The Mystery Castle

Last Saturday we had a girls day. My mother in law (love her!) planned THE cutest activity!

She wouldn't tell us where we were going, but she gave us cute little tiara's and lollipop sabers.

When we arrived we were so excited! We had no idea that we had a cool castle in Phoenix?!

Here is a little summary about the Mystery Castle, about how it came about and why it is here. :)

A man named Boyce Luther Gulley built the castle. He came here to Arizona from Seattle, Washington. Why? Because he thought he had tuberculosis and that he was gunna die. He left his family (Wife and Daughter) because he couldn't bare to have them watch him die. It was a very sad time for him, he longed for his family, and for the memories he had with his daughter, Mary Lou.  One of his fondest memories with her was when they would build sand castles on the beach. He recalled how she would cry when the tide washed up the sand castles they made. She told him one time "Please Daddy, build me a big and strong castle someday that I can live in. Maybe you ought to build it in the desert were there is no water." And that is what he did. When he migrated to Arizona he gradually regained his health and built her a stone castle. The Mystery Castle has 18 rooms, 13 fireplaces and fun nooks and crannies throughout. Boyce Luther Gulley died of cancer in 1945, (15 years after he left his family) before he could send for them to come live with him. His wife and daughter were shocked when they found out that they had an inheritance in Arizona. They had no idea what had happened to him. In the will it stated that they had to live in the castle for 2 years before they could ever sell it. So they did and continued to live in it until they both passed away. Boyce had a time capsule built into one of the rooms that he had them open after the first 2 years of living there, it had pictures of him, so his daughter could see what he looked like, and also contained the deed and some money. Mary Lou maintained the castle and conducted tours until she passed away in November of last year. The Castle is still open for tours and I would HIGHLY recommend going. It is a very cool place and something fun to do with family and friends.

Here are some pictures from our trip :)

 

 

 

Relationships

Lately, I've heard a lot about other peoples relationships.

Which has really caused me to ponder a lot about them.

Its kind of a big topic for me....

for others it can be a very touchy subject.

I'm not an expert on relationships (that is for sure) :)

I didn't date a TON of guys, I don't have a kiss list that is 10 pages long....

Actually, I can count on one hand the number of guys I dated/kissed.

But I feel like I gained my experience in different ways...

Some might know and others wont, but before I met Jared (my Prince charming)

I was in a VERY unhealthy relationship.

 Its something I don't talk about....like....EVER! 

Im not gunna name any names or go into too much detail on that. It was a very trying time in my life

BUT I learned so much about myself, relationships, miracles AND the power of forgiveness.

I wanted to share how when I meet Jared it was a no-brainer that I was meant to be with him.

(I am a firm believe that you can make any relationship work)

BUT I just knew with him

Jared was the polar opposite of my ex. 

Jared treated me so special. He would open the door for me ALWAYS.

He gave me a hug on the first date, held my hand on the second date, and kissed me on the third date.

He opens the door for me, kisses my hand often just to see the way it makes me smile, and takes me on super fun dates.

He would CALL me on the phone rather than just text me all the time. He would always think positive and that positivity would rub off on me. He would never let me be sad or unhappy.

He would do everything he could to get me to smile.

He waited 3 months to tell me "I love you" for the first time because he wanted to say it when he was truly head over heels in love with me and because he knows how powerful those words are.

 He took things slow because he wanted us to get to know each other as best as we could.

He would take me to hangout with his friends, introduce me to everyone he knew and made sure to always let me know how lucky he felt to be with me.

He would NEVER let me fight with him. He would kill any minor misunderstandings (which were always rare) before they would turn into something it shouldn't (one of my favorite qualities).

He had goals and would share them with me often. He would talk with me about my goals and ambitions and help me find ways to accomplish them.

He was always patient with me. 

He has confidence, he is NEVER insecure about himself or our relationship. (This was a huge one for me because my Ex was ALWAYS insecure, it was what caused our relationship to fail.)

Now I dont want to make it sound like our relationship is perfect...because come on, noones is. BUT we are working constantly to have the best relationship possible with eachother. And heck, that is good enough for me! :) A perfect relationship would be too easy and too boring in my opinion. I remember when Jared and I were getting interviews with our stake presidents,

 to prepare for getting married, the first and BEST advice they gave us was...

 Always remember that you and you're spouse are human.

Far from perfection and will make mistakes AND to never think that you can change who they are and how they act in any way. You can find happy mediums but you can never fully change someone.

I think that advice has helped us so much. We are able to respect the way each other is and to not expect

the other one to change, just to work with each other to find out how we can meet in the middle and what sacrifices we can make to solve any problems we might face over time.

I love relationships. They are beautiful things. Id like to end with one more piece of advice...

remember, serving and being selfless are great foundations for a long and happy relationship no matter what kind of relationship it is! (friends, family, bf/gf, spouses, etc..)

Thanks for taking the time to read my crazy tangent about relationships! :)

The Dresser.

We were in NEED of a new dresser! 

Our old Ikea ones, from when we were single, just weren't cutting it anymore!!!

AND Jared said that I could get one...

 SO of course I had to JUMP at the opportunity

(he doesn't let me spend money often!)

So here is my lovely craigslist find :)

I just love it :) :) :)

And here is my cute Husband!!

I love him!

Happy Monday everyone!!!