Count Your Sheep...I Mean Blessings!

I do not know about the vast majority of people out in the world because honestly, not everyone is going through what I'm going through. Wow, that sounds rather melodramatic. Not my intention. What I mean is, not everyone is in everyone's boat. I mean, depends on the boat you're in, could be a yacht, steamboat, fishing vessel, canoe, etc. You catch what I'm putting down, right? I hope so. Alls I'm saying is, I don't think we put enough thought towards little or big blessings in our lives.

When I was in high school, I was an optimistic kind of girl. I was also a homebody, I truly loved being home with my parents. That's probably why I didn't have my first kiss until my 19th b-day. I'm fly like a white girl! AND a big fat nerd. Anywhayz. My parents and I would be headed to the movies, and man, I would get so happy and enthusiastic that I'd start professing my love for all the blessings in my life. Like, "I love our family! I love that dog that's peeing the grass! I love that lamp post! Oh! I love air conditioning!" Just random thoughts that seemed to pop out at me in the moment. But, it made me so happy whenever I would pour out my heart to those blessings that have made my life a bit easier or that would just put a smile on my face. I haven't done that in awhile.

That's probably why I've been complaining more because I'm devoting my feelings to things I don't have or maybe I have these unmet expectations that get me down, so I choose to complain about them rather than turn them into something positive. Not going to lie, it's very hard to do when you are already in upset/disappointed mode. I believe that if you start applying your efforts toward happy thoughts or start expressing how much you love *insert random blessing*, I truly believe it will turn your life around. Honestly, this is for me! But, whoever reads this and wants to make some positive changes, I think this would help. It has already helped me in the last 20 minutes of looking on the bright side of things.

On your mark, get set, GO be positive!

3 years down 6 to go...

Will turned to me last night and spoke in a soft whisper, "Happy Anniversary, Babe. Three down, three more to go." I thought, "THREE MORE? So, that's it?" And I of course turned to him with a bewildered look on my face and said, "What happens after we get passed the six year mark, huh?" He so jokingly rolled his pretty blue eyes and said, "At that point, we'll have three more to look forward to." I was thinking, well okay then. At least we've got the upcoming years to look forward to and the success of our marriage is determined in multiples of three. All I know is, I love the man I'm married to. He is my partner in crime, he supports me in every way, and every time he comes home from work it is like the best Christmas present a girl could ask for. Seriously, people. It's like I have Christmas every day of the year. I am such a bragger.

(Will and me back in the day. Dating.)

Well, anywho.

We didn't really celebrate our anniversary rather we spent our weekend with Will's family. Which turned out to be a secret celebration because I honestly would not have spent it any other way, Will felt the same way. We ate food (what's new?), and just sat around playing with the nieces and nephews and sharing lots of fun memories. We got home from this wonderful weekend of family bonding time and felt a little bummed because we didn't live as close to family as we used to. But, realized we are lucky to have each other to cling onto. We are each others family now.

Lucky us, we get to visit Will's brother (Joseph) and sister-in-law (Jen), their baby Ruby, and little dog (Daisy) this coming weekend at their new home in Las Vegas. Can't wait. We love a good family pow-wow.

(Will can't stress to me enough how much he loves his picture taken. Actually, maybe it's the other way around. Ah forget it. You cannot stop a Marci from taking pictures)

I love life. I love my amazing husband. And most of all I love what the future has to offer.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, LOVEE!

(We're cheeseballz, in case you were wondering.)

Time flies

Is it really October already? Cripes. I really have to admit, Fall is my favorite season. That's probably why I got married in October, because it is a breathtaking time of year. The crisp air, vibrant colors, the smell of delicious spices, pre-Christmas season, and all the great get-togethers due to the holidays. Will and I took a peaceful drive up American Fork canyon just after watching two days worth of General Conference, and man, what a beautiful session we had. I'm grateful for the leaders of our church and their eternal dedication to our Heavenly Father and people of this church.

Back to our fantastic Sunday drive.

Inconceivable, phenomenal, alluring, intense. These words describe what I saw while driving through a whirlwind of beauty. The entire trip up and down the canyon, we spoke of plans for our next years camping endeavors. Where, when, how, who, what, and everything else about camping for next summer. It was fun! We embraced the last tidbits of summer at the same time as accepting the beginning of Fall into our lives. This is a solemn time of year for Will, because summer and fall do not last very long in his eyes and he loves summertime more than anything, actually Fall REALLY doesn't last very long. Like five minutes.

SNOW. SNOW. SNOW. We've complained and gnashed our teeth long enough about this topic. BUT, every year we seem to hate on the snow, like we hate stepping in dog poo. Every time, it's just not pleasurable. Although, for ME....I like to look at snow as a blessing, it's tough, but manageable. The snow is beautimus, bright, and forces you to stay snuggled up inside. Also, I really love winter clothing, scarves, warm adorable jackets, gloves, and just being bundled up. Although, the 5 months of snow, does kind of get old. It's five years in Marci/Will years.

I guarantee I won't be living near the snow forever, so I may as well endorse the snow while I've still got it.

I'm sure I've mentioned this a billion times, but Will did graduate and I couldn't be more proud of my Willy-poop. He doesn't take graduating seriously as you can see below, in fact, he doesn't take very much seriously.. I'm not going to lie, I love that most about him. He always has the best outlook on life.

Lucky sod. I wanna graduate. Coming soon to Marci near you.

Marci is a nerd.

If I had money I'd live...

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. More like, Litchfield, South Carolina. Most people have heard of Myrtle Beach, but Litchfield is not too far from Myrtle Beach and it is heaven on earth. It is warm, the air is fresh, the ocean water feels like a warm bath, and I was in the company of wonderful peeps. Will and I met up with his awesome parents, his hoot of a sister Emily and bro in law Adam, and of course, the one and only Grand Janie.

Huntington Beach. I saw an alligator. Frrreaky.

Enjoyed a night on the pier.

I am telling you, that 4000 mile drive was completely worth it. We laughed, we ate, we BEACHED, we ate some more, we laughed, we slepped, we vacationed, we ate, and we just had a wonderful time. I like to close my eyes when I'm anywhere stressful and just picture everything about this trip and my troubles begin to fade. It really was that much fun. I really haven't been to a place quite like this one. Honestly, we had a very special schedule, especially when Emily and Adam were there (they left early), we'd get up every morning, take a light jog on the beach (by the way, I was sweating buckets on these runs...the air is so beautifully moist there, I felt 10 years younger, HA!), we'd get back from our run and eat a hearty breakfast (consisting of grits (of course), turkey bacon, fresh fruit, and eggs), rush to get in our get-up (beach-wear), make some delectable sandwiches, and take a stroll in our GOLF CART to the beach.

When we'd get to the beach, we would then proceed to dig a hole for the umbrellas. How to dig a hole (Adams way) 1. Use a childs shovel. 2. Dig until you see water or China. 3. stick the umbrella pole in the hole 4. Bury that pole with sand. 4. TAMP IT. TAMP IT. TAMP IT. Tamp? I never heaard of the word until this trip. I will never forget. nor will Will, because we say it all the time now. Thank you Adam and Adam's assistant. (aka Emily) We read on the beach, we sunbathed, we were sunpoisoned (just kidding, but we did get burnt), we ate those delicious sandwiches and picked out all the M&M's from my trail mix, we played frisbee (mostly the boys did, Will, Dad, and Adam), and swam in the bath until we were all pruiny. It was great. Just ppperfect! We basically beached it up until we could beach no mo. And you know it's not possible to not beach, so we beached until work and school so rudely interrupted our vaca.

Boys planning their frisbee strategies Photography by e. Kunz

BEACHERS! BEACHERS! BEACHERS!

We ate delicious home fried shrimp and fresh okra. I love the South. I'm okay if I live there. Really. It was that good of a time. It was very sad when it came to an end. It was like a mean grouchy old man came up to me and stole my giant lollipop right out of my hand, and I have not stopped crying since. Actually, today I have not cried, but sundown may take it's toll on me. We'll see.

Forgot to mention crabbing. We crabbed for crab, obviously. Wow, crabbing for dumb crab, apparently makes you dumber. This is the gesture for crabbing, I just made that up b.t.dubs.

We experienced some exciting weather while we were at the beach, I think it was the effects from the hurricane. Well anyway, we were in the ocean one day (shocker) and it began to downpour and thunderstorm, we proceeded to get out of the water and grab our schtuff, but the hardcore beacher that Emily is, was not leaving. She is a beacher and will be a beacher until she dies. You know like those feminists, she's like a beachist. Intense. The funny thing is, she was staying and nobody would stop her even if they wanted to, (well maybe lightning) because lightning struck not too far from us and we booked it off the beach into our baby golf cart. Not to worry, the storm came and went about 30 min later and Emily, Will, and I were out on the beach once again. You can take the Emily out of the ocean, but you cant take the ocean out of Emilly. Is that right? Ah, who gives a care. It was a blast and that's all that matters.

Civilian on the left (me) and Beachist on the right (Em)
Photography by e. Kunz

I married a gent, he was protecting his momma from the rain.
Photography by e. Kunz (I'm giving you the credit that you deserve, aight e.)

The best part of this trip was seeing Grand Janie! She is a hoot, feisty, hilarious, and more with it than I am. You can't get anything passed her. She really was the highlight of this trip and I'm so grateful I got to finally meet the woman Will talks so highly of. I miss her already!

Grand ole time. Can't wait for next years beach trip!!!

Possibly...

I could possibly be the worst blogger that exists. I have a good reason though. I'm trying to get an education and blogging is considered to be a distraction...I know, I was like, "whaaa, blogging? No!" Anywho. I am back for a minute just to recap my summer, that really didn't feel like summer. Felt more like a long labor filled semester of disgusting school. I did pass all my courses and I'm feeling pretty good. Although, I am back in school for one more semester and then I apply to the nursing program. If only that day would get here sooner.

Here's the juicy part of this post. Will and my trip across the country to go see his sweet Grand Janie (pictured below: who insists she has a meanstreak, yeah right, who does she think she's fooling?)

Photography by Emily Kunz (aka my sis in law and y'all should really check out her blog, because she is the funniest person I know, not even joking right now.)

Will and I are horrible. We did not get as many pictures as we had hoped. I mean, you decide to drive across the United States, you would think to keep your camera in hand, ready to shoot the heck out of everything. Yeah, NOPE. We are fools and were WAY too lazy to pull our camera out of our suitcase. Poor unfortunate fools. It's cool, I'm okay with dissing on myself, so is Will.

(Funny story: During this time I was using a topical cream for my acne, which causes my skin to be ultra sensitive. Well, I wanted to rid myself of my bushy unibrow before our trip so I got my eyebrows waxed. Yep, when she waxed my brows, she took a chunk of skin. Nasty I know, and so you can see in this picture, I have a grotesque scab between my eyebrows---What a beautte!)

We embarked on our journey across the country on the eve of August 12th. Yeah, in the evening folks. Will is crazy (a good kind of crazy), but crazy, and thought we could drive all night, taking shifts, (i.e. I drive, he sleeps...vice versa) and I was like, "Who do you think I am, some kind of insomniac foo?" Well, anyway, we attempted to take shifts and drive through the night. I think I made it about three hours, so we swtiched, and then Will drove for about 1 hour and said, "You were right, this is much harder than I thought." So, we proceeded to camp out in our car somewhere in Colorado. Can't remember where, oh wait, probably cause it was 3 'o clock in the morning!

So we slept about 4 hours, woke up, brushed our teeth in the nasty rest area bathroom, and continued on wheels to our next destination. We drove through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, small chunk of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, all the way to our beautiful destination Myrtle Beach, SC. So y'all know, I am really condensing this adventure. Sad, but I'm sure you don't want me to bore you with EVERY detail.

(St. Louis Gateway Arch)

Let me back track a little. We took a minor detour to the Appalachian mountains, because we brought all our hiking gear 2000 miles so Will could show me where he used to camp as a young lad. Ain't that presh? He was a lot of fun to be with during this time because he seriously was like a "little schoolboy, a schoolboy who desperately wants to make love to you!" Oh gosh, quote time, you get a golden ticket if you can tell me what that's from! Man, I got off course for a second. Will was so excited. It was like he was home again, on his terrain, you could've punched him in the kidneys and he would've given you a hug, that's how happy he was!

(That right there, behind us, is the Blue Ridge Parkway-->>couldn't ask for a more beautiful view)

It was beautiful. Did I mention, that is was beautiful? I don't think so, IT was BEAUTIFUL! Much prettier than I had imagined. I want to be there right now. Minus the dirt and the fact that our TFD (tinfoil dinners) did not cook worth a darn because everything is so wet in that part of the country, our fire lasted but 5 minutes. It was a good ole time, that's for sure.

I'm going to have to continue this because it's getting a little long for me....

Any suggestions?...

I need a new modest swimsuit, but must not be looking in the right spots because I can't find one for the life of me. Anybody have any good suggestions?

Let a sista know what you know.

Overdose--the goodish kind

I O.D.ed. on Vitamin D today. Poor me was at school all day studying, did not want to be stuck inside the library all day so I decided I needed some sun and studied outside. I look like a lobster. Forgot to apply some sunscreen to my face today, whoops. Won't be making that same mistake twice! I could not get myself to go inside, even though I knew I was getting rosier by the second. Not going to lie, I get some sick satisfaction out of getting a sunburn every once in awhile. I like it, it lets me know summer is officially here. Hallelujah.