One Whole Year

Well, today is my one-year mark.  That's right, folks.  I have been home from my mission for an entire year today.  It's crazy!  On one hand, it doesn't feel like my mission should be that far behind (okay, it's just a year...but still).  But, on the other hand, I'm married.  It's been quite the year.  Honestly, it wasn't entirely what I had thought it would be when I came home from my mission.  It has definitely been a year of change and growth, so - it's time for photos to document it at all!  Unfortunately, I haven't really taken that many pictures this year, so it won't be as all-inclusive as I was hoping.  Oh well.  Here goes:

April 20, 2007 - My flight came in twenty minutes early, so I actually greeted my family as they came into the airport, not the other way around.  I was so happy to see everyone and amazed at how much they had grown!  It was a late night - after I was picked up, we drove to Pres. Elliot's house and I was released that evening.  That was probably the hardest part of the day.  Reality hit - hard!

May/June 2007 - But, three weeks later I was back in England!  My parents and I spent about three weeks visiting my dad's mission and mine.  It was great!  This is a family we stayed with while we were in London - the Guei family.  Florence was baptized when I was in Whitechapel (London) in May 2006 and her husband was baptized in August 2007!  Her son John is so cute and James was born a day before we left back to go home to the States!  I love and miss all my mission friends!

July 2007 - Adam and I had planned a roadtrip to Utah back on our missions.  Well, we had begun dating in May and decided to still go on that roadtrip, though I was no longer planning on setting him up with Sister Anderson (as I had originally planned).  We stayed with Kristen and Nate in Logan, visited mission friends in Provo, saw my mission president in Salt Lake, stayed with Aunt Nan and Uncle Kent, and were at Sister Anderson's homecoming in Centerville.  It was a way fun trip and even after spending 100+ hours together - Adam and I STILL liked each other!  And we definitely had plenty of time to talk about things...

August 2007 - Right before classes started, Deborah and I went out to California to spend a week with Grandpa.  It was a lot of fun!  We went to San Francisco, went swimming every day, visited the Oakland Temple, and got lots of quality time with Grandpa.  It was a perfect way to finish an awesome summer.

October 2007 - So, quite a jump.  I was busy with 18 credit hours in school, 20 hours of work a week, and spending every waking hour (and a lot of the nighttime ones too!) with Adam.  We unofficially decided to get married in September after realizing we didn't want to wait until the summer.  We talked to both of our families and decided to make it official, even without a ring.  However, in October, Adam officially proposed and I officially accepted (which was a good thing, since I had been addressing wedding announcements when he came in!).  It was excellent timing - we took our engagement pictures a few days later!

October 2007 - Engagement pictures!  And gorgeous ring.  Pretty cute guy too.

December 2007 - School was still crazy and somehow I managed to get through finals while planning a few bridal showers for others and having two of my own as well.  I'm grateful for some extra boring classes in which I could get a lot of wedding planning done while "listening" to lectures.  I honestly don't know how I survived that semester!

After months of waiting to find out, we finally got an apartment in KU's married student housing.  We still had to find someone to sublet our house since two of the three girls were getting married in January.  We barely did and I moved into our new apartment at the end of the month!  

January 4, 2008 - We got married!  It was an amazing weekend.  Though it was cold, the snow was perfect for the pictures.  It was so great to have so many family members come with us to Nauvoo.  I'm grateful for the temple and the chance Adam and I have to be sealed together for all eternity!  Heavenly Father definitely loves His children!  We had so much fun at our reception seeing all our family and friends.  We were extremely tired, but it was all worth it.

January 2008 - We honeymooned in Chicago right after the reception.  Both Adam and I love to travel, so it was so much fun to explore the city together.  About the only thing we planned was to go see "Wicked," which was amazing.  We ran out of time to do everything we wanted, but definitely want to make another trip to Chicago at some point.

March 2008 - Again, not too many pictures of our life since the wedding.  We've been super busy with school and work, but luckily, we've actually been getting enough sleep!  Not having to say goodbye each night (like when we were engaged) sure contributes to that.  We look forward to Family Home Evening, Date Night, and Sundays to actually spend time together.  I chopped off my hair (you can kind of tell in the picture), Adam got a new digital camera, and we both have our own MacBooks.  This picture is from a wedding present - tickets to see Michael Buble with Kaylie!  It was awesome.

Again, it's been quite the year.  Not at all what I thought, but exactly what was right.  I am so grateful for my mission that has prepared me for this time I have now.  I feel that I am a much better student, employee, wife, sister, daughter, friend, fellowshipper, and person because of my experience serving the Lord.  I often wish I could go back to it, but I know that each stage in our lives is for a purpose and a time.  I need to now appreciate and learn from the time I am at currently!  Here's to another great year!