Happy Where We Are

Lately I have been so bad at not getting envious of other people. That's so awful of me! I know life is about so much more than nice cars and nice houses, yet somehow I feel like I catch myself wishing away this part of our marriage. The days where we are working maximum hours, paying loads of money for a better education, and trying to put away money for savings.

I am constantly imagining what our future house will be like, what our kids will look like, what their names will be, when we will have kids, where I will teach and everything you can think of. 

Even watching young moms with their babies I start convincing myself that it is what I need right now. Not saying I'd be mad if that happened ;) but it's just not in our "plan" right now. I am so content with Collin and I right now, and to be honest I'm perfectly fine with just us two for a long while. 

My whole thoughts of our "plan" changed last week when a sweet little lady around the age of 80 was talking to me and started crying hysterically. When I asked her what was wrong she started explaining to me that she simply couldn't believe how old she was and when she was out with some of her friends she was shocked looking around seeing how old everyone was, and that she realized just how old she was. She went on to tell me that time goes by so fast and before I know it I'm going to be as old as her. 

This stuck out to me so much! I need to stop wishing for the future, and live happily where we are now. 

We are in love, living well, and paying for school with cash, we aren't going without by any means. I think I forget that sometimes. We are so exhausted some nights, but I know it will all be worth it someday. And until then, I am going to try to be better and cherish 

every night of roman noodles, every linoleum floored bathroom we have, and even my super sexy 1996 grand prix. 

We can "plan" all we want, and imagine what life will be like later on, but what we are really missing out on is what is happening right NOW. 

We are where we need to be, we are getting to where we should be, and in time we will be there. 

A little throwback

All this homecoming talk has me thinking back to mine and Collin's first dance. 

First off, look how handsome Col looks. 

And look how freakin' tiny my legs are. Ugh.. The fact that I used to think I was fat makes me sick. The good old in shape days. Maybe I'll get some motivation from this... Or maybe not haha. 

Fall is in the Air

It's Fall! Which brings many of our favorite things. Watching football, boots, scarfs, and corn season! 

Corn season is the busiest of the year. The boys spend all day chopping corn, hauling it, and packing the pit. It's my favorite to ride along during, and Collin's favorite to do. 

What a busy time of the year. I am keeping up in school, although most the time I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. 

We said goodbye to the goats this last week. We will miss their company. They kept us entertained. 

Thanks Matt and Melissa for letting us keep them for awhile.

Good thing we still have Toshy girl to keep us entertained. We love her. I wish we could bring her home to our house. We can't have pets so she stays with Justin and Jennifer still. She gets to come visit sometimes though! And you know Collin visits her every day. He loves her. 

Which reminds me, we have been obsessed with this new vet show we found on Netflix. It's called Dr. Pol I believe. It's good! 

We have been to two weddings over the last couple of weeks. Both of which were so beautiful! One for Collin's cousin Rhilee and her husband Nick, and the other for one of my best friends Shelbie.

I cried like a baby at both weddings. Not only because I was so happy for them, but because it was a reminder that I get to be with Collin forever and ever. 

I sometimes can't wrap me head around eternity. It is never ending. 

Lucky for me, I get Collin! 

Back To School

I always loved going back to school. It meant new clothes, new supplies, and seeing a friends you hadn't seen all summer! 

Well once you grow up and get married it's not so fun to go back to school. It just means paying a large amount to big universities, trying to balance work and keeping up on housework. 

With that being said, I am loving my classes so far! I'm taking 18 credits at USU (seriously thankful my dad is an alumni there or else we wouldn't be able to afford it!). I recently changed my mind and decided to go into elementary education. Best decision of my life! I started a bunch of elementary ed classes this semester, It has been so fun to learn about so far. I really feel like I'm where I need to be. It has been frustrating putting so much time, money, and effort into nursing; but I'm glad to be on the right path. 

With school comes FALL! Who doesn't love fall? Actually I met a lady the other day who told me she hated fall.. Crazy! I love fall. The temperatures are perfect for a light jacket, the clothes in the fall are always to die for (plus the colors in fall look best with my complexion). Not to mention it's football season! The best thing is that the farm slowly starts to slow down after corn season, which means more husband time! Don't get me wrong I love the farm, but I love my husband more!! 

It's nice to get a routine back in my life with school. I feel like during the summer it's always last minute plans and never knowing what's going to happen during that week. 

Today we went to First Dam and fed the ducks for my mother-in-law's birthday. 

Perfect weather! 

Enjoy these few last hot days! 

---Andrea 

Year One

We have been married for a whole year. Where does time go? I keep thinking that if this is how fast one year goes by, our lives are going to go by so fast! 

One year of marriage. What words can I use to describe our first year as the Roberts? 

The year was filled with countless laughs, a kiss goodbye every morning, a hug every day after work, many date nights, Top Ten countdowns in the kitchen, Tickle fights, long drives, Razor rides, camping trips, date nights,  and many many more memories. 

Reminiscing on the last year makes me smile. Experiencing many "firsts" together, trying to figure out a way to combine both of our lives into one has been nothing short of an adventure.

Knowing that Collin is my eternal companion gives me comfort. I know that he was made for me, and that I too, was made for him. He is truly the greatest person I know. He makes me a better person. As I think back to when I was 16 years old four years ago and I met him, I would have never guessed our love could grow this strong.

Everyone warned us that the first year would be the hardest, but if that's what you consider hard then we got it made! 

Lots of people make the comment to me that we are still in our honeymoon phase and to enjoy it while it lasts, and I hope it always lasts. I get really tired of hearing that. I think you get out of your marriage what the two of you put into it. We will be honeymooners forever!

Looking back at our wedding day I thought I would give a few details that many people have asked me over the last year. 

We had a luncheon instead of a reception, best thing we could have done! We were actually able to enjoy our wedding night together instead of feeling rushed and exhausted. We had it at Castle Manor in Hyde Park, UT. I still decorated it somewhat, it was perfect for us. We were then able to have our honeymoon paid for with money we would have used for the reception! 

Decorations. Our center pieces were made from recycled glass. We went up on campus and took them out of the recycled glass spot. I'm pretty sure that's legal? There were no signs saying it wasn't. :)  it kind of sucked having to clean them out and peel off all the labels, but it was free! And we put them to good use so it was worth it. 

The flowers in the case were from my grandmas yard! 

Flowers were done by Lee's Marketplace. I was skeptical about them doing it at first, but they did awesome! I loved them. 

The Bluebird catered our lunch! Yummy!

Our cake was made by Grace Harvell. She was so good to work with and did the cake just as I had imagined it would be.

My photographer was Rachel Eve Photography. I love Rachel! She did an amazing job. 

My Videographer was Chris McClain. He seriously did sooo good. This was the best way I spent my money for my wedding. I have loved getting to go back and watch the video over and over again. It will be awesome to have it to show our kids someday how young we looked! Really I highly recommend Chris! If you are interested at all you have to book early just a heads up! He is so busy all the time. Because he is so good! 

You can watch it here. 

http://vimeo.com/m/72221768

My dress was from Petals and Promises. We looked all over Salt Lake and couldn't find any dresses that I liked only to come back to Logan at our last stop and find it there. They had so many that I loved it was so hard to decide.

Our honeymoon was in Cancun, Mexico. Sooo fun! I want to go back really bad. The water was perfectly blue, the weather was great the whole time we were there. We stayed at an all inclusive resort so all our meals were already paid for. We had no idea It was the newest resort at that time to be built in Cancun (at least that's what our tour bus driver told us) it was beautiful. 

Our wedding day was great and even just typing this it's fun to think of that day. A couple of Oopsies happened that I can laugh about now. Like the fact that I forgot to wear jewelry after I came out of the temple! I had it all with me, but I was so excited to come out i just spaced it and didn't wear any jewelry on my wedding day. Oops! Or how I forgot to pack my birth control for our honeymoon and we ended up stopping in Ogden on our way from our luncheon to our hotel in salt lake and waiting for a good hour while I got my doctor to call in an order so they could fill it. I know I'm a ditz!

I can remember the day so clearly. Waking up early and walking out of my room to find a dozen roses and a love note from Collin sitting outside my door. I remember crying as I read and being so full of joy and nerves that this was the day! 

One year later I can still tell you it was the best decision I have ever made. Here's to a lifetime of sleepovers, and an eternity together. 

A heart so full it could burst

As I'm currently laying on our mattress that we have laid out in the front room to watch breaking bad all night long, I can't help but feel overwhelmingly blessed. 

I have such a loving, patient, and funny husband who keeps me laughing. Really though how did I get him? Most days I still can't believe that we are actually married and that someday we are going to have our own little family. It's so reassuring to me to know that he is my eternal companion! I just feel like the luckiest girl. 

Our lives have already been so fulfilling and full of excitement. As well as stressful and far from perfect. I'm going back to school this fall for a completely different major than I have been planning for for the last 3 years. I'm so excited and know that I made the right decision. Collin has been so supportive of this and my rock through it all. 

We have healthy families! Really though this is so hard to come by I feel like we are sooo blessed in this way. Not to mention our families are the best! Obviously I love my family and think they are the greatest, but to have a second family and in laws that are phenomenal too, is yet another hard thing to come by. 

Where we live. I have realized I'm so not fit for the city. We went to Salt Lake Friday night and I couldn't wait to get home.  I love our little town and feel like we are in the best place in the world! It's so homey and safe.  Most people spend their time growing up here wanting to get out, but I don't think I could ever leave and be happy. Sure I hate the gossip, rumors, and people thinking they know everything about you and your family, but somehow I can't imagine life not here. 

We love our ward and our calling! Weston 1st Ward you have seriously won us over. I have never had a ward feel so much like home. This alone makes me want to stay in Weston forever! Nursery has been so fun too! I love watching them learn and grow from week to week. It's been so good for us!

I could go on and on forever, but I think I got my point across. I feel blessed and loved. Like I was discussing with some friends the other day, life comes in waves. One second you feel like the world is perfect, life is great you are so lucky and everything is going as planned. (For me it's usually when I'm driving with my windows down and music blasting and I get the thought, "life is good") Tomorrow could be completely different. Instead of loving the window down I could be driving and hating it down because it's messing up my hair. I could be down in the dumps tomorrow and that's okay. It's life. It's okay to feel like this one day and something else another. It doesn't necessarily make you any less grateful, it just means you are living. I want to soak in this so called living "high" while I feel it. And maybe remind you all to get a perspective on life. What's important and what's not. It's so easy to get wrapped up in worldly things. 

I'm too busy working on my own grass to notice if yours is greener. Love this so much! Quit comparing your life to other peoples "life" that you see on social media. Soak in your life. Realize that you too have so many things to be thankful for! 

4th of July

Fourth of July is definitely my second favorite holiday, after Christmas of course!

This year was the first year that I can ever remember not going to the Lewiston Parade. It's kind of sad to grow up and watch as traditions change as families merge and grow. With that being said, it is also fun to create new traditions with families. 

This year we went on a Rzr/Four wheeler ride up to Bloomington lake with Collin's family.  After taking a wrong turn, a good sunburn, and after most the day was over we finally made it to the lake. I had never been before, but my oh my was it beautiful up there! 

We stopped at the Ice Cave on the way too.

Amongst all this fun, I think I truly forgot to take a step back and think about what it was we were celebrating. Sure the fourth is always fun because of the fireworks, the parades, and the cookouts. But why do we celebrate?? 

Independence Day, a day that our nation celebrates it's freedom. 

I will forever be indebted to those who have given their lives so that I can live where I want, be who I want, dress how I want, think I what I want. 

Part of me hates holidays because I think the kind of things we celebrate are things that we should be celebrating everyday. It's hard to imagine that there are people out there who don't have the same freedoms that we do.  

Proud to be an American. 

Life as a "Farmers Wife"

I grew up in Preston, which really most people consider it a "Farm Town", you are surrounded by fields of hay, corn, and everything in between.  You would think that growing up around tractors being driven in fields, and smelly dairies that I would be somewhat familiar with a farm, but nope, I had absolutely no idea what a farm was until I met Collin.

I remember writing my autobiography when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I wrote about all the pets we had, (horses, goats, cats, dogs, bunnies, a chameleon, ducks) you name it we had it! I remember specifically saying that I lived on a farm. Little did I know, feeding your horses some hay with a pitch fork is most definitely NOT a farm.

I guess you could call me a "city slicker".  Not that I didn't know how to get dirty, because I did! I loved four-wheeler rides, camping, and a good mud pie growing up. With that being said, I surely had no idea what a farm life was like.

I was always the girl that loved shopping, getting a pedicure, having my hair done, wearing make up, laying out to get a tan, and pretty much every girly thing there is. I was definitely not the "farm girl" made "Perfectly" for Collin.

I remember when we were dating and the first time I went out to the dairy with him I wore some fancy pants and a nice shirt and i'm pretty sure I even curled my hair to go with him. He took one look at me and said "You're not wearing that out there, are you?" He ended up taking me to his house and making me change into some of their work clothes. I was so embarrassed because the pants he gave me were so big on me they made my butt sag so bad! I didn't understand why he was making me change.

Sure enough we got to the barn and it all started to make sense. The manure splashing up onto my legs, the awful smell, and the flies! I had no idea that this is where milk came from. I remember telling him that too. And asking him how many people he thought would still drink milk if they knew where it came from. Of course he told me that most people probably know a lot more about it than I did.

Yes, it is pretty hysterical to picture me all dolled up to go to the barn now that I think about it. I'm sure some of the questions I asked Collin were the dumbest things he has ever heard, but I will say that I have came a long ways! I still find it the most amazing thing that cows have bangs! Yes you heard me right, they have bangs! Look closely, they are the cutest things ever!

I can scrape the manure pit with the skid steer by myself, I can haul hay with dump trucks, feed calves, and even drive some of their tractors! Looking back it is hard to believe that the farm was never part of my life. I have learned many things from being married to Col.

Including, but definitely not limited to:

1. Don't ever ask what time they will be home. it won't do any good because something always comes up unexpectedly, or something goes wrong! It does no good because even if you do get an answer out of them, it isn't usually accurate at all. ;) 

2. I will never be as tan as Collin. I have finally accepted this one. It just won't ever happen. Therefore I will always look like a pale white ghost next to him.

3. Always Always kiss goodbye when he is going to work! I'm pretty sure this is my paranoid side of me coming out, but i have heard way too many farming/tractor accidents that I get so worried about him! Sometimes I go a different way to work just to make sure his tractor is still making rounds. I know I'm a freak! 

4. Don't make dinner too early or else it will be sitting waiting for him forever. Don't make dinner too late or else he'll come home before you expected and be starving and want food. I still haven't perfected this one because it is so unpredictable. 

5. Date nights often consist of riding along in the tractor doing fieldwork during the summer. Seriously my favorite thing ever!

I have so much respect for the farmer now. They are truly some of the hardest workers out there. Their dedication to their crops is something that is truly admirable. Sure sometimes it is hard to always have a sleepy husband, rarely get to make plans during the evenings because you know there is always pipe to move,  it's really not always easy. Needless to say, I am LUCKY to be married to such a devoted man who puts in more hours during the summer months than I probably do all year. I never in a million years would have pictured myself married to a farm boy, but man am I glad that I am, I wouldn't change it for anything. 

-A Roberts Update-

We are finally getting all settled in to our new place! it has been so fun to finally get to decorate how I want it!

What a blessing it was to be able to live in Melvin and Louise's house, it helped us in so many ways! I will be forever grateful to them for that.

We went to state track last weekend, it was a blast! 

We ate at my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory! 

We got our garden all planted.  It is starting to come up, I'm all sorts of excited about it. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, but my cute Grams has been giving me all sorts of tips, and took me seed shopping. I love her! 

We had a cookout with my mom's family the other night, this was Collin's s'more that Dusty made him! Double Decker! 

We surprised Justin and Jennifer with tickets to Dave Ramsey live in Salt Lake. It was so cool! We love that guy! 

And the most exciting news of all, my hair is growing!!! it's about time. People keep asking me what I've done, and here are my not-so-secret secrets. 

I don't trim my hair, and haven't since right before we got married! I know my ends need it, but if I trim it, it continually gets shorter and shorter. maybe a bad tip, but it works for me! 

Being dark has been good for my hair as well too! 

I try not to blow dry it if I know I am going to straighten it. I'd rather only kill it with heat once rather than twice. 

I let it be curly if I have to work a lot of days in a row. I don't even try to do it, I just let the curls take over! The less I have to straighten it, the better. 

I also love all my DevaCurl products, especially the deep conditioner! 

I'm going to try the Hair Skin and Nails from It Works and hopefully that will help too! :) 

What I learned this week

--laundry never ends. I swear I can't keep up. I mean I've always known this, but really! we don't even have kids and i feel like I'm always doing it. 

--Scotty Mccreery puts on a kick a show. we went to his concert at USU and loved it. he was way better live than on the radio! 

--pretty little liars gives me the heeby jeebys. I can't watch it alone without looking behind my shoulders. I'm all caught up on it though, and some crazy stuff is going down! 

--I can be crafty when I want to be. i made some pillow covers for some old couch pillows! they turned out cute! 

--I need a spring wardrobe. I'm in desperate need of some new capris and shorts. 

--Wednesday is a way better day to go on a date than the weekends. we went this Wednesday, and there was hardly anyone out and about. I hate beating the crowds on weekends. 

--stock up on Cadbury mini eggs before Easter. they'll be off the shelves before you know it! 

--I have the cutest grandma. I love calling her and catching up on life and asking for recipes. 

--I have one smart mom! she graduated with her Bachelors Degree in Nursing yesterday after going to school for five years, juggling a full time job, and raising a family. 

that's all for now folks. 

much love, 

andrea

Sand Dunes

This last weekend we went to the sand dunes with our friends the Fosters! We had so much fun! 

At first we were babies on the Rzr while the boys climbed big hills and were being daredevils. Later into the trip we got the guts to go up bigger hills, and jump, yes JUMP the Rzr. Ok, we barely got off the ground, but still. ;)

It was kind of fun to be the wives of a trip. Usually we are going with our family and our parents take care of us for the most part, but not this time! We were the ones that had to be responsible to remember what to pack, and what needed to be done! 

I love watching Col do his thing on his bike! It scares me half to death, but I love it! 

Our Favorite Things To Do

I've had many of my unmarried friends ask me how married life is, and many of them also ask, "What's married life like?" "What do you guys do?" "Do you guys get sick of each other?"

I thought id share what our favorite things to do as a married couple are. 

1. We love games! Board games, card games, any sort of game. Tripoley is our favorite! (Thanks Mel & Louise) The other night we played War with a deck of cards forever before bed.  

2. Listening to the top 10 ten songs on iTunes I'll be cooking or something and Collin will say "Should we listen to the top 10?" And we crank it up. Sounds dumb, but it's fun! Especially when I bust out some dance moves. 

3. Getting hooked on a tv series on Netflix! So worthless, I know.

4. Playing Raquetball has become one of our favorite things to do! It's a good workout, and it's always a blast. 

5. Going to SAMs Club. I would have never guessed we would enjoy this, but we have fun when we have grocery shopping dates! 

6. Razor Rides, car rides, tractor rides, and pretty much anything that involves us driving together. We have some of our best talks during these times. 

7. Going to the Temple! It has became something that our marriage truly grows from. I am happy we live so close to one. 

8. "Speed Cleaning" this is something I made up. It basically consists of me saying,"Wanna speed clean?" And then him agreeing to help clean. I call it speed clean because with two of us it gets done so much faster! It's fun to me! But I don't think Collin would agree on this one. ;)

9. Of course a classy date night still remains on the list. Even though we find joy in the little things now, what would our lives be like if we never dressed up for each other or never went out to a nice dinner? Boring! 

10. Watching funny Vine videos. I feel like a twelve year old for saying that, but have you seen some of them? They are hilarious. We will sometimes watch the same one over and over. The things some people come up with.

Hopefully that answers your question of "What do you guys do?" 

No I never get sick of him. We are always working so I still watch out the window for him to come home! To put it simply I love married life. 

Love Andrea

The last three weeks in a nutshell

What a fun last couple of weeks. We spent time with Collin's grandparents down in St George, and met up with my mom in Las Vegas. What a blast! 

We did so many fun things on the trip. Here are a couple of my favorite Kodak moments. 

We are lucky to have jobs that allow us both to get some time off with families! I am really thankful for that. 

We said goodbye to Monica and Hali who are leaving for Alaska once again. It's so sad to see them go, and every time we say goodbye I wish we would have spent more time together! We are cat-sitting their cat Matilda while they are gone. (Unless we can't have pets at our new place we will send her off to my moms.) She is real shy and runs away into the bushes anytime you try to get close to her. I think I've seen her maybe 3 times since she's been here? We might suck at cat sitting. 

Collin has started all the spring work they have to get done on the farm. I hate not seeing him most of the day, but I really can't complain because I get to go ride in the tractor with him whenever I want. 

(Sometimes the ground is more comfy than the passenger seat in the tractors.)

We found a place to live! It is in Weston and we will be moving into it in May. I'm really excited. I think I'm going to like it there! Except maybe the part where It will take 15 minutes to get to work instead of 5.. I'm not looking forward to that! We will be in the Weston 1st ward. 

I've had so much more time on my hands without school, it has been nice. I actually stay caught up with the housework and actually make Collin a decent dinner. I don't know if I am cut out for the whole school, work, wife thing all at once. Collin was so patient with me, and never complained. 

I'm thankful to have such a supportive and hard working husband.  

Love Andrea