In memory of a dear sweet lady

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted - probably because since I got that new work position I have been traveling from one job to the next all day, every day.

The only really new thing is that our dear landlady Rae Adamson passed away this evening. She had a stroke about a week ago and has been in the hospital until she passed away today surrounded by her family. Chandler and I didn't make it to visit her today like we wanted to, but it's okay. I am sure she understands. We feel so lucky to have known her and grown to love her over the last four months, so I have decided to write some of the things that I remember and love about her.

I love how she was so careful to make sure we had everything we needed, including asking someone to come check on the status of our carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.

I love how she went to Walmart "every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday" to get her McDonald's hamburger (because she didn't want to cook for herself).

I love how she always said a funny comment and tapped me on the shoulder while I played the prelude music in Relief Society on Sundays.

I love how she swept leaves from her driveway...and our steps... and the whole street...every day that it was warm. She finally got a new broom because the old one was so worn out (and I was about to give her a new one!) And how she waived at me when I would get home.

I love how one day when Chandler and I were walking home from church she drove by and called out to us, "Hey, don't I know you two?" and chuckled to herself. She was seriously full of jokes!

I love how she would leave the red flag up when we had mail in the mailbox.

I love how soft-spoken she was. It required me to really tune in and listen to what she was saying, and it was always a delightful or insightful comment, especially when she commented in church. She would often laugh at her own jokes too. It was so cute and made me laugh as well. :)

I love how Rae loved her family and proudly spoke of her grandchildren. She even hosted a fun halloween party with gift bags for each member in her family. She even told us about the party just so we would be aware that there might be some noise upstairs.

I love how she didn't want the internet in her home because she didn't want all that "bad stuff" coming in to her home. How sweet to keep herself far from the craziness of the world - she didn't need to use it like we do.

I love how she asked us often to change lightbulbs in her house - though we didn't understand for a while. She just didn't like to be in the dark at night, so they would wear out quickly :)

I love how she had her birthday but didn't want to tell me her age. She said she was "56 and holding". (Later, I found out that she was 76 years old). She was so tiny and frail, but so full of life at her age.

I love how concerned she was about her tree dropping fruit on our cars and asked someone to come trim the branches to help lessen the tree-droppings.

I love how she told us that she had trained herself to stay up late, until about 1am, each night because of previous renters that would stay up late.

I love how whenever she called me and left me a message she would say "Oh, Candace.. It's me." I always knew who it was. :)

I love how she wrote with such neat handwriting and how she kept a bunch of photo albums "even though no one will probably look at them". :)

I especially love how when we signed our contract to live here, Rae said that she was so grateful that she had found a good couple like us to move in. We felt the same about her. We felt so grateful to have found such a wonderful apartment with such a sweet landlady. She truly became a friend, and I will miss her for sure. All my love and prayers are with her family at this time. I am so grateful for this opportunity Chandler and I have had to be able to know such a great lady.

Thanksgiving, birthdays, new adventures!

I am grateful for Thanksgiving! This past week was so great because I got a break from work, Chandler got a break from school, and we got to spend it together in California with my family! We went to the beach a couple of times, went out to eat, watched a movie, caught up with family, ate, drove (a LOT), went to the movies with Chandler's grandparents and saw "Life of Pi" (great movie!), had an amazing Thanksgiving feast, went window shopping, played cards, met the new dog Lucas, stayed up late talking, took family photos, ate, played with my niece Halle, went hot tubbing, turned the water heater off and on a bunch of times (gotta love plumbing leaks!), opened gifts (a wonderful birthday and early Christmas!), ate, and much more I am sure. It was so fun to switch up the routine and to be in the good weather with family! They are the best! I am grateful that all of these memories are shared with Chandler now. :) Pictures forthcoming.

It was my birthday! I am now 23 - same age as Chandler for a week and a half! Not old, I know, but I am starting to feel like I am gaining some sort of life experience. I don't feel like a know a ton yet, but I feel like I have experienced a lot of wonderful things and have started to really enjoy this new stage of life. My family was so thoughtful of me with some gifts and cake, especially Chandler who wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday at midnight and also surprised me with a few gifts (that he wanted to have sent to CA but they didn't make it in time so he just told me what they are). Chandler's family also wished me a happy birthday and sent us something for our birthdays. That is so sweet of them. Also, the first thing my cute students asked me today was how my birthday was - they are the best! I am grateful to live my life.

My newest adventure: a new job opportunity! I interviewed to be the supervisor/assistant in the call center at UVU where I work and I got offered the position while driving down to California. I am really excited and nervous, but I think it will be a great opportunity. It is a great blessing to have so much work to do. Good times here with the Egberts!

Also, this week is Intex week for Chandler. Don't ask me what that means, I am not really sure. I just know it is a HUGE group project that will require a lot of work and time for him to complete. It is a fear for all who are in his major. This is a week I am especially grateful to have more to do to fill some time when Chandler won't be home. We welcome any happy thoughts sent this way for this week! (and you can come visit me too, since I will be home alone a lot). Grateful that Chandler is a hard worker and that he is doing his best to learn and do hard things.

Birthdays, mission calls, and more birthdays

Awesome happenings this week!

This week my littlest sister (I guess I should say youngest, since she is taller than all of us) Erin turned 18! It is amazing to realize that my family is in that phase now where we are all officially adults. I am so proud of Erin and grateful she is my sister. Chandler and I had Leigh and Erin over yesterday for dinner to celebrate her birthday (a couple days belated since she was busy on her birthday). I made a yummy dinner for all of us and I put streamers up in our apartment to make it more birthday-ish. It was fun!

Also, on Wednesday Chandler and I got to be there when my sister Leigh opened her call to serve a mission for our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). She is called to serve in the Salt Lake City, Utah, Temple Square mission and she will be able to teach in American Sign Language! We are so excited for her. She leaves in February and will be serving for 18 months!

At Tucanos!

This week Chandler and I did a bunch of fun things together. My birthday is coming up and Chandler and I wanted to do some things with just us since we would be spending my birthday with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. So on Friday we went to the Brazilian restaurant Tucanos for lunch (I had a free meal postcard from the restaurant for my birthday. If you haven't joined the birthday club you should!). If you haven't been there the meal is an amazing and overwhelming array of perfectly grilled and seasoned meats and veggies, and my personal favorite: the grilled pineapple. They bring it to your table and cut int off the skewer right in front of you! We planned to go pretty early so we could gradually get out of our food-coma for the remainder of the day. It worked. We ate so much, enjoyed it fully, and we didn't have to eat the rest of the day. :)

Also, Chandler had a surprise for me for my birthday (a week early). He surprised me with tickets to go see Disney on Ice up in Salt Lake City. We love anything Disney! It was a magical show with fun effects and great skating! A very good show - and I know we loved it just as much as all the little kids around us! (Let's just say we were one of the few couples there without children). ;) It doesn't matter to us. We like good entertainment and we aren't stuck on proving our adulthood - a good show for a kid is a good show for us! It was seriously a bunch of fun, and I am grateful for Chandler's thoughtfulness.

One more quick story. Because of Chandler I can do more - he has changed my life. Let me give an example. On Tuesday of this week I encountered what I perceived to be a big problem with my computer. It ended up being a problem with my antivirus software, but I was able to fix it all on my own while Chandler was at school! Chandler has taught me and been an example to me of independence and self-reliance in many ways. He is always learning to do new things because he wants to be able to do them. I am more the type to sit back and ask someone who I know already knows the answer (save time right?). But chandler has taught me that I don't have to do that. I can be the solution for myself. Even in subjects I don't fully understand - I can at least try, then I know more than I did before just by trying. Anyway, I decided to do this with my computer that was doing weird things. I searched online, read comments from people with the same problem, and followed the steps to fix my computer! I felt pretty cool, but mostly grateful for Chandler (and Google ;) and his attitude towards new/hard things. What better way to learn than to simply try? We are in a world full of easy fixes and immediate knowledge at our fingertips, and because of that it is so easy to simply give up when one thing goes wrong. The real way to learn is not just to ask for an answer, but to struggle with the problem until we can find an answer or solution. Thanks to Chandler for helping me learn that just by being you!

I am so thankful for my life and the amazing people who are a part of it. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

seasons change

The seasons are changing drastically! (well, what weather change isn't drastic in Utah?) This last weekend we got a bunch of snow piled on us in the valley, and I have to say it is just beautiful! In the past I have felt bitter towards snow (bitter cold?) but this season I am excited because it is the first holiday season I get to spend entirely with my best friend! I decided that I can choose to hate the snow, or I can simply enjoy it and the change that comes with it. Chandler and I have been getting excited for a break from school and work to spend time with family. I know it's not quite the holidays yet, but we are gearing up and already having numerous evenings with cinnamon-y hot chocolate and mini marshmallows. We even watched "Elf" the other night (one of Chandler's favorites). We also bought the DVD of "It's a Wonderful Life" the other day online (it is probably one of my favorite movies of all time) to watch when it is close to Christmas. I love the beauty of the snow and the feeling of cuddling up in sweats and making our little home smell like the latest new recipe I am trying. Good times.

Yesterday we had a fun adventure. Chandler is the 2nd counselor in our church ward's elders quorum (a priesthood office in our church) and we had a dinner last night with all of the presidency and their families. It was fun to be with some other families! We do feel a little bit overwhelmed and amazed to be part of the presidency as such young newlyweds in a ward full of established and older families. There are a lot of young couples, but most of the members have been in the neighborhood for years and years to raise their families. This humbles a us a lot, Chandler especially. Anyway, this new adventure and stage of life is exciting. We have joined the ranks beyond single life (and I am sure we will feel more that way when we have children of our own) and I think it is just now hitting us that this isn't just a phase. It is a start of an entirely new season of life - one full of incredible joy so far. It is exciting and new for us inexperienced young-ins.

I would also like to make a shout-out to the veterans in our country in honor Veterans Day yesterday. Thanks to all those who serve our country, and especially to my brother-in-law Eric who has served overseas and my brother Douglas who has recently been accepted into the Air Force as a med. student. We love you and thank you!

"so happy together..."

This week has been great! Chandler and I have been able to spend some great time together, he has been able to work hard in school, and I have been able to experience new things in my job! Life is great.

Things have been going as normal, we are just treading water a bit while looking forward to Thanksgiving vacation in California. That will be a pleasant break from the norm. This last week I got to substitute a couple of different classes at Pioneer High School instead of just being the assistant for my level 1 ballet dancers. That was a nice change, especially since the classes were more advanced (they actually knew what I was saying when I asked them to do something!).

at the Pumpkin Patch

We also went to the Pumpkin Patch in Orem for our Monday family night, and got free hot chocolate and a hay ride. It was a simple activity, but it's always fun to spend time with Chandler.

How we dressed up for Halloween!

Chandler and I also got to experience our first Halloween together! We had a bunch of friends over (my sisters, Moryah and Tyler, Joy and Abdul, and Chris and Marie and their baby Lynlee) and had treats and watched a 'scary' movie last weekend, so that was sort of our Halloween celebration already. But on the 31st Chandler and I decided to dress up and go out to eat at JCW's (so yummy!), stop by my sisters' apartment, and head to a neighborhood in south Provo to see what kind of Halloween fun we could find. We ended up spending most of the evening with my lovely sister Erin, chatting with her about schooling and the future. Not how we had planned the evening, but it was a great discussion and time spent like that is much more important. I love how Chandler is so willing and helpful and encouraging to others, and how he showed that to my sister. :)

Hot chocolate and some Mario Party

A random date that we did this last week was going to the mall to walk around a bit, and then we decided to come home and play Mario Party 3 on Nintendo 64 while drinking homemade hot chocolate. This was fun (even though Chandler won in the end)! Some of the most fun things we do together are just simple and cheap. Good times in the Egbert household.

Another fun thing we were able to do this week happened yesterday morning. We were interviewed for the Loveumentary podcasts, and it was so much fun. For those of you who don't know what the Loveumentary is you should go check it out! It's a project started by a friend of mine to search out the positive things in successful relationships to show that true love really can exist. It's a great project, and I encourage all of us to focus more on the positive and successful relationships rather than fear the abundance of unsuccessful relationships. We may be able to change the world by thinking that way. :) Anyway, Chandler and I are no where near being experts on the subject of a perfect marriage, but we sure appreciated the opportunity to share our feelings for/about each other. It was truly a joy to reminisce our story and how we continue to grow in love. We are not amazing speakers, but hopefully if you listen to the podcast you can get a sense of what we were trying to convey. It was a great opportunity. I am so thankful for Chandler and our relationship. We are best friends!

here's to 6 months!

In honor of our six months of being married, I decided to share how Chandler proposed to me. We had an opportunity to share this story last weekend with some friends (every couple was sharing their story), and it was so fun to reminisce. I thought it would be good to have it written down somewhere.

The weekend before we got engaged we started ring shopping. It was something we did on a whim while we were heading to a concert and we had some time to kill. We both wanted to get an idea of what we liked in a ring, then Chandler wanted to choose one for me on his own based on what we liked. We went to several different jewelry stores throughout the week, but the one place we had a coupon for was only open during hours that I couldn't go because I was in dance rehearsals in the evenings. Chandler decided to go see what they had, to see if we would want to use the coupon. My younger sister, Leigh, went with him so that he could see some ring ideas actually on a girl's finger (they always look different on someone that in the cabinet, ya know?). I guess during that little trip they picked out a ring. They had picked one out, but had forgotten to take any pictures so they went out of their way to go to another jewelry store just to take pictures of rings that they had 'looked at' - so sneaky. Also, Leigh had told Chandler that I was expecting to be proposed to that weekend. That made Chandler all the more determined to propose to me earlier - when I would least expect it. That was Wednesday, February 1.

On Thursday, February 2, Chandler sent me a text while I was at school suggesting that we should go to the temple that evening. I thought that was a great idea! (Little did I know it was just a ruse to get me to dress up :). He also sent me a text shortly after saying that I shouldn't eat anything when I get home, that he would have something ready to eat already, so that we wouldn't get to the temple too late on a school night. Very thorough, another good idea, I thought.

As soon as I got home (a little after 8pm) Chandler met me at my apartment so we could leave. He told me that we should hurry and leave because he had heard about another jewelry store in Provo that might be fun to check out (a good decoy so I didn't know he had the ring). He said we would find some place to quickly eat out, and that since we were going to check out a jewelry place we probably wouldn't make it to the temple. That was fine with me. I was excited to spend time together.

Chandler then proceeded to drive towards downtown Provo to 'look' for this jewelry place he had mentioned. It was getting dangerously close to 9pm, and I wondered if we would make it before it closed. While in the car, Chandler also asked me how he thought my dad would react when he called to ask my dad for his blessing on our marriage. (He had actually called my dad two days before, but he asked me how he thought my dad would respond just to add to the decoys. Such a sneaky guy!). I said something supportive, saying I didn't know exactly how my dad would respond, but that I thought he would support us and say yes. Chandler just smiled.

A few minutes later, Chandler decided to pull over to look up directions to the store. It was basically 9pm. We decided we probably wouldn't get there in time anyway... Then Chandler, gesturing to the restaurant we had pulled in front of, suggested we just eat dinner there. I half-laughed in disbelief and said something like, "I actually love this restaurant, and my family has come here on a few special occasions! ...But it's pretty pricey... I don't think we should just randomly spend this much on food..." (Chandler actually knew that I liked the restaurant - "La Dolce Vita" - because Leigh had told him so when they had picked out the ring). He convinced me that it was okay to eat out and spend a little extra money sometimes. I conceded (secretly really excited to eat a nice dinner together while we were dressed up), and we went inside.

The restaurant was all to ourselves! No one was in there that late on a Thursday night, so we had a nice private dinner. The Italian food was delicious, and there was a deal that we took advantage of too. Our waiter kindly took a picture of us (at my request, because I wanted to document a fun evening). Towards the end of our dinner, Chandler started pulling something out of his pocket with this sweet smile on his face. My mind started racing! Is he going to propose?! I thought excitedly. Then he walked over to me and wrapped a beautiful real pearl necklace around my neck and closed the clasp while he told me how much he loved me and thought I was so beautiful. I felt so flattered and so loved. He was being so sweet. Okay, this is his way of apologizing for not having a ring yet. How sweet. I was thinking to myself. I thought that was the end of it. Chandler had played his cards so well that I wasn't expecting a proposal anymore that night.

As we were about to leave, Chandler got excited and suggested that it would be fun to drive by the location of our first date (the yard that we had gone to rake a bunch of leaves). I told him I wasn't sure I remembered where it was and he said he didn't really remember either (another lie to keep me in the dark) but that it would be fun to go look for it. We drove almost straight there (he had found it earlier in the day just to make sure he would know how to get there). When we got to the house it was pretty dark, and pretty late (about 10pm). It was fun to reminisce how far we had come since our first date. Then Chandler suggested we get out. I was apprehensive about it. I didn't want to be considered a creeper in a random person's yard this late! But I agreed to get out for just a minute.

We walked around a tiny bit. Then Chandler started to turn the conversation to his religion class. He talked about how in his class his professor had talked about finding the person you wanted to spend forever with and how I had all the traits he always wanted in a spouse (how romantic :). Then he said he had one question for me (this is the point when I clued in to what was happening). He knelt down on one knee, in the darkness lit by only one street lamp, on the cold grass and asked if I would marry him. I giggled and said yes!! Then kissed him. Then I proceeded to say "you are such a punk!" - referring to all of the little things he had done to throw me off. It was amazing, such a joyous moment! And the ring was dazzling! He had picked the perfect one.

After the excitement subsided a little (it really hasn't since then to be honest. I am still as excited now as I was then about being married to Chandler - more actually!), we both sort of asked "now what?" We went to the temple to sit in the parking lot and talked about the excitement of getting married. Then I called/texted a few people (it was too late in the evening to tell everyone). It was a beautiful night.

I am so in love with Chandler and the relationship we have together. We are both far from perfect, but I love that we are able to talk things out and strive to be greater together. He is the best!

Showing off my ring! We were tired, because it was late, but so happy!

food and forts, among other things

This post does not have an overarching theme - there were just too many fun things I wanted to share!

After the BYU "Spectacular"!

A couple of weeks ago, when my parents were here, they bought all of us (me, Chandler, and my two younger sisters Leigh and Erin) tickets to go with them to see the BYU Homecoming Spectacular performance in the Marriott Center. It was a lot of fun. There was an error with the tickets, and we ended up sitting in the final row of the nose-bleed section (the back wall of the Marriott center was the only thing behind us). It was fine though, we had a great view of everything! And Chandler and I got to add yet another show to our list of performances we have seen :)

Another thing I wanted to share is to always remember to have the heart of a kid - it makes simple things more enjoyable! When Chandler was doing homework one night, about a week ago, I was bored of waiting around for him, so I built myself a fort in our front room. We had built forts a couple of times when we were engaged and one time I slipped while calling our fort a mix between a fort and a hut. We now endearingly call them 'horts'. So, here is a shot of my 'hort'. It was fun and passed some of the time. I felt creative and excited at the thought of figuring out how to make the best 'hort' imaginable.

Chandler later joined me in the 'hort' and we read scriptures together before bed. It was fun! And it was an amazing and very spacious hort if I do say so myself.

Then, a few days ago, I used the leftover ingredients my parents left with me to make my very own "Mulliner Homemade Pizza". I struggled with the dough a bit (so far my biggest weakness in cooking has been making bread doughs...), but it turned out pretty good! Here's what it looked like!

sausage, shredded pepperoni, and ham all covering an authentic Italian sauce and dough - yum!

Also, Chandler had another club event with the AIS club (Association for Information Systems) and it was another activity for him and a 'guest'. It was a concert with "Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band" hosted once again by the generous Ernst and Young accounting firm. It was full of fiddling and fun, ringing cow bells and clapping clappers, and topped off with a free CD at the end and goodies all around - including a giant cookie on a stick (like a lollipop) for each person in attendance. Such a fun (and free) time and another one for the books!

Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band in concert

We love our simple, yet still exciting, adventures. Spending time with Chandler is my favorite thing to do. :)

What simple things do you enjoy?

I am grateful for...

There are so many wonderful things in life, and I decided it would help me to have a post dedicated to expressing my gratitude for a few things. Ever since Chandler and I knew we were getting married we decided to begin a little gratitude journal that we write in every night. We have been really good about it so far, but we don't spend time writing extensive lists of things we are grateful for - just a brief entry each night. This can be my slightly longer list of things I am most recently grateful for. :)

This is just one list of things I am really grateful for: (in no particular order)

-a visit from my parents! They live in CA and it has been months since I have seen both of my parents. They were in town this past week! It is always nice to see family and spend time with them. I am so grateful for my mom and dad - who they are and who they raised me to be. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving with them in sunny So. Cal!

-my home! Chandler and I live in a beautiful and comfortable one bedroom basement apartment with the most adorable landlady. We so proudly call it our home. I am so grateful for the kitchen - which is teaching me to stay on top of things (like dishes), and which has enough counter space for all of my fun cooking experiments. Grateful for the washer and dryer too!

-my jobs! As mentioned in the previous post, I am grateful I can work a few jobs that I enjoy and that feel worthwhile. As an extension of this, I am so grateful for my wonderful students. They are sweet hearts and I am lucky to be their teacher. :)

-General Conference! Last weekend instead of going to our normal church meetings we had an opportunity to hear from our modern day prophet and church leaders. It was exactly what I needed to re-motivate myself to be better and to feel inspired by truly amazing men and women of God. I want to be more like them in so many ways, and I want to have a home that always houses the spirit of the Lord. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and that He gives us moments like this to help us enjoy our journey here on earth.

-Fall weather! It has been fun seeing the colors of the trees begin to change in the past couple of weeks and to feel the crisp air.

-exercise! I have been horrible at consistent exercise ever since I graduated and stopped dancing every day for hours. But I am grateful for my body and that it is healthy and that I can exercise. (I have even gone running twice in the last few days!)

-My husband, Chandler! Chandler is my best friend, and we have grown so much together each and every day. He works so hard in all he does, and he is always caring about me and my well-being. He is a good example. He is really funny and has the most amazing smile ever. Chandler is my support and the love of my life. I look forward to spending my life with him and beyond. This month we hit 6 months of being married - here's to being newlyweds for life!

What are you grateful for?

Work!

Work is always an exciting venture. Thankfully since Chandler and I have been married we have both been blessed with a lot of good work. There have been some ups and downs with our jobs, but all in all we feel very fortunate with the opportunities we have had to work. We feel like the way our job opportunities have come about has been a blessing in and of itself - a miracle each time.

Cardboard cutout! (a promotional thing at the BYU library)

I am a ballet teacher, and I love my work and the progress I get to see in my students! The way the job came to me about 10 months ago was a miracle, and the fact that I love my job and my students is so wonderful! Over the summer I was teaching dance every morning and working most evenings at the UVU Research Call Center. Chandler was working at the BYU Library scanning books for Inter-library loan. I wanted to get a job with more hours during the day and looked for months to find a good job - nada. Luckily Chandler was able to work full time hours, even though it wasn't the most glorious of jobs. He also got another job for a month or two in the summer moving books in the BYU library from one end to the other. Again, not the most glorious of positions, but Chandler worked so hard to do what he could and make the most of it.

Since school started, things have been different. My teaching was moved to the evenings (since my students are in school), and Chandler began working fewer hours at the library since school is a full-time job by itself. He also got an opportunity to be a Teachers Assistant for one of his previous professors. It quickly became clear to us that it was not realistic for Chandler to keep both jobs and try to be successful with school. So he decided to just keep the TA job and leave his job at the library. Naturally, we have worried about finances and how we would make things work just like everyone does. I have had moments where I felt like I should be doing more. Even with working at the call center and as a dance teacher I had so much free time during the day. I didn't want to waste it. Chandler was working so hard and I wanted to do the same! Since June I had been looking and praying for another good job but had been turned down nearly everywhere...

But we have been blessed along the way. :) Along with my regular classes, I picked up 2 students who are doing private dance lessons. Also, my friend and fellow teacher who teaches at the same place I do had a baby a few weeks ago. It has worked out that I have been able to substitute for some of her hours - almost doubling mine. I have loved being able to teach more for the last few weeks! Also, about a week ago I got a call from one of my previous professors. One of his colleagues was in need of an assistant for a ballet class at a new high school for the arts. I told him I would love to look into it, and one thing led to another and a couple of days later I got to start! It is definitely a unique opportunity to be in a high school setting. It's a real challenge actually to keep 40+ kids in line. But I am grateful I have more reason to get up in the mornings and that I have yet another opportunity to work - and in my own career field! Chandler and I joke that I could pick up a fourth job because I still have some time in the middle of the day, but who knows what will happen. :) I just know that I am grateful for every opportunity that we have had, and that because of our opportunities to work we have been able to live a very comfortable life within our means. We are really blessed and grateful for work!

Concerts and Friends

At the Nik Day concert - Central Utah Water Gardens

When we are asked what Chandler and I like to do together a common answer that we give is that we love to see live shows! Ever since our first date we have loved attending live performances. We have been to many in the last 11 months and look forward to more fun dates like this in the future. Just to list a few, we have been to see BYU Percussion Ensemble, Young Ambassadors (BYU performing group), Vocal Point (BYU mens A Capella group), Utah Regional Ballet, a BUNCH of shows at Disneyland and California Adventure, LDC Choir at the Orem Institute, senior recitals at BYU (the most interesting was a Basoon solo performance - very unique), Nik Day (at Central Utah Water Gardens outdoor pavillion), and Chandler has even gone to performances to watch me dance as well as the performances of my students (even sitting alone I might add).

City Creek Mall

One of the most grandiose performances we have been to yet was at the end of August - we saw "Wicked"! Neither of us had given each other a wedding gift when we got married, and we decided this would be our gift to each other. It was my second time seeing it, but it was Chandler's first. We decided to make a day of it, since we were going to the matinee in Salt Lake. In the morning I had to get a head shot for my job, then we headed to Ikea to eat a yummy and cheap brunch. After Ikea, we had time to kill before the show, so we went to go check out the newest mall in Salt Lake - the City Creek Mall. It was so fun, and BIG, and had beautiful water features. We walked around a lot (because we decided to just park once that day, and just walk to everywhere from there). The mall was fun, with stores that are not usually seen around here. And there was a fun toy store (of course we spent some time in there - the biggest pull for me was the word games and puzzles of course :). Then we headed to the show at Capitol Theater! Wicked was so wonderful. We were on the ground floor and had pretty decent seats. We laughed so hard at some parts, and enjoyed the beautiful live music and dancing. Such a great show. Well worth the money we spent. We definitely want to continue going to live concerts; it's just so uplifting and inspiring watching others who are so good at what they do.

The electronic sign was shifting, but you can almost see that it says "Wicked"!

In the theater - not the best pic, but we didn't  want to get in trouble for taking a picture in the theater.

Another thing I wanted to write about briefly is the value of good friends. It's quite the transition going from single life to married life. It's hard to keep the same friends from before. Obviously Chandler is my best friend, but it's good to have other friends too - especially friends that are married so we can have common friends. :) Anyway, we have become good friends with one of Chandler's classmates and his wife. Roy and Kelly are their names, and they have the cutest little 3 month old baby girl named Annie. They invited us over for dinner once and we really hit it off. I don't think I had laughed that hard in a long time! It just felt so comfortable. We had them over yesterday for Sunday dinner and games, and it has helped a lot to balance out all of the crazy schoolwork our husbands do. It's nice to have such good friends. (And Kelly does ballet too! We were actually at a summer dance intensive together forever ago. Small world!). So here's a shout out to great friends! It's such a blessing :)

Swag, Simple Joys, and Family Night

I have mentioned that Chandler is in a really intense program right now for school. It's true. The homework and project load is pretty hefty. One of the upsides, and also scary sides, is the recruiting events Chandler gets to go to. Why is this an upside? Well, some of the events take pity on the spouses at home (or the lack of social life their students would otherwise have) and sometimes we get invited! One activity that we got to go to a couple of weeks ago was hosted by Adobe. They had a showing of "The Avengers" at BYU and ISYS and other computer-like majors were invited to attend and bring a date. I got to be my husband's date of course. :) It was a lot of fun - and the free popcorn was yummy. (I also loved that line in the movie when Captain America says something like 'there's only one God, and he doesn't dress like that' - we were with a bunch of BYU students and everyone cheered of course haha).

      Also, as part of his major, Chandler joined the AIS club (Association for Information Systems) that hosts a bunch of activities for recruiters. About a week and a half ago we got to go to a ropes course hosted by Ernst and Young to enjoy some free dinner, raffles, and adventurous activities with ropes. Free dinner = awesome. Free swag (aka nice brand new backpack to all of the club members) = awesome. Ropes course = awesome, and frightening. Those of you who know me well know that I am really afraid of heights. Well, I was trying to be brave and do the zip line after Chandler. I felt really cool in the harness I had to wear, and Chandler made it look easy, so I tried it. The climb to the top of the pole before being attached to the zip line was so scary. Chandler went before me, and as sweet as he is told the lady helping us at the top that I am short and asked if I would have trouble climbing the pole. She assured him I would be safe. (And before you think this climaxes into some crazy story where I fell, don't worry!) I didn't fall, but I climbed the pole - with shaky and sweaty hands - before jumping. At the top I just hugged the pole as hard as I could with my arms and legs as I looked all at how high I was and how far Chandler was from me. I didn't want to jump, but I didn't want to stay there either... After some coaxing, I jumped and it was exhilarating! (but not worth doing the climb again). When Chandler caught me at the end, I cried. I was so relieved I didn't die! Chandler did another activity - jumping in mid air to catch a ring - I stayed at the bottom and watched. :) So, here's to adventures! (and great swag and free meals).

Another "adventure" we had recently occurred on Sunday afternoon. After the Brigham City Temple dedication that we attended that morning (which was really amazing), I thought it would be fun to fly a kite. Chandler and I won a Disney princess kite about 6 months ago at a dating activity hosted by my ward. We were engaged, so it was "our" kite :). We hadn't used it until Sunday... We went to the field right by our apartment to fly the kite. The packaging promised that the kite would 'assemble in seconds', but we lost track of how many seconds it took us to assemble! We weren't complaining though, because that ended up being the most adventurous part of our excursion. The packaging said it needed a minimum of  5mph winds. We didn't even have that.. We ended up running most of the time to keep it in the air and only got pictures of it on the ground. :) We will have to try that on another day. But it was nice to get outside!

All of our pictures show the kite on the ground :) Chandler wanted me to carry the princess kite until it was in the air haha.

One more story :). Chandler and I have been trying to be good about family nights on Mondays. It's hard though with his crazy schedule, so we usually keep it to a hymn and maybe a thought. But before I headed to teach dance yesterday, I thought of a short lesson/activity that I wanted to do for family night. I found some scriptures focusing on different things we need to do in this life to become who our Heavenly Father wants us to be and some blessings that we receive. Each scripture had a clue of where to find the next scripture. It was a scavenger hunt and Chandler was so great to play along and find each clue. It was a simple and fun lesson, and I am grateful Chandler enjoys those things too. It just made me think of how excited I am to someday have kids and be creative and inventive in teaching them - like my mom has been, and like my sister is with her kids. I want to be that kind of mom who finds joy in the simple and fun games that can teach our children correct principles. So, here's my tribute to veteran moms, soon-to-be moms, and moms in training (like myself). Thanks for teaching me by your example.

Our Tale - of friendship, courtship, and life lessons

This post is about us, the Egberts! It's our story, how we met and fell in love. It's a tale of enchantment and adventure, full of surprising twists and turns. A story you won't want to stop reading until the final word...
Just kidding.
I only gave you that intro so that you have time to decide for yourself if you are interested in reading on I write this more in the spirit of reminiscing and for my own record keeping than for anyone else. But feel free to read on! Maybe there is something to gain by hearing our story - more than just learning about us.

Chandler and I met... we are not sure when exactly. We were just friends because of other mutual friends, and pinpointing the exact day has been a futile attempt for both of us (so true love isn't always at first sight). We met because I moved to Raintree apartments in Provo. I had been living at home for about a year, and it seemed like it was time to move out again. Chandler had been living at Raintree since he got home off of his 2 year mission to Bahia Blanca, Argentina. I moved into his ward. And then he moved out. haha. That's not the reason he moved, but for whatever reason he moved to a different building at Raintree - and just as things go in Utah Valley, that move was consequently a move to a different church ward. That was it, we were in the same ward for a grand total of maybe a month. Before he moved though, we had crossed paths just enough times to know who each other was and have a few mutual friends.

Chandler would come over to my apartment sometimes to visit my roommates, and when I was there too we would end up chatting sometimes. Somehow it came up on several of these occasions that I had experienced my fair share of blind dates. Both of us were dating other people at the time, and Chandler told me one day he wanted to add to my list and set me up with someone. As time passed, and as he would visit, Chandler decided he would like to ask me out himself - not set me up with someone else. How sweet.

After some time he finally asked me to go on a date with him. November 5, 2011 was our first date. Chandler wanted to do some service, so we found a yard in Provo with a bunch of leaves and asked the owner if we could borrow a rake or two to rake the yard. It was so much fun, and we talked a lot - our first time really being one on one with each other. I remember thinking Chandler was a pretty cool guy, and that going on another date would be fun. He was so easy to talk to and laugh with. We played in the leaves a bit, and then headed to a percussion concert at BYU. It was fun, and strange at some points - but good entertainment. Afterwards, we went to The Cocoa Bean to get some hot chocolate on our way back to Raintree. The whole date was fun!

However, Chandler was discouraged from my frequent comments and conversations with my sister about how I was just 'sick of dating' - this wasn't meant to be directed at him, but I always seemed to mention something along those lines when he was around... silly me. I didn't realize I was scaring away the man I would grow to love so much. We saw each other periodically, but a lot of signs steered Chandler away from asking me out again for a while. At some point I finally realized I hadn't seen or talked to Chandler much and wanted to see how he was doing. To his surprise I started texting him randomly, and he was a little apprehensive not knowing what I wanted - did I want space? Did I want to be friends? etc... The truth was, I missed talking to someone I loved talking to.

December 1, 2011 was an evening I will never forget. Chandler came over - one of his random visits to chat with us in our apartment. For some reason he looked differently to me that day. I don't know if he had just gotten a hair cut or something, but he seemed really attractive to me. Don't get me wrong, Chandler has always been good looking, but it used to be in a "isn't he just a great friend" kind of way - but for some reason that night I found myself pretty attracted to him - and Leigh even told me that night "I think you guys would be cute together". He talked with me and my roommates, and gradually everyone started to trickle off to bed. Everyone except for me and Chandler. We were up in the front room talking about anything and everything - until about 2am (yes, past curfew - we did that a lot in the next few weeks). It was that night that he made up the story of "Larry the Christmas Tree" on the spot and I thought he was so creative. It was that night that we talked about so many things, big and small - and it seemed to be the beginning of a conversation that would only continue to develop (little did I know that it would be forever).

After that night, Chandler and I saw each other every day. We worked out together on Saturday morning. That night, or on Sunday, he asked for the pleasure of my company as he worked on a final project for a class - and that turned into a great evening of even more enlightening conversation that spilled over into the next day. The next day was Chandler's birthday, and my niece was born that day. That was a fun connection. And we did more together that night. I started and ended his birthday with him. On Tuesday, Chandler and I were talking at my apartment that evening, and he just wouldn't leave until he told me something. It took several hours, but eventually he expressed that he really liked me (it took until 4am). I told him I really liked him too - but that I liked other boys as well. Talk about rude Candace! How silly could I be. I really did like Chandler, but I was just as surprised by this turn of events as I am sure he was. I thought about that conversation a lot over the next couple of days, and I couldn't get Chandler off of my mind. I didn't want to. That Friday I took Chandler on a date to the UVU Christmas party for members of the Alumni group. We built a gingerbread house, and watched the Grinch at the party - and during the whole movie we both battled with our desire to hold each others' hand. Eventually in the final minutes of the movie Chandler made the brave move to put his hand on my leg and, in his words, my hand immediately went "slunk" right into his. That was the first time we held hands.

The next day, a Saturday, there was a church Christmas party and we showed up as a couple. I held his hand all that day. I am not sure if it was this day, or the day after (sad that I don't really know), but in the evening we went for a drive. We ended up driving to the temple (which is often where I would drive to go think). We were talking about the temple and about each other and it was that night that Chandler kissed me. It felt so right, and so sincere. There weren't the usual questions in mind about if he felt the same, or if we shouldn't move so fast. I knew then that I could see myself marrying him, but I didn't tell him that. It was a couple of days after that, in one of our many late-night talks (who decided to get serious with dating someone right during finals?!), that I started to tell Chandler that I loved him. He stopped me from saying it, because it just seemed so fast, even though he felt it too. I knew I would say it later though - but I could wait.

The specific days have been somewhat of a blur since then, but at some point we decided to meet each others' families over the Christmas break from school. Chandler's family was going to be in Irvine, and my parents live in San Diego, so it was perfect. I called and told my mom that I wanted to bring a boy home to stay with us for a couple of days and she said she could hear it in my voice how excited and happy I was. She said I sounded different - more mature and complete with Chandler - than I had with other guys I had dated. Of course she said yes, and my dad's reaction was "we can't do another wedding" ha ha. I thought that was silly and jumping the gun (not denying it as a possibility however), but my parents were wise to the situation and saw how much I cared for Chandler.

We spent Christmas break together, and we drove up to Irvine and I met his family as well and stayed in the guest house at his grandparents. I share a birthday with his Grandad, so they accepted me into the family quickly :). I loved meeting most of his family! On Christmas Eve we parted ways for a couple of days, to spend Christmas with our own families and so Chandler could go with his family on the annual grand kids retreat. I can honestly say that was the worst Christmas ever, because it was like my family wasn't all I wanted to be with on Christmas anymore. I wanted to share that, and every other memory, with Chandler. We called each other every night and sent texts to each other throughout the days. One of the nights, near the end of our trip at my parents' house, we expressed our love for each other. I had never been so happy and so in love before.

We knew soon after that trip that we would be getting married. We got better at keeping the apartment curfew, but even when we were apart we would stay up late talking over the phone and sending texts to each other. I tried not to keep Leigh up, so I would text Chandler while buried under my covers in my bed. We were so in love! We didn't want to scare anyone though, so we planned to get engaged in March - after dating officially for a couple of months. It was near the end of January that we decided that was a silly reason. We both loved each other and wanted to spend the rest of our lives and eternity together, so why should we wait? We set our wedding date for the day after my graduation from UVU - April 28, 2012. Then we got engaged officially on February 2, 2012.

My reason for sharing this story? Not to bore you, and hopefully I haven't. The reason I share this is because it illustrates how life can surprise us - in a big way. In a magnificent way. Who would have thought that moving to an apartment complex in Provo would be the best decision of my life? Who would have thought acquaintances could become best friends in such a short time? I never wanted to be the girl who met and married someone within a month or two (which wasn't us to a "T" but our courtship was pretty dang fast) and I would get annoyed with the people who would say "when you know, you know". But I realize more now than I ever had before that there is a bigger plan for us than we have for ourselves. It takes faith and hope and putting yourself out there a little bit. It takes trust, and mostly trust in the powers beyond this world - trust in the bigger plan designed by our own Heavenly Father. Falling in love with Chandler was so natural when the time was right, and I couldn't have planned it better myself. Since December 1st, 2011 I can count the number of days I have gone without seeing Chandler on one hand. He is the man I always dreamed of with the traits I wanted in my spouse, and more. Together we are becoming the people we want to be because we have each other as support.

So whether you even read all of that or not (I don't blame you if you didn't) I write this to remind myself. We can't see the future, but there are joys ahead that we can partake in if we just put our feet forward with a little faith. It would be futile to try and explain exactly how I came to love and respect Chandler so much and so naturally. I just know that I had a goal in mind of what I wanted in a spouse, and Chandler surpassed what I could have imagined. Chandler is the love of my life, and a perfect complement to the traits that I have. Yes, we aren't perfect and we have our share of disagreements as everyone does - but we cannot deny the power and comfort that we have felt as we have moved forward together. We are best friends.

And this is the beginning of many adventures to come.

The pile of leaves we raked on our first date! (the same place Chandler proposed to me actually :)

November 5, 2011

Just the Beginning

Chandler and I have experienced so much together it seems in our mere 4 1/2 months of being married, and as always the memories are escaping us almost as quickly as they happen. I hope to capture some of those memories, even the small and seemingly insignificant ones, on this blog.

The start of this new semester has brought with it it's challenges. Chandler is in school, and I am not - a challenge on it's own. I am trying to find more work during the day and in the evenings I teach dance to some amazing young ladies. I love the teaching part of my day! Chandler has just begun the I Sys program at BYU (information systems, my best watered down explanation is basically technology and business). This program is well-known throughout the country, and many of the students are sought out for hiring right out of the program. It is exciting and intimidating all at the same time because we feel like life in the 'real world' is actually going to happen. The potential Chandler has, and the things he is learning are amazing! I hope to keep up with him.

Chandler caught me cooking!

With our limited time together we have loved watching Netflix (our show right now is Prison Break) and eating homemade meals together. I love to try new recipes! Chandler also loves to plan vacations for us in the future. We may never go on some of these vacations, but it is fun to plan and imagine what we would do. Disney is always a subject for vacation - Disneyland, Disney world, etc. We spent a good chunk of our honeymoon at Disneyland, and would love to experience that magic over and over again!

We have had many adventures so far and look forward to more in the future! Today's adventure: to start another week, and choreograph for my students. :)