Make the Best of This Test and Don't Ask Why

I have been really liking this song again lately. 

"So make the best of this test and don't ask why" might have to be my new life motto. 

It's been a great month. Since Tripp started his new job we have gotten to spend a lot more time together which is so nice. We get to have dinner at 9:00pm now instead of at 10:30 or later! This is actually a pretty big deal for us. And I'm happy to say that for the first time since we have been together, Tripper got off work BEFORE me AND beat me home. When he sent me a text saying "Beat ya home!" I was so surprised! 

We have been doing puzzles lately and finished our first 1000 piece puzzle last week. We started another 1000 piece one this week so we will see how long it takes for us to finish it. 

Marriage is pretty awesome. It's already been two months! I feel like soo much has happened in the past 2 months that it seems so much longer than that. Actually the whole timer we've been together feels like a lot longer than it has been. 

We are giving talks in church on Sunday and as part of that I get to introduce Tripper and I and tell people how we met. I won't be saying all of this over the pulpit but I thought it would be fun to post on my blog!

First I will give a little background information. Tripper and I went to high school together and I was sure that he was untouchable. When he got home from his mission he spoke with my sister in the singles ward. She teased me saying "He asked ALL about you!" Lies. The only thing he knew was that Megan had a little sister. The following week I was at a missionary homecoming when Tripper walked up to me and said “Hobbs?” I died a little inside. The next day Monday I was at a Family Home Evening activity and I was sure that Tripper was going to be there. So when I walked in and noticed that he wasn't, I thought I would friend request him on Facebook from my phone. Right as I pushed "Add Friend" and turned around, he was walking in the door. He stood on the side as we chose teams. We were playing kickball and when Tripper joined the game he walked straight to my team. He started making small talk I had no idea why he was talking to me so I didn't say much. I guess I kind of tried to keep my distance since I thought there was no way he would ever be into me. After the activity, my friend and I invited another guy to ice cream and a movie right in front of Tripper as he walked out. My bad. He Facebook messaged me later inviting me to play Frisbee with the singles ward on Tuesday. I agreed to go and he so very slyly game me his number via Facebook by saying "If you get bored..." Sure enough I texted him and we hit it off pretty quickly. Tuesday when I showed up it was not Frisbee, it was soccer and I was the only girl. I think he felt kinda bad, because he asked me out on the soccer field. We had a great time eating ice cream as he told me about his mission. Our second date we went to the temple and as we were in the visitors center a sister missionary asked us to come watch a film on families. She began talking to us about eternal families and happiness and asked us if that was what we wanted to have together, then in the middle she paused and said “how long have you guys been dating?” We kind of just looked at each other and Tripper looked at me as though I was to answer. “Like a week..” I said. And by a week I mean like 3 days people... But I’d like to thank that sister missionary for helping Tripper realize he was going to marry me ;) A few days later was my birthday. What a great test for the beginning of a relationship. Good man for spending the day with me and getting me some nice gifts. We started talking about marriage after only a week of dating. But hey, I swear to you, when you know, you know. So yeah, don't judge. We've been inseparable ever since. Anndddd the rest is kind of history. We had our first date the end of August, were engaged by October and married in December. 

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. 

Thinking Backwards

First of all I would just like to make it clear how much I love to write. I mean, there are certain times when I really don't want to, maybe even for months at a time when important, sad, or even happy times come around. Everyone always says "Keep a journal. Write in it daily, or weekly." No thanks. While it is important to keep record of things that happen in your life, I think there are many ways to do that. For me, I like to document with pictures. Yeah, yeah I post on Instagram once a day, or once every couple of days. Maybe one day my children will be able to look at all my pictures and laugh at how horrible the quality was, or laugh at the 2014 style. If I had all the money in the world, I would cover my entire house with pictures of things that make me happy and document things that make me feel peaceful, and content. But, for now, blogging and Instagram will do. I guess I felt the need to mention that because I know people (myself included) feel judged by the way they document their lives.Write blogs, write letters, keep journals, take pictures, saved quotes, make scrapbooks, record videos, but I do plead with everyone to do SOMETHING to keep memories close. You'll only regret the pictures that you don't take.

That being said... I pretty much document everything with pictures. Even if they are bad ones, they are still memories, and that is what counts. 

As I was looking through these pictures I couldn't help but notice how incredibly slow the past year has been. The thing that shocks me the most is how close Sienna and I have become in the past year. We haven't even been friends for a year yet and I couldn't ask for a better best friend. Honestly! Love that girl. It also shocks me that close to a year ago, even six months ago I talked to people on a regular basis that I haven't spoke to in months. It is sad though that sometimes things that end badly, will never be able to be healed. Forgiveness has been something hard for me to understand quite honestly. Growing up I always thought that "sorry" fixed everything, because that is how it works in a family. You don't have to fight for someone to read your text, or your message. While I was going through a very hard time I would admit that I said some things to people that I probably shouldn't have. And people said things to me that they probably shouldn't have. But that is where understanding comes in and I accept the fact that both sides were wrong. And THAT is where you get to forgive yourself and stop beating yourself up over things that just can't be fixed. Hard realization sometimes, but that is reality. Life goes on. 

It's also been 8 months since I lost my brother. Now that seems like it was just yesterday. I kind of cry a lot. Because I miss him, or because of the relationship we had, and even because of the relationship that we didn't have. There are things I wish I said more to him, or the fact that I never let him know how much I envied certain characteristics that he had. I wish I could have gone to Seattle more and not worried so much about getting hours at work. I wish I had written him more meaningful letters when he was on his mission, or hugged him more when he came to the house to let him know just how much I loved being in his presence. But again, that has to be let go of because I know, that he knows how I feel now. 

This past year my Heavenly Father really tested me. It was really important that I followed some of the feelings I had this past summer, or I never would have met Tripper. How incredibly the Lord's timing is. I am so blessed to have someone by my side every day, through every laugh, smile, tear, and frown. Marriage really is great and I wouldn't trade Tripper for the world. What a special blessing he has been to me in the past year. Don't know what I did to make him fall in love with me, but just remember that miracles happen every single day. 

Here's to documenting life.