Laughs With Andrew

We were looking at our boxes of random things, and I pulled out my baby book that my mom compiled for me when I was young. The cover is one my mom sewed for me. I loved cats a LOT at the time, and so my mom had selected a fabric COVERED with cats, lined with a pink frilly ribbon around the edges.

"As you can see, I loved cats..." I told Andrew.

The reaction was immediate. Andrew began singing.

"I love cats, I love every kind of cat! I just want to hug all of them, but I can't! Can't hug every cat."

Well, he got the reaction he was looking for: I was laughing.

For those of you that are confused by this, I will share the origin of this outburst. If you decide to watch this, I will not blame you if you don't want to watch the video after it, which is where the song originated from. Here's the song:

This is the song someone parodied off of this - I'm pretty sure when I first saw these, I was POSITIVE these HAD to be fake. She must have been acting or SOMETHING. But to me, this dating video screams, "GUYS, unless you love cats and want to be buried alive in them, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!"

Another Blog!

I've been debating about starting another blog for a while now (I know, I know... I already have more than one... But this one is different). Well, the debating is over. I went ahead and started my other blog.

The blog I just started is entitled "Bread of Life: A Testament of The Living Christ" - In case the title doesn't make the purpose clear, this blog will focus entirely on gospel topics & so on. I've posted a couple of times on different gospel topics (like Angels Among Us, Adversity, etc) but this blog would be a place where I can focus on church topics entirely. In it I hope to learn and grow and increase my own testimony of the gospel while simultaneously having the opportunity to share the gospel (I hope!) and also, hopefully, answer others' (and my own) prayers.

While I haven't really advertised my other blogs much, I hope to be better about advertising this one so that it reaches more people and will hopefully find those that need it the most.

I will be using, as sources, scriptures, general conference talks, and quotes from church leaders, as well as my own testimony and personal experiences, so that what I teach will be in line with the gospel.

Anyway, here's the link! Please check it out, give feedback, and follow! :
http://bearing-testimony.blogspot.com/

"Amen! (An Interrupted Prayer)" by Ted Gibbons

 “Amen! (An Interrupted Prayer)” by Ted Gibbons

“My dear Father in Heaven . . .

                Yes?

Could we have a little quiet around here? I’m praying.

                But you called me.

Called who? I didn’t call anybody. I’m praying. My Dear Father in Heaven . . .

                There. You did it again.

Did what?

                Called me. You said, “My dear Father in Heaven.”
                Here I am. What’s on your mind?

But I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just, you know, saying my prayers for the night. I always say my prayers. I don’t feel good about going to sleep if I don’t.

                Oh. All right. Go on.

Are you kidding?

                You did want to talk to me, didn’t you?

Well . . . yes.

                Here I am. Talk.

I’m thankful for my many blessings . . .

                Excuse me again! How thankful?

What?

                How thankful are you for your ‘many blessings’?

I’m . . . well . . . I don’t know. It’s just a part of the prayer. Mom always told me I should always express my thanks when I pray.

                Oh. Well . . . you’re certainly welcome. Go ahead.

Go ahead?

                With the prayer.

Oh. Yeah. Let’s see . . . bless the poor and the downtrodden, the unfortunate and the afflicted . . .

                Do you really mean that?

Sure I mean it.

                What are you doing about it?

Doing? What am I doing about it? Well . . . I’m praying about it. I just think that it would be nice if you got control of things down here. I don’t like to see people suffer.

                Do I have control over you?

Sure. I go to church. I make donations sometimes. I even read the scriptures once in a while. I don’t . . .

That isn’t what I asked you. What about your temper? You don’t even have control of that, and your friends and family suffer. And then there’s the way you spend your money. And how about the kind of books you read? And the movies you see?

Well, Father, I think I’m as good as most of the people I see every Sunday at church.

And you are, but I thought you were praying for me to bless the afflicted. If that is going to happen, I’ll have to have help from the ones who are praying for it. Like you.

I understand. I guess I have a few hangups. Since you brought it up, I could probably mention some others.

                So could I. Should we visit about them?

Oh . . . Let me get back to you on that. I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than usual. Bless the honest in heart to come to thy Son and receive His blessings.

                You mean people like Ralph?

Ralph?

Yes. The one you’ve taught your little brother, Joey, to call ‘Beer-belly Ralph.’ The man around the corner.

That Ralph? Ralph Swenson? You’ve got to be kidding. He hasn’t been sober since he was sixteen. And he hates organized religion.

                Why?

I don’t know.

                It couldn’t have anything to do with the names the neighborhood kids call him, could it?

OK. I get the message. I’ll tell Joey to cut it out.

                By the way, have you had a look at his heart lately?

His heart?

                I have. I’ve looked. And it’s one of those honest hearts you were just praying about.

Well, then, do something about it. Do you think I like having an atheist for a neighbor?

                Aren’t you supposed to share the gospel? I thought I’d made that pretty clear.

That’s scary. I wouldn’t have any idea how to approach him.

Try a little tolerance and friendship. Try a little service. If you get desperate, try asking me for help.

Father, wait a minute. I know I’m not perfect. But I am here, doing my duty, keeping your commandment to pray, and all of a sudden, you’re here, reminding me of all my problems.

Child, you called me. Remember? Keep on praying. I’m interested in the next part. You haven’t changed the order around, have you?

I don’t want to go on.

                Why not?

I know what you’ll say.

                Try me and see.

Please forgive me of all my sins, and help me to forgive others.

                What about David?

See! I knew it! I knew you’d bring him up. Listen, Lord. He told lies about me and I lost my job – the best job I ever had. Everyone in that office thinks I crawled out from under a rock, and I didn’t do anything except choose other friends! Am I supposed to let him get away with that?

                But your prayers. What about your prayers?

I didn’t mean that part about forgiving.

                Well, at least you’re honest. I guess you enjoy carrying that load of bitterness around, don’t you?

No, I don’t. But I’ll feel better as soon as I get even.

                Do you want to know a secret?

What secret?

                You won’t feel better. You’ll feel worse. Listen to me. You forgive David, and I’ll forgive you.

Forgive me? For what?

                For what? How much time do you have?

All right. Never mind. But, Lord . . . I don’t think I can forgive David.

                Then I can’t forgive you.

Why not?

                Because I hate to encourage hypocrisy.

Oh. All right. Please help me to control my actions and not yield to temptation.

Good. I’ll do just that. But you stop putting yourself in all those places where you can be tempted.

What do you mean by that?

Quit hanging around the magazine racks and spending so much time in front of the tube. That stuff is going to get to you sooner or later and you’ll find yourself involved in something terrible. When you do, don’t expect me to rescue you, either.

Rescue me? I don’t understand.

Think about it. You’ve done it lots of times. You put very little effort into our relationship until you find yourself in a crisis; then you come running. I know just how your dad feels.

My dad?

Your dad. The only time you talk to him is when you need something. As a matter of fact, it’s amazing how quickly the intensity of your prayers improves when you are in trouble. Do you remember some of those bargains you wanted to make with me?

Bargains? No . . . well, I don’t think . . . Oh yeah, like thet time I went to that show and met Mom’s friend on the street when I came out . . . Oh, brother!

Do you remember your prayer? I do. You said, “Oh, God, don’t let her tell my mother where I’ve been. I promise I’ll go to nothing but ‘G’-rated movies from now on.” She didn’t tell your mother, but you didn’t keep your promise, did you?

No, Father, I didn’t. I’m sorry.

                So am I. Go on and finish your prayer.

No, wait. I want to ask you a question. Do you always listen to my prayers?

                Every word. Every time.

Why haven’t you ever answered me before?

How many chances have you given me? There’s not enough time between your “Amen” and your head hitting the pillow for me to take a breath. How am I supposed to give you an answer?

You could, if you really wanted to.

                No, I could if you really wanted me to. Child, I always want to.

Father, I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?

I already have. And thanks for letting me interrupt. I get lonely to talk to you sometimes. Good night. I love you.

Good night. And I love you, too.”

A Few Random Facts About Andrew

• His favorite color is emerald, which is also his birthstone.

• He's an even bigger bookworm than I am. (I didn't think this was possible...) 
• His favorite genre is Science Fiction, and his favorite Sci-Fi author is David Weber. 

• He likes chick flicks, like Pride and Prejudice and Ever After. 
• His favorite movie, though, is How to Train Your Dragon.

• He knows how to crochet; his grandmother taught him, I believe. 

• He took a clogging class when he was young, and often when we're dancing will do foot work he learned from clogging to a dance, mixed with steps from ballroom.

• He loves telling jokes and can come up with one for pretty much every topic.

• He's extremely punny and loves puns. 
• All of his Halloween costumes have been pun related. (We taped matches on our shirts and were "Matching" - he wore a suit and I wore a formal dress, and we dressed up as "dressed up" - he wore bike tires around his shirt and went as "tired").
• He also bought a kite once with a flying pig on it just so he could get pigs to fly... The kite broke.

• His favorite flower is the dandelion.
•  He loves how sunshine-y and yellow they are, and how hardy they are.

• He loves Mexican food, and his favorite drink is a purple corn drink he had on his mission in Florida.

• His main love languages are Communication, Quality Time, and Touch.

• He has a really good voice (especially when he's singing Hymns, I think.) 
• He enjoys singing falsetto (maybe because it makes me laugh?) and can sing Taylor Swift songs in the correct octave.

• He loves hiking and camping and the outdoors.

• He's a really fast learner, and is amazing at math.

• He doesn't like writing all that much, because he misspells words often. He hates the red line that goes underneath of words if you misspell them, and rather than try to spell things correctly he'll just figure out a way to reword it. Because of this, he's not the biggest fan of English classes.

• He loves dancing. A lot. He's been on the bronze and silver ballroom teams at UVU, and they offered him a position on the gold team, which he didn't take.

• As a little boy, if he ever went missing, his hiding place was underneath of two lilac bushes in his front yard.

• He claims that he doesn't really cook, but he makes AMAZING spaghetti sauce.

• He is a huge fan of pickles, olives, and banana peppers. 

What Love Is Built On

"True Love" comes in many shapes, sizes, forms, and colors.

Mine came in a way quite different than I had ever had in mind. My relationship is not entirely how I had imagined love and marriage would be. But now that I try looking back, I'm not entirely sure what I had been expecting.
Roses and chocolates? Love letters? Bold declarations to the world of his love for me?

My love didn't come in quite that form. My love was built on things I thought I had left behind in childhood, as well as many other things that I love and enjoy now. My love encompasses areas of all stages of my lifetime thus far.

So what is my love built on?

Dancing.

Andrew and I met at a Stake Dance we were both crashing.
I don't think Heavenly Father left much of that meeting up to chance; He definitely had a hand in it.
But that's another story.
I knew ballroom, but the only other guy there that I knew knew how to dance was Tom, Andrew's younger brother.
Tom was on a date, but he was kind enough to dance one dance with me when I asked him to.
That was enough for Andrew to notice that I knew ballroom and help him decide that he needed to ask me to dance.
We ended up dancing almost every single dance together that night.

(Also, a random side note: Andrew is the first guy EVER to ask me to interpretive dance to a slow dance with him.)

That was the first time we have danced together, but definitely not the last. Dancing will be a part of our relationship pretty much always.

Hiking.

This was our first date.
Look at the far right top corner. See that series of tiny little lines? That is a ledge.
Andrew convinced me, without much effort, to go along that with him to get a really good view of the waterfall.
I'm not entirely sure how/why I already trusted him enough to follow him on that.
Especially since falling is my greatest fear.

The top of this waterfall is where Andrew proposed to me on August 9th, 2011.

Coloring In Coloring Books.

You can go back and read that again if you have to. Because you read correctly.
When he asked me on this date, I was beyond excited.
For real.

Forts.

We made one on a date.
And watched movies.
He chose Pride and Prejudice (Turns out he likes chick flicks - yes, you read that right, too).
I chose Tangled (He agrees with Flynn Ryder; he's always had a thing for brunettes.)

Thumb Wars.

This would be one of the things I was never expecting to find in love.
Neither was he.
Even though he started it.
He accepts all blame and responsibility for starting these.
I don't think he cares, because he seems to enjoy them.
So do I :)

Poking Fights Turned Tickle Fights.

He cheats. He spins me around and holds me like this so that I can't retaliate.
Once again, something he started.
He accepts full blame for this as well.

Falsetto Singing.

             I don't really have a picture of this. But he does it. A lot. He sings Taylor Swift in the right octave.

Jokes.

He likes telling jokes.
A lot.
Say ANYTHING, and it will remind him either of a story or a joke.
Probably a joke.

Pokemon Battling.

This is probably the biggest nerd confession I have ever made.
I thought I was done with these in Elementary School.
Apparently not.

. . .  Don't judge me.

Some things are the same as I had pictured. Others? Definitely not so much.
My favorites are the the small things.

The look he gets in his eyes when he looks at me.
When he spins me around in circles.
When he calls me beautiful even when I don't feel beautiful at all.
When he rolls up his sleeves and starts on the dishes.
When he bows his head and offers the prayer.
When he helps his younger sister learn how to dance.
When he helps his younger sister with her math homework.
When he helps his mom make dinner.
When he laughs and jokes with James, and I see them getting along so well.

This only scratches the surface.

I'm so happy for the shape, size, form, and color my true love came in :)

I love you, Andrew!!