Trouble in Paradise

Time for another update on the Stewart family since a lot of things have happened in the last month. And when I say a lot I'm not exaggerating.
July started off with a weekend visit from Jenna and Lydia who came to see a Sister missionary who had served in their ward in Washington. Jord and I were already a little stressed because we were busy trying to help his sister Chanel move out and find a new place to live after having been given a week's notice to leave. Nonetheless, we were still enjoying the weekend with my sisters and looking forward to our annual trip to Washington.

Then everything was turned upside down.

It was a typical Saturday night and Jordan was over at his mom's house helping Chanel move her stuff out. And that's when we received the news.

We were being "evicted."

I put that word in quotation marks since it was incredibly illegal and unreasonable. Without giving too much personal information away, let's just say our "landlord" (who isn't even technically the real landlord of the place) was kicking us out of our apartment because we were an inconvenience ruining his personal life. Of course, Jordan blatantly told him he had no right to kick us out and that what he was doing was illegal, but he threateningly replied that he would get a lawyer to fight it. Obviously we don't have the kind of money for a lawyer and he certainly wasn't worth the trouble so we decided to just leave. Technically, we could have stayed there as long as we wanted since nothing was ever given to us on paper, but you can understand why we wouldn't want to stay in such a tense and messed up situation. One of the things I was most sad about was leaving our ward. We were finally starting to make friends and we actually enjoyed teaching our cute crazy primary class. Sadly, we didn't get the chance to say goodbye without leaving but we knew that it was for the best that we left the ward to avoid unnecessary conflict.

We immediately started packing and looking for a new place to live, and by Wednesday we had found one. On Saturday, the fourth of July, we spent the day moving and thanks to the help of friends and ward members, we were completely moved out and moved in to our new place by the end of the day. Fortunately, we have wonderful friends who invited us over to celebrate the holiday with dinner and fireworks, and that relieved some of the stress and frustration of the week.

And from that day on, everything has been perfect and we've been living happily ever after. The end.

NOT.

Turns out, we don't really like the apartment we're living in. Jordan and I realize now that we rushed into choosing an apartment way too quickly and we moved in without having looked at it in person beforehand. It's not terrible, but it's certainly older and smaller than what we wanted. To add to that, our neighbors are a little frustrating and unsettling, considering that they like to drink while having a gun in their possession. Our apartment smells like smoke a lot of the time which does not make me very happy and it's also a basement apartment which we didn't know when we moved in because they had to switch our assigned apartment last minute. My dad has reminded me to be grateful that we found one that's decent and does its job, and trust me I am! But it just doesn't feel like home to us and we don't particularly look forward coming home to it. My philosophy is that if we're going to pay a significant amount of money to live somewhere, we should actually enjoy living there. That's rational, right?

So anyway, we started looking for a new new place to live haha and once again we were blessed to find one. But this time we learned from our mistakes and actually visited the apartment complex in person and looked inside the apartment before signing anything. Unfortunately, we have to wait 60 days before we can move out of our current apartment, but that gives us plenty of time to go through stuff again and pack. I am extremely excited to move to this new place because the kitchen is updated with new cabinets and stainless steel appliances, and the bathroom is actually nice and spacious. Those are the two main rooms I look at when choosing an apartment, is that weird? Either way, it will be so much nicer to live in a 2 bedroom place with its own washer and dryer, and be in a safer location with better perks and such. Shout out to Alex for suggesting the apartment complex since it's one she tracted at during her mission here in Salt Lake and thought it would be a good place for us to live haha.

But since one problem was resolved there has to be another one right?
About a week before leaving for Washington, Jordan got in a car accident. He had just dropped off Chanel at work (since ironically her car was at the shop) and driving down 13th east when a lady blew through a stop sign going full speed and smashed into the car, t-boning the whole passenger's side. Thankfully, Jordan was the only one in the car and he didn't suffer any physical consequences from the accidents. But our car certainly did and it had to be towed away. The lady's insurance paid for a rental car so we were able to take that one to Washington, but while we were gone we found out that unfortunately our car was totaled. So it was back to the drawing board and round two of car shopping. Obviously, this isn't an extremely terrible situation because we do have the Sonata and now we get to buy a new car, but it's still an inconvenience nonetheless and one more thing to worry about (we have to give the rental car back today). And that's our life right now.

Okay, now that I've complained enough, I guess it's time I list some of the blessings we've received from these unfortunate and stressful speed bumps in the road.

Our relationships with Jordan's sister and his dad and stepmom are much stronger and closer since we're all in the same boat, experiencing the same stress and drama. Even though some family relationships have been damaged, others have been strengthened and for that we are grateful.
We found a place to live in three days and were able to move out within a week of receiving the bad news.
We have great jobs that pay the bills and allow us to soon move into a nicer apartment.
We have the opportunity to move into a new ward and be our own family now.
We were still able to spend a fun week in Washington (I'll write about that in another post) with wonderful family who love and support us in any situation and allow us to vent and complain when we're about to explode.
We are learning how to budget better now that we have to spend money on bills more than we have before.
We have a great car that has been a saving grace while we look for another car.
We have amazing friends who are willing to help with anything and do so much more than we could ever ask for.
And probably most importantly, Jordan and I have grown stronger and closer as a couple as we've learned to rely more on each other and on our Heavenly Father. We've learned more about each other and realized how much we need each other to get through tough things. We've been humbled and blessed to recognize the little things that mean so much in difficult times.

Yes, there is something to be grateful for in every situation, something to be happy about and something to look forward to. And because there is an opposition in all things, it gives us hope to know that things will get better and we will find peace and comfort once again. There's a reason for everything and while we may not know what the reason is, we trust that God knows what he is doing, and that somehow, this will end up working out for the best.

So thank you to all of you who have prayed for us, cried with us, reminded us of the good things, supported us either in person or in spirit, loved us, helped us and have made our lives better just by being in it. We couldn't do it without you and we honestly mean that. Thank you for being part of the little things that make life worth living.