Just Like HEAVEN!

Catching up....

I was lucky to be able to visit Andrew over President's Day weekend. IT WAS WONDERFUL! I went to the airport after my class and flew through the night, it was worth it! 

Andrew was there to pick me up around 8:30 am in Pensacola. Luckily Andrew and a friend picked up our new bed the night before and Andrew put it all together so the first thing we did when I got there was take a much needed nap! 

Andrew displaying his putting-together manly skills! Once we finally move all our stuff to Florida next month this will move to the guest room (for those of you who come to visit-- it is VERY COMFY!) 

Once we finally got ready for the day we went and re-signed our lease until September 2012. We really like where we live and they gave us a killer deal! 

After all the business was taken care of we went to Pensacola to MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT- Mellow Mushroom for a late Valentines Dinner. We both ordered our favs (Andrew: Pineapple and Pepperoni, Meghan: Tempeh, Broccoli, and Onions with Vegan Cheese) and went to a hockey game! 

The hockey game  was really fun (as always) we saw a few fights and the between period activity was "Wiener dog races!"

It was pretty funny and cute! After the race was over the dogs and their owners just hung out on the ice for a while and played. You could tell the dogs were having a BLAST!

Sunday was church and relaxing. Andrew had meetings before and after church but I just waited on him. We had our leftover pizza (YUM!) and fed the ducks at the duck pond behind our building. It wasn't as much fun without out little cute Chloe barking her head off at them! 

Monday we went to the beach....it was BEAUTIFUL! It was nice to have to put on sunscreen in February. February, people! We just soaked up the sun and I read a book...FOR FUN....it was SO GREAT to read a book that had nothing to do with school, class, or my thesis. Granted, I read a book about personal finance, but still. It's what I'm into nowadays. We both are VERY excited for the summer when we can go to the beach after work and just relax (I mean, how couldn't you...)

Sadly, Andrew had to take me back to the airport Monday night but not before we ate at Panera (another of our favorites!) 

It felt heavenly to be with my husband it made us realize that while we know the time apart is the best for a careers, being together is SO MUCH BETTER than being apart! April 16th can't come soon enough! 

OH and PS this is what I came back to, ugh. 

-M

My Valentine!

Well we had our first Valentines day as a married couple, unfortunately we were in different states, but we still celebrated it nonetheless! Andrew got me this AWESOME edible arrangement.....

It was soo yummy! I had wanted one for a while but told Andrew it was too expensive to justify. I said when I had a baby (which will not happen a few years, people) he could get me one then-- because then I would deserve one. When I saw it I thought "and I didn't even have to have a baby to get one! HA!". For Valentines Day I got Andrew chicken and hamburgers from his FAVORITE meat supplier-- Omaha Steaks. In my Mom's words...we sure do know the way to each others hearts! 

We had a lovely evening of FaceTiming and talked about how happy we will be to see one another in FIVE DAYS!!! I fly out of SLC on Friday but because of the flights and time change I won't get into Pensacola until the following morning! Oh well, it will be well worth it! 

As for family updates...hmm. Well I have turned in my prospectus to my Thesis chair. Basically I have started the ball rolling on this whole long process. Hopefully it will go by quicker than I expect (meaning I can graduate SOON!) My class is going well and I am really enjoying teaching, just trying to find a job for after teaching...we'll see how that goes.....

Andrew is doing well in his job. He really likes it and it sure does keep him busy! Sadly he will be going to California for work the week that we were planning on moving all our stuff out to Florida. I told him no worries, my friend Fel will help me do the drive! 

So we are planning on driving the Penske out ourselves and towing my car behind us. Mine and Andrew's parents aren't too excited about it, but hey... would you want to mess with my friend Fel? I think not....

It will be a fun trip for the two of us. We are going to drive it in three days, just in time to be home before Andrew has to leave for California! 

Andrew will be going on another business trip to DC this summer. Hopefully I can join him this time and take him to some of the monuments. If not, it sounds like this will be a yearly adventure so someday it will happen! 

I will be so glad when February is over as that means Andrew and I will only have 1.5 months left to be apart! It will be so great to be with him again! I miss him very, very much! 

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Valentines Day and that you were able to spend it with those you love, if not, I feel your pain friends! Hopefully next year will be better for you! 

-M

Weekend Wonderfulness!

Last weekend was WONDERFUL! Why, you ask? Because ANDREW was in town! He flew out for a much-needed visit and we had a great time!

He left right after work on Friday and got into Utah around 11:40. His flight was early, something I was happy about! We got his bag and made our way to Springville were I got us a cheap hotel via. Priceline.

We slept on saturday (well until 745), ate a great continental breakfast and drove up to Provo so that we could get our snow gear at Andrew's parents house and also so that Andrew could wax our boards! Then it was up to PARK CITY!! We knew it was going to be a busy weekend as Sundance was still there. (Question, why is it called Sundance when it is held in Park City? Was it originally in Sundance or something....just wondering) Anyway, Park City's parking was non-existant so we made our way over to the Canyons via a stop at Taco Bell before I "hulked". (Side note: I get GRUMPY when I'm hungry. Andrew says I turn into the incredible hulk...hence, hulking.) Since I was fed and happy, no "hulking" happened...but you can never be too careful...


After food we finally got to the Canyons paid the ridiculous half-day price (which INCLUDED  a military discount and I still think it was OUTRAGEOUS!) And made our way up the slopes! We started on the bunny hill as I was nervous how I would do being off a board for over a year. With that single trip I felt confident enough to move up to the blue squares. Andrew knew just the place to go on the mountain and we were off. After about 3 1/2 hours of some quality snowboarding we were both pooped! We we up one more time and snowboarded the whole way down....for those of you who've been to The Canyons...thats a LONG FREAKING WAY! It was strange to go for such a short time, I attribute it to our getting older...Andrew attributes it to the drastic change in elevation (but then what's my excuse?!)

A perk of being at the Canyons....heated lifts!!! We felt so fancy being in the orange "bubble lifts" as I called them....

After snowboarding we bummed around the outlets for a little bit and then went to meet Andrew's best friend Clark at Bajio in Salt Lake. It was fun hanging out with them but when we got back to Springville that night we were sure pooped! We watched the latest 30 Rock episode on hulu (during which I promptly fell asleep!)

Sunday we slept in, (no church= guilty!). Got breakfast and hang out with our mutual best friend (my current roomie and landlord, Cindy). Andrew was upset that he couldn't beat her at Mario Kart! HA! He's out of practice! We then went and hung out with his parents for a while and had a late Christmas with them. Sunday night was just us and it was GLORIOUS! It was good to have time to ourselves just being a couple again. I think we both had been used to being alone that being together was so great! As cheesy as it sounds, he really is my best friend (yes, it does make me want to hurp just reading that I typed that...not because it's a bad thing, just because it's cheesy)

Monday wasn't as fun as we knew that we would have to part soon. We lived up what moments we did have and took Andrew to the dentist (romantic, I know). The dentist here is one we respect (plus our friend Cindy works there), as opposed to the one in Florida that was trying to rob us blind! We then just got our last-minute cuddling in and were off to the airport. That was the WORST part. But the good news is that I'll be in Florida in TWELVE DAYS! HOORAY! It will be another FABULOUS WEEKEND!  

Ugh...

My brain hurts too much to give this blog post a catchy title, so you get what's going on in my mind...ugh!

What have the Wight's been up to you ask? Quite a lot! I'm not at my home computer so sadly you get no pictures but at least I can tell you what we've been doing....

- We went to my parent's in NC for Christmas. We had a really good time. Quite possibly the coolest thing was that my whole family went to the "Beast of the Southeast" a.k.a. Lowe's Motor Speedway to see the Christmas lights that they had up on and around the track. It was really fun to be able to walk through the pit-crew areas where the cars are parked before the events. The most fun was that WE DROVE ON A NASCAR TRACK! At the very end of the lights (during which you drive on the road in the middle of the track where RV's are usually parked during a race), each car was able to drive about 1/4th of the track! Let me tell you, car's were peeling out (is that how you spell the expression)? My dad had the privilege of driving all six of us (plus cute little Chloe- our dog) in our 1995-ish conversion van. It was SO MUCH FUN! I convinced my dad to "punch it" as soon as he got on the track and "punch it" he did! All of us (except for dad) had our hands over our heads like when one is on a roller coaster as the road was banked so steeply it felt like we were going to fall over. He was able to get the car up to 65 mph before we had to leave the track. SUPER FUN. Now I know why Ricky Bobby wants to "go fast", I sure did too!

So I know I said no pictures, but I found some on the internet of what our van looks like (kinda) and the track so you can see how awesome it was that we drove that crazy van on the track!

- The rest of our short, short trip to NC was great. We just basically hung out, watched movies, and played games (my favorite). Andrew and I made sure to take our little Chloe on a walk every day to keep us fit in trim. She has found a new love of running which sure wore Andrew and I out. Sadly, we had to leave her in NC as we didn't feel it fair that she had to be home alone all day while Andrew was at work and I wasn't there, but we will get her back in May!

- Andrew and I enjoyed our last week together by watching lots of 30 Rock (I got him all the seasons for Christmas) and playing games.

- Sadly, I had to leave to go back to Utah on January 3rd to teach a class at BYU. That's been hard. THANK GOODNESS for FaceTime via our phones! It makes the separation not seem as horrible!

- Luckily Andrew will be in town this weekend!!!! Hooray! So we will have 2 1/2 glorious days of being together before he has to go back to Florida (I'm jealous) and back to work :(. We are planning on snowboarding, hanging out with friends and family, and spending every second with each other!

- Andrew went to DC for a business trip last week. He learned a lot and was able to hang out with some of my family! He also stopped by the Academy for fun.

- I am REALLY ENJOYING teaching here at BYU. I only wish there were a position I could work at in Florida after this is all over. There doesn't seem to be one. Hence, my frustration and therefore this blog post which has really helped me de-stress (thanks blogger!). I am currently amp'ing up my resume and getting ready to apply for some jobs in the area, so keep your fingers crossed!

I hope all of you readers are happy and healthy!
- M.

When I realize I am no longer young...

Today I was just minding my business and I suddenly realized that there are only 17 days until Christmas (depending if you count the day and today, I don't, of course). GEEZE! That just snuck up on me! Honestly I don't think I would have even thought about counting the days till Christmas if I hadn't happened upon Ellen's 12 day giveaway (or something like that-- just seeing the countdown made me mentally recognize that there are only a few weeks until Christmas). 

I'm sure there are those that don't believe that this little happening requires a whole post but I am still quite amazed that I went this long without a countdown. In my house Christmas is a BIG DEAL. I mean my sister and I would start counting down the days until Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving. I remember trying to make a paper chain and winding up utterly disappointed that the chain was MUCH longer than I wanted it to be!

Does that mean that I'm just not excited for Christmas anymore? Are you kidding me? If anything I think I am more excited (but for different reasons). Now I am just really excited to go to my parent's house and spend time with my family. The more time I spend apart from them, the more I appreciate them. Why do we (or maybe it's just me) seem to not appreciate what we have until it's gone (or not easily there?) 

Moral of the story, try to be thankful for those that you have in your life now and let them know your gratitude daily! 

-M.

P.S. For all you Mormon's out there (non-Mormons just substitute your denomination) check out this blogpost. It was VERY enlightening. 

Reprogramming the "Mormon" Brain

It's penned by the wife of a friend of mine from the Sociology grad program. I've never met his wife but from what I hear (and read) she is right on! I appreciate those who say it like it is. They make us all feel better for what really is going on in our lives and don't give us an unrealistic expectation to live up to. So, to my friend's wife-- BRAVO!

Monday, Monday

Oh Monday (how I loathe you!),

If you know me, you know I'm not a big fan of Mondays. Now that I'm married I loathe Mondays quite a bit more than usual. My chief complaint is that I get to spend all weekend with my wonderful husband and on Monday morning he leaves me to go to work! HUMPH! I know, it's life...but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. I think I will start liking Monday's when I go back to Utah to teach because that means another week down until I get to live in Florida with my husband! I am really looking forward to teaching at the college level, I just wish that didn't mean that my hubbie and I will be over 2,000 miles away from one another. Oh well, it's temporary...it could be worse!

So what have we been up to? We we started our weekend off with me having a breakdown about how lonely I get sometimes. Even with my cute-as-a-button puppy, I miss my friends in Utah (thats right, you fabulous four). I mean Chloe is cute 24/7 but I miss having my friends to talk to about anything and everything. I have a husband for that you say, well while that is true it still doesn't mean that I miss, appreciate, and long for their camaraderie. We've been best friends for almost 4 years, lived together, did EVERYTHING together and just had LOTS of fun together. Okay sob story over, bottom line: I miss my friends.

The Fab Four (well Five including me) and my original "Utah friend" and Freshman roommate Shelly who came ALL THE WAY FROM CALIFORNIA!!! LOVE YOU ALL!

Well after the breakdown we made our way over to Pensacola (I told you we go there every weekend, right?) and bought a bed. Currently we are renting and we won't be able to get our stuff from Utah till the last weekend in May (we made sure to plan moving to include the U2 concert that we have had tickets for for about a year!). Any who, it is cheaper to buy a new bed then rent it so that means we will just have a nice, comfy bed for when people come to visit (cough,cough!). That took a little longer than we expected so we only caught the literally last 5 seconds of the second period and the third period of the Pensacola Ice Flyers game. We were hoping for another fight like this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5G7jc0I190&feature=player_embedded

It looks a lot more barbaric than it was. It was the first hockey fight I saw and I was a little mortified at first that the referees didn't intervene sooner but apparently that's how it goes down in the rink. I asked Andrew (after hearing many cheers of "get his jersey!")if  they were trying to get the others jersey in an attempt to humiliate the other (you know like taking their jersey, and their pride). He kindly said, "No they just try to pull the other person's jersey over their face so that they can punch the crap out of each other. SEESH! After my initial reaction of "STOP THE INSANITY!" it was pretty fun! I think witnessing an "Ice Fight" should be on anyone's bucket list. 

Saturday was a great sleep in day with a few errands. We sent presents for nieces and nephews at UPS. For those that don't know, UPS does not pack and ship out of the kindness of their hearts (as we thought) they charge you out the nose! Oh well, live and learn. We didn't have any boxes here big enough so it was the best we could do and it is totally worth it! Hopefully they will like their presents! 

Sunday was relaxing as well. We went to church (I LOVE our branch!), did our callings, and just relaxed the rest of the day (walks for Chloe, LOTS of talking, games, etc.) We were trying to figure out which wedding pictures to have printed out in our home, problem is I think we like too many! Life's rough, huh? HA! 

And here we are, back at this miserable monday (well not really miserable, but it was alliterative). The highlight of my weekend was lots of time spent with my hubby I hope his was the same (except it was time with me, and the hockey game I'm sure), and Chloe's was Saturday night when we got pizza which means she had pizza crust for dinner-- HER FAVORITE!

Till next time,

M

P.S....as promised....wedding pictures!

My family that was able to make it from NC, MD, and ID

Our best friends (minus Mel)!

My best friends from California (Dave and Shelly and their baby David)

Andrew's brother Brett

My sister, Hayley

The whole Temple Gang!

Andrew and his sister, Jenny

My dad and his girls!

 Luncheon and pottery painting at Color Me Mine!

Our cute-as-a-button nice, Carly!

My awesome sister-in-law (she made the greatest plate!), Diane and two of our awesome nephews- Nathan and Nicholas!

 Clark hard at work on his "MEOW" bowl (it's their inside joke between him, Andrew, and Cindy)

Candy buffet at the reception!

 Playing some putt-putt at the reception!

All of our handsome nephew's! (L-R: Nicholas, Daniel, Nathan, and James)

He know's I'm going to SMASH IT!

The BFF's putt-putting!

My family putt-putting

The "bubbleiscious" exit!

The getaway car!