Love The Holiday Season

So Brandon and I had a different Thanksgiving than what we're used to but we sure had a great day!!!! We started out the day by sleeping in, we then headed to Idaho Falls for the day. We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving buffet which included delicious mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing (the classic Thanksgiving food) but I must say dessert was my favorite part. I sampled almost every dessert available which included: carrot cake, brownies, pumpkin pie, cookies, yogurt with candy toppings, sticky bread covered in walnuts, oh and scones with cinnamon butter...so yummy! After we stuffed ourselves, we went to the movies to see The Blind Side. It was such a great movie, very inspirational! It really made me think about how blessed I am and how lucky I am to have the the great family that I have. Our last stop of the day was Hollywood video, we rented three xbox games and the movie Four Christmases. Although we were away from family this year and missed them, we really enjoyed being together the 2 of us!

Character Building

I am slowly learning how to better handle life's stresses. I know my life is much much easier than most people's. However, we all have things that challenge us, cause us stress, and are just plain not fun. Now whenever we get an unexpected bill or when things don't exactly go as ideally planned, I try to think of how these experiences are helping me build character. At first, this was kind of a sarcastic thought I had but now it actually helps me when stressful situations come up. Something else I have also tried to do is not stew and worry over the same issue for an extended period of time. The best thing I have found to do is recognize that there needs to be a solution, put the stress aside, and plan a time to talk it over with Brandon to come up with a solution. Sorry to those who are reading this. I know this is not the most interesting post but I don't know anyone who doesn't deal with stress... so why not share the very tiniest bit of what has helped me.
Anywho, this week has been great! I'm still really enjoying school! I'm learning lots of new medical terms. I'm so glad I have this chance to learn a skill that can help me earn more than minimum wage!
Also, Brandon and I continue to go to our favorite activity on Thursday nights (unlimited bowling, pool, movie of the week). My bowling seems to be getting worse and worse : ( but it is still lots of fun! On the other hand, my pool playing seems to be improving! Brandon taught me how to play nine ball... I must say I was hesitant at first but now I really enjoy playing. I even made what some might consider an impossible shot... it was freakin awesome! We played two games of nine ball this past Thursday and I don't mean to brag but I won both games : ) This is a huge accomplishment if you could have seen how terrible I used to be.
Another activity we've enjoyed is sampling all the festive treats in town. So far we've tried the pumpkin pie blizzard from Dairy Queen, pumpkin chocolate chip bread from Great Harvest, and the pumpkin shake from Artic Circle. We still need to try the pumpkin yogurt from Maverik, the Pumpkin pizza from Craigos, and the Pumpkin smoothie from Jamba Juice. If you can't tell, Brandon loves anything pumpkin flavor. I'm starting to become a fan myself.
I can't believe it's Halloween next week. We plan to go see Stepfather on Halloween night (it looks to be a pretty intense movie)! Also, Brandon is dressing up for Halloween... this really surprised me because last year he had no interest at all to dress up... I have since found out why he was interested this year... it turns out the theme for his team at work is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So I guess all it took was the right theme.
Well time has been flying by! Brandon registers for his Winter Semester next month! He is getting into the upper level classes now so he'll be pretty busy come Jan. So until then we'll continue working hard and playing harder!

This Could be the Start of Something New

Well I did it (Connor Burton style)! I'm so excited to be a school girl again! I enrolled in an online accredited medical transcriptioning program. I just barely started but I'm really enjoying it! So far I'm just learning lots of medical terms and their meaning. I did have my worries that new technology could wipe out the need for medical transcriptionists but after doing some research and getting the opinions of many, my fears have been relieved. I hope to finish the program quickly and then work from home. One great thing about the school is that they help you get contracts with doctors after completing the program. I feel very excited and determined. If nothing else, I'll atleast get my foot in the door to do administrative medical work. My dream is to be able to work from home and be a stay at home mom.
In other news, it's a nice sunny weekend. Also, Brandon has a three day weekend so that's exciting! I love my Brandon Lee! He is so supportive and perfect for me (I hope I'm not gagging anyone). But he truly is my bestest friend!
Well I suppose it's time to get some more Saturday errands done. Sending lots of love to my family! I love you all!!!!

So much for keeping up with blogging...

Wow so much time has passed, which is good and bad. Good... of course because it brings us closer to Brandon being done with school!!!!! Bad... because a lot has happened these past few months that I have failed to write down and remember.
So here are some of the highlights of what we've been up to:
-We had a great trip to Boise (even went fishing)
-Over summer we had a great 3 week vacation in Cali which included: the beach, In N Out Burger, Katie's famous sandwiches...yummy, Claim Jumper, swimming, lots of family fun, eating watermelon with Cole :) playing cards, movies, costco trips, lots of laughs!
-Another trip to Cali, only this time it was for a sad reason, Grandma Dorothy passed away. I was grateful to be able to go down and celebrate what a special lady she was! She truly is an example of how I want to be!
Anyway, now summer is over and fall is here. So much to look forward to in Fall. Fall is such a fun time of the year. One great thing about living in Idaho is that you get to see the leaves change color, it gets a little colder outside... perfect for sweatshirts, blankets, and snuggling. I can handle Fall much better than Winter! I'm also looking forward to Halloween, my birthday, The New Moon priemere... woot woot, getting ready for Christmas!!!!
One thing I'm really working on right now is living in the moment. It is so easy to fall into the habit of saying things like " Oh things will be better when Brandon is done with school, or things will be better once we move out of Idaho, or once we have money... etc." I want to make the most of every moment I have with Brandon! I have to remember to enjoy TODAY! I'm a work in progress but I guess we all are. So cheers for a great Tuesday! We're making breakfast burritos for dinner tonight and watching biggest loser... what irony! Should be a fun night together!

Moving on up- Our New car and Apartment!

our beautiful new car

backside of our car (in front of our old house actually, I was over there doing laundry)


awh what a beauty!





Did I mention I love our new car!

New Apartment- The Kitchen

me (just thought I should throw this one in :)

our bathroom

bathroom from a another view

boring side of our room, we don't know what to do with it yet, we're not used to having such a big bedroom.

other side of our bedroom

living room

Well it's been crazy these past few weeks, we've been pretty busy. Moving was a pain but well worth it. We're very happy in our new home. Getting a new car was also a pain but we're very happy and grateful to have a safe, reliable car. We can't really complain, we've been very blessed. We'll miss our humble beginnings in our other apartment, starting out with practically no furniture. We've come a long way. We're both so grateful for what we have.

xoxoxo

Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a wonderful Easter Celebration with our Family! It was so much fun watching the Easter egg hunt, eating the delicious food, and laughing lots!!! What a special memory!

Church was also great, my sister Katie sang so beautifuly- Oh Lord My Redeemer (that's what Easter is really about)!

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THESE PEOPLE

Spring break is just right around the corner. I'm so excited to go home and play with my favorite little people (that includes my mom and my dad even though he isn't so little).

I'm so glad I don't have to leave Brandon behind for this trip. Going home is always 100 times better when Brandon can come too. Only 1 more week, woo hoo!