Truth #5: Call Comcast to your house to set up the cable

Just because your cable is free and they give you a starter kit does not mean that it comes with instructions on the proper way to install it.

Yesterday I was given the task by husband to try to install the cable and to get the cable box "activated." I went and pulled out all of the items in the starter kit, but saw no directions at all as to how to install it. So, I did what anyone else would do (not really), I improvised and just started sticking random cords into the tv and the box. How hard could it be?

Apparently there are two different ways to activate a cable box: one way is to go online and to complete the process virtually and the other is to actually pick up a phone and call a number to speak with a representative.

As a child of the digital age, of course I went with option one, and  this option would save me from speaking on the phone to another human being. You see, Braden  and I both Hate Hate Hate talking to people on the the phone (we'll see how this works out for us . . . )

After several attempts of activating the box, and getting kicked out of the comcast page on several occasions because I had been "inactive" on it for 45 minutes or more (I got bored waiting for this thing!) I gave up and decided that this was a job for husband.

When Braden got home, same thing occurred, only this time he plugged all the cords in to what he tells me were the right places . . . After checking that everything is plugged in securely about 4 times, I tell Braden to call the comcast office. I of course know that he is dreading this, the act of calling a person on the phone, but I would rather he do it instead of me.

After a back and forth-- "no, you call it" "no, you call,"--we are still cable-less for now . . .

Truth #4: Furnishing an Unfurnished Apt.

I think that some people freak out about living in an unfurnished apartment after getting married because they don't want to be bothered with getting all of the stuff. But in all truthfulness, it is not that bad.

The way to furnish an unfurnished apartment in Provo is simple. Drive around the city and look for free discarded items lying on the street! There are tons of married couples in Provo constantly moving away to bigger and better things. In their frantic need to move, they freak out and just throw perfectly good items on the curb.

At first I toyed with the idea of getting free things, but I finally decided to go all out one Saturday in July. I asked my friend to help me find furniture for our apartment by driving around Provo to look at the various garage sales that were happening. But that morning, on my walk home from the Provo bakery, I discovered a couch sitting on the corner with a sign saying 'FREE' taped to the front of it!

I quickly sat down in it to stake my claim and called my friend up to come and help me move it. I was of course hoping that her husband would come to help us move the couch, but he had to work, so there we were two marginally weak girls lifting a love seat down the one block stretch to my house and taking about four breaks to get it there.

After that impressive find, I could not stop. I did not want to spend money on couches! while driving to another yard sale we found the cutest couch lying in the road. In fact, it was so cute that we still are not sure whether or not it was free or if we might have stolen a couch . . .

Now, I know that you are thinking about sanitation with all this free stuff. I too was sufficiently scared when I went home over the summer and the bishopbric in my mom's ward talked about the bed bug infestation in the ward. We also found a free mattress and people think that is weird too . . . But for everyone's info they have now been deep cleaned and I still have yet to sit on the couches . . . But hopefully they are ok and we don't catch a fungus from them.

Truth #3: Don't live behind a Bar . . .

I think that the apartment hunt in Provo for an engaged couple was best described to me by a girl in my master's program. She told me that in the summer before she got married she would be on KSL "every moment of every day" "bidding" on items such as apartments, furniture, washers and dryers.

The search for married housing in Provo became addictive to her, trying to out smart, out call, out wit the other hundred couples in Provo getting married on practically the same day.

Of course, upon hearing this story, I thought her a little crazy . . . Surely searching for married housing would be a breeze, but somewhere around the end of June, desperation set in.

We needed an apartment. We Needed it NOW. And we needed it CHEAP. Even though we were getting married in August.

The married apartment search in Provo is brutal! I soon found myself camped out on KSL, refreshing the page for housing every 5 minutes (no joke) and getting Braden to call up apartments before any other couple could.

In fact in the place we are currently living, Braden called up the property manager about 5 minutes after she listed the post on KSL. She was a bit startled to say the least . . . But in that moment, I knew that it was meant to be for us to live in this no-named apartment complex right behind a Bar!

Upon being shown the quite spacious, two bedroom apartment with hookups in the bathroom for washer/dryer, and a Lazy Susan in the kitchen (which was the top selling point for the girl showing us the apt.), we knew that this was the place.

Forget the fact that it is about a 40 minute walk from campus for me, and that a lot of bums and other sketchy people live around the place! The inside of the complex is great. In fact, in our excitement to sign the contract, we failed to notice that directly on the other side of the fence is a Bar! We did not come to the realization until Braden had been moved in for about a week. This is when we began to think that it could potentially be a problem.

At any hour of the day, 80s power ballads can be heard blasting from the always open back door of the bar. The lovely sound of clinking glasses can be heard at all hours being thrown into the dumpster. And on Friday nights from 9 to 1am Karaokee featuring 80s ballads can be heard all night long. It is like a free concert! Saturday nights are wet T-shirt contests and mainly older people attend this place . . . I have been hit on by several old people while walking down the street and one of the ladies who works there told me I have a cute butt  . . . Kind of creepy in general.

We like our apartment, but we will see how long we can last with the BAR . . .

Truth #2: Taking on Wifely Responsibilities

We have now been married for a little over a week and a half. The wedding was great because it was a day of pampering, and the honeymoon was great because we decided to gain 5 pounds eating unhealthy food every day and night until we exploded.

All in all, the wedding week and the one following that were relaxing and will probably be the most relaxing time of my life until school starts up again and it will be back to 8 months of agony. To add on to this agony, it was brought to my attention by one of my friends that I would have to now take on some "wifely responsibilities" as well . . . 

This conversation took place during a trip to Target to purchase a table for our unfurnished apartment. And I quickly discovered that my husband believes that I will not take on the "wifely role" in the marriage, but he will be the main one cleaning the house and cooking the meals . . . 

Highly offensive? YES. 

It is true that while we were dating, I may or may not have mentioned the fact that I do not plan on being a servant to my husband waiting on him constantly. I may have also mentioned the fact that while I would like to have children one day, I would also like to have a career too only staying at home to work at home. I may have also mentioned that I hate doing the dishes . . . 

But he might have taken all of these things to the extreme. In fact, I might have taken to the extreme on my mentioning of these things as well which would lead us to this point where he believes that I cannot take on wifely roles! 

While it is good that I have prepared him so well for the expectations he should have of me as a wife, I also found it slightly hurtful that he thinks that I am opposed to helping in the house at all! 

Let me get one thing straight: I am not against the traditional roles of a wife and I respect women who hold to them. I am excited to be a wife and to help my husband in anyway that I can, but come on! I can't believe he thinks me this heartless!