New Job!!!

Yes it is true! I got a new job :) I'm happy that I have one. I now work for an in-home care company that sends CNA's out to patients homes to help care for them. I've had this job for about 3 weeks now and its been really interesting. I'm not allowed to work full time and that is why I'm not back at the hospital. This new job is kind of perfect for me right now and I believe that Heavenly Father wants me to have it. So I will tell ya how I got it.

My boss found my resume on careerbuilder.com and called me so I could go in to fill out an application. Well I needed to have a TB test done and take a First-Aide/ CPR class before I could even be qualified for the job. So I got the test done and took the classes and the following Monday I called him back and I was asked to go in for an interview. So it was set for that Friday at 11:30am. I got there 10 minutes early, you know I would rather be early than late! So I go in and introduce myself and the receptionist hands me a huge packet. My thoughts were"Holy crap! That's the application?" I handed the receptionist all the forms of I.D. that I had brought with me. She instructed me to go into the small room off to the side of her desk and to fill out all the papers, so I did. I get in there and the first few pages seem like a normal application, then after like the 7th page I started to recognize some of the papers. They were new-hire papers. I at first thought it was a mistake but continued to fill them all out. It took about an hour :( The receptionist came in, took the papers, and then told me to stand with my back to the wall. I asked why? She said..."For your employee I.D :)" Yeah I at that point couldn't stop smiling. I didn't even have an interview! So after my picture was taken she told me to wait a few for my boss to come in. He wanted to discuss some things with me. Well he gets in and starts talking about the pay and the types of clients I will have and time sheets. LOL! When he was done I smiled and said.." I honestly was only expecting an interview not to get hired :)" I'm a dork of course and I think he could see that. He then told me how the amount of experience that I had was more than enough and that I was clearly more than experienced in the health care business so they wanted to hire me. I was kind of shocked about the whole thing, but I prayed and fasted and had faith that Heavenly Father would help me in his own time :)

So that's that! Got a job and life seems to be going good :)

December 2nd 2007 VS December 2nd 2009

On December 2nd 2007 I decided to meet some friends at the Temple to enjoy in the lights. Well needless to say I didn't make it to the Temple that night. I was in a car accident that injured me and forced me to realize what was really going on in my life and how I really was doing with things like finances. It was like a slap in the face. For the next year, my foot heel healed and I went back to work. Also I got my finances in order and back on track with a lot of spiritual things too. The working didn't last long though. My Dr. didn't want me to be on my foot for more than 15 minutes every hour. I was working at a hospital, there was no way I could do that. The Dr. found arthritis inbetween the joints of my ankle and said that surgery was needed if I wanted to walk with no pain and no limp,but I had to wait a full year after the break of my heel to have the surgery. Well I waited and then I wait a little longer for insurance to approve the surgery. On July 16th, 2009 I had the surgery, a full year and 7 months after the car accident. Its been a long road to get myself back on track health wise and now I'm finding it hard to get myself back on track work wise and financially. Its a hard time and all I can do is try. During all this I developed friendships and I learned a lot about the person that I want to be and I learned how to be a leader and so much about the gospel. Its amazing when in a class I can raise my hand to answer a question and it would be the right answer. I love my testimony and its helped me stay strong and get through so much. The friendships that I've developed are the type of friendships that I will have for all eternity. I'm so grateful for everyone in my life. I really am :) I honestly have love for everyone. So this December 2nd, 2009 I am happy to know that everything I'm doing in my life are the right things :)

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

Okay, so one of my favorite times of year is...Christmas!!!! I love the decorations,the food,and I love when the family gets together to enjoy the Christmas spirit, that loves to consume us all. My family has already put Christmas lights up and we are decorating the inside now. It is going to look AWESOME. No one else does Christmas lights on my street so my house has to make up for it. And it does a great job too :) Last year for some reason it took me a while to get in the Christmas spirit and this year I've been in it since November 14th. My Dad has opened our house up for a Christmas party that we normally have at my Aunt and Uncles house. So this means that the eliptical and the stationary bike will be moved into my room for the month of December for the Christmas tree. My room isn't that big :( But it should be fun, since my Dads side of the family is all coming and a few of my Mom's. The only thing that is a downer is that its on December 19th. That is the same day as the Multi-Stake Christmas Activity at my stake building. That means that I need to be there and to conduct. I'm grateful though, that the party is at night and the activity is during the day. I just wont be able to help set up the house the day of. Which means my mother will want me to set it up the night before LOL, But I do love the Christmas time. I feel bad though that I don't have a job right now and that I wont be able to give gifts to many people. I feel that for the past 2 years I've done nothing, but take and I haven't been able to give back, Granted I was in a position that I needed to be dependant upon those around me. That is a later post though. Okay so MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!! I can say it now since tomorrow is December 1st :)

To all those who need a hug or some words of advice :)

Today I've been thinking a lot about Satan and the impact that he's having on a lot of people. This weekend was General Conference, and what I got out of it is that we all need to continue to have unwavering faith in Christ and to remember that 'Love' isn't just for our families, but also for our friends and ward families and all those who are in need of it. I honestly Love each and every person I know. There are different types of Love and I'm so grateful to experience those different types. Satan is very cunning and he doesn't want us to have joy and love. He doesn't want us to have friends that can help us when he gets to us. If we were all alone, then we all would be in that together. No one is the same and we are all different for a reason. Satan knows that he will put you down to the lowest you can get. Remember that when he does that, that he's doing it because he knows what can make you that low. I used to think I was the most ugliest person I know. True I did think that, it wasn't that long ago that I thought that either, But those words "ugly'/'being loved' were the words that could make me feel low. I'm not ugly, I know I'm not, and I am loved. I may not have my eternal companinons love, but I know I will some day and I'm looking forward to it. Satan is not dumb, but he has weaknesses just like us and if we are willing to fight against him and his cruel intentions, then we will have the strength of the Lord helping us in that fight. So to all those who are feeling down, I love you and know you are worth being loved and capable of repressing Satan's power.

Family!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

So why is it that I chose to be a part of this family? I would really like to know. My family just never seems to give me a break. I guess its true when they say that love is an adventure. It's not a decision you make for others. It's a decision you make from your heart. I do love my family, but when I look at them it makes me cling to the gospel and the principles that the church has. I'm glad to know where I can turn for the peace that I deserve. I just wish it wasn't so hard. I know if I look at the example of Jesus Christ and the Atonement I know that the things that I go through are little to the ones that The savior had gone through. I'm just really wanting out of my families home. I know that I get stronger every day when I live the gospel and choose the right.

What can I do? I'm only in a wheelchair!!!!

So tonight was like any other night except I wasn't with my good friend Krissa :( Totally missed her though!! I happened to be with my other friend Elizabeth :) We decided to escape from our prison's called home and go to the dollar theater at Superstition Springs Mall. Our showing was for the 9:40pm Star Trek!! We both hadn't seen it and decided that it was probably going to be AWESOME. Since our movie didn't start until 9:40pm we decided to wander the mall and look at some stuff. Elizabeth needed to buy a new under shirt and I love looking at accessories. I actually bought a necklace that's hot pink and new silver earrings,well the earrings were cheap and broke about 20 minutes ago, anyways we wanted to get something to eat real quick so we went to the food court and had a quick bite, on a side note I absolutely love 'Paradise Bakery' So we finished and saw it was time to go to our movie. We got there and noticed a man(without a shirt on) and a women sitting in the first couple seats on the right side with 2 young boys. Of course I needed the handy-capped spot and we sat in the most top row in the first 2 seats, me being in the outer chair. Right before our movie started the man was asked by security to 'Please put on a shirt'. Well our movie was starting and about 30 minutes into the movie the man I had mentioned before decided that he needed to voice every thought that came into his head. I naturally thought that he might just be showing off for his girl,but nope, I was dead wrong! During the ENTIRE movie that man made vulgar comments about some of his body parts and used the 'F-word' every other word. I'm quite used to hearing it, but I seriously thought that I had never heard it used more in 2 hours than my entire life! By this time a few people tried staring at him and some shushed him,but that did no good. Finally I decided to take action and I bravely got up and into my wheelchair and left the theater to find a manager. I had enough of hearing the things coming out of his mouth. I of course told the manager and while they went to talk with him I used the restroom, and call my older and big tough brother,Jason, on my cell. I pretty much told him that I might die for telling on that man.He of course laughed at me for doing what my mother taught me to do. On my way back to the theater I passed the manager and they said that they spoke with him and told him if he didn't stop that he would have to leave. Well I got into the theater and the man asked me "Hey, do you need any help?" I of course replied " No thank you, I got it" and smiled. You think that was the end of his little show? Wrong!! Way wrong. He then decided that it would be much more fun to just make every comment he had about me. He said things like"I'm gonna take that wheelchair and do 360's and go down hills and have sex in it and take it from me." My maternal instincts towards my wheelchair took over and I swiftly folded it up and took hold of it firmly. A few minutes of silence took over but didn't last long. He then got up and came over to me and did something I wasn't expecting he said"I'm sorry about what I said, I can be a jerk" He then shook mine and Elizabeth's hands. We nodded at him and he left. I suddenly and instinctively wiped my hand on my pants. I remembered what he had said about his body parts :( I know that's disgusting. A short time later the movie ended and as a few people were leaving a few of them came to me and asked me if I had been fighting with the man? I told them the truth and said no and that I didn't know the man at all and was just tired of hearing his vulgar mouth. They said thanks and told me good job for standing up to him. I laughed at that cause its not like standing is an easy thing for me at the moment :) I wish so that the tail had ended there, but of course it doesn't. We got to the parking lot and there was my good old friend yelling at his lady friend and hurting her physically. Elizabeth and I were concerned about leaving her alone with him. My sympathy for people who put themselves in the life of someone like that is very slim. But non-the-less, We waited to see what would happen. What did happen was... Someone had called the cops (not me or Elizabeth) someone from the movie theaters, I think. Well they came and handled the situation. We left, not wanting to be in over our heads. It was a very exciting night and it was fun at the same time. I hope that guy can change his ways and same with that girl. I hated having to be the one to stand up (so-to-speak) to him. But honestly sitting there and listening to that guy it did frighten me that he might do something to me. I had heavenly father there with me. I did! I know it, I asked him to help me be brave enough to stop him from being obscene. I love my life. It is hard to say that sometimes, but I know that things happen for a reason and I truly hope that if anyone ever sees or hears, what I saw and heard, that they too will do what they can to stop it. It was an adventure, and I did it all in a wheelchair!!! :)

The Longing and Tragedy!!!

I wrote these about a year ago :) I hope you like them!!

The Longing-

Some say that the longing for something/someone is only the art of wanting what was once there, but the truth to it is, that you actually long for the things that make your toes curl,your heart race,and gut wrenching feelings and the people who have impacted your life on an astronomical level where you cannot define them as anything other than important to you. I believe that as we engage ourselves in the art of longing we become those feelings and just as important to ourselves and those around us that it would be hard to actually never long for them. So if we all take a part in the art of longing we are able to see that its a lot like love and being loved and giving love.

-Amanda Branson

Tragedy-

Tragedies happen! What are you going to do? Give up, quit? NO! When your heart breaks you have to fight like hell to stay alive. Cause you are, and the pain that your feeling, thats life and the confusion and fear thats there, is to remind you that somewhere out there, there is something better and its worth the fight! As we strain to grasp the things we desire with what we think will make our lives better, we ignore what truely matters like, friendships, family, love. The things we probably already had. Yes, losing your hearts desire is tragic, but gaining it is all you can hope for. If having love is tragic then give me tragedy, I wouldn't give it up for anything!

-Amanda Branson

I wrote this tell me what you think!!

Okay so one morning about a week ago I stayed up to watch the sunrise. I don't know what came over me but I hurriedly grabbed paper and a marker(The only thing near me) and wrote this down....

Today is August 1st and for the first time in a long time I watched the sun rise. Its almost a whisper of light before the breaking of dawn. Sitting and staring out the window with the morning breeze flowing through the leaves on the late summer trees, I think today will be a beautiful day. As a wave of light touches the morninig sky and brightens the day with an eternal glow, I know that life is a creation that knows no end. Today is August 1st and I'm glad fo it to begin.

-Amanda Branson

Its different but I have no idea why I thought of these things. It helps to write down your thoughts no matter how different they are.

Wow surgey lol its been a little over a week!!!

Hey everyone its been a little over a week since my surgey and I would really love to say that I'm doing great but I'm of course miserable lol its life hopefully I will be doing better soon. I just really wish time would fly lol :)

It Feels Like Home

I've heard this song probably 5 times before tonight and I've never really stopped and listened to the words until now.I saw the movie "My sisters Keeper" that movie was really interesting and emotional. This song was playing and I thought to myself 'WOW! thats a beautiful song!' and it is. I hope you enjoy it!!

It Feels Like Home -By Chantal Kreviazuk

Somethin' in your eyes,
makes me wanna lose myself
Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms
There's somethin' in your voice,
makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I've been so alone
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you've done

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

A window breaks, down a long, dark street
And a siren wails in the night
But I'm alright, 'cause I have you here with me
And I can almost see, through the dark there is light

Well, if you knew how much this moment means to me
And how long I've waited for your touch
And if you knew how happy you are making me
I never thought that I'd love anyone so much

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way the back where I come from
It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

Terrible... MONDAYS

So today is Monday and it started pretty normal. I had my list of chores I had to do and another list of what I had to help the kids do. By the time we got done it was 1pm. Of course we stopped at noon to have lunch :) By 3:15pm I thought it was going to be a pretty nice day. Then I got the mail and noticed that there was a letter in their from my soon to be ex-sister-in-law. Okay so let me back up to about October 2006 just to fill you in on some things.

My Brother and his wife Jennifer in spring of 2006 started to do drugs :( sad I know, My parents found out about it in the summertime of 2006, by October 2006 my parents had convinced both my Brother and his wife to let them have guardianship over the 3 kids to let them have insuraunce since my brother couldn't afford healthcare at that time. Well one day I came home from work around 11:00pm and found in the living room 3 kids sleeping next to my Dad. I woke him up and he told me how Jason and Jenn got into a fight and the cops were called and how Jason was in jail and Jenn was on the run. Drugs do destroy families!! From that day on those three kids have lived with my parents and I. They have been a constant joy to me and my parents. Since 2007 my Brother has been clean and getting his life turned back on the right track. He's doing a great job. Jenn on the otherhand has not. She just barely went to rehab for a suicide attempt. Its so sad.

Today I thought she sent a letter asking to see the kids or something, but when I opened it, inside were court papers petitioning to have the guardianship terminated from my parents :( It breaks my heart to not want to let them go with her, but they have been doing really great these past 3 years. Their happy and you can see it on their faces and in their actions and speech. She ticks me off by waiting to give us these court papers until there is only a week until the court date (even though she has known about it since the first of June). I love those kids very much and can't and wont give them up. My parents can't and wont and their father knows what is best for them better than their mother does. During the past 3 years she has only seen them like 5 times. What mother could go that long without talking or seeing their children? I pity her for her cowardness and her inability to do what is right. It is possible for her to better herself, but she literally, like 2 months ago, tried to kill herself!! She is not ready to be a Mother of 3 children again. I'm heartbroken and sad. My parents are really baffled that she would actually try this. For her sake and the kid's I hope she fails. Those kids don't deserve to have their lives torn apart again. She shouldn't put that much responsibility on herself. I'm terrified for these kids and love them with all that Iam I just had to get this off my chest!!

I'm Feelin Hot...Hot...Hot!!!!!!

Oh the cleverness of me!! I went to Big Surf this past Saturday w/ Krissa and a few friends and of course we wore sun-block :( Like it helped any, I have very fair skin and so when I say I burned, I seriously mean burned to a crisp! I'm not the only one. Infact I'm pretty sure everyone we went with burned. It was fun though!!

And later that night we went to a party in an airplane hanger!!! I'm serious!! I think I would've had more fun if I actually knew more than 2 people there. But it was fun to see it done.

Sunday has to be one of the best days of the past month!! I saw my friend Cody's mom!! She is such a loving person. When I visited her she said she had something for me from Cody! My heart did 3 flips and stopped dead when she gave it to me. He sent me a tape :) lol I'm such a nerd, but can you blame a girl for being excited to receive a tape from a close friend who she hadn't heard from since he left the MTC for Colombia 20 days ago!! I was worried and I miss him everyday. Being friends with him made me a better person. I cherish our friendship very much! That is my recent news lol :)

SURGERY

Wow!! I have waited more than a year and in 19 days I will be on the mend and looking toward the future. My surgery is on JULY 16Th!!! I'm nervous and excited all at the same time.I got this packet today from my really cute DOCTOR-that is a member of my church ;)but I have never seen a ring on the man's finger to know if he is single!! - The packet tells of all the types of things to expect before-during-after the surgery. Some of it is a little scary.Some, I pretty much rolled my eyes at. They are going to be scraping out all the arthritis that formed in between the joints of my ankle and then be putting two screws in to fuse the joints together. One screw will be going down into the ankle and the heel and the Second screw will be put in from the bottom of the heel into the ankle. I will be completely out during this, but that is what scares me. There are many cases where people don't wake up from the anesthesia, or they have bad side affects. My mom,of course, will be at the hospital with me. That's a comfort and a blessing, she wont let them do anything the aren't not supposed to do! I love her! I won't be wasting the days by counting down to the day, but trying to have as much fun on my two feet as possible until I can only have fun on one foot :)

Love Remains The Same!!

I absolutely love this song. It has pretty much helped me out everyday in my life, that I feel compelled to share it with you all!!

Love Remains The Same lyrics- By Gavin Rossdale

A thousand times I’ve seen you standing
Gravity like a lunar landing
Make me want to run till I find you

I shut the world away from here
Drift to you, you’re all I hear
Everything we know fades to black

Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending

I never thought that I had anymore to give
Pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
But love remains the same

Find the place where we escape
Take you with me for a space
The city buzz, sounds just like a fridge
I walk the streets through seven bars
I had to find just where you are
The faces seems to blur, they’re all the same

Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending

I never thought that I had anymore to give
Pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
But love remains the same

So much more to say
So much to be done
Don’t you trick me out
We shall overcome
So all have stayed in place
We should have had the sun
Could have been inside
Instead we’re over here

Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending
Too much time, too long defending
You and I are done pretending

I never thought that I had anymore to give
Pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
Everything will change

I, oh I,
I wish this could last forever
I, oh I,
I As if we could last forever
Love remains the same

Love remains the same

Oh My Gosh!!!

Lets just say TERMITES!!! I no longer have a window or an outside wall on my house. Its been about 17 years since we put the wood in and now its ruined!!!

Here's the updated life of me!!!!!!!!!

WOW Its really been like a year since I last blogged!! That is just terrible! Okay, so to catch up on what you all have missed over the past year is........I'm not working right now, I have to have foot surgery(After like 3-4 months of fighting with the insurance company!!) Its for the best, and I will in reality be on the bench for a good 3-4 months! Ya, thats life, I'm still living with my parents :/ Its not to bad! I have been to a total of about 15 wedding receptions in the past year and a half, My friends have been bit by the love-bug! Me on the other hand? Lets just say that I'm interested in anyone who is interested in me, but I have no bite marks and there hasn't been a guy thats come along who also had been bitten and interested in me. Its okay though I'm bidding my time, you really never know whats going to happen until it does so its all good!! I have a few new sayings one is actually an old one but I had stopped saying it cause, well, I really don't know, but anyways, here they are................You smell like cabbage!!! He is the cheese to my macaronni!! Go fly a kite!!! Oh dream big!!Ha ha ha ha :) Thats pretty much it though. LOL, you know me I'm not very predictable but very funny!!

So lets see I will tell ya next about the past year, I am still friends with the greatest two people ever!!! Camille/Mike, they are doing pretty good, they have a house now and 3 dogs, they are still trying to have a kid, but it will happen when its supposed to! I love them, they keep me sane. Without them I would've gone crazy these past few months. And by saying that brings me to my next set of news. There names are Cody and Elizabeth. I've been mediocre friends with elizabeth for the past 2 years, that is up until December 2009. I was at that time talking and friends with Cody. I still am, but he left in April for his mission. I miss him very much. And Elizabeth, she is back in Idaho going to school, she will be home in July. I miss her too. We three were the "The Three muskateers" we pretty much hung out like every day/night for about 4 months. And of course being in a friendship with a guy and a girl, we had our disagreements about a lot of things. But they were fun and they were there whenever I needed them. My feelings for Cody lol lets just say I liked him very much, but am so glad that he is my friend!! I'm glad to have friends!!! Which brings me to my next thing. You remember me stating the amount of receptions I had gone to over the past year or so? Well up until about 2 weeks ago I hadn't talked to pretty much any of my friends after they were married. Now, let me set it straight, I did try to keep in contact with them all but they really didn't try to keep in contact with me. I'm pretty much over it now, cause I don't like being disappointed in my friends. This is me giving them the benefit of the doubt :) Well other than that I love my friends very much. Which brings me to another set of news :) For the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of becoming closer friends with Krissa :) She is a very fun person and very smart too. She makes it pretty easy to be yourself around and not at all hard to talk to. Its fun :)

Patti Broughton though lol :) She is like the second mom that everybody would love to have. She is my friend and like family. She has helped me in more ways than I can describe. I'm so grateful for her and all that she and her husband Les has done for me. I hold a special place in my heart for them. She needs surgery on her heart in about a week. I hope and pray that she will be fine. She will need a lot of help recovering though. I will try my best to help out. Well my family, of course, is the same. They love to infuriate me and they love me all at the same time. They are lucky that they have what they have, but to often, I think, take it for granted. Don't get me wrong, I love them very much, but life isn't about finding yourself! Its about creating yourself. I also love my niece and nephews. They try to keep the long days fun for everyone. They are getting big though lol :) My brother Jeremy came home for a few days and now he is back in Hawaii. My sister moved to Colorado with her dumb boyfriend. Bill is in South Dakota living with my grandparents, he is doing pretty good. Brian is still a pain in the rear end, but he is doing okay too. Jason is doing loads better lol, He has been trying to get on the right track for a while now and he did it! Me on the other hand lol I'm having foot surgery in exactly one month :/ I'm terrified!! It will be okay I know this, but its still a cause for concern. Well I think I've written enough to let you all know of whats what in my life. I hope you enjoy the material I've given!!!