{and the winner is...}

The University of North Carolina!!

After months of applications and interviews, we have finally decided where to move this fall for Travis to get his PhD in accounting---and it was quite the adventure getting there!

Having options is a good thing and we are so grateful to have had so many. But it did cause some stress in the process as we were making a decision, but looking back we can laugh now! Here are the schools Travis heard back from:

University of Southern California
Rice
University of Arkansas
Texas A&M
University of Washington
UC Irvine
University of Iowa

And every single school gave him an offer. And in the end, we declined them all. Because at the very last minute, the University of North Carolina came into the picture. The ironic thing is, is that we never applied to UNC, but it was our top choice last summer. There were some other guys from BYU applying, so in the end we decided not to apply. But then UNC had one opening available {it's a top 3 program!}, and we have heard it is a fantastic place to live. So, a Skype call happened and the rest is seriously left to divine intervention. The answer was so clear! About 100 tiny things had to fall perfectly together as they did for this to be the outcome. After many neat {and kind of crazy} experiences full of an intense {and a long} stupor of thought, what we thought was an answer, which was only an answer to lead us to the right answer, and then going with our feelings, we have accepted the offer to attend UNC! We are so excited!! We have learned from these past few months that the Lord is ultimately in control, and when we are striving to do our best, everything works out for our good.

{a time and season}

"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven." -Ecclesiastes 3:1

I know there is purpose to everything. I believe that without doubt! And while my current circumstances aren't necessarily what I had planned on or hoped for, they are now calculated to bless. I know I will reflect on this time in my life and what I get to do as one that I will always cherish and be grateful for. 

Today I worked my first day at the Provo Temple. I will be working two shifts there every Tuesday and Thursday morning! And they actually had me hit the ground running and do things on my own. It was kind of nerve wracking but the best way to learn. I can't wait to keep learning and becoming more familiar with what happens inside temples! If I'm going to have to spend my days somewhere, I might as well be in the place where heaven and earth meet and where the veil to those who have passed on is very thin.

I am also taking a phenomenal photography class right now. I am loving it! It's a skill I have been wanting to develop and have the time right now to focus on it. Travis has been a great sport to pose for me as I complete assignments.

And last but not least, Travis and I are getting a great opportunity to build our marriage even stronger and focus on that. It's been fun to go to SLC with him every week to be with him while he teaches his class, help him with busy work, and just have fun together. We will have been married for a year and a half in two weeks and I couldn't be more grateful to have him by my side through every time and season we experience in this life together.

{flying around the country}

I'm not sure if I would ever recommend visiting three different states all across the country within 6 days! But, it was a good thing for me to get away for a bit, to just be with Travis {he interviewed at lots of different schools for accounting PhD programs}, and to have some fun adventures!

We spent 3 days in LA, 2 days in Iowa, and then 4 days in Texas. And it was all back-to-back! Talk about not knowing what time zone we're in anymore.

For the most part we had smooth flights with no glitches {let's just say we got really good at getting through security super speedy and carrying around all sorts of luggage}. After flying back from Los Angeles, we had one night in Utah before boarding the plane to Iowa. We left on Sunday and headed back to Utah that next day. Well, we noticed our connecting flight in Denver kept on getting delayed, and even despite weather problems and having to land in Colorado Springs for a minute to wait to land in Denver, we still could make the connecting flight---that is, until we got to the gate and it kept getting delayed further and further until finally our flight was cancelled all-together! The next flight out was for 6:10 a.m. the next morning---not even enough time to even get to a hotel and get back in time. So, we camped out in the airport and then by a miracle got on the 6:10 a.m. flight to SLC. We came home and slept for 1 hour, and then I dropped Travis off on-campus to study for his midterm for about 2 hours before needing to take it. That poor guy was running on 2.5 hours of sleep. It has been non-stop interviewing but it's been a great experience. We have had some of the most intensive pro/con lists going on I've ever seen!

Some other highlights we can't forget:
-Watching a girl throw up all over her grandma's face right after our plane landed and having to walk past it
-Forgetting to pack Travis' belt to wear at his USC interview. This led me to be determined to just fix the whole problem, so we decided to walk around LA to magically find a Goodwill, have a customer hear our problem and yell "HELP" all across the store to get the cashier for us, and then buying a black belt and having to use scissors to poke a new hole in it then tie it down with my hair elastic. I'd say we did pretty good.
-Breakfast in bed
-Seeing my brother Nate after he has been away in Germany on a mission!
-Riding on the paddle boats & Travis and Nate getting me and Makell all wet
-Some intense games of Scramble

                             

                               

{courage}

I can't believe it has now been six weeks since we said hello and goodbye to our little girl. Yesterday, at exactly 6 weeks since delivery, I cooked dinner for the first time. Talk about so much service being shown to us over these past few weeks with meals and gift cards pouring in! I also tasted brownie batter for the first time since getting pregnant last year which was oh so yummy. My OBGYN appointment went well too and I'm really grateful my body healed well. Now it's on to a running routine, planning meals, and getting back into the swing of life, while still trying to carry on with a hole in our hearts. It's hard! But I love the lines in the following video about courage. What a wonderful trait we all get to learn as we face our own variety of trials in this life. It's all about pressing forward with courage and becoming stronger in the process.

"If I really trust Heavenly Father, it really doesn't matter what I don't understand"
"His plan for me is not always easier, but it's always better"

{counting blessings}

I've decided that counting my blessings can be some of the best medicine. There will always be people worse off then you, as my mom always would tell me growing up. How true it is! There is always reason to be grateful, to be positive, and to be happy.

I'm grateful for such a great extended family, the Garlicks and Dyers, parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and for such a great husband and our little immediate family we have started.  

I'm grateful for all the support we have received from our friends, family, and from complete strangers. I'm grateful to know that people in this world are good at the core. 

I'm grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To know we believe in truths that just aren't good ideas, but that are real. And to know that wherever in this world life takes us, the church will always be the same, and we will always be home.

I'm grateful for good music. The LDS Hymns of Worship radio station on Pandora is the best.

I'm grateful for our little girl, Elaine Raquel, and for all that she is teaching us. There isn't a day that goes by---or any in the future I am sure---that I don't think about her button nose and perfect lips and full head of hair. I'm grateful I have something amazing to look forward to after Christ comes to earth again; I get to raise her and get to know her!

I'm grateful for having had such a smooth labor and delivery. Yes, it still hurt {pressure is still pain no matter what they say}, but boy do I love being in labor and pushing out a baby. Seriously! A few months before I delivered our little girl, my friend told me she loved labor and delivery. I thought she was crazy!! But now I can honestly say I love it {if I went the non-epidural route I guess my opinion may be  a bit different}. It's exhilarating and amazing and such a miracle. I loved feeling our little girl make her way down through my body and pushing her out. If I could be in labor and deliver a baby every day of my life I would do it.

I'm grateful to know that if I were asked the question, "would I go through it all over again if I had known the outcome," I would say yes. I would go through those 8 months all over again with all the uncomfortable symptoms of pregnancy to bring our girl into this world, even though she didn't stay with us for long. And I would go through it all again in a second.

How can I not smile when thinking about all that?!

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? County your many blessings; ev'ry doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings; money cannot buy Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all. Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.