One year anniversary

Today marks our 1 year anniversary in Hattiesburg. I can't believe we have already been here a year! I feel like time has just flown by! We went on a walk with some friends one of the first Sundays we were here and they told us how fast time was going to fly once we got settled and really, I didn't believe them. I was still in "shock" that I was living in southern Mississippi and didn't know how I was going to make it through even the next month of my life. I know that sounds pretty dramatic, but moving to Mississippi was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The thought of being so far away from my family was so unimaginable to me that I couldn't even think about it when we first got here, but I have grown a lot in the year that we have lived here. I really couldn't be more grateful for our decision to move to Hattiesburg. Living here has blessed both mine and Cody's lives in ways that we could have never imagined both individually and together. Everything has just fallen into place for us here, and I know this is where we are supposed to be at this point in our lives. A year ago, I would talk about how I couldn't wait to be done with school and move back to the west, but now thinking about leaving is hard! I know we still have at least 2 years left, but  I can't imagine how much deeper our friendships and roots will grow in that time. My relationship with Cody has grown exponentially and we have made friendships that I know will last the rest of our lives.

7-14-2013, our first walk on the Southern Miss campus

We celebrated Cody's birthday this week. He turned the big 3-0! (It's still kind of a sore subject in our house..) We didn't do much on his actual birthday because I had class and he had some work he had to get done at the school, but I still sang happy birthday to him when I got home and I managed to decorate the house before I left for class that morning :) 

     

We also had the opportunity to be chaperones at youth conference this year for our stake. It was a really cool experience. The theme for youth conference was, "Moroni's Quest" and we did a journey through the Book of Mormon. Each day the youth got to watch a few stories acted out from the Book of Mormon by some of the leaders. It was an awesome experience and such a testimony builder. I am grateful for the opportunity we had to attend youth conference, it was such an uplifting experience for us both. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the knowledge it gives me of a loving Savior, it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. The theme for the youth this year is "Come Unto Christ" and the young men and women of the Hattiesburg Stake sang the theme song at the closing exercises for the conference. It is such a beautiful song and they did such a great job! It gives me chills every time I hear it. If you haven't heard it, I encourage you to check it out here!

This week was my last week of working in the Admissions Office at Southern Miss! Cody and I decided it would be in my best interest to put all of my effort into my school work for the next 2 years. I loved working at Southern Miss and made so many great friends. That job was a huge blessing in my life and quitting was actually a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but I'm excited to be a full-time student!

Not much more has happened in the past month. We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends by having a barbecue and playing some games. It was a pretty low key night, but we had a lot of fun. 

Well, the semester is wrapping up here in the next couple of weeks. Cody has really enjoyed teaching this summer and I have really enjoyed being back in school. It was quite the adjustment at first, but I think I'm finally back in the swing of things. Finals are in a couple of weeks and then we get to go back to Henderson for a little bit! We are pretty excited to see family and spend some days at the beach :)