... 4 Months ...

Am I the only one that thinks its weird that Brad & I have only been married for 4 months? It seems like we have been married forever & that this is how our lives have always been. But, I mean that in a good way ... and it's a good thing. 

That guy is my favorite.
I am so happy I married my best friend, my confidant, my equal.

Sometime last week, I was having an exceptionally crappy day. Nothing went right, I was feeling like a major Debbie Downer & the list goes on. All Brad wanted to do ALL day, was figure out how to fix my day. He put me first and made it his goal of the day to make me happy. He's something special.

He puts the Lord first. There have been several times where I will catch him saying his prayers or reading his scriptures or listening to a conference talk and each and every time, my heart swells with a little more love for that man. I love that he is strong in the gospel and that he honors his priesthood.

The other day he said something to the effect of: "I can't wait until I am in Law School and we can have a lot of cute little babies together." I probably smiled really big because he is an amazing dad. He is the dad that gets on the floor and builds the Lego house with Kason & he lets Kason climb up on the counter and help him make the brownies. He chases Kason through the house to tickle him & the giggles that come from that are what I love. He loves Kason as if he were his own, but I cannot wait to see him for the very first time with a brand new baby. *sigh*

My mister works hard. He was raised to work hard, and work for what you want. He does just that. He gets the job done, he gets it done right and many times, he goes above and beyond what is expected of him. He has built a great relationship with his colleagues because of his work ethics.

Brad ... is a funny guy. He is sarcastic, he's funny, he is lighthearted and he loves to joke around. There are very few serious moments in our home and I love that. That man can make me laugh at about any moment in life ... even when I probably shouldn't be laughing. I am glad I married somebody who promises to make me laugh everyday for the rest of eternity.

Brad has this crazy passion for things. He loves to learn. He loves politics. He loves the gospel. He loves sports. He loves so much in life and he is so passionate about it all. I would say he is a pretty well rounded person & a lover of life.

I like to talk. Especially when there is something on my mind bothering me and well, Brad listens. Enough said.

Brad could share the gospel with anybody, anywhere at anytime. I admire this about him so much. He is constantly handing out Book of Mormon's at work and talking to his co-workers about the gospel. His example is a testament of the gospel in and of itself. He stands out and I love that.

I married a man that brings home Ben & Jerry's ice cream when I've had a crappy day. A man who will clean the kitchen, do the laundry, and cook dinner while I am on the couch with a migraine {even though he just worked a 13 hour day}. He will watch girly shows with me just so we can spend time together. He defends me and supports me, regardless of what the matter is. My husband makes me happy every single day and yeah, we have our hard times but, the fact is: we haven't given up.

I love this man more than I ever thought possible to love another person!!

{In hindsight, I probably should have warned you this would be a sappy post but, ya know? his grandkids and great-grandkids deserve to know what he was like before he turned into a grumpy old man!! ... just kidding. (kind of)}

Happy 4 Months of Happily Ever After, Bradley Ray!!!

Family Pictures

I have a story for you.

Back in 2003 I went to college in a small town in rural Arizona. Eastern Arizona College. It was a fun few years and I met some awesome people. One of those was Mary Anne Kovacs ... well, we didn't really hang out & become buddy buddy but, I knew who she was and we went to the same school? Good enough right? She grew up in the same town as my first husband, as did her husband.  

Fast forward a few years, Mary Anne became a Miner. I became a widow and then became a Jensen. Turns out ... MY husband and HER husband were at Brigham Young University at the same time and were on the Ranger Challenge team together for the ROTC program. So, Mary Anne knew my husband before I knew him. Kind of a small circle of weirdness, right? 

Okay, anyway ... before I came a Jensen, I would read Mary Anne's blog and follow her photography blog here: {Miner Photography} She is incredibly talented. I loved looking at all the pictures she would take for her clients and of her cute little family. I would always look at her pictures and think, "I would kill to have pictures taken by her!!" But, the chances of that happening seemed to be about zero to none. So, I just admired from afar. 

Fast forward again, after I got married, we moved to Germany. Well, just so happens that Mary Anne and her family ALSO live in Germany ... oh, about 20 minutes from us. Not only was I more excited about getting to know Mary Anne better, I thought to myself ... Self, this would be a perfect time to take advantage of Mary Anne's photography skills. Who knows when you'll live 20 minutes from her again!? So...I did just that. It would probably be the last chance we would have to get family pictures taken IN Germany, during the Fall, by Mary Anne. 

Okay, enough back story...here are some of the pictures Mary Anne took for us. {I love them. They are perfect!} And it really has been so fun being here with Mary Anne and getting to know her better. She is a wonderful person! {Thanks again, Mary Anne!!} 

I love them. 

Pisa, Cinque Terre & Home Again ...

Sunday ... was a joke. 

We were planning to go to Pisa & Cinque Terre and the quickest, best way to get there is by train. Well, that day the Italian railworkers decided it would be a good day to go on strike. Awesome. It was such a mess. We got to the Florence train station {got targeted by a pick pocket who tried to help us get our tickets...punk} then, sat and waited for our train. The first one got cancelled and it was supposed to leave at 9:30. I think the 10:30 one got cancelled also and it wasn't until 11:00 that one actually decided to leave for Pisa. {Bless that man who crossed the picket line}. So ... we made it to Pisa! We just weren't sure what getting back to Florence was going to be like but, I wasn't going to just skip out on traveling!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

I have always wanted to see this tower! I think it is pretty awesome. And now ... I have accomplished that Bucket List item. 

When the people would come out they always seemed a little disoriented. It was funny to watch them walk down the slanted steps. 

Kason LOVED this part. We took a good 6 or 7 pictures of him doing this by himself. He was having a grand old time! 

This is what it looks like in the area ... everybody standing in funny poses trying to get the best tower shot they can. It's pretty funny to watch some of the people and see the ideas they would come up with. 

The River Arno: 

After we got back to the train station, we bought our tickets to La Spezia so we could go to Cinque Terre. The scheduled train hadn't been cancelled yet so, we thought we were good to go. We even got to the point where we all loaded the train. Then, it got delayed 5 minutes, 10 minutes ... and then it got cancelled. The next train wasn't for an hour so, we all piled off and just waited. Mostly everyone on the train was trying to get to Cinque Terre and we all just stood around, trying to figure out what the next step would be. Finally, they announced a new platform number for the next train and we sat and waited, crossing our fingers it would actually end up leaving. Once we loaded the train, it got delayed 10 minutes, 15 minutes and then, we heard the brakes release and we were on our way! By this time it was almost 3:00 in the afternoon ... I was hoping to be IN Cinque Terre by 1:00 ... that dang strike really messed up our plans. {and on this stretch of our travels, there was a couple that didn't have tickets, so when the train conductor came through - they bolted for the doors super fast. it was kind of funny. they got yelled at in Italian and then got off on the next stop}

On the way, we passed a mountain where they mine for marble. It was in Massa, Italy. 

In La Spezia, we wanted to just take the train to Cinque Terre but, obviously couldn't. We were told that the strike in that region was ending at 5:00 (it was currently 4:00) and in Florence the strike would continue until 9:00. So, we found a taxi and had him take us up to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is an area of 5 coastal towns right up on the cliffs of the Italian Riviera. You can hike in between each town or take the train. The towns haven't been overrun by industries and corporations so, they are all small and quaint. Cars aren't even allowed down into each town. I loved, loved, loved Cinque Terre. It is easily one of my favorite parts of the trip. Unfortunately, because the trains were not running and the trail between the first town and the second town was shut down, and because we had about zero time there ... we were only able to see the first little town. I was a little disappointed but, there wasn't much we could do about it! So ... this is Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore is famous for it's wine that is made right there in the town, by the surrounding vineyards. 

I loved this old man fishing!!! 

I love this boys laugh ... it is so contagious.

The Mediterranean Sea. 

I want to live here ... or at least go back and stay longer. And hike through all the towns. Someday ... maybe. 

After we walked through the town, we found the train station, bought our tickets and crossed our fingers the scheduled train wouldn't be cancelled. It was after 5:00 so, we were hoping they would be done with the strike for good. Thankfully, a train came through at 6:00. It was originally scheduled to leave at 5:00 ... so, it was only an hour late! But, it got us back to La Spezia. 

In La Spezia, we got some dinner and waited on the train situation again. We were thinking that our train was supposed to leave at 7:00 but, it got pushed back 30 minutes so, we were just walking around trying to kill time. But, at about 6:59, I looked back up at the screens, realized we had been looking at the ARRIVAL times and that the train we wanted ... was leaving at 7:01. We booked it to the platform. It was great fun I tell ya. But thankfully we made it back to Pisa. In Pisa, I think we ended up buying a regional train back to Florence (because they seemed to be running more reliably). When we got back to Florence I just wanted to kiss the ground. I was so happy to be back knowing we could get home the next day.

Monday we had to take a train back to Rome. We woke up, got to the Florence station, thankfully to find that all our trains were running normal. Our first one was delayed for about 10 minutes but, it was still running! From this point on, I thank Heavenly Father for getting us to the airport on time. After our train arrived in Rome, we had about 5 minutes before we would need to catch the next train. I quickly looked at the schedule and barely glanced at the platform number before I knew where we were supposed to go. We barely made it on the train before it pulled away. Once we were at the train station by the airport ... we were standing outside for no longer than 5 minutes, trying to figure out how to get to the airport, when a taxi driver pulled up and asked where we needed to go. 10 minutes and 15 euro later, we were walking in the front doors of the airport to head home. I was so grateful that everything went so smoothly on Monday.

It was SO nice to get home Monday night. German soil, never felt so good. 

This picture was taken on the train ride to Rome. Kason was exhausted and he fell asleep in his chair but, they weren't exactly comfortable so, I took advantage and snuggled him up. I love these moments. 

Florence, Italy

Saturday morning we took a train up to Florence. Our train by the apartment was 30 minutes late and I knew we would never make it to the city center to catch our transfer train to Florence. Thankfully, the Lord knew our wonderful landlord would help us out because I was told, "Ask Fabio" and we did ... and that wonderful man took us to the metro station so we could make our connection at the city center. I was so incredibly grateful that he was so willing to help us out. He saved our Saturday!!!

Now ... I absolutely loved Florence. I would go back there in a heartbeat. The people were incredibly friendly, the town was gorgeous, the weather was perfect ... it was a nice change from Rome. 

The Duomo, or the Florence Cathedral, or the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, was huge. The outside was incredibly detailed. Across from the Cathedral was the octagon baptistery and next to the cathedral was their bell tower. The inside of the Cathedral was actually pretty plain, weird to me considering the outside had so much design. Maybe they ran out of stem? We climbed up to the top of the dome. There were 463 steps one way. It was a great work out and my little champ didn't complain once. People kept passing him and giving him praise for doing it alone, "You've climbed all these stairs by yourself!? Good job, man!" He's probably in better shape than me though so, it wasn't surprising. 

The stained glass was, and always is, gorgeous. 

Views from the top: 

The dome itself is made out of bricks so when they built it, they feared the bricks would be too heavy and the dome would collapse. So, they actually built two domes, with this hollow space in between, so that it wouldn't collapse! A lot of the stairs are actually in the space so, you're walking in between the bottom dome and the brick dome. 

Back on the ground again. 

This is their bell tower -- you can climb to the top of this, too. I really had no desire...

While we were waiting for my dad, we had some canoli and gelato. 

After the Cathedral we went to find The Statue of David. You're not supposed to take pictures of him either but, I couldn't resist. Everybody does it. (right?) Anyway ... this statue was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I could have sat there all day and just taken it all in. I never thought a statue could move me in the way David did. Kason wanted to hear the story of David so, we pulled up the scriptures on my phone and I read him the story of David and Goliath. Perhaps that is why it was so impactful? My spirit was definitely moved that day sitting there in front of David, reading from the scriptures the great thing he did. The rest of the trip, Kason kept recounting the story of David and talking about how God will help us whenever we ask.

Lesson learned ... mission accomplished.

Thank you, David.

This guy was found on our walk ... how can you pass up a photo opportunity with a giant Lego pirate!? 

Ufizzi square is where a replica of David stands. There is also a Bronze replica in Florence somewhere but ... we never found him. Rats. I kind of wanted to but, oh well.

Another David & Goliath statue: 

My dad wanted to go inside the Ufizzi Museum but, it has a bunch of artwork and I knew Kason wouldn't be able to last 10 minutes in there without complaining of boredom. So, instead we walked across Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge in Florence. When it was first built butcher's occupied all the shops. Now it's filled mostly with jewelry stores. Expensive jewelry stores. But, it was a cute, quaint bridge. I loved the architecture of it. 

That night we ate at this awesome restaurant (Il Porcospino) in Florence, right near the train station. The food was amazing, the waiters were SO friendly and fun, the atmosphere was perfect and the weather even cooperated. Our waiter found out I was from Utah and asked, "You're not Mormon are you?" When I responded, "Actually, I am!" He asked if I was going to vote for Obama or Romney in the upcoming Presidential Election. He said, "Ah ... you will vote for Mitt Romney then, ya? Obama, he is no good! I do not like him. I would vote for Romney, he is a good man!!" It made me laugh & it was kind of fun to talk politics all the way in Italy ... plus, it didn't hurt his tip either!