Thursday, October 21, 2010

Happy Anniversary (A Day Late!)

Ben and I started dating four years ago yesterday. 


I believe this photo was taken on October 23, 2006


I would have wrote yesterday but unfortunately we were both sick. 


I found myself in bed in between classes yesterday and Ben came home from work and missed class because he also wasn't feeling well. 


So Ben and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary by resting on the couch (thankfully we could both fit!) and drinking a lot of water and tea. 


We watched P.S. I Love You together and I HIGHLY recommend that everyone sees this movie! Ben and I both really enjoyed the movie and the special story that it tells. 


Really, you need to rent it!!!


Disclaimer: Make sure you have a box of tissues next to you. You'll need it! 


Good news: We are both feeling much better today. The restful evening really helped. 


And more good news:




IT IS SNOWING!!!!!!! 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tired...

The last few days have been rough in terms of sleep. Theoretically I should be getting enough sleep but I toss and turn throughout the night and when the alarm goes off I feel like I haven't slept at all. I'm usually the type of person who hops out of bed when the alarm goes off and jumps right in the shower, eager to start the day. Well, not lately. Ben puts the alarm on snooze and we fall back into half sleep/half awake mode for another 10 minutes... or sometimes 20. Today was no exception. We spent 20 minutes refusing to leave the comfort of our warm bed. Finally I nudged Ben awake and told him we needed to get up because he had to work in 40 minutes. We spend a few minutes stretching, talking and slowing waking up. The light is turned on and we begin our morning routine. UNTIL we notice the clock. It is 7:14am and we don't need to be up until 8am. Whoops, Ben set the alarm for 6:50am instead of 8am. At this point I'm far too awake and here I am, working on homework before 8am. 


Good times.... good times... 
Oh, and where is Ben? Sleeping... haha

Friday, October 15, 2010

70 Days Until....

Christmas!! 


Can you already feel the excitement in the air? 


I've already noticed some Christmas decorations at various stores and when I leave our apartment in the morning, there is the faintest smell of Winter. Christmas will be here before we know it!


I wanted to be super prepared this year but here we are about 10 weeks away and I really haven't started, until... TODAY! 


I had a running list of ideas for crafty gifts and I finally sat down this morning to make a supply list. Ben and I spent some time at Micheal's pricing some items and then buying a few things. 


So far I've got 2 big projects to work on. I'm super stoked. I'll be working with a medium I often don't use, paint. Wish me luck!


I'll be sure to take lots of pictures that I will share after Christmas.. until then, I'll have to leave you in the dark. :) 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

4 Months

We've been married four months as of today! 

Ben and I went past our reception location this weekend and memories of our wedding day came flooding back to us. The day just flew by so I'm so thankful there are so many pictures from our wedding. I will eventually get them all up on Facebook but here are a few that make me smile a lot! 

I love this one. 
The way Ben's hand rests on my hip makes me break out into a big smile. I also love the fireplace in the background and our initials on the mantle.


One of my favorite parts of our wedding day was playing Ninja with all of our family and friends!

And one picture to make you smile! 
My mom asked me to smile and this is what I gave her.. haha
This was taken about 45 minutes before I married Ben! 

Monday, October 11, 2010

SF Student Teaching Application

I received a phone call today from the woman who is making the Student Teaching arrangements. I have to fill out some additional paperwork. I now am in the process of filling out fourteen questions that will convince them to find a placement for me. Talk about pressure! The questions are not easy and I have to complete them tonight so I can turn them in tomorrow to keep this process rolling. Even though I'm doing my part to get everything in as quickly as possible I found out today they won't make any decisions until early December. My chances are good but this causes quite the wrench in our plans. Ben is heading to Sioux Falls on November 12th to sign a lease and we won't know if we are going to be actually living there until December. We have to continue with our plans even though we aren't exactly sure what will happen. The woman assured me that everything looks good but she also said they can't make any promises and something could change. I know everything will work out yet I am worried. This will be a good lesson in patience. Wish us luck... 


We are now under the 2-month mark until our expected moving date. Our spare bedroom has a collection of boxes and empty totes. The packing process will begin this weekend. Ben works all weekend so I'll be home working on homework and packing.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

10.10.10

Happy 10-10-10.


October. 10. 2010. 


I was going to wait and post this at 10:10pm. Wouldn't that be crazy? 

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Big Wedding News!!

This is HUGE news for me!
I have slowly been going through all our wedding stuff and organizing it all. Filing what I could, downsizing what we had left, and finding a way to get everything into only two boxes. Well I am FINALLY done! I've worked on getting this done a little bit each week and it is finally complete. 


Post-Wedding To Do List:
* Print pictures for picture frames
* Put pictures up on Facebook
* Gather more photos from a few more people


That's it! The end is in sight! :) 


What a beautiful sight! 
On the left: Pictures, Pictures Discs, 
Files of cards, bridal showers, from my wedding binder, etc.
On the right: larger wedding keepsakes

Check out that organization! Hard work, but I'm so happy with it!

This was a MESS until recently. ALL organized now. 
This was a BIG project for me. 

This is all that remains of our wedding. 
Bittersweet. 

Weekend Update

Today was a busy day.


I spent three hours teaching about heat energy to 16 2nd and 3rd graders. It was a great learning experience!


We got some sad news earlier this week. My cousin's grandma passed away. Although it was something that they knew was coming, having a family member pass away never is easy. The funeral was here in Marquette so a large portion of my family were here today. I got to spend some time hanging out with my family before we went to pay our respects to Helen Tramp.


After the funeral service my parents, Aunty Wendy and cousin Mikayla spent some time catching up at our apartment. We had a nice time celebrating my birthday, talking about healthy living, playing with Mikayla's Halloween costume and Mikayla had a blast hanging out with her buddy Ben. They went to the garden and spent some time harvesting. We also went for a car ride up to a beautiful mountain and were in awe of the beautiful colors!! We stopped at a local pizza shop and they gave us a bunch of free pizza. Yum!


Now Ben and I are taking some time to relax this evening. It is something we haven't done often enough. I feel like we are running from one thing to another and hardly to have time to just sit and relax. We are so exhausted from the day that we figured now is a good time to relax. Mos of you know that I can't do that... so here I am! :)


Overall, it was a nice day. I enjoyed seeing so much of my family but unfortunately it wasn't for a happy occasion. Please pray for peace and comfort for all of those who mourn.


Now for some pictures...
My mom and Mikayla
Mikayla had to show us her awesome Halloween costume
and my mom had to try on Mikayla's wig! 


 My dad tried it on too. So did Ben... but I don't think he wants his picture on here. :)


Beautiful witch! 


 The beautiful fall colors! I will miss this!

Can life really get better than this? 


Mikayla and I! 


Mikayla LOVES Ben! He does silly things with her. 
Like having a pepper eating contest.