Love Is. . .

Love is. . . 

Agreeing that Disneyland last week counts as our Valentine's Day plans

( + agreeing to take a kissing pic in front of the castle + agreeing to let you wear that d*mn green shirt ha)

Living with Lupin.

(to sum up the above sentences: c o m p r o m i s e)

Always being down to get a donut from Lehi bakery.

Letting me exfoliate + pop the blackheads out of your nose so hard that you're scabbed for weeks.

Breakfast sandwiches on the weekend.

Helping me rub self-tanner on those places that are hard to reach.

Semi-consciously putting your hand on my bump every morning at 3am after I go pee so you can feel baby girl move.

Showing up on Valentine's Day with a 44oz Diet Dr. Pepper in hand from my most favorite gas station (Murphy's Express in Saratoga - you have my heart!) like a modern day prince charming.

Grabbing a towel for the other every.single.time. we get in the shower or tub.

Getting rootbeer at the movie theater even when I prefer Mr. Pibb.

Coming home to a clear sink + loaded dishwasher after work.

Complimenting my makeup without me even dropping hints that I want you to.

Buying you BBQ chips so I won't eat them.

Getting eaten by mosquitos while fishing out golfballs in the pond by our house.

Not judging the shameless amount of times we hit the snooze button on our alarms.

Bringing up an ice water to share in bed every night.

The only way we've been able to endure these past couple of tough years!

A reminder there is no one more perfect for me.

. . . what I am in with Chris Gourley!


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

xoxo

ANNIVER5ARY!

I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but every November 9th that comes and goes makes me say, "I can't believe we're on year __!" Which, if we're filling in the blank... it's year 5! What?! F I V E.

All week leading up to our anniversary, Chris kept asking, "So.... what are your expectations for our anniversary this year?" HA! I guess that's a good sign that it's year 5? Or maybe it's the fact that I said my only expectation is that you take me somewhere good to eat? Thank goodness we had a gift card to Cheesecake Factory. . . the fried macaroni cheese exceeded my (obviously) high expectations!

Other than the Cheesecake Factory, our anniversary day was pretty chill, and by chill I mean that we woke up to a call from Home Depot at 7am letting us know that our new dryer was on the way (being stoked for a new dryer is also clearly a sign it's year 5 right?). After Chris spent a good chunk of the morning installing the new dryer, we went to go get some old fashioned donuts from Lehi Bakery (Chris' faaaaav) and came back out to our car to find the back tire flat. Womp womp. I'm wondering if that was some sort of bad omen for the events that would soon follow?

We pulled into Wal-Mart to get our tires fixed and 30 minutes later we found out that THAT Wal-Mart didn't have the tires we needed, so we'd have to drive to a different location. No problem. That meant we had to drive past Swig anyway + I had a free drink I had been saving for such a special occasion such as our anniversary. So, we waited in the surprisingly short Swig line and got up to the window when I was about to excitedly tell the Swig lady I was ready for my FREE 44oz Triple D, when Chris suddenly cut in and said, "I have a confession to make. . . I used your free drink last time I was here."

Oh, HELLS NO.

After Chris' confession I considered cancelling our anniversary. Ha! Did he not learn anything when he spent my Ulta points?! Never, and I mean NEVER use any points I've earned without my consent. Of course, this is year 5 of marriage, so Chris just laughed at my stunned face. He's such a rat. Luckily, Chris did make up for it by surprising me with a 1/2 pound bean and cheese burrito (bold style!) while I was getting ready for the day. Luckily.

Obviously, next year I'm gonna raise my expectations a little higher than just a nice dinner for the annivesary ;) But I guess I can't be too upset with Chris, since he actually wore jeans for our annivesary + was a good sport about taking our traditional picture, like always.

In all seriousness though, this is the part of the post where I have to get all mushy gush about Chris + our marriage. I think years 1- 3, I took being married to Chris for granted. I mean, I was happy + always felt like Chris was perfect for me, but after these last couple of years going through the trials we have, I now know that he is perfect for me! To know Chris is to love him, and I happen to know Chris very, very well. What can I say... some girls just have all the luck!

And in honor of it being our 5th year anniversary, here's a top 5 list of things I love about Christopher Gourley:

- He makes our marriage fun
- He is always positive and optimisic
- He calls me out on things I need to work on + is not afraid to put me back in my place
- His humor (even if I'm not always willing to admit that he is the funny one in our relationship)
- He let me keep our cat Lupin... JUST KIDDING (even though I do love that about him right now)
- He is always there for me no matter what and always knows exactly what to say or do to make things right


Annnd now it's time to get back to reality and remind Chris to pick up his socks and rinse his toothbrush completely. Because, year 5!

Cheers to 5 years!

Together4Ever

Have we really been together and complaining about weight gain for FOUR years?! Do you think that's why Chris got us a gym pass for our anniversary gift? I still am a little in denial about all of this! About the being together for four years--not the gym pass. There's no denying that it's about dang time we got one. "We're feeling skinny, Tony!"(we're not friends if you don't know what movie that quote is from)

In all seriousness though, it's SO weird to think Chris and I have been together for FOUR years now. Four just sounds so...... mature? Experienced? Like we shouldn't be fighting over the remote anymore? Like, do we reeaallllly have to give up the "newlywed" title now? Clearly I'm still in denial, but at the same time, it totally makes sense we're now on year four. I feel like this last year we've grown closer than ever before. I guess it's true what they say, marriage really does get better with time (er.... is that what they say about wine?).

This year we kept it pretty low key, since it's pretty hard to top being in Disneyland like we were last year for our 3rd anniversary (you can read about here and here), but I'd be lying if I said I didn't try and convince Chris to take me back for this anniversary. Spoiler alert: He said no. I was completely fine with settling for a fancy dinner at our all time favorite, Alamexo, and then going home and making skookies and watching BYU basketball (my gift to Chris ha!).

Of course we took our traditional anniversary picture! We took some at the restaurant in Salt Lake, but then I made Chris take another one at home, since I felt like that picture would be more "us," you know, because sweatpants and couch (and now I'm even more grateful Chris got us a gym pass after typing that).

Man, Chris is such a good sport about taking this picture on our anniversary.

Speaking of Chris... I freaking love that guy. There is no one who knows me or loves me better than he does. He makes me the happiest and is always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on (how is his shoulder not just a big prune by now?!). Chris is so selfless and always looks on the bright side of things. How in the world did I get him to settle for me and then put up with me for these past 4 years?! I'm seriously still trying to figure out what I even bring to the table in this marriage...besides quite literally dinner.

Even if I still can't fully understand how I got Chris to marry me there is one thing I know for sure: Our love is FOURever! Sometimes even eternity doesn't seem long enough.

Love you, Chris! Here's to year 4!

Love is...

Love is. . . 

Falling asleep on the couch at 8:00...on a Friday night.

Giving me the last bite of your sugar cookie.

Going out of your way to bring me my keys and whistle that I forgot on my way to work.

Pretending to be interested when I tell you about work.

Completely saving the day + having a mutual love for white trash food:

Using "bob" or "bobber" as a term of endearment.

Knowing what "I'll be ready in 15 minutes" really means.

Trying your best to set the pillows how I like them when you make the bed (and not saying anything after I adjust them anyway).

Holding hands in bed every single night.

Kissing with onion breath.

Trusting me to shave the back of your neck.

Complimenting my "Shakira" eyeliner (winged eyeliner) after lots of not-so-subtle hints.

Watching Modern Family with me every night.

Having your own language that involves words like "curney,"(corner) "curter," (quarter), and "fer" (fire).

Telling me I am a "twig bi" when I am feeling my worst.

Surprising me with my favorite old fashioned cake donut for no reason at all.

Leaving your shoes and socks outside (ha!).

Giving me food instead of flowers for Valentine's Day.

The reason we celebrate today!!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Happy Love Day to my favorite lover dover bobber! 

It's crazy to think that if weren't for Valentine's Day 4 years ago, we wouldn't be here celebrating it together today! I love our love.

xoxoxoxo

Happy December 30th To Us!

"Sitting next to you doing absolutely nothing means absolutely everything to me."

I think that's a pretty good quote to sum up OUR day today. I say OUR day, because it's December 30th! Which means that today marks 4 years since we met. Is it weird that we still celebrate the day that we met? Like, at what point in your marriage do you have to start giving up those weird anniversaries? I just don't think I'm going to ever be ready for that...

Anyway, to celebrate knowing each other for four years now, we decided to get really crazy and... wait for it... watch Star Wars! Chris has been wanting to convert me ever since he made me go see Episode 7 a couple weeks ago, but I don't think Chris realized that with doing that he was going to be answering a million+ questions from me. Wait, does Darth Vader not have an arm?! Do Ani and Padme do IT?! Is it true that Luke and Leia were incest?! All of my questions have been answered with, "Shhh! Just watch, babe..." So watch we have! This is pretty much what our view has been the past couple of days:

Annnnd to contradict the quote that I said summed up our day, I will mention that we did go to Olive Garden for lunch, and then Swig--that counts as doing something, right?! But then we came right back to our couch and watched more Star Wars, because we're just crazy like that. Don't worry though, we got up long enough to go and see the movie, Everest.  I know, I know... a lot of sitting today. My heart loves it, my waist hates it. That's what New Year's resolutions are for though, duh.

Now we're back on our couch switching back and forth between football and basketball games (and when I say 'we,' you know I mean Chris). Super romantic, right? But that's why that quote above is kind of perfect for our day today because I truly have loved every minute with Chris today doing absolutely nothing.

I always do.

Who knew that 4 years ago I was meeting the guy I love doing absolutely nothing with? So, so glad I did.

Love you, Chris!
Happy December 30th!!!

Now time to get back to sitting and doing absolutely nothing with you...

Wedding Day Nuke

Dear blog world,

I am alive... but only just. This month has been so crazy with baby & bridal showers, helping Shelbs with wedding stuff, family parties... oh, and the usual craziness that is our lives with Chris in grad school and me teaching school. So of course, this weekend (the one weekend I haven't had something to do or somewhere to be) I got sick. The kind of sickness that kept me in the fetal position praying that I was done excreting body fluids. So there's that lovely image for you!

All complaining aside, so many blog-worthy things have happened this month! Good things! Like the fact that I went two days without diet Dr. Pepper! Fall Break (#teacherperks)! Me and Chris are selling our town home! And last but not least.. SHELBS GOT MARRIED!!! As much as I know you'd all love to hear about my experience of going two days without that dark poison I call Dr. Pepper, I'm just going to ease back into this blogging thing with a bunch of pictures from my sister's wedding festivities this past week.

Shelbs' wedding was so perfect, so laid-back, and had me scratching my head saying "hmm, why didn't I think to do that?!" Such a typical thing of me to do anytime I see Shelby do or wear anything, really. Can I be Shelbs when I grow up?!

Anyway, I'll let my pictures of Shelbs wedding week do most of the blogging for me, since I'm trying to ease back into blog world + eat solid foods. Enjoy!

Shelbs was introduced to the G-life on Tuesday! Wahoo!

Her cute wedding dinner that I failed to take more pictures at.

Just keepin' it classy between the temple and reception ha!

Shelbs had a soda bar and cookies at her reception! S'cute, huh?! Why didn't I do that!?

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Hooley! AKA our new go-to couple! 

LOVE DAY!

After this weekend, I've come to the conclusion that Valentine's Day should just always be on a Saturday, because we basically got to celebrate Valentine's day for two days! And I'm all about twice the love + twice the food (Chris just gets me). I'm happy to say that this year I definitely felt the love...and I'm still feeling the food. I'm guessing Chris is too, since he just walked in and suggested we go on a cleanse (ha!). 

I feel like our Valentine's this year was pretty low-key, meaning that a good 75% of our weekend was spent in sweatpants. We started off our Valentine's weekend on Friday by eating at Apollo Burger--because we are classy like that-- followed by some cuddling on the couch and watching basketball. I also surprised Chris with some bath time crayons (Chris takes a bath every single day), which we now use to leave dirty messages for each other in the shower, again, because we are classy like that. 

I think the only thing not low-key was Chris' gift for me this year. I was so, so shocked + surprised on Valentine's morning when he brought it into me! All week he just kept saying, "So you're in charge of Valentine's this year, right?!" Chris must have known that the only other way to my heart (besides food) is makeup. I think Chris might be regretting setting the standard so high for Valentine's gifts after this year, though. 

Saturday afternoon was spent at Discovery Park with the Gourley gang, which was nice, because I'm pretty sure we would have just spent the day on the couch if we didn't have that excuse to get out and go play. After the park we went back to mama and papa Gourley's and had pizza, a Valentine's pinata, and cake for Tessa's birthday. 

After hanging out with the Gourley gang, we went home and (accidentally) enjoyed a 2 hour nap (romantic or what?!). When we woke up, the battle of "What should we do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" started. Luckily, I won that battle because Chris came up with the idea to go visit our spot, Tidbit. Unfortunately when we were driving up there, we realized that the road gate wouldn't be open yet, so we wouldn't be able to go visit our spot. At least Chris was "lucky" enough to remember his binoculars in case he needed to look for some turkeys. It also worked out for us because we got to go visit my cutest cousin in the hospital and her new baby boy, Ridge! (kickin' myself for not getting a picture with him now...)

The rest of our Valentine's Day consisted of a food crawl: Bam Bam's BBQ for Swachos (just do yourself a favor, and go get the brisket ones), Brassa's for some good ole street tacos (that aren't $11!), and then of course, SWIG, because hi! It's US. 

Speaking of us...I love us! There's no one else I'd rather be an "us" with than Chris Gourley. 

I hope you all were able to spend your Valentine's Day with your own Chris Gourley! And if you haven't found your Chris Gourley yet, keep lookin'! I'm sure he's out there... lookin' for turkeys or somethin'.

  

TWO!

Two much fun

 Two fast

Two many laughs

Two silly

Two in love

TWO YEARS!

I know the first year is a big deal, but I think year two of marriage is so underrated! I feel like after year one you finally know how to live with each other + not fight about the dumb little things that you did in the first year (you all should be happy to know that Chris and I have not fought about syrup this year!). Yes, year two is bueno bueno.

When I first saw that our anniversary was on a Sunday this year, I was a little bummed, because what the heck do you do on a Sunday to celebrate your anniversary? But we ended up celebrating our anniversary basically all weekend, so now I'm convinced that Sundays are the best day to have an anniversary! On Friday we celebrated by going to Outback and eating way too many cheese fries (which I now know how many calories are in because of my portion control lesson I taught earlier this week :( #healthteacherprobs), and then we went and soaked in my parent's hot tub. Oh, and did I mention we were in bed by 8:00 that night? That's what two years of marriage looks like, folks. Pure bliss.

On Saturday we decided to get up early and go to Park City (because heaven forbid we miss our rec-league pickle ball game that afternoon!). That's where we spent our honeymoon, so it's kind of just become a  fun little tradition to go there each year. Before we went up to PC, we thought it would be fun to see if there were any restaurants up there that were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, because we're obsessed with the Food Network and thought it would be fun to have lunch somewhere different than our usual Cafe Rio or Chubby's. We saw that Silver Star Cafe had been featured on the show, so we decided to try it. But when we pulled up on Saturday, they were closed! Boo. Luckily, the other restaurant featured on DDD was only 3 minutes away, so we ended up eating lunch at Sammy's Bistro, and oh my goodness it did not disappoint. I could sing praises to the Chivito Club Sandwich! My heart skips a beat just thinking about it.

We also tried to take our two year anniversary pic there, which required bringing in our picture from our first year anniversary, and then awkwardly asking our waitress to come outside and take a picture of us. Behold:

 All that awkwardness for nothing. To anyone wanting to do a picture like this for your anniversary, I suggest taking  the glass out and NOT having a glossy finish on the photo--it'll make the picture taking process a lot easier, which means your husband won't throw a fit when you ask him to take the picture 20 more times ;) Thank goodness for in-laws willing to take pictures!

The rest of our anniversary weekend consisted of mooching free meals off of Mama and Papa Gourley, hanging out with friends and family, and lots of snuggling/avoiding any productivity. In other words, it was the perfect weekend.

I'm sure I will say this every year, but I can't believe how the time has just flown by! It really seems like just yesterday we were walking out of the temple hand-in-hand ready to take on the world as Mr. and Mrs. Gourley. Well, if we're being honest, I wasn't technically Mrs. Gourley until about 4 months after we got married, because changing your name is such a beast, but that's besides the point. We've grown so much in just these past two years, and I can't wait to see what the rest of eternity holds for us! I love celebrating our love.... Here's to many more November 9th's!

I love you, Chris! And I love our love.

Tidbit

I just realized that I'm 100 posts into my blog and I've never even explained why it's called A Tidbit of Love. Um, hi! Blog fail. Has anyone ever wondered why it's called that? *crickets chirping* Just indulge me as I attempt to put off some homework, okay?

* * * * * * * * * * *

First of all, Tidbit is a place. The first time I had ever been to this place was when me and Chris were "dating" (we wouldn't admit we were dating because I was still writing my missionary at the time) and we had just finished eating at California Pizza Kitchen, which shows you right there that Chris must have really liked me, because that shiz is expensive! Well, according to the Gourley $5 hot-n-ready date night budget it is. Anyway, after California pizza kitchen, we decided to go on a drive. We started heading towards Squaw Peak (judge us!) and we ended up parking next to this hill that's a couple miles down from Squaw Peak. Chris had planned for us to eat some treats up there and do water color pictures (I love my zoobie Chris!) and watch the sun set. It was one of my favorite dates we've ever had. Naturally, that became our makeout spot ;)

In all seriousness though, it actually became more than just our makeout spot. It became our spot where we'd go and talk about really deep, personal things, and where I ugly cried in front of Chris when we would try to talk about my missionary situation and where things were going for us. Yes, a lot of wet kisses were shared on that mountain thanks to all those conversations. I think one of my favorite memories up there was being cuddled up to Chris underneath a sky full of stars, and he said, "I think we should call this spot Tidbit. Because it's a tidbit of mine, and a tidbit of yours, since we both found it." Which somehow led to the discussion of "if things were to work out between us, it would be cool to have a cabin someday and have a sign in front of it that says, "It all started with a tidbit of love." I laugh just thinking about that. Like, how did I think I could have that kind of conversation with Chris and still think I'd wait for my missionary?! Thank goodness Chris is a patient person!

Anyway, after a few more visits/tears/kisses up on Tidbit, the idea of me and Chris having a cabin together someday didn't seem so crazy anymore, so Chris asked me to marry him, and what better place to ask at than our spot?! 

We still go up there from time to time, and every time we do, I can't help but get the butterflies I felt when we were dating and reminisce on all the memories we have there. I never thought I'd hear myself say that one of my favorite places in the world is right here in Orem, Utah...

Even though we don't have a cabin yet, I'm definitely okay having  this be the place where we can say that it all started with "A Tidbit of Love."

xx

I'm waiting for...

-another day I get out of class early

-the next time I roam through Costco with my mom and ask her Is this a better deal than Wal-Mart?! every 20 seconds

-the next time I have completely empty laundry baskets

-my nephew, Dash, to come with me to my mom's again and open the door to a ice cold diet DP from McDonald's (my mom just gets me)

-Chris to surprise me with another cupcake from Cravings 

-the day Chris will let me win in tennis (he claims he's just "keeping me humble")
-the day that I really do beat him in tennis
-my phone to start taking high quality, "blog-worthy" pics of us playing tennis
-Chris to be happy about taking said pics
-another day to procrastinate my homework assignments because there's only two weeks of Spring semester left and I'm already in summer mode
-the next time I expect to have just another typical Tuesday and realize it's one of the best days I've had in a while