Passage of Time

What has happened in my life since the last post? Well, I left the Church and went to work at the great and spacious building. Or in non-Mormon terms...I left Church employment in the Temple Department and started working at doTERRA. Stating it the other way though always gets a laugh here! Initially I worked at doTERRA as an executive assistant for the owners, but after about four months, I became the manager of their non-profit organization, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation.

Mom and dad returned from their mission in Fresno. I started attending the single's ward in Alpine. Dated. Traveled to California and Guatemala for work. Moved into the Cook home to watch over it while they went to live in China. Grandma Backlund moved into a care facility. I moved into her apartment. Went on a first date for Valentine's Day 2016 with a man named Justin Hutchinson. Traveled to California, Guatemala, and Orlando for work. Became the Relief Society President of the third Relief Society in the Single's ward. Mom and dad started another mission, this time living at home while serving in the Utah Orem Mission, Spanish-speaking. Went on a second date in June with Justin. Met his three kids in September. Got married in December. Moved to Salt Lake. Now commuting to work at doTERRA in Pleasant Grove from Salt Lake, and okay with that because I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now. And where is that you might ask?

Hali, Me, Justin, Mitchell, and Nikole down in front

As a part of this great family. Hopefully I'll be able to start updating more faithfully once again. Because there is an awesome story to be told. ❤😊

Never Hurts to Have a Conversation...

After that job interview at doTERRA, I spent the entire week while on vacation thinking about what I should do.  Every time I went to the temple I pondered each job.  I'd finally decided to stay in the Temple Department (because I'd be crazy to leave such a good job, right?), but I still kept thinking about it.  While on the airplane about to take off from New York, I had a phone call with the HR Director at doTERRA.  He offered the job but I turned it down.  He said to not be so hasty, but to come in and meet with him to discuss any reservations I might have.  I said thanks but no thanks and thought that was the end of it.  After returning home though, I thought about my Patriarchal blessing and got to really thinking about certain things that are mentioned therein and how I wasn't fulfilling them at my job at the Church.  After praying about it again, I decided I needed to go in and speak with doTERRA again.  I set up an appointment and met with them again on Wednesday.  It was very tempting.  The HR director said he'd get back to me with a formal offer from them later.  It would be quite a change!

 

Did I mention that thanks to the door being left open to my house that I ended up with over 70 bug bites?  They were all on my arms, upper chest, neck and face.  All the parts that stick outside of my blankets at night.  They weren't really mosquito bites because the bite bump spread and got worse and I found what I think were red biting gnats in the house that I had to go around and kill.  Nice residual effect from that scary "break-in."

 

TJ's birthday was this week so I drove up to Heber after work on Friday to pick him up and head back to Pleasant Grove for a sleepover.  We watched a movie that night and in the morning I took him to his favorite place - McDonald's - and then we went to the Highland Glen Park to see the ducks and play on the playground there.  TJ was disappointed that French fries hadn't been available on their breakfast menu so after the park, we hit McDonald's again just for the fries, and then went to the Pleasant Grove Park for the Pack family reunion.  We did a special little celebration there to celebrate what would have been Grandma Pack's 100th birthday.  I finished up the busy week by driving up to Snowbird with Karen and Shawna's family groups to play cards as they started off their week up there.  It's always nice spending time with them!  But, I was tired by the end.

Back to the States

Saturday morning we departed Denise's home and headed to Niagara Falls.  We'd heard that the Canadian side was better so that's where we went.  We took the elevator down to the tunnels below the falls where you can look out and see the water pouring over the hole in the rock and just know there were tons of water crashing down.  We walked up along the side and got some good pictures of the falls from further away.  The heat had returned and with the humidity factor it felt really nice to pop in and get a late breakfast before hitting the road again on our way to Palmyra.  We made it in time for a temple session.  Love the stain glass in the temple and the window that overlooks the Sacred Grove. We stopped for dinner and went sightseeing to a few of the Church history sites like Grandin Printing Shop which is the Book of Mormon's historic publication site and the Martin Harris Farm which isn't owned by the Church so we couldn't go in.  We also went to the Hill Cumorah and Visitors' Center.

 

 

 

Sunday we went to a student single ward and were shocked by how friendly all the ward members were.  That's a sad commentary when you're surprised how people come up and say hello.  SO not a Utah thing which is too bad.  Of course, the small ward makes it so you actually know when someone is visiting or new.  We hit the Joseph Smith Farm Welcome Center, Smith Log Home, and Smith frame Home next.  Missionaries give tours of the site and one can't help but try to picture what it was actually like during the 1800's.  We finished up by visiting the Sacred Grove and Amy and I split up so we could have some alone time there.  I spent quite a bit of time wandering and listening to Church music on my iPhone.  It was very peaceful and a nice experience.

  

The next morning we drove back to Buffalo and it was POURING rain.  It was nice that we had the whole trip without rain and that it held off until the end, but it was a bit of a harrowing experience to navigate the roads in that much standing water and barely being able to see out of the windshield.  We made it home though and I arrived to my house door to find it standing wide open.  The door handle was broken and I had no idea if someone had broken in or what had happened.  I dialed 911 on my phone and kept my finger hovering over the call button while I went from room to room checking to see if anyone was there.  I checked through upstairs too knowing Lori had moved out the Saturday before.  All the doors upstairs were unlocked too, so I locked those and after making sure that no one was hiding in closets, I went back downstairs and shut and locked my broken door.  It was pretty scary.  I headed in and got ready for bed and then heard someone pounding on my door.  Scared me all over again.  It was Lori and she was upset that I'd locked the house doors.  I didn't understand why since I'd thought she'd moved out on Saturday and knowing my house door had been left wide open, most likely for two days since they moved out if they were the ones who broke the door handle when moving the couch I'd had down there.  At least I didn't have to call the police afterall, but what a homecoming!

Anne Fans

Amy and I enjoyed our time in Toronto, Canada and New York.  We flew to Buffalo, rented a car, and drove to Toronto to our home stay. The recorder at the temple there put me in contact with a sister ordinance worker who houses people for free when they're in town and want to attend the temple.  All she asks is that you donate whatever amount you want toward the missionary fund.  We used this as our home base to travel from each day.  We'd leave about 8:30 in the morning and not return until 9 or 10 at night.  I thought that there would be way more Anne of Green Gables movie interest than there was.  I guess most people just think of Prince Edward Island when they think of Anne of Green Gables even though the majority of the scenes were filmed in Toronto.  I'd mapped out our route ahead of time so we could go to all the places close to each other each day with a minimum of driving.  It was so strange to find these locations and have a scene be one particular camera angle shot and know that there was a warehouse on the other side or something like that.  You just don't get the idea of that from the movies.  Some of the locations we were able to see were:

• Diana Barry's home exterior
• The Lake of Shining Waters were Anne nearly drowns in the boat and the bridge
• The kitchen where Anne treated Minnie May Barry for the croup
• The parlour where Anne apologizes to Josephine Barry
• The bedroom used during the sleepover
• Green Gables (totally run down now!)
• Moody Spurgeon's house where Anne walks the ridgepole
• Carmody Town Hall where Anne attends her first ball
• Kingsport Ladies College
• Railway museum where Anne leaves on the train for college
• Hammond house exterior
• Rachel Lynde's house and the crossroads
• Avonlea post office
• General Store
• The covered bridge
• The railway station where Anne first arrives
• The sawmill where Mr. Hammond dies
• The window from the orphanage bedroom scene
• Captain Harris' Boston home
• Josephine Barry's home in Charlottetown
• Maplehurst
• Queen's Academy
• The log bridge in the sequel
• Avonlea schoolhouse
• Whitesands hotel

 

We drove all over Ontario and became pretty familiar with it!  We even drove as far north as Bracebridge Falls and got to see Lake Huron.  We also saw Lakes Erie and Ontario of course.  Apparently only die hard Anne fans go to these sites which I didn't consider myself since I've only seen the first two movies.  But as one lady said, I'm a purist because I stick with the originals and not all the spinoffs.  Who knew?!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides Anne sites, we stopped and had lunch with Norman and Sandra Hunt, some friends I met with mom, dad, and grandma on our cruise of Alaska.  Amy really enjoyed meeting them because they are so nice and easy to talk to.  We also went to the temple for initiatories and a session.  When we walked in to the temple, this lady I had never met said, "don't I know you?"  I of course responded no and said I'm from out of town.  She insisted she knew me though and said, "isn't your name Tammy?  Tammy Pack?"  Well that threw me for a loop!  Turns out she was a secretary in the office and had been cc'd on the email where the recorder had put me in contact with Denise Bourgeois (the homestay) and my picture was attached to the email as one of the recipients and she'd memorized my face.  Talk about a welcome!  The recorder came out and had a nice chat with us after that and it was a really nice evening.  Can't believe how much ground we covered in our drives around Ontario!

 

Around the World

After work on Friday I drove up to Heber for the family bday party.  Lisa's family is in town before heading out to Indiana, and Dana, Jon, and Lori's families drove up for dinner and games.  The adults played Around the World ping pong and even Jon joined in as his hip is doing so much better.  Then we started playing doubles and finally singles.  Brett scored the most during the group game winning four times.  Doubles and singles I had a good showing.

I spent the night along with Lisa's family.  Since Nate and Jer were still away for their High Adventure Scout Camp, I slept in Nathan's room.  The spider trap was a horrifying find.  Especially right before going to bed in that room!  Brett, Lisa, Steven, and I went to play racquetball on Saturday.  Brett and I played two games against each other first, and though I won them, he gave me a run for it on the second game with the final score being 16-14.  His early morning games have been paying off!  When we went to play doubles next against Lisa and Steven, Lisa said that Steven thought they were going to kill us.  Eleven to zero later and I still wasn't worried.  The final score ended up being 15-5.  It was so hot there though!  I felt like I was purple and my internal cooling system just wasn't working.  Seriously sweaty.

Amy came over last night and we finished watching Anne of Green Gables.  We are officially ready for our trip now.  During lunch today I interviewed at doTERRA, then headed to a dentist appointment, followed by racquetball with Melissa, waxing nose hairs with Steven, and finishing my packing.  Toronto here I come!

Called Out

Grandma called me out this week for being too busy in the evenings.  Hey, I only have a small amount of time allotted each day to get things done.  I've got to fit everything in!

I dropped my car off by 7 in the morning on Monday for an oil change.  They said I wasn't scheduled for my next one (they're free the first three years) until September (even though I bought my car in July).  So I had them do the emissions inspection instead and it was discovered that my oil and coolant something or others were leaking (covered by warranty), so I left it there for the day and picked it up after work just in time to make swimming in the Avenues with the Pacinis where I spent the night.  Brittany and I also watched the VM movie which officially finished the series out for us after a year and a half of watching.

Tuesday was racquetball, followed by my new-to-me couch being delivered by a co-worker and her husband from Bountiful.  They are moving and getting new ones and since Lori has signed on her house and will be taking the one I've used, I needed a new one and fast.  My visiting teaching partner came over after that to pick up the stuff I bought to deliver to our ladies this month.  She's going out of town this week and I'll be out next week so we are dropping something off to each of them instead of a full-on visit.

Tonight was our Book Club at Thai Drift.  We read the Fault in Our Stars which made me cry, but not excessively.  I thought it was pretty good.  Rachael joined us since she's home from her mission and Kaylee came too so it was kid friendly and fun.  I couldn't put it off any longer though when I got home, knowing I was going to be gone all next week, so I caved and weeded and cut roses until it was too dark to see.  Two additional hours after our dinner where I was already tired.  But now I don't have to worry about it again for a little while!  Emphasis on the little...

Video of a Video?

Items of Note:

My pulled back muscle was stretched out really well before racquetball on Thursday and I crushed Melissa!  She even had to sit down against the wall to rest for a bit because we were playing so hard.  My athletic friend.  Yes!  Saturday when we played, it was pretty even and afterward I followed her to her house in Saratoga Springs (still love the view from the west side of Utah Lake up toward Timpanogos. I would buy a place out there just for that view!) for a haircut and color.  She also has bought shellac nail polish and the UV machine to bake the polish so she ended up doing my fingers and toes.

Today I drove down to Genola for Rachael Johnson's homecoming.  She just got back from Russia and bore her testimony in Russia.  She's a very cute girl.  There was lunch afterward at Shauna's house and travel of course was a topic that came up.  England possibly in three years for some of the Ervin Pack kids?  And maybe me of course?

Ari called me upstairs tonight.  She stands at the top of the stairs still and calls for T, and then says come up, or whatcha doin'?  I can't resist it.  She saw my phone tonight and kept saying Cheese!  Cheese! until I brought up the camera feature.  We watched two previous videos I'd made of her, and as she watched, she would say along with her recorded self, the same words she was prompted to in the video.  I wished I had another camera to video her watching the video!  She also talked me in to making another one...