On Being "Single" (Again)

Chin and I have been living apart for a total of 5 days now.

Yep, five days and I've turned into a psycho who hates everyone who holds hands with their spouse on campus... Or tweets about how much they love their "hubby" (oh wait I already hated that). 

It's funny how being alone, even for a short period of time, makes you resort to your old single habits so quickly. 

For example: 

+I do not sleep. I mean I do, but for the life of me I can NOT motivate myself to power down and go to bed at a decent hour. I've already noticed my lack of sleep taking a toll on me, and have no idea how I pulled all-nighters and stayed out till 4 a.m. freshman year.

+I am a royal mess. I've never been an especially tidy person (clean and hygienic, but not tidy by any means), but having a husband living with me helped me keep our apartment tidy since Chin is all about tidy. But now, my bed looks like a lion slept in it, my jewelry is sprawled across my dresser, and you'd think my shoes had attacked my room and left no prisoners. 

On a brighter note, even though I miss Chin so much I can barely see straight, some good things have come from being "single" again that I hope to continue when Chin and I reunite in December.

+My scripture study has improved immensely. It sounds strange, since Chin has only boosted my love for our particular religion since we've been married, but for some reason, my study of the scriptures (I'm currently re-reading the New Testament) was struggling. I've had a lot of time to myself being husband-less and I've really been trying to focus on boosting my spirituality. 

+Eating healthy is easy and do-able. I don't blame Chin for my bad eating habits in the past, because for the most part Chin is a VERY healthy eater (I'm always the one begging for sweets). But, having my own eating agenda and grocery list has made it a lot easier to choose healthy options. Plus, trying to feed a man who eats enough for 10 men doesn't help portion control, so now I'm eating less too.

So overall, I'm not dead yet. I'm trying to have a positive attitude and am counting down the days until I get to see Chin for a long weekend at the end of September.

Also, I chopped off all my hair. That was fun.

A New Blog Name!

Notice anything different around here?
I took a bold step this weekend and changed the title of this little old blog.
It will forever be the "Newlywed Pingrees," because Christian and I will forever be newlyweds, but I thought I would change it to something a little bit more sophisticated, and a little bit more me.
Yes this blog is about both Christian and I, but I thought a new title would help to steer this blog in the direction that I want it to go in: a journal, not only about marriage but about the things in life that make it beautiful.
I'm not technically a housewife, but I know that I will be someday.
And between the cooking and cleaning that happens around here day to day, I feel like I earn that title, and can't wait to start blogging from a new perspective.
The content will be the same: very me, very girly, very light (and sometimes too fluffy), with a hint of mushy love stories thrown in between and my thoughts on cooking, clothing, traveling, and life in general.
You know how I do.

So, I know it's a change, and change can be hard, but I hope you all understand why I chose to change the name of our blog, and that you'll keep reading! 

because I'm obsessed with you guys.

 

What do you think of the change? I've already gotten a complaint on formspring... Which wasn't pleasant but that's okay! Change isn't easy people.

the end of the beginning

another semester has come and gone.

with finals coming to a close, it's been really interesting to look back on everything that has happened over the past few months.

since january i've lost twenty pounds,

turned twenty,

got my lowest grade in my college history,

made new friends,

starting crafting my very own original recipe (it's still in the works!),

and have found that a little support and motivation is all it takes to succeed sometimes when you don't think you can.

it's been a good few months.

we've learned a lot.

perhaps our biggest change has been Chin's calling.

for those of you who aren't mormon and don't know what a "calling" is:

a calling is a responsibility given to a church member to fulfill certain duties.

for instance, you might be "called" to be a sunday school teacher or be in the relief society presidency (the Relief Society is the group of women in a ward (region)). 

anyways,

in december Christian got called to be in the Bishopric of a BYU singles ward.

we were surprised as ever to get the calling, we had just left the singles wards only a few months earlier! and now we were going back? Plus, they usually call young couples who usually aren't as young as us... i'm seriously younger than about half the ward (maybe 3/4...)!

there were a lot of thoughts going through our heads.

not only was this going to be Christian's hardest semester of his college career, but we had no idea what to expect.

what if the kids in the ward didn't like us?

what if our married ward forgets about us?

"what if what if what if?" was a common occurrence in our household for a couple weeks.

even though we were filled with uncertainty, this calling has been one of the biggest blessings we have experienced in our marriage so far.

the ward. is. incredible.

every single person in the ward has been so incredible to us, and has made us feel so welcome this semester.

the kids are so down to earth and friendly, and they all seem so united.

we love our ward, and we love the experiences we have had there so far.

now that it's ending our first semester in this ward, i'm sad to see most of the members leaving and going home for the summer, or getting married.

it's the end of the beginning and i can't wait to meet the newcomers of the ward for spring and summer!

younger years

last night chin told me i'm turning 20 soon (in four months but nonetheless, soon)...

it scared me!

i've been a teenager for quite some time now and i'm not sure i'm ready to give it up.

i'm not big on change. i guess i never hopped on the "change we can believe in" and "yes we can" bandwagon.

there are some things i wish could just stay the same forever:

my age- less responsibility, more play, and always learning

being a newlywed

having my mom on call to give advice and help me out

being healthy and in good (well okay...) shape

staying up late and sleeping in even later

sitting on christian's lap whenever i want to

dinner with just the two of us

being the young, hip aunt

loving when your parents come to town because you don't have to pay

dragging a stuffed animal giraffe wherever you go

being in college

dance parties (big ones and just me and chin in the living room)

j. crew catalogues and being young enough to wear their clothes

holding hands and taking walks

having enough time to just relax on the couch

maybe some of these things won't change. i pray none of them do

but as we get older things keep changing...

and just try to think it will be for the better.

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”

-Sophia Loren