Bang!

This is my new favorite game. It's called Bang!

It's all about killing the Sherif. Or the Outlaws. Or the Renegade. And you get to say things like "I'm going to bang Nathan!" I know card games are often lame, but this one truly is creative and intense and fun!

Also. Easter candy is already making it's 2011 appearance. YUM!

Thanks early Easter Bunny! Last weekend was great. Also Thanks Thomas fam. We always have a blast hanging out with your gang. It was fun to finally host the party! And thanks new pals Valerie and Marko- I don't think I've ever been beaten so miserably in bowling. And Thanks Nateorade, The 'Tig and Samewise for letting me "bang" with you on your boys night. And Thanks Lincoln and Washington for being such stellar presidents to honor. I really needed the day off!

Wanna play Bang! with the Morris's? Let us know! I'm serious.

Reflection

Do you ever go back and read old blog posts? I don't know what inspired me to do this tonight... well, actually I do. With it being Valentines Day yesterday, and all, I have been thinking a lot about past Valentines Days, particularly the last two. It's strange sometimes to remember that Nathan was gone for an entire two years. You'd think the memory would still be fresh in my mind, but sometimes it really feels unreal that he was ever gone. So I wanted to go back and remember how I was feeling on/ around Valentines Day 2009 and 2010. And then I got caught reading my old thoughts- for about an hour and a half. What kind of DMA student has that kind of time? The kind who's husband works until 11:00 pm. The kind who needs night relaxation time. The kind who needs something to do while she listens to 5 CDs worth of Bach Suite #5 to subconsciously glean artistic interpretation. The kind who seriously needed a break from responsibility for a little while.

So I read about myself. And I was inspired. I think it is very good to look back like this, because although time marches persistently forward, often we don't. What I mean is that it would be awesome if we could always be consistently progressing forward toward being exactly the kind of people we want to be, but as human beings, I think we tend to ebb and flow. It was very interesting to read myself at some seriously low points. I remember exactly how I felt, and the decisions and circumstances that put me there. In contrast, it was also good for me to read myself being brave and strong. I read myself bearing testimony of what I know is true. I read about wonderful memories and favorite friends.

I know this probably sounds weird, but I felt like I was reacquainting me with myself. I think I have probably only posted wonderful things about being married- and being married is a huge chunk of wonderful. But it has also been a big life change!! And change is always hard, even if it is welcome. Really though, looking back over the past year, life is QUITE different now than it was at this time 2010. And it's funny to admit it, because I have been very happy, but I feel like I needed a good reminding of who I really am- who I have been- and who I like being. I hope this is making sense. Reading my past helped me realize that maybe I have been suffering (I don't know if that's the right word...) from a mild marriage identity crisis.

But let me tell you what I learned. Or what stood out to me most this time around. I am strong and brave, and good at being independent. I can do hard things. Making smart decisions makes me happy. But when I'm not happy, I can usually dust off and move on. I'm pretty good at that. I remembered that I have wonderful friends and a support network that reaches farther than I remember sometimes. I am often silly and dramatic. I procrastinate, and I am scared of the unknown. I love Nathan Morris with all of my heart.

The last two years were definitely full of ups and downs. Looking back, I can tell that I was in quite a transitionary phase of life. But now that the future is less up in the air, I need to remember to still be my brave, strong, determined, happy, silly, dramatic, audacious self.

This is who I am, and who I have been for years. Things like this don't change with a new last name. And I needed a good post-Valentines Day reflecting to remember.

Umbrella-ella-ella

Look who's featured this month on the Bella Umbrella blog!

Fun.

Home

Here is a little blog tour of our little apartment. I finally took the time to take pictures of our first home. Imagine yourself in the "Mexican Market District" of South Salt Lake on a sunny end-of-winter kind of day.

This is our little kitchen. It really is tiny. When we open the oven door, it goes all the way to the other side, blocking the way. Same with the dishwasher door on the other side. But who ever bakes and does dishes at the same time?

This is the other wall. I feel particularly blessed to have a garbage disposal. It's a luxury that I've never had in an apartment before!

This is Nathan's gigantic Texas flag that lives above our desk. He got it signed by all of his mission companions. I told him that I'm ready to take it down when ever he is, and I think he got really offended. I guess I'm ok with it. It reminds him of a really important time in his life... well, both of our lives. A mission is a pretty cool thing to remember daily.

Not only do we have the Texas flag, but also the huge longhorns above our window. They are definitely a conversation piece. Do we look like hicks?
This is our front room. It doubles as my cello studio right now. We love our little fireplace. It makes things feel cozy.

This is where we eat. It's all part of the same big room that includes our desk and our couches and the fireplace. And that hall goes straight back to the bathroom. When I was taking this picture, I was standing in the kitchen. Does that help put the layout into perspective?

This is the view from our bedroom door. Nathan installed a Perfect Pull-up bar in the doorway, but the picture doesn't show it. We still need to print pictures from our wedding and put them into those frames that still have generic "we just bought this picture frame" art work in them. Thanks A2 for gifting us your lovesac. I didn't think we'd have room for it, but it looks pretty good in this space, don't ya think? On the wall behind the lovesac, we have our two awesome double door closets. It's one of my favorite things about living here- lots of closet space!

This is another view of the bedroom. Over the years, Nathan has given me three teddy bears, and I have given him two. One of them he took with him on his mission and slept with it every night. I'm a little embarrassed to be a married woman with five teddy bears in my room. But I can't part with them. Not yet.

Our bathroom is just normal. Like the rest of the place, it's small. I'm glad we have a bathtub- except for that it makes the tub at Mom and Dad's house feel like a swimming pool in comparison.
Did you want another view? Here ya go. :)

And that's about all there is to see. It's not much- and it's definitely a decorating work-in-progress (on a budget.) But it's home. It's slowly filling up with sweet memories. And I love living here.

We're Online

A little more than a month of public internet was just about enough for this Morris fam.

WE GOT INTERNET YESTERDAY!

And it's pretty exciting.

Now Nathan can do Spanish homework at home. He can take math tests at home. I can do endless reading about medieval music theorists at home. And I can blog again! We can skype and facebook and budget while eating breakfast. In our undies. If we want to.

Newlywed life is rolling happily along. I teach, and play cello, and read a lot... Nathan speaks spanish, and studies, and sterilizes surgical instruments. Sometimes we do some dishes. Sometimes we fall asleep watching movies. Sometimes we eat 79 cent mac and cheese at 11:00 pm.

I like how things are.

A New Job

So... Salt Lake Community College is starting a new Bachelors of Music program. They're renovating the South City campus to make room for more classes, more students, and more applied instrument classes. Which means that they need a new cello professor.

And Guess what?

It's me. :)

Starting this semester, I have 5 college cello students. All my own. And I'm really excited.

ALSO- I love every time my little Waterford School 4th grade beginning strings class calls me "Mrs. Morris."

A New Post!

I don't even know how I would go about blogging about life since my last post! It's overwhelming! Here is a very condensed list of highlights:

Nathan and I got married! I know this sounds cliche, but it was the most perfect day I could imagine! Everything turned out just how it should... well, almost everything. :) Things are tricky when your wedding is in the same city block and time as the David Archuletta/ MoTab Christmas concert. But it was so wonderful to spend a beautiful day with my closest family and friends and the man I love.

Nathan planned a surprise honeymoon for us, which was fantastic. We started out at Anniversary Inn- the Treasure Island Suite. Then flew to Las Vegas for a few days, staying in the Tower Suite of the Treasure Island hotel/casino. We saw Cirque Du Soleil perform Beatles Love. And we bummed around the Las Vegas strip in the rain. Then we flew to Cancun, Mexico- but we didn't stay there. We rented a tiny little Mexican car and drove down the coast about an hour and a half to a place called Riviera Maya. We stayed in a beautiful resort and had our own penthouse that included a jetted tub on our own private roof terrace. We played in the ocean, went snorkeling in the world's second longest coral reef, visited ancient Mayan ruins, went kayaking, explored a cenote, and enjoyed endless amounts of gourmet food and drinks. We flew home Christmas Day.

We partied out 2010 with sister Emily and her husband Dave.

I spent the last hours of 2010, and first 7-ish minutes of 2011 watching Time Bandits. :)

The car that I've had since high school, the car that I drove to Michigan and back, finally bit the dust on the day before the wedding. The engine of my little green escort gave up the ghost, and my parents gave us the bad news on the way home from the honeymoon. BUT on new years day, we hit up the car auction- a real classy establishment- and bought a new (to us) Chevy Cavalier for less than half of the blue book value! Thanks everyone who gifted us cash or checks for the wedding... it went to good use.

Sister Erin had new baby Enoch. And he's a cutie. Visiting him in the hospital on his first night made Nathan want to have one too. Sure- maybe in 3 years or so. :)

School started again yesterday. As I was climbing the stairs to Gardner Hall on my way to the first class of the day, I thought... Why am I doing this again?

But life is good. I love being married- it doesn't even feel that much different than before but it's BETTER! In simple little ways. I love making lunches for my husband to take to work and I love waking up in the same bed. I love date nights that don't end in goodbye. Our apartment is starting to feel like home- at the request of Andrea, I'll post pictures soon. I don't know what else I'm going to blog about now that I'm married and boring.

My 2011 goal theme is TOLERANCE. I'll letcha know how it goes.