Puerto Rico

So everyone is still asking me " What did you do in Puerto Rico", but yet are unsatisfied by my answer. Maybe it's because I leave out a lot of details. Or maybe, just maybe my trip wasn't as exciting as it should have been, but after a wedding it was just what I needed. Let us begin. We were married on a Saturday. We spent the night at the Hyatt downtown Seattle. We took our time waking up, eating breakfast, and getting ready. We didn't have to be anywhere until 12:00. We went to my parents to open presents, but they didn't get the memo that 12:00 means 12:00 and not 2:00. So we didn't end up leaving to drive back to Utah until 4:00ish. We drove halfway and spotted overnight in Baker City, OR. On the drive the next day, I started having these incredibly strong urges to pee, but when I would go, nothing would come out. It eventually went away, and we continued our trip to Utah. We arrived home on Monday night, caught about 5 hours of sleep, and then tried desperately to make it to the airport on time for our 7 o'clock flight. We barely made it and thus began our honeymoon.

Nate gets motion sickness. I have never experienced being with someone who gets motion sick. We made it to Puerto Rico with only a few scares of Nate throwing up. Everyone clapped when we landed. I thought it was a Latin thing, this cheering, but apparently it's just a Puerto Rico thing. We got off the plane, saw some cops arresting gang-bangers, and made it to our hotel. It was beautiful. The weather was beautiful. And I hadn't been on a tropic vacation like this since High School. I laid out, Nate swan, and we had a really relaxing time. We ate at Denny's almost every meal.

Then I woke up, and was in extreme pain when I went to the bathroom (this is probably all too much information, but oh well). I had a raging UTI and I didn't know what to do. When I starting voiding blood I got worried. All of the clinics were in really shaddy parts of town. We decided to call the resort doctor. $150 later, we were on our way to the Walgreens down the street. The 1/2 mile seemed like 20, because I was so sick. When we got there and ordered the prescription, I had forgotten my ID, and just started crying. I began mumbling about how Nate was my husband (he had his ID with him) and how we just got married so we had different last names. Well, it worked and they just gave them to us. The medicine worked really well, but it turned my urine clown orange.

Nate's birthday was a few days after. Happy Birthday, I have to stay in bed and rest. I felt so bad for making him sit in a hotel room, that I pretended to be better and we walked to some old fortresses. I was fine for the first little bit. I was just trying to flush my fever away with water.

Then it started to get worse. It was hot, I was really sick, and I just wanted to sit down. I ended up making Nate see the rest of it without me while I sat on a bench and people watched.

Nate and I continued to walk through the city to find a McDonalds, because A. I love McDonalds, and B. I was getting really really sick.

We searched for an hour and couldn't find one, following the directions we had found on-line. I was in tears. We finally asked someone, who told us the McDonalds wasn't any where close, but directed us to a Quiznos. It saved my life. After eating and sitting in AC, I felt tons better. We continued walking to a movie theater. Somehow, we ended up in an abandoned part of the city. We were walking and talking and all of a sudden Nate stopped and yelled. He had stepped on a glass bottle top that went through his flip flop. It had cut a deep gash in his foot and there was blood every where. We had no choice but to keep walking. More blood came out with every footstep. I made him wash it off in a fountain we found. But he ending up stepping in standing mud water on his way back to the path. We tried to find a walgreens the internet told us was near by. But after 30 minutes of searching, we just went to the local drug store. We bought rubbing alcohol and bandaids and cleaned it right there on the streets of Puerto Rico. Happy Birthday Nate. Then we went to the movie as planned. We saw "Moonrise Kingdom". Then we went back to the hotel. I started feeling a lot better the next couple of days. Although, it was cloudy from then on out. We went to the beach almost everyday. Nate boogey (sp) boarded, and I watched from my towel.

It was fun and relaxing. I want to do it again, minus the UTI. Although I was glad to get back home, because I had left my house a mess and it was giving me stress. On the way home, we hit A TON of turbulence. No big deal, for me. Nate was sick as a dog. When we started landing and the seat belt sign was turned on, we hit the bumps. We were completely surrounding by horrible, crying children and no one spoke English. I Nate was about to lose his breakfast (we ate at McDonalds, but Puerto Rican McDonalds do not have egg mcmuffins, what's up with that), so I began frantically searching for a barf bag. There weren't any in our entire row. I was about to get up when we started landing landing. So, I told Nate to use his sweatshirt, which he did. Now, I'm a pretty good person when it comes to bodily functions, but there is something about a grown human throwing up that makes me completely nauseous. Nate throw up into his sweatshirt as I watched, and I started dry heaving into the isle. Luckily I didn't puke, but I was nausesous the rest of the day, and for the next 2 flights we had. But, alas, we made it home and began life as we know it. Nate started working the day after we got back because a co-worker needed someone to cover him. I was called in to start my new job the day after, and life has been the same. I get up at 7 and go to work until 5. Nate starts work at 2:30 and comes home at 11. We get to see each other for about 2 hours a day, if we are lucky. Hopefully this all ends when school starts!

06.09.12

It has taken way too long to get this up. But let me just say, we still don't have internet. I'm writing this from a laundry mat, because our washer still isn't working. (Gives you an idea of what we are going through). Anyways, let me start by asking a question. Does a wedding ever go exactly according to someone's plans? Honestly. I know weddings have bumps and mishaps, but does anyone ever look back at their wedding and think, "That was exactly what I wanted!". Because mine wasn't. Now saying that I know that I sound like an ungrateful, selfish B. And the more I brood over the whole thing the more I realize. I am an ungrateful, selfish B. Sorry family, but if you thought you were offended before, get ready to leave the church known as Whitney's blog. From the hair at my first reception to the flowers at my second one, everything seemed wrong. "That's because you just didn't care". This has been said to me, and yes to a certain point it is true. I didn't care about table cloth colors after 2 phone calls a day about it. When I said "I want navy blue table clothes with a off-white, lace runner", and then we couldn't find blue. White was fine. When I got a new job and my parents didn't ask me about it but rather asked about how we should set up the tables. I didn't care. When I said I didn't want flowers and then was told I had to had them. I said "ONLY white flowers". I told my mom I didn't want to tell her that I wanted hydrangeas because I did not want blue hydrangeas at my wedding. She said "Whitney, I promise you there will not be any blue hydrangeas at your wedding". And then there was blue hydrangeas in every centerpiece. I actually cared on that one. I didn't want a bouquet and was told I had to have one. I said I ONLY want white roses in my bouquet, and gave a picture of exactly what I wanted, and then had peonies and roses handed to me as I exited the temple, I couldn't care. Luckily the day of I was able to hold everything in and didn't really think about it. My brother Tate gave words of comfort. And I kept telling myself "this is what ____ wanted" or "it's making _____ happy". Like I said before, weddings aren't about the bride and groom. There was a lot that did go right though.

We were able to get married in the Temple.

Nate's family was able to come.

99% of my family was able to be there.

Some besties were able to come.

And, I married Nathan Burton Robinson.

No Soliciting

Getting married has made me realize some things. First, a wedding is NOT about you. "It's your day" or "Whatever you want" are completely false statements. The only thing I really have control over, is who I'm marrying (for which I'm totally grateful). Too many people become offended over other people's weddings. Between who to invite to the ceremony and what to have to eat, I'm sticking with my dream wedding idea of eloping, because then everyone would be offended so I wouldn't have to worry about what the diabetics who come to my dessert only reception are feeling. Second, I've learned I'm extremely prideful. I hate receiving advice. Let me clarify. If I ask for your opinion on a matter, than I want to hear what you have to say. I have had so many people give me their opinion on marriage, weddings, and what to do with my life, I find it completely ridiculous. Is your marriage that good? Was your wedding that great? Why should you be such an expert?! The final straw came last night at Nate's stake president interview. The first mistake was that the he didn't know if I was in the stake or not. After that loss of faith, he proceeded to give Nate and I advice and challenged us to do things we ALREADY do. Why am I so upset?! Because people don't know me and they assume I'm stupid. And we all know what assuming does. "You really need health insurance!" Really?! Because I knew that when I got my tonsils out when I was 5. "You're really lucky! Nate's a great guy." Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that when I was dating him and decided that he was going to be the father of my children. "Don't go to bed angry is bad advice, just sleep on it and work out the problems when you're rested". We got this gem twice now. Are they mentally challenged? If I do not resolve whatever it is, I'm not going to sleep and Nate will. Then I will have 8 more hours to brood about it and become even more upset that Nate can forget about it and sleep and I can't. Lastly, I hate weddings. I always have, and I always will. I keep telling Nate the next time we get married we are going to do what I wanted to do originally and elope.

Senior Special

Nate and I went to IHOP today. This was the first IHOP I had ever been to that didn't smell like throw-up (considering I've only been in 2 in my entire life, this was a step in the right direction). I had a craving for breakfast foods, but I wasn't really hungry, so I wanted to order off the kids menu. I also wanted to order off it, because I wanted a "Grandslam" and Nate had to inform me multiple times that we weren't at Denny's. When our waitress came, she seemed really uneasy about me ordering off the kids menu. She began looking around the room, shifting her weight, and rubbing her forehead. I, trying to ease the situation and use some charm, stated that I wanted it for it's portion size. She stated, "Well, what do you want?". I stated "French toast and bacon". She said, "Well, you can get the senior special" because it will get me what I want, at the portion size I want, and satisfy the "watching eye" (which she stated while continually scanning the ceiling). She also made comments how giving someone the senior special flies under the radar better than a kids menu. This may be true judging by the fact there were no kids in sight, and the average age of customers (minus Nate and I) was probably 60.

She gave me the plate stating "You need to be 55 to eat this" and walked away quickly. I said "I can be 55 today".

Seattle or Bust

Nate and I spent a few days in Seattle so Nate could meet the family.

I took Nate to my favorite restaurant.

My dad took some engagement photos.




We went to the temple to look at our sealing room.

It rained and snowed and delayed school.

I showed Nate downtown.

We went on a ferry so that Nate could prepare for a possible cruise/honeymoon.



Bonnie, my mom, and Katie threw me an amazing shower.

And we survived.

Is that a fat joke?

So I walked into change of shift a few days ago, and after stating "Good morning" and sitting down, my co-worker turned to me and asked "Are you expecting?". When I didn't respond and looked confused, she asked, "I mean, are you pregnant?". I responded "No". She nodded her head and then went on with what she was doing. I looked down at what I was wearing--a Huskies sweatshirt with my phone in the front pocket--and couldn't help but wonder if she actually thought I was pregnant because of my appearance. Or maybe they thought I was getting married because I was pregnant.

So naturally, after about a minute of silence, I asked, "Do I look pregnant?". She responded "No, [a patient] has shingles, so we just wanted to make sure".

Yes, she didn't even apologize. The only redeeming part of the event came when the co-worker next to me, who is maybe 4'8" tall, looked at me over her glasses and said "Heaven's no!" to my question. I mean I know I haven't been to the gym in a while, but I only thought this kind of stuff happens to my mom!

The 3rd Times the Charm

So it's officially official. With a real ring and everything.

Nate took me up to Slate Canyon Park in the freezing cold. He got down on both knees, and I told him to go on one because it looked like he was begging, and he said, "Whitney Ann Englund will you mar-" and then a car pulled up to where we were and stayed right next to us. Seriously. Nate asked if he should just finish or do it again. I said that the car had "killed the moment" and we hiked up further into the mountain. Nate once again got down on his knee and asked, "Whitney will you marry me?" He put the ring box in my hand and I said "No, no, you have to take the old ring off and put the new one on my finger" (I'm still wondering why he wants to marry someone so bossy). Which he did. I said, "Yes".

It was a full moon and my ring was out of control sparkly because of it. I feel so lucky, not just because my ring is gorge, but because I'm marrying my best friend and the love of my life.




PS my ring is not purple as it looks in these pictures. I can't get it to photo and sparkle at the same time because the camera always blocks the light. Ai, so annoying. And if you're keeping count, yes, that's 3 proposals.

Both of Our Names Have *Robinson on the End

So, Nate "finally" popped the question. I know you're all dying with anticipation, so I'll give you the run down.

On Tuesday, January 31st, 2012, Nate came over to my house to pick me up to go to the temple. We were in my kitchen, and I was making/eating a snack when Nate asked me, "I have a question I want to ask you, but I want you to feel comfortable saying no". I said, "Ok", thinking it was about a family event or something family wanted me to do. He said, "I don't know if I want to ask it". I stated, "You can't just say that and then not ask!". Nate changed the subject and I quickly and COMPLETELY jokingly said, "Nate, you can ask me to marry you.". He asked "I can?!". And I stated "Yes!". He then asked "Will you marry me?". I stated, "Yes!" in a high falling tone, as if answering a rhetorical question. He looked me straight on, and said more sternly, "Will you marry me?". I again stated "Yes", this time more affirmatively, and as I was answering, I realized he was seriously asking me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring he had purchased at Walmart the night before because he was sick of waiting for the real ring to be done (They forgot to put in the ring order and we've been waiting over a month. Don't go to Sierra West!).



Now my family will stop asking me if Nate is backing out, and I can start saying that Nate is my fiance without feeling like I'm lying. The wedding is June 9th and I can't wait!

Just Like a Circus

In 2007 I thought my wildest dreams were about to come true. I attended the circus for the first time. Not any circus, but "Circus Europa". I was excited to see the freak sideshows, amazing animals, and Chinese acrobats, that weren't legal in the United States. I was severely disappointed. The most exhilarating part was the girl spinning a ball on her feet, wearing a thong leotard.

So when Nate invited me to the circus, I was once again excited to see what an American circus had to offer. We ate cotton candy and snow cones. We nestled in amongst the thousands of parents and small children, and prepared to be amazed.

The opening act was in the center ring. I had to literally fight back the tears as I watched an overweight man, wearing a sleeveless, sequined, fire inspired jumpsuit whip the tigers. Nate and I openly wanted one of the tigers to maul the master. I think they de-clawed them, and I think they only had to the two big teeth.

We sat through a horrible dance to Britney Spear's "Circus" and a strip tease by the same dancers, a dog show that was really a bunch of dogs jumping over things and catching frisbees, jugglers, indo board riders, an overweight woman spinning balls on her feet, two Hispanic lovers amaze us with there death defying tightrope and subsequent falling multiple times, and other tricks.

There were three acts that did amaze us. The 3 motocross riders in the metal ball (we felt a little more white trash after), the Hispanic family trapeze extraordinaire, and the elephants! They were amazing and almost redeeming. I recently watched "Water for Elephants" so I was in the circus mood, and slightly wished I had a sequined leo and matching headpiece that I could have worn as I rode around the arena.

The conclusion we both came to is that we won't be going back to the circus until we have little children. But, I don't want my kids to think it's ok to treat animals, and humans, that way.



The best part of the whole night came when we were walking out. This little kid was taking his time walking in front of us and when we went to pass him, he was one of the cutest little Down's kids I have ever seen. He gave us the biggest smile, and Nate just started laughing and shaking his head. He stated "Out of all the thousands of kids here, you happened to find the one with Down's". I think it's another sign!

Tender Mercy

Today I went to Kmart for the second time in my life.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw a man who had a cat on a leash. Seriously. I was going to take a picture, but he looked like he would kill me if I did because he has a warrant out for his arrest. Reflecting back on it, I should have, because if Dog the Bounty Hunter is looking for him,I could have met Leland! Anyways, as I drove past the man and the cat, I saw his wife or girlfriend leaning against there car (which was packed to the brim with everything they owned), smoking a cigarette.

As I started walking into the store, I saw a mother and son walking in front of me. The son had Down's and it made me smile. I almost took a picture to send to Nate with the message "It's a sign!". Then, when I approached the door, he stopped and said, "After you!" and let me into the store before him.

I couldn't stop smiling for about 5 straight minutes. I even smiled at the homeless man who I think was following me around the store. Today was a good day.

"You have the weirdest eating habits out of everyone I know. Even my anorexics."

So if I'm ever hungry at work, I just watch the patients eat food and then, voila, I'm no longer hungry. It's like a train wreck, because it turns your stomach, but it's fascinating at the same time. I have seen the most random combinations of foods, sauces, and use of utensils.

About two days ago, I ran out of groceries and had to buy lunch at the "restaurant" at work. It's called the Canteen, and patients work there to make money and prepare for discharge. I ordered a chicken basket, which is deep-fried chicken strips and french fries. I sat in the corner away from everyone and ate my lunch.

About half-way through my meal, I looked down at my meal and realized that I eat like one of my patients. I was tearing little bits of chicken and eating them, all the while wiping my fingers and face in between each bite. I also lined the table under my food with napkins, and if anything touched the actual tabletop, I wouldn't eat it.

I always joked that some of my co-workers are one cork away from commitment. I guess I'm not as "normal" as I thought. But like they always say, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost