Photo Stream

I'm going to make this a photo post by going through my photo stream from my phone and sharing my last week with you.

I totally copied a friend and re-purposed an old candle jar.  I used {hot-hot} water to remove the wax, then I mixed a color, painted the inside, and sealed it with Mod Podge.  I am using it for cotton balls.  Thanks for the idea!

Friday, Mike left for his TKE Alumni ice fishing trip...what's a girl to do?  Have a party!  I had a bunch of girls over and we nerdily had a potluck.  Which was AWESOME!  We also painted our nails, enjoyed some wine and drinks and had a fabulous time chatting, gossiping, and story telling.  It was such a great time and I hope we can do it again soon.  THANK YOU to all the lovely ladies that joined me on Saturday! The only picture I got (naughty me, I know) is of the girls giving Lola her dinner.

Sunday morning I got the most fantastic surprise EVER as I was watching The Lorax (super cute movie) in bed.  I got to FaceTime with my "niece" for the first time and she is amazing!  Just two months of perfect cuteness!

I had Monday off (bank holiday) and got to have a Skype date with my friend from high school.  I got to meet her son and husband for the first time!  We had a nice chat and it was fantastic to catch up.  So glad that she is back in my life after all of these years.  

Needless to say, I've got my baby fix for a while! 

 

I am so lucky to have such great people in my life and I hope I do a good job of letting them all know that.  I am really trying to keep my friends close and family closer.  I appreciate everything you all do for me and know that I am ALWAYS, always, always here for you.

 

Happiness in Norway

According to the Legatum Institute in London, Norway is the happiest country in the world.  In their annual Properity study, they consider a massive amount of factors and group them into categories such as safety, education, opportunity, etc.  Scandinavia is kicking ass, with Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland all in the top 10.  Sweet!  Sadly, the United States fell out of ranking and ended up in 12th place this year.  How depressing is that?  It's depressing that we're depressed. 

Here is the quickie Yahoo! article about the study.  This is totally a "grass is greener" moment, but why is Europe so COOL?!  I think of my time spent in Europe constantly and I am often jealous of all the stuff my friends over there get to accomplish.  They are much more free-spirited and can hop on a $20 flight to any country they want to in Europe.  Ugh...for us we have to save forever to get the $1200 flight across the pond.  Boooooo!  BUT...if there is something you want to do that will make you happy, do it. 

Relaxing on Grosholmen Island, Norway.  Happiness.

Happiness is what you make it.  If you're not happy with your life, then change it.  It's human nature to think other people have things better, but you can only be happy if you make yourself.
There's that saying that goes something like :  You won't regret the things you did but the things you didn't do.  I totally agree with that.  I truly live my life with no regrets (even the really shitty things that I have done to myself or others).  I learn from everything I do and to me, that is worth the experience.  Try new things, dig yourself out of your rut, and make yourself HAPPY.

 

I am happy.  Because I want to be.  What makes me happy?  My bunny.  My family.  Mike.  Friends.  Those are given, but I make sure to let all of them know I love them, spoil them, and spend time with them. The not so obvious... Fuzzy socks.  Chocolate.  Shiny jewelry.  Taking risks.  Clearance buys.  Travelling.  Trying new foods.  Feathers.  The zoo.  Sunshine.  Nifty lampshades.  Color crayons.  Music.  Hoodies.  Watching movies in bed.  Babies.  Photography.  Kindness.  The unexpected.  And lots of other stuff.  

Find happiness in the small things and make sure the big things realize they make you happy.  

Marriage...When it's Time!

Being that my blog is "Being Mrs. Olson", I will assume that you want to know exactly how I feel about marriage.  Hah!  I'm just kidding, but I am going to write about it anyway because it is something I've been chatting with friends about a lot lately.

I am married.  I love it.  And I want everyone to have it.  But SLOW.  DOWN.  PEOPLE!

You hear constantly about people getting engaged, getting married, especially if you are from a small town like me.  Sometimes I feel like people think they are getting "left behind" and rush into things.  There is NO REASON to rush into marriage!  These days, marriage is taken as something that can come and go.  Not for me.  I truly believe that people should only take the step if they know 100% that they are ready.  Forever.

No looking back, no "what if's", no re-dos.

I can honestly say I had no doubts about marrying Mike.  I had several people tell me "I can't believe you're not nervous" and "You're so calm".  Uh, duh!  Why wouldn't you be?!

People should know everything there is to know about someone before they decide to get married.  I don't believe in getting married and learning along the way.  I am really put off by people who get engaged after a few months/married within a year/rush into things.  *My opinion, obviously* but that is the point of this particular post.  How can you POSSIBLY know after a few months that you are going to be with that person for the rest of your life?  You can't.  You can think you know, but you don't.  Don't kid yourself.

I consider the ways I changed in the 4 years before Mike and I got engaged, all of the things that we went through.  We actually looked at rings a year before we got engaged and both knew that we needed more time.  Granted, SOME people meet and get married in 2 months and are married forever.  Those people got lucky, realllly lucky.  Generally, that is not the case and people should really, really get to know each other in every single way before a wedding is involved.

Not that marriage doesn't have its ups and downs, but couples should learn how they work together, how they solve problems, how they fight, etc, before entering in to a marriage.

Exhibit A:  I ran into a friend at Christmas who was recently married.  We asked her to come out with us and she said she couldn't.  She didn't want to tempt herself.  Or upset her husband.  UM, HELLO!  You probably shouldn't be married then.  Let's be real.  Side note: they didn't date very long before they got engaged.

Exhibit B:  One of my ex-best-friends (we'll get into that another time) met a guy, got engaged, and bought a wedding dress...all before 6 months.  TELL ME THAT'S NOT INSANE.  Come on.  That's just all around poor decision making.  Have fun after the honeymoon stage of that relationship, suckers.

I laugh at people's stupid decisions.  I know that's awful.  But seriously, people.

I hope that all of my married friends are truly happy, all of my dating friends wait until they are truly ready, and all my single friends enjoy the ride until they meet The One.

Weekends Abound

Wow.  What a fun week/end!

I had a lot going on this week, but luckily it was fun stuff.  First of all, I would like to say YESSSS to the fact that television shows are past their winter break and are starting up again :)  The Bachelor, and yes...I'm a sucker for the ABC Family shows, specifically Pretty Little Liars (ridiculous, Natalie...I know).  Work has been so painfully slow this week, and probably this coming week that I have been killing time reading, looking for jobs, and playing games on my phone.  As for the jobs, my contract is up in April and so I'm on the hunt...if you know of anything, send it my way!

Thursday we had an LDS (sorority) happy hour.  It was myself, Reba, and Madison (who we haven't seen in a long time) at a tap house.  It had DELISH beer cheese soup, I'm going back for more soon!  It was nice to have a smaller group and get to really catch up with each other.  Thanks for coming ladies!

Friday we had a surprise going away party for one of my best friends, Katie.  She is leaving TOMORROW (ohmygod I just processed that) to go serve with the NCCC division of Americorps.  Check out the gist of her commitment here and you can also keep up with her new blog if you'd like to here.  First, we visited the famous Kramarczuk's Deli for a quick dinner.  It is eastern European food, smells delicious, and was equally as tasty.  I had a pot-pie type thing and a Varenyky (perogie) and Mike had goulash stew.  It was fun to try something new :)  I would definitely recommend it, and we had leftovers, too!

 Anywho, my friend Anna invited Katie over to "play video games with the boys", and even though Katie showed up late (we all knew she would, love you Katie!) she was TOTALLY SURPRISED!!  We had a small, fun group, got to meet some more of Katie's college friends, chatted, ate some treats courtesy of Anna and gave Katie a hopefully memorable sendoff.  I am dying thinking that I might not see Katie for 10 months, but I know this is truly the best path for her right now and I am so proud of her for taking the risk and doing what she feels compelled to do.  I love you, Katie!!

Saturday morning I was up at the crack of dawn...okay, it was 8:00, but I freaking love sleeping and I'm going to pretend it was the crack of dawn.  What gets me up that early on a Saturday?  Time with FRIENDS!  Sorority sisters, to be exact.  We met for coffee in Eagan and 4 hours later we decided it was probably time to continue on with our days.  I'm sure the workers thought we were long lost family or something!  It was great to see these ladies in a small, cozy environment and really catch up and get to know each other more  :)

The rest of Saturday I kind of felt like poo but managed to do a "project" I've been wanting to do.  I bound together all of our wedding cards so that we will always have them organized and can go back and see the special notes from our family and friends.  I swiped a two-hole-punch from work, which worked like a charm and got the silver rings at Michael's for about $1.50 for a pack of two. Totally worth and I'm glad we'll always have this.  

Saturday night, although I felt crappy, we went to check out the Ice Castles at the Mall of America.  I had a Groupon for it, and our next weekends are busy, so we sort of had to do it.  First of all, it was 10 degrees and cold as crap even though I had my leg warmers from Norway and my bomber hat on.  Curse you, MINNESOTA!!!  Secondly, do not waste your money!!  It is such a rip-off and reallllyyy not that cool at all.  

This is all you need to see:

Freaking COLD!

Today, we continued our tradition of listening to records on Sunday mornings.  I really hope this is something we will do with our kids some day.  It is relaxing and gives us some "us time" to be together and truly enjoy the times we have.  We have our player set up in the loft so it can be heard all over our house.  I got a bit antsy and made Mike hang up two new frames my mom got me for Christmas.  Have I mentioned I love our loft??

There you have it.  Another week filled with amazing friends, making memories, and even some relaxing.  

Take time to make time, my friends.  It is precious and you should most definitely be spending it with 

people you love.  

So long, 2012!

I've been reading about a lot of people's years and of course, I'm going to join in.  I grew a lot as a person this past year.  I have become a more positive person.  I have become a happier person.  I have made the decision to let go of the negative people in my life (and let THEM deal with it).  I have become more dedicated to my family.  I have made an effort to be with my friends and make better friendships.

Love.  Friends.  Family.  

It's what's important and I'm not going to question it or make it difficult.  I'm just making choices to better all of these parts of my life.

So what has brought me to this place?  A good year!  Most importantly, I married my best friend!!  After over 4 years, we tied the knot!  And 3 months later, my brother married his lady Christine at a Vineyard in Colorado.  My poor mother, haha!  These are my most memorable moments of the year, but of course, there's much more.

Mike and I traveled to Mexico and Costa Rica this year.  We were a bit worn out from traveling but are heading to Mexico again in another 3 weeks, wahoo!  Along with lots of travelling, we had lots of weddings besides our own, congratulations to all of our friends who joined us in 2012!

We moved to a new place in Apple Valley that we love, and had a kick ass housewarming party.  We both celebrated 1 year at our jobs.  I did not have a 5 year high school class reunion...but we attend my brother's 10 year class reunion (normal, right?).  We saw The Lion King Live.  I became closer with my mom.  We went to the Renaissance Festival for the first time. We got our motorcycle in prime condition.  My grandma sold her house and moved into town.  And Mike's grandparents were stubborn and moved back out to the farm.  One of my best friends moved away.  We "got into" coffee and tea drinking.  I got a smart phone!  We became members of the MN Zoo.  We got a fish.  I broke up with a best friend.  We said goodbye to Mike's mother.

I became Mrs. OLSON.  

I could not be happier with the way my life is going right now.