Weekend Update

Well, a quick disclaimer: this is not a funny "Weekend Update,"as much as it is an update on life that I happen to be writing on the weekend. I'm only as cool as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in my dreams.

I've debated writing a blog post for a while now... Mostly because I didn't feel like I had a whole lot worth sharing that was all that exciting, and also being too busy with just every day life. It's been crazy! I should probably quickly sum up the highlights of the last few months... Mostly for my sake, as I haven't been keeping a journal or anything to record our lives... Oops!

April: Ian finished his semester of school, and still has a cumulative 4.0 GPA!! I'm SOOO incredibly proud of him and his dedication to school. We also dropped my sister Brooke off at the MTC, since she was called to serve in the North Carolina, Charlotte mission. She absolutely LOVES being a missionary! And on that note, Courtney is loving serving in Arequipa, Peru, and Sean is loving Salt Lake.

May: We were busy with Ian finishing his track season, which he did SO well. He PR'd at 52.2, which was amazing for him, as he really struggled this year. ANNNNNDDD we went to see Ed Sheeran! It was my birthday gift from Ian, and it was SO awesome. We also went and visited my family for Memorial Day weekend, which was great for a birthday weekend.

June: Ian was in Portland with his family for a few weeks, since Brady graduated high school (Go Bray!)... with which I struggled a LOT. I rely on him in so many ways, it really reminded me how much of a difference he makes in my happiness. It was also a hard month for me in that my great-grandma Bessie, and my great uncle John passed away (different sides of my family). Bessie was a little more expected (she was 93), but John's was a little more of a surprise (he was in his 70's, but has been sick for some time). Their deaths weren't sad for me in that I felt that they would be gone forever- the LDS church teaches us that families can live together forever, which was so comforting to me. I mostly was hurting because I missed them incredibly; they were wonderful people that taught me a lot in life.

July- We went to Idaho for Independence Day weekend, and had so much fun with my family at the lake and with fireworks at home. Later that month, we met Ian's family in Las Vegas for a long weekend, and had SOOO much fun! My favorite part was probably seeing Cirque du Soleil with Kelly (my mother-in-law), and hanging around the pool.

August- Not a whole lot happened, it went by so quickly! It was a big month for Ian though, he took his first actuarial exam, and he passed!!! He was a total punk about it though, and let me think for a while that he didn't... But I'm so happy he did! He studied all summer for it, and he did well. He also had his birthday, and turn 24! For his birthday, we just went out to dinner, and stayed home to watch 30 Rock (that was all he wanted for his birthday). I did, however, attempt to make a cake that was WAY out of my league- a layered, chocolate Andes mint cake with THREE different types of frosting. It was intense, but it turned out okay!

And here we are in September- Ian just started another semester, and we are loving having another routine to follow. We have a lot of things coming up that we are SOOO excited for, such as:

Lake Powell- we are going in a few weeks with some friends from the track team! We are renting a house boat- which I've never been on one, so I'm excited to go.

Portland- we are going back home for Thanksgiving, and I couldn't be more excited to have a few days cooking with Kelly! (ESPECIALLY since she has a normal sized oven!)

And last but not least.... we're going to CHILE!!!!

We got our tickets back in April or May, for an amazing price. We had been looking for several months, and didn't think we would be able to go, since tickets were about $1500 a piece, round trip. Then one day, I checked, and they dropped to $742! So we bought them as quickly as possible. We will be going in December for a week, and we could not be happier about it :) We are even excited for our layovers- only for a few hours each, but in Lima, Peru, and Sao Paolo, Brazil!

Ian is so excited to return to Chile, as he served his mission there. I've never left the country, so I'm excited my first chance of international traveling will be with someone that has lived in that country. In fact, my passport just came in the mail the other day! I had no idea they were so small, and could make me so happy!

Anyway, in general, we are incredibly happy. We spend our spare time with each other trying out different restaurants, binging on 30 Rock (which is a true television masterpiece), or going on walks in the evening. Most of the time, we feel unfairly blessed, so much so, we worry that it's a bad thing, as if it means we're in the calm before the storm. Either way, we are loving our marriage, and life couldn't be sweeter!

Oops.

Apparently I missed the memo that it is March, and I haven't blogged in... forever. Oh well, you live and you learn, right? Maybe.

Anyway, a SUPER quick recap since my last post (again, forever ago. So sorry to my crazy large group of readers, meaning my mom-in-law and the two or three other people that love me):

October: My sister Brookie came to visit, and it was awesome.
November: We saw my fam for Thanksgiving, and loved every minute of it. And I chopped my hair!
December: We didn't get to go home to either family for Christmas, but we got to hang with my uncle Jeff and aunt Kristi, who live in Salt Lake. We went sledding and ate waaay too many crepes, which was perfect.
January: We drove to eastern Oregon to meet up with Ian's parents at his Grandma's house to make up  for Christmas. I was so proud of myself, I didn't get carsick ONCE (which, if you know me, you would know this is a huge achievement).
February: We flew to Portland for President's Day/Valentine's weekend, which was amazing. I miss Portland and all the people there like crazy, so it was a huge blessing to be there with family and friends. Bummer was I was carsick the ENTIRE time.

Which leads us to now! We are getting busier and busier each day. We feel like we have plans for the rest of the year, and it's only March. Few new things:

• Outdoor track season: starts in TWO weeks! As excited as I am for this, it means Ian will be gone most weekends. So sad.
• Book Club: I'm starting book club!! Ian and I realized a few weeks ago that we watch waaaaay  too much Netflix, and got library cards to compensate for all the brain cells Gilmore Girls and House have taken from us. So book club starts tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited!
• New-ish job: I switched jobs in January to work for a law firm in American Fork, and it is so amazing. Just a huge blessing in that I get to come home earlier, and don't come home as burned out or stressed as I used to. 
• Food Truck Friday: Ian and I have implemented a new tradition in that we go to the Food Truck Rally in Orem every Friday night. It is SO freakin' good. I have this terrible tendency of getting the same thing every time; I get the Margherita from the Fiore' food truck, which LITERALLY has the best crust ever. I am 100% addicted to the basil-mozzarella goodness, and have zero regrets. Ian is better about trying new things, like the Korean BBQ truck Cup Bop or the grilled cheese joint Mousetrap. We just love it. 
• We hit our 8 month mark: Wait, what?!?! It's crazy. I love it. I just love that I found my person that I want to share all of my adventures with so early in life, regardless of the size of the adventure. Were we crazy to get married so young and so fast? Probably. But I can't think of any other situation that would make me happier. So we are 8 months and counting, and can't wait for our all of the craziness to come.

Other changes are in progress, but we are so excited for them. Ian and I say all too often that we are unfairly happy, we feel so blessed. We are just so happy, it's almost annoying. Anyway, we are doing well, and hope you are too :)

Love, 

The McG's

It's October!

Okay, if you know anything about me, it's probably that I love fall. Why? Because it has hot cocoa, which is only God's gift to mankind. And I get to use mugs more regularly!!! I collect mugs, and that little fact about me is pretty much my favorite unimportant thing about myself. I pretty much use my mugs an unhealthy amount, as I am OBSESSED with hot cocoa and peppermint tea. Thank the heavens

that Costco sells massive quantities of Starbucks hot cocoa mix. YUM!! Also, my husband is adorable and makes me tea every morning. He is pretty much the best of all of the keepers.

On a more serious note, Ian and I had another goodbye to make this last week. Ian's brother Sean reported to the Provo MTC for his mission. He will be serving in West Salt Lake City! Sean, Kelly, and Dan flew down to drop Sean off, which was super nice. I really missed them! We had a great time walking around Temple Square, and going out to dinner. The next day we went to the Provo temple to walk around, and then dropped him off at the MTC. It was an interesting experience, as I have never had a brother to drop off. I'm super excited for him though! I know he will be so loved by everyone he will meet.

Kelly, Sean, Ian, and Dan at Salt Lake City Temple 

SLC temple at the end of our night- GORGEOUS!!!

         Sean, just minutes before we said goodbye :/

Anyway, this week has been CRAZY!!! I worked from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm on Thursday, as my employer opened a ton of new accounts this last week. Ian was super busy, as he had some intense tests for Spanish and Statistics. And of course, Ian rocked them! If you don't know my husband, well 1) you should because he is awesome, and 2) he is the most self-disciplined person you will ever meet. I promise I am not exaggerating, and this is not me being biased, he truly excels at anything he puts his mind to because of his determination.  Luckily for us, our weekend is a lot slower as it is General Conference weekend.

What is General Conference, you might ask?? It is only the best thing that happens every 6 months! The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints get together and speak to everyone for one weekend in April, and another weekend in October, inspiring them to be better people. I hope I'm not sounding too preach-y, but it is a very uplifting event, as it reminds me to prioritize the important things in my life and to come closer to God. These men and women who speak are incredibly intelligent and kind, you can tell that they are truly people of God. Let me know if you have any questions, however crazy you think they are! I love being LDS, as being a member brings me closer to God and to my family. It is such a blessing in my life! Here are some of my favorite quotes that were said in today's meetings:

We have two more sessions of General Conference tomorrow, that will take the place of our regular church meetings. I'm implementing a new tradition in my new family of two, that we make cinnamon rolls for GC weekend. I'm super excited! 

So that's about it for now, life is carrying on as it normally does. But check back next week, I plan on blogging about my love story with Ian, as next week will be our anniversary of our first date!

Sincerely,

Mrs. McG

We made it!

Okay, today is a somewhat insignificant, yet fun checkpoint: we made it three months into marriage! That beat Kim Kardashian, right??  Anyway, we have three great months under our belt, and are excited for the many to come.

A quick update: I got a job! It has a good commute, super nice people, and fits well with our schedule. I now work for Stox Post and Publishing, which basically processes the legal paperwork for foreclosures. I know it sounds uber depressing and boring, but I promise it's not. I don't talk to any of the people with the properties, so I don't feel like I'm crushing dreams here. But the people I work with are great! My office mate actually is someone I went to high school with- small world! She's awesome, and it's nice having a familiar face around. My boss buys us treats every Friday, and treats us with lunch whenever there are birthdays... which happens frequently. On an entirely separate note, I might be gaining weight...

And my Ian is doing SOOOOO well. He has been in school for a few weeks now, taking accounting, statistics, flexibility (for track), Spanish, and religious classes, and I can tell he is loving it.  He has a lot of his classes with friends, so that's really fun for him. He also started track this last week, and is KILLING it. Ian has never seemed so excited, he is really excelling in his fitness pursuits right now. Just the other day (or week, I'm not sure) the track team had to RUN "the Y".

The Y is also called Y Mountain, where there is a massive Y on the side of the mountain. We went hiking it the other weekend, and with the altitude change from the move (sea level to 4,500 ft, with the top of the Y being 6,221 ft.) I about died. When Ian ran with his team, he was among the first few there! This is pretty much how every track practice since then has been, and I'm so excited for him! It's going to be a great season.


Last weekend we went back to Idaho for Courtney's farewell. She spoke so well, it is so hard to believe she is all grown up and going to Peru for 18 months. It was sad to say goodbye!

This upcoming week will hold another heavy goodbye, as Ian's brother Sean reports to the Provo MTC for his mission. He will serve in SLC West for 2 years, and we are so excited for him! We know he will be a huge blessing to the people he will meet.


So things are great. Things are changing a lot, but I have this weird sense of feeling settled and as if everything is falling into place. We are loving life right now, and are excited to see what the next three months bring! Until next time, here is a cute picture of us on a crocodile.

Much love,

Mrs. McG

Hello!

Dear Mr. McG,

So I decided to write a blog about us, where I'm going to tell people about the crazy things we are going to do in our new (and very temporary) home of Provo, Utah, and sharing embarrassing pictures of our mishaps and adventures. It will be fun!

To those of you playing catchup, I'm the new Mrs. McGetrick of almost 2 months- I was married and sealed to my very best friend in the Portland, Oregon temple on June 20, 2014. And since then, time has flown!

We went on our honeymoon to Disneyland, California Adventure, and Huntington Beach. And we loved it! I would say riding bikes along the coast was easily my favorite part- it was GORGEOUS.

And then we had to come back to reality- the work life. Fortunately we worked together, so our schedules were fairly similar. Our spare time was spent hanging out with friends and Ian's brothers, usually playing (and me losing) to pickleball. It was great!

Then the first week of August came, and we went on a mini vacation with Ian's family to Eagle Crest, OR (by Sisters) which was super fun. We played more pickleball, tennis, went swimming, and totally lost at mini golf- by a lot. 

From there, Kelly, Ian and I drove to Provo to move all of our stuff for school, only for Ian and I to drive back to Boise for a Marshall family reunion. It was great! I had some good sister-sister time, especially since it will be our last time for almost 2 years having all of us together before Courtney's mission (for those who don't know, she has been called to serve in the Peru Arequipa mission- so exciting!)

Aaaaand now, we are in our adorable apartment in Provo! Kelly (my awesome mother-in-law) helped a ton with unpacking and decorating. It turned our much cuter than I anticipated; I was honestly terrified of what it was going to be like. Ian picked it out his last semester here, and my faith in his apartment taste was, well, wavering. But he did very well! We're loving it. I promise to post pics (eventually)... 

But for now, that's it! We're pretty much settled, waiting for school and work to start. Married life is proving to be an adventure in itself, of panic-causing leaky faucets, making dinner for two, and getting lost driving around. We wouldn't trade it for anything!

Until next time,

Mrs. McG