Beware of corniness

I have a love-hate relationship with a lot of things right now.

1. Work. I love my new job and I love doing marketing, but after months of being sick and working only part-time I forgot how tiring it is to work full-time, even when half of it is spent doing what I went to college to do. It also doesn't help that I'm not actually working full-time at one location. I have two part-time jobs, so my lunch break is spent driving 30 minutes to job number 2, then I have to log in and mentally shift gears. It does provide a nice break in my day, however, and makes the day seem a little bit quicker. But, then again I have two sets of company policies and job descriptions, two sets of bosses, and two sets of things to stress about. Can you see where I'm going with this?

2. Party-planning. Not as a whole, but certain aspects, like how my blog has become somewhat of another job. Rather than just doing whatever creative I want to do whenever, I sort of have deadlines now as well as an image to uphold and clients to create inspiration boards for. I know, I shouldn't be complaining since this is just where I hoped things would go and I'm very grateful, I'm just very tired these days.

3. The Bachelorette is my guilty pleasure. No real need to explain the love-hate relationship here; it's hokey, over dramatic, and totally contrived....but somehow it's addicting.

4. Working out. It de-stresses me like almost nothing else, yet I'm so tired at the end of the day (and I mean tired) that I just can't bring myself to change, drive to the gym, power through a session on the dreadmill or almost anything else. I truly love working out, and I hate that I never have the energy to do it, so I love relaxing at the end of the day, but hate that I'm not doing myself any favors physically.

One thing I don't have a love-hate relationship with: Samuel. He is nothing but 100% supportive of me, my passions, my dreams, my and my obnoxious quirks.

Julia Child had Paul.....

....Queen Victoria had Albert,

...and I have him.

Yes, I just used current movie examples of historical figures, and yes, I will always be this corny about the man I married. Get over it.

The second best day of my life

Today is two years from the day Sam and I got engaged! It could still have been the second best day of my life if he had only proposed in my driveway after a long day of work, but instead he rocked the opportunity to propose and gave me a perfect day! The day after my birthday, he took me to Savannah (my favorite in the world!) for the day and had a whole itinerary planned. We left early in the morning and got to the historic district around noon...

We had a picnic lunch in Forsyth Park right under a Live Oak tree with a perfect view of the fountain at the center of the park. He spent days preparing our lunch: shrimp cocktails, homemade brownies and fudge, fresh fruit, and sandwiches on croissants. Delish.

Then we walked down River Street since I hadn't been there in years. It had been kind of cloudy and rainy all day, so in the afternoon it was way hot and humid and we didn't end up staying too long, but it was fun to tour the art galleries, shops, and an open-air market at the end of River Street...

From there we drove out to Tybee Island to tour the lighthouse, which neither of us had actually seen. We got there just as tours had closed for the day due to the rain, so we took a picture out front anyway.

After the lighthouse we drove back up the coastal highway to Uncle Bubba's Oyster House for an early dinner. Our appetizer was really good as were the views, but we were still too full from lunch to eat a whole dinner, so our stay ended fast.

...Then the part I had been waiting all day for: the beach! Since the weather had been yucky off and on, he asked if I still wanted to go, and for the first time all day I questioned whether he had planned to propose or if the day trip was simply a birthday present.

Of course I still wanted to go, so off to the beach we went. We parked just down the road from the lighthouse and walked past some beach cottages to the boardwalk and down to the beach, (you can actually see the ring box in his right pocket). I'm more of a Gulf Coast person, but Tybee really is so beautiful! Because of the weather and the early season we were the only people on the beach among the sand dunes, driftwood, and surf.

Our view from the beach.

More view of the beach. The last picture taken before my camera very conveniently died.

We picked up shells and were having lots of fun when suddenly a pod of dolphins surfaced probably 10 feet from the shore. If I wouldn't have minded getting totally wet, I probably could have waded out and touched them! It was the first and only time I've seen wild dolphins that close before. Then, as if the dolphins had been planned, I turned around and Sam got down on one knee and proposed. Of course I said YES! Right after we got engaged, the sun peeked through the clouds for the first time that day and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the way home. Not to sound obnoxiously cheesy, which I probably do a lot, but it was absolutely perfect! I couldn't have planned a better proposal myself even if it were up to me. In case you were doing the math, yes we got engaged just over 2 weeks after he got home from his mission. No, it wasn't planned, it just happened that way, and I've never regretted it. Plus, look at that bling! Best birthday present ever!

Hello 23, pleased to meet ya!

Today was my birthday! Sam surprised me this morning with presents (I got The Young Victoria!), flowers, and homemade crepes.

Then he did all the dishes. I love that man. I also love that today is Saturday. As it happens, I've never actually worked a full day of work on my birthday. I hope this trend continues! After party-planning a bit, I took a nap. Then later I did some grocery shopping, and man was it a beautiful day for a drive, finished making my cake (I always make it and I love doing it), and got ready to go out. Other than totally forgetting to take pictures at Little Italy's at dinner, here are some more from the evening:

I had to trump last year's. Rainbow cake!

I even made my own tissue paper pom decorations! Check out my party-planning blog for instructions on making them! (Sorry, shameless plug.) Also, notice the beautiful flowers from my Parentals and Samuel. So thank you to all for the cards, birthday wishes, and generally making this a fun day!

A Mover and Shaker

"Movers and Shakers" from Polly by Steven Kapp Perry:
Only a girl
From a small town,
Somewhere in Shelby, Michigan.

Only a girl
Doing her chores,
Looking out where the fences end.

Only a girl
Hoping there's more;
More than this house,
More than this cow,
More than just Shelby, Michigan.

I'll leave this place
I don't know when,
But someday I must go.
And I will find
Another place
And I will make it home!

Gonna be one of the movers and shakers!
Gonna be one, gonna be one!
Out in the world with the history makers!
Gonna be one, Gonna be one!
Where will I go?
What will I do?
Wonder if dreams like this
Come true?

Dear God, . . . I don't think you would let me feel this way unless there
really was something to it.

There must be something
Waits for me,
But what? I wish I knew.
And somewhere in this great wide world
Is something I can do!

Gonna be one of the movers and shakers!
Gonna be one, gonna be one!
Out in the world with the history makers!
Gonna be one, gonna be one!
Where will I go?
What will I do?
Wonder if dreams like this
Come true?

Another post quoting something else, I know. I haven't seen this play in 11 years, but this particular song has always stuck with me. I remember thinking as I was watching this play as a 12 year old girl, "I want to be a mover and shaker."

I'm in a really good place right now where I can see good things coming and I can't mention my blessings without acknowledging where they come from. It's a fulfillment of the Lord's promise to me that tough things will end and good things will begin if I exercise faith. I'm astounded by how quickly we tend forget to rely on the Lord and how short our view is at times, or how mine was for awhile. All we can see is the barren wasteland He's leading us through, while He sees the oasis just ahead - a place that can only be accessed by the arduous journey there.

In other words, I'm grateful. I am so so grateful. And I couldn't ask for a better early birthday present than this feeling.

Faith

Luke 8: 43 "and a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.

45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."

Faith is the answer. It's always the answer. No matter what you're going through, whether it be physical, emotional, financial, spiritual, whatever, faith in the Lord and His ability to guide you through it will get you through it. President Howard W. Hunter said "If our lives and our faith are centered on Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong." I've always loved the story of the woman with the issue of blood, but I relate to her plight in a way I never had before this year. She was a woman of fierce faith and courage, and despite the fact that nothing had worked in twelve years (which would be enough for most people to give up and get used to the idea of never finding a cure), she knew the Savior could fix her.

Now I'm not saying I've suffered as much as this woman. Nor that modern medicine hasn't played a part in the fact that I've actually felt NORMAL for the last 2 days which is A-MAZING, but I know that faith has played the biggest part. The Lord wanted me closer to Him and to exercise faith before seeing the miracle. I have faith that it will only get better from here.

For another great General Conference Address on this subject, read Turn to the Lord.

It's May!

My favorite month of all..... Also, Sam and I finally perfected our Chicken Alfredo Pizza recipe! I'm a happy girl.