Gratitude, Prayer, and Personal Revelation

Well with Thanksgiving coming up I have been thinking a lot about gratitude and being thankful. I mentioned in my last post that I haven't been feeling well lately, and I have to admit that I haven't been as grateful to my Heavenly Father for everything that I do have as I should be. So here is a list of some things that I am thankful for:

1. My wonderful husband Chris, he takes such good care of me and I love him so much.

2. Eternal families-I love my family so much (my new family just as much) and am so thankful for the opportunity to be with them forever.

3. Temples-I have loved going back to the temple since I took out my own endowment-there is such a feeling of peace and comfort there.

4. Priesthood-Chris has given me 3, yes I think 3 blessings in the middle of the night since we got married (poor guy) :), and I am so thankful that I have that blessing in my life.

5. My job-I have really struggled lately with having to go to work because I haven't felt well but I am so grateful to have a good job with good benefits. Also I enjoy the people I work with and have made really good friends there.

I could go on and on but I think I will stop there so that this post doesn't go on for an eternity. :) I know that if we show our gratitude to the Lord for the blessings he gives us, we will be blessed.

Going along with this, I have been grateful for trials that I have in my life. Lately I have been feeling very frustrated with my health, but I know that we have these trials in our lives for a reason. Without this trial, I wouldn't have the strength or testimony that I do, and I wouldn't have a need to draw closer to my Heavenly Father. This morning I read a couple of conference talks since I was a little out of it during conference. I love the talk by J. Devn Cornish of the Seventy called "The Privilege of Prayer." It really helped me to know that I just need to be patient and things will be ok. He says,

"Little children, young people, and adults alike, please believe how very much your loving Heavenly Father wants to bless you. But because He will not infringe upon our agency, we must ask for His help. This is generally done through prayer. Prayer is one of the most precious gifts of God to man.

Sometimes we seem to get no answer to our sincere and striving prayers. It takes faith to remember that the Lord answers in His time and in His way so as to best bless us. Or, on further reflection, we will often realize that we already know full well what we should do.

Please do not be discouraged if this does not work for you all at once. Like learning a foreign language, it takes practice and effort. Please know, though, that you can learn the language of the Spirit, and when you do, it will give you great faith and power in righteousness.

I cherish the counsel of our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, who said: “To those within the sound of my voice who are struggling with challenges and difficulties large and small, prayer is the provider of spiritual strength; it is the passport to peace. Prayer is the means by which we approach our Father in Heaven, who loves us. Speak to Him in prayer and then listen for the answer. Miracles are wrought through prayer”

I have been praying for so many things lately: strength to go to work every day, praying that I can sleep well, feel better, and especially for emotional strength to be happy and not get so discouraged. I am grateful for these words to help me. Chris and I have also been trying to make decisions regarding work and school for him. I am just so thankful that we do not have to do it alone. Sister Barbara Thompson's talk called, "Personal Revelation and Testimony" also goes along with this. She says:

"The way to receive personal revelation is really quite clear. We need to desire to receive revelation, we must not harden our hearts, and then we need to ask in faith, truly believe that we will receive an answer, and then diligently keep the commandments of God.

Following this pattern does not mean that every time we ask a question of God, the answer will immediately appear with every detail of what to do. However, it does mean that if we diligently keep the commandments and ask in faith, answers will come in the Lord’s own way and in His time.

Our testimonies fortify us and strengthen us as we face challenges in our daily lives. Some people struggle with difficult health problems; some experience financial problems; others have challenges in their marriage or with their children; some suffer from loneliness or unfulfilled hopes and dreams. It is our testimony, combined with our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our knowledge of the plan of salvation, which helps to get us through these times of trial and hardship."

I am thankful for my doctors who are so concerned about me. Last week I had an appointment at the University of Utah with the nurse practitioner there that I've seen a couple times. Chris was able to go with me. We talked about basically the same things we've talked about before. She wants me to continue to do what Dr. Smith is having me do as far as prednisone. He's having me take 30 mg right now, and then go down to 25, and then jump down to 5 and start taking another steroid called Entocort that has about 1/10th the steroid in it that prednisone does. That way I can get off of it faster, which I will be really excited about. I hate that it makes me not sleep well and irritated. I am also taking an antibiotic right now that I think is helping. I've only tried it once before and it was only for a few days, so we are trying it for longer this time. The NP at the U of U said if this doesn't work then my next option is probably Remicaid, the medication that is only available in an IV. I would have to get it about every 6-8 weeks. It's something that I've talked about with doctors for 6 years and it's always been the last resort, but now it seems it is getting closer. She also is having me go back in December to have a sigmoidoscopy there in Utah. I had one in February here in Twin when I was in the hospital which didn't show much, but she wants to check again. She wants to make sure that they look above my pouch to make sure that there is not active ulcerative colitis still going on. Dr. Smith said he looked there but that he wants a second opinion. This sounds bad, but she's hoping that by December when I've tapered off the prednisone again I will get sick, and then the test will show something's wrong, and I do too. It's frustrating to feel so crummy when everything looks great. The NP in Utah brought up my weight and said that I looked a lot skinnier than last time she saw me (remember last time she was so proud that I had gained wt)! I admitted that yes, I have had a poor appetite and lost weight again. I have missed a lot of work lately too and have hardly any PTO hours (paid time off) left. That's not good. My boss is very understanding though so I am really lucky. I have felt better the past 3-4 days than I have since before I got married, so that's a good sign. I have decided that for whatever reason I just have to deal with this, so I might as well try to have a good attitude. It has been harder to deal with lately because it has just been so constant and won't get better, but I know it will eventually. Sorry if this post has too much complaining, I won't complain anymore after this. :) Just have to keep being patient, praying, and thanking the Lord for the wonderful things I do have in my life! :)

Bahamas Baby!

For our honeymoon we were fortunate enough to get to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was, in a word, incredible. We sailed with Norwegian Cruise Line, aboard the Norwegian Sky. Their big thing is "freestyle cruising," so we could pretty much do whatever we wanted when we wanted, including eating whenever we felt like it. There were two buffets and two really nice sit down restaurants that we ate all our meals at. We had a wonderful time being with each other, eating really good food, and enjoying the warm weather. I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures, so sorry but there are a lot. Enjoy. :)

The pics aren't numbered but imagine that they are going from right to left and top to bottom:

1). We flew out of Salt Lake on Sunday morning (the picture where we are still wearing our coats) :). We got to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale Sunday night and then got on the ship around 11:00 or noon Monday.

2 and 3). We left our port in Miami about 5:00 Monday night. This is when we are pulling out.

4). Eating dinner the first night-I also have to say that I was proud of how much I ate on the cruise. I was feeling pretty good most of the time so luckily I had a much better appetite than I had had for like a month. Chris was very excited to see how much I weighed when we got home but I still weighed the same, go figure.

Day 2 consisted of stopping in Freeport Bahamas. I was surprised at how spread out everything here was. It was like driving along in the country, with every now and again spotting a school or a few houses. We visited a bunch of shops and bought most of our souvenirs here. We had to bargain a little with the people there but it was kind of fun.

1). We thought this sign was pretty funny so I just had to throw in a picture of it.

2). We went to this beach and walked along it for awhile. We were just planning on shopping this day so we didn't bring our swimming suits with us, but it was nice just walking in our bare feet.

3). Norwegian Sky :)

4). The beach again

5). Freeport

That night we went to a dinner and a show (which is what we did every night). They had really great live entertainment. The first night it was dancers and singers singing hit songs throughout the years. The second night it was the same dancers performing a bunch of songs from Broadway plays (Wicked, Mama Mia, etc) and it was really good!

1-3). These are just pics from the second night walking around the boat and eating another delicious meal.

4). Our elephant that was left for us by our steward Nyoman, some guy from like the Philippines. If he was out in the hall whenever we left our room he would always so "Good evening Miss Jill, Mr. Christopher" in his awesome accent. We were fans of Nyoman.
Wednesday was our second stop at a private island that the cruise line owns. It was basically just a big beach, but it was a wonderful beach. :) We went snorkeling here which was so cool. Unfortunately we didn't get any pics on the beach because the camera battery died (my bad!) but it was really nice just relaxing, swimming, and eating all day in the sun!

1). On the "tender" (another small boat) taking us from the ship to the island. The ship could not dock right next to the island so we had to ride another boat there.

2). On our way back after a long day at the beach.

3). Us with our ship in the background. It looked really cool just sitting our there in the ocean.

4). The Norwegian Sky
This is a picture that we bought from the cruise line that was taken of us. It was the only one we got of us snorkeling so we bought it. The water was so amazingly clear and warm-it was awesome to swim in. Much better the California coast. The sand was soft and wasn't hard to walk in. We went out snorkeling a couple different times and saw some cool fish. Chris said he saw a jellyfish a couple feet in front of his face-he swam away pretty quickly I think.
Here are just some pics from that night:

1). Right before going to the show-it was a comedian that night. He was pretty entertaining.

2). Me showing off my sunglasses purchase -they are pink if you can't tell.

3). Eating dinner of course.

4). A crab, courtesy of Nyoman.
Thursday was our last stop, at the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau. This was a very exciting day because we went parasailing! It was kind of a last minute decision but it was sooo worth it! It was something I had always wanted to do.

1). This is right before we went-we were a little nervous (especially Chris, haha just kidding).

2). They put us up for several minutes and the guy on the boat had our camera and took lots of awesome pictures of us up there. It was actually really relaxing and we didn't feel like we were going fast at all. We were just hanging out.

3). These are kind of out of order but this is when we got done-we had so much fun!

4). After several minutes they brought us down and gave us the camera and then sent us back up, so we took a bunch of pictures as well. I'm crazy. :)
This pic is later that day when we walked around Nassau for awhile.
1). Just a pic to show our view from way up there-we were pretty high. At one point we even passed another cruise ship and we were taller than it was. It was so weird.

2 and 3). We ran into a pirate museum and took these pics outside of it. We didn't go in the museum but we were pretty entertained just from these things.

4). Another pic of parasailing, this time taken from the boat. Again you can see that we were pretty high.
1). Just a pic of us in Nassau. We walked around for awhile and went to some more shops and whatnot that day. We liked these ones better because they were actual stores instead of little crowded shops full of local people yelling at you to buy their stuff. It was really gorgeous there too and we did not want to leave!

2). On the boat that night when we were pulling away=Goodbye Bahamas :(

3). Standing on the staircase that was in the middle part of the ship, kind of like the main lobby. The ship was like a really nice hotel. I was surprised at how big it was. I expected to feel crowded but we couldn't even tell we were on a boat.

4). And our last night of dinner. We also went to a show that night was a variety show put on by employees and cast members of the ship. It was really funny.

We were really not ready to come back to reality (aka work). We flew back to Salt Lake on Friday and stayed the night there and then drove to Burley Saturday morning. We opened our presents at my mom's house and it was fun to have Chris' parents and sister be there too. Then we loaded everything up and went back to our house in Twin. We are very fortunate to have a good place to live-Chris' mom owns a duplex and we live next door to her in the other side. Before we moved in it got new paint and carpet. We are really enjoying it.

Also I have to say that it has now been one month since we were married and I have enjoyed every minute of it! I love being married to Chris. He's pretty much amazing. I haven't felt well pretty much since we got back (but that's another post) and he has been so good. I feel bad that I wake him up so many times during the night but he never complains. He picks up my prescriptions for me so I can come home straight from work (he and Troy the pharmacist are pretty tight now) and he is always asking if I need anything. I love him!

Best Day Ever!!

Well I am am finally posting about my wedding day! It was pretty much the best day ever. The only thing that could have made it better was the weather, but I guess it made it more memorable. :) I have been praying since June that it would not be freezing cold on October 7. I could take chilly, or cloudy, overcast, or lots of things, but I didn't want it raining or really super windy. It rained for about 3 days straight prior to, but it wasn't raining when we came out of the temple thank goodness. Although they had the sprinklers on right when we walked out and they were pelting everyone, but that's ok. Anyway, we survived and I think that we still got some good pictures.

The temple ceremony was beautiful. We were blessed to have President Young from the temple presidency seal us. This man holds a very special place in my heart. He was the bishop of our ward when we moved into the ward when I was 4 years old. Soon after he became our Stake President. Right before I turned 16 he was called to be the stake Patriarch and gave me my patriarchal blessing the day after my 16th birthday. His wife was my Young Woman leader on more than one occasion. I remember many wednesday night activities in their home and other activities eating Sister Young's delicious homemade rolls! They are both such wonderful people who are such a great example to me. I was so thankful that President Young could seal us.

We had many friends and family there-it was so fun to have so many people there. After the ceremony we took pictures outside the temple for awhile before going to the luncheon. My mom and cousin Danielle and her husband Brandt stuck around while we took pictures. Danielle kept letting me use her coat in between pictures and Brandt carried around my camera and snapped some pictures. He also lifted me up on a ledge to take pictures and actually carried the back of my dress at times so it wouldn't get dirty. I was so thankful to have them there.

Chris' mom and stepmom put on a wonderful luncheon at their church building nearby. We watched a slideshow that my sister-in-law Fran was so nice to make for us. Chris had her add a little surprise by adding some of our text messages over the last few months into the slideshow. I thought it was very sweet and made our video pretty original.

Here are some pics from the wedding day:

The next day we had a reception in Burley. It was nice not having to do everything all in the same day. It made it last longer too. :) I was pretty happy with the way everything turned out. We definitely could not have done it without all the help of our family and friends. We had a few friends and family members who basically took care of the food and I cannot thank them enough. It was a very nice evening and it was fun talking to everyone who came.

I also have to give a shout out to my wonderful mother. She did so much for me during this time that I can never thank her enough. I know that at times I was impatient or grumpy, and maybe even acted a little like a "bridezilla," but she was so willing to help me with anything that I needed. She put hours and hours and hours and hours into this wedding and I am so thankful for her. I know she sacrificed doing a lot of things for herself to make sure that we got everything done. I could not always do a lot while I was gone all day at work everyday, and so she was a life saver. I love my momma!

We also want to thank the rest of our parents and for their help with everything, for the time and money that was put into this. It would not have been possible without them. We love you all very much!!

This is what we left the reception in. The inside of the car was filled with balloons and streamers as well. The really funny thing was Chris' brother tied a whole roll of some streamers (the kind you use for the string of balloons) on the back of the car. When we drove off of course it started to unroll. We stopped at a gas station a couple blocks away to take everything off and you could see the string going clear across the parking lot and across the busy street. Chris started rolling it up because there was a cop right there but it was so long that he stopped and finally broke it off as soon as the cop left. Anyway, it was all so much fun. I loved it and was a little sad that it was all over and that I don't get to wear my pretty dress again. :( haha. More pics of our adventures in the Bahamas to come!!

Pre Wedding Notes

Well believe it or not the time finally came and I got married. :) I thought I would catch up a bit on a few things before the big day. I had two bridal showers, one in Twin and one in Burley. Most of those pictures are on my mom's camera because mine wasn't cooperating very well, but here are a couple. First I had the shower in Twin given by Chris' stepmom, mom, sisters, and sisters-in-law. It was really fun and really nice of them to do that. A bunch of his family (cousins, aunts, grandma, etc) came and a couple girls from work. Then one of my best friends Carrie gave me a shower in Burley. It was really fun and I got lots of great stuff. :) I will have to post pics later when I get them from my mom.

Here is a pic of Halli and I after the shower in Burley. She was being so adorable right up until I wanted a picture and then she decided to stop smiling, but isn't she still so cute?
This is me and my cousin Jamie. I love this girl!
One weekend a couple weeks before the wedding, my friend Jamie came and stayed at my house. She moved to Burley in January of this year and we became instant friends. She moved back to Utah in June and I have missed her so much. She came back so we could spend quality time together before the big day. We watched While You Were Sleeping (her all time favorite movie too, so I think we were meant to find each other.)

Other than that things before the wedding were just a big blur. We were so busy planning all the last minute details. It was so busy but so fun!

The week before we got married was conference. I have to admit I didn't get a whole lot out of it this time. Chris came to Burley Saturday and Sunday to watch it with me and we sat on the couch the whole weekend and watched all the sessions, but I was not feeling well. I remember a couple of the talks that I really liked, but the rest I am going to have to go back and read. I don't know what the problem has been. I hadn't felt well for a couple weeks before conference, and then on Saturday it got really bad. I was sick all day. Chris and my brother Kelby gave me a blessing after the first session. I just was still so sick so I called good ol' Dr. Smith who recommended I go the the ER. So we went and ended up being there for about 5 hours. It was great. haha. I was convinced I had some sort of bowel obstruction (I have had them before and know what they feel like) but they couldn't find anything like that. I was dehydrated so they gave me a bunch of fluid. I had also lost 7 or 8 pounds in the last couple weeks due to a poor appetite and just not feeling good. My mom and Chris were doing all they could to get me to eat but I would just get sick whenever I ate. Anyway, they gave me stuff for pain and nausea and sent me home. We spent all of the next day on the couch as well, but seeing as I was hopped up on percocet, I don't remember a whole lot. Poor Chris had a glimpse of what he was getting himself into. I was crying at times it hurt so bad. I was getting really worried because I was supposed to get married in a week and didn't want to be sick, but I guess it was better it happened then and not a week later. I was so thankful to have Chris there and be with me though. He is always so concerned and caring. I love him. :) That Monday I went and saw Dr. Smith again and he started me on prednisone again. I wasn't too happy about it but it was a pretty low dose. I know it helped though because I started feeling better right away and that week before the wedding was much better. At that point I had been on a couple antibiotics for a few days that the nurse practitioner at the U of U started me on and they hadn't helped, so unfortunately I'm pretty sure it was the prednisone that did the trick. I was able to go through the week before the wedding and feel much better, and I felt good on our trip for the most part. I would like to get off the prednisone as soon as possible. I have an appointment at the University of Utah again on November 1, so we will see what they say too. I appreciated everyone's prayers for me though and I know it helped me feel better for the big day!

Great Day

Yesterday since all my family was here for Kyler's homecoming, I took out my endowment at the temple. It was such a wonderful day being in the temple with all of my brothers and sisters, parents, Chris' parents, sister, and grandma, and lots of other aunts, uncles, and cousins.

This is just a picture of us camping awhile back that I forgot to post earlier. Us and Dixie. :)
Just one of our many engagement pictures. They turned out really good and I am really excited about them!

He's Home!

Yes Kyler is finally home. It has been so fun having him home again. He was a great missionary and continues to be even after being home.

Here we are waiting patiently for his flight.

Kyler with all our nieces and nephews who were there (all but two). Halli and Luke were both born after he left so he is having fun getting to know them. (I'm still their favorite though).
My mom and I with Kyler. We missed him sooo much!
Halli had no problem warming up to him.
This is just an adorable picture of Landon and Halli from that day so I had to throw it in.
Today was Kyler's homecoming report. This is just some of the friends and family who came. He gave a really good talk. Then we had dinner and he left to go off to school to BYU-I. :( At least we can call him whenever we want now, though. :)

Crazy Summer

Well it's been awhile since I've blogged but life has been pretty crazy! Working full time and planning a wedding, with my job and fiance in a different town than where I live makes life a little interesting. Everyone is asking how plans are coming...so I will say that they are coming. We have a lot done now, but I still feel like there is a lot left. Hopefully it all comes together smoothly. I'm kind of getting to the point where I just want it to be done. At least we have the big things done, we have a place to live (with new paint and carpet!), I have a dress, and our announcements should be here in a couple days. In the meantime, we have managed to have some fun as well. Here are a few more pics of recent events, but first I have to just say that I am so excited to marry this man! He is amazing and I couldn't be any happier. :)

Near the end of July we spent a day at Lagoon. We had lots of fun.

Painting our place. :)
We were bored one night so Chris was introduced to my obsession with Disney puzzles.

We went to Dierkes Lake one night with my sister and her family.

This is my favorite. One day I stopped at his house after work as I usually do and he said he had a surprise for me. He took me upstairs and told me to look out the window and this is what I saw. Isn't that the cutest thing ever?! Pretty sure it is.