my crazy life keeps getting crazier

i am going to try not to make this a vent blog.

its amazing how fast things can change. last night i got a phone call from my stake president. the first thing he said was, "i hope you wont be too mad at me for doing this..." and i thought uh oh.. "we're going to have to change your mission." i guess he felt like he needed to make that phone call to the presidency, or whoever it is..? to talk to them about me and cody being in the same mission. Somehow they had no idea that was the case. I don't understand what happened, whether they didn't get my acceptance letter or it wasn't completely read, because I definately mentioned it and I definately haven't gotten any returned mail. So, who knows. The point is, I am no longer going to Knoxville Tennessee... I don't know where I am going now. He said they would let him know what to do next wednesday, one week before i am supposed to enter the MTC! They are still planning on me leaving on the same day, they just aren't 100% sure yet, or where. This is very interesting. I gotta admit I'm pretty bummed. Not only because it is a cool story for me and Cody, but I really was looking forward to going there. I thought if I was honest about our relationship from the start, things would be okay, as long as they knew the situation. I'm not mad at the church or anything like that, I just wish this could have been resolved a little earlier than 2 weeks before I leave. And now I get to be all anxious for the next week, not knowing whats going on or where I am going. Not to mention I am afraid I'll be dissappointed when I find out where.. I know it doesn't "really" matter where you go, the work is still the same, but after having your heart set on something.. its gonna be hard to change that. Especially so fast! I get to give my talk on sunday, not knowing where to say I am grateful I am going!

Anyways. I am not asking for anyone to feel sorry for me. In fact I don't want you to! It's still a cool story, and more spontaneous than I hoped it would be, but you know. Thats life I guess! I better get sent to Hawaii or something... just sayin ;). My life is crazy. Haha

Merry Christmas!?

Uh.. Where the crap did this last month go?!

This month has been crazy. I feel like I am running in circles trying to get stuff done! It is hard being stuck at work for 8 hours a day and then I have about 4-5 hours to get what I want done. BUT I am now 100% debt free. Give me a little victory dance!!! unce unce unce unce. ok you can stop... seriously...OK STOP NOW. Haha, yes, it is exciting! Quite proud of myself!! Its a great feeling! If only I could stay that way the rest of my life. HA, oh the joys of getting older and taking responsibility!

I also went through the temple December 9th! It was such an awesome experience. Now I just need to go back! I got my H1N1 shot.. and the seasonal flu shot... so I hopefully wont die of the swine flu at the MTC now. I didn't really want to get it, but they told me I needed to. So far I've had no side effects, YAY. I have most of everything bought. I need to go over my list again. But I will wait until after christmas to do that because it would be stupid to try and fight christmas shoppers right now! I have 13 days left of work left!! WOW, so excited to be done with that for 18 months!! I am getting so excited to go! I know what reasons I am going there for, but seriously just to do something else for awhile is going to be so nice! I got some new glasses. I freakin love them. The moment I put them on, I knew they were the ones... hahaha.

Life is good! I have gotten several more letters from Cody. He seems to be enjoying himself! He is getting really good at his spanish! OH how do i know that...? Ok he wasn't supposed to call me but I guess they were told they could call their families when they left the MTC, and he called me! (He did call his mom too! :)) I only got to talk to him for like a minute.. but he bore his testimony to me in spanish and he sounded so hot! Hahah, seriously he did though. I was really impressed! He says the people out there LOVE to feed you, but don't want to hear about the gospel. YAY for crystal. I'll probably gain like 20 more pounds out there.. Ok lets hope not. Better get going on that workout routine in the mornings!!

Anyway, geez. I gotta close up at work. Hehe, this passes the time so well!! Maybe I'll write more tomorrow!

Peace out, and Merry Christmas if I don't... :)

The story of my mission call:

As I said a couple of days ago, I got my mission call! Most everyone knows about it already but I want to tell the full story so you can get the full effect and why this seems so significant in my life!

About 4 years ago I was working at a little grocery store called Nisson's. There was a boy named Cody there that always talked to me and we become friends. He flirted and I told him he was too young, and I didn't want to get involved but we could and should just be friends. Well I don't know how he convinced me, I guess it was his charm, but I started to like him more and more. We decided to start dating, I got my first kiss (another funny story for another day..haha) and things were good for about 2 weeks. We decided we were better off as friends. That seemed to take all the pressure off and we started hanging out to the point it was every single day. For two years we hung out, we just friends, but I was still head over heels. It was so hard! At the end of the two years I started feeling like I needed to either move on, or he needed to step it up. I had been praying about it, trying to figure out a way to tell him I needed to move on. I can't remember the exact night, but we were driving home from a friends house and he said "Crystal, I need to tell you something." I thought, oh here we go! Here he goes again telling me about some cute girl he wants... and I braced myself for the blow. "I don't want this to change what we have right now, and I want to be 100% sure, that I am in love with you." What!?! I about died! We still weren't dating after that while he decided but I atleast had that faint hope that everything was going to work out. It took a couple of months still for him to realize I was what he wanted, and one summer night told me he was sure and that he wanted to get married. I told him I wanted a temple marriage, and he agreed. So that was what we were going to work toward. He started working for this kind man named Gary, who paid him to work in his yard. Somedays after work I would go out to Veyo with Cody to pull weeds on his land. We were talking and working, when he said, "Crystal, I went to the high school seminary today and I was looking at the missionary wall they have there and it made me feel bad that I wasn't on that wall. I want to go on a mission." Again I thought WHAT!?!? I have to admit my initial response was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I don't want to wait two more years!!! But I knew in my heart if he had a desire to serve a mission, that is what he needed to do. So I supported him as best as I could and he began the process of mission preparation. The more he prepared, the more I started to feel sincerely supportive and excited for him, even though I knew this could mean things could change once again. We started going over to gary's house on sunday evenings for lessons to help cody on his mission. I started thinking about what I wanted to do for two years. I thought of going to school, working, saving money, or... a mission..? I didn't really want to date other guys, and was leaning more toward a mission but I wanted to go for the right reasons, and not just because Cody was going! So I waited, prayed, waited some more, thought alot about it.. and all of the sudden one sunday I felt it. It was right. I wanted to go because I wanted to share the gospel. It felt right! So I told Cody about my plan and he gladly accepted and encouraged me to do it. In July Cody recieved his mission call to Knoxville Tennessee spanish speaking. The next two months flew by and before I knew it he was gone. After he left I really started working on my papers, and turned mine in on November 9th. I was sooooo excited! Where was I going to be called!?! I could go ANYWHERE! 9 days later, on November 18th, I recieved my call. It came so fast i started feeling nervous that maybe for whatever reason something was wrong and I couldn't go.. and that is why it came so fast? That same day I got a package from Cody telling me his guess of where I was going. I bet you could guess he said Nashville or Knoxville Tennessee spanish speaking! We all laughed, and thought Oh yeah right!! Thats funny, haha.. etc. Well I opened my call and couldn't believe my eyes.

CALLED TO SERVE IN THE TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE MISSION!!!!!!

I kept thinking, this isn't real! No way!!! Is this a joke cody sent me?! Turns out, it was totally legit! I couldn't (and still can't!) believe it! What is the Lord's purpose here!!? At first it was a dream, then I was in shock, then it was hilarious, and then I started to get worried. What is going on!? I hardly got any sleep that night and kept trying to think about why in the world the Lord would send us to the same mission! I still don't fully understand although I think I have a pretty good idea and a couple reasons:

1. To keep us both motivated to stay out in the mission field, knowing we are both in the same area experiencing the same things.

2. To make sure we are dedicated to the Lord's work 100%. We wont be able to write each other and "maybe" see each other at zone conferences. So we wont be so focused on each other.

3. To be a really really cool story and a wonderful blessing OR a really really tragic story and a test of our faith. 

4. Because the Lord really can be hilarious.

5. Because it just so happens Tennessee is the right place for both of us to be.

I have to admit I am a little bit scared about what the Lord has in store for this relationship. But as i prayed about it I felt a comfort that everything will be okay, and that we are both capable of making it through the next 2 years. I know the Lord has a purpose for this, and I really feel that if we are both faithful, we will be greatly blessed! I am grateful for this opportunity to serve! I have been reading about tennessee and it sounds like such a wonderful place! Rolling hills, river valeys, the smoky mountains, hearty country food, snow, tornadoes, lots of rain, green everywhere!! Cold snowy winters and hot humid summers. Country music? K not as excited about that.. but the rest sounds great!! I am so excited and truly feel like this is a blessing and NOT a curse! Unless I make it one. haha!

So that is my story. Pretty neat eh!? Lets keep our fingers crossed it keeps going that way! :)

 I leave for the MTC January 20, 2010!

SO EXCITED!

Sitting, waiting, wishing!

Here I am, sitting at work, waiting for 3 o'clock to come around, wishing I could
OPEN MY MISSION CALL!!

Thats right! my mom called me at about 10 this morning to tell me what came in the mail! Lucky for her, the mail not only came early today, BUT her and my dad were on their way out the door to head to salt lake! She decided to check the mail before they left, and THERE IT WAS! The call waiting for me to come open it! I turned in my papers 1 week and 2 days ago, and it is already here! I can hardly believe it came so fast! Hopefully it doesn't carry bad news.. :/ haha! I just can't believe it is already here. All week I have been saying, "yeah, I'd be pretty lucky if it came this week but I doubt it will. probably next week!" WOW! Well I guess you can consider me lucky! I still have like 3 more hours to wait and I can hardly stand it. Work is so slow and boring, I can't hardly concentrate on what I am doing so it might be a good thing we are so slow or i might screw up the banking system, but it also makes time go by super slower! Thus it is time for a blog ramble!! Right!?

So I guess I could update a few things. Cody flew out to tennessee last night! He is doing so good! Apparently he has lost 20 pounds in the 2 months of being at the MTC. I am praying that will be the case for me as well.. ;) He still writes me sweet little letters to let me know how he is doing and that he still thinks about me! (YAY!) Don't worry, he says he is still concentrating on mission work too. No problems there! He made a lot of friends at the MTC and was sad to see everyone leave to their seperate missions, but so glad to get out of the MTC. I can't wait to hear from him all about tennessee and his stories! He sent me a ginormous package of pictures last week. or was it the week before? I will post some maybe sometime.. It is so much work scanning pictures onto the computer... He looks happy, and is actually doing quite well in learning spanish!

Last weekend Britt and Tyler came down for an early thanksgiving and her friends farewell, and we got some mission pictures taken. And some family ones too! They all turned out pretty good! Some of mine I didn't like.. not because of the way she took the picture, but because I don't like how I look! But there is enough to be happy with!

The ones o put on are just a few. I'll save the others for when I can announce where I am going! I can't wait to find out!! Ok, like i said my attention span is about a zero right now. So I need to move onto something else now! Haha!

so incredibly blessed!

Life is so good! I could burst right now! So many things are going great in my life, not perfect, but it seems very close! First things first, I got a package from Elder Williams that made my life EVEN better! He sent me about 500 pictures, all were awesome and I will get them up sometime.. haha BUT he sent me something even cooler that I can't help but share. It made me cry, and I almost can't believe how much he has grown already. So here is the picture or rather, his "Title of Liberty" and you have to look at it and read what he said. You'll have to look closely to follow everything he says.

"Just like Moroni's title of liberty, written with his reasons to fight against his enemy, just like Spartans would draw on their shields of what they are fighting and would die for, I too have a title of liberty. I shield against my enemies. Its the Superman emblem. The border is scripture representing what surrounds my life and keeps it together. The "S" is my path or life, that in my darkness was slowly lifted and I could see where I was headed. Satan's dark eyes stay hidden and concealed from the light Christ gave me, and has driven out the night unto day. Along my life is my mission, where I am worthy and honored to wear the Savior's name along with mine. Further are the things I enjoy; movies, music, and writing. Hobbies I hope to make careers out of because if I do what I love I will never work a day in my life. At the end is you, and the temple which we can one day be sealed together forever. Our rings are hooked together to show my eternal, unbreakable, and unalterable love for you, Crystal Turner, the woman who has helped me become the awesome guy I am today. And the woman who I want to give the rest of my life to. I love you forever and ever and ever and ever." 

Isn't that the coolest thing ever!?!?! I am going to get it framed and probably photo-copied so I can take with me wherever I go. I can hardly even get over how awesome it is, and how awesome he is! I feel like the luckiest girl in the universe to have such a sweet guy. Everything I have ever wanted growing up is blossoming into a flower so beautiful I can't even describe it! I love it. I am so excited for him and I am so glad he chose to serve a mission before we get married. It was hard, and still will be but I wouldn't do it any other way. The spiritual preparations he has made by choosing to serve a mission could never be replaced. Making this sacrifice will all be worth it in the end, and I have complete faith in him! I love him so much! He is going to make such a good missionary!

While we are still on the subject of missionaries.. I had had my final interview with my bishop last night! It went good and is now submitted over to the stake presidency. Now I get to play the waiting game! Rather than calling the executive secretary to set up an appointment, I have to wait for him to call me! I am so paranoid somehow I will fall through the cracks or be forgotten or by some weird technological error, they won't get the submission. Its probably me being a worry wart, but I am so excited I don't want to wait! If all goes as well as the bishop says, I should get a call in a few days to have an appointment set up for tuesday. If not, it wont be until the next tuesday.. not that a week makes too much of a difference but I am so excited to find out where I am going! Another week is another week of not knowing! I'll keep it updated. :)
Meanwhile, here is a picture of me sitting, hoping, and waiting ever so patiently.. haha

halloween, mission prep, and spinning

I LOVE Halloween! For some reason, this time of year always gets my creative mind flowing. I like creepy things I guess? Anyway, since Cody can't go trick or treating this year, I decided to do a little something for him. I made a care package LOADED with fun stuff. In the little bag with the ghost and the pumpkin, is a bunch of candy bars. I wanted to do a candy bar letter, but couldn't quite fold a huge posterboard into a little box, so I typed up the letter, er more of a story I guess, and filled the bag with the candies. It's a cute story, and I got pretty creative. I told him the story of our love life (don't worry, its not too mushy! haha), not so much a spooky story, but it was cute!  I'd tell you how it went but I already sent it off and didn't save a copy for myself. Then to go with those candy bars, I also managed to find a cute little halloween checkers game with different colored candies in it that I thought would be fun for him to play with his companion sometime. Other things I included: Caution tape, what i thought were just glow sticks (i didn't realize at the time but it is a set of glow necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, hahaha.. oh well), a halloween pez candy dispenser, fun dip, reeses pumpkin, pumpkin marshmallow, gum, a little coffin with candy skeletons in it, confetti, and some little cut outs (the frankenstein, ghost and pumpkin) i drew with notes on the back of them. It was a lot of fun to make it! I am sure he'll enjoy it!

All the stuff put in the box. So much candy! And to the right, the finishing touches, with a CAUTION: Enter at your own risk. (I think i am trying to send a subliminal message, that if eats all the candy, it will be at his own risk. haha) Should be a pretty nice sugar rush! I got it sent off in the mail today, so that hopefully it can get to him by halloween!

Back to the part about me loving Halloween. I think this is the first year I haven't planned a Halloween party for my little cousins in a few years. Too much is going on this weekend, but to be honest I am kinda sad. I love planning all the little halloween games and seeing this little kids all dressed up! The most I get to do is dress up for work, which I have no idea what I am going to be... I am thinking about being an eskimo since it is so cold this week! ;) I guess you could say I am a little bit dissapointed for this year's halloween. My neighborhood is doing a trunk or treat, which means even less trick or treaters at our house this year. :( Since Cody is gone, I am not sure what I am going to do for halloween night either. Ok, so I really didn't mean for this blog to turn into a depressing sad story of my life. Life is actually really good, I am just dissappointed with Halloween this year.

So, onto more uplifting subjects! I got my papers from my doctor back! Which means minus the appointment I have with a foot doctor on friday, I am DONE with the medical part! YAY! Oh, and part 2 of the Hepatitus shot I have to get next week, but no biggie. So, as soon as that is done, I am free to submit my papers and get on the road to redemption.. er something like that! I am really excited, the closer it gets the more excited I become. Wondering of all the places I could go, where does the Lord want me?! It sounds thrilling, I know! I can't wait!

Other things I am doing at the moment: I started up a spin class! Well sort of, I only go to it once a week but it literally kicked my butt last week. It kicked me so hard I didn't want to sit down for long because it hurt! I love the class though. I always feel like I can go conquer the world when I'm done! I also have been running, and strength training, in hopes of getting back in shape like I used to be.. It was so crazy, the other night I set the tredmill time for 50 minutes, did about an 8 minute warm-up walk/slow jog, and started running. I ran for 40 minutes straight without almost dying! That never happens! Usually I feel the need to stop every 10 minutes or so. I felt so good, it was weird! Really weird! Must be doing something right! I hope. Motivation is hard to keep up with. It always seems to be just out of reach when I need it most. But I am determined to keep up with it this time! No quick fixes like the HCG diet. Even though it was nice to lose 15 pounds in 2 weeks... Slow and steady is much harder, but I think will be much better in the long run.

Harry Potter!

It took me about a year to finish the first book, a couple months to finish the second, another couple for the 3rd, about a month for the 4th, and about a month to finish the last 3! I have to admit, I have always thought Harry Potter was a little childish and never thought I would ever get into those books. I thought the movies, were okay but nothing spectacular.. Well for some reason I got excited to see the 6th movie and decided to give the books another try. The more I read, the better it got! In fact the 6th and 7th book I could hardly put down! Suddenly I felt like Ron, Hermione, Luna, Dumbledore, Fred & George, Sirius, Tonks, Ginny, Snape, Draco, etc were all real people that I knew. I think that is what is so great about books, is if you really feel like you personally know the characters, they become your friends and enemies and you feel their emotions. It is also kind of silly at the same time.. as if you are running alongside these characters who don't really exist. But I have to say I loved these books! I feel a little bit sad they are over! One of my favorite things about the book is the relationship between Ron and Hermione because it reminds me so much of the games boys and girls play with each other in real life. Not to mention how far they go to make one another jealous! It is cute though to realize they only do it because in reality they love each other, and slowly the relationship comes together. It reminded me alot of my relationship with Cody when we weren't 'dating'. I don't think I could really pick a favorite character, but I have always loved Luna's personality. In a way she reminds me of me, in my own dreamy world, saying weird things at the most random times. Neville is awesome too! A bit of a dork, but when he finally comes out, he comes out strong and brave.

Anyway. Anyone who has read the books, knows they are awesome! So thats enough rambling on about that. If you haven't read then, I suggest you do!