{our front door}

We are planning our big move across the country and couldn't be more excited! We know that we are supposed to be in North Carolina for the next four years and can't wait to get started on our new adventure. But it is bittersweet. We've lived here in Provo for 5 years. And for nearly 2 years of that by the time we move, we have been married and we have lived through an old white door and inside an almost 90 year old little basement apartment.

Through this front door into our home, so much has happened. In this house we have opened piles of wedding gifts and wrote hundreds of thank-you cards. In this house we both studied hard and had late nights doing homework, resulting in both of us graduating from Brigham Young University. In this house we found out we were pregnant and then waited up until midnight to go buy a nice pregnancy test {not just the dollar store kind we had} because it was a Sunday. In this house we had some spider issues and glitches and funny stories to tell our kiddos someday. It was in this house that we met with our Bishop, and Travis accepted the calling to be the Young Men's President, and I accepted the calling to be the 2nd Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency---callings that have given us excellent experiences and opportunities. In this house we stopped feeling our first baby kick after 8 months of awaiting her arrival and walked out of the house almost in a daze---with a greater power carrying us out of the front door. And it was through that same front door where we walked back into our home fully equipped with baby supplies but no baby to use them. In this house we planned the simple graveside service for Elaine Raquel. In this house many priesthood blessings have been given and peace has been felt. It was in this house where we felt such a stupor of thought about PhD programs, and it was in this house where we finally accepted to attend the University of North Carolina feeling perfectly peaceful and knowing it was right. In this house lots of laughter, crying, and praying has taken place. In this house I took an online photography class and started a love for a new hobby. In this house we had the impression that I should start working as an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple---exactly where I need to be right now.

That little house has become our home. Its white front door with yellow curtains has a crack down the side, it's old, and it's a miracle it even locks. Yet, it does its job well---it keeps out what shouldn't be inside. I think Heavenly Father works the same way. None of us are perfect, that's why we're here. But, when we're striving to do what's right, nothing will happen that won't be for our good---that won't benefit us. His spirit can be within us and we can be endowed with power. Inside each of us and inside each of our homes, He lets things happen so we can grow and become more like Him.

We are excited for the future front doors we walk through and homes we get to have---and for all the growth and joy that comes from living here on earth. But, oh how we will miss our first little home in Provo where the foundation of our marriage was created!

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home. The poorest shack in which love prevails over a united family is of greater value to God and the future humanity than any other riches. In such a home God can work miracles and will work miracles." -David O. McKay

{travis' graduation}

Travis graduated from Brigham Young University this past weekend! He received his Master's degree in Accounting. We are so excited. 5 years of school down, 4 to go! We are sad to see this chapter of our lives at BYU over with though, but we will always be grateful for the experiences and opportunities we were given here in Provo. It was fun to have both of our parents here for the weekend too, and two of my siblings---Nate and Ali---who have been living up here. We are excited for the next adventure we'll be having in North Carolina!

{photography class}

My photography class has come to a close this week. So sad...but, I think I'm taking the advanced one coming up, too! Can't wait. It has been so fun and such an eye-opener to actually start to know how to use my camera better. I'm no pro, but I definitely know much more than when I started six weeks ago. I still have so much to learn!

Here are some of the assignments I turned in and practice pictures I took {thank you to my awesome husband and sister for being my subjects!}:

{temple square}

Travis taught his final Accounting 200 class in Salt Lake City tonight, so my brother Nate and I had another fun adventure touring Temple Square! It was a bit cold and really cloudy, but we had a great time! It was also a great time to take pictures. Love the beauty and spirit of Temple Square! The church is true.

{the lost sheep}

I am reading a book right now by Bruce C. Hafen called, The Broken Heart. It is SO good! I highly recommend it for everyone. I love his insights into the lost sheep, as referred to in Matthew 18:12: If a man hath an hundred sheep, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 

Many think of the lost sheep as primarily someone who is straying from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Elder Hafen, however, offers some additional application of this as he states, "The lost sheep are not just the people who don't come to church. The lost sheep is a mother who goes down in the valley of the dark shadows to bring forth children. The lost sheep is a young person, far away from home and faced with loneliness and temptation. The lost sheep is a person who has just lost a critically needed job; a business person in financial distress; a new missionary in a foreign culture; a man just called to be a bishop; a married couple who are misunderstanding each other; a grandmother whose children are forgetting her. I am the lost sheep. You are the lost sheep. "All we like sheep have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). The times of feeling lost are not always times when we have wandered from the straight and narrow path. Not at all. We may be precisely where the Lord would have us be."

This life was meant for us to have times of trouble so that we might, with our broken hearts, turn to the Lord and become more of what He wants us to be---and He will make us whole.

{general conference}

Just like there were Prophets and Apostles in Biblical times, there are Prophets and Apostles on the earth today. Listen in to their words tomorrow and Sunday---they won't disappoint! http://www.lds.org/general-conference

I'm so grateful for General Conference; each time I listen I come away feeling inspired, uplifted, and hopeful. And who doesn't want to feel that?!

{easter weekend}

We had a fun few days full of family, food, and fun! This was the first time my parents and all my siblings have been together since Travis and I were married. Nate just returned from Germany on his mission, so finally all 9 of us were together. This was also the last time we would be together for a couple more years, since my sister Alison is leaving on her mission to Peru. It was so fun to all be together! Alison also went through the temple as well which was a neat experience. We took family pictures, ate at Brick Oven, had a couple Easter egg hunts, colored Easter eggs, played games, and so much more!

How grateful we are for Easter and what it really means. The resurrection and atonement mean so much more to us now after what we've been through these past two months. We are so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and that because of him, our spirits and bodies will be reunited and we can be with our family members forever---it's not "at death do we part," but rather, when death comes we get to just wait patiently be reunited again.