OCTOBER 2011!

This has definitely been a bittersweet month! So many things happening in our lives but we are most definitely happy about the way things are going right now. So this month was our first anniversary, wohoo! Since Abe was leaving to the military a couple of days after the 21st, we decided to have a getaway a little earlier during the month so we wouldn't feel rushed! We took a trip down to Myrtle Beach and it was Oh so much fun! We were only there for a couple of days, but we had a blast; it was awesome getting out of Giles county for a weekend.

For pictures of that, go to my facebook!

Anyway, Abe did his final swearing into the military yesterday before being shipped to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Yeah I admit it has been hard getting used to not having him around, but it makes me happy that he is happy fulfilling this part of his life. I got to go up with my father-in-law to spend a few hours with him before leaving and saying my goodbyes for the next little while (little while is hoping that I will get to see him in December, not until March).

Here is Abe swearing in:

Here we are right before we had to leave (I know.. notice the nostalgic faces...)

I guess I am an army wife now. I am very proud of Abe and for his will to do so much for our wellbeing. I couldn't have been blessed with a better husband. He is awesome!

A weekend in North Carolina!

After having a great weekend, it is necessary to blog! WOW, we had such a great time. At the very last minute on friday, we decided to go to North Carolina to see my sister-in-law Rachel and her family; our niece's baby blessing was going to take place that Sunday. I am so glad we were able to go, 1-it was great being there for the blessing, 2- it was awesome seeing some of the family who we don't ever get to see, 3-we were able to enjoy amazing family time.

I seriously just had to take a picture with her, who wouldn't want one when she is so cute :)

Our niece, Ava Lynn, is so beautiful, and what a special experience it was to be there for her baby blessing. I also got to hold a small baby for the first time in my life.. (<--- see )(Yeah, weird, I know, I was never around babies). Tons of fun! It was great to get out of Giles with Abe for a few days, since life becomes a bit boring in this place :). Abe and I decided to stop at a mall in Raleigh on our way back home, in which we enjoyed an amazing sushi meal, and I went to forever 21 to shop around for like 5 minutes, but it still was super fun. Now the drive back home wasn't so great! Traffic was awful!

Our nephews, Landen and Carson I think are about one of the cutest and funniest boys I have ever seen, and our nieces, Noel and Taylor only get sweeter and more adorable by the minute.

It bites being so far away from family, but we surely enjoyed the one time we were able to get together with them.

Easter Sunday!

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years before. Because of their hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Friday, and his wife was flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel, and unlike years ago, there was a computer in his room, and he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without noticing his error, sent the e-mail to the wrong address. Meanwhile... somewhere in Houston... a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a Minster who was called home to glory after suffering a heart attack.

The widdow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and then glanced up and saw the computer screnn which read:

To: My Loving Wife

Date: Friday, June 6, 2007

Subject: I have arrived!

My dearest love:

I know you are suprised to hear from me. They have computers here now, and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I have just arrived and have been checked in..

I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow,and look forward to seeing you then. I hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

PS: It sure is hot down here!!!

haha, that is how Elder Nolan D. Archibald of the seventy started his talk today during stake conference. What a great spirit he had. I loved his talk and hearing about the atonement. He talked about the law of justice going hand in hand with the law of mercy and how the operate constantly. He also talked a lot about how blessings are the result of our obedience to the laws and commandments we are given and how crucial it is for our progression. He stated that there are two acts that come from the atonement: unconditional and conditional (to repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end). It was great hearing such an uplifting message on a beautiful day like today when we commemorate our Savior's life on this earth. It makes me feel so happy to know that our Redeemer willingly performed a sinless sacrifice for all mankind. I am so grateful that because of that reason, we have the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Father again if we become humble, submissive to Heavenly Father's will, and do all we can to hold on to the iron rod.

Our Stake President decided to talk to us about gratitude. He mentioned how most of the time we are too busy thinking of what blessings we will be requesting for next, and quickly forget to give thanks unto God for what he already has blessed us with. There is one question we all need to ask ourselves: What can I do to show my Heavenly Father I am grateful for the temple?— really, what can we do to thank Him for the great joy that temples are to us? Thanks to temples a huge purpose of our church is fulfilled: eternal families. Gratitude leads to humility, which leads to a sense of satisfaction regardless of our situation. Gratitude comes from a sense of being indebted to someone... we owe our Heavenly Father everything! His love is so big that he created us, and blesses us immensely everyday.

President Averett closed his talk by saying that we are changed for the better and grow in the attitude of gratitude. Always try to develop time and energy to show gratitude.

Besides the talks, after church we went over to Abe's grandma's house to have an easter get together with the rest of Abe's family. It was fun, and of course I was able to see my babies!! They seemed a bit confused at first when they saw us walking in but oh how we love them and they love us just as much.

I truly have had an amazing day. I am glad today is Easter and that the Savior is the reason to rejoice today... and everyday!!

life is WONDERFUL

Abe and I moved into our new apartment on the 17th (super exciting!). I personally think our apartment is really nice; three bedrooms, hardwood floors, so nice! It does need a bit of a touch up but it is not big deal. Moving is SUCH a pain, specially because this was the first time I had a "real" move — other times I had my parents or others be responsible of the move. It was so exhausting! Abe was gone that weekend and thank goodness for Abe's friend who came into the rescue and helped us move stuff with his truck that weekend. Unpacking is just as bad, and well cleaning the apartment was not fun at all. It seems like whoever lived here before was a total PIG! Greasy stove, baseboards had HUMONGOUS balls of dust in them, yuck! This illustrates the stove, and half of the grease was gone by the way...

So glad it is all taken care of.

I must admit, buying new furniture was a great experience; it feels really good to actually start building a home with the love of my life. We have been married for 6 months now and I feel more of a newlywed now than I did ever before, it is AWESOME. Anyways, our couches turned out amazing! (If you ever need to buy furniture, look on ebay, you would be amazed at the stuff you find and their prices!).

This was our living room before.

Here is our living room now :)

And this is a close up of our couches.

We bought a 7 piece dining table, but OF COURSE with our luck 2 of the chairs were not made right and we couldn't set them up, so for now we only have a 5 piece dining table. I also love our huge clock! I think it looks great :)

Here is the dining are before...

And a couple of pictures of what it looks like now :) (dont judge my curtain rod, I used the one they left and need to buy a new one.. lol)

The bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs, and well the rooms do not have much of a purpose for now, not until I can turn one of them into a guest room and I think the other one will be my work out room or storage haha... it is a storage room for now.

Our bedroom is still in the making...

then this is my storage room...

And our bathroom is the one hideous part of the house, it has an UGLY peach color lol... we tried to decorate to the best of our abilities, but you woulnd't believe how hard it is to make peach look good! lol

Our laundry room is the trash room for now.. we have TONSSSS of boxes... huge ones as well.

Our yard is awesome! we have an actual yard and I love it, there is this huge tree that looks great!

I AM THE QUEEN OF MY KITCHEN... I love to bake stuff lol.. so far I have baked a key lime pie and it turned out awesome, as well as some chicken crescents and such... the kitchen is a woman's territory! Our kitchen isn't huge but it is enough for me and I love it :)

We are so excited to have our own home.. it feels great!!!

PS: Abe has signed his army contract, he now has a job as a 13D Field Artillery Automated Data System Specialist, he ships out on October 25th 2011, life is great, we have been SO blessed, Heavenly Father is always so mindful of us and I am so so greateful for it! Life is WONDERFUL.

October, what a month!

So I figured I would blog about something REALLY REALLY AWESOOME! Not many people ever read my blog, but for the few that do I am sure you all already know that Abe and I tied the knot! That's right! About 10 days ago.

It was absolutely amazing... AMAZING. I thought it would be awesome but it was definitely more than what I thought it would be. I am happy.

I got to spend a few days with my parents, which was a total dream come true. I had not seen them in so long, and being with them specially during such a special time in my life truly put the cherry on top of my cake. I wish it would have lasted longer, but I am so very happy that it happened.

Planning the wedding was full of stress and frustration, but now that it is all over I want to do it all over again! Best time of my life really!

PS: my wedding pictures turned out gorgeous thanks to my wonderful sister in law Cindy :)

Practice an attitude of gratitude.

Many of us go through life thinking that everything we have, it's been the result of OUR OWN hard work; we start living the "self" life, thinking that everything in the universe revolves around us. Many of us don't stop and realize that what we have has been part of a greater design, not just simple coincidence.

Today, I want to stop and share with all of you the things which I am grateful for. I think many times we murmur against God for the hard moments we are going through. Sadly but truly, at some point in my life many years ago I blamed Him for many heartaches I was dealing with. I love my parents, and there aren't sweeter memories than those of my parents and my sisters together when we were younger. Seeing my family break apart was a life changing experience in every way. But it's not until now that I understand that things happen for a reason. If it hadn't been for my parent's divorce, I would have never left Nicaragua and I am sure I wouldn't have come to California. As a consequence, I would have never met the sweet sister missionaries that knocked on my door, the girls that introduced me to the biggest blessing in life. I surely lost my family in some way, but I gained and became a part of something that is capable of bringing comfort into anyone's life, no matter how great the pain is. I am grateful that I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thanks to it I became the person who I am. I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained and for all the blessings I have received. I am grateful for the friends I have made through the church, I am grateful for the people who I can now call my family, I am grateful for my boyfriend, because if it wasn't for the church I would have never come to know of his existance.

I am also grateful for the many abilities I have been given. I thank Heavenly Father for the many talents that He has given each one of us. He knows us better than anyone, He has made us the way we are because He has a specific plan for each one of us. I thank Him for my talents and for making me capable of achieveing some of my educational goals ever since I was younger in life. I know that right now it's not possible for me to achieve some of those for many reasons but I know that after all He is going to be there all along opening doors so I can get to where I want to be.

Another very imporant thing that we usually let fly by is our health, physically that is. I feel a need to thank Heavenly Father for one more day of life every day. I have people who are very close to me that deal with horrible illnesses. Every time I think of such things I remind myself that I am so blessed for not having to deal with such pain.

Last Sunday, at our YSA, one of the most recent return missionaries gave a talk that inspired me a lot. He talked about how he got through his mission although days seemed to be hard, he focused on how hard it was when he was giving his best on his mission and he would go weeks without finding a person to teach the gospel to. He talked about how once he got hit by a motorcycle, and how he bounced and got up without a scratch. You may see no point in that, but I want to share with you how he mentioned that if it wasn't for Heavenly Father making him go through those experiences, he wouldn't have been able to endure the hard times during those two years. He explained how his mission president encouraged him to thank Heavenly Father for serving it up tough everyday. It made me think a lot, and now I can truly say this, I am thankful for Heavenly Father serving it up tough these past few years, those experiences have strengthened me and I know they are preparing me for the adversity and challenges that I will deal with in the future. So everyday, I will pray to Heavenly Father so He can serve it up tough and prepare me for the future, that I may become a strong woman who will strengthen those around her, to become that woman that He wants me to become, a woman able to provide for her family and those she cares about and offer help to those who need to find their way back to the Lord, or those who don't know there is one yet.

How Great Thou art!

As human beings, we all go through difficult times in life. But that is the way it was meant to be; this life on earth is a time of being tested and of facing challenges in order to become stronger and prove Heavenly Father that we are willing to return to his presence.

I have felt the sorrow that comes from not living the commandments and keeping the covenants that I once made with my Father in Heaven. It has taken a lot for me to understand that He is what matters the most in my life. I have been blessed in SO many ways, even at times when I haven't been worthy enough to be blessed in such ways. As a daughter of God, now, I know that my worth is beyond rubies, I know that I mean a lot in my Father's eyes. I know that He wants the best for me, and He wants me to live with Him someday.

At girl's camp, this year, I remember learning many songs, that I can now understand. There was this song called " I walk by faith". It says "I will prepare to make and keep sacred covenants, seek promised blessings of the priesthood thru obedience, live my life to claim the blessing sweet of exaltation, my testimony growing each new day... I walk by faith, a daughter of heavenly parents, divine am I in nature by inheritance. The Spirit whispers of my mission, my individual worth, So I seek for precious knowledge, for learning and for growth... ... I want to build the kingdom, and good works is the key. By doing what I know is right, I walk by faith". I KNOW that I love my Redeemer so much that I would leave everything behind just to follow him.

I heard this great analogy on Sunday. My bishop talked about the Nauvoo pageant, and how in this play there is a scene of this kid playing baseball; the day of the performance, the kid wasn't able to hit the ball with his bat. He stopped, looked around, and he was confused, without knowing what to do.. The show HAD to go on. The person in first base whispered to the little boy saying, "Come on, run towards me, leave it behind". The kid was scared, looked around, but he left his bat, and just started running to make it through the three bases. Once he was done, his father was waiting for him with his arms wide open, waiting for him to run the three bases, always knowing that his son could do it. Many times in our lives, we drop the ball. But there is Heavenly Father, telling us that we can do it, motivating us to run through the bases, because at the end of the race, he is right there waiting with his arms wide open, ready to hold us tight, because he LOVES US. He wants what is best for us, and we should listen and be grateful, because we will always be eternally indebted to him for what we have been given. Satan, will always make us fear because he knows our weaknesses, and he drives us down the hill, making us think that what we have done is too great to turn to Heavenly Father once again. BUT we must always remember, that we have a loving Father, that will take good care of us, and who wants no harm to come upon us.

For the past days I felt very guilty for disappointing myself, a person who I have come to love more than the space of the universe, and my Father in Heaven. But after meditating, and crying all morning, I knelt down, had a prayer, and asked my Father what to do. As usual, He always has an answer for me, and I KNOW I need to trust Him at all times, let His will be done, not mine. I have now given it up, my will doesn't matter anymore because I am here for my Father in Heaven, I can only pray and ask him for guidance, that I may know the truth to know what path to take in order to return to him.

I believe in the gospel. I believe in Christ. I believe in everything I have been taught by the church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become my strength. I am willing to sacrifice everything to accomplish my greatest goal: Being sealed in the temple someday with the companion of my choice, in order to be a step closer to living with Heavenly Father.
　
One of the great and strong women that I truly admire in this world is Sister Dalton (Young Women's First Presidency). I have come to find very useful each one of her talks. This morning before going to work, I decided to look up some articles on the lds website, and I came across this talk by Sister Dalton that talked about stayin on the path. She said that as we climb the mountains of life, stay on the path of righteousness. There will be others to help us—our parents, family members, bishops, advisers, and righteous friends of all ages. And if we are weary or take a wrong turn,we need to change our direction and get back on the path of the Lord. Always remember that the Savior is there for us. He will enable us to repent, strengthen us, lighten our burdens, dry our tears, comfort us, and continue to help us stay on the path.

The Savior is the perfect example. When Jesus walked the roads of the Holy Land, He "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). He healed the sick and caused the blind to see and raised the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and our potential as sons and daughters of God in the life to come. One of my favorite scriptures says: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I know that I have been put in circumstances that I don't like, but I know that it hasn't been a coincidence, but I have been put in those circumstances to accept the gospel because it is part of a greater design.

I am taking a huge step in my life, re arranging my goals, and realizing that the Lord is all I care for, and I will do whatever it takes to return to him someday, and make my Father proud. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.