Drop And Give Me Twenty

Tyler has been at bootcamp for over six weeks now! We are about 3/4 of the way through it. And Tyler has been a champ! I would say that he is loving it, but honestly it sounds like he is over ready for it to be done! I don't blame him! 

He writes me.. "I don't sleep a wink. Tonight I go to bed at 9 wake up at 12:15 back to bed at 2:45 just to wake back up at 3:30." "Nothing but marching, classes, physical training, and ALOT of cleaning and making beds and folding clothes." "One woman MTI got up in my face about me having unauthorized sideburns haha" "Oh how I wish I could sleep in just one day ha. Oh well, it's life at BMT." And a bunch of mushy love talk that I'll just keep for myself!:) 

This is his week six which means BEAST week. This is when the trainees are put out into real life situations where they stay in tents and are forced to use the combat skills that they've learned through BMT. Simulated situations are put about to test them. I'm not entirely sure what that intels but it sounds scary to me! 

So far, I have only gotten four letters and three phone calls. Because our communication has been so limited, I really don't know much from his side in BMT. I just keep faith that everything is and will be okay. 

Me on the other hand. I love living back with my parents. It's a fun flash back! I had a whole list of projects to do in all my spare time. Ha! I haven't touched that list, let alone even finished unpacking and settling in. I have however kept time passing with spending it all at the gym. I'm so close to finishing my goal of running 100 miles during Tyler's basic training. I'm at ninetyfour miles!! This is a big deal seeing that.. I'm not a runner!

I spend my days at work, then gym it, then spend hours and hours writing letters to Ty every night. ..it's actually starting to get hard having a one sided conversation through letters. But I don't let a day go by that I don't send out a letter to my sweetheart. 

However, I would give just about anything to see Tyler right now. Or to talk on the phone with my husband for even two minutes. This journey has definitely been the hardest thing I have ever done. But even through the toughest times, loving him is still so easy. I love Tyler with all my heart and can't stand the thought of another day without him. But we wake up and keep going. Because of the pride I have for my husband and the military, I wear the smile on my face instead of tears. I know Ty faces struggles everyday that would tear me apart and he never stops trying harder each day. He gives me strength. 

In less than two weeks I will be back in the arms of my lover. And I cannot wait! 

1200 Miles Away

Life is kinda funny, we (and as in we I mostly mean myself) are always begging for more or less. And if it's not that we want something or another to change, we want a newer car or to buy the house, we want someone to be nicer to you, or more friends, or less empty time. I know, and Tyler knows better than me, that I am always imagining life in a more perfect way than it is ment to be. 

And then life changes. And we get upset about it. 

Tyler and I have started at the beginning of a big big change! 

Tyler left to Airforce basic military training.  He is so strong and amazes me at what he is willing to do. He felt the need to move on in life and find something more supportive and that allowed him more of a future. He has prepared himself for months for this mental, emotional, and physical lifestyle change. He was more excited about this change than I could explain! which makes me super happy to see. 

I know he will face trials much greater than my trial of missing him. I pray that he will grow in every way. 

Tuesday November 4th, the day I dreaded for months, Tyler was sworn into the military. I, along with our family, went up to Salt Lake City to spend some last minutes and conversations with Tyler. We were able to watch him take his oath. After this, I stayed with him until they took him away from me. When his shuttle showed up and they called his name I couldn't believe that it was happening. 

He was able to call me between flights. And I was lucky that one got delayed so he had extra time to FaceTime me. I got a phone call that was way too short when he landed in San Antonio at about midnight. I was expecting it to be about 15 minutes. But all I got was a quick, "hey I just got here, what are you up to?, I love you, oh I gotta go, babe I love you, bye". I was told that he would call once on base and give me the address and let me know he got there. So I waited for that phone call all day Wednesday. And was bummed when it never came. I wrote him a letter on Wednesday night with no address to send it to. Finally Thursday afternoon I got a short one minute call from him with the address and date of his graduation. It was so sweet to hear his voice for the last time in who knows when! 

I will be counting down the days until I can see my husbands face, and be back in his arms. I knew this was going to be a hard journey, we tried to prepare myself. I couldn't imagine how my life would go without Ty right next to me. But boy, it's much worse that I thought! My days have been so long, with no motivation to do anything. I stress and cry about it all too much throughout the whole day. I try to stay busy, and have plenty to keep my mind off of the situation, but I don't actually want to take my mind off it. I want to hold on to every memory I have with Tyler. But enough of this, because my husband is in bootcamp being broken down everyday, so no excuses to complain. 

And when the day of our sweet reunion in eight weeks come, we will both be filled with so much joy! 

    

    

Don't let these moments slip away

We had a weekend full of fun with family we love! 

It has been one of my favorite Halloween activities to go to Thriller at the Tuachan. We were lucky enough to go with both my family and some of Tyler's family. We had fun staying in a homey condo with my family. We met with Ty's mom, sister, aunt, and grandma for the play on Friday night. On our way home from St George my dad took us up above Cedar City through a beautiful canyon ride to Cedar breaks. It was such a fun last little vacation before Ty is off! Im sad that this won't be a tradition that Ty and I can keep going every year. 

Cedar Breaks 

On Sunday we had a farwell:( party for Ty. He felt so spoiled to have family from all sides come! I always love/hate putting together parties- it's so much fun to plan it and have a reason to party, but it sure is stressful and shows how much our parents always put in to the many get togethers that they do. The party turned out so well. There were many hugs and "see ya later"'s. We are all going to miss him, but I surely get to say that I will miss him the most! Ha And of course I didn't get as many pictures of his party as I would have liked. 

Ally is amazing with her cakes..

But look how sweet the inside was! 

                 Love you Ty Ty! 

Before Tyler left we had plenty to do with packing up and moving, but we were able to squeeze some fun in around the "fun" of moving. On Thursday Tyler's mom had another dinner so his aunts and cousins could all say one last goodbye. And with Halloween on Friday, we were able to have some fun! We have some of the cutest neices and nephews. My grandma has always made soup on Halloween night, and Tyler is always so surprised at all the options of soup she makes for one night. So yeah, this Halloween was a good way to spend our last Friday together before Ty leaves! 

On Saturday, Tyler spoiled me with our last date at the Little America hotel. We had dinner at a steak house in the hotel, which Tyler got way too full at and said, "I'm never eating food again!" which if you know Ty, that was a big deal. And that statement didn't last long when we had a delicious breakfast at the cafe downstairs in morning. The whole date was just what we needed and was a perfect way to aeon our last weekend together! 

Okay, explanation, we found this picture when we were dating and always wanted to try it. Well this is us finally getting around to doing it! 

               I'm going to miss him!

Goodbye, Little House

When is it ever not sad to move from your first home? The place that you and your husband grew closer together and began a life together? Where you learned to clean, cook, do laundry, and become a wife? Tyler and I were so lucky when we found this perfect little house tucked away in Springville. It had a few projects that we worked on together, with my awesome dad's help. Before we moved in we had to fix an unfinished wall and door way, we textured all the walls and ceilings, then painted the entire thing. When we began renting it from the next door neighbor in July 2013 we had the option to buy the house in 12 months for a screaming deal. We decided that we would live there for the year and see how it works for us. In that year I fell in love with it! It is such a cute tiny house. It has two bedrooms with a small "half room" and one bathroom. The kitchen is small and sometimes gives me a country feel. The front wall of the house slants forward quite a bit and the ceiling lines aren't quite straight, but honestly, I love it! The house sits in a narrow piece of land that is just under one acre, with animal rights. The property is quit the junk pile with two sheds and piles of car parts/construction parts of the owner plus weeds galore! However, I've had a vision of this place being the prettiest and most comfortable place to live.  

    

I would buy this little house in a blink of an eye. It's been a huge question whether to buy it or not, Ty and I have gone back and forth about buying it. But, it's obviously not meant to be, because it hasn't worked out in a way for us to buy the house. I have been torn! But I know we will have bigger opportunities in the future. And like Tyler keeps telling me, "it's not the end of the world" haha. 

So as we have been packing all of our stuff into boxes, moving them into a storage unit, and moving myself into my parents house, a flash flood of memories from this home are coming back to me! And just like that, we are moved out of the little white house. 

Goodbye, little house. 

When Grandpa Sam makes a Challenge

About one year ago my Mom's family had a reunion at Heber Valley Camp. It is always fun to get together with the Sam's, since we don't see them all that often. While we were there in 2013 we did an awesome Book of Mormon activity where we each passed around our own book and everyone marked their favorite scripture. It's neat to now look through and see my whole families names throughout my book. After, my grandpa came up with a challenge, for everyone to read the Book of Mormon from start to finish by next years reunion one year away. And whoever had finished would sign and date Grandpa Sam's book. 

So okay, one year to finish.. I was excited to get the Book of Mormon read in the first year of Tyler and I's marriage. I thought it'd be a great experience. So we started it that week. We took turns reading a chapter, more or less, each night. And you guessed it, we didn't even make it out of 2nd Nephi. 

So quickly, it was already August 2014- two weeks away from the next reunion, when we had realized we did not finish the Book of Mormon. Tyler and I decided that we would dedicate the next two weeks to reading 25ish chapters per day to finish on time. Little did I know that this would be one of the greatest testimony builders I've experienced. 

Yes I have read the Book of Mormon before. When I was in young women's and "had" to finish to get my young women medallion I rushed through it. Tyler, this was his first time really attempting to read the Book of Mormon. 

I know this was quick to finish and I could have probably gotten more out of it if I slowed down and took my time. However, I have never felt the spirit of The Lord so much from reading the scriptures as I got every time I opened the scriptures those two weeks. I have also never gotten the full affect of who's son is who, and who is in war with who, and there are so many cities- how in the world are you supposed to keep track of where the people are at? Reading so much in one day was great, because I was able to get the full story. 

I knew this before, but I know again that the Book of Mormon is true and was written by prophets. I know that we have it on the world today as a guide for us to return to our Heavenly Father. It is important for us to read it and become familiar with it, that is was The Lord wants. I think it is a great idea to take two weeks and dedicate it to reading the Book of Mormon, I promise that it won't be a loss to you. I know that I definitely gained a lot in my testimony. Tyler and I were able to sign Grandpa Sam's Book of Mormon. 

What 1 Year Of Marriage Has Taught Me

Tyler and I have been married for one whole year. Whoa, right! It seemed to be so fast. 

Before we got married I heard it all the time from so many people, "live life before you get tied down". But I believe that Tyler and I got married in perfect timing. I wouldn't have wanted to miss a single thing about this year being married. I'm glad we have been able to get a jump start on our time together and be here for each other as much as possible. 

Throughout the past year I have learned many things about marriage. I'm new to it so there was plenty to learn. 

Lessons I've learned:

Marraige is the best ever!

You have to transition from "me" to "we", which isn't even hard when you're so in love. 

I definitely learned to forget what the world thinks and just focus on us, me and Tyler. 

Forgiveness is always key. Even if you are not in the wrong! Just say sorry and get over it. I know this is sure, because I have seen Tyler do it over and over, and it fixes everything every time.

A couple who laughs together stays together. 

At times he will, 

• He will fart in bed right next to you, it's true

• He won't always know what made you mad, hence he won't always know how to fix it

• He might not know how to cook when you are so sick of cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner

• He will always rather work on his cars than do crafts with you

• He'll sometimes rather watch super hero and fighting movies instead of chick flicks

• He might even forget certain dates or plans that have been made

However, it's all worth it because he will also, 

• He will always have his comforting bear hugs anytime you need

• He will try his best to help clean the house (even if you have to redo some of the jobs he's done:))

• He will laugh at your not so funny jokes

• He will compliment you on everything! Over and over until you learn to accept it

• He will help lay out you're frustrating situations in ways that just make more sense

• He will take goofy pictures with you

• If he is anything like Ty, he will spoil you like none other

• He will turn off the lights, even when you're the last one in bed:)

• He will save the last and best bites of his food for you, it's true

• He will never stop saying I Love You

I can't believe I am lucky enough to have such an incredible husband. He makes me so happy! This past year has been the best year yet. I can't wait to see what is to come in our second year of marriage! Getting married to my best friend was definitely the best decision I have made. 

7.25.2013 <3

Since our first wedding anniversary is coming up.... A post dedicated to the day! 

Our wedding day was perfect in every way! I mean 7/25/2014, even the date was perfect! I knew exactly how I wanted the wedding to turn out. When I first started dating Tyler, two years earlier, I started planning on Pinterest. So yeah, I had a lot of time to make everything just the way I wanted it! I feel like since the day we got engaged to the day of the wedding, everything flowed and fit right into place. 

On the morning of the wedding I got up early and did my hair and make up. I drove to the salt lake temple with my parents were we met Tyler. We were so anxious for this day:) 

The wedding ceremony was at 10:00 where we had so many friends and family share the amazing ceremony that my Grandpa Sam was able to do. I can't believe the spirit that was felt in that special room. 

After, we met even more friends and family outside the temple. 

We took our time with pictures around the beautiful temple. I'm so happy with how all of our pictures from the day turned out. 

Tyler and I drove back to payson alone. I loved being able to talk about what we had just done, and how we would be together for eternity. I remember thinking how lucky I was. I hope to never forget those feelings I had during and right after being sealed to my love. 

We had a fun summer luncheon in my parents backyard. We were able to visit with friends and family before the reception. 

Everything for the reception was finally set up. The decorations and atmosphere couldn't have been more perfect! My family helped so much and knew just what I wanted! 

We loved being able to see everyone who came out to support this new chapter in our lives. It was fun to see people I hadn't seen in so long, and to meet the people who are so important to Tyler and his family. 

If I could relive one day, it would definitely be the day of our wedding! I wouldn't change one thing about it, I would just soak it up and live it all over again!