I woke up super early on Thursday morning to drive by the house before work to see if there was any progress and to my surprise the stone on the front of the house was complete and all of the drywall is up!!! It seems like they are right on track (for all I know?) I just keep telling myself that "at least there is progress". It is amazing how much bigger it appears now that they drywall is up, maybe because each room and area is more defined verse when it was just framed.













Kitchen and Livingroom









I get more and more excited each time that I see it. Only 40 more days!!! Since living in the Crane's basement I have come to appreciate the simple things in life that we take for granted.... Like an oven and a stove, separate washer and dryer units, a real matress, organization, a kitchen table, couch... basically all the necessities of a home!! I am grateful for this experience- I think that Hank and I will appreciate all of our blessings in our life a lot more and think twice before taking things for granted. We are so blessed that we both have jobs, a roof over our head, money in the bank, food on the table, a great family and wonderful friends.

New shoes for the Girls!

The girls absolutely love being outside running around in the huge back yard that we have at the moment, but it has been so wet and muddy that lately we have been hesitant to let them out because it takes forever to clean out the mud inbetween their toes. As I am wondering through Wal Mart yesterday I notice that they have cute little shoes for dogs- so I purchase two sets and rush home to test them out... I have never laughed so hard in my life! vI get them on Daisy and they sound like high heals on a wood floor and she is walking like a robot lifting her feet up super high trying to figure out what she did wrong to be strapped in the strange things on her feet. Then I get them on Lilly and she would take a couple step and then just sit down- she wasn't having any part of the humiliation.









I finally get their coats on and get them outside, Daisy and I are running laps around the yard (I am still laughing hysterically), while Lilly sits dormant stubbornly refusing to walk in her new shoes- what girl doesn't love a new pair of shoes. So I take them off and let her run wild. Moments later she feels so bad for Daisy that she try's removing them for her.

Young Women's

This is a good majority of my girls, a couple are missing!

What an experience I have had serving in the Young Women's program- it has been an amazing year and a half. I started as the Beehive advisor, then moved up to the Mia Maid advisor- man what a blast I have had learning and growing with each one of them! I will never forget those girls. They have made such a huge impression on my heart and spirit. My testimony has grown so strong by just being around them. Seeing the struggles that they face each and every day being one of the very few members in their school yet they are not influenced by what others think- they stand for what they believe in and that's what makes them so great! They have been such an example to me by simply being themselves. Each with such a unique personality and a variety of talents, but they all stood for truth and righteousness. I know that I learned far more from them that they did from me. I have formed bonds that will last a life time!

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to have served with some pretty miraculous women as well, that took me under their wing and thought me everything I know! They were women that were true to the standards and taught through their actions, not just their words! They were my example. I constantly strived to be a better example, leader, teacher, wife and friend- they made me what to be a better me.

I found out a couple months ago that I was going to be released at the first of the year because we are about to move (I cried like a baby of course). Which meant that I needed to kick it in gear if I wanted to pass of the Personal Progress Program as a leader before being released. Needless to say I have been a slacker at doing my personal progress, so over the last couple of months I have been working my tail off to pass off my experiences and finish the virtue project which is reading the Book of Mormon. I was in Alma about a week ago and have been reading every chance I got and finished it in the nick of time (the day before New Beginnings).

Tuesday night was New Beginning, the theme was "Come to the Light Within", it was such a beautiful program given by the Presidency. I am so proud to be a Young Women, I have learned so much through the Personal Progress program. It had helped me to start new habits, think before I act, stand for the things that I believe in, reflect on our standards and why they are there and overall how I can become a better women, wife and someday a mother. All of my hard work paid off and I was able to recieve my Young Womanhood Recognition. It was a bitter sweet moment for me, because I actually enjoyed passing the experiences off each week- you feel a great sense of accomplishment and gain such a wealth of knowledge by following what each experience says. I truly have gained a better understanding of the scriptures and a stronger testimony and have experienced so many blessing that come when you are working toward spiritual goals that assist you in becoming the person that Heavenly Father intended you to be!

We bought a new car!

Back in August Hank had to sell his Infiniti FX 35 to ensure that we had the money that we needed to put 20% down on our house. It was very sad- because we loved that car and it was paid off. So since then we have just been driving the Corolla and mom and dad's Mercedes while they have been in Cambodia. We thought it was a great plan until mom and dad came back early, we were left with one car.... Since both of us work it was a must that we buy a car. So as a graduation/Christmas present my sweet husband put a down payment on my dream car! A 2012 Litmited Edition Jeep Liberty. It is a B E A UTIFUL charcoal, fully loaded with heated leather seats, remote start, GPS, and an alarm system to top it off!
What a perfect graduation present, it will forever symbolize all the hard work that I put in over the past five years and finally getting my degree! I had such a great support system- I don't think that I could have done it without his patience, love and understanding. Thank you babe!!

Robinson Wrestling

Brandon started wrestling again this year after taking a year off and he is setting right back in. It is a very demanding sport, they practice Monday- Saturday with a meet usually on Wednesday or Thursday each week for 3 hours. They have practice on holidays, school breaks- you name it. They really never get a break during the season. He started in the 120 weight and has since dropped weight so that he could compete in the 113 weight class. He seems to really enjoy it, he is learning quickly, I can see his progression each week at his meets. At first it seemed that he was shy or passive and this past week he was very aggressive, and took charge. He still has some things that he needs to work on, but he is definitely getting the experience that he needs to compete with the boys that have been wrestling for several years. This coming week he opportunity to wrestle on the varsity team. He was one of the four freshman that were chosen to travel to Pennsylvania for the wrestling tournment. We are so proud of his hard work, it seems to really be paying off!

Excitement from 2011

Well 2011 came and went in a blink of an eye- which is why I had absolutely no time to blog about it! This year I will strive to do better, and keep you all updated on what is going on in our little world! It was a very busy year for us- with work, school, and Hank's business endeavors- we didn't have much time for anything else! I am going to attempt to update you from last years excitement!

Hank was finally able to accomplish one of his goals and start his own company- Eng Solutions and enabled him to go out on his own to do IT Consulting, he is currently working on two separate projects which tends to keep him pretty busy- but he enjoys it. He spent the majority of the year inventing Screen-Wear. Getting the copy right, buisess license, patent, product development, testing the material, and creating an e-commerce website. The product officially launched a couple months ago and is doing very very well, so all of his hard work is definitely paying off!

My goal for 2011 was to FINALLY graduate, so I spent most of the year focusing on my studies. Taking 3 classes each semester and working part time at the farm! I am very happy to announce that I accomplished my goal and got my Bachelorts Degree in Business Management!! I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and relief. I am grateful for my very supportive husband that helped me all along the way and my sister inlaw for tutoring me in finance and managerial accounting- I couldn't have done it without them!

I found a passion of running this year! Some friends and I trained and ran the DC Ragnar in September and then my good friend Brittany and I continued training to run the Richmond half marathon in November. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours- we barely made it, finishing in 1:59! Both were huge accomplishments for me and I hope to continue my running this year!
















Bandon's mom got married this year so they moved to Fairfax, which meant he had to switch schools. He adjusted really well, has lots of friends, tons of girls after him, and has managed to take excelerated classes and maintain A's and B's! He is very active and involved in several extracurricular activities. He plays the base in the school Orchestra, and it teaching himself the cello, he plays lacrosse and is on the schools wrestling team. We are so proud of his many accomplishments and hope that he will continue doing his best!












We found an amazing unique little neighborhood in Gainesville that is on a lake and it was just too perfect to pass up. Those types of neighborhoods don't really exist in the Northern Virginia area- so we are building a beautiful house that should be done by March 10 (hopefully sooner). We are very excited, this will be our first house together and also very grateful for all of Hank's hard work that has enabled us to be able to afford to put a private living area in the basement for Hank's parents and his little sister, where they will be more comfortable!









We put our town house up for sale/rent last month and within a week or so we found the perfect candidate, who will be renting for the next 2 years!! He wanted to move in by December 15, which was bitter sweet moment! We were very grateful to find such a greater renter so quickly, but that meant that we needed to find a place to live until out house is finished! Luckily for us our friends Ben and Brittany Crane had just renovated their basement and turned it into a studio apartment- So we will be living in their basement for the next couple of months! It has a pretty good size room/living room, full bathroom, half kitchen (fridge, sink, hot plate, microwave oven) and a huge fenced in backyard that the girls absolutely LOVE! We are grateful to have it- it is a humbling experience and challenging at times! Took a bit of adjustment for all of us. Hank is struggling, he has no cable- so he has resorted to watching Netflix and The Big Bang Theory! The girls get a little depressed when both of us go to work, because one of their favorite past times is watching people out the window- but on the positive side they love to run free in gigantic backyard and go upstairs and play with Hallie and Kyle! Thank heavens for Brittany's willingness to let me use her oven on a regular basis or I might go crazy!

Last by not least my inlaws and sister-in-law are back from Cambodia after being gone for the past 10 months! We are very very excited to have them home! Also my sister-in-law Chantra got engaged a couple weeks ago and will be getting married in May! We are so happy for her, her and Brian make a great could and he will be a great addition to our family!