Ease the Tempests

The message in the Ensign this month was on being a watchcare and ministering to the sisters you visiting teach . I feel like this has been hammered really hard lately, and I can't help but feel like there is a reason. Have you ever been in one of those wards where it's super disjointed and you have no idea who your visiting teachers are or over half the people's names? Well maybe I'm alone in this, but I've TOTALLY been in that ward before. My ward right now though is awesome. Totally warm and inviting. But I just remember all too well how it can feel to sit in Relief Society and feel like nobody would notice if you weren't there. And I'm sure just because I don't feel that way now in this ward, it doesn't mean that somebody else isn't feeling that way. Anyways, it just kind of made me realize that in addition to actually befriending and having a sincere interest in my visiting teachees that I should also be keeping an eye out for other sisters in my ward. If you haven't read it then you should here.

A while back ago my visiting teacher Liz bore her testimony in sacrament meeting on "getting pounded". She and her husband grew up as beach bugs and this term was used when you got pulled under by one wave and then repeatedly pulled down by each consecutive wave just before you could come up for air. When I read this article it made me think of how all the sisters in our ward are experiencing their own trials and might just need a strong arm to pull them up out of the water when life is "pounding" them with struggles (financial, marital, scholastic, whatever). I immediately had the image of a light house pop into my head and the scripture Matthew 5:14 about being a light on a hill. So this is the visual imagery I came up with for my handout for my gals. I gave it to them with a bag of JuJu Fish...they are like Swedish Fish but WAY better because there's lots of different flavors. Plus it kept the beach theme consistent :)

Here it is for your enjoyment and use...

She Said YES!

I am trying to get myself out there more for practice and to hopefully build up some kind of foundation for when we start having babies and I have to work from home. This is my most recent venture for Minted.com. I don't just like... I LOVE, no...LUST for things on their website.

This is for a Save the Date contest they are having....go vote for me!!

Vote for my design on minted.™ see more from Sarah Nelson vote for me! Check out my competition in Christmas cards and Save the Date cards at Minted.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

So despite all efforts to remain put in Utah for Christmas and avoid the chaos of traveling, the pull of our family was just too strong. Especially when your dad offers to pick up the tab for your plane tickets (thanks Dad!). So we went back to Allen for the first time in a year to spend some time with the family. Unfortunately having a wedding and super long honeymoon doesn't bode well for having a lot of paid time off left over at the end of the year, so our trip was ridiculously short...okay it was 5 and a half days, but with BOTH of our families there that IS ridiculously short! But we had a ton of fun and it was really nice to be back home. The Nelson's house was like a non-stop party the entire time we were there. I don't know how Mom Nelson kept sanity having so many people at her house every night. Every day was like a buffet in the kitchen and playing games all day and night long. It was amazing....however I don't think my metabolism was very appreciative of the extra work it had to do that week. Of course my parents house was nice. There is something just bizarrely comforting about being at your childhood home. My mom LOVED the Christmas gift I made for her and my dad. It was portraits of each of the kids that are supposed to be hung right next to each other and it spells out our last name. Thanks to the always amazing Jared Cook for his help with this one.

While we were in Texas we also got to see Brandon and Shauna's new apartment, which was super cute. It makes me lust for the day when we live in a non-hobbit home. But all good things come with time...and LOTS of time if your husband wants to be an Optometrist ::wink::

One of the coolest things this Christmas though was getting to spend Christmas with little kids (Michael's youngest siblings are 8 and 4 years old) and re-experience the whole Santa part of Christmas. It's been a long time in our house since Santa hasn't had the presents pre-wrapped underneath the tree weeks beforehand for all of us non-believers. It also was a huge reassurance of what an amazing daddy Michael will be. Have you ever seen those Sing-A-Ma-Jigs? Well let's just say that Lorie is a much better mother than I will be because I would have never bought these semi-obnoxious toys for my children knowing I would have to listen to all day. When you squeeze this stuffed animals stomach it's mouth opens and it makes a noise. When squeezed really fast many times in a row the noises make a song. Michael was no less than infatuated with this toy for the first 5 minutes of it's unwrapping. His 4 year old sister EmmaJane had to ask her 24 year old brother if she could finally play with her new toy.

Another awesome part about being home was it gave me the chance to try out my new camera. Have I mentioned that I LOVE my new camera? Because I LOVE it. I think trying to tell everything would just be too hard, so I'll cap this off with some photos of all the happenings and Christmas-ness we experienced on our trip.

A Very Nelson Christmas

Christmas is hands down my favorite holiday and time of year. I love how wonderfully cheery everyone is. I love all the twinkling Christmas lights against the snow (or this year, the lack thereof). I love hot cocoa, Christmas carols, garland wreaths and the excitement of finding the perfect gifts.

Our apartment is tres petite, so this year we got a tree to match (a whopping 3 footer) and threw up a few strands of Christmas lights in our entryway. I also made a sparkly wreath for our front door (blog coming soon).

Here are a few pictures of the Christmas Spirit in our home and life this year.

December Visiting Teaching

With all the craziness of December and tons of holiday DIY projects I have going on, my visiting teaching handout unfortunately fell way on the back burner. So there is no cute matching treat or anything this month, just a quote from Elder Ballard that I really enjoyed from the message in a Christmas-themed handout. I have been so crazy this month that I actually took my paper cutter in the car and was using it to cut out the handouts on my way to my girls' houses. I guess over-committed is not a word in my dictionary....or safe driver...

Christmas Tags

A friend at work asked me to make her custom gift tags for her gifts this year. I could not have been more happy to get my burst of Christmasy design out and onto the screen. This is what I came up with...

Print double sided, cut, hole punch through red circle and string with red satin ribbon onto a gift wrapped in brown parchment paper and voila! Designer gift wrapping on a budget :)

To You & Yours

Beautiful Photography by Jared Cook

Beautiful Design by Sarah Nelson

Beautiful People as Ourselves

To all our friends and family that we love and who help make this time of year so special.