Suprise Visit from Jenna Anne...

Oh, the power of Facebook. I was on Facebook on Wednesday when I saw that my little sisters Status was "Jenna is bored out of her head!!!! Any ideas of what I can do??" Now, this theme is a pretty common status on Facebook these days. People are always bored and looking for something to do. There were all sorts of suggestions including blowing something up, eating a sandwich, painting her toenails, and hooking up with Tyler Newbold! I decided to add to the mass of suggestions by saying "Come play with me!" In less than 10 minutes (and after I bribed her with cookies) she was on her way! It was AWESOME! We had such a good time! We made a delicious dinner, and we made cookies (I always come through on my bribes). I had to go do my visiting teaching for a little bit, so Jenna and David hung out but the rest of the night was full of games and fun! (Not to mention full of delicious popcorn!) I am so glad that Jenna came up to visit, I miss her (and the rest of my family) so much. We always have a good time.

My beautiful little sister and I. People used to think we were twins, but we don't look anything alike in this picture.

Jenna, showcasing just ONE of the games we played. (The others were Mexican Train and Phase Ten)

This is what I came home to after Visiting Teaching. My sweet David had written me a love note using Reese's Pieces and a heart shaped cookie!

This is a close up of my "Love note." Cute huh!

The following are the top ten reasons why I love my little sister Jenna:

1. She is such a good example to me and she always helps me be a better person.
   
2. She makes me laugh.
3. She is the most mature silly person that I know.
   
4. She balances me out. (For those of you who have seen the movie or read the book Pride and Prejudice, I am very much like Elizabeth (prideful, stubborn, opinionated) and Jenna embodies ALL of the most wonderful qualities of Jane (kind, caring, loving, sensitive, gentle, peacemaker, always looking for the best in people and situations). (In fact, someday I hope to name one of my daughters Jenna Jane.)
   
5. We have so many wonderful childhood memories that make me laugh even just thinking about them, even though I can't fully remember why they were funny in the first place.
   
6. She is forgiving when I do dumb things.
   
7. She is beautiful. (I hope that when people say we look alike it means that I look like her, not that she looks like me!)
   
8. She is optomistic.
9. She makes my Dad smile when she comes into the room and she fills our home with a special form of love.
   
10. Jenna has been my best friend since... always. She is seriously such a good sister to me. I was cleaning out a box of stuff that I haven't unpacked yet and I found a handmade birthday card from her from two years ago. There is a huge heart on the front, and inside there is a picture of the two of us when we were really little, wearing ridiculous sunglasses. It made me tear up just looking at it! Jenna blesses my life every day through her love and her example.

I LOVE YOU JENNA!

ps. These are some random pictures that I have taken over the last week or so. I thought I should add them at the end.

David standing by the front door of our apartment. Please notice the really cute wreath on our door (our neighbors, the McNinches, gave it to us as a wedding gift) and the fan in the doorway (the only thing saving us from death by heat exhaustion!). Also note how incredibly handsome David is in his Aggie apparel (It is fate that he looks so good in Navy Blue!)

If you look really hard you can see a rainbow in the clouds. It was BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't capture the beauty, but use your imagination and remember to thank God for the small wonderful gifts he gives us every day!

My love of Reading...

Esther Meynell once said,
"Books, to the reading child, are so much more than books -- they are dreams and knowledge, they are a future, and a past.

I love books. I love everything about books. I love the way I become absorbed in a different world full of different people and different adventures. When I start reading a book it is hard for me to force myself to put it down and do something else. Lately I have been reading a ton. It's been such a long time since I have been able to read this much. I LOVE IT. One of the reasons that I love reading so much is because I learn incredible things. For example: a bunch of the books that I have read lately have taken place around the time of the French Revolution. I have learned a lot of really cool things. In fact, the French Revolution is my new favorite thing to learn about. Last weekend David and I went to the library and I came home with about 6 books about the french revolution. It's fabulous.

Books to me are knowledge. They feed my hunger for knowledge of things I didn't even know I was looking for. I love reading and I love that my handsome husband also loves to read. It's a pastime that we both enjoy. A couple of weeks ago there was a big rainstorm while we were driving home from work. As soon as we got home we pulled all of the cushions off our couch and set them up on our porch. We grabbed our books and a couple of blankets and had a wonderful evening reading outside. (Unfortunately it stopped raining, but it was so beautiful and smelled so good!) I don't think there is anything in the world that could be better than to sit outside on a makeshift couch cuddling with my wonderful husband under a pile of blankets while reading a book!

The Crock Pot Bet

I have been meaning to post about this for a while since the culmination of the whole Crock Pot event happened over the Fourth of July weekend, but I hope you still enjoy this regardless of it's lateness.

First, some background information on this story. When David and I were registering for wedding gifts I convinced him NOT to register for a crock pot because my vast experience concerning wedding gifts said that you will get at least 5 crock pots no matter whether you ask for one or not! ("Experience" meaning listening to stories from my previously married friends.) Davids argument was that if we register for a crock pot, then at least we would get the one that we wanted! We decided not to put a Crock Pot on the registry but rather to place a bet on whether or not we would actually receive a Crock Pot. I was very confident in my stance and knew that I would win (which is a big deal, David wins 95.8% of all bets we make).

It seemed that there was nothing left to do but wait! I could just sit back, relax and wait to collect my prize. But then... the gifts started coming, and none of them were in the shape of a crock pot. Not one of my bridal showers resulted in the desired crock pot (although I was so blessed to receive so much support from so many people). After we got back from our Honeymoon, we opened all of the wonderful gifts that we received but to no avail. There was not a crock pot to be found. My confidence was starting to wane, but I wasn't ready to give up hope! We still hadn't opened the presents at my parents house! I think that you can see a pattern here. Long story short... as much as I tried to will each oddly shaped package into being a crock pot, it never worked. David was full of "I told you so's" and ready to step up and declare himself as winner. BUT... Gifts were still trickling in and I was not ready to admit defeat!


Then came the day, that this precious little thing showed up at Davids house! David and I were in West Jordan for the Fourth of July weekend, when someone stopped by, apologized for not being able to make it to the reception and dropped it off. Davids sister, Amy, was the lucky person who answered the door. David was shopping with his Dad and I was downstairs reading my book.
Later that evening, when David got home Amy told us that someone had dropped a gift by, but she didn't recognize them. The problem was... They forgot to sign their name on the card!

The card came and all it said was "David and Shantel, Congratulations on your Wedding." Immediately accusations began to fly! David and his brothers were convinced that I was behind the Mysterious Crock Pot! The story that they came up with involved me buying the crock pot previously, convincing one of my friends to drive all the way to Davids house and having them drop off the present. It was so funny. The silly boys. I promised that I did not buy the crock pot and that I didn't tell anyone to buy the crock pot! I shortly thereafter announced my victory. David wasn't going to give in so easy though. He said that I didn't win because regardless of whether or not we had actually received the Crock Pot, I had cheated by posting a plea for it on Facebook. (I was teasing David and I posted my facebook status to say something about desperately needing a crock pot!) I finally got him to admit that it was a tie.

Later that night as we were getting ready for bed I admitted that I had a small part in the mysterious crock pot. Amy and I had been talking earlier and she VOLUNTEERED to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond and buy a crock pot. She had the girl at the store write the note so no one would recongnize the handwriting. It was a genius plan and was such a good time!

Conclusion of this fabulous story? We now have a crock pot! It is way cool and we love it! (Thank you Amy for picking out a crock pot that is so perfect!) Also, I didn't lose the bet because we DID get a crock pot! David and I agreed to tie. YES! This means that David's percent of winning our bets has decreased... at least to 91.3%. I feel very successful about the whole thing.