Christmas Cookies Everywhere!

I finally took the thought to take pictures of something fun I was doing, specifically with the intention of writing about it in my forsaken blog. I've been ambitious lately! Not only am I writing a blog post, but I made almost 100 Christmas cookies with my sister, Kelly. Here's the proof.





I was on one side of my kitchen table, making gingerbread cookie dough and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and Kelly was on the other side of the table making thumbprint cookies. Messy, yes, but unbelievably productive . . .



The pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe I have is brand new and DELICIOUS!! The batter even tastes good. I think that is the test of a good cookie. If I can't eat it raw, I won't want to eat it cooked. I think I had a mission companion who taught me that. Except she would make the cookie dough just to eat the cookie dough . . . Ha, ha, ha!



Here's Kelly making the thumbprint cookies. We ended up eating more than we should have and not as many ended up on the plates for our friends.


Gingerbread cookies ready to go into the oven . . .





And all those pumpkin cookies . . .




And the final fruits of our labors. Ten plates of cookies! Even I was blown away, especially by the fact that I wasn't completely put out at the end of the process. Not that I want to go and make another 100 cookies tomorrow . . .

New Pictures. . . from the wedding!

So, it's been a long time since I took the time to update this blog. What can I say? I've been inspired by my friend's blogging finesse to post something new here. Ironically enough, what I have to post is new wedding photos, taken by David's cousin Heather. I love them! You'll see why pretty quickly . . .

I love that you can see the detail on the temple here. It's so beautiful!

A beautiful picture of David's mom and aunt.

All the pictures she took of us coming out of the temple turned out great!

Such a handsome group!

And I'm SO glad she got a picture of the back of my dress!

Previous Survey Results

I want to send out a big THANK YOU to those of you who took my first survey that I posted on my blog. The survey asked about David & my wedding--what events a person attended, what memories they had from the different events they attended, what they wanted to see at the Washington reception, and advice for David & I as we head off into the horizon as husband and wife!


I wanted to anonymously share the advice we were given. Some of it is so sweet, and some of it is so funny! I hope you enjoy it, too!

“Don't forget to keep going on dates. Love doesn't stop progressing once you've been hitched. You should love each other more and more every day and that love should never regress, only progress. Oh, and make sure to keep in touch with super awesome roommates who witnessed the whole entire courtship to marriage take place.......yeah that's right honky! Don't forget me!”
“Leave early from the reception!”
“You'll get used to the new name in about 3 months or so. Never let the romance die (belching in front of each other, etc) because it is the point of no return! You cannot go back! Something small goes a long way to show love. Don't be afraid to take time apart. You'll appreciate things you had been taking for granted upon your return.”
“Just spend as much time with each other that you can. And don’t get into fights over pitty stuff it ain’t worth it at all. Congrats and the best of luck with your marriage.”
“Always be willing to compromise whether it be a little or a lot and if you fight, figure out a way to work things out otherwise the reason you are fighting will eat away at you.”
“Be happy!!”
“Good luck.”
“Never forget to spend time together laughing. Laughter can get you through anything!”
“Communicate. Nothing else matters if you forget to communicate with each other in every aspect of your lives.”
“I recently went to another wedding reception where a couple that had been married for 62 years gave advice to the newlywed couple. When questioned as to what made their marriage successful, the husband said, "She tells me what to do - and I do it." I would think that little bit of advice would solve a lot of problems. Don't you?”
“Keep smiling!”
“Simply be kind and work hard.”
“Pray always and talk with one another.”
“To always be each other’s best friend, to have much laughter & to try to go out on a date at least once a week (might be more difficult once the children arrive ,) ). I know that the one thing that I love the most about my husband is that he always makes me laugh, sometimes hysterically, and that has really helped in keeping me sane. LOL “
“1. I personally don't believe in "Don't go to bed angry." Sometimes it's just better to give it up and see what the next day looks like. On that note, know that fights happen. It's one of the ways we get closer to one another. Great marriages have great fights. 2. Try to do nice, thoughtful things for each other everyday, even if it's just the dishes. Also try every day to see the world as your spouse sees it. 3. Learn from your families. Appreciate where each of you come from, and don't be afraid to set off in uncharted directions and make changes as you see fit. Start your own traditions. 4. If it feels like time moves too fast, it does. If it feels like time moves too slow, it does. There will always be another goal to shoot for. Don't 'wait for your life to start'. It's here! 5. Enjoy this newlywed experience! You're only going to get this once!”
“Always be open and honest with each other. Communicate and keep no secrets. Kiss each other every night before bed and every morning before starting your day.”
“The classic never go to bed with bad feeling between you - though you will find its pretty much impossible to sleep if there is. Also love one another even as He has loved you, and lastly you are man and woman and as such are very different - ones weaknesses are complimented/overcome by the other’s strengths along with the Saviour. Remember your differences can strengthen or break down a marriage; choose to let them strengthen it.”
“Be good. Always go on dates. Get involved in each other's hobbies.”
“Enjoy marriage, it goes by so fast. I can hardly believe I'm coming up on 3 years! Take time for each other every day.”
“Just keep laughing. Also, it's easier to train a husband when they're still young, so start right away. ,-)”
“Talk... a lot...”
“Men are simple creatures. Happy men are men with food to eat and clean houses.”
“have fun :)”

The big kiss

So, I really was surprised by David's big kiss once we left the temple. The several pictures I have seen so far have just been so great. I know there are lots of pictures of this out there, and I'd love to get more!

We're Married!

Oh, it was beautiful! I certainly owe a lot to friends and family that made the day special for David and I! Pictures will be posted shortly.

For my work at Omniture, I am putting a survey on this blog. Could you please fill it out for me? The data will help me understand the new program I am learning, plus it will be great information to have for my future wedding scrapbook!

About David . . .

David was born on October 31, 1982. He says he is used to having his birthday on Halloween--he just gets lots of extra candy that day! His family is currently from Apple Valley, California.

David has one sister--Emily--and three brothers--Mark, Mike, and John. His father owns a financial services business. David claims that anyone who has seen his mom and his fiance has the gift of the ministering of angels!

David is a great singer and guitar player. He's been playing the guitar since he was 12 years old. He also loves to work out and his fiance thinks he is really buff! He was on the wrestling team in high school and won the Most Inspirational award his senior year (Emily made him put that in here).

David is currently working on his undergraduate degree at LDS Business college. He plans to get his degree in business while hoping to get into CES.

About Emily . . .

Emily was born December 16, 1981 in Amsterdam, New York, a little town outside of Albany. Her family moved to Puyallup, Washington when she was eight years old.

Emily has two sisters--Kelly and Eve--and three brothers--Jonathan, Stephen, and Daniel. Eve is currently on a mission in Nagoya, Japan. She took David and Emily's engagement photos before she left, for which David and Emily are very grateful! Emily's dad owns a construction aggregates business. Her mom loves to write plays and is working on her second novel.

She loves the violin, and has been playing for fifteen years (though her practicing is sporadic as of late). Her undergraduate degree is from BYU-Idaho in music.

Emily is currently an MBA student majoring in marketing at Brigham Young University. She only has one year left!

Getting to know you: four months of fun dates

David and Emily go on a lot of fun dates together.

David took Emily to her first a rap concert in Provo.

One night he made her dress up so that he could take her on a special date to the local castle!

Once, they went to the library and read children's books to each other. Another time they had a picnic in Emily's living room. Emily loved taking David with her to her various MBA events, like the MBA Semi-formal Christmas party and fireside with BYU Professor Randy Bott.

Both of them enjoy going on double dates with Emily's sister and brother-in-law. At these dates, they would usually get in touch with their creative sides by making Christmas stockings or Valentines for each other.

One of their favorite date activities is to go see a movie. Here's a list of movies they have seen together:

Forever Strong (1st date)

Wall-E

The Dark Knight

Emperor's New Groove

The Illusionist

City of Ember

Madagascar 2

Mary Poppins

Twilight

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

A Bug's Life

Cars

Elf

Nacho Libre

and many, many more!

But the thing that David and Emily enjoy doing together the most is just being with each other!

How it all began . . .

David and Emily met in 2003 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

They were missionaries in the St. Louis Missouri Mission, and very good ones at that! He was her district leader for six weeks, and then they parted ways.

Post mission, David and Emily kept in touch with each other through email and the yearly mission reunion. Nothing much happened between the two. Emily was in Washington--David was in California.

But in 2008, the stars began to align to bring the two together. First of all, they both moved to Provo, Utah. David was working and Emily was starting the MBA program at BYU. Then, a mutual mission friend started bugging them to date each other. Finally, on October 18, 2008, David asked Emily to go to the movies with him. Sparks flew, mountains moved, and rivers changed course! (Or so it seemed.) A week later, they were "official." And the rest is history!