Friday, June 20

A Study in Procrastination

I realize that my last post may have been a little long for anyone to really sit through. I would apologize, but I think Brit enjoyed reading it, and that's all that matters. :P

In honor of my midterm paper that's due tonight, I decided to make the LONG-overdue post about our trip to Ohio.

We went to stay with my brother and sister-in-law over Mother's Day Weekend, and it was WELL worth the hassle. I love seeing my nephews. I cannot emphasize that enough. I adore them all. And we got to meet the new nephew on Brit's side, who is also adorable (if not totally interactive yet). We went to the gym (we being myself and Emilia, as I don't think I could get Brit to the gym if I paid him), we went swimming in the TOTALLY RAD community pool, we worked on their garden and mowed their lawn (we being mostly Brit, as I wimped out pretty quickly), we went to the Farmer's Market on the only gorgeous day all weekend, we went to the (inside) family picnic at the Hippie-Commie preschool (and I was shocked by the overwhelming majority of tofu/vegetarian/vegan/organic dishes... my goodness! hippie preschool indeed!)... we had SO MUCH FUN!

We spent the afternoon/evening after the Preschool Picnic hanging out with Brit's brother and sister-in-law and adorable new baby. It was nice to catch up. We made plans and followed through with dinner all together at my brother's house, where we had fun, listened to screaming kids, and then put them all in bed and played Cranium and ate ice-cream sandwiches late into the night.

I have very fond memories of that trip, even if my sweet little nephews turned into sleep-deprived monsterlets by the end of the week. In fact, I think that's one of my fondest memories... listening to them whine/scream on Sunday morning and thinking "Ah yes, we're going home today, and we're not parents yet." :)

I love you, Todd & Emilia, and Ryan & Heather!! I hope we can visit again soon. I'm glad I managed to drag Brit along.




Sunday, June 15

50 things

Fifty things I love and adore about my husband, the future father of my children:

1. He's cute and sexy. :)

2. He's so good with computers and everything to do with them. Brilliant. He knows more than his teacher about the java class he's taking now.

3. He loves his family, especially his mommy.

4. He's so cute with his nephews. And niece. I love to watch him play with them and think about what a good father he'll be.

5. He is so patient with me, even when I get all crazy and PMSy and freak out over nothing. I don't know how he puts up with me, but he does every day, and sometimes with a smile.

6. He is SO creative. He collects the most random junk, and with it suddenly creates a wonderful practical invention.

7. I'm convinced he can fix anything.

8. He's really good at a lot of video games. I find that sexy.

9. He's good about taking out the garbage and helping me with chores around the house (often being the only one to do them), even though he has little more time than I do.

10. And he does it without me having to ask, most of the time

11. He's so patient about our present lot in life. Yeah, it kinda sucks that we never get to see each other, and it kinda sucks that he's going to be in school non-stop for the next 2 years, yet he keeps pushing through, going to school every day then to a crappy job he hates then home to do homework. He is superman.

12. He keeps me in check when i want to run off and indulge my wild fantastical whims, like running off to California, or having a baby. He is my level-headed better half.

13. He's good at being romantic, when he wants to be. Like when I thought I'd failed my LPN and he bought me flowers and a present, or his awesome birthday evening surprise, or when he brought me breakfast in bed on mother's day.

14. He rubs my feet and my ankles when they hurt whenever I ask without complaining. What a gift.

15. When he gets in his silly moods, he gets SO SILLY. And we start wrestling and I end up laughing so hard it hurts.

16. He is SUCH a good cuddler!!!

17. He's good at talking me down out of my pity parties.

18. He takes care of me when I'm sick.

19. He forces me to smile when I'm grumpy.

20. He's a worthy temple-going priesthood holder who will be a wonderful head of the family.

21. Even though we just got married, he's had very little interaction with my family, and he has every reason to be scared of them, he went to Ohio with me and was really good at interacting with my brother and sister-in-law and just naturally integrating into my side of the family. Which is great, because family is hugely important to me.

22. He's good at reminding me to say dinner prayers.

23. He makes me want to be a better person, so I can feel like I deserve him.

24. He fully intends to be with me forever in the Celestial Kingdom.

25. He's great at taking care of Whisky and Khianna.... which I neglect more often than not.

26. He's all sorts of cute and manly in a jeep.

27. And speaking of cars, he lets me drive the nice new Sonata, and drives the cruddy old Alero without complaint.

28. He's really supportive of me in general and my life goals and makes me feel better when I
feel like I'm a bad nurse.

29. He's also supportive of me not killing myself getting to those life goals, even if it means working less while I'm in school and not making as much money.

30. When I was looking at jobs a few months back, he encouraged me to take the job that would really make me happy and pay less, even though this meant he'd have to stay longer at his awful job.

31. He's so adorably indignant of the fact that I subtly orchestrated his proposal by dropping hints about the beach being "the most romantic place on earth." He honestly thought up until a few months ago that I had NO idea the proposal was coming.

32. I say a lot about him indulging me, but he really knows when to put his foot down, which is actually very important for the longevity of our relationship. I am spoiled rotten, and really need someone who knows how to put boundaries on me. Brit knows just how to do this, and I respect him for it.

33. Even though he knew the answer was going to be yes, he was still nervous when he asked me to marry him.

34-39. ((Censored))

40. He's actively trying to be friends with my friends, so we can all hang out together.

41. He creates World of Warcraft characters and levels them to 70 just because he thought of an awesome name.

42. He gets giddy over the geekiest things.

43. He tries my cooking and gives his honest opinion, even though he's a very picky eater.

44. He gets all cute and pouty when I mock him.

45. He knows how to tease and mock me. And does it in the most loving way possible.

46. The love he has for ICW is just.... beyond words. I love how supportive he is of that decision, the way we can talk about it..... everything.

47. He gets all excited about popping my (rare) pimples. It's cute. And a little weird. But he's somehow sucked me into the excitement, too...

48. His vast collection of movies. A little lame to be on the list, yes, but still... very useful. And it ties back to that whole techno geek thing. Which also applies to anything electronic... like wiring our whole surround sound system... which technically is probably a seperate point, but I'm running out of numbers.

49. He loves me exactly the way I am, in every little way. My crazy quirks, my attitude nuances, my chubby belly. And even so, he's supports me when I want to change.

50. He has no idea that his REAL present is waiting in our checking account . . . ;)


Saturday, June 7

The long-awaited apartment tour!

With the apartment cleaned and beautified, I finally found the energy to hang up pictures in the living room and finish the whole "decorating" thing. I'm pretty stinking proud of myself with that, too. As I got ready to take pictures, though, I realized the apartment is just too big to get a real sense of it through pictures (poor us, right?), so I settled on a video tour! Welcome to the 21st century!

No sound is required for this video... I did one with me narrating the tour, decided that sounded lame, and redid it as a silent walk-through. Silent except for the sound of my breathing and the perpetual fan we have going in the bedroom. >_<

Right near the end you can see our fabulous brand-new bed... It's so BIG! And squishy! I love it to itty bitty pieces. The laptop has even moved into the bedroom because it's so much comfier to blog from the bed. Other than that, the bedroom is completely unfinished. That'll probably be the last to get done.

And lastly, some close-ups of the wall decorations that you couldn't really see in the video (and can't really see here, either, because of glare)... I'm just so prideful about this. I've never really been a decorator, but I'm happy with the results here (with some help from a friend of mine... I can't really take full credit...)

The picture in the middle is one of me and Brit in front of the temple. Then on the left is a collage of his family, and on the right, a collage of mine.


This is one of my favorites. The top frame has our marriage certificate from the temple, and the dried flower we used in our engagement photos (it doesn't look much like a flower anymore, but still... sentimental value and all that....). The bottom one has the Family Proclamation layered over top the picture you can mostly see.



In this last one, the pictures you can't see are just a few professional photos from the wedding in our "Family" frame. Then those two boxes on top are Brit's chinese shadow boxes that say "Love" and "Happiness."



The overall effect is nice, i think. It makes me smile every time I walk in my living room, anyway, and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. My house is finally starting to feel like a home.

More blogs to come later... for now, I have to rush off to work.

Wednesday, June 4

Reason #4762981 why my husband is the BEST

Yesterday was my birthday. It didn't start out so great. I was depressed all morning, barely saw Brit, and had to work. I went to the gym cos I told this girl I'd be there to be measured, then turned around and went home without working out at all. And proceeded to finish off my Ben & Jerry's (but I was still in my workout clothes, so that must count for something, right?!).

Work started to turn my mood around. It was a fairly low-key day, which I always like, few complications, and I just got over whatever it was that was eating me. So by the time I went home I was already feeling better, and then I walked in to lit candles, pancakes on the griddle, a giant cake on the counter, and-- the best part-- a totally clean apartment!!! He really went all-out for me, and it was the best birthday evening EVER. Even though by the end of the day I blew my diet to itty bitty pieces. Still, it was so sweet, and the thought of it all is still making me happy. I just can't believe how much effort he put in! I mean, he went shopping, re-stocked our fridge, emptied all the boxes in the office (and there were a lot), broke down the bazillion boxes in the living room.... I am seriously impressed. And so now this means as soon as I get the pictures hung up (or maybe before, since who knows when that will happen) I can finally post pictures of my apartment without embarrassment. So look for that coming soon, I'd say within the next week.

Thank you to everyone who called me and/or wished me well on my birthday (especially to my nephews for the greatest voicemail I've ever had-- it's going to be saved for a loooooong time!). I love you all!