It's Been Rough... but We're Managing (Literally)

Dear friends and family,
No no, we haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. We're still alive, I promise.
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. Reality sure hit me hard when I found out that being married is actually busier than being single (at least in our case anyway.) I'm here to tell you about the incredible blessings we've been receiving and to give you a general idea on what we're spending our time doing!

1)It's Been Rough... but We're Managing: literally! Braedon and I receive an apartment managing job here in Cedar City. We received the call the day after we got back from our honeymoon. Talk about timing!This job has been a blessing in SO many different ways. Our rent is covered through the work we do and that is one of the biggest things. In addition, we've gotten quite good at time management (when something needs fixing, ya just do it, there's no time to put it off) and I sure have learned to work harder than I ever have before. It's been such a pleasure to get to know our tenants at the apartment complex (Aspen Meadow). Many of them are returning from last year; this is the singles' ward Braedon and I were in before we got married, and many we are close friends with.
Why has it been rough? Things. Are. Busy. Taking care of tenants and the facilities are up near the top of our priority list. Paperwork is very extensive and takes a lot of keeping up work. Fixing broken things is difficult and takes a lot of time. The lawn.. it's not a lawn, it's a hill. We mow a hill.

Things to know about being apartment managers:
A) You're home alone because your husband is at work and it's during the week before school. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING A SHOWER. You will inevitably be interrupted, or more specifically, panicked when there is a knock at the door and you don't know how to react.
B) Doors seem somewhat invisible to some people. LOCK THEM. If not, people tend to just walk right into our kitchen.
C) After waking up at 6:30 am, classes all day for both of us, work for Braedon, dance auditions this week for me, choir rehearsals, presidency meetings, getting people checked in.. by the time we finally get home.. KEEP LIGHTS OFF. (is this terrible of us?) Braedon did homework in the back office a few nights ago while I made cookies in the kitchen without a light on. Sometimes.. we let it appear like we're already asleep.
Well, that's enough of that. All of these things really do happen, but they're completely written out of humor.

2)We're both quite busy with our schedules as far as school is concerned. Braedon is taking Statistics, Microeconomics, Management, Intro to Business Careers, and Accounting while I am taking four different English courses and my last semester of Spanish. W.I getting toward the end of my schooling and will have my Associates, Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of English with Creative Writing Emphasis in 2013.  We are also both enrolled in multiple institute classes including Building Eternal Marriage which we take together once a week. We're very excited for the growth, knowledge, and testimony that will come from learning how to be better eternal spouses. We are also in the presidency of the Songs of the Heart choir, the institute audition choir, but we have not done auditions or started rehearsals yet. Our conductor wife is very sick right now and they are at the Hunter Cancer Facility in Salt Lake City. Prayers for their comfort and health are greatly appreciated. We are, however, having choir rehearsals three times a week with a larger group. We will be joining with the Saint George institute choirs THIS SUNDAY to sing for Elder Holland at the CES Broadcasted Fireside to take place at the Burns Arena. We have been looking forward to this for months and are incredibly excited to perform the songs Faith of Our Fathers and More Holiness Give Me; Elder Holland requested these songs specifically. 

3)We absolutely love our young married ward! We've had the opportunity to already get close to quite a few couples and the ward is full of outstanding young adults. A few weeks ago we were called to be the Ward Choir Directors and even more recently Braedon was called to be the Second Counselor in the Elder's Quorum. I have been gaining such a spectacular testimony of callings in the church and how God places us exactly where we are needed. Braedon and I have also been diligent at doing our Home and Visiting Teachings assignments. This has been one of the keys to making many new friends.

4) Well, for now I guess the last thing to update you about is our relationship with our best friends, McKenna and Rigo Yturriaga. All four of us are starting this crazy journey called marriage together. Both couples began dating at the same time, we were both engaged a week apart, and married within two weeks of each other. Rigo and I are both converts to the church whereas Braedon and McKenna both grew up in active Latter-day Saint homes; this factor has been an incredible benefit to all of us. Now that we're married we constantly strive to keep each other accountable for our spiritual growth and fine-tuning our characteristics so that we may become the very best eternal individuals and couples possible. We have dinner and play cards every Sunday afternoon, we will all be singing in the Songs of the Heart Choir together, and we see each other on campus almost every day. They bring such light into Braedon and I's lives, and we know we are able to do the same for them. I'm not sure what any of us did to deserve such a significant blessing. All I can say is that we must have been friends long before we came to Earth.