So this is what old feels like

Yesterday I turned 25, which seems so old to me. Here are a few things that I have learned in the last 25 years.

1. You get out what you put in when it comes to relationships. My marriage rocks, it takes effort, but it's awesome. I couldn't ask for a better best friend and husband. This is true in all relationships, not just my relationship with my husband.
2. Cleaning only take a few minutes at a time if you do it as you are making the mess. I am still learning to master this art, but I am coming to realize that it really doesn't take that much energy to put my dirty clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor or to get up to put my ice cream bowl in the sink after I finish all my ice cream. It takes so much more time to clean when I let it all pile up. 
3. If you are waiting around to feel included by someone, you can bet someone else is feeling the same way about you.There have been so many times in my life that I thought that someone probably didn't like me because they didn't go out of their way to make me feel included. I realized a few years ago that there are probably other people feeling that same way because I didn't make an effort to make them feel welcome. Now I look for opportunities to reach out to people who may not feel welcome yet.
4. It's okay to be silly sometimes. When Scott and I first got married, I think I forgot how to have fun. I was so sleep deprived and stressed about school that I forgot to take the time to just be silly every once in a while. Even just dancing around while I make dinner or singing in the shower can change my mood in a matter of minutes. 
5. Sometimes life is rough. There are some days that it feels like the whole world is against you, and maybe it is. Looking back on those times I realize that is where I got to learn the most. That is where I got to learn how to pick myself up and keep going. I realize that life always gets better after times like that. 
6. Never hold a grudge. It just isn't worth it. People make mistakes, lots of mistakes, and sometimes over and over again. I have found that it takes so much more energy to be upset than it does to forgive and forget. 
7. It's okay to admit it when you're wrong. I have a REALLY hard time admitting when I am wrong. It's easier to move on once you admit that you were wrong instead of trying to find some justification to prove that you weren't COMPLETELY wrong. Pretending to be perfect doesn't make us perfect, it usually just makes the other person mad.
8. Be Honest. It's no fun getting caught in a lie, and in most situations lying really isn't necessary.  
9. Heavenly Father answers prayers. It amazes me to see how life always seems to work out. There have been a lot of things in my life that I never would have expected. Those experiences have helped me prepare, and realize just how amazing life is. I don't believe that it's just a coincidence, but often times answers to my prayers.
10. It's okay if not everyone likes you. I have obsessed about being liked by everyone that I meet. Sometimes two personalities just don't mix well. I'm okay with that. I'm not going to go out and do things to make people dislike me, but I'm okay with not always being liked.  

Working... FINALLY

This was the longest summer of my life... We moved out here with Steve and Heidi at the beginning of June hoping that I would be able to get a job. Well, the job-hunt took much longer than I anticipated. When we came out here, Scott still had an online class that he was trying to finish. Which meant that he was studying all day while I was... doing anything I could to keep busy. After interviewing for two jobs at the Medical School (10 interviews) I was offered both positions. It was nice having an option to choose what job I wanted to take. I decided to take the job working in the Ophthalmology department.

I have now worked for a month, and so far I have really enjoyed it. It is so different than anything else I have done in the past. I work as an administrative assistant to 3 retina doctors at the hospital. Some of the things that come across my desk are pretty interesting. It really has gotten me to think about how I really wanted to be a doctor. I don't think my grades would allow me to, but if I could go back I would probably try to do something in the medical field. Maybe get a Nursing degree instead of my Exercise Science degree. Maybe I will go back to school sometime once Scott is done with school. For now, I get to experience all the behind-the-scene happenings at the office.

Life is good right now, I am so happy to be back to work, Scott is back in school, and we are doing great! Milwaukee has been fun so far, and I think that we will enjoy being out here for the next 4 years.

White Coat Ceremony

Dental School follows the tradition of medical schools by starting off with a White coat ceremony. Each of the dental students in Scott's class got to walk across a stage one-by-one to get their Dr's white coat. Scott has worked so hard to get into dental school and I couldn't be more proud of him. Just check out the stud that I am married to. (The pictures are a little blurry because they were taken on my phone)

Brady, Scott, and Eric

I am so happy to already have some friends out here. It makes going to these kinds of events so much more fun. I usually keep to myself when I don't know anyone, so it has really helped to have Kimmy and Ali around. 

Mongolian Grill

Ever since we went to see the chalk festival Scott has been dying to go to the Mongolian grill that we saw. So the four of us decided to go out to dinner since Steve and Heidi are leaving soon (and I haven't been grocery shopping in a couple weeks). It was amazing! You get a bowl and go through a line to pick up any meat, veggies, noodles, and sauce you want and then they grill it for you. I remember going to a similar place with my dad when I was little, I was probably 8 or so, which is a long time ago. Anyway, the food was great, and it was fun to see how excited Scott was to be at a restaurant that reminded him of restaurants in Japan. Steve tried to learn how to use chopsticks, I guess it was harder than he thought it would be.

Eating with 1 hand didn't go as well as he had hoped. 

Take me out to the ball game...

During the month of August you could get a free $10 voucher to spend when you go to a Brewers game. Scott and I aren't very big baseball fans, but we thought it would be fun to go find out what all the fuss is about. We invited Eric, Kimmy, Brady, Ali, and Steve and Heidi. We went out to dinner first, and ran into some of our neighbors, Nick and Janey, who were also going to the game. We caught the shuttle to the ball park and when we went to find our seats we saw Nick and Janey. What are the odds that our tickets were in the same section as theirs. We decided to sit in the empty seats next to them. It was a lot of more fun than I thought it would be. Who knows, I might become a baseball fan in the next 4 years.

Chalk Festival in BayShore and a Picnic

Steve had heard about a sidewalk chalk festival at the bayshore mall, something similar to what is done back in Utah at the Riverwoods mall. It is really impressive what can be done in a few hours. I enjoy drawing, but I definitely don't have the skills or patience to do some of the artwork that we saw. Check them out...

For the Birds

Monsters Inc 

Iron Man, probably my favorite

After we walked around and saw all of the chalk drawings we headed to the park to meet up with some of our friends for a picnic. These are our new dental school friends, Eric & Kimmy and Brady & Ali. We are so excited that we get along so well with them. We're all going to be around for the next four years. I'm excited for the next four years.

A little Frisbee at the Park

Kimmy, throwing a football
(something that I cannot due without embarrassing myself)

Our Dental School friends (Eric, Kimmy, Brady, and Ali)

My extremely cute husband

Otterpops... one of our favorite treats this summer.

2 years!!

It's crazy that Scott and I have already been married for 2 full years. It really doesn't feel like it has been 2 years. On the other hand it feel like it has been so much longer than 2 years. This year we kept it pretty simple. Scott took me out to the Melting Pot to celebrate, he even had a coupon for some free chocolate covered strawberries. I'm just bummed that we didn't get any pictures of the two of us together.

I have learned so much from Scott over the past two years. It is so much fun being married to Scott and knowing that there is always someone who will be there for me. He is so AMAZING to me. He does the laundry, and helps keep the house clean. He is smart, and funny, and knows how to make me laugh. I could never express how grateful I am to have him in my life. I really don't deserve to have a guy like him. 

State Fair

From the first day we were here in Milwaukee our neighbors and our landlord have told us that that the Wisconsin State fair is a must. Heidi, Steve, Scott and I headed down to the fair to check it out for ourselves. First of all the state fair park is HUGE. Secondly, you can buy pretty much any fried food that you could imagine. They had fried pickles, twinkies, snickers, cheese curd, vegetables, oreos, cheesecake, even hamburgers using donuts as the bun. It was super warm the evening we went, but overall I would say that it was well worth the experience.

Fried Cheese Curd

Fried Snickers, pretty much it was melted chocolate
and caramel with a crispy batter outside

Performers 

Cheesy

Pizza Cone

We found a hobbit-hole...

We went out for ice cream custard tonight and on our way home we decided to drive around to see if we could find where the "rich" people live. That's when we came across this little gem of a place.

Where can you find the Shire you ask? On Rivendell Drive of course!

Rain and Shine

The weather in Milwaukee is much rainier than I was expecting it to be. It feels like it has rained every couple of days since we have lived here. I am totally fine with it being rainy. I love the rain, watching it, playing in it, running in it.

When it's not rainy we have been going over to the park to play frisbee. I learned that I can't throw a frisbee to save my life. The person on the catching end of my throws usually does a lot more running than catching. Maybe I will figure it out before this summer is over. 

Summerfest 2013

Our landlord told us about Summerfest as soon as we moved out here and we thought we would check it out. There was a huge list of bands that were coming, and Imagine Dragons were playing. Scott, Steve, and Heidi all love Imagine Dragons. I'm not as familiar with them. A couple of the guys in Imagine Dragon are LDS. They are pretty big in Utah, but didn't realize how big they are out here in Milwaukee. The crowd was HUGE! The crowds here are a little different than the crowds you see in Utah. Beer is a big thing around here since there are a few breweries, and almost everyone had a beer (or two) in their hand. We tried to get as close to the stage as possible, but there were picnic tables all over the place that made it really hard to work our way up. We got up somewhat close, but still not close enough to see the stage. The stage is right behind the big screen in the middle of the picture. We were able to watch the screen to see what was happening on the stage.

We were somewhere around the red "x"

I wish we would have gotten a picture of us, but by the time I thought about taking one it was getting too dark.