What's the rush?

Disclaimer: Young twenty something newlyweds or soon to be newlyweds, please don't hate me. Just my opinion, but I am a firm believer of the "to each their own" and "whatever makes you happy" principles of life. So wise, huh? Mehhh.

Anyhoos. Sooo, what's this sudden common rush to get married? Sometimes I am just confused by the amount of people my age (and younger) that are married/engaged! For real, it's insane. It's 2011, I thought the average age of getting married was rising? Sure doesn't seem like it. I've got a couple theories why there has been a wedding boom:

1. The GFC - aka, the Global Financial Crisis. When I graduated from college there were like no jobs. Seriously. My super smart friends with awesome internships couldn't get nothin. I was just going to law school so I didn't have anything to worry about, right? Wrong. Everyone suddenly decided to go to law school suddenly. Stupid. Anyways, my point is, people weren't graduating with the security of having a job and knowing their life wasn't going to be a big black hole of suckiness after the best 4 years of their life. {Sidebar: I miss Clemson everyday}. So, what's a sure fire way to feel secure that life is going to hand you a big blue ribbon because you're a winner? Getting married! You know for sure there is going to be someone to hold your hand, help clip coupons and keep insecurities at bay.

2. Facebook - Is it just me or has the competition for who has the most ridiculous blackout pictures from the weekend been replaced with who has the most beautiful, cute and romantic engagement/wedding pictures? I'm just saying, I can't get on Facebook without my news feed blowing up with these pictures. And I am not even going to lie and say I don't sit there and judge every single aspect of a person's wedding and how mine will be better {betches love doing this}. When you're a young twenty something girl, it is easy to be overwhelmed by all these pictures and want it all too. So this is my second theory for this wedding frenzy; girls get hooked on other people's weddings like some kind of drug and that's all they want. I've been guilty of it, but then I remind myself: a wedding isn't just about the party, there's this thing called marriage after that {yikes!}.

So I have also come up with some reasons why this shouldn't be a rush, based on myself, of course:

1. I don't eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. I associate that with the fact that I am immature, therefore, should not get married. Albeit this is very strange logic, BUT I have gotten myself up to 3 fruits and vegetables a day. SUCCESS.

2. I still get to be selfish. Yeah, I said it. I get to be selfish and get to focus on me and the career I want to have without really thinking about anyone else. Yes my Mister Aussie and I have been dating nearly 2 years and yes I consider him greatly when I think about my plans, but at the end of the day I'm still thinking mostly about ME. And there's nothing wrong with that.

3. I'm not giving up Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well, actually I don't get Thanksgiving because I live in Australia {womp womp}, but I don't have to give in and spend Christmas with anyone elses family because I am NOT married. I do what I want. A friend told me I shouldn't think like that because apparently Mister Aussie and I are a family now. Buhhh what? But we did have a good Xmas 2010 together! And yes we're playing in the snow on Christmas Day at an Alabama rest stop:

4. I have no shame in saying, I want a nice ring! And I want my fiancee to buy it himself. I actually know of people who "borrowed" money from their parents to get the ring, SERIOUSLY?! That just amazes me. If I were a dude, my parents would straight up laugh at me if I tried to pull that.

5. This has nothing to do with me, but, if your wedding album is something a long the lines of this: ~*~OuR wEdDiNg~*~ .....

Ironically, here's a couple wedding cakes I LOVE:

A Black & White Affair

Last weekend I had a much deserved night out with my friends at the Black & White Cocktail Affair put on by the Post Graduate Student Association at my university. It was a ridiculous fun night and much needed since we had all been working hard.  It was held at the Q1 building which is the tallest residential building in the world and the views were amazing.

Mister Aussie and I in the lobby.

He likes to ruin pictures with ridiculous smiles

One of my closest friends here and I

In a photobooth with my friends :)

Afterwards, we went and got yummy sangria at this awesome lounge bar.

Law school makes us all pretty unsocial because it is so full on, I seriously live for nights like this! We'll be on break in a month and I am so excited to actually be able to go out and do fun things with the awesome friends I've made here.

What are some things you love doing with your friends?

Surprise! Ruined.

So Mister Aussie and I are obsessed with trying to surprise each other big time when it comes to gifts. Then once we have figured out what the gift is we taunt the other with how awesome it is but no way can they have a hint about it. It's pretty absurd.

Well his birthday is coming up {August 3rd} and I had been thinking for AGES what would be a perfect gift. Being the twenty something guy he is, he kept saying he wanted an Xbox Kinect. That's where you don't need a remote at all, your body is the remote! Wooo cool new technology:

Then, we both saw a commercial for the Foo Fighters, along with Tenacious D, coming to play here. He nearly died with excitement but then dismissed it and said it would be too much money. But, in my head - DING - perfect gift!

But I still couldn't decide between the two of them and ended up bidding on a Kinect on ebay. After I bid, I knew instantly that I did not want to get him that and wanted to get the concert tickets instead. The ebay gods came through and I was outbid {happy dance}.

I did more research on the concert and found out how I could sign up to purchase pre-sale tickets. I was pumped because Mister Aussie was going to be beyond surprised and I was DEFINITELY going to get good tickets. After I purchased the tickets at exactly 1:00 on Friday when they went on pre-sale, I immediately started plotting how I would wrap them in a huge box to fool him.

BUT, wait...

One hour later I received a bbm from Mister Aussie, "wanna go to the foo fighters and tenacious d concert?" Oh come on, you have got to be kidding me! I replied "oh, uh, maybe...you thinking about buying them?" and he says "yea, about to put in the credit card details. it's been too long since I have heard live music."  Wahhhhh. So, had to tell him I had already purchased the tickets and why. 

Good news: He was definitely surprised. He didn't believe me at first.

Bad news: I didn't get to see his face. That's the best part of surprises!

Oh well, it's going to be an awesome time and can't wait {we have to wait awhile, December!}.

Stress, Stress, Stress

I stress.  A lot. Often times it's a little unnecessary and the rest of the times I am verging on neurotic going overboard. Some people might says it's because I'm a Pisces (I don't know, I just read it on a tweet) but I think it's just my borderline type A personality coming out to play. I think I have a little bit of a dual personality sometimes when it comes to that, sometimes I am beyond type B and then other times my type A is just screaming to get out.

My Mister Aussie, on the other hand, is pretty much the definition of type B. Ying and yang maybe? Going with the astrological theme I Googled what would be the compatibility of a Leo Man and Pisces Woman. Well the first sentence describe the Pisces Woman as being introverted. BEEP. WRONG. So moving on from that.

While my Mister Aussie has actually started to stress sometimes when it comes to school, it is still no way like I do. After living with him for awhile, I have finally realized how some of my stress habits are not healthy.

Here are some things I have started doing to help deal with everything. You might already do some of these things, but hopefully you'll get a new idea.

1. Making lists. I love making lists, I get to cross things off and feel accomplished. It also helps me get a better sense of what I need to get accomplished and when instead of just thinking a million things in my head in a disorganized way. I also love sticky notes and stick them all over my planner! These sticky notes are super cute!

 Lifeguard Press

2. This might sound extremely ridiculous, but breathing. As in, sit for a minute, close your eyes and just breathe.

3. I have started reading at night before going to bed. It helps get my mind on something else and wind down so I can actually go to sleep when my head hits the pillow. Right now I am reading The Hobbit. I've never read it and it was a deal with my Mister Aussie that I would read the Lord of the Rings books if he read Harry Potter.

4. Working out. Exercise helps your brain work better. I don't have a science degree and I haven't looked for a source to back that up, but just trust me? I know I've read it somewhere...can't hurt, right?

5. Listening to music. I walk a lot, nearly a mile to school. Listening to music while I walk helps me chill out and focus on something other than my stressful law classes.

6. Pack up my backpack/make my lunch BEFORE I go to bed in preparation for the next morning. Makes my day way less stressful.

What do you do to help manage stress?