the secret life of bees.

i watched this movie this weekend and tonight realized how much i am like a character from this movie. do you remember may boatwright played by sophie okonedo? if you have seen this movie she is the one that mourns for the world. in the movie if she ever hears of something in the least bit upsetting, she is set off and has to go to her "wailing wall" to mourn.

i am her.

i cry often. too often in fact.

somehow, somewhere along the line of my life i like to think i learned sympathy. lately though- maybe the past year i have felt myself become more sensitive than usual.

and i cry.

there are many people that i know that are struggling with sickness, distress, heartache, and yearning. and i cry for them. i dont exactly understand why i cry so much… i know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that we have a living God who knows what is going on in our lives and blesses us even still.

yet i cry.

im so grateful for the temple and especially for the opportunity that we have to pray for others. what a blessing it is to participate in such a glorious blessing.

im not mad that i cry, in fact im thankful that i do. im thankful that i am able to "mourn with those that mourn and (hopefully) comfort those that stand in need of comfort". even though i cry i understand that we all must endure trials and heartache to grow and "overcome the world"

and im thankful.

to all of you out there who are struggling with personal and family trials, my thoughts are turned to you and i love you. please know that there are people thinking of you and praying for you.

and its ok to cry.
if you ever need someone to cry with you my tear ducts open quite easily :)

x0x0

i leave for idaho again tomorrow (or today since its 3 am). its very bittersweet. i miss my sweetheart, but my im going to miss little stella too. :/

dear february

i cant believe your already here. what will you bring?

this is the month of love.
a month of red and pink.
a month of candy hearts and boxes of chocolate.
a month to spend with my sweetheart.

im excited for the month of february. a big reason i get to see sammy again. its only been since thursday, but i do miss him.

its been lovely seeing stella. you wouldnt believe how beautiful she is. so incredible that such a miracle has come into all of our lives. her real due date was yesterday- boy am i thankful she didnt wait until yesterday to come. she will be a week old tomorrow- holy!

hopefully tomorrow the ground hog wont see his shadow and that will mean winter will be over soon! im really more of a fan of the warm weather.

another reason to be excited for february. miss carli is getting married on friday. she will be lovely. im so excited for her.

super bowl sunday comes soon too. usually im not very excited about it, but this year we're attending a party in logan- and the saints are playing! WOOOhoo go saints! (thats for sam)

we are moving out of our apartment. im a little sad about it because it is a lovely one! 3 bedrooms, washer and dryer, storage room and hardwood floors. if your looking for a new place this one is a GREAT deal and we have awesome landlords- talk to me if your interested! and the ward is the bomb dot com (ok so lame i know) but really its a good one.

we are leaving on an adventure. we will be traveling up the coast. starting in southern california and heading to seattle- all while driving on highway 1. have any of you done this before? PLEASE tell me the dirty details of where we MUST go!

february should be a good month.


~~~~~~

on another note: my dear friend katie shared a fabulous recipe with me and i want to share it with you.

wingers sticky fingers:

buy a bag of frozen breaded chicken strips, a bag of brown sugar and FRANKS hot sauce (only franks will do)

this is seriously the easiest and tastiest thing (way cheaper than $20 for two of you to go to dinner)

bake the chicken strips

heat on medium until the brown sugar dissolves (on the stove of course)
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3 TBS Franks hot sauce (more if you like it spicier)
2 TBS water

wala! thats it! then in a large bowl mix the chicken and the sauce.

so easy and so good. if i were you i would double the sauce recipe so you have more but its up to you!

its way cheaper than going out and tastes VERY similar to the real deal. we will definitely be eating this on superbowl sunday!

i hope everyone has a great day! i love you sam!

x0x0

caution: post may cause vomitting.

no not really, this is just going to be a LOoOOng one! thats alright though because its been quite awhile since ive posted. A LOT has been going on in my life since my last post (actually long before that because that post didnt cover much).

by the way i want to thank EVERYONE for your kind comments on that post. im seriously so thankful for everything that you said and how you made me feel. i love my dad and from your comments i know you do too! i sincerely am thankful for all of you!

on with my post.

as of now im in columbus, ohio enjoying the newest addition to the palmer family. little stella rose. let me just tell you how much i love this little girl. she is the most precious thing ive ever seen and im so grateful that i get to be here and spend time with this little peanut. she was born on tuesday the 26th (also my grandpa normans birthday) thus giving her the nick name norma :). born at 6 lbs 4 oz and now 5 lbs 11 oz, she is so tiny. taryn and ryan are doing wonderful and they couldnt be prouder. we all just stare and talk about how cute everything she does is. even her little whimper cry is to die for!



ALL of my pictures are pretty random and out of order- but like i said this is such a long post that im not changing it :)

stella and mama all snuggled in a ballauntie kyrsten and the little peanut

look at how small she is

shag has a little cough so taryn requested a little caution :)

the first time i saw this sweetheart (excuse my apperance i was traveling all day)

i love her so much!

okie dokie.. heres what we've been up to since december. are you ready?

the biggest news (besides stella) in our lives is that sam and i have decided to take this semester off of school. it has been heavenly. its something that we have wanted to do for quite awhile and a week before school started decided to DO IT! both of us were registered and ready to go, but decided to go crazy! anyways this past month has been quite exciting and really relaxing. neither of us have any responsibility now- no school no work and sadly we were both released from our callings. our plan is to travel quite a bit and by so doing would be unable to fulfill our callings. its a bitter sweet thing for me. i loved the calling i had and all of the girls i worked with, so i will miss it, but to be honest it is a big weight off my shoulders. along with a calling comes a lot of responsibility and it was always on my mind (not a bad thing by any means) but i was always thinking about what i should or could be doing! the new relief society president is AMAZING though and she will do a fabulous job! ( for those of you that know devri 'ellis' larson)! yahoo!

this past weekend sam and me and our friends katie and jonny headed to bear lake to enjoy some relaxation. during which we decided to go sledding. i forgot snow pants so i made due with a few garbage bags


a couple of weeks ago andrea and i threw a bridal shower for my incredible cousin carli. this shower was seriously a BLAST. probably the funnest one ive ever been to. it was a 50's cocktail party! so much fun. we all dressed up in cocktail dresses and served drinks! (virgin) pina colodas and strawberry daquiries! then we set up a little photo area and took fun vintage pictures together. seriously we need to do this monthly just because it was such a blast!!

drinks anyone?

the food was divine

the photo area with vintage accessories

for thank yous we gave out vintage hankies-so cute

lovely

annie made aprons for the game winners. she is so talented!

the two kyrstens(kirstens)

cousins

do you love the sick mullet? i sure do :)

the shag and me

the blushing bride :)

at the beginging of january we headed to florida for a cruise with homeshield! it was an absolute blast! the weather was super crappy but the company was awesome! even though mother nature backfired on us, the people we were with were rays of sunshine!! :) so cheesy yeah?

sam and brit decided to help out a local store by being window mannequins! so funny a few people actually went into the store because of them.

of course we had to have a little key lime pie in key west.

these sweeties decided to try on a REALLY reaLLY big pair of pants together! the store worker wasnt so pleased with this.

we enjoyed jeep rides on cozumel. lots of fun seeing the ruins and cruizin around

we were all pretty cold and wanted to buy ponchos but they were $25 each. instead we bought these $5 blankets and sam asked the old guys for some scissors and wala we had ourselves some authentic mexican ponchos! it was pretty funny even the owner laughed!

i dont think you understand how much i love my husband!

olay!

they were so good they should have been street vendors

dancing our hearts out!

add and brit. sure love them.

i could put a funny caption here but i wont... im sure you can think of one yourself! :)

introducing the top ten salesmen! way to go sam!

they won champange for being in the newlywed game! so funny!

on to new years!

yep you get a kissing picture! WAHHOO!

i did love his beard!

we love love catch phrase! never a dull moment!

katie and jonny!

jaylyn andy and sadi (and half of kevin)

all the cousins go to bear lake a week before christmas every year and sled and eat and have fun.. heres jace in his savers full body snow suit so sick!

i got a sewing machine for christmas! with a little, ok a LOT of persuasion from sams dad i decided to make a quilt! this is about as far as ive gotten but it will eventually get done!

forgive my red eye- i left my contacts in far too long! someday ill get out of the habit

i made them do the dirty work

nicholas and sam

weve been able to do a little bit of skiing and snowboarding this winter, but most recently sam got me to snowboard. i havent tried since highschool, but tried on wednesday and i LOVED IT! it was seriously amazing and i will brag a bit and say im not too bad! :) im already carving!

we started a new christmas morning tradition with both families this year! silly string fight anyone?

sampson got a snuggie! oh how disgustingly awesome.

sam bought me this lovely picture of the logan temple. im in love

sam cut us down a christmas tree. i was a little sad i didnt get to go with him this year but he picked out a great one!

see i love it.

at the begining of december taryn came to idaho for a couple of baby showers this one is at her in-laws house!

the hansen girls! all 5 of us! :)

my beautiful cousin addie got married in december! she was one of the most stunning brides ive ever seen! i love you sister!

love this. rand dawg and add

the thomas family

dont be jealous of my killer shoes! i know they rock. and what makes them better is they only cost me $2!

this is at adds shower. it was a jungle theme and for party favors we gave goldfish. i dont know how the girls felt about it, but i thought it was pretty stinkin cute

it was a busy week for showers. my cousin emily and i threw taryn a baby shower too. oh my heck it was so cute and so fun! my cousin emily is so talented and my mom is of course a goddess too!

we made darling fabric bows and flowers for party favors. the theme was pretty in pink so everyone was showered in pinkness?! im not sure if that makes sense? anyways emily made the most adorable ones ever! check out her craft blog the rubber punkin- her button is on my side bar! trust me you wont be sorry!

sisters

thank goodness this was at the church we had alot of people there

neighborhood friends. i sure miss these guys.

and one more picture of this sweetheart!

x0x0

a late post.

I wrote this post a few weeks ago (december 16th) but never finished it. so a majority of this information is old, but it was part of my december so here it is.. late but i do everything procrastinated so just add this to the list.

i was talking to my mom on saturday and could tell that she was feeling a little overwhelmed. as we sat and talked i said are you ready for this week to be over. her response kind of surprised me and made me think a little bit. she said i hate to wish my life away.

i find myself wishing certain times in my life away. especially the week of finals. for the past two weeks all i have wanted is for this week to be over. now it is... for me at least. i turned in my last two finals on monday. phew. im feeling a little more relieved. now the pressure of how i did is starting to haunt me.

i talked with one of the sister missionaries in my ward the other night though and she asked me if i prayed and read my scriptures before i did my homework. well... actually no i dont was my response. but she challenged me to do so. and to be honest i KNOW that it really helped me. i know that because i was willing to "try" it that Heavenly Father helped me in my finals.

i was in a drawing class this semester- for those of you that know me, you know this isn't one of my strongest suits. it has been a big challenge for me. i dare to say it has been the hardest class of my college career. weird right? a 100 level art class has surpassed all of my 400 level classes in difficulty. maybe its because it is something that i am no good at, im self cautious about and really didnt have the time to put into it, but whatever it is... it was a huge challenge. but yesterday as i was finishing up three of my eight drawings- and after i had said my prayers and read my scriptures- it felt so simple. it was still no picasso, but it wasn't horrible. it wasn't the way it had been for the past two months. Heavenly Father definitely is willing to bless us if we are willing to ask, and work for it. so thank you to sister whorton who helped me help myself!

i worked really hard this semester and for the most part really enjoyed it. i feel like it has flown by. honestly im starting to really wonder where does the time go? its already the middle of december. and lets face it, i did my first attempt of christmas shopping yesterday. holy. i have a long way to go. but im excited. i love this time of year and all it stands for. my favorite part- helping others in need. i feel like i have had a few more opportunities than usual this year to get into the spirit of giving and i know that it is blessing mine and sams lives.

speaking of sam. he is so wonderful. he has done an amazing job in school this semester. he is so incredible at what he does and i know that he will benefit greatly from his schooling. in fact he already has. we just signed our summer again to homeshield pest control. we arent exactly sure where we will end up this summer but i know wherever we go it will be worth it. this year sam was offered to be a trainer for homeshield. this means that around a month of the summer he will be going to different offices helping sales reps to do better. i know i will miss him but my dear cousin addie and her new husband brit and one of sams best friends and his wife will be coming with us so i will have some good friends to spend all my time with!

back to school... are you sick of it yet... well deal- ive had to since september :) kidding kidding. anyways for another final i had to do a sequence of 6 photos. they had to tell a story, and we could do it on anything we wanted. my professor showed us examples from years gone by that included things like funerals, a fake gun fight, water changing its habitat etc. i was having a hard time determining what i should do, but realized i wanted to do something that had some meaning and that was close to my heart. what better subject matter than my dad.

my dad is a big part of my life. the disease that he is fighting affects me in more ways than i think i understand. for those of you that dont know, his cancer has spread a little more, causing him to get treatments every week instead of only once every three weeks. i know that it takes a huge toll on him, especially having to work everyday, but he does it. and he smiles while he does it.

i decided that it would be a good idea to capture a few of the things that he has to go through on a regular basis. and that is what i tried to do. after a little hesitation, he agreed to let me attend a couple of his chemo treatments and take pictures. the hospital was actually really great and didnt mind me being there. i went to two different treatments and was able to get quite a few good shots of him. not only am i happy that i was able to go and understand a little bit more about the things that he has to deal with, but also that i was able to document it.

for my photography final i turned in six photographs that (to me) represents something that my dad is going through. i realize that the first frame isnt very strong, but felt that it needed to be present. as i presented my final, i got a little more emotional than i expected. like i said this is something very dear to my heart and i think i was afraid of how people would respond. but my class responded very empathetically and my teacher shed a few tears herself.

im happy to report i got an A. with the remarks- "I really appreciate the personal meaning of this to you. What I want you to know is how strongly it spoke to the class. Nice finish! I appreciate your hard work and sincerity." so maybe i got an A because of the composition, but i like to think its because ive got TALENT :)!

its hard to believe that i didnt even save my final copies of these photos. my jump drive couldnt take anymore info, so i dont have the final copies. but i did just try to make them look as close as possilbe to the real thing. sorry. but its all i got.

without any further ado. heres scotty aka homer. (Taryn this post is mostly for you)

i sure love this guy.

until next time x0x0

2009 a year of adventure!

its 2 o' clock on january 2nd. i cant believe where the time has gone. 2009 was a very adventurous year for sam and i. we were able to do and experience a lot as a couple. our marriage grew, we grew, and we had fun in the process. 2009 has come and gone in an instant. i cant believe its over. but im excited for what a new year brings.

along with all of the holidays this year, new years flew by. i didnt even have a chance to think about new years resolutions. so with you as my witness here they are: (a little late)

1. ponder more. think about my life and what i want and how i can get it. aka. my spirituality

2. grow closer to sam. show him more everyday how much i love him.

3. loose some weight. this is always a resolution. but this time i want to make it happen... :)

4. have adventure! i dont think this will be a hard one!

5. organize my life. i usually live it day by day.. im going to try it week by week this time!

6. keep in touch with those i love. send out birthday cards, call more often, visit as much as i can!

7. be the best i can be and be and then be happy about it!

ok ok now that ive actually thought about my resolutions and made them known we will see how they go..

with all of that said here is a recap (along with the rest of the blogging world) of what happened in our adventures in 2009! enjoy!

January:

we bought ourselves a new car. we have loved having this little cutie! it is so nice to have a car that is reliable. because we are going all the time it was very much needed!

February:
this was a very hard month. my dear cousin angie's husband was killed in a car accident. angie is one of the most beautiful, incredible people i know. she has had so much faith and an incredibly positive attitude through this hard time. angie i love you. you have the most beautiful girls! we have been lucky to get to know you better through this year.

March:
we were able to spend a wonderful spring break in new york city! we had so much fun seeing the sights and indulging in a little culture!

sam went on his mission to louisiana so of course we had to celebrate mardi gras with a good old party!
food storage! we got a little more self reliant this month. im still not sure what to do with all this food.

April:
i got a new calling. this calling has been a VERY wonderful and hard experience. i have learned to love others more easily, i have learned to follow the promptings of the spirit more regularly, and i have learned more about myself than i think i would have otherwise.

i went to the dark side. i needed a change and i got a big one this month.

May:

i went to california with my mother in law to celebrate sams cousins wedding. it was so fun to go and get to know all of her side of the family a little bit better

sams brother decker and his girlfriend abigail got married. its bad because i didnt take my camera to the actual wedding but this was before- all of the girls in the family went and got pedicures together.

we had a "retirement" party for j-own. after 20 years of teaching preschool we decided she needed a party to celebrate her hard work in everything. she is so amazing and takes such good care of everyone else, we decided she needed a celebration of her own. she had no idea about the party, and to make it even better we surprised her by having taryn come! here she is after taryn walked out! i love the look on her face. it is priceless!

we moved! here we are packing up our beloved apartment. we lived in this apartment since we got married. it was kind of bitter sweet leaving it. OH yeah we moved to washington dc

June:
we arrived in washington dc. it is so lovely. this temple is amazing.

i was introduced to UNIQUE! the walmart sized thrift store. my life will forever be changed and blessed! :) i spent a lot of time and green in this place. and half of the things i got i wasnt able to bring home! i was a little bit sad about that one

the hansen family enjoyed a nice vacation to cancun/ playa del carmen. we were celebrating my grandpa and grandmas 50th wedding anniversary, taryns graduation and my moms retirement. this was an amazing vacation!

this little cutie celebrated his 24th birthday!

we went into downtown dc for the first time. what a place to visit.

July:
we enjoyed the 4th of july with new friends near the pentagon! we had a great summer sales team this year! we loved everyone!

the hansen family came for another trip! it was so fun to be with everyone in our new "hometown" and show them around! we were able to see lots of sights, go to a cubs game and go to new york. lots of smashing in the car together! i know taigen loved riding in the trunk with me the whole time :)

August:
time to leave after a great summer! sams brother dan and my lovely cousin allie came for the ride home! we had so much fun! and were able to see so many awesome things. we went to gettysburg, palmyra, niagara falls, kirtland, columbus, st louis, independence, adam ondi ohman, far west, and mount rushmore. this was quite a trip! really so much fun! and some incredible places to visit!

here we are in the sacred grove.

i celebrated my 21st birthday! with a little bit of chocolate cake! really only a little bit because sam hates chocolate! this was the only slice that was eaten :)

September:

we got home, unpacked a little bit and started school! whew. it was a busy month getting started again.

dad got his football sized spleen out. it took him awhile to recover from this. we spend a few days in the hospital. and again i learned a lot about love and service. there are truly angels among us.

sam and i celebrated 2 years of marriage! they have been the most incredible of my life! i have got one amazing husband!

i went blonde again. this is a really sick picture. but im blonde!

October:

we enjoyed the most AMAZING trip to HAWAII! i would give seriously ANYTHING to live there. i cant describe how much i absolutely loved this place!

November:

sam ran in his first half marathon. what an accomplishment! he did so amazing!

we went on a thanksgiving cruise with all of sams family! it was beautiful and so wonderful to get to know everyone a little bit more!

also taryn came this month and we were able to celebrate baby stella! we cant wait for her to come at the end of january!

December:

one of my dearest friends/cousins got married. she was a beautiful bride!

december was a busy month. we studied hard, took finals and then christmas came and went in a flash. i have a lot to post about the month of december, but i guess it will have to wait just a little bit longer.

sam and i both finished school feeling good. we did well and are happy its over.

life is changing quickly and there is a lot of excitement a brewin' in the geddes home! this spring semester should be one to remember.

2009 was a wonderful year and we were able to experience and do a lot. im thankful to my Heavenly Father for allowing sam and i to enjoy so many blessings. we know that it is only because of him that we are able to do so much.

i hope you all had a wonderful year and are looking forward to another great one! i know we are!

happy 2010 everyone!

we're alive

heres proof.

happy new year. ill see you soon.

its been a heck of a week.

ill post the juicy details after my finals are over.