One Year Down, Eternity To Go!

This past Saturday, Tayler and I celebrated our first anniversary. It has been a wonderful first year together. And each day we spend together I grow more in love with him than before. Although marriage is not always perfect and there are struggling times, I am grateful for the journey. And the fact that it will last forever, even after death, makes it all the more worth it.

Many might judge me or question why I got married at age 19. They may think I was way too young, that it was just a divorce waiting to happen, or that I got pregnant out of wedlock, or whatever crazy story they wanted to come up with. I know it is uncommon for a freshman in college to get married so soon after dating a guy for only 3 months. But hey, I'm no ordinary girl.

My whole life I've been taught that "when you know who the right one is, you know". And it's true... with careful thought, prayer, and contemplation. I wouldn't have married so young, had I not felt so strongly about choosing Tayler. He felt right from the beginning all the way through our wedding day, and it's never changed. I wouldn't be the woman I am today without him. He brings out the very best in me and most importantly... he truly completes me. With the Lord, we truly are one. He is at the top of the triangle in our relationship. He is the reason why we can be together forever, sealed for time and all eternity.

So for our anniversary we made a big breakfast/brunch together.

Tayler surprised me with a bouquet of roses (one for each month we've been married) and hid my favorite chocolates all over the house for me to find.

After we got ready we went to Idaho Falls for the day and did a little window shopping at the mall (but I ended up getting a shirt at DownEast with some old b-day money.. :)

Then we watched a movie and took a stroll in the park by the temple.

And then we went to Olive Garden and (seriously) pigged out. Mmm, we LOVE that place.

It was a great day and we enjoyed every moment together. No work, no cell phones, no distractions whatsoever. We both decided we like anniversarys and are so excited to celebrate more in the future :) It definitely made for a good first.

Here are some photos from our anniversary shoot taken by our good friend Alane Hillam:

 And P.S. our delicious Easter Dinner was a success this year! YAY!

We're Moving...?

This past week was one of the most stressful weeks of my life. There were moments in my day where I literally could not breathe because I was so stressed. My heart would be racing all day and I could hardly eat because I was so sick to my stomach.

Unfortunately, this was no bug I just cure on its own by taking meds or visiting a doctor. The only way it could be fixed was if I could listen to the promptings of the Spirit through revelation and inspiration.

Tayler and I have been contemplating moving out of our apartment for the past month. Little did we know how or when it would happen. We've been living in this apartment for almost a year now. Our first anniversary will be at the end of this month. So we decided it was time for a change: more storage space and closer to campus.

Most married housing around here is WAY over priced. And rent keeps going up every semester. It's very difficult to find a place even remotely reasonable to live in. And the only way you'll grab any deal on a place is if it falls right into your lap. More and more single housing complexes are being built every day around campus, and the only way to make room for them is by demolishing small community housing meant for poor married students. Honestly, it's so discouraging.

And so began the craigslist searching, visiting managers' offices door to door for any openings, filling out any free applications we could get, and searching for any apartment we could find online. Hours, days, weeks went by... and nothing came up. Our current contract was ending soon and we needed to make a decision and fast: stay here for another year or put our faith in God and pray He'll send us a miracle.

Well, come Wednesday, we came across a cute duplex super close to campus that came with all these wonderful amenities and the price was the same we currently pay for our small apartment now. It was heaven sent! A backyard, big living room, even our own garage... We were sold. It would be like living in our own house.

We jumped on it fast, knowing someone else would snag it if we didn't. I tried my hardest to trust and put my faith in the Lord. We were not able to see any inside pictures of the place, but we felt it was a good decision to make and signed the papers.

The next day, I was sick to my stomach. I didn't know how and couldn't understand why. But it was almost nauseating. I knew it had something to do with the duplex we planned on moving in to. I thought I could shake away this uncomfortable feeling, so I waited 'til the following day.

Friday came, and my nauseous feeling on the place had not subsided. Tayler was beginning to feel the same way. Since the current tenants were not available to speak with us, we went to the neighbors in the duplex to find out more information. We asked about everything: bills, electricity, pipes, walls, the structure of the place, how big it really was, yard duties, etc. It was a very informative visit and we got all the answers we needed.

Unfortunately, this is not the place for us. We were not impressed by many things and knew this conflicted/weary feeling we both had was the Lord trying to tell us to get out of this pickle.

Frustrated and discouraged, I did not want to put up with any more apartment hunting. But I had felt strongly impressed to keep searching for an apartment. And as soon as I did so, we found the perfect place 2 blocks away from campus. I was the first to call the landlord and to our surprise he was my sister's old bishop up here! He knows my family very well and loves them dearly. In fact, I was 12 years old when I met him. The Lord had sent us His miracle.

The quote "Having faith is God includes having faith in His timing" came to my mind. He wants us to go through these rough patches and trials only to grow, learn, and become molded into the person He wants us to be. We'll never know when or how He'll do it.

The Lord taught me such a big lesson this week. Listen for inspiration and revelation. And the only way you'll get it is if you are completely in tune with the Spirit. We need to pray, trust, and ask for help when we feel weary about a big decision that will affect our lives.

Elder David A. Bednar shared this message concerning revelation:
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1737858986001

So we are now moving in April (just down the street)! We feel better than great about this and know it's where the Lord intends for us to be for the next year. And to make matters even better, we have connections with our new landlord!
Talk about quite a week.
:)

Summer...WINTER vacation at last!

I think I'm a bit behind on blogging, so it's definitely time to catch everyone up on what's been happening with us!

YES. Off-track semesters are heaven sent. And lucky for us we get Winter as our off-track (no sarcasm intended). We are so thankful not to be in school right now and not have to walk to classes in negative degree weather, with the icy/bitter cold wind blowing and the buckets of snow and ice on the ground. FACT: Rexburg is one heck of a humbling place. We definitely feel for all those who have to make those unpleasant walks uphill to campus. Ha, suckas! Just kidding. ;)

Let's see...

These past two months we celebrated both mine and Tayler's birthdays. I turned the big 20 and Tayler turned the whopping 23.

We celebrated our first year together since we had started dating back in November 2011. Now in just a little over 2 months we'll be celebrating our first anniversary. Where does the time go?

We went down to Springville, Utah for Thanksgiving and spent it with all of Tayler's family. It was fun to catch up with all his relatives and spend some quality time with the immediate family as well. His oldest sister, Rochelle, taught me how to sew slippers. Now I'm excited to try out all the many possibilities of sewing (i.e. pillows, curtains, alterations). I'm even considering taking up a sewing class one of these semesters. As well as photography for a "cluster"....we'll see.

Finals? Well.... maybe we won't talk about that. Let's just say we finished them off with a bang. It was treacherous and absolutely excruciating. But hey, what's new? It's finals for goodness sake. And praise the day we can finally have a break for 3 months. Hallelujah.

Some of you might be wondering what we must be doing with all this free time now. Tayler is continuing to work on-campus with the online course improvement department. I am still the manager of the ice cream shop I work at, and will be able to focus more of my time helping build the business this break. After all, we need as many customers as we get with this weather.
Tayler has also been helping me with advertising the business and getting its name out there. What a peach:)

Before our Christmas break I helped clean apartments off-campus like I did over the summer. It was only for a few days, but hey--anything to help put money in our pockets and pay off those hospital bills... Yes, hospital bills.

Tayler was unfortunately diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Not the best news right before the holidays. Merry Christmas to us! He had to have a colonoscopy literally hours before we drove 9 hours to Washington. And let me tell ya, he is hilarious coming out of anesthesia.
Anyways, we are grateful for the trials the Lord gives and throws at us. They help us learn and grow to become better. We could not do this without His help and love.

We spent Christmas with my family up in Kennewick, WA and New Years with Tayler's fam in Sherwood, OR. It's super nice only having a 4 hour difference between families during vacations. We watched Les Miserables (amazing/beautiful movie that will bring you to tears), made fudge, decorated our own real Christmas tree, made candy trains, played Just Dance on the Wii, babysat our adorable nephews (or as my siblings would call it--birth control), ate TONS of amazing food, made tons of amazing food, and all around had such a relaxing break with our families. We seriously love them all.




Made this out of 3 dollars at Walmart

My gift to Tayler for Christmas. Sorry if it's TMI. I thought it was hilarious.

We Love Fall.

Wow, it feels like a lot more happened in October than I can remember. It must be all this school work that's messin' me up. We had midterms and thankfully survived. Phew! So far, we're doing well in our classes and enjoying Rexburg as best we can. Bowling, redbox, making forts, living room picnics, late night french fry runs because I'm craving fry sauce, Thirsty Thursdays at Great Scotts, $5 pizza--Date nights are never better! :)

The weather hasn't been too bad down here. Mostly 50s-60s. Two weeks ago we had the semester's first snow. 7 inches. Unlucky for us, Tayler doesn't have a legitimate winter coat... or gloves. And our car is without a snow brush and snow tires. Um, christmas ideas? Haha. Naw, although we may be dirt poor, we are loving every minute of it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it truly is a blessing in disguise for us. We are learning so much from these experiences, and we are grateful to have the love and advice from all our family.

The ice cream shop I work at, Thor's, is slowing down with the colder weather setting in. But we're planning on selling hot chocolate and scones very soon! So that'll be fun to add, and hopefully we'll gain more and more business. Overall though, I love working there. It's one of the most fun jobs I've ever had. I actually go to work everyday happy and excited to work! Ha. Weird, right?
Oh yeah... and I'm the new manager. Nbd. :)
Okay, YES big deal! Holy cow! I was so shocked (still am), but so ecstatic. This is such an amazing blessing for us, and we couldn't be happier with this promotion.

Tayler and I are loving our dance class this semester. We are learning Cha-Cha and Samba. It's SO fun! I'm so glad he talked me into taking these classes. Nothing is more fun than dancing with your hubby!

It's been a whole year since Tayler and I met and started dating. And oh boy, what a year it has been! I wouldn't trade it away for anything. Best year of my entire life.

We're excited for this month and for all the many exciting things coming. We get to celebrate our first niece's baby blessing down in Provo, my 20th birthday in two weeks, and Thanksgiving with the Christensen side of the family.

Lot's of fun things coming up for November. And we've still got pumpkins to carve.... Maybe I'll do a cute turkey pumpkin?

Here are some of my cooking/baking attempts this past month. Gotta love Pinterest recipes:) Tayler sure hasn't complained yet... :)

Pumpkin Bars

 

Marshmallow Carmel Popcorn

Cookies N' Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies

M&M sugar cookies with cream cheese

Chocolate Chip MuffinsBeef Stroganoff

 Cilantro Lime Chicken

New semester, New Job, and 6 Months of Pure Bliss!

Where, oh where, did September go?! It's hard to believe fall is already here. Time for pumpkin carving, Halloween candy, fall colors, and colder weather (aka: snow for Rexburg).

Tayler and I started school about 3 weeks ago. For some reason the fall semester is always way more stressful than the others. We're already tuckered out from all the homework, projects, and assignments. Wow, talk about pathetic. :P

But aside from the stress and torture school brings us, we've still been incredibly blessed in numerous ways. After months of searching for a job in Rexburg, I was finally offered one! I now work at a brand new little ice cream parlor called Thor's Ice Cream (named "Thor's" because of our awesome school mascot--the Viking Thor). If any of you are familiar with Reed's Dairy, you'd agree that they make the BEST ice cream ever. Well, Thor's sells one scoop for $1! They've only been open for a month, so we're still trying to get the word out. But definitely come check it out if you're ever cruisin' through the good ol' Burg. Having never scooped ice cream like this before, my wrist has been killing me. But I absolutely love working there, plus, I'm getting super buff! (only on my right arm of course). ;)

Tayler and I had the wonderful opportunity to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform live at the BYU-I Center. It was such an amazing experience. It was Tayler's first time seeing them perform. I've seen them live a couple times, but several years ago. So it was a very fun date night:) And wow, what a show! It was more than worth it to go feel the spirit and hear their remarkable voices. We had a blast!

Since Tayler has gotten his new iPhone, I've been rather attached. I've been wanting to upgrade for some time now, and my phone has been biting the dust. Anyways, long story short, we worked it into our budget to afford one more. And let me tell ya, I LOVE it. I have been converted to smartphones and will never be able to go back. They are soooo awesome and totally worth every penny.

So you know that awkward moment when you and your husband get all dressed up in semi-formal clothes on a Saturday night, go to Olive Garden to celebrate your semi-anniversary, and get mistaken for all the high school students there dressed up for Homecoming...? Yeah. If we were in our 30's, that might be considered a compliment. But in that moment, last night, it was just embarrassing. #ThatWouldHappenToUs 

Minus the awkward dress mishap, we had a great "6 months" date day/night. We went to Idaho Falls and just played. A little window shopping, some ice cream, a movie, and dinner at our favorite place. We couldn't have asked for a better day off to spend together. It's been an amazing 6 months so far:)

Buh-bye Sweet Summertime

Well that was a short 7 week break! Sheesh. We're definitely not ready for school to start again. But we excited for all the new adventures awaiting:) We'll start the semester September 10th. I can't believe it's September already. It'll be a year ago this month that I saw Tayler for the first time and have been pretty much smitten ever since. ;)

Beginning of August, we spent a week with my family up at Wallowa Lake, Oregon. We had so much fun! We stayed in a 14-person cabin and played every day with the whole family. Fishing, go-karts, bumper boats, ice cream, smores, hiking, gondola ride, and tons of quality family time.

The next week was spent with Tayler's side of the family. For the first few days we went backpacking up at Pamelia Lake in Oregon. Unlucky for me, I got the Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus while there. Sooo gross... and painful. That lasted for about 2 weeks. But aside from that, we had so much fun up in Sherwood at Tayler's house. He had a blast hanging out with all the guys playing paintball, golf, and ping-pong. And I had a blast spending time with the girls. We had a day full of girl stuff, including their annual tea party. Way fun:) We painted our nails, went to Pittock Mansion, got all dressed up, had a yummy tea party, and to top it off, watched Pride and Prejudice.

Overall, great vacation with our families. And we loved every second of it. :)

This week is my last week working maintenance for the off campus housing. I'm still searching for that fall semester job. Gahhh, SO FRUSTRATING! Tayler will continue to work on campus.

Just recently, I've started getting into the whole crafty DIY stuff. There's just too many cute things on Pinterest! I did a craft night with a couple girl friends where we got giant letters and designed them with puffy paint and aluminum foil. And then this weekend I made a chalkboard out of chalkboard vinyl, a picture frame, and chalk marker.

Oh, and warm chocolate chip cookies topped with ice cream and hot fudge:) Mmm.

Summer lovin'

This past month has been one hectic month for sure. Finals week was killer, but we managed to survive the horrendous "death week" and passed all of our classes with flying colors. Now we're just enjoying our 7 week summer break in Rexburg until the Fall Semester starts. I can't believe how fast Spring semester flew by. And didn't we just get married like a couple weeks ago? Since when has it been 4 months?!

During finals we took part in a dance competition for our Social Dance class. All the classes throughout the course competed. We danced Cha-cha and waltz and ended up doing really well in both. We made it into the semi-finals for Cha-cha, but unfortunately got creamed by the other competitors. However, we received 3rd place in waltz! YAY for a great dance partner that knows what he's doing. ;) We'll be taking Latin dance this upcoming fall. Totallllllly excited:)

My mom came down for a few days to help in preparation for finals, along with helping us get our thank you cards put together. Phew! What a relief to get those done! If you haven't gotten one yet it's probably in our last pile to send off. No worries, we haven't forgotten you:)

I got a summer job working maintenance with a few off campus men's and women's apartments through my brother-in-law's brother-in-law. Ha:) Don't ya just love those awesome connections within families? I've worked 2 weeks so far and it's actually really fun. We deep clean (white glove) all the apartments since literally none of the girls know how to clean. I'm serious. It's disgusting. We also tape the apartments and paint them, put in new carpet, paint railings, paint parking lines in the parking lot. But it is mostly so fun because I get to work with Saraiah:) Yeahhh girl! Brother-in-law's brother's special girl. ;) Another funky connection. But seriously, I love this girl and I'm so blessed to be able to work with her.

Tayler's is and will still work on campus with the Course Improvement. I'm still searching for a Fall semester job. So.... crossing fingers! I've put in a few applications to different places. We'll see...
Hmm, let's see... what else? Oh! I got my tongue stuck to an ice cube for the first time ever! Seriously hurts. I wouldn't recommend it. Lesson learned to always wet the ice cube down before deciding to chew on it.... Even though it's technically bad for your teeth...

We are so stoked to finally go on vacation! One week with the Robanske/Francom/Parsons posse and the next week with the Christensens. We can't wait! More to come on our crazy upcoming adventures:)

This is how we spend our Friday nights...

This is how we spend our Friday pranking nights with Saraiah ;)