Just Some Thoughts

Josh was a sweetheart and got me Donkey Kong for the wii for Christmas. It's awesome. I absolutely love it. We've been playing a lot of wii...

I got Josh Scot Pilgrim vs. the World for Christmas. We've watched it 3 times...

We saw the new Narnia. It was pretty awesome. I think I've cried gradually more in each movie as the series has progressed. This one was definitely the most blatantly suggestive in the biblical symbolism. The end made me think about my relationship with the Savior and His hand in my life. I sincerely recommend it.

I loathe the snow when I have to drive in it, but I do appreciate the sort of humane camaraderie it can create. Like when you get dragged out of a ditch you slid into in a storm, and then get to repay the favor when your neighbor can't get out of her driveway. It sucks, but I guess there is always silver lining.

We went to game night at Anne Marie's last night and it was such fun. Games are definitely my favorite way to hang out with my family. It brings out the intense Neves-ness that makes us so much fun! Thanks Anne!

Just some thoughts. Keeping myself occupied while Josh and Haela watch Scott Pilgrim...again.

No More Figgy Pudding for Me!

I know this is a regular post topic for me, but I just can't say enough how much I love my husband. He really is the best.

I love Christmas Eve. It just always feels magical to me. This year I spent it with my head over a toilet. I don't know for sure what I ate that disagreed so terribly with my stomach, (although my first go at my Uncle Marc's Coconut Candy is the prime suspect) but it was awful. It started at about 9:00 pm and kept me up on and off until about 5:00 am and in order to fully describe my feelings, I need to supply you with some background. I hate being sick, but I hate being alone when sick even more. My mother, bless her heart, struggled with germs when I was little so she would do all she could to take care of me, but had a hard time just sitting with me. When we were teenagers Chad and I used to take care of each other when sick, but when I moved out I just did it on my own (until my aunts found out I was sick and showed up to take me to the doctor or bring movies and tea).

So, all caught up?

Josh stayed up with me all night. He held my hair, snuggled me when I had the chills, and kept me hydrated. He got up to give me a blessing at 3:00 am and never once even hinted that he was tired. He took care of me all morning and made sure I started with saltines (yuck) and sprite and made me chicken noodle soup so I could still eat with the family.

My Bridal Shower!

Wow. It's six months late. Lame. But let me tell you all about my beautiful bridal shower!

My bridal shower was absolutely stunning! It was thrown for me by Bobbe and her friend Sonya. In character with nearly all of our wedding events, the shower ended up right in the middle of a blizzard that day and I was touched that so many wonderful women still found a way to be there for me.

We had just gotten my bridals taken the day before (only just dodging the beginning of the blizzard) so I was in full-on wedding fun zone! It was really fun to have my both events in the same weekend.

We had soup and breadbowls for lunch...homemade soup. It was delicious!

They decorated the table with utensils in our kitchen colors for me to keep! Isn't it beautiful!

(a special thanks to Sammy for the lovely photography!)

I thought this was SUCH a cute idea!

Bobbe found pretty white bowls and had them decorated with vinyl lettering!

I love bowls so I was just tickled over this little detail!

Each of my guests got a little

"Thanks you're sweet!"

candy bag to fill with red and black goodies for the ride home.

They had pictures of Josh and I everywhere!

I love pictures and it made it feel so personal and fun.

This is me trying to explain something very important...

with marshmallows stuffed in my mouth.

Sammy decided that every ribbon from my gifts simply had to be tied into my hair.

A cookbook I wanted and an adorable recipe box from Ashley and Jake.

"I feel pretty! Oh so pretty!"

It was such a wonderful day.

I felt so special and so excited to be with my sweetheart

"now and forever!"

I'm so thankful for an amazing Mother-in-law and so many wonderful women who love me!

Blog under construction!!!

Accckkkk!!!!

Please, for the love of all that is appealing to the eyes, do not look at the nightmare that is my page right now!!!
(feel free to read, however :))

Brimming Over!

I'm just so stinkin happy!
No one told me being married to a great guy was so much fun and so wonderful! Okay. Maybe SOMEONE said something. But they must not have said just HOW wonderful it is! Anyway, somewhere along the line, communications did not come through! I am happier now than I have ever been in my entire life. And I had fun being single.
So, for the sake of anyone unsure of how totally AWESOME marriage is...

I love:

Coming home to kisses and questions and long "my day" stories
Waking up to kisses and "how did you sleep?" 's
"I love you" texts, even though I already know
Dreaming about the future
Giggling about the past
Winks
Paying bills together and hoping and hoping all of our checks clear
Working on projects together
Driving together
Lazy Saturday mornings
Prepping lessons together on Sunday mornings
Sex (let's be honest here)
LAUGHING!!
Telling everyone how happy I am

...and so many many other little and big things that contribute to this amazing relationship that I look forward to for all Eternity. I can't wait to go to the Temple with my sweetheart, and I'm so grateful for his love and our abundant life together.

Good Feelin'

I had a really exciting afternoon today. I've only been at work for three hours and it's already a good day! (It's study hour so I'm still being a good staff. Yay for multi-tasking!) We had a really great group about which girls are taking advantage of what Sunrise has to offer and which ones aren't. For those interested, the numbers were about 9 and 6, respectfully, so a bit more than half. It was so interesting to see how the group played out. I usually talk a lot in groups but today I observed more and learned a lot! One girl spoke only once the whole hour, but her facial expressions were so telling! I think I knew exactly what she was thinking, but no one else did! She's totally flying under the radar (which we've known for about a month) and the girls just let her! They rarely hold her accountable so she's just floating along in her treatment, not really taking advantage of the facility.
One girl was called out 4 different times by different people for being a bully, being sneaky, demeaning others, and being defensive, and each time...she got defensive!
But then there were girls who really seemed to take it in, and that moment, when they realized how their issues were coming out in their behavior and how it affected others, and it was beautiful to behold! It's so cool to watch a girl get it! Of course, we'll see what she really got out of the group later based on her behavior, but it's a start.
I love seeing these girls figure out their lives, partly because it's extremely rewarding, and partly because I learn from each of their lessons. Awareness truly is the first step to change and I am blessed with the kind of job where I learn self-awareness as well as the tools to actually change destructive or unnecessary behaviors.
The other cool moment of the day was talking to my Relational girl's parents on the phone. I sent them an email a couple of weeks ago by way of introduction and their response was lovely! Talking on the phone was no different. The best part is, it's representative of my relationship with their daughter.
I think I've mentioned before that I didn't have a great rapport with my last relational girl. I worked so stinkin hard on that relationship and she just wouldn't have any of it! It was very, very frustrating and I have to admit I was a little relieved, albeit disappointed when she left. When this new girl came, I actually requested to be her Relational Coach because we connected almost immediately. She's a bright, fun, insightful girl who isn't resisting the need to form lasting relationships here and we're already doing so well! Today when I came into group I said, "Dibbs on sitting next to my relational girl!" She giggled and said, "yes!!" I never would have had the courage to say that to my last girl! She definitely wouldn't have responded like that!
It's just such a rewarding experience to feel like there is mutual concern and motivation. I love those girls and it's nice to feel some of that back. I'm very blessed with the job I have!

Hello!!!

Hello Blogging World!
So I've been stuck in this mindset that if I don't have the pictures ready and the right mood and words to write, I shouldn't blog. The last 2 weeks without internet at home has changed that belief! So I obviously still need to write about that kind of big, important day we had 2 1/2 months ago, but for now, I'm just going to catch up a bit.
Josh and I had a wonderful wedding. It seemed perfect to me and that belief didn't tarnish when friends and family started telling me how many things went wrong after our weekend in Springdale. It was my perfect day and I'll never forget it. I'm very grateful for good friends who hid the weather, a car accident, a broken frame, and drama from me all day long!
Springdale was in a word, perfect. The room was beautiful and we had such a great time relaxing and decompressing that I forgot to take pictures of it. Oh well. Our hotel was nestled between the Court of the Patriarchs and West Temple and the weather was sunny and balmy despite the disastrous storm in Cedar the night before. Matt, Ashley, Andy, and Jan gave us a couples massage for our wedding. I knew I needed one and had tried in vain all week to get one, but Josh had no idea what he was missing! We agreed after that it was a perfect gift!
We checked out two days later and had a lovely breakfast with Jake and Ashley before they jetted back to Chicago.
Josh and I settled into what should have been quiet domesticity but our lives have not slowed down! Rather they accelerate daily and I'm still fighting against time to get our thank-you notes out!
Well, that's all for now. More to follow.

16 Days!!!

We're almost there!
And no, I don't have time to blog.
The To-Do List seems to get longer, not shorter.
Why is that?

So for those who don't know, we didn't get the sealing clearance approved so we're having a civil ceremony. Obviously it's a little different than what I always thought it would be, but I'm very happy and still so excited! However, this does throw a whole new wrench into my already extremely overheated gears because I've never thought much about planning a ceremony so it's a whole new adventure! I've been watching wedding movies while I assemble favors and beg for addresses to get ideas and keep the stress to a minimum. I think we're almost there, but I'm sure I've forgotten something!
I'm excited for everything that will happen on March 13th, marrying my best friend and the best man I could ever hope to spend forever with is obviously number 1, but next on the list is definitely having all my friends and family gather together. I love parties and gatherings because there's something very sweet and heartwarming about seeing all my friends reunite and my cousins play together. It makes me really, really happy and I'm so excited to see so many loved ones all together...in 16 Days!

Random Ramblings

It's a really good thing Josh and agree on just about everything, or this whole plan a wedding thing would be oodles harder.

I'm trying to be patient for the Sealing Clearance...but I just found out the time I wanted is taken. A month ago this would have been a trainwreck (well, I guess I would be a trainwreck), but I'm not, because I think I'm finally learning a concept that I've struggled with since birth: If I can't control it...I don't need to freak out about it. Imagine that! Not freaking out about things I can't change!! Whoa!

I had a girl at work be extremely rude to me on Saturday. I didn't show the girls that I was upset, but it really bugged me because she and I have had a good relationship in the past. I have to admit, it kinda ruined my night.
She gave me a very tender apology yesterday. It was nice.

For something so destructive and scary as blizzards and rainstorms, they sure leave a beautiful footprint in their wake!

I really suck at returning phone calls. Once I set a goal to not let the time between a call and a return call exceed 2 days. It worked for about a month. I feel really bad about it. It might be a new resolution.

Well..that's all folks!!

The Lovely Bones

Despite a long night of creepy Stanley Tucci-infused dreams, I found The Lovely Bones deeply moving and at the same time emotionally harrowing. I had an intense emotional reaction to Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz's brilliantly human portrayal of how it might feel to lose a child to a brutal murder. I identified with the main character's quest for understanding, closure, and peace. The effects were stunning but not pretentious and the cameo performances were great. As it turns out, Susan Sarandon plays a great crazy, drunkard of a grandma. The movie had all of the technical lovelies of a horror film, but without gore, pop-outs, and blood, so it was unnervingly suspenseful, but not necessarily scary. The movie had heart. I loved it. Go see it.

It's a good thing.

Today I experienced a lovely feeling. Balance. I love balance. At Sunrise, when the girls graduate they select a word that defines their experience at Sunrise or their lives in general or just their personality. Mine would be Balance. Today I had the blissful feeling of balance between solid fun and sweet productivity.
Bobbe (Josh's mom) and I had what Josh and his dad called a "marathon shopping day." We shopped for twelve hours for invitations, material for the bridesmaid sashes, material for the quilt she's making for us, her dress for the wedding, groceries, ribbons, engagement-picture outfits, and much, much more. We fulfilled the productivity quota by completing our entire list and then some, but we also had such a blast! I had so much fun looking at tons of fabric and ribbon and decor and my natural zeal for color went into hyper overdrive in almost every quilt store in St. George. Bobbe taught me that my eyes were going crazy because the color POPS
and she needed me to focus on patterns and designs too, which I eventually did.

I called Josh when we got home and filled him in on the day. He was astounded by all we accomplished and when I told him how fun it was he remarked, "It's a good thing you and my mom like each other so much!" I kind of stopped and thought about it and realized it really is a good thing we like each other! I've loved Josh's parents since the day I met them, and I realized (again) today how lucky I am that we get along so well and that Bobbe and I aren't like so many mothers and daughters-in-law who can't stand dinner with each other, let alone twelve hours of shopping! :)