New Years Eve

This year we spent New Years at home by ourselves. Some of our friends were going to come down but due to a medical emergency they were unable to make it.

Time seemed to creep by on New Years Eve. As midnight crept closer our eyes became heavy, at 10:30 pm we decided to just go to bed. It was a strange feeling going to bed knowing we were going to wake up and it would be a new year.

We are excited for the New Year and plan on having lots of fun!

Living Room Redo

 Being a young married couple, we sometimes find it hard to justify spending money for anything that isn't necessary. However, we both agreed that our living room could use a facelift. We gave ourselves a small amount of money to work with and headed to Ikea to see what we could find. Up to this point in our marriage our decor/furniture has been handed down from family members or been purchased at a thrift store or yard sale.

Here are the before pictures.

Inherited: rug, couch, tree. Thrift Store: white mirror and shelf. Ross/Ikea/TJMaxx: black mirror, table, picture frames, candles.

Yard Sale: table and chairs. Thrift Store: rug and sign above the door. Inherited: plant.

Ross/TJMaxx: curtains and curtain rod.

Inherited: lamp and armoire.

  

Yard Sale: kitchen table (free) and chairs. TJMaxx: purple jars.

Here are the after photos.

Ikea: accent pillows, purple jar and rug. Marshalls: sign.

Ikea: lantern, plant, and candle holder.

Lowes: pot. Ikea: picture. Target: air purifier.

TJMaxx: wicker basket. Target: rug.

The Divergent Trilogy

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, you will likely enjoy the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. I recently finished reading Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant and I fell in LOVE with these books. I thought The Hunger Games were amazing but I liked the Divergent series even more! *BE FOREWARNED* that the ending of the very last book stinks. Everyone I have talked to that has read the series hates the ending. I think these books are definitely worth the read though!

Christmas 2013

Tuesday December 24th

We spent Christmas with my family this year and I have to say that we had a lot of fun! I had to work on Christmas Eve Day so Christmas Eve was spent driving to Rexburg, Idaho.

Wednesday December 25th

Christmas morning we woke up and made breakfast and then opened presents. Before heading to Idaho, I had asked Andy to help me wrap some presents. He grabbed a box that I had stuffed a racquetball racquet into. The racquet fit so perfectly in the box that it didn't move when you shook the box and the racquet being so light made it seem as if the box was empty. Andy got a puzzled look on his face and asked if something was in the box. I replied and said "Yes, it's for you." Christmas morning when he opened the box he was thoroughly surprised and excited. He was in dire need of a new racquet.

Andy surprised me with some new running shoes. You can't exercise without good pair shoes.

Later we went to the Roxy Theater in St. Anthony to see the Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. It has been a family tradition of ours for a long time to go see a movie on Christmas. For some reason all the good movies seem to come out during winter, you can't help but go see a good show.

Thursday December 26th

December 26th was a pretty relaxed day. We went into town and picked a few things up. Christian, Becca, and baby Hallie came by for lunch. It was good to catch up with them, I always enjoy spending time with my cousins and family.

Me, Megan, & Becca.

Baby Hallie.

Later that day we went to the Centre Twin Theater in Idaho Fall to see Gravity. Andy, Russell, and I really enjoyed the movie. As soon as the movie ended Russell said, "That was the best movie ever!" The rest of the family felt differently, they gave it two thumbs down.

Friday December 27th

We woke up bright and early and headed to Henry's Lake to do some ice fishing. Along with catching fish, we caught up on some sleep. Nothing like laying on the ice and taking a nap. In total we caught three fish.

Russell.

Russell.

Jake with a fish.

I taught Russell how to make angels in the snow.

Dad with a fish.

Andy making a new hole in the ice.

On the way back to the house we spotted some moose and stopped to watch them.I don't think I have ever been that close to moose in the wild before. I really enjoyed watching them, they are my favorite animal.

Moosen.

Once we got back to the house, we changed our clothes and headed out the door to my second cousins Chelsie's wedding reception. Her reception was beautiful and she seemed to glow. We are really happy for her!

Saturday December 28th

We drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with the family to go swimming. On our way into town we picked up some hitch hikers, looked at moose, and spotted some eagles.

Andy & I.

Andy, Me, Megan, Jake, Russell, & Dad. * Julie was our photographer, it was hard to navigate the ice and snow on crutches.

We had a blast at the pool! Dad and I both swam a mile! This was a big accomplishment for me, I had never swam a mile before. It felt so good to push myself outside of my comfort zone and do something I thought I wasn't capable of.

After we were done swimming, we headed to Pinky G's for some dinner. We ordered several pizza's and devoured them all, it was great!

Sunday December 29th

We spent the day packing up our stuff and driving back to Utah. We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed making memories with the family.

Dad, Me, & Jake.

Soldier's Hollow

On December 21st I helped the youth in our ward with a service project. For our service we assembled gift baskets, wrapped presents, and delivered them to the designated families. I had a lot of fun getting to know the youth and other leaders better as we served people in our community.

After the service project Andy and I grabbed one of the Young Women (Diamond) in the ward and headed to Salt Lake to do a little Christmas shopping. Once we finished our shopping we headed to Soldier’s Hollow to go inner tubing.

This was Diamond’s first time ever going to Soldier’s Hollow and I think she really enjoyed herself.  For one of our last runs, we decided to go down the hill together and made a chain with our tubes. As we were racing down the hill Diamond’s tube met a gigantic icy snowball. The force of the snowball on Diamond’s tube was so strong that her tube flew backward. I thought the snowball hit her in the face and knocked her off her tube. To my amazement Diamond’s tube was still attached to our chain and Diamond was still on her tube. The snowball hit her leg pretty hard but she was okay.

I really love going to Soldier’s Hollow, inner tubing there is something I look forward to every year. 

Swimming & Christmas Lights

The day after our anniversary we both felt pretty bloated from all of the food we had eaten. I suggested that we go swimming to try and get rid of the bloated feeling. We both threw on our swimming suits and headed to the pool.

I absolutely love swimming, I'm not the best swimmer but I sure enjoy being in the water. It feel so good to swim. Believe it or not the swimming actually helped our tummies feel better.

After we were done swimming, we hopped in the car to head home. I suggested to Andy that we go on a drive around to look at Christmas lights before heading home and he consented. We took turns deciding what streets to turn down, before too long we found ourselves in a part of town that we had never seen before. We had a lot of fun exploring and looking at the lights people had put up on their homes. There is something magical and peaceful about Christmas lights that makes me feel warm inside.

Our 4th Anniversary & A Day Of Food

On December 19th Andy and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. It is crazy to think that we have been married for four years. Time seems to have just flown by, I can't even believe it. I am so happy to be married to my best friend, I couldn't have asked for a better man. Andy truly is my other half and he brings out the best in me.

At The Melting Pot

Our anniversary happened to fall on the day of my work's Christmas luncheon. For lunch our entire team went to Tucanos for all you can eat Brazilian food. I tried not to stuff myself knowing that Andy had made plans for us to go out for dinner.

When I got back to work they had Magleby's bread pudding for us. I had never had Magleby's or bread pudding before, all of my co-workers said I had to try it. I tried a small piece and it was pretty good. It wasn't too long before I found myself regretting the decision I made to eat it, it expanded in my stomach.

When I got home from work I tried to convince Andy that we could go out to eat another night because I was so full, but he didn't like that idea. I quickly changed my clothes and we headed to dinner. Earlier in the week I had tried to guess where we were going to go eat but Andy wouldn't tell me. I had guessed that we would go to Aristo's or the Melting Pot. I guessed right, we went to the Melting Pot.

I absolutely love the Melting Pot. I had eaten there once before but Andy never had. We had a lot of fun! If you have never been to the Melting Pot, you've gotta go at least once. If you go, plan on being there for 2-3 hours.

We had a lot of fun eating fondue! Lucky for me we weren't able to get through our entire meal so we get to go back and have desert another day!

I thought it would be fun to share some of our engagement photos so everyone can see what we looked like 4 years ago. Enjoy!