Friday, August 21, 2009

A Permanent Residence

It's been a year exactly since we moved to Eagle Mountain. My, how time flies. Over the course of this past year we've grown to like it here more and more. Every time someone finds out where we live they ask, "Do you like it there?" And every time either Bryan or I answer it goes something like this:

2 second pause/hesitation, with a drawn out "Yeaaaaaah. We do. We like our house and ward and neighborhood. It's just......out there."

It's true though, we do like it out here. We've met some amazing friends and people that we've learned a lot from, the neighborhood is nice and quiet, we have awesome views, we love our house,we love our yard, and overall things have worked out that we're just better off living here.

When we moved here a year ago, our plan was to stay at least 2 years. At that point we could reassess our needs and wants and see about moving to a location/city that we REALLY wanted to live in. A short, "temporary" stay, if you will. We were not planning on staying long.

Well, last Sunday things changed a bit. Apparently Someone with greater plans wants us to stay a bit longer here in Eagle Mountain. You see, Sunday our ward split, and with that split a new bishopric was put into place, and my sweet husband was put in as first counselor.

We'll be staying a while. Definitely more than just another year.

Bryan is handling the change really well. He had a few moments when he was overwhelmed and nervous; but this past week, Tuesday thru Friday, he's had meetings all night and he's adjusted very well. I had no doubt that he would be just fine. His amazing personality, his sense of humor, and his ability to make people feel comfortable around will help him immensely in this calling. Even though things may be a little busy and crazy at times for our family, I'm just extremely grateful to have a worthy and honorable husband who can fulfill this calling.

It's amazing how the Lord blesses our lives. I did not want to move here, but the Lord knew we needed to. And we have been blessed for it. We have our own, self-made plans, but the Lord has His plan for us too, and of course His is always going to win out.
And it's a good thing it does.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

8 Years and 2 Bumpers Later....

We have made it another year together, making it a total of 8. Thanks to our wonderfully charitable parents we were able to spend a night together down town dining, shopping, movie going, and hotel staying to recharge our relationship. Thank you Mom and Dad, Pam and Gene. We love you so much.

They say that love grows. I say love grows and matures. Our relationship has proven that these last couple of weeks.
A few weeks ago I drove Bryan's car, pulled into the garage and closed it. Bryan came home a short while later and asked why the garage was open. I told him I had closed the door. That's when he walked to the back of his car.....and saw it: the two, no three, large scrapes down his bumper. Not just scuffs, but scrapes, as in it scraped the paint off.

I held my breath, waiting for the major reprimand, waiting for the anger. But it didn't come. My sweet husband took a deep breath, said my name and "hon" (a couple of times), sighed, and walked away.

At that moment I realized that his love, our love, had matured over the last 8 years. Because we all know that wouldn't have been either of our reactions a few years ago. I had to find him and tell him three things:

1. I'm sorry I scratched your bumper
2. Thank you for not getting mad at me
3. I love you.

He kindly responded to me, "You know, I have learned a few things over the years."

My love for him grew.

A week later, Bryan returned the favor. He drove my car, pulled it not far enough into the garage, and shut the door. A couple of hours later, as we were preparing to leave, Bryan walked around the back of my car and saw that he had shut the garage on my car. We both assessed the damage.... and had a good laugh.
Eight years is proving to be good to us. We've both grown and matured. We're definitely two better people now than the day we got married. Thank goodness for that.

I love you Bryan, and am so grateful for what you add to my life.