Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas from around the World

We just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas this 2008. May we all keep the Savior close in our hearts still throughout the entire coming year.

And just as a treat, here are Christmas wishes from many different countries. I won't give away what language they are in, but here is the hint, each but number 10 is spoken by someone who is a normal reader of our blog. Let's see in the comments if y'all can figure it all out. 20 cool points for anyone who can get all 10! 2 Rules, no using google or other internet search cheats, and, Eric, no using the paper from supply chain 'manament'. Also please excuse accent marks and such of the like. Good luck!

  1. Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
  2. God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt Ar
  3. Feliz Navidad
  4. Meri Kirihimete
  5. Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
  6. Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
  7. Feliz Natal
  8. Joyeux Noel
  9. Mele Kalikimaka
  10. Natale hilare et Annum Faustum
  11. Merry Christmas and happy new year!
And just as a bonus, anyone who can figure out his one gets 1000 cool points:
"Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo"
You need to know both the name of the language and where it's spoken

No Cheating!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Two years and counting!

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary! We went on a hot date last night and ate yummy Chinese food at PF Changs. Afterwards, we headed over to the Hines Mansion (maybe 5 blocks down from our apartment) which is a bed and breakfast. We had a wonderful time. It was good just to be able to talk about anything and everything without the stresses of work or school looming over us.

I am so thanful for Jon. I dated some serious goobers and am so glad I chose to marry who I did. He can always make me laugh and smile. We hold eachother up and support one another when we had a rough day. To quote some guy that was eating breafast w/ us this morning, "Keep working at it. You've already beaten the odds of the world." Okay, so it was a little bit of an awkward conversation at the breakfast table this morning, but he's right. Marriage takes work and effort- but I like that being with Jon is almost effortless. I hope you all know what I'm trying to say here... I'm not very good with words when it comes to emotions- I'm much better at showing than telling. :-) I love you, Jon!


As a great ending to a fun celebration, we got home and Jon checked on his grades and he only has one posted so far- but he got an A in his programming class! Good job, Jon!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Open Letter to Utah

Dear Utah

I know it's still snowing, but would it kill you to plow the roads before another 5-6 inches of snow falls? Some of us need to go to work and school over the next few days. Thank you

Love,
Jonathan

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Thankful

As most of you know, Jon and I were sick for a few weeks (off and on) starting right before Thanksgiving. First, I got sick and then Jon got sick. Then I got better first. However, after Jon started to get better I got sick again. It has been quite a cycle.

Last Saturday, I woke up and didn't feel good at all- but I was determined to not be sick anymore. I needed to go grocery shopping and we had tickets for a BYU basketball game up that was in SLC for later in the evening. I set up an appointment to get my hair cut and we were off. As the day progressed I started to go down hill, fast.

Later on that evening, I was all set up in the living room our our pull out bed watching Gilmore Girls (I know, I know... really lame). I started to pray because I didn't want to feel sick anymore. I had too many things that I needed to be doing and I didn't want to miss any days at work. I had a high fever, I was dizzy... I just felt so out of it. I received a prompting to ask for a blessing. I'm usually pretty chicken to ask for one. I feel sheepish when I ask. Anyways, after about an hour, my fever was starting to get higher and I was still being prompted to ask for a blessing. I finally asked Jon. It was during a ward activity- so not many people were home at the time. We were able to get a hold of our good friend, Seabass (Jon's freshman roommate) and he was able to come over.

This was a good spiritual experience for me. It brought us (me and Jon) closer together. I'm am so thankful to have a husband who lives worthily so he can give blessings. I am thankful that we are sealed together for time and eternity. Our 2 year anniversary is coming up and this was just another great reminder of why it is so important to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ- so that we can be a forever family.

During the blessing, my fever broke and I was sweating like crazy (sorry if that last part was too much info...). I was so thankful that I had been prompted by the Spirit to ask for a blessing and that I was given the courage to ask and the faith to be healed. By Tuesday I was 100%.

This may be a little off topic, but, earlier I was reading Elder Wirthlin's talk from October's Conference, "Come What May, and Love it". I wanted to quote a part of his talk here. He was referring to his mother and what she taught him about life here and how we all have to face adversities but it's how we face them that makes all the difference- in my case, this time around it was being sick for about 3+ weeks straight!

"How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness."

I love this Gospel and all the joy and happiness that it has brought to my life. I am thankful that I made the decision to come to BYU when I had many Universities in New England open to me. It was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He lives. I have a testimony of tithing and the blessings from that. Even if it was just having a car that didn't break down when it should have been completely dead (the KIA) or finding more money in our bank accounts after finishing our budget than we should have had. Life isn't always easy, but I love knowing that I'm never alone and that I never have to question that.

We are excited for this Christmas season and for the opportunity we have to reflect on the birth of Christ.


PS: we had our first snowfall this weekend!