Ain't Missing You

1. We made a little video to send home to our families because we miss them.

2. Youtube decided to not always put our lips in-sync.

3. We have a lot of free-time.

insta-lake

Shaun hates Instagram (although now I think I got him to love it) because he didn't understand why people wanted their pictures to look all old. Regardless, I liked the app today on our walk.

We have a beautiful backyard, which I have never been able to get a chance to explore fully. I blame it on the humidity because I will get halfway around the lake and need to turn around because it is so bad. Today was better---but still bad.

Here is a preview of our walk through the eyes of insta.

{those are our cute little apartments in the background} 

six-aroo.

I wanted to make this a creative post. I went online and googled "things that happen in 6 months time" and all of the results were what happens to you when you are pregnant at 6 months. That may somehow relate but not at this time :) So the creative intro went out the window.

But I don't need creativity to realize how in love I am with my SJ. On a side note, don't make fun for celebrating 6 months. It's okay to celebrate, but maybe not 1 year & 6 months (that should make sense). 

It has been such an incredible, crazy, all over the place adventure/party the past 6 months. And I'm sure the adjectives will multiply as we go on. There has been many lessons learned along the way. And along with celebrating, I'm going to note some.

1`  my husband does a lot for me. I know I think a lot how I gave up school, my life back home etc to move out here in GA, but really Shaun is doing this for ME. The sacrifices that he continues to do to make me comfortable out here is amazing.  

2`  being apart never gets easier. Once we were apart for the first time, I thought it would be easier as we had to do it more. WRONG.   

3`  the saying is true, you will fall more & more in love as the years go on. My love has nearly quintupled (yeah figure that one out) since I married that man. 

4`  (said out of love) boys will leave all the cooking & cleaning to the women if they had the chance. I think yesterday Shaun pretty much summed it up for us 

SJ: can I do anything to help?

NJ: no, at this point I don't think you can do anything

SJ: that's what I love to hear!

of course he was joking because that is all he does. And I'm grateful for what he does to help out. Even after his long day at work. 

5`  Shaun will be an incredible father. I already knew this given our time together at EFY but I get to be reminded of it through our housesitting/babysitting jobs or our callings with the youth. It makes me smile.

6`  I'm funny! Sometimes all you need is to laugh. Which of course I have that covered married to Shaun. But sometimes he laughs his 'real laugh' with something that I said and I feel...accomplished for the day. Which is the only way you can feel once a comedian laughs at you. 

7`  family prayer & scriptures together is so important it's NOT even funny (referring to #6, get it?). Some of my favorite moments have been reading scriptures together. Shaun being the scholar that he is, answers my little kid questions about the scripture stories and it's great. 

8`  Dad, I have finally learned to SAVE ELECTRICITY! All of those years of making me come all the way downstairs to turn off my bedroom light when you were sitting next door? I GET IT NOW. Utilities really is a lot when you don't split it with 5 other girls. 

9`  I have re-learned that at 28 years old, SJ is still a kid. And I think always will be. He loves games and playing games together. He is still on a hunt trying to find a game on x-box that I'll fall in love with and he can play with me. I think we're getting warmer...

10`  Shaun puts himself in my shoes a lot. He realizes how difficult it is for me out here and makes it better. I know coming home from work all he wants to do is eat and fall asleep. But he takes me to the mall or even hikes with me instead because I was home all that day. 

11`  That mother instinct that I probably have had all along has surfaced. All I want to do is take care of Shaun. Stupidly, I'm usually the sick one so the roles are reversed. But I find myself wishing Shaun was sick so I could take care of him all day {haha}. 

12`  Marriage is work. It is just like how our testimonies are work. You can not be lazy with it. 

13`  Shaun's bedtime is now MY new bedtime. Which has to happen because life isn't fun when he's asleep so I might as well Zzzz myself.

14`  There is a steam button on the iron to get all the wrinkles out.

15`  I can be thousands of miles away from my home, but yet you are home because I am with him.

16`  Our families are so important to us.

17`  There are different "pillow preferences." SJ asks for a flaaaat pillow and a small tiny pillow to rest his arm on. It's cute. 

18`  My husband is SELFLESS. Anything I want to do will trump what he wants to do. Not to mention he doesn't complain when I'm obsessed with pizza. Who knew there was people who get sick of it?

19`  There is a person that hoards their clothes too. Together we have a closet full of clothes that we never wear but somehow they are still hanging up in our closet. I knew there were others out there! 

20`  Finally, I learned that I married the right person. Experiences that keep coming on a daily basis prove this fact to me. He is mine, all mine. We make each other better, we test each other, love each other, and have a BLAST together.

Happy 6 months Shauny boy. 

Got a long road of party ahead of us!

we have arrived.

I can finally say it. Today is the day that I can profess the words:

I am comfortable here.

After venturing out to the grocery store a few times alone, my confidence has grown maneuvering around this beautiful place. I know usually where everything is. I am even starting to understand all the street names and where they connect--although they all have the word bridge in the name so apparently that should be easier to remember {webb bridge, haynes bridge, state bridge, kimball bridge}. My bitterness about the ever changing roads is starting to decrease and the longing-ness for a Utah grid system is disappearing.

Making more friends in the ward has helped tremendously, including being involved with my precious YW. I have grasped the concept that your ward friends are your new family out here. My apartment that I so bitterly hated (only because it was located in GA) has now become my humble abode. Hitting up the hotel's downtown for Shaun's work training and then returning back to our apartment now makes me say the phrase "ahh, feels good to be back home."

                   ------>which I will mention, I refused to let myself get to that point here in Georgia. But thanks to many friends and prayers, it's here!

I think I didn't want myself to get there because it would mean that my old home bubble would be forgotten. But oh, that is not the case at all. I can still miss home excessively and succeed in life here. And it may have taken a little over 2 months to realize that but I'm here now.

Which is all that matters. 

& he's included. 

Shaun & Nicole are done being parents! Since Thursday, we were watching these kids in our ward. About the 2nd (okay I admit, it might have even been the first) night, I turned to Shaun and said                "I like our life with just us.."   
(which gives the wrong impression because I'd watch those kids again in a heart beat)

Which I think is true for now. We are coming up on 6 months (I don't believe it) and I think we are still considered newlywed stage. I think the adventures we continue to have and the time we get to spend together without worrying about others is grand for now. We will talk more about my amazingly fun packed kid-weekend later.

My next thought is, I wish I could take my thoughts and feelings about something and put them in somebodies head and say "SEE?! This is how I feel!" Becky and I were having one of our deep conversations yesterday. I was telling her about my first lesson that I gave in YW on Sunday. Which went incredibly fast. I over-prepared STILL thinking that I needed more information and I got through only one of my ideas. Which is better than the other way around I guess. I had this feeling sometimes during EFY and with some friends in my life. I wish some of these girls could just see what I see. Understand what I know and what I am trying to teach them. I guess you really need to have that desire to know and learn. Unfortunately I think that is sometimes rare when you are a 16 year old girl living amongst the pressures of life. 

I'm so excited to work and play with these girls. It is such a diverse group where unity doesn't exist. Once again I miss my bubble where all the YW in my ward were some of my best friends and I could not wait for mutual on Wednesdays. I guess it's a challenge for me though which I'll gladly take.

One more thought, the bishop gave a thought yesterday about the scripture where the Lord says "..if you are not one, you are not mine.." (D&C 38:27) He was using it in a context where he was addressing unity among the YW. I was then thinking of how we could take it into our own lives with just individual people. How I can be more one with Shaun, family, and friends. Things that I can improve on so I can follow that commandment with exactness. 

Don't you love an enlightening day?

Us too.