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Thursday, December 29, 2011

A good end to a good year

I haven't had time to blog while we've been home because we've been so busy enjoying time with our families and loving the holidays!

Some quick highlights so far:
Union Square at Christmas time is my favorite

On the field at the Hunger Bowl



-2 weddings
-got tickets to go to the Warriors vs. Kings to watch Jimmer...10 minutes before we were to leave Mark starts vomiting and we have to skip the game.
-Girls night in San Francisco with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law
-Girls night with 2 of my besties Ronisha and Lindsey
-Spending time with the Warrens
-Christmas!
-Mark's christmas present not coming :(
-Watching Christmas Story, Elf, Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life
-Spending time with the Barkers
-me getting really sick with a sore throat, thinking I have strep, and then throwing up {it felt really great} going to the doctor, strep test negative, doctor thinking I have mono, got blood tests done, finding out I don't have mono!
-Went to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T park with my parents.

-and finally Booking our Flights to Europe! It's official, Mark and I are going to Europe in April! 

We are so blessed and lucky to have such amazing families who love and support us. It has been so great to be home and spend time with our family and great friends. We love the Bay Area and are soooo excited to move back here in April. I think this final semester in Idaho is going to be rough: it will be freezing cold and we are going to be so anxious to finally be done with school and be out of Idaho and start our "grown up" life.

I cannot wait, I'm so excited to see what the future holds for us. Thanks for being so good to us 2011 & Welcome 2012!

Monday, December 12, 2011

I'll be home for Christmas



This weekend was another good one.
Friday night my sister Rachel and her roommate Sam came over along with Jamie and we made oreo bites (oreo cake balls? whatever they are called, doesn't matter, they are amazing!) and peppermint bark, both are great Christmas treats and sooo easy to make.

I also got to spend lots of time with my man, went to the gym together on Saturday, then went to lunch at Costa Vida, ran errands and even got him to watch Water for Elephants with me, and he really liked it! He thought it was going to be a chick flick, on the same level as the Notebook. He wasn't at all excited when we rented it, 2 minutes into the movie he looks at me and says "this is going to be depressing, I can already tell." But about 10 minutes later he was so focused and into the movie. I think this is going to be one we buy :)

Now I just have to make it through today and 3 more workdays and then I get to go home to Danville! Friday can't come soon enough!
home couldn't come sooner

Friday, December 9, 2011

Tribute to Jared Johansen

This is a post by Jared Johansen's cousin. She describes Jared and Tiffany so beautifully. She talks about the funeral and God's greater plan for Jared in a way that I could never.
This post brought so much peace to me. I'm so glad to hear Tiffany, Nick, Nate, Christy and Alan are doing well.
At the bottom of her post, there is a link to the Jared Johansen Trust, which will help provide an education for Reese and Jaclyn. Anyone is welcome to donate.

love/mostly hate relationship



Running is not my thing. I've never understood people who just "love" running. It's hard on my knees, my throat, I get bored {do I need to go on complaining?}

But I go through phases where I'm motivated to run. For the past few weeks I've ran on the tredmill every night. I started really slow and just ran {ok maybe it was jog}/walk for 25 minutes. Then I started to increase my speed just a little each night. Then increase the time by a few minutes. Then try to run 2 miles straight, then increase a quarter of a mile each night. Last night I increased my speed to see how fast I could run a mile, I'll be honest though, I didn't push myself as hard as I should have {but I was worried because I had Craigos pizza right before and I didn't want to throw up at the gym}.

But I think my biggest problem is that I get bored running. I try to watch tv, but the gym only shows CNN, Fox News, BYU tv and ESPN, I need some Kardashians or a real tv show to distract me. I listen to my iPod, good beats that give me a good pace and motivate me. But I still get bored.

I don't think I'll ever love running. But I do love how I feel after. I love being a little sore in the mornings.

Goal: I'm going to run every day, no matter how short or slow, always run!


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

finished!

As of yesterday I am completely done with my Christmas shopping! and let me tell you, it feels dang good! I stress so much over what the perfect present for each person is. Now I can wrap the gifts, finish all the little finishing touches, and enjoy Christmas.
9 more days until we go home. 18 more days until Christmas.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

favorite child.

I just ran across this article  about BYU-Idaho banning skinny jeans. Apparently you can't take a test in the testing center if you are wearing skinnys. I know this isn't really a big deal, it's just jeans, but it really irritates me.
I'm pretty sure no girl gets up in the morning, pulls out her tightest skinny jeans from the closet, looks at them and says "Yeah, these are just pushing the boundaries on campus just enough."
I wear skinnys because they tuck into my boots easily, so I guess they should ban boots too. And if you jeans are tucked into boots, how can you really tell they are skinnys? Is the campus going to ban all jeans in general so there's no confusion?

This is college. What are the majority of college students doing around the world? Drinking, partying, wearing scandalous clothes, etc. Look at the students at BYU-I and we don't participate in any of those things. Cut us some slack. How scandalous are skinny jeans really?

This is a great school. But it's not perfect. Looking back on my education, most of my classes were busy work, overloaded with group presentations and projects, I don't feel like I had an exceptional education at a "private university." I don't feel ahead of my peers at home in my major or more qualified for a career. I think the school has a lot to improve. They should be worried less about our fashion trends and more worried about the curriculum.
When the prophet tells us not to wear skinny jeans, or flip flops, then I won't. I'm so glad I'm graduated so I don't have to deal with this ridiculousness.
You've gone too far BYU-I.

How are the standards at BYU provo and BYU-Idaho sooo drastically different? It's like provo is the favorite child and can do whatever they want because they are perfect and we are the black sheep and have to have so many restrictions because our parent doesn't trust us.


Peppermint Tuesday

One day of work down, only 8 and a half more until I get to go home and be with my family and Mark's! I can tell today is going to be a good day, It's much warmer than yesterday {and by much I mean 10 whole degrees haha at least it's in the positive, not negative degrees} I got a peppermint hot chocolate from McDonalds on my way to work today and let me tell you, McDonalds did not disappoint! Plus Destiny's Child "Do you hear what I hear" is playing and Michael Bubles' Christmas album. Plus if work is slow today I have LOTS of shows to catch up on from Sunday. The first being the First Presidency Christmas Message.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Last night we had a fun date night with our good friends the Sorensens. We went and saw the movie "In Time" with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfred, I think that's how you spell it? I absolutely loved the movie! It was so interesting and I liked how different it was but you could also compare it to real life. I thought all the actors were perfect. It was a hit, all 4 of us liked the movie!

Then we went back to the Sorensen's apartment and watched our wedding videos! This may sound strange, but it was such a fun activity, I would definitely recommend couples doing this. You get to know so much about the other couple just from their wedding videos. Brent and Jamie are so cute together, I love their story. They have known each other since elementary school. They are such a fun and positive couple, we love being around them and are really going to miss them when they move next semester.
During our wedding video we had a section where Mark's brother interviewed us individually, like the newly wed game. I have always hated that video because it was 10:00 at night and we had gone swimming that day and I just felt ugly and grimey. Jamie kept saying "you look so beautiful, even with just a ponytail in your hair. I would never look that good in a video." I thought she was just being herself and being nice but after she said that about 3 more times I realized she was being sincere. I told her I didn't think I looked good and she made a good point, we are our biggest critics. That is soo true. I guess after almost 23 years of looking at myself in the mirror, I know all my flaws.
Why are we so hard on ourselves? Other people don't see all the flaws that we see in ourselves. But then we see girls who look confident and assume they are cocky and full of themselves {which, they are 98% of the time.}
So is it possible for confidence and humily to coexist?

In other news, today I went shopping with Jamie and she helped me pick something to wear to the wedding! I'm so glad she was there because I probably wouldn't have even tried it on if she wasn't there because of the price tag. But it ended up being 20% off. Now if only she could be at the wedding with me...

Tonight we had another couples night! We went over to the Langi's cute new apartment and the boys watched football and played video games while we watched the Justin Bieber movie, lisa tried on her whole wardrobe, re-activated my twitter account and burned off the pizza and cocoa bean laughing. It was such a great night! Thanks jamie and lisa! #neversaynever

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Families are foever




The past couple of weeks have really given me a greater perspective of life and truly how fragile it is. 2 of my friends' brothers have passed away, one while serving in the Army in Afghanistan and the other, a father of a cute little girl with one on the way passed away in his sleep.
I didn't really know either of these two great men, but I do know their families, which are great families. I know Mark looked up to one of them as a great example of a big brother.

It's so hard to wrap your head around when someone passes away unexpectantly. Mark and I had a good talk last night, after I cried for a while {which made me feel confused because I didn't know Jared well, like I said, but I can't imagine what it's like to loose a son, brother, husband, father. I just kept thinking about how devastating it must be for his parents, brothers, wife and daughters. My heart breaks for them.} But Mark made a good point, on very few occasions do you hear Mark be serious or share his deep thoughts. He said the Lord must really have something important, almost an emergency, for Jared to do, why else would he take a young father/husband/son so quickly and with out any sign, no sickness or anything. I think that is so true. Most often death is expected, for example usually a grandparent is old or there has been sickness, you can prepare for it and say your goodbyes. I really think that says something amazing about Jared, that he was so important and crucial for something in heaven that we can't understand that God would take him from the earth. 

Sometimes we get so caught up in life with materialistic things, clothes, our appearance, technology. But these tragedies have really opened my eyes and helped me see the most important things in life, family and the people who mean so much to us, they are irreplaceable. How often do we treat our own family members with less than respect. I can't imagine the heartache of losing someone in my family. It's made me think about how much they each mean to me and I need to always remember to treat them like that. I also thought a lot about my relationship with Mark. It made me realize that things can happen so quickly that I don't want to fight or get caught up in the little things. I want to live life to the fullest every day. I want to strive to have a perfect love for Mark everyday. I want to have no regrets. Obviously every day isn't perfect and I won't be perfect at this but I want to try. I don't want to dwell on things that happened years ago. I want to look forward and love openly, not be afraid to be hurt. You only have one chance at this life, and too often it ends all too quickly.

My heart goes out to these two wonderful families. I am so grateful for my testimony and understanding of a life after this and eternal families. I'm grateful that I know I will see and be with my family forever. God doesn't create families just to take them from us, families are eternal. I want my family; my parents, sisters, grandparents, in laws, and Mark to know how much I love them and how grateful I am for them. I am the person I am today because of their example and love.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

dress mess

we are going to a couple weddings in a few weeks when we go home for Christmas and I want to get a new dress to wear, except there are no stores in Rexburg, and I didn't find anything this past week when we were in Utah so now I'm all stressed because I'm not the best online shopper, I want to try it on and see how it looks. Plus everything cute online is too short or sleeveless, not gonna work!
I found a dress I really like on shopruche.com but of course it was sold out!

Any suggestions?! What would you wear to a wedding?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Over the river and through the woods

Before I talk about our Thanksgiving, I have some great news:

About 15 minutes after we walked in the door yesterday our neighbor came over with 3 packages for me. I instantly wanted to rip them open, because I knew what was inside, but I didn't, I tried my hardest to be patient and friendly. I talked to her and her cute daughter for a few minutes, popped some bubble wrap with them and then the second the door closed and we said goodbye I ran to the scizors and cut the boxes open. It was my camera, free camera bag and memory card! I spent a couple hours reading the manual, learning what each button means and playing around with it. There's so much to learn! But I can't wait to start taking pictures with it!



Now on to the important stuff, Thanksgiving!
We went to Draper, UT to my grandma's house, it was such a great week. As soon as we got to her house on Wednesday afternoon my grandma and I went straight to the kitchen to start prepping for Thanksgiving dinner. After making the most amazing cranberry crunch from fresh cranberries, apples and walnuts, the glaze for the turkey, and prepping the stuffing, we decided we should probably make dinner because Mark and Rachel were hungry. After dinner we all sat and caught up on life and the future.
My grandma recently got a puppy named Teddy, he's so cute and fun. We played with him for hours. The highlight of our time down there for Mark was egging Teddy on to chasing the cats and attacking them. He loved hearing the cats hiss and growl at Teddy and swat him.
Thursday morning I woke up bright and early, ok so it was only 8:15 but that's early for vacation, to help my grandma start cooking. We cooked all day until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon! But we had no accidents or anything non-edible, it was a success! Everything was delish! We went with a fruity, sweet base for the turkey and gravy, it had an apple flavoring, it was soo good! We even stuffed the turkey with granny apples! Then we went to an extended family members home for dessert.

That night was Black Friday, and me, Mark and Rachel decided we wanted to be part of the holiday shopping madness! I wanted to go to Best Buy and fight for a 42" tv for $200, my claws were out, but when we saw the line at 5:00 was wrapped all the way around the building we crossed that off our list. Mark saw a Walmart add that had dvd's for $1.95 so he wanted to go there {really, Walmart?! That's the only store we have in Rexburg and he wants to go to Walmart?!} but I was up for it because they started their deals at 10:00 instead of midnight. We got there right at 10:00 and saw a feeding frenzy of people tackling each other for dvds. Rachel's eyes lit up and she ran right into the mess. I saw people getting trampled and smashed so I stayed back and Rachel handed me piles of dvds to go through. At one point she got sat on! I was amazed to see how people turned into animals and gave no regard to people around them, just to save a few bucks on dvds. I guess we aren't as refined or evolved as we like to believe we are. After about 20 minutes in the dvd section, everything was obliterated, the only thing left was a handful of dvds that no one wanted, like the Despicable Me short films that everyone thought was actually the Despicable Me movie...so shady Walmart! We walked around to see what other deals they had. We got to the video game section, full of smelly nerdy boys. Mark stood in the back trying to see what they had while Rachel and I got aggressive and demanded boys to hand us games and tell us prices. Sometimes it's good to be a girl, ok most of the time!

Then I found a 30piece tupperwear set on sale for $6! The joys of being a wife :)

We weaved in and out of people to find the shortest line, jackpot! While in line we had a crack up of a lady behind us. She wanted to talk about all the movies, hold up each one and tell us what she thought of it, then she wanted to see our selection of movies. She kept talking to everyone around her about the movies. She also enjoyed telling us that she just got off work at 7/11 and loves working there. At one point Rach and I found crumb donuts in line for $1 so we grabbed one to share and she got so excited and asked us to grab her one. Needless to say, she made waiting in line much more entertaining.

After getting out of the white trash that Walmart is, we headed to target. We parked at about 11:15 and thought that because it was warm at 35degrees we could wait in line for 45 minutes. We walked across the parking lot and headed to the line. It looked short! We can do this! Then as we got closer people in line started telling us the line was wrapped all the way around the huge target. I started feeling like Ralphie when he took Randy to get in line at the department store to see Santa and they thought the line was really short until the grumpy man said "hey kid, the line starts back there, this is the front of the line!" I no longer cared that it was 30degrees warmer than it was last year, by the time we actually got in to target there would be nothing left! So we headed home.

Black Friday was fun, but I want to have things to actually fight for. We never have anything we really need, we just go to be a part of the excitement.

Friday I headed to the Fashion Mall with Rach and Grandma Bev in hopes of finding a new dress. Unsuccessful, of course, whenever I go looking for something specific I never find it. But we did have a great lunch a the Corner Bakery.

That night Mark and I headed to Bountiful to visit his grandparents that we never get to see because they live in Arizona half the year. We took them to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama...I was skeptical, not sure what the food would taste like. On the way to dinner we came across some deer trying to cross the road. We stopped right next to a big one and Mark's grandma rolled down her window and started singing Rudolf The Rednosed Reindeer to it! I was dying! Mark's grandparents are hilarious, they argue over what they said, or when something was. The best part was once we got to dinner, his grandma was sooo excited, she loves buffets. She uses a walker that has a little seat on it. She took a couple laps around to see all the food they had to offer and then loaded up her plate and put it on the seat of the walker as she walked back to the table, she did this about 3 times. It was awesome. And I can say I was pleasantly surprised by the food there. I guess getting old isn't going to be so bad as long as we live/retire by a Chuck-A-Rama!

Saturday, Mark and I went to do the rest of our Christmas shopping! We are dunzo! Well except for Mark's Christmas gift. I have no idea what to get him! I feel like such a horrible wife. I have all these things that I want constantly and he never wants anything. I should be able to come up with a great surprise gift to give him but I can't think of anything! It's killing me.
That night we all went to Tocanos Brazillian grill! It was so delicious! Rachel and I had never been there so it was a new experience for us, so of course we had to try a little bit of everything from fried bananas to chicken heart, which let me tell you is really rubbery, it tastes like chicken at first but the after taste is disgusting!

So to sum our 5 days up, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful to have such a great relationship with my grandma and be able to spend this holiday with her. I'm grateful for a wonderful, loving, supportive husband who loves my grandma and encourages me to spend time with her. I'm grateful for my sister even though we fight like none other. I'm also so grateful for my family and I can't wait to see them in 3 weeks! I'm grateful for civilization, even though I don't really like Utah and I don't want to live there, it is a nice break from Rexburg and I love seeing the lights of the cities at night and of course love all the malls and outrageous plethora of food places in each city.

Sorry this was a novel of a post but here are some pictures:
Mark carrying Teddy in his sweatshirt

Mark carving his first Turkey!

Rachel's typical position all week

"Look at that hack job!"

Success...


baby Teddy

Setting the table

Add caption


passed out after all the turkey

reading...what?!



Tuesday, November 22, 2011

It's Friday!



Ok so it's obviously not really Friday, but my weekend/vaca starts today at 5! Work has been really slow this week because of the upcoming holiday so today I brought this beautiful book that my friend Emily made for me so that I could turn it into a planner, since I need a new one and the one I really want, but obviously can't afford because it's $200, really, who's so important that they need a $200 planner?! But it's cute right?!
So I decided I would turn this adorable gold glitter ombre notebook that Emily gave me into a planner! aka hand writting the date on each page, nothing too awesome, I'm not real crafty like emily.



Well back to it being Friday, as soon as 5:00 rolls around I'm home to pack, clean the apartment cuz I hate going on vacation and then returning to a messy home. Then pick M up from, go to tithing settlement, hit the gym to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, go to bed, wake up and drive to my grandma's!

This will be my first Thanksgiving without my family, I know I'm a baby, and I know Mark and Rach and my gma will be with me and they are my fam, but I guess I mean this will be my first thanksgiving without my parents. Weird. Guess I really am grown up.

Also, if you're wondering, I talked to my parents and my in-laws and....I ordered my camera the other night! It should be arriving to my apartment anytime after Thanksgiving!

Anyways, I most likely won't be blogging the rest of this week, I'm going to be relaxing on my gmas couch, playing with her puppy, baking and enjoying the week with my number one man, my sis and my gma!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

dear santa



I found the thing I REALLY want for Christmas.
1222817 Front Large

It's the Nikon D3100 14.2 megapixel digital SLR camera! (do I sound like Ralphie from A Christmas Story?!)
All the reviews say it is the best SLR and so easy to use for new comers like me.
I'm going to search high and low for it on Black Friday, hoping that they will lower the price even more. And I'm going to talk to my parent's and Mark's parent's about splitting it 3-way with me for our Christmas gift. {Surprise dad!} And of course, I'll write a letter to Santa telling him I've been very good this year.

Anyways, it has everything I want, plus it has a video mode, so that would fulfill mark's wants of having a camcorder {do people still use camcorders?} And I can take great pictures of our family in Washington D.C. and of Europe!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

christmas shopping

I don't know if it's a tradition in my family or if it's just because my dad is so on the ball, but we always get our Christmas shopping done BEFORE Thanksgiving. It's been really hard for me to do that while I've been here at school the past 4 years because there are not many stores in Rexburg so I usually wait until I go down to Utah for Thanksgiving to do my shopping. But it always stresses me out waiting that long!
So I've started planning what I'm getting and when I'm getting it:
Dad-check!
Mom-just figured out what I'm going to get her and am going to start it today!
Brad & LuAnn-ehhh maybe one of the things I'm getting my mom for LuAnn as well. Don't know about Brad.
Taylor-ahhh
Dave & Lauren-absolutely no idea
Mark-a few ideas, I'll have to look during black Friday.

I know my list looks like a mess, but I'm actually feeling really good about it! The ones that are really stressing me out are Brad & LuAnn, Dave & Lauren, and Taylor. Mostly Mark's family, so looks like I'm going to have pick Mark's brain!


We are back from a fast but great weekend in Utah with the Warrens! It was so much fun being all together, 5 warren families with 7 little girls and one boy who loves to smile. The weekend seems like a blur, it went by so fast but we have some great memories.


One of the funniest things that happened this weekend included spooning and a dog. Scott and Dani have a boxer named Sunny. She is so cute and so much fun. She gets so excited and her stubby tail gets wagging so fast her whole but wiggles side to side. Well when we got in the first night we climbed into bed and Sunny decided she wanted to have a sleep over with us. She climbed right between me and Mark, in a full sized bed, and was spooning Mark! Seriously, she had her arm/paw across Mark's chest! We were dying. Then Mark leaned over to kiss me goodnight and Sunny tried to join in, pretty sure she got Mark!
They also are the parent's to Paige, Emma and Colt. They are so much fun. I love all our nieces and it's so fun to have a nephew. Daylight savings has them all messed up though, they woke up around 5 am! The second morning Mark was so exhausted he said, I never want to have kids! rude! but then when the kids all came downstairs he snuck upstairs and climbed in their bunkbed to sleep a little longer.
I got to help Dani make pies for Thanksgiving dinner, she is a really good cook and I learn a lot from her.

On Saturday night all the girls went to Lauren's house to play just dance while the boys froze their butts off at the BYU game.
This picture is blurry but look at all those girls dancing!
Then Sunday we had Thanksgiving dinner. It was all delish! I again failed at taking pictures.
We had such a great weekend and are so grateful for our family, both sides. 

Friday, November 11, 2011

an early Thanksgiving

Tonight we are heading down to Utah for an early Thanksgiving with the Warrens! It's going to be a great weekend full of family {7 nieces and 1 nephew}, good food {zupas! and of course turkey and pies and everything in between!} I'm in charge of making the sweet potatoes and helping my sister in law with the pies, I love baking so I'm excited.
I'm so excited to get a break from Rexburg, I always start feeling like I need to get out once it gets cold so it will be a nice break, even though it's cold down in utah too. This week has been a rough one and I'm hoping this weekend gets me back to normal.

Hoping today goes by fast at work so I can go home and pack, then pick Mark up {luckily his boss is letting him leave an hour early so we won't pull into our brother and sister in law's house at 1 am!}

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Happy birthday dad!

Happy Birthday to the best dad in the world! I know everyone says they have the best dad, but I actually do! He taught me everything I know from how to ride a bike to being a caring and responsible person. He gave me such a great life and continues to. Some of my favorite things about my dad are his enthusiasm for holidays, especially Christmas. I love going every year to pick out the Christmas tree, even though there is always a fight over which tree to get. But when we lived in Indiana we went to tree farms and cut down our own tree! Another great quality about my dad is that he's coached me and all my sisters sports teams, even if I was a pathetic basketball player :) Despite his busy work schedule, he has always made time for us. My dad has always pushed and encouraged me to become the person he knew I could be. He loves me and my sisters and my mom. What more could you want in a dad? Plus he gets along so well with my husband!
Happy birthday dad!


me around age 5, my dad and rachel around age 2

At freshmen orientation breakfast when my parents dropped me off in Idaho my first year, hot picture of me eating 

Family pictures at Chrissy Fields 2008

Father-daughter dance at my wedding, provided by my wonderful dad!

Monday, November 7, 2011

A California Christmas

For the past week or so we have been trying to figure out flights to go home for Christmas. My awesome dad is giving us plane tickets home as my graduation gift! {he's always bought our tickets home as a Christmas gift, luckily for him, this is the last time he will have to, since we hopefully will be living in California come April 2012!} Not only do we have to coordinate my work schedule with Mark's but also with finals and my sister Rachel's work and final schedule. Plus we have to coordinate with our parents schedule as to who can pick us up from the airport and who will drop us off. {the ONLY negative to flying home is that we have no car once we get there.} But after a week or months of coordinating and changing plans, my wonderful dad booked our flights today! I can't wait to go home! Christmas with snow is beautiful, but Christmas at home with family is what it's all about.

Wildfox California Christmas

Friday, November 4, 2011

time to relax with the hubbs

Yay for the weekend! Technically my weekend doesn't start until about 8:30 or 9 tonight when Mark gets off work. We don't really have any plans for this weekend but I'm excited to rest, relax, and spend time with the guy who can make me pissed and makes me laugh so hard I almost pee my pants :)

and maybe I'll try to convince Mark to make a fort like this with me on Saturday or Sunday!
Have a great weekend!
Pinned Image

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

stay at home dad?

Today I was talking to Mark and joked saying that I just want to be a mom so I don't have to work anymore. Mark, with a straight face, turned to me and said, "I want to be a mom so I don't have to work."
We are going to have a long life ahead of us! Someone's gotta work! haha My mr. mom cracks me up.

P.S. I don't actually want to be a mom right now, I'm enjoying married life, just the two of us for a while.
And if Mark did try to be mr. mom, he would call me after 2 days saying that he's had the worst migraine and he doesn't want to do it anymore, so I'm not worried that I'm going to have to be the bread winner :)


mom in training

I miss running errands. Is that weird?
I'm so lucky to have a job in this economy and especially in Rexburg, but I work from 9-5 so by the time I get off work pretty much everything is closed so I can't run any errands. of course the grocery store is open and stuff, but if I ever have to go to the post office, or campus bookstore, or any stores like that I can't.
I don't know why I like running errands but I do.
It would just be nice to have some free time to get things done every once in a while.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

thank you for not snowing

It's November! I'm extremely excited for it to be November for many reasons. First, the new Justin Bieber Christmas album came out today! Second, it has a holiday all about food, and being thankful of course, and I'm a fat kid so I'm thankful for food. Third, this month is going to be full of family.
In 2 weeks we are going down to Utah to do an early Thanksgiving with the Warrens'. I'm really excited to see all of them. I'm so grateful to be part of their family. Also, we are going to the temple to do the work for Mark's grandpa who passed away last year. That will be such a great experience.
Then we are going back to Utah for the real Thanksgiving week. Me, Mark, and Rachel are going to my grandma's house in Draper. I love going to her house. There's something so relaxing and soothing about that house. Ok maybe it's because it's gorgeous and I wish it was my house :)
Also, today was a great start to the month because all the weather reports said it was suppose to snow today...and it hasn't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Things I'm thankful for:
My parent's who taught me how to be a responsible, caring person
my sisters who make me laugh and teach me patients
my husband and the happiness that he brings to everyone
pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
space heater
nature
my friends who have helped me become who I am
Hocus Pocus
That I don't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner for a bunch of people
Mark doing the dishes
The Addam's Family movies
Playing Uno
Casper
The office
our competitive games on my ipod
warm showers
my scentsy

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween weekend

This weekend we didn't do too much, but we did have some high lights.

First one of my best friends, Glenna, came up to visit with her bf Ioua. We met up with them for dinner at wingers Friday night. Then we went back to our apartment to play Just Dance 3 with them, their friend McKay, Adria, Emily, her friend Seth, and Zan. Party at the married complex!!! At about 1:30 we finally kicked them out, which was way past my bed time. Sorry neighbors if we were loud!

Then Saturday Mark and I both woke up late and were grumpy. We had planned to go to the temple, and although neither one of us were in the mood, we new it was what we needed. We had a wonderful session and I'm so glad we went. Everything we were grumpy about went away and we were so happy sitting in the Celestial room. Then the second we walked out the temple doors, it seemed like we were instantly grumpy {which is mostly my fault, I will admit}

So I decided I needed to go to the gym, since we didn't have any plans anyways and Mark was going to go play bball with some friends. I decided I wanted to jog to the gym. On my way there, I passed a little old lady who was raking the leaved in her yard. I instantly started bawling, I don't really know why, I guess because my emotions caught up with me and seeing her bent over trying to rake her leaves broke my heart, and my biggest fear is getting old and not being able to do anything for myself. So after a minute I pulled myself together and gathered the courage to go over and ask to help her. She was so excited that I wanted to help. She had a TON of leaves! It took about an hour and a half to rake the leaves into piles and scoop them into trash bags {I can't imagine how long it would have taken her by herself!}, and have a great conversation with this sweet lady. It was exactly what I needed. Plus I got to meet her cat, which made it even better :) The second I picked up the rake, I felt 100% better.

Then I ran to the gym and worked out for a little bit and then headed to the basketball courts to find Mark and tell him about my experience. I walked around every court looking for him, but I couldn't find him. So I walked back through the gym to run home. As I was walking out the doors I saw my cute hubby. He asked me where I'd been, he said he'd been looking for me for hours. I left my phone at home and he'd been trying to call me, oops!! He told me he had called Rachel and all our friends looking for me, what a cutie!

Then when we got home there were the most beautiful roses on the counter! What a sweet guy!

After dinner we went to Kiwi Loco with Brent and Jamie and then walked down the street to look at the pumpkins in the carving contest. There were some pretty amazing ones!

I loveeee Hocus Pocus!

Me and Mark with the Sanderson Sisters

Of course, this was my favorite pumpkin!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Thank you for coming weekend!

Dear Weekend,

I'm soo excited/relieved you are here. This week has been a very stressful one, it's taken a long time to get to you. Please go reallllly slow so I can relax and have fun with the hubby, and with Glenna! I'm going to just forget this weekend is Halloween, since we aren't going to the ward party tonight because Mark has work and there's really nothing to do on Halloween in Rexburg when you're married and don't have kids. Hopefully we will be able to go to the straw maze with Glenna and Ioua though!

Also, just take a message when Monday calls.


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

home away from home

I couldn't stop listening to Justin Bieber & Usher's new version of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". I love it!

I'm soo excited for the next couple of months. I can't wait to go down to my cute grandma's house down in Utah for Thanksgiving, it's my home away from home. It's the best stress reliever to go hang out there. I'm going to help her with Thanksgiving dinner, aka go grocery shopping with her and help make everything! I'm actually really excited.

Then the day after Thanksgiving I WILL be listening to Justin Bieber's Christmas Album on repeat.


Monday, October 24, 2011

no holiday cheer





So I really love fall/all holidays. Maybe it's because I have little sisters so we celebrate everything still or maybe it's because I'm not fully grown up yet. But I love doing all things festive. But Mark is the youngest in his family, so he didn't do all the typical holiday things once his brothers moved out. So how do I get him to want to do all the stupid, cheesy holiday things?

I REALLY wanted to go to a pumpkin patch this weekend, expecting to search for the perfect pumpkin, getting apple cider and hopefully a hay ride. So to make it more enticing to Mark, I said we should invite some friends, that got him! But then no one could go with us. So then Mark lost the little enthusiasm he had.
I did convince him to at least get pumpkins from Walmart with me, but he just grabbed the first one he saw. He didn't care to search through to find the best ones. Then he was really procrastinating carving them. I wanted to the second we got home, of course, but I didn't push it. After 4 hours I went out side and brought the pumpkins in myself and started carving.
He won't ask his boss to get off work a couple hours early for the ward Halloween party this year {maybe I'll go by myself as a widow?} He won't dress up. Annnnnnd he already told me he never wants to go to Christmas tree farms and pick out a tree, he just wants a fake on!

Why didn't I know he was a bah hum bug before I married him?! This has to change.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

blazing love

I would really love some blazers, but when I was in Utah a couple weeks ago I didn't find any {fyi the ones at forever 21 suck! they have no shape to them, it was like a lab coat}

Why is there no H&M anywhere around here?!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

shorty Christmas



I don't know what is so intriguing about the Biebes, but I can't help but love him and his songs.

His new Mistletoe single came out yesterday and I have listened to it more than I want to admit. I'm pretty sure his catch phrase is "shorty with you," seems like he says it in every song, but it never gets old! He's just a little boy, ok not that little anymore, who is experienced in love?!

Regardless, I will be buying his Christmas album as soon as it comes out! I have a feeling it is going to be great, how can it not be with all the musicians he's collaborated with for this album. I'm especially excited to hear "All I want for Christmas is you" with him and Mariah Carey! That song is one of my favorite Christmas songs! I sing my heart out in the car to it year round.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

2 people making 1 forever



You know marriage is a crazy thing. Mark and I have been married for a little over a year now. We have by no means mastered marriage or anything but I have learned quite a few things in the past year.
We went through some difficult and trying experiences before we got married. Our dating relationship was no where near perfect or story book and neither is our marriage. There have been so many days where I look at other couples and wish we were more like them, more playful, carefree, happy? In the beginning of our marriage I felt like we were forcing conversations a lot. Why didn't it come naturally anymore? But what I have come to realize is that we are all those things, just not all the time. And neither are those couples that I long to be more like. Individually and in relationships we compare our worst to other peoples best. It has usually been on a bad day or a day when either one of us are grumpy or stressed that I look at the other couple laughing together, out on a simple date to the cocoa bean or something. There's no way they are like that every day, and we aren't grumpy everyday.
No relationship is perfect all the time. So I shouldn't be so hard on us. Because I have been more happy this past year than I can remember my whole life. And those forced convos have seemed to disappear. Maybe it's because we aren't together 24-7 anymore, we work at different places and don't see each other until 9:00 at night, or maybe it's because we have learned to become a team and learned each other's love languages. Whatever it is, it's perfect. Because it's us. I don't feel like we are trying to be another couple. How could we, I mean I don't know anyone as goofy as Mark.
I'm grateful to be at this place we are at in our marriage. I'm so grateful for Mark and all he is. It's those small moments while watching Who's Line, playing uno in bed every night, and learning how to make each other happy that make everything worth it.
Not every day is perfect. I'm not a perfect wife and he's not a perfect husband. But we are trying, and more importantly we are trying to make each other happy.

a girl can only hope!

Mark just called me to tell me that our neighbors upstairs, yeah the ones that I wrote this post about a few weeks ago, are moving boxes out of their apartment!
Could my prayers be answered?! Could they really be moving?
I told Mark to go out there and ask if they are moving, and if they need help. and then say too bad, you should have been quieter and more respectful of others.

I really hope they are moving and not just moving stuff into storage.

kicks

Worked out in my new kicks last!
A-ma-zing! I was so motivated. They are so light and comfy. I can't wait to go to the gym tonight!
If you're looking for new shoes for the gym, definitely get the nike free run +

I guess every time I need motivation to go to the gym I just need to buy some new cross trainers :)



Monday, October 17, 2011

Friends, food, fun, fright?!

What a weekend. {I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately, maybe it's because it's really the only time I get to spend with my cute hubby since he we don't see each other until 8:30 or 9 every night}

My last post, I complained about being sick...and I was sick all weekend but when we woke up on Saturday morning I headed straight to the pharmacy to get my mysterious prescription filled. I asked the pharmacist if it would help a sinus infection, because that was my new guess as to what was wrong with me. He looked at me strangely and asked "didn't your doctor explain this medicine to you?" um no, actually he didn't. So the pharmacist explained this lovely z-pack to me. He handed me the meds, I took one look at it and started laughing! it was azythromicin! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love the movie The House Bunny and in the movie she talks about how she had an allergic reaction to azythromicin but continued taking it because it made her skin glow. Needless to say, the second I swallowed that pill I turned to Mark and asked him, in my stuffy, congested, 5 year old sounding voice, if my skin was glowing! It was a continuous joke between us all weekend. Mark would look at me randomly and say "oh my gosh! Your skin! It's glowing!" One time I fell for it and got super excited and looked at my skin...not glowing!

Wow that was a tangent!

Anyways, we lounged around the apartment for most of the day, watching movies on tv, such as 101 dalmatians {the real one, no the cartoon verson}, I love that movie and laughed like a little kid. Then we finally got ready for the day and headed down to Idaho Falls. First stop, Target to exchange my slippers for a larger size so they will be super comfy. The BYU football game was on the radio and I could tell that Mark really wanted to listen. So I told him to just sit in the car and listen to the game while I ran in. He looked so excited and said "thanks, I would just want to spend money on electronics if I went in anyways."

After target, we went over to the mall to get me some new workout shoes! I was really nervous to have Mark go with me because I thought he would freak out about the price, but he was actually rly encouraging and wanted me to get them. So I am now the proud owner of these beauties!


Then we went to dinner at Olive Garden! Yum! {except I have a really terrible sense of taste right now because I'm sick} but it was a lot of fun and we couldn't stop laughing due to our waitress {i think she was new}, people around us and memories of coming to Olive Garden for our first Valentine's day and Mark telling the waitress I was his sister...

We then went to WinCo for the first time. Rexburg groceries are a rip off so we've been wanting to try out Winco. It was a pretty good experience. {obviously not as good as Costo/Safeway, but it will do}

Then we got home from IF around 8 and called our friends, The Rocks, to see if they wanted to go to the haunted mill with us. The line was the longest I've ever seen! We stood in line for a whole hour! It was the most interesting line I've ever seen there. We had some lesbians in front of us, which I'm fairly use to being from the Bay Area, but it's really weird seeing in Rexburg. It seemed like everyone in line was drinking. Then   a double date of 30 something year olds cut in front of us after we had been in line for 45 minutes. They were wasted and I just kept staring them down, and maybe making some not so quiet remarks to/about them. Sometimes I have a loud mouth and it makes Mark nervous because he thinks he's going to punched because of me. I thought I was really excited for the haunted mill, until we started going! They changed it a lot this year, lots more crawling and much scarier. I hate feeling scared! The whole time I was holding on to Mark as tight as I could and he kept saying annoying things like "are you ok? what's wrong?" I just kept saying "Shut up Mark!" I was glad to get out of there, but it was fun.

Last night we had the Sorensons' and Lisa (Joe had to do hw) over to play Just Dance 3 and make treats! I didn't get to play because I wasn't feeling too good still and I was in the middle of making Red Velvet cake balls! It was my first time making them, and they turned out pretty dang good! It was so funny to watch Mark and Brent play just dance by themselves, they were loving it!

We had such a great weekend, obviously! We are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have in our life.