Sundays

All things considered, I am writing this blog so I don't forget the little things that are important to me. Some entries may seem a little more journal-like than blog-like. That said, I love Sunday this year! All two weeks. The first Sunday, our ward changed from 12-3 to 9-12. I love it! Miraculously, we do better at the whole being-on-time thing when church is earlier.

Relief Society was interesting. I am recommitting to contributing to the lessons and following along better. Sunday school (Chase and I teach the 16-17 year olds) was awesome. Chase is the teacher, and I contribute comments. I am amazed how much he knows about the scriptures. This lesson, we ended up accidentally teaching the wrong one, but it was perfect. Chase introduced D&C. He always finds a way to talk about his mission during his lessons, which is perfect considering we have a bunch of boys who are within two years of serving. Finally, sacrament meeting. Fast and testimony meetings can bring a number of emotions. But never in my life have I ever loved a testimony meeting so much. Every person that stood talked about how blessed we are to have children. Our prego neighbor, Bonnie, who had just been released as primary chorister, spoke. A few kids got up. And so did Chase. The last time I bore my testimony in church, without a talk assignment, was probably 5 years ago (For records sake, I can remember baring my testimony four times; When my dad broke his back, once when I was in high school, and at the Ogden High Senior Seminary night, and in my ward in Boulder). And I have heard Chase speak in church a handful of times, but this was the first fast and testimony meeting that I have seen him stand. He talked about how his wife loves to listen to general conference on her new iPhone (and just the way he said "My wife"... it will never get old). It's true, I love the LDS app. He said that one night I had fallen asleep listening to "Help Them Aim High" by President Henry B. Eyring at the last priesthood session. He talked about how grateful he is that he had a dad who helped him aim high, and how one day he wants to do the same for his kids. For now, though, he said he is honored to have the opportunity to help the kids in our class aim high. I melted. I love him. I left that meeting filled with the spirit and in love with all the little kids in our ward, and proud of the man I married. He will be a great dad one day.

The following week was Stake Conference. Elder L. Tom Perry was the visiting authority. Chase and I have inconveniently been out of town, or otherwise missed stake conference since we moved into our ward nearly a year and a half ago. I am so glad we were able to attend this conference. The overwhelming theme was temple work. The challenge is not longer to attend the temple regularly. The new challenge is to find and do the work for your own dead. I have yet to do any family history work for my family. I am excited to get started! One of my favorite things about general and stake conference, is the overwhelming feeling of, "You're doing great". I never leave the meetings discouraged, which sometimes surprises me because I have a lot of room to grow! I used to take tons of notes and try to make crazy goals during conferences. But, since I have been to the temple, I have changed my mind. It's not about remembering the words, it's about remembering the feeling, and acting on that feeling. A new word I have been using to describe this thought is "marinate". If I hear the words and feel the spirit, the words and thoughts will marinate and stick with me so I can build and grow from them. All the time, I am more and more grateful for my membership in the church and my knowledge of Christ. Chase and I were talking on our way home from the Sunday session about what my dad calls "The Dart Board Theory". There is a figurative dart board, and each hole represents a walk of life. From the Kate Middleton, to the slave mother in the south, to the settlers of Utah, to the slums of South America; everyone throughout time has a dot on the board. Now consider your dot: how blessed are you to have "thrown your dart" and have it land where you are? The probability of getting my dot is slim; a great family, born into the gospel, living in this day in age, attending school, finding my husband. Every dot that surrounds mine is someone through time that has lived in poverty and sickness. The majority of dots have no knowledge of the gospel. The fact that I got my dot is something to be grateful for. I think it's pretty thought provoking.

Finally, I am here at Lauren and Seans's place in Murray. Lauren work's today so I get to play with Huddy all day! It's nap time, so it's blog time. He is the sweetest baby. He is so good, so cute, so perfect. He plays and giggles and spits up and it's all perfect. I have said this before; there is good reason Lauren was first. I totally believe in birth order. I can't imagine our family without Lauren first. I am so glad I can learn from her in all aspects of life, especially how to be the perfect new mama. On another Fowler note, Lauren and Sean are moving to Bountiful soon, yay! Twenty minutes closer to my favorite people. I haven't seen the house yet, but it will be perfect for the three of them, I am sure.

I have known Chase for just over six years now, and I honestly learn something new about him all the time. I love that boy, more than I ever thought I could.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Ok. Let's get a few things straight. Everyone knows that Christmas changes as you get older and older. But no one really emphasizes how much Christmas changes when you get hitched. It get's a little bit harder and requires more planning ahead. Here is how it get's planned: Spend Christmas Eve with her family, spend Christmas Morning with his family, have two breakfasts, four dinners, spend 2 hours skiing, and manage to spend 5 minutes alone with your hub. Ya that could happen... said no one ever. EVER. So, here is reality.

Ski a run with dad on Christmas Eve. Eat lunch with Mom, Zach and Ave in the lodge. Spend Christmas Eve dinner with mom and sibs and Grandma Jan. Sleep at home (yay!) and have Christmas morning with Chase. Then go to mom's for second Christmas morning and breakfast with Grandpa Bean and Joanie. Then hurry up to Snowbasin for 4 runs, and meet up with dad for one. Hurry home. get ready and go to Reynolds house for third Christmas morning. Have Christmas dinner with entire Reynolds family. Then go home and hang with the hubby. It is always fun, fast and flies by.

We also did Christmas with the Calton's a few days earlier. The whole clan came to Dad's house for dinner. After, Dad gave us his gift. He gave us girls beautiful bracelets that match and an outfit from Athleta. I love how simple he does Christmas. We gave dad a cooking lesson that all seven of us can go to, and of course a couple of books!

We gave mom something pretty special-- a drafting table. It's gorgeous. She bawled. It's one of the few times we have been able to figure out something that she wants AND she needs. I really cannot wait for her to finish up school and be able to show the world how talented of a designer she is. I will never forget the expression on her face when she opened her eyes and saw it. She couldn't stop talking about it all day. I know Christmas isn't about gifts, but this moment made Christmas really special this year. Mama has been through a lot, and to give her something that only brings her happiness felt really good. We also got to go to the Nutcracker with mom this year!

Chase got his first road bike this year! It's gorgeous. It's a Specialized Allez, and it's gorgeous. We got it about a month early because he found a steal of a deal. I got an iPhone 4s, finally. For some reason having the latest and greatest has never been a big deal for me, as far as phones go. So I didn't get the 5, but I must say I looooove it. No joke, my favorite feature is the LDS Library. I have listened to three sessions of the last conference since I got the phone (how awesome was the last Priesthood session???). I miss my blackberry that I had for four years, but mostly I don't at all! In fact I just downloaded my blogger app to my phone! Can you say BLOG time?? I love writing and preserving thoughts. I am not into keeping "stuff"but remembering people and events and reading my own words years later... I just love it.


Back to Christmas; we did indeed decorate for Christmas this year, even if it was only up for a few weeks. I found our Christmas tree at 90th South in Salt Lake four days before Christmas. We were so busy with finals and Megan's wedding, we thought we wouldn't find one. So when Riverdale Road failed us, I had no choice but to stuff a three foot tall tree in the back of Lauren's car and bring it home! Chase and Sean were in Arizona the weekend before Christmas to see the Cubs v. Cardinals game. My boy's first NFL game! And probably not the last. Next time, I get to go! Chase brought me home some of my favorite shirts for Christmas and (get ready) some olive oils and vinegars for cooking! Hello, classy man husband! They are so yummy!

I must add, having Christmas with a nephew around is just the bees knees. I just love Huddy. I have said it before and I will say it again; I really did not accurately predict how much love I would feel for my sister's child. I tear up if I think too hard about it. If this is an aunt's love, I can't imagine the love of a mother to her child.


These are the newest additions to the Bean side of the family at the Bean family Christmas party. The left most baby is Hudson (3.5 months), then Zandria (2 months), then Roman (4.5 months). On December 12th, Jake married Taylor, Zandria's mom! Congrats!

The week after Christmas we went to St. George for Dad's 50th birthday. He's old, yes, but he does not act old. He looks 40 and skies like he's 25. We stopped in Beaver (the new hot spot) and skied at Eagle Point, an old resort that reopened a few seasons ago. It's small, but really steep and zero crowd! We then headed to St. George where we cooked a fabulous birthday dinner and the old man blew out the candles. Then next day, Chase got to try out his road bike! There were a few issues to be addressed considering it was the maiden voyage, so my dad is getting the bike all tuned up for Chase!

For New Years Eve, Chase and I both worked (and holy cow it was worth it). We then watched the ball drop (PS I still never get a kick out of that... it really drops at 10 our time!) with Connie and Tony, and still had time to visit the Bennion's and their cutest little house party. So here it is, 2013.

Last year was a great year. We got closer to some of our goals and had a ton a fun. I am so excited for this coming year! A few things, among others, that will happen; I will graduate with my BS in Accounting from Weber State University. I am happy that I will graduate on time, considering I did a little transferring. I will start grad school too! I am going to do a Master of Taxation from Weber State. Chase and I want to take a trip, and larger trip than we have in a while, so we will see if that one pans out. Chase will continue with his undergraduate degree in Spanish, and pre-dental. We have a few things we want to improve on in our house, and even a couple things that we are determined to be perfect at! We have already started a new finance plan for the year, and it is going really well! I have a personal goal to listen to all of general and stake conferences, more than once (on my favorite app!) And little things; get to church on time (9am comes earlier and earlier every week!), read the lessons before hand, and get to know our ward better. I want to run more (vague, but true). I want to learn to love my husband better in the little ways. So many things to be better at, and gratefully, so much time to  improve. Happy New Year.