new job, one year anniversary, and snow!

Well, it's been quite an eventful few months in our house. In August, I received a visit from one of the operations directors in my region at work. He informed me that their assistant had just left, and they wondered if I wanted to apply. Pros: more money, stable office hours (after working a few too many 7am-7pm days at the plastic surgery office, this is very appealing), supporting the admin team, and flexibility for vacation, appointments, etc. Cons: leaving my very close friends, starting over, and being the new kid. But, after a few days of deliberation, I decided to go for it.

Now that I am two months into the new position, I am very happy with the change. I miss my friends so much, but luckily I can stay in contact via email, and since I'm a patient, I still get to see them every now and then for follow ups. So that's been a huge change. Another exciting change is that Chris is back in school! He is taking some courses at SLCC due to issues with enrollment at Utah, but he will be back there for the next semester. He has been doing very well in his classes, even hard ones like thermochemistry and computer design.

The next big event we had was our one year anniversary! Crazy how fast time flies. We enjoyed sparkling cider and our one year old cake top. Surprisingly, it was delicious. My mom did a great job of packing it up so it was't freezer burned or hard at all. It was fun to remember what we were doing the night before, one year ago, and remember the amazing day! Being married has been a wonderful and exciting change for both of us, and we look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries.

Our awesome friend Diana won a free night stay in St. George, which she so kindly gave to us, so we packed up and headed down for a long weekend to celebrate. It was a lot of fun - we watched lots of sports, enjoyed the giant jacuzzi at the hotel, and visited some of our family. Such a nice way to relax and enjoy some time away from work and school.

The rest of October has been pretty uneventful, but we woke up this morning to a dusting of snow on the ground! I was not happy, but for Chris, snow means skiing, so he was ecstatic. I am hoping it was a fluke, and warmer temps will be coming our way....but who really knows in Utah?

Vacations

The past month has been very good to us. First we went to Vegas with our friend Megan, which was super fun and relaxing. We lounged by the pool, walked around TONS, and ate good food. It was so nice to get away for a couple of days.

Next we got to go to Midway for a long weekend to spend time with my parents and siblings, plus some of our cousins! It was so much fun. We rented a boat and went tubing at Jordanelle, swam in the awesome pools at the Zermatt Resort, and remembered and learned more about our grandparents. Plus, we played lots of late-night games and snacked on our favorite treats.

The next vacation is St. George, which will be coming up to celebrate our one-year anniversary in October! It seems too far away...

marriage.

this sunday will mark six months of marriage, which is kind of mind-blowing to me. i remember the many times i assured others that i would never get married, not because i didn't want to, but because i just wasn't sure it would happen for me. i dated here and there, but it never worked out and i couldn't imagine that it really ever would. it's a super cheesy cliche, and i'm embarrassed to even post it, but truth: those lame, commitment-phobic dudes along the way help you to realize how the right one is supposed to feel.

anyway. marriage is fun and i get to try new recipes since i'm not just cooking for me anymore. the only bummer thing i've found is that i've gained a few pounds...which may or may not be directly correlated to the previous statement. so i'm trying my hardest to get back into running, because after losing 100 pounds once, i KNOW it works. every time i go for a run, i feel so awesome and tough and strong. but the problem is that i just really love to eat, probably more than i should admit. so then i kind of counteract all that good exercise with snacks while making dinner, and dessert more often than not.

but anyway. i had a lot of friends and family members give me lots of good advice about marriage, so i feel like i kind of knew what to expect. plus, by the end of our engagement, chris and i were spending so much time together that not a lot surprises me. the one thing that is new is a small amount of snoring [ahem] which has been solved by the purchase of these. otherwise there would be a lot more couch sleeping, i imagine. we adopted a cat, which has been super fun with the exception of his various strange and persistent illnesses and ailments...but we love him, flaws and all. we also bought a condo, and so far [knock on wood] it has been awesome with no necessary repairs or problems. also, i've been working as a freelance writer, which means a little extra money to plan fun trips with friends to lounge poolside here come june.

i still like to look at the wedding photos and try to remember every detail about this amazing day. but even though the excitement of the day has passed, i try to enjoy every new experience with my new title as wife.