Rowley, like Rolly-polly

I know, I know, it has been a while

2008-03-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Bear with me through this post, the W key is having a tough time on this keyboard so if a word doesn't make sense then just insert a W and try reading it again. Macs are such blessed things, but (no offense, Lee and Jared) they need some keyboard modifications before they can take over the world.

We are now in Cedar City of all places. It has been a cold winter, especially coming from such a heavenly climate, but Spring truly is on its way. We are also excited to have so many national parks nearby for camping this summer.

We spend almost all of our time studying and when we are not, we are feeling guilty because we know we should be studying. (Let me take this time to apologize to anyone we have neglected over the last three months but, ALAS, summer is on its way! We are officially done May 2nd.) School here is very different than we thought it would be, but somehow it is still the right thing. As much as we love it, sometimes we wish it weren't the right thing for us because it is...hard. :) However, we are learning to be grateful in all circumstances and have faith that God is a lot smarter than we are. And don't get me wrong, we absolutely love how much we are learning and feel like it is one of the most important things we have ever done, but the best things are almost always the most difficult things.

It is really fun to live so close to Marie, Joel, and their sweet, new baby Abner, Ed, Jefferson, Abigail, Uncle Fred and Aunt Glenda. I am more and more convinced with all of our moves that home is anywhere family is.

Jared is working his feet off for Winder Farms right now. The best part is that we get a great discount on the best food ever, delivered right to our door. Jared really works his buns off for us. I did door-to-door sales one day with Jared when he was selling aerating, and it was so difficult! The best part about Jared, though, is that he refuses to compromise his values - no matter what. No sales tactics, no "persuasive" techniques, just the honest to goodness truth. I really respect that. We both know that he could make a lot more sales if he would compromise just a little bit, but he won't and while that seems like a sacrifice to a lot of people, I see it as a precious blessing. (I hope he doesn't make me take this off when he reads it.)

I am working at George Wythe as an assistant to the president of the school and the Registrar. I have really enjoyed working with everyone at the school. For the summer, however, I decided that I would rather be the janitor (does that sound like a demotion or what?!) because then I can do it very early in the morning, have the rest of my day to work on earning other money besides tuition, and the best part of it is that I can wear jeans. :) What can I say - I live to clean.

Anyway, life brings many challenges, but it is really such a gift. I am learning that more and more everyday, and I can safely say that Jared agrees. We have been learning a lot about how closely and almost inherently connected joy and pain are and this knowledge has made us more grateful for the small challenges that we face.

Hope all is well with our dear family and friends.

A new post.

2007-10-22T07:49:00.001-07:00

It has been quite a while since I last posted so I believe it is time for an update. For those of you who don't know, we sold our house in Provo at the last second in August. Because we were homeless, we then decided to live with good 'ole Mom and Dad in California until January. We have absolutely loved it out here. It has really been a unique time, spending so much time with family, getting to know my wonderful sister, Kristi, who just got home from her mission, and experiencing missionary work here.

Tonight our good friends, Yesi and Alex, were baptized. It was truly a remarkable event. They have been taking the discussions at our house and Jared and I have learned a ton from them. I love meeting people who are so receptive to truth and who are so willing to act upon the truth that they learn.

It was a beautiful baptism and I am grateful to have been a part of it. Jared baptized Alex, I gave a talk, Larry gave the opening prayer, Kristi gave the closing prayer, Diane played the piano, made the programs, gave a talk, and organized the refreshments afterwards (they call her "the maniac" around here). Two of Yesi's siblings and their families joined the Church two months ago and are such a strength for Yesi and Alex. Yesi's brother, Tony, was able to baptize Yesi which was very special. An immigrant from Tonga and another from the Philippines came as well, they are the ward missionaries that helped in Tony and his family's conversion. It was very inspiring to hear their testimonies and to see this Gospel work for so many people all around the world.

Anyway, life is good. Jared is working for Brian and Missy, driving granite around all day and I will, hopefully, start substitute teaching soon. We have learned so much from Diane and Larry while we have been out here, I call Diane my "homemaking mentor". We appreciate Diane and Larry's generosity so much in letting us stay here and treating us so well.

It is really an interesting time of life and it seems that every other month we are in a new state, but we are learning a lot and anywhere Jared and I are together is home. :) I know that is so sappy, but it is true and I am especially sappy this week, being that it is our first year anniversary this Friday.

Here are a few pictures of us and the Rowley clan from when Kristi got home. The first two are a little dramatic because our little nephew, Caleb, was taking endless amounts of photos of everyone that night. Also, for some reason it cut off the right of the pictures.

A Monologue

2007-07-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

From 5th to 8th grade I was a crafty little thing. I enjoyed making endless amounts of wooden door hangers, cross stitching animals and cute, homey phrases like "A Clean Home is a Happy Home", and ceramic Christmas ornaments. As soon as I started 9th grade, however, I abandonded my embarrassing, homemaker ways and started reading fashion magazines and hanging out at the mall all day.

I am pleased to announce that my craftiness has returned - I have now abandoned Banana Republic and I have learned how to sew (kind of). My first project is the red and cream striped shirt in the pictures at the bottom of the page. Since then I have made an apron, a skirt, and a wrap-dress that is one size too big because I didn't know that each patterns run in sizes.

I would like to thank my husband for telling me that everything I make (and do, in general) is amazing even when it is not wearable, my mother for buying me a sewing machine and my grandmother for giving me some of her old material and patterns. (I am also grateful to flickr for providing these pictures via the web so no one can see my projects close up, thus my flaws are not quite as visible.)

Here are some photos of the projects:

In other and more interesting news, Jared and I turned into the kind of weird people that wait in line to go to a movie for hours even though we know that if we waited a week we could enjoy the same show but in an emtpy theater without the wait. We went to see the new Harry Potter at the IMAX theater. It was worth the wait and staying up way past our bedtime. I'm not a Harry Potter maniac or anything but it really was so great.

Also, we had a BBQ the other night and it was a delight and we plan on having another one in the near future. Things like BBQs used to make for an average night for us, however, since we have now reached "adulthood" they are a rarity and we view it as a special occassion.

There you have it! We love and miss everyone!

Decisions

2007-07-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

It seems like everyday lately we have had to make some new, big, life-altering decision. We have decided to go back to Provo until our house sells which excites us because we love Provo so much and disappoints us because we were looking forward to being on campus at GWC. Not to mention we really need the money that it would give us.

Now since we will already be in Provo we are thinking that maybe I should finish my degree at UVSC but I don't think that will happen. I already have one worthless degree from there, I don't want another. The decisions we are making now concerning my education will determine if I will be equipped or not to teach our kids or make a difference in the world. I have sucked UVSC dry of any wisdom it has and it is time to move on. However, if God tells me to go back I suppose I will.

We have been enjoying ourselves in Colorado. Jared doesn't work very much now because there isn't much work, unfortunately, but we have so much fun being together that we secretely don't care.

Last night we went to this adorable little town called Manitou Springs with Jefferson, Abigail, Doug and Olivia. It is by Garden of the Gods which is in the picture from our previous post. We ate on the patio of a little restaurant and then bought ice cream from an ice cream shop down the street. The night air was perfect and everything seemed light and fun, like all of our old summer nights used to feel. Life is so much more complicated now that I am married but so, so, so much better. I don't know how I ever lived without Jared.

Here are some pics of our night in Manitou:

These are a lot of pictures that look like the same picture.

A fresh blogging start.

2007-06-09T16:19:00.001-07:00

I haven't been very good at keeping up with my journal so I decided I would start a new blog. It is for Jared and me to record some notable and some not so notable life experiences even though Jared doesn't blog and probably won't ever know this exists.

We are in Colorado Springs for the summer. Jared is installing satelite dishes and I am the office manager. Jefferson, Abigail and Ed are all out here as well. The Cones live just an hour north which has been very fun and Emily is just as entertaining as ever. Since I don't need a car out here because my work is all here we sold the Focus so I am pretty much here all day, reading and swimming and thinking about Jared all day long, awaiting his return. Because we hardly see each other any more I decided that I would start going on jobs with him. So we will kind of be a installing team which is kind of ironic because we don't have a TV and probably won't ever have one.

Colorado Springs is an interesting city. It is just one HUGE strip mall. I have never seen so many Bed, Bath and Beyonds in one town. It is the epitome of suburbia which naturally creates a weird and boring feel.

Anyway, Jared just got home so I will write more later.

This is a picture of us at Garden of the Gods.