The Christmas season has sprung

Today my heart is full! We just got back from church and I was pondering about the Christmas season and thinking of all the blessing I have in my life. Blake and I just celebrated our one year anniversary. It's weird for me to think back to that day one year ago when we were so excited, nervous, and seeming so naive about life and getting married. As I think about our last year as husband and wife I have grown to have a deeper love for Blake, and everyday I find myself being reminded of how lucky I am to have him by my side through life. Another blessing in my life is my family. Blake and I were able to go to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and his family, as well as my sister. It was so nice to be around family for the holidays and to visit with them since they live so far away. We were able to meet our new niece, Payton and see how much Hunter has grown. They are such a joy and blessing to have in our lives. What is it about kids that makes life so refreshing? Now that the Christmas season is well underway...lights are hung in the apartment and yes we decorated the outside of our complex and are hoping the landlord doesn't get mad, Christmas music playing at home and from my computer at work, presents being wrapped, and goodies being made for the neighbors I hope that through all the chaos that I can remind myself of the things that matter most to me. The blessing of having such a wonderful, loving family and having the Savior in my life.




We taught Hunter how to frost Christmas sugar cookies. He's really funny because whenever you tell him to say "cheese" for the camera he looks up towards the ceiling.



My sister, me, and my brother. It snowed so much for 2 days in Colrado. We tried to make a snowman but the snow out there doesn't stick to well. We decided to not take a picture of our creation. It was that weak!



The kids got their pictures with Santa so Blake and I took advantage of the pretty decorations for our own picture.



Hunter loved putting on Blake's shoes and walking around the house in them. It was so cute!

Fall is in the Air

I love this time of year! The leaves around our house have fallen and the crunch sound they make when I walk on them....pure bliss. I think I enjoy this time of year so much because growing up in Washington we didn't really have trees with leaves; just evergreen trees and any leaves that did fall were soggy-not crunchy. It wasn't until I went to college in Montana that I really appreciated the fall. The brisk air, the vibrant colors of the trees, snuggling in blankets, hot chocolate and apple cider, warm comfort food, and getting together with family for the holidays. I have really been missing Bozeman, Montana lately. It all started last week when I went into Kneaders to grab some lunch and it reminded me of the quaintness of Bozeman and how I wished my girlfriends and I were having lunch together, or just catching up over some warm drinks-I miss those days. After my kneaders experience a few weekends later a huge group of us went to Moab to do a little mountain biking before the snow comes (Windie my new mountain bike rode like a dream) and I totally saw Kurt and Craig our next door neighbors from Bozeman. They live in Colorado now and were there with some of their friends for a little mountain biking too. I haven't seen either of them for such a long time and there they were. Oh, did I mention that I have a new niece. Her name is Payton Elizabeth. I haven't seen pictures yet, but I'm guessing she's adorable!

We have a new addition to our family....

My new baby is an 08' Specialized Myka FSR mountain bike. She's really pretty and has zero scratches. Oh and her name is Windie! A few of us are heading over to Moab this weekend to do some mountain biking and I'll get to put her to the test. I'm just hoping for no major wrecks.

Life has been crazy. I've been working between my 2 jobs about 50 hours a week. Everytime I head into the Gap I think how crazy it is to still work there, but then I think of the discount and I can't refuse that. I think I'm addicted to buying clothes. Outside of work I've been trying to make time to relax, but I find myself elbows deep in projects instead. Do you ever feel like you take too much on and then wish you hadn't, but at the same time like the chaos in your life just a little bit? I sometimes think that is the motto of my life. Right now I'm trying to make a Halloween costume, get at least 7 hours of sleep, update my scrapbook, find time to keep up my running, make family calendars for Christmas, make time to mountain bike with Blake, try to figure out my new calling in church, and find some time to finish watching all of Conference. YIKES!! When will the madness stop?!!

26.2 or BUST!

We did it! We finished the St. George marathon without walking, without any broken bones, without any pulled muscles, without bathroom catastrophes, and without too many tears. It was so much fun....well it seemed like more of a chore at the time, but we really enjoyed it and can't wait to run another! Blake, my mother in law, and I all stayed together for the entire course of the race. Mikell was a champion and went on her own half way through. She did awesome and finished in the time she was hoping for. Blake and I wanted to finish sometime before 5 hours. We figured since this race was our first we would take it easy, and the next time we would try to finish in a faster time. Blake and I were both surprised with how much easier it was then we anticipated. I think we both psyched ourselves out quite a bit. The worst part of the entire race was the weather. It has only rained twice now in the history of the St. George marathon. I didn't wear a hat because I thought it would be hot by the end of the race, boy was I mistaken. Because I had nothing to block the rain I was drenched from head to toe; literally. It made part of the race a little chilly, but we pressed on.

We have tatoos with a little man and a 26.2 underneath him. We thought they were cool!

This is us after the race-freezing cold and anxious to take a shower!

We're Back!

We're back from our cruise! We had such a FABULOUS time in San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenada. Last Sunday we left Provo for the long journey to Los Angeles where we stayed one night in a hotel, and then were able to board the Monarch of the Seas ship on Monday. Each day on the ship we would port so that you could go on tours or your own sightseeing adventure, then in the evening the ship would deport and head to the next location. On Wednesday morning we arrived in Catalina, California- which was our favorite place. We actually got to go jet skiing in the ocean! It came with a price, but it was well worth it. There were 6 of us in our group that Blake worked with this past summer that all went out on 3 jet skis. I never really thought riding a jet ski in the ocean would be that different than riding one in a lake, but I was pleasantly surprised. In the ocean there are so many swells without even trying to find them. Plus the salt water is much more harsh when it whips you in the face. By the time our one hour of riding was over, we were tired. We were hoping to see some dolphins, marlins, or sea lions while out jet skiing, but I think they were scared of our crazy driving. We did however see a few sea lions on our way back to the ship that day, and I was lucky enough to see a dolphin the next day in Ensenada when I pulled back the curtains in our room. Mexico was crazy, as usual. Blake had never been and I think he got talked into looking at everyone's stuff they were selling. We warned him about the kids with the Chicklets and jewelry so that he didn't get sucked into buying stuff from each one that approached him. So here we are, Blake and I, on this vacation and guess what souvenirs we came home with.....2 postcards, but a lot of fun memories! The one thing that I was repeatedly reminded of this past week was how thankful I am to have what I have in my life. There were so many people we came in contact with on our trip, whether on the ship or at the ports, that struggle through life a lot more than we do. Blake and I are truly blessed!

This statue we saw in San Diego by all the old Navy Ships-I loved this!

Our Royal Carribean cruise ship-Monarch of the Seas

This was our formal night dinner on the cruise ship

Catalina Island, California

Ensenada, Mexico

Is it in the air?

So I don't know if there's some bad karma floating around in the air, or if I have to face the reality that it's just me. I like the bad karma floating in the air option. Lately I've been so sensitive and crabby. I know what you're thinking.... typical girl's emotion because who else can possibly be sensitive and crabby all at the same time. I know right! Whatever the cause for this emotional crisis, I'm not enjoying it one bit. It actually caused me to ponder the question of whether or not when we return to live with our Heavenly Father and we are in our perfect form, does that mean our personality will be in perfect form as well? Where we won't have mean/catty/or insensitive thoughts, words, or actions? Where we will all live in peace and harmony with one another? I'm thinking that our personality has the ability to be in perfect form, but only if we are striving for personality perfection in this life. Looks like I have some work to do!

What we've been up to lately!

We had the chance to go white water rafting with my family for a weekend in June close to Leavenworth, Washington. It was really COLD, but we still managed to get a sunburn out on the water.

There were a ton of blackberries near our apartment in Oregon. We made it a Sunday ritual to pick them after church during the month of August.

I turned the ripe age of "27" this summer. Blake made me my favorite cake; rainbow chip cake with matching frosting. You can't see it in the picture but I ate some of the backside of this cake the day before my birthday. I was home all alone with the cake.....and let's just say the cake lost the battle.

Blake bought me this Camelbak for my birthday. He was so cute and actually showed it to me a few weeks before my birthday. He couldn't wait for me to have it.

As most of you know, Blake and I were in Portland, Oregon all summer. We really enjoyed our stay there. Now the reality of another semester of school has reared it's ugly head. We are back in Provo, and Blake is already elbows deep in reading and homework. I finally start work this week, which I am looking forward to. Anything to get me out of the kitchen..I've been experimenting with new recipes. All of the things I've made so far have turned out great, but then we have to eat all the stuff I've made and that's not so good. Blake, Mikell and I ran the Spanish Fork half marathon this past weekend. I came in dead last out of the 3 of us! Mikell beat my time by almost 30 minutes. She runs like Blake- like a gazelle; while I'm huffing and puffing the whole way to the finish line. We had fun, but it makes me a little more scared to run the St. George marathon in 3 weeks. As I crossed the finish line after running for 2 hours and 14 minutes straight the thought of running an additional 13.1 miles seemed like excruciating pain. Above are some pictures of what we were up to this summer, ENJOY!