A THIRD of a Century...almost?

Today I turn 33. I know that technically I won't be a third of a century until four months from now---and believe me, we are indeed considering having a small celebration in January JUST to commemorate that significant time!---but I can't help but think it strange. A century sounds forever long, and associating myself with a century, even in a 1/3 fraction, makes me feel...like I am pushing towards ancient. Which is NOT how I feel! I am young and energetic, full of zest for life! So TAKE THAT, you ancient century! Keep your oldness to yourself, why don'cha!

To celebrate the proliferation of threes, here are the top 3 reasons I'm grateful to have been born 33 years ago:

1. my family. I have wonderfully forgiving parents, amazing siblings, the cutest nieces and nephews, and incredibly supportive in-laws! Eric, when I was young and imagining what marriage would be like, I could not possibly have conjured up for myself a more idyllic spouse, best friend, partner-in-everything that you are to me. I absolutely cannot imagine being this happy with anyone else. And our beautiful, precocious children! Man, sometimes I'm overwhelmed with their amazing spirits and ever so humbled to be entrusted with raising them. I love, love, LOVE my little ones! How grateful I am for an eternal family!

2. learning. I love to grow, to progress. I know that is part of Heavenly Father's eternal plan for us, and I'm so grateful for that eternal truth which has and will continue to shape my life. I LOVE learning new things, all KINDS of things, and I am so incredibly grateful to have been born NOW when the gospel is available in its fullness AND when women are afforded so much priceless freedom to learn and grow. I am grateful for a mind that can expand, to think and ponder and to synthesize and create new ideas. Learning for me is definitely tied to scripture, books, and education, but it expands beyond that too. I see sewing, culinary experiments, and painting as extensions of the mind's capacity to grow and create. How grateful I am for education.

  

3. beauty. Oh what a beautiful world. In July I enjoyed the ocean for the 2nd time in my life. It was a splendid day. A day of wonder and contentment surrounded by God's creation. Truly so much beauty in His handiwork. Colors in my garden, an oil painting, or the eyes of my little ones. Music from the throats of birds, evening crickets, piano and orchestra, wind, or clear voices (Josh Groban, Sissel, Hayley Westenra. If you know those names, you know their voices touch something in the soul). Textures and patterns in fabrics or dishes from around the world. Feelings of strength and litheness when I dance--- even though I'd never win a contest for my dancing--- it is the FEELING that is beautiful, which is why I LOVE to dance. How truly grateful I am for beauty, for this beautiful life I am blessed to live. 

Do I feel 1/3 of a century OLD? Absolutely not. I believe that being full of learning, life, and love cultivates beauty IN ME. And therefore, I must not be aging at all. Forever young. :)

#1 Eric Cameron Allan

I love my husband. I can't even express in words, really, because they don't measure up to what I feel and just start to sound like a sappy love song.

Suffice it to say, this man is THE best man I know.

He is patient, kind, compassionate, a good listener, a problem solver, talented, intelligent, hilarious, handsome, a handy man, curious, dedicated, and sensitive to the Spirit. He brings out the best in me. He brings out the best in pretty much everyone, I'd say, and is amazing at making people feel comfortable 1 on 1. He is a wonderful father, an amazing husband, my very best friend.

What more can I say? He is the best thing to come into my life besides the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am more in love today than I was when I married him 5 1/2 years ago... and we were pretty in love then too! In my estimation, this is what Valentine's Day is all about: LOVE.

And I LOVE ERIC with all my heart.

WHO IS THIS GUY!?!

Blows my mind... I found a marriage record, completely unexpected... and discovered that

my great-great grandma was married to someone NOT my great-great grandfather!

their marriage is 3 years prior to her marriage to my gg-grandfather... so what happened? Did her first husband die? Did they get divorced? Did they have kids? What a mystery!

WHO IS THIS GUY?

anybody else ever find out something unexpected about a member of your family?

Really, this surprise has gotten me thinking about marriage and how much I value mine. What would it be like to lose a husband after only 2 years? Sometime between their marriage and her marriage to my GGG-Father, she moved to Guatemala City. Was that a move made together with her first husband? Did his death/divorce/or whatever leave her stranded in a strange city to work out her sorrow and frustration so far away from her family support? Or was it a choice of hers to leave El Progreso, a fresh start, a chance to get away from the memories when she married the second time so far away from home? my heart goes out to my GGGmother who had some unknown struggle. She is suddenly more real because of this discovery. I am so grateful for my husband, for the fulfillment and joy I have every day because I know we are sealed together for eternity. Eric is a wonderful husband and father, my best friend in all the world. I hope Arcadia found joy like I have. I hope she--and all my own descendants--know what it is like to be sublimely happy in marriage.