New Blog

Since Andrew and I are now a married couple, I figured it was time to retire my blog about my single life and start a blog about my married life. I want to document the goings on of our little family as we have new adventures. It's still under construction and I'm trying to figure out what all I want to do with it, but there are a couple of posts up at the moment and I will do my best to be diligent in updating it. Go and follow if you want, and I hope you enjoy reading my updates.

Where You Invest Your Love, You Invest Your Life

So Close!

Today is Friday, February 15. That means there are only four more days until I become Andralynn Conelly. I have a little over four hours left of work, and then I will be gone for two whole weeks. The past couple of weeks have been a little crazy. I had bridal showers and temple recommend interviews to attend, not to mention packing up my apartment and trying to get moved out. I was stressed and anxious, and my emotions were always close to the surface. Luckily, Andrew is amazing and simply lets me cry when I need to.

On Wednesday night, I went to the temple to take out my endowment. Let me just say that the temple is amazing. It was such a wonderful experience. My parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and my roommate were all there to support me, and while it was a small group, it was a good group. I felt the Spirit so strongly, and all my stresses and worries melted away. I have felt so much better the past two days, and it has been a real blessing. Being in the temple with Andrew made me so incredibly happy. He just kept grinning at me, and I can't wait to see just how much we'll both be grinning and crying when we enter the temple together again to be joined for time and all eternity.

And now, it is the weekend. The weekend before my wedding. Tomorrow, Andrew and I will pick up his parents from the airport and head to my mom's house for my family bridal shower. Monday we have our luncheon. And Tuesday . . . well, you all know what Tuesday is. Thursday we fly out to Washington. Saturday we have the open house in Tacoma. And Sunday, we fly out to Hawaii. I cannot wait.

I can't believe it's already so close. So close! A mere four days away. When we first got engaged, four and a half months seemed like an eternity. But it's here. The day is fast approaching when the rest of my life will finally start.

Random Music Moment

I'm bored. Work is so sllllooooooow. Even knowing that I'm leaving at noon isn't helping it go by any faster (mostly because I'm not looking forward to driving to Salt Lake in potentially bad weather, so leaving early is no fun). So to temper my boredom, I give you the next 20 songs that come up on shuffle.

1. "All the Way Down" by Glen Hansard, Once
2. "If I Didn't Know Better" by the Civil Wars, Live at Eddie's Attic
3. "Mind Eraser" by the Black Keys, El Camino
4. "Paranoia in B Major" by the Avett Brothers, Emotionalism
5. "When You Got a Good Thing" by Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
6. "Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa, The Fame Monster
7. "Funnyman" by KT Tunstall, Drastic Fantastic
8. "Round and Round" by Imagine Dragons, Continued Silence EP
9. "Garbage Truck" by Sex Bob-omb, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
10. "Houdini" by Foster the People, Torches
11. "I've Got This Friend" by the Civil Wars, Barton Hollow
12. "Closer" by Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman
13. "Where Are You Now" by Mumford & Sons, Babel
14. "Dust Bowl Dance" by Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
15. "Kick Drum Heart" by the Avett Brothers, I And Love And You
16. "Fairytale" by Sara Bareilles, Little Voice
17. "Fired" by Ben Folds, Rockin' the Suburbs
18. "Whispers in the Dark" by Mumford & Sons, Babel
19. "One Flight Down" by Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
20. "Lovelier Than You" by B.o.B, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray

And . . . there you go. If you read this pointless post, kudos to you.

(On a separate note, I get married in 11 days! It's coming so fast, and I still can't believe that I'm actually going to be married. It's so weird. But I'm so freaking excited.)

I've Been Engaged Too Long

I know I've been engaged for too long when another couple gets engaged and announces that they're getting married in two months, and my first thought is, "Dang! I'm so jealous!" If Andrew and I had done a two-month engagement, we would have been married for nearly two months by now. Which would be so nice.

But at the same time, I know that we did what worked best for us. Everything has fallen pretty perfectly into place so far, so I can't complain too much. And besides, it's only six weeks away! In 43 days I will be a married woman. And I seriously cannot wait.

2012 Year in Review

2012 was such an eventful year that I thought I would post some of the highlights. And because this makes for a bit of a change from the regular resolutions posts.

JANUARY

Apartment 330 (and one Andrew Conelly) were put into my FHE group. I had no idea how significant this would become at the time.

FEBRUARY

Did this amazing alien balloon head dance with Cora and Brittany. Because we're amazing.

MARCH

Went shooting for FHE. It was my very first time.

APRIL

Met a duck at the park.

Was in a photoshoot.

Got a new hairdo.

MAY

Saw the Black Keys live, and it was loads of fun.

Saw the Civil Wars live. And they were amazing.

Got myself a boyfriend.

JUNE

Left my boyfriend for ten days to go to Disneyland with my family.

Saw the Avett Brothers live.

JULY

Turned 25 and got an amazing gift from my amazing boyfriend.

AUGUST

Saw Mumford & Sons live, which is where I decided I was in love with Andrew.

SEPTEMBER

Met Andrew's parents. And got engaged!

OCTOBER

Found my amazing wedding dress that I love oh so much.

NOVEMBER

Found an apartment for Andrew and me.

Celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.

DECEMBER

Took engagement photos.

Celebrated a wonderful Christmas with both of our families.

Is that a great year or what? I have no complaints. I can't believe how blessed I've been.

Movies of 2012

While being engaged certainly negatively affected the number of books I read this year, it created a substantial increase in the number of movies I watched. I love cuddling with Andrew, and that is best done while watching movies. There were probably countless more movies I could have added, except that I fell asleep during them and couldn't bring myself to truthfully say that I watched them. That's another thing Andrew has done to me. I never used to fall asleep during movies until I started dating him. He's just so comfortable. And then he falls asleep, and I just can't fight it.


MOVIES

1. 17 Again (Okay, I know this is a goofy teen flick, but Zac Efron is hot.)
2. Moneyball x2 (I'm a total sucker for inspirational sports films.)
3. The Help (OMGosh, this movie was amazing. I cried. A lot.)
4. Night at the Museum: The Battle for the Smithsonian (I may have fallen asleep halfway through, but I'll count it anyway.)
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Still funny. Always and forever funny.)
6. Ironman 2 (Robert Downey, Jr., is SO HOT.)
7. Real Steel (Hugh Jackman is SO HOT.)
8. Amazing (I miss Jimmer. I really, really do.)
9. The Hunger Games x4 (Yes, twice. In 24 hours. I liked it better the second time.)
10. The Woman in Black x3 (This movie was weird. And creepy. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.)
11. X-Men: First Class
12. Crazy, Stupid, Love x2 (Ryan Gosling. So. Hot.)
13. Sydney White
14. Much Ado About Nothing
15. The Avengers x3 (Awesome movie with so. many. attractive. men. Yeesh.)
16. Footloose (I'll stick to the original, thanks.)
17. 10 Things I Hate About You (Love this movie.)
18. While You Were Sleeping
19. Back to the Future Part I (These movies simply never get old.)
20. The Illusionist
21. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
22. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones is the best. Hands down.)
23. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cowabunga!)
24. A Goofy Movie (Ah, childhood memories.)
25. Stranger Than Fiction
26. Brave (Super cute movie. I very much enjoyed it.)
27. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (Go ninja, go ninja, go!)
28. The Amazing Spider-Man x2
29. Back to the Future Part II
30. Batman Begins
31. The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition x2 (Four hours of pure awesomeness. I love these movies.)
32. Back to the Future Part III
33. The Dark Knight
34. The Dark Knight Rises x3 (SO. EFFING. GOOD. OH MY GOSH.)
35. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
36. The Devil Inside (Super dumb movie with a horrible ending.)
37. Paranormal Activity 2 (Freaky, yes, but not quite as scary as it was built up to be.)
38. Juno (Love this movie. So much.)
39. Tangled
40. The Muppets
41. Zombieland
42. The Artist (Really good, but didn't quite live up to the hype surrounding it.)
43. 50/50 (Way better than I expected it to be. Though there were far too many f-words.)
44. The Two Towers Extended Edition
45. Warrior (LOVE this movie)
46. Premium Rush (Pretty good movie. Plus, I just love Joseph Gordon-Levitt.)
47. Country Strong
48. Memento
49. The Princess Bride
50. Cabin in the Woods (What a freakin' weird movie.)
51. This Means War
52. The Amityville Horror (Who knew Ryan Reynolds could be so creepy?)
53. Paranormal Activity 4 (Pretty dang creepy, I must say.)
54. The Incredibles
55. Contagion (I've never been more aware of just how many things I touch throughout the day.)
56. Hocus Pocus
57. Tower Heist
58. V for Vendetta
59. Black Hawk Down
60. Event Horizon (Such a weird movie.)
61. Skyfall (I thought this movie was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed it.)
62. Silver Linings Playbook (This movie was fantastic. I loved it.)
63. Looper (This was far more intense than I expected. Some parts were rather difficult to watch. But it was a fascinating premise.)
64. Lawless (Good movie, but almost too much for me to handle.)
65. The A-Team
66. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
67. Lincoln
68. The Hobbit

TV SHOWS

1. 24 Season 4
2. 24 Season 5 (Ho.ly.crap. Just when you think things can't get crazier, they...well...just do.)
3. 24 Season 6 (The crazy just gets crazier.)
4. 24 Season 7 (You'd think the writers would run out of crazy at some point. But they don't.)
5. 24 Season 8 (It ended in a very 24 kind of way. Jack Bauer on the run. It makes sense.)
6. Parks and Rec Season 1 x2 (How have I not discovered this show sooner?! So dang funny!)
7. The Walking Dead Season 2 (I watched it live, but I'll include it because HOLY CRAP. What a way to end the season.)
8. Parks and Rec Season 2 (I am officially in love with this show. It's fantastic.)
9. Parks and Rec Season 3 x2
10. Harper's Island (I think watching this show has become a summer thing now.)
11. Breaking Bad Season 1 (This show is INTENSE.)
12. Parks and Rec Season 4 x2
13. Grey's Anatomy Season 1 (This is quickly becoming a guilty pleasure.)
14. Dexter Season 7 (It's the only season of the show I've watched. And it's kind of crazy.)
15. Grey's Anatomy Season 2

Books of 2012

I might as well continue what I started in 2011, so here is the list of books I read in 2012. I am quite disappointed that I didn't beat last year's number, but I guess getting engaged is a good enough reason not to read quite as many books. At least I cracked 30. For a while there, I wasn't sure I would even reach that point.

1. Monsters & Mormons by various authors (This is a compilation of sci-fi, fantasy, and other genres with Mormon tropes. Some stories were really good, others not so much.)
2. Psion Beta (Psions #1) by Jacob Gowans (Eh, it was all right. It was most definitely self-published.)
3. Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card (This book will stay with me for a very long time. It tore at my soul.)
4. The Oz Principle by Craig Hickman, Roger Connors, and Tom Smith (I had to read this for work. It was really repetitive. And kind of boring.)
5. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Wow. The ending completely threw me for a loop.)
6. The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
7. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (I loved this. It was beautiful. Ness is definitely one of my favorite authors.)
8. Atonement by Ian McEwan (Okay, so I didn't actually finish this book. But because I made it halfway through [to the sex scene, awesome blossom] and then made a conscious decision not to finish it, I'm including it on my list.)
9. Fablehaven (Fablehaven #1) by Brandon Mull
10. Rot & Ruin (Benny Imura #1) by Jonathan Maberry (Zombies! With a human twist. Definitely enjoyable.)
11. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
12. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (What a beautiful, hopeful, and heartbreaking book. Loved it.)
13. Bossypants by Tina Fey (Tina Fey is hilarious. I seriously love her.)
14. Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) by Brandon Mull
15. Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (A book about punctuation. Right up my alley.)
16. The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (What a beautiful, beautiful novel.)
17. Partials (Partials #1) by Dan Wells (Awesome book. I seriously love Dan Wells.)
18. Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven #3) by Brandon Mull
19. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven #4) by Brandon Mull (These books definitely get better as they go.)
20. Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull (Fablehaven #5)
21. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (I loved this. Absolutely loved it.)
22. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (New favorite author. So good.)
23. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
24. Dust & Decay (Benny Imura #2) by Jonathan Maberry
25. The Hollow City by Dan Wells (Super interesting. Schizophrenia is scary, man.)
26. Rumors of War (Children of the Promise #1) by Dean Hughes
27. Since You Went Away (Children of the Promise #2) by Dean Hughes
28. Far From Home (Children of the Promise #3) by Dean Hughes
29. The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan
30. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
31. The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson