Settling In

I know I know, it's been awhile, but it has been so busy here in our little household. Recently school started back up which means both me and Derek going to school full time and work part time. I started the semester off with 17 credits but it felt more like 25 because all of my teachers seemed to think that their class was the only thing I was ever going to think about. (I'm frustrated about it if you can't tell). Anyways, I found myself always grumpy and the apartment was turning into a pigsty... and a big one. Our apartment is small so it gets messy really fast. Like if I leave one pair of shoes out, it looks messy. So basically I was trying to do what I want (being a wife: cooking, cleaning, looking good everyday), my schoolwork (which was impossible to do anything 100%), and my work (luckily we aren't too busy this semester). I felt like I was past the drowning point and just sinking deeper and deeper. Like every thing I had to add to my to-do list was another weight being added to my ankle. So, after a Sunday afternoon of crying feeling so stressed and sorry for myself, Derek and I decided it was best to drop one of my classes and take it through independent study. It was hard for me to admit defeat but I had to do what was best for my health, sanity, and my new life with my husband. I am so glad he is so supportive. :) He tells me he is so lucky all the time to have married me but he doesn't know that I am the lucky one. Our days lately have been filled with homework and studying but it's fun to hang out and do our homework together (well separate because pre-med and el ed don't have similarities). I am hoping to get into running/exercising because I haven't been doing that at all. Hopefully I will get up the courage to go on a run soon but I just know that the first one is going to be so embarrassing because I know I won't go far... Oh well, I guess no one has to know :) Well, I am off to get dinner started but I just figured I would take a minute to post a blog!

Dedicated to my Youngest Sister Lizzie :)

Well... today I was video chatting with my family (one of my favorite things) and my mom said I hadn't posted in a while and she was RIGHT! (like always :)) Anyways, my sister Lizzie was right there and she said I should write it about her. So here goes nothing.... Lizzie is basically pretty awesome for a whole lot of reasons....

FIRST: She is probably the funniest person in my family. She can make a joke out of anything and it is always hilarious!
SECOND: She can sing like nobodies business, she can sound like any artist in any song.. my favorite impersonation she does is miranda.. .you know as in miranda sings... here is a sample

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-yzx0y8fU&feature=BFa&list=UUR69uTjRYrIDjbIOmgSyx6w

I picked this video because Lizzie was singing the song that she sings in it today... so basically I had to.

THIRD: She is super loyal... like the dog in homeward bound or where the red fern grows (were they loyal?). Anyways, she is a great sister and I know she always has my back, and all of our other siblings too.
FOURTH: She could beat me up easily but she never does... probably because we don't really ever fight... I don't know.
FIFTH: She likes to spend quality time with me and she loves to shop just like me but she also knows when to tell me that something is too expensive and I don't really need it. Also, we both like the same kind of shirts so that is pretty awesome.

There are so many other reasons to love Lizzie but because my arm hurts from my mini golfing accident the other day I think I will stop there.

Oh and I made this recipe tonight... MAKE IT! It was sooooooo good!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/07/peach_crisp_wit/

When 2 is not better than 1...

So the title of this post may sound like this is going to be a post that is negative about marriage... but I would never do that because I love it so much :) This post is about being sick. It started out with me being sick... which was bad enough for me and Derek would take care of me and do the dishes and take care of things. Then he got sick too.... and our apartment is a mess! I had a little burst of energy earlier in the evening and I cleaned some bowls so we could have some canned soup (not so good) and I was thinking how when Derek goes to work (he is such a trooper) from 6-9 I would do the rest of the dishes, find a keeping place for all of our new gifts, and this last one I am embarrassed to say because I hate hate hate leaving clean laundry unfolded but I will admit I have a hamper full of clean laundry that needs to be folded. Then that burst of energy left and Derek left for work. He texted me saying I should get some fresh air and go on a little walk. I have been in our apartment for most of the past 3 days and hadn't been out at all today and for those of you who have seen my apartment you know that it is a lot like a cave except there aren't any stalactites or stalagmites hanging from the ceiling or that creepy dripping sound. So I decided that I needed some juice.. cranberry juice... which is weird since I only drink that on airplanes because it takes me a long time to drink the small cup. So I went on a walk across the street and to the little market to get some cranberry juice (apparently I have been drinking cran-apple this whole time on the airplane because this cranberry juice tastes way different) and I got some ice cream for myself because not much sounds good to me but that did. So tonight I will sit on our couch, drink tiny sips of my cranberry juice, and later dig into my ben and jerrys and watch the Thunder game until I fall asleep or Derek gets home and just hope that tomorrow both of us wake up feeling better or at least one of us! 

Memorial Day!

I love holidays, especially patriotic ones. My favorite holiday of the year is the 4th of July because I just really love America and the freedom that I have been blessed with. In church yesterday we sang America the Beautiful and the organist really played the song with feeling and it just made me feel so grateful to live in this great country.

I decided that for breakfast I wanted to try and make my sister Stephie's recipe for Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese stuffed french toast. So I had to go to the grocery store on Saturday while Derek was at work and I decided to go out to Walmart because I also needed an iron. I don't like going to Walmart because it is always so crowded and I feel like everyone is trying to kidnap me...... annywaysss I try to pull out two different carts from the little cart garage and neither of them would come loose from the carts behind them (they were stuck) and I was getting embarrassed yanking on them and not having them come free, so I move to a third cart hoping that it will do like every cart should and be easy to pull away from the rest, and it was... but after a couple of seconds I regretted my cart choice. It was one of those carts that is SO LOUD that it makes you feel like you are wearing a strobe light around your neck and jingle bells on your ankles because everyone stares at you because of all the noise you are making. But, it was too late to go back and switch it. Butttt, I got all the french toast stuff ready last night and put it in the fridge over night and then popped it in the oven this morning and it turned out soooo good! That's another reason I love holidays because breakfast foods are my favorite and on holidays you can go all out :)

After breakfast, I let Derek go study and I finished up the dishes and tidied up the kitchen and then we decided to go an play tennis. It was such a nice day and nice days should never go to waste. So I put on my most impressive tennis get up to try and intimidate him and it didn't work. I wouldn't say I am bad at tennis but I'm not that good, I haven't played in forever and he was pretty good and kept taking advantage of my short legs and arms and lack of arm strength. I am glad though because I want to be one of those couples who is good at tennis so that one day we can go and play and I don't have to embarrassed by my lack of skill and the only way I will get better is by trying to keep up. We probably played about 7 or 8 games and I came close to winning about 3 and then I actually won one game. Which I was happy with :)

Then the day got kind of boring... well not boring because only boring people get bored but it just wasn't too exciting, Derek studied and I don't even remember what I did... wasted time probably. But then Derek had to go to work and I went to go and pick up Derek's wedding band (the sent the wrong size at first so I had to go exchange for the right size) and I signed my name as Amanda Stewart.... it was very uncomfortable and I had to actually think about my signature which made me even more nervous that I was going to mess it up. But I guess it was a two second adventure :) As for now, Derek is taking a practice test and I am writing this. Tomorrow we both work at 8, which is early but we have leftover french toast for breakfast! Yay!

Playing House

Well, here we go... I have decided to make a new blog for me and my husband Derek that is all about our new life and adventures together. A lot of people might wonder where the H-E- doublehockeysticks this title came from for a blog. And it's really quite simple. I love Brad Paisley and one of my favorite songs by him is called "New Favorite Memory".... you should all listen to it, here is the link: 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKBneYZt21g


It is such a cute song and I like to think of my new life as a time to make new favorite memories, memories that I will make with my husband and one day my children :) 


Anyywayysss, enough with the boring stuff... Me and Derek were married on May 11th (the best day ever!) in Orlando and now we live in Provo, Utah where we are both working for the summer and going back to school in the fall. We live in this little tiny apartment that I am trying to make cute... it's pretty difficult but I guess I like the challenge. 


I love being a wife. Derek is taking the MCAT in less than a week so when he is not at work he is studying and so I have a lot of time to do something quietly by myself. This morning I decided to make the bed a few times and decide which way it looked the prettiest. Then I scoured the bathroom and kitchen with a lot of Bleach and Scrubbing Bubbles. Derek kept asking if he could help but I was actually having fun doing all of that and I know it is important for him to study. Yesterday to take up time I decided to make chocolate chip cookies.... I don't have a mixer yet... so my arm muscle is like ten times bigger now (it was nonexistent to begin with... seriously, my arm muscles are the joke in my family). Right now he is taking a full practice test, so I decided to make this blog. 


Another reason I love being a wife is I get to be creative with my cooking. The other day me and Derek made Chicken Caesar Salad pizza and it was sooo good! And for Monday morning, because it's a holiday so I don't have work in the morning and Derek doesn't work until later, we are going to make some french toast casserole :) We both love cooking together and are enjoying it now because once he is in med school and residency I don't think that will happen very much. 


So this first blog is a little all over the place but I went into Target the other day to grab a few things and I had to get a cart and explore the home section of Target and it was so fun. I have decided that being married is like playing house all the time except there isn't anyone pretending to be a dog... which I am okay with. :)