The Real Adult Life

Bear started his training in DeKalb on Monday. He left Sunday afternoon and will be back late Friday night. He says the training is intense because they squished 6 days worth of stuff into 5 days. Bear is literally busy all day and we get to talk late at night when he's finally back to the hotel. Man, there are perks to having a post-college, full-time adult job, but there are cons too. I can't imagine how lonely I would be without my parents and siblings right now. Okay, enough with the whining!

One of the great things about living in Nauvoo is the temple is RIGHT there. It was really hard to go to the temple in Virginia (especially with little kids). With the temple being 3.5 hours away, we either had to leave Lachlan with somebody ALL day, or bring a babysitter with us - which was hard to do on Ward/Stake temple day when everyone else wants to go to the Temple too. Now I just need to make sure I don't take it for granted.

I admit, it has been hard for me to get used to being a stay-at-home mom. I'm not dying to go back to school by any means, and I'm actually still pretty burnt out. When people ask me how I did it, I honestly don't know. I'm not a super woman. All I know is that I finished in the nick of time too - I seriously would have had to drop out with the twins. And although I hated having two very time-consuming things that needed my attention - motherhood and school (and they both always seemed to need attention at the same time), now I feel a little useless. I know how important motherhood is, and I'm glad I can give all of my attention to Lachlan now. And I know I need to stay home for all three kids soon. But I can't help but feel like half of my identity (a student) was taken away. Now, I'm just a mom. Real adult life starts now. After my family leaves for Korea, I won't have much socializing or adult conversation. The whole time that I've been married, I've been a student. First, I was a student. Then a student and wife. Then a student and mother. Now, just a mother. I have to keep readjusting my identity every year or so. So I know I'll get used to it eventually, but with non-stop school since I was a little girl, this is going to take some time to adjust to.

I DID NOT like the latest Downton Abbey episode. I know it wasn't graphic, and Julian Fellowes has his excuses "“The whole point of the way we do things on Downton is we don’t do them gratuitously. We are interested in exploring the resultant emotions and the effect these things have on people.” But at what point is he going to stop? He has to keep taking it up a notch. What point is too much?

The weather has warmed up in Nauvoo and our kitty survived. I'm kick-starting my Mary Kay business again and trying to reorganize everything.

Boating and Father's Day

I'm working on the tutorial, but I'm not done yet and it will be up soon.

Lachlan playing with daddy's baseball cap right before he came home and we went boating.

We had a lot of fun Saturday afternoon/evening. A cousin of Bear's coworker Riley owns a boat and we got invited to go out on the lake with them. It was a really nice boat and really enjoyed ourselves. It was the first time wake-boarding for both Bear and I, and neither of us were able to get up and stay up. We both tried close to 10 times. And now we feel like we got hit by a truck.

I was worried about losing my phone so I put it away and didn't get too many good pictures.  Yes, my husband wears his hats backwards.

I was afraid that Lachlan would cry the whole time from being in the sun and having to wear an uncomfortable life jacket, but he didn't make a noise. He fell asleep sitting up in our laps and so we put him under the driver's seat and he slept there for a long time. I don't know if it was the rumble of the boat or what.

Lachlan looks miserable in his life jacket, but he was so good. He didn't make a peep.

We went in the late afternoon, so the water had been warmed all day and felt like a heated pool. But we didn't get sunburned. I'm so mad that people who know how to wake-board make it look so easy! We did have fun on the tube. Bear did it way more than I did and fell off a few times.

Tubing

The water was clean and we had a good time barbecuing and boating with our friends. I just hope I'm never this sore ever again.

Sleeping under the captain's seat

Bear and I gave talks for Father's Day. Bear's talk was tasteful because he talked about how all of us might not have dads, but all of can have or can be father figures. This doesn't mean taking over as someone's dad, but being an example to look to. And we will always have our Heavenly Father. Father's Day talks can either turn into awkward confessionals about relationships with your own father or kids, or just be a eulogy to a parent of the speaker that the rest of the congregation doesn't really care about. 

I on the other hand, had to talk about moderation. I loved this topic because I learned so much for myself. I finally learned that temperance is moderation. And I had heard the scripture and quote "all things in moderation", but then I started seeing the quote "all things in moderation, including moderation". I wondered if that was true, and these are the quotes that I found during my research:

"Part of the spirit of the Word of Wisdom is moderation in all things, except those things specifically forbidden by the Lord. It is well to avoid extremes in dress, hairstyles, makeup, conduct, speech, and music. Extremes may attract the attention of some, but they are more likely to turn off those you really want to impress." - James E. Faust

"Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things. Peace of mind comes from strengthened faith in Jesus Christ. Happiness comes from being diligent in keeping covenants made at baptism and in the holy temples of the Lord." - Kent D. Watson.

"What better example do we have of temperance than our Savior, Jesus Christ?

When Jesus Christ, the greatest of all, suffered for us to the extent that He bled from every pore, He did not express anger or revile in suffering. With unsurpassed self-restraint, or temperance, His thoughts were not of Himself but of you and of me. And then, in humility and full of love, He said, “Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” - Kent D. Watson

"I need to caution myself and each of my readers that the very nature of this message could tend to the same downfall that it warns against. The idea that our strengths can become our weaknesses could be understood to imply that we should have “moderation in all things.” But the Savior said that if we are “lukewarm,” he “will spue [us] out of [his] mouth” (Rev. 3:16). Moderation in all things is not a virtue, because it would seem to justify moderation in commitment. That is not moderation, but indifference. That kind of moderation runs counter to the divine commands to serve with all of our “heart, might, mind and strength” (D&C 4:2), to “seek … earnestly the riches of eternity” (D&C 68:31), and to be “valiant in the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:79). Moderation is not the answer." - Dallin H. Oaks

"The Saints should not be unwise, but rather understand what the will of the Lord is, and practice moderation in all things." - Joseph F. Smith

"As plain and direct as a prophet’s counsel is, however, we sometimes tend to get sidetracked. Some members wish to follow the Prophet when it is convenient, but ignore him when sacrifice or deeper commitment is required. Some, forgetting the simplicity of the gospel, may over-emphasize one part to the neglect of another. Others may complicate the guidance given them, blurring the plainness of divine directives and losing their sense of spiritual balance. Some even fall prey to rumor, fanaticism, distorted virtues, misplaced values, and shallow religious commitment.

For example, some of us eat excessively, while others ignore getting healthful nutrition. Some sleep too much, others not enough. Some ignore proper body care and conditioning, while others almost worship the physical body. Certainly one must gain all the new information he can in matters dealing with the health and care of our bodies, but I believe the Lord expects us to use wisdom and common sense. The key words are balance and moderation—thoughtfully applying all the truths one knows, not just a big emphasis on one of them." - O. Don Ostler

So basically what I got from all this was there were many areas that we need to have a good balance in - the way we look, talk, take care of our bodies, and act around other people. We need to balance our time and activities. But when it comes to being committed to the gospel and commandments, we can't be lukewarm. We have to give 100% to the Lord. And we can look to the Savior as an example and ask His will and how to be moderate ourselves. By doing this, we can avoid being too discouraged by our weaknesses, or an apathetic attitude thinking we don't need to give it our best.

Father's Day gift

 Bear wanted the Bear Grylls brand machete for Father's Day, but I accidentally bought him the parang. I clearly don't know my knives very well. I felt weird checking out with a big survival knife at Sports Authority, when I've bought a kitchen knife about that big before so I guess I was just being silly. Bear wants to survive the zombie apocalypse. He's happy that it says "BEAR" on the blade. I think he secretly wants to be Bear Grylls deep down inside. 

I also bought Bear some nice leather flip flops and we made some breaded chicken for dinner together. All the spices were a little strong for me, but Bear loved it, so I guess that's what matters because it was his day. If you want to try it, the recipe is right here.

The best love story is your own

Well, I promised our love story. Bear might tell it differently, but here it goes.

I was a little giggly freshman at SVU the Fall of 2010. Bear was back at SVU after his mission and was on the baseball team. I went on a couple of dates with other guys, who promised me second dates and then left me out to dry. My little heart was broken. (Don't promise me and then ignore me!) Anyways, I was interested in a guy on the baseball team...a few of them actually...sadly, none of them were Bear. The baseball team would go lift weights for an hour at 5:30 in the morning. So being the silly little freshman that I was, I would go to the gym at 6:30 am towards the end of their workout, and then go to breakfast in the cafeteria not long after they headed over there too. 

Thinking back on this, it all seems so silly. I would never ever wake up at 6:30 to work out any more. And I thought I was being all sneaky, but HELLO, they probably noticed I was only working out 10-15 minutes. Quite frankly, I was shamelessly creeping on them in public. Gosh.

So I met Bear a couple of weeks later at a game night. We both happened to be invited. He was wearing a light denim jacket and light denim jeans - something straight out of the 80's - in a bad way. (Don't worry, I buy his clothes for him now). Bear seemed friendly, pretty cute and fun. We all played a silly game and went home. I facebook stalked him that night. He kind of seemed too good to be true. My roommates started coming with me in the mornings because they started realizing how cute the baseball players were too. I don't know how I missed Bear before, but he was always at breakfast. After the game night, we always sat with him. We were in different sections of the same class and went on a field trip to Monticello together. I started to have a tiny crush on him, when one morning my bold roommate said to him, "you're pretty cute, you should ask me to homecoming!" Immediately, my jealousy flared because I would've never been able to be that bold and because I felt like I had more claim on him because I met him first. But my little heart was crushed again when he told my roommate that he already had a girlfriend.

A long-distance girlfriend, in fact. She was all the way in California and we were in Virginia. But I wasn't going to be a home-wrecker so I decided to stop liking Bear then and there. So we stayed friends and hung out in big groups. But one day, two weeks before Thanksgiving, Bear announced that he was taking his girlfriend home to South Carolina to meet his family during the break. All of the sudden, I freaked out. That sounded pretty serious to me!!! What if he's going to propose soon? They're going to be kissing and hanging out and having fun...and...At this point, I realized how much I still liked Bear. I was jealous. Way more jealous than when my bold roommate asked about the dance. If he got married, I'd lose his friendship. Even though I had tried to stuff those feelings deep down, I knew that I needed him in my life.

I was torn between letting him know before he left, because I knew this was probably my last chance, but again, I didn't want to be a home-wrecker. I stressed out so much about it, until one day I couldn't even sleep because I was over-thinking it. I HAD to tell him. So I texted him, "what if I told you I was jealous of your girlfriend?" What does that even mean? Gah, Lexi. Come on. 
He texted back, "I like you too, but I have to be fair to my girlfriend and talk to her. I haven't seen her in a few months and I still need to give her a chance." Wait, what?! He liked me too???!!! And now I'm turning into a girlfriend stealer. Awesome. And now I'm in a super awkward situation. I shouldn't see him before Thanksgiving.

I didn't say anything else. I went to my roommate's home in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. And I didn't text Bear the whole break. It was torture for me. But he never said anything either, so I figured that things must have gone well with his girlfriend. I was starting to feel my little heart break again. Finally, the Saturday after Thanksgiving (which is the day Lachlan was born, now that I think about it), I couldn't stand it any more. I casually texted him asking how his break went. He didn't text back very quickly and was vague. So this is it. Things went well with his girlfriend, and he just doesn't want to break it to me. 

The plan was to go to church in the morning and drive back to school. But all of the sudden, Bear texts me asking if he can follow us back to school. He had been having car troubles lately, and his mom wanted him to travel with someone just in case. I started freaking out again but didn't see through his plan. Nothing happened on the way home, except that he shared his Thanksgiving leftovers with us. I had no idea what to say to the guy. But as we're getting near to the school, he asks if he can talk to me once we get there. What?! Oh no! He's going to break the news to me! I can't handle this!!!

It ends up that things had not gone well with his girlfriend. She had been keeping some stuff from him, including the fact that she kissed a bunch of other guys and girls (WHAT?!) Bear wanted to end things, and she went home early because she was upset. We talked about how we liked each other, and ended up kissing that night. Everything had happened so fast, I couldn't take it all in.

We hung out every night after that after we were both done working. After two weeks of this, I asked him if he wanted to go to the Christmas dance. My roommates got me ready, and I had a super fun time. There were still a couple of awkward things including his girlfriend calling him while the two of us were hanging out trying to get back together with him. Oh, and sending him a nasty letter. 

So there were three weeks of hanging out everyday until Christmas break started. He was going back home to SC, and I was going straight to Utah to spend time with my grandpa who had cancer. My family was going to meet me there. Even looking back on it now, everything happened so fast, but it didn't feel like it at the time. So I told him I loved him on the last day of finals. I really did love him. But he honestly told me that he couldn't quite say it back yet. Oh no! I've ruined everything! I look too clingy! He doesn't even like me! I cried into my roommate, exhausted from finals and throwing myself out there. 

So we were "dating" for 6 weeks, and three of those were Christmas break, spent apart from each other. I skyped, texted, and called Bear every day. My relatives joked about us and it bugged me. We've only been dating a few weeks and he hasn't even told me that he loved me! Leave me alone! Bear came and picked me up from the airport and he surprised me by taking me to a Japanese restaurant.  And he gave me my Christmas present - a box from a jewelry store. Is he proposing? Is that a ring? asjhfkjdbgnasilfuaj,mnbksfdjlbnkvh Freak freak freak! This is too soon! But it was just a pearl necklace. Phew! I really care about this guy, but we haven't been dating long enough. I wouldn't have even known what to say if it had been a ring. 

A couple of days after I got back to school, there was a back to school dance that we went to, and afterwards, he talked to me about meeting my parents. But he had baseball and had games during all of the breaks in Spring semester. Looking at our schedules, we decided there wouldn't be any parent meetings of any kind until after the semester was over. "Besides, I believe in dating for a long time, and then having a short engagement," he said. Did he just say engagement?!!! I can't handle all of this! He's thinking about marrying me? Well at least I'll have a few months til he proposes and think about my answer. 

The next day after church, I went to have dinner at his house. All of the sudden, he jumped up. "Let's go on a walk!" he said. I looked outside. It was a gloomy, cloudy, cold early January day. "Okay..." I said skeptically. We walked all the way back up to campus. Up the huge hill. It was freezing. My nose started dripping. Great. We made it to Main Hall, built in the 1860's. This big, red, Victorian building with a million turrets is the main landmark at our school. We stood on the old porch and looked down at the rest of the town. He held me close to warm me up. Out of nowhere he asked, "Alexa, will you marry me?" Oh crap. My mind started freaking out again. This time it's real. What happened to the long dating/short engagement talk we had yesterday? He needs an answer! I haven't had time to think about this! But, suddenly, I had such a good feeling in my heart. So warm and good. I immediately knew what my heart was telling me. "Yes." And I knew that was the right answer. I never doubted my answer after that. 

A lot of people criticized us for the way we did things.We didn't date long enough. Bear didn't ask my dad for permission, let alone meet them. He didn't have a ring. He didn't get down on one knee. (He did later, once he bought the ring). But I wouldn't have had it any other way. Bear went and prayed about it the night before and followed the Spirit. If he had waited, I would have over-thought it. And this way I got to pick out the ring I wanted. 

I didn't regret my answer while I was engaged, and I still haven't. Bear is the exact person that I need. We're living happily, and will continue to do so ever after.

2 Years

Yesterday was our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. It's crazy how fast time flies and that we have a baby now. I was hoping to have been graduated by now, but I'm close. It's wonderful to have someone who believes in you. I love him.

Bear is a very good daddy. I had no real doubts before the baby was born, but Bear has been very protective and involved from the first few minutes of Lachlan's life. Even though he doesn't feed the baby because Lachlan is breastfed, Bear has become the expert at putting the baby to sleep. Bear gives me breaks as often as he can and takes the baby a lot in church. When I took Lachlan to his first pediatrician appointments, the doctor kept commenting on how well I was doing. My mom said it was because I was getting so much support and help from Bear. And at church last Sunday, he came in to Relief Society right before it started asking if he wanted me to take Lachlan. An older lady turned to me after he left and commented, "my husband would have never done that for me." I know she was from a different era and now-a-days a lot of dads approach parenthood as more of a partnership with their wives, but it made me all the more grateful for Bear. I can't let myself take him for granted. 

We're going through a rough patch with Lachlan's sleeping. But Bear gets up all night with the baby so that I can sleep (without even having to be asked). And Bear is the one who has to get up and go to work. Even though I'm the stay-at-home mom, I feel like he's the better parent. 

I had fun editing our wedding pictures yesterday waiting for Bear to come home so we could go on our date. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and got cheesecake of course! Bear's team leader Derek, who has a 4-month-old of his own came and sat in our apartment while Lachlan was asleep. Thank you!

In honor of our anniversary, I;m going to post our love story. Stay tuned!

Bear's Oreo cheesecake

My chocolate raspberry mouse cheesecake

Excited

Sorry, these are old pictures from Thanksgiving break in South Carolina on Myrtle Beach. It was over 70 degrees that day and the sand was white...I was in heaven. The Price family are going to be staying on this same beach for Christmas 2012. I'm so excited! I'm also excited for baseball season and to move out of our current apartment! And to stop reading about the depressing Holocaust!


But I got a handsome husband ♥  

Life is Beautiful

So life is beautiful but crazy. But mostly beautiful. It's always hard for me to get into the swing of things. I tend to get overwhelmed and have melt-downs...which broke one of my resolutions. So I decided the smart thing to do is not set a goal to completely stop them, but to figure out why I melt down first and go from there. I expect too much out of myself and compare myself with other people to no end. I get into the same cycle over and over again. I push myself too far. 

Which is when I need to step back and see how beautiful life really is. 2-3 days out of my week might be crazy busy, money might be tight right now, I may not love our living situation, I might be drowning in homework, and I might miss my family, BUT I still have 4-5 days of peace, I'm lucky to have a job, a hard-working husband, have the opportunity to go to an expensive school for free, I do have a place to live and we aren't starving on the streets, and I have a family alive and well that loves me. I have good friends that keep me happy. 

Even though my phone broke this week, a new one came in the mail the next day, even though ice skating was too full in Roanoke we were able to go to Chik-fil-a etc etc. I for one don't believe in chanting "I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm happy" and forcing positive thoughts or a smile while still being bitter on the inside. Sometimes we need to be sad and let it out. But I think it helps to step back subjectively and say "hey, most of the troubles in my life are in my head" and start being happy from there. 

I'm learning so much this semester because all of my classes are ones that I'm really interested in. Right now we're deciding if we want to do internships or go work in California again this summer, but I'm not going to stress about it. And I'm going to start taking more pictures. I promise.

Bonfires, Corn Mazes, and Hayrides

Sometimes papers, tests, and projects almost push me overboard, but I'm doing well in school. It's been hard to stay on top of though. Luckily, I have a Bear to love me and keep me motivated. That is the most delicious pumpkin pie ice cream above in Lexington. It makes me very happy.
 
Bear pretends to hate the cat, but I keep finding them together. He's just such a fun kitty to hold and cuddle. He really is a dog. 

We were lame and didn't go to the homecoming dance this year. We had planned a double date to go on a hayride and to a corn maze, and finally the dance, but Bear had a scrimmage with another school that day, the only one before the season and was going to take up the whole day. I was supposed to sing in the women's choir for the homecoming concert on Friday night, so it looked like we weren't going to be able to do anything fun that weekend.
 
But the boys surprised us and planned a bonfire up at Panther Falls for us. I love surprises!  
And we got to go to the hayride and corn mazelast weekend, as you can tell from the pictures below. The weather was perfect on both Saturdays, so it really worked out. I even got some sun at Bear's scrimmage (which I happened to not take pictures of him playing).
 
I got an A on my Intro to Music History midterm. I worked hard on that baby so I'm proud of myself. I thought I knew music, but it's teaching me so much. I'm learning to pull words out of my head for papers or presentations easier now.
  
I have also learned recently to make sure you bought a zucchini instead of a cucumber, and then after you find out it's a cucumber...don't try and bake with it! Bear wouldn't even eat it, and that's saying something...the adventures of a beginner cook.  
I am in love with Virginia in the Fall. I wouldn't give it up for anything. The view above is from our hayride. Love, love. And we're also a few days past the half-way mark of the semester. I feel like a weeny because I don't have a legitimate job or play any sports, but my schedule is really wearing me down this semester. So I'm very grateful and looking forward to my easy next semester. And I'm getting so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas to be with family again.
  
Last weekend was what I really needed. I was able to catch up on sleep and go have fun on a double date with Rachel and Zach. The date was so much fun! We went to the hayride and corn maze like I said before, but it ended up being more for little kids. We still had fun of course. I put more pictures up on Facebook. Then we went to sushi in Lexington, went back to our apartment to watch "Darkness Falls" (which ended up being very stupid), play Ligretto, and drink homemade pumpkin white hot chocolate. I hadn't laughed like that in a long time.
 
The picture above is our super awkward perching or "owling" picture. We also took these pictures at a park right by the sushi restaurant while we were waiting for it to open. 
Bear turned 23 on Sunday. I bought him some Nike id running shoes with his name on them in school colors. And a baseball bracelet, and a baseball sign for the house (so maybe that was more for me). i made a German chocolate cake, and listened to him complain about how old he is. I love him so much and I hope we have 77 more years together! There was a bomb threat Sunday night, but we were off campus and unaffected by the lock-down. 2 people got arrested, but we don't know who they are. All the buildings on campus had to be searched between 1 and 4 am. Poor students had to be evacuated out of their dorms. The school handled it really well though. Class went on normally on Monday (I think to teach everyone a lesson that pranks don't get people out of class). Even though I got sleep, I was hoping for no class too, but that's SVU for you. The stinky thing was it was right before some important accreditation people were coming to tour the school to see if we've been doing well. Hopefully they'll notice how well the problem was taken care of. And although students mumbled and grumbled about it, I'm glad everyone's safe.


 Sorry I always talk about homework. But my next goal is to survive a book report on a book on Socialism that I'm behind on, and a 8-10 page paper on Mozart's 41st symphony. I can do it. 

Birthday Week

The picture above is on our drive last Saturday to the DC Temple. The fog was super pretty.
 
I gave blood on Tuesday. It was my third time trying, and my second successful time. I gave in September of last year and tried in November, but had a really traumatic experience and had to wait awhile, and I'm glad it worked out. All this time I thought O positive was the universal blood type donor, but found out that day it was O negative. I don't feel as special now. We also got our refund checks from school. That definitely makes a girl happy. We went to Lee-hi's that night to get our blood sugar up again from giving blood.
 
^ These are our friends Josh and Rachel. They're both from North Carolina.
My birthday was on Wednesday! I'm officially 20. For awhile now I've been excited to get out of my teenage years, but now I feel kind of old. I kind of had a melt down on my birthday because it was such a busy day. Bear kept telling me to forget that it was my birthday, because we were going to celebrate on Saturday. But I love birthdays. So it was hard for me, but I got through the day and we went to Lee-hi's again that night :) My birthday was also my first day of tutoring. I tutor a few freshman football players. It's fun for me because I love history and it helps me review for my Western Civ II class at the same time.
 
Thursday was my second day of tutoring and I didn't feel as stupid. I went to a very good piano concert that was a student's senior recital that day too. After the concert and a meeting about being a music minor, it just reminded me why I'm not crazy enough to be a music major.
 
^ This is our silly kitty. I promise we're not animal abusers, but this just shows how he lets us do whatever. He's kind of a dog. And we love him. He doesn't play fetch yet, but he waits for us to come home, he wants to eat human food all day, and lets us totally handle him without freaking out. And we figured out he looks just like Tom from Tom and Jerry. Look it up. The're even gray and white in the same places.
 
On Friday, I got a duvet for a bed so that we don't have to fight over all my little blankets I've had since I was a little girl all night. And an iron too! Now I can quilt and iron Bear's dress shirts. On Friday night, we got invited to go to Roanoke by Andrew and Brandy, and we went to Red Lobster. It was my first time because I don't like seafood. So I ordered the shrimp linguine alfredo without shrimp haha. I loved the biscuits and I have to admit the coconut shrimp Bear got was pretty good. And then we went and watched Moneyball. Bear and Andrew loved it of course because they're on the SVU baseball team. But it had beena long week for me and I totally fell asleep during the movie. I've never done that during a movie at the movie theater before. I liked the concept though. It was a good date night!
 
We went to Roanoke again on Saturday because we had been planning it for while. Bear let me go on a shopping spree. We got Bear all new baseball gear too because he really needed it. And we planned to go to Wasabi's, my favorite Japanese restaurant, here was a carnival of some sort downtown and we couldn't really get to it. So we went to Red Robin's - another first for me. We got this fun onion ring tower hee hee. After we got home, I had a small birthday bbq on the Maury River with our friends. The water was the perfect temperature. And this is where I discovered that I don't like brats. I get to choose the meat next time.
 
^ I took this picture on our Sunday walk today. I've decided that I like green mountains way more than the Rockies. I love Virginia.

Here's to another crazy week!

DC Temple

My poor blog suffers. But not that I'm back in school, it goes to the bottom of my to-do list or my grades die. And I keep realizing that I'm not taking pictures at all. I just keep going going going everyday doing the bare necessities. Yes, I have to plan time to read, quilt, or any such lesiurely activity. I'm not saying I'm busier than everyone else, but I'm back to having to write every tiny thing into my schedule so that I can remember it.

I'm happy because I have visiting teachers again. By again, I mean after 2 years. I've been visiting teaching since my 18th birthday (minus this summer in Cali), but have only been visited once. It's quite nice. Especially when she brings pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. (But it's not okay when my cat is trying to get into them as we're visiting. Oh, kitty).

That poor cat is having an identity crisis. He doesn't respond to his name, he gallops like a horse, but totally acts like a dog, and has bunny paws. He doesn't act like a cat at all. And he gets to lonely because he's an indoor kitty now and we're so busy :(

I'm a tutor! I don't know why I'm so excited, but I just am. It's for a general ed class called America and the Englightenment (history). I had to get recommended by my teacher from last year. And I thought I didn't do that good in that class. I only work 2 hours a week, but I do get paid. Now it makes me feel a little more independent.We'll see how it goes!

This past weekend was Stake Temple Day, so I got to go do a session in the DC Temple for the first time! I did baptisms there last year. It's huge! I lost Bear in the temple because I've only been in the Nauvoo temple with him which is tiny, and when I went to another huge temple (Los Angeles), I was by myself. I was almost in tears. It ends up he had a clothing mishap that took him a while. But I can't explain how happy he was when he walked in the door and sat next to me. I know it sounds sappy, but it was a moment of realization of how sad I'd be if we lost each other forever. But I know that will never happen, because we've been through the temple together :)

It gave me a peace that I really needed. It gave me a good perspectve f the future.

After the temple, we went to Bear's brother Nate and his wife Izzy's house. They live in DC too on a military base and it was good to spend time with them. Yet again, I meant to take pictures, but failed. Bear and Nate had an intense 10 minute session of wrestling where they were both panting and sweating. Silly boys.

Then we drove home and met Rachel at Waffle House. I know it's as disgusting place, but we love it.

I got to substitute for the piano in Primary on Sunday. And we had John and Trisha over for dinner.

It got really cold this weekend. When I wanted Fall, I didn't mean winter.

But I love all I'm learning. College is good. And Bear is good.

My birthday is in 2 days! I won't be a teenager any more!

Labor Day Week

Another college-ful weeks has gone by.

 

For Labor Day, Bear had to be in the city parade to represent the school through the baseball team. I went and watched him. And he didn't even notice me. Baha. Anyways, can you tell how pretty it is here just by the picture above? I keep meaning to take pictures of how gorgeous the Blue Ridge mountains are, but I keep forgetting my camera. There will be pictures soon, I promise. We went out to a Chinese place that supposedly had Japanese food, but...not really. It just reminded me why I hate Chinese food so much. And I feel like the only person on the planet who feels so. We watched Insidious that night. And I was scared out of my pants. Bear thought it was a stupid plot. But I kept seeing the demon and the old lady all night. 

 

It's nice to be in a family ward again. And to actually feel like we're not just visiting. To have lots of little kids in the ward, and lots of young, friendly married couples too...I feel better. The Relief Society presidency came to see me along with the Ward Mission Leader. This ward is on top of things. There was a fun Relief Society activity of getting to know each other. It was definitely a good idea. Now I get to take organ lessons from someone in the ward too! Oh, and another exciting thing: I get to be part of the Women's Society at the school because I'm married now! I feel quite big.

 

I'm settling into my major more. I was afraid that I would graduate in December 2013, but I just went to the Registrar and found out I'm right on track to graduate April 2013! 3 years instead of 3 1/2 or 4! So just 2 more years of school, and I don't even have to take summer classes! I'm quite excited. Taking 19 credits this semester paid off after all (even if most of the classes were just ones I wanted to take, and didn't have anything to do with my major). I just need to take 2-3 upper division History classes for the next 3 semesters, take a science class I was supposed to take as a Freshman, and take 2 more exercise classes, and 2 easy Music classes for my minor. I got to change advisors and everything. It feels so official now. 

 

We got invited over to some one's house for dinner from the ward this week. I had a lot of fun. Like I said, we have a friendly ward. I love it.

 

I'm not drowning in homework, mostly because I'm not working and my weekends are free. It gives me the chance to recuperate. I feel bad, because I feel like I should be making dinner every night, but that doesn't happen with all my classes and homework. But I'm working hard to cook on the weekends. And it makes me happy. I feel like I can actually cook now. I will post another good recipe for Curried Honey Mustard Chicken soon.

 

Me and Bear went to the opening night of SVU's The Wizard of Oz. They didn't change the script at all, but kept spoofing themselves. It was very clever and audiencewas laughing and having fun. The best part was, there were only 8 or 9 actors in the whole show. They were some crazy costume changes. It was definitely worth seeing. We have a talented theater program here.

 

I've started to workout a little this weekend, and my body is happy, even from that little bit. The world just needs to be rid of soda so that I'm not tempted. But I haven't had it in awhile, and I'm quite proud of myself. And I just realized that I've used the word "quite" too many times in this post.

 

We tried to go to the football game Saturday, but Bear slept too long. So we just went to downtown Lexington to go to the Museum of Military Memorabilia. It's run by a little old lady  whose British husband opened it. Her husband has passed away, but he served in WWII, and there were some very old things, including from the Revolutionary War. I love little old ladies that love history. Because that's exactly what I'm going to be like when I grow up. And I learned something new. Japanese families wrote prayers on a big piece of fabric, and the soldier would fold it up inside his uniform. When the soldier died, he was supposed to be wrapped in the flag (although it didn't really happen all the time). And there was an actual one at the museum. I'm a history nut. Gah. It was mostly British military items, but also lots of American, and some Asian and other European stuffs too.

 

Oh, and having Andrew and Brandy S. over for dinner and having a Ligretto/Ticket to Ride game with them completed my week. I hope yours was fun too.

Back to College

I've been dying to blog, but it's been another crazy week. Bustard survived the drive to Virginia. He seemed to be over-heating and wouldn't east, drink, or go to the bathroom the whole way there. And he was breathing hard. So I was a little bit worried, but he seems fine now. started getting sick the Sunday that we drove to Virginia. It was never anything major, just a little throat thing, but it was enough to not make the trip fun or my first week of school for that matter.

And we've finally moved in to our apartment! It took me a whole week because of classes, but it feels good. We have enough storage space which is nice. Our bathroom is a little sketchy and our kitchen is super skinny, and there's built in dressers in the living room instead of the bedroom, but all in all, the rent is cheap, and it came furnished.

I'm not taking an exercise, math, or science class this semester so that takes a huge stress off of me. (Not that I hate to exercise, it's just stressful as a class to me). I haven't been overloaded in homework so far. This is probably partly because I decided not to work this semester. Maybe next semester. We'll see. Bear's working in the cafeteria early in the morning when no one else wants to work, and then he gets it out of the way and his nights are off. He's not working next semester because of baseball, and so I might work...but I want to go to his games...and the money is nice but we can live without it...decisions, decisions.

I'm just happy to have my own kitchen and to use all my wedding gifts. I wrote down all my gifts, but I guess I was making stuff up in my head all summer, because I thought I was given things that clearly don't exist now that I've unpacked, and I've been pleasantly surprised with things I had forgotten about. I just made the BEST Thai coconut chicken for dinner tonight. I had plans to make dinner every night once I got to college. The reality of that is...I really only have time on Sunday. So my tummy is finally happy!

I like all my classes and teachers! I just love Southern Virginia University in general. My heart belongs to it. It will always be dear to me because it's where I met Bear, and had so many unexplainably happy experiences.

I'm taking:

• Health and Wellness
• Introduction to Music History
• Marriage and Family
• New Testament (for Institute)
• Western Civilization 2
• Political Philosophy
• Bella Voce (Womens' Choir)
• Group Voice
• Information Literacy (once a week)

I get to take Group Voice and Marriage and Family with Bear. What's funny, is we both signed up for that Marriage and Family class without talking to each other about it before hand. We were definitely meant to be :)

So, I'll post that delicious recipe next time. The pictures are from the school dance on Friday. It's was 90's themed. We hit up Goodwill of course. I swear my pink Levi's came up to my chest. Bear's pants were straight up purple and awesome.

So it was a crazy but good week. I'm glad to be settled. And we love our kitty because he's super silly, but doesn't scratch things, go to the bathroom in weird places, meow, or shed. He just makes us laugh. And Bear won't admit it, but I know he loves Bustard very much.

Longest Road Trip Ever

I haven't been blogging because we're on our long trip from California to Virginia - which I wouldn't recommend to anybody unless there is no other option. There have been a few adventures:

1. The truck seats don't recline and there's no AC so we melt into the leather seats.
2. I officially hate the desert, especially between California and St. George, UT.
3. The GPS is my new best friend
4. Right after we walked into my grandma's house in Fillmore to stay the first night, she got a call from my aunt saying she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Nancy is only 35 years old, with 4 kids, ages 8 months-11 years old. She was still nursing the baby. It was not the news my grandma wanted to hear because two years in a row, her husband and daughter-in-law were diagnosed with cancer on her birthday. My grandma is a breast cancer survivor too. It was good that me, Tash, and Bear were there with her.

5. I got to spend time with Tashi and take her college shopping for BYU.

6. I got to see both of my great grandmas Verna Challis and Geneal Smith (ages 87 and 90) while in Utah. I love them!

7. I got to stay at John and Traci (my aunt and uncle)'s house in Grantsville. Traci did my hair as my wedding gift.

8. We get on the road and start having a sputtering engine. The oil was empty and we accidentally overfilled it, which made it still sputter of course. We had to keep stopping. But we finally fixed the problem and finally got to Amber's house late Wednesday night. It was good to meet her new husband and catch up because I wasn't able to go to her wedding.

9. We finally made it alive to Nauvoo and I was finally in my momma's and the babies' arms.

10. I keep thinking that Tashi's going to come home from work or school. But then I remember she's at BYU and I get sad on the inside.

11. I'm getting to eat my favorite foods and play Ticket to Ride to my heart;s content. I love my mommy.

12. Our Bustard kitty is so big now and I can't wait to take him back to Virginia with us.

13. I'm sad that I missed my grandma and grandpa Stout because of our truck troubles.

We take off early tomorrow morning (Sunday) because class starts Monday. Crazy life.

New Truck

We are now the proud owners of a white '92 Mazda short bed truck. It's still manual and doesn't have AC, but it's a lot cooler all ready and it will be much easier to pack for the long drive back to Virginia. Plus it has a new engine. But we miss "My Boy Tercel". Even though I had such a love-hate relationship with him. I get so attached to people and things though. Bear is having seperation anxiety because Tercel was his first car and got him through a lot. We might even trade this truck after we get to Virginia. But for now, we have to bond with this guy. I mean, we have get to spend 44 hours of quality time with him. I just feel out of place because it's not a girl car at all. We leave early Monday morning for Utah!

A Few Things

A few things:

1. My time in California is coming to a close. We're not excited about the drive, but we are SO excited to be back in Virginia. It calls to me. I've decided that I can learn to live anywhere, but there's something about the green Blue Ridge Mountains and the plantations from 1700's all over. I feel at home there.
2. You know that song by Ingrid Michaelson called Far Far Away? Well I can see my life happening like the lyrics:

I will live my life as a lobsterman's wife

on an island in the blue bay.

He will take care of me,

he will smell like the sea,

And close to my heart he'll always stay.

I will bear three girls

all with strawberry curls,

little Ella and Nelly and Faye.

While I'm combing their hair,

I will catch his warm stare

On our island in the blue bay.

3. I'm addicted to Pinterest.

4. I'm a pro at sewing super hero capes now. I just hate my sewing machine that I have to fix.
5. I'm slowly showing Bear classic movies that I grew up with. That does not mean I'm only showing him Pride and Prejudice. Tonight I'm showing him My Fair Lady. We'll see how that goes.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

I keep reading long books with lots of information that are slow and I have to force myself to read them, but I always end up learning so much in the end and I'm glad that I did. My latest read is Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. It was mentioned a lot in the book "Fascinating Womanhood", which I posted about HERE. Kate recommended it to me also.

All I can say, is it helped me a lot. I know that I'm still a little tiny baby newlywed with lots to learn still, and I haven't gone through all the hard stuff that comes along with marriage. But I'd rather read it now and try to apply it instead of waiting til it's too late.

I enjoyed this book because it looks into both genders, instead of just what women should do like in Fascinating Womanhood. It's written by a man, and he isn't blaming women for everything. Of course I didn't feel like everything he talked about applied to our relationship, but there was a lot of stuff that helped me, like how I need to leave Bear alone sometimes to be himself (men are like rubber bands) and that I'm not crazy for having my ups and downs, needing to talk about everything and just have a venting session every once in a while (women are like waves). It helped Bear to know that when I'm venting, I'm not blaming him, and that I feel much better when I just talk.

The other good thing was learning to ask Bear directly. "Would you take out the trash?" vs. "The kitchen stinks." Men and women each have their silly things, but like the author states at the end:

"Next time you are frustrated with the opposite sex, remember men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Even if you don't remember anything else from this book, remembering that we are supposed to be different will help you to be more loving. By gradually releasing your judgments and blame and persistently asking for what you want, you can create the loving relationships you want, need, and deserve."

I'm grateful I had a good marriage example from my parents and both sets of grandparents. Same with Bear's parents. I'm excited for all the fun years ahead. I am very in love.

*Life Update*

I'm supposed to give a sacrament meeting talk based on Elder Scott's talk, "The Eternal Blessings of Marriage" next Sunday, which will be out last in California. Secretly, I feel like a preschooler lecturing to college students how to do their physics homework. So I'm quite a bit nervous.

Also, I though I had appendicitis earlier this week, because I had pain on my right side. Bear's had his taken out and had a traumatic experience, and was really worried. We finally decided to go to the doctor, who didn't help us at all. The next step was the ER because we needed a CT scan to figure out whatever it was. We're trying to figure out our medical insurance mess, and the pain was dull, not sharp, so we decided to wait it out, I got a blessing that the pain would go away, and it did. I'm fine now. I think it was an ovarian cyst. The doctor did give me a pelvic exam though and said everything looked fine. So I'm back to normal after the scare.

No Texting During the Movie

So, I really wanted to see Thor and it came out in the dollar movie theater. We finally went one night to the late showing. I liked it, Bear thought it was cheesy. But I'd rather have it be a little bit cheesy with an overused theme and plot than something dark and disgusting that's supposed to be so shocking it "moves" you. Anyways, this dollar theater is kind of ghetto. Especially at the late showing. But hey, I'd rather pay $5 for the both of us than $18, right?

Well...Bear left his phone in the cup holder and went right back for it, but it was gone. He went back to the theater 2 more times after that and asked them to call my number if they found anything. We texted asking them to give it back. We threatened that it had GPS tracking (yeah, we lied).

It made sick to my stomach. I had bad dreams all night about the nasty things the thiefs were doing with his phone. I was also afraid it had important bank information or something on it. Bear has a bad habit of leaving things behind, but has always been lucky in getting it right back. I was hugging my purse to me the whole time and even checked the floor as we left, but not the cup holder.

The good news is, he did have some insurance on his phone, so we get the same new phone for half the price it should be. It should be here Tuesday. So the moral of the story is, if you're going to go to a ghetto theater, don't let your phone leave your body. Or else that $5 movie ends up being $50. Baha

And now I can't find my camera. Gah.