Total Relaxation

Typically, Sunday's give me a wide range of mixed feelings.

I love Sunday's for the following reasons:
-Church
-Chore tackling (laundry, groceries, errands if necessary)
-Couch dwelling (surprisingly, I didn't take a nap today during the afternoon football watching)
-Catch-up with family (the last few have been spent with Dusty's side, last week we hung out with my fam)


But then at the same time, I loathe Sunday's because:
-I am a teacher, therefore, I know the full effect of feeling the "Sunday night blues"

Today was different though. Actually, this whole weekend had a very pleasant tone of TOTAL RELAXATION. I did a lot for me, as evidenced by my post Friday night (case in point, who do you know who updates their blog on a Friday?!). I cut my hair past my shoulders (love it), I took in a movie I have been DYING to see (Spielberg's Lincoln, more on that in a minute), I spent lots of time with my husband, I had a great time Saturday night with friends at a Chili Cook-off (hence the meal choice for Friday night) and I spent the entire day today doing absolutely nothing. I guess it helps that this week is short, being that Thursday is Thanksgiving (quite possibly my favorite holiday). I guess it also helps to know that tomorrow night I am getting together with friends once again- I am wrapping up a scarf I have worked hard on knitting- and also get to spend Tuesday on another field trip-- this time to the Minnesota School of Cosmetology with our female students. The real catch of this trip? We all get pedicures!! :)

Ya know, they really fail to mention all the teacher perks like free pedicures when you're taking your education classes in college.

I've tried to readjust my attitude towards Sunday's as of late to look at them not as a dark cloud over the impending week to come- but as a last day for relaxing and taking in wonderful things to prepare and recharge for the week ahead. What's not to love about Sunday's? Football games all day long, catching up on Nashville while taking a bubble bath (totally did that today), cleaning my bedroom, making homemade pizza with Dusty, and excitedly making my lunch for tomorrow because we DID go grocery shopping today and really made a haul on delicious food!

Oh and ya know how I mentioned Lincoln earlier? Great movie. I had to see it being I am a history teacher and all... and I knew the hype surrounding Daniel Day-Lewis's performance was for a reason. Holy Crap... I felt like I was legitimately watching Honest Abe in the flesh the entire two hours and thirty minutes of the film. It took a little different approach than I was expecting (it's not really about Lincoln's life as much as it is his efforts to pass the immensely historical 13th amendment) but I loved it anyway. But what I really loved, was DDL's performance. It was so inspiring that Dust and I just spent the last three hours watching a previous DDL classic: There Will Be Blood. I had never seen it- wow. How can one guy play such an array of movie roles and make it look SO CONVINCING?

I have a new favorite actor.

Anyway, I know they won't always be this way, but today? I loved me some Sunday. It was a great way to wrap up my weekend.

Oh and as long as I'm still on the subject of movies, Dust and I also spent a chunk of time preparing for our fourth annual Miller/Wahl Thanksgiving Movie Marathon that we participate in every year with my siblings and my dad. We basically have a movie watching rally from about 9 in the morning until 4 pm in the afternoon when we head over to my aunt's house for turkey. This year we're kicking things off early on Wednesday night and have compiled our list of potential options of movies to watch. Here they are:
-Gremlins
-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
-Disney's Hercules
-Monsters Inc
-Alien
-Love Actually
-Christmas Vacation

How's that for a list? We have to start Wednesday because my dad's football team made the playoffs this year and therefore have PRACTICE on Thanksgiving Day. Kinda great, and kinda sucky. Not that it really matters, because typically any time you pop in a movie with my dad, he's out in less than five minutes.

Case in point.

Happy Thanksgiving Week to all! :) Stay tuned for a potential post on the next best thing to Thanksgiving Day... Black Friday, and all of it's crazy antics, coming my way in just four short days.

FRIDAY

Now that everyone who reads this site faithfully knows exactly what I've been up to the last few months, I feel like I can be candid. The past four, five-ish weeks at work have been REALLY good. I feel like making it up to the MEA weekend in Minnesota was like crossing a sort of finish line- I had essentially survived my first quarter of teaching, I was getting into a groove of dividing up my time (lesson planning, teaching, plus trying to squeeze in having a life) and I started to feel like my rapport with the students was improving. It felt like they were starting to trust and respect me. Pair that with a couple of other milestones here and there (like re-taking my license exam for the fourth time, having two days off in two weeks, and BUYING  A NEW CAR) and I started to really feel like MAN- I'm kinda on top of the world. In fact, you might say that I was starting to develop a little bit of swagger- I use that word only for the simple fact that I hear it MULTIPLE times a day working in an alternative school setting.

Well, that being said, I guess in this roller coaster journey I've been riding since starting my new job, it all had to come crashing down. I was on this uphill battle for the months of August to September... reached October and threw my hands up in the air for the fun rush of reaching the top... and this week, I definitely am feeling myself round the corner and climb up the rickety hill again. It all started Monday when Dusty and I drove to Farmington to pick up said new car mentioned earlier, only to be told we couldn't take it home until Tuesday. Oh-kay... there goes a nice 35 mile drive out of the way, down the tubes. Disappointment #1.

Tuesday rolled around and it was actually a really great day. I was asked a couple months ago to chaperone a field trip for our junior and senior students to Mankato on a visit to the university. It went great and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the campus and seeing my student's eyes light up learning about the possibility of attending college. However... we had a mishap on the bus on the way back, I didn't get home until 445 (unheard of for me most weeknights) and then we had to drive BACK to Farmington to pick up our new car. It was a stressful, long day. Driving to Mankato, back to the cities, BACK DOWN to Farmington made me crabby and tired.

Make a long story short- I dealt with students getting kicked out of school, loads of grading, a LOT of subbing for teachers who were out sick, plus lesson planning for the next few days up to Thanksgiving, I was beginning to feel stretched pretty thin. On top of that I don't know how, but my husband convinced me last night to go see the new Twilight movie at 10 pm.... Who else is in a marriage where the MAN of the relationship is the one convincing his wife to go see the latest installment of a popular teen rom-com vampire saga? Anyone?

Bueller? Bueller?

I definitely let myself get ahead of things by feeling on top of the world and thinking all was right in my universe. I was quickly brought back down to reality through a variety of events this week. I started to analyze myself and realized that sometimes, if I'm not doing anything and just sitting around, I feel antsy and kind of lazy. I feel much more succesful and overall accomplished when I'm constantly busy and doing something at all times. Whether its being with friends, planning my lessons, catching up on blogs, or cleaning the apartment, I realized today that I don't really let myself just BE.

That's why tonight, as I sit curled up with a blanket next to my parent's amazing electric fireplace, with my dog at my side snoring quietly, I am thanking God and myself for taking a time out from the busyness of life and letting myself enjoy my Friday night. I so needed this. Want to know what else I did?

That's right; I cooked myself dinner. I went to Target, I bought all the ingredients I needed, and I made Pumpkin Turkey Chili with homemade cornbread. It wouldn't be a typical night for me if I didn't occupy my time some more by shopping at Target, of course, but I literally chopped the veggies, sauteed the ingredients, and made chili for the first time in my life, all by myself. It was so wonderfully satisfying to be able to do something like that. And I highly recommend the recipe if you love autumn and love pumpkin (I found it on AllRecipes. Delicious). I am having an unexpectdly quiet night housesitting and dogsitting for my rents, who are in Chicago, and without my husband (sick at home) who I miss. But I am enjoying the time alone. It's kind of nice to just BE.

It was when I finally sat down to eat my homemade meal, prepared all by myself, that I realized I need to do things like this more often. Do things for ME when I find I have the time. I realized tonight that tonight might have been the first night I have cooked ANYTHING since I have been MARRIED! Um... what?! Five months without allowing myself to cook a meal?! Seriously!

 

I am loving a break from the busyness tonight and I had to share with others- maybe you need a break like me too. And if not? Maybe you need to just try cooking this chili, because it's amazing. And if you have any leftover turkey, give it to your dog. But I promise, he won't look this cute after licking the bowl clean, like mine did.



A creative way of updating the Blogosphere

Since reader's have waited for a post on the edge of their seat...

I am updating my blog as a very special treat.

But since I have been absent 

(You may have thought I wouldn't come back!)

I have decided to get creative- this is a poem!

Cut me some slack.

It was a pleasant day in August when I was shopping at the mall, 

When to my surprise I had an unknown phone call

This call was from a school, with a job to which I had applied

I expected not to hear a word... but could at least have said I tried

But to my surprise my stomach dropped when they asked me to come in

They would like to interview, I said yes with a nervous grin

And in a chain of insane events I found myself employed

And starting school in just three days- my confidence was destroyed

For not only was I stepping in to a situation unknown- but I had to quit my other two jobs

Where I really felt at home

Nonetheless I prayed it through and started school with a bang

Four classes and forty students a day- might not sound that insane

But I am teaching in a place that isn't quite the norm

It's an alternative setting where kids have faced the storm

Of struggling through traditional school and falling through the cracks

But I was on a mission to let them know- Ms. Wahl has got your back

In the meantime fall came in full force to give me a fresh breath

There are days when just the crisp fall breeze helps when I feel like there's nothing left

This job has presented challenges that make me want to scream

But then I have those moments- breakthroughs- where the students make me beam

Like the day a student told me that he learned when teachers smile

Or when I was absent due to sickness "Ms. Wahl I missed you- Ain't seen you in awhile!"

Or when I have a moment that I question what I do

And I grade a test that shows me that with the students, I'm getting through

Updates on my family life? Dust and I are doing great 

He has put up with quite a bit since I started as of late

He still is loving his job at school- 

And is thinking about going back to school (can only get so creative)

The coolest thing about this job is seeing the work of The Lord

I find myself always content and NEVER feeling bored

God knew that this was where I had to be this year

He told me to put all trust in HIM- Although I still have fear

The Lord knew that it would work great when Dusty sold his car

To place me at a job that really wasn't far

We are down to just one car but spend every day

Chatting on the way to work- amazing, what more can I say?

So now I am a teacher I thought I'd never see the day

They tell you jobs are out there but to that I say no way

I'm so content, insanely busy, every day is new

But I wouldn't trade anything for what I get to do

I promise to update more but had to update first

I hope you have enjoyed this blogpost written in Verse.

The end. I got a job, that's why I haven't written. Even though most people who read this already knew that. XO

Musical Recommendations

Dust and I are currently sitting in our living room watching the movie WILD AMERICA. If you are having trouble remembering this gem of the 90's, I'm talking about this movie:

 

We both just agreed that Dust wanted to BE Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and I wanted to DATE him. I can't even tell you how many times I made my dad drag me to the Video Update down the street just so I could rent this movie and purposely creep myself out by the woman near the bear cave who had scars on her cheek from a bear mauling!

Ring a bell, anyone??

Anyway, since I have seen this movie too many times to count and I also got the sudden urge tonight to crack open my laptop, I decided to burn a CD. One of the best apps I've downloaded on my phone is HANDS DOWN is the Shazam App. Nothing is more convenient than driving on my way to work and figuring out what song I'm listening to just by tapping a button on my phone. I happen to be a huge fan of The Current here in MN, so my songs of choice may not exactly please everybody, but I think this is one of the better mixes I've put together in a long time. If you are looking for good songs to listen to for a road trip, a day at the beach with iPod buds in your ears, or something to blast while you clean around the house, then maybe you might want to give these a shot. 

In no random order:

Give Up the Funk by Parliament

Lucky Man by The Verve (Perhaps you might recognize it from the movie "Marley and Me")

Stubborn Love by The Lumineers(I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS GROUP!)

Busy Bees by Silversun Pickups

Next to Me by Emeli Sande (She's opening for Coldplay in MN this weekend and I am begging Dust to find us tickets...)

We Bought a Zoo by Jonsi (This is what I walked down the aisle to!)

D.A.N.C.E by Justice 

Hey Ladies by The Beastie Boys

Jump Into the Fog by The Wombats (This might be my new favorite song, for real)

You're a Wolf by Seawolf

Look at Where We Are by Hot Chip

Some Nights by Fun (even though it seems to pop up in every commercial on TV these days)

Nightcall by Kavinsky (from the movie "Drive")

Houdini by Foster the People (Granted this was kind of my anthem last summer, but who says you can't repeat?)

Man on Fire by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (I would do anything to see them in concert)

Here are a couple preview videos of my favorites from the group: 

Emeli Sande

Justice

The Wombats

Hot Chip

Go listen to some music.

And for those of you that will get it and have read from the beginning, do so "with that good ol' Mountain Dew." 

Just read.

I get depressed pretty much any time I turn on the TV lately and watch the news. It seems like ever since the Aurora, CO movie theater disaster that every week, every day, headlines pop up of horrible things happening in different parts of the country, or in our world.

I actually drove home from work yesterday in the midst of rush hour (AKA my worst enemy) and noticed to my left a plane flying abnormally low in the sky. I live in St. Paul, which isn't far from the airport, but I thought to myself that plane looks TOO low, TOO far from the airport. I even went so far as to drive out of my way towards the Mississippi to see if I was just crazy, or if there was, in fact, a plane crash disaster. It was one of those moments where I thought to myself, am I completely insane? Why would a plane just crash into the river right by my apartment? Of course I was wrong about the whole thing... and yet I mulled it over in my brain thinking to myself, what would I do if I were ever really a witness to a random disaster? How would I react? What would go through my mind?

Well anyway. Dusty and I decided to get some errands done last night at around 7 p.m. and headed out to Ikea in Bloomington. We were in desparate need of a dresser, nightstand, and bookshelf and promised ourselves that we'd be in and out of there in an hour tops. That, of course, didn't happen because we ended up testing out every sofa in the showroom and then ran into some people we knew in the warehouse. After packing up my tiny car with heavy cardboard boxes, not only were we tired, but also hungry. So, with the Mall of America being conveniently across the street from Ikea, we decided to grab some food.

Dust always parks in the same ramp at MOA because he swears it's never that busy, and I wasn't driving nor did I care, I was just itching to eat something. This was at around 8:15 p.m. now and way past my normal dinner hour. That was when we noticed heading up the ramp that there were several cars parked in the middle of the street with their hazards flashing. A Uhaul van was up ahead about 20 meters or so and something just didn't look right. We were clueless as to what was going on until a girl frantically ran up to our car and asked us for rope or anything that might help to get the Uhaul driver out of the cab of the truck. The driver had misjudged the clearance of the parking ramp ceiling, causing a concrete beam to crash onto the cab of the Uhaul. The driver was PINNED INSIDE the cab in his seat. And he was still alive.

I literally froze while Dust quickly opened our trunk. We had a rope and some bungees and he ran toward the scene to hand them off. A security guard on a bike told him to stay away until he noticed the rope. I then noticed a woman screaming on the sidewalk, hysterical, and she slumped to the ground as Dusty and I tried to figure out where to go from here. He told me that someone mentioned the driver was talking and coherent but after we saw the damage to the cab of the Uhaul truck, we both were sick- there are slim chances for someone to survive a crash like the one we saw. I took a couple pictures on my phone while Dust was handing off the rope.


You can see where the beam hits the drivers side, it is to the right of Dusty who was walking back to our car. At this point there were no police or emergency cars at the site of the accident and the beam had fallen on the truck about five minutes beforehand.

 There wasn't much more we could do beyond just leaving the site of the accident, since by that point, we could hear sirens very closely nearing the mall- not to mention mall security was being pretty adament about not allowing anyone to get near the truck. We parked our car and went inside the mall. We didn't know what else to do. Dusty and I basically just rehashed everything that had just happened- did we really just drive right into the scene of an INSANE accident? Would the driver be okay? Why did the beam fall? Why did this happen at all?
I then started to contemplate the timing of events leading us to that disastrous scene: running late to get out the door, not arriving at Ikea until 7ish, spending way more time there than we hoped, bumping into friends, and deciding at the last minute to go grab a bite to eat across the street. That timeline brought us to that exact moment where we happened upon a horrible accident that neither of us EVER would have expected (nor wanted) to encounter, simply by chance.

After about an hour of being at MOA, still pretty stunned, we decided to leave. It felt so weird to walk around this enormous place full of people who were clueless to what happened outside just minutes ago. The scene walking out to the parking lot was much different than driving in. There were probably 25 police cars, 5 firetrucks, police officers and news crews EVERYWHERE. The lot where we parked was sealed off by yellow police tape and by then, I was glued to my phone waiting for an update on the news from my mom. She called to let us know the driver, a 52 year old male, had died, was still trapped in the Uhaul, and the two passengers who were with him were taken to the hospital for minor injuries. I couldn't help but think immediately of the woman I saw earlier, screaming like I have never heard anyone scream before and then slumping to the ground. It gave me the absolute worst feeling in the world to know that that man had died and we had been right there just a couple hours prior while he was still living and still holding on to some kind of hope, I'm sure. I thought about my stupid car ride home earlier. Would I ever be witness to some disastrous event in my lifetime? By the time I crawled into bed last night, I wished that I had never decided to go eat at the Mall of America. My thoughts raced back to that poor man in the Uhaul who probably had no idea that his decision to park the van would end up costing his life. Nobody deserves to go out like that.

And maybe this post makes me sound epic and all the more depressing... but it made me think back to countless times in my life where I have tried to make sense of horrible things happening to people in this world. Why does it happen? Why does God LET it happen? Even the other night, Dusty and I were watching an episode of Friday Night Lights when one of the main characters converts to Christianity and ministers to prison inmates in a bible study- and the inmates torture her with that question- Why does God allow horrible things happen to normal, good people?

Here's the thing: the character on the show (Lyla Garrity, for those of you who are FNL fans like me) did not have an answer for the prison inmates, and at the moment, I don't have an answer, either. Not only that, but I know nothing about the man who died last night. I know nothing about his life, his family, his faith, or where he's from. I hate not having an explanation for something that just seems so bizarre and unfair.

So as I'm sitting here, contamplating this weird, senseless event, my mind wandered to something that my mother-in-law gave me at my last bridal shower. It's a bookmark from Dusty's dad, Wade's, funeral, which contains an encouraging note written by Wade on the back that literally took every thought I had regarding last night and gave me peace.  I could go so much more into how highly I think of Dusty's dad, and how sad I am that I never got the chance to meet him and know him... but trust me, that is a blog post for another time :) Anyway. Please read it, and if you are ever stuck in a situation like me where you can't quite wrap your head around tragedy, be comforted by these words (this is a eulogy Wade wrote for the funeral of a good friend).

As I walked alongside my friend during his illness, I was forced to ask myself two questions about God. Is He loving and a good God? And is He in control, is He powerful? If the answer is yes- and I believe they are, then it allows me to trust that what He is and does is based upon His love and power. Now I don't presume to be able to understand suffering and unjust death, like that of my friend. But there are some things that I do know to be true. God loves us. God cares for us. God grieves alongside us (as Jesus was God in flesh. I'm reminded of the time in Jesus' life when He was told a friend of His died, and He wept- God is telling us in that, that He weeps with us when He sees the pain of this broken world). God knows what it is like to face the death of a loved one, as He allowed His son, Jesus Christ, to die so that we might live eternally. God heals- my friend is now healed. He does have total and complete healing at this moment. Our prayers were answered, just not in this world.

I don't doubt that today, tomorrow, perhaps several times this week, I won't turn on the TV or read the newspaper and feel great sadness over another tragedy somewhere in this world. We do live in a broken world. However, I can try as best as I can to understand the power and love of God, and to understand that God does not abandon our feelings of pain and injustice. God does grive right alongside us. And yet in pain, suffering, death, whatever may be hurting you at any moment in your life, there is hope in the fact that God heals. Not only does he heal those that have died through the promise of eternal life, but with a faith in Christ, he heals those of us still here on Earth who are left behind in a broken world. God knows. God is with us.

I have struggled more times than I can count with my faith in the Lord. Who doesn't? However, I have also been faced with a variety of circumstances in my life that have pointed, always, at God being the master and creator of all things. The Lord is good, and he reveals that to me even in the midst of something so sad.

So I guess that's my two cents for the day, an explanation of what happened last night, and hopefully the last of depressing blog posts here as typically I enjoy writing much more about happy, random things. Sometimes it's helpful to face the hard stuff, though. Just to leave this on a lighter note, I did spend some time with my amazing husband last night after getting ready for bed watching Robot Chicken on the iPad. I know how big of a dork I am, but trust me, it was good to share a laugh after all that had happened. And it was Dusty's suggestion. Love him.

Why I enjoy (and will defend) being young and married.

Dusty and I have officially been married for one month!

In honor of this occasion, I decided to write today on why I enjoy being young and married.

First of all, after what I can confidently say has been the best month of my life, I have concluded the following about marriage:
-It is FUN.
-It is WEIRD.
-I am more happy than I have ever been in my life!
-There have been a few bumps along the way and also a couple of fights (Don't worry, we still love each other).
-Someday soon, I hope that Dusty learns that replacing the TP roll does not mean you rest a new roll on top of the old empty one, but I will allow him to learn this in his own time and way.

It's been a whirlwind but I am so incredibly happy and confident with where the two of us are at this point. And so I write this post with the thought that it is extremely relevant with where we are, and also with where several of my newly married, young friends are at this walk in life.

The first Sunday after we got engaged, I had to be at church early as I was a member of the newly formed gospel choir (which for me, didn't last long, due to the realization that I don't really enjoy singing, especially in front of a large crowd in a large sanctuary).

By Sunday morning, several people from church had heard the good news that Dusty and I were getting married. I was flooded with warm wishes ranging from "Congratulations!" to "So excited for you!" among the like. I'm not really one for that kind of attention but it really meant a lot to me, and made me feel loved, to have so many encouraging words from both people I knew well and people I didn't know at all.

I was then approached by the church janitor, also a choir member, a middle aged guy who I have known for basically my whole life. This guy is one of those people (and everybody knows one) who often opens their mouth to speak, without really thinking about the words coming out of their mouth before hand.

So with that being said, church janitor decided to walk up to me, look me in the eyes and proclaim, "You are WAY too young to get married."

To be honest, having someone say that to me at one of the happiest points in my life was pretty upsetting. My feelings were hurt. It really made me angry that somebody had the nerve to question my age as being an integral factor in me being able to handle something so amazing as marriage. It threw me into a funk, not just for the rest of the church service, but pretty much the rest of the day. I started to wonder if there were others out there like church janitor who felt that I was not old enough to be able to handle marriage.

This was something that crossed my mind a few times through out the remainder of our engagement. It helped to know and have others surrounding me who were in the same boat- recent college graduates, early 20's, and engaged to be married and happy. That made it a lot easier. However, it was difficult at times not to let myself be affected over whether or not somebody thought I was too young to be doing this.

Recently, a friend of mine introduced me to Thought Catalog. Basically, it's an online forum of articles written by ordinary people, ranging in topic from "The Best Things About Being a Kid" to "Why Adele is the Worst Human Being Ever." There are some really interesting and entertaining articles all over the website, most of them written by and geared towards adults in their 20's.

I was browsing their site yesterday when I stumbled upon "In Defense of Marrying Young" by author Julie Shockley. I have taken the liberty of pasting the entire article below, as I SO resonated with the argument she presents:

"For every person who gets married at 23, there are three people who complain about people who get married at 23. I’ll tell you upfront: when I got married I was 22. My husband was 28.

One of the first arguments a young engaged couple will get is that you, being a young pup in your early twenties, aren’t even a “you” yet, silly! You aren’t even fully formed! You don’t even know who you are! Although most young marries find this statement to be condescending, I respect and understand what they are trying to say. I hope, though, that I am never done changing, never done growing. I would not wait until I reach a point of stagnation to commit to another person – if I did I would be single forever. Instead, I look forward to growing and changing with my husband. That is the beauty of a wedding vow — that you promise to love the other person through all of life’s changes – even the ones that occur within you.



The most irritating argument I’ve come across is, “You haven’t even lived yet! Go out there and kiss a few frogs! Your twenties are for dating around and partying!” What’s most striking is the assumption that we all want what you want.

At a young age I met one of the good ones. Not a creeper, not a liar, not a player, not a loser. We dated for three years. According to your rules of how my twenties should be spent, I should… what exactly? Break up with a person who treats me well, makes me laugh, has intelligence and ambition, who has the same values as I do — I should do this so I can date around? So I can struggle to find guys worthy of spending time with? So I can wade through the dating scene? As much as I sometimes romanticize that phase of life and how passionate and exciting it is, I also know that it’s full of frustration, anger, jealousy and insecurity. According to you I should break up with a good man so I could go search for a man just like him?


Not all of us want to sleep around and have casual sex. I was a little too neurotic and insecure for that game. Many of us date because we are searching for someone to be our partner in life. To create a family with. We enjoy the security of a relationship that has permanence. A lot of people shudder at those things — permanence, commitment, family. I don’t. I want those things, and when I got it, I kept it.

My parents married young and have been together 37 years. My husband’s family married young and have been together 42. I’ll be the first to admit that I view marriage through rosy goggles secured with unicorn hair, but as biased as I may be, equally so are the critics of marriage in general and young marriage in particular.


I do not claim that marriage is for everyone or that family is for everyone. So please don’t claim that young marriage should be for no one."

That honestly may be one of the most well-written arguments in defense of young marriage I've ever come across. The thing I love, which the author nails on the head, is this: just because you don't agree with something, does not make it WRONG. The beauty of this world, this day in age, is that we can live freely with our own opinions and ideas, individual to OURSELVES. And I love using that to defend my young marriage because one of the things that I am most thankful for in my whole life so far, is that I found Dusty when I did. I was only 19, so incredibly young and so immature, and so convinced that I was never going to find somebody who would make me happy. And that was when Dusty Wahl entered into my life. And since then I have been happy, content, challenged, and stretched in so many ways because of him being with me. Not only that, but through out our whole engagement, Dust was VERY intentional about keeping the focus on preparing for our marriage, not our wedding. I'm so grateful because although our wedding day was honestly the best day of my life, and so incredibly memorable, I wouldn't want to go back and relive it over and over again because what has happened since that day is just as enjoyable and exciting. I know that this is truly just the beginning of what will be years of exciting and memorable days together as a couple. This article just says everything I found myself thinking about when I was forced to defend, for myself, the concept of young marriage.
 
The other thing I find noteworthy is that on the flipside, there is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting to get married. Or not finding the right person until later. Or just not worrying about it until you are ready yourself. I love that no two people are alike in their beliefs on something like this, because what was best for me is not necessarily what's best for my dad, who didn't get married until he was 26, or my aunt who found the man of her dreams in her late 40's. Or for friends of mine who have dated their boyfriends for years and don't have plans to get married any time soon because they are waiting for various reasons. I just happened to know that at age 22, fresh off the chartered plane I flew into the Real World, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my boyfriend of three years, Dustin.
 
So there is my two cents. A thought on what I think about when it comes to just marriage in general. It's amazing, and I love it.

And since I am in a good mood about it, I would like to conclude this post with a little story from the day of our wedding.
 
We had exchanged rings, the ceremony was over, and the reception was to start. Unknown to us, someone (could have been a guest, could have been a nervous musician, could have been anyone for all I know) had thrown up in the stairwell of our church sanctuary. I know, gross. Also kind of funny, because while the rest of us headed to the Fine Line to party and celebrate, guess who stayed behind to clean up the nasty vomit left by an anonymous guest in the stairwell?
 
Church janitor.

Portraits of Married Life

6/22/12 came and went in a flash, but it was an incredibly wonderful day followed by the last three weeks which included moving, adjusting to life as a two-some, friends, family times, the 4th, and this past weekend, cabin time with our good friends the Barrs.

Not yet married.

Our first walk as "The Wahls"

At least it garnered a lot of laughs at the airport

Relaxing in Kauai

Honeymoon activities

About two days after we got back, our friend (and groomsmen) Joe decided to spend the night. Late night games ensued.

Char and Dale got a new puppy- Tess!

Cabin times with CJ and Molly Barr

Hopping off the Supra

Total number of fish caught between the 4 of us: 46!

Doesn't get much better.

The Barrs recently got Banjo, a french bulldog, also maybe my new favorite animal.

Back at it with Grace, who has a new favorite toy.

I made some changes on the blog! I changed the name, web address, and some of the stuff on the side. It had been a long time coming, and I was going to change the name right after getting engaged, but Dusty wasn't quite comfortable with the Wahl Post thing until I was actually a Wahl. Nothing he can do about it now. More changes possibly coming soon. I hope everyone has been having a great, COOL summer. The temp here today is a balmy 100 degrees!

Final Countdown

My laptop and I are officially at odds with one another. I think it might be mad at me for upgrading to the iPad and neglecting my old faithful Macbook that has served me quite well for the past five years. I woke up yesterday morning and saw a fateful black "X" going through my battery status, which means that if I unplug my computer from the charger, it shuts down immediately. This is the second time this has happened to me in the five year relationship with my Mac and I'm a little annoyed, but I guess I can't blame it for crapping out on me. Oh well.

I have attempted to reconcile our relationship long enough to write on here, however. Can't believe that I am getting married in 16 days. This time leading up to my day has been quite busy but also really fun. I wrote a while back that the weeks have been jam packed with events that have been an absolute blast, and it doesn't end there. My best friend, Jackie, is getting married this Friday and I get to be a "maid" for the first time... Then on Saturday, my friend and former roommate Kristin is also getting hitched! You are probably thinking I'm a crazy person for attending two weddings in one weekend with the crazy schedule I'm already attempting to maintain, but I am actually pretty pumped for both events.

I attended weddings for another friend Sara, and my cousin, Ben, in the past couple of weeks too, and I have also done some fun stuff in between- LIKE MOVING DUST IN TO OUR APARTMENT! I can't stop raving about it, taking pictures of it, and spending my time down there. Could you blame me when you've got a view like this?

I am a little "sheepish" at all the bragging but honestly, I feel so blessed to have a wonderful (affordable) place to live that provides entertainment just outside the living room window.

Dust kickin' it on our balcony.

We are located in the Lowertown neighborhood of downtown St. Paul, so if you ever feel like venturing on down there, give us a call! There is so much to discover and explore down there and St. Paul is SO overlooked because of the busyness and popularity of Minneapolis. I promise, St. Paul has many treasures awaiting you!

I also had a ton of fun getting together with some of my best friends from high school over the weekend. I don't see them often enough and we had a great time at Psycho Suzi's in Northeast and then hit up Station 280 which is pretty close to my neck of the woods. I forget how much fun these ladies are- I am really looking forward to my bachelorette party since they have been pretty involved in the planning.

Calley and myself. Calley became my first friend when I moved to Roseville, mainly because she lives five blocks away and was within walking distance when I was a little kid.

Alli came to Roseville in 9th grade and we became pretty fast friends. Oh and looking at this picture, I want her hair.

Friday night was an epic evening of celebration for Jackie's bachelorette. Our friend, Kassie, threw the party which included a food truck (Messy Giuseppe's), a professional choreographer to teach us some dance moves (Pizazz- choreographer to the stars AKA Prince, Minnesota's own), and a party bus to the best bars in town (that is, if you consider Sneaky Pete's and Cowboy Slim's to be the best, in which case I would say you are sorely mistaken). We had fun anyway.

Chompin' on some gum as part of a bach party game

BESTIES!

The Bride and Groom jammin' out- and if you are wondering about Elliot's gesturing, we were listening to "Call Me Maybe" (which is his favorite song, I know it)

Me and MY groom

Jacks and Dust. One of the things I love about these two is that they are probably just as good of friends as Jackie and I are!

The rest of this week has been consumed with lots of projects around our apartment. I would love for it to be ready to go by the time I move in after the wedding, so I try to go there nearly every night to work on things. Here's a little preview.

Set up our TV and stand over the weekend! So proud of Dust for getting this all done!

Had to snap this earlier in the night, this is the view from our balcony.

I'm hoping that once things die down on my end with weddings, honeymoon, and moving, I can post a full "tour" of the place and hopefully also add my two cents on things to do in our neighborhood. We are getting our first taste of Black Sheep Pizza (two blocks from our place) tonight with our good friends, the Barrs (married 9/2011).

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Beau rules

Hacked by baby bro. Love you case

So it's been... three weeks?

It's Saturday night. At 10:50 p.m. I'm in bed. And I'm updating my blog.

You're probably thinking exactly what I am... Now? After nearly a month?

Simply put, I suck at blogging.

There's been too much going on. I have been to 8 bridal showers in the last five weeks. Worked two weekends in a row. Joined a gym. Starting reading a riveting memoir (Sarah Palin's for all you die hard conservatives reading) and also started the process of packing up my stuff. Because, ya know, I have to move.

So allow me to digress on the last jumbled paragraph.

Lots of people getting married these days. Matter of fact, my cousin Ben's wedding is tomorrow evening, which kickstarts four weekends straight of weddings, weddings, and more weddings. Which means showers, showers, some bachelorette parties and more showers too. Some for me, some for friends. Course, I took some pics (you'll have to excuse the shortness in my grammar. Keep in mind, it is late).

Best friend Jackie's shower (Married on 6/8)

Shower for me, thrown by my sister (In case you forgot, married on 6/22)

Random foot shot from Sara's shower (Married 6/2, so next Saturday)

Showers are fun and if you have never experienced one, this is what you have to look forward to. The current stockpile that's been chilling in my basement.

Next item of business: Work. Since I started back at the nursing home working a different position, I have been keeping busy with working every other weekend. However, since I have a million wedding related events that are scattered across my schedule, I've had to work out some scheduling by working two weekends in a row which made me feel like I had even less of a life than before. When I was teaching, I had weekends off and completely took it for granted by doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING following the bell ringing on Friday afternoons. Now that it's crunch time with wedding stuff I'm beginning to pine for those coveted free weekends.

Never take anything for granted, they say.

Oh, and Dust and I decided to buckle down and do something for ourselves by joining the YMCA. You're probably laughing if you know me well, seeing as how I DON'T work out, but we have actually been having a really good time at the good ol' Y. I really like the community feel of the place and also enjoy the fact that it has a pool. Our apartment downtown is two blocks from a YMCA so we are looking forward to walking to and from the gym on a (hopefully) daily... okay maybe weekly, basis.

 

Cue Chariots of Fire theme music

Dust has a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with my iPhone. He's not really one for pics on the indoor track, and I guess I don't blame him.

I finally finished the third (and final) book in the Hunger Games trilogy and since I wasn't too satisfied with the ending, I had to come up with a solution to the bitterness by moving on to a new book. Luckily, I do work at a nursing home where elderly residents are constantly trying to pawn off their old, unwanted books to our library. A couple of weeks ago, 101 year old Jonathan (who recently upgraded his transportation mode to electric scooter) rode on up to my desk and asked me if I wanted Sarah Palin's Going Rogue. I'm not necessarily a Palin fan but I did read her daughter's cheesy memoir last summer during my "Teen Mom" meets "Dancing with the Stars" reality TV addiction. So I accepted the book from Jonathan, got to reading, and am nearly finished with it. Sarah Palin is, in a nutshell, annoyingly fascinating. I got so into the book that I turned to Netflix to watch her short-lived TLC nature show on Alaska. Her book? Not bad, but I now understand why her show only lasted ten episodes.

So now that I'm nearly done with the Palin book, I had to find something new to read. Dust and I hit up Half Price Books today and just in time for Memorial Day, everything in the store was 20% off! I hit the jackpot and bought a biography on Abraham Lincoln and stayed in line with my nerdy, history-major mind by purchasing a book on all the "First Families" of the White House. I can't wait to delve into them both.

I am especially excited to say that FINALLY, my love of all things historical has blended with Dusty's love of fantasy/fiction (typically, Dust is not a huge fan of history at all, and I am not a huge fantasy person, so we tend to clash on our reading choices). Well, when Dust purchased Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer recently from Half Price, a small glimmer of hope began to burn inside of me. Sure, it's fantasy, and borderline blasphemy to combine the nation's greatest leader with stupid vampires, but ever since he finished it, Dust has been OBSESSING over Abe Lincoln.  Not sure if you were aware, but there's a pretty big anticipated biopic coming out this fall/holiday season starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abe. Dusty spent the rest of tonight researching everything there is to know about Abraham Lincoln and chatting about how excited he is for the movie to come out. I was beaming from ear to ear. It could (dare I say it) be the sweet start to a shared love of American history.

Not to mention, the vampire killer book is being made into a movie too... and Dust can't wait to see that as well. It's released on June 22nd, but we can't go because we have other stuff going on that day...

We move into our apartment this Friday, the 1st. Well, Dust moves in, and I move in all the stuff that you can see above in my stockpile picture. I won't be moving in until after the wedding. Nevertheless, we are very excited to call the place "our own."

Nothing too new to report on the nanny front. Still love my job and can't believe I get paid to spend time with this adorable little one every day. I never thought I'd say it, I really didn't, but I love babies. Well actually, maybe Grace is just the exception to my general rule ;-)

2 cute 4 words.

Grace is great because she allows me to get a ton of wedding stuff done in her down time, which includes time in her jumper, time in her bumbo (like the above photo), hanging underneath her playset, and if she gets really bored, movie time while I sit closely nearby.

Gracie watching Beethoven on Netflix. Love the universality of my iPad.

There is surely more to report on and write about, but the night has come to an end, and I can barely keep my eyes open. I had a very wonderful shower this morning thrown by the Wahl women and close family friends of Dusty's, followed by the baptism of my future cousins' adorable baby girl, followed by the earlier mentioned bookstore trip, followed by hauling my gifts into the basement to add to the pile, followed by a meltdown related to wedding stress, followed by a pretty loving fiance who let me cry for about five minutes before cheering me up, tucking me in, and pressing PLAY on my DVD player so I could watch another one of my stupid/embarrassing movie choices.

Tonight's choice? Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

It's the little things.

BEST DAY EVER

Do you ever get so, so excited for something that it kind of just feels like it's never gonna happen???

You probably think I'm talking about my wedding. Well for once, I'M NOT! I am talking about something far different but {almost} as amazing... Sort of kidding.

I OFFICIALLY GOT MY BIRCHBOX SUBSCRIPTION TODAY.

Nearly all of you are probably clueless as to what that means, so I will now take the time to explain to you just how exciting this really is.

I recently began following a blog called "The Small Things." It's basically my new obsession. The talented woman behind the blog, Kate, is an amazing hairstylist who also writes about fashion and beauty tips. I discovered this blog through Pinterest because Kate posts some ADORABLE pictures of hairstyles that she tries out on herself and then writes tutorials for on her blog. My own hairstylist and I talk about her all the time.

So after following her blog for quite some time, I discovered that she subscribes to Birchbox. Basically every month she writes a new post on a little package received in the mail that contains some of the best beauty products available for women in sample sizes. I came to look forward to her posts about these exciting little packages so much that I realized I should probably jump on the Birchbox bandwagon. So I went over to their website, signed up, and was promptly put on a waiting list.

I hate to be wait-listed.

But I waited nonetheless. For two months, actually. And then today, I received the coveted email alerting me that my subscription was available and I had 48 hours to claim it!

I pulled out my credit card in an instant and dropped everything I was doing to sign up. For ten dollars a month, I get to experience the joy of getting a package in the mail full of beauty goodies that I know I will be just DYING to try.

If you are still a little confused as to why I'm so excited, read on. I copied this from their website:

"Birchbox is a smart, streamlined, and fun way to discover high-end beauty, grooming, and lifestyle products. We sort through the clutter to send you what works and what’s worth the upgrade. We created Birchbox because, like you, we enjoy using the best products but we don’t want to have to work too hard to find them."  

 You should read Kate's blog to get more information on this delightful little package of joy that I am very shortly going to be receiving. May's box is scheduled to arrive by the 10th! Be SURE to stay tuned for a post on all the little goodies that I am going to be receiving!

In other news, this week FLEW by and I am sort of shocked that tomorrow is already Friday. This is the last weekend until the weekend BEFORE our wedding that we don't have something "wedding related." Actually, I lied, I do have another shower on Sunday, but sometimes I only consider Friday's and Saturday's to be the true weekend. Here are some other things that have happened to make this week go by in an instant:

~Addressing, stamping, and mailing ALL of our wedding invitations

~Discovering Dog the Bounty Hunter on Netflix (I know what you're thinking and yes, I just admitted to watching that show)

~Wrapping up our final session of premarital counseling! 

~Steadily working my way through the third/final Hunger Games book

~Spending the better part of this evening working on a project that I got from Pinterest which turned into something that is completely different... but I totally love it (I'll post pics later)

~Becoming more and more preoccupied with how much I adore little Gracie :) 

^^In fact, allow me to spoil you all with a montage of Gracie pics from the last week (again, I am unashamed of the life I lead and happen to be fine overlooking the fact that I've turned into "the girl that posts baby pics" on Instagram)

Well hey there!

Anyone who feeds me is a friend in my book!

I even threw in an incredibly low quality iPhone video for your enjoyment so you can get an idea of what I listen to right around 3 p.m. when we do jumper time. Oh, and don't mind the sound of me chomping on Doritos in the background. 

That about does it for this post. Have a great weekend and stay tuned for my Birchbox post. I can hardly contain the excitement!!!