7 Years

Mr. C and I celebrated our 7^th year of marriage this past weekend.  To celebrate the occasion we spent the weekend car shopping because what’s more fun that car shopping?  Um….everything!  I HATE needles and at one point I commented that I’d rather get my blood taken than go back out.  We went to 7 different places and spent 14.5 hours shopping and driving around, not including the hour we spent driving when we realized we forgot something and the 15 minutes the next day when we forgot something else.

Years ago we shopped for Mr. C’s truck and we were clueless.  We were young, overwhelmed, and stressed.  We didn’t know much and although my parents were with us, I felt like I was the one doing the majority of the negotiating (arguing).  I seemed crazy while Mr. C seemed like a nice guy.  We shopped around a bit, haggled, bought the truck, and have loved it.  I still remember that first ride when we were on a new car (to us) high.  The experience could have been better though and we definitely had a lot to learn.

This time around was a bit different.  I researched online for too many hours to count.   We handled financing ahead of time through our own bank on our own terms.  We knew we had some time to make a decision this time around.   We made a plan and headed out to search.  We were on the same page and we had each other’s back.  We looked at each other before answering and we said what we thought.  We kept each other from being distracted or confused by everything being thrown at us.  We knew what we wanted and we weren't willing to compromise.  We were a united front and when someone needed to the outspoken crazy one, we seemed to take turns.  One of the dealerships kept cycling managers around to us and I sort of snapped, raised my voice a bit, and sounded a bit crazy (something I don’t typically do in public) and Mr. C backed me up.  We talked through each experience and at the end of the weekend we went back to the very first place with the very first car I drove that I loved.  I drove it home Monday.  Dealing with dealerships is one of my least favorite things, but I loved what it showed me this time around.  We’ve been together for over 12 years and married for over 7 now.  It’s had its ups and downs like our car buying experience, but we’re at an even better place now than we were then.  We’ve learned a lot in general and about each other and we’re a great team because of it.  

This weekend wasn’t the most fun, but it was a nice reminder that we’re better together than we’ve ever been apart.  We did manage to get in a quiet early morning hike Saturday morning and finished our night off with an amazing dinner at the Melting Pot.

What are you listening to?

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit obsessed with my music.  I like to think I’m pretty versatile but alternative is by far my favorite and my radio is tuned to alt nation about 99% of the time.  

When I was in high school I was broke (and in debt to my dad for borrowing money) all the time due to spending almost all my money on CD's.  My BFF and I bolted out of school to get to Target to buy the "NOW" CD's the Tuesdays they were released. 

I was frequently in charge of music when I was the passenger and I happened to be a bit bossy about my requests when I was the driver also.  I considered myself an amazing mixed CD maker.  One minute Ja Rule would be on and the next song was a Christian song, followed by something country and then maybe some Michelle Branch to round it out.  Unfortunately I wasn't blessed with any musical talents other than my mix making, but my love of music is something that's never gone away. 

I remember frequently waking up Saturday mornings and deciding to get out of bed so I could listen to my new CDs.  That feeling isn't something that's common for me anymore, but the other day I downloaded some songs I loved and got up a bit earlier the next day so I'd have time to enjoy more of them as I got ready for work.  Anything that makes me get up earlier than needed on a weekday is a pretty big deal. 

I'm long overdue for a "things I love" post, so this one is devoted all to the music that's been dominating my stereo.  Also, if you haven't gotten on the Spotify bandwagon, I highly recommend it.  You can listen to entire albums for free.  While it hasn't eliminated my itunes shopping sprees, it's cut them back a bit.

The albums I can’t get enough of:

• Invisible Friends by Lily Wood and the Prick
• Favorites: Prayer in C, Hey It's Ok, Water Ran, L.E.S. Artistes, This is a love song.  The first few lines of (No No) Kids, make me laugh everytime.
• Reflections by Misterwives - Reflections is an amazing song, but I think all the rest are pretty great too.
• Montevallo by Sam Hunt - here's that country I was talking about
• Favorites: Ex to See, Break Up in a Small Town, Take your Time.
• Modest Mouse has a new album coming out soon which I'm SOOO excited about, but for now, I'm loving the song Lampshades on Fire.  It's oh-so-weird, and I wouldn’t expect anything different from them.
• Mr. C would like to also add that the Fall Out Boy album is amazing.  I knew he wanted to buy it so I downloaded it one day so he could listen to it on his way home from work. Sometimes I do sweet things.

The songs I’m playing over and over:

• Carousel by Melanie Martinez
• Bad Friend by Bear Hands
• It's a Longer Road to California Than I Thought by The Wind and the Wave
• #icanteven by The Neighborhood - I love anything by them, and I could listen to this song all day
• Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammer - I'm glad to see there's finally a song against cheating (I do realize the song listed right before this one addresses cheating)
• All Over by CRUISR
• A Rush of Blood by Coasts
• Peaches by In the Valley Below
• Habits of my Heart – Jaymes Young

My list ended up a bit longer than expected.  Let me know what you think if you check these out!  What songs are you currently loving?

Valentine DIY: Date Jar

So many of my favorite gifts are thoughtful, homemade gifts.  One year for Valentine’s Day I gave Mr. C 12 sealed envelopes – 1 for each month containing a specific and detailed date for that month.  The dates ranged in price.  One month was the ballet under the stars (free) and another month was a day trip in Sedona which took a bit more planning and money.  He loved the gift and I loved that each month we had a fun planned date.  For our anniversary, I decided to expand on this gift a bit and brainstormed some ideas of places we had been wanting to go around Phoenix and added some fun free dates. 

I categorized my ideas into 4 different categories: home, out $, out $$, and planning + $$$.

I wrote each idea on a popsicle stick and color coded it in washi tape.  I put all the sticks in a glass jar, applied a rub-on heart on the lid, and finished it off with a bit of ribbon and a tag.

Every few weeks (theoretically) we pick a category and grab out a corresponding stick.  It’s one of my favorite gifts and perfect for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day.