Just throwing this out there...

So we have been talking a lot in our little household about an internship for next summer.
Now most of the debate is about whether or not I go with him.
  (And by debate, I mean, most of this is just me going back and forth)


Here is the basic situation.


I go with him:
- I quit my job -- but I'd look for one down there anyways.
- We have an adventure together
- He doesn't have to move there alone.(I don't have to be alone here.)
               - This is the biggest one. One night alone is bad enough....
- We don't save as much money if I don't get a job.

I don't go with him:
- We save quite a bit of extra money
- It is only for about 12 weeks and we can fly and see each other on the weekends
- We only pay one rent (his) so it wouldn't be as expensive as it sounds
- I keep my job which gives me something to do, plus it keeps my insurance. (Then when we move back in the fall, I will still have a job/insurance....)
- IT IS 12 WEEKS OF NOT BEING TOGETHER.


Plus other things that I maybe didn't list.
So, opinions please. 
Should I stay or should I go??

Hope

Today has been all about this:

I'm not supposed to get my hopes up. But I can't help it. 

Got money? Me too.

So, these are my new favorite blogs. Mostly because money is important and apparently most of the U.S. doesn't know how to handle theirs, it makes me want to be better about how I handle mine (soon to be ours).

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

AND

http://frugalwifewealthylife.blogspot.com/.

Both just well-written blogs about being smart with your money. If only I could do that from the get-go.

It lights the whole sky.

Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "you owe me."
Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.

-Hafiz

I feel as if today should be extremely important, but I can't seem to figure out why. It is only the eleventh of April. It's not a friend's birthday, or holiday or deadline day. Today is a simple Sunday. Filled with friends and church and relaxation (which actually shouldn't be happening for another week and a half, if then...). But I can't help trying to think if there is some significance I am missing today. I loved the beauty of the day. The warmth, the wind and the happy sunshine. This is the kind of weather I wish I could have year round. Days like today would be perfect too.

I found this quote today and it made me think.

Thinking was good to do today too. Tomorrow will start off one of the last weeks of chaos/craziness. I'm getting more excited for THE day. Excited that I won't have to say goodnight and get in a car and go to my own house. No more curfew, no more missing him for the few hours we spend apart, no more roommates that are essentially strangers to me. I have been so blessed. And I realize that more and more. Blessed with my family, blessed with my friends, blessed with him, blessed because of everything I have. I really don't deserve it at all.

..."a love like that"..... I wish I could always have a love like that.

Feelings of nervousness

So I am getting my hair redone. For some reason, it is making me nervous. Maybe because this is the hair I will have for bridals.
I'm sitting here at the salon watching all the ladies put their makeup on for the day and I am now shockingly aware of the fact that the only makeup on my face is the tiny amount of mascara I put on to help me look at least a little bit awake. There's no place like a salon (which is supposed to make you feel beautiful) to make you feel inferior and out of place. This one girl in the booth next to me seriously has been doing her makeup for the past hour. I guess she doesn't really have anything else to do. If it was me, I think I would probably bring a book. But I am a nerd like that.

So I'm doing this dark color with a hint of warmth on my hair. I decided against the auburn. Good thing since I just found out a certain someone doesn't like it. I'm still nervous about it. The paste she is putting on my hair is this orange color.

Guess we will see what it looks like in an hour.

- Posted from my iPhone

2010love

So, I hopped on over to Gabby Blair's blog yesterday and she was showcasing some fabulous t-shirts from 2010love. I think these are so cute. I kind of want one. A LOT.

If only I was so creative too.

2010 is going to be a good year. It has been so far. And it can only get better :)

"The Sandra Bullock Trade"

So it's definitely been a down week. And we won't go into that because that is a wee bit of a sore subject. (Jessi, thank you so much for understanding. Emailing you helped mucho. You are the best.) All I can say is that I am having a semi-hard time being happy right now. Not overall, but there are some aspects that I am having a really hard time with.

But then I read this op-ed, entitled "The Sandra Bullock Trade". And realized it was definitely something I needed to read today.

some of my favorite lines? (in no particular order)

1. "Modern societies have developed vast institutions oriented around the things that are easy to count, not around the things that matter most. They have an affinity for material concerns and a primordial fear of moral and social ones."

2. "Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy. If you have an unsuccessful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many career triumphs you record, you will remain significantly unfulfilled."

3. "The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting." (I LOVE that he used the word injurious.)

Anyways, it was just my thought for the morning. Back to busting out some papers.

And I'm getting quite excited for GC this weekend.

xoxox

"I believe laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing; kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles." -Audrey Hepburn

It's all adding up.

So the end of semester is coming up. SOON.

Here's my to-do list from now until Monday:

school:

stats exam (maybe one of the hardest ones)

stats homework

chem exam (the hardest one yet!)

nutrition paper

nutrition readings/quizzes

history paper

doesn't sound like a lot.

But I'm starting to stress out.

Next week gets even more full with papers and tests. Oh man.

I cannot wait for the next 30 days to go by.

Dear Graduation,

I'm coming. Please don't go by without me. I'm hurrying as fast as I can. I already deleted facebook off my phone and have written everything out in my planner. I'm just waiting for my motivation and focus to catch up with me. But please please wait for me. I won't abandon you if you don't abandon me. Please. We are so close. We can do this.

I'm coming, please wait,

pertinaciously yours, etc etc

Help me pick?

So I have to finish a homework assignment.
But my mind is not on it.

Rather, it is on the gorgeous sunshine from yesterday that I wish would stay forever.

It's not hard homework. Just long and boring.
So I'm procrastinating. But not for very much longer, I promise.

I was just looking at gorgeous bouquets for an idea of what I want mine to be like.

So what do you think? Which is your favorite? Because heaven knows I can't pick.......

number 1

number 2

number 3

number 4

number 5

in case you can't guess, I'm trying to go with a dark purple bouquet. (None of the lavender colored stuff, please.) But I'm thinking the last one is my favorite.....

Jenny, you understand this, right?

Following BYU basketball is an emotional rollercoaster. And not the fun kind. The kind that you get so hyped up about and you stand in line excitedly and nervously. And then once you're on the ride, it's one big mood swing. Up. And down. And up. And then a REALLY big down. The kind that makes you sad and slightly upset at the same time.
And guess what. It's a seasonal disorder. Not just a one time thing.
But hey, things are looking up. I have 3 tests this week, and I really do not feel like studying at all. But it's really sunny outside and I love it. I wish summer was here. Then I'd be swimming abd boating instead of riding the basketball roller coaster.
Oh and my bracket is completely ruined. Thank you Kansas, Georgetown and Villanova. Shape up next year, will ya?
- Posted from iPhone

Seven Years.

To think that starting when I was 15, BYU couldn't get out of the first round of the tournament. AND NOW WE BROKE THAT DRY SPELL. double overtime.

99-92. bring it on, 2nd round.

Totally worth my chem professor putting it up on the big screen and giving up on teaching us anything. AND worth the blister I got from running (read: sprinting) around campus to watch the end. oh so worth it.

thank you jimmer and michael loyd jr.

p.s. i'm winning in all my bracket groups right now. haha i wonder how long it will last. not long.

Dress me: part 3.

The package looked like a throw pillow - Pleasantly big, squishy and a little heavier than I expected.

And he wouldn't let me carry it home. I got to hold it for approximately 3.6 seconds before I gave it back.

I tried it on as soon as I walked in the door.

So so nervous as I opened it.

And it didn't help that I looked at the information paper tucked behind the label on the walk home. And it read "Satin".

Wait.

What?

Satin?

I didn't ask for satin.

Satin?!

Oh man that made me nervous.

And then a certain someone asked me "what if it was really pink instead of white? what would you do?" Oh yeah. That's not gonna make me any more nervous.

OH WAIT. yes it did.

So, I made him rip a corner open so I could make sure then and there that it most definitely was NOT pink.

It wasn't. Hallelujah.

But I still couldn't tell if it was taffeta (what I ordered) or satin(?!). The inside plastic was too hard to see through to tell.

Good thing I opened it as soon as I walked in the door and threw my backpack down. They put it in the package inside out. As soon as I realized that, I was smothered in ruffles trying to turn it the right way. But once I saw it, I knew.

I LOVE IT.

Holy smokes.

It isn't exactly like the website one. But when I say "not exactly like", I mean there are only slight slight slight (get the idea?) slight slight differences. And if you hadn't even seen the "original" before, you would never have known.

Seriously. Best decision ever.

I cut the price down by........ guess how much!

95% (after purchasing extra fabric which added to the total price.)

1/20th of the in-store designer price. ONE-TWENTIETH!

Oh man. I love it.

Dress me. Part 2

It's here!!!

I got this awesome text while sitting in class:

"The eagle has landed! I repeat, the eagle has landed!"

Oh glorious words. No longer could I pay any attention to childhood obesity and what we, as friends, parents and concerned citizens can do to help this "CRISIS".

It's here. My dress. At my front door!!

But I can't go home until after work.

But it's at my FRONT DOOR!!!!
- Posted from iPhone

*** note: now it is walking around campus. Oh man, I wish I could leave work right now.

Dress me. Part 1

Look everyone!
It's on it's way to SALT LAKE!!!!


It is on a marvelous journey from china. From SHANGHAI, to ANCHORAGE!, then to LOUISVILLE (really? Kentucky? I don't really get this stop. But it's okay. It's on it's way!) it's now on a plane to SALT LAKE CITY!
- Posted from iPhone

you make me happy.

So let me preface this post by saying I have an easy week this week - Come Tuesday night, I had only one homework assignment left for this entire week (stats). Not bad, right? (And of course, I'm not working on stats right now. Oh no, I'm here on my blog :D)

Can I just say that I LOVE the days when I discover new artists. I love randomly hearing a song in the background of a tv commercial or show and desperately racing to figure out what song it is before the magic of the moment is gone, before I no longer know what I'm looking for and have no way to find it again. Today was like that.

I discovered this girl's music. Her name is Lindsey Ray. I think her songs are pretty cute. Maybe kinda cheesy, but don't deny it, you like that stuff sometimes. :) You just have to be in the mood for it. I guess I was in the mood for it today because I kept listening to her songs and only found one that I wasn't happy with (granted I only found like 7 or 8 songs total).

Her style is a lot like Colbie Caillat. I tried to find some of her stuff on youtube. Some of it is there. If you are interested in listening (which you don't have to be, just because I like her doesn't mean you have to) THIS is the link to her site. My favorite song is 'you make me happy'. Not like the traditional stuff. But so good!!! I wish I could link it to play here.

I did make an extra $20 yesterday for just laying still for an hour with a needle in my arm and having an ultrasound done (on my arm. not belly. i'm most definitely not pregnant. but it was fun to see what that would be like) Easiest twenty I ever made - the hardest part was trying to stay awake! So maybe I will go buy this cd with it.

Oh, so you know the whole "first dance" thing?

Well, we have "our songs" but they come with a big problem. The cutesy ones - the ones we would actually consider dancing to - are in Chinese. (I understand them and can actually sing along with them - for the most part) But, we were thinking of maybe an English song for first dance.

So do you have any suggestions of songs? Or just any good music you think I would like? (and I really do like all types of music.)

Pictures!!!!!

I hope you all enjoy these pictures because they took forever to put up. But it was ALL worth it! The wedding was so fun. And so so exhausting. So many fun things! And the BEST part of all this is that it gets to happen again in 2 months for ours!!!!

The gorgeous couple and their son. Fixing Drex's shirt.

So stinkin' cute!! They make a beautiful family. :D
This is their "You just kissed a boy - how do you feel?" face. haha
This is Jack. Jack is adorable and I CANNOT get enough of him. You will see more of him. :)
Jack and his daddy, Robbie, like to squish their faces together. SOOOOO cute.


Thomas was begging me for money.
Carol looked so cute. We tried to set her up with David's brother but they kind of just avoided each other today.
Love this pic.
Phillip claimed my sweater was shedding on him. And maybe it was.
Love this one too.
All the siblings. We just naturally segregate into boys and girls.
Goofy picture.
this one was a lot harder to do than it looked. we were all off balance.
The boys (minus Will).

Their GQ picture. And somehow Robbie ended up looking straight at me. haha
Christian and his new son! Drex is adorable.
And Drex adores Christian.

The girls.
Probably one of my most favorite pictures of the day!!!!
So so so happy for them!!

how can you not love this child?!

The reception was sooo long. It's a lot easier when you are not family. Because then you can leave when you want. Family has to stay to the end. So we took pictures, snuck cake, played some farkle and waited.
Oh, and Emma caught the bouquet. Go figure. I have never seen an eight-year-old DIVE for a bouquet before. But Emma always did like to pretend she was a big girl. She likes wearing my ring too.
And that's all because I got bored with taking pictures.
Such a fun day though. I am going to miss my family being here.
But they are coming back soon!!!

Haha

Dear girl sitting next to me in the polka dot sweater,

You are dozing in class. Your nodding off and head bobbing is greatly amusing to me. Your ever so slightly noticeable snoring/heavy breathing is tolerable. However, you crossed the line when you put your head on my shoulder. I don't really make a good pillow. And, I don't even know you! But no worries. Your embarrassment at what you had done more than makes up for the uncomfortable weight you placed on my shoulder.
Thank you for the laugh. And, maybe go to bed a little earlier?

Haha,
Natalie

p.s. I even considered taking a picture of you to post on here, but I decided that would be too mean. My apologies for thinking about it.

- Posted from iPhone

Two quick things before I go bust out a ridiculously long review sheet.

1) I am done filing taxes! Booyah.

2) I got a 92 on my stats test.

Thank you Chili's for helping me celebrate that small, yet important victory on a normal Wednesday night. Now back to focusing (with some blog stalking mixed in).

Lost

So I've kind of lost my motivation. Pretty sure the last time I had it was way back at the beginning of February.

And along with my motivation, I am also missing my time management, sleep, organization skills, and common sense.

I am hoping they will all find their way back to me on their own, but I'm realizing now that I need to work on getting them back. But.... That requires motivation. Which I don't have.
Oh it's a horrible catch-22.

Someone motivate me??

- Posted from iPhone