Winter Wonderland

Our first snowman together.

David

Every day is like Christmas in our house. I receive the gift of kindness each morning as I wake up to an always-chipper husband singing around the house and preparing both breakfast and lunch for the two of us as we go about our day. I see the excitement of a child every afternoon as I walk in the door as if my mere presence is as good as all of Santa's reindeer landing on our roof. I am showered with daily service and compliments worth more than anything that comes beautifully wrapped in a box. And I am reminded of Christ in all that he strives to become and the pure goodness that shines from all of his actions. While it might not always be December, I have a year-round Christmas husband and I adore him.

Testimony

In Matthew 24:24 it reads, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” President Harold B. Lee said that Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of the bible added “who are the elect, according to the covenant.” President Lee said that unless we gain a testimony for ourselves we will be among those who are deceived. It is essential that we gain testimonies for ourselves. I like verse 37 of JS-Matt it says “And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived.” He didn’t say to hold the bible, to study it, or even to read it, but to treasure up his word. I believe this means that we take action based on his teachings. Obviously we’ll have to read the scriptures to know Christ’s word, but it’s more than that. We don’t need to know every detail of the scriptures, but we do need to learn the principles and live by them. We need to apply them to our daily lives. If we do that, we will not be deceived at the last day, because we will really know who Christ is, and we will now the truth. It will be engraved on our hearts.

To Be A Disciple of Christ

In John 13:34-35 we learn that if we are to be disciples or true followers of Jesus Christ, then we are to love one another just as Jesus Christ has loved us. By reading the New Testament or the Book of Mormon (Another Testament) we learn how loving our savior Jesus Christ really is. Many times Jesus heals the sick, causes the lame to walk, gives sight to the blind and forgives the sins of those that seek repentance through faith. Jesus never thinks of himself, but only his brothers and sisters. Jesus’ ultimate act of love was when he took upon himself the sins and afflictions of all of mankind so that through him we can receive mercy on our part at the last day. He has taught us that no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God and since we are all sinners we are unclean. But because of his atonement for us, each of us will live again and if we repent his sacrifice will heal us and make us clean before the Father.

Jesus Christ loves us and has done great things for everyone. He asks in return that each of us be his disciple which is done by following him and loving others as he has loved us. After pondering on the acts that he did to show love it may seem difficult to duplicate the love that he has shared with us but it can be done one act of kindness at a time. As disciples of Christ each of us should and can reach out to others with a helping hand and be thoughtful of the needs of others. Charity is the pure love of Christ and as we pray to be filled with that gift we are more able to serve others see them as Christ would see them.

Perhaps one person is making fun of another persons way of dress or speech, we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, can follow the example of Jesus Christ and stand up for that person. If someone is new at church, then we can reach out to the person and be their friend.

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ it is important to look outward in order to know what our brothers and sisters are in need of. As we are concerned about others needs we think less of our selves and strengthen our faith and become better disciples.

As I ponder my life, I realize there have been many moments were I have failed to be a disciple of Christ by the way I acted. It is my goal to pray for charity and think about the way I treat others despite the way they treat myself or those around them. I truly believe that as I strive to be a disciple of Jesus Christ I will feel the spirit more abundantly in my life, and I will be more in tune with the things that God is trying to tell me. I hope that those who read this will make it a goal for themselves to become disciples of Jesus Christ as well and treat others as Jesus would treat them.

Earthly vs Heavenly Rewards

Today, I had the opportunity to study in the New Testament about earthly and heavenly rewards. In Matthew 19 we learn about a young man who approaches Jesus and asks him, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus answers him by listing some of the commandments. The young man answers him saying that he had done all of those things and asked what more he needed to do. Jesus then asked him to sell every worldly thing he had, give to the poor, and follow him. If the young man listened to Jesus’ counsel, then he would have treasure in heaven. Unfortunately the young man was discouraged and walked away because he treasured his earthly riches and didn’t want to give them up. This young man had turned down the treasured blessing of eternal life for treasures on earth. Jesus Christ has promised us that if our eye is single to him, we shall be full of his glory. If we treasure his gospel, then our heart will be set on eternal life and we will receive it.

I believe that if I remember God first in my life, I will be truly blessed. When I remember to pray and read my scriptures at the beginning of the day, I am full of life and the spirit. I believe in the eternal perspective that if we put God before our earthly wants and desires we will be able to feel his love for forever in his kingdom. I think it’s important to get further away from worldly things like TV, internet, magazines, movies, PDA’s, iPods, etc. because even though they can be really good for us, they aren’t the most important thing in our lives, God is. Sometimes we are more concerned about having a nice car or a nice house instead of worrying about whether or not our Neighbors have food. We need to leave the world behind just a little more and put God first. The heavenly rewards really are greater than the worldly rewards.

October Outings

October has been a delightful month full of fun activities. We were really excited to kick it off with conference weekend. We went down to Utah for my mission reunion and had a great time with the family watching conference. My new favorite part of Idaho is the annual "spud harvest" which gave me two weeks off of work so that my kids could go pick potatoes. Sweet deal if you ask me. Toward the end of the break, we were excited to have a visit from Amy and Chris and their kids. We ate a lot of yummy food, carved pumpkins with Spencer and Alyssa, and went up to my school to play in my classroom. Everyone helped make examples for my art lesson this week.
Right before heading back to school, Mom and Jim came to stay! We also ate fantastic food...including my favorite new homemade chicken nuggets and crap cake...I mean, dump cake! (It really was good, Jim!) Mom came to play with me at school while Jim tried to find Bambi. One night we had dinner and carved pumpkins with Jimmy and Vanessa and their too cute kids, Braden and the brand-new Brinley. While Mom and Jim were here visiting, we invited some friends to go to the Straw Maze.



David and I made it through the maze the first time in seven minutes flat. While we were pretty proud, we headed in for round two to get our money's worth. Sadly, we were not able to even find the end a second time! We wandered around and eventually made it back out the entrance! Afterward, we all headed back to our place for donuts and apple cider. It was an aMAZEing night. :)
David and I were also able to venture up to West Yellowstone thanks to our awesome cousins, Travis and Katrina who run Hibernation Station! They gave us a weekend at their adorable cabin resort for our wedding present and we went up before the snow came!
Of course we ate in style at the local 1950s diner...


We saw TONS of bison...




A bunch of bears...





And other interesting wildlife!





We are nerds, and we know it. We embrace it. :)

Newlywed Adventures

We have been having so much fun together the past few months. Here are some pictures from our recent adventures. Both of us have been sick off and on, but today, despite the coughing and the runny noses, we hit the trails and went horseback riding! It was a very fun date! We topped the morning off by eating at the Flap-Jack Shack. Last week for September 11th, we went to a presentation at the fire station and then a Jon Schmidt concert. After the concert we were walking to the car and stumbled upon a Mindy Gledhill concert in the middle of the street for the grand opening of Sammy's. We danced like we were freshmen. And, sadly, we regret to inform you of the death of my bike. She served us well and finally past on of natural pedal failure. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to get a bike with brakes on the handle bars! :)

Mrs. Love

We are so happy and busy! This has been such a fun month! More pictures and stories to come!

Directions

Hello friends! Thank you for visiting our blog! We are so excited to see you at our reception this month! Below are links to either reception on a map. All you need to do is click on directions and enter the city or address you are coming from. Thank you for all your love and support.

Directions to the:

July 24th reception at Denae's grandparent's home from 7:00 to 9:00 pm

July 31st reception at David's parent's home from 6:30 to 9:00 pm

Can't wait to see you!

Love, Denae and David

In Love with Love

David and I are getting more excited with each day for our big day! It's getting so close! This weekend I was able to see just a little more of the wonderful man I am marrying. Saturday for some reason, David had the worst luck I have seen in a long time. We got home from lunch and headed up the back steps to the patio that leads into my apartment. David went first. He stepped hard on to the bottom step which apparently was ripped from it's nicely nailed-in place due to his muscular leg strength. I was able to witness one of the most classic examples of weight displacement physics as the board flew up and was the perfect length to hit just below the belt. David literally knocked himself to the ground with my back stair. After trying to make sure that he was okay, I couldn't help but laugh harder than I had in days.

After this lovely episode, we decided to go to the water fun day that the University was putting on. On his way down the slip n' slide, his hand got stuck in one of the holes created by previous sliders and was jerked back in an unnatural way. (I hit my head the next time down...we are quite the pair!) Later, we were walking around and someone kicked a ball which skidded across the top of his head and knocked his glasses, bending them to a unique new crooked style we are contemplating keeping around.

On our way to the grocery store on our bikes, he hit an unexpected curb and mangled his gears, scrapped his leg and got grease all over his khaki shorts. :)

I don't remember what else happened, but it just got more and more dramatic as the day went on. While I am in no way reveling in the pain my poor finance experienced I share these stories because of what I learned about him. One thing after another went wrong and we started to worry about David's physical safety a little more seriously. By the third or fourth instance like one of these, I would have quit the day and possibly life. I would have likely been sulking and wanting to just go home and curl up in the corner hoping that a spider didn't decide to eat me alive. But not David. As the day went on, he not only kept a smile on his face, but he started laughing harder and harder and joking about the tragedy that would strike next. We enjoyed every minute together and had one of the best days we have had together. By the end of the night, we had cut his hair, cleaned up and enjoyed a fun David Archuleta concert and our favorite treat: ice cream!

I am just so grateful that I am marrying a man that is more mature and more able to cope with life's little mishaps than I am. He makes every day such a joy. I really am getting the better deal on this one. I am in love with David Love.

Life is Beautiful

One of my favorite movies of all time, despite its title, is really quite depressing. I've never been very excited about watching films with subtitles, but this one is worth the sacrifice. If you get nothing else out of it, you will at least learn to say, "Good morning, Princess!" in Italian. :) I think about this old movie a lot when I feel like life is hard. I remember the mind power the protagonist was so sure of that gave him the optimism and courage to make life beautiful when everything and everyone around him screamed that life is miserable. I really do have a beautiful life. I am so blessed. Some days are just a little more challenging than others. Today has been one of those days. It's not any different than other days really; my perspective is just slightly warped and things like dropping the freshly seasoned and cooked meat on the floor and having to start dinner over again (which seemed like an overwhelming task the first time) or scorching the taco shells to little black piles of charcoal become much more dramatic issues than they genuinely are.

I've done a lot of reflecting today about the way life is and the way I think life should be. I am afraid to say that the only thing in my life that is not perfect is...me. I've always known that. Some days it is just a more difficult reality to accept. I have been on a quest for a long, long time to become the perfect version of myself. Most of the time I am just fine to smile about my imperfections and keep on hammering out the dents as I go along. Today was just one of those days that I looked around me and saw nothing but mistakes and shortcomings. It's days like this that I have to remind myself to take the situation I am in (which I have little control over) and make choices about me (which I have all control over) that will lead to a more beautiful life. Life, after all is supposed to be beautiful with all of its surprises and disappointments...not necessarily perfect. I don't have to be perfect yet. If I were perfect, I would be done. I would have no reason to stay here to enjoy the perfectly beautiful life I have been given. We spend so much of our lives searching for the key to happiness. If only we could see that the door requires no key. It's always open.

Month of Mayhem

What an adventure this month has been! We have seen it all! The week after David proposed, the craziness began. On Friday, the 16th of April, Denae bid farewell to her cute (and not so cute) 6th graders at Sunset View Elementary School. She survived student teaching! That afternoon, David drove her straight to the health center for her to perform a small surgery. He then got to spend the rest of the evening taking care of his very high fiancée who remembers very little of this particular experience. :) David headed back up to Rexburg for our last Provo/Rexburg separation and started his first week of spring semester. The week before he had taken all of his final exams for the semester. He ended up with an impressive row of straight A's even during the craziness of a long-distance courtship! Denae is so proud of him! While showing off his mad academic skills, Denae packed her whole apartment...which is no small feat as you know if you've been friend's with Denae for more than five minutes. Never fear, it only required a suburban and an entire trailer to load her up. :) Denae and Deonna went wedding dress shopping...together...and both found dresses! Grandma and Cathy braved the dubious task of serving as our official counselors, and Cathy went a step further as my faithful dress-lacer/fluffer. We found mom's dress first at a shop in Provo. She looked just beautiful. Denae's dress search took a little longer, but not much. She knew it when she saw it. A picture will be added later so as to not ruin the surprise for David. Each night of the week we had a fun dinner or reception to attend. We met the rest of the Telford clan, wished David's cousin and his new cute wife a happy life and enjoyed some Olive Garden with Mason and Dad. Denae's graduation from BYU flew by like a blur, but she did it without tripping in her white heels that matched the white stole mom couldn't figure out. At BYU there is a longstanding tradition to wear a white stole of gratitude during all of the pomp and circumstance and to finally give it to the person who has meant the most and provided the most support throughout your university experience; the person you are most grateful for helping you through college. Naturally, mom was the deserving winner. I never would have been able to make it without you, Mom! In between commencement and convocation, we loaded up the trailer and prepared for the journey North. Almost right after convocation was over, our caravan made its way up to Rexburg. We stopped at Shannon's house for a few good-byes and a bite to eat. My stand-in Lindon family made my Utah life possible as well. They helped me more than they will ever know during my BYU years. We ended up arriving in Rexburg as the sun was setting and unloaded quickly with lots of help. Saturday morning we got up early for mom's big day only to find zero hot water in the hotel because of a broken gas line! While inconvenient and typical for a wedding day morning, the hotel was helpful enough and paid for us to go shower at another hotel and load up on a hot breakfast buffet at a local restaurant. Denae started acting as mom's personal secretary as everyone in the city decided to call her for details about the day. We all made it to the temple on time however and were privileged to experience one of the most magical moments this earth has to offer. Denae felt especially grateful and honored to be able to act as her mother's escort and spend a few precious minutes with her in the bride's room. The sealing was wonderful and we are so excited to add Jim and Jimmy to our family. I couldn't ask for a better man to love and take care of my mom. With a cute luncheon, we sent mom and Jim off and finally went home to take a breath and a nap! Denae started teaching piano lessons the next week and the official job search began. We are so grateful to have survived the four month student-teaching semester and to finally live in the same state! We are so grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends that not only make our lives and adventures possible, but so much more fun and joyful.

We're Engaged!

We're engaged! We couldn't be more delighted with the way life is working out and the happiness we find together! David's cute proposal was all I have ever wanted and so much more. We met at the Gateway in Salt Lake where we had our very first date with the idea that we would be going to dinner and a show at the planetarium. We enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner of Chicken Parmesan at Biaggi's where we are pretty sure the Mafia is alive and well. :) With some time to kill, we wandered around the mall looking at new and exciting things like the iPad just released, which I feel like I will never understand. We ran around the fountains with a little more enthusiasm than we did back in cold November. With another "hour to kill," David suggested that we go into Barnes and Noble to find Percy Jackson which we went to see at the theater last week to read together. We walked around the bookstore for awhile and read children's books to each other just like we did on our first date. After our first stack, we each went in search of a few new books. When we returned to our bench, David started showing me my options:

Skippy Jon Jones

Splat the Cat

or... It Began With a Fairy Tale's Ending by Denae and David Love

Needless to say, we decided to read that one. David took a poem that I had written for him and added his own "Part Two" to the story and published it as a book! As we read we laughed and had a wonderful time reflecting on some of our favorite memories together. When we reached the last page, David snatched the book away because he wanted to read it to me. He started and in his adorable flustered manner forgot the rhyme and said, "Wait! Let me start again!" And with that, he pulled out a beautiful ring, and knelt down as he said,

"I want this fairy tale to be for forever"

Said the prince as he got down on one knee.

"Denae, I love you."

"Will you be my princess for all eternity?"

And guess what...I SAID YES!

After taking a picture on our Barnes and Noble bench, we finished the night by going to the same restaurant we went to on our first date, The Red Iguana, for a celebratory treat. I am one happy princess and feel so grateful to have finally found my perfect prince.

The book David used to propose to Denae!

It Began With a Fairy Tale's Ending by Denae and David Love | BOOK INFO

Easter

We want to keep it short and sweet, just like all of the candy we stuffed in the eggs for the annual Love Family Easter Egg Hunt! It was fun, Denae looked cute as always, and Mom did a great job cutting my hair (and her finger). Conference was wonderful as always...and as always we should probably read a lot next month. We are so excited for the upcoming events this month and how bright the future looks. This month alone we will have: an engagement, a new semester for David, a double-wedding dress quest for Denae and Deonna, a graduation (finally!), a move to Rexburg and a wedding! We have our work cut out for us!

I just love Denae! She is so amazing! I love you Denae:)

Another Colorful Weekend

This weekend, David and I discovered that we are perfect. Just kidding. We did, however, find that we are apparently a good match: a fact that we were already pretty set on. We sat down and took the classic color code personality test together. Denae, always more complex than she means to be is still a red-blue "the most difficult" combination. David, a blue-yellow mix is said to have a "dual personality." The mixture of the two gives us what they call a "hand-in-glove" relationship:

"Blue-Yellow relationships are the most intimate combination of different color personalities. They represent the entire spectrum of emotions and, together, they can experience explosive synergy. Blue-Yellow combinations are primarily concerned with quality relationships (genuine human connectedness). Blues most commonly represent the depth, sincerity and compassion of intimacy while Yellows display the excitement, warmth and eternal optimism of relationships...Blues and Yellows frequently seek and enjoy each other's companionship. Their is a strong bonding of the heart." So, according to Dr. Taylor Hartman, we are going to make it. :)

For the remainder of the weekend, we were able to attend an interesting theatrical treat featuring David's buddy, Andrew Joy, in Frederico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding. I was excited to see something from Spain and to remember the Garcia Lorca park that I walked through every single day as I served in Granada. We were also able to go play at a diamond store (who gave us cookies fresh out of the oven!), try out the new PizzaPieCafe, visit our dear Cathy and whip up a few new culinary masterpieces. Denae tried out her own imaginative version of lemon chicken and David learned that she has a very high sour tolerance. :) He is trying hard to gain assurance that he will be nourished in life.

We Went Ice Skating!

Denae and I went Ice Skating and we held hands and had a really great conversation. It was so much fun! :) I'm glad she accepted this date, we really enjoyed it. She never fell, and I didn't either!

:) I must say LOVE!

I must say that I love Denae because she is the funnest person I have ever met and I know we will always have so much fun together. Just look at the picture!

Valentine's Day Weekend

After a few weeks of hectic lesson planning, studying, practicing and traveling back and forth between Provo and Rexburg, we finally had a break for more than two days! This weekend was the longest we have been able to see each other since Christmas break when Denae pretty much just moved in to the Love house in Syracuse. Highlights of our weekend included cleaning the kitchen sink at Angie's in Logan, witnessing the almost-hanging of Juanito el Bandito, lots of Loves, the tragedy of the suicidal SD card, a fantastic date complete with $0.25 ice cream cones, a rainy nature walk and no free RC Willey hot dogs.

We really enjoyed spending time with Dana and Robert and the rest of the Love clan for many fun adventures. David treated the four of us to dinner and a melodrama Saturday night, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. The play was hilarious and we are looking forward to the sequel which comes out this summer: "El Bandito Rides Again." We were even chosen to go up on stage at the beginning and do a little dance to "She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain..." Denae was not the one to get the ring at the end however...

Sunday night after a delicious Dana Love dinner, we tried to post some pictures from the weekend on this blog from David's camera. Unfortunately, the poor SD card gave up on life and rocketed out of David's hand, into the depths of the grand piano, and shall never be seen again. Maybe someday when we have reason to cut the piano apart, we will be able to see our beautiful faces with the menacing Bandito called Juanito.

With beautiful flowers and a basket of kisses made with love, we are going to call our first Valentine's day a success with one minor casualty.