lonely.

I miss this handsome guy tonight.

He is in Colorado for the week and after only a day I miss him like crazy. It's weird how I never notice how much I love having him by me when I sleep until he's gone.

Anyways, enough mushy nonsense. You get it, I love him a lot.

Here is something that will make you smile. Or cry. That's what I do. Because I can't imagine missing somebody THAT much.

Walls.

This is one of my very favorite parts of our house. Since our little house is oldschool (built in the 40's) it has all these cute little shelves built into the living room walls. The ones that flank our fireplace are for movies and books but I knew I wanted to do something special with this shelving above our couch. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out and I want to add more! Zac calls it our "shrine" because it's all pictures of us but I see absolutely no problem with that... I love us! Haha. Oh, and see that long frame on the bottom? I don't think I ever posted anything about it but it was Zac's Valentine's present from me last year when we were still engaged. It's a "word picture doo-hicky" that I made for him that spells out MARTIN.

Just FYI, that random dark haired man head in the bottom left is Jake. Hi, Jake!

Oh, and also this. My husband playing his silly video games. PS, I love "retro camera" on my telephone.

21.

Woohoo. Yippidty doo. Yeehaw.

I'm 21. :)

Zac was so cute about it, he made me consent to the "3 days of Amy's birthday" which means I got presents Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. He did pretty well with gifts even though the worrier in me kept thinking "Oh no, Christmas is so soon and we need to save money to buy stuff for other people!" but I'm so glad Zac loves me so much.

On Monday night we went to sleep fairly early but early the next morning Zac kept waking up and rolling over and going "Happy Birthday, wife" in his sleep. Gosh I love him.

The day was great, and really relaxing. I went to work early at the portrait studio but when I called the restaurant to see what time I had to be there they surprised me and told me I didn't have to even go in! So I spent the day snuggling my husband, getting my nails done, and eating. Basically the best.

This picture is just a little taste of Zac's mad wrapping skills. Or would it be skillz in this case?

My pumpkin spice cupcake. There is nothing better than cupcakes. Truly.

puzzle pieces.

You know what I love?

(I'll just pretend you answered with "what?")

I love discovering little things that make me feel like puzzle pieces of myself are sliding into place. While I was home for Thanksgiving Zac and I went to visit my Grandma Shirley and Kylee and I decided to go through some old photos. While we were digging through years of snap shots I started to feel closer and closer to my Grandpa George, who passed away when I was 8. Below are some of the Polaroids that were stashed away in the box. There was a spark. A connection. I know why I am so utterly obsessed with Polaroid pictures. They were my grandpa's favorite. I have his old camera and if I had more mula, I'd be snapping millions of Polaroids of every little thing. Just like him. Just look and admire; the vintage quality, the colors, the feeling that he just wanted to capture even small things, like the way the kitchen wall looks or a family trip to Yellowstone. Love in every shot.

(I apologize for the pictures of pictures, especially from my phone.)

hair.

So yesterday I got up and actually curled my hair which was a nice change from the ponytails I usually have in for work all week.

Thinking it looked pretty nice I asked Zac if he likes my hair curly and you know what he said?

"I like it when it looks like you just got out of the shower"

Well, at least I know he's easy to please. But maybe next time I should ask before I spend 45 minutes curling my hair.

Responsibility. and Junk.

This may be kind of a rant, but I feel like I need to get it all out.

So Christmas is coming up right around the corner and my work is getting pretty busy with all the families coming in to get photos. Everyone was doing alright until last Friday when out of nowhere one of the guys just left to go get something and never came back. And that is how he quit. Sometimes I just want to scream when people do dumb stuff like that. I mean, were they raised to think that that is acceptable behavior at a JOB? Did they think that was the easy way out? Was he just scared of what we would say? I simply cannot understand how that seems alright to someone. I was brought up to believe in a hard work ethic and good old fashioned responsibility. If you say you'll stick with something then you do it. Simple as that. Why is it now the exception to be a good employee and not the rule? AGGGHHH!

Ok, that's it. Rant's over.

But for real, just be a good person.

Also PS, today I'm thankful for my job. Even if I want to yell sometimes.

One more PS, go look at these clippies. They made my day.

Today I'm grateful for Mondays.

While everyone else might hate this day of the week I love it because it's my day off. I get so much done! Today I've done all the dishes, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and done some laundry! It always feels good to have a clean house.

On another note, this weekend was a blast. Zac invited one of the guys that works for him over for dinner and him and his cute wife are fantastic! I love finding new couple friends and being able to just have dinner and game nights. They even invited us over last night and cooked for us! The original reason for us to go over there though was for Zac and Cameron to play xbox together. Zac was in HEAVEN! He hasn't had his for three months now and it was cute to see how excited he got to go play. What's funny is that Cameron and Cheryl have only been married for three months so me and Zac are the old married couple! Haha!

Yesterday I was thankful for:

My mama!

I love my mom so stinkin' much! She's the epitome of an independent woman and probably one of the strongest women I've ever met. She is fun sized and adorable. She's a yogi nerd and a Bob Marley freak. She is smart and hilarious. How could you not just love her?

Today I am thankful for:

A lot of people. Veterans. But most importantly, my grandpa Halpin, my Uncle Kurt, my brother-in-law Michael, and my close friends, Wade, KC, and Nick. I am a patriotic nut (something I can thank my Grandpa Jack for) and holidays that celebrate our armed forces make me a little bit weepy and emotional. I love our country and I love my freedom, how can I not be so grateful to the men and women who fight and risk their lives for both of those things? So to those that serve our country, thank you.

I am 6 days behind. Oops. So I will be thankful for 6 things today :)

I am grateful for...

1. Our health

Even though Zac is feeling sickly today I'm grateful that we're both young, strong, and able!

2. Our families

They are pretty awesome.

3. Ashley Lynn Hanson.

Enough said.

4. Our cute little home.

It is warm, quaint, and adorable.

5. Hot chocolate

It warms me up on days like this. Brrr.

6. The Hunger Games books.

Yes, I am a nerd. But I love these books! I JUST started the third one today and I'm sad they're almost over!

a month of being thankful.

Holy cow, it's November! This year has gone by so fast but it's been a truly magnificent one. This month I am going to make an effort to blog as often as I remember about something I'm grateful for (since it's almost Thanksgiving!) and I hope anybody that reads this might try to do the same! So here is my day number uno, enjoy!

I am grateful for...

ZAC!

I know, so obvious. I love this man though. He is my best friend, my confidant, my arm candy, my place to fall, my everything. Yesterday was our 6 month mark and as we talked about it we agreed that it has flown by so quickly but at the same time it's hard to imagine life before we were "us". He is such a hard worker and takes care of me so well. I look back to the end of last year when I accepted a random friend request from this "hot guy" and I would have never guessed where I would be right now. It's mind boggling. But I'm so glad it all happened the way it did. I was listening to the new Taylor Swift cd today and found a song that makes me think of the first night Zac and I hung out, and how amazed I was by him. So I'm going to share it with you, because I'm nice. :) The part that makes me laugh is the very end when it says "Please don't be in love with someone else, Please don't have somebody waiting on you" because I remember after meeting him thinking that I wanted him all to myself and I didn't want any other girls to be waiting around for him. Perfect.