Saturday, May 21, 2011

Blessings...

A couple weeks ago for FHE Jeremy and I sat down and pulled out our handy-dandy "FHE ideas for newlyweds" book to find an activity. We happened upon one about blessings, so we decided to try it out. That activity has been a blessing in my life. It had us both write down all the blessings we could think of in a certain time frame (I think 3 minutes) and then compare lists. We then made a master list of 100 blessings which now hangs on our fridge. It was interesting to see what things in our lives we both viewed as blessings and what we could come up with when we got up into the high 80s and 90s. Since we did that together I've really thought about how blessed we truly are. We are not rich by the worlds standards but we are incredibly rich when we count our blessings.
We both listed family at the top of our blessing lists (right after each other of course:)). We both come from incredibly loving and supportive families that would do anything to help us out.
The gospel was high up on our lists as well. Where would we be without the gospel?? Certainly not married in the temple or looking forward to raising a family with high standards and ultimately striving to be able to live with each other and our families for eternity.
The ability to go to school and gain an education is such a blessing for both of us. We both pretend to hate it at times and dread going almost every day, but we are secretly very grateful for the opportunity to learn and get a degree. One of our favorite games lately has been fantasizing about dropping out of school and getting full-time jobs and making lots of money. Then reality sets in and we know that we wouldn't be happy in the long run so we stick with it. Sometimes it feels like it will never end, but I am grateful for almost every class I've taken because I have learned something useful that can help me in some aspect of my life. This year has been a particularly stressful one for me in the education department with switching my major and running into dead-ends left and right. Sometimes I wonder if I am ever going to graduate. I know though that I have been blessed to have been able to learn so much and take so many classes without having to pay a penny for the education. I am so grateful for the knowledge I've gained.
After school comes work. We both listed our jobs as major blessings in our lives. I will be the first to admit that when I have to wake up at 4:30 am on a Saturday to go to work after already working over 40 hours that week, I am more likely to curse my job than to consider it a blessing. But after I've been up for a few hours and I am thinking a little more clearly I can say that I truly am grateful for the opportunity to work. Both Jeremy and I have the ability to work and have never really had a hard time finding a job (knock on wood). We recognize that in today's economy it truly is a blessing to be able to work and provide for our family. When Jeremy quit his job to work with a professor as a lab volunteer I became even more grateful for my two jobs. Being able to work as many hours as I am is a blessing because if I couldn't the bills wouldn't get paid. I need to do better at remembering how much of a blessing it is on the hard days when I'm exhausted:)
Those were the blessings that were high up on both of our lists, but as I mentioned before there are 96 other blessings on our master list. If you want to know what we came up with you'll just have to come take a look at our fridge:) We love visitors!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

So Happy Together...

Only in St. George is November 6th a gorgeous, warm, sunny day. Perfect for a wedding. Originally I wanted to get married in early October (in fact I still think that would have been a fantastic time to get married), because we would've been the same age if we got married after his birthday on September 30th and before mine on October 19th. Unfortunately I don't always get my way, and it worked out better to get married in early November. It was a beautiful day though, and I don't have any complaints about our wedding day...except that I was older than him:)
We were sealed in the St. George temple, which is only fitting because we both grew up in St. George and that's where our relationship began. I absolutely love the San Diego temple and I've often thought of getting married there, but it just wouldn't have felt right nor would we have been able to share the day with as many family members and friends.
I honestly don't remember too much of that day unfortunately. What I do remember very clearly though is entering the sealing room in the temple and seeing all the faces of family members and friends that had come from near and far to support us on our wedding day. I remember my eyes filling with tears of joy and gratitude for the role each of them had played in our lives. It really was an incredible feeling.
I also remember something that was said during the ceremony that I would like to share. The sealer said that I was to be the heart of our home and family. That really touched me because I'd been kind of worried about getting married and becoming a wife and mother (eventually). I was worried that I wasn't caring or compassionate enough; that I wouldn't have enough heart for the job. I have always been teased by my family for not crying when I watch sad movies or read touching books or stories. They told me I had no heart. I know they were always joking and I never took it personally, but I did have a fear that my heart wouldn't be big enough for the job of wife and mom. I take great comfort in knowing that even if I'm not there yet, someday I will be made equal to the task, and I will be the heart of our home and family.
The rest of the day is kind of a blur, but I do remember being incredibly happy and having a lot of fun. We had a wonderful luncheon with friends and family between the ceremony and the reception thanks to Jeremy's family and friends. And I have to say that our reception was AMAZING! I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I want things the way I want them. So I'm sure Kimber and Devin were at least a little nervous about being put in charge of the decorating, but they did an INCREDIBLE job and I couldn't have been happier about the way it turned out. It was perfect! We had a blast seeing everyone and talking to friends and family.
Another highlight of the evening was the father-daughter and mother-son dances. Dancing with my daddy and singing the words of a song I grew up singing around the house was a memory I think we will both cherish. I actually let my dad choose between 3 songs about dads and daughters. Each would have been a great pick, but my dad chose Butterfly Kisses because he remembered me singing it around the house or in the car when I was younger. It was fun to watch Jer dance with his mom as well because they have always had such a close relationship, and it had been hard on her to feel like she was losing some of that to me.
All in all it was a perfect day and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I am so grateful for the pictures we have to help us remember it all. Thank you to all who supported us that day, and have supported us all our lives...we love you!

Long time no see...

Hello again! I knew from the get go that I wouldn't be very good at this blogging thing. I am done with school for the semester though so I'm going to be good at updating this for a few months at least.
Just a quick update on Jer and me over the last few months...
  • Got married on November 6, 2011
  • Went on our honeymoon to Park City
  • Moved to PG (Pleasant Grove)
  • Finished one more semester of school:) (Jer is at BYU and I'm at the U)
  • Jer worked at Response Marketing until a couple weeks ago when he started working in a lab with a professor on campus
  • I work at America First Credit Union and Primary Childrens Medical Center
  • Jeremy works with the Young Men in the ward as the Priest Quorum Advisor and I'm with the Young Women as the Young Womens Secretary
I think that covers the very basics and I promise more details on the important points in the next few posts. I just wanted to make sure everyone is up to speed for now and knows that I'm back in the blogging world:)