Arizona...Here We Come!!!

Nik and I have made the decision that it is time for us to come HOME! We have enjoyed this adventure of being newlyweds in Utah...but our journey up here has come to an end. 

Maybe it is more me than him....but we want to be home with friends and family. We want to be home with the desert. We want to be home to the place we have lived our whole lives. 

But there is one little pit stop on the way...San Diego!

Next month we will be heading to San Diego for a summer job. Nik will be selling Pest Control and I will be working in the office taking care of the appointments and paperwork for that company. I am excited for a change but to still be working in an office. I love the office job. I am excited to be working with Nik. Nik's best friend Josh got him an interview with the company and luckily we were hired on. Now we get to spend the summer with friends! Josh and Kylee did this same thing last year and enjoyed it. We look forward to the great opportunities it can bring. Living in San Diego in the summer is going to be AWESOME!

Then in August we will leave San Diego and head back to ARIZONA! I couldn't be happier. Sometimes you just have to go with what feels right...and this totally does!

There is one thing Nik and I will not agree on.....being sad about leaving our jobs up here. Yes, he has been so blessed to have a Full Time job but it was just one of "those" J.O.B.s. = Just Over Broke. He is happy to get out of there and do something he WANTS to do. As for me...I am going to miss my boss and his awesome family. They really took us in under their wings. I felt immediately like family. They had us over for their family Independence Day party, an Office Christmas Party (which was only Nik and I and their kids all playing RockBand 2. It was so FUN!), and then they had us over for The Superbowl. It was so fun to be around little kids. Their 2 youngest are the same ages as my 2 youngest sisters. They are so cute. Paul also helped Nik and I move into our 2nd apartment, helped us after the deer accident with towing, and picking me up at home for work when Nik was at school with the car. I am going to miss Paul (my boss) and Mary (his wife). They were so nice. It helps when you love your job to have a great boss. Thank you Paul and Mary.

Well....now the word is out. Hopefully you are all as excited as we are! We can't wait to COME HOME!!!! 

Let's have a party when we get there! K? K!

The In-Laws

I married into a wonderful family.

 I am so happy that my Mother-In-Law is not the "typical" MIL in most jokes.

 She is so nice and sweet and I can tell she genuinely cares about me.

As a late Christmas present/Vday gift, my Mother and Father-In-Law

 sent Nik and I a gift card to Carrabba's.

 We love that place!

Randee (my Mother-In-Law)

 always talks about how much she loves this specific dish...

and I believe it is the Pollo Rosa Maria. I think that is it.

 I decided to take her word on it and ordered it....

AND IT WAS AMAZING!

 I thought I wouldn't like it when I saw there was no red sauce in the dish...

but it was so delicious.

 It is a chicken breast stuffed with cheese and then a mushroom sauce over it.

Whether that is the dish she loves or not, it was so good!

You all should try it the next time you are there.

Then...Nik's Grandma - Nanu - is so sweet and makes me smile and laugh all the time.

 I am so blessed to have another awesome grandma in my family.

Every...and I mean EVERY holiday

she sends out a holiday card with some little goodie inside.

For Vday she sent a cute card with a gift card to the theatres so Nik and I could have a night out.

And she always personalizes the cards.

L.O.V.E

THEN....we get another card last week and so I thought

 She must have forgotten she already sent us a card

 becuase it was in a red envelope.

 I open it up...and it is a card for the Chinese New Year with her wishing us a

Happy Chinese New Year.

SO CUTE!

And I guess it is good luck to give people a dollar...

so she sent both Nik and I one.

How stinkin adorable is that?!?!

 I love getting random cards.

 They let Nik and I know that people are thinking about us and they love us.

There are many more examples

 but these are a few that really brightened our days recently.

Thank you, my wonderful family I married into!

Thank You, Mamma.

"I see my mother kneeling with our family each day.

I hear the words she whispers as she bows her head to pray.

Her plea to the Father quiets all my fears,

And I am thankful love is spoken here.

Mine is a home where ev’ry hour is blessed by the strength of priesthood pow’r,

With father and mother leading the way,

Teaching me how to trust and obey;

And the things they teach are crystal clear,

For love is spoken here."

My Mother is such a wonderful woman. The past 8 months of being married and starting the new chapter of my life in a totally different state has really opened my eyes to the lady my Mom has molded me into.

For 18 years I lived with her (and my whole family of course) and in those 18 years when I would need her, I would have to search the house to find her. Countless times her bedroom door would be shut so I would knock. It would be silent and I would knock again. Thinking she couldn’t hear me because she was in the back of the room or in the bathroom, I would quietly let myself in…and there she would be kneeling on her side of the bed with her hands clasped together, her eyes closed, and her head down. Sometimes she would softly turn to me and ask what I needed or she would say “just a minute” and at that time I would quietly back out of the room. She would finish her prayer and come out of the room to find me a few minutes later.

There were also many times on Saturday and Sunday mornings I would wake up later than usual and find her at the kitchen table eating breakfast while reading her scriptures. I wouldn’t really see this on the weekdays as I was always to school super early…but I imagine she would follow the same routine through out the whole week.

Now I am married. I moved out of AZ. I have my own habits to form and I see how she has influenced my life. I find myself doing things without even thinking about it and then when I’m done I realized my mom would do that same thing.

Thank you, Mom, for doing the right things…because I follow your footsteps without even thinking about it. I am so blessed to have a wonderful example in you.

I was never good at reading the scriptures on my own growing up. I just couldn’t find the time/make the time to sit down and read. When I would try to read, randomly, I wouldn’t understand it very well. I have always had a problem reading and understanding that language of the ancient prophets…but things are changing.

Nik and I wake up EARLY for him to get to school on time and I am left with a few hours until I have to get to work. I watch The Today Show every morning and use to sit and watch it until I had to leave…but I wanted to start habits to better me, my family, and my future. I decided to read my scriptures while eating my breakfast every morning just as my Mom would do. It is so wonderful. I don’t fall asleep like I would when reading them in my bed. I understand what they are saying and I can actually follow the stories. I get so excited when I learn something new. And I am so happy to have found the time to dedicate.

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me. Even though I might not have done everything you taught me when I was young, it’s catching up with me now and I want you to know you are a special woman in my life. You are my best friend, my example, and my Mother.

“Today you have been the Mom I needed you to be.” (From Michael McLean’s song “Lullaby For Me”) I love you, Mom.