One Year (and a little bit) of marriage, and some new bling

It has been one year since the first day of our "Happily Ever After". It amazes me how fast the year went, and yet soo much has happened: Marriage, graduate, move to Oregon, start new job, start dental school... It has been an incredible year. I'm so lucky to have David as my husband and Eternal Companion. Each day I am reminded why we got married and fall more in love with him. It hasn't always been easy, life never is, and it isn't perfect, but we experience everything together and that makes everything better and worth it. I'm so glad that I have him by my side. I'm excited for the years to come with him.

For our Anniversary we decided to finally get me a wedding band. I got tired of people asking me when the wedding is. Since my engagement ring is a rather original shape, we knew we had to get a custom ring designed. I have loved sapphires with diamonds since the first time I went ring shopping (long before I met David). Thus, this is what we came up with, with our friend/jeweler. I couldn't be more pleased. Though it is more bling that I imagined when first envisioning this ring, I'm not complaining. :)

Confession

I have never professed to be a good, or avid, blogger. But looking back at what I have, and more what I have not, written about I realized that I really am terrible at it. But I've had plenty to share... So here is a rededication to my being a better blogger and sharing with the blogging world what has been happening in my life, which they can choose to care about or not. :) Hopefully this rededication lasts longer than my many dedications to be a better journal writer...

But, as proof of my intent, here are some things to be expecting on my blog:
1) Pictures of our apartment
2) A blurb about how wonderful my first year of marriage has been
3) My most recent craft project which some friends and family have already benefitted from
4) Our Thanksgiving trip to Whistler
5) Whatever else suits my fancy--after all isn't that what this blog is all about.

Till then, much love!

Life after Graduation!!!

Alright.... what have David and I been up to since leaving BYU?

1) We packed up our little home and hit the road for Portland. Less than 1 week after graduation, we were safely in David's parents' house, and on the job/house hunt. We hunted for a suitable new home, apartment after apartment, white box after white box, for about 6 weeks. It was quite the hunt. Finally in mid-June we signed for an apartment close to the Portland Temple (we literally can see the spires from the road by our complex) and have settled right in. We love our new little home!

2) Found Jobs!!! Sort of.... I originally found work as a receptionist through a temp agency. I worked at this company for a few weeks. Then they found out that reception wasn't my dream career and that I had had an interview somewhere else. The evening after this came out I received a call from the temp agency telling me that the company didn't want me back the next day. So jobless again.

David was working through a different temp agency doing data entry, but after 2 weeks the project ended and they never got back to him. So he has been busy doing work around his parent's house for the last 7 weeks or so.

3) Decided to train for a marathon... and then stopped running because of the bad weather... and have struggled to get back into the mind set. So.... maybe later.

4) Reading! After 5 years of being deprived of fun reading, I think I am trying to make up for it in one summer. I have read a whole series called the Luxe series--about New York Debutantes in the 1890-1900s. So fun! Along with a mix of other fun novels, and even re-reading Twilight, finishing it last night. I forgot how much I love to read. Lots more to read still. :)

5) Visited my parents several times. It is nice to have them so close so that we can visit for a weekend, go to Seattle, go hiking, whatever.

6) Moved into our new apartment! Finally, in mid-June, we signed for an apartment close to the Portland Temple (we literally can see the spires from the road by our complex) and have settled right in. We love our new little home! A 2 bedroom apartment this time, with a big bathroom that includes a bath tub!!! (That was one of my requirements in our new apartment since our other bathroom was basically a closet).

7) We hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls. Not too bad of a hike, but I haven't been hiking for a while so it was a good starter hike. Gorgeous views! I will post pictures soon--after we recharge the camera battery. :)

8) We won a drawing for a one-month membership to a crazy nice, crazy expensive gym. Our first day there we participated in a Yoga class, yes both of us, and it kicked our butts. We hurt the next day. :)

9) Found a Job again. The interview that got me fired from my last job landed me a much better job. I am working at a Market Research company in downtown Portland. Perfect! Since that is what I did for the last year with Prof. Billeter. It is going well so far. I'll reach two months with them this week. It is only an internship right now with the potential to be fully hired at the end of 3-6 months.

10) Making friends in our new ward. Today we realized that there are now 5 first year dental students couples in our ward alone, plus a first year law student couple and another young married couple that aren't students we will still be there friend. :) So what does that mean? The first year dental students are required to go (without spouses, girl friends, significant others, etc) on a beach trip later this week, leaving all of us wives home alone. That spells just one thing: Girls night!! And it looks like I will be organizing it, so any ideas, please pass them along--there will be 7 of us that I am inviting.

And 11) David started Dental School this week. He is crazy busy but he loves it and I am so proud of him. I got spoiled having him all to myself in the evenings before school started... now I am making up for it. I see him every night, but miss him a lot (cheesy, I know). It will be a long haul, but it will be worth it. And, I'm not in this alone. Like I said, 4 other first year dental student couples our ward alone, and a total of 15 LDS first years in his class. Out of 75, that is just unheard of. Yay for friends!

Graduation!!!

Yes! We finally did it! Even after all my whining, complaining, pining, groaning, crying, and praying... we finally managed to walk across that stage in the Marriott Center, pick up the empty folder and call ourselves college graduates! Yahoo!!!

The weekend was really fun, but crazy. Both of my parents came into town and David's Dad and sister Shonda were able to come as well. (His mom was recovering from surgery and couldn't make it). So we were busy being with family, packing up our house, and I still had to grade about 100 hundred finals before we could leave town. Yeah... crazy.

Commencement was good. We were able to participate in the processional and got to walk with friends--in caps and gowns! We felt so important. :) Elder Christofferson spoke at Commencement. I'd love to say that I remembered everything he said... but that would be lying. He did promise to keep his address short--which he did. He did say something that did strike home. "Let your temporal cap and gown prepare you for your eternal crown and glory". I loved that. Just a reminder to use our education for the good of the Kingdom and building up the work of the Lord.

To be honest, I don't remember much from Convocation. I remember being annoyed because the process to get our cards was so terrible--all 1100 undergrads trying to get our name cards from one concession station--horrible planning. Then I freaked out because I thought David and I might not get to sit together. But all was well. We got to walk together and enjoy the accomplishment together.

Now our diplomas sit on our bookshelf, in all their glory and the now non-empty folders. We are done!

Here are some fun pictures of the weekend! Yay! (By the way, my Dad takes a lot of photos. :))

The Case of the Elusive Plates

So David and I have been married about 7 months now, and in that time I still hadn't chosen any dishes to go with my kitchen. We had a set from his mom, which were great, but I still wanted a set that I loved, for my kitchen. I had this idea of the perfect dishes in my head--white, square with black swirls coming from one of the corners and swirling around an edge/side and made by Corelle.

Well, they didn't exist. I started looking hi and low for these dishes that I imagined in my head. Every store we went into that might possibly have dishes we looked and looked for a few months--nothing! I was resigned to that fact that I might have to make the darn things myself and that would cost a fortune and take forever (piece by piece for a set of 8 or 12!). I had just about given up was going to settle for a Corelle set that did exist when....

David and I were out and about looking for furniture to fill in the gaps in our home. Randomly we decided to go into Ross because it was close by and the store we wanted to go into wasn't open yet. So we killed some time in Ross and, wonder of wonders, guess what David found:

It isn't exactly what I dreamed, but it is incredibly close. Unfortunately they only had one set for a place setting of 4. We left them there, thinking we would check online and also call around to other Ross stores and see if they have any. But, with it being Ross, who knows! Online turned out to be waste of time because they are a discontinued style so the only ones sold were crazy expensive.

David is so good to me. He called around to a ton of Ross stores in the area and found 2 more sets! Needless to say, every store that had them, we had them place it on hold for us so that we could drive out there and get them. I now have my dream dishes, in a setting for 12!!!!!!

Sales Idol

This semester I took a Sales Management course. It actually was a lot of fun and gave me some insight into how to sell correctly and the benefits of doing so. I gained more respect for selling positions, which is good because it is very probable that my job after college will be in a sales role.

Well, in this Sales class, our teacher has set up an in class competitiong called "Sales Idol" (patterned after American Idol). There were 3 preliminary rounds and then one final round. Each company that came selected a winner of that round and then later, the class chose who they thought deserved to be a finalist, and compete in the final round. I participated in 2 of the prelim rounds and was nominated to go to the finals after the first round that I did. The second prelim round I did was with Kraft Foods. I ended up placing 2nd in this round!! It was a lot of fun and I was so happy to be given the award. Below are pictures of my awesome award!

Yeah, David and I have been enjoying the goodies, while trying to save some for our roadtrip to move to Portland.

I didn't do as well in the Final Round, but that is okay. I wasn't as excited about that Round, and I had already done well in my book. :)

Flowers Update...

Well, I need to update the world on the fun floral arrangements I did in the latter part of the semester. I have 4 arrangements to show, and I had fun making them! Hope you enjoy!

Cube Design.
This flower arrangement was done, as you can see in a cube. I'll tell you, it is a lot harder to make flowers stay put in the beginning that you would think. But I think it turned out cute anyway!

Bridal Bouqet:

Yeah, I learned how to make a bridal bouquet, and I loved it!!! After I had made it I felt like I wanted to get married all over again. It is a good thing that I didn't make this last semester... otherwise we really might have eloped!

Everlasting Design:

In the class we also had to create a flroal design, of our own choosing, using fake flowers. I made one that can fit against a wall, or on a shelf. I goes best with my kitchen colors so maybe, in our next apartment, I will find a good spot for it in the kitchen.

Spring Design:

Our last design in the class was with spring flowers and colors. We got the use Tulips and Ranaculus!!!! I had a hard time with this design because of the way my vase is shaped, but eventually I got it to work. It turned out well

With all these flowers, and learning how to make them last a long time, we had about 3 vases of flowers on our table for several days. It was fun, but a little overwhelming too! I'm so glad that I took this class this semester! I hope I will have occasion to use what I have learned once we leave BYU.

Are we there yet???

I'm ready to toss my cap and shout for joy!!!!

April 22, 2010..... please hurry!!!

Our little home

So, I am posting these pictures for people who have not seen our house, and who may never see our first home, since we are moving out of it at the end of next month. Our little home has been good to us, and we have enjoyed living in this little one story, one bedroom house--all to ourselves. It has been perfect!




My wonderful husband, studying away. :)

Japanese Designs In Floral Design

So apparently, the Japanese favor lots of negative spaces in this floral design work. They have 3 main lines in their designs: heaven (the highest), man (in the middle-ish part) and earth (Extending lower than the rest of the design. In America, rather than have 3 flowers and call it good (which they might do in Japan) we add more substance to the 3 main lines, but also try to follow the theme. Here is an example, which I am happy to say I created, of Japanese floral design. By the way, it is like 3 feet tall because of the curly willow branch that serves as the "heaven" line and was definitely interesting to carry around campus. I got some funny looks, to be sure.

Here is close of the center portion of the design. Though you can't see all that I did, I was happy with how it turned out.

My Valentine's Day

For those who don't know, my husband's birthday is February 14 (yes, Valentine's Day). So, when we decided we were going to get married, I relinquished my hold on Valentine's Day because he was born before I cared about the holiday. Instead, we celebrated it a week later. Now, there were a few benefits to this. 1) Everything for the special day is cheaper after the fact. 2) it makes the day more special to us. 3) I still get my holiday. :) However there are some things, well one main thing, we discovered about celebrating it late: If you wait too long to buy "Valentine's Day" things, they all disappear in favor of Easter. Oh well, we will know better for next year. But this year, we celebrated by David making a fancy dinner and giving each other little gifts, and watching Pride and Prejudice--yeah he spoils me. Here are some pictures of our night. :)He set this whole thing up! I am so spoiled. :)

And just because I love us....

Floral Design 2

Here is my second creation from floral design--budvase design. We had one main flower (the rose) and needed to add a flower to create more height and substance in the design for a better look (the blue delphinium) and then some filler flowers and foliage. I like it. The class is so much fun!

Best news ever!!!

We found out yesterday afternoon that David has been accepted in to Dental School for this coming school year! He starts in August and we are so excited!!! I'm so proud of my amazing husband!!!

In celebration, we went out to dinner to.....

We we soo full afterwards, and quite content!!

Now we need to:

1. Survive the semester adn Graduate
2. Move to Portland after graduation
3. Get jobs in Oregon
4. Start Dental School!

Woot!!!

Floral Design

Well, this being my last semester in school (probably ever), and only needing to take 3 classes to graduate, I decided to take a fun class or two (besides my usual load of dance classes). The result: I am taking Floral Design and flexibility--yes those are real classes, and yes I am taking them.

Floral Design is fun, but more time intensive than I would like for my last semester. That's okay. I'm learning a lot and now have a desire to open up my own flower shop, once I've had practice/experience. Whether that will become a reality remains to be determined.

Flexibility is so nice! I have missed being as flexible as I was while I still did hard core ballet. But I am slowly getting it back, with this twice a week class. We even have nap time at the end!!! Best class ever!

This semester isn't quite as lax as I would like. David, who is taking 18 credits including 5 business classes and philosophy has much more extra time on his hands. Mostly that is because I'm working a lot, so I have to schedule my time carefully. But still, here I am taking these fun, easy classes and he has more time! Grr!!! I guess things will be reversed when he is in Dental School...

I have posted below the first project I did in floral design. We just chose and wrapped the flowers. I will post more arrangements that I make as the semester goes along. It is fun though, and I already rocked the first test! Woot!!!

Yes, we got married

Just in case anyone had any doubt... David and I have been happily married for almost 2 whole months (we are practically veterans now ;) ). We have been getting settled into married life, thought there is nothing settling about wedding, back to school, finals, Christmas with both families, and then a new semester. But, we are happy to be finally married!

The past while we have been working on getting the house set up and everything moved in (I have a lot of stuff), as well as buying things for the house (like a vacuum). It is so nice to have our own little home, and sometimes it really feels like we are playing house.

We will have many adventures as a newly married couple. But for now, here are some wedding photos, just to prove to the world that I finally got a ring on his left hand--all other girls can now be jealous and back away from my amazing husband.