Marriage Advice

Sage marriage advice I found on another's blog.. This was said in an actual marriage ceremony by the officiant.

"In the classic movie Shanendoah, Jimmy Stewart plays the father of a very large family during the civil war. Early in the movie a young man comes to ask him for his oldest daughter's hand in marriage. Jimmy Stewart asks him why he wants to marry his daughter. The boy replies that it's because he loves her. Jimmy Stewart tells him that lovin' his daughter isn't good enough and then in his folksy way explains the importance of liking your spouse. It's a powerful point. Being good friends is critical to success in marriage. You must continue to cultivate your friendship. It will be very easy to get caught up in trying to manage all the complexity of your lives. But you must find the time to continue your courtship.
Do things together.
Don't spend Friday and Saturday night studying, working, or just watching TV.
Have fun together.
Don't let the familiarity which inevitably comes with marriage result in boredom.
No matter what, don't be boring!
Be interesting.
Involve each other in your lives.
Share little successes and failures of each day with each other.
Praise each other for doing good and listen and empathize when the other is struggling.
Don't be serious all the time.
Laugh together.

Find activities and hobbies that you both enjoy and do them together.
If you do these things you won't take each other for granted but will look forward to spending time together.

Recognize that now is the time to start your new family out on the right path. It's a lot easier to do things right from the beginning than to change mid-stream. Begin immediately working on the traditions and patterns that will define your family.
Attend church every week.
Always respect each other and never use harsh language with each other or your children.
Whether you end up rich or poor, appreciate all you have been blessed with.
Read the scriptures as a couple, and later with your children, every day.
Genuinely express your love and appreciation for each other each day.
Pray together daily.
Establish these and other righteous patterns in your family life and you will find great happiness as a couple as well as a family.
Much is said regarding communication in marriage and most of it is ignored. Focus on communication.
Be open and vulnerable to each other.
Share your feelings and thoughts without worrying about what the other will think.
Embrace your differences because they can actually make you stronger as a couple
Don't compete with each other.
Counsel with each other, don't argue. The difference is when you argue, if there is an outcome, there is usually a winner and a loser, and more often than not a loser and a loser. On the other hand, when you counsel together you seek to genuinely understand the other's perspective. You reach a unified agreement knowing that you've together considered everything. When you counsel together it should be impossible to determine who 'won'."

Some pics

Since I never update my blog, I thought now would be a good time as any to start.. A lot of things have happened since I last blogged..Caitlyn is now 22 months old and she definitely has a personality of her own.. she is spunky and full of energy and the cutest little person. She melts everybody's hearts with her tight, uncontrollable love hugs, especially David's heart and she has the eyes of an old soul. Sometimes when I talk to her, she looks at me like she knows what I'm going through or how tired I am. This is why people have children...to have friends in the form of little human beings, guide you through life and to teach you...I learn so much from my daughters.. Ellis is my firstborn and will always have a special place in my heart.. when I think of her my heart aches and I get kind of sad. I don't know why..But I talked to my other friend 미란 and she said the same thing...첫째를 생각하면 가슴이 아리고 뭉쿨해지고..I think that's what others think of their firstborn too..

I recently started working as a freelancer...It's been hard to juggle both motherhood and work...i really feel like I fail in both arenas...I have the utmost respect for single mothers.. for me this is temporary as I try to always remind myself that my kids are my priority and their happiness comes first above any of my career ambitions.. but God will guide me.. right now I feel like God is guiding me to work and then who knows...It's been hard to try to not get too excited about career opportunities that come my way.. I have been learning to accept these opportunities but at the same time prepare to let them go...a mother's love and sacrifice is truly divine and noble...I am learning from God every day and I love this feeling.. after all my eternal mission is to be a good mom, human being not the best media buyer in the world right? my tombstone will not say, "awesome media buyer who put in 45 hours a week" it will say, I hope, "loving mom, supportive wife, good daughter, caring person, had charity, everybody's life was a little easier by knowing her." that's my hope and dream.. I have to keep that in mind constantly..

Love blogs..writing down my thoughts is cathartic...forget how soothing writing is.. so I will do this more often...

Caitlyn

Caitlyn's here! What a whirlwind of emotions a new baby brings.. not to mention the sleepless nights, feeling fine one minute and totally crazed the next...some moments I feel like screaming and tell myself I'm done having kids and then the next moment, Caitlyn starts cooing at me and smiles so wide I want one more. I really don't know but I've decided to focus on the "now" and try to enjoy every moment of motherhood. When I start working I know I'll miss staying home and getting to see all the precious moements of my girls growing. Life is made up of moments and you have to live in the moments. Easy to say but harder to really feel it in your heart. I want to look back at my life when I'm in my 60's and have no regrets about my 30s and a big part of that is deciding with David on if we want more children and how to raise our children. Career comes second. I've realized I just want to make enough money to do stuff with my family the basics, food, shelter, necessities, occasional vacation. Climing up the corporate ladder is really on the back burner. I want David to succeed in his life goals and right now that's making good grades at Glendale Community College. Hopefully he'll pass his classes. :)

Wedding

Ellis and I were in Korea for my brother Joseph's wedding. Ellis loved hanging out with Adalie even though one of them was crying every 5 minutes. Ellis loved the playground at my parent's house with swings, slides and seesaws. She really missed Adalie when Adalie left for Utah a few days before we came back. She would go room to room yelling "Adi, Adi, Adi ya!"

Sometimes I wish Ellis would not grow past this stage in life where I can pick her up and carry her wherever I go and she loves hanging out with me and follows me everywhere I go. She's beginning to say a lot of words, her favorite being "umma kachee ka"--"mommy, take me with you" I don't know if she knows the meaning of those words but she says it all the time.

अंकल Jacob

एलिस लोवेद स्पेंडिंग टाइम विथ जैकब। जैकब वास सो स्वीट एंड प्लेफुल विथ हेर।
थिस इस इन फ्रंट ऑफ़ जैकब'स ३ स्टोरीअपार्टमेन्ट।