Back to WA

This last week Adam and I took another trip to my hometown of Vancouver, Washington! We went back in March for my friend's wedding but we knew we wanted to go again before the baby came so we could see the things we weren't able to see in March. So here is how our trip went:

Day 1:
We drove to WA on Wednesday with my sister, Stephanie and my nearly 3 year old nephew. I was pretty nervous about how the drive would go with a toddler and me being much more pregnant than the last drive. Luckily my nephew did awesome so that turned out great :) I was really uncomfortable but we took lots of stops so that I could walk around. Unfortunately, the trip did not treat my feet very well. Starting with our drive there and through the whole week, my feet swelled up a ton. But we all got to town safe and sound :) We stopped by my parents' house before we went to my friend Chelsea's (the one who got married in March) place where we were staying. We were very excited to see everyone :)

Day 2:
Our first full day started out pretty low key with us going to meet my parents, Steph, and my grandma for lunch at the mall. Then we went to Lewisville, a big park north of Vancouver which lies along the Lewis river. I grew up going to this park and my mom went there as a teenager before that. I was really excited to show Adam because it has the essence of what I love about the NW, lots of tall evergreens and fresh air :) It was a warm day so we played in the grass and dipped our feet in the river. My other sister, Jessica met us up there after she got off work and then we all went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes.

Day 3:
Beach day! On Friday, Adam got to go to the beach for the fourth time in his life. We met my family at my parents' house and then caravan-ed to our first stop, the Tillamook factory! The last time I had been there was when I was super little and Adam had never been there. We got to see them make the most delicious cheese on Earth (in my opinion), taste the different kinds of cheese, and attempt to not buy everything in the little grocery area. We were able to leave with just a chocolate bar and a couple small blocks of cheese (smoked medium cheddar and garlic white cheddar, yum!).

Then we headed north on the 101 to Cannon Beach, OR. I was starving (as I usually am currently) so we started off by eating at my favorite pizza place, Pizza a Fetta. Delicious and one of the top 20 pizza places in the country! Then we went off to explore the shops. Adam and I particularly enjoyed the kite shop, the toy store, and the candy shop :) Then we all went out to the beach!

We had lots of fun looking at anemones, walking in the sand, and tossing the frisbee. I must say that walking in the sand when you're off balance by a pregnant belly is a very difficult (and funny looking) feat. We ended the evening by eating dinner at Seaside at a restaurant my family would often go to called Pig n' Pancake.

Day 4:
On Saturday, my friends Chelsea and Kendyl threw an adorable baby shower for me! It was so cute and I was amazed at how creative they were. The decorations and food were so amazing :)

I was so grateful for the family and friends that were able to come. We had fun playing silly games and everyone was so generous to our little boy. I was stunned by how crafty people's gifts were, like the blanket Chelsea crocheted and the crib bedding set my aunt Tanya made!

Both Adam and I felt so blessed :) Later that day, we went down to the Rose Garden in Portland! Adam had never seen it and coming during the Rose Festival is the perfect time to see them all in bloom.

So many different varieties in all colors, scents, shapes, and sizes! It was a very pretty day to go too :) Then we headed back to Vancouver to eat dinner at my favorite Thai place, Dok Koon (a mandatory stop whenever we visit).

Day 5:
On Sunday, we went to my home ward which is always a great experience. I love seeing all of the families that I knew growing up! The rest of the day we spent at my parents' house. I promptly fell asleep on the couch while everyone played in the backyard and dinner was made haha. Then, in the evening we had a campfire with roasting marshmallows :) we made s'mores with those fudge striped cookies and it was SO yummy! My uncle and his family came over for a visit as well, which was also fun. Its so crazy how my cousins are growing up, but then again I've grown up too haha!

Day 6:
The weather for the rest of the trip was overcast and rainy so we didn't do too much exploring. On Monday, I took Adam to visit the Pearson Air Museum. The museum has old planes and shows the history of the air base right next to Fort Vancouver and how it was used during all the different wars.

Adam, being a U.S. history buff, loved it and found it very fascinating. It was also fun for me to be back there because that was where I went to an LDS prom my senior year of high school :) After that, Chelsea, our friend Brittany, and I all went to get pedicures. It was fun to have some girl time with them :) The rest of the evening, we hung out with Chelsea and her husband Alex eating pizza and ice cream, playing games, and watching TV.

Day 7:
Tuesday, we went with Chelsea and Alex to one of our favorite stops in Portland, Powell's bookstore! I could spend hours in that place looking at everything. One of my favorite parts is the Rare Book Room where they have SUPER old books as well as first editions and autographed copies of books. I had fun trying to find the most expensive book they have. This time I found one for $24,000! We also went to eat at Henry's Tavern where they have delicious gorgonzola fries and HUGE burgers. I had a tasty macaroni and cheese burger! We ended our time in Portland by going to the ice cream shop, Salt and Straw. We had never been there but we have heard lots about their crazy flavors. We settled with relatively normal but very tasty kinds :) After that, we went back to Vancouver and I visited my friend Sarah! I'm always grateful that we've stayed in touch and we always make an effort to meet up when I come to visit. Then, that evening we went over to Chelsea's parents' house to watch the season premiere of one of our favorite shows. Her family all watches it so it is fun to watch with a big group and discuss it afterwards :) Afterwards, we went over to my parents' house to say goodbye and make plans for the next day.

Day 8:
The drive home! It was very long and I can definitely say that my nephew handled it better than I did haha. About 2/3 through I started feeling super hormonal and sick. I took some medicine and that helped. There was no helping my balloon feet though xP. Luckily, I don't have to work until Monday so I get lots of time to recuperate and put my feet up :)

In other updates, we are doing great! Adam is enjoying working on his Master's project and is actually sending a proposal in with his professor to present at a conference next year!! Presenting at a conference is a big deal in the academic field and it would be a great opportunity. We just finished our Hypnobirthing class, which was absolutely amazing! If anyone in Utah Valley is looking for a great birth class, I would definitely recommend Fiona's class (www.ihypnobirth.com). Baby is healthy and kicking up a storm and we just had another appointment today (along with my last blood test THANK GOODNESS!) :) I can't believe we have only three months until we meet our little boy!

<3 Ashley

Sometimes we're given more than we can handle

As most of you know by now, we are expecting our first child this summer. We are overjoyed by our little boy growing inside of me and looking forward to the new adventures it will bring. It has been a rough journey to get to this point but I thought I'd share our story in case it can help someone else.

I should begin by saying that I have an anxiety disorder. Not a whole lot of people know this but I find that it is therapeutic to be open and not embarrassed by this. I'm so grateful for friends and family that have opened up about their own struggles with anxiety and depression and I hope I can be a support to someone I know who may have trouble accepting this. 

I have had struggles with anxiety and panic attacks since high school. I especially struggled with anxiety when it came to anything related to doctors and medical interventions. Because of this, the idea of getting pregnant and giving birth scared me to death. So, after I got married, my plan was to get an education and career and hopefully later on I would want a baby bad enough to get past my fear. There have been times in my life where I've had a good handle on my anxiety and other times I have not. A year ago was one of those latter times

Right before graduation, I was presented with an opportunity to get a full time job in my field. I was finishing up my degree in psychology and in March, decided to take a job at a group home for little girls with serious behavior and mental health challenges. Nearly all of them had been confronted with abuse to some degree and struggled to cope with their trauma. I had worked with kids before through volunteering at the Utah State Hospital for two semesters and I thought that I could handle this job even though it might be stressful. I started training and then started working directly in the home. After one day, I was a mess. I had severe anxiety and panic attacks once I got home and didn't sleep at all that night knowing I would have to go back. Adam and friends of mine encouraged me that this may be something to get used to and that my anxiety would get better. However, it did not. I felt nauseous constantly, barely ate, and hardly slept. I kept pushing myself to keep going even though every part of me was buckling under the stress (I was also finishing classes at this time). Eventually, I decided that I couldn't live like this and decided to quit after just a few weeks.

I slowly began to feel better and get my life back on track to finish my degree. But I was now worried about my lack of job situation for after I graduated. I was scared of getting another job in my field and having all of that anxiety come back. So after graduation, I began to look for jobs both in and out of my area of study.

During this time, I got really depressed because my life plan was not working out. I loved studying psychology and using it in any way I could but I was worried I couldn't get myself under control enough to be any support to others. I interviewed at a few places and ended up getting a couple job offers.  One was a full time job as a case manager position working with people with physical and intellectual abilities and the other was a part-time secretary position with a mental health clinic. The first job was in my field although not exactly the population I wanted to work with but I took it anyways. Right after I accepted it, I got a bad feeling that I couldn't shake and then all of my anxiety came back. I ended up experiencing the same panic attacks, nausea, and sleeplessness that I had back in March. The next morning I called the place back and told them I would be unable to take the job and then I called and set up an appointment to start therapy. I felt so weak and defeated that I kept getting these opportunities and because of my anxiety, had to deny them. Luckily the secretary job was still available so I started working there in June and decided to take some time to get healthy before pursuing my career.

I loved this new job and the people I worked with but I still felt purposeless. People kept asking me what my plans were and I was so embarrassed that I had no idea. During all of this time, I became closer to my Heavenly Father than ever before and I learned to rely on him for peace and strength. But I still was troubled that I didn't know what my future held. Adam was finally in a job that he enjoyed and he had decided to attend BYU for grad school so at least that was figured out. But I was still in limbo. 

I decided to go to the temple on my own one day. While I was there I prayed that I could know what my purpose is and whether or not I should aim to get a full time job and prepare for grad school. Then, in that moment, I got the strongest prompting I've ever received. I felt a strong feeling that I needed to take this time to prepare to be a mom, not for a career and that I was supposed to get pregnant soon. That thought scared me initially but then I felt this immense sense of peace and the feeling that God understood my weaknesses and my struggles and that He would be with me every step of the way.

After I left the temple, I told Adam what happened. His first reaction was mostly "are you serious?!". He had mentioned about a year and a half after we got married that he was ready to have kids whenever I was but of course I wanted to wait. At this time, he couldn't imagine me changing my mind especially with the level of anxiety I had been having. But the peace I felt had stayed with me and I knew this was why my plan hadn't worked out. Since then, he has received promptings of his own that have confirmed our decision to start a family.

I continued therapy and worked on getting myself mentally prepared to get pregnant and make sure I had a better handle of my anxiety. Adam and I eventually got to the point where we felt we were ready to start trying and after a bit, we found out I was pregnant! I had prepared so much to get to that point, but I still had a lot of fear after I found out. I continued to pray and received a couple of wonderful priesthood blessings from Adam that reminded me of the feelings I felt in the temple. God knows me and my struggles. He understands that this will be one of the hardest things I have to do. But I am NOT meant to do this alone. I am meant to have this experience to grow closer to Him.

I sometimes wonder if I hadn't been so stubbornly against having children before I felt "ready", maybe I wouldn't have had to go through such awful experiences. I don't know. But I do know that if you would've told me a year ago that I would be pregnant now, I would've thought you were crazy. 

I am so grateful that I am pregnant. I am grateful for the strength, peace, and love I have felt from my Heavenly Father. I still have moments of doubt and fear, especially as people offer unsolicited advice, tell their birth horror stories, or repeatedly tell me "it's just going to get worse". (Hint to those speaking to any pregnant woman, with or without anxiety: please stay positive!) I have done a lot better though with handling the fear I have about pregnancy and birth through the support I received through therapy and the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I know my story is unique to me but I hope someone can gain strength from it. It is ok to feel weak and it is ok to ask for help. We have a loving Father in Heaven who knows us better than anyone and knows our weaknesses. Sometimes we are given more than we can handle but that is ok. We are not meant to handle it on our own. Heavenly Father pushes us to make us stronger than we ever thought we could be. I know he has for me and will continue to do so throughout this pregnancy and my life.

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we are not only redeemed of our sins but comforted in our weaknesses. I know that through the Holy Ghost we can feel that comfort and peace. We are never alone.

<3 Ashley

P.S. If you are struggling with anxiety or depression or any mental health issue, I encourage you to read "Like A Broken Vessel", a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland.

End of Adam's first year in grad school and baby updates!

So this week marks the end of Adam's second semester in graduate school! He has one more final due today but will be all done after that! I can't tell who's more excited for the summer, him or me haha. He has had a good semester this last winter although it's been tough balancing for him helping me with pregnancy stuff, work, classes, and preparing his master's project. At least now he won't have classes and homework (although he'll still have the rest of that stuff).

We have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father in how our work situations have been worked out. Adam's  digital humanities class that he teaches ends and he found out he was only going to work 10 hours a week with his BYU Online job. So we were quite worried about the decrease in pay right before the baby comes especially since he can work up to 40 hours a week during spring and summer terms. We kept faith that if Heavenly Father led us to become parents, He would help us provide for our baby and He definitely did! One thing after another worked out and he will be able to work 40 hours a week for both spring and summer terms with excellent pay!!! So Adam will work full time during spring term with BYU Online training a new professor, helping do data collection, and setting up a new section of IHum 202 for fall! And then in summer term, he will partly do that as well as co-teach a class about education and technology for secondary education :) we feel so blessed by everything working out so perfectly :)

We also found out a few weeks ago that our beautiful baby is a boy!! We are so excited to finally say "he" instead of "it", start collecting baby clothes, and pick out a name :) we have a couple names picked out but we're having a tough time deciding between them. It's tough naming a person! The ultrasound showed that everything is developing well and he's healthy. It was so cool seeing close ups of his brain and to see all the chambers of his heart pumping! He was breathing in amniotic fluid so his little mouth was opening up and his hand was waving at us. So cute!! 

He has also been growing big and kicking up a storm. Adam has even felt him a few times which is really exciting :) my belly is definitely getting bigger and my wardrobe is shrinking as this happens haha. 

11-15 weeks

16-20 weeks

22 weeks

With all of that comes other fun pregnancy symptoms like back and hip pain, but I invested in a pregnancy pillow which has really helped :) Also this last Saturday one of my best friends threw me an adorable baby shower! I was so grateful for the friends that were able to come and it was so fun :)

 Next week we will be starting a hypnobirthing class and we just hired a doula! It's hard to believe that we're now only 4 months away from meeting our little one!!

<3 Ashley

Trip to the NW

This last week we got to go back to my home town of Vancouver, WA! We had so much fun and did so many things but we wish we could've stayed longer...like forever haha :)

Day 1:

We woke up really early on Thursday to head out for the long drive. I was hoping to make it there in time to go to a girls' night for my friend who was getting married that weekend. The trip was uneventful but very uncomfortable sitting that long while being pregnant. I had never had trouble before with car rides but this time we made lots of stops so I could walk around. We made it in time to go to dinner with my mom and sister at my favorite Thai food place :) however, I was so exhausted from the trip plus hormones weren't being very nice so I didn't end up going to the girls' night :( we ended the night a little earlier by heading back to where we were staying for the trip. We stayed with our old coworker Rachelle and her husband Michael in Tigard, OR :) they were so sweet and welcoming to us and we loved staying with them!

Day 2:

After an AMAZING night's sleep, we started off the day with going up to Multnomah Falls. Adam had only been once when he was 10 and it was raining then. He also had never driven up the old historic Columbia Gorge Highway which is absolutely beautiful! It was clear and sunny every day we were in the NW :) We enjoyed seeing all of the waterfalls along the way and looking out at the viewpoint by the Vista House. 

We didn't have time to hike all the way to the top of Multnomah but we walked up to the bridge to take a few pictures. 

Afterwards, we went to lunch at a yummy German restaurant called Gustav's. We had cheese fondue and chicken schnitzel :) We then hurried back to change clothes before my friends' endowment. Traffic delayed us a little bit so Adam just had time to drop me off for the temple session but since he had to park the car, he went and did initiatories while he waited. I'm so glad I was able to make it in time to be there :) That evening, we went back to Rachelle's to eat dinner with them and the sister missionaries which was fun. Then, we went to Powell's and got Burgerville shakes! So tasty!

Day 3:
This day started off with one of my best friends, Chelsea, getting married to another wonderful friend of mine, Alex. 

We were blessed to see them sealed for eternity in the Portland LDS temple. I totally cried haha :) As I was a bridesmaid, we hung around as they took some pictures at the temple. Then we went back up to Vancouver and ate lunch at Burgerville (we wanted it eat more than just their shakes). I had yummy halibut fish and chips and Adam had a gigantic burger and we shared DELICIOUS rosemary fries. 

We had some time before the reception so we went down to the old Fort Vancouver and Officer's Row in downtown Vancouver. Adam loves history and so I knew he would love it :) 

There are lots of old houses on the Row that housed the major officers stationed in that area especially during the Civil War, like Ulysses S. Grant. They even had reenactors dressed in Union uniforms riding horses and shooting guns! The fort was also cool to see and they were even doing some demonstrations in the blacksmith cabin :) After that we met up with my best friend from high school, Sarah, and got to chat with her for a bit. It was so great to catch up :) We then left to change and went to the reception which was so much fun because I saw lots of old friends from my home stake :)

Day 4:
That Sunday, we spent the morning just driving around Vancouver as I showed Adam some places from my childhood. Then, we went to church in my home ward which I hadn't done since we got married! Everyone was super excited to see us and it was great to see so many people I've known since I was a baby. I was in that ward from the time I was born until I left for college so it was fun to see my old leaders, especially with me being pregnant right now :) That evening we spent having dinner with my aunt and uncle and their family, as well as my grandma. My cousin just recently had a baby so it was fun to be able to hold her little girl and think about what's coming in about 6 months :)

Day 5:
We had this whole day to do what we wanted, so it took a long time for us to decide what to do. We started off by eating brunch at Carol's Corner in Vancouver which is famous for its huge and delicious breakfast foods :) Then we went up to north of Vancouver to visit some of the pretty waterfalls along the Lewis River. 

We drove back into town and hung around a bit before dinner going to some other places that were nostalgic for me. We also went to the Columbia River waterfront which Adam had never been to :) Then we ate dinner with my parents at a mexican place in Vancouver called Muchas Gracias. Its a stupid name but the food is like what you'd get from a yummy taco food truck haha :)

Day 6:

We got up early yesterday and drove home. It was long but we made it safe and sound :)

We had a a great time on our trip and can't wait to go again :) in other news, I have felt the baby a few times! I have been feeling unexplainable tickling and fluttering in my abdomen a few times starting last week :) I'm excited for this to continue as the baby grows :) We'll update everyone more later especially when we find out the gender next month!

We love you all!

<3 Ashley

Our exciting news!

For those of you who don't check Facebook, we've announced that we are expecting our first baby this August!

We are both very excited and nervous about this next stage in our lives but we are looking forward to it. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father blessing us with this little angel that we get to look after. And I know that because of this we will additionally be blessed with guidance every step of this journey. 

I have been feeling pretty good, or as good as the first trimester can feel haha. I have been feeling quite a bit of nausea which has made eating hard. Although I know of many other women that have had it much worse than I do, so I try to count my blessings. I am looking forward to the days when I won't sleep until 11 am or fall asleep on the couch at 8 pm haha. I've heard more energy will come in the second trimester and I'm nearly there!

Adam is also feeling good and taking very good care of me. He has been keeping up on the housework better than I have and still finds time to be a graduate student. He also feels thoroughly successful when I come home from work saying whatever he made for dinner smells good :) As I'm sure with all new dads, it took him awhile to have the reality sink in (it still fully hasn't for both of us I think), but going to our first appointment did help immensely. There we got to see our little one for the first time and hear the heartbeat!

The midwife ended up doing the ultrasound a second time to get a better measurement of the baby and that time we saw it way better! We could see the full profile with baby's head and little feet! Sadly, that came so unexpectedly that we didn't think to take out our phones for a second picture. Oh well, we will see the baby again :) We also took a video to record the sound of the heartbeat. When I played it later for Adam, he said it sounded like a washing machine. And as I type this, our neighbors' machine is going and he is totally right haha. We are very excited for our next appointment to see how our little one has grown since I have noticed a bit of outward belly growth (probably only noticeable to me but I'm still excited!).

In other news, Adam finished up his first semester in graduate school VERY strongly with a 4.0! I'm so proud of him! Especially since finals week landed right when we found out I was pregnant haha but he stayed focused :) We had a wonderful white Christmas which was made wonderful by my sister Jessica coming to stay with us!

 I hadn't spent a Christmas with her since Adam and I got married 3 years ago so it was quite exciting. We had a great time with her although I wish the early pregnancy symptoms hadn't landed right during her visit. Plus our car was having troubles too xP But we made the most of it by traveling to Salt Lake City a few times, going to visit Manti, playing in the snow, and doing a few fun things around Provo :) I am so glad that she was able to come join us and make Christmas even more special.

Well that is all for now! I know we'll have plenty of more updates coming soon ;) and I will try harder at staying on top of them!

<3
Ashley

Fall semester

Merry (nearly) Christmas!

We have had a good fall and seem to finally be getting into the groove of Adam being in grad school now that this semester is ending. Here are some updates:

School and Work
Adam's last day of finals is tomorrow and I'm sure he is counting down the hours until freedom. He has enjoyed his classes immensely and has got a better idea of what he can do in this field and what he wants to do after graduation. Today was his last day of his class that he teaches as well! He has loved teaching and is very excited for next semester now that he has a foundation to work off of and an idea of what works and what doesn't. He is also finishing up the BYU Online class he TAs for. He had an exciting moment last week when he got to give a presentation about the BYU Online class to the whole Humanities department at BYU. He has been with the course for 4 out of the 5 semesters so he was able to give a lot of insight about the benefits of BYU Online and what they are looking to improve on. He hopes that this will lead to a Master's project for him. The Humanities department has 7 GE courses that they offer so he is offering himself as an Instructional Designer to get more online classes available. They were all extremely interested in his ideas which is great because this would be the ultimate job experience!

I am very ready for Adam to have a break from school and luckily next semester should be a little bit lighter. I still work at Wasatch Mental Health and I love it! I especially love my coworkers and any time we get to do a clinic party. They definitely have turned into a second family for me :) I have been trying to keep busy since Adam is unavailable so often so I have been doing lots of reading and made a blanket!

I had a fun time doing it and will probably do more. I will have lots of other projects in the future that I'm excited about and will give updates later.

Holidays
We had a low key but fun Halloween this year. We went to a corn maze with my sister and her family which was lots of fun! My nephew Anders led all of us through the maze while running wild. He quite enjoyed it :)

We also actually dressed up for our Halloween ward party! We were Charlie Brown and Snoopy :)

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year even though we didn't travel. I of course forgot to take any pictures though xP. My sister Stephanie and I did the meal together and just divided up the dishes. She got to make the turkey and I did most of the side dishes which included making stuffing for the first time! We accidentally made a TON but Adam didn't mind because he loved it so much :) We also got to Facetime with my family which was great. Then on Friday, we decorated for Christmas and Adam's brother Seth and his new wife Sabrina came to stay with us for the weekend! It was so much fun having them here since this was the first time us being with them since they got married. We got to play lots of games, go to the temple together, and on Sunday we got to go up to  the house of Adam's other brother and sister-in-law up in Lehi to have sundaes. We were so grateful to spend that time with them.

We are very excited for Christmas as my sister Jessica will be flying in from Washington! This will be the first Christmas I've spent with both of my sisters since we got married. We are looking forward to it :)

We love you all and hope you are having a great Christmas season!

<3 Ashley

Summer and Fall Updates

Hey everyone!

I apologize for it being so long since we last posted. I can officially say that this year has been the craziest we've ever had. It'll be interesting ending 2014 and looking back on this roller coaster. But for now, we'll just try to enjoy the ride without falling off haha. So here is an overview of the last five months as brief as I could make it:

June
Adam continued his job working in the testing department at BYU Independent Study which was working out pretty great :) Then his former boss from when he was a TA for BYU Online came to him and asked if he'd like to come back to his old job! It turned out that the demand was super high for the IHum 202 class that he used to help run and that they were looking to up the registration cap this fall semester, and therefore were looking for another TA to help with the work load! They offered to let him start as soon as spring term ended (mid-end of June) which actually worked out great because IS was going to reduce his hours anyways. The TA job pays a LOT better than the IS job which was a huge blessing for us.
I, on the other hand, was still looking for work. I got quite a few interviews but was struggling to find something in my field, especially because I didn't have a very good experience when I worked at the group home back in March. I knew I didn't want to try to do residential treatment again so I mostly applied to secretary positions and caseworker jobs. Finally, I got an offer for a part-time secretary job with Wasatch Mental Health (a mental health clinic for those on Medicaid) and one for a full-time caseworker job for a care center for the intellectually/physically disabled. Initially, I took the caseworker position but right after I did, I did not feel right about it. Also, at this time I was struggling with some severe anxiety issues. In the end, we decided that it would be best for me to take the job at Wasatch Mental Health. Again, I felt that Heavenly Father was leading me to a much different direction than I planned but I know that he will take care of me.
Also at the end of June, we had the pleasure to travel to Colorado to see Adam's brother Seth get married! We had met his girlfriend (now wife) a few months earlier and absolutely adored her. We both were so happy to see Seth find someone who was so utterly perfect for him. All of Adam's siblings and their kids came out for the occasion which was incredible because some we hadn't seen since before Adam and I had even gotten engaged! It was wonderful to spend time with all of them :)

July
We celebrated Adam's birthday again by having a BBQ and watching the fireworks. I also surprised him by making a homemade cheesecake (his favorite dessert) which I had never made before! We also had kind of a topping bar to go with it. He loved it and was very surprised :)

The rest of the month was pretty uneventful except for just getting into the swing of new jobs. Adam got back into the groove with his TA job and continued to prepare for the class he was going to teach in the fall. I got used to working at WMH and absolutely loved it! The work wasn't too stressful, the people were great, and I was so glad to still be helping people in my field of emphasis.

August
We continued on with our jobs and loved it. I definitely continued to feel confirmation that I had chosen the right job to do and I felt even closer to Heavenly Father as I let him lead me to what my true purpose is. We also got the chance to go on a weekend away to Manti! We hadn't traveled anywhere as a married couple that didn't involve visiting family. Non-family traveling funds just seem to be nonexistent when you have half your family in Colorado and the other half in Washington, so normally we just reserve any traveling for seeing family. We decided to take an opportunity to just stay at a bed and breakfast for a night before school started and it was amazing! The place we stayed in was called the Yardley Inn. It was a beautiful old house that was run by the sweetest older couple.

We also got to do a session in the Manti Temple which neither of us had done before.

It was such a relaxing and enjoyable time! We know we definitely want to go back there again :)

September and October
Time for Adam to go back to school! He started graduate school at the beginning of September and it has been an up and down experience so far. He likes his program and finds it very interesting but at times feels a bit out of his element. Eight months is a long time to not be in school and then have to start up again. Also, this field is quite a bit different than his undergraduate as it is more in the scientific area of academia. It has also been difficult adjusting to him being in school and me not being busy at all. Lots of reading, movies, TV shows, and knitting for me. I have to admit that it has been depressing to not be in school when Adam and so many of my friends are as I haven't felt much purpose currently. But I'm trying hard to stay positive and find productive things to do. We still try to find time to be together but it is quite a bit less than expected. I hope that as time goes by we'll get used to this new routine and find more joy in the journey. It is slowly getting easier :) I know that times have been rough over the last year but I truly believe that Heavenly Father has a reason for everything that happened. I know that the plan, even though it is not what I expected, will be even better than I could have imagined :)