New Years Eve

I don't know about anyone else, but after approximately ten minutes of watching Carson Daley and his band of misfit toys host the Ball Drop, 

I became extremely annoyed. 

How are these people on T.V? 

Why are they wrecking New Years with their asinine commentary?

Happy 2014, though!

Going For A Run?

I am. 

It's time to start up again. I miss it so much. 

Partly because it gives me an excuse to put new playlists together on my ipod.

1. Intro-M83
2. Madness-Muse
3. Take A Walk-Passion Pit
4. Counting Stars-OneRepublic
5. Tongue-Tied-Grouplove
6. Now Is The Start-A Fine Frenzy
7. Hero-Family Of The Year
8. Everlasting Light-The Black Keys
9. Lake Michigan-Rogue Wave
10. Wake Me Up-Avicii
11. Midnight City-M83
12. Stay Alive-Jose Gonzalez
13. Wherever You Will Go-Charlene Soraia
14. Punching In A Dream-The Naked And Famous
15. Dirty Paws-Of Monsters And Men
16. Walking On A Dream-Empire Of The Sun
17. Naive-The Kooks

That Avicii song happens to be my new guilty pleasure. 

It brings me a 

skip-around-the-house-clad-in-minimal-amounts-of-clothing-with-speakers-turned-up-as-high-as-they-will-go 

kind of joy. 

Don't worry. 

I will be all sorts of clad when I go running today.

It's icy.

Things I've Learned After 6 Months of Marriage

Or, maybe I should say "Things I've Learned After 6 Months of Marriage to The Hotty McHotHot I Happen to Be Married To." After all, nobody is married to the same McHotHot as me. 
So here they are, in no particular order, for me to look back on when I forget these all-important principles:

6 Month Picture, 12/22/2013

1. "Hanger management" is important. Pack snacks when you run errands with your spouse.    
2. Celebrating birthdays and special events is still important-maybe even more important than they were before getting married. The celebrations don't need to be big or expensive, but a little thoughtfulness goes a long way. 
3. It's not always the husband's job to lock up at night. But it's always his job to get up a half-hour after we go to bed to double-check that the doors are locked on behalf of his paranoid wife. 
4. Gender stereotypes may not be 100% accurate 100% of the time, but they are stereotypes for a reason. Let's just say its not Colton getting teary-eyed over videos depicting a homeless war vet's makeover on YouTube.
5. Suck it up and say sorry ASAP. It's just better this way.
6. And when the other one says sorry, forgive and get past it as quickly as possible. I'm bad at this one. Sorry babe. Good thing I have eternity to practice (I might need it).
7. "Mo' money, mo' problems" is a load of crap. Biggie Smalls obviously never had student loans to pay off. However, to be fair, perhaps mo' money yields mo' problems when your main source of income comes from selling crack and talking smack about the West Coast. Don't mess.
8. A true gentleman is one who gives his wife all the blankets at night. Even if it's only because he gets too hot.
9. Sharing a queen-sized bed takes some getting used to, but not as much as people claim. Don't listen to the haters.
10. Marriage has it's hard moments, but it's fun. It's fun having a buddy to do things with, to wrestle with, to let you win all the dance-off's in the kitchen, to sleep with at night, to sit by, to wink at across the room at family gatherings. It's a good time.  

Clearly, I'm no expert. I still have a ton to learn. But I'm excited to learn it all with my buddy.

Here's to 6 months and counting!

Anything Can Be

I got on Facebook today, and they had an option to look over my major moments from 2013. So I looked.

There they were!

 Graduated with my Master's Degree. Got engaged. Got married. Started working as an SLP. All in one year.

Actually, if you want to get technical (you know I do), it was all within six months.

It's interesting, because for about two or three years prior, I felt kind of stuck.

Grad school seemed like it would never get here, and when it did, it seemed like it would last forever.

I knew I'd work as an SLP someday, but it was so far off, it didn't seem like it was a reality.

Getting married sounded great, but it was hard to imagine a relationship getting to that point, because none of them ever had before.

I didn't feel pessimistic, it was just hard to imagine things ever being different.

But, I'm learning, change always comes. And it can happen very quickly.

Some changes are good, some are difficult. Some are unexpected-in fact, I think the only thing we can expect in life is a few curveballs.

But that's the crazy part.

In the blink of an eye, things can happen.

Life can always surprise you,

no matter how old you are, no matter what has or hasn't happened up to that point.

This year, I hit some pretty significant milestones within a few months of each other.

It makes me wonder: what else is left?

Anything. Everything.

 That's the best part.



Lately

I've been meaning to write for a couple of weeks, but nothing ever seemed interesting enough to write about.

I've been working on my "To-Do" list a bit. I've read two and a half books so far, one of them being a re-read of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This prompted a lot of terrible British accent attempts from Colt in a valiant effort to make fun of me.

I can't be too upset though. He thinks wizards play "Quibbage."
He's such a Muggle.

I also just received a new book called "House Rules" as an early birthday present. I've heard good things and it seems really interesting-it's about a kid with Asperger's who is obsessed with forensic analysis, until he himself is charged with murder. 

It has suspense, a kid on the Spectrum, and it raises awareness about a syndrome that is often misunderstood; what's not to love?

I've already read the first few pages.

I have a habit of reading multiple books at once. 

My mom also offered to buy Colt and I a really nice camera for a combined birthday and Christmas Present! 

 I can't wait to start learning how to use it.
Although...

Photography is kind of hard. 

How hard could it be to take pretty pictures and video, you ask? 

If you are tech-illiterate, like me, pretty hard.

So wish me luck on my new hobby. 

My mom, dad, and grandparents drove up to Utah to spend Thanksgiving Weekend with my sister and I.

We had Thanksgiving with my aunt and all of my cousins and their families. We also exchanged a pair of ripped jeans on Black Friday (throughout which Colt and I CONSISTENTLY scored front row parking stalls all day-which never happens on normal days), saw two movies (The Saratov Approach and The Book Thief), and went and saw the beautiful lights at Temple Square.

It's been such a fun few weeks. Only two more weeks and a birthday until Christmas Break!

Will we make it? Stay tuned to find out...

Remember When...

A couple of years ago, I used to spend my Sunday afternoons eagerly anticipating *Ward Prayer. 

Not necessarily because I was a huge fan of the activity itself...but because there was a chance I'd get to see this super cute guy in my ward. I was always so happy when he came, and more than a little disappointed when he wasn't there.

Now, I get to spend every Sunday with him. 

I'm pretty lucky.

*Ward Prayer: a weekly activity for LDS Young Single Adult wards, in which they gather together for a spiritual thought and some socializin' on Sunday evenings.

'Tis the Season

Don't worry, folks. They aren't Christmas lights. Not until December 1st, anyways. 

Until then, they are Seasonal Lights. And I love them.

Special shout out to the magic-maker, Mr. Plessman. Good job, babe!

*Note the pumpkin blanket on the couch in the first picture. Juxtaposition. We're all about that over here.