Recap

I know, I know. I've slacked off. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. In my defense, the semester ended, we spent half of our Christmas break in Idaho, and I've spent all week deep cleaning. In other words--I've been busy. Sometimes I'm so busy living life, it's hard to write about it. But as a quick recap of the past month, life has been good.

School ended! Hurrah! Except we start another semester on Monday. This break has been really nice though. And well timed. I got sick near the end of finals week. I felt bad for being sick at my in-laws house, but they reassured me they would rather have me there and be sick than not come at all. It was helpful that I could just rest and not worry about much when I felt congested. But it passed quickly, and I felt pretty much fine by Christmas.

I posted a poem on Christmas about Christmas, and that also seems to sum up the morning nicely. Stephen and I helped Bruce and Teresa Santa prep on Christmas Eve. It was a special moment to look at the tree with all the presents under it and cuddle with my husband and chat with my in-laws. That moment felt the most like Christmas to me. Though there were plenty of other Christmas-ish moments. I really enjoyed learning about the Rollins traditions. Some of them, I would love to implement in my future family. It was a little sad to be away from my family, but I called them on Christmas day and was able to talk with Deborah too. We also skyped Matthew, and I felt really proud when I surprised him and the rest of the family by introducing myself in Japanese (middle-school anime actually came in handy!).

While in Idaho, we saw Frozen (the music is great and I may or may not have been listening to the soundtrack for hours a day). I also shot a gun for the first time in my life. The adults went shooting and both me and my mother-in-law had never shot a gun before. After watching her first shot and the after effects on her shoulder, I became more hesitant, but used a less-powerful gun instead. I actually hit my target a few times I think (a trashcan in an open field). Bruce than taught me about a handgun and I was able to make two shots with it. My second try, I was within an inch of the bulls-eye. We also played a lot of board games as a family, and by a lot, I mean A LOT! Some games I liked better than others, but mostly, it's fun to have that bonding experience.

Stephen had work this past week, so after coming home from Idaho, I've spent most of my time either cleaning or sleeping. I've taken advantage of the luxury of not having a schedule that requires me to wake up at a certain time. But when I am up, I've been cleaning. I finally organized the bedroom, something that hasn't quite happened since we moved in. My closet looks so much better now, and I ended up donating a huge pile of random things to DI. Stephen has been enjoying his evenings off by drawing and programming. I'm so proud of his efforts, even if I can't fully appreciate all the code he works on.

Stephen has been absolutely wonderful to me this past month. We've shared a lot of personal moments together that have drawn us closer as a couple. We listened to a series of talks on our drive to and from Idaho about marriage. There were a lot of helpful tidbits that we've implemented already. I feel like I understand Stephen better, and he understands me better too. I know we're both going to spend our lives learning more and more about each other. I feel like we have a really good foundation and we are able to work through things together and end up loving each other more because of our differences. He's the best.

Some favorite moments from the past few weeks: Stephen and I were sitting on the couch together. He had taught me a new online game (Kingdom of Loathing) and returned to his programming. After fifteen minutes or so, I had a question about the game and asked him, "What happens when you die?" He, no longer thinking about the game, rolled his eyes and looked at me and said, "You've got to be more specific." I laughed so hard for a while until I finally calmed down enough to explain. I know it doesn't sound nearly as funny now, but it's one of those you-had-to-be-there moments. 

Another special moment was yesterday when I was having a harder day. Stephen came home from work and hugged me for a few minutes. I then went to the kitchen to finish dinner and he started playing music on his phone from our wedding. He held me in the kitchen and started dancing with me. I remember telling him when we were dating that something I wanted in a husband was someone who would dance with me, even if he wasn't good. Stephen has never particularly enjoyed dancing, but he's always willing to dance with me. Yesterday, it was so special. He didn't say anything, just rocked me side to side as the gravy simmered. I'm so blessed to have him.

For instance, right now, he's encouraging me to continue blogging as he vacuums the living room. He's so supportive of me. I'm excited for our next semester. We both have some good classes coming up, and I'll be graduating in April, so that's motivation to work hard and get through this semester. Stephen is going to continue working ten-hour days twice a week and I'll be manning the fort here at home.  It's a strange phenomenon that no matter how much I clean, there is always more to clean. And I don't even have children yet! Mothers, I'm sorry! Dirt collects no matter how many people live in a house. One of my New Year resolutions is to spend more time cleaning each day in order to not have to spend so much time on my weekends making up for my lack of attention.

Well, enough talk of cleaning--I need to get to work! Dishes need to be unloaded and laundry needs to be folded. Then my husband is taking me out on a date! Man, am I spoiled!