Once Upon a Time...: A catch up on our New Life

Wow! So much has happened in the last couple of weeks that it's hard to remember where to start. I guess I should go back to Texas and finish up our adventure there.

Jake graduated from Security Forces Academy on May 19th. The whole week before he graduated was CRAZY! Trying to get our housing set up (what a joke), and trying to get our move set up, packing, processing out, and just everything. I don't think I have really slept in the last 4 weeks.

Anyway! The graduation went wonderful! My brother Kyle, sister-in-law Whitney, and Pepper came to the graduation with me. The missionary couple from the ward also came to support Jake. It was so cool! There was 2 speakers, one was old but had a lot of wise things to say, the other was a commander over the academy and was a little more on the serious side. After taking pictures after the graduation and saying bye to friends we will probably never see again, we went home and spent the evening with Kyle and Whitney. Friday we just hurried and got everything finished and packed into the truck. We had a full truck load to take back to Utah. We woke up early one Saturday and started our journey back to Utah. While driving we came to the border of Mexico. It was like Black and White. On one side of the fence it looked like a third world country and on the other side it looked like America. It was actually really sad. That night we stayed with our friends from Mesa, Arizona, Joey and Brooke Williams, they took us to a Guyana restaurant because Jake and Joey both served in the West Indies Mission and in Guyana. It was SO good. I drank a flower that night. Then Joey decided to take us 4-wheeling in his truck and I thought we were going to die. It was a lot of fun though. We were all laughing so hard when we almost ran into the side of a mountain..It's weird how near death experiences can make you laugh.

Finally on Sunday we made it back to Utah. While coming into the state we started to sing "I am a Child of God" It was pretty funny.

The whole week in Utah was so much fun and we loved every second of it spending time with family and friends! Here are some things that happened that week!

Yard Sale
BBQ with family & friends at the Worthingtons
Shooting guns
Shopping with mom
Hanging out with Eric and Alexa
Hanging out with Tara Phillo and Kym Rice
Case Del Ray
Buying our first Washer and Dryer!!!
Sophias Gymnastic recital
Tevans Baseball game
Getting my hair done by Amanda
Church with the Worthingtons!

On Tuesday the 31st we left for Maryland. My mom and dad drove my Honda and Jake and I drove the truck with the motorcycle in the back. Tuesday we drove through Wyoming with a statue of Christ in a creepy town to Nebraska with the smelliest cows I have ever smelled, then on Wednesday we drove through Iowa across the Mississippi to Illinois to Indiana where I saw some of the most beautiful farms I have ever seen. On Thursday we drove through Ohio where we almost had a problem with the tire on the honda, to Pennsyvania with a billboard of Mr. Rogers saying Welcome, finally to Maryland where we would call home.

Friday Jake had work so while he was working my mom, dad, and I went and looked at the housing on base and talked to the housing office and was told we would be waiting up to 2-3 months for a place. BLAH! That would mean we would have to get a hotel for that time because our stay at the one on base was only 10 days long. But I was staying positive and saying Oh well we'll get through it, no big deal. Well, Jake got off work and we decided to go and look at the other AFB that is about 20 minutes away to see if they had any places for us to live.

And they did!! They showed us the house and told us what our address would be right there! I was so happy, and the place is amazing. It's a townhouse so we'll have our neighbors attached to us, but I don't care. It's so beautiful on the inside and on the outside. It's 3 stories. On the first story we have our garage, storage, laundry room, closets, and backyard porch. On the second story we have a kitchen, a family room, living room, and dining room, and a half bathroom, and a deck where I have already imagined what I'm going to do with it! On the third story we have the master bedroom, 2 full bathrooms, and 2 extra bedrooms. I'm going to use one for my craft room and the other for a guest room!

We are so excited for our new place. We move in on Thursday! Only thing is with that is our stuff wont be here until the 29th so that means we will be eating off of paper plates, microwave food, and sleeping on an airmattress. Yay! I actually am so excited.

My mom and dad stayed with us until this morning when we took them to the airport and they went to New York for a day before going back to Utah. We had a lot of fun with them while they were here. We went to the National Mall and went to the Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary, WW2 Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Navy Memorial, the White House, Holocaust Museum (WOW), Museum of American History, and another museum that I somehow can't remember the name of, we also saw the presidents care outside of the Fords Theater where Lincoln was shot, he was having some sort of meeting. It was a packed 3 days and we were all so tired by today, but it was worth being with my parents like that. I'm going to miss them so much! I wish there was a way for them to live next door to me.

Today starts the first day of our life together. We have been married for almost a year and we have never lived together by ourselves. It's going to be an adventure and something to get used to. No little children around, no mom and dad, no siblings, it's going to be weird. I almost already miss the noise of other people walking and talking.

Life truly is an adventure. It's whether or not you look at it as a glass half full and not half empty that makes the difference. Enjoy what you have today because it literally can all change tomorrow.

Enjoy the pictures!