Special Time of Year

I love Christmas time. One of my fondest memories as a child was watching my dad put up the Christmas lights on our house. My dad is a professional putting-Christmas-lights-on-the-house-guy. I think he should've majored in that because he is that good. He's a lot older now, so it's not as easy for him to put lights up on the house, but when he did, he was something special to watch. Kelli and I sure thought so, as you can see from our very immersed expressions. My parents always made Christmas a special time for us. But, as children, my focus was inevitable on toys and "what is Santa bringing me this year, hmm?" For instance, on Sunday, Will and I were sitting in the back row of the chapel and lots of families with their youngens sit in the back row, for easy access in case one of their little people decides to throw a tantrum of great magnitude. Don't worry, Will and I knew what we were getting ourselves into. Anyway, we sat behind a very well behaved bunch of kiddos. One of the little girls was getting anxious for the sacrament to be over. She kept whispering kind of loudly to her mother, "Mooooooom, can I please play my game?" Her mother looked her in the eyes and whispered, "Not right now, right now you need to think of Jesus." Her daughter persisted, "But, I can think of Jesus while I play my game!" Her mom shook her head and the little girl gave in to her mothers wish. See, children are so little and aren't able to bask in the gloriousness of our Savior, but it's wonderful when you can see the pureness in a child's eyes. Will and I were observing this little family and how they were focused on the Savior and striving to be reverent. Even though it's unbelievably hard at such a young age when your attention span is the size of a pea. I just didn't realize how important the Savior is to me until I got a little older and wiser. Presents are very special, thoughtful, and make you feel so good. But, they are also temporal. The gifts you receive under the tree that is. But, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the gift of the Atonement, the gift of the gospel...there are so many gifts that come from our Heavenly Father in the form of the spirit. There is nothing on the face of the earth that compares to the power of the gospel and what our Father in Heaven offers us. True happiness, that's the gift I choose to appreciate most around this time of year. Even though I rarely post, and maybe no one will see this. I hope everyone has the best Christmas! Oh and take some time to read, Shepherds, Why This Jubilee?

Three. Zero.

I'm married to a thirty year old. Will does not act like a thirty year old and I mean that in the least pubescent way possible. To celebrate his momentous day of birth, I fed his face full of pretty scrumptious food. All Will really wanted for his birthday was to get his car tuned and that is exactly what we did. I love Will because he doesn't like attention. He wants the spotlight as far away from him as it can get. The problem with marrying me is, I love to shine the spotlight on him because he is someone worth celebrating. At the end of the day he made sure I knew that he liked being celebrated by me. I told him, "I will celebrate you whether you like it or not!" I mean, thirty years is a great success and he is unbelievably healthy, so why not celebrate making it this far. Happy Birthday, lovee-o-mine!

hear say

I have a routine. Every morning I have to check my blogs. The blogs that inspire me. The blogs that make me hunger. The blogs that make me wish I had a entirely new wardrobe. The blogs that poop on my writing skills. Sounds like I spend my entire day reading blogs. Have you this all takes place all under 15 minutes. It's something I do to relieve my brain from all my studies that I partake from each day. Anyways. It gets harder to blog when there are so many creative blogs out there that I can just read. I don't have to type up a gianormous paragraph, all I have to do is read and let my fingers relax. But, I was looking at ancient posts here on my blogaroo and realized...this blog is for me. I mean, I love to write to update whoever on the happenings taking place in my life. The thing is, I shouldn't use this blog to appeal to an entire population, but rather use this blog for a place to relieve thoughts that are pent up in my noggin'. Or, to record how I got through nursing school (which I am still in the process of doing). Or, express how happy I am so that when I am in the dumps or need a pick-me-up I can look back and smile at all the good times I've had. I love writing and most of all I love memories. I am so glad my mom made me write in my journal as a youngen. I look back at all my entries and sometimes I can scratch my head, and think, "Glad I wrote in my journal today, because I would not have remembered how I hit my brother in the nose with a bat for tickling me until I had to pee!" I promise, I wasn't an abusive sister and I did not break his nose. I just didn't know what else to do. I don't need to defend myself to the public. He deserved it, and anyways he's fine now, all growed up and working for Microsoft in Charlotte, NC. I think that bat did him some good. Just thought I'd write some thoughts down since it's been ages since I've written on this thing. And the format of blogger has changed, looking a bit...new. Thank you peasants for reading my blog. I wish thee well. Oh, I ran a half-marathon. That was a pret-ty good day, why can't I have that day over and over and over...oh wait. I think that was my last one. They are hardcore, man.

As you can see from my distasteful expression.

My Will-man was there. Waiting at the finish line for moi. Brought his handy dandy camera. Oh and look, I got a medal. Except everyone's medal looked identical to mine. I still believe I won first place. They just gave me the wrong medal, those reets.

Kneaders catered. BEST day of my life.

Then and Now

What happened? I look nothing like I did when I was little iddy person. I guess that's normal. BUT, the man that I love, has not changed a bit since he was a young lad. All you have to do is resize the picture below to a larger size and voila, adult version of baby Will. Okay okay, it's not that extreme, but still, he looks no different. Maybe he has a few crows feet and some beach balls for arms, but that is about it. He ages beautifully. It's not cool and I'm not okay with it. I need to find out his secret. Once I find out, I'll let y'all in on the secret. He was sure cute. I want a Will Jr. Don't worry, we are not naming our future child Will Jr. AND, I'm not pregnant.

(Left to right: Me, My sister Lindsay, and my twin...mesmerized with my dad's shaving routine)

(Will and his brother Joseph)

In a weeeeeeek..

I shall be done with this semester of school. Can I get a hallelujah?! Thank you very much. I'm lacking in creativity with this blog. Because all I do, all day, everyday is study Anatomy or Microbiology. And, I guarantee nobody wants to hear about what I'm learning. No really, your dinner will come right back up to say hello, promise! I love what I learn, it does not gross me out the slightest. I am feeding you full of horse pile. I get grossed out occasionally, but like I said, I will not disgust you with details. All I'm trying to say is, I am done with this semester in a week.

I'm not sure what the plan is for the future, which isn't always my favorite feeling. I am a planner. Plain and simple. Except it's not so simple when my plan goes haywire. Honestly, I'm so lucky I married a feller that is not the planner type. He goes with the flow which has helped me relax a little. I never thought I was a planner kind of girl until I married Will. But, that's been my biggest struggle lately, is just relying on the Lord that my plan will work it's way out in due time (aka the Lord's time). All I have to do is my part by being good and working hard. So, that's what I've been doing.

Life is great! I'm also grateful for the wonderful family Will and I have. We both were raised in strong, loving families. I love the sky. I love the comfy laz-ee boy I'm currently sitting in. I love getting to study right dab next to my husband every night. I love Anatomy (even if I can't wait for it to be over). I love our living a healthy lifestyle. I love chapstick/lotion. I love singing especially when I'm alone. I love the feeling of a car with a full belly of gas. I love a Marci with a full belly of mandarins. I love a lot of things. But, most of all I love the gospel. It brings true happiness into my life.

I'm in like with this Conference weekend

BEWARE: Explosion of Ruby in this post. Ruby is Joseph (Will's brother) and Jen's baby.

Will and I got to spend a short, but sweet Conference weekend with Will's hospitable parents, Joseph, Jen, Ruby and their dog Daisy. I'd say we had a pretty good time. Just lounging around, eating lots of delicious food, as well as being spiritually fed. We listened to some amazing talks that touched me personally and I'm grateful we got to spend the weekend with family.

One of the most fun memories was my mother-in-laws new waffle cone maker. The boys went off to Priesthood while the ladies stayed back. We learned how to make waffle cones and they turned out pretty good. Crunchy to the taste. It was a great weekend and Ruby entertained all of us the entire time. You'd think she'd get tired of being so cute, well, she doesn't. We brought our new camera with us, not expecting to take too many pictures, just enough to bask in the moment. Well, Will and I got a little carried away. We set the camera to high speed continuous mode, because Ruby is currently in the "I cannot stay put if my life depended on it" stage, so it was impossible to get a clear shot if we hadn't changed the setting. We took over 200 pictures of Ruby. She is a star. Here are a few out of the 200 we took:

She's a hoot.

Sunday Bliss

Sundays are probably my most favorite day of the week. The entire day is devoted to my Heavenly Father, delicious food, and I get to spend the entire day with my husband. Seriously, thanks to our Nursery calling, we are never apart from each other. Although, I really do miss Relief Society and most of all I miss having our brother and sister-in-law in our ward. Church is wonderful, but add them to the equation and it's outstanding!

These pictures were taken by Will and me. We got a new Canon EOS 60D during the Christmas season and we love it to pieces. What we have learned so far is all thanks to none other than Will's adorably hilarious sister, Emily.

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon so Will and I took a drive through Provo Canyon and hiked our little tushies up to Bridalveil Fall. Due to the lack of snow this season, I thought it would be snow-less when we got up there so I wore little Vans. Bad idea. My feet felt as if they were about to fall off when we got done taking pictures. But, I survived and so did my toes. It was fun and we want to do it again come Sunday. If the sun had a face and wasn't capable of completely obliterating me, I'd kiss it. Here are some shots from our glorious relaxing Sunday endeavor:

Hip-less

I love my body. I am grateful for my health. I just wanted to add that to the mix before it seems like I'm ungrateful. I just want to give my hips an ear full, is all. I mean lack thereof. I'm just going to say it, I do NOT have hips. I was not blessed with a curvaceous body. I never knew it until the majority of my peers pointed it out. I thought I had a great body growingup. I mean, growing up I don't think my innocent naive brain ever thought about what is normal, sexy, attractive, any of those things. I even thought I had curves. Pssh, was I wrong or what! But, now that I look back at my teen years, I remember that my waist was the same size as my hips. I mean, I was a pencil. That's also what Will said to me one time while walking the aisles of our grocery store, "You are the cutest pencil!" I looked back at him with disgust, not proud of my hip-less genes. But, it was nice that he added cute in there. Almost, as if he was sugar coating an insult. I know he means no harm.

I just couldn't help, but think, I don't have a curvy sexy bod. Oh, the insecurities of being a woman. LAME! It's interesting how I was so happy with myself (still am) growing up, not knowing if my hips were small, medium, or large, and still I was content with myself because I didn't care what people thought of me. Now grown up and aware of what our society defines as beauty, it has become a temporal struggle with my hip-lessness.

Okay, I know I have hips, I'm just combining hips and muscle/fat surrounding the hips synonymously. We cool? Cool. The whole point of what I'm trying to say is, that my lack of hips is an insecurity. It's okay to have insecurities, let's you know you're still a mortal. But, it's not okay to compare my hipless body to anyone that could possibly be photoshopped into having the perfect body. I have done that. But, it is wrong to do. Every time I fall into the temptation to compare my body to someone elses, it's perfectly aware to my Heavenly Father that I am ungrateful, because he gave me this body.

I am lucky. I wear my little hips proud. Even if they aren't childbearing hips. You never know. I actually hear hips become wider after having babies...now I'm just rambling. I watched this video a couple of days ago. If you watch this, beware, you will be crying a river. I promise you. I was not warned and did not have a box of kleenox on hand. It was messy. These beautiful little girls are angels. They will change your perspective on life.

All Dogs Go to Heaven

I'd like to think that all those times of walking the dog, picking up his doodoo, filling his bowl with doggie grub, dropping a few pieces of steak/chicken/VEGGIES (yuck) under the table for my drooling dog to partake, so many memories with that cute canine...all to think that we won't get to reunite in heaven? I think NOT. Not on my watch. I don't think there is even such a thing as doggie heaven. I think it's just plain everyone heaven. Although, it's probably not plain. There are no words to describe heaven. Well, that's very untrue of me to say. Blissful, peaceful, extraordinary...seee, the words are endless. I don't need to prove my smartypants nature to y'all. All I'm saying is, I'm glad I have faith that my dog awaits my arrival. He died while I was a freshman in college. I didn't even get to say bye to him. It was unexpected for everyone in my family. I honestly thought Hobie was going to live on forever. Shows how naive I was. Well, he does live on. Just in the form of a spirit. Sweetest dog. I really think I started writing this post because I am literally sitting here, studying my Anatomy note cards, thinking, "It is too dang quiet in here, I can even here crickets, and it's the middle of the AFTERNOON...I need a dog!" Then, I thought about Hobie. My mind is a pool of crazy thoughts. I better return to my note cards before I actually go out and buy a dog. Will wouldn't like that too much. He's a cat person, (so am I, but an allergic cat person). Bye for nah.

Guess Who's Running Another Half-Marathon

That's right, yours truly. I'm nuts, but don't care who knows it. I have a new neighbor, her name is Lanaya and we decided it would be a glorious adventure to run a half-marathon together. I'm all about goal setting and achieving. We're running the American Fork Half, which should be gorgeous in June when we run the darn thing.

I'd like to give a shout-out to my old running buddy (Julie Bagley--who is having a baby girl in April) and tell her that I will be thinking about her the whole time I'm training for this race! We ran the Utah Valley Half-Marathon together and I couldn't have asked for a better running partner.

Oh, don't mind my freaky long alien hands

Anywho. I'm also probably going to sign up for the Dirty Dash run with Lanaya as well to get ready for the Half-Marathon. I've always wondered what it was like to run through a big pile of mud. We shall see. I'm on a running kick. Maybe I should just get a dog instead of being crazy and running super strenuous races.

The one crawling through the mud, is my awesome sis-in-law who ran the Dirty Dash, she's hardcore people!

Back to Anatomy and Micro.

Ain't it the troof

I NEVER BLOG ANYMORE!

Blogging is getting hard. I don't have a lot of time to write and post pictures. Honestly, when I sit down to write a post it feels like it only took me five minutes to write, but really, it took me an hour to write. I just have a lot to say about a lot of things. Well, Honestly I don't even know where to begin. Actually, I do. My life has not take that much of a turn. The last amazing event that took place for me and Will was that we got to spend Christmas in South Carolina with Will's wonderfully hilarious family. We could not have imagined anything more splendid than to spend Christmas where the sun shines. I mean, it wasn't the tropics, but it sure beat Utah's weather. We had a lot of fun! (BEWARE: High volume of picture taking up in heyah!)

(Will's father took us on a trip to their family farm in Hartsville, SC. Such a beautiful place.)

(EMILY. Check out that bokeh! Will was so proud of these pictures! We were putting in action everything you taught us over Christmas. Still LOTS and LOTS to learn though)

(Precious family portrait :)

SEE.

That's really all that's been goin' on. No babies to report, no new job, no extraordinary event, nothin'. I got nothin'. I am glad to be alive and I'm truly grateful for my husband. Will is one of a kind and I'm truly lucky. I mean, for Valentine's Day, I woke and looked him in the eyes and said, "Happy Valentine's, love!" He said, "Um, I literally did NOTHING for you today, I mean, I have nothing to give you or anything. BUT, I still love ya!" I responded, "I already know, I've been married to you for over three years, I didn't expect anything this year." I couldn't help but feel like I wasn't special enough to be thought of on Valentine's Day. Selfish thoughts, that's what was going on in my little head. I'm kind of a romantic so I made Will breakfast and set out his clothes for the day. Actually, that's not really romantic, I was just playing mom for the day. Sheesh.

I almost felt like I wanted to (jokingly) get Will back for not remembering a special occasion so I packed one of his tupperware (that I usually fill with a sandwich or something) with paper towels And, so I sent Will off to work, lunch-less. I was initially going to wait until he called me up to tell me he doesn't have lunch, but I couldn't wait any longer. I called him and said, "So you know I forgot to send you with lunch, but I still love ya!" He got kind of quiet for a minute. Then, I busted out laughing, "JUST KIDDING! I'm coming to pick you up at 12 to take you out somewhere yummy!" He liked that idea.

Later that day, I got this hilarious email. He sent me an E-card. I'll just give you the first line. "An Idiot can send an E-card, I struggle with romance...." You get the point. He felt horrible for not making V-day a special one for me, and then I felt horrible for making him feel horrible. He shows me love 365 days a year. He doesn't feel like he should take one day out of the year to celebrate his love for me, instead he does it every single day. Just more with actions rather than roses and candies. Although, I could use some chocolate. We ended up having a fun Valentine's Day, even though it really did feel like any other typical day. I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Valentines day!