Looking back, looking up, and moving forward.

Yesterday evening, my visiting teachers came over. We chatted for a little while, then they shared their message with me. Since we had just moved in last month, one of the sisters decided to share a little bit from a conference talk as well for a "make-up" May visiting teaching message. :) I have no doubt that she was inspired, because this message was something I needed to hear, and something I wanted to share with all of you. She talked about Henry B. Eyring's talk on trials. The other sister visiting me mentioned something along the lines of that message. She talked about how sometimes it's easy to be pessimistic: to look at life and say, "Well, every time something goes right, something else just goes wrong again." We get a little high point, then it seems like everything takes a turn for the worse. I'm sure we've all had moments where we've felt that way.

She then shared that there's a better, happier way to look at life, though, even if what was said above is true. What if we looked at life saying, "Every time something goes bad, something good is just around the corner!" I can definitely vouch for the truthfulness of that. We are faced with numerous trials and challenges in our lives. Sometimes they feel like mountains to climb. Sometimes they feel like the weight of the world on our shoulders. Sometimes they overwhelm us and break our hearts, so all we can do is cry. But once the tears have stopped, we can look back at other trials we've faced, and thank our loving Heavenly Father for strengthening us enough to bear this one. We can look up, and know that He has blessings for us waiting just around the corner. Then we can move forward with a greater resolve and more faith that we can do it. The Lord promised us, "Blessed are they who are faithful and endure, whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life." (D&C 50:5).

If you're going through a hard time right now, I hope this will help you to look back, look up, and move forward. I'm rooting for you. :)

5.10.2012 - How Our Happily Ever After Started.

One month and three days ago, I got married to the sweetest man who ever lived. We had the most perfect day. 

Just the beginning of a beautiful eternity.

We were sealed in the Draper Temple and came out of the temple that day surrounded by friends and family and the bluest sky you've ever seen.

This guy really knows how to sweep a girl off her feet!

It was seriously picture-perfect. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing like crazy, which made for some pretty epic shots. It took my veil away from me a time or two, though Taylor insists it was his excellent kissing abilities that did so.

Goodbye, veil. Be free.

When I say we were surrounded by friends and family here, I really mean it. We had Taylor's parents, his grandparents, his sisters, his brother, their kids, his aunt and uncle, his best friend Anthony, my mom and stepdad, my dad and his girlfriend, my six siblets, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle and their six kids, another uncle, and my friend Emily. It was a lot of people. And it was wonderful. It's amazing how loved and supported you feel when all these people gather together to celebrate the eternal union of two best friends, madly in love with one another.

Told ya there were a lot of people. And I couldn't have been happier. :)

We of course got some amazing pictures of just the two of us thrown in there between the ceremony and the luncheon, so I'll share some of my personal favorites. :)

His face is just a little creeper-ish here. ;)

Gotta love the detail shots of bouquets and rings. :)

I also happen to have one of the most beautiful rings ever. No big.

This would be a couple in love, folks.

He's so handsome!

Our noses squish easily.

Pretty great, right? We also had a video done which I can't upload but you can see here:
Awesome Wedding Video!

After we were done at the temple, we went to my wonderful Grandma & Grandpa Rasmussen's house for our bruncheon. I call it that because it was at 2 pm, but we had breakfast food. And it was GOOD! I'd never even heard of the place that catered it, but it was called the Corner Bakery Café. They had fresh fruit and all sorts of breakfast pastries like you wouldn't believe! I loaded up on a tasty chocolate chip muffin (who says a bride doesn't eat on her wedding day?) and talked to all the amazing people that came to eat with us. :) After our bruncheon, Taylor and I got changed, grabbed our suitcases and checked in at the Anniversary Inn! We stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson room and it was awesome!!! The shower was a legit waterfall and the bed was in a treehouse. I've never seen anything cooler. We dropped our stuff off then headed up to This is the Place for our reception. Here's just a couple of pictures that show how absolutely GORGEOUS this place was.

The view of the Salt Lake Valley from our reception site.

One of the 'farmhouses' and the mountains on the east bench. Beautiful!

We had an awesome reception. The people at This is the Place took care of just about everything we needed. It was so awesome and low-stress. The most stressful thing about it was that the pinwheels we DIY'd for our centerpieces actually worked... and with the wind that day... they blew over a lot. It's hardly a big thing to pick up a couple of pinwheels though. ;)

These guys wanted to be free, too. 

We had all the classics - our first dance to "All About Us" by He is We, the daddy-daughter and mother-son dance, the garter and bouquet toss, the cake-cutting... it all worked out splendidly. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the reception. :)

Dad & I dancing. 

My beautiful momma and Jeff!

Seesters and Taylor - disco-dancin' fiends! 

Shay & Nikki - my beautiful sisters and maid of honor/bridesmaid!

This was a "sweet" kiss... right after we smashed cake in each other's faces.

Tasty ice cream - another sweet treat we had that day!

The sun was setting so we just had to get some pictures in! 

Possibly the coolest picture of all time?

The wonderful Samantha! She caught my  bouquet and should now get married. ;)

My cute 8-year-old brother caught the garter and wore it around his  neck the rest of the night. Haha!

After all the festivities were over, we had this awesomely decorated car to drive off to our hotel with!

Not shown: the billion pounds of candy inside the car. 

All in all, this was seriously the perfect day. We couldn't have asked for more, and we love being Mr. and Mrs. Ellis. Thank you to all of you who were a part of this day, and for those of you just reading about it now, I hope you enjoyed it!

We love you!

Temple Photos: Erin W. Anderson Photography
Videography: Pointe Digital Photography & Videography
Reception Pictures: Bob Taylor/April Smith

Little Things.

This past week, Taylor and I had two opportunities to do little acts of service for other people in our apartment complex. On Friday while checking the mail, we ran into a couple moving in to the upper floor of their building. They had lots of boxes and a brand new baby, and we had spare time. So, feeling all neighborly, we helped them bring their things upstairs. It didn't take long, maybe 10 minutes at the most, but I could tell it meant a lot to the couple. Then, yesterday, we made dinner for another couple in our ward who just came home from having their brand new baby girl. It was a simple meal; really, it was the "traditional" Sunday evening meal Taylor and I have had for the past four months after getting home from church. It definitely wasn't anything special or fancy. But again, when we delivered it to their home, I could see the relief on the husband's tired face. It was one less thing to worry about for them.

Now, I don't tell these stories to brag about how great we are. Quite the opposite, really. As we helped our neighbors, I was reminded of all the little things that people have done for me that have meant so much to me, when I'm sure the other people thought nothing of them. I think of the time that my visiting teachers dropped off a plate of cookies and let me vent about wedding planning for a little while. I think about the time that my residents left me little cards and notes when I was struggling with serious issues on my floor. I think about all the hugs I've gotten when I'm stressed or worried about something. Those little moments... I think of them all the time, yet I'm sure those who do the service don't give them a second thought. It's amazing how Heavenly Father blesses us with truly angelic friends and family in our times of need. I hope sometimes that I am doing enough to serve my friends when they need it, because I am so grateful for the service they've provided me through the years. So for those of you who have given me a smile or a hug on a bad day, or liked my status once to give me some validation ;), or took the time to read this blog, or who have done so much more that I could never list it all, thank you. My life is truly blessed.