So in the past 8 months I have had my hair five different lengths. I LOVE change, what can I say. The phases have been as follows, with coordinating pics---Really long with extensions (black dress), regular--past shoulders (pic with mike), short-under chin (black shirt), grown out (yellow shirt), and the latest--the shortest I have been since high school-- (sleek bob cut). Although it is fun having it short and sassy, I like my hair long the best. What's your opinion?? (More pics of the new do below--still looks great with my hats--yeah!!)
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Hair Cuts
Update
I am finally home and all settled, after some crazy incidents :). Although it is nice to be home and see all of our familiar stuff, It is strange being here without Mike.
To update, before I left Mike and I explored Indianapolis quite a lot and were able to do a lot of fun things. We were able to go to the Indianapolis State Fair—the largest fair I have ever been too. It was something we have talked about doing since we first met so needless to say we were both excited. We love having “firsts” together. The fair is so nostalgic—the food, the rides, the atmosphere. I love going to fairs; I have been to many in my lifetime. We ate corn on the cob, corn dogs, bbq pork sandwhiches, funnel cakes (mikes first---YUM—my fav. Fair food). We just wanted to keep eating all the treats! We went on the ferris wheel—both a dream of ours—got stuck at the top, kissed, of course☺. We went on the only ride that scares Mike—this one that shoots you straight up and down—freaks me out every time but I do it for him ☺. We went on the swings which was crazy—Mike was video taping us the whole time and I was peeing my pants it was so insane. I always wanted my “boyfriend” to win me something at the fair and Mike was determined when he found this out; he ended up playing this darts game and won me a stuffed puppy ☺. We saw all the farming displays, the worlds largest boar, some pigs, dogs, etc. It was so much to spend the evening together and do something both of us have wanted to do for a long time. I am so grateful for all of the memories we get to cherish and look back upon.
The day before I left Mike took the day off and we went into the city—ate breakfast at this cute little café—Café Patchou—yummy omelets and fried egg sandwhiches. Mike and I love doing things like that-eating at little cafes. We then went into the city and walked through some of our fav shops. Mike got me the cutest black and white 60’s type hat. I LOVE HATS! We also bought a star light for our house (we try and collect things from the different places we’ve been). We also walked through the local City Market where there are a lot of vendors and food displays—super cool—gotta love the city, so much to do and see! Another cool thing we were able to do, a “first,” was go to the zoo which was only a mile outside the city. I love animals, they truly are amazing creations. My favorite was the polar bear, the tiger, which we got really close to, and the dolphin show.
Later that night we ate our last dinner together—fries, BLT’s, and went out for ice cream and got a movie, The Debaters, such and amazing film!!
All in all Indianapolis has been our favorite city (besides NY of course). There is so much to see and do, so many cool buildings, so much history. This summer has been so fun, I am sad to see it end. We truly have been able to see and do so much. We have watched a lot of good flicks, been to two different cities, toured some of the finer places in the US, ate at a lot of yummy restaurants, been to an amusement park, the fair, the zoo, etc. It has been so memorable. I love doing everything and anything with Mike!!! And miss him like crazy!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
bye bye
Amanda stood at the Southwest Airline counter and checked her two bags in. She was carrying her new hat that we bought in the city. She looked so beautiful. I sat in my car buckled my seat belt and slowly pulled away. My stomach dropped as I watched her, knowing I wouldn't see her in person for a month! I thought of the past week and all the wonderful moments we shared together. I thought of the past month and of all the wonderful moments we've shared. I thought of the past year and of all the wonderful moments we've shared. I thought of how grateful I am for her and how bad I am going to miss her. I got sad with all of these thoughts and I turned up the radio to drowned out my thoughts. However my thoughts were wearing life vests and it only worked for a moment, a very brief moment....2 seconds in fact....then I heard the song by Neyo-Mad at You, and it reminded me of my Princess. Most songs remind me of her. We love music, and it seems as though there is always a sound track for certain periods of time-weeks, months, years....that when we hear those songs they take us back to a memory-a memory filled with emotions of every kind. It's amazing how music can be linked to memories. Back to the story...I walked in the door to our ONE STAR apartment and felt an emptiness. I walked into the bathroom and the counter was clean, there were no make up bags, no hair spray, no Amanda. It's going to take a few days at least to get used to being alone. I sat down on the couch, little Nika beside me and logged into BLOGGER. It didn't work the first two times but on the third try it logged me right in. Now I'm wrapping this story up, legs up and crossed sitting on the couch with the computer on my lap. My hat is tilted up and my shirt is coming untucked. I better fix myself up so I can go to work. I'm going to get 3 today. I love you baby! I'll be thinking of you all day! I can't wait to talk to you tonight!!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Collide
I am leaving the most important person in my life for a little over four weeks and neither of us are happy about it. I love Mike so much, I hate being away from him. In a total of 8 months being married we have been away from each other two of those months (one of my choosing to visit family in Oregon, and now for school). Hopefully it will make us stronger; it always seems too.
Every time we leave we end up finding a song that represents our time apart, and we end up making a playlist on our blog that ends up correlating with our emotions of longing, missing, an the love we have for each other. I was watching Ellen the other day and I saw this girl singing and I forgot how much I loved this song. I showed it to Mike one morning and then we watched the original artists version and it ended up becoming our song for this times departure.
I love you babe! Miss you like the dickens!
Monday, August 24, 2009
things I will miss
Amanda, my Princess, my WONDERFUL most FABULOUS wifey wife is leaving in two days. I'm distraught, heart broken and filled with anxiety! We already did the whole 'being away from each other thing' for 3 weeks when she went to Oregon and it was not easy and NOW we are doing it again! We have only been married 8 months. You shouldn't ever ever be away from each other for any amount of time during your first 10 years together! I'm so addicted to Amanda that when she leaves I don't know if I am going to be able to get out of bed...withdrawls...serious withdrawls. I'm going to lay in bed and twist and turn reach over to see if she's laying next to me and she won't be there. What am I going to do?! I'm going to miss a million things. I'm going to miss going to sleep together, laying in bed before we fall asleep and talking and being silly. I'm going to miss the way she smells when I lean into her neck and kiss her. I'm going to miss her smile. I'm going to miss eating together and all the yummy food she makes for me. I'm going to miss watching her, toothebrush in her mouth, laughing and playing with Nika, chasing her up and down the hall as we get ready for bed. I'm going to miss being in her presence. I'm going to miss coming home to her. I'm going to miss hugging her every day before I leave. I'm going to miss watching movies together. (we have really become movie junkies lately) I'm going to miss going to church together. I'm going to miss watching her walk to the car before we go somewhere. (I love the way she walks, the way she moves her hips) I'm going to miss grocery shopping together. I'm going to miss the way her lips feel. I'm going to miss running my fingers through her hair. I'm going to miss the softness of her skin. I'm going to miss her smile. I'm going to miss everything about her. I strongly dislike/hate coming home to an empty house. I guess I'll have Nika but she just doesn't even compare to my wifey! No offense Nika. I can't wait for this to be over and it hasn't even started. We do have a pretty sweet incentive however and I believe I can do it-If I sell 2 Monday through Friday and then sell 5 on Saturday I get to fly Manda out for the weekend. So there is hope that we won't have to be apart for the full month. I'll be working my butt off for that incentive! I'm so grateful to have such an amazing wife. The Lord truly sent me an Angel and I will miss my angel every day that we are apart. The last time we were apart we grew closer together. And they say that time away from each other can either bring you closer or tear you apart....so I know that what we got going on is good because when we are apart we always get closer. Shout out to Amanda for working her butt off this summer and finishing 2 online classes. She has 2 more tests to take when she gets back but she is going to ACE them! :) I don't know how she does it. She is my inspiration!! LOVE YOU BABY!
Friday, August 14, 2009
1 Years Old
Just wanted to give a shout out to our fabulous feline who is a year old today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKA! You make us laugh everyday; thanks for being the best little kitty ever.
Some fun fact about Nika:
She sleeps in a ton of different odd positions, and when she is really tired she puts her paws over her eyes to block out the sun--it is so cute.
She is our little world traveller now--Indi, NC, Utah, and all the states in between :)
Some of her nick names: monkey or "monk" cause she is a super duper climber; Nik; precious, muffin.
She is half dog/half human--she follows me everywhere, she follows us to go outside-- often leading the way-- and then when we call her she comes running home. She lets us know when she wants to go outside by extending herself to reach the door knob. She sounds like a baby when she cries; acts like a teenager when she doesn't get her way. She plays fetch with her mouse.
She has her own schedule: whinny for about 20 seconds when we go to bed, telling us she is sad that the day has ended, brings her mouse with her up onto the bed (it's like a comfort blanket for her) and then curls up at my feet and sleeps the night away. Wakes us up in the morning and runs around the house and does her happy, crazy, "a new day is here," dance.
She makes artistic mazes with her yarn, weaving it under the table and chairs, of which she is very particular about it--works all night on it so we have a stunning surprise in the morning.
She plays rough with us--we do tai kwando on her and she loves it. She lets us know she is just playing when, after we stop letting her bite our hands or feet, she starts licking us.
Her favorite game is hide and seek--she loves chasing and being chased around the house.
She loves my vitamin D medicine--licks it off my hand almost every night.
She loves catching our bugs--she's our best little bug catcher.
She doesn't like her paws being dirty and every time she is done in her liter box she wipes her paws back and forth on the floor.
She makes the cutest squeal when she stretches after her naps, almost like a human yawn and then a "ahhh"
She talks to me all the time. I will ask her questions and she totally responds. She knows "where's your mouse," "do you want to go outside," and she knows her treat bag when I pull it out.
One of her favorite toys--my rubber bands, find them all over the house.
She can act like a prairie dog sometimes by getting up on her hind legs and balancing like that for 10 seconds.
She loves laying on our mac computers or having some sort of ledge to prop herself up on when she lays on the floor.
She loves watching me put on my make up. She will jump on the bathroom counter and sit there and just stare at me meticulously till I am done. It is so cute
There are so many cool things about our cat....WE LOVE YOU NIKA!!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Indiana
I finally have a chance to update. We got packed up late Saturday night (were able to see the new movie GI Joe-pretty good, kind of cheesy acting, and go to dinner with the office), and left around 9 Sunday morning. We made really good timing, we got in about 7pm. It is insane how close we are to various states-one reason why I love it so much-in one hour we were in Virginia, in two we were in KY, and then Ohio and then Indiana. We were transfixed with the countryside of Virginia and KY-so gorgeous, so picturesque with the rolling green hills, red barns, and white fences/horse pastures. It was so beautiful!!
We immediately loved the area when we drove in. We really didn't know what to expect, for as my mom put it, “who ever hears anything about Indiana?” We loved it because it was more open, still a lot beautiful trees and greenery, but not as saturated as NC. Another bonus-everything is literally 5 minutes from our apartment-AMC theaters, Target, yummy restaurants, local businesses, the church-and the city is 14 miles away. Speaking of the city we were able to go in on Monday and who would have known Indianapolis was such a cool place? There are so many fun restaurants (Chocolate Café where we indulged in a few sweets, Buffalo Wild Wings--YUMMY wings that I know I am going to CRAVE), cool retail shops, and some amazing architecture. Situated in the middle of the city is this beautiful fountain, quite breathtaking actually, with these detailed sculptures representing Indiana's involvement with many of our nations wars. It really is one of the coolest landmarks I have seen in this amazing country. We had so much fun walking around the Garden Atrium where they perform live, free concerts, the huge mall, and of course the city streets. We both love the city so much, and as Mike said, “this has to be one of the coolest cities either of us have been to.”
Another really fun event going on right now, which we will update you more on when we go on Saturday is the Indianapolis State Fair. They have a designated building for it, located near the city. The fair goes on for about a month. The coolest thing is you can take a train right to the fair a mile from where we live, in Fishers. Mike and I are so excited to go, we have literally been talking about this since we first started conversing online. I LOVE fairs, I am seriously a fair JUNKIE! I LOVE FUNNEL CAKE!! A MUST at a fair, and crazy enough this will be the very first time Mike tries funnel cake-YIPPEE!!! I love the rides too, even the small kid ones-there is something so nostalgic about fairs (I know Mike is going to make fun of me using that word, but I love it-nostalgic :)--fav word).
We have already made an incentive board for the two weeks I am here. Mike has been hitting his goal, which means we get to indulge ourselves with fun little things during the week. We have already eaten at the local Homemade Ice cream/yogurt shop featuring a ton of different YUMMY flavors, and The Original Pancake House. I love this incentive idea :)
The negative of this new move-the apartment; it is seriously odd. It isn't as nice as the one we lived in previous in Charlotte; it is an older model. We had so many problems when we arrived. It is on the bottom floor and facing away from the sun (towards this small forest) and so the lighting is pretty bad. When we arrived the first thing we noticed was that it wasn't clean-bugs, hair, YUCKY YUCK YUCK YUCK…and then the smell was pretty bad (which we later tried to remedy with carpet cleaner, air fresheners, and candles). Our toilet overflowed twice, first by Mike, then by me. Doogies were floating over the rim, onto the floor-it was horrible. I was freaking out cause I couldn't get it to stop and I ended up dropping the toilet lid onto the floor and breaking it in half. Then if things couldn't get worse, when we got in we didn't have liter for Nika and she had to pee really bad and unbenounced to me she went on this black trash bag. Well, in cleaning up after the unpacking I picked up the bag quite hurriedly and yep, rancid pee flew off the bag, all over my legs, and all over the carpet. YUCK! I wanted to vomit. To make matters worse they took out our water heater (who does that by the way???) and so we had no hot water till the next morning. We had to take showers that night in the pool restrooms, which, thankfully, housed showers with hot water :. HAHA what a crazy experience!!! Thankfully we have each other to get through the “weird” times and to laugh about them in the process.
All in all, the location is again, another “ideal” place : with everything so close by. Thankfully we are adventurous and thankfully I love living in different places (kind of crazy to pack up and move somewhere after four months only to pack up and move again in two months, but hey we are young, without kids, and are making our mark on the world and loving every minute of it).
Friday, August 7, 2009
Goodbye Charlotte
Last post in Charlotte. We have had a great time here, creating many wonderful memories together. On Sunday we leave to Indianapolis where I will be staying for two and a half weeks and then flying home to Utah; Mike stays on till the end of September (sucks to be apart from each other that long but sometimes that is what you have to do). Here are some last pictures of the beautiful South. We went into this wonderful neighborhood we happened upon a few weeks back and ate breakfast--yummy dutch apple, cinnamon swirl bagels, lemon cream cheese with cherries pastry, and a warm egg, smoked applewood bacon with cheese, on a toasted baguette--and then walked around these quaint little shops and drove through the neighborhoods to see some of the homes. Mike and I fell in love with the neighborhood. The homes were beautifully historic, each telling their own story; the architecture was so unique; the yards were perfectly manicured and they were situated amidst these huge old trees that hovered over the streets. The wonderful thing about such an area is that it is nuzzled in this quaint town with a lot of unique shops/restaurants and yet it was 5 minutes away from the city. The best of BOTH worlds!!! I would love to live in an area like this--back east--someday, raise a family, plant some roots :).
Goodbye Charlotte, Hello INDI!!!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
INCENTIVE PROGRAM
I am so proud of my babe! This summer has not been as great as we had hoped it to be, but Mike has kept pressing forward and doing the best he can considering a few negative factors. I am so proud of him for turning things around this past week and a half. I started a new, what we call "INCENTIVE" program for him, each day giving him incentives when he gets two sales. Interestingly enough the concept of breaking down the goal to something more practical and something easier to reach, has really worked. Having these things to look forward to when he gets home also motivates him :). I am so thankful for a dedicated, positive, hard working husband who provides for our family and supports me consistently in going to school. These classes have been so hard for me and so time consuming and at times I have broken down thinking "I can't do it anymore," but then Mike has picked me back up. I am so thankful for the love and support we give to each other and how close we have grown because of our trials and hardships. I love being able to help Mike in his work and knowing that no matter what we do we do it together as a team.
Just some of the incentives: Movie/treat night; Chinese take out, breakfasts, Firehouse lunches, late night swims, pedicures, bagels in the city, surprises, and other fun, enjoyable activities together :).
Here are just a FEW of the pictures from our incentive week!
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