TODAYYYY...

I'm living in Denver Colorado. I love it, most days. The only days I don't like it are when I get sunburned driving to work, and when Dan gets bloody noses because the air is so dry here. Oh and the days that the sun comes up before 630...which is every day. But it's growing on me. I don't sleep in passed 730 anymore, not that I could with school, but I might as well keep up the schedule right?

I work for Dan's company in the office taking care of "samedays" and initial services. It's good work and even better money, but let's say putting in around 50 hr a week...not okay. Starting Monday though I go to part time...thank goodness! Let's just put it this way, I'm way too involved in the inner workings of the company between the salesman and the techs. It's just too much. I just want to be a wife, Dan's wife, and work a couple days a week.

Anyway, we do love it here. It's been such a great experience thus far and it's only going up from here. I haven't blogged in a long time. I need to. I suck at writing in journals, it takes too long, and I might as well just keep a blog.

My one year anniversary is on Sunday. So is Mother's day. It kind of seems fitting. Honestly, when I first found out that's when my anniversary was going to be, I was a little miffed. Thank you leap year. But I went and bought some Mother's Day cards for my momma and my mother in law. It just seems right that we get to celebrate the joining of our families and the huge blessing our mothers are in our lives.

Sunday will be a much, much better post. But it was just a thought.

I've been really cranky lately. I quick the pills, the birth control pills that is, and I think they're still working their way out of my system. I feel a lot more emotional, but I think that's probably a good thing. I feel happier anyway, and that was honestly the whole reasoning behind it. I wanted to be happy again. Honestly truly blissfully happy. And I'm getting there. I'm going running again in the mornings, and I just feel like I'm finding myself again, finding the girl my husband married, the woman he loves. I'm finding her again, and that is one of the best feelings, aside from being unconditionally loved.

I love you Dan. Thank you for being patient with me, and loving me anyway.

Positive thinking

Dan showed me this video the other night and it's definitely a must watch. Honestly, it's life changing. I've been thinking about it for a couple of days now and I've just been wanting to blog about it. 

One of the things that really stuck out to me was that you should look at obligations as opportunities. Lately this one has stuck with me. I got pretty sick Sunday night and I've been literally out of commission for the last 2 days. Flu. Sucks. Brief overview of how this week has gone.

Sunday night start coughing, not too bad though.

Monday still coughing but definitely manageable; got to work, coughing continues, body aches start; went home from work early

Tuesday STILL coughing, pretty intense body aches, fever, mild but enough to make you sweat; did not go to work

Wednesday AWFUL!!! absolutely freaking awful. Fever, sweating, coughing, aching; definitely did not go to work; went to the doctor. They couldn't decide if it was viral or bacterial. Dan left for Idaho. My momma and family left for Arizona. I got a prescription for a Z pack (in case it's bacterial) and heavy duty cough syrup with codeine (in case it's viral). I stayed in bed all day and watched movies. Oh and I didn't even go to school.

Thursday so much better!! I went to work, slight slight coughing. Still taking my cough syrup drugness. And I went to work. I sound like a man, but I can actually talk and not hack up a lung or feel achy and sickly. 

Anyway, the point in going over all this was that I also had to take a nursing test this week. Tuesday specifically was the last day. Sucked. But then Dan reminded me about that video and how I need to look at it as an opportunity to take the test. That it's an opportunity to learn and grow. I really liked that and the whole idea of taking a positive spin on life. 

It has a couple of other things that are included in the video and as soon as I find it on youtube I'll post it.

I haven't blogged in forever, but life is so busy right now, I probably won't blog till we've moved to Denver. 

Dumpage

So don't mind my absentee blog writerness. Let's just say school has been slightly challenging, I started a new job that I really do enjoy, and life is just peachy keen. But...here's some picture's that have just been itching to get off my phone. Enjoy. 

Dan went on a manager's retreat a couple of month's ago that was in Heber. They stayed at this legit cabin and the company had rented the cabin through Saturday night, so Dan came home, picked me up, and we stayed Saturday night at the cabin with Allister and Maria and their boys and Nate and Brayden. It was pretty entertaining and a nice little getaway from Provo for the night. We drove around a little bit on Sunday morning and saw these deer up on the hill! It was pretty exciting!!

Arizona trip President's day weekend. Finally home again, to the place where I belong. I've missed this place and getting to see it all the time. Never thought I'd miss that one horse town, but all it took was to see that temple rolling into town and I was home again.

Two favorite boys on their birthday with yellow cake cupcakes and chocolate frosting per Dan's request. Love them both. (PS. just in case anyone is confused...this is  my nephew)

We watch Kason every Wednesday night, and a couple of weeks ago it was just he and I. Dan was in Idaho. So Kason took my phone and was taking pictures of everything in his house. Then I started taking pictures of him making faces. This one is a personal fav of mine. Definitely going to miss this little spit fire when they move to Germany.

AZ trip: Ben and Tassy's wedding reception. They lit off Chinese lanterns! Just like in Tangled!! It looked so cool. Camera's just can't quite capture what the human eye can see.

December ish...our floor was leaking water. When the toilet would flush. SICK!!! It took almost a week to fix. Thankfully, it's fixed...and has been for quite some time. It was super weird when we figured it out and then to try and explain it to any plumber we called...yeah that was fun too.

More toilet water disgustingness. PS. This was leaking into our kitchen. SICK!!!! I think I went through a whole thing of bleach cleaning the kitchen.

I think this is the perfect shampoo for me! Straightener...you have met your match!

Valentine's Day Dinner. Love my honey. He was so sweet and surprised me with a bear at work and then had this romantic dinner all prepared when I got home from work. <3

He's so cute!

I got this note today when I came home from work. I absolutely love him a lot a lot a lot.

Buffalo Wild Wings for Dan's birthday. We waited an hour and a half before we even sat down! The line was RIDICULOUS!! I can't even believe we honestly waited that long...for WINGS!!!!!

I still can't decide if this was a good decision or not. Haha the color is growing on me more and more.

Mid-hole pulling through. Dan was so good to pull my hairs through.

The blonde mess....I looked like white trash. Ghettooooo fabulous. I think it's toned down a lot from then. But then again, maybe I'm just getting used to it. Oh dear.

One thing I WISH I could have gotten a picture of...so my birth control prescription jumped from $25 a month to $85, and let's be real, who can afford that? Certainly not me. So I did the only thing a BYU college student with ghetto fabulous hair trying not to get pregnant can do...I went to planned parenthood and got me a new prescription...and for $18 a month!! Woot woot. But there was this awkward clear uterus that was in the exam room to advertise/display/I'm not really sure for nuva ring. I wish I could have taken a picture of that. But...alas some things are just not meant for photographs.

It's been an interesting...and fun couple of months. 6 weeks left of school and then off to Denver!!! I'm so so excited for the summer. I'll have time for the gym, time to lay out poolside, oh...and time to blog. That's always a good thing to write my life out, at least somewhat.

New Years Resolutions

Are dumb....really really dumb.

Especially when they involve the gym I go to. I kid you not, I went to the gym Monday and it was PACKED!!!

I think there were 5 treadmills open...so much for running that day. And every place there was an open spot, one of the people on either side reaked of B.O!! I should have brought deodorant sticks to give to everyone.

So I went on the olliptical, for about 30 minutes. Then left....because everyone was on the weight machines too.

I was super ticked to say the least. So I think new years resolutions are stupid. Thankfully by the end of January they'll all be gone, and only the true resolutioners will be there...so maybe 5 more people.

Anyway, don't mind my ranting. But the gym was a little irritating on Monday.

So...that's why my new years resolution is to floss my teeth once a week. Simple and easy to do.

2011...what you were all about

January: I went back to school at EA to start my last semester there. I had no idea where I was going to go after that, but I knew I was graduating that semester.

February: Things got pretty serious between Dan and I. We knew we were going to get married, just not when or any of those other minor details. I also applied to BYU. It was pretty much the only option I had left. ASU's nursing program was just a numbers game, and I couldn't count on that. So I applied.

March: We got engaged!!! That's right! We were getting married. Then commenced the insufferable wedding planning. Just kidding, it really wasn't bad, mostly because I didn't care. Sorry Mom!! We went wedding dress shopping over spring break and found the perfect dress!

April: I found out I got into BYU...so after Texas we were headed to Provo. School was winding down for the semester, and I think it finally started to hit me that I would really miss Thatcher.

May: I went through the temple for my own endownments. That was such a special day for both of us. I loved every minute of it. Actually I was pretty violently sick 3 days before...like throwing up and peeing out my bum (sorry for the visual). So I didn't really eat anything and my mom was all freaked out I would pass out during the temple ceremony.
Oh...and we got married...and moved to Texas, where it's hotter than Satan's balls....and gradumacated from EAC. Woot woot!!

June: May was pretty busy, and June was a nice month of relaxation. I got to be great friends with Jaynee, and I'm so grateful that we did become friends. Oh and I got a wicked tan. I guess that Texas sun and heat is good for something.

July: Fourth of July bbq with Edge, and more of Dan selling door to door. Still had a wicked tan. It was awesome.

August: Jaynee left Texas so she could hang out in Pima, and LEAVE ME...but mostly so that Izzee girl could come whenever she decided to. The A/C went out in the car. We were sweating our little hineys off anywhere we went. We had to replace an engine mount on the car...and then everything worked perfectly!! Seriously, we found the best mechanic that fixed our car for a screamin deal!! But on the brighter side of things, we did get GREAT gas mileage while the A/C was out. I left to come to Provo and started school the last week in August.

September: You sucked. I was alone. It was awful. But on the brighter side (again) I started watching Kason once a week while Jami was at institute, and that was actually pretty fun. He definitely kept me on my toes. I also had class with Caitlin twice a week, and that was always entertaining. Then Dan came home!!! Woo hoo!! HAPPY HAPPY DAY!!!

October: General Conference was awesome! Loved it. Halloween was awesome at Jeni's house! Oh and I found out I got into the nursing program at BYU!!

November: Thanksgiving!! It was so good to see my family again. They came up for Thanksgiving and we had it with the Kimball side of the family. Black Friday shopping...at 10am. So much better than 4am.

December: The long (actually short) haul to finals. Finals. Shoot me. School's out!! And our very first Christmas together. I still have to blog about that. It was awesome though. I love it. And tonight is New Years Eve. Pretty excited about that!!

2011 has been wonderful. I learned a lot about myself as a person, and as a friend, especially adapting to the marriage relationship. It's been a learning experience, but an enjoyable and exciting one. And it can only up from here.

My hamstrings hate me

Yesterday, Dan and I went to the gym. I'm usually out of the locker room LONG before he is...I'm convinced there's a massage chair or something exciting in there, because I'm always done and on the treadmill for at least 5 minutes before he's out.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to stretch out just a little bit before starting to work out. I'm nearly convinced that was the fatal mistake, because I never stretch before. I just start walking and gradually speed up the pace to a run. So I finished the treadmill, and went to the bike for 3 more miles, then hit the weights.

Well, there was a guy at the gym that was in a wheelchair, and he rolled up next to my treadmill and said hello. So naturally, I said hi back because there's no reason to be mean to someone for saying hello. However, when I was working on the machines doing rows, he rolled up right next to my machine and said hello again.

I feel really bad for this, but it kind of freaked me out a little bit, because it wasn't like I was the only person in the gym. There were quite a few people there actually. So I smiled, and finished my set, then got up and walked over to where Dan was. I didn't go back to the machines. And I felt really bad for leaving, but he was freaking me out a little bit! I think he was kind of special though.

So I just finished my work out with free weights, and then I did some dead lifts. After I finished those, Dan and I were going to do an ab circuit, but when I went to go pick up his other weight so we could go over there, my hamstrings totally freaked out like they were going to cramp! It hurt so freaking bad! They got so tight and it hurt even more to stretch them. So I walked like an idiot because I was walking with my legs practically straight over to the ab station, thinking they'd relax themselves. Nope. Did not happen.

So all night, I was walking super slow, probably out of fear that they would cramp. That is the worst feeling! I hate muscle cramping. Ugh. They're much better today, but still super sore. And now they're twitching. I swear they hate me. But tomorrow, they're getting it because Dan and I are going to hike the Y tomorrow. I'm pretty excited!!

That's all for now. I'll blog about Christmas...eventually.

Ps. If anyone has tips for this hamstring-hatage, please help a sister out! They're killer.
Much obliged!

Christmas Eve

It's been quite the eventful evening. Not really, but we've done a few things around the Haban home today. First of all, Dan was supposed to get off of work at 12 today, but due to some lovely shop lifters at Kmart, he actually didn't make it home till 2. That was a little bit of a bummer, but it was totally fine because he's usually not home till 5 or 6, especially this week. So I got to spend the entire afternoon with him!

I was reading this blog today, and I kind of love it...like a lot. I can't find the link to it right now (dang it!) but it was just talking about curvy, plus size women and that we should embrace it and pretty much tell Hollywood to shove it. It's always nice to hear someone batting for those of us that are so blessed in this world with curves.

Oh and because of said blog, I watched the first couple episodes of a new TV show called Huge. I'm still not sure how I feel about, but it is pretty funny.

So back to Christmas Eve, I've been absolutely pining to open just one present! I think it would kill the anticipation a little bit. I think this is the first year in quite awhile that I haven't the slightest idea what any of my presents are. Especially for the last couple of years, I was the one that was helping my mom wrap presents all night, and that went shopping with her for the presents, so I usually knew what at least one of my presents were, which definitely bides away that anticipation so I slept just fine Christmas Eve. This year, I'm not quite sure I'll be able to sleep! Seriously, I might just wait till midnight, and open them all at 12:01 am...then sleep.

Dan doesn't agree with my idea. He says we have to wait for Santa to come...dang it.

Google Earth says Santa is in Kalamazoo Michigan right now. I think I want to live there just for the name! How legit would that be the write on return addresses.

Anyway, back the festivities.

We, and when I say we I mean Dan, made cinnamon rolls tonight! He's just a champ cook. We'll get fat because of his cooking. It's delicious!

They look so yummy! And I have to wait till the morning for those too!! Ugh this is the pits! However, we do have lots of yummy treats that are sitting around our cute little home. Most especially, cake balls! Red Velvet cake balls!!

I made them on Friday right before the family party we went to. Needless to say, they're delicious. And I keep eating them. They should really say that it's around Christmas you'll gain weight, not Thanksgiving.

So I was too cheap to buy wrapping paper...mostly because there's so many other things I'd rather get than wrapping paper. Dan and I thought it would be pretty funny to just wrap our gifts in ads. We have gotten tons of them lately, so that's what I did.

See! But Dan came home today with a roll of wrapping paper that they gave him at work. So since we have the wrapping paper, I decided it would be pretty lame that they're not in pretty wrapping paper like the ones we've gotten from our parents. I don't want them to feel like the black sheep in the family. So I just wrapped them in wrapping paper....over the ads. Haha.

And here's our  tree! We like to hang our stockings on the tree...no big deal.

I love it. And I'm insanely excited for tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone!!