Thoughts at the Halfway Mark

There is nothing quite like marrying your best friend.

Yesterday - Nov. 26th - was the half-year mark of our marriage.

Even though I have not been married too long yet, there are plenty of things I have learned about how to make a marriage wonderful, even once you get past the "newly-wed stage" and reality starts to set in.

Let me share a thing or two:

1. Go on dates. Even once you're married, date nights are still a must.

2. Say "I love you" multiple times each day.

3. Communicate. Tell each other about your dreams, desires, fears, or things that are bothering you.

4. Let go of your pride and be willing to say you're sorry, or to show forgiveness.

5. Make new traditions... they are so fun to look forward to!

6. Work at your marriage every day.

Make sacrifices. Take action. Be selfless.

Your best friend deserves all the love you can give, and you deserve to get that love in return.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband.

I love him with all my heart!

And do you know what the greatest part is?

Our love for each other grows every day. And it's wonderful.

Loving Lately

Lately, I've been loving my husband. Well, I love him all the time, but we just reached our half-year anniversary, so my feelings are very heightened right now. I can't believe it's been half a year already. Next thing I know it will be one year. Then I'll blink a couple times and we'll be 50 or something. More to come on this subject in my next post.

I'm loving marriage. I'm loving my new statement bubble necklace. I'm loving boots (as always). I'm loving the smell of my Peppermint Mocha candle. I'm LOVING the fact that I only have 8 days of classes left. Then finals. Then I get to go home!

Just a quick side note... congrats to Lauren from Fizz and Frosting for winning my ad space giveaway on Jen's blog!

And now...

It's Tuesday which means it's time for Loving Lately!  And this is going to be the last one, so make it count!

Loving Lately is a weekly link up hosted by the fabulous Carly, Kristen, Niki & Rachel!  Join us and link up what you're loving lately! Whether it's fashion, color, crafts, interiors, beauty products, yummy and delicious, or really anything else, we want to know!

Please be sure to read the rules before linking up!

Rules

1. Follow Your Hosts and Co-Hosts

They are the first 8 in the linky!

Carly @ Lipgloss and Crayons

Kristen @ The Wright Stuff

Niki @ Glossy Blonde

Rachel @ La La Lists

This week's co-hosts are:

Laura @ Mice in the Kitchen

Tori @ Lil' Mrs. Tori

Ali @ All Things Pink & Sparkly

Ashley @ Dancing with Ashley

Ashley @ Of Thoughts and Things

3. Link Up!

Link up your post on what you're loving lately!

Please do not link up your entire blog or any posts that are not "Loving Lately"!  

We are so happy to have you link up, and we do go through and read all of the posts, so if you do not give credit, we will have to remove your link.  And we don't want to have to do that!  So please share the love and include a link back!

3. Mingle

It's a linky party after all!

Visit some of the other posts in the linky and say hello!

4. Tweet!

Help us promote and grow this party!

Send a tweet and let everyone know you linked up!

Tweet

5. Grab a Button

Or link back to one of your hosts, and help us promote Loving Lately!

 

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African Style Crock Pot Chicken... with a Twist!

One of my husband's old roommates introduced this recipe to us.
It's probably one of my favorite crock pot recipes now.

Doug tells me that the first time he invited me to eat some (back before we were even dating) I made a weird face and didn't eat any.
I don't remember that... and I almost don't believe him, because this stuff is so good!!!! Why would I NOT eat it?!

I mean, look at it!

Maybe I thought it was curry or something... because I can't handle super spicy very well.

Okay... maybe these pictures don't make it look extremely appetizing... but it really is! I promise!

The original recipe actually calls for turkey... and there aren't any tomatoes in it... but Doug and I both like the chicken better, and the tomatoes add a nice flavor.

Here's our version of the recipe:

African Style Crock Pot Chicken (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts (4 breasts), cut into 2 x 12 inch slices
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup lime (or lemon) juice
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
hot cooked rice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except rice) in crock pot.
2. Cover.
3. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (HIGH 4 hours)
4. Serve over rice

Isn't that easy? I love crock pots, they just take all of the work away... and then you just have to sit there and smell the chicken for several hours as it cooks. That's definitely the hardest part.

You should try it sometime. You really should. I'm going to go eat leftovers right now!

Dates and Christmas Trees

I remember the first date that my husband and I went on very clearly. It was the day before Thanksgiving. He took me to lunch at Cafe Rio. It was my first time, and I loved it. We prepared a turkey for a potluck... and when I say that, I mean taking all the innards out and brushing it with oil and all that jazz. Fortunately for him, I wasn't grossed out by it. Then I taught him some ballroom dancing, which was probably my favorite part of the whole date.

We decided it would be fun to re-create our first date this year.
(Well... all except the turkey.)

So, on the day before Thanksgiving, we found ourselves eating Chicken Taco Salads at Cafe Rio.

Even though the turkey was a no-go, we still danced the night away! Cha-Cha can be quite a workout, let me tell ya!

Our half-year wedding anniversary is in two days. I cannot believe that we're already at the half-year mark. Time flies.

~ ~ ~

On another note, we bought our very first Christmas tree yesterday!
Yes, it's fake.
Yes, we hand-strung all of the lights.
Plus, it's as tall as my husband. Six feet, exactly. Not too shabby!
I love having touches of Christmas in our home!

We have a ton of construction paper calling our names and some poinsettia flowers to buy, but it already feels like Christmas, even without the flowers, snowflakes, and chain garlands.

There's a Nativity sitting on our side table, the smell of a Peppermint Mocha candle, Josh Groban & Michael Buble Christmas CDs at full volume, and lots of eggnog!!

More Christmas-decor posts to come. For sure.
Don't you just love the holidays?!

Giveaway and Competition...

Hello, my lovelies!
I realize that I have not been posting very frequently over the past week or so, but I promise that I have good excuses! Besides, my mind doesn't want to function since I'm on Thanksgiving Break.

In any case, my posts should pick up again once the Thanksgiving hoopla has died down.

In the meantime, there's only a short amount of time left to enter this {ad space giveaway} that I'm hosting over at Jen's blog Rushing For Bagels!

**ALSO** I am doing a small competition on Facebook that involves winning signed CDs and T-shirts and whatnot from my favorite a cappella group Vocal Point. The post with the most likes, comments, and shares gets the grand prize! It's not a huge contest, but every like, comment, and share counts! So if you could go to the facebook post (it's public, so you should be able to get to it) and just like the video and/or leave a comment, that would be great!

That's all you have to do!

Thanks a ton, in advance!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Chocolate Bowl... someday

I'm adding this to my list of "food crafts".

I'll just let the picture speak for itself.

Original Source Unknown

The question is, what would I need a chocolate bowl for?

One of my friends needs to hurry up and get engaged or something so that I can make this for a bridal shower. A chocolate bowl filled with strawberries. Perfection.

And the bowl is so... artistic!

P.S. You should go here and enter to win medium ad space on my blog.

P.S.S. Thanksgiving Break countdown: 4 days. I can hardly wait.

Ready for a break

Mainly, I'm just posting so that my "bearded woman" post is not at the top of the page anymore.
I think it scared people.
Bearded women are just not natural.

Anyways... I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving Break. It won't be completely stress-free because I have so many school assignments to finish for the end of the semester, but it will still be nice to have a 5-day break from classes.

One more week. That's what I keep telling myself.

I'll just be staying here in Provo and spending Thanksgiving with my husband's family. It will be a nice travel-free and class-free break. Plus, a good catch-up time for all these projects!

Is anybody going somewhere fun for Thanksgiving?
What are your plans?

The amazing bearded woman

If you have never seen a bearded woman, now is your chance.

Prepare to be amazed.

Ain't I lovely?

This is probably the most amusing makeup project I have done yet.
It was messy.
Hair was everywhere.
It was a little bit itchy.
I felt like a pedophile.

Part of me cannot understand why boys ever grow beards. Then again... it was really fun to stroke. I sound like a creeper for saying that, but it's true! My husband prefers my face to be beard-less, but one of my guy friends told me that I wear a good beard. I'll take his word for it.

What do you think? I mean, it's not every day that you see a bearded lady!

*Disclaimer to new readers... I'm usually not this hairy and weird, I promise! I just have to do interesting projects for my Theatre Education major!

Lots and LOTS of snow!

I came home on Friday around lunch time with barely any snow on the ground.

I woke up the next morning to see several inches - probably around 5 or 6.

The snow made a lot of trees break.

Our power went out due to an accident.

I missed the opening night of Springville High's musical on Friday because it was snowing all day and I have no experience driving in snow.

Some people had fun with it.

Captain Moroni, anyone? This really made me laugh!

Sure, it ruined my shopping plans.

Yeah, I have a cold, and did not need it to be freezing when I walked to work.

But... it definitely made my world into a winter wonderland!

I kinda want it to snow some more!

Final picture courtesy of my neighbor Scott Ellingson

How do you feel about snow?

Sometimes, I wonder...

This week, I am spending all of my evenings (except Sunday) at Springville High School. I am helping out with some of the technical aspects of their production of "Hello, Dolly!" and I've been learning some new things... including just how stressful it is to be a theatre teacher at a high school.

Sometimes, I stop and wonder, "What am I getting myself in to?!"

In addition to teaching 5-7 classes, theatre teachers also have to put together productions. And that is NOT a light, easy task.

I'm experiencing that right now. Or rather... I'm seeing the Springville teacher(s) flip out because of how much work there is to do, and opening night is on Friday.

And yet... I keep at it.
Why?
Because I love theatre so stinkin' much, and I want to make a difference in the lives of my students. And that is worth every hour of sleep-deprivation I get.

The time I met Tad R. Callister

Today, instead of regular church, we had a special stake conference.
(For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mormon lingo: a "ward" is just another word for a congregation, and a "stake" is a collection of wards that exist in the same area. It's kind of like how a school district is a collection of schools in the same area.)

My stake got to listen to Tad R. Callister, who is currently a member of the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka... the Mormon church).

Elder Callister is one of my favorites. He has already made an appearance on my blog when he came to BYU almost a year ago to give a Devotional address, and I posted about what he talked about.

I had the privilege of singing in a choir that was seated up on the stand where Elder Callister, his wife, and others were sitting. After the conference was over, I went up to Elder Callister. I got to shake his hand. He asked for my name. I got to thank him for speaking to us, and tell him that I absolutely loved his book The Infinite Atonement. Because... I do. I really love that book. He thanked me for taking the time to ponder it.

It was so great to personally speak to him! Even if it was only briefly. His wife is very nice too. Bucket list item... check!


The focus of his talk was on the relationship between husbands and wives. He gave several different ways to make your marriage a celestial one:

1. Adopt the attitude "I will make it work." Be committed, and make the effort to do all you can to make your marriage work.
2. Adopt the "Is it I?" attitude. When there are problems, look for ways you could change instead of trying to find ways that your spouse should change.
3. Pray with your spouse every morning and evening.
4. Make you spouse happy. Love each other with all your heart.
5. Avoid pornography at all costs.
6. There are no secrets between spouses. Confide in each other about everything so that you will have that sure foundation of trust.
7. Multiply and replenish the earth. Yeah... have babies. Do not let worries about schooling and money be detrimental. Where sacrifices are made, the Lord will bless us.
8. Do not neglect daily scripture study. Both individual and with your spouse/family.
9. Stay out of debt.
10. Speak in soft, kind voices.

Can I just say... Elder Callister is a wonderfully straight-forward speaker. Not in the same way that Elder Holland is straight-forward (there's no beating-around-the-bush with Elder Holland!) but in a gentle way. I've noticed that he really likes using lists in his talks... and that makes it easier to take notes and get the main idea, in my opinion.

I love being at a University where I can have the opportunity to hear apostles and prophets of the Lord. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to personally meet and talk to one of my favorite General Authorities. And to top it all off, we gained an hour. I got to sleep in. It's been a magical Sunday.

Just die already!

During the past month, my computer has randomly shut down on me at least 4 times due to a "system error". It's a problem that's only started this past month, and so it makes me wonder if my computer is getting a little worn down. It's an old, thick dinosaur, after all. No webcam, several inches thick, and no port through which I could hook it up to a tv or anything. It's noisy and takes a while to start up. It has some weird thumb-scanner that I don't know how to activate. I think you can use it in place of having a password.

BYU was doing a Windows 8 Touchscreen Laptop demo (Acer Aspire) this past week, and my husband went to check it out. I got a text from him saying that if my computer dies, we'll probably get me one of those.

Suddenly, I really want my computer to die.

Knowing my luck though, it will keep living for another couple years.
I keep thinking of ways it could "accidentally" die.
Such as dropping it.
Or throwing something at the screen and saying that I was aiming for the couch.
Or taking a torch to it and claiming that it just spontaneously burst into flame.

via

Oh well. It's been a faithful computer to me the past couple of years. It has a big screen, which is great for watching movies or shows, and the volume turns up louder than other computers. It's also really sturdy (which is why it probably won't die for a while... the thing is like a tank!)

And no, I would not consider a Mac. Sorry Apple fans, but PCs are the way to go. Microsoft FTW.

Meh. I'll just hunker down and wait until my laptop's life is over. Even if it takes a little longer than I would like it to.