Remember how I got married?

Yeah, I barely do. We still don't have our pictures back. But since it was family who took them, we patiently wait instead of throw a fit. Though if I don't see them by our 6 month anniversary, the fit throwing may have to commence.

It was a beautiful day surrounded by friends, family, and pinwheels. It was full of smiles, gifts, and swords full of meat. But in the grand scheme of things, it was just a day. The days since have been way more fun.

Like this!:



Sidekick (as he will be referred to henceforth in the bloggy world) has done wonders for my psychological wellness. (Not that I was too unwell to begin with. Right? RIGHT? **forceful stare**) I have found that my extreme independence has been softened to be in the moderate-to-strong category... because at the end of the day, no matter how many world problems I've solved or lives I've saved or people I've lifted, it's awfully nice to have a toasty warm sidekick to snuggle up to at night.

I have also regained a healthy respect for the concept of wasting time. In the later years of my single life I found myself going from one thing to another and filling my day with as much as possible, because being idle for whatever reason didn't sit well with me. And while I still like to be productive, I've rediscovered how effective playing a video game can be at helping a busy girl unwind at the end of the day. I've had a few people mention that I've "mellowed out" a little... meaning that the wild look in my eye that comes with always having to feel productive is gone, replaced with a look of contentedness. Not complacency, but contentedness.

While the next steps toward building our lives together float around in our consciousnesses without having landed on a time line quite yet, in the meantime I'm very much enjoying the simple apartment we live in and the simple number of two.

One other note... my employment at the food bank has ended.

About 9 months ago I had been promoted to the role of Office Coordinator. While it taught me new things and gave me more money, it removed me from the hands-on experience of working with the public that I had grown to love so much. So a month or two ago I started passively looking for a new place to work that would allow me to work with the public again.

About a month ago found an opening with the American Cancer Society. I applied, they interviewed me, offered me the job, and I took it. I started this week. I'm looking forward to the new opportunities it will give me to learn and grow and work with people to help raise money for cancer research.

So. Though my life seems far less adventurous since having "settled down", I'm hoping I'll still find adventures to blog about, and hopefully more often than every three months.

Thanks for reading. It's nice to write again.

June 1st....err... 8th

Friends, Romans, Countrymen... I hardly deserve the honor of your attention any longer due to the complete and utter lack of attention I've paid this blog (and by extension you, my faithful followers) in the last little while.

But I would be remiss if I were to go without mentioning this year's June 1st activity.

Now part of the challenge of June 1st is trying to do something of significance (ish) that I've never done before on that very day. Though in the past I've been tempted to fudge it and do it a day before or after to better accommodate my schedule (or someone else's), I've stuck to my guns and made it happen on June 1st.

This year I had to throw my guns out the window... but Groupon is to blame, not me.

On June 1st I opened my gmail to discover a Groupon deal for half-off at a sushi restaurant in Draper called Wasabi . This was fortuitous, because I hadn't decided what my June 1st activity was going to be yet and I had never yet eaten sushi. So I purchased the Groupon and texted my sidekick to let him know that dinner that night was on me. He was overjoyed, being quite the fan of sushi himself.

But then... THEN... I read the fine print on the Groupon that said I couldn't use it for 24 hours after I've purchased it. With this little stipulation, my June 1st dreams were gone.

So I said to myself, Now you've had a busy last couple of months. Planning a wedding and sharing a life is hard work and time consuming. Surely they will understand if you decide to use this coupon next week instead and still count it as your June 1st activity.

To which I countered, Hey, remember how there is no "they" and the only "they" who is keeping track at all is in fact YOU?

So a week later we went and had sushi, and the June 1st gods in my head have still been satiated.

Now the idea of sushi had never really sounded all that good to me to begin with, but I'd had so many people tell me how wrong I was and how delicious it could be that I was optimistic that I'd end up enjoying it.

Well, you should note that the above picture with the big smile on my face was taken before I ate my first bite, because I didn't like sushi at all. Not even the deep-fried, least fishy rolls that they had to offer. I'm not a fan of shrimp, crab, or lobster, and most rolls have some form or another of one of those meats inside. So while the taste of the deep fried tempura on the roll was yummy, it wasn't enough to overcome the crabby aftertaste.

Thankfully, this guy was around to make up for what I didn't eat... and happily so.


In fact, have I mentioned what a fan I am of that guy? Here's another fun picture if you'll indulge me...


The umbrellas in my mouth were once in our shaved ices. The red sticker on my cup was once on my shirt from having given blood. Who gives blood and then rewards themselves by driving all the way to Sugarhouse to get the best shaved ice in the valley? We do.

I'm not counting down the days till I get sealed to this sucker, but if I were there'd be twelve.

First comes love...

... then comes marriage.

July 15th, friends. Mark your calendars. Hide your kids, hide your wife. It's happening.

Email me with a mailing address if you'd like an invitation sent your way, even if you won't be able to make it to the reception.

(Note the flip flops contrasted against the blanket in this picture. He is brave to marry such a complicated gal.)

Okay okay, I give.

Sorry team. That was quite the little hiatus I took. I didn't mean to, but you see...


...Life got busy.

To cover your basic questions, his name is Brandon. I met him in my ward. We have the same calling, so we've gotten to know each other through ward missionary stuff, and in late January we started dating. He's from Montpelier Idaho. He works for a company called Industrial Container in their customer service department. He likes to fish, likes to hunt, likes soccer, likes to spend time with his family, and likes me. And I certainly like him. Things are going well.

That's all I've got for you, kids. Hope that will satisfy your curiosity at least for now.

2010 was fun.

Sometimes the generally high quality of my life makes it such that my brain gets overloaded when trying to remember specific accomplishments or events. This post is an effort to remember what 2010 was about for me. (Inspired by my dear friend Lindsay's recent year-in-review post.)

This year I...

...Defeated a certain notorious villain and rescued a certain helpless damsel. Again.
...Recommitted to becoming healthier, bought a gym membership, and have certainly used it.
...Re-focused my journaling efforts by recording more thoughts and fewer events.
...Facilitated countless opportunities for people to serve.
...Was humbled. Big time.
...Ran a 10K with a chest cold in 40 degree weather. (I don't recommend it.)
...Played outside. A LOT.



Goal for 2011: Continue to seek opportunities for growth. Preferably outside.

On Giving.

A young volunteer favors one of our senior food box clients with a ninja on their box. Luckyyyy...

I've drafted several versions of this post.

One was fairly philosophical about the different motivations for people to volunteer (love, fear, duty) and comparing and contrasting the effectiveness of each motivation as calculated by the work that is done and the influence on the individual. (Yep, I miss school.)

One was full of complaints about the ignorance of the masses and how stressful they make my job this time of year. (This may be a news flash, but volunteering during the holidays is NOT an original idea. Plan ahead, people. Plan ahead.)

Another was my typical list of what I'm grateful for. But, it doesn't change much from year to year, so you can just look up past postings and get about the same thing out of it.

This year, I'm going to tell you about a quick story that is an illustration of my message today: Service and giving does not require an appointment.

I was driving home this summer and found myself in a long line of cars waiting to turn right at an intersection. Up in the distance I saw one of those sign-shaker people from Little Caesars out on the curb doing his thing. It was murderously hot outside and the young man was looking exhausted and generally discontented with his task. I kinda chuckled to myself as I looked at him; he was wearing saggy jeans belted below his butt and a long NBA jersey on, and I thought about how he probably took the summer job on to fund his video-gaming addiction.

I didn't think much of it as I continued to inch forward in my line of cars. A minute or so later I looked over again at my sign-shaker friend, just in time to see a middle-aged woman approaching him with something in her hand. As I looked closer I realized that she had purchased a snow cone from a nearby snow shack in the parking lot and was offering it to him. There was no look of recognition in his eye which confirmed the fact that the woman was a complete stranger. He hesitated for a moment while she reassured him there was no catch, but then accepted it gratefully as he put his sign down to taste his new treat.

I smiled the rest of the day thinking about that lady, and how I wanted to be more like her.

Jesus Christ, while on the earth, was the supreme example of this. Though he did have certain things specifically on his agenda during the day, the majority of his service was done on the way to do other things. It reconfirms to me that I don't need to try and squeeze service opportunities into my busy schedule, because if I'm aware enough I can find them all around me.

I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was great. Thanks to each of you for thinking enough of my ramblings to peek in on them now and then.

You know what makes me happy?

...Fall.

And heel-clicking pictures.