Happy ONE YEAR Anniversary!

Engagement pictures 2008 (photo credit Stacey Cannon)

Our Special Beautiful Day! 27 December 2008 (Photo Credit Kristin Fuller)

I cant believe it has already been a year! Whew, time really has flown! I would disagree with the majority that say "the first year of marriage is the hardest". I really think it was a blast! Ev and I had so much fun together. We can still keep a conversation, our relationship isn't all about kissing and hugging (even though theres still lots of that because we love cuddles). We had our disagreements, but hashed them out kindly. Theres a few rules we established in the beginning and they were:

1. no slamming doors/storming out when upset (even though we only have two doors)

2. speak kind words to each other

3. no going to sleep upset (communication is a MUST!)

Ten reasons that kept us happily together:

1. read scriptures together

2. pray together

3. date night

4. family home evening

5. share chores

6. LAUGHING is a MUST

7. take an interest in the others liking and join in

8. support.encourage.appreciate

9. open the ears and clean out the wax (LISTEN)

10. SERVE each other

I know that this next year we will continue with most of the above list to keep us happily together and I am sure we will get better at some and fall short in others, but thats why theres two of us to help the other when they fall short and to lift them up. We will naturally extend our list as time goes on and life throws challenges our way. I love my best friend and eternal companion. We are such a laid back match! I love him more than I did the day I married him and even more than the day I agreed to marry him. He is a hard worker, loves me so much and would do anything for me and has developed a more positive outlook that everything will always work out, while I have an optimistic outlook that all things will work out as well but I inherited some of my mothers genes and have the faith, but tend to still worry about the smallest things that I have to control over. I am thankful for my husband who helps me strengthen that weakness and realize as President Monson said," Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other."So true! It was said in a talk in church yesterday, "for most things you fear never come to pass and that worrying is the most unproductive of human activity."

Our first year of marriage rocked and we are looking forward to all the rest!

Happy One Year Evy!

27 December 2009 (Pictures by THE Dana Bradshaw)

Maui we go!

The day after Christmas Evan and I had planned that we were going to head to another island in celebration of our One Year Anniversary which is actually today December 27th. We decided to go to Maui, which neither of us had ever explored before. Due to being in college and happily poor oh we only went for the day. Since we are both still under 25 we get charged an "under age" fee so that was our biggest expense. Our flight left at 5:17 am and landed in Maui at 5:36 am. We were up at 3:30 am getting ready and prying our eyes open. I quote Ev as he rolls over after the alarm goes off,"are you trying to torture me?" hehe granted yes it was a bit early, but we had the whole day ahead of us to play and once we got going we were good. We landed in Kahalui, got our rental car and headed for Wailku. Started our day the right way with some McDonalds, did not eat anything that would give us gas or over eat to cause us to be uncomfortable. We got our energy and arrived in Wailuku at the Maui tropical plantation. We had a reservation to go ziplining! We were both so stoked about our 5 hour zipline tour with Flyin Hawaiian, which made having to get up so early worth it. In total we ziplined over 4 miles and hiked a little over 1 mile along the way. We rode 6 different ziplines and the longest was 3600 feet and is about 60 seconds long going up to speeds of 50-60 mph. I was considered "Darcy the feather- weight" and sometimes I didnt make it all the way across sometimes just because the way the line was designed and the fact that I didnt get enough speed. I mostly rode in a cannon ball position pulling my legs to my chest to get more speed. We had such a blast!! The rush is amazing, I am glad that Ev and I didnt die =) After ziplining, we headed to the black sand beach in another city called Hana, which was a long drive away. The drive was long, beautiful and lush, very windy (thee words do NOT do the road to Hana any justice). The most popular signs we saw were ROAD NARROWS and YIELD TO ONCOMING TRAFFIC (one lane bridge). It was so odd to be driving on a two lane highway then suddenly it turned into one lane. Definitely had to be paying attention. We made it to the Wai'anapanapa State Park looked around enjoyed the beauty, ate some grub at the Hana Ranch Restaurant, and headed back before it got dark. We went shopping, laughed, got annoyed by tourists, and talked about the last year that we have had being married and what made it such an awesome year. We are great travelers together because if we want to see something then well stop, if not well look at it as we drive by and say,"oh thats nice". We aren't the type of travelers to stop at everything there is to see, just the stuff we take an interest in. It was such a good trip! Evan's two cents about the trip: "It was lots of fun. I really enjoyed myself. And my wife is a total babe." Noteworthy: Gas was $3.67/gal, Pretzelmaker has terrible pretzels (Wetzel's pretzels is so much better), when you have an odd amount of time left and cant drive anywhere except close by, Longs Drugs is a cool place to walk around. We decided to hit up Wendy's for din din because, well, we only have one on our island and its kinda far from where we live. It was yum! We decided we just needed one more day to make it to Lahaina, Kihei, and Haleakala. Our flight left at 10:45 pm and we arrived back on Oahu at 11:20 pm. Such a blast!

We arrived!

Its early!

Our ride

Ziplining

The Road to Hana-forwards and backwards

Celebrating!

My Babe of a husband

On the way home

This is how we felt!

MELE KALIKIMAKA ME KA HAUOLI MAKAHIKI HOU!

Thanks MUM for da Pajamas! We opened them Christmas Eve just like we always do!

We Spent Christmas Eve with Evan's family and extended family.We had a grab bag game, similar to a white elephant ,but not nearly as crazy as the Ballantyne white elephant. His family actually put stuff in that was useful and nice =) not like deer horns or 4 legged underwear or stuffed toads playing pool. It was a lot of fun though! I totally swiped a SPAM slicer (yes I said spam) from Auntie Helen and she had the most unforgettable expression on her face when I stole it. Oh how I love my Spam Slicer..We hung out all day on Christmas and spent time with my Hawaii parents and went to Zippy's for din din. Grandma Quon and Auntie Chicky,Uncle Jonathon, and Dems joined us too.

this is my favorite ornament on the tree. I actually put it up because it wasnt up and how could you not have this adorable little face on your Christmas tree!

I had a good time talking to my family. Missed them on Christmas, but glad they had a wonderful day! I love this season of Christmas, may we keep on giving of ourselves as the year continues and a new year begins.

tis' the season

I am a proud Alumni of BYU-Hawaii since June 2008. I loved attending this university not for the fact that I lived a hop skip and a jump from the beach or because I woke up to waves crashing, but more or less because the gospel was incorporated into our secular learning in certain classes. Yes there wasn't much to do here in Laie, but its was certainly a beautiful place to be living. I am really grateful though that I have the chance to at least spend one Christmas here. After being here for about 3 years this will be my first Christmas in Hawaii and my first Christmas with my amazing husband (we were married two days after Christmas, so technically second Christmas, but we weren't "legally married" last year).

Four reasons why I love Christmas in Hawaii:

1. i can go to the beach and its still beautiful. I went today, got burned where I forgot sunblock and made this creation in the sand.

2. i get to be close to Evan's family

3. i get to decorate my humble abode and I get excited when I get to add decorations on my "paper" tree.

4. i get to be so close to the temple. Its a beautiful reminder of the meaning of Christmas.

Today, December 23rd is the birthday of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I am indeed grateful for the faith and perseverance of the Prophet. I know that he restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness to the earth. It was his mission and calling to bring the world the truth. He did this as he translated the Book of Mormon, a witness that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, our eternal Redeemer. President Spencer W.Kimball said," there are some in the world who mistakenly say that we are a non-Christian Church—a cult; that we worship Joseph Smith rather than our Savior, Jesus Christ. How far from the truth they are! What heresy! The Lord declared, “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (D&C 115:4.)

We have a hope in Christ here and now. He died for our sins. Because of Him and His gospel, our sins are washed away in the waters of baptism; sin and iniquity are burned out of our souls as though by fire; and we become clean, we have a clear conscience, and we gain that peace which passeth understanding.

We believe, and it is our testimony, and we proclaim it to the world, “that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.” (Mosiah 3:17.)

We know, and it is our testimony, and we proclaim it to the world, that to be saved men must “believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.” (Mosiah 3:18.)

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Ne. 25:26.)

For the past century and a half since the Restoration, beginning with the Prophet Joseph Smith, the latter-day prophets of God have raised their voices in clarity and with authority and truth as they have borne their testimonies of the divinity of this great latter-day work and the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I too have great respect for the Prophet Joseph Smith, for without him we wouldn't have all the truths that we have today. People would still be wandering for truth, confused, and seeking for more as many still are today. But we have the truth! We know that God Lives, that Jesus is the Christ! He is my personal Savior and Redeemer.We know that He will come again and that we have the opportunity to live with him and Heavenly Father; There is life after death, for these truths and knowledge, I am extremely grateful! I reverence the Prophet Joseph Smith and respect him. I know that he died a martyr and died in cold blood, defending the truths with which we all are blessed to know. I know that Joseph Smith died for the cause of our Savior Jesus Christ. I honestly dont believe that anyone would go through so much trial and persecution all because it was something to do. I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and it was that day in the grove of trees that changed not only Joseph's life, but changed the world. We have a prophet of God on the earth today, President Thomas S. Monson. The Lord has not left us alone to fend for ourselves and figure life out. He answers prayers, he speaks to us, and he directs a prophet of God today. I know the gospel is true.

If I could give Joseph Smith a birthday present today, I would give him my personal copy of the Book of Mormon that I took with me on my mission(which is marked up like crazy with my notes and thoughts) so that he would know that his life of persecution and torture was worth living because I gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and all the truths that he restored to the earth, under the direction of my Savior Jesus Christ. But more than that, I know that God's Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, laid down his life for me and gave me a chance to repent and be clean and return and live with Him again. I wouldn't trade this knowledge for anything!

tis' the season to be jolly fahlalalala-lalalala! tis' the season to be grateful.

Saturday is a Special Day!

December is quite the month. So much celebration of birthdays! I cant believe that next Friday is Christmas!! We have much to be grateful for this year and family is one of our greatest blessings. It has been so nice living here in Hawaii and being able to spend time with Evan's parents and Grandma and Aunties and Uncles. Of course I miss my family, but it is nice to have family close by to visit and enjoy many laughs. On Friday its was Momma Lolly's birthday. Evan and I went to town to drop some friends off at the airport and stayed in town to celebrate. A while back Ev had built a square foot planter for his Mom and we started her little garden, well the cucumbers started to take over everything else growing in the garden and lets just say we decided to start over. So after running some errands on Friday we headed to Home Depot and bought some "pre-grown" herbs and a tomato plant. We thought maybe we would go big and skip the whole "plant the seed and watch it sprout and grow" deal this time around, we were so over that =) Well after Ev was done planting, it looked like Mom's garden had grown within hours. It looked great!

So we shall see how her garden goes this time around, its fun for us to see what works and what doesn't and we have so much fun going to Home Depot. I just love the smell of it and of course Ev took me down my favorite aisle, the lights.We had a good time roaming around looking at sinks, doors, etc for our "make believe, some day house". Ev had his internship on Saturday, he had a nasty wrestling tournament, and I had work for a couple hours, but I joined up with him after I was done and sat in that stinky gym that smelt like sweat and bodies. It was amazing to me though how many girls actually wrestled. I was used to seeing a couple here and there at Corey's tournaments/matches, but man they had a ton of girls wrestling.I thought that was pretty cool. After the day of work we headed back to town and went to dinner at a nice restaurant called Stage, for Momma Lolly's birthday. It was good food, good fun, good music (the guy singing Christmas music live sounded like Michael Buble) and good laughs. My camera batteries were dead, but I wanted a picture of us all, so we took one with Ev's iphone, here we are:

Finals week

I finished my training for work on Monday. I felt like I was back in school again, I had to take oral and written quizzes each day and pass them with 90% or better and then on Monday I took a cumulative "Final" which I also had to pass with 90% or better. I passed all my exams and have slowly started to work with children with Autism, but due to the holiday season, families are going out of town and my schedule is very temporary until the beginning of the year. Its Evans last week of classes and he only has to take 3 exams. He got an email from one of his professors that basically said, " If you are receiving this email, it means that you are amazing and pretty much your grade in the class is a very strong A and you do not need to take the final.." I am so proud of my husband. He is working hard and is actually in the library as I am writing this blog post. I know that he can accomplish so much and he took on a lot of classes this semester and sometimes I know it was a lot for him, but I am thankful that he stuck it out so that he can be on track to graduate in April 2010. I love my husband and one of the best parts about being married and having one of us going to school is that I get to be his beautiful "pusher, encourager, you can do it" person and I know he always loves me for it. GOOD LUCK on your finals babe!

SHOUT OUT: Happy Birthday Josh and Nicole! Love you both!

Cockroach adventures

So..dont read this if you get grossed out easily..no really..dont do it..You might throw up in your mouth..So living in Hawaii brings for much beautiful weather and many surprises when it comes to little critters. First off, Please dont think we live a messy life, because we dont, I am a little anal..we do the dishes and keep our house clean..end. So I first noticed that there were roaches living in the face of our microwave when I looked to see the time and noticed that one of the parts of the numbers was missing, so I got up to see if the bulb was going bad and well, I found that there was a cockroach posted on the tail of the 5. GROSS!! They arent living on our splatter, they are chilling in the FACE of the flippin microwave how in the world did they get in there?!?! So I tried to bust out the screw driver and the screw driver worked for almost all the screws except two. It was a special torx screwdriver that no one seemed to have..so the roaches lived in the face of the microwave doing their thing making babies and laying eggs and I had enough when I saw little roaches starting to appear! Finally I found the bit we needed. $20 dollars later we were able to get the two lame screws off. Ev took the microwave outside and took the microwave apart. EWWWW...so gross! There were hatched eggs and roaches..yikes..pretty much the grossest thing ever! I am happy to report my amazing husband took apart, removed the roaches, and put back together a working microwave!!