Deans, Drysdales, and Dobbins. We all became friends early this semester but only started hanging out a lot towards the end. It's kind of a big bummer because now the Drysdales are moving to Texas for about 5 years. But we decided that it's okay because we all have a plan to meet up in Washington in 5 years and raise our kids together!
I love how in one night you can become such good friends with people. At the beginning of this game night we had we were simply aquaintances. And by the end (after 5 hours of games and story swapping) we had made memories, created inside jokes, and felt like we'd known each other for years. It was SO much fun.
When family is not around, having friends makes all the difference in the world.

So now you see why people in our ward get us mixed up with the Deans. We don't look very much alike in the face, but of course the height is what does it. We didn't even realize that we were standing exactly the same way till after we saw the picture! It makes it even funnier!


Andrew and I couldn't decide who was giving who the piggy back ride, but Corbin's having the time of his life!

Christmas really brings a lot of those magical moments. The other day Andrew and I turned on the Christmas lights, lit a candle, and sat on the couch and just talked. It was a brief escape from the world and it really was a bit of Christmas magic for us.

Our Christmas season began the day after Thanksgiving when we went to see the lights at Temple Square. I remember living in Salt Lake and watching the workers either putting up or taking down the lights all year long. I swear they are always doing one or the other, there are so freaking many. But I'm glad they do it. It's always quite a sight. So Andrew and I spent the day in Salt Lake for this wonderful eye-feasting and we met up with Mariah while we were there.
It was quite a magical Christmas moment for me to be running through the streets of one of my favorite cities towards the huge spectacle of lights linked arms with my husband and my sister. Neither of them had seen the lights before, and first timers seemed to make the experience even more fun.

This year I have really come to love this Christmas song that I' never paid much attention to before.


O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight


I like the last line especially. "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Everything is alright through Jesus Christ. Because He was born everything really will be okay, everything will be made right, and we really will be happy.




Merry Christmas :)

Through an amazing stroke of...well...CONFUSION, really...we were able to get tickets to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Sunday! We've made some great friends here in our new ward so far. One of the couples we've become closest too, Corbin and Moena Dean, actually 'look' a lot like us. And by that I mean that he is tall, skinny, and white like Andrew and she is tiny, short, and dark like me. So because we all hang out together often our fellow ward members sometimes get mixed up. The way we got the tickets was one of those times.

On Sunday both Andrew and Corbin bore their testimonies in Sacrament meeting and in Corbin's he mentioned how excited he was to hear the Christmas Devotional that night. Later on in Relief Society one of the girls in the presidency approached me and offered me two tickets to the devotional. I was pleasantly surprised and she said "Well, your husband said he was excited for it in his testimony so I thought you guys would like to go!" Boy did that make for an awkward moment. With Moena standing right behind me. The girl was totally embarassed that she had thought Corbin was my husband, but the funniest part to me was the fact that she didn't even really mean to give the tickets to us at all. It worked out perfectly though because the Dean's already had tickets! So we all got to go together and had dessert at their house afterwards. We thanked Corbin for getting us the tickets!

The devotional was amazing, of course. The stage decorations were beautiful, and it always takes my breath away to see that many Mormons in one place at one time. The talks were wonderfully inspiring and set the spirit for the month. I love that the Presidency takes the time to do this. It makes such a difference for me. I think my favorite part of the meeting was the closing hymn. The congregation was invited to join in on the last verse of Silent Night and as all those voices echoed in that huge room it really REALLY REALLY felt like Christmas time. Everyone talks about the true spirit of Christmas and how hard it is to find. For me, one of the surest ways to find it is in the songs. The ones about the Savior's birth.



Only 9 days till we go home!
Merry Christmas!!

It's beginning to LOOK and SMELL and SOUND and FEEL a lot like CHRISTMAS!! Andrew is on his last week of school and we're both trying to make sure neither of us burn out too early. We want to finish the semester strong, him with school and me with work.
We've started some of our very own Christmas traditions and put up our very own Christmas decorations! Here is one of our favorite new holiday additions to our home:
Merry Christmas!!

This post will be mostly a vent. It will probably be immature, so feel free to not read it. That is my disclaimer. You've been warned.

Why can't people just be happy for me that I'm married? Some people, some of my closest friends, have nothing good to say about the fact that I'm married now. They don't say bad things, but they make it clear that it just doesn't work for them. Maybe it's because of how my marriage has changed the other relationships that I already had in my life. Any marriage does, though, it's the coming together of two lives. And yes maybe we can't hang out as much as we used to, and maybe I can't pay as much attention to other friendships as I used to, and maybe I don't have as much time to talk as before.....but I would think that if my own family could accept all those things and be supportive of me, despite the changes it creates in relationships with them...then other people should be able to deal with it too. They can't just be happy that I am happy. It bothers me and it hurts my feelings. Lives change and we all end up in different places at different times. I want this person to stop trying to make me feel guilty for my life moving at a different pace than theirs.

And that is my vent. It always feels good to get it out.

Yesterday, Andrew and I had the opportunity to watch President Packer's amazing CES Devotional on the BYU channel. After it had finished and I was getting up to turn off the TV, I heard three little words from it that made me stop in my tracks. The words were, "Up next: Avonlea." And there went the rest of our evening.

Oh Avonlea. It's happy, it's sad, it's heartbreaking, and it's hilarious. I can't even describe how much I love that show. It's my comfort food. Chocolate doesn't do it for me. Avonlea does.


Here are some of my favorite funny quotes from it. Just because.

Rachel-“Them skinny girls are the first to go.”
Marilla- “Then you have nothing to worry about, Rachel. You'll live to a ripe old age.” (Of Corsets and Secrets and True Love)

Rachel- “You have the nerve of a canal horse!”
Hetty- “Well at least I don't have its figure.” (Malcolm and the Baby)

Hetty- “The devil's in most people... not me mind you, but most.” (Aunt Hetty’s Ordeal)

Felix- “You're really strange! I want to get rid of my family.” (Aunt Hetty’s Ordeal)

Felicity- “All right Felix here's a tip, don't brush your teeth with a brick.” {The Dinner}

Felix- “Willll the summer end without myyyy being kissed?” (How Kissing Was Discovered)

Janet- “Felicity, if you slam the door in the face of every boy who puts his foot in his mouth, you're going to need iron hinges. “

Felix- “Oh, Gus! Meet my sister- or should I say my peerless flower Felicity.” (How Kissing Was Discovered)

Felicity- “Talk is cheap Sally Potts, and so are you.” {High Society}

Felix- “If more adults were deaf, there would be more honesty in children.” {Proof of the Pudding}

Felicity- “Thank you Gus. Beneath your vagabond clothing beats the heart of a true gentleman.” {How Kissing Was Discovered}

Felix- “Hmm... These tarts need a little something... How about some poison berries- maybe a pinch of sawdust.” (Proof of the Pudding)

Felicity- “Mrs. Potts would give advice to a tree if it'd listen.” (Dreamer of Dreams)

Alec- “Lets not be coy Janet. Everyone knows that you chased me like a bull terrier.” {How Kissing Was Discovered)

Felicity- “Will I have to be married, have three children, and be an old hag before you think I'm grown up?”
Janet- “Was I just insulted?” (Heirs and Graces)

Felicity- “I'm going to have two children, none of which will look anything like Felix.” {The Disappearance}

Alec- “Believe me, Jasper, compared to the rest of your family you're normal- maybe even to the point of boring.” (Tug of War)

Hetty- “I heard it directly from the horse’s mouth.”
Alec- “Rachel Lynde.” (Jasper's Home Movie)

Marilla- “That's a bandage for fat people.” (Of Corsets, Secrets, and True True Love)

Peter Craig- “Oh, everyone knows everything about everyone in Avonlea.” (The Journey Begins)

Felix- "You're like an ocean breeze... not that you smell like fish or anything." (Woman of Importance)

Gus- “Better than kissn' my dog." (How Kissing was Discovered)

Marilla- "Rachel, I never cease being amazed by your lack of tact."
Rachel- "I have no tact. I'm noted for that." (Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's)

Rachel- "When your heart skips a beat, it isn't love, its indigestion.” (Ah... Sweet Mystery of Life)

Felix- "Felicity, how do I look?"
Felicity - "Why ask me, you already know what I think of you." (Comings and Goings)

Gus- "Look at that, she's doin' a play." (Aunt Hetty's Ordeal)

Sara- "You're right Felicity. There are a lot of cherries in your pies." (Proof of the Pudding)

Mrs. Sloane - "Where does she find those hats?"
Mrs. Bugle- "There isn't an ostrich alive that hasn't been plucked bald." (The Minister's Wife)

I appreciate that Andrew always puts things away. I was looking for the camera today. The last place I looked was where it was supposed to be because when I was living my single life that’s the one place it would never be. Where it belonged. But now that I married an organized man, I seem to have an organized life! It’s so weird.

We also were able to carve our very first pumpkin together thanks to the awesome ward activity we went to last week.They supplied the pumpkins and everything. There were fun fall treats, pumpkin guts, lovely autumn attire, and everything was basically just orange. It was fun to have kids running around the gym behind us, although it did make me a tad homesick. They had a contest for the pumpkins at the end, and everyone agreed it was a tough call. I wish I had taken pictures of all the crazy amazing pumpkins that were in the running. There was a Frankenstein, a Harry Potter, two very intricately carved owls, the Headless Horseman, and sooo many others. There was one pumpkin where the couple lit the candle inside then turned off the lights and shone it at the wall. And it was the Bat-symbol! Shining right on the gym wall. Now how creative is that? In the end the one that won was a very detailed flaming skull. It was very cool and definitely screamed Halloween.
Andrew and I didn't even place, but we still love our pumpkin's somewhat traditional jack-o-lantern face. He now sits outside our front door as our one and only Halloween decoration. This year instead of dressing up or going to a dance we're going to stay at home and watch some scary old movies. We rented some Hitchcock movies from the library along with my personal favorite: The Ghost and Mister Chicken with Don Knotts. That hilarious guy. Halloween is fun fun fun. It's pretty simple for us this year compared to others, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Well great news! Fall came back! The reds and the yellows and the oranges are back. And that's one reason I haven't blogged very much this month. Andrew and I have been spending as much time as we possibly can outside in all the beautiful rusty autumn colors. Picnics and walks and sometimes we go out just to take pictures. I think that fall/autumn is the best season because it is the perfect mix of the good things about summer and the good things about winter. Beautiful weather and fun things to do outside, all while wearing cozy clothes and sipping hot chocolate and apple cider. And as I said in a previous post, there are very few things more satisfying than stepping on a wonderfully crunchy leaf.
And no matter where you are the in the world it seems the sunsets this time of year can never be matched by any other.

I’m a little bit behind on this one…but I would just like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most wonderful brother that has ever existed in the whole wide world!!!!!! Even though we couldn’t be with him on this special milestone birthday we decided to celebrate anyway. After all, you don’t have to be WITH someone to celebrate the fact that they were born. SO we made him a cake.

CONGRATULATIONS LUKE! You’ve officially lived a decade!
















I don’t think anyone in our family can imagine life without Luke.

Fall is my favorite. But we seemed to have skipped it here. The day before yesterday it was sunny and hot. Then yesterday Andrew called me as he was walking home from school and told me to go outside and look at the mountains.



They used to be green and red and orange. I was waiting very patiently for the red and orange to make it's way down the mountain and into our front yard. But it never did. It just...skipped it.



I know I said how much I love winter. But I still wish fall had come in all it's crispy leaf goodness. Soggy ones don't make a very satisfying crunch.



Oh well. Like Julia said in her blog post, this means we're justified in skipping to Christmas!

I am very much partial to cooler weather. I would much rather have a foggy summer than a scorching hot one and I would much rather be bundled up tight in a jacket and scarf than scantily clad and free as a bird! So coming to Utah for the tail end of the warm summertime was not something I was looking forward to. The first couple weeks were hard for me and I barely ventured outside the apartment. I’m a homebody anyway so it suited me to stay in and pretend it was snowing outside. Because that’s the other thing I dislike about hot weather -that it makes me feel guilty about staying inside and not taking advantage of a nice day. It makes homework a lot harder to do as well. So I just pretend the sun's not there. I bet statistically students are a lot more focused during winter semesters than any others. This past month we’ve been here I just haven’t seen sunshine as much of a friend.


BUT. I may be changing my mind.

Oh don’t get me wrong, I would still RATHER wrap up in a blanket with hot chocolate and a movie than go running through the sprinklers getting sunburned. But I guess what I’m saying is that my hostility towards the sun is decreasing. Especially when Andrew and I spread out a big yellow blanket on the grass outside our door at 4 or 5 in the afternoon and play Monopoly Deal until the sun goes down. All without jackets, or socks, or shoes, or scarves. I can’t deny that I love the stillness of summer air at that time of day. That’s when I look at the sun and say, “Okay. Maybe we’ve been misunderstanding each other.” I’m realizing how much I love being able to go for a walk without getting all kinds of gear on. I’m realizing how much more amazing a bowl of fresh fruit or an ice cream cone tastes in warm weather. And I’m realizing that flowers are at their prettiest when the sun shines on them.

I got to thinking about all this because of an event that happened here last night. Our apartment complex set up a movie theater size projector screen on the lawn and served popcorn and pink lemonade while a movie played and the sun set in the background. It was like a drive-in movie right outside our front door. THAT is what sold me on summer. Cause you can’t do that as well any other time of the year. Hundreds of college kids came and set up their blankets and lawn chairs. Boys sat next to the girls they had crushes on, newlywed couples sat close under blankets, and friends sat in big groups playing games, getting to know each other, and being shushed by everyone else. I think it was the kind of summer night that Sandy sings about in Grease (Sandy’s part, mind you, not Danny’s!). If that’s not a perfect summer night, what is? It was so cool.
I still prefer winter clothes by far. But I have now decided that the fun of summer romance + summer nights are both amazing enough to let summer come around every year.

I like listening to old CES devotionals from General Authorities, especially Elder Holland's. I like the way he speaks, his humor, his use of Shakespeare and other poems to get the point across, and the way he makes his message a part life, not just something to think about. That's what it does for me in a nutshell. I even like his scoldings because they put me in check better than nice soft suggestions do.
One of my all time favorites of his is called "How Do I Love Thee?" It describes love far beyond fairy tales and makes it seem more real and lasting to me. I think it teaches very well the meaning of real, true love. I suppose it's not as much about romance as it is about trust, care, vulnerability, and not just a happily ever after ending but a whole life BEYOND that.
Especially being married now I understand the importance of the lessons he teaches in this talk. Andrew and I are still newly weds, for better or for worse. And we are still learning from each other how to act, how to treat each other, how to be more mature towards each other than we would be towards a sibling (no offense sisters and Luke). Because no matter how upset one of us may get, we can't run and tell on each other and walk away happily when one of us gets our way over the other. When one of us does get our way over the other all we feel is bad about it. And that's a new thing for me! I think getting your own way is not how happiness in a marriage is found. And, well, since I've never been married before I've found that I am re-learning a lot of things about life and I'm figuring out the person I want to be.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite quotes from that talk:

"Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad. Encourage in yourself what Abraham Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature.""

"Love is a fragile thing, and some elements in life can try to break it. Much damage can be done if we are not in tender hands, caring hands. To give ourselves totally to another person, as we do in marriage, is the most trusting step we take in any human relationship. It is a real act of faith--faith all of us must be willing to exercise. If we do it right, we end up sharing everything--all our hopes, all our fears, all our dreams, all our weaknesses, and all our joys--with another person."

"No serious courtship or engagement or marriage is worth the name if we do not fully invest all that we have in it and in so doing trust ourselves totally to the one we love. You cannot succeed in love if you keep one foot out on the bank for safety's sake. The very nature of the endeavor requires that you hold on to each other as tightly as you can and jump in the pool together."

"The prophets tell us that true love "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7). Once again that is ultimately a description of Christ's love--He is the great example of one who bore and believed and hoped and endured. We are invited to do the same in our courtship and in our marriage to the best of our ability. Bear up and be strong. Be hopeful and believing. Some things in life we have little or no control over. These have to be endured. Some disappointments have to be lived with in love and in marriage. These are not things anyone wants in life, but sometimes they come. And when they come, we have to bear them; we have to believe; we have to hope for an end to such sorrows and difficulty; we have to endure until things come right in the end."

"One of the great purposes of true love is to help each other in these times. No one ought to have to face such trials alone. We can endure almost anything if we have someone at our side who truly loves us, who is easing the burden and lightening the load."

I think this is what Heavenly Father made marriage for. I definitely reccomend this talk to anyone and everyone who is in love. He uses such good analogies and puts Jesus Christ right at the center of every relationship. And that's what life and love are all about anyway.

This is how my mornings have been going lately: I wake up around 10:30, read scriptures, eat breakfast, clean up around the teeny apartment, and then glue myself to the computer for a few hours. That computer part sounds pretty bad I guess, but my excuse is that as soon as Andrew gets home my computer time is gone for the rest of the day. I’m not complaining…seriously I’m not…because what he needs it for is far more worthy than what I need it for. All Andrew’s days consist of is school, work, and homework. All of which he needs the computer for. All of which are more important than my blog surfing and movie watching. But still he never rushes me or anything if I am still on when he gets home. He has become a very diligent student and he works hard all day long. So when he does get home I am very happy to relinquish the laptop over to him.
So anyway the point is I try to get everything done I need or want to get done on the computer early in the day. Then when he does need it I can do the million other non-computer things I need to do the rest of the evening. I scrapbook, read, talk on the phone, experiment with recipes, watch some tv, and clean a bit. By that time Andrew is usually done with his work for the day and we spend all the rest of our time hanging out together.
I should probably add that I DO have a job and am not completely free to accommodate my every whim all the time. But these days that I am able to do whatever I want sure are nice. The internet can be a very fun place if used well.

Julia and Lester came to visit us this weekend! We all had a fabulous time together. It was so exciting to have our very first very own HOUSE GUESTS in our teeny apartment. We cooked and baked and laughed and caught up and watched movies and played games and went swimming and walking and driving and had an absolute BALL! There's just something about seeing family that makes you say, "Okay yeah...everything IS going to be okay." It was refreshing and rejuvenating to have them here. The visit was short but sweet and super fun. We miss those Pinedas already.


Then on Tuesday we had some more visitors! Andrew's sister Brittney and her husband Alex always help us out so much. We stayed with them till we could move into our apartment and they are constantly taking us grocery shopping and driving us around anywhere we need to go. We really appreciate them and LOVE any time we get to spend with them and their cute Little Miss Lynny. We sure love them Clarks.



I absolutely LOVE this picture of Lynny and Uncle Andrew.



There really is nothing like family.