One Year

Exactly one year ago from today Elder Nielsen left his home of two years:

And the people he loved for two years:


And came back home to the people who missed him for two years!!!

Yup, today is Sammy's one year mark of coming home from the mission. The two years he was gone felt much longer than two years and the one year he has been home has flown by and felt much shorter!
I still love hearing some of Sam's mission stories. It truly is amazing to think of his lifestyle and all that he did while out in the Marshall Islands. I know that he misses the islands, the people, the people he served with, the food, and the language (he'll still ramble off in Marhsallese at any given moment and it all still sounds like jibberish to me). I am grateful that he dedicated two years of his life to serve a full-time mission and I am also grateful for the blessings that come to us because of his service!

YOKWE!
(that means bye, and hello, and love, and depending what else you're saying it can have other meanings as well -- what a confusing language)

Madase Isaac

I received a text message this week that made my day/week/month. This is how it read:

"Allison how is life?hope ur life is cool.from isaac coleman(deaf)"

Isaac is the boy on the left in this picture:

And furthest right in this picture:

And yes, he is deaf as he so kindly reminded me. I met Isaac the summer of 2008 when I worked as a volunteer for Signs of Hope International as a teacher to deaf students and interpreter for deaf college students in Mampong, Ghana. In a few months it will have been 2 years since I have seen my dear Ghanaian friends. Reading Isaac's text I was so happy to know the students still remembered me and thought of me. I'll never forget all I experienced in Ghana and all the people there who touched my life. I think of and pray for them often. Living in Ghana and interacting daily with the people there was really an amazing blessing.

Ah I miss it all! Madase (thank-you in Twi) Isaac for letting me know I'm still loved by my Ghanaian brothers and sisters!

P.S. We did celebrate Christmas, I will get to posting those events sometime in the near future...

2009 Was Fine

Actually, 2009 was Great. It was quite the eventful year for Sammy and I. Just take a look at our 2009 timeline...

January
Sam comes home from his mission and makes a trip up to Utah....we finally reunite after 2 years!

February
I make a weekend trip down to Arizona to spend Valentine's Day with my new boyfriend.

March
Another short trip down to Arizona so I could see Sammy/so we could party with the Suns.

April
After graduating from BYU, I was able to spend a little time at home before starting a semester at UVU.

May
Sammy paid me a visit in Utah and got down on his knee to pop the question!

June
We spent a fun week with the Nielsen's at Lake Powell and finally moved me back to AZ.

July
Wedding plans, wedding plans, wedding plans...

August
WEDDING! and honeymoon!

September
We moved up to Utah into our first apartment, Sam started school, and I started working.

October

We started settling into married life. With Sam at school all day and me at work all day, we enjoyed whatever we got to do together.

November

We spent Thanksgiving with our families in the warm Arizona weather!

December

Sam finished his first semester back to school, we continued to survive the cold weather, and were happy to spend our first married Christmas with our families in Arizona.

Can't wait to see what happens in 2010!