Christmas Card

I wanted to do Christmas cards this year. But we didn't have time with school and trying to graduate and all. So today I made a Christmas card of what we've been doing for Christmas. Just to make all of you in the snow jealous :)

Actually, I made two. You can pick your favorite.

Ok, sorry to rub it in. But we are really having a wonderful time in sunny Florida. It's been a blast so far and feels like exactly what we've needed. I feel so blessed that we were able to pull this trip off. The memories we've made are so much more precious than any gifts we could have received.

I hope you all have a wonderful time this season, and spend as much time with your loved ones as possible. 

*amber*

Oh Ingrid...

How do you always write songs that fit me so perfectly?

Dearest Seth,

We might not have any money, but we have our love to pay the bills.

So... 

Let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France,

Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance,

Let's get rich and buy a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants,

Way up there, you and I... you and I... (will actually have time to spend together!)


* * *


Ok, I'm not that superficial or money obsessed... but wouldn't it be nice? Seth is two weeks away from graduating. I, on the other hand, feel like I will perpetually be haunting the BYU campus. We are both going crazy. Seth, because he has 5 days of classes left to finish about 3 weeks worth of work. Me, because I just want to graduate, get a wonderful job in public relations, and start living a normal life. The college student life can really wear on you.

Perhaps this isn't the best time to be feeling this way. Finals are a week away. But I just can't help thinking of the day when I'll be free and we can do what we want with our time. Maybe I feel like this because my week has been ridiculous and Wednesday night I got a grand total of 2 hours of sleep, because I spent all night putting together two group projects. Ugh.

Yesterday, I felt run down and burnt out. Seth totally didn't have time for it, but he took the time to take me on a date. We went wandering through a thrift store, then got frozen yogurt. It was wonderful to spent time with him, because we hardly have time for date nights anymore. Now today is one of those days where I just want to snuggle under the covers all day. Unfortunately, that is SO not an option.

Blah... but listening to this song over and over seems to be helping some :)

Also, we are going on an amazing vacation very soon. More on that later.

*amber*

Thank You

The last three weeks have been the craziest of my life. I've been through many experiences that have changed who I am and the way I see the world. In many ways, I feel years older. I have been through emotions I didn't even know existed. But, I have loved deeper and more profoundly than ever before. I am so thankful for all of the help my family has received, and continues to receive. There are so many people that have touched each of our lives, and I don't know how to adequately say thank you. 

So thank you, to all the close family member and friends who made sure we had food, help with hard things, or just company whenever we needed it. Thank you to distant friends or friends of my dad who sent their love and support without even knowing us personally. Thank you to random strangers who have been kind on the street, or considerate on the freeway. No small act of kindness has gone unnoticed, because each one has helped us survive. And finally, thank you to our Father in Heaven for all of the miracles, reassurances, and knowledge of this beautiful plan. Death is a part of life. It has brought some darkness, but has also brought to my attention all of the beauty in this life. 

*amber*

My Amazing Father

  Saturday night, we found out my dad had passed away. It came as a complete shock because as far as we knew, he was completely healthy. This week, we have been so busy with arrangements and have barely had time to let it sink in. Today, the obituary was published. Ironically, who would have thought my first time being published in the newspaper would be for my father's obituary?

* * * 
 
Chad Randy Christiansen 

Son, Husband & Father 

Randy, age 49, passed away on October 23, 2010 in the mountains near Duchesne, Utah, his favorite place on Earth. He was born July 6, 1961 in Murray, Utah to Kelten W. and Carole Louise Christiansen and married Natalie Nelson November 6, 1987 in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three children; Amber (Seth), Austin, and Alyse. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Sublette Chapel, 2115 Sublette Place Sandy, UT. Friends may call from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. prior at the place of service. In lieu of flowers, a donation account has been set up at Wells Fargo for the children's college funds under the name of Chad Randy Christiansen Memorial Fund. Online condolences at CannonMortuary.com. 

* * *

I love you dad. Thank you for teaching me to be so strong and faithful. 

*amber*

While visions of lovely things danced in her head...

Wow, I'm blogging alot lately. That means my life is just very exciting right now! On Saturday, a friend invited me to the Bridal Fair with her. She got engaged a few weeks ago and isn't getting married til the Spring, but she wants to start getting ideas and figure out what she wants. Knowing how much I obsess over all things wedding, she graciously invited me to come with her :)

The fair was so much fun and I loved seeing all of this year's new dresses, sampling yummy cake, and checking out creative photography. Weddings are so fascinating to me. I love seeing people find their individual aesthetics as they meticulously pick each element of the biggest day of their lives so far. However, this was the first time I've ever been able to talk to a bride about what she wants, discuss details, and give suggestions on things I've seen in my years of wedding blog stalking. :) It was such a blast.

Now, I have lots of images like this floating around in my head...

Inspiration board made at Polyvore.com.

That's kind of the overall look that I picture at this point. Of course, it could be a very long shot from her vision, because so far, we haven't talked that much about it. But still... I have a feeling this will be one lovely garden tea-party inspired wedding. Congratulations my friend!

* * *

Tonight, I decided to be spontaneous and try making homemade donuts. I got home from work and felt like being a culinary genius... (ha) so I dug right in and promptly turned our kitchen into a disaster area. I used the Food Nanny's Spudnut (the dough is made with potatoes) recipe, and they turned out amazing! Thanks for the recipe Liz! (This recipe isn't posted on her website yet. It will probably be in her next cookbook though.) 

The glaze is pretty good too, and I usually hate the glaze on donuts. Mmm... Tasty.

Happy Monday!

*amber*

One Year...

I cannot beleive it has already been a year. Time has flown by. We've both grown so much more in the last year than we ever have in our lives, but we know there's still so much more we can teach each other. Every day, he amazes me. I am so thankful for the time we've had so far, and eternally grateful that we has so much more time together.

One year into Forever.

And I thought I loved you then.

I love you Seth.

Eternity, here we come.

*amber*

PS: I am aware that I haven't written on here for 4 weeks now. I just had to post something today. For all two of you that actually read our blog, Summer updates will be coming soon. Now I'm off to enjoy the day with my amazing hubby :)

Gone Fishing

It has been a long time since I've been on here... I feel slightly bad, but not too bad. I've just had WAY too much going on to even think about writing on here. And having a bit too much fun too :) I'll update eventually... but for now, I thought I'd share what we've been up to most recently.

Working.

Studying.

Realizing that it's really late and we'd better get to bed if we want to make it to work in the morning (like right now.)

That's pretty much it. So the long weekend for the 4th of July was very much needed. Saturday morning, I woke up to a clean kitchen, french toast breakfast, and fresh picked flowers courtesy of Seth. He's so sweet :)

That night was when most of the big firework shows were going on in Provo. We planned on going up the canyon to watch out over the valley like we did last year, but then we got a babysitting job. I decided that we could use the extra change. Plus I miss playing with little kids. 

We babysat these triplets that are almost 3. Two boys and a girl. The boys have some hearing problems so they are just starting to talk. They were so adorable. We only played with them for an hour before it was their bedtime. I peeked outside, hoping we could see some of the fireworks but alas, the houses in that neighborhood were just too big. We couldn't see anything. So we spend they rest of the evening watching a movie. 

Monday was great because we got the day off work! We had a lazy day, then in the afternoon, went fishing with some of our friends. It was Seth's first time fishing (sort of.) We didn't catch any, and Seth is convinced that he's cursed and it was because of him. Don't worry, I'll make sure he catches a big one before the Summer's over.

Even though we didn't catch anything, it was a perfect day at the lake. The weather was beautiful and we weren't hot or cold at all. Just perfect :)

Check out those ripped traps! 

Even though he didn't catch anything, I have to say, he's got an awesome cast.

In the meantime, I got bored with waiting for a bite. So I harnessed the power of the sun.

Then I took my ring on a photoshoot. I've never gotten good pictures of my ring before. I tried when we were engaged, but I could never get any clear pictures. For some reason, the conditions that night were perfect. And for some other reason, Seth's phone takes way better pictures than my camera... I don't get it. 

Ring on a rock. One of my favorites. I love how it focused on the ring so well and blurred the background.

Ring in a tree.

Ring on a fishing bobber.

Ring on a water pump.

Ring on a leaf.

My absolute favorite. Ring in the dried up reeds that line the shore. I love all the textures.

I loved the sailboats at the dock.

And here was our spot on the shore. It was so beautiful... we just might need to go back every weekend!

 * * *

So there's your update. More will come. Maybe sooner, maybe later. We'll see. In the meantime, enjoy your Summer!

*amber*

Fathers' Day 2010

Fathers' Day weekend was a blast. I actually remembered to snap a few pictures so I thought I'd share.

We went up to my parents' house in the afternoon. When we got to their house, we found a driveway full of Fathers' Day wishes and funny little stick figures drawn with sidewalk chalk. My adorable little cousins stayed the weekend with my family so they'd made a surprise for their dad when he came to pick them up. It was so sweet :)

I worked most of the afternoon on a baking project (that you'll see soon,) then helped my mom, brother, sister, sister's friend, and Seth put together a new picnic table for my dad! My mom got it for him for Fathers' Day. I even got my little cousins to help by telling them to help us unwrap the presents. They tore into that packaging like you wouldn't beleive. And after it was all out of the packaging, I told them that whoever picked up the most packaging material would get to pick their dessert first. The yard was clean in no time. 

Here's the new table. Much nicer than the old one, (which Seth and I will now inherit for our little backyard) and it has more seating and an umbrella.

When dad got home, we had a barbeque for Fathers' Day. It was our first summer barbeque of the year and it was oh so tasty. Homemade burgers, beans, potato salad, corn on the cob, chips, lemonade, watermelon. Mmm... We were stuffed. Apparently not too stuffed though because when I brought out dessert, everyone dug in.

I got this idea from a magazine :) How cool is that??

The steak! Made out of molded caramels. I wanted to make them out of those caramel creams with the white in the middle so it would look like a bone. But we couldn't find them :( The orange sugar is the burning coals.

Hot dogs! Aka Mike and Ike's. The black grill marks are black food coloring applied with a toothpick. Not sharpie like my mom thought. 

And my favorite... Shish kebabs! Made out of caramel and Swedish Fish on toothpicks.

Daddy with his special Fathers' Day dessert.

After the sun went down, we visited for awhile, then rented Alice In Wonderland. My family hadn't seen it yet. If you remember, it's one of my new favorite movies.

Sigh... what a great evening it was. And I know for Seth and me, it was very much needed. 

*amber*

Exactly One Year Ago...

The man of my dreams asked me to marry him.

*Sigh*

I still get butterflies just thinking about it. That picture was taken on my phone the night he popped the question.

* * *

June 8th, 2009.

It was a Monday night. We had wanted to go dancing for a while. Seth knows some swing dancing and I really wanted him to teach me some moves. I love to dance, but have never really learned any couples dancing.

We went to Seth's family home evening. After the lesson was over, we left to find a place we could dance. We tried a few different places on campus, and finally ended up in a big room upstairs in the Wilkinson Center.

He taught me some awesome moves, and I even taught him some ballet! :) At some point, a bunch of janitors came into the room we were practicing in and started puting away chairs. So we decided we should probably get out of their way. 

We still wanted to dance for a bit, so we found ourselves in a corner of the big ballroom. We danced and danced for quite awhile.

I started getting tired and was ready to call it a night. Then Seth said, wait, he wanted to show me something. It was a move that he'd seen done before but had never actually done himself. I wanted to get to bed, but is sounded like a cool move, so I gave in.

Seth showed me through a complicated series of movements. At the end, he turned me away from him, then spun me back around. When I turned, I saw him down on one knee. At first I thought, "What am I supposed to do now? Sit on his knee?" Then I realized what down on one knee meant, and I was mad that he would joke about something like that. Finally, he pulled the ring from his pocket and I knew he wasn't kidding.

At that point, I think I went into shock. Seth started talking to me but I could never remember what he said. I was just staring at his face, shocked. When he asked the words, "Will you marry me?" all I could do was say "Of course!" and giggle like crazy because I was so happy. I gave him a big hug around his neck and couldn't believe how lucky I was.

At that point, we realized that the building was closing. So we went outside and sat on a bench for a while, talking about the enormity of the decision we'd just made. Neither of us could stop smiling and we started using phrases like "When we're married..." which was exciting to be able to say finally. We had both known that we wanted to spend forever together for quite some time.

We finally made our way down to the duck pond. We sat on a bench by the pond and started calling our families and close friends, even though it was late and most of our family members were in bed. We figured they deserved to know very first.

At around midnight, the sprinklers started so we had to run to the car. Once there, we stayed parked by the duck pond and continued calling and texting pictures of the ring to friends. Everyone was so excited for us, but I wish they could have seen our faces. We couldn't stop staring at each other or smiling.We were talking to other people, but our attention was really all just for each other.

It started getting pretty late but neither of us wanted to go home. We wanted to soak in the moment as much as we could. Finally, Seth decided I had better get home so I could make it to work in the morning. Saying goodnight that night was the hardest it had ever been.

 74 days later, August 21st 2009, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for Time and All Eternity. It was the happiest day of both of our lives. For nothing am I more grateful than this wonderful man that God has allowed me to be with forever. I don't know what I would do without him. In the relatively short time that we've been together, he has impacted my life in ways I never knew he could.


Since then, we have each learned so much about each other. We know each others secrets and so called "imperfections." However, we still insist that the other is perfect. Because we are perfect for each other.

People always warned us that the first year of marriage would be the hardest. It hasn't quite been a year for that yet, but I can honestly say, it has been the best year of my life. We have had some hard times so far (surely nothing compared for what is to come in our future) but we have learned so much about each other. I think the "hard" part of the first year of marriage is all about stepping outside your own brain, and realizing that there is something else out there. It can be hard because we want the world to be as we see it. But when we care so much for someone that sees it differently, we have to look at it differently sometimes. We can either resist, or embrace that.

Some times have been harder than others, but in each of these experiences, I have learned more about who my husband truly is. It is a wonderful feeling. Although I like to think I know everything about him, there is still a lot to learn. There is no way to define the complexities of a single human. But that's why we have forever to spend learning about each other.

I love you Seth. You are my entire world and I am eternally thankful for the time we've been granted together so far. Here's to the future. To all the future memories and things we have to learn. Here's to all the future arguments and heartache and times our world feels like it's upside down. I know we will hold each other up and come out stronger people. I love you sweetheart. Thank you for everything you are.

*amber*

弟

I know I haven't been blogging very much lately. Life keeps taking some unexpected turns... but I have some news that I have to share.

I have a new brother!!!

Ok... so not really a new brother, but he's new to me! Elder Daniel Dickson came home from his two year mission to Sapporo Japan on Friday. Because of this, I have never met him!! I feel a little bit like I'm on Oprah and just found out I have a long lost brother! K, not really. But I hope to be able to meet him soon!

So what do missionaries in Japan really do? Well, they're trained as samurais... but don't tell anyone I told you that. Otherwise, they'll be after us.

* * *

Because Daniel was off being a missionary ;) in Japan land, he was not able to be at our wedding. And now that he has poofed into existence as my new brother, this saddens me. So I made a decision. As of now, Daniel was officially at our wedding. He was just too stealthy so no one saw him. 

Except... I did discover one picture that must have captured him right at the second that he happened to fly in front of our picture. See?

Yep. Daniel was definitely at our wedding. Anyone going to try to prove me otherwise? Good, because this picture says it all. 

Welcome home brother!!!

*amber*