bananas and bahama bucks

Just last week, my friend Jana [Banana] came to visit.  I lived with Jana my junior year of college, and I love that girl to death.  One of my favorite things about her is that she can see the good in anyone - a skill I'm still striving [read: working my butt off] to perfect.

Something that shocked me, however, was the revelation that Jana had never been to Bahama Bucks.  We'd known each other for how long and we'd never been there together?  What kind of a friend am I, anyway?

I decided to rectify the situation by taking her there ASAP.  It involved a lot of suffering, but someone had to do it.

She, too, was suffering as you can see.

Who am I kidding?  Tim and I go there every chance we get.

Ah yes.  The extra cream has dramatically improved our quality of life.

[I realize this post is somewhat ironic considering my last post, but I had to be a good host, ok?]

Whilst Jana was here, we spent a little time talking.  And then we, oh you know, talked some more.  And when we got tired of that, we talked a little more.

And ok, ok...we did watch a little Merlin on Netflix here and there.  [A little glimpse into my inner nerd.]

I love how comfortable I am around Jana, and how I can be "me" to the fullest extent and she still loves me in spite of myself.

You can read more about our visit here.

Tim and I also went to the Devey Family Reunion this last weekend, and I will write more about that within the next few days.  But suffice it to say, we had a blast, and I love that family!

And I know, I know...I still need to write the rest of "our story," and I will.  I've just felt a little distracted lately.

Speaking of love stories, remember how I told you I had some news regarding temples and wedding dresses and parties? Well guess what!  Tim's sister, Melissa, is getting married on August 3rd!  Woot woot!  And it's even essentially the same day as we got married last year, since it's the first Friday in August.  We are so happy for them!

At the family reunion!

And an engagement picture, just for fun.

Oh and I start my new job tomorrow!  Eeek!  Wish me luck!

Tangentially, I'm sure this all made perfect sense.  [Or maybe not any at all.  I don't wanna talk about it.]

And I think that's it for now.

Kthxloveyoubye.

health nut wannabe

In general, I am not a very healthy eater.  In fact, if you've read any of my posts that ramble on about how much I love Dr. Pepper, you probably realized that my consumption of the beverage goes well over the "healthy" limit. The same might be said for how often Tim and I make Bahama Bucks runs.  Or for how often we've been making homemade ice cream in a bag.  [Read: too much.]

Lately, however, I've been making a concerted effort to try to eat healthier throughout the day.  I still don't write down everything I eat most of the time, but I have been checking the nutritional information on each package.  And let me tell you, some of the information has come as quite a shock.

For example, recently I have become somewhat addicted to cheddar cheese.  But tonight I looked at the nutritional information and almost had a heart attack on the spot.  Can you believe 110 calories per one one square inch cube?  Whatduheck?  Does that seem like a lot to anyone else?  That means that in one snack, I might have eaten 1/10 of my daily caloric intake.  [Or more.  Don't judge.]

Due to this newfound awareness, I have been eating a lot of salads at lunchtime.  And I am not usually a salad-eating kind of girl.  I have been experimenting around with different ingredients and have even come to [mostly] enjoy this almost-daily ritual.  But again, did you know that avocados are high in fat and that pecans are high in calories?  A painful betrayal from two of my favorite ingredients.  The tricky thing is that those two facts don't necessarily mean "bad for you."  It just means, "limit your intake."  Am I right?

One of my experiments.  Before I found out about the traitor, Pecans.

This nutrition stuff is tricky, I tell you.

I think I almost liked it better when I wasn't so aware.  But I'm hoping my body will thank me for it later.

Do any of you have any suggestions for me?  I would love to hear them.

tim's birthday

I never got around to writing about Tim's birthday, did I?

In fact, did I even tell you it was Tim's birthday on Tuesday?

I don't think I did.  For shame.  #badwifeaward

Well, it was.  And he turned 25!  That's right.  My husband is now a quarter of a century old.  Or young.  Depending on whether or not you're a glass quarter full kind of person.

Tim got the morning off work, but do you know what he did with his morning?  He woke up early and drove me to my interview at MCC.

I really love that guy.

After the interview, I had some suspicions that he was going to pass out at any second from exhaustion, so in the interest of my husband's health, we went home so he could take a nap.  After he woke up a little less zombie-ish, he decided it was time for a free birthday grand slam breakfast from Denny's:

I call the next picture "Tim's Thug Life."  It just cracks me up.  I took it on the way to get our free culture passes to the Phoenix Zoo.  [Remember I wrote about these before?]

Then I decided to steal his hat for a few minutes.  [Which was originally his sister's hat.  Now I guess it's just the Devey Family Hat.]

We got to the zoo around 12:00pm.  If you're not from around here, let me give you a translation: it was hot.  Like, probably 110 degrees hot.  But we both grew up in Arizona, so we knew we could handle it and have fun at the same time.  Talent, I tell you.

The next picture made me a little jealous...

But I became buds with it, too, so my jealousy was assuaged somewhat.

Tim and I like a little meditation and yoga now and then...

And I really liked that rhino.

My aunt commented on this next picture on facebook, "What???!  You're out of fries?!!"  Which I thought was pretty funny.  [After Tim explained it to me.]

In regards to this next picture, I would just like to tell you that I once wrote a fictional story about how giraffes got their long necks.  I was a very insightful fifth grader.

Isn't he a stud?  Twenty-five looks good on you, babe.

Doesn't he look just like the flamingos?

I felt fairly certain that given the opportunity, this fish from the Amazon could have eaten our heads.  We decided to not give it that opportunity.

Then Tim headed to work for a few hours.  It felt like the longest few hours of my life!  After he [finally] got home, we headed over to Joe's Real BBQ in Gilbert.  Neither of us had ever been there before, but we had heard endless accolades about their free birthday dinner.  And it didn't disappoint.

Exhibit 1, the delicious pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and cheesy potatoes:

Exhibit 2, the happy husband:

Exhibit 3, the happy couple:

Exhibit 4...ok no, I take that back.  They left out Prescott and Yuma on this little "map" of theirs, so this is not Exhibit 4.  So let it be written, so let it be done.

Exhibit 4, the scrumptious pecan brownie:

Exhibit 5, the fake flowers.  I liked them.

And if I had taken a picture of it, the big green tractor inside the restaurant would have been Exhibit 6.

He told me it was his best birthday yet.

news

I have some good news and some bad news.  Actually, that's not quite true.  I have one piece of couldhavebeenbad news.  And a few pieces of good news.

Which would you like to hear first?

The couldhavebeenbad news it is.

My "little" brother, Eric, woke up to some very severe back pain the other night.  After throwing up a few times and taking a trip to the hospital, they gave him some morphine and told him that he had a kidney stone.  Long story short, the stone is too big to pass, but he doesn't have to have surgery!  Woot!  They're going to use an instrument that involves sonic waves to break it up.  Or something like that.

However it works, I'm totally relieved.  A reallyreallystrong big sister instinct kicked in as soon as I heard, and I was prepared to drop everything just to be with him in the hospital if necessary.  It turned out not to be necessary, but I was almost disappointed that I didn't have a good enough excuse to drive up and see him and be certain that he was really ok.

Eric is the freakishly tall one on the right.

Now for the good news.

I am now officially a volunteer at Banner Desert Medical Center!

I am a tiny bit concerned to be volunteering at a hospital whose spelling is so bad [can you imagine what would happen if the doctor misspelled a prescription??  ...go in for heart problems, come out with colon cancer meds...], but I am excited nonetheless!  I'm going to work at an information desk in the children's wing!

[And what the heck?!  Today was the one day I didn't do diddly squat with my hair, and they just had to take  the picture today.  Doesn't it always happen that way?]

And on to another piece of good news: next week is the Devey Family Reunion!  I'm so excited.  I went last year, too, right after I went through the temple for the first time, and it was a blast.  But this time, Tim and I are married!  What what!  [Aka basically the only thing that will really change is that we'll be able to sleep in the same bed this time.  And Tim will be stealing all the covers.]

AND, one of my best friends just found out that she is having a BOY!  I totally called it.  And now Tim owes me a foot rub, because he guessed a girl.

via

And finally, I got a new job!  I'm going to be working at Mesa Community College, at least temporarily.  I'm so excited!  Nervous, but excited.  It's going to be so fun!

I do actually have one more bit of news, but I'm not going to tell you yet!  Ha!  But it might involve temples and a wedding dress and a PARTY!  I love parties.

Ok...ok I think that's it.  Kloveyoubye.

wedding day [part 5]

Read Part 4 here.

Looking back on the reception now, it all seems such a blur.  But a very, very happy blur.

I loved all the beautiful decorations.  [You can see most of them in Part 4.]

I loved that we served Italian food and Italian sodas.

I loved that there was a chocolate fountain.

I loved the slideshow that Tim put together of the two of us growing up.

I loved that my very first sunday school teacher made our amazing cake:

...which happens to have misplaced its top layer in this picture.

More than all the little details, however, I loved seeing all of the people.  People we know and love.  Part of me wants to go back and relive every single interaction with every single person, because it all meant so much to me.  And it still does.

I also loved that the receiving line was so important to my mom, and then she never actually came and stood in it with us because she was so busy coordinating everything else.

And in her place, I loved that my beloved bridesmaids came and stood with us in the line even though I'm sure they would have rather been doing something else.

I loved that my dad danced with me to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland even though he hates being the center of attention.  [Perks of being a daddy's girl.]

I loved dancing with Tim to "Then" by Brad Paisley and laughing with him about how everyone was staring at us.

I loved cutting the cake with my lover [and his oldest brother - who was our MC - telling him that he was "weak" for not smashing the cake into my face]:

I loved dancing with Tim and with anybody else who would [which mainly consisted of Tim's nieces and nephews] to all kinds of fun songs [including the YMCA, which our MC claimed was Tim's favorite song].

I loved running through the tunnel at the end to our amazingly decorated car.

And I loved driving to In-N-Out directly after our reception.

Wait...what?

Yes, we definitely did that.  We didn't get that much to eat or drink at the reception itself, so we decided to go through the drive-thru at In-N-Out.  The girl saw our wedding attire through the window and screamed, "Did you guys just get married?!"  After which a bunch of employees started screaming excitedly for us.

That was pretty funny.

And most of all, I loved celebrating the fact that I had just married my best friend.

Because now, our love story won't ever end.

i wrote a GUEST BLOG, yo

Guys, I totally wrote a GUEST BLOG.

And I don't usually write in all caps, but this is a special occasion, yo.

For one thing, Ali [my guest blog hostess] is about to have her first baby.  And I don't care who you are - that is just dang exciting.  [And if it isn't exciting to you, you probably also hate Disneyland and puppies and chocolate.  But I'm not one to judge.]

And for another thing, I'm just excited to be featured on her blog and write more nonsensical ramblings.  As if I don't do enough of it here.

Go check it out!  Leave her some love.

And on a totally related note, if you decide to be a volunteer for a hospital, and said hospital makes you do a self-guided tour, and the tour takes two-and-a-half hours, and your feet start to hurt reallyfreakingbad halfway through...be grateful to have a husband who takes over for you when you're about to have a breakdown.  I mean, hypothetically speaking, of course.

[Totally related, right?]

our story [part 9]

Read Part 8 here.


Within the next couple of days, Tim drove up to Utah with his sister to go to General Conference, which is a world-wide meeting within our church that happens every six months.  I was determined that I would not initiate anything, but luckily for me, I didn’t have to.  We flirtatiously texted the entire two days, including during General Conference, when we should have been paying attention.

Soon after he got back, Tim texted me yet again.

I have a surprise for you.  Can I bring it by tonight at 7:30?

I told him that he could, and yet again assumed that he would probably be late.  But promptly at 7:30pm, there was a knock at the door.  I opened it to an ever-smiling Tim, holding something behind his back.  He pulled his arm around to the front to reveal a bag of cotton candy.

I stood there, feeling somewhat stunned.

I had offhandedly mentioned how much I liked cotton candy once, but I didn’t think he would remember.  And I didn’t think he would take time out of his day to get some for me.

I reviewed my mental list.  Funny.  Kind.  Smart.  Thoughtful.  On-time.  Positive.  Cheerful.  Attentive.  But more than a list of always-positive attributes, I noticed something else significant.  He seemed to really want to be with me.  And it wasn’t out of duty or some misguided sense of obligation, either.  He just liked being around me.

This was a completely new feeling for me.  And I liked it.

He asked if I wanted to come over to his house for awhile.  I didn’t even have to think about it before I responded in the affirmative.  As we had before, we spent the entire evening laughing and just enjoying each other.

When I got home that night, I told Katie about the entire night, like I always did.  When I’d finished, she said, “Wow, he is doing all the work so far!”

“I know, and I kinda like it that way!” I admitted, chuckling slightly.

“Well maybe you should invite him to do something soon,” she suggested.

I decided to take Katie’s advice.

She’d never steered me wrong before.

Go on to Part 10.

memorial day

And finally, ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure I will recount the details of our journey into the southwestern regions of the land known as Arizona on that day which memorializes those soldiers who have fallen.

Or in other words, that time we went to Yuma for Memorial Day.

It was a pretty great weekend, let me tell you.  It was the first time Tim has had two days off in a row in like...well, forever.  We drove down on Saturday night, and as soon as we got there, they fed us steak.  Have I mentioned how much I love visiting Yuma?  Talk about a regal welcome.

Then hilarity ensued when we all decided to play "Just Dance" on the wii.  I have rarely - nay, never - seen my husband dance so enthusiastically.  The hilarity was magnified tenfold each time Tim and his brother, Billy, danced side by side, each executing completely different dance moves simultaneously.

Sunday was a Special Day [or is that supposed to be Saturday?  ...bad Mormon joke] which involved considerable amounts of time spent at church and with family.  And tacos.  Very, very yummy steak tacos.  [Have I mentioned how much I like visiting Yuma?]  Plus, we watched Baptists at our BBQ and I just think that movie is hilarious to the nth power.  Anything good that happened in addition to that movie is just a bonus.

On Monday morning at the crack of ten o'clock, we woke up to go tubing down the Colorado River.  I have very fond memories of swimming in it as a kid [remember how I lived in Yuma?] and was very excited to repeat the experience.  Nevertheless, everyone kept telling me how crowded and crazy it would be on this, the Monday of the Day of the Memorial.

You guys, I have floated down the Salt River in Phoenix.  This was not crowded.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves.  And it was fantastic.

The group involved made for uncommonly pleasant company.  In addition to Tim and me, Tim's parents, Tim's sister (Melissa), and Tim's niece (Kylie) all came.  [Though I like them so much that I would rather claim them as my parents, my sister, and my niece.]

After we got home, we quickly showered and headed over to visit Tim's cousin, Cale, and his wife, Sarah.  They didn't have too much time, as they were getting ready to head to a BBQ in true Memorial Day fashion, but it was fun to see them and to catch up with them.

After we got home, I found this picture of my Grandpa:

He fought as a Marine in WWII, and although he lived for another sixty-some odd years, I can't help but think of him on any day which commemorates our great country.  He was a hero in my eyes.

And then we had a BBQ of our own, complete with hamburgers and corn on the cob!

On the way out of town, I made Tim drive by my old house:

So many good memories there.

I feel so blessed to be part of such a wonderful, loving family.  I was already a part of one, but now my family circle has expanded immensely, and I love it.

And so, my friends, as you can see, our journey into the nether regions of this the United States can be termed an outstanding success.