Number Nineteen.

I always wanted a little sister.

Instead, I was the little sister in the Ford household. I have a younger brother and an older sister. I’m the middle child…oh middle children. That’s all I have to say about that.

I can’t say I’ve been the best little sister or big sister in my life. I’m just like many… enemies with my siblings when we were younger, best friends now that we’re older. I wish I could go back and change the way I treated my siser and brother when I was a young girl. Now I’m just doing the best I can to enhance these years I have with them now. I’ve got the world’s best siblings to put it simply. My sister and her husband have a relationship that I’ve always admired and used it to help me find my husband. She’s also this little 4’11 genius of a girl…so short but so dang smart! Call me bias, but I think my sister knows everything about nutrition and is the only one I listen to about it. Sorry other fitness/nutrition people! Not to mention she’s like some box of perfection when it comes to spirituality and all of the choices she makes. AND now for my brother. I hated my brother when I was young. We fought every day and I made his life miserable. Now, I just love him. He’s become one of my best friends. Sometimes I just stare at him and ponder how he got so tall, so manly, so kind, and so….hairy…that facial hair. He even has turned into an amazing dancer whom I get to share my love and passion with now. I love that boy so much. Anyways… where is this going?

As much as I love my sister and brother, I’ve recently had the opportunity to have the little sister I always wanted. About 6 months ago I joined the Big Brother Big Sister program not realizing how much I would love it. One night at Kalamity practice, a representative from the program came and talked to us about the application process and such. At first I was excited but didn’t know if I would actually apply. I went home and thought about it some more. One thing followed another and I found myself sitting in the interview. I passed…yay…and the only thing left to do was wait to be matched.

Today I am matched with a beautiful little 6 year-old girl named Aaliyah. She’s shy sometimes, but I love her. Each month we go on little dates that include bowling, movies, baking, dancing, etc. We now have a handshake and this girl lights up my life. No matter how busy school and life may seem, I always have time for Aaliyah and that smile. Being around children literally takes me away from my adult life and instantly helps me feel closer to the Lord because He loves His little children so much and His light is visible on their faces.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know if I wanted to be matched with someone really young. Age 6 is the absolute youngest child in the program, but I can now say that it was no accident we were matched together. I’m not here to tell anyone how to live or what to do, but I suggest everyone that doesn’t have kids of their own… join the program and get to know your little brother or sister. They may just be waiting for you.

 

Always smile,

A.Brent

Number Eighteen.

Simple blessings.

 

I need to write this down and share something that happened. I don’t think I deserved it, but I have been so blessed. Oh no, a waterfall under my eyes is already in progress.

 

I’m a college student. That’s no secret. I’ve had the opportunity to go through college under a full tuition scholarship for a little under two years. It’s been amazing to have such an opportunity and requires me to take 15 credits a semester. I’ve struggled semester after semester but I’ve kept the scholarship and continued my education. I’m married now and I knew about two months ago that being married and balancing 15 credits wouldn’t be impossible, but would be difficult. I thought, prayed, pondered, and mostly stressed about the amount of credits I would register for this current semester. Of course I could do the 15, but I wasn’t going to at the expense of my role as a wife, sister, daughter, friend, etc. Education is not more important than my relationships. I made a choice. I signed up for 13 credits knowing my scholarship would be dropped. I prayed that my financial aid would cover tuition. About a week ago, I walked into the scholarship office to deliver some paperwork and was informed my scholarship will not drop until May.

 

I know that it seems as if it was all just a lack of my understanding of dropped scholarship dates, but I know in my heart it wasn’t. I was told more than once that my scholarship would drop if I enrolled in anything less than 15. It wasn’t dropped. I called the head of scholarships to make sure it wasn’t a mistake…it wasn’t.

 

My heart is full. I’m a young 19 year-old married to another young 19-year old. We couldn’t afford to pay tuition let alone books for my classes. I know that The Lord has been watching over me and helps me even when I do not always deserve it.

I’m so humbled by these past few weeks. I couldn’t feel more grateful.

 

Always smile,

A. Brent

Number Seventeen.

Here we go… another semester.

 

For some reason, this semester gives me a headache to think about. Probably because I don’t really know what will happen afterward. Do I want to continue my education at DSC? Do I want to go elsewhere and enter an ASL program? What will be best for my husband and I?  For now, I’ll stop worrying about it because I know that when it’s decision time, the right choice for US will be made.

This post isn’t going to be about college though..bleh. I wanted to document how it feels to be married. MARRIED! Sometimes my tongue doesn’t want me to say that word because I wasn’t married for well…my whole life until now 🙂 I wasn’t allowed to say husband, just boyfriend and more recently…fiance! But now I’m slowly getting acquainted with those “marriage” words.

 

Our honeymoon.

We were only there about four days but my tummy muscles hurt by day two. I’ve known Garret forever but I learn something new about him every day. He’s always made me laugh, but being with him 24/7 is a different story. Everywhere we went, we were laughing way too loud for the occasion. Somehow the four hour drive didn’t seem so long due to some sunflower seeds and Garret’s non-stop speech about how great his soda was because he just ‘must have’ been the first human to ever put vanilla in a fountain drink before. Somehow it was hilarious along with every other thing that came out of his mouth. We walked around temple square Sunday night and bascially just froze our bums off. Monday we went snowboarding at Brighton and wore our matching YOLO shirts that were given to us. This wasn’t the only occasion we matched…we were fully equipped with matching PJ’s too!! The rest of the time was spent shopping and eating at yummy restaurants. Our goal was to never eat at the same place twice and to only eat at places that we didn’t have in St. George. We were successful. I even let Garret choose just about every restaurant and he didn’t let me down!

 

I guess our honeymoon was very simple. One day of snowboarding and the rest filled with running around Salt Lake hand in hand having fun together. I always envisioned honeymoons different. I imagined some great cruise or some fabulous vacation. Mine was better than that. Mine was perfect. We may be 19 but we have more fun than I could have ever imagined.

 

Now we are home and nothing has changed. Our apartment is just right. It’s small and cozy and the most organized space ever! Who knew Garret is such a neat freak! But I must say, I love it. And I’m doing just fine with this whole wife thing. I cleaned and did laundry and last night I cooked my first dinner ever. I know, I’m 19 and never cooked a full-on meal alone. I did last night and Garret ate it and didn’t complain. I don’t know if it was good or he was just nice. Either way, I love this whole married thing. It really is the best.

Sorry to be mushy, but this is where my life is at right now and I love documenting my happiness and blessings.

2013, here we come.

 

Always smile,

–A.Brent