...this thanksgiving...

With Thanksgiving two weeks away we have SO much on our minds that we are thankful for! Just to name a few...

(Jason): I am thankful for my family, my education, my testimony, and my friends.

(Brittanie): I am thankful for my home, my family, my friends, my puppy (the one I dream about having, and also my big ol' puppy back at home), and the gospel.

We absolutely love this time of year. The holidays are the greatest, getting to spend quality time with family and friends, eating good food, and stopping to reflect on what's really important in this life.

We have been so blessed to be close to both of our parents, it can be challenging when trying to be at every event and dinner but overall we are extremely grateful for the love and support we have so close by. It has been so fun to grow closer to both families as we begin our own. You really don't realize how wonderful your parents are until you leave home. We owe so much to them for all have done and continue to do for us. We love you guys!!

We are really filled with so much gratitude for our family and the joy and love they bring in to our life together. We are especially grateful to be able to spend this family-oriented time of year celebrating the upcoming arrival of the newest addition to the Cooper family...

We are unbelievably excited to announce the arrival of Baby Cooper! Joining us Summer of 2014! Mostly we say "Summer" because they're due the end of June, and we're worried that the baby will decide to take their sweet time and not arrive until July, so "Summer" sounds a little better!

"The challenges ahead of me seem a lot easier now knowing my child is on the way. It motivates me to do and be better for them. I am so excited!" -Jason

"I am still in disbelief...but in a good way! It seriously makes me smile all day long hearing Jason repeatedly tell me how excited he is and how awesome it feels to know he is going to be a Dad. I am already so in love with the little family we are beginning!" -Brittanie

Surprise!!!

... prayer is so real ...

Do you ever have experiences that build your faith in God and the power that he holds? Well, Jason and I had an experience like that this week.

Sometime early Friday morning ( probably around 1 or 2 AM ) I was woken up by the strangest, scariest pain I have ever felt. It literally felt like my insides were twisting up in my stomach while being burnt at the same time. I had never felt anything like this before and it honestly scared me. I tried to calm myself down, thinking "This is going to go away any second, don't worry". I continued thinking that for about five minutes (which felt more like an hour to me ) as I gripped the side of the bed trying to focus on something other than the pain. I realized that the feeling wasn't going to go away anytime soon. I started to panic because it hurt so bad and was nothing I was familiar with, I was sure I was going to need to go to the hospital.

I shook Jason awake and told him "Hun, something is wrong." I explained to him what I was feeling. He popped up and started to rub my back and asked me what he could do for me. I told him nothing. He asked if we needed to go to the hospital. I told him we might need to. He leaned against the wall and pulled me back to lean against him and he just held me, reassuring me that he was there.

After a couple minutes I felt the pain slowly begin to subside and then completely disappear. I told Jason that I thought it had finally gone away, that it had started to fade and now I couldn't feel it anymore. After that I'm pretty sure I fell asleep in two seconds. 

The next morning as we got ready for the day Jason said "Well, last night was a pretty interesting experience!". "Was it?" I asked. "Yeah, when you had your stomach pain." he replied. "Why was it interesting?". "While I was holding you I said a prayer that your pain would go away and right after I finished is when you told me it was gone."

So cool. Not only did my Heavenly Father answer a prayer and help me when I was in need, but my husband knew that I needed him to pray and ask for help when I couldn't.

...new calling...

Wow. This year is just full of surprises!!  It really is turning out to be a pretty incredible year. As many of you may already know Jason and I have taught primary in our ward for over a year now. We have absolutely loved our calling. At the beginning of this year we started to teach the 6 and 7 year old's and we have had the best time. They are the sweetest little people and they have taught us so much more than we have taught them. We have fallen in love with those kids and have found an all new love for our gospel because of them.

Well. Two Saturday's ago Jason had a voice mail on his phone from a random number, so we listened to it. It went something like this...

" Hello, Brother Cooper, my name is Brother Mott calling from the BYU YSA 2nd Stake. Your stake president gave our stake president your name and we would like to meet with you and your wife. Please call me back when you get a chance"

So, of course, Jason called him back and set up an interview for the following Tuesday. We had no clue what we were meeting for but we were quite anxious over the next few days to find out what was going on. When the time came on Tuesday we headed off to the Wilkinson Center in Provo to meet with the stake presidency. They had us come in, sit down, and began to ask us all sorts of  'get to know you' questions. After about ten to fifteen minutes of talking ( still no clue why we are here ) they asked us to go in the hall and sit on the couch for a few minutes and fill out a paper with membership information. About five minutes later they called us back in.

"Now, Sister Cooper, we are going to ask you first, are you willing to support your husband in any calling the Lord has for him?"

Of course I said yes! I will always stand by my husband in anything he does.

"Alright then, now that we have the go ahead from your wife, the Lord would like to extend a calling to you to serve as 2nd counselor in the BYU YSA 21st ward bishopric, Brother Cooper. Do you accept this calling?"

Jason said Yes and I started crying! We were definitely not expecting this! It felt a little surreal, but exciting at the same time. Honestly, I have always seen Jason being called to a position like this, I did not see it happening this young, so I was caught off guard by that, but I wasn't surprised that the Lord would want him for this type of calling.

Jason had been feeling really nervous and overwhelmed all week after our interview. He felt that he had a lot more on his plate than he could handle. I was extremely excited and proud ( but at the same time sad to be leaving our amazing primary children ) so I tried to comfort him as much as I could all week. We then went to our first meeting with our new ward this past Sunday. It was AMAZING.

Jason and I were asked to share our testimonies in sacrament meeting. It was such a cool feeling. Both Jason and I felt peace and comfort. We knew this is where we are supposed to be. The ward was so awesome too. So many people shared their testimonies ( since it was fast and testimony meeting ) and it just helped us feel even better, knowing we were among some incredible people.

I am SO PROUD of you Jason!! You are going to be such a wonderful leader to these people and I know that they will come to love you and see you for the great person you are the way that I do. You were meant for this calling and I know you will fulfill it with all of your heart, might, and mind. You are a man among men my love. God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called. He will continue to qualify you and you will become an even better man than you already are. Thank you for the example you are to me. I love you so much!

... so many blessings...

Lately, Jason and I have been reminded over and over how incredibly blessed we really are. As I am sure you all already know we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we believe in a kind, just, and loving Heavenly Father. Honestly, it doesn't really matter what your faith is, if you believe in God or Karma, I think we can all agree that what you put out in to the universe is what you get back. You choose to have a negative attitude then you will most likely continue to have a negative attitude, even during good times. Choose to have a positive attitude and you will most likely continue to have a positive attitude, even during hard times.

Jason and I had the amazing opportunity to speak in church two Sundays ago. I was asked to pick a Christlike attribute to speak of. I chose Faith. Seriously you guys. Heavenly Father has a plan for us. He knows what he is doing.  In the beginning of writing my talk I hoped that I would be inspired to say something that would help even just one person and touch their heart. That person ended up being myself. All of the scriptures, talks, and articles I read in order to prepare for my talk were meant specifically for me. It literally had everything to do with the things I have been questioning and struggling with.

It's funny how you make one connection and suddenly so many things make sense and feel like they start to fall in to place. That's how life began to feel after that talk. I felt like I was beginning to understand and receive the answers I had been looking for. Literally two days after that talk I found out that Utah had passed a law that cut down the required cosmetology hours needed to get your license from 2000 hours to 1600 hours. It allows anyone who started school after January 1st to graduate sooner. Not only was that exciting news because I now don't have to be in school as long, but it was exciting because Jason and I have been trying to make some important decisions that were being made difficult because of the time I would end up graduating with the original hours. 

I felt overwhelming peace and joy when I heard the news. Things started to make sense. I also remembered back in October when I decided I was going to go to Paul Mitchell. I wanted so badly to just start in November so I could get going, but for some reason things kept getting in the way of me signing up. I was frustrated that I had to wait once I missed the enrollment deadline, but now I know why I did. If I would have started in November I would still need to complete my 2000 hours (which makes me feel so bad for the girls who started in the November class because I will actually graduate before them...ouch...but hey, there's a plan for them too!). 

I am so grateful for my husband. I am so grateful to be a wife. I am so grateful for my family and my friends. I am grateful for my schooling and for Jason's as well. I am grateful for Jason's job that supports us. We may not have many "things" but we definitely don't feel like we are missing out because it's made up for in happiness and blessings. I am so dang excited for this year. There is so much in store for us that I can't even begin to express how elated I am about all of it!! 

People, don't give up. Even when you're feeling discouraged, angry, lost, or hopeless, don't give up. Heavenly Father has a plan for you. You may not get what you want, when you want it, how you want it, etc. but that is because Heavenly Father has a better plan in store for you. It will be on His timing, but he will bless you none the less, and you will be so grateful He did. I know I am.