Month: July 2015

cannibal, kaicho, pioneers, cheesecake, need i say more?

July 31, 2015 — 2 Comments

Sorry for the past few days friends – I got a little spooked when I went onto my statistics and found some of my top referring sites were pornography (what the?!?!)

I found out it’s just a spam bot – that nobody was reading my blog from a porn site and my site wasn’t affiliated with them in any way. Just shut down to only private for a few days until I could get it all figured out. And now it’s all figured out and all is well!

We got WEDDING PICTURES! Expect a full, detailed post (or two. or three.) about that wonderful day just 2 months ago.

Let’s catch up a little:

24th of July was awesome! We got to watch the parade, hang out with family, and go to Lagoon! And YES we rode Cannibal – TWICE in fact! It was so much fun to be with family and have such a good time.

I love Pioneer Day because it gives me the chance to really think about my pioneer ancestors, and appreciate all they did to get me where I am today. Some people don’t understand or think it’s that important, but really it’s one of the most important parts of history, in my opinion. I will forever be so thankful for what those brave men and women did, so that I can be where I am. It made me reminisce on my Pioneer Trek experience from Young Women’s. We went up to Wyoming to actually walk the path that those pioneers did. It truly was so remarkable to walk where they walked, to see what they saw. It made me that much more grateful for my faith and those who worked so hard to make sure I could believe whatever I wanted.

Last week was filled with mission gatherings for Randy and I. Randy’s mission president came home, so we got to go see everyone at a BBQ and then go to the homecoming! Randy’s “dad” and others were so fun to hang out with and get to know better. 
And finally meeting Kaicho was incredible! I’ve heard so much about him, and he’d heard so much about me, that it was nice to finally meet. He just went on, and on about how wonderful Randy was as a missionary, and it was so amazing to get to meet him.
And finally. 2 months calls for a celebration. A cheesecake celebration! Randy and I spent one of our amazing wedding present gift cards to celebrate 2 months of marriage. Being with Randy has literally been a dream come true. It’s not always perfect, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever had and I can’t wait for the months and years ahead. If you’re getting married soon PLEASE message me with questions! There are so many things I wish I would’ve known, but didn’t want to ask. Please ask away!
Now I’m ready for a relaxed weekend with my love. 
Happy Friday everyone!

wanderings

July 23, 2015 — 2 Comments

My brain is wandering today. It has been for a few days actually. I’m caught in this rut of deep thoughts and targeted musings and I’m not really sure what to do with them all. I get in these moods sometimes, where it feels like the best thing to do is write it out and hope for the best. It’s nostalgia and hesitation and the back corners of my brain all getting together to spit something out.

It’s a million things that fell together and make me feel like a writer for a minute. Even though I’m really not at all.

It’s listening to “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran and feeling a tug – remembering how often I listened to it when I was waiting for someone to come home. It’s a particular discussion on a late night drive home about the past and the future and seeing his eyes focused on the road ahead of us. It’s reading a paragraph outside in the city that understands me. It’s looking at the lives of other people on my little screen, and realizing that there’s some things I’m not missing. It’s chocolate melting on my tongue as I cross a busy street after a long day. It’s the quiet morning where I almost start to cry because I can’t believe how lucky I got.

I’m not really sure what the point is here. Just that it takes courage to be alive. Not just to live, but to actual feel and care. It takes courage to accept the things you can’t change, to forgive, to move on when you need to and hold on when you need to.

So I guess this has just been brain wanderings today.

Happy Thursday

what college forgot to teach me

July 17, 2015 — 2 Comments

First of all, let me quell all your fears.

I loved college. I think people should get as much education as possible. I’m even considering going BACK to college (eeesh). So I’m all for it.

But there are a few things that are a little left out of the college experience that I wish I had known before heading off into the big, scary world.

So hopefully my college friends can read this and be aware of what’s to come!

1. College did not prepare me for the day-in, day-out of real life. Sure, you have to go to class and work, but those classes changed. Often. There were breaks in my schedule that I got to go home and relax, I didn’t have to get up and get “ready” for the day every single day, I could wear a sweatshirt some days if I wanted. But out in the real world, I have to go to work whether I want to or not. There are no breaks longer than my lunch break, and even that is usually taken at my desk because I have so much to do. It’s a routine that I’ve been on for longer than anything. And it taking some getting used to.

2. College did not prepare me for the sometimes tedious, monotony of a job. I LOVE my job. But I have to be honest, I’m doing a lot of very similar things, for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, every week but 2 during the year. Now you may tell me, hey I did that at my summer job, or I did that with classes and homework. It’s not the same. Not even close. Because summer starts and ends, classes change, long Christmas break comes, finals week breaks up the monotony. It is taking some time to get used to not just doing my job, but doing it every single minute of the day.

3. College did not prepare me for getting to bed on time. That’s pretty obvious, right? But seriously. In college I stayed up way too late a lot of nights, and would just come home and nap later. If I do that now, I’m dead. I need at least 6 hours or I am worthless the next day, but I still have to go to work and struggle to stay away and get things done.

4. College did not prepare me for being away from home all day. In college I had breaks, came home during the day, etc. But now, once I’m out the door for work, it’s see ya later until 6 or 6:30 PM. Every, single day. Some people do that for a semester, or for a few days during the week that are the “long days” but that’s reality now. It’s been a funny adjustment remembering that if I want to eat at work, I have to bring snacks and food, and if I forget my phone, it’s tough luck.

5. College did not prepare me for always networking and moving up. College prepared me for networking to an extent. I made friends and contact that have and will be important. But at my job, I feel like maintaining every, single relationship and making it a good one is not only important to have a fun time at the office, but could be crucial for my future at the company. It’s a very interesting change in my perspective about how I react, and respond to everyone and everything.

Let’s again go back to the fact that I learned SO much in college and I loved every second of it. For me it was the absolute best choice, and I highly recommend it. Just be prepared that when push comes to shove, you might not be as prepared as you think for that first job in the real world. I wish I had known that, it would’ve made these past few months SO much easier.

fishing and idaho and the 13th

July 14, 2015 — Leave a comment

In between working and routine, sometimes Randy and I get to do fun things. This weekend was one of those fun times!

 Randy and I got to drive to Idaho to spend time with my family, and go fishing on the Teton river. I’ve floated the Teton every year since I can remember, and it’s always so much fun. We go with my Grandpa who is a master fisher and has fished the Teton since he was a little boy. He knows everything about that river (at least I think he does) and it’s so wonderful to get to hear his stories and spend time in a place he loves so much. I also love that I get to spend time with my family in a place that’s special to us. It’s just a really great time, and I’m so glad that Randy got to finally join in!

This trip was a little crazier than normal though. There was a dead weasel incident, a herd of cattle being moved that changed our plans, fish that didn’t want to bite in the morning, and a rain, hail, thunder and lightning storm in the afternoon. Luckily we had a blast, and caught lots of fish!

Getting ready for our drive!

Just off the river with my awesome sisters

Tired and cold – but boy we had a good time

Reeds is always a MUST when we go to Idaho Falls. It’s my favorite. Their chocolate milk – to DIE for.

And yesterday Randy surprised me with some DELICIOUS macaroons to celebrate the 13th. We started dating on August 13th and love doing little things to celebrate the 13th of each month. Now we’ll have to add the 30th to the mix!
These delightful lavender macaroons were heaven in a bite.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

crab legs and america and ramblings

July 7, 2015 — 1 Comment

Guys. I didn’t take like ANY pictures over 4th of July! I’m crazy! I’m pretty sure this has happened the past few years – I just get too busy to remember to snap any pictures!

But our 4th was awesome, we spent time at home watching the parade, eating DELICIOUS salmon and turkey and salad, and flan, watched the Kaysville musical (it was rocking. go see it. and shout out to my friends who were in it and KILLED it.) hung out with Randy’s brothers, and hit up the hometown firework show. All in all it was a fantastic weekend and I’m so happy we got to spend the 4th with my family.

Also, a few days before the 4th, Randy and I went a little crazy and made CRAB LEGS for dinner. Ok. So easy. So good.

Just buy crab legs either frozen or fresh from your grocery store.
Fill a pot with water and a splash of lemon juice or vinegar.
Bring to a boil – then throw in the legs!
Bring back to a boil and let them go for about 5-10 minutes, depending on if they were fresh or frozen. They’ll start to turn pretty red when they’re done.
Melt some butter in the microwave to go on the side.
Pull out the crab legs with some tongs and VOILA.
Just use a fork to crack those babies and pull the meat out!

On another note, I need to write about something that’s been bothering me for the past few days.

I was just scrolling through my Facebook feed, when I saw several people post about how the 4th of July is all about celebrating rich white people who were really awful people, how America isn’t the great country everyone wants to think it is because of this and that and the other.

Now, I understand people are entitled to their opinion.

I understand there are frustrations from many parties right now.

I understand there is confusion and a desire to be better.

I understand that some people in the past made mistakes.

Guess what.

We do too.

We don’t stop celebrating people, what they did, and how they got us here, because they weren’t perfect.

I am so thankful each and every day for the men and women who fought, struggled, and even died to make this country what it is today.

It’s not a perfect country.

But I happen to think it’s amazing. Incredible, And wonderful.

This country wasn’t built on the backs of perfect people.

And perfect people don’t live in it today.

But it’s a country full of people who are still struggling, fighting, dying, to make it even better.

Isn’t that the whole point?

So I’m thankful to the imperfect founding fathers for doing everything they knew how to do.

I’m thankful to each and every president for doing the best they could.

I’m thankful for each person who lived their lives, while trying to make our country better.

I’m thankful that those imperfect people decided to try.

Decided to work.

And I’m so thankful for people who are still out trying, and working today.

You don’t have to think this country or its founders were perfect to love it, to celebrate, and to be proud.

There are always things we can improve. But we don’t have to push anybody down in order to prove that there is room for improvement.

Be thankful for people who wanted to make a change – just like we want to today.

Don’t tell me what they didn’t isn’t worth celebrating.

Because if it wasn’t for them, there’s no chance we would even be here.

I guess I’m a little baffled at the lack of respect I see around me.

Whether or not you agree, there’s a level of civility and respect that should be shown by everyone, at every time. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland encouraged members of the LDS Church to “defend your beliefs with COURTESY and with COMPASSION, but DEFEND them.” You can say what you believe with courtesy and compassion while not backing down from what you think.

Be kind.

Be respectful.

To America.

To laws.

To religions.

To people who are thankful for new laws.

And those who are not.

And most of all, be respectful to every individual person you converse with. Whether on social media or in person.