The past five or so months that we've lived here I have tried and tried to stop being a nay-sayer and just accept it. I know we need to be here and that Heavenly Father led us here, but i was still unconvinced. As I was driving home Thursday morning from Madison, I payed attention to the drive and the beauty outside. It was absolutely breathtaking! As Bryce and I were driving to and from the temple on Saturday, we were able to enjoy the amazing landscape of the south. He made a comment that turned my view of living here around. He said, "Look how beautiful it is going down this side of the mountain. (Sand Mountain) If we didn't live here, you wouldn't get to see that very often." In that simple, but powerful statement I realized how grateful I am to be out here. I'm grateful to be away from our families to where we can't go running home if we get into a fight. I'm grateful that I don't have anyone to go grocery shopping with so that I can learn how to on my own. I'm grateful for the time that Bryce and I spend together because we don't have as many friends here.
These are all things I never thought I would be thankful for, but I am. :)

HELP!!

Ok, I finally broke down and let go of my pride... I must admit I am THE WORST housekeeper EVER! My husband is amazing and does everything around the house. Every night when he leaves for practice I tell him I'll do something to help clean up one of the rooms in this messy house, and then i look around and get so extremely overwhelmed that I never do anything.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else was like this when they got married, or when they moved out of their house?? It's so hard for me to get into a cleaning routine. I get home from work 5-6 days out of the week and I just want to relax. I don't know how to motivate myself... any ideas!?! I want to become the best housewife for not only me, but for Bryce. He deserves the perfect wife and I just want to try to be that for him.

Clarifying...

Ok, just to clarify... By saying the comment about "men", I didn't say husbands because i was talking about all the women i work with you talk badly about their husbands/boyfriends/baby-daddys.... Sorry if I hurt someone's feelings! It was not intentional.

So Lucky

Well I was thinking the other day about how amazing the hubs is to me and then I read Stefanie's blog and thought some things definitely needed to be said so i don't forget.
Bryce has ALWAYS treated me better than i could ever have asked to be treated, but last week he went above and beyond the call of duty. (his duty, that is) So a little bit of background, our house has had cockroaches since before we moved in. We've had terminex come and spray twice inside and out but our efforts seem futile. Well lately both of us have been slacking on the housework. (me) Meaning the dishes haven't been done in a week, meaning the cockroaches are feeding off of them, meaning we lived in disgust... Well I work between 5 and 6 days a week, Bryce goes to school and has practice 3 nights a week, and we are both staying busy in our callings. We are just trying to get by right now and do what the Lord wants us to, but it's hard :) So therefore, the housework gets put on the back-burner. Last Thursday I came home and this is what greeted me as I walked in... (Now before this every single room in the house was DISGUSTING) The living room was clean, the kitchen was clean and ALL the dishes were done, at least 3 or 4 loads of laundry had been done and was folded on the couch. I walked into the back of the house into our room and the pile of Murphy's "rats nest" of stuffing and ripped apart paper had been swept out from under the bed, and the spare bedroom was no longer under a sea of clothing, but had everything separated and put into piles. And there, in the middle of all of it, listening to his Gladys Knight CD was my sweet, sweet husband. Now, I don't give enough credit to Bryce like I should. He does so much more around the house than me. He's the "perfect" housewife and I've no idea what I ever did to him to make him treat me so amazing. I wish I could pay him pack for everything he's done for me thus far. I have a feeling it'll only get better from here too. Bryce isn't like most men. He continues to surprise me as I listen to different women complain about their "men" and I have nothing to say except, Bryce is so much better than that! I guess all I'm really trying to say tonight is, I love my husband more than words can express, and it just keeps on gettin better! Eternity doesn't seem so long anymore...

Best Weekend!

This weekend we were able to be a part of an amazing miracle! Some good friends from the Fayetteville Ward had their first baby and we went to the hospital and cheered them on! Everything went as planned and this little man came into the world at 10:35 p.m. on Friday evening. He was 7 lbs 6 oz and so freakin precious!!! :) I want one ;)

(If you notice under my chin, I have on a doctor's mask. I was extremely sick with the "crud" and had to wear it at all times around Baby Robby. I couldn't resist a Kodak moment though! I had to hold my breath and everything!)

Daddy's Little Girl...

Well I finally got a hold of my reception pictures from my brother-in-law, and I ran across one of the most touching moments of my life.

Now, my dad and I have definitely had our rough spots in life. There was the beginning of my depression when Iwas 16 and took a bunch of pills. Then there was the time that I basically dropped out of high school because I had an anxiety WEEK an he told me I was messing up my life, except in more colorful language. Granted, my dad isn't perfect, but he had good reasoning to be so upset with me. I made some MAJOR mistakes in my teenage years and I admit it. I hurt alot of people around me and I deserved to be chastised i guess you could say. My dad seemed too harsh at the time but now I realize it as because he was scared. Scared I wouldn't come back from my mistakes and scared I would blame him for it.

All these things are still a touchy subject for my dad and me, but I know he's proud of me now. I know it because I'll never forget what he said with tears in his eyes right before this picture was taken. He told me he had never been more proud of me because I had made all the right choices he knew I could. He said I was an example to people around me and he loved me and he would never stop loving me.

I guess I'm feeling a bit of a daddy's girl today and i just wanted to share those feelings. :)

In the Library!

SO! I don't have any internet at the house yet and i'm so sorry to those of you who actually check my blog because all you've seen for the past two months is the same ol' thing! Bryce and I are on campus making sure all of his school stuff is ready to go for tomorrow and realized that the library has internet!!! Amazing!

Here is our update.... We are living in Boaz for real now. No more going back and forth for the heck of it cause we're bored out here. We actually have responsibilities now! Bryce was called to be the 1st Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency at church a few weeks ago and I was called to be the Secretary in the Young Women's Presidency. Bryce has already had a campout, stake meeting, BYC, and activities in 3 weeks! I've been doing the same also. The Lord really had a need for us in this Ward and we love, love, love our new callings!

As for home life, I've been trying to adjust to being the good housewife I know I can be. I am getting ready to talk to the owner of a deli to try and get a job there so as to make some moula! Bryce is having a hard time with the whole me being the breadwinner because he's too busy with school. Bless his heart, he doesn't even realize that in the long-run he IS the breadwinner! I'm happy to do my part now so he can do his part for the rest of our lives.... Murphy is finally figuring out that his real home is here in Boaz, but still loves to visit his "grandma" in Madison. He's starting to chew on our shoes too so we have to constantly look under the bed and save them!

I'm finally starting to accept that my life (at least for a year) is here and i need to make the best of it! :)