My personal challenge

I've been thinking about what the Gospel means to me and how much I love the security and consistency it gives me and so I am creating a challenge for myself.

Challenge #1:
- Strengthen myself spiritually.

•    Read scriptures every day
•    Have private prayer and pray with my husband
•    Share my testimony as often as possible

Challenge #2
- Strengthen my body

• Work out consistently. I know I'm not the most fit or skinniest girl in the world and honestly, I am ok with that. I have a family who loves me for me and a husband who loves everything about me (including my waistline) BUT it's not the size that makes me want to change, it's the fact that I want to be healthy and energetic.
• Eat healthy and take vitamins! I can handle eating healthy, it's the vitamins that scare me a tad. They are so huge and so is my gag reflex BUT I'm not going to let that interfere! Eventually, me and Blaine are going to be pregnant and I want to be the best and healthiest Mom I can be for 'it', starting right from the beginning.

I'm only 20 and Blaine is 23, We have so much to look forward to in life! Who wants to be held back from doing activites with your family because you're not healthy enough or not spiritually strong enough?? I know I don't! 

So bring it on world, I'm ready to face the challenges that you have to throw at me with my husband holding my hand.

So to execute one of my challenges....

I want to bear my testimony to YOU, that I know that life is full of up's and down's but I can witness to you that if you continue to pray diligently and sincerely, life will begin to get a little easier each time. Pray about finding opportunties to serve others, or sharing the gospel with someone, and you will find comfort. When life gets hard, hold your husband's hand and jump in together! There is great strength in a marriage that the husband and the wife work together and not divide duties. I am so grateful for my husband and all the things he does for me, and for the love he provides. I am grateful for the priesthood and the blessing of having that spirit in my home. The spirit allows for me to harmony in my home and I pray that I can give that to my children like my mom did for me. I am blessed when it comes to families. I have the 2 best families to gain wisdom from. I love my family as well as Blaine's, and that is a blessing in itself to truly love your family. I hear so much "I hate my family" or "I wish I had a stronger connection to my family", I am so proud to say that I have such a strong love and connection for mine and his family. And I am grateful for that blessing. I love my Heavenly Father and all the blessings He has given me. I pray that you will be blessed in your life and in your up's and down's that you, too, may find comfort and peace. I challenge you to do this challenge with me, so that you may reap your blessings.

Tis the season

I really need to learn to update more! I always forget!

Christmas eve was a blast! We went to Blaine's Uncle Jim's Christmas party. It was held at a school cafeteria for some reason. We had a big dinner with some games afterwards like "Mr. Right and Mrs. Left". It was really fun-- especially since I don't know that side of the family that well other than just a few people. Then we left to go to his Grandma and Grandpa Slack's house! I love going over there! They're fun grandparents! There was dinner there too, but I was way to stuffed and sick to eat again. After everyone ate- it was the same game! We played Mr.Right and Mrs. Left i think 2 or 3 times. After that, everyone was just hanging around, the kids were running around playing with their new toys, and having the best of time! The whole time I was thinking how grateful I am for MY family. I am so fortunate that I have the family that I do to share my up's and down's with. I love them sooo much and sometimes I feel like I take that for granted! My sister's are my best friends! They have ALWAYS been a constant reminder to me that someone does love and sincerely cares for me. All of them are my role models and I look up to them.. even though I'm taller than some of them if not the same height! Then it's my parents- the one's who show so much love and protection towards their daughters. I hope that one day I will be able to be just like my Mom, to have that much compassion, dedication and love for the spirit. And for my Daddy, he is such a great man!! I'm so grateful for having a dad that provides for his family above and beyond and treats my mom with the up most respect! Even though 3 out of 4 are married, he still asks what he can do for us. He has always been there for me and words can't even begin to describe how much I love him and miss seeing him every day! He is my hero (besides my husband)! And of course extended family such as my Memi and Poppy Peal and my Aunt Terry and Uncle Norm. We have been given this great blessing of family and love for one another! I may not be rich in money but I am truly rich in blessings. I am so grateful for my family as well as Blaine's family who are always there to support us and help us in anyway possible.
Tis the season to be thankful and count your blessings.

XoXo

Our update..warning- ** NOT MUCH **

It's definitely been awhile since I've last updated, I guess I better fill everyone in.

1- We had to get rid of ruger, our landlord didn't appreciate us having her and the pet deposit was too high for our budget. I REALLY wish it would of worked out but, it wasn't in the cards for us.

2- Devin ( my big sister ) got married to Dallas in the Salt Lake Temple on November 20th. It was a beautiful wedding! I'm so happy for them! Of course, she was absolutely gorgeous!

....and that's about all. I know, I know-- we're  a boring couple but it's been busy lately to really do anything spectacular, or that's blog-worthy for that matter.

But I have decided to use my time wisely and learn new things! So, I've found a couple of websites and stores with decent sales to help me carry out the plans.

Mom has always tried to teach me how to sew and I just never had any interest in it whatsoever! Well, now I wish I payed attention. I'm wanting to make curtains, a dust ruffle for our bed and throw pillows for our couch. I have a ton of ideas that I REALLY want to execute but like I said before, it's not the creative flow that's stopping me, it's time and moola $$! So I started thinking WWMD? ( what would momma do? ) I'm going to re-do some of the stuff that I already have! i would like to re-do my dresser.. REALLY BAD! none of the wood furniture in our room match and it drives me crazy when the wood finish doesn't match the rest of the wood furniture.  So I'm going to re-paint our dresser.
So if you have any other tips for decorating a rented place that can't be painted, PLEASE let me know! I would love more ideas! I'm trying out this whole "homemaker" role. We'll see how it goes!

Our new addition to the family

That's right, WE GOT A PUPPY! She is beautiful! Her name is ruger ( like the gun company...) She is only 8 weeks old! She is 3\4 border collie and 1\4 heeler. She is the most quiet, shy, hilarious, timid puppy I have ever met! I LOVE HER! This is my first dog ever! Blaine surprised me with her on monday night. He and his friend Brad told me that they were going to go help his friend move in Parawon (about 30 minutes away for Cedar City). So while Brad and Blaine were "moving" I was hanging out with Brad's wife, Dawn. It was starting to get late... like 11:30 late, so naturally I'm starting to get pretty cranky. I was so tired and I wanted to go to bed because I get up at 7 every morning. For some that doesn't seem way early (..mom) but seeing as how I'm not a morning person.. that's 4 hours too early! Anywho... impatiently, I was blowing up Blaine's phone with texts like " how close are you to Cedar" and " can you please hurry... i have to get up early and it's getting really late". I was trying to be nice. By the time he got home... I was pretty upset. But when I saw what he was holding in his arms... there was no way that I could  be mad at him. She was the most precious puppy I have ever seen. Needless to say, We love our daughter Ruger! I'm beyond ecstatic!

It's deer season....

The only reason why I know that it is deer season is because Blaine wants to go to the mountian a lot and he's always wanting to buy more bullets. So, like a good wife, I decided maybe it will be fun. The rest of his family will be at the cabin and I can hang out them while the others go out. Little did I know how much fun I would have. To give a little weather history, it has been stormy and snowy for the 2-3 weeks on and off. I knew it would be muddy, but you would not believe how muddy! It was thick and very wet. But it was so much fun going four-wheeling and hiking in it. I think it made up for the times when Mom didn't want us to play in the mud as a kid. I was suctioned to the four-wheeler because of all the mud. I HAD A BLAST! I looked like a swamp monster. I enjoyed my weekend at the cabin... Blaine on the other hand, he didn't find any deer other than does and fawns. Better luck next season I guess.  :)

I love my sisters

I realize it's been forever since I've updated, and let me tell you-- It's been hectic... or atleast it feels like it. I've had my fair shares of showers this month.. not water showers but baby and bridal showers. I have never noticed at how much effort goes into them. I thought you can just throw it together like a high school party... ya know, just wingin' it! I stood corrected! For the baby shower for my friend Dawn, I felt like I had a million things going on at once in my head. I was busy with cutting the fruit, putting the vegetables on a platter, blowing up ballons, cleaning up the backyard, setting the plates, cups, forks, and spoons out, mixing the drink together. By the time the shower started, I was exhausted! All in all- it was a fun shower. Granted, only 3 out of 30 something showed up.. but it was still fun.

My next project was Devin's bridal shower in Provo. I had a great time with my sisters and her friends! But before the shower, I drove to Allayna and Josh's house to stay the night and drive up in the morning with her. (In case you don't know, Cedar City is where Blaine and I live and Provo is where Devin lives, which is like 4 hours away, so I made Allayna a happy medium in the tiny town of Ephraim which is 3 hours from me. I know its not a perfect medium but hey--whatever works.) We stayed up probably later than we should have and got out of bed pretty late too. But in our defense, the only reason why we stayed up late was because we were busy making cupcakes for the shower and getting everything ready to load up in the car in the morning. And good thing we did that because the morning was a rush. We rememebered to get everything.. but Allayna's wallet out of her school bag that was next to the door. We were so worried about forgetting something for the shower that we didn't even think about if we grabbed everything that we needed personally. We get more than half way to Provo when she realized that her wallet was back at home. So, Allayna did what she does best... PANIC! I'm trying to calm her down and telling her that if she just goes to the Zion's bank in Provo, and pulls out money that way, she'll be fine. So we went and picked up Devin, went to the bank and then to Sam's for some final shopping. That's when I realized that I left my debit card in my car which is an hour away at the time. IT WAS RIDICULOUS!  But after once we did everything.. the day got a lot better!

Allayna, Lauren DeVard and I were the hostess and it was so much fun! We had Martinelli, chocolate covered strawberries, apples and dip, very cute cupcakes and grapes and rasberries. It was light food but we had plenty! Lauren was in charge of games and some of the games was some that I played at every my bridal shower. She got some really good gifts! I loved them, I wish I got some of the stuff she got ;) I had a great time with my sisters and her friends! I'm so excited for Devin and Dallas! After the shower, we cleaned everything up and we were taking out the trash on our way out to the mall and between taking the trash out and getting in the car, Allayna lost her keys. We looked for maybe 45 minutes. Me and Allayna both looked at each other with the look of " YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!". Turns out they were at the bottom of the trash bag. It was an exhausting day! But the best I've had in a while.
I love my sisters and I'm so grateful that they're mine!

                           THESE ARE MY BEST FRIENDS

Blessed!

After being sealed in the temple, it has really opened my eyes to the importance of family. I always knew that it was important but only to a point. I've learned that I didn't gain the family that I by luck.. it's by blessing that I've been placed with the family that I have. With that knowledge, I know that my future children are choosing Blaine and I to parent them and teach them. To me, that's not a 'have to', it's a priviledge. 

( No, I'm not pregnant..)  

With that side note, I want to express my testimony of my Savior lives and I know without a doubt that I can return to him with my family forever. My covenants that I made with Blaine and my Heavenly Father in the temple will only make me a stronger and more righteous person. I'm grateful to have the gospel in my life to teach me and tell me how to return to Him. I love my life and the people who are in it. I cant be anymore grateful!