getting there

I've decided that this stage of life is a lot of putting one foot in front of the other and hoping God puts some ground there.

This stage of life is also a lot of putting one foot in front of the other and realizing that God has been putting ground there for you for as long as you can remember, and it was silly for you to worry that He would stop now.

This summer, Tyler will apply for med school. It seems like the competition is pretty stiff, but he is capable and brilliant. He has worked so hard and he deserves to be there. He is meticulous and level-headed and he will make a wonderful doctor. Still, it's a whole lotta stress.

How will we make sure he meets all the requirements?

How do we afford the application and interviewing process?

Is he gonna get in?

How will we support ourselves now, and in the future when he can't work while he's in school, and when we have to balance that with raising children someday?

It's a lot of questions and it's hard to grapple with the fact that there are no guarantees. It's hard not to get lost in all the steps we have to take and all the hoops we have to jump through to reach our goals.

But the Lord has promised us that we're going to be OK. And that's the only guarantee I need.

Adventures

This semester: so far, so good.

I'm really enjoying my classes and I'm pleased that they haven't gotten too out of hand... yet.

I decided I was gonna treat myself this semester by taking swimming and cycling. I don't regret it per se, but I do feel panicked and anguished and frustrated every day that I have to go to my swim class. I think this is round 4 of trying to get comfortable with swimming and I'm still waiting for it to stop being terrible. I know it sounds like I hate it, but I kind of love it too. Aside from almost drowning twice a week, it's a fun break in my schedule to get moving.

This semester I started an internship with a company called Needle doing event planning with their marketing team, and it has been such a blessing in my life. I really respect what the company stands for and aims to accomplish, and everyone I work with is such a joy to be around and learn from. I got pretty lucky.

My first week with Needle, I went to New York to help them with a social media game for a trade show. I didn't get to do too much sightseeing, but here are some snippets from the trip.

Booth setup.

Me, Carol-Lyn, and Ron about to enjoy some gooooooood steak

The restaurant was so fancy it had cloth towels in the bathroom.

Times Square

Carol-Lyn took good care of me after I spent 7 hours on the trade show floor in heels... bad choice.

This is Sherri, a brand advocate for Overstock.com and probably the sweetest person I've ever met.

My favorite thing about New York was the people. I didn't meet a single person there I didn't like. I liked the extremely enthusiastic bellman at our hotel who always had cookies and an answer for everything. I liked the Uber drivers with their passionate preferences in transportation service. I liked the waiter at Quality Meats with his charisma and impeccably trimmed beard who, at this fancy New York restaurant, probably makes a higher salary than I ever will. I liked the guy on the phone at the pizza place who could barely speak English. I liked the ladies who orchestrated our Conga line, with their big smiles and even bigger personalities. I liked the accents and the diversity and the energy. It was good feels.

One other thing about New York... It was Tyler's and my first time apart from each other since we've been married, and it was pretty tragic. If there was one thing we took away from the experience, it was that Ty and I needed to get out more. We needed an adventure. So we got a Groupon for a cheap hotel in Springdale and we booked a Martin Luther King Jr. Day trip to Zion National Park. It was awesome! Not too crowded, a bit warmer than Provo, and we got into the park free since it was a National holiday! I don't think it could've worked out better if we had planned it... which we didn't. We hiked Angel's Landing and it was gorgeous. Nature does a body good :)

Now we just gotta make it to Presidents' Day. Wish us luck! 

Christmas in Prescott

Road trip. Check.

Taco Don's. Check.

Bill's Pizza. Check.

Waffles n' More. Check.

Skyping Kyle. Check.

Desserts. Check.

And I got my cat fix.

Our Winter break in Prescott was everything we hoped it would be and more. 

We got into the Christmas spirit by going caroling with the family, the missionaries, and some members from the ward. We baked lots of treats to give away (and to eat ourselves.. shhh).

We spent Christmas Eve with the cousins, and it wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a nativity, right? As the youngest couple present, we were elected Mary and Joseph. The best was watching everyone try to fit into costumes intended for primary children.

For Christmas, Santa brought me a light and some curtains for our living room, a Macbook Pro to replace my struggling Dell, and a new (to us) Honda Accord to replace our junky Jetta.

Tyler got some things he wanted... and some things he didn't want so much.

The day after Christmas, we went up to Tyler's uncle's cabin to find some snow for sledding.

This is our friend, Aaron. He came home with us for Christmas. Does he look lovable or what?

Unfortunately the hills were not ideal for sledding. So we shot Tyler's dad's .358 instead.

I drew a target on a Dunkin' Donuts box (in a moving car... don't make fun of it). This was Tyler's first shot. Pretty impressive, no?

New Years was eventful.

[Insert lengthy paragraph about allllllllll the cool stuff I did this year here.]

Mostly, the best part of being home for Christmas was taking a break from schoolwork to hang out with family and friends. We were well fed and well loved and it was just the boost we needed to rejuvenate us for another busy semester. My last semester of school ever.

Bring it on Winter 2015. 

Antsy.

Road trip. Taco Don's. Bill's Pizza. Waffles n' More. A full fridge. Momma Dalton's cute chickens and fresh eggs. Daddy Dalton's chocolate addiction and intense need for outstanding customer service. Ryan's cooking. Skyping Kyle. Christmas decorations. Warm weather. Tyler's childhood memories. Hiking. New Years. Desserts. Family. Friends. Kitty snuggles with Indy against his will. Running. Massages. Yoga.

I can't wait for Prescott. Can that be now already?

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving break was all family and homework and Netflix and turkey and pies and taking little ones to the park.

And we hit 7 months of marriage! That's love y'all.

Friends Thanksgiving 2.0

I love my friends. And I love food. And so when Thanksgiving rolls around, combining the two just seems like the right thing to do.
Soooooo this past Sunday, for the second year in a row, we invited our friends to bring a dish to share and we had our own little pre-Thanksgiving feast and enjoyed each other's company.

Tyler invited friends from his mission and I invited my good friends. Obviously I enjoy both groups, so it was a lot of fun to bring those two worlds together to enjoy them all at once and see them enjoying each other. There were good feelings and good food and it left my heart warm. To me it was just a reassurance of what wonderful people our friends are and how blessed we are to have those relationships. I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

Brett is kinda shy.

 

Side note: I'm really proud of myself for neither burning nor undercooking my first Thanksgiving turkey. I'm no Martha Stewart, but we'll put that one down as a win anyway.

This weekend

A Saturday of studying, paper-writing and wedding-ing.
A Sunday spent corralling 8/9 year olds while trying to teach them about the Word of Wisdom.
Baking 2 loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread with neither of them looking good but both of them tasting great.
Practicing and pep-talking for a Monday morning job interview.

And also,
did I mention SHE'S HOME?!?!?!