My weekend

 

Lovers Beach.

Hobbes.

My favorite boys.

Goat cheese.

Hobbes playing with Harry.

Merry Christmas.

Neptune/Poseidon.

Sandcastle.

Church swag.

It was a fantastic weekend. Words can't even describe how happy I am to have Harry home. He is all grown up and wise beyond his years. I'm going to miss him while he's away at school, but he's going to love taking this next step in his life.

As for Chad & I, we want to wish everybody the very Merriest Christmas!!! May your time with loved ones be well spent, and remember the reason we celebrate Christmas.

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Slacking

Many things have been happening in the Spencer household. These past two months have been extremely taxing emotionally and physically for Chad and I. I apologize for the lack of blogage and hope I can be forgiven.

Catch up: I am finished with my finals which means I have one semester left until I have my Master's degree! Chad has his last final this Thursday and then he will start his M2 academia. 

Also ....

We have an addition to our little family ... it's a BOY ... and he's four months along. 


Meet Hobbes. 

We love him more than we thought possible. He is the most playful, adventurous, sweet, loving kitty. We are extremely happy to have him in our lives. Our little family is perfect.

That one time Harrison came home ...

It has officially been one week since Harrison returned home from his mission in Taiwan. You guuuuys ... I cannot explain in words how stinking excited I was for him to come home!

Long story short, he came was walking towards us from behind, and I was impatiently turning in circles when I saw him. (I was the first to see him!) Absolute pure, raw emotion took over me. My heart felt like it dropped and I literally could not breathe. I tried to coherently say something but all that came out of my mouth were jumbled words reflecting, "ohmygooosh" over and over and over. I ran to him, bawling like a baby and hugged him for what felt like ten minutes. It was one of rare times in my life that I had absolutely no control over myself. I was (as Chad put it) so happy I was giddy. It was unbelievable that my best little brother friend was finally standing in front of me after the longest two years ever.

He kept talking in Chinese and I just didn't care. All I wanted to do was talk to him and listen to his Chinese and cry some more because I was overcome with emotion.

I am grateful that he served diligently and honorably for the last two years. I received so many Facebook messages from his Taiwanese members who said they loved him and missed him. He is so loved by the people he served and that's apparent by all the letters, photos, Skype chats (already!!!) but also how Harry talks about Taiwan and the people he served there. He told Chad & I that coming home was extremely difficult because he loved the Taiwanese people so incredibly much.

I am glad to have him home though. An apostle once said, "The Lord judges your success during your mission by how you live the gospel once you return home." That means Harry was a fantastic missionary because he's going to continue to live what he taught.

Here's the vid and please ignore how ridiculous I sound squeaking and crying, I'm an ugly crier ...

Gratitude

10 things I love about the hubs.

(Yes there are more.)

1) He is so gosh darn patient with me. I can be the worst person to be around and Chad is ever so kind and patient with me. He patiently deals with my crazy moods and never gets upset, instead he tells me he loves me.

2) He is so witty and clever, but never uses that against me. Chad is quick as a whip, he always has something witty to say. But when we get into disagreements Chad never uses his wit or cleverness against me. Let's be honest, he could say something and I'd still be sitting there five minutes later trying to think of something more intelligible to say than, "ohhh ... well .... you're wrong!"

3) He is a wonderful priesthood holder. Chad is the best at being spiritual, seriously. He reads his scriptures on a daily basis, his prayers are always sincere even after a late night of studying, he fulfills his church callings despite being busy and he helps me fulfill my role and purpose in the church as well.

4) He is really good at being affectionate. You guys ... I am so, so, so bad at showing my affection. Chad is always hugging me, kissing me, cuddling with me. He is always saying he loves me, and how beautiful he thinks I am. For goodness sakes he even checks me out while I'm getting dressed and makes sure that I see him. Chad is an affectionate person.

5) He is really good at cooking and helping me cook. I can make a mean grilled cheese, but Chad can make five star creations without looking at a cookbook. He never complains about what I cook even if it tastes weird or isn't impressive, he always says, "this tastes great babe!" What a trooper.

6) He is a team player. Chad really, really wants our marriage to be about us as a team, and that's how it should be. I struggle with that because I am crazy independent. But Chad is always making sure that we make decisions together, and he lets me in like we are a team ... which we are.

7) He is down to earth. I can get extremely worked up over something someone said, or something I read and Chad is just so down to earth. He doesn't care about the opinions of sheep. He knows who he is, what he wants and he does not let anything get him down. 

8) He is actually really nice. Sometimes I think Chad tries to come off as the reserved maybe not so nice guy, but in reality he is the nicest guy I know. He is always talking to people, telling others how great they are, and validating strangers. Also, he is nice to me, I mean really REALLY nice, nicer than I deserve on some occasions.

9) His charm and charisma. Holy moly! This is what initially attracted me to Chad. He is so charming and charismatic that girls fall over themselves in the grocery store if he so much as offers a friendly, "hi" to them. And I get it, I fell for him, and I continue to because he is charming.

10) He is loyal. Chad is really loyal to his family and friends, which is what makes him such a wonderful friend, brother, son and husband. He will stick by those he loves to the end, come Hell or high water. You can count on him always being there when you need him the most.

What needs to change.

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity, we need more virtue. We have enough popularity, we need more purity"

I couldn't agree more ...

One Year Anniversary pt. II

Chad and I decided to take a weekend trip to the Outer Banks to celebrate our one year anniversary. All I can say is AMAZING! The Outer Banks might be one of my new favorite places on earth. 

We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast. Our room had a sun room and we could see outside to a dock that was on the property. We ate yummy food at Tortuga's Lie and walked on a pier that went 1,000 feet out into the water. 

We got to climb to the top of a lighthouse, and the view was spectacular. We went to the famous "Duck Donuts" and both ate three donuts each. Also, Chad bought me two pairs of gorgeous earrings that I am completely in love with.