a 365 (or 367?) day success story

one year ago exactly (minus two days), michael and i were staring dreamily into each other's eyes thinking excitedly about our happy future together. today we have a whopping year of marriage under our belts and have learned a bit more things about each other :) this last year has flown by (excuse the cliche)! before getting married i had heard that the first year of marriage is the hardest, but i was happily surprised to find out that mine and michael's first year of marriage was the most fun, exciting, and happy year of my life thus far. if it was the worst, i'm excited for what's coming!

who knows what this next year will bring. seattle? definitely. a puppy? YES. lots of seafood? absolutely. and hopefully we'll have time to fit in plenty of mountain biking, skiing, and other exciting adventures.

thanks for keeping up with the evertons over this past year!

remember us?

hi there :)

i hope no one out there in the blogosphere is too disgruntled with our little 3-month hiatus... we have been pretty busy since then, so brace yourself for a lot of updates.

1. hello. i graduated from college.

i know, right!?


i love it. being done with school, i mean. i feel such pity for michael every morning when i drop him off for class. i am SO glad to be done with all of that business. and for those of you who doubt me, here is the cecil-approved diploma to prove it:

i love you.

2. michael got new skis. volkl mantras, to be specific. now, i wasn't quite sure if this particular update was really necessary to share with the world, but considering that michael routinely asks if the skis can "sleep in the bed with us" (i say no), it's almost like they are the newest members of our little family. sigh.


3.  i got a job. yes, that is correct, i am the everton family bread-winner. i work for an seo company. at first i was writing, writing, writing all day long, but my job changed recently and now i work more with the numbers behind the work. scary concept, right? i never really saw myself as a 9-5 kinda girl, but i totally am.

4.  we got rear-ended! yes, on the way to school/work in the morning. it pretty much tore the bumper off of our car, but no one was hurt. and the couple that hit us live in wymount too. i actually wanted to become friends with them, but michael vetoed that idea because he thought it was too weird. we have all of their personal information though, so... we'll see.

so... i can't actually think of anything else that has happened to us. so i guess you didn't really need to hang onto your pants for a long list of updates. sorry if you are disappointed.

we love you all! and your little reminders to update the blog :) we will keep you better-informed in the coming year.

ps: our anniversary is coming up in 11 days. just think, one year ago today i was an emotional wreck at the end of my rope. ah, nostalgia. good times.

drumroll pleeeeaaase...

michael and i are moving.

TO SEATTLE!!

i die.
{source}

so my brilliant/charming/amazing husband landed an internship with the pwc office in downtown seattle. the reason he was gone for a whole week (while i moped around back in provo, missing out on the adventure) was because he was busy interviewing with a bunch of different accounting firms. after much deliberation, we decided that pwc was the best fit for our little family and sealed the deal. we are so excited!

and to be completely selfish... I LOVE SEATTLE. why, you ask?

1. i was born there 

2. it rains allll the time 

3. hippies 

4. the ocean (so, so close) 

5. the mariners 

6. new hobby: kayaking 

7. puppy! (coming soon) 

8. cool names of places to live 

(issaquah, sammamish, snoqualmie) 

9. seafood. sigh. 

10. close(r) to baker :)

his internship starts in the middle of june, so we still have a few months, but only a few :)

ps: michael is pretty sad to leave utah :(

the cuteness

1. i am thankful for the people i love who have taken care of me this week!
turns out that michael has been out of town all week... and my days have been filled with extreme boredom interjected with bursts of fun toward the end of the day. on tuesday, jill & brandon took me in, fed me lasagna, talked baker bulldog football, and then turned on the biggest loser. and then on wednesday, emi went shopping with me at h&m (love it), then brought me home with her for some yummy tilapia and modern family. i love you guys!

2. i am thankful for a secret surprise.
sorry kiddos, i can't disclose details (yet!), but it was to do with why michael has been out of town... stay tuned :) it's good, trust me. and before you ask, no, i am not pregnant. sorry mom!


3. i am thankful for this video:
(please ignore the fact that the guy is just hanging out in his whitie tighties)

4. i am also thankful for this video:
(seriously, watch the whole thing. i know it's 15 minutes long, but trust me, you won't regret a 15 minute investment in this video. it maaaybe made me full-out cry. it's just that cute)

5. i am thankful that byu basketball is baaaack!

i know we technically lost the season opener against utah state, but i smell a killer season coming on. and i can't lie, i miss the jimmer, but i'm working on moving on.

6. i am thankful that i only have 11 days of school left in my undergraduate career.
yes yes yes x infinity.

maybe i won't be an editor after all...

i just got an email saying that there is a job opening at the hogle zoo...

how fun would it be to have this little cutie as a coworker?
i mean really.
{source}

and wanna know how i'm wasting my time these days? yeah, you could call it an addiction. my little brother's football team is playing in the state tournament and i can't get enough of the trash talk in the forums. it's great. my favorite post i've read so far?

"I have read about the Siuslaw [the team they are playing on Saturday] power running game. Sounds impressive indeed. But, your boys will get to say hello to our Colton [spelled wrong] Richards on Saturday. I will leave it at that:-)"

cracks me up.

foods i will never love

michael always teases me about the very close connection between my mind and my stomach. because when i am hungry, there is nothing else on my mind. my claws come out and i turn into this guy:

also, turns out that i rarely encounter a food that i do not like. but. there are some definite exceptions. the foods that i do not eat under any circumstance and am determined to never, ever enjoy.

1. cilantro

mortal enemy.

i love mexican food. probably to an unhealthy extent. but cilantro? no thank you, you make me gag.


2. bleu cheese

do you know what that green stuff is?
it's mold.

disgusting. and spelled wrong.


3. oj

i like oranges. i like juice. but i do not like orange juice. ever ever ever.

however, if anyone were to offer me ice cream (of any flavor and of any quantity)... 

bffs?

yes. forever.

this is one of those tmi posts.

(you have been warned.)

lately the husband has been making a few insinuations about a little situation that has been developing on my upper lip. looks something like this:

the horror.

so tonight i finally decided to face this situation head-on. and for those of you who are curious (you know who you are. and if you're not one of the curious, maybe you should become curious before your husband starts making insinuations about it...), i thought i might share my perfected-over-the-years 'stache removal system. 

the first several times i decided to wax some part of my face (eyebrows or muh-st-ah-shh), my skin would freak out on me and break out really badly anywhere the wax had touched. and what's worse than a girl-stache? a mustache-shaped breakout on your upper lip. yikes. not attractive. and, unfortunately, incredibly resilient (think a solid 10 days of this).

so if you have this problem and have sworn off waxing to avoid the mustache-breakout, here is the routine that i have come up with to avoid such problems:

1: color in your mustache with mascara.

2: go to class.

ha, jk. don't do that. here's what you should really do:

1: buy this genius stuff. it is easy to use and super effective. you can also find it at sally beauty. 

2: wait until the end of the day right before you are about to go to bed and then take tylenol/advil/ibprofen or whatever kind of painkiller you use and wait 30 minutes. it's not a good idea to do this right before you head out the door for the day...

3. wash the whole area that you are going to wax with regular soap and water so that any bacteria or makeup is cleaned off.

4. heat up the wax in the microwave in 15 second intervals. once it is gooey (but not runny, you don't want it to be too hot), use an applicator to cover the whole area. it dries really fast, so you don't have to worry about it dripping anywhere it's not supposed to. wait until it has completely dried and then...

5. this is the rough part. rip. it. off. do it fast, just like a bandaid. just take a deep breath and riiiip.

6. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SKIN!! your fingers have all kinds of bacteria on them and you have a fresh layer of skin that has never seen the air. instead, wash your skin with regular soap and water again until all of the waxy residue is cleaned off and the skin no longer feels tacky. i usually have to wash it about three times before it's all clean. again, don't use a facial cleanser because they usually have benzoyl peroxide in them which can really irritate your already-irritated skin.

7. antibiotic ointment. slather it all over your freshly-waxed skin so that any bacteria that tries to wreak havoc on your complexion is KILLED.

8. go to sleep. in the morning your face will look perfect. well... i can't guarantee perfection. but at least it will look 'stache-less and clear :)

a few of my favorite things

i think i'm going to like this thankful thursday posting thing :)


1. i am thankful for the celine dion holiday station on pandora.

mmm yes. i love me some christmas music. on november 1st, i switch my pandora station from the texas chainsaw massacre score (you know, for halloween....) to more festive stuff. right now buble is singing softly in my ears. sigh. i love it.

2. i am thankful for bones!

no, not the bones in my body (though i guess i am thankful for those...). i am thankful that the bones season premier is tonight! and bones and booth are preggo! yes yes and yes.

{source}

3. i am thankful for warm socks.

little did i know on march 25 when i said yes to the big question that the rest of my life would be filled with freezing cold nights. here in early november when the temperature hovers around the freezing level, michael insists on sleeping with the window open. am i kidding? not a chance. if i would have known this would happen, i definitely would have picked the other side of the bed. you know, the side that isn't right next to the window. but i didn't. and it's too late to go back now. but i am grateful for my warm socks help keep me cozy during the nights when i can literally see my breath. in my own apartment. yes, that is a true story. and guess what made it onto my christmas list this year. yes. more warm socks.

4. i am thankful for class getting out early. 
i don't feel like this one needs to be explained. 10 minutes early? yes please. i'll take it.

5. i am thankful for my boots.
i don't quite need them (yet), but it's nice to know that they will be there waiting for me when the snow starts falling from the sky and onto my party.

6. i am thankful for the fact that i only have 21 days. left. of. school.

21 days until freedom! yessss! now to be fair, it's not complete 100% freedom... michael starts getting nervous when i talk like that because it makes him think that i will just sit around the house all day eating ice cream and watching past episodes of grey's anatomy. but no. i will get a job following graduation. sigh. 

(of course, the job will only come after i have spend an adequate time recuperating from the past years by eating ice cream and watching past episodes of grey's anatomy)

thankful thursday

(as someone who lacks a certain amount of creativity, i definitely did not come up with thankful thursday blogging all on my lonesome... but i'm definitely stealing adopting it. because everybody needs a bit more thankfulness in their lives, no?)


1. i am thankful for people who know how to do my hair.
because guess what. i am not one of them. unfortunately i was not blessed with the skill-set to have amazing hair everyday, but today i got a haircut. from meredith b. who used to live in my ward. i love spending a little bit of my day with her, she's great (ps if you want her info, let me know. she is really good at what she does).

2. i am thankful for colorful pens.
i have never been one of those girls who used colorful pens (well, maybe for a year there when colored gel pens were all the rage circa 2000). in fact, i was a bit judgmental when i saw girls using brightly colored pens to take notes (i know, i'm a jerk). but. then my black pen ran out and and my life went technicolor:

black notes

blue notes

green notes

purple notes

and moving into the most current phase: teal notes

i love it.

3. i am thankful for a clean sink.
it is no secret around my part of the woods that i hate doing dishes. i would rather scrub a toilet with my own hair than do dishes. i hate, detest, loathe and abhor doing dishes. so, so much. but yesterday i forced myself to stand in front of the sink for an inordinate amount of time to do the dang dishes. and today i have a clean sink. sigh. it felt so, so good to wake up to that.

4. i am thankful for michael's collection of jackets.
the boy has too many. so i borrow them frequently so they all get a little bit of love. call me crazy, but wearing his oversized clothing is the best. sweats. t-shirts. JACKETS. mmm... i'm wearing one right now and feeling quite cozy. they just make clothes for guys different than they do for girls and i like the difference every once-in-awhile.

5. i am thankful for crunchy leaves and weather that is cold enough to make me wear mittens.
fall is great, no? byu football games, picnics in the canyon, the smell of some rogue fire burning somewhere... i love it. it makes me so happy to wake up every morning. i especially love it when it's overcast... oh geez, just give me some soup and i am the happiest thing you've ever seen.

6. i am thankful for friendly strangers.
i have realized lately that my smile that i hand out to strangers looks a little like an unfriendly grimace. so instead of grimacing at people i randomly make eye contact with, i have started giving them the full-toothed smile. why? because i happened to walk by a friendly freshman boy who looked way to eager to be walking around byu campus the other day. and when he sent me his stranger smile, it was a full-toothed "there is nothing i'd rather be doing than smiling at you, stranger" smile. so i've been trying to pass along the freshman-boy smile to my strangers.

jack o.

in the spirit of halloween, me and michael tackled the great halloween tradition of pumpkin carving (because i am just so in love with all things halloween. poor boy. i don't think he knew what he was getting into when he bought that ring). while he was off in the testing center, i went to smith's to get the supplies:

i finally found a good use for all of the wallstreet journals lying around our house...

and then may or may not have had a half hour dance party by myself while i waited for him to finish his test.

cutie husband carving his cutie pumpkin

guess who carved which pumpkin!
hint: the one on the right was carved by the one
who loves byu and saving money...

ps: michael made a deal with me that he would dress up for halloween if i finish the rest of the thank you letters from our wedding by saturday (yes, we still have some left... shameful, i know). which means that FRANKENSTEIN & BRIDE are coming to town in exactly 1 week :)