Food Storage Analyzer

So it's this cool free website that helps you organize your food storage. And if you try it and then give it a review - you get a free $10 gift card to Emergency Essentials (my work).

So - of course I think it's great. I haven't had a lot of time to really dive into like I would like to but it's definitely a good thing for really figuring out what you've got in food storage. You can calculate how long your food storage will last you based on the nutritionals and how many people and so on and so forth. You can also add your own foods - so it's not strictly food from Emergency Essential's. I like it cause your able to personalize it and break down what you have in food storage to be able to judge what you already have and what you need. Matt and I still have a long way to go but this helps us manage what direction to go while we're trying to build our food storage. So in short - I think it's a great tool - see for yourself.

AND.... you can get another free $10 gift card if you post one of their "Preparedness Pantry Blog" buttons on your blog/website. See preparednesspantry.blogspot.com in the top left corner. Free $20 = sweet! Just thought I'd spread the joy.

Thoughts on Love and Marriage

Well ... the topic in my LDS Marriage and Family class last week was True Love. So the assigned reading was of course on love (from the 'eternal marriage' manual). Talk about uplifting and happy reading for the week. And ... I absolutely love quotes! If you've known me for any length of time you know this to be true. I had quotes (on love) surrounding our reception and have a book I've been working on for years that's filled the best of the best quotes.

There certainly are a lot of them though. So many great words from prophets and apostles and other general authorities. See for yourself:

"The love established between man and woman, as they live and together and rear their family, should not die, but live and grow richer with the eternal years. True love hopes and prays for an endless continuation of association with the loved one ... love is ever warm, more hopeful, believing, courageous, and fearless ... to them happiness and the making of it have no end." -John A. Widtsoe

"Love is cleanliness and progress and sacrifice and selflessness. This kind of love never tires nor wanes, but lives through sickness and sorrow, poverty and privation, accomplishment and disappointment, time and eternity." -Spencer W. Kimball

"...respect that regards one's companion as the most precious friend on earth..." -Gordon B. Hinckley

"Perfect love is perfectly patient." -Neal A. Maxwell

"True love and happiness in courtship and marriage abe based upon honesty, self-respect, sacrifice, consideration, courtesy, kindness, and placing 'we' ahead of 'me'." -Marvin J. Ashton

"Love, as defined by the Lord, elevates, protects, respects, and enriches another. It motivates one to make sacrifices for another." -Richard G. Scott

"But such a total, virtually unbreakable union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can only come with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with the union of all that they possess - their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams..." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"...most problems in love and marriage ultimately start with selfishness." -Gordon B. Hinckley, Jeffrey R. Holland

"True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"Love is a fragile thing" -Jeffrey R. Holland

"...trust ourselves totally to the one we love ... The very nature of the endeavor requires that you hold on to each other as tightly as you can and jump in the pool together." - Jeffrey R. Holland

"True love 'beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things'." -1 Corinthians 13:7, Jeffrey R. Holland

"'Charity [pure love] never faileth.' (Moroni 7:46, 1 Corinthians 13:8) It is there through thick and thin. It endures through sunshine and shadow, through darkest sorrow and on into the light. It never fails." -Jeffrey R. Holland

"Marriage is sustained by faith and knowledge of its divine establishment, and is sustained daily by energy of love..." -David B. Haight

"The Lord measures the success of a family by the quality of its relationships." -Merrill J. Bateman

"As a righteous couple grow and mature in their love, they will come to know that the fine blending of the spiritual and physical dimensions of their relationship forms a solid foundation for their eternal union." -Marlin K. Jensen

"Giving ourselves to one another in an eternal marriage is an unconditional giving of the whole person for the whole journey." -Marlin K. Jensen

"Eternal marriage is godlike marriage. The term eternal describes the quality of marriage as much as its duration." -Marlin K. Jensen

"Love is a process."

"Love is a choice."

And my absolute favorite of all: "Happiness is marrying your best friend!" -I'm not sure who said this but it's been Matt and I's quote ever since becoming engaged.

Love is awesome. Marriage is amazing. That's my opinion. I can honestly say that I continue to love Matt more everyday. And you'd be surprised what you can learn about love from a class. Perspective takes on a whole new meaning with regards to marriage. The simple daily things of life kind of float away. They always say marriage is a lot of work but it makes the work seem like hardly anything when you focus on how much you love the other one and the covenants you made at marriage. I'm finding it a lot harder to put my thoughts into words at the moment. I'm lucky to have Matt as my hubby - I'm so happy he kept after me.

Tender Mercy

Flashback to prob a month ago:

My phone rang just as I was stepping out of the bathroom at work where I had been shedding a few tears of woe is me. It was my sister-in-law Angie and I sucked it up and answered. She explained to me that her friend had read on our blog that we didn't have a dishwasher and she wanted to give us her portable dishwasher. I had never met her and she knew Matt just from when he was a little tyke - yet out of the goodness of her heart she wanted to give us her portable dishwasher ... for nothing in return!

Angie asked me if we would want which I proceeded to say OF COURSE. This was one of the moments when I knew God was watching out for me. The moment I got off the phone I could feel His arms wrap around me with a hug that said 'it's going to be ok, you can do it, keep holding on, I love you remember.' I'm almost started to cry out of happiness this time.

It may just seem like a dishwasher but it has so much more meaning to me. The last time I did the dishes I couldn't stand for the rest of the day (we're only talking an hour or two of washing too)...that's what a messed up back will do. Before football started Matt always washed the dishes because he knew how much it hurt my back plus I just don't necessarily like doing it. But football and school took over which is how it should be. The dishes were a source of stress in my life that has now evaporated. It's hard to put into words just what a dishwasher has done for me and Matt. It's not just a dishwasher, it's a blessing, it's that nudge of hope, a daily reminder that God knows me individually and is watching out for me everyday.

We picked up the dishwasher last Wednesday night and it is absolutely fabulous. All of our dishes are done (except for a few cookie sheets that didn't fit) without hours of work on our end. Thank you Amy!! We can never thank you enough for your generosity and kindness!

Matt on TV!

Click Here to watch


This aired on Sunday night on the Bronco Mendenhall Show.

And for the record ... they didn't include the rest of his answer to 'him picking on his brother's kids' ... he said he picks on them by getiting them riled up before bed time. He's adorable with kids to say the least.


But isn't he so cute? I love it.

SD Day 5 - The Beach!!

I know, I know ... I am so incredibly behind but I am determined to finish these posts on our fabulous week even if it is almost 2 months later.

First,we went to the bay just outside where we were staying and then we were off to the waves of the ocean. It was Matt's first time playing in the ocean ... it was so fun to be with him and play in the water and relax and enjoy the day together. Our whole day was spent at the beach ... as you can see the sun slowly going down throughout the pictures ... Enjoy!

Here's the bay ... we practically had it all to ourselves

This is my most favoritest picture ... isn't he so adorable?

And here's the 'real' beach ... off to go play in some waves

He loved it! He was thoroughly enjoying himself in the waves

And he had to try surfing ... just for kicks

Pretty sunset

That's Matt in the corner

If you look closely, you can see all the water splashing up on his face

For some reason or another, my computer has decided that it's wireless connection doesn't want to work...it's been a couple days now So my blogging is slightly limited seeing as how all my pictures are on my computer ... not Matt's. Boo. I was looking forward to finishing up some old posts that needed blogging while Matt was gone ... but they pretty much all require pictures.

Matt is in Louisiana as I type. Funny story: they got stuck in Provo for a few hours because the plane was too heavy to take off - they filled it up with too much fuel. So they were stuck sitting around the Provo airport for hours earlier today.

And if you get a chance ... there's some really funny youtube videos of Provo going crazy after last weeks game.

Tonight is the beginning of me being alone at our apt while Matt's away with the rest of the players. It's amazing how much I can miss one person after just a few hours. I just finished watching Ever After - great movie - I love Walmart's $5 movies. Who can guess how late I stay up tonight because I can't sleep????

Well ... I really don't have much to say - I'm more rather rambling I suppose. blah blah blah. Same old, same old around these parts - we're in the routine of school, work, football, and not much time to do much else otherwise. It's good and happy, just not the most exciting in writing. I am really liking my classes so far, that's always a good sign. Matt's taking Coaching Baseball...so fun.

It was my birthday a week and day ago! I'm finally past the teen years ... big ol 20! My dad was so cute and brought me flowers at work. They're so beautiful. Matt gave me the new Pride and Prejudice movie and a hand grain mill - which I love. May sound weird - but I've started making bread every week instead of buying it but we haven't had a wheat grinder so I couldn't make real 'wheat' bread. I made my first loaves with real wheat 2 days ago (it was actually half and half but I was still proud ... I feel soo domestic). I love it.

We made a trip to Ikea last Monday and bought a wonderful Poang chair to spice up our place a bit with the gift card my parents gave me for my b-day. I'll post a pic later.

Random cute story: I think it's worth blogging cause it was so sweet. Last week, Friday before the big game. I didn't get into Oklahoma til 10:30 p.m. Matt should have been asleep by this time. I texted to him to let him know I arrived safely. He stayed up to make sure I got there safely and everything was ok and didn't go to sleep til he knew for sure - it was so sweet ... and a lot harder to describe how cute it was. I really do have the sweetest hubby ever. Hopefully I didn't just embarrass him. :)

Hmmmm....I should probably go clean or fold laundry. Sorry this wasn't the most exciting post in the world. I do have good ones up my sleeve but they won't get to come out til my computer decides to start working again ... or I cave to uploading them onto Matt's puter. I think I'm actually going to go make cookies.

Good luck to the boys tomorrow! Fun game in the Superdome!

What an amazing game!! Both Matt and my voices were shot through Sunday from screaming so much during the game. And the stadium was absolutely fantastic! It only took 12 hours of traveling on my end but it was well worth it!

I took a lot of pictures (I've been saying that I lot) ... they don't do it justice but it kinda gives you an idea of how overwhelming the stadium and everything was. One of the other players called the stadium the big and spacious building.

BYU fans were very much outnumbered by the Oklahoma fans. It sure does get loud in there - they said there was around 75,400 fans!

It was like watching the game live and on a big screen tv at the same time. It was the best of both worlds!
We had pretty good seats too (especially considering just how far up our seats could have gone) - this is our view without any zooming on my camera. And our seats were in the 'club section' and were padded and quite comfortable

Can you see just how amazing the jumbo-tron is?

Can you spot Matt?

Kickoff! Matt is the one right next to the kicker...very start of the game

The players rushing the field after we won

Matt is hugging the guy with flag

BYU fans that stuck around after the game still cheering on the players ... the Oklahoma fans were out of there as soon as the game was over

cheesy smile

The videos aren't the best ever but you can kinda see how big the stadium is