time is love [a 2012 recap]

2012 was the year to end all years [literally, said the Mayans]. So many good things happened and I want to remember this year forever. So, here goes the remembering:

January|February|March

January: It started off with a trip to New York City with my graduating class, in which Ben surprised me on a bridge in Central Park and proposed. The rest of the month I was pretty much giddy, we did basically all of the wedding planning, and I started my last semester of my undergraduate degree.

February: We got in the swing of things with Ben being back in school [after missing last semester because of his deployment], me doing school and working, and wedding things. We registered, which was pretty much awesome, and I made the coolest fort for our Valentine's Day celebration. My mom, sister, and I went to D.C for a volleyball tournament and I also met Megan in real life finally and we drank our money's worth in mimosas.

March: During March, it was oddly nice outside, so I spent a lot of time going for runs and reading on the lawn outside of my dorm room and riding around on the motorcycle. Ben made a kick ass bar in his new apartment basement and we threw an awesome party and I got my first tattoo! That was it, really. It was a laidback month.

April|May|June

April: April was pretty much consumed by schoolwork again. That and job applications, which actually yielded no desired results. Which is why I now work at Macaroni Grill. As for fun things, we started pre-marital counseling this month and got our engagement pictures taken. I drunk vlogged and Ben and I were nauseatingly excited for our wedding. I think the engagement phase is like a pre-newlywed phase, all googly eyes and love notes, so that was my profound thought for the month. We also went on a third wheel date to my last formal with my roommate and did an awesome bar crawl with our friends afterwards. 

May: I graduated in May! We celebrated with Olive Garden and moving truckloads of my junk back to my mom's house. Then, it was time to get down to business. To-do lists out the wazoo. My little sister went to prom for the first time and I got crazy in my joblessness. We had a few date nights and banged out more wedding planning. Hardcore wedding planning. I had a little wedding dress meltdown, we celebrated Memorial Day with beer and some Kan Jam with our friends, and we also celebrated three years of being together.

June: June was consumed by wedding things. Crafting, building, planning, etc. We banged out our to-do list and I finally felt like it was all coming together. I surprised my little sister with tickets to Lady Antebellum for her birthday, which rocked. I also finally had time for myself, since there was no homework to be done. I fell in love with mornings and I fell in love with running through training for my 5k and was probably the skinniest I've ever been, which was awesome. I also read a whole bunch, so that was nice. My sister [and co.] threw my bridal shower and I felt so so loved. Also, we got a lot of cool stuff. We celebrated my brother's 23rd birthday, I started a new job, and by the end, we were both pretty much ready to just get married.

July|August|September

July: July, July, July. This was the best month of them all. At the beginning, I ran my first 5k with Ben right at my side, encouraged by my soon-to-be-in-laws cheering for "Mrs. Quigley" whenever we ran by them. We celebrated my little sister's 17th birthday, and a few days later, Ben and I got our marriage license. We finished up last minute wedding things, spent time with out of town people that were in for our day, some last minute baking and bike rides in between, and then all of a sudden, it was two days before our wedding. Wednesday was pampering and picking up my dress, Thursday was getting the park ready and having our rehearsal dinner, and Friday was the best day ever. Then it was honeymoon time. Then camp. Then moving in to our new apartment. It was a really busy month, in case you couldn't tell.

August: The theme of this month was home. We moved in, slowly settled in, and then started figuring out how to live together. The only thing is, Ben was gone for a lot of it. Dumb Air Force. Good news is that I got to spend a lot of time with my little sister and mom while he was gone. I opened my Etsy shop, we joined a kickball league with our friends, and we explored our new little town. Also, I gained back all of that lost running weight by eating more queso than a person ever should.

September: We settled. Ben started school again, we spent late nights on the couch watching HIMYM and eating peanut butter and frozen peanut M&Ms off a spoon, and we figured out a system for grocery shopping. We spent every Wednesday night with our friends at kickball and out at the bar afterwards and we settled in to each other. Into living together, into being one unit, into being a new family. The weather was beautiful, but I was already nostalgic for summer, and I think I always will be. This was the best summer of my life. But I tried really hard to focus on the life we were living now and it kind of worked. At the end of September, we celebrated my mom's birthday, and Ben's too, and our friends threw a big Cowboys & Indians themed party at Ben's request.

October|November|December

October: We started October out right by going to Brooklyn with our friends. I started grad school online and I had a lot of Saturday mornings to myself, while Ben was making up Air Force time he'd missed before. We made Thursday date days a tradition, usually just going for a bike ride, some exploring, and sometimes some homework, but they always started with slow mornings in bed and a pot of coffee. Ben got called to help with Hurricane Sandy relief, and while he was gone, I had the hardest week I'd had in a long time. October started off well, but I was glad to see it go.

November: Once Ben was home, everything kind of settled again. We decided to lease a SmartCar and had a lot of fun going to and fro to get it. We hung out with friends, spent a free night at a bed & breakfast on Veteran's Day, and I turned 22. We threw a Thanksgiving potluck feast at our place for our friends the day after, while I tried to survive my first real hangover, and we did the multiple families celebrating Thanksgiving thing later that week. I also decided to cool it with the blogging thing and that was one of my favorite decisions.

December: I was all about the new traditions this month. We decorated for Christmas on the 2nd [because we were out of town on the 1st], and I left no Target deal behind. We cut down our own tree, spent a day banging out the shopping list, made a fort on Christmas Eve Eve, and had about a thousand different celebrations. Grad school got a little more intense this month, which was bad timing because Ben finished up his semester and took my productivity with it, but somehow I made it.

2012 was the year of change. Positive, hoped-for change that I ran at with open arms, but change nonetheless. I got a degree, a husband, a new identity in my new last name, and a new home all in a matter of 4 months. And now I'm working on another degree in hopes of a new job and a big move in the next year as well. It's a bit incredible when I look at where I was last New Year's Eve compared to where I am now, but I love that about my life. I love the unknowns. Best part is that in July, some kid signed on to adventure with me so that the rest of our years will be spent together. Let's do this, 2013.

the first Noel

Things from our first married Christmas:

It finally snowed! Big, heavy, white snowflakes that stayed right up until Christmas day. Plus more Christmas Eve night and again last night. It's winter up in here for sure. 

My parents are divorced, so Christmas has always meant tons of running around to different celebrations. Now that Ben's family is added into the mix, it's even crazier. We knew we wouldn't be home for more than 20 minutes after Christmas Eve Eve, so that night, we built a fort in the living room, got some McDoubles and fries to go, and ate up in the fort while we exchanged gifts. I think that's gonna be a thing from now on. 

One of my gifts for Ben was a Foldable Me and he loved it. It's more like the Asian version of Ben, but it works. 

A family tradition has always been a sibling sleepover on Christmas Eve. My brother skipped out this year, but my sister, Ben, and I totally kept it going.  

Christmas morning means no makeup. You're welcome for this giant picture. 

The Mom fam on Christmas morning.

Like I said, Christmas is crazy in my family. But Ben is my new family and we did things our way and it was wonderful. It's the most wonderful time of the year and I hate that it's always over so fast.

currently

Watching a lot of things. This season of How I Met Your Mother is awesome and I'm still totally into The Mindy Project. Ben is too, which is hilarious because he was so against it at the beginning. We're also catching up on this season of The Office and watching Christmas movies when we can. The cold weather is so perfect for cuddling up on the couch.

Thinking about my future career. Grad school is more work this month and I only get one week off for Christmas, but it's rewarding to know that this is something that will help our future. I'm going to a big job conference in February and am oddly intimidated by that, but I'm excited too. Taking risks is exciting.

Listening to nothing new, really. I'm content with my James Taylor Christmas cd and the few random Christmas records we've found at thrift stores, but if anyone has some new music suggestions for after the holidays, I'd love to hear them.

Excited about my week off! I have a paper due Sunday night, but then there will be nothing to do again until the week of New Years. I'm excited for all of our Christmas plans and celebrating our first one as married people, for seeing my brother-in-law & sister-in-law, and for just relaxing the rest of the week. Also, I'm excited to give the gifts that we bought! I lovelovelove giving gifts, so I hope everyone likes theirs!

Reading The Book Thief by Mark Zusak. It's beautifully written and so captivating. I haven't had much time to read lately, but I'm hoping to finish it up during my time off.

Loving all of these new traditions that Ben and I are making. I love that kid so much and building our life together is so much fun.

Looking forward to our wedding video! The videographer texted me today that it should come in the mail any day now and I'm giddy just thinking about it. I CANNOT wait to see it. And of course, I'll share it here as soon as I get the chance.

 Remember that I'm @wildchild_jack on Twitter and Instagram if you miss me on here or whatever. I probably won't be back on here before Christmas, so Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you have a wonderful holiday with the people you love.

And thanks to my sweet friend Megan for the idea for these posts.

"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." 

  -Camille Pissarro

'tis the season

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 

This is our first married Christmas [obviously] and our first Christmas living together and we're loving it. I, especially, am loving it. New traditions and making the season our own and all that. Christmas has always been so magical to me and I love sharing it with my family, but this year, with our new baby family of just the two of us, it's wonderful in a different way.

p.s. That second picture, in the kitchen, was taken to remember how I love that making each other lunch is one of our things. But I posted it here to show you guys the snowflake banner,cute Noel plate, and fancy Nativity scene. Ben cussed up a storm putting the snowflakes up cause glitter went everywhere, but it was worth it. Glitter is always worth it. 

and as always, you can follow along on Instagram: @wildchild_jack

these days

Here's a little update of what life has looked like these days:

The night before Thanksgiving, my sister Jessa slept over, so we watched the Macy's Parade in the morning, she was a doll and straightened my hair and then we had a photoshoot on the way to our aunt's. Ben cooperated, until he didn't. Isn't that the way it always goes?

The day after Thanksgiving, my mom and all of us kids made our way to Albany to spend time with her family. The cousins all have a tradition of going to the nearby park and taking pictures on the dinosaur, so along with some football and impromptu board games with rules we made ourselves, that's what we did.

Last week was the perfect relaxing week. I can be a homebody sometimes, but there's something so nice about being home every night, with nowhere to go and nothing to get dressed up for. Monday night, we started to decorate for Christmas, Tuesday I worked on my Summer Book [and tried to finish it since summer was done a few months ago...], Wednesday we addressed Christmas cards and watched the SNL Christmas special, and Thursday night was homework night. So nice and productive.

And, as always, I took a thousand pictures of Ben. He was dressed up a lot this week, once for a class presentation, once for a wedding we went to on Saturday, and once for church Sunday. He's so cute when he dresses up, especially when he steals my glasses and pretends to be a hipster. We got to spend a lot of time together this week and for that, I'm thankful. Oh, and also, there's a random France picture in this collage, because I still miss it.

and a little snapshot of us at that wedding this weekend. After getting married myself, I saw the day in a different way. It was odd. And I never go for the bouquet toss anyways, but for the first time, I wasn't eligible to. So odd.

So that's what my days have looked like lately. Though I still catch myself whining sometimes [mostly about having to work while Ben & my friends are having fun], I'm incredibly thankful. This is such a sweet time in life.

oh, and as some of you have noticed, I got a little blog design makeover! I won a giveaway and have been working with Jessica on turning this space into something I love, so please be patient as we work the little bugs out. Thanks!

a few summers back

There was one summer that I lived in southern France, in a little apartment with red shutters. 

That summer, I tried gelato for the first time and promptly became addicted. I found the goodness that is Speculoos and made it a hearty part of my daily diet. I went to class in the morning, where I worked on my French and met other students from all over the world. I met a girl named Emily who quickly became my best friend there and I'm sure will be a lifelong friend, and we laid on the beach nearly every afternoon tanning in the Mediterranean  sun, becoming some of the brownest girls around. I went to Milan for a weekend and Paris for a longer weekend, exploring and living a life I thought I'd only ever get to dream of. I spent some nights in, blogging and skyping with Benny, who was deployed at that point, and I missed my family more than I can say.

I learned a lot that summer. Some were necessary life skills, like how to tell off skeevy European men in French and how to pick the best produce at the market. I also learned how to not budget money, seeing as I spent all of my money in the first 3 weeks on traveling and planning traveling and maybe a few too many jars of Speculoos. But I learned that my family really will always have my back. And Ben and I grew a lot that summer. If we could make it through a 6 hour time difference, where he was going to sleep right when I was getting home from the beach in the afternoon and I was waking up while he was in the middle of his work day, we can make it through anything. We certainly had some fights that summer, mostly because of topless beaches and shitty Internet connection. But looking back, I think that being apart that summer brought us even closer.

I'm not saying I'd go back to that summer, because well, just LOOK at my life right now. But I certainly miss it sometimes.

mornings

from here

Turns out, I think age is what turns you into a morning person. 

I don't ever think I'll enjoy talking when I first wake up [or being talked to, for that matter] [yes, I'm looking at you, Mom], but I'm starting to see why people wake up early. There's something so nice about being up before noon and doing something with your morning. Not wasting the day away and all that. Plus, it's so nice to wake up with a cup of coffee and some time to just sit on the couch and be. No doing, just being. I like it.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22

The day started with birthday panacakes, bacon, and a dance party in the balloon-filled kitchen to this song.

Ben planned a special day for me, full of things that make me happy, so we relaxed all morning, I had tons of time to craft, and after rearranging the apartment for our Friendsgiving, we headed out for the night.

The first stop was Anthropologie, where I've always wanted to buy ALL THE THINGS but could never justify spending that much money. He let me wander around, touching every single thing in the store, and told me I could pick a few things out as my birthday present. I chose accordingly and it was everything I hoped for and more.

After some mall wandering, we met up with my Mom and siblings for a delicious birthday dinner. My almost-sister-in-law just had her wisdom teeth out, so we spent the night trying to make her laugh and teasing her for only being able to order mashed potatoes. And all this was after birthday dessert with my Dad, stepmom and stepbrother on Friday night that included a sweet brownie maker, lots of Abbotts ice cream, and finally a travel coffee mug. I love my fam.

When that was said and done and gifts were opened, we all parted ways and Ben and I went to a different mall to continue our birthday tradition of getting photobooth pictures. Then we met up with our friends, drank lots of beer, and ended my birthday with a bang.

The next day, I woke up with a lovely hangover [which I never used to get, so I know I'm getting old], but there wasn't too much time to lay around dying because we had friends coming over. We threw a Thanks-wait for it-Giving Potluck Feast for our friends and Benjamin decided to cook the turkey, so we were up at the crack of dawn [10 am] figuring out how to do that. All credit for the delicious turkey goes to Ben though, cause I mostly sat on the kitchen floor and drank coffee and tried not to puke. Friends came over, we played football, we ate so much good food, we watched football and old SNLs and played both Disney and Seinfeld Scene-It. We ended the night with some group pictures, chocolate coffee peanut butter cake, and an impromptu birthday song.

I swear, the birthday celebration just gets better and better every year.

 my beautiful Anthro presents

love this kid.

blurry friendz

and leftover birthday balloons that keep the party going.

who I am at 22

As twenty-two is nearing, I find myself curled up on the couch on the quiet mornings I have to myself, thinking about the girl I was then and the one I am now.

"Then" is such a relative term, but more importantly, so is "girl". Looking back, I know I was a girl: an impatient, selfish wisp of a thing, but one who was strong and bold too. I'm not sure how much has really changed, but in all reality, everything has changed.

Twenty-two is an odd stage of life. Society says twenty-two is drunkenly sleeping around, working whatever jobs you can find to make it to the next paycheck. It's living in a haze of smoke and mirrors and wandering around aimlessly, just trying to find a man to convince that you're worth his time. But marriage is a different thing entirely. Society expects that it's being at home as much as possible, cooking dinners and worrying about how clean the house is. It's sitting on the couch all night, engrossed in multiple t.v shows. It's wanting babies. Now.

But as it is with so many things these days, I'm in between those two. I'm a twenty-two year old wife. I'm not a girl, yet not a woman [Britney knows].

But I am a woman. I'm realizing that when I catch a glimpse of the curves of my body in the mirror. I see a face that's aging [towards the better hopefully] and hair that I'm finally [finally!] figuring out what to do with. I know what I do to guys at the bar.

And in my soul, I know it too. Gone are the days of carelessly flirting with every boy who looks my way. My heart belongs to one man and I want him to know that I love him with everything I am.

Everything I am is enough, which is something I'm just realizing again at the end of my 21st year. I'm impatient and a "firecracker", as a friend once said, but these are good things sometimes. I get stuff done and I make sure all is as it needs to be. I'm outspoken, but I don't take shit. I think that's one trait that I like most about myself. It gets me in trouble sometimes, but I know what I want and how I deserve to be treated and God help the person that gives me any less. I may be fickle in a lot of ways, but I know what I want.

And what I want is the life that I have right now. I am a woman who is made up of this 21st year and the 20th and all the ones before. I have baggage, but I have even more souvenirs. Joyful, positive, never-want-to-forget-this-moment souvenirs. I am a woman who has a husband that makes perfect sense. He is exactly who I need him to be and loving him for the past 3 1/2 years has transformed me into a different person. So much of who I am is because of him, but not in a dependent, unhealthy way. I fell in love with him when I was 18, in a summer of adventures and freshly picked flowers and mac & cheese dinners. I grew up with him. I'm growing up with him.

So this is me at 22. I am a girl who's slowly finding her place as a woman. I'm joyful most of the time, but when sorrow comes to my heart, I give it time to take over. I'm making time to be alone with myself, to be quiet and see what it is that I like to do and who I like be. I'm working on thinking before I speak and considering others before myself, but this is a process, this growing gracefully. It's so easy to stay the same person every year, but this 22nd year, I'm going to try to not.

I'm not perfect one tiny bit. But regardless, I'm loved. That's who I am at 22.

brb

from here

I'm taking a little blog break to focus on grad school, some crafting, and my loved ones. I'm just not feeling this blog thing lately, but thought you deserved an explanation for my absence. I'll be back intermittently when I feel like it.

If you're still here when I get back, you're my fave.

Later gators.

my veteran

taken in San Antonio during Ben's boot camp graduation in 2010. Hence the baby faces.

First of all, can we just talk about how unfair it is that some schools get Veterans Day off, when the actual veterans have to work? Also I'm jealous that I have to work while my little sister is sleeping in and just generally being lazy. That's not right.

Regardless, today I'm thankful for my veteran and all of the veterans in my life. My Dad, brother, Grandpa, and a bunch of uncles [and obviously Ben] all served in one branch or another and I'm grateful for the sacrifices they make/have made for our country as a whole. It's not an easy job, but I don't even know where we'd be without people like them. The military are a selfless people, when you get down to it, and I love that we have a day to honor them.

And honor them, we do. Yesterday, we took advantage of all the free food that restaurants were offering Ben, with a free donut at Tim Hortons and free dinner at Famous Daves. And tonight, we're staying at a bed & breakfast a few towns over for free as well. The pictures online make it totally look like an old grandma house [which I feel like all b&b's are], but we're going to take it as an opportunity to just lay around in bed and be lazy all evening long. I'm excited for a night away.

If there are veterans in your life, please be sure to give them a big fat kiss and say thank you. And if not, just be nice to the ones you see out and about. Maybe buy them a drink or two. I've always wanted to do that. I'll be the Oprah of alcoholic beverages.

Rex and another Rex?

 

There are no Friday Faves this week because I'm too busy fan-girling over our new Smart car! 

That tiny black thing right there is our sweet new ride [blurry picture courtesy of a snapshot of an Instax]. It is yet to be named, but I'm thinking Rex? Rex seems to fit just right for this little beast. Our other vehicle is a giant pick up truck, so it is an adjustment, getting used to driving this thing, but I like it so far. I like to drive fast and this thing can fly, so that's a plus.

In other news, I want a puppy. I want a puppy something fierce. Ben isn't so convinced, however. We're living a no strings attached kind of life, where we have the ability to pick up and go whenever we want, and we love it that way. A puppy would greatly affect that, always having to be home to let it out to go potty and let it run free and all that jazz. We'd get a pound puppy cause they're just so lonely and lovable, but it's gonna be money we'll have to spend on shots and food and stuff, so that part takes some thinking about. But they're just so cute!!! And just look at this one that's at a shelter in our town. How could you not?!

 

We don't have any real plans for this weekend. Maybe going to see a movie tonight [I have the night off work!] and being productive tomorrow. Hanging out with friends tomorrow night and eating our way around town on Sunday, with all of the free meals offered to veterans at almost every restaurant around. It should be a nice weekend, and if I can convince Ben of the puppy thing, maybe it'll be a puppy kisses filled weekend too. Hope yours is wonderful!