With the celebration of Easter, we focus on Christ and the events leading up to, and including His resurrection. Some of those were not happy events. I don't think Christ felt much joy when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Or on the cross. He dreaded it. But He was willing to go through all that for us, because he knew it would be worth it in the end. Though He went through so much pain and suffering, I like to think that he was glad to have friends close by, and to know that His mother would be alright. And maybe it made Him glad to know that He was doing the will of His Father, and that everything would be okay. I don't think any of that lessened His pain, but maybe it helped give Him strength as he was going through everything.
The past few weeks have been pretty hard for me. Let's begin with my sister's wedding. I'd been looking forward to this for a few months, not only because I was excited for her, but I also volunteered to do a lot for the reception and couldn't wait to put my creative juices to work. That was pre-pregnancy. When I told her I would help out with this and this and this, I didn't know I was pregnant. I found out very soon after I volunteered to design her reception. I was pretty worried because last time I was pregnant I was sick for more than 20 weeks. I figured this time would be no exception. 20 weeks would put it mid April and her wedding was at the end of March. I had no idea how I was going to feel well enough to prepare everything I had promised. I had table centerpieces and other reception decor, flowers (all of them, including the ones for the cake), the sign-in table, and a few other odds and ends that I was in charge of. Luckily, the rest of my family were able to take care of the the other stuff so originally I felt that it wasn't too much for me to handle. Fast forward to the first week of March, when I finally felt well enough to make a trip to the craft store to get all the stuff I needed. I was feeling well enough to do that (thankfully) but it took a while to put it all together because I just didn't have the energy. So here I was, the week before the wedding, trying to put all the things together. Luckily, my sister-in-law Janny, helped with the boutonnieres (which you can read about here) a few weeks before so I didn't have that to worry about, and everything else came together pretty well. It was just really hard because Adam wanted my attention so I would either have to do things during nap time, which was hard because his nap time is my nap time, or someone would have to come over and play with him while I worked on things. Again, luckily I had family to help. My mom was able to come over and help and so was Shaylin and Alex. They even made dinner for me which was a BIG help. Everything came together so nice in the end, but I was exhausted!
The wedding was on a Thursday morning and I figured it would be easier for us to drive up to Mesa the night before and stay in a hotel. That way we wouldn't have to wake up so early. However, my plan failed somewhat. Brent had to work late and I was so exhausted I couldn't finish packing by myself because Adam was helping too much. So much that he ended up breaking a jewelry holder that Brent made me for Christmas. That was the last straw. I was so upset and tired I physically couldn't do any more and I began to worry if I had done too much. I didn't want to be sick the next day. Brent came home and helped me finish packing and we were off by 9pm. I figured we would get there at 11 and if we went to bed right when we got in, I should be ok. Enter the accident on the freeway that kept us stuck in traffic for about 30 min. I had a head ache and the lights of the cars in front of us were blinding even with my eyes closed. I felt sick and tired and I just wanted to sleep but couldn't in the car. It was an effort to even talk. Poor Brent probably thought I was mad at him and giving him the silent treatment or something. But I literally had no energy left. Thankfully Brent was able to stay awake during the drive but by the time we got into our room, Adam was wide awake and not ready to go to bed since he slept the whole way up. Plus, I forgot to pack a night light so he had a herd time going to bed in a strange place where it was pitch black. It took a while for him to fall asleep and so it took awhile for me to fall asleep and I pretty much just dozed all night. About 5:30am Adam woke up crying because he thought he dropped his pacifier so I looked and looked but I couldn't find it. It turned out he was holding it. I guess he forgot. I was so mad! I had a head ache and I had to get up in two hours which didn't give me much more sleeping time. Adam didn't want to go to sleep in his bed so Brent took him and they went to sleep in the other bed in the room (luckily we had one!). I tried so hard to just shut everything out of my mind and go to sleep but just when I was about there, the alarm clock in the room went off. Awake again, and it wasn't even time for me to get up. I still had another hour but I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep that fast. Oh well. So much for trying to get a good night's sleep. I had no idea how the day was going to go. I was afraid I was going to be sick all day.
Fast forward to the wedding. By the time we got to the Temple, I was feeling a little light headed so we rushed in and I sat down and drank some water. I was just glad to be there and sitting down and glad that I didn't feel like throwing up my breakfast. The sealing was beautiful and I was so happy to be there with family and to have Brent there next to me. It reminded me of the day we got married. Enter the Joy. Sitting there knowing that Brent and I would be together forever with our family made me so happy! And I was so happy that we have the opportunity to grow our family and bring children into the world. Happy that I can be a mom and take care of my kids. That's the thing that I love about the Temple. When I go in I can leave all my earthly problems outside and inside I feel joy and peace. All the stress from the week was left at the door and I was able to feel calm and happy. I am so thankful I felt well enough to be there.
After the sealing, I rushed to the cafeteria to get some food with my cousin (who is also pregnant and about 2 weeks ahead of me) while Brent went to go rescue Kristina and Breanna from Adam. I tell you what, there's something about that Temple food that really made it look celestial that day. Maybe it usually looks that good, I don't know. But I wanted to eat everything! Especially a big, huge, fat, cinnamon roll. But I didn't want to look like a pig. Luckily my cousin was brave enough to get it so we shared it and it was to die for. Maybe it just seemed that way because we were pregnant and hungry. Mmmmm. It was so good!
After that, we took some pictures and then went to a nearby chapel where we had a small luncheon with family that was there. Mmmmm. More good food. Now all I needed was a nap. Which I sort of got on the way home. And when we got home, I sort of got another one. All in all, it was a pretty happy day. I got my food, Shaylin got married, and I didn't feel sick at all.
Yay! Happy day!
The next day I went to the chapel where we were having the reception and got all the things set up. I was nervous about the cake though. I was only providing the embellishments for it, not the actual cake so I was very nervous about how it was all going to come together. Everything worked out so good thought! See for yourself: |
| Image Source |
And thanks to Janny for taking awesome pictures of everything! Whew! I got that all taken care of with some time to spare to make a bouquet for Shaylin to toss. I didn't have time to make one with the fake flowers so I went to the grocery store and bought a couple bouquets with similar flowers and colors and quickly whipped something together. Ok now it's time for a brag moment. I've never done anything like that before, but the flowers turned out so good! Obviously it has some flaws, but considering I put it together in about 30 min, let me just say, I was beyond proud of my abilities.
The reception was a lot of fun, with good food and family and friends. I didn't get a nap that day but I was able to get through the day with enough energy to have a good time. I was just glad that the next day was Saturday and I could just relax. And that's what I did because I was so exhausted! It was all I could do to get out of bed. I literally laid on the couch in my jammies all day and did nothing except watch General Conference. I am SO grateful for modern technology that allows me to watch Conference from the comfort of my own home, especially when I don't feel good. It was nice to be able to hear the words of our Prophet and other church leaders. If you missed it, you can watch, listen or read it here. Even though I didn't feel good, it brought peace and joy to hear the messages from the Lord's servants.
The next day I had to take Brent to the airport because he was going to a seminar for work for the week, all the way in Illinois. I did not want him to go. Well, I wanted him to have the opportunity to learn new things, but just not that week. I still hadn't recovered from the wedding weekend so I was not looking forward to a whole week without him. It was hard. I pretty much spent all my free time taking naps. But it did make the time go faster. Adam and I got to bed early almost every day too. Plus my mom and Janny were able to spend some time with us and my mom did my grocery shopping for me one day when I felt crummy. I love my family. Another reason to be joyful when I feel like yuck.
Anyway, we have been pretty busy since Brent got back, with Easter and stuff so more posts will come. Plus, we have some baby news so stay tuned. But right now it's lunch time for me.
Note: If you have questions about the importance of marriage in the Temple, or are curious about why we have Temples, please feel free to ask. I would be happy to share my beliefs with you. You can also read about it here.
