Happy New Year's Eve!

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. While taking a much needed breather from studying for finals, a classmate argued vehemently that Thanksgiving trumped all other holidays; it included no stressful shopping, late night partying, or church service. Thanksgiving consists of just cooking, eating, family, and football. Taken individually, I think any holiday can make it's case for being the best. Seeing the holidays holistically, however, helps me appreciate how special the season is.

Each holiday has its own tradition and meaning. Thanksgiving involves copious amounts of food and football. Yet Thanksgiving is all about gratitude. We take time to count our blessings, whether they come in the form of family, friends, health, or relative prosperity. Christmas is a bit more hectic with shopping and decorating; but, at its heart, Christmas shines the spotlight on Jesus Christ: His birth, teachings, and atoning sacrifice. For one special day we are reminded of Christ's invitation to repent, come unto him, and be perfected. Finally, we celebrate New Year's Day with tired eyes either because we stayed out late at a block party or stayed home and passed the new year with Dick Clark. After celebrating we generally take a moment to write down a few new year's goals aimed at improving our health, habits, home, or hobbies.

Isn't it something? We start the holidays recounting our blessings; then we focus on the Savior; finally we determine how we can be better. I love the holiday season not just for the delicious food, gift giving, and recreation. I love the holiday season because they slowly transform us into something better.

I owe this observation to a Bishop I had in Provo. I am grateful for his leadership and guidance. Hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season! Happy New Year!

Pick up your pen

 


Ryan and I are still at my parent's home, eating way too much, watching football, and playing with baby Gus. We're having so much fun just relaxing and reading and not being too adventurous. Still, I thought I'd update the blog and link up to a blog post and message that I love.

Jasmine Star is a photographer I admire and I love the inspirational post she wrote today about following your dreams, overcoming obstacles, whatever they may be. It's a short little post on how we can choose to believe the doubters or believe in ourselves.

Her message goes really well with the First Presidency message from the Jan. 2012 Ensign that Pres. Monson wrote. With the new year coming up, with new situations and challenges arising, I love that there are so many positive words and messages out there that can sound louder than all the negativeness the world brings to our front door.

Happy Birthday, Rybear*!

Ryan and I are officially not the same age anymore. Each year, for one week, we're the same age, but today, he's 25 and I'm 24. Even though he doesn't know what time he was born (I thought everyone knew that!), we'll say he's officially 25 anyway.

Happy birthday to the best husband ever. We're at my parents' home with my family this Christmas and I know that it's hard for him to be away from his family, but he's such a trooper and does so many things to make me happy. I'm a super lucky girl. (Oh yeah, and I'm 29 weeks this week. About 7 months. So in roughly two months we won't be a twosome any longer. Crazy crazy.)

*Rybear is used courtesy of Kaylea and Brynn. Thanks for making up the best nicknames for Ryan. I use them all the time and I'm pretty sure our friends get a kick out of them too.

28 weeks.

I haven't posted a picture in a while, or taken one for that matter, so for your holiday-viewing pleasure, here I am (This was taken this morning, and I must admit, I didn't know I looked so tired in the mornings!).

I can't believe I've officially hit my third trimester. I feel a bit large and this baby kicks like crazy, but Ryan and I are exceptionally grateful for this experience and we wouldn't have it any other way.

We had a good (read: great, exceptional, amazing, etc) friend lose her baby last week and it sent a shockwave through our home. I think when I was younger I just though that because my mom never had a miscarriage they were super rare and no one I knew had one. We have been deeply touched by the strength of our close friends who struggle with getting pregnant, and staying pregnant, and our thoughts are continuously with them. My sister was telling me that she used to pat her tummy, like you pat a baby's bum, while Gus was in there and I have been tapping this little one more and more as I give him extra hugs and kisses from his daddy and I. For all the unknown out there, we are grateful for this little one in our lives and the experiences (albeit a little strange -- like seeing your skin move or feeling like multiple ping pongs are rattling through my stomach) we have had and are yet to have. The phrase about today being a gift has always seemed a bit corny to me, but especially now I see the beauty and truth in that statement and I am grateful for all that I have and all that is to come.

Bonding.

Baby Gus and our little one have already started bonding. Kaylea took this picture over Thanksgiving break and I'm so excited for them to bond even more over Christmas break. This little one has been jumpin and jivin these past few days and I have a feeling he'll be even more excited with cake and ice cream and holiday food come his way very shortly. Here's to babies, cousins and family awesomeness.

Wreathmaking.

This may just be my favorite year of holiday celebration yet. I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and some siblings for the first time in 6 years and I get to see them again over the Christmas break. They never seize to make me laugh and smile and just plain relax. Ahh, I love it. 

Over Thanksgiving break the girls there (me, my sister Kaylea, my mom and my grandma) made felt wreaths and I absolutely love mine. It's mostly cranberry red with a little stripe of green. We made one for my mom and just put a few red "berries" in a corner of the wreath, and with Kaylea's we put the red "berries" all over the wreath. I love that all of us have a wreath in our house, that we made together, that are all a little color-coordinated. I don't know how my grandma decided how to make hers since she waited until going home to assemble it, but I just love that we got our creative on and made something pretty while we were there. Good idea, mom!!

Also, last night I went to the Cambridge 1st ward's annual wreathmaking activity and made my first live wreath. They had a cute program with a few musical numbers in the chapel first and then a dinner and wreathmaking activity in the gym afterwards. I ate the best beef and rosemary stew (which reminded me of one that I ate at Station 22 earlier in the year, mmm so good) and made a wreath too so our home smells a bit like Christmas. I haven't attached the bow yet, or officially hung it up, but I'm just too excited not to make a post. Also, we decorated a bit for the Christmas shindig we co-hosted at our place last weekend, so pictures to come. 

Have a great almost weekend!

Visitors (and chubby squirrels).

On the weekend before Thanksgiving we had some friends from our BYU days come and visit us! We lived in the same ward as Doug and Charisse the whole time we lived in Provo and even met up with them when we were in Italy this summer. Now they live in North Carolina, but since they're both from New York and Boston is the temple the went to, we get to see them when they come into town for weddings! Someone's cousin got married that weekend and they spent an extra day here and hung out with us! They even got to test out the futon (we slept in it before our movers came, but they're the first guests to do so) and said that it was comfy. No one ever said that about sleeping on our old couch, so hopefully we can move up in the guest department.

Anywho, we watched Law and Order, traipsed around the North End (our Little Italy) and walked through the Financial District to Boston Common for a bit of history. I mostly wanted to eat some good food with them and since we know Doug loves pizza, we figured the North End would be a success, and it totally was.

First off, check out this GINORMOUS squirrel? We definitely know how to feed 'em here in Boston. Instead of loading up on nuts he's taken to Funions and Cheese Whiz.

Also, we didn't get any pictures of the Vandys, but Charisse took at least one, I know, so I'm patiently waiting for that post :) We also figured it was one of the last "fall" pictures we'd take so heres to the end of fall and the beginning of birthday/Christmas/winter/family season!!

a date night movie.

Last year we decided to make Netflix our Christmas gift to one another and let me tell you, it has not disappointed. We've loved making our date night movies picks from our queue and watching awesome tv show series like 30 Rock, Arrested Development, The Cosby Show, and Law and Order (Original, SVU, and Criminal Intent). In fact, when Ryan and I were dating, or maybe right after we got engaged, we filled out a questionnaire and one of the questions was "What TV show would you watch together?" We both wrote down Law and Order. We're classy like that.

Last night we watched True Grit (it's rated pg-13, just fyi) and I super-highly recommend it. I must admit, the only other western-type movies I have seen are Butch Cassidy and There Will Be Blood, but I loved them both and now I can add True Grit to that list. There's a bit of gun violence (read: it's a western, so that's a given) and even a semi-questionable seen after Matt Damon bites through his tongue, but you don't see anything (thank goodness), just squirm in your seats for a minute.

But for real, you should watch this. The 14 year-old who plays Maddie is a spit-fire and I love her attitude. Also, throughout the whole movie they never use contractions and dang, it sounds so classy, even with their crazy Arkansas accents. Netflix or rent this movie pronto, we loved it.

Also, Ryan kept complementing her knowledge of contract law (yes, it is indeed finals season so he's up to his eyeballs in all that law-loving knowledge), so you learn a thing or two!