My Day in 10

1. Ate banana pancakes topped with fresh sliced banana, plain yogurt and syrup. De-lish.

2. Gave myself a rockin' french tip manicure—in GOLD YO. My fingernails be blingin'.

3. Spent some time working for the magazine, updating their website and such. This left me wondering why in the world anyone would ever use anything but WordPress to design a site when they don't know anything about designing a site. Ah, well.

4. Took a trip to Lowe's and Hobby Lobby with the husband to pick up some supplies for his school project. Bought spray paint and other cool things.

5. Stared a Christmas decorations for an inordinate time while in Hobby Lobby. It won't be this year, but whenever I start my Christmas decoration collection, I will be stoked. Also, it was weird to me that Christmas is still so far away. I've already started buying gifts, because I'm THAT COOL. Also I sort of got caught with my pants down in the gifts department last year.

6. Ate at Taco Bell because we are degenerates who love Taco Bell too much. It made me hyper for some reason?

7. Helped the husband spray paint/stencil an awesome piece of art for his class. It looks cool.

8. Started cleaning my bathroom. Didn't get very far.

9. Watched some college football. Sadly, Georgia lost. Which was bad for some reason that Chris explained to me that I can't quite recall.

10. Stayed awesome. (It's harder than it looks, ok?)

The Big Move

\So we've done it. I spent many bored hours in the car, turning my seatbelt into a mustache (or an approximation of one), but we did it.

Somehow, we managed to pack up and move across the country, from Utah to North Carolina. It's been a crazy flurry of activity over the past fews months, with plenty of stress added in, but overall we're happy.

This week is Chris's first of the semester. He's been loving it, feeling really glad that he made the decision to go to Elon's Interactive Media program. But I have been realizing — Chris is going to be busy. He's had projects already that he's had to spend several hours on, and those are only introductory. It's starting to look more and more like I'm not going to be seeing too much of Chris over the next 9 months (and I can't believe that it will only be 9 months—it's going to fly by).

I'm trying to stay optimistic about that, though. It will be a change of pace from the year so far, where maybe we had a little too much time to be around each other, since we worked at the same place. And then drove home together. And ate together. And laughed together. Brushed our teeth together. You get the picture. But I think that the next few months will present us with some new challenges, and in many ways, blessings. Different circumstances allow for a relationship to grow in a different way—and we'll choose to make that positive and great.

I've started working as a staff member for the magazine, Autism Asperger's Digest. It's been informative and I've learned a lot. I love my boss, Kim, and I'm so happy to be working for a magazine again. I love magazines. The job is really flexible, and I do most of it from home. It's part time, so I'm hoping to find someplace else willing to pay me to work for them, just to fill in my schedule. And make more money. And to not have to spend so many hours alone in my house while Chris is busy busy busy.

A lot of big changes. And a lot more to come, to. It seems that, for the past two years, I've never known where I was going to be or what I was going to be doing further than six months in the future. And now is more of the same. I know we'll be here at least until Chris graduates, but what then? Stay in NC for a bit longer? Head out west?

Sometimes I feel totally seasick being out in the unknown waters of life. But looking forward, I feel good about things, optimistic. Maybe I've finally got my sealegs and learned to go with the flow better. Things take care of themselves, and there's still time between here and land to decide which harbor we're heading for. And that's where I'm going to stop this convoluted analogy before it gets too out of hand.

22 Things I've Learned in 22 Years.

I turned 22 almost two months ago. It's embarrassing that it has taken me this long to post this, but I still wanted to. It's inspired by Chris's post to his blog (26 Things I've Learned in 26 Years). So here it is, something of a summary of the wisdom I've managed to absorb over the years.

22 Things I've Learned in 22 Years

(Expanded version after the jump)

What Sundays are made for

Walking home from church, it seemed that all the flowers had decided to sprout at once. Tulips popping up and blooming everywhere, amidst daffodils and honeysuckle. The air smells clean and sweet and the sun feels warm.

At the corner of A St. and 4th, Chris suddenly says, "Rooster?!"

And sure enough, strutting around ahead, is a rooster, looking sleek and pecking around, his comb flopping with each thrust of his head. We stop and stare at him for a while. What a funny thing to see in the Avenues—a rooster loose.

We resume our walk, arm in arm.

"Why don't we take a picnic later today?" I ask Chris. He agrees that this is an excellent idea.

I cook up some recipes I've been looking forward to making all week:

• petite lasagnas and
  
  
• Pioneer Woman's caesar salad dressing

Then we pack them up in a tote and head up to Memorial Park, and eat overlooking the Capitol Building.

It's a little windy, but the sun feels wonderful and dinner is delicious. We talk about our plans for moving out to North Carolina. We decide to spend the two weeks before we drive out east to visit family and friends.

We cuddle on the grass. I love that Chris and I are not much different than we were a year ago—still loving each other, kissing even in public, wanting to always be touching. It's more comfortable now, with a bit less sexual tension, but somehow it's even more wonderful.

Love and good food and laughter—these are what a lazy Sunday afternoons are made for.

What's in a Family?

My cute niece, Josie, at my sister Ashley's reception.

I spent an excellent weekend in Las Vegas. My siste who got married a few weeks ago had her reception. It was a really lovely affair. I got to spend some good quality time with Chris. It was great. Jinny and Kimball were kind enough to host us, and it was great to get to spend some more time with them and catch up. Jinny really is one of the best friends I have/have ever had, and also has the biggest heart. You know you've got a great friend when, after being around them, you want to be a better person and have faith that you can be better. Jinny is just that kind of friend.

I don't know if it's that I'm older or married or what, but I feel like every time I go home it gets better. I feel less like I'm slipping through the cracks—and never like I want to. I used to feel that way around my huge family; I could only handle so much of them, and after a while I would drift off to my room to hole up and read. I remember feeling like I didn't have a place in a family so full of people.

But now I love every minute of being around them. Things get easier with all of my siblings and my parents. Not that it was ever very hard, because my family is AMAZING and we all get along and are very close. Maybe my family treats me more like an adult, or maybe I just am more adult—more grown up and in a better place. But still, it's a great feeling. They are amazing people, all very different, but all full of hope and love and charity. I'm so blessed to have them in my life and to be a part of such a great fam.

Also, it's getting so lovely out. There are tulips along our walkway. Freakin' tulips! Those don't grow in Vegas, and were sort of rare even in Rexburg. I am loving spring time.

Chris got accepted to an Interactive Media program at Elon in NC. He's really excited about it, and I'm proud of him. We'll be spending the next few months preparing/scraping money together to go. Everyone I've talked to has said the NC is really green, even if the people there can be blatantly racist. It'll be an adventure.

Eew, spiders.

I've spent the morning cleaning out my closet, which is a terrifying project because there are spiders in there. Like, a lot of them. SPIDERS THE SIZE OF MY HAND. I saw at least three, and after recovering from some serious heebie-jeebies, I grabbed the vacuum and sucked those suckers up. I feel really bad killing bugs/spiders, but not so much that I can handle running into them cleaning my closet. Nope.com, peoples!

Chris and I got a new car. We actually got it while ago but I guess I forgot to mention it here? Because whatever. Anyway, it's a 2008 blue Nissan Versa, and I pretty much lurve it. It's nice to be having our own care to worry about instead of feeling bad/worrying about breaking others' vehicles.

Chris and I are coming up to the end of the month-long menu that we were trying. Some of the meals were WAY good, some were just ok, some I felt like I didn't quite do right. But overall, I was really pleased with the results. Some favorites were: Salsa fry-up, pad thai, lentil-herder's pie, Irish goulash, ginger garlic stir fry, sag daal, tortilla casserole, and pizza. I got some great, easy new recipes that I love, and even better, I got the motivation to try some new recipes. Also, I got some healthier alternatives to some old favorites that were pretty heavy and calorie-loaded (veggie enchiladas).

Happy Birthday, Husband!

Chris's birthday was yesterday. I made him a delicious pizza (garlic butter, tomato slices, artichoke hearts, parmesan and mozzarella) and some carrot cake. The cake got this weird crust on it, like the edges had caramelized. I'm not sure if that is supposed to happen, but it was still delicious.

I also ordered Chris a couple of gifts, but they didn't arrive in time. In fact, they probably won't be here until next week. Sad face! And since Chris doesn't read my blog, I'll divulge them: some weird gadget he asked me to order (he explained what it was but I've since forgotten) and a Rebel Alliance hoodie. Chris rarely admits that he needs new clothing and will wear stuff until it wears out and beyond, so when he says "I think I might need (a) new ___" I jump on that!

You should read his blog post, "26 things I learned in 26 years." It will make you laugh, promise.

Tonight we are going to eat in. I'm trying a new recipe for lentil loaf (vegetarian meatloaf). Then we are going to see Hanna, which looks like it kicks so much butt. I'm excited.