Newlywed Resolutions–LAST CHANCE!

In case you didn’t know, there are only 8 more Wednesdays before Christmas.

That means if you haven’t yet accomplished your New Year’s resolutions, it’s time to do that.

Here’s a sneak peak back at our resolutions:

5. Write at least five things that are just for me. I can worry about what to use them for later, if anything.

6. Run more races. I’d love to do another half…maybe a full 26.2? I’m young now, and my knees and ankles and hips will only get worse, right? I only ran 1 or 2 in 2011, and they were fun, so I’m ready for more.

7. Finish reading 8 books that I ALREADY own and have squished into our bookshelf. I’m terrible about buying new books instead of reading ones I already own but haven’t read.

See? It’s full.

8. Use more coupons and take advantage of price matching. I also need to do a better job of keeping track of how much we spend and save.

I can tell you we have NOT accomplished everything on our list yet. Yikes. I’m still working on it. And trying to focus on making measurable progress so I’ll have some things to share with you in January when it comes time to make our resolutions for next year…

Here’s a fun game, which resolutions do you think I have or haven’t accomplished this year? I’d love to hear your guesses!

So what about you? Have you checked in our your resolutions recently? How are you feeling about that progress? Have any you totally gave up on? Let me know!

(Also, as a side note, progress is coming along on the new blog home. I can’t wait to reveal it to you guys, and start getting excited…word on the street* is that there will be a little *giveaway* to help celebrate the opening!)

*And by street, I mean the winding pathways of semi-crazy-semi-organized blog thoughts in my head.

 

What’s that smell?

So last, night, as I was sitting on the floor in the doorway of our bedroom doing this:

Yup, painting trim is an almost daily task in our house. The carpet makes it especially fun.

I happened to keep getting some pretty unpleasant whiffs of something particularly smelly.

I say that nicely.

What I wanted to say was that, oh my goodness, something somewhere near me smelled absolutely positively disgusting. Flat out: it reeked.

There I said it.

I feel better now.

And I looked all around and decided I didn’t know what it was so it was best not to say anything.

After all, maybe Hubs had, ahem, eaten something that didn’t agree with him and he was now having some…er… smelly after effects. Or maybe I needed a shower really REALLY bad.

Heck, it could have also been all in my head.

Except that it wasn’t all in my head because I just. kept. smelling. it.

Ick.

And now it sorta started to develop into an actual smell.

It smelled sour.

Wet.

Sweaty.

Dirty.

Smelly.

So I investigated further.

And lo and behold, I found this.

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS, THIS MIGHT BE WHAT WILL BECOME OUR SECOND BIGGEST FIGHT EVER.

Yup, that’s right. It’s a bag. More specifically, Hubs’ bag.

Hubs’ bag from last Wednesday.

Hubs’ bag from LAST WEDNESDAY that he took TO THE LAKE AND FILLED WITH WET CLOTHES and LEFT ON THE FLOOR OF OUR BEDROOM. FOR 6 DAYS.

Wet, smelly, lake-water clothes that have been in an ENCLOSED BAG FOR 6 DAYS?!?!

Did I say OH MY HOLY MOLY GOODNESS GRACIOUS yet?

Yea.

It was bad.

I thought I was going to scream.

I bet you guys thought I was going to scream, too.

But I didn’t.

I did say lots of things in a rather firm voice.

But I did not yell.

Ask Hubs.

He’ll tell you I was pretty calm. Sorta.

All things considering.

He laughed.

I laughed.

And then, to his credit, Hubs got up and and took the bag to the washer. And he did the load of laundry that needed to be done. And we moved on with our night. And our lives.

But you better believe this is a memory I’ll remind him of when we have a son who leaves his sports equipment on the stairs causing Hubs to trip and fall and bruise his tuchus.

I’ll say, “He’s your son. Remember when you left that bag of disgusting lake clothes out for a week and it almost gagged me because it smelled so bad when I found it? Yup, he gets this trait from you.”

And then, of course, he’ll remind me of the time I left the pile of laundry out for 4 days that was almost as high as our bed and that I got so annoyed by that I started talking to it?

What a pair, huh?

And then I’ll help him up and go get an ice pack.

But for now, while Hubs is doing the laundry, I’m going to get an ice cream. And wait for our next crazy-wonderful adventure in this married life to begin.

Home…away from home

Well guys, it’s that time of year again.

Fair time.

For some of you, the state fairs in your respective states come and go with no chance in your daily life. Not me.

As the daughter of a beef cattle farmer, I’ve spent about 2 weeks every August working in a steakhouse at our state fair that’s run by the Missouri Cattlemen Association for almost as long as I can remember. We serve more than 1000 steaks a day, not including burgers, BBQ brisket, and all-beef hot dogs. It’s a frenzy of feeding hungry, tired and hot people for 12 hours a day in the heat of the summer. Luckily, we’re in an air-conditioned restaurant instead of one of those little stands that sell corn dogs and funnel cakes.

Yup, it’s fair time again. Beef House, here we come…

Still, it’s a crazy time that I’ve come to enjoy in a unique sort of way, and after I got married and moved to Kansas City, I thought my days at the fair were pretty much over. Of course, last year at this time I was pretty much unemployed so I came to work to earn some extra money. And now I’m self-employed. So I “took some time off” to come stay at my parents’ house for the next couple of weeks.

It’s a like a vacation.

A vacation where I work 12 hours a day standing on concrete next to a giant grill.

How relaxing.

But the money will be a good addition to our savings account after it took such a hit with the down payment for our house.

And it’s good to be home…away from home.

Last night was the second night at my parents’ house without my husband, and while I miss him (miss him a lot!), I have to admit how nice it is to spend time with my parents.

Moving away, even though we’re only an hour and a half or so apart now at our new house, was hard for me, as I’ve always been a family girl.

I went to a college about an hour away from home but came home most weekends because I wanted to see Wyatt and I was still involved with so much in my hometown. Seeing my parents was something I grew very used to, even after I “moved out,” per say, and I even took it for granted I think.

Then I got married, (which is great!) and moved away, for real this time. Which was awesome and hard all at the same time. Harder than I thought it would be. And more amazing to live with my husband and best friend.

Kansas City became our home.

But then again, this house that I grew up in will always be home, too.

It’s my home away from home, I guess you could say.

I love that the rooms are all so familiar and even the furniture holds memories. Last night as I sat on an old couch my mom wants to get rid of, I was reminded of the night I cried, sitting there with Wyatt, because it was the night after we’d gotten engaged and it all finally hit me. (I didn’t cry at all the night he actually asked me. I think I was in too much shock…and just so happy!)

In a happy shock after our engagement, how can I not love the house that holds so many special memories?

I love that my mom stocks her shelves with all the foods I used to love when I was living here. It’s a treat to have all those loved snacks that Hubs and I don’t buy for ourselves on an everyday basis.

And I’ve enjoyed building a project with my dad, going through old boxes of stuff for a future garage sale with my mom, and just talking with them about more than just, “this is what’s new with us.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love our house in the city, er, the suburbs now, but I also love it here. And yes, I am counting down the hours until I’ll see Hubs again, but I’m also thankful for every minute here.

There are no views like this in the city, that’s for sure. This place will always hold a special place in my heart.

What about you? What do you love about coming home? How do you cope with being away from those you love? What are your favorite memories of the houses you grew up in.

And

Birthday Blessings

Well, guys, for those of you that didn’t know already, Saturday was my 23rd birthday.

Around here, at least for me, birthdays are a special occasion.

I try to make them a special occasion for Wyatt, too, but he just doesn’t get as excited as I do about these things.

Luckily, Hubs was (finally) home from Boston, where he had been on business since Tuesday morning. Ick.

I hate these little trips he has to take away from home. I know, I know, he’s providing for us right now, and he’s moving forward in his career, but it still sucks to be away. I don’t care how often we end up doing this. I’m going to hate it every time.

Every single time.

But…

Moving on.

On Saturday, we had extra to celebrate.

Not only was it my birthday, but it was also the day after Hubs got home, and it was so close to our anniversary, that we spilled it over and celebrated everything all in one.

We started our day off right by sleeping in. It had been a busy week for both of us and we’ve spent early mornings working at the house for the past few weekends.

It started out with a heft dose of sleeping in…because who doesn’t like sleeping in on your birthday…or any day…?

And then Wyatt made this for me.

I’d say that’s a good start to the day…

After breakfast, we went back to bed. Yup. We’re lazy and awesome that way.

And then we got up and went out bargain-hunting. Since buying our house, I’m obsessed with thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, and all that awesome stuff so it’s what I requested we do.

However, we went to like 10 places around KC and didn’t buy anything. Darnit.

But then, we came back to our apartment, got all cleaned up, and ready to go out again.

We looked something like this:

Yes, the photo is dark, sorry guys.

And Wyatt gave me the present he’d brought back from Boston and wrapped himself.

I love presents!

It was wrapped so perfectly! Look at those corners!

If a man can wrap a good present, marry him, ladies.
(Just kidding.)
(Sort of.)

And it was a great present, inside!

A Boston Marathon workout shirt! It’s yellow! (And I’m going to go with the “inspiration to run a marathon some day, not “faking like I ran the Boston marathon” way of thinking about it)

And then, finally, we went to Melting Pot for dinner!

I’ve wanted to go there for years, and it was totally worth the wait…and the price tag, as it was a triple celebration, after all!

First, we dipped wonderful things in cheese.

Bread, chips, fruits, and veggies. With spinach artichoke dip. Yes please!

And then we ate salad, but let’s face it, that’s not what any of you want to see, is it?

So I’ll skip to the next good part, the raw meat.

A feast for two!

 

And the sauces:

So many choices. I liked the teriyaki best. (Is that how you spell that?)

And then we cooked everything in our pot of boiling delicious broth.

I got to eat all the mushrooms, since Hubs doesn’t like those. Thank you!

But then, the part I had been waiting for all night:

Yup, that’s me holding a rice krispie treat dipped in s’mores chocolate sauce. Oh my heavens. Yum.

It was amazing.

 

Some dessert dipping options. We requested more bananas and rice krispies. But the brownies were also heavenly.

And after eating all of that, we waddled around on the plaza for awhile enjoying the city at night, the fountains, the people, the bright lights. The warm night. (I thought it was perfect. Hubs was a little hot.)

And then we went home and promptly headed to bed.

Of course, we stayed awake long enough to see out the very last moments of “my day,” cuddled up together, all happy and content.

And I thought back to how we’d spent my last birthday… on our honeymoon, in Chicago, at a Cubs game (which they lost! Go Cards!) and then went back to the hotel and ordered a giant apple dumpling, which I ate mostly by myself.

Yes, I know I look awfully “pretty” to be on my honeymoon, but to be fair, I was on antibiotics for a UTI and had spent all night at a very hot, very crowded Wrigley Field.

When I think about all we’ve done this first year, and how blessed I am in this married life, I’m almost overcome with gratitude to the One who wrote this beautiful love story for us, to our parents for both bringing us into this world (Thanks, mom!), and for helping bring us together by raising us to be who we are today, and to Hubs, who so patiently forgives me when I mess up and celebrates our love with me every day in the silly, simple, and sweet ways that are so special to us.

Happy birthday, indeed.

 

Advice from You: “Real” Grown-ups

I think the biggest thing about having our one-year anniversary is that I’m now feeling less and less like a newlywed.

Of course, I’d say a big part of this is that we bought a “big” house that we are now working on and making our own.

We have settled into our own routines and habits. We have favorite weeknight dinners and a familiar list of grocery “staples” that we buy every week, or every week at least.

And we just feel like we’re growing up more all the time.

I have to admit I feel a little sad about some of this “growing up” stuff. I don’t want to lose the freshness and excited newness we had when we were first married. I’m even a little sad to leave our apartment as we move to our new house soon…it’s where we learned how to live together, where we became our own little family.

But I know the future will hold so much more than the past has held, and that there will always be new and exciting things for us to do together. And even though we won’t feel like newlyweds, we’ll feel like a comfortable, stable, married couple…which is just as good. Better even.

Still, sometimes I find myself feeling nostalgic and unsure what to do with those feelings.

What about you? Ever feel like you’re growing up too fast? Ever feel sad thinking about how some really great, exciting times are behind you? How do you handle those feelings? Let’s here some advice!

Tears of Joy

Well guys, the big one year anniversary officially came and went without a lot of hoopla or fanfare. I had expected lots of joyous, silly celebrating, but we had none of that.

And you know what? I’m perfectly fine with that.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re still going to celebrate again on Saturday in a combined celebration for my birthday and some other stuff.

We had some personal things that kept us from celebrating the way we would have preferred last night so we just decided to go out to a relaxing dinner, something fun and casual, and then save the real “special” stuff until the weekend.

(Although eating out on a Monday certainly is special on our budget!)

So on the one year anniversary of the day we got all dressed up and fancy and said our vows, we both went to work (or worked from the couch, in my case) and then some pretty awesome burgers that I tried to share with you via photo, but my phone internet isn’t cooperating so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

And then we went home.

We were full. We were tired. We decided to take a short nap before dessert.

Spoiler alert: We never made it to dessert.

We were both so tired that we ended up sleeping longer than we’d planned, and by the time we got up, we were still feeling full and weren’t in the mood for any more celebrating.

I’ll admit it, I was bummed.

I felt we’d wasted our anniversary. It was the only first anniversary we’ll get and we’d slept part of it away!

But then, as Hubs hugged me and I could see the hurt in his eyes because he thought he’d let me down, I realized it didn’t matter at all how or when we celebrated. Having each other for a whole year already and a lifetime to come is what we should be celebrating every day, not just today. That’s where the joy should be coming from. Not from a fancy dress or an expensive dinner…

So I cried a little bit and apologized. I hadn’t meant to make him feel bad. What a humbling blessing to be able to ask for forgiveness from the one I love on the day we celebrate the promises that we made to always fight fair and seek out resolution to our conflicts and struggles.

And then we settled into the couch to read our “Love Story” book that we started on our wedding day.

Putting the photos of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days into our love story book.

And we looked though our photo album. And we both got a little emotional as we relived those memories.

Such a special moment I never want to forget.

And then, you know what we did?

We read our promises to each other.

Wyatt reading his promises to me. I’m crying here. He is, too.

The ones we read during our wedding after we recited our vows. The ones that made pretty much the entire church cry, including ourselves, with how sweet and personal and perfect for us that they were.

My turn with this very emotional task of reading our personalized promises to each other.

And you know what?

We both cried again. More than a few tears on our cheeks. In fact, there were several, many even, tears running down our cheeks as we relived how passionate we were as we wrote and recited those words to each other last year and remembered just how much love and devotion and history and hope those words carried for us then, and how much they still mean to us know.

And you know what else?

It was exactly what I would have wanted our “actual” anniversary to be. It was real. It was honest. It was tender and sweet and private. We’ll save the silly celebrations for later. Those special moments were all about taking time to quietly reflect on just how amazingly blessed we are to call each other best friends…lovers… teammates… family…husband and wife.

And that was all the joy I could have ever dreamed of wanting for such a very special day.

 

How we’re doing on “happily-ever-after:” The Anniversary Post

I can’t believe it.

Really, I can’t.

But it’s true.

Hubs and I have been married for a whole year.

Crazy, isn’t it?

I mean, considering the fact that we dated for 6 1/2 years before we got married, so much more has happened in the past 366 days. (It was a leap year, after all, so we got an extra day in our first year of marriage.)

Anyway, a year ago, we stood in front of friends and family and promised some really beautiful things to each other. They were promises we wrote specifically for the each other, in addition to the more traditional vows that our minister personalized for us.

I just read through them again, as I’ve done several times over the past year, and my eyes filled up with tears of overwhelming joy and humility as I realize how amazingly blessed we are to have found each other so young… how extraordinarily happy I am that I got to marry my best friend.

For some more wedding-related memories, read this post here and this other one here.

And for what I’d learned at the 6-month mark, read this one.

Last year, we promised to figure out our own way to happily-ever-after as we write our love story each day. Here’s how I think we’re doing and what we’ve learned:

1. Being together is so much better than being apart. After doing the distance thing for nearly our entire season of dating, we are so thankful that we are now committed to the “Where you go, I will go,” attitude toward marriage that we’ve chosen. Sure, there will be short periods of time when we have to be apart, and it will be awful, but we’re committed to making a decision together if ever there is a circumstance that would require longer-term time away. Maybe that would be a job change, or something, but if one of us goes, the other goes. No questions. We know that every relationship is different and that what’s right for us doesn’t make sense for everyone, but it’s something we decided before we were married and we continue to be passionate about this decision.

2. I struggle with housework because I’m still learning to balance my time as I work from home. Right now, I’m blogging while Hubs does the dishes. Yes, it’s our anniversary and we’re working towards getting ready to go out to celebrate tonight, but there’s still dishes that need to be done as we enter this busy week. Should I have done them already since I was home all day? Maybe. But did I skip my much-desired workout today because I was so busy with work stuff? Yes. It’s not that I don’t do anything house-related during the day (I did 2 loads of laundry), it’s just that I feel guilty when I come home and there’s so much messiness around me after being here all day. It’s something to work on for next year for sure.

3. Hubs is awesome at being handy. I’ve learned to trust his judgement about things like cars and house repairs. He’s also awesome at Excel and everything else job-related. I so respect him so much as he settles into work and provides for our family. Sure, I’m working, but as a freelancer, my pay is unsteady and usually weeks or months after I spend the time researching and writing. Not so great at helping pay the bills each month. It’s amazing to watch him become a man that I’m even more in love with every day.

4. Our families have been so supportive as we’re settling into marriage. We are constantly blessed by their help, advice, encouragement, and testimonies of what it means to make a marriage work over time. We are blessed with parents and grandparents who truly love one another and whose stories inspired us and shaped the way we view love. As a celebration of that, we made this video to be played before the start of our wedding. It’s just as special now, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

And finally, the biggest lesson or reflection I’ve had thinking back over our year together:

5. This is life. It isn’t something we’re going to ever “Get.” It’s not something we’ll ever fully learn to be good at. We’re going to mess up and lot, laugh a lot, and keep on waking up together every morning by opening our eyes to see the one we love.

Sure, we’re getting better at specific things like fighting fair and sharing the bed, but we’re still just going to have to keep working though every day, no matter how fun or frustrating it may be. We’re blessed to have been given this relationship to share our struggles and joys, and I’m blessed to share it with you. But no matter how hard I try, some days, or weeks, or months, there just isn’t going to be an major “lesson” or achievement in our relationship. Sometimes, life is more about making it together than what where we’re actually going.

However, I can tell you one thing about where we’re going. It’ll be our own little version of paradise, wherever and whatever that means, because we’ll be going there together.

Congratulations to all the newlyweds who read my blog. Whenever your day is, I hope you take some time to think about things you’ve learned or come to realize in your marriage so far. Maybe it’s a communication technique you’ve finally “mastered.” Maybe it’s something to work on for next year. Maybe it’s something you never realized about your hubs that you just adore. Tell me. I’d love to hear!

One year ago

One year ago, right now, we were struggling to load up everything we’d DIY’d and gathered up for our reception decorations. I think I was arguing with my dad a little bit about having some sort of plan for everyone to follow.

We were packing up everything into the big horse trailer my dad has for the farm to get ready to take a big load out to the fairgrounds where our reception was being held.

Then we were off to enjoy donuts as everyone of our helpers rushed to get everything just so. It was a great day, and everything went so well as we worked to make the building look lovely.

We had things like this:

The guest book where people wrote us advice and best wishes and notes from the heart…

On this table:

So many little note cards, all designed by me, and printed by my mom’s wonderful co-worker, for people to choose to write their notes on.

And this:

The cake table full of cupcakes! And the little signs I made telling what kinds they were. We had 6 kinds and they were awesome. YUM. Also, the handmade confetti was fun. I’d be a professional wedding DIY-er if I could.

And a table that ended up being decorated like this:

The “menu table.” The menu was also printed on the placemats we’d made for every person to have at their seats, complete with a customized crossword puzzle, all about Wyatt and I.

With a photo backdrop like this:

So fun!

And so so so many of these, which I love:

And these, which we’d picked and assembled the day before:

So lovely and simple.

And this:

Our favors in the wagon. A mix “tape” of “his, hers, and ours” favorite songs.

And this:

Photo board of us while we were dating…for 7 years…

And of course this:

This was my pride and joy of DIY. I LOVED making this.

More memories to come tomorrow, guys. Thanks for celebrating with me as we remember our happy, beautiful day!

I’m thankful for YOU!

Guess what guys? I have more than 20,000 total views on my blog!  I know that doesn’t seem like a lot to anyone with big fancy blogs, or anyone with a LOT of personal friends or a super-giant family, but to me, it’s pretty cool.

This blog started out as a fun project of telling our story as newlyweds. I figured I’d “meet” some people, and I got to continue to do something I love to do: write.

But now, I realize that this blog is more than that. It’s become a little community, at least for me.

I look forward to reading your comments.

Not because I want you to like me, (although I DO want that!) but because I want to connect with you. I want to share secrets for saving money on groceries, and lessons about how to best apologise at the end of an argument, and advice for how to juggle work and personal time, tips for talking about money, stories about housekeeping failures, and smiles over the sweet way we’re blessed by those that love us and that we are blessed to love.

I love hearing what you have to say.

And can I tell you a secret?

Of course I can, you’re not here to stop me.

Anyway, the secret.

I get a little bummed out when no one comments on a post I thought was especially clever or thoughtful, or cute. Or funny. Or sweet and sincere.

I know that made me sound a bit lame, but ah well, it’s too late to hide that fact now.

Let’s just say I like it when you guys talk back to me.

Otherwise, I sometimes feel like I’m just talking to myself. Which is fine, because this blog is for me in that it helps me remember important milestone in our marriage, and lets me think through feelings or emotions I experience in this crazy awesome life. But it’s also for you.

And so, I want you to participate!

I really do read every comment. And I usually respond within a day if possible.

The point is, I want you guys to feel welcome here, and wanted.

I’m excited you find our newlywed life interesting enough to read about every day. I’m humbled and honored that you spend your valuable time reading posts I think are clever or thoughtful, or cute. Or funny. Or sweet and sincere.

So even though I don’t have thousands of followers, I’m thankful for all 92 of you that follow my blog through email or WordPress. That doesn’t count those that follow by RSS feed or twitter.

And because I’m thankful for all of you, I want to share our little community with others. So tell your friends if you read a post and think it’s worth sharing. Maybe your sister’s new husband also leaves his clothes piled up on the floor on his side of the bed so they always get left out of the laundry. Maybe your mom’s best friend has a daughter who’s also looking for a job in a big, new city and she hates driving on interstates.

Whatever it is, I’d be happy to meet your sister or your mom’s best friend or the neighbor or your crazy uncle Johnny!

And for those of you that read but don’t comment, I’d love a little shout out so we can get to know each other. I promise I won’t ask you any hard questions today. It’s easy, trust me!

So, if you’re a loyal reader who doesn’t leave a lot of comments, I’m asking for you to answer this for me: what’s your favorite thing about springtime? 

Or if that’s too hard, tell me why you read or how you found the blog. 

And if that’s still too much, how about your favorite flavor of ice cream? Because that’s an easy-peasy-cheesy one, for sure!

I think, perhaps, we’re boring…

Remember back a few months ago when Hubs and I had fights to talk about with you guys?

Like when I cried in the parking lot at Walmart?

And when I freaked out cause Hubs was watching a zombie movie on TV (Translation, I freaked out for no reason…)

Or when I tried to apologize even though I was still angry?

Well, lately, we haven’t been fighting very much.

At least not anything big enough to remember to write about.

I’m not complaining about this realization.

Maybe it means we’re settling into this marriage things and getting used to living together. Maybe it’s because we’re getting busier and spending more time apart so we’re not as nit-picky with each other anymore.

Or maybe we’re growing up and maturing and learning to communicate better?

Maybe.

I won’t hold my breath on that last one.

But I also won’t sell us short.

We are learning.

I’ve learned to not wake Hubs up in the morning until I’m done in the bathroom. He likes to sleep until he last possible minute.

He’s learned that I need closure after our arguments.

I’ve also learned it’s okay to wear pajamas around the house at night if I want to. Especially if those pj’s involve less clothing that what I was previously wearing anyway.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

But in all reality, we’ve been a little boring, newlywed-blog-worthiness wise.

What do you think? Are we an old married couple now? Are we a young and boring couple now? Or are we just learning what it’s like to deal with our problems like adults?

Most of the time…