Surprises

     This weekend Marty and I had the chance to venture out to Salt Lake City for my cute cousins wedding! After the reception, we were planning on going out in a date. That morning while I was working, Marty left to get his oil changed. I returned home before he did and took advantage of some nap time so I wouldn't be tired for our late movie. Marty cam home and woke me up telling me he had a surprise for me. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a hotel room key. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it meant the world to me. Marty had checked us in at a hotel in Salt Lake to take a little stay-cation. I was so excited! We wouldn't be gone too long, but getting away is always so fun. With school starting up and Marty having to go on a trip for work this week, this is exactly what I needed.
     Isn't it funny how sometimes husbands or spouses know exactly what we need when we don't even know it ourselves? Marty knows I don't like when he is away, so I think somehow he just knew that this would help brighten my spirits and give us some great quality time with each other before he is gone for a few days. The gesture of a surprise is also very sweet to me. It is so thoughtful to make reservations or plans, write little notes, or just make a favorite meal to surprise your loved ones. It meant so much to me that he was thinking of me and thought to do something so nice for me. I'm difficult to surprise as I hate now knowing, but without any clues that this was coming, Marty was able to catch me completely off-guard and I loved it.
     That evening we got all dressed up for the reception and got to see some of my family. The reception was beautiful! Makaila and Andrew looked so happy. Being at their reception reminded me so much of all the feelings I had during my own wedding day. I was taken back and remembered all those amazing feelings I had that day. I remembered how excited I was, and the overwhelming feeling of happiness I had all day because I was finally marrying the man of my dreams. Weddings are so wonderful and I am so happy for my cute cousins.
     After the reception, we went to our hotel to change and drop our bags off. Did I mention our hotel was by the airport? I felt even more nostalgic for our wedding at this point because right after our own reception, we headed to the airport for our honeymoon. After settling into our room, we went to dinner at Applebee's, our favorite spot. We had some time between dinner and the

movie, so we went to Barnes and Noble, our favorite store to browse. We spent about 45 minutes browsing through books and of course, me fantasizing about a huge library with so many beautiful books to read. Then after that, we went to see the American Sniper. It was such a great movie and I would recommend it to everyone. The movie was late- we didn't get back to the hotel until almost one. We enjoyed a lazy morning on Sunday and then headed back home. Sunday was also nice because wee were able to catch up on some sleep and enjoy each other's company. I had such a great weekend with my husband, and I'm so sad it's over. Lucky for me though, I get a it more weekends with him. :) Being married is the best.

Last First Day of School!

     Well, this is it! I can finally say I completed my last first day of school. As I enter my last semester of college, I am overwhelmed with fear, gratitude, feelings of inadequacy, but also feelings of accomplishment and triumphant feats. College has been a challenge. I've been pushed to my limits over and over as well have been pushed so far out of my comfort zone that I feel like I'm falling. It's been hard, but I've learned so much, not just in academics, but about myself. I've learned where I thrive, and where I struggle. I've learned to be more confident and from that, it's easier to talk in front of large groups, I can approach people and talk to them easily. I can state my opinion even when I know someone disagrees. I can take criticism without feeling offended or afraid. Overall, college has been one of the best experiences of my life.
      As I start this semester, I'm scared to take on my classes but excited for the challenge. My classes this semester include infant and toddler nutrition, sports nutrition, multicultural nutrition, current issues in nutrition, fourth semester Spanish, American lit: realism and naturalism, and a senior capstone workshop class. Yep, you counted right. That makes a grand total of seven classes. Am I insane? Probably. But I'm ready to do my best and do well. So here's to the rest of my life. I can't wait to start teaching and I can't wait to have a career that I actually love! One thing I've learned throughout my schooling is that the more I know, the more I realize how much I don't know. I can't wait to continue learning and expanding my experiences and knowledge. Ready or not, here I come.

New Year

     Does bringing in the new year make anyone else feel nostalgic or sentimental? As I think about all I encountered over 2014, I can't help but feel emotional. I got married to my sweetheart and we started our life together. We had so many firsts and it was such a fun adventure. Thinking back I realize mistakes I've made and character flaws I realized I have, but I mostly see all the good that came and all of the lesson I learned. Merging our lives into one was fairly easy for us as we had talked about a lot of it before we even got married. We had so much fun beginning to establish traditions, schedules, and our whole lives.
     The week between Christmas and New Year's was fairly quiet for me. We had family things and even work, but my work schedule was slow (I often get off by 10) and I had a lot of time with Marty and to myself. This week was a great time of reflection. I looked back to the amazing year we just had, and looked forward to what I hoped would be an even better year for us. This year we have a lot of big plans and I can't wait for this adventure with Marty. This last year we have been saving money like crazy. Because of how much we were able to save, we are able to buy Disneyland annual passes this year and will be going three times. We are so excited and can hardly contain our excitement. I will also be graduating this year and from there, we will be moving to Evanston, Wyoming. I am excited to be living somewhere more permanent and to start establishing deep roots for the family we will have one day.
     Like everyone else, I have some goals for this year. But this time around, I decided to do something a little different. Rather than setting goals that prohibit me from doing things, I am setting goals that instead encourage me to do more of something.
My Goals:
Eat more fruits and vegetables
Exercise 5 days a week EVERY week.
Spend more time reading (books of my choice not for school)
Get more sleep
Continue to develop my business and be able to bring in a stable income
Go on more dates with my husband
Reduce stress by not overextending myself and coping with breathing exercises and yoga
Talking through my anxieties and stress with Marty rather than shutting myself off
Simplify my life by getting rid of anything I don't use or need
Spend more time engaged with my surroundings instead of my phone or computer

Happy New Year! I hope we all can better ourselves throughout the year and go on as many adventures as we can. I hope we all find more happiness and learn to be engaged with the world around us.

Feeling Blessed

     Maybe it's this time of year, but lately I have sure been grateful for the beautiful life I've been given. During this season, it's so easy to get caught up in all the things we dont have rather than all the wonderful things we've been blessed with. I got caught up in it too, but was soon given a reality check when I realized how fortunate I really am. So many others struggle to pay bills, are lost, lonely, or depressed. So many are hungry and homeless. It breaks my heart when I think of how much I've been blessed with and some people have so much less.
     I feel so blessed that Marty and I both have good jobs. I don't always like mine, especially my 12 hour holiday shifts, but I am so lucky to have it. I'm grateful for school and that soon, I will be teaching and having a reliable job for my family.  I'm also thankful for our ability to save money and not have financial stress. This is such a real thing for so many people and I know just how hard that can be. I'm so grateful, also, for my business. It has done extremely well and has helped bring in extra income for us as well as teach me a lot about responsibility.
    Even more so, I'm so thankful for my absolutely amazing husband. Seriously, he makes my life so much better. He walks me out to my car each morning, helps me scrape it, and makes sure I'm safe. I came home from my boutique last week to a squeaky clean home that me cleaned all by himself on his day off. He stays up late helping me with nutrition homework and cheering me on. He always supports, enciurages, and loves me, even when I don't deserve it. We have so much fun together and he is truly my best friend.
     I could go on and on about now I'm grateful for family, our home, food, and everything else but I want to keep this post short. I am truly grateful for everything I have and encourage everyone to make a list of all the things they are grateful for. Also, remember that during this time of year, we should try to give back as much as we can. We should be supporters of our fellow men, and try to help any way we can. Merry Christmas everyone!

Learning to Choose Happiness

     This week has been absolute madness. To let everyone see into my week, let me explain what I had going on. School was awful this week. I had a 5 page creative non-fiction paper, a 6-7 page British literature critical essay, a personal diet analysis (basically a three page paper about my own nutrition), a nutrition assignment on the glycemic index and exchange list, a nutrition discussion post, a nutrition quiz, two Spanish assignments, a Spanish test, all while staying caught up on my reading for school. I can barely handle how much homework I had to do this week. Besides that, I had work (I'm so tired- 4 am shifts are rough) and my actual classes to attend. I also hadn't a boutiques to prepare for as well as trying to keep up on ournhome with Marty's help and  finding time t soendwith him.
      Well, the meat of this post is not to complain, but to explain how much better stress and hard times are with a happy attitude. My goal as do lately is to stay calm when troubles come and to be happy even when I want to be bitter or angry. With such a busy schedule, it would be so easy to be grumpy and always complain. It would also be miserable. I had such a bug learning experience this week. Lately, I have loved making my own whole wheat bread to eat for lunches- it's also so much healthier. I decided to make some Friday night but started too late as I had to be up at 3 the next morning to go to work for a few hours before my boutique started. Marty, who is the absolute sweetest husband, offered to stay up and bake it for me so I could get some rest. I woke up around midnight to the smell of burnt bread. Marty had forgotten to get it out as he had fallen asleep. Frantic, I ran to the kitchen t get it out before we smoked out our apartment. I woke Marty up to ask him how long it had been in there. Poor Marty felt so bad. At first, I felt angry because I really wanted this bread for my lunch the next day and I had spent some of my time making it when I still had lots to do. When I took a step back from my bad feelings, I realized how grateful I was for my husband. How can I be mad when he always helps me and takes so much of my stress and burdens off my shoulders. He was trying to be helpful, and his effort and willingness to help me is worth so much more than a loaf of bread. I was overwhelmed with feelings of love and gratitude for Marty, and I know this is how I am intended to deal with anger because seeing the good washes it out and replaces it with wholesome and happy feelings and thoughts.
      Besides all he stress and the long to-do list, I honestly felt happy this week. I don't even think it was all that bad.  Choosing happiness can make all the difference in our lives. Plus, who wants to be angry or bitter anyway? I am so grateful for this lesson and I can't wait to see how I am able to better deal with my trials and shortcomings. Also, I'm really grateful for Marty. He makes everything better.   Love you, babe! Here's to an even better week.

Nutrition Misconceptions

     As I transferred to WSU this last summer, I was given the opportunity (basically I have to gradate) to choose a minor. Many English majors choose to minor in technical writing, gender studies, or other areas of the humanities. I, on the other hand, chose something completely different. I chose nutrition. With my weight loss in the last year, my interest of wholesome and healthy eating increased and continues to do so. I always like to say that I don't have a "science brain" and my nutrition classes are definitely proving that theory to be fact. However, I am up for the challenge and am loving everything I am learning.
     When I started, I feared some of my professors would have fallen trap to the misconceptions of mainstream nutrition. I knew that they were obviously qualified to teach the course but many misconceptions are still taught today and widely believed. Luckily, my professors seem to be ahead of them. I watched a documentary called Hungry for Change (you can find it on Netflix) and that was my first big eye opener. I loved this documentary because it wasn't just a bunch of people that have always been thin and athletic telling you what to eat so you can look like them. Rather, it was a large group of people who had at one time been dangerously obese and then took control to improve their health. That fact alone was so much more inspiring. I loved the documentary and finished watching feeling just like he title suggested, hungry for change.
     One thing both professors and the documentary pointed out was the complete misconception of dairy products. Super-market grade diary is NOT healthy at all! It is full or hormones, chemicals, and... sugar. And not just lactose (milk sugar) but lots of added sugar to make it taste the way it does. Yogurts, cheeses, milk, anything dairy is completely loaded with sugar. Even worse are the low-fat varieties. They have even more sugar and artificial sweeteners/flavorings in them than the products containing all the fat. The best option for dairy products is organic. Even at that, dairy should be eaten in moderation as it as not as healthy as most people are taught.
     Do you know what else is bad? All those awful low fat, low calorie, and other diet foods that companies produce to pray on people who want to lose weight. You know those weight watchers snack cakes that are less than 100 calories so they must be good for you? No way! They are right, they do not contain sugar, or a least any real sugar. Instead, they are loaded up with artificial sugar substitutes that are even worse for you than sugar! The artificial sugars make your body think its getting sugar, so it responds in that way only to find out their is no sugar for it to absorb. Because your body has this response, it wants more sugar to complete its already started process. Have you ever noticed that diet soda drinkers are usually so much more addicted to their sodas than the people who drink the original? This is why. Low calorie, low fat, and low sugar processed foods should be avoided. Instead, natural whole foods should be consumed.
     Well, this is as far as my rant goes today. I'm sure it will continue to develop as I learn more about nutrition and foods. Until next time, drink a green smoothie and eat your vegetables. :)

Marriage Isn't Scary, I Promise.

Well... I haven't posted in a long while. Oops. Things have been busy but I can finally say that I am adjusting to my very full and busy life. This post may seem mushy (a lot of mine do), but its something I really wanted to express. Maybe no one can relate, but it is something that I want to share.
     Growing up, I had an image of what marriage was like based on my own environment. Not all times were bad, but I can honestly say that my old vision of marriage was extremely dull and inadequate. To be candid, I was even scared of being married for a really long time. My parents were divorced when I was 17 old. They had been through a lot together, but still it just didn't work out. For quite awhile, I saw marriage as a chore. I saw it as something I had to do that may or may not be happy or even work. This attitude showed in my choice of boys I dated. I dated boys who were often really good lairs, and were there when they wanted to be. I looked for the worst in them because that's what I expected. I didn't want my marriage to be like my parents, but somehow that vision of marriage was all I could see for myself.
     When I met Marty, little did I know that in just a little over a year that we would be married. I kept myself distant at first. I held in all my deepest feelings and hurt and tried to act like the screwed up perception of relationships that I had was ok. How Marty put up with my constant insecurities and negative attitude is beyond me. Like before, I expected the worst but with him, the worst never came. I saw so much more good than I did bad, that the flaws became irrelevant and unimportant. I saw how much someone can care for another.
     Since then, and especially since being married, my perception of relationships and marriage has changed drastically. I have learned that marriage is nothing like what I thought it was, and absolutely nothing like what we see dramatized in movies and television-- It's BETTER! It isn't screaming fights, nagging, name-calling, or even fancy dates, lavish gifts, constant physical touch, or anything like that. It's love. And love is simple. Love is the arm you feel close around you in the middle of the night, or the smile he gives you as you make dinner together. Love is when your spouse boils water for you while you are sick when there is no more for your bath, its dancing in the living room, or singing cheesy love songs to each other in the car. It's saying your sorry when you disagree and admitting when  are wrong. It is giving up the deepest part of you willingly and loving your spouse despite their darkest secrets and lowest feelings.
    Despite the newness of our marriage, I can truly say that I know that marriage is going to be hard sometimes-- aren't all the best things in life difficult at some point? But with whatever trials we may have to face, I am so glad that I get to do it with my best friend. Marriage is truly a gift and we are so blessed to be able to commit to something so wonderful and to be given the change to have our own families one day. When I was engaged, I heard a lot of negative things about marriage all of which I know depend so much on our attitudes and approaches.  Yes, its hard. Yes, it's added responsibility. Yes, its an adjustment. But all of those things can be good. Why is change or hard work bad? It's not! Our instantly gratifying world likes to tell us that it is though, because so many do not desire to take the effort or time to make something worthwhile. If it's not perfect at first, they want to throw it out. Marriage isn't valued in our society as much as it used to be. Divorce rates are soaring and people are scared to commit themselves. With so much evil in the world, I can understand the hesitation. I felt it too, at one point. However, marriage to the right person is absolutely amazing. How great is it that we have a partner to share our happiest moments and our lowest times? We have someone to lean on when we are sad and someone to cleave to when times get hard. There WILL be times or trial and difficulty, but you get to go through them together. Despite what I heard form others, marrying Marty was the best choice I ever made, and I feel so happy and blessed that he chose me to share this crazy life with.