I am one of those people who likes to write down every aspect of what I’m feeling. Since I was about 13, I have written down what I feel, who I feel it towards or about, and most importantly I wrote down exactly what happened. I was thinking about all of this and I kept thinking about the first time I met Brennen. It was July 16th, 2014. I remember he had come to my apartment with his roommates. I walked out of my bedroom and around the corner in a very grungy mood. I was not having a good day, but I remember coming out of the room and seeing him standing by the wall by the couch on his phone (of course!). He was wearing his black converse shoes (high tops), tan pants, batman shirt, and his army tags. His phone had an American flag case on it. I remember he awkwardly looked up at me, made eye contact with me, and looked back down at his phone. We were going star gazing with his apartment and mine and I remember I sat next to him in the car and things just kept getting better since that day. I’m not a real believer in love at first site, but I think this could have been more of love at first talk. My dad jokes all the time about how it was love at first Skype since we Skyped our lives away all summer while I lived in Rockton and he lived in Nampa. I remember how many times I friendzoned him, but obviously that is not what God intended to happen.

I consider myself very lucky to have such an extraordinary opportunity to be able to love someone so selfless. I have never met someone who would put me before them or who would literally take a bullet for me. I know that if he ever did take that bullet for me that I would probably get really mad at him once I made it to heaven with him. I always joke with Brennen about how I have always dated people younger than me for the most part. I thought it was interesting that I am about 9 months older than him…I don’t think that is a coincidence.

God has blessed me in so many uncountable ways. I wake up every morning thinking “How did I get so blessed to call someone as special as Brennen, mine?”. I think about how noble and kind he is to me. He serves our country with pride in his heart and he serves God all the time. Brennen has so many countless qualities that I could list forever and ever, but I’ll say this: Brennen changed my life when he came into it almost 2 years ago and he continues to do so everyday. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us from moving to Nampa, to getting puppies, starting and raising our sweet children, getting him through school, succeeding at what he does in the Army, and just living a happy and successful life.

An older picture from like 2 years ago…..

Love this prince charming! ❤ 

“A good marriage requires time. It requires effort. You have to work at it. You have to cultivate it. You have to forgive and forget. You have to be absolutely loyal one to another.” Gordon B. Hinckley

 

Okay, so Brennen and I are both in school right now full time. He starts back at work in about two months or so. We have recently found out that BYU-Idaho has taken away the Paramedic program which Brennen was working so hard to get into. He has been taking the prerequisites faithfully and been passing with the proper grades in order to fly full speed ahead into the program. Unfortunately for us, and so many students who are probably in the same boat as us, they removed the major and now we are working on our plan B. Right now we are pretty set in stone with our plan, but things always change as we have experienced this past month. We have been told that he could get into the nursing program here, but he would need to do more prerequisites and we would be here in Rexburg a lot longer than we intended to be.

What we have determined is Brennen is going to try to get into the nursing program at Boise State University. This transfer would not be happening until the summer after I graduate. In other words, he would probably start there in the fall of 2017. That being said, he is able to finish all the prerequisites for BSU here at BYU-Idaho so he should be able to get into the program there as long as he has the classes he needs. This puts us on track to moving to Boise the summer after this one, so the summer of 2017. I am overly excited for this change and cannot wait to see what life has in store for us past college.

I will be walking in graduation in April of 2016 for my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (minor in Sociology). This is something I have been working hard for since I started school. I am so excited for this. I am excited to feel accomplished and to be able to get a good job while Brennen is finishing up school. My classes are becoming challenging and I’ll probably have to retake one of my classes that I am taking this semester. It is hard to pass a class that 80% of your grade is exams that are not written well…anyways that’s a different story. Brennen will hence be getting his Associate’s degree in April of 2017 as well making us both done at this school and ready to move onto the next phase in life.

After Brennen graduates from Boise State (as long as that is what happens for us…), we have been talking about Anesthesiology school where he would probably get his Doctorate’s degree, but that will all depend on the circumstances we are at when that comes around. It is hopeful, but it all depends.

I know I had previously mentioned that we were thinking about moving apartment complexes, but that has changed. We are now staying in University Gateway Apartments and will be here at least until December unless plans change. It is nice to have a bed and couch without owning them. That will make it much easier to move when we end up leaving Rexburg.

Life throws a lot of challenges at us, but we are working hard to make the best out of it. We are excited to move on out of Rexburg and see what awaits us beyond college.

Well hello my fellow blog readers. It has been quite some time since I have updated this. Life is busy busy busy…but more on that later. Christmas 2015 was one for the books! I am basically going to make this a picture entry because there is so much to share and so little time…but since I am home sick today I think this is a perfect time for me to do a little catching up since writing on the blog does not take too much energy out of me.

This is all from the Lincoln Museum we had the chance to visit in Springfield, IL as well as Abraham Lincoln’s memorial in Springfield as well.

 

Next, we were off to Nauvoo, Illinois where we had the chance to a do a session in the temple. It was beautiful and so breathtaking. Here are some pictures of some sights we saw for the couple of days we were able to go there. Thanks dad for taking us! 🙂

Gingerbread cookies got us like…yum 🙂

This is for my brother ^ haha enjoy Mike

Then we made our own rope 🙂

And got a brick 🙂

And we took some pictures by the Mississippi River. We tried to take dipping kiss pictures but we just looked ridiculous, so here are some personality pictures instead 😉

And then I had a lot of fun experimenting with my new camera 🙂 love it so much!

This is Carthage Jail ^ that was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. The spirit you feel in there is so real and so intense.

And some Christmas pictures 🙂

Surprise mom! Amber, Ryan, Lucy and Olivia showed up for a surprise visit for mom! 🙂 Such fun times!

Bowling was so fun 🙂

And a little birthday party for the almost-birthday sharers! The day we left to come back to Rexburg.

Well, that’s a sum on our trip. We have a lot more pictures on our phones, but we aren’t going to over-post since I already did haha 🙂 enjoy and look for more to come!

Well hey everybody! It has seemed like decades since I have written a post. Brennen and I are both in school and it is very stressful and busy all day every day. Whether we are doing homework, going to school, cooking dinner (or a late lunch…), or trying to catch our breath while watching a show together or playing a game, we are constantly busy. Brennen works when he isn’t going to school and I am currently apartment hunting. We are trying to get ahead of the game. We have already been living in this complex for 6 months (we have been married for 6 months too! Crazy how time flies!) so we are looking for a new place to live when our contract is up in 6 months. Probably planning a little too far ahead but better to be safe than sorry. If any of our Rexburg friends or people who have lived here before have any recommendations please let us know! We love hearing about other people’s experiences!

Time is passing quickly and our lives are going to be even busier as the end of the semester gets here. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving with his family this year and Christmas with mine. We have been noticing how much the little things in life really seem to mean a lot when under a lot of stress. People say that the first year of marriage is the worst, but honestly I cannot see it being any better than it already is. We might get stressed out and sometimes get a little bombarded with the string of our patience, but we love each other none the less and are always seeking to try for a better tomorrow. We wouldn’t consider ourselves masters at marriage, but we think we have a pretty firm grip on it. We are ready for whatever life throws at us next. We are pursuing this semester with a little bit of extra faith and hoping for the grades we want.

We were so grateful to be able to see my dad and some extended family a couple weekends ago. It was so nice to be able to see a familiar face. It feels like it had been forever since I had seen someone from my family, I guess it is a feeling I will have to get used to, but it was so much fun and well worth the drive to Preston to see him. Dad gets the chance to travel a lot for work and that is basically why he was out here. It was a very fun weekend.

On our way to Preston

Deer Cliff Inn was so delicious 🙂

Studying on campus – it is a thing apparently

First day of school – not the best day in the world, but manageable

Another picture from Deer Cliff Inn

Our General Conference snack – puppy chow…muddy buddies…same thing

One more Deer Cliff Inn picture because, well, I love this one 🙂

God is good and we are blessed individuals to be married at a time like this. The world is constantly changing, but we know that we will be together for Time and All Eternity. God has blessed us with that knowledge and with that opportunity. We are so excited to keep going on this journey together.

I promise I will try to update this more often.

Love,

Emily 🙂

These past couple of weeks I have realized that I have been homesick. I didn’t realize it until Brennen asked me if I missed my family. That was when it hit me and I realized I really do. Getting married to Brennen was the best choice I have ever made in my life. I would never change that. Realizing that my family is so far away isn’t the coolest thing, but Brennen reminds me that one day they will be out here in the west again and we are both sealed to our families forever. Having that knowledge is more of a blessing now than it has ever been before. I don’t like being away from them, but it is part of life. We grow up with our parents and they teach us all this awesome stuff and then they send us off to live the rest of our lives. Not everybody is blessed to be able to live close to their families, but families are still forever.

With the past couple of trips we have taken to Nampa, I have realized how much Brennen’s family feels like family now. It is so awesome to be able to be apart of a new family and be able to watch his siblings grow up. It has become such a huge blessing to me and I am so grateful that I have been “adopted” – so to speak – into his family. They are so kind and loving and such good and awesome people. Each trip is exciting and I love being able to create memories with them all.

I want to give a special shoutout to my mom right now. I know that being in Illinois is not her favorite thing in the world. I know she wishes more than anything to be out here near her grandchildren and two of her daughters. I think my mom is still very lucky to have two of her middle children near her in Illinois. However, I still vote that they move out here 😉 My mom is a pretty special lady and I hope she understands that. My mom is strong and I admire her for that. She is so courageous and she is pretty amazing. I love her so much.

Well, I guess I am just going to throw it back here a little bit.

wedding bliss

My parents and their grandchildren 🙂

probably pretty blurry, but here is me and my 3 siblings.

here we are again 🙂 My guess this is in November of 1994 when I got my baby blessing.

and the cousins and us kids 🙂

Time spent with family is the best. I can honestly say I miss my parents and my mom’s cooking haha. I will never forget the traditions we had, the times we spent listening to dad’s polka dotted stories, mom reading “The Work and the Glory” books to us before bed, playing GameCube with my brother (becoming professional Mario Kart racers), watching Amber play Solitaire on the computer, Stephanie breaking the bunk beds, the bunk bed falling on me, playing with Reed Hubbard, competing with the neighbors in lemonade stands, getting attacked by that dog, Michael cracking his head open, mom letting us play a little longer outside, dad getting that beehive out of his red car’s gas tank, mom driving that red car, sleeping with mom while she had pneumonia, getting in the car accident with Amber and Stephanie, seeing Ryan comfort Amber, soccer practice with Tori and the other girls, and so many other memories that I don’t have all the time in the world to write them out.

Life was good to me, and life still is good to me. I will always have the past to hold onto and I have the future to prepare for. Now I just get to do everything my parents did for me with my best friend.

.Families are Forever.

Brennen is finally home and it is so fantastic! We had the chance to get away from Rexburg together last weekend and go camping with his family up near the Cascades in Idaho. It was so much fun and despite the car sickness, we both had a really good time and it was so nice to get away for a little trip together.

We got to go canoeing, kayaking, and hiking with his siblings. It was so much fun and we can’t wait to go again!

We managed to get a couple pictures. 🙂

Sitting around the campfire…before it got dark obviously 😉

A slight view of what we got to drive through…so beautiful!

On the way there…such a fun ride!

On the way to Nampa.

Vacations are always fun and we are so excited for 4th of July weekend!

So glad to have Brennen home. He is extremely tan (if you couldn’t tell the difference in the pictures…I am albino). He also thinks Rexburg is nothing compared to Death Valley…I wouldn’t know the difference. We have been struggling to resist turning the AC unit on in our apartment, but so far we have strayed from doing so. We spend a lot of time sitting in front of our fan. We have been enjoying our time together and I am so happy to have him home! 🙂

When I was in Young Women’s, we would have these “dating” lessons. It was typically when you got closer to the age of 16 and were about to start dating. We would list qualities in the men we wanted to marry. Back then I didn’t think much of it. I was just trying to make it through high school and get on with my life. I tried to embrace my time as a youth, but in reality as I got closer to 18 I just wanted to run for it whenever “marriage” was mentioned. It’s weird to say that and now two years later I am married to the man of my dreams. It was fun to hear what everyone else had to say about who they wanted to marry, but my list was pretty simple: had to be taller than me, musically gifted, and loved God. When I was 16 I remember having “RM” listed. This changed drastically as I got older. I hit 17 and that quality was gone. In its place was listed “worthy priesthood holder”.

So many times in my life I have been taught that just because someone does not serve a mission, does not make them a bad person. I can list multiple examples of people I know personally who have taught me this principle, but to express what I’m trying to say just take a look at this list of powerful LDS leaders that have not served missions:

     Boyd K. Packer – After graduating from high school, he served as a bomber pilot for the U.S. Air Force during WWII.

     Russell M. Nelson – Served in the Army during the Korean War.

 Dallin H. Oaks – Because of his membership in the Utah National Guard, the threat of being called to serve in the Korean War kept him from serving a full time mission.

Robert D. Hales – Served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force

And our beloved prophet President Monson served a great deal of WWII.

When I met Brennen, the thought of him not being a RM never even hurt me. I didn’t ever think “well that is unfortunate, guess we can be friends.” (important side note: I did friend zone him twice before we started dating, but not because of that 😉 ) I take a lot of my experience from people I know and love. Nobody should ever be shut out because they did not serve a mission. Everyone deserves a chance at happiness. Missions are awesome – don’t get me wrong – but not everyone has the means to serve in that capacity. I love this quote from the April 2013 General Conference.

President Monson stated, “Brethren,as you plan with purpose your lives, remember that your missionary opportunities are not restricted to the period of a formal call. For those of you who serve in the military, such time can and should be profitable. Each year our young men in uniform bring many souls into the kingdom of God by honoring their priesthood, living the commandments of God, and teaching to others the Lord’s divine word.”

When Brennen decided to serve our country instead of serving a mission, he signed a contract for more than two years. I have learned from dating around in college, that not every return missionary is the most amazing man out there for you. Just because someone goes out for two years to serve the Lord does not necessarily make them a better person or more worthy to be married to you. An amazing husband is one who is honest, true, loving, caring, selfless, brave, kind, and most importantly worthy to hold the Priesthood. Those qualities do not have the requirement of “Return Missionary” listed before them.

The point of this is not to bash people serving missions, because I am all for that. In fact, Brennen and I have plans to serve a couples mission together when we get older. We have talked about this a lot and recently I discovered that couples may serve in a variety of locations from training bases to larger operational bases, including many locations overseas.  For those unable to leave their home, they may be able to serve a military relations mission at a base near where they live. I think that would be so awesome.

Missions are awesome and spreading the gospel is what is new and forthwith and relevant.

Just read this quote from Elder Ballard:

“What we need now is the greatest generation of missionaries in the history of the Church. We need worthy, qualified, spiritually energized missionaries who, like Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors, are “exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity” and who are “true at all times in whatsoever thing they [are] entrusted” (Alma 53:20).”

Missionary or Soldier. This quote can apply to anyone:

missionary/soldier: someone who leaves their family for a short time so that others may be with theirs for eternity. 

Brennen is doing a great thing for this country. He is giving so much of his time and he does it because he wants to not because he has to. I think the biggest thing behind people’s actions is their attitude, and Brennen has one of the most uplifting attitudes about what he does. He does it because he wants to keep people safe. When you put others before yourself, that is the most Christlike thing you can do.

So when you ask yourself, Return Missionary or Mr Right, think about the reasons why you are asking yourself those questions. Every person is different and everyone has personal convictions, but one thing I will never deny is this: The church is true no matter who you are with. The point is that you must be converted and have faith in what you want. God puts people in our lives for a reason and it isn’t to tear us down. The people that tear you down are just inconveniences that need to learn how to be respectful. When dating someone, don’t just date them because they are an RM. I can’t emphasize it enough: EVERYONE DESERVES A CHANCE. People just need to be willing to open up their hearts and let people in.

So be brave.

Be courageous.

Be adventurous.

You don’t know someone until you get to know them.

Everyone is special in their own ways.

And don’t forget: everyone has a heart.

So don’t judge people based on their actions, or based on who they are.

Love everyone and respect everyone.

Because that is what God wants.

.And Aim for the Temple.

I swear, we are not normal humans.

I think the first time we took serious pictures was at our wedding.

But let’s get real, we fell in love with each other’s faces…basically.

Brennen is a really great guy. I don’t know how I got so lucky. Everyone jokes that he would never find a girl to marry, but I always thought – and I still do – that I was really lucky to be the girl that he did find to marry. He gets me in so many ways and I did not have to change anything about myself to coax him to fall in love with me. It just happened. The summer we started talking was the first time in forever that I had actually felt a strong connection with someone that I could honestly say I would never think I could lose. To this day I still find myself wondering what it was that made him love me so much – and still does. The answer is quite obvious: it was my facial expressions.

Seriously though, who couldn’t love this?

“Let me close by bearing witness (and my nine decades on this earth fully qualify me to say this) that the older I get, the more I realize that family is the center of life and is the key to eternal happiness.

I give thanks for my wife, for my children, for my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren, and for all of the cousins and in-laws and extended family who make my own life so rich and, yes, even eternal” (April 2015 General Conference)

Elder L. Tom Perry (1922-2015)

Quorum of the Twelve Apostle

I have been thinking a lot lately about the meaning of life and death. Since this terrible illness took Elder Perry so fast, I have been reminiscing through his talks and pictures such as the one taken above. It is no wonder the man had such a huge influence on so many people. His words always stung so true to me. He is a man that will never be forgotten upon this earth, and I think God must have needed him pretty quickly up there because he left so quickly from this mortal existence.

“When Jesus shows his smiling face, there is sunshine in the soul” -Elder Perry (quoted from an LDS Hymn)

.There is a Plan for Everyone.

Thursday night I sent this guy off to go learn how to save the world. Well, that’s how I like to put it.

Brennen is heading to California for pre-deployment training. That does not mean he will get deployed, but it makes them eligible to be deployed if they need to be. There is a ton more training that goes into it if he does end up having to leave. This guy makes me so proud to be his wife. Everything he does for me and for others always manages to leave me speechless. I got lucky when I found this man. He means the world to me and is my life. I wouldn’t be who I am today without him, that’s for sure. This next month without him by my side will be hard and different. I was just getting used to living with him, but I am so excited for him to come home already. I am so proud of him.

Thursday evening was when he left and we decided that called for pizza and a Friends marathon…one last time. He had to get his fix in 😉

The Army can have him for now, but I get him for Eternity.

America is awesome. 🙂