Memories.

Time continues to fly by even faster as the months pass. There is so much to do in so little time but the excitement it brings is beyond expression. For me, I am a "count-down-er." So here's what I've got to look forward to in the coming month(s):

5 - Days until my last day at work

12 - Days until Kendall and McKay come to visit us in Utah

23 - Days until we fly to Georgia for Christmas

35 - Days until our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

39 - Days until we move to HAWAII

Needless to say, our life is beautiful. Somewhere in between these countdowns, however, we have to pack up all of our belongings, store them, and move. It's going to be extremely difficult to try and pack our entire lives into a couple suitcases and a few carry-on's. Unfortunately, a lot will be left behind. The adventures and memories that we gain along the way, though, will be well worth it!

I always love this time of the year because we get to experience holiday after holiday. Here's a few snapshots of how we've been spending it:

Our first child is pretty cute.

Hee Haw Farms

DisneyLand in Anaheim, CA

Snow Penguin!

My first ever turkey attempt: Success!

Our first Thanksgiving :)

No table? No problem.

Next holiday on the list: CHRISTMAS!

Bring it on :)

...

Thoughts.

I was privileged to stumble upon a pinterest video today which completely changed my day (as well as my outlook on life.) It was a video summarizing a talk given by Elder F. Enzio Busche from the Quorum of the Seventy in a 1996 BYU Devotional. Not only was the video heartfelt and inspiring, but it was also influential and beyond noteworthy. I plan to take into consideration the points Elder Busche makes in order to obtain a more positive and Christ-like lifestyle. 

Here are some of my favorites:

• Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks.
• The covenant with God to which you are true enables you to become enlightened by him and nothing is impossible for you. 
• When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair steer your thoughts away from yourself, and direct them, in gratitude and love, towards God.
• In your life, there has to be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take.
• You are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness. 
• Put all frustrations, hurt feelings, and grumblings into the perspective of your eternal hope. Light will flow into your soul. 
• God knows that you are not perfect. As you suffer about your imperfections, he will give you comfort and suggestions of where to improve. 
• God knows better than you about what you need. He always attempts to speak to you. Listen and follow the suggestions that he makes--everything will fall into its place.
• Avoid any fear like your worst enemy but magnify your fear about the consequences of sin.
• When you cannot love someone, look into that persons eyes long enough to find the hidden rudiments of the child of God in him.
• Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. 
• If someone hurts you so much that your feelings seem to choke you, forgive and you will be free again.
• Avoid, at all costs, any pessimistic, negative or criticizing thoughts. If you cannot cut them out, they will do you harm. 
• On the road to salvation, let questions arise but never doubts. If something is wrong, God will give you clarity, but never doubts. 
• Avoid rush, and haste, and uncontrolled words. 
• Divine light develops in places of peace and quiet. Be aware of that as you enter places of worship.
• Be not so much concerned about what you do, but do what you do with all your heart, might, and strength. In thoroughness is satisfaction. 
• The greatest achievement that can be reached in our lives is to be under the complete influence of the Holy Ghost. Then he will teach us what is really good and necessary to do. 
• The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitant to do it. 
• Be grateful for every opportunity to serve. It helps you more than those you serve. 
• When you are compelled to give up something, or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that while you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better. 

Okay, so my "favorite points" just happened to be all of the points made in the video. But seriously, imagine how peaceful our lives would be, even during times of trial, if we could just remember to live by these thoughts? 

New Adventures

For those who do not know, 

my husband and I have been accepted to BYU-Hawaii for the upcoming Winter 2013 semester. 

Which means that I will spend my days here:

and then here:

The decision to pick up and move to Hawaii was made easily. (And carefully, so callmmm dowwnn). 

I mean, it is most definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that we refuse to let pass by.

The next four and a half months will FLY by and we already have so many exciting plans to fill them! 

• Amanda moves to Salt Lake City, UT at the end of this month!
• My parents will be driving her here which means we will be spending a much needed four-five days with them! As well as Bruce and Sherri (and hopefully Sophie-dog)! Honestly, going almost eight months without seeing my family is taking a huge toll on me. Being an adult is hard.
• Halloween is coming up; which is fantastic news all in itself. 
• Decorations, old man trick or treating, haunted houses. 
• Then Thanksgiving (actually, we have no plans for that. Sad.)
• And finally, Christmas.
• Reasons I am BEYOND excited for Christmas this year:
• Amanda, Daniel, and I will be driving to Georgia for Christmas! Yes, driving. We plan on leaving as soon as school is out. 
• Luckily, I get to see my mom, dad, and Amanda soon. So seeing Kendall and Mckay, and getting to spend Christmas with them and the rest of my family, is beyond exciting. I miss them all so much.
• Daniel and I will be celebrating our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. A year already? It has flown by but I am so grateful for all we have learned and the many, many years we have ahead of us. 
• After our one year anniversary, we will be flying to Hawaii to begin our new, and grandest, adventure to date.

Needless to say, I think the next few months will pass by with ease. Soon I will be sipping lemonade on the beach and attending school in paradise. Even better than that, I get to do all of this with the love of my life. I am an extremely lucky girl. I really could not ask for more. 

Over the next few months I have a huge goal to blog more and take pictures as often as I can. I hate looking back and realizing I haven't captured as many moments as I'd like. 

"Come what may, and love it."

Here We Go...

Blog post numero uno always seems to be that super lame one that turns out so much shorter than you planned because you really have no idea how to talk to a computer screen. So inevitably I have never understood why people blog so much. I have always considered journals to be more "permanent" than something over the internet. However, lately I have been creating all these plans in my head and have no way to fully express them over paper. So, I have decided to use the power of the internet to make these plans realistic, memorable, and obtainable. This blog is for no one but myself so whether people read it or not is beyond me. I plan to use this blog to improve my life, record my goals, document memorable events, and have a ton of fun along the way. Therefore, feel free to follow or stay behind. 

First, I want to start by saying that I live a rockin' life. I feel like people tend to forget the things that make their lives so great. I was privileged to meet the right people at the right time and because of them, I am now spending eternity with the love of my life. This serves as living proof to me that God always has a hand in each of our lives and things DO happen for a reason. 

No matter where I go in life, as long as my husband is standing beside me, it will be a happy place. It will be home. I am excited for the future ahead of us and am loving the present that we are in. 

And now I have hit that point where talking to a computer screen feels so very strange and I will have to work on that in the future. Don't get me wrong, I have a million things to say, I will just better organize them later. So for now, this is it. We'll talk later ;)