I've Graduated?!

I guess it's official- I am now a college graduate! It still sounds weird to me- it really hasn't hit me yet but even still, I have so many conflicting emotions about it I don't know where to start! I'm SO very happy that I will no longer have to stress over 3 tests in one week or come home at the end of a long day just to start on a big pile of homework. Although I will miss going to class, I'm pretty excited to be done with school! On the other hand, I'm very sad that I will never walk around BYU campus the same way again. I'll never again be in the college student category and am automatically booted into the "real world" which is pretty scary in itself. Today is also my last day at my campus job and it has been a GREAT job while I've been at college but I'm ready to move on. Unfortunately I don't know what I'm moving on to and so I'm terrified. I'm also sad because I know that I will briefly keep in touch with my old roommates and friends but that it will never be the same again because I have officially moved on to another stage. I'm glad that Richard is done and that we graduated at the same time but I'm sad that he has another 6 years left! I'm happy to be starting new adventures but frustrated that I can't see what is in store. This probably doesn't make any sense, but I guess more than anything I needed to TRY (try being the key word here) to put down some of all the crazy emotions that are going on inside of me. What's a girl to think?! Are you sure this indecisive girl really graduated from college?!?

OUCH!!!

Sunday night, after coming home from a family dinner, I was unlocking the front door of our house when all of the sudden I heard a scream of pain and turned around to see Richard crouching on the floor holding his head (I don't know how else to describe it but I have to defend him and tell you that he wasn't being a baby, he took it in a very manly way) :). I had NO idea what happened but hurried and got him into the house and on the couch. Come to find out, he hit his head on the jagged cement overhang that is above the steps leading down to our door (we live in the basement of a house). I had no doubt that his head would be hurting pretty bad but as I checked to see if I could find any bumps or scrapes, I came across this:

Poor kid was bleeding a bunch even though it's not a very deep cut. I looked harder and also found another scrape on the other side of his head that wasn't as big:

I don't know how well you can see it but it's amazing he didn't have a concussion!!! He whacked it pretty good but luckily he's ok even though he did have a big headache last night!

Temple Square

Sat night we drove up to have a delicious spaghetti dinner with Scott and Jen and then took Trax downtown to see the lights. It was fun to be with the DuVall clan and very fun to see the lights actually on Temple Square, unlike the last time we came up. The poor little girls looked freezing even though they were bundled up tight but I think they still liked seeing all the pretty lights. We took a bunch of pictures but we didn't realize until after we got home that we never took a picture of all of us together!! Ha ha. We went back to their house after and had hot chocolate and dessert and kept them up way later then I'm sure they wanted to, but we loved talking to them! It was a great night for us so thanks Scott and Jen for feeding us dinner, walking around Temple Square with us, letting us talk your ear off, and for staying up late!

First Interview

My first interview has come at the perfect time. Monday I went to look into a job at NuSkin that I heard had opened up only to be told that they had just filled it. For some reason, as I walked out of that enormous building, it really hit me that next week, Richard and I both won't have jobs!!! At the EXACT moment I started freaking out and was about near tears, a miracle occurred. My phone rang! The lady on the other end asked me if I was still interested in the receptionist job I had sent in an application for a few weeks earlier. We set up an interview for today (Wednesday) and I was ecstatic! I know that it was a huge blessing from my Heavenly Father to have her call right then as I was having a minor meltdown. The funny part is that, at the time, I had NO idea what company it was for. The website where I found their listing did not list a company name like the others did. I kept joking that it was probably for a sewage company or something and that's why they didn't want to list their name. Richard and I drove to the building last night to see if we could figure out what company it was for (which is SO close to our house that I could even walk there if I needed to!). The building has many different offices in it and since I had left the paper at home with the address, I couldn't remember if it was Suite 102 or 201. We looked up both of them and saw that 102 was for University Properties but my heart immediately sank when I saw that 201 was Pointe Pest Control! I had myself convinced that I would end up working for a Pest Control company until we got home and I saw that my interview was for Suite 102!! I could not have been happier!!! I drove Richard nuts as I said over and over again, I don't have to work for Pest Control! I don't have to work for Pest Control!!! My interview is at 1:00 today so wish me luck!!!

Starting Christmas

We have been getting into the Christmas spirit this week and it has been a ton of fun. I definitely needed that boost to make me feel like Christmas is really here!

Wednesday= We went and wrapped presents for the 80 families that are being helped by the Flash Family Foundation. All of the Flash players came after we had been there for about an hour but I don't think they were very enthusiastic about being there... after they had a few pics taken, they would be on their cell phones or by the food. The Flash owner was very nice and seemed like a good guy. It was fun to help make someone else's Christmas better by wrapping presents that they otherwise would not have gotten.

Thursday= We wanted to see the lights on Temple Square with our friends. However, we decided to see the Joseph Smith movie instead and by the time that was done we only had ten mins before they turned all the lights off. Here is one of the few pics we were able to get with the lights on.

Friday= We went to our ward Christmas party. We ran out of food and only had 5 talents in our talent show but it was still pretty fun. And it was a much better turnout than the Halloween party so that's a good sign. It was good to get to know more members of our ward.

Sunday= Our ward had the Christmas program this morning and Richard and I both sang in the ward choir and I also read something about feeling the Lord's love. After church we went to the Awerkamp's for a Shepherd's Feast. We ate "shepherd's food" (like pita bread, hummus, raisins, etc), read part of the nativity story, had all of the kids dress up like shepherds, and sang Christmas carols together. We were also able to meet Esther who Scott had baptized in India. She's here trying to get into the Marriott School of Business and we were glad we got to meet her!

I love this Christmas season but it's hard to enjoy it when you are stressed about finals. Luckily this last week has helped me to focus on the fun side of Christmas instead of all the stress that sometimes comes with it!

Gingerbread House

Last night for FHE Richard and I decided to make a gingerbread house. We are pretty inexperienced but still managed to make a pretty decent two story house that stayed standing up! It was a lot of fun and even though our gingerbread house isn't the best looking... it's still a cute little house! Here's a few pics of the fun we had:

Setting up the walls of the house

Frosting the house

Putting the final touches on the house

Enjoying the final product

Job Hunting

I have now started the dreaded job hunt since I will be graduating in three weeks!!!! Since I can't do the job I want to do right now (long story) I am just looking for any job, especially a receptionist type job. Richard is also looking for a job that will be willing to hire him for only 9 months and still pays decently. If anyone hears of a good job opening (or even a mediocre one) in Utah County, please let us know! We would really appreciate it. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get good jobs in this crazy economy!

Fiesta Navideña

Monday night we had a very unique and fun FHE. Richard volunteered to help with Fiesta Navideña (basically a Christmas party for Latin families to feel part of the community) which they were having at the Provo Library. I relunctantly went with him (because usually when I go to Spanish things I end up just sitting there while everyone else talks in Spanish...) but I ended up having a ton of fun. It isn't just targeted at Spanish families, like I thought. They have everything in Spanish and English and a lot of fun activities for families. We first helped out at the fishing wall and it was really exciting to see how happy the kids were when they caught a prize. Then we had some time before we needed to help out again so we were able to go into the ballroom and watch a bunch of dances from countries all over the world. They were mostly performed by little kids- they were adorable to watch! The last activity was a magician. We thought we were just going to help usher people into the auditorium but just before the show someone asked us if one of us spoke Spanish and took Richard up to the stage to interpret for Mago Lui. The magician would speak English and Spanish for almost everything but when he told them a long story he would have Richard interpret for him. Richard had so much fun interpreting and it was cute to watch him interact with the little kids. The magician wasn't amazing, but it was a nice show for kids to go to. We were very glad we were able to help and ended up having a great time!

We didn't have our camera at the Fiesta but here
we are in our volunteer T-shirts at home

Today I am Thankful

Since we had Thanksgiving this last week, I have been trying to focus on things that I am the most grateful for. Today I am especially thankful for one sister who was so kind to Richard and I this last week. Wednesday night we were out running errands and when we returned we saw two big boxes in front of our door. I read the note that was attached to it and immediately teared up as I saw that these two boxes packed with food (as well as a cute Nativity set) was from my sweet sister. She has definitely always taken care of me (as well as my other siblings) but this was especially touching to me as I have been worried about food storage and spending a lot of money on food. She said part of why she gave all of this to me was to repay me for something I had done a long time ago that at the time seemed very simple but she has never forgotten about it. She is such a great example and Richard and I vowed to try to become more like her and never forget the kind acts people do for us. We are so thankful for a thoughtful, loving sister who gave us more for the holidays than just needed food. Thank you so much for thinking of us, we love you!

Homemade Rolls

Believe it or not, I am not a great cook, although Richard would kindly disagree. I am slowly learning and getting better but I think Richard's family has this false notion that I can cook really well because they include me in all of the food assignments along with everyone else. Richard says they must assume I can cook because he keeps gaining weight :) While I'm grateful they think I can handle myself in the kitchen, I feel bad for them when I show up with food that is mediocre. My assignment for Thanksgiving was rolls. A few weeks ago we had an Enrichment where we learned to make our own Thanksgiving dinner and were given a recipe for some fantastic homemade rolls. I decided I would be brave and try them out for Thanksgiving and they turned out GREAT! They definitely didn't look perfect but they were so delicious I ate 7 of them! (Don't worry, they were small) Every time I cook something that tastes really well , it gives me the confidence to try something else. One baby step at a time! I was very proud of myself that I had made something well that I was afraid to try. Who knows what I'll try next?!

SHOES!!

As all of you know, I have never really been into fashion. Usually it takes me a long time to warm up to a trend and then by the time I get into it, it's over with and a new trend has taken over. I have fought against the whole tuck your pants into your boots trend for a long time because I didn't like it. But after 3 1/2 years of trekking across campus in the snow and getting my pants soaking wet, I was ready to get some boots whether I like it or not. We took a bunch of full-body pictures but I didn't like any of them :) So this is all you get of my new boots:

The boots fit me, but I'm still not sure I fit the boots. But I know I will love them when it actually starts to snow!

I also needed new black Sunday shoes. Being the sensible person I am, I was hoping to find some semi-practical ones that were still cute so I could have them for a long time and be able to chase around my kids in them. I've never loved practical shoes though and so when I saw these I couldn't resist:

The picture is bad and you can't really tell, but they're kind of tall and not very practical. They are pinstriped and have a little buckle across the front. But I couldn't help myself! I love them and am really excited about them! REALLY excited! I guess my kids will have to be slower or I'll just always send Richard after them at church :)

I Have Been Blessed

We have had 2 very big blessings in our life recently that I feel I should talk about.

#1:
Richard's dad scared us pretty bad with a serious heart attack about a week ago. We didn't know how serious it was until they told us that usually this kind of heart attack has a 95% fatality rate and he was VERY lucky to survive it. Not only did he survive but he is doing VERY well and is slowly recovering. The doctors said that they are fairly certain that he will have a 100% recovery. We're continuing to pray for his recovery and know that Heavenly Father will take care of him, whatever the outcome

#2:
A few of Richard's students have raved about how good of a teacher Richard is. One of these students has some influence on campus and talked to the Spanish Dept about him, saying that he is the best teacher he's ever had. The Director came and talked to Richard and basically unofficially accepted him into the grad program at BYU. This has been an amazing blessing since we have been so worried about where to go. We still don't know if we'll stay at BYU but at least we know the option is there!

These are just a few of the amazing blessings that have come into our lives recently. We have been so very blessed and I'm grateful for all that my Heavenly Father, and so many others, have done for us!

Sad Commentary on our Times

This semester I'm taking a family recreation class, which is a lot of fun. The book we just finished reading is called Intentional Families. As you probably know, entropy in science basically means that if something is left alone, it will eventually disintegrate to it's most fundamental parts. The author argues that if families are left alone and not continually worked on, they will also give in to entropy until there is nothing left. They have found that the best way to prevent entropy in the marriage relationship is 15 mins of GOOD communication daily. This means 15 mins without the tv or other distractions, and talking about your day, your feelings, and your worries and joys without just listing off things that need to be done around the house or problems with the kids. Unfortunately, my teacher said that the majority of couples (meaning 75% or higher) don't do this!!! It only take 15 mins and yet we can't find that time in the day to work on our relationship because there are too many other things going on. That made me so sad to hear that statistic but I guess it is one good way to explain why divorce is so common these days. If we're not willing to have a worthwhile chat with our spouse for only 15 mins a day, what could possibly be left of the relationship? This has just been on my mind since I heard that, so I thought I would share this with you and encourage you to make the most time for your family and know that there is truly nothing more important!

6 Month Celebration

Richard really went out of his way to make our 6-month anniversary special. Some might think this is silly but I think it's important to always celebrate your marriage and all of the things that come with it. He started the day off great by getting up early to make me breakfast

Then he surprised me by the cute blog you can see below. (and to tell you the truth, that was probably my favorite thing he did because I NEVER expected that!) When he got home from school he presented me with a beautiful bouquet of roses and my favorite treat (a chocolate orange).

Then I took him out to dinner at Los Hermanos (which we were both pretty unimpressed with) and then we went and saw Wall-E at the dollar theater which was much better than expected. We also played a lot of fun games and avoided doing as much homework as possible. It was an amazing day, mostly because of all the work of my wonderful husband!!

6 Months

Kelli keeps telling me (Richard) that this is our blog but I just barely figured out how to write blogs. This is a new experience for me and i must admit that it is kind of weird to write my thoughts to the world not knowing who will read it , but I know that Kelli will read this so I want to dedicate my first blog to her.
Today is our 6 month mark. The last six months have been amazing. We have done some fun and interesting things. In the last six months we have been to Hawaii, moved twice, had missionary experiences, been sick a countless number of times, been stressed out of our minds with the fridge and the house, had wonderful experiences in the temple and church, watched way to many movies, gone on hundreds of walks, played sports in the park, and done many other fun things. I am happier than I ever thought I could be. This last few weeks especially, i have felt her strength and support as we have been through family emergencies and the illnesses that we have shared. I know that Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with such an amazing wife that loves and supports me as much as she does. Yes, after six months I can still say that I am the luckiest and happiest man in the world!

Diagnosis

Well, the results are finally in and the doctor confirmed that Richard does have infectious mononucleosis, AKA mono. His left tonsil was still very swollen after being on antibiotics for 10 days and so he went back into the doctor today. Poor guy is just always sick!!!

Prop 8

This year I waited too long to register and missed my chance to vote. Because the Brethern have specifically asked us to vote and show our support of the government, I felt pretty guilty about not voting. But Provo had a huge Yes on Prop 8 campaign going and I figured that if I helped with that, I would at least be doing SOME good for the government and following the advice that the Prophet has given us. So for FHE on Monday night, Richard and I headed over to the call center to try and sway some people to preserve the sanctity of marriage. I was sad when we found out we couldn't call because we weren't from California but we were able to help in other ways. It was really fun to see how many people came to show their support and try their best to convince others of the true definition of marriage. It felt really good to get involved and hopefully we did some good! Something I really should do more often...

Ghetto-Ville

Our landlord is trying to fix up the apartment so he can sell the place. Lately, he's been replacing all the old, rotting windows, with beautiful new ones. However, I think he forgot one minor detail about the window in the bathroom.... it's completely transparent!!!!! When we mentioned this to him, his solution was for us to go by some kind of paper to put up so that nobody could see through (I think he said onion paper, does that sound right?) However, we still had to shower before we could get to the store and ended up nailing a towel to the window to cover the view of our shower up. Could we be anymore ghetto!!! Ha ha. I constantly have this fear that there is a hole in the towel that I didn't notice or that a random burst of wind will fling the towel up in the air, exposing me to the world. We really don't want to go track down and buy this paper he was talking about, but it would be nice to not have a towel being the only thing keeping me from being embarrassed and shocking some innocent person walking down the street. Any ideas?

Punkin Carvin'

Monday night we decided to carve our awesome white pumpkin that Katie grew for us. I don't really like the actual carving part (mostly because I'm so bad at it!) but I love scooping out the guts! Richard doesn't like having the nasty goop on his hands but he likes carving so we make a great team. It was SO thick it was hard to cut through but the challenge just made it more fun!

Here's me doing my favorite part:

And here's Richard final product:

It made a very fun FHE and I highly recommend that if you haven't carved a pumpkin yet this year, go out and do it!

Halloween, Doctors, and Family Time

The weekend started out being really great for us. Friday night we went to our ward Halloween party. I'm glad we went because hardly anyone was there! I felt really bad for those who had put a lot of work into it. It was a pretty lame party, but we did meet a lot of nice people! After the party we went to watch Bella at BYU's International Cinema. It was SUCH a great movie and I highly recommend it.

Richard got my cold a week or two ago but has been feeling slightly better lately. However, Saturday morning, he woke up with a very sore throat and we could see a bunch of nasty white stuff on one of his tonsils (ha ha, good description, huh?). We took him in to be tested for strep (and spent about 2 hours between the doctor's office and the pharmacy trying to get him taken care of) but it came back negative (although they told us those quick tests are only about 70% accurate). They put him on antibiotics and told him that if he doesn't feel better in a few days, it could be mono. Wonderful... It was a gorgeous day outside and I got a good run in but poor Richard had to spend the day resting. I ran around trying to take care of him, clean as much of the house as I could, and finish a TON of homework that has caught up with me.

Sunday Richard was feeling even worse but still went to Church and we had a GREAT sacrament meeting. That night we had our monthly FHE with my family at Grandma and Grandpa DuVall's house. My Aunt Rita taught a lesson on forgiveness and really started me thinking about some things I need to be changing in my life. My cute Grandma had put together a scavenger hunt for Halloween items around her house and then Scott provided some yummy cookies for dessert.

Even though I can't say the same for Richard, it was a great weekend for me!!

My Testimony

The other day I received a comment on one of my posts from someone I did not know. This person asked me if I have ever thought that the Mormon Church might not be true. I guess my first reaction was that I was insulted that he was insinuating that I had ignorantly followed this faith without ever finding out for myself that it was true. My next thought was that I felt sorry for this man who had, at one time, had the truth in his life and had chosen to leave it behind for something that he felt was better. If anything, reading about how his life is different now and the bad things that he has to say about the Mormons strengthened my testimony instead of shooting it down. It was so sad for me to see someone who was so lost and confused when he didn't have to be, and I'm grateful that I have so many things to point me in the right direction. But to this man who has lost his testimony and to everyone else who reads this- I want you to know that I KNOW that Christ lives and that he is the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today. I KNOW that my Heavenly Father loves me and is constantly watching over and protecting me and that His greatest desire is for me to be happy. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I'm very grateful I have those words in my life to help me to know what do. I KNOW that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God to bring forth this Gospel to bless all of us and I KNOW that Pres. Monson is a true Prophet of God and that he is speaking for God to all of His children and that if we listen to his counsel, we will be blessed. I KNOW that Christ's Atonement was for ME and for all of us and I am so grateful for that selfless gift that was given so that we could return to our loving Father. I KNOW that I have struggled and searched and found my own testimony and that nobody will be able to convince me otherwise. I have a testimony of my Heavenly Father and I would never go back on that after He has blessed me with so much. I love having the Gospel in my life and I don't know how I would get through a marriage, get through school, get through hard times, or get through ANYTHING without it!!! And I say that in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

"Fun" New Calling

I love playing the piano! I didn't always, but now that I have the skills and don't have to practice, it is a lot of fun and very relaxing. However, I have a really hard time playing it for other people. So, I guess Heavenly Father decided that I needed to get outside my comfort zone a little bit because I was called to be the ward pianist. It's interesting how teaching doesn't scare me at all, like it would a lot of people, but playing the piano in front of people does. It even took me a while to be able to play the piano in front of Richard! However, I have not been able to play the piano in a long time so I am really excited to be able to practice for my calling and fine-tune my skills that have become rusty. And at least they didn't ask me to play the organ! :) Even though I had to be convinced by Richard that I COULD do this calling, I am grateful that I finally do have a calling in the ward. The Church is true and I love it! Wish me luck in my new calling.

Cute Hubby

I don't mean this in a bad way at all, but Richard is normally not super romantic. Which is good for me because I'm not a romantic person either and I am pretty awkward in romantic situations anyway! (You should have seen me when Richard proposed!! Ha ha). But one thing that he has always been really cute about is bringing me flowers when I am down. On Sunday I wasn't having a very good day and Monday he surprised me by bringing this gorgeous bouquet home to let me know that he loves me. I am so lucky to have an amazing, thoughtful husband!!!

P.S. Richard wanted to let me know that apparently I had misinterpreted the intent of the flowers. It wasn't because I had a bad day, he just saw them and thought of me and wanted to get them for me to make me happy. Even cuter!!! Thanks babe, they are gorgeous and I love them!

Nano's Baptism

Last Saturday my oldest nephew, Nathanael, was baptized!!! It seems so weird that he is that old! I remember when he was born (I was 13) and how the family had to practically fight each other over who would get to hold him because he was the first grandkid and we all loved him so much. He is such a good kid and I'm proud of the decision he made to be baptized. I haven't been to a baptism for a really long time and it was cute to see how big the smile was on his face the WHOLE time and how much he trusted and looked up to his dad who was able to baptize him. After, we went to the Awerkamp house to eat dinner and chat with the family. It's amazing how your attitude switches from wanting to be with friends all the time in high school to loving every minute you get to spend with your family as you get older. I wish I could see them more often!!!! (sorry for the little tangent there) Congrats on your baptism, Nano, I love you!

Born to teach

This last week, Richard was observed by another professor to see how he's doing in his teaching. And, of course, he got an amazing review!!! The only criticism she had for him was that he needed to have the students repeat words more than once when they studied vocabulary, but other than that she had nothing but good things to say about him. She told him that she noticed a great relationship between him and his students and a couple of them even went up to her and told her that they love having him as a teacher! Then she told him that most of those things can't be taught and that some people are just born to teach! I have been to his class twice and KNOW that what she said was true, Richard is just naturally a great teacher. And I am SO proud of him!!!!!!!!!

The Sick Life

There are many reasons I hate being sick, as I'm sure many of you can relate. But one of the biggest reasons is because I feel like I waste so much time!!! Yesterday I felt so sick when I was done with work that I came home, popped in a Saved by the Bell DVD and watched my favorite tv show for over 5 hours!! I went to bed early that night and missed my class this morning, which means I slept for about 12 hours straight. While there is part of me that loves being able to shirk all of my responsibilities to waste my life on the couch, it does get old pretty fast. On the bright side, I usually only get really sick during Christmas or Thanksgiving break so I guess I should enjoy the fact that I'm sick this time without missing out on all the holiday fun!

Mission Woes

Ever since high school, I have wanted to go on a mission. In fact, I was pretty determined that I was going on a mission and wouldn't get married for a while. I guess the Lord had other plans in mind for me... When I would see my guy friends leave soon after high school, I was happy for them and couldn't wait for the day when I would serve as well. Now that all the girls my age are old enough to go on a mission, I get really jealous that they get to have these wonderful experiences that I will miss out on until I'm too old to learn a new language, too weak to walk all over new cities (or countries), and lose the confidence that I can do anything. However, I am very happy for my friends who will get that chance! Two of my old roommates will be in the MTC this month and are so excited to leave! Since Mandy will be going into the MTC this Wed, we tried to get a group of friends together on Friday night to be with her one last time before she leaves. It was a BLAST to be with some of my friends again and remember the good times we have had. Even Halee came up from the Weber to be with us! We mostly just talked, but also ate a bunch of junk food and played Boxers or Briefs, which is a really fun game. I love moving on and starting new adventures but I also really miss being with my girls. Good luck Mandy, you will be an amazing missionary!

NIGHTMARES

Here is a new blog (finally!) that will hopefully satisfy Kristi's need to constantly read about my life :) It's hard to think of things to write about when all I do is homework!! I hope this one doesn't creep you out too much...

There have only been two dreams in my life that have seemed so real to me that I couldn't remember what was real and what I had dreamed when I woke up (One was about my wedding day and the other was about a crazy murderer who had a crush on Richard). Last night it happened again with quite possibly the scariest dream I have ever had. I dreamed that there was a really creepy guy in one of my classes that nobody liked. I felt bad for him so I tried to be nice to him but he was kinda crazy and became obsessed with me and started stalking me. One night, he broke into my house, grabbed me, and pinned me down on the floor. I kept trying to slap him but every time I tried to slap him really hard, it would just barely touch his face and he would just laugh, while I just kept getting frustrated. He forced me to "cuddle" with him on the floor and the last thing I remember is trying so hard to scratch his face, particularly his eye, and it wasn't doing anything and he was just laughing like crazy because he enjoyed that I was so feisty. It was SO CREEPY!!!!! I woke up dripping with sweat and breathing really hard. In fact, my quick, short breaths woke Richard up and he thought something was wrong. It seemed so real to me that poor Richard had to hold me at 3:30 in the morning and tell me that it was ok and that he was there for me. I felt like a 5 year old, needing comfort from their mom or dad, but it was the only thing that would get me back to sleep! Does anyone know of a way to control your dreams to make them all happy?!

Blog Boredom

As you can probably tell, I get bored with my blog a lot. Mostly because I don't know how to make it cute, I just pick a template from the ones they have ready-made. Does anyone have good suggestions on how to spice up a blog?

Party Weekend

Ok, party weekend might be a slight exaggeration... but for us who usually have to fill our weekends with homework and errands, this was an unusual weekend and it was VERY fun. On Friday we had a double date with one of Richard's old mission companions and his wife. We went out to eat, went bowling at Fat Cat's, and played games at our apt. Sat morning I had no homework to do so it was very relaxing. I went down to T-Ville to have a "sister day" with Kristi and spent all day with her talking and playing with Logan. I never feel like I have enough sister time so this was a GREAT way to spend the whole day on Saturday. Logan did a lot of cute things that night, but the cutest was that he opened the car door for me every time we went out to the car. The first time, we thought he was trying to climb in the front seat but he opened the door and said, "Get in Reepy" (that's what he calls me). Kristi said he has never done that before and it was SO adorable!!! I have a very chivalrous two year old nephew! Richard went to the football game and had a guy's night out with his old roommates. Sunday night, our ward hosted a dinner for all the new members in the ward and we got to know a few very nice people. We definitely need to be more social in our ward. It's not as urgent to get to know people as it is in a single's ward! Then we went to Richard's dad's house for our weekly family dinner to end our fun weekend. It might not sound like a lot to those who have play dates every weekend but it was a wonderful break for us!

Missionary Experience

Last Sat, Richard and I decided to hike the Y (which is a miracle in itself because Richard swore he wouldn't hike the Y in college). We had a million things to do that day and couldn't decide if we should waste time going hiking or not, but finally decided we needed the break from all the homework and errands. We also left a little bit later than we had planned to but were excited to go hiking. After hiking for a few mins, we stopped at an overlook to look at the beautiful scenery. There was another man standing there and we just smiled at him and didn't think anything of it. All of the sudden he said, "great view isn't it?" We agreed and then he asked us, "So is that the school down there where all those Mormons go?" We smiled and said yes and he said, "you mean, ALL those people down there really believe in that stuff?!". He continued to tell us that he lives next door to a "stage president" (he didn't know it was actually stake president :) ) and that this stage president had told him about how we can one day becomes like gods. This really confused him because that made him think that we were a polytheistic religion and that we didn't believe in the same God as Christianity. In fact, he told us that our God must be less powerful than the "normal" Christian God because that God has always been: He created time and space and doesn't follow rules, unlike our God who was once a man. I was really impressed by the way Richard answered his questions and it gave me a good glimpse into the kind of missionary my husband must have been. At first I was quiet and just let Richard answer all of his questions but after a while I felt like I was really guided by the Spirit to say some things, like when he told us that the polygamists led by Warren Jeffs must be the "real Mormons" because they lived the same way that Brigham Young did. If I had answered alone, I probably would have explained that clearly he knew nothing about us or the FLDS church and should do some more research. However, the Spirit guided me to talk about the importance of a prophet for our times to guide us in how to live today instead of living the way Brigham Young did because he was the prophet for those times. I think he had been taught some things that were unrelated to what he needed to know, and others that were over his head spiritually, but he is a really good guy and sincerely wanted to find the truth. It was such a great discussion and I hope he went away with the assurance that we know without a doubt that this religion is true and that we love it with all of our hearts. It was an amazing experience to talk with him and another perfect way to strengthen my own testimony. Who says you can't have missionary experiences in Provo?!

Richard's Birthday

Richard's b-day ended up being a lot of fun! I woke up early and made him waffles to take him breakfast in bed. I planned on singing happy birthday to him to wake him up but he was OUT, so I had to shake him up a little bit to finally get him up and help him realize what was going on. Since we still had school the next day, we just went out to dinner and I gave him his present. The next day we went to the batting cages, threw the frisbee in the park, and played a bday game to decorate his cake. The game was supposed to be that we blindfold ourselves and frost the cake and write "happy bday" in icing. However, I tricked Richard and took my blindfold off as soon as we started so that my half of the cake was done nicely. He still gives me a hard time about it but I thought it was a fun game!!! Hopefully, even though we didn't do much, it was a great bday for my wonderful husband!

Bday dinner at Goodwood

Blowing out all 25 candles!

Hittin some balls at the batting cages

Decorating his cake blindfolded

Feliz Cumpleanos Ricardo!

It has been exactly one year since I said "I love you" for the first time to the man who I would later marry. And since then, life has just gotten better and better. I'm very grateful for Richard who means so much to me and has helped me through a LOT in the past year. He is always someone I can turn to for comfort, a listening ear, or just someone to play with and who makes me laugh constantly. He is my best friend and my everything- I love you Richard!! Happy 25th birthday!

New Nephew

Last night we went and saw our new nephew- Isaac Henricksen. He has a very serious little face but is SO cute. He was born right at home and the midwife didn't get there in time so he was delivered by his very own dad!! I'm sure Richard is glad I'm going to have all my babies at the hospital so he will never have to do that! Here is the newest and cutest addition to the Henricksen family:

The cutest little old man face I've ever seen!

I love new babies!

The whole family

Sleeping in Heaven?

I am not a big nap person. Mostly because I never wake up feeling better- I either have a headache or feel more tired. Yesterday Richard and I went to the park to read for a little bit before we went to the CES fireside (which was amazing by the way). We laid a blanket out in the shade and read for all of about two seconds before both of us were OUT. It was the perfect temperature and there was a slight breeze blowing as we slept. Both of us woke up an hour later feeling great and decided that that must be what sleeping in heaven will be like! If only sleeping at night felt this good....

School is now in session

I can't believe I am starting the last semester of my life! It will be a crazy semester with 18 credits total plus work every day, but somehow I hope to make it through. So far I'm predicting that I will like most of my classes but I am going to be BUSY. Here are the classes I am taking this semester:

Spanish 101/102= This will definitely be the most demanding class. I have it every day (which means homework every day) and since it is the accelerated version of every class we go VERY quickly and have to learn most of it on our own. Good thing I have an amazing tutor at home!

Family Recreation= This is going to be a very fun class. Every Friday is "play day" where we take turns bringing in ideas (and then actually doing them) of activities we can do with our families in the future

Missionary Prep= While my class is packed full of freshman boys, I think this class will be interesting and I will learn a lot. I wasn't planning on taking it but it was one of the only classes that would fit in my schedule.

LDS History from 1901- present= A lot of this class will be a repeat of the things I heard from my prophets class but I am excited for it anyway. We also get to read Pres Hinckley's biography which I wanted to do sometime anyway

And finally Residential Landscape Design= I know nothing about landscaping, but I like critiquing the way people set up their yards and I will learn a lot of useful things to use on my own house someday.

Anyway, that's the plan for this semester. If you don't see me around a lot- now you know why!!! But it will be worth it to graduate in December!

Fridge Troubles

There are a few things about our apt that I complained about for the first little while, but then was able to suck it up and start to love our little place. However, I can't say that this has happened with our fridge as of yet. When we first moved in, we had a VERY old fridge that didn't even have a freezer, just a tiny icebox that we couldn't fit very much in. Although that was inconvenient, it was hardly a reason for our landlord to get us a whole new fridge so we were trying to figure out another solution. Little did we know that the fridge would solve the problem for us....when it broke down. We started noticing that our drinks weren't very cold and any fruit we would buy would be bad in a few days. We tried to convince our landlord that it was broken, but he didn't believe us until we put a thermometer in the fridge and it showed the temperature as being 50 degrees! He bought us another fridge from a used appliance store and brought it over last Sat to switch out the old one. However, he hadn't noticed that someone had cut the plug off of the new fridge!!! He couldn't do anything about it that day so we had to wait the whole weekend to get our new one. Richard even drank some of the milk that had started to spoil and it made him sick all day Monday. Now we were mad because it was no longer an inconvenience, it was affecting our health! On Tuesday the landlord finally put in our new fridge and we thought our troubles were over. However, that night the fridge suddenly got very loud and then turned off completely. Once again, a ton of our food spoiled overnight and we had to throw away more of it. The landlord showed us the problem (the defrost timer was broken) and how to fix it temporarily (although we had to adjust it again this morning because the fridge wasn't on all night) but this is not going to fix the fridge permanently. I'll keep you all updated on what happens in the end, but for now we can't go buy any food that has to go in the fridge or freezer. So annoying!!!! I guess I should have been more grateful for the old fridge with the tiny freezer that at least kept our food cold!!!

Professor Henricksen!

This semester BYU gave a few undergrad students the opportunity to teach some lower level Spanish classes, which are usually taught by grad students. After a long wait and a mini heartattack (when they lost his application!), we finally have the good news that Richard will be one of those lucky few!!!! He has worked so hard in all of his classes and has always loved Spanish and this is just one of the many times that his hard work will pay off. He had to attend a conference this week to learn exactly what he needs to be doing and he will officially start teaching next Tuesday. Now I can say I'm married to a college professor and he hasn't even graduated yet! Congrats babe, I'm so proud of you!!!!

Moving Day

Saturday was the "big" move where we moved down four houses and across the street to another basement apt. It was so close we almost could have carried everything to the new place!!! We are SO sad to leave our old place, we were very spoiled by a huge apt that had everything we needed except a dishwasher. Our new apt is nowhere near as big, but it's a cute little apt. There are quite a few things that aren't ideal in our new place and it wasn't ready when it was supposed to be but we are trying to look at the positive and be grateful for what we have. And after a frustrating search for housing in Provo, we were extremely lucky to get a good apt, especially one as close to campus as we are. I have been sick this past week and still had no energy so Richard refused to let me carry any boxes. I had to save all my energy to clean our old place after we left! But we had quite a few family members over to help us out so the move went very fast. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us move!!! We still haven't finished setting up the entire house, but it's slowly coming along. It will have to wait until after Ed Week this week since I am working an average of about 13 hours a day!

Anniversary Inn

A while ago, Richard and I went to a VERY long, boring presentation for a timeshare that we knew we would never buy, especially right now. But we endured the presentation for three hours in order to receive a free night stay at the Anniversary Inn. Last Thursday we cashed in our prize and drove down to Sale Lake to stay in the Lighthouse Suite on 5th South. It was such a nice room and we loved being able to relax and forget about all the packing, cleaning, and moving that we needed to get done. We were even able to watch some of the Olympics which we were excited about since we don't have tv in our apt! Maybe some people would think that was a waste of a good room, but we just needed to rest from the crazy week we had been having and we loved every minute we spent there. We only wish it could have lasted longer!

Emergency!

Last night we had a minor scare with my neighbors who live upstairs. Richard and I had just gotten home from work and were trying to decide what to eat for dinner when we heard the 4 year old who lives upstairs suddenly WAILING. We instantly knew something bad at happened. Two seconds later the doorbell rang and a few hard knocks pounded on our door. Richard ran up the stairs and had a baby thrust into his arms so the frantic mother could attend to her little boy who had just split open his chin. The poor kid was riding his bike down the sidewalk in front of the house when his little brother decided to jump out in front of him. Being the good older brother that he is, he swerved to avoid him and the front tire of his bike went off the curb before he was ready for it, dumping him face first into the street. The worst part is that all of this happened while her husband was out of town! I slowly climbed the stairs to see if I could hear what was going on and heard my neighbor, Cheree, say, "I need to take William to the hospital..." I ran up the remainder of the stairs and tried to figure out what I could do to help. I took the baby from Richard so he could run downstairs to grab his shoes and the car keys. While the mother frantically searched for her purse and insurance card, I tried to calm both of her other kids while Richard held William's bloody chin shut. It wasn't a very big slice, but pretty deep and was bleeding a LOT. As we all rushed out the door, I noticed the oven was on and, trying to be a good neighbor, I turned it off, flipped off the lights, and locked the door. As soon as all the kids were loaded in the car Cheree said, "Ok I just need to grab my keys and we can go". I slowly said, "But I just locked the door..." The look on her face is one that I will never forget!!! She screamed, "YOU DID?!?!?!!!" and was trying hard not to cry. (She had good reason to be upset, I think she was a little bit in shock!) I don't think I have ever felt worse than I did at that moment. I was just trying to help!!! We were all preoccupied with trying to find a way into the locked house and failed to notice the poor kid in the front seat of the car, holding his chin dripping with blood and screaming for his mom. Poor little guy! Luckily Richard found a window that slid open easily and was able to crawl into their bedroom to unlock the door. However, just as Richard jumped through the window, Cheree looked down at her purse and realized that she had had her keys all along!!! I'm sure she'll look back and think it's funny later.... Anyway, Richard drove her car to the hospital while she held her little boy and calmed him down. We made it to the emergency room and we watched her other kids while they ushered William into a separate room until Cheree's parents arrived. William was able to get his scraped-up arm scanned and stitches in his chin. As we arrived home we noticed that there were drops of blood leading into the house, dotting the kitchen floor, and covering the chair he had sat in. We tried to clean it the best we could since we figured the last thing she needed to come home to was a mess of blood to remind her of the trauma she had just been through! Needless to say, he will be fine and it was a pretty crazy night for all of us!

Movie Night

Monday night, my old roommates invited me over to watch Step Up 2 with them. This is the first time since I've been married that I've really hung out with my friends and I was very excited to do it. It turned into a nice little party as people were constantly coming and going and a few people came that I hadn't seen for a very long time, which made it even more fun because I could get caught up with what's been going on. The movie didn't have a great plot but the dancing was amazing! It was so much fun to be with my old friends again and hear what has happened since I've been lost in my own little world (Especially catching up on all the boy drama I missed! It's SO nice to be married!). My favorite thing is to stay home with Richard but this made me realize that maybe I should get out more! :)

I always had really good times with them:

Dressing up to go sneak into our friend's apt

Going as X-Men to the Halloween dance last year

My favorite girls! (minus Halee and Mandy)