Valentine's date, and other stuff.

So because Chris had class and I had to work on Valentine's Day, we decided we'd go on a Valentine's date on Monday.

Chris planned two special activities. First we went to Color Me Mine. It's a super fun place where you pick out a pre-made ceramic piece, paint it, and then come back a few days later to pick it up after it's been fired. Chris and I painted cereal bowls, and I have to say, Chris's is pretty epic. Check 'em out.

Chris's on the left, mine on the right.

A closer look at Chris's. Isn't it awesome?

... and the other side. Truly a "cereal" bowl, don't ya think?

It was super fun. It's a really great date activity in my book, because you can do lots of talking while you paint, and it's really fun to create things together.

After that, we went to dinner at Pizzeria 712. Oh man, if you live in the area, you should save up for a fancy meal and eat there. It. is. sooooooooo. good! I could eat their short rib and polenta every day of my whole life. Even just the pita and hummus is epic, and the pizza... well it's just all around a fantastic place to eat. It's a little more spendy than say, a Texas Road House, or Applebee's kind of place, but because it's Utah County, it's not too crazy. I have a feeling that if they were in New York or somewhere trendy they could charge twice what they do in Orem. And it is seriously amazing food. 

In other news, I'm now at 36 weeks. It still seems unreal to me that in just 4 weeks, (give or take) I'll have a baby. A real one. He will be ours to hold and love and feed and change and cuddle and smooch and everything else beautiful and hard that comes with a child. I cognitively understand that it's going to happen, but it still often seems so unreal.

And in other news, we bought a stroller! We did some researching and decided we liked the kind my brother and sister-in-law have. It's a universal car seat holding stroller. I'd done some looking around and the cheapest we've seen it is for $60, but on Saturday, Chris and I went to Burlington, and they had it on sale for $40. Woot! We snatched it right up. Here it is with our car seat attached.

I feel like baby is still going to be baking for a few more weeks, but if he did come tomorrow, I think we'd be ready for him.

Update: I just got back from my 36 week check-up today. Dr. said I'm dilated to a 1!!! (which doesn't mean a whole lot, I could go around for the next several weeks and have it not change at all, but still. I'm so excited!) She said baby's still high, and I'm not having anything close to regular contractions (in fact I'm barely having contractions at all), but this is a sure sign that my body is gearing up to get this baby here. Whew! What a thrill!!

Red Food Surprise

Yesterday I woke up to two Valentine's Day surprises. A trail of hershey kisses leading to some beautiful red gerber daisies (gerber daisies are my favorite flower), and both breakfast and a sack lunch full of yummy red and pink foods.

For breakfast, Chris made:
-pink pancakes
-pink omelets with red peppers and mushrooms in them
-pink milk (it was magic. when the milk went into the glass it was white, but once it was in the cup it was pink!)

For lunch, he gave me:
-pasta with red spaghetti sauce
-pink yogurt
-red jello
-a red apple
-a red fruit roll-up (complete with tongue tattoos!)
-a handful of red hershey kisses.

It was so yummy, and I just sat there all happy and giggly as I ate it all.

See my flowers? Love 'em.

Is it any wonder that I'm in love?

P.S. I'm 35 weeks tomorrow!

Graduation. A photo essay.

So, what's it like to graduate at BYU? Let me show you:

First, it's always fun to shop for a cute graduation outfit.

Minnie Mouse? Yes, please!
(I didn't actually wear these to Graduation, I'm too chicken)

Then you put on the cap and gown, and you graduate. With a lot of other people:

Pointing out "Y" I went to school here.

6,000 of us. whoa.

Where's Waldo?
(I'm somewhere in this shot...)

Handsome couple, no?

Me and Daddy

Me and Momma Machado

And celebrate by eating at Tucanos :)

Kiss of Fire!

yum. yum. yum.

Then the next day you have to graduate even more. (6,000 undergrads would have made for a really long Pomp & Circumstance)

Leading the opening hymn. No pressure...

Walk across the stage.

Hug your sister.

Take a nice photo with Chris's side of the family

Take a nice, normal photo with my side of the family.

And a not-so-normal photo with my side of the family.

Pose like Brigham Young.

And that's it. That's how you Graduate from BYU. Pretty fun, no?

In case of emergency...

When Chris and I got married, we received a lot of wedding presents (And let me just say "Thank you" again for those wonderful gifts). One gift in particular caught our attention. On the card it said something like "We like to keep one of these in our car in case of emergency. We thought you could use one too."
First Aid kit was the first thing that came to my mind, but when we opened the gift we found, not medical supplies, but a kite. A brightly colored, completely collapsible kite.

Well yesterday, I guess an "emergency" finally happened. The day was very windy. Chris decided that it called for kite flying. He and I went on a half hour date to an open field, just us and the kite. It was the perfect remedy for our "emergency".

A day at school... together

On Friday, Chris came with me to school. We got there at 7:45, checked in at the front office (because Chris is technically a visitor) and then went to class. Mrs. Jolley got there a couple of minutes after us because of a ridiculous snow storm that had not been plowed off the roads. She gave us a stack of posters to hang up around the school, so that was a great excuse for me to show Chris the coolest parts of the school. We ran into a bunch of students that I know, and most of them excitedly asked me "Is that Mr. Machado?" (They've been asking to meet him for weeks).

By the time we finished hanging up posters, it was just about time for school to start, so we went back to the choir room and started class. Chris was a real trooper when all of the kids started asking him questions ("What's your favorite football team?" "Will you sing for us?" "Have you read the Hunger Games?" "Would you be on team Peeta or team Gale?" etc.), and I even recounted our engagement story which got many sighs and "Aaaawww!'s" from the girls. Later in the class Chris even jumped in and helped the kids by passing them off on their note-naming flash cards (the kids loved him). The following period was SSR (sustained silent reading, where students go to their 4th period class to read or work on homework) and so Boy's chorus got to meet him too. They sang for him (they just love doing that), and asked him a bunch of questions as well. Chris also stayed for 2nd period, and got to hear the chamber group preparing for the concert they had that night.

Pretty much, the kids thought he was great. He was a big hit.

Then he had to go back to BYU so as not to miss choir, but then he came back that afternoon to pick me up. We went out to dinner (Pizza Pie Cafe) and then went back to school for the concert.

My favorite part of the whole thing, was just getting to be with him so much in one day. What with school and work, most mornings, I drop him off at 7:00 and then we don't meet back up until 8:30 at night. To have a day where we spent so much time together was just a joy. The whole day I would realize that I was just bubbly with happiness, then wonder, "why am I so happy?" and then think "Oh yeah! It's because I got to spend the whole morning with Chris!" or "Oh, yeah! It's because I get to see Chris again in an hour, and then spend the whole evening with him!"

It was a wonderful day.

My Husband is My Hero

Last night, we saw a mouse in our apartment. It was 11:30 at night. I was already tired and worn out from a long day, behind on several things that had to be done before I went to bed, and this furry little addition put me over the edge. I was passed the ability to act rationally and started to cry.

My dear husband offered to run to the store to buy some mouse traps and other pest eliminating things. I didn't want to be left behind with the possibility of seeing that little guy running across the kitchen floor again, so Chris patiently bundled me up, drove us to Walmart, left the car running and warm while he ran inside to buy a few things, and then gently put me to bed as soon as we came home while he set up the mouse catching/pest control things he had bought.

What a man! What a hero!

He's my favorite.

By the way, he also checked to make sure no mouse was in the kitchen this morning when I was too scared to leave the bedroom.

"Tempernacle"

I want to be like the Provo Tabernacle (now being affectionately called the Provo "Tempernacle").

Really, that building lived a good long life. It was over a hundred years old when it died. And boy had it lived a good life. I've only been a Provo-ite for a few years, but even I had fond memories of choir concerts, stake conference, and friends recitals that all took place there. More permanent residents of the area recall graduation ceremonies, funerals, numerous stake conferences, etc. etc. etc. Needless to say, that building had worked valiantly throughout its whole life. And then in one night, it burned down. By all accounts its death was brought about by accident. No one was to blame, but nevertheless it died.

And now?

Could their be any better resurrection for a building than to become a temple? To literally become the house of the Lord? A place where thousands (if not millions) of souls will be given the saving ordinances of salvation?

This is why I want to be like the Provo Tabernacle. I want to live a good long life serving the people around me. Then I want to die (through no fault of anyone else), and then be resurrected. And I don't want to be resurrected to just any old state. I want to be like a temple: someone who helps other souls come unto Christ.

Well, I better go start living that kind of life right now. I've got a lot of work to do.

Architectural rendering of the finished temple
(source: newsroom.lds.org)

Family is the best

This morning, I read a woman's blog post about LDS women. Though I think her intents were good, I was uncomfortable by some of the impressions I got from reading the post. On and off all day I've thought of the oft repeated words of a prophet, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home."


In that light I just wanted to share a few thoughts from General Authorities on family (click on the speaker name for a link to the source of the quote).


President Eyring:
"Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home. Parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles are made more powerful guides and rescuers by the bonds of love that are the very nature of a family."

President Eyring (again): 

"the greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love."

Elder Bednar:
"Feeling the security and constancy of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing. Such love nurtures and sustains faith in God. Such love is a source of strength and casts out fear (see 1 John 4:18). Such love is the desire of every human soul."

President Monson:
"Near the end of his life, one father looked back on how he had spent his time on earth. An acclaimed, respected author of numerous scholarly works, he said, “I wish I had written one less book and taken my children fishing more often.”

Time passes quickly. Many parents say that it seems like yesterday that their children were born. Now those children are grown, perhaps with children of their own. “Where did the years go?” they ask. We cannot call back time that is past, we cannot stop time that now is, and we cannot experience the future in our present state. Time is a gift, a treasure not to be put aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present."

My prayer is that all of us, including myself, will seek to gain a greater testimony of the importance of the family. All of us can do that regardless of our age, gender, marital status, etc. I hope also, that with an increased testimony of the family, we will then change our behavior to more fully align with that divine standard: "faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities"

My Family
(minus everyone who isn't in this picture)

Weekend

Note: I originally wrote this back in May, but I forgot about it. I decided to post it now.
Last weekend, Chris and I drove to Logan and did a session up there. After the session, Chris made the comment that the outside of the temple looked like it was built in Pioneer days and the inside looked like the 1960s. That's pretty much accurate. The temple was originally finished in 1884 and the outside walls are still the original walls. The inside was completely gutted and renovated in the 70s.

My parent's were married in that temple, and even though I'd never been inside it before, I felt like I belonged there. This is the temple where my parents began their life together. It's the place where my Grandparents spent hours upon hours serving a temple mission. Something about losing a loved one makes you love the places where they spent time. Being in that temple, I could imagine my Grandpa sitting in thoughtful silence in those rooms.

I am thankful for temples. They are the houses of God. The saving ordinances are found there. 

Five months tomorrow

Five months tomorrow will mark the anniversary of when I married this guy.

He makes my heart go: WOoHoO! (especially when he makes silly faces). Marrying him was the best decision I have ever made in my whole life, and I get to spend the rest of that life (+ eternity) with him.

Four Months Tomorrow

Four months ago tomorrow, this picture was taken. It's been an exciting four months full of moving and working and studying and eating and churching and learning and growing and buying and loaning and pbbbbing and cooking and breaking and filing and driving and walking and shopping and singing and teaching and talking and laughing and watching, and chalk throwing, and visiting, and General Conferencing and and and... Pretty much, married life is the best. Here are a few pictures we've taken since we got married:

Nauvoo - under the old bridge

Nauvoo - Outside the Sarah Granger Kimball home

Our apartment with all its beautiful furniture

Valentine's Day Flowers

Checking out the snow in Provo Canyon

Our rental car. This thing is funny. There were all kinds colored of lights inside to make it a "party car" (it's a Ford Fiesta). Our new car has a much more conservative interior and was much cheaper.

Think this guy, but with some hail damage on the hood and roof (and with a less dramatic spoiler).