California dreamin

Last weekend, we high-tailed it straight outta Provo and headed for warmer weather, and sunny shores. The drive was boring to say to least. We had no idea we were even in California until we came over the Sierra Nevadas. Really, we thought we had been driving through Nevada forever because it was so ugly. Then we came down the mountains into this gorgeous valley. Seriously, so green and lush and just beautiful. I could live in California just for that view, except for the fact that the gas prices are ridiculous ($4.30/gallon??) and the earthquakes, and the traffic. All are kind of deal breakers unfortunately, because I am so so in love with the beach.

Back on track. We stayed at Nicole's parent's home the first night and their home is nestled right up into the mountain. So freaking gorgeous. There are no words, it really is beautiful up there. We slept in the next day, or what felt like sleeping in. California is an hour behind us, so really it was probably a normal time to get up. We had planned to go to Newport Beach and then go by the temple. Nicole's dad (who is a hilarious guy by the way, always cracking jokes) suggested we go to the LA temple and then down to Santa Monica pier instead, much closer than Newport.

So we drove down to Santa Monica, and finally found the temple. It kind of rises out at you from the middle of the city. Such a gorgeous site. It sits up on a hill, and has all these green plants and beautiful flowers around the temple. And it's huge. It's funny, we walked into the visitor's center (Dan had to pee) and everyone commented about how big this temple it--something about it being the largest temple by square footage.

We walked around the temple for a few minutes. There was such a lovely breeze and the weather was perfect!! I could not have hand picked a more perfect day to be around the temple and down at the beach.

We drove down to the beach, and that traffic through downtown Santa Monica heading towards the promenade and the pier was ridiculous. Honestly, it was probably nothing compared to how bad it normally is/could be (it was Good Friday, so everyone had the day off from work). But we made it down to the beach!!

I could hardly contain my happiness when we got to the beach. There's something about the beach. It just brings peace to my soul and happiness to my heart. There is no place I'd rather be than sitting on the beach, breathing in that salty air, and letting the breeze hit my face.

We just laid on the beach for probably two hours, just enjoying the time together and relaxing. We walked down to the pier and ended up eating at Bubba Gump's!! It was so yummy, and Dan has never looked so happy to eat seafood.

 

This guy was standing still like a statue!! It was absolutely crazy. I really just sat there watching him for probably 5 minutes!

This is the ferris wheel (obviously...) on the Santa Monica Pier. Now, I took this shot because I've been watching Private Practice lately, and they always have shots of the Santa Monica Pier and this ferris wheel. It always makes me giggle to myself when I watch it now because I can say that I've been there!! Woot woot!

We went back to hang out with Trent and Nicole that evening, and got some fro-yo and sushi. It was so so much fun hanging out with them. I really can't wait for them to get back from their honeymoon and back to Provo so we can have more couple friends. It's been so great through this whole thing seeing Trent so happy. Dan says it all the time that Trent is back! This is the real Trent, his happy goofy self, and Nicole totally and completely compliments him with their goofiness. It's adorable.

The next day, we had a few hours to kill before Trent and Nicole's wedding. So we went to get pedicures!!! I love love love my husband. Seriously, he is the greatest and I just love him for so many reasons. One of the newest reasons is he went to get a pedicure with me! (I really hope he doesn't kill me for posting this.) Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture together. Should've known that the weekend before Easter would be packed with mamas getting their toesies done. So it was either wait for an hour or just sit one chair a part. So we texted the entire time. We had places to go after so we couldn't wait forever!

After, we went to Pieology. It's a yummy Chipotle-type restaurant for pizza that's only in California. Dan's coworker told him about the restaurant, so we drove to Azusa to try it. Oh my gosh it was TO DIE FOR!! Dan got the Hawaiian pizza, and I got the Buffalo chicken pizza. It's on thin crust, so you don't get too full from the crust, and they cook it in a brick oven. So so so yummy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I actually want to drive back to CA just for the pizza.

We went back and started getting ready for the wedding. We were both just so so happy for Trent, and Nicole. It was so great to see them both so happy and in love with each other. I told Dan I wanted to get married again just to be that focused on each other and that moment and being so so happy, just like we were the day we got married.

 

The ceremony was beautiful. Nicole was beaming and they both couldn't stop smiling. Not that I blame them--being married is the best thing ever. We took pictures in between ceremony and reception, and Dan and Trent were taking a few pictures together. They both stuck out their butts, and Nicole and I happened to be right there so we started laughing! I can't wait to see how those pictures turned out. The reception was beautiful. One of the most beautiful church buildings I've ever seen. The cultural hall had exposed beams and gorgeous stained glass. The ceiling was lowered with beautiful fabric and Chinese lanterns, and ugh it was just so beautifully decorated!!!

The father of the groom and father of the bride made speeches, both beautiful tributes to Trent and Nicole. Then the best man was asked to give a speech. This caught Dan totally off guard and Trent wanted it that way. For the life of me, I can't remember what he said, but it was a great message to Trent and Nicole and great tribute to the long and wonderful friendship that Dan and Trent have been blessed to share.

We went to see Captain America 2 that night, and the seats were recliner chairs!! Super legit, but it definitely made me sleepy.

We left the next morning, very begrudgingly. We had done so well at not talking about school or anything else we needed to do once we got back to Provo. The drive back was fine, but it always seems like the last stretch from St. George to Provo takes FOR-EH-VER (*insert Sandlot reference here). But we made it back, very uneventfully I might add.

"Nothing soothes the soul like a walk on the beach."

The wrong side of the bed

Today has just been a day. One of those days. Where it just starts off all kinds of wrong right from the second you open your eyes. Those days.

I could not for the life of me fall asleep last night. Literally was awake staring at the ceiling for an hour. Then it just was not a restful sleep. I feel like I woke up without ever really getting any sleep. Strike 1.

I woke up late, and didn't have time to put on make up or do something with my hair or anything like that. I was just going to the dentist, so really no big deal. But sometimes I really would just like to get ready a little bit and feel better about myself. Strike 2.

I went to the dentist and the usual hygienist isn't there. Sad day, but no big deal. I really like my hygienist. She's awesome. Anyway, the "fill-in/substitute" hygienist was pleasant, nice, but not really the same at all. She basically pointed out everything I'm doing "wrong" in taking care of my teeth.
-I need an electric toothbrush
-I brush too hard and it's causing receding gums
-I have demineralization and need to change my toothpaste to one with fluoride and calcium (Thanks, it's been there for a while...not getting any worse)
-I need to floss every day (Don't we all...)
The list goes on...

Now let me get this out: I'm one of those people that loves the dentist. Weird I know, but I really do love that feeling of having my teeth all clean and no cavities. Well, unfortunately, I left feeling anything but happy that I went to the dentist this morning. Strike 3.


To make the rest of a long day short, I had to take ATI. I got a level 2 which on any other day I would be super happy about. For those who don't know, level 2 is likely to exceed NCLEX standards--so why not be happy about that right? For the life of me, I was ticked about it. So dumb. Strike 4.

Then I tried to go to the gym with Dan. I get through 2 different exercises and I just start bawling. Left the gym. Didn't even work up a sweat. Strike 5.

Drive home. Pissed I didn't get in any kind of a work out. Bawled even more in the car. Full on sobbing. It is really just ridiculous. Strike 6.

I've struck out like a million times today. The only thing I got right today, in my own head, was to love this wonderful man of mine. Through thick and thin, bad and good, he loves me just the same, perhaps even more. I don't even know how I got so lucky, but I did. And thank goodness for him.

He's such a fixer, and today it was super helpful. We're going to try something new with the gym thing. Monday Wednesday Friday hitting the gym in the morning. Here's to turning over a new leaf and trying something new. I have high hopes for this working, because somethings gotta give.

And here's to tomorrow being a better day than today.

In which we compare 300 to our day

About 3 weeks ago, Dan and I were watching the movie 300. If you haven't seen it, do it. Really. I loved it. I've seen it before but I found myself drawing so many parallels to this life and this time. For those who haven't seen it, brief recap:

Sparta, King Leonidas. The Persian army is conquering and Xerxes wants Sparta to surrender. Leonidas won't have it, because Spartans don't surrender. They win or die in battle. That's it. So they go to war with the Persians and put up quite the fight. Eventually they are defeated, but every single one of the Spartans dies fighting.

Disclaimer: I'm in no way trying to idealize this movie or anything like that, but I really felt a profound epiphany after watching the movie.

King Leonidas is a fantastic and wise leader. He reminds me a lot of the leaders we have today, especially in the Church. They're so wise and so desperately want what is best for us and to help preserve us and our life.

The Persian army and Xerxes are like all the temptations and less than pleasant things in this world. It's an all out assault on our very lives to compromise the things we believe in and hold most precious to us. It's the attack on the family, and the attack on our moral values and principles. It's the fact that this world, while wonderful and so so beautiful, can be so dark and so evil. It's all of that.

I also noticed how valiant and dedicated to the cause the Spartan army was. It was victory or death, no surrender. That was it. Sometimes, I feel like in my own life I too often compromise and allow myself to surrender or fall short instead of following through with my goals. There are definitely things I don't compromise on, but for the most part I feel like I sell myself short and don't push myself to my full potential. I haven't "burned my ships" yet.

So these were my thoughts going into Church the following Sunday. It was out of the manual, lesson #5 Faith and Repentance. I came across this quote in the lesson and sent it to Dan. It seemed just too perfect to pass up because it so perfectly described how I was making the comparisons between 300 and the gospel.

"It is our duty to look after each other, to protect each other...to stand together with a united front against the sins of the world."

To bring this around so that it kind of wraps it up, I want to be more like the Spartans, with such conviction for my cause that it's victory or death, no surrender. It sounds extreme, but you have to stand for something in this life, and even if no one else agrees with you, that's okay. Stand for SOMETHING. Anything. Have some fire and be unstoppable.

The perfect week

Last week after church, Dan came home super excited about something that the teacher had challenged his class to do. The challenge was to have a "perfect" week: saying prayers together in the morning and the evening, and reading scriptures together every day.

I initially felt pretty daunted at the task. We're pretty good at reading scriptures together, but saying prayers together, especially in the morning, has never been a strong point for us. We try though, and at the end of the day that's all that can really be asked of us right?

Anyway, we decided to try it out and figured if we failed, then at least we tried and could try again. The first few days went great! We were super gun-hoe about it, really making a conscious effort to say prayers in the morning and read scriptures together at night. It was going really well. Towards the end of the week, it actually was a little more difficult, as with all things that are righteous. But I'm happy to report that we did it!!!

So here's what I learned from this one "perfect" week.

I noticed so much more peace in my home last week. Life was not perfect, and things still came up, but we took it--I took it--much more in stride and didn't get so worked up about silly things. I felt more peace in my life and felt much more at peace with my life. Sometimes I get so caught up in the small things, especially with school, and I noticed that I was able to get more done and not feel stressed. Awesome!!!

I noticed that Dan and I were much more "in tune" with each other. We responded much better to each other, and I was more patient and kind too. I can't speak for Dan, because let's be honest, he's the patient one in this relationship, but I think he would agree that communication in our house went much smoother last week than it has in a while. We just seemed to get each other. We laughed so much and it just was pure bliss and happiness.

I noticed that my prayers were more meaningful. I actually thought about what I should pray about, and I paused during my prayers to listen and be touched by the Spirit. It's a beautiful thing to have the Spirit dwelling in your home, within these four small walls, and feel so much love from the Lord.

We're going for week number 2. I'll let you know how that goes. I definitely encourage you to try it though, and see what changes you see in your own life. Let it change you. Let the Spirit into your life to change you. Be moldable. Be pliable, and let the Spirit touch your life.

I can see Clearly now

Guess who joined the many thousands of contact wearers? This girl! That's right, I can finally see clearly all the time. Let me tell you, that is a fantastic thing. In all honesty, I probably should've been wearing contacts or my glasses all the time a while ago.

It's been an adjustment that's for sure. I can totally feel something in my eye but it's only bothering my lower eyelid. And let's not talk about putting my contacts in. Holy cow that's hard! I have absolutely no problem touching my eyes, but coming straight at my eye is kind of freaky. I think it took 2 or 3 times just to get my contacts in before church today.

In other news, we went to the temple this weekend and did some sealings, and guess who we saw? My old roommate Cassie Gardner (Hancock now) and her husband! Super random because I haven't seen her in over 3 years! It was a fun surprise!

Back to homework now. New week and more homework than I have time for. Should be fun :]

I'll be home for Christmas

Arizona is the most beautiful sight in the world after being away for almost a year. Especially if you're leaving the treacherous winter land for 70 degrees and warm sunshine. We left Christmas Eve after Dan got off work and headed for the homeland. Funny thing about traveling on Christmas Eve...everything closes around 7 or 8 pm. Even Burger King. No joke.

Lucky for us we pulled into St. George just in time to grab some food at Wal-Mart (Burger King was closed...ridiculous). There was literally a million people in that Wal-Mart. Holy cow last minute shoppers. We grabbed some fried chicken and a few lunchables, wolfed it down in the car, and got the heck out of dodge. We pulled into Phoenix around 1:30 in the morning.

We spent Christmas morning with my family, opened up presents, all that fun stuff. Dan got me an adorable watch (rose gold!! Go Dan!!!!), a Red purse, and a red coat!! Red was a big highlight this Christmas. It was so fun. Big highlight for Dan was the Oregon duck's shirt and a nice scarf. We also got a bunch of food storage stuff from both sets of parents and stuff for our emergency kits!! It's kind of funny that as you get older, practical gifts like food storage and emergency preparedness are super exciting gifts.

We drove down to Sierra Vista later in the afternoon and surprised Dan's parents (they thought we were not going to be there for a few more hours). It was really fun to spend some time in SV with family. We haven't seen Dan's parents in over a year and a half. Long time! We got to see some friends while we were there (Haymore's, Fenn's, Barkdull's) and also went to Thatcher for a day.

Pulling into that one horse town, I almost missed it. My heart aches for those simple and insanely fun times we had in Thatcher. It brings everything right back for me. Passing the movie theater where we had our "second" first date, the temple where we got engaged and I took out my endowments, and passing the college where we fell in love. Alright not that mushy, but you get the picture. I haven't been back to Thatcher since I drove away right before I got married.

Big highlight of the trip: PIMA BURRITOS!!! Oh my goodness. It's love in a tortilla. I'm drooling right now thinking about it.

We also went shooting, and I'm proud to say I've still got it! That's right. I can still shoot a clay pigeon with a shot gun. Hollah!!

And now here come's the photo dump!

"I'll be home for Christmas...if only in my dreams."

Smothered with gravy

Sometimes, I look at our life and feel like all we do is eat, sleep, work, and go to school. That latter part happens to take over my life quite frequently despite my best efforts. We've stayed up many a night and had many a "car chat" and what to do and how to make sure we're okay despite all this business and fluff. Dan definitely gets more upset about it than I do, but I attribute that to him being way more in tune to not only the Spirit, but our relationship as well.

I find myself complacent with where our life is, mostly because I know that school is temporary. Just a little longer. The light is finally at the end of the tunnel and we are almost there. If you'd asked me this last year, I would have totally agreed because it felt like there was no end in sight. But now, here I am. Graduating in December. You have no idea how long I have waited to say that, or even write those words down. No more qualifiers, NEXT December, or December of 2014. No. Now I can just say December. It's a beautiful thing.

Side tracking. I don't want to look back on these years and only remember school. I want to remember all the laughing we did through this tough years, and how these years have helped us to learn to laugh through difficult and tough situations, and through times were we honestly probably did not have time to laugh. If anything, I want to look back on these years, poor college students working and going to school and living in a basement apartment, and smile with fondness because these are the simple years, and the very very blessed years. Not that future years won't be simple or blessed, but these are the years that I help to form and shape the rest of my life. These are the experiences I will relate to my children over and over as they grow up. And I want those to be happy memories, not just a monotonous routine of work, school and sleep.

On that note, we got home last night and I was instantly tired. This is a frequent occurrence from being so "go go go" all the time. We had dinner and were watching an episode of Burn Notice to relax before hitting some homework before bed. We were sitting on our bed, and started wrestling! We do this a lot and it mostly ends in a lot of tickling and laughing till I get the hiccups and someone crying out "UNCLE!!" Last night was no different. I was laughing so hard and had all the blankets shoved up next to my face. Dan was on top of me and tickling me, and I said "I'm being smothered...like gravy!"

He stopped, looked at me with the "What the heck did you just say?" face, and then started laughing. I probably said it a few more times because he totally didn't understand what I was saying. A few minutes later, I realized I probably should've said I felt like a potato being smothered in gravy. Equally weird, but we were rolling on the floor laughing. We do that a lot. Mostly at stupid things I say or my punitive attempt to whistle every time my cell phone rings (it's a whistling tune). But laughing breaks up the stress and monotony of school. Laughing keeps you happy. Laughing keeps the heart and soul young.

(Dan's surprise birthday party, 2011)