Especially Ellis

I wrote this letter to a younger version of myself, looking back to when I was a Junior in high school. This was a way for me to reflect on what have learned over the past few years and to think of advice that I would give to myself as a teenager. Hey Beautiful! Congratulations on turning 17! By the way, you're already more than halfway done with high school! I know that the decision to switch schools was tough* but you were brave and took the plunge. You're going to learn so much at this school and meet some amazing people.  I know right now you're excited about cheerleading, fun assignments, and cute boys in gym class, science class, every class.... But I have a little bit of advice to help you through the next few action-packed years. 1.   You are beautiful, inside and out! You don't need to wear shorts skirts or cake your face in makeup to be beautiful. You have a light that shines from within. It may take you a while to recognize that light, but when you do,...

This month, we had two conferences for our church. They were awesome! What I got out of General Conference (a worldwide broadcast) was that families are super-important and that we need to all work together to bring to pass much good. Everyone plays an important role; we all need each other. From Stake Conference (a local meeting), I received a message that I really needed: I am enough. I don't need to be Super Woman; I just need to do the best I can and understand my limitations.  I loved both conferences and learned a lot. What did you learn from conference?

I have been thinking a lot lately about trials I've had in the past. Many of these trials were because I needed to learn something. I have this stubborn tendency to want things done in MY way and in MY timing, but that's not how it works. I've had many trials in my life, but it's been interesting to see how the Lord gave me a trial but prevented a tragedy. For example, I have had a few experiences where I was involved in an accident: I fell down a hill, I fell backwards off a horse, I smashed up a car or two, I nearly drowned. I should have died or been seriously hurt, but I walked away without a scratch from each incident. To be face to face with death and walk away without a scratch is a miracle to me.  If I have had had several experiences where I stared death in the face and was able to just walk away, that must mean that my life is worth something! This gives me the courage to press forward in whatever struggle I may face.  I know that these experiences help to sha...

Hi everyone I wanted to continue my post I made a few days ago. I wanted to let you all know we're doing great and we have been thinking hard about what we want to do for our future living arrangements and I've been doing a lot of research on buying a house or property VS renting and feel like if I play my card right we can buy a place to live for less than renting which is sad and also I will have the freedom to do as I please to my place! I'm not going to tell you all the specifics but I will tell you that I fear renting a place and not being able to move out because we would be stuck in a stupidly expensive apartment. I know if I worked the cards right I can get something around 70,000 or less and a few acres of land  and have a lower payment then rent and we can pay it off within five years easy fix it up with repairs and improvements and have something with more value to sell and use towards our final resting grounds with sizable land.  That amount of money would get u...

Hi everyone! I know your wandering what we're up to these day's so let me tell you! I have been working for RWC International now for almost 3 week's and I love it! I feel so much respect there and I'm doing stuff in learned in school, like today I was taking a truck apart to remove the head! I haven't done that since school! Anyway its late and I want to watch another episode of Boy meet's world before bed! Greatest show of all time!

Hi everyone today I had learned a little about value. Yesterday I had started my new job and today I had meet my big boss I was talking to him about the process that was used whe I was scheduled my interview and the issues I had involved with that, and because of the hiring agent and lack of details about what being sponsored ment and basically we are without benefits for 5 months well this month don't count so 4 months because I don't actually work for RWC yet I work for the hiring agent which is contracted with RWC so I work for the hiring agent which doesn't have benefits of any kind! But I had found out what the company values me! They are paying $50.00 per hour for me to work for them! I told him that I felt like we were getting the raw end of the deal and he told me that's not the way he sees it! He feels he is getting more than they bargained for. It didn't sink in until he walked away about what we talked about and I told him that I had never felt so much re...

Hi everyone! Tabitha here! I haven't really said much in a few weeks, but I have something to share today. I wanted to share one of my favorite songs that basically describes my life right now. It's called "Wait and See" by Brandon Heath. It's about how our struggles and confusion in life can bring unseen blessings because Heavenly Father is working in our, whether we recognize it or not. Lately I've been struggling with decisions and figuring out what path I need to take, which for the summer will be taking a break from and focusing on faith, family, and health. My physical, mental, and spiritual health have been suffering lately and I just need time to reset and refocus. Then I'll see what happens. Like the song says, He ain't finished with me yet. Here's the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/lEFNQE76Us4 https://youtu.be/lEFNQE76Us4

Good evening my friend's!  Today was a great day. I had an interview with RWC International today and had got the job!! I took the job as a Cummins engine specialist, granted it will take time to achieve that title but im in the running for it! They have formal training and when you complete all of the training for each segment they will send me to Los Vegas for the master certification! I get one week personal time off paid per year and if it isn't used it pays put in the form of a bonus on the payday before Christmas and resets on the first of the year! I get one week of vacation per year up to a max of 4 years of vacation after 4 years of service with up to one week of roll over if it's not used, training is online in sections which add up to segments apon completing each section in there is a $0.25 raise and a $75.00 bonus upon completion for each section and there is 17 sections in each segment! And my hourly rate well that don't matter to you! Lets just say it...

Hi everyone  its Brandon we have been trying to figure out what we're going to do for the next portion of our lives, Tabitha's family is going to be moving sooner or later so we've been talking about our options as well. We have been looking at the Oregon area as an option if we had decided to leave Alaska and i had applied to several places there to get an idea of demand and havnt had any calls yet but on Tuesday a recruiting company had got ahold of my resume and put it out and 2 people are interested one they said the managers name is Mike and I'm pretty sure it's Mike from trailer craft and the other one was Joe from RWC, I had meet the face of RWC when he came to visit last week and he had said if he got a hold of my resume I would be the First interview and I didn't believe him but he proved me wrong today, he is my first interview the company pays really well from what I can see! My interview is Friday during lunch!  I wasnt looking for a new job around h...

Hi everyone! This past weekend, our church held a broadcast meeting for girls and women worldwide. This coming weekend is general conference, a worldwide broadcast where people can hear God's word. I just wanted to share a few thoughts from the women's meeting right now. I loved that the theme of the meeting was the importance of the family. So much is going on in the world today. There is so much wickedness and the importance of the family is being undermined. People are being ridiculed for wanting to raise up children to the Lord. Children are being viewed as less important than educational or professional opportunities. Parents are having to work long hours just to make ends meet, not being given enough time with their families. It's a difficult time that we are living in, full of trials and confusion. Many of the speakers talked about defending the family and seeking God's guidance and divine help in helping our families. We need God's help so much. I am exci...

Good Saturday my Friends! Today Is been A really good calm day! I had got up this morning at 6 and it was to early so I went back to bed and woke up at 8am and had went out side to shovel the driveway and enjoyed my time doing so. I had ended up shoveling my neighbors driveway too, On Thursday my vacation in July was approved and submitted and I personally can't wait!!!!! You all have a good weekend and we will talk to you all latter! It was a fun thing to do since i really had nothing better to do! but yesterday I had spent half the day at work on the loader scraping the driveway. considering it was the first time I had to actually operate the loader I have to say it wasn't a bad job, needles to say all this snow we got it was a little useless but at least the driveway is smooth now!, Last Wednesday I had 2 molars pulled and had since then really built up and appetite for food. I had also realized that part of the reason for that is that I haven't been a...

Good evening my friend's! Today was a good day and i had ran a loader today and has scrapped the parking lot most of the afternoon. But on Wednesday I had got 2 mollers (I  dont even know how to spell that) pulled and since then have worked up a big appatite for food and i think i know why but ill explain tomorrow!  Anyway its late and my tablet is dieing so you al have a great night and I'll  write you tomorrow!

So last sunday we had finished our taxes and today we had got notice that it was processed and and to expect it by the 24th im hoping we get it tomorrow but well se what happens!  Tomorrow we have pur contract work which is to clean the office and bathrooms where I work  it pays good for a few hours of work every Saturday and we only have to do it once a week and it's free of tax i think! But it's also independent of our regular paydays so this month it works for us because it is extra money in between paydays! But as far as work goes its been busy. Trying to keep up with repairs and paperwork, I got bombarded with electrical problems on top of normal problems and weekly reports but today I got 2 trailers fixed and a truck and filed all of my weekly paperwork and even spent some time cleaning!  It was an accomplished day! The roads have been slick this week with it being warm and I almost wrecked my truck yesterday but didn't!  Phew!!!

Today Tabby had a Dr.appointment and I had got permission to go into work late. We just wanted to make sure everything is okay and working as it's supposed to! But it's a few days to Valentine's day and I am excited! Not sure what I'm going to do but it's going to be epic! I hope! So yesterday I had completed a service one one of our trucks #128 which somehow got skipped a full service interval, it normally gets serviced every 400 running Hours that's idle and running combined and it managed to run 775hrs without it's service! This one could get me in trouble! That is about 19000 miles driven and close to 35000 miles on the engine the equation to figure out what miles on the engine is the service Hours × 35 to 40 I always use 40 because it's the hire # and I also have to stay consistent on the paperwork, I'm not sure what the 40 represents or where that # comes from but when I do I will let you all know! Today I had finished installing an auxiliary h...

Hi everyone! Tabitha here! Brandon has told you a little about the health changes we are making. It's really fun trying different foods and personal care products. Something interesting that I've learned is that there are tons of crazy chemicals in a lot of beauty products. I just read a book called Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. I learned a lot about dangerous chemicals, eating healthier foods, and making better choices for the environment each day. There were a ton of resources and websites to check out! I would highly recommend visiting your local library to check this book out! Here are a couple of resources to help you know what's in your food and personal care products. Happy learning! Skin Deep Database. Find out what's in your makeup, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. and what that means for your health! You may be surprised to learn that your shampoo has chemicals that mess with your hormones. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ Food Scores: Ever wonder what those...

Hi Every one it's Brandon Again and I just wanted to say something just Because I and Tabitha have I guess you could say "By The worlds Standard" Become what do you call it when you do something the world finds weird? well I don't remember what it's called but we have really gotten into the eating healthy and Tabby is reading about going green and we are learning about things that are put into our food's, soaps, shampoo, exe anyways we have learned that there is so many bad things in everything like for example there is a Chemical that is used to make brake fluid and other things of that nature and it is used in the majority of shampoo's? I also learned that just because something is labeled Doctor,daintiest,dermatologist approved and recommended does not mean it's safe! I think that is also a big reason I have so many problems with my hands/Skin everywhere. so we have been buying Organic stuff and have noticed a big difference in our moods/energy leve...

Hi everyone It's Brandon here and I wanted to blog as little about what's going on in life! It is the season for taxes and I and Tabitha are filling jointly this year! Thought it would make us a little money and though it's not as much as I'd like to see for a return we still won't be paying taxes so that I can live with! Tabby is less than thrilled about taxes and I'm going to say it's probably because she don't have a lot of experience with taxes and no one explained how the # system on the We worked so in a way she got the raw end of the deal but that don't matter to me because I love her and I will help her with things like this! Other news it's been a cold around here in Fairbanks/North Pole Alaska like -40° or colder the last few days has been warming up and now at 10:30pm it's about 0° out and for once we're cooking in the house because it's so warm we even have the window open! It's also getting light out I can see in dayl...

From Tabitha: This post has been in my head for awhile and I finally decided to write it down for y'all. Before our wedding, I scoured through magazines, websites, and Pinterest for ideas and advice. I wanted things to be perfect and I stressed myself out! I want to give ten tips to those of you who will someday be getting married. My fellow married friends, be sure to add any tips that helped you!  1) The details, such as the cake, party favors, what kind of flowers you have,etc pale in comparison with the fact that you are gathered with your loved ones, beginning a wonderful adventure with your best friend.  2) There will be unexpected problems. The day may not be exactly as you imagined it, but it will be worth it! Sometimes those glitches may be blessings in disguise. 3) Communicate, communicate, communicate! Confirm and reconfirm plans with everyone involved! I cannot emphasize this enough! Make sure that your family, your bride or groom, your wedding party, and yo...

Hi Everyone! We're starting a new blog to tell about our adventures together! Stay tuned for more fun!