TN here I come!!!

So I've been dying to go back to Tennessee since I came home 2 years ago!!! And I finally am going to make it happen! I decided I just have to do it!! So May 20th-31st I'll be back where my heart is! (And I'll get to celebrate my 25th birthday while I'm there!!)

YEAH!

Wedding Day

Here are pictures of Todd & Kathleen's Wedding Weekend!

We had a dinner the night before.

This is the head table.

The guest tables.

The wedding day at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple

Mr. & Mrs. Baxter

Countdown to wedding day

Well there is only 4 days to go until Todd is an old married person!! Wow, time has really gone fast!!! I can't believe it. We got our dresses back (early) and now they are being altered (again) and we'll have them on Wednesday. Kathleen went to the temple for the first time on Saturday, it was a great session! Now we only have to pull the dinnr off and the wedding day!! I'm crossing our fingers that everything will still continue smoothly. The only thing that could potentially be a problem is the weather, but I'm really thinking it will be okay! Anyway, see you all on Friday.

Bridesmaid Dress Disaster

Okay so the wedding plans have been pretty easy actually. Everything has pretty much just fallen into place. And of course we were talking about this the other day so something had to happen to put us in our places.
We ordered the bridesmaid dresses at the beginning of January so that they would have plenty of time to get here. (most dress manufacturers are in china and it was the chinese new year like all of january so we needed to order them on a special 4 week rush). Anyway, Latter-day Bride was supposed to call me the first week of February to tell me I could come pick them up...finally the second week I called them to find out if we had our dresses yet, they said they were and had been there for a few days. That should have tipped me off right there.
So on Presidents day, Mom, Holly, and I went to pick them up. I gave the sales girl my name at the front desk and waited for them to bring the dresses out. When they did, I about threw up! The dresses were Latte (like a gray-ish color). THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE CHOCOLATE BROWN!!!! So I tell the girl this and she just acts like "oh well these are your dresses." So I flipped out and told her she had two weeks to fix this mistake and it better be fixed! She leaves me in tears in the lobby and comes back like 10 minutes later telling me that they were talking to the manufacturer in China and that they could get the dresses to us on March 3rd at the latest. (The wedding is on March 6th!) So after being reassured and apologized to for another 30 minutes we left the store, with really only a hope that we will have the correct dresses by the wedding. How can a mistake like that happen you ask? I've asked the same thing. The only thing that anybody could come up with, is that the girl who ordered our dresses was new and assumed that she knew the color name of the dress we wanted. The funny thing was, was that we tried on the floor model and they were EXACTLY what we wanted...style and colors! So how you can mess that up is really beyond me. So here I sit with basically one week til the wedding and a horrible feeling we'll end up wearing ugly gray dresses that don't even match the rest of the wedding colors!! This is what I do know...if and when I get married I'm just going to elope. No one will know I'm getting married and I'll just show up with a ring on my finger!

Be Still My Soul

Last year was a very eye opening and tough year for me. It seems that ever since I came home early from my mission with health issues I've been spiriling up and down and all around. Even two whole years later, I still feel like I don't have any answers to anything that has happened since then or more recently in the last year. I learned quickly who I could turn to in times of need, namely- my family and the Savior. The other day I was driving around running errands and this hymn started playing. (I highly suggest listening to the version that is on the "Reflections of Christ" soundtrack) I've always liked "Be Still My Soul", but as I listened intently to the words, I felt the spirit so strongly telling me that I do have the Lord on my side and He is guiding my path(past & future). I hope that everyone remembers this is true, no matter who you are the Lord loves you and is on your side! And remember-- "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland)

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.