Christmas Letter, 2008

Dear Friends, Family, and Blog Followers,


As I sit here very early on the morning of Christmas Eve, I am filled with the need to put some thoughts down. 2008 has brought more change for my family and me than I ever could have imagined.

January found me living the life of a single career woman, and loving it. I had a job that I loved, good friends to keep me company, and a cute condo with Mr. B. I was content with where I was and not really looking for more.

Then February hit me like a ton of bricks and changed my life forever. After recieving my endowment in the Salt Lake Temple, I had several amazing experiences leading up to me dating the man who had become my best friend.

Even though we'd just begun our relationship in February, we decided in March that we were meant to be together forever.

With April showers came an engagment and plans for a summer (even though I'd always wanted fall) wedding.

May through July were spent fervently planning a wedding, house/apartment hunting, getting ready to share my life with someone else, and making decisions that I thought I'd never have to make... all while trying to have some fun and throwing in a few trips to exotic places like Panguitch and Logan.

August brought me the most life-changing day of all. On August 5th I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Salt Lake temple with the love of my life and be sealed for time and all eternity. We took a fantastic honeymoon in Zion, and rounded it up with an okay trip to Vegas. Then it was back to the daily grind for awhile. Also, this was the month that Maddie moved home. I'm so glad she's back in Salt Lake and we've been able to spend some more time together.

September was another month of growth, just not for me. I had the awesome opportunity to watch Zach prepare for his mission. It was also the month of my best friend, Ally's, wedding. What a great thing it was to see her sealed to her companion for time and all eternity also.

October dawned with more mission plans than ever. On October 15th we took a trip to P-town to drop Zach off at the MTC. It was one of the hardest things we've ever done as a family, but also such a blessing.

With November we started sending and receiving regular mail from Hawaii, and we all loved to hear about Zach's mission adventures. Steve and I were still doing great, and trying out one of the new-found hardships of marriage: which family do we spend the holidays with? Ok, so I did more stressing about it than he did, but it was still a bit of a challenge working it all around my Holiday work schedule.

December has been a blast so far. I've enjoyed watching Steve become more a part of my own family through sharing some of our family Christmas traditions, and the bonding ties of college football. Unfortunately, it's my year to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at work, but we'll work around that and still have a great time celebrating with friends and family.

I'd just like to take a moment and let all of you know how grateful I am for your love and support throughout the past 12 months. They have been fun-filled, emotional, adventure-packed, and crazy... but I wouldn't trade them for any other year in all of time. I have grown so much, and it's because of the support and coaxing of those around me. I learn something new about myself everyday, and I love it!

I am especially grateful for my testimony of the gospel. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me, and I know that he sent his son to atone for my sins. I am so in awe of the wonders that he has created, all out of love for us, his children. I love this Christmas season so much and am so grateful for the opportunity I have to think of Jesus maybe a little more often than I normally would. I am grateful for the love that is shown among the people of this earth at this time of year. I am especially grateful for all of the blessings that Steve and I enjoy personally.

This year has been such a journey, and I look forward to all of the new, fun, scary, and exciting adventures that 2009 will bring to me and my little family.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Love,
Annie

Thursday-mania

Thursday seems to be rolling around quicker every week. I'm not quite sure how it works, but there you have it. And now, your regularly scheduled 5...

1. Early Christmas Presents: Steve gave me one of my Christmas presents early this week. It was a beautiful pair of leather gloves lined with cashmere... No more rainbow stripe homeless man gloves. I'm ecstatic.

2. Down East: I bought a great pair of red candlesticks for $3.50 apiece. They're hot.

3. Sweater Dresses: I treated myself to a new dress last week, I've worn it twice since, and recieved multiple compliments every time. Gotta love new clothes.

4. 4-wheel drive: How can you not be grateful for it in the almost-constant dumping of snow we've recieved this week.

5. Christmas Cards: I want more to put on the back of our door. I love recieveing them and hearing about everyone's families.

I hope everyone has something to be thankful for this wonderful Thursday before Christmas.

Tales from Primary... and other stories

So, if you are a follower of this blog you will recall that I was recently called to be the primary chorister of our ward. Well, this past Sunday in church I went to primary to watch the current chorister, pick up some tips, and maybe learn a few names. I hope this Sunday is an omen of things to come in this ward, because I have a few awesome stories.
1. As the children were getting ready to leave primary the presidency announced that they had a little gift for each of the children. One little boy stands up, obviously thrilled and asks, "Is it a Wii?" Apparently they make comments like this all the time, so it's not hard to tell that our ward has money.
2. During sharing time once a month we do a special thing called "Sister Friendly". One of the older women from the ward comes in and shares stories from the Friend magazine with the children. Well, she asked if any of the children knew how to dance or enjoyed dancing. One boy, probably about 8 years old, announces that he can do the worm. Pure awesomeness.
3. During singing time we were letting the kids that were well behaved choose the next song we would sing. We were trying to prod them in the direction of Christmas songs, but that didn't always happen. There was one child who had done particularly well the song before, so he was chosen to pick the next song. He gets all excited and says, "Book of Mormon Stories, because the Book of Mormon is about Jesus!!" Well, we couldn't argue because he had a point, so we sang Book of Mormon stories.

I guess asking for callings was a good thing, because with in 2 weeks we've both received them. Yesterday at church Steve was called to be the assistant ward scout master. So, now that we both have callings with the youth I've figured that their either trying to use it as birth control to make us hold off on kids, or push us in the direction of getting started on a family.
I think I have an addiction to buying Christmas decorations. Everytime we go out to run errands I find a few more on sale and can't help but buy some. Between my need to get a good deal, and my wanting to have a festive house I'm quickly overrunning our little place. Steve doesn't seem to mind, though, so I guess I'll keep it up until he gets annoyed enough to stop me.
And now for some audience participation: Is it wrong to regift things we got for our wedding as Christmas gifts to other people?
I hope everyone is having a joyous holiday season!

It's Thursday Time...

Alright, Thankful Thursday, yet again... A few things serious, and a few things silly, this time around.

1. Bishop Flamm... what a great bishop he has been for us! We had tithing settlement on Sunday, and it was really our first chance to sit down and talk with him since we moved into the ward. In our "interview" he helped to calm a lot of the worries I've been having lately, made me feel so welcome in the ward, and offered us some great advice. I look forward to getting to know him better.

2. Christmas music... I always wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening, and every year I anticipate it more. I love the feeling it brings to our home and the feeling it brings to me.

3. Fun socks... I always wear fun socks to work, and patients notice. I like to think it helps brighten their day as well as mine.

4. Candy cane Oreos... Delightfully minty, but not overwhelming.

5. A missionary in the family... I can see how much it is blessing everyone in our family, including those we've "adopted". I can also see how much Zach is changing and growing, even in the short time he's been in Hawaii.

A few other things of note: I got a calling at church on Sunday (finally!). I am now the primary chorister. I am very much looking forward to the new adventure this is going to bring to my life, and for the chance to get to know some of the children of our ward. This calling is going to be a stretch for me, but it just goes to show that the Lord knows what we need, even if it's not always what we think we want. Luckily I know several people that have done this calling and have ideas, visuals, and many other things I can "steal".
Work is finally picking up again, which is strange. Usually we don't have too many patients around this time of year, but there seem to be a lot more sick people right now. Maybe they'll all clear out before Christmas, I'll just have to wait and see.
We've decided to put house hunting on hold for awhile. With Steve's job on the rocks we don't want to fall in love with something we can't have right now. We think we'll probably stay where we are for another 18 months or so. Luckily I'm quite fond of our apartment, and it seems to be working out as a good place for us. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for us.
I think that about covers it for now. I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.

I almost forgot!

So, technically it's Friday now, but since I haven't been to bed yet it still feels like Thursday to me. So, your regularly scheduled Thankful Thursday:

1. Menu planning: So, this week Steve and I decided to plan our dinner menus for the week (for the nights I'm home anyway), and then only grocery shop for the things we needed. We not only ended up spending less money, but each of the nights we cooked we had leftovers that Steve has been able to eat on the nights that I work. I think this is going to be a good plan.

2. My car: I know, silly, and not so significant in the long run, but I don't know where I'd be without it. Oh wait, yes I do... on the bus.

3. A library card: I got my library card when I was 5. I've been using the same one every since. It makes me glad that I can read a lot of fabulous books and not have to buy them.

4. My education: Without it we might be in a desperate situation right now. Because of it, we live pretty comfortably for newlyweds, and will still be ok if Steve loses his job.

5. My health: I've been very lucky to have excellent health my whole life. No broken bones, no major illness, no surgeries. I hope it continues that way.

Alright, I hope everyone else had a very Thankful Thursday. Stay tuned for more updates...

Is your life really that bad? Really?

Okay, children, buckle your seatbelts for a bit of a rant. I don't use my blog to vent often, but there are some things lately that have really been bothering me.

1. Christmas right after Halloween: Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas just as much as the next person. My little apartment is stuffed to the gills with Christmas cheer, but I have a problem with completely skipping Halloween. I don't want to hear Christmas music, I don't want to buy Christmas decorations, I don't want a Christmas tree... Until we've had Thanksgiving. I say that the day after Thanksgiving, anything is fair game. I just have a problem with the so-called Christmas season creeping up earlier and earlier every year.

2. Inconsiderate drivers: I understand, sometimes you just get "in the zone" but really, is it so hard to check your blind spot...not follow right on my tail...merge normally...etc? Are you really in so much more of a hurry than me that you can't wait the extra two seconds it would take to get in behind me rather than in front? I know, I'm not the most patient person in the world, but sometimes waiting at a red light isn't such a bad thing.

3. And now, the big one: I have little tolerance for people who complain about their situation but do nothing to fix/better it. For example: I have a coworker who, I'll admit, has some challenges in her life. She's 40, married, has 4 gorgeous kids (her oldest, 19, is autistic), has a nice house in a small town, a good job, and yet she still finds things to complain about. Her husband lost his job two months ago, and rather than looking for a new one she just comes to work and whines about his unemployment. She's pregnant, and rather than just take it and roll with it (not like she can do anything about it at this point anyway) she just complains that she's too old to be having a baby, her kids are all teenagers, blahblahblah. Plus, it's her own fault she's pregnant because she and her husband went on vacation and she forgot to take her birth control. Uh, duh! There are ways to prevent such things! Anyway, I just get sick of hearing the complaints, "woe is me", "my life is so hard" crap. Is your life really that bad? Really? Sometimes we just need to take what we are given and make the best of the situation... and if you can't do that, change your situation. It may take some work that's a little harder than complaining, but I can guarantee you'll be happier with the outcome.

In other news: Life is going well. I got our apartment all decorated for Christmas and our tree up. Yeah, it's a fake tree, but really that's a better choice for us right now. I'm almost done shopping for gifts, so I hope everyone likes what they are getting. I'm doing several holiday-related things in the next few weeks, which I'm really looking forward to. I finished the quilt top I've been working on from designer fabric remnants, it looks fantastic. I'll post some pictures once I've taken some. I also picked out the backing. It's a little bolder than what I was originally planning on, but I think it's going to look awesome finished. Steve and I have also started planning our meals for the week in advance. Since I only have to cook three nights a week, the plan is that I'll make enough for him to eat the three nights I'm at work. This week it's worked out pretty well. I think it's going to save us money on our grocery bill every week too. We're still looking for a sub-for-santa, so if anyone comes across a family in need, please let us know. Well, I think that's it for now. Happy December! (Now we just need some snow)