This picture reminds me a lot of what our home looked like this Christmas (minus the horse and sleigh of course). It was the definition of a Winter Wonderland. And what a perfect way to spend the day with family and my loved one :)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Let us all remember the true spirit of Christmas

This is a great movie that will hopefully get us all into the spirit of Christmas. Watch it and let us remember what this season is about!

Getting Ready for a White Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! 
I have soooo much to be thankful for this year! I am so grateful for my parents and for all of the many sacrifices they make for our family. They're the best! I'm grateful for my two brothers, my new sister-in-law, and my sister and new brother-in-law. And I am oh so grateful for my wonderful fiance!!! This list could go on and on :)
But now that Thanksgiving is over, I can finally start listening to Christmas music and preparing for my favorite holiday!
Happy Holidays!

Write A Letter!!!

Write A Letter!!!

I copied the following from Brandi Staheli's blog at jbstaheli.blogspot.com

     The heat is on. It is a great time in which we live!with so much at our finger tips, and our ability to grow and expand in so many ways it is incredible! But what is really fascinating about here and now, is how it seperates the great from the passive. Those who will stand up and make a difference and rise to the challenge. Those who will accept their calling when presented. Folks... NOW is that time! 
I purposely am going to be bold in my words, but please it is not meant to cause any offense or harm. Each generation has had something in which took standing up for! Thus far we have risen and succeeded in the cause of good and what is right! That what makes us so proud of our heritage and this amazing country we have been blessed with. We don't deserve it, but a loving God has given it to us so long as we are trying to keep his commandments and remember how it is that we have what we do. Really, it is that simple, but now things have become so confusing and grey. What is right and what is not, what is freedom or bondage, honest or dishonest, love or oppressive, all these seemingly clear black and white concepts have become fumbled and misconstrued into a limbo of uncertainty.
No longer can the average American turn on your televisions, computers, ipods, etc to a news generator and trust that what they are hearing is true journalism, filled with the truth of things as they really are. Some may say this is how it has been for a long time, and maybe so, but today it is so much worse. Famous News reporters and anchors have quite their jobs because of this, and of actual threats to their lives! (Lou Dobbs CNN) No longer can the average American attend a civil meeting and freely exercise his freedom of speech without fear of being brutally punished for it, and the government pretended it didn't even happen! (SEIU beating in St. Louis) And no longer can we feel that our government truly believes in the divinely inspired constitution and freedoms that have made our great nation what it is, because of oh so many things! (Health care reform, injustice, socialism, fear, favoritism, foolish spending...) But the current issue is that of the health care reform. I know that so many of us have had our ears full of the negative news on this issue, and I am sorry that we all feel this way, really I am.  Yet that is what it is, a NEGATIVE idea. But the common response of so many Americans to just turn the other cheek and "mind their own lives" is only going to hurt worse when they turn back around and get the slap in the face of what really happened when they were "minding their own lives" and receive the full consequences of something that they could have prevented. It won't just affect you and me, no it goes faaar beyond that! It affects the world, our kids and their kids! Do you want them to look back and ask why didn't they (us) try harder? What was SO Important that they felt they would rather do that than fight for freedom? 
Are we not grateful enough? No, I don't believe that is it! I think that either maybe we just don't understand the full weight of what is going on. Maybe we feel powerless and are not sure of a way in which we can do anything about it. Maybe we really just feel overwhelmed and like maybe they won't even listen. These are all understandable things, but we can't let it deter us. We have to pull out our full potential and find strength in ourselves, our families, friends, communities, and rally each other in the cause. Yes, it is true! One person CAN make a difference, but MANY people can change the course of history! 


Now here is your calling. What can you do to start snowball rolling? Write a letter! yup a letter, good old snail mail is making a come back!! Write your senators! Make sure you tell them you want them to vote NO for the health care bill (which in every way is unconstitutional) and vote NO for the cloture. Nebraska is a very big key state in all of this, Ben Nelson is on the fence and by writing to him you can make that difference! There are 4 other fence sitters as well. Find out if your senator is one of these and WRITE them, but everywhere write as well. They are wanting to vote on the health care bill by the END OF NEXT WEEK! Why a letter? well...

1. one hand written letter carries the weight of 1000 emails or phone calls!
2. It is easier to validate
3. It is seen as more sincere

But please calling everyday and emailing does make a difference as well! 
This Health care reform really is something that could change our entire way of living as we know it, and not for the better. Thank you for your time and support, and pleaseTAKE ACTION!

Wedding Plans (so far)

Who would have thought that planning a wedding took so much effort? We've gotten a lot accomplished in the past few months. My mom is such a great help! Better than any wedding planner we could have hired. So far, we've got the engagement pictures back, we're working on invitations, we've picked the colors and reception location, finished filming a wedding video, and I've ordered my dress! My mom, sister, and I all met in Utah for a weekend where we shopped around for dresses and eventually found the perfect dress at Latter Day Bride. We had a such a great time!
The colors are going to be black, ivory, a latte goldish color, and a deep red. I'm thinking of having lots of swirls and pearls. I want it to look really elegant and almost Old worldy. Both Ryan and I love the look of Old Europe so that will be incorporated.
 We still need to find someone to make the cake, pick out bridesmaid dresses, choose favors and centerpieces, find flowers to go good with my colors, figure out hair and makeup, etc... But both Ryan and I are having fun planning and we just can't wait to be married!

A Few Engagement Pictures :)

The Ring!

The ring he designed has a huge diamond in the center that is supposed to represent me. The diamonds encircling that center stone represent a halo. To him, I am his angel :). Above the center stone is a larger stone which represents a crown. Not only am I his angel but I am also his queen! I couldn't believe he came up with this himself! I couldn't have possibly ever dreamed of having a ring this amazing!

He proposed!!!

     September 14, 2009 the love of my life proposed to me! By then we had known each other for almost eight months. But I'll give you some history before I delve into the story of the proposal. Me and Ryan met up at BYU-I the first month I was up there. My sister and her husband were friends with his whole apartment and so me and my sister were invited to have dinner with them.
     The first time I saw Ryan I instantly became really shy. Here was a this very handsome man sitting right beside me at the dinner table. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to him then without blushing so instead of making a fool of myself, I directed my attention to everyone else but him. Luckily this didn't deter him, when my sister and I called him to verify the true identity of his name, he also accepted an invitation to come over and make cookies with me. The cookies turned out awful but we had a great time making them! Shortly thereafter, he went on a quest to try and find out my number so that he could ask me out on a date. He called my sister and her husband (fiance at that time) to try and find my number. When he eventually got it, he called and we met up for a classic date of dinner, movie, bowling, and ice cream to top it all off.
     The weeks and months of our dating that followed were filled with pleasant memories and eventually love. <3 We fell in love and became inseparable! Receiving further inspiration that our love was true, we began talking about marriage.
     When the end of summer semester came we both decided to live at home with our families so we could make more money to save up for marriage. This is why Ryan is now living in Springfield while I am here in Omaha. The distance makes time go agonizingly slow, but we do love spending time with our families. Every now and then, we get to visit each other which leads me to my story of the proposal. Apparently the months leading up to this event, Ryan himself designed the perfect ring for me. He took his designs to a ring maker and had the ring created.
     He then came up and visited me in Nebraska where he had planned an enchanting night of dinner at Vivachi's walk through downtown and eventually a carriage ride where he would propose. But unfortunately problems with the ring and a heavy downpour caused him to cancel those plans.
     Instead, when we went to Kansas City (the halfway point between his home and mine) to drop him off with his mom, he surprised me by taking me to a gorgeous park! We walked along the trails and eventually stopped by the edge of the pond in the middle of the park. As I looked out across the water, he got my attention and when I turned around he knelt down he proposed!!! I couldn't have asked for a better setting! The weather was gorgeous and I was so happy to finally be engaged to my one true love! Now to begin the wedding plans....