Valentine crap

well, we survived January. BARELY. It is literally the worst.

Luckily i was so busy at work that there wasn't much time left for sulking.

Lately, I've felt stuck in a funk. The worst kind of funk, too. 

The kind that can't be dealt or reasoned with. 

It just sits in the back of your mind causing all sorts of unnecessary worry.

And chocolate cravings.

I knew this time would come eventually. 

I'm 21. no, 22 (oh gosh i'm 22???) married,

and not doing anything particularly exciting or meaningful with my life.

I know what comes next.

Except that.... guh.

I seem to be phobic over the idea.

yes, PHOBIC.

I walk past the baby clothing and get hot flashes and sweaty palms.

Kids come in my store and all i see is boogers, poop, and a headache.

is this normal??

I thought most girls get baby fever? And i'm stuck over here with baby intolerance.

Maybe i'm just terrified of getting a whole body rash that doesn't go away for 9 months.

Or having my feet swell two sizes.

or just being a hot sweaty mess in general for 9 months plus...

because it would happen to me. it would.

Steven definitely over-spoiled me for Valentines. He's pretty good at that.
We splurged at Tucanos that night, and went to see the new Nicholas Sparks "Safe Haven."

I'll admit, it was pretty adorable.

But why Mr.Sparks, must you always stick in something at the end to make us bawl our eyes out?
WHY???

That weekend i finally got a Saturday off (praises!), and we took full advantage.

We were in need of some serious vitamin D and clean air, so we trucked down to gorgeous St. George. Steven and his friend spent some time riding their dirt bikes, and i got to hang out with my two little bebes.
It was glooorious.

We also took the puppies rock climbing with us. Flynn was a champ. Harlee was a little wimp.

I guess that's ok, seeing she is still the size of a large squirrel.

I have had several people rave about this place called "Swig's" that has "the best diet coke in the world!!!" So naturally, we had to test it out.

And oh my, was it the best. I died a happy death.

Steven was a skeptic. But he can be, because he's hot.

Only problem was coming back. TO SNOW.

Spring can't come soon enough.

Also, if you are watching Downton Abbey season three... 

please oh please don't watch the last 10 minutes of the finale.

SAVE YOURSELF.

Heart Day

I started out my V-day by sleeping in till 9:36am, and not showering. It was then that I realized all those years of getting up early to curl my hair and look all cutesy for the holiday are over.

Actually, I think my overall concern with appearance has really taken a beating ever since I snagged myself a man.

Got engaged, stopped putting on makeup. Got married, stopped doing my hair.

I'll probably stop showering once I'm pregnant.

I love Valentines Day though! Its the third day a year we can abandon our diets and worries of thunder thighs and stomach flab to over-indulge in anything made of sugar. My work celebrated by moving the peanut M&M's from their hiding spot in the cupboard, onto the counter where we might all enjoy them without any feelings of guilt or shame.

The costco size bag that usual takes a couple weeks to empty, was gone by noon. I guess it goes to show, temptation is much harder to resist when it's chocolately goodness is staring you in the face.

Steven and I decided to head downtown for the night and go to dinner and see "The Vow". Only problem is that was everyone else's idea too. So we decided to get some crisp bean burritos to tie us over through the movie, and get dinner afterwards. It kinda worked. Except that we ended up gorging ourselves on popcorn and diet coke because we were starving. By the time we made it to California Pizza Kitchen at 9pm, we weren't even hungry. But that didn't stop us from eating. Again.

Valentines is the best thing ever.

Is it funny that Steven and I both completely unknowing got each other geeky gifts?

That right there, is true love.

Hope you had as much fun as I did Steven! Thanks for being the sweestest husband of all time, and spoiling me wayyy more then you should. Love you always :) 

the elusive bowl

About a month or two after Steven and i started dating, i ran into a slight problem. I bought an oh so adorable dish set for two from Target to go in my new apartment. Later, I decided to go back and purchase another two sets, so I'd have enough place settings for four people... should the occasion ever arise. But disaster struck. Target had everything i needed to complete my set, except one stinking bowl. One bowl!!! How could I have four dinner plates, four salad plates, four cups, but only three bowls??? It was sheer madness i tell you.

While having a panic attack in the kitchen & dining aisle, Steven called up customer service to see if they had any in the back room. No dice. They also checked other nearby target stores and NONE of them had any bowls left. What gives??? Who buys just the bowls to leave the rest of us complete-set-buyers high and dry?? Needless to say, i was slightly distraught over the whole thing. I searched all over the internet trying to find that one last bowl, but for some reason they were nowhere to be found. I gave up, totally defeated and bowl-less.

A day or two later Steven texted me to say he was bringing a suprise over. I got all excited thinking a large diet coke, but it was so not a diet coke. He showed up with the missing bowl, filled full with chocolate. He had called around and found that a store up north had a couple in stock, and drove all the way up there to get it for me. I was in shock. Who was this boy that was willing to go through so much trouble just to keep my OCD from going crazy? And that my friends, was the beginning to me finding out just how special he really was.

Mexican honeymoon

First of all, I had no idea where Steven was taking me. He kept it a secret for months! Impressive? I'd say yes.

So after our wedding luncheon, he finally told me. A cruise, to the Mexican Rivera. I died. Neither of us had been on a cruise before, so it was going to be a new adventure for both of us :)

We stayed Friday night in Salt Lake City because our cruise wasn't leaving till Sunday. And because Steven is the most amazing and thoughtful husband ever, he took me to Disney on Ice at the Delta Center... Or Energy power plant... Or whatever they are calling it these days.

He knows how much I love Disney, so he had bought tickets for later that night. And let me tell you what, that show was AWESOME. The skaters are incredible, and the show was just plain magic. (duh.)

The next morning we caught our flight to Long Beach, California and went shopping for some last minute essentials in the city. And when I say city, I mean thug-town-gansta-ghettoville... I might have been a little freaked out. I had never seen a more crazy Walmart.

But, we did survive. Barely.

We caught a shuttle to the port the next morning and boarded onto the Carnival Splendor. Checking in wasn't too fun, but we were pretty excited to finally be on the ship... annnd of course have lunch at the all you can eat buffets. Bonus.

On Tuesday we got to Cabo San Lucas. The weather was 90+ degrees and the water was sooo clear and warm. It was heaven. And having Steven speak spanish fluently was so helpful. And attractive. We were able to get such good deals on everything from the locals!

The first day there we were able to get a boat to go snorkeling and to a beach. The water was so clear you could see at least 30 feet down, and the fish were so cool and brightly colored.

We were gettin' ready.

Steven and our cruise ship...

We might have not brought any sunscreen.... or even bothered to get some until the third day out in the sun. um yeah, ouch. And stupid.

They had a baby lion. A REAL one. I might have freaked. And begged to Steven to see it every time we walked by. He had to convince me that it's not worth $25 just to hold a lion and get a picture with it. Agree to disagree.

Later that day we rented a little scooter bike to ride around the city of Cabo. We definitely got lost a couple of times, and were almost run over multiple times, but it was so fun to see how the locals live. And to see the real Cabo, not just the tourist part. We found a little hole-in-the-wall authentic mexican restaurant to have lunch at, and I totally forgot to take a picture! But the chicken quesadilla I got was surprisingly amazinggg.

Our second day in Cabo we got out early to go and find someone to take us parasailing. I couldn't believe how relaxing it was! So quiet and peaceful up there, and so so warm! It was definitely one of my favorite things.

We took the scooter again and talked to a local guy to find a beach that wasn't swarmed with tourists. We ended up finding a pretty gorgeous one.

...and one that was completely empty. Yes, it's for real.

Needless to say, we spent quite awhile there soaking up some rays and enjoying it all.

I think we both would go back to Cabo in a heartbeat.

Our third day we had traveled over night to a much more tropical place called Puerto Vallartas.

We took a little ferry boat to a private beach, and on the way got to see a bunch of wild dolphins and do some more snorkeling!

It was another day of relaxing in the sun and pure amazing-ness I think I want to move to mexico and just be a beach bum.

The last couple of days on the ship were at sea, and we were able to spend them doing blissfully nothing.

Our days consisted of wake up, eat, take nap, eat, watch movie, nap, eat, repeat. You don't get to do that do often. It was lovely.

I think we had a hard time coming back to reality. Thank goodness, we came back to Thanksgiving break and wedding presents. I wish i would have taken a picture of our tv room piled with presents, because it was unbelievable. People were way to generous to us!

I did get a video of my brother sam in the trash, which may give some idea of how crazy it was...

We basically spent the whole week getting everything put away, organized, and livable.

But oh my, how fun it was. Being married is the best thing EVER. Love it.