It's a Wonderful Life (Christmas in Manti).

Comedy Hour at the Market.

Ron, my elderly friend, is rapidly becoming one of my favorite costumers at the market. He never fails to make me laugh when he comes grocery shopping. The latest visit started out with:

Ron: "I just thought i'd come in & let you look at me, then I got to get back to work."

Manti Market.

There are a few simple joys in life that I find & enjoy at the Manti Market.

 I thought that I would share these things with you.

1. Almost on a daily basis I have the pleasure of getting free food that is out of date. One of these being this delicious chocolate milk.
2. As the weather continues to take a turn for the worse I get to see the strange ways that kids dress while trying to stay warm. This boy in particular had cut off jeans, rain boots that met the end of his jeans, a bright red hood that would usually button on to a jacket but did not go with the one he was wearing, & large clear glasses.
3. You would never see this in Arizona...a Merrill Osmond CD next to "The Righteous Shall Prosper".
4. I have always found this sign humorous. I'm not sure if it's the out of date clothes with the generic "Chocolate Syrup" in the background or the similarity in her frown & mine that I find amusing. 
5. This sign is also a goody. What a genius idea on how to keep your kids from purchasing sweets at the only grocery store in town. I also feel a little pity for this boy.
6. This morning Karalynn & I had the pleasure of cooking steaks while at work. What a glorious & filling breakfast it was. I especially enjoyed how the entire store smelled of steak for the remainder of the day.
7. Even the bags are Western Family. 
8. This is Ron. He comes in atleast once a day & calls me his "raven-haired beauty". You can always count on Ron for some biting or witty remake like "How are you today" & he will answer "Oh well that's too bad" if your reply is positive. He also is a magnificent cook & once brought in enchiladas for me & Karalynn. 
   
   
   

Be Grateful.

I recently received some great insight about staying positive from one of my dear friends during times of opposition. One way that this friend does so is by making lists of things that they are grateful for. I was very intrigued by this idea so i've decided to give this a try. So, for all of your sheer boredom, here are the things that I am grateful for today. 

- My Parents

- Jessica, Adam, Brandon & Brig

- Benton & Emmie

- Space Heaters

- Weekends with Chelsea & Michael

- Kevin Jonas Scarves 

- Pancakes

- Meadow Gold Chocolate Milk

- Finding Answers in Scriptures

- Byu.edu

- Phone Calls Home

- Simon & Garfunkel / Neil Young

- Saving Money With Western Family

- Photography

- Remnants of Fall Leaves

- Fruit

- Spontaneity 

- Draining Showers

- Electricity

- Old Homes

- Groceries That Ring Up Right

- The Manti Temple

20.

Last week I celebrated my 20th birthday & it was such a glorious day! I woke up to Ashley and KD hovering over my bed with a plate of cinnamon rolls and orange juice. Ashley made me my mom's special cinnamon rolls and they were absolutely delicious! After breakfast I opened my presents from KD and Ashley. Soon after opening them I received a phone call from the flower shop to verify if I was home. About 10 minutes after the phone call I got a special delivery of flowers and balloons sent to me from my family! Later that day us three girls headed to a small town about 30 minutes away for a Fall Boutique. Everything there was so cute so I of course had to buy some things for my future home which at this rate will be completely furnished before I even have it. After the boutique we stopped at Stockman's Grill for lunch and some of there free scones. We found out once we got there that they didn't serve scones until 5. So, Ashley and KD told the waitress it was my birthday so she went in the back and made me some scones even though it was a couple of hours before 5. After that we went back to the house and straightened up for people to come over. We of course ordered some pizza from Lotsa Motsa and when that arrived on each box was written "Happy Birthday Jackie". We had no idea who did it. Later this girl came over that Ashley knows from work with her husband and his two brothers (one of which I work with at the market). We spent the evening playing Rock Band and enjoyed some funfetti/lemon cake with my favorite rainbow chip frosting. It was a very good 20th birthday and I was lucky to have KD & Ashley who made sure that I didn't have any time to miss my family. They put so much effort into making it such a happy day for me. 

Moving Forward.

Today is officially my final day of being a teenager. It is still hard to believe that tomorrow I will be 20 years old, it seems like these 20 years of my life have flown by. Looking back I think that I have lived these passed years pretty well and have been able to accomplish a lot. I have become an aunt (twice), taken hundreds of trips to disneyland, met some amazing people, moved away from home, started my journey in college towards becoming a photographer, and have strengthened my relationship with my family. I believe now that only good can come from the next 20 years.

As of Late.

I have had a little too much free time & I have no life when Ashley is at work.

With this free time I have had a lot of time to think and I have come to the

conclusion that I do not want to waste any day or time  doing meaningless things.

I want to make the most of each and everyday and enjoy them to the fullest. 

Part of this was brought on by the fact that I will be 20 years old this coming

October and I still cannot believe that I have been alive THAT long. I don't 

want to waste any time because it is flying by and I want to get the most out

of life that I possibly can. So, I will no longer allow meaningless things bother

me and I am going to spend more time doing things that matter and that I will

help me grow as an individual. I am on a quest to become the best I can be.

I Wish I Was Homeward Bound.

It's amazing the effect that music can have on a person. Lately I've become quite found of the song "Homeward Bound" by Simon & Garfunkel. They have long time been favorites but I never listened to that song much. Since I've been here in Manti I've listened to it quite often and it always makes me homesick. I've decided to dedicate this blog post to those who I miss dearly and whom I wish I could see if I was homeward bound. 

Letters & Packages.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Manti High School's letter lighting with my co-worker KD. I was curious what a letter lighting was since we never had one at the high school I attended. At this event they have bags arranged into huge letters for each grade level with candles inside and each class races to light all of their bags before the other grades. Afterwards they all go celebrate and dance around the letters. It was really fun to experience this tradition and take pictures! Today I finally finished this package that I put together to send to E.B. I'm sending him a mini cassette player with a tape I recorded a message on for him, a utah raspberry truffle (my FAVORITE), and some pictures of the life in Utah. Now all I have left to do is hope that it actually gets to him. As always, enjoy the pictures.

Siggin'

These past couple days (from Friday until today), Ashley and I had the great pleasure of having our dear friend Meredith Wiscombe come and stay with us. It was so fun having someone here to show the house to and to take around town. We spent yesterday showing Meredith the sites of Manti which consisted of the Manti Market, Millers Bakery, Candies on Main, Simmons Hardware, and the Brambleberry Basket. We also took her to Ephraim to a little boutique there and then did some shopping at Walmart. After that we went to our singles ward Bishop's house and visited with them for a little bit. We were able to pick some of their fruit from the orchard and played in their yard. Today we took Meredith to church with us and Ashley gave her first lesson in Relief Society. She did an amazing job and definitely has a gift for teaching. After church we went up to the temple and took some pictures in a field by our Bishop's house. This was one of the best weekends here and I think the best way to describe it further is through pictures. So, enjoy!

Time Flies.

It is hard to believe that I have just finished my third week or working at the Manti Market and that I have been living here this long. The longer that I stay here and get to know the people of Manti the more I can't imagine leaving. I absolutely love all of the co-workers and the people that I have met in my singles ward. I know, what a shocker...I like singles ward. There is just something about this ward that I love. Everyone that we have met in it so far has been so friendly. This past monday Ashley and I had a chance to go to the first Family Home Evening activity with just our ward and it was such a good experience. We played "get to know you" games and I have never had so much fun at a singles ward activity than I did at that one. We played the game where you have to name everyones name in the circle and then red rover... it was a very mature game of red rover since we are college students and all. During this and afterwards I had the opportunity to talk with and meet a lot of people. We were invited to a swimming party and to watch a movie at these girls dorms but it was already late and Ashley and I had work the next day so we had to pass. This was also a very good week at the Manti Market. I got to work this this girl named KD yesterday and it was probably the best day there that I have had. She was kind of upset about something when she first got there so I was determined to cheer her up. So for the rest of the work day KD and I shot rubber bands at various targets such as our co-worker Mitch, cigarette signs, and even a lady we weren't too fond of. KD was very grateful to me for teaching her to shoot rubber bands and for cheering her up. She turned out to be a person that I can get along with very easily and is now one of my favorite people to work with. Soon after I got home I realized that I had forgotten to get some things at the Market so I headed back and ended up staying for awhile to hang out with KD and Mitch. While I was there KD and I waited for the market to be empty and then we got on the conveyer belts and walked on them like treadmills. Now I can cross that off my list of things to do before I die. Who knew that working at a grocery store in a small town could be so much fun? I don't think i've ever had a job where I actually looked forward to going and being with my co-workers. I guess anything is possible in Manti.

Bringing Week One to an End.

I am happy to report that I have successfully survived a week (and a few days) of living on my own. During this week I have learned a few vital facts of life. Number one being that grocery shopping is NOT as fun as it seems. Sure it looks pretty fun going to the store and buying all the delicious food that you want. WRONG. In fact it is quite depressing trying to buy groceries for the week with a job that pays 6.55 an hour. The second thing that I have come to realize is that people enjoy venting their woes to cashiers at grocery stores. Also, people enjoy complaining about grocery prices to cashiers even though we have no control whatsoever on how much something costs. Another thing that my eyes have been open to is how sad being a cashier at a grocery store can be. It breaks my heart when someone comes in with their food stamp card and they don't have enough on it and I have to be the one to tell them that they exceeded their balance and have to put their food back. I have been so tempted many times to just pull out my debit card and pay the difference. I realize now how lucky I am to have money to pay for food and other things that aren't exactly necessary. The last thing that I will share is how much I have come to love the small town atmosphere. I am determined to raise my family in Manti now. I want to be able to bring my family to all the town activities and not have to worry every second that my child is in danger when I let them out of the house. There is such a sense of security here that I never felt in my hometown of Chandler. The only thing holding me back is convincing the person I marry to pack up and move here with me. The pictures that I posted with this help sum up this first week of living on my own. Enjoy my dears.

Ode to Manti.

With each passing day I think that I am falling more and more in love with the quaint town of Manti. Who knew that one town could be filled with some of the nicest and most helpful people I have ever met. It's not just a couple of people either, it's almost every person that I have met. Many things have happened since my last post, for example I got a glimpse of my first rodeo! Saturday night while Ashley and I were lounging around the house we could not help but overhear men on a loud speaker. We decided to investigate so we hopped on our bikes and rode over to the Manti fair grounds.  What we saw was amazing! There were people of all ages participating in the rodeo from little kids to grown men. This has inspired me to raise a family here so that my children can participate in the rodeo and wear cute western clothing and boots. There was also a fair going on at the same time. Although it was smaller than the one in Arizona, I believe it was a lot nicer and less trashy. The next day Ashley and I attended our first singles ward sacrament meeting here which was still as weird and uncomfortable as always. On monday we had family home evening with the singles stake. This activity reaffirmed my deep and burning dislike of choreographed line dances. There were a few positives to the evening such as free ice cream and exchange students from Hong Kong. The following day was my first day working at the Manti Market. Oh what an experience that was. Thankfully when I took over the cash register for the first time my boss supervised and corrected the many mistakes I made. I think that anywhere else the people would have been very frustrated with me but all of the customers were very patient and understanding. Working at the Manti Market turned out to actually be quite enjoyable. One of my favorite parts of working there is my new friend Shaya. She is four years old and is one of my bosses children. She loves to climb up on the check out counter and draw pictures for me, help bag groceries, and spray windex all over the conveyer belt to "clean it". Another person that I work with is named Mitch. He's a pretty cool kid that I talk to during work and that Ashley and I play jokes on after work. For example, Mitch thinks that it is a good idea to leave his car keys in the ignition with his windows rolled down so Ashley and I thought it was in his best interests that we teach him that this is not wise. So, after work today we drove his car across the street to the town hardware store. Eventually I felt a little remorse and confessed to the deed. So far living in Manti has been overall a very enjoyable and rewarding decision. I cannot wait to see what experiences each new day brings.

Day One.

Today was definitely a day filled with "firsts". This morning Ashley and I went to a singles ward activity which consisted of a bbq and swimming in Palisades Lake. This is probably the first singles ward activity that I attended semi-willingly. We tried to mingle, Ashley already called dibs on a couple of guys, and we found an asian girl to be the Vanessa of Manti. After the activity Ashley and I took our first grocery shopping trip at Walmart. Overall, I think that we did pretty well with that since we planned our meals for the next week the night before and only got what we needed for that. Tonight I made our first actual meal, stroganoff. To my surprise it actually turned out pretty tasty. All in all, an eventful day. 

I bid adieu.

I will be 20 years old this October so i've decided that it's time for me to grow up and experience life on my own. I thought that the best way of accomplishing this was to move to Manti to a house my parents own with a dear friend, Ashley. So, after a emotional goodbye thursday morning Ashley and I bid adieu to the only home i've ever known and set out for Manti. There were a few minor setbacks (faulty fan wiring in engine/overheating every 2 seconds) but we finally made it there... the next day. We were forced to stay over night in Page, AZ due to some car trouble which we had to get fixed friday morning. This all came as no surprise to us - it wouldn't be a trip with Ashley and Jackie unless it had a couple adventures like that. We finally made it around 5 and then I had a job interview at 6 which went smoothly. I am now the newest employee of the one and only Manti Market. Now that were here and partially settled in we have no choice but to get involved in the singles ward festivities (I don't have my home ward safe haven anymore) and ichat every night with Vanessa. 

Farewell Arizona.