I have been humbled once again. I was hoping to post back in December that I passed the test I took in November. I guess that is why I have not posted anything else for a while. I am reminded of a scripture in Ether 12:27:
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Taking tests have always been a weakness for me. I wonder if they will ever become one of my strengths. I seem to work and study really hard and then I don’t pass. I have taken several tests with these same results. I seem to learn something every time. This time I decided to retake the test in February. I studied a little bit every week and better prepared myself. I just found out that I did something right. I passed! What a big sigh of relief.
So, what does this mean? I am now a cathodic protection technician. Huh? Most don’t understand this terminology. It just means that I earned another certificate for my work and will most likely get a raise this year.
Where I took my CP 2 Class.
Most people never know about corrosion. I didn't when I first started in this industry. NACE is the National Association of Corrosion Engineering. They provided a course that I signed up for this week in San Francisco, CA. I took the CP2 course, which is the second of 4 certifications in my industry. If I pass the test I will most likely get a raise which is always a good thing. So, after a long week of studying, I finally took my test. I will find out next week how I did.
I have been hearing several talks in church, in general conference, and in stake conference about gratitude. I attended stake conference today and our good stake president spoke about gratitude. He mentioned a story of when he was on his way to work. He had recently challenged the stake to have an attitude of gratitude. Then one day a nail lodged its way into the rear tire of his car. He noticed he had a problem and pulled into a parking lot. Instead of looking at this as a negative experience, he chose to think of all of the things he was grateful for in this instance. First, he had a car to get to work in. The nail had placed itself in the tire so it was a slow leak, this allowing him time to reach a parking lot to pull into instead of a busy freeway. His father had taught him to change a tire. He had a spare tire to place on the rim so he could make it on time to work. He had so many things to be grateful for. Another gentleman had pulled into the parking lot and had responded to his predicament by saying “What a lousy way to start your day.” The stake president responded with a smile, “This was the best flat tire I have ever had.”
As I heard this story and stories from President Monson and other people I realize that I have so much to be grateful for. I am so grateful for this month of November coming up. What a beautiful time of year this is where we can enjoy the changing of the leaves and all of the many other wonderful things fall has to offer. I always love the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Season of which we are fast approaching. Maybe it is because, as a general rule, people are a little more focused on Christ. What an amazing time we have to be alive in. What an amazing gift of atonement the savior gave to us so that we can repent of our sins and move onward and upward.
I am grateful for the things I have learned this year and the experiences that have brought me where I am today. While I had a very rough time at my last job, I was gainfully employed and was able to keep my bills paid and help others when I could. Even though it is hard to admit at times, I am grateful for the trials in my life that help me grow stronger. It is through our weaknesses that we can be strong if we allow ourselves to make our weaknesses into strengths. I know that the Lord is truly mindful of each and every one of us. That has been evident to me as I made a big move from
I am grateful for Gina and Keira in my life. They bring so much joy to me. I love being able to see them every night when I get home. I love it when Keira gets excited to see me when I get home. The first thing she says with a smile almost every day is “Daddy!” I then give her hugs and kisses. I also love the kisses and hugs that Gina gives to me. I am so blessed to have a happy wife and daughter to make my day even better. We have an amazing ward and have made some good friends that make our lives better. I am grateful for their hands in helping us move our stuff into our apartment.
I have so many more things to be grateful for that I will not mention. I will leave with my testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. Jesus Christ is our Lord, Master, and Savior. The Book of Mormon and other scriptures are true. Joseph Smith is a prophet. Thomas S. Monson is the Lord’s prophet at this time and he leads and guides this church. We live in a wonderful time for which we have to be alive. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and can think of things you are grateful for.
Our Family - Summer 2010 
Summer 2010
Keira is a butterfly
Keira in our back yard.
Keira in our back yard.
Ok, so the weekend before the Twilight movie was to be released, I heard about an essay contest at Barnes and Noble bookstore. The essay had to be about, “Why I am the biggest Twilight fan” and if your essay is picked then you get a ticket to see Twilight the Tuesday before it opened, which was November 19th. I found out that I one the Saturday before. I was SO excited!!! It was first come first serve and I really wanted to go see it, so I met a friend of mine, Pam Frandsen, to wait in line at the theater at 8am. Pam ended up having to go to work about an hour later, but I was able to stay and keep our place in line. We were first. I was so excited! I was glad that we were first in line because when it came time to get our actual tickets, there weren’t very many seats left. There were about 6 or 7 rows of seats open. I was shocked because there was a long line of people waiting and they were not going to be able to accommodate everyone.
After I saw the movie, I didn’t know what to think at first. I was torn. But I found it better the second time I saw it. I think Summit did a good job trying to portray to story to film. There are a few things I would change myself, but in all, it was good. And I am anxious to see how the next one will be done. I did see the movie fives times within a week. Including the midnight showing on the 21st. Was it the best movie?? No, but it wasn't bad either. It's worth watching again and worth buying and adding to my movie library.
My friend, Donna Mills, is a HUGE New Kids fan longer than I have known her. She had purchased tickets to see this concert back in May. The closer the date got, the more excited she got. It was so funny to watch her. She asked me to go with her along with another friend of hers. We met for dinner before the concert and then headed over to the E Center. As we walked into the building, there were tables of merchandise to purchase. Donna was taking a look at what was available and deciding if she shoul
d buy anything. At the end of the concert she purchased a tour t-shirt. Our seats were in the 37th row on the floor of the E Center. That was so great! And if we couldn’t think it would get any better, the New Kids went to the center of the floor and sang a few songs. That was right next to where we were sitting. I thought Donna was going to faint, she was so excited. Ha ha ha I was so thankful that we had earplugs as well. We could hear the music just fine with them in and we could still hear after the concert was over. I was never a huge fan of the group growing up, but I have to say that I like how they sound now that they have grown up. They did several of their old songs along with some songs from their new album. Thank you, Donna, for a great time!
From October 27 to November 4 I was able to visit my brother, Jesse, and his girlfriend, Leilani, who live in St. Thomas. I went alone and I had a wonderful time. And on November 3rd, our younger brother, Rick, and his girlfriend, Amy, came down to visit for that week. I loved seeing Rick’s big smile and see him relax. He was having such a great time. To spend a whole day with both of my brothers was awesome! The only person we were missing was our sister, Sheri. Jesse was able to let me go sailing with him on an OnDeck sailboat, which is where he works racing sailboats. I was able to sail and race another boat and on the way back inland, I was able to steer for awhile. That was a great experience and to see what Jesse does for his job from day to day. Needless to say, I was recharged and refreshed to come home and it was good to see Eric and Keira again. I am grateful for Jesse and Leilani for allowing me to stay with them. I was even able to see a little bit of Puerto Rico since I had a connection in San Juan. So there is another country to add to the places I’ve been. Although, I would like to go and look around a bit more in the future since that is where my Great Grandmother Warnick was born. (In picture: Jesse Burke, Gina Nielson and Travis Ross)
We went to the annual Halloween party on October 25. This time it was held at Brian Tervort’s home. He hasn’t been able to come to a party, so he wanted it held at his house. He and his wife, Dayna, were very hospitable in letting Donna and I do what we needed to do to decorate. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I do what I can to make it a good one. I dressed up as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. She is my favorite Disney villain. And Eric was a wolf. We had such a great time with all of our friends. We had some really good food and played some really fun games. A friend of ours, Kim Frandsen, made a James piñata. For those who have read the Twilight books, yep, that James. It was awesome. We also played a few rounds of one of my favorite games called “What If…” Now, the question is….what shall I dress up for next year???
On October 12, it was my nephew, Jordan’s, 7th birthday. We went to his birthday party, which was held at Boondocks. That was our first time going there and it was pretty cool. They had so many games and activities. Keira played her first game of air hockey with Eric and she LOVED driving in the car game. She wouldn’t let Eric even touch the controls. It was great to see Jordan having so much fun with his family and friends. Happy birthday, big guy!
Eric made eggs, pancakes and bacon for breakfast and I made the ham dinner. We decided to stay home this year and it was a good decision. It was a blizzard for the first part of the day and the wind is blowing in another storm. Eric took the opportunity to shovel the walk and driveway when the sun came out for a short time this afternoon and Keira was out there with him playing in the snow. She loves playing in the snow and so we bought her a snow suite, which she wore for the first time today. It’s been a wonderful day for our family and we hope all of you had a special day with your families! Merry Christmas to all!!!
So much for working on my updates. lol I'm still working on them, but in the meantime, I wanted to spread the word about XanGo! I just recently signed up with my sister-in-law, Paulette, to be an Independant Distributor for XanGo. It took me almost a month to join after hearing what the company was all about from Paulette.
I know I sell Mary Kay, which I still sell at 30% off, and I love the stuff, however, I have replaced my skin care with Glimpse. Holy Crap! It is the world's first green and clean, toxin free, Anti-aging skin nutrition using the topical application of the Mangosteen fruit that is performance driven. I was able to try it earlier this week and I was hooked...just with the one try. My big pores had gone down in size and my skin felt tighter, light and clean. With my other regimen, it would feel like I had moisturizer on my face, but with Glimpse...my skin was soft and hydrated without the feel of moisturizer on my face. There is a chart of toxins that are dangerous for ones skin and what products they are found in. I was surprised to see Mary Kay and ProActive on there. I also read about the benefits of the system including acne control. I know a few people who are allergic to Mary Kay products and I would like to try this on them to see if they get a reaction from Glimpse. It is said to lower, if not deminish, bad reactions with the skin because it is toxic-free. Anyway, if any of you would like to try it, please let me know. I'd be interested to hear what you thing of the product. One of the things I like most about this system is you have just cleanser, toner, serum and moisturizer. You don't have to add anything special for the eye area, etc. And another bonus...it can last from 30 days to 90 days depending on how often you use it!!!
