Chinese, Temples, and Re-Mission-Iscing.

Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get around to this post, 

it has been a very busy week for us!

Last week we had our first Intramural games! Derrik and I are on a kickball team and a co-ed ultimate frisbee team with our friends Jackson, Todd, Lianna, Rachel, and a bunch of others! Derrik has played a lot of Intramural sports in the past. Because I am not a BYU student, and, until now, was not married to a BYU student I had never played. It is so much fun! We had a wonderful time, and we are very excited for the rest of the season!

I absolutely LOVE Chinese food, but have never really found good Chinese in Utah Valley. I was mentioning this to my friend Julie last week, and she told me that she has a really good little Chinese place she likes to go to for lunch. Of course, we HAD to try it, and so on Friday night we went there for dinner with our awesome friends Clark and Julie and their baby, our favorite ever, Tennyson. This is the address of the restaurant, which you REALLY want. 

 Trust me, this place is amazing. It looks a little sketchy when you first walk in, but it is delicious, and way more authentic than anything else I have found around here. I had their Char Siu Egg Foo Young and it was some of the best I have ever had.

Last Saturday evening was our first activity in our grown-up ward. We had a ward chili cook-off, which was delicious! I am extremely awkward in social gatherings so I mostly just ate. The name tags also made me VERY uncomfortable, because several times I caught myself staring at someone's chest or stomach while I tried to decipher their handwriting. Derrik luckily wrote ours, so they were very legible!

Derrik, however, was chatting away with the people at our table. It is so nice to be married to such a confident and outgoing man!  It is very different to be in a Married Student Ward. First off, unlike YSA, everyone is married (what a coincidence, right?). But also, there aren't really any children or toddlers! Anyone with kids old enough for Primary attends a Family Ward instead, so it is just all young couples. Plus, probably 60-75% of them are either pregnant or have a baby, so we are not getting baby-hungry AT ALL.

Derrik and I have lately been almost obsessive in our appreciation for this TV show:

It is hilarious, and we love it. While we were engaged we started watching at Season One, and usually watch for an hour or so every night. Well, we knew eventually it would happen, and finally, last Saturday, it did. We are all caught up. We have now seen every episode ever aired of the Big Bang Theory. I don't know if any of you have ever been really into a show and had it end, but it feels like a really bad break-up. It is so sad! But, we can just watch the new episode every week on TV, so at least it is not OVER over. 

On Sunday we had the privilege of attending the re-dedication of the Ogden Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was absolutely incredible. We got to hear from many Priesthood and Auxiliary leaders, the choir was beautiful, the Dedicatory Prayer was so special. Truly, we were uplifted. If you aren't familiar with the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this video helps explain how they bless our lives.

Mormon Temples: The Blessings of the Temple

Several of the speakers addressed the importance of prioritizing temple attendance. Derrik and I have had a goal since early in our relationship to have a temple experience every week, and it has blessed our relationship and our lives. My service as a temple ordinance worker also greatly deepened my love of and understanding for the temple.  For those of you who are endowed and hold a recommend, I would encourage you to find a schedule of temple attendance that allows you to frequently attend. For those who do not have a current recommend or are not yet endowed, begin preparing now! Live worthily, and do all that you can to be ready when your time comes.

Monday was a very exciting day, as it marked the one month anniversary of our wedding! My sweet mom baked us a cake, and it was delicious. Being married is the best! I know we are still really new at this, and one month isn't much experience. But I am so very happy to be married to Derrik. He is my best friend, my sweetheart, and my rock. I love being his wife, and I can't wait to spend the rest of eternity doing it!

In other exciting news, I got a new job!!!! I teach piano lessons in the afternoons, but I have been looking for something extra to supplement our income. I finally found a job and I am SUPER excited about it. I am working as the administrative assistant to the executives of Doxtek. It is a really great job and we feel so blessed that I was able to find a job that will meet our financial needs and be a positive experience for me.

Our friends Clark and Julie let us babysit their baby yesterday! It was so much fun, and after they got home we all hung out for a couple of hours. Clark was one of Derrik's mission companions in Honduras, and so those two have been friends for years. His wife, Julie and I get along AMAZINGLY well. We have so many things in common, Clark has joked that we are the same person. And the best part is, their apartment is only about a block from ours, so we can just walk to each others' places. I really love spending time with them, it is so fun to have other married friends living so close!

Lately Derrik and I have been really big into what I like to call "re-mission-iscing". We basically just spend HOURS telling each other about our missions, looking through old journals and planners, and showing each other pictures of our areas and the people we loved. It is so wonderful to have that in common! Missions are the best. Because we both served Spanish-speaking missions among Hispanic people there are a lot of similarities in our mission experience that we have fun relating about. Sometimes I am surprised by how much I miss my mission, and it is comforting to know that Derrik feels the same way. We are so excited to go back to our missions, and to serve many together one day! 

-Shannon Earnshaw Jenkins

Shanur-day is a special day

Hey everybody! We have had an AWESOME week. Derrik has been working for the Parks and Recreation Department coaching Youth Cross Country, and I have been going to practice with him. It is wonderful because not only does it mean more Derrik time (my favorite!), but it is great exercise for me. 

We went to the temple after practice on Wednesday night, which was a lot of fun. We have been so busy, it was our first time back to the temple since our sealing. On Thursday night we got to "teen-sit" my little brother Grant! My parents were taking my sis up to Idaho to start school, and so we got to play Mom and Dad for the night. We had a great time! We took Grant to the Quarry and all went rock-climbing together.

And my most important news:

 I really like Derrik. I mean, a lot. And I enjoy spending time with him. So sometimes I don't like when we barely get to see each other all week. With school, work, coaching, and piano lessons, we are pretty busy. I decided that I need a day where Derrik just spends time with me.

Therefore, I instituted "Shan-urday". It is just like Saturday (in that it is the sixth day of the week), except that Derrik has to hang out with me the whole day. This Shan-urday, we celebrated by going hiking! Actually we started the day off by Derrik having a work meeting and doing HOURS of homework and work while I worked on Thank You notes from the wedding. Then, I finally dragged Derrik away and into the great outdoors.

We had a great time on our hike exploring the Slate Canyon area, and afterwards we went to the little shaved ice place by our casita and got shaved ice! Then, we had the adult session of our Stake Conference. It was the best stake conference we have ever attended! First off, we were married which just makes everything better. And second, we sat next to our friends Clark and Julie and got to play with their son, the CUTEST BABY IN THE WHOLE WORLD! Seriously this boy is adorable. We love him. He makes us want a baby very badly. 

After Stake Conference, we used a gift card that Derrik got for his birthday and went to my favorite restaurant, the Olive Garden! We got our favorite soup, salad, and bread sticks combo. After our first round of soups, our waiter came over, knelt next to our table, and gave us horrible news. The Olive Garden was out of all three soups, AND their salad! We asked for some more bread sticks while we waited, and then were informed they were ALSO OUT OF BREAD STICKS! Luckily, it was a less than ten minute wait for the food to be finished. 

We had Stake Conference this morning in the Marriott Center. It was a regional broadcast, and Carole M. Stevens, Elder Richard G. Scott, Wendy Nelson, and Elder Russell M. Nelson all spoke! It was absolutely fantastic, and I felt like I learned so much. Then, we went over to Clark and Julie's to eat lunch and hang out. We watched this movie:

It was really good! I liked it a lot, you should all see it. Also, any movie is better with a baby to snuggle. Then, we went over to my family's house for dessert and game night.

All in all, it was a pretty wonderful week.

-Shannon Earnshaw Jenkins

Shannon's Best Year Yet

This has been the craziest, most exciting, and happiest year of my life! Today seemed like the perfect day to start a blog, because one year ago today this happened: 

That's right, it has been one year since I left on my mission! I can't even believe it. I spent six weeks learning Spanish in the Mexico City MTC, and then headed off to San Fernando, California to serve. Here are some highlights:

My mission was absolutely amazing, and I loved every minute of it. But around Christmas time my health started to really deteriorate. I ended up accepting a medical release in early March and exactly six months ago today, this happened:

It took a while to adjust to coming home. I started working at the temple and got a calling to serve as a Sunbeam teacher. Within a couple of months I was doing well enough to move out of my parents' house. I began making friends with my roommates, got a job, and started to finally adjust to being a normal person again.

Then, on June 1st, I met my person. My rock-climbing partner, my adventure buddy, my best friend and my eternal companion. Derrik and I met at a bonfire, and four days later we went on our first date. He took me hiking in the Upper Falls area in Provo Canyon, and I was completely smitten. The next week we went on a hike with some of his friends, and at the end of the night he kissed me for the first time. Sixteen days after we met, we decided to start dating. The next week we went on a road trip adventure with one of our best friends.



By the end of the road trip, I was in love. I knew I wanted to marry him. On July 1st, one month from the day we met, Derrik took me hiking and rappelling at night in the same spot we hiked on our first date. After we landed our rappel, he pulled out a shoe box. He had bought me new climbing shoes! In one shoe was a bouquet of my favorite flowers and a sweet note. Then, he pulled out a ring box out of the other one, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.

In a moment of complete and utter eloquence, I did the only logical thing to do. I kissed him. Then I said, "Of course!". A minute later, aerial fireworks went off! It was the most adorable proposal.



We had a whirlwind engagement. We had seven weeks and three days from Derrik's proposal to our sealing. It was frantic, we drove my mother insane, almost eloped to Vegas once, but finally made it!



We were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on Friday, August 22nd. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was worth every single moment of stress.

We moved into an adorable little apartment, filled with Ikea furniture we built ourselves.



Okay, Ikea furniture that Derrik built.

We have done a lot of climbing.









We started school together.



We went salsa dancing, attended a BYU devotional with the first Presidency, started our big-kid ward, watched a LOT of the Big Bang Theory, ate some delicious chicken wings, and have had an absolute blast together.
And, we have now been married for nineteen days. Let me tell you, marriage is wonderful. If you haven't tried it, DO! And if yours isn't wonderful, FIX IT! I am so in love with this adorable man, and everything is better with him by my side.

This has been the most eventful, stressful, and joyful year of my life.
But, it definitely won't be for long! I am excited to see what adventures
 life takes us on together.

-Shannon Earnshaw Jenkins