Halloweenie

Halloween night we hung out on BYU campus, saw a large tarantula, dressed Gwinna in her hippie onesie, got egg nog and pumpkin spice jambas, maybe stalked someone, came home and Michael convinced me to open one birthday present;) 

A lovely night. 

GREAT and small

In our last general conference our sweet Prophet, President Monson, suggested that we take inventory of the blessings in our lives GREAT and small...

Where to begin? 

My favorite blessing is my testimony  of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Some people have life-altering experiences....appearances of angels and opera singers in the background as they finally know the Gospel is true. Not me. It has been a gradual growth of knowledge for me. I can honestly say I have never doubted that God existed and that Jesus Christ is my Savior.  They have been real for me forever.

Whisperings of the Holy Ghost throughout my life

-feeling complete joy on my baptism day

-knowing without a doubt I needed to serve a mission

-confirmation that everything I learn in the temple is right, good, true, powerful and perfect!

-knowing as soon as I saw him that Michael was the man I was supposed to marry

A family that I LOVE!

Knowledge that families are FOREVER.

Temporal needs always always provided for. 

I wrote the following list of things I am grateful for during our dark time...thought I would share it today:) 

Sunlight through the clouds…

GOSPEL

FATHER

CHRIST

THE SPIRIT

MICHAEL JOE

          Ability to listen to me and teach me

          His love for me

          Willingness to learn

          Willingness to work hard

          Enthusiasm for life

          Love for truth

          Confidence

          Ability to speak publicly

          His love for humor

          Great strength in the Gospel

JOSEPH SMITH

THE BOOK OF MORMON

TEMPLES

OUR WARD FAMILY

BISHOPRIC 

FAMILIES

LOVE

BEST FRIENDS

LEADERS

KNOWLEDGE

TRUTH

LEARNING

MUSIC

PEACE

YOGA

BREATH

ABILITIES: SEE, HEAR, SMELL, FEEL, SPEAK….FUNCTION

LOANS

TJSL

THE SUN

SEASONS

ART

CREATIVITY

BLOGS

INSPIRING WOMEN & MEN

SAN DIEGO

BEV & JOHNNY

RED PAINT

ABILITY TO EXERCISE

ENDORPHINS

JOURNALS

WATER

FLOSS

CHIROPRACTORS

EXCELLENT AUTHORS

GREAT TEACHERS

LESSONS LEARNED FROM EVERYONE…CONSTANTLY

THE OFFICE

AMAZING FOOD

TOOLS IN THE KITCHEN

PESTO

BEAUTIFUL TREES

TYPE A PERSONALITY PEOPLE (AND ALL OTHER TYPES)

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

BABIES

LAUGHTER

OWLS

CANDLES

NEW SOCKS

GOOD-SMELLING BODY WASH

PRETTY PAPER

CHEAP FRAMES

TRIALS

COOK BOOKS

DARK CHOCOLATE

UGLY DOLLS

MAIL

MOVIES

HALLOWEEN DÉCOR

GENUINELY GENUINE PEOPLE

COMPASSION

NAIL POLISH

FREE TIME

ABILITY TO WRITE

ABILITY TO READ

E-MAILS

LOVE STORIES

MY WEDDING DRESS

I-PHONES

OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE RECEPTION AT HOME

STARS

WILLOW TREES

THE OCEAN

THE BEACH

OVERCAST DAYS (EVERY NOW AND THEN)

THE SMELL OF NEW BOOKS

FEEL OF NEW CLOTHES

LIL’S ART

THUNDERSTORMS

PEOPLE WHO LISTEN

SWEAT PANTS

FREEDOM

OUR MILITARY

TACOS

POPCORN

FROZEN GRAPES

HUMMUS

ARABIAN BREAD

I am grateful for GRATITUDE:) 

I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!!

happy thanksgiving!

NOW A WARNING?!

Yes its true...

That is my hair!

I chopped it all off (October 27)and here is why:

1. I thought it would be a cool thing to do at least once in my life - donate my hair;)

2.  It was falling out...in the masses, filling our trash cans (and floors and shower drain) so I decided to send it to Florida where it will hopefully be put to a much better use! 

3.  Gwinna's little clammy hands always grab hold...even if she does not mean to;) 

4.  I am done with layers.

5.  Change is good...right?:) 

now and then

then...

and now!

Hocus Pocus night;)

we have a baby!
who knew?!

Michael informed me that his is a Michael Joe pumpkin before braces :D

missing my great grandma...

...and she was GREAT....still is;) 

I miss her enthusiasm for life. 

I miss the way she would eat whatever she wanted whenever & however she wanted.

She did not care what people thought about her. 

I miss hearing her talk about her sweet husband. This woman had a true love story.  Every time she mentioned him she would cry. (in sorrow and in love)  

She knew how to love.

She knew how to be bold when she needed to be. 

And she was...

Often...

She knew how to create!

She was open-minded enough to accept my most cherished book (The Book of Mormon) from my boyfriend (now husband) 

She is feisty, Portuguese, beautiful, wise, somewhat tempermental;), creative, hilarious,a very no-nonsense woman, and she even kissed my husband right on the mouth one day;) 

We miss you Grandma Lial! 

I am sad that our Gwinna will not get the opportunity to meet her in this life.

Grandma taught me that love can be head-over-heels, passionate, true and honest. I always wrote in my journal that I wanted to "be truly, passionately in love" when I married my husband someday.  And I absolutely am.  There was no way I could settle for less.  

She taught me to create until the end and to do it for the ones you love.  In her honor I have learned to crochet this year and tried to create blankets for our Gwinna and little coasters for my Michael Joe. 

She taught me that it is OK to be bold when it needs to be heard. Bold and loving even when it may hurt, and hopefully help.

I hope I can become a smidgen of the woman she is. 

We shall eat caramels and chocolate on the other side together soon Grandma!!!!

just stuff

This past week we received a package with even MORE cute, warm clothes for our Gwinna! She is a spoiled one:) 

Also Tia Stephanie and Tio Brian created this sweet little pig for her at Build a Bear.  

They are best friends already...

from Grandma Flo
Sophia...for some reason I thought of you?!?!;)

Our sweet Natalie babysitter!
We went to see Sleepy Hollow :)

Shopping with Gwinna...is so much fun!!!

In bed...the best part of our day!!!! :) 

this is what it looks like when daddy dresses Gwinna! ;) 

one day it snowed...in October

funny

I just LOVE this!
that is all.
Oh and vote for Mitt!!!
Mitt Mitt Mitt Mitt!!!!!

almost forgot

A couple weeks ago Michael Joe came home with these babies! 

We may have eaten them for

BREAKFAST 

LUNCH 

&

DINNER!

NO...thanks for asking;) I DO NOT regret it!

FOOD

I owe it all to PINTEREST! I LOVE making lists and checking things off...pinterest has allowed me to make a food collection and slowly eliminate or add to my recipe collection;) I pretty much loved all of these creations.  They were all so easy too! Just what I need...

Italian chicken bake

our General Conference french toast

Italian stuffed peppers.  really good;) 

roasted pumpkin seeds;) (not a pinterest recipe...just what we ate after gutting our pumpkins)

yum...

Michael actually found this spicy pumpkin soup recipe.
I HATED making it but LOVED eating left overs for days.
very good!

these were a great lunch/dessert!
sweet potatoes are awesome...my husband taught me that;)