All You Need is Love ♥

Sooo... mushy time! Just wanted to write a short post about how wonderful Bryce is! I am so blessed to be married to the most wonderful, handsome, sweet guy out there. Along with others, we feel that valentines day should be celebrated every day of the year when you're in a relationship, especially a marriage, but the silly thoughtful gifts aren't necessary every day ;) they are fun for the holiday, though also unnecessary. Something important, is to know and understand yours and your special someone's "love language." We all communicate love differently, and we all feel loved differently. Check out this website if you haven't already, it's extremely helpful for improving any relationship.  Yep, this link.  Anyway, we don't always do the gifts thing, but I thought I'd post some pictures from valentines day :) Bryce surprised me with some beautiful white tulips, and since he knows me best... instead of some stinky chocolate ;) he got me some yummy chips, hot pockets, and delicious popsicles. I decided to decorate the house with some streamer stuff (the same that Bryce used the first year we were married and surprised me with in our first home... he's so sweet and creative!) We also played some video games and went to dinner at Cafe Rio, yummmmmm. We had a ton of fun. I love my sweet husband, I am so blessed to be married to Bryce Skelton! 

Every day is a day to love, not just that one day of the year.  :] I bet you all already knew that, but hey this is a blog. It's full of stuff you already know! 

Pretty!

(This is a picture taken in Feb. 2011, when Bryce surprised me by decorating the house...so fun! (First valentines day as a married couple)

Oh yeah, just a quick add... Bryce's family was able to visit this past weekend, and we had so much fun spending time with them. We went to the church music festival on Temple Square to support Fen (Bryce's uncle), because he got an award for a song that he wrote, and an amazing choir sung a bunch of songs submitted by amazing writers. During one song, an organ started playing... and we couldn't see who was playing it.. Bryce leans over to me and says "I can't find the organist..."  After we both looked around to find him, Bryce whispers to me again and says, "He's probably up there behind that panel" (it was a wooden panel thing underneath the pipes and had a window look but was dark). Then he added, "Phantom of the opera!" For some reason, that made me hysterical inside and I was trying so hard not to burst out laughing. Don't you love how those moments of extreme laughter are during those times when you can't laugh out loud or you'll have a ton of people wondering what is wrong with you? Just the thought of some poor little guy playing the organ, not allowed at the concert, looking all sad like behind that panel was enough to set off one of those moments where you're holding in your laugh so hard, you start crying... hahah Jbz looks over at me like .. what in the world.. this song isn't that touching you dork. Just kidding Jbz. ;) But just as I'd get composed, I'd hear Bryce snicker a little or I'd look at him, and lose it again. I am grateful to have such a sweet husband that makes me laugh all the time. We all could use some more laughing, it is a great way to forget troubles and live life. Anywho... side tracked.... oh yeah, it was so much fun hanging out with the Skelton's. We played some kinect, watched some awesome movies, ate yummy food, and kept it real ;) Family is the best, we are grateful for all of our family. Happy February to everyone! 

Love, Us

Change is awesome. Yeah?

(This is a lengthy post... if you're interested in novels haha) So, a bunch has changed. Actually... this change pretty much took place in the time frame of ONE week. Early one morning, while Bryce was getting ready to go to work, he got a call. It was his supervisor letting him know that S&I (LDS seminary program) wanted to hire him full-time.   =O  ... We felt absolutely stoked! The only catch is that they needed him to start.. in one week (from the call). They encouraged us to leave as soon as possible to find a place to live. So after we told our families about the exciting news, we left so that we could make it to a bunch of meetings up north and find a place to live. We weren't sure how in the world we were going to find the right place to live in one day... we drove around looking for places, we made calls, and we did everything we could. Every place we tried just didn't work out... even one that we thought was absolutely perfect. We had asked if we could do a walk-through that day, and the office lady said that she would ask a manager and then give us a call back... after waiting by the phone for a bit... we realized that we had to keep trying because that "perfect one" might not work out. We decided to do something we should have done sooner, we prayed. After that, things were calm, and we knew that God would guide us to the right place. We then realized that there was one complex that we kept seeing on our search but we hadn't contacted it. So Bryce called and they let us know that there was ONE available that week... and that we could walk through that day if we could be there within a half hour, before they closed. We pretty much rushed over to walk through a beautiful townhome (that turned out to be cheaper than others we looked at.) We loved it. We took care of some paper work and all that fun stuff, then we treated ourselves to Fazoli's hahah.

Yum!

We felt so excited to have found the right place that day so that we could get home and pack and stuff. We knew that we couldn't have found that place on our own, the Lord truly guided us to find the right place at the right time. And it was available immediately! That was a miracle to us. About the other place, that seemed "perfect," it turns out that the lady accidentally gave the manager the wrong number so they couldn't get ahold of us....... coincidence? I don't think so... haha :) We were guided to the right place, and we're so grateful that it worked out the way that it did.

So we went home to pack and get other things taken care of, and we saw many more miracles.

We needed to sell our washer and dryer in a day, but we didn't know if it was possible. We posted an ad on craigslist, and someone contacted us pretty quickly and came and picked them up. Miracle.

We realized that our little car would not be a good fit for snowy weather. The defrost struggles and it has a few other issues that had us worried.  So we looked around at cheap cars, trying to find a good one for the drive up and the daily commute for Bryce in snow. Have you ever tried to sell your car and buy a new one in one day? We weren't sure how that would work either. The moving people were supposed to come that Saturday, which was the following day. As we were looking for a car, the moving people called and told us they wouldn't be able to move our stuff until Monday. At first, we were unsure if that was good news, because Bryce needed to start teaching on Tuesday. After a day or two though, we realized it had been a blessing. We had two extra days to pack/clean, which was definitely needed. (We appreciate our family for helping! Thank you!) We had the time to take care of other things that were important as well as find the right car. Pete's boss was trying to sell a '96 Jeep and hadn't been able to, so he had just lowered the price. We couldn't believe how perfect it seemed. The price, the style of vehicle, the snowy weather potential?! (Mind you, we were desperate to find it...) We test drove that cute little Jeep, got it checked and all that, and    then with another miracle... it was ours that weekend before we had to leave for the cold weather. It has definitely been a blessing for us, the weather where we are now has supposedly been record-breaking cold and icy. Haha... way to get us involved weather, we appreciate it :) Anyway, we were able to find the right car, even though we only had a couple of days to find it. I know that the Lord helps us if we reach out to Him in our time of need. We definitely needed His help. One week is not enough time to do the things that we needed to do -alone- but we had help. ---We're grateful for the help and guidance we have had that made this move possible. We feel blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.We miss you all! We believe that Bryce was able to get this job because it was meant to be, He is meant to teach the Lord's gospel to the amazing youth, so we have had so much help getting to where we are now. We are grateful for God's many miracles.

Cute new Jeep!

Only a couple of hours, and we find our first snow. This hardly happens in southern Utah. Haha!

Hey, the summers are awesome ;) 

Beautiful & freezing!! :) 

We love blue sky!!

It's still settling in that Bryce got hired at this job. We've been in the "student-teaching" phase for a year and a half, and we've seen so many ups and downs... We had no idea that this is what would happen in the future. A year ago, we got the first news- which was that Bryce was not hired...that was very tough for us. We didn't have a backup plan, we felt that him teaching seminary was the right plan. This led us to reevaluate everything in our life. We have learned so much since then. We realized that it is important for a person to serve the Lord while being themselves. The gospel isn't about being a "cookie cutter Mormon," not that that is bad, but we are all different. That's a beautiful concept. We don't all have to be the same to serve the Lord. He needs our different talents, personalities, abilities, attitudes, and experiences to help those around us. No one is perfect. God can help others through us, if we're willing to be ourselves and let Him guide us. Long shpill, but it's an important lesson we've learned. :) If you are you, no matter where you've been in your life, you can help someone around you. Your humor may lift someone up and change a bad day to a great day, or you saying hi to someone might help them smile and help someone else, you could listen to someone and help them know how you handled a certain situation that they're currently facing and  help them overcome something difficult in their life,  or whatever! The situations are numberless.

Anyway, we've learned a lot of important lessons in this difficult time and we know that if Bryce got hired a year ago, things would be much different. We are grateful for all that has happened, and that Bryce got the right job at the right time. Things happen for a reason, and God is aware of each individual and their needs. He knows what we hope for, but He also knows what will bring us the most happiness, and if we trust in Him, He will guide us to the right things at the right time. Patience is definitely required, but He will take care of you if you trust in Him. :] God hears prayers, and answers them.
A really great talk by the LDS prophet says it all better than I can....
click this link if you'd like to read it:   "Consider The Blessings"     :]

Love, Us