For the past 4 Thanksgivings I have written letters to my friends & family. I thought in the event that FB is someday shut down, I wanted to have it to read :) Below are my last 4 letters!
2012
Dear Family & Friends,
I'd like to start off by saying Happy Thanksgiving to you all :) I cannot believe the holiday season is already upon us. It seems like just yesterday I sat down to write my 2009 Turkey Day letter and 3 years have already flown by! For several days now I have anxiously awaited writing this letter. I have truly enjoyed writing my 3 previous letters and I hope this is a tradition I can maintain for years to come.
Last night Paul and I were reading in the Book of Mormon about how miracles still exhist on the earth today. I mentioned to him that I know that to be true because he married me! I have been thinking about what I said a lot today and I believe it to be true. Of all the men that have come in and out of my life (in one way or the other), Heavenly Father gave me Paul. With all of my insecurities and shortcomings, I am sure he could have done better... but I am so thankful every single day that he is my husband! I am thankful for not only the eternal marriage we have, but for our friendship. He is my very best friend and I love spending every moment with him that I possibly can. I could not have asked for a better man to spend my life with. We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in July and I can't wait to see what wonderful memories we will have together before our 3rd anniversary!!!!
I am so thankful for the home we share together! Virginia is not where we want to raise children and settle down, but we have still been blessed with a beautiful home :) It's such a safe haven from the outside world. We have been blessed with wonderful memories in our home and I look forward to many more memories while we are living there.
I am so very thankful for Paul and I's families! This past year I have had the chance to form an even better relationship with Paul's sisters and I'm so thankful for the relationships I have with each one of them. I am thankful for Skype and the chance it gives me to "see" my sister on a regular basis. I'm so thankful for both of our parents and the close relationships we have with them. I love spending time with everyone. I'm so excited for next summer when I can spend time with my 2 brothers.
I am thankful for our wonderful puppy Harley! He really is a joy in my life and I can't get enough of him. He makes me happy every single day. I know he is just a dog but in our family he's our kid. We love him and spoil him more then we probably should. I can't imagine a day without him!
I'm thankful for my health. This year has been emotional for me as I was diagnosed with and treated for Melanoma. There is nothing in the world that will bring everything to a sudden stop like cancer. I'm so thankful I picked a great doctor and I am hopeful when I go in for my 6 month apt, everything will look great! I have 2 spots I am watching, but until my dr tells me otherwise, I'm not stressing over the unknown. I am constantly reminded of those people who have not been as lucky as I have been. Melanoma is called the black cancer for a reason, it's dangerous and it can spread fast. Heavenly Father blessed me in such a critical time in my life!
Finally, I'm thankful for the wonderful person my mom has found to spend her life with! I look forward to getting to know Jay better as we prepare for their wedding next June and forming a relationship with his children! I love seeing how happy my mom is and I have a peace knowing she will have someone to grow old with!
In closing, I'm amazed and humbled by the life God has seen fit for me. I am looking forward to all the wonderful adventures the future has in store for me :) My hope for this next year is that our house will finally sell and we will be moving out West by this time next year! We shall see!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and an even better Christmas!
Liz Quillon
2012
Dear Family & Friends,
I'd like to start off by saying Happy Thanksgiving to you all :) I cannot believe the holiday season is already upon us. It seems like just yesterday I sat down to write my 2009 Turkey Day letter and 3 years have already flown by! For several days now I have anxiously awaited writing this letter. I have truly enjoyed writing my 3 previous letters and I hope this is a tradition I can maintain for years to come.
Last night Paul and I were reading in the Book of Mormon about how miracles still exhist on the earth today. I mentioned to him that I know that to be true because he married me! I have been thinking about what I said a lot today and I believe it to be true. Of all the men that have come in and out of my life (in one way or the other), Heavenly Father gave me Paul. With all of my insecurities and shortcomings, I am sure he could have done better... but I am so thankful every single day that he is my husband! I am thankful for not only the eternal marriage we have, but for our friendship. He is my very best friend and I love spending every moment with him that I possibly can. I could not have asked for a better man to spend my life with. We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in July and I can't wait to see what wonderful memories we will have together before our 3rd anniversary!!!!
I am so thankful for the home we share together! Virginia is not where we want to raise children and settle down, but we have still been blessed with a beautiful home :) It's such a safe haven from the outside world. We have been blessed with wonderful memories in our home and I look forward to many more memories while we are living there.
I am so very thankful for Paul and I's families! This past year I have had the chance to form an even better relationship with Paul's sisters and I'm so thankful for the relationships I have with each one of them. I am thankful for Skype and the chance it gives me to "see" my sister on a regular basis. I'm so thankful for both of our parents and the close relationships we have with them. I love spending time with everyone. I'm so excited for next summer when I can spend time with my 2 brothers.
I am thankful for our wonderful puppy Harley! He really is a joy in my life and I can't get enough of him. He makes me happy every single day. I know he is just a dog but in our family he's our kid. We love him and spoil him more then we probably should. I can't imagine a day without him!
I'm thankful for my health. This year has been emotional for me as I was diagnosed with and treated for Melanoma. There is nothing in the world that will bring everything to a sudden stop like cancer. I'm so thankful I picked a great doctor and I am hopeful when I go in for my 6 month apt, everything will look great! I have 2 spots I am watching, but until my dr tells me otherwise, I'm not stressing over the unknown. I am constantly reminded of those people who have not been as lucky as I have been. Melanoma is called the black cancer for a reason, it's dangerous and it can spread fast. Heavenly Father blessed me in such a critical time in my life!
Finally, I'm thankful for the wonderful person my mom has found to spend her life with! I look forward to getting to know Jay better as we prepare for their wedding next June and forming a relationship with his children! I love seeing how happy my mom is and I have a peace knowing she will have someone to grow old with!
In closing, I'm amazed and humbled by the life God has seen fit for me. I am looking forward to all the wonderful adventures the future has in store for me :) My hope for this next year is that our house will finally sell and we will be moving out West by this time next year! We shall see!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and an even better Christmas!
Liz Quillon
2011
Dear Family & Friends,
For the past several weeks I have been wondering what I would say this year in my annual Thanksgiving Day letter. 2011 has given me some wonderful memories. I remember telling my mom about a week ago that I was not in the Thanksgiving Day mood and that I wish I could skip it and move on to Christmas. Last night while lying in bed, my mind turned to all of the amazing things that I have to be thankful for this year.
I want to start by saying how truly and completely thankful I am for my wonderful husband. We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary on July 9th :) Words cannot express how amazing our 1st year was. It is hard for me to believe that not only have we been married for almost 17 months, but that the last 17 months have been spent with my very best friend and the most wonderful man I have ever met!!!!
I am thankful I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Paul and I have had the opportunity to read the Book of Mormon and the D&C together over the past year. When we set it as our goal to read the BOM together, I honestly did not have faith that we would actually finish it! I am so thankful for the blessings it has brought into our marriage and the wonderful spirit it has brought into our home. I feel so blessed that we have the Washington DC Temple so close to us. I am thankful we have the chance to attend the Temple as often as we do.
I am thankful for family. I was born into such a wonderful family. I feel so blessed to have the relationships with my siblings that I do. I am thankful for my wonderful parents who have always loved and supported me as I have grown into the person I am today. I am thankful for the family I married into. I love the relationships I am forming with my sisters-in-law and for the time I have had with them over the past couple weeks. I have the best mother & father-in-law ever!
I am beyond thankful for my little family. I think I have the best little dog in the entire world :). I am thankful the house we have made into our 1st home together. Although we have enjoyed our home in Virginia, we are hopeful that by this time next year we are able to call Wyoming home and begin establishing our roots there and begin raising our family where we feel we need to be!
I am truly thankful for the jobs that Paul and I have. The Lord has blessed us with employment we both enjoy. It is wonderful having a job you don't dread going to every day. Paul was given the opportunity to work for the County PD his past April and I was offered a job at an Assisted Living facility in town. How blessed are we! I cannot express how thankful I am that my sister-in-law's husband was able to find an amazing job in AZ after months and months of searching. It taught me that I needed to be extra thankful for the things I have been given.
Well, I could honestly go on and on and on but I'm sure everyone is tired of reading by now. I hope that everyone is safe this year as you travel. May God bless you with the things that you need and may you all be reminded of the things in your life that make it wonderful.
Happy Holidays!!!
Liz Quillon
2010
Dear Friends & Family.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am astonished that another year has come and gone since my 2009 Thanksgiving Day letter :) What a year it has been. It has been a whirlwind of changes, moves, meeting new people, making new friends, losing old friends, falling in love and beginning a new life.
My life has vastly changed in the past year. 12 months ago I was sitting on my couch in Rexburg, Idaho. I shared a tiny apartment with my sister and I was trying to rediscover who I was after a difficult year. I knew that with time, the puzzle pieces of my life would find their way back to their proper location and life would once again seen sunny and make sense. Little did I know when I wrote last year, the Lord had an amazing gift waiting for me. I just needed to be patient and still.... neither of which are my 2 best qualities!
On New Years Eve, Emily and I were in an Idaho Falls church building ringing in the new year with other single adults in our church. New Years was that finish line I had been running toward and it had finally arrived. At the stroke of 12, I hugged my sister and cried. Cried for all of the heartache I had felt, for the amazing people that had come into my life and for the life that God had given me at that particular moment. I felt as though a weight had been liften when I knew 2009 was over and a new, fresh year could begin.
Since that New Years Eve, the most amazing thing has happened!!! I have met, fallen in love with and married not only the most amazing man I have ever in my life met, but my very best friend. Our relationship was a whirwind experience. We met and were engaged in less then 2 months... and married a little more then 3 months after that. What an exciting time it was and continues to be. I am so proud to be Paul's wife. I could not have asked for a better man to love and accept me for who I am, where I have been and where I come from.
Paul and I had a small but beautiful wedding. There wer 10 people at the sealing and probably 70 people at our reception. We are so thankful for everyone who attended either of those events. It was beyond perfect!
This year I want to take the time to thank a few people.
Mom: You have been my rock and my foundation in so many ways for so long. Thank you for being there with an open door and open arms at so many times in my life. I cannot thank you enough for the difficult times you have endured while I lived with you. Thank you for accepting Paul so quickly into our home. You knew before I did that he was a special person "worth getting to know". Thank you for the beautiful wedding reception you gave us. It was perfect and we both loved it. Thank you for the being so calm while I thought I was going to have to get married in jeans :) You are such a wonderful woman. I admire and respect you in ways I will never be able to describe. Thank you for being you and for loving me!
Emily: Thank you for being a great sister. Being several years older then you has given me one advantage.... I have been able to watch you grow. I remember when mom was pregnant with you, when I use to help change your diapers, your sporting events, high school chior. I have loved watching you grow up. You often amaze me. I look at your life and I know that a wonderful man will come into your life who will make you the happiest you have EVER been. You will know that moment when it happens! I promise. Thank you for being my roomie for those months and for putting up with me. I hope you know that no matter what you become in life, I am so proud of you. Thank you for loving me!
Autum Mayberry: I will be forever thankful for the time you took away from your sweet husband to sit in your living room and talk to me. I don't think you will ever understand the impact that comversation had on me. I feel so unworthy of having friends as amazing as you at times. You saved me in many ways that night. Thank you for the kind words. Thank you for also calling me back shortly after I moved to Virginia. That conversation too was sooooo needed!
Marcie Belton: Thank you for coming to our sealing! I cannot express how thankful I was when I walked into our sealing room to see you sitting there next to my mom. I am so thankful for you. For the role you have played in my life. I will be forever thankful for your friendship. You have known me since my awkward years and are of the few that have watched me become who I am.
Johnnie & Lorraine Quillon: Thank you for accepting me into your home on such short notice! You have been so warm and I am so thankful for that! Thank you for raising such a wonderful son.
There are SOOOO many more people that I could thank. I am sorry if I have left you out.
I hope this letter finds everyone safe and happy! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and please be safe in your many travels!
Love,
Liz Quillon (Stone)
2009
Dear Family & Friends.
I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is actually here. I feel as though 2009 has just begun and yet I sit and reflect on the past year and am amazed at all that has transpired. I remember when I was in my early teen years, I would get frustrated with my parents and wish to myself that I was and "adult" who could make my own money, decisions and do what I want. Now that I find myself at the back end of my mid 20's, I find myself wishing I could be in my teens again!
2009 has brought many frustrations and sorrows into my life... but has also brought more blessings than I knew I was worthy of. As many of you know, I went through quite the life changing experience in February. Tim and I separated and in April we divorced after nearly 5 years of marriage. At first, I believed that I was witnessing my world come crumbling around me. I soon realized though that the Lord had opened a door for me and with the opening of that door came tremendous blessings and opportunities. In April, I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah so I could drive back to Missouri with Emily after her semester was finished. She was driving her Saturn and and we drove up the side of a steep mountain, I had an overwhelming feeling that the Lord was calling me out West. For those of you know really know me, I have vowed since I was a young girl that I would NEVER live in Utah/ Idaho. I was a midwestern girl who would stay in the midwest. We got home and for several weeks, I kept my feelings to myself. I have had "urges" to move in the past but wanted to make sure that this is really what the Lord wanted me to do. About 2 weeks before Fathers Day, I approached my mom with the idea that I should move and on Fathers Day, I told my sister that I would be coming to Idaho with her in September. I had no idea what a change this would bring into my life! On September 10th, Emily and I packed our cars and set off for Idaho. We moved into our apartment on September 12th. I wish I could say that the day I moved in, life became perfect and I have been full of bliss since. Although moving to Idaho has been exactly what I needed, I have had moment of sadness feeling as though I had left everything that meant anything to me back in Missouri and here I was in Rexburg, Idaho all alone. Over the past 2 months, I have realized that it took me leaving everything that I thought was important to me to find everything that really is important to me. In 2 months I have met the most amazing people. I was told when I left Missouri that angels would come into my life that would help me get through the difficulties that life would throw at me. The people that I have let into my life truly are angels. Do I miss home, Yes. More than I can express. I miss my parents! They have been been my rock and my foundation. They have been my support through the good times and the not so good times. I miss my brothers. I wish I could express to them how much I truly love them. I am so blessed to know that if I ever need them, they are here for me. They are my big brothers and I am grateful for them. I miss my 2 best Friends, Donald and Michelle and I want them to know how much I love them and am thankful for their friendships!!! Although I miss home, I know that Idaho is where I need to be. I feel that the Lord has a plan for me and that plan does not include being in Missouri. I am finding myself here. I am figuring out who I am after years of forgetting. I love rediscovering myself. I have hit a few bumps in the road out here and I am learning that just because I hit those bumps, I cannot let them slow me down.
Today, I reflect on the holiday that we will be celebrating tomorrow. I am very thankful for so many things!!! I am truly thankful for ALL of my family. You are my family and I love you. I am thankful for my wonderful friends. I am thankful for the people that have come in and out of my life. I am thankful for the good times that I have been blessed with and the bad times that have allowed me to grow. I am thankful for every girlfriend that has built me up and every boyfriend that has broken my heart. I am thankful for my cute apartment that I get to share with Emily. I am so thankful for the gospel and the gentle way that it teaches me on a daily basis. I am grateful for my ward. I love getting to know all of the guys and girls that I get to go to church with on Sunday. I am grateful for my amazing life and am looking forward to the events that are still to come!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you all travel safely and have a wonderful time with your families/ friends.
Love you all and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Liz Stone
