firpst annibersary.

well folks, we've arrived at our year mark. we are now experts on everything marriage. mahah.

first year accomplishments are as follows:

1. we've managed to create our own language that we use 84% of the time in speaking to each other. it scares other people, so we try and only use it in the confines of our own home.
2. we've gone from months and months sleeping on an air mattress to now sleeping on a normal bed like normal human beings.
3. we painted our table blue.
4. we've consumed more mcdonalds and wendy's than anyone should ever consume in a year's time. and as a result, i've become a bit more of a chubby chubberson and matt... well,... matt is the still the same.
5. we can read each other really well now. matt knows what it means for christine to be crabby and when she needs a backrub, and christine knows when he needs some relaxy time to program or just to talk about one of his new dreams/ ideas.
6. we've learned just how important it is to stay close, keep the Spirit, say sorry, and pick our battles. Satan works hard on this thing called marriage, but i'm afraid he's out of luck with us two.
7. prayer, scriptures, and fhe= success.
8. we've seen each other at our lowest lows. yipes. but that has just made us love each other harder.
9. saying "i love you" never gets old.
10. marriage is fragile-- so be sure to kiss a lot, slow dance, tell secrets, tell the other they're hot, and speak kindly and gently.


today has been a day like most others. we had a "family dance": this ritual consists of matt and i turning on our favorite tunes and dancing around the house. we turned on the song that was played at our reception one year ago today, "Sing With Me" by my matt. we held each other and slow danced. matt said, "let's be together forever, okay?"... i said, "sounds like a plan, stan".

we plan on going out to eat at our favorite italian restaurant later this evening: gloria's little italy. this place is heaven on earth. in our mouths. it's so good you almost (.... ALMOST) don't realize that with every bite of ravioli, you're getting poorer and poorer (we did the math one time... each ravioli with cheese is like $3 bucks... how wonderful).

here's a note i received from my sweet husband just minutes ago--

Dear Christine,

It’s hard to believe that an entire year has passed since we were sealed for time and all eternity. That day marks a turning point in our lives that leads directly to God and the eternal happiness He enjoys. You are the single greatest blessing of my life. My heart fills to the brim as I reflect on our experiences and the choices we have made during this last year that have brought us closer. You may not fully understand, due to the impossibility of expressing such a thing using words, what you are for me. You are my emotional support, my companion, my conduit through which I most often experience Heavenly Father’s love, my best friend, my soul mate, my rock… my sure.

We’ve spent one wonderful year together. It has been a year of learning and growing as we’ve communicated on deep levels and shared sacred experiences. The thought that this process will continue on throughout our lives and after brings great joy to my heart. I feel as though you are not merely the person with whom I share a deep connection, but rather that you are in fact a part of me; you are the best part of me.

I love you for who you are, for who you’ve chosen to be. I am humbled and honored that our Father saw fit to give me such a gift as you. He knows how to give His children good gifts, and He knows that you are the greatest gift that I could have ever been given, aside only from the Gift of His Son. I thank Him for you, especially as I reflect on the beautiful experiences we shared one year ago in His temple.

I can’t wait to share the rest of our lives together and continue down the path we have established for ourselves. Thank you for being my everything.

I love you. Forever.

-Matthew

i know i get to be with this wonderful person i call my husband for time and all eternity. i know it's possible through Jesus Christ. what a miracle. what a blessing.

new guilty pleasure= decorating.

i used to make fun of people who worried about what their home looked like. now look at me. i'm a mess. but i can't stop. it's oh so much fun.

leather chair: $50 on KSL (regularly $250)
foot stool: $10 at Ross

globe: $10 at D.I.
side table: $12 at Ross

Shelf: given to us by family; stain: $12

chair: given to us by family; paint-- $12
cushion for matt's bum: $6 at walmart

table and chairs: given to us by family; paint-- $12
vase and flower: $2 at D.I.

happy happenings.

it's 1:03 in the afternoon and matt and i still have bed-head. what does that tell you? man, i love fridays.

what's new?

-i'm growing out my bangs as of late so my hair is struggling something fierce. those "in-between" hair-styles are so special. wish me luck-- i'm worried i'll just get so frustrated that i'll cut them back again and then be back at square-one.

-matt and my skin is so pasty-white from staying in our cave (aka. apartment) pretty much all summer. so i'm finally caving and getting a tanning pass. seems silly because the SUN is free, but it must be done. drastic whiteness calls for drastic tanning.

-a few evenings ago we attended the OWL CITY CONCERT. was it incredible? yes. did it blow my mind? yes. was it incredibly stinky? yes.--so, we go downtown to "in the venue" for the concert and it was NOT air-conditioned. add 300 people to the mix and it starts to smell a little foul. stick those 300 people into an unfortunately small space and "foul" very quickly becomes "rank". but OWL CITY came out and all was well. i looked around during the concert and it was so cool to see everyone having such a wonderful time. music really unites people. i googled "Adam" (Owl City lead singer/ song-writer) on the drive home and discovered he struggles with aspergers disease. people who struggle with aspergers disease have intense difficulty in social situations. and here he is performing for hundreds of people, making us laugh, and helping us feel optimistic about life. he is NOT his disease. that is so inspiring to me.

-new game obsession: SKIP-BO. this game is part of the reason why we went to bed so late last night and have yet to really START the day today. it is so enjoyable. the best part is just sitting across from my EC. we are horrible competitors because we end up putting down cards that will help the other win.

-my current medication is treating me well. i'm on the off-brand for Zoloft (depression medication), and it really helps me to be who i want to be. it doesn't substitute personal effort by any means, but it gets me to the point where i don't feel like i have to climb a mountain, just a stair-case or two. i made the mistake of missing a few days last week. i sunk pretty low pretty quickly. and i started to get these "brain-zaps" which, from reading the withdrawal symptoms online, we found out is "normal" (haha).

-matt and i will be married for exactly one year in 5 days. 5 days. wow. it's been quite the ride. i never realized i could be so completely reliant on one individual. i need him always. without him, i feel like i'm missing a vital limb. maybe even two. he helps me enjoy this journey called life.

happy bird-day matthew.

so last thursday i surprised my sweet husband with a birthday weekend get-away to my grandparents' cabin. i'd been planning this celebration for over a month so i was so anxious to tell him. he was elated. he loves birthdays.

one of the most hilarious parts of the whole weekend was our pre-shopping trip. i told matt he could buy anything he wanted to eat for that weekend (and he likes to eat some pretty weird things folks). it was really good for me to relinquish all control.

matt was a kid in a candy-store. almost literally. he went up and down the isles, choosing the most sugary, fat-filled items you can imagine. we bought things we had never bought before and will probably never buy again in the future. but that's what birthdays are about, right?

...UP AT THE CABIN.

jordan and jessica + pierre and ashley + matt and a VERY scared christine = some fun ATVing action. we went on some ridiculous off-road trails. and by ridiculous i mean extremely dangerous. but it was good, good fun. we came back raunchy as ever with dirt in our teeth (cute) and matted hair. but it was more than worth it i would say.

matt and i played and sung together just like the olden days. it felt so good. his ability to play the exact notes i heard in my head was what first sparked my feelings for him. and, a year later, it still has the same affect.

BOHNANZA! this game has become a new family favorite. we taught Pierre, Jordan, and Jessica how to play, and now they too are obsessed. Pierre and i tied for last place. awesome.

ahhhh.... relaxation. it was so nice to just do nothing. we spent a few hours straight just talking about all sorts of interesting topics:
-what color are you? (the color code by dr. hartman)
-what stresses you out the most?
-what's your favorite cereal?
-if you had $10,000 that you HAD to spend within a few weeks, what would you do with it?

here's the bird-day boy. his "on-the-ball" wife forgot candles so we had him blow out one lowly match (if you can see it).

man, he's cuuuuuuuuuuuute.

looooooooooooook at those marshmallows! we found those guys at walmart and HAD to have them. they were divine, but oh so sticky.

there's the group. minus me of course. we so loved having everyone come up and celebrate matt's birthday. he felt really loved. and cj was a real sport for coming up to hang out with a group full of lovey-dovey couples. what a champion.


SUUUUUUUUUNDAY.
we did nothing besides stick pillows up our clothes (and go to church of course).

poor martha was trying to read while matt and i acted like 4 year olds. but it was too much fun.

something about today.

you know your day is off to a good start when you:

-wake up whenever you feel like it
-eat fruit popsicles for breakfast
-read scriptures while eating popsicles
-spend time really talking with Heavenly Father
-sit and daydream about future plans
-feel hopeful
-cuddle and spoon with your best friend
-shower at noon
-feel ok about your daily plan flying quickly out the window

exploring our planet.

so i babysat a ward members' baby today. little TUCKER. tucker is now walking and seeing the world from a completely new perspective. what an incredible thing to watch.

i took him outside. he was immediately drawn to the trees. he touched the branches and leaves, smiled and then looked at me. sitting on the ground, he dropped his head to eat the grass. he figured out pretty quickly that wasn't the best idea. i just observed him from a distance.

here i am, 24 years old,... trees and grass are kind of old news for me, and for most of us for that matter:) but to this miniature human being, who's lived on this planet just short of a year, everything is new. what an exciting way to live.

the scriptures tell us often to "become as a little child". meek, humble, submissive. yet maybe another characteristic children have that we could work on acquiring is the joy they find in exploration. little children get a kick out of things like grass, bugs, their hands, opening and closing things, etc., etc. maybe it wouldn't hurt to get excited about our everyday lives in a similar way.

it's like the youtube video: "everything's amazing and nobody's happy"
"oh really what happened next?...did you fly through the air incredibly like a bird... did you partake in the miracle of human flight?"
"everybody on every plane should just constantly be going--OH MY GOOOOOSH! WOW!"

we can learn a lot from those little kiddos. life can be just as new, just as exciting, just as adventurous.

how to be happy.

dear friends,

i've discovered the answer to being happy. or rather, GOOGLE has. with just a click of the mouse, one can find "about 105,000,000 results" for "how to be happy". wow,... that was easy.

think again.

if someone came up to you on the street and asked you, "are you happy?" what would be your honest response? my answer would be, "i'm workin' on it". i really am. my sweet husband matt would answer, "definitely, absolutely, for sure". i guess i wouldn't be as confident in answering that way. but i would like more than anything to be at that point. and that's the direction i'm headed in.

i know where the answer can be found without a question: THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. yet learning how to apply it and reapply it (because unfortunately mistakes are a part of that application process) is a bit tricky. my query, i guess, is learning to enjoy the ride. learning to be happy WHILE experiencing the "downs".

this quote from "Our Search for Happiness" offered some much needed direction:

Although “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25), this does not mean that our lives will be filled only with joy, “for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Ne. 2:11). Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume. Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last.

my "elements of happiness":
-hitting a note right on the head while singing
-matt's hairy chin/ whiskers
-driving. windows down. favorite tunes.
-feeling the Spirit warm my heart
-pure service
-finding the perfect talk or scripture
-being in the right place at the right time
-the MTC
-Gloria's Little Italy ravioli with cheese
-sitting and talking in the living room with family
-kisses from my matt
-a productive day
-sister time
-ITALIAN people
-thinking about travel
-quality time with marfa
-meaningful talks with the hubs

President Monson had the right idea: "...find joy in the journey". i think i'll just go ahead and do that.