The Lights at Temple Square

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Christmas?

Probably... but I'll say it again.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS

Especially lights galore.

Seriously though, how dreamy is it to drive up and down streets with festive lights?

One of the best parts about living in Utah is getting to see the lights at temple square.

They seriously cover every single inch of trees with lights and the whole place is absolutely beautiful!

We went with some of Hunter's family this year and despite the terrible Salt Lake traffic, we had a blast!

Also, I love looking for any excuse to put oaks in her marshmallow suit and bear hat!

Where is your favorite place to see Christmas lights?

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

ps. these pictures don't even do it justice!

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One Week of Marriage

As of Saturday, we have been married for one whole week :)

That's one week out of hundreds of blissful weeks to come!

I took a "preparation for eternal marriage" institute class the semester before Hunter came home from his mission.

I LOVED that class and strongly encourage every young adult to take it.

Maybe I just had some really great teachers, but it really helped me understand how important it is to do all you can to make your marriage last for time and all eternity and not just for the short time we have on earth.

I am planning on making another blog post with my remembrance of our big day but that's a post for another day. 

Especially because I already hardly remember the day anyways...

Funny how that works isn't it?

All this planning, hard work, money, and preparation goes into one day out of your whole life and it's hard to even remember. 

Wanna know what I do remember though?

The way that Hunter looked at me as we knelt across the altar of the temple and were not only married, but also sealed for time and all eternity. 

I looked into his eyes and saw true love and happiness through the tears we were both trying to push back. 

My heart was completely full and I knew he was all I will ever need on this earth. 

Well, until little mini's begin running around our home. 

Anyhow, I might forget what the centerpieces looked like, how the cake tasted, who came, what presents we got, or how I felt in my dress...

But, I'll never ever forget the calm, loving, happy feeling I felt inside the temple on our wedding day. 

That was the beginning to our eternal marriage, and I couldn't have asked for a better start. 

In celebration of our little week-iversary we had a lovely little weekend together.

It began Friday night when we decided on getting Dairy Queen Blizzards and watching Pirates of the Caribbean. Too bad we made it a whole 30 minutes into the movie before we fell asleep. On Saturday our day started at the Provo temple where my heart grew two sizes bigger for that handsome man of mine. We went back home for lunch and started to plan out our night. We went to dinner at chili's (I highly recommend their chicken crispers) then watched a cute musical at BYU that happened to also count for points in one of Hunter's classes. Score. We both have a hard time sitting still but really enjoyed the show. On the way home we stopped at Macey's and got cookies and cream ice cream which I ate right out of the carton :) On Sunday we both received callings and were asked to give a talk next week!

It was a good weekend indeed :)

And now, we're on to our second week of marriage and life couldn't be better.

Minus the fact that I woke up to snow on the ground this morning...

I'm slowly adjusting to Utah life, and easily adjusting to married life with my best friend :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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Back in Business.

Guess what! 

I answered every single question that was pending over here!

I'm sorry it took so long, I wasn't avoiding any questions in particular... I just had a growing list of things to do and finally crossed a bunch of things off that list making time for me to answer all of your great questions :)

Seriously though, thank you so much to all of you that are asking all of these questions. 

I really do enjoy answering them.

A special thank you to everyone that has said just the sweetest things to me on there.

It makes my day so much brighter! :)

You are all awesome!

So one of the things that was growing on my list of "to do's" was to finally put together a wedding video for my dear friend's brother and his sweet wife.

It was such a beautiful day and you could really see how happy they were and the love in their eyes. 

There is something so special about a temple marriage.

Time and all eternity just sounds so sweet :)

Here's the video!

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I'm Going There Someday

"As a result of the sacred ordinances performed in the holy house of God, no light need be permanently extinguished, no voice permanently stilled, no place in our heart permanently left vacant."

—Thomas S. Monson

Sometimes life gets to be a little more than we can take on.

Sometimes stress and change create uneasiness.

The Lord has promised us that he will bear all of our burdens.

We can't always do it alone, we need to allow him to help us along. 

I feel so close to my Savior as I enter the temple.

I know I am doing the Lord's work. 

I had the most fabulous Friday.

It started off by doing baptisms. It was so peaceful going by myself.
August has been an interesting month I guess you could say... but the second I walked into the temple I had the most comforting feeling.
 I felt at home.
When I walked in to 2 men and one woman dressed in all white I seriously thought I was going to start crying. The temple is heaven on earth.
 Then I spoke with the missionaries, and then I remembered a request to make a video of the San Diego Temple grounds.

So, I did just that :)

I love the temple and I love the peace and joy it brings me.
I felt so incredibly happy all day long on Friday.
I really love my church :)

By the way, this video explains that all Latter Day Saints feel the same way :)

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Sunday 'Spiration

I realize I left the "in" in inspiration off, but it flows better ya know?

As I was getting ready for church this morning I decided to search youtube for an inspirational video to listen to.

Technology is a really cool thing people.

Lately I have been struggling with explaining how important the temple is to me.

I can't stress how thankful I am for temples all over, but it is so hard to tell others that who can't even walk inside. 

I've tried so hard to find the perfect answer to helping others understand just how special temples really are in our faith, but no words ever seemed to completely express that.

Therefore, I decided I needed to watch something on temples.

I found the most amazing video.

I teared up at how perfect he explains everything. 

Watch it for yourselves.

And hopefully, just maybe, some of you may better understand how sacred temples truly are.

I love the temple.

I love the sweet spirit I am filled with as I get to participate in the wonderful work we do inside. 

I know that temples are part of God's plan for us and I know that as long as I keep myself worthy to enter the temple I will receive numerous blessings.

I know that I can be sealed to my sweetheart for time and all eternity in the temple and that we will be able to create an eternal family because of it.

I cannot wait for that day :)

I know that the work we do inside is incredibly important.

I love the temple, and I love being Mormon.

Happy Sabbath my friends!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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