New Changes... Part 1

We have had the quite the last couple of weeks! We have a few announcements to make, and I'll put the first one in this post.

We are moving to Greensboro!

Ben's company has another office in Greensboro, and his boss warned us a while ago that he'd be moving the team over there.  Neither of us were excited to go, and tried to avoid it as long as possible. We soon realized that the opportunity to move was really a blessing from the Lord.  

Our Story: 

We moved to Hickory last summer, and had very little time to find a decent place to rent.  I really wanted to live in a house, so we limited our search to three-bedroom homes.  We decided on one home that was built in the 70's and needed lots of love.  I took a lot of time to repaint the walls and set up a comfortable home, but the continued structural problems made comfortable living difficult.  Over the last few months our landlord has delayed and avoided making necessary repairs.  Even though our lease is not officially up until the end of August, we agreed that living in the house was causing a lot of darkness and stress in our lives.  We sent an e-mail to our landlord and asked him to consider breaking our lease early; allowing us to move on, and giving him the time and freedom to make repairs without tenants bothering him about it.  The response we received was very hurtful, judgmental, and defensive.  He refused our request. That made a bad situation absolutely toxic. 


 Ben and I thought of all our options: we compiled all extensive evidence showing our landlord's avoidance, consulted legal aid, considered the cost of moving out, etc.  Ben's dad helped us understand that if the company insisted on a job transfer it could be a blessing from the Lord to get out of our house. Once we resigned ourselves to that fact and prayed that our landlord's heart would be softened, he conceded! Ben asked one more time if he was willing to let us break the lease early, and he replied with an apology and said we could work out leaving whenever we need to.  

No matter how strong my testimony is, I am constantly strengthened through these experiences.  I am overwhelmed and so happy to know that we were able to recognize a blessing from the Lord, and that He was willing to help us and bless us once we were willing to accept it! 

Blessings from the Lord continued. We decided on a Thursday to accept the move to Greensboro and to go as soon as possible: The end of June. That Saturday we made our first (and thought our only) trip to town for house hunting.  We were sure that we would rather have an apartment, condo, or townhouse after our disastrous experience with a house! We spent the entire day in appointments at various complexes in a great part of town that is about 15 min. from Ben's new office, but that weekend felt a strong impression that we should stay as close to Ben's office as possible.  That way he could come home from work for lunch to spend extra time with his family-- very enticing, since he'll be working full-time and doing an online MBA this fall!

Well... that meant another trip to GSO for apartment-hunting! We made time to do it, and found the perfect place: a 1,200 sq ft. townhouse 5 minutes from Ben's office! 

It is perfect! The owner is an early 30's single man who spent the last five years gradually updating the house. It feels completely modern and beautiful! It is the only place we saw that we wouldn't want to change a thing! Because he is moving unexpectedly, he was willing to rent it to us at a reduced rate-- double perfect!

We were pretty worried that our impression to move close to Ben's office would mean terrible housing options, but we were willing to take the chance because we felt that it was important.  This AMAZING place and all it's perks just fell into our laps.  It is truly incredible what blessings the Lord has in store for you when you submit your will to Him!

We also found out that the oldest National Park in the country is in Greensboro, and has great mountain biking and running trails, plus some lakes for kayaking :)

We are really excited! 

Universal Studios!

Last week my side of the family all met in Orlando, FL, to celebrate Mother's Day at Universal Studios/ Harry Potter World.  It was a treat from my mom including a 3-day park pass, breakfast at the "Three Broomsticks", early admission to Harry Potter World, and a 4-night stay at a nearby hotel.

Tha Fam: 

From L to R:

Ben, me, Mom, Andy, Megan, Noah, Brett, Ben

Kids L to R:

Will (10), Drew (4), Colin (7), Cat (almost 6), Eliza (14 mos), Jack (3)

Bringing 14 people together (including 6 kids aged 10-14 mos), driving 10 hours (each way), and spending three  days in an amusement park is EXHAUSTING, but we had such a blast!

Check it out...

(Note: After hours of troubleshooting, the song attached is LITERALLY the only one that worked out of my entire iTunes library.  I really do love my family.)

One of the top things about this trip is that it was in mid-May, the slowest time of the year! The longest we EVER had to wait in line was about 30 mins, which only happened twice.  Every other time we basically spent the posted 5-min wait time walking to the front of the line and waiting for the next ride to come up.  In a word: PERFECT.

Here is a vid to prove it of Ben, me, Brett, and Andy (the videographer) literally running the ENTIRE way to the front of a major roller coaster, Dueling Dragons, and being the only ones riding it!

Other highlights:

- Seeing Harry Potter World the first time... it was a really cool feeling. 

- Drinking Butterbeer, the famous HP drink.  It always sounded disgusting to me, but it is awesome! 

- My nephew, Colin, was just old enough to be scared of almost every ride.  He did decide to go on one slow roller coaster with me, though, and I got to see how excited he was afterward at how fun it was and how  proud he was of himself.  Great moment to witness!

- The Mummy rollercoaster (my favorite).  It is fun from the begining, but in the middle turns into an indoor roller coaster the sends you rolling in the dark-- you never know what turns it will take!
- The Rockin' Roller Coaster. It lets you choose your own song to ride along to, which really customizes and enhances the amazing roller coaster experience

- Having my brother fly in from Cali.  My sisters and I can get together pretty easily, but we were lucky to have him around, too. 

- Celebrating Mother's Day with my siblings and Mom at Emeril's famous restaurant... The mushroom soup I ordered is one of the best soups I've ever had.  And I'm a soup connosieur!

- Celebrating Andy's and Jack's b-days.  Andy actually liked the QR code T-shirt I made him. Awesome! He is so hard to impress! 

Thanks so much, Mom! 

We love you, and everyone else we got 

to spend time with! 

(But we're not going back to Orlando any time soon...)

You'll love it.

Dear Sarah,
This is what you missed while your were in the hospital having a beautiful baby girl.

This is dedicated to our newest niece, Elly Brynn!

Britain's Got Talent: Nursery Rhymes
(Sorry it won't let me embed. Don't be lazy: watch it anyway!)

Everyone HAS to see this video... I almost got teary it made me so happy!

Spring is here!

When Ben and I came back from Korea we were greeted with warm temperatures and plenty to do with it! 

I researched and bought everything necessary to make a container garden and 

set it all up: tomatoes, strawberries, cilantro, basil, squash, zucchini, and bell peppers. 

I can't wait until these guys grow up!

We finally used the carwashing kit Ben won at a White Elephant party at work last Christmas. 

We washed both cars, and they look GREAT!

Ben hung the hammock he bought me in Belize before we were engaged.  

It's now my favorite spot :) 

Yard work... I'm glad my husband doesn't mind it :) 

Yay for warm weather!

One Year Older and Wiser, Too... Happy ANNIVERSARY to US!

On April 2nd we celebrated our one-year anniversary!!!!!  

And what a year it's been :) 

We were sealed... 

Moved to Hickory, NC...

T.R.A.V.E.L.S.

We went to Costa Rica...

And Nicaragua...

Norway...

New York...

Petoskey, MI....

Korea...

T.R.Y.I.N.G. N.E.W. T.H.I.N.G.S.

Bungee Jumping...

Walked a mile-high bridge...

Climbed an icecap (in flip-flops)... 

Ben taught Suz how to rock climb...

Camping at Grandfather Mtn....

Snowmobiling... 

Ben bought a kayak...

Climbed the highest Mtn east o' the Mississippi...

Suz started a business....

H.O.L.I.D.A.Y.S.

Halloween....

Christmas...

New Years...

(No pic of Valentine's Day.  I'm sure you understand)

If the pictures didn't tell our story well enough, we have been super busy.  We love adventure and trying new things, and always together.  Ben is my best friend, and we are so lucky to be so in love.  What an amazing journey we've started on, and I can't wait to see what we accomplish in the future!

Seoul, Korea Temple

The Seoul, Korea temple is obviously an important place for Ben.  He was "born" into his mission in the temple area-- a church and missionary housing right across the lawn from the temple.  He got to go pretty frequently during his mission, but the Shinchon area will always have a special place in his heart.

He was so excited and proud to bring me to the temple! We waited for our visit until Ben was done with his plant visits-- Thursday morning-- instead of trying to pack it in on a free night after work. We got to spend some extra time around the grounds, and I am so glad we had this special time together in Ben's mission area on the week of our anniversary!

The temple has amazing landscaping.  The bushes and trees are all very ornately and traditionally trimmed.  It was so beautiful to see how, inside and out, the temple has subtle hints of Asian. 

I was really nervous to go into a foreign temple! I had to be personally shown where to go for everything.  Luckily the LDS people worldwide are very helpful and understanding.  No one minded my innoncence : ) Even when my English translating box exploded in high-pitched squeels....

Happy anniversary! 

And the joke's on me! ... Twice.

Namdeamun Market: 

"The woman at the Myungdung Shopping Center Information Station insists on giving me two new maps to get across the street to the market.  These go in my purse in addition to the one from my hotel this morning, the hotel yesterday, and the two given to Ben at Indadong last night.  Do they have a quota to reach? Does the government award funds to organizations that give away the most maps to tourists or something?

"Everything imaginable and unimaginable is available in Namdaemun Market. Ginseng root shaped like a human body; everywhere. Duct tape in every color and texture? I pass two stalls in the first five yards.

"The stall owners don't crowd or bother as much as other countries in this competitive atmosphere, but I still keep my earphones in until I'm at a stall where I want to ask about something in particular.  That affords me some peace in this bustling area.

"I pass an entire street of knock-off accessories and wonder if any of the name brands I'd seen every fashionable Korean wear have been real or fakes.  Before I know it I've passed from purses to octopus. Smelling dried fish and seeing lives ones in baskets is something I've never gotten used to... Well, best intentions! Ugh.... The end of the street is a long way away to hold my breath!"

Gyeongbokgung Changing of the Guard

I was standing outside of the palace taking these pictures, when an older Korean man says to me "You should go inside." I say, "I will...I will..." thinking he means I should see the actual palace, not just stand outside of it.  But I do go inside, and realize that the real changing of the guard was taking place inside the palace gate! There was a huge to-do of prancing and pacing by men in colorful dresses and feathered hats. Not something I would have wanted to miss! Thanks, old man.  You got me. 

Samcheongdong Gallery Street

Next door to the palace (which happens to be in the center of town) is Samcheongdong, a... dare I say, romantic shopping district. It is a windy road of low, architectural buildings and beautiful trees.  Because it was windy, you can only see a portion of beautiful road at a time, making it very small and romantic feeling, instead of overwhelming like many large-building-ed, high-traffic areas of Seoul.  Many of the buildings are art museums.  Absolutely beautiful.  The remaining buildings are either restaurants (very high class ones offering "couple views" at the top) or expensive boutique stores.  Couples, hand in hand (rare in Korea) are everywhere.  I love it. 

As it turns out, I had been obsessed with the plan of eating dinner one night at a restaurant I read about online:  Beadanbaji. After a few days of asking around and ending up somewhere else, we discovered that the restaurant was in Samcheongdong! I was so excited to go back there on my own date night with Ben :)
Unfortunately, the restaurant had lost its "quaint" lodgings and is now on a floor of the owner's house.  Oh no! We spent our week hanging our hopes on this restaurant, finally find it and it's in someone's living room? No, thank you! We will never forget that ironical experience.