Christmas wonder

Cecelia was so precious on Christmas morning. 

We are so happy we could be with her for her first Christmas!

a very Merry Christmas

I feel so blessed to have this wonderful man in my life.

Spending Christmas with him was the best gift I could have asked for. 

We only spent one Christmas together before in 2010. We thought it would be the last one before his mission. I couldn't leave my family another year so I stayed home in 2011, and he did as well. Then, there was those two years without him. This Christmas day I realized how sad those Christmases were without him. 

Being around him brings me so much joy and happiness. 

I am so happy to say that on

February 21st 2015

we will be sealed for time and all eternity in the Halifax Nova Scotia Temple.

We are so very excited for this new journey, and to help us celebrate it, Katherine took some photos of us. I love them because she captured how I see our relationship right now. Young, bright, fun, exuberant, full of love and laughter.

Merry Christmas from the future Mr. & Mrs. 

   

Merry Christmas, love the Pinsent family

Christmas holiday

My week in Nova Scotia was just about fantastic! I loved having Katherine, Eric and Cecelia home. I also enjoyed spending some quality time with Mom and also helping out a little with the setting up and taking down the pop up shop the family did in Scotia Square Mall. The kids were pretty busy during the week, but I was happy to see their smiling faces all week long. We did some running around, getting some last minute Christmas shopping done and other things that needed to be attended too. It was so nice to go to church together as a family and be inspired by music and spoken word. Haig, Katherine, Eric, Cecelia and I went to Granny and Nan's one afternoon for lunch. They made us delicious salmon, rice, vegetables and fresh salad. We visited the Oliver' house one night with other family around. We learned more and more about Cecelia. One of her favorite songs to dance to is "All about that Bass" and she likes to hold on to things by herself, including the bars of the EXIT sign at church. Haig had to pry her hands off and she was pretty sad about it. 

Cecelia's faces

I just loved seeing my little niece during Christmas. I loved seeing her Mom and Dad too, but she has changed so much since the last time I saw her in May. She loves so many things and I enjoyed spending time with her. Although she is not into a lot of cuddles from anyone except Mom & Dad, I liked holding her whenever I could, or having little chats with her. I would sit with her and play or read some books and she got a lot of attention from the rest of her aunties and uncles. She is such a sweet little lady.

I love to go to the Temple

Today was a wonderful day for me, and for my fiancee and our families. I went through the temple to receive my endowment. This is a sacred ordinance that righteous and worthy members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have the opportunity to receive to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and learn more about His Plan of Happiness and Salvation for us. It was a great and spiritual experience and I was so blessed to have my parents, Haig's parents, Katherine, Granny & Nan there with me. I was also happy to see Jackie O'Hearon, Heidi Glanfield and Jonathan Cosman in the temple. I was able to learn more about the blessings that are in store for me as I continue in faith and hope in the gospel. 

it's the most wonderful time of the year

The nativity pageant was this past weekend, and although I didn't get a chance to be in it again this year, I am always grateful for the opportunity it is for me to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. This year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints put out the quote:

He is The Gift

Along with this quote, members of the church could post using social media ways that they would "share the gift". When I think about this, I know I need to strive harder to be a light to others and be an example to the believers. I can show others my love for the Savior Jesus Christ by following his commandments, being charitable like him and trying to love all those I come in contact with. 

Tonight, Haig met his niece Cecelia for the first time. I was meeting my friend Ellen for hot chocolate when I heard from him expressing how cute he thought Cecelia was. A little later while I was looking around Indigo, I got a picture from Katherine of Haig holding her and it made my heart melt into a thousand pieces. We also decorated the Christmas tree and drank hot chocolate with two of the loveliest ladies that I know. I love my momma and sister like crazy. 

this one time

back in October I found a wedding dress at Value Village for $10. I decided that it was mean't to be mine. I was in love with the gorgeous lace, the long sleeves and the silhouette. The only problem was that it was bout 5 sizes too big for me. Enter Nicole, the most amazing seamstress ever. I took it to her in mid November and she began her work. I went for my second fitting last night and it is looking amazing. The sleeves will go back on for my fitting next week and I am really excited to see how it turns out. She is heaven sent. Like I mean she took a Bachelor of Science in textiles and if that isn't the coolest thing you have ever heard of, then I don't know what is. Ultimately, she has a vision, and that vision is turning into my dress and I just simply adore it so far.

what I did when I was suppose to be studying

I finished school on November 25th. The problem was that I had to write one exam on December 9th. It was my intro to Anthropology course, so it was pretty boring to have to wait for too. I did study though. As soon as Haig left the island the weekend that he proposed, I wrote some notes only to have the exam format change twice. I was not impressed at all but I knew the material for the questions that were given in the review fairly well, so I wasn't too worried. However, finding out a day before that were would also be some short answer questions was quite a treat. I literally was so done writing that exam it wasn't even funny. One of my answers looked something like this:

4. What is status?

a. position

b. knowledge

c. authority.

d. "celebrity status"......

e. popularity

I very much enjoyed that first week or so of studying though because when I wasn't studying I had lots of thing to do. I had lots of yummy snacks and I got a little addicted to making cake mix cookies. I made two batches for the pageant and two batches for my own Christmas munching. I also had the opportunity to make a meal for a sweet family in my ward and it turned out delicious, because I had a little extra to make dinner for myself that night! The biggest fun of all was finding an apartment! Although I needed to be studying, I would be going back to work right after my exam so I wouldn't have any other time to find one. After looking at a couple of places, I found Haig's new place a couple days before my exam. I paid the damage deposit the day before my exam and I was very happy for finding a place that would work well for us so quickly. I loved spending time at home with my family, also doing some knitting, meeting up with friends and getting ready for the Christmas season.