comes time to make one of those Really Big Decisions... ... ... I want to run and hide. So I do. I analyze the situation from every possible angle and quadrangle. I make sure that no stone is left unturned and no possibility uncovered. I know exactly what my options are from start to finish before I make a choice.
Unfortunately, and as I'm sure many of you well know, life is not always so clear-cut.
Lame.
Care for another example? Oh good.
I had a choice. Both were excellent choices. Both were very difficult choices and would provide challenges over the coming months. Both demanded my interest and attention.
However, I falsely expected that God would step in and solve my problem. He does that all the time. He helps me to make the right choice and guide on my way of life. It is happy and I move on and all is well. Go figure, He didn't step in this time. At least not immediately.
The problem is that I have such high expectations for myself. I expect myself to do well at what I do, which probably comes from always getting what I wanted (though I did work my tushie off to make sure I was worthy of what I wanted). I expect myself to attain this high standard of achievement and self-mastery and all around awesomeness, but when I fall short, I condemn myself and belittle myself and beat myself up about it. (Hopefully this doesn't sound too familiar, though I understand it's a common trait.)
I ALSO have high expectations for those around me. I expect my family to always love and support me. :) Ha. They seem to have gotten off fairly easy - but it's all a facade. They have it pretty tough. I expect Best Friend to hold me - which he seems to enjoy anyway, so we're both winning. I expect God to step in and help me solve my problems. Hmm.... That one sounds a little iffy, don'cha think?
Long story short (yeah, right), this is what I have learned:
I have high expectations for myself. This is good. HOWEVER! I cannot let my occasional "failure" to fulfill my outrageously high expectations to ruin my attitude and my feelings about life in general. It's not fair to myself or to those around me who have to put up with me. So what am I going to do about it? Well... For starters, I'm going to try to improve. I'm going to try to recognize when my expectations are unrealistic and see what I can do to improve myself without feeling like a failure. I'm also going to try to remember to take charge of my life - that it is ok to make mistakes, as long as I turn to God and keep Him close through everything.
ALSO! I'm going to love my Best Friend more and more every day cuz he loves me back. And that makes any day the best. (is that cute? or too much? I wasn't sure, but really really wanted to say it cuz it made me happy. :) I think it's cute. So there)
Signing out.
Me.
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About Me
- Nashelle
- I am a wife, sister, daughter, friend. Dancer, actor, singer, pianist. Reader, sleeper, cross-stitcher, photographer. I am Nashelle and on this blog you will see me doing what I love to do best - being me!