Blessings in Disguise

As you've all figured out, I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. I enjoy reading other peoples blogs and staying updated on their families though. So, I've decided to try and be better at updating everyone on our lives (assuming anyone out their in cyberspace is even remotely interested in reading about our {dull} lives).

This has definitely not been our best year, but it's also been great in so many ways. But I will be SO glad once it's finally over! Nate is busy working like crazy with all of his {mostly} successful entrepreneurial endeavors. He stays super busy and {as far as I know} loves what he does. I am baby sitting two cute kids in our home. I was a nanny for two of the cutest girls ever for about a year, but unfortunately that job ended in October. I was super sad that I wasn't going to get to see them everyday because I am really close to them. But I've had fun with these two new kids. They definitely keep me busy!

Nate and I are currently living in Bountiful in a great apartment. We have been here for a little over a year and absolutely love it (although we sure would love some more space-and maybe even a yard!). We have recently been looking to move into a {rental} home though as our needs are changing (no, we're not having a baby, lol). We are planning on staying close by though because we love this area.

We have fallen in love with our ward and for the first time since we've been married, feel like we've found where we belong. Last January we were called to be Sunbeam teachers! I was a bit hesitant at first considering I was a full time nanny for girls close to that same age group. I wasn't so sure about filling up my weekend (which was supposed to be my kid-free time) with more kids. However, I knew that the Lord wanted me to have this calling for a reason, so I gratefully accepted.

It has been a blessing to us in so many ways. I have always loved kids and enjoyed being around them. But I think over the last year I've learned a lot from those cute 3 year olds. I've learned that while kids all have their own unique personalities, I love and appreciate each one! Each child brings their own set of challenges and laughs to the table. I've learned how to work better as a team with my husband. I've learned that I can lean on him when I just don't have the strength to do what I'm supposed to. This has been a very mentally and emotionally exhausting year for me and there were so many weeks I just didn't feel up to the 2 hour challenge ahead of me. I am ashamed to say that on at least one occasion I chose to take the easy way out and stay home in my bed. When Nate came home from church one week he gave me a {get well} card that the kids made for me. I couldn't help but shed a few tears in shame but also in gratitude as I realized the love that those sweet kids have for me. I never realized how much they would count on me to be there for them.

I have been having a hard time the last couple of weeks as I realized my time with them was running out quickly. One of our sweet little girls {who can always be found attached to my side} was telling me how sad she is that she has to have a new teacher. I tried to reassure her that she was going to have so much fun in her new class {I think I was trying to convince myself more than her}. I think that the transition will be hard for some of them, but I know that they will all be ok, and so will I. I am excited to meet the cute new class that will be moving up from the nursery. I can't wait to see all the things that this new group will be able to teach me! I definitely believe that this calling has been a blessing in disguise. If I had to do this last year over again I definitely would. I honestly believe that God knows exactly what He's doing and that we just need to trust in His plan.

The Frosted Gardner

Hey everyone! Go to http://frostedgardner.blogspot.com/ and enter to win a $50 Home Depot gift card!

Guess Who's Going to School?!

Yep, that'd be me! Well, ok, it's not school-school. I'm going to be attending Cameo College of Essential Beauty in Murray, UT. I am going to be taking their Nail Technician courses! It is a 10 week program (which is my kind of school for sure!!). I am going in tomorrow to register and classes start on May 11! Nate and I visited with the Admissions Advisor for about an hour last week and I just love her! She is such an awesome lady and I think I will really enjoy my time there. Once I graduate I am hoping to get a fun job in a day spa somewhere close by. It'll be so nice to finally have a real career!

A lot of you probably know that I was looking for a nanny job for a while. I just couldn't find that "perfect job" and the ones that I did like just weren't falling into place. So one night Nate and I were watching Legally Blonde and it totally sparked something in me. I have always wanted to do nails, but hadn't thought much of it for a couple of years. But watching that show reminded me about that passion I had. It sounds really lame and cheesy, but that's when I realized I had finally found what I wanted to do with my life. So if any of you want your nails done-you know who to come to :-)

Curtis Leaves for the MTC

I was so good at posting last summer, but have been super terrible at it since we got home. I have quite a bit to tell though. I think I'm gonna try to break it up into individual posts to make it easier to read. I'll start with a piece of bittersweet news: my brother-in-law Curtis left for his mission on April 7 (wow, has it been that long?!). I absolutely love this kid so it was pretty hard for me to see him go. But we are all so very proud of his decision to serve the Lord.

Haha, this picture cracks me up. It's so Curtis.

So far he is loving it! He will be in the MTC until about the beginning of July I think, but I'm not positive. He is going to the Ohio Cleveland Spanish Speaking Mission. His letters are so positive and upbeat. Curtis is an amazing kid and I know that so many people will be affected by his awesome attitude.

Long Time, No Post

Ok, so I'm back!! I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last post! People have been bugging me forever to update my blog, so here I go. I'll try to sum up the last 6 months in one post (if I can even remember that far back).

Nate and I packed up and left Memphis, TN the end of August. We drove up to Cincinnati, OH where I flew home from on September 1. Him and our puppy Memphis stayed there for about a month. I was home trying to get my business started up.

Our 1 year anniversary was on September 25! Nate had an amazing weekend planned for us when I flew to Ohio on September 23/24 (I can't remember which one, lol). We drove up to Columbus and went to a Major League Soccer game. We went to an amusement park down by Cincinnati, and lots of other fun things!

When we got home our apartment bathroom was being remodeled so we lived with my parents while that was being done. It was fun to live back at home since I moved out right after high school, but it definitely made both of us grateful for our own place! We just barely moved back in a couple of weeks ago. I'm still in the process of getting all organized, but I'll post pics when it's all done. I've completely redecorated everything so it's like having a whole fresh start!

The holidays were a lot of fun this year, but stressful. We had a lot of fun little traditions we started for our little family! Nothing too big has happened over the last few months.

Nate and I are both pushing our businesses really hard and hoping to be able to not have to go and get another job. We both love what we do and are loving making a living doing something we love! (Man, that's a lot of love in one sentence! LOL)

Click here to learn about Nate's business!

Click here to learn about Nikki's business!

That brings us to the next big event-Nate's 24th birthday! His birthday is January 12 and we celebrated together by going to dinner at Chili's and watching Avatar. It was so much fun!

Hopefully this post makes sense and isn't too jumbled! I'll definitely try to do better at keeping everyone updated this year! We are so excited to see what 2010 brings for us and have high hopes for our future!

Family Visit!

So, my mom, brother Makaeden, and Grandpa Darnell came out to visit us!  They got here on June 16th and left on the 19th.  They arrived on Tuesday night at about 6 and I had dinner waiting for them.  We ate chicken enchiladas and then headed out to see downtown Memphis!  Nate was working that night so he didn't go with us.  We rode on the Trolley and walked down Beale Street.  I haven't done much sightseeing myself so it was a lot of fun!

This is in front of the FedEX Forum.  It's their events stadium.

The next day Nate was able to get work off!  We went to Graceland first.  It was really neat!  It was a lot different than I expected though.  His house was not anything like I had imagined, and they had a ton of museums and exhibits to go through.  That took a good portion of our day.  I took a million pictures but I'll just post a few.  

This is the living room.  This is the first room you see when you walk in the front door.

Here is the kitchen.  Not at all what I was expecting!  Pretty much just an average 70's kitchen!

This is the "Jungle Room".  Probably the most famous in Elvis' home.  This is an awful pic but it was the best I could get.  You weren't allowed to use flash and it was dark in there...

This was in front of Elvis' plane "Lisa Marie"

After we were done at Graceland we grabbed some lunch and then headed to Mud Island!  Mud Island is a 5-block long replica of the lower Mississippi River, from Cairo, IL, to New Orleans, LA.  

You can take a tram from the mainland over to the island.  

On the island they have a museum about the transportation that is used on the Mississippi River and how it has changed over the years, exploration and settlement, music, the Civil War, etc.  They even had a life size river boat you could walk around on!  It was actually really neat.

Kaed loved the cannons

Outside playing in the "river"

It was SOOO hot and we were all pretty exhausted!

Afterwards, we drove by the Civil Rights Museum.  Unfortunately, it was closed so we didn't get to go in.  But this is the hotel that Martin Luther King was assassinated at.  The wreath on the railing is where he was standing.  I have always really admired him and actually was able to meet his widow and to talk her for a little bit in Little Rock a few years ago!  She was such a sweet lady and it was so interesting learning a little bit about her.  We were in the Civil Rights Museum there when we met her :-)  Anyways, I really want to go inside the museum next time, but for now I will have to settle for just driving by.

When we got home that night Nate and Kaed went swimming!  (Kaeden had been begging ALL day long!)

Isn't he so handsome?!

This picture cracks me up!  They were SO tired by the end of the night!

The next day we woke up early and went to the Fire Museum.  It's the same one Nate and I went to for my birthday, so I won't really post many pics.  

Nate and my grandpa were good buddies that week!

After the museum we hurried over to the Peabody Museum to watch the famous "Duck March" that was started in 1933.  The story is actually quite amusing.  They live on top of the hotel in fancy duck cage and every morning at 11 o'clock they are led down to the lobby fountain.  Then at 5 o'clock every evening, they are led back up.  It was kinda fun to go and watch!

After that Nate had to head to work so we split up and headed to the Memphis Zoo!  It was a really big zoo, but not the greatest on in my opinion.  It was REALLY hot so it made it not as enjoyable as I'm sure it could normally be.  A lot of the zoo was empty (I'm assuming it was because we went on a weekday) so it was a little bit eerie in some parts!

This was out in front of the zoo

Waiting for the tram to take us to the next exhibit

They had a fun little fountain you could swim in to cool off!  Kaed took full advantage of that :-)

Grandpa was pretty hot and tired from all the walking!

After the zoo we went to a park that we have nearby.  It looks almost exactly like "Castle Park" in Kaysville.  For those of you who don't know what that is, I apologize but I didn't take any pics of the park :-(

Then we finally got to eat dinner!  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  I personally don't think it's the most amazing restaurant in the world, but they have some pretty good wings!  

Kaed found a hunting game and just HAD to play it, LOL.  

It was so much fun having them here!  It was good to see them and it was SOOO nice being able to get out of the house and do some much anticipated sight seeing!  Luckily, they were able to stay with us since we have a 2 bedroom apartment.  It was nice to be able to return the favor to my mom for letting me live with her for 18 years and my grandpa for letting me live in his basement apartment for 2 1/2 (although I still have much more to do to show my gratitude)  You guys were great house guests!!  Love you!!

RIP "Grandma Jonathan"

So, this past week was not a great one.  My grandma passed away on Friday.  She was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer only 2 weeks prior to her death.  It all happened so fast none of us were ready for it.  The funeral was today and unfortunately, I was unable to fly home for it.  It was really hard realizing that I was going to have to miss my own grandma's funeral, but there was just no way we could make it work.  

She was actually my mom's aunt (her mom's sister), which technically makes her my great aunt, but my mom lived with her for a while when she was growing up.  She was more of a mom to her and a grandma to me.  I love her so much and even though we're all so sad that she's gone, we're so happy that she's finally with my grandpa and her parents again.  She left behind 4 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  We will all miss her very much.  

Every Christmas Eve since before I was born, our family would get together for our family party.  She would always play Christmas carols on the piano and we'd all sing along.  She absolutely loved playing the piano and was really good at it!  I've never had a single  Christmas Eve without her.  Christmas Eve will never be the same without her.  But even though she's gone, I know that she will always be with us in spirit.  We love you and miss you Grandma!  We will never forget all the wonderful memories you've left for us.