South Couch

  I met Christopher and his beloved "south coach" at about the same time of year, Fall. Although, unlike Chris, I knew nothing of south couches history, so when I was asked the question, 

"Don't you just love this couch?!" 

just imagine his reaction when I answered, 

"Well actually I hate how the sitting area is so narrow and it drives me nuts how the cushions slide off so easily and they're not so cushion-y as I like, plus it's too low to the ground and makes me feel like I'm about to hit the ground rather than a couch... and it's kinda old..and dirty."

Oh and did I forget to mention the floral print?

    You guessed it! He wasn't too happy, but I could sense that he knew where I was coming from.

Since that time I've been informed of the story and history of South Couch AND seem to have developed a soft spot myself for the darn thing. Except that, once we we're engaged and I knew we'd be living together I told Chris I didn't think South Couch would be staying with us.

Before I continue, let me fill you in on the whole story;

   To name the couch, was inspired by his good friend Ryan Sweeny who had a couch of his own who he lovingly referred to as the "Black Hole". Supposedly you'd sink right into it and immediately fall asleep. 

  As for South Couch, Christopher grew up with it in Nebraska where it was home to the basement downstairs. The whole family would rush to finish Sunday dinner and bolt down stairs to snag the couch before the other three siblings could. It was the perfect place to spend the late afternoon napping in a cool and cozy bundle.

So where did the name derive from?

 Well, it wasn't the only couch downstairs, but it was the only one up against the wall furthest South. and viola, "South Couch" it was.

  Time came and went and soon Chris was off graduating College and accepting a career located in California. And being the golden childthat he was,  he was blessed with all of his parents old furniture to furnish his Long Beach apartment. Lucky Dog.

  Little did the others, back home in Omaha, know that Chris took off with their napping buddy. They had just suspected that it was finally tossed out due to old age. Thank goodness!

   Three moves later and it's still standing. That's what I call a solid couch. It has survived Christopher's adolescence, college career, trek to California, the many house parties that came with his bachelor days; and here it is today sitting humbly in the living room of our first home together as Husband and Wife.

   But like I said before, it wasn't staying with us!  Well, we've bought a new couch with nice thick fluffy cushions at least 3 or more feet off the ground and are definitely wide enough, and get this, they've got Velcro on the bottom of each cushion so they don't ever have a chance at sliding! It's awesome! 

   Oddly enough, South Couch still sits loyally beside our new one and I just don't have the urge to junk it just yet. I love it! I prefer napping on South Couch more than I do our new one. 

I guess old habits do die hard.

New Beginnings

Here we are creating a blog together to help inform all of our friends and family what we do in life and how we do it. It's just one more new beginning to adjust to and keep up with. For those not so familiar with the two of us, you might ask, "What IS new in their life?"

 ..our response would be something like this:

 We just got married on March 26th in the beautiful Manti, Utah Temple which was so perfect I could hardly believe it was real. The family was all together secluded in an extra large cabin, feelings of peace and happiness were in abundance, I was marrying the man of my dreams, and we were all on time to the sealing!

  After our sealing and a nice dinner together with our guests, we then drove up north to Salt Lake and stayed the night at The Anniversary Inn. It was such a fun and comfortable stay! The next morning we jumped on a plane and spent a beautiful honeymoon on Maui, Hawaii! It was eight days of beautiful weather, calm seas, and almost too much adventure for a new couple to handle! But we survived like champs :)

  After the frivolous week in Hawaii we came home to our new apartment still stacked with boxes and unopened wedding gifts, only to be informed the first day back at work that Christopher would no longer have a job with Westley Thomas, Inc. 

WHAA! 

  Now. They always say once the honeymoon phase is finally over a couple is then hit with the face of true reality.. but really?! I didn't think it would end quite that abruptly!

  It was difficult to swallow that first day home but thankfully we were newlyweds and still soaring above cloud 9. I truly believe that is what got us through, what could have been, such a rough patch. Not to mention Christopher's "never give up, never surrender" attitude.

  So, on life continued with a wedding 'open house' in Christopher's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska April 9th. My parents came along for the trip and we all loved being back together only after two weeks of being apart.

  And it didn't stop there. May 7th was our largest wedding celebration in Camarillo at the Henderson's home. It was a gorgeous backyard reception where we, again, celebrated with family and the majority of our friends who lived in California. We were spoiled by getting to celebrate our wedding over and over, and over again :) Ultimately, the best part of all the celebrating was the blessing that all of our families were able to see one another so often! 

  I was so flustered when it was all said and done and we said our goodbyes; knowing that this time, it would be a much longer period of time before seeing one another again. And for those of us who know Christopher's mother and how sad she is to see her children leave after having them home for the holidays... well I felt what probably was just a glimpse of what she does when her babies head back out of state to Idaho, Utah, and California.  It's never been an easy thing for me (Erica) to say goodbye.

 Again, reality struck and we were back to work. I, myself, was working as a SPED instructional assistant with a kindergartner who was diagnosed with severe ADHD in the mornings and then off to be a Child Care Assistant in the afternoons while Christopher was home diligently searching for a job wherever he could. Not only that, but he also took over the household duties of moving us in, doing laundry, washing dishes, shopping, and cleaning the house! 

  We've both decided that we'd much rather stick to our original roles ASAP; as I was tired of working eight to six each day and he was tired of all the household duties! What a valuable lesson learned for us. 

  Since then, about two months exactly after being laid off and numerous prayers and fasts, Christopher found a job with Hales Engineering conveniently located in Camarillo just five minutes from our apartment. The Lord is just so readily waiting to bless us as we work diligently to live in the way He directs and asks of us. And yes, it is work to live life according to Gods will, but it sure is worth it!