The Ying-Yang factor

So, it has been a long time since we have posted anything, so, to you reader, thank you for sticking around. Or if you just stumbled upon the blog, thank you for reading. It is nice to have someone there to hear your thoughts and your desires; your hopes and dreams; the subtle yearnings of your heart. I think this is the real reason why we blog. We just want to write down everything somewhere, and even if it is just a little snippet, we want someone to read it and connect with us. To see what we are going through and say, "I have been there", or "I can relate". I mean, it is basically the exact opposite of those journals all the girls had in 7th grade with the little locks on the cover. Similarly it is where you confide a lot of the things you may not talk about with people face to face, but unlike those, it is the place where you don't want to keep things under lock and key. You can let things out there, and hope that even though you can't bring yourself to say them aloud, that someone will read them, know about them. To be honest, writing on the blog has never made me want to keep a journal more. Because even though I want so badly to just let everything out, I realize there are still conversations which are better left between ourselves.
So here you have found us (Kara and I), well, at least the part of us which wishes to be discovered. The side of us which is excited to be seen, and heard, and shared. This is our chapter. (I shy away from saying our story, or book. Those seem so big, and organized. Something I attribute more to our parents. We are just getting started, with the little bit of wisdom, and love we have for eachother.) Here is what we think, what we feel, what we yearn for, and who we are...

A funny thing happened on the way to the game park.....

I forgot to write about one of the funniest experiences of the honeymoon. We were happily enjoying the little petting zoo when we discovered some of the more ferocious animals were kept a little deeper within the park. A white tiger named Bejal was kept in a cage in the far right corner of the park that had the most shade. 


Naturally, we wanted to take some pictures by the tiger. I went first and then we switched places to take Chris’s picture. I was messing around with the settings on the camera, needing to make a few adjustments. As I was jiggering the camera, Chris started bouncing impatiently on the chain-wire fence. When I lifted the camera and looked through the lens, I could see the tiger, and more importantly, the look in the tiger’s eyes. His shoulders had started to hunch as he looked angrily as the man’s behind who was so obnoxiously disrupting his afternoon nap. I saw his muscles tense as the tiger slowly, stealthily, started towards Christopher. I couldn’t believe what I was about to see! The tiger was going to pounce and I was going to lose my husband of three days! 


“Er…argh…Chris!!” I stammered as I struggled to find the words to warn my husband. I think the look in my eyes warned him more than anything and he began to move as the tiger charged. I squealed as the tiger ran straight for the fence then turned sharply before actually touching it. At my squeal Christopher half ran, half stumbled to my side. 


I breathed a sigh of relief. Chris had narrowly escaped the clutches of a vicious white tiger! And then came the laughter that so often accompanies adrenaline-rushing experiences. We doubled over, realizing what had just happened. I couldn’t believe the tiger had wanted to attack! We looked closer and saw that there was an electric fence right before the wire fence protecting the park patrons. 


And...since we are still in our twenties and still mildly immature, we had to try it again! I think Chris braved the fence about five times, and each time the tiger attacked. I tried to do it once, but the tiger only glared at me. He didn’t attack, apparently not that threatened by a small female. I suppose he could sense that Chris was another alpha male challenging his territory. Every time we passed by the cage, even if we didn’t touch the fence, the tiger would follow Christopher menacingly with his eyes, daring him to try it again. 


I don’t think these pictures capture the full ferocity of the tiger’s gaze, but I hope it gives you a taste of the mischievous fun that we had!

charity: water

"Do you ever feel like there's so many people to help and so many things to change that you might as well just not do any of it because you won't get it all done anyways? I think about this often. About looking outside myself, trying to help, making a positive difference... they're daunting thoughts, honestly. Its easy to make excuses, or put things off, waiting. Until next month. Until you have more money. Until you have more time. But it's clear that the world is in need and we can't keep waiting to help. Too many people are thirsty, starving and homeless. I've learned that the best thing to do is begin where you are. Start with the knowledge you have and grow from there. Give of your time, money, ideas and your whole self. And you'll come out of it a thousand times richer than when you started."


This is a snippet from Lindsey's blog "MoreThanMeGlobal."  This fall Lindsey is sponsoring a charity organization called charity: water which is working to bring clean water to people in developing countries.  Please visit her blog to learn more about how easy it is to help.

When Two Worlds Collide

Most of you know that my commute to work now includes an hour long drive on the freeway to Provo.  At first, this was a little difficult, but it is now starting to become routine.  However, sometimes that hour-long drive can be a little boring and the endless black road can make me a little sleepy.



So, to spice up my drive, I rented an audio CD from the library - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Book number 7.  I picked it mostly because it was the longest and could keep me entertained for weeks.  But it was a great choice!  I am absolutely engrossed in the book!!


Perhaps, a little too engrossed...

You see, I am the part in the book where Harry, Ron and Hermione are in hiding along the country side looking for Horcruxes.  Ron is constantly worried about his family and the others back at home.

Last night, a funny thing happened.  I knelt down beside my bed to pray.  It was late, and I was tired.  But I was trying my hardest to pray sincerely.  I think I must have been drifting into unconsciousness or into my imagination because I quickly jerked back to reality when I realized that I had just thanked Heavenly Father for keeping the Weasley family safe from Voldemort.



'Engrossed' may not be a strong enough word. :)  But at least I can say that I was sincere.  I really am grateful that their family is okay.  I love that little red-headed clan.  Heck, I would be a Weasley if I were a wizard...or witch or whatever.

Just thought it was too hilarious not to share.  :)

Love ya!

Habits - the good and the bad

I make funny humming noises when I sleep.  It's inevitable.

I still bite my fingers nails a little when I am nervous or bored.  Don't tell my husband.  I stopped when we got engaged and I have been SO much better lately!  But sometimes I slip up ::insert sheepish grin here::

I love being with people.  It doesn't really matter what I'm doing, as long as I'm doing it with someone.

I talk to myself all the time.  Sometimes at work, when I'm reading an email, I will have a conversation with the email as if the sender was right there with me.  This often confuses my coworkers who think I'm talking to them.

My toenails are always painted.  Period.

My favorite number is 13.  And I absolutely love Friday the 13th.  My birthday is October 11th and I always loved when I could throw a birthday party on Friday the 13th.  I would include every superstition I could think of - putting a ladder in front of the door, black cats, broken mirrors, you name it.  I love it all.

If I'm not wearing earrings, I feel naked and incomplete all day long.

I listen to one CD over and over again for months, until I'm finally sick of it.  CD of choice this month - Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Showtime."  It's awesome!

I am a chronic over-reactor.  Ask my husband, he knows.  If things go a little differently than I always expected, you can expect an overreaction from me.  I'm working on it...slowly.

I am an obsessive snuggler.  I love snuggling!!  Anytime, anywhere...

I require a blanket when watching a movie. Doesn't really matter how hot it is.

I automatically love anything with Gregory Peck in it.
 
When I am thinking I twist my hair in my hand and tie a knot.  Then I undo it and do it over again.

I only eat homemade Italian dressing and homemade maple syrup.

I save all my leftovers {even though I don't eat them all the time.

I am a country music girl all the way.

For my entire dating life, my door scenes have all crashed and burned.  That is, until I went on my first date with my now husband.  That was a great door scene.  Except for the fact that it was Halloween and a girl dressed up as something like Pippi Longstocking was huddled under the stairs crying.  That was a little awkward....

Well that was a fun exercise!  Thanks Linds for the idea.  I think I'm going to make my husband do it now! 

The end of the Honeymoon Saga

You know, I'm going to have to stop counting the days of our honeymoon.  They are starting to blur together. :)  

But I want to preserve the feeling of happiness, laughter, togetherness, and love that we felt that week.  We made so many good memories, regardless of which day they happened.

So here are a few of them...  

Chris and I took a "hike" down a small trail to watch the waves crash against this ancient, volcanic rock.  

The waves were so much fun to watch, even if it was pretty cold.  Chris got a little nervous as I ventured closer and closer to the edge.  Just as I was assuring him that I had the footing of a mountain lion, I lost my balance and teetered.  Needless to say, Chris wouldn't let me get too close to the edge from then on. 

Chris had a blast tide-pooling!!   And he was good at it too.  We went tide-pooling at least three times while we were there.  Chris knew exactly where to look to find all the cool sea creatures.

This tide-pooling adventure was near Seal Rock.  Apparently, hundreds of seal are occasionally spotted lounging about these rocks.  Unfortunately, we did see any on our trip.  But the rock formations are gorgeous, not to mention the man standing in front of them. ;)

On our drive out of Oregon we visited this gorgeous waterfall.  It is apparently a very famous waterfall; so famous that there were so many people, we didn't even want to climb to the top for all the traffic.   So we just enjoyed her beauty from below.

If you know what this picture means, enjoy.  :)


We had such a blast on our honeymoon.  We are so happy to be married and sealed to each other forever.  We will never forget the promises we made to each other and to God.  

Yay marriage!
(In the words of Grandma Brough)

Day Two - Part II

Okay, it's already 10:10 so I better work fast!   My brain is going to stop working in approximately 30 minutes.  :)  


Day Two...continued...
So the game park was not the end to the surprises of the day.  After we spent the morning petting zoo animals we drove back up the coast for about an hour.  

Our next stop....The Dunes!

I have never been to any sand dunes before and this was definitely an awesome ride.  The dunes would curve their way upwards and then drop off at a sharp angle when you reached the top.  We had to be careful and watchful so we wouldn't go careening off an unexpected drop.   

We also drove the four-wheelers out to the beach to race the waves and chase the seagulls.  (Don't worry, this is the only "kissing" picture you'll see from the honeymoon.  I just couldn't resist the hilarity.) 

The dunes were definitely a highlight of the honeymoon.  If we had known how much fun we were going to have, we would have ridden those quads all day!

Day Three

Kite 

Flying 

on 

the 

Beach!

We bought some small kites at a local store in Yachats.  They said these were "famous Oregon kites."  I'm pretty sure they're the ones you can get for a dollar at a grocery store in Utah.  But what they hey, they flew well and we had a ton of fun.  

If you have read The Kite Runner then you will understand what I mean when I say that Christopher and I had a kite war.  For those of you who haven't read this amazing novel, in Afghanistan there is a tradition to build miraculous kites with thick strings coated with shards of glass.  During kite wars you try to control your kite to dive down and slice the string of another kite, making it fall to the ground.  Yes Christopher and I had a kite war.  And yes, I did slice his kite to the ground....twice.  Need I say more?

Despite the fact that Christopher's pride was wounded by losing to a girl, we had a really fun time.  We even tried to swim in the ocean, but that lasted all of about two minutes because the water is FREEZING!

Well, you guessed it, it's 10:35 and this time Chris is falling asleep.  

To be continued...

Hello Oregon!!

Well, I just blogged about my perfect wedding.  Now it's time for me to brag about my perfect honeymoon!  Christopher planned a lovely week-long vacation to the Oregon coast.  It was seriously perfect - a week of 70 degree weather, a beach house, the ocean, and a handsome husband.  Who could ask for more???  We did so much and had so much fun that I don't know if I can capture it all.  But pictures are worth a thousand words, so hopefully these pictures will help me tell the story.

We drove from Utah to Yachats, Oregon which turns out to be about a 16 hour drive.  We had an awesome time.  We forgot to bring a book on tape or much of anything to do, but we had the best time just talking and getting to know each other.  We ate our road trip food (graciously provided by Chris's sisters) and listened to music for hours.  Good times.

Once we reached Yachats, we began our search for the beach house.  Because of a few bad directions from me, we came to a tiny, rundown house that looked like some creeper just moved in.  I was seriously beginning to be afraid that we were going to spend our honeymoon in a two-foot shack with Jack the Ripper.  Luckily, Chris took the directions from me and instantly saw my mistake.  In a few short minutes we arrived at the right place.  Our beach house had a large kitchen surrounded with huge glass windows that looked out toward the ocean.  It was beautiful (and a big relief from what I thought we were going to experience! :)  

The first day we simply explored the city, drove up to Newport, explored a Lighthouse and ate Tillamook cheese.  The next day, Chris planned a surprise day outing for me.  I had no idea where we were going as we headed out on a three-hour drive down Route 101.  The surprise?  A "game park," also known as the largest petting zoo I've ever seen.  It was hilariously fun.  I played with the strangest animals, including the ugliest donkey I've ever seen and a scary-looking sphinx llama.  I was too afraid to go near the llama (they spit) but I dared Chris to go touch it.  He's truly a brave fellow. 

But the best part was playing with the cats. That's right...the big ones.  The game park had a baby leopard and a baby tiger.  Because the leopard was so young we were only able to pet him as he walked past us on a leash.  Those are his hind quarters you see in the picture.  That was about all I could catch as he ran by.   

 However, we were actually allowed to go inside the pen with the baby tiger.  She was a little older and was drinking a bottle half the time, so she was content.  We could pet her and play with her a little.  It was pretty exciting to be near such a normally dangerous animal.  I just prayed that we wouldn't experience another Siegfried and Roy episode...

Unfortunately, it is 10:40 and I am falling asleep at my computer.  Time for bed...  But this is only Day Two!!  Stay tuned for all of the other exciting things we did on Days Three - Seven!

The perfect wedding

Wow, it certainly has been a long time since I've updated everyone on my life.  In my defense, life has been pretty crazy, what with learning how to be engaged (believe me, it takes a little work), planning a wedding (which takes even more work), packing and moving to a new home, and finally the wonderful nuptial event itself. It was a wonderful, busy, fast, crazy, lovely two months.  Things have slowly started to settle down, but just barely.  Now I'm learning how to be married.  :)

But before I get started on all of the fun things that have been happening, I want to give a shout out to my wonderful mother who basically planned my wedding for me.  It was beautiful!!  Absolutely perfect, and it was all because of her patience, planning, and persistence.  She is AMAZING!


I also need to thank my dad, who not only put together a fun slide show for our wedding (including, to my horror, some of the most grotesque pictures of me you'll ever see!) but also for financially giving me this ten cow wedding.  Click here to see just how I feel about my dad.


My sister, Kathleen, also worked hard at the last minute to make us this beautiful guest sign in book.  It preserves not only pictures of our engagement, but the memories of all those who supported us at our wedding.  We are so grateful to all who came, and especially to you Kathleen for preserving these memories for us in such a beautiful way!


Kristine also helped out a ton at the wedding by preparing and helping serve all of the fruits and vegetables served at our buffet.  She really is a pastry chef and should be preparing something much more exquisite than vegetables, but that's what we wanted and she was nice enough to help us out.  She has many, many talents and also made us a beautiful wedding journal where we could record our first thoughts as a married couple.  It means so much to us. THANK YOU!


My brothers Daniel and Darren kept me stocked with food and drink while we were greeting all of our guests in the line.  This was seriously a life saver as the line wound through the house and outside.  I even managed to eat some gelato at my wedding, which was a serious goal for me. I wasn't leaving without any.  It was amazing!  (If anyone wants to try this great stuff, check out Patrizio Senturro at Salt Lake's Farmers Market.)


And Daniel and Tara catered to everyone else as well.  Somehow they got dragged into pouring the Italian sodas for our guests as well as suggesting the best flavors.  Thanks for being able to see a need and being willing to fill it!


My sister Kathleen and her husband Adam sang our wedding song - "Lucky" by Jason Mraz.  Jason, my brother-in-law, accompanied them on the guitar.  It was so fun to have my family sing our "first dance."  They did a great job and it made the moment extra special!


A little bit behind the scenes, Larynn and Darren made us an awesome honeymoon package filled with everything we would ever need and hilarious notes making sure we knew exactly how to use each item.  ;)  


My family helped create so many special moments for the wedding and I am so grateful for every one of them!

                      .....more about wedding and honeymoon to oregon in 
                                  the next post.            
                                   love ya!

HIJACKED!!!

Welcome to the married life!
Since the wedding, I have heard people are awaiting some kind of response, some update from the new and exciting life behind the newlyweds; like we are going to unveil something new or exciting that is unexpected. Of course I usually hear about this at night when I get home from work and we are talking about all the things we still need to get done.
So, since Kara stays so busy at work, and since we haven't had internet in our house for the last week and half and I am at school, and because Kara's laptop remembers her password to log onto her blog, I am going to be the one that makes the first update. Yes, it is me, the devilishly good looking, if not abnormally tall, husband Chris!
For all those worried about he future of the blog, Do Not Fret! I will, usually, leave this to Kara, because she has a much better way with words, and because let's me honest it is her blog. I know that she wanted to add some pictures of Oregon for everyone, which was absolutely beautiful. I would recommend a trip to the north-western coast to anyone and everyone. We saw so many fun things up there, but I will leave you wrapped in anticipation until Kara can get the pictures up. Think of it as this, a promise of a great blog post to come!
Married life is fantastic, we are totally loving it. It was so funny to come home from the honeymoon and realize why they call it real life. Because it is definitely not the fun loving, free life we lived for that week. Our first week back we took Monday and unpacked the house, and both of us went back to work on Tuesday. Kara from 8-5 and me from 2-10. So we went from seeing eachother every second of every day, to waking up to her leaving, and coming home and crawling into bed with eachother. And now that school has started that schedule is about the same except that now she wakes up at 5 with me (that is when I catch the bus).
We are so excited to be starting this new chapter with eachother, because we are in love. Madly deeply in love, for eternity!

C.S. Hill (the tall one)
To Eternity and BEYOND!

Unanimous

Thanks everyone!  It appears that the vote has been unanimous.  

It is a love song!!  

That's basically all that we needed to know.  It is about traveling to fun, new destinations, but the underlying tone is being with the one you love.  Live is a journey that is made ever more sweet when you travel with your sweetheart by your side.

POLL

Okay everyone, I need your help with something.  Please listen to the song below and tell me what you think about when you  hear it.  What is this song really about?

Thanks!

P.S. This is really, really, really important!!!

"THE" LOVENOTE!! My Side of the Story...

HAPPY DAY!!

Okay, I'm sure you have all heard the wonderful news - Chris and I are officially engaged!!!!  I'm sorry to any of you that I may have awakened in the wee hours of the morning to whisper my tale to.  Thanks for listening.  For everyone else, here are all of the delightful details of that beautiful night.


Unfortunately, Christopher made it to his blog a little quicker that I did and has already written his side of the story.  Feel free to read his version.  However, I would like to recount for you the true tale of our elated engagement.  (You should probably read his first so that I can correct all of the misperceptions.)


Christopher and I had known that we were going to get married on May 22nd.  We went ring shopping on the 24th and I told my parents on the 25th.  Once we decided to get married, things started happening pretty quickly as plans were already starting to be made.  It was a little overwhelming for me.  However, things slowed down alright.  Chris had known that he needed to have "the talk" with my father before he could officially ask me anything.  He kept me waiting for two weeks! He cleverly kept taking me ring shopping, even though we had found "the ring" the first day we went shopping.  In an effort not to lie to me he simply kept telling me that he was nervous to talk to my dad and he wanted to find the right time.  I think I even told him to "buck up and be a man" because I was starting to get impatient. :)   


Finally the day came, but I didn't really have a clue.  I had a hope, but he kind of did a good job of crushing that....


Chris is a caterer at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  Last week they had the 100 Years Celebration and Chris had to work almost every night.  It was going to be a crazy week.  Chris told me that they had given him a gift certificate to The Roof Restaurant but it was only good through a certain date and we needed to use it by Monday (June 6th).   This is where my hope began.  "Hmmm, dinner at The Roof," I thought to myself. "Could it be?"  So I dressed up nice and he picked me up at my house.  


Dinner was beautiful with a terrific view of the temple and fabulous food.  However, Christopher didn't seem nervous or overly anxious at all.  I checked for a ring box or something bulky in his pocket but I didn't see anything.  Chris was also very low on the compliment meter.  I think in an effort to throw me off, he steered clear of almost anything mushy.  So my hopes began to diminish.  


After dinner he simply started to walk to his car.  We usually walk around temple square when we do something in the area, so I asked if we were going to go for a stroll.  He casually agreed.  He was so casual about it that I didn't want to go anymore.  I asked him what he wanted to do and he said, "Whatever.  I hadn't really planned anything after this."  Seriously, he didn't have anything planned?!   Now, Chris isn't the biggest planner, so this wasn't too uncommon.  I tried to  imitate  his casual tone and suggested that we could just go back home and watch a movie or something.   He again said, "Whatever."  Geez.  :)


We got in the car and started driving.  Then he sort of gasped, as if he'd just remembered something.  "Hey, do you want to go see that garden I was telling you about," he suggested?  He had been telling me about a garden behind a church house that we could take engagement pictures in.  Well, he had wanted to show it to me and we didn't have anything else planned, so I agreed.  He had sufficiently dashed my hopes by then so I didn't really think anything of it.


He drove around for awhile "trying to find" the church.  We eventually got there and he pulled into the parking lot.  We walked around to the back of the church and I got my first glimpse of the garden.  There is a large pond with a small waterfall surrounded by brick pathways and hand crafted benches.  On this particular night, the pathways were lined with burning candles and the pond was filled with floating candles.

"Hmmm," Christopher said.  "Someone must have already been here."  Okay, now there was no doubt.  It was going to be tonight!!  Chris walked me around the pathway to a bench on the other side of the pond.  In a vase by the bench was a beautiful bouquet of orange lilies (my favorite flower).  Chris picked up the bouquet and handed it to me.  Inside I found a card that I softly read aloud.  All I kept thinking in my head was, "It's here, it's finally here."   I couldn't stop thinking that as he pulled my ring out of a calli lily and got down on one knee.  All I could wait for was, "Kara, will you marry me?"  I think I squealed a little as I leapt onto his knee and said "Yes!" about six times.   

And that's how it happened.   Anything that Christopher says beyond this is fabrication.


Okay, okay, not complete fabrication, but he did get a few of the details wrong!  Firstly, we had already finished the actual proposal before I started "dancing around."  We had walked back to the other side of the pond because I wanted to take pictures and "bask in the moment."   But yes I did have to go to the bathroom.  And yes, I had just gone to the bathroom about fifteen minutes earlier.  But when you've gotta go, you've gotta go!  I was trying my best to hold it, but to little avail.  I remember Chris saying, "You know, it's pretty  hard to bask in the moment with you prancing around me."  That's when I told him.  I've gotta go!!


After trying to convince me to go in the bushes (honestly, Chris, in the bushes on my proposal  night) he finally consented to take me to a gas station.  And I know that he is a good man and tries to obey the laws of the land, but seriously, the ox was in the mire here!  I swear he was going 25 miles per hour the whole time!  I'm going to have to drive myself to the hospital when I go into labor, cause I sure won't be waiting for that when the contractions kick in!


Luckily, once that was taken care of, we were able to go back to the gardens and comfortably bask in the moment.  Everything from here on out in Chris's story is pretty accurate.    

It was a beautiful night and sometimes I still can't believe that it's real.  I keep staring at my ring telling myself that it is real!  I am really going to marry the most amazing man that I've ever met!!  Fabulous.  

We are going to be sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on August 6th.  

Save the date!

California, here we come

"Have you been to California, seen the sights and people there?  Walked the streets of sleepy sea towns, tasted salt ocean air?" 

The weekend started off right with a Saturday morning visit to the San Diego temple.  I have always heard  good things about the San Diego temple, but seeing it is sooo much better.  The architecture looks like a modern castle with crystal white walls beautifully set against the windy grey backdrop of La Jolla.  However, the exterior is nothing compared to what lies inside those pretty walls.  It's like comparing a tree bud in the beginning of spring to the full bloom of a summer flower.  Large stained glass windows illuminated the spacious celestial room.  Spiral staircases and detailed wood work made the San Diego temple one of the most beautiful that I have ever visited.  Kara's Recommendation: all must visit one day.I have!!  I just spent Memorial day weekend in San Diego with one of my best friends, Lindsey.  It was a perfect vacaction.  I spent the long, wonderful weekend not worrying about anything in the world.  Can you imagine, three days of glorious girl time?

After the temple, Linds and I spent the afternoon eating pizza, lots of mexican food, shopping, and updating each other on the details of our lives.  We were both beat by the end of the day and crashed into our respective beds (Linds, a nice queen sized bed; me, a lovely air mattress.)  I slept like a baby.

Virgin, of course.  :)

Sunday was a wonderfully restful day.  I went to Lindsey's ward and met a few of her friends.  After church we ate leftover mexcian food (yum), gave each other pedicures, and watched the Lion King.  (Aaaaah, savenyaaa, alamiiiisimlamoooo, savenyaya.  Okay, I'll give fifty cents to anyone who can tell what I was just doing there.)   And of course, the day would not be a complete without an hour long photo shoot full of ugly pictures.  :)  

  

Monday was beach day!!!!   We started early (10:00am) and picked out a luscious spot on the beach.  For hours we simply basked in the sun reading books, taking naps and talking.  We ate at a great oceanside burger place with the best fries ever!  

 

Oh, and highlight of my day, I saw the biggest bird I've ever seen!  I didn't even know what it was.  Lindsey informed me that it was a pelican.  I didn't think they got that big, but it was amazing.  Birds are cool.  God is cool for creating cool birds.  Yeah, those are my deep thoughts on that subject.  :)  


In all seriousness, I am so grateful for good friends who know you inside out.  I am so thankful for a friendship that has lasted for more than 10 years.  It's good to know that I always have a home inside the heart of my best friends. 

Love you guys!!

P.S. I am just waiting for pictures before I can update you on all the latest happening with my bestest bestest friend, Christopher.  I'm the luckiest girl around and I can't wait to tell everyone all about it! :)