One year older and wiser too...

Today's blog might be a long one but one I would like to share. It has been a whole year as of today that Venita and I left for America from that vast distant land of Russia and what a year it has been. Missions are often referred to as the “best 2 years”, but that should only be true until you return home. The following 2 years should be even better, and as life changes and progresses, so should your “best 2 years”. This year has definitely been the best of my life so far as I have been able to grow with Venita and have had the wonderful opportunity of taking my best friend as my wife. She is my sweetheart, my love, my life, and there is no one I'd rather spend this past year with and no one I'd rather spend eternity with. I never knew that someone could actually make me feel complete, but she is the one that completes me and gives me reason for living. I love Venita with all my heart!
Some people however, look at our love and judge us simply because we met in Russia. I wish these people would be accepting of us and be happy for us and our love. It's something I'm sure we'll face all of our lives in the Mormon culture since we met on the mission rather than at a BYU singles ward. It's too bad that people jump to conclusions and are quick to judge without knowing us or our relationship. In my opinion, the mission was a perfect place for Venita and I to meet and we both know that we were placed in such circumstances and later blessed because of our obedience to laws set before us. Venita and I are very proud of our history and proud of the knowledge that we maintained an appropriate friendship while missionaries and the Lord blessed us because of our obedience. Getting to know Venita while on the mission taught me a lot about her and let me see certain qualities that are very important in a relationship. Because we developed a strictly formal friendship first, we have a relationship based on our common interests, values, and goals. I developed great respect and admiration for Venita because of her integrity, personality and spirituality which provides for a strong, deep foundation for our marriage.
I love Venita with all my heart and can't imagine life without her. She is my everything. Despite what others might say about us, it is comforting to look back this past year and a half and see the Lord's hand as He guided us, blessed us, and answered many prayers. I know that Venita was meant for me, and I for her and I am truly grateful to the Lord for providing what I believe the only way for us to be where we are today. I love you Venita! Thanks for the past year and I look forward to endless others with you in the future!
I realize this might be a little cliché but this is just for you V!!
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night
Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

Merry Christmas everyone! May the birth of our Savior inspire all of us to be better Christians and serve and love those around us.

The Scrapbook

For our wedding we were given this amazing custom designed guest book from Lynnette.

She did such a great job making the pages look so professional for our friends and family to sign so that we will always remember who came to our open house and reception.
When we got all of our pictures back from the photographer, we wanted to put them in a scrapbook.

So instead of making a separate book, I decided to just add to the guest book because there seemed to be plenty of space remaining in the book.

After working on the book for the last 2-3 months, I think I am finally finished.

I was surprised that I finished so soon but I think that is all thanks to the Jazz games that come on 2-3 times a week and because I told myself I couldn’t start any other projects until I finished the scrapbook.

I know Jeph was happy to finally see the coffee table and living room floor again!

But I just thought I would share some of our favorites with everyone.

Unfortunately, the binder has grown too small for our cute little guest/scrapbook it won't even close all the way.


But we still love it!

Tagged...

5 Things I was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. Attending 9th grade!
2. Girls Basketball Manager with Kate Badger.
3. Eating Nibisco treats for lunch everyday. (Thanks Kate!)
4. Tagging along with Lynnette, Melanie, and all of their high school friends ( I thought I was so cool, being in Jr. High and hanging out with all the cool High School kids! Thanks Net & Mel for such good times! Sure love ya!)
5. Getting ready for the big high school days ahead.

5 Things I was Doing 5 Years Ago
1. Living with Melanie in Burley (Yeah for the summer Mel and Tom hooked up!)
2. Going back to BYU-I for my Sophmore year.
3. Living with my some of my best friends of all time: Melanie, Brittany, Talia, Emily, Ainsley and Shalie just a few doors down-what a good life!
4. Writing missionaries.
5. Living in SLC until going on the Chicago Urban Studies Tour for the summer!!

5 Things I was doing 1 Year Ago
1. Living in Izhevsk, Russia (my favorite Russian city!)
2. Going on my 6th out of 7 months of serving with Sister Ulia Lufa (my favorite Russian!)
3. Befriending and teaching Tanya, Ulia, Inna, Glasha, Nastya, Natasha, and all of the other awesome girls that I love so much!!!
4. Teaching English classes, service at the hospital, starting a young womens program, and the other usual missionary activities.
5. Counting down the days until I'd be home for Christmas!!!

5 Snacks I really enjoy
1. Chocolate!!!!
2. Apples
3. String Cheese
4. Fruit Snacks
5. Wheat Thins

5 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Went for a walk.
2. Went to the Simmons' Thanksgiving dinner.
3. Karaoke with the fam.
4. Went Christmas/Birthday Shopping.
5. Watched the Jazz game! Go Jazz!!!

5 Jobs I’ve Had
1. DCFS-Permanency Worker
2. Working with Adults with Disabilities (3 different times)
3. Server at The Teton Grille, Applebees, and University Catering at BYU-I
4. The Book Store and Office Supply of Rupert!!!
5. I worked at the famous Burger's etc. for a summer

5 Things I Would Do if I Had a Million Dollars
1. Buy a house
2. Pay off our cars
3. SAVE!!!
4. Take a trip back to Russia
5. Enjoy the thought of having money

5 T.V. Shows I Like
1. The Office
2. Design Star (HGTV)
3. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
4. What Not to Wear
5. The Simpsons

5 Things I Hate Doing
1. The Dishes
2. Making decisions
3. Taking Tests
4. Thinking of things I hate doing
5. ....

5 Biggest Joys of the Moment
1. We're going to go buy our Christmas Tree today!!!
2. Christmas Music
3. Christmas Lights
4. Being with Jeph anytime but especially for the Holidays!
5. Thanksgiving Dinner leftovers (I don't have to worry about making anything for a while)

5 People Tagged
1. Jeph Simmons
2. Kim Marchant
3. Justyn Mencl
4. Melanie Bowen
5. Johnny Simmons

Go Jazz!!!

It's been awhile since we've updated this but we sure have been busy. School, work, playing, there's plenty of all that in our lives to keep us going all the time. We just need to be better at putting it all up on here!

This past monday for FHE, Jeph had the idea to get two of his brothers and their girlfriends/fiances to join us and go to the Jazz game. It was a special family night deal they were having and each ticket stub could be redeemed for a free rubbery hot dog (Jeph's favorite). We had a great time together and the Jazz held their lead pretty much the whole game!

Wilson basement update

Ok, this is a little late but better late than never right? A few weeks ago we again headed up to Idaho for a weekend with the Wilson fmaily as it was Kami's farewell, but we also worked from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. to finish the next step in re-doing the basement. We spent all day painting the ceiling and walls, and fixing up whatever we could. Here are a few pictures of our progress so far. Our next project will be the floor.



While we were busy in the main room, Spencer and Brent were in the laundry room re-routing the piping and putting up drywall in preparation for the new washer and dryer.

so long, farewell...

Our little Kami is all growing up and saving the Philippines! Just thought we would let you all see the pictures of the MTC. We love and miss Kami already!

Charades!

I know I stole this from Mike, but I think it's worth posting it twice. And yes, that was me that finally guessed 'eruption'! It's really too bad the camera didn't work for her attempt at 'American Ninja' Thanks mom! ">

Venita and Jeph Simpson

Bello, Bello, Bello - Bration!!!

Here we are enjoying the circus with some friends.
We missed you Trent and Ulia!!!

Holy Mitt!!!

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to attend the local Rally for Romney. Under the direction of brother Mike as the "team leader", Venita and I were part of Team Simmons along with Mom and Mike's friend Mike Francis. We were very proud of ourselves and our success. The goal for each team was to raise $1,000 and we came amazingly close with $940! Mitt was proud as well!!
(Thanks for your contribution, Kami. You can be an honorary member of Team Simmons)

TEAM SIMMONS!!!!

Let's get on those phones!

Mitt came over while I was getting a contribution from brother Danny and returned the favor by congratulating him on his recent engagement!!

"Don't rock the boat, give him your vote!"

Carmel Apples!!

Every week we like to get together with my brother Mike and his girlfriend Kim for FHE. We have done all sorts of fun activities with them: BBQs, State Fair, movies, this weekend we are even going to the circus but tonight Mike had a genius idea! Just thought we'd share some photos from tonight's activity.

P.S. Notice Venita's new pretty hair, what a babe!

Thanks to Mike and Kim for always providing such a fun time

Our weekend at home

Hey ya'll- we had a great time this past weekend of going home to Rupert and while we relaxed and had fun, we were also hard at work. Venita woke up Saturday morning determined to help with some kind of project that day. Let me give you a quick disclaimer, we basically have two channels at our house, Disney and HGTV (home and garden televesion), and HGTV has inspired Venita to take on design as a sort of hobby. She's good at it- don't get me wrong but we don't have much to work with at our apartment here in SLC. Luckily there is plenty to help with up in Rupert though!!!

Venita decided that morning that she didn't like the faux wood panelling in the basement (this of course is my side of the story) and insisted on putting up drywall. She sent dad to the lumber yard while we worked at tearing down the existing wall.

Once he returned with the supplies, we started the whole fun process. Dad measured and cut the pieces, I secured the drywall, and Venita did a wonderful job of taping up the seams and covering the screws. Quite the team, huh?

After a few hours we got it all done and started making plans for our next visit. We'll need to choose a color of paint and layout for the room, but for now we're going to let Venita take care of all that. Here's a picture of our completed work for the day- we still have a ways to go!

More wedding photos

We decided to add some more photos so others can have access to them instead of just being able to look at them on here.

I have put up some better resolution photos on a different site that are available for download. You wont be able to preview the pictures there but you can preview them at the site above and then download them according to the file name. I hope this helps or at least makes sense!!

Happy Birthday Venita!!!!

'Nuff said

Let us officially welcome everyone to our "new" blog site. I know it's been up for awhile with pictures, but we want to add some commentary as well. Venita just loves to put the pictures up (and pretty good at it) and has taken it upon herself to leave the actual blogging to me. Lucky me!!
Anyway, let's consider this our official "blog start-up extravaganzapalooza"!!!

Come and relax now....

Here are some pictures of one of my favorite places on Earth. The Gorge in George, Washington. This is an ampitheatre built on the bank of the beautiful Columbia River in Eastern Washington state. Every year The Dave Matthews Band plays a weekend of concerts there. As you can tell, the venue is pretty much in the middle of no where which provides for a fun-filled weekend of camping with 20,000 or so DMB fans(freaks) and concerts in the evenings. This experience has become a tradition of mine with my brothers and my friends (one year with my mom even), and this my 4th year was even more enjoyable having the love of my life Venita by my side!
All in all it was a great weekend of good music, good food, good company, and good good times.

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