Christmas

I keep waiting until I have inspiration to write something cute and clever and detailed about our Christmas, but the inspiration is just not flowin'.  However, we had the most delightful Christmas with my family in Merced and then at the beach house in Cambria.  It was so peaceful and happy and relaxing and I just love, love, love my family to pieces.  Here are some pictures that give a brief, and certainly not complete, account of Christmas 2014.

Grandma Rowan, as per tradition, reads Luke 2 at the Rowan Family Christmas Eve party.  This year we added songs between certain verses and it was so lovely.

Ben, Grandma Rowan, and me.

Anne Marie & me.  How I love this lady!  I miss living close to her.

On Christmas we got to talk to Elder Rowan!  He'll be home this summer!

The day after Christmas we drove to the beach house and this is the sunset that greeted us.

Our house is right next to this ranch with paths for walking.  I love it and I took a lot of pictures on my walks.

Ice Plant on the ranch.

Funky bench and paths up the hills.

This is a view of the beginning of the ranch, taken from right next to the beach house.

It's pretty either way you look - beach or hills.

We visited the beaches where the elephant seals come to give birth in the winter.  They are the funniest animals and I love them.

Elephant seal beach.

We played football on the beach at sunset one evening.

How dreamy can life get?

San Simeon Pier.

We also went tide-pooling right below the beach house.  It's definitely one of my favorite things to do.

Sea Anemone.

Sea Urchin.

My father, commander of the tide pools.  But seriously.

We even saw a whole bunch of seals out on the rocks when we were tide-pooling.  Seals are funny.

Besides seals, we saw whales and dolphins swim by the house multiple days!

This rock is covered in little Sea Anemones closed up while the tide is out.

The men-folk + Emily looking down at Mom & I at the tide-pools from up on the bluff/ranch.

This is taken from the ranch, looking back at our house.  It's the very first one when you reach the houses.

Emily.

Dinner at the Sea Chest.

The boys rode their bikes every morning and on Sunday we drove one of their routes - so pretty and so hard!  Glad I wasn't biking it.

"Batch" in San Luis Obispo on New Year's Eve - I thoroughly enjoyed my cookie ice cream sandwich!

Panoramic view taken from the back yard.

I love my family and I love Cambria - Christmas 2013 for the WIN!

Converted Unto the Lord in 2013

The year 2013 was a big year for us.  It certainly wasn't my favorite year and I am looking forward to 2014.  Shall we reminisce for a moment?

Right before Thanksgiving I received the following email from a sister in our ward:

Hi Karin,

It’s your lucky day! 

As part of my calling as ward photographer, I also put together a quarterly newsletter. The newsletter usually includes a little piece written by someone in the ward reflecting on one of the year’s themes. For our end of the year newsletter, the bishop has asked that YOU write up a short piece around the overall theme of the year (“Converted Unto the Lord”). This is a short piece - you can determine how long you’d like it to be and it’s pretty much a “free choice” topic (really, I find that most things can fall under “conversion” — anything that helps strengthen faith also develops a stronger “conversion”). 

Is this something you’d be willing to do? There’s no rush. As long as I have it within the next two weeks or so…(by December 5?). 

Thank you,

Her Name

This is what I wrote and it was in the ward's newsletter which was passed out last Sunday:

Converted Unto the Lord

At the beginning of 2013, I made a New Year’s Resolution to read the scriptures every day.  Of course I have missed days here and there, but overall I have been able to invite the Holy Spirit into my life each day.  This habit, along with daily personal prayer and trying to write in my journal frequently, has helped me to draw close to my Father in Heaven.

This year brought significant trials and heartache.  As I have relied on the Lord and on my testimony, I have come to learn of the strength a solid foundation in the gospel can be.

Elder David A. Bednar said, “Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of testimony.  Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion.”

The choice to have faith can be a hard choice, and I have often felt that my faith is insufficient.  But, as I have prayed and echoed the words “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,” Heavenly Father has blessed me with faith and strength beyond my own (Mark 9:24).

To exercise faith, I make choices each day that bring me closer to the Lord and demonstrate my obedience to Him.  I study the scriptures, I hold Family Home Evening with my husband, I attend my Church meetings, and I serve in my Church callings.  Even when it feels as though my prayers are going unheard and unanswered, I continue to pray in faith.  I have been taught, and at some point have felt, that Heavenly Father is listening and that He answers prayers.  I choose to have a happy heart and to remember that the Lord’s hand is in the details of my life.

Through all of these things, I have felt Heavenly Father bless me and I have felt the Atonement be an active power in my life.  The Atonement works because Jesus Christ suffered not only for my sins, but also for every pain and heartache I would feel.  Because of this, my Savior knows exactly how to succor me and lift me up. 

I know that we are here on earth to prove ourselves worthy to return to live with Heavenly Father.  Part of proving ourselves means that we will be challenged.  As we keep the gospel in the forefront of our lives at all times, it becomes the foundation of our lives and gives us strength and power.

Consistently being true to the gospel – through happy times and through hard times – I am converted unto the Lord.

It was a very sweet experience putting into words the things that I have felt this year, and while I am excited to move forward in 2014, I am so grateful for how I have grown.

A brief look back at the year:

January 2013 - 

Karin bought an iPad mini!  It's been an awesome purchase.

Karin (finally) diagnosed with PCOS after 9 months of trying to conceive.

We moved from our first apartment in Walnut Creek to our current apartment that we totally adore.  (Some of you sent Christmas cards to our old address - ask me to get our new one.  I don't want to put it on the internet.)

Ben baptized one of our friends!

February 2013 - 

Karin had surgery to remove some large cysts.

Ben traveled to New York City for work training and got to explore lots of exciting restaurants while in the city.

March 2013 - 

Ben turned 26!  And we had a blast throwing a party to celebrate with our ward friends!

April 2013 - 

I can't think of anything besides just working . . Ben for Ernst & Young and Karin at Chateau at Poet's Corner.

May 2013 - 

We vacationed with Ben's family in Destin, Florida!

We hiked Land's End in foggy, foggy San Francisco after breakfasting at our favorite Dottie's True Blue Cafe.

June 2013 - 

We vacationed in Seattle and the San Juan Islands in Washington with Karin's family!

We celebrated our THREE YEAR wedding anniversary by dining at the restaurant where we had our pre-wedding family dinner.

Karin's little sister turned 8 and we went to Merced for her baptism.

July 2013 - 

Ben competed in his first triathlon - a little "Tri For Fun!"

We were put in charge of our ward's Pioneer Day Celebration (and we're glad that's over).

Karin turned 24!

August 2013 - 

We found out that we had conceived after our first round of fertility medications!

Ben accomplished his New Year's Resolution of gaining "Yelp Elite" status!

Ben bought a new road bike!

Ben's parents came out to California to visit us for a whole week around Labor Day!

Karin quit her job on the last day of August!

September 2013 - 

At 7 weeks, we found out that my pregnancy was ectopic and that we had miscarried.  :(

Ben competed in the Pacific Grove Olympic Distance Triathlon and got 12th in his age group!  Karin loved cheering and Mom came over from Merced to help cheer Ben on!

Once back on her feet, Karin spent her job-less time crafting and flower arranging and baking.

We enjoyed our first "Yelp Elite" perk - free tickets to CalShakes!

Karin's parents came up to the Bay Area to take us to the San Francisco Symphony!

Karin took advantage of not working and spent two days babysitting her sibling in Merced.

October 2013 - 

Karin signed up for ballet classes at the local ballet studio - it is nice to have that love back in life.

We visited our friends, the Dorffs, who now live only an hour away!

Karin got a new job!  She now works with seniors and mentally delayed adults at Rehabilitation Services of Northern California.

We spent a weekend in Merced - the girls getting pedicures and the boys cycling.

November 2013 - 

Ben traveled to upstate New York for a week of work training.

Karin spent a whole week in Merced babysitting her siblings. (Unfortunately those were different weeks.)

We spent Thanksgiving week in Utah with Ben's parents and sister's family.

Karin had a Hysterosalpingogram - sounds fun, eh?

December 2013 - 

We accomplished our New Year's Resolution for temple attendance!

Ben ran the Walnut Creek Half Marathon!

We spent Christmas with Karin's family in Merced and at the beach house in Cambria.

walnut creek half marathon

A few Saturdays ago, Ben ran his first half-marathon!  13.1 miles!  His IT band has been bothering him enough to be seeing a doctor for it, so he wasn't sure he'd be able to run.  But he did, and he didn't have any pain!  He ran so great!  He ran the half-marathon in 1:40:03.  Boom baby!!

christmas decor

I made this wreath, and once I added the big red bow I've been totally pleased with how it turned out!  The ribbons are a light tan with green, sparkly Christmas trees on them.

I made this last year and I still think it's pretty great.

These are from Michael's and I think they're adorable.

I put Christmas-y prints in most of the frames of our gallery wall.  Thank you, Pinterest.

This is the cutest little Nativity.  It's from Kneader's, of all places!

Ben's sister Kristi made us these stockings and Ben's sister Ashley made us the advent calendar.  Both totally impressive and totally key to our Christmas decor!

I love our little tree this year!

Target strikes again.

And, again.

thanksgiving

So, we just had the best Thanksgiving ever!  We took the quick little flight from Oakland right into the Provo airport - talk about hilariously little and cute and totally convenient!  One of the things we were most excited about about being in Utah (besides the family, of course) was the food, and within 30 minutes of landing, we had J-Dawg's in our mouths.   Ben's sister, Ashley, hosted Ben & I and Randy & Sandra for the week - it was so fun!  

Monday evening before Ben's parents arrived, we went out with the Pattersons.  Professor Patterson was my study abroad director in Paris and we have missed seeing them for our monthly Sunday dinners.  It was so kind of them to drive all the way down to Provo, pick us up, and take us out to dinner!  I can't believe that Kate was just a little 13-year-old babe when we were on study abroad and now she's a freshmen at BYU!

Ben and Ashley's husband, Jon, spent the Tuesday skiing at Alta and they had a blast!  Ben took a ski class our last semester at BYU and it was so fun for him to be back on the slopes!  And of course, while the boys skied, the girls shopped!

On Tuesday evening, Ben & I got together with 2 couples that we are good friends with and just chatted and laughed all night.  Then we hit up the BYU Creamery with minutes to spare before they closed.  We needed our Graham Canyon fix!

Wednesday morning we all had breakfast at Kneader's - I think Ben was looking forward to this the most - and it did not disappoint!  It was also really fun to look at all of their Christmas decor and Randy purchased our first Nativity set for us there!

After breakfast, Ben & I made a quick trip to the hospital in Provo because I needed to have a procedure done on a certain day, which happened to fall during Thanksgiving week, of course, and luckily they could do it for me while we were in Utah.  I was so grateful!  Doesn't this room just scream "Happy Thanksgiving!"?  Haha.

Wednesday afternoon we all went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point and Ashley's two kids had a lot of fun.  Ben, Randy, & I had an epic game of Jenga, as well!

On Thanksgiving morning I woke up with the flu - that is just such a typical day for people to get sick!  I know multiple people who were sick that day, too - all the traveling, I guess.  But anyway, I hear that everybody had a really nice day and that the feasting was most excellent.

Friday morning, we made a big trip to the BYU Bookstore and did some major damage (thanks, Randy!).  It was awesome to be on campus again - it really felt like we had never left.  We lunched and ice creamed at the Creamery afterwards, and all left feeling majorly full.

On Friday evening we went to see "Frozen" and it was so fun!  I totally recommend it.  Two thumbs up.

Saturday morning was time for Christmas cookie decorating, and then we hopped back on the quick Provo-Oakland flight.

The week went by really quickly, but we had a lot of fun!  Thanks to Ashley & Jon for hosting us and to Randy & Sandra for coming all the way from Indiana!  We sure love you guys!