Our First Year of Marriage

After getting married and getting back to Provo, we tackled head on the adventure of moving into our new condo. We each had our stuff in boxes in our respective apartments that we previously lived in so all we needed to do was make the trip. We decided the most efficient way to do that would be to rent a U-Haul truck and go get all of our stuff in one trip. Since we figured we'd only be about an hour and that we didn't have to go far, we decided against getting insurance... not the best idea.

So we decided to go to my old apartment first. Brandon asked if we should go underneath the parking garage or in the parking lot above. I thought to myself that there was no way the truck would fit underneath, but being newly married and trying to refrain from any bossy or naggy comments, I didn't say anything and let Brandon decide for himself. He thought he could make it underneath and we did make it initially but as we went to make a turn, the top of the truck hit a sewage pipe above us and got lodged in the ceiling. A part of the pipe broke and fell onto the windshield, breaking it and spilling sewage all over me (somehow the window only broke on my side of the truck so Brandon was spared). I screamed thinking I'd been hit by the pipe or by glass, but luckily the glass could be brushed off and I was only covered in sewage... nothing life-threatening :) I demanded to get out of the vehicle before I was killed and while Brandon tried to maneuver the truck from being lodged, I went up to my apartment and cleaned up. We ended up having to take the truck back, paying over $1000 in damages, and with me still smelling like sewage the rest of the day, our kind friends gathered people and cars and helped us make the multiple trips back and forth moving all of our stuff to our new condo. Very much an adventure to say the least. Both Brandon's parents and my parents said to us, "If you can survive something like this so soon in your marriage, you can survive anything!" It was a great start to our life together and luckily something we can laugh about now :)

We finished the summer working full-time and watching the first 2 seasons of Lost on dvd. We anticipated the start of our last year at BYU! Being married students was a lot of fun. Luckily our schedules worked out so we were at school and work at the same time and could come home together most days. We were busy but enjoyed our classes and had fun together in our free time. We spent a lot of time with family. Brandon's oldest sister, Lindsey and her husband, Danny and their kids moved back to Provo from San Diego. Danny decided to get his masters in business from BYU. Brandon's brother, Craig, just got home from his mission and was now back at BYU and Brandon's youngest brother was a freshman at BYU. My sister, Amanda, was a sophomore at BYU. Brandon's parents also came to visit a lot so we were very privileged to spend our time with family. This picture is from Thanksgiving- we were making gingerbread houses.

When Christmas season rolled around, Brandon and I got our first Christmas tree together. For Christmas break, we drove to my house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was a lot of fun. Brandon hadn't had Christmas with little kids in quite a few years so I think he had fun watching my younger siblings experience the magic of Christmas. It was also great to have more time for Brandon and my family to get to know each other better. This picture is of me with my youngest sister Blair. I took her to Build-a-Bear Workshop for her birthday. And that is an Iowa Hawkeye behind us :)

Brandon played on an intramural basketball team with his brothers, Nick, and Nick's brother-in-law. They pretty much dominated.

Brandon and I went to see Rascal Flatts for my birthday and Amanda and I went to see The Fray in concert.

My mom came to visit a few weeks before graduation and then my dad and Brandon's parents came for graduation week. It was a very exciting time.
-Amy