Another Year

Last week we celebrated the birthday of our family!

“The day that a couple kneel across the altar in the sacred House of the Lord becomes the most important day of their life because on that day you create a new eternal family.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Since it was Friday, I went to work as usual and didn't expect anything out of the ordinary. Well, after lunch a man came walking towards my desk in a suit and my favorite tie with flowers. Jonathan totally surprised me! He had been planning on delivering flowers for a few days and had a hard time not telling me. All the girls that I sit by thought it was adorable.

That same night we went to the temple and did the sealings for some of our family. As we were in the sealing room, I felt the same excitement doing the sealings for our family as I did when Jonathan and I were sealed. It was beautiful.

On Saturday, we went to dinner after finishing our shift at the temple. This time I surprised Jonathan. Earlier in the week, I talked him out of going to Tucanos for our anniversary dinner. After he surprised me with flowers, I decided to surprise him with an amazing dinner! He was very happy with my surprise.

It doesn't feel like it's been 5 years since we were married, but we've been through a lot during that time. Having Jonathan by my side through it all has made the hard times more bearable and the good times even better.

Three and a Half In

It's absolutely crazy that we have been married for three and a half years. There are times when it feels like it's only been three and half months and other times when it feels like it's been three and a half decades. (Even though neither one of us is that old!) 

Our time here in Utah has been so wonderful because now we get to see if the two of us can really do this marriage thing on our own. FYI, we can!

Jonathan is just amazing. He does so much with school and taking care of me. Just thinking about it makes me tired for him! Since moving here, he has become a stellar student. He still has a ways to go, but he's determined to get done.

I love him so much and look forward to seeing where the next three and a half years take us!

Best Day

I am so grateful for a day that happened 2 years and 9 months ago. I still am so grateful for the day I married my better half. Looking back, I didn't know what was going to be in store for us, but I did know that Jonathan would stick with my through anything. These past few months are proof that I was right about him. He has been so wonderful and patient with me. I have been such a punk to him at times and he just keeps showering me with love. I am grateful to know that after we finish with our mortal life, I get to be with him for all eternity.

A Thankful Month

After my last post, I was thinking that I should start blogging more regularly again. Then I remembered that the next month is November! This will be my third year of daily gratitude posts! I'm probably going to have some similar ones (it's hard not to) but this year I think I have a few new things to add to my list.

Today I am grateful for a seemingly simple thing. I am grateful that I slept through the night without ear plugs. Jonathan is a loud snorer and that has made it very difficult for me to sleep. Ear plugs helped but not all of the time. I remember being really tired and hearing Jonathan start to snore and think that I should grab my ear plugs. I woke up this morning without any ear plugs! It was amazing! I hope that this is the new normal.

Playing with Our Camera

This fall has been crazy. That's why I haven't posted since the beginning of the month. Any way... ever since we got our camera this summer, we have had so much fun going around to familiar places to take pictures.

Here's a few from downtown Roseville:

This is Roseville's version of Red and Guido.

These are from Diamond Oaks Park:

Shots of the temple:

Here's some from Old Sac:

We love having a camera as we've been going around town.

Lover's Month

When I was growing up, I don't ever remember really caring about Valentine's Day (especially when there were no more class parties and candy Valentines). Now I love the entire month of February! Not only for Valentine's Day, but also for our anniversary. I don't feel silly for leaving up all of my decorations for the entire month.

Jonathan and I take turns being in charge of celebrating Valentine's Day and our anniversary. This year he was in charge of Valentine's Day and can I just say that he made the best meal ever! He decided to cook dinner for us and I just figured it would be a really simple recipe. I was totally wrong! He found a recipe for Chicken Paillard with Cherry Sauce & Parsley Rice. I was really skeptical at first, but it was sweet and tart and delicious. (I LOVE tart!)

There was even enough for lunch the next day!

Here is the craft that I was hinting at in this post. I have been seeing so many cute embroidered crafts on Pinterest, I just had to try it for myself.

They didn't turn out perfectly, but it's a start!

A little something special thing that I tried to do for Jonathan was give him a cute little Valentine each day leading up to Valentine's Day. I was a slacker and only gave him about 5 or 6, but that means I can give him the other ones throughout the year.

For our anniversary we went out to dinner to Piatti. Holy cow do I love that place! It was a lot fancier than what Jonathan was expecting, but he really enjoyed it. (To give you an idea of how fancy it was on a scale of Ruth's Chris to McDonald's it ranked around PF Chang's.) While dinner was so good, we were both really excited about dessert. 

A little over two years ago, Jonathan and I went to the Imax theater with his brother Taylor and his wife Kenzie. Afterward I introduced them to Rick's Diner. All they serve are delectable desserts. (It's part of our tradition when we go to the ballet as well.) 

This is only a small portion of one of the two cases of desserts!

 Jonathan had a hard time picking out his dessert, but he finally settled on Death by Chocolate. I am pleased to report that in spite of the name, Jonathan is still alive!

Isn't that cake beautiful!

Jonathan's Death by Chocolate and my White Chocolate Mousse Raspberry Tart!

Jonathan's laughing at me because this is my 5th time trying to get a good picture!

 I love February (even though it seems like it went by really quick!) I love that I have 2 special days to celebrate my love for my sweet Mr. Nelson!

Two Years Down, Eternity To Go!

It's true. This week we are celebrating our 2nd anniversary. I don't know when that happened!
To celebrate, we are going out to have an Italian dinner and dessert at our very favorite place. It will be fun!

Here's some pictures from our year together.

Going on our first date all over again!

Checking out the solar eclipse.

Nap time

Playing around with my mom's iPad

Visiting the Oakland temple

Modeling in Idaho

Sleeping under the stars in Idaho

Hanging out in Yellowstone

My favorite part of Yellowstone

Our latest family picture

This year has been wonderful and I can't wait to see what this one brings!

Highlights of '12

On New Year's Eve, Jonathan and I were chaperones for a youth church dance. We had the tough job of guarding some exterior doors. To help keep ourselves occupied, I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of the top twelve things that happened/ we did this year. I'll just share a few with you.

Jonathan had his first experience of going to Disneyland for multiple days!
(I want to go back just to be in Cars Land!)

 I loved our trip to Idaho during the summer especially because all 17 Patterson's were together.

At the end of this month, this picture will be outdated because baby Charlotte will be here!

Jonathan saved my life when I passed out at the temple.
(I'm only being slightly over-dramatic.)

We also were very regular with our temple attendance and
I know that has been such a blessing in our life.

We have a real plan for our future! (And this one really feels like it will stick!)

We survived our separation due to Girl's Camp (which I still have yet to blog about, it will come).
(I loved Camp, just not being away from my Mr. Nelson!)

Our car was stolen! (And promptly returned.)

2012 was our first calender year together!
(And it didn't even feel like it was that long!)

We have a deeper understanding of each other than we did the year before.

Last year was a wonderful year and I have a feeling that this year will be great too!