LIfe as of Late

I wish I was more consistent about posting. Not that our life is crazy busy and I can't keep up with everything, I just never sit down and take time to post. But playing catch-up is starting to get really old, so here's to hoping I'll be more on top of things from now on. . .

First I will start with one of the most exciting and relieving things that has ever happened to me. I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE. Hallelujah!!!! I had a severe case of senioritis this last school year and was just so ready to be done. The fact that I will never have to go to the testing center again or spend an entire Saturday doing homework in the library has brought me more happiness than I ever would have thought it would. Ok that's an exaggeration. But really. I am SO happy to be done!

My family was able to make the long drive to Rexburg for my graduation. It was so fun to have them in town and I was so happy and grateful that they were able to share this big event in my life with me. Here are a few pictures from the big day!

President Clark 

 

With my friend Emily

I'm famous! This picture was in the local newspaper the day after graduation. 

With my friends Gina and Stephanie

After the ceremony we headed out to a town called Tetonia and spent the night at our friends' cabin (thanks again Mitch and Amber!). We sat and talked around the fire until we went to bed. Then next day we got up and went for a little walk around the woods. Just another day in Idaho. . .

I'm so grateful that my family was able to come spend some time with us, and that I have now finished the chapter of my life that was college. Can't wait to see what the next chapter has in store! 

December Happenings

The end of the year always seems so hectic. We finished our semester and were so excited to go home. Before driving down to Reno, we made a quick stop in Utah. We visited Leah and her girls and got to hang out with Terri and her family. While we were in Utah we also (cue drumroll).... bought a car!!! WE LOVE IT. Here is a picture of our current pride and joy.

It's awesome having a car with a working heater and air conditioning, a cd player, and 4 wheel drive. We were so happy to find this car and loved driving home in it.

We finally made it to Reno and spent the weekend with my family. We didn't do much because we were only there for a couple of days, but we did get to go caroling and go to church at my home ward which was really nice. After the short visit to Reno we continued on to San Jose and met up with Paul and Jenny. We made a few visits to some families with Santa, and then went out to sushi. Ty had been craving it for months!

A couple days later, we had the opportunity to go to Steven Jensen's wedding. It was so nice and the bride and groom were so happy. Here are some picture from the day. Congrats Steven and Susie! 

After the wedding we headed to Coloma. It was pretty low key and we loved it. We felt like the first part of the break was kind of hectic so it was nice to not really have anything planned and just relax! We spent Christmas Eve at the Peterson's 

and had fun playing with the boys

It was so fun to see how excited the kids were about Christmas! The next day we went to church, but since it didn't start until 1:30 we opened our presents first. Christmas morning pictures are the worst...

After church we went to spend the rest of the day with the Middletons. We had fun watching the kids open their presents and play with their new toys. We also played some games and just enjoyed being with family! 

The day after Christmas we drove up to Reno and spent the rest of our break there. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was so fun to spend time with my family. We went out to dessert with my sister, kicked field goals with my brother, and volunteered at the food bank with my family. I had seen some things on pinterest that I wanted to make with my mom so we did that too. And when I say we, I mean she did it and I sat next to her and talked the whole time. This is a cute ear warmer headband that she made. I love it!

She also made me a really nice cowl which is amazing for this Idaho weather. Thanks mom! 

On new years eve my mom made some Paella which was delicious

and then we took family pictures! For your viewing pleasure...

We had a great break and loved spending time with our families.  Now it's time for another semester. Here we go!

p.s. mom, we finally hung up the sign! we love it :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving break was a bit different for us this year. For some reason our school decided not to give us a whole week off this year. That meant we got 5 days off, and if we were to go home we would spend 2 of those days driving, which left us about a day and a half to spend with each family. We talked about and decided that we didn't want to spend 20 hours in the car and only see our families for a couple of days, especially after last year's  traveling adventures. So we stayed in Rexburg.

At first I wasn't too happy about it. I've never not spent a holiday with my family, and it would've been awesome to get out of here for a little. But after a few days the idea of staying here started to sound pretty good. I was excited to be able to just relax, stay at home and be cozy for a few days without doing homework, and that's exactly what we did!

Tuesday night we went to the I-center so Ty could play basketball. We were there for a couple hours and just before we were going to leave, Ty rolled his ankle. It was pretty swollen and it hurt him a lot. We iced it and got some Advil for him, and just hung out at home for the rest of the night.

Since walking around was pretty uncomfortable for Ty, we realized that we would be spending the majority of the break in our apartment. So we rented a bunch of movies, got some books, and piled up the blankets in our living room. We spent the next few days on our couch and it was amazing. Exactly the kind of break we needed!

Thanksgiving day I decided to be brave and try to make a Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't really know what I was doing and called my mom a million times that day to ask her how to make things. I should've paid more attention while I was still at home!

Turns out turkeys are pretty hard to mess up, so ours ended up looking pretty good, and tasting good too! 

I made a couple other things and called it good. We ended up having a nice little feast (and way too many leftovers) !

Later that night we decided that we were going to go Black Friday shopping. We left our house around 11:15 to go to Idaho Falls. The mall wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be and it was awesome. I only got 1 shirt and Ty didn't end up getting anything, but it was fun to get out of the house and it was Ty's first Black Friday experience. Don't worry Ty, there are many more Black Friday experiences to come! 

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, watching sports and cuddling. It was perfect! We also went to the cheap theater and watched this movie: 

It was so good! We loved it and we love our cheap theater! 

To end the weekend, we both gave talks in sacrament meeting. Our first time talking as a married couple. I introduced us and everything before I started my talk. When did we become such grown ups? It was a neat experience and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Kind of. 

All in all it was a good break. We missed our families but had fun being our own little family for the holiday :)

No Punt Intended

Ty played intramural football again this year. His team had some of the same guys on it from last year, but there were a few new guys. Their team was really good this year and it was fun to watch. They went undefeated and won the championship! Ty got another coveted t-shirt and was really excited. Here are a few pictures from the championship game. One of the guys on the team made a highlight video and is making a copy for everyone so hopefully I can post that on here soon!

The boys strategizing during a timeout

After they won the championship 

All the wives (we were quite the cheerleaders) 

The whole gang 

Way to go No Punt Intended! 

It's Been Way Too Long

I don't even know where to start! We had an amazing summer. We loved living at the Riverhouse, it's such a fun place to be in the summer! We spent a lot of time on the River and loved being able to spend time with everyone that came to visit! My family came to Coloma for the day and went rafting. We had a blast! I was so happy they got to come play on the river. here are a few pictures from that trip...

It was an awesome few months, but we were so excited to come back to Rexburg.

This semester has been CRAZY. I'm teaching in the preschool which has been so fun but a ton of work! I've had to write lesson plans and make all sorts of things for my lessons. Ty always makes fun of me because my homework has mostly consisted of cutting, coloring, or using a hot glue gun. It's been really fun but also time consuming and I'm glad it's almost over! I'm also taking 4 other classes which have been kind of crazy as well. It's getting down to the wire for me which means my classes are tough and my motivation is lacking. Just a few more months!

Ty started taking classes for his Communications major this semester. He is loving it. It's awesome to see that he really enjoys what he's studying and is excited to put it to use in a career. He's also taking some classes for his minor, which is Marriage and Family Studies. He took a parenting skills class and is currently in a marriage skills class. I love talking to him about what he learns in those classes.

We're living in the same apartment complex this semester, but we're in a different apartment (on the first floor! Moving in was such a breeze this time!). We've also made some minor changes from our last apartment. We made a little bit of an upgrade from this:

to this:

I love it so much! It is 2398579845 times more comfy than the futon, it's long enough that Ty can lay down on it, and I love the color! I was so excited when Ty said that he liked the red. We are really happy with it.

Ty also got something new when we came back to school. He said goodbye to his long hair and swimsuit that he sported all summer 

and got a haircut, warmer clothes, and glasses!

I think he looks so good in them. He only wears them when he's in class or when he's doing homework, but they've made a huge difference!

That's all for now, I have a few more things to post about and then I'll be caught up!