New beginnings

These last couple of weekends have been so busy that it has been hard to keep up with the posting, especially when you are having so much fun being busy. Ok, maybe searching and searching for a house was not exactly fun, but, we DID end up finding a place, TODAY, and so it has been fun seeing how many places we did have to look at before finding "the one".

I don't have tons of pictures to post, mainly because I wasn't the one taking most of the pictures, so I don't have many of them yet. But, I did steal this one of me and princess Madison while Amy and John were here visiting last week. She is such a doll, and she hardly ever cried when I held her. It's nice to know that babies like sleeping when I hold them :)

This is at my shower that Amy threw for me (my matron of honor). She, John, and baby Madison traveled in a car from Washington for 15 hours (yes, with a baby, she did awesome!) to hang out for a couple of days and for Amy to be able to have a shower for me before the wedding. She is the bestest friend a lady could ever ask for, and Brittainy was also so welcoming by opening up her house to have it at. It turned out so, so great and everyone seemed to have a good time.

So most of you know Chas and I have spent the entire month of August looking for a place to live. I was beginning to get very, very disheartened last night when we looked at a house and it was less than anything that we would want to live in. It's one of those things that sounds nice on paper, but when you see it you just know that it isn't for you.

So we were feeling a little defeated.We had prayed the night before together that God would lead us to the place the He knew would be just right for us. After the disappointment of the house last night, we prayed again at dinner very boldly that God would provide us with a place to live, a place that would meet all our needs, wants, and desires. We decided to take one more stroll on KSL and just see if there was anything else that might catch our eye. Chas called on one house and didn't get an answer, so he left a message and we looked some more. It was getting late but we saw one more that was a potential, but we decided to leave it until the morning to call on. We got up this morning and I took him to a condo that I had looked at earlier in the week, that was new and fairly nice, but just in a weird location. We called on the house we had seen on KSL the night before and left a message. We went to the gym, and I couldn't help but think and pray the whole time that the lady would call us back. The first thing I did when we got out to the car was ask Chas if he had any missed calls from the lady, the lady with this quaint little white house in South Ogden.

He did! He called her back, set up a time to go see the house, and about an hour later we made a deposit on it! As soon as we walked in the door I just knew it was the right one for us. Simple yet decorative, lots of storage space, and a basement. All that we knew we wanted, and needed, to start our life together as a married couple in just 5 weeks. We immediately starting texting our family members to let them know that the search was over, and we were so elated to be done searching. I don't have a lot of good pictures of the inside of the house since I took them with my phone, but here is one of the front of the house, pretty cute if you ask me.


So we are just about ready for this little adventure that is about to begin for us as a married couple. We are pretty much in the final countdown stage, and are in anticipation every day that gets closer to our lives going from a me, to a we, and us, and all the many enjoyable things to come that go along with be a Mr. and Mrs. And, of course we could not begin this journey without a good dance lesson or two, so just in case you were wondering what kind of moves I have to offer on the dance floor, I will leave you with one example of my grand movements on that 20x20 piece of wood flooring that we can't wait to get down with everyone on at our own wedding. Hopefully you all know that I am totally joking.

When you're smiling.....

you know that you have a lot to be thankful for in your life. Not that everything in your life is going absolutely perfect, but that you can take a minute to look around at the things you have done, are doing, and are about to do, and just be thankful for the fact that God has blessed your life in so many ways.



After Monday and Tuesday of last week, I came home from Logan in somewhat of a stupor for the fact that the work and time I had put into the last two years had come to and end. I am happy that I decided three years ago that I would continue on in school and get a masters, even though I knew it was going to be hard, hard work, and even though after my first semester I didn't know if I was going to make it through the entire program. But, I stuck it out, and in the end I have realized how blessed I am that God has given me the ability to have the brain I have, to learn at an extended level past a high school education, and that He also gave me a great job to help me pay for school, great friends and family who supported me through the tough times, and a fiance' who has been nothing less than patient with me through the most grueling of assignments. And he even paid attention when I rambled on about class topics that were obviously of no interest to him, but he lent an ear anyway.



So now I am homework and paper free, and it could not have come at a better time. It has been in the works that my best friend, her husband, and their now three week old baby would be making a trip from Washington down here to Utah this weekend for a bridal shower. My mom is also here, and my dad and his wife Karen even decided to come out this weekend to spend some time with family and for Karen to come to the shower.
I cannot imagine what my life would be like without these wonderful, supportive and caring family members in my life, and feel so blessed that God has placed me in the family that I have and given me the friends I know and love so much.



Meeting Madison for the first time was nothing short of wonderful, she is a delicate, sweet, calm and enjoyable baby to be around. Yes she fusses a little, but only if she wants to be fed or maybe needs that stinky diaper changed. She spent all day with us (me, my mom, and Amy) yesterday and most of the time you would never know that there was a little baby in that car seat, and yet when you look into those eyes you know that there is a beautiful person in there waiting to be held and loved on, like we all so willingly love to do.



We spent yesterday enjoying each other's company, running errands, planning surprises, and getting trial runs done of the wedding hair, make-up, flowers, the works. It was so much fun. Sometimes, you just need to be a girl and it really helps you to feel pretty. That you really are the beauty of God's creation and that you are wonderfully made in His image and are nothing short of His best.



This weekend I will most likely be spoiled beyond imagine with a shower that Amy has planned and put together from over 800 miles away. I am so thankful that I have a friend like her that is gracious and willing to do these kinds of things for her friends, she truly is amazing. I am also so blessed that my mom gets to be there despite her own personal struggles and situations in life right now. She is an amazing mom and I know that God has blessed me with her greatly. I am also so glad that my dad and his wife made it out and will be able to share some time with us over the weekend as well, getting know Chas a little bit more, and hopefully just enjoying some good food and beverage together and relaxing.



One thing that I have been thinking about since Amy and John have been here for the last day and a half is that little baby of theirs. Though I have not spent much time with Madison since she has arrived, just spending the little time that I have with here these past couple days has really made me think about a lot of things. Most people know that I am a pretty content and happy person, and I know that God plans things for a reason at the seasons in our lives when he knows we are ready. And I know that should Chas and I never end up having children of our own that it would not mean because we weren't good enough to be parents, or that because we don't have children that we are whole people. But I do know that being around a baby just makes you think. You think about all the work that goes into that little person, and how dependent they are on your for every single need. And, I think that in my perspective of God and his relationship with us, that we should strive to understand just how dependent we SHOULD be on Him, for most things in our live. Babies are beautiful and wonderful, and as I spend time with this little sweet pea I can't help but think how incredible it would be, some day, when we are "ready", to have one of our own. Some day. Read it people, not in the next year, or even two or three years. God gives us so many blessings in our lives, that I can't help but just stop and thank Him for all that he has given, and possibly will give me, in my years of life to come.