It's an interesting predicament. I usually end up shutting down my blog or deleting it after a while because I begin to feel weird writing these silly posts that I try to make really exciting to a "supposed" audience that ""supposedly" reads what I'm writing with great anticipation and excitement. And then I realize that, realistically, probably no one reads these posts. So then I feel silly. And I tell myself, why don't I just keep a personal journal?
So then I shut down my blog.
And about 6-12 months later, I realize that I miss having a reason to write. I realize that blogging helps me continually write, even if no one reads what I write. And when I'm not blogging, I'm not recording what's happening in my life that's important. And I really want to. I want to record how I felt about Devin when we first met, or when we got married. I want to blog about our first house and new ward. I want to blog about my first year of teaching. I want to blog about our first baby. I want to record these amazing moments because, if I don't write them down, no one else is going to. And I want our kids to know about their mom and dad before they came along.
And on top of everything, especially as with previous blogs in the past, I felt like I was just an aspiring English major, Writer, or Teacher (not a real one). But now I am an English major, Writer, and Teacher. And I feel truly hypocritical when I tell my students to write creatively or assign them free writing assignments when I'm not even doing free writing myself.
So here I am again. And rather than deleting this blog and starting all over again, I'm keeping it. The old posts and everything. Just with a new mindset this time....
Speaking of new things....
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE. Well, not technically, yet. We close tomorrow morning at 8 am. It will record that day or early Tuesday morning so we will be moving in on Tuesday. Devin's mom (Char) and step-dad (Troy), and brother (Christian), and best friend (Chris), and his best friend's girlfriend (???) will be coming to help us move in and will get here Monday night. We still need a fridge and washer/dryer asap. We are planning to buy everything tomorrow (Monday) at RC Willey, and hopefully get it delivered Tuesday when we move in our own furniture. Wednesday we will relax. We will go to Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday at my aunt Leslie's beautiful new house and then on Friday we will host our own Thanksgiving dinner. (We will see how that goes....... gulp)
We went to our new ward today and LOVED it. Our last ward was..... not the best. It was a weird mix where there was a bunch of old people, a bunch of really really poor people, and a bunch of really new young couples (also poor) that moved in and out of the ward fast. Because we were a young couple, we were kind of treated like we'd be gone the next month and weren't that important. I was called to Primary three times as teacher and secretary, (after I'd asked not to be called a third time to Primary), and served there for two years. Because of that, I didn't really get to know people in our ward, which didn't help the situation. And no joke, on our last day of church at that ward, the bishop's wife walked up to me and asked if I was new to the ward. I was stunned and shocked. So, after that day, we had no hesitations about leaving our ward and the area behind.
Our new ward is amazing. The neighborhood that we are in is newer, but a little more expensive than just starter homes, so most people are in their late 20s or 30's/40s. There are 150 kids in primary, and I'm pretty sure that Devin and I, along with only one other couple in the ward, are the only people that don't have kids yet. But I'm okay with that! I love that it's a young (not too young), energetic ward. In contrast to our last ward, when we went to church for the first time today, the bishop's wife came up to me and new my name. She apologized to me that ward might not be the most welcoming right now because there are a lot of people moving in or out right now. I almost laughed, though, thinking that she was joking, because already we had been welcomed more than we had in our entire two years at our last ward. We had people come up to us left and right, introducing themselves, asking who we were, wanting to meet us. Devin even came out of priesthood with about 10 people's phone numbers who had offered to help move us in on Tuesday. Basically, we love our new ward and can't wait to get more involved.
As for our house.... I don't have a ton of pictures of the inside yet or really any of the outside yet, but here's a picture from the MLS. We love our cute little house. It's located in Lehi, Utah, about 5 minutes from my school and 10 minutes from the freeway. We have a huge river with a running trail alongside it that is located directly behind our house. It is breathtaking. There are protected wetlands all around our neighborhood, so there are lakes, and willows, and migrating geese everywhere. It just feels like home.
Our house has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, a loft, a crawl space (no basement) and an office. It has more than enough room for us and we are so excited to move in. It's only 5 years old and is basically move-in ready (and the beautiful craftsman style that I love) except for a few small things we are going to add/change: putting up a fence in the backyard, re-tiling the master walk-in shower, and putting in high-end countertops. Devin has some great ideas for the backyard as well.
One of the most exciting parts of the new house is decorating... I have already spent hour scouring websites and stores looking for the perfect pieces of furniture for our house. It's one of my favorite things and I'm so happy Devin let's me take over decorating. I think he's just excited about the new big TV he thinks he's getting as an early Christmas gift..... We will see about that one.
But here will be more pictures to come when the house is decorated. And here's to a wonderful new neighborhood, ward, Thanksgiving, and blog. I couldn't be happier and more excited about what other great things are to come in life. <3