Various thoughts about the future (unfiltered)

Sometimes the future is a little daunting.

There are so many unknowns. We don't know where we will live next year at this time, we don't know exactly when we want to start our family (or if it will happen when we want it to), we don't know what we want to do for careers, I don't know if I want to be a stay at home mom. We don't know if Mason is going to be accepted to grad school, or where we will go if he is. Heck, I don't even know what to eat for supper tonight.

Sometimes it seems like time has passed too quickly.

I don't know how I am already 24. I'll be 25 in like 5 months. I feel like I should know more about the world. More about "adulting," as they say. More about how to talk to the doctor. More about how to make friends. More about how to manage my (mostly) seasonal depression. How to be patient and control the tone of my voice. More about how I should eat. More about how to manage money. More about how to have a symbiotic, happy relationship with my husband.

Sometimes the future seems really far away.

"Next year...", "Five years from now...", "When I graduate...", they all seem like they'll never actually get here. I think that makes it harder for me to stick to my goals I have set for myself. Also, it is completely impossible for me to imagine being a mother--will that day ever come? It also makes it harder to get through the winter, because it seems never ending, although it hasn't even officially started yet.

Yeah, the future is pretty scary. I guess we will have to figure it out as we go!

Mason turns 25

Mason had a birthday yesterday! He was on campus from 8 am until about 5 pm, and part of that was taking his Quantum Mechanics test. Needless to say, it wasn't the craziest birthday. However, we did celebrate hardcore that night by getting some Domino's pizza and eating cake. It was fun giving him presents and all that too. :)

I asked him what he's learned over this past year of his life. He said he's learned how to do a lot of different things, like take the GRE and do computer programming stuff.

He is cute, and I'm glad he's my husband. I have seen him grow and change over this past year and now he's even more out of my league than he was when we got married. I love him so much and I am so grateful to be his wife.

Reflecting on One Year of Mawiage

This was saved as a draft from a long time ago. I figured I might as well publish it now!

Things we have done this past year:
Moved twice (Our studio apartment on Center Street, and now Wymount)
Bought a car from Mason's grandparents
Practiced the guitar together
Run 3 half marathons
Gone on vacation to Vernal, Utah, where we camped for the first time together!
Spent Christmas at the Waite plantation and Thanksgiving with the Parkes family
Made our first Christmas music video together!
Stumbled upon Strom Thurmond's hometown and his very own house (on our way back from our honeymoon)
Been to the beach in South Carolina
Gone on bike rides that are over 10 miles long! (A major feat for Bri)
Bought car insurance and renter's insurance (so grown up of us)
Mason dyed my hair red!
I got a drastic haircut
We filed taxes together

Hooray for one year!

School starts tomorrow

We are both feeling good about this upcoming semester. I have been taking a break from school for about a year (ish) and I am excited to be heading back! Normally before a semester begins I am filled with dread and apprehension, but this time around I am feeling very calm. This is going to be a big semester for me, because I am getting all of my generals done, and I also have a few other personal goals that I am going to be working on at the same time. I know that it will be tough, because it is always tough, but I think that in my time away from school I have learned some valuable things that will enable me to make it through this semester.

This is going to sound totally weird, but my job at the bakery has been like the greatest thing ever for me. It is unlike any job I have ever had before. Here are a few things I feel like my job has taught me since I started there in January:
-I remember things 1000x better if I am exposed to it multiple times in different ways. Ex: If someone tells me how to ice a cake, and then I ice it with them, and then ice it by myself, I am good to go. If someone were to just explain to me how to ice a cake, then I would not understand and it would be a mess!
-I am capable of getting up extremely early in the morning. Who knew? Haha. I feel like it helps me to get out of bed knowing that people are depending on me. If I don't show up to work, everyone else will be super stressed and we will not be able to do everything we need to do. I think that's taught me to be more responsible.
-I am able to learn new things. That is a good thing to know about myself; in the past I have felt like I have just reached my capacity. This job allowed me to stretch and grow in new ways, and that is a great feeling to have.
-I like having responsibility. I like being in charge of my own station with minimal supervision. It makes me feel good and helps me to feel like I have a clear purpose.

This list is not totally comprehensive, but those are the biggest things that come to mind.

Also, tonight Mason gave me a blessing. It was great and made me feel like I can do it! I am grateful that Mason can give me priesthood blessings and that he always tries to help me with school. I love him with my whole heart and I can't express that enough.

I asked Mason how he was feeling about this semester so I could put it in this post too, but he just said he wanted to write it in his journal instead. So that's why there's nothing about it here.

Anyway, here's to a new semester. We can do it!