Sorry that I have been MIA here for so long. I have been focusing on my personal life for a while, and haven't been able to spend the time that I normally spend on blogging. I have been debating about saying this for a while because I know a lot of you (friends, family) read my blog and I didn't want to unduly worry you.
We have been having a bit of a challenging time lately, Shaun and I. I realize that the first year of marriage is a tough year for most newlyweds, and we are not an exception. I believe that if we didn't have some problems it would probably be worrying, but at times I have been so frustrated with it all, all I could do was cry. But luckily, we have been doing much better lately and have been listening to each other's needs and wants and have been trying to accommodate those as best we can to make each other happy. I think that a majority of it is because we are young and like to have things our own way (we are both so stubborn) and didn't like compromising on anything. Happily, it seems to be something that we are getting better at, and seems only to be improving. And I guess I feel that that's what it's all about - thinking about another person's needs and making them my priorities, too.
On to happier things. Since I never discussed it, the Tombstone Trail rally race that we did with Andrea and Cory was so much fun!
Shaun, Cory, Andrea and I in the car on our way to the graveyards!
So we had the time of our Octobers doing this. Tempers got a little short, but I think that that's because we all ended up getting so competitive. Shaun's car doors autolock once you start driving, so when we'd want to rush out to go check out the gravestones, we'd be yelling, 'Unlock the DOORS!!!' He finally got to the point where he would remember it all on his own, but it took a little yelling to get him figuring it out on his own. ;-) It was actually pretty cold, but I was so busy thinking (and running) that after the first time I got out of the car I didn't even realize that it was cold. We felt like we were doing so bad because we skipped a couple of graveyards and we were pretty sure that we had missed some questions. But we figured we didn't do so bad for our first year. Anyway, at the end of the night we met up at Godfather's Pizza in Redwing, MN. Turns out that we tied for first in our class but lost the tiebreaker so we got second. We placed 8th overall out of 53 cars. Not bad for our first year, not bad at all. We are bumped up a class for next year now because we did so well our first year. We are already making plans for next year's Tombstone Trailer. (We are determined to get that best costume award! Hehe)
Much of November was pretty uneventful, it was deer season for most of it so we were up in H-town for three weekends in a row. The final weekend we (Mom, Lucy and I) went up to Duluth to visit Jennifer and do a little shopping. We ate at Olive Garden (it was deelish, but a little arugula goes a long way, and this was smothered in arugula) and went to Michael's and Target, where I made my mom purchase cute wrapping paper and ribbons. I didn't actually make her, but I told her that if she wanted me to wrap her presents for her, I refused to wrap them ugly. So she willingly bought the cute stuff. It was a lot of fun, and it was really nice to see Jennifer again.
We headed up to H-town for Thanksgiving. The food was SO GOOD! Everything was going well until my Grandpa made a somewhat uncouth comment in front of my mom, Shaun and I after we were done eating. Ugh. It was something that I really did not want to hear about. But we had a good night once I could sit on the couch it was all better. Tyler, Dana and Gracie came and I was playing with Gracie. She had a little toy of the Wicked Witch from Snow White, and I had her saying, 'RAWR!' every time she looked at it. She also LOVES hearing 'Pattycake'- she scrinches up her face and tilts her head against her shoulder. SOOO cute!
Tyler, Dana and Gracie
Too CUTE! :D
Friday I helped my mom rearrange the living room. Brought the computer out there and we had fun playing Mah Jongg. This weekend we cleaned, but I didn't get as much X-mas decorating done as I wanted to. Oh, well. It'll happen! I decorated a wreath so that we can hang the ornaments that Shaun's Grandparents have gotten us and keep the cats from playing with them and breaking them. But now they keep jumping up the wall to get it. I hope it survives the night - I haven't put our precious ornaments on it yet in fears of that happening. Anyway, time to finish decorating (I hope!) Take care! :)
