What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?

Turns out - we are related :)

August 2011

I think about Caleb a lot these days - this whole him being on a mission thing and me not being able to call him and yet having him actually be only 5 minutes away from me and all - in looking through wedding pictures I came across this keeper. Growing up, sometimes I would wonder how the two of us could possibly be related ...in many ways we are polar opposites. However old we get, to me I think Caleb will always be twelve, he will always love legos, he will always enjoy being obnoxious, and he will always make the funniest faces. Turns out though, when it comes down to it - we are most definitely related :) 

September 2010


photo credit: Michele Doying and Andie Schindler 

Wednesday Wedding Details: The Ceremony

Ben and I chose to get married in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Boston Temple. I’ve written before a little about why I wanted to get married in a temple - but it was beautiful. It was a simple ceremony, performed by my grandfather, but it was perfect. There was no fanfare, no isle, no extravagant flowers or frivolous words. Just the two of us, across an altar from each other, surrounded by family, becoming one in the eyes of the Lord - forever. I’m his and he’s mine and we’re both sealed together with promises to the Lord. It was simply beautiful, simply everything I could have wanted, simply perfect.

After the ceremony we had lots of pictures taken on the beautiful grounds of the temple - and you know, I thought my mouth would get tired after smiling for so many pictures - turns out I couldn’t have stopped beaming if I’d tried. 

Bridesmaids waiting for us to come out from the ceremony. 

The wedding party and those who came to the temple

My cutest little cusby ('cousins baby') GWEN - she thought I was a princess. 

The Wedding Party 

Moving this dress was quite the to-do

All of the temple grounds were gorgeous!

All I wanted to do for pictures was kiss him :) 

For some reason this picture reminds me of the evil stepsisters in cinderalla :P 

next wednesday: details on our wonderful reception

Photo credit: Bedford Photography and Michele Doying

Who Says Politics Can't Be Poetic?

more from Mike Sage

Me with the president-to-be

Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies - Weekend Sweets

So I finally did it - I made something I found on Pinterest :) 

Its kind of a big deal because due to this website I find myself feeling so creative when in reality I've been sitting in front of a computer screen for 45 minutes. 

My wonderful friend Brittany decided to have a birthday celebration Sunday night which gave me the perfect opportunity to try something new. I didn't want to go with the same chocolate chip cookies or pistachio cake. Brownies were too boring and I'd made sugar cookies last week - so I looked at my INDULGE board on pinterest and found these little delights. Mine didn't come out quite as picture perfect as above but they were actually quite easy and everyone thought they were delicious.  I highly recommend it - even for an unexperienced chef :) 

You can find the recipe here

the finished product :) 

I love when I get o use my kitchen-aid!

Me and the birthday girl ;) 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIT!

Forget Me Not

I think it was great that thousands of other women around the world got to listen to President Uchtdorf, an apostle of the Lord speak on Saturday, because he happened to be talking just to me. I felt like if his remarks had been written to address all the concerns I've had, it wouldn't have been any different. He is not only an inspired speaker, but his metaphors and symbolism are beautiful. He spoke of the forget-me-not flowers and used the petals to remind us of five things we should "Forget Not."

“No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love.”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, gave this loving reminder during the General Relief Society Meeting on September 24, 2011.

Using the forget-me-not flower as a metaphor for his remarks, President Uchtdorf noted that although the flower is small in size, and easily unnoticed among larger flowers, it is still beautiful and vibrant.

President Uchtdorf tied the five petals of the forget-me-not flower to five things women should not forget.

Forget not to be patient with yourself:

President Uchtdorf reminded women that everyone has strengths and weaknesses—that no one is perfect, even those who may seem so.  

“God wants to help us eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal,” President Uchtdorf said. “It is OK that you are not quite there yet. Keep working on it but stop punishing yourself. “

“Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others,” he added. “Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.”

Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice:

President Uchtdorf defined an acceptable sacrifice as giving up “something good for something of far greater worth.”

“Dedicating some of our time to studying the scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson into homemade potholders for each member of your class may not be.”

President Uchtdorf noted that every situation is different, and suggested asking, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” in order to distinguish between good and foolish sacrifices.

Forget not to be happy now:

Using an example from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, President Uchtdorf described how one of the characters, Willy Wonka, hid golden tickets within chocolate bars, promising to reveal wonders to five people who discovered the tickets.

“In their anxiousness, people began to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket,” President Uchtdorf said. Whatever a “golden ticket” may represent to each person, President Uchtdorf warned Relief Society sisters to not put their happiness on hold as they wait for a future event, or golden ticket, to appear.

“The lesson here,” he said,” is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.”

Forget not the “why” of the gospel:

President Uchtdorf said that sometimes, in the routines of daily life, the vital aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ are unintentionally overlooked.  “We sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long “to do” lists. We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget why.”

President Uchtdorf reminded the sisters that the gospel is not an obligation, but a pathway leading to happiness and peace in this life and “glory and inexpressible fulfillment” in the life to come.

Forget not that the Lord loves you:

In closing, President Uchtdorf said, “Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time.”

“You may at times feel a little like the forget-me-not—insignificant, small, or tiny in comparison with others,” he said, noting: “I hope (the forget-me-not) will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet.”

To the church website where the full talk should be soon...

The Luckiest

My husband is amazing. 

Seriously. 

I try really hard (too hard I think sometimes that I lose sight of what the actual goal is)

and while I don't usually feel good enough - somehow he loves me more and more everyday. 

How did I get so lucky? 

I think the closest thing we've ever had to an argument is Ben wanting to do what I want to do and me wanting to do what he wants to do. See, I told you he's great. 

Also, he is the most talented person I know. 

lets see....

He can speak beautiful Spanish (and he sings to me in Italian)

on the singing note, he has a fantastic voice

he also plays a million instruments... okay really just five

1. composing on the piano (he is the second most talented pianist I have EVER heard)

2. the violin (he's been playing since he was six?)

3. drums

4. guitar 

5. mandolin (thats the cool little instrument he proposed with)

Turns out he's also really good at snowboarding and skating (not that i know all that much about either - but he's pretty impressive).

And then there's rock climbing where he just dominates almost everything in the gym. 

oh and I forgot, how could I, he's really good at writing poetry that makes me melt 

annndddd - he can cook? 

oh - and he happens to be the most attractive person I've ever met

case in point. 

but my favorite things? He loves me no matter what and he loves the Lord. 

What more could I ask for? 

Conclusion: Ben is the best. 

and I love him a lot. 

The audacity of some...

People.
They frustrate me on occasion. Especially when they are either inconsiderate, unintelligent, or uninformed. 
When its a combination of all three ... well, you get the picture. 


I had a lovely opportunity this afternoon to work on my patience. I'm not sure how well I did. 


I sit down in my geography class, a rather large class in a lecture hall. I'm sitting next to a friend on my right and on my left is a couple leaning close and intertwining fingers. (Note: I am not complaining about their PDA - certain measures, including handholding is acceptable, even in class - as long as its not across isles. ) The thing about these two is I'm not sure they had any concept of sound levels. They spent the first half of class talking so loudly we could all hear their personal conversations clearly, significantly more clearly than the words of the professor masked by their gossip and giggles. 


A few snippets of the conversation:


"As in Ghana, South America or Ghana, Africa?" 


When the class was discussing foreign aid in disasters:


"I just don't see the benefit of hygiene kits ... I mean I guess they get to brush their teeth and clean themselves but I just don't get how thats useful." 


At this point I was very tempted to turn to him and say ' despite your lack of understanding of the importance in good personal hygiene in preventing disease, I'd like to be able to hear the professor' ...the problem was I couldn't come up with a nicer way to say it. 




new goal: be patient with people

Wedding Week Festivities

Ben Gets to NH

To have a wedding we needed a groom - and I really don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited for anything than for Ben to finally show up. It was a long month and a half - and the thing that kept me through it was knowing that we’d never have to do it again. Thank goodness. The whole family went to pick him up at the airport and after waiting for his 20 minute delay (which felt like ETERNITY) we were together again :) 

Bridesmaids Brunch

A week before the wedding my mom hosted a wonderful brunch for me and my bridesmaids. Unfortunately many of them weren’t in town yet but we don’t pass up an excuse to decorate and get dressed up :) While the girls were enjoying a feast of omelette, maple sausage, fruit smoothies, and friendship bread (my favorite pecan and brown sugar pastry) - we put the boys to work in the yard (Ben’s very first morning in NH) - crazy right?

The main decoration: our new plates! My mom surprised me when I got to NH by buying the patterned dishes we had registered for to use for this event. I loved the red accents and am so excited to use these in our new apartment!

Day in Boston

Dave and Sarahjane (Ben’s best man and our favorite couple in the whole world) came in a few days later. I decided they (including ben) needed to see the city so we spent the latter part of Wednesday in Boston. We skipped the Museum of Fine Art and the Freedom Trail for this particular visit and settled for a walk through Boston Commons, shopping at Fanieul Hall, and dinner and gelato in the North End. 

Temple and Family Dinner

After a beautiful afternoon at the temple ( a little piece of heaven on earth) my mom threw a feast of a dinner for all the family and out of town wedding guests. The reception wasn’t a plated event so she wanted a time where she could decorate with place settings and it turned out quite spectacular. 

One of the three gorgeously set tables

Day at the Beach

Friday we took the wedding party up to the beach for an afternoon cookout and pictures (I wanted some shots of me and Ben on the water as well as some more pictures of my gorgeous bridesmaids - seriously I think I had THE most attractive wedding party - ever).  The morning was overcast which made for ideal photography but it cleared up in time to get some sun time before the 2 o’clock meal. It was incredible to just look around at all the people laughing, smiling, and mingling and realizing they were all there for us, they were all people we loved, and we were so lucky to have them there. 

Bachelorette Party

After a quick nail appointment with some of the girls, we headed over to Jen’s for the Bachelorette party. Jen was born to entertain. The night was filled with candles, delicious food, virgin drinks, cheesy music, gifts, friends, talking, and Olivia’s special cake ;)

All in all, the days before the wedding were busy, crazy, and so much fun. I'll always remember the week as part of the wedding, and it definitely set us up for a wonderful wedding day :) 

Wednesday Wedding Details

I love marriage - and I love weddings. I loved everything about mine and I wish I could have a million weddings and be able to plan each one differently (as long as this only ever meant marrying ben and never getting divorced of course). So, due to my slight obsession with all things wedding, I've decided to start Wednesday Wedding Details where I focus on wedding related things (and feed my obsession), whether it be cute details I've found, featuring beautiful weddings of friends and family, or simply anything to do with the celebration of marriage. 

To start though, I feel like I'm quite far behind in all the promised blogging about my own wedding that happened now more than a month ago. So, I'm starting tomorrow, promise. 

Coming in the next few weeks:

Wedding Details: 

Pre-wedding festivies
The Ceremony
The Reception
The Gown
The Wedding Party
The Honeymoon

My New Addiction

PINTEREST

Dance Concerts and Curry Nights

How is it already Monday again?
 I feel like life goes by so much faster than it used to. 
Maybe its being married...
Maybe its just taking 16 credits, dancing every other day and working 20 hours while trying to rock climb on a daily basis ..... either way - life is just crazy. 


Thank goodness every five days we get these wonderful things called weekends. 


I love weekends. 


Don't get me wrong - I love my weeks too. I love everything that I fill my life with (even if I don't always like that I feel like I need to schedule time for breathing)- but I really love getting out of Japanese on Friday afternoon with a strong sense of freedom. I love falling asleep without setting an alarm. I love being able to see ben for more than the half hour when we wake up and the six hours after class before bed. Sometimes I love filling my weekends with a different kind of busy but sometimes I like just doing nothing at all, at least for a little while. 


This weekend was the perfect mix. 


Friday I started the weekend off catching up with Brooke and Court at lunch at my favorite , Noodles & Company (if you live near one and haven't been - its a must). The Penne Rosa is to die for - a pink sauce over penne and mushrooms, basil and feta. 


Once Ben got home from work we stopped in at the ward talent show, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed to meet some friends at the climbing gym. I love climbing with just Ben, but its fun every once in awhile to have some friends there who aren't completely incredible and a little closer to my level :) 


Two Highlights of this weekend:


WORLD OF DANCE
There are no words to describe....but I'll try anyway. BYU has an incredible dance program. World of Dance features two to three performances from each of BYU's top teams (ballet, contemporary, folk, and ballroom). It made me crave ballroom (and to my delight we're incorporating a little latin into our jazz combination) and miss the weeks of last semester where I was dancing at least 3 hours a day. It was so fun getting a little dressed up and going out with Ben and it was really motivating for me to improve my dancing. The final number was the ballroom touring team's latin medley that won the international ballroom competition in Blackpool England last summer. Simply incredible. 


CURYY NIGHT

I love actually having time to cook things on Sunday. Yesterday we had Michele and Josh over (two friends, basically cousins who we've followed to and from Japan several times over the past two decades). Josh served his mission in Japan and was the head chef but we all pitched in to make a delicious Japanese curry over rice for dinner. 

The Master Chef 

Pre-dinner drinks in my favorite thin-stemmed glasses (told you I'm obsessed)
Cranberry-Pomegranate in Lemon-Lime Seltzer :) 

The final product - DELICIOUS 

I love him - especially when he does the dishes :) 

Overall - a wonderful weekend .... with another crazy week ahead. 


photo credits: Michele Doying