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...