happy like Jesus

I got thinking the other day on the past 5 years of my life.  I have gone on quite the journey & learned a few lessons more than i really wanted/needed to.  

A few years ago i decided "I knew" what would & wouldn't bring true happiness.  I decided i didn't need any guidance in my life & i honestly thought i could make it through this life all on my own.

BOY... was i wrong!

i had hit rock bottom.

this is when my hardest, toughest, emotional soul searching adventure began.  

this is when i finally realized that life is too hard to do alone.

I need Christ.

I need Heavenly Father.

I need Family.

I need Prayer & Scripture.

I need the light in my life.

as i began to take my little baby steps back in the right direction, i started noticing little blessings along the way. (little is a HUGE understatement) 

i became grateful.

I became genuine.

I became tender hearted.

It became easier to smile.

I no longer felt a burden... instead it was replaced with joy.

I felt true love from the Savior.

Now Today... I know that my Redeemer lives.  I know that he truly loves me & that he hears me.  I know that Heavenly Father & Christ are rooting for us.  They are on the sidelines pushing us just a little further.  I know that life can be very hard sometimes, however I know that Christ is right that to grab your hand & start the journey back.  I know that He knows each and everyone of us individually.  I know he knows my needs, wants, concerns.  

I see people in this world today that are aching, hurting, and that are just plain lost.  It breaks my heart because i know where they are at.  I know the anger, tears, frustration... i also know the tears of joy, happiness, & true peace waiting at the end of the long journey.  

This time of the year especially, I am SO thankful for this gospel.  I am so thankful for the Temples & the beauty, peace, & love you feel inside.  I am so grateful for forgiveness/repentance. I am so grateful that we all had a Savior that was willing to do what he did.  I love Jesus Christ & Heavenly Father with my whole heart & soul! 

marriage

Today Chase & I have been married 5 months!
WOOOOOOO!

I have learned & grown a whole lot since i've been a married lady.

I have learned that ...

• going to bed at 8:30-9ish isn't so bad
• matching up 2 student/working schedules is pretty impossible
• having just 1 car is completely doable
• laundry really is relaxing
• when you pay for things yourself,  you appreciate them a lot more

I could go on all day with this list...

but most important thing i have learned is....

{the Simplicity of life brings me the most joy}

waking up to Chase, the love of my life is the best feeling ever.

Working a long shift & knowing that I get to come home to Chase.

Counting down the hours until Chase gets home from school/work, just so I can give him a hug.  

Doing fun, little sweet things for my wonderful husband, & the joy that comes with it. 

Family is crucial, and everything in this life. 

Each day i fall more and more in love with Chase Nathan Adams.  I learn more and more about him each day, more things to love! He is truly the most gracious, patient, kind hearted, Christ-like, loyal man I have ever met.  I am so glad He decided to marry me... 

ME? i'm not sure how I got so lucky, but i am sure glad that i did! 

Being married is the greatest thing in this world!  I want all my single friends to get married, so they can truly know how amazing it is! 

ah, he's such a sweet boy! 

{christmas delights...}

Christmas is RIGHT around the corner! I am getting oh so excited for it too, just ask Chase! ha ha 


My top 10 favorite things about this time of the year are:


1. The music of the holidays- i love the timeless, classic tunes & also GLEE! 


Michael Buble's new christmas album get 5 stars from me, I highly suggest it! 

Listen for yourselves & get an insight to the wonderful album...


2. Baking 
  I love to bake-- baking is very fun & soothing for me.  I enjoy especially cookies & cupcakes due to the decorating & making them look perfect for the occasion.  I truly do love trying new things as well.  I made some sugar cookies today with a whipped cream cheese frosting & used my little scooper to frost them to give them a unique look.  I love the way they turned out! 

3. Zoey


Zoey has thee cutest santa baby dress & i just found thee perfect santa slippers to keep her paws warm! she isn't sure about them yet, however she will love them soon.. i just know it!! Zoey is the sweetest, cuddle bug there ever was.  She is like a little baby who never grows or cries! love her!

4. The wonderful Christ-like attributes of people.
I wish it were Christmas every day of the year due to how kind people become.  I don't understand why they can't be optimistic & cheerful & giving all year long!  The world would be a much better place, however I enjoy the 2-3 months we get of it anyway.  I love all the smiles that stretch from ear to ear, & all the generosity to those in need.  You can feel the love spread in the air. 


5. Hazelnut Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
Nothing gets better than this.  Drinking that delicious drink & feeling it literally warm your soul as it goes in your mouth.  BEST invention ever! 


6. Christmas Decor-  
I love the garland, the trees, wreaths, bows, lights, snow men, ornaments, welcome mats, candles... need i go on?? 
I LOVE it all!  I love walking into my parents house, seeing the lit up railing with pine & white lights.  Seeing the multiple trees.  To me Christmas trees are mesmerizing.. GORGEOUS, beautiful & gracious. Seeing a tree lit with white lights & amazing precious ornaments is outstanding, i love it! I wish all trees looked like my mommies! 


7. Fall/Winter Coats & Trends
I love the cute clothing & layering for the cold seasons.  I love the look of a cute dress over tights/leggings & boots with a cute jacket on top!  I really want this cute coat off Glee... Unfortunately they don't sell it, it's a one of a kind.  Maybe i'll get my mom to make one... ;) 

8. Temple-
Something about the Temple surrounded by the pure snow... 
It is so peaceful & quite the sight.  It makes it more pure in my mind, i love it!
I love the Temple any day of the year, however it becomes very special with the snow covered mountains in the background.  I sure do love it!

9. Family
The Holidays are time for Families to get together even more!! 
I love being with all of my Families, reminiscing on all the good times, all the funny things you did as children. laughing, loving, & growing closer together... it's GREAT!


10. I love CHASE!
This will be our very first Christmas married!! ya hooo! ha ha Which means I get to decorate our cute little apartment with Chase, my best friend! I can't wait til i can say "Remember our very first Christmas together?" Ah i love that man so much! He is the best thing in my life! :) 

Christ Like Attributes

My Husband Chase is truly my Hero!!
He is always serving others & myself.
Chase has such a pure heart, i strive to be more like him each day.

Today after work, we went to the movies. . . at the end of the movie we were walking out of the theater & passed by a few kids in wheelchairs.  Chase could tell the mentors were short hands & asked if he could push one of the kids into the theater.  It was very touching & inspiring!

He is always looking out for others & is the most SELFLESS person I have ever met!
I am so lucky and grateful to have married such a wonderful man!
He has the true light of Christ and isn't afraid to share the gospel.

I love that about him!
He is extremely kind, loving, funny, charitable, without guile.  Everything i hope to be someday!
I love him more than words & can't wait to spend eternity with him!

Thank you Chase for everything!

I love you.

How did i get so lucky??

tough Love-

So, I have quite the question I truly need answered.

       Loving those who we don't see eye to eye with.

               How do I do it?

I am STUBBORN.  That is no secret!  I don't like to be wrong.  Then again... Who does??

I come from a STRONG LDS family and have been taught Respect, Integrity, and most importantly Gratitude. I am not used to people needing attention.  I am not used to people speaking freely and colorfully.  

I married into what I like to call, "A Double Family".  It has been really wonderful for me & at the same time a challenge.  I feel blessed to have twice the amount of in-laws, twice the amount of support, and double the fun.  I do love BIG families.  However, with twice the amount of people, there are more personalities & differences.  

One that has been on my mind all day is JESSA LOVE ADAMS-

I gained a sister-in-law my own age.  

      Jessa is a spunky fireball.  She knows what she wants, and she goes for it.  She is loud and speaks her mind freely.  She is a BEAUTY.   Never a dull moment with her. Jessa is an inspiration to people!  She has such an exciting outlook on life and isn't afraid of a challenge.  She doesn't let things in the past get in the way with the future. Very admirable & adventurous.

Those that know me, know that I am one to sit quietly in the back of a large crowd.  I am one who would rather listen than talk.  I am very conservative and held back.  I don't like change.  I don't deal with change very well. I get overwhelmed and almost a tad intimidated. 

  My solution to change is to shut down, 

                  bottle things up, and then explode when I can't take anymore. 

I shut down at a family reunion earlier this year and just pulled the extremely immature cold shoulder act.  I tried to create words, but it was like my mouth wouldn't let them out.  (due to my stubbornness)  I am still in the process of fixing things completely.  I am trying to love unconditionally as the Savior would.  I am trying to just forgive and forget. 

                                   I have learned to respect everybody no matter their outlook on life, choices, or feelings.  I have learned to let things go, to forgive... but maybe it is that i am still working on the forgetting thing.  I need to not hold people to such high standards, and love no matter what.  

I learned today that trying is not near good enough.  I need to quit trying & actually DO.  I need to be the cute, KIND, fun loving sister-in-law I want to be.  Someday I want my kiddos to love unconditionally, and not be judgemental. 

               How are they suppose to do that when i'm being stuck up and bratty and when I, myself  wont move on??

I don't want to be the rude, snooty, judgemental in law.  The one everyone dreads seeing at a family get together.

So starting today, I am letting things go, I am going to fix things up. I am going to start being the sister-in-law that she can hopefully feel comfortable going to if she ever needed something. I want her to feel comfortable to visit her brother, or to come over.  I want my kids to love their Auntie & look forward to seeing her. 

       I want to have the sweet sister-in-law relationship where I can take over pumpkin cupcakes with a "just because" note.  OR to be able to just shoot a text without feeling i'm overstepping my boundaries.

I love Jessa!  I love her sense of style.  I sometimes envy the gorgeous selection of her trendy clothes.  Her spontaneous personality.  Most of all, I love how close she and Chase are.  I love their relationship & would never want to do anything that would put a dent in that.  

    I've had a change of heart.  I love and care for you Jessa Love Adams.  I am sorry it has taken me sooo long to figure out how to deal with change, how to get over MYSELF & problems.  I hope that we someday will have a close relationship. Look on the bright side... you'd get pumpkin cupcakes! ;)

i feel pretty & witty & bright!

As many of you may know, I love Glee!
I love the music, I think Sue is hilarious...
anyways... i was watching re-runs yesterday and came across this episode.... & i LOVE this song!

I truly hate that in todays world that if we don't like something about ourselves... we cover it up instead of embracing it.

Be comfortable in your own skin!  Love who you are and your quirky attributes, they make you unique!

Have confidence & own your body.
Own your big nose, or your small boobs.
Learn to love your eye color, your small hands.
Be YOU!

library & studying

I came to the conclusion that i truly miss school.
I miss the homework & the education.
I miss having expectations & making flash cards to study for tests.
I miss staying up all night, the night before finals cramming.

I can't wait to get back into school, i'm sure my feelings will change but until then... i miss it!

I wish UVU had either a fashion design, interior design, or a really good pastry degree.  ...
but i guess i can settle for graphic arts!

I truly enjoy making little clips of things, and designing on computers... so hopefully it'll be wonderful!  3 semesters & i'll have my degree in it! I just need to stick to it as soon as i get going on it!



Anyways- Life had been crazy in the Adams home.
Chase works full time & school full time.
I work at Pier 1 & am looking for a night job to keep me occupied!
I love where life is at right now, we are so happy with what we have.

We do need to get better at taking more pictures of our fun adventurous nights!

....InspiRed.. **

I have been Inspired by a few people lately, well my whole life mostly.

o n e -
              My Mommy. As inspiration to most, but for me it was her baking/cooking/homemaking skills... I remember when i was a little girl, my mom would always have snacks on the table, and we would make cute little crafts.  we would paint, and cook, use sparkles and sprinkles... I always wanted to be just like her, have cute crafty things for my kiddos to do, bake fun delicious cupcakes with them.  I wanted to be the perfect housewife.

t w o -
            Rachel Ray-- So i may envy her for her amazing talents & abilities.  Watching her show and learning how to make fun easy summer meals, to making fun trendy & ridiculously cute decorations for the home.  I have her pots and pans and cookie sheets in hope that i'll be a cook with style & trend.

t h r e e -
             Martha Stewart~  I'll admit when i'm bored, you may find me reading Martha Stewarts magazine, catching up on the latest home decor & party foods.  I enjoy learning simple tricks to cooking & easy inexpensive ways to decorate for seasons.


I would love to be one who people go to for decorating advice, or simple, fun treats to make for a party.  I would love to own a little cupcake shop with adorable aprons & a big counter top.  I enjoy making messes as a i cook or do crafts, it's all part of the fun & creativity for me. ha ha

Maybe someday down the road i'll own my little dream bakery shop & if not. . .

 i'll be happy being the dream mom by decorating cookies, and mod podge-ing paper.

CUPCAKE WARS

Linda (Chase's grandmas sister) needed to make almost 200 cupcakes for a ward outing at the temple... We thought it would be fun to do a mini cupcake wars!
LeNan, Me, and Kathy against Karen and Linda... the two sisters.

It was such a blast!
My team decided to go with a lemon raspberry creme cupcake, peanut butter chocolate, & chocolate caramel crumbly.... ALL were so so SOOO delicious!

We cooked all day and they turned out so so wonderful!

 LeNan & Kathy making the crumbly ones

just finished frosting the raspberry 

 Raspberry Lemon Creme

Chocolate Peanut Butter 

All the men got to judge and taste ALL of them.

Such a great idea for a family party, or ward party!

cupcake wars... love it!

c.a.l.i.f.o.r.n.i.a

california.... where to even start?
maybe the fact that i came with some of my favorite people, or the fact that we are always laughing?

hmmm let's seeeeeee..... well let us start off by leaving at 4:30 AM. ha ha

Me & Chase

Bret & LeNan (chase's dad & mom)

Benny & Karen (chase's grandparents)

the 6 of us make a pretty funny traveling team.

we stayed a night in Virgina City... at what Karen referred to as the "Bate's Motel"

... now let me explain this wonderful motel.  I don't know if it was the random tissue stuck in the wall, the pink butterflys engraved in the tub or the doiley lace curtains up over the windows that made this so antique-ish. I was REALLY woken up when i got in the shower around 6.  I had it turned ALL the way to hot and let it "warm up" for a few mintues.  I then proceded to jump in and turn the shower head on... i wasn't aware that i had jumped under a power washer that was made for 7 year olds.  I managed to do a nice back bend while trying to get the pressure just right.  and to top it all of the hot water was more a luke warm temperature.  It was just delightful!

LeNan than managed to wake up the rest of the place by setting the car alarm off at 7 am.  ha ha classic!

i thought it was so much fun to enjoy the experience of staying in a old time motel the way people used to back in the day. 

we went on a train ride through the old town, and walked the beautiful old town.

Next stop... LAKE TAHOE!!!!

on the drive over we got on the subject of sneezing... it is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

Trogdor (Bret) wanted to prove this fact wrong and tried to sneeze with his eyes open.. haha this video was taken RIGHT AFTER he sneezed, and it is all of us laughing due to the fact that we were all so entertained over this matter. ha ha ha

 

LAKE TAHOE-

i love lake tahoe, i hadn't been back since i was a little girl.  i forgot how clear and STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS this lake was.  completely clear and huge!

We all then went out SAILING... yes i know what you are thinking... (wow i wish i could sail.)

it was absolutely incredilbe!  i could sail my whole life, it was pure bliss... the slight breeze blowing and the sun shining in your face as you sit and look out at the clearest bluest water ever.  i honestly thought i had died and gone to paradise. 

IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

this trip has been the cherry on top of a wonderful summer and we are only 3 days into it.

i'll write more about it when we get back to the grand ole... OREM utah! wooo hooo!

Later Gaters... i'm going to go have me some more fun!

FAMILY

Here we have a picture.... most recent of the whole family... minus zoey.

CHASE

I have to start out with my wonderful husband.

I feel so blessed to be married to such a sweet, talented guy.  Chase is seriously the funniest, smartest, most unselfish person I know.  

He is going to school at UVU to become a fancy business man. . ;)

He is such a sweet tender hearted lovable person. 

We most definitely live-laugh-& love together. 

 The first time we said I love you... September 29

 The night we got engaged. .. November 29

we tend to like the 29 for some odd reason

 BYU Basketball Game... GO JIMMER!

 Veil Colorado... (getting over the flu in this photo)

Colorado

MOMMY & BMOC

For those of you who don't know my parents... man, you are missing out.  These two are the most incredible people I have ever come across.  They are such kind hearted, sensible, charitable, giving, loving, just totally awesome all around.  They are also a complete ball!! If you have spent a few hours with them, you will know how truly great they are, and how seriously funny they can be!

 BMOC (Big Man on Campus) & my BEAUTIFUL MOM

KYOUNG-LEE

KyoungEEE is my awesome sister from Korea!  She is SOOOOO funny!!! Kyoung just radiates happiness, joy, and love!  I love spending time with my Kyoung-LEE.  Kyoung is going back to Korea soon for her sisters wedding. I'm going to miss her like nuts while she is away.  It was so nice to have her at my wedding, since the other two dilly dongs were out of the state... THEY HAD GREAT REASONS might I add. ha ha  Kyoung is the life of the party!! WOOT WOOT!

AMANDA

Amanda is finishing up her LDS Mission right now over in Hawaii. She is a go getter when it comes to life and living it.  She graduated from BYU before she left and plans to attend PA school when she returns.  She holds the brains in the family.  Amanda loves to laugh, do weird dance moves, and occasionally go running.  She loves to try new foods.  She gets home December.... where does time go???

I feel like she just left, but it'll be nice for her to come home.  I can't wait for her to meet Chase!!

MADELAINE

Madelaine is also serving a mission, over in New York.  She right now is serving in the Hamptons. ... (i know what you are thinking, why didn't i go on a mission?? ... with the odds of it, i would've been sent somewhere nice....hawaii... new york...  haha but no being married is the best thing i have ever done.)  Madelaine is the living of a dream type of girl.  She knows what she wants and nothing will get in her way to accomplish her goals.  She is a crack up of the family... some of her comments are too good to be true.

Sisters are always great... naaa, i shouldn't say always.  Everyone that has a sister knows that sometimes they don't seem to be THAT great... but i LOVE my sisters.

They are both complete goofballs, and that is why we are family.  We've been through our ups and downs, and we have fought over the clothes, make up, and other silly things.  However, in the end, we are always there for each other.  Always have been... and ALWAYS will be. 

HOWIE HO HO

Howard (John) holds a very special place in my heart... He was always my best friend.  We used to laugh together when we were little over the dumbest things.  We used to play at recess together back when i was in 6th grade and he was in Kindergarten.  He's not so little anymore.  He is now a grown man it feels like.  He is still the same little howie ho ho though.  We have sweet adventures together.  Howard knows how to crack me up even if i am truly upset.  I love him so so so so so much!  He is THEE best brother i could've ever asked for. 

ZOEY JANE

Zoey is the greatest little sissy of all times.  She is the baby of the family and she does get pampered and spoiled at times.  She brings so so so much joy to everyone!  Now that i'm married, Chase and I have to make trips over to my parents house just to see her.  :) 

Zoey rocking out on the piano

Celebrating Daddio's Birthday

Christmas 2010

Sleeping on my mom... (my mom will kill me for this picture)

We might not have it all together.... but together we have it all.

i LOVE this picture of Kyoung & Howie... :)