B+C+B+C+B+C: The last Christmas post

Thursday, December 31, 2009

The last Christmas post - I promise.

Since I'm spelling out every mundane detail of our relatively uneventful Christmas, I may as well continue with the rest...

I hope everyone has at least heard of the "5 Love Languages." I totally believe in that theory. The book(s) are wonderful. Brian's love language is gifts - he likes them. Lots of them. So I have to give him lots of gifts. But mine is more "acts of service." I do not want a lot of things. I want him to clean the house and give me backrubs and fold the laundry. So at the beginning of our marriage, we had trouble because he wanted to give me gifts, and I wanted to do service for him, but that's not what either of us interpreted as showing love. So we've learned. He just gave me one tangible gift this year - a gift cert to a spa here in town called "Better Than Chocolate." He rented to the owner, and she gave him a $300 gift card for a fraction of the price. That honestly makes me love the gift even more! It's a full spa day - mani/pedi, scalp massage, hair design (obviously, I could use it - but if they suggest more than a trim they'll get glared at), hot stone massage, facial.... can't wait!
I gave Brian a bunch of little things, and one big gift: 3 full suits from Jos A. Banks (I found a killer deal online). Pictured above is him opening the bag of "Island Teriyaki Jerky," a pizza cutter, a book by John Grisham called Playing For Pizza (he read it in a few days - a rarity for B!), and some movies - the Gordon B. Hinckley story, a BOM/restoration one, and a few blockbusters from the 90's that I picked up at a yard sale.
Bottom right photo: Brian with his gourmet breakfast - apple pancakes and Winder Farms bacon, on the "you are special" plate that Brianna broke yesterday. It was a wedding present. Now it is in the garbage, and added to the list of glass items Brianna has broken. Dang tile floor.
Top right photo: Brianna doing a nice, genuine smile (a rarity to catch on camera these days) with HER gourmet breakfast: Cheerios in almond milk. My gourmet breakfast: leftover chicken stirfry from the night before. Blame it on the pregnancy cravings.

3 comments:

Malerie said...: Enjoy that spa certificate!; January 1, 2010 at 3:05 PM
Crystal and Jordan said...: love the pictures! Spa! so fun! No idea half the stuff you said they will do. So foreign to me; January 1, 2010 at 8:03 PM
Unknown said...: I would kill for your spa day! If by chance, you are not able to make your appointment, let me know. I would drive all the way down there just for that! I think the suits is a great gift, especially when you find good deals on them!; January 1, 2010 at 9:52 PM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Thursday, December 31, 2009

The last Christmas post - I promise.

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