ok...um, 3 months later.

3 months later (after i PROMISED myself i'd keep up with this thing) and we got NOTHING. haha. I guess we haven't updated because we have spent the last 3 months adjusting to this newly married life. Every day is interesting because there is NEVER a dull moment in our lives. I guess the best update would be that Jeremy has been in the training class to become a State Prison Guard (or as he would correct me, ACO - Adult Corrections Office). It has been a 10 week class and this Thursday he will finally graduate. I complain about his job every day (except the days I'm paying our bills and actually CAN because he's doing pretty well). I only complain because I can see this job taking up every SECOND of his time. oh well, i should stop complaining. I have a husband who works hard and enjoys it. He is SOOOO excited for this graduation. As for me, I'm still at the same job. I don't LOVE my job, but I am grateful to have one. Lately, it has afforded me the opportunities to travel, so I can't REALLY complain.

All in all, everything with the Ava's is good. Now all we gotta do is find Jeremy a truck....hmmmm. that's the NEXT adventure. :)

MRS. Ava...whoa.

Well it's been forever since I've posted on here. Mostly because i have been INCREDIBLY busy for the last 6 months. The last time i posted in August i was complaining about all the things that could and DID go wrong. I post today refreshed and FINALLY back to real life...

December 30th felt like it would NEVER arrive, but it did and it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding. I am officially married. that is weird to say and even stranger to see in writing! in a matter of a few hours, my entire life changed. I no longer live at home, (for the first time in my LIFE), I no longer live in a full house (it's just the 2 of us) and i REALLY don't get to sit and wait for mom to do everything anymore...I have a new last name and as weird as that is for me, that's not even the BIGGEST of the changes I've experienced.

I am so happy though. In the short week that we've been married, I have learned so much. It's true, the time after the wedding is truly the honeymoon period, but there is another truth that isn't as widely spread...that is that we all eventually have to return to real life. I am so excited to be married to my best friend for time and eternity. While the day (and the millions of days before it) wasn't without it's mishaps or speed bumps, it turned out to be the happiest day of my life (so far). Everything was 10 times more beautiful than I expected and the everyone enjoyed themselves.

As I sit at work on my first day back, I am floored by how quickly even a week has passed. I can't wait to go home to my husband and our little home that's all our own. The time and energy we invested this past week in personalizing our home and making it beautiful to us will pay off when I walk through the door greeted by the spirit that we have worked so hard to welcome into our home.

I wish I had the time to go back and go over every little detail and thought from our wedding day, but that will have to wait...So until then, (since my photographer hasn't EEEEVEN gotten back to us) here's the 2 pictures I have from that day...(thanks Teu & Kawena).

...blessed...

Its been awhile since I've had the time to update my blog. What once was my venting space has become a thing of the past. Ironically, this is where i come to share what i wont on facebook...basically where i come to explaaaaaain my life. :) since i last visited my blog, we got engaged and in the weeks since, ive experienced a whirlwind of different events and emotions. I never thought i would ever love anyone as much as i love him now...and it grows everyday.

I am in love with a man who can make me laugh when i want to cry. He knows me and wants whatever will make me happy. He is ready to take care of me. He loves me for me. My motto has always echoed Marilynn Monroe when she said, "if you dont love at my worst, you sure as hell dont deserve me at my best." He loves me at my worst and makes me want to be my best for him. He has made me ready for the first time in my life to honestly let someone into the deeoest corners of my heart. I love him with all i have and he has finally begun to prove that he loves me with all of him. I wake up everyday hapoy with the life i have been blessed with, but never content or prideful because he has taught me that what the Lord has given me, he can also take away. He encourages and supports me in my faith. His relationship with his Heavenly Father reassures me that ours will be a house of the Lord. i fell in love with his strong sense of commitment as a full-time missionary and continue to discover new things to fall in love with each day. The way to my heart has always been the ability to make me laugh and while he always makes me laugh, ive also fallen in love with his laugh and cherish the moments when we are laughing together. I have learned not to run when times get tough and i am more than ready to spend the rest of my life with him. I am grateful to the Lord everyday for bringing this man into my life and plan to devote myself completely to showing the Lord just how grateful i am. :)

Feels good to be so blessed.

just in case you were wondering...

...and you probably WEREN'T. but again...here i sit, at work, with NOTHING to do. For the past 2 or 3 weeks since i've been here, that was the most appealing part of the job! i NEVER thought it would, but it's getting old. i enjoy that i get paid to blog and facebook my life away, but the time seems to pass that much slower when there's nothing to do. Oh well, not trying to complain. just trying to fill the page. haha. i hate writing pointless blogs to no one, so this one is short and sweet. ya know, just for posterity's sake. :)

best friends

limbo.  it seems harmless, sure, but i can tell you, it's a crap place to be.  :)  i've always been fairly indecisive.  i used to think it was charming, but the fact that i was indecisive opened me up to a whole crazy mess of stuff that would take up an entirely different post, so i won't even touch that.  but i never imagined that my indecisiveness could hamper the plans and feelings of others.  "where do you want to eat?"  my reply: i dont care.  "what movie should we watch?" my reply: it doesn't matter to me. "man, what should we do? there is nothing to do around here." my reply: whatever...i can't decide.  it's that very quality that causes insecurity, uncertainty and anguish to millions of people on a daily basis.  so it's no wonder then, that my current state of "limbo" leaves me with a whole mix of feelings i don't even know how to deal with.

anyhow, no matter what the outcome of my "bleh" day, i plan to live the rest of my life knowing i did what i had to do to keep my word to myself and most importantly, the Lord.  So while I wait, I must continue to repeat in my head that what doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger.  If that doesn't work, i'll just keep singing along to the sweet, sappy songs playing on the radio here at work...hey, even if things don't work out, at least i'll have come out of this with a new attidude, a lesson learned and a bunch of new songs to add to my shower playlist.  there is always a bright side...even when it seems you are sitting alone in the dark.  I know this much though, the Lord puts the people we need in our lives for as long as we need them.  But i have never stopped and thought that maybe even when you don't need them, they're still in your life because they need YOU?  since i started at byu, i have met people who i have been able to help on their path and they have stayed in my life...probably for a time like this when i need them.  and for that person or people, i am eternally grateful.  but that's the thing about friends...there's a difference between the kind of friends we keep.  There's the friends who are more like acquaintences and you are only concerned about these people when you are physically together.  There are the good friends who say they have your back and you theirs.  And then there are BEST friends.  those are the ones who you don't just KNOW have your back...they show it.

*best friends will hop in your car and not care where you're going, who's going with you or when you'll be back...as long as you said you were coming, they're down for anything!

*best friends will PLAN to go running but totally understand and insist that you both stop at the community bake sale to support the kids before you run...and then skip the run.

*best friends don't make clubs, they make GROUPS to share each others lives and check on each other on a daily basis.
*best friends will drive your car for you when you don't have a license and then get pulled over...and STILL not hate you.
*best friends are the only people in the world that can communicate telepathically...so much so, that even inside jokes are communicated with NO WORDS...just facial expressions.

*best friends understand that when a round is called, there's no backing out.
*best friends will take you out for your birthday and then have more fun than the birthday girl!

*best friends know that every activity needs to either begin, end or consist of a meal.
*best friends will tell you their deepest secrets because they KNOW you love and support them no matter what...and then they find out they're not alone 'cause you've been in that situation too.

*best friends help each other grow...even if it means having the most random FHE's every week.

*best friends will stay awake with you (when you've stayed up too late playing cards) because you have to work at 5 in the morning and it's already 2:30.

*best friends can laugh at or with each other in the most awkward of times. in fact, that's the only way they deal with awkwardness.

*best friends can stay up all night playing "Old Maid" and getting smashed in chess. 

*best friends can pull up at each other's houses and just walk right in...no invitation needed.

*best friends can call you one day for the first time in a while and carry on the conversation as if you two were not only sitting together, but as if it had been that way every day since you parted ways.

*best friends can listen to you tell the same story 15 times...and will straight up tell you to shut up.

*best friends can make anything fun...car rides, fhe, church...just as long as they're around, it's a good time!

*best friends are also often referred to as sisters or mothers...and they take care of you and love you even when you're at your most annoying and unloveable stages.

*best friends will call you back at 1 in the morning after a long day at work, hear you cry, feel for you...and then make you laugh 2 seconds later about what you were just crying about .

*best friends make you wonder why you were crying in the first place.

*best friends make limbo not such a bad place to be.

*best friends are all of that and more, but most of all they cry when you cry, they laugh cause you're laughing, they know you inside and out, and they know that each one of them has a special place in your heart and you in theirs.  best friends are the people that keep each other sane.  they are the ones you turn to when you find out that one thing that shatters your heart into a million pieces.  they are also the ones that help you put it back together piece by piece.  they are the ones who answer the phone no matter what just in case you're in trouble.  they're the ones that can "hear" your mood and instantly know what to say to make you feel better.  they are the ones that you can't live without.  best friends are the only people in the world who sit with you and watch the world around you change, with no need to reassure you that not only will your friendship help you through whatever tough times you're expriencing, but that it will grow as you both do.  they are the ones who don't just change according to their lives, but are by your side as you change in yours.  they are the first people you would share your million dollars with, and the last people that would ask you for it.  they are the ones you call at all hours of the night and day and cry to about anything and everything.  they are the ones who sit on the other side of the phone completely open and not judging.  they pick up where your family is slacking.  they are the only people in the world who make you feel like you don't have a care in the world.  they inspire you, they encourage you, and they teach you.  they've become your second family...you know it, they know it and everyone else knows it too.  they are the only people who make you feel "normal."  they are the ones that cause you to realize that whenever you hang out...even if just for a month, a week, a day, or an hour...the crazy world around you is finally right.  they're also probably the only ones still reading this long blog so...

it's days like these that you realize who you can count on and when you figure out who those people are, you thank them, and go on with your day because when it comes down to it...they're such good friends, they already know just how grateful you are.

where it all began...

I knew when i started this blog that i had been missing something in my life...I realized what it was.  I used to blog ALLL THE TIME on my myspace, so coming to blogspot was just another outlet.  i wish there was a way to merge the two but for now i'll just have to settle for the link to my myspace blogs.  :)

http://www.myspace.com/shay04/blog

the music makes me wanna dance...nah, not yet.

I feel like it's been awhile since i've graced the pages of this blog with my random thoughts and appropriate song lyrics.  Things have been going well.  I am at a job I love, living in the home I love and spending time with the man that I...really enjoy being with.  He makes me smile, laugh and most importantly, he makes me want to be a better daughter of my Heavenly Father.  (I was trying not to write about him again...i can't help it.)   But aside from my happiness, I am here to share another song.

Throughout my young life, one constant has been my love of music.  Music can alter moods, set the tone and move people in a matter of (on average) a mere 3 and a half minutes.  There is nothing else i can think of that is so powerful and subtle at the same time.  One song, in particular, that holds tremendous meaning in my life was just playing in the background here at work and while I'm sitting here (doing nothing and waiting for someone to call so that i can actually have a job to do), this song touched me all over again and I found myself beginning to tear up like i do every time.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances but they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth making

Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance
I hope you dance
(Dance)
I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder
(Dance)
Where those years have gone
(Dance)

I found this song at a time in my life that was less than pleasant.  I was being homeschooled, my home was not a happy one and I was feeling alone.  So was my mom.  I remember helping her through this really tough time in her life and trying (at 13 years old) to be my mom's best friend, comforter and shrink all at the same time.  She was struggling emotionally and out of all the people in her life, I was the only one left who was trying to take care of her.  Me, of all people...the 13 year-old, homeschooled, socially inept third child who wasn't used to taking care of anyone. This was one of those times in my life where the ONLY thing that helped me through, was music.  Any and all types of music took me to places where there was no pain, no frustration, no suffering mom.  At the same time, I heard the lyrics of these songs and it was the one above that I felt inspired to share with my mom in an email.  At a time in her life when she was ready to give up the fight and give in to the pain and hurt she was feeling, this song brought her much comfort.  I was able to use another woman's words to start my mom on her journey to healing.  I used to hear that song, think of my mom, and hope and hurt for her.  Now I hear that song, and it reminds me to continue to hope, believe and pray for the best because as I see how happy my mom is and it was only after she had weathered the storms...and they were natural-disaster-type storms in her life.  This song has become a testament to me of the power of hope.  So today (and hopefully the ones to come), I will continue to tear up as I listen to this song, but thankfully, it is because it reminds me to hope.  And maybe, just maybe, I'll get up the courage soon enough so that when i get the choice to sit it out or dance, I will actually dance.  No more holding up the walls.  :)  After all, I've got a dance partner that I wouldn't trade for anyone right now.  :)