Wedding Giving

Of course we want wedding gifts (and two links to our registries are on the right).  But we are more interested in wedding giving.  Education is the key to so many opportunities.  But far too many have limited access to education. Even the Book of Mormon describes this problem:

And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches. 3 Nephi 6:12

One of the great victories of the modern age is the wide availability of education.  The developing world hasn't reached that goal yet.  So in order to do our part to promote world education, we invite you to donate to the Perpetual Education Fund.  What is it?  Look here to find out.  In short, it provides scholarships to talented individuals worldwide.  And the fund is administered with exactly zero overhead.

Click this link: Donate to PEF to (surprise) donate to the PEF.  And we would like to know about your donations so we can express gratitude for your generosity.  You can decide if we will see the gift amount.

To notify us, click the box that says "Yes, this is an honor or memorial gift."  And don't kill us.  This is in honor, not in memory of us.  Notify Tony and Jeri Lin Brown.  If you received a wedding announcement, use the address printed on the back of the envelope.  If you need the address, contact us and we can provide it.

Thanks, so much!

Countdowns

For those of you who don't know...Tony and I, well...we really like countdowns. Like a lot. So, here are the countdowns as of today (November 17).

4 days until TONY is here in Arizona with ME!
9 days until the Turkey Bowl and eating ourselves silly and spending all day telling everyone what we're thankful for (and I assure you...we have a lot to be thankful for).
29 days until I'm done with my first semester of this lousy experience we call college and I'm on an airplane headed for Dallas and I never ever ever have to live with my roommate again.
38 days until CHRISTMAS although we might be a little delayed in all the celebrations because...
39 days until Whitney and Kemp fly in and I get to meet the rest of my most wonderful NEW family!
43 days until we ALL fly back to Arizona and my spectacular family gets to meet Tony's magnificent family.

AND...(and this is where things start to get real exciting!)

44 days until New Year's Eve which is the same day that I get to go to the TEMPLE for the very first time.

AND the most wonderful day of all...

46 days until Tony and I are sealed together for time and all eternity in the Mesa Arizona Temple!

Yep. It's true. We love countdowns.

Officially

Of course we had to take these cheesy pictures when we got engaged...officially.

Tony flew in on a Friday night. I picked him up at the airport. He was starving but he wanted to stop by the temple before we grabbed a bite to eat...hmmm...I wonder what he's got up his sleeve... He joked that I knew what it was coming, sothe only element of suprise he had was that he had picked out the ring so I didn't know what it looked like. He sat me down outside the Mesa temple, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him...officially. And then we went to dinner at On the Border. Tony was happy. :)

These pictures are on the couch in my parents' front room. No, we didn't take any pictures at the temple, but I think the pictures are appropriate since that's where we were sitting when he asked me to marry him unofficially.

My mom also took a few pictures before we went to church on Sunday. I miss having him here with me. Two more weeks...

Family Mission Statement

I have heard Steven R. Covey speak several times over the years about having a family mission statement.  Admittedly, I liked what he said but didn't do much about it.  Jeri Lin is reading a book and it suggested the mission statement.  Naturally, now something got done.

So we brainstormed for an hour and a half and talked about what we want to accomplish over the course of our marriage.  After rereading all our notes we found the ideas we like the most, arranged them into a logical order and came up with what I think is a fantastic family mission statement:

We will go to the temple often so we can maintain an eternal perspective and see the best in each other.  We will strive to always be in tune with the Spirit so we can creatively face any challenge.  We will spend time as a family and pursue a healthy, active lifestyle.  Thus, we will all arrive together next year in Zion.

It may seem odd to say that revelation can come from a brainstorming session, but I am convinced that some of our best inspiration will come in just that way.

Engagement Photos

Larry Reeves took our engagement photos last month while Tony was here in Arizona. We had loads of fun. Larry did a great job and captured some great moments. We are so excited to get married. Two months from today!! I think these pictures capture that excitement and show how twitterpated we really are. Life has been so good to us and we have the feeling that it's only going to get better...