Mac n' Cheese

I love the title of this post. Mac n' Cheese is my family's nick name for Mike and Chelsea. I don't know why, but I think it is adorable. The title also serves as a warning, this post may include lots of cheese. ;) I have been thinking a lot lately about doing this, and I feel like now is as better time as ever to record my thoughts. So, here we go.

What I love about Michael Keith Jenkins:

I love that we commonly share thoughts and ideas, often without saying a word. Ever since we quoted the same movie line simultaneously during an awkward silence, I knew he was someone I could get along with very well.

I love that he is just as much of a goof as I am. Even in my CRAZIEST times, he still manages to keep up.

I love that he is a perfectionist. And he still loves me, despite my imperfections.

I love that he is very agreeable to everyone. I can only think of one or two people that Mike really clashes with, and even then he still manages to be perfectly civil with them.

I love his drama. Oh, I love his drama. It cracks me up. I love how everytime he tells a story I can tell exactly who is in the story by the tone of his voice as he does his best to mimic theirs, without really trying or even noticing.

I love his voice. Even though it took me 5 months to finally hear him actually perform, I LOVE listening to him as we are driving in the car, singing in institute, or the time when I was overwhelmed and he held me in his arms and hummed "Be Still My Soul." (one of my favorite hymns. Even more so now.)

I love that he is a hopeless romantic.

I love that he loves chick flicks. And can still be an action movie fanatic at the same time.

I love his dreams. Talk about wild adventures.

I love watching him with kids, specifically his nieces and nephew Lilly, Tenison, and Aisley.

I love how never judges a book by the cover. He has a Christlike love for everyone he encounters.

I love watching him interact with my family. They love him! To illustrate the point, they always ask where Mike is whenever I come home to visit, before I even get so much as a, "Oh, hello!"

I love that he is a return missionary. Serving the Lord for two years was the best thing he could have ever done.

I love that he is a worthy priesthood holder. I cannot explain how powerful this is to me.

I love how much he cares and worries about me. When I was sick for a week, he never left my side, except to go to the store and get me a years supply of vitamin C, Niquil, and cough drops.

I love that he was the first man I kissed, and he gets to be the last.

I love him for being the kind of man I always dreamed of, but never really believed existed.

I love how he always hold my hand, rests his arm behind me, puts his hand on my knee while he is driving, etc....

I love that he tries so hard to be a good dancer. And his efforts pay off!

I love listening to him teach. He is super smart, and can probably come up with an answer to any question.

I love that he cannot surprise me or keep a secret from me to save his life. I also love that I can read his poker face like an open book.

I love his facial expressions.! I ALWAYS have a pretty good idea of what he thinking. I love his 'looks' that require no words.

I love his family. I look up to his siblings so much, especially Jenny and Michelle, the older sisters I never had. I love that they love me.

I love that he does and tries so many things to make me happy, and I love seeing how I have changed him. Country music, for example. :)

I love how he is so money-smart.

I love his respect for women, girls, and children. I love that he memorized the young women's theme a few years ago and can still quote it.

I love his spontaneity. I love that he thinks its great I laugh at his dumb jokes. He is right, I think he is hilarious.

I love how he thinks it is hot that I am in the army.

I love that he likes listening to me play the flute. And he even thinks I am pretty dang good.

I love that we can talk about anything in the world, or nothing at all.

I love that he picked out my ring by himself, and I absolutely LOVE IT. I seriously do not think I EVER could have picked one out for myself that I would love more.

I love that he treats me like a princess, loves me more than anything, and has promised the ultimate Happily Ever After: to take me to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity on August 17th, 2012.

To my girls

Oh heavens. I just came to scope out the blog to see if Kate had said anything about her Mr. ShmootzyPoo (can I say that Kate?? You do know that's a term of endearment for Tony/Andrew, right? Wait... can I have terms of endearment for other peoples' fellas??? Oh goodness. Moving on...) and realized, to my horror, that I never posted anything about Blake.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the epic-failer at keeping in touch and updating... (And the crowd goes wild.)

Oh bilge. Sorry girls! I did have some good phone chats though, (stickers for Kate's virtual star chart! Yay!) and thank goodness for that or we all would have woken up one day to find that I had a new last name!

Anyway, here's my apology and my thanks to you girls for being such gems to me now and forever. You girls are wonderful and I love you so much! I pray for your success and your happiness---the lyrics of Rascal Flatts' "My Wish" come to mind...

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,
But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold;
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.
But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.


All my love, girls--
Love, Your Partner in Crime and Red High Heels

Trevor

I am going to introduce a new character to the blog. The past week and a half have been pretty "red-like". I am starting to date this new guy Trevor Searle. He is a farmer from Burley, Idaho. Served his mission in Argentina, and he also attends the temple every Friday evening to help out in the endowment sessions. Needless to say, with those facts alone, he is pretty much everything that I am supposed to look for in a guy. We went on a date last Thursday and have hung out everynight since. Another date is set for Tuesday. I am determined to do this the right way because so much went wrong last year and I don't need a repeat. Just want to let you girls that I am, for the first time in a long time, truly happy. I feel like my old self. Trevor makes me want to be a better me. And yes, it is kinda early to tell but I think this could be something great if I let it be. I have recently realized that I can be quite hesitant when putting myself out there. I don't want to be vunerable and get hurt in the end. I also believe though, that God has a plan for all of us and these moments, whether they are red, yellow, purple or orange, come when the time is right and when we need them the most. How grateful I am for my Savior and the blessings and comfort he has given me these past hard months. I am seeing a path being open up to me and I am taking it, for good or bad. I love you girls and promise to keep you all updated. You three mean the world to me and are definately my angels. Love from Logan.

The Lights

So once upon a time, basically several weeks ago I went on a date with a guy I knew from up at school. Our initial plan fell through so due that he was kind enough to humor me we just picked up some food and went toward Bountiful to go find some up high place to look at the city lights. What a kind guy right?

Anyway we drove around and ended up finding a neat park near Centerville. We started playing on this park toy and I thought I saw something in the distance so we decided to go check it out. It turned out to be a trail, and in the spirit of curiosity we followed it. As we were climbing I found myself looking back toward the lights and quite a few times feeling so good about what I could see that I just wanted to stop where I was and enjoy it from there. The farther we climbed the more amazing the sight became, till we were at the top and I was very anxious to be there. When we turned and looked at the valley it was so gorgeous, and I was really grateful we hadn't stopped half way. While I was looking at it I realized it was a lot like the gospel and how we start out and get pretty excited and continue on for a while till we reach a point where we feel like what we have is so amazing and that it couldn't really get better. When we keep going and not become complacent but continue and endure we find that we get more and more amazing knowledge and understanding till we finally reach the top. And I'm sure we'll find that what we have is better than anything we've had before and we are so grateful that we didn't stop when we thought it couldn't get better.

I just wanted to share that with my girls, because I love you.

Shout-out to the Sisterhood

Okay girls. I know that "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven" and I have truly seen that coming to pass as Beth has been serving in Florida, but I have really been missing and needing my sister so badly the last little while. I am profoundly grateful for my dear roommates and for the three of you; you really are pillars of strength and sanity in my life. :)
Chelsea, I couldn't do this without your understanding and support.
Kate, your love-notes via text mean the world to me and seem to come when I need them the most.
Franny, your spiritual intuition and depth is truly a gift that blesses my life in ways you don't realize. I could go on with each of you, but let me just say from the bottom of a sincerely grateful heart, thank you.

Please, I know we're busy, but let's stay close. I need my sisters so much. I wish I could convey how much I love you. Thank you for your goodness and selfless service. Know that I think of you often and I'm praying for you in all you do. Let us go forward and not backward. Courage, sisters; and on, on to the victory!

Your forever sister,
Annie

19 Reasons I love Chelsea Ann Clark!

Happy Birthday, Chelsea! Here are 19 reasons why I love you, (in no particular order)...

1. She's always the voice of reason I need gently encouraging me to calm down, chill out, lighten up, hang loose, run free, or be wild, depending on what the situation warrants.
2. She knows the benefits of angrily snarfing down carrots.
3. Chelsea is truly a gifted listener. I feel like she intuitively knows when to listen, when to advise, when to lighten the mood, and when to just sit and cry along with me.
4. I love Chelsea's facial expressions- they never fail to elicit a "wheezer" laugh out of me.
5. I always appreciated Chelsea's willingness to lead out with me in the flute section in band. She knows how to lead and how to follow; the truest and finest leader can do both.
6. Chelsea is a person who embraces challenges. That is so amazing to me! Chelsea has been a shining example to me that you should never shy away from something just because there's a chance you might fail. You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
7. I will always revere Chelsea for having gone through basic training. What an example of strength and willpower!
8. Chelsea has a way of gently quieting the rebellious, angry, defiant part of me that sometimes rears its head when I let it.
9. Having been the youngest, I love watching Chelsea be the "cool big sister." People who aren't the youngest don't ever really understand how big of a deal that is.
10. Chelsea knows who she is, and her actions reflect that.
11. She can relate to all the reasons I love Mr. Wayman, when so many other people wouldn't see passed the strictness or the intimidation factor.
12. She understands why I love Bulgy the Whale.
13. She's a red-high-heel struttin', combat-boot wearin', flip-flop chillin', wake-up-at-five-thirty-in-my-tennis-shoes runnin' kind of girl. :)
14. Chelsea dares to dream. And she doesn't just watch them float by in her mind. She has the grit and spunk to realize her dreams.
15. She knows how to be boy-crazy, and how to be a man-hater. (Or maybe I should say she knows how to be man-crazy, and how to be a boy-hater...) :D
16. She has a testimony that is shared in the way she lives and treats other people. I heard a quote in seminary once that I feel like applies to all three of you: "You may be the only scriptures a person you meet ever reads." You live your lives in ways that others see the light of the gospel through you.
17. Her positivity. What a gift she has developed! Who doesn't ever feel better after being around Chelsea??
18. I love her similarities to her mom. It makes me smile. :)
19. Chelsea Ann Clark, I love who I am because of knowing you. Thank you for the impact you have had on my life!

Here's to you and the last 19 years, Chelsea! The best is yet to be!
I can speak for all of us in saying that we love you!

Happy Birthday!!

Life is a Many Splendored Thing

Isn't that the truth? Life is truly wonderful. We're so blessed, girls!
I don't really know why I'm posting. I just got on to see updates from you girls (exciting, wonderful things happening, by the way!) and I just wanted to write, so I am. Feel free to quit reading if you'd like. :)

May I just say how wonderful Conference was?? My favorite session hands-down was Saturday morning. Elder Holland's talk embodied so much the love that heavenly Father has for us. The pure, complete, unconditional love I felt was overwhelming and humbling and so healing for a mortal soul in a mortal world! The grace and mercy of heavenly Father is truly a miraculous gift. We have so much to be thankful for.

I also noticed a huge overlying theme of "trust the prophet, he is called of God, obey his counsel, do not let pride rob you of faith"... Did anyone else feel that way? I couldn't BELIEVE that two of the brethren quoted from the SAME talk by President Benson! Talk about inspiration! We really must need to hear that, and have increased faith in, and obedience to, the words of the prophet. Time to express more gratitude. :) I'm very interested to see what happens in the next 6 months. We're living in the last days and things are heating up in this world at breakneck speed. What a privilege to be able to live here and now at a time when we can use our AGENCY to strengthen Zion and be a soldier in the army of the Lord! "Who's on the Lord's side, who?? NOW IS THE TIME TO SHOW!" :)

There are a million more things I'd like to talk about with Conference, but I'll wrap up this post for now. I'm so grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel! Sometimes I feel so confused about life--can you imagine what it'd be like without the gospel?! What a blessing in our lives!

Well girls, thanks for listening. I hope Conference blessed you with a peace and with the knowledge that "we're doing better than we think we are, but we CAN be doing better." (Julie Beck said that in my regional stake conference a few weeks ago.) Pick a goal from conference and let's go for it. Courage girls, and on, on to the victory! :) I love you three so much!