Yes, It's Been A While.

Life is good.

I still don't love my job. But I don't hate it as much as I used to. Perspective and time, feeling appreciated, being given new challenges and opportunities, getting paid a little more when I moved into a new position, the fact that I have a job at all... these things helped me realize it's not so bad.

Bowzer the dog takes a comfy nap

As of this past summer (nearly a year ago, actually) I started dating a ton more than I had in my previous dating years, thanks to a little app called Tinder. Judge if you will, but I find it a very useful tool. Sure, it's used as a "hook up" app. Sure, there is a large number of users who are less-than-savory characters. But not all of them are creeps. If in your profile blurb you state your intentions (i.e. "Looking for dates, serious relationship, eventually marriage"), the likelihood of matching with the "right" type of people increases significantly. I found that if I wasn't quite so picky, I matched with a lot more people, which led to meeting more people (going on actual dates). Dating more people (and a variety of characters), I've learned a lot about myself, and a lot about what I don't want in a relationship/future spouse, which helps to weed out the crap in order to find what I do want. Being on Tinder taught me that I am desirable. I'm a cute girl with a lot to offer. I'm smart and funny. I have good taste without letting it get in the way of enjoying the "bubblegum." (I can love both Breaking Bad and Once Upon a Time, and that's OK.) There are men out there who are attracted to me for my looks and my brains and my personality. Who knew? Through Tinder, I met and went out with some guys only once, went out with a handful of guys more than once, kinda dated one guy for about a month. And then I met this guy in November who, well, we're still dating. He's pretty great and I like him lots. (see photo above) We enjoy being together, laugh a lot, have similar interests and tastes, and expand each other's minds (he's got a lot of smarts in his brain, let me tell you). We have a lot of fun. Yay for being in a caring, fun relationship. Yay for social media and dating apps.

Two of my bestest friends in the whole wide world welcomed their second daughter last month. She's adorable, and I love that I get to go over and hold a tiny human for a while. She's a cuddly little thing. I feel very blessed to be invited into their lives to witness their little family grow up. Those two make cute kids, and those kids are full of sweetness and joy.

I have a group of friends I met through work. We get together about once a month to hang out and catch up on each other's lives. Two of these friends have left the department, so it's great to take the opportunity to see them and keep in touch. They're all wonderful people and I admire them very much.

The Heywoods minus (almost) two!

I'm blessed to be in a family who loves me and is concerned for my well-being. We've had some rocky stuff to tread through recently, and I don't mean that lightly. It's been a tough few months, and we have hard struggles ahead. But they're so important to me and I'm so glad they're mine. I love that I live so close to my sisters, love that I get to spend time with my niece and nephews, love that I have a wonderful brother-in-law. I miss my parents and brothers and sisters-in-law, and always look forward to the next time we get to be together. And I'm SO excited that we're getting two additions to the family later this year. Twins!! Two-for-one! (And then two of everything!) Living so close to my niece and nephews, I know it'll be hard to be so far away from the new additions. But I'm so happy and already so in love with those babies. I can't wait to meet them. And I have to give a shout out to my baby sister. She's been a rock for me the last few months. I know she's gotten tired of listening to me talk incessantly, and I really appreciate her patience.

I rarely get churchy, but I'm going to right now. I love that I have the Gospel in my life. Specifically, I'm so grateful for the Godhead, the Atonement, and my testimony of these things. There are so many things about the Gospel, some of the doctrine that I just can't really figure out and have a lot of questions about. But my testimony of the Atonement is firm. I believe in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe in my Heavenly Father. I believe in a Spiritual Guide. These things are so firmly planted in my heart, that even though I have questions about other aspects of the Gospel, these things keep me grounded and bring peace and joy to my soul. Everything will work itself out, as long as I remain faithful and rely on my Father in Heaven.

There are so many other things I'd love to list, but if I write paragraphs about each of them, this blog will be annoyingly too long (like it's dangerously close to becoming even now). Instead, here's a list:

Pizza and Coke Zero

It's getting warmer outside, which means more sunny walks
I love pizza and Coke Zero
My "Fall" shows are ending; my "Summer" shows are starting
I'm gonna have to figure out where I'll be living next Fall
The Valley of Fire
New York City and all of the amazing things we'll do/see there!
The Hollywood Bowl on the 4th of July
Family Reunions
Taking on a new task at work
All of my crochet projects (shark booties! baby blankets! hats!)
I'm gonna make a skirt. My first clothes-sewing project!
Many other family/friends who have great things happening
I've updated my blog (yes, this is blog-worthy news)

"Life moves pretty fast..." And life is good.