Rejoining the World of Blogging

It has been a very long time since I have blogged, which is a shame because this past year has been quite the eventful one. I'm not even sure where to start to catch up on things. There have been a lot of ups and a few downs, but things have been good, for the most part.

So here's a brief catch-up on the goings-on of the Conelly household over the past nine months or so:

• We bought a house, obviously, and have spent a good amount of time decorating and doing minor DIY projects, mostly in the kitchen and dining room. Our current project is updating our framed photos (since our current ones are all engagement/wedding photos) and redoing the collage wall in the living room. I'm hoping to do a post with pictures of some of the little things we've done that I think look really nice.
• Andrew lost his job. Which was a very stressful time for a little while. But we have been blessed with how good my job is, and we have been fine financially. That means that once Andrew finds a new job, we'll be able to save most of his income, which will hopefully get us to our goals faster. 
• We went to Disneyland. This may seem a little frivolous after losing one income, but it had been half paid for before Andrew lost his job, and we had cash and gift cards we had been saving for the trip. The only thing we had to pay for out of pocket was the hotel, which made it feel like a very inexpensive vacation. And it was so much fun to be in Disneyland for Christmas. It's just so pretty. We had such a good time. 

• We adopted a kitty! Andrew and I had no idea we could be crazy cat people, but Bagheera has transformed us. This adorable little fuzzball has completely stolen our hearts and we love her to death. Bagheera is a really fun and rather affectionate cat, and she is spoiled rotten. But I think she deserves it after living in a shelter for six months and being burdened with the name Pink. But we saved her from both, and now she answers to Bagheera just fine. Well, when she wants to, anyway. We're even half considering getting an actual kitten at some point in the future so Bagheera has someone to keep her company, but we'll see.

• We celebrated a fun, quiet Christmas with just the two of us, and it was so relaxing and nice. We didn't have anything big under the tree, but that didn't matter; it was nice to be home together. New Year's was also low-key; I don't even think I made it to midnight. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep on the couch.
• I got a pretty awesome raise at work, which is such a blessing, especially considering it came completely out of the blue. I'm so incredibly grateful for my job and for the company I work for. My bosses care about me and want me to stay and be happy here, and the executives are all so careful in making sure their employees are taken care of. I am incredibly fortunate that I have followed my career opportunities to be where I am today.
• Andrew and I celebrated our second anniversary in the glorious Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We had been talking about this since last year, but when Andrew lost his job, we didn't think we would be able to make it work. But when we looked at our finances, the money was available, so we just went. And it was amazing. Seriously. The expansion with Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express is pretty incredible, and I loved every second of being there and feeling like witches and wizards really do exist. I geeked out hardcore and enjoyed myself thoroughly. This trip was only a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping to write up a more detailed post once Andrew edits the pictures he took.

And that brings us to the present, which isn't terribly exciting at the moment. Andrew has a couple of solid leads on jobs, so we're hoping and praying that one of them comes through for us. And if it doesn't, he'll keep trekking and keep looking, and we know that he'll find something eventually. We don't have any fun trips planned, so there isn't much to look forward to in that respect. But that's okay. I'm sure we will find fun things to do, and hopefully I will be able to stay up on blogging in the future.

Because of Him

Easter has passed, which means I'm a little late in posting this. But it's never a bad time to think about the sacrifice my Savior made for me and for all of us. Easter is a time to remember Christ and the incomprehensible gift of the Atonement and the subsequent Resurrection. I've been thinking a lot about this scripture lately:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled with saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death with bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me. (Alma 7: 11–13)

My savior suffered for me. He suffered my pains and my afflictions, my temptations and my sicknesses. He took my sins upon me so that I can repent and return to Him one day. And He broke the bands of death by rising again. He lives. And because of Him, I can live again too. He made it possible for me to live eternally with my family, despite the mistakes I will inevitably make. Because of Him, there is always the possibility of a fresh start. Because of Him, I can become whole again.

I cannot even begin to express just how much comfort the Atonement gives me. My Heavenly Father did not send me on this earth to fail, so He sent His Son to give me a way to succeed. Heavenly Father wants me to return to Him, and His Son made that possible. Because of that gift, I can become clean again and again. I can start every day as a new day. Because of Him, I can have peace.

Thank You!

I feel like it took us forever, but we finally printed our thank you cards. We won 250 free cards from Beautiful Wedding Announcements, who also did our actual wedding announcements. I would definitely recommend them. They were great to work with, even though it took me about seven months to actually cash in on my free cards.

I've been spending the past couple of nights writing these thank you notes, and it's reminded me of just how many people were kind enough to come to our reception and give us gifts. Not to mention those who threw me bridal showers and helped plan and the awesome vendors we worked with. Everything went so smoothly because we had so many wonderful people involved. We are so blessed. So we wanted to say thank you to everyone for everything!