He is the light in the darkness

Well, life is tough;  no doubt about that! Lately has just seemed  so chaotic and, if I didn't have my  wonderful husband to lean on, I would feel like things around me are falling down on my head. I was supposed  to be posting my blog about our vacation to Texas and Cozumel, but my brand spankin' new laptop has a defective hard drive and I lost all of my documents/pics on it. Major bummer! So instead of rewriting that whole post, I'm promising to catch up on it this weekend, and dedicating tonight to feel bad  for myself lol.

So since we've been back from vacation, everything has been just insane. We've been back now for just over 3 full weeks and I have literally  only seem my husband 2 times. Well, that's a tiny bit of an exaggeration, but not much. We've gotten to spend time together on two different occasions, and other than that, I've seen Michael coming and going about 2 other times. One  of them was at 4am, when Michael got home from the library and woke me up just so I could see him for a second before falling back to sleep. It's hard. Actually it's harder than I'd ever imagined. It's not like we haven't been through this before, but the second year is supposed to be a little better. It's really not. I think I was  over-anticipating lots of Michael time.

Besides having to readjust to having  no time with my man, after a great 2 months off, we've also had everything that could go wrong, actually go wrong. I feel like every product that has a recall on it, somehow ended up in our possession! Both of our cell phones already went out and had to be replaced right after our vacation, but additionally, we've had 4 flat tires, 2 of which were on Michael's car. Actually, we thought  the car was super out  of alignment, so he took it in, paid to have it aligned, and they told him that it was actually a problem with the tires and it was due to a manufacturer defect. within the next couple weeks, he had 2 flat tires.

Then last weekend, I had my favorite candle burning when all of a sudden it burst into huge flames and burned a hole through our counter top, and the area around it bubbled up. I'm just so glad there was nothing around the candle to catch fire! A counter top is one thing, but our belongings are irreplaceable. After googling a possible cause for the fire, I found out the candle was recalled because of this exact reason. Figures haha!

After the  loss of my laptop and all my  pics, I was super frustrated, but today when I got to work, I realized that all of my follow-up excel sheets were on my  laptop and weren't back up on. Those are  pretty much irreplaceable and will probably cost me a lot  of money in future sales. Michael's tried to recover them with his magic, but it's not looking  good because a bunch of them were destroyed when the hard drive crashed. Best buy told us they probably could, for a minor $1,500 fee. Hahaha yah right! Sry for such a long post  dedicated to venting, but I'm just at a really hard place right now. Plus it doesn't help that I can be completely mindless and got a speeding ticket our first day back in Iowa and managed to leave half my wardrobe, including all my nice, new clothes on the cruise and they just told us that they were never turned in by our room cleaner.

On top of everything, I do have to admit that I'm completely smitten and feeling  blessed beyond belief with my supportive hubby. It's inevitable that life will throw punches, but when you have someone always standing in your corner, cheering you on, it's easier to remain  standing. In fact, looking back over the past few weeks, I almost feel like it's the  most frustrating times in life that bring you the closest and for that, I'm thankful. It's the crazy interruptions in life that sometimes help you acknowledge your own weaknesses and keep you dependent on each other. More and more, I find myself wanting to be the best wife possible, so I can return the support and love he shows me on a daily basis. It literally took me until this very moment to realize that haha. Well, I guess I'm done whining lol! I guess  tonight, instead of feeling stressed and rundown, I'm almost feeling restored and  thankful for a God who knows exactly what our needs are, whether or not we even realize them.

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 4^th 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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!!!

Ever After

Okay so this is a super delayed acknowledgement of mine and Michael’s first anniversary, but I figured better late than never! (Why do I feel like I've probably started every single blog post with this phrase lol) My parents were actually visiting over our anniversary anyway, so we decided to postpone it. Still, I figured we’ve had some noteworthy experiences/realizations in our first year of marriage that I thought I should reflect over.

First off, I found some fun first anniversary questions to ask and thought it would be kinda cool to both answer them…here are our responses:

What has brought you closer this year?

•  Michael: Starting in a new place with nobody but each other gave us a lot of time to rely on each other, and gave us many opportunities to be a rock for the other
• Holly: Being so far from all of our family and friends and having to depend almost solely on each other

What is your favorite memory from this year?

•   Michael: The cumulative time of having Gizmo. He’s become the third part of our little family, and we have a great time enjoying each others company with the addition of the little fuzzball, and all the laughing and fun that comes from it is probably my favorite part of this first year.
• Holly: The camping trip Michael surprised me with for my birthday. It was perfect! He thought of absolutely every detail, down to what my favorite DVDs are so we could watch them on his laptop, along with my favorite junk foods to snack on

Did you have a wedding or honeymoon disaster that you are already laughing about now?

• Michael: Nope; everything pretty much worked out perfectly. We still talk about the honeymoon and wedding all the time, amazed that everything worked out as good as it did.
• Holly:  not at all. The week was the most perfect of my entire life (by far!). From the week before the wedding until the day we arrived back home from our honeymoon, life was absolute bliss. The only thing I would change is that I didn’t have pinterest to help me plan small details of  the wedding lol

What has surprised you most about being married?

• Michael: The changes in mood that accompany living with another person and sharing all the details with them. It’s one thing to live with a roommate with known boundaries and expectations, but it’s another thing to live with a person that you share most everything with, and it takes a lot of work and understanding to grasp the intricacies in how to talk to them when they’re having a bad day, or how to not be a pill when you’re having one
• Holly: The amount of work that goes into making every day successful for us as a team. While you’re dating, it’s easy to see each other a few hours a day and be on your best behavior/mood. It’s a lot more difficult to constantly try to maintain your best self around the clock. Though I don’t always succeed in meeting all of Michael’s needs, I have an entire lifetime to get it down

Anything shocking that you've learned about your spouse?

• Michael: Hmmm….No, not that I can think of. Wait…scratch that….she has a messy car. I’ll leave it at that to avoid her the embarrassment of describing it
• Holly: he hides junk food. Yes, he I mean I literally found it stashed in his dresser drawer HAHAHA! He likes to insist that I don’t buy anything unhealthy and then when he gets cravings, he apparently just buys it and doesn’t bother sharing? Lol I had to set him straight on this one- if he’s gonna eat it anyway, at least let me in on it! hehe

What is a bonus quality that you received in your spouse that you didn't know about until marriage?

• Michael: She’s a fantastic cook. I didn’t think she wasn’t before, I’d just never really had day after day of eating meals that she’s made, and after having done it, she’s great!
• Holly: I knew he was supportive, but I didn’t realize just how supportive he is. He comforts me when I’m homesick, sings/plays guitar for me when I’m upset, and encourages me when I’m down. I’m so lucky!

If you could do anything different, what would you do?

• Michael: I would stop and think before I spoke more often, and determine whether or not something I’m thinking is worth saying, and if something that’s bothering me is worth making an issue about.
• Holly: Let the small things go and don't be prideful. We could avoid a lot of disagreements if we would just ignore the trivial things. There are actually very few things that we’ve argued over that actually matter.

What have you learned from your spouse this year?

• Michael: That I should take more time to appreciate the outdoors and the simple joys that don’t take a huge amount of work. It got easy after all the studying to want to come home and just sit down and watch tv till I go to bed, but going fishing and seeing fireworks has been a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t have thought it would be so relaxing.
• Holly: I ’ve learned more than I’ve ever cared to know about Ron Paul. Haha, okay, seriously now… he’s taught me to believe in myself. It’s nice to know someone other than my parents sincerely believe I can do anything I set my mind to

How have your feelings changed in just one year?

• Michael: I’ve come to rely on Holly a lot more than I ever did before. We’ve been together for a long time, but this was the first time we’ve gone to a place where it was just me and her, and I find myself counting on her for things more and more as time goes on.
• Holly:  I love him even more than I did on the day I married him. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true.  As difficult as marriage can be at times, it’s so worth it! Every disagreement, reconciliation, adventure, holiday, sweet gesture, song sung, tradition created, or moment together, makes me love him even more

What is something that has worked and really made a difference in your marriage that you would give as advice to others to be successful?

• Michael: A mutual interest can really bring the two of you together. I can’t count the number of times that just hanging out with Gizmo has left us laughing all over the place, or finding a show we both like, things like that
• Holly: find a hobby to take part in together. Michael and I bought gear for camping, fishing, and biking, and it has been a blast! After you buy the actual equipment necessary, it’s a free date and it’s always a lot of fun! We also like to work out together or take Gizmo on walks. That pup has made us feel even more like a family- we both love getting to pretend to be “parents” and love something that depends so much on us. 

 

For the record, I just have to say: There IS a legitimate reason that my car is so messy! Any person with a career that requires tons and tons of paperwork and filing will have a car that looks like this lol.

Moving on…to celebrate, Michael bought me fishing poles and equipment, and we went on a fishing trip. We go fishing at least once a weekend and it’s been a ton of fun! For Michael’s gift, I bought him a Sodastream, so he could make his own cokes and carbonated drinks. As a health major, I can get really crazy about consuming junk, so I tend to get on to Michael pretty often for drinking too many sodas. After a year of refusing to buy much coke, I thought this would be the perfect way to let him indulge. He’s loved it so far! I also made him a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake and got us tickets to Adventureland, the local amusement park here. 

We had such a fun time! The actual park itself is pretty lame- it only has one upside down roller coaster (which is sadly supposed to be the only one in Iowa!), but we enjoyed our time anyway. There are so few people here that the park was fairly empty and we could ride a ride multiple times without having to get off. Nothing like Fiesta Texas! It’s actually amazingly uniting to make fun of Iowa together! It makes us appreciate where we come from, plus it always reminds us that we’re from the same background.

After Adventureland, we watched the DVD of our wedding day, watched the slideshow that my dad had made for the wedding reception, and went through all the marriage advice and sweet notes we got at my bridal and lingerie showers. Once more we were reminded how we felt on that perfect day; like the whole world existed just so we could be together. 

At times, life gets in the way of showing each other how we feel. I don’t always meet Michael’s needs and he doesn’t always meet mine. Michael will be stubborn, and I’ll be extra sensitive, and inevitably, we’ll argue. Still, we’ll love each other to no end, as my happily ever after unfolds.