Um...Hello, I guess.

This is Nathaniel. When Kristen made this blog, she went ahead and gave me my own account with author's access to this blog, we'll see if she lets me keep it. What to write, what to write? Well, I sure love her. Let's get that out in the open. I'm pretty sure none of my macho friends will ever read this blog, so I don't have to act too tough, well, no tougher than I actually am...which is REALLY tough. Yeah. Hooah! I've thought a few times already to just forget about this and erase what I've written, and just pretend like I never started, but I did tell Kristen once that I would write here, and maybe she doesn't remember, but if she does, it's going to happen sometime, so here it is.
I talked to Kristen this morning on Skype as she was about to leave for school and thought of how lucky I am to have such a wonderful, beautiful wife. I told her she looked pretty and to watch out for all the guys at school that might flirt with her. The other day, she told me about Ashley Woodruff's blog entry, "a letter," which we found quite entertaining. Today while we were talking, we thought of what a letter from me to the horndogs in Rexburg might be about, and I think it ended with something about commenting on my expert marksmanship with my pistol, or something like that. I decided not to write the letter. Mostly because we don't have too many guys batting their eyes at her, she has not lost her ring, and she doesn't have to stay at a desk getting paid to be nice to anyone. We sure enjoyed Ashley's letter, though.

Well, Kristen talked about our palace in her last post. Here's a bit of it. It's kind of been bombed out, damage from the beginning of the war, but it's still pretty cool. We pretty much only use it to house our gym, which I swear I'll get around to using eventually. We live in CHU's(Containerized Housing Units), which are just little rooms for two soldiers. We have shower and latrine trailers nearby...with hot water! Well, for the showers, not so much in the latrines, but they do flush, the latrines, that is. Yes, I am living the life, except without my wife(it rhymed! I'm a poet and I didn't even...realize!) We do have internet access, which means Skype, which means seeing my beautiful wife's face, which means happy me. The Army, in its infinite benevolence and charity, bestows upon us two weeks during this next year that I actually get to go home and be with my wife. As sarcastic as I am about the Army's kindness, I have to say that it is a blessing, and one I look forward to anxiously.
This has been quite the experience. It's like being on the mission , except I get to email Kristen, not just write a weekly letter. I see her on Skype and talk to her every chance I get. She's not dating other guys just to make sure she makes the right decision when I get back, she already made that decision, me! haha. That's the best part, I'm married to her...forever! I never really thought of marriage as a long distance relationship, but I told Kristen, any love is good love, so I took what I could get, yes I took what I could get, then she looked at me with those big brown eyes and said, "you ain't seen nothing yet..." or something like that.
Overall, life is pretty good. I have an adorable wife. Yep, life is pretty good. I'm a blessed man. Things have been going pretty well here, nothing crazy, just a job. It's been raining a bit the last few days, nothing like the scorching hot oven it will be in a few months. Too bad they shut down the pool. We still have plenty of air-conditioning...and the food is pretty good. If I can't have Kristen's cooking, this isn't a bad second choice for meals.
Well, all you blogaholics, I think I'll leave you to your own devices. Maybe I'll visit again. If you don't want me to, just let me know in the comments box below. Have lots of fun. Talk to you later.

Dear Future Children, I like your Dad.

Happy Sunday! I was given a friendly nudge by my 12-year-old sister to get back on track with the blog. (Hi, Emma. I sure love you!) She's right! I forgot how therapeutic this thing is. It's been like a month and a half since my last post! You know what that means?! I've made it another month and a half. Not bad, eh?! I'm feeling pretty good about it. Nathaniel made it successfully to Iraq and is enjoying his all-inclusive, expense-free vaca. Seriously. He lives in the shadow of a palace and rides camels in his spare time. Poor thing, I know.


It actually helps to think he's living the life. I have been scrupulously avoiding the news channels so they don't convince me otherwise. So far, so good. He'll have been gone for three months in two weeks! Isn't that crazy?? That's a fourth of the way! We can do this, we can do this.

Formula for surviving life without Hubsband:
1. Invest in one of these:

Nathaniel got me this for my birthday (isn't he just wonderful?). It's better than a body pillow! You can take him to Thanksgiving, on long cars rides, to class...haha could you imagine?
2. Know the postal workers by name.
3. Get a Skype account!! So amazing. It blows my mind every time we use it!
4. Lose the jammies. Put on jeans. Seriously, it helps so much! It's like a declaration to myself that I haven't succumbed entirely to being a couch potato.
5. Occasionally pull his clothes out of the drawers. Wash them. Then fold them! I never thought it'd be so fun!
6. Dress up for Skype Date Nights.
7. Set up an online Mailbox and leave each other secret notes. (I can't take credit for this one. HE thought of it! Talk about heart-meltage...just when you think they can't get any better...BAM! He strikes again).
8. Look at wedding pictures and remember deployment's not forever and we are! Take that, Army!
9. Have the greatest family in the world. (This one's kinda inherited...but valid nonetheless).
10. Live in Rexburg. Things aren't sad here for too long. Have you seen Main Street?! Happiest place on earth.

See, as simple as that!... Well, not always, but we're doin' this. I never thought I could miss someone so much, but I'm pretty grateful to have found someone I feel empty without. When it comes to husbands, he's number one in my book. Even if he goes on vacations and rides exotic animals without me. Not a problem.

DI stands for Divinely Inspired.

Lately I have been trying to make lists of projects to do around the house to keep me busy when I get bored. These projects constitute laundry, dishes, basic cleanliness. Okay, I'm really not that gross...but sometimes. The list really is of tasks to accomplish on the way to making this apartment a home and has somehow been digressing into more of a wish list than a "to do" list (as all lists mystically do). However! I ran to DI the other day (the BEST store in the universe) and found a few $1 items that sparked the inspiration I've been seeking! Yes I have school. Yes I have academic projects that should take precedence over home-making. And, yes! I don't care! A girl needs a break sometime, you know what I'm sayin'? Sooo...here's what I've been working on of late.

As you may recall, this is what our dining room consisted of as of two days ago:


And THIS is what it looks like after two days of inhaling paint fumes, a twenty dollar shopping spree, and a little womanization:


Now what do I do?! Study? Say Yes to the Dress? I think I'll go back to DI.

The best pen-pal ever.

Today I got a letter! Don't you just love getting mail? I think the mail man's jeep thing is my favorite set of wheels I see rolling through our parking lot next to the ice cream man truck (yes, we have one!). I've never actually gone out to get a 25 cent Smiley Face pop, but just the sound of the jubilant music tickling my taste buds is enough to satisfy my sweet tooth (a little extreme, maybe...but you know what I'm talkin about).

So anyway, back to the letter! It wasn't just any letter. Oh no! It was a letter from him. That cute hubby of mine. I'm starting to think he likes me. :) As I've mentioned before, Nathaniel and I had the privilege of experiencing a two-year purely hand-written friendship previous to our engagement and marriage. During those 24 months, my favorite part of the week was when I got a letter from him. I look back on those days like I hope I'll look back on these days sometime in the distant future. It may sound old-fashioned and a teensy bit corny, but maybe I'm old-fashioned and corny! I love letters! Such a lost art, in my opinion. And, might I add, Nathaniel's dang good at it. I love that he knows how to combine a couple words into a beautifully formed sentence and win me over without even trying. I get butterflies. And, dang it! I hate to say it, but he makes this whole separation thing somewhat enjoyable. (I said somewhat). :)

"Pull over!" "Actually it's a cardigan, thanks!"

Fall is HERE!!! Oh yea! I think we've all been waiting for it, and it has finally decided to grace us with its colorful, brisk presence. Can you smell it?? (The crunchy leaves. The cold air. The pumpkin seeds. The brown grass. mmmm it's the smell of Autumn) Me too. And it is lovely. In my perfect world, the whole planet would be enveloped in crisp, fallen leaves and black-eyed susans with Idaho scenery from North to South and East to West. It would be Fall all year long and stores wouldn't even bother selling swimwear no one looks good in because all the shelves would be stocked with flattering cardigans, scarfs, and polka-dot mittens. Yep. Sounds like the perfect world to me. :)

On another note, I've made it TWO WEEKS! Even though it feels like Nathaniel's been gone for forever, two weeks is still an accomplishment I think. He's doing really well and loving all the training. We just found out that he gets a pass (a couple days off) in November! You bet I bought that plane ticket! I wasn't sure if I was going to go at first, but that lasted about as long as it took for me to find the flight and click "purchase." We're way excited and Nathaniel gave me the numbers of some other wives that will be going too, so we'll all go down together. How perfect?!
I keep thinking how crazy it will be to look back on all of this one day and think "Oh, that wasn't so bad," or "Look how far we've come since then?!" or "That was the worst year of my life!" haha Hopefully not the last one. Thank heavens for family and Glee, right?

Right now I'm sitting in my cozy apartment basking in the ambiance of a freshly lit Pumpkin Spice candle my mom sent along with the adorable olive cardigan I spotted at Target a couple weeks ago. I don't know how Moms know what you need, but they know. Did I mention how much I LOVE Fall!? Well, I do. I really do. And I cannot wait to wear that pretty green and eat a slice of pumpkin pie. Thanks, Mom!

Have a wonderful Monday! Go play with your family in a pile of crunchy leaves in the name of Autumn glory!

The Countdown Begins!

Well it's been some time since I've visited this little blog! Almost a whole month. Can you believe how fast they go? I'm just praying they keep it up! Whoever "they" are, I'm talking to you! Please keep your little wheels rolling. Don't stop for anything! Even my birthday and Christmas! Feel free to pause in the short weeks my husband gets leave, however. And, if possible, stop for just a moment when I see him step off that home-bound plane.

This certainly is an adventure, isn't it! Day 3 of about a million, and thank heavens my mind can't comprehend it. At least now we're enduring the stretch to him coming home and not dreading the day when he had to leave. The worst is over, right?! I'm praying so. But maybe not. And that's okay. May I let you in on a little secret? Regardless of what our scientific culture and well-read men may say...

Angels exist.
God hears and answers prayers.
People are good.
Life can be endured with a good friend by your side and a little chocolate.
We aren't determined by our trials, but we can determine what we'll make of them.
Marriage is meant to last forever.
And it can.
Moms are still the best medicine, even when you're old enough to be one too.
Miracles happen.
Peace is achievable.
We each have a purpose.
And we need each other.
All you need is love. (Love is all you need...lala)
A little money is good too.
Moderation is the best policy.
True happiness is worth any sacrifice.
And even when it's hard, we can do it.

Well that turned into more than I had anticipated. But hey, I'm a little bit emotional of late. That mix of emotions has set in quite nicely. But, my cute husband is doing well. They left Tuesday and are now in Mississippi training their little hearts out. Still not sure when they'll be in Iraq, but when they are...SKYPE!!! Can I get a Hallelujah for that wonderful invention!?? When I was in St. George a couple weeks ago visiting my grandparents, I heard their love story for the first time. Those two love birds met and were hitched within 6 weeks. (you read that right). After the honeymoon, grandpa left for war. My grandma got to talk to him once a week if they were lucky. She never knew when he would call and sometimes they would be in mid-sentence when the phone line cut the call off. Can you imagine?? What a blessing it is to live in the 21st century and to have heroes for grandparents.
It's things like that that keep me going.
But I still miss him real bad.

Grow Where You are Planted.

Have I mentioned how wonderful our apartments are??
The people
the ward
the babies
the people (they deserve to be mentioned twice)
the church right across the street
the two minute bike ride to the local Broulim's
the gorgeous view of the G's Dairy screaming my name each time I have motivation to work out.
It's a great place.

As I've previously mentioned, I'm rearing up for the next 365 days without my husband. It sounds like I'm training for a marathon. Hey, that's not a bad analogy. I do feel like I'm training for a marathon. A big 26-mile emotional sprint. I've never actually ran a marathon (or two consecutive miles for that matter), so maybe this doesn't work, but I am prepping hardcore for something completely unknown to me. Nathaniel and I have been apart for extended periods of time before, but my husband and I have not. I'm not fully sure what to expect from my emotions, but I'm assuming some sadness, longing, wishful thinking, and exuberant joy for having a husband who knows what he stands for. See? Totally confusing. But, hey, we're managing. One day at time. Slow and steady wins the race (or fast and accelerated...I wouldn't mind that). Either way we're going to do this. And we don't have to like it, but that's not a factor in whether or not we meet our goal. The point is...we've decided to grow where we've been planted. I'll be planted in nice fields of foot-deep snow,
and he'll be planted in rolling valleys of 120 degree sand (at least that's how I picture it).

But we'll both be growing somehow.
The Relief Society in my ward had this theme for our enrichment last month. It couldn't have been more perfect for me to hear. We made fake flower gardens written upon with ideas we had to stay positive in not-so-positive situations (so mormon, I love it!)

If this was a real garden I'd let you all have a fragrant bouquet to take home and set on your window pane, but since it's not, you can make one too! It actually works and they stay alive all year. :)