Review of the past year

Because, as my sisters can attest, I am not the best at returning or making phone calls (though I have made it a New Years Resolution to be better about that), I have decided that if anything, I can supplement my efforts to keep people updated on our lives with this blog. In addition, I am a terrible journal writer and I hope that this will be my substitute in that area as well.

In case any of you are wondering about the title of our blog, "teammates" is the motto of our marriage. We feel that it is very appropriate not only because of our clever little acronym, but also because we believe that in our marriage, we will do everything as a team. We stand as equal partners, striving to build each other up and grow together.

I figured that I would start our blog with our Christmas Letter that we struggled to send out in time for Christmas. Some received it, most didn't. So, here is our update of 2008. Enjoy!

Our Dear Family and Friends,

We are so excited about this, our first volume of the Arnett Family Christmas Letter! Though our life as old married folks has just begun, we have so much to report!

First and most importantly, our wedding was a hit! We were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Provo, Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints on November 1^st. The ceremony was short but very sweet and sacred to us. We had a beautiful reception with a ring ceremony presided by our wonderful fathers. Larry Arnett (fondly known as Papa-Bear by his newest daughter-in-law) shared a few words about the importance of being sealed in the Lord’s Temple and Joe Zuback (AKA daddy) honored us with thoughts on how to make our marriage last forever and the principle of becoming saints in our everyday lives. We even got to hear an amazing rendition of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” by Grandpa Arnett. What a treat that was! We couldn’t have been happier with how the whole day turned out.

Because we got married in the middle of the school year we, needless to say, had a bit of a hard time picking back up our academic responsibilities. Thankfully, we had Thanksgiving Break to look forward to a mere three weeks after the wedding. It was over that break that we were able to finally go on our honeymoon to Oahu, Hawaii. We spent four amazing, fun-filled days touring the island and embracing the warm weather. Snorkeling, parasailing, swimming, enjoying delicious meals, touring the Polynesian Cultural Center and Pearl Harbor, and eating tropical fruits from the local produce stands were just a few of the fun adventures we had while there. The highlight of our trip, though, ended up being something that we hadn’t even planned on doing. On our last day in Hawaii, we threw out every ounce of reservation we could possibly have and decided to jump out of an airplane and skydive. This was quite the adrenaline rush; the view was gorgeous and the adventure was thrilling. It was, to say the least, a great way to end our adventures in Hawaii.

The Fall Semester is now over and we have just one more semester to look forward to before we conclude our years of undergraduate studies. In April, Mary will graduate in Home and Family Living while Tom will graduate in Economics with a double minor in Psychology and Business Management. Unfortunately, we cannot report where we will be after graduation just yet. Tom is still applying for jobs and graduate schools so our future is yet to be decided but we have great faith that everything will work out in the end.

We are so grateful for the love and support that we have felt from all of you as we’ve embarked on this new adventure in our lives. We hope that you and your families are happy and well, especially in this holiday season.

With much love,

Tom & Mary Arnett