The Tale of Two Thanksgivings

This year we went to two Thanksgiving celebrations. The funny thing is that they were both with my family. Josh's brothers were with their dad on Thanksgiving and his mom had a quiet dinner with her husband, so he was nice enough to come with me to both of the dinners.

The first was on Wednesday night at my sister and brother-in-law's house. Ryan had to work on Thanksgiving and Mary didn't want him to miss out, so she planned the celebration one day early. Once it was planned, she sent out cute invitations to both his and our families. Then she decorated their house and started cooking. Even though it was a potluck, she still ended up making most of the food. This was her first Thanksgiving and she did a wonderful job! They've only been married a few months, but Mary is a great wife and homemaker. For this occasion, she set up three tables in their front room and decorated them with seasonal table cloths, plates and place settings. My mom and sister, Sarah, made the place settings and they're so adorable!
There were 17 adults and 5 kids with both of our families and the atmosphere was fun and filled with love and happiness. It was a great way to kick off our Thanksgiving celebration!

Our Thanksgiving day started off early because we participated in the Utah Human Race. This is the fourth year this fun run/walk has been done. All of the proceeds go to the Utah Food Bank and I really like running in it because of the feeling that surrounds it. Everyone is participating just because they want to and because they get to donate to those in need. It's really cool!

A lot of people really got into the holiday by dressing up for it. There was a man dressed as an Indian with a full headdress and loin cloth. There were also a few turkeys running around. Josh and I also saw a couple dressed in white jump suits and on the back one said "Where's the yams?" and the other said "Here I yam!". We thought they were really cute.

Josh and I stayed together throughout the race. We set a steady pace and were able to run the whole thing. I was pretty proud of us! I have never run a whole 5k before and it was an exhilarating feeling. I have to admit, though, that if Josh hadn't been with me, I would have walked that last mile. My body was shutting down at that point, but he was my cheering section, and I was able to keep going. It was fun running with my husband!

Later that day we went to my parents house for their traditional celebration. My grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin join my family for the get-together. There is a TON of mouth-watering food and everyone leaves the table completely stuffed. The air is filled with love and thanksgiving and after we ate, we each shared something that reminds us of the holiday. There were cute stories and jokes and my brother even played "The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler. What a wonderful way to spend the holiday-with all of the ones I love. Sarah did this as well. She's so talented!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I love Thanksgiving because it sets aside a time for us to be grateful for all that we have. And I have so much to be grateful for! I am so grateful to be married to Josh! He's a wonderful husband and this last year has been amazing! I am also grateful for my parents and my brother and sisters and all that they do for us. Josh's family is also one of the many blessings I have. They've welcomed me with open arms and I really enjoy being apart of two families! I am also so thankful for our apartment and that we both have secure jobs at this hard economic time. I'm also grateful for our cat, Moroni, and all the fun she brings into our home. There are many more things I could mention, but I am most grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who provides all of these blessings and for His presence in my life every day!

Ghana

I apologize for how long this post is in coming! It's been about 3 months since Susa came and shared her pictures of her trip to Africa, so I'm way overdue, but I still wanted to share these.

Our good friend, Susa, goes to Africa every year to volunteer at a deaf school. She's a deaf educator and has a great time going there for several weeks every summer. She works with kids from elementary to high school and besides teaching, she has fun dancing and playing soccer with them. Susa is a BIG soccer fan and she usually she takes soccer balls, cleats, and other donations with her. We wanted to help out, but didn't get a chance before she left, so Josh and I decided to send her a package.

Once deciding how big of a box to send (shipping to Africa is pretty expensive) we headed to the Dollar Store. We had a great night picking out everything to fill it with. We wanted to send things they needed-like paper and crayons-but also fun things that they don't have in Ghana-like Pixie Sticks, Sour Gumballs and Glow Sticks. Once we spread our purchases out on the table, I was sure they wouldn't fit into the box, but Josh carefully arranged it all to fit perfectly. We were even able to add a couple packages of batteries that Susa needed as well.

Once we sent it, it took a few weeks to get to Susa and she still had to pay to get it out of customs. She was grateful for it and said that the kids loved it. We weren't able to send enough for everyone (there's about 600 students in the two schools) but she was able to distribute everything pretty evenly. Then about a month after she got back, Susa came to our house to share a pizza and pictures.

These first few pictures are to show a little of the conditions where Susa was.

All laundry is done by hand. Susa said that most of the time the students did hers. Pretty nice of them, huh? I don't know about you, but this made me really appreciate our laundry room!

This is one of their classrooms. It's pretty basic with the wooden desks and chairs. The only place they have to hang up their backpacks and coats is on the walls as you can see behind them. They also only have chalkboards, no dry-erase boards like we have here.

Though the conditions are a lot less than what we're used to, the students are happy and study hard and just love life as you can see in the above picture.

Here's a picture of Susa with some of the students.

Susa was great to take pictures of the students when they used the things we sent. This first picture is of the Glow Sticks. Susa said these were the most sought after because the students had never seen them before. A fight even broke out between two boys because one had gotten a Glow-Stick and the other hadn't. Thank goodness each was able to get one!

This next picture is of the Pixie Sticks. At first the students thought you had to put them in water and drink it. Then Susa showed them how to eat it and they really liked that.

The students were really grateful for what we sent and in almost all of the pictures they were signing "thank you" or "I love you". This is my favorite picture of the children signing "thank you".

These next two pictures are so funny! Here are the students trying the Sour Gumballs. Susa said they would spit them out and then put them back in their mouths because they wanted to get to the gum.


This last picture is of Susa and the some of students who play soccer. Soccer is their favorite sport and they play it all the time. They don't have fields like we do, but just play anywhere there's a big enough spot of land.


Josh and I had a great time putting the package together and listening to Susa's stories! We'll definitely send another one next year. Seeing these pictures makes me realize just how blessed I am. I have so many things that these students don't and don't even know if I could manage without the conveniences I've become so accustomed to. I will forever be grateful to a loving Heavenly Father from whence these blessings come!

Halloween Musings

Happy (late) Halloween! I hope everyone had a great one! Josh and I got dressed in our costumes early and enjoyed the whole day as a "bone collector" and a "nice witch." Josh made his costume and looked amazing! We didn't take any pictures (dangit!) but he got a tacky suit coat and slacks from the D.I. and then sewed plastic bones on the front and insides of the coat. He also put two skulls on the shoulders. Then he wore a white, Albert Einstein-like wig and dyed his beard, mustache and eyebrows white. Add the awesome, crazy voice and hunched-over walk and you have the best bone collector there ever was! I had a black dress and shoes and wore a blond wig with a purple witches hat and a purple broom. It was a lot of fun!

Last night, after getting home from our own trick-or-treating adventures, we put the finishing touches on our decorations, preparing our apartment for the trick-or-treaters we hoped would come. We put up paper lanterns and fixed our fallen down spider webs. Josh put two plastic skulls in the window with candles behind them so they appeared to be glowing. Add a cd with creepy Halloween sounds and we were ready for the night. We then put on "The Proposal" and anxiously awaited the sounds of little feet and voices. At 9:15 our only trick-or-treaters came. There was a knock on the door and no "trick or treat" was said. I told the 3 kids to take whatever they wanted. They all took handfuls and one little girl greedily took a second. Josh and I can't be sure, but we think there was one "thank you" voiced.

I was kindof disappointed with this Halloween experience. When Josh and I were trick-or-treating you always shouted "trick-or-treat" at the door and were polite-even if the person said take whatever you want you didn't try to grab as much as you could. And there was always a thank you said for everything. Has Halloween really changed that much? I think it's sad when children just expect to be handed everything and aren't greatful for what they receive. And it seems to me that trust has also been lost from those long ago days when we were children. I know many stores and churches have trick-or-treating so that children don't do the traditional house-to-house. Again, how sad that parents can't be assured of their children's safety on this one night!

Proposal

One year ago today, Josh proposed. I've relived that special, wonderful day several times today and would like to share it with all of you who read our blog. (And thank you for doing that, by the way! I love reading your comments!) We actually knew we were going to be married about two weeks before this date. On October 6, Josh and I started talking about marriage, and he posed the question to me of where I saw our relationship going. He had been praying and fasting about us for a couple weeks and already knew we were meant to be together. That day he asked me to to do the same, so I took a couple days and poured out my heart to Heavenly Father, fervently seeking an answer.

And on October 8, I received that answer. I had gone to the temple after work and while I was in the Celestial Room, I was prompted to think of how I'd been feeling over the last two days. I had felt calm, peace and hope during that time, and I knew that He would have let me know if it was the wrong decision. Then the words of my patriarchal blessing came to mind-specifically those which describe my eternal companion-and I realized that they described Josh. It was such an incredible moment!

Josh and I talked after I got home and originally planned on getting married in May, after he had graduated from the police academy. But the next day we changed our minds and set the date for December 17. Then that weekend we went ring shopping, and Josh asked me to not tell anyone that we were engaged until he had "officially" proposed. That was such a difficult promise to keep! I had pretty much given up the hope of ever getting married and wanted to shout to the world that I would soon be Mrs. Joshua Woodland.

Well, unbeknownst to me, Josh was scheming with my roommate, Tania, and much sooner than I had expected, I was able to deliver my amazing news. That next week, I went to Chicago with Tania on a quick vacation to see Wicked. I had a lot of fun, but as you can imagine, all my thoughts were on Josh and the wedding. The night of the 18th we returned home and somehow Tania got me to walk into the house by myself without any luggage. As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw the soft glow through the window, and as soon as I opened the door, I entered into a fairytale where the only light was candlelight. There were dozens of beautiful, red roses expertly arranged, with hundreds of tea light candles surrounding them. Love songs played softly in the background and streamers in our wedding colors hung from ceiling.


Josh was nowhere to be found and as I started looking for him, he walked into the kitchen from the front room looking incredibly hot in slacks and a button-up shirt. He led me to the family room and knelt on one knee. He then took my hand in his and read me the most amazing poem he had written. At the end he asked me if I would marry him. I said of course when I should have said yes, but it had the same meaning to us. :) He then pulled the ring out of his pocket and slid it on my finger.


I can't believe the time and effort Josh put into this perfect proposal. He even had to clean the house before he could decorate it! That night I slept on the couch amidst the signs of Josh's love. I could feel how much he loved me in those rooms and never wanted it to end! And I am so lucky that it never has!

Falling into Halloween

Yesterday we took the motorcycle up Millcreek Canyon to view the colors of fall. After bundling up, we still didn't make it up the 10-mile canyon, but had to turn around at mile 6 because it was so cold. Snow covered the sides of the road around mile 5 and the wind was bone-chilling. Josh, my polar bear of a husband, even got cold so you know it was freezing up there! It was also very beautiful and I'm glad we could enjoy the outdoors before winter comes.

When we stopped to take pictures, Josh ran across the street to a patch of snow and started throwing snowballs at me. It's a good thing he missed!

Even though it took us about an hour to get warm after we got home, we both enjoyed our ride. I love the motorcycle and am so glad Josh likes to take me for rides! He even has it in his head to teach me how to drive it. I'm not so sure about that one, but we'll see. I love living in Utah and all of the opportunities we have by living here!



Last weekend we had fun decorating our apartment for Halloween. Between conference sessions, we put up skeletons, witches, and spiders making our home a fun and scary place in which to live. Josh's favorite holiday is Halloween and he was like a little boy again playing with the spider webs and other creepy crawlies.

I'm happy to say that Josh finally put that spider web where it should have been and the outside of our apartment looks incredible! Of course it is a little wind-blown now because of the storms we've had since, but that just adds to the effect.


My favorite decoration is the "Ghost Motel" sign. We bought the sign and the skeleton separately and then Josh made the noose out of rope and taped it to the back of the sign.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Last Thursday, September 24, was Josh's 24th birthday. He ended up having to work, but I was able to take the day off, and had a great time trying to make it a fun day for him. I love being a wife and spoiling my husband!

We woke up together and had breakfast and I gave him his first present: a box of .223 ammunition. As you all know, my husband loves guns and the number one thing on his birthday list was ammunition. As a girl, I couldn't just get him the ammunition (what kind of a birthday present is that?) so he had a few other surprises throughout the day.


Josh works at American Express and I had never been to his office, so we decided to have lunch together that day. I picked up some fast food and also brought him balloons and cookies. Because of security I wasn't able to see his desk, but I was able to see the main hall, lobby and cafeteria. Before I could even get in to these I had to sign in and put on a "visitor" badge and the security guard had to let me in.



We decided to eat lunch beside a beautiful pond that is outside of the cafeteria. It was such a peaceful place-like a little oasis in the middle of a busy city. Several trees surrounding the pond almost completely block out the sights and sounds of I-215 which is just behind the grounds of American Express. Several ducks and geese live on an island in the middle of the pond and it was the perfect spot to eat lunch on a fall afternoon!


After lunch, I headed to Comcast to get another remote as ours hadn't been working very well. We had needed one for awhile, and I know that Josh doesn't like to stand in line waiting, so I decided to make it a fun birthday surprise. I also decorated the apartment and picked up a cake the "cake lady" had made. Brenda Chance is the "cake lady" and she does a fabulous job making and decorating cakes! She also decorated a cake for Josh last year on his birthday. We were only dating at the time, but I wanted to do something special for him and had a Superman cake made.


Josh had decided that he wanted to pick up dinner and bring it home to eat while we watched a movie. So we ate chicken from KFC and watched "Chicago". After dinner Josh opened his last present: a necklace he had seen at a street fair we went to a couple weeks ago. That necklace was too small, so I collaborated with the amazing lady who makes the jewelry, and she was able to make another one that was longer. It turned out really neat and Josh really likes it. He's worn it every day since.

Last, but not least, was the cake and ice cream. Josh blew out the candles and made a wish after I sang "Happy Birthday" to him. The cake was german chocolate and it was so good! The decorations are all edible and Josh tried one of the bullet casings, but said it wasn't too good.


I hope Josh had a wonderful day and that this year is one of the best ever! I also wish him many more in the years to come! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Outdoor Adventures

About a week after our first successful hike, we decided to venture out on another one. We invited our friends, Matt and Christy, to go with us to the living room which is located behind the University of Utah. There's an area where someone has carved a table and chairs out of rock that you can overlook the valley and view the sunset. We took a picnic dinner with us and were ready to discover this new trail.

Well, we didn't quite make it to the living room. Our guide book wasn't very clear and there were several trails that intersected with the main one, so we had a hard time deciding where we needed to go. We asked for directions from another couple enjoying the mountain and still ended up on the peak just across from where we wanted to be. We could see the living room, but as it was getting dark, we decided to stay where we were and have dinner and enjoy the sunset from there.

While the smart and beautiful wives were making dinner, the silly and adventurous husbands decided to scramble up the rock face close to where we stopped. Here's a picture Josh took from their extremely high vantage point (the pink and green dots are Christy and I). We were worried about the boys falling off the cliff, but thankfully our husbands were sure-footed and our worries were for nothing.

While eating dinner, we watched the sun set over the valley. It was so beautiful! The night was so romantic and we all enjoyed our night time foray into the mountains.


The following week we went on another hike. (I'm proud of us for being so athletic. Lol!) This time we went up into the Uintah's with my dad. He had invited all of my family but Josh and I were the only ones who didn't cancel on him. The rest of my family definitely missed out! We hiked to Notch Lake which is by Bald Mountain. It was 5 miles round trip and was a tough terrain of rocks, trees and sand. It was also very beautiful. Once we reached the lake we plopped on the ground to enjoy lunch and the peaceful scenery.


I really enjoyed this hike until we started hiking back to the car. Little did I know that we actually descended in altitude on our journey to the lake and the hike back was all up hill. It was actually really fun, but I was breathing much harder on the way out!