Discoveries

I have boxes of my things still in the garage. This drives my poor husband nuts because that garage is "his place." After my repeated evasions from coming outside to unpack them, he has started bring boxes inside for me to look through. This is quite a challenge because I literally keep everything that has ever meant something to me in my life. Just tonight I uncovered some very sweet birthday cards from Cory, thank you notes from friends, letters from missionaries, and even some quotes on marriage I collected. Two of the quotes were from President and Sister Hinkley and they were just so sweet I had to share.

"I like this man a lot, but I like him sometimes a lot more than others."
-Sister Hinkley
I admit I feel this way myself sometimes.

"As I held her hand and saw mortal life drain from her fingers, I confess I was overcome. Before I married her, she had been the girl of my dreams, to use the words of a song then popular. She was my dear companion for more than two-thirds of a century, my equal before the Lord, really my superior. And now in my old age, she has again become the girl of my dreams."
President Gordon B. Hinkley
I will further admit that this makes me cry every time I read it, but I hope I am blessed with a love like that. It may take two-thirds of a century or more but I have a feeling we've made a good start. :)

Snapshots!

In the past few weeks Cory and I have done lots fun things! Here are some snapshots from some of the exciting stuff!

River Rats!

My family from Arizona came to visit last week and we had a huge river party on Saturday! We had so much fun! They are all awesome and I am doing my best to figure out how to move AZ closer to SC.
And how cute does Cory look holding my cousins baby!? And how about my adorbale pregnant best friend! Seriously, I a can hardly wait to meet "Peanut" Jennings! I am with Stephen and keeping my fingers crossed for brown hair. :)
(Disclaimer: These comments do not mean Cory and I are planning on kids anytime soon, I'm just saying...I like babies, pregnant people, and cute boys holding cute babies. This is not a crime.)

Beachin' It!

We also went to the beach last week and had a blast! It was so nice to be able to spend time with our family and friends. David had never been buried in the sand before (seriously, this man had a sad childhood) so we had a lot of fun making his dream of being buring come true! We even threw in a sand beard. It just doesn't get better than that!

My brother took this picture for us before we left and made fun of me for my "prom arm." I actually hate the hand on hip arm pose but if you don't do it then your arm looks all flabby and gross (well, mine does at least). Maybe I should just try flexing them or something. I don't know.

Wet 'N' Wild!

Finally, I set up a gaint slip and slide in our back yard and our nephews came over to play on it. Hampton and I had a blast! Everyone else pretty much just watched. But I love Hamp's face in the middle picture. He is definitely a tough guy!

Heathcliff the Conqueror

Cory and I wake up some nights to hear Heathcliff barking like a mad man, er, dog. He doesn't usually bark, so of course we go and check out the situation. Upon investigation, we discover this, just sitting on the ground, covered in bite marks and looking absolutely terrifying:

That's right, a storage bin is my dogs worst enemy. He bites it, drags it across the yard, pins it in a corner, and just in general roughs it up. Despite the beat down, it apparently still sometimes gets the best of him because when he barks at it, he won't go anywhere near it. I don't know what game he is playing in his head, but I just don't have the heart to take the bin away. So I guess I will sacrifice a little sleep all in the name of my dog having fun...I am pretty much a sucker for that guy. :)

Our New Addition!

Meet Heathcliff:

He is named after Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable. (The Cosby Show is one of my all time favorites!) We adopted him from the Richland County Animal Shelter last weekend! We both just feel in love with this guy, especially Cory! I really had wanted a puppy but Cory really does not have the patience for that yet. Heathcliff is only about a year old so he still has a lot of energy but isn't whiny like puppies are sometimes!

He LOVES to sniff things, mostly the ground. He is a pointer and needs lots of exercise! We have taken him for a few walks and runs and running is definitely easier! When we are walking he has his nose to the ground just like he is hot on the trail of something!

He also really likes to play fetch and Cory love to throw the tennis ball with him. That is a lot better than sticks, like he is using in this picture, because he just likes to chew on those!

Cory is trying to convince him to bring it back but...

Heathcliff is enjoying a snack!

So yeah, we have a dog! It is kind of crazy because it was sort of an on the spot decision. I was actually wanting to wait because when you are at the shelter you just feel so badly for the dogs and want to give them ALL a home. I wanted us to make a practical decision, not just an emotional one because a dog is a huge responsibility! Despite that, we decided to take him on a little walk just to see how we would get along. As soon as Heathcliff saw the goats they have at the shelter also, he went rigid. His nose went forward and his tail pointed straight out, just like in a cartoon. Well, Cory was sold from that moment on. So much for practical!

It's All in the Timing...

I am late for pretty much everything. Work, family get togethers, and basically anything with a start time. I am so bad about being late that in the four months we have lived in our new ward, we had not been on time ONCE. Sad, I know. Well, this weekend I had this conviction that I needed to change that and start being on time. It was branch conference and we had been instructed to bring a main dish, side and dessert. By 10:15 all the food was cooked and the kitchen was clean which in itself is a small miracle. (some credit for this is due to my sweet husband who made the brownies. :)) I got to bed by 11:15 and woke up at 7:30 without pressing snooze once. Waking up Cory at 8:30 was a bit of a challenge (our AC isn't working so he hasn't been sleeping well lately) but by 9:28 we were rushing out of the door. We walked in right as they were going over the announcements. Not right on time, but close enough for me! As long as I don't miss any of the songs I count it! :) I was so happy to be at church and on time too! It was such a great feeling. Our bishop was the first speaker and he is just wonderful. I really hope everyone feels about their bishop the way I feel about ours. I couldn't imagine anyone doing the job better! At the conclusion of his talk he said he wanted to ask a few people to come up an give their testimonies. I actually thought to myself "I'm sure glad that's not me!" about a second before he called my name. I have never been so shocked at church in my life! Even the time a very straight laced girl cursed in Sunday school while I was in the branch did not compare. I now felt like everyone was looking at me thinking "I'm sure glad that's not me!" I went up and gave my testimony which I'm sure half the congregation could not even understand because I was so emotional. (I blame my emotionalness on Naomi, I was never like that before we were roommates!) But for me the important part was that the bishopric had given my name to the stake presidency a week before and without knowing why I just knew I needed to be at church on time that Sunday. The experience not only allowed me share my testimony with my ward but also gave me the opportunity to make that testimony even stronger. I know the Lord guides my life and will prepare me for whatever challenges come my way. I am probably in for many more "not me" moments in my life but I know that the Lord will always provide a way for me to be prepared for them, even when I don't realize it. For that I am truly grateful.

Hello House, It's Nice to Meet You

We are finally starting to settle into our house and it really feels like home to me now. It is so funny that even though we worked on the house for months before we moved in, it still didn’t feel like our home. When we first bought it there was the period of discovering things the previous owners had left. The weird sheet in the cupboard under the stairs, the child’s writing on the back of the door, and even the stopped up tub. The house belonged to us, but those things weren’t ours. Through the months of remodeling, those things went away, but we were constantly discovering things about our house and its previous owners through our efforts. As I scrapped the layers and layers of wallpaper from the walls, I could imagine what the house looked like for all of the people who had lived there before us. To me, that stuff was a royal pain, but to them it was something that made the house their home. Now we have those things. I am so proud of the repainted fireplace, the colors I picked out and the new faucet where I was my dishes. All those things belong to me, and so does the house. Even though it felt like ours finally, it was still a stranger. Over the last few months I have gotten to know our house and it now holds many memories for us. It is the place where we had our first Valentines Day dinner and where I cooked dinner for my Grandfather for the first time, not mention the countless little everyday things that make our life together so wonderful. I am just as happy to see the handprint on the wall David left when he helped us move in and the nail sticking out of the one creaky step for the millionth time as I am the fresh clean paint and new fixtures. We have started to make our mark on the place with the help of those we love. I am so grateful for our home and the memories and life we have begun to build inside it.

A Visit

My grandfather came for lunch today. It was the first time he and his wife, Miss Anne had ever seen our house. My mom called me on Thursday to warn me that he was planning to stop by on his way home from visiting one of Miss Anne’s sons in the upstate. Now, I love my grandfather but I was terrified and immediately thrown into a tizzy. He is very no nonsense, has a way he thinks things should be and is very vocal about his opinions. Ever since I was a little girl I have known “Papa means business.” So you can imagine my despair as I looked around my little house at all the things out of place, things with no place, things not working, and things to make things work that were strung all over the place! Since then I have spent hours cleaning, organizing and just plain stressing out all for the end result of not that much difference! And you know what? He didn’t even care! He said it looked great and he thought we were doing a fine job of fixing everything and that pretty soon we would have it how we wanted. All that worrying over the boxes still unpacked in the office (and everything else) was for nothing! He totally understood. I guess the point I am trying to make with this story is that I’m glad my respect for my grandfather makes me set higher standards for myself and I’m glad his love for me helps him understand when I haven’t quite gotten there. It was really good for me to see that acceptance from someone I think so much of because I worry all the time about the state my house is in. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let anyone in until it was absolutely perfect! Luckily I have Cory to realize that the people who love us will understand we are in the middle of a very long process and appreciate where we are now without thinking about how far we still have to go! The fact that is story applies to life as well as to houses is purely coincidental. :)

Papa and me at my wedding reception. Yes, I do wish I had inherited his dark skin tone but alas, no.