marriage update: 3 months

What I have learned in our first 3 months of marriage:

#1 Meshing our lives as a married couple can be challenging but rewarding.
Brian and I have each been independent on how we go about our normal routine, for example, making tasty dishes, doing laundry, or grocery shopping. We are still learning on how to not sweat the small stuff or accidentally push each others buttons.

After all, we have both been living separate lives for years and have gotten on just fine. It's not that either of our ways is superior, we just have to meld our ways into one that works best for the both of us.

#2 Even when you are upset/angry/frustrated hug it out.
How can you be upset when you have your best friend's arms around you. When you have the love of your life's arms around, you can't help but melt into their arms and forget whatever it was you were pointlessly arguing about.

#3 Men & women refer to the same things in 2 very different ways.
The other day I was crossing things off my grocery list and light bulbs was the next item to find. I didn't even make it into the isle {that's how intimidated I was by the sheer mass of choices} and I just thought to myself, that will be a task for my hubby.

We were at target yesterday and heading over to the light bulb isle and was explaining how I was previously intimidated by the amount of choices. I described the types not by the voltage or color but by the two options in my head: the circle one or the spinney twirly one.

#4 Life now involves 2 people.
That may involve B waiting just a few extra minutes longer for me to get ready, or me planning out the meals for the week so we don't have to run to the store every day. Our lives don't just exist together, now our lives revolve around each other.

#5 Honesty is the best policy.
We tend to be very honest with each other. It took a few weeks, but we realized that there is no reason to keep anything from each other, no matter what it is. Whether is't something as small as how your day really was {not just the sugar coated version} to keeping our bank accounts in check, honesty is really the only way in a marriage.

1st week

{as you can tell, they didn't include my last name partially because its safer that way,

and secondly I don't think it would have fit on my new name badge}

On Monday I not only woke up with my husband at 5:30 and made his lunch, but also made a lunch for me and my day.

I slipped into my all-to-familiar scrubs and headed off on my 1st day of my new job. I am now the newest CMA {Certified Medical Assistant} in the Surgical Consultants Department. It's about a 40 minute drive, which would seem like a lifetime where I used to live, but here in the cities, that is a normal commute.

I think if you would have asked me at the end of each day, how my day went, I would have given you a different answer every night. It's been a roller coaster of a week between welling up with tears as a rude lady over the phone basically told me I was a bother, to feeling like I was truly part of a team that needed me, to laughing so hard as one of my coworkers said something so funny and I almost pee my pants.

While starting new jobs is totally intimidating, challenging, daunting, tiring {and another 10 adjectives}  I couldn't be working with nicer people!

our apartment: before & after

I still can't believe that I am showing you our messy place, but this was how it really was. Yes sad to admit it, but it was. Our place was totally disaster with me still moving in, boxes piled higher than the couch, organization got awry, wedding gifts everywhere....

With a little elbow greasy and many hours organizing, I got this place in shape and finally made it the 1st home I have always wished for. Instead of cluttered, disorganized, and overwhelming we now have orderly, decorated with our wedding gifts, styled with a few new decor additions, and a relaxing place to unwind and relax.

I was able to organize my desk into a work place for me to accomplish my creative-type tasks. We hung our wedding guest book picture frame along with embroidery hoops filled with fabric that matches our bed quilt {graciously made by B's mom}. We got a few cozy decorations to make our place feel more cozy. Holiday decorations filled our apartment during our 1st holidays as a married couple.

Every day married life feels better & better, our relations grows stronger with each struggle & celebration, and the love for my husband grows more & more.

2012 rewind {part 2}

In the month of July we took a family trip to Door County, and Brian & I spent some quality time with my parents, sister, and cousin. Also something started that I had been waiting 4 years for. The summer Olympics started off with a bang {on B's birthday, of all the crazy things} and I made Brian a traditional British meal with bangers & mash and even a red velvet British Union Jack flag cake.

In August my computer was struck by lightning {we think} and I lost it. It was a sad day to say the least. It was a sad period of no blogging, and while I probably could have found a way to post it was such a crazy month and there really wasn't time. We packed lost into August including a trip to the Minnesota Fair, a surprise Birthday party for B, and some quality time with the boat.

September was filled with everything wedding. I'm still disappointing in myself that I didn't put up more Bridal DIY posts, but when I had free time, I was pretty much always working on our wedding decorations, music, ceremony bulletins, menus, DIY projects, ceremony decor, and all those little details that make a a wedding day possible.

I was back to blogging at last. October had finally come and I was done with my job at Marshfield Clinic, the wedding was less than 3 weeks away, our family was coming to town in 2 weeks, and my days were filled with all day wedding projects. And I mean all day. When Brian and I would talk at the end of the day and he would ask me what I did that day, it was pretty much the same answer of 12-14 hours of wedding projects. I really did underestimate that planning a wedding really was such a labor of love.

The 19th day of October came and we were married on a crisp fall day. The colors were perfect, our family & friends were there, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. We jetted off to our Mexico honeymoon {courtesy of our Grandparents} a few days later and de-stressed from all of the commotion.

I look back on November and think of me as a busy house wife. I moved in the remainder of my belongings and spent days finding a place for and organizing all of our wedding gifts. Our place was a mess for days on end, but it finally got to a place where it feels like home. We also picked out our 1st Christmas tree, and while our decorations are still limited, I had a splendid time decorating our 700 square feet of apartment.

Finally we had some snow in December, and it came all at once. All 11+ inches of it! We had a lovely Christmas season with our families and finished out the year celebrating with friends.

And that about sums up my year of 2012. I'm so excited to see what is in store for us in the new 2013 year!

2012 rewind {part 1}

2012 was certainly a spectacular years. It's amazing how much has really changed in just 1 year.

January started off in a much better way than last year. Brian & I had been dating for 7 months now and our relationship was growing deeper. We enjoyed the mild weather of winter with record high temperature. I took one of the most dreaded tests and became a Certified Medical Assistant. 

In February we took our long planned trip to California {where I grew up, and where much of my family is from}. Brian surprised me with the ring of my dreams and turned our vacation into the trip that changed our lives forever.

March kicked off our wedding plans as we decided on what we wanted our special day to be like. We had a engagement photo shoot, I worked on a few wedding projects, found my wedding dress, and asked 5 of my girlfriends to be my bridesmaids. We also set the date of October 19, as the date that we would join together in marriage. We really did get a good jump start on our wedding plans.

The weather also sprang into action with some spiking temps and we all got an early taste of spring. Even though it was short lived, we got a little preview of summer and it seemed to recharge our batteries to power through the last cold months.

In April, we moved Brian into a new apartment, that would later become our apartment after we got married. It was such surreal experience to start planning on where we would spend the first few years of our married lives. 

May started the drought here on my blog. I really never thought that planning a wedding would be so time consuming, but I really should have known. After all who is the one who has been planning weddings in her head since she was a little girl, likes to be very organized, and has lots of determination when it comes to making our wedding a magical day...oh yeah that's me.

I did accomplish a few tasks including some DIY projects for our wedding and new apartment. With summer around the corner we also put the boat in the water and were able to once again enjoy the vastness of our lake. Amazing weather always brings out the creative side in me.

June set the summer in motion with being a counselor at a camp for under privileged kids, spending more time out in the sun, and revisiting the place where Brian & I met. Our relationship grew even more as we spent that weekend focusing on the relationship that the Lord has blessed us with.

Christmas update

Sometimes there comes a time when you have to prioritize, and that is just what I had to do this Christmas. My hubby and I packed up our holiday sweaters & fuzzy PJs, and headed back to Wisconsin where both our families are from. We settled at my parents house for the Christmas week and the celebrating began! My parents were about to jet off to California for Christmas with their parents, so we celebrated with our own version of Christmas. From then on it was a blur of celebrating with everyone we could. Brian & I spent Christmas Eve & Day with his family, and we enjoyed the time with our niece's faces lighting up as they ripped opening their packages.

While all of the celebrating was going on, blogging fell to the bottom the list and I decided to just live in the moment. Once the celebrations were over I was left with a nasty cold that had me on the couch for 3 days and am still trying to recover from it. It's amazing how being sick can really put a damper on your productivity.

While we may not have taken pictures of every Christmas adventure, we managed to take away the real goal of the advent calendar: celebrate the Christmas season with a festive adventures each day. So, instead of looking back on our days leading up to Christmas I have decided to look back on the year as a whole. That post will be coming later this week.

This past year certainly has been filled with amazing events. I can only imagine what the Lord has in store for us in 2013.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas season, and may the Lord bless you on this upcoming year.