Most people do not know that we have had a pretty rocky marriage. Some things were said and done many years ago that really affected our marriage. It took many years to overcome a certain hurdle for Will and I, but we did it together. It took a lot of patience and not knowing if we were going to be able to make it but we several years ago I decided I was not going to leave Will, but instead work out our issues and see what happens. I gave myself one year to see if there would be a change, it was a slow change but I could see progress in both Will and I. We still have a lot to work on, but we have come to realize that we are a team raising a beautiful daughter.
A big reason why we decided to move to Utah was so we could focus on each other, and our family and not worry about any of the hurt that was happening in Washington. We had to go to a place where we could still be close to Seattle, but also a place that we were familiar with, and we know some people so we were not going to be completely alone. Most of the time we do feel isolated a bit but it is an easy drive to see my extended family and we have the most wonderful supportive ward and friends that has really made us feel like we have family. I still have my up and down days, probably more down that up still, but it is getting better. I had a dream the other night that we went to my old work and they gave me an offer I did not want to give up and I left Utah and headed back to Washington to a place I knew, and hard to say, but love. There are some major downfalls of living there, like the weather and cost of living, but overall I had all of our immediate family and a job I loved and was great at. Anyways- so, back to the story... Moving to Utah has had some great benefits. We have been able to come together as a family more, we are not fighting as often, and we are having time to heal. We have jumped over our huge hurdle, but we now have the mending.
So, we made it to December 18th, it has been 10 years of marriage. We had originally talked about going to Las Vegas for our anniversary, but things led to another and we decided we were not going to go, at this time we thought we were going to Seattle, but again, that did not work out either. Will decided he wanted to do something big and memorable for our anniversary since we could not get away. One of our friends took Ariana Friday and most of the day Saturday. I dropped Ariana off at her house and she gave me the first clue which led me to Will, meet him at Olive Garden (my favorite restaurant). When I met him there, after a few minutes, he got down on 1 knee and proposed to me, but this time, proposed taking me to the temple to be sealed as a family for time and eternity for our 11th anniversary. Of course I said yes! A family from our ward was sitting right by us and they saw everything and took pictures. Will got a ring and all. The ring is a bit small but I insisted not doing anything to it and instead have it with my heart pendant and necklace he gave me for our anniversary a couple years ago. I love how it goes together so well and represents a good marriage year we had together (the heart pendant) and the future (the ring). Also, at dinner Will had set up having my favorite hair blogger call me and wish me a happy anniversary, so surprised, I think I sounded like an idiot who did not know how to talk. I have been following her blog and trying a lot of her hair styles for about 4 years. I went to her hair styling class a couple months ago and spoke with her briefly (okay Ariana really did all the talking), so I was shocked to say the least.
Photo courtesy of Tami Schalappi 
The waitress gave me the bill which I was really surprised, but the bill was not in there it was the next clue to where we were going, Arctic Circle (my favorite ice cream joint, and everyone knows I LOVE ICE CREAM!). The next clue led us home where Will asked our neighbor to light some candles, turn on our wedding song, and do some sparkling cider. We enjoyed the evening at home, tried to sleep in Saturday, I guess 8 am is sleeping in a bit, then headed off to breakfast and started our Christmas shopping, finally!
Will felt really bad that we could not afford a big expensive getaway for our big 10 year anniversary but he did great anyways! I kept telling him it is OK because our 11 year will more than make up for it!
I can tell 2015 is going to end up being a big year for us. Will is working really hard at getting a better job, and better paying one. I am working on getting a new job offering better hours, closer to home and with all benefits and better pay . Ariana is happy and healthy and we live in a beautiful area surrounded by wonderful people. This year Ariana is getting baptized and we are getting sealed as a family. We are going to be able to show that we are 100% committed to each other. We are looking forward to a big celebration of the baptism and sealing and having lots of friends and family with us. We are looking at continuing to work toward buying our first home in the next year or two. And finally, Will is going back to school! We may not have a lot of little things planned, but we have some huge things happening right now. This may be one of the biggest years we have for many years to come.
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