Sunday's Letter

 Dear love of my life, thanks for making me apple crisp tonight! Dear Forreste, I am so happy 

for you cousin, and wish all the best in your upcoming marriage. Dear Brittany, thanks for 

helping me feel like I'm finally starting to make a friend here. Dear swan, you did a great job 

defending your pond. I loved watching you intimidate and chase the geese away. Dearest 

Eldon, I am so glad we started dating a year ago this weekend. What a marvelous journey we 

unwittingly began!

Sunday Letter

Dear Eldon, hope you beat those dandelions soon. Dear Evanses,  congratulations on baby Arwen's 

birth and thanks for letting us be faux uncle and auntie!  Dear Tumblr, sometimes I play on you too 

much but thanks for the encouragement to be the most positive and enthuastic person I know. Dear 

Come, Follow Me, I so enjoy your lessons and videos. Dearest husband, I'm so blessed to share my 

life and home with you. 

source

Catch-Up

I almost started this post by berating myself for not blogging sooner. But I am blogging now, and that is Awesome.  I am slowly learning not to be so hard on myself. 

It's been a few weeks since I blogged, we had a very slow, lazy Sunday morning, and then a traveling Sunday morning. We were coming back from visiting our friends in Philadelphia, for Anna's baby shower. It was a wonderful visit: Curtis and Anna Evans, who are friends of Eldon's from college, are just wonderful people and I enjoy them so much. First there was the baby shower, and then we went back and hung out until Anna and Curtis had to go out because they had previous plans. Eldon and I just hung out and watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)- which I picked to pieces. Then C+A came home and we played Dominion, and then Curtis and I played Mancala 3 times with a different rule set each time. That was fun! And then we talked until 1 in the morning. Oh, to be young. We also made reservations for our group camping trip this summer, on the Outer Banks. A whole week at the beach!!!

I don't remember much of the week before the visit.. This is why I try to blog more regularly..We did make new friends. Friday, March 9th, we had a couple from our ward over to dinner and then played Scrabble and Skip-Bo. They quickly reciprocated the invitation and we went over to their house for dinner the following Monday for dinner and a few rounds of Uno. They live about 10-15 minutes walking distance from our house, and I hope to become good friends as time goes on. 

But this week was abnormally busy. We spent two evenings helping my cousin, who broke her foot whilst her husband is deployed. We helped clean up and helped put her littles to bed. What an adventure. Then Wednesday night was my first night as an Activity Days leader. It was a Father-Daughter activity, so my interaction with the girls was about nil, but it was so much fun to watch them with their dads. Then Thursday night was our temple night. Friday night, we fell asleep on the couch, crashing from our long week. 

Then today we ran errands - bank, library, etc, after a leisurely morning. Tomorrow, Eldon speaks in church.  :)

Thanks for reading my long, long catch-up post. :)

Water Heaters and Church Callings

Eldon finished putting in the new water heater on Monday. He was exhausted afterwards, so we had pizza for dinner and watched Dr. Who as our FHE activity. And the next morning, there was hot water again! Hallelujah! Later in the week he took out a mini water heater that was living in the hall bathroom. Taking it out seems to improve the speed with which we get hot water, so that is a huge plus. 

Eldon and I go through milk and eggs very quickly. We can go through a gallon of milk and over a dozen eggs in a week. Sometimes Eldon will ask if we shouldn't just buy a cow and I reply that might be a little more expensive, because we would have to feed the cow, too.  Just wait 'til we have kids, then we will be buying a gallon of milk just for us and another just for them.

We finally finished Eldon's birthday cake today, more than 2 months after his birthday. We kept it in the fridge in a Pyrex container, and it never got stale. The last few pieces we mixed into milkshakes, which was an idea I found in all the recipe searching I do online. It was a brilliant idea. 

Eldon and I both got church callings. We will both be working with Primary children (the Primary ranges from nursery, which is 18 months to 3 years, to 11 years old). He is a Primary teacher, but they are not sure yet what class they want him to teach. I am the Activity Days leader. Activity Days is actually an evening program for girls 8 to 11. We meet two Wednesdays a month. I am the head leader and have 2 assistant leaders. We work with 18 girls from our ward. That is a large group of girls.

It was a pretty uneventful week at work. They were upgrading some systems at work on Thursday and Friday, so I was pretty bored. Seriously, why would you upgrade systems during the work week??? So I ended up going to my supervisor and saying "What can I do for ya?" It was slooow, usually I'm pretty self sufficient.

Eldon and I walked about a mile and a half to the grocery store to get a few items on Friday night and then back the same length. I enjoy walking in the brisk air with my very warm coat, but ohhh, I am ready for spring. 

Yesterday Eldon made a video showing just how much, or how little of our house we own. 

Happy Home

This past week we had Monday off, which was nice, because we need the time to recover from the  busy weekend of visiting friends. Then Tuesday it was back to the working grind. Well, sorta, Eldon took off early on Tuesday to go pick up our new water heater at Lowe's because that's when my dad and his truck were free. Tuesday, I also started the move to my new desk at work. I have a much bigger cubicle and a window now, if only because we needed to free up my old cubicle for a new hire.

After dinner on Tuesday, Eldon and I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was a nice night, not too cold and no wind. We walked nearly three miles and really enjoyed ourselves. We enjoyed being outside so much that we have tentative plans to camp in the backyard some Friday night.

Wednesday the electrician came and upgraded our breaker box to accommodate our new, fancier water heater. Then Thursday was our monthly temple night. We went to our temple here in Washington, D.C. then had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a wonderful night.

Friday night we tried to watch the 1988 BBC version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but ended up falling asleep. Then Saturday Eldon spent all day working on the water heater switch, which has resulted in a washing machine in the middle of our kitchen, and no hot water until Monday. I used a bucket of hot water to bathe this morning. Life is never dull here!

One Word: Family

So, it's nearly the end of February, but I have finally decided what word I want to have be my one word for 2013. The word is FAMILY.   I believe that strong families are the answer to many if not all societal ills. Nuclear families, extended families, ward families, the family made up of all the children of God.

The journey to picking this word actually started a while ago, when I became a bit more aware of Mormon Feminism after the Wear Pants to Church event. This made me begin to think about feminism more than I had in a while, and what the goals of various feminists are. I began wondering how this applied to me...

I also read a book, called Almost Home, about the Covenant House and the work this charity does to help homeless youth. This book speaks to my deep desire to champion youth who so desperately need it. One thing that they point out is that helping to stabilize the family is often far more effective than putting the children into foster care. Family matters!!!

I am having a hard time focusing on writing this post because sometimes it is so much easier to let other people say it for you. I have read so many inspiring things this past month that just speak to me about the importance of championing men, women, boys, and girls. We cannot exclusively focus on just one label, only one oppressed group. Christ calls us to love everyone, the oppressor and the oppressed. All are in need of Christ's atonement, of our love. We must seek the lost sheep- those lost and sinning, those lost and hurt- as all of them belong to the family of God.  I truly believe that when families are strong and healthy and happy, that this is the best classroom to promote everyone's happiness and healthiness.

Here are a few links that show what is on my heart and mind.

Protect the Children by Dallin H. Oaks
This is the Type of "Feminist" I Am from the blog Women in the Scriptures
Why I Respectfully Decline Feminism from the blog Deeper Story
What Do LDS Women Get- Sheri L Dew
And this one just because it's beautiful: On Choosing to Listen from the blog Deeper Story

Family is the answer. God teaches us how to make healthy, happy, eternal families that produce wonderful human beings. One of the missions of Latter-Day Saint Young Women, Relief Society and Priesthood is to strengthen home and family. We must strengthen our own home and family and those around us, because this is the building block of Zion.

Our Week , in Letter Format

This week, I want to just quickly summarize our week so I can write another post about something that is weighing on my heart. The format of this post is borrowed from one of the blogs I love, Today's Letters.

Dear Eldon, thank you for working so hard to make our home a little better every single day. Dear Evanses in Drexel Hill,  we so love visiting with you and spending the night in your little aparment was a special treat. Dear CTR 4's, I feel properly initiated into Savage Mill ward after teaching you. Dear Schmoldts, thank you for a wonderful dinner and visit. Dear work, you never stop coming, do you? Dearest love of my life, thank you for always having time to just sit on the couch and watch Dr. Who with me.

(Maybe someday I'll have pictures to put in posts...)

My Week

I have no memory of Monday. At All. But Tuesday was eventful. I went with my grandfather to the VA hospital in DC and ran him all around, up and down, for pre-op check-ups for a surgery he is having tomorrow to drain blood out of his eye from a blood vessel that has popped behind it. Then they will laser the blood vessel in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Prayers, please!!!

Wednesday was my birthday!!! I realized it was my birthday as I was waiting for the shower to heat up, and ran back into the bedroom and told Eldon "I am 25!" Hehe. Eldon made me waffles! I went to work, which was a little stressful, as usual, and then came home to a house full of surprises. Eldon had some of our engagement shots framed and also framed a picture of the Washington, D.C. temple and hung it on the wall. He also decorated my vanity mirror with positive sayings. It was so cute and so sweet. Then he made me dinner and an amazing volcano cake. We made a quick trip to the library, hurrah!, and then came home and watched some Dr. Who. (what else?)

Thursday was Relief Society, we talked about budgeting and couponing. Then Friday, Eldon and I were both a little tired and Eldon had been sick all week. He didn't go into work on Wednesday or Friday, and only worked a half day on Thursday. So Friday night we just curled up with Papa John's and watched a lot more Dr. Who. We are almost to the end of what Netflix offers. The horrors!

Saturday morning was quiet and pleasant and in the afternoon I went to lunch and out shopping with my cousin, Lucy. I called it my Lucy date and it was a lot of fun. We ate at the Indian version of Chipotle, Spice 6 Modern. Fantastic!!! Then I came home and we watched a WWII thriller, Run Silent, Run Deep.

Sunday was church. We sat with my cousin, Michelle, and her kids during Sacrament (all the cousins!!). Then we came home, and had Seasame Honey Chicken -Eldon's new favorite. We polished off the last of the volcano cake and watched one more Dr. Who - then Eldon declared himself TVed out for a while. We came face to face with the Sunday night blues and came to the decision that we need to make Monday something to look forward to- we are going to significantly up our Family Home Evening efforts. We are also going to start exercising tomorrow morning- bright and early. 

Wow, long post!! Maybe I should write biweekly...

You Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

Monday was Eldon's birthday. I remembered this as soon as I got out of the shower and went into the spare oom where I keep stuff for wrapping presents and got a bag and tissue paper. I took it into our bedroom, counting on the fact that Eldon was still asleep, and crouched down next to my side of the bed and pulled out his present from under the bed where I had been keeping it. I got it out of the carboard shipping box and put it in the bag and placed it on the bed and woke Eldon up "Happy Birthday!" I got him a Tardis mug where when you put hot liquid in the mug, the Tardis (from Dr. Who!) moves from one side of the mug to the other. Eldon said he'd never gotten a birthday gift at 5:45 before :) 

After work, I came home and I made homemade pizza and homemade cake. We had pizza and then watched some Dr. Who before frosting and eating the cake. :) I think he had a very good birthday. He got calls from lots of family members, too, some right at the same time as others. He really enjoyed talking to his family.

Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet, normal week. Work, Eldon working on his computer and the house, buying more LED lightbulbs. He asked me yesterday if I ever imagined as a little girl that my future husband would get so excited over lightbulbs. I confess, I did not. I baked cookies this week, made dinner. Yesterday it felt like I was using every cooking dish in the kitchen. We visited the temple and did sealings on Tuesday (performed the sealing ordinances for couples and parents and children, so that families can be together forever, just like ours, if they accept the ordinances.) That was really pleasant.

This week: my birthday!

Pure White

So this work week was already short due to the holiday and then Thursday morning we woke up to snow on the ground. I gave myself a few hour delay going into work so the roads wouldn't be so hard to drive on. The next day it snowed in the afternoon and our boss closed the office early.  Thank you, snow, for a short, short work week. Just like Lorelai Gilmore, I felt like the snow was a present just for me. 

Also this week I had a mini existential crisis. I was pondering what books I would want to put in the guest room, and telling the hubby that I wouldn't want any books that might embarrass me, and he asked if I should even have those books at all. It was a very good question. So  I went through and cleaned out my bookshelf a bit. Now, I am a reader, and I love books. I love words. So parting with my books was hard, and there was sighing and moaning and even some tears. And I wondered, shouldn't doing the right thing feel better? Eldon pointed out, it could just be the grieving process. I left a few books in a maybe pile and left the project for the night. 

I came back the next morning and made decisions on my maybe pile. I was able to confidently put books in a give away pile with much less mourning. Now: to make cuts in my T.V. show viewing habits to match my cuts in books. 

I actually began this process of weeding through my media intake last March when I gave a lesson on defending the family at a Thursday night activity for my Young Women. The impetus came from a paragraph in the New Era article I was teaching from:  "Much in the media today does not support God’s definition of marriage and families. It might endorse or glorify alternatives to wholesome family life that are contrary to God’s plan. The counsel in For the Strength of Youth can apply to teachings about the family: 'Satan uses media to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal, humorous, or exciting. He tries to mislead you into thinking that breaking God’s commandments is acceptable and has no negative consequences for you or others. … Have the courage to walk out of a movie, change your music, or turn off a computer, television, or mobile device if what you see or hear drives away the Spirit' ([2011], 11).

When you choose media that support the principles of an eternal family, it will be easier to strengthen the family and also prepare for a future temple marriage." (Be A Defender of the Family, New Era, March 2012)

This crisis just seemed to be a continuation of that earlier weeding out. Another quote that is helping me in all of this is one from a LDS general conference talk that we discussed in Relief Society (women's organization and class) today at church. Elder Robert D Hales taught: "As Christians today, we have the opportunity to act straightway, immediately, and decisively, just as Peter and Andrew did: 'they forsook their nets, and followed him.'² We too are called upon to leave our nets, to reject worldly habits, customs, and traditions." (Being a More Christian Christian, Robert D. Hales, General Conference Oct. 2012) I want to give up my worldly habits, including viewing and reading habits, that might detract from the Spirit and draw me away from my Father in Heaven and my Savior. So I will continue to review what I read and watch and choose to get rid of what is not good for me.

Stargazing Dates and Toy Story Marathons

I like the rhythm Eldon and I are getting into.We have early morning breakfast on weekdays before I leave for work and slow mornings on the weekends with lots of time to slow down and enjoy being married. Most evenings I cook dinner, which I enjoy thoroughly, and we have quiet evenings spent side by side.


We try to do something date-like once a week and go out once a month. This week we stargazed on our deck under blankets on Friday night. I was feeling kind of grumpy but felt much better after the stargazing. Then we began our weekend-long marathon of Toy Story movies. We watched Toy Story Friday, Toy Story 2 last night and tonight we'll most likely continue on to Toy Story 3.. "You are a child's plaything!" "You are a sad, strange little man." :D I love Disney and Pixar.

Found at WeHeartIt

So it's now Monday morning. Eldon and I are both home due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. After church yesterday, we went and spent the evening with my cousin and her kids. It was very pleasant. We got home late and went straight to bed. Then this morning Eldon brought me breakfast in bed :) And then we finished watching Toy Story 3, which we had started watching before church. And now a day of work on and around the house.


Life is so good right now. I just feel so content. I love being married to this wonderful man. My favorite quality is that he is always pointing me back to my Savior. Who could ask for any better?

Family Goals

On Monday, we held our first Family Home Evening  as a family. Since it was the first Monday of 2013, we sat down and set family goals. We set goals such as having breakfast together and reading the scriptures, having families from the ward over for dinner, serving our neighbors and regular temple attendance and date nights. Then we divided our family goals into three categories from the LDS Church mission: proclaim the gospel, perfect the saints, and redeem the dead. We added a few more goals at that point, such as having the missionaries over for dinner and preparing family names for temple work. 

One personal goal that I set for myself was to study the new curriculum the church just set out for the youth, Come, Follow Me. This new curriculum was released last year to be used in Young Women's, Young Men's and youth Sunday School classes and I have been so excited about it since I first heard about it in General Conference. This new curriculum refocuses the classes for youth on coming unto the Savior, and it is very similar to Preach My Gospel, which is good considering the lowered age for missionaries. Sadly, when I got married, I left my calling as first counselor in the Young Women's in DC 1st ward to move to Savage Mill with my new hubby, so I am not currently teaching youth. But I wanted to study the curriculum anyways and familiarize myself with it. Maybe I'll get called to serve the youth again soon.

not from the curriculum
just WeHeartIt

I am so enjoying studying it. Last week I studied Who am I, and who can I become? This was a great lesson on the divine nature and individual worth of young women, teaching them that they are daughters of God with great potential. This week I studied Why is Jesus Christ important in my life? I felt the Spirit so strong as I spent time studying about the life and mission of my Savior and what that means in my life.  As I read both of theses lessons, one thing that I noticed is how much more interactive these lessons are. The whole curriculum is designed to help young women and young men become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the more interactive lessons will definitely help foster personal conversion, in my humble opinion.

One goal that we have been doing good in as a family in our first week of both of us working is eating breakfast together. Since I have to leave the house earlier, as my schedule is less flexible than Eldon's, he cooks breakfast. We have had eggs and cereal and egg muffins. I love eating breakfast with my husband before I leave the house. It just sets a positive tone for the rest of the day.

We also have been very good at sitting down to dinner, which I cook. I enjoy cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. I enjoy the satisfaction of cooking a healthy, nutrious meal and feeling like I am taking care of my family. I felt validated when I saw this sentiment of family dinner as a way to take care of your family expressed in a book I am reading "Dinner: A Love Story: It All Begins at the Family Table". I am loving learning more about family dinner and nutritious cooking from a number of books. 

Wow, this was a long post. Thanks for reading! I should reward you with one of the cookies in my cookie jar :) Happy Sunday!!!

Shiny New Year

Wow, I only blogged 4 times in 2012. It was a busy year! A few short weeks after my last blog post of 2012, I started dating a young man I had known about a year, Eldon. We started with a walk around the lake and it just grew from there, with some of  our banner dates including a picnic under a gazebo in the rain, indoor mini-golf, going to Rehoboth Beach in DE (twice!). In September, he proposed to me and by the end of December, we were married. What a wild, wonderful ride it has been! We have been married for just over a week. And it is blissful!

Eldon and Rachel, 2012
courtesy of Eve Nicholson

Right before we got married, Eldon bought us a lovely little house. It is a three bedroom, 2 bath rancher with an open floor plan for the front area, including a living room, kitchen, and dining room. They make one big circle. We also have a enclosed porch that we call the sun room or day room and a large deck and a 1 1/2 car garage. 

So one bedroom we use, and one is a guest room, and the last bedroom, where we have set up his tinkering area ( he builds robots), I have dubbed "Spare Oom". I have a little chair in there so I can curl up and read or play on my computer while he works. 

It is absolutely wonderful to be in my own home again. My last living arrangements were not so stellar, and this is a major improvement. It is nice to have a kitchen of my own again, and a lot of space to spread out and make a home with my husband. 

We also just helped his parents get their house all clean and emptied out so they could rent their home while they move to HI for 3 years for a job. They have a large home, and it was quite the undertaking to get it all ready for renters, including painting walls and ceilings and cleaning out the garage, a lot of which we did in the week right before we got married and right after getting home from our honeymoon. We inherited quite a bit of stuff through this move, which has made setting up at home quite nice. We got beds and desks and such and Eldon had couches from friends who had moved away earlier in the year.  Our house is brimful of furniture and the garage is pretty well stocked as well. We will miss his parents, that's for sure, but are excited for them as they start out on this adventure. They flew to HI this weekend, with his youngest sister, who is also named Rachel. 

Eldon is the middle of 5 children, he has two older sisters and two younger sisters. He is quite well trained as a result ;).  We both come from large families, and think that six kids sounds like a nice number. We are waiting a little bit before starting our family, though, to give us some time to adjust to married life. 

Another thing I am so excited about right now is our new ward (church congregation determined by geographical location). I loved my last ward, and working with the young women ages 12-18 there, but this ward seems really great too. I already know a lot of faces and had a lovely time chatting after church today. Poor Eldon just waited in the corner for me, playing with his phone. He hopes to get called to a position that will require time after church so he has something to do while I visit. :)

So life is pretty great right now. Our house is need in need of some improvements, but it won't be too hard, and I like the idea of putting some love into our home. I love being married. Eldon is such a wonderful, hard-working young man, just full of initiative and spunk. He's also a wee nerdy, which I just love and find so adorable. I could not ask for a better partner to share the load with throughout this life and the next.