Back Home...Finally

There's so much to catch up on!  First of all, we got a call conference weekend to help out a family member whose original babysitter ended up not being able to watch the kids.  So we headed down to Sandy for a week to help out.  Then we came home for a day and a half so I could do laundry and I hitched a ride to Arizona with my aunt and uncle while Phil went hunting.

Arizona

The drive was long {as always} but it was very eventful!  I was the booger magnet {enough said about that}!  I downloaded a few books on tape and slept a lot.  We made a really cool scenic stop just outside of Page where I got a picture of their family.

The first thing I did when I got there was meet up with my friends Sarah and Molly {and her new son Bo}.  We didn't do Scrapfest this year, so going out to dinner had to count {we missed Beth - who moved to UT and Tina - who was camping with her family}.  We ate at yummy Macayos and had a blast talking!

Then Friday night was my grandparents traditional Halloween party!  I didn't get very many pictures, but I love the one of my nephew Jaron in his Halloween costume and the one of us changing him on the floor.  We had Neds Krazy Sub and made Haunted Halloween Houses!

I got to go to lunch with my aunts and girl cousins at Gecko Grill and I spent more than 8 hours at glorious Scrapbooks Etc!  We had a blast Saturday night playing slaughter ball, eating pizza, and having rootbeer floats.  David's homecoming was amazing and his talk truly made you feel the Spirit.  By the end of the meeting when we were singing Well Done the tears were flowing!  We stayed for all the blocks and I was thrilled to go to Relief Society with family and sit by my long time influential friend Amy {Hurst} Stewart!  We ended the whirlwind weekend with a yummy traditional Sunday dinner and games til the wee hours!

Hunting

Although my amazing hubby didn't get a "Bambi" hunting, he did catch some yummy fish which he grilled up for us last night when he got home.  We had yummy butternut squash, salad, veggie rice, and of course the trout!  He did good!

I Can't Wait!

The countdown has begun! I am officially stoked {thanks Amy}!

27 Years Young!

First of all, thank you for all the well wishes and phone calls.  Yesterday was my 27th birthday!  I despise birthdays because as many times as you tell yourself they are just another day, deep down we hope that it's special.  In the end my birthday turned out great!  

I woke up to these beautiful flowers and a card from my sweet hubby!

I was alone pretty much all day.  My husband didn't get home from work until 9:00, but I didn't get to see him until 10:00!  It was so sad.  But he made up for it by having a super fun surprise!  So my first instructions were to change into jammies!  Then we drove up the canyon {which even though it was so late and dark, you could still see all the pretty colors of fall by head lights}.  We arrived at our destination which was a little camp spot where he immediately started a warm fire.  We ate by fire light our yummy Cafe Rio salads {with spoons because he forgot to grab utensils}!

Then he busted out the sparkling berry cider to do a toast in my honor!

Then for my birthday dessert we had smores!  I loved it!  

He even got cinnamon graham crackers!

Then we looked at the stars and talked until 1:00 am!  

The evening was creative and thoughtful and I am so grateful for my amazing hubby!

Happy Birthday To Phillip

My totally rad hubby turned 31 the other day!  It's so sad when you get older because it tends to be just another day.  Poor guy had to get up for work at 5:30ish and he didn't walk in the door until about 8 pm.  His mom took him to lunch so that brightened his day.  We ended up having his sister Malissa, and cousin Megan over for dinner {his weird request was spaghetti w/ black olives, hot italian sausage links, and pepperoni - think pizza on pasta}.  Here are a few pictures of some of the presents I gave him.......

{He has always wanted this picture of Einstein}

 {He has been begging for this book about Einstein}

He really was spoiled by so many sweet people!  After opening presents we walked next door to the neighbors and had cake.  He made my life easy this year and asked for an ice cream cake so I let Coldstones do the work!  This is their cookie dough cake because my husband LOVES cookie dough {and that's an understatement}!  When I went to pick up the cake I got to enjoy their free 'make a wish foundation' ice cream social - yum!

 

Happy birthday to my amazing hubby!

River Rafting/Camping In Moab

Even though we got a late start Friday night and a little storm was rolling in, we still headed off to Moab and arrived in the wee hours of the morning {1:30ish}.  We're so glad we went because the weather was beautiful and it was fun to hang out with everyone!  We weren't there long so there isn't much to blog about, but here are some pictures...

Feelin' The Love

My amazing friend Amy gave me the "I Love Your Blog" award and I am completely flattered! Thank you so much for making me feel cool like you Amy!

Here is what you need to do if you have been chosen as a WINNER!!!
1. Pick 7 of your favorite blogs
2. Winners can put the logo on their blog.
3. Link the person who gave your award to your blog.
4. Name the 7 that you are giving the award to with their links.
5. Leave a message on their blogs so that they know they've won!

I randomly chose 7 of the blogs I read by drawing names out of a hat so I didn't make anyone feel bad. Natalie, Valerie, Angie, Beth, Megan, Amber, and Kristin.

Shameless Plug...

It's that time again!  My mom has always had the tradition of playing Christmas music on September 1st!  I love it because it gets me in the mood for Christmas cards.  That's right friends.  I am offering my services again this year.  I will be designing Christmas cards for $10 a design.  I am also offering my services of making your cards if you find yourself short of time.  {If that's the case, I charge for materials and it's $1 per card}.  Feel free to pass this along to friends and family.  Remember, the holidays creep up quickly {that's why I get a head start} but if you plan ahead you'll get those homemade cards out just in time!

Visiting Teaching

I am confessing that I didn't get my Visiting Teaching done last month because mainly I was out of town.  But my goal was to get it done early this month, then stay on that track.  I read the August message last month hoping I would be home in time, and I fell in love.  So Sunday and yesterday I whipped it out to more thoroughly study it.  I made tons of notes and highlighted the heck out of it!  Then I got to thinking about what I could make the girls and I reread my favorite quote and in the first few words it said "drink".  So I put together these cute little water bottles in about 15 minutes.  And yes, I did my visiting teaching for the month of September last night! 

"All of you need to drink in deeply the gospel truths about the eternal nature of your individual identity and the uniqueness of your personality.  You need, more and more, to feel the perfect love which our Father in Heaven has for you and to sense the value he places upon you as an individual.  Ponder upon these great truths, especially in those moment when (in the stillness of such anxiety as you may experience as an individual) you might otherwise wonder and be perplexed." - Spencer W. Kimball

Blessings Be Upon You...

I just want to share with all my blogging friends a neat testimony building experience I had regarding personal revelation.  Friday morning had been so rotten with our fridge going out.  To top everything off I had what I thought was a migraine coming on.  I was stressed about us finding jobs, money, and how in the world we were going to pay for the new fridge.  After 'trying' to clean my kitchen I finally told Phillip that I had to lay down before my head exploded.  As I laid in bed my mind would not shut off.  The thought kept coming to me that I needed to go to lds.org.  Finally I just got up and went to the website.  So as I'm on the home page I'm thinking to myself why in the world do I need to be doing this when my head hurts so bad?!  I start looking around and I see employment.  I click on it, enter a little info and the first thing that came up was a cable installer position.  The pay was amazing, it was for the fall semester, and they didn't necessarily want someone who was trained but would like someone with a little experience.  So I quickly email the person acting as though I was Phillip.  I sent him his resume and let him know that he had 8 years of experience, and his first degree was in Telecommunications.  Not 10 minutes later Phillip had a phone call from the guy wanting to meet with him within the hour {I thought it was crazy because it was 5:00 pm on a Friday}.  So off my amazing hubby goes to an interview and wouldn't you know it's better pay than we thought because they had never seen someone with such experience, they give him a $10 allowance a day for lunch, and he gets a company vehicle.  Oh and did I mention he starts tomorrow morning?!  I know crazy.  So, if it wasn't for my killer headache that made me lay down so that I could listen to a gentle prompting, then we wouldn't have received this amazing blessing and opportunity.

Peach Days

We had so much fun at the Brigham City "Peach Days" today!  We went with Phil's sister Malissa, and his cousin Megan {both go to USU}.  Also my really good friend Beth ended up meeting us there with her cute kids.  We made it just in time to see the parade and boy howdy was it a long one, haha!  We did laugh and make fun of a few floats {which wasn't very nice}, but the one that almost brought tears to my eyes {the real heart felt kind} was the LDS Family Services float.  It had all these cute families with their adopted children on it waving and playing together.  It was really neat.

  

We had a yummy dutch oven lunch of ribs, potatoes, and beans.  We walked around to all the vendors and Beth and I took her kids to get their faces painted, and then of course we had to stop at the local scrapbook and fabric stores!  I ended up getting terribly sunburned, but it was fun and worth it!

Un-Welcome Home Present

We are so glad to be home again!  We have started the job hunt and are crossing our fingers.  Luck would have it that the 3 year old fridge that was left here by the previous owners went out this morning.  UGH!  Turns out it's the compressor and apparently no one replaces compressors because they cost more than a new fridge.  So I went to Home Depot today to buy the cheapest one I could find...and fridges aren't cheap!  The best part of this whole ordeal is that they don't keep fridges in stock {or so they say} and our new one won't be delivered until the 13th!  So, we will be using our awesome camping coolers until the Home Depot delivery truck graces us with it's presence...which won't be soon enough!  Argh!  What an 'Un-Welcome Home Present'!

I Miss Him...

I had the privilege of watching my stinkin' cute 18 month old nephew Jaron all week and from the moment he woke up cuddling with me to the moment we read scriptures before going to bed I cherished it all!  I miss him so much and his fun personality.  He was so sweet and I have never watched a child that was as good as he was.  Here is a cute picture of him having a {sugar free - don't worry Jen} banana popsicle.  He just kept saying mmmmm!  Aww, I miss him!

Storm

Arizona always the coolest storms!  All I wanted when we were down there was to have a good monsoon.  I got exactly what I asked for.  Here is a crazy short video of a thunder and lightening storm that lasted 2 hours.  The lightening was like a constant strobe light and the thunder was a constant rumble.  Some reports said that in 1 hour there was over 1500 lightening strikes!  It was wicked!!!

Book Nerd

So I stood in line at Walmart and was one of the first 50 people to get my 'Breaking Dawn' copy!  I even owned the copy an hour before my friends in Arizona!  That's great and all, but it meant nothing!  Weeks later and I still haven't finished the blasted book that I swore I would have read within 24 hours of holding it in my hands.  Life happens and since I can't say no to anyone, I never found a minute of spare time to myself.  When we went down to Pima to visit family and take care of a few things, I snuck into my aunts amazingly comfortable bed to do a little reading.  I still haven't finished the book, but I'm getting there.

Where Are We?!

We are in Pima, Arizona at the moment with a bunch of things 

going on.  I do have an update coming, so be patient.

Just Hours Left...

There's just hours left until the release of "Breaking Dawn" and my amazing friend Amy made a bookmark for the fanatics out there {me} although who plans on even putting it down!  Hop on over to her site and don't forget to post a thank you!  Does anyone else feel like it's Christmas morning?!

{Oh and after I emerge from a fun filled weekend, reading said book, and going to a scrapbook getaway, I promise to post pictures of our trip to Yellowstone}

Introducing....

BIG BLUE!!! 

 

We LOVE our new car!  It's a Land Rover Discovery with some fun perks!  We love the two moon roofs, AC for each seat plus volume control, and the fact that it has a 7 passenger option came in handy in the first few days!  We were so lucky to stumble upon this deal.  It truly is a sad story though.  The girl we bought it from was such a sweetheart!  She and her husband are 30 and have an 8 and 4 year old.  She was telling us that her husband had been in and out of the hospital but was selling the car because he wasn't driving it much.  Well after more test driving we just knew hers was the one for us.  {On a side note, you can call Land Rover and give them the VIN number and they'll tell you the entire history of the car including maintenance so we knew this car was treated well and taken care of}.  So we called her and left a message saying we wanted it and would have the cash in hand the next day.  Well we never heard from her.  The next morning we got a call from her sister saying that her husband had passed away the night before, but was so grateful we had decided to buy the car because it wouldn't be a financial burden anymore.  Anyways, it was so sad when we met her and paid off her remaining balance on her loan.  Things like that break your heart but it just makes us that much more grateful for the gospel and it helps us recognize there is a greater plan than our own.

I Am

I am: overwhelmed with projects (as always).
I think: the summer has flown by too fast with not a lot accomplished.
I know: Phillip loves me.
I want: to have children.
I have: a millions other things I should be doing right now.
I wish: we had a car since ours was totaled.
I hate: having commitments when I want to do something else.
I miss: my mom.
I fear: getting stung by a wasp/yellow jacket since Logan is infested with them!
I feel: grateful that we walked away from our accident.
I hear: the swamp cooler.
I smell: my hubby making pancakes!
I crave: vegetables and starburst, but not at the same time.
I search: for items all the time because my husband is constantly losing something.
I wonder: when/how we will be blessed with children.
I regret: only a few things in life.
I love: getting pedicures and back tickles from my hubby!
I care: that my house is clean and my meals are planned a month in advance.
I always: read before I go to bed.
I am not: skinny, nor will I ever be, but healthy is all I aspire to be.
I believe: that 'what you put in is what you get out'.
I dance: to my aerobics video.
I sing: all the time!
I don't always: mountain bike with my husband everyday.
I fight: with myself over what is most important on my to-do list.
I write: the checks to pay our bills.
I lose: track of time when I am scrapbooking.
I win: randomly when we play games.
I never: drink milk!
I listen: to my iPod when I go walking.
I can usually be found: at home making something for someone else.
I am scared: of losing my hubby.
I need: to pack for camping tomorrow instead of blogging.
I am happy about: my kitchen being almost completely remodeled, along with our office!

I tag: Anyone who reads my blog!

Miracle...

...is the only word I can think of, but somehow it doesn't do justice to the gratitude we are feeling!  We were on our way to the Real Salt Lake soccer game because we scored cheap tickets.  We were just getting on the freeway and were going about 65.  Phillip was driving and this guy tried to get in our lane.  Phillip tried to avoid hitting him but there was another car so he moved back but that dumb guy was pushing us over again and it made us overcorrect.  We spun and flew across 4 lanes of traffic where our front end hit the median and then flung around and hit my side of the car and we slid another 100 yards along the median.  We couldn't breathe because of the airbags and I couldn't get my shoes on, but luckily we both were able to get out of the car.  My glasses at some point flew off into the backseat {maybe because of the airbag}.  We couldn't believe the distance we traveled without being smacked by another car, and the fact that we finally came to a stop on the shoulder against the median so we weren't blocking traffic.  We had to be checked out by the firefighters and EMT's, but more than anything we're just bruised, and banged up.  Sore feels like an understatement this morning!  Phillip's back hurts {which is always a recurring thing due to all of his accidents}.  My right arm is very sore and bruised because of hitting the median on my side.  My neck and back are sore too.  My left shoulder hurts because it was stuck in between the seat and center console {which totally bent}.  And I knew my upper legs hurt but it wasn't until I got to take a shower that I saw all the bruises and welts which were from the airbag.  Anyways.  We said a prayer of gratitude at our first opportunity because we were able to walk away from a potentially BAD accident.  My in-laws brought their camera {the one time I took mine out of my purse} and we got pictures after they had already moved the car and were putting it on the tow truck.  We got a few of the skid marks across the highway and median, but we forgot to get some of the damage underneath.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

We have loved playing softball the past few weeks with our ward!  Phillip happened to be out of town this last week, but I still went.  Our last game for the night was against a really aggressive team who had to follow the rules 'by the book'.  Well the rules are that you pitch to your own team.  So they asked me to play 2nd base when they were up to bat, which was fine, but they started pitching before we were all out on the field and as I turned around the ball comes flying at me {without even touching the ground} and it hits me in the calf.  INSTANT BRUISE!  I say I'm fine and kinda try and walk it off knowing that if I stop it's going to hurt worse, when all of a sudden the ball is flying at me again and I did kinda stop it, but it hit my chest.  Come on, give me a break!  Needless to say I iced my leg for 2 days, but man I was in pain!  This picture was taken about 5 days after so it's looking much better!  Haha!

I'm Back

A few weeks ago Phillip, his brothers, and his dad went on a backpacking trip to Buckskin Gulch (see pics below).

  While they were doing a 'guys weekend' the wives decided to have a 'girls weekend' scrapbooking and watching chick flicks!  

Now if any of you have been to one of my scrapbook parties or scrapbooked with me you know I never get more than a layout or two done.  Well my friends, I sketched, printed pictures, put together materials, and had zero sleep for 24 hours in preparation for this particular weekend.  I had 47 pages planned and guess what...I finished most of them, including the journaling!  I only have a handful of scrapbook pages done from the time we were married and I finally decided that simplicity and not being a perfectionist is the only way to get our scrapbooks done.  None of these are in chronological order, and this is only half of the pages I completed (I promise to get the rest uploaded).  I am proud of myself for just letting go (aka not worrying about what others think of my style), getting pages done, and not spending exuberant amounts of time on each layout!  I feel a sense of accomplishment!  I will say though, having a blog helped with quite a few pages because the 'journaling' was already done and thought out.  The colors seem a little off in the scans, but I am posting them anyways.

After our fun weekend we got to enjoy an entire week at home in Logan!  We made a goal to get involved in our new ward as much as possible.  We started with the Bishopric coming to visit us Sunday to get to know us.  Phillip hit it off with the 2nd Counselor immediately and they began going mountain biking every other morning.  Then Wednesday the Relief Society came to get to know me.  Immediately after, I went with them to book club, which I made homemade cookies for 'just because'.  The next morning I went with some girls from the neighborhood to a fun little class while our husbands put in tile in the 2nd counselors home.  That evening we fed them because they couldn't get into their kitchen and then we all went to coed softball (which was a blast!).  We fed them breakfast on Friday and then got a call in the afternoon because their house flooded.  Needless to say I made 4 fish and talapia stretch for the neighborhood (hmm sounds like a familiar story) for dinner because no one had eaten and everyone was just trying to help them get everything out of their house and dried.  I realized (and this has always been my moms motto - and it was mentioned in the Ensign) that if you just jump right in...what you put in is what you get out.  It was an amazing week and I felt so happy and involved!

What have we been up to since then you might ask?!  BABYSITTING!  We just got done this evening (7 days) and I am ready to go to bed for a few days!  My own comfy king size bed has never looked so inviting!  So to all my friends who read my blog (does anyone?!), I am back from my blogging hiatus!

Will Return...

Crappy Day

Two trips to Home Depot: $97.44

Throwing away a shirt, pants, socks, & shoes: $60

Hours spent under the house: 9

Hours lost working due to rain/snow: 1

Having a handy husband: PRICELESS!!!

The time finally came where something in our house broke. Well technically it didn't break.

Some moron thought that you could use a dryer vent and duct tape for plumbing. Needless to

say, we kept smelling this foul smell. I am way weird about smells and sanitation, so I

begged my hubby to look under the house. I knew the yucky smell wasn't coming from

inside. I thought maybe an animal got under the house and died - you just never know after

winter when things thaw out. So the awesome guy that he is he got under the house and all

of a sudden I hear this hacking and I look out the window. My dear sweet husband is on his knees hurling into the bushes. The verdict...crap was everywhere! Lesson to the dork that 'thought' he could do plumbing...duct tape doesn't fix everything. I am so grateful that my 'Mr. Fix-it' installed an entire new plumbing system.Then he cleaned the concrete and topped it off with a good Clorox scrub. The poor guy totally burned his lungs and throat. When he finally finished at 8 pm he quickly showered (after throwing away his clothes) and we left for the evening. The smell of the bleach permeated the entire house, but for me that was a piece of mind knowing we weren't breathing in the poop fumes! So another shameless plug for my man who saved us a couple hundred dollars by doing the 'dirty work' himself!

fRiEnDs

I have been so blessed throughout my life to have amazing friends! I had the opportunity to see two of these great friends that I haven't seen in a few years!

I first got to spend the afternoon with my friend Natalie, who I just love chatting with about anything under the sun! We have so much in common including the fact that her mom is friends with my moms childhood friend, who lives in California {small world}! We are both the oldest in our families and we deal with life's challenges and daily experiences in similar ways. We got to talk about family/friends, cameras, photography, and life. Our friendship started back in 2001 when we first moved to Utah. We were both newlyweds and we'd play games and hang out because they lived across the street and lets face it, we were on strict budgets. I miss those days {sigh}. When we moved back to Arizona they came to visit us, and shortly after they moved to the other side of the country for a while and even through the miles we still were able to keep in touch {especially through the blessing of blogs}! I loved every minute of hanging out with you Natalie and I love your new home! You are a wonderful example to me and I watch you more than you think {not in a stalkerish way, haha}. Welcome back to Utah!

The second friend that I got to see was Erika! Erika and I go back 12+ years! It all started with me asking for her picture because I thought she was cool and really good at basketball. She was my rock through everything and anything and I could always count on her. In high school we spent hours playing the piano and singing, not to mention the fact that our guest room became her second bedroom. I love that she can be trusted with any secret, and that she never judges anyone or gossips. She is also sentimental and saved some of the notes we used to write each other and we had so much fun re-reading them! She even had a funny one from when I was dating Phillip seriously and I hadn't even graduated yet! Erika and I can also not see each other for years and pick up as though nothing had changed. We had Cafe Rio and sat in her cute kitchen for hours talking. Oh and of course had brownies and ice cream! I loved talking about all our crazy stories from back in the day! Erika, I am grateful for our friendship and the closeness we've always shared! I swear if it weren't for some of those heart to heart talks, I wouldn't have made it through our senior year! You are an amazing example of selflessness. You rock Allstar!

SOLD...and BOUGHT!!!

My rad friend Sarah bought my Mac Mini...and I bought a new Macbook! I am so excited...for the both of us! She's going to love it, and I'm already enjoying the portability of the Macbook!

Sarah's new computer!

Deneigh's new computer!

GILGAL

Since Phillip's older sisters came into town for his brothers homecoming we all went to this really odd park called GILGAL. It's just some guys backyard and he did these crazy weird art pieces. Here are a ton of fun, random pictures from the day!

The BIG Surprise

Yes it has come to my attention that we have been M.I.A. for a few weeks...and I can finally share with you why!  Phillip's parents went to France to pick up his brother Steven from his mission.  So while they were gone me and Phillip, and Machelle {his sister} and Tim {her boyfriend}, redid 2 rooms in their house!  The first reason we concocted this surprise is that they never would have done it for themselves.  The second reason is that by doing this huge project we were taking care of Mother's Day/Father's Day, birthdays, and Christmas for the rest of the year.  So for 2 weeks we ate, breathed, and slept remodeling the basement!  We forgot the before pictures so it isn't as dramatic and you can't appreciate the work that went into this project by just showing the final outcome {Thanks Machelle for sending me the pics}.  I will say though that they feel like totally different rooms!  

The first room used to be the sewing/craft room and office.  It is now just the sewing/craft/scrapbook room.  It is bright and fun!  One of my favorite things about the room is my idea of using a lazy susan and putting dowels in it so we could put all the rolls of wrapping paper on it and spin it around.  I loved organizing everything and Machelle's idea for the fabric makes the closet seem like art, haha!  I love that this room feels happy!

The second room used to be Phillip's room, and then it was the dance room.  Guests would stay in this stark cold room and now it has a much warmer feeling about it.  Not only did this room get a fresh coat of paint and new hardwood floors {put in by Phil & Tim}, but it now has a designated purpose.  It is the office/guest room.  The futon allows guests a space to sleep, but still has an office feel for Phillip's Dad.

Only 219 Days Left