It's long, but here's the letter I wrote to my family if y'all are interested.
Cannon comings and goings:
I think this may be the 1st letter I’ve written when I haven’t had 4+ emails from Mom begging for one or threatening to send out the Pieces of 8 without my contribution. I feel pretty proud of myself right now. Maybe if I am successful in keeping this letter short I will do it more often.
The most interesting events in our lives recently have been Easter, a trip to the zoo and our ANNIVERSARY!!
I’ve had to put extra thought into every holiday that has come upon us in the past year. Before, my parents planned holidays and I just went along with whatever, but every holiday this past year has been a first for Danny and I as a married couple and traditions are being formed. I wasn’t sure how to start our Easter traditions as a newly married couple with no kids, so I asked Danny what he wanted to do and he said, “Well, you will be hiding me a basket, of course!”
We decided to spend Easter day in memory and gratitude for our savior and then do the candy thing on Monday (when everything is half off J ). I spent the entire day Saturday buying food and the entire day on Easter cooking up a feast (plus church of course). I’ve never cooked so much in my life. If we had planned ahead we could have fed eight people with all the food I made, but it was too late to invite anyone by the time I figured out how much food I was making. We started out with orange rolls in the morning, chicken salad croissants for lunch (Danny told me he would eat it, so I made a lot. He only ate one croissant and I was left eating chicken salad all week. I got so sick I almost hurled, so I had to throw the last half of it away. I was not happy.) For dinner I made leg of lamb, cream cheese jell-o, homemade rolls, and creamed potatoes. I also tried to make little nest rice crispy treats with robin eggs in the middle but somehow I messed them up and it didn’t set. Regardless, I think it was the most delicious meal I’ve ever made. It made me feel like I was at home feasting on my mom’s home-cookin. I don’t know how she whipped out dinners like that every Sunday for us. Some day I hope to make it look easy too. Monday I stopped at Target and bought WAY too much candy for just the two of us, eggs, baskets, etc. I came home and Danny and I stuffed the eggs and made the baskets. I went outside while he hid my basket in the house, then vice versa. Danny definitely found his basket long before I found where he hid mine. He always wins at everything… We only ate a few pieces of candy but we felt so sick that we never got around to dinner. I figured candy for dinner is acceptable once a year at Easter time, right? Danny’s been so busy studying this week that we still haven’t dyed eggs yet. What do you think the chances are that we’ll ever get around to it? Danny is also letting me keep the tradition of getting a new dress every Easter which I am definitely taking advantage of.
The family I work for owns a zoo membership that I talked them into letting us borrow a couple weeks ago. It’s been one of the highlights for us this year because Danny studies so much that we rarely have the chance to get out together. It was one of the first warmish days of the year so it felt great to get out. We took our time and enjoyed walking around together. I’ve been to the zoo a number of times with the kids, but it was nice to go with someone who doesn’t lose it after an hour of walking around and will spend more than 5 seconds looking at an animal.
Now for the biggest event, our ANNIVERSARY!! I still can’t believe that we’ve been married for over a year now. Time has flown so fast. It seems like such a big point in one’s life. It has truly been one spectacular year. I see a lot of people we know that have gotten married and not make it even this far. I, on the other hand, have never been so happy in my life. Living in Philly is definitely a challenge, but Danny makes it all worth it and it doesn’t seem so hard. Being married to Danny is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. People have warned us that there will be bumps in the road, and I know they’re right, but we have been so blessed not to come upon one yet. (Knock on wood) We decided to spend our anniversary at a bed and breakfast in Lancaster County (Amish country). We drove out Friday night, met the owners and got settled, then went to grab a bite to eat. Saturday they served us a HUGE breakfast that filled us all the way to dinner. We spent the day in Intercourse, PA (Great city to spend your anniversary in, huh?) perusing all the little country and Amish shops. We appeased our bellies with cheeses, crackers and jellies, chips and salsa, fresh fudge, real kettle corn, and Amish made root beer (no carbonation). When our feet couldn’t walk anymore we spent the rest of the day exploring the county by car. Even though we were only an hour away from Philly it felt like we were in a completely different world. There was such a peaceful atmosphere, partly from being in the country and partly from all the Amish. It was interesting to see all these people who live like they’re in the 1800s intermixed with people living in the modern age. They walk or drive buggies wherever they go; use horses to pull their plows and farming equipment, and don’t use any electricity, and somehow co-exist perfectly with everyone else around them. It was an amazing place to experience. We ate dinner that night with an Amish couple and their 3 young kids. It was a very unique experience. We were surprised to see that they lived in a very modern house. The difference was there were no lights on the ceiling and no outlets in the walls. They were a very down to earth family, just a little hard to talk to though because English is their second language (they are first taught Pennsylvania Dutch). It was a very relaxing trip, and AMAZING to have Danny all to myself and not have to share him with his textbooks.
Two more random tidbits:
Last Sunday two young women were baptized into our ward. One of them has only been coming for a couple weeks so I don’t know her very well. The other one has been coming for months with her cousin. Her mom, aunt, and uncle were baptized several months ago so she is going to be one of our first yw with family support. It was incredible to see her all dressed in white and to think of the transformation that has happened since she first came to our ward. You could tell the spirit was with her. She looked so beautiful. It was a very special moment for me because I truly felt a connection to the young women and a strong prompting that what I’m doing is very important. I feel an urgency to help these young women nurture their testimonies in anyway I can and to let them know how profoundly loved they are by their Heavenly Father.
My boss has been asking me when I’ll have to leave so they can start thinking about getting someone once I’m gone. Yesterday she asked me if there was a bulletin board at my church to post jobs and other things. I didn’t understand where she was going with it, but I told her the only bulletin board we had was used to post pictures of previous activities. She seemed frustrated and told me they were trying to get someone just like me once I was gone. They love the way I am with their children and said they want someone with my same values. I told them when the time gets closer I can start asking around. It made me feel so good to think that I had set such a good example, even in my worst moments, that they would only want a Mormon to replace me.
Sorry, I didn’t accomplish my goal of a short letter. I really did try, but I feel like this is my journal so I need the detail.
We love to read all your letters. You guys are such great examples to us.
Carry on, carry on,
Maretta and Danny
