Changing Seasons

Things are changing fast for us and I have to say it's exciting!

We are quickly wrapping things up here in Utah. It's been a good experience to live here. We had a lot of good times and are happy to close this chapter in our lives. We still don't know where we will end up long term, but I look forward to seeing where our next chapter takes us.

My Stash

I have my own little stash of candy at my desk.

The bag started out with Christmas candy from FedEx Office. I have since supplemented it with some of the candy they have around the office.

Spiritual Enlightenment: Be Ambitious For Christ

Google Day

A couple of weeks ago, Google came to visit UVU.  He wanted to look his best, so I cut his hair and he ironed one of his favorite shirts.

I love it when he dresses like a grown up!

I was able to meet him for the last part of their presentation. Now Jonathan has a better idea about what companies are looking for and the hiring process.

Spiritual Enlightenment: The Doctrine of the Father

Twelve

In just twelve short weeks, Jonathan will be done with school. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. It always felt like this was in the far distance, but it is quickly getting here. Whether we are ready or not!

Our schedules actually work so I can pick him up from his Monday night class.

Our goal is to have a job lined up by then.
Luckily, I can find job postings while I'm at work. It's a very exciting time right now. I can't wait to see where Jonathan will be starting his career..

Spring

It's been raining for the past two days. It's a nice reminder that winter really won't last forever. I know that the snow will make another comeback. (Actually this Saturday to be exact.) These rainy days remind me of the soggy winters of my childhood. The layer of high gray clouds that lasted for months mixed in with the occasional foggy day when you couldn't see across the playground. Now that I have lived through a couple of snowy winters, I really love spring. Everything is fresh and colorful. Soon enough, spring will be here.

December

December went by extremely quickly.

 This year we went to the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. It was a great way to start out the Christmas season. I tend to be a bit of a Grinch (just ask Jonathan!), but this help redirect the focus onto Christ. One quote that was shared was from President Hinckley about how there would be no Christmas without Easter.

As I was wrapping presents, I was listening to normal music. I realized that I should have been listening to Christmas music! I couldn't find anything I liked, so I turned on some Nutcracker music. That music played a big part of my childhood Christmas's since my sister and I danced in it for a few years.

This summer, while visiting California, I took one of my Nutcracker pictures and it ended up being our stocking holder!

We got a sweet treat from one of the boys we teach in Nursery.

 (Okay, it was really his parent's but it still counts.)

Our bookcase looked great with all of the Christmas cards we received this year. I love the ones that Garrett and Charlotte colored for us.

It's also not December without snow. I'm still questioning if I really am okay with living in it, but at least it looks pretty.

2017

This is the year Jonathan and I have been looking forward to for a very long time.
This is the year Jonathan graduates.
A few months ago, I saw this encouraging poster.

source

It's been a good reminder for me. I have the tendency to see that we still aren't quite there yet and this helps me see that each little step is benefiting us. I feel like this is the year that all of our persistence pays off. Jonathan will be graduating this May and starting his career in a field he absolutely loves. I am grateful to be married to a man that is persistent in everything he sets his mind to. Including in pursuing me more than seven years ago.

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to this fall. We were able to go to the ISU volleyball game to watch the amazing Abby play!

Jonathan and I went to the funeral for my dad's mission president Reed Benson. I loved seeing all of the flags around the building. One of his sons shared a common phrase President used to say, "May the Lord bless you and the devil miss you." I have a better understanding of why and how President impacted my dad's life. He lived what he preached.

Jonathan and I went for a hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon so I could see where William McMillan spent most of his time hauling lumber for fuel for his family.

We went for a drive up Provo Canyon to see the fall colors. I am not looking forward to winter, but Jonathan kindly reminds me that this is our last Utah winter. I have a feeling that will be my daily mantra as I scrape the windshield in the mornings.

Jonathan and I went the Pioneer Museum in Salt Lake City that also houses the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. There are photos lining almost all of the walls. I was looking to see if we could find any of our ancestors and sure enough I found one! Susannah Meredith Nebeker was there! I couldn't read her name plate, but I knew I had seen that picture before. I went home and found the same picture of her on Family Search.

Susannah is on the top left.

I loved this beautiful stain glass window in the museum.

We went to our first professional soccer game. It was pretty rowdy. I can only imagine how deafening the World Cup matches are in comparison.

We started off Jonathan's birthday month off strong with some delicious (to him) black licorice ice cream at Rockwell Ice Cream. We will have to go back and try more of their delicious flavors!

Jonathan is on track to graduate this upcoming May. I couldn't be more proud of him for his determination and grit to finish his education. He truly is an amazing man and will have so many opportunities because he refused to give up.

Another Step Closer

Jonathan has an internship! He only has two more semesters and then he will graduate. Then who knows where we will be! For the past few months it hasn't felt like much progress was happening, especially after his first interview for an internship was really sketchy. Like they weren't sure when they would be able to pay Jonathan... I'm glad we passed on that one!

This is the company Jonathan will be interning with!

Something (or rather someone) that has helped us stay hopeful and persistent has been the example of my brother Andy and his wife Amy. They were able to make it through year after year of Andy in school. They didn't give up hope and Andy just celebrated his 5th anniversary at his dream job. If they can do it, so can we!

Winter

This week winter decided to come back. I am realizing more than ever that I really am a California girl! The snow is beautiful, but I have no problem admiring it in the distance or spending a few hours in it.

The after work view from the parking lot.

Yesterday morning was rather icy. I was able to get out of the parking lot just fine, but when I got to the road in front our apartment the car in front of me was struggling on the ice. I decided to turn around and got stuck myself. I forced the car into submission and straightened out the car. I slowly backed up and turned around. (The way I should have done from the beginning!) I really hope the next place we live won't have icy winters, but the chances are slim since most of the country has these kinds of winters. At least I'm learning how to deal with it! (Also walking on slippery ice with a hurt back just is not a good combination!)

Life Lately

Here are some little things that we've been up to. On one of our recent adventures, we saw a Tesla charging station with a couple of cars charging.

Every few months, we get treats from our boss with FedEx Office. I didn't know what I wanted so I asked for chocolate with caramel. Jennifer totally delivered!

Jonathan and I finally went the Family History Center in Salt Lake City. They were able to give us some direction on how to do our Family History. Next time, we'll get serious and go to the Family History Library!

Ryan and Tyler had their birthday. It was really weird getting family names ready for my nephew to take to the temple!

Stephanie Nielsen of the NieNie Dialogues, visited UVU and Jonathan saved us great seats. It was amazing! Personally, I loved watching how her husband was looking at her. The love he has for her is palpable.

We went up to Ogden for a mission reunion that ended up getting cancelled because Jonathan's mission president was in the hospital. We had dinner just down the street from the temple.

We went up to Temple Square to spend time with Chris and Annie and watched General Conference from the Tabernacle.

Nursery has been going well! We've been in it for almost a year and a half and we still love it! Another couple was called and so I finally made a schedule. I forgot to include all of the extra time for laying on the floor or running into the walls during the lesson and calming down after singing Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam...

It's hard to believe that another summer is over!

Differences

Jonathan and I are extremely similar, so much so that it's a little creepy at times.

There is one way that we are very different. Jonathan enjoys having variety with our dinners while I could stick to the easy, yummy recipes we've been using for years. Since I work all day, Jonathan has taken over cooking. (Yes, I am spoiled. Yes, I enjoy it thoroughly.) He has started making spaghetti sauce from scratch and I'm pretty sure he has now used our Kitchen Aid more times than I have. Sometimes on the weekend, I make dinner. It almost always involves the Crock Pot and frozen chicken. I have no problem admitting that I am lazy when it comes to cooking. Hopefully for Jonathan's sake I will become more like him in the future.

Tuesdays

Sometimes Tuesdays can be as rough as Mondays...

So take a break and smell the {giant} flowers!

Play Ball!

We went to a UVU baseball game on a perfect April evening. What made it even better was that they were playing against New Mexico State, one of the schools Jonathan applied and was accepted to. One of these days we'll get there! Any way, we were both really impressed with how well UVU's defense was.

New Mexico tried to rally, but UVU was able to get the win.

I am so glad that we actually went to a game this year!

My Best Friend

I know a lot of people say that they married their best friend, but Jonathan is legitimately my best friend. I still love spending time with him.

This is before I cut the holes in his TMNT mask.

Honestly, I wish I could spend all of my time with him. We are so similar in so many ways it's crazy.

Clara didn't want to wear any bows in her hair, so we had Jonathan try it on.

On our way home from our last trip in Idaho, we were shocked when we realized that we had already been in the car for 2 hours. We had been talking that entire time and didn't even notice that we were well over half way done.

I still don't know how I got lucky enough to marry my best friend, but I'll take it!

Moving Offices

Back in November, I found out that our office was moving up to Lehi. It took awhile, but by the end of January it finally started looking like we were moving.

On our last day at the old office, all of the office chairs were corralled in the lobby.

I really miss the amazing view I had of Mount Timpanogos.

After living in California, the commute to Lehi is a breeze. Especially since the speed limit is now 70 on the freeway. Though, it was rather slow when it snowed, but I made it to work in one piece!

A couple of weeks ago, we had a fire drill for our building. It totally felt like I was back in high school. Sure, we didn't have to line up, but the weather reminded me of Roseville.

Overall, I'm liking the new office. It actually feels like we are part of the company now that we aren't tucked away in a tiny room.

Oh, Hello 2015

I have neglected this poor blog for long enough! Things got really crazy in November and thankfully it is much calmer now. I'll try to be more regular with posts, but at this point I don't know if that means once a week or once a month. Here are some pictures from my phone of some things we've been up to in the past few months!

We took more of my family to the temple!

We survived a below freezing BYU football game!

I found a bunch of awesome rocks for Ty in Roosevelt.

Jonathan and I met sleepy baby Ruby!

Seriously, that girl is a doll!

Jonathan is still a favorite with Clara. Jonathan's taking a picture a Clara with a toy she's pretending is a camera.

Jonathan and I had our very own Thanksgiving together. That's all of our leftovers!

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I found out the company I work for was going to be shutting down the Orem office in January. I was kind of in denial about it happening and was taking some time to figure out where I should work. The day before Christmas Eve, I got a job within the same company that will be moving to Lehi next week. This was seriously the best Christmas present I've ever gotten!

Our parent's totally spoiled us this year!

We had our first snow storm on Christmas day and luckily Jonathan cleared the snow off of the car so I could go to work the next day.

Ruby came down to Orem for a quick visit with her parents.

On Saturday, Jonathan and I went up to Park City and just wandered around.

Today has been a wonderfully rainy day. I love winter rain especially here in Utah!

I have a lot more pictures, but they are all on the big camera. I will be sure to share more of what we've been up to!