Friday Thoughts

1. Tom and I were overwhelmed at the response from my last blog post. I am not used to having a lot of readers (at least none that comment, etc.). You want to know the biggest irony? I was writing that post about how blessed we are and how everything will be okay and before I could post it, in walks husband with the biggest bill either of our eyes had ever seen. I allowed myself time to break down and cry. And then we read through the post together, and published it. Because even though that curve ball threw us for a loop, those things still all happened! We are still so blessed! Thank you for those who messaged and commented and offered suggestions, sent packages, and more. I didn't expect that at all, and that just solidifies my knowledge that we are all too loved by others to fail at anything!

2. For Christmas, my sister Kim gave us a year subscription to the Ensign (great gift idea!) and we are SO grateful. I grew up with the church magazines in our home always, and I am so grateful to have that again! Tom mentioned to me yesterday that he read a really good article I should take a look at, and it changed my life! At least my outlook. And I hope that it will have lasting effects. Go ahead and take a gander when you have a few minutes at Elder Scott's suggestions on how to be happy!

3. Can I just take a minute to brag about my husband? He was given the key to yet another door of opportunity today. I won't reveal too much until we know a little more about it. But he is a rockstar! Seriously, I married the ultimate stud. He is doing such a wonderful job teaching this semester! He is also completely in love with his internship, and the clients they help. It's a wonderful thing to watch someone I love so much do something he loves so much, and do it well! I am so excited to watch the changes in his client's life. (For those who don't know, Tom is interning as a wellness coach for the Biggest Winner program on campus, which is like Biggest Loser but without copyright infringements.)

4. President Beck of the Young Men General Presidency came to give our devotional on Tuesday. What a talk. He also shared this video with us, which I promptly bawled through.

5. We received my family's Christmas card in the mail today, and boy howdy do I miss them all. If you ever want to talk about a group of stellar people, just give me a call, cause I have 25 of them I could talk for hours about. Thank goodness we're related and eternal.

6. It's almost February! Which means that we made it through January! And that is really exciting because January is a very cold month, and we're that much closer to Spring. Sometimes I listen to Jon Schmidt radio or Parachute radio on Pandora and songs come on that I just close my eyes and envision Tom and I on an evening walk around the streets of Rexburg, and then I can go outside and face the foot of snow and below freezing temperatures. Just once more.

7. My thoughts go out to those who are in much worse conditions weather-wise! I've seen some sad stories and some people who are very much actually debilitated by the cold and snow and ice, but I have to say that this made me laugh really really hard:

All in all, we're doing very well. School continues to keep us busy, and we love being busy! I'm learning to enjoy every stage of life, because soon it will be all gone! We're only newlyweds once, and only without children for so long! (No that is NOT an announcement, just to clear the air!) We are excited for the future, but goodness we're just having so much fun! I love being married to Tom. He is my greatest blessing and my best friend. I just don't think I could ask for much more than that.