My next painting!

     Someday.. When I improve my skills, I'll paint this! My dream is to paint the town I grew up in because I want to share what I love with others who didn't get to experience what I've gotten to. I tell everyone I had the perfect childhood and one I want to recreate for my children someday.

     So I've found a role model for painting, It's Winborg Masterpieces, I went to his gallery and you can check out some of his gorgeous stuff HERE! He knows how to capture the moment and prolong it. I want to develop that skill. He does a lot of paintings around Cache Valley and especially does church art which I love! (And someday want to do too) 
     It's views like this that really take your breath away and make you stop in your busy world to look. President Uchtdorf said this in his talk on Happiness, that just made me feel so great about my lacking painting skills (Or any talent for that matter)

     "You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.

    What you create doesn't have to be perfect. . . . Don't let the voices of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

I love President Uchtdorf! I can't wait for Conference this weekend! WOOT!

Anyway, It is a very special lady's birthday today! 

Brian's cute mom Laurie!

We love you Laurie and hope your day is FABULOUS! :)

From her hands.. to my heart!

     When people walk in my living room, the first thing they usually say is, "You like zebra don't you?" I wonder if it should even be a question?

        The next thing they do is go back to the quilt I have hanging on the wall. Now this is no ordinary quilt, it's my bragging right. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous, eye-catching, and cute! It's made by someone very dear to me.

    Joyce Wahlstrom made this beautiful quilt for Brian and me for our wedding. Joyce was my neighbor for quite a few years in which my family grew very close to her and her sweet husband Gene. She did such a wonderful job and I can't help but brag about it. 

          Every single person that has entered my apartment and seen this has gone over to it and just lavished it with compliments of how they wish they had one and how beautiful it is!  Thank you Joyce for all your hard work! It's beautiful and I cherish it very much!

A family stitched together with love, seldom unravels.

Brian left me.. So I had a salad

     Brian has had a very busy week this week! He flew to Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday for an interview at Ohio State University of Medical School. Then on Thursday he flew to Orlando, Florida for an interview today (Friday) at the University of Central Florida Medical School. He said he feels "alright" about his interview in Ohio.. I'm not sure what that means. I am excited to hear from him today and find out how today's interview went. He is certainly a hard worker and I am so proud of him no matter where we get excepted! :)

     ANYWAY! So my week has been quite the adventure! Since it was my first time apart from Brian,  Heavenly Father knew I needed to have a very busy week to not be so lonely. It worked for a little bit. It's hard not to feel lonely when I don't feel well and I have no one to complain to, or when I wake up in the morning alone in bed, or when I have to be the one that locks the door at night, or when the food in the fridge starts to go rotten because Brian isn't there to eat it.. and plenty of other reasons.


I feel like my loneliness was reflected around my apartment.  I had some new friends come out to keep me company...

     I guess the black "widow" felt lonely without her husband as well...

except this is a male black widow.

     We've had a pretty bad spider problem in this apartment, but this week was particular bad. It only made me more lonely because I had no one to scream with (Brian hates spiders more than I do). I found this one in the bath tub.. I was SO scared!  That is so scary to have them living in the same house as us! So we had our property management send over an exterminator today. I sure hope it works!

     ANYWAY! I never realized how much I have grown accustomed to Brian living with me. My schedule is HIS schedule. For example, when Brian is hungry I make dinner. Well since Brian is not here with me this week, I have literally forgotten to eat! I know, weird right? I mean, Anna-forgetting to eat? Not possible. But it is!

    So I remembered I was human and needed to feed my body. So I made a Asian Sesame Italian Salad (Asian and Italian? That's right.. BOTH!) with ricotta cheese, ham, and croutons!  Boy was it heaven in a bowl!

 Looks delicious right?!

     Brian comes home tomorrow (Saturday) and I am going down to pick him up. I honestly can't wait. This week has been way too long for me to handle by myself. I am very grateful for my friends and sisters who kept me sane through phone calls and texts. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE BRIAN TOMORROW!

I miss this boy SO much!

 

BAHAMA-ROO!

 So, I finally got my watetproof throw-away camera developed from our honeymoon!

6 months later is better than never!

 Everyone was really cooperative and stayed with their guide EXCEPT us! 

Brian and I broke away from our group and went off by ourselves to do our own little thing. Ha! 

It was much more fun to take our time and play around!

 Brian found himself a new girlfriend in Grand Cayman..

Kayaking in the Bahamas was SO relaxing!

We kayaked in two areas because we loved it so much!

Climbing Dunns River Falls in Jamaica

Trying to take a picture underwater with waves crashing over you all the time is very, very difficult to do! But we succeeded!

I also kissed Mr. Stingray and this was my reaction!

More swimming in the waterfalls in Jamaica!

Kayaking in the Mangroves in Key West!  

Top Left picture is me holding a Horseshoe crab! 

The guide told us that they are related to spiders because they have SO many legs! Gross!

Jet skiing off the shore of Jamaica! 

Advice for next time: 

Never have a Jamaican take a picture for you, they always seem to miss our heads!

I caught a jelly fish! Gross huh?!

It didn't sting me, but my hand was tingling after!

More with Mr. Stingray! They were just so fun to hold! and HEAVY!

Such a fun adventure! :)
Check out our "other" honeymoon pictures HERE!

The PERFECT Gift!

This morning I woke up to a wonderful surprise on my doorstep! Brian gave me the best present he could have ever given me... HIMSELF!

 

The hard part came when I tried to "unwrap" this present...

 It was SO funny! Thanks Brian for making my day! I love you! :)

I decided that being 20(and an adult) and married.. is SO much better than being 19 (and a teenager) and married. It just sounds better. 

Sad thing is.. my life is 1/5 over! AHHHHH!

     It has been a fabulous day so far! Temple with Brian after classes, lunch at the Pita Pit, a little bit of homework to stay on top of things, and then tonight my family is driving up for some dinner! I couldn't have asked for more! It's been the perfect birthday! I feel very blessed to have all these wonderful people surrounding me. I've been showered with love today from my friends and my family. :) 

It's been a Mary Poppins Day:  

Practically Perfect in Every Way!

Stuck Like Glue

Today is a VERY important day for 2 reasons:

1) It's been one WHOLE year since our first date (A year from tomorrow our first kiss)

AND

2) We have seen each other EVERY single day since our first date.. That's right.. 365 days straight. Half of those days we were dating, and half we were married. We have never gone a day without seeing each other.

     The way things worked out, we were ALWAYS together! For fall Break I went with his family to St. George, for Thanksgiving he came with mine to Vegas. By Christmas we were engaged and always stayed at the other's house. I know.. it's crazy! But I love it! How many couples can say they got an opportunity like this?!

To view our first date story: Click Here

     Sadly, starting Monday September 19, Brian will be off interviewing for Medical School in Ohio and Florida and I will be left alone. WITHOUT HIM.. for my first time in a whole year.
I'm nervous. :(

    To Celebrate our 6 Month Anniversary and our 365 days of seeing each other, we decided to go camping since we didn't get to this summer. Obviously we couldn't really go anywhere.. So we just made a tent fort out of our bedsheets and cooked marshmallows over a vanilla cream candle! It was quite delicious!

All the ingredients needed :)

This is our fort :)

MmmMmm.. Taste the Marshmallow!

And our Creeper picture in the dark by firelight!

We are totally not boring married folks! 

We know how to celebrate!

6 MONTHS

Can YOU believe it's been 6 MONTHS already?

 We can't either!

What I have learned about Marriage in 6 months:

• It's impossible to "feel married."

• Friday nights aren’t as important anymore.

• Quarters are like gold.

• You will no longer have to subsist strictly on pizza. In fact, you won't be allowed to. Women like pizza, but they don't like pizza every night. They want variety. And pepperoni one night, meat lover's the next won't cut it.

• Top Ramen isn't fine dining

• Even when you're right, you're still wrong.

• Never question the number of shoes a woman owns

• Pickles or banana peppers are not an ideal midnight snack

• ‘On My Way” Call is something the husband initiates right when he is leaving the school.

• Your engagement ring is still fun to look at, no matter how long you’ve had it, or how many times you’ve seen it.

• Having a joint bank account is great, but it’s hard to hide the purchase of birthday, anniversary or Christmas gifts (or more clothes, for that matter).

• You each learn to appreciate the little things about the other person, the good as well as the not-so-good. There were so many reasons that you chose each other, and even more come to light each and every day.

• The toilet paper comes over the top

• The toilet seat stays down after used 
• The toilet does NOT substitute for the garbage can!

• Laughter is often the best medicine

• Don’t brag too early about him not snoring, he will as soon as he gets used to having a woman in his bed.

• It’s better to keep listening to those stories and laughing at those jokes rather than remind him he’s told them to you a million times

• It is amazing how many disagreements, crummy moods and disappointments can be glossed over with a plate of good food.

• If you ask his opinion, and he says "I don't care", or "I don't know" - he really doesn't care, or know.

• We are never the same temperature. Literally! I’m cold in bed, and he’s dying of heat. I’m hot in the car and he’s freezing and wants the heater on.

• Sleeping at night is like trying to sleep with a newborn baby that gets you up every hour. Brian is not a sound sleeper!

• Even after 6 months we still feel like newlyweds! We are still SO happy and in love!