Change.

It amazes me everyday that the life I had dreamed of since I was little, is my reality.   I'm blessed to have Austin in my life.  Through the craziness, the insane busyness that we feel, all is worth it because I have him.  I'm grateful we have each other to make it through the ups and downs and many curve balls life has to offer.  Life is about to change for the better for us and I simply cannot wait.

 No, we are not pregnant. 

We are cutting our craziness in half, we are going to experience what a Saturday together is like, what eating dinner by 6PM feels like, what spending real time together is all about.  

I am giddy just thinking about it, I am a bit nervous Austin isn't going to adapt to my Saturday routine of 3 yrs, or that my aspriations of cooking a meal aren't gonna be all its cracked up to be, but ready or not here we come.

Since our early dating life, we have both always worked full time as well as gone to school full time.  Austin has worked every single Saturday, and we have always dreamed of the day when we would get home around the same time and have all night to be together.  Okay I am being a bit dramatic, especially because this is probably not a forever thing but its still a good thing.

Austin was offered a job at a company called Elastic Digital.  I know you are all probably all thinking.. but he just got a new job... yes well, he did- BUT sometimes its okay to leave something good for something better.  He will now be working a whole whopping 5 min. away from home, have set hours, weekends and holidays off.  It was something we could not pass up.  I am incredibly excited, I am sure he is too, I KNOW he is too, hes just a bit nervous to start a whole new job all over again after just getting the hang of the last job.  We feel so blessed for this opportunity and know it will be a good one.

I will be done with school in..... a short 15 hours.  Do you know what that means? FREEDOM.  That's right folks after this week I will be done with school and have a life once again.  Its been so long since I remember what life after work was like!  Can't wait to end my day at 3:30 and meet Austin at home.  I will be getting a job in a salon but that will only be a few days a week!  Anything beats getting out of the DATC! 

Turkey day 2012

Turkey Day.

I absolutely love when the holidays come around.  I love that for 3 solid days I can eat whatever whenever I want, I get to spend every waking moment with family, the shopping never ceases, its a lovely break from reality, and I get a gaurenteed day with babe.  

This year was no different.  I love that I live so close to my siblings and parents, I love that even though we are grown and have our own families, its still a treat to get together and just hang.  This year was the "on year" so Thanksgiving day was spent with with my parents instead of our in-laws, we missed going up to Grandma & Grandpa's and seeing all the McGugin family but it was good to be here as well! 

Grandma was always in charge of making the rolls.  Now I don't really like thanksgiving dinner, so the rolls are of most importance to me, I've missed her rolls and being around everywhere watching her make them.  Lucky for me, mom makes a dang close runner up.  Everything else was lovely as well, just not as good as the rolls. ;)

After dinner we hung out for a bit, and then it was off the in-laws.  There wasn't much going on there so we decided to get a jump on our black Friday shopping.  We headed to Walmart at 7:30PM.  The goal was to snatch some DVD's.  Anybody who knows me knows that  I am incredibly claustrophobic, I dont handle tight spaces well at all.  Aust dropped me off at the doors while he went and parked, I went back to where the DVDs where and let me just tell you, it was a full on mosh pit.  I stood amidst it for about 2 terrible minutes and gave up.  I called Aust in a major panic telling him there was no way I would get in their with the crazies and be trampled anymore than I already was.  Needless to say that was kind of a bust.  We went back to my parents to pick up more shopping partners and off the the Layton Walmart we went.  This experience was much better, we literally got our $20 printer, paid and were done in 15 min. record timing! We hung out for a while longer then headed to Dicks at midnight, it was a total bust, we will not be going there again, they had zero idea on how to handle black Friday.  I was incredibly annoyed.  Sadly aust had to work so he went to bed and I went back out with my sisters, we went all over and had such a blast!  Our shopping adventures didn't end until 3PM Friday!  Moral of this story... shopping is great. 

I really just love the holiday season and the joy it brings to everybody, I love that there is lots of time off and food involved!  I'm sad that reality sets in again tomorrow but even then we have some exciting news... stay tuned!

Mr. Lancer

First things first, CONGRATS KYRON. 

Congrats to my little brother for winning Mr. Lancer.  This may not be a big deal but let me tell you just how big of a deal it really is!  Lets be honest for a minute... when Ky-man told us he was competing I thought oh bless his heart he's breaking out of his shell.   Come to find out he has no shell, he was great.  I gained a whole new appreciation and new understanding of my seemingly "obnoxious tendency prone" little brother. He was representing best buddies. I have a special place in my heart for this program (Side-note: Long time ago I was tremendously afraid of handicap people, like crippling fear of them.  My dad basically forced me into this program/class in high school to help overcome my fear.  Little did I know working with mentally challenged kids would become a huge passion, and blessing in my life!)  So on with the competitions, there was a triathlon, nasty food contest, lip synch, talent, etc.  It was fun to watch the recap of the events in the assembly and see Kyron really shine and just how much everybody loves him. He was one of the top 10 finalists, then onto the top 3.  It was pretty nerve wrecking waiting for them to announce the winner.  None of us were really expecting him to win, it was so fun to be there and share his "big moment" with him!  He totally nailed the speech, I think the entire audience was totally stunned my his ability to ramble on the subject "why" but make it sound like a well thought out prepared speech!  So Ky, congrats we think you are great and that you will go on and do great things!  Enjoy this moment while it lasts, we   proud of you!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your big day!

A days off well spent!

 

Monday was a day off.  I love days off.  What is even better then that, is a day off with Aust.  We never ever get a full day off together.  My only day off is Saturday and Austin has always worked every single Saturday. :(  When we found out we both had Monday off, I was stoked. 

 

We started our day at the gym.  Aust is the best person to get my motivated and moving!  I love going to the gym with him.  He's so funny everytime he walks past me to go get a drink he winks and gives me a huge thumbs up like he is totally impressed by my walking on the treadmill abilities!  He's too funny! 

 

Next we headed to the zoo.  If you know me, you know I LOVE the zoo, frequently in our dating life I always begged to go to the zoo over and over again!  Lucky for us my sister has an awesome pass that gets 5 adults in for free!  We made it a family affair and I wouldn't of had it any other way.  I love the zoo a little more with our niece and nephews!

After the zoo was Rumbi.  In case you missed out on the amazing deal, I will tell you about what a great thing it was.  For ever 2 cans of food you brought into Rumbi Grill, they gave you a 7.50$ meal card.  Needless to say for 5 days straight we ate lunch and dinner there.

 

Aust loves guns, anything about them!  There hasn't been a day off (of his) that he has not visited a gun store or range.  This day we chose Cabela's and I was totally okay with it. (Although we pit stopped at another store in SLC that's totally ghetto and in a scary back alley)  I love the giant fish tank and huge mountain of animals. The thing so great about babe is he always involves me.  Sure, taking a totally UN-interested girl to a gun store is lame but he never complains and always involves me, educates me, and makes sure I'm having a great time!  Little does he know, it doesn't matter what we are doing as long as I'm with him, I'm having a great time!

Next was dinner, at Rumbi's again and then the Jazz game with the fam. 

All in all it was a perfect day off!  It makes me look forward to retirement and spending everyday together!

[What if you woke today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday]

Things I am grateful for.

*Austin Mark, I am truly blessed to have him in my life, there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not overwhelmed with gratitude that he is mine, forever!

*A job, there was a good long time where we didn't think anything was going to come our way for Austin, I'm grateful something finally did, what a blessing being able to work is!  I'm grateful not only for my job but for the opportunity I have to make a difference and love going to work everyday!

*For families.  I am blessed to have grown up with such an amazing family, with siblings who are so close and love being together.  I am also grateful for Austs family and the love they give us, I'm lucky they are so great!

*I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

*For schooling.  I know everybody has heard time and time again how much I hate school.  I do however love the opportunity to learn and grow and develop helpful skills.  I cant imagine living somewhere where school was not a priority!  I'm grateful Austin has a college education!

*Friends.  I think they are so important and I don't know how I would have made it through life without them.  Whether I am still friends with some of  them or not, friends have been a vital aspect of my life and I'm grateful all of ours!

* A home, I love ours.  Yes I could stand a bigger bathroom, but I'm glad we have something to go home to every night!

*A car.  What a perfect convience that is.

* Missionarys.  Those who have, those who are, and those who will serve!

*Shoes.  I simply love them.

*For the sound of laughter!

I'm sure I could put down about a million more but for now here is my sweet and simple list!

 

Texas

When Aust started working for Sherwin Williams, they told him that he would be attending a training in Texas within the next couple months.  Right away I started looking at flights and trying to see if it was even possible to hang out with him in Texas.  After we got more details of the trip we were told he had to room with another guy but that his hotel was located downtown Dallas!  Some of my very favorite people live in Dallas.  It was meant to be, next think I knew, me and my mom were flying to Dallas for a not long enough vacation!  

We had a great time in the morning, laughing, talking, and shopping! When Austs training was done each night we would either go pick him up, or just go stay in Dallas for a few hours!  It was a blast, we wasted too much gas, ate too much popcorn, laughed too hard, and had an absolute blast!  I'm so glad my mom came with, such a great break from reality!

 Some things we learned about Texas:

*Moms work, dads stay home. (At least from what I observed)

*Big or small sweat pants/yoga pants are worn by everybody everywhere.

*Football is huge. (They hold the boys back so they will be bigger for football)

*School is much harder there.  (helping my 6 yr old cousin each night was challenging my brain)

*They have great shopping!

*Driving there is insane, its takes forever and if you miss you turn you will wind up on some freeway.

*Thrift stores are in no short demand. 

*Big Tex is a huge idol in Texas (he burned down when we were there and it was a big deal!)

*Texas doesn't allow for good hair days!

 

Relax... Its the weekend!

These people are busy watching the BYU game, therefore I get some time to blog!! Win Win!

First off, I'm completely stoked... a week or so ago Aust told me that Roby (his BFF) was going to pop the question to his adorable girlfriend Emily on Saturday. On Saturday at 9:59 AM I got a text from Roby; "She said yes!"  I literally squealed like a little school girl and jumped up and down!  I'm completely thrilled.  Truth be told, it absolutely kills me that all this is happening in a far away land and we cant be right there and be apart. Thank goodness for Facebook and ability to stalk their pics, its almost as good (Well I guess its not stalking now that Emily and I can officially be Facebook friends!)  Needless to say we are sooooo excited for them.  I seriously love, love.  I always say that but there is just something so great about being in love!  And there is nobody more deserving of a perfect girl/love than Rob,  so Rob & Emily congrats again and again!  I'm excited for you to experience how great it is to come home every night to someone you've missed all day, for all the weird quirky things you'll find out about each other. (Austin has to sleep with his feet hanging off the bed for the monsters to grab and pull him under) For the excitement of making a house a home, (maybe not all excitement) just to be able to have somebody by your side through the good, the bad, the terrible, and the very best!

Next some depressing news... due to some scheduling conflicts I have been forced to go to school until 9PM.  That is such a long day.  I leave the house at 8AM and don't return until about 9:15PM between work and school.  Its been such a bummer and super depressing but hopefully this will move graduation a lot closer.  Babe has been such a good sport, the last 2 weeks he was picking me up on his way home from work so he would just come to the salon and sit with me for an hour or so, just doing whatever services I needed done.  He's really the best and everyday I'm reminded in a new way of that!  I'm sure lucky!  He encouraged me to take a break just for a day so we could go on a motorcycle ride through the canyon up around Pineview.  It was so perfect.  The scenery was gorgeous and we even stopped and ate at this fun little biker mexican joint!  It was a good break from reality!

Speaking of breaks from reality, it's the weekend, boy do I love weekends.  I would love them a whole lot more if the husband didn't have to work every single Saturday, but I guess that's all I have ever known so I don't know how much I'm missing out on.  We make the most of Friday's however and they are a favorite.  We went the our membership range today, than a pit stop at Cal Ranch, (we visit at least 1 gun store every Friday, usually 2 Aust is like a little kid in a candy store), than to my parents where we had Hawaiian haystacks due to the fact BYU is playing Hawaii right now, and in a few min. we are off to Frightmares with Mike and Marni.  What a great day huh?

Seriously I'm so in love with him!

[[Don't wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect!]]

Its almost the weekend, again... how great is that, but I figure I should recap the last one because it really was so great!

Friday was a simple chill night, it was just what we needed.  Saturday the real adventure started! (After of course of morning of pedicures for my prego friend and a nail backfill on myself!) We left for Logan to meet up with Aust's sister for a demolition derby.  I really love going to Logan, I had never been there before meeting Aust, but luckily for us his sister and grandparents live there so we always have a good excuse to go visit!  We drove up with the in-laws, with our bags packed for a sleep over at grandmas!  Now how great is that? I certainly remember sleep overs with my own grandma and what special memories I have of that.  Not only are sleepovers great, but Grandma's house is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  It felt like we had just spent a lot of money to sleep in a fancy cabin complete with amazing home cooked meals!  We spent the day just relaxing on the porch, talking, laughing, napping, and enjoying every single second.  What a great weekend!

Next on my mind is this weather.  Its no secret that I completely dislike winter.  I hate to be cold, I spend most the summer still overcoming the cold so when winter hits I'm just a mess -I hate it.  This year however I have felt a little different. (A little mind you, I'm still not a fan of being cold and driving in the snow!)  This new change of season has made me feel so refreshed.  It feels like we are starting over, ready for the next thing.  It's kind of like New Years and the feeling of  a new year, new goals, a clean slate.  I guess living in Utah we are blessed with 4 "refreshers" and I'm okay with that.  We went on a motorcycle ride up through the canyon and seriously the leaves changing was breathtaking!  It's safe to say I am ready for fall, ready for what this next chapter has in store for us.  We are finally back into a real routine and although its not ideal for the next while, it will be good! I love that I have a cute boy by my side for this next little while finishing up school! He's a great support system!

Flashback Friday

Its Friday and I have some down time so how about a flashback, or a few!

 

This isn't a good pic, obviously but I love this memory.  We were with my best friend and her boyfriend (husband now) we went to crystal hot springs, than to Dennys after.  I love this memory. It was one of our first few dates and I remember having constant butterflies the whole entire night.  I remember after taking the boys home talking to Lou telling her just how great Austin was and how I hoped we would date forever! 

 This was at the festival of colors.  It was an adventure in and of itself.  Lou had been in Mexico and I was incredibly excited to pick her up on our way up cuz I hadn't seen her in forever.  I was super hyper and remember everything being funny.  A little while into our chalk fight Aust had to go to the bathroom. This is where my favorite flashback comes in because to this day we frequently bring up the story of Austin needing to go to the bathroom and the line was incredibly long.  He just kept holding it till he got to the point he was in pain and couldn't walk or really even talk.  It was pretty dang funny!

This was one of Austin's ideas.  We were bored at his parents house and he just randomly had the idea to have a lemonade stand.  I thought he was kidding, especially because as you can see there was still plenty of snow.  We took an old science fair project bored and modified it to our lemonade stand.  $12 dollars and some embarrassment later.

And this day for obvious reasons! I sure love this boy and glad that on that day he asked me to be his for eternity!  Grateful we have such great memories to look back on!