But He Kissed Me Anyway

I've written several times about the long, low-key, behind-the-scenes nature of my courtship with The Beard - most of it occurred after midnight, after our friends went home, in our cars talking until the sun came up.

Earlier this month I posted my October Bucket list, and that list includes watching a scary movie, NOT with the Beard, who HATES scary movies. It got me thinking about this story - the first night The Beard and I hung out one-on-one, the first night we kissed, and how I learned that he hates scary movies.

It was a snowy Friday in mid-December, and The Beard was working playing music at the Sky Lodge Bar in Park City. My parents were out of town, so I was staying at their house and chillin with Blade for the weekend. We'd been hanging out pretty consistently and texted about hanging out that weekend. I was pretty excited about hanging out with him one-on-one, even if he didn't get done playing the bar until midnight. So, of course, I was pleasantly surprised when he texted me for my parent's address.

Here comes the scandalous part: He showed up at my parent's house AFTER MIDNIGHT, we were unsupervised, and he didn't leave until about 5:30 am. Sorry Honor Code! You guys need to make sure no rival football teams get a hold of this information.

As usual I was taking advantage of my parent's 500 dish channels when The Beard arrived. We sat on the couch talking as I finished up the last of "The Others" (the first scary movie I ever saw in theaters as a tender young 14 year old). After that I found "The Strangers" which is pretty awesome if you're into serial killer/slasher/suspense flicks like I am. I didn't think anything of it, because I love scary movies, and we were talking over it anyway.

We were talking, laughing and telling stories and then the most miraculous thing happened - I looked down and we were holding hands FOR THE FIRST TIME. Turns out The Beard has some of the smoothest moves ever. It was so natural and normal I didn't even notice.

Finally around 5 am I started falling asleep to Poltergeist, and The Beard said he should probably go home. He kissed me for the first time and obvs it was pretty awesome. Awesome enough to block out the cheesy 80s screaming in the background. Romance at its finest.

It wasn't until a few months later when I suggested we watch Paranormal Activity that he said:

"You know, I really don't like scary movies."

"Yes you do! Remember that night at my parent's house? We watched scary movies all night! And then you kissed me! Remember? It was awesome!"

"No. I remember you making me wait through 3 scary movies so I could kiss you and go home."

Lolz. Thanks for waiting, Beard. I hope it was worth it.

In related news, if anyone wants to suggest or come watch scary movies with me - I won't make you stay till 5 am and kiss me.

Yet Another Baby Name Post

*DISCLAIMER*

Still not pregnant. Still not trying. Still not close.

But like any other normal female, I've had a list of baby names I like since circa age 10.

And since The Beard and I rarely agree on stuff and fight about pretty much everything (like music, for instance), I thought it prudent to talk about baby names early so we can work up to a good list and fight less when we actually have to name a tiny human. That's extreme, you say?

"You act like you get any say! You're gonna be KO'ed on the table and I'm gonna be the one filling out the birth certificate! And even then, I'LL be the one blessing it in sacrament. I can just change it on the spot and those are the records of THE CHURCH!" - The Beard.

Sunday School is usually the time we work on our list of potential baby names that we like. See if you can guess who chose which names.

On "Stealing" Baby Names - the only people who can truly "steal" baby names that will affect you in the long run are your siblings.  So talk with them if you're worried and GET OVER IT.

Boys

• Reepicheep
• Jacoby (Obi Wan Jacoby, to be precise)
• Jonah
• Boromir
• Dwight (80% kidding)
• Walter 
• Aslan
• Porter
• Apollo (already taken by our fake baby)
• Ender
• Samuel/Samwise

Girls

• Leila (or Layla, according to The Beard. psh. no.)
• Josie
• Arwen
• Lucy
• Leia
• Blair (headbands required)
• Alice
• Norah
• Eowyn (He insisted I add this one even though I don't have the special 'E' character)
• Amelia

Twins

• Merry & Pippin
• Fred & George
• Luke & Leia (weird, though, because they kiss...)
• Blair & Serena
• Peter & Edmund
• Stevie & Nick (get it??) 

 I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed by the number of LOTR, Star Wars and Narnia names on this list. No, I'm not. I'm pretty excited about it.

Although I don't know how we'll narrow it down or how I'll keep The Beard from naming our kids after Narnian animals.

Weekend Warrior

I am a planner. I'm a countdown-er. I'm a list completer. I'm a get-excited-about-everything-er.

So I've spent a couple weeks now gearing up and getting stoked for one of my two favorite weekends of the year - General Conference!!

Even with all my high expectations this weekend did not disappoint.

Friday (my day off for student led conferences) included sleeping until 10, hitting the gym and meeting The Beard for some Chipotle for lunch, then a long Target shopping trip. I bought this leather jacket and I pretty much want to sleep in it. Also some Essie "Sole Mate" burgundy polish that makes me feel like a chic vampire.

We went to a classy reception and then met the Holdaway clan for some Hibachi House - our favorite Asian joint in Lehi.

Saturday I made chili and scones, watched 4 hours of amazing conference, and then went shopping with my girls. This is one of my favorite parts of the weekend - dinner, treats, shopping, JT singalongs and girl talk while our guys are at Priesthood.

We slept over at my in-laws and woke up to Chad Holdaway's famous Eggs Benedict and enjoyed the first session of conference with Glen Coco and Lillie Bug (my niece) running laps around the living room. I stocked up on Diet Coke the night before since my in-laws are all healthy and junk.

We ended the afternoon session back at our apartment with a giant bowl of popcorn and lots of blankets.

So grateful for these weekends that breathe life back into me and renew my desire to be a better person. Can't wait to study President Uchtdorf, Elder Bednar and Elder Hollands talks in detail as soon as they are out.

To Look Forward To Next:

• Fall Break Next Weeek
• My Birthday Week after Next
• Halloween Week after That!

October, I'm in love with you!

27 is the new 12

This handsome guy is turning 27 today.

I'm stealing this genius idea from my friend Katie because she did it for her husband Dash and I just loved it so much - so in honor of The Beard and his 27 years, here we go. 

If Ryan was a Pinboard:

 

Happy Birthday, Beard.

You're my favorite.

See ya Later, Cuddle Time

The Beard has a myriad of skills. I've documented some of them here. Some he's acquired in the Boy Scouts. Some on his mission. Some from varied education and vocational experiences.

First he was going to be a pilot.

Then he was going to be a professor of religion or seminary teacher.

Then he was going to open a Rita's Italian Ice in St. George with his favorite mission companion. {Fun Fact: their mission president beat them to the punch and opened the first Utah Rita's in Midvale a few weeks ago! This is an old photo from when we went to the Grand Opening. Go try it. It will change your life.}

Then he was working on a history degree, planning on going to law school afterwards.

Then he did BYU's Media Music program for a while.

But none of these were his THING. 

Thankfully it wasn't that he was lazy or stupid - he's so smart and could do ANYTHING, and has tried tons of options. It was just that he honestly didn't know what to do. Did that make us feel better? NOOOOOOOO! Just kidding. It did. A little.

But now we can laugh and laugh because HE FIGURED IT OUT. The Beard's favorite thing to say is "I'm realllllllly good at the internet." And he super is. He's always been so interested in all things technology, and he's thought about doing that for a long, long time. His last two jobs have been SEO and he liked it, but knew he wanted to do something more challenging.

Finally, this last spring he came across these boot camps that teach developers how to code in Ruby (don't ask me what it is or what it does, all I know is it's a coding language that Twitter and other cool, modern websites are built with). They are intensive 3-4 month programs for 8+ hours a day, and the closest one was in San Francisco. He started preparing and we started planning for it, thinking he'd apply this fall and who knows after that. I didn't love the idea of sending my husband to San Fran for months with a bunch of computer nerds.

The DevPoint Labs Development Bootcamp just fell right into his lap. And by that I mean we'd been praying for insight and guidance and Heavenly Father answers prayers and has a plan for us. Several big companies in Utah teamed up to start a bootcamp just like the ones in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and other big cities, aimed at training developers in the new coding languages that tech companies DESPERATELY need.They have multiple companies lined up to hire people right out of this program, including Zappos. Which would mean discounted shopping for me. Obvs I'm excited about that. He's excited too - spending lots of time looking at jobs in St. George and Phoenix, practicing coding nonstop and networking with his program peeps. You can read The Beard's Student Spotlight for the program here.

I could bore you with the details of how every tiny thing fell into place - the meetings, the random connections he had in the industry, paying for the program, getting the hours off at work he needs to go to this program (afternoons/evenings until 8 pm EVERY NIGHT. Yikes.), even the people who are already lining up interviews with him for when he completes the program in December. Suffice it to say that I've never seen him more sure of and excited about anything in his life, except maybe the release of The Hobbit last winter.  This is IT, you guys.

He starts today, and I couldn't be more proud of him. He's going to work almost full time at his job, go to class until 8 each night and most of the day on Saturdays, AND deal with crazy little me on his off hours. Here comes 2.5 months of super intensity! That means a lot less of this:

So anyone who wants to be my gym/cupcake/library/Netflix/girls night buddy to fill those now husbandless hours - I'm taking applications at dholdy{at}gmail{dot}com. I won't make you cuddle with me and Glen Coco unless you want to.

I Find Your Lack Of Spirit Disturbing

It's Spirit Week here at Sunset Ridge! Not quite the same as your typical high school spirit week, but we try. When I was in high school it was like "Pajama Day!" "Crazy Hair Day!" "Cross-Dress Day!" (hard to believe we actually did that one. Ah the days before political correctedness!)

Yesterday was "Thrift Shop Day." Thanks, Macklemore. For those of you who don't know this reference, it's ok. I had to try to explain it to some of the other teachers and even then I struggled.  I didn't dress up simply because I didn't have a fur coat OR a velour jumpsuit OR a broken keyboard. Hell, I didn't even have $20 in my pocket.



Today, though, I got into it. Hero/Villain Day. It was really hard choosing between my several different Darth Vader shirts, but I decided on the "Who's Your Daddy?" one. I've also been super into the graphic tee/pencil skirt/heels trend but I don't usually wear graphic tees to school. Win/Win today. Although I have to explain to some kids that Darth Vader and whiny little Anakin are the same person. Ew.

 

Tomorrow is Nerd Day. The Beard's comment when I told him? "Oh, cool. So you'll just dress normally." Thanks, babe. To amplify my nerdiness, I'm thinking my glasses and my Harry Potter tee. Maybe a calculator watch. We'll see.

Friday is Sports Day and the Fun Run. Last year I wore one of my BYU shirts and I got MAD HECKLED by 80% of the kids. What the? That's when I really knew I wasn't in Kansas (Utah County) anymore. This year I think I'll go with a more neutral Team USA tee, because although I am a Cougar, my bleeding blue is subject to heckling/arguments/my crazy Ute cousins getting on my case.

Stuff like this makes it so fun to be a teacher. I also dress up for certain lessons - red, white and blue for election days/Constitution Study/War of 1812 (the Star Spangled Banner, duh), my tricorn hat when I gush about George Washington, Boston tee for the Boston Massacre and Tea Party, etc. I'm all about themed dressing up. Check out my Swiss milkmaid braids that I rocked for Swiss Days with my ladies! So much fun.

Am I the only person who likes to dress for events? Not even costumes, just my normal clothes. The Beard is pretty convinced that I'm crazy and he will NEVER outfit-coordinate with me. Years later, you'll find me dressing my kids to match me. I'm gonna be THAT mom. Yikes. I hate myself already.

My Douchebag Nose and Day 1/180

I made it. At least until today. Here's how the first day went:

9 pm - Get in a fight with The Beard over something stupid right before bed, the night before my first day of school because that's maturity!  #marriage

10 pm - Go to bed grumbling

11 pm - Actually put down my phone after reading every article on Buzzfeed

12 pm - 4:30 am - Have roughly 7 stress dreams about missing Mitch's call, sleeping through school, rampaging gorillas, the usual. Approximate sleep time = 1 hour.

4:30-5:30 am - Lie awake cuddling Glen Coco and trying to get the panic in my chest to subside, even like 2%

5:30 am - Elder Budge calls from the airport! We got to talk to him for almost 45 minutes until he boarded the plane and the stewardesses made everyone hang up. It was awesome. He even bore his testimony to us in Japanese!

6:30 am - Sneeze and burn my hand while curling my hair. Glen Coco licks me furiously, gravely concerned. Thanks, nose. I couldn't have done it without you.

 7:05 am - Dance my way out the door and into my silent classroom for some awkward outfit photos

Top: Victoria's Secret, Skirt: Cozy, Heels: Forever Young Shoes, Belt: F21

 

7:50 am - Bell Rings. It begins. Panic turns to adrenaline which turns to volume in my voice and snapping in my fingers.

 First Day Activity - I ask the kids for some input about the kind of class they want, they write their thoughts on stickies and put them on the board for us to talk about

2:50 pm - Bell Rings. I finally take a breath. And several ibuprofen.

3:30 pm - I stumble into my apartment, change into sweats and notice my numb toes have returned. Curse of the heels. But they're just so cute!

5:00 pm - The Beard comes home and makes me homemade pasta because he's THAT cool.

Here I am, several days later, toes still numb, burn still glaring, throat strained and still smiling. Three days down, 177 to go. :)

School is 4 Fools Look at Meeeeeeee

Not only am I going back to school, but I'm also going back to school. If you're confused, you're not alone. I don't really refer to my job as "work" but usually as "school" since I'm a teacher. So I'm going back to "work" school, but I'm also going back to "school" school.

**Also don't forget about the Back to School Giveaway! Ends today!**

I found out on Friday that I've been officially accepted and enrolled at Western Governor's University for my Masters of Education starting September 1st! It was touch and go there for a while because I definitely said

"Ok thanks! Love you byeeeee!"

at the end of my phone interview, but they were cool with it anyway. For the record, I say that to everyone on the phone when I hang up. It was not intended to be brown-nosing. Sorry, Clover.

Yeah, my admissions adviser's name is Clover. Haven't heard that one before. I like to picture a little jolly leprechaun helping me improve my future, hiding a pot of gold under her desk in a bright green cubicle.

This guy surprised me with dinner and a movie (always my favorite) to celebrate!

Ultra Quick Movie Review: The Way Way Back is worth a redbox for sure. But I hate seeing my idol - Steve Carrell - as a doosh. :(

So Wednesday I go back to "work" school for teacher meetings, a week from today all my new kids show up for the first day back, September 1st I go back to "school" school to start my Masters program and September 16 The Beard starts his web development program downtown and I'll basically never see him again until Christmas (more coming on this - he's making me be secretive).

We're loading up on string cheese, gushers, office supplies and spiral bound notebooks over here. I love back to school shopping. I think I have 4 planners now.

I don't think my blog will suffer. In fact, my blog posts will probably increase because I'll be on my computer even more and looking for stuff to distract me/procrastinate my homework with. Good news, right?

I Can't Believe I'm Defending Twilight

I recently wrote about The Beard and I fighting over music. Another argument we often have, more good-naturedly (?) than our music arguments, is about our favorite series - LOTR for The Beard and obvs Harry Potter for me. Neither of us have read the other's favorite series, but we have watched the movies several times and enjoy it.

{I DID read The Hobbit and liked it, and I've tried to read LOTR like 10x but I just can't get past Rivendell. One day. One day. And The Beard and I have listened to 1-4.5 of the HP audiobooks on drives to St. George. Compromise}

Our arguments are usually just joking - "Harry Potter has more applicable and meaningful life & moral lessons. They aren't just kids books. They are adult books that also can be for kids. You learn something new about them and YOURSELF every time you read them!!!!" vs. "LOTR is an allegory and it's just so deep and noble and blah blah" I don't really listen that closely because at that point I'm usually crying about Dobby the second I hear the word "noble."

We usually never even talk about Twilight, because why? The Beard, like all men, hates Twilight. This Oatmeal video accurately sums up his ideas.


Last night we started arguing about it, even though I don't feel that strongly about them. Did I like Twilight? Not really. I enjoyed the first book and hated each one more and more after that. Are they groundbreaking? No. Should they define our generation? Hell no. But would I stop my children from reading them? Absolutely not. And here's why.

"These books are pointless and STUPID."

Yeah, so? If kids are excited about reading something that isn't 50 Shades of Gray or Halo cheat codes, we should be psyched about that. It's not Shakespeare. But it's something. Just read.

"It is PORNOGRAPHY for WOMEN."

Really? REALLY? Is it? It encourages waiting until marriage for intimacy and its pretty low-key when intimacy is involved. Sure, it's charged and emotional. But it is NOT pornography. You know what IS pornography for women? Trashy romance novels with half naked women and shirtless men on the covers that explicitly describes sexual encounters. Shut your stupid mouth you idiot.

Which brings me to my strongest, most angry argument.

"It just gives girls unreasonable expectations!"

I'm sorry - do you think they expect handsome vampires to show up and fall in love with them? Oh you think that the RELATIONSHIP is unreasonable, I see. Which part? The part where the man respects the woman? The part where the man protects the woman? The part where the man doesn't push a physical relationship? The part where the man is unselfish and puts the woman first?

Yes, Bella is worthless. Yes, Edward's dedication, selflessness and perfection is unrealistic.

I believe that if we're going to rank fictional characters to model our ideal men after we should DEFINITELY be going for a Neville Longbottom over an Edward Cullen. 

But if there's something that attracts females to these books that they can learn from, it's certainly the idea that women should expect respect and care from a male suitor. I see so many girls - students, friends, acquaintances, randoms in a restaurant - with complete DOUCHEBAGS that treat them TERRIBLY.

If all we take away from Twilight is that love should be happy, mutual, selfless and safe - then that's a lesson plenty of women in this world need to learn.

But make sure you read all the Harry Potters first. They have better lessons. And I hear LOTR has some good lessons too. :)

My Happiness Project: Week Three

You guys this might be my best week yet. I'm fitter, more energetic, making some good life plans and feeding my brain. Don't let my tweets about watching tons of episodes of cheesy teen dramas let you think I just sat on the couch last week. I freaking got shiz done.

Physical

- Exercise every day and push myself.
-- It was hard some days to drag myself off the couch when I had a sleeping puppy in my lap, but I worked out every day but Sunday. Zombies! Run, gym rat lifting, Kickboxing classes, jogging in the park with Glen Coco and yoga - I'm feeling good. You seriously never regret a workout. There's something about that sweaty, weak, tingly feeling after a tough workout. You want two things

1. A high-five or pat on that sweaty back
2. A ton of carbs

- Sleep 8 hours
-- Since May I haven't slept well. I've been staying up late, tossing and turning all night, and getting up early. Even in Hawaii the jet lag had me sleeping so weird, then I came home to crazy packing, 5k training, Mitch's Farewell, Boston, moving and settling in. I tried hard to go to bed at a reasonable hour, do my meditation/breathing exercises before bed and hit at least 8 hours a night.

- Eat Right. I really do feel like a million percent better when I eat tons of fruits and veggies and kick the sugar.
-- There was a huge batch of my homemade chocolate chip cookies on the counter all week. I'll have you know I only ate like 2 of them and didn't eat a thousand calories worth of bread. And I ate like 8 bags of Steamables veggies. Straight up nutrition over here. 

Learn

- Apply for Grad School.
-- I did it. I applied. It still makes me a little sick to my stomach to think that I will have homework again. But if I get in, I'll be able to get a Master's in under 2 years. Then I can make slightly more than nothing as a teacher.

- Learn more about dog training
-- We never got Glen Coco as socialized as he should have been. He LOVES people, especially little kids, but he gets really nervous around people/places/things he isn't familiar with. And as The Beard puts it "He's a barky little doosh." I checked out a few books from the library and read up about it. We're trying a few new techniques and he's already less barky and more calm! It's like I always say - the library can fix anything.

- Figure out Education Plans with The Beard
-- This one is still in the works, so hopefully I'll have some good news to share in the next couple of weeks, but we made some huge progress this week. The Beard went to some meetings and found some really cool programs that we're interested in. We're getting all kinds of grown up over here.

This week I'm tackling Finances and Spirituality -Already hitting it hard with my 30 day BOM schedule! Join me if you like! :)

My Happiness Project: Overview
My Happiness Project: Week One
My Happiness Project: Week Two

2 Years and Code Red

Two Years!!! It's like a marriage mission. How quickly went by gives me hope that the next two (while Mitch is gone) will go by just as quickly!

 

Yesterday we were at the Holdaway's for Sunday dinner and envelope stuffing (3 weeks until Haley & Chris tie the knot!), and we got talking about when The Beard and I were pre-dating.

Pre-dating: adj. stage of romantic interest, basically dating, often unofficial or secret.

The Beard was very secretive about me and I was in Wales at the time, so no one knew about me except a few of his closest friends. The night his family found out about me contains one of the best Ryan/Danica stories of all time. So the Beard went through his email and found the email he sent me that night to give me a good laugh - enjoy!

=====

Remember how I mentioned that the family found out you exist last
night? {We were talking on gchat when Haley came down to get him for dinner} I'll recap how this went down:

Haley: so who was that on the phone?
Ryan: don't know what you're talking about.
Haley: yes you do. That girl. Who was that girl.
Ryan: you're crazy. There was no girl. Please pass the lemonade.


......


Mom: so Ryan. Seriously. Lets talk about your dating life. Obviously
you don't have a girlfriend. Are you dating? Is there any girls in
your life? What's up?

Haley: well he was on the phone with a girl earlier and won't tell me
anything about it

Mom: who was it? Fess up!

Ryan: well... Actually... There kind of is someone. But she's in the
UK right now.

Mom: wait. Manchester, England?

Ryan: Near there. Yes.

Dad: oh my hell. We aren't going down THAT road again are we. {Reference to a crazy ex-girlfriend serving her mission in Manchester at the time}

Mom: she's not a Ginger is she?

Ryan: nope. She's a blonde.

Mom: she's not high maintenance is she?

Ryan: nope. She's cool. All my frens really like here

Haley: uh oh. CB?

Mom. What's CB?

Ryan: actually no. They've been cool
About it. And don't worry about it.

Mom. What's her name? Where does
She work? Does she want lots of grandbabies?

Ryan: this conversation is over.

So. Then tonight I was sitting in the living room facetiming with Tom
and the whole fam walked in. Tom and I had been talking about how Todd
has a girlfriend now and Tom said "you TOTALLY need to date Danica
this fall so we can go on triple dates broooo!" (we may or may not
have talked about you a few minutes earlier). Anywho at that point my
mom walks around the corner and says "Oh. Are we talking about Danica
Anne Budge? She went to Stonehenge. She has a blog. She went to the
pride and prejudice house and acted out the wedding scene!..."

Needless to say I hung up on Tom and. Freaked. Out.

Just so you know. My mom has now facebook stalked you extensively and
may or may not try to contact you. I apologize in advance.

PS. That profile pic of you at Stonehenge was a dead giveaway.

=========

Pretty good right?  Hard to top that. That was 3 years ago. When I got home a few weeks later, we started officially dating. I finally met Kitty (my mother-in-law) and the whole gang in November. We were engaged in May, married in July and here we are 2 years later. Our marriage is continually improving and we still love sitting on the couch and watching Netflix for hours and making fun of people on the internet together.

Here's to many more. :)

My Happiness Project: Week Two

This week started off a little slow. Netflix was set up, all the life necessities were unpacked, The Beard was at work all day and Glen Coco was being EXTRA cuddly (he's still a little unsure about living in a new unfamiliar place). Therefore we spent quite a bit of time on the couch and at the pool. Still, I managed to work on my two goals for this week - Mindfulness and FUN.

Fun

- Go outside EVERY DAY. This sounds so pathetic, but there really are days when I don't go outside. It happened a lot last summer. Life is just better when you spend some time outside. (I refuse to say NATURE because then that means my concrete walk to the pool doesn't count.)
-- I did it! I walked Glen, went to the pool, read outside and I went to Bear Lake and spent TONS of time outside. You just feel good. You feel like you did something, even if it was a 2 minute walk. If you do one thing, do this, you guys.

- Choose to DO over NOT DO. On both Tuesday and Wednesday we had plans to hunker down and work on some research stuff at home. Both afternoons we got invited to do things - Tuesday we went to the Owlz game and to Buffalo Wild Wings with Chris & Haley, Wednesday we saw Despicable Me 2 and went to Iggy's with the Holdaways.
-- We DID! Both were late nights where we didn't accomplish what we'd planned for that night. Did we regret it? Absolutely not. It was replenishing and FUN.

-Do new things. Break out. I love sitting on the couch and watching The Office for 6 hours, but am I learning anything new or having FUN? No.
-- This meant going to the family reunion with my parents even though The Beard had to work, I hate camping, I'm not a lake person, and I'm not super tight with my dad's side of the family. But you know what? I had an amazing time! I learned to ride a jet ski with my 70+ year old grandma! I played with the cute babies and told ghost stories with the young girls. I came home exhausted and smelling of smoke but so refreshed and energized. I've got a pretty awesome family.

Mindfulness

- I read The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. He's a Buddhist monk and he stresses the idea of mindfulness, or being mentally present. Basically, he says you shouldn't wash the dishes just to get the dishes clean and move on with your life. You should wash the dishes to WASH THE DISHES. Whatever you are doing at any given moment should be the most important thing in your life. Otherwise, if you're always thinking about what you SHOULD or RATHER be doing, you will never have real happiness from life and you'll always feel like you don't have time.
-- Again, my multi-task-y-ness is a problem here. It's about being mentally quieter. I tried to think about things as I was doing them - applying mascara, playing with Glen, walking to and from the pool, driving to Bear Lake with my parents and just t
alking with them instead of trying to read, listen to music, nap or make to-do lists. I found much more pleasure in those things and, as they always say, I think I did them BETTER than if I'd multitasked.

- Journaling. Latter-day Saints are all about journaling, but I've never been that consistent with it. And when I do, I only write positive things or notes from scripture study. But being mindful means thinking about your day, good and bad, and remembering it.
-- I'm sucking. I wrote like once this week. But I have motivated myself by keeping my journal on the coffee table so I remember to write while I'm watching my bedtime 6 Office episodes. I also promised myself that as soon as I finish this almost-full moleskin journal I can go get a really pretty new fancy journal. The kind with the fuzzy cover and a tiny lock and key. (jk... kind of)

- Meditation. I've only ever done this in yoga, and even then not specifically. The goal is to achieve real mental "rest" by accepting all thoughts and feelings and quieting the mind in peace.
-- I have yet to exercise the patience to do it for the recommended one hour a day. But I am trying to do it for at least 15 minutes each day. A couple mornings I did it when I woke up - I shook my muscles out, tied my hair up and propped myself in the lotus position while acknowledging each thought, feeling, idea and then releasing it. I was amazed to find how much PEACE I felt. Even if I had to go clean up all the fuzz Glen ripped out of his hedgehog toy while I was all zen.

 

Look at this guy. I'm in love with him. 

 

It's going pretty good, guys! I really feel happier and like I'm doing more with my life. The mindfulness stuff is kind of weird, but the fun part has been... well, fun. :) Tune in next week to hear how I do with my physical and learning goals this week! Wish me luck!

My Happiness Project: Overview
My Happiness Project: Week One

How Sirius XM Saved Our Marriage

Marriage is Compromise. Words we all say and nod emphatically to, until we are actually faced with it. Compromise. The dirty word. Because no one REALLY wants to compromise.

Music is something that I thought The Beard and I agreed on while we were dating. We had Journey, Jay-Z and BSB singalongs in the car, and he'd give me approving nods & grins when my ipod shuffled to Reel Big Fish or Arcade Fire.

Once we got married, we spent a lot more time driving around in the car. It quickly became apparent that the common ground we thought we had in the musical arena was skinnier than we thought. The Beard only wanted to listen to country and sad hipster crap folk music. I wanted to listen to a wide variety of pop, alt rock and techno - aka "GARBAGE" to The Beard.

We had legitimate fights over Bob Dylan and Lady Gaga. Like real, hurt feelings fights. Do I think that Lady Gaga is a musical genius and her art is the voice of our generation? Absolutely not. She's a crazy person and terribly autotuned.  Do I reserve the right to listen to her when I want to get all pumped up and crunk for the party I'm headed to? YESSSSSSSSS. I super do.

On the other hand, do I absolutely HAVE to listen to raspy, untalented alcoholic white men cry-sing breakup lyrics over metallic-y acoustic guitar like some emo hipster in high waisted cords and vintage floral grandma sweaters? Please, no. PLEASENOOOOO.

It was a dark time in Holdaway History. Enter Sirius XM.

We no longer argue Joshua James v. Jessie J.

We listen to 80s on 8 and The Beard turns into Prince reincarnate.

We listen to 90s on 9 and do all the moves to "Bye, Bye, Bye." You guys still know them too.



We hold hands and skip into the sunset because we never have to fight over music again.

We got 99 problems but our tunes ain't one.

How to Dress to Avoid a Nursery Calling and Q&A

It was our first Sunday in our new ward - or so we thought. I was excited. I got all dressed up - my game plan being that they would think (accurately) that I was vain and pretentious and a terrible choice for Nursery. Yet, the second we sat down, a member of the bishopric beelines over to us and after hearing where we live says abruptly "Oh this is the wrong ward." Okkkkkkkk. Well I successfully dodged nursery for at least one week, right?

So enough about avoiding divinely inspired callings. My cute friend Dany tagged me in a Q&A, which I always love. I can blog without having to think too hard about it. Check out her blog for cute stories and great beauty posts.

/favorite song off the top of your head, and provide a link if you can!

Right now... probably Second Chance by Peter Bjorn and John. It was a great packing/moving/driving song and I've listened to it probably 1000x in the last 2 weeks. Don't let the weirdo music video turn you off. Close your eyes if you have to.

. 

/who do you look up to most, and why?

I actually look DOWN to this person, in more ways than one. She is younger and shorter than me, but my sister-in-law Haley is already as good a person as I can hope to become. She's so warm and kind - people just love her. She's is such a good person and her testimony is so visible in the way she lives her life. She's responsible and mature, way better with kids and old people than I am. She is so beautiful and fun, which is why everyone, girls and boys alike just want to be around her. I want to copy her optimism, charity and general attitude. Lucky for us, she's engaged to a guy we love and we get to double with them weekly now. :)

//if you could change one thing that has happened to you, what would it be & why?

Happened to me - meaning I had no control? Most of what I regret is stupid decisions I've made, but I'd say probably getting the job in Mapleton. They gave the job to the intern who had taught that grade level all year - which makes sense. I just think sometimes about if I'd been given that job and we'd had another year in Mapleton to take it easy, have easy jobs, save money and figure life out. 

//what is your favorite memory?

This doesn't sound all that special, but I love it because it's when we both kind of started to realize we loved each other. A few weeks after The Beard and I started "officially" dating (but really we were still just hanging out), he turned to me one night when we were hanging on the couch watching The Office no doubt, and said "Ok. I'm taking you on a real date Friday night. Wear something nice." I think I smiled every second until he came to pick me up that Friday night. He's put on a nice shirt and his "fancy" jeans and HE HAD EVEN SHAVED HIS SCRUFF (this is pre-full-always-beard days) OMG. He took me to our favorite little Italian place - La Dolce Vita in Provo, then to see Easy A. We ended the night just laughing and talking until way past Honor Code hours. I'm pretty sure I smiled for about a week afterwards.

//spillllll - what's your guilty pleasure?

Crunching Wint-O-Green Mints. Again, Dany knows about this one. I used to go through literally a hundred a day. I'm falling back into it again lately. I smell minty and delicious all the time, but my jaw is aching. 

//any beauty secrets that you're currently loving?

It's way too hot to wear melty, thick makeup, so my thing lately has been a super light layer of moisturizer and a very light dusting of loose powder foundation. Streak free, Holmes!!!

//most embarrassing moment

Oh easy. Dany was even there for this one. The National Anthem Incident of 2008. The girl who was supposed to sing it didn't show up, so my coach asked me to sing it. Don't know why. I said, "Sure, why not?!!" because I was the team clown/goofy/attention hungry probably. I forgot the words approximately 2 seconds in, due to the pterodactyls in my stomach. So I did what any rational, self-possessed teenager would do - lower your volume and mumble until you remember it. Classic way to honor our Beautiful America. I'm sorry Uncle Sam. 

//favorite thing about YOURself - gloat as you may, we love you no matter what!

I hope I have a good sense of humor and a quick wit. I really like being funny. That means more to me than anything else. That's what I really want to be described as when people say "What's Danica like?" "Funny." But not "Funny LOOKING." Gotcha Dad. We all know you were thinking it. 

 

The Beard Tells All

Hey All! I'm having a wild time at Plymouth Rock today, pilgrim-style. The Beard is still a little mad that I got to go to Fenway last night without him, but he's got some good news for y'all. He's posting today!

I saw this link-up on my friends blog and thought - "Man. My husband is way more interesting and funnier than any other blogger husbands in the history of ever, so this could be fun." When I asked, I suspected the exasperated "Noooooooooooooo" like when I ask him to take outfit photos, but he actually responded with an enthusiastic "Ok." Pretty good, right? So here goes. Now you can all see why I like him so much. (I set up this post and he wrote it after I left... therefore I take no responsibility for the following)

1. Does your wife use your real name or a nickname on her blog?

    On the blog I'm known as "The Beard." Which is fine with me. I have a beard, and beards are awesome. So I'm cool with it. Plus, it gives me leverage when she's trying to talk me into shaving it. 

D: "Pllleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassseeeeeeeeeee shave the beard!"

Beard: "Sorry babe. Can't do it. It would confuse all of your blog followers. I can't be "The husband formerly known as 'The Beard.' That would be CRAZY!"

2. If you had a blog, what would the title be?

    I used to have a blog. It was called Breakfast with Cheerios after the name of the Morning Radio show I used to host on KOHS 91.7 FM. I've been thinking of starting a new one where I could write about baseball. I'm considering calling it Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Beards for Days or Left in our Field, Right in our Hearts: The Manny Ramirez chronicles. The biggest thing holding me back is that I am unapologetic homer and would write about nothing but how awesome Pedro used to be, how awesome Pedroia is right now, and how bad I hate every Yankee, ever. I'm not sure anyone wants to read that but me...

3. Do you ever feel ignored by her because of the blog?

    More so when she is reading blogs than when she is writing her own. But we have a good system worked out. If she is blogging then I get to watch baseball. Seriously, my MLB.com subscription is the best thing that ever happened to us. Sometimes she even pretends to be interested when I tell her every player's life story. 

4. How has her blog changed or evolved throughout your relationship?

     I think she created it when she went to Wales, so every post was "Me and a bunch of girls made a pyramid in front of some historic landmark." Now its pretty much "Take a picture of me wearing this new maxi dress so I can post it on my bloooooooooooog." 

5. What is your favorite post on her blog?

    I like the ones about me. I think we can all agree that those are the most interesting. Also, I'm not sure how many of you know this, but Sometimes, Always, Never was 100% my idea. I was even going to write a post for BYU Style about T-Shirt Necklines with that title but never got around to it. But I really think my favorite post was this one. 

I Think I'll Go To Boston

I am en route to Boston for a weeklong Field Study! We're going to Boston, Plymouth Rock, Lexington & Concord, Mystic CT, West Point, Morristown, Philadelphia and Valley Forge. Just a bunch of history teachers, getting our nerd on.

Follow along with me on Instagram (@dholdy) for some hopefully awesome and patriotic pics. 

There are a few good things in the works for this week while I'm away, though - some belated outfit photos from Hawaii today and possibly a guest post from the Beard! The famous Beard!

Anyways, we took these outfit photos when we were waiting for a table in Hawaii, and I forgot about them until now.

Dress: Cotton On, Chambray: F21, Sandals: Forever Young, Headband: F21, Purse: Steve Madden

This was pretty much what I wore every day. Some form of maxi dress/skirt, sandals and a sub-10 second hairstyle.

As far as makeup goes, all I wore was my new Supergoop CC cream with SPF (obviously) and mascara. Maybe some creme blush for dinner.

That's my kind of vacation - no hair, no makeup, no pants and plenty of aloe vera. My back looks like leprosy. TMI. Sorry.

Liebster Award! + 11 Random Danica Facts

My sweet friend Tayler from my study abroad/teaching tagged me in the Liebster Award. Like a year ago and I'm finally getting around to it. Thanks/sorry Tayler!

"Liebster" means dearest in German, and it's awarded, blogger to blogger, to up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers.  The rules for accepting and giving the award are pretty simple.  Once you accept the award, you just have to do the following in a blog entry:

Answer the 11 questions posted by the nominator on her blog

Give 11 facts about yourself

Nominate 5-11 other new, up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers

Make up 11 more questions to pass on to the bloggers you choose to nominate

Thank your nominator by linking back to her blog

Upon your post going live, contact your nominees about your nomination for them

1) What made you start blogging?

I had to create my blog for my Instructional Technology class at BYU, and kept it because I was going to Wales that summer and wanted to share my pics/adventures with family and friends at home. I'm so glad I did because I go back and re-read those posts all the time for fun!

2) What is your blogging dream?

Blogging dream.... I'm not sure.  I like fashion blogging, but I'm not really aiming to BE a fashion blogger. I like new readers but I'm not really trying too hard to get new readers. What I really love my blog for is writing - I love to write and I think it's a strength of mine.  I guess I'd just really love to be able to reach a lot of people (What constitutes "a lot"? 300? 500? 1000? Idk) and have people laugh and enjoy it. I'd even like to land a writing job with my blog. 

3) What is your dream job, and do you have it/are you working toward it? 

As listed above - writing. Particularly about Utah culture/trends/observation/fashion. I would also quit my job on the spot to become a personal shopper or stylist. Need a new change? Take me shopping with you for a day and let me take you to all the stores and choose stuff for you. PLEASE. I want to. So bad. 

4) What are you a junkie of?

The Office. Diet Coke. Popcorn. Pinterest. 

5) Since I'm a teacher, what was your favorite subject in school? Why?

English or History depending on the year. Figures right? I love reading, writing and learning about other people. 

6) What is your favorite book? Why?

Obviously Harry Potter (all of them). But I think that kind of can't count because they are everyone's favorites. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is probably my other favorite. I love P&P like any woman, but the zombie addition is literally the greatest, most Danica combination that exists, ever.

7) Name a country you want to visit from every continent.

North/Central America - Mexico
South America - Brazil
Europe - Italy
Asia - Japan, since my baby bro will be in Fukuoka for 2 years!!
Australia - duh. 
Africa - Morocco
Antarctica - I'd rather not.  

 8) What are all the languages you speak (real or fake, fluent or not)

I took 4 years of Spanish. Loved it. Don't remember much.

9) What is the most annoying thing people do?

Just a few weeks ago my students had to turn in their final projects, and I had some CRAZY freaking moms defending their children for cheating and doing their projects for them. So I think I'd have to say coddling and ignoring children. They need you so bad parents! They need you to be good examples. They need you to let them grow and learn from their own mistakes. But they also need you to step in and correct their behavior when it is bad. The most annoying thing people do is act selfishly as parents.

10) What are three interesting things in your house?

Baby Buddha - The Beard and Glen hate it. They both bark at it routinely. 

Storm Trooper Steve - My Valentine's Day present

Apollo  - Blog post to explain this is forthcoming.  

11) What is your favorite post that you've done in the past year?

Probably my post about Finals. Or my post about the high school teacher who lied to the whole school about my brother having an ecstasy party. Both super snarky and angry. I guess that's kind of my thing.

And now.... 11 facts about me:

1. I love sports and played soccer/softball/basketball pretty much always, but I'm really a girly girl. I love makeup. Birchbox is my new favorite thing - each month they send you a bunch of beauty product samples and it's like a mini-Christmas. I love it so much I signed up for the makeup counterpart Ipsy and I'm waiting for my first box now!

2. I've got zombies on the brain especially now because I am signed up to run the Zombie Chase 5k in Eureka on Saturday! The Zombies Run! app is how I'm training. :)

3. The Beard says everyone has their "gospel hobby" where they feel comfortable in the church. Mine is the scriptures.

4. I'm a side sleeper.

5. Glen is also a side sleeper and he likes for me to be the little spoon so he can be the big spoon. We cuddle all night. You're dying of the cuteness right now, aren't you?

6. Everyone thinks because I play sports I must be outdoors-y. I hate camping.

7. I forget about my blog for weeks at a time. Like I literally don't think about it.

8. I'm a really happy person, generally. My moods don't swing too much. But when I finally allow myself to be really sad about things, I spend way too many hours in bed with the Office and I wallow. I'm a wallower.

9. I'm a Pinterest whore. And I mean that in a good way. I actually use all of my boards on Pinterest, believe it or not. And I have several categories. Check it out. Be impressed.

10. I almost died when I was born. The doctors told my mom I was probably going to be slow. It's also why my eye does the crazy things it does beyond my control.

11. I used to tell people my name was Vanessa when I was little because I thought my name was weird and Vanessa was a pretty name for pretty little brunette girls. Grass is always greener, right?

Ok so here are my friends that I've tagged.

Eliesa from BE Here and There (to get her back into blogging - we've all been waiting patiently!)
Katie from Silver Linings. She's a big fancy NY girl now.
Katie from These are the Days - gym buddy and puppy mama like me.
Nichole from The Keeles - a fellow Office lover and blog friend that I've never met. Let's fix that.
Karlie from The Mitchell Family - soon to be mama of twins!

Alright ladies. Answer these questions or else.

1. Who is your favorite Office character?
2. What are you the most proud of in your life?
3. What books should all of us be reading at the pool this summer?
4. What beauty product can you not live without?
5. Where is your favorite secret place to shop (physical or online store)?
6. What is your best piece of marriage advice?
7. When you are stressed and just want to fast forward life to happier times, what do you do?
8. What is your favorite blog that you HAVE to read every day?
9. I finally have an iPhone. What are your favorite apps that I should go for?
10. What is your favorite workout to get in shape?
11. Favorite obscure YouTube videos... Go!

Sometimes, Always, Never - Vegas the Mormon Way

I remember my first trip to Las Vegas - The lights! The color! The boobs! As a 6 year old I was particularly impressed with the enormous castle - Excalibur.

Even better I remember my single ladies trip to Las Vegas with my bestie Katie, who had never been.

"There is PORNOGRAPHY LINING THE STREETS!"


As a Mormon, Vegas can be a scary place with the boobs, butts and general grossness.  You can't go to clubs, you can't drink, you can't gamble, why even go? I'll tell you how and why YOU can do a Mormon Vegas Vacation.


The Beard and I decided to use an expiring voucher we had for 2 free nights at a Vegas hotel over Spring Break. We haven't been on a trip just the two of us since we've been married (over a year and a half! Thanks a lot Larry H Miller. We don't miss you), so we leaped at the chance.

My parents graciously agreed to watch Glen Coco, although after he marked EVERY territory in their house I doubt they'll have him back. And we were off! (Listening to Harry Potter audiobooks, obvs.)

This is how he likes to ride in the car - wedged between Ryan and the backrest

My Travel/Vacation uniform - black skinnies (Old Navy), gray v-neck (Gap), chambray top (F21), tortoise sunnies (Cotton On) and flipflops (Pac Sun)

Without further ado, here is my Sometimes-Always-Never for a Mormon trip to Las Vegas!

Sometimes

• Try out a piano bar! We went to Napoleon's in the Parisian and saw the dueling piano act. It's free, although they expect you to get drinks. A $3 can of Diet Coke was a bit ridiculous, but the dueling pianos were pretty awesome. They even take requests! Be prepared for a lot of Neil Diamond and people getting stupid drunk
• Walk through hotels/casinos. Even if you don't gamble or aren't staying there, those hotels are amazing! My favorites are the Parisian, New York New York, Caeser's Palace and now the Cosmopolitan! It's new and incredible.
• See a show, but make sure you read some reviews. I've always wanted to see a Cirque show, but I've heard a few of them can be a little racy. Many of the shows in Vegas are, so be selective. 
• Check out the LDS Temple! We didn't have time to drive out to it when we were there and I really wished we could have gone! Next time. :)

 Always

• Walk the Strip. There is no better people watching in the entire world. Pick a small section or marathon through the whole thing. Just walking with no real destination is hilarious, because you'll see yahoos like Bumblebee just chillin'. 

• While you're at it, see the free shows! The Bellagio Fountains, Atlantis inside Caeser's Palace and the pirate show outside Treasure Island.
• Also while you're at it, get some of the limitless candy at the Sugar Factory. That's all I should need to say. 

•  Plan for and try a fancy restaurant. The Beard saw Hash House a Go Go on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (one of our faves) and fell immediately in love with their enormous Chicken n' Waffles, Meatloaf sandwich and more. He's wanted to go ever since, so we planned it into our trip and budget. It made it way more fun than just grabbing a quick, cheap bite somewhere, because we looked forward to it and it was AMAZING. Really. 

• Wear something edgier than you can wear at home because - duh- its Vegas! I went with leather leggings and a skull tee since I can't ever wear those to school. Well, and maintain some degree of respect. :)

It was late. That's my only excuse for this washed out face. 

Did I do my hair at all this trip? It's a vacation. No. 

• Plan for everything to be overpriced. Vegas is where you go to splurge, not save. If you are budgeting, bring your own snacks and drinks for the hotel room.

Never

• Wear heels on the Strip, or when you have no idea what your night will be like. I even wore my trusty, comfy wedges, and I've worn flat boots before, and my dogs were barking before the night was up. 
• Take or look at the fliers and pamphlets being waved in your face. Trust me. Just pretend they don't exist.
• Get a smoking room. Vegas smoking rooms are worse than smoking rooms anywhere else. It's like secondhand-smoke nation up there.
• Stay on the Strip past 1 am. That's when the funny to crazy ratio on the Strip gets really scary.