Just Livin' Life

Today's been a good day :)

1. I had a job interview this morning for a job that is perfect for me! It utilizes all the skills I learned as a bioinformatics major (turns out the stuff you learn in school actually is useful!) The interview went well (even if I did get lost in the parking garage after it was over) so I'm hoping to hear back from them soon. I have another interview tomorrow for a totally different position, so keep your fingers crossed!
2. We went out to lunch after the interview to celebrate and went to Mazio's for a pizza buffet. It was delicious and I even got 3 pieces of Hawaiian pizza. Shawn's dad had decided to go to Mazio's for lunch as well, so it was awesome having lunch with him.
3. I went with Shawn to class again tonight. His classes are 3 1/2 hours long, so I just bring my laptop and sit in the study area and get stuff done. After he's done with class, we have to walk across a forever long parking lot to get to our car. I did not feel like walking across it, so Shawn gave me a piggyback ride across, with our backpacks and everything. Love him :)
4. Our beloved OKC Thunder are currently beating the "unbeatable" San Antonio Spurs 63-48!! It's still too early to call the win, but this is super hopeful. Oh and me and the mister have tickets to the Saturday night game!!!! CAN'T WAIT!!
5. We went to Justin's summer tournament basketball game today. That kid can shoot! His team looked solid, and I can't wait to see them get even better as they get older.
6. My AWFUL sunburn from Memorial Day is finally peeling! Now I won't have to explain to everyone that it is in fact just a sunburn and not leprosy.
7. I got to wear my new grown-up-interview sweater today. I kinda sorta love it.

So Much Change!

We're back! Well at least to the blogging world. Here's the update on the whirlwind of craziness we've had in the past few months: 

First off, I graduated from BYU on April 19, 2012 with a B.S. degree in Bioinformatics! It's been 4 years filled with stressful nights and lots of studying, and I was so excited to see all my hard work result in something. Also, I was selected as the honored student for the BYU Biology department and got to sit on the stage in the Marriott Center at our convocation exercises. My whole family came down from Idaho, and we were able to spend the whole weekend together. Overall, it was a great celebration!

Next, Shawn finished his internship with Tanner LLC in downtown Salt Lake City (right next to the new City Creek shopping center too!- Lucky!). He loved his experience there! He did mostly corporation taxes at Ernst & Young, so this gave him a great opportunity to get more experience with personal and partnership returns. He also made some great work friends who will be friends for life. We miss them already! 

We also completed our first move of our married life, and it was a big one! We packed all of our belongings (which isn't really much at this point) into our impala and a borrowed truck and made the drive all the way to Moore, Oklahoma! It took us 2 days (21 hours or so), so we stopped for the night (which also happened to be our 4 month anniversary) in Denver, CO. I've spent most of my life in the West, so driving through the Midwest was a new experience for me. Shawn thought I was crazy, and maybe it was because I had been driving for so long, but I thought Kansas was actually really pretty. It was filled with gentle rolling hills and perfectly green grass that rustled in the breeze. We also had clear blue skies and an amazing sunset. So maybe I'm crazy, but I really liked the drive.

In the past couple weeks, we've been adjusting to life in Oklahoma. We're staying with Shawn's parents until we can find jobs and then an apartment. Both of those are turning out to be much harder than we anticipated so any and all prayers would be much appreciated. It has been so great living with the Beans! I couldn't have picked a better set of in-laws and I've loved the time we've got to spend with them so far. I also got an Oklahoma drivers license today, so I guess that makes me a true Okie now :)

Shawn's also officially a graduate student! He started classes on Monday and has intense courses for the next 4 weeks. We're glad that it's only for a few weeks, but with 3 1/2 hour classes 4 nights a week, it's going to be intense. I've been coming with him to campus so I can have a dedicated time to work on some research projects I need to finish up. Most of my time is actually spent on facebook and pinterest, but at least it's the thought that counts :)

We've also managed to have some fun in between all of the craziness. For those of you who are not married to a sports loving guy, it's currently NBA playoff season, and we're loving it! We're only 20 minutes or so from the OKC Thunder arena so we're cheering them on to the championships. We also went to the midnight premire of the avengers and LOVED IT. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! Shawn's decided that it is now his all time favorite movie ever and even wants to go see it again in theaters. 

In the upcoming weeks, we really hope to have a place to call our own. I've been dying to decorate and make cupcakes (random, I know) and just have a house to take care of. Shawn will continue his classes, and we'll hopefully be working soon.

That's the update! Once life settles down even more, I'll try and post more often. We love and miss you all!!

Our Perfect Day

December 30, 2011.

A day that is absolutely perfect, where everything you've ever hoped and dreamed about comes true.

A day when you feel like a princess.

A day when your best friend becomes yours for eternity.

A day when your family travels from far just to be with you.

A day full of precious memories.

A day when little girls think you are "Snow White" and are so excited to meet you and your prince.

A day when everything turns out exactly how you planned.

A day when you get new sisters...

.. And new brothers.

A day when you finally have a castle.

A day when your family multiplies.

A day when you get to be silly, just because.

A day when you get to dance into the night.

A day when your dreams become reality.

A day when eternity begins.

What a perfect day.

Special Guest Appearance

Apparently when a newlywed couple has a blog, it's more the wife's than husband's. I was not aware of this unwritten rule until I mentioned to Kris that I wanted to write on our blog today. I will therefore call this a guest appearance by Mr. Bean...a guest appearance by one of the blog's founders??? Oh well- I'll just go with it! :) Marriage has had so much to teach me since December 30th, temporally and spiritually. The subject of this post will be a few of the temporal things I've learned.

Prior to being married to my amazing wife, I'd never seen more than 2 seconds of Chopped, Iron Chef America, Cake Boss, and Cupcake Wars (two seconds on account of channel flipping). Food Network was one of the channels that wasn't ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNNEWS, ESPNU, NBATV, you get the picture. We've been married just over a month and I've already watched 18,000 times more of the Food Network than in the previous 22.5 years of my life. There's something that's somewhat exciting about combining this and that to make your creation. What can I say? I'm now a fan of food.

As I've become more educated on cooking and how difficult it can be, I've grown more and more appreciative of my wife's cooking ability. I just have to give a shout out to this woman for her skills in the kitchen. She makes the best fettuccine alfredo I've ever had, as well as a scrumptious cheesy potato soup, delightful quesadillas, and wonderful white chicken chili.

Along with additional Food Network time, I now say important instead of import'nt and I always choose the items on the back of the shelf instead of the front items that everyone has picked up and handled. I know how to display the decorative side of pillows, I know what a candle warmer is, and how to cook beef evenly.

The list could go on and on and on, and with all I'm learning I figure I'll know just about everything by the time my life is over. Marriage is the best!!!

One Month Later

Today marks Shawn and I's one month anniversary. We celebrated with a dinner of fettuccine alfredo, and I'm sure that there will be some ice cream in the mix later. In some ways I can't believe how quickly this month has passed, and in other ways it feels like we should have reached this milestone long ago. I'm still surprised by how easy it was to transition to being married. I've loved how natural the role of making a home has felt and loved having a man around to do those hard jobs. I've learned that it's almost possible to watch two whole seasons of Castle in a month period, and how exciting it is when you find out you really do get ESPN. I've discovered that a simple twenty dollar bookshelf can completely make a tiny apartment home. Saturdays are now the best days of the week because we get to sleep in however late we like. We've learned that if we just lock the door quick when we get home and turn on the candle warmer, than any apartment can feel cozy and like home. I've discovered that I'm now addicted to ice cream thanks to Shawn and that I love having someone to call hubby. I've loved the security that comes from knowing you have your love for all of eternity. Most of all, I've learned that while marriage, like anything in life, has its ups and downs, it is worth it. So eternally worth it.