Old Treasures, Old Memories

So I was looking through some stuff and I found a notebook that I had not seen in a while. I started to look through it and I found two FHE activities that Jonah and I did right after we got married and I wanted to share them with you. The first one was that we had to write our testimonies down and let each other read them. I can only find what I wrote so I guess you don't get to hear Jonah's. But there is some personal stuff in here so don't judge. The second activity was to write the traits that you think describe a good husband and a good wife.

My Testimony from FHE on 8/25/08

I can honestly sat that my testimony has been tried and tested more than I would have wanted. But I don't regret it, just for the fact that it has helped shape me into who I am today. I think the first major thing that tried my testimony was my relationship with Mike. In that relationship I was manipulated, controlled, and blind to what was happening to me. I learned that I can't let anyone or anything get in the way of what I know is right in my heart. And that is that the gospel is true. It was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. He went through many trials that could have broken him down. But he stood strong for what he knew was true in his heart. He is a very good example of perseverance.
I remember something that happened that helped me want to find my testimony after I had lost it. After I broke up with Mike, my brother asked me to go to lunch with him one afternoon. He talked to me about what had happened and what I was going through and was a comfort to me. He talked to me about the church and assured me that if I would turn to the Lord and seek him for help and guidance, that I would be ok. Even thought that is something a primary child would say, it was just what I needed to hear. It was nice to have my brother there to help me through it.
Something else that, not necessarily tested my testimony, but made it stronger, was moving away from my family. I could no longer lean on my parents testimony. I needed to make it my own. But being away also made me realize how much I do love my family and how much I want to be with them forever. My family means the world to me and there is no other group of people that I would want to spend eternity with. By moving away, it tested me in some ways. While living on my own, I had to be the strong one to tell myself to get up and go to church. I was in charge of myself. That was a very good opportunity for me to become stronger.
With all the hard times I have gone through, and with all the trials, I am so grateful that I have had my Savior there by my side. When I was at my lowest point, he was the one that carried me through. I know now that he will always be there for me. I just have to be the one to ask for his help. He loves me and wants to see me progress and become the person he know I can be. I know that he lives and that he will come again. I know that he atoned not only for my sins, but for the sins of the world. He sacrificed his life so that we can have the chance to be like him. Through living by his example, and by keeping his commandments and the covenants I have made, I can experience true happiness. And I have received so many blessings. I have been able to attend the temple with my eternal companion, who I know will be by my side for whatever life brings us. I know that we will both help each other strengthen our testimonies as we progress together. I know that by attending the temple and keeping close to God, we will be happier that we ever could have imagined. I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know that families can be forever. I am thankful for the early Saints who play a big part in where we are today. I know that by the atonement we can be forgiven of our mistakes and we can return to be with our Father in Heaven. I know that I still have a lot to learn and I am excited to learn all I can.

FHE What I think makes a good wife and husband
Wife: Ad good wife is one who will support her husband in whatever he does. She is strong in what she believes in . She loves her husband and family. She does her best to keep the spirit in the home. She is there when needed and there to listen or talk to you. She is not selfish.
Husband: A good husband is one that provides for his family and honors his priesthood. He loves his family and not selfish. He is willing to help when he is needed. He works to fix problems and helps to keep the spirit in the home. He is someone who brings joy and laughter to the home.

What Jonah thinks makes a good wife and husband
Wife: You try to understand me and love me and want to be with me. You always are willing to work with me to get through things whatever it may be. that you come to me with your problems and confide in me and are not lazy, and don't get mad at me if I am :)
Husband: that I am always there for you and willing to help. I do my best to provide for you and take care of you. I admit when I am wrong and try to fix it. I am humble and love my Savior. Pick on you and tease you and help you around the house :)

So those are two things that I found from when we were first married and it is fun to see that we still have the same views basically. We are still just as happy now as we were then, if not happier. I am grateful to have such a wonderful man to share my life with.

New Job!

I can't believe that I forgot to mention this in my last post but I finally got a new job! I will be working at Rosewood Dental with my uncle. They had an opening for an assistant and offered it to me. I know it is a long ways away, but I will only be working four days a week and more important I will be getting the experience that I need. I am so excited! I start on the 28th of this month. I am grateful that they gave me a shot. I will miss my current job though. Ok not necessarily the job itself but I will miss the people. I have worked with some pretty neat people and I am going to miss them. They have been so flexible with me. Its not everyday that you find a job like that. So wish me luck! I will keep you all updated on how things go!

St George Get Away

Jonah and I went down to St George this past weekend to get away from this cold weather and snow. Man was it a nice break. It was so warm down there compared to here. We did not get there til about midnight on Friday so it was a late drive. On Saturday, my dad took Jonah out for a ride on their new ATV!!! He had a blast. My mom and I went shopping and taught me how to make some good whole wheat bread. It was so much fun and pretty good if I do say so myself. When we were done with that, my dad took me out for a ride on the ATV. I had so much fun. I can't wait til we can go down there and spend a day just riding around. When we got back we decided to go to a movie. We went to see 2012. Its just another end of the world movie where they escape EVERY obstacle by the skin of their teeth. Kind of dumb but the graphics were good. And it was 3 hours long. A little to excessive for me. We left the theater and I realized that I had left my purse there. I was freaking out. We hurried back to get it and luckily it was still there and had all my cards and cash left in it. Thank goodness for the honest people that found it. We then went home and played Five Crowns and called it a night. My mom also gave me our wedding afghan from my Grandma Chris. It is so pretty. My grandma has not been doing to well lately so she was not able to finish it. But I have a great Aunt and cousin that came for a visit and finished it for me. I was so surprised and thankful! Thanks Chandra and Linda. It really means a lot to finally have it.
We went to church the next morning and it was good. We really like this one Sunday school class in my parents ward. Its taught by a really neat lady. Its a marriage family relations class, but the fun part about it is she is a therapist and she has a lot of professional input. She makes the class very interesting. After church we went back to my parents with Darcee and her kids. We can tell that little Jeramiah is a two year old. He has some lungs on him and would scream and cry every few minutes if he did not get something he wanted. Alijah is getting so big. He just turned four this week and he is such a sweetheart. While my mom was making lunch he kept saying "Grandma I wanna help you!" He was so cute. And Kayleeya is getting more grown up every time I see her. I can't believe that she is going to be nine in May. I remember spending almost everyday with her when she was younger. I can't believe how grown up she is.
Well the time came to soon when we had to leave. We headed up to Cedar City to pick up our dogs from My sisters. She said that somehow Reign kept getting out of their fence. When we got there we found that he was out of the fence and across Main Street which is a couple streets down from where my sister lives. I couldn't believe it. But he kept getting out all weekend. I felt bad but I am glad that my sister was willing to watch them so we could go down there. We stayed and chatted with her for a while and we got to see Aspen and Colten. They are still as cute as ever and they are also growing like weeds.
It was nice to get home and be in our own house and sleep in our own bed. But I can't wait til we go back down for the Parade of Homes. Thanks to my family for making it a great trip.
P.S. We did not get to see Justyn and Alisa this trip around. From what I hear they are still trying to get moved into their new house. But hopefully we will be able to see them next time around

Thinking of New Years

So I have been thinking a lot about what I want to try and do for my new years resolutions. I have thought of a lot. I most likely will not get them all taken care of but I am sure going to try and get some of them done.
1. Build up our food storage.
2. Read scriptures every day.
3. Get a new job in a dental office.
4. Support Jonah in his hope to start a snow cone shack.
5. Do better with my visiting teaching.
6. Put more of my money into savings.
7. Try and be more patient and understanding.
8. Lose weight and keep it off.
9. Learn to cook better and cook for Jonah more often.
10. Get down to St George to see my family more this year.
11. Watch less TV and spend more time with my husband and dogs.
12. Do more service for others.

I know some of these might seem silly but they are all things that I need to work on. Its a new year and I need to try and make my self better. I will never be perfect, but at least I will always have something to work on. I hope that you all have made some goals for the coming year, and if so good luck with them. I know that it will be a challenge to get some of mine done but I will do my best.

Christmas(Pictures to come later... hopefully)

Welcome 2010!!!
We had a great end to 2009. For Christmas we were able to go to St George and spend it with my family. We have not been down there for so long. It was so good to see all my nieces and nephews. I missed them more than I thought I did. It was good to see my siblings and parents as well. We had an eventful Christmas morning. Darcee and her three kids stayed at my parents house on Christmas Eve so they were with us on Christmas morning. Christmas with an 8,4 and 2 year old was very interesting. Jonah and I were very fortunate to have a good Christmas with good presents and good company. I also had a good birthday. We saw the movie the Blind Side and it was a very good movie. Darcee had and eventful Christmas too. Her dog had her puppies on Christmas morning. 14!!!! Sad to say one of them died so she is down to 13... but they are all so adorable. We took Koda and Reign down there with us and they had a good time playing with Brutis....my sisters dog. We also found a new dog park in St George thanks to my mom. We took them there before we left and they had a really good time. We had a nice family Christmas Party that was really fun. My parents work so hard to put things together and I want them to know that I really appreciate all their hard work. I love having the family get togethers. My mom and dad gave everyone an Ableskeever pan. I can't wait to use mine. They also got us a clock, a bronco duffle bag and a ticket to see one of the Tuacahn shows. And my lovely mother got me a BOSCH MIXER for my birthday. Does she know what I like or what. Thanks mom.
As for New Years...well we didnt do much. We stayed at home and watched a movie...and fell asleep before midnight. I know, we are lame and can't even stay up til midnight...I will say that we were able to stay up past 1 AM on Christmas Eve. Jonah worked on New Years Day. He volunteered for it so that he could get paid for the holiday. We also ended up buying a Wii!! We have been having so much fun with it so far. We got the Super Mario Brothers and and Olympic Summer Games to play so far. Hopefully I will be able to get the Wii Fit soon.
I am hoping to be able to find a new job here soon. I have been putting in applications to a lot of places and have had two interviews so far. Hopefully something will work out and I will be able to start working in a Dental office soon. I will probably be going out to my uncles office once a week to hopefully keep up on what I have learned so that I don't forget it. I feel like I have already forgotten some of it. But I will let you know what happens with that....if it happens.
We got released from the Nursery this last Sunday. I was so excited. I am excited that we get to go to our classes now and hopefully meet the people in our ward.

First Snow!!

Well we had our first big snow storm on Sunday. I was kind of bummed. We were supposed to go to my cousins baby blessing out in Tooele but the snow came and we decided that it would be more safe if we stayed home. So we took the dogs out to play in the snow, along with our friends Julie and Aaron and their dogs. They just got a new puppy! He is so cute. He is 8 weeks old and already weighs about 30 pounds!! He is a Saint Bernard and the cutest cuddle bug. He is making me puppy hungry again, but there is no way we are having three dogs right now. So anyways, us four and our four dogs went to play in the snow and I decided to take a few pictures for all of you.

Graduation!

Receiving my Certificate from Jackie and Uncle Mike


Receiving my Radiology License from Jackie and Uncle Mike


Our Graduation Cake


My Radiology License!


My Dental Assistant Certificate!

Well I finally did it! I graduated and I am now a certified Dental Assistant! I am so glad that school is over with. But at the same time I am sad. I have really enjoyed spending the weekends in Tooele with my Aunt and Uncle's family. I always had fun with them and I am going to miss that. So for school I had to pass off certain skills, and do 150 hours of internship and observation in order to receive my certificate. There were only five people in my class that made it to graduation, and only two of us that finished everything and got our certificates. I was so excited that my hard work had finally paid off. I had great teachers and it was a great learning experience for me.

Thanksgiving

Jonah and I had a good Thanksgiving. We were invited to his Grandma Richmond's house to have dinner. It was very crowded but the food was really good. During this time of year I am reminded how blessed we really are. I am so thankful for so much in my life. I am thankful for the family I have and the amazing husband that puts up with me. I am blessed with wonderful people all around me. I am blessed to be able to have a job and a roof over my head. It's amazing the things that we can take for granted. I will admit that I am not perfect in appreciating the things I have but I am trying to be better. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Short Post

Here is a updated picture of the puppies. Its from my phone so sorry if it does not look very good. Koda is 10 month old now. He is getting bigger everyday and he is such a sweetheart!

Update

Things have been as crazy as ever around the Richmond household. I am still keeping busy with school. I was able to go out to Tooele this past Thursday and Friday to get some observation hours in at my uncles office. I had a lot of fun but at the same time it was kind of nerve racking getting in the chair. But I will get used to it at some point. I just need more practice I guess. It's a lot harder than you might think it is. Jonah is still keeping busy with work. He did a great job keeping up the house and taking care of the dogs while I was gone for the weekend. I am really liking the people that work at my uncles office. They are all really nice people.
Jonah and I had our dental appointments on Monday. I have one filling that needs to be replaced cause it is worn down. And poor Jonah...he had 8 fillings that needed to be replaced. So he was there for about three hours. The bright side though is that I was able to help work on him in the chair a little bit. That was fun for me at least.
We are planning on watching movies on Halloween with some friends of ours. They live in our complex and they have a dog. That is how we met them at first. We let our dogs run around and play together. We found out that they are in our ward and then low and behold, I get assigned to visit teach her. Weird huh. Anyway they are an awesome couple and I am glad that we have found some people to spend some time with. Its nice to have some friends up here finally.
I'm sorry it has been forever since I have put pictures up. But the only pictures I take are of my dogs and I think that you guys are getting sick of those. Once I get some more interesting ones I will post them

Wonderful, Kaotic, Beautiful Life

So things are still a bit kaotic with the Richmond's. I am still keeping busy with school and work. School is going great. Last week we learned how to clean the teeth and how to place bands and wedges. It was a lot of fun. Jonah and I have our dental appointments coming up in the next couple weeks and so I will get to practice on him! Lucky Jonah. I am really excited to be able to work on an actual person. Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures of me in school so that you can all see how cool I look. lol
Jonah is still just working. He has been a big help in helping me keep the house in order since I have been so busy lately. He also surprised me and brought home a little kitten last week! He found it on one of his jobs and the people said it was a stray and so he brought it home for me. It did not go over so well. Reign gets way to excited around cats and so it makes the cats get really defensive. Koda did ok with the kitten, which really surprised me. He was actually a little scared of it. lol. He learned to stay away from it for the most part. So if we just had Koda we would be able to get a cat....Reign is the problem child.So since we could not keep her, I took her over to my neighbors and asked if she could stay there. She said that was fine, and they actually found a home for the kitten. I was so happy that the kitten did not have to go to the shelter. Maybe someday I will be able to have a cat. I wish I could have the family cat, Snickers, but I think that she would have a heart attack at her old age if I threw her in with two dogs.
My AWESOME dad came up here on Friday to put in our gas line for our dryer. I was so grateful he came up to do that. He drove up in the morning, worked on the gas line for three hours then went back home. I wish that he would have been able to stay longer but he is just way to busy. But what a great dad I have that he would come all the way up here just to help me out. All I can say is that it is so nice to have my washer and dryer hooked up and working...

Over Due

Wow I did not realize how long it has been since I posted something. I'm sorry. Things have been pretty crazy with us....or at least me. I am now on my third week of school. I have class on Saturday's and homework during the week. I am also working on my observation hours at an Orthodontics office here in Springville. They have been very nice to let me come and observe. I have called a lot of offices and they have all told me no. So I am glad that I have a place close by that will help me out. So I do that on Tuesday's and Thursday's. I work on Mon. Wed. and Fri. still. I drive out to Tooele on Friday nights and spend the night at my aunt and uncle's who have been so nice to let me stay there every week. Then I have class bright and early at 7am on Saturday's. Class has been pretty fun. I am trying to take in everything but it is not working very well. Hopefully I will get the hang of it soon. We are still in the Nursery in our ward. It is still kind of a pain most of the time. So my weeks are pretty hectic. Jonah's schedule has not changed.
We have been having a fun experience with some people in our building that have been causing nothing but problems. It has gotten to the point where it is a comical situation because there stupidity is so excessive. It makes me laugh.
Hopefully my dad will be coming up this weekend to put in our gas line. I am so excited about that. I don't want to go to my in laws to do laundry anymore. Um... I think that is about everything. IT doesn't sound like much has been going on but man I sure feel like it. I hardly get a chance to sit down and relax anymore. Only 8 more weeks and hopefully things will slow down a little bit

Embarking on a Journey

So I am starting school on Saturday. I am really excited but I am really nervous to. I have not been to school in what feels like forever. I don't remember how to do school. I know that sounds stupid but that is how I feel. I am going to be in school to be a dental assistant for 11 weeks, so I will get done the week before Thanksgiving. I am excited that I will be learning something new and hopefully turning this into a career someday. Who knows. If I end up liking it a lot I may try and go to Hygiene school someday. Wish me luck with school. It is out in Tooele with my awesome uncle! I will be driving out there and staying at his house on Friday nights and then going to school on Saturday mornings. I am lucky to have a hubby that supports me with this to. We will have to make some sacrifices for the next little while but I am so glad that I have him by my side. Hopefully I do well with the course and I will be able to get my externship and everything done on time.
Jonah is doing just great. He worked on Labor Day and has today off. We both had a bug last week and were not feeling well at all. We both took Wednesday off and spent the day sleeping it off together. Its not the day off together that we would have wanted but at least it was a day off together even thought we were sleeping a lot.
Other than that I dont think that anything else is going on. Just that same old same old.

May It Rest In Peace

So last night when we came home from work, Jonah went to play his game on the computer....OH NO!!! It would not turn on. It was on when we left the house that morning from what we remember. Sad to say it is dead, gone, no more. My parents gave me that computer my junior or senior year in high school. I have been using it ever since. So I say good bye to a good friend and thanks for the good times. Now we just have to figure out how to get all of our stuff off of it. Jonah was really worried about getting his cd for his game out of it so he took it apart and finally got it out. The monitor still works fine it is just the tower that fried. So if anyone needs a monitor let me know

What the heck

So since I have not put pictures up for a while I decided to put up some funny ones of the pup dogs. So enjoy 'em

Not a whole lot has happened with us. I decided that I am going to be going to dental assisting school. My uncle has a school out in Tooele. Its eleven weeks and on Saturday's only. I am really excited but really nervous for it. I hope that I do well in the class and that I can learn everything. I start school in September 12th and will get done the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I also have to do "x" amount of hours of externship so I have to find a dentist that will let me do that.

Last night we went to my cousin Missy's new house in Spanish Fork. It was so good to see her and her family. They are so much fun to be around. We went there to visit with her and my sister. TaMerra is up here for Colt's surgery and is staying with Missy. I was happy that I got to see her and the kids as well.

We finally got our washer and dryer up here!!! But we still can't use them. We have to get the gas line in first. So our dryer is chilling in one of the bedrooms and the washer is sitting there looking pretty. We have been having to go to my in laws to do our laundry. Man I will be happy when I can use my own.

We were able to go to the temple dedication this past weekend to. Man I am so glad I could go to that. I can't wait to go to that Temple. I am so excited that we have so many temples within such a short distance to us. We should go more than we do and that is something that we are going to try and work on.

Well there is a short update on the Richmonds!

What Reign has to put up with

Reign is such a good sport. Jonah picks on him so much. This is his latest! Reign is wearing Jonah's hat. He is a gangsta puppy. lol.... I am glad that we have two dogs for Jonah to pick on. That means a little less on me. I will get some pictures of Koda when I can. He is getting so big. He is now bigger than Reign and is 8 months old

New Hair!

So I was going to go all blonde. But i decided to slowly ease into it. So in a month or two when it starts to grow out i will go back in and have the whole top dyed blonde. But my friend Jaimee did a really good job. I really like going to her. She is very talented and she is honest in her opinion

Jonah's Anniversary Present

Presenting!!! MY handsome husband! Wow he looks good! I got him a suit for his anniversary present....I think he looks pretty dang sexy if I do say so myself.

Weekend Fun

So Jonah and I had a very fun weekend for the most part. The highlight was definitely going to Lagoon! His friend Justin got half off coupons from his work and asked if we wanted to go. So we all headed up to Lagoon. And man it was packed!!!! And does anyone want to know why? There was some sort of gay convention at Lagoon that day. Lol. I don't have anything against gays...in fact the gay people I do know are some of the nicest and caring people I have ever met. But I will say that there were some awkward moments. For instance, we were waiting in line for the log flume ride and there was a big group ahead of us. Lo and behold there were two girls full on making out right in front of us. Now that made me a little uncomfortable. I'm fine with it as long as I don't have to see it. Lol....So that was a long half hour wait. lol but aside from that we all had a lot of fun at Lagoon. I was really excited to go. Sunday made for something interesting too. For the first little while, we were the only adults in the nursery. Luckily they got us reinforcements. That nursery can be tough. We have been in it for almost 4 months now. I am ready to be done with it and be able to go to my normal classes.
We also had my friend Amanda come visit! She now lives in Salt Lake and I guess she must have been bored or something cause she wanted to come down for a visit. She brought down a pizza and we all played some really fun games. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her.

Happy Anniversary!

Wow!!! I can not believe that it has been one year already. The time has gone by so fast. I am so glad that I have been able to be married to the best man I know. There is no one better. I am looking forward to all the years ahead of us that we get to spend together.

We had a wonderful weekend together. We took Friday off from work and went hiking up to Timpanogas Cave. It was a lot of fun, but man am I feeling it now. Lol. We had to hike up a mountain for two STEEP miles to get to the cave opening.Once we got up there it was more than worth it. The hike back down was almost as exhausting as the way up. It was so steep that going back down was a workout to try and be gentle on the knees.( which did not go very well.) After we were done with the hike, we headed to Men's Wearhouse to get Jonah a suit!
That was my present to him this year. Man he looks good in a suit. Lol. He also got a free shirt and tie to go with his suit. It was a deal that they had going so that was really nice. After that we went home and took a much needed nap. We spent the rest of the night relaxing and enjoying each others company. On Saturday, we did some more lounging around the house and playing with the puppies. Later that night we went and ate at the Cheesecake Factory up in Murray. Man that was good. I have not been there in so long! It was a big treat for me. After dinner we went and saw the movie GI JOE. It was an good movie in my opinion.

So all in all we had a very good weekend together. The best part was just actually having some days off together. Normally we only have Sundays off. So it was a nice change to be able to spend time together.