Life has been a whirl-wind since getting married. We've moved to Iowa, are settling into a new apartment, and I've started a successful career as an insurance agent, while Michael makes his way through his freshman year of Podiatry School at DMU. It's been quite an adjustment and there's a long road ahead of us, before we're able to make it back to Texas, but we're just trying to enjoy the ride...

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

so this is what life is like without a summer break...

just a little side note: I wrote this before our Texas trip, as you'll notice as you read on lol. I just forgot to actually publish it. oops!

Well, as always, it’s been a while! I have just been unbelievably busy! Not even just normal amount of “super busy”; I’ve been working over 12 hours a day out on the road and then having to come home and spend a couple of hours setting the next day’s appointments. Still, we’ve had a few events to speak of, so I thought I’d share. Trying to take advantage of his only summer off, Michael and I have been spending plenty of time fishing. Although our catches probably couldn’t even all add up to be a decent sized snack, it’s still been enjoyable. I think Michael gets pretty frustrated, but it doesn’t bother me too much. I primarily just like to be outside soaking up some sunshine, while we can. Winter in Iowa starts awfully early!







 This is my Katniss Everdeen face hehe

A couple of weeks ago Michael and I had an Asian day and decided to make California rolls. Actually, Michael didn’t exactly volunteer to make sushi with me; we made a bet and the winner got to pick a restaurant for dinner. As it turned out, I won and really wanted to eat at a sushi restaurant, since I never have before. I really have no desire whatsoever to try the raw stuff, but if we could find cooked stuff to eat, I think it would be a fun and different experience. When it came to actually finding a place, I decided it was too expensive for us right now. Instead, I got all the ingredients for California rolls and we made a date out of it. I ended up also making Tempura (fried shrimp and veggies) and these marinated cucumbers that my grandma makes and Michael always loves. Since my grandma makes everything from taste, we can never seem to get the right recipe from her, so I had to look one up online and give it a try. They ended up tasting exactly like Grandma’s! 






A fine display of Michael's photography skills hahaha!

This year we didn’t do too much for 4th of July. It was the first time we’ve ever been out of Texas and it’s one of my favorite holidays, so it was pretty depressing. I’m used to being around my huge family in Lake Jackson and going to the beach for some hotdogs, s’mores, and sandcastles! Though we didn’t make it into a huge event this year, we did have fun! We ended up going to a friend’s house from work on the 3rd and we played darts and hung out all night. On the actual day of, Michael and I went to a firework show. It’s pretty lame that Iowa doesn’t allow people to do their own fireworks at all, but the firework show was beautiful (I LOVE fireworks) and we had a nice time just laying out on a blanket in the grass and talking for a couple hours before the show started. Being away from everyone really gives me time to be alone with and appreciate Michael fully. I really do treasure those moments.

My job has also been treating me great. I’ve really worked my way up to a high producer in the office. Once a month my boss runs a contest called Dash for Cash, in which the top 2 producers for the week get cash $$. I ended up having really great sales over the week Tyler (my boss) decided to run the Dash for Cash, so I won $250! Woohoo! Michael even went to the mall with me (wich I think is only the 2nd time he’s ever agreed to go, out of our entire 6 years together!) while I picked out new clothes that he let me buy with my prize. I also mentioned a while back that I qualified for our summer trip with the office, and that was last weekend. 

We had a blast! I absolutely love basically everyone I work with, plus I got to know all of their spouses/girlfriends. That was especially nice, since I work with almost ALL guys. Tyler rented a mansion on a cliff that hangs over Lake of the Ozarks. I don’t even know how many square feet this place was, but it was really impressive. It had several living areas, with a few bars, and a pool table. It also had a pool, which was located right on the edge of the cliff, so it was an awesome view! We spent most of every day just hanging out there. One day Tyler took all the guys golfing, while all the ladies went to a local outlet mall and out to lunch. That was a lot of fun! It’s been SO long since I’ve got to hang out with girls, and I got along great with all of them! Another day, Tyler rented a pontoon boat and we went out on the lake for half the day. During the nights, Tyler had also rented us a hotel room at the Four Seasons nearby, which was also really nice! Overall, we definitely felt lucky that I found such a great job, with a boss that treats us so well!





 Aaron, my trainer. I owe a lot to this guy

 Our lake house from the water




The back of the house

Oh and just thought I would mention that we just realized how much we adore our little fluff ball! The night before we went on our trip, Michael and I went to drop Gizmo off with one of my clients, who was going to be watching him. When we got back, the apartment felt so incredibly empty! We are so used to spending so much time playing with him together and making fun of him, that we didn’t know what to do with ourselves when there wasn’t a little gremlin jumping all over us and making us laugh. Even though he’s just a dog, I really believe he makes us feel more like a family than we ever would on our own. It’s nice to have something that constantly depends on us and wants to give us affection. Oh, how I love my little Gizzybear!

Now we’re just preparing for our trip to Texas this upcoming weekend! Michael’s been eating insanely healthy and working out pretty hardcore for a while now. I’m really so proud of him for his hard work; he’s really seeing results! I don’t think I’ve ever known a person who will eat a big bowl of plain spinach or a whole head of broccoli for a snack.  His meals pretty much consist of vegetables and sautéed chicken. He’s also been keeping away from grains, which I think he took from the paleo diet. He’s definitely going to be beach ready in time for our cruise! We cannot wait to be home with our friends and family!!! Lookout Texas, here we come!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment