It all started a year ago...

It was one year ago today, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I had been home from the Mediterranean for 8 days. I was trying to get myself ready to be more social. When you are single for many years you see the pattern of your social life going up and down. Sometimes you just don't want to go out and be seen and other times that is all you can think of doing. I had been in a bit of a rut and was on the uphill side of a social lull. Having just been on a great vacation I thought I should put my best efforts into being social again. So I got ready for institute. I made sure I felt good about myself before I left the house (that way I could forget about myself and just have a good time). I actually remember what I was wearing too!

Anyway my friend was going to meet me at class so I sat on the back row (I was at least going, that didn't mean I had to sit on the front row). I made sure that there was plenty of room for her on either side of me. She was a little late but apparently it didn't matter that night, I felt like I must have had a sign on my forehead that said...Don't Sit By Me. No kidding, class had already started and people were going to the front row and climbing over others to sit in the middle of the pew rather than sit by me on the back row...bazaar. When she came in I bet her that no one else would sit on the other side of me, and I was winning for a while...then he came in.

...he was tall, handsome and dressed in a button down shirt with slacks and a tie. He made eye contact with me and I leaned over and told my friend that I lost the bet. He came right over sat down next to me and introduced himself.

Today he has been my husband for 3 weeks. Oh the memories the last year has held for me...

And so it begins

The Sweet life of R and R has officially started and so far it is just that...the sweet life. We don't have too much to say other than we are so blessed by the many generosities of those who have supported us.

As for the lack of postings...I can just say that right now it is a higher priority for me to make the house look presentable so when I can sit on the couch and not have to climb over things to get there I will get back to more regular postings. For now just know that we are happy and life is Sweet~

PS. as a side note can you believe that a year ago today I was flying back from my trip to the Mediterranean? How the time flies...

Still Alive...

Yes for anyone who follows my blog I am still alive.

Life has gotten really busy and seems to be flying right past me, but what a wonderful time it has been. Planning and planning and moving and renting out the house and...I could go on and on about all that has been going on. Instead I am going to just say that it has been so much fun and I am having a wonderful time.

I look forward to seeing many family and friends in the upcoming weeks!

Mr & Mrs (soon to be)....

For all of you who have requested photos - this is when we were in Washington DC this last May.

I am so thrilled and couldn't have asked for a better man to marry. He is so amazing and I am truly blessed.

Core Values

I have been doing some thinking this morning on the importance of being raised with core values. I think that it is vitally important to be raised in an environment where you know what is to be expected of you (what is life without some expectation of/for the future) and that you have a strong set of values. I personally feel that the best method to use as a starting point is religion.

I was taught many things as a child some of the ones I would consider of high importance are:

• testimony of the Gospel
• moral cleanliness
• taking care of my body by what I eat/drink and how exercise
• honesty
• integrity
• hard work
• service to others

(I could probably make the list go on and one) my point being that I was taught values at a young age and they are now ingrained in me today. There are things that I would never do as a result of the values that I was taught as a young girl.

The more I look at the world around me I am beginning to see more and more evidences that the world is getting increasingly bad. Evil is everywhere you look, even checking my email I feel like I need to cover up the other half of the monitor where there are flashing ads of images that I would prefer to not look at. I hardly ever turn on the television (in fact I didn't realize the switch from analog already happened...), and movies. What happened to the good old days when three were movies like, The Journey of Natty Gann???

An evening out...

Last week I went to Enrichment with "L" (from work). It was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There was a guest speaker who had graduated from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. She taught us relaxation techniques and we talked a lot on the need to have balance in our lives...physical, emotional, mental and spiritual...Mind, Body, Spirit.

After one of the exercises I could literally feel the stress lifting from my shoulders. So wonderful as life seems to have been piling up on me. (Don't worry...just regular stuff)

One thing that she mentioned on breathing was to try to inhale for at least 4 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds...start with that and then try to increase both of those to see how long you can inhale and exhale. After only a few times I could feel myself relaxing and becoming calmer.

She ended her presentation with a video that was taken from a talk given at BYU in May 1996 by Elder Busche entitled "Unleashing the Dormant Spirit". Very good article. The video captured a portion towards the end of his talk where he states a several ways to help us reach our vision of true discipleship.

Some of those things he suggested are:

• Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks. The covenant with God to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by him, and nothing is impossible for you
• When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and directed them, in gratitude and love, toward God.
• In your life there have to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.
• First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness.
• Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul
• God knows you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, he will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve.
• God knows better than you what you need. He always attempts to speak to you. Listen and follow the uncomfortable suggestions that he makes to us - everything will fall into its place
• Avoid any fear like your worst enemy, but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin
• The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it.

There are other's I am not going to list them all here.

~Enjoy