Reminder: New blog

In the small chance that people are still following this blog, I have a new one. J.J. and I started it after we got married. I've been doing really well at keeping it updated. There are tons of very cute pictures of our sweet little girl Allisyn. Anyway, start following that blog if you haven't already!

http://lafamiliadespain.blogspot.com/

Thanks!!

The new blog is (finally) up and running!

J.J. and I decided to make a blog together, rather than keep up with our separate blogs. I created it awhile ago, but hadn't posted anything. Well, that has changed! I posted three times yesterday to catch us up, and I'm going to try really hard to keep up with it more. Oh and for anyone who tried to comment on those posts yesterday, I have fixed it so you can comment on it now! Sorry about that.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy our new blog that documents our new adventures of being married!


Our new blog: lafamiliadespain.blogspot.com

I’m married!!! (I know, I know, I’m WAY behind)

Well, I’m married! I am now Erin Despain (officially, since I finally changed my name with the Social Security office).

J.J. and I have been married for a little over a month. And it’s been the best month of my life! :)

We were married in the Houston Temple on August 21. It was a perfect day. So many friends and family were there to support us (Beth and Jamie flew all the way to Houston!). It was just amazing. I felt so loved by everyone. The reception was awesome. Everyone did such a great job decorating. The food was great! Well, at the least the little bit of food I actually ate was! Haha. My aunt made our wedding cake. It was gorgeous! I can’t really describe it, but she did a perfect job making it exactly what I was imagining.

The next day, we left on our honeymoon- a cruise to Mexico! It was so much fun!! Neither of us had been on a cruise until our honeymoon. We are definitely fans! Our ports of call were Progresso and Cozumel. In Progresso, we toured Mayan ruins. The ones we saw were called Chichen Itza. They were breathtaking. Our tour guide was entertaining. We bought some pretty cool souvenirs and J.J. used his Spanish. We stopped in Cozumel and didn’t really do anything specific. We wandered around, bought souvenirs, and played in the beautiful, blue water.

A few hours after we got back from the cruise, we flew to Utah. The next day, we moved into our apartment. And the following Monday, we started new jobs and a new semester. Phew!! It was definitely a whirlwind of a few days.

Our apartment is small, but cozy and cute. It took forever, but we’ve finally finished organizing everything, and we’re mostly done with the decorating. I love our little home. It’s just so much fun to live in. I’ve really been enjoying decorating it the way I want to, and cooking, and doing all the little “homemaking” things.

As for our jobs… J.J. is working as a custodian in the Richards Building (an athletic building on campus). He’s really enjoying it. It’s something very easy without stress (which is a relief from last year’s job). I work in the Cougar Eat (BYU’s food court). In Tomassitos, to be exact. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I work breakfast, which includes, cooking and serving breakfast food, and preparing for lunch. On Tuesdays, I only work for two hours preparing for lunch. Thursdays, I prepare and serve lunch. It’s very tiring, but I enjoy it. I’m learning a lot and I like the people I work with. The 50% off card is pretty nice, too! :)

School is going well. Both J.J. and I just applied for our major programs (Communications, and Elementary Education, respectively). We should find out in the next couple of weeks whether or not we’re in the programs. Fingers crossed!!

Now as for pictures…I still haven’t gotten them from our photographer. I’m not sure when that’ll happen. Some friends have posted their own pictures on Facebook, but that’s all I’ve seen. I’m in the process of posting honeymoon pictures on Facebook. I’m not exactly sure when that’ll happen…I’ve been very busy. Oh and I’ll get around to taking pictures of our apartment, too.

J.J. and I decided that we wanted to make our own blog. We haven’t posted anything yet, but we probably will soon. The site is http://lafamiliadespain.blogspot.com. So I guess this’ll be my last post on this blog. Thanks for reading! (If anyone does read this...haha).

Oh and just so you know, I have the greatest husband ever! :)

6 weeks!!

I just wanted to take a minute to inform everyone that in exactly 6 weeks I will getting married to my very best friend in the entire world. I couldn't be happier! August 21, 2009 is going to be the absolute greatest day of my life!

Happy Father's Day

To put it simply, I have the most amazing dad. How did I get so lucky?

I love my dad so very much. He is such a great example to me and my brothers. I know that he loves his wife and children more than anything.

When Braden and I were younger, my dad started this little tradition called "20 minutes." Everyday, he would spend time with both of us, individually, for 20 minutes. He would do whatever we wanted. I remembered playing Barbies and Polly Pockets with him numerous times. I'm sure he would've much preferred to do something else, but he played with me anyway because he loved me.

My dad has always been great at helping with homework, particularly with papers we have to write. I know I didn't always appreciate it (many homework sessions ended in tears), but he really helped me. He pushed me farther than I would have pushed myself. Now that I'm away at school, I've realized that I am a much better writer than I would have been otherwise. I've noticed that Braden is now going through the same thing I did (but without the tears). I'm sure that with time, Braden will realize that my dad really does know what he's talking about, just like I did.

Dad thought it was important for me to memorize things. He put together a "memorization box" for me and almost ever day we spent time memorizing. By the time I was 6 years old, I had already memorized all 13 Articles of Faith, as well as President Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." I didn't always have fun memorizing, but I'm glad he had me exercise my mind in this way.

I'm so grateful that my dad has always been there for me. When I'm away at school, I know that he's always just a phone call away. He's told me many times that he and my family are praying for me. It's such a comfort to know that I have him to rely on.

I was going through some old pictures the other day, and I found a few of Dad and I. I thought it'd be fun to share them.

Dad & I- the day I came home from the hospital. (2 months old)

At the Hogle Zoo. (1-1/2 years old)

Dad carrying me after a long day at Disney Land. (4 years old)

Goofing off. (7 years old)

Just chillin'. (9 years old)

Happy Father's Day!

I Love to See the Temple

I love my drive home from work on Thursdays. I drop off Ben (the boy I babysit) at his soccer practice and then I drive past the Houston Temple. I suppose there are faster ways to get home, but I love looking at this magnificent building.

(For those of you who don't know what a temple is, here is the definition I found on my Church's website, lds.org (click on the link for more information on temples):

"Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred covenants with God. Because making covenants with God is such a solemn responsibility, individuals cannot enter the temple to receive their endowments or be sealed in marriage for eternity until they have fully prepared themselves and been members of the Church for at least a year. Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. The Church is working to build temples all over the world to make temple blessings more available for a greater number of Heavenly Father's children.")

Anyway, on my drive home today, I happened to get a red light at the intersection where the temple is. I didn't mind much, because it gave me more time to think about the temple. I am so excited to go to this temple in just a couple of months. I'll have the opportunity to receive my endowments, and then two days later, be married for eternity to the love of my life.

I am so grateful that I am blessed to live so close to a temple (both here in Houston, and in Provo). Temples provide so many opportunities to serve others and to receive blessings for ourselves. I know that many times, I have received answers to my prayers when I go to the temple, even when I'm just walking around the temple grounds.

The Primary song, I Love to See the Temple, completely describes my feelings.

I love to see the temple.
I'm going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I'll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple.
I'll go inside someday.
I'll covenant with my Father;
I'll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I've learned this truth:
A family is forever.

a happy thought

As I was getting ready for the day this morning, I listened to a General Conference talk. This one was from April 2006 by Jeffrey R. Holland. It was entitled Broken Things to Mend. I love this talk. The entire thing is so great.

One part of it struck me. Elder Holland said, "In short we must repent, perhaps the most hopeful and encouraging word in the Christian vocabulary." The most hopeful and encouraging word. How cool! And it is so true.

Repentance is amazing. I don't know where any of us would be without it. So many times I try and try, but I continuously fall short. Thankfully, our loving Heavenly Father understood that this would be the case.

Elder Holland continued by saying, "We thank our Father in Heaven we are allowed to change, we thank Jesus we can change, and ultimately we do so only with Their divine assistance. . . . In this way our access to the Savior’s Atonement becomes as unimpeded as we, with our imperfections, can make it. He will take it from there."

What a comforting promise!

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." (Moroni 10:32)



If you want to read the talk, here is the link:
Broken Things to Mend