May 28th

I feel like I have a lot to catch up on, but no idea if anything is worth mentioning, ya know? Let's start with the biggest thing out of the way first. Mermaid is going into the MTC tomorrow! My family is literally going to swing by, pick me up from my morning shift which I switched for at work, and we'll all drive down to Provo to drop her off! I hope it's a good experience. I hope it all doesn't come crashing down at once.

Logan is starting to feel more real. Today, our new apartment called us to confirm when we wantd to move in and it was like, "Whoa." I'm excited but nervous and I guess that's just the way it's gonna be. It's weird, but I'm mostly excited about fickle things, like swimming pools at our apartment or being able to walk through my favorite cemetery, being far from family and making our own way. Is that wrong? Should I be more excited about school? I'm just getting excited about the little things, and namely having Atlantean and I being up there making our own way. Somedays I think I have too big of dreams, like We're gonna get fit! We're gonna make dinners every night! We're gonna go hiking and camping! Life is gonna be good! and maybe it's just a positive way of looking at it all. Heaven knows if I looked at it anymore pessimistically, things could be trouble lol. I want to be excited! But I also don't want to be unprepared or unrealistic. I think that's a relatable emotion.

I've been struggling lately with finding things to do after work. Atlantean and I had a week we called our "Shut-In Week" where we tried not to go out to just spend money as we often did recreationally. It was a lot of fun and helped us realize that its important to learn how to entertain yourself. I think we are extending it into the rest of our lives lol, because shopping for money-spending sake is a habit we should kill now.

I've also been trying to find purpose in musical writing again. I wrote Sedna - The Goddess of the Sea, and I'm still working on writing, compiling and begging certain (SPRIGGAN) musicians to work on my music. Turns out Spriggan just sent his girlfriend on a mission and now will be working a lot, but he has a year here, so I better catch him before I go so he'll work on my music. I feel like I have to write Matrimony to a Phony, but it will be a stretch, because I've never started with nothing. Faster came so much... well... faster and more natural to me. I like writing musicals, but something holds me back, like if I start writing The Seven Wild Geese now, I suddenly won't have any musicals to work on. I'm debating between saving the good stuff I know I want to write or just throwing myself in headlong to enjoy it now.

This morning, my ESL student had some hard questions about English words, and I think I confused her more with my explanations. I'm so glad she wants to learn. She is so faithful to learning, and comes every class. She's basically the only reason that we keep the class I teach open. Who knew I'd be meeting with a Vietnamese lady every Tuesday in an intimate Music room classroom to teach her English and get almost stumped by her questions in Salt Lake City and get to drive back and see the Capitol framed by misty clouds. So cool.

We replaced our brake pads and rotors by ourselves! to save us money I learned how! I want to do so for other repairs because that was a big issue at the beginning of our marriage. I think cars would be a valuable thing to learn. (I'm a pretty decent piano player now! And I drive stick shift like a natural! (I think))

Tonight is Mermaid's setting apart! I also have to make blondies for a co-workers birthday tomorrow.

A whole year is a long time in Logan! And it'll be even longer than that. Gall, wish us luck.
I get to start DMing again! 😆
~Nymph

May 2nd

This morning started off well, I think. I drove over to the AirBnB I clean, and the people were still there, so then I came back but they were a liiiiittle messier than other people, on top of leaving late so I had less time to clean more mess. I had to leave a little for the wife of the house when she got back. I'm grateful that even though they've been a little less pleased with my work, as I try to get up to their standards that they're willing to work with me. Because, too often we are missing things or I'm not sure what to do about others (I mean, they taped a plastic bag over a vent on the ceiling?), and I've been leaving an undesirable amount of things for her to do because I have to rush to work (I'm sorry! I'm really trying to get everything from the list done!), but I'm enjoying throwing myself into this a little harder and taking it just that smidgeon more seriously (as like a real part time job! It's getting real crazy in the summer! lotsa cleaning!)

Been listening to a lotta D&D podcasts. Also, we just discovered Atlantean got a raise? Which is awesome! We managed to pay rent early this month, so my instant instinct is to SUPER SAVE. Which we can totally do with this raise! Yay! Our apartment we are hoping for in Logan has still not received our application in the mail :(

When I got to actual work (which I have a whole new level of acceptance for, I'm actually getting worried I'll miss it terribly when we move) two people approached me first. One just said, "I was thinking about you." and never really elaborated or why, but it seems like she didn't even know. And then the other saved a Discover envelope for me in the mail because the envelope is pretty and I made hats for cats yesterday out of the envelopes I'd collected from Discover card offers. So both those gestures were sweet and I felt important and cared about :)

Atlantean and I went and saw Endgame! We have unfortunate news. Driving back from the show we both agreed that because people had talked it up SO MUCH, we actually were a little disappointed. Good show! Don't get us wrong! But it was a Marvel movie! I've probably mentioned this before, but I find it hard to ever get a film to mean anything anymore to people. We have unrealistic expectations because we've seen it all. That being said, Nebula playing paper football with Tony at the very beginning and Antman punching the giant dinosaur space ship as he was big was pretty awesome. And Atlantean and I both agreed we got chills when everyone came back and emerged with Doctor Strange to back up Captain America. Whoo!! Good film! (Our insurance paid for us to go. Go Allstate!)

I've been obsessed with the idea of making a D&D podcast lately. I've been listning to The Adventure Zone, of which I am a loyal fan of, but I'm also trying others to kind of analyze what makes one tick, what makes one more popular than the other. I really have a desire, in a year, to try to make a D&D podcast with Wolfman, Atlantean and Pixie. I feel like they'd just be such an amazing group to do that with, and I hope they're available at the time. I notice a lot of improve, group dynamic, funny sayings, but also a strong and vibrant plotlines are all things that make The Adventure Zone such a "powerhouse" and I feel a lot of pressure as the DM to create those good vibes and story. I'm just really excited about it if it ever happened!

Two days is Atlantean's birthday! I'm so excited to finally present him with the gift I've been working on since Valentine's Day. (It's AWESOME. HOPEFULLY.) The sad news is our My Hero Academia shirts won't arrive in time (No way) but we are still going to attempt to cosplay, even with that disappointment. We are still avid watchers of what is out in My Hero Academia whenever we can get over to my parents. I now have keychains lol. #BecomingAMegaFan

~Nymph