We spent Christmas in York, Pennsylvania with Derek and Kori and their cute kids. It was so much fun! William didn't sleep great at night since he was in the same room as us and could see us. But he slept well for naps and was happy all day, so that was nice. We played games, watched movies, and just chatted a lot. Kori watched William on Friday so Austin and I could go to Gettysburg. We did an audio tour which was really cool. Then on Saturday we borrowed a 12 passenger van from a family in their ward and all went to Washington, D.C. for the day. I finally went to D.C.! I've always wanted to go since I was in 2nd grade. I didn't get to walk through the White House though, which is still on my list. We saw the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial as well as the WWII Monument. We also drove past the Capitol building. On our way home, we stopped at the Washington, D.C. temple lights. They were so pretty! The kids all slept in the car on the way to D.C. and on the way home which was really nice. We were able to have a good chat with Derek and Kori on the drive, making it a really fun trip!
When Derek finished his residency, he's going to have a 4-6 month period where he won't have a salary. They're trying to save money now for when that time comes. Kori seems pretty stressed about it. Austin and I talked about it on the trip and decided we wanted to help them a bit. We gave them a $2,000 check to go toward whatever they wanted/needed. They may use it to help with that 4-6 month time. Or they may use it to come to the reunion this summer to be able to see everyone. Whatever they decide to use it for, I'm glad we could help them in some small way. We've been very blessed financially and it only seems right to bless others with it. They were very grateful. It felt good to use some of the money for good. We put most of the money in the stock market and the stock market plummeted pretty badly so we took it out and lost a big chunk of money. It's nice to put the money toward helping someone rather than putting it in risky stocks.
For New Year's we went over to Brenda's house and played games with Carlie and Dallin and some of their friends Brenda's family was out of town so Carlie was house sitting. It was fun! I can't believe it's already a new year!
I made a couple new years resolutions. 1. Study diligently and prepare for each Sunday, using the new Come Follow Me Sunday School program. 2. Limit my social media usage each day.
So far I'm prepared for this coming Sunday. And I installed an app to limit the amount of time I can spend on Facebook and Instagram each day. It also tracks how much time I spend on my phone. I can't believe how much time I spend on my phone! Yesterday I spent 3 hours :l Today I've spent 2 hours and I'll be going to bed soon. Having the tracking app definitely helps me realize how much time I'm wasting and makes me want to try to limit that more.
The temple ceremonies have changed as of this new year. The initiatory, endowment, and sealing have changed. Today I went with Marissa to attend an endowment session. It was SO busy in the temple!!! We were there 45 minutes before the session started and we BARELY made it in time! And it just got busier as the day went on. We were going to try and do an initiatory before but the wait was an hour and a half! Everyone's trying to see what the changes are. The changes are minor but still significant. The session is now shorter which is nice. But it still captures and conveys the importance and the covenants made. I'm glad I was able to go with Marissa. I don't think she goes to the temple very often, based on some of the comments she made. She's a good friend and such a good person! I'm glad we've stayed in touch and stayed close through all the years. I've known her since we were in nursery! I haven't known life without her, which is a crazy thought! We grew up together in the same ward and we were always the only girls in our class from day one! Even though we're very different people, we've always stayed so close!
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