"Keep trying. Keep believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out." - Gordon B. Hinckley

The disappointment and devastation I felt was the strongest I’ve ever experienced after I came home from the hospital last week.  All of the plans I had made for the future were ripped away from me in an instant. And the continuing grief and pain that followed was more than I had expected at the time I first received the news.

I’ve been impatient with myself—every time I start crying, I get frustrated that I’m still in the midst of this hardship.  I want to be over the grieving, and I still surprise myself when something unexpectedly makes me cry.  Going to the doctor’s today for a follow up wasn’t easy.  I had a visit scheduled for next week when I would first hear my baby’s heartbeat. I had endured two months of nasty nausea and exhaustion waiting for that moment and counting down the days. Instead, I sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes surrounded by pregnant women and mothers holding little babies in their arms feeling completely empty.

My vacation home last week to surprise my family with the news turned into days fighting back tears and crying from the physical and emotional pain of my miscarriage.

However, it’s moments and experiences like these that always bring me closer to my Savior, and make me grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel and the relief it can bring.

I’ve experienced enough hardships in my life to know that after all of the pain and grief has passed, the darkness of my trial will lift.  I’ll be stronger, and closer to the person that my Heavenly Father wants me to become. I know everything will work out. I know that down the road, after the sorrow of what I’ve experienced has lessened, I’ll look back with some understanding and even gratitude for this trial I’m experiencing. 

I can sincerely say I’ve been so blessed to have gone through this process many times before.  I can see the Lord’s hand in my life as he’s given me hardships and trials to overcome, molding me in the process, and bringing me closer to him.   How grateful I am to a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to give me burdens that humble me, bless me with empathy and more compassion for others, and a stronger desire to rely on the Lord more fervently each day.

I love the gospel for the hope that it brings and strength that it gives me in my hour of need.  I truly believe President Monson’s promise that “our most significant opportunities will be found in times of greatest challenge.” 

How grateful I am that he loves “me enough to hurt me.”

We're Out of Control

Once upon a time, Tim and I liked to go to concerts and could stay awake for the entire show.  Then, without warning, adulthood snuck up on us.  Now, we generally like to arrive after the opener, and groggily make our way to the exit just before the encore of the main act.

Here we are, living life on the edge, at a Lumineers concert we knew wouldn't be over before 11:30pm....in Magna, Ut.....on a school night! 

We really like music 'round these here parts

Tonight we went to a music store in Orem where Tim had previously played a guitar that he fell in love with.  Turns out tonight was the store's 24th anniversary, and they were having huge blowout sales, raffles, and free give aways.  Turns out that the guitar was knocked down in price quite a bit.  Turns out that my husband decided to trade some of his guitars for this one, and bought it.  He was happier than a kid in a candy store, and that made me happy :)  I sure do love this boy.

My cutie husband.

Happy Labor Day!

Today we woke up and headed up to Brighton for some beautiful hiking!  We're loving the long weekend!

I'm still learning how to do the selfie thing on my phone...one day we'll both be looking at the camera, I promise.

La Vita è Bella

Tim and I were blessed to be able to visit Italy this past summer.  I'm not a world traveler, but I've always dreamed of visiting countries all across the world.  Recently, circumstances allowed us to take a trip, and we jumped at the opportunity!  Here are some of the highlights we enjoyed.

Rome in 2 days.

This is the little bed and breakfast we stayed at.

I like to hold maps in my hand and carry a Jansport backpack on my back so there is no mistaking it:
I am a tourist. 

Inside the Pantheon.

Tim chillin' on some steps inside the Vatican.

This is one of many "prove we were here" pics - St. Peter's Square right outside St. Peter's Basilica. 

Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

And on to Sorrento!

We made it to the Mediterranean!

We rented a car while in Italy, and almost killed ourselves a number of times inside it.
But, I acted as the navigator and Tim braved the narrow roads, crazy Italian drivers, and
sharp turns on the edges of cliffs like this for the remainder of our trip.
It was epic. 

Welcome to Sorrento, Italy!
This is the charming little town we stayed in following Rome.
We were here for a week, and loved it!

We hiked down some ancient Roman stairs to this lagoon.
Italians stay out late and sleep in, so at 10am, we had this place to ourselves.

On the other side of this lagoon is the Mediterranean.

Mt. Vesuvius across the way.
We spent an afternoon climbing rocks, exploring old Roman ruins, and cliff jumping into the sea.
The water is very turquoise, but our camera didn't do so well at capturing the color :(

Look at my burly, bearded husband.
What a hunk.

So in Sorrento, you can do 3 things: swim, eat, and shop.
The town is full of charming little shopping strips like this.
 Restaurants, Gelaterias, and flea markets galore!

 

Town Center
Sorrento comes alive at night.

They shot off fireworks one night down at the marina, and I've never seen similar fireworks here in the states.
We're talking fireworks bouncing across the water and leaving a waterfall trail behind each bounce.
It was amazing!

To get down to the beach, you often had to take several narrow flights of stairs.
And by several, I mean 5-6 long flights.
You should know I'm deathly afraid of heights.
For the record, that is me. Hugging the wall and saying a prayer the entire way down, but all the same.

That journey down those stairs was worth it because we hopped on a fairy and landed in Capri.
This was hands down our favorite part of the trip.  This island is breathtaking!

We hiked to the city center from the marina.
(Crazy wind hair!)

And took a bus to the top of Ana Capri on the other side of the island.

It was terrifying.

But as always, worth it.

After lunch at a cafe, we hopped on a private boat for a tour around the island. 

That's when I discovered...

that Capri is actually Neverland. 

Our capitan Salvatore.

He whisked us through caves and rock arches surrounding the island.

And even offered us some bubbly.
We asked him to take our picture instead.

Back to Capri, our favorite place in the world. 

Pompeii

So we went to Pompeii.

And I decided to wear the brightest shirt I own.

Just in case I got lost?

We like to vacation in the same place as Oprah.

After a week in Sorrento, we hopped back into our little Fiat Punto and made our way to Amalfi.
It was a two hour drive of this.

Tim was in heaven.

So we learned at church the next day from one of the members that
a famous American journalist was visiting Amalfi the same week.
"I think her name was Opera? Oprah?"

Amalfi, Italy - July 2013

I wasn't going to include this pic because it's just me sitting on some old Italian steps in Amalfi.
And then I realized, it's ME sitting on ITALIAN steps in AMALFI.
By the end of week two, we had the Italy thing down :)
(Ignore the tired face. Rather, check out my cute Italian stripey bag!)

You didn't think I'd forget to mention the food, now did you?

The first thing everyone wants to know when they find out we traveled to Italy is, 

"How was the food?!"

Well, let me tell ya....

This was a daily ritual.

And seriously, this is what I traveled to Italy for.
Okay, not really.  But Sorrento, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast are known for their lemons.
I'm sipping on a frozen lemonade slush with a fresh orange squeezed right over the top.
I dream about this drink. Seriously.

Lemon Soda? Amazing.
Once discovered, I became and addict.

Lemon Pasta? Amazing.
Once discovered, I never ordered anything else.

Pastries? Amazing.
Once discovered, we gained weight.
End of story.

But after a while, all of this decliciously, bad for you, Italian food created quite the ruckus in our tummies.
Our last day in Italy, we decided we needed something our bodies would recognize...something that would sit a little easier in our stomachs.
This, my friends, is the definition of irony for you.

And a P.S.

Italians dress their kiddos right.
Call me silly, but I had to take a snapshot of this cute little display.
Adorable.

Of course when we found out we had a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam...