Thoughts on Marriage

We have all heard it, "marriage is work." ....But it is true!! Marriage really is about work. Kenny and I work to make our marriage work.

• We work on our communication, because despite what I think sometimes, Kenny still can not read my mind. 
• We work to keep dating. I know that once we have kids, this habit will pay off. 
• We work on finding opportunities to serve each other and to say "thank you."
• We work on forgiving each other and being the first to say "I am sorry." 
• We work to try new things together and encouraging each other to reach new goals.
• We work on overcoming our weaknesses together. 

I know that this work pays off.  Now...if only I could get Kenny to read my mind. :]

A Perfect Saturday

Today we were reminded of how much our Heavenly Father is aware of us and our needs right now. It all started with a trip to the distribution center this morning to purchase some temple clothes. There was a kind older woman who worked with us to get the clothes we need. While helping us pick out our temple clothes, she would ask us questions about our selves and "our story" and you could just see her light up as she got to know us a little better. She commented a few times how she felt "goosebumps" as we told her our story. When we were going to pay for the clothes, she offered to pay for a few things because out of the kindness of her heart she wanted to do something nice for us. She kept saying that she knew we were young, married, and on a budget, and we were doing the right things with our life to go to the temple and be sealed. She shared with us a little about herself and how she was not a member when she married her husband & how wonderful that day was when she got sealed to her husband. Meeting this kind woman was a tender mercy. It reminded us again that the Lord is pleased with us and our decisions for our life together. This woman's simple & kind act made quite the impression on me. I am so grateful for her and her kind words.

Once we had our temple clothes we traveled to the Mount Timpanogos Temple to do an Endowment session. It was a spiritual feast, to say the least. I love going to the temple with Kenny. The moments we share in the temple talking about all that we have learned or felt truly bring us closer together. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who loves the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Heavenly Father blessed me with an amazing husband who can be a spiritual giant in our home. Kenny's testimony helps to remind me, time and time again, of the love Heavenly Father & our Savior has for me.

Those feelings of love and acceptance from Heavenly Father today were much needed and provide so much comfort - of course, just when I need it most. Heavenly Father is aware of us, He knows us personally, He knows our needs, and He knows how to give us what wee need when we need it.

Today was a perfect Saturday.

Forever Friends

I am grateful for friends. More specifically, I am grateful for wonderful friends who can get together and enjoy each others company as if no time has passed at all.

If there is one thing I know, it is that Kenny and I have been blessed with some pretty wonderful friends!

A Utah {Adventure}

We have arrived. We are now, as of January 3rd, residents of the state of Utah. We moved into our humble home and have been busily trying to get things in order and establish some sort of routine here. As of now, we have completely unpacked, we have hung out with friends, we have stocked our fridge and our cupboards, and we are feverishly looking for jobs. So far so good in Utah land! 

Needless to say we are enjoying our time here! Even though we are anxious to get jobs, it has been nice to get a little time to relax and adjust to this transition. At about 3 or 4 pm the past few days, Kenny and I have gone on long walks to enjoy the fresh air and see our new city. As we are walking, we spend a lot of time reflecting on all of the change going on in our lives & we talk about what we hope for our future here.

 If there has been one thing I have been reminded of since we have moved here it is that for sure, without a shadow of a doubt, Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers them. Each day I find myself praying for comfort and peace during this transition. I know for sure that I have been blessed with great feelings of peace as we sit on our couch in our cute little apartment and feel at home. I have faith that we will get jobs, and that we will make more friends, but right now I am just happy that we have a new place to call home. 

Unemployed

As of yesterday, at 3pm, I am officially unemployed. (For the time being)

I have spent the last year and a half working for the most amazing people, and so it was a very bitter sweet experience saying goodbye. This job has been a huge blessing in more ways than one. I will always feel that my time spent there was a part of divine intervention. I can see looking back on the experience that it was one of those situations where Heavenly Father picks you up and places you where you need to be. While at that job I was surrounded by people who truly understood how I felt and understood the many life changing experiences that I had during my time working there. My boss was my biggest supporter, she was with me every step of the way as I met, fell in love, and got married to Mr. Norton. She saw it from the very beginning!! I will always have a very special place in my heart for the time that I spent at Perfection Glass and I will always think of those people I worked with as family.

Today I feel blessed for the opportunities that Heavenly Father has given me - including the opportunity to work at such a wonderful place as Perfection Glass.

A Christmas FHE

Tonight for FHE we listened to one of the talks from the Christmas Devotional that was broadcast last night (which we unfortunately missed) & then afterwards we made our gingerbread house (which you can see above - Kenny did a great job). We decided on listening to President Erying's talk for our lesson- which is exactly what I need to hear tonight, I loved it. It was a great talk about the Savior, about light, and about angels. It reminded me of the scripture, John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." I was reminded that with the Savior I never walk alone, I always have His light to guide my path. What a comfort that is, & what a gift the Savior is unto us! I am grateful for the Christmas season because it allows me to spend more time pondering the Saviors life, the magnificent gift He is to us, and the many blessings we enjoy because He lived and died for us. This time of year truly is special & there is a special spirit in our home as we spend more time this Christmas season thinking and talking about the Savior. I want the spirit to Christmas to last all throughout the year, because I hope that I never forget these precious truths.


I love Christmas! :] 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone - but for documentation sake, I am going to write about it. This blog is about documenting our married lives after all, isn't it?!

This year for Thanksgiving we spent it with Kenny's family. It was a small family gathering, but it felt so great to spend time with family. (I L-O-V-E my in-laws!) Last year we spent most of the time with my family, so it was only right to spend all of Thanksgiving day with the Norton family this year. Thanksgiving was simple, it consisted of yummy food, family, & football. Personally, I think thats all you need on this lovely holiday. I really wish I would have gotten some pictures of famliy together - but , alas, I did not. I am working on doing better of caputring memories through photographs - however I am still a work in progress.

ALSO - we were not totally deprived of a Vidal family Thanksgiving this year either. On the Monday after Thanksgiving we got together with my mother, my sibblings, and my wonderful grandparents and had a Thanksgiving dinner. Another day of yummy food, family, and football - believe it or not. It's kinda fun to have had the Thanksgiving celebration two days this year instead of just one.

As Kenny and I reminiced on Thanksgiving memories we realized that this is our last Thanksgiving holiday as residents of California. Utah will be our home starting in January - and with that possibly brings Utah Thanksgivings (my guess is that it will be too expensive to come back to CA for Thanksgiving AND Christmas). ...Let's hold off on telling our parent's that though.

Overall it was a great Thanksgiving holiday spent in sunny California. I am so grateful for two wonderful families to spend this holiday with. However, it is exciting to think about what adventures lie in store for my little family (Kenny & I). What traditions are we going to start/pass on when we have our little babies? I hope that I can teach our future children that Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude - not just yummy food & football. I love this quote from our prophet Thomas S. Monson about gratitude, it sums up what I hope to teach our future children - "to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

Gratitude - My Darling Sister

My drive to work is very long. (90 miles - 1.5 hours kind of long) The long drive allows me a lot of time to think. This morning my mind was all over the place thinking about all of the many things I am grateful for. If I just had to pick ONE thing I am grateful for today, I would say I am grateful for my little sister.

My little sister is a the best. We are 5 years apart and have always been close (I consider myself very lucky). I remember tucking this girl into bed at night when she was 2 years old & singing "take me out to the ball game" in order to get her to go to bed. Come to think of it, I shared a room with my little sister for about 15 years. (That's a long time!) In those years we have had a lot of laughs. One time I swear I thought I saw a ghost and I jumped into bed with her. She still laughs at me - to this day - about that.

(UM, how cute is she?! A-dor-a-ble!!!)

I love my sister. Her testimony of the gospel is strong & she is the perfect example to me of someone who lives what they believe. She knows who she is, she knows what she wants, she knows where she is going, and she won't sacrifice that for anything (although I am sure that gets tough when the world sends so many enticing options her way). My sister isn't afraid to talk about what she believes with her friends. She isn't afraid to be who she is & that is a lesson that took me a very long time to learn. I am just now, at 22, getting to a point where I am OK with who I am, my little sister is 17. She is strong, she is faithful, she is beautiful (inside and definitely outside), and she is the best sister and best friend a girl can ask for.

I love you sis!

Gratitude - That Husband of Mine!

With Thanksgiving being at the end of the month & in an effort to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life more often, I would like to work on my goal of expressing my gratitude (especially my gratitude to my Heavenly Father) more often.

Life happens, and you get caught up in life. Lately with all of our plans for the future buzzing through my brain (all day long!), I have found myself "caught up in life" & I would like to take some quiet moments each day (many, if possible) to ponder all those many wonderful blessings in my life. On my lunch break this afternoon I decided to just sit in my car with no radio & no phone calls - just me and my thoughts. I thought about my life, my wonderful husband, & my mind wandered to our daily rituals. Mr. Norton has always been the best at making time for his scripture reading every day (my guess is he spends hours studying every day!). I am grateful for the example he sets for me, and the encouragement he always gives me. Today (and every day) I am grateful for a husband who wants to read the scriptures with me every night.

                                         

Kenny is a spiritual giant in our home. His conversion story is truly a miracle. I am so very proud of who he his, and all of the greatness he will achieve (I believe I am his #1 fan). Last night we were reading in The Book of Mormon & so much peace and calm could be felt as the Mr read out loud. Afterwards we discussed faith and trials. I cherish those moments where we get to discuss the verses and parts of the story that stood out to us. We teach each other, and our testimony is always strengthened. I love these quiet peaceful moments just before our evenening slumber.

As I express my gratitude today, I can't help but think I am one lucky girl!