On a lighter note...

I know my previous post was a little heavy. I was super emotional and worn out. So here is something that cheers me and my husband up. I hope you all enjoy it!

For happiness, click here.

Patience

It's much more than waiting in line with a cool temper. Now a days everything is about being on-demand, at your fingertips, fast, and easy. We live in a world obsessed with instant gratification. I think everyone understands when I say that it's hard to be patient, and I don't mean patient about the old lady in front of you who drives like she has nothing in the world to do but drive slowly. I mean true patience. Like when you're poor, surviving off prayers and faith, wondering what the future holds because you don't think you can take much more of where you're at in life. Or like when you pray for an answer, but never seem to get one. Or when you are in school working your tail off, but still have yet to see some of the work pay off, while others around you are thriving. Or when you lose a loved one, and you wonder when the ache will disappear. To this day, I still ache for my Grandpa and his sweet voice, even though it's been 7 years since he passed away. I can't listen to his "Impossible Dream" on my ipod without bawling my eyes out (which is why I try to avoid listening to it sometimes).

The fact is, I'm having a hard time being patient right now. I'm so close to finishing school, but so scared of what the future holds for me. Where am I going to get an internship? What if I don't find a job? What if I don't get a job because I want to have a family? What if we can't afford to pay for a family? I want to go 10 years into the future when Daniel and I are both done with school and can actually spend time together. I want answers. I want solutions. I want. Want, want, want.

But this morning I woke up and started thinking about President Uchdtorf's talk on "Continue in Patience." I felt a little better thinking that maybe this is all for our own good. One day we'll look back on these days and think "Wow, we had it pretty good. Those days when things were simple." I looked up Pres. Uchtdorf's talk and this really hit me:

"Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter.

Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace."

Isn't that beautiful? He spoke right to my heart this morning. It's always hard when you are going through a particular trial or set of trials to see hope. Or to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I get so selfish, so stuck on my own problems that it makes me sad. Sad, that I would even do such a thing. I have so much to offer if I only would stop being so selfish sometimes. I need to offer words of encouragement. Say thank you, not only to my Heavenly Father for what I have, but to thank those around me who make every day worth living.

How grateful I am to have such inspired leaders! For those who have traveled down the rocky path already and who can look back and help others with their wisdom. I'm grateful that I belong to such a great Church and have a testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the truth that has been restored. I'm grateful for the scriptures, the Temple, and for eternal families.

So for those of you who are going through a situation that is trying your patience, don't lose hope. Tomorrow is a brighter day, and the future is even brighter. Keep doing your best. Everything will work out. Maybe not how you wanted it to, but better than you imagined.

Pirates and Doughnuts

I absolutely love this time of year. I could be having a rough day and all I would need to do to make it better is walk outside and hear the crisp fall leaves crunch beneath my feet and look up at the flaming mountains. Seriously. Fall is my favorite time of year, yet it seems to be the shortest season. Go figure. I also love Halloween, although Daniel doesn't. I'm not big into the gory, terrifying, haunted Halloween though. I mostly love it for the caramel apples, apple crisps, falling leaves, kids in costumes, and cooler weather. So to enjoy this time of year, my parents came up to visit and as a big Purles family, we all bought tickets to go on the Provo River Pirate Boat Cruise. I'm glad we all had two-for-one coupons, otherwise it would have been a rip-off. (I don't suggest doing it unless you get a good discount). I enjoyed it though, despite the complaints my family had. Thankfully, there was at least one person acting as a pirate the whole time, which made it highly entertaining.


Gracie was so excited to be around the family and see all the excitement and lights. I love this little girl! I mean look at this face!:

This next picture was taken on the way to the dock to load the boats. It's about the only good picture I have of the whole trip.

Afterwards, we headed to Kenzie's for my brother's birthday celebration and also a little Halloween party. We had a doughnut eating contest for the little ones and ate delicious chili, cornbread, and hot chocolate. Some of my favorite fall foods.




Here is the cat that wanted to come home with us. It was so cute and fuzzy and friendly, but we kicked it out of our car. One day, I want a big orange cat, just as friendly as this one was.

There was a fun-filled weekend! We spent all day Saturday going grocery shopping and doing homework, which felt wonderful because we haven't been able to just have a day for homework for months! Now we have food too!

Catch-up

Not ketchup. Although ketchup is like the sauce of life.

Alright, enough of that. I finally uploaded my pictures for this month so far and decided it was time to blog about them. They're too good not to.

Conference weekend, was absolutely wonderful. Not only were the talks given by the divinely inspired exquisite, but I loved being with the family, and making these:


I know the pictures aren't very good, but you'll have to take my word for it that they're adorable. These little diaper bags are for on-the-go mom's. It's just big enough to fit a small thing of baby wipes and a few diapers, but very convenient. (And no, I'm NOT pregnant. I just like making baby things.) While the men were at the Priesthood session, my sister, her friend, and I made all sorts of creative things. My sister even made a skirt for her 1 year old out of some of her old shirts. Talk about being resourceful.

For the Sunday morning session my kind brother invited us over for breakfast. My sister-in-law made stuffed french toast, and needless to say, I had more than one. Daniel took the chance to play with his little niece in her part of the basement. You have to understand that Halle is the only girl amongst her 3 brothers so she gets left out and has to play alone. Daniel was sweet enough to play "grocery store" with her and even dressed up to fit in with the pink and purple toys.


She loved it. I grabbed the camera as soon as I saw him with the wig on.

My cousin asked me to do a cake for her baby's blessing the weekend after conference, for which I was absolutely excited to do. I just wish I wasn't in school so I could have more time for the process. Since I was busy all week, I didn't get started until Saturday morning. Let's just say it was a long day and night. But totally worth it. Here's my trusty assistant who is at my side in an instant, despite his load of homework. He's truly wonderful.

This next picture was taken at about 2:30 am. I was tired, Daniel was tired, and I was just ready to go to bed, but I kept going along.

This was about 3:50 am. And yes, I still wasn't done. But by gosh, I was going to make this cake fantastic, no matter how long it took. My cousin deserved to have the best.

Daniel and I took a nap from about 4 am to 6 am. I got up early to finish the last bit. Here's the final creation!



It wasn't as good looking as I wanted it to be, but boy did it taste good! I always hate looking at the finished product because I can see every mistake and every blemish. All I can say, is I tried my best with the time I had on this one. Thanks Melanie for letting me take part in such a special day! The blessing was beautiful.

This last weekend we were able to go to St. George and visit both the parentals. It was glorious, besides the homework part. We saw a lot of old friends, worked hard, and ate well. Daniel's mom was kind enough to make some caramel apples with me. She is one of the best cooks and I was excited that she was going to show me some tricks of the trade. They turned out absolutely delicious! Take a look!

The apples were perfect - big and juicy. I'll have to get her caramel recipe and post it one of these days.
While we were making caramel apples, Daniel was doing this:

I think he's cute when he studies.

I was having a rough day on Saturday while helping my mom at the chocolate factory, so when I got back, Daniel had these waiting for me.

They smelled delectable! Not to mention how good they looked.

Anyways, it's been a busy busy time in our lives as of late. I feel like I'm running a million miles an hour and I don't have time to even go grocery shopping. I can't wait to graduate!!! I want a life where I can concentrate on taking care of my husband and feeding ourselves. My body isn't handling this terrible diet anymore. I'm going to write a post about that later. Let's just say I have some life changing decisions to make. It's time for some self control, and figuring out my highest priorities in life. Thanks for reading!

The three most important words

A year ago yesterday, Daniel told me he loved me. Yep, that's right. Six days after we started dating, he told me he loved me. And you know what? I said it right back. I asked him later if he felt like he said it prematurely. I was surprised when he said "absolutely not." He told me the reason he felt so strongly that he should say it, was because he had spent that day with my family - playing with my nieces and nephews, getting to know my siblings (we were having a family reunion in SG) and he told me that he could see himself as part of our family. Yep, my family reeled my husband in. So thank you kids, siblings, and Mom and Dad. Because of you, my boyfriend wanted to marry me.

Five months and counting!

Today is our five month wedding anniversary for Daniel and me. Yes, we have now been married for as long as we were engaged. How crazy is that? Time flies. These past five months have been the best of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better best friend, husband, listener, protector, provider, and entertainer. He keeps me on my toes. I know he'll be a great father some day and I can't wait to see him play with our children like he does my nieces and nephews. My mom always comments about how sweet Daniel is with the kids. So here's to you, hot stuff! May the next 900 months be just as glorious as our first five.

I'm hoping to get him to splurge on some Wendy's to celebrate. (And yes, I know 5 month anniversarys aren't that big of a deal, but I like to celebrate whenever I can.)

This thought also came to me while writing this post: I don't regret how fast we started dating, and then how fast we got engaged. Not one bit. I know there are people out there that just can't believe you can get to know someone enough in 2-3 months time to be their eternal companions (me included, before I met Daniel), but they're wrong. The moment I started dating Daniel, I felt like I had known him forever (But not in the cheesy Saturday's Warrior kinda way). I was at the point in life when I met Daniel that I was just going to settle because I didn't believe the kind of love Daniel and I have now was real. So when I found him, I tried to keep him. Although, he does admit that when I went crazy on him one night (for those who know me, you know that I go into crazy moods where I say funny things, make funny noises, contort my face, and act like I'm drunk. This is what I like to call "slappy.") he started to have second thoughts about saying "I love you." But he looked past my crazy corks and faults and still loved me.

The end. (well until I can come up with something else to blog about.)