The Job Hunt and Married Life!

So quick update: I didn't need to have my tooth pulled, and all the work on it will be completely finished next week! :) So happy day!

Okay, so let's talk about looking for jobs. I have been actively looking and applying for jobs since before my internship ended. I have a bachelor's degree and a year of full-time work experience. But for some reason, it is super hard to even get interviews right now! I've been applying for secretary jobs, jobs that work with first-generation college students, museum jobs, and teaching jobs (to see if I could possibly get my teaching certification through the state). And I have had a total of two interviews! Two...

So what are my options?!

I could always go back to the jobs that I specifically went to college to avoid...cleaning, waitressing, customer service, sales...

But then I think to myself, "I am a college graduate, and I did not work my bum off for 4 years to go back to waiting tables!"

And then I feel like I'm being a little snobbish...

Because those aren't bad jobs...but they're just not what I want to do.

I love to read and think and write and learn! And I would love it if I could find a job where I could do those things. But oh well!

I'm loving the married life! Josh is just working away, and I am always looking for jobs, cleaning the house, and trying to decide what to do with my life! :)

So if anybody knows of any good jobs, let me know! Life is pretty great!

How Pizza Ruined My Life

Okay let's talk about how pizza destroyed my life for a second.

So my sister Hollie was over yesterday. We were having leftovers for dinner, and I decided to have a leftover piece of pizza. It was a slightly healthy pizza, with thin crust, chicken, spinach, and tomato. I was enjoying life when I bit down on my pizza. A shot of pain went through one of my upper teeth as I realized that I'd bitten something hard. I had to take a look at the damage, because it felt like I'd at least chipped my tooth.

To my horror, the back side of my tooth was wiggling and loose.

What?!

I broke my tooth on a piece of pizza?!

And of course this all happened at 6:30 p.m., after all dentists have gone home.

Josh still made a valiant effort for me, calling to see if there was any way to get me some help. The earliest we could get in was early this morning to see an oral surgeon.

Yep, I cracked my tooth almost down to the gum. The surgeon broke off the back part that turned out to be a cavity. He suggested I try and save it by going to a dentist.

So a dentist was nice enough to look at it for me today. Yep, a cavity was attacking between my two teeth and eating away my cracked tooth. The dentist told me I probably wouldn't have known about it until it cracked. So there's that. He said it's questionable whether they'll be able to save it or not. He'd have to do a root canal and if it's saveable, he'll put a post and a crown on it.

If not, they'll have to pull it and put in an implant.

No matter how I look at it, both options sound absolutely terrible! I'm only 25! I shouldn't have a fake tooth already!

So right now I have a temporary filling until my root canal on Monday. Let's hope it stays in.

My dear husband, having to put up with all my dramatic whining.

I pretty much hate going to the dentist. Probably more than most things. I brush and floss my teeth regularly I promise! :)

So there ya go! I broke my tooth eating pizza.

The moral of the story is to avoid pizza and never trust any food because it could seriously injure you

.....er.....maybe it should be "go to the dentist and make sure you don't have any soul-killing cavities to ruin your life." Or you might end up looking like a hillbilly with no teeth...or having to get dentures... :(

*Good Singer/Songwriter: Emily Hearn

Pre-Wedding Mishap

Okay so I only have approximately 4 1/2 more days until I marry my best friend Josh! And I can't even wait!!

But I had a slight mishap yesterday.

Yep. I did.

I asked Josh if we could go on a nice Sunday walk. I love being outside, and I love walking! So I thought it would be a good idea. Josh then suggested that we drive to a park and play catch and then walk around the park. So I agreed - anything to get outside in the nice weather.

So we go to the park, and we start tossing a ball back and forth.

We joked about how terrible it would be if one of us got a black eye or something since we only have a few days before the wedding.

I think we should've knocked on wood.

Josh throws me a pop fly (which I love!), and I go to get under it. I'm all lined up thinking that I'm going to make a great catch. I close my mitt and realize that I closed it too soon. The ball bounced off my mitt and right into my lip.

Yep...right into my face.

Josh came over to see if I was okay, all the while telling me that it didn't look that bad.

But my lip was bleeding, and all I could see were wedding pictures of me with a big fat lip.

I felt my lip and it didn't feel that big. So we played catch a little longer and went for a walk. When we finally got back to the apartment, I went to check on the damage.

Oh my gosh, my lip was huge! I had a little bit of a freakout! Poor Josh, just sitting there telling me that I was still beautiful while I was trying to cover my mouth with my hands.

"Just don't look at it! It's huge!" I kept saying. But we didn't have any ice. So I put some spoons in the freezer to make them cold. Josh was so wonderful and went and got me an ice pack (and some popsicles because they taste better than an ice pack! haha)

I woke up this morning, and my lip was much smaller. But there is a little bruise on my face by my lip. And you can still tell that my lip is swollen. Let's just hope that it's all better by Friday so I don't scar our future children for life every time they look at our wedding photos! :/

Note: Don't play catch the week before you get married.

But I still get to marry Josh this weekend! So even a fat lip can't put a damper on that fact! :)

*Good Song: Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne

2014 and What's Been Happenin'

Well it's been a little while since I've written!

Things have gotten pretty crazy!

Do you know how much work it is to plan a wedding in 3 months?!

And I'm not even doing anything fancy!!

We finally started sending the announcements out this week. I have the man, my dress, and the temple scheduled. We have an apartment, and we're ready to start this new adventure.

It's funny how life works out. One day you just wake up and everything changes, whether that's from falling in love, hearing terrible news, making a new friend, or making a big change in life. My big change right now is getting married.

I just have to say how incredible all of this has been. I never thought this would happen - I was too nerdy to ever have a man love me enough to want to marry me. I was going to be a historian, writing all about the lives of Civil War soldiers! Did I want to get married and have kids? Yes I did, but I just didn't think it would ever happen, what with my lack of dating and my obsession with warfare and people long gone.

But Josh decided to take a chance on me. And I'll be forever grateful that he did. Do I still love my Civil War soldiers?! Of course I do, and it's nice knowing that I won't have to give them up completely. I still plan on learning everything I can about the things that I'm passionate about. But I also plan on learning more about my soon-to-be husband; I'm excited to keep learning about and from him for the rest of my life.

I honestly feel like I have already accomplished so many of my childhood dreams. Here are the things I wanted to do when I was growing up:

Be a teacher
Be an archaeologist
Be a historian
Be a singer
Be loved
Be a mom

I was a teacher on my mission and while I was working as a mentor to elementary students. I was (kind of like) an archaeologist when I took an archaeology lab. I sorted through materials to be cataloged and analyzed. I've been a historian this past year as I've researched the history of the Church. And I've sung in front of large crowds of people, in choir and on my own. And now I have somebody who loves me.

I am 25 years old, and I have lived most of my childhood dreams! The mom thing is still in the future, but I feel so incredibly blessed!

Life is incredible friends! :)

*Good Song: Follow You by Jon McLaughlin

I'm Getting Married!!!!

Well, friends, it's official.

I'm getting married!

And I'm marrying the most wonderful man!

And I just love him!

Yep! I do!

So here's a little glimpse into how this all came about.

I first met Josh sometime around January 2012.  I had only been home from my mission a little over six months.  My MTC companion and good friend Beatrice was having a game night at her house.  I went and she had a bunch of people from her ward there.  I remember seeing Josh and thinking that he looked so happy because he was smiling the whole night.

I stayed the night at Beatrice's and went to church with her the next day.  Josh came and talked to us and got Beatrice's phone number, suggesting that we should all get together and do something.  But I lived a little over an hour away and got caught up in life and school.

Fast forward to January 2013.

Beatrice and I were talking on the phone one day when she asked me if I remembered her friend Josh.  I thought about it and asked what his last name was so I could Facebook stalk him.  (It had been a year! I needed a refresher! haha)  So I looked him up and I said, "Oh yeah! I remember him.  we talked to him at church!"

She said, "Well he saw your picture on my Facebook the other day and told me that he thought you were really cute."

I laughed as I usually did whenever there was any indication of men being interested in me. Beatrice told me that they were going to a rodeo that weekend and that I should definitely come so I could meet him again.  And seeing as how I am a sucker for rodeos, I agreed to go.  But I could only go on Saturday.  (They were going on both Friday and Saturday).

So I talked my best friend Brittany into going down with me.  We went and Josh was on a date with another girl.  So I hung out with Brittany, Beatrice, and their friend Doug.  I had so much fun!  Josh and I didn't really talk much that night. (He was on a date!)  But I did creepily watch him that night.  He sat in the row in front of us to the right a little ways so it made it easy to creep on him.  :)

He was attentive to his date and seemed to be having a good time.  I decided I really liked his smile.  And he was all dressed up in his cowboy clothes...so that's pretty good!

After that, Josh added me on Facebook and we spent some time messaging on there.  I decided that I wanted to get to know him so I gave him my phone number.  We dated for a couple of months before deciding that we didn't want to do the long distance thing any more.  So we broke up, but still remained friends.

I ended up getting the internship with the Church History Department in Salt Lake.  That put me a whole lot closer to Josh.  So we spent some more time together, decided to give it a second try, and now we're getting married!  And I'm super happy about it! :)  So the big day is March 15.  (Even the fact that somebody broke into my house on Christmas won't put a damper on my happiness!!)

And I can't wait to start the rest of my life with my best friend! :)


*Good Song: Come to Me by Goo Goo Dolls

Homesick

It is days like this that make me miss my small town in the mountains.

The air here is terrible.  Inversion has set in and my allergies are going crazy!  I never realized that bad air quality was a thing when I was growing up.  We always had blue skies and clean air.  I miss being able to walk up a dirt road by myself, without worrying about crazy people.

I miss climbing the mountains, soaking in the view, and pondering life.

I miss being able to see all the stars.  I miss sitting on my roof and looking at those stars.

I miss hearing nothing but the sound of the creek in my backyard.

I miss the smell of bonfires; watching the flames flicker was so soothing!

I can't complain too much.  I live in a great place.  But what I hear now are sirens and people and cars.  The city is beautiful, and I am coming to appreciate the lights of the city at night.  But sometimes I just miss the simple beauty of open space and silence.

When I would get upset in my teenage years, I could just hike one of the mountains near my home.  I knew some of those hills so well.  I'd been exploring them since I can remember.  The calm serenity of the wind blowing through the trees, the almost imperceptible sound of my feet hitting the dirt was always soothing.  Being above the town almost made me feel like I could tackle anything.  Breathing in clean, crisp air and feeling my legs burn from the climb always made me feel alive.  And I still miss that sometimes.

Good Song: "I'll Follow You" by Jon McLaughlin

Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

And I learned at work the other day that Abraham Lincoln was the one who officially designated Thanksgiving as a national holiday 150 years ago.  So in honor of that, here is the transcript from his Thanksgiving Proclamation.



By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.  To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; which that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.  Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-filed; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.  It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Promise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.  And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidable engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

Abraham Lincoln
By the President
William H. Seward
Secretary of State

(Transcribed from the National Archives Website -http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2012/nr12-29.html)


So amid turkey and pie, let us all give thanks to the Lord for what He has done for us, whether in times of peace or in times of distress.

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone!

Good Song:  The Legend of the Rebel Soldier by Le Ann Womack