Thursday, January 28, 2010

ARIZONA

I had the Wonderful opportunity to go home to Arizona to visit my family! Unfortunately Andrew was too busy with school and could not come, so him and I were apart for a WHOLE WEEK and after being away from him for 3 days I decided I will not allow us to ever be apart for that many days ever again! I had a fantastic time being with my family, but I missed my husband, best friend, and love of my life like crazy!! Here are some good times I had in sweet home ARIZONA....

My dad, my nephew Dave, and I... Isn't family the best?! I had a great time wrestling with my dad and teasing him that he better be careful or he'll have to live with the shame of getting taken to the ground by his 22 year old daughter :) I sure love you dad!!
Lawryn, Christina, and I got together and watched the Bachelor! Oh the drama on that show... I look forward to it each week! :) Thanks girls for a fun night together and catching up on old times!
One of my goals while I was there was to help my mom organize her kitchen. While there I got a little taste of how crazy her life is between babysitting her millions of grandchildren, being a mother and wife, as well as the relief society president!! She is a BUSY woman!! I sure love you mom and am glad I got to spend some time with you in the kitchen and laugh at the realization that you were acting like grandma at moments not wanting to throw away a few junk items! haha oh good times! :) here is a before picture of the project....^
and after..... I didn't get to every single cubard and drawer like I would have liked to, but I got the majority of it! I love to organize, I do it quite a bit as part of my job and the finished project is always refreshing to look at!
Nieces and nephews at McDonalds for some Ice Cream, they are so darn cute and I can't believe my oldest niece Chelsea (on the far right)^ will be getting her license in ONE year! Crazy how time flies and how fast they grow up! My nephew Jett is too funny... I was chasing him around the house and suddenly he stopped and said (with his cute little lisp), "I don't have time for this.... I'm too busy!" and then went and played the Wii. We had to CONVINCE him into leaving his game on the Wii in order to go get some ice cream. Addicted?! I'd say :)
This was a special treat!! I got to meet my best friends from high school, little girl Brooklynn!! She is such a doll and such a good baby! Lawryn you make such a good mother! You and Tyler have began a beautiful family! love you guys!!
My cute nephew Jordan... him and I went to the Stake center and played a little basketball, he pretty much whooped my butt! He killed me many times in the game of Horse and then again in a game of one on one!
Little Dave... ah that smile!! I love it :)
Katie and I took the youngin's to see Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squekual. It was such a cute movie and I had a great time spending time with nieces, nephew, sister, and sister-in-law. Thanks Katie for coming along and thanks kids for putting up with your Aunt Jena and Mckala in your case, your sister, one whom is it bit bossy towards you but truely appreciates all that you do! You're the best little sister! :) Chelsea... you've got to stop growing, you're taller than me and 7 years younger!
Believe it or not, it DOES snow in Arizona!! Anytime I say something about snow in Arizona to someone who is not from there, I always get a response of , "what?! it snows in Arizona?!" Haha..... it snowed like crazy in the white mountains of Arizona while I was there visiting.... So much that they closed the Ski Resort on the day I was planning on going because there was just TOO much snow! Total bummer cause i was looking forward to snowboarding, but the snow was absolutely beautiful... This was on the way to phoenix to catch my flight to come back to Utah, I thought I was going to get snowed in, in Arizona, but roads opened and I was able to come back to my husband!
On the way to phoenix as well, it went from lots of beautiful snow the majority of the way, to a beautiful waterfall....
And the BEST ending to my trip... My sweet husband Andrew told me he'd not be able to pick me up from the airport because he had a 24 hour clinical shift at a fire station. So I made arrangements with my sister Amber to pick me up and to my surprise, as I came around the corner heading to get my luggage, Andrew was standing there with the most beautiful flowers in his hands... I almost started crying at the fact that he was right there and I was not expecting it! It was the BEST feeling in the world, I was so down about not getting to see him for ANOTHER day, but he pulled a few strings and was able to be there!! Thanks babe for being the MOST INCREDIBLE husband in the world!!
Aren't they pretty?!


I also got to go on a couple lunch dates, with my friend Rikki, as well as my other mother Deanna, and Lawryn. I had my camera with me both times, but forgot to get a picture darnit! It was so good to see ya'll, especially you Rikki, since its been YEARS since we've gotten together! love you ladies!! :)

Also a dear friend of my families, Emmett aka Dr. Hayes from California, was visiting my family as well while I was there. He taught me how to make Swedish Cinnamon Rolls and OH! were they yummy!! Thanks for the cooking tips and a great recipe Emmett!

And that concludes my trip to Arizona... it was a good one!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It's a New Year!! 2010

Well this New Year has been a good one so far! To bring in the New year my mother-in-law, father-in-law, amber, glenn, andrew, and I played some Uno! It was quite fun!!
We then went over to Tyler Gardner's where we played some more games and welcomed in the New Year once midnight struck the clock. Then we made waffles and feasted upon them to celebrate!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Kalicia, Willy, Shay, and Lance just chillin
Tyler the chef of 2010's waffle feast

So back in August Andrew and I got tickets to go see stomp! So we've been looking forward to it for quite sometime and that is how we celebrated my 22nd birthday!! They were AMAZING!!! I couldn't help but bang on everything I came across when we got home, just to see what kind of music I could make out of it :) ha! Thanks baby for a fantastic night!
The STOMP crew
I think this may have actually been before the New Year.... but I still wanted to post it! Shaylee, Kalicia, Willy, Andrew, and I went bowling. It was totally sweet! We had a good time. Shaylee just recently moved to Utah and we are excited to have her here! She is such a sweet girl! :)


Well here's to a New Year! Andrew and I sat down together to set some New Year's Resolutions. Here are a few....
  • Run a half marathon
  • Visit 10 new temples that we've never been to
  • Become a better swimmer
  • Take a road-trip to Las Vegas on the MOTORBIKE
  • Write in journal at least once a week
And the list goes on!! May 2010 be a good one!! HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! May it be filled with joy and happiness!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Christmas 2009

Well it was my first Christmas away from home and although I did miss my family, my in-laws and husband sure made it a wonderful day! Andrew and I discussed traditions we would like to have with our kids in the future... some carried on from Andrews family, others carried on from my family, and ones of our own. I'm excited for them and the many memories to come!
Christmas Morning in our Christmas PJ's

Sara and Stewart announced some exciting news in which we were all not expecting, but of course super excited!!! Our niece Ali who is 8 months old was wearing a onsie which said "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" on the front... and then on the back it says... "Our new baby will soon be here" When we first read it we thought they were kidding, but nope they were quite serious! This will make Ali and the new baby 15 months apart when he/she is born! Congrats Sara and Stew!! We can't wait to meet our new little niece/nephew! :)
My sweet sweet husband has been quite sneaky the last couple months. There were quite a few days where I would receive a phonecall from Andrew telling me that I MUST inform him when I'm on my way home from work and if I didn't then I'd ruin EVERYTHING! ha silly boy! One day as I was doing laundry I noticed some of his clothes covered in saw dust.... I knew he was up to something!! So after much curiosity I finally figured it out on Christmas day. My sweet sweet husband made me a step stool to make up for my lack in height! I was SOOO excited! I can now reach into my kitchen cubards... its fantastic!
My father-in-law and sweet little niece Ali

Another surprise from Andrew! A sweet picture of Amsterdam... perfect for my big blank wall!
Our nephew Blake... Doesn't he look like a stud in his new construction goggles and hard hat?! :)
Little Bree playing Dr. with Samantha with her new Dr. gear!


We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas !!


Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Wonderful Month of December

What a wonderful month it has been. We enjoyed many fun activities and festivities with family and friends! I was quite anxious to attend the festival of trees having heard many good things about it.... for those of you who don't know about the Festival of Trees it is a charitable celebration where people create and decorate a tree and donate it to the Festival of Trees where they auction each tree off and all the proceeds are donated to the Primary Childrens Hospital which I think is totally sweet! Our sister in law decorated and donated a "Fancy Nancy" tree... it turned out SO SO cute!! Thanks Sari and Mckell for joining us at the Festival of Trees!!

My sister Amber and her husband Glenn invited us to spend a weekend with them in Park City @ the Westgate Resort @ the Canyons. It is a beautiful Resort and we had lots of fun! When Andrew and I woke up the next morning we found Tyce sprawled out on his daddy... we walked out for a few minutes and went back into their room where we found Tyce this time sprawled out on his mommy. ha! Amber says its a riot sleeping with him! Thanks Amber and Glenn for the invite! We had a great time!

In the last few months I have become addicted to a show called studio 5... People around salt lake and utah valley share their ideas, crafts, recipes, and much much more on this show. I DVR the episodes and sit and watch in my spare time to learn something new! They sometimes have a question they have us watchers answer on the studio 5 website. I decided I would go online and respond to the question, it being... "where to you find great deals or bargains?" A few days later I was called and informed that for answering the question I was randomly chosen to win 4 tickets to the Forgotten Carols along with the storybook, cd, and dvd of the live performance! Andrew and I invited our friends Braden and Mandy Boyer to come with us and had a jolly ol' time! Thanks for coming along!! It was so nice to see the two of you!!
A couple of my former roommates along with friends Laurel and Amy and I got together one evening and made gingerbread houses! We had a blast! Thanks for coming over girls! :)
A couple of my favorite roomates Rachel and Alexis
Laurel, Amy, Alexis, Rachel, and Me

Thanksgiving

Here it is December 27... Christmas day has already come and gone and I am just now posting about the FANTASTIC Thanksgiving Andrew and I had. My side of the family all met in Vegas, where we all enjoyed one another's company and ate lots of good food, as well as treated ourselves to a movie at the theater... BLINDSIDE (an absolutely fantastic movie which I recommend all to watch)! It was a wonderful weekend and I am grateful for my family and the wonderful people they are!





Friday, December 4, 2009

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Oh how I love the holiday season! Christmas lights, decorated trees, family togetherness, bundling up on a cold winters night, cuddling next to the fire and drinking hot chocolate, gingerbread houses, lots of goodies, giving to those in need and just giving to give, fun movies such as Elf, A christmas Story, The Grinch, and many more, and MOST importantly... remembering the birth of our Savior! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Andrew and I put up our first and only Christmas decorations last night, which included a few mini lit trees and our stockings... looks like I have some shopping to do to get our house FESTIVE!! We would like to go cut down a real tree, but unfortunately the forest people have already given all of their permits away! WHAT to do?! Be rebels and go cut one down anyways, without a permit?! TEMPTING!!! :)

Well to all of you folks out there, I just want to say Happy Holidays to you all!! It is indeed a wonderful time of year!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Vote for LIZ!!! The biggest Loser...

So we are down to the final four contestants of the biggest loser and it is up to America to decide who the final 3 is. It is indeed between Amanda and Liz, and I myself, have put my vote in for Liz to stay! I think Amanda is great, but have come to really like Liz. She is a hip southern woman! To all of my blogging friends and anyone who reads this, PLEASE log onto nbc.com and vote for LIZ!!!! If you watch the biggest loser than of course vote for who you think should stay.. but definately consider Liz! :) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do this! It's really easy!! The max votes per email is 10... so go on, cast your vote! Thanks :)

Monday, November 16, 2009

SURPRISE!!!

I indeed have the sweetest husband!! .... Andrew calls me from work on Friday and says "I have a surprise for you... It'll be tomorrow (saturday) and its up north and will probably take all evening." Of course in my mind I get all anxious and excited and try to think of whatever this surprise may be! I kept begging him for hints but he held strong not to ruin the surprise! Finally it came time to head "north"... We ate at the Salt Lake Burger Co. in Sandy then headed to the tracks where we parked our car and took the trolley to Downtown Salt Lake. The anticipation was killing me! I wanted to know where on earth we were headed!!! I began to guess hoping that I would figure it out! He told me no, no, no, and nope! I began to catch on as all these cute little girls were getting on the trolley dressed in their disney princess and thats when I remembered, DISNEY ON ICE is in town!! I turned to Andrew and asked. "Are you taking me to Disney on Ice?!" with a big smile on my face! He then once again told me no. Ha the little bugger was pulling my leg!!! We arrived at the Energy Solutions Arena where he pulled out 2 tickets for Disney on Ice! I was SOOO excited... ha you would think I'm 5 years old again :) He knew I had been wanting to go, but I just came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to happen this year. What a SWEET surprise!! I loved it and enjoyed every second of being there with my husband right beside me singing the Disney songs as the characters danced on the ice! Haha... really he was singing at the top of his lungs :) Baby... i love you!! Thanks for a night I'll always remember!
The ride on the trolley!!
Aladdin!
Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
Cinderella
US
M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE! and Minnie!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

GOOD NEWS!!

My husband and Love of my life has been going through the hiring process at Midvale Fire Department. It's been QUITE the process over the last few months!! After receiving letters in the mail informing us he's past the 1st and then the 2nd and then the 3rd parts of testing, we FINALLY received the last letter!!! (Now in the beginning there were tons and tons applying for this job, and people were getting eliminated after each process) But in the end... Andrew MADE the hiring list, which means.. eventually he will get hired which is fantastic!! He is still working hard to complete the Paramedic program and will finish by next spring around april/may. So we are crossing our fingers and hoping the hiring comes before then! Good job babe and thanks for ALL your HARD work!

Good ol' Rexburg

I had the opportunity to make a trip to Rexburg last weekend to see and visit with some past roommates whom I love dearly! We had a fantastic time together! Poor Jen was super sick from pregnancy, but she was indeed a trooper for spending the day with the girls while feeling poopy! Thanks Jen I love you!! I also met some roommates of my roommates who were wonderful as well! We enjoyed a soccer game in the FREEZING cold... Went to Applebee's for dinner, Chit chatted and caught up on life, watched She's the Man (hilarious!) while painting our nails... Enjoyed Alexis talk and Rachel's musical number in sacrament meeting... and ate yummy buttermilk pancakes! Thanks for a wonderful weekend girls! :)