the rest of the last of summer.

I kind of dropped off writing about my last two weeks of summer, but let me assure you, they were spent well. Almost every night, Zac and I watched a movie together.

Normally, I would find this kind of boring, because I sit on my butt all day long while I'm at work, and when I'm home, I like to move and go outside and do things. But this movie-watching time we had together, it was perfect, and just what we needed. And I do believe we bought two pints of ice cream to go along with it.

One night we watched Juno, and you know what? I like that movie. And at the very end, when Juno says, As far as boyfriends go, Paulie Bleeker is totally boss, I get warm fuzzies, because that's how I feel about my Zac.

As far as husbands go, Zac Swenson is totally boss.

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after zac woke me up at 12:30 in the morning to put my pajamas on...

I haven't posted for a while, mostly because I haven't been in the mood. Heck, I even took two sick days this week (I've been feeling pretty bad, but I think I'm better now), and I still didn't manage to update anything.

But tonight, after falling asleep in our clothes instead of going on a date, Zac woke me up after midnight to put my pajamas on to have a little late-night hummus date with him at our kitchen table.

And we ate that roasted red pepper hummus with our wheat thins until we were stuffed. Now, we go to bed. Goodnight.

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see ya, summer: day four.

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On day four of these two weeks of having Zac sans-homework, I was having a bad day, and fell asleep early in my clothes. What a way to say goodbye to summer, eh? But it's okay, because sometimes bad days happen, and sometimes you're just too tired to change out of your clothes before falling asleep. It reminds me that life isn't perfect (even though I want it to be, oh so bad sometimes!), and that I'm a lucky woman to have a husband like Zac who does laundry and cleans up around the house when I'm asleep at 7:30 PM. What a man, I tell you. I really did luck out.

And ya know what? I woke up to not one, but two packages sitting on the table that Zac brought in. Inside, I found the two dresses I ordered last week. And ya know what? Even though I ordered one of the dresses a size smaller than what I usually wear, I tried it on this morning, and it fit like a charm. There's always a new day to be had, and the sun shines bright. Life does get better. Even if it's something simple. I am lucky.

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see ya, summer: day three.

Fondue, man. When Wednesday night came around, we drove up to Matt's house and had a three-course fondue dinner. It was my very first time trying fondue anything, and it was AH-MAZING.

Cheese dip with bread, chips, and vegetables, broth that we'd dip our raw meat in (and it would cook right there!), and chocolate sauce with strawberries, pretzels, and bananas. It was probably the best dinner party I've ever been to. I believe in fondue! (We even bought a fondue pot the night of, and I'm so glad we did!)

It was fun hanging out with my two brothers and their women. We talked and ate and watched the Iron Giant with Aiden. I think I might have to make fondue a permanent part of my life.

(And I didn't get pictures of everyone who was there because I was so lost in that fondue pot. You better believe it.)

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see ya, summer: day two.

On day two of our tribute to summer, we met up with the Jenkins family in downtown Provo for some family pictures. Emily Jenkins is my best friend, and we've known each other since Kindergarten. That's about 18 years, folks. We met through our dads, who are business partners. So I know the Jenkins family pretty well.

They were a blast to work with, and so hilarious. Especially Lee's poses. :) And have you ever seen a family with so much style and class? I was genuinely impressed.

Zac was there, too, carrying my camera bag and helping me out. I love having him come with me on photoshoots, although I'm sure he doesn't like it too much. But he's a sport for helping me out without complaining. What a catch I found!

After the photoshoot, we went home and ate the rest of the leftover potato salad in the fridge, and fell asleep in our clothes. I guess we were tired.

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see ya, summer: day one.

Since Zac finished his finals for his summer semester at school last week, we decided to take the two weeks that he is homework-free and do something special each night together. And since summer is practically ending, we decided to dedicate this time to saying goodbye to summer 2012 (and hello to fall!).

On Monday, we drove over to Cafe Rio right after work, and ordered a pork salad to share (because Cafe Rio's meals are too huge to eat by yourself). When we got our order, we drove to the park just east of the library on Center Street where we sat on a blanket, ate our salad, and listened to a band playing in the background on the other side of the field. For Family Night, we read Family: A Proclaimation to the World, and then talked about what life would be like this time next year. The weather was perfect, and so was the food. It was one of my favorite nights spend with my husband--something as simple as eating dinner at a park.

We ended the night by going to Smith's and buying two quarts of ice cream (the perks of having different tastes), and watched The Office.

Summer, you've been good, and we like celebrating you so far.

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guess what!

Only 136 days until Christmas!

Today at church, I started making a list of all the Christmas movies we need to watch during Christmastime, and Zac thought I was weird. And I am SO excited to get a full-sized tree this year, and put it right in front of our living room window for the whole neighborhood to see. It will definitely beat last year's four foot tree (even though I actually kind of liked that one--it was our first!). And I kind of have a thing for collecting Nativities.

Christmas!

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little baby jackson.

A few weeks ago, Zac and I drove up to Matt's house to take pictures of my new little nephew, Jackson. He's such a sweet baby, and only cried when his mama put him down. (Maybe I'll regret saying this, but I really want a baby like that, who wants to be held all the time. So sweet.)

The entire time, Aiden wanted to take pictures of Jackson, so I let him take a few pictures on my camera, and he was so exited! I love these two boys and their parents! Such a cute family.

PS: Admire the drool on Aiden's chin in the family picture. Hilarious.

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summer?

It's August, people. August! Summer is almost over. And, for the most part, I'm okay with that. But on the other hand, I'm screaming, "Where did summer go?!"

This summer was different than last. Zac has been attending summer semester, and I've upped my hours to 45 per week (and Zac's at 30-35 per week). It's been pretty busy here over here, and when we're not out working or in class, Zac's usually doing homework, and I'm usually sleeping (who knew sitting down for 9 hours a day could make you so exhausted?).

But we have found time to spend time with each other here and there, in between working, classes, homework, and sleeping. And you know what? Even if that time was very limited, I'm glad it happened. Zac and I have learned to love each other even more throughout this summer. We've had our share of hardships (and still have them), but the love that those hardships bring makes them so worth it.

With summer ending, I just want to say that I'm so blessed to have spent it with my husband. Our little dates, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream at night, having him teach me about his math homework, and feeding the duckies. It's these sweet moments that I know I'll look back on one day and miss, so I'm going to cherish them. This summer has been good.

To end, I want to post a few of my favorite pictures from last summer when we were newlyweds. I think next summer will be even better.

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good news and bad news.

The bad news is that we apparently didn't back up any of our pictures we took on our honeymoon. The good news is that we posted a few on our blog (that I actually had to get from our old blog and bring over here). I'm kind of freaking out, but at the same time, I'm glad we have those few to remember our trip by.

To see the pictures that did not perish, go here! (And I apologize that my entire explanation of our honeymoon is crammed into one gigantic post.)

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a happy list.

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The reasons why I am happy...

• Setting goals I want to complete, both big and small.
• Thinking of all the books I want to read.
• It's August! I remember New Year's Eve like it was yesterday! Where have you gone, 2012?!
• Autumn is so close, I can taste it! Boots, hats, scarves, flanel, colored leaves, hot cocoa.
• Thinking of what to be for Halloween.
• Being excited for Christmas, even though it's five months away. I might just break out my Christmas records a little early. (Hey, if the craft stores can have Christmas decorations in July, then I can listen to Christmas music in August!)
• Enjoying the present with my husband, and dreaming about our future.
• Air conditioning.
• Being alright with not having one of these yet (at least for now).
• Erica getting married and moving into an apartment just a few blocks from ours.
• Pinterest. Let's be honest. All the pretty things there really do make me happy.
• Listening to these guys.
• Falling asleep next to Zac in our messy, wrinkly sheets without getting ready for bed.
• Eating all the Jelly Bellies Zac bought me yesterday.

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