October's Pick-Me-Up

We hauled every possession we owned over to a storage unit and to his parents apartment above the garage. We quickly had to learn a new way of living. We were already accustomed to buying our own groceries, bathroom supplies, and other necessities. I was used to making dinner then packing left overs in containers Logan would take to work and store in his work fridge as lunch items. It was simple and our lives ran smoothly, but now his lunches became just leftovers for everyone to eat. We ran out of options for his lunches. He had to buy big breakfast burritos at Alberto's.
Moving into our parents made us feel like we were kids again; we were kids who had rules to follow and chores to complete. Once again we had to clean up after ourselves immediately, turn all the lights off, always have clothes on, and everything that was ours was theirs. We had to go downstairs and visit with family, and we hardly had any alone time with the exception being bedtime. But even bedtime was iffy because who knew when someone was going to knock on the door or waltz in to get a soda. It was rough. I'll admit I cried myself to sleep a few times.
My birthday was the perfect pick-me-up. Ritually, Logan took me down to Vegas for an evening of Carrabba's dinner and shopping. We went to so many malls and stores but nothing stood out to me. Logan was getting mad. He kept saying I better buy something because it's my birthday, or else he would feel horrible. Finally, I caved in and found a few night gowns and pj pants at Victorias Secret.
I love my birthday trips to Vegas.

Fall Back

Having two car payments and a baby on the way, we couldn't afford to live pay check to pay check saving only a little over a hundred dollars a month. The only solution we had was to pack up and move into the apartment above Logan's parent's garage. Between our busy schedules, it took us all month to pack and box everything up. It was a hard thing to do. We couldn't stand the thought of falling back into a dependent state. We were doing well on our own, but would not be able to offer our baby anything if we didn't make sacrifices.
When we had almost everything sealed up in boxes, Logan sat down on the couch and called me over to sit on his lap. He wrapped me in his arms, held me tight, leaned back and said, "Let's unpack and just stay here."
He said exactly what I was thinking. I said, "Okay!"
"After all this hard work and all the time we spent into packing, you would just stop and unpack everything?"
"Of course I would."

Despite the sadness, we moved into his parents. So far, it's not too bad.

August

We bought Logan a truck! It's a cute little, white Chevy Sonoma. We got a really good deal on it and couldn't pass that up!

Monday, August 2nd, I wasn't feeling to well so I took a pregnancy test.
It was negative.
By Wednesday, August 4th, I still wasn't any better, so I took another pregnancy test. I waited five minutes... still negative. I took a shower to get ready for the day. About twenty minutes later, I got out of the shower and noticed a VERY faint light pink line indicating a positive test. I wasn't sure of it, so I showed Logan. Logan said that it probably was a defective test, after all it took twenty minutes to show anything.
Later at work, I told my friends the funny story. One of them was so determined to get me to take another test. She read somewhere that if ANY LINE AT ALL shows up, then it's positive. So, at lunch they forced me to buy digital tests. After we ate lunch I took the test.
It was positive. And "positive" wasn't spelled wrong.

If I was smart at all, I would have waited three days for Logan's birthday to give him the test and tell him the news. Instead I was way too excited that I immediately told him after dinner.
I'll never forget his smile and shock. He was so excited, but scared because we were both still kids too.

The rest of the month was full of nausea and excitement. At our first two ultrasounds, we got to see the little baby sac and also hear the heart beat. It was so memorable. Logan was all smiles. Reality really hit us.
We are having a baby!!

July

Hot Hot Hot days! Every weekend we have been out & about and got sun burnt!

The Fourth of July was on a Sunday this year. We celebrated the holiday all weekend with s'mores, swim parties and Logan's parents, a movie theater night, and of course a simple day where we celebrated all by ourselves. Fireworks were so pretty! We watched them from right outside the temple grounds. People were double parked, all over the roads, and in the way of

traffic so it was a little stressful. That Sunday, Logan and I both bore our testimonies of the gospel and it's truth. Logan also added a few words on our founding fathers being lead by the Lord.

The next weekend we went fishing with my parents since we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with them for Independence Day. It was LOADS of fun since I caught five fish! Logan caught four but two of them flopped off just as he pulled them out of the water. Coming home we were exhausted and SUPER sunburnt.

This month's projects were my new Spices & Seasonings Rack along with decorating my laundry room! The spice rack is just light, plastic jars with magnet button glued on their backs. I

downloaded a cute font, printed out the labels, cut them up, laminated, and glued them on the jars. It took me all morning to finish the craft. My laundry room needed something to make it look less jumbled. Baskets really helped organize and hide the iron and steamer. Clearing off the top shelf and placing decorative objects gave it a clean, crisp look. I bought those cute black jars at Target and filled one up with my laundry detergent and the other with Tide Stain Release.

July 29th, Logan totaled his car. Well, he was stopped at a red light where a guy in a huge truck couldn't brake because there was a gaterade bottle under his break pedal. The only way to stop was to ram into Logan who, in return, rammed into the woman in front of him. I had to take him to the ER just in case something was wrong with his head. He couldn't see out of his left eye, nor could he tell anyone his phone number or birth date.
Everything was okay. They gave him some medications and sent us home. He had a head ache and some neck pains for the next week or so.

Summer Lovin'

I love my husband so much! It is so sad to see our newlywed friend's marriages fail. It's crazy because I recently wrote a five page causal essay in which my thesis is based on selfishness being the reason for divorce.

Charity is the Love of Christ

This essay only took a few hours to write while Logan and I watched the Dodger's game! Nevertheless, I was still focused on the subject because of the seriousness of the argument.

The Selfish Spouse

What makes half of all marriages in the United States fail and destroy the relationships of couples and families? How is it that fifty years ago, getting a divorce was very uncommon and almost nonexistent, yet today, people have a higher risk of getting a divorce than getting in a serious car accident. Unlike now-a-days, wives stood by their husband through and through, always fulfilling the needs of their companion first. Both companion's selflessness provided the basic requirements to keep the relationship's life strong. Again I ask: Why are 50% of marriages failing? The answer is selfishness.

Being selfish comes in many forms. Most of the time, selfishness originates from a certain lifestyle; a lifestyle rich with luxurious amounts of money. Sometimes relationships fall apart because of the love of one's self. Some people even blame falling out of love with their marital partner reason for divorce. But in basic terms, the roots of all divorces come from being selfish.

In America today, money is a number one goal in all top priority lists. We live to work and gain a high pay. So many people focus on their money, and do not realize they are destroying their marriage by being selfish. Take the following story for example.

I have a aunt and uncle in my family who seemed to have had the perfect marriage. One of the members (in this case it is the husbands) provide all the needed material needs for their family like money, housing, and vehicles. They also treat their honey with superfluous amounts of money that the only intention the wife had is to purchase her wanted and unnecessary items and activities. Even though the husband used correct selfless and charitable love propositions, which maked their spouse extremely happy for the moment, the husbands never seem to fulfill a constant emptiness in their hearts. So, he kept trying. They keep spoiling their wives to the verge of unhealthy companionship that only revolves around money. Soon after and inevitably, the cash flow stumbled when my aunts desired more than my uncles could provide. My aunts' only thoughts were, “if he is not giving me what I need, then I will find someone else who will.” The couple ended up with the big D after 20 years of marriage.

Although it would seem the divorce occurred because of money and finance problems between the couples, one must concentrate on the underlying cause: selfishness. Were they using the money correctly? Not all poor couples who barely make ends meet end in divorce for that reason. In this case the wives selfishly spend money on personal pleasure items and activities for themselves rather than saving or spending it on their provider and husband. At the same time, the husband needed to be there for his wife and lead her to make the correct decisions. But in full, his wife was at fault, yet she had not a clue! Out of mere stupidity, they put her material wants first. Instead of focusing on her companion's relationship's needs, she only had eyes for herself and let him slip through their fingers.

Sometimes it seems almost impossible to explain self-sacrifice to couples who are in dire need of it to save their relationship. It is especially tough when they have grown accustomed to a separate way of life branched off of a marriage leading to other relationships with other people and/or entertainment. Think about the trouble my brother got himself into in the following story.

After only five years of being newlyweds, a couple ventured into a life full of parties and activities in a wealthy and classy fashion. He participated in things that were looked-down-upon in his family such as long road trips away from home, excessive, drinking and gambling at least once a week. The husband was very good at gambling so he always came out on top. Pretty soon though, his wife became bored with the repetition and discontinued his accompaniment. Although, she did not disapprove of his actions since it was bringing in their lives living expenses plus more! She continued on with her wedded life as his perfect, loving and supportive wife, all while his ego soon began to get to his head and ventured into more daring gambles and even unfaithful activities. He weakened their love every time he cheated on her. Although no one could tell, he created an imbalance of love flow in their marriage. She was giving all of her heart to him blindly, while he deceived and had no respect for her.

Currently, this couple is going through a rough and challenging break-up. He is truly repentant for his actions and acknowledges her reasoning, but he does not understand exactly where it all began. How did he get to that point?

It is very hard to pin-point the beginning of selfish actions, especially when the spouse has no knowledge of his actions. In my second story, the husband had no concern or thought of his wife and her love for him. How much more selfish can he get? Diminishing all loyalty and true charitable love for his wife completely was the cause for their divorce. The unfaithful action was the reason for divorce, but the cause was selfishness.

Many divorcees blame falling in and out of love, even in long-term marriages, the reason for their decision. A group of councilors at Help-Starts-Here state some probable reasons and for divorce among new, and long-term marriages. Below I have listed their top five reasons of divorce. As you read them, do not just think, “this is why they got a divorce.” Instead ponder the reason why each activity began.

Reason number one: One person is having an affair and it is discovered. Reason number two:One person falls in love with another person. Reason number three: One spouse can no longer tolerate the abuse―verbal, physical or sexual. number four: One person matures and grows out of the marriage. number five: One partner develops serious problems that do not change. These types of problems include substance abuse, mental instability, felonies and other illegal acts.

Each of these credible accounts from the councilors at www.helpstartshere.org can be strong reasons for divorce, but each of them can be traced back to self-interest, self-indulgence, and self-love of/from one or both partners. Examples of unfaithful relationships and how selfish it is to cheat on a spouse, but as for falling in love with another person and maturing out of the marriage, ask yourself this: If you practice true love and charity in your marriage, how could you fall-out of love with your spouse and possibly fall in-love with someone else? If that were to happen, then from the beginning, you would not have truly and selflessly loved your spouse which in the end would make you selfish. If you are in a true, self-giving relationship then abuse and serious problems will never occur. You would never ever want to hurt your partner physically or mentally.

Every practical reason for divorce can be traced back to selfish reasons. Truly staying on the right path that consists of actions done only for the benefit of your partner, is the only way any marriage will withstand the American culture.

This month, June, has been a blast! Logan asked me the question I had been dreading to hear.
LOGAN: "Are you sick of me yet?"
I didn't react the way I thought I would. In fact, I laughed and told him the truth.
STEPHANIE: "Nope! Are you sick of me yet?"
Can you guess what he said?
LOGAN: "Yes! I'm finally learning your craziness and it's crazy that you are so crazy!"
HA HA HA HA!!
Of course he was joking around! (When we read this thirty years from now, I'm sure he'll tell me he wasn't joking around haha!)