Hey from Jupiter

Scott's been on my back about never writing in our blog. That old ball and chain.

So, Mucinex D has ruined my life. It cleared up my sinuses for eight hours (NOT 12, as promised), made me completely stoned for a busy Friday night at work, and now it's 4:41 in the morning and after lying in bed for five hours without being able to breathe or sleep, I've surrendered to Hot Pockets, 30 Rock, and writing all of this.

(On a related note, I am totally on Alec Baldwin's side. Kim Basinger is crazy.)

I really like my job. I like working hard and getting the instant gratification of cash. I like that people actually want me to come up and talk to them, as opposed to when I was a missionary or when I did door-to-door sales. I like watching the savings pile and pile. We have a goal of graduating debt-free. I like that I'll have a significant impact on us reaching that goal.

Someone asked the other day when Scott and I see each other. He goes to school full-time and I work full-time-- at different times of the day. But it's like even when we're apart I feel like Scott is with me. We text every remotely interesting thing that happens to us (for example, a car exploded in his school's parking lot. EXPLODED). The few precious hours late at night we have together to snack and watch TV make my heart melt. I know people who don't believe in marriage. Maybe they've never had a glimpse of this-- this is the good stuff in life.

On the show they're eating pizza. I want pizza.

We're the Best Halloweeners Around.

Siobhan and I love Halloween. Next to Christmas, it's our favorite holiday, and as this is our first "married" Halloween, we decided to have fun with it this year.

First we went to a "haunted" corn maze called the Trail of Doom. When i was a kid you actually had to figure out how to get out of the corn maze, and you would always get disoriented because some guy in a hockey mask was chasing you around with a chainsaw. It was awesome. Unfortunately they don't allow that anymore. Now they only have one path that's roped off, so you can't get lost. They put a lot more effort into it now though, so it was still a lot of fun.

The night before Halloween we got together with Brent and Natalie and carved pumpkins. We had a lot of fun doing it and I think they turned out really well.

Siobhan went with the classic pumpkin, mine was an attempt to do the face of Frank the Rabbit from the movie Donnie Darko (great movie). On Halloween we went back to Brent and Natalie's for an awesome dinner, passed out candy, went home and watched Frankenstein until two in the morning, then called it a night.

I think I'm turning Japanese.

i rearry think so.

It's funny because it's racist. So Siobhan and I have hopefully found a renewed motivation to write on our blog regularly again; we want to include this in a hardbound photo book that we are going to make for our one year anniversary. When I logged in today I found several drafts of old blog posts that I've written over the past few months that never made it on here. Now that nobody reads any of this anymore, I'm glad that we have found another excuse to write drafts of posts that will never make it on here.

A few days ago we celebrated our 6 month anniversary. Not that we'll ever celebrate anniversaries biannually again, but this being our first year of marriage we couldn't help ourselves. And we've been looking for an excuse to learn how to make sushi. Despite being told that it was really hard to make good sushi your first time, we managed to make something good and edible:

Bam, sushi. The California roll (the one with the rice on the outside) was fairly difficult. The rice sticks to everything, so you have to be really careful when handling and cutting it. Other than that, it's not too bad. We had fun making it, too. Our next challenge is to do it tempura.

Later that evening we bought our favorite candy and watched Shutter Island. Great movie. Got us psyched for Halloween. On a side note, we love Halloween. In fact we are going to a haunted corn maze tonight, it's going to be awesome!

That was our 6 month anniversary! Here's us making/enjoying the sushi:

herro.

Arcade Fire + html5 = a pretty cool music video. I don't like how you can see the Google Earth logo on some of the shots, and there was a weird CGI guy running around in a window at the end, but it was cool to see what html5 can do.

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

"Don't Have Kids With Your First Wife"

^This is what my friend's dad told him. It's funny in that way that most funny things are really horrible.

My parents are getting divorced. I won't say it never crossed my mind that it could happen. But I never really thought it would. I definitely didn't think it would happen the same year I got married.

For the most part, I think it's the best decision for them in their circumstances. But part of me (which I've been in denial about for the past couple of months) doesn't want this to happen. I want us to be happy again-- all of us.

I don't know what else to say about that.

I bought a car when I was 18 and for the past year it's been sitting in the driveway. My dad fixed it up and now we will be reunited. I'm flying to Kansas City this Sunday night and driving back to Knoxville with it early the next morning.

Imagine this 13 years crappier.

But I love it!

The best part about it is that it will end our chronic arguments about whether mopeds or motorcycles are better second forms of transportation.

(See, trying to avoid divorce at all costs.)

Mormons Don't Hate Gay People

This isn't really about that ^, I just wanted to say it.

So, it's been a while since we've blogged. The only news is that we drove three days from Rexburg to Knoxville, are living in Scott's parents' basement (this is much better than it sounds), went on vacation with the fam to Hilton Head, working and saving money, I'm pregnant.
JUST KIDDING.

Anyway, I don't have much, so here is a picture:

New Bangs!

Momma Barnes cut them. The rest of it's just pulled back, don't freak out. Dumb smile. Okaybye.

Sad Sappy Survey

I stole this from my sister-in-law's sister, whom I've never met. Because I'm a stalker.

1. What are your middle names? His is Douglas-- he hates it. I don't have one (apparently my parents thought Siobhan was torture enough) but I'm thinking of changing mine to Douglas so that Scott doesn't feel so bad.

2. How long have you been together? Dating since May of 09, married since April 2010. So, 14 months total, 3 months as murrieds.

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? Uhh like a few weeks. But Scott wanted me pretty much instantly. (Even though he didn't know how to pronounce my name for like a month.)

4. Who asked who out? Well, we kept saying we wanted to "hang out" under the pretense of swapping music, but I really made the move when he told me he lost his flash drive and I said, "Dang... I was really looking forward to hanging out with you..." We ended up watching Arrested Development and he put his arm around me. *sigh*

5. Who made the first move? Well, I sent the aforementioned flirty text. But he initiated the first smooch.

6. How old are each of you? I'm 24 (as of June), Scott will be 23 as of July... so right now I'm the cougar with the 22-year-old husband.

7. Did you go to the same school? Right now, since we're both still in school, yes.

8. Are you from the same home town? Not even close. He's from Tennessee and I'm from Kansas. God had to bring us both to Seattle to get us to meet.

9. Who is the smartest? Scott wins more games but I read more books. It's hard to tell.

10. Who majored in what? He's graphic design, I'm professional writing. We plan on being starving artists.

11. Who is the most sensitive? I think I'm more sensitive to life's knocks but we're both pretty sensitive when it comes to each other.

12. Where do you eat out most as a couple? Cheap Mexican places around town. The teriyaki trailer. And if we really feel like a special evening, the local Thai restaurant.

13. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? We went together to visit my family last February in Kansas City.

14. Who has the worst temper? Eh, we're both pretty fiery.

15. How many children do you want? Siobhan = 4 Scott = 2. (But it will be 4.)

16. Who does the cooking? Me mostly but often Scott helps and sometimes he cooks for us.

17. Who is more social? Probably me, I need people around.

18. Who is the neat-freak? I get more stressed out about things being clean normally but Scott is always really good about making the place look nice if we're going to have company.

19. Who is the most stubborn? Ooh both.

20. Who wakes up earlier? Depends. Usually me, out of necessity.

21. Where was your first date? Our first real, real date was at a Thai restaurant in Seattle on the beach. It was beautiful.

22. Who has the bigger family? Scott's.

23. Do you get flowers often? Often, no. BUT. One day while Scott was at work I texted him to let him know I was having a crap day and was super grumpy so that he wouldn't be caught off-guard to come home to a total beast, and he showed up after work with a bouquet of flowers and my favorite ice cream (Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby!).

24. How do you spend the holidays? With family.

25. Who is more jealous? Definitely me! I'm married to a super model.

26. How long did it take to get serious? We spent every second together from the start but didn't tell each other we loved each other till July, and then didn't talk about marriage until October.

27. Who eats more? Scott. His stomach is 50% larger than mine.

28. What do you do for a living? School. Which is not a job. Scott works at a call center.

29. Who does/did the laundry? We take turns.

30. Who’s better with the computer? Scott.

31. Who drives when you are together? Scott because I, erm, lost my license... (I really did, I hated the picture so I took it out of my wallet and lost it. All because of vanity...)

32. What is "your" song? "Stand Inside Your Love" by Smashing Pumpkins. It was both of our favorite SP songs and no one either of us had dated ever appreciated its beauty until we met each other!

The end.

4 Signs You're More Than Just Friends

Scott and Siobhan found this website and were wondering if they had any of the signs.

Siobhan: Okay, number one. "Your friends start making very obvious comments."
Scott: Well, people keep saying stuff like, "Where's your wife, Siobhan..." That could count.
Siobhan: Yeah, maybe. Number two: "You find yourself making or receiving a daily call, often right before bedtime." Well sometimes I call if I'm like, at the grocery store and need to find out if we're out of eggs...
Scott: Yeah I wouldn't call you right before bed, I'd just roll over and talk to you. I don't think that's what it means.
Siobhan: All right, forget that one. Number three: "Unplanned, you find you have developed pet names for each other."
Scott: Like "Mrs. Barnes"...
Siobhan: Yeah, where did that come from?
Scott: Read the last one.
Siobhan: Number four: "Pats on the back become arm and hand intertwinings."
Scott: I think a pat on the bottom has a much more significant effect than that.
Siobhan: Yeah but that's not what it's asking.
Scott: I guess... I guess we're just friends then.

Coming Soon...

...as soon as the new power cable for Scott's Mac arrives...

Pictures from Siobhan's birthday and the weekend Siobhan's dad came to visit!

In other news...

• Rexburg has an obnoxious extreme in temperatures. Scott handles this just fine but Siobhan is cursed with voluminous sweating which makes her kind of crabby.

• We received some sad news recently but it made us appreciate each other and the Gospel very much.

• We're preparing our trip to Knoxville in 3 weeks!!! Tips for how to stay sane during a three day road trip?
  

• An Indian man died of a heart attack when he saw his own cremation receipt by accident.

That is all.

Every Tuesday and Thursday I force myself to sit down and write creatively for two hours as part of a school project (and also because if I don't force myself to do things with structure, they never get done).

I've realized two things:

1. I have to write while my favorite sitcoms are on in the background or I get too morose. (And if I opt for music, it has to be Bob Dylan.)

2. I relish distraction.

Today's distraction: my dad is coming tomorrow. To stay with us. For the entire weekend. We've cleared our our second bedroom and acquired a blow-up mattress and I'm convinced that if I cook him fantastic meals all weekend he'll think I'm adult and mature enough to handle the responsibilities of marriage (which has previously been up for debate).

So here's what I'm thinking:

Saturday Morning: Breakfast Burritos
Boiled potatoes, cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, sauteed onions and green peppers, and scrambled eggs all wrapped up in a warm tortilla. Green chili salsa optional (although he'll take it because he's a New Mexican). Yum!!

Saturday Picnic Lunch: Panini Sandwiches with Herbed Potato Salad and fresh fruit.
I'm thinking steak sandwiches with grilled veggies and mozzarella cheese.

Sunday Morning: French Toast
...with strawberries and a creamy brown sugar topping!

Okay, so most likely this will all end up a disaster-- the mattress will explode (I hope not; it's borrowed), he'll notice that we're paying too much for rent, and my meals will be awful and burnt and taste bad (because I've never made them before). And we'll have this moment where he says "I'll always be your dad and you'll always need me" and I'll say "I know, you should have been cooking this whole time" (because he's terrific at it) and then we'll all go out for ice cream.

Two Months of Marriage

Well, almost. Tomorrow it will be two months.
TWO MONTHS!

To be honest, this isn't what I thought marriage would be like. It's better than what I thought marriage would be like. It's like having the best of childhood and adulthood all at once. For example, yesterday we rode a carousel.And then later, when we wanted hamburgers, since we're adults, we made them ourselves.


Isn't that a beautiful hamburger? I remember when I was a kid, whenever I wanted hamburgers we'd end up having like stroganoff, but whenever I wasn't into it, we'd have hamburgers.
Now I get to decide.
Because I can cook. Sort of.

School's going well. I'm learning a lot. For example, the other day I learned that you're supposed to say you feel nauseated instead of nauseous because if you say you feel nauseous you're saying that you make other people want to puke. Which is funny.

And work is going well for Scott. The other day he called a guy with a thick Southern accent who put the phone down randomly and Scott heard him muttering to himself, "C'mon man, I don't care 'bout you or nuttin' yous got tuh say, Ima just lay that phone rightcher n letchew talk tuh yurself..."

And, in gloriously wonderful news, my dad is coming to visit. Yep, my dad. He's going to fly to Salt Lake, rent a car, and drive four hours to Rexburg for the weekend before my birthday. I've never been in a social situation that involved my dad without my mom, and definitely not that was in any sort of visiting format, but I'm determined to show him what a grown-up I am by having a clean apartment and cooking us good meals. I'm also desperately searching for some way to entertain him while he's here; Rexburg isn't exactly a happening place for 45-year-old men. Wish us luck.

Our Home.

So we're finally getting around to adding some pictures of our home, which we have thoroughly enjoyed putting together. In fact, we cut our honeymoon a little short just so we could get everything moved in and start decorating. It's nothing fancy, but it's definitely us and we love it.


The strange white blob next to the TV is a tall paper lamp. It's cool, I wish it had shown up in the picture better.

There's another white blob in the corner over there. We tried to get a picture of that lamp because we like it a lot, but it didn't turn out much better...

The lamp.

The couch.

The bathroom.

That's all! Except for this, this is us on the day we took the pictures:

Hope you enjoyed.

Disclaimer: Have been sitting on the couch with a fever for five hours.

I'm sick.

Like I woke up for class with a sore throat and during the course of class sunk lower and lower onto my desk with misery. By the time I made it home I had a fever.

I've been sitting on the couch watching The Office all day. Obviously I'm grumpy about it. I hate being sick. I just want to sleep until it's over.

Scott's been great though-- he made me soup and cuddled with me at the risk of his own health.

We've been married almost a month. As in, tomorrow it will be a month. I suppose that means we should probably post pictures of our apartment (the decoration of which we are very proud of) and of recent activities that we actually photo-documented.

Marriage is terrific. School has been hard to focus on though; I think it's because I'm taking classes and Scott isn't and he doesn't work till later in the day so it's like I got a new puppy and I just want to go home and play with it all day. Not that grammar and global climate change aren't fascinating.

We typically do things like go rock climbing (once), play frisbee at the park (once), play Monopoly (once-- Scott creamed me, my pride has never been so hurt)... Okay so we're trying to get out more but mostly we just watch movies. But it's nice. I could do anything with Scott. (Aw.)

Last weekend we went with some friends to this ice cave... except it sort of became a geology expedition to find hidden caves/ shooting things.It was fun, except that I -HATE-GUNS. I had never shot one before, and I thought, Okay, maybe this will be fun. No. And my husband and future sons will hate me for it, but no guns. They can wait until I've passed from this world and am glaring at them from the other side.

That night I had a dream that I shot a girl in the face. She was a bad guy, but still. Okay probably also all the ultra-violent movies I've been watching aren't helping either. I want a Clear Play DVD player.

All right, that's probably enough from the cynical sick girl. The ol' better half will post pictures soon.

Wedding Pictures....Continued.

Here are the rest of the pictures (hopefully). Obviously not all of them, but a few of our favorites. The rest of these are from the wedding day only.
We also have an album on Facebook if you'd like to see some more.

Wedding Pictures!

Hello everyone...they are finally here! These are our amazing wedding pictures, taken by our photographer/friend Levi Price. I would highly recommend him. We took some the day before our wedding (the ones where Siobhan's hair is down), and some the day of the wedding (obviously). So without further ado, here are the pictures:




Well, blogger is deciding not to allow me to add these without much difficulty, I'll continue in another post...

Updates on the wedding , including pictures, will be posted soon... very soon. Stay tuned!

Hare Krishna - Holi Festival of Colors!

Yesterday we went to an annual celebration at the Lotus Krishna Temple (a Hindu temple) in Utah that celebrates the coming of Spring called the Festival of Colors.  It's celebrated in Asian countries like India and Nepal, but Spanish Fork, Utah has the largest celebration of it's kind in the United States.  We didn't get there early enough to wonder around much, but there's a lot of dancing and singing and food and other activities related to Indian culture to take part of.  The climax of the celebration, however, is the massive chalk fight that takes place outside the temple, which we were there in time for!

Luckily, just seconds before the fight started, some random guy was selling face masks where we happened to be standing.  Best $1.50 I have ever spent in my life.  Somehow we were still blowing purple snot out of our noses for the rest of the day though.

We looked like Shredder from Ninja Turtles...

It was pretty amazing.  The crowd counted down from 20 and then thousands of people hurled different colors of chalk into the air that eventually mixed into one huge pink cloud.

It was a nice break from Rexburg and school and work and wedding planning and anything else routine and stressful.  After the chalk fight we started our pilgrimage back to the car that was parked about a mile away and enjoyed some Carl's Jr.  It was a good day.

17 days.

Yesterday we got our marriage license, went to the temple and saw our sealer, got Scott's suit (he said I didn't react well enough. Let me set the record straight that he looked AMAZING), found a sweet woman to alter my dress.

This is really happening.

Someone asked me when I knew. You know, when I was sure. The only moment I can remember having a spiritual experience about it was in October. I mean, I knew I loved him in July; I think I even knew there was something different about this relationship back then (although I was afraid of the implications).

But in October when I met his family... Here I was, already head over heels for this guy, and then I meet these people who I instantly fall in love with. And I remember praying, Can I keep this one? Can this be it? This is everything I've ever wanted.

I was sure, in myself, that I wanted Scott-- the whole package (we'd seen enough of each other's flaws to know what the "whole package" meant). But, I haven't had the best judgment about guys in the past so I wanted God's opinion of the whole thing.

I remember begging for clarity that weekend and feeling so frustrated and feeling that if there was one time when I really needed a clear answer about something, this was it.

And then came this one moment where all of these things were brought to my memory-- time and time again where somehow, we were able to stay together. Miracles. And the distinct impression: I've brought you, and kept you, together.

This is evidence of God's infinite love, and that he's involved when we let him, pulling the strings. I feel like this is a gift we can't ever treat lightly.

An Alphabetical Synopsis of Our Lives Lately

(*note - Siobhan and I are taking turns with these... I'll start.)

AWKWARD - Siobhan. Today she was walking toward someone on campus and awkwardly danced back and forth with them trying to guess who was going which direction. (For a solid thirty seconds, Siobhan adds.)

BORING - Scott's life has to be. This is what I've ascertained he does all day: He wakes up-- at some mysterious time, sometimes he won't return my texts until like 2pm but claims it's because he left his phone in his jacket. Then he [plays guitar? makes pictures of us look better by photoshopping them? stalks all of his friends on facebook?] until I'm done with class, and if he doesn't have to work [at a call center, emphasis on boring], he comes over to my apartment and sits around with me and my roommates until midnight.

CALLIPYGIAN - Because Siobhan has a fantastic heiny.

DERVISH -

–noun

a member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, as the Sufis, some of which carry on ecstatic observances, such as energetic dancing and whirling or vociferous chanting or shouting.
This definitely applies to Scott.

ELEPHANTIASIS - Seriously, her heiny is that good.

FERDINAND - I keep trying to convince him to let us name our kids things like Ferdinand or Felix and he keeps giving me weird looks.

GALLAGHER - She's mentioned to me several times in the past couple of days that if we ever have a son she wants to name him this. Even more than Ferdinand. (Gallagher would be awesome!!! -Siobhan)

HORKLEY'S - It's this gas station, and it has $.50 movie rentals, and last semester we rented one EVERY-SINGLE-NIGHT-- that's like $3.50 a week! (says the perpetual cheapskate) Thankfully, Scott's parents gave their kids like a thousand of their old movies for Christmas, so now we're set. Suitcase full of movies.

ILLITERATE - Siobhan. Her post just now about Horkley's ends in a fragment. English major...pff....

JUVENILE - Scott, who doesn't even read books (probably because he can't) (and isn't that the definition of illiterate?), does not understand the artistic merit of using fragments and run-on sentences ON PURPOSE.

KNOXVILLE - We will be living there in the fall!

LUCK - Is the only explanation I have for getting to marry my best friend. I never thought I could click so well with someone. I made this dumb list of all the qualities I wanted in a husband and I keep it in my wallet (ahem) and anyway, Scott hits everything on the list.

MONTH - Only one more until we get married!

NERVOUS - I'm nervous that I won't be a good wife. I'm not really sure what that means. But it sounds like something I could possibly mess up, so I'm nervous about it.

OKAY - I think we're calling it quits. We started watching Hot Rod and are too distracted now.

Anywhooo... thanks for tuning in.

Well we're almost there.  Tomorrow it will be exactly 1 month until our imprisonment to each other.  The whole engagement process started off exciting, but then reality hit us and we frantically started making plans amidst going to school and working.  Well, the engagement is still very exciting, but the planning has been stressful to say the least.

On a brighter side, these past few weeks we've been able to enjoy some of the "funner" sides of planning our wedding.  After visiting Siobhan's parents in Kansas City, we flew back to Salt Lake City and began searching for a suit, shoes, and wedding colors.  What we thought would be a stressful and long day turned out to be a lot of fun, and we seemed to find everything fairly easily... but that's probably just the difference between making preparations in SLC rather than Rexburg.
The next weekend we drove to Idaho Falls to register at Target.  When we got there, customer service gave us a scanning gun and we quickly started darting around the store, scanning everything in sight.  We were about as excited as this guy...

I don't know who this is.

I would have to say that was one of the funner parts of our engagement, until we realized we were getting married far away from the majority of our family and friends and we weren't having a reception, which may result in very little wedding gifts.  We remain optimistic though.  In fact, just this last week we got word from my parents that the first of our wedding gifts has already started arriving!  I think it hit us both then that our wedding is next month.

Aside form our wedding planning, life has been very good to us.  We met again with the couple whose apartment we are taking over, and they informed us that much of their furniture will be left behind for us when they move!  We have also been able to find a lot of decent furniture and household items that were either incredibly cheap or free, one of which was given to us by Mom and Dad Barnes.  In actuality, they surprised us with a really nice gift for Siobhan:

yup, it's a laptop.  An HP 2133 mini.

...Siobhan putting it to good use.

I don't think they realize how much of a convenience it has been for her to have this.  So far it's saved her many trips to the library.

So all-in-all it's been a nice, fairly stress-free, exciting past few weeks.

40 DAYS!!!

Last night we drove around Idaho Falls trying to get wedding stuff together and it's like little miracle huge setback little miracle huge setback and I'm full of speeches about faith and trust and optimism and I mean them, but sometimes I reach my limit.

The truth is, I've never been so scared in my entire life. I shake sometimes. I've never been so afraid that I've shaken before. This is definitely real life. 

However. I have never doubted marrying Scott in April for one second. I just don't know how it's all going to work out.

I believe that joy and peace and happiness beyond our wildest dreams is what our Heavenly Father intends for us in this life and that if we're obedient to his commandments-- these instructions for happiness-- that he's able to give us all that we desire. And I know he's anxious to do it. He is the most loving Soul. 

And I know that fear doesn't come from God. Fear will bring us down. Fear causes stress, causes health problems, causes fights, causes hurt. I refuse to let fear about money hurt my marriage before it's even started.

So, with all that in mind, I'm trying to draw on every experience I've had with money and divine intervention for comfort. I've been shown before that things will be okay.

This one experience really stands out:

I was on my mission. I'd been transferred to a new area. The previous month I hadn't been very smart with my allotted money and ended up in a situation with like two weeks left before we would get more and all I had was a box of instant cereal! It was my fault. I hadn't paid attention to my budget, I made stupid choices, and I completely expected to starve as a consequence. I refused to ask my new companion for help, again because it was my own fault. I would pray over my little amount of food, for once sincerely asking to be nourished and filled by it.  

We went to the grocery store our first day together. I thought that maybe I had a few dollars left in my account; maybe it was enough for a loaf of bread and a carton of eggs and I thought maybe I could make that last a while. We took our food to the checkout line and I was stressing out because I knew I'd probably only be able to pay for one thing, when suddenly this tiny figure darted toward us, said, "Here" in a thick and beautiful Hispanic accent, shoved something into my hand, and vanished. 

I looked down at a $50 gift certificate to the grocery store. I knew in that moment-- I felt it--that even though it was my own fault that I hadn't had any money for food, that the Lord would always take care of me. 

I remember another thing. Right before I went home from my mission I was so afraid. I didn't know what I would do about school, about money, about my family. I knelt to pray one night and began to cry and I told him how scared I was. First, this scripture from the Book of Mormon came into my mind:

"...and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear" (Moroni 8:16).

And immediately after that, was this scripture:

"And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care" (Doctrine and Covenants 12:8).

So, okay. Maybe we don't exactly know how we're going to pay for everything. Maybe it seems miserably hopeless at times. So what. It comes down to this: we want it, we know it's right, we know God will take care of us.

Scott, by the way, is like an angel. No one knows all the things that he does; no one has seen all the dark and ugly parts of me, things I hate about myself. No one has seen these things and been so absolutely loving. I think this is the mindset that transcends someone into a mature love, into a ready-for-marriage love: one time he said to me, that even though things were hard and frustrating at times, that it was completely worth it to him, and always would be. It's a choice we've made. 

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then, being [human], know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

The Time Scott Finally Met My Parents

Due to a variety of obstacles (all of which were monetary), Scott had not ever met my family.

Until last weekend.

We flew to Kansas City for a short few days. It was Scott's first time there. He was really excited.

He and my family totally hit it off. I mean come on, who doesn't love Scott?

The most pivotal moment, though, was when our cat Polgara (who doesn't like anyone besides my dad) and Scott had a total bonding moment. It was miraculous. (Ironically, he hates cats. Shh, don't tell my mom.)Everyone got along really great.


All in all, it was a successful weekend that we very dutifully remembered to capture on film.

miracle #forty-seven.

OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.  After an hour of small talk (and watching a rodent run around an apartment in a hamster ball) we finalized the reservation of an apartment in April (see picture below).

It's a cozy two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment.  If we're lucky, we'll even get to keep the hamster!  In actuality,  the tenants who are currently living there were gracious enough to offer us some furniture (nothing is for sure, but it looks like they won't be taking much of it with them).  We're very excited about it (see picture below).

We really feel like we've had our prayers answered and have still been blessed with much, much more.  Over the past month it's been a real struggle to find an apartment for only 4 months over the summer, and not only did we find one, but it may even come with a couch, entertainment center, coffee table, bookshelf, dining set, and bed!  For FREE!!  Again though, none of that is for sure, but we still feel like we have been very fortunate to gain so much in such a short amount of time.  The only thing that could have made this week better was the Colts winning the Superbowl.  We take what we can get though.

65 more days.

Getting Warmer...

67 days.


...well, more like 66 1/2

A Malevolent (I told Scott to pick a good adjective and he failed) Introduction

We are Scott and Siobhan. Well, more accurately, Siobhan and Scott because Scott is making me (Siobhan) write this. As if he doesn't have plenty to say that you're all dying to hear (I know I am). Maybe we can convince him to share his innermost thoughts eventually (or at least a weird dream or clever anecdote from his life as a professional fiance/call center wage slave).

We are getting married soon. By soon I mean in 68 days. We're trying to start to build a life together as practically and optimistically as possible. This mainly consists of acquiring stuff at miraculously low prices. I can't decide if I'm more thrilled by the $50 bed or the free couch. We've been very blessed and taken care of by loving Heavenly as well as earthly parents.

I like good stories. In fact, I love good stories. In fact, I need good stories. I told God on my mission that I really really really wanted a good "how we met" story.

Now, I have been seriously trying to get to know God for about four years and this is one of the things I have figured out about Him so far: He has a great sense of humor.

Did Scott and I anticipate finding true love while selling pest control in the Pacific northwest for a summer? Was there any other way of bringing a Kansan and a Tennessean who were, frankly, made for each other into the same general area of the country? Apparently not.

I don't know if Scott agrees with me on this one but I think that if we had both been a little more in-tune and a little less afraid, we would have gotten to this point months ago. Made-for-each-other. I asked Scott to help me brainstorm the reasons why. The conclusion: we are both weird, and in exactly the same weird way. And we love each other's weirdnesses and this has caused us to love our own weirdnesses and what's better than loving someone who helps you love yourself? I know there are no such things as soul mates, but Scott is my soul mate.

In conclusion, this is just the beginning in more ways that we can imagine. We hope to not be lazy in documenting it.

Love,
Siobhan (and Scott)