Anyone that lives in rexburg will get this. any of you that don't will at least think its funny.

follow this link for a funny description of the place I currently reside.

What Was I Thinking?: I Live in Rexburg (a repost)

Working things out

Ben and I both consider ourselves to be pretty athletic individuals. The similarities in this particular field, however,  there.  Well, maybe thats not entirely true. We both ran distances when we were in high school track, so maybe we have that; still, it's not very much. The reason I mention this is because as our little married-couple-bonding-activity thing (I guess married people are supposed to do that kinda stuff? I dunno, don't ask me, I'm just a newlywed.) we work out together. When we did this the first time or two is was more like we would go to the gym together only to quickly separate and go to our respective areas: me to the treadmills and other aerobic equipment, and him to the free weights and machines with all the other sweaty men that grunt and stink and sweat and stink and grunt some more. (they stink and grunt and sweat a lot. It's amazing how much some of these guys do this! there are guys that you can see only like 10% of their shirt is still dry! I avoid them cuz of the stink factor. And the grunting! wholly unnecessary. I get a little "oh this is really heavy" sound, but some of these men sound like they're about to have a hernia!) Oh drat. I got off on a tangent and forgot what my point was..... Oh yeah! Yesterday, we did something different. Yesterday is a day I'm kind of regretting today. Because yesterday was the day I weight lifted with Ben. (i am suddenly acutely aware of how funny the word yesterday seems...) We did a number of different work outs, and that number is 4. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, just wait. First, we did a work out known as dead lift. let me say that again, in case you didn't understand- DEAD lift. Clearly, the point of this work out is to kill you. WELL THE JOKE IS ON THAT WORK OUT! I only wish I were dead, so there. . Second, we did squats. the kind with the bar across your shoulders and weights on either end. This particular workout sucks for two reasons. One: because you use your muscles so they hurt the next few days, that's kind of obvious though. Two: because  you rest the bar behind your neck, it  also hurts for the next few days. Third, we did these side crunch dealey-bobs on yoga balls. This one wasn't terrible except that I lack grace have ZERO balance on spherical shaped items. Fourth, we did calf raises using this weird machine. I'll be honest, that one wasn't to bad. Kind of fun actually. Moral of the story: avoid dead lift and squats with that cursed bar.Today I got my revenge. Ok, no I didn't but  at least I was the one that knew what I was doing. Today  we went swimming. You might not know this, so I'll tell ya: I swim (competitively) . Pretty well, if I do say so myself. Ben however, (how to put this nicely...) doesn't. Well, I mean he swims in that he can move around in the water but, he lacks any kind of form or...flow. There was a brief moment when I was standing by the wall and he was "swimming" towards me....-When I was a Sophomore in high school, I taught swim lessons. Because I actually could swim, they had me teach the upper levels. I hate teaching older kids (like 9ish years old) to swim because even though you know what you're talking about they don't always listen to you when you tell them to change something so they can be better. Ben reminded me of this today. I gave him advice on how to be better and I might as well have been talking to the wall. I can't be sure, but maybe his thoughts were these: "If it's tiring, then it's working out. Working out is difficult. Swimming like this is  extremely tiring and quite difficult, so it must be an extremely good work out." Allow me to clarify. This is the thought process that leads to injuries. In any case, It was nice to get in the water again, even if my council went unheeded. Maybe eventually he'll find my advice is worth taking. 

sometimes LIFE happens

I've got some pretty good news and some really bad news.... what-da-ya want first folks?


.... well, I guess you can't really respond to that, so I'll just tell ya. 

{good news}

I got my financial aid check in yesterday!! yay money!  There is precious little of that round here. I went to the bank to deposit the check from my financial aid and one that was a wedding present. (If I would have known you get so much stuff and money when you get married, I would have done it sooner! I...er, I mean, WE got the sweetest waffle maker EVER! It's like the Cadillac of breakfast cookery!) I would have deposited another one, but technically my last name isn't Mauriala yet, so I couldn't. 

I'm going to pause for a minute and teach you all how my new last name is pronounced.

It's tricky, I know. When Ben and I were still dating I didn't know how to say it. I only learned when I introduced him to someone at a party and he gave then a tutor session on it and I payed VERY close attention. 

Mauriala. It starts off like the Island of Maui (Hawaii) only replace the "we" sound with a "re" sound. Now you have Mauri. (That's the hard part.) All thats left is ala. Like Allah, Arabic for "God." Put it all together and you have Mauriala! If you actually said it out loud,even if it took you a few tries, I applaud you. way to stick with it. :)

More good news! I went to the locksmith yesterday and they made another key for my car! YAY! I can drive again!! And instead of costing an arm AND a leg, It just cost a leg and a forearm. :) If I can offer just one piece of advice it would be DON'T LOOSE YOUR ONLY CAR KEY! 

Also, I don't ever have to try and drive Ben's car again! I'm going to enjoy keeping my sanity. :) Partly because I have my own car back, but both of these good news Items (having my car back and never driving Ben's again) happened due to some real bad news...

{bad news}

When my dear husband was on his way to his first class yesterday morning, there may or may not have been an unfortunate incident involving a tricky intersection, and a inconspicuous white car. Ok, there actually was such an incident... said white car and the Caviler got a little too close for comfort at some decently high speeds... Long story short:It involved air bags, bent metal, tow trucks, citation(s), and the itty bitty red car is no more. Or at least we expect as much, we haven't called to see if it's reasonable to repair it or not yet. 

CALM DOWN! Nobody was seriously hurt. Ben has a bruise on his leg/knee and a red area on his arm where the air bag hit and the other kid was fine too. Considering both cars  were totaled, it's pretty amazing! 

Can you believe ALL THIS happened before we even hit the two week mark?! (That's today,  by the way, feels like we've been married longer though.) THE ADVENTURES NEVER CEASE. 

Frustration and Euphoria

Yesterday was a ___________ kind of day. To a Normal human being it was just another day, but to be it was sumthin' else. I'm sure you're all wondering why it was such a notable day or you probably would have stopped reading by now. 

{well, I'll tell ya!}

Yesterday was the day that Ben tried to teach me how to drive a standard (for those that may not be aware, this is often referred to as a stick shift). This is where the "frustration" part of the title of this post comes from. I cannot tell you how many times I killed the engine in the 15 or 20 minutes I was trying. Although there were times that I actually got the car to DRIVE, (It's amazing that a car would actually do that, right?...) I never got it from stopped to go without the car shaking and rattling and making all kinds of crazy movements. Seriously, if there was an old person sitting in the back seat, I would have given them whiplash for sure! I gotta hand it to Ben, he kept his cool the whole time I was destroying his car. Every time I killed it or barely got it going he'd say "go off the clutch easy" in case I'd forgotten in the last 30 seconds or so. I know he was just trying to help, but when you're frustrated with yourself, nothing helps. It was a test of our marriage that I'm proud to report we passed, but I was THIS close to losing it. 

Euphoria: a feeling of well-being or elation especially :  one that is groundless, disproportionate to its cause, or inappropriate to  one's life situation

I cannot express in words the joy that comes when you see, at long last, a mattress sitting at your front door to complete your empty bed frame. Actually that's a lie, I can express it in words- It's simply...euphoric. 

My "feeling of... elation" may have been "disproportionate to its cause" but if you've ever slept on the floor for a week strait, you would be elated too. We really could not get over how nice it was to have a bed, and by default, a bedroom again! I have never had a better nights sleep.... EVER! It may have been the sleeping on the floor for a week prior, it may have been our awesome bedspread and sheets, but it was probably because we bought a memory foam mattress and it. feels. like. heaven. 

Love note to the readers:

Thanks for reading my blog. You are all frekkin awesome! I love watching the total page views go up. and I love you! Keep reading and I'd love to hear your comments. I think all you need is a google account, but I might be wrong. It's been known to happen. 


I tell lies. I just set it so that anyone can leave a comment if they so choose.

My Married Life

It's no surprise, everyone knows, I'm blonde. But, oh man... does this ever take the frikkin cake! (read on and you'll see what I'm talkin about)

{Allow me to start from the beginning}

SO! Before our wedding was a cRaZy week! (I know, I hate it when people type like that too. but it seemed fitting.) During our wedding was a (here it comes again) cRaZy week! And after our wedding was a (last time, I swear it.) cRaZy week! That's a lot of CRAZY, People!Three weeks worth, to be exact.         

Here's why:

~BEFORE~

It was the last week of school and along with one can expect finals (lots of them!), packing, cleaning, and (in my case) wedding planning. but all the boring stuff (table clothes) you put off so that you could do the fun stuff (wedding dress). Oh! and I started a new job that week too. Now, personally, I think I handle things with more grace than a lot of people do. But this, all this, was starting to get to me. Thankfully, that week ended just as I was at my breaking point. 

~ DURING ~

I really shouldn't have to type anything under this section at all. There was lots to do still! Some of it never even got done! example: guest book? nope we didn't have one. and you know what? I didn't even notice until just now. It's probably for the best though. Not  very many people showed up, and I don't really want a fancy  bound book to remind me of it. There was so much left over cake!  I'm pretty sure there is still at least a half a sheet at my dad's house.                                 

*SIDE TANGENT*

Is  it  just me , or does no one respect R.S.V.P requests anymore? Out of all the invitations  that I sent out to either the Ring Ceremony or the  Temple Ceremony I got  about 5 that I didn't have to specifically ask people for. I even tried to make it as easy on people as possible. All I wanted was a  quick email sayin',  "yeah we're comin", or  "nope sorry,  my pet rock will be sick that day." not a huge request I don't think. So, because of this rather frustrating experience  I have solemnly sworn to reply to EVERY R.S.V.P request I am sent. Because, after all R.S.V.P sands for répondez, s'il vous plaît or "please respond" (in French) not "please ignore or assume I know what you're going to do."
          

   where was I...


~AFTER~
And this, my friends, is where we are now. Well.... sorta. It's been more than a week but things are still cRaZy (sorry, I guess I lied about the last time being the last time). For arguments sake, we'll start this the Saturday after our wedding. We had to pack all Ben's things and the few items I brought with me for the time I spent home. We also helped one of my very best friends move out of her apartment (It's amazing how, even in the midst of insanity, you can always find the time for service. There's my little LDS plug for ya, Jesus rocks!) Then we, and by we I mean Ben, proceeded to load all the packed items into the itty bitty red car. I tried to help, but when I incorrectly placed a candle, I decided I'd better not. Then we got in the car and drove our happy butts up to Idaho by cover of night so that we could arrive at our new apartment the same time as the office opened  so that we could move in. But we were about and hour early, so we decided it would be a good time to pick up my car. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 

Before  heading down to Arizona to get married, I had to move out of my apartment.  But  I was just going to be coming back up to Idaho a week and a  half  latter so it would have been pointless to take all of my stuff down with me only to haul it all back up. Solution? I loaded almost all of my earthly possessions, even my HAIRDRYER (because I had to pack light), in my car. Then I parked someplace safe enough, then I locked it and rode down to Arizona with another friend. 

We get to where I parked my car only to find that I did not place my car keys where I thought I did. So what do we do? Naturally, we tear apart the carefully packed car looking for them. NO LUCK. Thats right- they are nowhere in the car to be found.  we decide to wait till we get into our apartment to look further. Then we go back to our complex and wait for the mangers to show up. Remember, we are still early so we are just sitting in the parking lot. (I used my  time wisely and slept because it had been a while. Ben, who drove the whole way cuz i can't drive a standard, did not. crazy man.) we finally get into our apartment and diligently search through everyone of my bags and in the folds of every stitch of clothing. NADA!So, I call my dad and have him search the house when he gets off work and we go about the rest of our to do list hopelessly exhausted and... hopeless.  At the end of the day we settle down on our less than cozy floor for a good- well, a nights rest anyhow. "Why the floor?" you ask? Because we live in an unfurnished apartment.

{AS OF RIGHT NOW}

On Thursday and amazing thing happened!! Our very first piece of furniture arrived via UPS! We are now the proud owners of a bed frame! still no mattress to put on it though. Yet another wonderful night of sleeping on the floor awaits us. Joy. Also, we broke into my car on Thursday to get out my hairdryer, and everything else, because the ever elusive car keys are still MIA. Yep, I've really out done myself with that one. 

Wedding Day...uh..um... Bliss?

{Wednesday April 13th}

This. was. it. I'd been waiting for this day for every moment of my 20 years,  9 months, and 3 days. This was the day I was going to get married! Of course I had planed it out, and in my head, everything ran as smooth as...silk? butter? a baby's butt?... Anyways, things were supposed to go a lot better than they did. 

The reality of it all

It all started when I woke up to the alarm that I had set for 5:45AM (Yeah, I know. why would anyone expect things to go smoothly when waking up that early? Let's just say I wasn't all there after all the last minute planning and late night bouquet making {note: I am not now, nor will I ever be a florist.} Shout out to Hannah and Mikka for helpin' with that.) I stumbled out of bed and accomplished next to nothing in the 15 minutes before I was to wake up my sister at 6:00am. When I got in her room and gently said to her "it's 6" she was very prompt to inform me that it was not actually 6 but rather FIVE...IN THE MORNING!  


I will now enlighten you on just how this preposterous mishap occurred: As you may know, when you change time zones your cell phone will adjust it's time accordingly all by its self without any help from you at all...NONE! However, on this particular trip, I neglected to realize that iPods do not do this. You have to go into the settings and fix this little detail yourself. If you do not change it and set an alarm to wake you up at a certain time, it will do that... in Idaho time. On the upside, better an hour early, than an hour late! So, I went back to bed  :} and tried it all again 45 minutes later but ending up with a Slightly happier sister. 

For those of you who watch , (and those that don't, should start) Do you remember "The one where nobody's ready?" That is EXACTLY how this was! 20 minutes before we are supposed to have left, my hair was still in curlers, my mom had not showered, One of my nieces was still dead to the world (that means asleep), Neither of them were clean or had anything to wear. My dad was the only human that had his game on except he wasn't going to get dressed till we got to Temple grounds. (I cant say I really blame him though, tuxes are hot. or so I'm told) For this reason, we cast him as Ross. 

FINALLY we make it out the door! Only, wait, I forgot my phone. {took a frikkin search party to find!}-out the door again. Ope. Dad forgot his meds- out the door, again. Shoot! I forgot my homemade bouquet, (let's be real for a bit, it looks EPIC for homemade. You wouldn't know it was if I didn't tell ya.) -out the door AGAIN! Fortunately, we are done with the "forgots" and are actually on the road!!

*grumbly*grumbly* ... you guessed it! I still haven't eaten. So we need to stop somewhere and get something to eat that is FAST. were lookin' around..  Mom: "McDonalds?" me: GAG!  Dad: "sonic?" me: "not fast enough.... ALBERTSONS!! I can run in and just grab some muffins and juice, its close to the front!"  now, at least we have a plan. 

{It went better in my head!} 

I get into Albersons, it seemed like everyone was STARING and wondering why my hair is so fancy. NOT a show, people! I just needed muffins and juice! I grab the goods and all but sprint to the checkout (in heels). Of Course this is when all the decrepit old people shop and theres only ONE open lane. after an eternity and a half, I'm was getting checked out. RIGHT in the middle of this, some old guy came up and started negotiating a coupon deal with MY cashier! Of all the times for a coupon discrepancy, really!? And isn't that what customer service is for?! Obviously, things have gotten out of hand and it needed to be dealt with. So, with a less than polite tone, I said "excuse me, I'm running late to my own wedding, can you please just finish me up?" -and that's how we do it. 

On the way to Mesa,  my mother and I turned the cab of my dads truck into a mobile beauty salon. I did her hair the best I was able to with that darned head rest in the way. and we both did our make up. Note: the interstate seems to be much less smooth when attempting to put on liquid eyeliner- or any eyeliner for that matter.Minus one or two smallish traffic jams and no decent parking spots, there are no other major hold ups. After all this, I got to the Temple mostly put together and with more than a slightly elevated stress level only 10 minutes late. :) Looking back, I'd do it all again when it means Eternity with  my best friend.