Happy 6th Anniversay Honey!

Hey, Mark

I know you don't read my blog. That's okay. But if you ever do then here is a little note to tell you how much I love you. How much?

LOTS, okay?!

Let's just put it this way, after SIX years of being married, I am still excited to be married to you!

Love, Marily

six

Tonight I am still awake with nothing to do because I can't seem to find myself when my husband is not here. About this time six years ago was when I was leaving the church building where people (my friends and family) were setting up for my wedding reception for the following day. Before I left I ended up in a dark foyer having the "before marriage talk" with two great friends--one, the already married, and the other the nurse (was it dark? or is that just how I wish it was?).


As I reflect over six years of marriage I can't help but think of the miracles that Mark and I have witnessed. Here it is in a nutshell: Have faith. You are loved. When you are trying to do what is right the Lord will bless you.


The short version follows for those that care to read it. The long version would be well, really, really long. As it is the short version is pretty long. And I wish I had digital pictures of the first couple of years, and alas, no scanner.


year one.

This is when the fairy tale begins. I was never a girl that had a lot of daydreams about marriage, or my wedding, or any of that. I didn't really plan it at all. I just plowed through school and worked hard to do well in college because I wanted to be prepared for whatever life had in store for me. My prince charming came along a little sooner than I expected. But still, Mark in a very real way rescued me. Year one started and I was a week away from being twenty-one. That year began the best years of my life. When Mark and I were engaged we heard all of the comments about "the first year is the hardest," and "marriage takes a lot of work," etc, etc. Not that these things are necessarily false, but we heard so many negative comments--or jokes--about marriage that when someone actually said something about how great marriage is we found it so refreshing and encouraging. The miracle this year was being sealed together as husband and wife. We loved every minute of it. All year long. Now we make sure to tell engaged people about how great marriage is.


year two.

Towards the end of year one is when I became pregnant with our first child. We felt that it was a righteous desire for me to stay home with our baby but we had no idea how this was financially possible. I was set to graduate in May, the baby was coming in late August (or September, whatever). Mark was still beginning his career selling insurance and the way his job worked, when he didn't sell we didn't just not make money, but we paid for his office space (the nice little cubicle). It takes time to build a clientele and a profit and we did not have time. We prayed and prayed for help that things would take off with his business and things seemed to get worse. To make a long story short here is the rest: Finally he realized he needed to get a new job.

• Looked for a job while not making any money. I was working part-time tutoring through college. He felt like he wanted to get out of finance and into accounting.
• Got offered a decent job in finance that wouldn't start until November
• Through a service got a temp job working in accounting for PF Changs
• Heard of another accounting job at PF Changs that he didn't quite fit the criteria for
• All this while my belly is getting bigger
• Snagged the permanent job at Changs because his supervisor gave him such a good reference
• Was offered a better salary and a shorter commute than the finance job to begin on Sept 6th
• That's the day Dallin was born
• He started at Changs a week late but the nice lady pretended Mark started earlier so that he could get a week of paternity leave pay

Can you see the hand of the Lord here? Had a job in place to give us peace of mind and the other job was just waiting for the right moment to surprise us. What a blessing.

year three.

Watching a baby grow into a little boy

year four.

Adam was born this year. There is another long story here about faith and answers to prayers but really, it's too long. Lesson learned: pray and He will answer. If you are thick-skinned he will answer it over and over again till you get it. He is merciful. Sometimes repeat physical pain is even necessary if a person is really not getting the message. But in the end you will know you made the right choice because He was kind enough to tell you so clearly.

year five.

Watching two children so full of wonder makes you reconsider what is important in life doesn't it?

year six.

Still waiting for all that bad stuff that everyone talked about to happen.

Don't get me wrong, of course we have issues to overcome and problems and/or annoyances with each other, but the good FAR outweighs the bad. The cup is not half full. The cup overfloweth.

It's been a great six years sweetheart. Let's keep it up, shall we?

Goals

I 'd consider myself a goal-oriented person. This means--by my own definition--that I am oriented towards making goals. And I also try my best to keep them, but of course, this doesn't always happen. Dream big, I say. Even if you don't accomplish your dreams you are better off for having attempted to. Then, you eat a good breakfast and maybe tomorrow you can accomplish them. Here's an update (not that you're interested) on some of my more recent goals:


Do you remember SuperMom?
I still have LOTS of work to do to be like her. But I am proud that for a week I worked really hard at sticking to that routine. I realized many parts of that routine were great and I stuck with them, and other parts I just don't find as important to me right now. Bedtime, for instance, has gone back to 11pm, and I wake when the kids do. Which is early enough. But, I am reading my scriptures in the morning (most mornings) even though the kids are a bit of an interruption and this is a big improvement in and of itself.

Fast Food
February is almost over and I have not bought any fast food! Go me. Well, there was the one time that Mark and I went to the Temple and I had an intense craving for Pete's Fish and Chips onion rings (and Pete's sauce), but alas, it was Friday night, and kooky Pete does not serve onion rings on Friday nights. Could have saved me, but we went to Pirate's instead. Pirates is in danger of becoming my new best friend. Darn. Okay, so that was ONE time, but it was a date, right?

Food Storage Week
Last week our bishop challenged the ward members to live without buying food for a week and eat what was in our food storage. This went well-enough for us. I made bread, beans, homemade tortillas, and a few other fun things. I took it a little step further and decided to not buy anything at all last week. If my dear Mark hadn't gotten sick at the end of the week it would have worked. All the poor guy wanted was some saltines and 7-Up. Still, while he napped I debated for an hour or two whether or not I was going to go to the store to get it for him. Not because it wasn't totally understandable to do so, but because I wanted to go 100% with my commitment to not go shopping. In the end, my love for my husband won out. You owe me, babe. Just kidding, glad you're feeling better.

Homeade Giveaway

You've probably been seeing these all over by now, but I finally decided I wanted to do one. You see, Rachel makes really cute aprons, and I would like one.

The first 3 people to respond to this post
will get something homemade by me!

Like any good giveaway, there are restrictions and limitations, as follows:


1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. I get to choose, you just get to receive!

2. What I create will be made just for you......one of a kind!

3. It will be done this year.....hopefully sooner, rather than later.

4. The gift may or may not be edible, wearable or recyclable!

5. In order to be a winner, you must re-post this on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will receive one FABULOUS homemade gift by me! After I choose the winners, you can send me your mailing address!
Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you receive it!

Don't take these rules all too seriously.

Here's a clue as to what I might be up for making, because, let's face it all I do that's somewhat "creative" anymore is cook.

A dinner for your family

Maybe when I finally get around to canning some meats I'll give you a few jars for your food storage

Man, is that all I can do?

Give me some ideas folks and I'll be happy to oblige you with what you'd like.

That's what we do best

I always thought the families with all the handsome boys were so cute.

The Lord Will Provide

I remember a few weeks ago having a discussion with Mark about how much there is to worry about in this world and what we would do if there was a major disaster, etc. Of course I was the one with all the worries, and he mainly just listened to me but we'll still call it a "discussion." I mentioned that we are trying to do all of the right things like save our money and store food and water in case of an emergency and yet it seems like we are so behind in relation to people that are older than we are. I felt like being fairly new in the game we've kind of just gotten settled and started to get a handle on some of these things but it almost wasn't fair if there was an emergency at this point in our lives because if only we had another five or ten more years we'd be in a better position to handle something. We've got a decent amount of food, but there's lots more to do.

Yesterday the bishop of our ward challenged the congregation to go for a week living off of what we had on hand and not to go to the store to buy food if we could help it. We're suppose to pretend as if there was an emergency and we couldn't buy anything. Probably along with others in the crowd I silently assessed what I had in my home. One of the first things that came to my mind were the four gallons of milk I had sitting in the fridge. I don't really know why I bought that much milk at one time--it just seemed like the right thing to do. In addition, I had bought a big flat of four dozen eggs just two days before. When was the last time I bought that many eggs at one time? Actually, never in my whole life. Also I had recently bought quite a stash of canned tomatoes in addition to our other food storage items.

That's when I realized that no matter what trouble comes, if I am on the Lord's side He will take care of me and my family. He will make sure we are provided for if I am listening to His voice.

Obviously this was not a real emergency and we would have survived this week without the extra eggs and milk, but this was a great reminder of what a kind, gracious Father we have. Just a simple blessing only to show me that He is watching out for me and cares about our family.

So this week should be interesting. Tonight we had the obvious: spaghetti, canned corn, and homemade bread. I am trying not to use any of the meat I have in my freezer and actually use mainly nonperishable food items. Mark and I figure that I can make refried beans and rice every night and at least our kids won't be unhappy.

Snow Day

For President's Day we took a mini vacation for a few hours to let the boys play in the snow near Woods Canyon Lake.

Do you like our makeshift sled? Cute guys, don't you think?

After getting cold in the snow we picnicked in our car.

Fun times!

You've Got to Plant It to Kill It

Introducing the Smith family's very first garden.

We thought for our first try we'd start out small. That way if we kill everything it's only a small amount of everything.

Here's what we planted: 3 tomato plants, parsley, basil, peppers (jalapeno and serrano) and from seed we did snap peas, zuchinni, and spinach. We'll see what happens. There was also a plastic ball planted in one square. And some random beans and seeds which were gathered in pockets from off the garden center floor and then made it it to various spots in our yard.

We used the square foot method and we still have six more squares in which to plant something interesting. Will our garden survive?

Only time will tell.

Particle Man

I had a hard time even letting Dallin finish this sentence when he said it this morning:

"All of the particles inside my body are getting excited because we're going to the park and because my finger is getting better!"

And aunt Courtney thought she wasn't getting through to him last Sunday with all that chemistry talk.

Cool Enough For a Dance Party

There's only one family we were absolutely certain was completely cool enough to be invited to our first ever dance party. Your family probably is cool enough too. We just weren't sure. And it's awkward when you put yourself out there like that with, "Hey do you wanna go to a dance party with me?" and then the person won't even tell you to your face but hands you back a little handwritten "NO" the next day in algebra class.



We just didn't want to take any chances. And since between the gals and the guys we see the Johnstons about eight times a week we knew they would not let us down. Or at least since Coy's "boss" until his next leg of medical school is my very own Mark then Coy could get fired if he didn't show up and/or didn't totally get his groove on while at our first ever dance party.

Did you know that if you add in some little people then suddenly the Bunny Hop is fun again?

Swinging to the music

The kids were cool enough to do some breakdancing.

Thanks for the good times Johnstons. Who's cool enough for the next one?

February Challenge

This month I am challenging myself to not buying ANY fast food. We don't eat the stuff very often, but if I am out running errands or coming home from somewhere around lunchtime I am often tempted to stop and get something. I usually succumb once, sometimes twice in a week. So, for one month I will refrain.

Makes it easier that it's a short month.

It's even a shorter month since I just thought of this today and it's already the 3rd. Let's pretend yesterday wasn't February yet, okay? Besides it was only small ice cream cones from McDonald's while we were waiting for Mark to finalize documents for his "new" car. Necessity, right?