For the love

This year's Valentine's Day was the best one. EVER.  Usually Valentine's isn't a big deal for us and our first Valentine's when we were dating was a disaster.  So glad that good memories are replacing bad ones! :)

Dustin spoiled me with the trifecta of Valentine's gifts:
Jewelry (ShaneCo pearl necklace and bracelet), chocolate (See's Truffles), and flowers (long stem red roses and lilies- my favorite!)

Valentines Day new jewelry selfie? you betcha!

I gave Dustin a nice new watch that I had him pick out, and then I decorated his car with a basket of goodies while he was in clinic.  They had cutesy sayings.  Thanks Pinterest :)

 

Once upon a time we decided that we would have candle lit pizza dinners for Valentine's Day and then go out on the weekend, but that was when we thought we'd have kids some time soon and would want to spend the night with all our loves.  Seeing as we still don't have kids and VDay was on a Friday, we figured we might as well go out.

We enjoyed dinner at Panera, which was perfect because there was no line, no waiter to tip, and the food was delish.  Then we watched The Lego Movie at the Clackamas Town Center.  It was so funny!

We had lunch together on Valentine's Day and Dustin told me some shocking facts.  Of all the married couples who started this Chiropractic program with Dustin, 50% of them are now divorced.  Of the married couples that are doing the Sports and Exercise Science Master's Program as well, 2/3 of them are now divorced. Grad school is HARD.  We hardly see each other, especially true the further he gets into the program, and it's hard not being able to spend much time together.
A few people have asked how we're able to do all our fun dates or outings.  I'm not sure if they meant financially, or how we find such cool stuff to do or whatever, but I honestly don't know how we'd survive these couple years WITHOUT the quality time together.  I literally get so cranky when I can't see Dustin for more than a few minutes a day. We need time together. And some days we see each other when we wake up, and then for maybe an hour before we go to bed.  I know we should get more sleep, but I like those few hours that we have to spend together.
Financially we are fortunate to be able to easily prioritize fun dates.  My job has been excellent and I have increased my hourly pay rate by almost $3 more an hour since I started 2 years ago.  We're also still taking out max student loans.  Starting grad school I was FREAKED OUT by the financial side, but we have been very blessed.  We use Groupon often and usually spend at least one weekend night (Friday or Saturday) at home.  We use our credit cards to our advantage to receive rewards like cash back or Thank You points that get us gift cards.  We pay them off in full each month and never pay interest.  Sure, we could have a lot more in savings or could take out less student loans, but we are making memories and taking time to be together. I'm happy to be in that 1/3 that are still married and even happier that our love for each other has grown during the past 2 1/2 years in grad school. We're in this together FOREVER and I'm so glad I have Dustin with me to go through this hard time in our lives.

 

My New Obsession

When we were in Utah last October, Sarah Clawson got me started on buying good makeup.  She sells Hot Mess Cosmetics and introduced me to pigment eyeshadows, and my obsession took off from there.  I love them!  In December I got a Sephora gift card and while I was overwhelmed walking into the store and seeing all the different brands, I knew I wanted to find another pigment eyeshadow.  That's when I discovered Bare Minerals makeup.  I am officially now obsessed!  I love their makeup and I love finding new makeups!  Hence the decision to join Ipsy.
Ipsy is a monthly membership where they send you "samples" of makeup and other beauty products for just $10 including shipping.  I got my first bag this month and am super impressed with it!  Most of the products are real full sizes so it makes for a great deal!
February's bag was "The Look of Love".  Here's my bag and the goodies it came with:

 

J.Cat Beauty Eyelashes & Glue: I have been asked 3 times in the past few months if my lashes were real or not- by the girl who gave me a facial (who thought they were real the whole time), by a coworker, and by a Bare Minerals salesman... and they are definitely real and I love the effect I get using a CoverGirl mascara.  That being said, I don't know how often I will use these falsies, but am excited to work them into a Halloween costume or some other special event.

 POP Beauty Plump Pout Mini in Fuschia Freesia.  I like the color of this gloss but the initial taste was AWFUL. Especially after just getting my Bare Minerals Cool as Ice lip glosses that are amazing.  After a little time, the stank of the gloss has gone down and I can pair it with an overcoat of said cool as ice gloss and it works out wonderfully.

 Zoya Nail polish in Odette: I haven't used this yet and I don't really like purple, but I'm sure I will use it at some point.  As far as purple goes, I like the shade.  Maybe I'll use it on my toes next to try it out. :)

City Color Be Matte Blush in Fresh Melon: I LOVE this blush.  The color is great, a nice sunkissed pink.  A little goes a LONG way... like with my blush brush I just lightly dab it and it's plenty enough.  I think I will like this even more this summer when I actually have a little color in my face.  This is my favorite item in the bag.

Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask with Ice Age Mud: This was a true sample size so I haven't tried it yet but I'm looking forward to it!

If you want to join in the fun, go ahead and treat yo self! You can sign up here.

But a fair warning, you'll probably get obsessed too. :) 

Snowmaggedon

One of the things I was looking forward to the most about moving to Portland was the idea of eternal spring- warmer winters and rain instead of snow.  So far it's been pretty close to that, but every couple of years they get a bunch of snow, and this was one of those years.
The snow started Thursday while I was at work so I hurried up and finished my check  batch to get home before it got outta control. 

Dustin's school was closed for the afternoon as well so we spent the rest of the day together watching the news which was really just the weather and funny live shots with cars sliding.
Friday morning I woke up and turned on the news to see if I should go into work or not. The overall news report said that if you don't have to go outside, then don't!  So I called in.  Dustin's school was canceled too.  Snow day! We ventured outside in the afternoon to build a snowman with the Jones then warmed up inside with hot cocoa while watching the Olympics.

Do you wanna build a snowman?

It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!

 

Saturday continued to snow so it was another day inside.  By the afternoon we got the news that church was canceled.  That is something that never happened in Utah!  What was crazy was the wind that would whip all the snow around and make it seem much worse than it probably was.  Saturday night the storm turned to freezing rain which made crazy treecicles and caused the backyard neighbor's tree to stoop down all the way to our deck. Saturday night I started a new quilt with some adorable fabric I got a while ago. 

Comparison shot to where the tree should be, 10ish feet away, to where it landed on our deck from the weight of the ice.

Sunday morning we woke up jumping when my phone went off with the emergency alert loud buzz.  Portland strongly urged everyone to stay indoors due to the ice.

I worked on the quilt for a while and by the afternoon we were ready to get out of the house to do anything! We took a walk outside to pick up the mail and see the effects of the freezing rain.  A shield of ice covered our car completely covering one side and leaving the other dry.  So crazy!  Over all we got about 6 inches of snow and a nice layer of ice. 
Monday morning "The Big Thaw" started so while Dustin's school was still canceled, I went to work late with Dustin driving me.  Pretty sure I wouldn't have made it out of our parking lot on my own!  The snow was quickly turning to some nasty slush making driving still a pain. Monday night Dustin and I got our workout in by shoveling the slush in our parking lot to make it easier to get out the next morning.
By Tuesday we were almost back to normal...

 and by Wednesday it all seemed like just a bad dream!

Crazy how different Oregon snow is from Utah snow.  So much icier!  And it was very fluffy and light, which made it hard to make a snowman because it wouldn't pack into a ball.
Glad we safely survived the storm and had plenty of food, water, and warmth!  It was wonderful to spend a few days together with just the two of us.  It was a much needed break from school for Dustin and a good time together with no where to go.

Let it go - I wanna see you be brave

I haven't written in my journal yet tonight, but I have a feeling my entry will go something like this:

Today was a rough day.  Maybe I'm just tired. I know I'm tired. I have so much anger in me.  So much sadness.
I don't know how to express my anger.  I don't know how to get rid of it.  Let it Go was my song for this morning. I need to learn to let things go, to not take them so personally.  It's so hard sometimes.  I don't know the reasoning behind some people's decisions and I will probably never know.  Which means I need to let it go. I can't hold the anger inside.  It's not healthy and I don't like it.
Sara Bareilles got me through this afternoon.  I love her.  I wish I knew when things were going to happen in my life.  If I could pick a super power, I would pick to know the future. I keep thinking about what I want to do with  my life... what I should do when Dustin graduates, gets a kick-a job and we move to said kick-a job, wherever that may be.  And I don't know what I want to do.  I have 5 years experience in Accounting but no Accounting degree to go with it.  I am dang good at what I do but I fear no one will hire me at the level and pay-grade I deserve, based on education.  My Bachelors degree is worthless.  So then what, do I go to school to get an Accounting degree? I don't really want to... I don't want to do Accounting forever.  What do I want to do?  I want to have babies.  I want to be a mom.  That has always been my dream job.
Enter sadness and anger about infertility.  I wish I knew when and how we are going to start our family.   I don't know if I will ever be able to get pregnant and keep the pregnancy.  It hasn't happened yet.  And doctors haven't given me any answers as to why.  I have seen and heard so many pregnancy/birth announcements lately and while I am truly happy for these people for the fact alone that they don't have to go through this hell, I am at the same time devastated for my own current misery of infertility.
I don't want sympathy.  Sometimes you just need to hear "I'm sorry, that sucks" instead of "the sun will come out tomorrow".  I know in the end that we will get through this and see how blessed we have been and how great our lives are from this learning experience.  But in the darkness of it right now it sucks.  And I want out.  I want it to end. I want to plan my life and progress.
So for now I have hard days and I listen to Sara Bareilles and feel a little better. I go home at the end of a long work day and hug my wonderful husband tightly and cry a little.  I go to bed early to wake up and take on another day.  But for now...
"Now I'm just a basket case."

**Update** In case you feel inspired to make my day a little better, commenting with YouTube links of something funny/adorable is sure to do it such as this one. Thank you Vicky for brightening my day. :)

November Date of the Month

 

Dustin,

Let's get physical

Love,

Brianne

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we participated in the Winter Wonderland at the Portland International Raceway.  

 Similar to Spanish Fork's Festival of Lights, they adorn the 2 mile raceway with Christmas lights  and before opening it up for cars to drive through, they put on a race! The weather was pretty good- not raining, just cold- so we bundled up and headed out to the raceway!

I took a few selfies on the way over because I was intrigued by this bald look.  Made me miss my long hair

Bundled up and ready to rock

While there were some cool parts in the light display like the whole 12 days of Christmas, I was disappointed with PIR.  SF's are just way better... way more.  The ones at the PIR were far too spread out. But we had a good time walking and occasionally jogging around the track getting a little workout in. We signed up to do 4 miles but my plantar fasciitis had us done after 2 miles.  Here we are pretending that we're super worn out... we're not, just in foot pain.

 

October Date of the Month

 Dustin,

Are you game for love?

Love,

Brianne

Somehow October escaped us and the date of the month was pushed to the first weekend in November.  Oops.  At least we made up for it!
October's date of the month was all about games.  Dustin received a new Wii-U game, Super Luigi Brothers U.  We enjoyed some quality Nintendo gaming time during the afternoon.  What man doesn't love some good Nintendo time?

The plan was to see Ender's Game at Cinetopia, but we were invited to my cousin Connor's birthday dinner that was the same time as the movie....  No big deal, we just changed our movie to Free Birds at a time that worked. :)  Turkeys are game, right?  Like hunting game?  Maybe it was a stretch but I'm glad we were able to fit everything in.  Plus we got to enjoy it in a movie parlor theater. So comfy and cozy.

September date of the month

Dustin,

There's no place like home!

Love,

Brianne

The final four in the Bachelor/Bachelorette get to take their suitor to meet the family and explore their hometowns. So with Bachelor style date of the months, we had to fit a hometown date in!  We have been homesick for Utah so we did the best we could from far away.
First stop was lunch at Bajio's.   We miss Cafe Rio but were super excited when we learned that Clackamas has a Bajio's! Yum yum!

Salem Utah was originally named "Pond Town" because well, that's about all we have in Salem.  But it's an amazingly beautiful pond.  See?

 It's so pretty!  Dustin and I checked out an apartment complex in Fairview and it had a beautiful pond just like Salem! Ducks and everything!

I was so happy and wanted to move in right away! But we ended up not. :(

Spanish Fork is big for their baseball.  Dustin loves baseball and played it (and just about every other sport) growing up, so we hit up the batting cages down the street.

Dustin rocking his Red Sox jacket at Fenway Park.  I was too scared to try the batting cages (the balls move so fast!!) but Dustin had a great time.
And what's a Utah hometown date without a BYU football game!

Last part of the date was at the local drive-in style Burger joint for some "Glade's" crinkle fries and "Barry's" FlavorBurst ice cream cones.  Gotta love Spanish Fork's dives!

The best part is that we actually got to go home for a few days the next week. :)
While we miss Utah and being close to our families, we are making Portland Home Sweet Home.