I went on a date once with a guy who said he didn't read. And he said it this really smug way, like he thought it made him cool or something. I thanked him for dinner and never talked to him again. I love reading. I always have. Lots of my best memories involve reading; uncles reading to me as a toddler, reading to my baby siblings, the excitement of finishing a book for Accelerated Reader and getting a Pizza Hut coupon in elementary school, reading the same book every single night to little Sara when I was a nanny, reading in the mornings overlooking the ocean sunrises in Maui. I could go on and on.

Reading is magic. The stories let you experience life in new places, as a different person, in circumstances that you may never know otherwise. You get to experience emotions and celebrations and hardships and laugh and cry with the characters in the story as you become part of it. Its so beautiful. 

Now that I've made my point, I have a confession. I am ashamed to admit that I haven't been inside of a library since my undergrad.

Five years ago.
And even then, it was the University of Utah's library (which is one of the most incredible buildings ever I might add) where I spent countless hours studying and writing papers. Once I stopped getting lost, I discovered all of the best places that were quiet and would allow me to concentrate on scoping out cute guys get some reading done.  

Anyway, I am proud to say, that today I walked into my local library, signed up for a library card, and checked out four books. I felt like a rockstar. Joe teases me about my nerdiness and I guess this adds proof to his point, but it was truly the highlight of my week. Talk about spring in my step. I could not stop smiling.

BONUS: I got to sign my new last name on said library card! I'm still not 100% used to it but practice makes perfect.

The "Over" Position

Joe,
Thank you for cleaning basically the whole house today. I have no idea how you cooked and ate breakfast, showered, got ready for work, cleaned up the kitchen, bedroom and living room…all in an hour and a half; while I sat in my office working with the door closed, completely unaware.

We knelt down and had our morning prayer together before you left and I noticed that you’d arranged the pillows on the couch. And then when I got a break later in the morning, I wandered into the kitchen for lunch and saw that you’d cleaned up the burnt spaghetti squash mess I made.

Then I got a text from you to check our Love Notes book and as I walked into the bedroom, I saw that not only was the bed totally made, but my clothes I’d hurriedly thrown onto the dresser, were laid out neatly. And if all of that already wasn’t enough, I went in the bathroom to grab a tissue for Jackson and noticed you put the toilet paper roll on in the “over” position.

The way you hate it, but the way I like it.

And lets just talk for a minute about how you are always offering me the last of something. Like the leftover spaghetti this morning. Sure, sometimes you shortstop me when I ask for a drink of your milk or soda, but when it really matters, you are so selfless and think of me first.

Thank you for squeeging the shower every time even though I know it’s annoying. Thank you for using the sweetest voice with Jackson even when you are stressed out or when its 5AM and you’re getting up to take him out into the cold. Thank you for telling me you love me all the time. And for being the one who reminds us to pray most of the time.
I love you more every single day.

Jen & the Giant Pumpkin

Last year, I had a friend in town and was trying to find something fun to do. A few Google searches later and I found out that there would be giant pumpkins weighing in at the harvest festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was so cool!

Around that time, I'd started spending alot of time with Audrey, Lauren and Haley. I told them about the huge pumpkins I'd seen and we all decided we'd go together next time.

One year later, we made it happen. Despite the rain, together we watched the state record be broken as a pumpkin weighed in at over 1700 pounds. And I got to introduce them to my buddy Ray (more about him later).

Meet-a-versary

Joe came home last night, swept me up in a hug and exclaimed "I am so stressed with my day but I come home to my sweetie and it all goes away!"
Taken on the bench outside Cheesecake Factory where we first sat and chatted while waiting for our table that first night
My heart totally swelled up with pride and love. He's so great. This last Friday marked our 1-year meet-a-versary. Meaning that its been one year since Joe and I met up for our first date at The Cheesecake Factory.

On Friday night I went to the Anberlin concert with Haley and Joe had to work so we celebrated on Saturday instead. We had dinner at our new favorite little sushi place (a little hole in the wall joint where the whole family works and helps out) and then headed over to grab slices of cheesecake to go. It was fun taking selfies in the parking lot and then on the bench where we first sat together on our first date. I remember we talked about our jobs and goals while we sat there waiting for our table buzzer to go off. And now here we are, one year later, married and setting up a cute little home with our puppy and planning for babies. Life is beautiful.

Prettiness is not a rent you pay...

I let Jackson up on the couch with me a couple of times when we were both sick last week and now I find him here every nap time. Gah!!

You don’t have to be pretty. You don’t owe prettiness to anyone: not your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not your coworkers, especially not random men on the street. You don’t owe it to your mother; you don’t owe it to your children. You don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked “female.”

— Diana Vreeland

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I choose him...and he chooses me.

I fell in love with him. But I don’t just stay with him by default as if there’s no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.

— Allegiant

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Regatta

Last Saturday after dropping Jackson off at doggy daycare, I headed to the Original Pancake House for brunch with Audrey, Haley and Lauren. It has been awhile since the 4 of us have done something together so it was pretty special. We laughed about our matching outfits, boy stories, how I thought that place was called "Elmer's Pancake House" and about our Halloween costumes from last year (we were the girls from Clueless and I may or may not have worn a lampshade on my head, channeling my inner Dionne).

After brunch, we headed over to the Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta at Sugarhouse Park. This was our second year enjoying this fun even together. Basically, the giant pumpkins from the weigh-in get carved out and the owners use them as boats and paddle across the pond in various races. Its such a cool event to watch. One captain even broke a WORLD RECORD when he paddled 100 yards in his pumpkin boat in 1 minute, 47 seconds. And we got to see it. Here's the proof we were there. And matching. 

Cheating

Joe and I eat pretty healthy during the week so we really look forward to our cheat meals. On Sunday (after spending FOUR hours putting together our new dresser) we cooked up a storm and prepared this beauty:

Huge homemade cheeseburgers with all the fixin's, stovetop macaroni & cheese and our Sunday Special chocolate chip cookies.

I made the mistake (not) of chugging some of Joe's soda and digging into my mac & cheese first. So by the time I got to the burger, I was STUFFED. It was such a disappointment to be full but still have so much delicious food to eat. I didn't even eat a cookie. Good thing I snuck a few bites of cookie dough beforehand. 

Joe used to work in a restaurant and I always love how he arranges our plates. He's fancy.

Back when we were dating, he cooked me a thai curry dinner one night. And after adding the garnish to the side of the bowl, I said "What's that green thing?". See what I mean? Joe, fancy. Me, not fancy.

Pride & the City

It's funny what being married does to a girl.

This February, I took my first work trip to New York City. And it was the coolest. It was really exciting to visit such a big city, attend meetings in Midtown and to be able to tell people about my travels. Since that first visit 8 months ago, I've now been to the Big Apple four times (in addition to some quick trips to Chicago and Boston). My most recent visit was this weekend. We had a few meetings with customers, ate mini Baked by Melissa cupcakes for breakfast and dined on pizza bianco from Lazzara's Pizza (our favorite) but the highlight of the trip was a Fleetwood Mac concert at Madison Square Garden. We were treated by one of our customers in their box. It was an incredible experience. All original band members were there which made it even cooler. 

But the rockin' concert and good eats didn't measure up to my sweet husband and cute puppy at home. 

The timing worked out this trip because Joe had to study for some midterms and would have been busy with that anyway but I have never missed him or Jackson more. As much as I love big cities and being a bigshot (not!), my bragging now consists of telling people about my puppy's snoring or latest strange eats. Or talking about how great Joe is for me. 

I think I used to get so excited about traveling because that was all I had, those were my accomplishments. And now, one ring on my finger and a honeymoon later, my priorities and perspective have changed. And I take pride in every single bit of it. 

Married

At this time last year, I was keeping super busy as a single lady. I'm talking hot chocolate & giant pumpkin regattas, Cornbelly's group dates, churning homemade apple cider and flirting with boys at ward FHEs, yoga & yogurt (frozen) nights with girlfriends, an Anberlin concert and more. 

Then one night in early October, I went on a date with Joe. And my life hasn't been the same, in the best way ever.  

Hey Siri

Last night Joe and I were laying in bed talking about the events of our Wednesday, and at some point, I said, "Are you serious?". And then out of nowhere in the pitch black room, we hear my phone start beeping and a male voice says something.

We both froze. And then after a few we realized it was my phone. And then a few seconds after that, we realized that it must have recognized the "seri" in my "serious" as "Siri". The new operating system has this new feature where you can call out "Hey Siri", when your phone is plugged into a power source, and it will reply. I also have the Siri voice set to a man's voice because I got sick of the female.

Freaky.
And even though we figured it out, I still made Joe switch me sides because I didn't want to sleep that close to my phone. I fell asleep feeling safe and sound between my brave husband and snoring puppy.