A Married Man

Hello world!

 

I thought it was about time for another update on the blog. I used to do it once a week while I was on my mission, now it seems like once a year! I am still trying to fathom the fact that I have been home for an entire 2 years now! It seems just like yesterday that I was peeking through the crowd at the airport to try and see my family. All those new missionaries that I saw when I was leaving Cape Town for the last time have now completed their faithful service and now have the distinguished title of a Returned Missionary from SACTM (South Africa Cape Town Mission).

For the last few minutes I have looked at all the pictures on the blog and I can’t help but smile. Ah I just want to go back sometimes and re-live all the fun experiences I had and see all my friends I left behind on that side of the world. Life back then was so different and I’d have to say less stressful than real life. It was a unique time in my life to just forget myself and get lost in the Lord’s work. Being able to teach and serve all day everyday was something that I greatly miss.

As for an update on my life, I AM A MARRIED MAN!!!! And I couldn’t be any happier! I guess you could see it coming from the last post on the blog. That’s the same girl! So she was dating my roommate my first semester back up at Utah State University, I took care of him, and now Holly and I are married! Holly Haws….what a cute name! We dated for about a year, then we went ring shopping and I proposed! Talk about a stressful time of life…choosing a ring and then figuring out a fun and unique way to ask her. I asked her in late April on the perfect day. We have had some police officers check in on us when we were at Hyrum Dam and up Logan canyon and I got pulled over for not using my blinker, etc. So I decided to incorporate that into how I asked her. It’s a long story, but basically I had a police officer pull Holly over and search her car for drugs and then I got out of the cop car and asked her to be my bride, and she said yes! Then most of this past summer we spent planning a wedding! I lived up in Logan and just worked for Zerorez cleaning carpets but we made 2 trips to San Diego to plan the wedding.

We were married August 9^th, 2014 in the San Diego Temple! That was the happiest day of my life! Pretty much all of my family came, some even came from the east coast! And all but 2 of Holly’s 10 siblings and their families were able to make it. We were sealed for time and all eternity and the feelings of joy and love filled the whole sealing room. There was such a sweet spirit as I knelt across the alter in the holy temple and looked into the eyes of my sweetheart all dressed in white. Those special moments in the sealing room are moments I'll remember all my life. Then had a ring ceremony right before our reception which was very nice. Everything at our reception went just as planned. The food was delicious, everyone was happy, and of course there was lots of dancing! SO many people came and supported us and congratulated us. I could just feel the love that day! And dang did Holly look stunning and amazing! I am a lucky man.

As for the honeymoon, we decided to take a red eye flight right after our reception to Tampa Bay Florida to go on a 7 day cruise to the western Caribbean! I’ll be honest, it was a rough flight. I couldn't really sleep, but eventually we got to Florida and had a Wendy’s hamburger at 6am (3am our time) for breakfast. We got on the boat and sailed away to paradise! Just me and my wife and not a care in the world! We stopped at were Cozumel, where we took an excursion to a private island and beach where we could relax. Then we stopped in Belize, and then the next day we sailed to Roatan, a small tropical island that was beautiful. Our last stop was the Grand Cayman islands where we took an excursion around the island and then got to go to a turtle farm and hold turtles, and then took a boat out to a natural sand bar where we got to swim with sting rays out in the open ocean! It was awesome! We had such a blast on our honeymoon!

But then it was back to reality. The next weekend we had

a reception at Holly’s house for all her family and friends that couldn’t make it down to San Diego. There were so many people and it was a wonderful evening. Then, school and work stared back up! As for where we are living, my sweet grandma has rented out her basement to couples and she said we could live there for as long as we need! It is very generous of her and we are so grateful! We just have to take out the trash and mow the lawn! It is a very spacious basement and we have turned it into our home, with the help of all the gifts people have given us! We love it.

School is going well. I’m in the Huntsman School of Business here at Utah State University and I am currently studying business and hope to get a degree In MIS (management information systems) or just business administration. We’ll see what happens. As for my job, I still clean carpets 2-3 times per week and enjoy it! Better than bagging groceries. Holly loves her job coaching gymnastics and graduates this semester with a degree in sociology and minors in criminal justice and political science. Holly and I are attending a married student ward here in Logan and just got called as the Gospel Doctrine teachers in the ward!

Well, that’s all the stuff I can think of at the moment that has happened in the past year. It’s been such a great year and we have both been blessed so much and constantly watched over! Life couldn't be better!

 

Dusty and Holly