the neverending school year

i'm in the midst of the throes of finals week.  only two left! however, one is at 7 am, which is an unholy hour to be taking a 3 hour long test.

also, i start school again on tuesday! hooray. some days, i really wish i weren't taking spring and summer classes. but, i know that it's probably for the best that i do.  i'll just really miss having a break from school for more than two weeks.  and it'll be a year and a halfish of straight school. that's kinda intimidating.

however, to celebrate our 4 day weekend between semesters, chris and i have decided to do one of two things.  either we'll go up to lava hot springs in idaho, or go skiing.  snowbird and alta ski resorts both got more snow this week, because utah is not acknowledging the fact that it is mid april, not february.  i've never been skiing, and chris's whole family are big skiiers.  his two nephews (5 and 3) already go skiing almost every weekend, and are better than i ever will be.

to break up the monotony of year round school, chris and i are also doing other weekend trips, like up to bear lake with his family for the 4th of july, maybe camping in moab, and hopefully down to vegas.

any other fun ideas?

save el moolah

we all like to save money, right? last night, chris and i watched a little bit of extreme couponing on TLC.  they definitely save money, but i don't need 62 bottles of mustard in my pantry, that is, if i had a pantry.  seriously though, a woman bought over 60 bottles of mustard.

however, it got chris and i to thinking. we're newlyweds, which usually equals poor. and indeed we are. poor, married, college students.  we get ads and coupons in the mailbox all the time, but never really sift through them.  we decided that we should start keep our eyes out for coupons, and even look online for good deals.  even if a coupon is for $1 or 50 cents, it really starts to add up week after week.

i found out that one of my old efy counselors has a couponing/savings blog, which is called Frugally Marisha.  she will post good deals, which are good across the country, and even suggests ways to find coupons online.  not only that, she has a section called couponing 101, helping people to know how to get the most out of their coupons.

also, i got the title of the post from this comcast commercial.  seriously, comcast commercials used to be one of my favorite things. they were always so funny. and sorry it's not the best quality.

Where has time gone?

It has been awhile since I last posted.  There are multiple reasons for this:

1) i'm a student
2) work
3) see #1

Let me explain. by being a student, and especially towards the end of the semester, i have so many papers and dang group projects to do.  my time is being sucked away.  also, work plays a factor.  i've never worked this much during school before, so i've had to adjust when i do my homework and studying.  now i get home from school/work and do homework and chill a little and then go to bed.  i can't do all my homework during the day anymore, and play at night.  also, with all my time dedicated to work, and school, my life really isn't that exciting.  hence #3 on my list.  do you really want to hear about how we talked about the Great Vowel Shift in my linguistics class on monday?

i didn't think so - and i'm not sure i could explain it well.

i will say this though - finally having married friends is the best!  especially since they find fun activities for us to do - like playing croquet.  it wasn't just normal croquet either - it had a lot more rules and it was on a mini golf type course.  if you are in the provo area, go to the Provo Beach Resort down at the Riverwoods.  tons of stuff to do in there!

PSA

I decided to write a blog about something very real, and it creeps up fast.  Most people deny its existence, but trust me, it's there, just waiting to pounce.

wondering what i'm talking about? yeah, me too (jk!)

i'm talking about the horrible disease known as horrible newlywedweightgainitis.  it probably affects more people than you know.  currently, my husband and i are waging a war against it.

you see, it started on our honeymoon. actually, i may have started to not care during engagement, but that doesn't matter. we went on a cruise for our honeymoon.  which means food is available all the time, plus all you can eat. that wasn't good.  then we attended my brother-in-law's wedding reception. then we had an open house in MA, AND new year's came along. that's a lot of snacking.  then school started and that brought a lot of busyness and too many fast food meals.

we're fighting that now. we're eating more meals at home, even if it is just coming home between classes for only 30 minutes.  it's really hard sometimes, considering i'm on campus from 8 to 6:30 a few days a week.

also, we're trying to get back into the habit of going to the gym regularly. we made it 3 times last week - not too shabby.  except my legs were pretty sore after the 2nd workout, and so i barely made it the third time haha.

hopefully i can continue to go a few times a week.  mostly because i don't want to buy new clothes if i keep gaining weight. that's a lot of work haha.

Loading...Loading...Loading

The computers we use at work are relatively old.  Not super old, but from around 2002-2004.  In addition to that, they are used everyday, all day.  They are getting tired, and it makes work frustrating sometimes. The computer is slow loading any program, and it just gets really annoying.

Not only that, but the main program we use - Archivists' Tool Kit, is also really slow, and it crashes every 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on the computer).  i swear that 1/4th of my time at work is just waiting and waiting.  i also make sure to hit the save button pretty much every time i change/add something. 

it's really frustrating when it freezes right before you hit save - and have to redo a whole section.

but then, I remember old school dial up.  i can't believe we used to think that was fast and awesome.

Warning: No Specific Theme

I'm really horrible about posting sometimes.   I know that all of you have just been DYING for me to post again to get a glimpse into my terribly exciting life. hah, yeah right.  and this post will be just a jumble of random stuff.

so, i've been working for almost two weeks now, and still haven't actually done what i was hired to do. that's ok, i like what i'm doing right now, even though it's just sitting at the computer and listening to my ipod.  i've either been putting the physical description into the right format for a large collection, or putting collections into a program which makes the cataloging more effective and so patrons can locate items more easily.

i like to people watch, and sometimes i see really strange things, or at least i think they are strange. the other week at church, the girl in front of us was picking at her split ends.  not weird at all, i do that too. however, her husband was also picking at her split ends.  that was kinda weird to me.

have you ever thought how ridiculous the waits are at restaurants? sometimes i really don't understand.  chris and i love outback because the food is good and reasonably priced, but the last time we went, the wait was around 80 minutes! good thing i called ahead.  and last night, we tried texas roadhouse.  again, i called ahead, and the wait was 90 TO 110 MINUTES! how ridiculous is that?! so when we got there, the wait area was completely packed. so we sat at the bar.  that was my first time there, and can i just say that the rolls are AMAZING. also, the steak was reallyyyyy good.  plus, a lot of the dinner meals are only $9! pretty good for a sit down place, if you ask me.

lastly, chris and i watched the academy awards tonight with his cousin and wife.  i'm so happy that The King's Speech won best picture, and that Colin Firth got best actor for his role in that movie.  he totally deserved it.  i really loved that movie, and i can't wait to watch it again! it really was an inspiring movie. plus, Colin Firth will always hold a special place in my heart, because he is THE Mr. Darcy.  but, i was bummed that I See the Light from Tangled did not win best original song, because absolutely love that song.  sorry, Randy Newman and Toy Story 3.

Unemployed? Not me!

after about TWO months of applying to who knows how many jobs, i FINALLY have one! (and not a stinky one that would require me to work on sundays.) where am i working, you ask?

oh, just this place...

Harold B. Lee Library!

i'll be working down in the Special Collections, helping to revamp the archives' catalogs, and write better descriptions so that people actually know what they are. i think it'll be a lot of fun.  also, i totally name dropped in the interview.  i'm shameless.  i brought it up like 1.5 minutes into the interview.  you see, Chad Flake is my great great uncle, and he worked in the Special Collections for like 40 years, and helped to make it amazing. 

also, when i was searching for that picture, a lot of them were of Stephen Jones.  if you have not seen this Old Spice parody for the HBLL, then you're welcome.

i love to see the temple.

Chris and I are going to this place tonight - once he's out of his review.  Shame on me, but it'll be my first time back since I went for my own endowment, over a month ago.  But I have a completely valid reason for that!

You see, we're supposed to wear all white inside the temple, to symbolize purity.  However, I only have 1 white bra, and during all the traveling over the break, it got stained.  It was in my suitcase next to my green and pink tank tops, and something broke inside my bag - causing the bra to look like a bag of green and pink skittles. Good job, me. So, I had to buy a new one.

Also, it is freezing (and I mean freezing!) outside today.  Thankfully, the one class I had was canceled so that I don't have to walk up to campus and freeze my little hiney off.  Well, I'm not sure how little it is, but I digress.  Instead, I got to cuddle up in a blanket, on the couch, and just do my homework here. I love it.

One other thing - I hate it when a number I don't know calls me, and then not leave a voicemail. Seriously, such a pet peeve.  I don't want to call someone I don't know back, but I keep wondering what it was about. Oh well.

I've probably rambled enough now.

my dear frenemy.

i have a frenemy (friend + enemy).  now and then, this frenemy appears in my life.  it had been awhile, until last week.  you may ask, who is this frenemy? you may also think, i really could care less, just go on with the post.

anyway, my frenemy is the gym.  we truly have a love/hate relationship. i hate dragging my behind over to the gym, but i know i need to go, especially after weddings/holidays. thankfully, chris is also trying to get back in the habit of exercising, so we push each other until we finally end up there. (three times since thursday! hooray!)

however, we're too cheap to buy a membership at 24 Hour Fitness, or Gold's Gym, so we go to the totally free and totally packed BYU gym.  that's part of why i hate it.  the only time when it isn't packed is at like 9 on friday night. i always watch like a hawk to score one of the four nice ellipticals. i could go on the treadmill, but then shin splints appear again, especially since i'm just getting back into the routine.

good thing about the byu gym: awesome people watching.  the awkward freshman girls in packs of 6 (no lie, saw that tonight), guys trying to act cool and so buff, and the random attempts at flirting make it a little more worthwhile.

we just started going again, after not going since early november (oops) and i'm already up to 2.6 miles.

holla!

that's my accomplishment so far. also, i ended my workout listening to Baby by Justin Bieber. don't hate.

P.S. i joined a sweet site - loseit. It helps to keep track of what you're eating, how much you're exercising, etc. and it's totally free! thanks to the Yellow House for helping me find it.

no more bangs and hallelujah!

I got a hair cut on Saturday. My hair was starting to get past my bra strap on my back, and that's really long for me.  I didn't want to get it cut before the wedding though. Plus, I had a 50% off coupon (I love coupons and sales. They are my BFFs.) to David Douglas Salon here in Provo. Sweet!  Since sophomore year of high school, I've had the side swoopy bangs, but they are no more.  I've been growing them out, and with the hair cut, you can't even tell I had bangs because she blended them in. 

Also, I've had a hallelujah moment.  Last week, I had two job interviews with Sears (so exciting, right? but hey, i need da monies), but being hired was contigent upon agreeing to work one Sunday a month.  I know that's not HORRIBLE, because it's not every Sunday.  But it would prevent me from attending my ward, and I didn't feel great about it. So, I turned down the first job offer I got.  I almost didn't because it was like my twentieth place to apply to.

However, this morning I checked my email, and I got an email from a lady who needs a nanny.  I contacted her almost a full two weeks ago, and I had long given up on that.  I mean, it's a sweet job it seems like - pay is $10-12 an hour! That's unheard of in cheap Provo.  They did get a girl, but she backed out because school was getting too hard.  So, she wants to set up an interview soon. *fingers crossed, arms crossed, toes crossed*

Celebrity Sighting!

I saw Joseph Smith on Saturday!

No, NOT this Joseph Smith:

Rather, I saw THIS Joseph Smith:

AKA Nick Whitaker

You might also know him from other things, such as Brigham City (the little scared deacon), or random Disney Channel stuff that I've never seen.

How did I see him? Well, on Saturday Chris and I went up to Salt Lake to meet with our photographer one last time, to view an awesome slideshow they put together.  Go to Still Timeless to view their amazing page. Anyway, after that we went to Farmington to have dinner with Chris's parents. (Being fed is the best). As we were leaving, Joseph/Nick was in my in-law's lane with his dog.  Probably having him go potty in their yard, but that's a different matter.  He is a neighbor though.

His hair is pretty long now and has blond highlights.

Awesome, right?

Wonderful Wedding!

So, as pretty much every single person who reads this blog knows (since it's mostly family), I am now a married woman!  The last few weeks have been crazy and busy, but it was all totally worth every second. 

Here's a rundown of what has happened in the past two and a half weeks.

• I received my endowment
• I was sealed to my amazing husband
• Chris and I spent a few nights in the nicest hotel either of us have ever been in
• Chris and I went on a cruise
• We attended my brother-in-law's sealing
• We went home to MA
• Put on an open house
• Had time to be with family for a couple of days, minus Erica and Spencer :(
• Flew back to Utah
• Opened wedding presents
• Working on finishing moving in and organizing the new apartment
• Took back multiple gifts, and got things we actually use
• Started classes
• Had a job interview

Thankfully, I'm not tired whatsoever, and I loved the break, even though we were on about 7 different planes throughout the break. I will hopefully update more about the cruise and the wedding day itself, when I have all the pictures up.  For now, here is a sneak peak from the temple pictures! (It's also one of two that I've seen from the temple.)