I just feel blessed!

It's been a while since I last wrote.  And it's been even longer since I posted pictures.    I just haven't taken the time (until now) to download them from our camera.  The first two pictures I took just this last week.  I had found my sunglasses and Lilli wanted to see them.  So I let her.  She's so cute!  But she did kind of break my glasses.  Oh well.  It's my fault for giving them to her.  The next two pictures are of her drinking a smoothie I had made.  She LOVED it!  She kept wanting more, but I was afraid she would get a brain freeze (she would just snarf that stuff down in a minute).  I made her wait a little bit and that's why she's kind of crying.  She was mad!  And I thought it was super cute that she had a little smoothie mustache.  Now the last two pictures are of Lilli sneaking some chocolates.  She pushed the chair to the counter and grabbed the plate of chocolates and started eating them.  I was on the computer and I heard her push the chair but didn't think too much about it.  But then I heard a rustling noise and came around the corner and this is what I saw!  It was actually quite hilarious!  What a stinker!!!!

Well, things have been going good.  We decided to go ahead and get the car fixed.  We paid a lot of money, hoping and PRAYING that the car will last us AT LEAST another 2 years.  It's got about 146,000 miles on it, so we're hoping to get another 30 to 40,000 more.  It was so nice to get our car back, though.  We were fortunate enough and blessed to have friends that helped us out.  Anyway, the damages weren't as severe as we thought they would be (thanks to the many prayers that were said), but we still had to get our timing belt changed AND the water coolant system changed.  Both costing a lot of money, but not as much as we thought.  The Lord definitely blessed us.  The scripture, "ask and ye shall receive" really does work, it just requires a lot of faith too.  I feel very blessed and immediately got down on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father when I found out the damages weren't as bad as we thought.  I'm still really nervous to make long trips in the car though.  

This last Thursday I was able to go to the Columbia, S.C. temple.  It was our ward's Relief Society temple trip so I was able to go with a lot of the sisters from our ward.  That was fun.  I haven't been in a long while, and it was so nice to go.  I really needed that spiritual uplift.  It was so nice remembering the covenants that I have made and how sacred they really are.  I know it's important to go to the temple often, and Ben and I are really going to try to make the sacrifices to go.  I know our family will be blessed even more.

Last weekend I also had the opportunity to go on a girls' trip with a bunch of friends.  We had a blast!  We went down to Florida to St. George Island and stayed in a beach house one of them (her parents) own.  It was a crazy 8 hr drive, but so fun!  We were there for just a few days and it was VERY relaxing.  We watched movies, did girly stuff, stayed up till all hours of the night and slept in (some of us did), did each other's hair (or Hannah did our hair), got in the hot tub (poor Megan couldn't get in because she's pregnant, so she sat in the freezing cold and dipped her feet, WHAT A TROOPER), went to the beach (we picked up some rad star fish, and shells), made cute cards (Valentine's Day cards for our hubbies), and just had fun!!!!  I hope to be able to download some pictures from our trip (if you want to see some pics of our trip, my friend Rachel has them on her blog).  We all got to know each other better, and have become even better friends!  It was a blast!!!!!!!!!  Don't get me wrong, I love Ben and Lilli so much, but it was nice to just get a break.  Plus, Lilli and Ben got some much needed daddy/daughter time.  Ben got Lilli to go "poo poo" in the potty the whole time I was gone.  Since I've been home, though, she hasn't gone.  Ben's a great daddy and I love him so much!  I really appreciate him being so understanding and willing to let me go for a few days, and do all the "mom" jobs (as one friend likes to put it, hahaha).  He even took off work.  I truly feel blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful friends, to be married to such a wonderful man, and to have such a beautiful daughter.  And this is getting kind of sappy so.......................I just feel blessed.    

Car Update

So as I mentioned before, our car broke down on Sunday. We took it into the shop Monday, and the analysis was that we broke a timing belt. What that means I have NO idea, I just know that it's going to cost around $600 to get it fixed. And that's only if the belt didn't break any of the pistons in the engine when it broke. If it did, then we're looking at about an $1800 fix (our car isn't even worth that much). So we're not sure what's going to happen. We had to take our car to the actual Dodge place, because the other place really couldn't diagnose it. We find out today what is going on. I think I cried more yesterday than I have for sometime. It's just a stress, because that's our only car and we can't afford to get another one, well, MAYBE a cheap, RELIABLE car we could afford. We'll see. It's just a bummer, because I was really hoping that car would last another 2-2 1/2 more years. ATLEAST. I just need to have faith that all will work out.

The New Year 2008!

I know, it's been a while since I've updated my blog. Things have been pretty crazy lately! We rang in the New Year at the Bastian's house. It was a blast! The kids were all busy playing games, so we (the adults) were able to play our own games. We had TONS of yummy yummy food! Goodness, there was a lot of food!!!!! We stayed until Lilli started to crash (crash as in, cry over EVERYTHING). We ended up leaving at around 11pm. I was surprised she lasted THAT long. We got home, put Lilli down, and then stayed up and watched the ball drop. Then Aaron ended up coming over and he and Ben played FIFA08 on the Wii. That was fine with me, because I was going to bed anyway, and Ben was working nights. So I guess it worked out for both of us. I was thinking that I would regret staying up that late, thinking Lilli wouldn't sleep in, but she ended up sleeping until 10am. YEA!!!!! That was kind of nice.

Today, Ben was on his way home from church (Lilli and I stayed after to go to choir) and our car just died. Last night, we were coming home from our totally 80's ward party, and the car started over heating. So I'm wondering if the two incidents are related. Hopefully there's nothing too serious with the car and the fixing it costs won't be more than the car is worth. I keep praying that everything will be fine. We need that car to last us ATLEAST another 2 or 3 years. Hopefully!! Luckily, Kirk and the missionaries had passed and stopped and towed us all home. Yea, that was an adventure. So tomorrow, Ben is taking it in to the shop to get fixed. Please, everyone pray for us!!! I know it sounds silly, but we need your prayers. I'm totally stressing out here. I'm just worried about the costs, as I think anyone would be. It's been a good car and I've had it since 2001. I don't know. Maybe it IS on it's last leg. I hope not!

Coming up in March, I've been asked to teach a class at our stake's annual Women's Conference (they have about 6 classes, and you get to pick 2 to go to). It'll be a one time class for those young women who will be graduating and going into Relief Society. I guess the stake relief society presidency wanted someone who was younger and enthusiastic about Relief Society. Apparently, my name had been brought up, the stake president approved my name, and here I am. It's pretty crazy, but I'm excited to be able to do it. I'm glad that I was asked so soon. I have time to really prepare and decided how I want to approach it. If anybody has any suggestions, I'm totally open. But I thought that was exciting that they asked me. I'm looking forward to it. They want me to give a short bio and picture of me. That part I'm not too excited about. What would I put in my bio?????? I'm only 26 and haven't had any great life's accomplishments or experiences. Oh well. I'll think of something.

This year, in June, Ben will have been in the Air Force for 4 years. It's crazy how this time has flown. We'll have another two years. After that, who knows. He's talked to a lot of people about the different options we have. So far, we've decided we're either going officer side (commissioning) or re-enlisting. We're not sure. Today we talked a little bit to Jay Johnson about going airborne side (sorry for those of you who don't know what that means, I don't even think that I really know what that means). We don't know. There are so many options. Or, we could find a job civilian side. It changes every single day. We'll see as it gets closer.

Lilli is getting so big. Right now, she really loves bubble baths. She gets so excited. She could stay in that tub all day if I let her. She's definitely talking better, and I can actually understand what she's trying to say, SOMETIMES! Sometimes I can't and she gets frustrated and starts throwing herself into walls. Yeah, not fun. It makes me angry when she does that, I just have to ignore her or put her in time out. Though it is funny when we put her in timeout, she immediately says sorry. Unfortunately, it doesn't teach her anything to let her get up just because she says sorry. It's funny though! She's got quite a personality, but she's so stinkin' cute!! I just love her!!!!!! The other day, she kept saying Nana (which is what we call my mom or it's a banana). I figured she didn't want a banana, so I asked her if she wanted to talk to Nana. So she brought me my cell phone and she kept saying, "Nana! Papa (which is what we call my dad)!" It was really cute! That's my girl! She'll be 2 this year and that scares me. My baby is getting big!!! I guess it's time to have another one!!!!!!! hahaha

Anyway, I'm looking forward to 2008. I hope that I will always strive to be a better person and strengthen myself physically, spiritually, etc. I hope that I can strengthen my family, that we can be stronger in the Gospel. We're trying. I think that's all that matters. As long as we're trying to do a little better each day. So far, this year has been a challenge, but I know we'll get through whatever comes our way. Happy 2008! (I'll post pictures once I've loaded them up on our computer).