Daycation in Pineview, Utah

Last Friday Chris and I spent most our time at Pineview Reservoir. We swam, ate wonderful food, and did a lot of searching for Pokemon. I forgot to take pictures the second day we were there, with  jet ski and paddle boards, but here are the pictures I did take from our "daycation."

THE MAD MOOSE CAFE:

3rd Year Anniversary Thoughts

Written 5/8/16

I knew today would be difficult. Mother's Day. I was supposed to be a mom by this point, but instead I had to go to church and listen to adorable kids sing about their mother's, listen to talks about mothers, and cry over the fact that I'm not a mom.

But being able to spend my day taking care of my injured husband and practicing my motherly skills was good enough for me.

 I love the relationship that I have with Chris. We are always able to laugh and joke. When we fight, we are too busy making jokes and quoting our favorite movies and TV shows to truly be mad at each other.

I love Chris so much. I love being married to him. I love having him as my best friend. I love that he's my partner in everything. I love the life that we've created together. I love that he takes care of me. I love being in love with him.

Today was hard. I want us to be a family. Not just with each other and our puppy, but with children of our own. There's no one else I would want to start a family with. There's no one who could be a better dad to our future children. And there's no one who I'd rather go through this heartbreak of not being a mom yet with.

I'm so happy we're at three years of marriage, because I've come to find that the longer we're together, the more I love him. Eternity with Chris is the happiest and greatest thing to ever happen to me.

________________________________________________________________________

Go back in time to my one year anniversary post, it's one of my favorites and you can find it by

  CLICKING HERE! 

One Years Worth of Marriage Tips, Tricks, and Advice

It's my anniversary month! I wanted to put up this post closer to my anniversary, but this particular post has taken me months to create and it has been delayed. But it's still May, still my anniversary month, so here it is!

No, I did not document my first full year of marriage the way I probably should have. But I have worked hard in the past year to show my love for my husband and to build our relationship. We've been through trials, we've been through changes, things weren't always the way we thought they would be. But we learned how marriage works together and marriage has been the greatest blessing of my life. Note: Just because I wrote all these down doesn't mean I'm perfect and follow every last tip, I'm not perfect and still have things to work on.

(PS, there is a very good chance the pictures won't all show up, I apologize for that but I don't think I'm going to take the time to fix them if they end up not showing. I'm trying to get ones that work but just know that there's a possibility of a blank picture. I also apologize for any grammatical issues, but again, not going through and fixing them.) 

So, here is a years worth of marriage tips, tricks, and advice... 365 days worth... A lot... As in, the longest blog post of my life... yeah... you don't have to read it all in one sitting.

1. Don't forget the kisses everyday!! 
2. When you burn the food, laugh. 
3. "Oh money, where did you go? Maybe we should keep track..."
4. Changes happen... again and again and again and again.
5. I think even grownups need a time-out sometimes. 
6. "How dare you do this! I'm so mad at you! [Insert How I Met Your Mother Quote here]" Laughter ensues, argument over. 
7. "I want to do this." "And I want to do this." Always make decisions together.
8. .....
   
9. Relax and take a trip, get away from being an adult. 
10. "Aww man, we eat out too much I'm getting fat!" You put on the weight together, take it off together. Gym time together can be super fun! 
11. "Life's a dance you learn as you go!"
12. Balancing school, work, homework, and life in general is difficult, but always, always, ALWAYS make your spouse your main priority.
13. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.
14. When you watch a couple enough on TV, sometimes you start acting like them, and there is nothing wrong with that. 
    
15. Date nights become fewer, but sometimes that makes them all the more special.
16. Your in-laws can be family too and you can learn to love them as much as your own family. 
17. Sometimes Little Caesars Pizza is the best "going out to eat" can offer. 
18. Just hold your spouse for a minute a day. Just hold them and let them know you'll always be there for them. 
19. ... 
    
20. Love is meant to make you feel happy and wonderful. Accept it. 
21. Stop looking for the negative, every day find another positive.
22. .... 
    
23. Have confidence in your spouse and they will return the favor.
24. Make a cake, celebrate!
25. How do two people use so many dishes???
26. "I don't want to clean." "Me neither." "Let's make a game out of it!!!"
27. "Love is never ending!" 
28. Act like a child sometimes. If it's real love, your spouse will allow it.
29. You don't have to be exactly the same and like all the same things all the time... that just sounds exhausting.
30. A Disney movie sing-along and some popcorn is an excellent date night.
31. Marrying a fisherman means fish for dinner. 
32. And marrying a man who can cook fish very well is a good idea... because I dislike cooking. So I'm so grateful Chris can do it and do it well. 
33. ... 
    
34. Sometimes you have to remind your spouse how sexy you can be. And slutty. But you're married so it's okay. 
35. "Don't worry, be happy!" 
36. Car rides can be the absolute funnest thing with your spouse! Sing-alongs, car games, and long talks. Best thing ever!
37. Take time to step out of your comfort zone and do something the other one likes. Don't hide in your shell.
38. My husband is a soccer player and he's obsessed with the sport. He can tell you almost all the players in the EPL, he always knows the most current stats and news. Sometimes it can be hard with him always looking up soccer news on his phone, but when I go to his soccer games I can see that it's all just for the love of the game and it's so incredible seeing how happy it makes him. I'm proud to support my husband in something he loves.
39. Cooking together, making messes together, all means having fun together.
40. Hold hands. Be an otter.
41. Make your spouse feel beautiful... or handsome, pretty, ravishing, etc.
42. Just because you're married doesn't mean basic manners go out the window. Say yours please's and thank you's.
43. Take care of your spouse, "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health." 
    
44. Remind your spouse why you love them. Never let them forget it.
45. RESPECT. It's not dead. 
46. Make couple friends. Eat dinner together, bond over movies and games. 
47. "How can I help? What do you need?" ...are some of the greatest questions you can ask your spouse.
48. Spend as much time together as you can. He's going to the hardware store? Join him! Hold his hand as you walk through the aisles. 
49. Clean the car together and get in a water fight. Fun! 
50. Always look for ways to help. Helping others is incredibly important. 
51. "I love you" everyday. Every. Single. Day.
52. Let your spouse become your life. It's the greatest feeling in the world. 
    
53. "Nice butt." {wink wink} Let your spouse feel loved and sexy.
54. Laughter is the best medicine, especially in marriage.
55. Yes, you may be married for forever, but never let a single day go by without being grateful for your marriage.

Happy One Year Anniversary to Christopher and Me!!

You guys, it's been a whole year since all this happened:

And what a crazy year it's been! I never imagined my first year of marriage would be so uneventful. Yep, you heard me right. My first year of marriage was not the greatest year of my life, but truth me told, I never wanted it to be. I'm a firm believer in the idea that love only grows, and I hope Chris and I continue to grow our love into the eternities. 

I am so insanely grateful that I married Chris one year ago. Chris is the greatest blessing in my life and I love him more than I ever thought I could love someone and everyday I find a way to love him more. He means the world to me, he saved my life, he makes me happier than I ever imagined, and I know he loves me and I'm so happy and grateful that he does. 

I don't care that our first year of marriage was uneventful. We're starting out our second year living in Texas and working full-time and making huge life decisions. I love my husband and I know our marriage will only get better and better as time goes on. But I'm so happy for this first of struggles and learning who we were, it will change us for the better. It already has made us a stronger couple and better people. I'm so grateful that this year was uneventful, because it means we have so much more to look forward to. 

Happy one year anniversary to my best friend in the whole world and the love of my life! I feel like I've known you forever, and I want to continue to get to know you through the eternities. 

I LOVE YOU CHRISTOPHER!! 

Lindsey Brogdon Photography

On Being a Supportive Wife

When I graduated high school I had my heart set on Utah State University, actually I knew I wanted to go there for years before that. And I held my head high and proudly said I was going to major in print journalism and write for a magazine like in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days .

During my first year of college my father, bless his heart, would email me news articles about how news is dying out (that sounds totally ironic). He would remind me that journalists don't get paid anything and my chances of actually writing what I want are incredibly slim.

Now, to say that it was my dad that led me to change my major is false. It's not his fault I have such a fickle mind and can't make and stick to decisions (or maybe it is, I do have his genes...). However I'd be lying if I said the emails he sent didn't have an influence on my decision. While I know both my parents would never discourage me from living my dreams, this was one instance that I didn't feel entirely supported. (But I still love my dad, and seriously he supports me in everything so I'm in no way trying to criticize or say he's a bad dad, because he's the greatest.)

As fate would have it, I would end up marrying a print journalism major and the emails that my father sent still sometimes pop into my head as Chris is talking about his dreams of being a journalist. But I never say a thing.

As Chris's wife it isn't my job to tell Chris that his dreams can't be achieved. It's my job to support him no matter what he does and help him to achieve all his goals. 

We are currently going through big changes in our marriage. Our one year anniversary is this Sunday, we both have full-time jobs (his being more than full-time, basically an all-the-time-except-sleep kind of job), we're figuring out our futures in college, we've moved to Texas and away from our families, and we're continually growing and maturing together. Things are crazy and I will support Chris through all of it!

Lately Chris has been discouraged with this new job. He's in sales and he doesn't get paid unless he sells, which after three days he hasn't yet. He's feeling upset and downhearted.

So every night I make him a nice meal to come home to (something I pretty much haven't done in our entire year of marriage (yep, I'm the worst)), I focus on him and his need before my own, and I tell him positive thoughts and let him know I'm rooting for him and I'll always support him.

It's not my job to tell him to do better. It's not my job to ask him what he's doing wrong. It's not my job to leave him feeling discouraged. No! That's all wrong! It's my job to make him feel good about himself and to think positively. It's my job to encourage him. It's my job to continually support him throughout all of our marriage.

I'm not saying we have a perfect marriage, I mean it's only been one year! What do we know about marriage? But if I've learned one thing in the last year, it's that if you support your spouse 100% in all their dreams, they will always support you back, even if your new goal is kind of crazy and risky. Love is about putting their needs before your own, that's what support means, giving all you have to help your spouses dreams come true.

I will always support Chris in his future endeavors and I know he will always support me. That's love. And I love Chris with all my heart. 

Amy Bennion Photography

Now Coming to You From Texas

Hello blogging world! I am now coming to you from the hot land of Texas. And honestly going from cold Logan straight to Texas heat is a big change for me. It's hot! But last night when we got here and the sun was setting, the weather felt so good! I love warm nights. :)

This post is me just rambling about what's been going on recently with our move. It may not be the most exciting post, but it's informative. Ha ha.

I wasn't able to get into the apartment until today at about noon, but our apartment is really nice and most our stuff is already put away because we only brought what fit in our car, so we don't have much. Because of this, though, it still hasn't really sunk in that I'm living in Texas now. I mean, the majority of my stuff is still in Logan and our families are in Utah. When it finally sinks in that I live here now, I'll let you know.

Chris has been working his new job all day. He's so great! For anyone new or unaware, we moved here because Chris got a summer sales job selling pest control. And as of this morning, I now work as a receptionist for the same company! Yay! That's the easiest I've ever gotten a job before and I'm so happy about it! I loved my last receptionist job and it's something I've been wanting to do again.

We don't have internet in our apartment yet so I'm in the apartment's office area, which is super nice. Here is my current view:

(Except now there's a girl in that chair, and yes, my husband has a Liverpool screen saver on his laptop, what did you expect?? And if you're wondering why I'm not using my laptop, here's why.) 

We came in this morning and they were so kind and immediately offered us coffee, which we don't drink but we appreciated the kind gesture. The staff here has been incredibly kind through the abnormally long process of getting our apartment, and since Chris left for work it was all me.

Here's a few more pictures of our apartment:

Funny story, our GPS app had the slight wrong address so we were passing by these buildings and Chris says, "Those are nice, I wish we were living there." And he mentioned that from a distance they looked like cow spots (which obviously made me love them). And when we figured out the correct address we were super happy to be living here! The above is the building we are in. We have a small apartment with a living room, bedroom, big bathroom with massive tub, big closet, and a lovely kitchen:

This apartment is so incredibly nice compared to our last one! I love it! I'm sure Chris loves in too but he hasn't actually been in our apartment yet so we can't be sure.

Since we arrived last night, we had to sleep on the floor of Chris's coworker's apartment, which is right next door to ours. We had couch cushions under us and I actually slept really well. We met many of Chris's coworkers last night and watched Frozen together (which I realized I really do like, I had only seen it once before so I was still on the fence about it). I got to meet two more wives that are along on the journey, they are super nice and today they helped me carry everything from the car to the apartment, since all the men were gone.

Since I've been feeling friend-less for a long time, last night was crazy when the two girls were asking me all these questions about what I like to do and getting my phone number and texting me today. I'm honestly not used to it. I haven't had anyone meet me and try to be my friend in a long time, it was slightly overwhelming because it all happened so fast but I'm so happy we're friends and they've already been so helpful and I know we'll have a great summer together.

One of them was supposed to do the receptionist job but decided she didn't really want to and she had other job opportunities, so she passed it on to me and I'm so so grateful because I really wanted to find a job here soon and I didn't have to do any work to get it and I already have one and start on Wednesday. I feel so incredibly blessed already!

The drive to Texas was a long one. We left on Friday and we got a much later start than we thought we would, so we didn't make it to our reserved hotel. Instead we drove until we were tired and found a different hotel, which happened to be cheaper. The next day we did the same, we just drove until we were tired and found a hotel.

That second night we were using one of my apps to find hotels and we came across a cheap one, but when were were searching for it, the address led us to one of the scariest most ghetto places I've ever seen and honestly, I was freaked out. So I was upset so Chris drove us to the nicer area of town and we paid a little extra for a nice, and safe hotel.

Then on Sunday we drove the rest of the way to San Antonio. Chris decided he wants to live in Texas; they play country music on all the radio stations, they put gravy on everything, the fishing is good and they sell fish at a lot of restaurants, and he absolutely loves big cities. I don't know if I'm completely sold on living in Texas forever, but for now it's been really great.

Oh! So on Saturday during the drive I begin to tell Chris that tornados are one of my new biggest fears. They freak me out. And that night I turn on the TV and it has a show on about tornados! So I leave it on because it has lots of information and tips on what to do in a tornado, thinking it will help me overcome my fear, but it doesn't really. And then we wake up the next day and as I'm driving I see in the distance a mini sand tornado! It was just sand and it wasn't that powerful, but neither of us had seen anything like it before in real life so it was kind of crazy! And it went over the road right in front of us. Chris tried to record it for me, but he apparently doesn't know how to use my phone.

During the trip I recorded some fun moments. I'm hoping to make a special video montage at some point but there is a great possibility that it'll never happen. So don't get your hopes up. Just know that we had a supremely long but fun drive and we enjoyed each other's company.

Speaking of us being together, this Sunday is our one year anniversary!! Can you believe I've been married a year? I sure can't! It's been a weird and crazy year and while people say your first year of marriage is the easiest, I believe that things are going to be changing for the better this next year, the best is yet to come! We've already been seeing changes for the better with this Texas move! And we are both so excited for what is to come.

This is an exciting new change in our lives and that's why this post is so long, because there is just so much changing and there is just so much to tell! But I do apologize if you found this post super boring... but no one was forcing you to read it.

Don't forget about my Book Club starting back up this month!!! There are two books this month and you don't have to read both but you're more than welcome to. Also don't forget to donate and help spread the word about this month's Charity of the Month, the Make a Wish Foundation. Thank you all so much for reading and I know I'll have a lot more stories about living in Texas soon!!

Oh! And one last picture, starting out our road trip to Texas:

Originally posted on my Instagram, feel free to follow me!! 

March Favorites

Welcome to my March Favorites! To read all my other Monthly Favorites post CLICK HERE! 

FAVORITE BLOG: Me, You, and Hayley Larue

Have you ever met someone and you just click? That's how I feel about Hayley over at "Me, You, and Hayley Larue". (Which is a bold thing to say because I'm not sure if she feels the same way.) She left a comment on my blog so I headed straight over to hers. Not only is her blog beautiful, but she's a great writer, an incredible dancer, and she has a very enchanting blog! Also we both have an uncle that works at Disneyland, we both dance, and our birthdays are one year, one month, and one day apart. I just absolutely love her blog and all her beautiful pictures and quotes. She's amazing and I love finding new friends through blogging!!

FAVORITE WEBSITE: 100happydays.com

As I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is I want to do with my life, I realize that I need to gain my more positive attitude and just be happier! So I found the 100 Happy Days Challenge and knew I had to do it. With the stress of school and moving to a new state, I felt now was the best time! My 100 days ends in the middle of June and hopefully by then I will have gained a more positive outlook on life. If you haven't already, I urge you to take the challenge as well and spend the next 100 days finding what makes you happy in your life. Follow me on Instagram to see all my #100happydays posts!


FAVORITE WEB VIDEO: Bitman Begins

Do you remember that Youtube video "Charlie Bit My Finger"? Well this is the celebrity version from Jimmy Kimmel, and I absolutely love it! They really should get the Hemsworth brothers together for a movie. That would be entertaining to watch...


FAVORITE SNACK: Brookside Dark Chocolate Goji and Raspberry Flavors

This little treat is beyond delicious! Not only that but it's not incredibly unhealthy either! Well it is if you eat as many as I do, but I don't feel quite as guilty eating this as I do with other chocolaty treats. They have different flavors like blueberry and pomegranate but I like the raspberry best.

FAVORITE SONG: Say Something

This is quite honestly the most beautiful song ever. I'm so incredibly in love with it, especially this version of it. In case you didn't know, I want to someday be an author and as I'm working on my book this song and this version just keeps playing in my head. I'm so in love with it!

FAVORITE TELEVISION SHOW: How I Met Your Mother

Every now and then Chris and I re-watch our favorite shows on Netflix. This month we went through How I Met Your Mother again. It's a special show for us because when we were first dating it helped us connect together as we watched it together for the first time. I love this show... but I am so insanely disappointed in the current season. It's such a let-down and the worst final season ever. But I was so happy to finally see Barney and Robin get married and I'm super excited for Ted to meet the mother!!!

FAVORITE MOVIE: While You Were Sleeping

I didn't go out and see any movies this month and we actually didn't watch very many at all, but I did introduce my husband to While You Were Sleeping so I'm counting it as my favorite this month. It's an older one but Sandra Bullock is super cute in it (and basically all the time, she's a favorite of mine) and it's just a cute and funny movie. So if you haven't seen it already, you should check it out!

FAVORITE APP: QuizUp

My husband and I are so in love with this app and we just quiz each other all the time! It's so fun being in this never-ending competition with him to see who knows our favorite things best! If you don't already have it, you should definitely download this app because it's super fun and you can play against me!!!


FAVORITE/MOST POPULAR BLOG POST: What I've Learned From 10 Months of Marriage

Compared to my other "What I've Learned from ___ Months of Marriage" posts, this one wasn't that exciting to me. It was short and thrown together at the last minute. But I'm glad people like it. It makes me happy that my marriage is exciting to other people. My one year anniversary is in May and I have some big marriage posts planned for that month, so don't forget to follow my blog so you won't miss out on any of them!

Also this month, for some strange reason, you guys keep looking at my One Month Till My Wedding post, which is kind of funny to me. Next month is one month to my one year anniversary, so maybe that's why.

This Monthly Favorites post is a bit shorter than others, but it was a very interest month for me. Drop by my blog tomorrow to see my Monthly Review of March! 

What I've Learned From 10 Months of Marriage

I'm pretty much in shock that we are so close to our one year anniversary! Chris and I have been together for two and a half years and we both feel like we've been married forever. We both feel we were meant to be together and that's why it feels like we've been together for so long. I love it!

Anyways, I've done posts like this before and I just think they are a good post for me to share my perspective on marriage. So here are a few things I've learned from 10 months of marriage.

Nothing is set in stone. 
After getting married and we moved into our first apartment together we both assumed we would just stay there until we were graduated from college and left Logan. But then we didn't have enough money to stay there so we moved into our new place and now in only two months we're moving again to Texas.

Our married life has been chaotic because we've never really had the chance to settle down. We expected to feel more settled down but it's never been that way. While it causes some stress, we're learning to handle our chaotic life together. Honestly, it's hard to never have a permanent home, but as long as I'm with Chris I'm happy.

We are so good at fighting.
Chris and I really don't fight that much in the first place, but when we do we are able to solve our differences quickly and easily. A few days ago we were in an argument and I was going off about something and I ended up quoting How I Met Your Mother, which immediately lightened the mood. Chris understood why I was angry, but we both knew it wasn't too big of a deal and we were able to resolve the fight quickly. Best marriage ever.

All decisions should be made together. 
This one seems pretty obvious, but it's a big deal. In marriage you absolutely have to communicate and make decisions together, because if one person goes off and does their own thing without talking to the other, it can cause major problems. We've never had a big issue with this but we work hard to always communicate with each other. We've made quite a few big decisions lately (Texas, Fashion Blogging, College) and we've consulted each other about every detail. It's been really important and has helped strengthen our marriage.

I've never been happier. 
Living with depression is hard, but my husband makes it so much better! He always knows the right way to make me happy when I'm feeling down. I don't know how he does it. A few years ago before I met Chris my biggest fear was that I would never find someone who would tolerate my depression. Chris has exceeded all expectations and makes me happier than I've ever been before in my life. And I am eternally grateful to have him in my life.

This post is short but I just wanted to say a few quick things about my marriage. Happy 10 months to me! And thank goodness for Little Caesars for being one of the only restaurants cheap enough for us to have a special lunch together. :) 

The Moments I Feel Like a Married Couple

Is it bad to say that I don't always feel like a married person? That my life hasn't completely changed from a few years ago? My life shifts from feeling married to feeling like a regular college student. But how can it not with the craziness my past nine months of marriage have brought me.

(I don't think I've ever shown this photo on my blog before, this is after the reception where we walked through a tunnel of sparklers (which scared me because I hate being close to an open flame) and I was leaning on Chris to walk because my feet hurt so badly. But I absolutely love this photo because we just look so happy (and we honestly were) and I loved my hair and that dress.) 

After the wedding on the honeymoon I felt married then. Because it was the first time in my life I was on a vacation without my parents (okay, I've been on ballroom and choir tour, but there were adults and I wasn't in charge of checking into hotels and such). We were in charge of the vacation and everyone at Disneyland was congratulating us on our marriage. We were happily in love and were happy to finally be married.

Moving in together for the first time was obviously a huge change. I felt married then. After eight months of living two hours from each other we were finally together 24/7 and I felt like we were a married couple then. We had our own apartment we shared a bed, we paid bills, we were a married couple.

But then I spent the whole summer job-less and stuck in the apartment, and I didn't feel married. I felt like a loser with no job living with my best friend. I didn't feel like we were a real married couple. I knew I was married, but it didn't feel any different than when I was living with roommates before.

On social outings with family (like our family Jackson Hole trip pictured above) I felt married (and super short). When we were around family I felt like we were a married couple. It became this way in any social situation. When we were out shopping or out with friends (ha, we don't ever hang out with friends, that's a lie) I felt married then. But when we returned home and sat around doing nothing, the feeling was lost.

When we are cleaning the house together, I feel like a married couple. In social situations, I feel like a married couple. When we go out and do something, I feel like a married couple. But when we're at home, I don't. And I feel it's because it doesn't feel like my home.

We've already lived in two different apartments and are moving again in two months. Things haven't settled yet. Nothing is set in stone. And I think that's why I struggle to feel like a married couple. We're approaching our one year anniversary in a few months and I've yet felt settled down as a married couple and it really bothers me. I love being married to Chris and I love him with all my heart, but I want those brief moments where I feel like a married couple to last forever.

I want to feel married all the time, and it's hard for me that I don't feel this way yet. Shouldn't it have happened? Why can't I feel it yet? I do love Chris and it has nothing to do with a lack of love, it's just a feeling that comes and goes, but I want it all the time, not just some of the time.

Money Free March

Welcome to March! March is a good month. In Utah the weather flips from Spring to Winter and back and forth again everyday so it's certainly an adventure. But this has been a surprisingly warm Winter so who knows what will happen. St. Patrick's Day is exciting too. One year my best friend and I hosted a St. Patrick's Day party and it was pretty great up until a friend pulled a knife on another kid... yeah, high school was a weird time for me.

Anyways, this month my husband and I decided to do something different to help us out financially. We are not going to spend any money during the month of March. 

Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. We have to pay rent and other bills, we are allowed to buy gas for the car and necessary groceries, but that's it! Nothing else!

There are three main reasons for this challenge:

1. I made a New Years Resolution this year to save up more money and basically to give us a financially safe bank account. 
2. Last year we really struggled to pay bills and ended up having to move to a cheaper apartment. I don't want us to ever be in that situation again. 
3. We eat out... a lot. And by making the decision to not spend any money that means less fried food and possibly I'd be able to lose weight. 

This challenge will honestly be a challenge for us. We are comfortable and set in our ways, but we both know things need to change. So, with the exception of our date night yesterday, we are going to hide away our debit cards, not spend any cash, and only make necessary food purchases. It'll be good for us and help us save up some extra money but also maybe get us in the habit of spending less. 

I challenge you to join us in Money Free March! I'll be tweeting updates about our challenge on my Twitter page so don't forget to follow me! If you end up doing the challenge with us don't forget to tweet about it as well using #moneyfreemarch so I can see how you're doing as well! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

Things I've Learned From 7 Months of Marriage

HAPPY SEVEN MONTH ANNIVERSARY TO ME!! I wanted to do a post like this for six months of marriage because that's half a year, but I was much too busy with school so you're getting an extra month of knowledge. ;) But actually that extra month really does make a difference because it was this last month that we decided to move and that changed a lot of things.

I love my husband more than anything in the world and I am so happy to be married to him for time and all eternity! I learn something new about myself and about marriage all the time. "Life's a dance you learn as you go" and everyday I'm learning something new. I'm happily married for seven months now, and here's what I've learned in those seven months.

I lose my will to clean when focusing on school. 
It's disappointing really. I struggle with balancing school and keeping my apartment clean. I think a big part of it is the fact that I work as a janitor. So everyday I clean for four hours to get money, but at home cleaning doesn't give me money so I lose that desire to work harder at it. I've been struggling with keeping things clean since school started, but new apartment equals new rules so we will be working harder to keep things clean.

My husband can gut a fish, turn it into fillets, shoot an animal, skin an elk, watch bloody zombie shows, but put him in front of rotting food and he'll throw up. 
Yeah... wasn't expecting that. I had cleaned up moldy food that day and was fine. I told him he had to clean up his salad mess, he opened the bowl and starts gagging for a good long while, throws it in the sink, dumps in dish soap and turns the water on, then went and threw up. But he cleaned up his salad, so I'm proud of him for that. Apparent he gets sick with smells, which means it's a good thing he doesn't work as a janitor like I do.

Money is hard.
It really truly is. We're moving to spend less on rent, we have to donate plasma to make extra cash, we can barely afford food. It's hard.

Sacrifices have to be made.
Like I said above, we have to move to save money. I will miss this beautiful apartment. Where we're moving isn't quite as beautiful, but it's a blessing that it's bigger and cheaper. Things will be difficult at first and it's a big sacrifice, but we are both grateful and have the feeling everything will turn out perfectly.

There are lots of different ways to make money.
We donate plasma, I use Inbox Dollars, I blog, we sold some clothes (and still have some to sell if anyone in Logan is interested), and we do everything we can to make and save money. We are very creative about it.

Holidays with the in-laws can be fun too.
I spent Thanksgiving with the in-laws this year. I had such a good time! The food was delicious, the company was so kind and friendly, and I got to see Catching Fire! It was such a wonderful holiday and I absolutely love my in-laws!

Love only grows stronger.
Honestly I never imagined that it could be like this. I mean, you hear all these stories about love growing stronger but when you actually experience it, it's absolutely incredible! I don't know how to fully describe it, but everyday I love Chris more and more. We have always clicked. We've been together for two years and know each other really well, but to see how our relationship consistently gets better and better is the most amazing thing in the world. I love being married to the love of my life and love that it only gets better everyday.

What about you? What have you learned in your marriage? Leave a comment below and let me know!

THANKS FOR READING!!! 

HAPPY 6 MONTHS OF MARRIAGE TO ME!! (Plus some BIG NEWS!!)

We've made it six months, half a year, and that time flew by so incredibly fast! It honestly feels like we've only been married a few months, but nope, it's been half a year! I am such a happy married person! I married the absolute love of my life and he makes me so happy and so much happier each and every day. Everyday is a new experience and I only love him more!

Hey, please check out the Lindsey Brogdon Photography Facebook page or her website. She's really fun to work with and takes fantastic photos! 

Now time for the BIG NEWS!!! 

...but not really, because I want to make you all wait. (I'm feeling evil today)

I want to hear your guesses! What could my BIG NEWS be??? Leave a comment with your guess! 

Thanks for reading!! 

Five on Friday

This post is a link up with The Good Life about five random things from the week.

One
The Concept of Time

No, this is not a lesson on how time works or anything like that. This week went by super slow! However, I am in shock that we are almost halfway through October! Can you believe it's only two and a half months till 2014??? I sure can't. Everything about this semester went by super fast, I'm already halfway done with the semester, and it's all been going by so fast... except for this past week. And this past week was ridiculously boring and long. I wish it would have been super fast like the rest of them.

Two
Black Nails

My Nana hates when I paint my nails black, but it's October/Halloween time and I LOVE IT!! I am never a fan of painting my nails unless it's black. Black is my favorite color (even though everyone tells me it's not a real color) and I just feel like myself when I paint my nails black. So I did it, I'm super happy. I wish my laptop webcam was better so the picture looked better (and just my laptop in general, because it's really struggling lately).

Three
Halloween Under $10

I'm in the works of a post about how my husband and I are decorating our apartment for Halloween for less than $10. We are very poor and just can't afford holiday decorations, but Halloween is my favorite holiday so I couldn't resist! I'm super excited about this post because it really worked! Halloween under ten bucks and it doesn't look half bad! Stay tuned to learn about how we did it! :)

Four
General Conference

This past weekend was the LDS General Conference and I absolutely loved it!! I think this was the first time that I was able to watch all four sessions and I learned so much and really felt the spirit!  I also followed #ldsconf on Twitter during the sessions and read what other people thought. It was fantastic! I did a ton of Tweets as well, be sure to check those out! My sister also slept over so it was a great weekend.

Five
Five Months

Five months ago today I was married for time and all eternity to the love of my life! It was the greatest day of my life and I can't believe it's been five months already! It's almost half a year! We aren't doing anything to celebrate because we're broke... but we do have cake mixes, maybe we'll make a cake. :)

If any of you link up for Five on Friday, I would love to read it!

 Leave a comment and link below! :) 

Things I've Learned From Being Married for Four Months

Yay! Happy four month anniversary to my husband and I!! It's been 1/3 of a year, so that's cool. Even though it's not a huge amount of time, there is still a lot to have learned since we first got married. I wrote a post before at the three week mark, you can find that HERE.

1. Men Don't Change

I grew up listening to this song:

(which is why "Chocolate is a band-aid" is one of my favorite quotes) So it was ingrained in my brain that "men don't change". But after dating Chris for a year and a half I though he was different. I mean, I had gotten him to stop chewing gum around me (that's kind of a different story) so I figured I could get him to change some other things as well, if needed. I'm not saying he has to change. I married him, I love him to death, but there's a few little things that could be tweaked a bit.

But it's true, "men don't change". But I don't care anymore. Why should I expect him to change things when I won't change my own ways? I talked about this in my church talk and I truly believe it, if you trust in your spouse, you can avoid all contention in marriage.

2. We Use a Lot of Dishes

There's two of us. We eat out more than we should. I tend to eat meals that don't use utensils. How on earth do we go through dishes so fast??? It's one of those mysteries I may never understand.

3. Cleaning is Hard

I'm a custodian, so I spend Monday through Friday from 5:00 to 9:00 cleaning in the student center on campus. This include vacuuming offices, taking out giant trash bags, and cleaning four bathrooms. So I have a hard time finding the energy and drive to clean my apartment. I hate the mess, but I am so sick of cleaning! And I get paid to clean at my job, at home I get to clean, then make a bigger mess, then clean again, and repeat again and again until I die.

So to help me us keep our home clean, I've made a list of the main things that need to be done this week (ie. cleaning the toilet, mopping the tile, vacuuming the living room) and during the week when we aren't in class or working, we can just take a little bit of time and finish one small thing on the list and then eventually all the work can get done! We're just starting it this week so I don't know how well it'll work, but I'll let you know.

4. Life Gets in the Way

Have you ever heard the quote: "Distance makes the heart grow fondest"? (Or the BNL version: "Absence makes the heart grow fungus.") Well after Chris and I spent eight months in a long distance relationship, we would both tell you that's crap. However, the quote does hold a bit of truth.

The first three months of our marriage we were constantly together, and it was fantastic! We loved being able to spend so much time together! Now we're in school and working and our schedules are so crazy that we seem to hardly see each other anymore! And while I miss spending all my time with him, the above quote has a point. It's like that Josh Turner song, "The longer the waiting the sweeter the kiss." (and I highly suggest you click on that link, it's one of my most favorite songs ever) The short times I get to see Chris now, are the sweetest moments and I love them so much. While our long distance relationship was hard, this not seeing each other as often makes things better.
...Does that make sense? That's sounds weird and wrong, like I'm saying I don't want to see my husband or something, but I do. I love him and would love to spend all my time with him, but life gets in the way, and we just have to accept that and make it work. And we make it work and we make our love grow even stronger in spite of it all.

5. Love Never Stops Growing

You can't talk about love without throwing a Brad Paisley song in there. Chris and I met almost two years ago. After a month of dating, we both knew we wanted to marry each other. We loved each other then and we still do, but it's so much stronger. Love never stops growing, and I love that so much! I'm so grateful to have such a strong love and to have it always keep growing! Cue another Brad Paisley song:

Driving Through Puddles

So it was raining all morning and we played out in the rain (and got soaking wet!) and a huge puddle appeared near our apartment, so we drove really fast through it, multiple time. :) Here is the end result, enjoy!

Happy Tuesday: Date Night Idea

So Sunday was our 3 month anniversary of being married. YAY! Being married has seriously been the greatest thing ever! It's so much fun! You should try it sometime in your life.

We wanted to celebrate so last night we had a date night! It was a typical sort of date night, dinner and a movie, but I absolutely HAVE TO talk about this dinner place!! It was so delicious and so much fun! So if you're in Logan, Utah, you have to check this out.

So when I saw Fiddler on the Roof, the program told me about this Kabuki place that I had never been to, and was pretty sure I'd never seen before. I don't like sushi, but it has hibachi grilling, where they cook the food in front of you. It sounded like a fun idea and they had a fairly good deal so we decided to check it out.

We got the two for $30 deal. This got us drinks, soup, salad, an appetizer or dessert and two meats with the rice and steamed vegetables. I know $30 seems a lot for a meal to college students like myself, but this place was very much worth the money.

So they started us out with our soup (so delicious), salads (best dressing ever) and our appetizer. We picked the won tons (I'm pretty sure), and I wasn't a huge fan of them. But I loved the soup and salad. Both were very delicious. The soup looked really weird because it just looked like water with some mushrooms floating in it (and I don't like mushrooms) but I gave it a try and it was super delicious!

Then he started to cook in front of us. He did all the cool tricks and he was lots of fun. Chris caught some food in his mouth, it was just a fun experience. (In the background there are a ton of photos, this is because they have a birthday club and they love to celebrate birthdays! All those photos, and more, are from birthdays. Chris and I signed up for their birthday club so we can see what kind of deals we get.)

Chris ordered beef and salmon. His plate looked like this:

And PS, those plates are huge, it may not look like a lot, but it really was.
I ordered the chicken and salmon, my plate looked like this:

Both of us absolutely loved our salmon!! It was cooked perfectly and I can't even describe how good that salmon was. It was perfect. And I've had a lot of salmon in my life, but this one possibly tops it all. (Notice how my plate is much more orderly?)

We both loved our meals! They were so delicious in every way! I highly recommend this restaurant. USU student, it makes for a great date night!! Wink wink!

We tried to take some pictures but my camera is awful in dim lighting. It only works in full daylight or night. Any in-between light and it doesn't like to cooperate. I'm kind of wanting a new camera. Anyways. So then we also got pictures outside with the sign:

And some guy offered to take our picture but the strap got caught on my wrist and my poor camera fell to the cement... it took a chip out of it and wouldn't like the guy take a picture, but it seems to be doing fine now... fingers crossed... I need it to last a while longer.

After eating we drove around and found an elementary school playground where we played on the swings. I'm obsessed with swings and could play on a swingset all day long.

When the time came we drove to the movie theater to see Despicable Me 2. So I'm absolutely in love with Despicable Me (the first one) and I could honestly watch it every day, and the second one did not live up to my expectations. It had good parts, funny parts, really entertaining parts, but as a whole, it wasn't the best movie. I was sad. I expected more from it. But it's cute and Agnes is just adorable so you have to watch it for her.

So there's a lovely date night for anyone living in Logan, Utah! Seriously check out Kabuki, it was so good and so worth the cost!

Happy Tuesday everyone!