..Christmas Miracles..

..in the spirit of the holidays I've decided to record my experiences on a day to day basis. and because it's that time of year I will call them "Christmas Miracles". I think if it was October I would call them "Halloween Miracles" and maybe if it were February I'd call them "Cupid Encounters". anyways these experiences range from this to that but overall help me to "remember the reason for the season", to "have an increase in faith", have "an attitude of gratitude", or to simply "find joy in the journey". hopefully I'll remember to do this everyday..but I hope to be able to look back and remember all the little blessings or tender mercies that I'm trying hard to recognize more often..

..Christmas Miracle 1: there is nothing better than your favorite treaty..

..during our black friday adventures today, Matt and I decided to get some ice cream from the local ColdStone's at the mall. during my childhood, teenage, and college years I rotated my ice cream choice between 2 flavors. banana ice cream with mini gummi bears or armaretto ice cream with brownies...so good. well, as of a few years ago armaretto ice cream (my number 1 favorite) was pulled from the options. with great sadness in my heart every time I've gone to ColdStone's I have always asked if they have some secretly stored in the back and of course the great let down of a response is "No. We no longer have that flavor." or "No. I've never even heard of that." depressing, I know. well tonight my dear friends a Christmas Miracle occurred. as we stepped in the doors and I gazed through the freezer window I found, to my surprise, a little label with the word "amaretto" printed on it. it was pure bliss. my long time number 1 favorite has returned! I'll be making a regular visit to the local ColdStone's for quite some time I'm sure. if you'd like to join me by all means please do. plus it's the season of giving, maybe I'll treat you to your own favorite treaty..

..oh halloween..

..HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!..

halloween was fun as always around our house.. this year Matt and I celebrated in our simple traditional way. we love halloween. you would never guess it but, we really do. we both hate dressing up-it's just not our thing but, we like carving pumpkins (and by we I mean I like carving pumpkins.) and had a blast at Amanda and Dan's at their "annual fall festival". we ate caramel apples (so yummy!), carved pumpkins, and played games. it was fun for all and is becoming a new family tradition..

..we decorated our house with some new purchases from the local hobby lobby-my new favorite store. it's like robert's and tai pan on steroids. love it. it's been all spooky-like with spiders and pumpkins for the last month. we'll now move onto the thanksgiving decor this week...and then CHRISTMAS. don't worry now that halloween has passed I can begin listening to christmas music and don't you dare leave a comment saying I'm crazy that I'm supposed to wait until after thanksgiving because I just won't do it..

..sadly we missed a halloween party with some dear friends in salt lake due to my place of employment. we spent another splendid evening at UVU watching young single adults toss their standards to the side and get their "groove" on. lucky us. honestly though we did get lucky. I was assigned to be the advisor in the theater for a hypnotist show so I didn't have to deal with any dirty dancing, stinky alcohol, or student who try to sneak in. all in all for me it wasn't to bad. expect for the whole not leaving the campus until 2:30 AM. that part was not fun..

..sunday was super fun though! growing up my mom would always make a big deal about holidays. like valentine's and balloons outside our bedroom doors, green eggs and ham for st. patricks, 4th of july picnics, sandwiches with orange bread for halloween dinner, and of course a month full of christmas crafts and treats. holidays with my mom are some of my fondest memories. so I decided that I want to create traditions of my own for our family so our kids will have memories like that. even though we don't have our own kids we still decided to have a "SPOOKTACULAR DINNER" which we plan to hold every year. we invited Dan and Amanda and ate vampire livers with brains and blood and guts, fresh weeds from frankenstein's garden, bones, and maggots for desert. in translation we had chicken parmesean over fettuccine with garden vegetable tomato sauce with salad and rolls shaped like bones. we had caramel puffed corn for desert (so addicting.) and we played a mean game of killer bunnies (which I openly hate but, secretly sometimes like...don't tell Matt).

..overall...it was a fun halloween weekend. I love the feeling of the holidays. everyone gets so excited. the creative juices get going. and you can't just help but smile..I can't wait for the upcoming holiday events..bring on the turkey!!..

...(gay) mormon guy...

..so a friend posted this link on facebook...

http://gaymormonguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/president-packers-talk-from-gay-mormon.html?spref=fb

..and seeings how this has been quite the topic lately i decided to check it out..you should check it out too..i'm glad i did..

..first of all, it gave me a perspective on sin in our lives and how general authorities in the LDS church address it that i didn't necessarily see before..

..second, it gave me a better understanding of the perspective of someone who struggles with same-sex attraction but who is very active in the church..

..third, it was a powerful spiritual boost..

..now i'm an active follower of his blog. his blog is about faith, the love of our Heavenly Father, and the importance of applying the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives..

..each of us struggles with sins that others don't. we need to be respectful of those around us and not shun them because their choices. i think it's admirable of anyone, regardless of the sin they are struggling with, to take a stand against the advisary and rely on the Lord to provide us with the strength we need overcome them. judging and being disrespectful to someone because they struggle with something and it just happens to be public knowledge isn't right. we each have secrets that we keep and who's to stay they aren't any worse? all i know is that i'm grateful for the example of the Savior and His love for all, clean or not. what a blessing it is to have the restored gospel in our lives..

..grown up purchase..

...do you see that??? that my friends is 5 washers full of laundry. 5. not to mention that fact that 2 of those washers were the rough n' tough, double capacity, gigantic washers! luckily i could put everything in at once to wash and then again to dry. honestly i would recommend the dryers i used to homeless people to use as shelter. they are HUGE. so needless to say that 2 hours and $17.50 later our laundry for the last month or so was done and matt was very excited to have clean under-roo's for the next day since he was on his last pair..
..because of my regular trip to the local laundry mat a few months ago we began a diligent quest of saving and searching for an affordable washer and dryer. we've gone back and forth between new or used and when we think we should make that big leap and buy them. i'm proud to say that we conquered our battle. tonight we went by the local homedepot to buy a couple nails for a project i'm doing and upon walking in we noticed this little beauty..
..please note the sign...and matt's incredibly cheesy excited face..

...in case you can't read it that little sign says the $699.00 washer is available for purchase (only until 10 pm) for $297.00..wicked sweet deal?? i think yes. with that said we are now the proud owners of a washer and dryer set. we were definitely in the right place at the right time. literally. now that mess up top will no longer occur. thank heavens..

...i must say though..i feel that the purchase of a washer and dryer is very grown up..my mom makes those types of purchases..not her baby girl..kind of crazy..

..the blessing of a baby..

..hello king family (minus dan)..

..it's amazing to me how much the gospel of Jesus

Christ blesses our lives. first and foremost families centered on Christ grow closer together. it's the most powerful foundation a family can be established on regardless of if you are me

mbers of the LDS church or not. Jesus Christ lives and provides us with the strength we need to overcome trials and hardships, provides us the hope weneed for the future, and blesses us with bonds and direction we need to grow and become our very best. i'm so thankful that the authority of God was restored to earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and is available to worthy men today. today our family was blessed because of that priesthood. today our adorable nephew seth hyrum was given a blessing promising him the strength and discipline he would need to overcome temptation and be an example to all he encounters through his life. it was a beautiful blessing. the day was full of the Spirit as we heard the testimonies of some sitting in the congregation. i love when someone bears their testimony of the Savior. it is always a powerful experience. plus at such a young age little seth has already brought about great miracles. because of his birth and his parents choice to have him blessed in the LDS church, his grandparents of course had to be there. because grandpa and grandma king came to visit, grandma king took advantage of the time she had in utah to visit with a family member who she hasn't seen for many many years. this family member was reunited with family she didn't know she had. it was so fun to get to know her and her family and plans have already been made to gather together again soon. so like i said seth has brought unity to a family. bonds that didn't exist before have been established and friendships have been created.

it's an exciting thing i'd say..

..we loved having our family in utah to visit. we had some much fun playing disc golf (which i gladly chose not to participate in), going to dinner, playing games, and of course picking on jared and emily..

..i love this picture. everyone in true fashion. i especially love jared's face..

..do i appreciate this picture? i'm not sure..

..i love my husband..

..uno yearo..

..one year ago today matt and i went on our first date. can you believe time has gone that fast? since that date a year ago we've been pretty much inseparable. i spent many late nights making that wonderfully boring commute from salt lake to provo. in celebration matt took me out on our first date again. an evening full of mini golf, cafe rio, a walk in the park, a little star gazing and of course a little hand holding action. except tonight we only got to the mini golf. we ate a late lunch and so we weren't hungry for the rio and we cruised through the golf course thanks to the byu football game. no one was around for miles. because we went through the course so quick and skipped dinner it wasn't dark enough to walk through the park flirting and looking at the stars. plus we have family in town for our nephew's baby blessing so we took advantage of our extra time and spent it with them..

..tomorrow we will celebrate our first kiss. i wonder what that'll entail?..

..matt's encounter with a set of zoobies..

..i'm not sure why but for whatever reason i can never seem to remember everything i need for the day. on a regular basis matt and i will start our way outside when i remember and blurt out "i don't have my ring!" (that would be my WEDDING ring) and matt says "it's in my pocket", turns around, pulls it out, puts in on my finger, kisses me quick, and says "i love you." and then we hurry off to here and there. we're typically running late because who would i be if i wasn't? lately though in addition to my ring i have this tendency to forget my phone and for those of you that know me i'm pretty much naked without my phone. i blame it on school starting. i have to much junk to remember to gather that my phone just isn't a priority anymore. remember when we used to not have cell phones? weird. anyways..on days like today when i don't have my cell phone my cute husband and i email back and forth. today i went to a meeting and came back to a series of messages. below is our conversation. i laughed. hope you enjoy...

message from matthew king:
So I am sitting here doing my math homework having to listen to some guy and
girl having a DTR. They met for lunch and took notes on what they were going
to talk about and everything. It is ridiculous. Haha. It's so dumb. What's
funny is is that they are in my LDS Marriage and Family class.

message from matthew king:
Now they are talking about the first time they kissed and this girl is
saying that she was prompted by the spirit to kiss this guy. This
conversation is ridiculous. Haha.

message from marissa king:
That's hilarious! Do they seem to be normal people? Or weirdos?

message from matthew king:
Weirdos for sure.

message from marissa king:
That's what you get for going to BYU.

..i'd have to throw this little couple into the zoobie category and for the record ZOOBIES do exsist. BYU has even confirmed it. check out this article. i personally enjoy this definition provided by urban dictionary when the term "zoobie" was googled-

"A zoobie is a term for a certain genre of people who attend BYU. The term evolved from the word zoo, which was a common nickname for the university in the 80's. Possible explanations for this nickname may include the chaotic, often carnival-like atmosphere of raging hormones and desperate hunting for mates.
A zoobie is the quintessential BYU student. A zoobie is just a member of the flock of sheep. Zoobies don't think for themselves, they are the oblivious morons who roam BYU campus in droves.
You can't tell a zoobie by appearance only, although there is certainly a stereotyped look. Preppy sweater boys and plastic girls are often associated with zoobiehood."