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!)

May's Hot Rod

We bought our first car this month! It's a 2008 Candy Apple Red Mazda3. Perfect for a small family and very affordable. Our interest rate at Logan's credit union is only 3.99%! Responsibilities come at ya fast here in the real world.

Want some advice on buying a car from us: ALWAYS check insurance payments before you dot the "i's" and cross the "t's." It is what helped us make our decision. Most of the older cars we looked at actually had higher insurance payments than our car payment!

Also this month, to surprise Logan after he bought me my car I wanted to do something VERY nice for him. I went to Turner Turf and bought all the grass we needed for our back yard. Not only did I go buy it and pick it up, I also installed half of it before he came home and was like, "What? What are you doing? You're doing it all wrong." It hurt my feelings but men will be men. (By the way each one of those rolls of grass are, like, one-hundred pounds- Super heavy.) Never the less, Logan finished the yard and we even planted some large pots and filled them with oregano, basil, and cilantro. We are set! (It's almost a wonder, though, if it was worth spending the money on the backyard of an apartment we are only going to be at for a short period of time.)

UPDATE: The garden is thriving! We have even already harvested a jalapeno and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Before and after photos!!!

An April Story

Logan and I stranded ourselves outside in the scorching sun, and I didn't put sunscreen on!
It was such a beautiful day during the first few days of April, so we decided to plant our garden. After an hour of transfering plants, we realized we locked ourselves out. We were stuck out in the heat without our cell phones, wallets, or food; though we did have the water hose haha. If we had our wallets, then we could have used a credit card to swipe the lock open. Instead, Logan pulled of a small metal sheet that he tried to use in replace of a card. Apparently we did not have an ounce of luck in us. All the metal card did was tear up our door. Fourty-five minutes wasted! We let go of our pride and threw in the towl; it was time to go get Lex, our landlord. Problem number two: our landlord was gone and his wife was not home. Ten more minutes of destroying our door was the most frustrating part of our day. It was hot and we were both starving. Fed up with the whole thing, I knocked on our neighbors door in apt. #8 and explained the situation. I asked to used their phone and call Lex. He didn't answer, so I tried his wife with no such luck either. I must have brought up opening the door with a credit card, because they ended up giving me one of their costco cards to go try. Get this: the first swipe opened the door. Logan just stared at me like, "Are you serious?" Funny right?

Spring Break!

March

Well, I guess this is what newlyweds ought to expect!

Disneyland versus paying off the washer and dryer.

Can you guess who won? Haha.

Actually, Disneyland won, but it just so happened that all the middle class hotels were booked for that week.

Disneyland trip post-poned to... Well sometime we can get some cash gathered!

The wise choice was made for us.

PS: We started planting our garden!

Valentine's Day

Our first Valentine's Day married:

Logan got me a washer and dryer! No more do I have to go to my parents house on Saturday mornings and spend all morning and afternoon doing laundry.

I made Logan Rachael Ray's spiced lamb chops with couscous. For dessert, chocolate covered strawberries and cut-out cookies! After dinner we danced and watch a movie.

Our First Month

January 2010

We never could have prepared ourselves for all the things we learned about each other, but what an adventure it has been!

Step one, the budget. Logan has always been really good with money, so financially we have everything figured out. We are able to create a budget that keeps us on track of our bills, groceries, gas, and extra money. With money being the number one problem in most marriages, we've decided that we can not let it get the best of us.

Step two, making our apartment our home. Since I'm a girl, it's obvious that decorating the apartment was the number one thing on my list! When I worked at Kohl's Department store, it really seemed like I was spending my paychecks on decorations for the house I'd have one day. Plus, we were so blessed with all of our gifts from our wedding, that didn't really need to make a list of provisions still needed. We didn't get a crockpot or toaster! Of the two most popular gifts that newlyweds usually get multiples of, we didn't. We had to actually go get them! It was really funny to us. Instead our doubles were glass bowls and bakeware. I think we have four 9"x13" glass pans ;) My favorite are the ones with lids! How much more easy could clean up get? Family members also gave us pieces of furniture like a body mirror and bookcase. We appreciate everything we have!

Anyways, I was able to hang up photos and wall decorations to fill empty space to really liven up our home. Our living room is basic with our tv and stand, big red comfy couch, lamp and side table. We still don't have curtains, just blinds, but throw pillows on the couch make up for them! Maybe one day I'll learn to sew my own curtains?
My favorite room is our kitchen! It's so small, but it works. Every time we are both in the kitchen Logan always describes the kitchen he is going to make me in the house one day we will build. It's fun to fantisize! He says it'll be the biggest room in the whole house because I make a lot of food an that means I need a lot of room. I really do cook big meals, if I had time I would even make supper size lunches! Cooking is so much fun to me.


Step three, really get to know each other. Although we are still learning, we pretty much have each other figured out. I know when Logan needs to be cuddled or big spooned, and he knows when to be gentle with me. He knows that for me, coming home to a clean and tidy house puts me in a positive mood, so he does his part. While I make sure there is a mouth watering meal ready every night. I, personally, don't ever need alone time but Logan seems to love his in the bathroom haha! Prayers for stronger love and strength in our relationship are said everyday. Daily scripture study is very very very important, sometimes our day seems so busy with school, work, dinner, working out, cleaning, studying, and everything else that it's difficult to push time aside, but you must! It makes your life rich.

Day Six

Our final day :(

We awoke to the Jamaicain version of "Joy to the World." (Figuratively. There probably isn't a Jamaican version... we just couldn't understand exactly what they were saying.)

On Christmas Eve, we did Yoga on the beach. It was quite the experience and quite the stretch... but almost a waste of our final day to soak up the Jamaican sun. We took advantage of the free non-motorized water sports and went out in the ocean on paddle-boats. We could see straight through the water to the floor of the ocean where there were small fish, seaweed, coral reef, and rocks. After the paddle-boats we spent time looking for seashells. There were hardly any shells larger than an inch or two. Being the last day, we also bought all our souvenirs and gifts to take home.

Our choice of Christmas Eve dinner was the Xamaiyca Restaurant of Jamaica creole. Finished with the best pineapple and coconut ice cream we will ever have in our lives!

Merry Christmas mon!

Day Five

The most B-E-A-utiful day of our stay! No clouds, no waves, no rain! Just me and Logan, Jauque (our first pet) the hermitt crab, and the Barracuda (just like the one that eats the eggs in Finding Nemo that Logan absolutely swears he saw when we were far out in the ocean, but told me that it was a little fish so that I would not freak out.) Anyways, the water was so clear and crisp! You could see your toes in waist high water. It was nice to be able to see the bottom because the beaches were somewhat rocky... so we knew where to step so we did not cut ourselves and attract sharks.

We ate at the Indian cuisine called Bhogali's Restaurant. Not that great, but they brought out our food in these cute, little dishes that had a tea light underneath the bowl. It was adorable.

Day Four

Today it rained. All day.

What was the good thing about it?

We got to stay in our room. All day.

:)

We watched Christmas movies on TV. (Christmas with the Kranks, Home Alone, etc)

Dinner: Bubba's again! Could not get enough!

Day Three

The waves were really big today. It was hot, sticky, but cloudy. At one point it drizzled a little bit of rain. These kinds of days are the days you get sun burn really bad. With the sun going in and out, you hardly feel like you are getting any sun at all! Nevertheless, with SPF 15, I burned my tooshie a little bit.

We fell asleep for a long nap on the beach. We were lounging on the huge four-poster bed for the whole afternoon. It was one of the most relaxing days of our whole trip!

For dinner we ate over looking the main swimming pool at the Italian restaurant cleverly named the Reggaetoni Restaurant. Hahaha get it? Reggae... :) It was more of a seafood Italian place. I got the seafood pasta. I'm not sure what I ate exactly, but it was delicious!

Day Two

We were up and out of bed ready for breakfast at 8AM on our lovely honeymoon vacation. You're probably thinking who wakes up that early on vacation? We do haha! Logan and I were so excited to lay out on the beaches, play on the ocean waves, and test the swim up bar.

Everyday for breakfast I had a Jamaican omlet. Seriously, the best foods through out our whole stay were the omlets and fresh cut pineapple. Mmmm! I tried to remake the omlet here at home, but in order to make them legit and Jamaican, I have to learn to flip them in the air! Back to our Caribbean memoir; This day, truly the first day of our stay, was a little cloudly. There wasn't a need for SPF, but of course it was hot enough to spend the day in our swimsuits. We spend a few hours relaxing on the beach, enjoying the sound of the ocean. Logan can only sit around doing nothing for so long, that as soon as he started squirming around we made another venture around the resort. We ate lunch at the "Negril Buffet." Actually, all but one day we ate there for lunch. This is the same buffet where they served breakfast. Everything was so elegant and classy, you'd hardly call the resaurant a buffet. After filling up for lunch we spent more time at the other beach, where we found a little fire urchin. Fire urchins are dangerous, purple, creatures with spikes all over their bodies like porkie-pines. When we first found the little guy washed up beside our chairs, Logan played with it, making it hold on to a stick. We asked one of the resort's workers walked by we asked what it was and he said, "That's bad for your foot. You step on that, you go to the doctor. Ya' mon!"
After a long day of play, we cleaned up and enjoyed some really good Asian food at the restaurant called the Lotus House! I could not decide exactly what I wanted so I ordered two main course meals; sweet and sour chicken and spicy pad thai. Our waiter was so sweet. After we told him we were there on our honeymoon, he sang the whole song of "I swear" by 98 Degrees. It was hilarious. Logan and I were like when is he going to stop embarassing us, haha!

Day One

We checked in a few hours too early, so our room was not quite ready. It was about noon and check in was 3pm. The front desk lady gave us our wrist bands and all the information we needed for the duration of our stay.

First thing we did was eat at the buffet. Every item had five or more languages telling you what it was, along with the country's flag the language is from. Logan and I always looked for the British flag since the USA flag was absent.

One of the foods I grabbed was called beef patties. They were not beef patties like hamburger patties. Instead they were like a yellow pastry with a delicious, spicy meat inside. They were so good!!! Bad news: they never served them again after that day. We checked everyday at lunch, yet came out empty handed.

After lunch we walked around the resort and became familiar with where all the restaurants, restrooms, bars, beaches, pools, and also where our villa was. In our jeans and t-shirts, we were hot and sticky so we quickly became impatient for our room. We sat down in the lounge wicker couches and watch the giant koi fish swim around the lobby. About an hour later, we finally got our room.

By the time we freshened up, it was time for dinner. The steak house was number one on our list! (How much more original could we get?) The name of the restaurant was called Bubba's Steakhouse. After dinner we were ready for bed. It was a long flight, and a hot day!

The Honeymoon

Jamaica. What could be better than Jamaica? We chose the Grand Palludium all inclusive resort for six wonderful nights in Lucea Bay, Jamaica.

Our first flight plan was from Las Vegas, NV to Charrlotte, NC and continued from Charrlotte, NC to Montego Bay, Jamaica. All the while in first class seats. (We do not know how that happened.)

We did not eat at our wedding, so the last meal we ate was lunch. We were starving and made the silly mistake of not grabbing something to eat before we left Las Vegas. Four hours later we arrived in North Carolina. We found a BBQ rib restaurant that was serving breakfast sanwiches and also a Cinnabon.

Our next flight was only one an a half hours to Jamaica. We we arrived, we were the first off the plane and first through immigration and customs. It was pretty scary at first. Advertisments on the walls were absent. Everything was bare. We just kept walking down and down until it finally opened up to immigrations and customs, and then we were ready for the bus to the resort!

The bus ride there was hecktic. The roads were terrible. They are very narrow, dirt roads where they drive on the right side instead of the left like America. If there was a speed limit, no one obeyed it. Our bus driver was pretty funny, though. We passed a KFC and told us that it stands for "keeps you from cookin' ya' mon." We also drove by this lake with birds swimming in it; it did not look too bad. Our bus driver goes, "That water is full of s-words. It's our sewage treatment. Ya' mon."

An hour and a half later, we were at our destination and ready to start our vacation!

Hello, My name is Mrs. Logan Black

The day of our wedding!

During the ceremony, Bishop Scott Van Orden's funny fluff-speech included the first time he met me. It was at Homecoming 2007. Scott grilled steaks for our dinner, and since I was the only one who wanted a big, medium rare steak, and not to mention ate the whole thing... He remembered me, the meat eater. Now on the day of our wedding he reminisced on that day.

He completely forgot about the exchange of rings, so after the ceremony we placed them on our fingers in the reception hall. Positive thing about this: we got pictures!

So many of our best neighbors, friends, and family came! We were so excited to see Logan's family support us on our special day. Let alone have my Grandma Audrey from Ohio here to celebrate with us!

Immediately after the reception, 8 o'clock sharp, we were out the door and on our way to Jamaica (taxi service provided by my dad, Darin).