...one year ago...

Look at this cute couple!! Who knew that 10 months and 5 days later they'd be married!?!

Funny story...I used to be a little embarrassed for people to see this picture because I thought people would make all the assumptions that they do anyway when they find out we served in the same mission..what assumptions you ask? That Elder King and Sister Neumann had the HOTTS for each other on the mission. WRONG. We were very good and very obedient missionaries and good friends but that is it. Now we're REALLY good friends..and shame on you for thinking something dirty.

Matt came home from his mission a year ago today!
Weird huh? Sometimes I feel like it was all a dream. Other times it feels like it was yesterday and other days it feels like it was FOREVER ago. I remember this day quite well. I can remember Matt standing in front 180 missionaries bearing his testimony of the love he has for the Savior. His friendship and example helped me a lot through my mission. He was a very humble, obedient, and faithful missionary.

I loved that Matt and I served in the same mission. It's one of the things I am grateful for. My mission was such a sacred experience and sometimes it can be hard to describe. But when Matt and I talk about our missions he knows exactly what I am talking about. He understands the things we did, the way we did them, what was expected of us, and the people that were involved. Its a unique connection that we have and I love it.

I may be biased but Matt was an outstanding missionary. He was hard working, obedient, humble, charitable, and diligent. It's amazing that I had the chance to see him completely immersed in the Lord's work. It's such a blessing to me. I saw him grow and change in the ways that mission changes you. I saw him become the man that he his today. A lot of the things Matt learned on his mission are an active part of everything he does on a daily basis.

Matt loved his mission and it means everything to him (minus how much he loves me!). I am grateful he chose to serve a mission. I am grateful that he listened to the promptings he received and waited for me. I am grateful that even though I loved being Sister Neumann I couldn't be happier being Sister King.

..such a cute little missionary..

...saturday is a special day...

I love Saturdays!! Last Saturday was the first Saturday in I don't know how long that we didn't have anything specifically we needed to do or somewhere we had to be. It was AMAZING!!!

In celebration of this I decided to start on a project that I've been wanting to do for some time now. When Matt and I first got engaged we had several friends so kindly donate various items to our new family. One of these generous gifts came from the Stones! They gave us (along with several other things we love) a dresser. They got it when they first got married and Chelsea said that she wanted to re-finish it but never had the chance. With that said she gave me the idea for my project! We bought some paint, sand paper, some new knobs and handles, and VOILA! (that's french for "that's wicked sweet!")

..this is how they started..
Oh I forgot to tell you!!! The same Saturday morning at 8:00 am (mind you this was the first day in FOREVER that we had to sleep in) we woke up to a small child POUNDING on our bedroom window. After I recovered from my heart attack I went on a quest to find out where this child came from. Don't worry some of women that live in our complex decided to have a yard sale on the patch of grass outside our apartment. Lucky us...
Seeings how I was now wide awake I decided to scope it out and find that little treasure that now sits on the side of our bed...they were asking for $20 for that and a coffee table..guess how much I haggled it down to...$7...BOOYAH!


..ever heard of primer? apparently it makes all the difference. thank you helpful paint man from Lowe's..

..da da da!!! here it is..our new cute dresser and end table set! it's not the best picture but its super cute in person..THANK YOU STONE FAMILY and LITTLE BOY THAT WOKE ME UP..

...party across the USA...

Don't I make a cute country girl?? Haha! I mean kissing in front of a barn is definitely my look right?

Matt and I spent the last few days in Tennessee celebrating our wedding and spending time with family. It's been so much fun to visit!


As you can tell this reception was a little bit more relaxed and casual. And there was a very apparent theme. Can you guess what it was?? M&M's!!! Apparently our initials are quite catchy and easy to work with. Matt's mom has spent months collecting different M&M dispensers and other knick knacks to make our reception complete. She's become very familiar with eBay! She did an amazing job!! We're so grateful for all she did for us to make it fun!

Below is a picture of some of our family in Tennessee. From left to right we have Grandpa Cecil, Grandma Evelyn, my HOTT husband, ME, Emily-Matt's sister who loves to remind me that she's 11 years younger than I am but obviously taller, Carla-Matt's Mom, Tim-Matt's Dad, and Jared-Matt's younger brother. We have a lot of family out here that we love!!










To top the night off we had performances by a live band..the M&M'S! Very clever I must say.


To say the least we enjoyed ourselves and had a ton of fun!
OH! And Matt didn't push me on the floor this time when it came to the cake...I ran away inside...stupid short little legs didn't get me far though..

hApPy BiRtHdAy MATT!!!

As noted below...this begins blog #2.

Today was Matt's birthday!! YAYA!! My little husband is growing up! (I would tell you how old he is but I don't want you to know how much of the cradle I robbed.)
In the King family we don't just have birthdays but we have birthday weekends/weeks (depending on what day it's on and how much effort I want to put forth) so we've been celebrating since saturday.
To start off Matt's birthday weekend we went out to lunch at Tucano's...so good..where I was very sneaky and got them to come out and sing to Matt. As I am sure you can imagine Matt wasn't incredibly thrilled about holding a tambourine while they basically yelled Portuguese words at him...but I liked it...I thought it was hilarious! After that we went to the dollar store where Matt picked out birthday hats, a banner, party favors, and wrapping paper for his presents...I am all about the surprises if you can't tell...Afterwards we came home, I wrapped his presents and he opened them a day early (he's very impatient when it comes to presents). It was so nice to just spend a Saturday together and we had a blast doing nothing but laugh.

...we're both very excited, if you couldn't tell...

Today in celebration of his REAL birthday day we had a small get together with Matt's sister and husband. We had cheesecake, cupcakes, and played games. It was fun and Matt was able to send them home with plastic rocket shooters and a puzzle after he had forced us all to wear birthday hats...I don't know if they'll come back...my only hope is the fact that I sent them home a bajillion cupcakes!

...i make a wicked awesome cupcake. cute huh??...

To say the least it's been a fun weekend and I couldn't be more grateful to have the husband that I do. He's everything to me. I am so happy I have him forever and that we have many more birthday weeks to celebrate together!!!

..sunday..sunday..sunday..

Let me begin this post by saying I have a lot to blog about today so I'm blogging twice...I would do just one but who really wants to read a SUPER long post..with that said..here is blog #1.

I love Sunday! It's always exactly what I need. A simple day of rest. No having to stress over school work, shopping-of any kind!, getting the car fixed, etc. etc. I get a whole day to do nothing except spend time with my husband, family, and friends. I love it.
I also love going to church. I'll be honest though I think my mission ruined me. Not in a bad by any means. My mission had played incredibly significant role in my life and has helped shape who I am and what my testimony is. But what I mean is this..as a missionary you pay CLOSE attention to everything that everyone says and does when you have investigators or recent converts around, ESPECIALLY at church. Why you ask? Mostly to have a heads up on why someone might take offense or be confused about what someone said or did. Honestly, members of the church can be kind of funny (that whole Mormon culture thing) but just like in any other place (not just church) you have your WEIRDOS that do or say things that you wonder about. So as a missionary you watch for those things and in a way protect those you're teaching. With that said I think my brain is wired to still keep close watch for things and people so while in church I notice some really funny things.

For example today in church the following things occurred or were mentioned....
...during Sacrament meeting someone bore their testimony on the power of Facebook....
...another talked about their feelings about sunshine...
...in Sunday school discussion took place about the intuition of animals, specifically the inspiration and revelation cats receive and demon seeing horses...
...PETA (not the deliciousness I love to eat but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)...

I must say I couldn't help but laugh. And to be fair although each of these things are a bit odd to discuss at church some POWERFUL testimonies of the love of our Savior were borne.
Honestly though isn't it amazing how people of all different backgrounds can come together and have a conviction to the same thing? I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it to be true and my testimony of the love of our Heavenly Father grows each day. What a blessing it is to have a day out every week to gather and partake of the Sacrament, to renew our covenants, and bear testimony of Jesus Christ. It's incredible to me.