Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Ring in the New Year

2013 has been a great year for me! It has also been full of learning experiences, growth, and change. A lot of chapters of my life closed, and new ones were open full of possibility, stretching, experience, and success. Here are some of the things I've done and learned:

In November of 2012 my life was changed when I decided to "try out" dating John Gaskin. By March of 2013, I realized I wanted to spend my life with him. We got officially engaged in July (although we had chosen a date by April). We began our life and eternity together on 16 August 2013 in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, South Jordan, Utah. Thus our new, crazy adventure began together!
My John is the best thing in my life. I love him, and I love to spend time with him (see why here)! Our courtship had lots of challenges, since he was unemployed for 5 months, but it was a blessing for us to work through those difficulties together. I feel it prepared us for working through life together. We love cooking delicious food together, playing with t3h Gnyardon, reading together (currently the Wheel of Time series--we're on book 5), occasionally playing games together (currently Donkey Kong), cuddling and watching shows, spending time with family, etc...
Along with my husband, getting married brought these great things into my life: I finally became an AUNT (hooray!) to the cutest nieces and nephews ever!!! And I got an evil, fangly cat!

I finally graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor degree in Exercise Science and German (double major). Hooray!!! Finally moving on to a new stage of life in my education and professional life!

By April, I realized that I was not accepted into physical therapy school, which although disappointing turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise. Had I gotten into graduate school as planned, I don't know what would have happened between John and I. After being rejected, I went through a "quarter life crisis" as I like to refer to it. After re-evaluating my vocational goals, I discovered occupational therapy! I did everything necessary and applied for occupational therapy school, which I am thrilled for!!!! So far I have an interview at one school (upcoming in February), and there are still lots of schools I haven't heard back from yet. John graduates in April 2014, and sometime in the summer we plan on being off to a new phase in life!

One of the biggest life changing discoveries for us was a budgeting program called, You Need A Budget, or YNAB. In the 3 months since we began budgeting with YNAB, it has revolutionized the way we think about budgeting and money. We are on track to meeting our goals, communicating about money, and feeling so much more prepared for the future. PLUS we LOVE our budgeting meetings! They are truly a lot of fun!

At the beginning of November I got a new job, which I am really enjoying. I work for RISE Inc. employment services. We work with people who have disabilities to help them find and maintain employment. I currently coach our clients on life skills (finance, personal hygiene, work appropriate communication, etc) and I coach individuals at their new jobs. I love meeting so many great people and getting to learn from them. I'm looking forward to learning and growing at this great opportunity.

I am so grateful for the opportunities presented to me this past year, and I'm so grateful for so many fabulous friends, my family, and my new family members!!! I'm excited for 2014 and the adventures it will bring!!!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

God is Good

Day 17: I'm grateful to know that God is good. He loves me. He knows me individually. He's involved in my life. When my life seems to be going in the opposite direction from what I've planned, I often get frustrated. But when time passes, I can see that I learned what God knew I needed to learn at that particular time. Things work out in unexpected ways. God truly directs our lives, even when we can't see it.

Happy 90th Birthday!

Day 16: Monday was my beautiful Grandma Artha Robinson's 90th birthday! I hope to be able to look back on a wonderful legacy of faith, family and love when I turn 90!!!! We had a birthday party on Saturday for her, and it was great to see cousins, aunts and uncles there!!!!
Love this lady!!!!



Saturday, November 16, 2013

Warm cozy house

Day 15: I'm grateful for a warm, cozy apartment to share with my sweet heart! It's especially nice on cold nearly winter days!

Pay checks

Day 14: Well I missed a couple days again, so I'll have to catch up! I'm grateful to be busy, even though this 60 hour work week nearly killed me! I'll be grateful to get my pay checks, however!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Sunsets

Day 13: I'm grateful for beautiful sunsets!!! What a wonderful world we live in!!!

Health

Day 12: I'm so grateful to be healthy mentally and physically. I'm also grateful to have compassion for those suffering from mental or physical disabilities.

Monday, November 11, 2013

New Learning Opportunities

Day 11:

I'm grateful for new opportunities to learn, grow, develop myself and serve others. Training for a new job working with people with disabilities has been super fun this last week!!! I'm looking forward to learning more and beginning to contribute to my new team!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Our crazy cat

Day 10: I'm grateful for crazy, kittarded, ebvil Gnyardons! Who knew that such a quirky cat would grow on me like this one has? He is our demolition derby cat who loves jumping over baskets & boxes placed along the path he likes to run in the house. He loves to battle with belts & hands & feet.
He loves to chase flying marshmallows around the house-and today we (and he) discovered he loves to eat marshmallows too! O.o what'll we do with this crazy cat?

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Take Out

Day 9:

I'm grateful for Chinese take-out after a very long day.

My great mom

Day 8: today was such a busy day that I didn't have time to blog! In the evening after a long day we went to my lovely mom's house for dinner. Mom & her roommate Fumie invited us and a friend (jon forsyth) to come and they made a very yummy dinner for us!

I have an awesome mom who has given us a lot of opportunies to learn, grow and develop our talents. My mom is very intelligent. She's taught piano for more than 30 years and is very good at teaching to the needs of the kids. She uses their strengths, strengthens their weaknesses, and figures out how to teach them in ways that it clicks for them. Plus, she makes it fun and always has projects and performances for them to work towards: they compose & perform their own songs, play with a classical trio, play with a jazz band, make music videos to post on youtube, and more.

Mom has always wanted to go to culinary school, so she recently got a job at kneaders bakery so she can learn the things she wants to. She's having lots of fun learning tricks-and she did all the food at my wedding reception and it turned out amazing! In her little free time, mom's also writing a book on addiction.

I'm grateful to have an intelligent, fun, loving mom! :)

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Toasty warm!

Day 6: I'm grateful for the new heaters that were installed in our basement apartment. This winter we can control the heat in our apartment and stay toasty warm! That being said, I guess not having control over the settings was a first world problem. The bigger thing to be grateful for is that I live in a place where we do have indoor heating in the first place!


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Grandma & Grandpa

Day 6:  I'm grateful for my grandma and grandpa!


I had a meeting in Midvale, so I stopped by my grandparent's house in Taylorsville before coming home. We ate dinner, talked, looked at facebook, and I showed them some tricks with my new smart phone. Grandma was impressed by the camera, and the fact that I can load pictures from it directly to facebook. She's an avid facebooker. :)
I'm grateful to have such fun, sweet grandparents who enjoy my company (because I'm awesome, haha) and let me stop by nearly unannounced for dinner/hangout time. :)

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Missed the memo...

I must've missed the memo or something, because I've been confused as to why I keep seeing posts on facebook numbered with days saying "I'm grateful for..." Finally today I understood! It's November, so people are posting what they're grateful for until Thanksgiving? or maybe until the end of the month? Don't know, but either way I think it's a great idea! Since apparently I'm a little slow on the uptake, I missed the first few days, so I'll just start on day 5.

Day 5: I'm grateful for my awesome husband!!! If you haven't seen it yet, check out my post dedicated to him on his birthday here and then you'll know why I'm grateful for him.



Check out my blog every day until Thanksgiving to find out what else I'm grateful for!!! :)

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Cornbelly's!!!

For John's birthday we went to cornbelly's at thanksgiving point! We went to the corn maze, haunted corn maze, a haunted monster, and we especially enjoyed the tree of carved pumpkins. My mom's roommate Fumie (who is from Japan) came with us because she was really excited to see the pumpkins. My uncle Brian and John's work friends and his wife came as well.
The haunted corn maze was really scary-and it turns out that the scariest scarer was my dear friend (and former roommate) Kim's brother! I didn't even recognize him and I was seriously convinced he was a serial killer ha ha! I'm glad to know he wasn't! :)

My Silly Bain


Pumpkin Tower


Pumpkin Tower Lit up



Me & my John!!!


Awesome!


Uncle Brian


My John got cold, so he borrowed my warm, fluffy earmuffs. Yes!!! :)

Sunday, October 27, 2013

50 Reasons Why I love my Husband

1. He's striving to be a good man
2. He makes me laugh
3. He's silly
4. He works & studies hard
5. He's a thoughtful person
6. He rubs my back when I'm stressed/tired/want him to
7. He loves to read to me
8. He's handsome
9. He has an evil, clawful, fangly cat
10. He makes the bed every morning before work
11. He's intelligent
12. He's supportive--he wants me to develop my talents & do the things I love and am passionate about
13. He's generous
14. He's kind
15. After events are finished he often stays longer to help clean up
16. He's loyal to his friends and family
17. He likes to do things the right way
18. He's a great cook (better than me, most of the time)
19. He has a beautiful singing voice
20. I love to hear him sing and/or whistle along with his eclectic mix on itunes
21. When he makes that 70's----noise
22. He'll go out of his way to help a friend--and sometimes even a stranger
23. He knows my ticklish spots
24. He's honest, even when it's hard
25. He loves his mom
26. If he doesn't know how to fix something, he teaches himself
27. He's a problem solver
28. He likes to create programs to help make my life easier (for example, when I was sorting through hundreds of graduate schools he created a program based in excel for me to keep track of things I was considering about each school)
29. He puts up with me & holds me when I'm emotional for no reason other than fluctuating hormones
30. He tries to explain what he's programming/learning at school using simple analogies & comparisons to things I can relate to
31. He likes to take me on romantic motorcycle rides :)
32. He tries to finish all of his daily work, homework & studying by 9 pm just so we can spend some time together
33. He likes symmetry (it's endearing)
34. He still loves and cares for people in his past who meant something to him, even when they've hurt him
35. He's practical but he lets me be impractical when I want to be
36. He wears protective gear on his motorcycle in order to be safe, even though it looks funny & elicits comments from strangers when he's wearing it in class or work
37. He wears really ugly ties which he collected on his mission ;)
38. He has adorable nieces
39. I never get tired or bored of talking with him--he's a great conversationalist
40. He's a good listener, even when I'm excited and forget to stop talking
41. When I get home he excitedly says, "My Nyatt, my Nyatt, my Nyatt!!!!" and hugs me tight
42. He has a great, contagious smile
43. He laughs at my jokes (most of the time--when I'm being really silly he just rolls his eyes though)
44. He has a great brain
45. Sometimes he doesn't have a brain
46. He looks good in hats :)
47. He listens to me rant & he knows he can rant to me and I'll listen
48. He makes delicious jalapeno cheddar bread (not to mention rasberry-white chocolate bread)
49. He fixes my experiments with breads (like Naan) when I mess up
50. Just because he loves me, and I love him!!!!


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Naan

We made Indian fry bread, Naan, and it was delicious!!!!
Unfortunately, my recipe was terrible and they forgot to include part of it. I followed it exactly only to discover that there wasn't enough liquid, and I was supposed to let the yeast rise but didn't. My John fixed the bread, and although it wouldn't rise, it all worked out. It was heavier than it was supposed to be and didn't have a hollow center, but it still tasted (and looked) great.
Next time will be even better since we learned lots from our mistakes. :)

Monday, September 9, 2013

Our Story Part II: The Engagement

In my last blog post, Our Story: The Beginnings, I wrote about how John and I met, got to know each other, began dating, and became best friends.

At Christmas time, just about a month and a half after we starting dating, John went home for Christmas. I figured that if I missed him, that would be a good sign and if I didn't miss him much, then that would also be a sign. I was surprised to find that I missed him like crazy!!!! We talked and/or skyped and texted every day he was gone and we got to know each other a lot better. It was great to find that our conversations were never awkward or boring and we never ran out of things to say. When he got back, we began talking hypothetically about getting married. As the months went by, we talked more seriously about it. On March 1, right before going to a surprise dinner my coworkers and I were putting on for my boss, John and I decided we were going to work towards getting married.
1 March at a surprise dinner party
Things got a little sticky for a while, with John getting laid off from work and the stress of not knowing whether or not I'd get into graduate school and such. Our faith was definitely tested, but somehow everything worked out for the best. In April we decided we would plan for the wedding in August and unofficially announced it to our immediate family.

In July we decided to stop waiting to officially announce our engagement.

We really enjoy going on motorcycle rides together. For quite some time, John and I joked about going up to Squaw Peak, known as the local "make-out" spot in Provo. But neither of us had ever been to the Squaw Peak lookout, though we'd heard it's pretty, so we decided to go on a ride up there. Plans fell through, but we were still talking about going. At this point in time, I was taking summer classes up in Salt Lake City.
On 15 July, before leaving for my class, John suggested that I hurry home so we could finally go on our ride to Squaw Peak. It was perfect weather for a ride, and I was excited to go. We had picked out a wedding ring a couple of weeks before at a super cute antique store called Cat's Cradle in Provo. However, I didn't think John actually had the ring yet, and I didn't think he'd asked for permission yet, so I didn't expect the proposal.
We rode up to Squaw Peak as the sun was setting. It was just after rain, and the weather was gorgeous. We sat on a stone wall overlooking the valley, talked, and just enjoyed one another's company. After a little while, John pulled out the ring box and said, "Do you want it?" I was super duper excited! After teasing me for a minute, John put the ring on my finger. A little unorthodox maybe, but it was perfect!
The view from Squaw Peak
Engaged!!!! :)
The ring and John's tea set--sorry I don't really have a nice closer up picture
For those who didn't know what was going, it seemed like the shortest engagement ever--engaged on 15 July, married on 16 August. Some people wondered how long we'd actually known each other--and if we were rushing into things. We'd known each other long enough, and we definitely weren't rushing into anything. I had a wedding dress nearly a month before we were "officially" engaged, and we had started making plans even before that.
Sometimes life throws unexpected curveballs. Sometimes we think that our plans are perfect, and God steps in and says, "There's something you need to learn first" or "There's something better up ahead so hang on while I shape and mold you to prepare for it". Sometimes we get frustrated thinking that our plans aren't working out how they're supposed to. But then looking back we realize that God truly could see the bigger picture. He knew that we had more potential than we realized, and he arranged everything so we could achieve that potential. I realize this is very vague, but I just wanted to say that God is so good!!!! He is so aware of us, our needs, our wants, our fears, our heartaches, our mistakes, our achievements, and the things that will truly make us happy in the end. I am so happy to be on this journey of life with John!!! He is my best friend and I look forward to experiencing the joys and the sorrows of this life with him. I'm excited to learn and grow as an individual and as a couple throughout this journey. :)

Some of our engagement pics (I totally recommend our awesome photographer Artography by Kami) :



















Wedding pics to come soon! :)

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Our Story: The Beginnings

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind!!! A word of advice: it's not a good idea to go school full time (commuting an hour both ways), work 2 jobs plus take odd jobs, look for a full time job, apply to graduate school, AND plan a wedding at the same time!!! It was a lot of fun, and I wasn't too stressed out about the wedding plans, but it DEFINITELY would have been more relaxing and I would've enjoyed the wedding plans more fully if I had time to focus on it. But that's my life in a nutshell--almost always more going on than I can sanely handle. :) OK, now to our story. John would probably tell it differently, but this is how I perceived the events that brought us together.

Flash back 1 1/2 years ago. It was January 2012 and I was the newly called Relief Society President of my local single's ward. A new girl and her brother moved in. When I introduced myself to the new girl, Katie Gaskin, and I also met her brother John. I thought John was fairly good looking, but he was dating another girl at the time and I was not really interested in dating any more boys in Provo. I'd had so many little crushes and so many disappointing experiences with Provo boys. Although I had a couple guys I was interested in, I kept telling myself that it wasn't worth it. I was planning on applying to graduate school and getting out of Provo as soon as possible. I thought Katie was super nice and pretty, we had a few interactions and I happened to see her brother around, but that's it.
Katie Gaskin
In the summer, John Gaskin was called as a Sunday school teacher. I enjoyed his different perspective and humor, so I began attending his class regularly. I began interacting a little bit more with him, but still hardly at all. Although at this point in time he was single again, John made it extremely clear that he was not interested at all in dating me. That was a relief for me, because I was not interested in him either, so I figured I was "safe" from him. I thought he was decent looking, he just wasn't my "type".
In August I got a new roommate, Katresha Veazie, and we had a ton of fun together flirting with boys, going on group dates, etc. I had seriously sworn off Provo boys after my last crush disappointed me, and I was living the single dream.
Kat & me
John was asked to do a musical number that month, and my friend Amy Wright asked if I would play the piano with him. He picked a lovely song to sing titled "The Kidron", which I enjoyed learning. I was impressed by his voice--he is a wonderful singer, very enjoyable to listen to. We practiced the song twice, and John treated me to dinner both times as a thank you. That was the first time we actually truly talked. I was impressed by his honesty--he told me some very personal things about himself and we had a very enjoyable conversation. Because I wasn't interested in him and it was obvious that he wasn't interested in me, I felt relaxed around him. It was easy to be myself around him from the very beginning, which I appreciated as I had not had that feeling with very many guys. We had fun performing the song in church and we interacted a little bit more afterwards.
In October our singles ward (Provo YSA 228) had a ridiculously silly "get to know you" activity. Each apartment was given a little pumpkin which we could decorate if wanted. We were then supposed to go to other apartments, knock on the door and say the person's name who answered it. If we said their name before they could say our name, we could steal their pumpkin. Katresha was really excited about the activity, so we went around stealing as many pumpkins as we could.
The pumpkins me & Sam Bant made for the activity
One late evening on the last day of the activity, Kat and I were desperately trying to figure out who else we could steal pumpkins from. I suggested we steal John's. When he opened the door, we definitely said his name first. He said we were welcome to steal his pumpkin on one condition: we had to come in and drink a cup of fruit tea with him. We accepted. I had forgotten how much I like tea, and John said we could come by any time for more tea. "Ok sure, whatever. Like that will ever happen" I thought flippantly. Katresha and I definitely won the prize for the most pumpkins stolen, which made us happy, and that was that.
That weekend ended up being a super tough weekend for me. There were some things going on that were totally out of my control which left me feeling sad and lonely despite my awesome roommates. I wanted to talk with someone who really didn't know me (don't ask me why, I don't know).
On a whim, I decided to take John up on his offer of tea. So I texted him and said that if it was all right, I was going to invite myself over to tea in order to de-stress. He said OK, and that evening after class I went over. We were both surprised by how enjoyable tea was! John is a great conversationalist and it was truly a relaxing evening. A couple of nights later, he invited me over for tea again, and soon we were making it a habit.
This is the very tea set that began it all!!!
I was completely unaware that a couple weeks previous to our tea, John had a gut feeling that said "you should pursue Natalie--she will make you happy". John fought off the feeling for a little while because he was convinced that I wasn't his "type" and he tried to dismiss the thought of dating me. But after our first conversation over tea, John decided it was worth giving a chance. It was a good thing that I didn't know this, because I was convinced that I wasn't interested in John--we were just becoming good friends. Because I thought of him as a good friend, I was able to be myself with him the entire time we got to know each other. My roommates kept asking what was going on with me and John, but I told them not to worry "we're on the same page. We're just friends and that's all we'll ever be." Little did I know. :)
The Saturday before Halloween, our ward had a super fun dress up Halloween activity at Classic Skating. John came over and asked for a ride. My roommate Kim and I were making dinner for Aaron, so John had dinner with us and then we headed over to the Halloween activity. After the activity, John came with us to a dance and then to my apartment for a game night (where I flirted with another boy I was mildly interested in).
Kimberlee Pixton & Aaron Smith

Katresha Veazie, our new friend, Janeece Veazie (Kat's sister)
John Gaskin

Me in my prison garb
The following Wednesday, the actual Halloween, John invited me to come with him to a haunted corn maze. It turned out the corn maze was closed (on Halloween--what???) so we went to the haunted forest in American Fork. He picked me up on his motorcycle and we went together but I didn't even realize it was a date until we arrived and he was paying for my ticket. But I dismissed it and figured it was just a friend's date--because he'd made it so clear that he wasn't interested in me and I sure wasn't interested in him. When I felt claustrophobic and scared John let me hold onto his arm and hand. I dismissed that as him just being polite.
Yes, that's how clueless I was.
 Beginning in the summer, a group of friends and I got together every Monday night after FHE to watch "Avatar: The Last Airbender" at Sam Heinzen's house. Nerdy perhaps, but super fun! I knew that John liked that show, so after our first date I invited him to come along with Kim and I. He came and somehow we ended up sitting on the same love seat. I always got really cold at Sam's house, and that particular week my normal cuddle buddy (Amy Wright) was sick and not in attendance. I stole my favorite blanket of Sam's, and because I was trying to be nice, I offered to share it with John. Partway through the first episode, John reached over under the blanket and grabbed my hand!
Avatar The Last Airbender
So I've already admitted to being completely clueless--so don't laugh. Up to this point I really, truly, honest to goodness believed we were "just friends". I really thought we were on the same page! So when John grabbed my hand, I started freaking out inside. I didn't want him to know I was freaking out until I decided how I felt about it, so I didn't move my hand. I finally realized that John was pursuing me, and after I was done panicking, I decided it didn't feel too bad holding his hand. As I thought more about it, I decided to give him a chance. I figured that if I didn't like it, I could always end things in a couple weeks.
So we began dating. I enjoyed being with John, and I realized quickly that I enjoyed dating him. I was still really worried about putting my heart on the line, so I went to have a heart to heart with my good friend and bishop, Bishop Ray Nelson. I told him what was going on and I spilled all of my fears. As I talked I suddenly realized that I was worrying about how other people in my life had disappointed me. I realized that my fears were unfounded--that John was not the person I was so worried about hurting me. Bishop Nelson listened and then asked if John treats me right. When I said that he does, and how much I enjoy John's company, Bishop Nelson told me that he couldn't see any red flags. He said that if I needed confirmation that dating John was a good choice, he would give it to me. He said that even if we didn't keep dating, this had been a good experience for me because I now knew that I wanted to marry my best friend.
Over the next few days, weeks, and months, I become increasingly happy with the decision I made to date John. I enjoyed going to plays with him, concerts, movies, talking over tea, and cooking dinner with John. I realized that John is my best friend, and I loved dating him!

This is the story of how John and I started dating. In the next blog post I'll continue our story. :)