Friday, October 4, 2013

Intro to US!

We decided to start a blog together to keep our distant family in the loop!

We have been married for a month and a half and we love each other even more than the day we sealed the deal! If you haven't seen our wedding video yet, click HERE. Our favorite advice we've taken to heart is from our previous stake presidents. They both looked me in the eye and said, "Al, from now on, it's all about him." Then looked at Ben in the eye and said, "Ben, it is all about her." And our two other favorites are, "Do hard things together," and what my dad wrote in a card to us, "It's great to be good for each other, but it's more important to be good to each other."

I took a long break off from speaking and it's awesome to have free time with each other, and not driving literally everyday to some place new. We love our cute little home in Midvale, UT, especially the quesadilla maker, our moose bowls, and fenced in backyard! (And by backyard we mean our 20x20 foot cement backyard, complimented with a small border of dead grass.) 

We love our ward! They got us busy pretty quick: I'm in the Young Women's presidency, and Ben is in the Young Men's presidency, and we love it! We love the youth!  We are now officially ordinance workers at the Jordan River Temple, and we don't have words adequate enough to express how excited we are! They don't have us starting until the first week of November, so we'll have to make sure our excitement doesn't take over our patience, haha. 


We set goals together, and we've been able to keep all of them except one! Pretty good, eh? GOALS: Temple at least once a week. (The easiest one for us to keep!) No technology at the house until after 9 pm, (with the exception of homework for Ben), so we can have all that time to talk and do other things together, and at least 3 times a week with no technology at all, (with a few exceptions, of course).  Weekly date night. Don't eat out more than twice a week,  I have to learn how to cook sometime! Pray at least 3 times together a day. Read scriptures both morning and night together. On Sundays we have our "companion study," and have recently teamed up with our favorite married couple, The Reimann's, for a weekly FHE. And the goal we can't seem to keep that well: work out/run 4 times a week. We're working on it, haha. 


Ben has developed a daily habit of dressing Lucas up in his t-shirts, shorts and socks. Every time I hear, "Honey, call Lucas," I get excited and nervous to see what on earth he did to him, haha. It's unreal how much that dog loves him- to Lucas, I'm just the uncool mom he's embarrassed to be seen with, haha. 

Ben started school at LDS Business College, which is conveniently just right down the street from where I work at Church Headquarters. 


I finally got glasses! I didn't realize how poor my vision was until I could see everything clearly. The mountains are more beautiful than I ever knew!

I turned 25- holy cow! We went to the Manti Temple, then his parents made my favorite dinner evvveerrrrr: Tacos. And they even decorated the house like my mom used to when I was growing up, and got my favorite cake so it was super awesome. Felt like the first birthday I've had since moving to Ut over 3 years ago!

And for our month anniversary we went on a day trip to Moab- I was a first timer there- and we went rafting and off-roading in a hummer, going up things a car should not be able to do. At all. It was a blast!

We're hoping to buy a car this month before our trek across the country back to NY for our east coast wedding reception. Advice would be appreciated.

I think those are all the big updates?

Cheers To Eternity!!











40 comments:

  1. Love your blog Al! You're an inspiration to me, and I know, to so many others!! I look forward to keeping up with you and Ben. :) Thanks for being so awesome and so great!!

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  2. Hiya Al, I was baptised on 5th May by a beautiful missionary from Idaho. I live in Scotland with my family and since I was baptised, my daughter has been baptised and my son (who is 4) attends primary every week (I am hopeful my husband will come to Christ too). I blog a bit about my journey (among other stuff lol), it has been truly transformation for me. I LOVE our church and I LOVE LOVE LOVE our Heavenly Father. Good luck with the blog, give your gorgeous new husband my best wishes.
    Valerie

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    1. That is so awesome Valerie! Congratulations from across the pond. Where do you live in Scotland? I have a friend of many years in Dunbar and would love to have him meet the missionaries. :)

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    2. Where in Scotland are you? My husbands mum joined the church in Falkirk and immigrated to Utah. She has a couple siblings there who are LDS. I wish I could hear you speak because it is such a beautiful sound. Absolutely love the brogue. Congratulations to you! Your happiness will be the best example to your husband. Never give up!

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  3. Great job Al..You guys have been truly blessed with your new lives together. Those callings with the youth were truly came as an inspiration. We need to retain our youth early on and keep them active. Thank you for sharing so much of your life and being an example to us all...God Bless U Guys..:)

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  4. So excited that you started this blog page! Love reading about your journey thus far. All the best. Tammy

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  5. Thanks for being such an inspiration to me and so many others--I LOVE your blogs--:)

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  6. Congrats! I love my temple marriage! I wish I had thought of some of the things you have, but we all have time to grow, and I'm working on making my home more spiritual. Congrats on the glasses as well. I know what you mean by seeing everything clearer!

    Best of luck!

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  7. Dave & I have been married for 17 yrs. We met two weeks after I got home from my mission, and we were married three months later. We both served in England which gave us a lot in common at first. Anyway, here's my advice. You'll hear all the time about not going to bed angry. Sometimes you will be so tired that you might fight about something really stupid, and then you wake in the morning and think how tired you were and how stupid the fight was because you were so tired. Sometimes it's better to go to bed ticked at each other and wake up not even thinking what you were upset about was important. If we would have known that it would have saved a lot of time and frustration. You just have to say to each other that it's ok not to agree or whatever and hold off talking about until you both wake up, you might just laugh about how silly it was.

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  8. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! This makes me more excited to have Eternity with my future husband! (: thanks for sharing! don't stop (:

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  9. You both are such an inspiration to me. I love your story Al. Thank you for being a great example and giving me hope. You both look so happy!

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  10. You are such an inspiration! I am going to steal some of your goals is that ok? haha. You guys are AMAZING!!! Thank you so much for setting such a wonderful example, not only to the world, but to us members as well.

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  11. Loved reading this. I also love that you visited my hometown temple! I'm from Manti and that is where my husband and I were sealed 6 years ago. I also lived right down the street from there, it was wonderful being able to see that everyday. You are a complete inspiration and I love reading all your updates. :)

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  13. You guys are darling together. How did you meet? What does his family think of your tattoos? I have tats also and when my husband and I were dating his family was very surprised, to say the least haha. I love your conversion story.

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  14. Al- I've been following from afar. I love your attitude and thanks for sharing your story... here's my little newlywed advice. Marriage is not 50-50... it is 100%-100% :). Oh, and one of my favorite sayings "Don't pray to marry the one you love, pray to love the one you marry." It seems to put a whole different spin on what we should be doing. I love your sweet blog and Congratulations!

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  15. So exciting! I just got called to be the YW president in my ward. It's crazy! I'm 26 and it feels like just yesterday I was a Laurel. It's way fun, though.

    I recommend a Hyundai Elantra. Great gas mileage, super-reliable, 60K-mile power train warranty, sleek-looking. We've always had at least one Elantra. They are my favorite car! In fact, I just "upgraded" to a Dodge Journey crossover and I feel like I actually downgraded. Look at some Elantras! They're awesome!

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  16. congratulations on your eternal marriage! I loved reading this! love your glasses too!

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  17. yeah for Ben and Al. my eternal sweetheart and i were given the same words of advice when we were sealed in the Los Angeles temple. over 34 yrs of love and experiences, tears and laughter, struggles and sweet blips of ease. having our savior as #1 in our family has made the big help ! my eternal sweet heart opens my door for me, lets me order first, treats me like a queen. i treat him as my king, friend, lover, inspiration, confidant. remember that anger drives wedges, hugs drives smiles. when unhappy with your sweetie hug him and don't talk then the sadness melts and your hearts warm. i was taught that by one of my seminary teachers. hope you and ben can come to jackson county missouri for a visit and or to talk. if you do i will be there and if you need a warm comfy bed and a private bathroom we can offer that along with food, friendship.

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  18. Al and Ben how did you two meet? What is your story?

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  19. Manti has been my most favorite temple!! I moved to Utah county just under a year ago and it really is kind of strange being a tattooed convert in this "mormon bubble" haha and my husband goes to LDSBC too :) he really likes it. We want to buy a new car before babies come. Hubby wants a Subaru Forrester. He says they're roomy and good on gas.. plus they're reliable and 4WD for the snow!

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  20. You are awesome! So glad your life is going so well! I love being married, and sealed for eternity. The gospel really is amazing. I can't wait to read more about your guys life :)

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  21. As far as buying a car do your research. Have a Car Fax or some other title search done to make sure it was not in floods, accidents or even a lemon from the factory. Find a car that was taken care of and if you take care of it, should last a long time. Hope that helps. Safe travels to NY.

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  22. Al and Ben! Congrats! I love your blogs and your spiritual inspiration on FB everyday! Keep up the good work and know that what you are doing is great! for me and for everyone! I love your example and your desire to always put Heavenly Father first! This will keep your marriage strong! Love you guys!

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  23. What a great example to all of us. Even us old ones. You guys are wonderful

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  24. Love your blog & journey! I too have recently been called in the YW presidency & I LOVE IT! I will definatley be letting our young sisters know about your blog as you are a great inspiration! x

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  25. You are absolutely glowing. :) Your blog is so inspiring and you are such an amazing example. Thank you for sharing your story.

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  26. this is sooo cute!! i can't wait for your posts! i wish you two the best you're both so adorable.

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  27. Yay!! I was waiting for you two to start a blog together!

    http://diaryofabrwneyedgirl.blogspot.com/

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  28. I used to sell cars and from that I learned everything everyone should know about the process. A few good words I can give are 1.Consumer Reports on used and new cars is a very valuable and very accurate tool. They have a "Buyers Guide" but the more important thing to look for is just the detailed ratings of cars over the last decade. If a used car had a bad year, major issues, or a really good year, their ratings will let you know. An recent example: My grandpa wanted to buy a Ford F-150. He thought it was a good idea. I looked up the year and it was the worse year for the truck (major mechanical issues etc) in the last decade. Before I could tell him not to buy it, he did and it's already been in the shop. 2. "Kelly Blue Book" is also a must. http://www.kbb.com/ The lowest price on the scale of a cars worth is the key. That is how much a dealer will pay and how much the car is actually worth. From there you decide how much it is worth to pay over the bottom line value (see Consumer Reports and the true value of each make and model based on multiple factors) Normally for a used car, it is fair to pay the middle value. (Hope this isn't confusing) 3.Carfax is a safe way to find out if you are looking at a salvaged vehicle. Many times these cars are perfectly fine, but you would pay a much lower price for them. The risk is higher on these. 4.Be patient and wait for the right car. 5. New cars have a bottom line price too. This is called the INVOICE PRICE. If you want to make negotiations easy at a dealership, go in and say I am willing to pay no more than $300 over your invoice price on X vehicle. That will help them know you mean business. Ask to see the invoice. Sometime cars are sold under "invoice" depending on rebates and older model sales. This is a great time of year to make deals on "last years models". The later it gets the better. December is killer for new car deals. Hope it all goes well for ya! Congrats on the marriage!

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  29. Penn State? That's all I need to know. He's a keeper, Al. Just in case you had any doubt, which I don't think you do. :) We Are!

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  30. Y'all are just super cute! What a great start.

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  31. Thank you for being an example of temple attendance for my husband and I. We really appreciate it.

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  32. What a great couple! I have loved reading your blogs. YOU are an inspiration and a light to us all. It's so clear to me the light that shines from you, it's beautiful! Thank you for sharing your testimony!

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  33. LOVED reading this. So happy for you!

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  34. I named my daughter Aspyn, and she is blond hair, blue eyed cutie! The name fits her perfectly. Good Luck! I love reading your blog.

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  35. Fantastic blog, Thanks for sharing. I love your dress.Keep posting like this.



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