Where Have We Been?

When school ended (for my entire two week summer break), I worked full time until May 19 when I flew to Denver with my sister, Shannon, and brother-in-law, Jeff. I flew back to NC on Tuesday night, which by the way seemed like the longest flight ever only because I was losing 2 hours. But my sleep was not affected once I got home, only while I was in Colorado. I'll do separate posts on our awesome trip because there is just so much to talk about!

School started back on May 23. We have already had one test and have another this week. Clinicals start back tomorrow, and fortunately I get to go to my favorite hospital first! I am kind of excited about that, however, that will be my only visit there this summer. Last week we had orientation at Pitt, now Vidant. That was a long day of parking and walking and it was all very overwhelming! I go there next week for my first set of 12 hour clinical days. That's definitely scary to me. I've heard that they pile the work on and they don't slow down all day. I'm not super active and am usually sitting down during the day. I'm definitely taking my inhaler. I thought I was going to die the other day we were walking so fast on our tour. And I couldn't tell you one thing we looked at because I was so lost and confused in that ginormous hospital.

I babysat on Saturday while Matthew worked. I took the little boy to the children's museum in town. He had a blast! We looked at the animals, saw a lot of different brains, and played with every dinosaur you can think of. Over two hours later, I finally had to bribe him to get us to leave haha. He got a black snake in the gift shop because he wanted to scare his daddy. We stopped at Chickfila on the way home. He ate two whole nuggets out of his kid's meal. You know I ate the rest. I'm a fatty like that.

In other news, Matthew has finally reached his time at work where he qualifies for insurance! I get so tired of going through this with each job. But I know that one day, maybe even with his current job, that he will find his forever job and we won't have to keep reading up on insurance options because quite frankly I don't understand half of what they say.

Also, the most exciting news is that Matthew is helping to coach a Babe Ruth League baseball team this summer! They are all 14 and 15 year old boys. In my mind boys of that age are innocent children still. Wrong. I have been in shock from the things I've heard so far, and I've only been to two games. They are a good team though! They are 3-0 right now. I am so excited that Matthew has gotten back to what he loves most! He definitely needed a little push to accept the offer to help, but he's glad that he did. The only downside is that it's very time consuming. There are two or three games a week, and they practice the other weeknights. Since they all start right after he gets off work, or in the case of practice before he gets off work, he's not getting home until late. And we thought we didn't have time to spend with each other before!

Happy Birthday to My Husband!

Happy 25th Birthday! I hope that you have had a great day and great rest of the week as we will continue to celebrate!

You finally got your Mexican fix for lunch. I know you are glad that I was up and not in my pj's or else we wouldn't have gone. And I know you loved the surprise of me coming to your work and bringing you 25 balloons and some cupcakes for everyone. I know you were embarrassed by that, but birthdays are supposed to be fun and full of surprises! I wanted to make it the best birthday you've ever had! And every year I will outdo myself. So just think that by the time you are 75, you should be getting a pretty awesome surprise haha.

Hurry up and get home because I am starving and Ichiban is sounding pretty great right now!

Love you!

Our First Valentine's Day As a Married Couple!

I'm pretty sure this could be considered a milestone of sorts!

I'm not super into Valentine's Day and all the mushy gushy love stuff. You won't see me out buying giant pink and red stuffed animals or candy or even a card. I just like knowing that people care about me. And I don't need a specific day for them to let me know. I think it's better when they let me know randomly throughout the year.

Matthew and I celebrated Valentine's together on Saturday. He picked me up from my parents' house when he got off work at 4. We headed to Wal-mart to buy all the food we wanted for dinner. And let's just say I am thankful his grandma gives us a gift card every month, because I could never spend that much money on so little food.

We ended up with 2 giant ribeyes, each weighing just over a pound; caesar salad mix; focaccia bread; jalapeno poppers (fried jalapenos with cream cheese.. soooo good!); and sweet potatoes.

Matthew lit a little jar candle (that he found in a drawer) and put it on the kitchen table. We never eat at the table, so this was clearly a holiday meal! And we even used the placemats my parents had given us for a shower gift. This means it was a super nice holiday meal! Placemats are for looking good on the table, not for being dirtied with crumbs! However, I couldn't make myself use the cloth napkins. I could never fold them back the same way!

Everything was so good! And we had enough food leftover that we ate basically the same meal Sunday night (we just had red potatoes and deviled eggs instead of sweet potatoes and salad).

We had decided to not exchange gifts because we really don't have the money and the little we do have, we decided to save. But Matthew surprised me at work with a bouquet of daisies (dark purple, light purple, and hot pink)! He knows me well enough to not spend a lot on flowers from a florist! And then in the afternoon, he brought me a mocha frappe because he knows how much I love them and have been avoiding them since I started my diet!

Once Matthew got home from work, we knew we needed to get groceries. We ate dinner at the mall. I got pizza and Matthew got Chinese. Did you expect him to get anything different? Then we went to Wal-mart and got groceries. And we even rented a movie from Redbox (because I had a free promo code), Grown Ups. Of course Matthew fell asleep half way through the movie. But it was a really good movie!

All in all, we had a very good first Valentine's Day!

Just 6 Short Months Ago...

I can't believe that Sunday made 6 months Matthew and I have been married! Where did time go? We've done so many things, and on the other hand I feel like we haven't done much of anything. If 6 months went by this fast, how fast will the rest of my life go by? Although we've had our fights, I wouldn't change any of it! We've had a lot of fun and I can't wait to see what's happening next!

How's Married Life?

For all of the married folks out there, especially if you are newlyweds, do you ever get tired of being asked this question? I can't even count how many times people have asked me how married life is! And I always say, "It's good! Busy!". But does busy really have anything to do with married life? No. And that is why I get weird looks when I say that. I don't know how else to answer that question, though. I am wishfully thinking that people will stop asking me soon. But then I remember that we've only been married for three months. So there's at least nine more months to go. And I'm sure people will still ask after that first year is over.

I'm not asking them how their married life is! Matthew and I are still trying to figure out a routine that works for us. I can't even figure out how to get a routine together for myself with work and classes! So to me, the word busy does apply to how married life is because my married life is insanely busy. Although, my life without marriage would be insanely busy as well.

And I can't help but compare this question to one like "How are you doing?" when one of their beloved family members or friends has just passed away. I mean how do you answer that? You can't. They're trick questions! I'm convinced of it. Nobody is going good after a loved one has passed. And no one is good right after they got married. There is just too much stuff running through your mind. You're too busy adjusting to this new change.

Meet the Newlyweds!

Today, Matthew and I are being featured over at The Newlyweds! So please go check it out! We had so much fun with the interview and hope that all of you enjoy reading all about us!

And for those of you visiting from The Newlyweds, welcome! We hope that you will look around our blog! It may not have a ton of posts yet, but we just started our lives out together and will have a lot to share with everyone over the rest of our lives! And that's a lot of future posts! So if you don't think we're interesting today, just come back tomorrow and see what other adventures we've gotten ourselves into!

Down to the Wire

Apparently it is the next to last week of summer classes! I thought there were at least three more weeks. So this week I have been spending my time after work at school trying to finish all of my assignments. I have accomplished a lot! I stayed at least two hours the last two nights and now I only have 2 assignments left! I am getting off work a little early so that I won't be there until midnight finishing up! I may swing by the Social Security office if I have time. This name change process is ridiculous! Every time I think I'm almost finished changing my name at all of the billion places that are necessary, one more creeps up and jumps on the list!

There's a small update on Matthew's job interview! There have been a lot of changes since his interview, and at one point there was the slight moment of the complete lack of hope when they said they would no longer be hiring due to changes in the structure of current employees. But now the hope is back after some more changes in current employees and they're still hiring! A decision is supposed to be reached by tomorrow. So Matthew should find out tomorrow or Friday what the verdict is! We are trying to not get our hopes up (as they've already been dashed once since last Wednesday) but are praying diligently for whatever the outcome may be!

And our wedding pictures have finally arrived in the mail! There are 6 discs total! However, my computer is rarely used because it's mean and refuses to do what I need it to do.. like turn on and do computer things. And Matthew's computer has decided that the cd drive won't work, which after some searching we found that it isn't even installed on his computer anymore. So I will be searching for a computer to use for a few hours so that I can look at all of the pictures! I will post some up here.. maybe.. if they're good.. and I like them.. which I know I will!

PS: Matthew's off on Sunday!!! I am super excited!

One Month Anniversary (a couple days late)

Matthew and I have been married for a month! Can you believe it? I feel like time has flown by. And as all men go, I had to remind Matthew that it had been a month. I hope he remembers the one year anniversary!

We had a nice weekend, if only it had been a day or two longer! I slept in on Saturday while Matthew cut the grass. Then we decided to go swimming for a little while. That's when we found out that my uncle had been in a bad wreck that totaled his brand new car. I just remember crying! At the time, they weren't sure if he had a stroke or what had happened. They took him to the hospital a little further away, and a lot better than the one close by. He came home Monday afternoon! He had no scratches or bruises from the accident. And after running all kinds of tests, they could find nothing wrong with him. They did find an infection in his arm due to scratches from a friend's dog. And all they could come up with was that a blood clot had formed and traveled to his brain where it broke apart causing him to black out and lose control of the car. I think he was more upset about the car, but he felt very lucky to have come out with no problems! After many tears, we managed to go to the pool for about an hour before heading back home and going out to eat with Matthew's parents.

We went to church Sunday morning and then to eat at Matthew's grandparents'. As we are still on our diet, I think Matthew found it quite difficult to choose the right foods and the right portions from his grandpa's country cooking. After one, much smaller than usual, plate, Matthew said his stomach was hurting from eating too much and he gave up on eating anything more. I was in shock! I couldn't believe that Matthew was full! It was definitely a first! The rest of the afternoon was spent washing loads of sheets and towels, running the dishwasher several times, and putting more gifts away. The house is starting to look like a house again and not a storage room! Only a few more things left to go! We went to eat dinner with my parents Sunday night, and dinner was quite disappointing. It just didn't hit the spot!

On our one month anniversary day, we did all the fun things of adult life. I cooked dinner, then we grocery shopped! I know that sounds so boring, but couponing makes it so much more fun! We ended up with so much good stuff. I of course went over my weekly budget by $5.50. But that's okay! We needed toilet paper really bad! And it wasn't until after all of this that Matthew finally realized (after I told him of course) that it was our one month anniversary.

So here we are on our one week point of our diet. And the results are in! I have lost 4 lbs. and Matthew has lost 6 lbs. Not bad! Matthew has fought some of the times. He did sneak an oatmeal creme pie, which he claims he gave half to Cinnamon. I'm not entirely sure about the truth on that one! He did eat more at dinner a couple times than he should have. But I may have done the same a time or two. The important thing is, we have lowered our calorie intake, our portion sizes, and have begun making healthier choices for meals and snacks. I think we are on the right track! Only 61 more lbs. to go for me and 54 left for Matthew! I told you the man would lose it faster!

I Can Almost Taste It...

The weekend, that is. It's coming in less than three hours! I have so many ideas for what to do this weekend. There's swimming, finishing the patio, grilling, cleaning, and sleeping. So much excitement! And the best part..Matthew is off the entire weekend! I don't have to hang out alone!

This is something I have really been struggling with. I know that it may sound selfish to want to spend every spare minute with Matthew, but he really is my best friend. And I want to be around him as much as I possibly can. He's goofy and silly and cute and funny! We always have a good time. But when he is working and I am home, I just want to sit there and wait for him to come home.

We have a dog, Cinnamon Raisin, who also is completely in love with Matthew. It really is so cute to see! She will lay on the couch or the floor all day. She won't even play at all. And then she will run to the door when she hears him come home. Her whole body will shake until he comes inside. That's when she jumps up and puts her two front legs around his waist and gives him a hug. Cinnamon just loves her daddy!

I'm starting to feel like I am the same way. I don't want to do anything all day until Matthew is there. I don't know why I'm having a hard time with this. Since I was in the 6th grade, I have gone home after school and taken care of myself. When I turned 16, I was always on the go between school, basketball practice, soccer practice, community service, etc. I never felt dependent on anyone or anything. When I was 17, I drove to Atlanta for my spring break. I lived alone in another town at the age of 19. I bought my own home at the age of 21. I am used to surviving on my own. But there is something about having another person to take care of you and to spend time with you. It just makes you feel good.

I do need to be a little more independent though, I suppose. Maybe that will be a goal for the rest of this year. To be both dependent and independent.

Married Life!

So you are probably wondering how married life is so far! It has been two and a half weeks since we got married! And I feel like time has been flying by. I honestly feel like we have been married for months now! The last year of planning a wedding went by so slowly compared to the last few days!

We have both been back at work since we got back from the honeymoon. It has been somewhat of a hard adjustment, especially since this week Matthew is having to work eight days straight. His schedule is just like it was before the wedding, it varied from week to week. He would work most weekends, go in late in the day, get off late, go in early, get off early. Every week was different from the last. So I'm not sure what I was expecting. I guess I was just hoping that maybe they would decide to give him more of a regular schedule. But no! I have been trying to schedule myself around his schedule. I try to go to my class when he is working late and try to go straight home on days that he gets off early. And I don't think I've prepared myself for this weekend! Matthew was off last weekend, which was really nice! But this weekend, I will be all alone! And of course I am off on Monday and Matthew will be working. Hopefully, I can make myself be productive instead of sleeping the whole weekend!

We have made several purchases for the house together. Matthew has been working on putting a patio down right off the deck! I am so excited for this project to be done and to set the patio furniture up! Of course, I will have to bathe in bug spray before I can go out there, but it will be worth it! We also purchased a hutch for the kitchen so we could put all of our china somewhere safe and of course somewhere cute! And of course we are working our way through the gifts, putting them in their places, returning multiples, etc. I am also trying to go ahead and empty the old things out of the cabinets and get them ready for a yard sale sometime later this year. The dishwasher has been working overtime! We can't seem to get it done fast enough! Hopefully after the patio is done, Matthew will finally finish the flooring project started a couple months ago, and then we can get the kitchen painted! I have convinced myself that if the kitchen is painted, I will be more motivated to actually put all of the gifts away and clean out the cabinets! We'll see how that goes! But I will just be glad to have it painted! At least it will look better!

Things have been great though! Our goals for the month of July are to really limit our spending, save more, and stick to our budget! I have always been a saver. Matthew has always been a spender. But we are both used to relying on our families for support and extra help. Now, it all depends on us! So we really want to start off on the right foot! We haven't sat down and discussed exactly how much we hope to save for the remainder of the year or anything like that yet. But we have thrown around some ideas of how much we think we can set aside each month. Hopefully we will be on the same page! Or at least talk our way into being on the same page!

Also, on a side note! Matthew and I have found a church that we really like! We have only been a couple Sundays, since Matthew is usually working. But Matthew has put in a request to no longer be scheduled on Sundays! I hope they will accept his request so that we can go on a regular basis and not every once in a while! The preaching is great, their is a choir, they sing out of the hymnal (as well as other songs), and it is a small church! We are both excited to have found a church where we feel comfortable and feel that we are getting something out of church and not going just to be going!