Day 1: 15 things about me and a recent picture

1- I would rather spend time with my husband than go out with friends. I have the funnest time with him and I don't like doing things without him. We of course need our own time every now and then, but it is so good to come back together and lay on our bed or the couch chatting, cracking jokes, talking about our future, the present and everything in between.

2- Since my parents divorce I have realized that I do not tolerate people very well who are judgemental and self righteous. I have had to face a lot of accusations, assumptions, judgements and opinions pertaining to my parents divorce and the reason for their split. I don't appreciate people making idiots of themselves by complaining about how things ended. There are ALWAYS two sides to divorce and both parties play a part. I love both of my parents and I know that the only way to heal from a situation like that is through the atonement. If a child of a divorce situation who was stuck in the middle can forgive BOTH parents for the choices they made the rest of the world should be able to as well.

3- With that being said, my parents divorce was extremely difficult for me and I have had to deal with a lot of personal issues from it. Even though I have struggled with this, I feel that I have grown so much as a daughter and a wife.
We are told that our trials are what make us stronger and I couldn't agree with this more. I have learned to have more patience with myself, family and Heavenly Father's will. I have learned to rely more on my Savior and to let the power of the atonement take effect in my life. I have learned to forgive and have faith. I have learned to love my parents more than I did when I was younger, even though they are not the perfect people I always thought they were. And on top of all of this, I have learned eternal lessons pertaining to marriage both positive and negative that Dave and I either implement or avoid in our marriage.

4- I LOVE classical piano music. I have played the piano since I was 10 years old and I took lessons for the first six of those years. My favorite recital piece when I was younger was Beethoven's, Moonlight Sonata. I had a great piano teacher (thank you Becka Downard) who she was a huge inspiration to me! I have had a dream since I was little to play Liebestraum by Franz Liszt. Every time I hear this piece of music I go off into a trance, imagining myself playing it. It is such a beautiful song and it gives me chills every time I hear it.

5- I listen to KSL everyday on my way to work.. and then on my way home. I can't stand the dumb political shows where all you hear is arguing, but I love listening to the news and weather updates. I laugh out loud while driving more now than I every did listening to 971 ZHT. --I know I am a nerd, but at least I am informed on the updates--

6- I love to cook and try new recipes. I recently made spaghetti sauce from scratch and IT WAS DELICIOUS! Dave prefers my pulled pork Cafe Rio salads over Cafe Rio's actual salads. He has also told his own mother twice that my shepherds pie is better than hers. I have to get after him for this, but it makes me feel good.
I am proud to say that in our year and a half of marriage I have only had one cooking disaster and I didn't do it alone. Dave and I attempted to make omelets and homemade hash browns one morning... bad idea. It looked like something Layne Myers mom made on Better Off Dead. I was afraid it was going to walk off our plates.

7- I am extremely simple and i don't like having a lot of money spent on me when I could get something more practical. For example, my birthday was this month and everyone kept asking me what I wanted but every time I told them they didn't believe me.
I wanted a lug wrench for our car. I know I used to have one for our little Toyota, but it went missing and we had two flat tires in a two month period and didn't have any way to change the tire. luckily we have great friends and co-workers who helped us out.
Needless to say, Dave bought me a lug wrench and I was super excited.

8- I am not a fan of big, protruding diamonds on girls fingers and I don't like the idea of financing a stupid engagement/wedding ring for astronomical amounts of money. When Dave and I went ring shopping I threw the Zales salesperson off her rocker by not wanting anything huge and flashy on my finger. All of the rings I picked out were under $1000 and were very simple yet elegant. Because we were in San Antonio, Texas and Dave is in the Air Force we got a killer Military Discount on my ring and Dave paid cash up front for it. All I will say is we pay more in rent each month than Dave paid for my ring.

9- I love cleaning my house and re-organizing my furniture. When I lived at home I would re-arrange my bedroom on a monthly basis. I think it drove my family crazy, but I didn't care. Whenever I am stressed or need something to cheer me up I will clean my home. We try to keep things picked up, but a deep clean is just what I need some days to get me going.

10- All I want to be when I grow up is a good mommy. I am a huge believer in women getting an education of some sort, preferably something they can do if their husband was hurt. I am an even bigger believer in women being at home with their children. There is no education available in the public schools that is as important as what is taught in the home at the footstools of a good mother.

11- When I was younger I wanted to be an ice skater, veterinarian, cheerleader, dancer, school teacher and singer.

12- I love reading! Some of my favorite books are Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, East of Eden and the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Harry Potter 1-7 (of course) and last of all, The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and the Return of the King by Tolkein.

13- I play the organ in sacrament once every one or two months. I am not very comfortable with it and I have no idea what to do with the peddles yet, but I make it work and they keep asking me to play.

14- I love cereal for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between! When ever I need something to tide me over or I just want to eat something light and not so healthy, I grab a bowl of cereal. This is probably not a good habit to continue, but for now I am embracing it.

15- I have to live in areas that are filled with sun light. I am not a happy person to be around when I can't feel the warmth of the sun on my face at least once a day. This gets harder to accomplish in the winter, but those breaks in the clouds are my favorite.