O Christmas tree

New York Public Library

Rockefeller Center

Fiesta Texas, San Antonio

The National Christmas Tree at the White House

Empire State Building

Plaza Hotel, NY

Union Station, Washington DC

Mini tree, our apartment

Bigger tree, our apartment

Merry Christmas!!!

Deep in the heart of Texas

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad and his side of the family down in Boerne, TX. I was so sad when we had to leave. I love love love Texas, and my Granny's house is one of my favorite places to be. It was fun showing Tom all the places I used to play as a kid and reliving my childhood by feeding the cows, exploring the property, eating sweets at Granny's house, and going to the peak. We also went into San Antonio and ate at Pancho's (always the BEST sopapillas and tortillas), visited the Alamo and river walk, and rode the rides at Fiesta Texas. Oh yeah, and Tom got to experience his first deer hunt. He, my dad and I all squeezed into one blind and sat there in the wee hours of the morning, very still, in the freezing cold.  After too much coaching from my dad and I, Tom took a shot and got his little 8 pointer. And of course he had dear gutting 101 afterwards from my dad and grandpa.  I could go on forever about how awesome the Texas hill country and the Whiting family are, so I better just stop now.  God bless Texas!

Dad and Tom tracking the deer

Grandpa showing Tom the property from the top of the peak

The beautiful view from Granny's deck

I'm grateful for everyone that we got to spend Thanksgiving with: Granny, Grandpa Allen, Dad, Sharon & fam, Uncle Lee, Aunt Wendy, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Toby, Aunt Amy, Uncle Pete & kids and the rest of the extended family. Love you all and can't wait for the next Whiting reunion!!

Happy Halloween

We didn't get a single trick or treater! I bought candy, left our porch light on, and even put a flashlight in our jack-o-lantern.  I knew we wouldn't, but I secretly hoped that if I went out and bought the candy and placed our pumpkin just right, then children in cute costumes would come. I guess nobody wanted to follow the dark creepy sidewalk around the back of the house and down to the basement. Now what to do with all this extra candy..

Oh..ooooh...

..getting closer..

..got it!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

How much does Priscilla weigh?

General Conference rocks

Every October and April The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has its annual and semi-annual general conference. There are four, two-hour sessions of speakers that speak on lots of different gospel topics. General Conference is a much anticipated event by Mormons for many reasons: We get to listen to the prophet and president of our church, Thomas S. Monson, speak to the church as a whole. We get to hear spiritual and uplifting talks from the general authorities and other leaders of our church. We get to hear of any new temples being built and other church announcements. And, thanks to wonderful technology, we get to stay in our pajamas and watch/listen from the comfort of our couches while munching on our favorite snacks.

I say "we get to" because I really think it's a privilege to have a modern day prophet guiding us and telling us what God wants us to hear. This is a blessing that anyone can have! It's so easy to read and listen to the talks with a tap of your finger in the Gospel Library app, or the click of a mouse on lds.org.  I'm grateful to be a member of a church that has found ways to use technology and media for good. I've been reviewing the Saturday morning session recently so here's two I particularly liked. I'd encourage you to listen to them (they're only 15 minutes each, tops) or read them if you get a chance.

1. Of Regrets and Resolutions by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (2nd counselor to President Monson) Ok, you need to watch this one so you can enjoy Elder Uchtdorf's awesome accent and feel his love. He is so positive, upbeat, and a great example to me of being grateful for what we have and living in the moment.

2. "Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also" by Elder Shayne M. Bowen. This one made me cry. Elder Bowen's story of his little boy Tyson was heartrending but so powerful to me. The gospel message that families and loved ones can be together not only in this life, but in the next is comforting. I know it's true.

All the talks from October 2012 can be found here: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/10?lang=eng

Playing hostess for a week

Our place was hopping last week. We had not one, but TWO different guests.

First my madre came to visit and I had lots of fun showing her around the big city. I was so proud of her for finding her way from BWI Airport to Union Station without having to call me for help at all.  Seeing her and talking and just enjoying her company was the perfect way to spend my Columbus day weekend.  What's Columbus day you ask? Oh just the day that our government decided to celebrate Columbus "discovering" America, which translates into PAID HOLIDAY! Thank you Christopher.

Here's some of the things we did in pictures. First I took her out to eat falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop in Adams Morgan, and we finished the night off with a stroll through Georgetown to get a famous DC cupcake. Or two. And the best part was that we didn't even have to wait in line!

The next day my mom was MIA. But then the NEXT day we did a tour of the Capitol building and got to wear cool headphones.  We also went to the Old Post Office building and climbed to the top of the tower. It was an awesome view of the city in all four directions.

The inside of the Captiol Dome

Reagan - the good 'ol days

 

The Old Post Office



That buliding is where I work!

 And then of course we celebrated her birthday with none other than a death by chocolate cake from Costco. (that other person might have been the reason she was MIA for awhile)

Our second guest was Jason, one of Tom's best friends from college. He flew out here from Utah to do a 10-day hike through the Shenandoah Valley and see the pretty leaves changing colors. He flew in and stayed with us one night and then Tom drove him to Shenandoah the next morning, dropped him off on the side of the road and now we're hoping he's holding up on his Clif bars and Uncrustables.  We're looking forward to hanging out with him again this weekend.

So the point of this post: come visit us!! You can see cool historic sites and you might get a chocolate cake.

I'm an auntie!!

Meet Baby Liam, the newest member of the Whiting family and the most beautiful baby in the world. (I'm not biased) He was born right on his due date to Sharon and Leighton, weighing a healthy 8 lbs 5ounces. Pictures were stolen from Facebook.

One down, one to go

One year ago, before dropping him of at the Missionary
Training Center in Provo, UT

Happy one year to my little bro, Kendall!  He's been serving a mission in Sapporo, Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints since August 2011. I miss him. Mostly picking on him and yelling at him when he eats ALL my Nutty Bars and any kind of sugary, unhealthy, delicious treat that I'm saving for ME.  And I miss laughing with him, or as my mom would say, "going into mania" with him.

We had fun together growing up. Playing with our beanie baby collections, running around Grandma Stratford's property pretending to be Robin Hood and Little John (he always made me be Little John because I was "bigger"), making movies, chasing him around in his whitie tighties (that one ended bad, story for another time), and covering the bathroom floor in water and soap during our bath time so we could surf.

I liked controlling him through force. It worked until
 he got bigger than me.

One of my favorite memories: One fine Texas day, Leighton and Tyler left for school. Kendall and I were still at home, too young to be in school yet, and I had been eyeing Tyler's newly purchased pack of Zebra gum for awhile. As soon as that door shut, I grabbed my partner in crime, snatched the Zebra gum from Tyler's dresser, and we crawled under Tyler's bed and chewed every last piece of gum. Still not sure if Tyler has forgiven us for that.

I'm proud of Kendall and the example he sets for our family. While stubborn at times, he is also extremely diligent and hard-working. I've never seen someone prepare for a mission as much as he did.  I know that he loves the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that he is loving and serving the people in Japan with his whole heart.  Can't wait to see him next August!

We are Virginia voters

People have been outside the metro stop pretty much every day this summer trying to get us to register to vote. I kept telling them I'd do it online, I didn't have time right now, etc. Even though they assured me it would "only take 60 seconds, AND we'll send it in for you."  I finally succumbed to this cute old man.  He seemed surprised when I told him I hadn't registered yet and I'd actually like to fill out the paper right now.  He asked me if I was 18. I said yes, I voted in the last presidential election. And then when I told Tom to come over and register, too, the same cute old man asked Tom if he was an American citizen. I'm not sure what nationality Tom might look like..? But I guess not American.  It took us a little more than 60 seconds to fill out the papers, but not much.  Now we're registered to vote in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where I'm hoping my vote might make a difference.

Moral of my post: If you haven't registered to vote yet, go get 'er done because the clock's ticking!!

Celebrations

Tom and I both have birthdays in July, and then one week after my birthday is our anniversary. Which is tomorrow, one year and going strong! It's a lot of partying to cram into one month, but we manage.

We went to Ohio to celebrate Tom's birthday and stayed with Addie and Jamey in Columbus. Addie was such a good hostess all weekend long! (Chocolate cake from Costco, need I say more?) We drove to Cinicinnati for the Bunbury Music Festival and watched the Imagine Dragons and Weezer. Tom knew the Imagine Dragons from when he lived in Vegas, and they were really cool even though it rained on us the whole time. At the Weezer concert it was all fun and games until My Name is Jonas and then everyone went nuts! I'm pretty sure I would have been knocked out by crowd surfers and trampled if Tom wasn't there to protect me. But we had a blast! 

It was fun to pretend we had a new car for a few days

So for my birthday, Tom asked me what I wanted to do and I knew right away - the zoo! We saw the new cute little cheetah cubs who are going to be named after the fastest American woman and man at the Olympics this year. We saw some pandas who were just reclining in their little bamboo cages chewing on bamboo all day long. I decided if Tom was an animal, he'd be a panda. I also got to see my favorite animal of all, the otters! They are sooo funny and playful and I want one. After the zoo we ate at Roti and had cupcakes from Georgetown cupcake. Annnnd, as if that wasn't enough, we ate at Cheesecake Factory on Monday.  They must have known it was my birthday, because it was also get cheesecake half-off day :)

Tom got me popcorn popper!! You have know idea how excited I was. 

Need a laugh? Watch me.

This is my all time favorite YouTube video. Enjoy!

Duh duh duh duh uh, happy bufday Tom!!

Ok, his birthday was really on Sunday, and while I had good intentions to post something then, better now than never!  We celebrated by going to Tyson's Corner, a huge three-story shopping mall just a few miles from where we live. Tom got some new shirts for work, and then we ate at our always favorite and always delicious Cheesecake Factory. Part II of his birthday will be spent this weekend in Ohio visiting Addie and Jamey in Columbus and then going to a concert in Cincinnati.  We're looking forward to a couple days of vacation!

Warning: this post is about to get really gushy and lovey dovey, so if you hate that then stop reading now.

This is Tom's third birthday we've celebrated together. When we were engaged he used to tell me, "You know you're marrying a boring guy." Yes, he likes to sit and drink Diet Coke (yuck) and watch TV. He loves his sleep. He's quiet (around other people) And he is a creature of habit.  I think that's the Tom that most people know and why he thinks he's boring. Well, let ME tell YOU about the guy I married. 

He's my best friend, and a lot of other things too. He's high maintenance and you would never guess it.  I love that about him because it's just so funny to me for some reason.  He looks so cute when he laughs - like when we're watching Hot Rod or something funny on Hulu and he just laughs and it makes me laugh.  He always makes it so much funnier.  He is calm and patient, and he helps keep me calm and patient (well tries, still working on the patience part). He is an example to me in lots of ways like not stressing out over small stuff, being loyal, and having faith.  He's taught me to enjoy those nights at home, just relaxing.  He has a quiet strength about him.  And one more thing before I go on forever - even though he's not super emotional and doesn't enjoy deep, long discussions the way I do, and even though he thinks he's "boring" - he holds me when I cry, listens when I ramble, laughs at me when I try to be funny, kisses me and holds my hand, is proud of me, and is there for me in every way.  And after having him for the last two years, I don't know how I could ever face the world without him. 

4th of July

What's more American than eating a hot dog at a baseball game in the nation's capitol on the Fourth of July while listening to Miss America belt out the national anthem and God Bless America? That about sums up our holiday.

Two firetrucks had a HUGE flag strung between them at the entrance to the ballpark

Scoping out the players, especially Vegas boy Bryce Harper who made Tom proud

Whoever mows that lawn deserves a raise

He is in heaven

We also watched the Mall firework display from the Arlington cemetery which was AWESOME.  I tried to take a few pictures so I could share how awesome it was, but I failed miserably.  I guess everyone will just have to come visit us next year on the fourth so you can see it for yourself! hint hint

The Iwo Jima statue in Arlington, which is right across the river from the Mall

One of my failed attempts

I'm so grateful for our country, our heritage, and our freedom.  And I am proud to be an American!!  (and I'm not gonna lie, I kinda missed listening to Lee Greenwood out at the ranch)