Grow Where You are Planted.

Have I mentioned how wonderful our apartments are??
The people
the ward
the babies
the people (they deserve to be mentioned twice)
the church right across the street
the two minute bike ride to the local Broulim's
the gorgeous view of the G's Dairy screaming my name each time I have motivation to work out.
It's a great place.

As I've previously mentioned, I'm rearing up for the next 365 days without my husband. It sounds like I'm training for a marathon. Hey, that's not a bad analogy. I do feel like I'm training for a marathon. A big 26-mile emotional sprint. I've never actually ran a marathon (or two consecutive miles for that matter), so maybe this doesn't work, but I am prepping hardcore for something completely unknown to me. Nathaniel and I have been apart for extended periods of time before, but my husband and I have not. I'm not fully sure what to expect from my emotions, but I'm assuming some sadness, longing, wishful thinking, and exuberant joy for having a husband who knows what he stands for. See? Totally confusing. But, hey, we're managing. One day at time. Slow and steady wins the race (or fast and accelerated...I wouldn't mind that). Either way we're going to do this. And we don't have to like it, but that's not a factor in whether or not we meet our goal. The point is...we've decided to grow where we've been planted. I'll be planted in nice fields of foot-deep snow,
and he'll be planted in rolling valleys of 120 degree sand (at least that's how I picture it).

But we'll both be growing somehow.
The Relief Society in my ward had this theme for our enrichment last month. It couldn't have been more perfect for me to hear. We made fake flower gardens written upon with ideas we had to stay positive in not-so-positive situations (so mormon, I love it!)

If this was a real garden I'd let you all have a fragrant bouquet to take home and set on your window pane, but since it's not, you can make one too! It actually works and they stay alive all year. :)

The Hunger

I felt it. The first taste of...baby hunger. Uh oh. I've only been married 4 months, but I WANT ONE! I want to cuddle my own little bundle of joy and sing him to sleep and kiss him til my lips fall off!
So, here's how it happened. When we moved into our apartment last month, we met the sweetest couple. They told us when and where church was, sat with me when Nathaniel was at training, and pretty much just made us feel right at home (I love Rexburg and all the sweet people you meet here). The wife was pregnant and expected the baby to arrive in late August. Well, the little booger was anxious and decided to come ahead of schedule...two weeks early. We thought we'd drop by Sunday to see how they were doing and take them some cookies to help with the baby weight loss. I was fully expecting a little alien to be cuddled in their arms and to feel relieved that our time to be parents is still in the future. Instead...the hunger hit. And it hit hard when I held that sweet little healthy, hairy, and perfectly perfect baby boy. He wasn't an alien at all! It was so surreal to look down and to think that that little angel could be mine. Ah! I can't wait to be a mom. I can't wait to experience it all. I know, I know...slow down, Kristen. But I can't help it! Life is just amazing! Families are miracles and I'm so happy to be a part of one, even if it's just out of two right now. :)

On another note, Nathaniel's leaving this Saturday for three weeks for training. He'll be home for a few days and then head off again with the Army to fight the bad guys. I'm gonna miss him. I don't think it's hit me all the way, and I'm grateful for that. I'm so proud of him though. I feel so blessed to have a patriot and hero as my husband. We're dreading the separation, but are excited for the opportunity of experience and growth. I'm hoping I'll learn a little independence (but not too much) and self sufficiency. But mostly, I'm looking forward to learning it together. In the last three years of knowing each other, we've spent two of them apart and the rest we spent meeting, courting, and marrying. Who knows what ANOTHER year apart will do for us?! haha I'm just grateful it's him I'm going through this with.

See??? Look at him! No wonder I'm baby hungry. Our boys will be so cute!

23

Today was Nathaniel's birthday! He didn't realize how exciting it was until I helped him. Boys and birthdays...I just don't get it. Maybe it doesn't apply to all males in the human race, but from my experience, men despise birthdays (not every birthday, just their own). How sad! But I've determined and somehow managed approval from the Birthday Scrooge that birthdays will be celebrated in our home. I'm talkin' cake, parties, friends, ice cream, presents, balloons, pinatas, the whole shabang. Even the...Special Plate.

(We got the plate as a wedding gift and have found it to be a great asset to our cupboard. I feel special just looking at it). Nathaniel was so lucky! He got to use the plate for breakfast AND dinner!
Considering our differences on the matter of birthday celebration, I thought I'd make our first birthday together low key so we could ease into b-day normalcy. So we spent the day together just doing what we love most...laughing and eating. We had waffles and bacon in the morning, chili dogs (his fav) and Little Debbie pies for lunch (I could feel my arteries closing in), and Tuscan pork chops and sauteed squash for dinner (that's more like it). And as a cherry on top, I invited our wonderful friends and family that live nearby over for cake, ice cream, and a little Apples to Apples. It turned out to be a pretty fun day. I like having a cute birthday husband. It may feel like pulling teeth, but he's sure worth it. :) Here are a few more pics from the day.

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.

a new territory

Welcome to our FIRST EVER blog! I'm super excited to be embarking on this new realm of journaling. And since I am an awful awful awful journaler, I'm hoping this little blog will ignite my committment to record the happenings of our new life as Mr. and Mrs. Sellers {and what a wonderful life it is :)}. We're happy and in love and still, after 3 1/2 months of living with each other, want to shout it to the world! What can I say? We're newlyweds and plan to be til we're eighty. So, we officially welcome you to our happy mushy gushy world. :)