Shout Out To My Man

A few weeks ago, I was talking to some friends and a few of them mentioned how annoyed they get when people post those "obnoxious" facebook statuses about how great their boyfriends/husbands are and how they are just "rubbing their perfect relationships in our faces". In my head I was thinking, "Okay, nobody has a perfect relationship, and what's wrong with being happy and writing about it?" 

 Sorry if this offends anyone, but I would much rather read a post like that than some of the other things people decide to put on facebook. But this post is not about facebook, it's about choosing to see the good in your spouse and working for a happy marriage and not making fun of others for doing so. And today I read this post from an old college friend's blog and decided to jump on the love train...for lack of a better analogy :) So if you are one of those people who get bugged when people brag about their husbands, please stop reading now. Because the following are just a few of the things that I absolutely adore about mine.

• Brandon is funny. He makes me laugh every single day. I can't even begin to express how much that means to me. 
• He motivates me. And he does it in a nice, not-naggy sort of way, which is exactly how I need to be motivated.
• He sets a good example.
• He is really nice to animals.
• He makes me feel smart, meaning he values my opinion and advice.
• He tells me that I'm beautiful, and what girl doesn't need that every once in a while?
• He has the best smile. And eyes. 
• He is a hard worker.
• He is a kind person. 

And I'll stop there so I don't get too "obnoxious". But in my opinion, the world could use a little more positive thinking. So take it or leave it. 

This little mighty mouse firefighter doll ended up costing like $20 at our town's annual carnival, but I was having so much fun popping balloons with those darts that B didn't mind one bit.

Mini Update

Nursing school is hard. Probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. I study  A LOT and it feels like I'm never quite on top of things. I get mini anxiety attacks daily when I go to class, and I learn new things all the time which is fun. I'm making some friends and "learning how to work" as my dad would put it. I really hope I can stick this out.

Lacey is a fast learner.

 My dog is nuts. She has a new playmate who she loves...or hates...we're not quite sure. His name is Dobby and he is just precious. He prances everywhere he goes and shakes his little booty when he gets excited. I mean really shakes it. It's pretty awesome. When they play together, Lacey makes these high-pitched monkey sounds that get super annoying super fast.

She hates swimming!

My husband is amazing. He does so much for me and is always trying to improve, whether it's helping around the house more or working out more or doing better in school. He keeps me motivated in school too, which I love. I'm so grateful to have him on my side through this whole life thing. Plus, he makes me laugh every day.  

Babe sprained his ankle. Luckily we know a great doctor (my dad...if that needed to be clarified)!

Monopoly and candy! Such a fun date night.

And that's a little chunk of our life lately. Busy but we still make time for fun, as we should.  Tara Rider, over and out.

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

The last time I blogged, it was just after my amazing birthday and Brandon and I still had the whole summer ahead of us. We had certain landmarks in our future that felt so far away that all of our planning and talking about the big things ahead had kind of a leisurely tone and we didn't really have to think super hard about the future. We had a rough plan hammered out though--move to Texas at the end of the summer so that I can live at home and go to nursing school, while B works and goes to school as well. Easy peasy right? It seemed that way. But let me tell you, the actual arriving at that decision was anything BUT easy peasy! There were major pros and cons to both staying in Utah and moving to Texas, and we would seriously go back and forth about it weekly, sometimes daily. We each had our own personal reasons for staying/going and we could also see things working out in both states. The hardest part for me was knowing that whatever we chose to do would be great and we would also both be sacrificing things either way, whether big or small. It got so exhausting trying to decide, but when we finally decided to take it to the temple, we both came out with a strong feeling of peace and comfort in knowing that Texas would be a good fit for us for the next few years (Anyone wanting to know more about Mormons, please feel free to visit mormon.org, or ask me anything you like.). So we had our decision made, which was such a great feeling.

One of this summer's landmarks was my family's trip to Florida, which was super fun. I'll post about that later. 

After the Pirates of the Caribbean ride :)

We both knew that once we got back from FL, it was really going to be no time at all until August 6th, our moving day. So we are now in the process of playing Pack, Store, or Chuck, the funnest moving game ever. Saturday we played in the bowflex room/office/Lacey's bedroom. Then we took a Wendy's break and played in the kitchen. I cannot wait to be done packing, but it feels like it will never end! I'll tell you what though, seeing all of our stuff in boxes and watching that date creep closer and closer on the calendar is starting to make this whole thing very real. Summer's basically over. All of our landmarks have passed. Next week we will be in Texas. There's really no turning back now! And I'll admit we are both a little scared to jump into a whole new life together, but the key word there is together. It is so comforting to know that no matter what we choose to do with our lives, and no matter what obstacles get thrown our way, we'll always have each other. I could not do this without my best friend, and I'm forever grateful that he has my back. Always. Let's do this!