Remembering our Savior at Christmas

"There is no better time than this very Christmas season for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus Christ. It is the time to love the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. This joyful season will bring to each of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree in which we have turned our minds, feelings and actions to the spirit of Christmas.

May this Christmas season be a time of prayers for peace, for the preservation of free principles, and for the protection of those who are far from us. Let it be a time of forgetting self and finding time for others. Let it be a time for discarding the meaningless and for stressing true values. Let it be a time of peace because we have found peace in His teachings.

We testify of the living reality of our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. He is indeed "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)."

- The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I only have a week left...

I can't believe it but I am only in DC for one more week. This Sunday I am loading up our car with all of our stuff, minus what Dan will need to survive for about two weeks, and heading out on part one of a three part move to Utah.

Last week was pretty much a wash for me as I had the cold from you know where. I am glad to say I'm feeling much better today and ready to take on this move!

Part one.

I am driving to my parent's in SC to spend five days with them and pick up the rest of Dan and I's belongings. My parents have been nice enough to let us use their garage as a storage unit.

Part two.

My dad and Caroline will accompany me on a four day drive across the country will all of our stuff to Arizona. We are going to stop by the grand canyon on the way. My dad and Carrie will fly home from AZ, and I will stay with Dan's parents for about a week and a half. Dan will fly in Thursday for Christmas but has to go back to DC on Monday :(.  I will hang out in AZ the week after Christmas and work. Then Dan comes back from DC for good on the 31st.

Part 3.

Dan and I drive our belongings up to Utah on Jan 2nd! I can't believe we have been gone for a whole year! We are excited to get back to Utah and be with friends and family.

This week will be full of working, packing, and trying to take in all of my fave parts of DC one last time! We have been so blessed to be here and I can't believe it's already time for me to say good bye!

Let my farewell DC week begin!

Oh Christmas Tree

Sometimes I find that the simplest things can spark some of my favorite memories and make me feel extremely sentimental. Sometimes those memories are completely unrelated, but they still come from the same simple thing. 

That simple thing at the moment is our wonderful Christmas Tree. 

 Some of you may look at this tree and think that it's not much to write home about but I completely disagree. I am obsessed with Christmas. There is not one part of it I don't like. I love the reason we celebrate, I love our Savior, I love giving gifts, I'll even admit I love getting gifts, I love singing carols, I love the James Island Festival of Lights, I love the family aspect, and I REALLY love Christmas decorations. 


I mean I REALLY love them. I CAN'T WAIT to deck my halls one day. However, that day is not quite here. 


Dan and I are moving a lot, I have packed our belongings so many times that I have even convinced myself it is not worth it to buy Christmas decorations, for the mere fact that I don't want another box to carry around. 


Last year, I did approve of buying lights and ornaments and going for a real tree. Which leads me to the first memory that our little tree this year reminds me of.


Our first tree was so fabulous. Maybe it was decorated with dollar ornaments from Wal-Mart but it was ours. I absolutely loved curling up in our first apartment together and plugging in our tree. 

Awww the memories. 


The BEST part of that memory is putting the tree up. We went and picked it out at the local tree lot then brought it home, which required Dan carrying it up the outside stairs covered in snow. Haha those of you who know Dan know he loved that. So then comes our attempt at putting the tree in its stand. I held the tree up while Dan crawled under it to tighten the little screw things. Well I got distracted looking out the window at the snow and kind of dropped the tree.....on Dan. Then I proceeded to laugh my behind off. Dan didn't find it that funny until a few minutes later. 


I LOVE that memory. How much better does a first Christmas tree story get than that?


It doesn't. 


I've looked everywhere for a picture of that darn tree and can't find it. But I have a mental picture that probably makes it look way better than it did in reality anyway. 


Ok now back to this year's tree. We are in DC right now in a 500 square foot apartment. There is not even room for a small fake table top tree. And I wouldn't get one b/c I don't want to haul it around with me. And I'm moving all of our stuff out west on December 11th. Not worth it. 

BUT I LOVE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ESPECIALLY TREES!


So I expressed my feelings (whined about it) to my bestie Kelly. What does she do? Brings me a tiny foam Christmas tree that fits on top of my TV and no one could complain about moving it around with them. It doesn't even weigh a pound. 

That's the kind of friend she is. 


This leads me to my second sentimental completely unrelated story. 


My friend Kelly. Not a specific story I guess, just how darn much I love my friend Kelly. She has given me more "Christmas Trees" in my lifetime than I can count. And by "Christmas Trees" I mean the perfect gift/advice/comfort/laughs at the perfect time. She knew how much I loved Christmas and knew how much I wanted a tree. She got me one. She found a solution. She ALWAYS does that! She is absolutely the best. Everyone needs a Kelly in their life. I love her and have NO IDEA where I would be without her. We have been through pretty much everything together and I don't really remember when she wasn't my best friend. 


HOLY SENTIMENTAL. Oh well I'm thankful for the girl...and my tree. And the perfect amount of holiday cheer it brings to my little basement apartment. 


I mentioned that Dan and I got into a car accident on our way home from Thanksgiving in SC. Well my beloved tree was thrown from the car during the accident. One of the people who stopped to help us came walking towards me with my slightly mangled, slightly dirty tree asking, "Is this your Christmas Tree?" I have never been so thankful to see a little foam tree from my best friend at that moment. A little bit of peace and comfort in a scary situation. 


HOW DOES SHE DO IT???


Ok so those are my two completely unrelated memories/stories that both come from my fabulous little Christmas Tree. I hope that everyone is finding joy in the small and simple things that I like to think of as tender mercies from the Lord during this holiday season.