Bookstore Date Night!

So I found this website the other day that has a calendar of ideas for married couples for the month of January.  Well, it had a fun date night idea for the 10th, so we tried it last night.  Now, it calls for a bookstore, but the only one that Andrew and I know of is Deseret Book, so some of the challenges didn't totally work, but we did the best we could.

The Bookstore date was kind of a scavenger hunt.  There are challenges to find a recipe to cook for your spouse, a joke to tell, a magazine article or quiz to share, a poem that reminds you of your spouse, travel information or a picture of a place you'd like to go together, and a children's book that reminds you of when you were little.  We tried, but joke and travel books aren't very plentiful at a place like Deseret Book.

Well, I got a little excited when I found my cookbook, "the Picky Palate", because Andrew, although not really picky, is rather...well...picky ^^ And I found a recipe for a pot roast.  First off I've been itching to use the crock pot we got for our wedding, and I love pot roast as does Andrew.  I knew it'd be a recipe he'd like and now we're searching for an inexpensive roast to cook up probably next Sunday while we're at church.

 Andrew chose his from the BYU cookbook and due to my recent obsession with mac and cheese he chose this really delicious looking recipe for buffalo chicken (another food I really like) mac and cheese...I can't wait to try it.

For magazines we had the option of the Friend, New Era, Liahona, or Ensign, so our choices aren't too surprising.  I found a really cool article in the April 2013 New Era.  The issue focused on temples which I thought was fitting due to the fact that we've been married for 3 weeks (as of today).  The article I found was all about interesting temple facts, stats and interesting stories.  It was pretty cool.  Andrew picked up the General Conference issue of the Ensign and picked all of it....we're going to start re-watching/listening to conference before our 1:00 pm church on Sunday....yeah, 1:00 is too late for church.

Finding a book from our childhood at Deseret Book was a little difficult.  I could have probably just grabbed a copy of the Book of Mormon and called it good, but I found a book that reminded me more of my days in Young Women's.  I picked up You are Special (sorry for the blurriness of the pic) which just reminded me of hearing the story and seeing it reenacted in many girls camp skits throughout my teenage years.  I'll probably end up buying it someday.  It's a cute story.

Andrew grabbed Leven Thumps....a little too long to read to each other in the store, but he had a hard time like I did finding a book he'd read as a child at Deseret Book.  (They have a lot of books that are for beginning readers and are off-shoots of good books like Rainbow Fish and stuff like that)

The jokes and travel didn't work out too well.  Andrew didn't find anything, and neither did I really.  For travel I grabbed a copy of the Restoration DVD because I've always wanted to go to the Sacred Grove in New York.  I also grabbed the book Matched...just cuz I really love that book series and want to read it again...it didn't have anything to do with our scavenger hunt, but I wanted to substitute it for the jokes.

Lastly we couldn't find poetry that reminded us of each other, but we did find things that reminded us of each other.  Andrew found this picture frame with a bunch of romantic little saying things on it.  It was very sweet.  I found a little illustrated children's book that reminded me so much of our relationship.  We read it together and just smiled the whole way through.  There were a few parts where Andrew was convinced that I had stopped reading and had just started talking.  It was almost as though I had written the book for him.  It was perfect.  One day I will buy this book

I like you and I know why. 

I like you because you are a good person to like. 

I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special 

And you remember it a long, long time. 

You say, Remember when you told me something special 

And both of us remember 

When I think something is important 

you think it's important too 

We have good ideas 

When I say something funny, you laugh 

I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too 

Hah-hah! 

I like you because you know where I'm ticklish 

And you don't tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes 

But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too 

You know how to be silly 

That's why I like you 

Boy are you ever silly 

I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you 

I like you because you know when it's time to stop being silly 

Maybe day after tomorrow 

Maybe never 

Too late, it's a quarter past silly 

Sometimes we don't say a word 

We snurkle under fences 

We spy secret places 

If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off 

You are one too 

If I pretend I am drowning, you pretend you are saving me 

If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag, 

then you are getting ready to jump 

HOORAY 

That's because you really like me 

You really like me, don't you 

And I really like you back 

And you like me back and I like you back 

And that's the way we keep on going every day 

If you go away, then I go away too 

or if I stay home, you send me a postcard 

You don't just say Well see you around sometime, bye 

I like you a lot because of that 

If I go away, I send you a postcard too 

And I like you because if we go away together 

And if we are in Grand Central Station 

And if I get lost 

Then you are the one that is yelling for me 

And I like you because when I am feeling sad 

You don't always cheer me up right away 

Sometimes it is better to be sad 

You can't stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute 

You want to think about things 

It takes time 

I like you because if I am mad at you 

Then you are mad at me too 

It's awful when the other person isn't 

They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose 

I like you because if I think I am going to throw up 

then you are really sorry 

You don't just pretend you are busy looking at the birdies and all that 

You say, maybe it was something you ate 

You say, the same thing happened to me one time 

And the same thing did 

If you find two four-leaf clovers, you give me one 

If I find four, I give you two 

If we only find three, we keep on looking 

Sometimes we have good luck, and sometimes we don't 

If I break my arm, and if you break your arm too 

Then it's fun to have a broken arm 

I tell you about mine, you tell me about yours 

We are both sorry 

We write our names and draw pictures 

We show everybody and they wish they had a broken arm too 

I like you because I don't know why but 

Everything that happens is nicer with you 

I can't remember when I didn't like you 

It must have been lonesome then 

I like you because because because 

I forget why I like you but I do 

So many reasons 

On the 4th of July I like you because it's the 4th of July 

On the fifth of July, I like you too 

If you and I had some drums and some horns and some horses 

If we had some hats and some flags and some fire engines 

We could be a HOLIDAY 

We could be a CELEBRATION 

We could be a WHOLE PARADE 

See what I mean? 

Even if it was the 999th of July 

Even if it was August 

Even if it was way down at the bottom of November 

Even if it was no place particular in January 

I would go on choosing you 

And you would go on choosing me 

Over and over again 

That's how it would happen every time 

I don't know why 

I guess I don't know why I really like you 

Why do I like you 

I guess I just like you 

I guess I just like you because I like you.

Marriage, Honeymoon, First Apartment...Life is good!

So, my husband and I just got married on December 21, 2013.  It's been a fun almost 3 weeks and we decided to try our hands at blogging, at least as a way to record a little bit about our adventures that come with being married.

Well, the day we got married was a little nuts, as I'm sure all wedding days are.  We get married in the Oklahoma City temple.  I left at about 4:30 am from Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Andrew had left the night before and had texted my dad letting him know about the freezing rain and slick roads.  Despite the fact that it was about a 3 hour drive on super icy roads, the ice was really pretty.

My grandpa performed the ceremony and it was perfect.  I was wearing my mother in law's wedding dress because my dress didn't fit with what was appropriate for temple.  It was pretty cool to get to wear her dress.  There weren't many people who were able to come to the temple due to the weather, but that was how I had always wanted my wedding to be, small and perfect.  And it really was perfect.  It was amazing how the Spirit was so strong.  Andrew and I are both returned missionaries, so we've felt the Spirit in a lot of teaching situations, but this was so different and so new for me.  I knew without a doubt in my mind that marrying Andrew was already the best decision I'd ever made.  It was so amazing.  Like really!

After the ceremony we took a few pictures out in the ice.  Unfortunately they didn't show just how cold it was or how cool the ice looked, but I still think they were awesome pictures.  After that we went to the church next door and had cinnamon rolls that Andrew's dad made.  They were delicious!  During our little brunch/luncheon (would that make it a bruncheon?  cuz that would be cool) my parents sang Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof....and yeah, I kind of cried a little.  Then I sang From this Moment on by Shania Twain....not my style, but it was a surprise for Andrew, so yeah. ^^

After that was the fun 3 hour drive back to Fort Smith for our reception.  Andrew and I checked into our hotel (the cutest little B&B, Beland Manor...very cozy!) and rested up for a few minutes before the reception.  When we got there I was amazed at how perfect everything was.  I'd always wanted a retro reception and my parent's house had been transformed into the most adorable 50's diner.  We had burgers, fries, and lots of different kinds of pie.  It was better than I ever could have imagined it.  I also sang Somewhere that's Green from Little Shop of Horrors....I'd never realized that the song would've worked for a wedding till I was singing through it one night for fun and realized it would match my reception perfectly.  It was way fun!

At the end of the night Andrew and I changed and snuck out back to our hotel where we were asleep by 9/9:30.  The bed was really comfortable and we were exhausted.

The next morning we had a great breakfast and we put together a bunch of thank you gifts for the people who helped with the reception.  Following that we went to church where I sang and my grandpa spoke.  We then had a big family lunch at Andrew's parents (after Andrew and I had stopped by my house and opened our gifts, much to our mothers' dismay) and then spent the rest of the afternoon there.  At 7pm or so we attended a fireside given by my grandpa and it was great.  Afterwards we headed back to our hotel for another early night's sleep.

Monday morning was spent packing and talking to the host of the B&B about the han-bok (traditional Korean dress) I'd seen upstairs.  We then headed off to the airport where we met up with and said goodbye to Andrew's mom, and we were off to our Christmas honeymoon in Salt Lake City.

Well, Andrew had started feeling a little sick on Sunday, so by Christmas Eve (which was the following Tuesday), he was feeling pretty rotten.  Our Christmas was spent resting and I was pretty sick by the next day.  We left Salt Lake on the 30th and spent New Years Eve in Idaho Falls at my grandparents.  By this time Andrew was feeling a lot better and I was feeling a lot worse.  We moved into our teeny tiny apartment on the 1st.  By the 2nd I had to go the doctor because I had gotten so much worse and wasn't getting better.  Apparently Andrew and I had gotten a virus but I had a bacterial infection that caused the right side of my throat and neck to swell up huge and made it seriously painful to swallow.  If I'd have waited much longer I may have had to had surgery on my tonsils to drain the infection...but since I didn't wait we were able to clear it up with a simple antibiotic.  And that was our honeymoon pretty much....we were sick the whole time.  Exciting huh?  Now we're waiting for me to start my job on the 20th and finishing up Andrew's temp job at a bookstore.

Life is good and married life is fantastic.  I love my life and my sweet husband so much.  I'm very much looking forward to the adventures that lie head.  YAY!

~Manda^^