Easter Fun -- He Lives!

It's that time of year when bunnies and chicks run rampant alongside kids with multi-colored fingers searching for eggs full of oodles of junk food. For those who are religious, it's also the time for Easter dresses and ties and a church service to honor our Savior. For those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it was also a time to hear our prophet and church leaders speak to us during General Conference.

I love love LOVE conference, and look forward to it every April and October. I'm always excited to hear words of peace, counsel, advice, warning, and comfort. I love the reassurance I get that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and all His children, and that He has placed a prophet on the earth to lead and guide us in these days!

If you want to listen to these talks (or read them!) you can find them at lds.org --you won't regret it!

This year we sent GB on his very first Easter egg hunt.

Which is to say, we set the brightly-colored plastic eggs in the rocks so he couldn't miss them.

I put a few mini marshmallows in each egg and set them out, and he ran down the sidewalk. I pointed out the first one, and he was all over it! Somehow he already knew to open the plastic egg, and once the marshmallows fell out he was in heaven. He stuffed all of them in his mouth and ran for the next one. This kid will do anything for marshmallows!

A few of the eggs I stuffed with jelly beans and a little love note for Husband Man. GB helped to pick up those eggs, but precedence told him that there would be marshmallows inside and next thing we knew he was stuffing jelly beans in his mouth as quickly as his fingers could get a hold of them. All evening he begged us for more every time we tried to sneak a jelly bean!

I love this little guy so much. And I love my Husband Man, who was totally willing to help out with the hunt! It was fun to go outside for a few minutes.

I am so grateful for my family, and that I can be sealed to my family for eternity. I am grateful for the prophet and church leaders who guide us today. I am grateful for my Savior, who rose again on the third day and overcame death and my weaknesses and shortcomings! He Lives!

Christmas and the New Year!

Husband Man was able to get a whole week off so we could go and visit my native people for the week of Christmas. It was so much fun, and SO CRAZY!

Quick breakdown:

21- arrive in the evening at my parents' house

22- church and a big house party

24- Christmas Eve: feed elders and stay up until 1AM finishing Christmas gifts

25- my baby sister wakes everyone up at o'dark in the morning (I think I literally saw sunrise while I got out of bed), stockings, breakfast, presents, down time, huge dinner......

26- extended family starts to arrive, and our annual day-after-Christmas swimming trip

28- everyone is here (my dad's eight siblings and their spouses and... 38-ish children?), family talent show (an hour and a half long, holy cow), forty minutes to change and turn the church gym into a reception (while I ran to Walmart again), large reception

29- church, packing, family dinner, packing, return home

The wonderful thing is that my baby sister and her fiance, my foster brother, and all my grandparents were there for Christmas. It was amazing for us all to be together! And Gummy Bear enjoyed all the attention he received the entire week. He and Grandma S are besties, and when my aunts and uncles showed up everyone wanted to hold GB and say hello.

So when I got to my parents' house, she heard I had only given GB fruits and rice cereal and oatmeal and told me I needed to get him on veggies. Within the first few days GB had sampled pizza crust, peppermint candy cane, pistachio pudding, cool whip, Cheerios, animal crackers, the crust of french bread, mashed potatoes, ice cream........ and been introduced to beans, peas, squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. At one point in the week I changed no less than 5 diapers in 24 hours. I kid you not. After talking to his dad later in the week, Husband Man informed me that introducing everything like that all at once will cause problems. Nowwww you tell me! My life is suddenly filled with so much poop......

(Sorry if that was a little TMI, but............)

Anyways, after we got home and spent a few days cleaning up it was time for the new year to roll in! Husband Man worked Monday and Tuesday (New Years Eve), but then Tuesday night he had to chaperone a youth activity at church. So I went and played games with a friend in the ward whose husband also had to be at the activity. It was so much fun! We had cake, and sparkling cider, and chatted. Husband Man had New Years Day off (our best guess was that his company didn't want people with hangovers showing up to work, haha) and we had a lazy day doing whatever. It was so nice, to just spend the time together and relax and play games!

The new year is always so exciting, a chance to use the new year as a fresh start to achieve goals and try harder to be a better person. Shortly after New Years, Husband Man and I decided we would write down four family goals and three personal goals each that we wanted to achieve by the end of the year. (And if we post them, then we really have to make sure we achieve them! Hahaha!) We tried to think of goals that would increase health, spiritual health, and financial safety:

1. For a financial goal, we decided that we would try and save up a certain amount each month to reach a goal by the end of the year. Husband Man is on salary, and looking ahead we know that in the next few years we could potentially be looking at purchasing a second car, maybe putting a down payment on a house... We really felt like it would be a good idea to save as much as we can.

2. This is a financial/spiritual combination goal: we are trying to pay our tithing every month. Since we have been married we pay tithing on every penny that enters our home. When we were in college, we even paid tithing on our pell grants, and we definitely felt the blessings of giving that money back to the Lord and His church. What we aren't so good at? Paying our tithing monthly. Instead it gets forgotten, and then suddenly we're using 80% of a paycheck to catch up. It would be much easier on our bank accounts if we just did it every month.

3. For a spiritual goal, we decided we are going to try and have Family Home Evening every Monday. I know, I know, we are already supposed to do that... but we are HORRIBLE at it! Now that Gummy Bear is starting to understand more and more things, we want to set the pattern now.

4. We needed a physical goal, so we set it that we should exercise twice a week at least. I don't feel like either of us needs to lose weight, but I have turned into a weakling pansy since I had Gummy Bear and Husband Man has been talking about trimming up as well. We've tried to set more specific exercise times, such as exercising every Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, but that never seemed to work. So we are going to make it a little more broad, and hopefully it will feel like more of a choice rather than forcing ourselves to do it.

For personal goals, I'm really proud of Husband Man's choices.
1. Read "Miracle of Forgiveness". (He told me it used to be required missionary reading, but they removed the requirement right before his mission.)
2. Finish first draft of The Dream. (That's the codename he's given his novel that he is working on.)
3. 33" waist. (What? You said you weren't worried about losing weight! Don't worry, he said as long as he is fit and active then if his waist never goes back to 33" he'll understand. It's the principle of the goal!)

My personal goals:
1. Maintain a regular journal. (And GB's journal too.) I've been trying to do this, but the longer it goes the more I don't want to spend hours catching up! But I know that it is super, super important, so here it is.
2. Write every day, whether it is on my novel or on the blog(s). (This is coupled by the fact that I was allowed to have cable so long as I worked on my novel, so now I have tons of reasons to write! Haha)
3. Finish at least one project every month. I am one of those people who starts projects or gets all the materials for a project, and then never finishes it... but enough is enough! Time to actually do some pinterest projects!

I am so excited for the opportunities we are offering ourselves. And the best part is that we have chosen goals that will allow us to evaluate how we are doing each month, or even each week. There is always time to improve, and just because you fail at your resolutions in January doesn't mean you have to wait until next January to try again. We figure that if you are doing better by the end of the year, then you have succeeded!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Here is to 2014! Woohoo!

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for that I can't even begin to list everything. Husband Man gets after me occasionally because at night I sometimes say a really long prayer with things I am thankful for (and his ankles go numb). So I won't bore you all with everything I'm grateful for, and instead will share some fun stories and just a few things. (Sorry it is belated!)

I'm so grateful for Husband Man's parents. They were so wonderful the entire weekend, from cooking the Thanksgiving meal to washing dishes to holding Gummy Bear... Mama J even put Gummy Bear to bed every single night we were there! It was a wonderful, blessed break from being a mommy, because I didn't have to worry about a thing. It let me play Age of Empires with Papa M and Husband Man without stopping to check on Gummy Bear. It was so much fun to watch Mama J play with Gummy Bear, because she was willing to do everything! Poopy diapers? Done. Food? Check. Naptime? He's down. Bathtime? Of course!

And Husband Man's Aunt, who I will dub "Foxy", spent lots of time doting on Gummy Bear too. She snuggled with him, talked with him, played with him, and, of course, corrupted him, as aunts are wont to do. There is this song that became big out there on the interwebs called "What Does The Fox Say" and Foxy loves this song (hence her nickname). So she spent lots of time showing the video to Gummy Bear on her phone.

Right before we left Husband Man's parents' house, I asked his dad to take family photos for us since Gummy Bear knows how to smile. As children always are, Gummy Bear was a booger and just fussed the entire time. Mama J was making faces, shaking toys, making noises, crinkling the wet wipes container, even plugging in a string of lights and trying to get him to look at that. Foxy was trying to help too, in her special auntie way, by playing the Fox song on her phone. Of course, Gummy Bear stared right at her the entire time she played it! We just shook our heads.

Gummy Bear also learned a few new tricks over Thanksgiving. Mama J found her booster seat for little ones, and strapped it to one of the dining chairs so he could sit at it. We put toys on the tray, and he learned how to wave his arm and smack toys against it. He also sat in the cart for the first time, which he liked. Mama J and I went grocery shopping and stopped in the baby aisle to get formula. We were distracted by the toys, and Mama J picked a couple out she wanted to get for him. One was zip-tied to a piece of cardboard, and we handed it to him so he could hold the toy. We forgot that anything he holds will get licked, slurped, and gnawed on, and so ten minutes later I looked over and half of the cardboard was in tiny confetti pieces all over Gummy Bear, the blankets holding him up, his face, his chin folds... it was a big mess!

We had so much fun being able to see Gramma D, Foxy, Papa M, and Mama J. I'm so grateful we live closer to them, and to my parents too, so we can share Gummy Bear's silliness with them and spend more time with them. I'm so grateful we don't have to make the 11-17 hour drive to see family, especially since having a kid made it even longer. I'm so grateful that our family loves us, and wants to see us and help us out. I'm so grateful for the Gospel, and for my son and how awesome he is, and for my loving Husband Man who tries so hard to support me and make me feel awesome and beautiful. Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

This Halloween Was A Scream

So this year we were SO excited to dress up! We had the perfect costumes lined up. It was going to be awesome.

I wish I could remember to stand up straight... Grr.

Woohoo!! Star wars!

Except you see little Yoda there?

Ok, here's the deal. Our church was having a Halloween party tonight, a pizza potluck and games for the kids and socializing for the adults. Everyone dressed up, it was tons of fun... except for us. I was in the room for about five minutes, and then Gummy Bear decided it was time for a meltdown. A total, utter meltdown, complete with screaming that the ear has never heard from his little lungs. We're talking, SCREAMING.

At one point the Sister Missionary from the older missionary couple came over, and said "I am so glad to know that he cries! I have never heard him cry, ever!" I guess he is pretty well-behaved during church.

So I took my pizza out in the hall and tried to calm him down, and when nothing worked-- no formula, no binky, nothing at all-- I just laid him on the couch and let him scream. After he had stuffed himself with pizza, Husband Man came out and sat with Gummy Bear, and finally he stopped crying and ate a little. We dressed him up and tried to put him in the carrier on Husband Man's back (you know, like in the movie, with Luke and Yoda....) but Gummy Bear sat there for about two minutes and started crying again. So we took him out and managed to chat for a bit, shoving the binky back in GB's mouth, and then after I had talked with a friend about the problems with our apartment I went out and found GB asleep in Husband Man.

So Halloween definitely wasn't as much fun as we thought, but I'm still glad we were able to dress up! It was so fun, and everyone got a kick out of Gummy Bear being Yoda. (I always get some selfish satisfaction when my son draws good attention, I'll admit it.) I'll have my dad check my hearing sometime soon, and hopefully next year will involve a lot less (unnecessary) screaming.

Easter: A Celebration of Life

"The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre...
"But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
"And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
"And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
"And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou has laid him, and I will take him away.
"Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
"Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
"Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her."
-John 20:1, 11-18

"And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
"And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead...
"And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word."
-Matthew 28:5-9

"And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
"And... they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
"He is not here, but is risen..."
-Luke 24:4-6

[Emphasis added.]

Thanksgiving 2012

Yes, we were at home for Thanksgiving. It was a bummer to not visit my family again this year, but Husband Man had to work. Even still, we had fun cooking all day (I had to be careful not to bake a million things, there are only two of us!) and on Friday we went to visit my aunt, uncle, and two cousins for a day. We still had fun! Now I have to go tackle all those projects due on Monday...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Second Anniversary

Hooray! Husband Man and I have been married for two years! (Almost exactly- we were in the temple right about this time!!)

I'm sure we've all had those times when there's a day that we've been looking forward to for forever, and then it doesn't turn out at all the way you wanted it to.

I'm having one of those days. Or couple of days.

I decided to skip organ masterclass yesterday so I could get a bunch of homework done, which sort of backfired on me. I have a large-ish project coming up where I need to harmonize a tune to be arranged and played by a string quintet. This can be tedious, but I forgot we had it because the teacher never announced it in class. So I was going to get a head start on it yesterday, but the piano lab that I needed to do my project was closed for two hours in the name of FHE. While I appreciate the intention, it was not helpful or practical. I tried to get other homework done, and now I have to do the entire thing today after classes.

What makes it worse is that Husband Man has been telling me for the last two weeks he has something planned for our anniversary. Since we got married during the semester and didn't get a honeymoon, this really means a lot to me. He told me yesterday would be a good day to do it, but the homework fiasco prevented it. So we arranged for it to be done today, after I work on my project, but I don't know how long my project will take and I still have other homework. And on top of that I didn't sleep that great last night, so I was zoning out hardcore in my 9AM class this morning, and when I got to my English class I realised that I'd forgotten an assignment.

Today is going to be difficult. Someday I hope I can celebrate my anniversary...

Happy Fourth of July!

'Nuff said.

Grandpa's Baptism, a Family Sealing, and Why I Didn't Get a Plant For Mother's Day at Church This Year

We've got a few things to cover in this post. I have so many things I want to share!! (Because apparently I'm too lame to keep up with this blog!) So this might be long, but bear with me because it's all really good stuff. You can also go here to see what's happening on the writing side of life.

The first weekend in May Husband Man and I drove down to Utah for my grandfather's baptism. (My mom's dad.) I honestly never thought I'd ever see this happen, but ever since my grandmother passed away when I was a freshman in high school my grandfather has had a roller-coaster of attempts to be baptised and get his life in order so he can be sealed to my grandmother. It was a wonderful blessing to be a part of this huge step in Grandpa's life, and it was the most beautiful thing to see my mother cry with joy and the Spirit because of this decision my grandpa has made. I love my grandpa so much, and I can't wait until next year when I get to be in the temple with my family! (Hopefully I can be there, anyways.)

Today the coolest couple on the planet took their adopted son to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity. I love these people! I call them my big brother and big sister, because they pretty much were older siblings for me when I first went away from college. Their home was our home. We watched movies there, played games, had dollar birthdays, played guitar hero (or was it rock band? I don't know. It was fun!), we laughed there, we cried there (ok, I cried there.... a lot), I got a priesthood blessing there when I got an abscess in my mouth and almost went to the hospital for dehydration, we stayed there over a weekend when the entire college town got drunk over football (there was a lot of alcohol around, no joke), and so much more. I'm so glad that they finally have a little boy that is theirs for eternity, and I can't wait for more to be adopted! Congrats! (You can visit them here)

Finally... Mother's Day. The ward gift was pretty hilarious- So about mid-April I go to a council meeting thingy with our bishopric members in place of the Relief Society president, and at one point the men talked about the upcoming Mother's day and what gift they should get. Then they turned to me and said, "You should ask the sisters in Relief Society what they want. We have no clue what to get them. Do they want a plant like last year? Or something different? Chocolate? What?"
So I agreed to ask, and a couple weeks later the question was brought up in Relief Society. When asked whether the sisters would appreciate chocolate or a plant like last year, the general consensus was a plant and that most sisters had enjoyed receiving that as a gift. That lasted for about two minutes, however, until a sister raised her hand and said,
"Can I change my answer? I voted for flowers, but I killed my plant last year."
This caused a murmur among the sisters, and calls of "Oh yeah, I did too..." and "Now that you mention it, I think I'd rather have chocolate."
So this last Sunday, as we left the chapel, we had a selection of candy bars that most of us shared with our husbands. That's probably the real reason why they asked the women to pick- it occurred to them that they could just default with flowers again, but if we happened to choose chocolate then they could have some too....
Oh, you want to know what Husband Man got me? He didn't get me anything, and I told him he couldn't. I'm not a mother! So I told him he couldn't get me anything. I'm not sad, so you shouldn't be either!

Flowers!

Did I mention that Husband Man got me flowers the other day? He wanted to get them for me over finals week of last semester (to celebrate my last 18 credit semester!) but we were going to Utah right after finals so I wouldn't get to enjoy them. So he got them for me after we got back!

By the way- the flowers had a sticker that said "NOT EDIBLE" on them. That was weird. But also made sense, because they have dye in them so that they turn colors.

Easter was really fun! In the last post I told you we took pictures, (and if you want to see a goofy movie of us you can go to the sister blog,) and I got to see all of my family and Husband Man's parents too!

And I got my Easter basket from my mommy! Only one of the boxes of peeps came in the basket, though- the rest came from other people who were given peeps and they don't like them. Husband Man eats them, though. I don't like that they put granulated sugar on the outside- blech. No peeps for me.

In other news, I'm watching a few plants for a couple of friends. The cactus belongs to one gal, and the orchid and the bush belong to another. I'm not sure why they asked me to because if I inherited my mom's green thumb then I haven't discovered it yet!
But... at the same time I'm thinking of getting a plant for myself! Hm....
I'm not sure if the plant from last year will grow again, but the irises by the steps are coming up. Hopefully they put out flowers soon!

This semester is going well so far... to be honest, I really just want to be done with school! I'm so sick of it! I honestly don't think I'll be like those people who graduate and then say, "Well now I miss it!" I'll be super excited to be graduated.

Husband Man's older sister and her family are visiting this weekend and I'm so happy! I love it when family visits!! Woohoo!!

Happy Easter!

I'm so grateful for the resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior.

I'm also grateful for my parents and husband, who have thoroughly spoiled me this Easter.
And I'm grateful for the hot tub last night. It was glorious. No more classes for a week! Huzzah!

Valentine's Day... Ish

Yesterday was Valentine's Day- the day of love, the day of obligation, another consumer holiday, whatever it is to you. For the Yockeyites, it's a day of love and affection! 

Some people say Valentine's Day is a hoax, and that you should show love to your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever all the time. I like what one of my friends said on facebook though: "Sure some people think it's pointless because we should show love to those around us everyday, but that is like saying don't celebrate your birthday because you should celebrate being alive everyday! Take today to think about those you love and are blessed to have in your life..."

Last year we had too much fun- we played in the park in the snow, threw snowballs at each other, tried to make snowmen, and got soaked by the snow, and had a great day spending time with each other. I think I got flowers too, I don't remember.


This year wasn't like last year. We were up until 1 AM the night before cutting out Valentine's stuff out of construction paper, but it was for heart chains I was making for heart attacks for some of the couples in the ward. I'm on the compassionate services committee at church, and the Relief Society president wanted to heart attack the doors of everyone in the ward. Then we got up and went to school. And then I came home and did homework. And then he came home and did homework too. And then I went back to class. And then I came home, finished the paper heart chains (which turned out really cute, I must admit), and then went out and stuck them on (hopefully the correct) doors. And then I came home... and did more homework, and sat around while Husband Man finished his homework and his resume. And then I took a shower and went to bed. Our dinner wasn't fancy either- I made him hamburger helper and myself grilled cheese and tomato soup.


It wasn't like we were completely lame- I was a little sneaky and I did cut out a whole bunch of hearts and wrote goofy things on them, and when we went to bed I stuffed them in his closed laptop for him to find in class the next morning. He loved that! And last night I got a back massage before I went to sleep, which I appreciated, and we went to bed at around 11, which is the earliest we've managed all week! 


Husband Man went on a field trip today to do some networking to hopefully get a good internship (which is why he needed his resume done). Valentine's Day wasn't particularly fabulous- no flowers, the only chocolate we got was in a box from my parents (thank you Mom and Dad!), but I still love my husband and I would have spoiled him rotten if I'd had the time. I'll make him cookies sometime this weekend to make up for it.


Hope everyone else had a more exciting Valentine's Day than we did! Happy Valentine's Day!

New Year's Eve

This is a super late post, but I found pictures on my camera from New Year's!

 We had sparkling pink catawba and sparkling cold duck. I liked the catawba better- cold duck is a little bitter.

 Husband Man chugged a half a glass of cold duck. He didn't like it. And we played Family Feud! It was way fun!

 We had Husband Man's sister try each sparkling drink to see which one she liked best. She had no clue why we were doing it- and no opinion! She liked them both.
Husband Man got new pajama pants and, as you can see, he really likes them.What a goober!

I haven't posted in forever because I'm having a rough start to my semester. ...a really, really rough start. I'll post about it later- I'm hoping to resolve a couple problems first.

The New Year

I have to learn to write '2012' instead of '2011'.

I really want to do my homework when it's scheduled... and not wait until the night before. I want to stay on top of my studies, and try hard to actually remember everything I'm trying to learn. (And it would be nice if I could figure out what I want to do with my studies, since right now I'm considering not taking any ensembles this semester... That means no trumpet playing for a semester. Wait... gaaah!)


I really want to continue to do my visiting teaching again this year. I was really good about doing it by the end of '11. My new goal is to read my scriptures every morning/day. I know this will draw me closer to Christ and my Heavenly Father.


I really want to get a lot of progress done on my novels. It doesn't matter to me which one gets worked on at this point; I just want to get as much possible down as I can. (Go here to read more)


I really hope Husband Man gets the internship he wants for the summer. It would be a great opportunity for him, and I want him to have as  much experience as possible so he can get a great job he likes!


I really want to get the rest of our wedding pictures printed somewhere so we can fill the empty frames on our walls... And put up a picture of the temple and of Christ, to go along with the Proclamation to the Family and the beautiful cross-stitch we were given.


I really want to do something fun when I turn 21. I'll be in school, but I'm going to make time to party it up. (The LDS way, of course.)


I want to try to cook more and be more proactive with our meals. I'm horrible when it comes to feeding Husband Man... "I could make something ... or we could just have corn dogs again. Or mac and cheese. Or canned soup. Or go out..."


I want to love Husband Man even more than I do now. (That one should be easy!)

2012 is going down.

It's the End of 2011??

 This mostly sums up the day I spent at my parents' house again on my way to see Husband Man's sister. We goofed around, were loud and noisy, and broke a few pieces of furniture in the process! I miss my sisters.

 Breakfast at Husband Man's sister's house! My nephew Austen sat in my lap and ate my french toast.

 Husband Man has already read one of the books he got for Christmas.

 Husband Man missed his older sister!

 And then Husband Man and his sister's husband man took apart their computer. I never knew it had so many pieces...

 Husband Man's Gramma D! She has so many fun stories to tell.

A game before bedtime.


We're traveling back home tomorrow after Sacrament Meeting. I'm grateful to have a few days before the semester starts, but at the same time I have that feeling of "If I go back, then I have to be responsible and go to school. I don't wanna."


We're having bubbly for New Years! Husband Man and I might be the only ones staying up until midnight, but that's ok! It's the last day of 2011, and it's been such a long and wonderful year. May the next year be just as wonderful and filled with learning. May I survive three more semesters of school, and may Husband Man get the internship he wants. May we continue to be blessed with the many things we have, and may we continue to grow closer to our Heavenly Parents.


And may YOU have a wonderful new year! Drink lots of bubbly and GO CRAZY!
Happy New Year! Bring it on, 2012!!

Christmas!

(Warning! This post contains lots of pictures! It is Christmas after all!)

On Christmas Eve Husband Man, his dad, and I all started a game of Age of Empires. (We played the three of us against five opponents. That's always a little crazy.) When that stopped working (the connection got messed up) we lost the game, so we went and read the Christmas story. Then we played an entire game of AoE. (Those take a couple of hours...) Then we went to sleep. (At about 2 in the morning...)


On Christmas Day Husband Man was a teensy bit excited and was awake at 6:30. At 7 he ran upstairs, and a little later he dragged me out of bed. We sat at the table, ate waffles, and then Husband wanted to look at his stocking. So we went and sat on the couch, and his parents decided that since church wasn't until 10 and it was only 8:30, we could start opening presents and see how long it took.

Obviously one of the best parts of Christmas is giving gifts to other people. We just happened to find a painting that Husband Man's dad has wanted for a while, so we talked with Dan's sisters, split the cost...

...and had a very surprised father for Christmas this year!

I also had a few tricks up my sleeve...

What is Husband Man opening? Is that a box of ammunition??

Hooray! Husband Man got a gun!
I had been skulking around talking with my dad about getting him this for a few months. Husband Man is smart, so he kind of sort of figured out that that was what I was getting him for Christmas. I was bound to confuse him, though! He told me later that he was pretty sure he was getting a gun, and he was so very very very very very very very very very very very very(etc) excited!!! And then I told him that I put all the presents under the tree at his parents' house, and he looked and looked and there was no gun box... and then he was sad. He was so very sad. And then on Christmas Day he was handed a gift and it was very very heavy and it felt and sounded like ammo, and when he opened it it really was ammo, and then he was very very very confused because now he had ammo but no gun... and then I got up and left and he thought 'Maybe she's getting the gun?' and he looked under the couches but there was still no gun box, and then I came up the stairs with a gun-box-shaped present and he was so very very very very very very very very very very very very(etc) excited again!!! And so he had a very good Christmas, and I had a very good time hiding everything from him!

Husband Man's parents splurged to give us a big gift (since it's easier for them to get one big one rather than a bunch of little ones)-

I'm not sure if that will fit in our entertainment center or not!
Don't worry, I was spoiled as well! I was given many, many wonderful things by my husband!

I got a lot of fun things. And my mom made us this beautiful cross-stitch about love and our wedding day! With all of our wedding colors!!

I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture very well or not, but it's very pretty!
Overall our Christmas was fun! We've played Age of Empires every day, and eaten a TON of brownies and cookies and candy. Tomorrow we're going back to my parents' house to visit for half a day again, and then we're on to see Husband Man's older sister before going home! It was my first Christmas away from home so I missed the traditions that I'm used to, but experiencing new traditions is a lot of fun too!

(P.S.- Opening presents took about 45 minutes. That is nowhere close to the time it takes my family to open presents!)