This One is for Me

Randy left for southern Idaho today

I didn't know it was possible to love a person so much. To have a desire to protect them from every possible pain or discomfort knowing full well that that is impossible. To love someone in a way that their hopes and dreams become integrated into your own heart. Their disappointments and sufferings become your own. To reach into another person's soul and they into your's until you are not two souls but one. Two people that are a perfect complement to one another. 

Everything is going to be alright. Randy is mine forever. We made sacred promises in a holy temple of God that if we are faithful we can be man and wife for all eternity. Four and half months isn't that long. 

There is much good for me to do around here. There are people to be loved, heavy hearts to be lifted, and joys to be discovered. There are beauties to be enjoyed- the coming of spring, watching Mitch play in the fresh snow, friendships to cherish, and serene sunsets to be admired. There are goals to be achieved, self-improvements to be made, and many many things to learn! There is much goodness all around! 

Life is to be enjoyed

"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured" - Gordon B. Hinckley

You know those times when life just seems to bear down on you. Nothing is going horribly wrong, but nothing seems to be going really well either. You know those times when you can't seem to help playing the 'comparison game'- why can't I be as involved as so-n-so, or why aren't I as stylish as so-n-so, or why don't I study as much, or be as sociable... The list is endless. Even in the midst of feeling less then my best I knew I shouldn't allow those thoughts into my head, but I couldn't seem to get them out either. It seemed to take too much effort to pull myself up by my own bootstraps.

This time my prince charming saved the day. This time, without knowing, he pulled me out of my dark thoughts and reminded me how important I am to him. And that is enough for me.  I am the luckiest girl I know to be married to this man. He makes the hard days worth it and brings sunshine back into my life. He is human enough to make mistakes and man enough to admit it and make things right. He is always looking for ways to lighten the burdens of those around him.

On a slightly different note, yesterday was the best day I have had in a while. We woke up with no plans at all. While still half asleep we decided to go out for breakfast to the Old European Breakfast House, a delicious place here in Pullman. They have too many options for me, luckily they have a dish with a little bit of everything- the Scandinavian cake plate which includes buttermilk pancakes, strawberry crepe, potato pancake (my favorite), and aebelskivers. I also decided to splurge a bit and get a cup of their peppermint hot coco... oh yum.

After we were full to the max we headed out to run a few errands. While driving around we decided that we should check out the used bookstores around Pullman. Once we finished our errands, we headed home to unload groceries and I skyped with my mom for her birthday. Skype is such a wonderful thing- so much better then a phone call. My family is staying busy with soccer, basketball, and theater performances.

A little while later we decided to brave the rain and act on our previous intention of exploring used bookstores. We ended up spending a good chunk of the day looking up and down tiny aisles overflowing with books. We got some great deals (used books are the way to go). I have a difficult time not wanting to read or at least look at everything. Randy said jokingly, "Remind me never to bring you to a bookstore again."

Later that night we went ice skating for a church activity. We have tried to ice skate a couple times before we got married, but the conditions were never good (melted ice, broken latch on skate). It was so much fun! I never knew that holding hands and gliding along on the ice would be such a blast. I was sure I would spend most of the time clinging to the wall to keep my balance, but I ended up hardly using the wall at all! A bunch of people were pushing their kids around on the ice in 5 gallon buckets. It was so cute! I have never seen that before - little toddlers standing inside the buckets or sitting on top of them flying around the ice.

We finished off the night with blizzards from Dairy Queen. It was marvelous to just spend a day with Randy, laughing and learning more about each other without having the guilt of not studying.

At the rink with good friends Brooklin and Brett 

Welcome February

Randy's birthday was last month. I surprised him with a "Firefly" cake made by Jenny, a wife of a classmate of mine, who is a fantastic cake maker. I was blown away by what she came up with. That space ship is made out of chocolate! 

These last few weeks have been busy as usual. I am working on a few different projects for school, different clubs, my senior paper, and a possible abstract to present at a conference this summer. My embryo transfer class had a few labs this weekend. I tried my hand at artificial insemination for the first time yesterday. 

On Friday, we went up to Spokane to go to the temple with our friends Natalie and Brandon. It was Natalie's first time and she asked me to be her escort. It was a wonderful evening; spending a few precious hours in the house of the Lord with friends.  

Randy is heading back to Idaho sometime in the next month or so. We are waiting to hear about a start date. I know he is excited to get back out into the field, but I will miss him terribly. We are still hopeful that a masters program will present itself soon. 

We are having a few friends over to play games tonight and one friend, Rebecca is bringing her cat. This will be the first cat that Winter will meet since her mom and siblings so this will be interesting. If nothing else, Winter will sleep well tonight. Lately she has a habit of walking across my face and neck in the morning. Its an interesting way to be woken up. 

Here is a better picture of our new car. It is slowly growing on me, but I do miss sitting up higher in my truck. 

Things are going pretty well here at the McBride house.