And so it begins

First Thing:
Nate is back in school which means I'm back to being single for the next four months.  When we first got married, it took a lot of adjusting to his schedule and his need to study.  Now, I feel I'm a pro and I don't have to worry about scheduling conflicts (because he has none).  In all honesty, I am excited for another semester to get underway because that means very soon we'll have another one under our belts.  It's means one semester to Nate accomplishing one of his dreams.  I can't help but feel honored that I get to support him every step of the way.  It's a blessing Nate gets to study and I get to work.  Sometimes it's difficult and sometimes I feel I see Nate all the time but never actually get to spend time with him.  Sometimes it's rewarding when we see his GPA and all the doors God is opening for him during this time.  I know I'm a little biased when I say he's awesome, but it's nice when other people notice it too.  Here's to another semester of of single living (and trying to spend as much time as possible with my husband - even if in reality it means 1 hour a week).

Second Thing:
With Nate in his dungeon or at school most of the time, I have all the time in the world to do what I want and when I want.  Last semester all I did was lay around and watch Bravo, drink wine, and have sleepovers with my sister and my best friends (and plan a wedding).  I want to make this semester challenging as there are many things I want to accomplish.
1. As our house has started to come together this summer - with new paint, a new shower/drain/tile (unplanned but welcomed), new carpet, and new area rugs - I want to finish it this semester!
      -We've started painting - that means we're not done yet.  So I want to paint our master bath, the Husker room, the doors/frames/baseboards, and our kitchen cabinets.
      -After all the painting is through, I want to begin my decorating projects.  I am creating a very detailed excel sheet of all the things I want for each room and the supplies I need.  The first room to tackle is the living room with new pillows, wall decor, curtains, and lamps.  The second will be the kitchen with painted countertops (because no one in their right mind actually enjoys pick counters), wall decor, and some corkboard cabinets.  I then want to simultaneously work on the Husker room and our bathrooms (with a giant outline of the state of NE) with curtains.  Finally our bedroom.  I have so many ideas for the rest of the house that I have run out of creativity for our bedroom and need some time to think on it.

2.  I want to read Mere Christianity.  I want to take the time to fully understand all that C.S. Lewis is explaining.  I also want to read Marcus Luttrell's new book Service.

3.  I want to continue to train for the half marathon.  I am really enjoying my long runs on Saturdays.  Who knew?

4.  I want to start studying for the GRE.  Yikes!  This will open up the possibilities for when Nate graduates.  We've been talking and planning our future (or what we hope our future will look like) and we have some exciting ideas.

5.  I want to memorize the starting line up for the Huskers.  By memorize I mean also their basic stats.  This is something I've wanted to do for a while and what a better time?

6.  I want to not watch Real Housewives every night of the week.  Although I did see a hilarious preview for Real Housewives of Miami.  Crazy lady!

I want this semester to be as productive for me as it will be for Nate.  The summer kept me going the entire time and I don't want to lose the momentum.

It's been too long

First Thing:
It's been a little over three months since I've blogged.  I guess I've been pretty busy with summer and life.  Summer started with a trip to Nebraska followed by a trip to Austin, followed by a trip to the beach, followed by another trip to Austin and so on.  Now all I can do is sit in front of the t.v. and watch the Olympics (although I'm slightly tired of watching water polo).

Second Thing:
I am hoping to get back in to blogging this fall.  I should probably work on my writing and this is a good place to start.  I'll be sure to start as soon as the Olympics is over.

Stinko de Mayo

First Thing:
My Cinco de Mayo consists of spending time with me, myself, and I.  It's actually not awful as I am working on updating my testimony.  I'm looking to making some changes in my life and this is a good place to start.  Possibly more to come. . . . I need to figure these things out first.

Second Thing:
I am currently researching gluten free/casein free diets.  I want to test it out for a few days to see what affect is has on my body.  I have a suspicious feeling I might be slightly allergic to either or both of these.  Luckily I have a doctor's appointment on the 16th that should help me gain more insight into this situation.  We shall see.

Third Thing:
I still miss my grandmother everyday.  And sometimes I forget she's gone and reach for the phone to call her.  Then I realize she won't answer.  It still breaks my heart.  Mother's day this year will be especially different.  Time heals all wounds.

I might have a problem

First Thing:
Tonight, I missed Tardy for the Wedding because I was watching Investigation Discovery.  Now I'm stuck watching Watch What Happens Live for the recap because Investigation Discovery is a rerun from two hours ago.  But I mostly love Watch What Happens Live tonight because Jenna Fischer is on it from The Office and she's obsessed with the Real Housewives.  Bonus points for her.

I'm not sure how I feel about Kim trying to be like Bethenny.

Second Thing:
My house is now clean because that's usually what I do on Thursday nights.  Watch ID and clean.  My life is so exciting I can't even stand it.  It's especially exciting because instead of going to bed, I'm going to make muffins.

Peace

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

First Thing:

This past week has been the hardest week of my life.  Harder than when Nate left for Iraq.  My dearest grandmother passed away.  She was such a beautiful person and my heart aches without her.  I used to talk with her about every week and would look forward to seeing her every chance I got.  She taught me so much about being a godly woman, about living life, and being a good wife.  We traveled back to Colorado this week to celebrate her life and for the first time in my life I heard my grandpa cry (which was probably the hardest part of the trip).  On a lighter note, I did get to see a lot of my cousins and I mean a lot.  In the photo below, not even all of them are there. It's blurry but I'll find a better one.

When I got home, it was time to celebrate Nate's birthday.  So we did.  I bought him an assorted six-pack of his favorite beers, made pesto cavatappi (a knock off version of Noodle's & Co. found here.) because it's green, and baked Guinness chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream cream cheese frosting.  I made them in 1/2 pint mason jars to test it out before the wedding shower I'm hosting this weekend.  They are so good.  They are so good I could eat them every night for the rest of my life, literally.  Despite the fact that he had to report for guard at 3:30 AM on Sunday morning, he said it was the best birthday ever.  He's 26 now, which means he's on the downward slope to 30. . . . YIKES!

Today I spent the afternoon with my family and we went through my grandmother's jewelry, dividing it up among the "five girls".  I was blessed enough to end up with her wedding rings; the first one my grandfather gave my grandmother and the second one he gave her later once he saved enough money to buy her a bigger one.  We will be getting them appraised, so for now I will be wearing my grandmother's original wedding band.  It's so nice to have a special piece of her so close to me.

All I can say is . . . "it is well with my soul". That has been my comfort as of late.

Nate has been a true gentleman through all of this and has been a tremendous comfort.  I can go to sleep without him by my side and he's been so patient, kind, and comforting.  He's a special guy and I'm excited I get to spend the rest of my life with him.  I hope to be married to him for 59 years like my grandparents.

It has been a while

First Thing:
I loved the color run. It was so much fun!  Bo-nanza.  Yes, we like you Bo Pelini.

 We only thought we were covered in color.

 Yeah, now we're covered.

Second Thing:
I've been doing some traveling lately.  I went to Austin to visit my best friend and had a very relaxing weekend and much needed catching up time.  I also tried Hey Cupcake! for the first time and it was fantastic!

 Then I made my way to Arkansas to visit my little sister for her 21st birthday! :)  Wahoo!

Third Thing:
There are lots of babies around.  I'm not sure how I feel about it. I did get to meet my best friend's baby Shepherd on Tuesday night.  He is so precious and it was good to catch up with her.  Still, lots of people having babies . . . not us though.  We're not at that point in our lives yet and we're okay with that.  But here's to all of those who are! Cheers.

Hopefully, I'll be posting more regularly on here.  I've been slacking.  Too much traveling and Investigation Discovery.

Investigation Discovery

Tonight is champagne, looking at recipe books, and watching Alaska: Ice Cold Killers on Investigation Discovery. I'm weird. I don't care. I like my life.