Mysterious Ways

Remember when Jason and I moved out to North Carolina for work? Then remember how we moved to New Jersey a month later? Well we moved back to Utah in July. And next week we're moving again, this time to St. George.

I think it's an understatement that I'm sick of moving.

I loved Charlotte, and I loved our proximity to NYC, Jason is an excellent salesman and he fully believes in the product he is selling, but this summer didn't really work out for us... financially. We did so many fun things, and we learned so many things as a couple. In fact we gained an entirely new perspective on life. I know that sounds cliche, but our thinking; our motives have changed entirely. So this summer wasn't a failure. It was a much-needed experience. And I'm so grateful that experience was sooner rather than later.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Things were gettin' tough in the Garden State. Jason encountered true Jersey ettiquette on multiple occasions, losing confidence as well as his ipad. :(  We quickly deciphered true friends, as well as genuine interest and those only feigning friendship for a piece of the meat. Lame.

Anyways...

We'd taken our temple clothes out to NC in hopes of attending the Columbia Temple, but we didn't get to use them until we were living in NJ. What a blesssing it is that there is a physical location we can go to for enlightenment, peace and comfort.

The Manhattan Temple was an awesome experience. For a building smack in the middle of NYC, it was so quiet. And of course no different than back in Utah.

Jason took the day off work and we made it a date, stopping at one of our favorite New York eateries- Dinosaur Bbq. SO good. I've always like deviled eggs, but these ones were insane! Anyways, with a day or two to talk and reflect on what's most important Jason and I decided the best thing for us was to stop letting others make our decisions, and to make one of our own. It was time we went home.

Or to Chicago at least.... ;)

Because a drive across the country isn't complete without a few good stops along the way!

I'm dying to do one of their architecture river rides.

 

We found a parking spot and headed down to Navy Pier, a must-see Chicago go-to spot.

Note: As we were parking I watched some businessman parallel park by bumping back the car behind him. He must have needed a few extra inches. ;)

I wish we'd had more time, I would have loved to ride the ferris wheel at night or check out Chicago's Margaritaville.

Since it was so hot out, we stopped by a vendor to get Ollie a bowl of water. I guess it was Ollie's lucky day cuz he scored a Chicago hot dog for free. Pretty sure Jace appreciated that more than the dog did though. ;)

As for me, I tracked down some Dippin' Dots to cool down. That and I can't pass by any DD stand without giving in. Summer just isn't the same without smores and Dippin' Dots.

We walked the pier, saw a bit of the city and got back on the road.

 

Later Jason introduced me to Portillo's, honestly the best hot dogs I've ever had. I'm not too crazy about road trips anymore, but this one seemed to go by pretty fast. I guess everything goes faster when you know what to expect.

Upon returning home we dove into a whole different line of work. We did some pretty strenous yardwork at the grandparents' and Jason put baseboards into my parents' house.

My mom and I mixed up a dozen or so jars of raspberry and strawberry jam,

and Jason and my dad got their basketball on.

We went up to the Brigham City Temple one day watch the raising of the Angel Moroni. There were people everywhere, and the news circled around in a chopper for the evening news I'm sure.

We waited for almost 45 minutes before a city official came around to tell the crowd it was just too windy to place Moroni.

Wind speed needed to be below 10 MPH, and it was not only cloudy and gloomy, but also pretty windy. I couldn't help but wonder why the weather would be so bad on such an important day for Brigham City's temple.

We stayed for an hour, then took a lunch break to Maddox to acquaint Jason with their famous fried chicken. By the time we got back to the temple the clouds were gone, the sky was clear and Moroni was in his rightful spot.

The Lord works in mysterious ways!