Dizzy Spell

A long time ago, I remember my sister telling me that she fainted one time when she went to do sealings at the temple. I remember feeling bad for her but also thinking, "wow that would be embarrassing!" I didn't quite get to the point of fainting, but I was close enough that I can now sympathize with her perfectly! I went to do sealings for the first time on Saturday night with Richard. We thought it would be a fun way to celebrate our one month anniversary that had happened earlier in the week. And it was fun... for the first half!! Then, half of our group was excuse for one reason or another and we started to participate in more and more sealings since there weren't as many people in the room. The room was SO hot and I felt myself getting more and more lightheaded. It probably didn't help that I hadn't eaten for a while either. Finally, our sealer said there were only four more sealings to do and he was going to try to do all four of them with Richard and I. The first one I started to get so hot and lightheaded that I wasn't sure I was going to make it through. The second one, Richard said he watched all the color drain from my face and he knew he was losing me. He gripped my hand extra tight and stared at me, willing me to not pass out. I tried to look up to catch his eye and couldn't see anything because my eyes had started to black out. Even before the sealer finished saying Amen, I jumped up on my feet, startling everyone else around me. My breathing was very quick and short and I was sure I was going to pass out. Richard ran to grab me and took me over to one of the chairs to sit down and rest. To my embarrassment, the sealer decided that was enough for the night and excused everyone else. He brought me a cold glass of water and some orange juice and allowed me to sit there for about 20 minutes until I felt better. I didn't completely faint, but that episode left me feeling pretty weak for the rest of the day!!!

PHEW!!!

I am so happy to announce that I am finally done with all the thank you cards I needed to write for both my birthday and the wedding. There were a million to do, but I wanted to get it all done before my one month anniversary and I did it with two days to spare. The only reason I was able to get them done that fast was because I have nothing to do all and was able to write them at work, and I'm so glad that I could! That is a big weight off my shoulders, even though it's something I wanted to do to show everyone how much I appreciated their kindness. Thanks everyone for all you did for us!!!

Smile List

My good friend Hal Pal mentioned that whenever she feels down, she makes a list of things that make her happy to try and chase away the blues. While I'm not necessarily down, it sounded like a great idea to try myself. So here we go!

Some of the things that make me smile:

1. My hubby!

2. The rainbow I saw on Monday that was the most beautiful one I've ever seen

3. Decorating my new apt

4. Changing my name to Henricksen

5. Running in the rain

6. Getting packages/letters in the mail

7. Reading my new set of Narnia books

8. Getting longer lunch breaks on Fridays

9. Having a clean house

10. Back massages

11. My family!

12. Watching Lord of the Rings for the first time

13. Reading other's blogs

14. Little kids who come steal candy from work every day after soccer camp

15. Walking to and from work with Richard every day

16. Hosting parties at my house

17. Getting money for returned wedding presents

18. Finishing Thank You cards

19. "Hey, what're you doing?!!?" (inside jokes)

20. Listening to Brian Regan at work

21. Logan saying things like "Ewww bugs" and Lily's big cheeks

Tender Mercies

Sunday was our first week in our new ward. I was excited to go because the ward we went to last week (which we thought was our ward) had been so welcoming and loving. I am ok meeting new people and being in new places if I have Richard there with me. However, as soon as Richard left to go to Priesthood and I started the slow walk towards Relief Society, I started to get really nervous. It's not that I can't meet new people, it's just that I'm usually terrified to start up the conversation! Luckily, Heavenly Father knows me so well that he sent an angel to take care of me during Relief Society. Her name is Diana Graham, she is at least 65 years old and my new best friend. She noticed me standing alone while we waited for the R.S. room to empty so we could go inside. She invited me in to come sit by her and proceeded to tell me everything I needed to know as if I had never been to church or lived in Provo before. She drew a map of all the streets I needed to know, including where the ward boundaries were, we chatted about how both of us are always cold in church and have to bring jackets even in the middle of the summer and she told me she was so excited to meet a fellow "sweater-wearer". She told me the best way to get involved in the ward activities and who I needed to call for visiting teaching. She put a big smile on my face when she said, "Here's my number, you can call me if you have any questions at all. We can even go to Enrichment together until you get your own circle of friends. But I hope we can be friends too!" She took such good care of me and I really needed that until I can force myself to get out of my shy shell again. After thanking her and getting up to leave I couldn't help but laugh as she shouted after me, "Stay warm!" This cute little old (er) lady will probably never know the huge impact she had on my first Sunday on my own and I will forever be grateful for her kindness!

The Good Ol' Days

I miss the good ol' days when Mom would baby me whenever I got really sick. I would get to stay home from school and lounge around on the big pillow chair while she would dote on me hand and foot. Whether it was good for me or not, she was always on hand with a milkshake or Jamba Juice to ease an aching throat and brought plenty of books and movies to make sure I was entertained. Nowadays when I'm sick, I wake up the same time as always, suck it up, and head off to work just like every other day. Don't get me wrong, Richard has been a great help and has been fixing all the meals and letting me relax while he patiently waits for me to get better. But it's just not the same as when my Mom would run to Blockbuster, make a stop at the library, and make a banana shake for me, all the while fluffing my pillow and checking my temperature twelve times a day.

Hawaiian Honeymoon

Hawaii was almost two weeks ago, but I still wanted to blog about it and just let everyone know how fantastic it was. It got off to a VERY rough start when I forgot my license (which had expired anyway so I needed two other forms of I.D. on top of the expired license), left my purse in the bathroom (luckily a good Samaritan turned it in), and had to throw away all my shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream, body wash, lotion, etc. before going through security (I forgot about the stupid 3 oz. rule). But the rest of the week couldn't have been better. We spent a lot of the time laying on the beach or staying in the awesome pool and two hottubs at our hotel and just enjoying being together. But we tried to go out and do something fun every day: Monday we got a massage to start the week off right and went to a Mai Tai party at our hotel (there were Mai Tai's and open bars EVERYWHERE. But don't worry, we didn't drink a drop!). Tuesday we went horseback riding on the beach, over lava rock, and up into the mountains for a gorgeous view. Wednesday we went to the Aquarium where we saw sharks, eels, sea turtles, and tons of fish. The next day was beach day and we played frisbee and football on the beach all day. That night, we went to an authentic Hawaiian luau, which wasn't as great as it was cracked up to be. But I guess it was all part of the experience. Friday was our favorite day because we went sailing. We went snorkeling off the boat and saw SO many sea turtles. One even swam right up to Richard! We saw a lot of fish and beautiful coral and even a nasty eel (I decided that eels are what I am the most afraid of now. They are so creepy!) The crew, food, and experience were all wonderful and we were very lucky to see so much. They caught two Mahi Mahi's on our trip, which they said had never happened before. In fact, they hadn't even caught one fish for over a month! Then, even though whale watching season is over, we saw a whale out in the distance and stopped to watch it flip it's tail at us a few times. We even saw a flying fish as we headed back to the shore. It was a great day. Saturday we had to check out of the hotel early and so just drove around for most of the day seeing the sights. We tried the Road to Hana and decided it wasn't worth it about 1/3 of the way through since I was fighting carsickness and Richard couldn't even talk to me because he had to concentrate so hard on the road! So we walked around Lahaina and went to Hard Rock Cafe before heading to the airport. On the way, we saw the most beautiful sunset we had seen in Hawaii. It was the perfect ending to an amazing week!!!

Wedding Day

Beautiful temple with brand-new husband and wife!

Sick of pictures yet?

My cute lil nephew, Logan

Well, if you can believe it, I am finally a married woman. I officially became Kelli Henricksen on May 10, 2008 in the Jordan River temple. The sealing ceremony was incredible and the Spirit was so strong. It was so wonderful to have my whole family there (except my dad who we missed very much!) and a lot of Richard's friends and family. The long day I was expecting actually FLEW by and we were off to enjoy our honeymoon before I knew it. Richard's parents took care of the luncheon and it turned out great. I debated whether or not I wanted to get up and say something since I felt so dumb in front of everyone. I finally decided that I really needed to and got up and mumbled my way through something pretty pitiful and then turned the time over to Richard. He was so sweet and talked about our first date and even got choked up a bit when he talked about how much he loved me and how special I am to him. I wish I would have been able to express my love to him in the same way but I never seem to be able to find the words. The reception flew by even though we stood in line for a little over two hours without a break. Other than my feet being a little tired, I was amazed at how energetic I still felt by the end. The cake cutting was pretty awkward for us and nobody told us what to do so we didn't have plates or any idea what layer to cut into, etc. Richard was the perfect gentleman and fed it to me without covering my face in it, but I couldn't resist putting a little bit on his nose. Too bad I can't show the same respect for him that he shows me :) Not many people were left and those who were weren't paying much attention but a few of my high school friends gathered around to catch the bouquet anyway. After that, we were whisked off to the Hilton to stay for the night before jetting off to beautiful Hawaii! (Further posts to come on how amazing Hawaii was!) The day was absolutely perfect and I was so happy. I couldn't ask for a better husband and am so grateful that he picked me to spend eternity with!