Two Years

We've been married for two years. TWO YEARS! I didn't know the "honeymoon stage" could last this long ;)

McKay and I got to celebrate our second anniversary on Caraguatatuba Beach in Brazil! We didn't go out and eat a fancy dinner or exchange gifts or any of that because we considered our three week vacation as a holiday/anniversary celebration all packed into one!

I could sit here and drone on and on about how much I love life with McKay, but I think everyone already knows that. I just want to say one thing: McKay is my perfectly imperfect husband. And I'm his perfectly imperfect wife. And I don't think it gets any better than that, people. Eternity with him is going to be an absolute blast <3

A few months ago we had a friend take some pictures for us. We never got any nice wedding photos of just the two of us taken, so we figured now was probably a good time since we still look the same!

Enjoy our ooey-gooey love.

Photos were all taken by Taryn Schroedter. You can check out more pictures on her blog. Actually, that's not an option. Go look at her photos because they're gorgeous. Do it. Now.

Oh, so that's what I've missed out on....

I came across this article: 23 Things to do Instead of Getting Engaged when you're 23, and could not believe what I was reading.

I laughed! Out loud. And scoffed and rolled my eyes and snorted from disbelief.

And because I'm feeling especially snarky today and particularly proud of my marriage, I must add my commentary to this article.

 

23 Things to do Instead of Getting Engaged when you're 23

1. Get a passport. Wait. Can a married person not get a passport anymore?! I just renewed my passport. Did I just do something illegal?? I'll probably go to prison now, great. Looks like we won't be going to Brazil this December like we planned, darn you marriage! Now I can't travel internationally, grrrr.

2. Find your "thing." Really. Can you only "find your 'thing'" once you're 23? I didn't know it was a coming of age sort of deal. Does that mean gymnastics and coaching are no longer "my thing"? What about the "thing's" I've found while married? Like gardening and hiking and sex? I enjoy all those "things".

4. Adopt a pet. But what if my complex doesn't allow pets? So now I have to move. Also, what if I'm allergic? No, a naked mole rat or hairless cat are NOT an option.

5. Start a band. You don't want to hear me sing. I promise. But I can play the piano so maybe we wouldn't be too shabby...

6. Make a cake. If only I had baked a cake while single... now I'll never get to since I'm married. Woe is me.

7. Get a tattoo. It's more permanent than a marriage. My marriage is eternal, so sorry to bust your bubble but it's totally more permanent that your tattoos. Besides, I'm more of a temporary tattoo kind of girl.

8. Explore a new religion. There's always more to learn in my religion, so I'd rather continue to explore mine. Studying other religions is very fascinating and enlightening though, so I'll give you that.

9. Start a small business. My future consists of personal training and possibly massage, so owning my own business is right up my alley.

10. Cut your hair. Oh no I got married so now I can't cut my hair anymore! I better find a friend who can replicate that Rapunzel braid, cause I'm gonna need it.

11. Date two people at once and see how long it takes to blow up in your face. Why are you encouraging people to emotionally damage others? I'm sure if you found out your boyfriend was chea-- ahem. I mean "Dating two people at once" you wouldn't pat him on the back and say, "oh I understand! I'm glad you saw my list on how to live it up when you're 23 instead of getting married."

12. Build something with your hands. Luckily my siblings and I were very involved with Home Depot's Free Kid's Workshops. I've made all sorts of things!

13. Accomplish a Pinterest project. Been there, done that. And I've done dozens more since I got married, thank you.

14. Join the Peace Corps. Those who do are held in great respect, but why not double the fun and have you AND your spouse join? Then you're BOTH admirable.

15. Disappoint your parents. That what your teenage years are for.

16. Watch Girls, over and over again. Not my kind of entertainment. I'm more of a Bones, NCIS, Doctor Who kind of girl.

17. Eat a jar of Nutella in one sitting. The Personal Trainer side of me is cringing, but only because I am not only capable of doing so, but willing to as well.

18. Make strangers feel uncomfortable in public places. I do that naturally, it's called my "personality".

19. Sign up for CrossFit. ABSOLUTELY NOT. CrossFit is one of the worst ways to get in shape, and one of the best ways to injure yourself. Check out what Erin Simmons, who has a Masters and is currently working on her PhD, has to say about CrossFit.

20. Hangout naked in front of a window. This was a normal thing for me, in fact, running around outside completely naked was a regular activity...when I was 2. Not anymore, sorry.

21. Write your feelings down in a blog. That is exactly what I am doing right now. One step ahead of ya, sister.

22. Be selfish. Oh look! You just so happened to list the reason people a) Don't get married and b) Marriages fail.

23. Come with me to the Philippines for Chinese New Year. One question, can I bring my husband along??

You Know Where You're Going

"You know where you're going."

Those words hit me smack in the face during class today. And then I promptly zoned out (sorry professor) to review and reflect where I am and where I'm going.

Yes, I DO know where I'm going. And I DO know where I want to be going. The answer to where I'm going and where I want to be going should always be the same, but it's not always like that. What I realized amid all my pondering today was that there is only one thing that can cause the answer to those questions to be different from each other, and that one thing is action. I have many goals for where I want to end up and what I want to accomplish, but I won't reach a single one unless I know what to do to get there, then do it.

I know I want to graduate from BYU.

In order to do so, I must prioritize, study hard, and do well.

I know I want to coach gymnastics as my career.

Well, I'm going to have to put myself out there and actively work my way up the job ladder. And getting a degree certainly will help me along.

I know I want to be a mother one day.

We all know how that one's going to happen.

I want to be a great wife to my husband, and one day a great mother to my kids.

I'll need to work on my patience, that's for sure. but I'll also have to learn to focus on the millions of beautiful things, rather than on the few dozen damper things.

I know I want to an active, serving member of my church and my community.

That will take some volunteer work and some effort.

I know, most of all, that I want to live with my Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom after this life.

I will need to be taking constant action, to make sure that I am always one step ahead of Satan and am strong enough to resist the worldly tendencies and habits that I have previously fallen into so easily.

The outcome of my life depends on my actions. I love this snippet from President David O. McKay's talks in Conference many years ago:

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="243"]

I may not tell of myself by the things I play on my phonograph (boy, does that date this quote...) But maybe more like the things I play on my iPod. Anyways, to accomplish the goals I have, I have to strive to act like, and be the person that I want to be. Because that person is the one who will achieve all those goals (and many more). When applied to the same situation, I want to answers to both, "Where are you going?" and "Where do you want to go?" to be the same.

That One Time We Got Married ...A YEAR AGO

Hey.

On December 29th, 2012, we got married.

That means McKay and I have been married for just over ONE WHOLE YEAR.

I can hardly believe it's been one year since I married the love of my life. I also can't believe how happy I thought I'd be, compared to how happy I actually am. Which, by the way, is a MILLION times happier than I ever expected!

Here we are, a year ago:

And here we are now:

Aaaaaand yup, we look the same! No surprise there. haha.

Our first year together went a little bit like this:

School. School. Work. School. Play. Study. Test. Work. School. Play. School. Test. School.

We've both got three semesters left, then grad school for McKay and coaching to my heart's content for me!

Grad School

McKay decided on his next step! He want to be a PA (Physicians assistant)! I was pretty excited when he told me, it was totally out of the blue! We just got together to eat our lunches and he started the conversation with "So I want to go to PA school". I was totally caught off guard! But he had already researched some Grad School options, requirements for applications, and brainstormed on how to start gaining experience and volunteer work. He also called one of his brothers, who is a PA, to get some tips and insights for grad school. Is he a stud or what? Recently he contacted some Physicians in the area about shadowing, so things are moving along perfectly.

Marriage

Remember how I said that I am so much happier than I thought? Well, marriage is celebrated as a beautiful, wonderful, and sacred thing. But just as often, marriage is said to be difficult, a growing experience, and something you need to work hard at. Well, marriage is both, obviously. But no matter how much of either description I was exposed to, apparently all I absorbed when I was younger was "Marriage is hard", "Marriage is all compromise", "Never give up", etc. And I'll be darned, our marriage is actually the opposite. 90% joy, happiness, and beauty, and maybe, MAYBE, 10% hard work. That's how easy McKay is to get along with. Alright, alright, throw a couple of kids, grad school loans, and maybe temporary unemployment into our (currently) peaceful home of two, and maybe things won't be so easily harmonious after all. And I bet that's true, but I will proudly enjoy our simple life as long as I've got it! 

This first year of marriage has been a blessing and it's been a journey, not necessarily a hard one, but certainly a rewarding one. I can't tell you how many times a day something will happen that makes me think, "Wow, I married the perfect man for me." Here is to an eternity of laughter and joy with the love of my life: I love you McKay!

The Last of Summer, The First of Fall

It's official, Summer is over and the new school semester has started. McKay has a second job as a security guard and WOW, does that man look good in uniform. ;) Not only has McKay gotten himself a second job, he is also volunteering in a lab on campus for around 10 hours a week. Can I take a moment and mention how hard working and amazing my husband is? He's working two jobs, half of his security shifts are dead in the night, he's volunteering during the day to get experience, ALL while going to school full time.  Despite all his sacrifice, he still finds time to do things for me, he doesn't ever let me forget just how much he loves me. Before all the crazy changes in our lives, we did still have some fun summer adventures I want to mention!

Beach, Beach, Let's go to the Beach -Katelyn & Vanessa

The beach! We got to spent a few days on a small beach in California called Dillon Beach. There wasn't any cell reception, and the town is tiny, perfect for a relaxing vacation. We spent a day in San Francisco, ran around the beach, poked weird sea creatures, had a bon fire, ate our weight in fruit snacks, played some halo, and browsed some outlets. here, have a look:

Mmmm... Salt.... 

Here we are, up exploring the San Fran hills by the Golden Gate Bridge!

The Golden Gate Bridge, corn dogs we were WAY to excited about, and these crazy water massage machine things ...Which were more like 10 minutes of tickle torture devices. Apparently you could hear my screams/laughs (scrafs? Leams?) from outside the store.

Look at those hills!! Plus we thoroughly enjoyed a street performance by 3 people who are in acrobatic school, the unicycle man took the cake.

Can you see Alcatraz back there?? Also Vanessa was upset she couldn't go to the bathroom in the porta-potty on the bridge.

Yes, that's me feeding bacon to Andy and McKay while they're playing halo. I will gladly accept my wife of the year award now, thank you. We played lots of games and enjoyed beautiful sunsets!

While at the beach, we were planning to go to the Redwoods at one point, but turns out that contrary to popular belief (or at least those of us that have seen Planet of the Apes) The redwood forest is NOT near San Francisco. Not even remotely, they're actually 5 hours away. So we cancelled those plans and just had a lovely relaxing day doing whatever we wanted. Basically, our brief trip to California was wonderful. I especially love being around my family, plus I don't have to cook dinner, BONUS. Honestly, one thing I love most about being with my family is the Portuguese! I never realized how much I love speaking with my mom especially. My Portuguese has slipped a little since I moved out, and now speaking with my family feels refreshing. McKay is learning, and just to be clear I am NOT the best teacher. But I love his willingness to learn. His Spanish helps a lot, and he even remembers to speak Portuguese more often than I do. When he was asked to say a prayer once when we were with my family, he prayed in Portuguese, and boy were they surprised!


IDAHO
After being home for 2 days, we hit the road again and spent our last precious weekend before school started up in Rexburg  for some Coffey family time. Di is such a trooper! 9 hour trip to get up and down and she's driving like a charm. It was like a half-Coffey family reunion of sorts. McKay's parents brought Kristi out for school and Melissa and Katie's family are already there in Rexburg. Here's some pictures of the fun weekend!

This cow bell game was so funny, it's a spinning see-saw and you have to try and whack the bell. McKay won with 5 rings!

Go karts! We rode these at least 12 times, and I'll never forget how fast the red and green go karts were. Also Chris is rocking the white Glitzn' cart haha.

And of course, we couldn't leave without trying to *nicely beat each other up. Wayne was the winner there.

I married an amazing man, you know. And I know he's amazing because of his parents and his family. I absolutely LOVE the family I have become a part of and I couldn't be more grateful for their love and kindness. Whenever we go up to Idaho we have such a great time. I loved being there hearing family stories, watching McKay's dad give father's blessings, and playing with all the kids. It's no wonder McKay is so wonderful to me, I can definitely see where he gets his loving and supportive nature.

This semester is a busy one, but so far I've been enjoying myself. My Exercise Physiology class is fascinating, it's the first class where I've actually enjoyed the textbook reading. Plus the lab portion of that class is a blast! Just last week we took heart rate and blood pressure measurements at different levels of exercise. It was a workout! Plus taking someone's blood pressure makes you feel all professional. My Kinesiology class is a bit rough, Physics has never been my strong point, so I'm pretty sure sure I'm going to get to know the TA for that class rather well haha. Lastly I want to mention my New Testament class, which I adore! In most religion classes you can just talk about your feelings and you're pretty much set, and I've always used that to my advantage, but this class is totally different. It's basically a history class, and my first thought was oh no not history! But just to add another first to my list of firsts this semester I'm actually really enjoying all the history! My professor is an archaeologist, and a rather happy one too. He get SO excited teaching about the world at and around Christ's life. And I've found everything so fascinating! I understand SO much more about Matthew and his gospel than I ever thought I could, and it's only been three weeks. This semester's going to be a great one.

The Last of Summer, The First of Fall

It's official, Summer is over and the new school semester has started. McKay has a second job as a security guard and WOW, does that man look good in uniform. ;) Not only has McKay gotten himself a second job, he is also volunteering in a lab on campus for around 10 hours a week. Can I take a moment and mention how hard working and amazing my husband is? He's working two jobs, half of his security shifts are dead in the night, he's volunteering during the day to get experience, ALL while going to school full time.  Despite all his sacrifice, he still finds time to do things for me, he doesn't ever let me forget just how much he loves me. Before all the crazy changes in our lives, we did still have some fun summer adventures I want to mention!

Beach, Beach, Let's go to the Beach -Katelyn & Vanessa

The beach! We got to spent a few days on a small beach in California called Dillon Beach. There wasn't any cell reception, and the town is tiny, perfect for a relaxing vacation. We spent a day in San Francisco, ran around the beach, poked weird sea creatures, had a bon fire, ate our weight in fruit snacks, played some halo, and browsed some outlets. here, have a look:

Mmmm... Salt.... 

Here we are, up exploring the San Fran hills by the Golden Gate Bridge!

The Golden Gate Bridge, corn dogs we were WAY to excited about, and these crazy water massage machine things ...Which were more like 10 minutes of tickle torture devices. Apparently you could hear my screams/laughs (scrafs? Leams?) from outside the store.

Look at those hills!! Plus we thoroughly enjoyed a street performance by 3 people who are in acrobatic school, the unicycle man took the cake.

Can you see Alcatraz back there?? Also Vanessa was upset she couldn't go to the bathroom in the porta-potty on the bridge.

Yes, that's me feeding bacon to Andy and McKay while they're playing halo. I will gladly accept my wife of the year award now, thank you. We played lots of games and enjoyed beautiful sunsets!

While at the beach, we were planning to go to the Redwoods at one point, but turns out that contrary to popular belief (or at least those of us that have seen Planet of the Apes) The redwood forest is NOT near San Francisco. Not even remotely, they're actually 5 hours away. So we cancelled those plans and just had a lovely relaxing day doing whatever we wanted. Basically, our brief trip to California was wonderful. I especially love being around my family, plus I don't have to cook dinner, BONUS. Honestly, one thing I love most about being with my family is the Portuguese! I never realized how much I love speaking with my mom especially. My Portuguese has slipped a little since I moved out, and now speaking with my family feels refreshing. McKay is learning, and just to be clear I am NOT the best teacher. But I love his willingness to learn. His Spanish helps a lot, and he even remembers to speak Portuguese more often than I do. When he was asked to say a prayer once when we were with my family, he prayed in Portuguese, and boy were they surprised!


IDAHO
After being home for 2 days, we hit the road again and spent our last precious weekend before school started up in Rexburg  for some Coffey family time. Di is such a trooper! 9 hour trip to get up and down and she's driving like a charm. It was like a half-Coffey family reunion of sorts. McKay's parents brought Kristi out for school and Melissa and Katie's family are already there in Rexburg. Here's some pictures of the fun weekend!

This cow bell game was so funny, it's a spinning see-saw and you have to try and whack the bell. McKay won with 5 rings!

Go karts! We rode these at least 12 times, and I'll never forget how fast the red and green go karts were. Also Chris is rocking the white Glitzn' cart haha.

And of course, we couldn't leave without trying to *nicely beat each other up. Wayne was the winner there.

I married an amazing man, you know. And I know he's amazing because of his parents and his family. I absolutely LOVE the family I have become a part of and I couldn't be more grateful for their love and kindness. Whenever we go up to Idaho we have such a great time. I loved being there hearing family stories, watching McKay's dad give father's blessings, and playing with all the kids. It's no wonder McKay is so wonderful to me, I can definitely see where he gets his loving and supportive nature.

This semester is a busy one, but so far I've been enjoying myself. My Exercise Physiology class is fascinating, it's the first class where I've actually enjoyed the textbook reading. Plus the lab portion of that class is a blast! Just last week we took heart rate and blood pressure measurements at different levels of exercise. It was a workout! Plus taking someone's blood pressure makes you feel all professional. My Kinesiology class is a bit rough, Physics has never been my strong point, so I'm pretty sure sure I'm going to get to know the TA for that class rather well haha. Lastly I want to mention my New Testament class, which I adore! In most religion classes you can just talk about your feelings and you're pretty much set, and I've always used that to my advantage, but this class is totally different. It's basically a history class, and my first thought was oh no not history! But just to add another first to my list of firsts this semester I'm actually really enjoying all the history! My professor is an archaeologist, and a rather happy one too. He get SO excited teaching about the world at and around Christ's life. And I've found everything so fascinating! I understand SO much more about Matthew and his gospel than I ever thought I could, and it's only been three weeks. This semester's going to be a great one.

Tender Mercies

*Warning, lots of feelings ahead*

It's amazing how the Lord works, really. McKay and I have been incredibly blessed. Honestly, they're the typical blessings that a young BYU couple experiences at about this time in their lives. Blessing such as, despite both being in school, you're out of debt, you both have jobs in this economy, free things virtually everywhere, etc. With what we heard about from our parents, most young married students feel very very blessed in their finances (thanks FAFSA!) So these are all wonderful blessings, but the thing that truly amazes me is how specific and personalized a seemingly general blessing can get.

This is my first touchy-feely blog post, bear with me. The first Sunday of every month is Fast and Testimony Meeting. Which is where I can conclude that yes, many young married students feel financially blessed. Anyways, bearing my testimony is rare. The last time I bore my testimony I was asked (*cough* told) to. Since I was an older youth, a leader asked me to bear my testimony first to get the meeting going during Youth Conference. I was mortified, and I'm pretty sure I sounded like a squeaky, 7 year old primary girl because I was so nervous. That was probably 3 or so years ago. And wow it is shameful to realize that it has been even longer than that since I've voluntarily shared my testimony. If during a meeting the thought crosses my mind to go up and share my testimony, immediately my stomach gets queasy and my mind goes blank, the only thing I can think about is how I can't think of anything. Example number one of my fear of public speaking: Once, McKay played a seemingly harmless joke on me, while up preparing the Sacrament he mouthed that we had been assigned to give a talk the next week. I was mortified, and immediately felt like throwing up. A few minutes later, McKay joined me I started to lightly cry right there in the pew from fear. McKay had no idea what was happening! He though I had understood his joke, but if he mouthed something after "Talk. Next week." I certainly hadn't caught it. Even after it was clear he was completely joking, I couldn't stop crying! Ugh, just another one of those girl problems I have.

I shouldn't have labeled that story as "example number one" because actually that's the only one I can think of right now. But here's where the Lord's tender mercy came to play. He knows my fear of public speaking, especially when it comes to my feelings. He knows how quickly I can over think the simplest task resulting in making myself sick. I work at BYU Independent Study and many students come to our office to take tests. The other day we had a missionary companionship come in, one took a Book of Mormon final while the other waited in our lobby. The elder waiting in the lobby (I wish I remembered his name) walked up to the desk to chat. We got talking about how each one of us in the room spoke a different language. We had Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, and French (seriously BYU is sooo cool). He asked to bear his testimony in Swedish, the language he was learning in the MTC. It was lovely, although I had no clue what he was saying haha. As I listened, I noted how happy I was to be there to give this missionary an opportunity to grow. When he finished he turned to me as said "Your turn, in Portuguese". I was completely surprised and taken off guard, not given anytime to even start to freak myself out. So, I did. And it felt wonderful! Granted, it was way less nerve wracking because nobody in the room spoke Portuguese. I didn't realize until after I spoke about my eternal marriage, that this was the first time I'd ever been able to express how important it is to me. And what a blessing it is! Marrying McKay was a great idea, but marrying him in the Temple was the absolute best idea. I get to spend the rest of my life and beyond with the man I love more that I ever thought possible. I love him, and we both love the Lord most of all. These last 9 months of my life have been the best time of my life, and with him by my side, I know that things will only get better and better.

 I want to truly try and overcome my fear of public speaking. I'm probably not going to bound up to the podium next Fast Sunday, but maybe I'll volunteer more in Relief Society or share my thoughts in Sunday School. Baby steps.

If you haven't seen the movie What About Bob?, You're missing out.

Tender Mercies

*Warning, lots of feelings ahead*

It's amazing how the Lord works, really. McKay and I have been incredibly blessed. Honestly, they're the typical blessings that a young BYU couple experiences at about this time in their lives. Blessing such as, despite both being in school, you're out of debt, you both have jobs in this economy, free things virtually everywhere, etc. With what we heard about from our parents, most young married students feel very very blessed in their finances (thanks FAFSA!) So these are all wonderful blessings, but the thing that truly amazes me is how specific and personalized a seemingly general blessing can get.

This is my first touchy-feely blog post, bear with me. The first Sunday of every month is Fast and Testimony Meeting. Which is where I can conclude that yes, many young married students feel financially blessed. Anyways, bearing my testimony is rare. The last time I bore my testimony I was asked (*cough* told) to. Since I was an older youth, a leader asked me to bear my testimony first to get the meeting going during Youth Conference. I was mortified, and I'm pretty sure I sounded like a squeaky, 7 year old primary girl because I was so nervous. That was probably 3 or so years ago. And wow it is shameful to realize that it has been even longer than that since I've voluntarily shared my testimony. If during a meeting the thought crosses my mind to go up and share my testimony, immediately my stomach gets queasy and my mind goes blank, the only thing I can think about is how I can't think of anything. Example number one of my fear of public speaking: Once, McKay played a seemingly harmless joke on me, while up preparing the Sacrament he mouthed that we had been assigned to give a talk the next week. I was mortified, and immediately felt like throwing up. A few minutes later, McKay joined me I started to lightly cry right there in the pew from fear. McKay had no idea what was happening! He though I had understood his joke, but if he mouthed something after "Talk. Next week." I certainly hadn't caught it. Even after it was clear he was completely joking, I couldn't stop crying! Ugh, just another one of those girl problems I have.

I shouldn't have labeled that story as "example number one" because actually that's the only one I can think of right now. But here's where the Lord's tender mercy came to play. He knows my fear of public speaking, especially when it comes to my feelings. He knows how quickly I can over think the simplest task resulting in making myself sick. I work at BYU Independent Study and many students come to our office to take tests. The other day we had a missionary companionship come in, one took a Book of Mormon final while the other waited in our lobby. The elder waiting in the lobby (I wish I remembered his name) walked up to the desk to chat. We got talking about how each one of us in the room spoke a different language. We had Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, and French (seriously BYU is sooo cool). He asked to bear his testimony in Swedish, the language he was learning in the MTC. It was lovely, although I had no clue what he was saying haha. As I listened, I noted how happy I was to be there to give this missionary an opportunity to grow. When he finished he turned to me as said "Your turn, in Portuguese". I was completely surprised and taken off guard, not given anytime to even start to freak myself out. So, I did. And it felt wonderful! Granted, it was way less nerve wracking because nobody in the room spoke Portuguese. I didn't realize until after I spoke about my eternal marriage, that this was the first time I'd ever been able to express how important it is to me. And what a blessing it is! Marrying McKay was a great idea, but marrying him in the Temple was the absolute best idea. I get to spend the rest of my life and beyond with the man I love more that I ever thought possible. I love him, and we both love the Lord most of all. These last 9 months of my life have been the best time of my life, and with him by my side, I know that things will only get better and better.

 I want to truly try and overcome my fear of public speaking. I'm probably not going to bound up to the podium next Fast Sunday, but maybe I'll volunteer more in Relief Society or share my thoughts in Sunday School. Baby steps.

If you haven't seen the movie What About Bob?, You're missing out.

The Stump Is GONE

Once spring came around, McKay and I decided that we wanted to start fixing up the yard. We both still have two(ish) more years of school, and we are planning on staying right where were are, so we though we might as well fix it up. After yanking out all the weeds, planting a beautiful garden, and creating a step stone walkway to the mailbox, we started to tackle the big stump right outside the front door. The thing was huge. Seriously, look at it in comparison to our car! It was a bit over 4 1/2 feet wide. We've slowly hacked away at it for the past few months, some days only getting small chips, and other days ripping out huge chunks. Here is the before and after:

BAM. Look at that grass!!

We are so lucky to have some wonderful neighbors! Three walked up without warning, each with an ax, the first day we were out there picking away (and not getting very far). We got half the stump gone that day, and we made some new friends. 

So, Here's the trick:

The stump in our yard was really old and half of it was rotten. Which is why we got half chopped away in one day with axes. The other half wasn't rotten, so it would hardly chip when an ax came swinging down. Weeks after our 1st day of success, McKay woke up early and headed outside. After about an hour and a half of hard work (seriously, he is amazing), and with the help of a car jack, the stump was GONE! Our secret weapon was a CAR JACK. McKay would hack a hole between the thick roots, wedge the car jack in there, and crank up the jack until "Crack!" and the chunk was split into a few pieces. It was that easy! ...If you don't mind all the sweat and aching muscles, that is. Once again, one of our wonderful neighbors walked over and offered to haul some of the wood away on his trailer. Perfect! Once the stump was removed, McKay yanked out a majority of the roots which left us with a clear patch of dirt, which within a couple weeks, was grass!

This is how McKay feels

And this is how I feel

We were/are feeling pretty great. I'm definitely not used to seeing flat ground, because I'll get startled when I walk outside in the morning and there's no stump! We plan on grinding up all that dirt, leveling the ground, and planting some grass! We haven't let our land lady know about the stump yet, but I can't even begin to explain how blessed we are to have such a nice lady to rent from. She has been so good to us. Once we had our garden looking nice, we sent her some before/after pictures. Just last week I received an email from her, she thanked us for all the things we've been doing to the yard, and gave us a free month's rent. Wait, one more time, a free month's rent. I don't know about you, but that is a MAJOR blessing for us. And it's not like we're not having fun as we work outside, because fixing up the place has been extremely rewarding and bonding for us, we love being outside together.  To try and get an idea of how happy we were, refer to the above gif. And also this one:

'cause I'm pretty sure this is what I looked like at work.

The Stump Is GONE

Once spring came around, McKay and I decided that we wanted to start fixing up the yard. We both still have two(ish) more years of school, and we are planning on staying right where were are, so we though we might as well fix it up. After yanking out all the weeds, planting a beautiful garden, and creating a step stone walkway to the mailbox, we started to tackle the big stump right outside the front door. The thing was huge. Seriously, look at it in comparison to our car! It was a bit over 4 1/2 feet wide. We've slowly hacked away at it for the past few months, some days only getting small chips, and other days ripping out huge chunks. Here is the before and after:

BAM. Look at that grass!!

We are so lucky to have some wonderful neighbors! Three walked up without warning, each with an ax, the first day we were out there picking away (and not getting very far). We got half the stump gone that day, and we made some new friends. 

So, Here's the trick:

The stump in our yard was really old and half of it was rotten. Which is why we got half chopped away in one day with axes. The other half wasn't rotten, so it would hardly chip when an ax came swinging down. Weeks after our 1st day of success, McKay woke up early and headed outside. After about an hour and a half of hard work (seriously, he is amazing), and with the help of a car jack, the stump was GONE! Our secret weapon was a CAR JACK. McKay would hack a hole between the thick roots, wedge the car jack in there, and crank up the jack until "Crack!" and the chunk was split into a few pieces. It was that easy! ...If you don't mind all the sweat and aching muscles, that is. Once again, one of our wonderful neighbors walked over and offered to haul some of the wood away on his trailer. Perfect! Once the stump was removed, McKay yanked out a majority of the roots which left us with a clear patch of dirt, which within a couple weeks, was grass!

This is how McKay feels

And this is how I feel

We were/are feeling pretty great. I'm definitely not used to seeing flat ground, because I'll get startled when I walk outside in the morning and there's no stump! We plan on grinding up all that dirt, leveling the ground, and planting some grass! We haven't let our land lady know about the stump yet, but I can't even begin to explain how blessed we are to have such a nice lady to rent from. She has been so good to us. Once we had our garden looking nice, we sent her some before/after pictures. Just last week I received an email from her, she thanked us for all the things we've been doing to the yard, and gave us a free month's rent. Wait, one more time, a free month's rent. I don't know about you, but that is a MAJOR blessing for us. And it's not like we're not having fun as we work outside, because fixing up the place has been extremely rewarding and bonding for us, we love being outside together.  To try and get an idea of how happy we were, refer to the above gif. And also this one:

'cause I'm pretty sure this is what I looked like at work.