Some Reflections on 2008

Happy New Year!!

I love new year's because it is always a time to look back on the past year and all the wonderful things that have happened. This has been an extremely eventful year full of more blessings than I could list. Here are a few of my favorite highlights from this past year.

January - Andrew got home from his mission; We celebrated Christmas on January 4th; Cameron returned from Christmas break and we continued to date every once in a while (I also started dating two or three other people); Loved working at Sundance and began learning to snowboard

February - Snowboarding all the time at work; All the dating stuff escalates to a crazy finale of me exclusively dating Cameron; I meet Cameron's parents; Stressing out about internships

March - Went to Cameron's ranch for Easter which ended in a quick trip to the emergency room; Kept snowboarding and did a little bit of studying

April - My friends throw me the best surprise birthday party ever (I had absolutely NO idea); Cameron and I break up and then get back together a day later; Found a job at Marriott in Park City; Karina, Megan and I graduate at the same time; I move to Midway and Cameron moves home to Bicknell

May - Work begins at Marriott and is wonderful; See Cameron every two weeks or so

June - Work, work, work

July - Work, work, work; Help build Marriott's 4th of July float for the parade; Go to Lake Powell with Cameron's family; Go to Bear Lake with family

August - Help family get ready to move; More work, work, working; Offered an amazing job with Marriott in London but decided to stay with Cameron instead

September - Cameron and I both move back to Provo; We talk about getting married and he talks to my dad

October - We set a date for May 2nd; Lots and lots and lots of work and overtime

November - Cameron proposes on November 8th and we are engaged and start all the wedding plans; I get to spend Thanksgiving day with the Paces and have a wonderful time

December - Life is perfectly wonderful; Promotion at work; Christmas with the family and Cameron; The wedding planning continues

Looking back this has been a wonderful year full of more happiness than I could have ever imagined. I am so excited for this next year and all the new adventures that are coming.

A Cup of Christmas Cheer

This weekend we welcomed in the Christmas Spirit in grand style. On Friday, Cameron and I went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra christmas concert with my friend Sarah and her husband Mark. It was spectacular!! When they had the choir and orchestra and bell choir and dancers it was quite the sight to behold. Their guest performer was Brian Stokes Mitchell who is a broadway performer. Some of his songs were a little cheesy but the concert was absolutely wonderful and brought in the Christmas spirit.

On Saturday, I braved the crowds at the mall to get some Christmas shopping done. Even the crowds seemed festive and excited. That evening I took Cameron out to dinner at Tucanos where we ate as much as we could possibly stand.

Sunday was the ward Christmas program and the choir and musical numbers were wonderful. There's something so magical about Christmas music. Later that afternoon, Jessica came over and had tea with Cameron and I and then I finished off the evening by reading the first chapter of "A Christmas Carol." I've decided to buy one Christmas book each year. This year was a hardcover, illustrated copy of "A Christmas Carol."

A Day Full of Happiness

Yesterday, Cameron's cousin went through the Manti temple. Cameron and I went down to go through the session with the family. It was wonderful. I have never been inside the Manti temple and I loved it. It is so beautiful. One of the temple workers took us around to see all of the sealing rooms. It was a nice spiritual happy time and then he had us look in the mirrors that go on forever and said, "Can you see how long that goes on? To infinity." "And beyond," Cameron suddenly felt the urge to add. I lost it and we both left trying to be at least a little reverent. Only 146 days left :)

If everyone else jumps off the blogging cliff . . .

Well, it appears that every single person in my family has a blog now and so I feel slightly obligated to start one as well. Yes, I am taking the plunge - jumping off the metaphorical blogging cliff along with everyone else.
A little explanation of the title. I was talking to Cameron the other day and trying to tell him that my life was not a drama. My life is a comedy. However, somehow I blurted out, "My life is a commodity." We both laughed and he continues to tease me about it. After looking it up in Websters, I decided it fits - not in the economic sense but in the "something useful or valued" sense. My life is both useful and valued and this blog is dedicated to the moments, the people, and the places that I most value.