adulting!

Want to know what a clear sign of transitioning into adultohood is? When all of your conversations at the dinner table have to do with the state of your yard (AND maybe when you start blogging about it?). We're not the only ones talking about our yard, though. We have had SO many neighbors come up and congratulate us on saving the yard. 

To give you an idea with what we were dealing with before, Chris picked up so much garbage around the house, like, actual garbage, we had a woman in our neighborhood come up and ask if we would let her rabbits come and feast on our dandelion infested yard (okay lady we get it our yard sucks!), and the first thing people would say to us when we first moved in was, "Oh man, we're so happy there will be someone in that house to take care of the yard now." Yes, our yard was quite the talk of the town... and we caved into the pressure and finally did something about it!

"Can you drive by our house really slow so I can admire our yard?"

You'd have thought it was Christmas morning when we got our curbing done. We talked about it for a week straight. Then we put the soil in and planted--that's when I knew we were full-blown adulting! The excitement over flowers + trees + greenery was uncanny! Now that our yard is all done, we find ourselves going outside every evening just to sit and admire it. Okay, and maybe I've already mentioned that we should get some bird feeders, because adulting, guys! 

Take THAT rabbit lady! 

. . . now let's hope we're adult enough to keep all our plants alive. 

Adulthood. Population: Chris & Shayli

Guys. . . that is our freaking house! What the freakity freak? Is this even real life?! It still hasn't fully sunk in that this is where me and Chris live here now. I say hasn't fully sunk in because there have been a few things that have happened this week when it has sunk in, and been like, WELCOME TO ADULTHOOD + BEING HOMEOWNERS! Mostly when we discovered that every time our neighbors would open their garage, ours would open too (especially at 5:30 in the morning!). Oh, and there was that time our microwave broke. Also, I'm not sure what feels more empty... our pantry or our bank account (which is good for telling my decorating-heart to calm.the.freak.down.)? Like I said, WELCOME TO ADULTHOOD + BEING HOMEOWNERS! 

But besides all that, the rest of it is hard to believe that this is all ours! Like, who knew that having a garage was such a luxury? Scraping frost off car windows-what's that?! And you mean there's such thing as having a bathtub separate from the shower? I can do laundry in a room that doesn't have a toilet in it?! THIS CAN'T BE REAL! 

It isn't real. These past two months have seemed like a huge blur. One minute we're talking about selling our town home, and then before we know it, we're living in Tom and Martha's basement waiting to close on our house! Speaking of Tom and Martha... huge thank you to those roomies that were more than willing to let us live in their basement + share their diet ( & caffeine free!) Dr. Pepper + let us chill in their hot tub almost every night. Wait, why did we leave that place again...? In all seriousness, though-- THANK YOU TOM AND MARTHA! We love you!

And while we're on the subject of thanking people... I need to say thank you to my in-laws Kat and Jon for helping us with the entire process of getting into this house!! We've probably talked with them more in these past two months than we have in all 3 years of our marriage combined! Pretty sure we owe them free babysitting for life and then some. 

Really, I should just say thank you to any and all of our friends and family. Whether it was helping us move, clean, or just being supportive--we've appreciated all of it! I kind of love that we got to move into our house the week of Thanksgiving, because it's given me even more reasons to be so, so thankful for our family and friends. I've found myself randomly just bursting into tears while sorting through all of our stuff just thinking, "Holy goodness, how are we are so blessed!" (okay, and maybe Ellen was on in the background...) 

But really, what more could I ask for right now? 

sometimes you just need a night ride

Obviously this is not the most flattering picture of me and Chris. But obviously it was taken on my new camera that Chris got me for my birthday (!!!). Oh, and remember how I wouldn't shut up about how September is my birthday month and then I didn't even end up writing a birthday blog post? For those of you wondering, my birthday was filled with Swig and Ulta gift cards + food + sweet messages from friends/family + students singing Happy Birthday to me -- such a good day! In fact, I'm pretty sure my birthday was really the only "good day" I've had for the past couple of weeks...

Why is life so freaking crazy right now?! Oh yeah, maybe because I'm still learning how to be a first year teacher + Chris is doubling up on classes + our cars keep breaking down (and our bank accounts...) + we're trying to find a house. I've been an emotional wreck. Seriously, just ask Chris and my tear-stained pillow how many meltdowns I've had within the last few weeks. According to Chris, we're in what's called, "the grind."

Speaking of Chris... I love that guy! For many reasons, but specifically because on Tuesday he got home from school early and suggested we go on a night ride on our bikes. That night ride was exactly what I needed (Chris time + exercise = a much happier Shayli), because after I had vented to Chris about all the sucky things that have been going on in our lives he said, "we just need to focus on being positive. Every day."

So that's what we've been working on this week. It's become our nightly routine to ask each other "What's one thing that was good about today?" and holy goodness it's already made such a big difference! I feel like I'm finally starting to get out of this funk hole I've been stuck in all September long, but who knows... maybe I just feel like that because I didn't have school today? Just kidding. It's totally because of Chris' optimism. What the heck would I do without my person?! Oh wait, I know! CRY. Like, all the time.

Thankful for Chris and night rides.

And diet Dr. Pepper (the official sponsor of this scatterbrained post).



p.s. I've missed you, blog world.

It's September 1st

Which means . . .

+ That I've officially been teaching for a week! Which also means a whole lot of other things like holy physically and emotionally exhausting! I arrive early, leave late, and then toss and turn all night because I can't shut my brain off. But don't let my cry for help-I'm-a new-teacher-and-don't-know-what-the-heck-I'm-doing (!!!) fool you -- I love it! My students are so adorable, and not as awkward as I remember being in junior high. Like, where's the blue eye shadow girls?! And where are the polo shirts with the popped collar, boys?! Also, I may or may not have done the whip nae nae in front of my students last week... so there's that. 

+ Chris and I had what we called our "last hoorah" yesterday. Our last hoorah involved riding our bikes to Sonic and then having our hopes and dreams crushed when the guy who took our order told us that shakes are no longer 1/2 priced after 8. So, water and a very watered down lemon berry slush it was! And what better way to celebrate our last hoorah than by taking a super cute picture at Sonic like this one:

+ Chris started his second year at grad school today! My picture-taking heart was crushed that I wasn't able to take a first day of school picture for him this morning, but hopefully the note I left in his lunch made up for it. Chris has decided to double up on classes this semester so that he can finish school early... I'm so proud of him!!! But so not looking forward to being husband-less on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next year. I like to tell myself that I can do hard things... and that there's always Netflix.

+ I'm going to be THAT girl who won't shut up about Fall and how much she loves it... even if it's still 95 degrees out, but my Pumpkin Pecan Waffles candle can't wait any longer! And don't be surprised if you start seeing berry lip colors and "scarecrow hats" (as Chris likes to call them) on my Insta... I can't suppress my inner basic white girl much longer!

+ It's officially my birthday month! And not just any birthday, but my GOLDEN birthday, which really means that Chris' email is about to get spammed with lots of links or as I like to call them, "gift ideas."


YES SEPTEMBER. WELCOME!

quarter-life crisis

Is there such thing as a quarter-life crisis? Because I'm pretty sure that's what I've been going through these past couple of weeks. I haven't had an affair, or bought a new sports car or done anything else that people who go through a mid-life crisis supposedly do, but I did put in my two weeks at Victoria's Secret + dye my hair red. And no, it's not because I have a huge girl crush on Jaclyn Hill and want to look exactly like her, ya silly! It's totally because of this quarter-life crisis I'm going through. Because, holy $h!z is summer really almost over?! Am I really only 21 days away from being an adult and having a grownup job?! Answer: YES. So obviously dying your hair a different color means that you're still hip and fun and you have all the time in the world to complete your "Summer of Shay" to-do list.

But for some reason, I forgot that dying my hair would help me feel better about moving on to a new chapter in my life, because I totally freaked out to Chris last Friday night. 

Babe! I haven't accomplished anything I wanted to this Summer! Can we go on a bike ride to the temple tomorrow?! And how about we go visit Tidbit next weekend? And take the raft up to to Tibble Fork? We need to do all those things before August 18th. DO ALL THE THINGS! 

Luckily, Chris was sweet and only giggled at my ridiculousness for a second before reassuring me that I still have time to do all of those things before school starts. Now that I worked my last shift at Vickie's today, I'm starting to agree with him + not get as many panic attacks thinking about the fact that I'm going to be a grownup next month. 

All I have to do now is make it through girl's camp this week... which is obviously off to a great start seeing as how it's almost 2am and I'm still putting little handouts together and waiting for a load of laundry to dry so I can  have clean underwear while I'm there. 

...I'm just going to keep blaming my quarter-life crisis I'm going through right now, ok?

No matter how terrified I may be that my Summer of Shay is coming to an end, or that I'm less than a month away from becoming an actual teacher, I can take comfort in knowing that I never ever ever have to fold another freaking panty table again. PEACE OUT, VICKIE'S!

And helloooooo adulthood! (+ many more crises)

obligatory post about graduation

YOU GUYS.... I DID IT! I GRADUATED!

 Like, I've just enjoyed my weekend... stress/homework-free. What!?  It's seriously the best feeling ever. Actually, I take that back... getting a big girl job is the best feeling ever, which I now have as of last Thursday! I'm so excited to start working at Fort Herriman Middle School! I feel extremely blessed to be graduating college with not only a job, but THE job, ya know? 

For those of you still working towards graduation... keep going! It'll totally be worth it. Plus, graduating is kind of like celebrating your birthday. Everyone sends you really nice texts and your parents take you out to dinner and your husband surprises you with a Clarisonic!!! (even if it means he used all your points at Ulta to buy it... still a sensitive subject around these parts ha) Yes, graduation is bueno bueno.

Since my job doesn't start until August, I'm in this weird crunch... like, I guess I should probably get a summer job? Preferably one that gives me discounts on clothes, makeup, or Swig... you know,  the jobs that don't require a Bachelor's degree ;) I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the "Summer of Shay" brings...but I have a feeling it's gonna be big! 

Thanks BYU for such a great education and mostly enjoyable 4.5 years!!! Graham canyon ice cream will be missed, testing center will not.

big girl pants (literally)

Yesterday was a day of firsts for me:

Student teaching + buying pants that make me look like a box. I'm not sure which one was more terrifying... 

JK. It was totally the pants. 

A classroom full of hormonal teenagers? Easy! Buying pants that aren't $8 from Forever 21? Terrifying! Not to mention frumpy. But that's okay, because the more I make my body look like a box, the more professional I look!  

Despite the frumpiness that is now my wardrobe for the next 14 weeks, I'm SO excited to begin student teaching! I've waited for this day for a long time, and now I can't believe it's already here! Last night I found myself waking up every other hour, and my mind would immediately go to lesson plans and seating charts. My heart would kind of freak out for a second, and then immediately flutter from excitement. We'll see what my heart's doing in a few weeks, though. 

Anyway, here's to putting on the big girl pants! Literally and figuratively. Wish me luck! And I apologize in advance if my blog turns into a "this is what happened at school today..." blog,  but not really. Because spending all day with hundreds of hormonal teenagers is bound to make for some good stories for the blog. 

Love,

Mrs. Gourley

too school for cool

... can you tell by our "first day of school" pictures? The awkwardness is not entirely our fault, though. Taking "first day of school" pictures when you're in your 20s and outside in front of your neighbors can get a little weird. 

What I already love about this semester:

+ Basically knowing everyone in all of my classes already. I love my little School Health Education friends!

+ Having a class with Shelbs.

+ My classes being in more than the same two buildings, which means I get to walk more. I've even lost 4 pounds already... walking does the body good.

+ Even though I'm taking 7 classes, I still managed to not have any classes on Friday! 

+ My team sport fundamentals class. I basically get to learn how to play sports in there. PE majors have the dream major, I tell you!

Even though I'm pretty sure these 17 credits (19 if you count my independent study class) are gonna crush me, I'm still really excited about this semester, which I'm sure has a lot to do with the fact that this is my last "real" semester on campus before I start student teaching. There is finally light at the end of this (almost) 5 year-long tunnel we call college! 

I wish I could say the same thing for Chris, who just started his 3 year-long Masters program last night. The poor kid came home exhausted. I would too, though. Especially if I had to go to work full-time and then go sit in class for 5 hours, like Chris'll be doing every Thursday night from now on. I've decided I'm equal parts happy and sad about this. Happy that he got into his program and that it will create better opportunities for him at work, but can't help but be a little sad that I'll be all by myself on Thursdays for the next three years (I know! Selfish!). I'm sure me and Netflix will grow even closer. But I know the lonely and exhausting nights will be worth it for us!

Wish us luck this semester!

on having a baby

SPOILER ALERT: I'M NOT PREGNANT. So please, no rubbing my pooch if you ever see me in person--it'll just be awkward for everyone. Especially when I try to play it off by saying something along the lines of "You know, I usually let people buy me dinner before I let them do that" and you'll give me that pity/hesitant giggle and avoid eye contact with me the rest of the day. Also, I don't need any more reminders about the fact that I run 4-5 times a week and still have a pooch...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The reason I'm bringing this up is because it's something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I feel like every day I check my news feed, I see a new ultrasound picture pop up + almost every blog I follow is of someone that's pregnant right now. My first reaction is excitement/happiness for the expecting mama, but then after a few seconds,the jealousy kicks in.

Why?!

I've really had to sit down and ask myself this question. Every time I've asked myself why I'm jealous, I've always come up with answers like, "Well me and Chris have been married longer than they have! Shouldn't we be having a baby before them?" 

And then I have to ask myself...Do I really wish I was pregnant right now? To which my mind immediately says, YES! I want to be all cute and pregnant and have a gender reveal party and blog "bumpdates" and have baby showers and dress my baby in the cutest clothes and have everyone be excited for me and take pretty maternity pictures and be complimented on my "pregnancy" glow and and and... !!

Then my heart sinks a little because I realize that those are all incredibly selfish reasons to want to have a baby, and I am nowhere even close to being ready to have one because of that. I feel guilty for even thinking that way when there are so many people I know that can't have kids, have a really hard time getting pregnant, or are currently having fertility issues. I'm sure those people have much better reasons to wanting a baby then for all the reasons I just listed. Also, what makes me think I'm so special and that I won't be in the same boat they're in someday?! I just assume that when I want to get pregnant it'll happen automatically--no waiting or struggle. Oh, the selfishness and inconsiderateness! Can you see why I'm not mature enough to have a baby yet?!

I will say  that I have at least one good reason on wanting to have a baby right now: Chris.

I get so excited thinking about Chris as a dad because I know he will be an amazing one! I love watching him with kids. He really just has a natural talent with them. The only problem is that when Chris says he wants a baby, he really means toddler. We'll work on that when the time comes, though.

That time will [hopefully] be the same time when my reasons for wanting a baby are more than just about myself. I know that I'll be ready (well, as ready as I can be...if that's possible?) when posting pregnant selfies on Instagram and having an excuse to eat chili cheese fries after midnight are not the only reasons I look forward to being pregnant. Oh, and I'll know I'm ready when I no longer shudder at the idea of having to share food and dish up someone else's plate before my own--I don't know how you mamas do it!

But for now, I'll work on growing up.

I'm educated....feel bad for me!

Guys, I'm happy to report that I made it through finals week. 

...barely.

This week got ugly. 

Like, haven't-showered-or-slept-and-I've-already-consumed-180 oz-of Dr. Pepper-and-holy-crap-it's-only-Tuesday! type of ugly.

There's also a permanent indent of my bum on the kitchen chair currently surrounded by an embarrassing amount of wrappers from the candy cane kisses consumed during my seven hour retreat there yesterday.

But I guess I can't complain too much... after all, it was my fault for procrastinating. Chris was even nice enough to say, "We have such different studying styles, babe. I would have studied the week before finals" instead of just calling me out for waiting until the last minute. (But guess what, babe? You're not human!)

But hey, at least now I can finally say that I'm done! And I can do the important things I've been meaning to get around to all semester... like starting Vampire Diaries and working out  painting my toenails.

Happy finals week to the rest of you who put the "pro" in procrastination out there! 

TWENTY TWOsday! (see what I did there?)

Yesterday, I turned 22.

[insert Taylor Swift's "22" here]

As you can see, I definitely got spoiled yesterday. And no, I didn't just make my bed so I could neatly place my birthday presents on it and take a picture for my blog, ya silly.

Chris asked me yesterday if I liked my birthday better as a single person or a married person. My answer: definitely as a married person (are you even surprised by my answer?). You just have such high expectations for your birthday when you're single, ya know? But now, going to Texas Roadhouse, Yogurtland, watching a documentary on Netflix about gangs, and falling asleep before 9:30 is all I'd ever ask for on my birthday!

I think one of the  highlight's of turning 22 was when Chris took me to Texas Roadhouse and was thwarted by our waitress when she asked him if he'd like grilled onions on top of his steak, and failed to mention that it costs $2.99 extra. What's even better was that this wasn't a first occurrence for Chris at Texas Roadhouse. Not only did this reaffirm Chris that he likes Outback more, but that he'd also be the greatest waiter on earth and tell customers that it costs extra to add onions to your steak.

 Seriously though, I loved every minute of my birthday. Including all the calls, texts, and Facebook posts wishing me a happy birthday from my friends and family--I am beyond blessed! I think that's one of my favorite parts about having a birthday, you realize how blessed you are to have so many people that care about you. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a husband that is willing to get up early and cook you pancakes ;)

I am so happy with my life right now, and can't wait to see what a whole year of being 22 brings me.

Growing

I don't know about the rest of you married folk, but there are a lot of things I thought I'd never do once I was married. Oh, I'll NEVER fall asleep without my TV on, NEVER eat off-brand cereal! sidenote: Cinnamon Toasters...life-changing!-fully converted. And, I think the best one was I'll NEVER fight with my husband because we will just be so in love... HA! 

Another thing I get to add to the list is planting a garden. I never thought I'd see the day when I would be jumping for joy over tomato plants, and becoming as giddy as a little school girl while looking at flowers to plant. Especially since most of the flowers I had my eye on were the exact same ones I used to despise planting in my parents' garden.  I guess that's the black hooded figure of adulthood creeping up on me?

Chris and I are so excited for our little salsa garden! We planted tomatoes, green peppers, onions, green onions, and some cilantro. It's kind of become our little child.We are constantly worrying about it's well-being, and just last night, we took out our camping chairs and just sat in front of it and watched it with pure admiration. We're just praying the ground doesn't freeze anytime soon. Apparently you're supposed to plant after Mother's Day? Unfortunately, we didn't get that memo until after we bought all of our plants. We'll see what crazy mother nature has in store for us in good ole Utah. 

Whether we like it or not, the Gourleys are growing--growing up, and growing a garden.