I Stand for Motherhood, America, and Hot Lunch for Orphans...

But, right now I want to talk about motherhood.


So, at church I teach the young women. The Beehives specifically. And I love it with all my heart.


Today the lesson was about homemaking, but mostly I talked about motherhood, because that's what I felt like I ought to do. I kept preparing other things, but the same feeling kept coming; a feeling that said, "No, Karissa. You should talk about motherhood." So, that's what I did.


So, in essence, I've been thinking a lot about motherhood today.




In high school my friends and I used to send around those email questionaires that have all sorts of questions on them that your friends are suppose to answer about you and then send them back so you can see their answers. You know the ones. They'd ask things like "What is my favorite color?" or "What kind of ice cream would I be and why?"  I can truthfully say that I don't remember a single answer to any of those questions answered by any of my friends.


Except one.


The question was a simple one. It was, "What will I be when I grow up." My friend answered, "A Mommy!!" I thought it was a good answer. It wasn't one I would have ever thought to put down myself because I always thought of that question as being answered by some sort of career goal, but I thought it was a good answer because ever since I can remember I have wanted to have kids someday.


The thing that struck me though wasn't really the answer, though it was different than how I would have answered the question. It was what my friend sitting next to me, who was also reading the questionaire with me said. She said something along the lines of, "A mommy?! Why would he say that?! You could be SO much MORE."


I really couldn't put my finger on why, but that statement bothered me. I'm definately a firm believer in getting an education in any way you can and having career goals. Thinking back I know exactly what bothered me. It was that last sentence, "You could be so much more." It was like having kids was sort of just a side note in life. Something everyone did, but not nearly as important as other things. An afterthought.  It was the first experience that I can recall where I experienced the downplaying of the role of motherhood first hand and it obviously left quite an effect on me, seeing as I still remember it.


If I'm being completely honest I can't say that I'm one of those girls that has dreamt about being a mother since she was little and has always looked forward to it (not that it's a bad thing if you were like that, because it's totally not). I have always known I wanted to have kids, but beyond that I really didn't think much of it growing up. Truth be told I was actually sort of afraid of children growing up and all through high school and into college. I was hardly ever around them so I didn't know how to act around them and I didn't really understand them at all.


And then I got married. More specifically, I got married to Jayson, who happens to be one of those people that has dreamt about being a parent and had been looking forward to it for years and years. I also got exposed to more children because the Kim family is booming with little kiddos. I began to see the joy that they bring and everything changed. A few months into marriage and I discovered that all I wanted was to be a mom. I suppose you could say I got baby hungry, but honestly it was so much more than that. It was this crazy and magnificent change that came over me and I just knew it was my calling in life. It's what I wanted to devote my entire heart and soul to. I understood its importance and the role of happiness it brings. I finally understood that it really is one of the most important things I can do while on this earth.


Even after this change came over me I found that it was hard to admit that this is what I wanted. When I graduated from Utah State people would ask me what my plans were now that I had graduated. I would usually tell them random things I'd thought about doing with my degree. I'd tell them I'm planning on going back to school one day, but I was taking a break for now. Sometimes I would tell people I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to go to grad school in, so I need to figure that out first. All of those things are true, but the real truth was that I was taking a break because I wanted to start a family. I do have intentions of returning to school (more than taking one class at a time), but I have no intention of doing that any time soon, nor did I when I first graduated. I want to be able to give my future children my full attention, love, and devotion. That's what I want to do with my degree. I want to raise children. Maybe one day I'll have a career, but my primary goal is to be a mother. Not that being a working mom is bad, because I totally understand that some need to do it and they shouldn't feel bad about that. It's just that for me personally, if I can help it, I want to stay home with my kids. I want to give them my everything.


Why has it always been so hard for me to say that?


I guess it's because, as I learned so many years ago in high school, motherhood is not always thought of as an awesome thing. It's looked down on a lot and mothers are not given the credit they deserve. How many times have you heard someone tell another that she stays home with her kids and the reply they get is something like, "Oh, is that all?"


I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm taking a stand and that stand is for motherhood. I believe it's the most divine roll a woman can have. I know that not everyone will be mothers in this life, but motherhood is more than having children. Let me illustrate this point and every point I've ever wanted to make about motherhood with an excerpt from a talk called Are We Not All Mothers? by Sheri L Dew. I have bolded all of my favorite parts. I know this post is getting kind of lengthy, but I promise this will be worth it.


"Loving and leading—these words summarize not only the all-consuming work of the Father and the Son, but the essence of our labor, for our work is to help the Lord with His work. How, then, may we as Latter-day women of God best help the Lord with His work?

Prophets have repeatedly answered this question, as did the First Presidency six decades ago when they called motherhood “the highest, holiest service … assumed by mankind.”¹

Have you ever wondered why prophets have taught the doctrine of motherhood—and it is doctrine—again and again? I have. I have thought long and hard about the work of women of God. And I have wrestled with what the doctrine of motherhood means for all of us. This issue has driven me to my knees, to the scriptures, and to the temple—all of which teach an ennobling doctrine regarding our most crucial role as women. It is a doctrine about which we must be clear if we hope to stand “steadfast and immovable”² regarding the issues that swirl around our gender. For Satan has declared war on motherhood. He knows that those who rock the cradle can rock his earthly empire. And he knows that without righteous mothers loving and leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail.

When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”³—and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality,⁴ righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood.⁵ Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.

President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that “God planted within women something divine.”⁶ That something is the gift and the gifts of motherhood. Elder Matthew Cowley taught that “men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls … and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.”⁷

Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is “as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.”⁸"




Yea. That's the most beautiful talk I've ever read on motherhood. It sums up everything I feel about it. It's actually what inspired this entire blog post. It actually made me understand my feelings on motherhood. It puts into words what I've never been able to; that motherhood is in my being. It's my identity. It's built into me. It's my divine nature. That's what I discovered when that mysterious change came over me when I first got married. It had always been there, but being around children unlocked it and I've clung to it and loved it ever since.

I Stand for Motherhood.

And next time someone asks me why I'm not pursuing my career I'm going to tell them it's because my Plan A is to be a mom.

Fantastic February

I have to be honest, if I were listing my favorite months in order from my favorite to my least favorite February would be very near the bottom.

I promise, I don't hate February. I think it's a fine month. It's just not typically my very favorite.

But, it's definately growing on me. This year it has already been fantastic and it's only going to get more so.

Valentine's Day is coming up and Jayson is going to make me Buffalo Chicken pizza. He also seems to be up to some sort of surprise for me and I'm dying to know what it is. I also have a few surprises for him, but I won't write them here incase he happens to read this. He probably won't, but just in case.

Just three days after Valentine's Day Jayson turns 25! Twenty-five sounds so much older than 24. It sounds like an exciting age.

And then two days after that I'm going to have a new nephew.

And two days after that I'm going to have a new neice.

Have I told you how insanely excited I am to meet those two?! I think about it and all I can do is sit there and squeal with excitement. I love babies. Especially newborn babies. Especially ones that are my neices and nephews. Speaking of which, after the 21st I can officially say neices and nephews instead of just neice and nephews, which sounds dumb.

Also, since I've joined the Kim family February has become vacation month, which is quickly winning it A LOT of points on the favorite month scale. The Kims like to vacation in the winter because it's when business is slower (since like half of the men in the family work for Jayson's dad's business). I have decided that this is a fabulous tradition. I don't know why I haven't done more of this vacationing in the winter business. I mean, what better time to get out of the Salt Lake Area than the winter, right?

So, we decided to uphold this tradition this year by taking a little getaway to the far away land of St. George. Observe:

 I've bascially fallen in love with the St. George temple, inside and out. It's absolutely beautiful. Seriously, one of the prettiest I've ever been in.

 Also, did you know there were palm trees around it?! I had no idea. This made me really happy. Palm trees=warm=happy.

 See that very narrow passage way between two giant rocks? We're about to walk through it.

 You can see it better in this picture. We walked all the way through and came out where you see the light shining in.

 Does anyone else think my eyes look slightly anime-ish here? Yea, me too.

 And here's Jayson climbing through rocks.

 RAR! This totally looks edited. It's not.

Mostly though we just relaxed, had a good time being outside in the warmth, enjoyed each others company, and ate some really really good food. Because, what's a vacation without really good food, am I right?

We also visted my Grandma who lives down there. It's always nice to see her.

Also, Jayson's youngest sister lives in Cedar City because she's going to school out there and she happened to have a dance concer that weekend. We didn't go to it, but his mom and his other sister did and since they were down there we told them that they should come stay one night with us in St. George since our hotel had two bedrooms and a wall bed. So, all three of them came for a sleep over of sorts. The next afternoon we ate some more yummy food with them at the Pizza Factory. I HIGHLY recommend this place. SO tasty.

 Love these guys.

 Yea, those are breadsticks. Swirled on sticks. They were divine. I promise my face isn't on them, even though it looks like it in this picture.

This vacation was delightful and much needed. Jayson and I were both in a "need a break from regular life funk" and this vacation totally cured us of that.

But, it was very sad to leave. I'm always sad to leave vacation. Plus, who wouldn't be sad to leave when your hotel looked like this:

 Third floor balcony that gets lots of warm sunshine? Yes please. We spent a fair amount of time eating and reading out there.

And...now we're home and back to reality. Good thing we like that too and good thing we love our house. Otherwise we may have lived in that beautiful condo like hotel forever.

This and That With a Rattle a Tat

I have for you yet another update via bullet points.

Aren't bullet points the best?

• I'm a student again! Sort of. Actually I'm only taking one class. Wanna guess what it is? I bet you'll never guess.

It's interior design. Why, you might ask, am I taking an interior design class? Sometimes I ask myself the same question. In all reality I wanted to take an occupational therapy class to see if I liked the field, since I want to go to grad school one day (I think), but I can never decide exactly what subject to study. However, the occupational therapy classes that would fit in with my schedule were full, because I sort of decided to take a class last minute. As in like..three days before the semester started. By the time I figured out all of the classes were full I had already had my heart set on taking a class, so I looked through all of the subjects and I came across interior design. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got...so I just went for it. Truth be told though, I've always loved interior design. I remember going with my dad to look at houses when he was looking for a house and looking forward to it every time. When I was younger I loved going to Home Depot with him so I could look at all of those little kitchens they have set up as displays. I've always loved pouring over magazines with pictures of rooms inside. After working on our house so much I remembered how much I really loved it. Am I going to make a career out it? Mmmmm probably not. But I'm loving the class. I guess that's a great perk about being graduated....you get to go to school for fun if you want to, and I want to. Not that I didn't enjoy school before, but I cannot deny that it was incredibly stressful. Now I get to focus on just one class and cut pictures of pretty room and put them in notebooks. (Ok, really there's a lot more to it than that, but really, I look at these magazines for fun everytime I go to the store.)

• A lot of people have been inquiring as to why I don't have a dog yet. A big reason is that we still have yet to put a fence around our yard. Even so, I definitely think about having a dog a fair amount. I have narrowed it down to three types of dogs that I really really want. Observe:

The Lab. Labs, particularly of the black variety have a very dear place in my heart. Remember how they're my patronus? Yep. I've grown up with them. I've always had a special lab in my life, since the day I was born. They are some of the naughtiest puppies around, but the grow up to be the best dogs in the whole wide world. They're so friendly and usually pretty darn smart. So, why not just get one? Here's the thing. I kind of don't want to get a dog until I have kids and I'm a stay at home mom. I know that probably seems weird to a lot of you, but I just don't want to leave a dog home alone all day while I'm at work. Especially a puppy. ESPECIALLY a lab puppy. But, I just might change my mind someday. Because, well, I really want a dog. Life without a dog is sort of weird for me.

My second dilemma is that lab puppies really like to bite. It's in a very playful sort of way, but it really freaks little kids out sometimes, so if I don't get a dog until I have kids I don't really know if a lab puppy is the very best idea, as I don't want them biting and freaking out my kids. But, one day I will own a lab. You mark my words. It just might not be until I have kids and they're a little older.

The Great Dane. I have recently fallen completely in love with Danes. My sister in law has a Great Dane and we've watched him a couple of times while they've been out of town and I just adore him. What can I say...I guess I love big dogs. Also, I have a really big backyard, so I'm suppose to have a big dog. That's the rule.

They're calm, they're cuddly, they're adorable. Need I say more? This is probably Jayson's choice in dog. The biggest down side it that they only have a life expectancy of about 6-7 years. :(

The Newfoundland or Newfie. These guys are kind of a Dane and a Lab mixed together, so it's hard to go wrong. They're supposed to be amazing with kids, really smart, calm, and loving. They also don't have a super long life expectancy and...wow that's a lot of fur.

Have any of you ever had any of these types of dogs? Or mixes of them? Would you recommend them? I'm not the kind of person that really cares if their dog is a purebred.

Also, has anyone ever done allergy shots? Do they work? Are they wicked expensive? Jayson is slightly allergic to dogs. It's not a bad allergy, but enough so that it might be unpleasant for him to live with dogs. We have discovered though, that if a dog is bathed often he does ok, so hopefully we'll work something out.

Now that I've probably bored you with dog talk I'll move on to the next bullet.

• Jayson has decided that he wants to build furniture. Why? Because he's Jayson. He has a lot of crazy ambitions. He doesn't want to do it as a career, because he loves his chosen field, but more as a side job or a hobby of some sort. Yea, he's definately crazy. Do you know what though? His crazy ambitions are one of the things I love most about him. He's one of the few people I know who actually truly and completely believes that he can do anything. It's so refreshing. He's also been pouring over our cook books lately and trying some new recipes. I definately don't mind that. Yea. He works in demolition and loves to cook. Where did I get this guy?


• Jayson is also becoming a wiz at fixing cars. I love being married to a handyman.


• Life as of late feels....different? I can't really put my finger on it. Nothing has changed, but it feels different. In a good way. For years I've said that I feel like I'm 17 years old and that I'm just teenager pretending to be a grown up by doing grown up things. But lately I don't feel 17 anymore. I feel 24. And it's kind of bizarre. Over this past month I've felt more like an adult than I ever have before and I can't really figure out why. I've been doing adult type of things for years now. I've lived on my own, gone on vacations without my parents, got married, bought a house, etc. I really feel like Jayson and I are making our own lives now. Maybe it's because we now live in a more permanent place. I think I've just sort of felt like a drifter since I graduated high school and now I feel firmly planted. It's a great feeling, actually. It sounds a lot more boring than drifting, but I'm actually pretty fond of boring things.


• All in all life is actually really great. Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like you have a new zest for life? I've felt like that a lot lately. It's one of the best feelings in the world.

And now I'm going to share a quote with you because I discovered it a week or so ago and fell in love with it: “Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow. ”

― Mary Anne Radmacher

That quote is exactly what I need. Sometimes life is hard and trying again tomorrow is all we can do. It may seem like a small thing, but I think it's a pretty big thing.

Well, this post made a whole lot less sense than I thought it would

Thus, I will leave you with this video. You should watch it. It makes me cry every time. It's kept me going on some really hard days.

My favorite part is when he says, "Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead."

And...that's a wrap.

The Clanking of Crystal

So, I wasn't going to write a New Year's post, mostly because I don't really feel like I have that much to say on the topic, but I just can't help but get caught up in its magic.

I've always been really fond of the New Year holiday. I love taking time to reflect on my past year and to think of what my next year might hold for me.

The best part and biggest event of this year for us was buying our beautiful house. I'm still just as in love with it as the day we bought it. I just feel so happy everyday when I look at all of the work we put into it and remember that it's ours. I love having somewhere for friends and family to gather. I love having a yard. I love having more permanent neighbors. I love pretty much everything about it.

Consequently most of my goals for the year revolve around it. Finish unpacking, finish up our little projects we have left, finish decorating, get our yard looking nice, etc.

Yes, I realize that my life is really not very different than it was on Saturday except I now have to remember to write 2012 on everything, but you can't deny the difference a different perspective can make. Fresh starts are magical.  They give me that extra spring in my step. Just knowing that it's the beginning of a new year reminds me that there's so much before me. So much promise, so much hope, and endless possibilities. I also love thinking about all of the surprises and twists and turns that occur this year. I mean, honestly, I don't think a single year of my life has ever gone how I expected it to...but that's half of the fun.

I think the new year is especially dear to me because it's not only a new calendar year, but it's also a new year of my life. I'm a January baby, so when the year changes so does my age. This is my favorite thing about being born in January.

Since I was married in December it's also kind of a mark of a new year of marriage for Jayson and I.

A new year of life. A new year of marriage. A new year on the calendar.

I was reading my friend Vienna's New Years blog post the other day and she talked about how according to Chinese astrology 2011 was the year of the Rabbit. Her coworker brought in a poster one day informing her of this and Vienna told her that she was born in the year of the Rabbit and her co-worker replied, "Then this is your year." Now, I don't really believe in astrology, but it was totally her year.

This year happens to be the year of the Dragon and...yep, you guessed it. I was born in the year of the Dragon. (Technically, if I was born in China I probably would be considered a Rabbit since their new year is in February, but for the time being, and maybe forever since I don't really like rabbits all that much, I'm going to ignore that fact. Plus, I don't live in China, so it doesn't really make sense to change my sign according to their calendar, right?) So, I like to think of it as my year. Or maybe I will continue to think of myself as a Rabbit until Chinese New Year so I get an extra month of my year and then I can switch to a Dragon? Yes. That's another reason January birthdays are so awesome.

As I enter the start of my 25th year of life, 4th year of marriage, and the year 2012, and the year of the Dragon, I can only ask...

What will it hold?

I have my ideas, but in all reality I have no idea. Exciting, isn't it?

I'm pretty sure that whatever it holds, it's going to be awesome. Every New Year I like to think that the coming year is going to be the best ever.

So, what do you say 2012? Are you going to top 2011, the year we bought our first home?  Go on. I dare you.

A Thrill of Hope

When you think of the word 'hope', what comes to mind?
It usually inspires all sorts of good feelings, right?

Well, confession: Sometimes when I think of hope I get sad and frustrated feelings instead. Maybe even angry.

It stems from the fact that often when I'm having a hard time or going through a trial I cling to any little glimpse of hope that I can find that the trial will be over soon or I imagine some crazy and miraculous thing that will take place because of it, etc. I cling so tightly to these feelings that I often begin thinking of them as fact and not just a little glimpse of hope. To put it simply, I get my hopes up.

And, often I am disappointed, because, as I'm sure you well know, not every hope we cling to comes true.

So, I found myself wondering a few days ago why I should even hope for things at all if I'll only disappointed. That way if what I'm hoping for at the time does happen it will just be a happy surprise.

As I was thinking about this it hit me like a ton of bricks. Without hope things become meaningless. It would be nearly impossible to keep going when we find outselves in the dark times of our lives without it. If we truly had no hope we wouldn't persevere through hard things.

Tonight I was listening to my very favorite Christmas song, O Holy Night. I really paid attention to the lyrics for the first time in a long time. I often get so caught up in singing along to Christmas music since it's played so often during this time that I usually just sing along without even thinking.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!



Can you imagine being on the earth at that time? Can you imagine being given the news that our Savior is born and has come to redeem the world? Can you even imagine what feelings of joy and hope that would completely fill your being?

The lines I highlighted particularly stuck out to me tonight. Especially the last two in the verse. On the very first Christmas Eve the world was given the greatest Christmas present ever received, and along with Him, an ultimate hope for all. A hope you can look to and believe in and never ever be disappointed. The world had laid in sin up to that point. There was hope of a Savior, but on that night it became an even brighter hope because what so many had hoped for was really starting to happen. He was born and He died for us so that we could have a hope that wouldn't let us down. So that we could have a reason to continue on and have something real to hold on to. A way to endure the trials of this life with great strength and know that it would all be worth it in the end. A way to find peace and happiness even during our trials. A way to make it back to Heaven someday.

So, even if the things I hope for don't work out I can have absolute hope that if I continue to live as I believe I should everything will work out for my good and what really matters will happen.

And that brings all sorts of good feelings to mind.

All of this has been one of the most lovely reminders of what Christmas is really all about I've ever had.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

One Short Day in a Christmas Village

I've always had a fascination with those little Christmas Villages that people put up in their homes during Christmas time. I will always remember My Grandma Betty's little village she'd put under her Christmas tree each year- complete with little ice skaters that really moved around the frozen pond. When I'd go to her house around Christmas time I'd just sit and play with it for hours.

For some reason these little towns have always just been pretend places in my mind, like a fairytale of sorts. I never pictured them as little minature towns that actually exist. I'm sure if I would have stopped and thought about it I would have realized that there are actually places that look like little Christmas Villages, but I just never did for some reason.

Well, this past week Jayson has been gone to Colorado for work. He doesn't go out of town for work very often, thankfully, as I missed him like crazy. But, one day he called me and told me about these little towns he had passed through and he said they reminded him of my little Christmas villages that I'm so fond of. Naturally, as soon as he got home (he's back now, and he returned with roses.:) Yay! Though, I would have been just as happy to see him if he didn't have the roses) I had him look up pictures with me on Google. Here's what we found:



Adorable, right? He actually drove down those very streets. I can't pretend I'm not a little jealous. I wish I could have been there driving through these towns with him!

That is until I remember that he was driving a semi-truck transporting a really large machine down those tiny narrow streets. YIKES.

But don't worry, we've vowed to take a little family trip to these towns (not in a semi truck) some December in the future.

It's the Hap-happiest Season of All

Ladies and gentlemen (ok, probably just ladies...I really doubt any guys read my blog),

It's December. That is crazy.

But I am CRAZY-EXCITED.

I swear to you December gets better and better every year.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am one of the really crazy Christmas loving people. I'm obsessed. Mostly though, I love the great feeling of love and cozyness in the air. Although it can get stressful with the jam packed schedule around this time, I even love the gazillion Christmas parties that there always are because it usually means I get to see an insane amount of people that I love in one month and I get to eat some really delicious, free food.

Anyway, I'll spare you from the longer list of the reasons that I love Christmas, because I'm sure the rest of my reasons for loving Christmas are no different from everyone else's.

But Christmas isn't the only reason I get excited for December. Especially this December. I've been waiting for this December with great anticipation since like...January?

This December is already kicking off with some really exciting things, like one of Jayson's good friends getting married and a baby blessing for the baby of someone I love very dearly.

It's also our third wedding anniversary on the 18th. THIRD. Three years. That is just insane. Don't you think like three years sounds really long and amazing? Probably not. But, to me it does. It is, of course, one of those things where I feel like we've always been married, but I also can't believe we've been married for three years.  Anyway, I'm excited.

And then these two are getting married:

See the girl in the above photo? That's Stephanie. I love her to pieces. She lives with my in-laws, as she's one of my sister in law's dear friends. She lived with them for a year and we all love her so much that we basically adopted her into the family. I've just started calling her my sister in law because it fits and it's much easier to explain. So, for all intents and purposes my sister in law is getting married. I couldn't be happier for these two. They both so fantastic. I thought I'd post a picture because I feel like I talk about her a fair amount and not that many people that I know, know what she looks like.

I also get to see this face this month:

Cam is coming home from her mission and I'm going crazy with happiness about it. I have missed her so and I can't wait see her again!

It's pretty amazing that one month could be packed with so many exciting things, right?

But,you guys, that's not even all! There's more! Can you believe it?!

Two of my very favorite out of-towners are going to be in town.
Do you know what all of that means? !
It means that group of girls that I talk about so often are all going to be together again, in the same place, for the first time in two years (two years and two months, acutally). I cannot even begin to express how happy this makes me.

Yes my friends, it's a great time to be alive. I think this might go down in history as the greatest December ever.
Well, it will probably be right up there with December 2008, because I got married and that was pretty awesome. I'm pretty positive it's at least going to be the best month of 2011. But yea, let's be honest, it will probably be the second best December ever.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year.