Dancing through Life

Saturday Thoughts

I truly am reminded every single day what an adventure life is! Each day holds endless opportunities, endless amounts of goodness as well as endless amounts of uncertainty. Every day I go to school wondering what crazy, funny, awesome thing is going to happen today. (Those 5th graders are full of surprises and I’m also sick for the 10th time this year thanks to them…) Some days are more eventful than others but every day changes us, helps us learn and helps us grow.

This week has been a week of trying to figure out what we are going to do with our lives. What should Trent get his degree in? How long will we live where we live? Where should I work next year? So many questions! Often Trent and I forget how young we are and start to stress about making big life decisions now.  It can become quite overwhelming really quickly but it was also a good week of reflection and discussion.

As we talked this week, we reminded ourselves that we have time. Trent doesn’t need to know what he wants his profession to be right now, I don’t need to stress about the future right now. Yes, we understand that we need to be actively engaged in finding answers to these questions but we don’t need to let them cause anxiety and stress. We reminded ourselves that as we continue down the right roads, we will be lead to where we are supposed to be. My Mission President always told us that the Lord can’t steer a parked car. You’ve got to be moving and He will direct you and guide you along the way. So much peace comes from knowing that we have someone so much greater than us watching out for us.

Until then, we’re just going to keep moving, keep learning and continue dancing through life.

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Cheers to Fall

Fall this year in Utah has been absolutely gorgeous! It’s been warm, sunny and the leaves are absolutely breathtaking. I’ve always loved Fall for the changes that it represents. The year moves along so fast when the leaves start to change and the weather cools down. It’s time to prepare for the winter, time to make wonderful memories and time for lots and lots of adventures.

The Way of the Wards is officially a year old! How crazy is that? I was looking back through all my old posts and it’s fun to see how much we experienced last year and how much we continue to experience each and every day. Life is a glorious adventure.

A couple weekends ago, Trent and I took off into the mountain on our little dirt bikes. I crashed, Trent rescued me, we rode together and simply enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us. We are so lucky. Of course there are good days and bad days, but the good days always seem to blur out the bad and each new day holds endless possibilities. Cheers to Fall, to adventures and to the beauty that surrounds each and every one of us.

Its been a minute…

Hello there!

Like I said, it’s been a tad busy around here but I’m so glad to be able to find some time to jump on this space. It’s so much fun to interact with everyone and share a little bit about what’s going on in our little life.

This past summer was amazing and like summers usually do, it went by much too fast. We ended our summer with a trip to California with Trent’s family. This is the third year we’ve been back there with his family and it is such a wonderful trip. We rented a cute house on the beach and spent our days playing in the sun, swimming, exploring New Port Beach and spending time with Trent’s darling family. Trent was especially fond of this trip because he was able to go spear fishing. He already told me that our next big trip has to include a spear fishing adventure, he loves it.

This Albion Fit suit was definitely a favorite from this summer

After we got back from California, I jumped right into school. I am officially a 5th grade teacher, can you believe it!? My days are full of 29 kiddos that I absolutely adore and endless learning experiences. I am exhausted all the time but loving my job. Trent is going to school full time up at the University of Utah studying pre-med which also makes hime quite busy. He is taking Anatomy right now which is hard but he loves it! I’m so proud of all he’s doing and for the record he got an A on his last test 😉 It’s my job to brag. It’s been hard adjusting to me working full time and Trent taking some harder classes. I’ve had my fair share of meltdowns and Trent’s been amazing during everything. Changes in the rhythm of life are sometimes tricky but I’ve also noticed that they are here to remind us of the things that matter most.

We try to fill up any spare moments we have with each other and luckily we’ve still been able to go on our fair share of adventures since school began. We got to go to the Lady Antebellum concert with a co-worker of mine and it was the best concert I’ve ever been to. Nothing beats warm summer nights and dancing to country music. We were also able to spend a weekend up in Midway, go boating with my family and adventure out on a fun backpacking trip with my sisters and some friends. Trent and I pretty much froze to death in our hammocks but it was totally worth it…

 

Photo by Sam Featherstone Film and Photo

Photo by Sam Featherstone Film and Photo

All in all, things are going great around here. Life is a complete adventure with its ups and downs and everything in between. We love each and every one of you and are so grateful for all of your support.

Love,

The Wards

Summer

Summer is here! Hooray! There is nothing I love more than being able to be outside on warm summer nights. It brings a whole new meaning to the word happy. This summer is a crazy one filled with summer school, working, trips, family events and so much more. It’s going to go by much faster than I would like so I’m soaking up every minute I can. Trent and I have been able to go up Big Cottonwood canyon and do some climbing with his family and it’s been wonderful to sit in the gorgeous canyon and enjoy Utah. Don’t get me wrong, I love climbing, but I’m still getting used to being up so high and the feeling of imminent death…so, this last time we went climbing I just watched. It was so much fun to hang out with Trent and his brother and watch all the other climbers going up and down. Climbing is an art and I feel like I gain a greater appreciation for it every time I’m around it. The night was perfect and I felt so blessed to be surrounded by such beauty.

Trent and I are gearing up to move this week and although there are a lot of decisions to make and it can be a bit stressful, I’m so grateful I’m going through it all with him. We’ve been married for almost a year now and I can’t believe how fast time has gone by. It’s amazing to look back and think of all the things we done, all the bumps in the road we’ve worked through, and all the wonderful, joyous times we’ve experienced together. Everyday isn’t perfect but I’m grateful that I have someone that will never give up on me. I love you T.

Here’s to a summer full of warm nights, numerous adventures, and memories in the making.

Spring Cleaning

The weather this past month has been nothing short of insane. It’s perfect spring weather one day and the next day it’s snowing. Today, it’s snowing. After one of the freak storms in April, there were branches all over the roads and it left a serious mess. I remember thinking that no plant or blossom could have survived this storm. Trent’s parent’s house was covered in branches so we went and helped his mom chop them up to clean up their yard. It was such a beautiful night. We ran around the yard picking up twigs and branches and Trent taught me how to use an ax. (It’s harder than it looks, haha) Many blossoms still survived to brighten the world and the day felt so light and happy.

It was a simple task, but it was one of those days that I felt so grateful to be where I am in my life right now. Don’t get me wrong, life isn’t perfect. We still have our freak snowstorms and we can often get knocked down but just like those strong blossoms, we can come back brighter and stronger than ever. With that in mind, sometimes it takes a bit of effort and cleaning up to bounce back from the crazy side of life. Here are some of my thoughts on the best ways we can “spring clean” up our lives.

1. Literally clean up. My house can often get a bit out of hand but when I take the time to pick up my surrounding space I feel so much better.
2. Find something you enjoy doing and get better at it! I have just recently discovered editing photos in lightroom and it’s so much fun! Find something you want to learn or get better at and work at it.
3. Spend time with people you love and actually “be there” when you’re with them. We can get so caught up in our phones and other distractions that we forget to actually be with the people we love.
4. Spend time outside. On those perfect spring days, don’t stay cooped up inside! It can be as simple as just walking around the neighborhood, just get some sunshine. It makes all the difference.
5. Quit comparing yourself to others. Your life is yours and you can’t forget that. Comparing turnings to complaining which turns to self-pity and then no one wants to be around you. Dedicate this spring time to loving you!

Happy spring my friends!