80 Degrees, Here we come!

Seth and I are going to Florida tomorrow to go on our Honeymoon we never had time for, and to celebrate our 2 Year Anniversary. We are getting excited for sunny 80 degree weather, swimming in the ocean at Ft. Lauderdale, going on a cruise to the Bahamas, and checking out Universal Studios, and maybe some Disney parks. Hooray for vacation!

My Favorite Books

My favorite book series to read (even more than Harry Potter, shockingly enough) is The Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace. There are 13 books in the complete series. I have read each one as of this week, and I am enchanted by them. Lovelace was born in 1892 and while she told her daughter of the stories of her childhood, she came up with this series. It is based on her life. I love to look back, as I read them, and see what it was like to live in those times. The first 4 books are wonderful for younger children. She starts the first book at the time when she turned 5 years old, the very last, Betsy's Wedding, ends when she is 25 years old. I urge everyone to read these books! When I read them, I am caught up in Betsy's world like I am really there. I laugh out loud many times, and Seth looks at me funny, but I don't care. I cry with Betsy and I rejoice in her triumphs. Although the books are considered fiction. They are very real to me. What a blessing it is to be able to read!

2 Year Anniversary

Yes, I know. It's been a while. Maybe it would be a more realistic goal for me to post every 2 weeks. Well, Seth and I are doing fine. Yesterday we had dentist appointments. The hygienist practically ripped our gums up. After she was done scratching and scraping, she flossed my teeth as if she were trying to saw down a tree. "Most people are too easy on their gums. It's OK if you see blood..." "Hmm," I thought "Will I have any blood left in my body after this appointment is over?" At least she was friendly though. Our dentist is the nicest lady. I like here a lot because she is so personable, and she explains everything to you so that it will actually help you. Seth hadn't been to see the dentist in 6 years! So, I said that not we have dental insurance, that he would be going every 6 months for a check-up. It was amazing that he lasted 6 years without going to the dentist, and only had 2 small cavities! Wagner genes are practically invincible! I hope our gets get all of Seth's health genes.

Then we had eye exams. Seth's eyes were fine, but they said that if he wanted glasses, he would have the very slightest prescription possible. So we had a good time picking out glasses with each other. It kind of felt like a fashion show to me. Then ladies who worked in the store came over to start giving their opinions. It was funny. So when we get our glasses, I'll have to post some pictures of what we picked.

On Tuesday, February 3rd, We had our 2 year wedding anniversary. We went out to Olive garden to celebrate. I love Olive Garden food. Yum!

When we got home, we continued our tradition of reading our journals aloud from the important days of our story together, like when we decided to get married, and our wedding day, etc. When I read our accounts of the night we had our first kiss and decided to get married, Seth finally conceded to the fact that he broke my heart when he changed his mind less than a month later, and then it took him a few more months to get his head on straight and ask me to marry him. We're both glad he did. It is wonderful to be married. It's good to write in a journal too. I don't know why I've stopped doing it everyday like I used to, but I have started it up again, and I'm planning not to miss a day for the rest of my life (give or take a few days.)

This is what President Spencer W. Kimball has to say about it.

"On a number of occasions I have encouraged the Saints to keep personal journals and family records. I renew that admonition. We may think there is little of interest or importance in what we personally say or do—but it is remarkable how many of our families, as we pass on down the line, are interested in all that we do and all that we say.

Any Latter-day Saint family that has searched genealogical and historical records has fervently wished its ancestors had kept better and more complete records. On the other hand, some families possess some spiritual treasures because ancestors have recorded the events surrounding their conversion to the gospel and other happenings of interest, including many miraculous blessings and spiritual experiences. People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us—and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted.

From time immemorial the Lord has counseled us to be a record-keeping people. Abraham had a book of remembrance, and Adam had one. You may think of them as not being as highly educated as we are, but they were well-trained people. Adam spent much effort being the school teacher for his children. He and Eve taught their sons and daughters. He taught them the gospel in their home evenings, and he taught them reading and writing and arithmetic. And they kept their books of remembrance. How else do you think Moses, many hundreds of years later, got the information? These records had been kept, and he referred to them and got the history of the world, which wasn’t in any library other than that. Can you see your responsibility?

You should continue on in this important work of recording the things you do, the things you say, the things you think, to be in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available.
Your private journal should record the way you face up to challenges that beset you. Do not suppose life changes so much that your experiences will not be interesting to your posterity. Experiences of work, relations with people, and an awareness of the rightness and wrongness of actions will always be relevant. Your journal, like most others, will tell of problems as old as the world and how you dealt with them.

Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life.

What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved? Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.

We hope you will begin as of this date. If you have not already commenced this important duty in your lives, get a good notebook, a good book that will last through time and into eternity for the angels to look upon. Begin today and write in it your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. We hope you will do this, our brothers and sisters, for this is what the Lord has commanded, and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives."

This is the link to find the full article.

Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec 1980, 26
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=f5f3ba9ff599b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
After reading this, and the talk Henry B. Eyring, “O Remember, Remember,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 66–69

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=88562bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

I decided that I was going to take that counsel and write in my journal to remember what the Lord has done for me. I want to write it for me, and for my family. I know that it will help me to know myself, and the Lord better, and see His hand in my life. I want my posterity to have those blessings as well. I want them to know how in love Seth and I are; I want them to know how we worked out our trials with the help of the Lord. I want them to know of our faith in the Lord. I know it is great to have a blog and post pictures, but I can't say all that is in my mind and put it up on the internet. We all have thoughts, feelings and experiences that are more personal than that. Every night that I ponder what I am going to write, and remember what has happened in my day, no matter how busy I have been, or if my day seemed good or bad, I can see the Lord working in my life to bless me, and all those around me. That is a great gift.

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. " 2 Nephi 25:26