Last night

Pillow talk is one of my favorite traditions.

When Becky and I were just babies, we would climb out of our cribs at night and mom and dad would find us the next morning sleeping next to each other in one crib.  We didn't grow out of it through the years.  We'd sleep in each others beds at the age of eight. And then when we were thirteen. And even sometimes during our senior year of high school.  I loved these times with my twin sister.  We would just lay there and whisper about our new love interests, tell jokes, sing songs, and plan upcoming family vacations and what kind of candy we were going to buy for the trip.

I admit we weren't always this innocent.  We would often make up terrible lies and rumors to each other. For example:
One time Becky told me that Cindy Crawford was a famous drag queen.
Another time she told me that during puberty women's breasts are storing milk.
Another time she told me that her 4th grade teacher was dating the gym teacher.
One time she told me an entire plot to a movie that never even existed.  It was an action film about an Asian woman with one boob.  People called her Uno.

Becky could really be a writer. She is very persuasive.
Unfortunately Becky lives four hours away from me now, and even if we did still want to spend the night together, I don't think either of our husbands would appreciate it. 3 or 4 is really a crowd. 


Anyways, back to pillow talk.  Scott and I have been able to incorporate pillow talk into our night lives. It might not be as silly, or messed-up as my childhood version was, but it is definitely memorable and fun. And one of my favorite parts of the day. I was just sitting here thinking about last night. And our pillow talk.


There is something very intimate about ending your day laying on your bed and letting whatever is  still in your head out. If you haven't done it in a while, go find your spouse, a sibling, a trusted pet, and pillow talk.

Drowning worms...

One of the traditions we've started up is every time we go to visit Indiana (which has been a total of two times since we've been married but I'm still calling it a tradition) is going fishing with Scott's dad, John. I am probably the most fortunate wife in the world. I really do have the best in-laws on planet earth. John is one of them. He is so much fun to be around, always ready with a smart remark or a funny story. He's lived in Huntington just about all his life and I love the history he tells in his stories about growing up in Indiana. He loves his kids and him and his wife Renea have shown Scott and I so much kindness and support. I really consider myself lucky marrying into the Winkler family.

Enough cheese, the fishing is what I've decided to document about here. Scott used to take me fishing when we were dating quite a bit, most of the time because I would beg him to take me. So when we got married John would take the both of us- we go to private ponds in Indiana mostly because neither Scott or I have a fishing license. (Private ponds are really popular there- for those non-hoosiers reading this). We always have a great time together- John and Scott bate my hook and take the fish off when I've caught something, although I did do it by myself once. So I'm pretty spoiled.

There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process.  ~Paul O'Neil, 1965

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

I started school here at BYU-I in 2008. I was 18, just graduated from high school and certain of everything I wanted to happen in life. I had everything planned out. I’m sure you have heard this story before.  

I’m now graduated from school. I’m 21 years old, I’m married, and I manage student approved housing for men.  I didn’t get to go on a mission, I didn’t get to study abroad, and I didn’t get to take the horseback riding class I was dying to try. About the only thing I did plan on that actually happened was graduating with my BA in Psychology and a minor in marriage and family.

The best part about this whole story though, is that it wasn’t authored by me alone.  My family, my friends, my fellow students, my professors, and of course my favorite person in the whole wide universe- my husband, helped write my story with me.  I am much more humble, much more patient, much more faithful, and much, much more happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.  And I have God and everyone around me to thank for that.

So the next time you sit down and think about what you haven’t done yet in your life, think about what you have done so far, who you’ve met, and most importantly who you have become. I wouldn’t trade my story for anything, now that I see it’s got a happy ending. I’m sure I will still try to write it all out by myself from time to time, but now I know that there are people that will come along and make their mark in my life’s story, leaving it a little more surprising and a lot more enjoyable than anything I could come up with on my own.