He did a waltz.

A well known Christian author wrote in his book "One Incredible Moment" that I was reading the other day:
"There was one word that describes the night He came - ordinary. The sky was ordinary. An occasional gust stirred the leaves and chilled the air. The stars were diamonds sparkling on black velvet. Fleets of clouds floated in front of the moon.
"It was a beautiful night- a night worth peeking out your bedroom window to admire- but not really an unusual one. No reason to expect a surprise. Nothing to keep a person awake. An ordinary night with an ordinary sky.
"The sheep were ordinary. Some fat. Some scrawny. Some with barrel bellies. Some with twig legs. Common animals. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. No blue-ribbon winners. They were simply sheep-lumpy, sleeping silhouettes on a hillside.
"And the shepherds. Peasants they were. Probably wearing all the clothes they owned. Smelling like sheep and looking just as woolly. They were conscientious, willing to spend the night with the flocks. But you won't find their staffs in a museum nor their writings in a library. No one asked their opinion on social justice or the application of the Torah. They were nameless and simple.
"An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.
But God dances among the common. And that night he did a waltz.
The night was ordinary no more. "

I am so grateful that "God dances among the common." and performed the waltz that night. What a wonderful gift to us. I hope we all can remember the reason for celebrating Christmas and that because of Christ, we can see God dancing among us.

Merry Christmas!
Love, Kristen and Jake

Don't waste the Miracle.

Several years ago, one of my amazing sisters gave me a framed picture by one of my favorite artists (Mary Engelbreit) that has a Christmas angel and says at the bottom "Don't waste the miracle." I remembered I had it a few weeks ago and set it out in our apartment. Now, every time I walk by it I stop and think about that short and sweet statement. Something so simple but yet to me so profound- don't waste the miracle. It is a good reminder for me, especially when it is so hard at Christmastime to stay focused on Christ with our crazy world, but it helps me remember the reason for celebrating Christmas. And what is the miracle, you may ask? There are so many and it can be a new one everyday- the miracle of waking up each morning, the miracle of not freezing to death because it is so cold outside, the miracle of having a short break from school, of being with family. But, the real and most important miracle that makes all of the other miracles possible is Christ-His life, His mission, His birth, His atoning sacrifice, His resurrection and His saving power. That is my goal this year- to not waste the miracle of what He has done for us, for me. I know I have forgotten and allowed that miracle to go to waste far too often. But I want to do better and I know that with the help of my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ, I can. So Merry Christmas everyone- and don't waste the miracle. :)

Home

One of my favorite Michael Buble songs is called Home.
"May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home"
I cannot wait to go home for Christmas. And when I say I cannot wait, I mean it. I don't ever remember being this excited for Christmas in a long time. You know that feeling you get when you are home, and everything is comfortable and you know everyone and you just feel safe and warm? I've been wanting that for a long time. Although I am trying, I just don't seem to have that feeling here in Logan yet.
I have tried to meet new friends in school and at church, I go to a lot of church activities and it just doesn't seem to click. Maybe my expectations are too high, but it is hard. Part of it is being a newlywed of 7 months, I guess I haven't learned how to make friends being married.
And maybe it's because they don't need friends as bad as I do- they have better things to worry about and lived here before they were married so already have friends. In addition, it is so hard to feel like in order to meet friends you have to be in the Relief Society presidency or know how to cook well and sew, or have a bunch of degrees in something useful. Well... I have none of that.
But, it is so nice to be able to get away for a week and go home to Colorado where I don't even have to think about that. HOME. Where everything feels just like it should. I can't wait. It won't even matter to get the normal teasing from my 5 brothers, because we will be together. Everything in me is counting down the days and hours until I get there. And what will I do when I am there? Just sit with family and enjoy our normal Christmas traditions. But it doesn't matter because I will be home.
Just imagine what it will feel like one day, if we do it all right, to return to our Heavenly home. I can't wait.

Tag- Feliz Navidad

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate. We got a hot chocolate machine for our wedding and it's awesome- we have hot chocolate way too often now.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa leaves them out unwrapped next to our stockings around the room.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Well growing up it is always colored, but now I think whatever I'm in the mood for that year.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I never have.

5. When do you put up your decorations? When thanksgiving is over, that gives me the green light to begin.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? The Christmas breakfast my mom makes- Apple French Toast, Egg souffle.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? We would sleep under the Christmas tree together, which was fun. Christmas Eve is awesome- a carriage ride, caroling to friends, acting out the Nativity.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember- I have a horrible memory.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, pajamas. Sometimes we could convince Mom and Dad to let us choose one more.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We always go up to the mountains and cut it down. And since our ceiling is so high, we would get one that's about 18 feet tall. So, decorating took a while. We would listen to Christmas music while we put our box of random ornaments up.

11. Can you ice skate? Nope. I always thought you only go ice skating if you have a cute guy to hold your hand- good thing I do now, maybe I'll pick it up.... :)

12. Do you remember your favorite gift? No, (my horrible memory), but Christmas with family is the best gift.

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family and traditions.

14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Home made carmels.

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? cutting the Christmas tree and the Christmas Eve activities.

16. What tops your tree? Star.

17. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Definitely giving. I love it. I'm one of those people who shows love through gifts.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Oh Holy Night by Tracy Chapman and Merry Christmas Eve by Better Than Ezra. Oh and Oak Ridge Boys Christmas.

19. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Yes.

I don't know if anyone reads this... I tag Ashleigh, Deidra and Brooke.

finals week

This week is finals week. I have to admit I've been a big slacker so far. I was already done with 2 classes, had my test on Monday and it is Wednesday and I still haven't started my paper due Friday. That's the plan for tonight...I promise.
It has actually been so nice to just work and not have to worry about school this week-I am trying to relish in the moment until next month when school starts again.


Last weekend we went down to American Fork because my nephew Benjamin got baptized. It was awesome to watch him, so excited and dressed in white. Benj is awesome. My parents were in town and we all hung out and enjoyed our time together. Of course I didn't take very many pictures and smart me, got none of Benjamin, but it was a great, relaxing weekend, with no studying before finals week.



We went to the First Presidency Christmas devotional on Sunday night and then drove back up. We were both starving so we decided to bust out my Christmas pancake molds that I got as a wedding present (obviously a re-gift, but they are super cute.)


It also snowed up here on Monday and has been pretty cold since then but it's basically melted.
I am looking forward to this weekend- we will be going down to Salt Lake once again (if anyone wonders why we are poor it's because we spend all our money in gas to go see friends) for my work Christmas party on Friday night and then Saturday night we are going to the Jon Schmidt Christmas concert. (This was supposed to be a surprise for Jake, but he guessed it and I am a horrible liar so he now knows. This is one aspect that drives me crazy- I am a person who loves surprises and always try to surprise Jake for things and he always ruins it. Oh well. maybe one day I'll get to surprise him- or maybe he'll realize that I love surprises and surprise me. Anyway.... I really do need to write my spanish paper.

Christmas is here!

(I had this all written last week but was just too busy with school, work, and a fun weekend to add pics and post. But anyway, life is good. As of this moment in time, I am done with 3 classes and only have 1 more to go for the semester- yay!! Jake is done with 2 and 2 to go.)


Thanksgiving was a wonderful break for us. We went down to Salt Lake to be with family and enjoyed our time with them. We also enjoyed sleeping in and I loved going shopping. We were brave and decided to do the day after Thanksgiving thing, but we only went to 3 stores so it wasn't bad. We spent Thanksgiving with the Perschons and had a great time.


For Christmas this year, Jake and I decided to get a nice camera. We both want to learn how to take better pictures and figured this was the next step. It was a big investment for us, but we found the best deal at all the stores and took a few pics over the weekend.
Jen, Leigha, Christa and I also decided to try to make the cute cupcakes from the bakerella blog (http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html). It didn't turn out as good as hers, but it was fun and worth the experience. I think now we know how to make it better for next time. If any of you haven't checked out that blog, it is darling and I love looking at it- and I don't even know how to bake! The other bonus about our fun project- I got to see some of my niece and nephews- they are so cute!




Of course we had to see some friends and see Twilight. Very disappointing for me- I think I'll just stick to the books- but it was fun to go with everyone and laugh at the dumb lines together.


We also bought and set up our Christmas tree. It was so fun- this is our first Christmas!! And it was so nice to wrap the presents and put them under the tree- I have so many fun memories of wrapping presents and putting up our tree that I really enjoyed it. Our tree is huge- a little too big for our small apartment, but it is pretty. I am so excited for Christmas- it is so fun.

(Pine needles everywhere) (Jake and the creation of the star) (wearing the too-small tree skirt)