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!