Early Signs of Spring Fever

February and March are always the worst around here because the weather teases us so badly!! The sun will come out and shine for a few days, then we get days like today that are super windy and have been rainy.  At least the snow is pretty much gone and there hasn't been any more recently.  *crosses fingers*

Since the weather hadn't been so bad we went with some friends to go shooting this last weekend.  It was fun to get out in the sunshine even though it was still pretty cold.

Here's a fun little video of us blowing up some stuff… Please ignore my terrible laughter at the end of this clip…

Other than that our life has been pretty normal/boring.  I am gearing up to go on a trip to L.A. in a couple weeks for a school field trip.  It's a senior trip for those in my major.  I think only 4 or 5 of us are going so it'll be lots of fun!  We are hitting up a bunch of famous fashion museums as well as attending a real fashion show!  Super stoked for that!  I promise to take as many pictures as I can and share!  In the meantime, enjoy my latest design!

My original design! (it's a half scale version)

Steven and I have been trying to eat healthier lately as well.  Steven's family is doing a little weight loss competition which they started back in January, but after a few weeks of eating not-so-healthy on a regular basis, I figured it's time for us to jump on board.  Steven has been losing weight regardless because of his job but I am either at school or sitting at my office job so it's been a different story on my end.  Thankfully Steven is super supportive of my desire to be healthier and to slim back down to wedding weight (maybe even then some).  I have even signed up to meet with a personal fitness consultant here at BYU-Idaho to keep me accountable for getting to the gym.

Salmon with broccoli and salad! Delicious AND super healthy!

On another note, I saw this sticker on the back of a car in front of me yesterday.  It may not seem like much but it brightened my day and reminded me that I decide what mood I am in.

Until next time!

Valentine's Day

This year we kept Valentine's Day pretty chill.  We couldn't really top last year--seeing that Steven and I got engaged last Valentine's Day.  We just went out to our favorite restaurant here in town and then went home and made brownies and had those with ice cream for dessert.  

The next day we spent most of our time at the temple since we hadn't been in a few weeks.  It was nice to spend time together there.  After our session we had the opportunity to go perform sealings and that was super fun to do together and reminded me of all the promises I made to Steven the day we were married.  After we were done at the temple we had the privilege to listen to Elder D. Todd Christoffersen at a fireside for the married students.  We sat fairly close to the front and we had the chance to go meet him and shake his hand!  

Waiting for Elder Christoffersen's fireside to start!

Thankfully these past couple of days have been warm enough that the snow is beginning to melt!  We are both so ready for it to be warm outside (bad case of cabin fever anyone?)!!  However, the snow plows decided our front yard was a good place to pile the snow up from our caul-de-sac so I am not exactly ready to deal with all the debris that brought with it when it all melts… Lots of yard work to be done. 

Yup… Lots of leaves and branches to clean up when that happens… 

Surviving Winter

Thankfully the last couple of days have been warmer than some.  Earlier last week it was well into the negative degree temperatures with much worse wind chills.  We enjoyed the last couple of days where the sun would poke through and provide some warmth.

Last week I made some homemade laundry soap (my mom's recipe).  She gave me a small bucket right before we got married but it has finally been used up.  So I made more of my own!  I imagine it will last us probably over the next year (easily).

There's still about 1/3 of the big bucket and both of the smaller ones are completely full.

Steven is such a good man.  He made dinner yesterday so that I could work on some homework.  He's a keeper!

Steven making yummy breaded ranch chicken!

Not much else has been going on with us.  Steven still works a lot and even got a RAISE! (Woohoo!) We were pretty stoked about that.  I am just really busy with my schoolwork but excited for a few of my classes still this semester.  My pattern making class is a big part of the fashion show that takes place at the end of each semester.  I am really excited to get to designing and making my own clothes.  I also think I have an internship lined up for the spring (which I am pretty excited for as well!)

Until next time!

The Long Haul

I think every year I am subject to getting the January blues.  I am already so over school this semester (at least with a few of my classes… A couple are actually pretty fun!)  But I am DEFINITELY so over this weather.  I am ready for warmth and summer and sunshine and tanned skin and going for walks and picnics in the park.  All of it… 

Not only has the weather been keeping us down but January is apparently the slowest month of the year for Steven's work, so he has just been working every other day rather than full time.  While it's still O.K. and he sure doesn't mind the time off, it's still kind of a bummer especially since he has just received a raise and we are excited to see what that does to a normal paycheck.

So here's to the long haul… Let's just make it through the rest of winter… 

Classes Already?

It feels like this past Christmas break went by WAY too fast!  I was just getting into my little "stay at home wife" routine but suddenly I am thrown back into school.  This time starting off with a cold.  I'm ready for a break again already…

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together in our little home.  It was nice and quiet--and honestly didn't feel much like Christmas.  We made a nice dinner together and enjoyed it by candlelight.  Christmas Day we slept in, relaxed, and went to a movie.  It was pretty chill and nice.

Table setting

Ready to EAT!

The menu included: Ham and pineapple, salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls

Of course for dessert we had cheesecake drizzled with chocolate. YUM!

Christmas morning breakfast! Cinnamon roll waffles!

We didn't really give to each other this year.  We bought a Wii U game console and a few games for our Christmas present.  Steven and I also bought some window treatments for our living room!

Woohoo!

After Christmas we made a weekend trip down to Utah for my nephew, Vance's, baptism!

Vance by his table display

Vance and his dad, Stephen, before the baptism

Proud parents and brothers!

My honey and I at the luncheon afterwards 

The NEXT weekend after that we made ANOTHER weekend trip to Almo to have Christmas again with Steven's family.  It was really nice to see everybody and kinda nice to get out of Rexburg!

Now we are back home getting back into our usual routine.  I have classes all day Mondays and Wednesdays and then one class and work on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  My semester should be rather busy but I am pretty excited for a few of my classes.  

Until next time!

Finally Finals are OVER!

Thank goodness we have reached the end of our CRAZY semester! This was our first semester since we have been married and BOTH of us were on track this semester (which got pretty crazy at times!)
Thankfully we have finished! I SUCCESSFULLY completed this semester with the 4.0 GPA I was shooting for and I believe Steven did equally as well with his classes! WOOHOO! 

Amongst our busy semester we had a power outage at the beginning of this month so we had an opportunity to put up our Christmas tree and have been enjoying it since!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

 I think it's pretty and it reminds me of home because the tree and ALL the ornaments were from my parents'.  They have a nice new set of ornaments so we got to have their old ones that we always used when I was growing up.  It's really fun to have our own tree especially because we will be spending Christmas together at our own house this year!

Steven's company does a nice Christmas party every year for their employees and we were pretty excited to go! They had reserved this ranch that is in a neighboring town that has sleigh rides and entertainment as well as serving a DELICIOUS dinner!  We had a blast (even though it was pretty cold!) on the sleigh rides and enjoyed ourselves a nice prime rib dinner (YUM).

Mountain River Ranch. Quaint little place!

Way excited about the sleigh ride! We had front row seats!

We are looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas with ourselves next week!  Shortly following our quiet holiday we will be heading back down to Utah for my nephew's baptism (SUPER FUN) and then the next weekend we will go do Christmas again with Steven's family at his parents' house.  Lots to look forward to and we are grateful that school is out for all of this fun!!!

Thanksgiving!!!

This Thanksgiving we went to Utah to visit my sisters.  My brother, Glen, and his girlfriend came as well as my parents.  It was a lot of fun to visit with my family and to share some good memories together.  I am always grateful that my family is as close as we are and that we can have a good time together!  We were just missing Eric, Tami, and Gigi until the last day we were in town but at least we got to see them! I can't believe how big my baby niece is getting!!

Everyone at Thanksgiving dinner… er… Lunch! (Minus my brother-in-law, Stephen, who snapped this photo)

This year I attempted a recipe that my mother-in-law had for her homemade stuffing.  I spent all day the day before Thanksgiving baking bread and prepping everything to make the stuffing.  It was surprising easy to make after all the baking and prep work was done and it tasted SOOOO good, if I do say so myself. :D

Mmm... I love homemade bread!

The day after Thanksgiving we all went to Salt Lake City to go see the lights at Temple Square.  Steven and I went early with my sister Heather and her husband, Stephen (yes… That does get confusing when we are all together), so I could take some pictures of their oldest son who is getting baptized this month!  I had a good time and got some great photos that I'd LOVE to share!

Since when did my nephew get to be so old?!!?

What a cutie.  He has gotten so old so fast!  I can hardly believe it!  He is getting baptized on December 28th so we will be making another trip down to Utah to see his baptism.  I am so excited for him and his decision to choose to become a disciple of Christ!!

Of course I have to share some pictures with my sweet husband while we were at Temple Square as well!

Also, can't forget the wonderful women in my life!!!

My mother, my sisters Heather, and Holly!

Of course there is my niece, Chloe, who just adores her grandpa!

D'aww

Overall it was a great weekend!

Now we are back in Rexburg where just a day or so after our returned we were welcomed with the first REAL snow fall of the season.  Today we experienced a massive power outage but I am grateful that our power came on only after about 3 hours of it going out.  All my classes were cancelled so Steven and I stayed home and put up our Christmas tree.  I will have to post more about that next time.

Take care!