DMU Winter Gala

On Saturday Matt's school hosted a Winter Gala, which is basically like a high school prom (except 100 times nicer). The Gala was held at the Convention Complex in Des Moines and it was amazing! The decorations looked great, the food tasted better—there was even a chocolate fountain, and the live band got us groovin'!

Before the dance some friends came over for a soup and salad dinner.

Left to right: Nathalie and Billy Beeston, Ashley and Logan Rencher, Erin and Matt Pitcher, Nick and Jenni Racker, and Kamala and Travis Sloan.
Left to right: Nick and Jenni, Kamala, Kelly and Jacob Pluid, Gavin and Amanda Ripp, Nathalie, Billy, and Ashley.
I forgot to take our camera to the Gala, so I stole this picture of the dance off my friend, Natali's blog. (Thanks, Natali!)

Walgreen's Savings

This month I got over $30 worth of hygiene products 100% FREE from Walgreens using their mail-in rebates! I got shampoo, a nice razor, contact solution, shower gel, and something else but I can't remember what it was. My friend, Ashley introduced me to it, and it's easy, fast, and gimmick-free. Click here: http://aarp.walgreens.com/store/rebateclub.jsp for more information or just go to your local Walgreens and check out their monthly rebate book. February's rebates end this Saturday, so act fast. :) Also, your mail-in rebates must be postmarked by February 29. Let me know if you have questions.

Valentine's Day

Matt did an amazing job, as always. He got me the Twilight series which I have been wanting for a long time and surprised me with roses.

I got Matt mint gum he's been wanting. He'd previously mentioned that he wants one of his suits dry cleaned for his birthday, so I went wild and got two of his suits cleaned for Valentine's Day. (Lame, I know.) There's a couple things Matt hasn't discovered yet, but he'll find what else he got when he starts searching.

We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then ventured on a romantic moonlit drive. :) I totally lucked out and got the best husband ever!

Habitat for Humanity

I help on the public affairs committee for the Des Moines Stake and one of our responsibilities is to coordinate service opportunities in the area. So last Saturday a small group in the stake volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. My friend, Amanda, and I went--and I loved it! We primarily worked cutting and nailing the baseboards in a home. I'm usually a little scared of big blades and objects that could potentially harm me (due to my clumsy nature). But I've decided that power tools are amazing!

Someday when Matt and I buy a house, I want to get a home with an unfinished basement and do all the finishing myself (with the aid of power tools, of course). :) Before now I thought that I wouldn't really be able to do all the finishing, but I've changed my mind. I'll just volunteer with Habitat for Humanity a couple Saturdays a month so I can learn the entire building process. Who knows, maybe I'll build our entire first home! (Just kidding, Matt. I wouldn't go quite that far.)

Anyway, as Amanda and I were leaving the building site a guy (not in our stake) came over to us, gave us his number, and offered to show us around Des Moines sometime since we were "new in the area." It was an awkward (but funny) moment for Amanda and me, since we're both married. But at least we know we're not totally ugly and decrepid wives. :)

P.S. Just to be clear, we had done nothing to provoke him hitting on us--we'd barely even talked to him. And throughout the day we'd mentioned our husbands often, but I guess he hadn't heard.

Fainting Episode (Feb. 5)

My work hosted a blood drive, and I signed up to let them suck my blood. I’ve donated blood lots of times before and never had the slightest problem.

Everything was going along as usual until I got over to the food table after giving blood. I was chomping on a Ritz when I began feeling hot and dizzy. The next thing I remember is lying on the ground with my feet hoisted up and all the workers trying to wake me. I blacked out again as they got me into this chair thing and wheeled me over to lie down on a bed. As they tried to sit me up on the chair I completely fainted—again. Much later, after I had lain down for quite some time, I finally returned to the food table (The food was half the incentive to give the blood in the first place!), and then I got back to work.

I’m still not sure why I fainted. Maybe I got up too quickly or maybe weighing slightly less than the required weight caught up to me. Or maybe I didn’t eat enough beforehand. Mmm, I’ll have to make sure and stop by the food table BEFORE and AFTER, next time! (Yes! More free food!?

President Hinckley (Jan. 27)

Our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, passed away Sunday, January 27. This tribute Robyn posted on her blog conveys our love and admiration for this great man.

Ethan Cole LaBau (Jan. 26)

My sister, Amber had her baby: Ethan Cole LaBau. Congratulations Amber and Alec.

We Moved (Jan. 24-25)

We're in the same apartment complex, but a different apartment (#14) was cheaper. So we opted to make the move! I'm stoked. This'll be the longest time (1-1.5 years) we've lived in the same place. Our previous record: three weeks, three months, three-and-a-half months, four months, seven months, six months.

I planned on doing all the cleaning and moving (except the big furniture that needed two people) by myself since Matt had lots of tests that week. I did get all the boxes and some small furniture moved on Thursday, but Matt totally surprised me when I came home from work on Friday and he’d gotten the big furniture ready to move and had recruited Nate and Caleb to help move everything else. Not only that, but he stayed home and cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed the entire old apartment while I partied with friends at a going away party. His thoughtfulness doesn’t even end there. He started unpacking and took care to handle the stuff I dreaded.

Thanks Matt—and everyone who helped or offered to help us move!

Here are some pictures of our apartments.

The only big difference between our new and old apartments are the kitchen cupboards. Above is our new apartment's ghetto kitchen. Below is our previous "renovated" kitchen.

Christmas Recap

I know this is ancient, but I've got these cute pictures I want to post. Matt and I went to Utah and visited both our families. Check out our cute nieces and nephews. They definitely got their good looks from us. :)
Savannah and RhysMy hott husband with KaelMe and KaelBrayden, Maddy, Addy, and Ben