...tender mercies...

I'm constantly amazed at how Heavenly Father answers prayers...He's gotta have a sick sense of humor. I've been praying for opportunities to share my testimony with others. When I was on my mission that is all I did all day every day and I really miss that. There's just something so powerful about telling someone what you believe to be true.
Well, today I had the opportunity to do just what I've been asking for.
This morning my cute little Jetta was having some troubles..(splendid, I know)..Thankfully I only live a few blocks from work so I was able to walk there and use the computer to figure out what I was going to do. After many silent prayers and much searching I felt really good about going to Valley Transmissions, a little family owned shop in Orem. They were SO helpful and I'm so grateful for their kindness. After having my car towed there and the diagnostic testing done the owner came to break the news to me.."your transmission is shot" (FABULOUS!) He then explained to me my options..1. have the transmission rebuilt or 2. sell it for parts. What great options! We talked it over some and I made the choice to have it rebuilt. My car isn't worth anything anymore so I'm willing to put the money into necessary to make it last until Matt is done with school.
Now, let me back track a little and explain how this is connected to my testimony..first of all, the owner's wife is the receptionist there. She set up the towing, waived the towing fees, and made sure that when my car arrived that an open lift would be available. While her husband was finishing up on another car and running the tests on mine her, her daughter Aubri (whose 4 and super cute), and I became best friends. Aubri and I read together, I learned about their family, how they started their business, she gave me advice for wedding plans and so on and so on. I felt so at home in this little car shop. Also, during this time, I praying my heart and guts out asking Heavenly Father to help me know what I needed to do and to ensure that we had the financial means to cover any and all costs. The owner came in told me of my new found troubles and as he began to tell me how much it w0uld cost to fix I began to cry.
Now, I'm sure this isn't the first time they've seen some poor girl sob in their lobby but, for whatever reason I began to tell them something very special to me. I told them of how I was in graduate school and had recently received financial aid to pay for my tuition and that after making those payments there was some money left that I had just put into our savings on Saturday. I told them of how I was praying that Matt and I would have the funds we needed to take care of this while still being able to make all the other payments we needed to. I told them that I was crying because the amount the owner told me the approximate cost would be was the EXACT amount that I had left from paying my tuition and what a great blessing that was to me. The owner's wife, Yvonne, began to cry too and said thank you for sharing something so special.
I know I know! Who does that? Who shares that kind of story and cries with complete strangers? As strange as it may seem it was exactly what I needed and where I needed to be today. I had the spiritual experience I was seeking, I was granted the peace of mind and heart that I desired, and I've been blessed with the means that are necessary to take care of the problem.
I was reminded today that Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He's mindful of the things we ask of Him. He cares about our personal growth and just when we think we can't go any further He blesses us with strength and miracles we need. As hard and as frustrating it's been, today has been an answer to many prayers.

it's about time

Well...we made this blog (And by that I mean Matt watched me make the blog and said "that looks nice" when I would look at him. He' s so patient through my random obsessions.) and its been FOREVER since I wrote my one liner. I'm trying hard to be tired but, it's not working out so well. Thus, I decided to update you on our life right now..ready or not...here it comes! (In a list form..)

* Matt is working his guts out with school. I hate it but, I love it. He's such a smarty pants. Which means smarty pants classes. Which means LOTS of studying and homework. He works so hard and I'm so grateful that he does. Sometimes though I do feel bad because that's all he really gets to do right now. Work..school..study..work..school..study. Blah.

* Work at UVU is great! I love my job and have so much fun. Sometimes I almost feel bad calling it "work" because it's really not. I mean I do work but, I love what I do so it's fun work, if that makes any sense! Between that and school I keep myself pretty entertained. I struggle with the long Thursday nights but, in 3 semesters it'll totally be worth it.

* Wedding plans are coming along...they deserve another BLAH. Don't get me wrong I'm loving planning our wedding but, boy oh boy is it exhausting. My least favorite part right now is making the address list for announcements to be send out. Not fun. Speaking of announcements..we finally picked a picture to go into them!! Wahoo! That was a tough one for me. Tabitha (Matt's cousin) and Kara (my cute cute friend. We love the Fugals!) did such a great job with the pictures that it was terribly hard for me to pick just one..so I picked 4. Haha! I hope you like them..we're sending them out in about 2 weeks. Here's a little sampler..I LOVE this picture!


* Our biggest project right now is finding a place to live. I've spent A LOT of time on Craigslist and KSL looking for apartments in the Provo area for us to live in from anytime between now and March until August. It's a headache and I'm hopeful that something will come along soon.

Overall, life is GRAND!! I don't think I could possibly be more blessed. I've thought a lot about what a blessing it is to be in the place and with the people that I am. The Lord definitely has a hand in all things. So very grateful I am.
Promise I'll be better at this blog thing..