Of Frustration

Have you ever had someone step out on a ledge and get ready to jump and right as they take the first step off they turn to you and ask for you to save them? People are frustrating in this way. They make decisions that they are unsure of and once they have made them they realize they need help and advice. Regardless of whether or not you give them advice and try to save them from making a mistake, they are already too far gone. You can reach out and try to give them a hand but you know that you don't have the strength to pull them up no matter how desperately you want to, it's too late, they've already jumped.

How do you tell someone that they are caught in the moment, and that they are feeling the rush and thrill of the fall, but are only destined to find themselves in a world of hurt? Even if you do tell them, are they going to listen? Are they going to heed your warning, and realize that you speak from experience and know of the pain that comes with hitting the ground? All you can do is hope and pray that by some miracle there is a soft landing waiting for them or someone who is willing to pick them up and put them back together; because chances are, you'll still be at the top yelling, trying to tell them that they have done something that they will regret.

It's True, Everything is Bigger in Texas

I'm a horrible little sister. My sister Tracey has lived in Austin, Texas for nearly 3 years and up until this last weekend I had never gone out to visit. Tracey has been after me to come to down for ages and we were finally able to convince my parents that I should go with them on their next trip. First thing is first, Texas in April is lovely. I wore shorts and tank tops the entire time and got just a bit of sun on my shoulders, so nice. Second, there is so much food, I nearly fell into a self-induced food coma. Third, even though I took my camera I didn't pull it out once, so all my photos are from my phone (I really need to work on using my camera and taking more pictures!) And fourth, nieces and nephews undoubtedly make trips like this so much more enjoyable.

Our flight was due to leave Thursday evening, but soon after we got to the airport we found it was delayed nearly two hours. As annoying as it was, I was okay  The airline gave us ten dollar vouchers and I went and bought myself a caramel apple. And it was delicious.

My sister being the gracious host she is stayed up way later than normal and came to get us. We arrived at her house were her two adorable kids were sleeping, she informed me that she tried to get her four year old Sam to write on his chalkboard "Welcome to Texas, Bethany". Unfortunately, Sam had his own greeting in mind, so I got this instead.

For those of you who can't decipher the handwriting it says, "Happy Birthday Elly Texas is fun you no." Grandpa also got to the board and added the extra note to the side.

We spent most of the weekend bumming around, we checked out the University of Texas-Austin campus, fed turtles, did a bit of shopping and visited a few local attractions. And we ate, A LOT. I got to ride in the car by this little cutie.

  

We also made a trip to Cabela's where Sam got to drive a side-by-side ATV.

And visited Zilker Park were we rode the Zephyr. We have a tradition in our family that no trip is complete until we ride a train of some sort. You can blame my railroader father who has made all of his grand-kids train obsessed.

We also were able to devour some of the biggest soft pretzels I've ever seen, and they were as delicious as they were huge.

 Then there was a visit to Terra Toys, where I found some adorable plush toys.

Yes, you are indeed seeing a plush egg cell and sperm cell. This is how babies are made everyone!

It really was a great trip. We had a lot of fun and it was so nice to spend some time with my family without having to worry about work and other distractions. If my sister stays in Texas much longer I'll be visiting again very soon.

Holy Birthdays, Batman!

If I was a nice sister/granddaughter/aunt I would do a birthday post for each member of my family that has a birthday in the month of March, but let's be honest, that's not going to happen. So instead there's gonna be one GIANT post for all of them. Shall we begin?

March 4th - Beckett

This little guy is the latest addition to the Dannelly Family, he made his arrival this Monday is the youngest of four. Lucky for him he has three big sisters. Good luck with the dress-ups and Barbies, little guy! We're happy to have you!

March 5th - Allison

This little girl just turned 4! She is one of Beckett's big sisters and is one of the spunkiest kids you'll ever meet. Prior her to her brother's birth she told her mom that they should name him Ryder Booty. It's a great name if you ask me. Happy Birthday Alli!

March 7th - Adam

My big brother Adam turns 29 today, as a big brother he has always taken his job of tormenting me very seriously. Despite his love for giving me grief he still remains a great brother. He's also a wonderful dad to two adorable kids. Happy Birthday Adam, enjoy your last year as a man in your 20's!

March 10th - Grandpa Dannelly

This my Grandpa Dannelly, aka Morris. Some of my best memories I have are with my grandpa. When I was little, probably about 4 or 5, my parents went on a trip so my grandpa came out to stay and take care of me. Nearly every morning we would wake up, go to the donut shop where he would get his coffee and I would get to choose whichever sprinkled donut my little heart desired. My parents maintain that I didn't want anything to do with grandpa after that visit, but things have changed since then. My grandpa has always been one of the most entertaining men I know... A few years ago some friends and I went to St. George and while we were there we stopped to visit. Grandpa kept them laughing with his antics, and I think that those friends know exactly where I get my personality from. Happy 83rd Birthday, Grandpa!

March 16th - Tracey

Tracey is my oldest sister, and probably the sibling I look the most like. Tracey and I are 11 years apart, but we've been close for as long as I can remember. Tracey is extremely talented, she owns here own photography business, is an awesome cook, plays the piano beautifully, can craft the pants off of anyone and she makes adorable babies. Happy Birthday, Tracey. Maybe someday soon I'll come visit you in Texas!

March 26th - Dannelly aka Elly

This is my sweet niece Elly, she belongs to my sister Tracey and she will be celebrating her first birthday this month! She's a sweet little thing with lots of personality and a raspy little voice. Happy Birthday Sweet Elly Lynn!

As you can see, my family LOVES March birthdays, and I love my family! Happy Birthday to all of you and let's see if we can have babies in a month other than March.

Like an ADULT

I did it. I really did. I put a deposit down on my very first apartment, I move in on the 7th with a sweet girl named Heidi, who happens to be a pastry chef. I plan on gaining loads of weight. I've learned a few things since beginning this exciting process.

Rent is expensive

Budgeting is going to blow

Furniture shopping can be fun, but stressful

Being an adult is exciting, weee!

In other news, I broke it off with the boy. WAIT, SAY WHAT?! Yeah, he was a sweet kid but it wasn't going anywhere for me. Call me heartless. Also, getting an apartment means I'll be home less on the weekends, therefore seeing him less. It just didn't make sense to continue seeing him. Commitment issues on my part? Maybe.

This Guy

Today is a big day, it's Paul's birthday. Who is Paul you ask? Paul is the man I like/have to call my father. I'm sure many of you have had some sort of encounter with my dad and I'm sure it was memorable. In order to spotlight this great man I'm going to share a few of my favorite things about my dad.

One of the first things you need to know about my dad is that he loves all things equipment.
Trucks, tractors, trains, you name it, he's like a little boy just with much bigger toys.

My Dad has quite the reputation among the friends of his children. If you were to judge him off of his appearance alone you would probably somewhat scared. He likes to hold his face in this very stern expression and he uses it to his advantage to mess with people, he's mildly amused by scaring the boys/friends I bring around. 

For one of my birthdays in high school I decided to have a barbecue my dad was gracious and kind enough to man the grill for me. At one point in the evening he was announcing to some of the boys at the party that they weren't eating enough and to come up to the deck to grab more burgers. As he was walking up the stairs one of my friends attempted to introduce himself to my father, the exchange went like this (names have been changed to protect the stupid).

Brad: Hi! Are you Bethany's dad?

Dad: Yes. (in a very gruff and short voice)

Brad: I'm Brad Taylor, it's nice to meet you (extends hand to my dad)

Dad: (turns around gives Brad the once over) So? (continues walking up the stairs)

He did that purely to mess with the poor kid. But "Brad" hasn't been his only victim. While on a cruise this year someone asked my dad what he did for a living, to which he replied "I stir the s*&t." That is an exact quote, I kid you not. My dad loves to get reactions out of people and come off as an ornery cuss, but in reality he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

My dad has helped countless people. He has helped people move, landscape their yards, help fix cars and other things like household appliances. He's one of the hardest workers I know. He worked for one company for 35 years, starting as a bottom of the ladder laborer all the way up to regional management. And after his retirement he choose to start his own equipment and excavating company. He's put in lots of hours and hard physical labor into his company and has been successful. And has been an excellent example to me and has definitely set a high bar for whoever intends to marry me.

My dad and nephew Sam watering the plants. This counts has hard work, right?

In addition to his amazing work ethic my dad is the best dad I could ask for. He's taught me the value of hard work but also how important it is to be able to laugh and make life fun. He has always been willing to help me with whatever I need, whether it's helping me build an elaborate grape smasher for an 8th grade science project or saving me when I'm stranded on the side of the road with a broke down car or helping to pay for my college education. I honestly can say that my dad is one of my greatest heroes even if he drives me crazy sometimes. I'm grateful that I was blessed to have him has my father and I couldn't be more thrilled to know that I will be able to call him my dad for eternity. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

My Dad and niece Alli, not only is he a wonderful father, he's an awesome grandpa too!

Big shout out to my sisters Tracey and Karen for having pictures of Paul on their blogs, I hope you don't mind me stealing them!

*Note: I promise my dad owns more than khaki Wranglers and Blue shirts... He just seems to wear them a lot*

You Can Call Me "The Heber Creeper"

Well folks, it's that time again. It's the time where I try to repent of my blogging ways and make up for it by blessing all you beautiful people out in the blogosphere with an update of my glamourous life. Big changes have happened and you're about to hear about them all. I've started a new job and moved up to Kamas (saaay whaaat?), and last but not least, I have a boyfriend (kinda).

Once I graduated from UVU I decided it was time to find "Full-Time Employment." My previous job at Bowen, Collins & Associates was great and had awesome perks. Unfortuantely, it was only part-time and I wasn't making hardly enough money, greedy I know. After returning from my trip to Alaska the hunt was on. I was applying to all sorts of things, and I desperately wanted something within my field of study. I interviewed for a few jobs some that were social work related, some that weren't. After a few weeks of looking and not finding anything that would work, I found a job advertisement for a full-time receptionist at an engineering firm in Heber, basically the exact thing I was doing already but for more money. On a whim, I applied. I interviewed the next week and they offered me the job the day after my interview.

After some back and forth I decided to accept the position. Sure, it wasn't exactly what I wanted but it fulfilled my needs and it's doing something I know and like. The past month I've been working my tail off and learning all sorts of new things. Learning has been exciting and fun. However, there have been some stressful days that I've been given things that are way beyond my skill set but I've been able to "git 'r done." And on the days that are especially hard I just look up and see this:

Yes, I work in an office full of country boys and there's an giant elk's head hanging right by my desk. and it makes me smile.

Because I'm working up in Heber I had to re-evaluate my living arrangements. Driving an hour and up Parley's Canyon for a commute was not an appealing idea. Thankfully, my sister's mother in law lives in a small community about 20 minutes out of Heber in a house that is far too big for just her. She has graciously let me move in until I can find roommates or something I can afford in Heber.

Not only am I living with Judy, but I'm living with her three geriatric yellow labs. It's been interesting to say the least.

Now for the big news. I, Bethany M. Dannelly, have a man in my life. Sure, this doesn't seem like that big of a deal, most 22 year old girls do have boyfriends, but for me it is. I've dated some and I've had guys in my life, but never in quite this capacity. Before it's always been friendship with blurred boundaries, but this time it's a legit dating relationship. No, we're not FBO and that's ok, neither of us are seeing anyone else and it's definitely headed in the direction.*knock on wood*

I'm not saying I'm smitten or in love with him or anything like that, but I am saying I do like him and hanging out with him even if I only see him on the weekends. For the past two months we've gone on dates, watched countless hours of Top Gear (his favorite) and of course played a bit of Forza.

I'm not very good and it drives him up the wall. Hysterical.

All in all, life is pretty dang good. Even if I'm freezing my rear end off in Heber and have to put up with a goofy dude who pulls faces in every picture solely to drive others insane.

Long Time Coming

Disclaimer: This particular post will be rambly, like super rambly. Don't expect my best writing, I've just got to get some stuff off my chest. I won't be offended if you choose not to continue reading, really.

So, as many of your may or may not know, there have been some changes in my life recently. But in order to understand those changes you need some back story. The past six years my closest friend and confidant has been my main object of interest and desire. We've gone through many ups and downs together, we shared all of our secrets and spent countless hours together. We started college together and I helped him through his darkest moments. During that time there have been fights, dramatic displays of emotion (both good and bad) and many confusing moments. Despite all of this, we had been able to remain close. He's chosen other girls over me only to come back and seek my friendship and that close bond we share. It's been hard, I won't lie. I had given him all my heart only in hopes that someday he would fully trust me with his.

A few months ago, I thought that point had finally come. On Easter Sunday, this dear friend of mine and I had a discussion. One in which he told me his true feelings, he expressed feelings of love and gratitude. He also expressed that he wanted to be with me, that to him I would make the perfect wife and the perfect mother to his children. No, this wasn't a marriage proposal, but it was a step in the direction I had been waiting so long to go. Needless to say, I was thrilled but also taken back. He had to go back to school a few hours away, but we had come to an unspoken agreement that we were really going to try and have a real relationship.

The next few weeks were filled with anticipation of what would come, I was on cloud nine and had a constant grin plastered on my face. But that lofty, wonderful state was torn from my hands. The very end of the Spring Semester, a friend of mine texted me and told me that he had a girlfriend down at school. I was devastated. Of course, I called him, he quickly became defensive and told me I had nothing to worry about. He reassured me that we would talk when he got home for good that coming weekend. Despite what he told me I had a queasy feeling that I couldn't shake. When we finally got a chance to speak face to face I learned that feeling was one that was validated. He shared with me that he had met a wonderful girl down at school, that she was different and he had never felt that way before, when he had practically told me the same things just two weeks prior. He told me that he didn't see us being together that way but that he wanted to remain best friends. And with that, he ended our friendship. I knew I couldn't go on only getting small portions of I wanted, he had broken my heart a few too many times. Never anything serious before, nothing that a simple splint could heal, but this time he shattered it. I got up and walked away.

The past few months I've been attempting to let myself heal and get over him for the final time. It's been rough, but I've been strong and have been able to get through it. While I've been keeping my chin up, he's been falling in love with this new girl. I've had to avoid hanging out with certain friends because I couldn't bear to see him. As much as it has sucked, I'm proud of myself for being as strong as I have. Last night big news broke, he proposed and she said yes. They're now engaged to be married; I've been receiving an onslaught of Facebook messages and texts, people wanting to know if I was ok. This is me, letting you know that I'm ok. Yes, it hurts and I'm not happy about it. But I've realized in the past few months that even though he has been my best friend for six years, I've never deserved to be treated the way he treated me. It's been hard to lose my closest friend, but it's something that had to be done. I also know now that deserve so much better. So, for the time being, I'm fine and I'll only be getting better. I appreciate all the concern that everyone has shown me, but you don't need to worry I'm a tough girl and I'll be able to get through this, and come out stronger than ever before.