Last Minute Trip? Let's Go!

For anyone that doesn't know us, Jonathan and I are not last minute people. We plan just about everything out that we can. There are a few times that we make exceptions and this was one of them.

In early January, my cousin and his wife announced that they were going to be sealed in the Draper Utah temple. I asked Jonathan if I was crazy because I wanted to try to be there. He was kind and told me that I wasn't. We quickly figured out that we could take a few days off of work and fly there. So, we quickly booked the flights!

It didn't seem like we were really doing this even when we were packing for to leave the night before. Garrett was nice enough to drive us to the airport (along with my mom). We got the airport more than an hour early, so we were feeling pretty good.

We used a kiosk to print out our tickets and took the little train to the security check point. I started looking at my ticket and it had Jonathan's name on it. I realized that I had Jonathan's second ticket and not my own! A minor panic attack happened as we quickly went back to the kiosk hoping that my tickets were still there. We made it to the machine and sure enough, my tickets were right were we left them! After that, the rest of our travels were pretty normal.

We had a layover in lovely Long Beach. We weren't sure if we really wanted to continue knowing how freezing cold it would be. We went to Utah anyways. As the plane descended, everything was covered in a layer of white. I just started laughing. I do not like "cold California weather" let alone having it be cold enough for snow to stick to the ground. It was cold, but I somehow survived!

We decided to play in Temple Square before heading down to my uncle's house. There was hardly anyone outside. (Probably because the temperature was in the teens.) We walked around the Salt Lake Temple and as we were around the reflection pool, I hit Jonathan in the back with a snowball. (This was our first time in the snow together.) He wasn't too happy and started forming a snowball of his own. I begged him to be nice and not hit me in the head because I was nice and hit him in the back. Well, I turned and walked away quickly and he said something and I turned to say what and you know what happened? Yes, his snowball hit me in the face, but it gets even better. He hit me in my right eye. Can I just say that from personal experience, it is far better to get hit in the eye with a tennis ball than a snowball. Yeah it hurt, but what was worse was that each time I blinked freezing cold snow would get into my eye and melt. Lucky for him, I only brought it up about a dozen times during the rest of our trip.

We headed back to our car because we were both freezing! We were about 5 minutes away from my uncle's house and it started to lightly snow on us. (I was so grateful that Jonathan did all of the driving!)  We got all nice and warm by a lovely fire.

The next morning was so wonderful and exciting! My cousin Joe and his wonderful wife Courtney were sealed in the Draper Temple on their third anniversary. I've only been to three other sealings (including my own), but this one was by far the most special one. As soon as Joe and Courtney entered the room, I started crying. They were both glowing and overflowing with joy. It will be an experience that I will never forget.

We were in a winter wonderland.

The happy couple!!!

After the sealing, we took a few quick pictures and then had a brunch with all of the family. Jonathan finally got to meet my cousin Kinzie and her children. (He actually terrified her two little boys while we were waiting to leave the temple, luckily they did not scream stranger danger while they ran to their mother.) It was fun seeing my cousin Kurtis's little girl again. She is seriously the most smiley baby I have ever been around and she was even sick! As we were sitting around the table, someone asked how Jonathan and I ended up together. It was fun retelling our story, but I especially love seeing peoples' reaction when they find out that I shot Jonathan down about nine months before our first date. (What can I say, I was 19 and he was 26 when we met!) 

After everyone left, we headed back up to Salt Lake for some fun. We had dinner at the Lion House and checked out Deseret Book and a cool toy store.

22 degrees at that time was considered to be warm...

On our last morning, we went to Provo to visit one of Jonathan's old roommates from college. It's sometimes weird to think that Jonathan had so many years before he met me. Jonathan drove me around showing me some of the old apartments he lived in. Including his first apartment where his parents met for the first time way back in the day.

This trip was very quick, but so much fun! I am so grateful that we were able to be at my cousin's sealing. I am grateful that there are temples on the earth today so we can have eternal families. As I hugged Courtney after the ceremony, I reminded her that now she is stuck with all of us Pattersons forever. She was thrilled and I am so glad that she is part of our family too!

I'm also grateful for my Mr. Nelson for making this trip possible.

A Wonderful Memory

I was working on a few Valentine's Day crafts this morning. They are brand new things that I've never tried before and I must say that they are turning out really well! They aren't quite done, so I'll wait to share them.

This may or may not be a clue to what I'm working on...

As I was working on them, my mind started wandering. I was thinking that about 12 hours before I was sitting in the exact same spot working on Physics homework. I felt a wave of gratitude for having a mind that gets just as much enjoyment out of learning Physics as making cute craft projects. There was a time when I was convinced that I was not capable of making things. I appreciated them, but I didn't feel like I could do it myself. That led me to focus in on my science and music classes. I knew that I could develop myself in those ways. That all changed 3 years ago.

The Single's Ward I was in had a Relief Society retreat and we ended up having crafts as a part of it. I wasn't terribly excited for that part simply because I knew that I wasn't good at making crafts (or so I thought). Sister Brock brought some framed magnetic boards, wooden frames, and cute paper to decorate with. I started out with the wooden frame because it was little and not so intimidating for a non-crafty person. After awhile, Sister Brock was showing someone else how to mod podge the large framed magnet board. She convinced me to try it even though I kept telling her I wasn't crafty. So, I started looking through the paper and being crafty. I could not believe that not only was I being crafty, but it also looked so good!

My very first craft!
(I am redoing it that is why a lot of the paper is ripped off).

I am so grateful that Sister Brock pushed me to try something that I was convinced that I couldn't do. I have had so much fun during the past three years making crafts of my own. I am also grateful that I live in a time where I can be educated and yet still make time to be creative. 

The End of an Era

We have officially moved out of our first apartment. It's exciting to start a new chapter in our lives, but it is still hard to be moving on from where we started our life together.

Our crazy packing mess.

We had so many good times there and lots of normal life times there too. I can't say that I am not grateful for this opportunity my parents are giving us. It is going to be so helpful as we continue on our journey together. My parents did the same thing that we are doing early on in their marriage and I am so grateful that they are willing to do the same for us.

I miss the amazing sunsets we could see from our window and staircase.

I will share some of the crazy stories about where we lived and will soon share pictures of our rooms as soon as we're settled in. (School and work have been keeping us a little too busy to finish getting settled.)

One of our first gifts for our apartment was
my flower doormat.

It's the Weekend!

Between finishing up moving, starting a new semester, and work, I am ready for a break! Too bad I still have lots of homework to do. Oh well!

I just read on one of my favorite blogs Nienie Dialogs that this month is lovers month. I was already planning on doing some cute things, but now I feel more justified! I'll share more of those things later this month.

Last night my mom and I threw a baby shower for my sister who's having her second baby and first little girl. She got tons and tons of darling dresses for her little Charlotte. Here's some pictures of the decorations. (I took them this morning).

 

 

  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Projects

I feel kind of lame for writing about Christmas at the very end of January... oh well!

No surprise, my Christmas was filled with different projects. The biggest one by far was our Christmas tree. I know that most everyone buys a tree, but I saw an idea on pinterest (shocking) and wanted to do it! I saw a plain, cardboard Christmas tree. I loved it and wanted to tweak it into a creation of my own. Thankfully, Jonathan was able to get refrigerator boxes for me to cut out our tree. I painted the cardboard with green poster paint and then punched out little holes so our Christmas lights could poke through. It was magical!

Jonathan & I already have plans to make next
year's cardboard tree even better!

I made drawstring bags for the little girls, Lyla and Clara. I'm grateful my mom has a huge stash of fabric and that they fit each of the little girls' personalities so well.

For my sister's baby that's due the end of February, I made a couple of hot pink polka dot onesies. It was seriously, so much fun!

For all of the toddlers in my life, I found another idea on pinterest and that's shaped crayons! You just take your broken crayons, oil up a cupcake tin, and bake it. I found a great bug cupcake tin and knew it would be perfect for this project. It was so fun, but the worst part was taking the wrappers off of the crayons.

To go with their crayons, I sewed little books of blank paper for each of the kids. (Mercedes was definitely my favorite!)

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with lots of family. We sure did with bouncing back and forth between our two families.

You might not see it , but there really are 5 little boys in this pile.

A Silly Three Year Old

Garrett had his 3rd birthday two weeks ago. Jonathan and I went over to his house to give him a gift. When we got there he was still having dinner with all of his grandparents. He got distracted by us and played with balloons.
My sister put streamers in front of his doorway and Garrett said it was a car wash. I asked him to show it to me and as Jonathan was coming through it, Garrett yelled and told him to stop. Jonathan started chuckling and tried to come through it again but Garrett would not let him. He even shut the door and quietly said, "We'll be safe in here."
What a silly boy! He really does like Jonathan, but doesn't want him in his room.

It's Seriously 2013!?

I feel like I've really fallen behind the times! Christmas and New Year's have already come and gone and I feel like I'm still stuck somewhere in September. Well, needless to say I have some catching up to do with all that we did last month, but I will save that for later!

We've already been very busy this month and it's only the 12th!

The reason we've been so terribly busy is because Jonathan and I are moving. This last summer my sister and her little family we're living with my parents and after she moved out my parents offered to let us move in to help us save some money. Jonathan and I discussed it and we felt that it would be better to move in January rather than in the middle of a semester. So, that's what we've been doing. This week was our painting week. My mom has been dying to paint the orange room and the pink room for a few years now and this was her chance of it finally happening!

No more orange walls and ceiling! I was very adamant that we needed to prime the orange room because I knew it would drive me crazy if I saw even a little bit under the new color.

The residual paint after priming the ceiling. (Can I just say that I HATE painting ceilings!)

At least I had a hot painting partner!

It's unreal to think that we are actually moving. We have been in our apartment for almost 2 years and it is our home. We slowly started telling people that we were moving and somehow random people at church were coming up to me and asking about our move. It's going to be hard to leave our wonderful ward. I've loved being there. A couple of weeks ago at church, a group of girls came up to me and started talking about girl's camp. I had to tell them that I was moving and wouldn't be going and they shunned me for the rest of the day. (Luckily, a couple of them have forgiven me!) I feel like we've been so blessed to be part of such a wonderful ward. I can't wait to be part of the ward I grew up in again, but I will always remember how wonderful our first ward as a married couple has been.

We still have a lot more to do before the month is over! I'll try to share more.

A Wonderful Dream

I know I've talked about who I was named after before, my sweet grandma Patterson. She died about three years before I was born. When I was younger I had a hard time knowing that we shared the same name and having it remind me that I never even met her. It took some time, but I have learned to love my name.

Anyways, last week my dad shared that he had a dream about her. This was the first time since she died over 20 years ago. He emailed it to his siblings and dad. What he remembered most clearly was how beautiful she was. My grandpa responded to the email saying that he has seen her and agreeing that she was very beautiful.
 

Well, just a couple of nights ago I had the privilege of seeing my grandma's beauty for myself. I too, had a dream about my grandma. Mine was a little different because there were two of her, the older one that my siblings remember from their childhood and a beautiful, young version of her. It was wonderful! I sat down next to the younger version of her and started asking her some simple questions. Right when I had built up enough courage to ask some deeper ones, a car alarm went off! I woke up wanting to go back so I could talk to my grandma more. I wanted to know if she knew who I was. I either have a feeling or am hoping that I get to have that dream again. I feel like this dream is my early Christmas present.

The Nutcracker Tradition

I love going to the ballet. It reminds me of my childhood. I remember the years of attending the Nutcracker and then when I performed in it. Every time I go to the ballet, I look back on these wonderful memories. This year was no different. It was so nice and we even got there about 10 minutes early. (Usually we are practically running to our seats!) It was so cute seeing all of the little girls all dressed up not knowing what they were about to see. It will be so fun to take the little girls to the Nutcracker in a few years.

The performance is about to start.

The Snow Queen.

After the performance is over, we always go to Rick's Diner! All they have are desserts and yes they are amazing! We had the mixed berry cheesecake, raspberry torte, and mint chocolate cake. They were all so good!

I love the ballet and I can't wait to share it with Jonathan. We are going to Midsummer Night's Dream in the spring!

Das Auto

Our cars have been doing quite a few stunts to get our attention for the past couple of months. Our Honda doesn't always feel like starting. Sometimes it's because Jonathan doesn't feel like turning off his lights and other times it doesn't have a real reason. I've lost track of how many times we've jump started that silly little car!

Well, our Nissan decided that we were giving too much attention to the Honda. It started out small by letting the back brake light get loose and flop around as I drive. Well, that clearly wasn't enough, so my front tire shredded on my way home from the Relief Society Christmas Dinner. That proved to be such a blessing. If I hadn't gone to the dinner, my tire would probably still be susceptible to shredding and would have happened either on my way to work or to turn in my last physics lab. I would have been stressing out and Jonathan would have been at work, completely unable to help rescue me. I am so grateful that it happened when it did.

With all of these car problems, Jonathan spent his first day off with no work or school fixing up our cars. I love that he knows so much about car maintenance and can do it all by himself.

It's Finally Happening!

I am finally starting to get into the Christmas spirit! Now I know that makes me sound a bit like a Grinch  but let me explain. 

I think that there is something very wrong when you go to a store in October or November and they are decorated and selling Christmas items. Yes, I am one of those people who gets mad when I hear Christmas music before December. Thanks to my mom, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and you can (and should) have your decorations up all month long. Then we have Thanksgiving. I'm honestly not super big about the meal on Thanksgiving, but you can tell that I love theme of that holiday. I put away my more ghoulish looking decorations and leave out my pumpkins and have reminders to give thanks for what we have. I don't appreciate stores trying to push aside these holidays in order to make the Christmas season last for three whole months.

This year, I've had an even harder time than usual getting into the Christmas spirit. I think it's because I've been so focused on doing well in school this semester that I haven't really done much decorating for any of the holidays. I honestly took down my 4th of July decorations in the middle of October. (What can I say, I just love our red, white, and blue!) Anyways, let me tell you what helped me snap out of this holiday slump!

Last week, my ward had it's Relief Society Christmas dinner. Jonathan and I were asked to participate in the program. We read parts of the Christmas Jar. This was the first time I have ever heard that story. It started out with a couple (Jonathan and me) having their first Christmas. Money was tight, so they decided to fill a jar with their pocket change and use that money for their Christmas gifts. It became a family tradition and grew to include their children. One year as they were taking the money to the bank and the daughter saw a woman crying. She offered the money to the woman and their family tradition was forever changed. They started using their Christmas Jar to help others. Years passed and her husband died. The evening after the funeral, she received dozens of jars in return. Some of the people shared their stories of when they were in need and a jar was at their door.

I love the spirit of giving in this story. I love how their simple, daily sacrifice was able to grow and help others. I found a blog where people share their own Christmas Jar stories. (Click here. They're really good!)

I want to start this tradition for our family.

Yet Another Reason I Love the Temple (like I really need another)

My love of the temple is rather obvious to anyone who reads my blog.

Well, now I have a new reason to love the temple. I get to work there! It is so much fun. After I went through the temple for the first time I decided that I wanted to work at the temple. So, you can't just show up and start working there. (It's a house of order and that would just not work.) Just before summer started, I noticed little cards that you could fill out if you were available to serve. I got so excited! I filled it out and turned it in. 

I forgot that I had filled out the card and a little over a month ago I got a call from the temple recorder. (It's a person not an automated machine.) He told me that my bishop had suggested me to serve at the temple and he had a couple of open shifts in the laundry. I quickly agreed and was ready to burst with joy! I know that most 22 year-olds don't like doing their own laundry let alone volunteer to do laundry for 4 hours, but I'm not most 22 year-olds! I love working at the temple.

As I work at the temple, I feel closer to my grandparents. My grandma and grandpa Machen served twice a week at the Oakland temple for years. I am named after my grandma Patterson who died a few years before I was born. Before Jonathan and I were married, I would try to go to the temple every week to do baptisms. As I would sit in the baptistery, I would end up thinking about my grandma. I would get the feeling that she was proud of my decisions and glad that we share the same name.

I am so grateful that I live so close to the temple and that I can serve there.

Almost Done!

Jonathan and I are almost done with another semester! Just one week left!

Our last Saturday night doing homework!

I got to watch a tape on special relativity. I didn't know they still had those machines!

Jonathan asked me how we were going to celebrate the end of the semester. I was totally caught off guard. It's been awhile since we've been at the end of a semester that I don't really remember doing anything special... It will be fun whatever it is that we end up doing!

I plan on starting all of the many Christmas projects that I have and decorating our apartment for the season. (I may or may not still have my haunted mansion out from Halloween...) I can't wait for a break from school!