Four Years Down, Forever to Go!

This upcoming Wednesday, my honey and I will be celebrating four years of marriage together! I probably say the same thing every year, but it's crazy how fast those four years went! And it's even crazier that it's only been four years because I feel like Joshy has always been a part of my life. I just feel so lucky that through all of our trials and changes that have been going on around here, we are able to still talk about our feelings and how we can continue to improve ourselves and our lives. Our communication skills are still evolving (isn't that key to keeping each other happy?), and I am so glad, because we still have lots of things that we need to communicate to each other. Communication is number one in our marriage. Maybe because we met in a communications class. :) Honestly though, four years feels like a big achievement. We have already seen marriages fail in shorter lengths of time. I feel so lucky that I have a husband who works as hard as he does to invest in our happiness. I put a lot of effort into this too, but I'm glad I'm not in my marriage alone, you know?

I'm really excited about this anniversary. Some years I haven't known what to do for gifts, but this year I borrowed an idea from my cute sister-in-law and made Josh something I think he will really love! I can't tell you what it is just yet, but I'm excited to show you after Wednesday. One stinky thing about our anniversary this year is that we aren't rich enough to do much of anything. We were going to stay at the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake like we have in the past (but not next year--we are saving up for Hawaii!), but because of the move and the way all of our paychecks have worked out so far, we just don't have the money to go stay anywhere besides our house. I sure hope I can come up with something fun for us to do at home! Maybe we will go have an adventure in the mountains or visit Salt Lake and go out to a fancy dinner. I heard La Jolla Groves opened a new restaurant there, and we had an amazing experience when we visited their Provo location a few months ago. Whatever we do, I'm sure it will be special. Josh always knows how to make things special for us.

In other news, I have recently found myself with unending spare time due to our recent move to the middle of nowhere! Okay, it's not totally out there, but when you have to drive at least 30 miles to get to the nearest mall, you sure are out there! Anyway, Josh just got a full-time job with the police department where he has been a reserve officer for the past year, so we packed up our house and moved! So far it's been kind of tough being away from so much of my family, but I am feeling so blessed to have so much time to write now! I've started working on my first book (like barely started), and I'm thinking this blog thing can definitely become more than a super part-time hobby (if I can get people to read it and like it!), so I feel like I have my options open.

Another big deal is that this month marks two years since we began trying to conceive a baby. Maybe that's TMI, but it's truth. Remember, Josh was also gone for six months in 2011, so we lost those months, but that would still put us at 18 months of trying with no luck. It's hard to stay positive sometimes. Some months are harder than others. As time passes, it's getting easier for me to be genuinely happy for others when they announce their joyful news. I'm not sure if I'm more at peace with our situation or if I'm just not feeling as bitter about it, but in the past five months something has changed within me. Good news though: we start health insurance on February first! I am confident that we are going to be able to find out what our issues are and what we need to do to get this baby train going. I'm really excited to FINALLY be able to get the help we must need, but I'm really nervous too. I'm worried the doctors won't be able to figure out what's wrong with me. I'm nervous that treatments won't work for us. I'm even a little nervous that I'll finally have a baby and I won't find fulfillment in motherhood. There are so many emotions that go into it, honestly. And with my best friends all talking about when they will start trying, it makes me feel a little more pressure because I would LOVE to have kids close to their children's ages. Maybe we haven't had any luck up until now because there's a special baby waiting to come to us who needs us to be on health insurance first. Who knows? I just can't wait to meet him/her!

In other news, in December I freaking graduated college! I now have my Bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in Literature. Not that it's a SUPER huge deal, but that has definitely been one of my lifetime goals. I have cousins who have degrees, but I am the first in my immediate family to finish a college education. I can't wait to walk in April and wear the cap and gown. Maybe one day I'll go back for my teaching certificate or my Master's degree, but I have no set plans for right now. I'm mostly just excited to get to work on my book and be a mom (whenever that happens). My goal with my degree was to study the greatest authors in literature so that I could learn to adopt their methods and incorporate them into my own writing. We will see how that goes once this book is finished, but I'm optimistic that I've learned a thing or two. I think that it's important to continue reading though. I have noticed that I'm not as inspired as I felt when I was reading more. I guess I will start doing that soon!

Anyway, I think that's about all that I've got for right now. This is just an update on life in general, but I promise I will start writing more soon! I really do have enough time for it these days! Thanks for reading my blog. Share it if you liked it, and come back soon for new posts!