Family Picnic

Once a year my work has a Family Picnic for all of the associates and their families. This year they rented out Big Surf for the Arizona associates and it was so much fun. This was like my 5th company picnic, but I have never enjoyed it as much as I did this year. Probably because I didn't have Abraham with me in all of the previous ones :)

I will say this is NOT an attractive picture of either of us...at all. We were at a water park...what do you expect? And who knows why my husband's face looks...I don't even know, just not like his face. BUT we are both independently chose to rock soccer jerseys, his is the Chivas from Guadalajara, Mexico and mine is from the Mexico Selection. We are so cool ;)

It was so fun to have Abraham there because he had never been to an water park before. We approached one of the slides and he said to me, "Madison, we are going to jump from up there? What if I break my leg? Or drown? I can't swim!" I reminded him that yes, he can swim, he chose to go swimming just hours after our sealing in the temple. So, we climbed lots of stairs to the top and rode a double tube down the slide. He screamed all the way down, it was so cute. After we crash landed into the water at the end of the slide I asked him if he liked it and his response was, "LET'S DO IT AGAIN!!!!!" I love my little foreigner. Everything is an adventure with him. Even things that I have been doing for years, like going to the water park, are new and exciting with him. 

I hope life continues to be this exciting and we can continue to appreciate the simple things, such as:

Screaming all the way down the tube slide

The way your stomach feels when you drop straight down the tall slide without a tube

Learning how to mount a raft in the wave pool

The moment you realize the pool is only 5 feet deep and you can stand easily and jump on the raft

Returning to the tube slide hours after the first experience and finding your hat, still floating in the water at the bottom

Realizing you lost the hat in the first place

Not winning anything at the raffle, again

Eating way too much free burgers, chili dogs and watermelon

Just being together and not needing anything else

I love my husband so much it's ridiculous. I know we are still in the honeymoon stage, but I want things to stay like this forever. Well, not exactly. I want thing to be like this except I will be graduated and won't have to work, and maybe there will be kids involved...but LATER, much later. For now we will keep enjoying the simple things of being married. 

Love, Madison

Mormon Misconceptions

One of my favorite things about being Mormon, and one of my least favorite things at the same time, are all of the crazy misconceptions that exist concerning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (yes, that is what the church is actually called, not mormon church) and it's members. I bring this up because this week at work I was blessed with THREE misconceptions about what I can and cannot do as a member of the church. Frankly, they were hilarious, and that is why I want to share them. :)

1. While waiting for a shift to start on Wednesday I sat in the backroom and chatted with some of my co-workers. We all were talking about who won things at the raffle that was held at the annual company picnic the previous day. One of the new hires at our store said the following, more or less:

"I was really hoping to win that portable DVD player at the raffle! My room is like totally old school Mormon style. No T.V., no radio, nothing electronic whatsoever."

I looked at her and asked, "Now, why does that have anything to do with Mormons?"

Her reply was something like, "Oh, well I am no sure but I don't think they can use electricity."

Very Interesting. I informed her that yes, in fact, we can. I just so happen to have a lovely little flat screen in my living room, a laptop, AND a DVD player. Just to name a few of the things in our home that use electricity. I ended by announcing to those co-workers who were my witnesses that "this is why missionaries have to knock on doors all day long, because so many people confuse us with the Amish."

It was super funny. I made sure she knew I wasn't upset and confessed that I too though Mormons were Amish before the missionaries started teaching me 5 years ago. ;) 

2. Today at work I was minding my own people, making some bomb burgers, of course, when one of my co-workers asked, "Madison, can you drink coke?"

I told her yes, I can drink soft drinks. She responded, "I know that, but can you have Coca-Cola products? I heard that because Pepsi is owned by Mormons you are only allowed to drink Pepsi products." 

I laughed out loud at this one. I didn't even know that Pepsi was owned by members of the church. So, if drinking Coke is against the doctrine of the church then no one informed me and they should probably address this scandal at General Conference. 

3. After the Pepsi question and my obvious laughter at the topic, my co-worker, who I love dearly despite her lack of knowledge on the topic, told me that she realllllly knows nothing about the church and that when she first moved to Arizona from the East Coast and saw biking missionaries she thought they were members of Best Buy's Geek Squad.

Today we had both sets of the Elders serving in our Branch over for dinner and we all laughed about the comments of my co-workers. One Elder said that every time they go grocery shopping on Preparation Day they are asked where certain items are located in the store. Oh, how I miss those days of going to Walmart and being constantly asked those kinds of questions. Can you not read the name tag? It does not says Walmart. It has a muuuuuuch longer name, and the name of the Savior. Unless there is a Walmart of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that I am not aware of I do not understand how missionaries are so often confused for Walmart associates. And I have to add that the missionaries dress much nicer than they do as well. 

In conclusion, if you suffer from ignorance or misinformation and think that the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint are Amish-computer-nerd-only-Coke-drinkers then please see http://mormon.org

Here's a video from the website just for funsies, and because I love these things. This one gets me teary-eyed every time I watch it.

Adjusting to Wifehood

Everytime I start blogging again it is because of one person: Katie Devey. This time she claims to be having dreams about my blogs being updated. Well Katie, this one's for you ;)

The transition to wifehood is something I would compare to the transition of becoming a missionary. The weeks prior to my mission I was so excited, yet nervous at the same time, knowing that my mission would be the greatest thing I would ever do, yet having absolutely no idea why or what it would entail. Marriage was something I knew I wanted to do, yet I had no idea what it would entail, what challenges we would face or how much joy I could possibly experience in one single moment. I know that marriage is a mission, that is will require sacrifice, hard work, prayer, repentance, and will be the hardest most rewarding thing I ever experience, just like my mission.

Anyways, let me introduce you to my super-guapo husband

Yep, he is a total dork and I love him for it. 

His name is Abraham.

He is 21 years old and fresh off of his mission in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He was born in Oaxaca, Mexico.

He works at a company that makes super-fancy sinks and is the sink waxer/baker (I don't really like the fact that he comes home with burns on his arms but its whatevs. It's a temporary job).

He wants to attend the LDS Business College next spring to study in their medical program.

He loves Mexican food. And hates American food. "Sandwich? That's not food! That's like....a snack!"

Hence, a perfect introduction to my biggest adjustment as an esposa. I cannot cook without recipes. Mexican food....no recipes. Thank goodness for my amazing mother in law who doesn't tease me when I call and ask, "Mom, how do you make rice?" Yep, that happened. I will admit, I never cooked while I was single, not even as a missionary, but I can bake like nobody's business. So, with help from the mom in law and from my husband, I have been learning the basics of Mexican cuisine. This week I learned how to make pico de gallo, salsa verde, enchiladas, and tinga. I would say they all turned out successful...but I am an American attempted authentic Mexican food...so who knows haha.

Please pray for me, my kitchen, and my husband's stomach lining, that will cease to exist if I "keep putting so much chile in our dinner"

Love, Madison