Heaven's Weekend

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend the adult session of District Conference. Garrett was unable to go because he has the duty phone and can't stray too far from base, so I car pooled with a good friend of mine, Britta. We made it for dinner, excited not to have to cook tonight. They had great speakers tonight, the Spirit was overwhelming. Some of the reoccurring topics were prayer, missionary work, and families. I had a few series of thoughts throughout this wonderful evening.
One was of the fact that tomorrow I get to celebrate being married to my very best friend one year ago and that this has been the greatest year of my life. I have lived in Texas, Mississippi, and now Japan. Garrett and I have been blessed beyond measure, and we thank our Heavenly Father often for these wonderful wonders. We are not ignorant of the rich blessings that run through our life. I wouldn't say it started with, but that is where I will begin. Garrett and I had the originally planned on getting married in September of last year because we knew that he would be in Basic and Tech school between February and then. We thought about getting married before he left for Basic, but we waited based on preference from my parents and also because we didn't want to get married and be separated almost immediately. But when Garrett entered Tech school at the end of April of last year, we both felt prompted again that we needed to be married before he was out of Tech school. We prayed about our options and decided to get married the weekend I would be visited for his birthday, since it fell on Memorial Day weekend. We knew that it would help us make more money and I would be put on his orders as they were given to him. We knew that if he got called overseas it could take over 20 weeks for me to be able to make the trip to be with him. The Lord certainly blessed us with the inspiration because just two months after we were married Garrett got his orders to Okinawa Japan. How lucky I was to be able to travel with him initially. We have had countless other blessings since we made the decision to be married, and I will continuously thank the Lord for His loving inspiration and blessings.
Thinking of our anniversary leads me onto another thought I had tonight. Because we didn't wait to be married, we were not married and sealed together within the holy walls of a LDS temple. When we married, we knew in our hearts that the Lord was still pleased with our marriage to one another and that He knew we couldn't wait for the day that we could be sealed together for eternity a year after our marriage. We came to a conclusion with Garrett's family to create a kind of reunion a little later than our anniversary so that we could be together for many important occasions this summer. It has come to be called, Heaven's Weekend. This summer 4 of our nieces and nephews are turning 8 and making the decision to be baptized into the Church. If you read our last entry with the story Christina wrote, you will see that these cousins are all very close friends and wish to be baptized at the same time. We are blessed to have family in Utah who are able to give us permission to use their church building for the baptisms, even though none of the children are actually in a ward that uses the building. The next day, Garrett and I get to be sealed together and to each others' family in the Bountiful Temple. My heart swells every time I think of this wonderful experience. I'm so grateful that we have the means to afford to fly back to the States and want to send my thanks to who made it happen. We can never fully repay you. The third day is another joyous day when our sister Melanie, her husband, RJ, and their four kids get to be sealed together as a family for time and all eternity. As it gets closer to the time to come back to the States I just keep getting more and more excited. On the topic of this weekend, there have been a few kinks with Garrett's records and it's become a bit of a problem to get our temple recommends for Heaven's Weekend. I would like to ask for some prayers that Garrett's records can be worked out and that we may get our recommends in time to return to the States.
I cannot begin to express how blessed I am for the family I was born  into, and for the family that I married into. It is the greatest, and I get to be with them forever! How amazing is the Gospel of the Lord?
One point that Elder Ringwood (Area 70) spoke about was the Priesthood. At the beginning he asked for a few 'non-men' to stand up and define the Priesthood. A few comments made were: - It is the power to act on authority given by God - Used to do as He would if He were here - It provides blessings and strength - It is an opportunity and privilege, not a right. Elder Ringwood went on to say that men have the opportunity to use the priesthood but they are NOT  priesthood. He said that sometimes the church will classify that the priesthood goes here and the women go there, for this or that, but he wanted to amend and explain that they don't mean anything by it. He explained that the priesthood is shared equally between man and woman and if your home does not have a male priesthood holder, it did not mean your home was without the priesthood. He also explained that yes, there are ordinances such as Sacrament, baptisms, and temple ordinances that must be overseen by the keys of the priesthood, but within the home it functions without those keys.
There were so many great lessons taught tonight that I can't begin to expound upon them all here, but I just wanted to share my feelings from tonight and also my testimony.
I know that I am in the right place, and that though people say the military chooses where we go, that the Lord has the higher authority and has the military send us wherever, for his purposes. I have a great love for the Gospel and know that my life is only as good as it is because I have the knowledge and truth that allow me to look beyond the little trials I'm faced with. I have a sincere love for the priesthood and the authority my husband carries. He has blessed me with his knowledge of the Gospel when I am unsure and with his amazing ability to make missionary experiences wherever he goes. I have learned from his stories of experiences at work and have been able to apply it to experiences of my own. I am so grateful that we will be sealed before our child is born and that we will be able to raise our children in an eternal family with the Gospel forefront in our lives. Having faced this year without having that eternal seal has certainly given me a greater love for my husband and for the covenant we will make together this summer. The thought of not being sealed to him breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes because Garrett is the only man I can ever imagine being with and I want to face every challenge and triumph with him by my side. Pulling through this year and being sealed together will be such a great triumph over Satan's clutching grasp to control us. I know that the happiness I feel each day will be ten-fold with the covenants we will make and being able to say that we made it when we cross over to the next side. I love my Heavenly Father and thank him always for all he does for me. I hope we are able to bless and share our knowledge many times over, even if it's simply by the way we live and the Spirit that resides around us and in our home.

Compulsive Me

I don't really understand the way my body works. Earlier after I picked Garrett up from work and we went to the BX for a few things, and then stopped back by his shop for something he forgot, I felt so exhausted I couldn't even get out of the car to join him inside because I was so utterly exhausted. When we got home I managed to complete my goal for today which was to actually make dinner for us. For some reason that is the hardest for me to get the motivation to do. It wasn't much, just egg sandwiches, but those are always yummy and it was a small accomplishment. I'd had every intention of just laying down afterwards and trying to get some extra rest, my body has been telling me I've been doing too much lately. But instead I got this burst of energy and motivation to clean. I re-organized under our bathroom sink, organized the drawer of my nightstand, folded laundry, and will probably vacuum... What is it that pushes me so ridiculously to the edge of exhaustion and keeps me from napping? I've never been much of a napper, ask my mom, but everyone keeps telling me to sleep as much as possible now while I can. But I can't seem to do that... I find myself just doing more and more instead. I think I have a real compulsive tendency. More than just what I normally joke about with people. I'm so frustrated with myself but don't know how to just stop and relax for a few hours... Hopefully I'll be able to find a solution and fast... I'm wearing myself out everyday and I know it's going to catch up with me. I guess I had a small success in this department last night. Instead of folding the laundry while Garrett was at Scouts like was my plan I put myself in a hot bath and finished my book. Maybe I'm not a total lost cause. By the way, if you want a good woman empowering book, you should read 'A Woman's Place' by Lynn Austin. It takes place around four women from different backgrounds and situations who find friendship while working in a factory during World War II. It's extremely good and I could hardly put it down the whole time I was reading it.
Well I'm going to go finish folding my laundry and hope to pass the vacuuming to Garrett and maybe go to bed early tonight and sleep in (comparitively) tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Mother's Day and beyond

I meant to post about Mother's Day right away, but got a little side-tracked by the bugs. Sorry about that.
Mother's Day was not a crazy affair, but as soon as I woke up Garrett presented me with this sweet necklace.

I have been finding it hard to think of myself as a 'mom' yet. I don't have a child in this world quite yet, and I feel like I don't deserve that title. But Garrett is adamant that I am a mother and he is bound and determined to make me believe it too. He also bought me flowers the day before, which were wonderful and I loved them. Garrett was cringing at the cost of them, but he was sincere in wanting them for me. 

We went to church and got Toblerone bars and Garrett enjoyed spending time in nursery(it's his favorite place to be). Garrett got a stand-by call just as he was about to start making dinner for us, so I had to make it while he was gone, but it was just spaghetti so nothing too fancy. Luckily the job didn't take long, only about 30 minutes, unlike some of the others he had all week long. It was a rough work week for poor Garrett. 

It's been raining forever it seems, storming and down pouring almost constantly. It's been ridiculous. But my rain-boots have been extremely useful and we have been drenched more than once taking Koji for his walks. Mind, Koji has no qualms being out in the rain. In fact, I think he loves it. Which is good and bad for typhoon season. Good because it shouldn't be hard to convince him to go out. Bad because he will probably make us get blown away by taking forever. On one of our walks last week in a short break from the rain, we had an encounter with the neighbor dog who looks a lot like Koji just bigger and older looking. This dog is super friendly but does not have any idea of it's strength or personal boundaries. As Koji was running towards the field beside out house, I'm not sure if he was running from or trying to play, the other dog plowed Koji over. I'm talking, Koji rolled end over end right under the bigger dog right into the mud. It was so amusing to watch I couldn't help laugh despite how pathetic Koji looked. Garrett had to carry Koji inside and put him straight into the tub. And since we were at it, we also clipped his nails, and gave him a good brushing. He was none too thrilled, as you can tell. 

Friday we had our 16 week check up! (As of tomorrow I am 17 weeks! I can't wait to feel the flutter of my baby's first movements soon.) Garrett got to hear the heart beat for the first time since the ultrasound. I finally had doctor who was able to offer advice and reasons for why I have been in so much pain. I have had some incredible pain in the back of my left pelvic bone. We had to call our home teacher earlier in the week to come help give me a blessing. The doctor told me it could be from my hips widening and he gave me a few things that could help with the pain that was not pain medication. Monday, I was able to get a prenatal massage because I'm finally over 16 weeks! I went right after work and it was so nice! They massaged my scalp, arms, neck, back, legs, and feet! I was hoping it would help with the pain, but she couldn't really get to the spot where I needed it most. It was still a very relaxing hour. 

Sunday was a very amusing day at church. Garrett and I were helping out in nursery and in the first five minutes Garret went to sit on one of the chairs and ripped his paints from zipper to the back belt loop. I must have laughed for almost five minutes. Luckily I had a cardigan on and so I took it off and let him use it to tie around his waist 90s style. 

Luckily it was in nursery and none of the two year olds care, not to mention they love Garrett so they probably wouldn't care even if they were older. There are two in particular. One is a little boy, Rylan who happened to be sitting next to us on the plane ride over here. He just can't get enough of playing with Garrett in nursery and Sacrament when we end up sitting behind his family. The other is a little girl, Kit. We have been in nursery a few times, and we have also babysat her and I have been around her a few times doing things with her mom. She seems to be infatuated with both Garrett and I. Her parents always tell us that she talks about 'Sister Bowen and Garrett' all the time! She apparently has said I'm 'the pretty girl' and I actually stepped into their house for a minute Saturday to meet to go to this warehouse her mom loves and was showing a few of us, and her dad brought her out a few minutes later before we had left and said she had told him I had left. She is too cute. I'm going to miss her and her family when they move to Alaska this summer. 

We also got some great news this week about our oldest sister, Christina, who informed us that she was pregnant!! She is about 4 weeks behind me. She shared it with us through a story, which I hope she doesn't mind I share on here. It was super sweet and I loved it. 

Once upon a time there were a group of cousins. These cousins weren’t just cousins, but they were so close and they loved to do things together all the time. Up in Heaven they had a joyous time just playing waiting for their turns to get a body, 

for they knew and understood Heavenly Father’s plan. One day while playing four cousins decided they were ready to go to earth but they didn’t want to go down without one another. So they decided to go down as close together as they could and they did. All four came to earth within 24 days. The other cousins missed those that had left but enjoyed each other. They played and played and were well aware of what was happening below. One day three more cousins started talking about going to earth. They were ready and really didn’t want the other four to have too much fun without them so they decided to go. One jumped the gun and came to earth a little ahead of the other two but the other two followed quickly and close together. The cousins still in Heaven were happy for those that had gone before and while they wanted to receive a body and enjoy Earth, they knew it wasn’t their time. So they watched what was happening below and played and played. There finally came a time when one cousin turned to  a couple others and told them that he was ready. One of the others said that he just wasn’t ready yet. They talked and talked and the one cousin decided that he would go. Another cousin would follow a few months later and then the third would follow not too far behind. So one went, six months later another followed, and the third was just not quite ready  and waited for overa year before he finally went.  Now in the part of Heaven that all these cousins had been playing was now pretty quiet from the noises of children playing that it had had. Then one day a cousin came running to the spot where all the cousins had been playing. “Wait for me. Don’t leave me behind.” This cousin ran around looking for any cousins still in Heaven. “I wanted someone to go down with me too.” This cousin looked and looked but if there were any cousins around they must have been playing hide-and-seek, for there was no one around. The cousin was so sad and had really wanted to go down with at least one cousin because so many others had before and they were all having such a fun time on Earth whenever they got together.  As the cousin sat just sad, a hand was placed on the shoulder. “I’ll go  with you.” The cousin looked up and saw another cousin standing there. “Really, you will?” The cousin on the ground asked afraid to get any hopes up. “Sure, I am the last one left in my family and it is time that I join them.” The other cousin replied. They sat down and starting talking about all the things that they could and would do together on Earth once they had bodies of their own. They are now planning and waiting and decided that they would only be 4 weeks apart. 

Garrett and I are so thrilled for you Christina and Arik! I'm sure Brookelyn, Kira, and Aiden are beyond excited to have a baby brother or sister. Garrett says that Melanie, Brandee and Natausha just need to get pregnant too! We can't wait to see you guys in two short months! Sure love ya!

Oh, I also have one more thing to add before I finish this post off. I am excited to say, that we have found a solution for our millipede infestation! We purchased diatomaceous earth from the local all-in-one store and poured it across every doorway and windowsill last night and woke this morning to find tons of millipedes dead at our front entry and a few more dead on the back porch. I went out and swept them up after picking Garrett up from work and the ones in the front almost completely filled up my dust bin! Yikes. But I'm so glad to have been told about this stuff by a brother in our branch and find that it works so well! The great thing is, it's not chemical. It's all natural so we don't have to worry about Koji, us, or our future children being around it or walking through it. Even if our house kind of looks like we have some creepy wican or hoodoo safety dust protecting us from evil intentioned people. I promise it's just to save us from the nasty millipedes I've started finding INSIDE my house!

Creepy Crawlies

Okay, this is just a rant about the bugs and such here... It's hit me hard this week that there are bugs EVERYWHERE and I'm just a little tired of it. First, we'll start with the spiders. Not only are they all huge, but they have all sorts of poisonous ones everywhere just waiting to jump out at you. We saw a banana spider the first week we were here while out exploring that was the size of a small plate. And the huge one that was in our house. And we had a woman in our branch get bit by a spider they think was just a baby banana spider in October that put her in the hospital for EIGHT days. You leave something on the porch for less than 24 hours and it's got spider webs all over it.
Second, the millipedes. These pictures don't nearly do justice to what was actually there in our entry that night, but there were hundreds of them everywhere. And we always have a few hanging out all around our front door.

And some nights while walking Koji you can see hundreds lining the sidewalks and they just look like those tree droppings. But no, they're millipedes. And they crunch disgustingly when you step on them. They are about an inch long and all over. 

The other night I saw my first centipede. I didn't have any kind of camera on me, but it was while I was walking Koji and it was just scurrying across the sidewalk in it's 5-6 inch glory. 

Last night we got home from picking up a dresser for the baby's room and there were flying bugs ALL over around our parking area. When Garrett came in from running out to the car for one last thing, he must have had almost 10 crawling around on him that we had to pluck off and flush down the toilet. I had one or two on me. Then when we opened the front door to take Koji for his walk later that night tons of the wings from those things just fluttered into my house onto my entry mat. No bodies attached... Talk about eery. 

I haven't seen any snakes yet, but Habu snakes are rampant here on the island and super dangerous. But Garrett thinks he saw something slither when he was mowing our backyard last week. Living on the edge of the jungle the way we do, that's not super surprising. 

I'm not scared of all the bugs(unless the spiders are in my house and huge like the first one) but I'm just a little tired of seeing a hundred bugs every time I step outside. I like Idaho where I didn't see a bug for the four months I lived there. (: 

On a kind of cool note, we also have giant bats. When we walk Koji at night we see them swoop over our heads. I also found a huge one dead next to our tree one morning a while back. 

 This is him. I've always been strangely fascinated with bats ever since we went on a field trip in second grade to the local cave in Clarksville. But I don't know if these bats are doing their job by eating enough bugs. (:

Sorry for the rant. I still love it here. This week was just a little much on the bug front for me.

Cravings: Rice Krispie treats and ice cream

So a couple weeks ago you may have seen my Facebook status about it being unfortunate to crave something that is not sold here in Japan, on base or off. Well, what I was craving was Rice Krispie Treat Cereal. I don't know if you know what it is, not very many people have heard of it, but it comes in a purple box and is one of my absolute favorite cereals out there. I also just love Rice Krispie Treats in general. Whenever my mom would make them I would eat half the pan all by myself. I couldn't help it, they are so addicting. So when I woke up with this craving that morning, I decided I would try making Rice Krispie treats and see if that would satisfy the craving. I went out and bought the stuff, getting marshmallow creme instead of marshmallows. I have never seen them made with the creme but I heard that it was the same. But then I came home and didn't get around to making the treats. One, because Garrett wasn't home that week and I figured I shouldn't tempt fate by making them and 'saving' some for him. Who knows how well that would've worked out. Second... no basically that's the only reason. I didn't want to be a complete fatty. Well here it is, probably about three weeks later and I finally decided to make them today. I'm not sure how I feel about using the creme so far, they aren't bad, but they don't seem as sweet. Now that they are made however, I'm afraid that having Garrett around isn't going to help me not to eat as much... This is so not good, but that's okay to splurge on my eating every once in a while right? I eat pretty healthily otherwise and in small portions.
Cravings are the worst though. I haven't had any weird combo cravings, but I have had a sweet tooth. Ice cream always sounds so good. I think I've gotten more soft serve ice cream cones in the last three months than I have in the last three years! It's bad when Garrett and I go to the BX because they have Baskin Robbins and I always want to get a cone. Garrett being the loving husband that he is, never objects to buying me one. I have a few friends who want to have ice cream movie nights when I come back to The States over the summer, and I joked that I would be so fat those few weeks, but it's looking like it won't be anything out of the ordinary. How sad. But at least my sweet tooth isn't only for processed sugary treats. I've also loved eating bananas, strawberries, and kiwi.
I'm really noticing a baby bump now. It's not large, but it's there and it's round. Though it could be mistake for gaining a few extra pounds to others, I can tell it's a baby bump simply because there's no extra love handles to grab. It's purely in my belly. I love seeing my belly! I know some women have a hard time with the extra weight gain, but I love seeing my bump and knowing that my little one is growing inside of me and getting what he/she needs. I can't wait for it to become more obvious and I can start really feeling the baby move around!
Well, I will end this now and start posting baby bump pictures more regularly as it starts showing to others more visibly!