My Birthday

Chris and I celebrated my birthday today since my birthday's on Sunday. I thought that was a smart idea. :)

We went dress shopping which was fun. I was in the mood for a new outfit so Chris willingly agreed to go shopping with me. I don't think he had as much fun as I did, but he was such a good sport about it. I got a pink dress with a denim jacket. It's really pretty. 

This evening, Chris, Cyrus, Beth, Hunter, Tosha, and I went to Pho 4 Stars (yes, it was literally called that) for dinner. It was a Vietnamese restaurant. I got a noodle and sprout soup. It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't too bad. The waiters were dressed as Disney characters. I can't remember what our waiter said he was. He was so funny. He had Chris sing "Happy Birthday" to me. He grabbed Chris's arms and waved them around as he sang to me. Chris was like his puppet. It was so hilarious. I wished I got it on video. Thankfully, Beth taped it. I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. That was so worth it. :)

After dinner, we went to Laser Legend and played laser tag. I wasn't very good at it, but I had a blast. I got shot so many times. Cyrus and I had fun. We played laser tag quite a few times, but there were so many people there. It was every man for himself. While we were waiting for our turn into laser tag, we played air hockey, did a motorcycle game, and Dance to Dance Revolution. It was so fun. Cyrus is a better dancer than I am, but we still had a blast together. I was a ton better at air hockey than Dance to Dance Revolution, but it was still fun.

I only took one picture because I was too busy playing all the games. Both Chris and Cyrus sure keep me on my toes. ;)

My Biggest Regret

I have a huge regret that I will never forgive myself for. It's been eating at me ever since I got married. When Chris and I got married, it was a beautiful day at the temple and at our reception.

Throughout our reception, we just had music playing from my IPod in the background. Chris's brother, Jared, made a playlist of the songs I wanted and titled the playlist "Smoochy Poo." He's smart like that. :) Since the music was just playing in the background, Chris said he was going to randomly take me out on the gym floor and dance to our song. Since he told me he was going to do that, my first thought was, "Then, how am I going to dance with my dad?" I was going to dance with him to the song "Stealing Cinderella" by Chuck Wicks. I thought it'd be perfect for us. I just didn't know how I was going to do it since Chris was randomly going to take me out there.

When "Stealing Cinderella" came on, people were still congratulating me and talking to me. I heard it faintly through the conversations in the line and I completely spaced it. I felt so bad. I will never forgive myself for not dancing with my sweet daddy at my reception. Chris told me that my dad told him it was no big deal, but, deep down, I know he was really sad he didn't get to dance with me. This little mistake has been eating at me ever since.

Chris and I danced to the song, "When You Got a Good Thing" by Lady Antebellum. My best friend choreographed it. It was so fun, except halfway through the dance, my veil caught on Chris's cuff link. But, he fixed it, gave me a kiss, and we finished our dance. After that happened, I was so nervous about finishing it right. That little mistake, though, kind of defined our relationship in the dance. We are not a perfect couple and we both know that (if he was perfect, I wouldn't have married him). So that little mistake was perfect for us. I will never forget that.

I heard a new country song the other day called "Daddy, Dance with Me" by Krystal Keith (for all of you who are country fans, she's Toby Keith's daughter. I thought that was so cool!). It was about a father daughter dance at a wedding. It was a beautiful song, but it made my stomach churn because I knew I never danced with my dad. I've tried to move on with this little mistake, but it will eat at me for the rest of my life.

A New Member of our Military Family

Chris and I got meet Cyrus's mom yesterday. She was here for a week. It was so fun to meet her. She reminded me a lot of Cyrus. We had a lot of fun. Cyrus's mom made us a Spanish dish with rice, corn, chicken, and small vegetables. It was so good. Cyrus's mom was so grateful that we are friends with Cyrus.

We were going to do something with them after dinner, but Cyrus took his mom to the movies instead. I hope they had a good time together. 

Then, we went over to Hunter and Tosha's apartment. We watched "The Croods" with some other friends from work who I've never met before. I can't remember all of their names, but they were fun. Marco stopped by a little later. It was fun to see him too. 

Afterwards, Cyrus, Cyrus's mom, Chris, and I went roller skating. It was so fun. The power went out during it, but it came back on. Someone got hurt pretty bad, but the medics rushed in and took him to the hospital, thankfully. I hope everything was alright. I wore roller blades because I can't skate worth anything. :) My feet hurt afterwards, but it was fun. I wished I took pictures. Cyrus was so cute helping out his mom. I can tell that they are a close family. Cyrus and his mom looked like they had a good time. I hope they did. 

Later that evening, we went to Texas Road House. I wasn't really hungry so I got a salad. It was good (man, we were just everywhere last night!). :)

Cyrus's mom is really sweet. She thanked us for being Cyrus's friends and for watching out for him. I told her that Cyrus is so awesome. 

I'm so glad I got to meet Cyrus's mom. She is so fun. 

Kindness Begins with YOU!

Being kind is very important if we want to become more like Christ. That is one of the most Christlike attributes we can ever develop. Christ was kind to everyone. He was always helping and willing to help someone who was in need. He never spoke bad about anyone. He is the prime example of kindness.

When I was growing up, there was this group of girls who never liked me. They teased me and were just plain mean. I would try to be nice to them and say "hi," but that was about it. They just didn't like me for some strange reason.

During middle school and high school, my mom made a checklist for me. I took it with me every day. It had my class schedule, my locker number and combination, and my mom would hand write notes for each class on what assignments I needed to turn in that day or what I needed to ask my teacher about. When I was in sixth grade, I lost my checklist. I was freaking about because I didn't know where I was supposed to go, what period was going to be next, and where my locker was. So, I went to the office and stayed there the whole day. One of my good friends (she was one of my Primary teachers. We have been close ever since) was a secretary in the office and she let me stay with her. When I went home, I bawled my eyes out and told my mom what happened. She said she was sorry I had such a rough day. I didn't know what to think. For the longest time, I thought it was my fault since I thought I was the one who lost my checklist.

Two years later, two of the girls that were in that group were in my band class. We actually all played the flute. One day, I went to band, thinking it was just going to be a normal day. I saw one of the girls was just bawling her little eyes out. Since I thought she was a brat, my first thought was, "What the honk is wrong with you?" The other girl looked sad as well. They both came up to me and apologized for being so mean. I quickly forgave them and we became friends (not close friends, but friends nonetheless). I was grateful for that apology and that we made things right between us. Come to find out, those two girls stole my checklist in sixth grade to be funny. It wasn't funny to me. It was traumatizing.

I've learned that kindness will always begin with yourself. When I was younger, my mom would always say to me, "Kindness begins with Laney!" It reminded me that I need to make the effort to be kind to others, especially my family, and treat them like they're sons and daughters of God (which they are). Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us. He wants us to love the rest of His children and remember that we are all brothers and sisters. If we remember that, we will be able to treat everyone with kindness.

Here is a Mormon Message about being kind.

Odds are, someone will never like you for something you did or didn't do. Others will hold grudges against you. But, if we remember how important kindness is and show them kindness, they will back off or want to be as kind as we were to them. Now, they might not say it to your face, but deep down, they want to be kind too.