Even though we had engagement and wedding pictures last year, I decided we needed more family pictures in 2013 and decided to start the tradition of Christmas cards. Well, if I was going to keep the tradition that meant having family pictures in 2014 as well. Eric asked me the other day if we were going to have family pictures every year. I told him we were so get geared up for many more pictures to come. Pictures can be stressful but, Eric and I decided to make it fun every year. We haven't changed much from last year. However, we moved to Texas and that was a major change in our lives. We decided that we wanted our family pictures this year to be "Totally Texas" so we got on our Texas outfits and went out into the country. Eric and I are truly loving this experience that we having as a young married couple to live in Houston. As hard as it may be to live away from our families sometimes, we have found so much joy being in a new place and experiencing new things together. We are loving the Texas life!
Eric and I were so excited and had been looking forward to paint ball zombie's for a month. Our friends Andrew and Kimmie asked us about a month ago if we would want to go with them and we jumped all over it. They got someone to watch their two little girls for the night why we all went out on a date. Eric and I haven't gone on a double date since we moved here to Houston so we were SO EXCITED when Andrew and Kimmie moved here. We all have so much fun together. The boys like to talk sports together and Kimmie and I like to talk clothes and shopping. Eric and I even love going over and just hanging out with them and their little girls. Eric and I were talking the other night and when you live far from family, your friends really become your family. Eric and I love Andrew and Kimmie and we hope that we are friends with them forever. We went to dinner and then we went paint balling the zombie's and it was so much fun. None of us had ever done something like this and we were loving it. The best part about it, you don't get shot. You just get to shoot the creepy zombie's. Totally something that we would all go and do again. How grateful we are for such good friends! There is a reason that we all ended up here in Texas together. We were meant to be friends thats for sure!
I know general conference was a couple weeks ago. As I have been reflecting, and re-reading the talks that were given, I came across a video clip that I thought was very powerful. Every time I listen to conference, I always want to become a better person. I always strive to be a little bit better tomorrow that I was today. I have to admit that when I was younger, I was really bad at watching conference and I did not get much out of it because I was busy coloring pictures, doing homework, or messing around with my sisters. When Eric and I got married, we decided that we would make sure that our conference weekends were open so we could listen to the prophets and apostles every 6 months. There was one talk that really stood out to me and it was Elder Holland's talk, "Are We Not All Beggars?" I loved the story that he told about President Monson when he was in Germany. Eric and I have talked about this talk since conference and then we listened to this clip tonight for family home evening and it really made us think about things. We are all so very blessed. Service is something that brings us true happiness and the people that we serve are thankful for what we do for them. I am so grateful for the service opportunities that I am able to participate in. Because we have been given much, we to must give. Hopefully, we can all be better at finding ways to serve others and be better disciples of Jesus Christ.
I LOVE pumpkin stuff. Last year, I drank pumpkin hot chocolate everyday in the fall. It is not quite cool enough for hot chocolate right now in Houston, so I decided to go to Trader Joe's the other day and see what they had. I walked out with pumpkin bagels, pumpkin cream cheese, and pumpkin pancake and waffle mix. Eric is not a fan of pumpkin stuff but we have our pumpkin candle burning right now and I am loving all of this pumpkin stuff to eat. Trader Joe's is about a 30 minute drive from my house, but it was so worth it go and get some yummy stuff to eat this week. I am missing the beautiful leaves and the cool weather in Utah right now, but we are trying to make it feel like fall with pumpkin candles, groceries, and I love my pumpkin lotion from Bath 'n Body Works. Eric and I are hoping that there will still be some pretty leaves in the mountains when we go to Utah for Thanksgiving. If you like pumpkin, you know where to go to get some great stuff.
I was so worried that Eric and I were not going to be able to see "Meet the Mormons." I found out this past week that it was going to be in the movie theater by our house this weekend so we spent our friday night seeing the movie. WOW! It was incredible. Eric and I left and couldn't stop talking about it. My grandpa served with Gail Halvorsen (the candy bomber) in Berlin, Germany and I graduated with the missionary that was in the movie. It was so interesting to see the lives of 6 different members of the church and their stories. It goes all around the world and describes their day-to-day lives and also the struggles that they face. After I left the movie, I told Eric that it made me want to be a better member missionary and a better member of the church in general. If you have the opportunity to go and see it, I would highly recommend it. This is one that I will definitely buy and have in our home. David Archuleta's song "Glorious" is in the movie and the first time I heard it, I fell in love with it. How grateful I am to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As shown in the movie, things are not always easy and we all face trials but anything is possible through a loving Heavenly Father. Hope everyone had a happy sunday!
