Moving (Again)

The move (again) to Utah is over. Well, mostly. I found out some things that I didn't expect:

1. I have more than 50 shirts. I went to buy hangers (I decided not to trek across the country with them), and bought 5 10-packs. Not enough :-( .

2. Utah is beautiful, and I did miss the mountains.

3. The water in Utah tastes great, and runs oh-so-cold from the tap.

4. 40 hours is a LOT of time to work per week. I've worked 6.5 hours since I got here, and it's felt really really good.

5. I am a normal human who only sleeps 8 hours a day. Not 12 like I was usually trying to do in DC. I think this has something to do with going to bed when I feel tired and waking up...whenever.

6. PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN TO DRIVE. The Metro got rid of most of my travel-rage. It's back with a vengeance.

7. If someone next to me barfs on a plane/train/bus, I'm actually NOT going to throw up, as well. I thought I'd be more sensitive, but the guy next to me was throwing up the WHOLE way to SLC from Denver, and I didn't even get nauseated. Super Mario might have just saved my Panda Express.

Of course, I've learned other things, too. These are just the ones that stick out right at the moment.

I miss JJ a lot. We've gone through work trips and other things, but this is totally strange. It's really weird to go into my closet to get...whatever... and know where it is (yes, he puts all my laundry away), without having to push his shirts or suits aside to get to the shelves. It's also really weird to go out with friends and not have someone to talk to about it when I get home (and it's usually too late on the East to call him).

I'm so glad that we're now less than 3 weeks away from seeing each other! It helps that I'm with my family, so I feel horrible that he's going through this time by himself.

So what has he been up to, you ask?

Working out--two-a-days. And he'll be going to a conference soon, so it should help.

I Had A Really Good Day Yesterday

...despite some bad news.

I got some bad news yesterday, but that's not something I really want to blog about. Actually, I did want to blog about it, but then I took the post off, because it was potentially offensive. For those of you who were lucky enough to check my blog at like 12:35 PM, you were blessed with my ranting and raving.

I spent all day yesterday (my day off) boiling about this situation while watching crappy TV.

After that, however, I had the best talk EVER with JJ (as soon as he got home from work). We finally agreed on how we feel about the situation, which we hadn't before, and had quite the fun time laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing is, and how it's something that would only happen when completely contrived on some kind of awful British sitcom.

Following that, I decided to take a bath to go out with JJ and forget about our situation. JJ then surprised me by jumping in the bath with me (mind you, we're both not tiny people, and our bath is one of those bath/shower combos that 1 person barely fits in)... and then he got stuck! I almost peed the bath, and he got out. I'm sure it was meant to be kind of romantic, but it ended up just being way hilarious.

After that episode, I got dressed, and we headed out. We had decided to take a walk and then go to dinner. We rode the Metro to Rosslyn, then walked across the Key Bridge, down on the riverwalk, and then ended up going back up to M Street and picking a restaurant at random.

We ended up eating at a place called The Guards. It was pretty good, but they were out of both the salad and pie that I wanted. The Crab Cakes, however, were GOOOOOOD!


We then walked to the Foggy Bottom Metro stop and rode home, where I fell asleep watching a new episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Such a good day. I'm going to miss days like this when I go back home--8 days from today.

Things That Scare the Poop Outta Me

Homeless people

Suffering when I die

JJ secretly hating me

Those big garbage cans... which is actually a fear of homeless people that live in them

But MOSTLY....

Frequently Asked Questions

I've recently been receiving a lot of questions about how our lives are going to go in the next few months, both as individuals, and as a couple. I'm hoping to be able to refer people to this blog entry, so that I don't have to keep answering the same questions over and over. I also get kinda sad when I hear some of these, so I'm hoping it'll give answers to the questions I don't like hearing. I'm also going to write it in the 3rd person, so that you know exactly who I'm talking about at all times.

1. What exactly are you guys doing?

Marika is going back to Utah to finish school. She has 2 semesters left, but it's only 9 credits. Because her program is one of the smaller ones at UVU, not all classes are offered during both semesters, so she has 6 credits this semester, and 3 next semester. While going to school, she will be working for her dad (as his assistant), which should be 20-30 hours a week, and is flexible enough that she can come out to DC whenever she wants, which is where JJ will stay.

JJ will continue with his job here in DC, which he really enjoys, and is a great opportunity for upward mobility.

2. So is Marika just going to get a little apartment?

No. Marika's parents have plenty of space for her to live with them for this small amount of time and save money (she'd rather buy plane tickets with her dollars).

3. Don't you think it'll be hard to be married and seperate?

First of all, we're not having any kind of marital issues. Please don't read that into our short time apart--which we don't like to call a "separation" for obvious reasons.

Of course it will be hard. We're in love! However, Marika has always been very goal-oriented, and school was not a goal she was willing to give up. JJ also supports her in everything that she does, and wants her to be satisfied with her life. Getting her degree will be worth this small amount of time, so that we'll be able to feel accomplished and at-peace with everything when it's finally over.

*EDIT* JJ can do his own laundry and is a pretty darn good cook. I'm not worried about that, either.

No, this was not an easy decision. It will be hard.

4. Isn't it about time that you guys got settled and had kids?

HA, HA. Very funny. Let's talk about this when we're not kids ourselves (means NO). Finishing school will help Marika feel like an adult. We can talk about it in a few months, then.

5. What can I do to help?

Thanks for the offer, but really... acting normal around us will be just fine. It'll help us get into the swing of pretending this time is normal, in the first place. So, going to lunches, game nights, movies, everything that you would have invited US to do, feel free to invite one of us to do.

6. When will you see each other?

Marika already has plane tickets to be in DC 1 week of September and 1 week in October. JJ is planning to be in Vegas one weekend in August (Marika's birthday) and in UT one weekend in August (Walker's wedding). JJ will also be in UT for Thanksgiving, and the couple will be spending Christmas with HIS family this year (in PA or somewhere else, no one knows yet). We haven't planned anything for January-April, but it's so far away that we'll be able to get it planned in plenty of time.

In the mean time, we're going to Skype, call, text, email, send presents, and do all that cute stuff that we do anyway. We're dang cute.

SEE? There's really nothing to be worried about. We'll be just fine, as we want to be strong, independent people who are married and love each other, even when we get to live together. We've always tried to keep our friends, have time for others, and make our own decisions as a married couple, anyhow, so we think we'll function just fine.

Being apart will probably help us to be even stronger, as we'll start to appreciate being with each other even more.

Never Before Seen ish pics

This post is pretty much just of pictures that I haven't posted. Some of them were because I look ugly, or because it was before our blog got started. Some of them are on Facebook, but I figure not everyone has it. Well, not QUITE everyone.


HAHA. This one is from Vegas (Dec. '08). I didn't look good in any pictures, so I started making faces like I was going to throw up or something... since that's way cool.

Tavernacle with the buds

This is a pic from our engagement session in PA (with JJ's "uncle", who is really his mom's cousin).

We went to Yellowstone with my family 2 summers ago. It's so strange that this was that long ago! I still remember the whole trip like it was yesterday.

I think this is my 20th berfday. It's almost my 22nd now! It's at The Blue Boar Inn, Midway, Utah.

OOOoooh this one is old! It's from when we very first started dating. SO CUTE!

Same here. I'm not sure, but I think this pic was when we first decided to be exclusive. I used to have a camera in my purse at all times.

JJ's bro, Jared, took us out to do engagements in the fall leaves. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the settings on the camera were all jacked up. This is the one that would've been on the invites, had "Uncle" Greg not saved us. And yes, one or both of us looked goofy in all of the ones that had okay coloring/lighting/contrast.

Hershey Park, Summer '06. It was like 115 (does anyone know where the degrees sign can be found) outside, we went on water rides over and over.

On a totally-not-related note, I miss Taco Amigo. I also miss having fast food nearby--a burger sounds DELISH right now. And yes, Taco Amigo has delicious burgers.