Easter Celebrations

This is the first Easter that I have spent away from family, besides my little family of Clark and our dogs.  I expected it to be lonely and uneventful.  Typically I would spend Easter going to church in the morning with my parents, often two services - my parents are both of different faiths so we like to attend both churches together, and then we would celebrate at home with chocolates, candies, and whatever other treats they happen to put in my Easter basket.  Finally, we would sit together over a big ham dinner and appreciate what we have.  

Last year was an especially special Easter for me.  Clark and I flew back to Colorado for the holiday, and planned out our day perfectly. We started in the morning going to church with my parents, and then left after to grab brunch with his entire family.  
Holidays are so much better when you have family to spend it with.  
We then met up with some of our best friends, and got ready for a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater.  Like I said, our perfect and extremely special Easter.

So anyways, back to this year...
We woke up to a decently sunny morning.  We had a relaxing weekend, and were planning to have a lazy day.. as if every one of our days isn't a lazy day.  We woke up around 11:30am so no, church did not happen this Sunday, and looking back I wish we had gone.  We then got ready for the day, and decided to take the dogs for a long walk.  Finally, we ventured out to the mall area and grabbed lunch.  We tried a new restaurant where we each of us got some delicious stir fry.  Next, shopping!  Definitely not Clark's favorite and yet he went with a smile on his face.  Unfortunately, most stores were closed so this trip was cut pretty short.  We then went home, watched a movie, and snuggled our dogs.  

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Although this is not my ideal or typical Easter, it did remind me of several things that I have to be thankful for. 
Clark and I got a delicious Easter basket from his parents, and a very love-filled card from my parents.  We both spent time talking to not only both of our families, but also some of our friends.  We have been blessed with the most amazing families individually, but now even more so since we have been embraced by one another's.  
We are going to great schools, living lives that we both could never have dreamed of, and creating futures for ourselves that will be incomparable. Speaking of futures.. we have so much to look forward to!  I graduate in May and am blessed enough to have so much of my family, friends, and Clark's family come out to celebrate with us.  We are going to Europe on what will be a once in a lifetime trip in August.  So why am I saying all of this?  It's not just to 'brag' about the good things in my life.  I feel truly blessed to have the life I do, and to get to spend it with the people here with me.  
Sunday night I went to bed so grateful for these things, and said my nightly prayer thankful for what God sacrificed to make all of this possible for us.  Right as I was about to turn my light off and go to sleep, Clark pulled out our Daily Word book and read to me the prayer of the day.  So there you have it.. two more things to be so thankful for.  The reason we have this Daily Word book is because of Clark's mom and his grandma.  Every night the two of them read their daily word, and they shared that with us when we visited Arizona.  The second thing I'm thankful for: Clark.  I was given a boy with a love for God.  A boy who wants to openly talk about our faith, and share it with one another.  He makes me feel so comfortable embracing my faith, and I will never fully be able to thank him for that. 

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