When Did I Sign Up for Social Interaction?

Unbeknownst to me, Nate and I have started officially entering the world again. Ok, so I kinda knew since I had to start writing what we had going on this week on our bathroom mirror so we didn't forget. I kinda thought that after Nate and I got married we could disappear like other couples, but since I am Ashley, and since this is Salt Lake, it doesn't quite work like that does it.

First up, Saturday night we went to a family party because my FAVORITEST COUSIN IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, Keli'i just got back from his mission in Arcadia, CA. Super cool except for the super bummer that his family now lives in Hawaii so I will never see him. Although, he now has a job at the Polynesian Cultural Center at a Photo Model. That's right, he stands at the entrance dressed up in Polynesian attire (aka. a lavalava and no shirt) and people go up and take pictures. And some of those women get a little frisky, lol. Perfect job for an RM, no? Also notable from the party, I finally got to meet Piers Butters, Aiona's baby that was born on my wedding day. He has red hair and blue eyes and the whole time Nate kept saying, "Our kids better not turn out like that." I'd be okay with it, though. He's still cute.

After the party we got to spend some time with Nate's best friend/sister-in-law Georgia. She happened to be at a wedding reception for her cousin, who was in my old Single's branch in Pleasant Grove. It was at my old meetinghouse and I got to see President Gwilliam. It was crazy cool. Georgia and Nate talked and talked the night away and Tommy was as cute as ever. And, since that's not enough for one night, after we left Georgia's we went to Colleen and Derek's house to play "Curses" and "Pit." Curses was HILARIOUS. At one point Colleen had to talk in an Irish accent, with her lips barely moving like she was a ventriloquist, doing pretend sign language, and her wrists were glued to her head. LoL. Poor chica. We laughed all night and wanted to stay longer, but alas, it could not be.

Tuesday our apartment complex had a pool party for us. It was the first time Nate and I have ever visited the pool, sadly enough. But we had some hamburgers and salt and pepper corn and stuck around for the raffle hoping to win the $75 gift card to IKEA. But, we didn't.

Wednesday Nate went job-hunting and came home depressed, so we used the last of our wedding money to buy Jamba Juice. I got Peanut Butter Moo'd and He got Strawberry Surf Rider. I never realized how much I dislike strawberries until Nate wanted to eat them all the time. While we were there we ran into some people from my student ward, namely my visiting teaching companion, my home teacher, and my relief society president. It was fun to see them since I was planning on calling Bethany (my VT companion) and discuss the chaos that happened at their ward last week. Apparently the stake split off part of the ward without informing anyone taking the relief society president, half the mingle's committee, and half of the east elders quorom to a different ward. Super sadness AND confusion. Anyway, it was good to see them and joke about it. After we left Jamba we went to my parents' house to find my dad watering the lawn at 10:30pm and spent some time with my mom making fun of the news.

And last night, we went to our new ward's Elder's quorom BBQ. It was fun to finally get to know some people, although we'd have a lot more to talk about if we actually had kids. I did find some football friends, which is really what it's all about, right. They may be Boise State fans, but they dislike the U, too, which is acceptable. And finally, we went to our apartment hot tub last night. The jets weren't working, but the water was still warm. Nate has started donating plasma and he had a mishap that left a big bruise on his arm and a tingly pain in his hand and oddly enough, the hot tub helped with both. Poor bruised baby.

This weekend we have lunch with our friend, Keely, who is moving to Disneyland. :( I don't want her to go, but if I had a chance to move to Cali, I would do it, too. We also have something called the Stake Extravaganza (?) which is a vague description and I assume is also for families with kids, but we are going to be supportive and social. And hopefully get some free food.

I Gotta Feelin'...

Our photographer from the wedding set up a camera that takes pictures every 15 seconds and captured our entire reception! I tried to post it on here, but it wasn't working so go check it out at the Creative Juice Photography Blog.

If you're buying textbooks...

You should check out Chegg.com. I heard about it in a Biology class once and I have not gotten textbooks anywhere since. On this website, you actually rent textbooks for a semester and send them back after. The price you pay is HALF what you would find in any bookstore, the books are in excellent condition, and for every one you rent they plant a tree. Even with buying a book and then selling it back, this is the cheaper option. And if you write the word "yolk" in for a coupon code when you order, you now get free priority shipping. And they have a 30-day any reason return policy, so if you decide NOT to take that class, send it back and get your money reimbursed. Seriously, do it.

Livelihoods and Lollipops

On a recent assessment of my scholastic standing, I have discovered that I am halfway to a degree in Business and halfway through pre-requisites for pharmacy school. Nate's about 1/16 of the way through his pharmacy pre-reqs so I thought, what the heck? I might as well double major in business AND biochemistry while I wait for him to catch up. LoL. It's not as impressive as it sounds, believe me. I'm only taking two to three classes per semester while I'm working, and it will take me three years at that rate, but it's still exciting to know that I'm halfway on my way to doing something useful.

Nate has had a hard time finding a job here in Salt Lake. Today he was going around to see about possibly donating plasma to earn some money and not feel lazy (although, technically it is still lazy to lie down and donate blood for a livelihood, but at least he'll get a cookie and some dough. LoL). Our budget has been pretty tight, but mostly because I refuse to live off of chicken noodle soup, ramen and pancakes. I gotsta have some meat and corn in theres somewheres.

Speaking of food, I have become obsessed with it ever since I entered wedded bliss. For people that are on a tight budget and little time, I HAVE to give my recommendation for KraftFoods.com. Under the "Living on a Budget" section, they have something called 1 bag, 5 dinners. It gives you a shopping list of items that should fit into 1-2 grocery bags and recipes for 5 dinners that can be made using the ingredients you just bought. I love that it does all the planning for me and I only have to go grocery shopping once a week. They even have a Healthy Living section with recipes that are under 400 calories per serving. And, the best part, each of the recipes takes less than 15 minutes of prep time. Seriously, this website was made for me.

Lastly, we finally got our wedding pictures and they look awesome!! Nate and I were laughing and reliving that day all over again. I plan to make them into one of those snazzy coffee table books to match the guestbook and the photobook Kristen made me that are currently on our coffee table. Anyway, if anyone wants to see the pictures and is in town, you're more than welcome to drop by and take a gander at our wedding awesomeness.