texas sheet cake

We've got some news to share! Today James and I were set apart for our new callings in our new ward. James was called as a Sunday School Instructor and I was called as the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency. So exciting! 

One of the counselors in the bishopric (a very good friend of ours) approached us at the Back-to-School Ward Party at the Game Center last Friday night. I was surprised for a minute and then got really REALLY happy, even though I was trying to keep my cool. Already in my head I was thinking about my new calling, the children and who the other sisters were in the presidency. And then I stopped, came back to reality and laughed at myself. Not because I was being a weirdo and trying to plan anything & everything connected to my calling BEFORE I was even set apart...but because of Heavenly Father AND because of my Boss , but more a good friend, Larie.

So around maybe Thanksgiving-ish, I told Heavenly Father, "Look I need a calling, and a GOOD one please!" Obviously I didn't say it that way, but basically I got straight to the point with HIM. And...HE gave it right back at me just as quickly. (My interpretation of HIS answer): "How am I suppose to give you a calling when your scriptures are collecting dust, your ward attendance is 'anykine', your new visiting teachee's don't know you exist, you can barely walk down the street to the temple"....basically a humble BLAST! Don't get me wrong, I didn't go inactive.....just lacking and being lazy. So then I tried to work on improvements here and there (still working on them), and then I realized why I wanted a calling: to become closer to my ward family. 

I'm not gonna lie, James and I never developed a relationship to our previous TVA ward. We tried when we first moved in as newlyweds, but I think it's because that ward was majority JUST newlywed couples, that everyone kinda kept to their own. Plus we were in a weird(dumb) ward boundary, where our bottom floor was in a total different ward from the top floor and FARRRRRRR away from the building where the rest of our ward members lived. So basically everyone got close out yonder except us, the L-building outcasts, lol. (At least we lived closer to the laundromat). I remember the stories my parents had experienced about being so close to their TVA neighbors, and how they had become some of their best friends after college graduation. Well, it didn't work out that way with James and I. But this new ward we're in, it just FEELS RIGHT...everyone talks to us as if we've known each other for years! I'm not hating on my other ward, I'm just glad change came when it did!

So anyways, I got a calling (AND A GOOD ONE TOO, haha)...and I've told Larie at work that I had been praying for one & sha-bam here it is! I met Crystal who was called as Primary President and she's awesome and gorgeous. We're both so excited to start! And our little girl's are almost a month apart  and both start with "M". But I'm also very happy for James too. I'm glad he got called to be a teacher (although I think the news is still sinking in, haha). He is one of those church members that KNOWS HIS STUFF gospel wise. He is very good at speaking, organizing his thoughts and getting to the point in a NON-boring way, haha. Totally NOT one of those people who share an experience and you're like, "Ok, how was that connected to the lesson?" or "Class ends in two minutes, why is this guy still talking!"....Don't act, we've all had those thoughts! So whoever ends in A-L, we have been blessed with a wonderful Sunday school teacher!!! And don't worry, I'll be there to give him THE EYE if times up :)

In celebration of our new callings and Mahie FINALLY knocking out for her overdue nap, I made some yummy Texas Sheet Cake. Recipe HERE!

However, Mahie preferred to eat bubbles instead, a tub full:

 So here's to new callings (and ALL callings), yummy texas sheet cake, and baby bubbles.

love ashlyn, james & mahie.