Valentine's Day

A year ago today, in about two hours from now, I was packing Dj's bag as he was grabbing stuff for a last minute interview trip that he had with Agilent Technologies. It was bittersweet, our first Valentine's apart, but I can't believe that so many have changed since then.
He'd already interviewed at a few places so it was just another prayer and crossed set of fingers.
Thinking back about this experience has made me think a lot about the last eight months since we moved up here to Santa Rosa. Even though I've been amazingly homesick for SLO I can't think of very many bad things that have happened since we moved. Which lead me to think about our life together in general. We've had so, so many ups and when I try and remember the downs they seem so tiny and inconsequential. Life is truly amazing and beautiful. I just can't imagine another life.

So here's to love, in all it's forms, shapes, and craziness. Here's to life and all of it's everythings.

And here's to my guy, I sure adore him.

2013

I've really dropped the ball at blog keeping. I was so busy the first half of the year and so down the second half that I haven't wanted to share much. So here's a quick review of the year.

January: I was called to serve in the Stake Young Women's Presidency as secretary. The calling was short lived but it's been my favorite and most special thus far.
February and March: They were so full of training meetings for my new calling that I don't remember much else. Except February our great friends Steven and Ashley were sealed in the temple and we were able to be there for that amazing day.
April: Dj finally, finally received California residency at age 26, in his last quarter of school.

He also finished his senior project, Twitchy the bear, and put it on display at Cal Poly. It was a huge success and the public loved it. Kudos to him, Spencer, and Segiv for working so hard on it.

May: I quit my job at Pacific Coast Pharmacy. It will probably be the last job I will ever have to do so that we can survive financially. We visited Santa Rosa and found an apartment. We also celebrated 3 years of marriage, it's been amazing! Oh yeah and I turned 25!!
June: Dj graduated from Cal Poly!

He gave a speech at his graduation, Brad and Shanyn, and his parents, uncle, my parents, and Aunt Suzie and Uncle Colon came out to help us celebrate.  We moved out of our beautiful little piece of paradise up on Hawk Hill Lane to the bustling city of Santa Rosa, Ca.

July: Dj started his job with Agilent Technologies.
August: Dj was called to be the Elder's Quorum secretary in our new Stony Point Ward.
September: I was called to be a Sunday School teacher for the 14-18 year old teenagers. It's been the most terrifying thing for me, but I know it's good for me. My mother had a health changing seizure.
October: The seizure my mom had also made it possible for me to see my sister for the first time in 6 years and introduce Dj to her.
November: We drove Utah with Dj's uncle to celebrate Thanksgiving with our Utah family. Dj also participated in his first 5K, Run or Dye with our buddy Matt.

December: I spend a wonderful day in Greenfield by myself just to see my brother Ryan, it was much needed and I'm so grateful to have such a guy for a brother. We hosted our first extended stay visitors in our new apartment, Dj's parents came out with Grandpa to spend New Years with us and his uncle came up from Woodside. We also graduated to our very first joint phone plan with fancy new phones which is a huge thing for us.

2013 was full. It had sad moments but it was beautiful. Dj and I have never needed and depended on each other so much and we've never been closer. I've been homesick more than I've ever been in my life but I've been stretched differently than I ever have before in my life.

This year I'm going to try and live this quote a little more, it's by Walt Disney.

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

Here's to 2014, less looking backward, more trying new things, and more adventures.
Lots of love from the Waldrons.

Dj

So earlier this month Dj graduated from Cal Poly. Here he is, after the big ceremony, doesn't he look happy? Trust me, I was ecstatic!

And since the guy is so smart he got the opportunity to speak at the department ceremony. I'm so proud of him, he did a great job so I wanted to share. It isn't the best quality but it's the words that I really wanted to capture. Don't mind the shakiness either, I kind of kept forgetting I was filming.

May

I turned 25! Yep, that's right, quarter of a century and loving it! I'm still at the stage in life where I'm excited to get older so I'm going to milk that for as long as possible. I think it also has something to do with how negatively my mom always spoke about getting older, she always complained. But here I am 25 and life is great and only getting more amazing as the days go by. I know it'll probably change someday but right now, I'm excited to get stretch marks from babies, wrinkly laugh lines, and get grey hair with my husband. Like I said (and everyone who's older and reading this is thinking) this mindset will probably change, might as well live it up and enjoy the birthday wishes.
On this birthday Dj got me jewelry! Which is neat because besides my wedding rings I've never gotten jewelry before. Now don't go thinking he's a bad guy, I'm just not a jewelry person. But I've been talking about getting a necklace like this for ages and he finally decided to get it for me.

 

And I had seen this one on the website too but I never thought he would get it for me. But he bought me both! He's such a sweetheart!

It means I love you in Portuguese (and Spanish too, they're just pronounced differently). And because I have to give props where they are deserved these two necklaces were made by Saout over at Etsy. She makes some cute stuff, there are definitely a few more things I'd like to get someday.

The other big deal that happened a few days after my birthday was our 3rd year Anniversary! May's like a big celebration month for us so I think it's just the greatest thing in the world. I got Dj some movies he's been wanting for awhile and he got me the board game Ticket to Ride.

 

If you haven't played it, it's pretty fun. It's one of those games that doesn't require a ton of strategy like Risk or Monopoly but takes a little more thought then LIFE or something like that.



One thing I can say about being married for 3 years now, is that I'm exponentially more in love with Dj than I was the day he proposed to me on that cold winter night a few days before Christmas in 2009 or the day we got married in the LA temple in 2010. He truly is my best friend and we are always, always making each other laugh. He amazes me everyday and I'm so proud to stand beside him while we go through this life There aren't words for me to express how and why or how much I love him.

Here's to an eternity of love, laughs, and lots of sillyness.

 

Best Present

I'm going to preface this post a little bit. My mother has Multiple Sclerosis, it effects her brain and causes a lot of pain, which means she's on a lot of medication. Her disease often makes her child-like or distant which means most of my life I've been playing the role of mom or caretaker. So when talking about my mom to my dad or to Dj it's become a thing to say that my mom "isn't there", which is just a nice way to say she's having a bad day and her mood/comprehension/whatever is just not good. So when after I talk to her on the phone Dj can usually judge how good a conversation it was by my saying where she was "there" or not.

So yesterday my parents stopped by unexpectedly on their way through SLO and brought me a pie from Marie Calenders (a fresh strawberry one, looks amazing!) my dad told me they wanted to come back to SLO the next day to take us out to dinner for my birthday and to give us a call later and tell them what time and where to meet them.

I called my parents back a few hours later and talk to Mom, she's "there", we have a really nice conversation and then I get passed on to Dad. After a little talk and plan making Dad says Mom really wants to talk to me again. So we talk a little longer, she's still "there" and we get on the topic of work and how exhausting it's been lately because of various things going on there. And my mother, bless her beautiful heart, says in the sweetest voice that she really admires me. She said that she's never ever had to do all of the difficult things that I've had to do in my life and that she truly admires me for what I do everyday. Let's just say my eyes were just gushing. And after that I could tell that she was "leaving" she was getting tired and she wasn't going to be "there" for much longer.

That's the first time in my 25 years of life that my mom has ever told me that she admires me. I honestly have not had a lot of times in my life where I have felt like her daughter, in the traditional, mother/daughter way that I love to see and have felt with many wonderful women in my life. I know that I was handed a difficult card but I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blesses me with these tiny beautiful experiences where my mom is really "there" and my heart feels like it's going to burst because I feel so loved. Heavenly Father gave me the best birthday present ever last night.

I don't share this story to make anyone feel sorry for me. I'm writing about it because I don't want to forget that it happened. And maybe to remind anyone who is reading that life is amazing and gorgeous and worth every single difficult experience it takes to live it. Thanks for listening.

The Next Month and a Half

I've been really quiet on here lately but it's been because I have so much to be excited about and I couldn't share a lot of it yet.

I have lived in San Luis Obispo County all my life. I was born in Bakersfield and I consider it my home away from home but besides my first few weeks of life and a few weeks every summer since I was a tike I've always lived on the Central Coast.
But now, in about a month I will be following my husband in a moving truck all the way up to Santa Rosa, California. Now I know some of you are thinking, dang, that's a really quick move! But in all reality we've known about it for a couple months, I just couldn't spread it out on the internet airwaves because of my job. They had started doing layoffs right about the time I found out and Dj was quitting his part time job so I really just needed the money and the security so that Dj could focus on his last quarter and not have to worry. Here are the emotions I'm feeling concerning the move: sick to my stomach, over the moon excited, worry that I'll never make friends again, happy, heartbroken, adventurous, terrified, grateful, and like the most blessed girl alive. I'm not crazy I swear, I've just always wanted to leave SLO, I've always wanted to move around but I stayed here when my parents moved because Heavenly Father told me it was the right thing to do. See, He always knows what He's doing since like a year and a half later I married the most beautiful man I know! Only now what I've always wanted is here and I kind of can't believe it.

We went up to Santa Rosa Mother's Day weekend and spent three exhausting days hunting for an apartment, trying to keep within our budget and make sure the area felt safe enough for Dj to feel comfortable having me at home. We were blessed again to find an apartment, $25 under our budget and we didn't have to buy a washer and dryer, it comes with the apartment (which none of the other places we liked did). It's 2 bedrooms so there's room for guests or a baby or something like that. Anyways we drove over the Golden Gate on the way up, which neither of us had ever done before. Half of it was enshrouded in fog, the other had the sun shining brightly on it.

Now I'm going to brag about my husband, I know he hates it but I'm just so proud of him and the achievements that he sees as so "normal" and "ho-hum". The job Dj will be starting July 1st is with a company called Agilent, they do test and measurement equipment. They rented Dj a car and put him up in a Hilton with a full day of presenting and interviews. Well to put cut the story short they offered him the job before he even left to drive back home. Dj also will be recognized twice for being the most outstanding graduating student in his department, which means his GPA is top in his class.

Here he is holding his certificate. They honored him at the Madonna Inn Friday night where he and a date got a free fancy dinner, thankfully, he picked me for his date, hopefully I didn't disappoint....

 

I'm actually really embarrassed to post this picture, so please, don't judge. I'm posting this because I've had this dress for months and I've felt too fat to step out of the house in it. I decided to be brave so I'm posting this to document my courage. Thankfully our new complex comes with a work out room, which will I be using to get rid of the 40-hour-a-week-desk-job-and-being-a-student-for-most-of-it weight I've put on. I've hated feeling so out of shape so I'm excited to get active again. Dj really wants to train for a marathon with me....I think I laughed at him when he said it the first time but I know it's a good idea and it would be fun.

So here's a break down of the next month and a half of events for the Waldrons:
May 23 - I turn 25 years old!! So stoked! I'm still at the point in my life where I'm okay with getting older.
May 29 - 3 year anniversary! Yep, 3 amazing years, the absolute, hands down, best and easiest 3 years of my life.
May 31 - My last day of work. I've been putting Dj through school since we got married and I've been working as much as I possibly could since before that. This will be the start to a different life style for me, one where I can finally have the time to figure out what I want to do, what I want to go to school for, if I even want to go to school, that sort of thing.
June 2 - I'm getting released from the best and most amazing calling I've ever had. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father gave me this very short, but very rewarding experience, I've learned so much.
June 13 - Mom and Dad Waldron fly in from Utah!
June 15 - Graduation day!!!! There are not enough exclamation points to portray my excitement over this!!!!!!
June 17-19 - Moving day(s).
July 1 - Dj's first day at Agilent.

Sorry if this post is disjointed, I'm overwhelmed with the blessings we've been receiving lately and with all the exciting things happening very soon.

Last Quarter

Do you ever feel like life is going so fast that it knocks the breath out of you? But then some of the days themselves seem to drag on like molasses? I'm currently at that stage.

Monday marks the last week of Spring break Dj will ever have during his undergrad. That's right! My husband has ONE QUARTER LEFT until he graduates. So starting Monday that's twelve weeks left in this stage in our life. May and June are going to be momentous and amazing! May brings our 3rd Anniversary and my big 2-5 birthday! And June will bring a graduation day that I'm still in awe of, that it will actually be here in three months.
I'm not sure if I actually believe that this day is nearly upon us. I've put up with jobs I haven't liked and worked way harder than I'm getting paid for to make sure I'm bringing in an honest wage so that Dj can focus on school and not have to work a lot. It's been hard, I've griped at him more than I want to admit. I'm grateful that I've had to work so hard though because when a few years down the road, when he comes home exhausted and stressed because of work I'll know exactly what he's going through. And though I may gripe again at times (because I admit that I'm as far from perfect as you can possible get I'm sure) hopefully more often than not I will bite my tongue and tell him how much I love him and how much I appreciate his hard work. I understand the stress of being the 'bread-winner' and I know how heavy that mantel can get and I pray that I'll always be able to keep that perspective when the days get rough for both of us. I'm so proud of him though, he's put up with so many set-backs and we've dragged and pushed one another through the difficult times to make sure we come out of them together. It's almost here, both of us can taste it, and I cannot wait for the future, it's looking pretty good right now.

Another bittersweet thing that June is bringing is the end to my favorite calling so far in my nearly 25 years of life. The first Sunday in February I was set apart as the Secretary in the Stake Young Women's Presidency. It hasn't been a full two months yet but I've loved everything that I'm learning and I've loved the increased Spirit that I've felt. It's been such an amazing experience and even though it will be very short I know I will hold it close to my heart.
There is obviously more that this summer will bring than just graduation and my getting released from my calling but we're trying to keep it off the internet at the moment, so if the three people who probably read this happen to be dying of curiosity feel free to text me or message me on facebook. (And no it's not a baby!)

Life is good, life is hard, but it sure is beautiful.