We spent the most wonderful weekend with the Buchanan family. Niesha's birthday is on the 4th (HAPPY BIRTHDAY) and since our move is 16 day's away ... we wanted a last big time hangout. We arrived Saturday after our Primerica training. We snowmobiled, had lunch, watched movies, made cookies ... and laughed alot. It's been 5 years since the last time I was at the cabin and it brought back so many memories. They have done a complete overhaul of the cabin. It was just a gorgeous place to be. We hung out with Holly and Andy and talked a lot about photography. Shanelle did my nails and got hooked on Tyson's game on the his phone.

We woke up Sunday morning to a fantastic breakfast made my Shanelle and Jeff, we had more cookies and had a random conversation about my blood line.

It's now been 7 years since Niesha and I became friends. Now, married and two kids late, Niesha continues to amaze me. She is so in tune with the spirit. She is a fantastic mother and she loves the Lord. Aaron is very lucky but also is a fantastic dad and husband.

Thank you guys. We sure love you.

Big Boy Andrew

I can't believe Andrew turned five already. Sadly this will be the last birthday we will be able to come in a long while - but for sure we will send wishes from Colorado.

I was pretty proud of how my first ever cupcake cake turned out - I also made homemade frosting and tried using pastry bags to make it cute. Overall I really thought it turned out well :)

Funny Twilight Video

Hilarious!! Man this really hits the spot!!1


Check it out here

Please Work

Check it out! I have been wanting to get into Digital Scrapbooking for several reasons:

1. It's funner for blogging
2. It's WAY cheaper than real scrapbook
3. Someday when I have children and want to remember stuff they did - this will work.

But here is the best part. I got it at Office Depot for 39.99 ... but I get a $10 rebate from the company AND I get a $30 rebate from Office Depot ... which makes it free baby!

It was such an unexpected cool find.

E.R

After two visits to the Instacare last week - Tyson went into the E.R. It sucked. We sat there for 4 hours. We had 4 test done. Results? They could not find anything wrong. They sent us home with pain medication for his back and told us to come back. I can't tell you how frustrating it was. but then ....


God taught me something.

The weekend continued with Ty coughing and not really being able to do much. Friday night Jael and Steve came the my parents house and of course we hung out. Well right as we were about to leave to go home it donned on me, Tyson needs a priesthood blessing.

I asked Steve if he could give him one - thank heaven's for worthy brother-in-laws. We went upstairs and Steve gave a very simple, but beautiful blessing. Tyson has not had any problems since.

I know that God is looking out for us. I'm grateful to have the priesthood in my home and to even know what it is. I am happy my boy is better.

I am amazed at how easily I lose my faith. So many of my heroes are not people who do world-changing things, but simply have such strong faith and keep God close to them. One of my daily goals I write down is that I want to have a better relationship with God. With Colorado so close - I think I am going to be on my knees a lot more.

I'm so glad my hubby is all better.

Insta-Care

(This is us during Christmas trying on shoes from Holland)

Just got back from the Insta-Care. Tyson's cough/flu/strep throat/whopping cough thingy is not getting better. I'm ashamed to say that he coughs so hard at night - that he has to sleep on the floor next to our bed for either of us to get any decent sleep. We waited a week - still not better. They have him on antibiotics and they gave him a narcotic ( he he he) to put him down at night.

Besides that this week has been busy. Appointments have been going great. Tyson got to spend several hours yesterday with one of his heroes, Phil Cochrane. I swear that kid is giddy whenever he gets to rub shoulders with Phil. Phil is seriously amazing. I see a mini Phil in Tyson. They went shopping and Phil shared some of his secrets. Thanks Phil to making Tyson so happy.

The packing continues. We have scheduled our flight for our Vegas trip (Feb 15-18) that our team won from Primerica. I've never stayed at the Cesar's Palace before - heard its awesome. I have three weeks until the place has to be completely packed up. Time sure flies.

Denver Explanation

I'm pretty sure by this point the cat is out of the bag. Tyson and I are relocating to Denver, CO. The official move date is February 19th - which is also my birthday. Not sure if I like that or not :)

Now, despite what this may seem like a sudden move - it's not. It's actually more like 6 months in the making.

In a nutshell - It's common practice among Primerica RVP's to open up new areas. Back when Art Williams started the company RVP's were sent all over the USA to stablish offices and to expand this amazing company. As a result there is a Primerica office in every single state. Some of Tyson's heroes have also recently moved and done amazing things - Jeff Fieldsted, Brandon Niel, Steve Stonebraker .... All amazing RVP's who really started to grow when they were faced with a new area. Tyson wants the same thing.

He started talking about the idea back in August and of course I thought he was crazy, but Tyson goes after what he wants. He started doing research on growing areas that were untapped. He called numerous RVP's to get advice and experience wisdom. All signs pointed to a yes.

I remember having a very serious talk to Tyson about moving. I was against it. My family is here. Our friends are here. I wanted to have my first baby here. Tyson came back from the temple and told me that he had a very strong confirmation that we should move. Hesistant I told Tyson that I needed a confirmation - not just him. I remember praying to God and saying "There are so many obstacles to us moving but if you do want us to move - make it happen"

Months went by and miraculously things started to fall into place. An e-mail from Russia, resumes and three calls later - I had a job offer. 15k and four months of repairs - Tyson's place sold.

We visited Denver the week before Christmas. The first night sucked. We were so scared but we stayed. After four days we both felt that THIS was our chance.

As I write this my apartment is a mess of packing boxes, business stuff and memories. If I did not have so many significant signs that this is where we are meant to be I would scared. I'm sad to leave everything I love and know - but I know Tyson and I need to do this. In a weird way I have always dreamed of a crazy adventure like this. Funny how it's all of the sudden here and I hesitate. God is aware of Tyson and I. I'm grateful for what we have accomplished. I'm excited for our growth. So there it is. We leave in less than 4 weeks. Keep your eye on us - we are going to do amazing things!

Here is some pictures of our Denver trip.

Testing

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A better way to show off some cute pictures

Tyson's House

It's 2010. Is anyone else reflecting on 2009? For some 2009 was great, for some it was hard. Ty and I had a little bit of both.

I really hesitated to post about our housing experience but now that it's over, I want to remember the many miracles that God had given us in just this specific subject.

To start, when Tyson was just 18 when he bought his very first piece of property. A lovely four-plex about two blocks away from the Logan Temple. Thanks to Tyson's parents, he started on a big journey to real estate. The house was old, had four apartments but was a great started property. This place gave Tyson positive cash flow every month and even helped pay for his mission.

Fast forward to when we got married.Now five years into it, Tyson and I had hopes to sell it, save more money and do a huge down payment on our first official home. Real estate is great, but time consuming. Tyson and I lived in SLC and had very little time to drive two hours to Logan and keep up with it. Gaylan and Debbie were amazing to help manage it for us. Still we knew it was kind of a hassle so we wanted to sell it. We listed it October 2007. Well unless you were under a rock, this was at the start of the housing bust of 2007-2009. Homes were dropping a little bit, but not big deal - we were not in a huge rush.

A year into it (October 2008), we realized that the price was too high and so we dropped it by 20k. Still no traffic. We took off the market for the winter. Now mind you during this entire time Ty and I were looking at homes in SLc. We found one we loved but our offer was rejected because it was contingent on our first place to sell. Months went by, spring was nearing and we were hopeful that a new year meant better buyers. Well the real estate market continue to take a dive. Credit was super limited and it felt as if everyone was bailed out.

In the summer of 2009 we got new renters in, not exactly the best kind but we had several apartments vacant for about three months, so we welcomed renters that could pay. Boy were we wrong. Soon the problems started. The neighbors started to complain about several things:

1. Loud noise
2. Kids running around
3. Alcohol and minors
4. One of the renters were arrested due to identity theft

As soon as we heard about this Tyson and Debbie started the process of eviction. A week later we got call from the police. One of the apartments tested positive for Meth. Meth. I've heard about this drug. It was just another drug and never thought it would effect me. Wrong. According to our research, Meth destroys homes. It seeps through the walls and can be extremely harmful to humans and children.

At this point, we had dropped the price more than 30k since we put it on the market. This news meant that house was condemed. Lost. Ruined. Seven years gone. All equity lost.

I remember Tyson telling me in our little dining room. Just the previous weekend we had spent 48 straight hours cleaning, painting and fixing of the apartments. I remember my head spinning. Tyson pretty much said we lost it all. It would never sell.

I cried. I was so upset. I remember feeling how hurt but all the work we did. Tyson said there might be a way to save it - but it would mean putting in 15k to "clean it up" and not even expecting to break even.

The next couple of days were hard. Debbie cried and felt totally guilty. I was so mad. Strat , who had since become our real estate agent, was so sad. We got calls from neighbors, friends - all heard what happened. They all called to express sorrow. I know it sounds dumb but it felt like something died. A dream died. Seven years of Tysons' sweat, money and hopes died. My dream of owning a home to bring a baby to died.

All tenants were kicked out. The people who we think were responsible were so poor that there was no reason to even try to go after them. Sadly the current system lets them jump to property to property - a perpetual trail of destruction.

Tyson and Debbie decided that the only thing to do is just try to fix it up, use the last of our apartment savings and hope that we could sell it. And so it began.

For four months we had over 15k in house repairs. I chose to stay out of it. I did not want to have anything to do with it. We had the state clean it, new EVERYTHING. Test and chemicals were done. Ceilings were replaced, floors pulled, kitchens redone.

In October 2009, the house was finally done in decent shape. We put it back on the market. We listed for exactly what Tyson bought it for seven years earlier.

Nothing moved.

We had open houses but no real interest. It was at this time that Tyson started thinking about moving to Denver. It seemed crazy. Here we have this house that we can't sell. Who would take care of it? Debbie and Gaylan were so sick of looking after apartments. How about if we get crappy people again?

But God is a God of Miracles. At the end of November we got an offer. It was weak and asked for a ton of things. We talked it over with Debbie - who thought that it would not go through but we might also not get another offer either. We came back 2k more. They accepted. We were set to close the first of December, but they kept stalling and stalling.

Mean while, talks of Denver were getting more and more serious. God was making little miracles happen that kept telling Tyson and I to move forward but the house was our biggest concern. I remember praying and asking that if God really wanted us to move - he would sell our house.

All of December went by. December 22nd Strat called Tyson and told him that we should close on December 28th - but not to hold our breath. We drove to Logan for Christmas on the 23rd. Tyson asked if we could close earlier so we did not have to drive back right after Christmas. They said that the paper was not there and we would not have enough time.

We woke up Christmas eve. Tyson got a call from Strat. Miraculously the paperwork was overnight ed. We could close that day. at 2 pm.

So we loaded up the car - me taking tons of pictures. We signed the papers.

Just like that. It was done. The money funded on Monday and we officially sold our place. It was bitter sweet. It was a long road. I think my main lesson is that God really is a God of miracles. He test us but takes care of us to.

We were able to make a little money after all the extra work we had to put in. It was disappointing to see how much gets eaten by taxes, fees, maintenance. I've learned alot. In the end, God wanted to us make a move. Had we sold our house when we first got married - we would be stuck here. We would have bought at the height of the market. We would be tied down. God knew we would move in 2010. He knew he had to keep us from really planting our roots. It all makes so much sense. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us, and I love him.

I am ashamed to say that I lacked faith. Tyson was incredible through it all. He never complained, never pointed fingers. He never even told our team. So many people seem to come to us and complain about their smaller problems. I wanted to rip there heads off and say "oh yeah? I just lost 50k so top that loser!" But we never did. We cried in the quietness of our little 800 sq apartment. I will always be grateful for how strong Tyson was through all of it. He really is my hero. I love you Tyson.








In the end, 2009 marked a very emotional year. 2010 is being introduced with so many changes. New adventures. I want to remember this. I want people to see God's hand in my life. I heard a great quote "When Gods stands with you, who dares stands against you". Thank you God for looking after us, teaching us humility, perseverance and gratitude.

Christmas Pictures - In Random Orders

Here are so very random pictures from our Christmas. Tyson's camera hold a bizilion pictures. The main point of the pictures are:

1. WE SOLD TYSON'S HOUSE
2. Christmas was a blast.

border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422553152886124594" />