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.

our story [part 8]

Read Part 7 here.  Or if you're a newcomer, head over to the "Love Story" tab up top.

Monday morning brought writing the hardest letter I’d ever written.

It is still incomprehensible to me that one person can feel so much sadness and happiness at one time and in one moment.

As I was lacing up my running shoes that afternoon, I got a text from Tim.

Do you want to go get Bahama Buck’s with me before we start recording?

Some strange mixture of knots and butterflies entered my stomach as I realized what that would mean.  It would be my first first date in over three years.

I excitedly read the text aloud to Katie and Chantal, who squealed loudly and immediately told me I had to go.

I texted him back and told him that I’d love to and headed out for my much-needed run.

Tim told me that he’d pick me up at 7:00pm.  In all my prior experience with dating, that meant he probably wouldn’t be there until at least 7:15pm, but probably not until 7:30pm, so I didn’t hurry to get ready.

Promptly at 6:59, the doorbell rang.  That couldn’t be Tim already, could it? I wondered.  I opened the door to find Tim’s face smiling back at me.

“Wow, you’re on time!” I said, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.

“Yep,” he laughed. “I’m always on time.  Ready?”

My next shock was the way Tim opened every door I passed through.  Every single door, including the passenger’s side door of his truck.  Then he told me I could get whatever I wanted at Bahama Buck’s, and he really seemed to mean it.

We spent the entire evening talking and laughing and getting to know each other better.  I found that I continued to like and respect him even more the more I got to know him.  Nothing seemed to ruffle this man’s feathers.  Not his recording equipment failing, not bad drivers – nothing.  He just seemed to take everything in stride.

Still unsure of myself and what I wanted, I tried to avoid touching him at all.  For now, I just wanted to get to know him better.  Make a good friend.

But it’s pretty hard to keep things in the “friend zone” when you’re recording a romantic song and enjoying each other’s company so immensely.

I learned that pretty quickly.


Continue on to Part 9!

our story [part 7]

Read Part 6 here.  Or if you're a newcomer, you can read the whole story in the "Love Story" tab at the top.

I purposely showed up at Tim’s house 15 minutes late.  A projector was all set up in the front room, and I was surprised to realize that this movie night would consist of Tim, Tim’s roommates, and me.

Unbeknownst to me, before I had even showed up, Tim had told his roommates that they “could feel free to leave during the middle of the movie if they wanted to.”  Thus, one by one, Tim’s roommates left to go “do homework,” or some other such nonsense.

That left Tim and I sitting alone on the couch.  I found myself paying more attention to Tim than I was to the movie.  I couldn’t tell if it was only my imagination that he kept inching closer to me.  Or maybe it was me moving closer to him.  I wasn’t really sure, but somehow we ended up sitting just millimeters apart.

Suddenly I found it hard to breathe.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted this yet.  I had to do something to break the tension I was feeling inside.

“Hey look what I can do,” I said goofily.  I raised my hands up in front of the projector and started making shadow puppets on the wall.  Much to my surprise, he joined right in, and we each started forming our fingers into different animals, displayed magnificently right in front of the movie we were “watching.”

We started giggling, and he started making silly comments that kept me laughing.  I was pleasantly surprised to see this goofy side of him.  I’d seen his sarcastic, teasing side, and I’d seen his quiet, serious side, but I’d never seen this silly side.  I liked it.

Eventually the movie ended but we just kept making silly comments and giggling quietly on the couch. 

Somehow the conversation turned to music, and I asked him to show me one of his songs.

“Ok, but I have one requirement.”

“Ok,” I said.

“You have to sing with me.”

He ignored my protests and picked up his guitar in the still lowly-lit room.  Word by word, note by note he taught me one of the songs he’d written.  I sang tentatively at first, but as I grew more comfortable with the song, we each added harmonies to the verses and the chorus.

“It’s beautiful,” I said.

He smiled and said something about how he liked it even better when I was singing with him.

I looked at a clock and was shocked to realize how late it was.

“Oh, I need to go,” I said.

“Ok, but do you want to record the song with me tomorrow?”

I hesitated inside, unsure of what I wanted.  “Sure,” I said finally, smiling softly.

He walked me out to my car in the darkness and gave me a hug.

"See you tomorrow then."


Continue to Part 8.

our story [part 6]

Read Part 5 here.

Very rarely in my lifetime has Heavenly Father given me very direct answers to prayers.  In fact, even when I was trying to figure out whether or not I should marry Tim, my answer was, “You need to make that choice for yourself,” which is usually the answer I’m given.

His answer about dating again, however, was a very different situation.

I went to church on an empty stomach and a prayerful heart.  I’m not sure my prayers have ever been more sincere.  I was not just praying for me this time.  After all, my heart was not the only one on the line here.

Throughout the three hours of church, I still didn’t feel any closer to an answer.  I knew Heavenly Father was listening, but I just didn’t know what His answer was.  After church, I went to get “set apart” for a “calling” I had just been given.  [If you’re not of my faith, that basically means that you’re given some kind of an assignment in our church, and that they ordain you from God in a blessing to do the things associated with that assignment.]

No one in our bishopric knew what my situation was.  I’m not sure anyone in our congregation knew about it.  Which is why what they said in the blessing came as quite a shock.  I was told very specifically that I needed to start dating “righteous priesthood holders” and that I would be blessed for my obedience.  And as if that wasn’t shocking enough, Tim’s face flashed through my mind at that very instant.

When the blessing was done, I didn’t know what to think.  I walked out to my car and put my head against the hot steering wheel for who-knows-how-long trying to absorb what I had just been told.

Was that the answer to my prayer? I wondered.  Then, just as quickly, I knew it had been.  It was far too direct and too shocking to be anything else.

I drove home in somewhat of a daze.  Questions I didn’t know how to answer plagued my mind.

Out of habit, I checked my email soon after I got home.  There in my inbox was a message from Tim asking if I wanted to come over for a movie night at his house.  The butterflies in my stomach told me I wanted to go – to see him.

And suddenly I knew that someone was going to get hurt.  I didn’t know who.  But inevitably someone would. 


Continue on to Part 7.

our story [part 5]

Read Part 4 here.

The next night, Tim and his roommates were hosting an Open Mic Night at their house, so my roommates and I all carpooled over there together.  

I had gotten another letter today, but for some reason, instead of feeling happy about it, I just felt depressed. 

When we got to their house, it was already teeming with people, so I tried to just push aside my confusing feelings and have a good time.  I noticed immediately that Tim looked really good in an untucked white collared shirt and tattered jeans.  Where did that thought come from? I thought.  

Tim was busy recording the whole thing, so I talked to Katie for a little while.  But when Katie got up to sing, I sat by myself and sunk deeper into my inexplicable depression.  When she was done singing, she told me that Meghan and Chantal (our other roommates) had been encouraging her to date Tim.  My heart sunk even further.

Suddenly I knew where all of these confusing feelings were stemming from.

I was starting to like Tim.  And I didn’t even want to.

Immediately I realized it was futile to pretend to be bubbly and happy any longer.  I just sat on the couch and decided instead to work on pretending that I wasn’t sad.  While still untrue, it seemed far more attainable a goal.

Tim’s band got up to play towards the end of the night, and I mostly tried to avoid looking at him.  He looked too good playing his guitar and singing in his tattered blue jeans.  I briefly considered attempting to hate him, but as soon as they were done playing, he set down his guitar and made his way over to the couch where I was sitting.  He turned his undivided attention to me and started teasing me about something.  Hating Tim became the last thing on my mind as suddenly I felt happier than I had in hours.

When I got home that night, I knew that I could no longer put my inklings about dating again on the backburner.  I had to know for sure if dating again was what the God wanted me to do, so I decided to fast about it on Sunday, completely confident that Heavenly Father would let me know one way or the other.



Continue on to Part 6.

our story [part 4]

Read Part 3 here.

Intermittently, Tim would send me quirky emails that made me laugh, including one jib-jab video of the two of us dancing disco-style and one random email about how he might have to join OPA (Otter Pops Anonymous) because he’d been eating so many of them lately.  I remember the jib-jab video especially because he sent it to me on a night in which I desperately needed a good laugh.

In the middle of all of this, I would still get the occasional inkling that I should start dating again.  They were coming more often and were getting harder to ignore.  But to be quite honest, “dating again” and “Tim” had never intersected in my mind at this point.

Katie and I enjoyed doing quirky things sometimes, so we decided that one night, we’d host a “speed-walking contest” at the park across the street from our condo.  We emailed and texted a few people, and by the time everyone showed up at the park, we ended up just throwing a frisbee around instead.  Tim’s roommates were there, so I asked them where he was.  They said he had another party to go to, but that he might show up later.

Tim finally did show up, but not until about 11:30pm.  By this time, we were all headed to QT to get some drinks.  I was happy to see him, and gave him a quick hug as Katie and I jumped in the car with Tim and Jason.  When we got there, I walked over to the other group that had showed up at the park and started talking to them.  The group was mostly boys, and I joked and laughed with them for a few minutes outside of QT.  Tim mostly hung back and didn’t say much.

I didn’t know this at the time, but apparently he was thinking, Those boys can talk to her all they want now, but I’m gonna find a way to get her alone.

On the drive back from QT, Tim offhandedly mentioned that they were almost out of otter pops and asked if we wanted to go get some.  As it was almost midnight, Katie and Jason understandably opted out, but I thought, Why not?  I wasn’t sure if I should just leave Katie, but Tim was so enthusiastic about this otter pop run that I decided to go with him.

I hopped in his truck and immediately Tim started asking me questions.  What’s your favorite movie?  What are your hobbies?  You know, the typical first-date stuff.  It was honestly at this point that I thought for the first time, Is Timmy Devey interested in me?  

I wasn’t sure what to think or how to feel about this unexpected thought.  

So I did the only rational thing and tried to avoid thinking about it.


Continue on to Part 5.

our story [part 2]

Read Part 1 here.

At age 18, I moved away to college at Arizona State University.  It was only two hours away, but it was the hardest transition of my life. 

New dorm.  New friends.  New life.

 

Exciting, yes, but also positively terrifying.

Time flew by, however, and I dated quite a few boys throughout the months away from home.  I didn’t date any of them very seriously except for one, and I got him ready and sent him off on a church mission, determined that I would be there when he got back two years later.

Sometimes I think about those times now and imagine Heavenly Father giving me his knowing smile and maybe even chuckling slightly, because my life wouldn’t turn out anything like I’d planned.

And I’m glad it didn’t.

During the summer before my senior year at ASU, though still faithfully writing that missionary I’d worked so hard to get out there, I started to have small inklings that maybe I should start dating again.  I pushed these feelings aside, bound and determined that I wasn’t going to date anybody right then.

The inklings came and went throughout the summer months, but I mostly managed to squelch them in the midst of all my letter-writing and adventure-having.

On one evening in June sometime, I went to go hang out with a group of my guy friends at their house.  I was having trouble finding the place in the dark, so I called my friend Jon.  He walked out to my car to show me inside.  As we were walking up to the front door, I saw a darkened figure sitting on the bed of a truck in the driveway, talking on the phone.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“Oh that’s just Tim, our roommate.”

I dismissed him without another thought.

A few minutes later, however, this “Tim” walked through the front door, and to my utter surprise, I recognized him.

“Hey don’t I know you?” I asked in shock.

“Oh yeah, you’re Jeff Sparks’s little sister, aren’t you?”

Of course, I thought.

He spent the rest of the night in the same room with my friends and me, but he didn’t say much.  A short sentence or two, here or there.  They showed me their band’s website.  To my surprise, they were pretty good.

“Who’s singing?” I asked.

“Oh that’s Tim,” Gary said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yep,” Tim said.  And that was it.  So he’s the silent musician type, I thought.

As soon as I left their house, however, Tim exclaimed, “Well Katie Sparks sure has grown up a lot!”  After which his roommates all tried to discourage him by telling him I was waiting for a missionary.

When I got home, I asked Tim to be my friend on Facebook, and then quickly forgot about him.  Again.


Read Part 3 here.

find you

Tim and I are famous!

Ok maybe not really.  But we did write a song together and we did post it on The Youtube.

And yes, ok, maybe Tim did write most of the song.  But I helped!  And I wrote my own harmonies.  [That counts for something, right?  ...Right?]

Take a listen and let us know what you think!

We love singing together.  It's so fun.  [And it's one of the reasons I fell in love with him.]

p.s. Speaking of falling in love with Tim, I've been writing down "our story" in detail, and I'm thinking about posting it [in segments, naturally, because I'm not even done and it's ridiculously long].  Hmm...yes yes.  I think I will do that soon.  [Now I just have to figure out whether to finish out our "Wedding Day" saga first or not.]

p.p.s. At church, Tim and I watch over about eight 3-year-olds for two hours.  And after church, Tim and I collapse on our couch for several hours from sheer exhaustion.  [And yes, I realize that telling you this doesn't have to do with anything.  I just wanted to tell you.]

p-cubed.s.  Kthxloveyoubye.

wedding day [part 3]

*If you haven't already, you might wanna read Part 1 and Part 2 first.*

We stepped out into the scorching sunlight, hands clasped tightly together, for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Devey.

[Disclaimer: I have no idea who those people behind us are.]

We were expecting everyone to be waiting for us at the bottom of the steps, as is customary, but because it was so hot, everyone was huddled under any bit of shade they could find.

And even though it was hotter than all get out, our hearts smiled magnificently.

I don't know that I'd ever felt so much love in my entire life.

My dear friend Chantal took all these lovely pictures, and she was incredible at telling everyone where to stand and how to do it quickly so we wouldn't have to be out in the heat for any longer than necessary.  [And believe me, no one wanted to be outside any longer than absolutely necessary.]

Our family and friends.

My lovely bridesmaids.

Our wedding party.

Immediately after taking pictures, everyone scurried to the building across the street, where we would be having our luncheon.  Before I walked over there, however, I needed to get a key from my mother to be able to get all of my things out of my locker in the temple.  But there was only one problem.

My mom was no where in sight.

Tim walked with me into the foyer of the temple while my dad rushed to find my mom.  After about 15 minutes, Tim left to go find my dad.

Which left me standing by myself in the foyer of the temple in my wedding dress.

I could sense the questioning stares from everyone in the foyer.  Why is she here by herself?  Did her groom leave her?  

It was an awkward few minutes, let me tell you.

Finally, they returned with the key and my recommend, which allowed me to gather all of my things.

We hurried over to the luncheon, expecting everyone to be inside the building, wondering where the heck we had been.

Instead, we found everyone waiting outside the building, wondering why the heck the building was still locked.

Continue on to Part 4.

i love...

...his love of food storage.  [Freeze-dried pineapple, folks, let me tell you.]

...his deep appreciation for a good product display in a store.

...his constant analysis of advertisements of any kind.

...his random outbursts of dancing to make me laugh.

Tim and his sister, Melissa.

...his denial of said outbursts after they occur.

...his "punny" jokes.

...his desire to fix things around the house [that sometimes don't need fixing].

...his determination that our breadmaker will be used [by him] at least once a week.

...his [sometimes unnecessary] use of the KitchenAid.

Note the flour in his ear.

...his constant desire to always be cuddling [no matter where we are or what we're doing].

...his unhealthy love for Bahama Bucks.

...his love for Filiberto's [which rivals my own].

...his need to always be coming up with new innovations.

...his ability to quickly forgive and forget.

...his ability to take everything in stride and rarely get anxious.  [They do say opposites attract, you know...]

...his deep and abiding belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

...his extremely optimistic nature, no matter the circumstance.

...his talent for being around kids and the joy on his face when he is.

...his inability to be selfish [especially when it comes to my selfishness].

...his love for electronics [especially of the brand-new variety].

...his incessant desire to go to Costco [whether we need to or not].

...his inevitably turning our daughters into "daddy's girls" [as evidenced by his quickly giving in to his sister and to me].

...his love of humor [in all situations].

...his desire to spend time in the outdoors.

...his love of his marriage and of the fact that he is married.

...his need to always have juice in the refrigerator.

...his need to always be the one driving.

...his putting up with driving my girly car.  [It gets better gas mileage than his manly truck.]

...his quick [and heart-stopping] smile.

...his big dreams for life.

And I love...

him.

wedding day [part 2]

*If you haven't read Part 1, go here.*

My heart stopped for what felt like an eternity.

As my mom checked her purse again for her recommend, I wondered if there really was a possibility that she might not be able to see me get married today.

She checked her suitcase.  Looked through her purse again.  And then started tearing apart the car.

My heart started pleading a prayer that my head couldn't verbalize.  Please...

"I found it!"

I let out a sigh of relief and almost started crying.

"Let's go," she smiled.

We walked together towards the temple doors that I'd only been through twice before.  Soon after entering them, I saw him.  He smiled, and I thought for the millionth time today that I might start crying.  My heart felt like it might burst with happiness.

We were quickly ushered away to take care of some paperwork, and then we were separated so we could change.  After changing, we were lead to a hallway where we could wait for our sealer.  We held hands and giggled quietly with anticipation.  Despite my nerves, I'd never felt so happy in my entire life.

Finally, our sealer came to talk with us.  He made some small talk at first, then delved into more personal things.  Then he asked if we were ready.  We nodded, not quite trusting ourselves to speak.

He lead us into the sealing room.  My breath caught in my chest; this was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.  Family and friends were packed into this tiny room, all glowing and all smiling.  I'd never felt such a strong spirit.  It felt as though angels were right there with us.

It was a simple ceremony.  Simple, but beautiful.  It took every ounce of willpower I had not to cry through the entire thing.

Afterward, everyone lined up and gave us each a hug.  I was tempted to cry again as so many of the people we loved congratulated us quietly.  We spent a few more moments with the sealer and with our parents in front of the mirrors.  The eternal nature of this relationship became very apparent as there was a distinct feeling that those in our family who had already passed on and those who had yet to come to this earth were very aware of this day.

We separated once again to change.  In the bride's room, my mom helped me smooth out my dress and my hair [only giving me a mild heart attack when she left me alone in the room for a few minutes to look for something].  Finally, I was lead back to Tim at the front entrance of the temple.

He took my hand and smiled his heart-stopping smile.

"You ready?"

Continue on to Part 3.

wedding day [part 1]

Remember that time I got engaged?  [You can read about it here, here, and here.]

That was a pretty good time.

But what was an even better time was that day I actually got married.

I told you about the day before I got married.

But I haven't told you very much about the day of, have I?

In truth, writing about it scares me a little bit.  I don't want to leave anything out or get anything wrong or do a bad job writing about it.  But there is a higher chance of that happening the longer I wait, I suppose...

August 5, 2011: The Wedding Day

In theory, sleeping by myself in our new apartment the night before our wedding seemed like a good idea.  But in actuality, it would have been way nicer to have other people there.  For one thing, my nerves were far beyond what I wanted to deal with on my own.  And for another thing, trying to fix a hot water heater by yourself is way harder than it sounds.

Wait...what?

Ok, let's back up a little.

My eyes flew open as my 6:00am alarm sounded, and I realized immediately that I wouldn't even need the other two alarms I'd set.  I took a minute just to soak it all in.  A fresh bought of nerves and excitement hit me and I immediately wished I'd taken Katie's offer to spend the night with me.  Or that my parents had gotten to Mesa early enough for me to spend the night with them.

Promptly at 6:05am, the phone rang.  I smiled.  Tim is always right on time.

"Hello?" I said, knowing full well who it was.

"Hey babe," said a sleepy voice.  "Happy Wedding Day!  Were you asleep?"

"Hey," I said, my smile growing larger by the second.  "No, I actually wasn't.  But thank you for the wake-up call just the same.  I'm so excited!  I love you."

"I love you, too.  I'll let you go so you can get ready.  But I'll see you soon, ok?"

We ended the call, and I walked into the bathroom.  There was a note from Tim.  Of course, I should have known, I thought.  He'd been sneakily leaving me notes in random places, sometimes accompanied by presents, for the past nine days.  Today it was just a sweet note telling me how excited he was to marry me and how much he loved me and couldn't wait to see me.

I smiled again.  [You'll notice this trend throughout the day.]

I went to turn on the water to the shower.  Huh, that's weird, I thought.  The water isn't heating up.  Maybe I'll turn the knob the other way.  Nope, that isn't working, either.  Uhhh...I don't really want to take a cold shower...

I called my dad in a panic.

"How do you fix a water heater?"

My dad groggily tried to explain what to do, but it's pretty hard to explain such a thing over the phone, especially when the receiver knows as little about appliances as I do.  Eventually, I gave up and resigned myself to a cold shower.  [At least it was invigorating?]

After I'd done my make-up and dried by hair, I headed over to the house where I was getting my hair done by the lovely Ashtyn.  [That's right.  She took our engagement and pre-wedding photos and did my hair.  Talent, I tell you.]  I showed up late, but I figured Ashtyn was probably used to my tardiness by now.  She welcomed me graciously and got my hair done with twenty minutes to spare.

During the drive to the temple, I wished for the hundredth time that I wasn't by myself.  I called my mom and begged her to get there as fast as possible.  Once I got there, I sat in the parking lot and tried to be patient.  I called my mom again to see where she was.  I organized everything in sight.  I made sure I had my temple recommend.  I made sure my dress wasn't being squished.  Then I called my mom again.

After what seemed like an hour, my family drove into the parking lot.  [It was probably more like 15 minutes.]  I got out and excitedly hugged my mom and practically screamed "hello" to my brothers and dad.  They told me I looked beautiful, and I smiled.  I felt beautiful today.

"Umm...I can't find my recommend."

I stared at my mom.  "What?"  I said, dumbfounded.

"I hope I didn't leave it in Prescott."

"What?" I said.  [Stress brings out the eloquence in me, obviously.]

If my mom didn't find her temple recommend, that would mean that she wouldn't be able to go into the temple with us.

Which would mean she'd be waiting outside.

Which would mean that my mom wouldn't be able to see me get married.

Continue to Part 2.

the perks of being married

During the first semester of my freshman year, I had no computer.

If it had been up to my mom, I wouldn't have had a cell phone, either.  [She was convinced I should get a land line in my dorm room.  Fact.]

As many of you know, having a computer in college is pretty darn important.  So, after an entire semester of walking across campus to use the computers in the computing commons and using my roommate's computer, I decided that - expensive or not - I needed a computer.

I saved up my money, but I still didn't have enough.  Which was when my mom decided to convince everyone to chip in as a Christmas gift to make up the difference.

Christmas morning of 2007, I woke up to find my brand new HP laptop.

I had my beloved laptop until January of 2010, when it abruptly died - just in time for my warranty to run out.

Thankfully, my work lent me a desktop computer, which served me faithfully [however slowly] until I got married, which was when I upgraded to a much-faster desktop.  [The perks of being married.]

On the first day of this last semester, I noticed that almost everyone in my class had a laptop to take notes on.  I convinced myself that I didn't need a laptop for the whole semester.  And you know what?  For the most part, I was right.  I didn't need one.  But it sure would have been convenient.  [Because my teachers made us take notes like nobody's business.]

Whenever Tim mentioned that it would be nice for me to have a laptop, I shrugged it off.  Yeah it would be nice.  But it's not necessary.  And we can't afford it.  I'm doing fine.  No big deal.

This year on Christmas morning, I woke up to find my very own brand new Toshiba laptop.

From Tim.

And do you know how he got it?

He sold one of his guitars.

He says he didn't need it.

That he didn't even want it.

That it was no big deal.

But you know what, ladies and gents?  It sure felt like a big deal.  And my eyes still fill with tears when I think about it.

And so here I am, sitting on our bed, writing this blog on my very own laptop, and feeling very spoiled.

Talk about the perks of being married.

[Or maybe about the perks of being-lucky-enough-to-have-married-the-sweetest-man-in-the-world.  Whichever you choose.]

half birthdays

About 6 months ago, I bought a new planner.

Now I don't know about you, but buying a planner is an exciting time for me.

I get to enter all kinds of important dates and [temporarily] feel like my life is perfectly organized.

One of those important dates was December 12, 2011.

Was it an anniversary?  No.
Was it a holiday?  No.
Was it the last day of finals?  No.  [Well, uh...yes.  But I didn't know that at the time.]
Was it a birthday?  No.
Was it a half birthday?  Yes.

Tim's half birthday, to be more specific.

I'd never celebrated half birthdays before, but I thought it might be fun.

So I secretly planned for months that I would do something for Tim's half birthday.

In the end, it was just something small, but it was kinda fun.

He came home to see this:

And this:

I just got him some Reese's Pieces, but from the ecstatic way he reacted, you'd think I'd gotten him a flatscreen HD TV or something.

Moral of the story?  Nobody sells anything that says "Happy Half Birthday."  I might have to start my own line of products.

[Wait, what?  That's not a very good moral?  Ok, let's try again.]

Moral of the story?  Buy a planner.  They'll make you creative in ways you've never dreamed.

date night

Date night is pretty much my favorite night.  Like, ever.

I get to hang out with my best friend for an entire evening without worrying about homework or studying or school.

And Tim is a pretty creative date-planner so that makes it even more fun.

For example, last Friday, we decided to go get hot chocolate and drive around and look at Christmas lights.

Simple, right?

But so, so fun.

[Except I lied.  I didn't get hot chocolate.  I got Caramel Apple Spice.  But Tim got hot chocolate.  So really I only half-lied.]

 There's this street in Mesa that goes all out on their Christmas lights.  And it's pretty awesome.  

[At least I think it's in Mesa.  I wasn't driving, so I wasn't really paying attention.]

 Love him.  

Too bad this picture is so blurry.  [My bad.]

 I hope our kids get his eyes.

 I took way too many pictures to post on here, but I thought I'd post some of my favorites.

 I decided that the candy decorations are some of my favorites.  

[Which is not, of course, a reflection of what I eat a good majority of my day.]
[No really.]

 [Candyyyyy.]

 Caramel Apple Spice.

White Hot Chocolate.

It's the simple things in life, you know?

p.s.  For any of you who might have started following me on Pinterest, I express my deepest apologies.  I haven't even gotten back on since that first time.  And I had no idea what I was doing then, so...it might be kind of a disappointment.  But I haven't completely given up.  [Yet.]

i wrote a guest post

Ok, ok, I know it's a holiday and everything, but...

I wrote a guest post.  And you can read it today.

So enhance your holiday celebrations by clicking on that link!  I'm sure you won't regret it.

[You also won't regret spending some time on Emma's blog.  Lots o' fun, kids!]

[This is my first guest post ever.  Whaaaat!]