Thank You for Loving Me Enough to Cut Me Down.

I love this video and wanted to share it with whoever stumbles upon my blog.

Enjoy.
I also have to mention how incredibly grateful I am that a temple was announced in Tucson, AZ. Those are some of the sweetest words my hears have heard. It has been hard to actually have to plan temple trips and make a day out of it because I don't have the blessing of having a temple 10 minutes away anymore. I don't know if we will still be here when the temple is finished but I couldn't be happier for the members down here to finally have a temple so close.

Reflection

This song is simply beautiful. It reminds me of all the blessings Heavenly Father has given me. It somehow has the power to brighten any dark day I experience. I don't know how this instrumental piece of music accomplishes all this but it just does. It's my go-to song whenever I need personal reflection time. Of course, life is far from being perfect all the time. If it was meant to be that way then we would not have made the decision to come to this earth. Sometimes we have a rough day, a rough week, or long periods of doubt. 

A word of advice: NEVER fail to remember that we have our own personal advocate who knows exactly what we are going through. Most importantly, NEVER fail to remember that you are blessed far more than you can possible imagine, and quite honestly more than what is truly deserved. 

So, if any of you readers have the time, take a moment and reflect on how gracious our Heavenly Father has been to us. I prefer to do that while listening to this excellent song.

More Adventurous

I have felt so strongly the love that my Heavenly Father has for me (and for all His children) the past few weeks. I don't know why but it almost feels tangible to me. It is not so much of an abstract concept anymore. I have felt our Savior's love periodically throughout my life but never so consistent as I do now. It's wonderful- and so is this place.

I was able to go with Brenner's mother during a day trip that I had to make to Mesa. It never fails to give me peace and refocus my perspective on well, everything.

Here are our latest adventures. I'll go picture by picture. Please pardon the no make up in any picture, but we were camping.

 Hiking at Sunrise over Labor Day.

 I got a pretty good action photo of the boys shooting.

Found WEED? I don't know. Maybe. We don't do drugs.

 We went to Patagonia on Brenner's day off but it was a dud so we went exploring and found a really neat old graveyard dating back to the 1800s. Most head stones indicated they were related if not all.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CLOSE TO THE BORDER WHEN....... My personal favorite.

Cook some cookies!

COCONUT LIME WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES.

(What?!)

Truly as amazing as they sound.

I discovered that I have a love for cooking. It simply relieves my stress and makes me feel accomplished. It's fun to start out with all these ingredients that would taste nasty by themselves, and then you combine them and make something super delicious! I don't even know why I'm rambling about this. I'm going to stop. But I can say that I am discovering so much more about myself now than ever before. Thanks marriage, school, and fellow Tucsonians! I am now a better person. 

(Remember those yummy cookies? Ok good. Me too.)

There's something else I discovered. Things rarely happen the way you envision them. So relax, realize that God's hand is in all things, and eat a cookie!

I think I thought

There have been a few random phrases that have stuck out to me this past week. I won't dissect or analyze them for you. They just made me stop and think so I wanted to share them.

"Society Heavenly Father deals out the cards, and it is up to us how we decide to play them."

~Sociology book, with my twist on it.

"BIND up the testimony, SEAL the law among my disciples."

~Isaiah 8:16

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." (Feel free to click on the last phrase in the scripture which is my personal link to what comes to my mind.)

~2 Nephi 21:6 

And here is my favorite quote of the week, inspiring a new way of thinking. Boy does it bring me back!

SO GOOD.

Cat Call

I'm loving Tucson these days.

Not to mention, I'm a Wildcat now.

HOME IS WHEREVER I'M WITH YOU

Well about a week ago we did the big move to Tucson into our new little house. I have news for all you doubters out there- I really, really like Tucson! I love being slightly out of my comfort zone and out of the Mesa bubble. (Not that I don't appreciate it because I loved growing up there) I love the diversity, our ward, and just being with my husband in our very own place. It also helps to have a few friends here as well. I start school Monday so these frequent blog posts may become... less frequent. 

Today my parents came to town to help put things on the wall and to see us of course! Today I finally feel like our house has become our home. It's totally ours now and everything has been organized with no clutter for the most part. Anyway, I really appreciate my parents coming to do that for us and we loved having them here for the day! And we are so glad they loved Mi Niditos as much as we do. Anyway, life is great and we're excited for our life here in Tucson during the next few years.

 Yeah we still need to accumulate more things for the shelves but at least they're up!

 Some things in the house were left from the last couple. Like the drapes and some lamps. Free stuff!

 If you didn't know, I have this thing for books- and book shelves. My favorite part of the house!

 Our bedroom. Still some work needed.

So there you have it, our little house! Our guest bedroom is not worth taking a picture of since it's our extra storage room at the moment. But we love it here and Tucson has treated us well! Since we're on the subject of home...