time's a tickin'

It's already July 29th! Where has the time gone? The months have just flown since we tied-the-knot in April. It feels like just yesterday we were relaxing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, soaking up the last moments of our honeymoon. Since then we've spent three months in be-a-utiful Ririe, Idaho working and living on the 7N Ranch.

While living there, we were fortunate to be housemates and care-takers of Mrs. Clara. She had her ninety-fourth birthday while we were there but she kept the wit of a fifteen year old girl. The stories are endless. We had so much fun getting to know her. Unfortunately, the more she got to know us, the more she wanted us gone (well, at least me. She thought Nathaniel was handsome). To be honest, I couldn't imagine being in her shoes. Ninety-four years old and be "watched over" by a couple of twenty-somethings newly married. We had some great times though, including long nights of eating Fruity Pebbles rice crispy treats and playing an intense game of Aggravation (a very well named game).
We found out about a month after our wedding that Nathaniel's unit in the National Guard would be deploying to Iraq this September. I remember telling Clara about the news and she told me about her husband's deployment in World War II. Feeling comforted, I said, "Well if you can do it, I can do it, too." She turned to me and stated knowingly, "It's never a matter of whether or not you can do it, you just do it!" That's just a taste of what we were blessed to know our little while in Ririe.
We decided to move up to Rexburg so that I would be closer to school (and civilization) while Nathaniel is gone. It's been so great to have our own little place adorned with purchases from the DI and BYU-I Bulletin Board. Nothing matches, but we don't care! It's ours! And we love it. That's where we are now. Life can't get much better.