Better Every Day

Since we've been back, Michael has continued to come through on his promise to set his studies aside for some quality time with the dear ol' wifey. Though we don't exactly have time to go out and do anything, he does dedicate about an hour a night to spending time together. Lately, our time together has primarily consisted of dinner together and a couple episodes of How I Met your Mother. I know, not terribly exciting, but I appreciate any time we have after such a busy last semester and we've become rather addicted to the show. There's just so much comfort in coming home to your husband and spending some time relaxing and watching your favorite show.

One new thing we tried a couple weeks ago was making homemade pizza crust for the first time. I got the recipe from Pinterest (duh!!) and figured we could try it. It turned out to be a really enjoyable time and the pizza turned out yummy! Here's the link if you want to try it for yourself: http://annies-eats.com/2010/04/29/perfect-homemade-pizza-crust-tips-and-tricks/. We've also started back with our tradition of getting Buffalo Wild Wings every Thursday. This began back in college with friends and as it went on, it extended to my fabulous boyfriend at the time. I've also been trying alot of new recipes from Pinterest, but I'll post about the results of those later. I know you're probably thinking how wierd it is that when writing about what we've been doing lately, all I have to write about is food we've eaten. Well, I guess it's time you all find out what my hubby did on our honeymoon with the all-inclusive gormet food- I'm a fat girl at heart. Plus, half our time together is spent eating, so it seems appropriate that I write about it haha.

So anyway, all this time together has made me enjoy being a wife so much more than I did last semester. I'm so content and don't feel so homesick (with the exception of last week when we went to a local "mexican" restaraunt, which doesn't really even hold a candle to Taco Cabana back home). I just recently talked to my best friend, Lauren, and we got to talking about how being married pushes us to better ourselves or to stick with something we wouldn't have otherwise. It really is true! If I didn't have a husband who depended on me to bring home the bacon, I would have quit my job about the third day (haha, I kid you not!). He told me to stick with it and I ended up loving it...until very recently, that is. Now, He's been a constant support as I look for a real career. Michael believes in me, and this is enough to keep me going until I find what I'm looking for. At times, our opposit interests and personalities have made things difficult, but I'm appreciating our differences more and more as time goes on.

His faith in me was every more apparent last week on the day that I had my first interview. I was nervous and before I left, Michael took me by the shoulders, told me how confident in me he is and made me repeat "you is kind, you is smart, you is important", the famous quote from The Help, which we just watched with my parents over our visit to TX. Though he was halfway kidding, he was also serious. If someone as smart as him believes in me, then I had every reason to be confident in myself. As I mentioned before, my interview went well, but wasn't a position I was interested in taking.

To show Michael how appreciative I am of his support, I made his favorite entree from our wedding. It took a while to make it, but it was totally worth it! We had bruschetta, garlic cheese mashed potatoes, chicken stuffed with jalapeno and cream cheese and wrapped in bacon, and a salad served in a martini glass, just like at the wedding. Everything turned out great and Michael enjoyed it alot!

Lately it's been really snowy up here- unfortunately. It snowed most of last week and 3-4 inches a few days ago. Friends, lemme tell you, snow is beautiful and when you see it in pictures, you think you want to live in a place where the ground shimmers from the glittery white fluff, but it certainly isn't worth the mess it causes. Let me tell you about all the things I've learned about living in a place where snow is a typical occurance:

• you would think drivers here are used to driving in the snow and, thus, have become good at it...you would be very very wrong. Now it is possible that Iowans are only terrible at driving in it because they are terrible at driving in normal conditions, but it's hard to tell for sure
• Dogs don't like to do their business in it, especially when it's deep enough to touch their butts. At least Gizmo doesn't. He requires a place be shoveled for him to go in complete comfort
• people who are used to snow don't take advantage of it. It's pretty sad really. I have literally not seen a single person or family play in the snow the entire winter, and houses don't have fences around them here, so you can see the entire front and backyards. This even means that I've seen ZERO snowmen in yards. So wierd!
• It is entirely necessary for short people like myself to have those foot pedal extensions (the kind that little people use) for their cars because the chances of you sliding into a car or off the road seem to be about 50/50 and if the airbag deploys while sitting as close to the steeringwheel as I do, they probably won't come out of it with a head.  Please note: I base the 50/50 stat on the dozens of cars I see off on the side of the roads and laying at the bottom of hills on my way to work everyday. Not a pretty sight.
• As I mentioned, snow is beautiful. Ice, however, is miserable and so is the slush that is left after enjoying the snow for just a few days

Though I'm clearly not thrilled about this fluffy white substance, I'm determined to enjoy it as much as I can. After all, it really does make for a fun-filled time! A couple of days ago I even surprised Michael with some pretty cool new sleds, which we got to break in a couple of days ago. We had such a fun time and I think Gizmo had even more fun than we did. We ended up having to cut our time short because Gizmo had frozen balls of ice between the pads of his feet and was limping, poor baby! Needless to say, we will no longer be using those plastic bin lids for winter recreation :)

As for what we've been up to the past few days? Well, we finally got real internet!!! Up until now we've just been using our phones as hotspots. With our new internet though, Michael was able to hook up the kinect I got for Christmas. So for the past couple of days we've been playing that for a little bit in the evenings; it's been alot of fun! Also, I had two job interviews with two different companies that I really like as an outside insurance sales rep. They both went great and I ended up getting a second interview with both companies! I have a field interview with one company next Tuesday and I meet the other agents and partner of the second company on Thursday. Wish me luck! Oh, and I found out there is a krispy kreme here in Des Moines, while driving to one of my job interviews yesterday and I told Michael about it when I got back. Today, I came home from work to the best glazed donuts ever made :) So sweet!

So, life isn't incredibly exciting with a hubby in podiatry schoool and not much of money to blow on entertainment, but one day I know everything will be worth it. In 5 years, I want to re-read all of these posts and be so thankful we went through it all. I also hope to be thinking how boring life was at this stage, in comparison to all the thrilling adventures and travels we'll be having int he future lol!

New Years!

Well, now that michael and I are back in Iowa alone, we were able to think about some changes that we should make- as individuals and as a couple- in light of the new year.

As I may have mentioned in previous blogs, I never really saw Michael last semester. Since he was studying so hard, we rarely every got to enjoy any time together. I almost got used to being alone. I would come home from work and do crafts while Michael was in the other room and then I would go to bed alone, while he stayed up until all hours of the night studying. I was lonely, but I didn't realize just how lonely I was until I went back to Texas for Christmas and was surrounded by all the people I love. When my parents were telling me goodbye, I had a lump in my throat as I held back the tears. Standing in the airport, with a million people around, and I didn't want to escape from my parents' embrace. Needless to say, I gathered myself and said goodbye.

I'm a social person; I truly don't need alone time, ever. I want to be surrounded by lots of people at all times. Michael recognized this and as a part of his New years resolution, he promised I wouldn't be going to bed alone anymore. He's also going to take one evening off every week from studying to spend time with me. He told me our marriage is much more important than being at the very top of his class. So far, he's remained true to his word. Since we've been back, we've been spending about an hour together every night and we had a little extra time last weekend. Last night, he even pulled an all nighter, so we would have alot of the weekend to spend together. I think this semester will be much better than the last :)

In addition, I've decided to really push myself to find a better job, where i can utilize my education and abilities. Every week I am going to apply to as many places as it takes to get a job interview and I'm going to try to have one interview scheduled each Thursday (my day off) until I find the right place for me. So far, I've done this. I had one interview yesterday, which went well, but the pay is 100% commission and with me being the sole bread winner at the moment, that's not very ideal. I've also received several calls about job interviews, which I will schedule for next Thursday. Wish me luck!

Other than those two main goals, Michael and I are both trying to work out more often and eat more healthy. I also want to have a new outlook. I don't want to think of Iowa as a prison. I want to think of it as an open door, full of adventure and possibilities. If there is light in this state, I will find it.

In 2011, I graduated from what I believe is the greatest university on earth, married the man of my dreams, and moved to a new place. 2012, show me what you've got!

tradition in the making

As newlyweds, this was mine and Michael's first Christmas together. it was such an exciting time as we thought up new traditions that we could begin together, as well as old traditions from our families that we could bring into our new lives. The possibilities were endless!

Well, turns out the days weren't quite long enough to pack all of that fun into, especially with Michael studying so intently on finals and then trying to pack in lots of visiting with all our family and friends, over our trip to TX. We did establish a few traditions though, and had alot of fun with it!

• First is one that we kind of started back in College. Ever since our very first christmas as a couple, we've gone to a christmas light display each year. Our first two years of dating, we went to Santa's Wonderland, which is located right outside of San Antonio. Our second two years of dating, we went to Santa's Ranch, which is in College Station. Santa's Ranch was even more than a light display, though. It also had a little "town" set up with old fashioned shops, all kinds of food, live music, snow machines, and big fires set up in the center for people to huddle around and stay warm. After all that, our expectations of Jolly Holiday Christmas Lights were high. From a distance, the lights were impressive and it was even declared the largest light display in all of Iowa. Unfortunately, Iowa is rather small and Jolly Holiday wasn't really all that impressive lol. We were still able to have a good time and enjoyed ourselves, though. I think we'll probably go to a light display every year; it really gets me in the Christmas spirit!

• The first weekend after Thanksgiving, Michael and I made it out to Howell's Christmas Tree Farm. Though the farm had actually allowed the public to come early and begin claiming their trees and many of them were already "tagged" by the time we got there. Despite most of the trees being unavailable, we were able to find just the right one. This tradition of picking out and cutting down our own tree from a farm began in my family and I am so happy to share it with Michael. I always swore I'd never have a fake tree and thankfully, I think Michael agrees.

• We also continued the ornament tradition that both of our families had while growing up, where we each get to pick an ornament every year that represents us or something that happened over the year. This year, I surprised Michael and took him to a glass blowing shop, where we each got to blow an ornament. It was such a unique experience and we enjoyed it so much! Since our tree was so bare with only two ornaments, I made some cinnamon ornaments. I found the recipes on pinterest and was so excited because I had cinnamon ornaments on my tree growing up that I made in pre-school. The cinnamon smell lasted all the way until I was a teenager and I always loved them. I also made some ornaments out of glass balls. Michael requested that any of the ornaments we hung, outside of our two each year, were non-specific to one of us and purely decorative. For the most part, I stayed within his wishes.

• We also did some baking. Though I didn't do as much as I would have liked, we did make some super yummy gingerbread chocolate chip cookies. They were delicious! I've never made homemade gingerbreak cookies before because I was intimidated by the wierd ingredients (fresh ginger, molassas), and they exceeded my expectations! Next year I won't have to make so many things, so I'll have more time to bake.

• We also played in the snow and got to go sledding, which for Michael, was a first! Since we didn't have a sled, we had to use the lid of a plastic storage bin. We had such a fun time and Gizmo was even able to join in, as he chased us all the way down the hill, everytime we sled down it. I expect to be able to play in the snow every Winter, at least while we're here in Iowa.

• We decorated Christmas sugar cookies, and a cute gingerbread kit that my Aunt had bought of Santa's sleigh and reindeer. We had alot of fun and it turned out really pretty! While decorating it, my cousin, Kristyn, and I decided that we should establish a gingerbread house contest starting next year, since we all had different ideas of how we wanted to decorate our gingerbread kit. Michael was all for the idea!

• Lastly, we watched Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf on Christmas Eve. Though that doesn't seem like a big deal, we really aren't able to watch TV together because Michael is always studying, so any time that we have to just sit and be together is so nice! This year, Rudolf came on TV while we were visiting family at my Aunt Mary's house. After Rudolf, it was about 11pm and everyone wanted to go to bed, except me; I still hadn't watched Frosty this year! Luckily, Kristyn has Frosty on DVD and lent it to me, so Michael and I could watch it. We took it back to my grandma's, snuggled up in our bed, and quietly watched it on my laptop as my grandma and parents went to bed. Amongst all the craziness of visiting with family, it was nice to have some quiet time alone with my hubby :)

Though we didn't really get the chance to do some of the other holiday things we wanted to do, we had many memories of all the holiday traditions we did start. Anyway, there's always next year! After all, traditions happen over time :)

As I mentioned before, I was really busy with holiday crafts and decor, since we don't have much money to spend on things we don't need.This helped me realize it isn't at all necessary to spend alot of money to have nice looking things.  Here are some of the things I made:

• wreath 
• candle holders
• christmas tree skirt
• stockings

This Christmas we were also able to make our way back to Texas to see all our family and friends. We had such a wonderful 10 day vacation and were sad when it had to come to an end. here are some pictures of our trip!

Being back made Michael and I realize how lucky we are to have such loving people in our lives. We have missed everyone SO much! Thnks to all of our family and friends for being apart of our lives. We are so lucky to have your love and support!