Encouraging Words

If you ever need help to endure, remember these words:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

- Mother Teresa

*amber*

Fathers' Day 2010

Fathers' Day weekend was a blast. I actually remembered to snap a few pictures so I thought I'd share.

We went up to my parents' house in the afternoon. When we got to their house, we found a driveway full of Fathers' Day wishes and funny little stick figures drawn with sidewalk chalk. My adorable little cousins stayed the weekend with my family so they'd made a surprise for their dad when he came to pick them up. It was so sweet :)

I worked most of the afternoon on a baking project (that you'll see soon,) then helped my mom, brother, sister, sister's friend, and Seth put together a new picnic table for my dad! My mom got it for him for Fathers' Day. I even got my little cousins to help by telling them to help us unwrap the presents. They tore into that packaging like you wouldn't beleive. And after it was all out of the packaging, I told them that whoever picked up the most packaging material would get to pick their dessert first. The yard was clean in no time. 

Here's the new table. Much nicer than the old one, (which Seth and I will now inherit for our little backyard) and it has more seating and an umbrella.

When dad got home, we had a barbeque for Fathers' Day. It was our first summer barbeque of the year and it was oh so tasty. Homemade burgers, beans, potato salad, corn on the cob, chips, lemonade, watermelon. Mmm... We were stuffed. Apparently not too stuffed though because when I brought out dessert, everyone dug in.

I got this idea from a magazine :) How cool is that??

The steak! Made out of molded caramels. I wanted to make them out of those caramel creams with the white in the middle so it would look like a bone. But we couldn't find them :( The orange sugar is the burning coals.

Hot dogs! Aka Mike and Ike's. The black grill marks are black food coloring applied with a toothpick. Not sharpie like my mom thought. 

And my favorite... Shish kebabs! Made out of caramel and Swedish Fish on toothpicks.

Daddy with his special Fathers' Day dessert.

After the sun went down, we visited for awhile, then rented Alice In Wonderland. My family hadn't seen it yet. If you remember, it's one of my new favorite movies.

Sigh... what a great evening it was. And I know for Seth and me, it was very much needed. 

*amber*

Happy Day Dad!!!

I love you. Hope you've had a great day.

*amber

Summer Lovin'

My Summer mood has finally hit. Which means I don't feel like doing anything but going on spontaneous adventures. Really. We've been doing lots of fun things lately but (as usual) I am WAY behind. I'll get around to it eventually :) Maybe when I get back from our next adventure. We'll see.

In the meantime, I hope your Summer is as exciting as ours has been so far. 

Full of magical surprises.

Now I'm off to...

Sigh, life is good.

*amber*

FORZA ITALIA!!!

Forza! Forza!

Italy has their first match today against Paraguay. 

If you can't tell, Italy is my team this year. They aren't expected to do very well. Vieni Italia, facciamo vedere loro.

 Forza Italia!!!

Che ce fra le tue corne, Paraguay?!

Bahaha... (that's the only good Italian insult I know.)

 *amber*

Restless

Tonight, I'm feeling restless. 

And I'm totally feeling this song. It was one of my favorites way back in the day.

So maybe all the words aren't applicable to me right now. But I do feel restless tonight.

I want to go somewhere.

I want to do something.

I want to make something.

I want to learn something new.

I want to try new things.

Or maybe I want to relax.
I don't even know what I want to do.

But I just can stop moving long enough to do anything. 

Do you ever have those days? It's gonna be a looooong night.

(especially because I have 7 papers to write... ugh)

*amber*

Exactly One Year Ago...

The man of my dreams asked me to marry him.

*Sigh*

I still get butterflies just thinking about it. That picture was taken on my phone the night he popped the question.

* * *

June 8th, 2009.

It was a Monday night. We had wanted to go dancing for a while. Seth knows some swing dancing and I really wanted him to teach me some moves. I love to dance, but have never really learned any couples dancing.

We went to Seth's family home evening. After the lesson was over, we left to find a place we could dance. We tried a few different places on campus, and finally ended up in a big room upstairs in the Wilkinson Center.

He taught me some awesome moves, and I even taught him some ballet! :) At some point, a bunch of janitors came into the room we were practicing in and started puting away chairs. So we decided we should probably get out of their way. 

We still wanted to dance for a bit, so we found ourselves in a corner of the big ballroom. We danced and danced for quite awhile.

I started getting tired and was ready to call it a night. Then Seth said, wait, he wanted to show me something. It was a move that he'd seen done before but had never actually done himself. I wanted to get to bed, but is sounded like a cool move, so I gave in.

Seth showed me through a complicated series of movements. At the end, he turned me away from him, then spun me back around. When I turned, I saw him down on one knee. At first I thought, "What am I supposed to do now? Sit on his knee?" Then I realized what down on one knee meant, and I was mad that he would joke about something like that. Finally, he pulled the ring from his pocket and I knew he wasn't kidding.

At that point, I think I went into shock. Seth started talking to me but I could never remember what he said. I was just staring at his face, shocked. When he asked the words, "Will you marry me?" all I could do was say "Of course!" and giggle like crazy because I was so happy. I gave him a big hug around his neck and couldn't believe how lucky I was.

At that point, we realized that the building was closing. So we went outside and sat on a bench for a while, talking about the enormity of the decision we'd just made. Neither of us could stop smiling and we started using phrases like "When we're married..." which was exciting to be able to say finally. We had both known that we wanted to spend forever together for quite some time.

We finally made our way down to the duck pond. We sat on a bench by the pond and started calling our families and close friends, even though it was late and most of our family members were in bed. We figured they deserved to know very first.

At around midnight, the sprinklers started so we had to run to the car. Once there, we stayed parked by the duck pond and continued calling and texting pictures of the ring to friends. Everyone was so excited for us, but I wish they could have seen our faces. We couldn't stop staring at each other or smiling.We were talking to other people, but our attention was really all just for each other.

It started getting pretty late but neither of us wanted to go home. We wanted to soak in the moment as much as we could. Finally, Seth decided I had better get home so I could make it to work in the morning. Saying goodnight that night was the hardest it had ever been.

 74 days later, August 21st 2009, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for Time and All Eternity. It was the happiest day of both of our lives. For nothing am I more grateful than this wonderful man that God has allowed me to be with forever. I don't know what I would do without him. In the relatively short time that we've been together, he has impacted my life in ways I never knew he could.


Since then, we have each learned so much about each other. We know each others secrets and so called "imperfections." However, we still insist that the other is perfect. Because we are perfect for each other.

People always warned us that the first year of marriage would be the hardest. It hasn't quite been a year for that yet, but I can honestly say, it has been the best year of my life. We have had some hard times so far (surely nothing compared for what is to come in our future) but we have learned so much about each other. I think the "hard" part of the first year of marriage is all about stepping outside your own brain, and realizing that there is something else out there. It can be hard because we want the world to be as we see it. But when we care so much for someone that sees it differently, we have to look at it differently sometimes. We can either resist, or embrace that.

Some times have been harder than others, but in each of these experiences, I have learned more about who my husband truly is. It is a wonderful feeling. Although I like to think I know everything about him, there is still a lot to learn. There is no way to define the complexities of a single human. But that's why we have forever to spend learning about each other.

I love you Seth. You are my entire world and I am eternally thankful for the time we've been granted together so far. Here's to the future. To all the future memories and things we have to learn. Here's to all the future arguments and heartache and times our world feels like it's upside down. I know we will hold each other up and come out stronger people. I love you sweetheart. Thank you for everything you are.

*amber*

Ummm...

Tonight we were playing Would You Rather.

We got the question, "Would you rather be the ugliest person in the world, or be the dumbest person in the world." 

Seth said ugliest. "Because then you could get a decent job and pay for the plastic surgery."

I figured that's what most people would say, so I decided to consider the other option instead. I chose dumbest. "Because then I wouldn't even know I was dumb. And people would just love me and think I was cute."

Seth: "No, they would all want to kill you."

Amber: "What? No, they only want to kill smart people. They are the only valuable ones. Why would they want to kill me?"

Seth: "I don't know, they just would."

Suddenly, Seth's eyes get really wide, then he starts laughing uncontrollably. Apparently he had gone into some half asleep trance and was just talking without knowing what he was saying. At some point, his consciousness heard something about killing people, which startled him awake. 

He didn't stop laughing for a long time. He just couldn't get over why he would have said they wanted to kill me... oh man, he is so silly :)

* * *

We also got the question, "Would you rather share your room with an elk, or your bathroom with a man with a strange skin disease?"

Hahaha... That one got me started into my own laughing fit. Oh so random. 

* * *

Which reminds me... one time at girls camp, we were playing would you rather around the campfire really late at night. The Beehives came up with some pretty priceless ones.

Beehive 1: "Would you rather be a swimsuit model, or a stripper?"

All Laurels in unison: "Um... a swimsuit model!!!"

Beehive 1: "No, I mean the two piece kind" :O (shocked face)

Hahaha... oh the innocence.

Beehive 2: "Would you rather be a (insert something gross here, I can't remember what she said), or an old heifer?"

 Certain Laurel leader: "Do you even know what an old heifer is??"

Beehive 2: "Yes! It's a cow!"

Mm... maybe you had to be there for that one.

And finally,

Beehive 3: "Would you rather have gold teeth...?"

Yep, that's all she said. It still baffles me to this day hahaha. Oh man, now I miss girls camp. Well, I hope your weekend is just as full of crazy randomness. Ours is shaping up to be pretty great so far :)

*amber*

Oh Yeah...

I forgot. Another thing that drastically helped lift my mood this week was... P90X Yoga!!! Thursday night, we did the P90X yoga workout with some of Seth's old roommates. It was amazing. 

Most yoga videos are pretty tame and not very good to use as a workout. This was one of the best yoga classes I've ever taken. And I didn't even have to pay for it! Tony (the P90X guy) is really good at showing different ways to do poses depending on ability.

Most of all, it just felt good. I've really wanted to start working out again but can't seem to get the motivation. Coming from being a dancer where I do what I love, and it just happens to be a good workout too, it's hard to want to run on a big machine just for fun. Yoga is different though. I've always had a love for yoga. It really is a total mental and physical experience. I think I'm hooked... I might need to start doing yoga every day.

As you probably know, yoga puts a big emphasis on flexibility. There is some strength required too, but yogis understand the need for flexibility, not just bulk. Since I haven't danced for over two years now, it felt so good to stretch out again. I have lost most of my flexibility, but by the end of doing yoga, I was pretty close to being back where I was two years ago :) It felt great. 

Plus, now I'm a little sore and... I know you'll think I'm psycho but... I've really missed the feeling of being sore. It's such a wonderful feeling knowing that you've worked your body hard enough that it needs to rebuild a bit. It is so satisfying.

Ideally, would like to be certified someday so I can teach yoga. Plus, it doesn't hurt that yoga teachers can make pretty good money :)

*amber*

Home Sweet(er smelling) Home

As hoped, I am now in a much better mood. Everything was sorted out with the leak and the carpet (well, hopefully. I guess we'll see when it rains again) and we can breathe the air in our apartment without feeling nauseated.

The plumber finally came on Wednesday and decided that it was because our rain gutter was plugged up with leaves and stuff so water just kept building up and dripping down our outside wall; which is growing a lovely trail of moss all the way down. Beneath that, the cement kind of dips and has a crack, so he thinks that is how the water got in. I sure hope he's right. And I hope someone comes to re-cement that soon.

Wednesday when I got home from work, this is what I saw:

The carpet had all been pulled out and underneath was this old tile. I thought it could have been kind of pretty just to leave the tile and fix it up a bit... am I crazy? :) It would be like those old houses where they pull up the carpet to find nice hardwood floors because that's what people used to put under carpet. They just have to refinish it and... voila! Beautiful antique hardwood floors!

Anyway, there was that white junk plastered all over the floor and the only place you can actually see the tile is where, I'm guessing, the water washed it off. You can see in the picture where most of the water damage would have been. The wall with the window is the back wall where the water came in from. Where I'm standing is in the kitchen door. The water traveled all the way across the room. 

Thursday, some guys came to put in new carpet. This is what I saw when I came home from work:

Hm... brown carpet eh? I sort of feel like we're living in the 70's now... Groovy.

But hey, at least we have carpet right? And it's dry. And it's not as thick or padded so if we leak again, the water won't have as much room to soak in and start growing things. 

So now we can start putting our house together again! Huzzah! I can't wait to have things back to normal. We can finally sleep in our own bed again! I haven't even gone grocery shopping since we've been home from our trip because I didn't want to cook food with mold spores all over it. 

Yuck... I need to stop thinking about it. Just remembering disgusts me...

Happy Saturday everyone!

*amber*

Homeless

Disclaimer: This post is really nothing but an angry rant. I am not an angry person. This is probably the most angry you will ever see me. Feel free to skip this post. I just needed to vent a bit.

* * *

Last week, we went up to Washington for a little vacation with Seth's family. It was so wonderful! We had lots and lots of fun and have lots of great pictures. I was planning on being totally blogtastic this week. But I have a feeling it's not going to happen. At least for a few more days...

We got home from our amazing trip Saturday night. By the time we got back to our house in Provo, it was around one in the morning. We were exhausted and couldn't wait to just fall into bed. I opened the door and walked in. This is what I heard: "SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH" with each step I took. I looked down and realized that our carpet was soaked at the same moment I felt water soaking through my shoes. Great.

When we first moved into our apartment, we noticed that the carpets in the living room felt slightly damp. It was so slight, that we weren't sure if we were imagining it. Maybe it was just cold? But we called our management company and told them to send someone out to look at it, just in case. 

Well, no one ever came. We called a few more times, with this and a few more problems, and still no one has come to our house. I started to get a little irritated but because the carpet wasn't getting any worse, I just tried to be patient and not worry about it too much. 

Now, I'm really upset. We were gone for over a week, so we don't know how long the carpet has been like this. We do know it was raining a lot, so it may have been from that. But it's so wet that in places, you can see the water drops resting on the top of the carpet. And it doesn't seem to be drying at all either.

So at 1:30 on Saturday night, I called our management company and left them a very heated message. I knew no one was there and that no one would be there until today because of Memorial Day. However, I was mad. I'm not the kind of person that gets mad very easily. Or is very assertive or likes to talk to people on the phone or likes confrontation. At all. But I think I snapped. Our whole house smells like mildew and it's really disgusting. We've been trying to keep all of the doors closed and even put up a curtain so the smell would stay mostly in the living room. Somehow, it still finds a way to seep through.

Sunday morning, I woke up sick. Probably from all the mildew and stuff in the air. We didn't even make it to church on Sunday because I was sick and we were trying to get everything out of the living room. We really hope all of our furniture isn't damaged beyond repair. After moving everything, we sort of re-packed our still packed bags and headed up to my parents' house so we could shower without getting moldey again, and so we could sleep in clean air. We spent last night there too because we didn't want to come back here, then came back to Provo this morning for work. I'm not sure where we'll stay tonight. I feel a little bit homeless, living half at my parents' house, half out of suitcases from our vacation.

Not only will we need new carpet, but we really need to figure out where the leak is coming from. I really hope someone can find it. I went into our management office today and demanded that she get someone to come out here TODAY. The plumber called Seth and said he could probably come this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Well, he never came today. All I can say is, he better come tomorrow.

Sorry for the rant. If you can't tell, I'm really not very happy about this. Ok. Now I better go try to unpack and do some laundry... which I haven't done yet because all of our living room furniture is crowded into our kitchen and bedroom. There is not much space left to move around. 

Ugh.

Anyway, I'll try to blog about happier things later in the week. Maybe by then I'll be in a better mood.

*amber*