The Pile

This picture was taken 2 years after this post was written, to prove that the pile is still alive.

Conrad and I, in our ten months of marriage, have this agreement. We both entered this union knowing that the other person's tidiness was polar opposite to our own. He is very neat. No junk on the floor, hang up your clothes when you're done with them, put stuff in the hamper, etc.  Then there's me. I leave the milk out on the counter for hours unless I'm reminded to put it away. I drop my clothes and make a pathway from the front door to the bedroom. I leave the bed unmade [though I must say, I'm getting better at making it more often]. I never do dishes. I don't even put them in the sink. Poor guy, cleaning up after me. 

It's obvious that whichever side of the bed I'm on is going to be the messy side. Luckily for us and our guests, my side is the side farthest from the door. You can't see my mess. We've started affectionately referring to it as "the pile." Lately, though, the pile has been getting a little out of control. You can't even see the floor. Conrad made an observation the other day about it. 

"If there are clothes on the couch and around the house, you know the pile is bad. You move locations when one gets too full."

Very wise, he is. The dumbest thing about the pile is that I hate it. It's not like I enjoy tripping on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It's not like I like not knowing the difference between clean and dirty clothes. It's not like I love cleaning a massive pile for an hour and a half every other week. It just gets out of control. If I could just hang my clean clothes up, and put the dirty ones in the hamper (seriously, it's inches away. How hard can it be?)...

The pile. 

May cause slight to severe agitation when left unattended. May inflict stubbed toes and rug burn on knees from falling. May cause irritation when you are doing laundry and you realize there are ten things down there that need to be washed, but will have to wait til the next load. May induce procrastination.

you know he loves you when...

Tonight I made probably the worst meal I've ever cooked. If not the worst, it definitely made it into the hall of shame. When I was little my mom use to make fried pancakes (they have a donutty texture, hot and crispy and greasy and delicious). I didn't really feel like cooking tonight because I worked a long shift, so i thought: "hey! pancakes are quick, but lets try something Conrad's never had before." So I mixed the batter, fried them and we sat down to eat, armed well with chocolate chips and syrup.

We pushed the fork down on the edge of the pancake, enjoyed that first fluffy-inside-crispy-outside bite. second time we pushed down, we discovered that the batter hadn't been cooked at all on the inside. The oil was too hot. There was no way for the pancakes to cook through without the outsides burning, so while it looked done on the outside, it was runny and gross on the inside.

Conrad, being the wonderful man that he is, sat there for a minute while I got upset and dumped mine in the trash. I flipped out a little bit then looked at him. He was bent over his plate with his hand supporting his forehead, with a serious look plastered to his gorgeous face. Without looking up, he said, "Shmoo, its not that bad...", forked at it a bit, and pursued another batter-y bite. I stopped him just in time and explained that it would make him feel sick. He was relieved. We tossed it all and had mac and cheese.

Ladies, the moral of the story is that you know your husband loves you when... you cook a nasty meal and he wants to make you feel better by showing you he can still eat it, even when its dangerously inedible. ...he doesn't mind having macaroni as a replacement. ...he sneaks cereal later in the evening because the mac and cheese didn't fill him, but he wanted you to think he was satisfied.

the excitement builds...

As we approach Conrad's graduation, the dream of having a house and family become closer and closer. In a week is his job fair, where he will send out many resumes and hopefully get a few bites. Once he has a [few] job offer[s], we will decide where we will move! As of today, if all goes well, we will be moving in less than 6 months!

While we wait for the fish to bite, we've been talking about things we're excited for.

1. Not having to tip-toe and whisper out of courtesy for neighbors (who, by the way, are not so kind as to return the gesture)

2. A dog! Our apartment complex doesn't allow pets for noise and odor reasons, so once we buy a house, we can get a nice big canine companion.

3. A mortgage. Sounds crazy, but if we're going to be making monthly payments anyway, why not make it something we will own in five years? I want to be able to paint and renovate without worry of someone changing it back in 6 months.

4. A garden. I've always been a big supporter of locally grown food, and whats more local than my own yard? Plus, is there anything better than eating something you grew? Really? What tastes better than a fresh tomato?

5. Having a little more space. We're comfortably crammed into our 1B/1b apartment, but it sure will be nice to have a second bedroom to use as an office.

6. The investment perspective. While we live in one house, we'll fix it up and save some money for another house, and keep doing that until all our properties are paying for themselves.

Once we figure out where we'll move, I'll apply for school, and we'll continue our wonderful life!! Isn't it fun being married?

Honesty

I really value honesty. That said, i'm going to confess a few things about myself that some people may not know. part of my new 2010 self is to let people in more. Here goes.

1. I LOVE giving talks in sacrament. i love the research, the paper writing process, the public speaking, and the testimonies. I'm an English major, so it makes sense that i would enjoy it. frankly, i think most people don't hate it as much as they swear they do.

2. I think that some people are compatible with more than one person on the earth. Obviously. However, there are some who would only fit with one special person. I think I am one of those people. And i am one of the even fewer who found him. I think my parents are those people too.

3. I love cold, smooth sheets, especially in the summer. I've also discovered recently that i prefer to sleep with the window open and a good heavy blanket, than have a warm room and no blanket. i like the weight.

4. I like to throw stuff away. i hope i don't give my kids a complex that makes them hoard because i throw all their stuff away.

5. I prefer a salad or soup over almost any other food. Other food makes me feel gross and weighed down after eating. soup and salad usually feel good. I used to be a huge pasta junkie, but have recently quit that habit. Also, i hate junk food. of course i eat it, but i hate the gross, sick, still hungry feeling you get after.

6. I was a teenage bride. i made the choice at a young age to get married, and even in these 9 short months, i think i've grown up so much. financial responsibility, meshing with conrad's lifestyle, and thinking about becoming a mother have really done a number on me.

7. Speaking of motherhood, i'm absolutely stoked to have kids and see what they look like and meet their little personalities. I'm not scared at all about pregnancy or labor, in fact, those two parts are probably what i look forward to the most. I'm mostly nervous about breastfeeding (so gross) and the epidural, if i decide to get one.

8. I'm not patient. i'm a lot better than i was nine months ago, but i still get really snappy and irritable if someone in front of me isn't going fast enough (especially in crowds, like at Disneyland. i get so raging). I've noticed that if conrad is with me, he helps a lot to keep me calm. he keeps me focused on other things.

9. I prefer rainy and cloudy/cold and clear to hot and sunny. Everything becomes less fun in the heat. anything that requires movement or effort becomes sweaty and exhausting, plus, with the garments, you can't really minimize the clothing. plus they add an extra layer. Winter clothes (scarves, boots, sweaters, hats) are cuter than any other clothes, too. For some period in my life, i would like to live somewhere with colder weather.

10. I do things in public a lot that most people would be mortified from. I'm not one of those people who gets embarrassed but tries not to act so; i genuinely am not embarrassed. if i am, i'll say something like "wow, that was humiliating" then move on. i can also tell when people are embarrassed for me, and try to "help me" by saying things like "oh my gosh! are you ok?" and "oh honey, it wasn't that bad. nobody saw." I think its pointless. i enjoy seeing other people slip on ice, so why wouldn't they enjoy seeing me do it?

There's me. i could go on. i probably will. Later.

Our first New Year as a family, and my favorite shoes

We've made some resolutions. Obviously we got the boring ones out of the way (eat better, work out more, be nicer), then we got more specific. We made some new house rules. I may have added a few that Conrad hasn't consented to.

1. Clean the bathroom and kitchen [really well] twice a month, because they get pretty grimy.

2. Don't eat my chips.

3. Or drink my juice.

4. By the end of the year, we need to have traveled somewhere new. Hopefully far enough away that we would take a plane to get there.

5. Finish Book of Mormon together.

Then I've made a few personal goals for myself.

1. Stop skipping classes. I never do anything more exciting than class anyway.

2. Get better grades (obviously)

3. Shower every day (I actually think this will be the hardest)

Now, school hasn't started yet, so the first two goals don't apply yet, but as of today, the fifth day of 2010, I have showered EVERY DAY. I hate it. Sometimes I like to be a little mangy, you know? My hair looks better if I don't wash it every day [or brush it ever]. Anyway, my clothes get less dirty, and I feel a little less vomitous when I realize I forgot deodorant, because I know I've showered within the last 24 hours and probably don't stink too bad.

OK, gross story of the week. Sorry, the "I Never Shower" story wasn't it. This story is about my favorite pair of shoes. They are navy blue, at least they were when I bought them. Now they're kind of a light purple color. I got them for 5 dollars at Rite Aid. You know what kind i'm talking about. Anyway, they fit PERFECTLY! Without socks that is. Which means, if I don't want my feet to be strangled and squeezed, then by the end of the day, my feet smell like I waded through a swamp barefoot, stomped through a cattle farm, then walked across burned rubber. Cute, huh? These babies aren't even allowed in the bedroom. I have to wear plastic bags over them when they're in the house. I'm already married, so I guess I'm not trying to impress everyone with my clean, rosy feet.

These shoes are the 80 year old woman's best friend. When I wear them, I feel like a million bucks. I'm on top of the world in these shoes. It's just when I take them off.... I kind of want to die.