General Conference

How many times did you spot dad during conference?

3 closeups in one song?

Nice!

I hope you found the things that you were searching for in conference, too. It has been truly inspiring. My heart is full of gratitude for the opportunity to have taken part in such a monumental conference, when the age required to enlist in full-time missionary service has been lowered. What an incredible blessing! The Lord is moving His work forward rapidly, and the results are so exciting. I'm looking forward to the spill of missionaries going forth to serve!

How lucky we are to live in this day! The last days!

If you haven't found what you're looking for just yet, keep your eyes, ears, and heart peeled during the last session. Prayers, hymns, and talks can be an answer to our prayers, or catalysts to invite the Spirit to teach us those things we desire or the Lord desires us to learn.

Happy watching!

What did you spot during conference?

Mission Monday: Benedito Bentes I.

While I was in my last area, a close family wanted to see where I lived. I told them my address and they were able to see my home on google maps.  They wanted to see their own home, but unfortunately, Maceió didn't have street images yet.

Well guess what... now they do! I discovered this wonderful news as I was trying to get a zip code for a letter. Instead, I found myself in one of my favorite places in the world! Benedito Bentes I.

I was overwhelmed to be seeing those streets.

I looked for Duda's house and then decided to take a walk home. As I walked down the streets I saw  the gypsy fashion, the barbie house, and our grocery store: the pena branca!

I could hardly contain my excitement as I walked down the street to where I lived.

It feels good to be home.

Is there another place that you call home?

Memorial Day Weekendzao

I love the mountains, although our relationship seems to have followed the times and we've been on a no-real-personal-contact basis. Much to my chagrin (and undoubtedly the mountains), my time has been occupied by slightly less enjoyable hikes on the south side of campus.

It seems the mountains, for me, are quite constant. Although I may come and go, they always hold the same peace and splendor each time I visit. I love to be there. Words don't quite describe the breathless sensation that I get each time I witness their incredible beauty that God has created.

Yes, the mountains are good for all sorts of things. Along with its pure awe-factor, comes hiking, fishing, and camping! ...which is quite constant itself.

Along with its normal list of hot dogs, tents, s'mores, and campfires comes something different for me. As most of my camping trips in the past few years have been as a leader with the young women, I generally associate camping with being mistaken as one of them.

So, when I went camping with Brenden's family, it was nice to have things switched up. For my first time, camping came with rifles...

ATVs... music... trailers... 

And despite some childish behavior, a general knowledge that I was, in fact, older than seventeen.

Well... except for a sweet lady in the chapel in Evanston. She must have thought I was lost or rebellious...it was sweet of her to invite back to young womens.
I guess some things never change. 


Perhaps one day I will thank the mountains for keeping me young.

But tonight I'm going to buy some knitting needles and perfume to distinguish me at camp.

A Year Ago...

A year ago this Friday I was on my first date with Brenden.

A year ago this Saturday we were practically engaged.

This year our relationship (Brenden) has matured significantly.

A year ago this Memorial day weekend, Brenden was meeting my family for the first time. He hit on my little sister. My family finally got me to watch a movie by bribing me with a bit of Brazil in "Rio."

This year I'll be camping with his family in 30 degree weather... and it'll be nice to turn the TV off.

A year ago I didn't celebrate my birthday because I was still in completely-selfless (not weird or awkward) mode.

This year, my birthday became quite the adventure.

A year ago, a week before that, I got home from serving a mission in Maceio, Brasil. 

I also met Brenden. That didn't seem so important at the time.

This year--I still can't stop thinking about it...

(My mission... not Brenden... oh come on, you know what I mean.)

How I miss my mission. It brings me to tears every time I think about it. (Well, not right now-- it would just seem silly if I were bawling next to my computer while typing this little sentence!)  I dream about those people every single night and am wishing that this year I was there with them, celebrating all the wonderful changes that have happened this last year.

Saudades this year....

Maybe we'll be together the next.

Here's hoping.

Finding Faith Part 1

Brenden has definitely been out-blogging me these days. Perhaps one of the reasons I have been postponing my posts that I have so desperately wanted to write is that I didn't want to make my blog into a youtube. But... I can not help that much of what has been inspiring me as of late have been from online media.

At a BYU devotional near the end of March, a theater professor, Amy Jensen, spoke some lovely words on media that really got me thinking. She reminded us that we have the opportunity to "inject goodness, testimony, and faith into the world."

And these people have done that for me:

This is a picture of the bottom half of the faces of Danny and Mara Kofoed. They have a blog called A Blog About Love (ablogaboutlove.com). On this blog, they have shared their story by posting their emails to one another. Two recently divorced people, who found strength and faith in the face of huge obstacles, overcame, and came together.

It brings tears to my eyes just to think about the goodness of these people. When I read of the things they have gone through, I find a deeper appreciation for the love of my Father and of my husband, for my faith, and for the hard experiences I have gone through that have changed and shaped me into who I am today.

Reading and feeling of the goodness of these two makes me want to be better. It seems like when I'm quick to get annoyed or frustrated--I can open up to their blog, read an email, and instantly remember the significance of my own marriage and find a greater love and appreciation for my blessings, especially Brenden.

Their optimistic attitudes are contagious. Although their words bring temporary relief to my own bad attitudes--the very nature of who they are helps me to try to become that person for others around me.

There is SO much good in the world. Sometimes it's hard to keep sight of that. It's so easy to become overwhelmed with checklists, exhausted from work that seems tireless and never ending. It's all too often that we view the world negatively, sometimes brought to tears for the degrading moral standards of the world around us.

But isn't it wonderful when we open our eyes to the life's beauty, when we see the hand of the God. He is ever-present, and there are so many wonderful people that help open our eyes and hearts to Him.

We can be that for others.

Thanks for your inspiration! More faith-building examples to come soon....

Question of Philosophical Importance

It has come to my attention that the perplex of unconditional events now unfolds.



it just doesn't get any better than this.

Have you ever?

have you ever heard the wolf cry in a blue horned moon?

I have learned...

After 14.5 hours on campus, and a whopping 68 on my American Heritage test, I was met by my husband. He picked me up only to inform me that he wouldn't be taking me to the fancy Italian dinner he'd planned. Unfortunately, 10:30 was too late; Little Caesars had already closed.

Yes, this is my life as a full-time, newlywed college student. I spend long hours on campus, get bad scores on tests, eat fancy cuisine, and return home at the end of each day only to be greeted another days worth of homework. Whether or not I decide to respond to its salutation however, is another story.

That is my life most days, recently. And... I am content. Even if my lips oft mutter otherwise, I am, truly, content. I heard a lovely quote yesterday that helped me to discover this, but I don't know where to find it, so I'll use a shorter African-American proverb:

"God makes three requests of his children: Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have, now"

Well, right now I am a college student. I can't expect myself to be the best crafter or blogger or chef-on-the-rise. I just need to the be the best me that I can be. There is a time and a season for everything, no? "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;" There's probably even a time for me to become the new Martha Stewart.

But right now, it's just time for a full-time, newlywed college student to go to bed.

And I feel very content with that.

Grandmazinha

Grandma's house is like a box of chocolates....

Or maybe a tin of candies...

Either way, you really never know what you're gonna get.

DI-Why

I woke up one day this summer feeling the need to become crafty. It just so happened to be the day that a 50% off event at Roberts was going on. Those events might have actually occurred in reverse order...

But none-the-less, I took a trip to the craft store, bought me some paper, paints, and mod podge, grabbed some frames from the DI, and went to town in the basement, letting newly-awakened, domestication gene get to work.

It went a little something like this....

I was pretty pleased with my first craft attempt and went crazy on the frames for about a week. And that was the end of that.

Now... if I were being honest with myself, I might tell you that I don't make these things a priority and invest the time I need to. But for now I think I'll stick with the story that school leaves me no time for anything.

But I waste all this time that I could be crafting, checking out the blogs of  people that do have time (make time) for it. And as I read today of their obsession with bunting, I thought to myself--you need to be working on your paper.

So I did.

I don't think my engineering professor will be too entertained. But hey, I felt pretty good about it. I think it's the start of a whole new level of multi-tasking.

Crafting.... here I come.

Wedding Pictureszão

I know it's hard to believe. We actually got married. I wasn't getting married until I was 28, and Brenden is well... Brenden. People from either side have politely expressed their surprise. Although it still doesn't seem like it actually happened... we do have a few pictures to prove it.

Sei que não dá para acreditar. Casamo-nos. Eu não ia me casar até que tinha 28 anos e Brenden é... Brenden. Algumas pessoas já expressaram sua surpresa. Mesmo que não parece verdade... temos alumas fotos pra aqueles que duvidam que realmente aconteceu.


And... a few more. (But I needed a nice, classy text block to break them up.)

E... mais algumas. 


Aaand... hundreds more. If you're picture crazy like I am you can check see a whole slew of em here:
E... centenas mais. Se gostam de fotos como eu, podem ver mais aqui:

Wedding Day

(That's a link. You can click on it.)    (I don't know how to say that in Portuguese. Limited vocab.)


Stay tuned for reception pictures!
Fotos da recepção em seguido....

Previewzinho

Just a little preview of our wedding pictures.
Apresentamos uma pré-estréia de nossas fotos de casamento.

More to come soon. Keep an eye out for 'em.

Bem logo, vamos postar mais. Fiquem anxiosos!

Blogzão

Well, I decided to relinquish my facebook addiction and pick up a new vice here--in the blogging world. Kidding.

But for those of you of you that have expressed your desire to stay updated on my life via social media and for others that live in Brazil, I decided to start a newlywed-blog. Cute, right? Right.

Although I'm not sure it will be nearly as cute nor as frequently updated as newlywed-blogs tend to be. Just some free cyber-space to share a few pictures of what we have been up to.

(Sejam bem vindos)

Bem, eu decidi deixar meu vício de facebook e pegar um novo vício aqui - no mundo dos blogs. Estou brincando.

Mas para vocês que vivem no Brasil, eu decidi começar um blog de recém-casado. Bonitinho hein? Bem.

Embora eu não tenha certeza que ele vai ser tão bonitinho nem atualizada como os outros. Será só um espaço para compartilhar algumas fotos do que estamos feito.

Esperamos que goste de ser uma parte da nossa vida.