Thoughts:

I'm singing Star of the East in Sacrament Meeting today.

I don't know if you've ever heard it, but it's a beautiful song about how the star is a symbol of our being able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. I love it. I really think it encompasses the spirit and meaning of Christmas.

I'm also singing Breath of Heaven with one of my best friends in Relief Society. I'd never heard it before last night in our quiet little apartment with my wonderful husband playing the keyboard. I got to the chorus and couldn't help but cry.

The song is written from Mary's point of view. She talks about how she's traveling with the Son of God in her womb. It shows that she feels inadequate and knows this task is beyond her own personal capacity. That's where the chorus comes in:

Breath of Heaven, keep me together.

Be forever with me, Breath of Heaven.

Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness.

Give unto me your holiness, for You are holy.

Breath of Heaven.

Can you imagine?

The first time I sang: Breath of Heaven, keep me together

it reminded me of my own mother. She is the strongest most amazing woman I have ever known.

And I know more than once, us kids drove her past the point of discouragement.

She was entrusted with six of Heavenly Father's children and I know for fact that she has pleaded with Him to "keep her together."

I gain a lot of strength from her example and I hope that someday I can teach my children, as I was taught by my mother. She lives each day as a woman of God.

She is wonderful.

And I'm sure she's been a Breath of Heaven to more people than just me.

Because she relies on the ultimate source of strength.

I love her.

Update-by-number

 1 phone call from eHarbor offering me the job!

6 days off for Thanksgiving break

2 adorable neices who spent

17 hours in the car with us so the other

4 Becks could come with us

10,000 wipes used to clean up Baylee & Elisha during the trip

 2 turkey trots in the gorgeous Queen Creek sunshine

.93 miles walked [briskly] by Adrienne and I for

20 minutes of wonderful conversation

35+ family members who made

1 delicious thanksgiving dinner

1 amazing husband who woke up with me at

4:30 in the morning to buy

14 movies and

2 sweaters for family pictures at the Black Friday sales.

1 barn dance

2 new swing moves

3 cups of hot cocoa

2 hours of dancing

1 kiss on the lips from Pop

274 kisses from the amazing husband and
2 bahama bucks snow cones with creme to make me feel better after
4 tylenol gel caps and


1 meltdown
20 fake oreos

2 boxes of graham crackers

2 fruit punch squeez-its

1 holiday popcorn tin and

0 car problems[!] see here [except for

1 broken cigarette lighter which meant

0 movies for the girls in the car] and

10 "you can do it" texts from mom
makes for
1 amazing Thanksgiving break

Update on the Job

Hello!
No word for sure yet on the job. I did receive an e-mail from them yesterday that said they hadn't come to a decision yet, but that they would be in contact with me shortly. They're in the process of moving offices, so I'm sure things are crazy over there. I'm just happy it's not a "no!"
I'll keep you posted. :)
-Kristin

p.s. in other news, we are officially less than a month away from graduation!
p.p.s. we get the key to our new ADORABLE place on Monday. :) woo hoo! (For those of you who didn't know we were moving...I promise there will be a very detailed post with pictures etc. I apologize if you didn't know this already-we wanted to keep it on the DL so people in our ward wouldn't shun us.)

A Christmas Tradition from Grandma

Job Interview!

This page was made using Flutter Expressions' new kit Orange Peel.

You can get it at Elemental Scraps

It came out about a month ago and is mainly orange [duh!]

but I couldn't get enough of these fabulous greys!

And I am a FIRM believer in the idea that just because you don't have a picture for it, doesn't mean you shouldn't scrap the story. It's all about recording things! [and it's all the better if you make them cute recorded things. :)]

Gettin' Down on the Farm.

a little ditty for the 2009 album. These pictures are from [gasp!] June.

Just getting around to it now.

I feel a premature New Year's Resolution coming on...

I used the kit Bold n' Dirty from Flutter Expressions.

SO CUTE!

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

Well hello world!

The semester is d...r...a...g...g...i...n...g on and at some points feels like it's never going to end, but we have sure been having a lot of fun in the meantime!

We went as EFY counselors for Halloween [pictures later]. Had a total blast at our ward halloween date and spent actual Halloween night taking our super cute nieces trick or treating while their pretty momma stayed at home with her gorgeous new twin boys.

We've been waking up at 5:38 every morning and working out from 6 to 7. I go walking/jogging [yay for a balanced workout-instead of a work yourself until you want to die workout. it really is a new concept for me...non-competitive athletics...sheesh] with a couple of awesome girls from the Relief Society and Cam either goes running for his marathon, does a p90x workout or lifts at the gym with another guy from the ward. The best part is, we get home at 7 and have at least an hour together before we have to leave for the day. It's been amazing. We make muffins :) or put dinner in the crock pot together, have breakfast together, read, talk, whatever.

For those of you who know me at.all. I really am not a morning person. Normally, my first thought when the alarm goes off is "I can't go back to sleep for another [x] hours...ugh" and then I justify the fated 15 minutes that puts my day in a downward spiral of trying to stay on top of everything.

This extra time with Cam, though, is a huge motivator for me. I look forward to waking up. [you can pick your jaw up off the floor now, mom]. For years and years my mom tried to convince me that my day would be so much better if I just gave myself an un-rushed morning, turns out she's right about yet another thing. Isn't the woman brilliant? Seems like the older I get, the more that happens. :)

Either way, Cam really does bring out the best in me. :) and I love him. The changes that happen after getting married [gradual as they may be] really are wonderful.

I now:

1. look forward to waking up
2. absolutely LOVE staying in a budget
3. can live without my cell phone surgically attached to my body
4. can live with a super simple cell phone with no bells and whistles
5. hang up my towels after I shower [this one is still a work in progress]
6. rinse off my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher [again, a work in progress]
7. read my scriptures every single night, personally and together
8. and attend the temple with the most handsome man EVER each week

:) What has your spouse done for you?