2 Years

Two years ago, on December 29th, 2012, Nathan and I were wed. Since that time, we've been on lots of different adventures together.

We've lived in two different states, two different homes, and have had several different jobs. We've both been in and out of school, we've shed lots of tears, and lots of kisses too. 

When I look back on this time I can't believe how quickly it has gone, but I am grateful for every single one of those seconds I've spent as a married person.

In the past two years I've realized that I have big weaknesses that I never even knew about before, but Nathan is the most patient man on the planet to put up with them! I have also learned that he is the only one I'd ever want to share this life with. He is a sweetheart, and is always thinking of others, and me. He brings out the good in me, and helps me be a better person. I love that man with all of my heart.

A lot has changed in these two wonderful years, and I am so excited to see what other changes life has in store for us in the years to come.

Being married is the best, guys. It's tough sometimes, but it is so worth it.

Eventful Holiday Shtuff

// It is really much too late to compose any sort of an organized post, so here's a nice bulleted list for ya.

// Last weekend my parents took a bunch of us to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. I have been to several of these over the years and I must say this one was my favorite. The Sesame Street Muppets came and performed with the choir. I mean who doesn't love Elmo, ya know?

// It's my birthday today. I'm officially 22 years old and honestly I have no clue how I feel about it. Get back to me in the morning and maybe then I will have some idea.

// I feel like there is always one person every Christmas who totally stumps me and I am left with no idea what present to buy them. It happens to be this same person every year that I struggle with, too. What do you get someone who already has everything they want, huh? Does anyone else out there know how I feel on this particular matter?

// I really like blue Christmas lights. They are my favorite flavor. Or color. Whichever. It's late.

// Ooo! I bought a new bedspread, and I am extremely thrilled about it. We've had this big IKEA giftcard sitting around for the past two years and I only just decided today to put it to good use.

nighty night.

Tradition

This will only be the third Christmas Nathan and I have shared together, so I mean it's not like we have developed too many solid holiday traditions yet. One thing we have been consistent about though, and something that I want to continue, is we each pick out one new ornament for our tree each year!

If you are from the Utah County area - we went to a Color Me Mine-esque place called Creativity by the University Mall this year for our ornament-pickin'. To you non-Utahns, it's essentially this little ceramics place where you can go and glaze cool stuff and they'll fire it for you and you take it home. It's pretty much awesome.

So TA-DA! The above are our 2014 ornaments. Nathan's is the lovely little tree on the left and mine is the blue thing on the right. Cool eh?

Nathan got really into it, which I found quite endearing. He's not one for 'art' usually, you see.

Now tell me, is it wrong that my favorite Christmas song is the Chipmunk Song? Please tell me this is ok. I cannot stop listening to it.

Well I sincerely hope that all of your guys' holiday celebrating is going as fabulously as mine! Next week is my birthday and I will be 22.... AH. Any suggestions as to where I should go out to eat for my birthday dinner?

peace.

Oh, Hi December

Whelp December snuck up on me rather quickly, but I am glad it's here.

In December I have quite the plethora of big events to look forward to. For one, my birthday. Two, Christmas (durrr), and three, my anniversary! And you know what's absolutely crazy? All those things occur within ten days.

Yep. My birthday, Christmas, and my anniversary all in basically the same week.

Sadly I had no control over the timing of two of those events, and why on earth I chose to get married like four days after Christmas is beyond me.

So pretty much December is a super exciting month in my life.

The above photo is of my grandmother's Christmas 'Shelves'. Which, if she were a normal human being that would be a Christmas Tree. She is the only person who I know on this earth that owns one, and I have put it up for her every single year since the age of 13. Every inch of tinsel and lights must be thumb tacked, and then we set up whichever of her eight million nativity sets she wants on the shelves.

It's quite the affair, setting it up. But after it's all said and done, and my thumbs are throbbing from all of the thumb-tacking, it really does get me pumped up for the holidays. It's kind of weird, albeit unconventional, untraditional, and according to my uncle Bean, completely ugly, but I like that tree (shelves? whatever it is). It symbolizes Christmas to me, and I have been setting it up for so long that I can't imagine a year without it.

A couple of exciting things....

//I got a new wedding band! Shveet huh! You like? I have been wanting one for ages, and we've been looking around for a long time, but I never could find one I liked. This past week when we went up to Idaho though I finally found it! Eventually I want to do more of a stacked look and maybe get one or two more thin bands, but that obviously will have to happen over time. Money don't grow on trees, peeps.

//I got into nursing school!! I feel so blessed and grateful for this opportunity, and I have to say I honestly did not foresee my life taking this particular turn. But I am SO excited, and also a bit scared. That's normal, right?

I Jumped the Gun

Typically, I profess to stick to the old 'wait until after thanksgiving' rule when it comes to Christmas decor, and music listening. I should probably just stop holding myself to such unrealistic expectations though because the last two years I have totally not even come close to that. Like, I set this baby up last week. We're six weeks out from Christmas and I'm already drinking egg nog and blasting Bing Crosby in the car.

What can I say, I'm a sucker for Christmas?

It all started with the first snow storm we had here in Utah last week. I couldn't help it. It made me feel so... cheery. Then I went to Target and heaven knows they had all their Santa Claus crap out and jingle bells was blasting throughout the store and before I knew it I had spent like $200 on assorted Christmas items! It was kind of like being brainwashed, actually.

So I'm sorry if I ever condemned anyone for setting up their holiday stuff before Thanksgiving because I'm going to go eat my words now.

I decided to go with the brown wrapping paper this year. Although I'm not a huge fan the gold sharpie actually (maybe if I had better hand writing?) so I bought some tags to go on the rest of the gifts.

I've been pinterest-ing up like crazy mad. Christmas pins everywhere. It's terrible. I have all sorts of ideas and only limited funds to execute them.

Help me.

Tell me I'm not the only one who has been suckered into this Christmas madness.

Flower Girl

There was a time in my life, long ago, when I aspired to be a florist. Things changed though, as they often do, and I set my sights on a different path, however I still love ALL things flowers and so I gotta little crazy this weekend and made about 2398487 flower crowns for my young womens class.

So behold the fruits of my labor.

I feel like just this past summer floral crowns boomed in popularity for weddings and I SO wish this was as big of a trend when I got married! Because I mean, who doesn't want to feel like a flower queen and wear a big fat crown of blooms on their head?

Does anyone else out there watch Once Upon a Time? My seester and I are mega fans but we don't know anyone else who watches it. Therefore I never have anyone else to discuss the craziness that is happening in that show! If you are a fan please raise your hand so I can see you, and let's talk. Thank you.

I hope you all have a great week, and don't forget to be awesome.

Cool Happenings

// My sissy's birthday was yesterday. She turned eighteen and we took her to the La Dolce Vida, which is an absolutely fabulous, legit (as in like, immigrants from Italy) Italian restaurant off Provo Center Street. Yumminess, so much yumminess. Their gnocchi is to die for.

// I gave way to vanity and couldn't resist posting a selfie. Sue me, but I just really liked the way my pony tail turned out and I never succeed at doing my hair so I had to share.

// AHH! I am getting my eyebrows tinted tomorrow and I'm totally nervous. As long as they don't end up looking like this, I'm totally cool.

(any Seinfeld fans out there? Eh?)

// Halloween is on Friday! I'm dressing up as a Witch. I work at a nursing home/rehab center and so we are doing a costume parade for all the residents, and then they vote on their favorite costume and the winner gets a prize. So I'm looking forward to that fun-ness. 

// I got an interview to the nursing program I applied to! Hip-hip-hooray!!! Now to see if I can manage to woo them enough to accept me... we shall see.

The Best Things

They say that two heads are better than one, and since I have been married I can definitely attest to the truthfulness of that statement.

Love is sweet, and my love is the sweetest guy ever. For instance, this weekend we watched the Sixth Sense with some friends and I had to get up to go to the bathroom, but was way too scared to go inside and go pee by myself (I mean hello there could've been a dead person) so Nathan came with me and stood outside the door and waited for me. That's true love, right there. I am such a lucky girl to be married to this dude, He puts up with so much from me.

One of my personal favorite things about marriage is cuddling, all the time, all the day long. No one can argue how awesome that is.

Another great thing about marriage is you have a sidekick for all of life's adventures. You never have to  worry about who is going to sit by you at church, and you always have a date to everything. So that's cool. Not to mention you have someone to share all your hopes and dreams with, and that same someone is there to help you realize them too.

Overall it's just nice to have someone to lean on, and live life with, and that's really the best thing.

I honestly can't think of anyone else I'd rather share my life with than Nathan. He is da bomb. Love you, huns.

Good Morning

Good morning to you all on this lovely Sabbath day! I have had such a fun-filled October and I seriously wish I was a better photo-documenter so I could remember more things, but I'm super lazy when it comes to picture taking. Also I lack a nice camera. That probably makes me only a sub-par blogger, but whatevs. I will just wow you with my awesome writing skills instead.

I finally made it to one of my little brother's football games. He had a nice ride in an ambulance a few weeks ago because of a concussion and as a result hadn't played in a few weeks, but he finally made it back onto the field! So that was cool to see him play again. Also do you guys like the new sweater I got? I do! Woo.

We threw a birthday party for the old man. He may kill me for revealing this information, but he turned 48 years old. What is crazy is I remember his 30th birthday party. Wow. He's still young though, I mean look at that Mickey Mouse shirt. It takes a true kid at heart to wear that. Also I might mention that isn't the only Mickey Mouse shirt he owns (and wears!). Now you guys know where I got my love of Disneyland from. It's hereditary.

This weekend my friend Ashley and her husband threw a Halloween party at their amazing home. Seriously they have the best view of Utah Lake and basically the whole valley. They dressed their dog up as the grandma from little red riding hood and it was so cute. The party was a blast too. We played Mafia and ate an excessive amount of sugary Halloween themed treats.

In other news, I should be hearing back about whether or not I get an interview for the nursing program any day now. Cross your fingers for me. I am hoping so freakin' hard that I get in! I just want to be a professional so so bad and have a career and make some real money. Some of you can probably relate. In the event I don't get accepted I have just decided that I'm gonna go get a second job and take Nathan and I to Disney World. I mean that in all seriousness, too. So whatever happens I suppose the end result is happy, ya? Ha.

Ramblings

1. Friday night Nathan and I visited the ever famous 180 Tacos. We've heard about it for a while and have been told on numerous occasions to go eat there, so at last we obliged. It was fairly delicious, I had this fried buttermilk chicken taco and YUM. The blend of flavors was incredible. We just may visit there again.

2. Sorry about the lack of any even remotely attractive pictures of myself. I much prefer to post ones such as these.

3. The hubster at the taco shop.

4. My first attempt at Swig (or ya know, Slurp if you hang around American Fork, Utah) sugar cookies. The frosting wasn't quite right but I was very impressed with the actual cookie. If you have ever been to a Swig or Slurp or whatever the heck the kids are calling these soda pop places these days, you will know how addicting these babies are. I don't even know how many calories are in these. I don't even want to know, because I may have eaten like six today. Oops. Recipe - here.

On another, non-pictured note, I have no eyebrows. Actually, let me word that differently. I do have eyebrows, they are just as blonde as blonde can be. I color them in on a daily basis and it is just getting old, guys. So I've been considering dying/tinting them for the longest time and I just can't get the courage up to go do it. Any opinions on this? Anyone have experience in the eyebrow tinting department? I feel like it would save me hours of my life if I just did it.

Septiembre

September has already come and gone my friends, and with it lots of wonderful memories.

There was that time our company co-ed softball team lost every game. Err yeah. At least we had cool matching t-shirts. I guess I'm not as athletic as I had originally thought?

I love September though. Ya know I used to think I was a winter (magical christmas-time winter, that is) person, but I'm reconsidering. This year I'm just really digging the fall thus far.

It rained SO hard here in the valley on Saturday and I loved it. This might sound totally weird and hopefully you don't judge me for it but when my brother and I were like... 4/5 years old we used to run outside and lick the cement after it rained. Like it somehow tasted good to us? OK that was a weird confession. Sorry. Moving on.

With fall comes football games. BYU football games, that is. No shame. I love BYU football and my dad and grandma like to share their season tickets with us. Nathan and I took my best friend Shelbster to a game a few weeks ago and we laughed, cheered and gorged ourselves with various stadium food.

And one more Disneyland picture because I love Disneyland and that happened in September. I've been on this major Disney World kick lately though and have been desperately trying to convince my husband to take me there. I've gone so far as to have already calculated how much it would cost us and when we'd go and where we'd stay... I don't know if he's quite given into my persuasive ways yet. I'll just have to keep working on it.

Here's to another great month of awesomeness.

Fall Wishlist

1. Aztec Sweater / 2. Yankee Candle / 3.Stance socks / 4. Gap Gym Skinny Sweats / 5. Kate Spade iPhone Case / 6. Revlon Lipstain / 7. Michael Kors Purse / 8. Jeffrey Campbell Booties /

This is my wishful thinking collage. With fall coming in my wardrobe is in desperate need of some refreshment!

I must admit I do own a purple shade of that Revlon Lip Balm/Stain and it is THE BEST. I am the type of person who has never been able to wear lipstick because it mysteriously disappears off of my lips like 30 seconds after I put it on, so really it is just a waste of time. However I thought I'd give that particular lip stain a try and let me just say that it stays on all day and it honestly feels like you don't have anything on your lips at all! As opposed to you know, cakey lip stick. So much better. Do yourself a favor and go this stuff.

Also I do own a pair of Stance socks (see #3) and they are my favorites as well. I wear them as often as I can get them re-washed and dried.

I will forever be wanting that Michael Kors bag. Someone please gift it to me.

Second Chances

We decided to be adventurous this weekend, so naturally that would mean grabbing a bucket of KFC and heading up the canyon for a little fireside chillin'. I was surprised by how much all the leaves had changed since we were up there last weekend. All the quakies had turned into a glowing, buttery yellow, and the mountain air was so fresh and crisp - how I love Autumn. 

Nothing quite like kicking it back in the wilderwoods, listening to some good old country tunes with your man. It was a much needed - albeit brief, escape from the city lights.

On another, much different note - for the past year and a half I've felt like I've just been spinning my wheels. Not quite sure what direction to go or what path to take. I had several choices swimming around in my head, but I have been too hesitant to pick one because of one reason or another. Certain obstacles and ya know, other shtuff, mainly myself, kept me from making a move. I have really been wanting to get into a nursing program but felt so hopeless about it because the one I wanted to apply to required extensive pre-requisites that I just didn't have, and honestly felt overwhelmed about the thought of getting them. I was about to give up on all of that and go with a different path when I decided to just look one last time at the program. I was completely shocked to find that the requirements had changed and I was now qualified to apply for the coming semester. Seriously, how lucky is that?

So I suppose you could say I have kind of gotten a second chance at something I have been wanting so badly, and I can't wait to get the application process completed and find out what happens. I know without a doubt God had a hand in all of this, and even if I don't get accepted, I know I will be led to a better path. I just feel so grateful to finally have found a chance to make a move with my life.

I think we all have those 'spinning our wheels' moments, when you just feel stuck, ya know? We all feel forgotten and hopeless sometimes, but I know even in those moments God is mindful of us and our wants, hopes and desires. Even when we don't see the big picture, God does, and He knows what is in store for us. We just have to remember to ask Him for help, and exercise a little patience and faith if the answer doesn't come right away. That's something I gotta keep reminding myself.

My Man and I

Nathan and I haven't had any 'real' pictures taken of us since our wedding day, so needless to say, this little photo shoot was much overdue. My little sis, Maggie was our wonderful photographer (insta @focus_photography14). I was SO pleased for what she came up for us!

I was comparing these pictures to our engagement session and I could not help but notice how much older we look! Not in like a wrinkly, worn down sort of way, but in a more, oh how do I say it? Mature, more responsible looking sort of way, ha. I guess being married really does make you grow up quite a bit! I mean we look like real adults in these pictures, as opposed to careless college kids. Two years of marriage can do a lot to a person.

That's all fine and good though. I like what I see reflected back at me in these photographs. I see a deep love and caring for one another. I see laughter, tears and wonderful experiences shining through our eyes. I see fulfillment, confidence and joy. A sort of richness that was not there before. 

We are older now, but our love has grown to be so much more. I can see it in our faces.

How sweet love is! I would not trade my life for any other in the world, and I feel so immensely blessed to have such a wonderful husband as Nathan. He takes care of me, and he loves me, and I could not ask for anything more.

Fare Thee Well, Summer

Today as I sat upon my couch, clad in my sweats (as in pants, not perspiration) and watching the rain, I realized that Fall is indeed on its merry way. Summer has once again slipped away from our grasps, not to return for another year.

Each season has a certain romanticism about it, don't you think? And as the current one comes to a close, we look forward to the many wonderful things the next one has in store. Summer has been real, but to be perfectly honest I much prefer a rainy day to a sunny one, being bundled up as opposed to being dressed down, and eating warm soup instead of popcicles.

Before I herald in the new season however, I must give Summer a proper send off. So fare thee well Summer, thank you for providing me with all sorts of wonderful adventures this year. Disneyland, hikes, camping and sno cones, you did not disappoint. I will miss running barefoot in the grass, and 5:00 AM sunrises, but we will see each other again before too long, I am sure of it.

A Rose and Other Things

+ I love flowers, just like the other 95% of the feminine world. So today I wandered throughout my parent's lovely garden, plucking blooms for my table.

+ Free flowers = awesomeness.

+ I was a Horticulture Major once. For two years to be precise. Then I ran away from my university with only an associates degree. What can you do?

+ Someday I envision myself owning six acres of land, with a giant garden full of all sorts of wonderful plants. I imagine a cobble stone pathway, leading to a picnic table just beyond an arbor spilling with roses. It will be most wonderful.

+ I also envision myself owning a small home with white siding and a bright blue door, and lots of children running around barefoot on the front lawn, and yes, there will be a picket fence. Stamp 'CLICHE' on my forehead if you must. The simple things are what my dreams are made of, and I don't mind that.

Girl's Trip!

Time to share with y'all my many wonderful adventures in Californ-aye-eh. Picture bombardment ahead - you've been forewarned.

We took an eeearrrly flight out of SLC on Thursday morning and just about missed it. They seriously were about to give our seats away just as we showed up to the gate. I was sweating bullets through the whole security line, ready to run as fast as I possibly could as soon as I got through the metal detector, but luckily fate was on our side. We arrived in Long Beach pretty tired from waking up at the butt crack of dawn, however our excitement to go to the happiest place on earth cancelled out any negative feelings we might have been harboring from fatigue and the fiasco at the airport.

What's a day at the D-land without Mickey Mouse? Love that guy.

Magster and I about to get on Small World. My grandmother's personal favorite (we have to ride it at least once a trip just for her). Plus nothing sounds more appealing than a fifteen minute, air conditioned boat ride when it's 90 degrees outside. Pirates of the Caribbean is also another great sanctuary from the heat. We ride those both in excess during our summer trips. It's fine.

I don't know how any Disneyland Fanatics I have out there amongst my (maybe four) readers, but is the new Cars Land not the awesomest? It is seriously my new favorite place. They have the Cozy Cone Motel and everything. You feel like you stepped right into the movie. Also the Radiator Springs Racers are so much fun, definitely a fav. Definitely. Too bad the line is astronomically large because it is still so new. Thank goodness for fast passes is all I'm sayin'. They are life savers.

After two magical filled days at the park we headed out to the Santa Monica Pier for some beachin' time. I had never been here before because my family is obsessed with Laguna and that's the only place we ever go, so it was kind of fun to try something new out. We ate at this pretty good Mexican restaurant at the end of the Pier, the name escapes me... but you got to eat with the world's best ocean view, so no complaints there.

The next morning was our race! I had to share this picture because I had to impress in your minds how many people show up for this thing! 30,000!!! Can you believe that? And honestly this photo does not even show half of the racers. They load you all up into separate corrals (and corral is such an appropriate name because you literally feel like a cow being herded or something). They release each corral one at a time. We were in 'I', so even though the race technically started at 5:30 in the AM, we were not released until 6:30 AM. So like pretty much some of the faster peeps were almost done with their race just as we were starting. The first 3 miles or so you don't really have an opportunity to get very far ahead because you're so squished, but after that it evens out and you're fine. 

I absolutely loved the Disneyland Half Marathon, because the first half of the race you are running through the parks, they have characters and workers and bands all lined up cheering you on. After you exit the park they have more dancers and cheerleaders lining the streets, then after that you run through 3 miles of classic cars parked with more people cheering you on. Then you go through Angel's Stadium and the seats are just packed with people (again cheering you on) and then you end back in Downtown Disney! There is entertainment every mile, and people all the way just clapping and holding signs. It gave me such a rush of energy to see all the people out there supporting the runners! It was so awesome.

Yay we finished!

And because a trip to California is never complete without visiting Laguna, we spent the time after our race there relaxing and enjoying the sun. Also I got to wear my new swimsuit, which I was super pumped about. Woo!

Our last day at Disneyland, Maggie (my sister) and I woke up extra early and went and ate Mickey Mouse pancakes. They somehow taste better when they are shaped like that. For reals.

I was so so sad that I had to come home and come back to reality! Seriously the last few days at work have been rough... vacation hangover I guess? Knowing my family though I am sure we'll be back before too long. It was so nice to just get away with the girls for a little R&R, but I did miss my hubby so coming back and kissing his cheeks is one positive thing about being home, I suppose.