It's 2014 already. July of 2012 I married my best friend and love of my life. September 2012 we moved to Tucson, Arizona where Nate started his first job at the Starr Pass JW Marriott Resort and Spa.  December 2012 I started my first nursing job at Arizona Connected Care and we also had our first Christmas together. July 2013 we celebrated our one year anniversary and I started my first hospital nursing job at the University of Arizona Medical Center in the Med/Surg/Oncology unit. October 2013 we first found out I was pregnant! and packed all our things in a truck and moved to Pleasanton, California (pregnancy was not the reason we moved to CA, that was just a plus in the midst of all that was going on). November 2013 we had our first ultra sound of our baby. Jan 2014 we found out we will be having a baby GIRL!


It is now February and we learning to love what we have! We're learning what is important in life and what things we need to do to keep ourselves sane. Life can be stressful if you let those worrying thoughts get to you! Married life has been wonderful. I have learned so much and most importantly learned what it means to truly love someone. I love Nate more than ever before! Nate works hard every day for our family's future and always has my happiness in mind.

We enjoy going to the park together- it is so nice to have trees and grass! We love our ward here, everyone was very welcoming from the moment we moved in. The temple is a short 30 min drive away and we are able to attend often.
Nate and I have had many adventures together already and little trips we have made from going to Lake Tahoe to Caving at Colossal Caves in Tucson. We will see where life takes us next!

Pictures to come!

Something to remember, everyday.

This is Easily my Favorite "vehicle" or "instrument" from Elder F Enzio Busche.

http://youtu.be/eEpPISSEmv4

Counted Blessings!

It's been 4 months! Looking back at everything that has happened to us since July is crazy! Since July, we have gotten married, bought our first car together, been to 6 different countries (Mexico, Canada, USA, France, Germany, Austria), visited and saw a lot of family!, moved some place totally foreign to the both of us, found an apartment, accepted our first jobs after college, and I'm pregnant! haha I am KIDDING. Just making sure you were paying attention :)

It's been a ride! I love everything I have experienced so far. It has been a lot of change and a lot of new.  There have been rough times and there have been good times. Nate and I have concluded that we are very passionate people, we have emotions! There's no in-between for us.We are passionate about our religion, each other, our family, our education, our careers, our improvement, tennis, golf, pottery, rock climbing, archery, kick boxing, biking, ... haha ok so there's a lot we want to get into. We will eventually have many hobbies- we are saving up and getting into each one by one. But yes, there has not been a dull moment thus far. We are getting used to each other and our roles as husband and wife. We are learning to work together. We are learning what we want for our family. We are learning what bugs the other person and what we expect of each other. It's been a ride.

I love being married to Nate. He is by far the best husband I could ever ask for. I am very blessed. Every time I take a moment and sit down and then let my mind wander retrospectively, I find my self smiling from ear to ear feeling like I am the luckiest girl in the world. I love thinking about all the fun times I have had with Nate- starting with how we met my freshman year of college at the beginning of 2009. It has been a little over a year now since we have started dating exclusively last October/November. Our courtship was phenomenal. I can even quote my roommate when she once said, "Amber's boyfriend plans the best dates". He did! I had everything from Hunger Games Night where I even got soup from "Haymitch"and then got to shoot real bows and arrows, to Indian Night complete with Indian food from Bombay house while watching an Indian movie (The 3 Idiots),  to Baseball Themed Day where we played catch, went to the batting cages and then watched Money Ball! Nate and I loved dating each other. We talked and talked and were BEST FRIENDS- we still are! We can even quote Nate's roommate when he said, "You and Amber talk so MUCH!" (I don't know if he said this out of frustration that there was never silence or ... just out of observance, but I took it as a compliment haha)

Going back to the subject of this post, I wanted to acknowledge the blessings the Lord has placed in our lives. He has a hand in the very DETAIL of our lives. At points we thought we were in trouble- when Nate was temporarily jobless, when I applied to over 100 nursing positions with no outcomes, when money gets tight each month, when arguments arise, - but through it all, we see how we have benefited from the hard times and how ever sweet the good times become. Nate and I are blessed to both have real jobs. Nate is a Supervisor at the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa. I am a Care Transitions Nurse for Arizona Connected Care and Innovative Practices. Nate is on the road leading towards his dream job- General Manager of a Hotel (Preferably with Marriott), and I am working at a job with lots of autonomy that, in my opinion, will help jumpstart my growth as a health care provider. We both work good hours... 7-5 or 9-7 for Nate and 9-5 for me. We get to see each other at night. We get to spend time together and plan to have fun every once and a while.
These are blessings.

Not only are we blessed with our career ambitions, we are most thankful that God hears our prayers. It's been a rough transition to move to a place where we don't know anybody! It gets lonely. This is my first time leaving home and my family. Sure enough, people from our ward  have reached out to us. we have had several invites to dinners and social gatherings. I don't think I have ever realized the importance of reaching out until I have felt the relief of somebody reaching out to me. Friends! we need friends!

Again, looking back at these past 4 months, I have been blessed. Our wedding day was perfect. Honeymoon was perfect. Europe trip was wonderful. Seeing family and having wonderful family from both my side and Nate's side is a blessing. Finding jobs, having a nice place to live, having a car; I think I had much to be thankful for this last Thanksgiving :)

Sooooooooo I'm Engaged!

Nate and I met my freshman year at BYU in cantonese class. I was auditing the class, he was taking it for fun. It was the only class he took "just for fun" during his college career and it was the only class I have ever audited in my college career. Coincidence? I think not! haha :) 3 years of friendship and here we are... preparing to spend the rest of our lives and eternity together! I have never met anyone that can consistently make me laugh, someone so witty and interesting, and makes me want to be my best self . I am in love, I'm in love, I'm in love! and I don't care who knows it!It was such a surprise! Nate proposed, the sand had "Amber, Marry Me?" written on it, there was a crowd up on the balcony cheering and clapping for us, I was so confused who the people clapping for us were. I was crying, I was laughing, it was a beautiful proposal!

 Hugging Jessy on our way down to see her writing in the sand!
It was such a happy day for us! Everything was just perfect. Strangers that had helped Jess write in the sand were congratulating us on our way down, it was awesome!

I loved the cute little set up on the beach: blanket, martinelli in an ice bucket, wine glasses :)

 I'm excited to marry the best man everrrrrrr!!!

here, there, now, and then

It's been about 5 weeks that i've been away from home and everything familiar to me. Ask me why I'm excited for church tomorrow. That's one thing I love about our church. It's consistent and constant. It's the same here, there, now, and then. I can go to church in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Utah, and have it all be familiar to me. We're taught the same things, we conduct the same meetings, people around me feel like family simply because we are all one in purpose and heart. . It hits me hard every time I realize how going to church is going to a home away from home. I can't help but relate it to how it will feel returning to our Father in Heaven; going home. Church is good. I'm excited for tomorrow.

All vacationed out??

Can someone possibly have too much vacation time?? haha. I feel that way right now. Technically I haven't been on 'vacation' but actually learning about culture and nursing for the past month... but still...

I'm in Hong Kong right now. I love this place! It's the city! the big city! there's everything you could possibly ask for: beaches, hiking, mountains, trees, nature, shopping, food, double decker buses, taxis, night markets, wind surfing, theme parks... ahh there's so much! So what's the problem? I am burned out! haaa and I thought that term was only applicable to school... nope. The first thing I do when I get back home is this: 1. shower. 2. change into sweats. 3. pick movie... something like sound of music where I can fall asleep to 4. find a blanket and pillow 5. enjoy being at home.

Not to mention I miss my family. my friends. my life. I miss it.

But don't get me wrong!!! I am very very grateful for the time I have spent here this summer. Taiwan was amazing. I will not forget the things I have learned there and the wonderful people that I have met there. I am grateful to be in Hong Kong again and to hang out with my family here. I'm grateful for all the family and friends in HK that have welcomed me and have taken days off to hang out with me. It is so kind of them!

Today I went windsurfing. I went with my two cousins, Ruby and Alex, and my Aunt. They kayaked and I re-learned how to windsurf... it's hard! Afterwards.. we went to go eat at an all you can eat japanese restaurant.. soo good! But wow! It's about midnight here and we just barely got back home. I am so fatigued. Tomorrow, my cousin's cousin (yaa so that makes us kinda related?) Andrew, wants to take me to a theme park (Ocean Park) here in HK and then we're gonna meet up with Alex and watch a movie in the theaters (X-men or something). It sounds fun right? haha but the truth is.. i'd be just as happy chillin at the house, working on my paper, and bummin around! haha!

Also. One day while in Taipei with the girls when we were all in the hostel... haha I turned on "Home" by Michael Buble. All of us girls couldn't help but relate completely! I still can relate to this song.

I know it's hard to remember sometimes.... but! Only rainbows after rain

Need a lift in spirits? click the link below for some good music

Andy Grammer- Keep your head up