Tender Mercies

The boxes are all collapsed, all of the pictures are up on the walls, and my kitchen is fully functionable. I'd say we're pretty much moved in, minus the curtains that I still want to sew for the master bedroom. Life is pretty darn good, and I can say that I haven't been so stress-free for quite some time. Marshall has even commented on how much happier I've been. Last night while we were reading from the Bible, I started laughing hysterically about something and could not stop. While we did finish the passage we were reading [though it was quite difficult!], we were both laughing for a good hour afterwards. It was amazing. I felt like a kid again and was so happy. This afternoon we went to the park to take pictures in our awesome Alaska "Home" shirts my amazing friend sent to us for Christmas. While Alaska really felt like home to us, we are melding into the community in Kansas just fine. I think we will just have "homes" everywhere we

 I grew up loving my birthdays; it was a day that I could pick what my mom made for dinner and I got excused from doing dinner dishes. What kid wouldn't like that? Anyways, this year I looked forward to celebrating my 25th birthday with mixed emotions.  Sure I was still really excited about the day, but I had also just moved to a new city and was about to move into our new home, and I was just really tired from it all. I was also having irrational feelings of inadequacy because " all of my friends who are 25 either have kids or a graduate degree,"  which is not true at all.  Immediately I felt guilty for thinking such a thought, for we all know that comparing ourselves to others zaps the joy from our day. Coincidentally, while I was reading in the library, I came across some truth-filled words that set my mind at ease and reminded me what really matters. "Life is not all about work and money. Success is not something that is achieved only in the workplace. Life is

These past few weeks have been somewhat difficult for me. A little over a month ago we left our beloved home of Alaska for Kansas, resulting in 5000 miles of driving and stopping to visit with family along the way. Then two weeks ago, the night before our scheduled departure from Arizona to finish our trip to Kansas, Marshall was admitted to the ER with severe abdominal pain, ended up in surgery with appendicitis. Though it was so tough for me, we both made it through the surgery (me emotionally and him physically) and postponed our departure for three days. I ended up having to drive the 18 hours to Kansas because well, Marshall just had surgery. We finally arrived in Kansas completely worn out a little over a week ago, with so many unknowns ahead. Centennial Park, Lawrence Even with all of these so called "difficulties," my mind was awakened to the countless blessings that started to stream into my life when we arrived in Lawrence. And that is why this post is titled,

I may be kind of biased, but I love these pictures.  A great man once said,  "When you come to the temple you will love your family with a deeper love than you have ever felt before. The temple is about families" (R.H. Winkel).  I couldn't agree more. When we arrived in Mesa two weeks ago, I made it a goal to attend all three temples--Gilbert, Phoenix, and Mesa--before continuing on to Kansas. I knew it would require effort because of their holiday closures, but I knew I could do it. Luckily I had a handsome man by my side for each trip, and we had the pleasure of my parents' company at the Phoenix Temple.  On Tuesday we drove 30 minutes and attended the Gilbert temple , which was dedicated March 2014. It was absolutely stunning. On Friday, we all drove 60 minutes to the Phoenix Temple , which was dedicated in November 2014. Attending the temple with family, especially parents, is really special. I am glad we got to take advantage of this opport

Happy New Year! We have really been enjoying being in Mesa with family for the past week and a half, but we are itching to get to our new home. In the meantime, I have taken full advantage of the Arizona sunshine. I just love to hike, and when I have been driving across country for two weeks, all this girl wants to do is get out and breathe the fresh mountain air and move her legs!   Our first hike was up to Banff, Alberta, Canada on Saturday December 20th, which I talked about on my last post . We loved hiking in the Rockies. Then on Tuesday December 23rd we took my adorable niece and nephew on a 3 mile hike on the #33 Hole trail in the Lake Mead Rec Area. I really loved hiking with the two kids because they found excitement in the simple things on the trail. Sea shells, birds, coyotes, rocks. It was great.  Here we show our muscles! The day after we arrived in Mesa we hiked about 5 miles round trip to the massacre grounds in the Superstition wilderness. Thi