I Won!

My brother is the lucky one in my family. You know those claw things at arcades? He actually won more than he lost at those. It was incredible. I can't think of any other good examples, but he really always has been lucky. Not me. Until now! I won a blog giveaway and couldn't be more pleased.

Do you remember my good friend Meredith at Lily Jane Stationery? Well, she had a giveaway on her blog right before we left town. If I was really a good blogger/friend, I would have posted about it during the giveaway (sorry, everyone! I was pretty consumed with packing and quitting my job). Anyway, I am excited to say that I won my own calling cards. I picked the red one below, but it was a tough decision.

Pictures courtesy of Meredith at Lily Jane

The timing on this could not be more perfect for me. Working at the storehouse means I will be coming into contact with many people I may want to share information with, but a business card wouldn't be appropriate. Not to mention all of the every day life situations this will come in handy (like at church or even staying in touch with former colleagues!).

If you ever need stationery, I would highly recommend checking out Meredith's stationery. She does custom orders too, which are my favorite. She made a lovely little ballerina card for my grandmother, a charming snowman card for my mother, place cards for our Thanksgiving dinner, and a personalized stationery set for my cousin in Oxford. Anyway, I love my calling cards and am so glad this was finally my lucky break for giveaways.

My Spider Catch-22

Last night I found a spider on my roll of toilet paper. Now how am I supposed to deal with that? I probably shouldn't add that I didn't find it until I was....comfortable......and thus couldn't get up to get tissue from the other bathroom to kill it. I couldn't kill it without toilet paper, but I couldn't get to any toilet paper until it was dead. Finally I remembered I had another roll under the sink and grabbed that. Who knew the bathroom could be so stressful?

Fall Vacation

Our vacation was just what we needed. It was so great to get away and just have fun. We really enjoyed spending time with family (even though we missed the family members who couldn't come!). Anyway, our first stop was in Provo to watch BYU beat FSU. It was a great game. We're just hoping it's not the only win of the season . . . We also got to do some hiking, wandering around campus feeling relieved not to be students, and visiting all of our old favorites. Then we headed up to SLC for the night and got to have a lovely visit with our good friends the Churches.

We caught back up with family in Seattle for an Alaskan cruise. It was incredible. I just couldn't believe how beautiful Alaska is. We were lucky and got to see a lot of wildlife like dolphins, porpoises, whales, otters, bald eagles, and blue herons. Ryan was sad not to see a live bear, but maybe it's for the best.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures:

Kayaking on Lake Mendenhall

 The glaciers touching the water were just incredible.

Hiking the Chilkoot Trail

After the hike, we got on a raft and floated down the river.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

For 101 reasons we've debated my job situation for months. Right before we left on vacation, we finally made the decision that I should quit. The biggest reason not to quit was, what do I do with myself? Once we have kids they'll keep me plenty busy, but until then . . . and not knowing when then will be . . . what???

We decided to take a leap of faith and just quit anyway. My friend and I were talking about how you have to take that step into the dark sometimes before the pathway will be lit. I HATE taking chances, but I do think you have to trust that God knows what He's doing. I felt nervous but still at peace.

The next night (before telling my boss but after the decision was made) I had a message on my answering machine. Well, it turns out that my bishop wants me to serve at the Bishop's Storehouse (sorta like a food bank?) for a part-time service mission. They'll be flexible with doctor's appointments as long as I work at least eight hours a week.

Sometimes I wonder why we struggle so much to make leaps of faith. Not only do things work out, they usually work out rather extremely fast. I am so grateful (and a little excited) for this opportunity to serve. It's been hard to stay hopeful when other problems haven't resolved so quickly, and I definitely needed this tender mercy.

Quick Update

We just got back from vacation and are trying to get into the swing of things again. It was so nice to get away and to have fun with family. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Also, I gave notice before we left, so my last day of work is this coming Friday. More on that later too.

We're starting the process of invitro. I haven't wanted to talk much about our struggles in that area, but I think I'd like to share more. Hopefully you don't mind.

Until I get some order and catch up with blogging, I'll just leave you with this:

Go Cougars.

The Other Woman

I'm sorry to say that Ryan has expressly forbidden me from disclosing his Cougarboard identity. Maybe it's because he think he's batman. Regardless, I should follow orders since I technically blogged about him without permission. Maybe I could hold a contest to see if somebody can guess his screen name . . . then I wouldn't be blabbing, right?

Eh, anyway. This is a funny time of year for me. I still get strong back-to-school anxiety even though I've been out of school for over three years. It also means that "the other woman" will be getting a lot of Saturday airtime. "The other woman" = football.

Ryan assures me that he loves me more than football. I'm pretty sure he would've married football instead of me if he could have though. Then again, he has a sweet setup now because he gets us both.

I used to hate football season. Ryan would drag me to the games then monopolize the TV with more football. In between he's on Cougarboard, of course.

Somewhere in our marriage my sentiments have shifted. I can't say that I love football (although I do now know there is a quarterback AND a cornerback! It isn't just people slurring their words), but I don't hate it either. As I came home on a Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, the TV was shouting at me about football. Instead of thinking, "Football already?!" I thought, "This feels nice."

I like that Ryan has a hobby. I like that Saturday football means we're both at home instead of working. I like that it means cooler weather is around the corner. Mostly I like that it makes Ryan very happy. He deserves it. Besides, it could be worse. He could like baseball instead. :)