Words

Nathan was fortunate enough to finally start training this week and get his schedule. He has been working 10-12 hour shifts and it is quite an adjustment after having him around for the past 2+ weeks. I have to mentally prepare myself to have him start working again. He is pretty excited about it but I am still slightly sad to not have my bf around all the time.

This week I have kept myself busy by cleaning, swimming, and meeting new people in the ward. It is quite an adjustment from our other ward. While I loved Utah, Arizona (any state for that matter) just seems to be much friendlier. We are almost guaranteed to be waved at if we step out our front door. Neighbors will actually introduce themselves, and we are feeling quite welcomed.

We are not social people and we mentally have to try really hard to schedule in getting to know other people. It has been a easier thing to do than I imagined. I already have more numbers in my phone than I thought I'd get in months. It is fun to feel so welcomed. I just hope we can develop the skills to do the same with others that move in around us.

Have a sparkly afternoon!

Temple Sealing

The happy couple sealed for time and all eternity!

My 2 loves in front of my favorite Temple :)

We had the opportunity to go to Nathan's Dad and Cindy's sealing. We drove 23+ hours in about a 38 hour time frame. I was hesitant to take Kendrick. In fact I had decided not to go until a few minutes before Nathan was leaving and I realized I just couldn't miss out.

Kendrick was a angel baby. His love for outdoors helps him riding in the car and being able to look outside the entire time. We didn't have a single problem. Our car held up and our little boy let us travel back and forth quickly. He exceeded my expectations. He would either sleep, eat, or snuggle his blanket. Our car gets fantastic gas mileage so we really didn't have to stop more than once and Kendrick didn't seem to mind. My mommy heart is still in shock over his traveling.

The sealing was beautiful. I am so glad that I did not let the fear of traveling keep me from going. Cecil was extremely sick but he was a good sport and was luckily able to make it through the sealing. It was their 12th year wedding anniversary so it was neat seeing them make another commitment on the day they were married.

I was a little surprised to return to Utah and feel like my home is in AZ. I did not expect that feeling to happen so quickly. It felt great traveling back to Arizona. I know that even without a lot of family close by that this is where we need to be. This is where our story needs to happen for a time. I hope to visit Utah often but Arizona is now my home.  

Some thoughts from AZ

I feel like it has been a month sense writing last. We are still without internet but it should be plugged in tonight and I can post this. It has been a slight adjustment not having internet but I have loved every minute. We are been so busy that the only time I really notice we don’t have it is when Nathan needs to check his e-mail and has to get in the car and drive somewhere to do it.

We just about have our house d-grimed. It was pretty nasty and took so much longer than I expected but I think we are coming to an end. There are still some walls and baseboards that need scrubbing; we didn't get to them before we sprayed for bugs and now I’m worried the bug killer will come off if I scrub them. Our vacuum is no longer working other than the hose so if anyone has a recommendation on what we should get I’d love to hear. So far I’m not too impressed with any that I’ve looked at.

Kendrick is adjusting well. After talking to a friend I’m pretty sure that he was not only teething during our traveling but also had roseola. Basically they have a really high fever for a few days and then it breaks out into a rash. I am amazed at how well he handled it all.

We checked out one of our community pools today. It was so much fun. It feels like we are just vacationing here. I really do love the heat when I am in any air conditioned building for too long. As long as it stays below 110 degrees I don’t think I will mind living here.

2 things that are very new to me are lightning and dust storms. We had a lightning storm on Saturday and I was blown away by how much lightning there was compared to Utah. There was so much lightning that it was like being at a party with strobe lights. It lasted for over an hour and I was awe struck. It was beautiful but kind of scary to drive in. The dust storms are almost as scary. We keep receiving text messages warning us about dust storms in the area and to stay inside until a certain time. I didn't even know our phone could do that. I have also seen warning signs on the freeway that say dust storm area.

Even though it gets windy with the dust storms and occasionally rains it is still pretty warm outside. It doesn't cool everything off like I’m used to. It just kind of pushes the heat around and stays as hot as it would without the rain. It will probably take my brain a little while to register that rain does not equal coldness.

I am loving life right now and all the new areas that there are to explore. I am very fortunate to have my best friend with me. I am so proud of his efforts in getting licensed and taking on the adventure of a new state. Even  with the stress of waiting for paperwork to get completed I love that he has been nothing but positive and supportive. I am one lucky gal!

Talk to y’all soon!

Make me smiles

Cleaning bleach mask (My tile floors are now glowing thanks to this man and his mask)

Daddy made the BEST fort in the entire world using almost all of our boxes. 

Traveling

We are without internet for another week but I have too much to write so I thought I’d dump my thoughts in a word sheet and post it later. The move went better than expected. We were able to do it extremely cheap thanks to the amazing Cindy. She drove with us down so we could take Nate’s Pop’s truck and my brother’s trailer and then she drove it back to Utah for us.  

Kendrick was a gem compared to what he could have been. He was running a fever of 103 pretty much the entire way and was not sleeping like he usually does in the car. He was cutting 2 molars and even with ibuprofen it was hard to keep his temp under control. We only had to pull over 3 times to either give him more medicine or to cool him down. Somehow he would magically be happier by the time we had to put him back in the car. He even learned how to say car while on the road.

The good news about him cutting teeth is that we were able to pack and unpack with him pretty much sleeping all day both days. When Kenny cuts teeth he sleeps. He possibly sleeps more than a newborn and yet somehow I have lucked out that every single time we move (even just for 6 weeks on Nate’s rotations) he cuts teeth and I am able to pack everything up without having to have anyone else watch him.

We are now cleaning scrubbing our house and unpacking. Apparently the people before us had a dog because I keep finding dog hair everywhere and it is really grossing me out. I love animals but having dog hair in places where it does not belong is not something I love. I don’t like what they leave behind in my living space. I especially don’t like anything near or in my bed and after having a jumping spider try to be our friend we called to have our house debugged. As a whole I think we will love AZ…we just have to not panic and keep telling ourselves that until winter. J

Outside

On Wednesday we went to the splash pad at Liberty Park. Kendrick was hesitant about the splash pad for about 3 minutes until he realized that it was water coming out of the ground. He went from clingy to independent so quickly that we felt like we came with a toddler but left with a 8 year old. 

Kendrick's favorite word to say is outside. It is so clear that there is no mistaking what he is saying. Yesterday morning a motorcycle drove by and Nate and I heard a little voice say "outside" coming from his crib. He is in love with the outdoors.

With all the time it takes to pack and move we have some of the best activities planned for Kendrick this next week. We have plans to go to Jump around Utah, The Aquarium, The Little Gym, and probably Liberty Park again. We want him to love his last few days in Utah and enjoy the outdoors as much as possible before we move to a unmistakable desert.

Passing Survival Mode

It just hit me the other day that Nathan and I have been in survival mode our entire marriage. Because of school we have had our lives biggest decisions like where to live and work planned for us. We have had to sacrifice a lot in order to keep afloat and get educated. It has been rough and yet I am slightly sad it is coming to a close. 

The best part about being in survival mode is that there are very few decisions to make. We knew our permanent location would be SLC for 4 years. Things like major vacations, electronic gadgets, 2nd car, yoga pass, movies, and anything else that cost $ wasn't even an option. Student loans were FOR SCHOOL and because of school there was little time to work for any extra play money. It became easy saying no to things because time or money would say no for us.

This next stage is completely different. We won't have to wing it and guess how much money will be coming in because Nate will get the EXACT SAME amount every week. We will have the money to afford things that we want/need but will have to say no to items in order to keep up with paying off his loans as quickly as planned. 

We really could have picked anywhere to live and there are so many doors open that it seems as if life is just beginning. The reason that I am slightly sad is because I loved our time together with forced decisions. It was so fun to dream of the future together and what it would hold. Long car drives always meant long talks about the upcoming future. Now living the future we dreamed about is heartrending to leave behind the past that we lived and loved. 

I will go back to school but I don't think we will ever have to really live as college students again. We are finally to the working/family stage. We will have set schedules that are not likely to change based on a semester. We can plan things months in advance and roughly know what it will look like. There are so many opportunities available that I think that is why moving seems overwhelming. 

We have so much to plan and change while we move and we have never had to make as many decisions in such a short amount of time. I'm still unsure how I feel about it all but I do know that being out of survival mode (once Nate takes and passes his last test) is going to be a very unique adjustment and we are ready for it!