I can't believe it is September already! Summer flew by in a fury. I'm already regretting not eating enough sno cone and spending too little time at the pool.
Brandon and I were both busy working this summer; him, getting acquainted with EnerNoc some more, and me, working at the high school summer sessions. Brandon's family came for a weekend at the beginning of the summer and we had the best time! We ate lots of food, hung out downtown, played games, and the guys were even kind enough to pour an extension of our patio! My favorite part was when we split up, and the guys went to the Harley shop, and us girls got pedicures. That night we went to a baseball game too!
The following weekend we took Friday off and went to Utah so I could go to the bachelorette party of one of my best friends! We drove down to Logan on Thursday, then Brandon and I spent the day in Salt Lake on Friday shopping and seeing friends. That evening, I dropped him off with a friend and drove to Park City to celebrate with Chelsea. It was nice to see her and spend time with her, celebrating the death of her life as an unmarried lady. We played games, ate pizza, and gossiped. All the best girl things. I left around noon that Saturday to go back to Logan. We had a barbecue that night with Brandon's family, and played games with Jake and Alyssa.
The weekend after that was the 4th of July and I was so happy to be in Boise for it! We spent most of the weekend with Adrian, since he had just gotten foot surgery and was bored of being at home. On the actual 4th, we went to the Farmer's Market to get crepes, watched the parade-where Anthony and Dani met up with us, and then went to the Chalk Art Festival. Then we all went back to our house for a barbecue and just rested for a while inside away from the heat. Poor Adrian was on crutches and had been sweating up a storm all morning! That night we headed back downtown and found a good place to watch the fireworks that didn't require much walking to get to. Afterwards, we lit off a few small fireworks at my parents house, then called it a night.
The next weekend was Chelsea's wedding! Brandon and I drove to Idaho Falls Friday night, had breakfast with my grandma, aunt, and cousin Saturday morning, then went to lunch with my other grandma! It was so nice to have some quality time with the family! That afternoon we drove to Wyoming for the wedding. Chelsea was seriously the most beautiful bride. I loved watching the way her and Sam looked at each other, and am dang grateful that she found such a great guy to spend the rest of her life with. Alycia and I were both crying through the whole ceremony because we're suckers for love. We stayed for dinner and dancing afterward. Brandon was kind of third-wheeling it the whole time, but I appreciate him making sacrifices so I can have time with my friends!
Apparently the weekend after that we were in Boise. I have been chatting with Brandon trying to figure out where we that weekend, and neither of us could remember, but it's because we hardly had a weekend at home all summer that it's weird to think that we were anywhere but Idaho Falls or Logan. I don't remember what all we did, but I do know that we had ice cream on National Ice Cream day, which obviously is the most important. We probably slept a lot, stayed in from the 100+ degree weather, and ate, like we do. UPDATE: We went to a wedding open house for one of my friends! I was so excited that these two were finally getting married so we could have some married friends (or just friends in general) in Boise, but the day of the open house, we found out that they had moved to Utah!! Still excited for them, just a little upset that they moved without telling us haha.
The weekend of the 24th of July, we went back down to Logan. I had convinced Alycia to go see Cassadee Pope with me for an hour that Sunday. The 24th of July, is a big deal in Utah, so Brandon and I drove down that Thursday night, and he took Friday off so we could go to the parades and fair events celebrating the 24th. We got to hang out with Austin and Caroline for most of the day Friday, then went to the fireworks that night with Alyssa and Jake. On Saturday, we did all the French things with Alyssa and Jake, including crepes, seeing the opera La Boheme, and planning our trip to Paris. More on that later. On Sunday, Brandon drove me to Salt Lake to meet up with Alycia, and he went to a movie and a park while she and I went to the concert. It was amazing to be able to see her perform exactly a year after I had seen her live and met her for the first time. The best part was meeting her (again) after she performed. I think Alycia about died when she told us that we were pretty haha. I'm such a crazy fan, but I don't even care. I love her. Brandon and I got back to Boise at about midnight that night, but it was so worth it.
That week was filled with many mentionable events! Firstly, I had the whole week off, which was super nice. My favorite thing that week was when we went on a quadruple date with my family to see the new Vacation movie. The Vacation movies, specifically Christmas Vacation, is a huge deal in our family, so it was fun that we all got to go see the new one together. My parents, Brandon and me, Anthony and Dani, and Adrian and his new girlfriend (who I LOVE) all went together and laughed our heads off. It was so fun. Brandon and I got our pictures taken that week for our anniversary, and I am in love with them. See the pictures here.
The last weekend/first day of August, Alycia came to Boise so we could go to the Mountain Home Country Music Festival. We drove back and forth from Boise to the concert Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that weekend, which meant a lot of driving, but also a ton of good talks and much needed time together. We saw Frankie Ballard, Lonestar, Parmalee, Justin Moore, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, and Blake Shelton! Saturday after Blake Shelton, they turned one of the dance into a giant dance party, so we stayed for that and didn't get home until almost four in the morning! The whole weekend was a blast; so much food and dancing and great music. She had to leave on Sunday before Florida Georgia Line performed, so Brandon met us outside the gates, I swapped cars, and he and I went back in to finish off the night. I love FGL, so I was happy that Brandon was willing to drive the whole way to see them with me!
The weekend of August 8th, we drove to Idaho Falls with my parents to go to my cousin Abby's wedding. It was so great to see her and finally officially meet her now husband! It was a beautiful backyard wedding; you could just feel all the love from everyone that attended. My cousin Ethan turned 21 that day, so before the wedding we met up with family for lunch and cake to celebrate. That night, his band was playing in a show at The Sickhouse (I'm not even kidding, that's what it was called) and my dad suggested that we all go to the show. The opening bands were full-on screamo, not my thing, but Ethan's band was so good! I'm glad we all went!
That second week in August, we had two family members get home from their missions: Brandon's brother, Shawn, and my cousin Tyler. That Friday, we drove to Sun Valley to join Brandon's family vacation for a night, and had a great time playing games, eating, and exploring Sun Valley a bit. We left Saturday afternoon to drive to Idaho Falls, where we went straight to a welcome home dinner for Tyler. Anthony and Dani were there too, so we had some good cousin time with both Dylan and Tyler, most of which was spent at Hobby Lobby and Best Buy. We went to the mission homecoming at the church the next day, then Brandon and I went home right after so we could relax a little after being gone so often.
The weekend after that we went to Logan for Shawn's homecoming. On Saturday, I met Chelsea for lunch and a reminiscent walk around campus, while Brandon went for a long motorcycle ride with James. We had pizza that night with his family, and then went to aggie ice cream and played games with Alyssa and Jake that night. Sunday we went to Herm's with Alyssa and Jake (per tradition), went to the mission homecoming, and then stayed for the luncheon afterward.
As much as I have sort of disliked being gone every single weekend this summer, it has been fun to spend so much time with Brandon's family and all our friends. We will have many more trips planned out of town over the next two months, including Taylor Swift in Salt Lake on Friday and spending the rest of Labor Day weekend in Logan. I'm not going to lie though, I'm super excited for the opportunity to spend more time in our house just hanging out with each other.
So Paris. Back in March or April or something, Jake and Alyssa started talking about going to Paris for New Years. We all kind of toyed with the idea for a while, and then they booked their trip! We really wanted to go, but our finances were kind of all over the place after buying the house. Finally after two months of getting back on track and saving a bit, we decided to just book it anyway! Brandon and I will be in a different hotel about a half mile away from theirs, but I'm going to use the misfortune as an opportunity to eat at a different bakery every day between our hotel and theirs. We both are a little nervous, as Brandon has never been off the continent, and the last time for me was with a tour group wherein I was not the adult. But it will be fine! I told Brandon the other day that I feel like Alyssa is the adult that will navigate us all through this, so we are in good hands (Alyssa, don't let me down!).
I started my new position as registrar a month ago, and so far it has been great! I love being able to interact more with the students, staff, and even parents! It's fun to have different things to do every day and see aspects of the school that I didn't see last year.
I know this was a long post, so thanks for hanging in there.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Summer School
I spent my summer at Rocky (my high school) working with the English Language Learners in summer school. It was pretty low-key: I went to class with the students for five hours and helped them when they needed it, then spent the last three hours in a classroom tutoring/hanging out with a few kids until they left at the end of the day. It was cool to be back in my high school (in my old English classroom with my former English teacher, no less!), but it was definitely weird too. So many teachers were confused at the fact that I wasn't a student; I got stopped on my way into the teacher's lounge more than once. And none of the students believed me until I showed them my badge. Summer school is just a different crowd all together, which means lots of discipline issues, but the students didn't even take me seriously when I asked them to not climb on the stair rail because my face looks like it belongs in middle school. Ridiculous.
Overall though, it was a great experience. I enjoy working at the middle school, but it was nice to be with the high school students for a change. It's kind of fun to watch them figuring out who they are, and making decisions about where they want to be in life. One student that I developed a good relationship with (a refugee child that doesn't have a stellar support system at home) told me that he wants to be a pharmacist when he grows up. I felt so much pride that a student who had just finished his freshman year of high school could have such lofty goals. Before he told me this though, he said "promise you won't laugh?" It broke my heart to think that someone else had laughed at this student's goals, and that he thought it would happen every time he shared his ambitions. For the rest of the summer, I did my best to show him that I supported him in every dream he pursued. It was definitely eye-opening. I am very fortunate to come from a family that loves and supports me in everything I do, and to have parents that taught me that nothing is impossible without hard work. The majority of these summer school kids don't have that at home, and I wanted to be that for them while I could.
With that, though, came a hard realization: there is a limit when it comes to caring. I have always known that I care too much about people; no matter what I do, it just happens. But there would be days in this job that I was so frustrated because all I wanted was for the students to care about their future as much as I did. Over the six weeks I was there, I had to learn to stop myself when they stopped showing interest. I only interacted with about 30 students, I can't imagine how teachers deal with the frustration of unmotivated students in class after class and year after year.
I would do it again in a heartbeat, though. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I really do believe that everyone is capable of great things. Working with these students to help them work toward their academic goals, and realize that they can actually be successful in life, despite what they may think, was a great experience. I have such a natural love for all the students, and want them to know that I will support them in all their positive goals and aspirations.
Sorry for the sappy post, I just feel so strongly about these kids being happy that it kind of makes me emotional. If you want to hear a ridiculous story, ask me about the time I cried while helping a kid pack up his locker to move to a different one. That was a good time.
Overall though, it was a great experience. I enjoy working at the middle school, but it was nice to be with the high school students for a change. It's kind of fun to watch them figuring out who they are, and making decisions about where they want to be in life. One student that I developed a good relationship with (a refugee child that doesn't have a stellar support system at home) told me that he wants to be a pharmacist when he grows up. I felt so much pride that a student who had just finished his freshman year of high school could have such lofty goals. Before he told me this though, he said "promise you won't laugh?" It broke my heart to think that someone else had laughed at this student's goals, and that he thought it would happen every time he shared his ambitions. For the rest of the summer, I did my best to show him that I supported him in every dream he pursued. It was definitely eye-opening. I am very fortunate to come from a family that loves and supports me in everything I do, and to have parents that taught me that nothing is impossible without hard work. The majority of these summer school kids don't have that at home, and I wanted to be that for them while I could.
With that, though, came a hard realization: there is a limit when it comes to caring. I have always known that I care too much about people; no matter what I do, it just happens. But there would be days in this job that I was so frustrated because all I wanted was for the students to care about their future as much as I did. Over the six weeks I was there, I had to learn to stop myself when they stopped showing interest. I only interacted with about 30 students, I can't imagine how teachers deal with the frustration of unmotivated students in class after class and year after year.
I would do it again in a heartbeat, though. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I really do believe that everyone is capable of great things. Working with these students to help them work toward their academic goals, and realize that they can actually be successful in life, despite what they may think, was a great experience. I have such a natural love for all the students, and want them to know that I will support them in all their positive goals and aspirations.
Sorry for the sappy post, I just feel so strongly about these kids being happy that it kind of makes me emotional. If you want to hear a ridiculous story, ask me about the time I cried while helping a kid pack up his locker to move to a different one. That was a good time.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Anniversary
Brandon and I celebrated our four year anniversary a week ago today. The evening was filled with Mexican food, Hobby Lobby, and of course, ice cream. A few weeks back, we had a photo sesh with the incredibly talented Rosie Nary to commemorate our four years of love and happiness. The pics can be viewed through the link below. To family who want to order copies, I don't really know how its going to work. The photos were all too big to upload to Shutterfly, so we'll figure something out.
Check out our pictures here!
Check out our pictures here!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
on national best friends day.
Before delving into the real meaning of this post, gotta give a little update.
School ended on Wednesday last week, and Thursday was my last official day as Library Assistant. So ends yet another library phase in my life. Friday I spent the day training for my new position as registrar. The current registrar was going to be out of town Monday and Tuesday this week, so I had a nice four-day weekend planned for myself consisting of many sno cones, much book-reading, and a super lot of hours spent by the pool. My body took this small amount of freedom as its own, and by Saturday afternoon I was dead on the couch. Sick. Wee. I have left the house only four times since Saturday, twice for partial-day work related things and twice for food (priorities, right?). I had to miss my first day of summer school today because I woke up still too sick to go to work this morning. What a joke. Thanks a lot body. Jerk.
Anyway.
Yesterday I posted this:
School ended on Wednesday last week, and Thursday was my last official day as Library Assistant. So ends yet another library phase in my life. Friday I spent the day training for my new position as registrar. The current registrar was going to be out of town Monday and Tuesday this week, so I had a nice four-day weekend planned for myself consisting of many sno cones, much book-reading, and a super lot of hours spent by the pool. My body took this small amount of freedom as its own, and by Saturday afternoon I was dead on the couch. Sick. Wee. I have left the house only four times since Saturday, twice for partial-day work related things and twice for food (priorities, right?). I had to miss my first day of summer school today because I woke up still too sick to go to work this morning. What a joke. Thanks a lot body. Jerk.
Anyway.
Yesterday I posted this:
I like celebrating all the little holidays, donut day, pizza day, (any day involving food really), national siblings day...all the best days. But I really like National Best Friends Day because I have some really great people in my life.
Pictured alongside me in the bottom left, in all our awkward, adolescent glory, is a girl who has been my best friend since eighth grade. Through good times and bad, I know I can always count on her and our friendship to be a constant rock in my life.
Top left includes my husband (perma-best friend, sorry babe) and two super great people that need to move their butts to Boise! Our travel buddies, couple significant other, and people who just understand us. They complete us.
And the ladies on the right. Not enough great things can be said about them. The amount of happiness they bring into my life is indescribable. It has been fun to see where life has taken each of us, but I wish it would take us together more often! They are the only people that I can be 100% myself around. They've seen be at my best and helped me through my worst, and I wouldn't be who I am without them! Come visit me!!!
I like having friends, as any average person would. And there are a lot of special people I have met throughout my life that will always be important to me. This is a super cheesy post, but where would we be without the people who have molded and shaped us?
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
on goodbyes.
I hate goodbyes. Ask my friends, or my family, or Brandon. I cry every single time I have to say goodbye to someone I care deeply about, even if we already have planned to see each other again soon.
That being said, today was the second to last day of school. I didn't really think anything of it, because most of the kids I have interacted with this past year are sixth and seventh graders, so I will be seeing them again next year. I didn't think about the fact that I will probably never see any of the eighth graders that I have gotten to know ever again until my 5th period student aide stopped at my desk on her way out of the library for the last time. She looked at me and said "thanks for putting up with me all year." I ALMOST LOST IT. Right there amongst all the books, I almost started bawling my eyes out because my witty, sarcastic little eighth grader made a joking comment about our time together this year, and she probably doesn't even know that I'm actually going to really miss her. She really messed it up for the eighth graders I only kind of know but don't see every day (which is most of them), because every time I saw one of them the rest of the day I just kept saying "I can't believe you're going to high school. I'm going to miss you so much. You guys just grow up so fast." And generally it was followed up with "uh...I just wanted to turn my book in..."
Granted, I am not a teacher. I don't spend all day every trying to wrangle and shape the minds of pubescent preteens who could not care less about what I was saying-I just give them books and take their money when they are irresponsible with said books-but boy, do I love them. I don't know if teachers enjoy their kids as much as I do, maybe for like the first few months, or maybe not at all (kudos to all my teacher friends though, I really don't know how you do it) but I appreciate these students so much just through the little interaction I have with them. They are such special humans, so unique and powerful and driven and determined to get to where they want to be in life. One eighth grader that was on the receiving end of my emotional we'll-probably-never-see-each-other-again spiel, who is kind of a trouble maker and struggles with his grades a bit, responded "Yeah, I'm going to go to high school, then I'm going to graduate high school, then I'm going to go to college, and then I'm going to graduate from college and get a great job." And I almost lost it again. Maybe we don't unfairly judge all the kids, but we sure don't expect as much from them as they are capable of. Great things, magnificent things. So much more than the tiny blip we get from them in a 45 minute period each day.
When I started this job, I didn't think about the fact that every year in June, I would have to do the one thing that I really probably hate most in life. For some students and all my staff friends (which is all of them), the goodbye is just for the summer. But for other kids, it's more than likely a goodbye forever. But I hope they know that even if I never see them again, never find out where they are at in life, I'll always be their cheerleader, hoping that they are happy, pursuing their dreams, and being the best them they can be.
That being said, today was the second to last day of school. I didn't really think anything of it, because most of the kids I have interacted with this past year are sixth and seventh graders, so I will be seeing them again next year. I didn't think about the fact that I will probably never see any of the eighth graders that I have gotten to know ever again until my 5th period student aide stopped at my desk on her way out of the library for the last time. She looked at me and said "thanks for putting up with me all year." I ALMOST LOST IT. Right there amongst all the books, I almost started bawling my eyes out because my witty, sarcastic little eighth grader made a joking comment about our time together this year, and she probably doesn't even know that I'm actually going to really miss her. She really messed it up for the eighth graders I only kind of know but don't see every day (which is most of them), because every time I saw one of them the rest of the day I just kept saying "I can't believe you're going to high school. I'm going to miss you so much. You guys just grow up so fast." And generally it was followed up with "uh...I just wanted to turn my book in..."
Granted, I am not a teacher. I don't spend all day every trying to wrangle and shape the minds of pubescent preteens who could not care less about what I was saying-I just give them books and take their money when they are irresponsible with said books-but boy, do I love them. I don't know if teachers enjoy their kids as much as I do, maybe for like the first few months, or maybe not at all (kudos to all my teacher friends though, I really don't know how you do it) but I appreciate these students so much just through the little interaction I have with them. They are such special humans, so unique and powerful and driven and determined to get to where they want to be in life. One eighth grader that was on the receiving end of my emotional we'll-probably-never-see-each-other-again spiel, who is kind of a trouble maker and struggles with his grades a bit, responded "Yeah, I'm going to go to high school, then I'm going to graduate high school, then I'm going to go to college, and then I'm going to graduate from college and get a great job." And I almost lost it again. Maybe we don't unfairly judge all the kids, but we sure don't expect as much from them as they are capable of. Great things, magnificent things. So much more than the tiny blip we get from them in a 45 minute period each day.
When I started this job, I didn't think about the fact that every year in June, I would have to do the one thing that I really probably hate most in life. For some students and all my staff friends (which is all of them), the goodbye is just for the summer. But for other kids, it's more than likely a goodbye forever. But I hope they know that even if I never see them again, never find out where they are at in life, I'll always be their cheerleader, hoping that they are happy, pursuing their dreams, and being the best them they can be.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
desserts.
The past few weeks have been really stressful.
We closed, we moved, Brandon went to Boston (and I didn't sleep), he came home, we laid sod, tried to deal with some issues with the house and yard and homeowner's insurance, I interviewed for a job, I helped planned a party for all the kids at school, and now I'm training for a new position while simultaneously trying to finish up all the things in the library for the end of the year.
Most of the time, I thrive on stress. It kicks me into high gear and I love the adrenaline rush it gives me. I have the drive to get stuff done so I can relax and do my thing.
And sometimes, I feel like I'm spread too thin. Like no matter what I do with my day or with my life, I will end up disappointing someone, and I hate that. At work, between the growth party, the library and my new position, I barely have time to go to the bathroom. If you know me well at all, you know that I love food and will always make time to eat. Last week I didn't eat lunch twice; that's a big deal. Ha.
On very very very rare occasions, the stress is so overwhelming that I can't handle it and I end up crying in the bathroom at work. Yesterday was one of those days.
I'm sorry that you have to read this not-so-exciting/informative post. But when I'm stressed, I write, and I finally have some time during my day to just breathe, so this is how I'm using it.
The majority of people might say "this is adult life. you are busy and sometimes your head falls off but you just have to deal with it." But I like my head properly secured on my body, and I like having time to live and actually enjoy life, not just going through the daily motions of being an "adult." So here I am, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing with my life and what is going to make me happiest and most successful (in my own views) as a human. I've gone through like seven different life scenarios in the last ten minutes, so if someone wants to just tell me what to do and provide the means to do it all, please do.
THANKFULLY, there are good things.
First of all, we adore our house. And the fact that it's ours. We laid so much sod a few weeks ago that I wanted to die, but it is so fun looking out the back window window and seeing grass!!! We bought a firepit over the weekend and got to enjoy smores in our own backyard. I really just love it. And the area we live in is so fun too; we are just half a mile away from a fun park with a pond and a playground and pavilions with tables and all the best things. And I just keep thinking about how, if I wanted to, we could have Thanksgiving at our house this year. THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION. I'm just saying it could happen if we wanted it to.
Second of all, our best friends from Utah came to visit us over the long weekend and we had the best time. They got here Friday night, and we spent the whole weekend eating too much food, laughing too much, and talking and just being happy. We never get tired of hanging out with each other and I love that no matter how many days we spend together it just doesn't seem like enough. They found a house down the street from ours that they love, and seriously just thinking about them living so close to us makes me die (in a good way). What a dream that would be!!! We were sad to see them leave on Monday, but we will see them again soon!!
Thirdly, I got offered the registrar position at the school I work at currently. I am very excited to be more involved in the school, and show everyone exactly what I'm made of. I started learning things a few months ago when I first told the current registrar that I was planning to apply, and I will continue training until about two weeks after school ends. There is a lot to learn, but I feel confident that the job and I are a good fit for each other, and I am so dang excited!
A few random, happy things.
--Yesterday we got the movie Paddington for $5. It's cute. If you haven't seen it yet, you should.
--Jurassic World comes out in a few weeks and I am ridiculously excited about it.
--We went to Costa on Friday (because when aren't we at Costa) and my baby bro was there eating with his friends. The look on his face when I started waving excitedly was priceless. I love embarrassing him.
--Football season is coming right up and I can't wait. It's actually embarrassing how much I am looking forward to all the games we plan to attend/watch. I'd rather not talk about it.
--I got to see my best friend on Monday and meet her little baby and I love him. He just kept crying, so he might hate me, but I don't even care. I will love him forever.
--The fact that Paddington is at the top of my list is hilarious. I swear, these are in no specific order.
--I have eight books on hold at the public library and three at home already. Life is good.
--I'm making cookies today. Again.
--Other than the fact that most of my hair has fallen out in the last few weeks, I am very happy.
We closed, we moved, Brandon went to Boston (and I didn't sleep), he came home, we laid sod, tried to deal with some issues with the house and yard and homeowner's insurance, I interviewed for a job, I helped planned a party for all the kids at school, and now I'm training for a new position while simultaneously trying to finish up all the things in the library for the end of the year.
Most of the time, I thrive on stress. It kicks me into high gear and I love the adrenaline rush it gives me. I have the drive to get stuff done so I can relax and do my thing.
And sometimes, I feel like I'm spread too thin. Like no matter what I do with my day or with my life, I will end up disappointing someone, and I hate that. At work, between the growth party, the library and my new position, I barely have time to go to the bathroom. If you know me well at all, you know that I love food and will always make time to eat. Last week I didn't eat lunch twice; that's a big deal. Ha.
On very very very rare occasions, the stress is so overwhelming that I can't handle it and I end up crying in the bathroom at work. Yesterday was one of those days.
I'm sorry that you have to read this not-so-exciting/informative post. But when I'm stressed, I write, and I finally have some time during my day to just breathe, so this is how I'm using it.
The majority of people might say "this is adult life. you are busy and sometimes your head falls off but you just have to deal with it." But I like my head properly secured on my body, and I like having time to live and actually enjoy life, not just going through the daily motions of being an "adult." So here I am, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing with my life and what is going to make me happiest and most successful (in my own views) as a human. I've gone through like seven different life scenarios in the last ten minutes, so if someone wants to just tell me what to do and provide the means to do it all, please do.
THANKFULLY, there are good things.
First of all, we adore our house. And the fact that it's ours. We laid so much sod a few weeks ago that I wanted to die, but it is so fun looking out the back window window and seeing grass!!! We bought a firepit over the weekend and got to enjoy smores in our own backyard. I really just love it. And the area we live in is so fun too; we are just half a mile away from a fun park with a pond and a playground and pavilions with tables and all the best things. And I just keep thinking about how, if I wanted to, we could have Thanksgiving at our house this year. THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION. I'm just saying it could happen if we wanted it to.
Second of all, our best friends from Utah came to visit us over the long weekend and we had the best time. They got here Friday night, and we spent the whole weekend eating too much food, laughing too much, and talking and just being happy. We never get tired of hanging out with each other and I love that no matter how many days we spend together it just doesn't seem like enough. They found a house down the street from ours that they love, and seriously just thinking about them living so close to us makes me die (in a good way). What a dream that would be!!! We were sad to see them leave on Monday, but we will see them again soon!!
Thirdly, I got offered the registrar position at the school I work at currently. I am very excited to be more involved in the school, and show everyone exactly what I'm made of. I started learning things a few months ago when I first told the current registrar that I was planning to apply, and I will continue training until about two weeks after school ends. There is a lot to learn, but I feel confident that the job and I are a good fit for each other, and I am so dang excited!
A few random, happy things.
--Yesterday we got the movie Paddington for $5. It's cute. If you haven't seen it yet, you should.
--Jurassic World comes out in a few weeks and I am ridiculously excited about it.
--We went to Costa on Friday (because when aren't we at Costa) and my baby bro was there eating with his friends. The look on his face when I started waving excitedly was priceless. I love embarrassing him.
--Football season is coming right up and I can't wait. It's actually embarrassing how much I am looking forward to all the games we plan to attend/watch. I'd rather not talk about it.
--I got to see my best friend on Monday and meet her little baby and I love him. He just kept crying, so he might hate me, but I don't even care. I will love him forever.
--The fact that Paddington is at the top of my list is hilarious. I swear, these are in no specific order.
--I have eight books on hold at the public library and three at home already. Life is good.
--I'm making cookies today. Again.
--Other than the fact that most of my hair has fallen out in the last few weeks, I am very happy.
Monday, May 11, 2015
maximum exhaustion.
If you don't have a lot of time, or don't care to read a bunch of rambling mumbo jumbo, I highly recommend skipping to the very last page of the post. I will not be held accountable for any feelings of resentment you have toward me for wasting your time with words.
Monday last week was Brandon's birthday!!! He turned the big 2-7, and we celebrated the best we could with the limited time we had. I made him sticky buns for breakfast on his birthday, and thankfully they actually turned out well considering I had never made them before. We both had to go to work that day, but I leave a few hours before Brandon, so he took a nap between when I left and when he had to leave. After work we went to Main Street Burger for dinner. It was our first time there and it was really good! Then we went mini-golfing and Brandon won (he says I let him win, but really I just suck at mini golf). To finish the night off right, we got Coldstone with my family, then went back to the apartment so Brandon could open presents. It was a great day!
The following morning things were a bit hectic. We were supposed to close on our house at 9:00 that morning, but the night before we had gotten an email from our realtor that they hadn't received the documents from the bank yet, so our closing might be pushed back. I went to work for a little bit, then we got an email from her saying that we were still on for 9:00. We went and signed the papers, which was the easiest part of the entire home-buying process. Then it was back to work for a day filled with waiting! We had loaded both of our cars up with boxes on Monday afternoon, so after work on Tuesday I went to pick up our keys, then went straight to the house to unload my car. Then went home, loaded up the car again, went to the house, unloaded, and waited for Brandon to show up. Along with his carload of boxes, he brought Costa Vida so that we could properly celebrate our first night being homeowners. After we unloaded his car and ate dinner, we loaded up his car again and took it out to the house. That night we took our all the boxes that we had packed up already. We felt so good, and like we were getting so much done!!
And then Wednesday came.
After work on Wednesday, I went home and loaded up my car again with all sorts of smallish random things that I could fit. I packed it up in an hour and only fell down the stairs once, so I consider that an accomplishment. Took all those things to the house, then went back home to have dinner ready for Brandon, then we went to my parents' house to borrow their ladder and vehicle. When we got to the house, we realized that we left them our car keys, so we didn't have the key to our house. So we had to drive back to their house, get the keys, and then finally we made it out to the house. We then attempted to install the garage door opener (and by we I mean Brandon). Apparently, the box didn't come with all the things we needed, so we only got so far, but it still was quite the process! While Brandon worked on that, I started unboxing a few things and we stayed for as long as Brandon could work on the garage door opener.
On Thursday, I went home and packed up all of our clothes, and took as many bags/suitcases as I could down the stairs in one trip. Then I went to my parents house to load up a dresser that we were storing there, and to take apart our old bed that they had been using as a guest bed. Highlight of the whole week: my mom had made chocolate chip cookies, and I so desperately needed them amongst all the stress of moving. After that, I went home just in time to meet Brandon. We carried a few more loads down the stairs and filled my car to the brim, stopped at McDonald's, and then went to the house to unload and finish installing the garage door opener. And he did it!! I am so impressed with him. He put in a garage door opener all by himself!! Although, unless you have a Brandon, I don't recommend doing it on your own. It's the worst process.
I took the day off on Friday to move. My mom met me out at the house at 9:00 that morning, and we started unpacking things from the boxes. Around 11:30 we went to meet Brandon to get the moving truck, and my mom was the super best and picked up Jimmy John's for the three of us on the way back to the apartment. After we ate, we started loading things into her expedition. My baby bro was kind enough to dedicate some of his school time and his entire afternoon/evening to help us move, so he showed up right as my mom and I were finishing loading the expedition. Not too long after we got to the house, Lowe's showed up to install the fridge!! It's ridiculous how excited I was about it, but boy was I excited.
We went back to the apartment to load the Uhaul. Adrian helped me carry all the heavy things, and my mom made so many trips up and down the stairs carrying all the random things. I can't even describe enough how thankful I am for those two and all their help. We ended up getting everything packed except the 5 heaviest objects in the apartment. They had to leave for a little bit, but Adrian came back to the apartment right after Brandon got home, and those two carried the last heavy pieces downstairs. We got some Panda Express to take out to the house with us (priorities) and ate our dinner on the kitchen floor. When we started to unload the truck it was 8:00, and around 9:00, Adrian left to go hang out with friends, and all Brandon and I had to carry in were the couches. We killed the unloading part of the day! Brandon put together the bed, we went back and picked up the final cargo (the cats), and spent our first night in our brand new home.
Saturday and Sunday were spent unboxing things and getting things settled. We woke up early and had to take the moving truck back, but then were working steadily on the house until about 4:00. We were gifted with a surprise visit from our best friends, and even though it was short, it was the best part of the whole day! We even showed them the house next door where they could live if they wanted to! (Alyssa, Brandon and I decided we will personally pay for the upgrade to the large tub if you'll just move here already!!) After they left, we went to Lowe's and bought blinds and a lawn mower. Brandon installed the blinds that night while I unpacked more things. It was a very productive day and we were both exhausted by the end of it!
Yesterday was a great Mother's Day! We went on a short hike with my family to a secluded waterfall, then stopped for Dairy Queen on the way home. Once Brandon and I were home, I finished the laundry while he set up the lawn mower and mowed the freaking lawn. This kid is a champion, I tell ya. I am so happy to have him and his dedication. We were able to chat with his youngest brother who is on a mission, and then it was back to Lowe's/Home Depot for home things. We bought more blinds, and also an unfinished cabinet for Brandon's brilliant invention. My dad came over and helped Brandon cut a hole in our wall through to the garage. They then cut a hole in the back of the cabinet and backed it up to the wall, and thus a bathroom for the cats is born. We didn't want the litter box inside the house, but didn't want the cat door to lead into the open garage, so Brandon had the great idea of putting the litter box inside the cabinet. It's going to be pretty stellar actually, and once we get a counter on top of the cabinet, Brandon will have a nice little workspace. He was pretty excited about it, so even if you don't think it's cool, you should pretend to. We both ended the day with killer headaches yesterday, so we were in bed by 8:30 hoping that we needed to just catch up on sleep.
We were up at 5:00 this morning because Brandon had a flight to catch at 7:30. He is headed to Boston for a new employee orientation with his new job. He had a list of things he wanted to get done this weekend before he left (mainly blinds) and he got the whole list and more finished by last night. I really am so grateful for him and also for my family for helping us get it all done!
Moral of this entire post: I am freaking tired. I never thought I could ever feel so tired in my whole life. And I'm never walking up another set of stairs ever again. I must have gone up and down those stairs at like 50 times last week and I never want to do it ever again. But I am so happy that we have a house! And we can live in it for years and call it our own. And eventually, sometime (maybe), all the boxes will finally be unpacked and we will be able to walk through every room in the house without falling over cardboard.
Monday last week was Brandon's birthday!!! He turned the big 2-7, and we celebrated the best we could with the limited time we had. I made him sticky buns for breakfast on his birthday, and thankfully they actually turned out well considering I had never made them before. We both had to go to work that day, but I leave a few hours before Brandon, so he took a nap between when I left and when he had to leave. After work we went to Main Street Burger for dinner. It was our first time there and it was really good! Then we went mini-golfing and Brandon won (he says I let him win, but really I just suck at mini golf). To finish the night off right, we got Coldstone with my family, then went back to the apartment so Brandon could open presents. It was a great day!
The following morning things were a bit hectic. We were supposed to close on our house at 9:00 that morning, but the night before we had gotten an email from our realtor that they hadn't received the documents from the bank yet, so our closing might be pushed back. I went to work for a little bit, then we got an email from her saying that we were still on for 9:00. We went and signed the papers, which was the easiest part of the entire home-buying process. Then it was back to work for a day filled with waiting! We had loaded both of our cars up with boxes on Monday afternoon, so after work on Tuesday I went to pick up our keys, then went straight to the house to unload my car. Then went home, loaded up the car again, went to the house, unloaded, and waited for Brandon to show up. Along with his carload of boxes, he brought Costa Vida so that we could properly celebrate our first night being homeowners. After we unloaded his car and ate dinner, we loaded up his car again and took it out to the house. That night we took our all the boxes that we had packed up already. We felt so good, and like we were getting so much done!!
And then Wednesday came.
After work on Wednesday, I went home and loaded up my car again with all sorts of smallish random things that I could fit. I packed it up in an hour and only fell down the stairs once, so I consider that an accomplishment. Took all those things to the house, then went back home to have dinner ready for Brandon, then we went to my parents' house to borrow their ladder and vehicle. When we got to the house, we realized that we left them our car keys, so we didn't have the key to our house. So we had to drive back to their house, get the keys, and then finally we made it out to the house. We then attempted to install the garage door opener (and by we I mean Brandon). Apparently, the box didn't come with all the things we needed, so we only got so far, but it still was quite the process! While Brandon worked on that, I started unboxing a few things and we stayed for as long as Brandon could work on the garage door opener.
On Thursday, I went home and packed up all of our clothes, and took as many bags/suitcases as I could down the stairs in one trip. Then I went to my parents house to load up a dresser that we were storing there, and to take apart our old bed that they had been using as a guest bed. Highlight of the whole week: my mom had made chocolate chip cookies, and I so desperately needed them amongst all the stress of moving. After that, I went home just in time to meet Brandon. We carried a few more loads down the stairs and filled my car to the brim, stopped at McDonald's, and then went to the house to unload and finish installing the garage door opener. And he did it!! I am so impressed with him. He put in a garage door opener all by himself!! Although, unless you have a Brandon, I don't recommend doing it on your own. It's the worst process.
I took the day off on Friday to move. My mom met me out at the house at 9:00 that morning, and we started unpacking things from the boxes. Around 11:30 we went to meet Brandon to get the moving truck, and my mom was the super best and picked up Jimmy John's for the three of us on the way back to the apartment. After we ate, we started loading things into her expedition. My baby bro was kind enough to dedicate some of his school time and his entire afternoon/evening to help us move, so he showed up right as my mom and I were finishing loading the expedition. Not too long after we got to the house, Lowe's showed up to install the fridge!! It's ridiculous how excited I was about it, but boy was I excited.
We went back to the apartment to load the Uhaul. Adrian helped me carry all the heavy things, and my mom made so many trips up and down the stairs carrying all the random things. I can't even describe enough how thankful I am for those two and all their help. We ended up getting everything packed except the 5 heaviest objects in the apartment. They had to leave for a little bit, but Adrian came back to the apartment right after Brandon got home, and those two carried the last heavy pieces downstairs. We got some Panda Express to take out to the house with us (priorities) and ate our dinner on the kitchen floor. When we started to unload the truck it was 8:00, and around 9:00, Adrian left to go hang out with friends, and all Brandon and I had to carry in were the couches. We killed the unloading part of the day! Brandon put together the bed, we went back and picked up the final cargo (the cats), and spent our first night in our brand new home.
Saturday and Sunday were spent unboxing things and getting things settled. We woke up early and had to take the moving truck back, but then were working steadily on the house until about 4:00. We were gifted with a surprise visit from our best friends, and even though it was short, it was the best part of the whole day! We even showed them the house next door where they could live if they wanted to! (Alyssa, Brandon and I decided we will personally pay for the upgrade to the large tub if you'll just move here already!!) After they left, we went to Lowe's and bought blinds and a lawn mower. Brandon installed the blinds that night while I unpacked more things. It was a very productive day and we were both exhausted by the end of it!
Yesterday was a great Mother's Day! We went on a short hike with my family to a secluded waterfall, then stopped for Dairy Queen on the way home. Once Brandon and I were home, I finished the laundry while he set up the lawn mower and mowed the freaking lawn. This kid is a champion, I tell ya. I am so happy to have him and his dedication. We were able to chat with his youngest brother who is on a mission, and then it was back to Lowe's/Home Depot for home things. We bought more blinds, and also an unfinished cabinet for Brandon's brilliant invention. My dad came over and helped Brandon cut a hole in our wall through to the garage. They then cut a hole in the back of the cabinet and backed it up to the wall, and thus a bathroom for the cats is born. We didn't want the litter box inside the house, but didn't want the cat door to lead into the open garage, so Brandon had the great idea of putting the litter box inside the cabinet. It's going to be pretty stellar actually, and once we get a counter on top of the cabinet, Brandon will have a nice little workspace. He was pretty excited about it, so even if you don't think it's cool, you should pretend to. We both ended the day with killer headaches yesterday, so we were in bed by 8:30 hoping that we needed to just catch up on sleep.
We were up at 5:00 this morning because Brandon had a flight to catch at 7:30. He is headed to Boston for a new employee orientation with his new job. He had a list of things he wanted to get done this weekend before he left (mainly blinds) and he got the whole list and more finished by last night. I really am so grateful for him and also for my family for helping us get it all done!
Moral of this entire post: I am freaking tired. I never thought I could ever feel so tired in my whole life. And I'm never walking up another set of stairs ever again. I must have gone up and down those stairs at like 50 times last week and I never want to do it ever again. But I am so happy that we have a house! And we can live in it for years and call it our own. And eventually, sometime (maybe), all the boxes will finally be unpacked and we will be able to walk through every room in the house without falling over cardboard.
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