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First baby in our house

By Natalie ·   Comments (0) ·   May 17th, 2012

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I don’t really know if that is a milestone. But I got to start my day with an in person chat with a bestie today and it has made the whole day amazing.

There is something about chatting with a friend — covering a zillion topics at once, having different opinions but still somehow agreeing — that just recharges you.

Last year we were in Chicago, the year before that was Paris. So Utah isn’t quite as exciting. But I did get to meet sweet Olivia. She wasn’t a huge fan of the puppy. But we will work on that.

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Categories : Great thoughts

By the time I’m 30…

By Natalie ·   Comments (6) ·   May 14th, 2012

Glamour's to do by 30

Have you seen Glamour’s list of “30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She’s 30?”

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It’s a list that’s been passed around for over 10 years, but Glamour just revived it by creating a book. There are essays from all sorts — Maya Angelou, Rachel Zoe, Taylor Swift and Katie Couric. I haven’t read the book, but as a gal who’s officially entered her late 20s, the list resonates. I’m learning these things. And they are some of the more important life lessons of womanhood. Or peoplehood.

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See the full list — but these are my favorites:

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By 30 you should have:

  • A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.
  • The realization that you are actually going to have an old age — and some money set aside to help fund it.
  • An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account — all of which nobody has access to but you. (No couple emails. Or couple facebook accounts.)

By 30 you should know:

  • How to quit a job, break up with a man and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.
  • When to try harder and when to walk away. (Dude, when you’ve been there, you so get this.)
  • The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town.
  • How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.
  • Where to go — be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat — when your soul needs soothing.

Honestly? It’s hard not to just paste them all.

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I think of what I would tell my 20 year-old self. I was a college grad at 20. I knew nothing. I would encourage that girl to dream. To stay single longer (I love the hubs, but we didn’t need to get married at 22). To be more adventurous. To travel like crazy. To keep running, because once you stop, you will never go back.

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I’ve done a lot of those things — and I’m on the path to check off everything on the list. Which is awesome. Couldn’t do it without my amazing support system of family though.

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By the way — if you are a blogger in Utah, or if you know a blogger in Utah, I think you should join this blogger group I created for work. It’s to look for people who have voices in the community. Request to join. And we’ll have fun.

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Categories : Great thoughts

We gardened

By Natalie ·   Comments (4) ·   May 13th, 2012

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Spending an entire day with my family is definitely a great day. We planted a vegetable garden with our own version of container gardening — thank you Pinterest. We buried pots into the yard — the idea being that they will block the weed growth and such like a container garden would.

By the way, there so needs to be more gardening experts on Twitter. So when I’m wondering if there is enough sunlight for my plants, they can tell me. Or if I’m wondering why the basil leaves are looking sad. I totally need twitter support for my gardening.

There are herbs, tomatoes, watermelon and a lot of strawberries. I hope we can keep it all alive. We are gradually filling things in. One more trip to the garden center and I think we will be good to go. Which is a good thing because its all not cheap. But we knew the yard was going to be the worst expense when we moved. So, here we are and we are having fun with it. We even bought a lawn mover. The husband has never mowed a lawn. So this is going to be awesome.

Speaking of awesome, every time the sun sets, I’m reminded of why all this work is worth it.

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Categories : Great thoughts

I’m not mom enough to write this

By Natalie ·   Comments (8) ·   May 11th, 2012

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I’m not a mom and weighing in on mom issues often makes me feel like a man making decisions on women’s health.

But, hey, seems some male legislators do that all the time lately. So here are my thoughts on the Time cover you surely saw yesterday.

Breast feeding is awesome. Not breast feeding is awesome. I’ve seen two-year-olds nurse. I’ve seen newborns nurse. I don’t fall into the camp where I think women should always cover up in public either.

But I have never seen a woman nurse like that. The hand on the hip and the leg jutting out is more catalog than couture. I think nursing is often done sitting down. The kid looks uncomfortable with the photographer in the room. Either way, the stool looks a bit unsturdy and she runs the risk of losing her latch.

All day on Facebook, I saw mom versus mom talking about it. As someone who truly isn’t mom enough, I have to say that I’m terrified to enter the parent arena because I will likely have to interact with other parents if I want my kid to have a chance at a social life. And the judging is so intense that I don’t think I’m thick enough to take it.

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Categories : Great thoughts

And then May happened

By Natalie ·   Comments (2) ·   May 10th, 2012

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When I sent this text yesterday, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Life is busy. I get home from work and think “yay, I don’t have to go to class!”

But then I cook dinner and by the time I finish it is 8:30 and time to water the lawn. And then we watch the news and an episode of Ally McBeal and go to bed.

I can’t ever figure out why I’m so tired. A year ago I was running a zillion miles per hour. Now I putt putt at freeway speeds.

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Categories : Great thoughts

Flowers

By Natalie ·   Comments (12) ·   April 22nd, 2012

Gardening became a verb for me this weekend. For the first time in my life, I went to the garden center, bought plants for my own yard based on shade and sun levels and sought out experts on the advantages of perennials and annuals. We settled for a mix of both and brought home lilacs and marigolds and phlox and impatients and whatever else was colorful.

 

Then we went to the Bountiful dump and purchased 1,500 pounds of dirt. I’m not even kidding. And we need more. Luckily, it was only $23.

 

We couldn’t get over our dirt purchase.

 

Of course, so much gardening warranted a late-night Wendy’s run. This is why we can’t have kids yet. We do mature things only for so long. It has to be followed up by “natural cut” french fries at 10 p.m.

 

I still can’t get over how Wendy’s claims their fries are natural. I don’t need marketing, they are delicious. So while I buy organic fruits and vegetables and pay extra for peanut butter made with only peanuts, I will always be up for the .99 fries.

 

Shouldn’t it cost less for the natural peanut butter? There are fewer ingredients.

 

Today we made it to church. And then I hosted my parents for Sunday dinner in my house. Our house. I used our oven that has only been used by me and the husband. Insane. I can’t believe this is happening. By the way, I totally recommend this avocado chicken parmigiana. It will blow your mind.

 

Now, every muscle in my body hurts. I’m not going to get a gym membership, because I’m pretty sure weeding comes after planting. Hooray.

 

It just feels so grown up. Adult, if you will. A year ago, we were happily renting a one-bedroom apartment and we didn’t plan to think about moving until May 2012. And today is Earth Day. At my previous job, I spent every Earth Day for three years working a booth, talking to people. People were usually mean and yelled at me, and because the customer is always right, I had to be pleasant and take it. By the end of the day, I always came home in the worst mood. So, while I seriously miss San Diego, today was great because I wasn’t there. Everything else is just icing.

 

sunset

 

Part of the icing was this gorgeous sunset from our deck. I think we’re going to be happy here. I hope so anyway.

 

Oh, I’ve received a some questions about the location of the house. For some reason, moving back to Utah and telling people my location makes me nervous. It’s such a small world. But it is by my parents, which is nice since we don’t have a washing machine or lawn mower. Thanks parents! We still aren’t grown up quite yet.

Comments (12)
Categories : Great thoughts
Tags : brain dump, homeowners, impressions

And then life totally changed

By Natalie ·   Comments (13) ·   April 20th, 2012

Last Monday I wrote a blog post.

 

Then we closed on our house. Got some keys. Unloaded the POD we packed in San Diego in December.

 

 first time homebuyer

Spent the weekend moving in. We only lost a vase and a pitcher. Success.

 

Bought fabulous couches. Because if they were still at HomeGoods a week after we first saw them, that was a sign that they belonged in our house, right?

 

new teal couches first time homebuyer

 

Traveled to Las Vegas for work and geeked out over new tech.

 

iphone camera monopod

 

 

 

Got completely hooked on Ally McBeal — thank you Amazon Prime free streaming. If anyone posts a spoiler here, I will not be your fan.

 

Hired a landscaping company to clean up our backyard. And realized that we have a backyard to take care of now.

 

 

Attempted to curl my hair with a Pinterest tutorial and showed up 10 minutes late to work with flat hair.

 

So I’m feeling more adult, more tired and more ready for the weekend than ever.

 

By the way, I got two pinks yesterday. That’s lucky!

lucky pink starburst

Comments (13)
Categories : Great thoughts

Keep exfoliating

By Natalie ·   Comments (20) ·   April 1st, 2012

I don’t know why I let things get to me. This week I have been so proud — I was a duck. Water just slid off my back. I docked my laptop at work in just the right way and it restored itself to factory settings. Amazing. Of course it happened on the same day as my 90-day review. All my documents, spreadsheets and pictures are gone.

I didn’t cry or get upset. I moved on.

But today, when the first 500 words of LDS General Conference were about an infertile couple being better off than one that chose to not have kids, it did get to me. And when I was getting my nails done a few hours later and had to keep answering “why you no have kids?” I wanted to say “that’s not your problem, keep exfoliating.”

Because it so frankly isn’t anyone’s concern. No one is better off than anyone else — superiority is a rotten consolation prize for a challenge as serious as infertility.

I’m young, there are years ahead of me and what I choose to do with those years is my issue. I am well aware that I don’t have children. In fact, when I sleep in every weekend and leave for the evening without paying a babysitter, I’m aware of the consequences of my choices. As I am when I work late or pay the bills. And when I struggle to find a woman who can talk about anything besides the fruit of her womb, I am aware.

What made the day great was my Easter purple manicure and making new friends. I also got to see a good friend — Joanna Brooks. She’s in town speaking and promoting her book, which you should buy.

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It was the perfect way to exfoliate the bad from a muddled day.

Comments (20)
Categories : Great thoughts
Tags : 20-something, childfree, childless, children, parenting

I’m so hungry

By Natalie ·   Comments (11) ·   March 27th, 2012

I can’t believe I have another week of this soft-foods-only diet. I. am. starving.

And everyone says the same thing, “oh, you might lose a few pounds!”

Since my diet has been ice cream, mashed potatoes and yogurt, I am highly doubting that is going to happen. Not that I even want it to. Last night I ate some rice and it was the best thing I have ever tasted. And with all of our house drama, I can’t even stress eat! So not cool.

I just really want a burger. A juicy, medium-rare, kobe beef burger with crunchy fried onions. I want it to be dripping with some sort of barbecue sauce and melted pepperjack cheese.

On a related note: where is the best burger place in Salt Lake City?

 

This blog post brought to you by my stomach. 

Comments (11)
Categories : Great thoughts
Tags : beef, burger, food, hungry, ice cream, Salt Lake City, starving

Feels like home to me

By Natalie ·   Comments (3) ·   March 27th, 2012

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The weekend meant a family dinner in Logan. From the mismatched placemats to the stacked cars in the driveway playing Tetris, family can grow, but it remains comfortably the same. Almost.

 

Funny how when you live far away from family, you don’t realize how much you miss, until you shock everyone by showing up and you see that you no longer fit in. I love that I have waited to have kids but it also means that I don’t relate to a lot of the poop-and-preschool conversation.

 

Places like Cache Valley don’t ever outgrow you. When the conversation becomes too much for my introverted self, the valley is fulfilling. It is not only where I arrived in the world as an infant but also where I returned to become an adult — a different sort of process, but an important one.

 

Plus, there are friendly horses.

 

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Ignore the hair. I am still on a liquid diet, and between that and the home buying roller coaster, I have become a hermit. Woot.

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Comments (3)
Categories : Great thoughts
Tags : adulthood, home, logan, Utah
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