Powerful: Derek + Laura

So some of you may remember from earlier this summer I wrote about doing the 30 day shred challenge.  I did that for a couple of weeks every morning but then had to stop as my back is not strong enough to do intense workouts as that. Someday I hope, just not now. For those of you who don't know I {pulled/strained/injured} my SI (Sacroiliac Joint) in January. It was right after we moved to Provo and I had just started working at Ancestry.com. I couldn't walk, sleep, get dressed on my own, etc. It was incredibly painful. Anyways, I finally went a saw a physical therapist after 4 days and we started the healing process. During this time I couldn't do any kind of exercise, except for walking...very slowly. During this time I felt like I put on weight because I lost all my muscle. After 4 months I couldn't take it any longer and started to go back to the treadmill and Zumba but still experienced lots of pain. Moving on... Almost one year later it's still in...

Once upon a time Derek and I went on a search for a Christmas tree. It was quite an ordeal. We tried starting this weekend. We went to a ton of stores trying to find a Christmas tree stand but everyone was sold out. We decided to continue today. Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot...all out. This is what happens when you procrastinate. We wanted to go earlier but with moving and unpacking we haven't had time.  Good news. Home Depot had our tree and {finally} Kmart had our stand. So after lots of searching, traffic, and getting lost we finally have our Christmas tree up and decorated. I love how it turned out and for the couple weeks we keep it we are going to love it.  Slowly but surely we are starting to collect our own ornaments. I look forward to picking out an ornament each year for our family. Derek put this together for our first Christmas. From our first Christmas together. My mom gave this to us last year. It was our present from Germany. ...

So there has been this little gem of a video going around Facebook about how men and women can't be friends. Check it out and then I'll discuss my thoughts on this little video.   So I am just going to put this out there. I disagree with the conclusions found in their little experiment. At this point I am sure a lot of you are thinking, "Well of course you disagree. You're a girl." Indeed I am female but I have facts that disprove this theory. First of all let's discuss how this research is flawed: The selection of girls. All pretty. All of the same classification level. Of course guys are going to be attracted to them. They are skinny. Flirty. Very Utah. End of story. The selection of guys. Really? They all pretty much looked the same as well. This question, "If given the opportunity would they hook up with you?" Of course they said yes because guys are guys. Just because they want to "hook up" with you doesn't mea...

So 25 was a rough year. I don't think it had anything to do with the age just a lot of difficult things. Some examples: Throwing out my back. Still recovering from this.  Roaches invading our apartment Being rejected from multiple job opporutnities Loosing/changing friend relationships Don't get my wrong. A lot of great things happened. I did get a job shortly after moving to Provo. Derek is getting a great education. Derek and I have made a lot of new friends and reconnected with others. I've gotten to see my family a lot more often. Many other things as well. I am grateful for the blessings and the challenges. These challenges have helped me to enjoy and understand the great things that have started to happen. Two days before my birthday I got a phone call from where I work letting me know that I didn't get the PR Specialist position I had multiple interviews for. It was between me and one other girl and when I found out that she got it I was devastated....

So yesterday Derek and I finally signed the contract for our new place. I am so excited. I don't even care that it's further away from BYU and work. It's like an extra 5-10 minutes depending on traffic. So worth it. Can't wait to leave Cambridge Court. It has been one of the worst places I have ever lived. Some of you may know about the issues we had this summer with some lovely bugs . I will spare you the details because I don't think you really want to know and I don't like to retell it because then I have to relive it.  Ok so here are the great things about getting to move: 150 more square feet 2 bedrooms Washer and dryer New carpet and tile floor New furnace Updated bathroom Located in a 4-plex (Only 3 neighbors is a bonus) Trash only comes once a week Great Landlord The downsides: We finally made friends in our current place. We have dinners and game nights with them all so we'll just have to continue after we move. No covered par...

So here are some photos in no particular order but they sure do capture all the joy that I had on my birthday! Derek did so well on all my gifts. He was taking notes the past couple months when we were shopping and everything he got me was on my "list".  Ok. I don't really have one but I would mention things I like and he took notice. He's so wonderful.He really did a great job making my birthday so special. He wanted to make sure he showed me just how much he appreciates and loves me. Mission accomplished. Love you Robyn! This letter 100% made my day.   This was especially nice. This has been such a hard week for me, mostly with work. I got an e-mail calling me down to the front desk and these were sitting there waiting. They're just beautiful. It really made my day. HiChews! This is my favorite Korean candy. So good! Save the best for last. Derek got me an iPhone 4s!  Unfortunately, the precious phone is on back orde...

So Derek and I really slacked on Halloween this year. He's been so busy with school work that we don't always have a lot of time to celebrate things in a HUGE way.  However, we did take time to celebrate just a little. So a friend of mine works for the Provo Parks and Rec department as an event planner and every year they put on a Halloween Carnival. We wanted to go and support her even thought we found out when we got there that it is mostly for families with little children. Oh well. We made our own fun. You can guarantee that we were the tallest people walking around the cake walk but we didn't care. We had fun. There was a haunted house and a magic show. We only stayed for an hour or so and then were planning on going to a Halloween part in a huge house in Lindon, Utah. Unfortunately, on our way there our phone died with the directions so we just went back home and danced to the Monster Mash and watched Ghostbusters.  On Sunday we also had some friends over for...