"So, How's The Married Life?"

That seems to be the question I get asked the most now that I am newly married. Here's the best response I can possibly give to such an inquiry.

Girls, which of you WOULDN'T love being married to someone that...

• Opens doors for you everywhere you go (And it's not just a temporary special treatment - he does this for his mom, too.)
• When he sees dirty dishes on the counter, says, "Wow, your husband really needs to do some dishes!" and then actually follows through with it. Yes, he does the dishes.
• When he goes over to your mom's house, he helps with her dishes, too.
• Says that the greatest thing you can do for him when he gets home is have something he can help with.
• Treats you like the most beautiful, incredible princess/queen that has ever walked this earth.
• Loves your cooking and compliments it (even if you KNOW you added too much garlic or salt).
• And even though he claims he can't cook, he makes dinner as well so you aren't doing it every single night.
• (And, by the way, he makes the world's best No Bake Cookies EVER - they taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups)
• When you come home from work and have had a crappy day, decides that you're having ice cream for dinner. "Because ice cream makes everything better," he says. Then, as a follow up, he holds you and tells you how much you mean to him, how wonderful you are, and that he loves you, until any possible bad feeling has flown away.
• Prioritizes taking you on a date every single week.
• Prioritizes going to the temple with you every single week.
• Makes you laugh every single day with his wonderful sense of humor.
• Talks with you, listens to you, and cares about everything you have to say.
• Makes sound effects when you get into a pillow fight (I drew a sword on mine, he drew a lightsaber on his) and Nerf gun wars.
• In fact, I enjoy fighting with my spouse, because the only kinds of fights we get into are tickle fights, pillow fights, Nerf gun wars, thumb wars, and Pokemon battles. Otherwise, verbally, we communicate and compromise.
• Tells you that you are the best thing that has ever happened to him, that you are his whole world, you are everything to him, and that the best moment of his whole life was looking through the mirrors in the sealing room of the temple with you.
• And he tells you OFTEN. :)
• He tells you he loves you at least once a day.
• Meaning, he tells you every single time he gets the chance. Which is a LOT of times every day.
• He takes you ballroom dancing and is patient with you when you mess up.
• He plays with your younger siblings, who love him, and never gets after them or gets impatient with them when they decide he's their new jungle gym.
• Hides love notes on sticky notes around the house, but makes it somewhat difficult so that you have something to do while he's gone.

This is just the tip of the ice berg.

So how is married life?

It's the best thing that has ever happened to me, because it's with HIM.

It's like having a sleepover with my very best friend every single night - pillow fights included.

It's 6 bajillion percent better than being single.

And it's 5 bajillion percent better than being engaged.

There's no way to cover all of it. :) But, in short, I highly recommend it. It's superb!! :)

ESPECIALLY when it's to the RIGHT PERSON in the RIGHT PLACE by the RIGHT AUTHORITY :)

"Spicy Instinct Sauce"

I have invented yet another new dish!! :) SUPER yummy!!

Here's the guesstimate on what I actually put into this...

1 2/3 cups of shredded chicken
1 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 Tbs of Canola Oil

Fry that together, then add
1 more chicken bouillon cube
1 cup of water
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 - 2 cups salsa
1 1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp crushed bay leaves
1 tsp ground cayenne red pepper
1 tsp garlic
1 Tbs of dried/minced onions
pepper to taste
a dash of Herbes De Provence



Pour this as a sauce over rice. I'm not 100% on measurements, since what I do is smell the seasonings and decide if it has the right smell for the taste I'm going for (Hence my husband deciding to name it Spicy Instinct Sauce).
It turned out really good, though!! Here's to hoping I can re-create this delicious dish in the future, since my husband and I both love it! :)

Enjoy!!

Time & All Eternity... Starting Now!

Or, I guess technically starting December 16. 2011. Which was 3 weeks ago today. However, I think it's one of those things you recommit to every day and it begins over and over time and time again. There is no "starting point" or "ending point" when it comes to Eternity. We had been preparing for the covenants and vows we made to our Heavenly Father and each other long before we ever knelt across the alter and promised forever. It began even before we entered into this world. I would haphazard that it began even before we officially accepted our Savior's Plan to receive bodies and have the wonderful gift of Agency. Even then the righteousness and choices and decisions we were making led up to the kind of people that we are here and now. But that is a thought for another time.

Can you believe it?? I'm married now!!!
And let me just say that I highly recommend marriage :) It's marvelous! Especially when you have the wonderful blessing of being married to your best friend FOREVER!!! :)

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/