Jeffrey R. Holland

This last weekend Jordan and I had the rare opportunity to have a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak at our stake conference. If you did not already read the title, it was Jeffrey R. Holland, which is probably one of my favorite apostles (I know we shouldn't have favorites, but hey why not!!??).

For my friends that aren't members of the church, here is a picture of this sweet man!!

I was so excited. Jordan and I even went to the Saturday night adult session! Bad to say, we never ever go to the Saturday session. But hey it was Jeffrey R. Holland!!This is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life!! Jordan and I were so uplifted and spiritually fed.

We got to sit in the chapel (we got there an hour early) but were still cramped in. But we were so close to him it was amazing.

I won't go into all the details, but Elder Holland got up with his scriptures, set them aside and told us he had nothing scripted or really prepared for the night (which is amazing to do considering he had to fill and hour of the meeting!). He simply said, "I want this to be personal. Even though I cannot sit with each of you individually, let's pretend that we are sitting in my living room, or yours, and we are simply going to talk." He went on to talk about the sadness that we feel in this life, and how when times get so bad that we need to turn towards Christ. He mentioned the story of when Christ tamed the seas, and he said, "When we are in this life and the seas are stirring, why would we jump ship!? We would surely drown!! Does jumping ship make sense to anybody!!??" He talked about how much Christ loves us and even after all that we have done, He still loves us.

If you have ever heard Elder Holland speak, he speaks with such authority, I compare it somewhat to what it would be like if God himself were talking to you. It is the sweetest message, but so direct and so powerful. At the very end of the meeting, you could see the message and what he wanted to say just building inside of him. He finally let out, "Don't you dare ever think God doesn't love you. Don't you dare think he doesn't love other people. Don't you dare." There was not a dry eye in the room. He went on to talk about personal experiences with Spencer W. Kimball and Howard W. Hunter. It was so touching.

After he was done speaking he looked around to conclude the meeting, and turned as if he had to ask permission from the Stake President and then looked back at us and said, "Oh yeah! I'm in charge!!" And he changed the closing song to "Abide With Me Tis Eventide." The cap to a wonderful meeting.

I almost forget that Apostles are people too, and still have challenges and trials just like us. I am so grateful the opportunity to see Elder Holland on Saturday night and again on Sunday morning. I am so filled with joy from seeing him and hearing the words that he spoke. My testimony of the church has definitely grown this weekend, and I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life. The church is 100% true!!

The life of a pregnant lady.

Let me first put out there that I have been horrible about putting things up on here since I graduated from school. I thought I would continue as diligently, but sadly to say I have not. Not due to that I have not wanted to post anything, just the fact that nothing, I seriously mean NOTHING has been happening in our lives.

I'll give you a little breakdown. Jordan has been going to work everyday 7 to 5:30 Monday through Thursday and 12 to 4 on Friday. Which catches yo up completely on his life.

Now me. I pretty much lay down all day long trying not to throw up everything that I eat. Can I just say that it is a complete miracle that I did not throw up once during school. But the day after graduation is when the fun has begun. I have not gone a full week without hurling something. Sorry to be so graphic, but that is pretty much how I have been feeling. This last week I have had probably the worst cold of my life. When they say your immune system is down being pregnant, they are totally right. Also I hvae never experienced throwing up, coughing, bloody nose in both nostrils all at the same time. Thank goodness for Jordan, who usually cleans up the mess. What an amazing husband I have!!

Although nothing really crazy has happened, I had my 22nd birthday. And I know I'm not that old, but it sure does feel that way! I had a great day with Jordan. We saw Tron in 3D, ate at Texas Roadhouse, went shopping (where I totally found an awesome dress in the colors for my brother-in-law's wedding, and it's a pregnant dress!! hooray!), and had cake with Jordan's whole family and my brother and his family. It was a fun day.

That is the update from our lives. Hope it was everything and more:) Hopefully some more exciting things will be happening and I can update everyone!

Yes it is about time.

So life has been a little crazy since I have last posted. If you couldn't tell by previous posts, I have been a little bland. Well Jordan and I had a little secret that we were keeping. And if you haven't heard by now...

Jordan and I are having a BABY!

We are due June 28, 2011 or July 9, 2011. I will have to explain this one...

We first found out in October. I know I have a big mouth so keeping is secret this long has been incredibly difficult! But now that I am exactly 14 weeks, I thought it would be a good time to let everyone in on our good news.

Let me just tell you that figuring out if we were pregnant was the most grueling thing I have ever gone through. I was one week late and still getting negative pregnancy tests. I will never ever buy the expensive ones ever again! Jordan bought me a three pack of the Clearblue (I think they are called) and every single one of them told me no! I was getting super upset. Especially since I had waited a week after my missed period to take it. After we had run out of pregnancy tests, we were at the dollar store. Low and behold and the checkout there are pregnancy tests there for a dollar! So we bought two. The first one I took, was a positive, but the line was so faint that I disregarded it. But when I read the instructions again, the box said, no matter how faint the second line is, it is a positive. It is just so confusing when there aren't words!! the second one that I took definitely had the second line. It was so scary to think, oh my this is actually happening. But I wanted another opinion because those tests are just silly to me.

We went up to BYU-I health center, and I made an appointment for a blood test, because I thought my urine was insufficient. When we got there, the guy handed me a cup and pointed me in the direction of the bathroom. I was quite puzzled. He looked at me and said "pregnancy test, right?" I nodded and then told him I had ordered a blood test. He took the cup from me and then a mean nurse came up to me and said that they didn't do blood tests anymore without a doctor's order and I was too late for an appointment so I could have the urine test or not at all. I wouldn't have been so upset, but I had gone to the bathroom right before I got there!! I asked her how much she needed, and she said just enough to cover the bottom of the cup. Well, I pushed it out. She came back about 30 seconds later and asked when my last period was. She then asked me to step into the back. She handed me a piece of paper that said pregnancy: positive. Date: June 28, 2011. It was so surreal!!

I walked back to Jordan, who had heard the whole thing, I was trying not to cry and we walked to the exit door. Jordan stopped me, gave me a huge hug, and said, "We are going to be parents!!" So then I started crying. Haha. I am a baby. But it was a special moment.

A couple weeks later we had our ultrasound with our saw our baby!! Baby likes to sleep upside down, so all the pictures had to be turned around so we could see our little one. But the last one where it was just the 2D showed  our little baby, and I swear it was waving at us. :) It's little hand was fluttering back and forth. It was very special for Jordan and I.

Well we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we hope everyone has a happy new year!! We'll keep you posted!!

December came to quickly!

It has been a while since I have last posted so I need to catch everyone up on what has been happening in our crazy lives.

First of all, our Thanksgiving was really fun. Jordan and I traveled down to Utah to meet up with my mom and sister, Kaylie. Once we met with them, we left our car and piled into my mom's car for the rest of the trip down to Temecula. It was a 15 hour drive all together, but it was fun. I got to ride front seat the whole time, because of my special privileges of being me:). We spent the next week hanging out with my three cousins, Alyssa, Corinne, and Andrea, and their dad, Uncle Marc.

We had the opportunity to watch them be baptized. It was really an amazing experience. My dad flew in from Colorado, and baptized the three of them the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. My sister Erin and I said the prayers, My mom spoke on baptism, one of the elders, Elder Whimpy (who happens to be 6'9" and 300 lbs... not really whimpy) spoke on the Holy Ghost. Jordan got to stand in the confirmation circle along with my dad and some other elders. Basically everyone that attended was not a member of the church, so to see so many people come out and support them was truly and amazing experience.

Thanksgiving was amazing too. We went bowling (family tradition of course!), ate great food, spent time together, and watched Elf! It was really nice to spend it all together.

When Jordan and I returned to Idaho, it was not how we had left it. Apparently there was a huge blizzard that came through, that pretty much shut down town. The remains are still on the ground to this day.

Jordan and I have been super busy in trying to get everything we need done for school. He has lots of papers and tests, and I have some pretty extreme projects and portfolios due. I thought being a Senior would be easy! But I am super stoked because I got nominated for the Newel K. Whitney Scholar Award. Four faculty from our department have to nominate you to receive the award, and it is only among graduating students. The communication department is one of the largest on campus, so I am lucky to receive this award. Jordan came with me to the ceremony yesterday where the school gave us these really cool mantel clocks. Each student was recognized by a teacher that they are close to. Brother Ryan Hales gave me mine, and I am so thankful for the nice things he said about me. It was truly and amazing experience. Plus I got some pretty amazing cheesecake after the ceremony.

Well that is pretty much our lives at the moment. My parents are coming next week for graduation, so I will update everyone then. Until next week my friends.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving!

So today is the last day before Jordan and I embark on our journey to California for Thanksgiving. We are both in school right now and are feeling a little unprepared for the trip!

We are going to California to see my three wonderful cousins get baptized. Jordan and I of course will be there but also my Mom, Dad, Kaylie, and Erin. So we get pretty much most of the family there. We are so excited for the decision these girls have made. I feel so wonderful to know that they have a testimony and are willing to act on it. How many people in the world are that courageous! I love you girls and I am so proud of you.

While we are in California we might be able to go to Disneyland. Jordan had never been and I would love to go with him. As you all know, Disneyland is extremely expensive. Even for just two people. I can't imagine when we have children that are begging us to go! I am selling a pair of UGG boots that I have, and I had an offer today, so if I can sell them, maybe we can go!

But school is still looming in front of us. We only have one day left and Jordan still has to take TWO tests!! We will be having a sleepless night tonight trying to get everything done while Jordan is also studying and taking tests. It doesn't help that we will be stuck in Rexburg for him to be taking these tests of his. At least he won't have this kind of work over Thanksgiving Break (which we get a week for, thank goodness!).

So hopefully next time I post will be after our California trip. Our camera has been acting really funny so hopefully we will get some awesome pictures to post.

I hope that everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving! We love you!

Randomness.

Alright I have been a little busy this week, but I will fill you in on all the wonderful details of the past week.

Thank you to all the people that commented on my photos for last week. I was actually quite surprised by the one that everyone ended up liking. I even ended up asking one of the photo teachers on campus and he picked Photo C too! So to the good news. I am in class yesterday and we are critiquing photos. My photo was of course, the last one to get picked. My teacher is very particular and very picky. He picked my photo up, looked at it for a few seconds, and then asked who took the picture. I thought to myself, "Oh no. He hates it." I slowly raised my hand. He looked at me and said, this is a glass perfume bottle correct? I nodded. He just looked at me and said, "Your lighting in this picture is just beautiful. You did a tremendous job considering I haven't taught any of you how to properly light glass. This picture is stunning." My mouth dropped a little. I was so excited. He has never said anything nice to me! I just felt amazing. So thank you to all the people who voted and hopefully helped me get an A!

My sister and her husband are leaving on their cruise today. I know I mentioned it last week, but I am so jealous of them its ridiculous. They will be in the Caribbean living it up, while I will be in Idaho with the wonderful Snowy weather that we have been having. Let's just say that I hope dearly that Jordan and I can go to California for Thanksgiving. We need to get out of here!!

Also, I know that this is all that I talk about lately, but Graduation is coming up! I am so excited. I found out that I get exactly 8 tickets for graduation. That covers not nearly everyone. But I have a friend that is not using any of his tickets that will be handing them over. Thanks Lee! But I got an e-mail this last week from the University saying, President Henry B. Eyring will be dedicating the BYU-Idaho Center and will also be speaking at graduation! Oh my I was so excited. Then I got an e-mail about two minutes later that said, President Eyring will be dedicating the building, but will NOT be the graduation speaker. Talk about bummed out!! But then I thought, well it just leaves room for President Thomas S. Monson to be the speaker. Fingers crossed everyone!! But I am so happy that my family is coming up from Colorado and Jordan's family wants to support me. I feel so much love. Thanks guys!

Well that is it for the week. I need to post some new studio pics that I took. Remind me to tell you all the story of how I lit the studio on fire this week. :)

November is here!

Well I am trying to keep up on my blog by posting once a week. Not much has happened so I'm not sure what to talk about.. I am sure I will find something:)

First I would like to say Congrats to Spence and Lexie! Their new baby, Mason, was born November 1st. That would be number 17 for Jordan's side vs. the 1 on my side. Come on Dixon's!! Let's start pumping out those babies! Ah just kidding.

Also, my sister Erin and her husband, Jordan, will be celebrating their 5th year of marriage. I cannot believe it has been that long. I remember when they got married. Granted I was a Junior in high school, so I would hope that I do remember! They are going on a cruise. Jordan and I were supposed to go with them (this has been a 2 year plan) but because they own a Sears they cannot leave the week of Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and Jordan and I are in school the week they can go. Schedules never work! Also, Jordan and I are poor. That contributes a lot to the decision to not go. But I hope they have fun and think about me while they are there!

Also, I would like to say that if you read my last post, Jordan and I had to stop carving pumpkins right when it was getting into the thick of it. We did end up finishing them. Mine was a brewing witch and Jordan's was a skeleton pirate. They were quite good, so I will have to post the pic of them.

Oh some exciting exciting news!! I blogged a couple weeks ago that my cousins were taking the discussions with the missionaries. Thank you so much for all your prayers! Their baptism date is set for November 27th! Their Dad (who has been baptized but in-active for quite some time) has gotten his life together and should be baptizing them! I am so excited for them because I know they believe it, and they are such sweet spirits. I love you girls!

Oh some more crazy news... Jordan's dad (my father-in-law) just got called as the Bishop of our ward. I wish him well and I hope that I will get to see his face again! :)

Ok and one more thing to say... I took some still life photos for my studio class and I need some help deciding on which one to turn in. Please any feedback would be wonderful!!

Photo A

Photo B

Photo C

Photo D

Photo E

Photo F