Because sometimes you just need a little girl time . . .

Last night I went out with Kirsten Browning (love her!). We got our nails done together and then we went back to her place to do homework--which actually did start out as doing homework but then turned into us playing with her new phone and then just talking. It was totally what I needed! And sorry to Justin for staying out until 2 in the morning, but like I said, sometimes you just need a little girl time.

Random Happy Moments

Last week, I was rushing to campus for my 8:00 class. I was a little frustrated that the construction around the McKay building had grown (because it would delay me even more), but it kind of turned out to be a good thing. I had to cut through the grass to get to the door, and as I was walking across the lawn, I crunched through some lovely fall leaves.

What a perfect start to the day.

True Nerd

Last week, I had to go to the library late at night to work on an assignment that I had almost procrastinated until the last minute (but I managed to get it in with about two hours to spare).

I was not expecting to have a happy moment right then (those random moments when you suddenly feel overjoyed about where you are or what you are doing), but I did.

As I was walking through the periodicals section I smelled that wonderful smell of old books, and suddenly, I felt so happy to be in the library, trying to figure out how to use the moving shelves. It was wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed my study evening. I am a true nerd.

Homework Never Ends

This is what my homework for this semester looks like--except imagine that the stack of books is twice as tall. I am not exaggerating. I have to read 30 books for my adolescent literature class. Don't get me wrong--I love to read, but that is a lot to do in under 2 months. That is 4 or 5 books a week. So far, I am behind. I have to read 5 books this weekend. I finished one last night, and it made me feel really depressed. So I am hoping that the other books will be happier, or at least not so dark. Next on my list is a science fiction YA novel called Unwind. It sounds kind of creepy--parents are allowed to have their children "unwound" between the ages of 13 and 18, which means that they can have their children's organs transplanted into different people if they are too difficult to handle. Apparently, transplanting is not the same as killing because they aren't technically ending life or something. We'll see how this one goes.

The good thing about getting all of these books is that I finally cleared off my bookshelf and it is now being used for books! I used to have a junk shelf. I finally worked up the courage to throw a lot of stuff away. (You'll be proud of me, Mom. I'm trying so hard not to be a pack rat!) Now my junk shelf is my YA lit shelf. It looks a lot neater too!

New Plans

So maybe the bad weather will not ruin my anniversary plans. Justin and I wanted to get a hotel for one night and then spend a few hours at the zoo. Walking around outside in cold, wet weather will not be very pleasant, so I thought that we would have nothing to do. But this morning, one of our tenants mentioned that there is an aquarium in Sandy. Justin loves underwater things and he cannot get enough of discovery channel shows on sharks and fish. Maybe we will go there instead. It is inside, and it only costs $8 per person if you are a student, which we both are. This will be fun.

This is for You, Mom

First, let me just say that I am not pregnant. I say this, because this is the second time this week that someone has thought that I am pregnant. The first time was not really a big deal. It's possible that the woman got mixed up (several of my friends who are my age really are pregnant right now). Or maybe the guy who told me just wanted to get a rise out of me by telling me that there was a rumor going around. I don't know.

The second time was a little more insulting. My uncle saw a recent picture of me and asked if I was pregnant. You shouldn't have to stand strategically so that you don't look pregnant. If you are not pregnant, you should just look normal.

This means that I need to go to the gym. Maybe it will actually happen this summer. Maybe I will also stop snacking all night long, and maybe I will finally fit into my favorite pencil skirt again. I used to wear that cute, black, pinstriped, Worthington pencil skirt all the time. I still remember the first day that I noticed how tight it was. Justin and I were going to the temple with another couple, and I was trying to find something to wear. I put that skirt on and had trouble zipping it up. I looked in the mirror, and it was very tight on my behind--thus I wore flats instead of heals that night. I didn't want to emphsize my big bum, especially at the temple.

Well, at least I still fit into my wedding dress (and my that I mean that I can zip it up, but can I breathe? No). My goal is to be able to put on that dress on May 1, my anniversary, and take a picture in it. I have three days not to get any bigger. And hopefully, but the end of the summer, I will be back to the way I was before I got married.

And just for the record, I still hate snow. The snow might ruin my anniversary plans (except I think that school and work are already ruining them. But I will blame snow, because it never makes me happy).

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!

Unlike one of my favorite musicals, I do not get excited about snow. I wish I could. Every time I watch White Christmas, I think that snow is romantic and lovely, but now that I'm sitting here looking out the window, watching the snow, and realizing that I will have to walk to school in it, I realize that it is not. I am still a Texas girl at heart, and I don't think I will ever have the desire to go to Vermont in the winter, even if Danny Kaye tries to convince me that it's "just what we need." No thank you. I would rather be warm. But that doesn't keep me from loving the movie.

Aprons!

I was looking through the pictures on my camera, and I found two pictures that I thought would look adorable side by side (although I think Justin looks cuter in a pink, frilly apron).

Real Houses and Sweet Justin

On Saturday, Justin's brother, Brandon, and his wife, Mandy, moved into their house in Spanish Fork. We helped them move their stuff out of their apartment in Provo.

Being in an empty house makes me think of every time my family moved to a new city. My parents would look at tons of houses and drag the kids along. We would have fun running around and claiming rooms in the house for our own--or we would be so tired and hot (house hunting always happened in the summer) that we would just lie on the floor, preferably in the basement, if there was one. It was always cooler down there.

Being in an empty house also fills me with the incredible urge to decorate! In my head, I was planning how I would fill up the master bedroom. I would put the bed between the two windows (which would have dark red curtains) and then I would put two small lounge chairs (goldish or cream colored) kind of facing each other by the third window on the other wall. The room is big enough for all that furniture, and I would totally love to have a little space in my bedroom for sitting and talking (or reading when I am alone). I can just picture myself opening the blinds and letting the sunlight stream in and just sitting in the warmth of the sunlight, enjoying a good book.

Justin told me not to get too excited, because it will be a long time before we can get a house. I'm okay with that. There is no way I would be able to fill up all the rooms with just me and Justin and our stuff (although Justin would argue that I could have a room dedicated to my shoes, which still fit in my closet, by the way). For now, we are very happy in our cozy little apartment. I just wish I could open my windows and not have all my neighbors staring down into our living room.

Seeing Brandon and Mandy move into their house made me think that someday that is going to be me and Justin. We'll have some kids and we'll need more space, so we'll get a little house. Right now, it's kind of hard to see that future. I just keep so busy with school that I feel like it will never end. Sometimes I feel like I will always be a student. I almost don't feel like a real person sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a perpetual EFY (except with a husband). I am excited to finish school and move on with my life.

Back to moving. One of the last things we moved was a vase of roses. I held the vase in my lap while Justin drove. I told him that I used to have a vase, but somehow I lost it. I would like to have a vase, because I love flowers. I had to put the flowers from Brianna's wedding in a cup and lean the flowers against the wall because the cup was too short to support them alone.

When I got home later that day, on the kitchen table was a big, beautiful vase--with a dozen roses in it. It was so sweet that I almost started crying. What a wonderful husband I have. He is always sweet, so I shouldn't be surprised when he does things like that, but he still manages to surprise me. What a sweetie.

I found our blog!

Several weeks ago, Justin told me, "I made a blog for us!" Well, I finally found our blog, and big surprise, there is nothing posted on it yet. I guess I should give Justin credit for actually setting up the page (thanks, honey), but I have a feeling that if anything ever gets posted on this blog, I will be the one doing it.

I don't know what would make our life interesting enough for other people to want to read about it, but keeping a blog will be fun for me.

A lot of couples start their blogs when they get married. I guess Justin and I are a little late--we just celebrated nine months of marriage two days ago. By celebrated, I mean that I made a "card" for Justin from a piece of lined paper I ripped out of my notebook during class. I gave it to him as we walked home from campus, and then we started our homework as soon as we got home.

I like to keep track of the months we've been married. My parents still celebrate their "monthiversary" on the 19th of every month. I hope I still do that after 26 years of marriage. I feel like making a point of remembering that day reminds you how special your marriage is (I think it's easy to forget when you just get busy with life).

It's almost crazy to think that we've been married for nine months. We're so comfortable with each other that it seems as if we've always been together--but at the same time, I still have moments when I just get excited to think that we are really married. It really happened, and we are actually together. I'll tell Justin, "We're married!" and he'll kind of look at me funny and say, "I know."

I am looking forward to celebrating another important date in our relationship very soon. Eleven days from today is the one year anniversary of the day we got engaged (yes, it was Valentine's Day). Maybe I'll tell that story next time I post something. It's actually interesting enough to merit sharing it with other people.