My First Bee Sting

I remember when my sister stepped on a bee as a kid, and just thinking about it brings me pain, but somehow I made it all of these years and have never been stung. That is no longer the case. 10 minutes into my ride yesterday, a bee - or perhaps a wasp - flew directly into the neck of my shirt to my sleeve, and then as expected, it panicked! And so did I! I'm lucky I didn't crash. The thing bit me so I was bleeding AND stung me on another part of my arm. And it hurt! I have so much more sympathy now for those who have been stung. I tried to remember how to treat bee stings, and poured a bunch of water on the hard dirt to make mud and covered my arm in it. And then I called Nate and he said I had to get the stinger out, but it was on the back of my arm so I couldn't see it. Lucky for me, he came to the rescue. I went home, washed off the mud and put the baking soda/water paste as instructed by the husband, and then when he got home, first he laughed because my arm was covered in that baking soda paste (because I wasn't exactly sure where the stinger was so I covered a large surface area) and then carefully pulled out the stinger, which was maybe 1/16" - much smaller than the tiniest eyelash. My arm throbbed for a few more hours, but I survived. Now I can join the rest of the world of you who have been stung!

Nate learned how to play tennis overnight

One of the best things (in my opinion) about our marriage is that we basically love to do everything together. This includes cleaning, shopping, and everything fun. Nate loves soccer, and while I definitely have a lot of room for improvement, I play with him whenever I can.  And I love tennis, so Nate willingly plays with me, though he never really learned (although he's a superstar at ping-pong). We've played together now for a few years, since we started dating, and well, I pretty much always won. I was just glad he'd go with me. We played this spring with my dad, and I think Nate was relieved that I had someone else to play. And then the last two times we've gone Nate started winning! I have no idea what happened, but now he's good. The first time I thought maybe I was just tired, but this last time, we played for nearly 2 1/2 hours, and he continued to beat me. I asked him what happened, and he replied "I just decided to be good." Strangely, that's probably true to a great extent. He finally started getting his head in the game, and now the competition is up. Watch out, we're looking for some friends to play in doubles...

Married 1 year - and looking forward to a bazillion more

Mr. Ideal Husband did a "A+" job planning our celebration, and he kept the secret a secret! We both diligently worked to be able to take Friday off, and kicked the day off with sleeping in (Nate's favorite), followed by a good run (Janae's favorite) and "Sharyn" pancakes (Sharyn's favorite). Then we hopped in the car and drove to Silverton, CO, an old town in the "Wild Wild West", which is compared to the Alps of Switzerland - and they really are amazing! Nate had reservations in a B&B, which was once a brothel, on one of the more scandalous streets from the late 1800s. We learned much of the history of the town, walked their streets, saw the still-running steam engine train, toured a gold mine, and visited the cemetery (and found a few Bawden's quite randomly). Oh yeah, and Janae enjoyed the hot tub, and watching Nate desperately try to get in the hot hot water. We still love being married! This year has flown for us with some major changes in our lives, and we're glad to be on the ride together.

Some of our favorite memories from the year include:

• Our wedding, of course. We were married in room C. :)
• Costa Rica, Peru, and road trips across the U.S. (mainly in snowstorms since arriving in CO)
• Having our friends share our apartment last summer (they say how you start your marriage is a sign of how it will be, so our door is open for guests!)
• Getting struck by lightning
• The nasty hotel we "lived" in for over 2 months - yuck! 
• Sleeping in a parking lot, and attempting to take a snooze in a state park, only to have the police encourage us to get out of town quick as there was a mass-murderer on the loose
• When we unintentionally showed up at our realtor's church (ward) and his shocked response "What are you doing here?" 
• Visits from family and friends
• When Nate showed up the first week of our "permanent" ward with super long hair and a goatee, and then the next week after a haircut when everyone re-introduced themselves
• Christmas Dinner, at 9 pm (at least it was better than cereal)
• Playing/skiing in the snow - wahoo!
• Endless hours of attempting to prepare our garden while the dog on the other side of the fence never ceases to bark.

And our most favorite things about being married: Being together all the time (or as much as possible).

11 Months Today - We Can't Believe It!

We love being married! I can't believe how fast these 11 months have passed. We love our time together. Nate is so busy with school, and I have my usual stints of crazy at work, so we cherish all of our moments together, even though brief on some days. People laugh when I explain that I try to wait up while he studies through the night. I just like him, and I like to be around him. We were teased at one gathering because we were standing close to each other, and apparently this made it clear to others that we are still newlyweds. I'm okay with that. I hope we're accused of it years from now still. Of course, we would love to travel and go on more adventures, but we're also pretty happy just hanging out together at home, too, or going on walks or to the park. We're looking forward to planting a garden together and hiking these amazing Colorado mountains. Marriage is the best, especially to Nate.

We're the proud owners of a new (used) lawn mower

I am quite excited, actually, and rather proud of myself. I knew we would need a lawn mower soon. Our friends on the street behind us offered to let us borrow theirs, but really, I couldn't see us every week walking around the block, bringing theirs back, mowing, returning their mower. We needed our own. I've mowed lawns many times, but I've never paid attention to the brand or quality of the mower. Thanks to Dad for giving me some coaching, and craigslist. I looked into several over the past week or so, and then on Saturday I came home with our new mower! I found one that was fairly new and only lightly used. I went on my own, and the seller was rather impressed my husband let me do the research and purchasing on my own. She was fantastic, and we're definitely going to be friends. My next challenge is learning to garden, and she happens to be very experienced.  So, she and I packed the mower up in the trunk and I brought it home to a proud husband. Hooray!

Surprise!

Maybe this has happened to you, or maybe I am too trusting, or maybe someone really was just confused. I went swimming this morning, and as usual, I hang my towel up by the showers before I go to the pool so I can go their directly when I am done. But this time when I went to shower, my towel was missing! There was another towel next to the hook I had left mine, so I thought perhaps someone accidentally grabbed the wrong one? But alas, there were only a few others there and they did not have my towel. But there was also another woman still in the pool, so I didn't dare take the remaining towel and risk doing the same thing to another that was done to me. Oh well. It certainly isn't ideal to have to get dressed without using a towel first, but so it went. I especially felt bad though, because the towel actually belonged to Nate; one he brought to the marriage. :) Upon my return home, he informed me that it was one he had since the mission. Luckily, he assured me he was glad to be rid of it, and sorry for the person who has it now. Phew! May you all never lose your towel when you go swimming, and I might advise to keep it in sight (or your locker) at all times.

Skiing moguls is a good lesson on life

Nate impressed me today. He has been skiing now a total of 6 times in his entire life, and 5 of those have been with me. Skiing was a requirement to be my husband. And, he is one quick learner! We spent at least half of the day today on moguls, and I'm really not even that great anyway. Nate was stubbornly determined to learn how to ski moguls; I continued to encourage, but also offered an option out, but he was committed to be a champion. By early afternoon, he got it. He was in a groove, and showed that mountain who was boss. Skiing on the greens near the bottom (no offense to anyone who prefers them) suddenly became a bore. While we were on the mountain and I was trying to offer useful coaching, I started paying attention to my own form more, and then I got to thinking that skiing moguls is a lot like life. You have to build/rely on personal strength to face the challenge, and you have to be agile/flexible to adjust to whatever is presented. So here's to moguls. Thank goodness we also get a rest in between runs (and sometimes during).