Three Years Ago....

This happened.

Yep. Those are real flames, that's my real husband, and indeed it does say, "Will U Marry Me?"

December 17th will always have a special place in my heart. 

And although we couldn't do a whole lot of celebrating regarding the day we first met and a year later got engaged on, we still toasted our luck with some late-night sparkling cider, admired my wedding ring {never gets old!}, and reminisced about our past four years of friendship and two and a half years of marriage.

We decided we really don't have it all that bad.

For those of you who swear the first couple years of marriage are the hardest, well....sucks for you.

They were pretty grand for us. 

Thankful Comes First

I haven't really posted much about Thanksgiving {because I was out enjoying it of course!} so I wanted to get in one 'Be Thankful' post before I start gushing about Christmas. {Christmas! *GASP* I'm so excited!}

The other day in R.S. one cute gal said something that stuck with me. 

"Thanksgiving comes before Christmas because you have to learn to be thankful for what you have  before you can get what you want."

And I, for one, am extremely grateful to have so much. 

We weren't able to go north for Thanksgiving this year because I had to work the day before and the day after {sigh...such is life}, so instead my family made the 300-mile trip down to spend the holiday at our house. 

1. I am grateful for family.

It was so much fun! It was us, my parents, my little brother, and my uncle and his fiance {who are by far some of my coolest relatives}. Chris deep-fried a turkey and helped me set up the table and all the chairs and clean the house. 

2. I am grateful to be eternally sealed to my super-sweet & awesome husband. 

Going back a few days, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving we have hosted for the past 3 years what we call our"Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner," which basically means we invite all of our friends over and eat lots and lots of food. {ahh....it makes me feel stuffed just thinking about it}. Everyone brings something--we did the turkey, someone else brought yams, someone else brought mashed potatoes...etc etc. And every year we do our Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner it reminds me how wonderful it is to be surrounded by the people you love {I suppose they could be using us for the free food....but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt}. One friend turned to me in the midst of our chaotic 28-people-full kitchen and said, "Jeez, you and Chris have a lot of friends!" 

3. I am grateful to have lasting friendships.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Our roomy apartment, our cats, our jobs, our working furnace, all our grandparents, fun neighbors, hot chocolate, great co-workers, movie theater popcorn....and the list goes on and on and on!

A recent talk in church focused on how we could add more gratitude to our lives. So even though it's after Thanksgiving, I'm still giving thanks. And I'm trying to remember to say thank you, even for the small stuff.

So don't forget: Blessings always show up--even on the bad days. 




And to end, in words stronger than mine, I quote:

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike--and they will--you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see, riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed.


I close with this promise from heaven.


'Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;


'And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.'


'...I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, ...and mine angels [shall be] round about you, to bear you up.


'...The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.' (D&C 78:17-18; D&C 84:88; D&C 78:18)


Oh yes, 'we'll find the place which God for us prepared.' And on the way, 'we'll make the air with music ring, shout praises to our God and King; above the rest these words we'll tell--All is well! All is well!' "


--For Times of Trouble, by Jeffrey R. Holland

I Got Shoes Under My Feet

So I realize I haven't posted in a while.

Sad. Lame. Terrible.

{I know.}

I have returned to wow you with the details of my life.

In Sunday School the other day, the teacher told a little story about an older couple {or shall I say, a mature couple} who realized that while they were newlyweds, they were ALWAYS thanking each other.

"Thanks for doin' the dishes, dearest!"

"Thanks SO much for getting me a Dew!"

"Thanks hunny-bunny for being so nice."

I'm improvising here.

And after they realized this, they also realized that they no longer expressed their gratitude to each other. So, they made a vow to always remember to thank each other, and to recognize and be grateful for the little things. Cute story, huh? {On a tangent point, I hope one day Chris & I turn into that cute little old couple who still hobble around holding hands and telling each other they've "still got it!"}

But anyway. After hearing the story, I decided that I wanted to do the same thing. I hope I never stop being grateful for all of the little things not only that Chris does for me, but also the small things that brighten up my life.

For example.

1. Chris brought me flowers. 

Aw, we are just so young and in love. Try not to gag.

2. The cool way a rainy evening makes all the lights look...awesomer.

3. Corinne & Mike, our cuuuuute neighbors.

Awwwwwww. 

4. Our cat Skimble, who really knows how to get comfy.

And whom I usually wake up with my semi-stifled giggling.

{Honestly, who wouldn't want to be a cat? You get to sleep on all the furniture, and shed on all the people you hate. It would be a great life.}

The Little Itty-Bitty Things

Being job-less sure does give a person time to reflect on what they do have. 

And to learn patience.

And faith.

And more patience.

But man do I ever not have patience.

Ya. Ugh.

Its been hard, but I do feel like there might be some things I'm supposed to learn.

Like patience (Get it yet? Ha!)

So I'm trying. And these are some little things I've appreciated along the way:

GORGEOUS graduation bouquet from Chris's parents!

The sweet little hummingbirds who so obligingly visit my feeder.

Strawberries....mmmmm.

Don't you just want to go out and get some for yourself?? 

(Go ahead. I'll wait.)

And lastly but definitely not leastly, let's not forget one of the smallest, yet most important things of all:

Faith.

"When we get discouraged we sometimes forget just how far our faith can take us."

Two Holidays--One Blog.

Well aren't the holidays just awesome (And I mean they really are).

Chris & I had a rockin' night at the Fall Ball here at SUU--we got to dress up and get dinner for free! The dance was a lot of fun--and who knew I married a man with such...unique...moves? ;)

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we threw our annual Pre-Thanksgiving party. We deep-fried a TWENTY-THREE POUND turkey! Phew. We also managed to squeeze 22 people into our kitchen! It turned out to be oodles of fun and I was so grateful for all of the wonderful friends who came to spend time with us!

Here are all the pies/desserts we had...so good...

I had to wait a couple hours after dinner was over before I even had room for any! So much food!

And just this past Sunday we decided to have a 'hot chocolate party' and hand around some gifts we'd bought for our friends. We had a pretty good time watching the expressions on their faces as they opened their gifts. Russell got a baby launcher...Matt got an 'Awesome' pin....Mario got fry sauce...haha they were all pretty random! After that we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Definitely one of my top Christmas movies! 

Happy Holidays y'all. :)