Mangina.

Remember how I talked about the Mongolian BBQ Taylor and I went to on Friday? And remember how I said that I couldn't wait to go again?  Well, we went...again.  Here's what happened:

The past couple of weeks, Taylor has been having some strange chest/heart pains, among some other bizarre symptoms.  I finally decided to take charge, and scheduled a doctor's appointment for him.  He complained to me about it all weekend, and tried convincing me that he didn't need to go and see a doctor.  He told me he was perfectly healthy (which I responded with, "Then go and have your doctor tell you that, and I hope you prove me wrong!") and going to a doctor's appointment was silly.  

I jokingly diagnosed him with Angina (a heart condition, pronounced 'an-gyna'...which is what makes it so funny), which quickly turned into Mangina (thanks to Seth).  Taylor's Mangina has been the ongoing joke of the past few days.  Every time Seth sees him, he's sure to ask Taylor how his "Mangina" is doing. Ha.  Or, anytime Taylor does something wrong, drops something, or stumbles on his words, we quickly tell him, "Don't worry. It's just because of your Mangina."

Anyways, so of course, Taylor continued to complain all yesterday leading up to his afternoon appointment.  But I just stuck firm and continued to say, "We've got to get your Mangina checked by a doctor!"  

Taylor finally told me, "Okay, I will go to the doctor's happily if we can go to Mongolian BBQ tonight."

Done and done.

Even after that deal though, he still wasn't very happy about it...but I wasn't going to challenge him, because I really wanted Mongolian BBQ ;)    

To get me back, he teased me about having a fatal heart condition for the rest of the afternoon. 

Dear husband: that wasn't funny. Even though some of your comments made me laugh...it still wasn't funny. :)

Here's some proof via our texting conversation that day (excuse our frequent misspellings...there was a time that we cared about that {like when we were dating}, but that time has long since passed):

Anyways, long story short: Taylor's Mangina is a-okay!  Thank goodness!  He was given a few medications, and it's nothing too serious.  But I think the "mangina" term will stick around for awhile longer. ;)

And then, we celebrated the end of the day at our new favorite place:

See?  He smiles even with Mangina!

No rhyme or reason

This weekend was wonderfully relaxing.  Taylor and I were able to spend a lot of time together cuddling, watching Netflix, eating good food, and being with family.   Last night, we went spent time with Marci and Tom (sister and brother-in-law).  We ate a yummy dinner (thanks, Marce!), played games, and had yummy ice-cream/cookie sandwiches. Yum.

The pictures (and video) associated with this post are a little random.  But, please enjoy nonetheless.

Taylor was craving Mongolian BBQ on Friday.  So we left work an hour early and went to fulfill his cravings.  It was so delish.  I'm already wanting to go back! It was an all-you-can eat again, so once again, I was done after one plate, while Taylor had about five more after that.

Oh hey, remember that picture I promised?  Here is the dress on:

Creepy eyes...but I'm loving this fun zebra dress.

I found this video on Taylor's ipod.  It was the first time I had ever seen it, and it made me giggle a little.  This was actually the same day that we got ENGAGED.   I'm excited to tell that story soon.  With all of its glorious little details.  What do you think? 

Anyways, background on the video: I was smelling some perfumes at Bath&Body Works.  I ran out of room to spray them on my arms, so this is what I resorted to.  Apparently, Taylor thought it was funny enough to video.

This is going to be a busy week for me.  I'm hosting dear sister's baby shower this weekend, so lots of preparing this week! I am excited!

 Enjoy your Monday! 

Another one to the mix!

I have been so excited about this post! Congratulations to my sister Laurin Woodland for bringing her third baby to the world!  Little Nathan was born on Monday, June 4.  He is so darling!  I can't wait to meet and hold  little Nate!  

Here are the pictures I've been staring at all week!

My beautiful Mom with grandchild #3!

Big brother Max with little brother Nate.

Big sister Emma with little brother Nate.
Laurin told us that while Emma was holding Nate, she said: "Hi, Nathan.  I'm Emma.  I'm your favorite sister." :)

The three Woodland littles.

 I cannot wait to meet little Nathan!  Unfortunately, they live in Kansas now, so Taylor and I will have to make a special trip to see the Woodland family.

You know what else I can't wait for?  For Taylor and I to start our own family one day.  We talk about it frequently and get giddy over just the thought of it. But for now, we cherish and treasure the little ones around us that aren't our own.  Like these Woodland littles.  How we love them.  Families are what life is all about.  How can you doubt that when looking at these precious pictures?

Congrats Woodland family!

Flagstaff, Part TWO

After a splendid night in Vegas, we were off to Flagstaff (the location of the Fun concert)!  On the drive down, Taylor turned to me and said, "I just had a sinking feeling that I scheduled our room in Flagstaff for the wrong night."  Taylor opened up his email...and, sure enough, he had scheduled our hotel room for the night before.  While Taylor sunk in despair, I couldn't help but laugh.  Come what may, and love it, right?

The part that made me laugh the most was that Taylor scheduled our hotel in Vegas and our hotel in Flagstaff in the same sitting!  How did he not notice that he scheduled two rooms for the SAME night!? It was just soooo funny. ;)

Seth and Jordan, were sleeping in the backseat during this discovery.  Taylor turned around and yelled, "Hope you like sleeping in a car...because that's where you'll be sleeping tonight!"  They were startled awake, and then we all had a good laugh about our current debacle.  What to do?  Pay for another night? Buy a tent at Walmart and sleep in the woods? Sleep in the car? Try to convince the hotel to let us stay for "free"?  I mean, we already paid for a room, right?  Then Seth had an idea: "Let's just drive the eight hours home after the concert.  We'll take shifts, and then have all of Wednesday to relax at home!"  We were sold.  Goodbye, $90 that paid for an empty hotel room!

Next up? Concert time.  I think I'll let the pictures tell the story.

First of all, we were shocked when our GPS led us here.  The concert was actually held in a stadium in the middle of the woods!  I felt like I was going to camp or something...haha. 

We were so excited!!

We couldn't believe how close we were!  (little did we know, we would
 be pushed up to the very FRONT row!!) 

Oh, baby! 

Look at how close we were! Amazing!

I love you, Nate! 

Alright, this video has awful sound quality, and all of us in the audience sound awful. BUT it still gets me excited just watching it, and remembering how amazing this concert was! Watch how close Nate gets to us!  We were so dang close!

So, Taylor had a major stomachache all day before the concert.  He was downing Pepto-bismol.  Gross.  But he was such a champ, and survived the concert.  I had to take a picture of him with his Pepto ;)

After the concert, we were all so hyped up, that driving home seemed like a breeze!  Who could be tired after a concert like that?  After a stop for food, gas, and some treats, we were off!

A picture before the all-night drive!

We decided to drive in double shifts.  The passenger (and driver, of course) would stay awake, while the two people in the backseat would sleep.  While Seth and Jordan were driving (which meant Tay and I were sleeping), we were suddenly jolted awake by Seth screaming, "Oh my gosh!" Jordan slammed on the breaks, and then...BAM!

I woke up thinking, "This is it.  This is how I'm going to die." ...dramatic? Yes.  Because, folks, we did not die.
"What just happened!?"  Taylor asked frantically.
"We just hit a gigantic bird!" Jordan answered.  I think we were all a little shaky at this point.
Seth: "What the heck is a dumb bird doing up at four in the morning?  Doesn't he know it's time to be sleeping!? What a stupid bird!"  The funniest part of this statement is that Seth was legitimately upset that the bird was not sleeping at four AM.
Taylor: "Well, maybe it wasn't a bird..."
Seth: "What? Oh no...what if it was our guardian angel!"  He then bowed his head, "Dear God, if we just killed our guardian angel, can you send us another one?  And please send us one that is a little smarter and won't fly in front of the car and get killed.  Thank you for your consideration." I don't know how he does this all with a straight face.
We all couldn't help but laugh.  And we were all now fully awake at four in the morning.  We arrived home safely (but exhausted!).

Even though this trip was short, it was worth every minute (and every lost dollar!).  We had so much fun!


  

Vegas! Part ONE

Alrighty folks, we are back! And we had such a lovely time! Did I mention we had travel friends? We bought Fun tickets for Seth and a friend.  When Seth got home, we told him about the concert, and told him he could invite a friend to join.  Friend choice was a boy named Jordan Hall.  Wonderful choice, Seth.  We sure loved Jordan.

On the first night, we stayed in the New York New York in Vegas...beautiful room!  We spent the afternoon and evening walking the strip.  We went into a lot of stores (even the expensive ones that had socks more expensive than our rent).  Of course, we only shopped at the ones we could afford...like the world's largest H&M.  And that is NOT an exaggeration...it really is the world's largest H&M! It was a tad bit overwhelming. 

This mall was so cool!  Look at the whirlwind tornado things inside that glass tube!  Oh, p.s. if you look at the store names in the background, you can conclude this is one of the malls we didn't spend money at. ;)

Here are my two favorite items from our shopping trips:

Do you see the zebras on it?  It is even cuter on!
I will have to take a picture the first time I wear it just to prove it!

Alright, I am now a proud owner of this lovely Fossil bag. I almost died when I saw it.
And then really died when I actually BOUGHT it!! I love it so much! Between Taylor's watch fettish, and my...well, just everything fettish, we really love Fossil.

For lunch, we stopped at a Korean BBQ (all you can eat!).  Taylor ate for me and him.  The all-you-can-eat isn't the best deal for small people. ;)

Look at all of the food!

Seth and Jordo.  

We also watched the water show in Vegas.  That was splendid.

Me and my best friend :)

When the sun went down, we couldn't even tell.  Lights so bright.  Oh, how we love Vegas.  We spent the night watching people lose their money gambling, watching drunk people party, and strolling down the strip (whilst trying to avoid the many handouts).  We witnessed and overheard some humorous things, like:

Strippers and steak. Steak and strippers. Nothing better in the world than steak and strippers.

That one made us all chuckle. :)

Or how about:

I am so mad at myself. I am so drunk that I can't even see the other side of the street. ARGHHH! I am so stupid! I am so drunk! I am so drunk! AHHHHHH!!

(for the full effect, please insert random swear words about every other word).

While getting off of the elevator at the New York New York, the guy riding the elevator with us (obviously a little tipsy) gave Jordan's butt a nice smack.  That had us all laughing, too.

Oh, Vegas.  We do enjoy you.

This guy on the strip forced these wristbands on us.  He tried to convince us to go to a party held in the Monte Cristo.  But of course, none of us were interested since none of us drink.  I think he had a hard time conceiving how four people in their early twenties were not intrigued when he used his "very best lines" about drinks, girls, and dancing.  Sorry, worker man!

A little blurry, but here's me and TayRay on the strip!

Part 2, which includes the wonders of the Fun concert, and the drive home (funny stories go with this post) will be posted tomorrow! Look forward to it!

And we're off!

Tomorrow, Tay and I leave for Vegas!  We are staying in the New York New York for a night, and then off to Flagstaff, Arizona to see FUN in concert!! We can hardly wait!  We have been waiting for this trip for a very long time! If you live in Utah, you may be wondering, "Why on earth are they going all of the way to Arizona to see Fun in concert when Fun was just in Utah a month ago!?" Folks, let me tell you why.

In January, Taylor and I learned that Fun was coming to Salt Lake City.  We were PUMPED!  We planned for it, talked about it, and even had sleepless excited nights about it.  We could not wait.  
Then, about two weeks before the concert, Taylor asked me, "Did you get the tickets in the mail?"
"No.  When did you purchase them?" I asked.
"Wait...I thought you purchased them...." Taylor said.
"You're kidding, right?"
Taylor turned to me with a look of despair across his face, "Oh, no. Oh, no. Are you telling me you didn't purchase the tickets?"
"I thought YOU were going to purchase the tickets!!"
Taylor ran to his laptop, pulled up the webpage to order tickets, and sure enough....SOLD OUT.
We looked around to find people selling their tickets, but they were selling for five to six times the original amount.
Needless to say, after learning that neither of us had bought the tickets, we sat in silence for a long time.  Don't tell Taylor I told you this...but he may or may not have had a few small tears over this incident.  When I saw his eyes filling with tears, I quickly said, "It's okay, Tay! There are other concerts!  I'm sure there's one in Vegas or something."  Wrong, again.  The closest one was in Flagstaff, Arizona...nine hours away.  But, we didn't even think twice.  We booked the tickets. Right then and there. Months in advance.

And now, here we are.  Another sleepless night...because we are too dang excited! But this time, we're really going!



I will try my hardest to blog while we are there.  But we all know how vacations go: we bring homework, books to study, promise ourselves we'll keep up on our email, maybe a few small things to do for work...and, of course, we never do any of that. Instead, we party and relax. Which is what vacation is for, right?  So, if blogging doesn't happen...look forward to an awesome post on Thursday!  Oh, and Part 2 of The Desired Forgettable, Yet Unforgettable Moments of Marriage is ready to be posted as well.  Look forward to that one! Coming soon.

Adios for now!

Worth it.

I stumbled upon some of my old journals the other day.  Let me tell you, I have been an avid journal writer since a very young age.  This habit mostly spawned from my dear mother, who wrote in her own journal every night without fail.  Anyways, as I was rereading through some journal entries of the past, I was struck with a realization.  

What would my sixteen-year-old self think if I had been given a glimpse of my  life five years in the future (essentially, right now)?  I think some sixteen-year-old doubts, concerns, fears, and worries wouldn't seem quite as important.  Because, guess what, sixteen-year-old self? Life works itself out.  And life works itself out splendidly. 

 Or what if my twenty-one-year old self could have given a few words of advice to my sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen year old self in times of need?  Just a few short words during the times life seemed too hard.

Here's what my twenty-one-year old self would have said:

Dear Sixteen-Year-Old Self:

It's okay if that boy doesn't like you back.  It's not the end of the world.  Because, guess what? There's a much better (and did I mention cuter?) boy who will like you back in the future.  And guess what else?  He will get down on one knee someday and ask you to marry him, and you'll be the happiest girl alive.  So, Sixteen-Year-old Self: don't you dare shed another tear over that boy. Or any other boy for that matter.  Don't you dare tell yourself you're not pretty enough, skinny enough, smart enough, funny enough, or good enough for that boy.  Because you'll be more than all of that to a wonderful boy in just short five years.  Hold on, Sixteen-Year-Old Self.  Save yourself and keep waiting for this future boy.  He's worth it. And so are you.

Dear Seventeen-Year-Old Self:

Don't be so quick to grow up.  Eighteen isn't that much different than seventeen.  Take a deep breath, cherish the moment, and live in the moment.  Be grateful for your parents everyday.  And don't just think it, or write it down...show it.  Show them.  Because, guess what?  In one short year, you're going to miss them. A lot. And you're going to wish that your Mom was just one door away again, instead of two states away. You're also going to wish that you could just walk up to your Dad everyday and give him a hug.  You're going to really miss being Daddy's little girl.  Hold on, Seventeen-Year-Old Self.  Growing up is exciting, but so is life right now.  Don't be so quick to be frustrated when Mom and Dad make decisions for you.  Because you're going to end up really wishing that they could keep making decisions for you.  Don't be slow to tell them you love them.  Think twice before going to bed without giving them a hug.  You won't have this opportunity forever.  And one day, you'll really miss it.  

Dear Eighteen-Year-Old Self:

Smile.  This place will feel like home one day.  It's okay to miss the familiarities of home, but work hard and make this place feel like home.  Because, guess what? I promise it will.  You are about to have so many opportunities and so many experiences here.  Stop letting sad days pass you by.  Chin up, young one. No more tears, no more sad days, no more "hermit" days.  Believe it or not, you're going to make some friends that are just as good as the ones back home.  And guess what else?  Remember what I told Sixteen-Year-Old-Self?  This is where you're going to meet that boy. The one you can't live without.    This is where you're meant to be.  Trust me.  Keep reading your scriptures, keep believing, and don't let any more sad days pass you by.  You're home right where you are.  Hold on, Eighteen-Year-Old Self.

Dear Nineteen-Year-Old Self:

You're really having a tough year, aren't you?  But please, take a look at the bigger picture.  Look at what you've accomplished in such a short time.  I know life seems really hard right now.  But please, stop tearing yourself down.  Because, guess what? You're doing a good job.  I know it might not seem like it now, but I'm really pleased with you, Nineteen-Year-Old Self.  I know you're seriously considering leaving BYU and going home.  Hold on, Nineteen-Year-Old Self.  Remember what I told Eighteen-Year-Old Self?  You're meant to be here.  And I meant it.  Deep down, you love this place.     Don't let a few hard months or a few hard situations let you forget that.  

Dear Twenty-Year-Old Self:

Only a month of being twenty and you feel like you're on cloud nine, don't you?  I told you he was great. I told you he was worth it.  I told you this is where you were meant to be.  I told you you'd be happier than you could have ever imagined.  I told you this place would feel like home.  And guess what else?  Life is only going to get better. So much better.  Don't worry, Twenty-Year-Old Self.  He likes you back.  And guess what else? He loves you. He loves you more than you'll probably ever know.  Don't fret too much.  He wants to be with you, too.  In fact, he's going to ask you to marry him, to be with him for eternity, remember?  I wish I could tell you how he proposes, but I can't ruin the surprise.  Trust me on this one: he will surprise you, you will say yes, and you will be the happiest girl alive.  Hold on, Twenty-Year-Old Self.  He loves you too.

Dear Twenty-One-Year-Old Self:

It was all worth it.