Sunday January 9, 2022
I’ll try and finish a letter detailing our exploits in Texas celebrating Christmas, but for now, rest assured it was a wonderful two weeks and infinitely relaxing and enjoyable. I’m grateful to my parents who work so hard to make every trip home memorable and perfect. Were we spoiled? Yes. Did I mind? Not at all.
Since returning back to Utah, it’s been a quiet week. Lots of unpacking. We’ve done in one week what it took us one month to do last time. Unfortunately, on my last day in Texas, I showed Sawyer and Miller who was the king of golf. Unfortunately, in the process I contracted poison ivy. That was Thursday. By Saturday morning, my entire face was scratchy, with my lips all bubbly and my eyes swollen. It’s spread to my neck and forearms, but my hands and face are finally (nearly) clear. I’m tired of taking cold showers. And it’s been miserable trying to sleep. Every night is fitful, with me waking 5-6 times and holding my hands to our wall, made up of cold cinder blocks, which alleviates the itching somewhat.
Now that I’ve gotten my complaining out of the way, let me share two miracles:
1. On Saturday, after waking up with my face swollen, Andrew picked us up in SLC and we went to help Johnny+Lenita move. The energy there was awesome and it was fun to be part of an exciting endeavor. Once the truck was filled, we followed it to Wallsburg and saw their new place. It’s beautiful and the house is very nice. They’ve gone from having a college apartment complex as their backyard neighbors to having snowy fields overshadowed by the majestic mountains. We left about 2:30 pm to go unpack our apartment and get ready for school on Monday. Here’s the miracle: Saturday was the coldest day of the winter. It was 15-25 degrees all day. My poison ivy stayed at bay because of the cold. It wasn’t an issue. If it had been 40 degrees out, I would have suffered so much. If I had been inside all day, I would have suffered. Being in the cold was the very best thing that could have happened.
2. When the poison ivy first appeared on Friday, I thought it was just a rash. I haven’t had poison ivy for 7-8 years, and I’ve never had it in the winter. When I realized what it was on Saturday, it was too late. The BYU health clinic is closed on the weekends and I knew that I would not make it to Monday ok. So, at 8:30 pm on Saturday night, I called my brother-in-law Dan the man, talked to him and was able to get a prescription for prednisone. Within the hour, I had the pills. Literally saved me. I do not want to imagine what would have happened if I could not have gotten a prescription that night. The options were to go to the emergency room (probably a long wait, and definitely a MASSIVE bill) and get a prescription or wait until Monday when it would probably be in my throat and my eyes would be too swollen to see. Last time I had this 7-8 years ago, even with steroids my lips/face became scarred, and each time gets progressively worse, so I needed to act fast. Super grateful for the quick medicine.
Ok, enough about poison ivy. Actually one last thing. I showed up to school Monday with one ear 3x the size of the other, red rash everywhere, and a beard (can’t shave til the ivy is gone). I received some stares from classmates wondering if I am Hunter, and I wanted to shout “Unclean! Unclean!” Update: as of this morning, my beard is gone and I am now longer on my way to becoming a Union Civil War General. It was the longest facial hair I’ve ever had.
Now about the rats. Errr mice. When we returned to our apartment on Saturday, it was comical looking. Everything was piled five feet high and we couldn't walk through the living room without first doing some major reshuffling. We put our shoulders to the wheel and were doing great when we heard it. The squeaking. We narrowed it down to a few boxes, and thought we had it figured out when we realized one of them had jars of peanut butter. If anything would attract a mouse, that would be it. With great fanfare, we brought the box outside and dumped it. To our dismay, nothing. We continued to unpack, and the squeaking stopped. We have no clue as to why. Just to be safe, we put out a few traps. Nada. The traps are still up, but I think we are in the clear.
Our apartment, built in 1961, is only 550 sq feet. It’s got an orange oven and baby blue countertops. The prophets say to make our home like a temple. That’s our goal, but upon moving in, we realized we have a leg up as our house looks exactly like a church. Same indestructible carpet, and the same bathroom tile. Remarkably, 45 years ago, Julie’s parents lived two doors down from where we are now. They’ve confirmed it looks the same.
We weren’t sure the piano was going to make it but miraculously, it’s with us on the 2nd floor. Kevin and Porter hauled it up and I basically just cheered them on, only adding a finger or two for balance. I can’t believe they could bring it up the stairs alone. I tried to help at first and could tell it was soooo much harder for me than 4 months ago. They inspired us, and that very night we got a gym membership. And for the first time in our lives, we took “before” pictures. Looks like I’ve grown since being married. And I don’t mean I’m taller.
Here’s something that made me appreciate our apartment more. The average house has gone from 800 sq feet in 1950 to more than triple, over 2,600 sq. feet, in 2015. This becomes even more remarkable because in that same time frame, the average household size has decreased so people are living with way more home than they did. We’re just living like the 1950’s, with 275 sq feet per person, which is what that time period averaged.
In any case, while I’ve been at school, Jules has put our apartment together. And she’s done a masterful job. Not only has she done an incredible job with the apartment, she’s become quite the domestic goddess. Our house is put together, my clothes are laid out for me every day which I love, dinner is taken care of, everything is clean as can be, and I keep finding fresh cookies on the countertop.
Another aspect of our apartment that I love: our location is perfect. We are the closest building to campus, and the laundry facility is right by our building, as is the dumpster. Which, let me tell you, is full of surprises. We tried making a rule that we can only go look once a week, but that isn’t working. Every time we take our trash out, and sometimes more, we have to take a peak. We’ve found some treasures, and some of those treasures have already been sold online. It’s more for the thrill than for the money. And it’s about being resourceful. Waste not, want not. When we bring our trash down, sometimes we’ll come back with more than we left with. Just yesterday, on our way to do laundry, we discovered 12 pounds of butter, frozen, wrapped, and good as can be. I know it's good butter because that’s what made the cookies on the countertop, and the cookies were great.
Talking about cookies, one thing that we are on the lookout for is a kitchenaid. I’ve had one for close to two years (my mom’s old one) and it finally bit the dust. It facilitated lots of cooking adventures, especially lots of pizza. And cookies.
Jules is working on applying to jobs. She nonchalantly told me the other day, “We don’t have kids, so I’m not a stay-at-home MUM, I’m a stay-at-home BUM.” Made me laugh, but she really has been working hard to get everything done with our house. I put out a message on LinkedIn and we’ve gotten some really good leads we’ll follow up on, as well as an interview set-up for her by Greg.
Date night Friday was so fun. Last semester we became a little too lackadaisical. We had plenty of dates but they weren’t always the best planned. So many of you have inspired me over the years with your examples, (can I get a #WooYourWoman from Uncle Rich) and I know how important date night is. We’re committed to making it an ESSENTIAL part of every week. Friday we went to Pioneer Book and then Guru’s, a local restaurant. Pioneer Book does an awesome promotion where they give you a $10 gift card for your birthday, no strings attached. With her birthday coming up, Jules picked out a couple that she’s been wanting to read: The Last of the Mohicans, Tom Sawyer, and The Crucible. Guru’s was good. Too good in fact. We devoured the sweet potato fries with our food, and then saw the people at the table over get up and leave. And leave their nearly full plate of sweet potato fries behind. That hurt my heart, so surreptitiously as possible, I tiptoed over and swiped them. Now I know after the butter story and now fries you might be seriously worried about us. We’re fine. Financially at least. We’re working on the social graces part. If you should be worried about anybody, worry about yourself because with the dumpster being so close by, there’s a high likelihood that a present is in your near future.
Today was our first time in our new ward. It was not a great first impression. Long story short, we felt very out of place. However, by the end of Relief Society and priesthood, our frowns were turned upside down and we both received the singular impression: I belong here. It ended up being a great Sunday.
Because of Come Follow Me, I’ve been studying Genesis and the creation of the world. And, because of the New Year, I’ve been making some goals and resolutions.
I think that there are so many lessons for us to learn in relation to setting goals from the first chapters of Genesis. Here are some of my takeaways:
- Have the end in mind. The end goal was always to have Adam and Eve and posterity on earth. But, the first steps had to happen first. Land had to be divided from the water, and plants created, etc. before it was ready for humans. We should have the end goal in mind, but work on making each smaller step happen too.
- Be consistent. I really think that with everything, consistency makes a huge DIFFERENCE. If you just do something every day, i.e. exercise for 5 minutes, it gets easier and easier and it adds up. Parts of the creation happened for 6 days. God didn’t try to do it all at once, and each day something was done.
- Honor the Sabbath. There is no larger endeavor than the creation of the world. And yet God still rested on the Sabbath. We might think that we are too busy to take a break from our worldly concerns, but honoring the Sabbath will always bless us and bring us closer to our Creator. I know I can get more done in 6 days than 7.
Love you all!
Hunter + Jules
