Settling Down

Nothing Is As Constant As Change

If you would have told me a few years ago that by 21 I would be married and graduated from post secondary I would have thought you were kidding. Heck,I would have thought that if you had told me a year ago! One of the best things in life is its surprises, its constant changes and ups and downs. Things are always changing and moving forward, and before you know it you are living the life you have always waited for. I was always the little girl who dreamed of being married and having a family, and it's crazy to think that I am now living that dream. (NOT the family part.. yet :) )

Ryan really is my dream husband. If I could write down a list of qualities my "Ideal Man" would have, he would have every single one... And then some. We are about to hit our 2 month mark as husband and wife, so here are a few little discoveries I have made these past two months about my man:

1) He is dang handy!! Some of us were never taught to change a tire... or put oil in a car... or fix the heater etc.. etc..Seriously though, I don't know what I would do without him! There are some things that I am good at and some that I most definitely am not, so I'm glad he can fill in where I'm.. er.. lacking.

2) The boy LOVES Vampire Diaries. When we first got married he used to make fun of me for all the "dumb shows" I would watch. I convinced him to watch one episode, and that's all it took.. he is HOOKED! Our weekend nights now consist of popcorn and V Diaries marathons.. and he has been caught on a few occasions staying up late by himself watching extra episodes haha.

3) He speaks Carly... fluently. Sometimes, I am just in my own world. I will say one thing, and mean something totally different, and then get frustrated when someone doesn't understand me. I am also a big fan of saying things like "Hey Ry.. Can you put that in there?" Needless to say, any normal person would go crazy trying to figure out what I am trying to say most days... But Ry has got it down!

4) He puts up with my crazy antics. He will check the doors for me as many times as I ask in the middle of the night to make sure they are still locked, and a few weeks ago when I heard a scream outside in the middle of the night, he got up with me to help push the dresser in front of our door.

I love learning new things about him each day, and growing together as a couple. Right now we are living in Calgary so that I can finish school. I'm set to graduate in just under two months, and then after that we are off to Utah! Ryan will be going back to BYU and as for me... well.. Let's just say I will have a lot of time to blog :)... I have 6 months of waiting before I can work in the states, so hopefully I can find something to do with all my spare time!

Lots of big changes coming up, and I can't wait!

Love,

Car

Picture Day

At SVP our main orphanage we get one day during our service time that we are allowed to bring our camera and take pictures. One day to capture all those little moments that we have been having with the kids since day one.

I have been looking forward to this day for

so long

& in typical SVP style.. the day started off slightly chaotic :)

As soon as we walked into the orphanage we were hit with a stench so bad I felt like I was going to get sick. Usually it smells pretty bad in the mornings, since theres 10 kids per room and 3 rooms... all of which haven't had a diaper change since the night before.. but this smell was different.. it was MUCH worse. As I walked into the first bedroom.. I quickly realized what was going on. 5 /10 kids had their diapers off and were playing and/or eating their poop.. sick!! As we started to bathe them, we realized that every single one had a dirty diaper.. and to top it off 3 more started to pee in their cribs after we took of their diapers. Lovely.

What a way to start off my picture day! :)

I actually ended up getting some pretty cute pictures.. but I am not surprised.. these kids are adorable! I also, might I add, used up my whole camera battery and took over 500 pictures... I know I know.. thats a little much. But I'm not mad about it!

Here's a little peek at my daily life at SVP...

Every morning we get the kids ready for the day, which includes bathing, dressing, and doing their hair!

This is one of my fav parts of the day because I get to pretend I am a hairdresser :) I like to think I'm pretty good..

We then feed the kids breakfast, which is usually yogurt. I haven't yet mastered the art of feeding 10 kids at once with one bowl and not spilling everywhere.. but I'm not too worried about it since I don't plan on ever having 10 kids!



After breakfast is playtime!! We usually take the older kids for a walk or go play at the park.. but whatever we do it is always a good

BTW.. notice the bit of drool on my arm in the pic on the right? Ya.. its a daily occurence. When I get home in shift I am almost always covered in some combination of snot, drool, and food. And yes... I Love It :)

During the day we have to do therapies with each kid. A lot of the kids at SVP are behind developmentally, so we work with them on numbers, colors, movements, etc... to help them be at a level more appropriate for their age. This is our attempt to teach Ana Maria how to walk... she is adorable and I love her.. but she is so lazy. She crawls everywhere and wants to be held all the time. So far the only way we can get her to walk is if she is being bribed. I think she knows how to work the system.. haha gotta love her!

For some shifts I get to work in Sala Uno (Room 1) & take care of the newborns. They don't do much.. just eat and sleep.. but I love to take them out of their cribs and lay them all on the mat to play for a bit! This is Angie.. I've posted pics of her before. She is my girl. On picture day, I made sure to pick out the cutest outfit for her and bring a flower for hair & we had ourselves a little photo shoot.

We love each other :)

I look forward to each shift at SVP & as my time here is winding down

I am starting to realise how much I love these kids

and just how much I am going to miss them...

Mindo Trip

Every Friday we get the day off of work to go and tour around Ecuador and today was by far my fav field trip. We went to a little tourist town called Mindo and did a zipline course in the jungle, followed by touring a butterfly farm and finishing off with tubing down a river. SO FUN! Here are some pics from the day :)

Riding the ziplines was a BLAST.. minus the awkward moment I had when our guide asked me if I wanted to try a trick and go head first. I was all for it... until I realised that I had to wrap my legs around his waist.. maybe a little too close for my comfort haha

If you put a piece of fruit on your nose at the butterfly farm they will come and land on you :)














Abbey and I before we set off on the raging river of death. For reals. It was sccaaarry but so so fun!



Our field trip this week was a nice break but I am glad to be going back to work tomorrow. I miss my babies. They have become such a big part of me... I wake up in the morning looking forward to seeing them, and I miss them when I have to go home. They are each special in their own way, with their own little loveable qualities that I just can't get enough of.

I only have one month left with them...

& I want to cherish every single moment.

Sick Day

On Tuesday night I had "Night Shift" at the SVP Orphanage.. which basically means your pullin' an all nighter with the newborn babies. Normally I love this shift - I have all night to write in my journal, read my scriptures, study, and jam out to the 90's music on the radio (Last week it was Mmmbop by Hanson.. Classic!).. PLUS it's an excuse to snuggle with my Angie baby all night! Unfortunately this night shift didn't happen like usual. Around 2 am I started to feel super nauseous and dizzy, so much so that I couldn't stand up straight! I ended up getting sick everywhere and an orphanage worker had to come take care of me AND the babies!

Long Story Short - I have been confined to my bed ever since. I'm not sure if its the flu or just a bug, but this blows! After sleeping 16+ hours a day, watching all 3 High School Musicals, creeping on all of my facebook friends... twice, hours of online shopping, and skyping all my besties, I have reached my limit..

I am so0o0 bored!!

Hopefully I get better soon..I miss seeing my babies everyday, and to be honest.. I think I am starting to lose it! My roomie Katie walked into our room to find me asleep.. with my puke pot on my head.. ya..reeeeaaal cute.

Loves This...

Put Your Trust In God
By President Gordan B. Hinckley

It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is.
It all works out. Don't worry.
I say that to myself every morning.
It will all work out.
Put your trust in God,
and move forward with faith
and confidence in the future.
The Lord will not forsake us.
He will not forsake us.
If we will put our trust in Him,
if we will pray to Him,
if we will live worthy of His blessings,
He will hear our prayers.


Ever have one of those days where it seems like every possible thing that could go wrong does?

Today is that day, and whenever I find myself having a pity party I think of this quote by Pres Gordon B. Hinckley & it helps me put everything into perspective. No matter how bad things seem, it will get better. I am so grateful to have a testimony and to know that my Father in heaven will always look out for me and that there is always a master plan. I just need to keep reminding myself that all I need to do is have a little f a i t h and know that with whatever storm comes my way, there will always be a rainbow waiting at the end of it :)

Life In Ecuador

The bad news is time flies.
The good news is you're the pilot

I love this quote - it explains exactly how I feel right now! I have been in Ecuador for 1 month and the time is FLYING by! I have been meaning to start a blog forever, but of coarse in typical Carly style I didn't get around to it until halfway through my trip. I'm not too worried about it considering my mom will probably be the only one who reads this, so here it is,
better late than never!

Today was the old groups banquet, where we have a big dinner and slideshow to say goodbye to all old volunteers. Today it actually hit me. I am going to be leaving here in 4 weeks. I have fallen in love with the kids here and I can't imagine being anywhere else. I know this is where I am meant to be and what I am meant to be doing. I have already learnt so much about myself and changed so much, that it's weird to think that I only arrived here a month ago. Here is what I have been upto so far:

- Meeting some great new friends!



Kenz Robin and I have been having a blast these past few weeks and we always seem to have something ridiculous up our sleeves :) These cute jammies are a result of our last shopping trip.. we are planning on wearing them on our wedding nights. NBD











Lindsay, Catalina and I at the Equator!











Maarja and I at the banquet
















All of our group, as usual, acting like dorks Oh how i am going to miss you girls!








- Random food fights with Robin my twin in the kitchen.. the winner is obvious...














- Eating guinea pig.. which was actually really yummy, except when I remembered how cute they all looked alive in their cage. Bleh!














- Loving my babies!


This is my baby girl angie... needless to say she is my fav. (The pic up top is of her too... what can I say? I love her!) She is the happiest baby I have ever met, and theres nothing better than walking in for shift and seeing her waiting there for me with a big smile on her face!






4 weeks left & loving every minute!

-Carly <3