New Blog Address/Discontinuing this Blog

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I will not be using this blog anymore. Now that I am married I thought it would be neat for Brad and I to have a blog together, and so we've created one.


The new web address we'll be blogging at is : bradandericadixon.blogspot.com

We hope you all will switch over and continue to follow!

Blessed

For those of you who do not know yet, Brad and I are engaged to be married on October 3, 2008 in the Manti Temple. I am so excited to get to experience this both for myself, and with Brad, and to start a new chapter in our lives! Over the course of the wedding planning and personal preparation for the temple, I have come to remember, and find new evidence of, how blessed I am.

First and foremost, I've come to realize the great joy and love of Heavenly Father that comes from the gospel. In preparation for the temple I've had the opportunity to receive my patriarchal blessing, attend temple prep classes, and grow personally in the gospel, and even speak in church! How great of an experience this has been for me! I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he provided a way for us to be with our loved ones for eternity. Even from a very young age I have longed to receive this blessing, and knew of its great importance for us in the after-life. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to participate in such a wonderful blessing and ordinance.

Secondly, I have realized how very blessed I am to have such great family and friends. I am especially thankful for my mom and her hard work that has gone into the wedding planning, and for Brad's mom, Janice, and her willingness to make my wedding dress (which looks amazing, by the way), even in such a busy time of life for her. And, I am so very lucky to have such wonderful family (and family-to-be) who offer to take time out of their busy lives to help me with the wedding. I love you all!


And lastly, I have gained such a great appreciation for Brad in preparation for the wedding. Things are starting to sink in a bit, and I'm realizing just how lucky am to finally be able to marry such a great man. Brad has been there with and for me in some of the hardest times of my life so far. When I have struggled, he has always had words of sympathy and encouragement for me. I have always known I could turn to him, no matter what the situation was. I'm not sure if he'll ever know how truly grateful I am for his decision, willingness, and determination to take me to the temple to be married. I've longed for this for so long, and kept it my #1 priority. When we began speaking of marriage, we both expressed our desire of a temple marriage, knowing of its importance. I love him so much for his support and effort in keeping our goal, and I am so excited to be able to complete the goal on October 3rd, and start a new chapter in our lives.


I'd like to express my gratitude to all who have offered service and support for me over the past few months. I am so very lucky to have all of you in my life, and hope that I can be as great of an example of love and service to others, as you all are to me!

Ode to the '88 Toyota Pick Up

I thought I would dedicate a post to Brad's infamous '88 Toyota pick-up truck. This was the vehicle Brad picked me up in for our first date and was Brad's very first vehicle that he owned himself. He claims the truck has "sentimental" value, and is not willing to part with it.... Although sometimes Brad's admiration for the truck gets me a bit jealous, I must admit that there is something about the ol' Toyota that just pulls at your heart strings :) Brad has became quite interested in off-roading, and we have found that the pick-up truck is great for allowing us to do it. Well....maybe "great" was a bit of an exaggeration, Brad insists there is much that still needs to be done to it to make it an "ultimate off roading machine". None-the-less, even with the 236,000 miles on it and the fact that you can remove the key from the ignition once the truck is started, it does its part in getting us on the dirt roads and away from "everyday life". Its been a good adventure for us and is something we both really enjoy. Since there is still work that needs to be done on the truck, Brad is hoping to be able to build it up with all the fancy gear (that's the best words I have to describe the parts it needs) so we can take a bit more "adventurous" trips. But for now we enjoy the occasional Saturday trips shortly away from the city and into the mountains and dirt roads.

Birth Into the World of Blog

Over the course of many months I have been looking for a hobby, and unfortunately have not come across many things that I enjoy. I find that I get bored easily and rarely finish any projects I start as a "hobby" because of that. Lately I have been impressed and entertained by the blogs of friends and relatives, and thought maybe I would give it a try. My only fear is that I wont have nearly enough material to share to make my blog worth-while or even remotely entertaining....but, I'm gonna give it a shot. I am terrible at journaling, but am hoping for my blog to serve as an outlet for my words and thoughts and perhaps even allow me to express myself more openly.

So... Here is to my "birth" into the blogging world.....