A small update on things past

Mark's parents and two of his sisters daughters (Celia and Izzy) came to visit us a few weeks ago for Thanksgiving. We also had some of Sylvia's (Mark's mom) siblings and their families over for the actual dinner. I will say that for my first Thanksgiving being married, it wasn't the calmest experience I have ever had. To be completely honest, I would not wish for that experience again, at least until we have a bigger kitchen, more chairs to sit on, and more cooking experience.

In fact, with all the baking our oven was on most of Wednesday and Thursday, which made it stifling in the basement and which probably escalated my stress levels. 8 pies (4 apple, 2 pumpkin and 2 cheesecakes), 10 lbs of garlic mashed potatoes, and 140 dinner rolls later, everything was set out for people to enjoy.

Turns out everyone decided to bring extra food (which was good, for having 30 people there) but also created tons of left overs! After everyone was gone, we had 6 pies still left in our fridge, and about 90 rolls left for snacking on.

The whole weekend with Mark's parents and nieces still there, we were eating pie for every meal and finding every reason to eat the rolls. We even had biscuits and gravy with rolls as the biscuits. Thankfully Izzy can down pie really well, so when they left on Monday morning, we only had one piece of each left in our fridge.

It was wonderful having Mark's family over, and getting to know his parents and Celia and Izzy better. I have definitely married into a wonderful family. I am so excited to get to know them more and more as the years pass.

Volleyball in the winter

So, Mark has a PlayStation 2. During the last 11 month of marriage, I have seen him play it 5 times. As we are packing, Mark decided to ask if we should get rid of it or keep it. I have never been one to play video games for hours at a time, or to work around the house by myself while someone else plays, so I figured, what a great time to just toss it.

He put a car racing game in, and asked me to play. I stink at driving from a remote control, so I was obviously not sold on keeping the game system with that horrible driving and losing every time.

Then, he said, "oh wait, I have a volleyball game," I laughed at him for having a game that you would sit during when you could actually just go out and play, but we played for a while and......I am hooked.

It is so fun! It is just another opportunity to play games with Mark and it seriously is TOO cold to play outside. So for now, we play a little volleyball during the day. It is funny to watch our little people fall over and run into each other, and even play without looking at the screen and hoping that we hit the ball.

Anyways, as far as other games go, I am still not convinced of the fun, but for now, the PlayStation stays.

Time for Change

Mark and I just recently found out (after a while of struggling and fighting for it) that Mark has residency in Nebraska and was accepted to the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is graduating from BYU in December with a Psychology Degree and will finish up his last pre-meds at UNO.

So, Nebraska, HERE WE COME!

I am so excited! I can hardly wait to be closer to my family and his family and everything I LOVE!

There truly is "no place like Nebraska."

Winners!

So, throughout this summer, Mark and I have been playing in double coed volleyball competitions. Its me and him against another couple, or rather male and female. We have played in a total of 5, I believe, and have been progressively getting better (or I have, which makes the difference when the other member of the team is already pro). Our first competition we got 4th place, so we did not recieve any prize, but the second one we got 3rd place and got some target gift cards. Our third competition was really intense and we didn't even make it to tournament play, which was pretty down-heartening.

The fourth, we got third again, and our hopes soared again, at our goal of getting 1st place before the end of the season (which is in October).

This Saturday, Mark and I played in our last competition this season, and glorious day---we got first place! We were so excited, mostly for the gift cards that we got, but also that we reached our goal!

Hopefully, moving up in levels will not severely hurt my self-esteem. Wish us luck!

married life-an adventure itself

So, Mark and I were married about 8 months ago, and decided to start a blog to document our adventures and life together. First we want to do a brief summary of the happenings so far, which could possibly take 8 months itself, but hence, the summary.

We were married in the Winter Quarters Temple on December 17, 2010. Although it was a beautiful, clear skied day, it was absolutely freezing. Wearing a short sleeve wedding dress was probably not the greatest idea, but worked great later, as we were dancing at the reception.

Both sets of parents were there, and my grandma (my dad's mom) was there, which was very special to me. Mark's sister's were all able to come, even Fayme, who gave birth to Enoch just a few days before. We all know that she did it on purpose because there was no way she was going to miss her only brother getting married in the temple for time and all eternity.

Anyways, the night went smoothly, with everyone dancing, my interpretation of NSYNC's "Bye, bye, bye," and Nate being so dillegent on keeping sure the mints and nuts were always full on the tables. Mark and I shared our first dance to Michael Buble's "You and I," Dad and I danced to "My Girl," and Mark and his mom danced to some boy band song that I don't remember ever hearing before or after that night (Mark says it it 'Mama' by Boys 2 Men). For me, one of the greatest parts of the night was all my friends from band who came out to congratulate and celebrate with me. I was so glad to see them.

The only down side to the reception was all the left over pumpkin rolls my parents had to try handing out to people, and were still eating in May. All the hard work my mom did in making those was appreciated by all who took a moment to relax and eat in the midst of dancing the night away.

After telling you this, you will think I am crazy, as everyone said before and still say when I tell them, but the next morning I graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and WALKED! I am sure that there could have been a better way to plan that, but I feel like I still would not have done anything differently. Everything added to the excitement of the moment, and I can now say that I was married when I graduated.

That afternoon, Mark's sister, Sherri (from California) held a luau in our honor in Grand Island, where Mark's parents live. The place looked amazing. Sherri did a fantastic job of planning a great, relaxing, fun, and delicious party. My brother was able to see what hula hooping actually looks like, thanks to Sylvia Rose, and I am sure that he is still impressed to this day, as I am.

Mark and I drove to Omaha that night, and the next morning we began our journey to Florida. On Monday morning, we went to the port and saw, for the first time, our cruise ship, the location for our honeymoon. It was amazing and huge! I don't think I had ever seen a cruise ship before, and I was so impressed! Mark and I spent 4 days on the ship, sailing to Cozumel Mexico, and exploring the Mayan Ruins there.

We landed on Christmas Eve and had quite an adventure getting home. Our flight out of Florida was delayed, and so we almost didn't reach our connecting flight. The only reason we made it was because Mark took all the bags and yelled encouragingly back at me as he ran through the airport, while I trailed behind.

Christmas Eve (after we got home) and Christmas morning was spent with my family, doing our regular traditions, plus the addition of opening Christmas and Wedding presents on the same day. It was like a super Christmas! Mark and I drove to Fayme and Ethan's before Christmas dinner, and had a splendid time there with the family (including Mark's parents). Alex  called home from his mission, and was even able to call me seperately since I wasn't back with my parents. It was so great to hear his voice and tell him all about the wedding and honeymoon.

On January 1, 2011 (Saturday), Mark and I drove to Eagle Mountain, Utah where we would be staying for a while, with his aunt.  It was windy and quite snowy through Wyoming, but Mark wouldn't let me drive much, so we were mostly safe. I had a hard time staying awake after reaching Utah, and I remember Mark waking me up periodically to tell me that I need to pay attention so I know where we live. After getting to our new basement home, I was so excited that I was no longer tired, and we made our first meal together in our new home: Noodles and vodka sauce from a jar. It was absolutely delicious.


This is the front of the house we live in
--we only have the basement



My mom and dad came out on Monday with the majority of our stuff, including a piano that Mark's mom had found for me! They left the next morning, and so did Mark, for his first day back at school, while I was left home to clean and organize the house. It was a long few weeks until I found a job in downtown Salt Lake City. And a few more weeks after that, to learn how to manuver the horrible Utah driving. I heard something on the news the other day that Salt Lake City is the 6th most dangerous place to drive--I BELIEVE IT! Just yesterday, I saw a guy swerve too hard and hit the road barrier separating traffic.

Mark and I were able to go out to Nebraska twice already, once for Nate's baptism, and the other time was for the fourth of July (back to Grand Island). Both times have been great to see our families, and we are always sad to leave them.



We have also been able to cultivate our talents, a talent I didn't know I had--volleyball! We have played in three tournaments since May and have done pretty well, for being in the beginning level (novice). We got 4th place in our first, and placed 3rd in our second, but the last one, a dusk till dawn, we didn't do well against the competition, and ended up leaving early. Oh, well, we have shirts to prove that we play, so we are very excited about that.

 

Flooding in our spare room



 Anyways, Mark and I have had our share of adventures, like flooding in our bedroom, then flooding in the spare room, and Mark's car breaking down. But we have had the great times too! Life with a boy is hard, but it is also fun, espeically when that boy is your best friend. We have learned to rely so much upon each other, for emotional, physical, and spiritual support. I am so in love with him, and grateful for him!



Picnic at the Park

So, Mark took me on a date this weekend. We went to Zupas, got a salad and sandwich combo, and stopped by In and Out Burger to get a little extra food....
Then, we took our blanket and food to the nearest park and ate and talked. The weather was perfect. Hardly any breeze, and it was halfway through dinner that I realized that I felt completely comfortable. Not hot or cold, perfect! Then, we played some volleyball, while we tried to digest our food. We went to the store to get ice cream, but upon returning home, we realized we left it at the store. We actually never paid for it....we just brought it up to the counter, and we and the cashier forgot about it. Silly.
We settled for some less delicious ice cream, which is ice cream still the same, and watched a movie on Netflix. Overall, it was a complete success, and it was a great day!