Pre-Wedding Festivities

Right after school let out we headed down to Utah to spend time with family before the wedding. We went to the Red Butte Gardens at Univ. of Utah and also the aquarium. We got to pet sting rays which was awesome, and see the penguins.

It was great to spend time together before their big day.

We helped set up for the reception which was very fancy. I never saw a gym look so nice. William needed some help tying the bows. Who am I kidding? Mine didn't look much better.

They made all the food which consisted of a variety of kabobs, a chocolate fountain, and a candy table with personalized candy bags to fill up. Everything was ready for the BIG DAY.

Ocho de Mayo

Will and Heather came up to celebrate Cinco de Mayo this past weekend. We made cheese enchiladas, Spanish rice, and salsa for dinner (yum!).

Will and Heather found a pinata at a yard sale and brought that up. We busted that open and ate way too much chocolate. They stuffed it with the good stuff!

Check out that powerhouse swingWe finished the evening with the hot tub, homemade shakes, and then watched Nacho Libre. I think William was the only one to stay awake for the entire thing cuz it was late.

I love that we've been able to see Will and Heather once a month since at least November. Their wedding date is coming up soon! I know they're excited and so are we!

New Furniture

We had wanted a dresser and nightstands from IKEA for about 4 months. Situations finally worked out where we could 1.) afford it and 2.) get it to Idaho on our own. I put together the nightstands one night, and Rob and I put the dresser together on Saturday. It took us 3 hours but the results turned out great! The outside is a black/brown wood stain and the inside of the drawers is a cute yellow and white stripe pattern.

Everything laid out and ready

All the hardware

Starting to take shape

Doing the drawersMy nightstandOur new, massive dresser

I love having so much room for my clothes now. Rob only has the 2 small drawers on his side filled up. It is so nice having matching furniture in our bedroom! We bought matching lamps, similar paintings, and I'm going to make matching table runners for the dresser and nightstands.

I found out assembling furniture is very relaxing for me. I've always liked somewhat tedious tasks that I can let my mind wander during. Well, it's time for me to go to bed and enjoy my new furniture!

Holidays

I'm embarrassed to do this post, but it's been mostly done and waiting to be published for 3 months! We had a fun holiday season. (Yes, the holidays!) We stayed here for all of them. For Halloween I was Pippi Longstocking. Most of the students knew who I was, but a few called me "Wendy," as in the fast food restaurant.
Rob really got into pumpkin carving this year and did these. It's a fun tradition for us.
For Thanksgiving, all of Rob's family got to be together. The food was so good! It sure beat our dinner last year at Denny's (I ate pancakes), but we were having the time of our lives on the Big Island.
We just relaxed and for the first time, I didn't worry about my job. The day after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas decorations. I was happy to see how many we had b/c I was beginning to think we didn't have any seasonal decorations. Our tree is so tiny, but it fits our apt. The weeks before Christmas we rented a bunch of Christmas movies from Netflix to get us in the spirit.
A few weeks before Christmas, we went to our niece's baby blessing in UT. We had a family pool and pizza party then went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was frigid!
Can Christmastime be any more perfect than when you're at T.S.? I just remember when I was little and always saw the lights on TV but never knew when I'd get to go in real life. Mormon or not, you should go at least once in your life.
The week before Christmas, my bro. Will, his fiance Heather, and my sister Kim came up to stay with us for a few days. We played in the snow, ate too much sugar, and had our traditional Austin Christmas Eve. It was so nice to still have our traditions even though we couldn't be home.

Doesn't my hair look like flames?

It was also fun to learn more about Heather and see how well she'll fit into the family. She sings alto and cries at touching stories, her family sings "Oh, Christmas Tree!" (though in a more embarrassing way than we do.) It's like she's been an Austin her whole life. :)
Christmas Eve day we went to Rob's parents' house and opened some gifts and ate dinner with his whole family. We also finally took new family pictures. I wasn't even in the last one and we've been married how long?

Christmas Day we slept in then opened gifts from each other. It was our first time to have Christmas morning with just the 2 of us. I loved it. We both got awesome gifts. I think we got everything we asked for, and more.
New Year's we spent at the Potts' with family and friends, playing games and eating. Of course I was sad to take down the decorations and realize it was all over. It seems to go so fast.

(side note: when you reminisce about them 4 months later, they don't seem so far off)

Hawaii

Hawaii has been on my mind since we moved 10 months ago. I can't believe it's been that long. It was hard at first, then it seemed to get better, but lately it's been hard again. I just keep remembering our perfect life there. It seems to always be in my thoughts lately.

It didn't help that the TV was all about Hawaii yesterday because of the tsunami warning.

It didn't help that I'm supposed to be making some Hawaiian food for RS and I had to look at delicious food online and couldn't drive and get some.

It didn't help that I spent 2 hrs tonight looking at our Hawaii friends' blogs.

It didn't help that I heard some local island music.

It doesn't help that I want to go naked from the knees down, but it's too cold still.

And it doesn't help that I just can't let Idaho and its people into my heart like they used to be. Hawaii is occupying too much space still.

BYU vs Air Force

In November we went to the BYU vs. Air Force game with family and friends. It was chilly and I couldn't even see the ball, but it was fun to be there! I like the atmosphere of football games, but I don't get into the games much. I understand football, I just can't see what's happening when I'm way up in the stands! I'm too blind.

It's fun seeing the Dalleys so often.Will and Heather took us to a BBQ restaurant afterward, The Smokehouse in Provo, that had delicious pulled pork BBQ. It made me miss TN!

We also got to see the Duffins. Well, 2 of them.

The last time we had seen Jack he was only this big.

We actually went down to UT again last weekend and he's, surprise, even bigger. We didn't get another pic though.

Summer Trips part 9: Tennessee

August was a busy and fun month. I decided since I didn't have a teaching job, I would go visit my parents and sister and help them do some projects around the house. My brother Will got to go with me too. It was fun flying together and we ate a lot of candy from Winco.

We painted Anna's room green and added the sunflower border she wanted.

Will reaching the high parts for me

Anna had to sleep on an air mattress while her room was under construction. Mom's pretending to be asleep.I don't have the completed pictures of the new door and base boards because I had to come back to Idaho for my job. I got hired over the phone.
We ate at Cracker Barrel with Mam-aw and Pap-aw and Uncle Mike and Aunt Elaine. I love Cracker Barrel! I'm glad I got to see Aunt Elaine because she unexpectedly passed away in November from kidney failure. I have good memories of holidays and birthdays with her.
On a brighter note, Tennessee was beautiful as usual. This is our back yard; I miss the green.

Will's Tulip Poplar he planted in 4th grade. I can't believe how large it is. Seems like yesterday it was just a wee baby.I was sad to leave TN 3 days early, but I had my new job waiting for me. This trip was the end of my carefree summer. I'm looking forward to this summer when I can relax again.