Friday, November 26, 2010

Newlywed Graduates!

June 10, 2010
Disclaimer:
This is long overdue....
but made possible with the faster internet now.
In California our internet was too slow to do any pictures on our blog,
so that is why there is a huge space between posts.
Enjoy!

This has been one crazy fun year of marriage.
We have lived in
Provo, UT
and
San Diego, CA
and loved each experience in its own separate way.

Now it is time for our First Anniversary
so we got work off to head over to
DISNEYLAND!
We were both so excited because the last time I went to Disneyland I was 8 and Nik's last time he was 18.
This was MUCH overdue....
and came at a perfect time for living 90 minutes away from the park at the time.
Here are some pictures I can FINALLY load up with the faster internet.


Welcome to Disneyland, ya Lovebirds!

In front of Splash Mountain.
We did this one twice.
Loved it.
Pictures below.

Don't know why this is sideways

I love him!

This was our delicious lunch
And our waiter snuck into the picture
It was so good!
We stuffed our faces and didn't have to eat for the rest of the day.

Before

After.
OMGoodness! It was sooooooOOOOooooO Good!

On the Matterhorn.
First time on this ride because when I went at 8yrs old,
some guy fell off of the ride just prior to our visit,
so it was down for construction.
Eek.
I WAS a little nervous to ride it.

1st ride.
Made him go first because I didn't want to fall out.

My MOST FAVORITE ride EVERRRRRR!
Nik and I waited a little longer than 2 hours to get the front seats.
It was AWESOME!
(don't mind my goofy face)

Our last ride of the day.....
I WAS SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!
But then I wanted to go on it again right away.
It was amazing.

Well, that sums up our trip. It was so fun.
I love this man and the fun times we have together.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Allred/Berry Family Pictures


My awesome friend
took our Family Pictures this weekend
and here is a sneak at what she did.
(p.s. - last time we took Family Pics Hannah was a newborn
...8 years ago!
About time?
I'd say so!)


I love my family.
More to come.
Thanks Andrea!

Here is her info if you are interested...
...and you SHOULD be!
Contact her.
You won't regret it!

Friday, November 5, 2010

In HIS Time

This has been a hard concept for me to comprehend. Patience hasn’t been one of my best qualities. I thought I did great while waiting for Nik. Of course I had my ups and downs but I survived those two years. I did it. We made it. But looking back at that….I wouldn’t really call that Patience. I would just call that “waiting” just like a pregnant lady….let me explain.

When Nik left, I knew when he would be back…just like a pregnant lady has an estimated due date. There is something to look forward to. I thought I would be perfect as a pregnant lady (in the future) because HECK that is only 9 months, not 24. I might be perfect at it…but I wouldn’t call it patience.

To me…patience is waiting for something to happen and not knowing when that might be. Now THIS is very hard for me. I have a HARD time not knowing. Ask my mom (or Nik, as I shared this with him on our first date) about my first Disneyland experience. I was NOT about to wait an unknown number of hours to find out where we were going. Not gonna happen!

Well these last 3 months my patience was tested to the max. Let me explain….Nik and I have been married for 1.5 years and this whole time we have made many choices with Prayer and Faith. We got married 6 short weeks after he returned home from his mission and then the day after our reception we moved to Utah where I had a job but Nik did not. We didn’t know anybody except my aunt who lived 30 minutes south and Nik’s great-aunt who lived 45 minutes north. So…we were pretty much flyin solo in good ol’ Provo. Although that was a difficult 10 months away from what we were comfortable with in Mesa, we felt we needed to experience it and are so grateful we did. Nik was able to get a job 1 week after arriving.

Then we heard of this opportunity in San Diego selling pest control. That was another experience that helped us grow. I was able to work with the same company there with Nik, so we were both employed. It was awesome to live there for a few months. After 2.5 months there, my old boss from Mesa called me to let me know she needed me NOW but Nik still had 5 weeks left in his contract in San Diego. We decided I needed to go home to AZ without him to be able to keep the job I loved and we needed. (so, if I lost you, we married in AZ, moved to UT for 10 months and then to CA for a few months, then back to AZ).

After being apart for 5 weeks while Nik was in CA and me in AZ, he was finally able to join me and we moved in with his parents house. They are so kind, generous, and they love us. I am so thankful for them and their hospitality, also for his dad giving him work while finding a job. We have been living with them since August and we are so blessed. Well, Nik had been applying everywhere for any sort of job. He focused on Bank of America as they have great benefits and pay. One of the positions he applied for actually did a phone interview and then a real in-person interview with him. Even though he interviewed, he kept applying for more positions with BofA. Well, he kept getting emails back denying him a position but they weren’t specific as to which position he was denied. So I thought a few times those were from the interviewed position. But then they would send him a request to do a background check…and then I got my hopes up again. And THEN we would get more denied emails. And I got so sad. That position looked so promising! For some reason, Nik has always been better at keeping his chin up and positive. (I think that is why we were meant for each other….so I could grow.) Well after we were suppose to hear back from that interview after a week…..it was 3 or 4 weeks and THEN we heard back….AND HE GOT THE JOB!!! He got it! And Nik just said “I told you we would be okay.” Yes, yes he did…but I just have a hard time. WHEN? When was he going to get a job? There was no timeline or expiration date. This has been hard but such a blessing to move forward with Faith.

Okay, I had to take a break from this post...as I'm sure you did IF you are still reading this...so let me just make this short-ish story shorter.

I love my Heavenly Father and His plan. He keeps putting things in my path to help me grow with Patience, but I usually just give up. Maybe I don't even give up, I just complain. I might not even complain, I just get really sour about everything. My wonderful husband is a sweet man because he puts up with me when he is so strong in this. And my Heavenly Father is wonderful because He KNOWS I can do hard things...He will never give me a task He knows I cannot handle.

Like I said earlier....I believe that is one of the many reasons Nik and I were meant for each other. I wouldn't say we are complete opposites, because we aren't, but there are many things we are opposite in.
He like the crust of the brownies, I like the inside. PERFECT!
He like the crunchy cookies, I like the soft...sometimes not so perfect.
(only in the sense that I get all my cookies to myself).
He is always warm and I am always cold. THE BEST!
We are both picky eaters but about different things....so food usually never goes to waste.
I could go on...but the most important on, and the reason for this blog is
PATIENCE.
He likes to live each day in itself and I can't help but look forward and wonder...
which then makes it difficult to have patience.
I love him and my Heavenly Father, who has the plan set out for me...and probably gets a good laugh every now and then over my ridiculousness.

Well, enough. This was extremely long. Thank you.

Oh, and Nik starts his new job in 12 days!!!! I'm so excited. WE'RE so excited.
With that comes better hours for everyone involved = more time together.
LOVE!