Our First Anniversary!

I can't believe that Mike and I have been married for a year today!! Time has flown by and its been the most exciting year of my life! I woke up this morning and found my self laying in bed thinking about what I was doing a year ago. I couldn't help but think about the wonderful journey I took to get to that moment. I looked over at my sleeping husband and thought I love him and have loved him for almost 2 years now....crazy!

Our wedding day was perfect! It had been raining the entire week before but I woke up on March 25, 2010 to sun and blue skies...beautiful! We were so blessed to have family in town for our wedding. I had my grandma, aunt and uncle come down from Rhode Island and Mike's mom and dad came from Montana but our most surprising guest was Mike's oldest brother Tony. We didn't think any of Mike's siblings would be able to come but we were surprised when we met up with Mike's parents for lunch after I got my endowments and Tony got out of the car :) I wish I had a picture of the smile on Mike's face...it was a wonderful surprise. We also had a lot of friends who came to the temple with us for our sealing. However, the best part of our wedding day was that it was a Thursday morning so no one was there. I felt like they opened the temple just for our wedding! I felt like a princess! Mike and I were able to sit in the celestial room in the temple together all by ourselves before and after the sealing which was my favorite part! It was the perfect day, I don't think I stopped smiling all day!



We spent a lot of time trying to decide what we wanted to do to celebrate for our first anniversary. We wanted to do something fun but we have finals next week and we live in rexburg so basically we couldn't go anywhere and their really isn't anything terribly fun to do here. So we decided on a trip to San Diego, CA in August to celebrate but until then we just had a quiet, peaceful anniversary.


We went to Idaho Falls and had a romantic dinner at Olive Garden and then went to the movies to see Tangled (at possibly the crappiest theater ever) :) It was a wonderful movie. Then we came home and danced around the living room listening to cheesy love songs. We started another tradition this year too. When we went on our honeymoon, Mike's parents gave us Martinelli's and chocolate truffles. So we decided to have that again. It was a wonderful night. (Oh and I also got beautiful flowers)

I just have to brag about my husband for a minute. I have the best husband in the world! I am so spoiled! He is the most patient man that I know and for that I am grateful. He never gets mad at me. If I do something wrong, his response is almost always, its ok, I love you! Are you kidding me! There is no way that I deserve this gentleman! He is so sweet and considerate. I fall more in love with him everyday and everyday I find new reasons why I love him. I'm grateful for this past year and I look forward to many, many more!


I love you Mike! Thank you for being such a wonderful husband and thank you for the best year of my life :)

The Finish Line

Its amazing how you can have a bad day that you don't think can ever get better and then you see a friend and they say the one thing you really needed to hear. I really believe that these moments are not merely coincidence. Today I was feeling down on myself and I read a friends blog and she had posted something about how good it will feel when we reach the finish line.

We each have goals and dreams and little finish lines that we hope to reach. The question is...how do we reach the finish line? Life is difficult and some days feel like they are never going to end and trials feel like they are unfair and unjustified. But I know that the trials we receive are given to us so that when we do reach that 'finish line' we will appreciate the blessings that much more. The trick is remembering that on the bad days.

I remembered a talk given by Elder Holland about angels on earth. People in our lives are often sent to be with us and help us when we need it most. Angels don't need to be the ones we can't see. Angels in our lives can be our parents, our siblings, our friends and in my case this is true. Elder Jeffrey Holland said, "God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face." "On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal."

I'm grateful for the angels in my life. The friends who make me laugh when I need it most, a husband who makes me smile, a teacher who sees me sitting in the hall and comes and sits with me and we talk for an hour, friends who say what I need to hear before I explain whats wrong, parents who call just to say hi..usually on my worst day and a husband who reminds me everyday that I am important.

So when life gets difficult remember those people in your life who love you and are always there for you no matter what. Remember the finish line and how much more you appreciate your blessings when you have waited for them. Remember if you wait then you will appreciate the blessing more than the people who didn't have to wait and you will grow because of it. I'm grateful for the 'angels' in my life because they help me keep that finish line in sight and the path doesn't seem so dark.

Its About Time :)

Our friends Sammie and Matt are moving next month so we couldn't wait another day to invite them over. We had a wonderful dinner of burgers, fruit salad, lime chips, brownies and lemonade. It was delicious! :) It was great to have 2 more people to play the Wii with and the competition was extremely exciting :) Sammie and I competed in archery to hit the targets and Mike and Matt competed to see who could hit the fruit on the archery game :) I don't think we ever stopped laughing the whole night! It was so much fun hanging out with them. It was nice to never run out of stuff to talk about. We're going to miss them when they move.

The men :) (Thanks guys for doing the cooking)



The girls :) (I just have to say that Sammie looks so cute for someone who is about 7 1/2 months pregnant) We had so much fun talking together. It was fun to have time for girl talk. I'll miss you Sammie.



We are sad our friends are leaving and kind of jealous that they are getting out of rexburg but we're happy that we got to have one last party :)

One Day at a Time

Everyone now and then I have a day that I think I have to take life one day at a time or I'm going to go crazy. The past few days have been this way. I've been agitated and impatient even for me. I'm not afraid to admit that I haven't been in the best mood for the past few days. However, because what is stressing me out is extremely personal between mike and I, I'm not going to refer to it directly. This topic is one that is extremely emotional for me and has tried my faith in many ways and has for some time now. Most people know that I'm impatient and this has tried that patience to the max, almost to the point that I can't take it anymore. The reason it is so hard is because this thing is something that I want more than anything else in the world. It is something I have wanted for as long as I can remember and having to except that it is the ultimate patience and faith builder is devastating.

Some days I worry I'm being punished for past mistakes, other days I worry that it's because I'm not worthy of what I'm asking for. And then sometimes I feel that maybe this is going to be one of my life struggles, something that was meant for me, to help me learn and grow. If that's the case, I will not hesitate to accept it as part of my life, but I will not lie and say that I won't be devastated. I'm grateful though for the friends and family I have that help me through the hard days more than they know and more often than they realize.

Now, more than ever, I need to rely on the Lord and His plan for me and my husband, and trust with all my heart that everything will work out the way it's supposed to. One day at a time...

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Since 5 of my friends have done this on their blogs, I have decided that I want to copy them and do it too :)

Awkward

-Sitting in the library at school and having the people behind you start making out loud enough for you to hear while you try to read the scriptures.
-Walking out of the bathroom in a towel to find the window in the bedroom open.
-Being in literacy class and having the teacher tell jokes and the whole class laughs and then the next time he tells a joke I laugh really loud all by myself.
-Seeing someone you know after a few months apart and they say "Hi Nicole" and I say "Hey Amy" and they reply with....its Sarah

Awesome

-Having my wonderful husband Mike get up at 6am to register me for classes for me so that I can sleep in.
-Getting a random text from Mike and opening my phone to read, "I love you sweetheart".
-Playing with my adorable little cousin Joseph and having him name Mike and I's future son, turkey-lurky. He makes me laugh and smile.
-Getting a new dress that fits perfectly in every way
-Cuddling with Mike while watching NCIS

Happy Birthday Saydi!!!

I remember the first time that I met Saydi. I walked into mike's apartment and this furry,four legged dog came running towards me and jumped up on me with her tail wagging. It was love at first tail wag :) Saydi is the sweetest dog that I know. I love to look into her big eyes when she is begging for food, its so close to irresistible. She is wonderful company too. If everyone leaves a room then she follows along and when I was alone at the house she stayed right next to me the whole time. She gets excited when company comes and sad when she knows that they are leaving. She is the prettiest and sweetest dog in the world.

Happy 10th Birthday Saydi!!! We love you!

Go BYU!!

A few weeks ago Mike's dad called and told mike that he had tickets to BYU's last home basketball game and that he wanted mike to go with him and doug. Mike was so excited to go to the game! I didn't go but from the sound of it, the game was wonderful, BYU won :), and they had so much fun! It was a long day since we did the trip on a saturday but it was worth it! I don't think we could have been happier on our way home that night.

(Mike and Doug got souvenir T-shirts at the game and I couldn't resist the picture)
*For future reference #32 is Jimmer Ferdette who was the star player of the season and the main reason that the guys wanted to go to the game.



At this point you may be wondering where I was for the 3 hours or so that the guys were at the game...well I wasn't just wandering around Utah just so you know. I was going to spend some time with Mike's mom but at the last minute she had to work :(

So I called my cousin Breanna and asked if I could come hang out with her and have a girls day. She was super excited to hang out with me and I was excited to hang out with her and her adorable little boy Joseph and 3 of my other little cousins. The picture above is of me and Nathan watching the BYU game on tv. I had a great time talking about it with him. As well as playing with the other adorable cousins.

I didn't get any pictures of the rest of the afternoon but Breanna and I went out and got ice cream at Coldstone, went for a long walk in the park and basically just spent hours talking about anything and everything. I loved spending so much time with her. It was wonderful to have a girl to talk to and get to know better too.




Later that night I met up with the guys and we went out to dinner with Stacey (Hermana Epperson) and her companion at Olive Garden. We only had an hour but it was great to see her. She was definitely happier this time than the last time we saw her and it was great to just talk and laugh together. It was a wonderful ending to our very exciting and busy day :) Personally, I can't wait til I can get to know Stacey better.

What a Great Week!

I just have to start out by saying this has been a great week :)

I got a 91% on my geometry test!! I have an A in geometry! This is a very big deal for me since I got a D in geometry in high school (the only class I didn't get a good grade in). I have to say though that it is because of mikes help and tutoring for many many hours as well as many prayers before the test...that I passed and did well :) I'm so grateful for a wonderful husband who helps me study and is patient with me.

Oh and also....I had so much fun bowling with my PE class. I have to say that I'm not extremely athletic and so half the time I just have to laugh at myself. I have 3 really good friends in that class and if it weren't for Rochelle Rogers, Jennifer Walker and Madison McClure then I would HATE pe but because of them I LOVE it :) I had so much fun bowling with rochelle, we didn't do very well but we had alot of fun :)


(sorry for such a small picture...its the best I could find)

So this has been a pretty great week and I hope next week goes just as great!