Highlights of '12

On New Year's Eve, Jonathan and I were chaperones for a youth church dance. We had the tough job of guarding some exterior doors. To help keep ourselves occupied, I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of the top twelve things that happened/ we did this year. I'll just share a few with you.

Jonathan had his first experience of going to Disneyland for multiple days!
(I want to go back just to be in Cars Land!)

 I loved our trip to Idaho during the summer especially because all 17 Patterson's were together.

At the end of this month, this picture will be outdated because baby Charlotte will be here!

Jonathan saved my life when I passed out at the temple.
(I'm only being slightly over-dramatic.)

We also were very regular with our temple attendance and
I know that has been such a blessing in our life.

We have a real plan for our future! (And this one really feels like it will stick!)

We survived our separation due to Girl's Camp (which I still have yet to blog about, it will come).
(I loved Camp, just not being away from my Mr. Nelson!)

Our car was stolen! (And promptly returned.)

2012 was our first calender year together!
(And it didn't even feel like it was that long!)

We have a deeper understanding of each other than we did the year before.

Last year was a wonderful year and I have a feeling that this year will be great too!

It's Seriously 2013!?

I feel like I've really fallen behind the times! Christmas and New Year's have already come and gone and I feel like I'm still stuck somewhere in September. Well, needless to say I have some catching up to do with all that we did last month, but I will save that for later!

We've already been very busy this month and it's only the 12th!

The reason we've been so terribly busy is because Jonathan and I are moving. This last summer my sister and her little family we're living with my parents and after she moved out my parents offered to let us move in to help us save some money. Jonathan and I discussed it and we felt that it would be better to move in January rather than in the middle of a semester. So, that's what we've been doing. This week was our painting week. My mom has been dying to paint the orange room and the pink room for a few years now and this was her chance of it finally happening!

No more orange walls and ceiling! I was very adamant that we needed to prime the orange room because I knew it would drive me crazy if I saw even a little bit under the new color.

The residual paint after priming the ceiling. (Can I just say that I HATE painting ceilings!)

At least I had a hot painting partner!

It's unreal to think that we are actually moving. We have been in our apartment for almost 2 years and it is our home. We slowly started telling people that we were moving and somehow random people at church were coming up to me and asking about our move. It's going to be hard to leave our wonderful ward. I've loved being there. A couple of weeks ago at church, a group of girls came up to me and started talking about girl's camp. I had to tell them that I was moving and wouldn't be going and they shunned me for the rest of the day. (Luckily, a couple of them have forgiven me!) I feel like we've been so blessed to be part of such a wonderful ward. I can't wait to be part of the ward I grew up in again, but I will always remember how wonderful our first ward as a married couple has been.

We still have a lot more to do before the month is over! I'll try to share more.

Girls Camp 2011

Surprise, surprise I was asked to go to Girls Camp. I was told a couple of months ago that they needed people to help out especially on the hikes, so I decided that I would help. A few weeks later I saw the staff roster and I was assigned to be a level leader. Boy was I in shock! I was very worried about all the responsibilities that I would have. Thankfully I wasn't the only leader over the 3rd years. We had a great week that started out with backpacking to one of my favorite places on earth, Blue Lake. We had a lovely dinner and a warm fire to battle the cold wind. We made it safely to Treasure Mountain the following day to a camp full of girls. I forgot how wonderful Girls Camp is. The spirit is so much stronger when you can get away from all the distractions that surround us. I couldn't believe the number of times adults thought that I was one of the girls or on Junior Staff. They were surprised to hear that I was a level leader and told me that I was lucky to have such a young looking face. One of the highlights for the week was when I realized that I was a Laurel when the Big Sisters were Beehives and that we were in the Sacramento Temple Celebration together. I loved spending time with the older girls especially since we were so close in age.

Why yes, I do blend in with the girls.

Hannah's broken down car.

The girls all gathered together for a devotional.

A beautiful sunset.

Gathering around the camp fire for 'smores.

Poor Hannah rolled her ankle, so Victoria and Maddy helped her back to the car.

Paper lantern chandelier for our cabin. 

"We ain't nothin' but 3rd years..."

Getting camp news from the magic mirror.

The Priesthoods' version of the Seven Dwarfs.

I am so grateful for this experience that I had. I love the spirit of Girls Camp and look forward to going again.