Oops, I Did It Again

I'm not very good at the whole online thing. Like, any of it. This blog, my emails, keeping up with friends, etc. I think I barely made it alive in the one online class I ever took. You would think in this day and age the whole online thing would be easy, but for me- I just don't get attached to it the way other people do. On my phone, you've got a whole different story there, but on the actual computer where do more than just browse, I suck.

So it's been six months since I last wrote. But then I go and one day decide to read a bunch of friend's blogs and I realize how great it is to have a journal of your life and how fun it would be one day to go back and read mine. So I will once again attempt to keep doing this.

This year so far has been, well, I feel like it's just been. Most days are average. Some days are fantastic. And some days really suck. It's been a huge growing year for Cody and I as a couple I think. We're really starting to learn who we are as a couple. We've had our trials that were tough but in the end brought us much closer together and really taught us how to communicate with each other. We speak different "love languages," (I know, this sound so lame but really, it's like scripture for relationships. Everyone EVERYONE needs to read The 5 Love Languages with their significant other. Even if you think your relationship is perfect, this will teach you how to be better.) and slowly we are just figuring out how to speak each other's language.

Cody has been working hard in school. He's in law school but now he's also in business school. Sometimes I feel like we have both lost our minds to be able to even think about Cody doing a dual degree. Especially since the first year of law school, especially the first semester was pretty much hell for me. It was so hard to give Cody up for all that time. It was a huge learning experience for me. I like to think I'm doing better. But I know Cody is happy in school and he is enjoying it. Right now he is doing a paid internship for the summer at a law firm that represent HOA's. He really likes it. We also just found out that Cody is in the top 10% of his class and he made law review! Ya, I married an overachiever.

I (as in Heather, since I'm the only one that ever writes these posts..) have just been busy with work. I'm still working as a nurse on the maternity floor. The night shifts still kill me. But I still love what I do, so here I am. My most recent development is apparently I have high blood pressure. I'm only 24 years old and I am a normal weight for my age, I could probably work out more or eat a little healthier but it's not like I need to make major changes there. So who knows whats going on? I've had lots of tests done like blood work, ultrasounds on my heart, and CT scans of my abdomen and pelvis, but so far everything is normal. Other than the fact that my blood pressure is much higher than it should be. So for now I'm taking two blood pressure medications and checking my pressure each time I'm at work and hoping for the best. I just hope I don't have major problems when I want to become pregnant someday.

Cody and I just recently signed up to be dog hosts on DogVayCay.com. Basically, when people go on vacation and don't want to send their dog to a kennel, they pay us to watch their dog in our home instead. We did it with our two dogs when we went to Mexico last week and it was fantastic, and much cheaper than all of the kennels. So we are now hosting ourselves. We got our first doggie to watch today and it's been... interesting. He is a small mini schnauzer/poodle mix and he is TERRIFIED of everything. I don't know why his owners thought he would do well with our two big dogs. But it's okay, he is slowly adjusting. He's attached to my hip all day so I can protect him from the shadows in the corner though. It's a fun way to make a little extra money though.

Cody got a GoPro for his 26th birthday this year. Everyone needs to get one of these! The pictures they take are just incredible! I didn't take my big Nikon to Mexico because I didn't want to have to lug it around nor did I want it stolen so I was pretty set on having pretty generic pictures of our trip, but that GoPro proved me wrong! The pictures it takes are incredible! We definitely will have a lot of fun with this camera considering you can pretty much take it anywhere.

Okay, that's about all I got for a generalized update. Hopefully I can keep up with this thing a little more because I know I will enjoy it someday later on. My life is great. I LOVE my husband so much and I wish I could retire right now and spend every minute with him. Seriously, no sarcasm in that. But instead, I'll keep dreaming and enjoy him the small moments I do get him.

Life As Lately

Today is Christmas Day!  So I'm on blogger why you ask?  I'm sitting here at work at 4am while my husband sleeps at home waiting for Santa to come.  Crappy, but it's the life of a nurse.

 

Life at the Jenkins house has been quite busy lately.  Work for me has been crazy, we never slow down.  But I can't complain about it though because it's really fortune to be able to work so much when I'm the only one working for the time being.  Cody has been so busy with school that it's just not possible for him to work right now.  He just finished his very first semester of law school!  He has to put a lot of work into finals and it seems like it just about killed him, but he made it through.  And even more than that, he's decided to apply to the University of Utah's business school also and seek out a joint degree doing business and law together.  So that adds on an extra year of schooling for him but has him finishing with two graduate degrees.  So he will be even more busy than he already is, but I think it's going to be the best thing for him and his job opportunities.

Another thing Cody and I have been very into lately is going to the gym together.  We both got gym passess to the Murray Rec Center and have started trying to go as much as possible.  I can't believe how hard it was at first and how much easier it is already getting.  I miss how in shape I used to be in high school when I was on the drill team.  When I go to the gym I like to start with running, which is getting easier now but was terrible to start out.  After I go into the weight room with Cody.  If you know me, the weight room always has been a scary place for me.  I don't know what to do, can't do very much, and feel completely out of place in every way.  But Cody has been so excited to help me and has been great about getting me started.  Now I can spend most of my gym time in there and look like I may know how to use a few pieces of equipment or weights.  But MAN, I am so sore!! It never ends.  My body is screaming after every single time I go.  But it feels good.  I never should have stopped working out in the first place.  

I've been a nurse for a year come January.  That is so crazy!  Time flies so fast!  I never thought I would be a long time post partum nurse personally, but I can't believe how much I really do love my job.  I still hate the night shifts with a passion, but I love what I do and I love the people I work with.  It's been such a great first year as a nurse.  I've had so many great days and many very scary ones.  But thanks to those very scary days, I feel so confident in my skills and everything I do in my job.  Put me on a med/surg floor, you might have a different story, but post partum and babies- I feel great!  I'm so lucky to have the job I have, I would never give it up for anything else! 

Well, I'll be posting better pictures soon because there is a beautiful new camera sitting under the Christmas tree for me at home right now!  I hope everyone has a great Christmas!   

My Girls

Get ready for autumn everyone!



Well, once again it's been a while since I've posted.  Really, I just hated the way the blog looked and so I didn't want to see it at all.  So I apologize for constantly changing the layout, but I think I'm satisfied for a little while now.  Life has been one busy whirlwind lately.  I'm pretty sure I still have a husband somewhere but I see him less now than when we were dating it feels like.  He started law school at this University of Utah in August and has been totally SWAMPED with homework since.  He will disappear down to our basement for the entire night just reading and writing.  So in turn, I have become even more lazy and gotten into even more TV shows, my latest addiction; New Girl.  Luckily, I bought a pass to a dance studio and hope to get back into doing that so that my butt doesn't become permanently implanted into our couch.

Cody and I have been going to our ward in our area now.  When we lived in our apartment we both really struggled getting the motivation and desire to wake up for church and I realize now that it's because we were so unattached to our ward that we just did not want to go.  No one cared we were there so it was tough to show up.  Our new ward however, is so completely opposite.  The first week we moved into our house we had visits from the bishop, relief society, and elder's quorum.  We also met another couple our age who moved in close by and had dinner with them! Not only that, but already we have callings.

Cody was called as the first counselor in the young men's.  And I was called as the first counselor in the young women's.  Cody seemed to be a little nervous about his calling, seeing as he never went to nor cared about young men's when he was the age of it.  But he will do fantastic, I don't think there's a better man for the job!  As for me, let's just say Cody got his calling before I did and I was bitter because I've always wanted to work with the young women.  The bishop must have known my heart's desire.  :)

I've already gone to some activities and gotten to know some of my YM girls.  And already I know this calling is going to be one I'll be very attached to.  Hearing stories of these girl's home lives and trials they've gone through is unbelievable to me.  These girls at 15 and 16 years old (which is my age group) have parents that don't want to go to church, so they, at this young age, pack up all of their siblings and walk them all to church and serve as the parent so that their siblings can make it to church each week.  Their testimonies are larger than life and it has shocked me.  Who know kids this age could have such unshaken faith like this?  The things these girls tolerate, the way they stand up for what they believe in to other kids at school who think differently, the way they aren't afraid to stand out as a member of the church and an example to everyone around them, it's truly touching.  Being around these women twice a week will be a life changing experience for me most of all.   



Random picture, but I found my long lost best friend!  She moved away and we hadn't seen each other for like 10 years until now!  So great to see her!

 

One activity I did with my YW was we went to Gardener Village to see the witches and Halloween decorations.  Everyone needs to go do this this month!  It's fabulous.







A Utah Man I Am!

Alright.  It's official.  Like for real this time though.  We are STAYING in UTAH!! We gave the dean of ASU way too long and it never ended up working out, so we realized Utah is the best place for us for so many reasons.  I'm thrilled!  As much as I would have loved to spend some time outside of Utah, this means I get to keep my family, I get to keep my job, my husky won't die because of heat stroke, and one of the most exciting.. we get to buy a house!!  Cody has been talking to a realtor friend and we are just starting the process!

I am starting to enjoy my job more and more.  It was really scary to get used to the idea of me being the nurse in charge instead of having the nurse to report to when things got out of the norm.  But I've learned a lot, and I'll just say, through many experiences of having the patient that isn't doing too hot, I feel confident that I can handle just about anything on the maternal/newborn unit.  Put me on med/surg, you have a whole new set of insecurities, but for now I feel safe on my mom/baby floor.  I'm excited that I get to keep working here for a while because the learning opportunites as a nurse never stop.  However, I hate night shifts.  I can't get over how much I hate night shifts.  The hate for night shifts I have grows each time I work one.  They will be the death of me.

Cody started a new job last week at a place called Onset Financial.  Basically, he calls all these super rich CEO's of really big companies and tries to get them to finance big purchases for their company through his company.  I know, sounds like a lot of "spam" work to me too.  BUT.  I'm telling you, he gets so much at his job.  He get food catered for lunch three times a week (Kneaders, Chipotle, Dominos, Barbacoa, Firehouse Subs), plus he came home with new clothes already... from work! Ya, I think they definitely make up for the tough parts of the job.  He seems to enjoy it there, for the most part.  He will only be working until August when he starts law school.  Once law school hits, he will only be a full time student!

House hunting, house hunting, I'm so excited to go house hunting!  Now if only I could convince the Property Brothers to come to Utah and do a house for me, my life would be complete.  But until then, enjoy some of my recent adventures with my iPhone.

My good ol' high school friend Bryson got married! And his wedding reception was just beautiful! Congrats Bryson and Kim!

Ya.  My mom's puppy is super cute.  And they ended up naming her Tootsie!

Any husky owner needs to also own this vacuum.  My apartment would be lost is husky hair forever without this thing.

Cody and I go golfing.  A lot.  And I have pink golf clubs so that makes it okay.

I love my husband.  He cooks me hot dogs a lot and I really love hot dogs.  Plus he looks super cute grilling.



Did I mention I love my husband?  He goes grocery shopping with me.  And we have a lot of fun when we go...



Okay, these aren't from the iPhone.  We got our wedding pictures finally!! And I love them.  I forced myself to only post two pictures here otherwise the list of pictures would NEVER end.  I put many more on facebook, so look there.

Yep.  Temple wedding picture that every little girl dreams of having.  This one is mine.

Let Things Land Where They Fall...

When it comes to law school, I think we will never make a decision.  Every time it gets close to a decision, something happens to drag it out again.  Cody called ASU on his last day before his scholarship offer was revoked and let them know he was still waiting to talk to the dean.  The receptionist, with a quick whisk of her hand, said "Oh, we will just extend your deadline two weeks."  So.  We are still in waiting.  I'm kind of staying out of it now and trying to let things land where they fall and someday the right thing will happen.

It's been a busy week for us this week! The main event being Cody graduating from college!  Yay!  He graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor Degree in Political Science and minors in Spanish and Campaign Management.  He is such a hard worker!  All those nights of writing ten page papers, studying all day, and even going beyond and doing extra credit work even though he had an A seriously paid off.  He will be an even better law student.  Great job babe!!

We've been really enjoying the warm weather recently.  Cody has spent a lot of time golfing and has really gotten good at it.  I decided I wanted a little more change with my hair for the summer (oh no, I will never cut it so don't even think it) so I decided to get a little more blonde put in it.  I was nervous at first but I really like it now!  It's a fun little change.  Also, I told Cody how much I really wanted some flowers this summer to hang on our balcony so we went and looked at a few hanging pots around town.  There were some really pretty ones but I couldn't decide so we ended up going home without one.  Then the next day or so when I came home from work, Cody had the most beautiful hanging flowers sitting on the counter for me waiting!  It was such a wonderful surprise and I can't wait to keep them blooming this summer!

My mother got a puppy.  She is the tiniest thing I have ever seen, ever.  She's so small!! She is adorable too.  She's a little chocolate poodle.  We are poodle people at the Stam house.  Everyone is still trying to think of a name for her.  We thought about Hershey for a little while.  It's still up in the air, I'm not really sure what fits her yet. She is so reserved and quiet.  She never makes a peep.  She needs a name that says silent but beautiful.  We'll see I guess!

Happy Graduation Cody!! I bought him some red and white Beats by Dre for his present and make graduation cap cupcakes!

My beautiful hanging flower pot Cody bought me.

Good old blondies in my hair.

A sneaky picture of my husband BBQing me some steaks.  He's so cute and so good at taking care of me!

Really fuzzy picture, but little unnamed chocolate poodle is the sweetest!!

Blessings

Being married is so totally wonderful.

It's really unbelievable how blessed Cody and I have been in the past weeks since we got married.  I think both of us have been in a little bit of awe as we have watched everything just fall into place for us.  It's almost like our whole dating life together was such a rough road that now that things are going smoothly, it's shocking. 

We are still waiting on schools to decided where Cody will be starting law school.  That's really freaky to me considering he will be starting in just four short months.  Staying in Utah that's not a big deal, but if we decide Arizona then that's quite the change we have to make in four months time.  But we will make it work, whatever is the best thing.  We are still waiting to talk to the Dean of ASU to discuss his scholarship options.

This last week or so has been a lot of fun at home.  My work schedule worked out so that I had a lot of time to spend with Cody.  We got a lot done in the apartment as far as cleaning and organizing.  We just have one more trip of returning duplicate wedding gifts and we will actually have space in our apartment.  And can use our second bedroom for the dogs instead of having a massive dog cage in the middle of the living room!

We also got a Dyson Animal vacuum! You wouldn't believe how much this was needed.  Having a white husky that loves to lay on the couch, it's a much needed product.  Highly recommended.

After Cody got rear ended by the cop, we decided the best thing for us was to trade his car in and get something different.  His car got terrible gas mileage and things on it just kept breaking down.  Luckily Cody's good friend works in car sales and was able to get us a really great deal.  We ended up trading in the car and leasing a 2013 Volkswagon Jetta. (I'm telling you, leasing is the way to go- even if you want to buy the car.  Lease it first, you will save money on it!  Interested, and I will explain more to you. Leasing is not what it used to be.)  It's a really great car and we are excited to have a car that gets such good gas mileage plus not have to pay for any maintenence whatsoever on it!

We went golfing on Wednesday finally.  Cody has been begging me every since the weather hit 50 degrees.  For me, I enjoy golfing, but I want fantastic weather for it.  But I finally gave in when we were in the 60 degree weather, and we had a lot of fun.  I don't think I'm too bad at it, I got my first Par on one of the holes so I'm slowly improving.  It was probably only my sixth time ever golfing or so!  And Cody is getting really good!  He is taking a golf class right now at the U and not only is it making his golf game improve, but his obession with golf is out of control now.  He talks about golf at least ten billion times a day.  Good thing it's something I enjoy also.

We also decided this last week that we were going to make some good food for dinner.  We actually planned out our meals and shopped for it (okay, I shopped for it) at the beginning of the week so we knew what we needed to do.  I cooked pull apart chicken, BBQ pulled pork, fajitas, and just some boring old tacos so far this week.  Cody also cooked sweet and sour chicken and he did great! We have a few more good ones planned for the week still to come.  It's been a lot of fun and I've actually really enjoyed cooking.  I hope this whole planning the whole week in advanced thing becomes some sort of tradition because it's been great.

Well, that's really all for our little update for now.  Life is busy, but it's very enjoyable.  Each day being married gets better and better.  We are still learning how to work differently with each other.. as much as you think you know everything about that person when you get engaged and even after dating for two years, being married is different.  It's wonderful different, but a whole new learning experience different.  And I love every minute of it!



I found a snake on the green on one of the holes during golfing and Cody wanted to hold it.. So gross.



Our new beautiful Jetta.



Decision, Decisions...

Oh how ironic it becomes when you feel you've made an important decision and then all of a sudden all the factors that lead you to that decision totally change and you're back to square one.

This whole where is Cody going to go to law school charade is wearing on me.  We thought we had made a decision.  Utah it was.  And then, as the universe plans, everything changes.  Cody, the next day, got a phone call from ASU stating they wanted to offer him $20,000 the first year and $10,000 the second year to go to their school. 

Awesome.  No really, it is totally awesome.  It just makes the decision that much harder. Arizona as it stands still will cost just a little bit more money the first year, but it's close enough that it pulls on Cody's heart strings a lot since it's where he really wants to go.

It's where I really wanted to go also until a few days after that call.  I started thinking about actually packing up and moving to Arizona.  And I started freaking out.  Where will we live?  Will we have enough money to afford this?  How much money do I have to pay my work for the contract I signed and will be breaking?  Will I be able to find a job there?  What do we do if I can't find a job since Cody can't work during school?  How will leaving all of my family and friends behind feel?  Am I going to be totally alone with knowing no one and Cody having to spend so much time at school?  Ya, I'm freaking out.

I didn't realize this decision was as big of a decision as it really is.  I thought it was going to be all fun and games picking where to live for the next three years.  So far, it's not very fun.  Some days it's put strain on Cody and I as we try to discuss logically instead of over emotionally how we both feel.  He says prayers.  I say prayers.  We say prayers together.

We have to decide by April 30th.  That's when ASU needs to know for their scholarship offer.  I think my biggest fear is my job.  I got my first RN job in January and had to sign a year contract.  If I break it, I have to pay a whole lot of money.  But even worse, I'm scared about being able to find an RN job in Arizona.  Without a full year worth of experience, many people don't want to hire you.  The reason I got hired here in Utah is because I worked for the same company as a CNA for many years.  What do I have going for me as the newbie from a different state and very little experience? 

I feel bad because I know Cody fully has his heart set on Arizona.  He's been talking about living there for months and months.  Now that that is a real possibility, there's nothing else on his mind.  I've been excited about a lot of it too and trying to repress some of the fears I feel about it, but there's only so long I can hold those fears in. 

I want to do what's best for us.  What is the best school for Cody to go to?  Where is the best place for us to live the first three years of our marriage?  What kind of impact will both places have on our relationship, families, jobs, and lives in general?  I wish I knew the answers to all of this.  I guess praying and praying more is on the adgenda coming here soon. 

I'm very grateful to be able to spend so much time with my husband.  I love him more than I have words to say.  All these huge decisions are just a reality check of being married.  "Married" can be hard sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.  Things will work out.  We will figure out what/where is best for us.  And whatever we decide, I know we will love.

A little flash of our week this week...

We went to Ikea and found a new bedframe for our new memory foam mattress.  Cody mostly put it together because the first part of the bed I tried to help with, I broke.  But we totally love the bed, especially the memory foam and especially king sizeeee.



And the dogs probably love the bed as much as we do.



Cody got rear ended by a police officer.  A dog ran out into the street and let just say... the cop may have been following a little too closely.





Easter Morn

Easter went a little like this for the Jenkins couple.

I currently work as a nurse on a maternity floor in the hospital and I had to work a graveyard shift the night before Easter Sunday. Being a nurse has many great perks to it, but working graveyard shifts is not one of them.  I really liked them at first and thought I would like them for a while, but the recovery period after the shift is just brutal.  I find myself having minor medical issues like pain under my ribcage after I work too many night shifts.  Plus spending my time the next day sleeping when I want to be awake spending time with Cody instead is really hard.  Luckily my job lets me do half day shifts and half night shifts so I do get my break from night shifts.

Anyways.  Easter.  I got home around 8:00 am and set out some an Easter basket and candy for Cody.  It took him forever to leave the bedroom or bathroom and see it in the kitchen, but it was a good little surprise for him.  Cody's mother was always so good about doing cute little things for Cody that you would think only little kids got from their mom, so I had to step up to the plate.

Next, we got ready for church.  I know, that sounds crazy because I had just worked all through the night.  But Cody and I hadn't been to church in so long because of the wedding and honeymoon and we wanted to get to our new ward.  So instead of sleeping, I went to our new ward.  Oh, the difference a family ward is from a single's ward.  It's noisy.  It's messy.  And there's pretty much no one mine or Cody's age.  Not to mention, that ward is FULL of terrible singers.  But it's okay, I will get over it.  The bishop seems really nice and it will be good for us to get into a ward where we can stay for a little bit.  Sacrament went nicely, but you better believe my head was bobbing BADLY after a little while.  There's only so much quiet reverence a person who has been up for 24 hours can take.

We left church after sacrament so that I didn't pass out on the spot and I came home and slept until about 4:30.  Then Cody drops the law school bomb on me (which will be explained later in this post).  We went to Cody's grandparent's house where we ate good food, got showered with more candy, and listened to Cody's grandma's cute Easter story presentation.  Once we were done there, we went to my parents house and got even more candy.  My mom is also in this cupcake making phase where she makes these ridiculously yummy candy filled cupcakes that rot your teeth instantly.  So we got a second plate of those (she brought us a different plate a week ago) and came home to watch a movie together for the first time as a married couple- The Lucky One, typical chick flick that I loved and Cody made fun of.  It was a great first Easter together and we had fun spending time with both of our families.  It's still weird and exciting getting used to the idea that we are married, but it's the best thing to remember!  Being married is by far the best thing in the world.

Law School Bomb:  Originally, Cody and I had our hearts set on Cody going to law school at Arizona State and us moving to Phoenix.  I think we were both pretty thrilled with the idea of wonderful weather and a much lower cost of living.  But after a few different eye opening experiences, our plans have changed fast.  Cody has already been accepted to the University of Utah law school and given a $14,000 scholarship for the first year.  Arizona, we are still waiting to hear from.  Cody has to make a decision about the Utah scholarship by Friday.  After those eye opening experiences, we think we are going to stay here in  Utah.  We've realized in the long run it will be cheaper, I will be able to stay at my job I just started and get some solid experience as a nurse, it will be nice staying by family- especially when little babies come into the picture in a few years, and it means we can buy a townhome that has a small backyard and we can get out of a stuffy apartment with two big dogs.  We still have some things to think about and plan to go to the temple and do a lot of praying, but as for now, Utah is the decision.  Maybe we will get our out-of-Utah experience some time later in life.  But for now, I feel very content with this decision and I think Cody does too.  So my Utah friends, that means you are still stuck with the Jenkins. For now.  :)

Our Easter cavities waiting to happen.  Plus a few other fun things.

You know you own a husky when you have been at work for 8 hours already and find a hair like this on your water cup.  Geez.



Oh, just pictures of our rings we take during church.