I am Grateful for my Marriage

We've all had them. Fantasies of living happily ever after with Prince Charming, or the beautiful princess. Disney rarely shows what happens after a couple walks hand in hand into the sunset - unless it's the terrible and very unrealistic sequel. I had heard that marriage was difficult. Especially that first year. As I stand here, nearly on the other side of that foreboding year, I am amazed at how far Chris and I have come these last nine months. It has definitely been hell, hard, trying, difficult, impossible, and oh, so incredible. 

I loved Chris before we got married. As corny as all those country love songs are, they are right. The love I felt that day in the temple cannot compare to what I feel now. Chris and I have held each other through tears, heartache, and pain. We’ve seen each other at our very lowest. Forgiveness has definitely been a big part of our marriage, and compromise is essential every single day. I have learned how selfish I can be, and how selfless Chris is.

As Thanksgiving passed, I thought about how much things have changed for me in the last year. How much I have changed. And as I look forward to Christmas, and the celebration of the birth of our Savior, I am struck by the miracles I am witnessing daily. Our purpose on this earth is to learn and grow – to become like our Father in heaven.  This life is a test. Quick analogy. I had to take the MAT to apply for graduate school. The purpose of the test was to see if I would be able to handle the rigors of graduate school. Supposedly, there is a direct correlation with how well you do on the test, and how well you will do in graduate school. Often, when times get hard in my classes, I think about that test and my score. I did surprisingly and amazingly well. Sometimes, remembering that is all I need to remember that I am good enough to be where I am now. In life, things are hard. Trials will and do come. But we survived our first test in the pre-mortal life. We are good enough to be here. And now we are proving to ourselves that we are good enough to live with Heavenly Father again.   

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be married to one of the best men I know. He isn’t perfect, but he’s exactly what I needed to help me become the person that I want to be. We are growing together, in more ways than one. 

Reminded

Over the last little while, life has been hard for me. I feel like I have just been waiting for graduate school to end, so then I can have time to breathe, or even to be able to cut my toe nails or pluck my eyebrows when I want to would be nice, not to mention being able to spend quality time with my husband more than a few hours during the work week. Life is hectic.

 I usually listen to an audio book while I drive, however last night I didn't have time to find another one to check out and download in time, so I popped in a mission CD and jammed along. It's amazing the memories that I have associated with each song, but the overall feelings was one of peace and comfort.

 Sometimes I forget how much I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes I forget how much Heavenly Father loves me. And sometimes, I forget that I'm happier when I am selfless. It is rare that I have a minute to myself that isn't full of a list of things to do, and I have resented that. I am not a perfect person, but today I was reminded of a simple truth - I'm not here to just coast through life and survive until I finish school, I am here to make a difference, small as it may be. I am grateful for the things I learned about my Savior on my mission. That has been the biggest blessing in my life. I have seen the healing power of the atonement and the sweet workings of the spirit too many times to deny the truth. I want to be better. Especially at putting the Savior and his work first in my life. Chris has always been great at reminding me of this, but sometimes I don't take it to heart. This morning, I finally took it to my heart, and hopefully it stays for awhile.

"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never all retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgement-seat: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on."

Our Home

For those of you who have never been to our house, it is seriously in the middle of no where - Blanding seems like a big city comparatively. We live behind Whitehorse High School in the teacher housing. Our apartment is part of what would probably be called a duplex. It's one story, and we have a storage room that separates the one wall that is shared. Our apartment is  2 bedroom and 1 bathroom. It is nice and comfortable, and the people that are our neighbors are amazing! We have found a lot of really good friends there.

Many people have commented on how much our place has changed since Chris and I got married and I moved in with all my stuff. Hopefully, it has been for the better! Don't misunderstand, Chris did an amazing job with what he had. He is very simplistic and neat. He's a little sad that we have more furniture and now it won't fit in a small trailer anymore, but I suppose that's what happens when you get married and have a wife, right? Poor guy... I do have gypsy tendencies as well, however, I can't pass up a good deal when I see one. Our entire front room - minus the TV cost less than $250 to furnish. That's my claim to fame.

So, without further adieu, here are before and after pictures of our home (minus pictures of our second bedroom, for now).

Our front room. This is what you see as you walk in the door. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Our kitchen. After walking in, you turn immediately to your left, and you see this.     

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

Our bedroom. In Chris's defense, I am pretty sure these were taken as he was still moving in.  

BEFORE

AFTER:
Tinfoil does NOT indicate we are druggies. There is a light pole that could double as the sun right outside those windows. We do use cold and flu over-the-counter drugs, however, so that druggie comment wasn't completely accurate.

This is the one bathroom. unfortunately, there was no before picture. 

Anniversary

One year ago today, my life changed forever, and I didn't even know it.

I had accepted a job and moved back to Blanding, knowing that it was the wasteland of dating, and that I would probably be a spinster the rest of my life. I loved my job, I had started graduate school, and I was serving as Relief Society President in the YSA branch (which was a lot like being a missionary!). I was not expecting anything else out of life. My friend Jillian had mentioned she knew a guy that she wanted me to date, but that had been a month earlier, and if I have a quarter for how many people told me that....

Wednesday night,  after institute, as I was walking out of the room, some weird guy stops me and says that his friend Brooke (AKA Jillian) had kept bugging him, telling him that he needed to talk to me. So, awesome, this guy was talking to me. He even asked for my number, and said he'd call me "sometime". I'm probably too realistic, but in my mind I was thinking, Yeah right. I was 26. I'd been around the block. I knew guys were stupid. So I went on my merry way. A few days later, we are talking on the phone late into the night, and a week after he got my number, we were on our first date. The first few times we hung out, I still didn't think anything would happen. I'd been on dates with guys before. It was better to not get my hopes up. A few weeks later, after Chris's school had the carbon monoxide leak, I knew I was hooked. I was so worried about him that entire day, that I couldn't function, not until I could see him and make sure he was okay.  I was in trouble. Every other time, with every other guy, I ended up with a broken heart. I wasn't sure that I wanted to risk that again. I was happy being single, seriously. I had my stuff together. Then this guy comes along and had turned everything upside down. It was a little unnerving.

Honestly, a year ago today I didn't even give that weird guy that had asked for my number another thought. In my journal, I gave him a sentence. And said just that, "Some guy asked for my number - probably because Jillian kept bothering him." I didn't expect love, marriage, or a best friend to come out of any of it. I am so very grateful that he talked to me that night. I'm grateful for the opportunity Heavenly Father gave us to meet. I know we both walked a long, hard road to find each other. Considering things that we had been through, it's a miracle that we have each other. Everyday, when I wake up next to him, I am overcome with gratitude for this man that blesses my life every single day. He is the love of my life. One year ago today, I had no idea.

Happy Six Months

Today Chris and I have been married for six months! Sometimes I am amazed that time has gone by so quickly, and most of the time I am baffled that it has only been six months. We have had a lot of adventures, arguments, dirty dishes, loads of laundry, and fun. I am so grateful for my sweet husband and the sacrifices he makes for me. Marriage is NOT easy. But being married to my best friend is. I hope we have countless months left together in this life, even if that means I have to do a million batches of laundry!

Our adventure is continuing, as yesterday, I was sustained and set apart as the Young Women President for our branch. With it has come the weight of a calling like I have never felt before. The most coincidental part of it is that I was called into my branch president's office on the one year anniversary of the day I was asked to be the Relief Society President. There isn't a lot of people that can say they've been Relief Society President and Young Women President in one year... I'm still trying to find my feet enough to even know where to begin. Life has been so hectic already with work, school, and life. Things will work out, however. That is one thing I know about the gospel, and about our loving Heavenly Father. Things always work out the way they are supposed to.  Chris is currently serving as the First Counselor in the Young Men, and so we will continue to get to work together on many things (I was one of the counselors in the YW, which I was A LOT more comfortable with!) This just means we will be more grounded on the weekends.

This week we are celebrating the marriage of my younger sister, Megan. She is receiving her endowment on Friday, we are having a dinner reception on Saturday, and then they will be married  next Friday in Manti, with a reception in Spanish Fork the next evening. Hectic weekends are coming...

We hope you are all well and happy!

The Latest and Greatest

Well, in an effort to stay caught up with folks - other than Facebook and the wonderful Instagram - we decided that we wanted to have a family blog. Maybe it's giving in to peer pressure, or maybe it's a simple way to keep a "journal", or perhaps we just love hearing ourselves type so much, we wanted to share that with everyone. Whatever the reason, you're welcome.

Life has been so interesting since work started again! We are still living in Montezuma Creek, with Chris teaching at the elementary school, and I am still driving up to Blanding every day to work in the detention center.  Chris went back to work August 6 (he went back earlier because his school has the School Improvement Grant), and I started on August 11. Which was also my birthday. What a way to celebrate, right? It's been interesting adjusting to being the morning person I am not, and I'm afraid I never will be. Mostly, I feel like a zombie during the week. I also started my fourth semester of graduate school - (three more to go!) - so I am in class from 5:00 - 10:30 PM every Tuesday night, which only aggravates my "zombie condition".

In other news, we have become food storage gurus. Chris was sweet enough to let me get a chest freezer for my birthday present, and we have started to fill it up with freezer meals (to help with the stress throughout the week and this semester). We have also discovered the joys of canning. My parents graciously gave us their old steam canner, and have always been willing to answer the phone in moments of dire need. We are learning! So far we've successfully put up 12 jars of peaches - one broke - and 13 jars of tomatoes (whole and pureed). Thankfully, besides the one broken jar, we haven't had an unsuccessful experience. This week, we are also learning the words CASE LOT SALE.

With the new school year, there has also come the wave of new teachers to our complex of teacher housing. We have gone from two pre-teens and two babies, to over twenty children running around. It's been quite the change! And with U of U flags (this would be Chris's flag) and BYU license plate covers (much to Chris's chagrin), it's beginning to feel like happy valley, which is another really big change. It's been fun meeting all the new neighbors! Now that school is in full swing, it's harder to get together as often, but we still try. We've had a few game nights, barbecues, and movie nights. We have a hard life.

Well, that's it for now. I think I've decided that I will post pictures of our humble abode, since many of you will probably never make it all the way down for a visit.

Love,
Allie