Rainstorms and Golden Tans

It's almost October...YESH. I absolutely ADORE fall. I love the weather, the activities, the scarves, the sweaters, the changing leaves...it's all so very magical. Also, I am so ready for it. I love change, love it. Things are changing here at the Bradham household. But before I get to that, lets go back to August, horrible, ugly, hard, finally over with August.

August was a month full of No's. So let's back up. 

Item 1: GB had been interviewing for this position in Dallas, TX...we really wanted him to get it, it would just about double our income, give us a chance to buy a home, and just start a new adventure. 

Item 2:  I had been planning this little trip to Africa for about a few months at this point. I was super excited because it has been a dream of mine... since basically forever... to go work in an orphanage there and see the beautiful country. I found this amazing company that I could actually afford, with my flight benefits, GB and I decided I had to do it. So I had put down a deposit and let my heart rejoice and count down the days to September. 

Item 3: I was SURE beyond SURE I was pregnant this month, this was the month and I KNEW it. I was late and my body was weird and I had received a direct blessing a month before and this was it. I was finally pregnant this month. 

Enter the worst month any body has ever had ever   August, 

GB passed all 4 interviews with flying colors, just waiting on the offer, he of course would get it. No doubt, this was all part of our plan. An email came, and like that, our plan was shattered. Poof...over. No job, we were super confused cause GB had gotten back such great feedback. I was really sad slightly relieved because Texas is disgusting   and totally bummed that my dreams of a home were no longer. Boo

I got sick for a few weeks in August and missed a week straight of work, which is NOT okay when working for an airline, at least not with Delta. While my bosses were super great about it, they still have certain policies about it and what not, so I was on a hiatus from work and started to think about my Africa trip...I got these weird feelings about it and was afraid I wouldn't have my flight benefits any longer and concerned I wouldn't be able to go yada yada So I prayed about it...my answer...."Now is not the time, but you will go". I was devastated, but I knew what I was supposed to do, so I canceled my trip AND lost my deposit. boo

Whatever, its fine, those things didn't work out cause this was my month, the month of baby Bradham right?..wrong...really really wrong. When I found out I just  laid in the shower and sobbed....and sobbed.....and sobbed until the water ran cold. What they don't tell you when are trying to get pregnant is that its not always instant...you don't just think hmm I want a baby and then poof, baby growing. They don't tell you how incredibly unfair it may be, I mean 16 year old girls get pregnant REPEATEDLY not even wanting a baby in the first place, but for me, who is so ready and willing that I  would cut off my pinky toe to get pregnant, its an exact science....I hate science by the way, oh and numbers, hate numbers....getting pregnant requires both. No one ever tells you how hard it is to hear all your friends get pregnant on the first try or without even trying at all and how crappy you feel when before you know it their babies are here and there you are....still in the same place as you were when they first got pregnant, happy for them but also bleeding green slightly envious. No one ever warned me that just the mere desire to become pregnant would mess with your hormones and turn you into a crazy person...I mean some days all I wanna do is hold other peoples babies and pretend just for 2 minutes that its my baby and on other days you wanna burst into tears at the sight of an itsy bitsy human. Or I have those moments when a friend annouces they are pregnant and like a busy body I ask how long they tried and they tell me, "oh just a month", I'll say out loud "Aww that's awesome, I am so thrilled for you", and I really do mean it but inside I am also secretly thinking "I freaking hate you", like some sort of evil monster. I really am happy for them...promise :) Or how you want to strangle your friends when they complain that their big bellies are and how fat they feel from it.  How you just wanna shake them and scream," Don't you know how beautiful it is to be pregnant?! You are growing a PERSON! A tiny version of you and the person you love most in the world! Don't you get that I am NOT and I want to be more than I have ever wanted anything...EVER?! Don't complain, be grateful" don't they know?? ughh...it stinks...I don't like all the crazy it brings out. but I know I will be a mom, its on the lords time, not mine. I am not good at not having control or not being able to plan. A lesson I am learning. I can tell you one thing though, after all I have been through trying to have a baby, I will never take a single moment for granted.

*Side Note: Sorry all my pregnant friends, I love you and I really and happy for you all...and complain all you want about water retention and nausea and all other horrible side affects cause #1 I have no idea what it feels like and #2, its just flat out not fair. Just try not to complain about your baby bump around me :)

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Houston to spend a few days with Dad and company and go to Time Out for Women with Heidi, which in and of its self was an amazing blessing. It was a wonderful opportunity and I am so thankful for it. I met some inspiring women who taught me so much. I am immensely blessed despite all the little struggles. I can recognize that my life is as beautiful as it it because of the hard and for that I am grateful and will always be.  

August.stunk but its over and fall is coming, a season of change, things are changing for us...for the better. I am at an amazing place right now and my relationship with my father in heaven could not be any better, well I am sure it could always be better but it feels just glorious. As I was flying home from Houston I saw the most beautiful sunrise and I felt an overwhelming sense of love from the Savior, I know he has a plan for me and no matter what he has my back. There is no greater feeling than that. I have learned a lot in my 26 years, and if there is one thing I know, its that after a heavy rain, the clouds part and the sun shines down...and I always end up with the most glorious golden tan. 

We later found out the only reason GB was not offered the job was because the company had just received a budget cut and was forced to hire internally. Because of not getting that job we have been praying hard about where to go from here and what is next for us and have received confirmation that Georgia is where we are REALLY meant to be. I have every faith in the lord that something great awaits us there. GB still really LOVES his job with IHG, hopefully more opportunities will open up there, so in less than two weeks we are moving in with GB's parents and on the hunt for a home..yep we want to buy a house...we shall see how that goes :) It is an exciting time in our lives and I am trying my best to enjoy despite the ginormous mess we are currently living in. :) 

Love and Bricks

Man this week has been SO crazy emotional. So much has been going on in our lives. Good, bad, and just plan crazy. Before I get to the heavies, I want to touch on something that has been really close to my heart lately. .....Garrett.

I can not express how much I love this man! Honestly, I am so in love with him. I mean seriously, look at him..how could I not be??? 

Right?! mmmmm delicious. 

We are approaching our 3 year anniversary and I can't believe it. Not because it I am thinking, "man where did the time go?" but because I honestly can not believe we have only married three years/together for 5. I feel like.."really? that's all?" and  I mean that in the best possible way. When I think about it, I feel like we have just been together forever. I seriously don't know how I had a life without him. We have been apart almost two weeks now and it SUCKS! He called me today and said something that made me cry when I got off the phone. He said, " We just don't function well apart, its like we have such a tight relationship that we are each others halves, and when we are apart its like half of us is gone." I hadn't really thought about it that way before but it really is SO true. I really feel that way. He is my stronger, better half. It really is so difficult to be apart because it is like the very best, most important part of me is just gone. It's barely bearable. I spent most of my sick day yesterday going through all our old photos and videos since I missed him so much. We have had so much fun together. I have loved all of our adventures. I have so much fun with him. My little play buddy :) I am so thankful for all the travel we have been able to do so far. I have seen/traveled the world with my best friend, not many people can say that and I am eternally grateful for it. 

I have been thinking about my life a whole lot lately and how incredibly lucky and blessed I am. I have mounds and mounds of gratitude for my father in heaven. I am blessed beyond what anyone deserves. I really love my husband  so very much. He is without a doubt the most gloriously amazing, most happiest thing to ever happen to me. Garrett is a dream, he is so patient and understanding with me. He is the very best listener and gives the most marvelous huggles (very intense huggle/snuggle). Not to mention his mind blowingly good looks. He has been the most wonderful, faithful companion and I honestly could not have dreamed up a more perfect person for me.  He was definitely worth all the heartache I had to go through  to get to him :) Oh how I love him..(side note: he comes home in 4 hrs and 18 min) mmmmmm-ness. I can hardly stand it. 

So yea happy happy things....with that all that being said, life has been interesting lately, to say the least. GB has some job opportunities in the pipe that we are hopeful and excited about. We will be moving from the wonderful Columbia October 15.... saddening but its time to move on...not sure where to yet...most likely back home to GA but only time will tell...so all that is crazy. I am a planner and I don't really like not being able to plan my living sitch, but hey, it is what it is. 

Oh so the brick thing.....for the longest time I have felt like I have been walking around with this ginormous sack of bricks on my back. Yesterday, I set it down. Confused? .....its okay. Lets just say I found a place of forgiveness I wasn't sure I would ever be able to find, and worked through and healed from things that seemed impossible. As I have gone through this long and painful process I have noticed a few things about trials
1: being that whenever I go through them, I find my self growing so incredibly close to the lord, its almost like he is constantly sitting with me and I can just talk to him as I please with immediate updates.
2: When I get showered with loads of trials.....blessing soon follow. I always try to focus on that when I seem to get bombarded....kind of exciting ....like, "okay I can do this, bring it,  lets get this over with and let the good times roll." 

Gotta just keep swimming

I think I am almost at the end here ...I know this is vague but on one hand, this is the internet...even though this is just mostly for me and posterity sake, people do read it. Anyway, I as I wrote my emails of  letting go or what have you, I could literally feel the Saviors arms around me...it was hands down the most liberating thing I have EVER experienced. I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I have such a strong testimony of it. I believe firmly in the powers it has to heal our hearts. Without it I would be a sad, miserable girl. 

What else what else???...hmmm...well I have an amazing thing in the works but I won't divulge that until its a for sure thing...so that's it I suppose

All in all life is good for us. We are going through some family ish, and not sure what the future holds, but our heads are  up :)

Aruba

The Wednesday before the 4th I found out that I had the 4th off...which was awesome because it meant that I had an extra day to go somewhere really awesome. We debated a lot on where we wanted to go...so Friday afternoon...we decided on Aruba.

Folks, it. was. awesome. I was concerned we wouldn't be able to make it because several co-workers have had issues getting there. I guess the timing was perfect because we got there...flying first class!

The water in Aruba was incredible, probably the most beautiful I have seen. The only thing I didn't like was that it was pretty spendy and super touristy. Despite those few little things...it was an incredibly relaxing trip. We spent most of the time lounging on the beach and basking in the gloriously blue water. 

We decided we had to try the snorkeling here and we had also heard wonderful things about the Jeep Tours...so we found a package that offered both. The Snorkeling wasn't fabulous but still very pleasurable. We even got to snorkle on a sunken WWII ship....AWESOME! but also terrifying. We were out in deep open water and after about 10 minutes I nearly had a panic attack so I headed back...GB had better dedication than I did and snorkeled down to the mast of the boat. 

The Jeep Tour was SO. Much. Fun!! We saw a lighthouse, Caves, and the most BEAUTIFUL beach...baby beach! The water was unreal...seriously just like a post card. The best thing about the Jeep tour was that we made some awesome friends from Quebec. We hung out with them the rest of the trip...seriously so. fun!

 Our New pals Fred and Jessica...they are so much cooler than we are lol

Here are some shots of some of the fun we had. We also ate a super nice dinner at a really yummy Itallian resturaunt, saw a 3d movie for 4.50 each, shopped, at Ice-cream, and walked the beach at night. 

We also saw a TON of these in Aruba....

and unfortunately....even more of these...

It was a fabulous trip!! Tata Aruba!! 

Deer Dog

     It was a normal day, not particularly good...but a usual day none the less. Or at least, that is what I thought. As I was driving home all I could think about was the scooter and how I couldnt wait to take a ride upon my gallant steed upon my arrival. As I pulled up to my apartment complex I noticed something ...strange...phenominal even. My eyes couldn't believe what they were beholding. There it was trying to cross the road to the woods behind my apartment...it looked like a grey hound had bred with a deer. It had the head, stance, and majestic presence of a deer..but the long, low, tail of a dog, and it was ....GREY? I seriously could NOT believe my eyes. NO this is not a joke! I staired in awe of its magicalness. It. was. a deer dog and it was awesome. also a little bit freaky, I wasn't going to be walking the pups in the woods any longer until I did some investigating that was for sure. I rushed home to pursue some answers. Surely I was not the ONLY person to ever witness this. I told Garrett about what I had seen...he laughed...hysterically. That is until he did a little research of his own and found this video! .http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Chupacabra-Trapped-Outside-Maryland-Hospital-127898703.html

Here  are some pictures that go with it.  

 His jaw dropped, in that moment he knew his beloved was not crazy, but in fact....WORTHY....yea...worthy to have beheld such an oddity. I am not kidding ya'll. I also found some links to the mysterious chupacabra that terrosizes people along the Texas/Mexico border AND parts of Puerto Rico...folks I am a believer. Some people say its a fox or cayote with mange...pshh...those people never saw this thing in person.

 Believe what you want, but I KNOW what I saw..as sure as I am living and breathing...so is this thing! All I know is...im keeping a very close eye on my pups and making Garrett have night time bathroom duties

A Taste of Thailand

Thailand was glorious! We really really needed this trip and it did me loads of wonderfulness. I learned a lot about the world and myself on this little trip we had. It was well worth the 28 hour journey to get there. We spent the first day in Bangkok. My mind was blown at how ridiculously cheap everything was there. We rented a tuk tuk to drive us everywhere for the whole day for 3 dollars!! We of course tipped well, but still. INSANE! We did a river tour around the back side of the city and it was a real eye opener. We saw how the people of the city really live. To be honest, meeting these people, you wouldn't expect them to live so poorly. They are all so happy, yet they have so little. It made me so grateful for all that I have. I enjoyed waving to the small children washing clothes and sitting along side the river. Sadly, I am unable to upload those photos because blogger won't read the file type :( We also checked out a few of their Wat's, or temples for Buddha. I had never noticed before that the Chinese and Thai people worship two very different looking Buddha. It was interesting and also beautiful. Garrett and I received a bracelet from a monk...pretty neat. We ended up not doing an Elephant ride because all the places we found were all day tours and you really only got to ride the elephant for about an hour of that, with limited time...we decided to forgo it. We still had a fabulous time touring the city and shopping. GB got a tailor made Gucci suit and a few shirts...looks pretty, pretty, pretty slick. I personally, enjoyed MBK...Cheapest.Mall.Ever! We also decided to go ahead and make way for Phi Phi islands a day early. Best. Decision. Ever! Umm wow. As the ferry drew closer to the islands, our jaws dropped. This was hands down the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Garrett and I had a wonderful time snorkeling with a beautiful array of fishes and laying out on the sandy white beaches. My personal favorite, were all the long boat rides we took to get from island to island. Our trip on the Islands were extremely spiritual for me. A lot of healing and forgiveness took place. As I pondered on my life, staring up at the majestic cliffs that seemed to reach up to the heavens, I couldn't help but feel closer to God. It amazes me how the lord could create such an intricate, detailed, beautiful world. I can not help but feel his deep love when I take the time to absorb this glorious world. If you are my facebook friend then you are aware that I was violently attacked by a monkey. ...okay, perhaps a SLIGHT exaggeration lol. None the less it scared the pants off me. Knowing I was not supposed to, I fed the blasted monkey my beloved Nature Valley Granola bar..I knew I was in trouble as it was running out. He kept coming closer after he was done with each bite. I had a bad feeling about this one. but I could't resist, I mean come on! Once in a lifetime opportunity! It was incredibly surreal to hand feed an animal who had fingers just like me. It just reached up and gently took the granola from me. So weird and awesome...worth the bite/claw marks. Although the video doesn't look bad, I was bleeding quite bad. In those 2 seconds he clawed the heck out of me and left some teeth imprints as well. lol. Makes for a good story, GB was jealous it didn't happen to him. Silly boy. This is before the little terd latched onto my leg And this is the after affect... Meet Cham. Cham was our long boat driver all week. I have a deep respect for this wonderful man. Although his English was rough and communication was difficult, we learned so much about him. Cham makes his living taking people around from island to island on his long boat. His long boat cost him 10 grand, he worked as a fisherman for 10 years to save up for it. He lives on his boat, he cooks on it, sleeps in it, and calls his family from it. He works 10 months out of the year and spends only 2 months with his wife and son. It is the most simple life I could ever imagine, and he is so happy. He was so giving and serving. I love the Thai people. They are such an amazing example to me of the kind of person I should strive to be. Though their lives are simple, they seem to live so well. Living with so little, most of their jobs require serving tourists who have so much, yet they are not jealous or bitter. They are loving, eager to serve, grateful for whatever they receive. They are truly happy, filled with such joy and exude a love of life and nature. They have respect for the world and people around them and they are so peaceful. I hope that I can apply the things I learned from them into my own life. Thailand was awesome and we spoiled ourselves. Thailand was cheap and we took FULL advantage. Super nice dinners, messages, souvenirs, excursions. It was fabulous. By the time it was time to come home were relaxed and ready. Bonus: the ride home was a breeze! We got business class the WHOLE way home! glorious! Glad to be home and getting back into a good routine. We are already planning our next adventure :)