Our 2013...and anticipation for 2014

We've been putting off Christmas cards, because let's face it...the most exciting thing about them is the children. Well, since that's not happening any time soon, we decided to get Christmas pictures this year anyway. We sent a postcard just to our family members, to cut down on the cost of stamps. So...for those of you that didn't get one and still care to see our lovely faces...

We're not really too keen on "props" in photos...but these didn't turn out so bad I suppose.

He threw the snow in my face.

This is the one we picked for our Christmas cards! He is so handsome.

Not much has happened this year. Okay, that's a lie. A LOT has happened this year. In April, I received my Bachelor's Degree with a major in History and two minors in Clothing Construction and Creative Writing. Then, I cried for many moons because I missed school the second it was over. I got a job as a drive-thru teller in August at Beehive Federal Credit Union in Idaho Falls, and it was definitely meant to be. I have really enjoyed working there so far. It has been a huge blessing. 

Brian is still working at First Call Jewel in Idaho Falls, and we have enjoyed the 30-minute drive together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He has learned a lot there since he started over a year ago. He spent Tuesdays and Thursdays studying his little heart out at school while I was at work, and he passed his first semester at BYU-Idaho! YAY!! He likes it better up here than in Logan at Utah State.

We had an adventurous summer with a trip to St. George, Yellowstone, and a Skelton Family reunion. We also went to Huntsman's ranch in Driggs, Idaho for fireworks before the 4th of July, then we scored a spot with some friends by the river in Idaho Falls for fireworks on the 4th. We went to Mesa Falls twice, and many trips to the Rexburg temple. We got called as Sunbeam teachers in the Primary, and we have loved getting to know our 6 little 4-year old girls. We also put even more money into our silly car, and we bought our very first bed!

Today was Christmas Sunday. As I got dressed, I felt very nostalgic thinking about how my Mom used to make me a wonderful Christmas dress every year. So, in the spirit of new dresses for Christmas, I found this $6 beauty at D.I.:

 I find it entertaining that D.I. marked it as a large but the actual tag says it is a size 5/6.

No alterations required!

These are our very best Christmas smiles.

Brian got this tie on our honeymoon, and it's one of my favorites!

It's almost as good as my old dresses...and my Mom didn't have to put in one stitch or any all-nighters to finish it by Christmas! Thanks again, D.I.! And Mom, as always.

We already have some pretty big plans for the first of the year, but you'll have to wait until the end of January to hear our great news! It won't happen until then, but we've already started preparing for it, and we're really excited! It's not a baby.

Nora's Dress and a Wonderful Friday the 13th

Nora wanted a Christmas dress, so Rhonda and I went to Joanne Fabrics, and Rhonda picked out some fabric (I knew she would pick some sort of green!). Then she told me how she wanted it to look...

 And so I went like this:

 And this...

(Zippers are evil)

(Thanks Mom!)

And then it was all finished!

I hope she likes it!

We are pretty much besties...

Shout-out to my mustard tights, left-over mission skirt, 3-dollar gold shirt (with a really old tag), 2-dollar necklace, and 1-dollar, fabulous gold belt...

My "Friday the 13th" face:

and this is Brian singing along to Taylor Swift's "Love Story" on the way to work today...

Also, we have huge news that made today even better! However, I can pretty much guarantee it is not what you think it is...you will just have to wait for January!

Happy Friday!!

Too good to keep to myself

Every once in a while, D.I. offers me a gift that is too good to pass up…okay, that’s more often than not in my world. However, these two gems make me so happy, I couldn’t help but share! Once I tried on the dress, I knew we’d be good friends. Once I tried on the necklace, I knew we were a match made in heaven.

All the dress needed was a little TLC from my good friend Fray Check, and the hem needed to be let down because it was a little too short. Easy enough for pure happiness, a yummmmy color, and a PERFECT fit, right?!

Dress: $4 at D.I.

Necklace: $2.25 at D.I.

Grand Total: $6.25 (plus the boots I got for 50% off!)

I love all of it so much!!

Happy Birthday

I have a best friend. It was her 181st birthday yesterday. I celebrated by spending the whole day with my Mom. I didn’t get my friend a gift, though. She died at 56 years old on March 6, 1888. That was 125 years ago. She never got to know me, but I feel like I’ve know her for quite some time.

(2008)

“I am a loner”. This idea has been lurking in the dark cellars of my mind ever since I can remember. It has made friends with “I’m not pretty”, “everyone hates me”, and “I’m never getting married” (although that last one has recently been completely and gloriously obliterated). Growing up, it seemed like every time I made a “friend”, they would eventually tell me I wasn’t popular enough for the plans they had for their future, non-loner, wonderful lives. They had big, big plans. I guess that was my problem. I never planned that I wouldn’t be a loner. So I read. I read a lot. And books became my friends. Consequently, I believe this lack of plans has led to my absolute happiness.

Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable. - My Friend

Recently, the day marking five years since my Dad passed away came and went. No one called. No one texted. No one commented on my status on Facebook (because apparently that counts as having felt love now). I told Brian I was sad that I don’t have one girlfriend that, when thinking about a big moment in one of our lives, would call me.  No one thinks of me as the person that would be there for whatever they need –just to talk. I read a book about my friend that day, and I felt transported to a place where someone listened, and wanted to comfort and encourage me.

 I remember being happy every time I heard another one of my brothers was getting married. I was always excited to have another sister join the ranks of my sisterly-estrogen-lacking life. But those sisters already had sisters…real sisters. They had what I sometimes found myself lacking. Enter: my deep dark loner secret. Even my secret had friends. So, I found a wonderful sister and best friend in my Mom, and I read.

(Orchard House, 2008)

Then truth breaks in, with all of her matter-of-factness:

I actually do have friends (writers like to contradict themselves). Another fact: I am also a historian, and all of these friends I’m referring to are dead. This brings me back to the birthday girl.

Louisa May Alcott was born in a home full of love and hope and transcendentalist change. Her mother was a humble woman with a temper and an enormous capacity for love. Her father, although confidently referring to himself as “the Savior” on multiple occasions, was a man of deep thought and desire for purity. People viewed both of her parents as exactly what they were. They shunned Bronson, and in so doing, left Abigail lonely and all but forgotten. Louisa had her mother’s dark complexion and chestnut hair, and Bronson believed these features were signs of the devil. His fair skin and hair the color of lemons were, according to Bronson, what made up the character of the Gods.

(Orchard House, 2008)

The family was close to destitute until Louisa finally gained the praise of her father by writing the only book that the uneducated attribute to her name. Little Women was a success from the start, and little women everywhere have quickly made it a part of their growing up experiences. Timeless describes her well.  Most of her life was spent depressed and torn between the life she was told to live and the life she wanted to live. She suffered greatly, and she rejoiced superbly. She dedicated herself to the well-being of her family, and was the epitome of selflessness in all she did.

Over the past year, I have come to know this woman a little better than the first time I picked up Little Women, just because it was one of those books I wanted to have said I finished. Now, it has become so much more. Louisa is real to me. She is my friend, and has filled a void that no one else could. She is not just a character in history, or a name everybody “knows”.

You might think I’m crazy (especially those of you who know of my fascination with my other dead friends). But this is me. My friends are deeper than the spoken word. They are deeper than “friends” on facebook or “followers” on instagram. They are stories and music and feeling and reactions and mistakes and emotion. They are love and discovery and finding out who I really am.

Happy birthday to one of the best girlfriends a girl could ask for. See you on the other side.

Fifty

When I am fifty, I will miss twenty-five.

When I am fifty, I’m going to miss you being twenty-four.

I will miss riding to work together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; holding hands as you sing to me in your deep country “twang” voice. I’m going to miss the 30-minute drive to work from Rexburg to Idaho Falls and back home again. I’m going to miss working at Beehive Credit Union…hopefully I won’t still be working there. I will miss our vintage, deep red couch with the curved back that I love; the one we got for $20 and I’m sure won’t last another 20 years. I’m going to miss our cold apartment and telling you how freezing I am but refusing to turn on the heater because it’s too expensive. When I am fifty, I am going to miss my wounded laptop collecting dust in the corner. The one that doesn’t work anymore as a result of you stepping on it with your steel-toed boots because you were so excited about the gift I got you for our first anniversary. You didn’t see it on the floor, and I cried. I’m going to miss finding fire-engine-red hairs hidden in your scattered-black beard and getting giddy because my chances of having a red-headed baby just went up.

I’m going to miss the days it was just us...hopefully we will have company by the time we are fifty. I will miss being naive and not knowing what the next 20 years will bring. I’m going to miss having to empty our savings account just to pay our $600 rent (when it goes up from $590 in January)…hopefully we won’t have to do that anymore when we’re fifty. I’m going to miss the red blinking light on our sea-foam green Nissan Altima flashing constantly whenever the car is on. When we’re fifty, I’m going to miss your hair-less back and the dark hair on your head. When I am fifty, I will miss you getting so angry when one of our neighbors takes our parking spot, and we have to park a whopping five feet away in the “handicapped” space. When we are fifty, I’m going to miss you laughing harder than I’ve ever seen you laugh because I’m trying to talk with my retainer in, and apparently it’s hilarious.

When I am fifty, I’m going to miss our bed frame that seems to break every time you sit down on the edge of it to put your boots on…or take them off…and then you cursing at the bed because one of the legs snapped again…hopefully we have a different bed by then. I will miss you coming through the drive-thru at Beehive and surprising me into an elated smile because you thought I could use a pick up for the day. I will miss teaching Sunbeams with you, and getting sad every time we think about losing our six little four-year-old girls at the beginning of the year. 

I’m going to miss our T.V. ghost that keeps messing with our volume, and I’m going to miss my back only hurting this much, instead of how much I’m anticipating it to hurt when I am fifty. I’m going to miss being able to put my socks on so easily. I’m going to miss you being immature…hopefully you’re not so immature when we’re fifty. I will miss you jabbing your open palm into the dashboard of the car as hard as you can to get the broken dial lights to turn on. I’m going to miss getting into disagreements over baby names. I will miss you yelling at the screen of your laptop as you logically explain to your inanimate math problem that its very existence doesn’t make any sense; and you talking to no one in particular as you try to work it out with your hands in the air-making noises that come from I don’t even know where…hopefully you’re not still in school when we’re fifty. I’m going to miss giving you that look when you’re angry. The one that forces your mouth to curve upward involuntarily, despite your best efforts to stay grumpy.

Hopefully I’m still writing when we’re fifty, and hopefully you’ve started to write. Hopefully after I’ve pestered you enough, you’ve written down something for us to remember, and for our children to enjoy. Hopefully we still know how to have fun and make each other laugh. Hopefully we’ve figured out how to keep the flame burning, and hopefully our kids are grossed out every time we kiss. Hopefully, we’re even more filled with hope and love for all of our blessings that have come into our lives.

When we are fifty, I will still love you. Don’t worry- when we’re fifty, our lives won’t let us miss being twenty-five.

Primary, Break-ups, and Deathly Canyons

This is a long one, folks. I have a lot of built-up writing energy after the break up. I totally understand if only those of you who really care, read.

Primary: “First or highest in rank, quality, or importance; principal.” That is the very first definition I found for the word. I love it. Last week, Brian and I received our very first assignment as Primary substitutes...even before we had been set apart! Our ward is really on the ball. So much better than a married student ward!...For us. We received the calling our very first full week at the new ward. Impressive. Anyway- back to last week! Brian and I read over the lesson and prepared for it the best we could. We were nervous. It was a really odd feeling to be preparing a lesson with him. This is something that each of us did countless times on the mission...with other people. With our missionary companions. This was so different. I realized as we were discussing the lesson, that even though I had seen him teach before, we had never had that connection as a teacher-companionship. It made the experience all the more special for me.

As we entered our classroom of the week, there was one young man lying across all 5 chairs. We introduced ourselves, sat down, and waited for the rest of the 11-year-old scholars...who never showed. So, we altered our lesson as we went, especially for Kelton. Nothing went as planned, and that’s how I know it was perfect. Brian and I still have some work to do before we can finish each other’s sentences, but we're working on it. As we got up to leave, Brian said, “We still have a whole other hour of this.” I couldn't help but think that he would love the next part even more! I knew I would! 

Sharing time was great. We learned a new song that touched my heart (found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foKlppGj48A). Sorry, I don’t know how to do those fancy link thingies. Brian was mesmerized by a magic trick that one of the counselors did, and I was loving life. I felt closer to Brian, I felt like the spirit was crazy strong, and I knew in my heart that Brian had changed his mind and heart about this new calling. It turns out, I was wrong and Brian didn’t like it as much as I did. We got set apart yesterday after church, and it was just what I needed. I am sure I’m the only one who remembers anything that was said, but it was special. Hopefully Brian isn’t miserable for too much longer.

Ever since graduating in April, life has been pretty hard. I loved school. For all the times that I complained about my teachers and the meaningless “busy work” they assigned, I loved it. My relationship with school was my longest romantic relationship I’ve ever had. The only break I took from school was an 18-month journey that was even better than college, so no problem there. And I always had school to come back to. It was there for me whenever I asked…and also when I didn’t. I was always excited to finish, because I figured that I would be married and could start a family after I got my degree, or even before. Plans change. Life gets scary. And expensive. And unknown. How come I didn’t realize how good I had it when I was 8? Sometimes I’d like to go back there. Talk to my Dad. Learn more from Mom. Now I find myself sitting on the couch watching T.V. for most of the morning, and not even getting dressed until an hour before Brian gets home- just so he won’t think I’m a complete bum. Anyway- needless to say, this break up has been the hardest break up of my life. That’s just a taste of my new sulky disposition, though. When Brian registered a couple weeks ago, I cried myself to sleep that night. When my mom told me that one of my brothers is planning on going back to school, I burst into tears in the car with Brian at the stop sign next to the library. That’s right; I even remember my exact location. How pathetic am I? Bad, bad, bad break up.

John Huntsman has some change to spare. Brian and I went up to Driggs, Idaho for the biggest fireworks show in The West…or something like that. Huntsman owns a ranch up there, and it was HUGE! We found the cheapest thing to eat (that also sounded delish!), and we ate our Mexican elote (not as good when gringos make it) inside of a plastic colon, next to an artificial growth of some kind. Good times. That was the only exciting part except for the fireworks. The rest was really boring. We were there mostly for the fireworks, and they didn’t start until 10:00 pm. We got there around 4:00. At least I was out of the house (: It was a gorgeous drive on the way up. On the way back though…not so gorgeous. I’m sure it is when it’s not 1 in the morning, though. Once the fireworks ended, Brian and I booked it to the car. We were one of the first ones out of the parking lot! An hour later, Brian had snapped after I gave him a lecture on patience and Jesus, and we weren’t talking. As we came out of the parking lot, the po-po wouldn’t let us turn the way we had come, so we had to turn the opposite way and flip around to get in a mile-long car line. That line didn’t move for the next hour. Thus the lecture on Jesus’s patience (: It didn’t work. We ended up making a 15-point turn (exaggeration alert) and heading the opposite way. We had no idea where we were going. And we were hungry and grumpy. About 2 hours, one national forest, and one dark, twisty, plunge-to-your-death-canyon later, we were home. And alive. Oh, and talking again, haha.

I really hope this post has been entertaining to someone besides my Mom. No offense, Mom…it’s just that I know you’ll read this because you love me so much. Not everyone reads out of love. Most people don’t, actually.

Metaphorical Breast Pads

When we were dating, one day in the car (we spent a lot of time in the car), Brian and I were talking about anniversaries and flowers...or something. I told him that the day would come when instead of flowers, I would want breast pads. Well...an explanation then followed concerning what breast pads were, why I would need them, and when I would want them. It was all metaphorical, of course. My point was that in the place of flowers that would wilt and die, I would greatly appreciate it if he listened to the things I say, and got me something even more thoughtful that I would actually use.

Yesterday, I received my first metaphorical breast pads! I've been working on changing my/our unhealthy habits lately, and part of that change has brought a desire to try almond and coconut flour for my baking purposes instead of white flour that is severely bleached and refined, to the point of it not being food anymore. That's a different rant, though. Yesterday, Brian ran to Winco for some milk, and he brought me back some almond flour AND coconut flour- a whole pound each! I love it when he surprises me like that...listening to what I say and all. (; It made me happy. The funny part is the reason he went to Winco in the first place: to buy some bleached, refined bread to make sandwiches. Haha one step at a time, right?

Super random picture: