thinking of winter

I opened the heating bill last month expecting things to go up a bit, it is winter and all. But not in my wildest dreams did I think that it would QUADRUPLE! I panicked for just a moment and then called the gas company who confirmed that yes this was our bill. I immediately walked over to the thermometer, and moved it from the comfortable 70 degrees down to a miserable 59. We now live in sweats whenever we are home. My favorite Christmas gift from last year is still saving me from cold feet-- GAP slipper boots :) LOVE!

Every Wednesday and Friday we go to Troy's games, last week we had a couple of fun tag-a-longs, Noe and Jose (the boogeyman). We know them from our summer job. Their moms asked us to take them to some Mountain Crest games. They are hilarious.

They really wanted to meet the players, but they REALLY REALLY wanted to meet the cheerleaders. The boys went to the bathroom at half time and came back with wet hair spiked up--- they told me they just wanted to look good for the girls. We took them to McDonald's before the game and of course Jose left his sweater there. Brent, being such an awesome future father, ran back to get it without any complaints. We had a great time hanging out with them :)

new semester

After 3 glorious weeks of vacation spent with family, friends and watching lots of great movies, it is painful to return to classes. Because we both work for the school district Brent and I had two full weeks of vacation together, during which we spent all day every day together, and we loved it.

Flash forward through Christmas, New Years, and a whole lot of lounging --- and here we are at the start of a new semester. Naturally because I am stuck with night classes Brent is stuck with morning ones. We both end up working afternoons which leaves very little time together :(

One of our Christmas gifts was a subscription to Netflix. It's been amazing! We've rediscovered all of our favorite childhood cartoons and enjoyed being able to watch them at night before bed. (while I am writing this Brent and I are watching Hoarders while Brent is giving me a foot massage -- he's the best!).

Even though we don't have much time together we are still enjoying watching movies and playing mahjong in the time we have together. It'll be a rough semester but we're planning on enjoying as much time together as we can. :)

2010 in review-- picturefest

So it took me 7 months, but I finally uploaded all the pictures off of my camera. I thought I would share the wealth while giving a final wrap up on 2010.

(Above)Here's Kelsha at our old apartment and (Below) me making dinner. Kelsha was a regular at our apartment. She came over at least once a week for dinner and long chats. We miss her a lot, but are happy that she is serving the Lord in Argentina.

After moving into our new place we spent a lot of time fixing it up. (Below) Is a picture of Brent and I after we finished painting our bedroom.
Brent has been very diligent about having date nights. (Below) is a picture of us walking around campus to see the street painting during homecoming week. Last year Brent helped me paint the street and ruined a beloved sweater in the process, so it was a fun reminder. Even though it was October it was still pretty cold, thus the red nose and cheeks.

One of the best parts about 2010 was having both of my sisters (Maren and Sammi) relocate to Logan. It has been awesome to have them nearby!

Here we are chilling in the snow. Out to dinner for a friend's birthday.

Our favorite Sunday night activity, of course since we started our sugar free diet the hot cocoa has been traded with sugar free hazelnut steamers.

Brent's brother Troy plays for his high school football and basketball teams, since we are nearby we get to go to most of his games. Here we are at a football game, I am trying to get a cute picture and Brent is clearly focused on the game :)

More Halloween--- Us as a 1950's couple.

I have the greatest job. I get to play with kids and get paid for it. Here is a picture of me on the day we did blind centers. The kids did activities that helped them understand the difficulties of being blind. Let's just say I rocked blind sewing.

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to make things to bring home. Even though we don't have kids yet, our fridge is always covered in elementary art work. Brent is always very appreciative of my artistic talents :)

Brent is a great cook, here he is making some plantains

We had a great Christmas this year. Below are two of the puppets I made for my nephews Corgan and Greyson.

Here is Brent and I after hot tubbing at my parents.

Riley and Ashley had us over for an ugly sweater party. We had a blast, and looked ridiculous in the process.

As luck would have it we won not one, but TWO Justin Bieber calendars in the white elephant gift exchange.

Overall it has been an amazing year. We accomplished a lot in school and work-- and we played, a lot! We are looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us (by the looks of things a lot of Bieber Fever).

This semester has been an adventure for Brent and I. Brent is still working for the Migrant Education Program, which he loves! He is really focusing on classes this semester and is doing very well in his Chemistry, Biology and Spanish classes. Brent has also been doing a lot of things to prepare for medical school. He has joined some clubs on campus and is now volunteering as a translator at the hospital. Needless to say, he is very very busy.

I started my Master's this semester. So far I am loving my education classes! I take most of my classes online, so I can work on them in the mornings. I work as the site director for an elementary after school program. I love the job, I love working with the kids and the hours are great! I have two night classes (Wednesdays and Thursdays), but other than that I enjoy quiet nights at home with Brent.

Life is busy for both of us, but this semester we have enjoyed having dinners together every night. I have been trying new things every day. Tonight we made Cafe Rio food at home! I am waiting for Brent to get back from his lab so we can eat it, it smells delicious :)

I am going to leave you with a picture of Brent and I on Halloween. Brent bought a 12 pack of HIDEOUS mustaches and I promised he could wear one for Halloween. We decided to be a couple from the 1950's. I dressed up like a housewife with apron, pearls and heels. We had a blast at our friends' Brady and Mal's Halloween party.

we're still here

So we are awful at keeping up a blog. We have lots of pictures and stories to post, but no time right now.

Because tonight we are having a...

HARRY POTTER MARATHON

Summer Goals

Every summer I make a list of ridiculous goals which never quite get accomplished. This summer is a different story though. With Brent's help I have accomplished several big goals! I thought I'd share some of our summer victories.

Goal 1 - Secure reliable transportation which allows for trips to Utah County

With a lot of hard work and help from our families we were able to locate the perfect car for us to buy. It's a 2008 Nissan Versa black (Brent's requirement) hatchback (my requirement) It gets great gas mileage and most importantly it's freeway safe!

Goal 2 - Make our new apartment feel like home

Our new apartment has been such a blessing. See previous posts for details on the hectic move. We are so glad to be in an apartment that is drug-free, relatively inexpensive and more spacious. With great landlords on top of everything else Brent and I feel like we are going to stay in this apartment for our remaining 3 years in Logan.

Since we are staying I really wanted to make this place feel like home. Brent has been great about us spending a little money to paint and decorate and has helped with all of my projects. The projects are almost done and the place is looking good. I'll post pictures of our home makeover soon!

Goal 3 - Healthy Living

One of our goals for this summer was to get fit, which meant more working out and eating much better. Our summer camp job was a good start to getting back into shape. I wore a pedometer to work a few times and found I was walking between 6 and 9 miles a day just at work!

Since summer camp has ended we are back to our regular fitness routines. Brent prefers basketball, pushups and skipping rope while I tend to go for low-impact workouts like yoga and ballet. (I have hip problems and so running and biking are no-go's for me).

Our biggest change for getting fit was how we ate. The rush of school and work left us eating a lot of junk food and fast food. This summer we are back on track with lots of whole grains, leaner meats and TONS of veggies and fruits. While Brent was hesitant at first with some of the food, he's grown to like it a lot more. He even told me that last's nights meal was the best I'd ever made. We had turkey burgers, corn on the cob, potato wedges and cantaloupe. And low-cal sorbet for dessert!

We are both feeling great and Brent has lost almost 20 pounds this month!

Goal 4 - Get grad school finances and health insurance figured out

This last goal was tough, but Brent and I feel incredibly blessed with our jobs, raises and government money that is helping us. Brent has been receiving pell grants for school and this semester was awarded an additional $2000 for a SMART grant. I've taken out some loans for grad school and if I work in Title 1 schools the government will repay those loans!

Health insurance was quite the beast. After several calls, e-mails, faxes and internet forms Brent and I were told that Brent is uninsurable because of his health problems. Brent only has one kidney, he has sleep apnea and last fall he had a couple of bulging discs in his back. The insurance companies told me that his health problems were unfitting for a 23 year old and so he would not be insured. We were both really worried, but Brent's mom called me last week with the best news in the world. Brent can go back on his parent's insurance until he is 26! It is such a miracle for us. I know a lot of people are anti-"Obama-care" but we are so grateful that it passed and allows us to get insurance.

All in all I declare this summer to be a success! We're enjoying our last few weeks of summer by fishing every minute we can and staying up late watching movies together. I love life :)

Summer Days

This summer has been AMAZING. When we first got married between jobs, school and basketball season Brent and I only saw each other for about 2 hours a day. This summer Brent and I got to work together at an elementary school. That meant spending pretty much all day together. It was a blast. We fell in love last summer working this job together and this summer we enjoyed returning to fun days filled with 4-square, snack time and coloring.



We finished our last day on July 22 (the program was originally scheduled to run through the 23rd- my birthday- but I wanted to be camping with my family so we cut the program a day early). Above is a picture of the staff on the last day. (can't post pics of the kids for legal reasons)

As soon as we finished our final day - WATER DAY - Brent and I hit the road. We drove to Yellowstone and set up camp with my fam. We enjoyed an incredible week of fishing, hiking, eating delicious dutch oven food, playing with nephews, swimming, storytelling, roasting marshmallows, playing ridiculous games and star gazing.

Marshmallow Kisses

Dinner Time with Larkin -- Last hangouts before they moved to Iowa :(

Enjoying the campfire with cousins

It was a fantastic vacation-- so great in fact that Brent couldn't wait to go back, we're heading up for another fishing trip this Saturday :)