Joy to the World...

Fall Semester is over!  Woo hoo!  I'd actually have to say that this was probably my favorite semester of all of college.  My sewing classes were so relaxing and fun.  I learned...well I didn't learn too many new things, but it actually gave me time to just sew!  I spent so much money on fabric, but I got a lot of finished products too.  My family classes (covenant marriage, and family relations) were very fun and informative.  I feel like our marriage just keeps getting better.  The past few weeks have been crazy, with all the studying, sewing, unpicking, hand sewing, papers, reading, etc.  Yet Jameson always found time to do some dishes, and we made time to watch mostly every Christmas movie on Netflix, cheesy and all :)

I can't believe it, but in just a few days we will have been married for 11 months!  Woot!  That's almost one whole year!    We're spending the 22-25 with my family in BC, and it will be our first Christmas in a lot time with all of us there, and also mine and Rachel's first Christmas being married.  It will be so interesting to see how it all works out.  It's crazy to think that we were just about to go to Texas last year at this time.  We're going to head there the day after Christmas and then come back around the 1st.  It will be a great holiday to be able to get to see all of those that we love! [I also cannot wait to be in the nice warm weather of Texas!]
I love this time of year, it truly is the best.  Everyone is just so excited to be done with school, to go Christmas shopping, and visit family.  I can't wait to make some Christmas treats.

I've been thinking of some goals...and I think I really want to start being more craftsy with my time.  I have these ideas of clothes I want to make, and hopefully I will actually commit to making some.  I'm off this semester (til April) and all I'll be doing is working (boring).  We'll see what happens, but I hope to post some pictures soon.  Here are some random pictures of the past little while...

Newsflash

This semester has been great.  Sewing all the time for Home Decor and Clothing 2!  I love it though, and I'm learning more every day.  Jamie keeps busy working all those jobs and doing plasma.  He usually doesn't get home till 9:30, so we eat dinner late, and hopefully watch a movie or do something together.  It's so fun having our own little home, and we enjoy the space.

We get to go to Utah this weekend!!! Wooohoo!  We're going to go to Frightmares at Lagoon with lots of family and friends.  I've never been to frightmares, and Jameson's never been to Lagoon.  There is just something special about going to theme parks with the one you love.... well we've never done that, so we'll see if there is something special about it! ;)  Hopefully he can stand my screams.  I can't help but scream on every drop.

We have been having good meals lately.  My coworkers decide to give us food all the time!  Swiss chard, beets, potatoes, more potatoes, squash, apples, pork chops, hamburger, elk meat, elk jerky, and the list goes on and on!  So we've had taco soup, chicken enchiladas, enchilada casserole, baked chicken and potatoes, funeral potatoes, gourmet pork chops, tacos, etc.  Luckily we've laid off the sweets....besides that cheesecake.  Jameson wants caramel apples and an apple pie, but that will just have to wait. 

I'll attach a picture of Jameson wearing the shirt I made him.  And my new hair cut and color.

The shirt!

 Blondish before....

 Back to basics, it's brown!

 The layers

Us being... awesome.

Oh Lately it's so Quiet in this Place

Well the move is finally over and we have moved into our town house!  It's adorable, but still needs some repairs  (and mostly everything still needs to be unpacked or moved).  The pictures will be on their way for sure--soon.  Right after we moved in last Wednesday, we were dead tired.  I have still been working at the car dealership, and Jameson is currently driving school buses and working another job at a call center.  What better way to celebrate how awesome our new place is than to go to Costa Vida?? It was delicious.

Last Friday after we were both done with work we took off on an adventure.  We needed to get out of Rexburg stat.  I drove us down to Lava Hot Springs and went straight to our property to see all of my extended family.  We set up our tent and got everything all ready to have a very enjoyable weekend.  Saturday we spent most of the day swimming at Lava Hot Springs.  We went on many slides, I went of the high dive, and Jameson went off the second Olympic platform! Brave.  I would never be able to do that.  We did a lot of sun bathing, and swimming, and hung out with Tyra and Rob and their family.  They are the best!
Sunday we went to church, ate delicious meals once more, and played games.  Mike entertained us by singing into our microphone and trying to match the songs that were playing.  It was funny.
Monday we had a great breakfast and spent the rest of the day traveling in a tiny truck full of way too many people, and playing games with RaeAnne.  We made the lengthy drive back and we were worn out.  I don't think a shower has ever felt so good.

The rest of this week has been slightly crazy.  It's the last week before I start back at BYUI. Joy. I just wish that I was looking forward to it a lot more than I am.  [Lets all pray my Financial Aid comes through] I will have some good intense sewing classes, which I'm really nervous for, and other family studies classes.  It will be a good semester, as long as I can juggle everything at once - last semester was the worst!  I have been trying to soak up this last week of freedom as much as possible.  I have been cooking, cleaning...eh.. reading... and watching movies.  I should be unpacking right now.... but I'm just so comfortable not moving.  Tomorrow we're going to drive down for Peach Days!  Should be a blast to see all of the festivities, and see the Family once more.  

 This was a stuffed zucchini that i made. It was pretty good.

Summer in the City!

Well I'm finally back and It's Summer.  The past semester seemed to drag on forever.  But, we both passed all of our classes, so that's a plus.  The day after the semester ended we flew down to Houston.  I was expecting the worst heat, but it was okay (as long as you're not outside for longer than 5 minutes).  It was nice to go swimming late at night and still have it be super warm.  Julia's wedding was great!  We spent a lot of time setting it up, and it looked gorgeous.  I think we all gained weight on that trip ;) We were really sad we couldn't stay longer for Jillian's. 

We had to come home and actually work.  Jameson is going to be a school bus driving for Madison County school district! Woo Woo!! And he's working at the call center on the side.  We've been pretty busy with that, but usually find time to watch a movie or go on a walk. We Love Summer.

This past weekend we went to Rachel's wedding, and that was really fun too.  I'm so happy that she's married, and her and Jon seem really happy.  Their reception outside was pretty and fun.  Jameson told our little cousin Matthew that there was money taped under one of the seats at the tables.  It was hilarious watching him run around trying to find it.  I love our extended family!  We got to see family and friends we haven't seen in a long time, and even got to see the new baby Audrey. She's adorable!  We missed Anna being there though.  Rach's dress she made looked absolutely beautiful.  I wish I had gotten some more pictures.  It was so hot outside for pictures, almost as hot as Julia's wedding pictures (just less humidity!)
Finally we got in to the Town homes we've always dreamed of!  We move in at the end of the month.  It will be a great change that we are both really looking forward to.  It will actually be worth decorating!  I'll update with more pictures when we move in.

Here are some random pictures of the past events!

Weekends.

During school, the weekends are essential.  I needed time to relax.  Jameson knows that I get a little stressed about the school work, work, homework, work work work...but he's really good to me.  I come home and he's done the dishes and cleaned our house, yay!  Or today, we were in IF, and he even let me buy myself some caprees.  Life is good.  We had a ward party today too, which was lots of fun.  We went to our bishops house, ate a deliciously catered meal, and played some intense volleyball--until it started raining.  But how I love the rain...

Well everything is looking up, there is hope to this madness!  It is getting warmer outside, and that is my favorite time of the year.  I can't wait till I can go to school without having to take a sweatshirt and gloves. And there are just a lot of things that we can be grateful for.

It's Mother's day!!  Hip Hip Hooray.  Just wanted to thank my mom, for being so great and wonderful to me all the time.  I'm sad we weren't able to go to BC this weekend.  I feel like we haven't been home in years and it's only really been a couple weeks.  I guess I get homesick, even when I'm married.  But I also wanted to give a shout out to Jamie's mom Laura, for also being a wonderful woman.  I love all of my mothers!!!

I keep getting strange cravings.  The most recent: I want to watch Mary Poppins.

School's in Session

Well we are finally through the first two weeks of school.  It's such a drastic change that it's really hard to plan everything out and prioritize!  Some days I don't even see Jameson until 8 or 9 at night because our schedules clash.  We're both working about 20 hours a week.  Our lives are too boring to blog about now.

The past few weekends were very fun!  April 15th was my dad's birthday, so we got to go home and hang out with my family.  We went to ABC Mandarin, my very favorite restaurant.  The Saturday after, I went with Rach and my mom to my aunt's house for another wedding shower.  It was really fun to see all my cousins.  Sadly, Jameson was really sick that weekend, but he still got to hang out with my brothers and had fun with them. But my car broke down, and that delayed our return a little.  When we got back on Monday, we got to meet up with Jameson's parents and ate dinner with them, his aunts, and grandma.  Then we went shopping at winco!

April 22 we went down to Provo to see the rest of his family, for Jillian's graduation.  It was fun seeing everyone and just spending time together.  We went out to eat, and went shopping, and then played laser tag.  It was really enjoyable.  I also got to spend time with Rachel, Holla, and Anna.  I feel like I haven't seen Holla and Anna in so long.  It will be hard with Anna living in North Carolina now, but I'm sure her and Daniel will love it. Change is really good sometimes.

Things that have happened this week:
My laptop broke
Work was extremely busy every day
I had many group meetings
Jameson started his job
We stayed up late doing homework many nights (not a good idea when I have early classes every morning
I didn't have time to cook much :(
Jameson did the dishes every night
I got sick again
We got to relax on the weekend and go out to eat for our date
Mainly... we made it through the week!

[I would add pictures, but my laptop is broken and I haven't uploaded pictures]

Polishing our lives

Friday we went to Idaho Falls and did a little grocery shopping, and went to dinner. We went to TJMaxx, and I got something wonderful: Goldie nail polish.  I haven't had this kind of nail polish since I was like 15, and I got it for $4 for one bottle from Nordstrom.  When I saw it I knew I had to purchase it.  I got eight of them for $8. I was SUPER happy (Jameson will agree) and painted my nails right when I got home.  Painted nails just makes my life so much better.

Yesterday we got to see Jillian!  It was so great to see her and meet her boyfriend James.  We liked him and his family a lot.  Sadly we only got to see her for just a little bit, but it was still really fun eating with them and talking about school and life.  She graduates in two weeks, which will be awesome.  Then we get to see Jamie's parents too, and hopefully Lauren!

Besides that, it was just a normal weekend. We hung out with friends for a little bit Saturday night, which was also great.  We watched many movies, and played some games.  It was really good to relax and be able to just slow down.  Why do weekends have to be so short??

Fish, Finals, and Friday

Jameson is finally done with all of his classes and finals.  It seems so weird that we have been married for a semester now.  I have been getting emails from my teachers for Spring semester and already have some homework.  I am excited to have something to do.  To have some new things to learn, and some challenges.  It will whip my laziness into shape!  I'm really looking forward to my cooking and sewing classes.  Chemistry...not so much.  It will be challenging with both of us going to school, but we'll get through it.

We're kind of really happy...

The weather is back to it's 'boring' stage.  It's been freezing, hailing, windy, pouring, snowing, and dreary.  How are we supposed to be happy and motivated in this state?  Work becomes boring because there is no sunlight to bring happiness.  I can't wait till we go to Utah next weekend (we'll cross our fingers that the weather gets a little better). 

For dinner tonight, I decided to make fish.  My family wasn't ever really into eating fish all that often, so I really wanted to try to make something new.  I didn't have many ingredients so I just made up recipes.  I put ranch and fresh cilantro on the tilapia, and then some butter and lemon pepper on the salmon (they were small portions, so we made two kinds).  I broiled them for about 6 minutes and then they were done.  It was so easy and I loved that!  We had some cilantro rice with them.  They were pretty good, but the tilapia didn't have the flavor I was looking for, I think I'll make a sauce for it next time.

We finished our Lord of the Rings marathon.  It's been years since I've watched them.  I remember Coleman was obsessed with them when we were younger, and he would watch them every single Saturday!  I'm pretty sure he's still obsessed, but at least he does some other things with his time now.  Well it's finally the weekend, and we're looking forward to it.  Especially seeing Jillian, yay!!!  It will be wonderful.

(Coleman then...)

 (Coleman now...4 years later)

Springtime

It has been very warm the past few days and we've been trying to soak it in!  It was a quiet weekend filled with delicious foods, conference, and long walks.  I love seeing all of the new growth around Rexburg.  New flowers, green trees, and finally some green grass.  Jameson and I like to talk about our future home, and what we would like to have there.  We're going to plant a garden, have trees and flowers, and it will be wonderful. I love dreaming of what we'll have in the future.  I have been looking at pictures of spring and they brighten my day...

Now I want to discuss favorites (tell me your favorites too!)...There are a few things in this life that make me extremely happy, they are:  
1.  Jameson. I am married to this wonderful man who does so much for me.  He is always kind and always makes me feel better if I'm sad or upset.  He is the best for me, and I am so blessed to have him in my life.   
2.  My family. Of course.  This year was the first that I was away from them at conference, and they called me and acted like they actually missed me. Aw.. :)   
3.  Rain.  I love the rain, all types. Pouring in the Summer is my favorite.  It always makes me want to run around in it, and then come home and eat soup or hot chocolate and cuddle with Jameson.   
4.  Trees.  They are so beautiful and magnificent.  When I was in 6th grade we added onto our house and a bulldozer took my (one and only) cherry tree.  I've never been able to get over that, and I hope that in our future yard we have many trees.  Oh, also, Jameson proposed to me under our tree, and I love that! 
5.  Forks.  That's right, I love a utensil.  I will eat anything with a fork if I can, especially ice cream.  It is weird, but, I enjoy it.
6.  Plane rides.  I've only been on a couple, but I love them.  It really interests me to be able to fly into the air and then look down on all the tiny cars and houses.  Its amazing to be able to be up that high and going so fast.
7.  Vacations.  My family taught me to love them.  We would go on a few vacations every year if we could.  Some of my favorite places to visit are:  Mesa Verde, Disneyland, Nauvoo, Montana, my ranch and property, and now Texas!
8.  Music.  I listen to it every day and night.  A shout out to my favorite bands... Mates of State, Arcade Fire, The Hush Sound, Regina Spektor, M. Ward, and so so many more.
9.  Art.  I love to draw, paint, doodle, anything. But mainly I love art shows.  I love seeing how inventive others are in their work.  Jameson and I went to see his friend's art show the other day and it was amazing. It's really great to be able to walk around and ponder each painting and think of what the artist was striving to show, or a theme between pieces. 
10.  Cooking.  I love to cook anything, as you all know.  Today for dinner I made some chicken dipped in ranch, then in crushed cornflakes and seasonings, baked. Some mashed potatoes, and then some salad that I made croutons for out of pitas tossed in olive oil and broiled. Mmm it was pretty tastey.

Apple Pie of Love

I made an apple pie today.. It was delicious (and nutritious, apples...apples are healthy)!  I attached some pictures of the pie so that you all could dream of eating it.  I didn't have an apple peeler, and our knives weren't doing a good job of getting the skins off (I tried to convince Jamie to let me go buy one, but he said that was lame and a waste of gas), so I was lazy and left them on.  It still tastes very good though. And look how great it turned out!

 Before the caramel....

After the caramel. 

MMMMM it was so good hot, with vanilla ice cream.  We ate it and watched Batman together, how could anything be more romantic? (I chose the movie)  Then we went for a good walk around Rexburg.  It was such a warm night and it was fun to walk around and just talk about nonsense.  I'm really looking forward to April: Conference, spring break, and Easter!  Oh, and Jameson's parents are coming for Jillian's graduation, so we're super excited to see them.  But then again, school starts at the end of April, so I only have about 18 days of freedom left.  Jameson is taking his finals this week and next, and he got an A on his business final today- super proud of him!  So lets just hope that he does well on the other finals, and that he gets a job.  He is so wonderful!

Snow Day!

We awoke to a couple inches of snow.  It wasn't as exciting as it sounds.  When I heard Jameson say, "Babe, it's snowing...a lot!"  I knew I was doomed.  This meant that I was forced out of our warm bed, and needed to take him to school.  Of course I didn't want him to have to walk, but I didn't necessarily want to go out in the freezing weather.  What happened to the days when I would wake up hoping that it had snowed a lot so that we could have a snow day?  I only remember one snow day in my existence, and I believe I was in 6th grade. It was so fun!  And now I'm old[er], and snow is a lot less fun. 

What did we do for our snow day?  We watched movies, I made Au gratin potatoes, and we many treats and some strawberry shortcake....it was delicious!  Overall, it was an amazing day.