WE ARE MOVING!

We are moving! We thought it best to keep it under wraps until it was a for-sure thing, and now with only one week to go, it had better be for sure, right? ;)
We've been looking to move out from our in-laws as soon as we could afford to. But we were looking for a rental house on an apartment budget, and hadn't found anything that both felt right AND was affordable. Aside from that, my parents (especially my mother) had been on the hunt for a "flipping" house for a while now, and were hoping for it to be one that we could move into. Admittedly, this new house was not a perfect picture of what my mom was visualizing. But she and my dad have followed wisdom and promptings step by step, and this is where we have ended up. Interestingly, although the owners received higher offers, they accepted my parents' offer over those higher offers. So that certainly feels like a sign and a blessing to me!
And to be honest? I'm just crazy about the house! Maybe it's because I've been longing to be in my own home for years now. Maybe it's because in our almost five years of marriage we've lived in four places and have made mini-moves every summer, and the idea of settling for a while is appealing. Maybe it's because I have been living at my in-laws for almost a year now, and am excited to unpack all my stuff that's been in storage for a year (oh mini-library, how I've missed thee!). I'm excited to play my own music and make my own noise without bugging neighbors and family (or being bugged by anyone else). I'm happy to finally get to structure Tommy's nap and bedtime based on my own timetable (haha, like that's actually going to happen, but I can try!). I'm feeling driven to start my own garden. Basically, if the house were dark purple and covered in polka dots, I'd still be happy about this move. And besides, even if it's not our favorite on the outside, I think it's pretty cute on the inside! It's small but open, and was well-taken-care-of around the edges. I am looking forward to settling in and making it a lovely home.
I'm aware that I'm going to get a rude awakening to my rosy image of living in a home of our own. We've been blessed (and spoiled) by the incredible generosity of my in-laws, and parents. We're going to be shocked at paying utilities on a house in the Arizona summer, and we're going to miss being able to use someone else' washer and dryer. But that's what, you know, independent adults do - they pay their own bills and take care of their own needs. And I'm really happy that we are in a place to start standing on our own feet. Chris is finally working as a sub for MPS, and we got his first paycheck today. Gainful employment looks good on him. ;)
Although, let's be real, our "standing on our own feet" isn't even that - we are renting from my parents at a great rate, and they made the decision to sacrifice to buy the house with us in mind. They are not putting us through the fees, or the month of rent in advance, or other ways they could be charging us. So yeah, we are feeling very grateful.
The move will probably be a gradual one, due to the busyness of our end-of-school-year schedules (I'm feeling exceptionally overwhelmed in addition to exceptionally blessed!). But we will be getting a truck on Saturday morning the 25th and are hoping to get as much of the move done as possible on that day. We be moving out towards Power and University.
Oh, and if anyone is still reading this and wants to, I dunno, join the Elders Quorum and help us move or sumthin', we'd be super grateful. There will be donuts and juice! :) 


"We have paused on some plateaus long enough. Let us resume our journey forward and upward." - President Spencer W. Kimball, April 1979 Conference

Thoughts on Making a Christmas Season Out of Easter

Happy Maundy Thursday, friends. It's been a very meaningful Holy Week for us as we experience each day of the Savior's final week, and as we look toward Easter Sunday (and General Conference).
Originally, I had all kinds of awesome ideas about how to celebrate Easter in a way that was joyful and Christ-centered. I wanted to do a Passover meal this Friday and did tons of research in preparation. I was going to make Resurrection Rolls and Resurrection Eggs and Jesus-themed Easter baskets and do all kinds of service projects and read all kinds of books and - well, you get the idea.
But with how crazy our life has been (more on that in another post), I had to let go of my Pinterest-inspired ideals. I don't even think we're going to do Easter egg decorating this year. But it has nonetheless been a joyful and Christ-centered Easter season, mainly due to two simple changes. These changes are inspired by the feeling I get at Christmastime. What makes Christmas feel so good to me that I want it all year round? Because I want to have that feeling for Easter, too! For me,the top two things that make the season are:

1. The music.
2. The gratitude/giving back - in other words, service.

Think about it. For many of us at Christmastime, both of these things are what provide the Warm'n'Fuzzies to our hearts throughout the season, even more than the trappings. And the same is true of Easter.

1. The Music!
So for music, I put together a few different playlists on YouTube - one for the spring/Easter season, one for Holy Week, and one for Easter Morn - and have been playing them around the house for several weeks now. Some of it is the Bible videos made by the LDS Church. Some of it is those great Mormon Tabernacle Choir ones with the video footage inter-cut with the choir singing - my little guy loves watching the animals, the scenery, and the Bible reenactment footage that accompanies each music video.

It has truly made a difference in our Easter season. I am overwhelmed as I observe the beauty of the earth. I am humbled as I watch the Savior kneel in the garden, for us. Praying, for us. Suffering, for us. And rising in triumph and power and love, for us. Having music and videos every day reminding me of God's love has kept it present on the surface of my mind, and has absolutely influenced my daily attitude. The music itself has that effect. As I ponder the words of "O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown", I am brought to contemplation and gratitude:

No creature is so lowly,

No sinner so depraved,

But feels thy presence holy

And thru thy love is saved.

Tho craven friends betray thee,

They feel thy love's embrace;

The very foes who slay thee

Have access to thy grace.

I cannot add more than an "amen" to such transcendent, eloquent truth. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. And this Easter I'm grateful for the gift of music to help teach us about the Savior, and to use as a tool to testify to ourselves and others. 

2. The Service

Sometimes the thought of service overwhelms me. More often than not, actually. One of my biggest struggles in life is just being too darn tired to move my feet. That sounds funny, but it isn't at all. I will often cry when I wake up in the morning because the tiredness feels likes it's going to drown me. I wake up exhausted, I spend my day in alternating spurts of feel-good adrenaline and numbing exhaustion, and I go to bed completely drained. Ever since pregnancy I cannot remember NOT being tired. The exhaustion is perhaps the biggest piece in the spiral of depression, anxiety, and unhealthy eating habits. So when I hear talks about giving more service, more time, and more energy, just the thought of it makes my system shut down. I've only got about 3 hours of "give-worthy" energy in any given day, and I "NEED" that time, doesn't anyone understand that?! I think inwardly. Selfish, I know.
Well, I am slowly learning that it is possible to serve and be tired and still survive. And that service feels good, even when it feels tiring. And there is perhaps no greater way to honor the Savior during the Easter season than to serve others with love. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me", the Savior taught. With that in mind, we have tried to add daily acts of service to the past three weeks. The kinds of service I/we have given have been very small things. But they have been conscious, daily, out of my ordinary rhythm, and done in love.

Although I'm sure that all those other plans I had will still enhance Easters to come, making these two changes was, for now, the best way to bring the Spirit into our homes this Easter season.

I know this is just a personal blog, read by my mother and my husband more than by anyone else. And yet I cannot pass by this easy opportunity to bear testimony of our Savior. Jesus Christ lives! Because He lives, the grave does not hold victory over our relationships. There is life after death. And Because He so loved (and loves), sin does not hold victory over our hearts, and we can find everlasting life. Families can be eternal. Pain will be replaced with peace and joy. We can return to a happiness we don't even remember - the happiness we held in the presence of our Heavenly Father and Mother. I think this Easter, I am more than ever appreciating that through the Atonement of Christ, we will find those family relationships with our Heavenly Parents, and hold them eternally; and that we can also keep our own families eternally in the hereafter. I wish I had a profound way to end that testimony, but I guess the profound thing is that a testimony doesn't end. It keeps growing as we grow in light and truth, until we reach the perfect day and we see Him as He is. For now, all I can do is feel grateful.

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthian 15:55-57