Ghosts of Dating Past || The Red Flags

The football game last night was AWESOME! And late. And I am really sleepy today. But I got to have a nice dinner with my husband, watch an entire game with the man I love, sit front row to cheer on the Cougars (the BYU kind... none of this "which Cougar were you cheering for?" business), and get a Cougar tail.. what is a Cougar tail? FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS!

Doesn't that look delicious? Yeah. Everyone loves a Coug-tail. But one thing I was not planning on happening last night is seeing every single boy that I had a bad date with in my life. I swear they were around EVERY single corner. And as I mentioned before, I was with Adam... and it made me that much more grateful for those bad dating experiences that led me to Adam.

But... in the meantime. I want to give you single women out there a list of man red-flags.

1. If a man frequently forgets his wallet or keeps taking you to costly places on dates and asks you to split the tab... maybe you should make sure he isn't a little boy that got his allowance cut. A real man will always pay.
2. If a man asks you not once, not twice... but SIX different times if you want to skip with him... take his man card and then never accept a date again.
3. If he texts you after the 10 o'clock hour; do not go over. I hate to be the barer of bad news. But he probably isn't into you. He is just looking for something a litttttle different than a relationship. DO NOT FALL FOR IT. This includes invites to go for a drive, watch a movie, stargaze, etc. etc. etc.
4. On the other hand... if texting or calling frequently is too hard for him and he goes days in between. You aren't his first choice. If he wants to talk to you. He will talk to you. And he will make time for you.
5. Praying at dinner... at Applebees. Not saying it is a bad thing. But if he asks you if you want to pray with him, pauses for a second, says he will pray by himself, finishes, looks up and says, "Don't worry. I blessed yours too.." It is a little awkward. 
6. Holds your hand one day. Wont hold your hand the next day. That screams commitment issues. Don't jump the gun there buddy.
7. Watch out for the first date movie renter. "I was thinking we could grab some ice cream and a redbox (especially be cautious when he picks a movie he has seen before) and go to my place?".... Chances are he doesn't want to get to know you. Movies aren't produced so you can go to the theater and catch up with an old friend.
8. Never go on dates with roommates if the first one was ended by you. It is just a touchy subject for all.
9. If he texts you a little later in the evening saying, "Hey girl(sweetie, babe, or any other generic name)! What are you up to tonight?" Chances are it is a mass text. Sorry again to be the barer of bad news.
10. If a man likes Twilight MORE than you... (and I will be honest, I dont like it that much... but we went to the midnight showing because HE wanted too...) refer to the solution in number 2.

There are a lot more... A LOT MORE people. This is just a small compilation of what my dating history has been. And I can't help but think I dated a bunch of CRAZY people so I would be that much more appreciative of Adam. If I had met Adam first, I would have assumed every guy was like him and then been very disappointed.

A little more on Adam. His first OFFICIAL Love, The Skinnys blog post will be tomorrow. Adam has claimed Saturday as his blogging day. So look forward to a man's words tomorrow.

Love,

Deidre

Dear COUGAR Football,

It is game day! And I am SO excited. I wasn't going to buy an All Sports Pass this year... Adam gets into all the game for free... darn  student athlete perks... and so we figured we could find one ticket if I ever wanted to go. But as the season got closer Adam and I got more excited. And honestly... I REALLY wanted season tickets to the game. And I asked Adam and he said, "Let's get you a pass! We don't want to be sad we missed a game... and I know we will be bummed we missed out on something like that." He is right. We love sports. And we love Cougars. So. Obviously we love Cougar Sports. Right? Right. So IT IS GAME DAY AND I AM GOING! And I am SO so so SOOOO excited. And in honor of the season opener I am including photos of me at football games every year. So you can see I am just not a bandwagon sports lover.

2007

2008

2009

I rushed the field this game... it was amazing. 

2010

2011

This was my very first photo with Adam EVER. We are cute, huh?

the first game of the season always has an incredible atmosphere. And I can't wait to be singing the Cougar Fight Song again. So there you have it. Rise and shout. THE COUGARS ARE OUT!

Love,
Deidre

Dear Seven Questions,

This never gets old. Seven questions. Funny photo first... annnnnnnnd GO!

Only funny because I was in the middle of Michaels singing.

I DONT WANT TO SHOW OFF NO MORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE!

And all the feathers on the ground are from me wearing boas.

1. Hamburger or Hotdog? (veggie versions count)
Hamburger ALWAYS. Unless I have an option to go to Costco and get a hot dog. $1.50 for a hot dog and a drink? How can I say no!?

2. If you had to live on any other planet in our solar system, besides Earth, which would you choose?
I would most definitely live on Venus. I feel no need to explain further.

3. Share a photo of an outfit that represents your personal style, please. (doesn't have to be of you)
Well... I have a board on Pinterest full of outfits for me... but this is best. Leggings, scarf, boots... Layers.

4. Would you rather get ready for the day or get ready for bed?
Get ready for bed. It is way more comfortable than getting ready for the day. Make up. Hair brushed out. Every item of clothing slightly stretchy.

5. You have to choose between never having eyelashes or never having eyebrows, which would you choose?
Never having eyebrows. At least you can draw those things on. Eyelashes are my favorite thing.

6. What do you want to be when you grow up?
There are two things. First, I want to be a public speaker. Going from place to place presenting speeches, ideas, and whatever else is requested of me. Second, a sports broadcaster. Sports all the time and fancy outfits for me. What more could a girl ask for?

7. Do you set your clocks right on time, or a few minutes ahead or behind?
I always make someone else set my clocks a few minutes ahead.. if I set them a few minutes ahead I always think, "Oh... that one is three minutes ahead... I still have time." So if I set them. They are right on time. If anyone else is around I say, "Can you set my clock a little fast, but don't tell me how far ahead."

So there you have it.

Love,
Deidre

Dear Costco,

Let me preface this post with telling you I am an official credit card holder. That is right. In my wallet right now, and in Adam's wallet, there is contained a brand new, sparkly credit card with a nice limit. Don't worry. We aren't going to get out of hand now that we have fake money to spend... and by fake I mean borrowed money that is real that we will have an incredibly high interest to pay back if we miss a bill. So once again, I say don't worry. Adam and I have made a simple three step plan to build credit and not build debt.

Step 1

Only use it on things we would have to use cash on anyway

(i.e. groceries, gas, bills... you get the picture, right?)

Step 2

Never spend over a certain dollar amount before paying off the card

Step 3

ALWAYS pay the bill on time to avoid incredibly high interest payments

Alright. So... I need to give you a little more detail. Our credit card is the Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa. And if we spend a certain amount of dollars in the first 3 months of opening our card.... we get 50,000 BONUS flight points. Which will be great for flying to California to visit Adam's family or for flying to watch Adam play baseball once his season starts. So obviously we are trying to use our credit card as much as possible to buy everything right now. Because, let me repeat, not only are we getting the regular reward points... we would get 50,000 bonus reward points. And I would prefer to fly for free.

So now onto why I am writing to Costco. Adam and I decided to go grocery shopping to stock our very very bare and empty of food apartment. And obviously the easiest way to stock up on the basics is to go to Costco. We filled our cart. We went to check out. We swiped the card.... the man stops and said "Is that credit or debit?"... to which I say... "Credit." ... to which he says... "Oh, we don't accept Visa." In my head I was thinking "Whhhhhat?! YOU DONT ACCEPT VISA!? Everyone accepts VISA. Get on the boat Costco..." and while I was thinking that he said... "We only accept debit or American Express." Now I was thinking... "You guys are nutso! No one only accepts AMEX! In fact American Express is the least accepted credit card in the world. Who doesn't accept Visa?!"

So I swiped my debit, paid for my groceries, and was very sad for I just missed out on a GREAT opportunity to get free award points. And then I had to think about it and realized Costco has an agreement with AMEX, which is why they have Costco AMEX cards... But I am still disappointed.

JUST REMEMBER...

That way you wont have the same problems as me thinking you are going to put an awesome amount of points on your new Southwest Rapid Rewards card.... and then get to the cashier and be a very sad person. I am looking forward to the muffins though. COSTCO MUFFINS ARE THE BEST!

Love,

Deidre

Dear Bridals,

So here they are! My bridals. I really want to show you ALL of them because I am absolutely in love with how they turned out. My sister in law Kari Dawn took them with her niece Kelsey once my dress was finished being altered. The top of the dress used to be sheer with just lace but I lined the whole thing. I could not be happier with how the photos look. Here are the favorites from KD and that we used at the reception.

This one is my FAVORITE favorite favorite. I love how the lighting is with my veil.

Didn't they do a fabulous job? I hate to sound like a broken record... but I loved them and I love sharing them with people. They captured my dress, veil, bouquet, and me SO perfectly. I hope you love them as much as I do. But if you don't, we can still be friends!

Love,

Deidre

Dear Wedding Overload,

Alright. So I wanted to give you all a nice look into my wedding. At an overview. And then as pictures start to pour in I will give you some more in depth detail. Thing like my center pieces, my bridals, wedding day photos, the Twin Falls reception, the food, the Yucaipa reception... and so many other things that happened. Deal?

So you already saw a few of our engagements.

And I showed you my brooch bouquet with a simplfied how-to.

And you saw my awesome announcements made be my good friend Mallory.

But now you can look forward to posts about a lot of other things!

Like my bridals.

And our special day at the temple.

Our getaway car.

The Twin Falls recpetion.

The centerpieces.

The sign in frame.

The food.

Our thank you gift.

The Yucaipa reception.

I am so excited to do individual posts for EVERYTHING so I can tell you all the details about where we got things and how we saved money. A lot of my wedding was DIY and so I was in a lot of the details. I dont have great pictures of my cake table and cake yet... but those will be coming soon! And I am sure one million other little details I didn't show you yet. Like... wedding gifts and weddings rings. But this post is already so long. So I will let you process this, and I will get you more info later. Okay? Okay.

Oh.... and guess what else? This guy is going to be having his own weekly post. Because even though he will not admit it. He loves blogging.

So look forward to more posts from the Mr. and the Mrs. 

Love,

The Skinnys

Dear Back to the World,

Well. Adam and I are back! And sadly we have no Internet so this little diddy is coming to you from my phone until Monday when I have access to something other than 500 boxes to unpack. It was a beautiful wedding, two fabulous receptions, four days on a cruise, multiple hours spent flying and driving, and now here we are. And here you are wishing I could post a few photos. So here is what has been collected from my phone!

Love,
Deidre