Fall Has Past

The fall months have come and gone, and here I am not sharing anything about it. It's time for an update on what's going on in our lives.

Early on in the semester we went to several sporting events, including both soccer and football games. We love our cougars!

At a soccer game with our friend Mariana.

At a football game before a crazy storm flooded the stands.

We also went with Trevin and Kim to Bridal Veil Falls before fall was over. I've been here all this time and never got around to it until now. It was breathtaking to me how beautiful it was. It was a gorgeous day and fall colors were everywhere. I can't wait to visit again!

Josh also celebrated his 24th birthday in October! I surprised him at work with a balloon and candy, and then we went out for lunch. The next day we continued celebrating; we got dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (which is one of my favorite pizza places ever), then went and saw a movie (Trevin came with us for the movie) - Gravity. Let me just say, it was a pretty intense movie. Really good. But I now never want to go to space. Ever. After the movie we joined up with Kim and played some games together. We had a lot of fun!

In the car picking him up from work!

Believe it or not, we actually planned to dress up and everything for Halloween, but that didn't end up happening. We had class that night and by the end of the day we were worn out and needed to unwind a bit, so we played some video games for a while before just going to bed.

Thanksgiving break was great, exactly what I needed as the semester has worn me down. Unfortunately Trevin and Kim couldn't come with us, which we were really sad about, but we did have a great time with my family. We all met up in Missouri, so Josh and I actually drove through the night on Monday night in order to get there Tuesday afternoon. I don't recommend it. We managed and everything worked out fine, but it's not pleasant forcing yourself to just ignore the fact the your body is tired, and only getting minimal amounts of sleep because you're trying to sleep in the car. ANYWAY, the trip was awesome though, and it was so fun to see everyone. Especially all the little kiddos! We had fun going to the Army museum, going to the park, and just playing around the house. Why do breaks have to go by so quickly?

In front of a boat outside the Army museum.

What a cute bunch of kids! A.K.A. my nieces and nephews. :)

Sweet Molly!

And sweet Lucy!

Now that we're back from break and Christmas is approaching, winter has definitely set in here in Provo. One day it snowed all day and all night, and since then we've had mixtures of snow and ice to walk through to get to school. So naturally I'm even more reluctant to go, but it's not much longer now until it'll be time to leave for Christmas break. We're almost there! :)

~ Ashley

Trials

We all know that life is great at throwing trials your way. Sometimes it feels like it's too much and you don't see a way out. It's those experiences that when you look back you can see the hand of the Lord and you are more able to appreciate what you've gone through to get where you are.

But here is the question that I pose to anyone who may be reading this: when you're in the midst of those trials and things feel pretty bleak, what do you do to hold on to hope and maintain an optimistic outlook? What gets you through the storm?

~ Ashley

August Update

It finally feels like the summer is moving along. I wouldn't normally have any good feelings about that, but I've been taking a couple of classes this summer and I just finished them up. So now we have the last couple of weeks of August to enjoy only working before school starts up again. That plus we don't have air conditioning, so while our efforts to keep our place cool using fans and a portable swamp cooler have definitely helped, let's just say we're looking forward to cooler weather. (Let me be clear: I am excited for FALL weather, not winter. Josh might feel differently, but I still don't fare well in the freezing cold.)

This weekend Josh and I made a trip up to Idaho for a couple of days to visit my Nana and Poppy. We wish Trevin and Kim could've come with us, but that was poor planning on our part and it didn't work out... this time. Josh and I drove up REALLY late on Thursday night, arriving at Nana and Poppy's house around 4:30 am. I know the day will come when we won't be able to handle that, but I'm grateful that right now we're able to make such a late trip. :) The next morning we all took their boat out to the lake. It was beautiful!

Nana started off the day with skiing. I am constantly so impressed by how active, hard-working, and fun-loving she is! I want to be that fit and fun when I'm her age. :)

Go Nana!

After a few tries Josh got up on water-skis for the first time! I was so proud to see him out on the water. ^^ I took a turn later as well; I've tried my hand at water-skiing a couple of times before, but I never do stay up on the water for very long. It was fun though. :) By the time we got home that evening, we were low on sleep and exhausted from being in the sun all day, so Josh and I crashed until dinner, and that night we welcomed bed time when it came.

Loving being out on the lake together!

On Saturday Josh and I went to the Boise Temple. We both used to go there pretty often when we were missionaries, but neither of us have been back to that one since then. They renovated it after both of us had left the mission, and let me just say, going back this time the temple looks absolutely beautiful. Not to mention, the Provo Temple has - until this past week - been closed for about a month and a half, and we haven't made any trips to other temples during that time. It was so wonderful to be able to make time to visit the House of the Lord. It is always such a peaceful place, and the Spirit of the Lord is always there. It really helped me feel closer to my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, closer to my sweet husband, and to have a renewed perspective about my life. I love the Gospel and the peace it brings to my life!!

So happy together :)

If going to the temple with the love of my life wasn't enough to make a wonderful day (which, by the way, it totally was), that night we all went to my cousins' birthday party. Two adorable twin girls turning one together! It was so cute to see them, and I just loved spending time with family.

Unfortunately we only had a couple of days in Idaho and this morning we left to come back to Provo. The trip was too short but definitely worth it. :) And now we'll enjoy our last bit of summer before school starts again!

~ Ashley

Weekend with Nick

Last Thursday Josh's little brother Nicholas came to visit us. Well, he stayed with us for a few days and now he's with his grandparents, so maybe it wasn't just for us, but I like to think so. ;)

Josh picked him up on Thursday morning, and he stayed with us up until yesterday, when we took him to his grandparents' house. We had a lot of fun! Here's the rundown of his eventful stay:

1. Brick Oven
The first night he was with us we took him out to Brick Oven Pizza. It's (in my opinion) the best pizza place in Provo. Super delicious. It didn't matter to me and Josh that we had just recently eaten there; you really can never have too much quality pizza, can you? :)

2. Campus Tour
On Friday we took him on one of those tours that BYU does for people who are visiting or looking into attending BYU. We went with a couple other people we didn't know. Nick sat up front, next to the very cute but - unfortunately for him - married girl who gave us the tour (not too mention she's way older than him, but playas gotta play). It was really interesting to learn neat facts about campus that I didn't know even though I've been attending school here for what feels like forever.

3. Outdoor Movie
That night we headed back to campus to watch an outdoor movie - Despicable Me. We could've just as easily watched it at home, but it was fun to just get out, use our new outdoor blanket, and have free ice cream to boot. :) Plus it's a great movie so how could we not love it? We did learn a few things though: next time we go to one of these outdoor movies, we'll bring an extra blanket or two, maybe a couple of pillows, and some snacks and especially drinks. Overall it was still really fun though.

4. Hiking the Y
It was the first time to hike to the Y for both me and Nick. It was... well, an interesting experience. I made a separate post about it in my last blog post. Nick seemed to have a good time though. :)

5. Pioneer Day Concert
Josh got the three of us some tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Pioneer Day Concert, featuring Lindsey Stirling and Nathan Pacheco. It was incredible. I've never been in the Conference Center for anything other than a tour, and I've always wanted to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform live. They are incredibly talented. Not to mention Lindsey Stirling is awesome. I had never heard of Nathan Pacheco before, but it turns out he has an amazing voice as well. All in all, very worthwhile concert. Check it out:

6. Sunday Brunch
Late Sunday morning we got together with their grandparents (their dad's dad) for brunch at Denny's. I normally wouldn't go out to eat on a Sunday, but it was the only time we could work out to meet up with them, and it was more important to me to spend time with family, especially to let Josh and Nick see their grandparents. It was really fun to get together and have a meal with them.

7. Dinner in Stansbury Park
After church on Sunday Nick packed his stuff and we headed off to Stansbury Park (near Tooele) to take him to stay with his grandparents (their mom's parents), and we had dinner with them as well. It's always nice to have a home cooked meal that's not macaroni & cheese or instant potatoes. And I've come to love visiting them as well. They were also nice enough to let me and Josh do a load of laundry at their house, which is very helpful to us. :)

By the time Josh and I got home last night, it was late and we were exhausted from a busy weekend. It was so fun having Nick stay with us and for me to get to know him a little better. :)

~ Ashley

Hiking the Y: An Honest Account

Josh's little brother Nicholas is visiting from Indiana and has been staying with us for the past few days. One of the things he wanted to do with us was to hike up to the Y on the mountain near BYU. I had never done it before and it's one of those things that if you're at BYU, you're almost expected to do it at some point, so I was all for it. I obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I've gone hiking before, but nothing very extreme, all fairly mild hikes. And that's always been more than enough for me. But as I got up early this morning to get ready to hike the Y (although in a tired stupor I questioned whether it was worth it to get up this early on a Saturday), I was looking forward to a new experience and a new challenge. And a challenge I got.

Y Mountain (this picture was not taken by me, I found it online)

Now just a quick bit of background, I've never been super outdoorsy or athletic. I enjoy nature, but I mostly stay in the comfort of my own home. And while I've periodically been involved in activities like dance or marching band that definitely required physical exertion, I've never really been what you would call 'fit' or 'in shape'. Yeah, I've always been relatively thin, but being thin and being in shape are two completely different things. Lately though, I've been making more of an effort - emphasis on the effort part - to get myself in shape and in good health. I've realized how important it is to me to take care of my body. So, against my own rational judgement, I've been getting up extra early most days of the week before going to school so that I can go running, either with Josh, with my best friend Jessica (who is really the one who got me started), or just on my own. And let me tell you - it's been HARD. I'm fairly certain that I have something referred to as exercise- or sports-induced asthma. And I'm not just saying that sarcastically to try to make a point about how out of shape I am. I really struggle with it. It makes exercising especially difficult and strenuous for me. Anyway, I've also been walking to and from school every day for the past month, and part of that walk involves climbing 140+ stairs. Every. Day. Sometimes multiple times a day. And it hasn't gotten any easier.

So that brings me back to this morning. The three of us, plus Josh's friend Sam (who also gave us a ride there), set off on the trail. I knew it would be no walk in the park, but I was not prepared for the toll it would take on me. I felt so bad making them stop and wait for me every five minutes or so of hiking so that I could catch my breath. Sometimes I'm sure it was less than that. It was me versus the mountain, and for most of the hike, the mountain was winning.

Maybe I overreacted, but I started alternating between bitter and frustrated to feeling sorry for myself. I had been trying so hard lately to take care of myself, but you would never know it. I was the only one in the group, heck, the only one on the trail, that was struggling this much. It's normal to get tired out while hiking the Y, but my exhaustion was beyond the normal threshold. After just a few feet of walking, it seemed, I was almost completely out of breath. And then I'd look around and see everyone else having a much easier time than I was. Little kids, even old people. It seemed so unfair. Why did I have to work so hard for something that other people could attain so much easier if they put forth even half the effort that I had to? I want it so bad. And so many other people just don't seem to care. In the words of Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon, "the justice system is all screwed up". I even reached the point (which, honestly, it didn't take me long to get to this point), when I sincerely hoped that I would either throw up or pass out, because then I would feel like I was justified in how difficult this hike was for me. Is that sad or what?

But everyone - especially Josh - was really patient with me and my frequent breaks to catch my breath and give my weary legs a brief reprieve. As we got further and further my body protested more and more, and I was constantly sending manual override to my legs, who insisted on stopping and just shutting down for a good long while, so that I could keep trudging up the mountain.

And finally, what seemed like an eternity after we started the journey, we made it to the top. Glory and hallelujah! I was just so relieved that finally, finally, we made it. It was done. I did it. And of course the best part of it all was the view. It was beautiful.

The view from the Y

Sam, Nicholas, Josh, and me

Hiking up Y Mountain was a great experience and I'm glad that I've finally done it after all these years of being here at BYU, but it was NOT easy. I really had to fight for it. Will I do it again? Maybe. But I know that I will keep trying. Keep trying to take care of myself. My body is a precious gift from God, and I want to treat it as such. As hard as it is for me to exercise, I will keep working. It may not ever really get easy, given the way that I am. And maybe that really isn't fair. But I am blessed in so many other ways, I will play with the cards that I have been dealt.

Besides, how much is something really worth to you if you don't have to work for it?

~ Ashley

Thinking in the Shower

"I do all of my best thinking in the shower."

If you're like me, you have said this or something like this at some time in your life. And it's the truth; there's something about the warm water, the peaceful aloneness that is so relaxing and I'm always able to refocus. I sometimes feel like there's almost something magical and mystical about a good shower. Then I realized why this could be - it's one of the only times we let ourselves be totally removed from outside distractions.

Think about it. Maybe you're different than I am, but I know that I rarely let myself have a good moment when I'm not distracted by something, whether it's being on the computer, watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to my iPod while I'm walking home from campus. If there's quiet space, I usually fill it. That's just how we are most of the time.

In the shower you are practically forced to have some time to yourself where it's nothing but you and your thoughts. A time when you can relax and unwind a little. When you can think clearly about issues or important decisions.

It's not that involving ourselves in these other things is bad. I'm not saying that at all. But when entertainment and other distractions are ALWAYS taking time away from what could be an important time to take to ourselves, to ponder, to listen, to think clearly about ourselves and our lives, maybe we need to rethink how we're using our time. Maybe it's time to unplug or press pause for a few minutes.

Good showers will always feel like a sacred space and time to me. But what other ways can you take time for quiet thought in your life?

~ Ashley

The Proposal

As the first post of my new blog, I thought it would be only fitting to share the story of how Josh proposed to me. I know people love that stuff. Just to make sure we don't leave anything out, we've both taken the time to share our sides of the story. So here's how it went down.

My Version:

By Valentine's Day I was pretty sure Josh had the ring. I was aware of the possibility of being proposed to that night, and I don't think he planned to that night but the day ended up being really crazy anyway and that night we really just took it easy.

The next day I had a feeling it might be the day. Again, I was pretty sure he had the ring by this point. That morning, however, Josh had a moped accident and hurt his foot, so I didn't know how that would figure into whatever plans I thought he might have.

That night was pretty low-key, we just went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then went to Wal-Mart and Target, then headed home to watch a movie. As he was driving home, he asked if I wanted to take the scenic route home, which of course I was more than happy to do. I should've suspected him more than I did, but things felt so low-key to me that I was starting to think tonight wouldn't be the night. That, coupled with the fact that Josh had an injured foot and could barely get around or anything. So anyway, we take a detour home, and then on the way he said that his foot was really hurting and he had to pull over and maybe get out and walk a bit. So we pulled over - in the parking lot of the Provo Temple. I should've been alerted to this, but as we got out and walked a bit, I was just really concerned about him. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, and I was worried about him. As I'm insisting that I drive him home and turn to head to the car, he gets down on one knee. He said that he was really fine, and as he proposed to me, part of me was just thinking, "You're such a punk! You were really worrying me!" while most of me was just feeling so excited and happy. Even while he was proposing he stopped to say, "You know I could just be messing with you right now, right?" "JOSH, stop it!" But I was really happy. :) And of course the answer was YES.

His Version:

So, previously to Friday night I had this big plan of wanting to kind of have a better version of our Salt Lake date (at the end of last semester) where we would take the Front Runner downtown, maybe even have a meal on the Front Runner, go to City Creek Mall, maybe go for a carriage ride, and propose to her in front of the temple. But as I was going to work that morning, I had a scooter accident and injured my foot. So I got a ride home from somebody, and then I asked if she would take me to the doctor. We came back from the doctor and I just rested, and Ashley took care of me the whole day, which I really loved and appreciated and thought was really sweet. So then it became about 5:00 pm, and I still wanted to take her out to eat somewhere nice, and she kept insisting that we didn't have to do anything that night. But we decided to go out to Café Rio and had dinner there, and then as I was driving us back home 'cause we were just going to watch a movie or something, I asked if she wanted to take the scenic route home and she said, "Sure." So I decided to go past the temple and I got this brilliant idea that I could use my hurt foot as an excuse to pull over real quick in the parking lot in front of the temple. So then I said, "Ow, my foot's really hurting... I need to pull over real quick, I can't keep driving." Then Ashley was freaking out wondering if I was okay. So I pulled over and said I needed to get out of the car and maybe stretch my foot out for a little bit. After that, she offered to drive home so I said, "Yeah, you can drive home." I gave her the keys and as she started walking to the car I got down on one knee and said, "Wait," and she turned around. Then I popped out the ring and asked Ashley to marry me. (I did stumble with the jewelry box and broke it, which was kind of embarrassing.) She was kind of frustrated because I had tricked her into thinking that I was hurting when I really wasn't, but she said yes. And we kissed and hugged in front of the temple.

The ring that changed everything

~Ashley