ness-full-of-thanks

i has been a long time since i have blogged anything. which is crazy considering everything that has happened since may. here is a quick recap of what has happened, and also what i have been thinking about during this month of thanksgiving.  there is so very much in my life that i am grateful for.

back in may, i graduated and passed all my board exams to become a dental hygienist. i am now working at an office in phoenix doing what i love. it is fantastic getting paid to do this now. 

june was great because my best friend got married. i flew to denver with my other best friend, calli and got to spend the weekend with her and nate. it was like old times. oh how i love the both of them. and nate married one of the coolest girls ever. for years i was so nervous that he would marry someone that i didn't like. not because i think he has bad taste but because i was so afraid of losing my best friend. kelly is beyond fantastic. and i am so excited to get to know her more over the many, many years to come. (can't wait for nate to be done with dental school and move back to AZ--- he takes his boards today and will do amazing). i am grateful for friends and for the blessings of temples and eternal marriage. their sealing ceremony was one of the most beautiful things i have ever witnessed.

in july we went to hawaii with blake's family and had an incredible time. it was my first time to any of the islands. it was like a dream: laying on the beach, hiking, kayaking, zip-lining, repelling, etc. the weather was great and the company even better.

 

amazing things have been happening with our lives in the gospel. blake is still teaching early morning seminary at arcadia high and loving it. i got a new calling to teach gospel doctrine and having the time of my life learning from the scriptures and the class. my baby brother turned 16 and was ordained to the office of a priest. my baby sister, touched by the spirit during the exciting announcement regarding missionary age at general conference is now preparing her mission papers. which has sent my mind more so than usual to the life-changing time i had on my mission. (and my mtc companion was the cutest thing ever. love her)

blake and i have been searching for a house for a long, long time. we have always looked but for the past 9 months or so, we have been seriously looking to buy. we have watched housing prices go up and up here in phoenix and have been frustrated as we have missed out on several houses. this may be a little premature to announce but things are looking good for us to buy a house (pictures to come when the close does actually happen). today was our original close date but it got pushed back because some things have taken longer than expected. i really like the house and i am dying to close and move in. i have been wanting so badly to be in a house by christmas. i said last year that i would not set up the 3 foot christmas tree in our apartment again, that we needed to be in a house by christmas. i didn't know then that i would take this long to find and purchase a home. i have gotten so excited about it that i have started making christmas crafts to decorate when we move in. here is a wreath i made out of pinecones this past weekend. it still needs a bow or something maybe and i think will look awesome on the red door of the house we are buying.

this project and so many others would be impossible without my incredible mom. she is so talented and is able to make anything look beautiful. i have the best parents ever. sometimes i don't think all of my siblings know how good we have it. my dad is the most self-less man i know and my mom has become such a loving grandma (no kids from us yet, sorry mom) and mother. i get sad when i think that i went through years in which i was so blind to everything that these two do for me. thank goodness for the power of forgiveness. 

and of course i am forever grateful for my amazing husband.  he works so hard everyday to provide for us. he is loving commercial real estate and is so good at what he does. he has had extra work on his plate with this house situation as there have been a lot of moving pieces. i love our simple date nights that we have every night when we get home from work. we eat dinner and cuddle up on the couch and watch an episode or two (or three or four) of the office or the mentalist to just unwind. this boy has such big dreams and goals and i know that we will achieve all of them. this picture is when he surprised me with the news that he closed the deal on this building when we went out to eat near by. (don't mind the blurry photo). he is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

even as i type this i am almost overcome with gratitude for these things in my life. i am grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who is so aware of us, and for the Lord, Jesus Christ who has paid the ultimate price for me and those i love, (and those that are hard for me to love). i love that thanksgiving is just a week away, then starts the season where we celebrate his birth and his life. there are not enough words to describe the peace that comes with these thoughts.