The Nicholes

Have you updated yet??

2011-03-22T11:56:00.001-06:00

Hi again bloggy friends,

I just wanted to remind you that the URL for my blog has changed, so make sure you update your google readers and links. I am debating whether to delete this blog or not. Anyways I love all of you that read this blog and I would love for you to continue reading on my new blog.

New blog address: www.jennicholes.blogspot.com

Thanks again!

New URL

2011-03-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hi blog friends! With a new year comes changes I have decided to change the URL of my blog and start fresh. I will leave these posts here and start with new ones at my new location. I would love to keep you all as readers and friends so please update your blog roll and links to my blog.

The new address is: www.jennicholes.blogspot.com

Thank you as always for reading and hope you will continue to.

And away we go............

Another Update

2011-01-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi again!

Can you believe I am posting before it has actually been a month?

Let's see where did we leave off......I think we are up to November.

Not a lot happened that month but the first weekend Adam and I had a sleepover with out nieces from Friday night until their parents picked them up on Sunday. Their mom and dad had a wedding in Idaho and the girl's didn't really want to join them so their FAVORITE aunt and uncle volunteered to watch them for the weekend. So what did we do all weekend? We stayed up too late watching movies, ate lots of junk food, went to Megamind (super cute), played at the park, drew with chalk, played with hair, lots of hide and seek, watched more Hannah Montana then I think I have ever watched, goofy games and walks. Needless to say by the time they went home Sunday we were exhausted, I don't know how you parents with more than one kid do it everyday! We did miss them and our house seemed a little too quite so I think we may have to have a super fun sleepover again.
Here are some pictures from that weekend

A few weeks later we enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family this year. I don't have any pictures but we had a great dinner with my family. My parents cooked a lot and it was all delicious. I was in charge of pie and I always make too many but I LOVE to bake and can you really have too much pie? I made a Pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust, Chocolate cream with an Oreo crust, Banana Cream with a vanilla crust and they were all terrific if I do say so myself.

Adam and I were one of those crazy people who decided to get up at an unholy hour on Black Friday. We stayed the night at Adam's parents so we could hit the stores out in the city which are a little closer and there are more to choose from then at our house. We didn't get any killer deals but we did get a lot done that day! It was crazy but actually a pretty fun day.

That was November I think I have more pictures for December stay tuned, if any of you still read this blog. :-)

Big Ol' Update

2010-12-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well Hello all of my fellow bloggers!!

It has been a while hasn't it? This is a loooong over due update, it will be kind of long but there are pictures :-)

The month of October..... I have no idea where the last two months went but I am surprised I remember anything about October.

The third Saturday of October Adam and I headed out for a day of fishing with my dad. It started bright and early in the morning, like 5 am! I know I know we are crazy but my dad and I have been going fishing together since I was in high school and I enjoy it so much, I am definitely a daddy's girl and I love the time we get to spend together on the lake. I like having Adam join us too and I don't think my dad minds either. We went to Strawberry reservoir because we had pretty good luck back in August so we thought we would try it again except this time we went ALL day. Unfortunately we did not catch a whole lot and we were out there for 12 hours!
We caught quite a few of these guys but not enough to do anything with.

On the 29th of October we threw a little Murder Mystery dinner party. It was a blast and I think everyone had a good time. We were guests at the Annonville Manor: "The Anonville Manor closed for business years ago due to increasing rumors of eerie hauntings by ill-mannered spirits. A mysterious entrepreneur recently purchased the old hotel, renovated it, and announced that the Manor was free of ghosts and had been restored to the pristine caliber of the good ole' days when the Manor was the focus of entertainment for everyone. The new owner, choosing to remain anonymous, invited a random group of townspeople to a special pre-grand opening dinner party in the Majestic Ballroom of the hotel.To everyone's horror, a dead body that had been murdered in another room of the hotel was delivered to the ballroom! The guests rallied together in an intense investigation to figure out whodunit, the location of the crime, the motive, and murder weapon!"
The dinning room

The Characters:

Rita Bookaday                London Wilton
Sam Chawpalot                Paul. A Tishon

Principal Amethyst           Dr. Doctor Dijon
C.R. Badges                       Suga Ann Flower

Professor Alberta Newton
Alby Stitchin
After the untimely death of London Wilton. Everyone is trying to figure out who done it.

The party was a blast with good food and great friends!

The next day we had a rainy but fun Halloween. We watched movies and had pizza and lots and lots of halloween candy! We didn't have many trick or treaters because of the weather so someone had to eat all of that candy. :)

That is October......someday I will update on November.

Random

2010-10-07T10:56:00.000-06:00

In regards to my last post let's just say it was a Fail, I don't want to talk about it :)
Moving forward I think I will stop with the goals because obviously I am one of those who can't seem to follow through with them.

Some good news though it is my favorite month and time of year! I love love LOVE October and I love Autumn! October rocks my socks off because it is finally cooler, the leaves change, it's finally time to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies.... yummy and it is Halloween. Is it weird that I really like Halloween? I think I like it so much because it is the one holiday where you don't have to cook a big meal or by presents. I have great memories of Halloween my dad always decorated and he would go with us trick or treating, I think he secretly misses that part. I always had great costumes and lots and lots of candy. Halloween is bad for me as I get older though because every time I go to the store those colorful bags of little bit sized candy bars haunt me.

Seriously someone out there is pure evil to think hmmm let's make these things bite sized so that Jen will eat more than if she had a whole candybar. I think someone is out to get me. So what's a girl to do? I try so hard to walk pass the aisles and aisles of candy but they call my name and I think they are mocking me because I have no self control. They should mock me because as hard as I try I end up leaving with a bag of candy corn or something that I really don't need.

I also have not had any time to decorate for Halloween which makes me really sad because I love Halloween decorations. I dropped my box of decorations the other night and my Halloween bowls broke all over the cement floor, they made it through two moves and then crash! I might have shed a tear or two for them.

This weekend is my sister in laws wedding, I have mixed feelings about it.

If you haven't checked out my other blog I posted a little craft project to make your own recipe box. Some of you may have seen them around the blog world but if you haven't check it out. You can use those boxes for just about anything. I should have some more posts coming soon because I finally found that %!@# camera cord. Just click the button on the left to take you there.

I realized the other day that my walls in our house are so bare. It is kind of depressing it is just a whole lot of nothing. I am slowly working on decorating inside too but limited funds and time make it quite a project. My wonderful aunt did make us some beautiful drapes for our main floor I will have to post pictures because I just love them!

This is a really random post so to recap:

The person who decided to make candy bars bite sized is the spawn of Satan, my house is not scary, my other blog is slowly coming together and along with my house not being scary it is also pretty boring. :)

Thanks as always for reading!

I will try to add more pictures next time I post.

Stuck in a Rutt

2010-09-08T09:06:00.003-06:00

Here we are it is already Wednesday, yeah for being half way through the week already!!
I am stuck in a rutt.....I hate that feeling.
What kind of rutt am I in? I am not sure it is kind of an all around rutt. I think I need a change. It seems like nothing is getting accomplished or at least the things I think need to be accomplished :) I set out with big plans and then when I don't follow through with those plans I get a little discouraged.

I think I have a plan, and I am going to share it with you so maybe that means I will actually finish it this time.
The Plan:

-Get out of bed on time during the week
    I have a tendency to hit snooze too much and then I don't leave myself enough time for breakfast and sometimes to put on my makeup
-Wear my makeup
this one sounds shallow but honestly when I feel like I spent some time on myself like wearing makeup or curling my hair I feel like I have a better outlook on the day
-Try some new recipes
   I have a pile of new recipes to try for dinner, breakfast or desserts and I have yet to pull one out and give it a whirl. I also have recipes in my head that I need to put onto paper and see how they turn out. Do you notice that when you eat something new and different life has a new spin on it? Is that just me? Oh well
- Craft, craft, craft!
    I have been working on some crafts and I have finished a bunch and yet my other blog is empty and so are the walls of my home. I want to get my butt in gear and get my walls and cupboards decorated and crafting is so relaxing to me.
-Post on my other blog
   This poor blog was a new thing for me and started out exciting but then it just dropped off. I really do have some fun things to share. I am just having a hard time getting it all organized and posted. But I hope that when I get my crazy ideas sorted out you will all come and read it and try some of the things for yourself.
- Write it All Down
So I am a little crazy (actually REALLY crazy) and I am about to share with you why. My mind goes a mile a minute and usually when I am trying to get some sleep, so needless to say I have my boughts of Insomnia. When I am at work I am thinking about home and what needs to be accomplished there and when I am home I am thinking about everything else that I need/want to do. I am a list maker through and through except those lists and sticky notes disappear and then I forget what I wanted to do. I think this will be my biggest struggle to get out of a rutt, but I have a plan. I am going to try to get plan of some sort for each day of what I want to get accomplished and if I don't get it accomplished it's ok it can move to the next day. This way I can see that I have acctually done something instead of feeling stuck.

Ok so for now that is my plan I will let you know how it all plays out. I am going to try REALLY REALLY hard to get something accomplished. I will report back soon and maybe you will see some of my accomplishments on my other blog.

In other news, the Scrapbook Expo is this weekend and I am going, I will make it happen. It will help feed my addiction to scrapbook/craft items that I really don't need any more of. If you love craft items and crafty things and you haven't been you really should go, they have great deals on items and lots of fun ideas. I have never taken a class there but I would really like to some year, if you want to join me let me know I would be happy to have you.

Other happenings, my sister in law is getting married next month and my other sister in law and I are a planning a shower. I have BIG ideas for refreshments for this shower and I am starting to wonder if maybe they are too big? Oh well go big or go home right? If it all works out my other blog should have some great stuff.

I guess that's it for now.

Thanks for reading that crazy, unorganized, loooong post.

Update

2010-08-25T20:47:00.000-06:00

Well first of all I am still here I have not fallen off the face of the Earth yet.

So what have I been up to? Nothing new really.
A couple of weeks ago Adam and I celebrated four years of wedded bliss! I can't believe how time has flown, it seems like just yesterday we were on a plane headed for our honeymoon in Florida. Oh how I wish I was in Florida right now, those were good times. I am so thankful for Adam and the man he is and has become, and come December it will be 10 years since our first date!! 10 Years!? There is no one I would have wanted to go on this journey with.

We took a week off from work, which was so needed. We went to the zoo, stayed at a hotel, ate lots of food we shouldn't have, caught up on sleep and saw lots of movies. If you haven't seen Inception yet you REALLY really need to. That week was just what we needed but like all good things it ended too soon.

There hasn't really been a whole late going on lately. I have been in kind of a slump that I am trying to pull myself out of, so to help I have been doing some crafty things because, to me, it is so therapeutic. It seems to be helping plus I should have some new stuff to put on my craft/cooking blog so stay tuned and hopefully I will be able to keep that blog going better the second time around.

I guess that is all for now.

Thank you as always for reading.

In memory of my beautiful Grandma

2010-08-05T17:34:00.002-06:00

Wanda S. Eaby We'll Miss You Wanda S. Eaby, our loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away July 31, 2010 at the age of 80. Wanda was born in Malta, Idaho July 14, 1930 to James LaVell Scott and Hazel Lloyd Scott. She was the fourth in a family of four girls and one boy. The family moved to the Salt Lake area in 1943. Mom married her sweetheart Dave in 1950. They had 52 years together before he passed in 2002. Wanda and Dave were active members of the Moose Lodge where they went dancing nearly every Saturday night. They had two children, Keith Eaby and Jolene (Gene) Hunter. Wanda was an avid Jazz fan and would "cuss and discuss" the games with anyone who would listen. Wanda had a special place in her heart for all the little ones in her neighborhood and she was their special friend. She and her bottomless candy dish will be greatly missed. But the ones closest to her heart were her three granddaughters: Christina (Kirby) Leavitt, Jennifer (Adam) Nicholes and Kellie Hunter and her three great-grand daughters: Alexandra, Elisabeth and Rebecca Leavitt. She was able to see two of her granddaughters married. Mom is now dancing with Dad again and free of her pain. Preceded in death by parents, husband and siblings. Survived by children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. A special thanks to Symbii Hospice and Hazen Care Center who were so kind and helpful to us and Mom. Graveside services will be Friday August 6, 2010 at 11 a.m. at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery (3115 E. Bengal Blvd., Cottonwood Heights). There will be a viewing from 10-11a.m. before the service.

I am happy that my Grandma is free from her Cancer and that she is back with my Grandpa again. It is still hard and sad to think that she is really gone. My grandma was there for EVERY important event in my life, from school plays, to graduation and my wedding. She has always been there and I am so sad that she is gone, but I know she is back in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. My grandparents temple work was not done so this will give us the opportunity to make sure her and my Grandpa will be together forever, so I guess out of our sadness there is some silver lining. Good bye Grandma you will for sure be missed. I may share some memories of my grandma soon.

Shout Out

2010-07-20T18:31:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to take minute to do a little plug for a very good friend, actually I would call him family.
He didn't ask me to do this for him I just want to help get the word out about his business.

His name is David Catmull and he is in the business of refinishing furniture. He has a great passion for working with his hands and it definitely shows in his work. He is an honest, hardworking person whom (or is it who?) I would recommend to anyone, anywhere. I just wanted to take a second and let everyone who reads this blog know about his business. If you want to see pictures of pieces he has finished or want more info he has started a blog which has a link on my side bar or you can click on the link right here:
Five Star Furniture Refinishing

David refinished a cabinet for my father in law and it looks A-MA-ZING! He is an artist in his craft and if you look at his work you can tell he strives for perfection. If you or anyone you know needs something refinished please send them to David, he will not disappoint.

David, I hope you don't mind me bragging about you a little and stealing a picture of your business card. :-)

Thanks as always for reading,

Links

2010-07-16T11:25:00.001-06:00

So as a follow up to my last post here are a couple of links for the things you have asked about.

First link is to Asylum 49. They do a haunted house in October but they offer ghost hunts during the other months, you will have to contact them to see when they are doing tours again. It is $20 a person which sounds a little steep but it was so much fun and something different to do.

Ghost Hunting

Second link is for the recipe I used to make the cupcakes in the picture. I tweaked it a little bit to my liking but you can follow the recipe as is and should be able to get a pretty yummy cupcake.

Cherry Cola cupcakes

So lately my craft/recipe blog has been pretty much non-existent and I hate that. I am working my butt off trying to get some new crafts and recipes up there. Keeping track of two blogs is harder then I thought it would be so I may eventually just combine it all into one. As far as the Cherry Cola cupcakes, I didn't make a lot of changes but I will post the ones I made as soon as I get my other blog back on track.

So that is all for now. If you have any questions about the ghost hunting or cupcakes let me know.

Pictures!

2010-07-06T19:51:00.002-06:00

First of all I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of my friends who commented on my post yesterday. You may not believe it but it helped to just have a few words of support. THANK YOU!! I am starting to feel better, I think I just need some time and lots and lots of praying. I decided to delete that post because I felt it was me saying things out of disappointment. I still have some pangs of jealousy and still feel a little disappointment, but it is what it is and I just need to work things out.

Anyways this post is not a post with a lot of words and it's not a pity party or anything like that. This post is all about pictures!! I have been promising pictures for a while so here are a lot of pictures of things that have been going on the past few months and some of our house that is finally starting to feel like home. Enjoy :-)

P.S. if you weren't able to make it to my coupon class this link should give you the basic steps to saving money with coupons. If you have any questions please just ask and if I don't know I am sure I can find someone who does.
http://www.couponingforautism.com/2009/02/coupon-101_15.html

These pictures are from when we went on a ghost hunt at the Asylum 49 in Tooele, this past May. It was a fun experience and pretty spooky. All of these pictures were taken in pitch black rooms and the only way you can see them is with a really good flash. We saw a couple of shadows and caught a couple of voices. It was fun for something different and we want to come again. If you want to join us let me know. It is spooky fun.

Adam celebrated his 26th birthday May 24th. He is a great husband and a big goofball but that is why I love him.

For Father's Day we went to Copperton Park to have a barbecue with my side of the family. We started doing these barbecues once a month during the summer last year and we are hoping to have a few more barbecues this year.

What do you do when you are waiting for the Manti Pageant to start? Take lots of pictures and be silly while doing it. This was my second year going to the Manti Pageant and it was awesome! Last year, my first year, going it rained and was super cold this time it was beautiful weather and so much fun.

At the end of June I celebrated my 25th birthday. I made the cupcakes and not to brag but they were delicious. :-)

On Saturday we went to Stadium of Fire with my parents and little sister. Carrie Underwood rocked and the fireworks were great! I am not sure why the fireworks picture turned out like that but it looks pretty sweet.

Last but not least...pictures of our house.

The front of our house and the view from our porch.

Our Kitchen and the Family room off of the kitchen

Our kitchen table and the front living room

The stairs to the upstairs. I didn't get any pictures upstairs because I didn't clean it so you will have to wait for those picutres, they aren't very exciting.

So for now that is all the pictures I have I will try not to wait so long to post next time.

Quick Update

2010-06-03T08:50:00.001-06:00

I cannot believe that it is already June! Where did May go? Or April? I am not complaining because I am ready for some sun and warm weather.
I wanted to give a quick update, I am at work so this will be a fast update but I am hoping to get the pictures off of my camera tonight and update with pictures.

May was a great month full of movies, family gatherings, a birthday party, moving and unpacking. I am hoping to have some pictures up today.

I also wanted to let everyone know that my FREE coupon class is going to be one week from today, June 10th from 6:30-7:00. I would love for all of you to come and learn how to save some money with coupons! If you would like to come and want more info please send me an e-mail to jenhunter20@yahoo.com and I will get you my address and directions. If you have any questions or have any questions please let me know. Tori from sheshopssmart.blogspot.com (check out how much money they save) will be offering a discount on newspapers that evening if you want to subscribe. Like I said before I would LOVE to have anyone who wants to come so if you would like to bring a friend or two the more the merrier, just let me know so I can plan on it. :) Even if you can't come until after 6:30 or can't stay for the whole class please come and I will get you any info you missed.

Well that is all for now, hopefully I can get some pictures and more of an update done tonight.

Coupons

2010-05-13T13:33:00.000-06:00

Ok so for those of you who didn't see my post on Facebook I thought I would share it here too.

So now that we have a house and probably even before that I really need to start finding ways to save money and cut my budget down. So....

I am hosting a FREE class that teaches you how to use coupons to save money on your groceries and stock your pantry at the same time. Tori from sheshopssmart.blogspot.com is coming to teach the class. If you haven't seen their blog there is a link on my blog and if you go to "a lot for less" link on the top of their blog you can see how much they save. The class will be at my house, Thursday June 10th at 6:30. The class usually runs about 60-90 minutes.
There is nothing being sold and it is a free class. They can however help you get a deal on your newpaper so you can get your coupons.

I figure maybe I can save money starting with groceries if someone shows me how. :)

So if you would like to come or have any questions please e-mail me or comment to this post with your e-mail address and I will get you the information. If you have friends that would like to join you I would love to have them. This should be a fun night and hopefully help us all save a little money. (Plus since who knows when I will get more pictures of my house up, you can just come see it :-)

We are homeowner's!

2010-04-26T13:58:00.000-06:00

So after a couple bumps in the road and a little wait we are officially the proud owner's of a new home!!

This whole thing is kind of bittersweet for us. I know a while ago I couldn't wait to get out of the house with my in-laws but we are finally starting to get along and things are going smoothly so it will be kind of hard to leave. Don't get me wrong I am ready for this new adventure and ready to be just the two of us again but I am happy that I had this little bit of time to get to know Adam's family a little better.

I don't have pictures yet of everything because we started to move on Saturday so of course our house is kind of a mess inside and we can't take any time off this week so we will have to do what we can after work....which makes for long days!
I promise I will get pictures posted as soon as our lives are back together.
I never realized how much stuff we packed into one storage unit and one bedroom. It is going to take a while to get it all put away where we can find it.

So after a stressful month and a half and an interesting 10 months with the in laws we are happy and excited to be on our own again. I am not sure that I was ready to be an adult yet but there is no turning back now, so there is nothing else for us to do but look to the future and maybe get ready to start our own family. :)

I hope to keep this better updated when we are finally settled.

P.S. We have not decided if we are going to do a house warming party yet but know you are all invited if we do, and I promise our house is not as far away as it sounds.

New posts coming soon.

2010-04-07T10:26:00.000-06:00

Hello blogging world....

It has been a while and I do have some more pictures of our house to post, but it has been very stressful the last few weeks so thus the reason for lack of posting. I will have to go into more details later. We are still trying to close on our house, which is now complete so when things calm down, hopfully next week, I will do some update posts. :)

Hope you are all doing well.

Progress

2010-03-15T21:27:00.003-06:00

We now have a frame to our house it has gone from a hole to a house in a matter of a week!

We are still holding out for the beginning or April to move in so keep your fingers crossed.

I don't know why my pictures won't stay the way I want them to but oh well.

We have a Hole!

2010-02-28T20:36:00.002-07:00

So this may not be super exciting to some of you but to us it is the most exciting thing that has happened to us in a while.

We have a hole for our home. They are hoping to have the foundation in by Thursday, then of course I will post pictures of that. These pictures will hopefully document our house building process for us so we can remember what it looked like before, during and after. :)

1. The lake from our front yard
2. The neighbors behind us
3.Across the street
4. Our Hole
5. The view from our side yard

Thanks for Looking

We Are Moving!!

2010-02-19T13:44:00.001-07:00

So my fellow blog friends, after 9 of the longest grueling months ever we are finally moving!!
We are building a new house in Silver Lake. Where is Silver Lake you may ask? Well it is technically Silver Lake at Eagle Mountain. Now before you all decide that is way too far and you will never come visit let me tell you it is not Eagle Mountain City center and it is not the Ranches. It is closer it is about 5 minutes from Lehi and Redwood Road, it takes about 25-30 minutes to get there from where we are now. We have a view of Utah Lake so that is awesome.
They break ground on Tuesday and we are hoping to be in by April! I have not shared this on my Facebook because we have not told our ward yet and I am friends with some of them. So you lucky people are the first to know about our new house...you should feel honored.

Our house will have 3 beds,2 baths, 2 family rooms and an unfinished basement and we couldn't be more excited!!

I will be posting pictures as it progesses along. I am so happy to finally be on our own again and even though it was hard to live with the in-laws I am thinking it is proving to be worth the sacrifice.

That is all that is new in the world of Jen and Adam.
As far as my craft blog I have some fun new crafts in the works and I can't wait to share them. Hopefully I will get better at updating both blogs.

Thanks for reading!

I'm thinking...

2010-01-27T11:56:00.001-07:00

Holy Smokes two posts in one week!! I am on a roll

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately...I know SHOCKING!

Anyways I have realized that I am pretty self absorbed in my life right now. That may sound bad which in some ways it is but in other ways it could be a good thing.

I was thinking about the events taking place around the world and how I have taken so many things for granite. I complain about not having my own house but at least I have a home. I complain about not making as much money as I think my family needs at this point but at least I have a job and I am making money. I complain about people that are driving me crazy but at least I know that they are alive, where they are and that I still love them. I complain about not having worldly processions but at least I still have possessions. I complain about how much doctor bills are but at least I have my health and a doctor to see. I am not necessarily relating this to the situation in Haiti but just to the world in general. There are people who have less than I do at this point in time and yet I still complain.

I think once in a while it is a good thing to take a step back and count your blessings.

With that said I am still frustrated and stressed out about our current living situation and they way things are going. But I am still thankful for what I do have.

P.S. I have posted a tutorial on how to make a cute little post-it holder and pen on my other blog. It really is super easy but if you are confused let me know.

Nothing new

2010-01-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

My poor little blog I feel like I have abandoned you :(

I really have no reason to have not updated except the fact that there is nothing new in life right now.

I really have a bad case of the Monday's today and I am not sure why. I am just really irritated with everything today, not to mention this 9:00 church thing is going to kill me. I am exhausted!

I am trying really hard to keep my other blog updated on a more regular basis but then this blog is being left in the dust. The sad thing is that I have not updated my new blog like I was hoping either. I just wanted to post a little something to let you know I am still alive. Hopefully there will be something more interesting to post soon.

New Blog

2010-01-08T11:22:00.003-07:00

So the time has finally come.....
My new blog is up and running!! It is going to be slow starting at first and still needs a lot of work but it is up so that is a good start.

If you want to take a look it is http://www.sprinklewithcraft.blogspot.com/
or you can click my button on the side. I am not really happy with the button but for now it works so it is good.
I hope you will look at my new blog and let me know where you think I can improve or what kind of stuff you would like to see. I am hoping to make this a daily posting blog, not always with craft or food but just what ever.

Well that is all for this post right now.

The Zombies are coming.....Are You Ready?

2010-01-06T09:57:00.004-07:00

This was way too funny not to share. I was looking in the Granite Peaks Education Catalog that comes in the mail and I know you are all terrified about zombies and since the government doesn't have a plan in place we better take it upon our selves to be prepared for the attack. So I found it, the perfect class for such a situation........

Surviving a Zombie Invasion
Class Description
Zombies are invading neighborhoods all across the country but we can help you prepare for them. Our Zombie expert gives you the tools you need to protect yourself from these creeping disasters. Whether you're just starting to plan your defense or you already have some measures in place, you will not want to miss out on this opportunity. When the Zombies knock out your power or initiate devastating natural disasters, you'll be able to face them confidently and with the weapons you need to defeat them.
Wednesday, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM; 5 sessions starting January 13, 2010, ending February 10, 2010
Tuition: $39.00
Instructor: Instructor
Location: Skyline Campus Map

So if anyone would like to pay $39 bucks to make sure that you are prepared you can go to http://www.granitepeaks.org/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_id=8479&int_category_id=3&int_sub_category_id=27&int_catalog_id=0to sign up.

I'm sorry I know there are people who take this seriously but I can't read this with out laughing. This is no joke you can totally take this class.

I hope this makes you smile on your Wednesday, because I think it just made my whole week. :)

Happy 2010!

2010-01-04T09:25:00.003-07:00

Well it is a new year and that means a fresh start and new beginnings. I am looking forward to a new year and hopefully all of the new and good things it holds.

We had a great Christmas and New Year! Lots of family time and lots of visiting. ( pictures to hopefully come this week) I can't believe that the holiday season is already over but I am ready to start moving forward with a new year.

Since it is a new year I, like most of you, have made some resolutions and I think I will share some of them here so maybe I will remember what I have decided to accomplish this year.

* Get a house (hopefully this summer)
* Try to eat breakfast and lunch more regularly (sometimes I skip one of these meals not on purpose and yet I have gained weight???)
* Try to finish some of my many projects I have started
* Actually post something on my other blog, it has been ready for two months and yet no post
* Get my CNA so I can get into a nursing program, hopefully soon
* Help get Adam through school faster

I am sure this list will be ever growing but for now I think I will work on those because they will probably take all year!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and that you are as ready as I am to start this new year!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

2009-12-23T11:13:00.002-07:00

So much for trying to at least update weekly. But most of you have probably realized that I don't really stick to my plans all the time.
Nothing new has really been going on so I really had nothing to post.
I am getting a little more excited for Christmas, I guess I had better get more excited since it is only two days away.
This year Christmas time has been really....different. It is weird living in a house with 5 other adults(not including Adam and me). Adam's family has their own traditions and none of them are things we really did at my house or when Adam and I had our own place so it is going to be a little different. Somethings we will be opting out of so maybe it will be like our Christmas a little bit.
Has anyone else felt like this month has gone way too fast and that they are behind? These last few months have flown by and in some ways I am happy to start fresh with a new year and some ways I am sad because I feel like I didn't get things done like I wanted.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope Santa brings you lots of fun stuff. :)

This is a little late

2009-12-01T09:40:00.004-07:00

I know I am a little late but I feel like this has been the first time I have been able to catch my breath in a few days.
I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!! We had a nice day with Adam's family and then visited my family that evening. I need to get better at taking pictures because I have no pictures to go with this post. Maybe that should be my new goal?
After being sick on Tuesday Adam and I were feeling much better on Wednesday which was a good thing because I was supposed to make pies for Thanksgiving that night. I ended up making a delicious pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust and a banana cream pie with Nilla wafer crust. Yummy! I am not a big plain pumpkin pie fan that is why I made a pumpkin cheesecake.
Then Friday we did go shopping. We did not get up at 3:00, since we had been sick we decided we had better sleep a little so we left the house at about 6:45 am which was great we were able to get lots of good stuff at great prices with out the crazy lines and crazy shoppers. Did any of you go shopping? What kind of deals did you get? I finished almost everyone on my list except Adam.
Can I just say how stressful December is? I love this time of year like I said in my last post....lots of good treats, good shows and great music. However, we have four birthdays plus Christmas so that adds to a lot of stress. Our birthday extravaganza starts next Monday and continues on the 16th, 18th and 26th. Ugh! Most of our birthdays are fairly easy for our first birthday she is getting a gift card. What is it with this time of year that people think they should get everything when they want it? I truely am one of those people who would rather get the perfect present for someone and see their reaction than get something for myself.
Anyways I guess I will wrap up with what I am thankful for:

I am thankful I have a job that helps pay the bills and I enjoy most of the time
I am thankful for family and spending time with them
I am thankful to have my health
I am thankful for my hubby who puts up with my crazy moods and loves me unconditionally
I am thankful for my friends, they make the world go around
I am thankful for sweets: cinnamon almonds, chocolate cherries, chocolate oranges mmmmm!

Well I better get back to work.

Thanks for reading :)

Holidays

2009-11-18T09:18:00.005-07:00

Ok so I'll admit it.....

I am getting excited for all of the holidays coming up! I guess I had better start getting ready since Thanksgiving is next week!
I am not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving but I love getting together with my family and just spending time together plus, I am ready for some pie yummy.

I wish we were going to my parent's house this year just for a break but we are staying with the in laws for Thanksgiving.

I am so ready to start Christmas shopping I am bound and determined to get some good deals this year. We have 4 birthdays in December so the more money we can save the better!

I am looking forward to the holiday season. I am a huge sap for holiday movies and specials on tv and I think Adam thinks I am nuts because I love to watch Christmas movies over and over. Who doesn't love "A Christmas Story?" Or "Christmas Vacation?"

If any of you say that you don't like those movies I don't think we can be friends anymore. :)

I am a little depressed that we won't be able to do our own traditions and decorate our own place this year but at least we are with family.

I guess I am even ready for some more snow. I need some more nice coats to wear to work though.

Are you ready?

Simple and Sweet

2009-11-06T09:51:00.005-07:00

Well it's here...it's Friday!

This has been a long week.

Yesterday was a bad day.

Hoping today will be better.

End of Daylight Savings time and I am tired.

Need to get my butt in gear.

Ready for our own place.

Trying to get better at blogging more often.

Feel like my life is really not interesting enough to blog about.

Happy it still feels like fall.

Not quite ready for snow and cold.

Ready to be done with work...it's 10:00 am!

Check out Swagbucks.com

Find the link on my side bar.

Get prizes for searching the web.

Want to take a walk through Memory Grove.

Especially because this is what it looks like.

"Borrowed" the pictures from a friend's blog.

That's all short and sweet.

A Mish Mash of Nothing.

2009-11-02T10:51:00.002-07:00

I really need to get better at this blogging thing.
I can't believe it is November. So far today I have put the 30th of October on everything and then I remember October is gone....sigh.
I am getting excited for the upcoming holidays however.
I love all of the family time you spend with cousins, aunts, parents, grandparents, neices. That is what I love about the holidays.
I am also one of those crazy people who loves it when they play holiday specials on tv. I watch most of them to try and get me in the mood for the holiday season.
I am a little nervous how the day of presents will be this year. I am trying not to use that word as much as I possibly can until after Thanksgiving.
Adam and I have always enjoyed our own little 'C' since we have been married but this year will be different. We will still go to my parent's for breakfast and his for dinner but what about when we open presents and all of that fun stuff. It sounds like it shouldn't matter that much but I am really going to miss our little 25th of December all by ourselves.
Hopefully it is only this year and that we will have our own place by next year.
I am still working on my new blog and hoping to have it up in the next couple of weeks. I want to get some of my favorite pie recipes posted on there BEFORE Thanksgiving. I decided to try wordpress (the free one) to help my friend with her's since she bought her URL.....wordpress is hard >:(
Anyways I am hoping it will turn out how I want and be a lot of fun.
Well there is really nothing new with Adam and I except we did find the house we would love to build so we will see if our plans work out the way we want and maybe next summer we will have our very own brand new place but if not oh well I guess.

Thanks for reading my way random post I hope you are all doing well and had a spooky and safe Halloween.

Lazy

2009-10-22T09:37:00.003-06:00

Boy I am getting lazy at this posting thing. I guess it is because I never know what to post and I am not sure anyone really reads this so here goes nothing.......

I am kind of sad that October is almost over :( Where did it go and how did I miss it?
I am happy however that we are actually having fall this year! The leaves are changing and the air has that wonderful chill. I don't mind the dreary days I actually love them. I love seeing the leaves change and seeing the changes on the mountain because they aren't covered with snow yet.
I actually get to wear a jacket! Not a coat but a real honest to goodness jacket! Yay!

Let's see what else is new?
We got a new manager over my department at work. In the 8 years I have been working (since I was 16) I have had 9 different supervisors/magangers! Nine! I have only had three different jobs! I am really tired of getting new managers. They always think that things need to be changed, which some do but most don't. My new manager is really nice but it will be interesting to see how things work out. They actually let me older manager go last week which was kind of crazy.

There is a new blog I am working on. I have decided that I really love to bake and I really love to do crafts. I like to bake and cook things from stuff that you can actually find in the grocery store and I like to craft inexpensively, so I am trying to start a new blog, in addition to this one, that will share my love for those things. I am hoping that it will just be a fun blog to share things I have found and share some of my own ideas.
I will let you all know if this becomes a reality and hopefully you will all stop by to visit.

I think that is all for today.

I hope you are all having a wonderful October and taking advantage of all of the things that come with fall.

Few Words

2009-10-09T11:11:00.008-06:00

I am sure that many of you have seen this picture but it still brings a tear to my eye. I thought it was hard when as an adult I had to have my dad leave to go to war and maybe never come home but being four years old I can't even imagine.

Abby Bennethum

Read the accompaning artcile here:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Little-Soldier-Girl-Didnt-Want-to-Let-Go-63629627.html

I can't wait for the day when no one's mommy or daddy will be taken away to come back to a life that went on with out them or to not come back at all. May God bless our troops and bring them home safe and sound. I hope they all can come home soon.

What a Week!

2009-10-06T08:57:00.006-06:00

So this is probably going to be a random post but what a crazy week this last week was.
So last Monday started out so nuts! I showed up at work at 8:00 and everyone was standing around outside a little odd I thought so I parked my car and walked over to my friend and saw the cop car. I asked what was going on and it turned out there was a bomb threat that had been called in that morning shortly before I got there. No one was allowed in the building and the bomb squad has been called to check things out. We were told we probably wouldn't be allowed back in for a couple of hours. I work for a mortgage company and we have until 2 pm to get our loans funded so that kind of put a wrench in things. A couple of my friends from work and I headed out for breakfast while we waited for them to check the building. About an hour later we started to set up at one of our branches to try and get through some files, when we got the all clear from the bomb squad. Like we really wanted to go back in the building after that but we did go back to work. We then had about two hours to do 109 loans. That was a long day.
Tuesday was pretty uneventful.
Then came Wednesday. Wednesday was the last day of the month and for any of you that know anything about mortgages and closing you know month end is crazy! Everyone is trying to get their loan funded at the end of the month because it gives the borrower less interest days and a whole month to live in their home before they have to make their first payment so needless to say it is a crazy day. We had 170 loans to do, luckily there were no bomb threats or anything else. But we had a lot of messy loans and were extremely busy. I didn't leave my desk, unless it was to go to the printer, for 6 hours. Our company usually buys the funding department lunch on month end because we can't leave our desks, this month no lunch! So we were starving and I hadn't peed in 6 hours ( I know TMI)
I hate having month end in the middle of the week it makes for a long end of the week. That evening I had Young Women's. It was an activity that was only supposed to last about an hour.....hahaha the activity ended up lasting 2 1/2 hours. I was exhausted.
Thursday was uneventful.
Friday at 10:00 all of our systems went down so no e-mail in or out and lots of crossing of fingers that we could get a few files funded. They still did not have the system up when we left Friday.
What a loooong and tiring week. I will have to post about my weekend later but that was my week last week and I am happy it is over!

Yummy!

2009-09-22T13:16:00.015-06:00

Because I am so ready for fall I decided to make one of my favorite fall recipes:

Apple Crisp!

I decided to share the recipe with all of you that read this...... all three of you. This recipe does not have oats because Adam is not a big fan but it is still a great recipe. I can't remember where I found it but it has been tweaked a little to my liking.

APPLE CRISP

4 cups peeled and sliced apples ( I prefer the tartness of Granny Smith)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.
Place apples in prepared dish. Pour water over apples.
In a bowl cream together sugars and butter. Add Vanilla.
Blend in flour and cinnamon.
Spinkle mixture evenly over apples.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until apples are tender and crust is golden.

I like to let mine sit for about 10 minutes before eating.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or just plain.
Easy right?

P.S. this will make your home smell so yummy while it is cooking.

Enjoy and welcome Fall!!

Can you feel it in the air?

2009-09-16T11:19:00.009-06:00

Can I just say how excited I am for Fall!? )If you couldn't already tell from my background)

I love the smell of wood burning fireplaces, that seem to always show up in autumn.
I love the crisp feel in the air.
I love the crunch of leaves under my shoes.
I love the changing of the colors on all of the trees.
I love wearing jackets, not coats but jackets.
I love LOVE Halloween! I don't know what it is. Could it possibly be all of the stores shelves swimming in bite sized candies for me to eat all day long and not feel quite as guilty as if I had eaten a full sized candy bar? Could that possibly be it?
I love the decorations for Halloween.
I love the kids being so excited and being able to dress up as what ever they want to be for just that one day.
I love going to see "Thriller" at Kingsbury hall every October.
So can you feel it? The days are getting shorter and the air is getting cooler and I am loving every minute of it.
I am definitely NOT ready for winter, or Christmas. So those of you who think Halloween is a good time to start playing Christmas music please keep it away from me because I am going to enjoy fall as long as I can. If you blink, especially in Utah, it will be gone.

Feeling old :)

2009-09-09T08:45:00.012-06:00

So it has been a little while since I posted last. Things are getting better on that end but it is going to take a while.

This last weekend we celebrated my twin nieces birthday! I realized that I am starting to feel old. I know, I know I am only 24 but still some things really make you feel your age.
I was a senior in high school when my nieces were born. I still remember that day, I was in seminary and Brother Bebe passed me a note and just stood there smiling, it was from my mom and she had called to tell me the babies were here and that they were doing well. I was so excited but they were a month early so I was a little nervous. I remember going to see them in the hospital and they were sooo tiny. Lizzy was only about 3 lbs and Alex was about 4 lbs, I think that's right.
They are now 7 years old! They just started first grade, and I can't believe it. They aren't even my kids but time flew by so fast and I just can't seem to figure out where it went. Pictures are to follow from this birthday and a few from their other birthdays.

This was at their 3rd birthday

I went to the grocery store a few months ago and has an experience there that really made me feel old. The bagger was talking about a concert she was going to that weekend and was talking about how cute the lead singer was and the checker, who was probably a little older than me, mentioned how she always thought Jon Bon Jovi was so cute. Well the bagger just gave her a blank stare and asked who that was? Seriously the checker and I just looked at each other like "you don't know how Bon Jovi is?" I could feel my age that time. :(
I have learned that you should not start reminiscing about your childhood and shows you watch or bands you liked when there are younger people around. (pictures are included for those who don't know what I am talking about)I have brought up Punkie Brewster, Color Me Badd, New Kids on the Block....hang tough! Just little things that I assumed those people I was talking to knew what or who those things were. Boy that just aged me again hahaha!

Trying to stay sane!

2009-08-25T10:14:00.009-06:00

So I apologize in advance but this is kind of my pity post. I just feel the need to vent a little and I am not a big journal writer so I guess you lucky people will get to read my complaints and frustrations. I am just trying to find a way to maintain my sanity.

Do you ever stop and think that this is not where I pictured myself to be at this point in life? Sure I thought maybe I would be married and I am so happy that I am married to the most wonderful person. I just didn't think we would both be trying to finish school still and now living with the inlaws. I didn't think that Adam would be so miserable in his job because for the time being he is just kind of stuck. He is a good man who plugs along everyday to help provide for us and for that I am truley thankful. I thought maybe we would be in a house of our own maybe getting ready to start a family and that things would just fall into place.
Well here we are 24 and 25 and I know that we have years and years ahead of us but we are living with our inlaws trying, unsuccessful to this point, to save for a house, a place of our own. Looking at houses is very stressful. We still need to decide if we are going to build or buy a preexisisting home, figure out where we want to live, then we will need to find an agent if we don't build and that is just one more thing to try and find. Then there is the little tid bit that we don't have money saved up and would like to be in a better situation. Everyone tells us we need to buy now and that we can still get the tax credit but I just don't know if we are ready... will we ever be ready?
Here we are talking about starting a family but we do not want to be living with ALL of Adam's family (yes they are all at home. ugh!) and trying to squeeze our new born into the room we are currently living in. Then comes the same question that seems to come-up with every decision we are trying to make.... are we ready? Will we ever be ready?
Then there is school I was hoping to be done by now but there is a 5 year wait for the nursing program and then I will have to quit my job to finish that degree unless I decide to go to a private school that will cost more but offers night classes. Adam is going back to school and still has at least 4-6 years left so we need to get him finished with that and hopefully out of his job sooner than that.
I just feel a little overwhelmed and stressed lately and I can't seem to shake it. I don't know how much longer we can last at Adam's parents house. It has only been two months and we are already tired of it. It's not that we don't love our family it is just stressful to go from living by just the two of you to a house with 5 more adults.

I know this is a lot of complaining but I warned you :)
I am sure that you are wondering why we didn't move in with my family where I only have one sister left at home? That is a very long story but lets just say my mom didn't really understand.

I am not saying that I am not grateful for the things I do have or for the loving families we have both been blessed with it just seems as of late everything is going against us.

I guess I will just leave it at that for now and continue to go to church, say my prayers and ask for as many blessings from Adam as I can :) and hope that the Lord will help everything work out like it is supposed to.
Thanks for the vent I am starting to feel a little better.

All across the state.....

2009-08-18T14:17:00.009-06:00

For our three year anniversary this last week Adam and I decided to take off a whole week from work together. Let me tell you it was a much needed break. No house full of in laws, no messes or stresses from work, just me and my hubby doing what ever we want. We went from one end of the state to the other....at least it felt like it.

We started out by going up to Park City on Saturday night. We went shopping at the Outlet Stores, walked a little Main Street and then realized it was 9:00 and we were hungry. We stopped at a little place on Main Street, nothing fancy but boy was it good.

Then we went back to our hotel and crashed!

Sunday we got up had our Mrs. Fields cookies, that we bought at the outlet stores, for breakfast. Yummy :) We then headed over to the Olympic Park. It was really fun to watch the ski jumpers practice in the pool. Unfortunately we forgot our camera so you will have to settle for iPhone photos. We got way too much sun and of course didn't wear sunscreen so I had a nice sunburn with a necklace imprint to go with it.
Ski Jumpers

It says take a picture here so my silly hubby did.

After that we went to ride the Alpine Slides. It was a blast except for the fact that Adam crashed and burned and let me tell you those slides are not forgiving he has friction burns on his arm, leg and wrist. Even with his crash he still managed to beat me!

After that we rode the Alpine Coaster, if you have never been on it, it is definitely a must. It is a metal track with cars that you have control on how fast or slow you go. Poor Adam always gets stuck behind someone slow and no it is not me.

We walked Main Street a little more. We had Lunch at the Red Banjo Pizza Parlor.....yum. I had to stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and get a frozen banana and a carmel Apple. This was my vacation after all and I was going to eat what ever I wanted.

Monday we headed back home to re-pack so we could head up to Logan to the Anniversary Inn. We could have gone to one of the places in Salt Lake but we wanted a change of scenery. Besides they have redone all of their rooms and they had My Comfort gel beds.....it was like sleeping on a cloud.

Our room The Taj Mahal

We drove home from Logan on Tuesday Afternoon and Wednesday we just hung around town and got things packed up so we could meet Adam's family in Manti for camping. We left for camping on Thursday morning. Manti was beautiful and you could see the temple from our camp site which was pretty cool. It was nice weather and not too bad spending more time with the in laws. We went on Thursday night into town to have pizza and go see Harry Potter at the drive inn. It was lots of fun.

Saturday we headed home and then it was back to work on Monday.
Sorry for the long-winded post.Yay for you if you actually read the whole thing!
I think I need a vacation from my vacation. :)

Three Years and still going strong!

2009-08-11T23:07:00.009-06:00

Today is our three year anniversary! We were married on August 11, 2006 and were sealed on our one year anniversary August 11, 2007. This has been the best three years of my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. We had our rough times and our good times and I am thankful for all of these experiences because it has made our marriage and relationship the one it is today.

I am so happy that we made the decision to be sealed for time and all eternity a year later. What a great way to celebrate our first year of marriage! I was so thankful to have my older sister and her husband there as the only family from my side that was able to there for us. I know this decision is not one to be taken lightly and is not one that is right for everyone but for us this was a decision we have not regretted yet and I don't think we ever will.

Finally

2009-08-06T14:01:00.002-06:00

So after much turmoil and many complications my blog is up and running with a much better background than I started with. Thank you to everyone who gave me some helpful suggestions. I hope that this blog is not extremely boring but if it is oh well because it is my blog right? :)
Hopefully there will be more exciting posts to come.

My First Post

2009-08-05T17:17:00.000-06:00

Here it is my first blog and my first post. I am sure you were all a frenzy with anticipation so here it is. Please be kind because I am not the most eloquent writer and I certainly do not have an interesting life, at least I don't think I do. So here goes nothing........