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High Five For Friday

I missed last week's H54F due to the holiday so this week is going to be a little recap of the past week and a half or so...

I bought some super cute flats on extra clearance from DSW last week after the boots I wore to school broke in the parking lot before class even started. I headed to the nearest shoe store during my lunch break and found these. I'm kind of super in love!

We enjoyed this beautiful bird for Thanksgiving dinner...

...along with these yummy mini pumpkin pies for dessert.
{I made 14 pumpkin pies and 11 apple pie rolls the night before Thanksgiving - I was busy!}

One of the best things about Thanksgiving is old friends coming home! This year, we played the annual game of Mall Madness and it was fan-freaking-tastic!

Finally, just this past week we put our tree up. I snapped this picture before we got the ornaments on, but I made sure to get the stockings and the presents in the shot!

And that's all for this week! Hopefully I'll be back next Friday with some better, less holiday-oriented photos ;)

How was your week?

Strengthen Your Relationship - Communication Tips


Trevor and I have always been great at communicating. Sometimes we communicate so well that we stay up too late talking about your days, our future, our families, and our dreams until we doze off.

They say that a key to a solid relationship is communication. In the almost 8 years that we've been together, I can count the number of times we've raised our voices at one another on a single hand. We just don't fight. And when we do, we don't fight dirty.

How could that be? Well, we talk about things before they grow out of control and to the point that we want to yell at each other. 
Do we disagree?
UM, HELLO! WE'RE HUMAN! Of course we do! On top of it, we're complete opposites so we tend to "agree to disagree" often.

Yet, we still don't have issues with that. We respect each other as adults, students, children, spouses, and partners.

I thought I'd share a marriage tool with you today that has drastically improved what we communicate about and has in turn strengthened our marriage more than I thought was possible. We use this tool once a week - on Sundays - but you can use it as much as you want {once a day if you really need to work on your communication!}.

You're going to need to set aside time for this. Not hours by any means, but you want to dedicate enough time so that your relationship is being nurtured  For us, sometimes we start these questions first thing on Sunday morning and slowly work through them during the day {on the drive to church, while waiting in line, over lunch, etc}. Other weeks, we do them all at once while laying in bed Sunday night. Do what works for you and your significant other.

Here's what you'll need to do, it's simple! 
Listen with open ears and an open mind. Speak with an open mind and an open heart.

Ask each other these questions and don't be surprised when they lead into much more deep conversations - in fact, that's what makes them so useful!

1) Tell me about your week/day/however long it's been since you last did these questions. {For Trevor and I, it's "Tell me about your week.".}
This helps us get up to speed on what happened during the week with the other person. Most of the time, he's at school until late and I'm already in bed when he gets home because I get up for work at 4:30am.

2) Tell me about your upcoming week.
It's nice to hear what your partner is going to be doing for the next seven days! For us, since I work an irregular schedule, it's helpful to know when I'm going to be getting up early and when I'm going to be home for dinner. It's just a quick run down of what your calendars say. This is usually when we compare what nights we have off together and pick one of them to be our date night or movie night.

3) How did I make you feel loved last week? What would you like me to continue doing?
This is your chance to tell your loved one what they did right and if you want it to be done again. If you're familiar with each other's love languages, you'll see a lot of that in this question.

4) What can I do for you this week to make you feel loved? Be specific with time of day/methods of how you can make the other feel loved.
You may find this question awkward at first because you're basically telling your loved one exactly what you want them to do to make you feel loved but ladies, let's face it, our husbands/boyfriends can't read minds and they need us to explicitly tell them what they can do for us. You'll get better at this question as time goes on and you see what a difference it makes in they way they show love towards you.

5) What can we work on together?
This self explanatory, but it's just a time to set goals for your interactions for the week.

6) What should we work on when it comes to sex/intimacy?
Yes, Trevor and I routinely talk about what goes on between the sheets - it's important! We talk about what worked really well for us the past week and what we want to try to incorporate for the next seven days. This question isn't limited to sex alone - if you have concerns or comments about PDA, lack of kissing, etc. now is the time to bring it up!

We go through the questions in order but alternate answering them. I'll ask Trevor #1, then he'll answer and ask me the same question. Then he'll ask me #2, I'll answer and then ask him. Then I'll ask him #3, he'll answer and ask me. So on and so forth.

Do you see how those questions can lead into much more thought provoking discussion? I can't stress enough that you need to set aside ample time to get through the six questions - it's worth it!

Try out the questions with your spouse or significant other and let me know how they work out for you! If you make communication a priority your relationship will improve and you will be happier in it. 

Cyber Monday


In honor of Cyber Monday, ad spaces are on sale! Use CYBERMONDAY to get ALL ad spaces 60% off. This offer is good through tomorrow {11/26} at 11:59pm CST.
Check out my Sponsor page for details.

Are you doing any other shopping online today?

Saturday Inspiration






Source: instagram.com via Sara on Pinterest

I'm giving it all I've got but I can't do it forever. Thank goodness Trevor will be done with school before Christmas.
Less than a month until I can take care of myself and begin to spend more time with my husband.



Hey, how was your Thanksgiving?!

We spent time with both of our families - it was wonderful.
Instead of shopping yesterday, all seven of us spent an afternoon at a museum and ate delicious Chinese food.
Today, we're back on the productivity train: working on Christmas gifts, running errands, cleaning, baking, and hopefully fitting in some time with friends from high school.

Happy weekend - have you decorated for Christmas yet?

Thankful

Last week, I found out I won a Thirty One bag giveaway from Sara. I was super excited about it and patiently waited for the bag to show up at my doorstep.

Well, that day was yesterday. I opened the box to find a sorts of goodies including a handwritten note {so sweet!}.

So what am I thankful for today, two days before Thanksgiving?
I'm thankful for friends. And for this wonderful opportunity you all have given me to write about my life as a nursing student newlywed. 

Sure, I could write every day's happenings and post them for the world to see... but without readers and people who chime in to say very kind things {Cody tells me she loves my handwriting - I've never been told that before!} it would be like talking to an empty room.

For that I say THANK YOU for letting me write and for not complaining too much ;)

Happy Thanksgiving - I'll be back in a couple of days. Until then, I'll be working on my Handmade Christmas tutorial posts for you... and eating a lot of green bean casserole!

True Confessions

If you recall, I decided to start blogging as a way to remember life as newlyweds. Life is just the two of us - no pets, no kids, nothing to tie us to 'home'. I wanted to remember the fun things we did together and the way it felt being young and married.

So Trevor and I were talking today and this idea came to mind - there are so many moments I would still love to capture here at You.And.Me.Are.We and this is how I'm going to start!

Welcome to the first edition of True Confessions of a Blogger's Husband!


I'll be posting little snippets of conversations we have in order to fully capture our newlywed life. This means you won't see the polished side of us all of the time - like the moment I want to share with you today.

I'm hoping this will be a fun and easy way to document little happenings and some hilarious thoughts that come out of Trevor's mouth :)

You are more than welcome to join me in this endeavor. If there's interest, I can provide code for the button above and we can all link up. {If you're interested, let me know in the comments so I can make some magic happen!} However, for today, I don't mind sharing alone.

Last night, Trevor and I were discussing pros and cons to peeing in the shower - saving water vs. having pee on your feet - and confessed that he'd pee in the shower without a second thought if he was the one scrubbing the tub.

In fact he said something along the lines of, "I'd totally pee in the shower if I knew I'd be the one cleaning it! But whenever I think about doing it, I tend to think of how you'd be the one scrubbing the tub clean afterwards and then I think twice!"

I'm so glad he thinks of me before he pees ;)

The Sunday Before Thanksgiving

Just a little glimpse into today's activities.

I'm still in my pajamas because addressing envelopes, filling out graduation invites, doing six loads of laundry, and making shopping lists doesn't require me to put on real pants.

Glorious, glorious Sunday.

H54F


As promised last Friday, here's the little cutie I spent a few hours with a week ago. He was wonderfully perfect and very content. It's been a LONG time since I've had such a good baby in my arms!

One night this week was spent with my mom. We made this yummy shrimp stir fry. It was absolutely wonderful to just have a girl's night and eat food that's good for us!

Last Saturday, I met up with a friend for coffee. Coffee turned into a bookstore {where I found this book that I swiftly put on my Christmas list}. A bookstore turned into a full blown shopping trip. It was great to catch up but it's even better knowing I have a friendship with her that can pick up right where it left off even if we haven't seen each other in months.

Channing and I had a date night. It was a glorious, glorious evening.

This happened. And while it wasn't pleasant at the time {not by a long shot!}, it really made me love and appreciate my fantastic husband even more than before.

How was your week?!

for better or for worse

Yesterday, I woke up sick. Trevor had already left for school for the day and I was supposed to be getting ready for a full day at school as well.

I attempted to get ready but couldn't brush off the icky feeling... and then before I knew it, I was stuck in the bathroom for far too long. After almost passing out, I managed to get myself back into bed where I remained for most of the morning.

I called Trev to let him know that I wasn't feeling well and that I was a little bit worried that I was on the verge of losing consciousness.  

And you know what? He came home. Two and a half weeks away from graduation, working on final projects, busy as ever, he came home to rub my back and get me medicine and cuddle me until I fell asleep.

This is the first time one of us was so sick since we got married. Actually, I think it's the sickest I've been since the beginning of our relationship in 2005. And it is such an amazing feeling to know that I married a man who isn't phased by a really sick wife. I know that he'll make an amazing dad someday and will soothe his sick children to sleep. I'm sure of it when I say that my husband is the most perfect man for me.

You know what I realized through all of it? I take my husband for granted. The funny thing is, he and I make sure to shower each other with kind words and lots of love. So how did such a thing get past me? I think it happened because of quite a few different reasons but you better believe after yesterday's events I am making a point never to let it happen again.

A lot of us get caught up in daily life and forget to appreciate our spouses and significant others... so take a few moments today during your morning coffee, lunch break, or commute home to reflect on a time that they were incredibly strong and blew your expectations out of the water. Then, TELL THEM {!!!} how you felt and just how much you love them.

Don't let another day go by without expressing your gratitude to your loved ones!

Handmade Christmas

If I told you that I'm a quarter of the way finished with my Christmas gift giving list you may think I'm crazy, right? And you'd think I was even more ambitious if I told you that said gifts are already wrapped and ready to put under the tree when it goes up, right?

...and that they look a little something like this:

What if I told you I had to be this ambitious?

Ok, so nobody is holding a gun to my head and making me wrap gifts... but unless I want to be up until 3am Christmas morning wrapping gifts, I really have no choice.

Why? Well, because Trevor and I thought we'd try having an entirely handmade Christmas this year.
That means we make all of the gifts we're giving.
We wrap the gifts up in simple wrapping.
We focus on the person we are gifting something to and we really try to cherish the moments we've shared with them this year.

Not only is it good for our souls, we decided to do this Handmade Christmas at a great time - when only one of us is working and we are up to our eyeballs in student loan payments - because it turns out the love we put into our gifts is much more valuable than the money we could have spent at the mall buying a gift instead.

Trevor and I have most of the planning done for all of the gifts we're giving. Every weekend we get a little closer to finishing a few more. He's making half of the gifts, and I'm making half of the gifts - and with 30 total gifts to make, it comes out to be 15 gifts that we each have the pleasure of making.

I am so blessed that my husband was on board with this idea but I am even more blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that will appreciate the love, time, and hardwork that we are putting into every gift.

Because family members read my blog {Hi, Mom!}, I am choosing to keep gift specifics under wraps until we can exchange gifts closer to Christmas... but until that time, here are some great Pinterest finds that you can make for your own Handmade Christmas! If you have any other ideas, feel free to add them in the comments below - I would love hearing about your experiences with handmade gift exchanges!

Maybe you'd like to make these cute felt coasters for a loved one?
Source: purlbee.com via Sara on Pinterest

Or this handmade lace pottery?

What about food gifts - like these grill rubs...

...or this bread in a bottle?
Source: sunset.com via Sara on Pinterest


I can't wait to share tutorials and photos of the gifts we're making this holiday season!

Would you enjoy making or receiving these gifts?

Saturday Inspiration

Source: cafemom.com via Desiree on Pinterest

Here's my to-do list for today, what's on yours?


High Five For Friday

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend.
I have to work on Sunday but I'm not going to let that ruin the rest of the fun today and tomorrow!

Here's what I've been up to this week:

I know it's only November 9th and you may think I'm completely nuts for listening to my Christmas station on Pandora - but I'm considering it research. If you missed earlier posts, I'm co-hosting a Holiday Mixed 'Tape' Swap. I'm so excited to start pairing people up and let the creative juices flow while making my mixed CD for my partner. You still have until Sunday to sign up, so I suggest you strongly consider joining us!

Trevor and I hadn't been to HuHot in forever so we decided to be cool like the grandmas and grandpas and get dinner there at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. It was totally worth it because we didn't have to wait in line for 20 minutes just to get our food cooked. We may look like we're only 15 but we have old souls and channel our inner senior citizens often. P.S. It was the first time I had tried the Coke freestlye drinks - so cool!

Last weekend, I discovered my new favorite wine. LOVE. IT.

We celebrated a birthday and ate these adorable pumpkin spice cupcakes. Not only were they cute, they were so yummy!

Early in the summer, my parents' basement flooded. It would have sucked enough if they would have just had water damage to the usual stuff in basements but the flood was a huge blow to them because my step-dad had been working on finishing the basement - all planning and labor done by him - and while it was sad that all of his hard work was ruined by water, it was even worse knowing he couldn't redo it {having been diagnosed with MS and feeling like crap}. After many, MANY headaches, hiring people to finish it for them, and thousands of dollars later, it was finally UNofficially finished this past week. And it's beautiful. I took a lot of pictures and I'm thinking of taking you guys on a tour - what do you think, would you be interested?

And that's it! I'm spending the day with friends, family, and babies. Pictures to come next week, I'm sure.

What are you doing this weekend?

Back on the Horse

First - I know you've been reading it everywhere today, but it's a very important message: If you live in the US, please go vote. It's your right to do so. If you don't and wake up tomorrow morning  {or next week} not liking who was elected as US President, you have no right to complain.

Second - If you love Christmas music {not necessarily in November - just if you love Christmas music at all!} you should check out yesterday's post. I'm co-hosting a Holiday Mixed 'Tape' Swap with Meghan and Meagan. If you're on a budget this holiday season {ok, let's face it, who doesn't watch their pennies around this time of year} then you're in luck! Our swap should only set you back a few buckaroos. Join us!

Ok, back to the reason I'm posting today!

After not featuring any sponsors in October, I'm back on the horse this month bringing you some ladies you should meet!

I know it's been a little while since I've done a post like this so let me remind you how this works - I choose my favorite post from each sponsoring blog to share with you all. That way, you can find some awesome posts without having to do a lot of work. Yes, I'm doing the hard part. Now all you have to do is click on the links I'm putting into this post! Do it!


First, meet Brooke {and Scott} from loving this unique life!


Hi, My name is Brooke and I write over at loving this unique life. Austin is my home. I'm a simple girl who loves the outdoors. I'm sometimes funny, sometimes awkward and all the time myself! I am a glass half full kind of gal and am usually very positive. I'm a lover of animals, working out, sour candy, exclamation points, and bike rides. Big things that make up my little world are my sweet future hubby, Scott, our dog Mac, my family and friends! I'd love for you to pop by and say hi!

You.And.Me.Are.We's post pick: You need to see the cute puppy that Brooke and Scott recently got. If your heart doesn't melt at the sight of his adorable fluffy face then we might as well just call you The Grinch.




Next, meet Chelsea from Yours Truly! She's the beauty behind Yours Truly Designs - if you're in the market for a new blog design, don't hesitate to check her out because you won't regret it!



Hi friends! My name is Chelsea and I am a blogger and blog designer at Yours Truly. My favorite things in life are my cute Kiwi boyfriend and awesome family, Vancouver city, cherry blossom trees and Hello Kitty. I have a passion for design -specifically blog design - and do it as a little side business for now but hope to start doing it full time in the new year. I'd love for you to come say hi!

You.And.Me.Are.We's post pick: You're going to want to grab a pen for this one - Chelsea was part of a link up last month all about brainstorming blog topics. I know we all get into ruts sometimes and are at a loss of what our next post is going to be about - seriously, you should use this post as a reference! Not only is it full of Chelsea's ideas, there are a bunch of other blogs who linked up their ideas as well. Pin this, write it down, memorize it, whatever you have to do - this is a valuable one, don't miss it!




Finally, meet Jenni from A Dash of Sunshine!



My name is Jenni and I am the blogger behind A Dash of Sunshine! I am a twenty-something student, wife, mother, and orthodontic assistant! On my blog you can find some tasty looking recipes and some pictures of the cutest kid in the whole entire world!

You.And.Me.Are.We's post pick: Ok, so I can't pick just one. Jenni has way too many yummy sounding recipes to narrow it down to a single recipe to share with you. Settle for three - then pin them all - and we'll call it good! Don't miss this pie, this twist on rice krispie treats, or these cookie brownies!

So get to it! Start clicking on links, making new friends, and supporting the blog community. These ladies have been wonderfully patient - working with me and my crazy busy life. They rock, so show them some love!

Holiday Mixed 'Tape' Swap!



Hello and happy Monday!

How was your weekend? Fantastic, I take it?!

Trevor and I spent a lot of time with family this weekend celebrating - celebrating birthdays, new babies, and new chapters.

You know what else I did this weekend?
I got ready to announce something fun... and I think you're going to like it...

are you ready for this?

Presenting the 
Holiday Mixed 'Tape' Swap...
(and by mixed tape, we mean CD...mixed tape just sounds cooler)


Side note for my Don't-Listen-to-Holiday-Music-Until-After-Thanksgiving friends...this swap is perfect for you! Since the link-up is more than a week after Thanksgiving, it'll give you time to listen to and enjoy your holiday mixed CD from your partner!

Who have I partnered with for this swap?

Meghan from Shine On: a twenty-something, coffee-loving, social media addict

and...

Meagan from Local at Last: a twenty-something army wife and nanny, neat freak and natural cleaner, forever indecisive midwest girl.

The three of us have organized this to help spread holiday cheer!
And who doesn't love a little bit of cheer?!

Want some details?

Timeline:
November 5 - November 11: Sign-ups will take place! Use the form below to sign up.
Monday, November 12: Sara, Meagan and Meghan will send you your swap partner.
Monday, November 19: Packages have been sent!
Monday, December 3: Link-up with Sara, Meagan and Meghan to share your track lists!

Cost:
Cheap! The costs of a disc/case + shipping. It should cost no more than $5-7 total.
Who doesn't love a swap that's inexpensive?!


Help us spread the word!
We'd love to have as many people sign up as possible. If able & willing, we'd love for you to help us by adding our button to your blog, in addition to pinning, sharing, and/or tweeting about the swap!  

It's time to spread holiday cheer! Join @MeghanGranito, @Local_at_Last & @YouAndMeAreWe for a Holiday Mixed CD Swap! http://bit.ly/KtEsBY

Additional Information:
Friendly Introductions: Please head over to your partner's blog so that you can get to know them. We recommend shooting your partner an e-mail to see if there are any artists/CDs he/she already have - that way we aren't sending duplicate jams. Also, make sure to grab their mailing address!
Package Nicely: Make sure the CD is in a case and/or packaged properly. We do not want any broken CDs! A little bubble wrap never hurt anyone!
Delivery is Important: We suggest adding some sort of tracking to your package so that you and your partner confirm they were sent and delivered. This is completely optional and at the discretion of you & your partner.

Because of the assigned schedule, please adhere to these guidelines to ensure that you meet the deadline. Swaps are only fun when both parties participate, so please be sure not to leave your partner hanging!

If you do sign up and are unable to complete this swap, please let one of the hosts know ASAP, so that we can reassign partners.

Join Us!

Saturday Inspiration

I found this recently and it really struck a chord. We have the power to forgive others even if they aren't sorry. We hold the power. You can no longer say you are upset with someone because of their actions - you can forgive.


Be the bigger person.

Happy Saturday, all.

High Five For Friday


Hey there and happy Friday!

 We made the yummiest caramel apples last weekend. I had never attempted to make them on my own but they're not too bad to make and they're even better to eat!

Trevor and I are attempting a Handmade Christmas {more on that in another post} so I busted out the sewing machine and got a good start on a few gifts. I'm feeling much more calm about it now than I was a week ago... I thought I was going to have to make 30 gifts the week before Christmas but now I have 6 done and a good idea on what to do for the rest of them. Yay for productivity!

Trevor and I carved pumpkins this week. Mine turned out pretty weird looking but I think Trevor's is super cute!

We voted today. And now that I've done my part, that means that I have absolutely zero tolerance for political ads on TV, the radio, and along the highways. Tuesday can't come soon enough! Living in Wisconsin has it's perks. Being a battleground state that just come out of a nasty recall election and has been pummeled with political ads for the past year and a half, I am SO GOSH DARN READY for these freaking ads to be off the airways. We don't even have ads for simple stuff like mac and cheese and tires anymore. Every commercial break is filled with presidential, senate, and local representatives bashing each other. I'm so sick of it!

And lastly, I managed to scoop up the last two six packs of this amazing brew. Trevor loves this stuff and was bummed when the local grocery stores ran out of it early this year {it's a seasonal brew that's very popular and gets grabbed up as fast as they can put it out on the shelves usually}. I came across some on a whim and have one hidden in a closet to give to Trevor as a Christmas present. He'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

How was your week?

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