Wife of the year...or not

Oh how I love this sweet man of mine. 

I'm fairly certain Texas is just playing a big trick on us this week, but we've had perfect weather these last three days and I am welcoming fall with arms   w i d e  o p e n   

Since Nate's started school back up, life has been super crazy. When he's not working or in class, he's working on applications for fellowships. It's been an insane few weeks and I'm so ready for all these applications to be done with - mostly for Nathan's sake. 

He was so stressed at one point that he jokingly asked me to write his cover letter for him. Wellllll I kind of took him seriously one night while I was home alone. ++awesome wife points++

Unfortunately, those bonus points were quickly rejected when I ruined TWO pairs of Nate's pants. Pretty great, huh? It started when I forgot to tell Nate NOT to wash a pair of new jeans that I had hanging over the edge of the laundry hamper. Alas, as we were switching that load over to the dryer, we noticed way too many items of our clothing stained with blue dye. 

I immediately called my mom knowing in the back of my mind that this had happened to her once before. She told me to buy a package of color run remover and it would take out the blue dye no problem.

I followed the directions very carefully, but somehow didn't realize that the hot pink shirt I had in with the other items would get ripped of color along with all the spots of blue. Once the cycle was complete, not only were most of the blue stains gone, but all of the pink from the shirt as well....and wanna know where it went? Straight onto two pairs of Nate's pants.

That's right...I turned his pants pink. I was horrified and embarrased and just utterly confused. Surely my mom had the answer? I called her again and she simply said that another package of color remover should do the trick.

Commence cycle #2. In the end - the pink WAS removed, but so was most of the other color (brown) from pants. Instead of them being a nice dark khaki, they were now golden yellow. 

WIFE OF THE YEAR!

               

On a lighter note...I waited a solid year before ordering any wedding prints. And these aren't even prints, it's a book. But to be honestly, I only waited so long because I bought Walter Mitty a couple months ago and I got a free Shutterfly photo book out of it... if that wasn't included in the package, I'd still be photo-less. HA! I'm terrible.

This book turned out WAY better than I was expecting. I couldn't stop staring after I picked up it from the mailbox. So many happy, beautiful memories :)

More good news: NATE AND I WERE FINALLY RELEASED FROM NURSERY!!

Only because apparently I had been on the waiting list to get into Young Women's for like 6 months. Geez. So yes, I was immediately called as the Secretary/Personal Progress lady for YW. Holla!

I have no freakin idea what I'm doing, so feel free to send over any advice you may have. I have a feeling my Type A personality is going to get the best of me in this calling. I already went WAY overboard for a stupid ward party last month and it straight up ruined me. My expectations were on the roof and were very quickly stomped to the ground. Pray that I can make the best of this!! (AKA stop caring if everything is perfect)

Music recommendations as of late:

alt-J: This Is All Yours (album)

Broods: Four Walls (thx Kylie)

Yuna: Lullabies Adventure Club Remix (thx Brooke)

Echosmith: Cool Kids

Hozier: Someone New

Active Child: Silhouette (feat. Ellie Goulding)

Trevor Hall: Chapter Of The Forest (album)

YEAR ONE

I feel like a lot of people told Nate and I that the first year of marriage was going to be the hardest. I will admit that there were some hard parts, but I think I expected much worse, just based on all the fear other married couples tried to pour over us. Our "honeymoon phase", or whatever they call it, was cut fairly short due to the stream of high-stress events that followed directly after our very short honeymoon. Adult reality was rough - especially when you're having to deal with it with someone you're not used to spending 24/7 with. Luckily, Nathan is a pretty easy guy to live with; (not that I have previous experience...except for my two brothers...and my dad...) he's kind of OCD, and he has great hygiene, and he doesn't have super high expectations...so that made my job and my adjusting to married life, much easier. Praise him!

Aside from the fun stuff above, here are some other things that we've dealt with and learned this first year:

When I first got married, I felt tons of pressure to be the best house wife ever. Home-cooked meals every weekday night for Nathan when he got home from classes, making the bed every single morning, keeping a spotless house...you know how it goes. Well that ended about 3 months in and I definitely don't feel as much pressure to cook elaborate dinners every single night anymore. With his night classes and pea-size stomach, I'd rather have him deal with it on his own. And I think he would, too, most of the time.

We go to bed pretty early. If I'm up past 11pm, there's something wrong (unless it's a weekend...but even then I'll still be asleep before midnight). I never understood that whole "8hours of sleep" thing - but now I do. Now I swear by it.

We actually socialize quite a bit with other married couples around town. A lot of people said you lose all your friends when you get married, but that's not necessarily true. You may lose all your other single friends when you get married, but they absolutely get replaced. Haha. Like, no offense to the single kids - but you hate hanging out with married couples...it's fine... 

Doing grown-up things is hard. Like taking care of a nasty ticket and doing defensive driving and getting all the paperwork taken care of and filled out correctly. Or paying bills. Like lots of them - and having to keep track of all of it. Or budgeting. Or paying taxes. Or renewing your car registration. Or dealing with housing management companies. Or having a full time job whilst watching all your other college friends go off on these elaborate trips around the world. Boo them. 

Sometimes I get super baby hungry. But that's why we have other married friends with children - we can go hang out with them for a few hours and get reminded as to why we're definitely not ready to have children of our own any time soon. 

I'm realizing more and more the importance of having a job you enjoy. Even if it doesn't pay as much - sometimes I think it maybe is more worth it. Right now that's hard to argue, because I'm having to put my husband through grad school and we're still having to take out some student loans and stuff...but a job is something you spend the majority of your time doing, and if you hate it - it ends up effecting every single other aspect of your life. Since I have extremely limited options here in our tiny town, instead of wallowing in self-misery, I work on changing my attitude and forcing myself to love what I do. But in a year, when we move somewhere else, I'm going to make sure it's both mine and Nathan's priority to find jobs we both enjoy doing for at least 40 hours every week. 

My lactose-intolerance is getting worse. Now I can only drink almond milk and my second bite of ice cream usually makes me sick. Still haven't tried lactose pills, but I have big plans to test them in the near future. 

My attempts to "diet" always fail because for some reason I really just cannot give up sugar. But I'm getting better at working out really consistantly, so I don't feel aaaas bad when I cave.

Don't move into a place just because it looks like a cabin on a 'lake' that would be in a Nicholas Sparks book. Sometimes it's actually quite miserable and infested with spiders and scorpions. 

Don't try to take the protective plastic off the tv your husband bought two years ago or else he will get very angry. 

Don't be indecisive about where you go out to eat, or else your husband will never want to go out to eat with you. 

Don't complain to your husband that it's too cold in your house, becasue most likely he has a hotter body temperature than you. That's what blankets and cuddling are for. 

Don't leave your shoes laying out all over the floor or else your wife will continue to trip over them and maybe even bruise herself on the frame of the bed. 

Don't leave your whiskers in the sink for your wife to find when she gets home from work. Because that's gross and it's not that hard to rinse them down the drain. 

Don't use your fancy knives if you're not going to be suuuper careful, or else you will cut your fingers...a lot... 

Don't put the half-empty bag of flour on the floor of the pantry because it will turn into a home for bugs 

Don't let your husband leave you for the entire summer because then you won't have anyone to kill the bugs...or fix the burnt out light(s)...or complain to your apt. management...or take care of you when you're sick...or watch really idiotic tv shows with you...or eat meals with...  

Don't forget about the sweet potato in your cupboard or else it will start growing long pink limbs and look like a rodent...or a piece of art...  

Start writing things down. You don't have to start a blog in order to be officially admitted into the married people's club, but you should definitely have some sort of way to keep track of the things going on in your life. Good, bad, ugly, depressing, exciting...it's always fun to look back on.

Save money. As much as you can. There's better use for it down the road. 

But at the same time, don't hold back on splurging on things that will be more worth it emotionally. Like my flights to Vegas this summer -- we don't have that kind of money just sitting around, but instead of being ABSOLUTELY depressed for 10 weeks straight, we thought it would be a better investment to go ahead and purchase the flights and save the heartache. Totally, totally worth the money.

Always make sure the first person you tell your exciting news to is your spouse. Not your mom, or your best friend...your spouse. That's what they're there for, and that's who you should always make your first priority. For everything.

Take advantage of every opportunity for adventure. Nate and I are slowly getting better at this. I've been learning a lot from some of my other married friends from college...some of them are SO good at getting out and doing really fun things in the cities and areas around them. Some of the time the stuff isn't even that cool, but I love that they try to do something besides just sit around and be boring all weekend long. Nate and I got too good at that for a while and I'm ready for that to change. 

Our first year flew by way too fast. Looking back, there's so much we went though in such a short amount of time. Lots of ups and downs. I wouldn't do a single thing differently, except maybe be a little more optimistic about certain situations...
I'm excited for this second year to start. We have a lot to get done and prepare for in these next few months, and it makes me so giddy for our future. This final year of Nate's grad program is going to be hefty. I'm not looking forward to all the night classes and team meetings that steal him away from me on my hours off from work...but it's all going to be worth it once he's graduating next May and we're off to a new place to start a new chapter of our lives.

I'm not sure what I did to snag a guy like Nate, but I thank God every day for him and what a blessing he is in my life. He's the kindest, most selfless and loving husband I could have ever asked for. And he sooo handsome :) I love love love him.

Mushy Gushy

Nathan's trying to grow a beard right now. He sees men on TV that have similar hair growth as him and he's like, "hey my beard could look like his, right?" See below:

Yes, this means we were watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians on Saturday morning...judge away.

So Valentine's Day is on Friday. I've never really been a big Valentine's person. Probably because I never dated anyone seriously enough to even need to make it a big deal. Actually, I'm pretty sure last year was my first Valentine's Day that was celebrated with someone of the opposite sex. Years before that were spent with roommates watching chick flicks eating an unecessary amount of junk food on the couch. I guess that helped both me AND Nate going into it, because I had zero expectations for whatever he may or may not have planned. I tried to do little cute things that in the end just ended up being really cheesy and embarrassing. Nate automatically won when he surprised me with dinner reservations at one of our faaavorite restaurants in all of Utah County, Pizzeria 712...and might I add, reservations for Valentine's Day dinner are nearly impossible to come by. Don't ask me how he did it. 

Nate: 1   Zoe: 0

I have no idea what's in store for this year. Is it weird to anyone else that you're supposed to like...give gifts on Valentine's Day? It's like a thing, I feel like. Why? Didn't we just have Christmas? Anyway, I always thought that I was a bad gift giver...but I guess it gets easier when you're with someone 24/7 and you somehow are capable of keeping track of what they need/want or what you think they'll probably really like. Christmas required a good amount of peculiar brainstorming sessions in order to find exactly what Nate would appreciate. (I'd say I did a pretty good job) So for Valentine's I figured I'd go through a similar process and see what I could come up with. In the end, most of my brainstorming was spent doing Google searches of "what to buy men for Valentine's Day". But I found tons of great ideas...none really that I thought would appeal to Nate specifically....but it definitely got my wheels turning. It sparked some memories of little instances when Nate mentioned he was needing something, or that he really like this one particular thing, etc. I think I'm all set for this Friday. Cross your fingers he doesn't go out with a bang...

BUT...I guess you could say our big present to ourselves for Valentine's Day is a trip to NYC next weekend!!!! JetBlue was having some outrageous sale a few weeks ago and I couldn't resist booking us a flight. I absolutely love New York City. Nate's never really experienced it before, so I'm excited to get to spend the weekend with him there.

I'm praying that another huge wintery storm doesn't come blowing in while we're there. As pretty as it is, I think I'd prefer to feel my feet while I'm walking around rather than feel like they're about to break off. 

Being married is a funny thing. Especially in the beginning. A lot of my friends are in all different stages of love right now...some are barely getting engaged...some newly married...a big handful are getting ready to (or already) welcoming a new life into the world. It's crazy how much your life can change by welcoming someone else into it. And I think it happens each time you add someone else. It starts with him. I'm still in that stage. There's lot's of little things to adjust to...and everyone is so different, so no matter what advice anyone gives you, none of it is really going to echo whatever you're going through, because their husband isn't your husband and he doesn't do the same thing your husband does. It's like this love-filled journey you're essentially supposed to figure out on your own. Isn't that strange? 

As soon as it starts getting easier, I think that's when you start welcoming the thought of adding another person into your circle of life. And so the cycle goes. Each time filled with different hiccups and bruises and lessons to learn. But so fulfilling and fun and worth it. 

I get so excited for the friends of mine that are getting engaged and married. It's a freaking hard adjustment, but it's so much more fun to be going through life with someone who loves you more than anything else. I go to bed every night feeling so blessed to be where I am with the person I'm with. The town we live in sucks. My job isn't the best. We don't do a whole lot at all. But I'm realizing I don't need all that stuff to make me feel accomplished and fulfilled. I feel like it's really easy to get caught up in everyone else's life these days. Everyone and their mother puts their most detailed information up on social media for the world to see and when we start using them as a guide for what happiness looks like...it's always going to be skewed. You know that they're only putting up the most glamorous side of their life. It's an unfair comparison to measure your every day life to someone else's highlight of the week. They don't have a highlight of the week every day. 

So here's to your love. Your very own, peculiar, unlike anyone else's, love :) 

Also. Thanks to Kylie, I can't stop listening to this 90's throwback:

The Unintentional High

First, listen to this:

Then, listen to this:

Sweet perfection, right? Guess who got to see these magical beings live last night?

We did. 

They were glorious.

The only way I can describe it...is like sex in a box.

Ok but literally, because the venue they played at in SLC (The Complex), was just a huge box. And they sounded (what I've imagined to be) just as good as sex. 

Also, pretty sure I got high last night. Completely unintentional. It's fine.

I Like To Share

I wish you all could listen to this playlist I've had going non-stop for the last week. It's diviiiine. Maybe I'll make you all a Spotify playlist so you can indulge with me :) Ok fiiiine. Put it on shuffle. Here it is:

TOP 5

Some of my most favorite days spent in Chicago this summer have happened just within the past five days. Might as well go out with a bang, right?

Went out to the lake for some wakeboarding and 

came back a little more tan and a lot more sore :)

Oh yeah, and then remember that one time Emily
and I locked ourselves out of our house and I
tried to break us in? Didn't work. Not even close.

Started this charmer for my book report at 

work (shocking, I know). It's actually quite good.

"Happiness it where you find it, 

not where you look for it."

I took a bathroom break at work yesterday and came 

out to hear the incredible voice of Haley Reinhart 

echoing off the walls of the office. Sure enough she 

was belting it in cafe down the hall. 

We spent Monday night playing beach volleyball 

off of North Shore Beach. So glad I captured 

the moment. The sunset was breathtaking. 

5 more days until I'm on a plane to California to 

see 5 of my favorite people. High five, anyone?

Run

Sunday is probably one of my favorite days during the week. Maybe it's because it's usually the one day that I get to sleep in, but it's also the one day I get to spend at LEAST three hours just pondering. Sometimes I wish I had more time to think. (Here is why) My life is so consumed with other responsibilities and obligations that when the time finally comes for me to breath - I don't want to do anything except sit there. By the time Sunday usually rolls around, my breathing time is complete and I have time to process my week.

Life is lived day by day. Second by Second. You can't count on something that used to be - you have to live for what is to come.

I think sometimes I psych myself out when it comes to the future. I tell myself I'm not prepared, or too young, or inexperienced, blah blah blah. I could come up with a million excuses - but the point is, that's not the point. I am my only obstacle at this point. Sure, stumbling blocks are put in our way, but at the end of the day, I've found that it's purely a mental game that we're playing here.

I got a letter from a friend the other day. He's spent the last 21 months in Los Angeles serving a mission for my church. Here's what he shared with me about this race we're participating in called life:

 "He won't make you run faster than you are able, but He will make you run."

So as much as I want to slow down time or quietly push the pause button on my life, I just can't. I learned that in church today. You just have to keep going. Because life is about progression and learning and change. So I guess I better start jogging, eh? 

Memories

My uncle used to play this song for me on the piano every time I came over to spend the night at his house growing up. I can picture his long crooked, jammed fingers running almost effortlessly across the black and white keys...

I was a different person then. Young and innocent. Without flaw. Before the age of accountability...so much of me wishes I could have stayed that way forever. Thinking no wrong and always heeding to the care of others.

It's weird to think that they have five kids of their own now. So much time has passed.
15 years. 180 months. 5475 days.
Do you ever wish you could rewind time?
I don't.

Sometimes I wish I could pause it.
Or fast-forward it.

I think everything that has happened in my life has happened for a reason - most of the time, they're reasons completely unknown to me. I'm content knowing one day it will all make sense to me.

I know all the hard time and rough patches will one day be smoothed out and hopefully forgotten. I think my most favorite phrase to say thus far this week is "live and learn". The majority of the time, I've been saying it in a joking manner, but it's so true.

The Week of No Sleep

This has probably been the most stressful week of my college career. Bless my teachers, but all of them decided to have finals the week before "real" finals week. Now that it's almost over, I'm grateful that I'll be sitting around relaxing while everyone else is slaving away next week :) It's Wednesday, and I already have half of my finals completed. Just moments ago, I finished my 12 page research paper for my adolescent development class. I was impressed that I didn't have a meltdown in the process of writing it...it was quite painful.

I had to complete my advertising portfolio for my account planning class. You can check it out here. (click here!)

I had my business writing final this afternoon, and let's just say that I'm grateful for a working brain, because I didn't study a single bit for that test and I walked out feeling pretty dang good. I'm so glad I'm done for good with that class.

I have my communications law final on Friday. Wish me luck.

Until then, I'm going to go sit on a couch doing nothing for the next couple hours until I fall asleep.

If you're bored, watch/listen to these videos...

Distractions

I've spent the last two days sitting in front of a computer trying to complete the monstrous amounts of homework I have due before finals the second week in December. 10 page papers, multiple group presentations, hours and hours of research and surveying...not to mention the endless amounts of studying I'll need to do all in between there for the actual final exams I have to take. Let's just say I'm more than excited to be done with this semester.

My friend, Mika, is in the advertising program with me. She posted a link to her blog (click 'link' to check it out!) on Facebook tonight. Oh my awesome! Please go look at how cool she is. Also, I hope she doesn't read this because I'm going to post this sweeeet cover they did of Your Protector by Fleet Foxes. Her and her roommates are so talented, it's inspiring :)

Need some other cool tunes to feed your ears? I've listened to a lot lately whilst writing/studying/researching on this computer...here are some good ones:

Angeles by Pete Bradley Adams

Wonderin' by Nicole Reynolds

Your Rocky Spine by Great Lake Swimmers

Widow of a Living Man by Ben Harper (I can't find a youtube vid for it...but find it, it's good)

Cover of Night by Steve Reynolds

Family Farm by Chris Dorman

I'm Not Yours by Angus and Julia Stone

Lend Me Your Love by Slackstring

Loud Pipes by Ratatat

The Winner Is by Danna/Devotchka

You're The One That I Want by Angus and Julia Stone

Questions by Old 97's

Our Love by Paul Cardall

More Than Life by Whitley

(All of these were discovered on Pandora. Just listen to the Angus and Julia Stone playlist!)

ALSO - one more thing. You may have heard of it - but YouTube made a movie. It's called Life In A Day. It's "a historic film capturing for future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFVr_cJJIY&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1

If you have an hour and a half, you should watch it. It's incredible. 

Railroad Revival Tour!

A great thing happened in my life recently...I saw Mumford and Sons LIVE at the Railroad Revival Tour!!!!! Wooooooo hoo!! Honestly - one of the greatest things I have ever experienced. Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever attended. My little brother, Wyatt, ended up being able to come as well - it was INCREDIBLE. Special thanks to the Korpi siblings - Faith and Joel - you guys rock; they totally scored us the tickets and they are saints for that!! :)

Here's a link to some pictures Joel took at the concert (more to come, I'm sure) - http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelkorpi/sets/72157626595506524/

And here is a video of Roll Away Your Stone that he also captured. SO GOOD.

WE LOVED IT!!!

Love.

Trevor Hall

I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys I went to go see Trevor Hall last week!! It was my second time seeing him...and it's definitely not going to be my last. 

A lot of you probably don't even know who he is - and that is where you are at fault. Get on youtube.com right this second and get listening to his music! 

The thing I love about him, is that he is absolutely incredible live. His lyrics are so so deep, and he's like super down to earth and just goes into detail about what his songs mean; how they can relate to us all. I don't even know how to describe his 'genre'; I feel like he's almost his own style. haha. He's phenomenal. We had such a great time seeing him again :)

Aimee and I ecstatic to see Trevor!!!

Watch this video. Seriously. You won't be disappointed.

THIS IS WHY I love him :)

Obsessions and Cravings

Lately...I've had this weird obsession of listening to this band called Mumford & Sons. They're some random Irish-sounding folk band and they are SO incredibly good. Check this out:

Pretty good, huh?? Aren't they so good?! Some other favorites of mine that you should listen to...

- Roll Away Your Stone

- Awake My Soul

- Little Lion Man

- Dust Bowl Dance

Ok and then, after you get a small taste of these sexy Irish men - I just feel this craving to go and watch P.S. I Love You. Great movie, especially if you're in need of a good cry...gets me every time...ha. In case you've never heard of it before (or if you just want a little reminder of how good looking Gerard Butler is...) watch this:

Watch. Listen. You won't regret it :] 

P.S. "P.S. I Love You" is only $4.50 at Target right now. Hurry up or you'll miss your chance to get it for cheap cheap cheap!