Husband for Hire

So back in November when the last Twilight movie came about I had to beg the husband (then fiancé) to take me to see it. He only finally succumbed to my plea after he and the father in law decided it would be less painfully for both of them if they took the mother in law and me together. Better to not “suffer alone”. He begrudgingly admitted that it wasn’t the absolute worst movie he’d ever seen… The first movie was.

Confession, I really love the Twilight movies… Whenever I’m having a bad day, it’s either Twilight or Harry Potter that goes into the DVD player. I’m also a fan of any movie made from a Nicholas Sparks’ book. The movies are my chocolate, my guilty pleasure… judge me.

The husband can’t stand it. Anytime the emotionless face of Kirsten Stewart or the hairy, pale chest of R-Patz fills our TV screen he rolls his eyes and leaves. He glares at me as I drool over the hills and valleys of Taylor Lautner’s abs and laughs when I whisper the words along with the movie. He just doesn’t get it but he accepts it.

So now to the actual story.

Back a few weeks ago I asked the husband to run to Walmart to grab me a few things. I can’t go to Walmart during normal shopping hours anymore, the stress of dodging shopping carts, fighting the urge to take pictures of “people of Walmart”, and waiting in line behind the mom with two carts, six kids, and a binder of coupons sends me into one of two things: a full fledge anxiety attack or total “B” mode. He accepted the challenge to brave it alone.

When the husband walked into the house and he was blushing! The husband is generally pretty stoned faced, considering I’ve been trying in vain for nine months to get him to jump up and down with excitement for something (not even the day we got engaged, picture proof… I’m jumping, he’s standing) blushing was something I never thought I’d see.

Hey babe, how was the store?

Fine… I have a story for you.

My version of the husband’s story (with my lovely commentary as well of course)

So I was just walking through Walmart picking up the things that I need and a bunch of giggling teenage girls run up to me. Really? You’re not the person that I would just run up to in the middle of the store… You don’t necessarily give off that warm fuzzy feeling. Whatever… Shut up! Exhibit A… Anyway, these girls run up to me giggling and tell me that they are doing a scavenger hunt and they need a picture of someone who looks like a famous person and I look like Edward so could they get my picture. Well you are pale enough to be a vampire. Yeah, I told them though that I actually look like Carlisle not Edward, I saw them again as they were leaving and they yelled “bye Carlisle!” the whole thing was kind of embarrassing. Wait… you corrected them on which vampire you look like? Well… no it’s not that I think I look like him, it was the girls in my mission, they called me Elder Carlisle. No no no… you just admitted that you know which vampire you look like and you have an opinion on it! Is that why you’re embarrassed? Because you corrected teenage girls on which Twilight character you look like? You’re right… that is embarrassing. Then he walked out of the room with the same expression he has when I’m actually watching the movies. I don’t think the husband thinks I’m as funny as everyone else does. 

  
I guess I see the resemblance...

So that’s the husband’s deep dark secret… HE IS TOTALLY A SCHOLAR OF TWILIGHT… he’s been caught, you may all tease him mercilessly now.

And this whole ordeal gave me the best idea. The husband is going out for hire! Nothing would top off a twilight themed birthday party better than a visit from a vampire! I’ll even throw in some contacts and glitter him up for you. Valentines is coming up, why not have your flowers delivered by “Carlisle”. Want to make the movie watching experience just a little more real, have a character sit next to you and share your popcorn. I think this is going to be a huge moneymaker. It’s going to be bigger than the books themselves. So, spread the word! I haven’t run my idea past the husband but I’m sure he’s going to be all for it.  

And random thought of the day... I really really miss this weather...

It Was a Very "Princess Diaries" Day + a Little Bit of "Notebook"

Ok I hate to break it to everyone... this post has nothing to do with any of the romantic parts from either of those two movies. It has to do with cars.

Did you know that automatic transmissions were first put into cars by General Motors in 1940? The first car to have one was an Oldsmobile. That means for the last 70 years people have been driving without a clutch. We as human beings have evolved away from this just like we have evolved from living in caves and catching our food with spears. So why anyone would purposefully buy a car with a manual transmission is beyond me. And yet the husband is one of those people. I guess he is just less evolved than the rest of us. Awesome... I married a caveman.

Well when the caveman and I got engaged, he decided that it was SO important that I learned how to drive his car so the "lessons" began. They looked a little like this... 

Soon the caveman, ok I'll stop calling him that, I do love him very much I'm still just a little bitter... Soon the husband and I stopped our lessons. I think it was just better for our relationship that I stayed away from his precious car. Did you know when he asked my grandparents for their permission to marry me one of the conditions was that he would always make sure I had an automatic transmission car to drive? And they weren't joking. They saw the affect the "lessons" had on us.

I thought I had won that battle... But the husband hadn't given up... Once he had me locked in with marriage the battle started again... 

H: Hey honey, I'm taking your car today and you get mine. Good luck. *smirk*
W: Oh ok. Oh yeah babe, this is probably the BEST idea you have ever had. Let's send the girl who still has no idea how to drive stick in my car alone all day. I'm sure everything will be just fine. While we're at it, let's just throw her in a pool of sharks. She can't swim either so if she doesn't die driving the car, the sharks will get her. Great... my husband is trying to kill me. That is his goal today. Maybe I should have ended up being pregnant last week, he wouldn't have risked the life of his unborn child! You smirk now... but we'll see what your face looks like when you come home and your car is totaled.

As I pull up to Gus's house, I stop the car, pull up the E brake and turn the engine off. I grabbed my bag, and headed up the stairs to her apartment. As I'm heading up the second flight of stairs I turned around to lock the car and I see the husbands car rolling backwards down the parking lot.

Yeah... I'm pretty sure that is a pretty good representation of what happened. But really... imagine this scene but instead of being in the car I was chasing the car down said hill. All while two Asians sat on the side laughing at me... Really? What happened to cultural loyalty? Aren't we Asians supposed to stick together like sticky rice? Apparently not today... So I catch up with the car, jump in and stop it. Then I call the husband...

W: I almost just wrecked your car!
H: Oh... is it ok?
W: he is WAAAAY too calm about this... Yeah, it's fine
H: Ok, What happened? 
W: (review story) Give me my car back!
H: You probably didn't have the E brake up all the way. But ok you  can have your car back.
W: He is still too calm... He's probably actually freaking out inside. Well serves him right. So no, he gave me his car... I'm going to drive his car and if it gets ruined in the process... It sucks to be him. Actually I think I'm ok.
H: Are you sure? You can have your car back.
W: Nope I'm good. I'm also a stubborn brat most days... He knows what he married... 

As we leave Gus's house... the car now doesn't start... *call husband* 
H: The clutch probably isn't all the way down.
W: No it's touching the floor
H: Yeah... if the second mat is under the clutch it won't go all the way down.
W: Then why do you double mat your car? Are you really that concerned that one mat won't be enough? Or is it that the first mat will get dirty so you have a second mat to protect the first one? It's like those people who vacuum the vacuum. 

So the rest of my day continued. And I have to say I was doing pretty well. Until... I had to take Gus home. She lives half way up a hill. And there is a light in the middle of that hill. For you Provoites, she lives in the middle of State St. (one of the busiest streets in town) And... it was the middle of rush hour. I pull up to the light in the middle of the incline and the light is red... It turns green and... I stall. Then I stall again. And again. AND again. Yep... I just stalled through an entire light as probably 30 cars passed me... 

This is how I looked...

This is what I felt like doing... 

The light turned green again and I completely burned out the husbands tires and clutch but... I got through the light. I got Gus home and I headed home to Springville. I made a vow... if I stalled one more time I was pulling over and I wasn't going to move until the husband got off work and came to get me. I think God knew that I wasn't bluffing because as I headed home every light miraculously turned green. 

The husband now knows better than to just throw me out of the nest when it comes to his car... Because trust me, he definitely wasn't smirking when he got home. 

That One Day I was Pregnant

First off, today is the husband and my one month anniversary! I seriously can't believe that it has been a month... So much has happened. Like last weekend when I was pregnant for a day.

We had made it through our first week of classes... 4 hours until freedom and my phone starts ringing during class. Unknown number. And... they leave a voice mail, I DESPISE voice mails. I listen and oh awesome the lady doctor called me to let me know that my birth control has been recalled. It turns out that if it was produced in one cycle it stops working after 2 months. "now we're not exactly sure if yours was in that batch but we wanted to let you know so that you can be *giggle* careful. We'll call to confirm the situation tomorrow" I do the math in my head, I got mine in September... and I got married in December. Well at this point I think it's a little too late to be careful...

After 10 minutes of attempting to not pass out or throw up... I mean at this point I'm for sure getting kicked off team and I'm going to get so fat... Well babies are kind of cute right, when they get past the over sized head stage and they're not crying and stuff. I guess I could do the whole baby thing. And If I'm pregnant right now I get to join my other twenty friends that announced their pregnancies this month. We can go through this process together sharing our progress, questions, and concerns on facebook and instagram. And now that there's no point to pinning wedding ideas I get to use pinterest for my baby needs!

At this point the husband is at work and there is no way I'm telling him that we're going to have a baby over text. So next I do the most normal thing I can think of I google "signs and symptoms of pregnancy" 

• Moodiness and Unstable Emotions- check, husband can most definitely verify
• Cravings- I totally ate like four rolls at Texas Roadhouse the other day and I hate bread
• Nausea- Well I'm feeling completely nauseous right now at the thought of being pregnant does that count? 
• Backaches- My back totally hurts. I don’t care if we did lifts all day in team today there is no way my back should be this sore.
• Fatigue- That explains why I was falling asleep in New Testament today…
  

OH MY GOSH I am totally pregnant. 

Well there’s nothing I can do about it at this point because again there is no way I’m telling the husband. So I might as well continue on with my day. I headed over to Gus’s birthday dinner at Outback. The smell of the bread is so amazing “But you hate bread… here are those cravings again” I think if I eat this chicken in front of me I’m going to puke “Food aversions, I’m pretty sure that was on the list too” I’m pretty sure I just felt something move inside me “Ok you’re not Bella and this isn’t twilight there’s not some vampire baby growing inside you there is no way that you just felt something move” I really have to pee. Ok I may not be having a vampire but peeing was definitely on the google list!

Later that night I tell the husband that I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant. He laughs and tells me I’m crazy. Then I start listing off my symptoms… and I get him convinced. Let’s run to the grocery store and we’ll stop at Walgreens on the way home and pick up a test. Oh a test... good idea honey

Walking through the aisles I can see the wheels running full speed through the husbands head. I can just imagine what he’s thinking, how are we going to afford a baby? Does this mean that neither of us are going to Blackpool? we haven’t even been married a month! Hey honey can I grab a jar of pickles? I’m pretty sure if I had picked up that jar of pickles he was going to throw them at my head. 

And now we are finally at Walgreens... standing infront of about twenty different tests. We pick a box that has three inside I mean what if it's wrong the first time. And we head to check out. There stands a cute old lady ready to check us out. Oh... are you hoping? *wink* And in his perfect awkwardness the husband answers well we're hoping for something... That is the point where I die laughing and start bawling... There we go with the unstable emotions again.

I'll spare you from the details of the rest of the night. But I don't think I've ever seen such a look of relief on someones face as I did on the husbands when it was negative. But it was kind of fun being pregnant for a day.

So hey honey... if you're reading this... sorry i didn't tell you that my birth control got recalled... you just looked so scared before I got to that part I couldn't bare to tell you. But no worries now right? 

Bridals (Photo OVERLOAD!)

Like I said earlier, we took our bridals in November so we would have pictures for the reception and as insurance for if there was some crazy blizzard on the wedding day (it did snow on our wedding day but it was pretty picture snow). Of course because we were taking these to avoid weather problems we happened to do them on one of the windiest days of the year in Utah. But we love love love how they turned out! So here is a huge picture overload of our favorites... 

The Big Reveal

Because we were getting married in December Sterling and I decided to take some of our Bridals with him in them to make sure we got some pictures together in case there was snow on the wedding day. We decided to do a reveal shoot...

 

Oh how I love him... 

Yep we're GIANTS!

So I went to church this week with the husband. We walked in and stood for a second to peruse the pickings of seats. Family with two crying babies? No thank you. Front row were the bishop can keep an eye on us? Nope. As we were contemplating this important decision I can't help but notice a few people staring at us... And the people would walk past us are gawking up at us. We choose our prime seat (left side, three rows from the back) and as we're walking a lady stops us. 

Are we new to the ward? Well... this is the fourth week in a row we've been here so I'd probably say that's a negative. 

How tall are the two of you? At this point I roll my eyes at the husband. She couldn't possibly say that it was nice to meet us, or ask where we were living or where we were from or anything else. Never... this is always the first question we get asked. 

For the record the husband is 6'4" and I am just under 6'. (that day I was also wearing 2 and 1/2 inch heels)

When she asks the question I can feel everyone in the vicinity lean in so they can hear how tall the new giant couple is. I list our heights off to her. 

Well aren't you a lucky girl to find a husband who is so tall? Acutally I'd say he was lucky to find a girl as tall as me.  He'd look pretty funny if he married a girl who was like 5'2" or something... (the ladies approximate height)

Awkward Silence... and the rest of the congregation all begins their own conversations out of nowhere. 

Ok in all reality that was kind of mean of me. I'm sure she meant no harm and I do truly feel blessed to have met my handsome and tall husband. But really, when people meet people who are very short rarely do they ask how short they are because *hint* it's kind of rude...

As I was ranting to the husband about all of this he was laughing and later he sat me down and we talked about all the things we love about being tall.

• We both have awesome legs, but seriously we have sexy legs
• We can always find each other in a crowd
• I can reach anything at the grocery store
• People always ask us if we're models which is a nice confidence boost 
• We had an excuse to buy a really really big bed
• We look proportionate to each other aka. he doesn't look like he's toting around his little sister
• We can gain a few pounds and you can hardly see it (still not an excuse to get fat!)
• We make awesome lines in dance 
• People always remember us, even if it is just as the tall couple... except that lady at church apparently but I'm sure she will now
• Heels still look awesome on me

And there are so many more. But moral of the story is that being tall rocks, I'm sorry if you're jealous. 

 Just because I think every blog post is more fun with a picture. The husband and I at Halloween. Let's just say that all the children were terrified of him... probably helped that he was even taller with the hat...

The Engagements

We ended up finding the best photographer. We loved working with Travis Richardson. You can find him at travisjphotography.com . He did all of our engagements, bridals, and covered our wedding. Seriously though... anyone getting married use this guy. 

So we took our engagements back in October but here are some of our favorites...

The Proposal

Back in July we went to a Ballroom Competition and on the sand of Coronado Beach this happened... 

 I said yes...

Part II

Ok... So I'm going to finish up the rest of our dating story real quick so we can get back to current events. 

1. Sterling comes back from the mission August of 2011 and starts dancing for BYU again...

2. Sterling dates Cait (Nicole's roommate) who is also on the Ballroom Team

3. Nicole doesn't like Cait's new boyfriend

4. Sterling's dance partner Jessie and Nicole's partner Zach start dating

5. Sterling and Nicole go shopping for Cait's Christmas gift (Nicole hates life)

6. Sterling and Cait break up

7. Sterling and Nicole start talking more in class

8. Jessie and Zach decide to get married

9. Sterling and Jessie Break up and Nicole and Zach break up so Jessie and Zach can dance together

10. Sterling and Nicole decide to dance together and live happily every after

Yeah that's the really really condensed version. We didn't just live happily ever after. We decided to become dance partners because our coaches advised us that we were the best match for each other.But after we became dance partners we knew we needed to try and become friends so we started hanging out. We both denied that we wanted to date until one fateful night while watching Harry Potter he kissed me (before the first date that sly dog). From there it was happily ever after...