Exciting New Year

My last post on here was about a year and a half ago. That is . . . Sad? Unacceptable? But it's also changeable. I've resolved this year to post monthly updates, because I'm really bad about letting people know what's going on in our lives. I thought about backtracking and sharing everything that's happened between my last post and now. But that seemed a bit too daunting, and long-winded. So we're starting with now, because there's no better time to live than in the present.

To start, Ty got a new job a few months ago, and he absolutely loves it! I've yet to hear him complain about anything there. He likes the people, he likes the work, and he likes the drive (no freeway). He's really valued at this new company, and he's excited about his chance to grow with them. After seeing him go through a few not-so-great jobs, I'm really happy that he's found something he enjoys.

As for me, I'm still working at my publishing company. I've developed some really great relationships with authors, and one even made me promise I would be her editor if she does another book. I also have a secret to share with you. Shh. I'm publishing a children's book this year. It's going to be released in October. But I'm waiting to make the full announcement until I have the front cover to show off. (Which is going to be super cute. I'm absolutely in love with my illustrator's art.) So I'll share more about all that probably around April. (That seems like a ways away, but me being on the other end of it and knowing the processes that go into it, trust me, it's not.)

And now for some more exciting news. We're building (built) a house! It's in the final stages now, and we'll be closing on it really soon. And we are completely and absolutely ecstatic about it! I mean, really, isn't it pretty?

When we had this walk-through I actually wound up dancing around the kitchen because I was just so dang excited. The whole house is equally as gorgeous, but without furniture it doesn't look quite as good in the pictures.

Anyway, that's my update for now. We're looking forward to a fresh and exciting new year! And I promise that I will do much better about keeping you all updated.

A Crazy Year

Last time I posted we had just moved into our new house. We have lived here for a year now (we moved the beginning of June), and we still love this house.

A lot has happened this last year, but I didn't get around to post because I was so busy with school. We went to Alaska last summer for the Ellingson Family Reunion. We went to Disneyland with the Bradfords around Thanksgiving. And we've been to Las Vegas to visit the Haskells a couple times.

We have also done a lot of outside work. This spring we planted five berry bush starts (four raspberry and one blackberry) and three fruit trees (cherry, apple, and peach). Molly thought the trees were giant sticks to be pulled out of the ground and chewed on. The peach is fine; she didn't touch that one. But she chewed a few branches off the apple tree, and she ripped off the bark and chewed on the cherry tree. The apple tree will be okay, but we're not sure if the cherry tree is going to make it.

We have a garden now, too. We reworked the planter that runs along the back fence. We pulled out all the trees (they were attracting wasps) and bushes, with the exception of the maple tree in the middle. To the left of the maple we extended the stones out to make the planter wider and added soil for gardening. We are completely removing the planter to right of the maple, but that is still in progress. We want to add a small fountain in front of the tree and put a beehive near it next spring. I hope to post pictures when we have the project completed (and maybe sooner).

Another exciting thing that happened this year (really, just a month ago) is that I graduated! I'm going to try to update this blog more often now that I don't have homework to worry about. My last semester, I got an internship with a publishing company. It was a great experience! And they like me so much, they hired me! I actually started working part-time while I was still in school. After I graduated (actually during finals week) they hired me full-time. Now I have a career editing books to be published. I got my dream job right after graduating! How many people get to say that? I have been very blessed in my life, and I want you all to know that I recognize that.

Oh! Something else that happened this year is that Ty and I celebrated our two-year anniversary. Two years! Isn't that crazy? As an anniversary gift, we bought into the Disney Vacation Club. A lot of little details go into the DVC and Ty would love to tell you all about them. But I will put it simply: we are going to be going on a lot of Disney vacations.

I know I missed the details of a lot of what has happened this year, especially with our vacations. But know you have an idea of what our life has been like this past year. Life has been crazy and great. And we are loving it!

We're Moved!

Finally! After weeks of anxiety, stress, and a little bit of moodiness on my part, we finally got into our new house. The date was pushed back even further after my last post. We didn't close until the end of May, and we didn't move until the beginning of June. And it feels like things haven't really slowed down for us yet. We've been unpacking, getting settled, meeting people, and travelling. Yes, travelling. This last week Tyler went to San Francisco for a business trip where, as he has made sure I'm aware, he stayed in a very ghetto little apartment with his work team. Two of his team members who stayed in a neighboring apartment had to empty out a litter box and feed the cats that apparently lived there. It was part of the agreement for them staying there. Next time they're going to stay in a hotel. Without cats.

The same week Tyler was in San Francisco, I went back to Blanding to help my parents put in new flooring for their living room. But I beat the flooring there and we couldn't get started right away. So instead I painted the playroom for my mom. Half of it is an under water scene which rolls into waves and transforms into a beach a with palm tree. It's pretty exciting. 

We both really like our ward and have made some friends here. In fact, we even have callings already. Yep, not even here for a month and we have callings. I think it will be pretty fun for us though. We have been called as Webelos leaders. We Be Loyal Scouts. Neither of us really has any idea what we're doing, but it will be a good learning experience and we're both excited about it.

But back to the house.

Yes, that house. Aha! I told you I would post pictures. There she is, our two-story, four-bedroom, two-car garage, beautiful piece of work. And see? I even have a cute little bench to sit on under the trees. I think I'll move it to the backyard though.

Please don't mind the patches of dead grass. We've been having sprinkler trouble. And it's been ridiculously hot. No lie. It's suppose to still be 85 degrees outside at 11 o' clock tonight. Yeah. . .  But this is how the lawn use to look when we moved in.

Some of the grass patches came up to my knees. It took Tyler all evening to get both the front and backyard mowed. And it's amazing what a difference a little (or in our case a lot of) mowing can do.

I don't have any pictures of the inside yet because it's kind of a mess. Like I said, we've been busy, busy, busy! And this coming week we'll be headed back to Blanding for the 4th of July. But hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon so you can see why we absolutely fell in love with it. It's a great house, and we will be here for quite a while. By the way, aren't you jealous of our awesome fire pit in the backyard? Yeah, I thought so.

It's Been One Year!

Tyler and I have now been married for one year. (Actually, it was one year on Sunday the 28th, but I've been a bit of a slacker.) We celebrated on Saturday by going to Thai Mango, the restaurant where we had our first official date, and by going miniature golfing at Trafalga. In case any of you are wondering, I won. But it was mostly luck. I've never golfed that well in my life. Then we came home and pulled our wedding cake out of the fridge to thaw for that evening. We originally thought that we would only have a couple of bites, for tradition's sake. But surprisingly, even after a year in the freezer, the cake is still really good. The dye still turns our mouths completely blue though so it's really hard to snitch without getting caught.

This past year has been amazing. And a lot has happened in that year.

• We attended Tyler's family reunion up in Montanna
• We celebrated the 4th of July in Blanding with my family
• We watched Wicked live in Salt Lake
• We went to Texas for Thanksgiving
• Tyler graduated with his Bachelor's Degree
• We surprised my parents at Disney World right before Christmas
• We received a little addition to our family - Molly, a Corgi/Labrador mix
• We sold our condo
• And we are in the process of buying a house

Yes, we are moving. We have spent a wonderful year in our little condo in Springville. We have made lots of friends here and had great callings in our ward. Although, I think I'll miss teaching primary more than Tyler will miss teaching Elder's Quorum. We are in the process of buying a house up in Lehi. It's a beautiful two-story house with a big backyard for gardening and beekeeping, and for the dogs to run around in.

Most of the things that I mentioned we did this year I'll try to write separate posts about after we get moved. Right now I'm working on getting everything boxed up, which makes me wonder, where did all this junk come from? Time to pull out the DI boxes.

Tyler and I have spent a wonderful first year together. It's been full of excitement, doing things we've never done, and seeing places we've never seen. This coming year will be full of all new adventures. And I look forward to spending this next year, and the rest of eternity, with my wonderful husband.

Give Thanks

November. The month to give thanks.

I bought a Thanksgiving hand towel for my kitchen a few weeks ago. It's decorated with print leaves, a turkey, and a cute little saying. The other day when I was talking to my mom, I was trying to remember what the saying was. "Happy Thanksgiving" and "Gobble Gobble" both popped in my head and both would have fit well on the cloth. But when I looked at it an even better saying was printed on it: "Give Thanks."

I've seen lots of people on facebook sharing something that they're thankful for each day. While it may be good for them, I generally try to avoid doing "challenges" like that on facebook. But I do still like to think about all my blessings and what I am thankful for. So I decided to do something a little bit different. For family home evening last night, Tyler and I took three minutes to write down things that we are thankful for (and believe me, three minutes was not enough). After the three minutes were up, we shared what we had written and why. Then we put our lists together and hung it up on the fridge where we can look at it on a regular basis and think of more things we are thankful for. This week we are making a special effort to count our blessings.

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count Your Blessings
LDS Hymn #241

However you do it - posting on facebook, creating a family list, writing in your journal each night - it's always good to count your blessings and to give thanks for what you have. But what if we had a thankful heart all year round, not just at Thanksgiving? What difference would that make in our individual lives? How would we be changed? I think what we did for family home evening last night would be good to do a couple times each year. Our blessings are always increasing and giving thanks just once is not enough. We're going to try and make this a regular family home evening, although I'm not sure how often we'll do it. Remember to count your blessings, and give thanks.

On a side note, some of the things on Tyler's list made me laugh (a happy laugh, not a mean laugh). I absolutely love that man. And I will always be thankful that I have him.

Long Days of School

This is Tyler's last semester of school, and I am oh! so grateful for that. Right now he's working full time and taking 16 credits for school. It makes for very long days, for both of us. He doesn't usually get home until after dinner time. That leaves me at home with just the dog for company. And, just like the dog, I get terribly excited when he comes home. If I had a tail, it would be wagging like crazy.

Tyler's schedule isn't likable at all, but it is doable. Every day I'm amazed at what he can accomplish. He's a full time employee, a full time student, and a full time husband. Somehow, with his busy schedule, he's still able to give me some of my Ty time. I'm so thankful I'm married to such a hard working man. He's just incredible. And I don't think he ever really reads this blog, so I can say what I want about him. ;)

Right now the days are long. But the months will be short, and before we know it, Ty will be graduated.

Crazy Summer

I can't believe it's already August! The past couple of months have been so crazy and have just flown by. Tyler and I have had a lot to do the past few months. In the month of July alone, we've been from the southeastern corner of Utah for the 4th of July up to the northern part of Montana, only a few miles from the border, for a family reunion. Things have been crazy alright, but it's also been terribly fun.

Sadly enough, I forgot my camera when we went up to Montana for Tyler's family reunion. We got to make pottery with Uncle Andy, who is a master potter. He also gave us a lesson while he was making pottery about the Master Potter in the scriptures. It was incredible. He told about when we've been beat up, either my our own doing or someone else's, we need to let ourselves be put in the Potter's hands. For the Master Potter does not throw out any of the clay or pots, but molds them into what they need to be. Some take more time to be fixed. Some need to be trimmed and watered. But in the end, the Master Potter can make every pot beautiful, no matter how it looked before.

Andy made it look like throwing pots is no big deal, and that fixing a messed up pot is super easy. But don't be fooled! It takes a lot of work. And if you mess up the pot, unless Andy fixes it, you probably have to start over with a new piece of clay. But we loved it! In fact, we loved it so much that Tyler and I are going to start taking pottery classes. There's something satisfactory about drinking out of something that you made with your own hands.

We got to do so much up in Montana, and I really am sad that I didn't have my camera with me. But we're home now, and school starts on Friday for Tyler. We're back to reality after a wonderful summer. Autumn is here, but I can't wait for the adventures ahead that I get to have with Ty.