June 2024 | Graduations, Vacations & More

Howdy, 

Apologies for the very long delay between posts (1-1/2 years!). In 2022, once Nat and I moved to Logan, Utah, and I fully immersed myself in my undergrad program, life became very busy, very fast, and left little time for blogging.

In a nutshell, we are well! We are still in Cache Valley, but we moved out of university family housing into a lovely townhouse in Providence in January 2024. In May, I graduated magna cum laude with my bachelor of science in marketing. I am returning to school this fall to pursue my Master in Management Information Systems with an emphasis on data science. 

In August, I willbegin my new job as a Library Marketing Specialist at Utah State University. I am incredibly excited about this job, the salary, and all of the benefits that Nat and I will be able to enjoy, including reduced tuition, excellent medical benefits, time off, free course auditing, etc. This opportunity came around during a time when we really needed it, so we are thankful.

Immediately after graduation, NataLee and I took a much-needed vacation to Savannah, GA, where we spent our time sleeping in, walking around the historic city, and eating great southern food. We also took a daytrip to visit Tybee Beach and Beaufort, SC. It was a wonderful time, and we're glad we had the opportunity to steal away for a little bit after a few years of busyness.

Nat is working hard at being a therapist. She has managed her schedule so that she works roughly half of the week at the office and half of the week doing telehealth sessions. She is particularly happy because she will officially be able to reduce her demanding full-time client load once I start my new job.

Bixby, of course, is happy and well. He's a handful, but we love him. Below is a photo I took during an excursion to Hyrum Reservoir beach on July 4th.

I believe that touches on everything that's important. Recently, I made the difficult decision to, once again, deactivate all of my social media accounts. For now, I plan on keeping this blog as the primary means of communicating with people. I'm not certain when I'll go back to social media or if I ever will.

With love,

Ben

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Turn the Page

Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went. We are staring down 2023 waiting for the last hours of 2022 to pass in a blanket of quiet whiteness. Currently, it is 33* with a 100% chance of snow bringing in a big snow storm this weekend. Slowly but surely we are becoming Utahans. "How can you tell?" you might wonder. Since moving here, we’ve consistently gawked at those Utahans wearing shorts and summer tees while it’s 34* outside. Well, turns out once you’ve experienced -2* weather that 34* starts to feel like Springtime! As we embrace life in Utah, we are finding a great love for Logan and the Cache Valley. 

The holidays this year were a change from the usual. Many of us weren’t able to gather and spend the days together so we all enjoyed them a bit differently this year. For Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a hearty dinner with our church family where Ben supplied smoked mac & cheese with jalapeños and bacon and I made my usual pumpkin pie. Christmas was quaint as well with a lovely late night Christmas Eve service at church, followed by all the phone calls and Facetimes (what a blessing!) with our loved ones spread from North to South and East to West. The general consensus we had was, although unusual, it was a welcome change from the chaos this time of year usually brings, allowing us to refocus our attention on the reason we celebrate Christmas. However you found yourselves celebrating, we hope you enjoyed the holidays. 

Amid the holidays, I finished my Associate license and am officially a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist! The steps I’ve focused on since then are learning new techniques to add to my practice, training to be a supervisor, and setting up our new office! We relocated to a new space and I look forward to growing the practice to have more mental health support available for the community. Outside of work and studying for work, I managed some time to knit a beanie for Ben and a pair of socks, sew some projects on my to-do list, and find a love for yoga. Finding my own self-care and enjoying my hobbies more has been a huge win for 2022 and a New Year’s intention I’ve managed to keep.

My better half has been enjoying his much needed and deserved time off from school. Ben has about a week left of his break, which is perfect timing because he’s already itching to start classes again - to the point he even started a class he had early access to! It’s so fun to see him enjoy college and watch his passion for what he is learning grow. He of course dominated his classes again this semester, and even had a professor ask to use a paper of his as an example in future classes. This next semester will be just as busy for him, but he’s looking forward to several of his classes and being one semester closer to graduation. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for him and his big dreams!

Bixby, our currently snoring, little bundle of pure-joy-for-life, is as darling as ever. He loves everything with all of his little being. Sniffing, playing, eating, cuddling, stealing mom and dad's things, and spinning make his days bright. He’s the best puppy and the best puppy for us. He has a sweet demeanor and playful attitude with such a unique personality that we laugh constantly at his silly antics. He loves us hard, oftentimes can’t get close enough to us, and gives the sweetest puppy kisses. As much joy as he finds in his little life, he equally returns in being our best little buddy.

As we turn the page to close the chapter on 2022, our little family sends you all the warmest wishes for a peaceful, lovely, and happiness filled 2023. Cheers to new beginnings!

Happy New Year from the Dupuys!

With Love,

Nat

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October 2022

    It's hard to believe we're in the last quarter of 2022 considering it still feels like we're all recovering from 2020. Autumn in Logan is everything we thought it would be: cold mornings, cheers coming from the Maverik Stadium during football games, and the aspens have all turned gold. It's great, really, and a welcome reprieve from a fairly toasty summer, and hopefully winter won't be too difficult to handle up here in our little Rocky Mountain town. We've found a wonderful church body to belong to at St. John's Episcopal church. Although it's an Anglican church with some traditions we're unfamiliar with, we've enjoyed being contributing parishioners there.

    We've had some visits from family this year, my mom and stepdad and Nat's brother, who graciously drove from Wyoming to deliver a washing machine. 

 

 

 

    Nat is well, albeit a bit busier than she'd like to be. Nevertheless, she handles her busy schedule with a ton of grace I think most of us can only hope to achieve a fraction of in our lifetimes. Lately, she's enjoyed knitting, sewing, and being outside to enjoy the nice weather. She anticipates fulfilling her Associate hours by December, so if all goes well she will be a fully licensed therapist by the end of this year. I'm so proud of her, her work ethic, and her commitment to this very long and challenging road she's been on. It

    Bixby is still a little hellion, but he gets away with it by being cute. In all seriousness, he is a good boy and a blessing. As he gets older we think he's learning to find the joy in lazing around on the couch like a proper dog. Currently, his favorite things are sniffing and playing. We absolutely love his little personality and he's become a right-proper member of our family.

        

     Along with Nat, I myself am extremely busy these days. I enjoy being an Aggie at Utah State but I am far busier than I anticipated. Part of that is due to the fact that I have switched my major from English to Marketing and am currently working on completing my prerequisite courses to be accepted into the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. The courses for the business school are... strenuous to say the least. Although school is challenging at times, I am grateful to have moved on from my old job at the lumberyard and find an immense amount of joy in learning.

    As for what's in store for the remainder of 2022, we're settling on a quiet Thanksgiving and Christmas at home. We've had a few more emergency travels than we've anticipated this year, so we're eager to have a restful winter here in Logan. Nat is very hopeful we get to experience a white Christmas, which I think will happen for her.

    Whoever is reading this, we hope you're well and happy. Thanks for checking in on us. I've set a reminder to update this blog quarterly. See you in the new year!

 

With Love,

The Dupuys

 

 

 

 

 

 

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New Home, New Season, New Ice Cream Joint

The Dupuys are in Logan!

Hey! We are moved and settled! Again!

So, where are we now?

Nat and I have moved to Logan, Utah, which is about an hour and forty-five minutes north of where we were living in Orem. About a year ago, we visited Logan for a random weekend getaway, almost immediately fell in love with the place, and decided to seriously consider a transition here. After a few more trips, a lot of planning, and a lot of praying, we finally pulled the trigger. It's interesting how much an hour and a half drive has made a difference in our lives.

As many of you know, Nat and I had a difficult time living in Orem. Simply put, it wasn't the place we wanted to hang our hat. So you'll be glad to know that Logan has been every bit as positive of a change as we have hoped and prayed for. We know many of you have prayed for these things for us as well. Thank you for that.

"Old Main" at Utah State University

It's quiet here. Far quieter than it was in Orem. The people here are friendly and easy-going. Since the first day we arrived, we've met some really nice folks. On the morning we rumbled in with the U-Haul, a married couple approached us and graciously offered to help us unload. The other night, our upstairs neighbors brought us a plate of brownies. I'm preparing some sourdough bread to give them as thanks. Nat and I have laughed at how many more people we've met here in 3 weeks than we did in a year and a half in Orem. 

Our new apartment is family housing at Utah State—so it's small and half of our belongings are in storage— but we love every bit of our new space. Nat has turned it into a comfortable home. She has a knack for doing that. We have everything we need and Bixby finally has a yard area where he can run around and play. My university is an agricultural school with its own dairy, so we live within walking distance of Aggie Ice Cream. "Aggie Blue Mint" is our favorite flavor.

Our complex—no big deal, just a little snow in April

Nat has opened a new location for her company in downtown Logan and she loves it. Her office is set up just the way she wants and she's located right by our favorite coffee shop and near some cool little stores and antique shops that she's fond of. Her caseload is filling up quickly and we are performing preliminary work on her private practice that we aim to open next year. It's a great time to be a mental health professional in the state of Utah and we are too excited at the potential of her practice.

Big-cheesin for my student ID!

As for me, I finally left my job of 10 years back in March and that change has been wonderful for us. I'm getting far more sleep now (instead of waking up at 4:45a) and Nat and I consistently get to enjoy coffee together in the mornings for the first time in our marriage. My mental and emotional health have improved dramatically and I feel so much rest in my spirit. Nat has mentioned this is the happiest she's seen me—and I believe her. Outside of our wedding, this truly has been the happiest I've felt in a long time. I love our new home, my new school, and am so excited to be a full-time student this Fall and the future beyond.

Bixby—11 months old

Another note: After having a blast in a marketing class I took this semester, I have switched my major from English to Marketing and will now study at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. It's a fine school with some instructors I'm excited to learn from. Nat and I believe a marketing degree will be beneficial for us when we launch her practice and that I'll enjoy the marketing field as I work on my writing.

We're making a short visit to Tulsa by the end of next week to see some family and friends. It'll be the first time we've been back since we left Oklahoma in August, 2020. 

We are humbled at God's blessing and proud of the hard work we've put in that has led us to this exciting new place, new season, and new beginnings. Thanks again for all of your prayers. We're excited to share more down the line.

With Love,

The Dupuys

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The-Very-Overdue-Update (March 2022)

Hey there—apologies for only now updating the blog. I see the last time I posted was back in early November (yikes). We have quite a few exciting life updates to share! 

To start—Nat and I are well. I'm just now coming off a sinus infection and Nat is just getting one, so we're a little sickly at the moment. 

Life is incredibly busier than usual because we are moving to Logan after all. And moving very soon. 

Moving soon, as in, our living room is jam-packed full of boxes and I pick up the UHaul next Friday. It's insane to be at this point because it felt like we were just entertaining the thought of moving there, and here we are.

Life comes at you hard and fast, right?

I've been accepted and transferred to Utah State University, no issues. All of that is squared away. I'm even taking a couple of online classes this semester. Originally, I was going to major in English and minor in Marketing, but for the sake of wanting to get as much as I can out of my college experience, I have "flip flopped" my degrees and am now a Marketing major and English minor. For now, the after-college goal is to work as a creative in the advertising industry—something I think I'd really enjoy/be good at while I work on my fiction.

The other exciting news: I am finally, finally leaving my job at the lumberyard. After a little over 10 years, this Friday will be my final day. It's exhilarating—and a little terrifying—to know this constant part of my life is simply not going to be there anymore.

But God is good, and we believe He has bigger and better things in store for us.

Nat is very well. The therapy office she works for has opened a location in Logan just for her. She has a pretty full client base—currently comprised of old and new clients, so she'll be able to segue to our new home with relative ease. It appears we will be able to work it out so that I can attend school full-time and Nat will work until I finish up my degree.

By the way, she just got some professional headshots done, and she looks stunning—no surprise there.

Bixby is still as sweet and obnoxious as ever, and he's much bigger than the last time I showed you. 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that's all I can think of at the moment. It'll be a hectic next few weeks for us, but we are deeply excited to move to Logan. We think it'll be a much better fit for us than where we currently live.

With Love,

Ben

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Is it Really November Already?

It's surreal to know we're in the final two months of the year. I say this each year, but this year seemed to fly by. Nat and I have been so caught up in life's busyness—work, school, and the puppy—it feels like we merely blinked and here we are, Christmas decorations are suddenly on the floor at Costco. Thankfully, Nat and I are about 90% finished with our Christmas shopping, and for once, it'll be nice not to panic-shop a week before Christmas.

After much prayer and contemplation, we are still moving forward with our move to Logan and have narrowed the move timeframe to the month of March. Without giving away too many details at the moment, Nat may have an exciting opportunity with her job that would be a major boon to her career. More on that later as details develop. In short—she's smart, reliable, such a hard worker, and I'm immensely proud of her. Subsequently, this opportunity may potentially allow me to leave my job, attend school full time, and seriously focus on my writing, something I've wanted for myself for a very long time. Nat and I have both decided we will begin spending more of our time doing things we enjoy, rather than grinding through things we don't.

Bixby is well. As you can see in the pictures, he's getting big, growing into those big ol' paws of his. He has all of his "big boy teeth" and is  mellowing out enough to join us on the couch in the evenings—slowly becoming a proper part of our little family.  At the moment we are training him to be a therapy dog, so he can be an extra feature for Nat's work.

Please continue to pray for us. Specifically, if you would pray that the job and housing situation for us in Logan will be as stress-free as possible. Please pray that God will open and close doors, and that we will know the difference between the two.

With Love,

Ben

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The Beginning of Autumn

After a smoky and brutal summer, we are glad that Autumn is finally here. Almost instantaneously, the temperatures during the day struggle to climb past the mid 80s, and at night the temperature dips into the low 50s. Although a bit later compared to last year—I assume from the severe drought—the trees in the canyon are finally changing to their fall colors. Oklahoma football, fly fishing, and gumbo are all in store for the season, and we are ready for it.

Like most of this year, with the difficult adjustments to our new home during the COVID pandemic, life has been even more of a challenge over the past few months. Nat and I vastly underestimated how much our lives would change with our new puppy, Bixby. And for a while, there was serious debate as to who was the true master of our home. Nevertheless, persistence appears to be prevailing, as we have made great efforts to be more obstinate than the little puppy. He bites far less, rarely piddles on the floor, and can now join us on the sofa with his bone or chew toy. We have also learned that Bixby loves playing in water, and will lounge lazily in the river when taken there. As the picture shows, he is growing to become a big dog. He is slowly mellowing out but is also hitting his "teenage phase", where he uses all 18 muscles in his ears to actively ignore us when we command him to do something.

We visited Logan over the Labor Day weekend and plan to visit again in October. It is cooler there, and even with school in session, the town wasn't nearly as busy compared to where we currently live in the Utah Valley. Nat and I have mutually decided that we will move to Logan, and are making plans to move there next year. It's a quiet college town and a bit more "our speed". The plan is for me to attend USU as a full-time student and for Nat to work as a fully licensed therapist. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as we want to buy a house in Logan. However, due to the absurd housing market, it will be very difficult for us to seriously consider purchasing a home if the market doesn't cool off dramatically. 

Nat's dad and bonus-mom visited us for a week this month and we enjoyed their visit a great deal. We took them to Communal, one of our favorite local restaurants, and we went up the canyon to fly fish a couple of times. We were skunked each time, but with the views we had, there were few complaints. Some complaints, yes, but few.

Yesterday, Nat and I put Bixby into doggy daycare for a few hours while we had a date in the canyon. We went fly fishing—which is quickly becoming our favorite hobby together—and had a picnic. We're trying to create some semblance of normalcy in our lives, and a date was long overdue for us.

As I wrote earlier, this year has been a challenge for us. But we're learning to lean on each other and lean into God during the midst of it. We're very excited for our move to Logan, and feel this year has been a "stepping stone" of sorts to get us there.

With Love,

Ben 

Pictures from Logan:

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Life with Bixby

As of yesterday, Bixby is officially 3 months old! The three of us have survived three weeks together, and dare I say, are enjoying each other's company?! 

Having a baby dog is exhausting! Ben mentioned in his last post that there is no middle ground for Bixby, he is either intensely awake or intensely asleep. This continues to be the trend for him, but he is slowly learning how to settle when awake. We have been very thankful that his nightly sleeping hasn't veered from the initial night. Outside of a 2a alarm for a potty break, all three of us sleep pretty well. Although we are ready for a full night of uninterrupted sleep, we are happy to have a pup who does not cry at night and only needs one wee break.

Life with a puppy has its ups and downs. Potty training, obedience training, and learning to play solo are all going well. Puppy manners is a work in progress as is going into work. He's still a bit too young to take on that expectation. When he does though, he's going to be a great co-therapist! He has the sweetest temperament and hasn't met a stranger yet. Our outings here and there to socialize him have been great thus far so we are looking forward to him being able to really get out and about with us here in a few weeks. Overall, he is doing well settling into his new life with us and we are adjusting to having him as a third family member. 

Life may no longer look the same for the Dupuy duo, but we are happy to now be the Dupuy trio with our 10.5 lb curly haired pup who has already mastered his puppy eyes.

With love, 

Nat

p.s. taking a non blurry picture of him while awake is like winning the lottery...

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Vacation in Wyoming and Bixby Comes Home!

Nat and I spent around five days in Wyoming visiting her family. We did the usual Wyoming things: Did a little time fishing, explored the scenic areas of where her family lives in Powell, and spent a day in Yellowstone National Park.

We also picked up our newest family member a day earlier than intended, our puppy Bixby! He spends his days either playing or sleeping intensely, there is very little room for middle ground. It appears that his favorite thing to do is cuddle up in Nat's arms and fall asleep, which Nat adores. Surprisingly, he slept well his first night at home and is already learning to go potty outside more often than inside. Hopefully, this is indicative of a good trend and a smooth training period. Regardless, Bixby is awfully cute, which makes it easy to forgive when he accidentally potties on our floor. 

All in all, we're happy, well-fed, and loving this season in our lives. It's very hard to be upset when you bring home a 9-week old puppy.

With Love,

Ben

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Logan, Camping, & Fly Fishing

Summer is in full swing and we are trying to take advantage of being outdoors! COVID restrictions have almost entirely lifted in Utah, so we're able to enjoy going out and about without too much concern.

Over Memorial Day weekend we made a small getaway an hour and a half north to Logan, a small college down in the midst of farm country where Utah State University is. We fell in love with the place. The population is smaller, already a win for us, around 60,000 compared to Provo & Orem's combined 200,000+ thousand. The downtown streets still have their window front stores, people are very friendly, and the scenic view of the Cache Valley is majestic. We loved it so much we're visiting again in September.

We've also done a little camping and fishing, really trying to enjoy the warm weather before it gets all snowy again.

With Love,

Ben

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Three's Company (New Puppy, Not a Baby)

Ben and I both grew up with dogs in our homes. He grew up with Golden Retrievers and I with a Cocker Spaniel and yellow Lab. Ben loves dogs and I’m just short of obsessed with them.

Think Kristen Bell and sloths.

It’s been almost ten years that I’ve wanted a dog, but circumstances did not allow for one of my own. Between not having the proper space or time due to either undergrad (cue dorm room aesthetics) or working full-time while in grad school, I couldn’t quite justify bringing one into my life pre-marriage era. After the wedding bells, we still didn’t feel it was the best time since we were both working full-time away from home with school still in the mix. My career changed after graduation which has afforded more flexibility in my schedule. Even better, it also allows me to include a therapy animal in my work so I’ve been eagerly researching and searching for a companion for our family and a four-legged, furry co-therapist.

Cocker Spaniels are great as family dogs because of their gentle, sensitive, and eager-to-please nature, but they also make great therapy dogs for these same reasons. So, without further ado, we are so excited to share that we are bringing home a black and tan cocker spaniel in July! He was born on May 8th so he’s a little over three weeks old. Over the last couple months we’ve been preparing for his homecoming with all the puppy supplies, training skills, and techniques we can find. Since he will work with me, our intent is to have him complete the necessary requirements to be a certified therapy animal. Of course this will take time so for now we’re going to thoroughly enjoy the new addition to our family and look forward to sharing more of our adventures as a family of three!

With love, 

Nat

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Dinner Date

 

Nat and I had a much-needed and "fancy" date on Friday night after I got home from work. We ate at La Jolla Groves, an Italian restaurant in Provo with a lemon theme (see the faux lemon tree in the background). We ordered a cheese tray, pasta, and afterward, we shared a slice of lemon cake. It was a great dinner and I wanted to show off my bombshell wife. 

With Love,

Ben

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The End Of A Semester & We've Found A New Gym!

     Just a little update for the blog today. There really haven't been any large, ground-shaking updates in our lives, which is completely fine. Nat and I are both plugging along, busy with work and school. Nat is slowly honing in her client caseload, trying to not overwork herself, which she can be prone to do. On my end, I have been a bit busier with work lately, which has been a hair difficult as I wrap up my Spring Semester. After my final exams and papers, there won't be much of a break for me because I'll jump right into Summer classes less than a week later.

     We've finally found a new gym to attend and we absolutely love it. It's a smaller barbell and strength training gym called The Forge. There, we've been able to do the workouts we haven't been able to do since we've moved here, met some very friendly people, and beat the crowds that seem to flood all other gyms where we live. The latter part is very important for us, let's hope our gym remains a hidden gem for a while yet.

    Overall, we're generally happy, living healthy, eating well, and taking our vitamins. All that good stuff.

With Love,

Ben

PS I have enjoyed not having social media. Apart from not easily accessing life updates and pictures of my family, I don't miss it too terribly. It has been very freeing and has opened up a lot of time for me.

Barbells for doing big lifts!

Big ol' rocks (Atlas Stones)

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