What Do I Get For Christmas This Year?

SAWYER!!!

So Sawyer decided he wants to be our Christmas present this year. It's his new favorite place to lay. What more could I ask for, for Christmas?

Neat Picture

Matt and I went with some friends and acquaintances to temple square last week. We took our camera and took some pictures like we always do. I looked at the pictures later and this picture just looked really cool. I think what happened is that I breathed right as Matt took the picture.

Moved In!

So we are all set up and moved in. We did the finishing touches Thanksgiving morning; hanging up all the pictures and things. I really love being on our own again! I really appreciate the fact that my in-laws let us stay with them for those 7+ months, but it’s really refreshing to have all this responsibility again. I also think having that experience of living with them has made me come to really appreciate the things I didn’t appreciate as much as before. I have come to find that I love making dinner; I love cleaning up, doing the dishes…call me crazy. I don’t know how long it will last, or if it’s just the newness of it all, getting something back I haven’t had for a while, but it makes me happy to have these opportunities again, being on our own.
We have already met a lot of nice people in our neighborhood. We even have a few friends! Some old and some new. We met one side of our next door neighbors in church on Sunday and they are just really nice people. Our other next door neighbors moved in this week. We have heard a little about them and we have been told they are excited to meet us. They sound like really nice people as well.
Sawyer has taken on the place of being the head dog of the household. I think he really likes it where we are. The first night he had a hard time being in such a big and empty place, but once we got our furniture in, the house all put together, and he was able to go exploring, he hasn’t had a problem. He is so funny! Wherever I go in the house when Matt is not home, he follows me everywhere! He’ll go find his duck or his dog (stuffed animals), bring one along in his mouth, and follows me, to then either play with his toy near me, or just lay down and waits patiently until I’ll play with him or take him for a walk. He loves to go on walks around all the other townhomes. He has even found a friend; a golden retriever who it seems is almost 7 times his size, but Sawyer thinks he’s just as big as his friend, and wrestles with him without batting an eye.
Matt and I love it here. I have never felt so at home in a neighborhood. I just feel at peace, like I don’t need, or want, or could want anything else. I can’t remember ever feeling so content. In all the other places I have lived, I have always felt some level of restlessness; like I needed to go somewhere. I could never really just stay put. Now I feel I’ve found that feeling that you hear so many people talk about in stories or songs where the one place they want to be is sitting on their front porch, looking out, with the person they love; and all that matters is knowing that that alone is enough.