a Clayson + a Gardner + love = us

Meeting Mitt

2012-01-28T16:08:00.001-06:00

He’s coming here? To Panama City? Awesome! Here’s our journey to meeting Mitt told in pictures.

Waiting for Mitt to arrive in the shipyard

Loud cheering and cameras everywhere, myself included. Here comes Mitt rollin’ on in.

Shaking his hand as he walks in. No, I’m not zoomed in, we were really that close.

Awesome face, Mitt

Getting introduced

Giving his speech

After the speech. My friend, Melyn, going in for the hand shake.

Right around this time the man next to me asked Mitt if he would like to attend our Stake Conference this weekend, haha. Classic.

It was pretty cool to go to the rally. A great experience. And hopefully, when he gets elected, I will be able to say, “One time I shook the President’s hand.”

Right now, I love it

2012-01-23T15:56:00.001-06:00

Oh heavens. My life is so good right now, I don’t say this to brag, but simply in thankfulness. Sure, I work. I’ve been substituting, teaching piano lessons, making the occasional invitation or card, and planning for everything Primary, but I love it (most of the time). I love being able to do what I want when I want. I am fully aware that this won’t last very long once kids walk their cute little bums into the picture (not pregnant). Which is why I try to take full advantage of it and make sure to tell my Heavenly Father every night how thankful I am for this gift of time. There is good in every part of life, even when times are hard, especially then…we just gotta look.

This is my friend, Lila, and her face pretty much sums up how I’ve been feeling the past few weeks. She is a good example to me of loving every part of life.

I found the secret!!

2012-01-12T15:37:00.001-06:00

I found the secret to losing weight! It’s so contradictory and strange, that I bet you won’t even believe me when I tell you. And it’s wonderful and delicious! Do you wanna know what it is? It’s this….

That’s right! We’ve been missing the point all along. Ice cream, especially Blue Bell, helps you LOSE weight not GAIN it. I can prove it. Just look at my weight watcher’s chart. On Tuesday and Wednesday I ate a big bowl of ice cream and whip cream and today…POOF! I lost a pound! Blue Bell is magic and delicious. I know it works because we never have ice cream in our house (because I would do what I’m doing now and eat it every night). You should try it!

Okay, okay I don’t really think Blue Bell makes you lose weight, but that did really happen to me and I do think the world would be so much more awesome if it were true. Can you imagine if vegetables tasted like ice cream? Oh man, that’d be amazing.

In other news, here is a picture of me in my American Red Cross get up. Because I fainted when I was giving blood today, I gave myself permission to put on my PJ’s at 3pm in the afternoon. Don’t be J, I’m cool.

Peace.

FL to TX to UT back to FL

2012-01-11T12:58:00.001-06:00

We had the mother of all Christmas trips. A three week tour of the Clayson’s and the Gardner’s. We’ll probably never get to have a break for that long again, but it was awesome. The highlights for me were loving up on these cute little faces….

Baby Emily

Baby Jayce

Baby Ava

Baby Rex

Aren’t they all so sweet!? Yes, baby loves were definitely a highlight of my Christmas trip. And of course, Denis and I loved playing with all our nieces and nephews!

Cutie Meili

Sweet Maggie

My family got to do a family picture while we all there together. It was tricky to get three babies and all the kiddos looking at the same time, but they turned out cute!

Be warned…

2011-12-12T00:52:00.001-06:00

I learned a new word tonight. Osculator. Let me demonstrate.

I tried to warn you at the beginning. Yeah, we are totally osculator’s.

Top 5 Reasons why we love the Holidays

2011-11-29T12:37:00.001-06:00

#5 –We get to have adventures that we wouldn’t otherwise have. Like going on a bike ride and exploring a cute little town.

#4 – We take the time to appreciate all the beautiful creations God has given us.

#3- We make the best memories! For example, me screaming at the top of my lungs after hitting a huge wave at 30 mph in a speed boat and promptly bursting into tears after catching at least 5 feet of air before hitting the water again. It only took a couple hours for the shock and fear to wear off, a securely fasten life jacket, and a much slower speed before I could laugh at how ridiculous I must of sounded and looked. Like I said, the best memories are made during the holidays.

#2 – Spending time with the most important people in our lives. We were so happy my sister, Steph, could come to visit. It was the best part about our Thanksgiving. Isn’t she gorgeous? Love you Stephy!

#1 – Decorating for Christmas because it reminds us to celebrate, remember, and love the Light of the World, the Savior.

Celebrate in spooky style

2011-11-05T17:00:00.001-05:00

So how did this…

and this….

turn into this…

and this…?

That would be 75 + hours of work that my counselors and our husbands did to help make this Halloween carnival into the best Halloween party the Mexico Beach Branch has ever had. So was the 75 + hours really worth it for a 2 hour party…?

(looks like green lantern caught himself a werewolf)

(Highlight of my Halloween was when this little dude grabbed the bat and took one swing and broke the pumpkin piñata in half…pounds of candy falling everywhere. Awesome.)

I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Deck the Halls

2011-10-20T16:44:00.002-05:00

I love Christmas, but I don’t have a ton of decorations yet. Slowly, but surely I keep adding to my collection. I’m going to be prepared this Christmas and we are going to “deck the halls” this year.

See I’m not a fan of the tradition Christmas wreaths at all. So today I finally found Hydrangeas for 60% off and I made a solution to my problem. I love it!

3rd time’s a charm

2011-10-14T11:56:00.001-05:00

So we headed to Orlando with our friends over Columbus Day weekend. On Saturday morning we woke up super early to go to the temple so we had time to go to parks later. The temple was wonderful, peaceful, and spiritually renewing. When we were finished in the temple we walked out into a monsoon. I haven’t seen it rain that hard in Florida since July. It was nuts. Hence the reason there are no pictures of us at the temple. Obviously, we weren’t going to brave the parks in that weather. It wouldn’t even be fun and we weren’t prepared for it. So we just hung out (because it rained the entire day), went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and watched the BYU game that night until 1:30am.

Watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings with our glasses of ice water, poor waitress.

The next day, we got up and ready ourselves for a wet day at the park. We weren’t planning on going to parks on Sunday. Originally, we just wanted to go to church and then have a chill day, but since Saturday was rained out we had to switch up the plans. I’ll admit it was super weird going on a Sunday, never done that before. But we couldn’t make the trip to Orlando and just stay in the hotel the whole time, we had to make the trip worth it. So the Bakers dropped us off at Universal Studios because we had year passes that we needed to use one more time and they headed to Sea World.

Heading into the park in the $8 “garbage” bags. If theme parks ever made money, it would be when it rained and they get to charge eight bucks for a piece of plastic. Luckily, after about 2 hours of another monsoon on Sunday, the day cleared up and it was sunny! Hooray!!

Heading into Harry Potter World from the backside. We know all the “secret” ways now.

Eating lunch at The Three Broomsticks. We got our Butterbeers. They have good food there too.

Hogwarts. Most of these pictures are moving and talking too, but you obviously can’t tell that from our “muggle” picture.

Hanging out during the last hour we had in the park on Monday. Now our year passes are expired to Universal, I don’t think we will be going back for a long time, but it was WAY fun while it lasted and definitely worth the trips.

It’s a miracle!

2011-10-05T15:03:00.001-05:00

There is a reason why my first word was “shoe”. It’s because I have an unhealthy, slightly obsessed love for them. I love them with heels or without. I love them in neutral colors or fun colors. I love them with zippers, straps, buttons, laces, ruffles, flowers and a tastefully placed buckle. I love them in leather or cloth. I don’t discriminate. Unless, of course, they are ugly. I realize that this type of love for something that is material is a weakness. But it’s a weakness I’m willing to accept and even flaunt.

Last April, Denis and I went into a Famous Footwear with my parents in Orlando. Ah, just thinking about walking into an entire store full of shoes puts an evil grin on my face. Anyways, I had my heart set on finding some nude color shoes, because they go with anything. Then I spotted them a few feet away. I admit, I have a gift of finding amazing shoes amongst the plain Jane's. These shoes were perfect. Nude, flat, cute, comfortable, and even had a zipper. It had been a while since I had found a shoe I loved so much. You know that feeling when you’re shopping and you try something on and you feel like a totally new person? That’s the feeling I got with these shoes. Confidence was spreading from my toes to my head and exploding out my eyeballs. I didn’t even have to say anything, Denis read the danger signs on my face, he knows them well now.

That blasted price tag! Oh why? Oh why, did it have to say $45? After a few perfectly placed rationalizations, a tiny bit of smoozing, and in the end a small temper tantrum Denis was literally dragging me away from them and out of the store. I have a hard time letting things go that I love. Luckily for me I have a super logical and ultra rational husband that has to help me see the error of my ways at times. He is so perfect for me.

Today and Denis free, I walked into Rack Room Shoes hoping to find the shoes again. As I walked into the deepest darkest corner of the store, I spotted them again! I took a quick look over my shoulder to make sure Denis wasn’t following me, which is strange since I knew he was an hour away at work. I ripped them off the shelf and threw them on my feet. It was love at second sight again, even though they were black instead of nude. They were on sale for $35. This time, I wasn’t going to let them go. The cashier rang them up and the screen said $4.99. I was shocked. I said, “Exxxxxxxcuse me, but did that just say $4.99???!!!” The cashier laughed and said, “yes”. And that, my friends, is the story of my miracle shoes. Even Denis will be proud of me…after he read this and finds out that I bought them.

It’s okay if you don’t like them. We can still be friends.

My little stars

2011-10-04T09:22:00.001-05:00

I’m really a full out piano teacher now. I held my first student piano recital last week. The kids worked on their recital songs for a couple of months. They memorized them and practiced them till they were perfect. I’m so proud of all of them! It was so fun to get to share all their hard work with their friends and family. Every time I teach any one of them a lesson I’m amazed at just how quickly they learn and how much they want to learn. Since I only had 5 students, the recital was short and very sweet. In trying to remember everything for the recital I forgot my camera, but luckily all the parents had them and I stole a few of their pictures.

What’s a recital without refreshments? Chocolate STAR cupcakes for all my little stars that night. I also made red velvet cheesecake brownies. (Took this pic at my house when I was done decorating them because I was so proud of my first decorating attempt.)

I’m going to miss this little guy. He is an amazing piano player (6 yrs old) He is moving soon. We are really good friends with their family and so sad that they have to go.

This is my newest student. She is super smart and super sweet (10 yrs old)

Haha we are all looking at different cameras. They was about 6 different people taking pictures of us at the same time. One of the little girls jokingly said, “Get away all you paparazzi, I don’t want my picture taken.”

All my students together! (Hannah Smith age 9, Hannah Seagraves age 10, me, Enoch Garza age 6, Daniel Smith age 11, Quinn Lewis age 7).

Something fishy is going on

2011-09-26T09:13:00.001-05:00

Something fishy is going on, I’m having a weird allergic reaction to something this morning…hives on my arms and legs. I downed some of my neighbors children’s Benadryl, so hopefully I don’t fall asleep while I’m writing this. Anyways, the other thing that is fishy is that I finally repurposed (that’s a fancy word for throwing some paint on it) my fish bowl that I got for a dollar at a yard sale a while back. I’m thinking I might paint some sort of design on the outside of it to make it pop a little more; like polka dots, stripes, flowers, damask, etc. But I’m not sure about that. Anyways, it’s cute and adds some color in my kitchen. You like?

They are good apples

2011-09-16T09:49:00.001-05:00

No, I’m not talking about the apples in the pictures below, although those are good, tasty apples. I’m talking about my counselors that work with me in Primary. They are good, wonderful, kind, happy, helpful, humble, creative, willing, and fun! I’m so grateful to have them serving with me so I made them these apples to let them know that they are fantastic teachers.

Different, but still the same

2011-09-10T13:45:00.001-05:00

Denis and I decided we would drive the 8 hours to see the opening BYU game because it is going to be the only game that we will be able to see in person. As we drove into Oxford, MS we saw all the Ole Miss and BYU fans walking around campus all dressed up in their game gear, and ready to cheer their team on. Although we were in a different place, it gave me the same feeling I had when walking to the LaVell Edwards stadium for the first home game at BYU. There may have been more Ole Miss fans, but Denis and I were sitting in a section with mostly all BYU fans and it wasn’t even the “visiting teams” section. It was so fun to meet BYU fans from Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, etc all coming in to cheer their Cougars on! Although the first three quarters were slow and frustrating, the 4th made up for it all. Go cougars! Hope we can pull out another win tonight!

Thanks for letting us stay with you Gretchen and Elise!! We always love to visit. Come see us soon!

Best Part

2011-09-02T11:04:00.001-05:00

You wanna know the best thing is about living by a beach? You can decide to have a dinner picnic, on a Tuesday, after work, with friends, at the last minute. Yeah, that’s probably the best part. (The little girl in the pictures name is Lily, she is the cutest little thing so I couldn’t help but take like a thousand pictures of her.)

As promised, the dolphins

2011-08-29T16:08:00.001-05:00

In my last post I mentioned that Denis planned a jet skiing tour out to Shell Island where we could see and even swim with the dolphins. Here are the picture we took with a disposable waterproof camera. The quality not so good, but it did the job and captured some memories!

Everyday an Anniversary

2011-08-23T15:51:00.001-05:00

This is post is for journaling purposes so please excuse any “mushiness” that may occur. I decided that everyday should be treated like it’s an anniversary. Denis and I celebrated our 3rd year together, yesterday. It was such a wonderful day. We didn’t do anything big or grand, we just stayed at home hung out together and went to dinner. (Although, last Saturday we did go jet skiing and swimming with dolphins and that was awesome. Pictures to come. Whoever comes to visit next, we should do it again.) I think my favorite part of our anniversary is that we were just super conscious of trying to make the other person happy. That’s why I say we should live life like everyday is our anniversary, where there is no room for selfishness. For my anniversary gift Denis gave me flowers and a nativity set. That may seem a little random, but I have been wanting one since we got married and since good ol’ Hobby Lobby puts their Christmas stuff out in the middle of the summer I found one I LOVE. My gift to Denis was a yummy lunch and a surprise basket full of goodies and love notes at work. Its true that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. haha. I couldn’t have asked for a better three years then the ones we’ve shared. I love you Sweetheart!

Isn’t that so cool how they have scripture references on them? I love it.

It amazing what you can buy for $20

2011-08-15T13:24:00.002-05:00

Alright Melyn, I’ll admit it, you were right. Yard/moving/garage sales are pretty awesome. We drove up to this “garage” sale that we found out about on craigslist and I didn’t even want to get out of the car…it didn’t look like they had anything I would be interested in. It was this couple that had parked on the side of the road with a trailer hooked up to their old truck. So I guess it was really a “trailer” sale (gotta love panama city). I was looking around, quickly, when I suddenly spotted a “gem” amongst the trash. When I asked for the price I was shocked! Twenty bucks! Seriously? I had no hesitation, I’ll take it! I was expecting to have to “fix up” a night stand for our guestroom, but now I don’t have to worry about it since this baby is brand new. I also got a giant fish bowl that I’m going to repurpose into something cool, hopefully it turns out! Without any more explanation, here is my “gem”.

A Touch of Spice…Green Spice

2011-08-07T14:44:00.003-05:00

Here’s the thing, you don’t ever want me to get “bored” because when I get bored I do crazy things. Some of you may remember this one…http://denisandlisaclayson.blogspot.com/2009/11/sometimes-you-have-to-make-life.html.

Also a lot of times my answer to boredom is to go, go anywhere…so we take a lot of trips. As I’ve reflected on this little quark of mine I’ve realized that it all comes down to my Dad. He’s the one that made me this way. When my Dad gets bored….oh wait, that never happens because he is ALWAYS doing SOMETHING. Honestly, go to my parents house for a day and you’ll see what I mean. I happen to like this particularly quality about myself that I picked up from my Dad because it makes life exciting, new, and fun all the time.

So yesterday I was bored and now you know what that means…I did something a little crazy, but not too crazy. After a year of living in my house I decided I finally wanted to paint. I can be very indecisive about how I want to decorate my own home (a quality I got from my Mother), but yesterday was different. I knew I wanted to paint that wall light green and I wanted to do it now. Thankfully, I have a very flexible, wonderful husband who will go with me on these little excursions to cure my boredom. He doesn’t just “go with me” either, he sinks his teeth in and stays up till midnight helping me do it. Ah, I love that man. Last night for part of our date, we stopped at Lowe’s and picked up everything we would need to add a little spice into our lives…green spice.

(The top two pictures are in natural/daylight and the bottom pic is at night so that’s why the “greens” look a little different. I think it turned out nicely.)

Trip, not vacation

2011-08-01T16:45:00.001-05:00

Do you know what the difference between a trip and a vacation is? A vacation is totally relaxing, carefree, and you don’t have to think about anything but enjoying yourself. A trip is a lot of work, busy, and go, go, go all the time. Neither one is better or worse, they are just different. In fact, sometimes I prefer trips over vacations just depends on the mood I’m in. We took a trip to Utah last week and after all my pictures you’ll understand why I call it a trip instead of a vacation.

We had a Curtis family reunion and then celebrated my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.

We had a BIG family dinner with Mike’s wife’s (Mike has a wife…weird) family.

Denis and I went on a hike in Pleasant Grove. We met this awesome grandma on the hike. She was about 80 yrs old and was hiking all alone. I stopped and asked her if she was alone and she told us that she lived nearby and she hiked this 2-3 times a week. It was a steep, rocky hike too. She’s amazing!

We went mini golfing w/the fam.

Denis and I took an afternoon and walked around BYU campus to remember the college days. The building behind us in the 3rd picture is the SWKT tower and that is where we first met each other. Then we had to have lunch at our favorite Thai restaurant near campus. It was such a fun day!

And of course the MAIN EVENT, the wedding. You may be wondering why I took a picture of the fire alarm in the church building, that is because it went off when my grandpa was giving the prayer and was blaring for about 25 minutes of the luncheon. Sadly, I didn’t take any pics at the reception because it was raining and I didn’t want my camera ruined. Although it did stop raining right in time for guests to start coming. Can’t believe my little brother is married. He’s a husband and has a wife. No matter how much I think about it, it’s still weird. I’m sure it will become normal someday. He picked an awesome girl, I’m happy to have another sister!

We took the kids to BYU to have a picnic and play in the water. They have this beautiful stream that you can wade in now. As you can see the kids loved it and they helped uncle Denis build a dam in the stream.

And lastly, we got to go camping! My sister found this awesome camp ground in Provo canyon up Squaw Peak road. It was beautiful we had a great time. (PS I took a pic of Gavin’s cup because there was cheese marks all over it from his chip hands…cute)

That is why it was a trip because we did SO much fun stuff in such a short amount of time. It was a great trip, we loved it!

HP Nerd Alert

2011-07-15T09:54:00.001-05:00

I ran into Mom’s room with my younger brother at my heels. We both took flying leaps and landed on my parents bed completely crumpling up the comforter underneath us. We laid there patiently, occasionally smacking or kicking or stealing pillows from each other as any 11 and 10 year old siblings would. Finally, Mom came into the room after finishing whatever she was doing, which was most likely eight loads of laundry or vacuuming somewhere or maybe she had found a few precious moments alone with Dad and took advantage of them. This was our nightly ritual. After brushing our teeth Mike and I would run into Mom’s room and wait for her. Mom would lay in the middle of us on the bed and we would snuggle up close to her on either side and listen to her read a book in her perfect story telling voice.

Mom loves reading. Every night that she read to us she was gradually instilling the same love she has for reading into my brother and I. Together we read The BFG, The Girl With the Silver Eyes, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Hobbit, The Indian in the Cupboard, A Wrinkle in Time, and many more. But tonight, was an even more special night because we were starting a new book.

“What did you get Mom?!” asked Mike excitedly. Mom answered, “Well, I’m not sure actually. For the first time I picked a book that I’ve never read before, but I hear that it is good. It’s called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” As she began reading we all instantly fell in love with the book. We kept begging her to read on and on that night as we discovered the world of Harry Potter.

And that, my friends, is the story of when our family fell in love with Harry Potter. Since then, I’ve read all the books multiple times and seen all of the movies at the midnight showing as have many of my siblings. We love Harry Potter and proud of it! You can call us nerds, but that’s probably because you haven’t really given the books a chance, because if you had…then you would be nerdy too.

Last night was the last movie releasing which made me a little sad. I’ve literally grown up with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I feel like they are my friends. But you know what the best part about a book is? You can read it as many times as you want. That means Harry, Hermione, and Ron will always be my friends…all I have to do is pick up the books.

Thanks for coming with us Cam and Melyn! We had a blast!

He is older

2011-07-12T16:37:00.001-05:00

I’m not sure that Denis feels “old” yet like I did on my birthday, but he is. He’s a quarter of a century plus one year. That’s old in my book. Just kidding friends, I don’t think he is old at all. I think he’s handsome, sweet, kind, positive, hot, charitable, funny, smart, talented, ambitious, and did I mention sexy? Can’t forget that one. Apparently I’m not the only one that thinks that since a couple of weeks ago a teenage girl told him he looked like Edward Cullen from Twilight, but hey I can’t blame her. So for his birthday we had to have a little party with our neighbors of course.

(Please notice my flowers, aren’t they pretty!?)

I feel older

2011-06-27T21:45:00.001-05:00

So how come 24 feels like 5 years older than 23? I’m getting old. I think maybe because I’m dreading next year and turning, “a quarter of a century”…that’s disgusting. I know, I know most of you that are reading this are older than 25 and for that I apologize. I’m not ragging on your seriously ancient age. Wrinkles, saggy arms, a flabby behind, gray hair, a mumu, glasses as thick as a bottle, and that diaper look great on you, but on me? I’m not so sure. You know what? Talking about your oooooooold age has made me feel a ton better about mine. Thanks.

So here’s what I did for my 24 year old birthday….

I played with my niece and nephews

I relaxed

I hang out with the girls

I laughed

I snuggled with my adorable newborn nephew

I ate my mom’s amazing homemade ice cream cake

I opened 5 birthday cards, all of which had Kohl’s gift cards in them

I went to dinner with Denis and ate some bang, bang shrimp (If you don’t know what that is then go to a Bonefish Grill…it will change your life)

I went shopping with Denis, who was very supportive the whole time I was trying on clothes

I mostly felt so grateful to have such amazing friends and family that can make me feel so special and so loved

I guess if my next 24 years are as good as these last ones have been…then I don’t think I’ll mind turning 48 even if I do have a few wrinkles.

PS You can check out pictures of my fun trip to Utah on facebook.

What do you think?

2011-06-02T09:49:00.001-05:00

When I go to Utah in June, I’m getting a new haircut. My hair has been growing out and I’m so tired of it! I have like no style right now…BORING. So obviously because I’ve been growing out my hair, I’m not ready to cut it short, short again. Although, I loved it short so I probably will again in the near future. But for now, I need your help. I’ve picked out some pictures that I love or like…what do you think? Don’t worry you won’t hurt my feelings. (Please ignore the “famous” people in the pics…I’m looking purely at their hair)

This one is my favorite so far. (Picture above)

I like this one too a lot. (Picture above)

There is a theme to all of them, I want much shorter bangs this time. Right now, my hair is about the same length as picture #3 (Vanessa Hudgens), but I’m willing to cut a few inches off. So, what do you think?

We are family

2011-05-23T15:33:00.001-05:00

“Family: a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.”

I googled the term “family” and that is what dictionary.com came up with. I think there’s a lot more to it than that. That definition is lacking emotionally for me. I love emotions. Just ask Denis. Emotion is what defines “family” to me. Family is trust, family is drama, family is friendship, family is fun, family is sadness, family is compassion, family is comfort, family is forgiving, family is joy and most of all family is love.

I also find it interesting that the dictionary.com definition doesn’t refer to family as being blood related because usually that’s what comes to mind when thinking about family. However, sometimes in our lives when our blood relations live far, far away we have to find family in others. Doesn’t mean we love our blood related families any less, it just means that we altogether learn to love even more.

So I wanted you to meet some of my Florida family. They’re pretty awesome. And I’m so grateful to have all of them in my life right now. I’m tied emotionally to all of them and I’m not blood related to any of them, but we’re family.

(Dan & Liz Garza, Denis, Shaun & Amber O’Bryant, Braden & Julie Reynolds)

Fairytale Ending

2011-05-05T14:30:00.001-05:00

Okay…I admit it, every night when we came home from the parks at Disney I would turn on a royal wedding documentary or two and watch them till it was time for bed. Nerdy? Maybe. A little extreme? Probably. Awesome? Definitely. I was at Disney World for heaven sakes! Everywhere we went “Happily Ever After” was slapping me in the face and I loved it.

Well after about the thousandth time a reporter used the phrase “fairytale ending” when talking about the royal wedding, something started to feel a little weird. As I watched Kate get out of the car time and time again (those reporters just love to hit the replay button), I realized why I was feeling so strange whenever I heard a reporter say, “Kate is getting her fairytale ending”…it’s because it’s not true. There is no such thing as a “fairytale ending”. Now before you start booing and shunning me, let me tell you why it’s not true.

Does our life end after the wedding? Do we go home change out of our wedding dress/tux lay down on the ground and die an eternal death? No, that is ridiculous. Then why in the world are weddings so often describe as “fairytale endings”? I think a lot of times we play the wedding up so much by spending tons of money to create that “perfect” day that it distracts from what we are really doing...beginning a life together. The goal has become to have the most beautiful wedding instead of having a wonderful marriage. Listen, I’m not sayin’ that we shouldn’t spend money on a wedding because that’s just stupid. But I do think we often forget the most important part of the “fairytale” and that is living it with all the good and bad, after the wedding.

Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Mulan, Tangled, etc. What do these classic Disney movies have in common? They have the “fairytale ending” or “happily ever after”. What the heck?! Disney is missing out on the greatest part! Where is the Disney movie that has the ups and downs of being married and having a family? Those princes and princesses would be so lucky to have a “happily ever after” without the wonderful trials, challenges, problems, and hard times that come with being married.

Without those hard times in a marriage, we would never know our “happily ever after” if it kicked us in the butt. Is Disney really trying to show that nothing important happens after a wedding? That after the wedding day we can just sum up the rest of the marriage with a “happily ever after”? The journey of marriage is what makes ever after happy. I’m so grateful for the challenges and trials that Denis and I have been through together so far. Because it has made the good times, the happy times seem all that much sweeter. Those hard times are what help us learn how to be better, how to love more. My wedding day was amazing and perfect, but not because of how much my dress cost or how expensive the invitations were or how extravagant our reception was….it was perfect because that was the day our forever fairytale began.

What I’m trying to say is that this was my “Fairytale Beginning”

As for my “Happily Ever After”, I’m still discovering it as Denis and I support each other through life’s challenges, trials, and hard times. The story of Prince and Princess Clayson began almost 3 years ago and you know what the best part is? There is no end.

Spring Vacation

2011-05-03T15:46:00.001-05:00

We’re back! We just had an awesome vacation full of family and theme parks. My parents met us in Orlando and stayed for a few days over my Mom’s birthday. I love spending time with my parents. We went to Sea World while they were in Orlando. Thanks for coming Dad and Mom!

We also met up with Denis’ brother and family. Going to Disney with our niece Elise was awesome, I think kids make Disney so much more fun. Watching her laugh and smile when she met the characters made the whole trip. Denis had never been to Disney World and I had never been to any of the other parks except for Magic Kingdom. We went to all four Disney parks and I think my favorite was Hollywood Studios, but that may have been because it was like 10 degrees cooler than the other days haha. We had a blast! Here are a few pictures.

Waiting for the whale show to start at Sea World.

I think Minnie is LDS because she flipped out when she saw Denis and I’s BYU shirts.

Waiting for mom and dad to finish riding Everest.

Happy Easter!

Go swimming for the first time. This was my favorite picture I got of Elise. Look at those blue eyes and cute smile.

My Easter Song

2011-04-21T16:01:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to sing you a song for Easter, so I made this today. It’s not perfect, but it’s how I feel. I hope you enjoy! How beautiful is our Savior!

Easter is WONDERFUL, HOPEFUL, and HAPPY

2011-04-16T15:14:00.001-05:00

Since we don’t have an activities committee in our branch, the branch council decided that each organization would be in charge of putting on a branch activity. The Primary was in charge of doing the branch Easter party. Good thing I have these awesome ladies as my counselors…we all worked so hard on the activity, thanks Julie and Liz!

Here’s the spread we put out…a bagel bar, donuts, grapes, parfaits and we even had some other food that members from the branch brought with them. Yum!

The decorations, they were really fun to make and are so cute and colorful. Yes, I am complimenting myself…we worked hard! haha. Plus, they were cheap, branches from the woods in my backyard, sand from the beach and tissue paper…under $.50 for each bouquet.

We had some great musical numbers about our Savior. This was my favorite part. Easter is such a wonderful, hopeful time. It gives me time to reflect on the sacrifice that the Savior made for me, for all of us, when He atoned for our sins and was crucified. But the most amazing part is that He rose again. He lives. I know that He lives, just like I know that the sun will rise everyday, it is that real and sure to me. I feel incredibly blessed to have that knowledge, I will always treasure it.

And lastly, our awesome Easter Egg Hunt!

(Some of my adorable Primary kids)

It was a lot of work, but so worth it! Happy Easter!

Missing Mom

2011-03-29T15:48:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up, I helped my Mom garden all the time. I realize now that one of the reasons why I loved to do it so much is because it was time that just I got to spend with my mom, talking about whatever we were thinking. Now, I have my own little garden and I love being outside in the sunshine and planting flowers. I spent a good hour planting my flowers and spreading new mulch in our yard today. The only thing that could have made it better is having my Mom by my side helping me and talking about whatever we wanted. Missing you Mama!

Dogs + Me = Disaster

2011-03-21T12:14:00.001-05:00

I’m not a dog person. Really not a dog person. They scare me a lot. Even if the owner claims they are the nicest dog in the whole world, there is still a part of me that doesn’t trust the dog, no matter how hard I try. There have been traumatizing moments that have shaped me into the dog fearing girl I am today.

When I was just a wee little lass, I was sitting with my friends dog named Lady, when she bit me on the finger. Granted I was teasing her by swinging a Dorito in her face and then pulling it away right when she tried to eat it and it was more of a “nip” then a bite. But still, it hurt and so began my distrust of man’s best friend.

Around the same age there was a big black (don’t know what kind) dog roaming the neighborhood unsupervised. It was mean. It would bark and growl really loud and chase you…especially if you’re a 7 yr old girl on a bike. One day, I was at my friend Sara’s house when I headed out the door to go home for dinner and I looked up and saw “the beast”. I ran back into the house and started crying. Sara’s aunt was nice enough to offer to carry me pass the dog to my house. Even though I was scared, I agreed. We started out and the dog ran right up to her, jumped on her, and tripped her. She dropped me and the dog bit my butt, that’s right I said, “my butt.” Pretty funny, but there were not so funny teeth marks in my right cheek. I think it bit Sara’s aunt too, but I can’t remember. Animal services was called and yet another dog fearing moment was logged into my memory forever.

Fast forward a few years. Now I’m 13 yrs old, babysitting Jane’s little boys. My sister, Steph, was usually the one that babysat for Jane, but Steph couldn’t do it one time so Jane asked me. I knew they had a big white, long haired Alaskan “something”, because Steph told me. Steph also is afraid of dogs, so I knew I could trust her when she said it was one of the nicest dogs she’d been around. If Steph wasn’t scared, then I knew I shouldn’t be either. All was fine when I met the Alaskan dog until I walked in the house to grab something for the boys (they were playing outside) and the dog started barking at me so loud. I froze in the doorway and slowly backed out the door, right when the dog started to charge at me. Luckily, I slammed the door closed right in time. But there was a problem, I was locked outside the house now. Awesome. Eventually, the oldest little boy saved me and took the dog out in backyard so I could go back in the house. Not my best babysitting moment. That further instilled the fact that I could never, ever trust a dog.

Last story I promise, even though there are many more. I think I was about 14 yrs old when my Aunt Amy came to visit. She had visited us a lot and I knew that my Aunt Amy had two giant dogs. Previously, one of her dogs had died and so she got an even bigger dog. This was the first time I had met the new dog, Gracy. She was an English Mastiff, weighing around 150lbs (I think). So not only was this a big dog, but it outweighed me. My family was downstairs relaxing, playing games etc. when I went upstairs to get something out of the kitchen. Our friend, Gracy, was waiting for me. As soon as she saw me she started barking louder than any dog I’ve ever heard in my life. I jumped on the kitchen counter and started screaming and crying. My Aunt and the entire rest of my family, came not long after that and called Gracy off. Yeah, I’ll never live that image down, my family still makes fun of me. Later, my Aunt explained that she recused Gracy from a very abusive home and I surprised her when I came upstairs…so basically the giant dog was just really scared of me. That knowledge didn’t do much for me, when I remembered the slobber foaming from Gracy’s huge teeth as she ferociously barked at me.

So what is the point of these stories? Well, I think my dog fearing days are behind me, at least with one dog. Rizzo. She’s changed my whole mind set about dogs. I’ve been dog sitting or I should say “puppy” sitting for 2 weeks and I have 2 weeks to go. At first, Rizzo would jump up a lot (because she’s just a puppy and that’s what they do when they’re excited) and it would scare me a little. And she was constantly getting out of the yard and coming over to my house no matter how good we blocked the holes in the fence. About 4 days ago, I decided she just wanted to be with people so she moved into our back porch and yard.

Now, she is a totally new puppy. I’ve trained her to sit and not to run inside the house when I opened the door. I started leaving the window by my piano open, so she could hear me in the kitchen and when I play the piano. Everyday, she moves her bed from the porch and puts it right under the open window…so cute! I love seeing her running and playing in the backyard, it makes me laugh and smile. It’s so cute when I spot her taking a naps in the funniest places and in the weirdest positions. I love taking her running with me and going on walks. And I can tell that she loves me back, she follows me everywhere when I’m outside with her and when she wants me to pet her she’ll sit right in front of me and will wait patiently till I notice her. When Denis and I go to sleep at night I feel “safer” because I know she’ll bark at anything or anyone out of the ordinary.

Denis thinks I’m getting way too attached to her and I admit that I am. But not so much that I’m going to cry or anything when she goes back to her owners. I know that I’ll be able to go visit her when I want, they only live two houses down. It’s been a challenging, but great experience. I’ll still never, ever get an inside dog and we’ll see if we ever even get an outside dog. But now I understand dog lovers so much better, I get it now. I can see how they can love an animal so much. Rizzo has helped to mend my dog fearing heart. I’ll admit I’m still scared of dogs, but I’m not scared of this cute little puppy…

#3 is my man.

2011-03-16T14:10:00.001-05:00

So Denis joined an intermural soccer team with some of his co-workers. They usually play twice a week. Now listen, I’m not a soccer fan. Don’t like playing it, never will. But I’ve discovered that I like to watch it, especially when my #3, who is my #1, is playing. Plus, this last game I took my camera to practice taking “action” shots. It was a lot of fun and I got some pretty goods ones.

Getting ready to go out on the field.

Kicking the red shirt’s trash.

The team.

She’s good.

2011-03-08T14:14:00.001-06:00

Julie Reynolds. Remember that name. Julie got the same camera as I did, but she can work magic with hers. It’s been fun to be camera buddies and teach each other about different things on our camera. She took some pictures of us last weekend just for fun and I edited a few. Here are some I really like.

(This is Denis helping me into the tree. I was scared of the mossy stuff on the tree and I couldn't get up that high without help)

She’s good, right? Thanks Julie.

Think Happy Thoughts

2011-03-01T16:15:00.001-06:00

Here’s some things that have made me happy the past few days…

Waking up at 3:30am to Denis laughing in his sleep. After I nudged him awake and asked what he was laughing at, he said, “I was having a dream about a high school mascot. It was a dragon and it started pecking a kid in the head with its mouth, but the kid’s mom got mad so she slapped the dragon across the face.” After he told me this, we both couldn’t stop laughing…everything is funnier when you’re half asleep.
Having a new 4yr old Primary girl run up to me after church and wrap her arms around my legs to give me a big squeeze. Then she looked up and said, “I love you.” Aw, such a sweetheart.
Cooking s’mores with some neighbors/friends one night.
Booking a flight to Utah for a visit in May.
Finishing a good book.
Cleaning all three of the bathrooms, doing the laundry, and clearing out some old clothes from my closet yesterday. I love cleaning!
Soaking my feet in a hot bath while I listed to a couple talks from the last General Priesthood session.
Lifting weights so hard that my macho muscles are k-k-killing me today.
And today, seeing these made me incredibly happy…

Those are blossoms! I was so excited that I took a (crappy) picture with my phone as I drove by.

These are the things that have made me happy the past few days. How about you? What has made you happy?

That’s a good feeling.

2011-02-26T08:43:00.001-06:00

Florida = 75 – 80 degrees in February = us on the beach = happiness.

I just wanted you to know that I can honestly say that last week was the first week since we’ve been here that I’ve felt happy to be here. That’s a good feeling.

The girls + Denis

2011-02-15T15:40:00.001-06:00

My sisters got to come visit us last week for a few days. It was so much fun to have them here. It’s a little sad that they were here for the last cold week of “winter” in Florida, but we still had a good time. Here are some of the things we did.

We walked to the beach after hitting the gym.

We took a walk around the lake and gathered firewood for the fire we had on the beach later that day.

Getting in the hot tub after a freezing by the fire on the beach. Ironic, I know.

We saw a pretty sunset on our drive home.

We had to do what girls do best and go shopping. Probably the longest two hours of Denis’ life.

Dinner at a fun pizza place in PCB (Panama City Beach).

And bowling.

A lot of the time we spent hanging out, staying up late, and sleeping in after a night full of games. Those are my favorite times. I think that playing racquet ball was probably the highlight since I was a freak show and Kell (who is 5 months pregnant) kicked everyone’s trash every game.

Kell & Steph – Thanks for coming, it was a blast! Love you!

Who needs Thanksgiving?

2011-02-07T13:05:00.001-06:00

Who needs thanksgiving when you’ve got the Super Bowl. Denis and I went over to our friends house for a Super Bowl party yesterday. It was incredible (Amber, you’re an amazing cook). We had so much food. We didn’t even touch a few dishes that were there because there was just so much. But the best thing was it was all delicious. I was grateful that it was fast Sunday because then I didn’t feel so guilty for eating so much at the party. We had tons of fun playing games, watching the commercials, oh and watching the game of course.

These are just the appetizers.

Our new fun neighbors, he also works with Denis.

Our amazing hosts and cooks!

Pigging out and watching the game.

Muffin Makers

2011-01-28T11:18:00.001-06:00

I had so much fun making pineapple almond muffins with my little friend Anabelle this morning! Take a look.

A dream come true…

2011-01-24T14:30:00.001-06:00

Ever since we moved to Florida I’ve had this dream of walking down to the beach with bare feet, holding Denis’ hand, dropping a big pile of wood, lighting it on fire, and then start dancing around the flames with the waves crashing in the background. Awesome dream right? The only problem was I couldn’t find a place to make this dream come true. You can’t have fires on the beach in Bay County (where we live). One night, when we were having dinner with some friends from church, they told us that you could have fires on the beach in Gulf County (where they live). As soon as I heard the glorious news my mind was already forming a plan for next weekend. It was going to be magnificent!

There was only one problem. It was windy and kinda cold the day we went, which wasn’t in my dream. I mean like not “Utah” cold or “snow” cold or anything like that, but pretty cold for Florida! So there was no dancing around the flames because I was afraid my face would blow off or freeze up completely. Instead, we bundle up in blankets, listened to the waves, and snuggled up together close to the fire as we waited for the fire to die down into hot coals so we could cook our foil dinners and roast marshmallows.

Even though it didn’t happen exactly like I was dreaming. I’d say it was even better. A lot of times things don’t turn out exactly how I plan, usually they turn out even better.

For Mom, Steph, and anyone else who thinks this looks good, here’s the recipe to the delicious dinner Denis cooked on Sunday.

Fresh Asparagus and Chicken Casserole

6 Servings, Prep Time: 30 Minutes, Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Description

Fresh asparagus and red bell pepper add lively color and tender flavor to this creamy, cheesy chicken and noodle casserole.

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package egg noodles
1 1/3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken meat
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
8 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.
Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until almost tender. Drain, and rinse under cold water.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook onion for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken, red bell pepper, celery, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream and oregano.
Spread half of the chicken mixture into the prepared dish. Arrange asparagus over chicken, spread cooked noodles evenly over asparagus, and top with the remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly brown.

Nutritional Information

Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 377

Sodium: 352.7mg

Cholesterol: 76.7mg

Carbohydrates: 32.7g

Fat: 20.1g

Protein: 17.3g

Dietary Fiber: 3.6g

Coincidence or Blessing?

2011-01-21T10:49:00.001-06:00

I really don’t know why I choose last week to start looking for a piano in Florida, but I did. I started calling around to the very few music stores in Panama City asking if they sold upright pianos. I thought we would probably have to save for a year to be able to afford one, but I was wrong. When I called the Awesome Music Store and asked if they sold pianos the owner said, “We don’t. But I just had a lady call in 10 minutes before you did telling me she was going to drop off her piano because she needed to get rid of it before she moved. If you find a way to move it, you can have it.” I was a little shocked. Who just gives away a piano? And I just happened to call 10 minutes after the lady who was dropping the piano off?

Within two days of finding the piano I had three piano students wanting to sign up for lessons. Coincidence? I think not. I needed this. I’ve been looking for something to keep me busier. We needed something to give us a little more room in our budget. This is perfect. I know this was a blessing from our Heavenly Father. If you pay your tithing faithfully, many spiritual blessings will come to you as well as some temporal. It has happened over and over in my life and in the lives of those around me. To some, giving 10% of your income may seem like a lot, but when I remember all that the Lord has blessed me with, it doesn’t seem like nearly enough.

(Malachi 3: 8-12: 8 - Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 - Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.10 - Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.11 - And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.12 - And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.)

Here’s a look at my new/old piano. It’s not in the greatest condition, but who cares? It plays the notes!

Tyndall Tour

2011-01-13T20:27:00.001-06:00

Before I met Denis I had never seen a military base. I had no idea what to expect. I know there are some of you who are the same way, so I wanted to give you a peak at our base. By the way, the looks I was getting from people on base were awesome as I creepily took pictures from my car.

This is our medical clinic. I was a little worried about how healthcare would work in the military because I had heard horror stories, but so far I’ve only had positive experiences here. It’s very nice inside.

This is one of my favorite places on base and somewhere I visit everyday, the fitness center. They finished building it the month we moved here. I was going to take a picture of inside the main gym, but people definitely would have thought I was a creepy weirdo then.

Not a very good picture, but this is the commissary (grocery store) and the BX.

This is a view from one of the parks on base. Blue skies and water are plentiful in Florida.

Had to snap a shot of this sign in the park. Another common thing in Florida, alligators. I can’t believe they have to warn people NOT to feed them…isn’t that obvious?

I wanted to get a picture of one of the highways on base so you could see how “shoulders” don’t exist in Florida. It’s just grass on either side of the road. This isn’t just on base, this is everywhere in Panama City.

This is one of the many parks around base. This one is our favorite because it has everything…

Volleyball.

Tennis.

Basketball.

A lot of times I describe where we live as a tropical forest because I’ve never seen a place where so many palm and pine trees grow together. It’s pretty.

This is our street on base. We are lucky enough to live in new housing, I love our house. There are a few different neighborhoods on base.

Here is a picture of a “hiking” trail that goes around a lake. This is basically in our backyard. Denis and I walked it last Saturday.

Here’s the lake the trail goes around.

A bridge at the beginning of the trail.

Some pretty lily pads on the lake. Too bad you can’t swim in the lake. Wanna take a guess why? I’ll give you a hint…they are green, scaly, and want to eat you.

These trees surround the lake. I’ve never seen anything like them, pretty cool huh?

And of course, the beach.

That is all the pictures I have for you, hopefully you liked my tour!

Too much and so many

2011-01-11T13:53:00.001-06:00

I can’t bring myself to do it. I’ve sat down like a million times at the computer to blog about it, but it’s just too much and so many. When I say “too much and so many”, what I mean is…

Too much fun with my family over Christmas break

So many cute pictures (if you want to see them go to my facebook)

So many times where I just wanted time to stop so that I would forever be hugging or kissing my niece and nephews

Too much delicious home cookin’

So many friends and family we got to visit

Too much laughing

So many sweet memories made

Too much thankfulness to my parents who made it all possible

I might even say too much love, but that is just impossible.

So in five simple words our Christmas, Disneyland trip, and New Years was too much and so many.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

2010-12-17T10:02:00.001-06:00

This will most likely be the last time I post until 2011. We are leaving on our Christmas trip to Utah and California this weekend! We both are SO excited!! I just wanted to share a small piece of news. I was released from the Relief Society Presidency and was called as the 1st counselor in the Primary. I love the primary. I’m so excited to spend time with the kids and I know they will teach me so much…they already have! I also will be teaching the sunbeam class (3-4 year olds) because our branch is so small here, but I love the sunbeams in our branch so I’m happy to be their teacher. However, I am new to all the sharing time stuff. The Primary President told me about the website sugar doodle, I know I’ll be using that a lot. Any other great sharing time ideas out there? Luckily, I have a sister who has been in Primary for almost 10 years…so I know she has lots of good ideas, right Kell?

Also, I was able to open my first Christmas present last night since it is too big to take with us. I have been wanting this since I saw it 6 months ago. I’m so excited to hang it up in our bedroom!

Lastly, I just wanted to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a crazy, fun NEW YEAR! I’m so grateful for all my family and friends. I love you all so much!

My lampy lamp

2010-12-15T11:06:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting one of these cool floor lamps forever, but I just couldn’t spend $100 or more on one. But today I found this one for half price and I like it more than any others I’ve seen. My Mom wanted to see a picture of it, so here it is

I also got these on sale.

Lions and Tigers and BEARS

2010-12-08T12:29:00.001-06:00

Okay, so maybe they’re aren’t lions and tigers here, but there are definitely bears. First, let me tell you a story from last week. Usually Denis puts our garbage can out in the mornings before our garbage man comes, but last Sunday night I had a brilliant plan. So before we went to bed I pulled our garbage can out on the curb, there is something you should know about our garbage can, it is “bear proof”. Everyone in our neighborhood has these bear proof garbage's…except for our friends down the street who burnt theirs to the ground, but that’s another story. I feel like they are “people proof” too or maybe just “Lisa proof”, because of that one time when I took bags of garbage out, who has two hands to unlock the dang thing?

Anyways, back to the plan, I pulled our garbage out onto the curb, but I left the lock undone. Mwhaha! It was my own personal “bear trap”. I looked out the window multiple times that night wanting to see a bear having a feast on my front lawn, but nothing. My plan was brilliant in theory, except for when it backfired. Monday morning Denis and I woke up to find a perfectly undisturbed garbage can. Stupid bear. Well looks can be deceiving, later that morning a new neighbor came over to tell me that a bear got into our garbage last night and it was all over our yard, but she picked it up for us! Oops. I felt really bad, but I wasn’t going to tell her I did that on purpose, I mean what kind of a jerk leaves their garbage unlocked for a bear? Let’s just say this neighbor is getting a really nice Christmas present this year.

As you have probably guessed or seen on my facebook, last night was the first time we saw the bears! Right as I was drifting off into some weird dreams about my brother gaining 200lbs in one week just so he didn’t have to go on any rides at Disneyland when we went after Christmas, I heard a loud noise and I asked Denis what it was. He said, “lightening”, which I knew was highly unlikely since it wasn’t raining, thundering, or even close to doing either. But hey, I gave the man a break, he was tired and it’s hard to be logical at night. So I got up and peered really creepily out the window and that’s when I saw it - a huge bear! And there was a baby bear with her! Needless to say I screamed, woke Denis up, and we watched them roam around all our neighbors yards, knocking over locked garbage cans.

Now I feel like I finally belong to the base neighborhood. Many times, our neighbors would talk about “the bears”, but we hadn’t had any encounters or sightings of them. But that all changed last night, my friends, it was awesome. Hopefully, next time I can get some pictures for you.

Finished!

2010-12-07T17:14:00.001-06:00

Finally, I feel like the wall décor on one of my walls is finished. I just applied the vinyl lettering on the wall. I love it!

Flowers Help

2010-12-02T13:15:00.001-06:00

Man, today really sucks. Like one of the worse days I’ve had in a looong time. I know it’ll be okay because I’ve experienced over and over how Heavenly Father turns hard times into a time to grow and learn. Speaking of growing, Denis stopped by during lunch and brought me these….

Flowers help, but having Denis helps the most.

PS Sorry for being a little evasive about what exactly “sucks” today, it’s personal. But don’t worry someday I will share.

You just can’t go wrong…

2010-12-01T18:10:00.001-06:00

So I was looking for a new recipe to try and I found one on http://www.ourbestbites.com/ that involved chicken, bacon, cheese, and ranch. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t think you can go wrong with those ingredients. Obviously, this isn’t a particularly healthy recipe, but it was like eating little puffs of heaven. So if you want a try it, here’s a look and the recipe for Chicken-Bacon Stuffed Pizza Rolls.

(I know these pictures aren’t very good, so don’t judge this recipe on my poorly taken shots. There are two reason why I’m not a food blogger. First, because I have nothing original to offer the world of food, following a recipe just isn’t that hard. And second, because I’m not very good at making the food look good in a picture.)

Chicken-Bacon Stuffed Pizza Rolls
recipe by ourbestbites.com

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough* (or make your own)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
sharp cheddar cheese (I used 75% sharp cheddar and 25% mozzarella)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
about 1 C shredded, cooked chicken.
3/4 C mayo
3/4 C milk

First take 1 teaspoon of your ranch dressing mix and combine it with 1 1/2 T parmesan cheese. Set aside. Combine the remaining ranch mix with 3/4 C mayo and 3/4 C milk to make fresh ranch dip and place in the fridge to chill.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400-425 degrees.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.
When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.

I grab the four corners first and then squeeze the seams shut. Then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish). Brush with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle with the parmesan-ranch mixture.

Place your rolls in the oven. I've noticed baking time really depends on the type of dough I'm using. Whether it's different brands from the store, or homemade dough, they all take different amounts of time. Set your timer for 10 minutes and check on them after that. They may take up to 15 or 20 to be done. Take them out when they're lightly golden on top.
Serve them warm with a side of freshly made ranch dressing for dipping.

Note:
These can also be baked individually in a mini-muffin tin. This might work better for serving depending on the situation. You're making 24 rolls, so it fills up the pan perfectly. They cook quicker this way than in a pie pan so keep an eye on them. Mine only took about 8 minutes whereas the ones in the pan took about 13-15.

It was short, but we had a blast!

2010-11-30T14:20:00.000-06:00

Beach time

We made Denis into a (hot) merman or “manmaid” according to Steph.

Thanksgiving dinner…yummy!

Kayaking. Never going to do that again and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

We are so thankful that Steph and Mike spent the time and money to come and visit us for Thanksgiving break. I don’t think they know how much I needed it. It was so fun to show them around, but mostly just to hang out. Thanks guys, love you!

Kayaking

2010-11-23T09:59:00.001-06:00

My sister and brother are coming to visit for Thanksgiving and while they are here, we thought it would be fun to go kayaking. There is only one problem…I’m freaked out! I actually love kayaking, but that love is conditional. It needs to be on a lake, where only medium size, harmless fishes are dwelling. Kayaking in the bay on the ocean is a completely different story. Last night I had all these frightening scenarios bopping around in my mind as I went to sleep…

What if a shark bits my paddle off? What if a shark starts bumping the kayak trying to dump us into the water so it can have us for breakfast? What if a shark leaps into the air and smashes our kayak in half and then eats us for breakfast (I’ll admit that one may be a little far fetched). What if a whale shallows us and has us for breakfast (hey it could happen, it happened at Sea World and that was even in a controlled environment)? What if a whale tips us over on accident as it swims by a then a shark eats us for breakfast? What if an alligator eats us for breakfast (are there alligators in salt water?)? What if an octopus wraps its tentacles around our kayak and drowns us?

Right now I’m looking over my shoulder thinking a shark is going to be standing there ready to eat me! Yes, I know that is impossible. Hopefully, I can just imagine that I’m kayaking on a lake, but that is going to take some incredible mind power. Has anyone else kayaked on the ocean? Any comforting words for me?

Finally got me some argyle

2010-11-18T12:35:00.001-06:00

I’ve always wanted an argyle sweater ever since I took a religion class at BYU with my friends Scotty and Elisha, where it seemed like every class at least one of us would show up wearing something argyle. But I’ve just never found an argyle sweater that I love and that loves me back…until last week. So in memory of the passion and love that Scotty, Elisha, and I have for argyle I just wanted to post a picture of my new sweater. Old Navy clearance rocks, $12.49 for this gem.

Count Down!

2010-11-10T22:45:00.001-06:00

4 days till I get to see my Daddy!

14 days till I get to see my sister, Steph!

and

38 days till I get to see my whole family in Utah!

Red Flag

2010-11-08T23:04:00.001-06:00

So I realized today that I probably haven’t been the greatest wife the past couple of weeks. What made me realize that? Well, Denis praised me highly this morning because I cooked him breakfast, made the bed (all by myself), and packed his lunch…which took all of 15 minutes. Seems ridiculously simple and not really that heroic, right? And it’s even more pathetic because I’m not working and don’t really have anything to occupy my time right now. I just wanted to take this opportunity to apologize to my incredibly patient husband who loves me despite my many, many faults. I promise I’ll be a better wife this week, but I can’t guarantee that I’m not going to do something crazy like “hypothetically” cry hysterically because there is a bug in the house…so maybe my apology can cover all the insanely dumb things that I have yet to do this week too. I’m sorry Honey, I’ll be better, I love you!

My friends, pray for Denis…he needs it!

Dear John,

2010-11-04T12:19:00.001-05:00

I like to remember you on your birthday, but it’s hard not to think of you today too. I just wanted to tell you how much I miss you and love you. I have lived these memories many times since you left us:

I love how Mom always tells me that you were my “second mother” when I was a baby. I remember one time when I was around 7 yrs old, I kept begging you to give me a hug, but you wouldn’t cause you were too cool for high school. Then I started to cry so Mom & Dad made you give me a hug and when you did you picked me up clear off my feet and hugged me tight. I was so happy that you baptized me, I realize how special that was even more so now. I remember how much I missed you while you were serving a mission, I wrote you every week. I miss hearing you speak Spanish. Everything we did was always more fun when you were around, you made it exciting. I miss watching you tease Mom, knowing that even though she was saying she wanted you to stop, the light in her eyes said otherwise. I loved watching you be around Braden, he was everything to you. I remember one time after I got done babysitting Braden you gave me the last half of your Cold Stone ice cream, everyone knows that is the way to my heart. One of my favorite memories was when we watched Ken Jennings play on jeopardy every night together and when you happened to know one of the answers, you thought you were so awesome.

Of course, you had your faults and you made mistakes, but who doesn’t? I believed you learned and were learning from them and that’s all any of us can really do. And I’ll never forget the night of November 4th, 2004, watching Mom and Dad be told about your passing. To me time stopped and although I heard what they said I didn’t believe it, I couldn’t because I knew how much pain I was going to feel. Sometimes I still feel that same aching, heart stopping pain like two days ago when I was driving home from the grocery store, but I’ve learn that it’s okay to cry and to grieve because that is how I heal. I know that I have not seen you for the last time, even in this life I have felt you near me. Like one time when I hugged Dave I felt like I was hugging you, occasionally I can see the same teasing light in your eyes through Mike’s, I know of your strength when I am around Dad, and I feel of your spirit when I’m with Braden. My dearest brother, I miss you today and will love you forever. I can’t wait to see you again!

A Seriously Awesome Week

2010-11-02T16:03:00.001-05:00

Okay, Orlando was amazing. I’m SO happy we got the chance to go! We bought year passes to Universal Studios so we know we’ll go back. I was so excited to see the Harry Potter park that I even bought Denis and I some HP t-shirts to sport while we were there. Nerdy, but awesome. Surprisingly, (because I hate the movies) my favorite ride at Universal was The Mummy. Here’s some of my favorite pics at Universal Studios

Going to Hogwarts for the 1st time

Hogsmeade

The portraits in Hogwarts were so cool…they talked and moved, just like in the books. And they looked so real!

We didn’t get anything, but it was awesome to see.

Denis drinking butter beer in the Three Broomsticks. That stuff is delicious!

That one is for you Phil. Sadly, I thought the Simpson’s ride was pretty lame.

Can’t wait to go back!

We found out some greats news while we were in Orlando, any active duty military (and three dependents) can get in free to Sea World! So of course, we had to go…it was free! I hadn’t been since I was really little and I didn’t really remember it, but I loved Sea World!

This is one of the first things we saw when we walked into the park, cute huh?

Waiting for one of the shows to start.

See the big screen behind the whale? Yeah, well, Denis and I were on that. They asked active duty military and their families to stand up and the beginning of the show so Denis and I slowly stood, there weren’t very many others there. Next thing I knew I was looking at a 40 foot “me” on the screen…pretty scary.

Dolphins are better than whales, that’s all.

This coaster was crazy awesome! When you sit down they have the things that come over your shoulders and they also lock in your feet…and then it pulls your feet back so you are going HEAD FIRST through the whole ride…feels like you’re flying.

Lastly, and probably one of my favorite things about this trip is that we went to the Orlando temple while we were there. When we were in Utah there was a temple 10 minutes away in any direction, but when you don’t get to go every week or month…it feels different when you walk in. Even thinking about it makes my heart ache to go back. I love it there. I felt like I was home. So if you are close to a temple and you haven’t been in a while…go for me, okay?

PLEASE HELP!!! We need your “likes”

2010-10-31T15:39:00.001-05:00

See this picture? I don’t want to have baked 280 cookies over 4 hours for nothing! We need your help in five simple steps:

1. Go to facebook

2. Go to this link www.facebook.com/#!/iheartTY (This link is also posted on Denis and I’s profiles.)

3. “Like” the I ♥ Tyndall page at the top of the page.

4. “Like” the 500 Cookies movie that I posted. (You can watch our movie too). This is what needs to be “liked” for us to win!!! It’s located here if you can’t find it: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=137427706309064&id=151754309965

5. “Unlike” the I ♥ Tyndall page (if you want to)

This will take you under 30 seconds and if we get the most to “like” our movie then we will get $250 for winning the contest. PLEASE HELP!!!!! We would really appreciate it!

The very bottom

2010-10-28T09:37:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Denis walked in the door from a day at his conference in Orlando and he said he had something for me. I was very excited, cause any one who knows me knows that I love surprises and gifts and this was both! Guess what it was? The very bottom of an ice cream cone. Denis said he knew it was my favorite part and since he couldn’t keep the ice cream from melting he saved it for me. Maybe that doesn’t seem like an exciting present to anyone else, but I loved it! It said that he thought about me while he was “at work”. It told me that he knows me better than anyone else. It let me know that he cared. And most of all it made me feel very loved. Who knew that the very bottom of an ice cream cone could mean so many different things? Now I have two reasons for loving the very bottom of the ice cream cone. 1. Because it is delicious and 2. because it will always remind me of that time Denis saved me the bottom of his ice cream cone in Orlando and that will remind me how amazing it is that I get to be married to Denis.

Yeah that’s my pumpkin.

2010-10-27T12:10:00.001-05:00

I did it! I actually carved a pumpkin with a pattern and carving tools. Usually my pumpkins look like a three year old did it, but this year I decided I would put some time into it. The only sad thing is that Denis and I carved these before we left for Orlando so they will be sitting in our fridge for 8 days before we get back and 10 before Halloween…yeah, I think they are pretty much mush by now. Now that I know I can do it, if these pumpkins are mush when we get home we’ll just go get two more and carve some more for Halloween night.

My pumpkin is the owl sitting on a tree limb. Denis’ pumpkin is the masterpiece haunted house! Maybe in a few years I can try to do something as hard as that haunted house.

We’re having a BLAST in Orlando, I’ll post pictures this weekend when we get home.

Roots

2010-10-15T14:10:00.001-05:00

I ask myself this question every day, “When I’m I going to love Florida?” Because I’m a bad person, most of the time my mind answers by automatically jumping to all the things I despise about it. I think I do that because I don’t want Utah to feel like I’m cheating on it. Yes, I realize I’m talking about a state like it’s a person…it makes no sense, but love is often irrational. Do you know how many times people have told me that I need to plant my roots here? Why do they say that? Because, maybe they think I’m unhappy in Florida because I don’t love it. But that’s far from the truth. I’m very happy.

Just because I don’t love Florida, doesn’t mean I don’t like Florida. I like it. I like the beach. I like where we live. I like that we’re close to a lot of fun places. I like that I’m experiencing different things. I like that Denis and I are having an adventure together. I like the friends that I’ve made so far. I like that I don’t have to work full time. I like it all. But I’m stubborn, seriously stubborn and because of that flaw I refuse to plant my “roots” here. Roots don’t grow in the sand here anyways.

The hard thing for me is I try to love Florida, I try everyday. But it just isn’t happening, and I really don’t expect that it will. I don’t think I should have to feel ashamed that I don’t love it. Why is that a requirement to some people? To love the place you live? I think sometimes it’s okay to like the place you live and look forward to the future when you find somewhere you will love. I don’t feel like it’s somehow wrong that I don’t want to plant my roots here.

However, I will enjoy it for the short time we’re here and I know I will probably miss it when we’re gone, but I know we are not staying here permanently. I don’t know where we’ll end up, but I do know that someday we’ll be in a place we love and our family will grow and bloom there. Then maybe I’ll finally plant my roots in some fresh, rich Utah soil ;) Haha, okay maybe it won’t be Utah…but probably. We’ll see.

How does she do that?

2010-10-09T15:25:00.001-05:00

I was at Wal-Mart the other day and I saw this wall of school supplies and they had tons of sticky notes/note paper and it reminded me that I needed some for our desk. I was about to pick one and then decided against it because we still had a few sticky notes left. A couple days after that, Denis and I got a package in the mail from my Mom. Guess what was in it? Yup, note paper. How does she do that? I swear she can like read my mind sometimes. All through college she would do that. I would come home for Sunday dinner or to do my laundry and she would have shampoo, flips flops, or food...it was always something I really needed and sometimes something that I just wanted. Maybe you'll laugh at me, but that note paper was a tender mercy. When I pulled it out of the package I felt like Heavenly Father was saying, "I know you. I'm here. Be happy. I love you." Now every time I look at it or use it I remember that it means I have an awesome Mom who loves me and still thinks about me even when I'm so far away and I'm so grateful to my Heavenly Father for that!!

Aren't mom's the best?

A General Conference like no other

2010-10-03T22:04:00.001-05:00

No crisp fall air. No trees changing color. No going to dinner with the girls during Priesthood session. No cinnamon rolls after Priesthood. No watching conference on TV. No riding the Trax. No crowds of what seems like millions of Mormons. No looking at all the anti-Mormon signs the protestors have outside the conference center. No spending time with family. During our conference weekend we didn’t have any of that. But you know what we did have? We did have a big Saturday conference breakfast. We did pull over our red love seat in front of our computer. We did watch conference online. We did cuddle together through all of the sessions. We did have dinner before Priesthood with some friends. I did get to play with our friends CUTE little girls during Priesthood and read them bedtime stories. We did have two families over for dinner after the last session on Sunday. We did feel the Spirit. Yeah, it was a General Conference like no other, but it was still wonderful and full of new traditions. I think the only thing that matters is that we listened and we heard the messages that the Lord wanted us to hear. So this weekend I learned that no matter where you are in the world or in your life, whether you’re with family or not the Spirit will still teach you the things you needed to learn if you are ready to listen.

Here’s to a six more General Conferences in Florida, may they be as amazing as this one :)

Embarrassing Moment of the Month

2010-09-29T16:35:00.001-05:00

I’d like to share this moment with you so you all can feel better about yourselves today knowing that there is someone out there (me) that is dorkier (is that a word?) than you. You’re welcome America. This is even worse than last month when I was running and screaming up and down the beach for a good 10 minutes to get away from a horse fly, all the while Denis was laughing so hard he couldn’t get up.

I went to the gym this afternoon to lift weights because I do every Wednesday. Today, I thought I would run a quick mile after being inspired by the fatties (I say that with respect and love) last night on the Biggest Loser, who were running at speed 7 on the treadmill. If they can do 7 for a couple of minutes than I can run a mile at 8 no problem. So I did…I ran that mile and it felt great!

After that it was time to lift weights. I started lifting, but after a couple machines I started noticing people were giving me the double take look. Was I that smokin’ hott when I worked out? So feeling good, I kept going. But after another couple of weird looks I decide it probably wasn’t because I was smokin’ hott…maybe my headphones are too loud? So I turn down my music. Still getting the weird looks. It would be logical at this point for me to look at myself in the mirror to make sure everything is all good, but that doesn’t really cross my mind. I always try to avoid looking at my flab jiggling around when I’m at the gym. After I finish, I walk out to my car and I approach the door the same time as an older man, another weird look from him as he holds the door for me, but I’m too distracted to think anything about that because I have “All the Single Ladies” playing on my iPod.

I’m driving doing a little dance in my car to my music…when suddenly I look in the rear view mirror and this is what I see!

Except it was worse than that because I wiped some of it off. It was that Biggest Loser mile that did it before I started lifting, I was sweating more than I usually do. I laughed all the way home! No wonder people were looking at me weird, my face was melting. So the lesson I learned today is not to run a fast mile in the middle of the day when I have all my makeup on….mornings from now on.

In other news, I’ve started breaking up my cardio workouts. I use to just run and run and then run some more, but now I’m doing the Elliptical and bike too. And I feel like these are starting to look better because of it….

However, I’ve got a long ways to go on these….

Not flexing…

Flexing…

Don’t feel bad if you can’t see the difference, because there is none! I’m working on it.

This is what I do.

2010-09-27T12:11:00.001-05:00

A lot of you ask me what I’m doing with all my free time…some days I wonder that myself. But I try to keep busy and organized. I have looked for a job (not too hard), but haven’t really found anything that interests me and if I’m going to work again, I’m going to do something I want to do, not something I feel like I have to do because we need the money. This is probably the only time in my life that I will have the luxury so I’m taking full advantage of it. I’ve decided to start my own business. At first I thought it was going to be a breeze, but it’s much more complicated than I thought. Denis and I have just started on the website, hopefully we can figure it out. Here’s a sample of what I’m doing and I need your help, please vote for which design you personally like the best…it’ll help me as I keep making more.

Option #1

Option #2

Option #3

Thank you to all my friends/family that are letting me use their babies as models on my website, couldn’t do it without their cuteness!

PS If you are willing to let me use your baby or your wedding/engagement photos on my website, I need more! Lots more! Just email them to lisamarie.clayson@gmail.com, thanks :)

I'm so ready!

2010-09-17T15:20:00.000-05:00

A new Mormon message was sent out today. I usually don't watch them, I open the email just so it isn't bold in my email box anymore. But today, I took the time to watch it. Don't worry it didn't make me sob uncontrollably or anything. Right at the end of it there is a voice clip from L. Tom Perry and immediately I felt peace. So I just wanted to say that I'm so ready for general conference and I'm more excited for it than I have been in a couple years!!

The Missing Piece

They are my Mom and Dad & I love them.

2010-09-13T16:27:00.001-05:00

So I’ll admit it. I cried for like two hours today after my parents left, lame I know. I won’t see them again until December and that’s a long time! But we had a blast while they were here! We showed them all around the places we know so far (which isn’t very many, because we’ve really only been here for a month).

We had lunch in Mexico Beach and Denis came over and met us for his lunch break on Friday.

We visited the Tyndall AFB beach and then later had ice cream at Pier Park for dessert. My Dad tried this new flavor called toasted coconut, it was so good!

On Saturday we went to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park and spent the morning at the beach and ate a picnic lunch.

(Dang he's hott!)

And lastly, we had dinner on the water at the Shrimp Boat, where I tried my first Red Snapper! It was delicious!

On Sunday Denis and I had to speak in church, my parents were happy about that. It was great to get to introduce them to people in our branch.

(Sorry, I don't have a picture of me or Denis at the pulpit speaking...I thought that might be a little awkward)

Today my house feels so empty, I hate it. Thank you so much Mom and Dad for visiting, we loved having you!

Who is coming next? :)

Remembering

2010-08-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

Denis already posted about Kirtland, which was really fun, but we also celebrated our two year anniversary there. It was my turn to “plan” the anniversary and I must say I’m really bad at it. Good thing Denis is so laid back. I think this is how it went down as we were in the car driving to Kirtland…“So, um, is it okay if this counts as our anniversary trip?” I was going to plan a weekend in Nashville on our way home from Ohio this weekend, but both Denis and I agreed that we just really want to get back home as soon as possible. And since neither one of us knew we were having our anniversary in Kirtland, we didn’t get any gifts for each other. However, I stunned myself with my “on the spot” brilliance and came up with the idea to write each other love letters. I think we’re going to make that a tradition because that was better than any present he could get me! I’m not just saying that to be all cheesy and crap, the letters were amazing and definitely journal worthy. Even though we didn’t have some grand celebration this year for our anniversary, it didn’t matter to us. We talked about our favorites parts about our wedding day, our engagement, and how we starting dating. We celebrated by remembering. By remembering how we fell love is how we know our love has grown even more since.

Kirtland

2010-08-23T16:55:00.001-05:00

“…go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high;” – Doctrine & Covenants 38:32

Disclaimer: Yes, this is Denis writing the blog, and yes, my pictures are all cute-looking and stuff. I am testing a new picture plug-in that I found for Lisa…hope it doesn’t take away my man card

We went to visit historic Kirtland, OH last weekend to get away from my class in Dayton and since Lisa has never been! I have been to Kirtland with my family in 2000, but a lot of buildings have been restored since then per request of President Hinckley, so there were a lot of new things to see!

Here’s a brief background about Kirtland for those who may not know: Though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began in upstate New York, Kirtland was the first official headquarters and gathering place of the early church. The prophet Joseph Smith, shortly after establishing the church in 1830, received revelation that four missionaries (including Parley P. Pratt and Oliver Cowdery) should go and preach to the Lamanites (Native Americans) on the borders by the Lamanites. These missionaries departed for the border of the United States which was then western Missouri. On the way, Parley suggests to stop by his old stomping grounds in Ohio and teach one of his old preachers, Sidney Rigdon. Soon, Sidney Rigdon is converted after reading the Book of Mormon and many people from his congregations also are baptized into the Church. Within a year of the Church’s organization, there are more members in Ohio than New York. Joseph receives revelation by the end of 1830 to leave New York and have the members gather to Ohio. Thus began the vital stage of church history in Kirtland, Ohio!

Kirtland is an amazing place of faith and history. Kirtland was the place where the church continued to grow and become organized. The first First Presidency, the first quorum of twelve apostles, seventy, bishop, high priests, and stake were all organized and/or called here. The first temple was built here. Revelations like the Word of Wisdom, the three degrees of glory, priesthood keys, and other visionary experiences happened here and were witnessed and recorded by many. So many members worked hard and gave up so much to help many of the poor Saints moving into the area. They took time building up the area, many knowing that they would be leaving it behind, which happened in 1838 when most departed for Missouri. It really is a remarkable place!

We spent Saturday morning touring the temple and got to see the pulpit where the heavens were opened and Joseph and Oliver Cowdery saw Christ who accepted the temple, followed by Moses, Elias, and Elijah, who each gave important priesthood responsibilities.

After that we saw the Whitney store, a cool old sawmill and ashery, the Johnson Inn, and Isaac Morley’s farm. Later on Sunday we went out to Hiram and toured the Johnson home where Joseph and Emma lived for a time and also where Joseph was tarred and feathered. Overall, it was a great experience and we had a very rewarding time there!

The training never ends…but we like the vacations!

2010-08-23T12:27:00.001-05:00

That’s right, we’ve been in Dayton, Ohio for the past week for more TRAINING. The Air Force really likes training. Train till you drop. We’re here until Labor Day weekend. Anyways, we’re actually grateful for all the training because it’s given us the opportunity to travel to a lot of different places in the process. Here’s some pictures of our adventures in Ohio!

Wegerzyn Gardens

The National Air Force museum is on Wright Patterson, the base we are staying on for Denis’ training.

The F-22

The B-2 Spirit…I thought that was one cool looking.

Last weekend was our 2nd anniversary and we visited Kirtland, Ohio to see some of the church historical sites, but since Denis loves that stuff so much I’m gonna let him post about that next :)

It wasn't weird!

2010-08-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

My junior year in high school we had to write a paper on "How to Make Something" and then we had to present it in front of the class. I knew if I was going to present this in front of the class then it had to be something with food because what high school kid doesn't like food? I thought about a lot of different options and then it hit me! Tiger Paws. I have been making them every year at the Salt Lake County Fair since before I can remember, it was the prefect idea. It was beautiful, my mom made the dough and brought it to my class. I heated up the grease and fried up some smaller versions of Tiger Paws for all the kids in my class. Wow, they loved them and they loved me for making them! Who wouldn't like bread deep fried and then drenched in butter and honey?? I knew I was definitely going to get an A on that paper, and I wasn't wrong :)

Back in June when I went out to Alabama to be with Denis as he finished up his training, we decided it would be a good idea for me to fly out to Utah for a visit sometime in August. This way I had something to look forward to and I knew that I could go back to Utah anytime I wanted if I needed to. So I booked my flight. And the exciting part was that I didn't tell ANYONE in my family. It was hard to keep the secret and a couple times I came close to accidentally giving it away, but I LOVE surprises. Seriously, I thrive on them. If I could I would plan big surprises for everybody I love everyday! Anytime I was feeling a little sad or lonely in Alabama or Florida, I would just picture what their faces would look like when I came walking in the door.

Finally, August 7th came and I was off to Utah! I'm so glad I have awesome friends like Kar and Sus who would come pick me up from the airport to help surprise my family. As we drove on the freeway to my parents house, I remember looking out the windows in the car at all the familiar things and thinking, "This isn't weird" and "Man, I love the mountains." When we got on the street where my parents live, I called my Mom for our daily chat. However, I noticed as we pulled down the driveway that there where a lot more cars there...cars that I knew. Not only were my parents home, but my entire family was there for my nephew's birthday! As I was getting out of the car and talking to my Mom on the phone, my two six year old nephews came running out on the driveway. I ducked behind Susannah's car cause I didn't know what to do, I was getting so flustered that I just hang up on my Mom and ran up to my nephews. They both looked at me and very casually said, "Oh hey Lisa, what are you doing?" haha! That was one of my favorite things, they weren't surprised at all to see me, they acted like it was normal I was there...I loved it because it made me feel like they still remembered me even though I hadn't seen them for two months.

With Tyler, Jack, Karlie and Susannah we ran to the garage door and I walked in and said loudly, "Hey my Peeps! What's going on?!" They were in the middle of dinner and everyone turned and looked at me with the most confused and shocked faces...silence. haha. My mom wasn't in the kitchen so I was like, "Alright if you aren't going to be excited to see me then I'll go find mom." So I turned and ran into my Mom's room and gave her a big hug and then everyone followed from the kitchen as I'm sure the shock was wearing off and I started hugging everyone. My mom and my sister in law started crying and all of them asked me where Denis was...I guess once you get married you aren't good enough by yourself anymore;) jk. It was the best surprise! It was funny for about 15 minutes after I got there I could see them all stealing looks at me in turn as if they were making sure I didn't disappeared. My sister in law, Iliana, asked me like 10 times if it was weird that I was back. Every time before I would answer, I would try and think of anything weird, but every time it just felt normal. I think the weirdest thing for me about visiting is that it didn't feel weird at all, it felt like I never left.

The reason why I chose the week of August 7th to visit Utah is so I could work for two days at Tiger Paws. Tiger Paws is hard work, when you get home at night you are sore, ache everywhere on your body, so very tired, and you can wipe the grease from your face and cook with it...so why would I want to work at Tiger Paws? Because that's when I get a lecture from Kell about how to serve the Chile, I get to go on a walk with Mike and Steph into the main building and have a good time as we look at all the booths, I have a contest with Phil to see who can keep their hand in the ice bucket where we keep the drinks for the longest time, I make up the "meep" and "boop" joke with Iliana and Kell as we're making never ending orders of Navajo Tacos, Steph and I laugh at the way Dave makes Navajo Tacos, and Mike and I compete on who can stretch the dough the best to make the most perfect Tiger Paw. Those are the reasons why I wanted to be there to work at Tiger Paws because that's where we make memories as a family.

It wasn't weird to be in Utah. It wasn't weird to have Sunday dinner with the family, to hang out with Susannah and Karlie, to take Kylie (from my old work) out to lunch, to sit out on the deck and look at the mountains, to drive down I-15, to work at Tiger Paws. None of that was weird. What was a little weird was how ready and excited I was to go HOME to Florida. I belong there with Denis, at least for now...till we move back to Utah :)

First Night

2010-07-30T08:35:00.000-05:00

Here it is! Our new bedroom set. We slept on it for the first time last night, it was awesome! And I actually slept through the night, that hardly happens for me...haha, I sound like a baby. That means we have an extra queen bed in our guest bedroom, plenty of room for visitors! You're all invited!

We live at Home Depot

2010-07-26T15:36:00.000-05:00

When we saw our house in Florida for the first time, I knew instantly that I wanted to build a desk in the recessed wall in the dining room. So we did it. We made at least 8 trips to Home Depot and even a couple to Lowe's before it we had everything we needed to complete it.

Step 1: Buy the wood, brackets, trim, and screws and cut the wood to the right measurements. The first piece we bought they cut it too short so we had to get another one, but it all worked out in the end. (This took 5 trips to Home Depot)

Step 2: Buy the pre-stain, stain, and paint brushes. Stain the wood and let dry. (This took one trip to Home Depot)

Step 3: Buy a stud finder, level, new drill charger, and semi-gloss. Mount the brackets and wood. (This took two trips to Home Depot)

Step 4: Move the computer from the dining table to the new desk!

I'm so proud of Denis for building this! I helped with the staining and trips to Home Depot, but Denis put it all together! Good job Babe :)

Nothing makes sense at night

2010-07-22T15:53:00.001-05:00

I have problems. I think there is something wrong with me. I have too many fears. So I'm getting use to living in this new house right? Whenever you start sleeping somewhere new you have to get use to the noises the house naturally makes. That's what I've been telling Denis for the past week. I've been making him stay up reading/playing on his iPad until I fall asleep. Because for some reason, that makes sense only in my world, if Denis falls asleep after me then I'll be safe. Does that make sense to anyone else? No, it doesn't, because it's INSANE! Last night, Denis was so tired, he tried to stay awake until I fell asleep, cause he's nice like that and tries to comfort me even when I'm being crazy, but he fell asleep before I did. What did I do? I did what anyone else would have done, I went downstairs and watched TV until I was so tired I could barely make it back upstairs to fall asleep (this was at 2am).

Alright, let's break this down. I'm on a military base. A military base that has guards. A military base that has guards, that have guns. A military base, that has guards, that have guns, that have security forces driving through our neighborhood every hour all through the night. A military base that has guards, that have guns, that have security forces driving through our neighborhood every hour all through the night, a neighborhood where every single person has had a background check.

I try to reason with myself at night and I repeat all of those things in my head to calm myself down and just when my eyes start to droop and I relax a little, that's when I hear a little creak or tink or noise of some sort and immediately my heart starts beating faster, my body freezes up, my eyes search wildly and my imagination gets the better of me. I'm telling you my friends, this is no way to live. I need help.

Between the night terrors about bugs and my imagination at night its a wonder how Denis and I ever get any sleep. But I do because Denis is always there. Whenever I start freaking out or I get scared, I poke him in his ribs or back till he wakes up and slips his arms around me and then it's all okay. He's there to protect and comfort me. I love that. And even after all that I put him through at nights, he still thinks to leave me this in the morning.

Dude, I'm so lucky.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2010-07-18T14:55:00.000-05:00

I like to shop. I love to shop. Is that bad?

Well, recently Denis and I have made some larger purchases, which were budgeted and carefully planned out. But it still feels weird to spend so much money. It takes a lot to get a house up and running, especially when we're use to living in little apartments.

Here's our main purchases so far:

1. Washer and Dryer

2. Cable and Internet

3. 2nd bookcase

4. Materials for building a computer desk

5. A new car

6. Sofa table

7. Leather sectional and ottoman

Here's the stuff on the shopping list still:

1. Lamps (bedroom and living room)

2. TV stand (the movers broke ours, which they will fully reimburse us for)

3. King size mattress

4. Bedroom furniture

5. Master bathroom accessories

6. Drapes

7. Accent Decor

8. DVD player (the movers stole and will reimburse us for)

9. Plants for the garden

10. Piano

So when people call me and ask me what I've been doing since I got here...clearly you can see I've been shopping and will be for the next couple weeks :)

This is the pile of boxes stacked in our garage that we have unpacked and that's not even all of them yet! We still have a room full upstairs that we need to bring down.

Transition = almost over

2010-07-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

Okay...I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, but I'm not neglecting anything peeps it's just that I've been in a 7 week transition from Utah to Alabama to Florida. We're here, in Florida. Things are going okayish. Went to the branch on Sunday, I'm way nervous about it, but trying to be positive still. We got our stuff yesterday, I spent all day unpacking today and I'm only half way done. It's so good to see our stuff and eat dinner on our dishes. I also met two of my neighbors today, really nice, so that's encouraging. My life is a little chaotic and unorganized right now, which is totally opposite of my personality...I think I'm handling it well. Surprisingly, I've only cried once really hard since leaving Utah. I do miss my family, friends, work, and practically a bug free land (Utah) A TON...I think it'd be weird if I didn't. We our getting cable and internet tomorrow so hopefully I can post pictures etc soon!

PS Am I going to be okay?

I've been waiting for this day....

2010-06-24T08:47:00.000-05:00

I was almost attacked by a GINORMOUS cockroach this morning. I've been waiting for this day. I've been tip toeing around with shoes on everywhere I go in this room because I knew the disgusting devil was waiting for the perfect opportunity. Boy, did it pick the perfect day. Of course, Denis doesn't have a lunch break today so from 8am - 4pm I won't be able to use the bathroom in our room. That's right, I won't shower, brush my teeth, or go to the bathroom here until he gets back murders it. It's like it knows.

Overreacting you ask? Why no, I don't think I am. If you know me then you would know that I use to call my brother/dad on my cell phone at 3am in the morning to come kill a spider on the wall opposite of my bed so I could sleep. You would know that two nights ago I screamed bloody murder because something flew into me and I could feel it's wings flapping. You would also know that about once a week I have night terrors about bugs...dropping on my head, crawling on my arm, creeping all over in my bed, etc. And my dream bugs aren't even half the size of the cockroach that almost took my life this morning. I was going to take a picture of it so you would all believe me...but I couldn't come within 5 ft of the bathroom before my muscles froze and the gagging started.

So it's the first big set back here in the South, do I still like it? You might not think so if you saw me crying on my bed while texting Denis this morning because of "it", but I do. I like that my hero will come home today and search every inch of the bathroom and then after walk me into the bathroom and show me that everything is okay. And that will make it all okay, because I'm still with Denis.

You'll have to excuse me now, I'm going to drive to a gas station to use the bathroom. (If you think I'm joking, then you really don't know me...)

Sticky

2010-06-17T14:34:00.000-05:00

I'm here! I'm in the South ya'll! So far, so good. I got to Alabama last night at 9pm. It was very strange seeing Denis after a month being away from him. We both just kept looking at each other like, "Are you for real?" And since we've been talking on the phone, our voices sounded way different in person, so we had to get use to that! But it didn't take long to get back into the grove of things...like when Denis went in the bathroom today and I heard, "GRRRR! You put the toilet paper on backwards!!" Haha, I just know his missed all my annoying habits.

Today, I woke up at 6am to go watch Denis play Icarus (it's kinda like dodge ball on crack), sat by some wife-O's, but didn't talk to them much. I know it will just take time to get to know them a little more. During lunch Denis and I went and ran a bunch of errands to get me all settled in...I have a military ID card now! After lunch one of the wife-O's that we know from BYU ROTC called and asked if I wanted to go shopping, it was way fun. I'm really glad she called or I would have been sitting in our room, thanks Adrienne!

It's hot, but I LOVE it so far. It might get on my nerves later on, but my hair is really soft, my skin is soft and I love wearing summer clothes! It's sticky though...humidity, gotta love it.

I'm starting to think I'll be okay here...until I see a cockroach, then it might be a different story ;)

We're not homeless!

2010-06-04T23:59:00.000-05:00

Guess what?! We got a house! Denis talked to the housing people at Tyndall yesterday and we found out our address and all about our new home. I cant imagine living in an actual house...it's gonna be awesome. Our house is a year old, has three bedrooms, a two car garage, a yard, a back porch, and also the essential things like walls and a roof.

I'm getting really excited to start a new adventure with the person I love the most and to fill our home with children! Okay that made it sound like I was pregnant, I'm not...I'm really not, but someday i will be. However, I am a litte nervous about making new friends...I guess I will always have the alligators, sharks, bears, and cockroaches to talk to right?

Lemons vs. Lemonade

2010-05-24T22:41:00.000-05:00

The other day my boss was asking me about Denis being gone, he said, "So are you making lemonade out of the lemons that life has given to you?" Here's how I would break down my first week being away from Denis in fruity citrus terms:

Lemon - watching Denis drive away in my car and not being able to hold his hand for 4 weeks

Lemonade - Denis calling me all the time to tell me the things he misses about me

Lemon - Leaving work with no home to go to...and no husband to greet me

Lemonade - Leaving work and going to my brothers home...and being greeted by my adorable nephews!

Lemon - Not eating dinner every night with Denis

Lemonade - Not having to cook all week long and eating Iliana's amazing dinners!

Lemon - Not having automatic weekend plans with my best friend

Lemonade - Going to the cheesecake factory with the girls, pedicures and shopping with my sister in law, and finally getting to hold my new niece after 6 weeks in the hospital!

Lemon - Feeling like I need to stay till June 25th in Utah

Lemonade - Realizing that there is no reason why I need to stay that long...now I'm going June 16th!!

Lemon - Falling asleep at night alone

Lemonade - well I'm still trying to find the good in this one...but I just can't....I miss him so much.

It's hard, but I'm trying to stay positive!

2010-05-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

Every night since Denis has been gone, cried myself to sleep.

But that doesn't mean I've been completely miserable because I haven't, it's just that the nights are the hardest. There has actually been some blessings that have come from being a apart...like I have realized how much I want to be with Denis and I know I as long as I'm with him that I'll be fine. Home is where he is...even if that means braving the shark infested waters, hurricane country, and stepping on alligators in Florida, jk.

And i know right now my Heavenly Father is blessing me with tender mercies from my darling nephews. Every time I hear, "Mom, where's aunt Lisa?" When I'm upstairs doing something, it makes me smile. Or when darling Gavin sits on the edge of my bed while I'm doing my makeup in the morning and tells me all about his life, i think to myself, "I'm the luckiest aunt in the whole world!" Or when I walk in the door from work and they are so excited to see me...I love it all! Not to mention all the wonderful dinners my sister in law makes! I'm so grateful that i have family that is willing to let me stay with them :) I'm learning a lot right now and I can't wait till I get to be with Denis again! Counting down the days already!

Wednesday is too close to Saturday

2010-05-12T18:12:00.001-05:00

Monday night, cry myself to sleep.

Tuesday night, cry myself to sleep.

Tonight, try not to cry, but probably end up crying myself to sleep.

Denis is leaving on Saturday for a training in Alabama for 6 weeks before we move to Florida and I know it's cheesy or whatever, but I'm seriously having the hardest time! The only way I don't cry when I think about him leaving, is not to think about it at all. Even now my stupid eyes are tearing up! Ah, women! I know a lot of you are thinking I won't make it to June 28th, when I leave to see him...but I'm really going to try because the other part of my heart is going to break when I have to leave all my family in Utah. And yes, when I let myself think about leaving them I cry too. Wow, I'm such a cry baby...it's annoying. I'm really not miserable, in fact I feel really happy at this moment, but yet my eyes are still tearing up. I wonder if there is some way I can shut down my tear ducts? Plug those babies up! Only temporarily, until like July 1st. I'll have to research that...until then I predict my tear ducts will be producing a lot over the next week.

It's out!

2010-04-26T19:30:00.000-05:00

It happened today. I still can't believe it. My boss asked me some questions today about the future and I so I just told him that I wouldn't be working there in July. Wow, so much harder than I thought it would be...I guess it just made it more real, like we really are going to Florida. I called Denis to tell him that I told my boss that I was leaving and I just broke down, I had to give myself a 20 minute timeout in my car today so I could pull it together and stop crying to make it through the day. It made me realize how much I really, really love my job. Change is hard and today it sucks, but hopefully tomorrow it'll be better. Don't get me wrong, just because today was really hard, I still know that Denis and I are suppose to be in Florida...the next couple months are just going to be tough with so much change, but we'll get through it and we'll be happy!! :)

Short Story

2010-04-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

Denis and Lisa had a wonderful Easter and Conference weekend...Denis and Lisa only found one Easter egg during the "grown ups" Easter egg hunt.

Denis and Lisa attended their last BYU AFROTC Dining Out last weekend...Lisa was actually sentimental about it

Denis and Lisa were thinking about buying a house...decided against it.

Denis and Lisa tried to buy a Trailblazer...didn't get it, but it was good because Lisa really didn't feel good about getting it anyways.

Denis is graduating next week...and Lisa is SO proud of him!!

Denis takes the FE exam this Saturday, it's an 8 hour test...Lisa thinks that's disgusting, but is happy Denis is so smart.

Lisa is going to Lagoon this Saturday with her family while Denis is taking an 8 hour test...Denis isn't happy about that.

Lisa has been insanely busy at work the past month...Denis has been very supportive.

Lisa's best friend had a premature baby, blood clots, and a very tough two weeks...Lisa hopes her best friend knows how much she loves her.

Denis and Lisa have read their scriptures in the morning instead of at night almost everyday this week...Denis and Lisa like it better.

And that's our story the last few weeks :)

Dear Weather

2010-04-05T22:02:00.001-05:00

notice the title of our blog. Please oblige ASAP. Thanks.

Anyone else ready for the bi-polar weather to be a little more consistent?

Sometimes we get a little dirty

2010-03-15T23:57:00.001-05:00

I feel like this story is a representation of Denis and I’s lives.

We decided to hike Watchman’s Trail on Valentines Day in Zion’s park. As we started climbing the mountain, I realized it wasn’t going to be the leisurely hike I was hoping for, so I started to do what I do best and complain. Then the mud came. That’s right, I said mud. This wasn’t cute, fun to play in mud…this was “my foot is stuck, my shoe is coming off, I can’t move” mud.

About 5 steps into the mud I told Denis we needed to go back and there was no way I was going to walk in this stuff. He was very calm and convinced me to keep trying.

Five more steps, I stop again and tell Denis I’m going back without him. Denis very patiently explains that we’re almost at the top and he’ll help me keep going.

Five more steps, I have an emotional breakdown…I tell Denis there is seriously no way I’m going on. Again, very nicely, Denis explains that I’m already completely dirty so there is no reason not to keep going and he promises me he’ll clean my shoes so good when we get back. By this time I’m crying and I tell him there’s no way I’m walking anymore in the mud. Then he hugs me and tells me he’ll buy me new shoes if I think they are still ruined after he cleans them. New shoes? Shopping? He knows me too well.

Still totally unhappy I start walking forward. After another long stretch of mud we make it out. Of course I’m still stubbornly unhappy when we get to the overlook that I hardly had time to enjoy it. I have the pictures to prove it!

Not as bad as I made it seem you say? True. It wasn’t that bad. I guess I’m a psycho that really hates mud. In fact, as we came back down the mountain I started to realize that Watchman’s Trail was by far my favorite hike that we had done so far in Zion’s. Hmmm, funny how that works.

My shoes are still stained red from that mud, but I’ve decided I really don’t want new running shoes because it reminds me of the life journey Denis and I are on together (yes, that was cheesy, but that’s what I do best). Although this is just one story, there have been many others like it…poor Denis, I know. But I think I’ve learned something about being married that you don’t really understand until you’ve been married and that is sometimes people get upset over stupid things, sometimes things get a little dirty and hard to get through, but the important thing is that you figure it out together. Denis and I aren’t perfect…he has had his share of “mud” stories too, but it’s the steps we take forward together that matter.

I’m sure Denis and I have a lot more “mud” that we will have to trudge through together in life, but today I realized, as I was running on the treadmill, looking down at my red stained shoes, how grateful I am that Denis is the one walking in the mud by my side.

Just thinking

2010-03-08T22:04:00.001-06:00

So I’m just sitting here thinking about how I’m bored and I could go watch TV, but that’s lame and I could read, but I’ve already read like 100 pages today…so that left me to blogging tonight. It’s okay if you think I’m pathetic, I agree with you, haha.

I’ve had so many things change in my life over the past couple weeks. I’d say that they are learning experiences…I’m not sure what I’m suppose to learn yet, but I feel like Heavenly Father is leading me towards something…He’s so wonderful like that. He can take trials and turn them into blessings, He’s literally a miracle worker. That’s something on my mind.

Then of course there is work. That’s constantly on my mind. It’s a huge part of my life right now. I realized tonight as I was cleaning up around my apartment that I have been really lucky in my last couple of jobs because I’ve had really great bosses. First, Bradley Ross…he taught me so much. He was rational and thought about things from all angles before jumping into something. He was very motivating and I always wanted to do things well for him because he was just that kind of person. And now Wayne Tomlinson is my boss, and again I’ve already learned so much from him. He challenges me to do things that I never thought I could do which in turn makes me feel very confident. My job now has been emotionally draining, physically tiring, and spiritually demanding, but at the same time I think I’ve grown more over the past 5 months than I have at any other job because Wayne has taught me so many different ways to handle situations. That’s something else on my mind.

The future. Those are scary words for me right now. My life is going to change so incredibly much in the next 5 months that most of the time I’m terrified of “the future”, but there is a little part of me that is excited and ready to start a new phase of life. That’s another thing on my mind.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the women in my life…mostly my family (Mom, Steph, Kell, Iliana). I’ve realized that I have incredible examples in my life…they are all so entirely different, but I think that’s why I’m so lucky to know them all. They all have so many gifts and such wonderful strength that I’m constantly encouraged to keep going and to try to be a little more like each one of them. That’s something else on my mind.

I’ve been listening to hip hop and even a little rap on the radio lately and sometimes I wonder if it’s completely rotting my brain away. I know some of you are thinking that I’m crazy, but I just can’t help it…I love the beat baby! I think that I’m a black girl trapped in a white girls body :) Or so I wish. I know, I’m evil and I shouldn’t listen to it, but I’m not perfect! That’s something else on my mind when the music isn’t so loud I can think… ;)

And you know that all of these thoughts are constantly going on in my brain simultaneously because I’m a girl and that’s what we do best…think a lot and think about a lot of different things all at once, right?

Anyways, I probably shared way more that you wanted to know about the inner workings of my mind…I’m actually sort of proud of myself cause most of those thoughts are fairly normal things to think about, usually my mind is a little more twisted than that…so you caught me on a good day.

I should really start charging for this...

2010-03-03T22:32:00.001-06:00

The lady that cuts my hair asked me to make a baptism announcement for her little girl. We have "traded services" in the past when I edited a bunch of her family photos for a free cut and color...it works out nicely. I did three different types for her, there are spelling errors in them all, but I will be fixing that for the final product. Anyways, I've really been using my Photoshop skills a lot the past few days because my Dad and brother have both asked me to create logos for them for different business ventures that they are involved in. I've really enjoyed doing it! Here is a look at the baptism announcements.

The last one is my favorite, but that’s just my taste.

I like it! I'm happy.

2010-02-21T23:02:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to say that something changed this week...I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what it was, but I have been really enjoying my job lately. I went into work on Saturday and worked for 4 hours for no reason other than I really wanted to figure something out, who I am? I don't get paid extra for that, I just wanted to. I mean, I've worked at home and even went in for 1 or 2 hours here and there on a Saturday, but there was something different this time...I was actually having a good time working! I make it sound like I hated my job before, I didn't. It just wasn't something I looked forward to, but it's a Sunday night and I'm looking forward to working tomorrow...that is so weird for me people. But a good weird.

I think something that really helped and this may sound strange, but I really started eating a ton better this week. I made healthy choices, hardly had any sweets, drank a lot more water, and Denis and I didn't go out to eat at all this week except Friday night. Who knew that eating healthier could much such a difference in your life, but isn't that what I'm suppose to be learning when I watch the Biggest Loser every week?

Summer better get here quick!

2010-02-18T23:11:00.000-06:00

Well as far as I'm concerned my summer started last weekend when Denis and I took our trip to Zion's National Park. Wow, it was so beautiful! Exactly what we needed :) Sun. We would go hiking for a couple hours, then come back the hotel and chill, then go hiking for a couple more hours, come home and get in the hot tub. Just wanted to share a few great pictures!

A much needed vacation

2010-02-05T18:00:00.001-06:00

Denis and I are going to Zion’s National Park for Valentines weekend! I’m super excited! Denis has never been to Zion’s and since we love hiking so much we thought this would be a great get away. There has been so much stuff going on at my work with my team, that I’ve really been feeling down and very stressed. So this little vacation couldn’t have come at a better time! I’m even more excited because Denis surprised me by booking the luxury room at the hotel we staying at :) Yay! Here’s a few pictures:

I can’t wait to go hiking, biking, and swimming outside in the sunshine!! Yes, it’ll only be 42-45 degrees while we’re there, but the forecast is SUN!

Blog Stalker!

2010-01-28T19:13:00.001-06:00

Sara Ann Marie Gardner Wood Larson....

Where have you been all my life?

"Kumbaya my leg, kumbaya

Kumbaya my leg, kumbaya"

LOL!

I miss you.

He’s the delicious ice cream on my brownie

2010-01-25T18:29:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to say that I’m very proud of the outfit that I put together and wore on Sunday…I thought it was really cute, and that is very rare for me.

But my cute outfit isn’t the greatest part about this picture. I love the guy by my side! He has been so amazing…try being the guy married to the girl who thinks “being a girl is hard sometimes” (my previous post).

He’s the yin to my yang…

the peanut butter filling in my Reese's Easter egg…

the Edward of my Twilight…

the sun in my winter…

Wow…that’s way too fun for me, I’m gonna stop before I get any more carried away. Today, I’m just grateful that my hand fits perfectly in his, that he always keeps me calm and level, and that I know there is no one else in the world that makes me feel the way he does. Being a girl may be hard sometimes, but having the right guy reminds me how lucky I am to be his girl.

Short, very short

2010-01-16T01:49:00.001-06:00

Dude, being a girl is hard sometimes…and that’s all I gotta say tonight :)

Summing up my night...

2010-01-12T23:57:00.000-06:00

I'm proud of myself,

I worked out today.

I'm not so proud of myself,

I watched TV for 3 hours tonight.

I'm proud of myself,

I turned down ice cream tonight.

I'm not so proud of myself,

I only turned it down because DQ was closed.

Awesome...does anyone else have days like this? Or am I alone in my contradictory ways?

On my mind...

2010-01-04T18:03:00.000-06:00

Read this, it's not very long...

"Repent...That I May Heal You" by Elder Andersen (click here to follow the link)

Here's a quote by Pres. Boyd K. Packer:

"It is a wicked, wicked world in which we live and in which our children must find their way. Challenges of pornography, gender confusion, immorality, child abuse, drug addiction, and all the rest are everywhere. There is no way to escape from their influence.

Some are led by curiosity into temptation, then into experimentation, and some become trapped in addiction. They lose hope. The adversary harvests his crop and binds them down.

Satan is the deceiver, the destroyer, but his is a temporary victory.

The angels of the devil convince some that they are born to a life from which they cannot escape and are compelled to live in sin. The most wicked of lies is that they cannot change and repent and that they will not be forgiven. That cannot be true. They have forgotten the Atonement of Christ."

This is just something that has been on my mind lately and these talks have definitely helped answer questions. Oh how wonderful is our Savior, He is there to forgive us all of the many things we do wrong each day if we choose to repent. I know that my sins are no "worse" or "better" than my neighbors because we all have to use the Atonement daily in order to come unto the Savior. I feel like we're all on an equal playing field when it comes to relying on the Savior because we all sin in different ways...no one is better than anyone else, it's the same feeling I have when I'm in the temple...no one is better than anyone else, I believe that is how it will feel in heaven too. The Atonement brings hope, the Atonement is hope.

Reflecting

2009-12-27T22:59:00.000-06:00

Normally, I would post about what Denis and I got for Christmas this year...we got some good stuff, but somehow Christmas really was a little different for me this year. Denis and I will be in Florida on July 10th this year, so maybe that had something to do with it...that we might not be in Utah for Christmas next year, but I wasn't really thinking too much about that. I think really what made my Christmas this year was my family's testimony meeting on Christmas Eve. We've done this a lot as I've grown up, have a testimony meeting, but there was something special about this one this year. See, my parents became the legal guardian over my cousin Travis, age 17, a few months ago. Travis is an only child, his Mom left when he was about 3 yrs old and his Dad has been in and out of jail for drug use. However, Travis was raised by my grandmother, an amazing woman. So this Christmas my grandmother came and had Christmas with my family, which includes Travis. I was touched the most by Travis' humble, simple, but heart felt testimony. I just kept thinking to myself how grateful I am that I know Travis and that I was able to listen to him bear his testimony. Sure, Travis has had his problems, but every teenager does...I know I did. We all have different struggles and weaknesses, but our Savior makes all the difference in our lives. He always takes hard situations and turns them into experiences that will strengthen us, if we let him. Travis will be an amazing missionary, I felt that on Christmas Eve.

Also, as I listened to my 84 yr old Grandma bear her testimony I realized that I've taken her for granted my entire life. I have always known she loves me and is so sweet and kind, but she is so much more than that. Her testimony is the essence of humility. I know so little about who she is and what she has been through. In the 10 minutes she bore her testimony I feel like I learned more about who she really is than I have my whole life. She talked about how everything she does, going to the grocery store, driving down to our house, etc. she always says a prayer to our Heavenly Father to help her make the choices He would have her make, and to help her listen to the spirit. She said that she knows the times she forgets to do that because when she looks back on her day and asks herself why that day didn't go so well, it was because she forgot her Savior that day. I know that my Heavenly Father and Savior are so pleased with the work my Grandma has done in her life thus far, she is the most unselfish person I have ever had the opportunity to know. I love her so much and look forward to the times that I have to get to know her better, in this life and the next.

As I reflected on this past year, during Christmas week, I feel like there was truly a theme to my life and that is learning how to love people like our Savior loves. I'm not perfect at it, I'm no where near it, but I feel like I've grown a little in that way this year. It is completely impossible to express my feelings towards my Savior, I don't really think I need to try with my simple words because you've all felt that love in your lives too...you know how I feel. I know my Savior lives. I know He loves each one of us perfectly, whether we are the bishop of a ward or a homeless women in Detroit (that one was for you Mike), it doesn't matter...He loves us all with a love that is true, pure, and perfect and so that is what I will continue to strive for all my life, charity, the pure love of Christ.

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Again No Need for Words…

2009-12-26T13:18:00.001-06:00