It's almost Christmas!!

Guess it's been a few months since I've updated. Things are going well! Malone has been super busy with school, especially now since this semester is winding down to the final week. He is definately looking forward to having next semester off. We're hoping he finds an internship soon! It's tough having an internship and working almost full time. I'm not sure how it's going to work...but I know it will.

As for me, I'm still just working at Mobley Physical Therapy and at Broulim's in the accounting office. With all hours combined, I work about 50 hrs a week, give or take. It certainly keeps me busy! I honestly don't really have much of a life outside work. Recently I had the opportunity to ride down with my brother Chris to our cousin's farewell. It was such a blast to hang out with all our cousins! They're really more like siblings than cousins. Even if it's been a while since we've gotten together, we can always just pick up where we left off and always have fun!

A few weeks ago, Malone and I got to be with both our families on Thanksgiving! We had dinner at his parents house and spent time with them which is always amazing. The food was sooo delicious and the company, of course, is wonderful. We also got to hang out and look at black friday ads, which is pretty much a tradition on thanksgiving. After dessert, we went to my parents house. My brother was in town with his family, which is always great! We had a good time playing games and just chatting with everyone. That Saturday I got to go to Breaking Dawn part 1 with my mom and sisters-in-law Tiffany and Natalie. We had so much fun! I wish we could all be together more often.

OH- crazy story! The other day we were sitting in the living room and suddenly some guy walked in our door!! He looked around and looked at us and was like, Oops! Wrong house! and walked out... I was like, what the?! Who does that?! Rude. But on the other hand, I guess these townhouses all look alike. I think I need to decorate my door so people don't mistake it for their own door. And I'm now keeping my door locked AT all times.

Anyway, that's all for now! I'll be updating again soon.

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day Weekend, Malone and I caught up with is parents at Island Park and camped out a few days. We got there about dinner time on Friday night. His parents had decided to go to bed early so we did too. Saturday morning we went out and Malone's stepdad Eric taught me how to shoot a Baretta pistol 9mm. I've only shot guns once before, but I didn't do too bad! I was surprised how much kick a little gun like that has and it was really loud too. I got super close to the target, but never did nail it. After that we went to West Yellowstone and had a look around before we headed back and had lunch. Malone's sister Holly and her family joined us for the day, which was super fun! We all hung out and talked for most of the afternoon. Malone and I snuck away for a while and had a four-wheeler ride. I had one and he had one, and he rode behind me most of the time on these dirt trails... after the ride he was completely covered in dirt from my 4wheeler.

That night we had dinner and sat around the campfire. Tivo was with us, and there was one point when I looked over and he had what looked like a grin. Next thing I knew he puked all over!! My neice Hannah was holding him, and luckily it only got on his blanket. He puked a couple more times that night and you could tell he wasn't feeling good. I was a little worried about him, but I think he just had too much junk to eat that day. That night, while Malone and I were in bed, we heard a creature sniffing around our tent!! I'm not sure what it was, but it sounded smallish and made a snorting sound when it sniffed. I think it was probably a skunk or a racoon or something. Creepy though! The next day (Sunday) Tivwas feeling much better. We stayed and played a few rounds of settlers with Malone's parents, had lunch and split. It was a really fun weekend and I had so many Kodak moments! But I forgot my camera... dang! Starting to think I need a new camera cuz I dont like the one I have that much.

Monday (Labor day) I didn't have to work, so I stayed home with Tivo. I took Tivo out that morning, and I noticed he was limping! I couldn't figure out why though. I sat him down and looked at his foot and moved it around, bent his leg, felt around. Nothing. He limped like all day. Malone came home at lunch and he looked at him too, found nothing wrong. Later that day Tivo seemed to be feeling better ( or he had just been faking it all day) because he stopped limping suddenly. Weird.

Funny story: So that same afternoon, I was baking some banana bread. I had about 30 minutes left to bake and Malone and I decided to take Tivo for a short walk to the neighbor's to pick up some stuff. We all got to talking and I completely forgot about my bread in the oven! Right after we walked out the door of our friend's house, I suddenly remembered the bread in the oven! I had no idea how long it had been done, but we jetted home and pulled it out. Luckily it wasn't burned, but it was a little overdone on top. However, the bread turned out just fine for eating! I was relieved! That was pretty lucky, and kind of stupid too. lol

Stitches

Malone didn't want me to post this, but I had to! He cut his finger at work the other day and had to get 10 stitches! Luckily it wasn't too deep, but it looks so gross haha. Kind of a bad picture...

Super Duper Best Ever Fabulous Wonderful Weekend!

I managed to get through an amazing weekend without ONE picture... again. I forgot my camera.

This past weekend Malone and I had the opportunity to go to my family reunion camping with my family in Spencer, Idaho. We took work off Thursday through Saturday to go for the weekend. Thursday, we ran a few errands, picked up my parent's trailor and 4wheeler, and my Dad. We made it up to the campground around 4 or so. We all mostly just hung out that afternoon. At dinner, Malone cooked a bratwurst wrapped in bacon over the fire. It was a big hit, since all the guys had to compete for the best looking treat lol. That night Marshall had created a really fun activity involving us putting on some improv skits. It was hilarious and so much fun! I think I can speak for us all when I say that we were all impressed with how funny Dad was and his imrov skills. Go Dad! We actually caught it all on tape... that should be interesting later. The little kids and Parker were involved too, and they had so much fun.

The next day, Friday, was my Birthday! Chris and Dad put on a grand slam breakfast (yum!) And later Dad, Marshall, and Chris took the kids and went 4wheeling, Malone and AJ biked the trails, and us girls played cards. At one point after lunch, I took a fantastic birthday nap! We played Settlers of Cataan and some other games that afternoon. I forgot to mention that we took Tivo, and my parents took Teddy. They were both pretty good. The kids had fun walking Tivo around on the leash. Tivo was good even off the leash too, which was surprising. He just sat with us and walked with me around the camp. Tivo slept in our sleeping bag, which I actually didn't mind because he kept me warm! That night we had dutch oven potatoes and fried chicken, and dutch oven peach cobbler and cherry chocolate cake. Everyone sung happy birthday and I blew out the quickly melting candles in the peach cobbler lol. That night we played more games/skits. We had brought some starbursts with us to cook over the fire with our hot dog sticks. I was making one for my nephew when I had accidentally cooked it too long over the fire making it super melty and a piece dripped onto my finger. It burned a couple layers of skin right off! I had a hole in my finger! It hurt when it happened, but later it didn't hurt at all like a normal burn would, which is weird. Guess I'll have something to remember that camping trip by! The next morning we had a cold breakfast and packed up camp.

Malone and I left around 11:30. When we got home we cleaned up, unpacked, and gave Tivo a bath. That afternoon we went boating with our ward at blacktail in Ririe. We rode up with our friend Dan and his cousin who brought his really nice boat. Dan taught us how to surf behind the boat. My first attempts were a horrible failure, I couldn't get up. But my second attempt was better and I got up 3 times! I didn't stay up long, but I got up! I'm convinced if I had more time I could have gotten it though. Malone of course got up his first time and stayed up way longer than I did. He got up several times and did a wonderful job. I was proud! Later around 7 or so, the weather closed in and it just downpoured on us for about half an hour. All of us were huddled under a shelter waiting for it to pass. Luckily it did and we were able to pack up the boat and head home. It was an exhausting weekend, but we had a blast!

Today is Malone and my 3rd year anniversary! Not sure what our plans are yet. But I'll write about it tomorrow.

Lame Car, Lagoon, Lava Hot Springs, and Large Dogs

A few weeks ago, Malone got in his little red car to go to work and about a quarter mile from our house it suddenly just died. Unable to get it started again, he made a mad dash home and got the other car to make it to work (good thing it was a Saturday!). We took it in and it turns out the timing belt broke and most likely bent the valves. The repairs are most likely going to cost more than the car is worth, so we've been trying to sell it and just get rid of it. We've been car shopping and haven't had any luck yet. My parents happened to have a car they weren't using so I've been driving it to work until we buy a car. The car is a rusty buick I use to drive before we were married. Malone calls it the Leprosy car, because all the paint is chipping off and rusting underneath. Thanks, poor ugly car, for getting me to work and back everyday.

Recently, Malone and I had a little getaway trip to Utah for a weekend. Our anniversary is this month, and because of our crazy schedules we didn't think we'd be able to really celebrate it. So we celebrated early! Malone and I made arrangements to stay in a hotel in Ogden and go to Lagoon the first weekend in August. We got down there Friday evening and spent some time shopping for some much needed clothes. I got a couple pairs of shoes and some work tops, and Malone got a nice pair of jeans and a few shirts for school. We ate out at Red Lobster, which was delicious! I am finally making friends with crab!
We had a delicious buffet breakfast at our hotel the next morning and headed out to Lagoon first thing! It was a really hot day and it got pretty crowded, but we enjoyed being with just each other with no other worries. We got to cut in line a few times to fill seats on rides, which was nice! My ultimate favorite ride was the roller coaster Wicked. It scared me before I got on, but it was a blast! We rode it several times while we were there though. While everyone else took breaks to get lunch, we jumped back in the short lines and skipped lunch! By 5:00 we were both exhausted and starving, so we decided to just relax the rest of the day and grab some early dinner at Golden Corral. We swam at the hotel and just stayed in the rest of the night. Sunday we grabbed some breakfast and headed home! We had a great time spending quality time with each other, not to mention getting some well needed time off.

This past weekend Malone and I drove down to spend some time with my best friend Deidra and her husband Kacy. We drove out to Lava Hot Springs and swam for a couple hours. I don't think I had ever been there before, so it was a new experience! After swimming, we went to dinner at Golden Corral and ate probably way too much! Then we went back to Deidra's apartment and we hung out for a couple hours just talking. We had a blast hanging out with our friends. I consider Deidra and Kacy family, so it was seriously about time that we made it down there to be with them. We had a blast with them like we always do! I just wish we all lived closer so we could hang out more often.

Sunday Malone and I went to church as usual and after church we were invited over to a neighbor's house for birthday cake (it was his wife's birthday recently and they had leftovers lol). So we went over and hung out for a couple hours. They have two big great danes that are simply adorable! Huge dogs, but so loveable. Our friends invited us to go to this dog park down the street later that night. So after dinner, we got Tivo and walked down to this dog park. I guess the Village apartment complex put together a dog park there, which is so nice! It's all fenced in and even has doggie bags to pick up after your dog with. There were tons of dogs, all sorts of shapes and sizes. The great danes were there, as well as a few labs, and a bunch of smaller dogs Tivo's size. One little dog was a chihuahua and he was just Tivo's size! His name was Teego (sounds like Tivo, no?). We got to socialize with a bunch of new people as well as a few friends that were there.I guess this group gets together twice a week and do a kind of potluck too. It was so fun! And Tivo was so good with all the other dogs. So we will totally go again, maybe go tomorrow night and maybe even Sunday too. Thanks friends for inviting us!

4th of July Weekend!

Well, 4th of July has come and gone already. Bummer that it's all over, since it's the one holiday I always look forward to every year... but Malone and I had a good time!! Since Malone had to work Saturday, we waited until after he got off that evening to join his parents and sister's family in Island Park. They were camped out near the river, which was great except there were alot of mosquitos! Pretty thick too, but we didn't let that stop us from having fun! We had a delicious dinner, spent time together chatting, and Malone and I attempted to teach everyone how to play Mow with face cards. We're use to playing with Rook cards, so it was a little hard to adjust! But we all had fun and laughed alot. That night a few of us caught the Island Park Fireworks from our campsite. It was so peaceful, and the best part was the sound of the fireworks echoing against the mountains. We had the show all to ourselves since no one else was around. I think Malone really enjoyed that part! Parker and Malone throwing hatchets and knives

Tivo

A few of my neices and my sister-in-law's neice and nephew

(left to right) Ethan, Macey, Emily, Hannah, and Katie

My father-in-law Eric cookin us up some breakfast! The mosquitos attacked him the most... poor guy.



My neice Sarah, she's so cute!






Hannah

Macey and Katie

It was Tivo's first time ever camping. The mosquitos

bothered him ALOT. He kept barking at them, as if it'd scare them away. It didn't. He must have been really tuckered out because after we got home Sunday afternoon, he slept for hours and hours.

Despite our best efforts and spraying with bug spray, Malone and I were just covered in bug bites. It was pretty miserable for few days. Monday was the 4th, and of course Malone had to work that morning as usual, so I got together with my family and went to the Rexburg Parade. We had a great time! Marshall and Tiffany and the boys came up from SLC to spend time with family here in town, so it was great having them with us at the parade. Chan and Rowan were so fun to watch.

(Left to Right) Chandler, Mom, Parker, Ashley, Tiffany, Marshall and Rowan

Chandler squeezed in to sit next to his buddy Parker

Rowan taking pictures with his Mom's amazing camera

I didn't manage to take any pictures the rest of the day, but after the parade, we all got up to go home and suddenly Rowan puked all over the ground. Poor kid! Luckily we were right next to a building with a bathroom so Tiff could clean him up and I happened to have a plastic sack in my bag to put his yucky shirt it. Couldn't have been better timing really. He was fine later that day it seemed though. Later that afternoon after Malone got off work, we joined my family at my parents house and had a BBQ. We played games and just hung out talking and watching the dogs chase each other around. That night we caught the Menan fireworks, which were pretty decent! I like IF better, but that's okay. Next year maybe.

This week so far...

Well things are going well for Malone and I. Since my last post, I have been keeping a pretty good schedule of doing some exercise daily. I keep it simple and try not to overdo it ( which is what I have done in the past and has really discouraged me). Monday this week I did a run/walk for about a mile or so with Tivo, and afterwards I still had some energy so I did some crunches, leg lifts, squats, and lunges. I think I may have overdone it a little because I was so sore the next day! I could hardly squat down to sit on the toilet ( yes i had to add that). lol So I decided to take it easy Tuesday and not exercise. Today (wednesday) I am still really sore, and I know I probably won't feel up to running today so I jumped on the stationary bike at work for about a half hour during lunch and lifted some weights. It actually made my soreness not so bad, so that's a plus.

Malone has been working out too! He's been lifting weights at home, push ups, and all sorts of other strength exercises. He gets out and runs a bit too. We haven't been running together as much, I think I tend to overdo it with him around because I don't like looking like a panzie in front of him lol. Anyway, I am just happy to say that so far we are keeping up with the goal! I just had to share!

As for everything else, I honestly can't complain! I cleaned out my closet the other day. I put away my winter clothes and clothes I can't fit in to make room... I was a little shocked at how empty my closet was. It's sad really. But I told myself, if I'm good with this whole work out thing then I can buy cute fun summer clothes next year!

Work has gotten a little better. Working at Broulims doing the account payables has been a challenge, but I have come a long way in only a few weeks, considering I only work 2 days a week there. I am able to do the account payables for two stores and both their daily/weekly reports pretty much by myself in one day. Before I could only do about one and a half stores' payables in a day with ALOT of help. I do some bank reconciliations for my dad on Thursdays, which I have yet to master, but it's coming along. For the record, I have never done any accounting in my life, so considering that fact, I think I'm doing alright. Doing posters for Broulims a few hours a week has kept me busy! Everyday there's always new requests for posters. Yesterday I had about 10 new requests, and I did manage to finish most of them. I have a big order coming up requiring about 70 posters! Yikes! But I am enjoying the work. I enjoy being creative and working alone, which is what I do pretty much. Mobley's PT has been alright too. We're rearranging employees since one is leaving on a mission. We'll miss him! But business has been kind of slow lately, so the days feel long. I think everyone is out enjoying the lovely weather we've been having! I am so jealous!


Malone is managing to get through school and work this semester. He still has about 4 semester left after this one. His grades are okay, A's and B's, which isn't bad for him at all! We're hoping his GPA will be good enough for more scholarships, since we're not sure how the grant thing is going to work out for the rest of his schooling. But I am so proud of him. He works so hard! On top of school, he's also working about 30 hours a week, which isn't easy. He does most of his homework after class till about 9:30 at night or so. He has been working in a new department at Broulims and is able to be home with me at night, which is so great. I love having him home. He's been such a huge help. He's been so good about helping around the house, even when he's busy. I have such crazy hours during the week, I never know when I'll be home. He's done the laundry, the dishes, and makes dinner almost every night by himself. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He's a huge support and motivator for me. I love him crazy! Sometimes I can't help but think, what does he need me for? He's perfectly amazing all by himself lol.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great week! Love you all!

Goals

Malone and I have been talking about goals lately. I decided that for me, for a while I have been too undisciplined to ever stick to anything to accomplish a real goal. For example, I've had a guitar for 4 or 5 years and I have always wanted to learn to play it. Well I know a few chords, but that's it and I haven't really tried. Another example is exercise. I try a few times or a couple weeks with a new routine,and I end up getting lazy and slowly quit. It's happened millions of times. And lately I've been complaining to Malone about my weight and he's sick of hearing about it, so we decided to DO something about it. He and I both made goals to lose weight and get in better shape. I'm a little nervous about making this commitment because I just hope I don't quit!! But, because I know I dont' like to disappoint, I am posting it on here so everyone knows about it so I won't quit as easy.
I started an account with myfitnesspal.com and am keeping track of calories, exercise, and I have my goal set so I can keep track of where I'm at. I also added a little ticker on the blog here so everyone could see how I'm doing. So far, it's only about 4lbs, but it's a start I guess. Malone and I are trying to run a few days a week to help us get in shape. And I don't know about him, but it's a big struggle for me! I haven't had to run like that in years, so it's kicking my butt. However, I'm taking it slow for now and I'm working up. For now, I am working up to 3 miles or a 5k... maybe I'll enter a race sometime. I don't know yet. So we'll see how it goes. We decided that if I hit my goal, which is a secret right now, then Malone said we could go on a CRUISE! If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is! Wish us luck! Cuz I know I'M gonna need it haha.

Memorial Day Weekend

Malone and I spent some time together for memorial day weekend. He took off Saturday because we had originally planned on going camping. But since the weather wasn't cooperating, we just decided to do a little day-cation. We went to the Idaho Falls Museum to see the bodies exhibit. I've taken anat and phys classes and I've seen cadavers before, but I have never seen them on public display like that before. In a way it was a a little wrong to me that people would put these remains on display for the whole world to see as opposed to a private setting for students... but in any case it was still interesting. I was a little surprised to see young kids there since it was a little graphic. I was particularly interested in seeing the blood vessels in the entire body without any skin. That was interesting, as well as seeing the blood vessels of the heart. I remember when I took anat and phys in high school we dissected a cow heart, and it was probably my favorite dissection ever! I imagine if I had ever become a doctor or surgeon, I would have had a specialty in cardio. Anyhow, it was a neat exhibit and Malone and I enjoyed it.

The rest of the day was spent shopping, and on Monday we spent time with Malone's family. We always have fun over there! We play games and just hang out and talk. Malone and I ended up winning hand and foot which is one game we NEVER win at lol.

I have been working on some posters for Broulims and I wanted to share a little bit of what I've been doing! These first few posters were for St. Anthony. I guess they had a display for lots of different kinds of summer drinks like pop, gatorade, lemonade, whatever. I had to make a few to figure out which colors I liked best. But we ended up with this one.

The next one was for the new take and bake pizza at Broulims from Noble Romans pizza. They wanted me to use an ad that was already made and just edit it. I tried to do it on photoshop, but it didn't work. So I had to get creative. Turned out alright, I guess they liked it!

This 14' banner is for the new Noble Roman franchise in the Rexburg Broulims store. This time they didn't want any Noble Roman anything on it, but wanted it in these certain colors. They actually ended up changing it a little before they printed out the final, but I think it looks alright the way I did it.

So, I guess the poster thing is going well so far! I've been enjoying it and it's a step in the right direction.

Busy Bee!

Well, it's May 21st, and supposedly spring but it's still stinking cold out there. Once in a while we'll get the warm days with sunshine, but they don't last very long. Come one spring you can do it!!! Pull through buds! We have a ward social tonight under the pavilion outside, and I just know I'm gonna freeze my tail off!

So anyway, recently I have gotten a second and third job. A month or so ago, my dad asked me if I wanted to be in charge of making posters for the Broulims stores. It's a part time thing, a couple times a week or so. So I said yes, since I only had one job at the time and it left me with alot of spare time still and it's a step in the right direction as far as the art thing goes. The poster thing has been pretty easy so far. I find myself being pretty perfectionist as usual which makes projects take longer. I'm not a huge fan of the lack of creativity some of these posters require, but it's a step in the right direction I guess. I did get to design a poster promoting this health tour thing for the store and it turned out pretty good I thought. I never really thought of myself as the graphic design type, but it's kind of fun! I don't mind cross-training in the art field in the least bit.

Then a couple weeks ago, my dad came to me again and asked if I wanted to help out in the Broulims corporate office in Rigby. Turned out to be a permanent thing and I am now working there two days a week helping with the books (which is something I have never done before in my life). Having such a busy schedule has been great! I don't sit at home every other day all day anymore. I am out there making moola! On the other hand, working in the office has been a new challenge. I've never done this kind of work before and it's tough learning it all only a couple times a week. I am always asking for help and needing someone to practically babysit me all day. Which isn't a bad thing since I'm starting out, but I am the kind of person who likes to do things on my own and not ask for help. That part is a little humbling. But oh well, it's a good experience and I need the money. Right?

Outside of work I have been trying to focus on improving a few little things like making sure I am doing visiting teaching every month, exercising often, and making time to do some sketches. All these are not going as well as I had hoped, which is pretty normal for me. I tend to be very inconsistent with things I say I'm going to do. Self-discipline is lacking here. But I did do one visit this month with a sister so far, and I did exercise today and have been making an effort to go for long walks with Tivo. The sketches? Non-existent. It's unfortunate really. I haven't been doing it often enough and my "skills" are looking pretty bad!

Malone is still doing the school thing. It's going alright, I guess. He's not getting the test scores he wants so he's a little worried about how his grades are going to turn out. Working and going to school is rough! But I know he'll pull through okay in the end.

Muddy Mothers Day

Happy mothers day to all the Mom's in my life! Mom, you're an amazing lady who has had to put up with alot from me over the years! I appreciate your patience, your love, and your amazing example! Thanks for being the listening ear I need and my shoulder to cry on during hard times.

And Beverly, you're the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for! Thanks for being there for me and for your love.
AND for all my FRIENDS who are moms, Happy Mothers Day to you too!

So, to celebrate mothers day, Malone and I went to dinner at his parents house on Saturday night. It was so fun! Malone's sister Holly and her family was there as well as his aunt Laurie and her family, and his grandma and grandpa Argyle. After a delicious dinner we played games and just had a blast. I haven't laughed like that in a while! On Sunday Malone and I went to my parents where my dad grilled up some steaks and made a fantastic dinner. My brother Chris and his family came and Ashley and her new hubby came too. Malone and I brought our dog Tivo with us. I let Tivo out into the yard to run around and a couple minutes later, I realized that the gate was left open and Tivo was running around in the field!! I ran out there to try to get him to come and he just wouldn't. Malone and I chased him around our field, and he ran into the neighbor's front and backyard chasing cats and just being so naughty! It was raining so EVERYTHING was muddy. By the time I was able to snatch him up, we were both covered in mud. I was so mad!! He got a bath as a punishment and had time out for a while. lol Happy mother's day to me.

Someday when spring is here...

It's been a couple months since I've updated, but really there's not a whole lot to update on! Things are about the same except Malone is back in school. He started the semester about a week ago. So far he seems excited about his classes. He's taking 13.5 credits and is taking an Architecture class, Framing, Accounting, Economics, and a Construction Management Seminar class. There are a few buddies in his at least three of his classes so it's been nice for him to have a friend to do homework with. He's been very good about planning his time so he can get homework done and spend time with me. He works so hard on his homework, even when it's difficult to understand and sometimes gets frustrated. But he works through it anyway. I am so proud of him! He has also changed departments at work so he is now in the meat department. He gets to help package meat and such and stocks the shelves. It's new and different and I think Malone likes to learn new things. So the change has been good for him. He's on a different work schedule now so he is usually home in the evenings with me. It's been nice having him home at night. Since we've been married he has worked till 11:30 at night most nights, so having him home has been great. Now we just need to find time to get out of the house and do something fun together. He's such a good husband and works so very hard to make sure I'm happy.

Altivo has been himself lately... chewing on things. It's what dogs do right? Lately it's been his own toys he's destroying, but as long as it's his own, I don't care. Our neighbors have just gotten an new great dane puppy that Tivo just LOVEs. He's already bigger than Tivo, but they seem to get along well. Tivo loves other dogs to bits but never gets to associate with them often. Malone wants to get another dog to keep Tivo company... but I just can't imagine having TWO dogs in this house. I don't know how other people do it.

As for me, I've been sticking to a pretty boring routine for the last few months. I just work and sit at home. It gets really boring being at home sometimes, and I need to find new hobbies. Lately it's been cooking, baking, and making strawberry jam. Today my mom and I went out and bought three flats of strawberries, cut them up, and made pulp out of two flats and just cut up the rest for eating (which makes me want crepes with fresh strawberries or maybe angel food cake, or even smoothies!! YUM). Yesterday I made some delicious banana bread (which is almost gone already) and some home made stew! I am definately a better baker than a cook. But that's okay, it's a start right? I have also been trying to keep a steady routine of exercising (some days are much better than others) and am trying to work up the courage to start....running. again. Usually running goes in spurts for me, but when the weather decides to warm up I'm going to try, again.

Shiny and NEW

Well, it's official! We have just bought a washer and dryer!! That may not sound too exciting, but for the past 6 months we've been going down to my parents once a week to use theirs. Not that I didn't enjoy spending time there, but it's going to be nice to finally have a set of our own! They will be delivered on Monday. It's a Maytag Bravo set, and from the reviews it seemed like a good set. We're excited!

Malone recently just changed his major back to Construction Management. He wants to get an associates in Architecture and finish up with a bachelors in Construction Management. Eventually he wants to get a masters in architecture, possibly at a Utah school ( I can't remember which). I'm happy for him! I think he'll do well with this and I know it's something he enjoys doing. I just pray that after all this schooling maybe the economy will be better so that he can find a job. We'll just wait and see! He's been off track this semester, but will be registering for classes next month for the spring semester.

Work for us both has been going alright. We're both happy to have jobs and have what we need. Malone is still working at Broulims, in which he is the Assistent Dairy Manager. He's hoping to eventually transfer over to the meat department. I think he'd have better hours and pay there... I think. This coming week he has been assigned extra hours working in that department, so we're hoping that this is a chance for Malone to maybe sneak into that department for good.

Work for me has been going well. I have been at Mobley Physical Therapy for nearly 4 years now. Right now I am the only one that has been there the longest, so the employees look to me to "lead" so to speak. There's alot to learn at my job, and it takes a long time to understand it all. But the kids I work with are doing alot better than I expected. I had hoped to get a position requiring more responsibility doing paperwork, but a girl who has only been there a couple months got the job over me. I'm not sure why, but it was hard to swallow since I felt like I deserved that position and had asked ahead of time if I could have it. Oh well... I'm hoping to find a job here in Rexburg so that I won't have to waste as much gas traveling to work as well as get more hours since I only work about 30 hrs a week. I've been really picky about jobs, so it's taking a long time. However, I have been working on some things for my portfolio so that should be interesting. And recently, since my little sister Ashley has gotten engaged, I was asked to design her wedding invitations! I'm a little nervous since I've never done it before. But so far the few designs I've come up with have been alot better than I expected! And I think Ashley has enjoyed them too. We'll see what she ends up with in the end.

Malone and I just got callings in church! I guess our ward finally realized we exist! We have been called as ward missionaries. I'm not sure what all we are required to do, but it should be good for us both. We'll be welcoming new members to the ward and such... that's all I know. I also went visiting teaching for the first time in this ward today. I just got assigned a few weeks ago to a couple of girls. They seem really nice, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

And of course, I have to tell you that Tivo is doing well! He's just as cute as always. I love him to death when he isn't driving me nuts lol. He's been on this chewing fetish lately. I think it's because he has so much energy that he's not getting enough exercise penned up in the house all day. During the summer we take like two walks every day. But it's been so cold out, it's a bare minimum amount of time outside... and that's just potty. He has chewed up the bed we got him months ago to the point that we finally decided to buy him a new one. This time we bought him a big pillow and just put it in his bed. So far he seems to love it! he hasn't chewed it at all yet and will sometimes just go in his cage and lay down with out us asking him to. I hope it stays this way!

Oh, I have to report that we bought two new fish to accompany our one fish we got for christmas from a friend. The first fish, I don't remember if I've mentioned before, is a goldfish named Peach. The two new fish are Bunny and Salty. Unfortunately, Salty died on Sunday about two weeks after getting him. He got stuck in the filter.... like a "Finding Nemo" gone wrong right? But Bunny and Peach seem to be doing well. I've never had fish before in my life, so it's new and interesting.

One last thing, I DYED MY HAIR! It's a dark brown now... in fact it's a little too dark in my opinion. I might still be in shock of it, but everyone i've talked to seems to really like it! Including Malone, who has been giving me alot more attention since I've done it. I guess he likes it ALOT lol. I'll have to post a pic later, since I don't have any yet. Malone dyed his hair with the left overs from dying my hair. It looks really good on him! Anyway, hopefully I'll write again soon! Love you all!

Holidays, Birthdays, New Years, Oh My!

Somehow we managed to walk away from all the holidays without one picture. I can't believe it! But, we had a good time spending it with our families. We basically just bounced back and forth from family to family. Christmas Eve we went to Malone's parents and had pizza and played games. That night we spent over at my parents and had Christmas morning there. It was so fun! I got Malone a long sleeved shirt, jeans, gift card for a video game, socks, a giant home made fleece blanket, and a few other things. He got me two pairs of boots, slippers, a sweater, pj pants, and earings. Mom and Dad got us a cool first aid kit, me a mixer, and Malone some tools. Us siblings had drawn names and Chris and Natalie gave us a camp stove. After Christmas morning stuff, we went over to Malone's parents around 10 am. We had cinnamon rolls, and opened presents. This year Malone and I gave all our parents gift cards to their favorite restaurants. Malone's parents gave us a Settlers of Cataan game!!! We were so excited! Malone got a dress shirt, and a comforter . And I got a purse, a skirt, and a sweater. Malone's sister gave us a Settlers of Cataan game too (which is so funny that we got 2). So we ended up exchanging it for another game. After spending some time with Malone's family, we went to see his Dad in Idaho Falls. We had ourselves a little "tea party" and had some snacks and drinks. He gave us some food for our food storage, which was really neat! After spending time at his dad's house, we went back to Malone's parents and has us some delicious prime rib!! MMMmm! Then we went to my parents and had dinner there too. We hung out and played video games and played games the rest of the day. We had a blast but by 8pm Malone and I were completely exhausted. We went home and I fell right to sleep lol.

Malone's birthday was the 28th. He turned 24!! YAY! In my family, birthdays are a big deal and we always try to do something special for it. So for Malone, I planned him a birthday party at Fat Cats in Rexburg. I invited his sister Holly and her family and Malone's parents. We all went bowling and had us a great time!! I made Malone some delectable cupcakes and everyone gave him a present. I got him a couple video games and a snow hat, his parents got him a snow hat and two pairs of jeans, and Holly gave him a box of chocolates. Later on my Mom gave him a dutch oven for Malone's birthday. He's been wanting one for a while! Camping should be good this year.

New Years Eve Malone was invited to go snowboarding with a friend. So he was gone most of the day while I had to go in and work for a few hours and caught up on some cleaning and laundry. That night we spent just the two of us relaxing at home. I am pretty sure after our long day we didn't even make it to midnight... we fell asleep. How lame is that? lol

Anywho- now that the holidays are over it's nice to get back to a regular schedule. I started working more hours at work. School started for winter semester and I didn't have to go! It's the coolest feeling knowing I'm all done! Malone is also off track so we've been able to spend alot of time together. More time than we've probably had since we've been married. It's made us both really happy! Malone is still trying to change his major to Construction Management. Hopefully it works out! It'll make him pretty happy if it does. Lately I've been a baking fool! I've made cookies, bread, and banana bread this past week. Everything turned out good! Guess we'll see what I come up with next week.