General Conference Traditions

Dear readers,

Are you still there? Sorry it has been over 2 months since I've written. I actually have one post stuck in draft form and another stuck in my head. I can't come to write/post them. They are more personal than anything I have ever written and don't know if I can publish them to be available by anyone with internet access in the world. We will see. Until then, here is a lighter post with pictures!

General Conference was this past weekend and we have some fun traditions we want to share!

We build a bed out of blankets!     Set a specific candy for a word, when spoken we get to eat it!

We make the Dawson ham, cream cheese, and pickle snack! TOTALLY delicious!

Mr. Dawson and I took a guess as to who would speak in the first two sessions!

              

Ellie might have gotten a sugar high....

                                        

Cuddles with daddy

And lastly, being a dare devil with no hands!

To answer any questions, yes we really do have a TON of blankets, we also might have used our 3 body pillows to help out with the blanket bed.

No I initially didn't eat the Dawson creation. I thought it looked and sounded gross, but I have come to really like it and even crave it occasionally!

Ellie doesn't always sit still, but she gets excited for conference because we are excited, and the candy helps her to focus and sit and listen! In October I plan to add celery sticks and carrots to help tame the sugar crashes! =)

I'm Alive!

Don't worry my pretty little readers, I am alive and well!

I know it's been 2 months since I last wrote...

Lots has happened!

Both good and bad.

So I will just bullet point, and add pictures, to review.

November after the 11th, which was the last post:

*I found out I was pregnant

* I started miscarrying the night of Young Women in Excellence

This is a celebration we have for our young women in the church 12-18 and all they have spiritually accomplished in the year!

*We traveled to Colorado for Thanksgiving with Mr. Dawson's family

*Finished miscarrying the day before Thanksgiving

* Fantastic time visiting with family and relaxing

December:

*My hair was THIS long!

*I held my 3rd violin studio recital in Kansas

It also happened to be Ellie's first violin recital, spur of the moment decision on her part!

Don't worry we are working on posture! =)

*Mr. Dawson finished the semester with flying colors!

*We traveled to warmer weather and stayed 3 weeks in Arizona visiting family.

*Christmas was awesome

*My cousin got married

*We celebrated 5 years of marriage!

 *Attempted a Family Photo

 *Added another temple to our list of visited! 

The Gilbert, AZ temple!

*I also got my hair cut...as you can probably tell! =)

*We evaded the polar vortex by staying in AZ for a total of 3 weeks!

And I think that is about it!

2014 is the year!

I feel it!

It's going to be an awesome year!!! 

I can't wait to see what it brings!

5 Things I Am Grateful For!

1. I am grateful for Ellie and the joy she brings us!

Everyday she shows me something new to appreciate.

I also love the way her brain works as she discovers things.

2. I am grateful for Mr. Dawson's new job!

We have been so blessed to find a new job immediately after an old one falls through.

This time Mr. Dawson found the job before he heard that they were letting all interns and some regularly salaried people go!

3. I am grateful to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

I know of the truthfulness of the gospel that is taught and am so grateful to have that knowledge lead and direct my life.

4. I am grateful for my budgeting skills!

I might not be 100% perfect, but it sure has helped us make sure we save and spend money wisely!

5. I am grateful for my violin talents!

I know that these last two sound kinda snobby, but I am completely serious!

Without my violin skills I wouldn't be able to support my family with the little bits I earn each month from teaching!

It's The Month of Thanksgiving!

This is one of my favorite months!

Okay I have like 10 favorite months...but still!

I love the food and I love the opportunity to list, publicly, all of my blessings and why I am grateful for them!

To start this month off I am grateful for Mr. Dawson.

He is amazing!

He does everything he can to support our family!

He works hard at a job while in school full time!

He is the love of my life!

I am so grateful to have him in my life!

Cuddles

Yesterday Ellie had a fever. The biggest one she has ever had in her lifetime! 

Nothing dangerously high, but still. 

Mr. Dawson was so nice to get her breakfast ready while I slept in a bit.

Afterwards we all climbed into bed and cuddled.....for about 2 hours.

I kept thinking how nice it was to have Ellie laying still next to us and wanting to cuddle for so long!

It was a bit later when I realized that something was up, Ellie never cuddles with us for that long!

Fever story cut short, that little girl is a trooper!

She cuddled all day, took a two hour nap, even kept her diaper dry! 

And her fever broke while she was sleeping last night.

It's great to have the normal Ellie back, but yesterdays cuddles are a great memory!

It was so nice to be needed and that she just wanted to be close to us!

Even more fantastic was that we had nothing pressing us to stop, we could just enjoy the moment!

Blessings

Mr. Dawson got a new job!

Technically it's a new internship, but since it pays and requires work we call it a job!

It has been totally amazing to see the hand of God in all of this.

Mr. Dawson found this company at a job fair a few weeks ago.

A few weeks before that he had been put "on call" while other interns were let go, until they could find more work for them to do, from his previous job.

Mr. Dawson received one call in two weeks and decided to start looking at options.

The day after he got the job he called the previous employers and let them know about the new job, but could still be on call for them if they would like.

Turns out they had to let go some full time employees and are not doing so well.

Both parties benefited from this phone call, kinda since we are going to be making money and maybe not so much for them. 

Anyway, it's amazing.

Mr. Dawson will start next monday at giftprofessor.com's head quarters!

They have been open for 4 years and are trying to expand, at least that is my understanding of what the Mr. has told me! 

=)

Basically if you don't know what kind of gift to get someone, you type in attributes and likes about that person and it sets you up with TONS of ideas of possibilities!

I personally think this is fantastic!

Take a look, tell Mr. Dawson what needs to be improved and maybe he will be the one to fix it to fit your needs!

Hope you all had a fantastic day!

27 Years

This amazing, hilarious, handsome, brilliant, incredible, charming, romantic, brainy, and quick-witted man has a birthday today!

He has shown me over and over that he is the man of my dreams!

The man that holds my heart.

My best friend!

And since pictures say a thousand words....here are 18 pictures of the man that I love!

5 Years Ago

It all started as an ordinary day.

We were in Nauvoo Illinois visiting our grandparents who were serving missions for our church.

Amazing that they were at the same place at the same time right!?

Anyways that morning we saw a couple of sites before going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.

This is us walking back to get dressed in church clothes...

Then the proposal!

If you want the full story, read it here!

If you take a close look at the pictures you will see that we had two secret camera men.

My brother, so secret he's never seen in any picture!

And Grandpa Dawson, he's the guy in a white shirt and tie standing by the open door!

They caught everything!

To which, I am so grateful!

 This is me after the fact, after everyone had been alerted to the fact that it had happened, saying, "Really!?"

The moment....

My brother caught my back turned with Justin's face, but Grandpa Dawson caught my reaction.

In case it isn't clear enough, this is my "No way, Seriously! Yes!" face.

Oh!

And because Justin teases me about it still.....I never actually said the word "yes" until later. I was so caught up in the moment and that he had actually proposed that word never left my mouth!

I know....terrible!

We've come so far in 5 years!

I love you babe! Thanks for being mine!

20/31 Things: Forgiveness

{To know what I am talking about, and to see past 31 Things posts, start here...}

20. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?

**********

You know how you read blogs, or just look at other couples, and it makes you feel insecure? That voice in your head saying, "They seem happier than you do. More fashionable. More compatible. More fertile. They probably make a lot of money. They probably make love five times a week. I bet she's a better wife, and doesn't complain. I bet he always remembers to take out the trash." 

And on and on...

Well, some of those things are true! Maybe at that moment in time they actually are happier than you. Maybe they have figured something out that you don't know. I don't know how those hypothetical couples can be so perfect. All I know is my relationship. And let me tell you, marriage is not always bliss. Did you expect that from me? 

I know, I know. You ALL think I have the most perfect life that is amazing and happy. But let me tell you, Mr. Dawson and I have been through it all in the past 4.5 years. Only a few people know the full story. Would you believe me if I told you that after 6 months of marriage we were instantaneously hanging on my a thread, maybe 4 threads? It's true. There were lots of tears, anger, compassion, prayers, doubts, tweaking this thing, tweaking that thing. It was only a little over a year ago that threads started being picked up and bound together. We had lots to pick up, discard, and create. We had had over 2 years of a continuous roller coaster marriage. 

I only share this with you now because I think that now that we have had a little over a year with no threads threatening to break, I think we have come out on the other side! (And you thought you knew everything about us by reading this blog? Proof that blogs are just a peek at someones life!)

I am not going to specifically list all the things that were hard for me to forgive, as I know Mr. Dawson can most assuredly recall things that were hard for him too, but I do want to share this:

It's okay if your life doesn't look like a fairy tale. I betcha no ones does. Ever notice that the Disney movies don't ever portray the drama that happens after marriage? They never talk of cohabiting with someone, struggling through overcoming a habit that is toxic to the relationship, changing individually and together, and continuing to find that love amidst the change and hard times. It makes sense as to why the divorce rate is so high! Marriage is hard work! The way "work" looks is different for everyone. And depending on the circumstances it may be harder hard work for some. As long as you still have real love for each other, I know that the hard work and change it takes to make a marriage work is worth it.

I am totally not advocating that you stay in any relationships that may bring physical harm to you or that  may make you miserable and bring you down. That is completely different. And I believe that is not a relationship worth staying in. There were times, in the darkest of the times, that when I asked myself if I still loved Mr. Dawson and if I should keep working to work things out, that I knew WITHOUT hesitation that the answer was a resounding YES! When I asked him those same questions, he would answer the same. So we knew that we could do it, that he was worth it, that we both knew our relationship was worth it. When your hearts aligned, you find a way to make it. Your love for each other becomes deeper, more real, full of respect, and honest.