My Quandary

The other day at work I had kind of a tough day. It began with a phone call. To understand the importance of this phone call, you must first understand my boss. He's a bit of an eccentric, and very good at what he does. He's an attorney. He literally told me my first week working there that perfection is possible if I will only pay attention. Paperwork should be filed in a certain way, phone calls need to be handled just so, and thus perfection not only is attainable, it is shameful if it is not constantly maintained. He likes everything, and I do mean everything, to be handled his way. We, the under-staff, are only there to keep things running smoothly enough that he doesn't have to bother with us and our work, but can go about his own tasks uninterrupted.

Now, don't think that I don't like my boss. I do. And I believe that under his exterior he has an incling of affection for me. I can see it in the completely random comments he makes to me when he's trying to be friendly enough for a miniature conversation. For example, the other day he walked by my desk in the morning on his way to talk to the other secretary (most days we don't say a word to each other) and as he walked by, it was almost like he remembered that I was there and was obligated to say something. He stopped and said "Oh, good morning. How are you." To which I gave the inspiring reply, "I'm good. How about yourself?" He said, "Oh I'm great. Yeah, see I got some new shoes," at which point he looked down and started rocking on his heels like a self-conscious, proud 4th grader. I smiled not really knowing what to say to this random comment, and of course, brilliantly, the first thing that pops in to my head is a very sarcastic "well congrats." (aka whoopdy do. You're a millionaire.) (Thankfully, no one can tell when I'm sarcastic...I'm much too wholesome and cheerful-looking. It's too unexpected.) So we generally avoid each other at work, although I like him and I believe he grudgingly likes me...even if he probably doesn't remember my name half the time.

My fateful phone call came that morning from a hateful man named Mike Shaw. I picked up the phone, "Good morning, Pedersen & Whitehead."

He asked to speak with Ken. I asked what it was regarding.

He said, "It's personal."

Once in a while, Ken has friends that call and they are as eccentric and dismissive of us "underlings" as he is. They always say "it's personal."

So, I paged Ken. Told him who was on the line. He asked "well, who is that."

Bad Sign

I told him that he said it was personal. He said OK and picked it up.

I then had a bad, burny feeling in the stomach region.

Soon, I hear Ken's door opening. Next I hear the near shout "Whitney!?"

Very Bad Sign

He walks to my desk and says that Mike Shaw was a salesman trying to pawn something off on him. Don't I know what I'm doing? My job is to screen these calls so he doesn't have to deal with anything he doesn't want to. I mean, why else am I being paid right? He was furious especially that I told him that it was a "personal call." How dare I. All of this being fairly yelled in the middle of the office. Each person can hear. Eventually he walks off without waiting for a reply muttering, "You told me he was my friend."

Hmm.

Well, the tongue lashing was a little embarrassing, but I don't pay too much attention because next thing I know Ken will give me a cheerful "have a good lunch!" Besides, I know that I didn't do anything wrong. It ain't my fault that a salesman got tricky and knows how to get through to talk to an attorney (even though he has a flagrant disregard for the poor receptionists, because he has to know that they get the flack for it. Hateful man) I just continued with my work, and didn't let it bother me much.

Then, my co-worker sneaks up to me and says very quietly "Whitney, don't worry about Ken. He does that to all of us. You just have to smile and nod your head and say 'yeah, ok ken' and then he'll leave you alone. He's just stressed about this big trial we have, it makes him edgy. Don't worry about it, he does it to all of us."

hmmm

Soon, another one of the secretaries comes up to me and under her voice says almost exactly the same thing. "He's just stressed. We've all been yelled at before."

Double hmmm

And herein lies my problem. The little thorn in my side that nags at my conscience, my sense of right and wrong.

Why does it matter that he's stressed? Because he's a "powerful" man and is taking financial risks makes it excusable to treat people this way? I'm not tooting my horn here, I'm not having a pity party because I was yelled at. It honestly didn't bother me much until the other girls I work with offered me support in saying that they get the pleasure of being publicly humiliated too. I don't believe that stress is a free pass for behaving like a spoiled child. I also don't want to sound like a feminist here, but he would never, ever treat a man that way. Never. Why is that? There are men that work in the office. None of them have ever had a tongue lashing. None.

And that's where I see that I am just as guilty as he. I allow him to treat me that way. And the more I allow it, the more he will likely continue. Because he's the man in charge, and I'm the lowly receptionist. I could have said, "Ken, I didn't tell you he was your friend. I told you that he said it was a personal call. If you didn't know him, then you should have told me to either get rid of him, or get more information. I'm sorry, but unless you'd like to give me a list of every single friend that may call, it's just rude to ask what a personal call is regarding." But I didn't say that to him. Nor can I imagine myself saying that to him. I'm a quiet person who does not like confrontation. It makes me nervous.

The solution to my problem? Either get a backbone, or don't screw up ever again.

Right now, perfection seems easier.

Arizona

Last week, Chris and I went to Mesa with his parents to his brother's graduation. It was such a great trip! (Except for the drive of course. Ugh)

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the trip.

We went to one of the malls there and just shopped around. Chris went to the Pottery Barn with me and I decided (as I always do when I visit there) that one day my house will look like that store. (Sigh) now all I have to do is become filthy rich to be able to afford it!

The graduation was great. It was fun to watch the girls cheering for Shaun...and then once he was done they would keep asking why they couldn't leave now! Watching the graduation made me excited to start school again (yeah, I'm a nerd like that) and to finally be done with my own graduation.

The guys went golfing one morning, and were back by breakfast time because it was already way too hot. Teagan managed to convince me to get up at 5 to go work out with her (yeah, she's awesome like that.) It was pretty nice actually, but already it was warmer outside than I would ever work out in at home. I can see why she needs to get up that early to work out...and I could also see that it had been a LONG time since I'd worked out. It was way harder than it should have been, yikes!

While we were there, Chris's old missionary buddy called him to get together. Elder Rush. He's from Mesa and is still there going to school. He's a great guy, and I wish that I had some single friends to introduce him to. It was fun to listen to Chris and him talk about "the glory days" of Alabama.

Chris, as most of you know, is going to go to school to be an optometrist. He originally wanted to go back to Alabama for school, but we found out that there is a nice, smaller school in Mesa that he could go to. So, if he can be accepted there, we will probably be living there for a few years. I'm actually pretty excited about that. I've loved Arizona ever since we took that vacation to Tucsan. I really like Mesa, and it's a lot closer to home than Alabama!

If you want to see some pictures from the trip, just visit Shaun and Teagan's blog (over to the right --->)

Thanks Shaun and Teagan for having us. It was so fun to see you guys again, we had a great time! Love you!

Summer Afternoon

The other day, Chris and I went to Shoshone falls for a picnic. We played Bocci, a little frizbee, but mostly just lounged around and enjoyed the afternoon. Lovely.

This is our view from the picture above.

I love summer afternoons.

Bear Lake

The Bear Lake trip was FABULOUS!! We had such a great time and loved spending time with everybody. Here's some pics of the vacation.

This is the view of the lake as we drove up in the car. It was about this time that I started to squeal in excitement.

This (golf) was a main attraction for these particular boys.

Me watching the boys. Yup, my sprinkling of freckles is adorable.

The view from our back porch. It's kinda hard in this picture to see the lake because it blends into the mountains behind it, but it's just right there.

And here we have the love of my life. Covered in sand. (sigh) Isn't he dreamy?

Chris and Logan building the moat around the sand castle. This was quite the project.

This was on the van ride up to the minitonka caves. And yes, Chris and I are matching. We must really be meant for eachother.

Poor Maren and Logan were kinda bullied around the twister board with me and Chris. I don't know what's wrong with Maren in this picture, but she looks like she's going to be ill.

This was Sam's turn to play where we got creative. This particular command was "put your head on yellow"

Dad and Sam bumpin' knuckles. pound it.

Girl time: mani's and pedi's

All us girls got hats for ouselves. We didn't manage to get a picture of all of us though...

This one made me laugh, twinners! After doing so many fun things, we all felt the need for one of these.
This really was such a fun trip. Thanks mom and dad for setting it all up. We love you!

My Confession

So everybody is self-conscious of something about themselves. Everyone. Sometimes, to relieve the tension of what it is about myself that makes me so uneasy, I make little jokes about it. It kinda bugs me when people don't accept the joke and say things like "no you're not" and "of course you do!" Seriously, just let me wallow. It makes me feel better.

Some things in particular that make me squirm:

Here's a given. My height. (I know, everyone is jumping to my defense, thinking "you're not THAT tall," or "Tall is beautiful." Thank you very much for being loyal, but trust me, I know and I believe you...doesn't change a thing though.) I would give anything to be little for just one day. Okay...maybe a week. To be able to find clothes that fit because I'm a normal sized person would be EUPHORIA! To get to wear the adorable high heels that I so covetously desire! Oh, Good Glory!! Since I can remember, my dearest wish was to someday be able to curl up in the lap of my beloved and just be cuddled. But...that cannot happen, I am too big. I don't fit. The only men I know that are big enough to do such a thing are my brothers. Jenny, I love you, but when Todd brought you home the first time I could have shot him. Shot him for falling for such a darling, tiny girl (And don't think you're off the hook Robb, I could have done it to you too). I could have done it for all the tall girls out there. There's a certain camaraderie amongst tall girls...I catch the eye of another woman my height (can't miss her, she's the only one at eye level) and there's a certain common knowledge. It's like she's saying, "Yep, I understand sista...I understand."It's like a club. During the tumultuous pubescent years, it was a little difficult to deal with...considering by the time I entered 5th grade I was taller than all the boys, girls--and all the teachers. As I came of age I realized that being tall is a part of my personality. The way I am wouldn't fit on a small girl, and I came to love the the way I am. It can still cause problems though, even though I've embraced my extra long self. I still avoid with zealousness the possibility of standing, sitting, lying, and/or walking next to a small girl. My little heart can't bear the comparison. Some of Chris's friends have absolutely tiny wives. When we get together they are all dainty and take up hardly any space...and then I come lumbering along. Ugh.

Another odd thing that I'm slightly self conscious of is my taste in music. When I first meet someone, a common question is "What kind of music do you like." Cue the stuttering and stalling! I don't have a particular kind of music I like. Honestly, I hardly ever like popular music...it just usually sounds like noise to me. Someone asks me my favorite song and I'm more likely to come up with something by Simon and Garfunkle than anything new. I never know who sings what song. Don't be confused into thinking that I don't care much for listening to music...oh no, I take my music very seriously. I need to listen to something almost constantly. I cannot clean efficiently without it, I can't enjoy a good game without something playing. There's no possibility of exercising without something to distract me from the pain (do not be confused again into thinking that I work out more than a couple times a year.) To face my fears and insecurities in the musical taste arena, I will give you a playlist of what I listen to when I (supposedly) work out. Some of it is quite good, others you will probably think I'm "a bit wonky."

If I'm feeling particularly bouncy:

"Viva La Vida" by Cold Play (I only know that because it says so in iTunes...)

"Lollipop" and "Love Today" by Mika (This music is flamboyantly gay...but I dare you not to dance to these candies-for-your-ears)

"Unwritten" by Natasha Beningfield

"Happy Girl" by Martina McBride

(If you are male and listen to any of the two afore mentioned songs...you may be flamboyantly gay. Just FYI)

"Here In Your Arms" by hellogoodbye (People either love it or hate it. I am of the "love it" persuasion)

"Flat Head" by the Frailties (Not possible to not shake your hips)

"Single Ladies" by Beyonce (Super bouncy, except for the weird middle which always gives me a bad, burny feeling in my stomach...)

"Diner" by Martin Sexton (It's about a Diner...)

"Cecilia" by Simon and Garfunkle (told ya)

If I'm in a work-my-tail-off mood:

"All These Things That I've Done" by the Killers (Keep in mind this was a hugely popular song...years ago and I'm now coming around to it.)

"Mr. Brightside" by the Killers (Again...)

"Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven (In one word: Awesome)

"Son of Man" and "Two Worlds" in the Tarzan soundtrack (seriously)

"Lose Yourself" by Eminem (yeah, I have to be honest...It pumps me up. I know, I know)

"You Are Loved" by Josh Groban (yep, I'm such a girl)

If I just wanna listen to music

"Till Kingdom Come" by Coldplay

"Book of Love" by Peter Gabriel

Pretty much any of the classics of Nat King Cole (not even kidding)

"Fix You" and "The Scientist" by Coldplay (I must like Coldplay...)

The soundtrack to 'The Gladiator" "Batman Begins" or "The Davinci Code" (Seriously, don't even talk to me while I'm listening...I won't answer) Hans Zimmer is a fraggin genius. Good stuff, that is.

There, I faced my fear, and now you know what music I like. Some of it's good, some of it's weird. Take it or leave it. You also know how I feel about my genetic propensity for extra tall clothing. Now that I've got that off my chest (sigh) I feel better.

(Next time, I would post about all the things I like about myself...but it would be even longer, and I'd just be bragging.)

Remarks from Sparks give away

So I'm pretty loyal.

There's a certain blog that I read everyday...at work.

Some people take smoking breaks, I take "Remarks" breaks.

It always leaves me laughing and contemplating...plus it's better for my health.

So I read it every day.

I never leave a comment...I've always been shy. I really should tell her how much I love her blog.

She also just so happens to be giving away an iphone...the dearest desire of my dearest's heart!

How Exciting!

For extra entries, I've faithfully voted for her and her sister's blogs for the BlogLuxe Awards (both are deserving of the award if you ask me), I dutifully snatched their buttons for my own blog, and now I am obediently posting about this particular give away.

Mark another one up for Whit and Chris.

Shortly after Chris and I entered wedded bliss, he insisted that we needed new phones. I was perfectly happy with the old, outdated phone of my singledom, but I wanted to give him what he wanted. And he wanted the blackberry. I chose the blackberry pearl. We went throught a week long ordeal looking for phones and phone plans, choosing colors and making orders. I liked my new little phone. It makes calls just like the old one... plus a lot of stuff I don't know how to use. Totally worth the $$$.

Chris on the other hand, opened the box to his highly anticipated new purchase, and promptly announced he didn't like it and wished he had gotten a different phone. Now he is jonesing for an iphone.

He really hates his phone. For the sake of my husband, I hope I win.

http://www.remarksfromsparks.com

My Little Sunshine

I consider myself to be lucky in that I have just bit more sunshine in my day than my co-workers. You see, I have the greatest mail man in the world...and as I'm the receptionist, I revel in selfishly hogging his sunshine all to myself at the front desk.


He's like Santa Clause.


Honestly, he kinda looks like Santa. He's an older gentleman, a little round 'round the middle, and a beard as white as snow. And his eyes!! Oh, his eyes! They make me feel like when I was a little girl and grandpa would laugh as I searched every coat pocket for the piece of candy he must have surely brought for me...little did I know that his eyes were laughing because it was his little secret that the candy was really in his hand. To say the least...they twinkle.


He always wears shorts...December or August shorts are the attire. And he wears the funniest glasses. I swear my teacher had some just like it in the fifth grade. She'd pull them out when it was story time, and they were small little frames with brightly multi-colored rims. Delightful.


I don't know his name, and he does not know mine. I doubt we'll ever be formally introduced. To me, he'll always be my mailman. At Christmas, I will give him a card addressed to "my favorite mailman." (Yes, he is so endearing that I want to give him a Christmas card) He has a boisterous voice that's just a little gruff. We exchange pleasantries such as "Good morning," or my personal favorite, "Happy Friday!" Once in a while he'll compliment my sweater, saying it reminds him of the color of cranberries. Charming. I always thank him for his service, and I sincerely mean it when I say, "Have a good day."


As we all know, I am not a morning person. I've had quite the love affair with my bed for some time now, and I can be a little cranky when we must part ways. I don't really remember much until about 10:00 am, as that's when the fog clears and I'm fully awake and functional...luckily that's about the time my beloved mailman comes.


It's nice to wake up to sunshine.

I've been tagged

So, Teagan tagged me to blog about the sixth picture in the sixth file on my computer. This little gem is from our honeymoon (oooooo!) This is a picture of the patio on the night we got there (if you didn't know, we went to a little condo at a ski resort in Ogden.) That night it snowed like crazy! If you can't tell there was about 3 feet of snow, and most of it fell that night. We were pretty grateful we arrived before the storm hit. Plus being snowed-in was kinda cozy... being that it was our honeymoon and all. :) So there ya go.

That boy must love me

Well, a few months ago I went into a sort of blogging frenzy...with a whole 3 new posts. (quite the accomplishment.) And now I'm back to posting here and there every few months, something that I know can be a little annoying to everyone else. I've come to realize that it's not my fault (nothing ever is...obviously!) My reasoning being that I don't have all the necessary subjects of blogging: Cute children, a house project (or even a house in general), Cute children, "couple friends", and Cute children. Our life is void of all three genres...although I do have a cute husband (and lucky him, he has a cute wifey!)

So, I've decided instead of feeling awkward as I blog because 1)there is nothing terribly interesting about our lives and 2)I don't have the necessary subjects...I've decided to write about what I DO have: A lovely husband (most of the time anyways) a funny kitty, and the interesting thoughts that come to mind during the ridiculous amount of free time I have at work doing NOTHING. (Some days, I absolutely love my job...who else gets paid to daydream!)

So, with that introduction, (and at the risk of making this blog a shrine to my husband...it's a good thing he never reads this thing or else he'd be a little embarrassed) without further ado, I bring to you in honor of the upcoming Lover's Holiday:

Things I ADORE about my ADORING husband (The reason that "husband" is green is because the word "husband" should NEVER be the color pink. FYI)

Today I loved the spouse because he studies so much. He got up at 6:30 today to study just a little bit more for his Econ. test...which he aced!!! So proud :)

I also loved el husband-o because this morning, as all mornings, I woke up holding hands with him...Somehow during the night his hand always manages to find mine. (I know... you're all thinking "awwww"...That's okay...go ahead and think it)

I loved playing hookie with him today. Hookie is no fun without him.

Lastly, I love that when he's dead asleep, I can lay my head on his shoulder and he will always, always turn his head to kiss mine. Never fails. IN HIS SLEEP of all things. That boy must love me.

There's obviously more things I love about the lover, but those are just some reasons on my mind today. So there ya go.

What did you adore about your adoring husband today?

Do you want to hear a love story?

We made it! (of course we made it) The supposedly hardest first year of marriage has been completed and we're beggin' for more! After a year we still feel like Newlyweds.

Most of you don't really know the story of how we fell in love, and how we knew we should be together. In commemoration of our first anniversary, I've decided to share with you what I consider to be a gem of a love story. (I'll omit the mushy details for the sake of my male readers.)

Last summer ( '07) I was having a blast in the student ward. I had lots of fun with my friends, I was dating some really fun guys, and you know...generally having a lot of fun. Chris had seen me at the student ward and, as he would say, "he could never find me to introduce himself after church." However, as he was living with his parents for the summer, his mother says it was slightly more dramatic than that. She told me about how every Sunday for two months they would hold their breath waiting for him to come home to see if he'd worked up the nerve to talk to "that girl" he saw at church, and every Sunday he would come home disappointed because he hadn't.

In June, my friend Denae Crowley was looking for someone to play a musical number in sacrament meeting for the Stake presidency. She knew I played the cello and asked me if I would put something together for the next week. Now, I don't know if you're aware of this, but there is not much that I dread more than playing for an audience...especially in church. This time though, I was actually pretty excited about it. I was playing a duet with my friend Andrew who is an incredible musician (which could explain why I didn't mind so much).

After we were finished playing (which was gorgeous by the way, should have been recorded) I was standing talking with my friend Christine and Kelly, and Chris came up to us to say hello to Kelly. (I found out later that he had asked Kelly to go talk to me so he could come up and talk to her and she would introduce him...smooth) Anyways, when he came to talk to us, Kelly and Christine got "distracted" by someone across the room and left Chris to talk to me. The conversation literally went as follows:

"Hi, I'm Chris"

"Hi I'm Whitney"

"You did great today"

"Thanks"

"So what was it that you played"

"Oh, it's an old hymn. Come thou Fount of Every Blessing." (I found out later that he was actually asking what instrument I played... Silly boy)

"Oh... You know, I'd really like to get to know you. Could I get your number and take you out next week?"

Now I don't know what it was like when any of you were dating, but this was a total jaw dropper to me. Guys didn't just ask you out like that. Oh no, that was far too simple. There's an epidemic of "hanging out" for months before there's a possible first date. So naturally, I gave him my number and told him I'd like to go out with him that weekend.

Mom and dad were in Michigan for 10 days, so when I got home I called Mom and told her about Chris. I think I told her it was kind of odd, but I liked that he was obviously interested in me. (Chris told me later that when his parents asked if he had talked to me that day, he was horrified at his conversation with me and he was convinced I probably thought he was such a dork...silly boy)

So, the weekend was soon, and Chris called me on Thursday and asked if I would go out with him the next evening. I worked till 10:00 every night, so I told him we'd have to do it some other time. He told me that 10:00 wasn't too late, and we'd just go out for a bite. I was trying to get out of it, but he was persistant. So Friday 10:00 rolls around and I'm nasty, tired, and sweaty from my job which is basically an 8 hour work out, and I head over to meet him at Applebee's. We eat some grub and talk. I thought he was kind of a nerd, but then again so am I. (Did I mention I love nerds? They're the sweetest). We had a lot of fun talking so he asked me if I wanted to go back to his house and play some games. I figured why not, and don't tell Mom and dad, but we were out till 4:00 just laughing and playing. I really wasn't that interested, but I thought he was fun.

The next Sunday at church he said hello and talked to me during Sunday school. He knew I was by myself because Mom and Dad were still in Michigan, and it was Father's Day, so he invited me to the picnic his family was having. I felt a little akward intruding on his family event but everyone was really nice. We stayed out on the front lawn goofing around all night again and when he walked me to the car and said goodnight, he was about to shut my door and he popped his head in and said "Oh yeah, you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen...How'd you do that?" Cheesy, but cute. You gotta admit.

On his mission, Chris had been given these little medallions that had his mission seal on them. They were awards for...doing really well...I guess. Anyways, he had been given a few of them, and he gave one to me to keep on my key chain. On one of my favorite dates with him, he took me to go star-gazing (One of my very favorite things.) He brought a little mini grill to roast marshmellows, and he had gotten me an astronomy book with all the constellations. I was so impressed! Keep in mind that at this time, I'm still dating other guys because I'm NOT interested in doing the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. One day though, I had an unexpected day off (something about it being illegal to do 16 hour shifts in the health field...) so I had a whole day to myself, and do whatever...but all I wanted to do was be with Chris. That's when I knew that I should probably stop dating other guys and see what could happen with me and him.

So he was working two jobs at the time, and I was working as a CNA and taking classes at the same time. Not a ton of time to be together but we managed. One day, we had a miraculous day off TOGETHER, so we decided to make good on the time we had. We got up to watch the sunrise, and ended up spending 21 hours together. Funny part was it was still hard to say goodnight.

We'd been dating for a few months, spending every spare second we could together, and were completely head over heels for each other. Chris and I had talked about marriage a little, but I really wasn't interested in being that serious because I was way too young, I had too much I wanted to do, blah blah blah. Nevertheless, Chris was persistant. He asked me to marry him, and I told him "I don't know." He was fine with that. He told me I could have all the time I needed to decide, as long as he knew that I was thinking about it. Well, I noticed that I would talk to him about marriage more, and what it would be like to be married, and fun things we would do once we were married, blah blah blah, so I knew that I couldn't just keep dating him and making him wait.

I've always known, though, that I should pray about marriage, even if I know that it's what I want. I needed to know that it was what God had in mind for me, and I couldn't give him a definate yes or no until I had that answer. He had already been to the temple about it and had gotten his answer and he was so patient waiting for me to do the same. I procrastinated praying about it because I was so freaked out by the thought of being a WIFE! I was just a kid for heaven's sake!

Well, Chris and I decided that we would set a day aside to fast and pray about whether or not marriage was the right step for us right now. He was out of town that day, but we still decided that every two hours we would stop and say a quick prayer. We started our fast at 10:00, and I went upstairs to my room to pray. I wasn't praying to ask if Chris was "the one." I don't believe that there is a "one and only." I just wanted to know if it was the right time, if we could make each other happy, if I could become the person God wanted me to be with Chris, if we would be the family that God needed us to be. While I was praying, I opened my eyes and noticed that my keys were on my bed. That kind of surprised me because I always left them downstairs on the table. I got distracted from my prayer (obviously) and picked them up. I looked at the medallion Chris had given me, and I turned it over to the back side. I'd never really looked at it before, but on the other side, there is a heart with the phrase "Strive for perfection" engraved inside of the heart. That's when I knew I should marry Chris.

Now, not that it was a "sign" or anything. I was just so worried because I was so young and this was the biggest and most important decision of my life and I wanted so much to marry someone who would be my partner in putting God first in our lives, and in being wonderfully in love forever, and always helping each other be a little better. When I saw the medallion, I just felt so much peace. I knew that it would be the motto of our marriage. That together with our love for eachother, we would always "Strive for Perfection." I knew that I should marry Chris, and I knew that I would be so, so happy.

And when you know...why wait.

He proposed officially in October. He drove me to the highest mountain in Island Park, where you can see the Northern Lights on a clear night. He took me star-gazing with roasted marshmellows...my favorite date. He even brought along the astronomy book he gave to me before (stolen from my room for him by my roommates) Unfortunately, we got stuck in the snow on the way up to the peak, so we settled for someplace farther down the mountain. He asked me to look up Cassiopea in my astronomy book (My favorite constellation because it's shaped like a W and it's named "The Queen of the Sky.") On the page about Cassiopea, he had typed up a story about how the very normal "King Cepheus" (...silly boy) met the beautiful "Queen Cassiopea" and how they'd fallen in love, how he took her to the mountains one evening to look at the stars, and how he had brought a small token of his love to give her as he got on one knee to ask a very important question...

I'm still in love with that...silly boy.

And the rest-- as they say-- is history.

THaNkSgiVInG!!

Well, I finally decided to share all those pictures I had from Turkey day. To be honest, most of them were taken by Maren... which would explain why I have a million pictures just like this!

But she's a little artist, and took some pretty great pictures of the day.

First of all we have Mother, the star of the day! What an excellent cook!

Everyone was helping where they could.

Kids chillin out before dinner.And here we have the days activities.

Cause.....and effect


Yup, dad is eating his pie out of a serving bowl...His excuse being that he's going to eat that much pie anyways, might as well not have to get up to get seconds.


Sam showing off his chocolate pie hands. The chocolate pie and Activia yogurt were his diet of the day.


Mom has this funny knack for managing to stick her tongue out in pictures by accident. I don't really know how one sticks their tongue out on accident, but oh well.

And here's some random pictures taken throughout the rest of the day.

I wonder what Chris is making that face at in that picture ^



Maren and I decided that we like profile pictures. Kinda neat I think.

I would have to say that this Thanksgiving was Fabulous! Delicious, relaxing, fun, and wonderful.

Lucky in Love

The other night Chris made cupcakes, my favorite kind. I brought some to work to share with Annette.


Annette told me I was lucky to have such a good husband.


I told her she was right.

Yeah, we are those people.

You know those kind of people who are obnoxiously affectionate with their pets? You know, the kind that make pancakes for their overgrown dogs, (hint hint) kiss their faces even though you know they just licked their own bottom, and the kind that buy clothing for their pets...

Yeah, we're those kind of people. (Except for the whole pancakes-bum-kissing thing.)

Actually the sweater was a dollar a Target. When we put it on her, it was pretty hilarious watching her wrestle with herself to get it off.

A whole dollar for an entire night of entertainment! Talk about a cheap date night :)

The Winter Pinks?

Our heater is on the fritz which means really chilly mornings around our place. My dear husband has nothing but basketball shorts to wear as PJ's, so he stole my HOT pink flannel bottoms. (Super sexy right?) There's no shame in having warm legs!

Can anybody guess what he might be getting for Christmas???

It's about time!

Well, it's November and my last post was all the way back in September!!! It's been a while to say the least. To be honest, there's really not too much going on with us lately. We're back in Twin, and I'll be starting the nursing program next fall (woohoo!). Right now, I'm working as a receptionist at a law firm (that specializes in medical malpractice cases so....ironic), and I'm also working as a clinical assistant at a hearing aid clinic. I actually really like both of my jobs! My first job is kinda fun, and as a major plus, the office goes out for breakfast at least once a week (yay) I get the giant granite front desk with the HUGE wide screen computer monitor (it's as big as a TV, I swear.) Anyway it's a pretty nice place...even if my boss's are a little eccentric.

My second job is kinda fun too! I'm the assistant to an audioprosthologist. If someone has a problem with their hearing aids not working right, they make an appointment to see me, in my very own HUGE office, and I get to wear my lab coat (which is exciting to me for some reason) and I have a separate room with my work bench and all these power tools and such to fix stuff.

With either job, I have an incredible amount of down time where I honestly have nothing I can do...besides clean (and lets face it, there's only so many times you can clean an office without eventually having nothing left to clean!) Honestly, I check everyone's blogs everyday, so it's really not fair of me to have gone for so long without updating my own because I kind of depend on everyone else to keep me entertained!

Chris has been working at the music store with Mom and Dad. It worked out as a win-win for everyone! Mom and Karen both wanted to work less in the store, Dad needed someone there to be able to help him lift pianos, Chris has accounting experience, and Chris needed a job that would be willing to work with his school schedule. FANTASTIC!

That's really all the news we have. We were planning on a great Halloween with lots of pictures, but unfortunatly we were both pretty sick and ended up crashing on the couch for a week! We even had such a good idea for a costume...but I shouldn't tell you, I'll just save it for next year! Who knows...at the rate that I'm going, it might be Halloween again before I make a new post anyways! ;)

Well, Chris and I had been wanting to go camping the entire summer. It was already September and we didn't feel like we had had a summer! So, thanks to Mark and Halee and Mom and Dad for letting us borrow EVERYTHING, we got to have one last hurrah before the end of the summer. We went to the Sawtooths and found a great spot literally 10 feet from this little stream. We couldn't have found a better spot. (Yes I know...we brought our cat. She was actually pretty funny to watch trying to catch grasshoppers and knats.)





















In honor of dad, we took pictures of breakfast! Gotta keep the tradition alive :) Yum Yum!



To top it off, we went fishing...well...we tried to! not much fish to be had, but still all in all, it was a great trip! I now officially feel ready for fall!