Evil Evil Spinning

So I want to get thin for my wedding. In the last year I’ve gained 10lbs, and it’s really pissing me off! So, about a month or two ago I started spinning at my gym. It is horrible in more ways than one. First, it hurts your butt. Sitting on those tiny seats for an hour is not the most comfy thing I can imagine. Also my legs and lungs are burning the entire time. But the worst part about spinning is that it is addictive. I hate it, every time I’m there I think “what the hell am I doing?” yet I keep going back. And I haven’t seen any results yet. Damn.

Spring top 10

So I convinced two of my best buds that I talk to all too little to do a top 10 with me. My friends are across the world, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they post. To check them out, visit MishieMish here and Girliegirl here.

Top 10 things I love about spring
10. I love and hate number 10, it’s my birthday. Springtime birthdays are by far the best out of any other time of year; however, I really don’t want to get much older. I’m happy where I am. That said, every spring I really look forward to my birthday because of presents!

9. New green grass- this might sound really lame, but living in Utah I get so tired of all the brown I see all winter. When the grass starts turning green I know spring is on its way.

8. Hiking- each winter I get the desire to get outside and enjoy the canyons, and I do, on snowshoes. But when the winter snow melts I love getting out and hiking in new canyons and visiting old favorites.

7. Tulips- I’m one of those people that love watching spring flowers bloom. Just yesterday I realized some of our tulips were in bloom and I was so excited I dragged E outside to look at them with me.

6. Southern Utah- Each year E and I try to get down to Southern Utah. This year we went to Zion and it was truly magical. The weather was perfect and the hikes were awesome. In May we are going to Moab and Arches for a bit of biking!

5. Skirts- Oh, I hate dressing for work in the winter. Tall boots, long skirts, and uncomfortable tops. When spring finally arrives I pull out all my cute skirts, shave my legs, and dance into work. I’m so happy when pants weather is finally past.

4. The farmhouse- I love going down to the farmhouse in spring. I’ve missed it all winter. Everything seems so fresh and alive down there, and so green. Last weekend was like “a wee bit of Ireland!” (okay, I’m lame)

3. Biking- My bike waits patiently all winter long in our store room for the first hint of spring. Once it warms up a bit, I wipe it off, look it over, and pump up the tires (who am I kidding, E gets the bikes ready for summer!) Then we’re off to an easy trail to try to remember all the stuff we practiced the year before.

2. Easter- I’m not a religious person, at all, but I love Easter. Bunnies, new grass, dying Easter eggs, and wearing something new are all so fun. I don’t know why I’ve always loved Easter so much, but it’s always been one of my favorites.

1. The days are longer- I hate when it’s dark before I even leave work. Last night it was light until 8:00, something I didn’t think existed 3 months ago. I love going home after work and still having daylight!

I learned to knit!

Yep, it's true! I've always wanted to learn, and even tryed when I was little, but wanted to try again. I bought yarn and needles at the supermarket while at the farmhouse this weekend, and sat down with Ch. After about 10 minutes of showing me the same simple stitch again and again, I finally got it. Then after about 15 rows of really ugly mistakes, my doll scarf is finally looking kinda like a scarf. I feel like such an old lady in the evenings, I go home and knit, and go to bed early! I am an old lady!

Dear Farmhouse: Here I come!

E's family is opening the farmhouse this weekend for Easter, after a lot of pressure from their soon to be daughter-in-law (me!). At first E’s mom said no, then she started to crack, and now everyone is very much looking forward to a weekend away.

So, a “typical” farmhouse weekend starts Friday afternoon when I leave my office at 4:00 or so, E and I pile into the car with all our stuff (bikes, crafts, dolls, and clothes) and we start off. After about an hour of fighting with traffic through Utah Valley, we exit at Spanish Fork and the beautiful drive begins, after dinner, of course. We always stop at Little Acorn at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon and get a burger and fries, and oh man, are they good!

About 45 minutes later we pull into Mt. Pleasant and arrive at the farmhouse. Usually Friday night we just dink around and relax. Sometimes I take a bath in the very deep farmhouse bath, and then snuggle in the feather bed with E.

Saturday morning we sleep in, late! Usually E and I get up and head to Stew’s Home Plate for a greasy breakfast. We get eggs, bacon, coffee, scones and hash browns, and damn is it good!

By now it’s already middle of the day, and E and I love to drive and explore. We drive to all the small towns with our cameras ready for pictures of abandoned houses, hawks, or baby animals. I love to explore the abandoned houses, but easily get creeped out, and E keeps watch for me.

Then we head back to the farmhouse tired and happy, we usually have a nap and a little snack of chips and salsa (as you can tell, this isn’t the healthiest of weekends). By now, E’s family is there, and we chat with them. E’s family is wonderful, they all talk so much more than an average family, and we laugh and laugh (usually about really stupid dirty jokes that Ch gets embarrassed about).

Then we make dinner. In the summer we’ll have a roast, a BBQ, or pizza. We always love to hang around outside, relax some more and just enjoy the time we have down there. In the middle of the summer we love to bring the telescope down, set it up, and look at the stars for hours.

Sunday we love to sleep in, then we make an old fashioned breakfast on the coal stove “Old Betsy.” We make bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast, and we always drink juice! After we clean up, we head outside again, just to hang out, or we’ll go on another drive. This weekend we’ll have an egg hunt.

After another long nap, we have a little snack, clean up, and head home. This type of “typical” farmhouse weekend really is wonderful, and I’m looking forward to my second Easter down there this year!

Photo caption: E’s family’s corral in springtime

One two three, one two three, back step…

I’ve never been able to dance, not a spin, not a step, nada. Well my dance class is going really well. The steps seem simple enough, and I’ve already learned quite a few turns and spins! It’s quite fun, and E is really good, even though he says otherwise.

So my mom moved out last weekend, I helped her on Saturday unpack at the new house. It was sad, but not horribly. I haven’t seen what my dad’s house looks like, left partly empty and alone, it will be hard to see.

Nothing much else is new, other than it finally warmed up last weekend. E and I went biking and had a BBQ at Sugarhouse Park with friends; it was nice to finally get outside!

Good bye Utah madness, Hello Italy!

I am so excited! E and I just booked a tour for our honeymoon in Northern Italy this September. We will leave the 14th and get back the 29th.

Here is the link to learn more: Italy Tour

Thanks for sharing in my excitement! My shitty day turned around, and I am so happy!

I’m depressed, wedding woes

My parents are getting a divorce, they’ve been married 28 years and the year of my wedding they decide to split. I shouldn’t act selfish, but I am, this is my year. Because of this, everything is fragmenting.

My mom’s best friend Heather is someone I’ve loved and cared for my entire life. She doesn’t agree with my Mom, and wants nothing more to do with her which saddens me, a lot. I’m going to miss her family and their friendship. And it really sucks that this is all happening right before my big day, because I really wanted her and her family to be there. I remember back in August when my mom and I were planning the wedding she said something like “as long as Heather makes it, then I’m happy” and now it looks like that’s not going to happen.

Also, my brother and his girlfriend (whom I really like) are not doing so hot. I wanted her to be a bridesmaid at my wedding, but the broke up yesterday for the second time, and I think that it might be best if the split. That is fine, I want my brother to be happy, but this is all happening at once. So I lost two bridesmaids, and I’m down to three (which is fine, but it does make me sad).

My wedding guest list has shrunk, by about 20% which means we might be too small for the larger room at the Ahwahnee. We can still be in the larger room, but we still need to reach our minimum, which is a huge number, and paying that much for a small party is a lot of money. I wish my guest list would grow again, and then this all wouldn’t be such a problem.

E is angry, I am hurt, and everything is cracking. We both want this to be our year, but it has turned out that everyone had other things on their mind, and the wedding is more an inconvenience than a celebration. Shit.

I'm an old fart

25, it seems so old. I know its not, but I'm really not a kid anymore. It is crazy, I always wanted to get married when I was 25 (okay, I admit, when I was 12 I told everyone that I was going to marry at 30) and this is the year I will marry. Wow!

This last year has been a huge one for me, HUGE. I took my first international trip and paid for the entire thing myself, I got engaged in Africa to the man of my dreams, I had a relapse of anxiety (but am all better now, thank God!), my parents got worse worse and worse, until they decided to divorce. My mom bought her first house alone and is moving out next weekend. I dealt with the death of my kitty Smudge, found a new kitty Boo and dealt with her death too, I have planned my entire wedding with only E because my family has had many other things on their mind, all within the last year.

However, I am happy. E and I are planning our honeymoon, we decided on Northern Italy! We will go next September. E’s family has been wonderful, and I’m growing closer to them all the time, and my wedding plans are coming along without any major headaches.

So, here is a list of what I got for my birthday:
Gift Certificate to Home Depot from my dad so I can plan my garden this spring, he says this is the year of “new growth!”
Beautiful placemats, salt and pepper shakers, and a tin bird from my mom
Tanning lotion from my sis (so I can look hella hot this summer)
A beautiful doll dress from E’s family, one that I asked for!
Lots of doll things from E. I put a list together, and he got me everything I wanted, he is so wonderful.

So, now I’m off to sushi lunch (my pick because it’s my birthday!) Til next time…