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Sisters

Today, I feel grateful for sisters. I have one sister on a mission in Brazil (well, right now she is serving in Washington state waiting for her visa to clear - but she will be in Brazil). Her name is Malyssa. She is my best friend, really the only person (outside of my husband and probably my parents) that knows everything there is to know about me. She is funny and smart and seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met. I have so many fun memories with her - like I could write several posts just about those. You just can't be around her without laughing. One time this summer, we went to Pizza Hut for dinner, but we ended up staying for 4 or 5 hours just talking. And taking tons of selfies. She just left from the Provo MTC to head into the mission field in Washington, which was really weird for me. Even though she might as well have been in Washington the whole time because we couldn't see each other or talk or text or anything, I guess it was really comforting for me to live so close to each other (my apartment is about a quarter mile from the MTC). Probably a little weird. Anyway, I miss her and cannot wait for her to get back from her mission. Only 17 months to go :)

My other sister is a freshman in high school. This is Rae, and she is just SO cute! We like to face time a lot, mostly while she is supposed to be going to bed or doing homework. It has been so fun for me to grow closer to her. We have always had a good relationship, but now that she is a little older, and I've learned to appreciate my family far better, our relationship has grown to another level. She is something else, haha! She loves to tease, and if I ever try and dish it back, she always has something smart (and hilarious) waiting. I love her quick wit! She is probably the best athlete out of the three of us (but never the best basketball player :) ), and seriously can run like you wouldn't believe. I just face timed her last night, and I had to leave to go to an intramural basketball game, so I texted her after and told her I loved her and it was fun talking. We got into a little friendly texting competition about who is the better athlete, and when I told her I had to go for real, she said Adios, see you next time I lap you! Ha! Little stink. But I love her, and I especially love our phone calls and texts.

Sometimes I get a little homesick being all the way across the country from my family; I will be forever grateful for my patient and supportive husband. He's a stud. But, I'm also extremely grateful for my two sisters I gained through marriage. They are endlessly sweet and caring, and are always ready to help. Aside from being beautiful, they are smart and kind, and so fun to be around. Nicole is so talented in many ways, but especially musically. She wrote Scott and I a song as part of a wedding gift, and it is still one of my favorites. It's beautiful. Whitney is selfless, and always the first to ask me how I'm doing and how things are going. I am grateful for her strong testimony and the example she is to me. I am so glad for their friendship and love, and the support they've given to me. I've seriously felt welcomed into their family from the beginning. I know not everybody gets that blessing, and I am so glad that I did. I love them both to pieces and I'm excited for all the fun things we get to do together in the future. 

[ Rae ... Malyssa ... Me ... Nicole ... Whitney ]

Valentine's Day

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. I don't know, I guess I've always just felt it was a little silly. But, I might have become a believer this year! We had such a fun day. Scott and I wanted to try and keep things simple (and cheap!), and it turned out perfect. I had to work in the morning, and Scott had class until 5, so after I got home - and while he was still on campus - I made him a dinner of marinated steak and twice baked potatoes, with heart-shaped red velvet brownies for dessert, and heart-attacked the house. It was fun to see his reaction when he got home.

I decided to make him a gift, inspired by Pinterest of course! It is called, 52 Reasons I love You. It was really fun to make too - once I started thinking of all the reasons I love Scott, they just started flowing! I probably could have done "500 Reasons..." but that would have defeated the cuteness! So the idea is that he gets to open one reason each week, for one year. Here is how I did it:

I bought brown Kraft paper, Baker's twine, and a little tag all at a craft store here in Provo. I already had a mason jar and a Sharpie pen, which I also used for my project. I cut the paper into 52 strips of paper, and started writing all my reasons.

After I wrote all of my reasons, I decorated a few of the strips so it didn't get too boring. After I was finished with that part, I rolled all of the pieces of paper around my pen, and tied them up with Baker's twine.

This picture includes just a few of my rolled up strips. After I rolled everything up, I clipped the end of the Baker's twine. It was easier to tie them with the long ends, but I thought it looked better and a bit cleaner when they were all snipped. I dumped them all in the jar and decided to decorate it a bit more. So I wrote "52 Reasons" on the front of the tag and "I Love You" on the back. I used some of the left over twine and wrapped it around the jar, and tied the tag to it. I think it turned out pretty cute - what do you think??

I was excited about this gift because it is something he will be able to enjoy for the whole year. The total cost of everything was less than six dollars. 

After we ate dinner, Scott took me on a super cute date. We went to all of our favorite places in Provo. Man, it brought back so many memories. One of the places we went was Liberty Square, the apartment complex we lived in when we first met. Before we started dating, we used to play frisbee all the time in the grassy knoll in the middle of the complex. So Scott took me back there, and we played frisbee for a while. It brought back so many memories of when we had just met and became good friends, and even when we first started dating. That was definitely my favorite stop of a great night.

2.11.2014

I have decided to try my hand at blogging. To be honest, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Plus, I am still trying to figure out the glitches of the blog - like what to call it. Also how to get the title to show up period, haha.

I have been missing my sister a little extra lately, so my first post is dedicated to her! Malyssa is my best friend, and the best sister I could ask for (one of the best - love you Rae Rae!). Right now she is serving a mission for our church to Brazil, which means I can't see, text, or call her for the next year and a half. Man, I'm proud of her, but I miss her too. Luckily, we can write each week, and that's been fun. I am so grateful for my family, and can't wait till we are all together again.