New Church Calling. . .

So this morning I was called to be an Activities Committee co-chair in my ward! I was on the committee last semester, but since my roommate Allison (the former female co-chair) was called to be 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society last week, I was asked to be her replacement. Exciting things are sure to come from this, namely, snow tubing next week. :)

I am really excited for this opportunity to serve the Lord and the members of my ward!

And They Call it Puppy Love.

On September 6th 2006, my Daddy gave me the best birthday present I've ever received: My puppy, Oscar.

Born on July 29th of that same year, Oscar was a precious little Yorkshire Terrier who captured the heart of everyone he met. People who didn't even like dogs loved Oscar. People who hated having their faces licked didn't even mind when Oscar did it, because he was just so cute.

He quickly became my best friend and my favorite male being on the planet.
I loved him so much that I often referred to him as "my baby." Who would've thought that Mama's first grandkid would be so hairy?

Unfortunately, Oscar was hit by a car on Sunday, January 18, 2009 and is not with us anymore. I miss him so much!

But I have so many fond memories of Oscar.
Every time an ambulance, police car, or firetruck drove by the house with the siren on, he jumped in the window and barked like crazy, his little nub of a tail wagging up and down with each bark.
Anytime I spoke to him in a regular voice, he wouldn't pay any attention to me. But if I called him "Oscar Woscar" in my squeaky voice, he could not resist. Also, he loved it when Mama would sing "Oh, Oscar Woscar, oh Oscar Woscar. You are a silly dog, Oscar Woscar" to the tune of "Oh, Christmas Tree."
And I think his favorite words in the world were "bacon" and "Need to go potty outside?"
I know he must have always wished that he were an outside dog--every chance he got, he'd run outside, whether he had his leash on or not (this is what got him into trouble on Sunday). But he also enjoyed being inside in the warmth when it was cold outside.
Oscar was the best cuddle buddy. He loved to sit in my lap while I sat at the computer (this was especially funny when I wore my silky pajama pants; he was all the time slipping toward my feet). Also he always slept at my feet until morning when I woke up; then he'd sit at my head and watch me until I finally got up.
Oscar also liked to get himself buried in blankets. I don't know how many times we've wondered, "Where is Oscar?" and then called his name, only to see the blankets start to move as he tried to get himself untangled from them. One time Daddy lay down on his bed as he was about to go to sleep, and couldn't get comfortable. He said, "there's something in my pillow!" He picked it up, only to see a large lump in the bottom of the pillowcase. He took out the pillow, and there was Oscar, all cuddled up in the pillowcase!
He and our other dog, Saturn, were in love. This is funny because Saturn is about five times the size of Oscar; she's a black lab mix. Also, Oscar thought he was the big dog. Whenever Saturn's other boyfriends came along, he'd growl at them from inside like there was no tomorrow.
Oscar truly brought so much joy to our family. He loved everyone, and I will never forget the times I came home from college for Christmas and summer when he would not stop jumping on me for thirty minutes.
And when I had bad breath, I would breathe in his face, only to have him lick the air between us right afterwards.
That's true love right there, y'all.

I love that dog and I miss him dearly!

Finally!

As I've said before, I'm using this blog to try and record all the evidences of love that I see in my life; I believe that the end of the fall semester was perhaps one of the greatest evidences of God's love for me thus far! It was a good semester, but I was getting very burnt out and the thought of coming home never had been so beautiful.

And so many things have happened since my last (and only) post!

On December 20th, my dear friend (and ex-roommate) Kayla got married to another friend, Mr. Kyle Lucherini. They were sealed for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Though it was terribly cold (when others complained about their fingers and toes being cold, my response was, "What fingers? What toes?"), it was absolutely beautiful and I am so glad I got to spend such a special day with them as they took these wonderful, important steps into their new lives. The happiness and love that I saw in their faces and in their very being was something that I am looking forward to having for myself some day. They are a perfect match, and I congratulate them and wish them the best of luck!

On the 22nd, I finally made it home! The flights were great--I slept through most of both of them--but then when I arrived at the airport, I learned that my luggage had missed its flight in Atlanta and had been sent on another flight to arrive later. So, after arriving at the airport at 4, I did not leave until 6. Even so, all was well, because I was home! Home, where perfect strangers call you "sweetie" and, instead of an LDS temple or stake center on every corner, there are Baptist churches. And man, all the trees! It sure is great to be home.

So here we are, a couple of days after Christmas, and I just have to say that mine was fantastic, except for my being sick with some sort of stomach bug that had me in a lot of pain. I am just grateful that, if I had to be sick, it happened while I was at home with no school to worry about and where Mama can take care of me :)

For Christmas Eve, we had an extended family gathering at my ward building. My grandparents, six of their eleven children, several grandchildren, and one of their great-grandchildren were there, representing four generations of Hiatts. Each family prepared a Christmas program of some sort--games, singing songs, playing piano, reading Christmas stories, etc. (Grandpa even recited "It Vas Der Night Behind Christmas," which is my absolute favorite story he tells! And yes, that's my big head in the way the whole time) and Grandma finished up by reading the account of Christ's birth from the scriptures, with a few of the family members acting out the Nativity.

I am so grateful to have been with my family that night. I count myself blessed to be part of such a loving family. Even though there are so many of us, and there are gaps between us in age and distance, with family on both coasts and other places in between, I know that we are privileged to know and feel the Savior's love for us; therefore, we are better able to love one another. I know that those family bonds are eternal--what greater evidence of love is there? I submit to you that there is none. I love my family, and I love my Savior and my Father in Heaven. I love the Plan of Salvation which has been set in action for our eternal happiness, and I love the Gospel that teaches of it. I have a firm faith in the importance of the birth of Christ, our Savior. I know that He was born in humble circumstances and later returned to His Father in glory. I know that we may also do the same--first, humble ourselves and be born of His Spirit, and then live our lives worthily, with love of God and love of man, and someday return to our Father.

Christmas day is over, but I testify that Jesus the Christ, the reason why we celebrate this holiday, lives today, and will live forever. I love Him, and I am grateful to know of His love for me.

Early Christmas

So my roommates and I decided to have an early Christmas this year. Now, I use "early" in practically every sense of the word--it was almost 2 full weeks before Christmas (this was the last Saturday that we were all going to be together before Kayla and Lauren got married), AND it was at 5 in the morning (Natalie had to leave for work at 5:30). . . . Yeah. But anyhow, we exchanged gifts and had a grand old time.

At least, I did. . . .

I was the first to wake up (besides Natalie) and so I took a jingle bell and woke everyone up yelling, "Christmas morning! It's Christmas morning! Time to open presents! Wake up sleepyheads, it's Christmas morning!"

Lauren informed me of her prediction that my kids will probably hate Christmas.

Needless to say, we went right back to sleep afterwards.

Anyhow, here are just a few pictures from that.

Kayla's gift was from Lauren,

Allison's was from me,

Jazlyn drew Lauren's name,

Natalie drew Jazlyn's,

Allison had Natalie,

and Kayla had me (Yes, I'm a dork. Thanks for asking).

And Ty put silly string in Allison's stocking--she got us bad.

This "Early Christmas" thing is something I will probably continue as long as my life continues as a single college student with roommates--it was definitely a great time and I sure do love these girls like crazy!

Katelyn. In the parlor. With a laptop.

So, here it is, people. I've been inactive on blogger since I stopped writing on my first blog, which I made when I was. . . 14 or something.

Hopefully this blog will not be as dumb-sounding as that one was. . . it's kind of embarrassing.

I will post funny stories (well, they'll be funny to me anyway) and anything else that I feel needs to be shared with the world, or at least the total of 5 people who may happen to read this someday.

Have a fantastic day!