Christmas 2015

This Christmas was mine and Trevor’s first married Christmas! (I still cannot believe we have been married for almost five months already…)

We both were used to different Christmas traditions from our family’s growing up, so we had to clash our previous Christmases. This would have been more difficult had we stayed in Minnesota for break, but I am actually writing this from his parents’ home in Green Bay.

The two of us celebrated our Christmas on the evening of December 23. This was a huge tribute to my family’s tradition of opening gifts on December 24 after Christmas Eve church. We also wanted to do our own “private” Christmas on our own to exchange our gifts to one another. This was really the only time for us to do this since we will be in Green Bay until just before spring semester begins.

Opening gifts and stockings was a blast. However, it goes by super quickly when it’s just the two of you. I got Trevor The 1975 vinyl and the first expansion pack for Cards Against Humanity. He got me the necessary items to develop my own film using the C-41 process! I am so excited to work through my three rolls he also gifted to me! We ended the evening by playing Minecraft for about three and a half hours…yes, I have officially begun nerding at a whole new level.

The next morning (12/24) we packed up and drove off to Green Bay (almost an hour behind schedule). When our journey finally came to an end, we unpacked everything and headed to Christmas Eve church shortly after arrival.

This Christmas was my first real “Christmas morning experience”. The girls were all up by about 9 am and Trevor wanted to sleep another hour (at least), but I made him get up for the sake of his sisters. From Trevor’s family we got Doctor Who Yahtzee, a delicious smelling three-wick candle, calligraphy pens, cash, and a picture frame made by his sister in tech ed. It was a lovely day filled with food, family, and fun! His family was gifted Telestrations. At first I thought it sounded rather lame – but man was I wrong! It’s like the games Telephone and Pictionary meshed together and it is fantastic!

I have always loved Christmas, and this one was certainly one for the books. The weirdest part about it though was easily that it was GREEN. Green Bay has no snow yet, it’s unbelievable. We’re supposed to get a good winter storm the next few days. How inconvenient as Tuesday, Trevor and I are supposed to drive to my parents house in central Wisconsin.

Well, today has been a crazy busy day. I have been surrounded by a lot of people I love and two awesome events focused around love! I’ll fill you all in tomorrow about today and all of its wonderfulness.
XO Elisebeth

Our Home

Last Friday (6/19), Trevor and I made a trip to Saint Paul, MN where we will be living next year. We viewed three apartment buildings, and 4 units total. The first two were in the same building, we liked them both but were not super drawn to either of them. The second building, was run by the same company so we figured it would likely be a good fit. We walked into the room and took a look around. That showing lasted about 15 minutes. We sat in the car until our next showing, discussing how transportation could possibly work with the location of this one. It was the farthest from the green line out of the three. We decided we both loved this apartment’s vibe and could see ourselves living there. But could we afford the price? We went to our final showing, and were quickly unimpressed. At the close of the showing she mentioned the price, which was $15 more than listed online. I immediately knew I could not live in that building due to the combination of things we noted: building smell, crazy lady property manager, weird tenants.

The obvious decision was the second building. So we drove to Target and sat in the Starbucks to fill out an application. I texted the property manager and told him we were applying.

After a week of sitting around, waiting, and corresponding through email with the individual filing our application, we found out we have been accepted for the apartment! I couldn’t be happier!

It’s a beautiful one bedroom apartment at Yale Apartments. If you look at the link, the unit we are getting is Floor Plan C.

Now I can’t stop looking at home decor ideas (I apologize if you follow me on Pinterest). I know Trevor is very specific in his home decor “needs,” so I have been keeping those in mind.

Here are some of my favorite ideas from Pinterest that I hope to include in our home.

What I love about this picture? PLANTS. This last year I bought three succulents from IKEA – and they are my babies. Since Trevor doesn’t want real babies for awhile, I’ll stick to green things. I even named mine! Henrietta, Herb, and (I’m an awful plant mommy-I don’t remember the third name)!I love this picture because of the wall decor and the couch pillows. I’m a sucker for good pillows. This picture shows my desires for kitchen cabinets. I love the idea of open cabinets – it forces you to keep them tidy! However, our apartment has doors on the cabinets, so we will be able to cover any possible mess – not that Trevor will ever allow that. This picture is a good representation of how I would love our bedroom to look. I love the light & open feel of this picture. The rug is also spot on in my opinion. I love the simplicity of this kitchen! The kitchen in our apartment will be super small, so I don’t think we could fit a bench area like that in there, but that would be a dream. However,  I really like this table and the chairs too – I would be more than happy to have those. Trevor loves pictures – obvi. We plan on getting some of our pictures printed and framed to decorate our place with. I would love a photo wall like this in our entry way!

I’m hopeful for a trendy and awesome apartment that feels like home for us. I cannot wait to move in on August 3!

Cut Deep

Sometimes life really annoys me. 

Living at home this summer will be the ultimate test of self-control for me. Honestly it’s driving me crazy so far. My mom has been the driving force behind that crazy. 

I really wish I would have stayed in St. Paul for the summer. 

Being back here, I’m realizing some of the more probable causes for my self harm issues in high school. I don’t think it was for many of the reasons I had suspected. I know I didn’t handle my emotions 100% properly, but when your own mother is the root cause for emotional distress I think there’s a bigger issue. Sometimes I wonder if this is what emotional abuse is like. I’m glad high school is two years behind me and that I’ve been able to distance myself from a lot of the past hurt, but it’s hard to not feel similarly while I’m home. It hurts being home and knowing everything stupid I’ve done in my bedroom and for the reasons I did them. 

I know my goal of this blog is to stay positive, so here’s a little twist. 

While I’m incredibly frustrated with living at home and the expectations placed on me, I know I have less than two months left living there. Also, my nanny job began Monday – which means I spend 36 hours a week with three awesome, yet incredibly frustrating boys. I get to be away from my own house for those hours and spend time with these cool guys.  

 Edit   

  

  

    
This summer has been full of reflection and thought. It has also been full of hope and excitement. We’ll have to see what else it will be filled with. 

Planning Update

Life just got busy.

Last night I broke down and told my mom I really want a bridal shower. I haven’t really been feeling like I’m actually getting married lately – and that is something that everyone is supposed to get, right?! It took a lot of persuading.

My family is moving to Portage, WI, so that’s been the only thing on their minds lately. It kinda sucks that this came up. So much for having my big day be about Trevor and me. Instead it’ll be about how it’s my family’s last weekend in the Green Bay area.

Anyway – I eventually got my mom to cave and she decided that yes, I can in fact have a bridal shower. However, I’m planning most of it. Which to me, is absolutely ridiculous. She then reminded me that normally a bride’s friends plan one. Thank you, mother, for reminding me that I only have like two friends here. Such a lovely sentiment. But whatever, I’m gunna milk this whole being a bride thing while I can. You only get married once!

So now my “wedding to-do list” just extended. I guess I should probably get back to actually planning things again.

6 Reasons Why it Sucks to Come Home from College for Summer

I just finished my second year in college. I have a year and a half left-I get to finish a semester early than originally projected! While I am looking forward to this exciting summer. There are a lot of downsides to this summer as well.

Last year, I enjoyed moving home for the summer. It meant having my own room and the comfort of my home. Not having to pay for my own food is a perk, too-right? Well, this summer I am having different thoughts…

Here are my reasons as to why it sucks to come home from college for summer….

1. Living by your parents’ rules.

I don’t know about you guys, but my parents established a lot of rules within a week of me getting home. Aren’t they supposed to be enjoying having me home? I only visited like 4 times the entire school year. Life’s not really like those college movies apparently. I have been given the rule that if I do not work 6 hours or more on a day, I have to do an extensive cleaning project. I made sure to clarify what that meant: putting away clean dishes and loading/starting the dishwasher again, cleaning toilets, vacuuming, etc. I don’t start my 36 hour a week nanny job until June 8. So it looks like I’ll be doing a lot of cleaning except for Fridays & Saturdays when I’m at Pizza Ranch. The real question is, does my photography count toward those 6 hours? I would say yes, but I’m not the one in charge.

2. Lack of transportation available.

In the Twin Cities, there are bus routes that will take you anywhere and everywhere you could imagine. There is also a metro train that connects Saint Paul to Minneapolis to Bloomington. Granted it takes a while to get anywhere on it, you still have the option. My family of 4 only has 2 cars. Everyone has their license. You do the math. It’s a constant battle between who gets the car and what task is considered important enough to get the car. Also, Green Bay doesn’t have buses that run regularly enough to get anywhere by that method. I guess it’s time to pump up my bike tires because if I want to go anywhere on a whim-it’s not happening by car.

3. No alone time.

At Concordia, I had the perfect living arrangements. All of my roommates understood that each of us needed our own time, and spent that time doing what we enjoyed. We lived in a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom dorm. Basically, if we wanted alone time we went to our rooms and closed the door. My home is different though. My bedroom only has two outlets with three prongs (my laptop cord needs a three prong outlet). One of these outlets is behind my bed and has my bedside lamp plugged in to it. The other is behind my dresser and cannot be reached. Thus, my laptop has to be charged in the living room. I could go on and on about how this is effecting my inability to have alone time, but I’m sure you’ve connected the dots already. The lack of alone time also has its effects on my relationship. This past year Trevor and I have gotten used to the idea of being able to watch a movie in peace in his bedroom. That doesn’t happen so easily at either of our homes.

4. Weird food.

I love not having to pay for my own groceries. However, this has drawbacks too. My mom is on an extremely restricted diet due to health issues. She is also the one that does most of the grocery shopping. I suppose it’s my own fault for getting addicted to bagels, chai, and Luna bars during the school year and should get over the fact that I can’t have them all the time here. But still. Do I have to make my own “real” food for every meal? Why can’t I just eat ice cream for dinner like I did the whole last week of school?

5. Curfew.

My parents have never established curfew for me. However, either they have begun going to bed earlier or I have been staying out later because several times this summer already I have gotten home to a dark home and locked doors. Thank goodness I always have house keys with me. Last night was cold though! And it took me a solid 10 minutes to try to unlock the front door. I’m thankful my parents have never set curfew, but they do generally ask for an estimated time back. I’m really bad at figuring that out so I normally just say, “I’m going to try to be home earlier than last night….”

6. Where are you?

I’m definitely not enjoying the constant question of where I am. Can’t I just go explore sometime? That was thing I super enjoyed about this past year in the Cities. I could hop on the metro and get off at a random stop. I’d then look for little stores & coffee shops. I can’t do that here. I have to have some end location in mind or there’s no way I get a car.

(If you have any reasons to add, feel free to comment with them.)

I’m sure by the end of the summer this list will have lengthened dramatically. I certainly miss the freedom I had this past school year. However, it’s my last summer home, and I won’t even be here for all of it. There’s a lot coming up within the next couple of months, so I’ll have to learn to get over these things quickly if I plan to enjoy summer at all.