We've Moved!

If you are reading this, than you must love me. And if you love me, you must care what goes on in my life. And if you care what goes on in my life, then you'd want to know that my blog moved!

It got re-hosted, re-vamped, and I got renewed motivation to write! Check it out...

adventuresofamie.wordpress.com

Thanks :)
**Love to read my old blog posts? Don't worry, they all moved with me!

That Awkward Moment...

... when you realize that you have been so consumed with working 90-hour weeks and getting married that you haven't written a blog in two months.

You may be surprised to hear this, but I just had one of those moments. And by "you" I mean hi Dad, because you are probably the only one who still even remembers this blog, let alone still checks it for updates.

Considering it's been 2 months to the day since my last post, here's what you missed...
-I worked a lot. Like really. The worst was 92 hours in 7 days. Legit.
-I quit my job. Yeah, I was burned out, but mainly because I knew we would be moving.
-Josh got his orders. For San Diego.
-Then Josh got told he got his pilot spot back, randomly. That he "lost" over 3 months ago.
-I planned a wedding.
-Josh and I got married! :)
-I got the flu the day after the wedding and moved into Josh's apartment (well, I'm still in the process)

So, now, I am a married woman, with no job, setting up house, but not too much, because I know we're moving to Pensacola, FL sometime in the next three weeks to six months so Josh can go to flight school to be a pilot in the Navy.

But, considering that my father is the only one reading this, you already knew all of that. So, I will end this "awkward moment" update by saying I love you Dad. And if you who are reading this are not my father, I love you too. Because you still remember my blog and think to check it. So, thanks.

And seeing that no job means so much more time, check back soon. More posts to follow :)

A Moment to Ponder Life

I am at work (what's new) and taking a moment to ponder the state of my life. I work, all the time, and I am really quickly getting into the nitty gritty details of planning a wedding and don't know what to do. There have been so many ideas for so many things, which has been great. But now it's decision time. Not like that's a bad thing; in 10 years who will really care if my centerpieces were on a mirror or the plain tablecloth? But there are so many decisions and it feels like not much time is left to make them all and put it all into motion in time. And anyone who knows me can attest that I suck at making decisions, especially when I am stressed and a lot is riding on those decisions. So, I find myself asking: what's it all for? 

Marriage. Sure the wedding is a fun party, but what really matters is the marriage it celebrates. 

So looking forward, after these details are behind me, what's next? Moving to an unknown place at an unknown time, where my husband will be almost immediately deployed and will continue to be for the majority of our first year of marriage. I will be left not only to unpack our recently merged life by myself, but I will also have to figure out a new place, a new life, and a totally new culture called the Navy. And most all of it I will have to figure out on my own. Whoopie. Needless to say, this part I am not excited about.

No matter how many times I get asked this question, it always shocks me why someone would think to ask it. "Wow. You're about to become a Navy Wife. How can you be so okay with that? Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" Of course I have no idea what I'm getting myself into!! All I know about military life  I have learned from watching Army Wives and from what Josh (and his mom) have told me. And all I've really learned is that you dive in head-first and hope to learn as you go. Let's just say I've always learned best by knowing first, diving second. 

But regardless of how uncertain I am of how I will emotionally survive, I have always been certain of one thing: no matter what I may face in this life or in our marriage, I know that Josh is worth it. Josh is worth the uncertainty. Josh is worth the heartache. Josh is worth the lonliness. I know for a fact that I would rather live with him for a few short months out of a year than live my life without him completely. I've tried to live without him, and clearly, that didn't go so well. Otherwise we wouldn't be getting married in 50 days. 

I will never forget a conversation Josh and I had shortly after we met. He was trying to get to the bottom of why I wouldn't date him. All of his confidence suddenly deflated from within him as he asked, "It's because I am in the military, isn't it..." 

Shocked, my face became squinched as I exclaimed, "What?!? NO! That thought never even crossed my mind!" His ego quickly filled again. "It has nothing to do with your career choice! You're three years younger than me!!!" He didn't seem to find much of anything wrong with this reason, because he hasn't stopped pursuing me since. :)

There are 50 days, countless details, (what seems like) endless planning, and vast uncertainties between me and Mrs. Amie Lou, but I know that none of that matters. I am not choosing the life ahead of me; I am choosing Josh. And that's all I need to know...

Happy Birthday to Me!

I have been so touched today. I have been so overwhelmed and honored at the outpouring of calls, cards, and birthday wishes. I feel so loved! And I had such a great day (despite having to work)! Instead of telling you about my day, I'll show you...

It started last night when my co-workers and girls in the house threw me a birthday party, made me a cake, and  got me the new Birthday Oreos (which literally taste like cake batter with sprinkles in an Oreo). Who needs candles when you can top your cake with an Oreo?

Then I got a super-sweet card from one of the girls in the house that validated why I do what I do. In the card she wrote, "You are such an amazing God fearing woman and I admire that greatly." I must be doing something right!!

Then this morning Josh took me out for breakfast before he had to go fly. If I had been wearing make-up at 8am, I probably would have photo-documented this wonderful celebration with my almost-husband. However, because of my last few adventures in Einstein's Bagels without makeup, I hide my naked face there now. The first time, I got teased by an elderly woman. I was wearing sweats, no make-up, it was 8:30am, and a rickety white-haired lady teetered past me on the sidewalk, took one look at my face, proclaimed I must have had a late night last night, and laughed. The second time, the cashier asked if I was feeling ok. I was. I just wasn't wearing make-up. You would think I would have learned my lesson, but I love Einstein's, and there was no time to put make-up on before meeting Josh. Thus, no photo-documentation. Anyway...

Then I went with the beautiful Jackie to PICK UP MY WEDDING DRESS!!!! I couldn't stop crying when I was trying it on. It was, it is perfect! All the alterations they made are flawless! I was really nervous at my first fitting when they estimated how much to take in on each side, but I am so impressed. It fits me like a glove. I can't wait to wear it for more than five minutes! When I brought it home, I had to laugh, because my closet is so short, that my dress won't fit! Thus, it has to hang on the back of my door. It was kind of funny though, because I sat on my bed, looking at the dress bag, and couldn't sit still. I kept walking up to it and un-zipping it and fawning over it as if it were a new baby! I love my dress!!! What a great birthday present!

Then I got to have lunch with my dearest friend, maid-of-honor, and roommate Jackie. I hadn't seen her for nearly three weeks because I was working, and then she was in Swaziland on a mission trip and then in Illinois visiting a friend. It was such a sweet time catching up, hearing about trips, and sharing life. And then I cried (again) thinking of how grateful I am for Jackie, her love, her heart, and her friendship. I guess I'm just a big softie today...

When I was driving back to work for the evening shift, the sun was sparkling so vibrantly on the Great Salt Lake. It was such a beautiful, warm, and sunny day, that if I didn't know it was March 5th, I would have thought it was spring!

And even though I worked all night, I taught a girl how to make quiche, played soccer, and braided hair, it was still a great day. Not ideal, but what really is?? I had a great birthday!! Thank you to all of you who have called, texted, and wished me well today! I could have had a quarter-life crisis today, but couldn't find anything to complain about!

So, 25 down, and many more wonderful years to go! :)


*Feel free to join me in my annual celebration of my namesake... It's better than the Happy birthday Song. It's Pure Prairie League!

What If We All Chose To Love?

There are some really stinking creative people at Google. I love the Google homepage on holidays and during fun seasons. My all-time favorite was yesterday. In case you missed it, it was the most adorable video of a boy trying to impress and show love to a girl (you can watch the video below, courtesy of YouTube).

Showing love is a tricky thing. It all depends on who you are and who is around you. Everyone shows and receives love in different ways. Sometimes roses and chocolates work. Other times stuffed animals, dinosaur sweaters, diving helmets, and balloons work well. But sometimes, what someone really needs is to have another person come alongside them in what they are doing or going through. To me, that shows the most love.

I was criticized by my father and all the girls at work about being "cynical" about Valentine's Day. If you know me, I am anything but cynical. However, I don't think Valentine's Day is a big deal. One of the best pieces of advice I've gotten as I have been preparing to get married is that "Love is not a feeling, it's a choice." And I choose to show love every single day, so why should Valentine's Day be any different or any more special? I chose to make yesterday more special, because I knew that's what others around me needed, but I don't need it to be. Everyday I choose to love Josh, regardless of what he's going through, his mood, or how much he shows me love. Everyday I choose to love the troubled teenage girls I work with no matter of what attitude or piece of furniture they may throw my way. Everyday I choose to love the random people I encounter because you never know what they're facing and how much a smile may help. Everyday I choose to love, so therefore, to me, everyday is Valentine's Day. And therefore, February 14th isn't a big deal.

A friend's blog post about Valentine's Day shared the tragic love story of St. Valentine and the legendary origins of Valentine's Day. She also challenged her readers to share their favorite quotes, stories, or memories about love. I don't have any of those to share at this time, but instead, I want to leave you with a question...
What keeps you from loving those around you as if everyday were Valentine's Day? Because I think that if we all made the choice to really love those we encounter today, the world would get a little bit brighter for tomorrow.

*You can check out Meghan's blog about Valentine's Day by clicking here.
 

Adventures in Mouse-Hunting

Yesterday I asked Josh to take me out on a date that night since I had work off and didn't have to be in to work til later today. However, it didn't turn out quite like I was hoping for. This past week Josh not only had three mice-spottings in his kitchen (including seeing one on the counter), but he also caught four. So, yesterday afternoon I came over with a friend and we planned a few hours pulling out the fridge and oven and catching however many mice were left and cleaning up after their nasty-ness. Seven hours later we finally finished. Cleaning mouse poo and mouse nests out of the bottom of the oven was not quite the romantic night I had envisioned...

The fridge was the first to be pulled out. There was mouse poo and some holes in the wall, but overall, not too bad. Josh patched up the holes and we cleaned that up pretty fast. Once we pulled out the oven though, we quickly realized that this project was not going to be done anytime soon.

Behind the oven was incredibly disgusting amounts of mouse droppings, dead insects, and mold. Gross. That was Josh's project. My job was to pull the drawer out of the bottom of the oven and search inside. I cannot even express how horrified I was to find a few nests in the spaces on either side of the drawer and more mouse poo than I ever thought possible. That was my project to clean. Not even the thickest hazmat suit could have made me feel comfortable enough to clean that up. And all I had were gloves, two plastic forks, a vacuum, and Clorox wipes. I had to shimmy under the oven and reach back with the forks to get the nests and carefully get them to the trash can without dropping mouse poo all over the kitchen floor. I was whining, making disgusted noises, and almost crying, and what was Josh doing? Laughing at me. That was one of the most disgusting things I've done, and he thought it was one of the funniest things he's seen. As you can tell, it was quite the romantic night.

After a trip to Lowe's for mouse traps, caulk, tools, and laminate floor tiles; five hours of patching holes and cleaning under (and inside) appliances; and two hours of cleaning floors, counters, and dishes; we were finally done. I don't think that kitchen has ever been that clean since it was built. But there's still more to do, and Josh will have his landlord do the rest.

But after all was said and done and we were resting on the couch, we heard scratching and scurrying. But no mice were to be found anywhere. My theory? Since all the holes were covered and caulked, there's mice who are now stuck inside the wall. Take that you nasty buggars! At least (hopefully) they can't get back in his kitchen... So here's to hoping!

The gross-ness behind and under the oven

The mouse nests... Ewww!!!

Josh working hard to patch holes and make it so the mice can't climb up the sides of the cabinets. 

The disastrous kitchen

We fortified the kitchen to make sure if mice were running around, they couldn't get out to the rest of the apartment!

Behind the oven and Josh's handiwork. I'd like to see the mice try and climb up to the counters now! Ha! 

Paparazzi

About a month ago, Josh and I had our engagement photos taken. It was so fun getting all dolled up and having a camera in our faces. Awkward at times and cold, but so much fun. We were supposed to have them taken on a Friday afternoon that was sunny and bright and beautiful. But Josh suddenly had to move into his new apartment that day, and our photographer was so gracious to re-schedule for the following day. He made a joke to dress warm and that the weatherman predicted snow, but when has he been right about anything all winter? Well, he was this time! I woke up to a true winter wonderland! It was cold, but oh so pretty. The snow was fresh and lightly sparkling in the clouded sun. Which made our faces sparkle even more.

I got an email from our amazing photographer this week with the link to all our photos. It's so fun to look through them and to start designing our invitations. Even though Josh is nearly a foot taller than me (even with high heels on), I realized that we look really good together. Despite the awkward moments of having a camera in our faces trying to capture romantic moments, it's clear to see that we really love each other. And it's clear that we are quite beautiful and handsome too! ;)

Now I know how the celebrities feel with paparazzi following them around all the time. Okay, not really, but it felt we had our own paparazzi that day! Not to mention his assistant (who also happens to be his beautiful wife) and our entourage (consisting of the Maid of Honor and Best Man).

Instead of using the rest of this blog to explain our pictures to you, I'll let you decide for yourselves...


*Check out our amazing photographer, Sawyer Pangborn, through his website here, or facebook here! 
**Like the photos that you see and want one for yourself? Let me know and I can get you one! 

101 Ways for 101 Days

One of my favorite poems is "Sonnet 43" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It's short, but the first lines of the poem are famous: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." (to read the sonnet in its beautiful entirety, click here).

Today marks 101 days until the wedding. I love doing top 10 lists, but I couldn't narrow it down to that few! So, to countdown 101 days, here are one hundred and one ways I love Joshua Scott Glazier...

101. His desire for adventure
100. The ways he has made me more adventurous
99. The way he loves me even though I am not as adventurous as him
98. The way he smiles at my attempts to be adventurous
97. The way we can have fun together doing anything
96. The funny faces he makes when taking pictures
95. His sense of humor
94. The fun he brings to everything he does
93. His love of airplanes
92. The noise he makes when he sees an airplane
91. His giddy excitement when talking about airplanes
90. His laugh
89. His smile
88. The joy in his eyes when he smiles
87. The joy in my eyes seeing him smile
86. The fact we don't always have to smile with each other
85. The way he loves me when I'm not smiling
84. The way he can be honest with me when things are hard
83. The way he respects my vulnerability when things are hard for me
82. The way he makes it easy to respect him as a man
81. The way I respect him anyway
80. The way our love grows when he loves me sweetly and I respect him openly
79. The way he loves me for my strengths
78. The way he loves me for my not-as-serious strengths
77. The way I love him with my English-major abilities
76. The way he sweetly asks me to edit his papers
75. The way I love to serve him in that way
74. The way he loves my nerdy-ness

73. The countless books on his bookshelf

72. His countless collection of movies

71. His obsession to alphabetize and categorize his books and movies

70. His love of Glee

69. The way he's not ashamed to let everyone know that he loves Glee

68. The way he sings along to the radio (and Glee) when he thinks no one is listening

67. The way he gets embarrassed when he finds out I was listening

66. The silly look on his face when I tell him there's no reason to be embarrassed

65. The fact that he's still embarrassed anyway 

64. The way he does things just to bug me

63. The joy he gets from bugging me

62. His laugh when he knows he's bugging me

61. The fact that he thinks bugging me is funny

60. The twisted way he loves to get "in trouble"

59. The fact that when he's "in trouble" he knows he's bugging me

58. The way he butters up to me after he gets "in trouble"

57. The way I melt like butter to that face of his

57. The way he loves to put butter on everything

56. The way he still eats my cooking, even when it's healthy

55. The way he likes my cooking, even when it's healthy

54. The way he cooks for me

53. The way he cleans for me

52. The way he serves me because of how much I serve him

51. The way we can serve each other

50. That he allows me to cook and clean for him
49. That he loves my cooking so much
48. His honesty
47. His integrity
46. His strength
45. His courage
44. His honor
43. His love of the Lord
42. The power of his prayers
41. The power of our prayers together
40. The power of his love
39. The depth of his love
38. His love of many things
37. His love of gadgets and electronics
36. His love of guns
35. His desire to have guns
34. His desire to protect me
33. His desire to make sure I'm safe
32. His desire to make sure I'm provided for
31. His desire to have a family
30. His desire to provide for that family
29. His desire to grow old with me
28. The way he calls me old already
27. The way I call him old in return
26. The way we bicker like an old married couple
25. The way we love each other despite our bickering
24. The way we can see each other's faults
23. The way we can love whole-heartedly despite those faults
22. The way love covers a multitude of sins
21. The way he looks at me
20. The way I get butterflies when he looks at me
19. His persistent attitude when I refused to date him
18. His honest charm that made it so hard for me to refuse him
17. His desire to do whatever it took to impress me
16. His desire to do whatever it took to make "us" work
15. The great story of how we started dating
14. The sweet circumstances of our first kiss
13. The effort he put into making our relationship work
12. How our relationship grew over three years and great distances
11. How we continue to grow closer to one another
10. The wonderful way he prosed
9. His impeccable taste in jewelry
8. His commitment to love me no matter what
7. His love of life
6. His love of my family
5. His dedication to his family
4. His dedication to serve this country
3. His dedication to serve me
2. His dedication to serve the Lord
1. I love the way he is who he is... Joshua Scott Glazier. I love you.

Remind Me

A good question. Still searching for the answer today.
"Tell me once again who I am to You.."



"When I lose My way,
And I forget my name,
Remind me who I am.
In the mirror all I see,
Is who I don't wanna be,
Remind me who I am.
In the lonliest places,
When I can't remember what grace is.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

When my heart is like a stone,
And I'm running far from home,
Remind me who I am.
When I can't recieve your love,
Afraid I'll never be enough,

Remind me who I am.
If I'm your beloved,
Can you help me believe it.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you, Woh.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

I'm the one you love,
I'm the one you love,
That will be enough,
I'm the one you love.

Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you, Woh.
To you."

NCIS Makes My Life Better

NCIS makes my life better. Really. That may sound funny, but I promise it makes sense. When things are hard, when I am frustrated, when I am upset, I love watching NCIS because it puts my life in perspective. Watching episodes where people die horrible deaths, have shoots-outs with terrorists, get stalked by psycho-criminals, solve peculiar murders, and drink way to many caf-pow's, the problems and situations in my life look so much better in comparison. 

Since becoming engaged, I have been dealing with the jewelry repair center in frustration as I have been fighting to get my ring fixed, and properly. I went to go pick it up today, but it still wasn't done. It was 3 weeks late, was sloppily made, and took 3 times (and hopefully just three) to get it fixed. So I was really bummed when I saw with my own eyes, that it still wasn't done. I know it's small, but my hopes of finally having my ring back after a month were dashed. 

So on my way home all I wanted to do was watch NCIS, because I knew I needed some perspective. My roommates once quoted me saying (during my awful job-searching days), "My life really isn't too bad. My husband wasn't murdered and I wasn't shot today!" 

So many things can give us perspective, and even though NCIS may not be the most beneficial and encouraging, it definitely makes me grateful that those shows don't mirror my everyday life! Prayer, in addition to NCIS, helped me realize that dealing with an imperfect engagement ring isn't the end of the world. It's isn't even the end of the marriage that hasn't even started yet. At the end of the day, it's just a ring, and so many things are more important. And realizing that makes my life better. NCIS just helps in the process... :)

The pits in my ring :(

Filling Our Life with Furniture

Josh and I just made our first purchase together... We bought a couch! Not any ordinary couch, but a cheap (yet nice quality) loveseat from a local classified ad. I even measured my car and made sure it would fit. However, I didn't measure how far my back swing door would open. We huffed and puffed and stuffed, but it made it home a little differently. This sums up our experience:

Loveseat bought through a classified ad: $25

Measuring tape to make sure it would fit in the back of my car: $2

Rope to secure the door closed (just in case): $8.37

Gas to drive the 27.2 miles roundtrip: $2.89

Amusement from the looks we got as we drove 13.6 miles home with a couch almost as big as my car strapped creatively on my roof-rack: PRICELESS.

But we have our very own couch! And it helps that I really like it too. And I am so glad we decided to buy that rope just in case and that Josh knows how to creatively jimmy-rig! I can't wait til Josh can move into his apartment (that will be our apartment in 122 days) and we can fill it with more stuff! But for the time being it is in my little living room where it looks massive! But I love our new loveseat and I love that Josh and I are at the stage where we can be buying things not just for my life or his life, but for our life together.