new address

A lot of things have changed in my life recently - new job, new apartment, newlywed.

As such, I deemed it appropriate to get a new blog address as well.

If you are interested in reading any future posts, please go to tiffandhunter.blogspot.com

something's fishy

We are the owners of 15 little fish!

We bought the aquarium on Wednesday, set it up, and let the ecosystem start forming. Today I went and bought the fish. They are cute, tropical, colorful fish. I probably spent half an hour just watching them swim around once I put them in the aquarium, and when I fed them that was an adventure in and of itself. haha.

This promises to be a fun experience :)

where to begin

I don't even know where to start on this update.

How about a few more engagement pictures? We were supposed to get this round of pictures taken when we got our first round of pictures taken, but due to complicated circumstances, we weren't able to. Even though I was weary to dress up and get my picture taken again, I'm glad we did because these pictures turned out really well.

My mom says that we embody the Taylor Swift Love Story personna very well in these pictures. haha. Kinda fun :)

Next, we can move on to wedding day events. After stressing about it for months, everything went so smoothly. I am sure that is due in large part to all the help that was offered from family and friends. It was beautiful, everything about the whole day. 

And some pictures from the Salt Lake Reception:

This is just a sampling of the wedding photos. In fear of picture overload, I will let you see the rest on facebook. Everyone was so amazing and helpful-family, friends, bridesmaids, photographer-thank you everyone for helping to make the best day of my life so wonderful!

And so married life begins! We went to Kauai on our Honeymoon which was perfect. Hawaii is beautiful - the water is clear, the temperature is perfect. We had so much fun! 

This last week we have been really settling in to our apartment. It has been such a fun experience setting things up together and making our house livable. While living with a boy is definitely an adjustment, I wouldn't change it for the world. What is really weird now is adjusting to real life again. Neither of us had to work much the first week back from our honeymoon, this week however; is different. It is weird to be home alone while Hunter is at work - not exactly something I am used to. haha. Also, I seem to have soooo much time now. While we were engaged it seemed like every minute of every day was planned and now I just hang out and do things at my leisure. Definitely not something I am used to. 

Hopefully one side effect of all this free time of mine will be more blogging! Also, I have internet access inside my apartment now which should also help.  Anyway, until next time (cross your fingers that it isn't December before I update again).

busy!!!!

Who knew that as a bride to be life would be so busy? I certainly didn't.

Life is busy, but very very good. I think that between the two of us, we have every single day planned until the 18th of September. The wedding planning is moving right along, as it well should be since tomorrow marks exactly one month from the big day.

Since the announcements are going out soon, here is a quick snip-it of what some of the pictures look like. 

I might be slightly biased, but I think that they turned out really well.

Anyway, quick as this update may be, I will hopefully be posting again soon!

love is in the air

First off, I'm engaged!!!!!

Here is how it all went down:

I was in Europe from May 9th-23rd. This apparently gave Hunter plenty of time to get everything organized and all together. I had absolutely no idea what he was planning. I got home on sunday and spent a little time with him and my dad. The whole time thinking that he is still freaking out about talking to my dad. They both played the part really well. haha.

On Monday, I had to work from 5-3:30 and Hunter supposedly had a meeting that lasted until 6. My plan for the day was to go home, go running with my roommate, then meet up with Hunter and go to Cafe Rio (I was going through serious Mexican food withdrawals - apparently they don't have any in Englad, Ireland, or Scotland). My roommate and I go for our run in Memory Grove - this is a normal thing for us so nothing too out of the ordinary. About halfway through the run, she says that her toe (that had been injured in Europe at some point) was hurting so she needed to walk. I pass this off as completely normal behavior. Not long after that, I come around a corner and see a guy walking up the grove in a shirt and tie. I take note, think that it is kind of strange, and continue on my run as normal. As I get closer, I realize that this guy is Hunter. He comes up to me and gives me a big hug. At this point, I still have no idea what is about to go down. I just figure he got out of his meeting early and figured I was running at Memory Grove and decided to come meet me. Then Cherie comes around the corner and takes a camera from Hunter. Then I start to piece it together. He then proceeds to tell me he loves me, gets down on one knee, and asks me to marry him :) 

Of course I said yes!

This is by far my favorite picture of the set. We just look so happy :) Which, of course, we are!

Afterwards, we walk down the rest of the grove to his car. He proceeds to tell me that Cafe Rio will be postponed until tomorrow and that I need to go home and shower and change into nice clothes so he can take me to dinner. Dinner was from The Roof, which is a much more fitting restaurant for having just gotten engaged!

That is our story! We are happy and in love :) More details and a date will follow, we are taking a little time to revel in the fact that we are engaged before diving head first into planning. Life is good!

tomorrow

Dear England, Ireland, and Scotland,

Two weeks of my life will be spent in you - starting tomorrow. I will be perfectly happy with all your rain and mid 50 temperatures. I look forward to seeing the wonderful sights that are within your boundries.

Until then,
Tiff

no more please

Dear Snow,

I am sick of you.

Love,
Tiffany

I work in Park City. I realized when I took the job that my drive up Parley's Canyon could be interesting at times - particularly during the winter. There were maybe 4 days total that I had any trouble (and by trouble, I mean it took me a little longer than normal, not once did I get stuck, stopped, or hurt) getting up the mountain before April. One particularly bad time in March definitely takes the cake, but alas, nothing I couldn't handle.

At the beginning of April there was a huge snowstorm that lasted most of my week on. Okay, I told myself, it is the beginning of April and we are in Utah afterall - this is to be expected. After that though the weather got all warm and nice, blossoms started coming out, and silly me thought that winter was finally coming to an end. How very wrong I was. Today is my 5th day coming to work this week and 3 of those days have included a snowpacked drive up. Really?? It is May Mother Nature, did you miss the memo?

Moral of the story, I am SOOOOOO ready to not drive in the snow anymore. I want it to be warm and dry. Please, please can we go back to the beautiful weeks of spring?

spring

Random thought of the day: Spring is my favorite time of the year. Hands down.

false security

As anyone who reads my blog will remember, I made it a point to become a runner last year. I feel like i successfully accomplished that when I finished a half marathon last August. Since then, I have been hit and miss on the running thing - until the last few months, which is when I discovered the treadmill.

Now, previously I was treadmill-phobic. It took me weeks to become comfortable even walking on the treadmill. Eventually though, I got there and was able to run according to my desires.

My first day running outside happened this last week. Worst. Run. Ever. Wow, had the treadmill led me into a false sense of security.

Rest assured, it will be a long time before I hit up the treadmill again.

update

It has been far too long so here is a quick update on what the last month and a half of my life has been like:

1. I was diagnosed and cured of ringworm. Gross. I know.

2. I drove in some of the craziest snow we have had all year.

3. I also worked on perfecting the art of a toe side turn on my snowboard.

4. Spent a lot of money on hiking shoes.

I will admit though, they are pretty sweet. I had no problem scaling some pretty steep rocks.

Which brings us to...

5. Hunter and I went to Moab! We hiked around in both Arches and Canyonlands for a few days.

It served as a nice break from the cold.

While hiking around and having no problem scaling rocks in my killer hiking shoes, I got on a rather steep rock with 30-40 ft dropoffs on either side and couldn't quite get myself back down - turns out it is a lot harder to get down than it is to get up. The result of that was...

6.  I suffered from some severe rock burn. Don't worry, Hunter caught me at the end of my slide down the rock so I didn't fall off any cliffs. At least it was only rock burn, right?

7.  Upon returning to work after my Moab vacation, I went through IV training and then gave blood in the same day. If you were to look at my arms you would think I was a druggie. I promise that is not the case. haha.

8. And last but not least, I enjoyed some pretty amazing cheesecake, compliments of the Cheesecake Factory and my boyfriend last night.

Life is good.

Little Black Dress

Yesterday Cherie and I went to the University of Utah School of Pharmacy Gala. All of the proceeds went to the Maliheh Free Clinic that we volunteer at.

This is Greg, one of the main nurses at the clinic. This man saves many lives.

View from the top. We were on the 4th floor above Rice Eccles Stadium. Our views out either window were incredible - the mountains on one side, the city on the other.

These are just a couple pictures we took at our table after we finished eating. We felt a little bit like traitors at the U stadium in our black and red, but all in all it was a very good experience. The food was good, the company was good, and it all benefited a good cause. I am so glad that I get to be a part of such a great organization as the Maliheh Free Clinic.

i heart hole in the wall

I love, love, LOVE hole in the wall places.

For proof of this, there is a whiteboard in my apartment with all the little random restaurants that my roommate and I want to try. We do try these places out on a semi-regular basis.

The other day I went to this little bowling ally on 33rd South and about 13th East called Sue-Rich Lanes. I must say, it is the coolest little place. The owner was the cashier that helped us. We had very personalized service. Yes, the machines were probably older than I was and our ball got stuck a couple times, but it was still so much fun. I love that this guy and his wife started a bowling ally and have been able to keep it up and running for so long. I can't even imagine how much planning, time, and effort went in to starting up their little business.

Maybe I am just fantisizing about the beginning of this place, but I really like that little fantasy and it makes it so much more meaningful to support their business.

If you want to go bowling in Salt Lake, I definitely recommend hitting up Sue-Rich Lanes.

time, time, time

Time...it is such an important part of this life. 

Due to a recent change in work schedule, time seems to have much less proportion than it ever used to. Allow me to explain - I work 7on/7off, Wednesday to Tuesday, 5am-3:30pm. Seven ten hour days in a row. I know that at this point you are probably thinking "wow...that is awful". But, then I get seven full days off in a row. I love my new schedule, absolutely love it. It does mess with my sense of time though. Wednesday feels like Monday or sometimes Saturday. Today, in theory, should be a Monday but it too feels very much like a Saturday. I am learning however, to not put a lot of stock into what day of the week it is so I get far less confused. It definitely makes my life interesting.

Another thought I have towards time is that it goes by so quickly. It seems the older I get, the more quickly time flies. The fact that I will be 23 in just over a month isn't what gets me. It is the fact that my youngest brother now has a driver's license and that my sister is graduating from high school this spring. Weird.

In church yesterday, one of the speakers said something like this (not an exact quote, but what I remember) "time is an investment. What are you investing your time in?" I thought that was some good food for thought. Comparing time to money kind of puts a new perspective on it. We are really careful with our money - don't spend it on unnecessary things, invest it, save it, and a slew of other things. I don't think we are as careful with our time. Do we invest it in stock that will grow and cause us to reap the rewards later? Or do we give it to mind-numbing activities that will drain us of all emotion? Is the way we are spending our time now going to benefit us in the long run? I am sure that only time will tell.

something to think about

While browsing msn.com this morning, I came across this quote from Karen Salmansohn.

"Have you heard about the famous research study done on a clique of young goldfish? They were raised in a luxuriously long aquarium with a pesky glass wall smack down its middle. Every time these goldfish tried to swim to the far side of the aquarium — ouch — they'd hit their little fish noses on the glass wall's hard surface. Eventually, the goldfish were resigned to their limited swimming options and stayed swooshing around in the half-size aquarium, which they now recognized as home.

"After a few months, the researchers removed the glass wall, allowing the goldfish full reign to swim wherever their little gills could gather speed to take them. Guess what? The goldfish never tried to swim to the other side of the long aquarium. Although the goldfish were no longer stopped by that glass wall, they were stopped by their limiting beliefs. They became prisoners of their past life conditioning!

"We humans are no better. Over time, we amass limiting beliefs about how life supposedly is — beliefs that are not valid. Then we allow these limiting beliefs to stop us from fully living our happiest lives.

"If you want to experience maximum happiness, more important than whether you see that metaphorical glass as half-full or half-empty, is whether you see a metaphorical glass wall in your way. After all, you could be the most optimistic person on this planet — consciously believing you deserve bundles of cash and heaps of loving — yet you can still remain blocked from getting all you want.

"How can that be? Because although your conscious mind might be thinking many, many fabulous thoughts about you, your subconscious mind can simultaneously remain very busy thinking its limiting glass wall beliefs."

Interesting, eh?

happiness

What is happiness? It seems like the whole world is always on this constant search for happiness. It seems to me that everyone's definition of happiness varies depending on stages of life, past experiences, etc.

For my life circumstances right now, I would consider myself happy. I am always striving to learn more and better myself, but overall I live a happy life. As I look to the future, which is commonplace - especially this time of year, I wonder what it is that will be my definition of happiness 5 years from now, 10 years from now. Granted, 5 years ago I probably wouldn't have placed myself where I am now, but life doesn't always happen exactly how we plan it - or even want it to. I sincerely hope that I will live my life in such a way that I can continue to experience happiness an joy for many years to come.

At work, I am the person that comes around and wakes you up in the wee hours of the morning to draw your blood, or the person who you come to see specifically so I can stick a needle in your arm. Not often is the person walking around with the phlebotomy tray anyone's favorite person to see. However; since I am in the position that I am, I am privy to observing a lot of human interaction.

One of my favorite type of patients to see are those with their significant others. More often than not, I am drawing the woman's blood with the man watching. I absolutely LOVE seeing how cute guys can be with their wives. The women that come in to test their blood during their first pregnancy with their husbands who are cute and protective and try to distract them while I draw the blood. The husband that makes sure I am the plebotomist his wife gets everytime she comes in because he knows I can succussfully draw her blood with minimal pain and sticks. And let's not forget the grieving husband silently holding his wife's feet,with tears streaming down his face, while the doctor accesses her after a snowmobiling accident.

All of these situations are so tender. The love and devotion that these couples have towards each other is almost tangible. With every word that is spoken I get to see how much they truly care about each other. One day I want to experience this type of happiness. I want to be the girl with the cute husband that the phlebotomist loves to see.Whether this day comes in 2 years or 20, I want to care about someone so deeply that it overtakes my whole being.

So, to Mr. Right, wherever and whoever you are, know this: I'm not really picky about what you look like or how much money you make. I'm sure that you will have a past because I have one too. Your car can be twenty years old or brand new - none of this really matters. What I am really interested in is how you will care for me. Your love and devotion to me will one day mean more than any of those superficial things ever could. I look forward to the day I meet you, and if I come off as a little stand-offish I promise it isn't just you, I come off that way to most people when they first meet me. I'm not necessarily an easy girl to catch, but somewhere inside I really do want you to sweep me off my feet.