♥ Likes and Dislikes.

Over the course of our marriage, Brooks and I have obviously gotten to know each other really well.  We've seen all of each other's quirks, preferences, and habits.  

It's been a lot of fun to really "learn" each other, and get to the point where we can order food for each other, pick out an outfit for each other (i.e. when Brooks is running late at work and we have to be somewhere, so I'll grab some of his clothes and meet him to save time), and buy gifts for each other.  I, for example, am an amazing gift giver, because I've gotten to know Brooks' nerdy side and also his sporty side.  For example, I've given him the complete extended edition trilogy of Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray (his favorite), a Super Mario edition chess board, a Giants baseball cap, etc. 

So, with all of our acquired knowledge, I thought it'd be fun to write a little post on our Likes and Dislikes that we've learned from each other.  It's funny how different we can be, yet how easily we get along.

BROOKS:

Likes:

• Mexican Food
• Xbox
• Sports of any kind (except Women's basketball)
• Brad Pitt
• ESPN
• Coke Zero
• LeBron James
• Sweet Tarts
• Netflix
• Christie's cookies
• Reading
• Michael Buble
• Cartoons
• The Suns, Giants, Diamondbacks, 49ers, Cardinals, Kings, and Heat. (I made sure he started supporting my home teams as well as his)
• Going out to the movies
• In-n-out
• Tupac, Macklemore, and Eminem (yeah, he's so fly.)
• Sonic (both the dog and the drive-in)
• Science Fiction
• Folded T-shirts
• Cheese
• Gym Shorts
• Cleanliness

Dislikes:

• Shopping
• Asian Food
• Puzzles
• Cats
• The Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, Yankees, Mavericks, and Dodgers
• The Bachelor 
• Christie's clothes on the floor
• Utah Drivers
• Paul Walker & Vin Diesel (basically just the Fast and the Furious series)
• T-shirts on hangers
• Miley Cyrus
• Snow
• Obey clothing brand
• People who wear sunglasses indoors
• Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki
• Chewing Gum
• Kraft Mac & Cheese
• Soulja Boi
• Wearing sandals
• The Kardashians
• Taking pictures
• iPhones (he thinks people are sheep and just get them because they're "cool")
• Clutter of any kind
• Other people touching his Xbox
• Christie's driving

CHRISTIE:

Likes:

• Taylor Swift
• Asian and Seafood of any kind
• The Notebook
• Jigsaw Puzzles
• Reading
• Peanut M&Ms
• Game Shows
• Anthropologie
• Going out to the movies
• Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, and Cam Newton
• Baseball, Basketball, and Football
• White Chocolate
• Dogs, cats, and animals of any kind
• Netflix
• SWEET POTATO FRIES
• Board Games
• Taking Pictures
• Zupas, In-n-out, Panda Express, and SUSHI
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Spinach
• Drinking with straws
• Blankets
• Singing in the car
• the color White
• iPhones
• Baby pictures

Dislikes:

• The Kardashians, Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, and Nicholas Cage
• Mexican Food
• Tomatoes
• Utah Drivers
• Radio stations
• Gay impressions (making fun of gay people)
• Graduation ceremonies
• Crocs
• Beauty Pageants
• Being told "no"
• Cold sandwiches
• Breastfeeding in public
• People who wear sunglasses indoors
• White girls acting like gangsters
• TWILIGHT
• Tyler Perry and all of his movies
• Pride and Prejudice (and Jane Austin for that matter)
• Mustard and Mayo
• Thanksgiving Turkey
• Fedoras
• Choirs
• Brooks reading on the toilet

Well that's a little bit about us that we've learned from each other.  Some things we agree perfectly on, others we have the complete opposite tastes!  I guess that's what keeps things interesting.  Sure do love him though.

Xoxo.

♥ Hello Natalie, So Long California.

She's finally home!!

After spending 18 months anxiously refreshing my email on Mondays so I could read her latest letter, dialing her number just to remember she wouldn't answer, and crying whenever Mean Girls came on, Natalie's homecoming was surreal and wonderful.

She is SO full of light and joy, and just exudes serenity and happiness.  It definitely twists the knife a little bit seeing how much she's changed knowing that I can't serve a mission until Brooks and I are old together.  Ahhhh well.

This last week was SO fun and went by way too fast.  

Tuesday night I embarked on a short little journey to California by taking two flights, one to Las Vegas, and then the next to Sacramento (can someone PLEASE explain to me why non-direct flights decide to fly you in the exact opposite direction of your destination??? So annoying).  Brooks had to work, so he didn't join me until late Saturday night, so it was just me and my good pal Sonic.  I must admit, I felt quite popular at the airports with him working the crowd everywhere he went.  The flights were nice because the planes were basically empty so I got an entire row to myself and spent the duration of the rides reading on my kindle app... which as much as I try to like it, it's just not the same as a good, ol' paperback.  Wow, I sound like I'm ninety...

Anyways...

Natalie came home on Wednesday morning, and after spending time catching up with relatives at the airport, our family headed over to Mimi's Cafe for some good breakfast.  We OF COURSE made a stop on the way home to AT&T so Nat could get her iPhone set up (priorities people) and then went home to relax and listened to some amazing missionary stories.

Here's the cutest homecoming video you'll EVER see!  (Props to my uncle Doug Orchard!  He put the whole thing together in just a couple of hours.  Seriously, I would get married again just to have him video it!)

        

On Thursday we headed to San Fran so Natalie could get her hair done (again, priorities people), so Stephen, Brad and I headed to Pier 39 to enjoy some magic shows and, my favorite of course, seafood.  My brothers and I played our favorite game called "Pat" where you try and find the most pats (people who are nearly impossible to decipher what gender they are).  Brad got 80 one time I believe.  Gotta love it.

Friday was spent outdoors swimming in my grandparents' new doughboy pool and enjoying their BBQ.  Natalie got fried after 18 months of no sun haha, what a cute missionary.  That night she had an open house so all our friends and family could come drop by and see her, and it was SO fun seeing some old friends from high school and who just got off their missions as well! 

My gramps and Sonic.  The bestest of friends.

Saturday was pretty much spent playing the Wii and helping Nat learn Instagram and all the latest technology stuff (it's seriously amazing how much you can miss in just 18 months).  That night we went to my mom's last ever Upstage show, her dancing performance group that she has been running for over 20 years! It was so good and fun, and I even got emotional realizing it was my last ever time watching it.  Brooks FINALLY got home that night, so my mood was instantly better.  My aunt said I looked like a lost puppy dog without him.  What can I say, he's just so cute.

Sunday we of course went to church to hear Natalie's homecoming talk which was unreal.  Lots of tears were shed and it was so heartfelt and honest, not rehearsed like most talks.  SO good.  Afterwards we had the entire gang over for a luncheon where Brooks and I promptly fell asleep after our food comas.  I've missed my mom's cooking.  We also went and visited some of my best friends from back home that I haven't seen in years, which was so, so fun.  Brooks and I won the prize for greatest ever Father's Day card, which we found weeks in advance and got for both of our fathers because we loved it so much.  We both love corny/inappropriate jokes I guess.

Logan's love for Sonic isn't quite reciprocated...

Monday we headed to San Fran again for some major girl shopping (p r i o r i t i e s) while the guys saw the new Superman movie, fulfilled our tradition of eating at the Cheesecake Factory on top of the 5 story Macys, and went to the Giants game!  Although the game was super exciting and went into extra innings, the Giants lost, but we still had a blast eating nachos and dancing on the dance cam.  One of our (Brooks and I) bucket list items is to visit every major league ballpark in America, and this was Brooks' first time at AT&T Park, and he loved how it looked over the bay and enjoyed all the millions of seagulls that come clean up leftover hotdogs immediately after the game ended (Seriously, it's just like Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.  It's creepy.)  It was a perfect day.

Tuesday was a sad day, as it was our last day EVER at my parents house (they move to South Jordan in two weeks) and maybe the last time in Loomis for a long, long time.  We went over and swam at my grandparents again and played volleyball and ate pizza.  That night was just spent with family and included getting shakes at Taylors (bomb as always) for the last time, and playing card games.  I love my family, and as sad as I am that they're leaving my hometown, I will love having them closer.

 Seriously, look how many flavors of shakes they have, and this isn't even all of them!

 

Wednesday we were off, and after waving goodbye to our cute house one last time, we stopped in Reno to eat some sushi with my bestie from high school, and then continued the 10 hour drive to Utah (which was of course was filled with a J.T. soundtrack, diet coke, and talks about the future with the love of my life.  I seriously am so lucky to be married to my best friend).

We are now back to work and reality.  I really am loving my position at the Central Utah Clinic (especially since they buy us lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY.  The way to my heart is definitely through my stomach), and I'm so blessed to be doing something I really love that can help support my family financially.

Well, this post probably got out of hand length wise, but you guys can deal.

Things I'm grateful for:

Missions:  They really are such an amazing opportunity, and although I haven't been on one personally, I have seen first hand how life changing they can be and encourage everyone to go on one!

Sonic: I must admit, it feels incredibly lonely to go back to sleeping by yourself after being so used to snuggling up with someone.  It was a major comfort having Sonic be able to snuggle with me and help keep my mind off Brooks while we were apart.

My Extended Family: I really have amazing cousins/uncles/aunts and I love how they all help each other and all cook really well.  It makes me want to always live close to family.

Till next time peeps.

Xoxo.

♥ T. Swift & stuff.

This week has been spectacular.

Not only did I get an externship at the gastroenterology clinic in Provo, but I also won 2 tickets to the Taylor Swift concert.

On Wednesday evening Brooks and I were driving home from Salt Lake and were listening to the radio (which we hardly ever do), when one of the radio hosts mentioned that they'd be giving away tickets at 7:20 am for the Taylor Swift concert the next morning.  I immediately set my alarm for 7:15 (which is a big deal, since I'm not a morning person and can happily sleep in till 11 if I choose) the next day as a desperate chance to win.  My alarm went off the next morning, and thankfully it woke Brooks up because I naturally pressed snooze and continued my sleep, until he shook me awake.  I dialed the number and was all ready to press send as I waited for the go ahead from the talk show hosts.  At 7:23 they finally announced (It was a long three minutes...) that the 10th caller would win two tickets, and I immediately began calling.  Each time the line was busy, until the fifth time it went through and began dialing.  I immediately began hyperventilating and when they picked up I shouted "AM I THE TENTH CALLER?!?!!" and they said yes, but that I needed to win the "Battle of the Brains" first.  Now, as evidenced by my high school GPA, my brain does not work until about 10 am (the reason why I consistently got B's in all my morning classes).  The radio host explained that we (the second talk show host and myself) would go back and forth naming an instrument from an orchestra until one of us couldn't come up with one, and whoever said the last one would win.  Now not only have I never even seen an orchestra, but I was also SUPER tired and nervous.  I started out okay saying things like Violin and Harp, but started freezing up and I kept accidentally repeating instruments she had already named or saying things like Guitar or Banjo.  I believe I even said American Horn after she said French Horn (hey, you never know).  Well apparently they found my answers really funny and thought I was such a good sport, that they decided to give me the tickets anyways... even though I lost!! They even played it on the radio two minutes later and made it sound like I didn't win them!  I was SO happy and drove up to Salt Lake that afternoon to pick up my tickets and guarded them with my life.

Now those of you that know me, know that I adore Taylor.  I don't know the exact reason.  Maybe it's because I'm a hopeless romantic and she writes a lot of love songs.  Maybe it's because I felt like I could relate to her first single "Tim McGraw" when I was 14 years old, and have felt the same with every song since.  Maybe it's because I admire how pure and modest she is, and has always been.  Whatever the reasons, I know just about every word to every song, and will love her forever.  

I am constantly teased by my love for her by my family and brothers-in-law, and constantly defend her.  In fact, my friends and family associate myself with her so much, that when my parents were driving back to California after dropping me off at BYU, my mom started to cry when she heard one of her songs at a gas station....  It's kind of pathetic.

Well, Saturday night finally came, and as usual, her concert BLEW ME AWAY.  It's no wonder she constantly wins Entertainer of the Year.

(I know what you're thinking... but no, I didn't take these photos.  We were seated to the left of the stage so the stage lights kept blurring all my pictures and iPhone cameras aren't that good)

It was SUCH a great concert!  I didn't want it to end!! 

And for all of those out there who think I'm extremely lucky and always win, (I won tickets to see Taylor Swift at the Ellen DeGeneres show last year), you wouldn't think that way if you saw just how many contests I actually enter...  Well worth the effort if you ask me!

This week I am grateful for:

Spinach:  I have a new found obsession with Spinach lately.  Whether it's in breakfast smoothies, on SLAB pizza, or used in place of lettuce in all my salads/sandwiches, it's very healthy and just makes me feel better throughout the day.  Plus, I find it delicious.

A Sweet Husband: Let's get real.  There are a LOT of husbands out there who wouldn't be caught dead at a Taylor Swift concert surrounded by 14,000 screaming girls, but Brooks went with me because that's just the kind of guy he is.

Good Friends: I don't start my externship until tomorrow, so all week I have had lots of free time and we've been having way too much fun with a few of our favorite married friends.  Going back to reality tomorrow will not be easy...

Nursery:  Although it's extremely tiring sometimes, and we get lots of poopy diapers and bawling kids, it has been SO fun and helps us look forward to church and to having kids of our own someday.

Okay guys, just 10 more days until Natalie gets home!!!!!!!!!!! I hope to see a lot of you in Loomis when we visit for her homecoming! 

Xoxo.