Happy New Year!

How did 2012 get here so quickly? It seemed like it moved so fast. Josh and I are already preparing for a crazy year. Lots of big things are happening.

But as a nod to 2011, I wanted to create a cute, simplified memory of 2011 to share with our families and to have as a keepsake. Of course, Pinterest has continued to serve as inspiration for so many projects I'm doing these days, so it only made sense for me to turn to some of my past pins to accomplish this particular task.

And, instantly I fell in love with these adorable newsletters.

images here and here

What an adorable way to share you year! So I whipped up our own little version using photoshop. I kept the format very similar to both examples but tailored it to our little family. As a poor college couple, we obviously didn't need a travel map of the world, but we did include some fun achievements from 2011.

I especially love the little married couple. Adorable! And I also wanted to add a "coming soon" section to hint at big events happening in 2012. As you can tell, it's going to be a big one.

How do you share your news with family? What are you looking forward to the most in 2012?

How You Know He's a Keeper

Josh and I are discussing Christmas gift ideas for eachother and this is what he said:

"Everything I want to get you is too expensive for right now... like a kitchen remodel."

I'll take that!

Our reason to DWIT: A Big Move

When I first introduced dwitting, I didn't explain the biggest reason why we were "doing what it takes" and since today marks 5 full years of being together, I thought it would be extremely appropriate to elaborate. Josh and I have lived in the state of Texas for our whole lives and when we moved to college and got married, we decided that it would be amazing to get out of Texas and experience a different state. We pinpointed the northwest as our preference and even further narrowed it down to southern Oregon.

PoppyandPinecone on Etsy (Get your state!!!)

The weather is better, the land is prettier, and you don't have 40+ days of temperatures over 100 degrees. (Yes! That's what's happening in Texas right now. Blech!) It sounds a little crazy, especially since Josh and I haven't ever visited this state, but we're up for a leap of faith. We're in the perfect position to do something like this. No kids, no huge obligations. We just need to get there.

So, this is why we're dwitting. To get to Oregon and start our life. (Hopefully by the end of 2012!)

Have you ever taken a huge leap of faith like this? How did it turn out? Any great advice? Leave it in the comments below! I want to hear about it!

Husband of the Year: 2011

Yesterday started out as a good day... that turned horrible in about 2.3 seconds. I won't get into details, but I got some rough news that came out of nowhere and yielded some pretty outlandish accusations about my company. Needless to say, I was pretty upset.

But luckily, I have the best husband ever. This phone call came while dinner was in the oven and I was mixing batter for some awesome red velvet and cream cheese whoopie pies*... so as I paced the living trying to breathe, he finished dinner, and kept an eye on me the whole time. Not only did he jump to my defense after I hung up (therefore, fulfilling his "big-strong-man" duties) but he continued to comfort me and talk out the situation throughout the night

And then, he did the best thing of all; he made me laugh. I have this weird habit of taking strands of my hair and putting them over my top lip to create, what some might call, a fairly handsome 'stache. Every time I do this, I try to see if he'll 1) let me put the mustache on him and/or 2) ask him to kiss me with this hairy lip. (I don't know how he doesn't find it attractive or at least hilarious!) After sitting on the couch for the better part of an hour and sorting out the details and the truth, I began fiddling with my hair as always. And then he said, "This is a one time offer, but if it'd make you feel better, I will kiss you with a mustache." Why yes, that would make me feel better! AND THEN, he let me put that handle-bar monstrosity on him! And I just laughed!

I really can't explain how lucky I feel to have such a great husband. Our first year of marriage has been pretty rough but nothing that has happened has even come close to putting a damper on our relationship and that makes me happy. (Note: we have also decided that when our one year anniversary does come around that we will be buying lottery tickets as a testament to how crazy the first year has been. Here's hoping we'll get lucky!!!)

*Just in case you were wondering, the whoopie pies turned out awesome!

Cabin Fever

Maybe you've heard, but the entire DFW area is covered with ice. The past three days have yielded highs in the teens! Needless to say, this area is definitely not equipt to handle this sort of weather, so school has been cancelled since Tuesday and we have been hold up in our apartment for the past three days! (Going on four).

After receiving the third message saying that school had been cancelled for Friday, I looked over at Josh and told him at least I was stuck with someone I could stand spending 4 straight days with. (I'm so lucky!) Movies, hot cocoa, and the daily adventure through the snow, just to get out of the apartment keep us sane.

Here's a short vlog of our first snowy adventure.

Two Weeks as a Married Couple

Finally time to get back to regular posting. I've missed it so. Now it's time to blog about all the fun stuff that's happened in the past few weeks.

People ask how it feels to be married now and the only response I can honestly reply with is "It feels exactly the same". I love that! There was no major shift when we said "I will". Our life is as normal as it was before we left for the wedding. Regardless of the fact that our version of "normal" may be just the opposite.

It's a little strange getting used to a new signature and then being called nearly last during attendance in class but nothing huge. And I am loving my self-proclaimed "wifely duties". It's just fun to me to do little things around the house that I know Josh will appreciate, such as making the bed when we're running late and setting up the coffee maker the night before. And Josh has also taken a liking to his "big-strong man" duties such as changing light bulbs and hanging art.

So far, all is well in the Willis household.

Feeling Accomplished

We bought a new car today. It was quite the process and I couldn't be happier that it's over. Car problems occurring simultaneously with a wedding/honeymoon are not fun (not that car trouble is ever fun).

We ended up buying a 2006 Mazda Tribute and it is in really great shape. The best part? We got to pay for it in cash. No payments! It was a really great feeling.

It was a really good experience for me and Josh to go through. Buying a car is a really hard thing to do so we were really lucky to have our parents and family around to give us advice (a lot of advice). Together, Josh and I had to negotiate, go through our finances, and really figure out what we could go for.

I think we did pretty well for ourselves. Wedding stuff coming up soon!

Comforting Traditions

With 7 days to go, our apartment has been a whirlwind. Tomorrow we're leaving to go to our hometown and start prepping for the arrival of family and the wedding itself. This will probably be the most stressful trip to pack for in our lives. We're leaving our comfortable apartment in North Texas for two weeks to get married and go on our honeymoon. Very intimidating.

But we are ending our "single" lives in this apartment in a kind of cute way. We first moved in together in May of 2009 and on of the most exciting memories was the first meal I ever cooked for the both of us in that apartment. Truth-be-told it was a pretty random recipe from a Kraft magazine with a lame title. Much to my relief though, the meal turned out great. *You have no idea how nervous I was cooking it*

We renamed the dish "First Night Pasta" and that is what we are having for dinner tonight. It's just a little way to commemorate starting a new chapter in our life.

I thought I'd share the recipe with you. Bear with me because the physical recipe is long gone and I do most of it by eye now, but it is super yummy!

First Night Pasta

• 1 1/2 cups rigatoni pasta
• approx 2 cups fresh broccoli
• chicken cut into small pieces (I usually use half the container of breast tenderloins)
• approx. 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 3 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
  
  1. Preheat over to 350. Prepare pasta as instructed on package. Add broccoli about 3 months prior to pasta being al-dente.
  2. In a small sauce pan, prepare chicken until cooked through. Turn heat down to simmer. Add chicken broth, cream cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Stir until melted.
  3. Drain pasta and broccoli. Add chicken and sauce and stir until thoroughly mixed.
  4. Pour into casserole dish and sprinkle with Italian bread crumbs and a little mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

The Realization

Today is my last day of work until after we return from our honeymoon. That just hit me. The next time I see my coworkers, I'll have a new last name and a new shiny ring on my finger.

Next weekend I am going to marry my best friend. I thought this day would never come and now it's nine days out. What an amazing feeling.

Setting the Foundation - Money and Marriage

Josh and I spent Easter weekend doing a whole bunch of 'not Easter-y' things. There weren't any eggs or bunnies, but we did something so much better. Starting Friday, this past weekend became "super-productive weekend" and the biggest thing we tackled (and dominated) was our finances.

I will never claimed to have been a big saver. I like to spend money... way more than I should. But on the other hand the idea of bad credit scares the hell out of me. I don't want to not be able to get a car or a house because I messed up as a teenager. So not worth it.

Josh on the other hand is frugal. Really. Frugal. So it's up to us to establish a balance and continue to work towards that equilibrium before we tie the knot. One of the top things couples fight about is money and up until this point we never had to fight about that because we kept most things separate. Recently, we opened our joint savings and checking accounts and it is vital that we establish parameters. How much needs to be contributed every month to cover our living expenses? What percentage of our income can go into savings? What do we consider legitimate reasons to spend from the savings account?

This past weekend, we answered all of those questions and came up with a system that will help us to track who puts what in and where that money goes.

This system may end up being just the first of many until we find one that completely works for us, but the important part is we are recognizing an important area of potential conflict and addressing it together. It feels good!