Leaving Utah...what a curse!

For the last 4 months Kyle and I have been living in Utah so I could finish my education and do my student teaching down there!  We found a great place to live, we had a pretty good ward, Kyle had a great job, and we lived very close to my older sissy Shawna and close to our sweet Patey family members.  We were loving it!  Everything was so smooth, until we decided it was time for us to leave and head off to the great north, Alaska.  

   One huge problems we had was Connie!  Who is Connie?  Connie is one of the kid's cars that we had purchased years ago.  The beautiful 1994 Crown Victoria.  We were desperate to sell her, because my dad said Kyle and I could have the cash and use it as some traveling money as we drive to Alaska.  HUGE BLESSING! But Heavenly Father was not going to give it to us that easily!  We got a lot of offers on the car, but never real promising ones that were dependable.  So we ended up take her to CarMax to try and sell her there.  Well, all we had was a title which said my dad sold the car to us, and we needed to have a bill of sale or Title saying we were the official owners.  This whole thing went down on a Saturday, when nothing was open.  Frustrating!

                                                                            Connie

   Another huge problem was, the saying, "we really don't have a lot of stuff!"  Everyone has a lot of stuff, and when you get married, you have a lot more stuff than when you were just packing for one!  I started two days before we planned to take off, granted, everything got finished, but it wouldn't have without a few mental/stress breakdowns and my sister Shawna and her roommate Lisa!  They were angels!!  We had so much stuff and packing was a nightmare!!!  I should have started the day I ended my student teaching!

                                                                           Stuff!!!

                                                          The two who saved my life!!!

   One other problem is our blasted apartment!!  I could scream at the management!  Okay, so, the shortest lease you can buy through our apartment complex is seven months.  We knew from the very beginning we were not going to be there that long, but figured because we were buying our contract from some friends of ours who were looking to leave the place, we'd be able to do the same.....WRONG!!  Apparently, they got in some huge trouble doing that in the short four months we lived there and they will not work on you anyway, at all to sell your contract!  Therefore Kyle and I for the next few months, will be paying for a place we wont be living in, but some one else probably will!!  You're welcome Farmgate Apartments!

    The last problem and probably the biggest of all was my husband!  No, he didn't say anything or do anything bad, in fact, he was doing what I had asked him to do when it all began!  

  Me: Kyle, will you take out the trash?

  Kyle: Sure.

  Me: Thank you, it's already sitting outside. (**Thought--Should I tell him there is glass in the bag?  No, he'll hear it and figure it out!)

  Kyle: ah!  Babe?

  Me: Yeah, what happened?  (**Thought--Did he just kind of scream?)  

I then go outside to see my husband crouched over our conversation continues...

 Me: What's wrong do you need something?...**I got closer and my eyes widen!

  Kyle: Yeah, I need the first aide kit, can you find it for me!

I was then speechless because he has this huge 5.5 inch gash in his leg that he's trying to hold together and he's hoping the butterfly band aide in our first aid kit will hold it together!  I then look at him, and said, "You need a Dr. and stitches"  The glass in the bag, that I felt to warn him about, had very much cut his leg!

  Thank goodness Shawna was there!  She ran and got her car, I ran and found the most similiar thing to a band aide we have: duct tape and paper towels (keep in mind we are moving!) and wrap him up, he hobbles to the car and off to the instacare we roll!  Kyle ended up getting two layers of stitches, 25 on the first and then 39 on the second.  Which left me with a husband who was in a lot of pain and was unable to lift heavy things...Like I had said, Shawna and Lisa were angels!!

  Even as challenging as it was for us to start our new adventure, we really do feel the way which we are going is the way we need to go, and we are definitely excited to start a new chapter and we feel extremely blessed that we have each other.  What would I do without my favorite person!?

Ahh!!

Nothing like graduating from college!!!

3 hours...no key...no phone...no neighbors!

Lately, I've really wanted to start working out again and getting into shape, which is so stinking hard to do!!!!  My mom and sisters and I have all decided this year we are going to do a 5K because I have come to the conclusion that working out to get healthy is not motivation enough!  Therefore, I decided to put a little of a competition to it!  And yesterday I said, today I'm going to start, we all need to start somewhere and I'm going to here!  So I went and drove 3 miles because that was my goal for the day to do 3 miles...go find it, come home, get ready and go!!  I get my iPod, and then my apartment key (living in the city freaks my out, I must lock my door!)  Well, I go, completely convinced I am going to give up like a million times, but I did, I went actually four miles, I went over what I had set to do!  I was really proud of myself, I know for a lot of folks that's not very far, but I felt accomplished.  I go to grab my key, because I was just dreaming about the bath I was going to come home and take, when I realize.....I DON'T HAVE MY KEY!!!!!!  I tell myself, don't worry my sister Shawna who happens to be my neighbor, her car is home, so I can just run over there and well, as fate would have it...she wasn't even home!!!   I know of many ward members who live in this apartment complex, but I have no idea which apartment anyone lives in...then...It dawns on me!!  There is a hid-a-key on the car...so I go in the carport and I am seriously rolling underneath the car looking for it!  It was awful, I only cried on the curb for like two minutes before I decided I needed to go and walk my jog and look for my apartment key...so I walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked....and cried a little bit when I got to where I know my key wouldn't be any further by this time it's like 8:30, I've freezing, and I realized I had no where to go....and then finally around nine Shawna was home!  her roommate Lisa opened the door and I about passed out I was so freakin' excited! and I breathlessly exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're home!!" hahaha  And then around 11:00 p.m. my prince charming came to my rescue as usual and unlocked my door!

   I know Heavenly Father intended me to learn something, maybe he's just reminding me of His amazing sense of humor!  Or that people work better in pairs!!

p.s. I spelled going wrong every time while typing this post!!

LOL

Today, was just one of those days that I have wanted to laugh out loud all day.  I love to laugh and I wish that while I was in my classroom I could laugh more, but I knew if I did some children would be offended! Here is a couple of examples

#1.  Today one of my students was raising their hand becuase they needed some help with the assignment they were working on.  If you knew this student, it would probably be a lot more funnier, but you'll just have to make do with what he said to me when I bent down to be eye level with him and answer his question...he said, "how come you can bend down and you're an adult?"  

LOL

#2.  Yesterday this dancing group from BYU came, they were called Kinnect, and they were teaching our class a small dance to a poem by Shel Silverstien, anyways!  They were asking their names and one of our little boys was so excited that they were there and they were about to learn a dance, and when they asked for his name he quickly responded, before they could even finish their question....FABIO F-A-B-I-O!!!  LOL

#3  The class was getting ready to leave for library.  This particular student is quite the trouble maker and most of the time he refuses to do his homework.  So, the class was lining up and he didn't one dang problem on his paper, so I made him stay until he finished the worksheet.  Which was seriously 5 questions and he answered them in about 2 minutes, but while I was bent over (and yes I can bend over even though I am an adult) and helping him with his assignment, he stopped and gave a stare, and if stares could kill, I'd be dead.  But he stared at me, and then he started blowing hard out of his nose and well let's just say, a look like and with breathing like that, I definitely wanted to 

LOL

#4.  the other day we were playing kickball with another class.  And well two boys who happen to be BFF's were in batting line one after another.  The first boy kicked the ball, and then the second boy kicked the ball.  Well after the second boy kicked the ball, the first boy was talking to the other student who was playing first base and didn't run as soon as the ball was kick causing the second kid to hesitate and he got out.  About two minutes later I see boy one running out into the middle of the field, I go over to see if he's okay and he starts crying saying, "I've ruined the whole game, we're going to love because of me!!!" then boy two comes running and says, "I don't know how many times I need to tell you that I'm sorry, I am so sorry that I love my temper!!" Boy 1 "No, I know I ruined it for you!  I am so sorry I ruined the game!!"...so the argument went on and all I wanted to do was 

LOL

#5. Last but not least, I have a story about my sweet sweet husband, who I love so so so so so so much!! This morning I was running around crazy trying to find things and get stuff put together for school...and so I asked him to pack my lunch, and of course because he's a great big sweetheart, he did.  Later, I go to lunch open my lunch box and see a hot pocket and a plum (like I said to put in there) and then there were two packages of gummy snacks, a ho ho, a bag of chocolate covered raisins, and then pop tarts.  The lunch of a champion.  When I went through my lunch pack, I really wanted to 

LOL

I love laughing and I am so grateful I am given reason to LOL everyday, I just wish I was able to really LOL instead of having to LOL in my head, but either way I don't mind!  I just love to laugh!!

Settled

        No, I'm not talking about my husband...He's exceptional!  But we have finally settled here in Herriman, UT!  Heard of it?  Kind of a random place to be, but right now we're happy!  After we got married we got to live the dream in Jackson Hole, WY.  Honestly not even a care in the world!  Then we moved to our lovely home in Rigby, ID!  The great and beautiful, South Fork Inn!  They gave us the handicapped room, they claimed it would be better.  LIARS.  I walked by the cleaning lady one day while she was cleaning a room, and it wasn't long before I realize, it was much larger than our room.  Oh well, we survived!  Quite the adventure actually!          
       Kyle has found some work (thank heavens) down in Payson, UT...it takes about an hour or so to get there.  So far, it's been great.  He loves working, and getting his hands dirty! He's been pulling some pretty long hours, therefore giving me plenty of time to get things done, but he's been happy! I have an amazing husband!
      I have started my student teaching here and I am in third grade!  The kids are fantastic and my cooperating teacher is amazing!  She has many strategies I wish I could implement in my own classroom.  It's been great!    
     We were able to attend our church services on Easter Sunday, and our Bishop was really on top of things, right after sacrament meeting he was right there inviting us into his office.  I feel completely out of place, because I don't really know how to relate to a person who has five children, a husband and soccer games every other night.  But I am sure Heavenly Father will bless me with the ability to relate to them and to get to know them.  Kyle and I are only here for a very short amount of time, and I have a feeling it will go very quickly!  Before we know it, we'll be feeding moose in our backyard in Alaska!  The great and forty ninth state!
     Today, marks three weeks Kyle and I have been married.  Since I was alone, I celebrated by calling my sister and ordering pizza! :)  Neato right?  I finally wrote all of my thank you cards, it is so hard to get the motivation to do that one!  Glad I got it done, Kyle and I have many people to thank for help us as we start our lives together and as we get on our own two feet!
     We're happy with the direction which things are going.  Whenever I prayed about getting married, or finding work, or things going smoothly for student teaching, in my own carnal mind I was extremely worried, but the spirit was always quick to relieve my heart of stress and worry and to remind me of the eternal perspective.  This life isn't the reward, it's the test and one day we'll all receive that state of complete happiness we're all busy searching for.

Ode to the Wise

There is a Mormon Message which I love, I was introduced to it years ago, and to this day I still listen to it often, it is called Advice from Elder Busche. Today, as I was sitting here cleaning out my inbox I found the link to it and decided to watch it again. At the very end of it he says,

"When you are compelled to give up something , or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now, but know also, that as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better!"

One year ago, I listen to that same message. One year ago I returned home from my mission. It was extremely difficult. Something which was very dear to me was withdrawn from me. I was no longer in the service of my Heavenly Father as a full time missionary. I was now obligated to turn my thoughts towards other things which were important to my eternal progression, such as school, marriage, work, etc. Things which I had not worried about for 18 months. I remember this because I wrote it on a note card and taped it to my mirror which sat in my room. I was not fully prepared to let that chapter end, and I wasn't willing to enter into the next chapter. But I did the very best I could, and I knew Heavenly Father would take care of the rest. Six weeks after I returned home from my mission, I met the a boy, who would eventually become my husband. Today, as I re-listened and reflected on the message from Elder Busche, I realize that statement was a full filled prophecy for me. I was compelled to give something great up, people who I loved and desired to spend all my time with were withdrawn from me, and then Heavenly Father did give me something better. He gave me my eternal companion. Being a wife has been an amazing experience. Not the easiest of transitions, but one that I wouldn't trade for anything. I cannot even begin to describe how my love for Kyle has grown, in only ten days. I feel so blessed, and am so grateful for the lessons which I have be taught by my Father in Heaven, and for the better things which I have received because of these lessons.

Only Six More Days...

Time really is a flying by! I cannot believe in six days I am getting hitched! Weather predicts it's going to be partly sunny with a high of 55, I hope they are a smidgen wrong and we can get up to sixty please!! Everything I believe is all ready! We've got the cake, flowers, dress, suits, wedding decorator, photographer, family, hotel, honeymoon, etc. But I still feel as if I am forgetting something! Hopefully I'm not, but only Friday will be able to tell. I've been really grateful for my momma and the big help that she's been. She's been on top of everything every step of the way. I really haven't had to worry about anything, which I really cannot say how nice it has been. School has been crazy and I've barely been keeping my head above water, I'm sure that Kyle feels the same way. We've been very grateful for everyone who has been so great, and we are so excited to start this next chapter of our life!