Snow + Backyard = Snowman

I believe that it has been years since I have actually built a snowman. But then again, it has been a long time since I have lived somewhere with a lawn capable of building a snowman.

The other day I was watching my friends kids for her and decided it was time to decorate the yard with a good snowman. Imagine my surprise after I got the kids in their snow gear to realize that I had no snow gear for myself. Oh well...it was still a lot of fun.

Kell, Braden and I went into my backyard and started building the first snowman. We got him all built and then needed to find something to decorate his face with. Kell asked if I had coal for the eyes...nope, what about little rocks for the eyes....nope, but I did have cups I could cut to make the eyes. Then she asked if I had a carrot for the nose...nope but I did have a long pretzel. So maybe I didn't have the normal things for a snowman, but I did have other things. We needed to find some type of stick for the arms, however my backyard has no trees. However, in our veggie garden there was a tree/weed thing growing that we never cut down. So I went to the shed and got a shovel and chopped off the branches for the snowman arms.It sure was a lot of fun! Braden started getting cold and so he went inside. Knowing he would do more damage if left alone inside then Kell would do alone in the backyard, I went inside with him. I kept checking on Kell to see what she was up to and I soon saw that she was building a few snowmen of his own. I couldn't believe that she could roll the balls and lift them on her own. Now the back yard is like a snowman forest.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

One thing that I was really excited about this year was finally being able to decorate for Christmas. Christmas time is my favorite time of year. I love driving down the street and seeing all the lights on the houses. More than anything I love the feeling you get when you walk into the house and you see all the decorations. It just makes everything feel some comfy and coozy.
I never really decorated for Christmas when I was going to school. For one I didn't have the money to get the decorations and then we always got time off after finals and I never spent Christmas there. Even though I have been graduated for a few years now, this is the first time that I have had a place to decorate.
Sarah had a tree and so we were able to put that up. Between Sarah and I we were able to fully decorate the tree. There is something special about Christmas trees. When my family first moved to Kansas I had a hard time sleeping during the Christmas season. One night I got under the Christmas tree, turned on the lights and fell asleep. That was where I slept the rest of the Christmas season. My parents couldn't even put presents under the tree because there wasn't room with me under there. Even today, I love plugging in the tree lights and sitting in the dark looking at it.
I figured that we would really only have a tree for decor and that was good enough for me. However, when Sarah got home from Thanksgiving she had a little surprise for us. She brought back stockings for each one of us...not just plain ol' stockings but she took the extra effort to personalize each of them.Slowly we are getting our house set up and decorated but I am 100% in the Christmas spirit. I love this time of year and am thrilled to finally have a place to decorate.

Pumpkins

The other day my roommates and I had a little roommate bonding. It was a lot of fun. Thursday was Sarah's birthday and we all were all going to be gone, so we celebrated the night before with pizza and soda. After eating our little hearts out and watching a little football, we decided that it was time for use to carve some pumpkins.
I'm not a fan of carving pumpkins, mainly because I'm not very creative. But I love cooking the pumpkin seeds afterward. Missy and I had a brilliant idea, we figured we would share our pumpkin...she would carve one side and I would paint the other side. That way during the day you would see my painted face and at night with the candle you could see hers. Candace and Sarah each got a pumpkin and it was fun to sit around and have a fun night together.As you can see the pumpkins turned out so cute.

Football in the Fall

There is nothing greater than football in the Fall. As everyone knows, I love sports! My favorite channel is ESPN. But nothing says fall to me more than football. I love going to football games and bundling up to stay warm. And even if you have to pay $6 for hot chocolate... it is all worth it because it is part of the experience.

On Monday Sept. 28th my dad and I had the following text message coversation:

dad: what are you doing on Friday?
me: I don't know
d: are there any football games?
m: I don't know
d: BYU/USU???
m: oh that is right
d: if I found tickets...would you like to go?
m: depends on where the seats are ;)

At this point my dad decides that he is done texting and gave me a call. Honestly I'm surprised he lasted that long. Anyways, it turned out that our friend Joy, who has season tickets was unable to go to the game due to the Elk hunt stilling her husband. Not only does Joy and Don have season tickets but their tickets are on the 50 yards line front row!I was torn on who to cheer for. I love USU and wanted them to do well...so secretly in my heart I was cheering for them. But we were surrounded by BYU faithful and I didn't want to get ridiculed when USU got slaughtered. Deep down I was hoping that USU would play well and make it a game. And for the first little while they held their own. But then they became the USU of old and folded.
Well, needless to say...my dad and I had a great time. So Joy...thanks for the tickets...it made my Fall!

Not to be out done

Over the 24th of July weekend, my family (on my mom's side) got together for our annual family reunion. My mom's cousin has some property down near Scipio and so every year we bring our trailers and have a great weekend doing the reunion thing.

One of the great things about Lyle's property is that he has a repelling wall right in the middle. Barry and his boys always bring their gear and are more than willing to help everyone and anyone. A few years back my mom's aunt (that would be my grandpa's sister-in-law) decided to go repelling. At the time she was only 85. Well here we are two years later and she said she was up to doing it again! She amazed us all in many ways. One that she was able to climb up the ladder in the first place. I know by experience that you have to really reach to make the next step. She just flew down that wall...and even gave us a little pose at the end :)

Next in line came my little niece Ronnie Jo. Last year Ronnie was to scared to do it, but she really wanted to go this year. I'm so proud of her. She did a great job. Even after she got down she was really excited to jump back up there and do it again.So as to not be out done by my 7 year old niece and my 87 year old great aunt, I had to take my turn of it. Now, my mom must have done some bragging to her cousins and their children, because when I went to put on my harness one of the boys said "after all the crazy things you've done...we better give you the fast release". Now I will admit that I have done some crazy things in my life (bungee jumping, sky diving, white water rafting in the Nile) but I had never done repelling and didn't know the first thing about it. So I was a little nervous about getting the "fast release". But then I thought "if my niece can do it and my great aunt can do it...what could be so hard...ok give me the fast one!" Once I was on the wall though...there wasn't anything to worry about.After the first jump...my nephews and I even had a contest to see who could jump down the wall in the least amounts of jumps. I think we all tied with two jumps.All in all it was a great weekend. It was great to see family again and catch up with people I hadn't seen for a long time.

Attack of the killer tomatoes!

Ok, so this might not be a post about the 90's cartoon show, but our tomato plant is seriously taking over the garden. I have never seen one so huge as the one we've got growing. Now I understand that when planting veggies one should take into consideration the planting advice given on the white little plastic thingy. But really...who ever does? As you can see from the pictures...we should have.As you can see the plant is taking up the whole garden bed

The tomato plant has already over grown one of our strawberry plants and two of our pepper plants. And I do believe that it is just going to get bigger. For the longest time I thought we bought a dud. The plant was growing and growing but there weren't any tomatoes. Then they started to appear. However, they are still green and we are hoping they ripen up before it gets to cold. After consulting the white plastic thingy...I realized that our tomatoes will grow to be 10-16 ounce each. That is almost one pound of tomato! I can't believe it. So if you are even in the mood for huge tomatoes and bushes that grow like crazy....grab a Burpee Big Boy (I guess I should have know from the name they'd be huge!)On that note...our garden is growing quiet well. We are finally getting peppers on the three plants that aren't getting over ran by the tomatoes. I'm really excited for those. We did plant some red pepper plants...how ever those would be the ones the tomatoes decided to squash out.
Our corn is doing really well and I can't wait for it to finish. They are growing so big and I can't wait to cook some up. Candace heard from one of her Physical Therapy buddies that you should plant beans around the corn to help keep the bugs away. I do believe that it is working...but not only does it keep the bugs away...we have beans now. Luckily I'm the only one who likes them :)I do believe we planted the cantaloup and watermelon a little too late in the season. But as Missy was watering on Sunday she did spy this little guy. I doubt he will be big enough to eat before it gets cold....but we can always hope.
We have four or five little cucumbers growing. It seemed like for the longest time nothing in our garden was growing. But then over night all these things started to appear. I love cucumbers and can't wait to start eating them.We also planted carrots (sorry no pictures) and strawberries. The carrots are growing and should be done soon. I know that strawberries are an early spring thing...but we are getting some every now and again. So all in all our little garden is doing so well. If only I could keep the tomatoes under control!

Snorkeling in Hawaii

I don't know what happens at night when I get home from work. The hours at night go by so much faster than during the day. But I am bound and determined to start making this blog a priority and updating more often. About two months ago...I went to Hawaii and had a great time. One of the highlights was going snorkeling.
In 2007 I decided to purchase a new camera. I got my old digital camera while on the mission and I knew it was time to upgrade. So I headed over to Best Buy to do a little searching and see what type of camera was best for me. When it all came down to it, I ended up purchasing an Olympus Stylus Tough. It was a great find. The thing that sold me on the camera was the fact that I could take it underwater. When I went snorkeling in Belize I had to purchase one of those underwater disposable cameras and my pictures turned out awful. I didn't have any that turned out and therefore nothing to remind me of that great trip. So when I heard you could take it in the pool, ocean or rain...I was sold.Since I got the camera I have taken it surfing with me a couple of times and it worked great. But this trip to Hawaii was the first time that I actually used it under the water! Man was I surprised with how well it actually worked!
The snorkeling was great! We were able to go out on the boat and have two different trips. The first trip was to Molokini Crater. I was amazed at the clarity of the water and how much you were able to see.
After Molokini Crater, we were able to go to Turtle Bay and see tons of sea turtles. The water was deeper than at the crater and therefore a little darker and so the pictures didn't turn out quite so well. But it was cool to swim after the turtles and watch them go by.All in all I loved snorkeling in Hawaii and had a great time. I finally got to use my camera and think it was a great purchase. I am so happy with my purchase!

Fun in the sun

A few weeks ago Tiny came up to me and said that her, her friend Mayra and her sister Missy were going to Hawaii and that I should come with. After looking at the price for the flight ($375 round trip) I told myself I couldn't possibly pass up that great of an opportunity. So that day I booked my flight and about two weeks later we were on our way.We flew into Maui and were able to stay at a great condo for the week. We were just across the street from the beach! We basically played on the beach, snorkeled and ate the whole week long. I am sad to say that I did get fried and so that cut down on some of my beach time. Unfortunately most of our pictures were taken during dinner and as we were walking home (hence all the sun set photos).
It was such a fun trip. Tiny and Mayra were a blast to hang out with. They definitely made the trip a blast. So thanks Tiny for the invite and let's do it again soon.

And I'm Back

I'm sorry I have been gone for so long. Moving to a new place really does take it's toll on you. After fighting with comcast for two weeks we finally got the internet up and running. Now I wil be able to take a few nights and catch up on all the things I've missed. Just to get your excitement up for what is to come...there will be pictures from Hawaii and our great snorkling trip :) So stay tuned for more!

Moving

Well the time has come to finally move. I'm so excited about the house we were able to get. I've been wanting to move for a while, but have been biding my time until my friends came down this way. Well Candace and Missy graduate the first part of May and so we have been looking around to find a place to rent. It has been hard to figure out how many bedrooms we want, where we want to live and making sure the price was right. After weeks of searching we were finally able to find the perfect one.
In the past she has rented the house as an upstairs apartment and a downstairs apartment, so the upstairs and downstairs mimic each other. There are two bedrooms upstairs with a bathroom, kitchen and frontroom. Two doors lead to the back yard where there is a nice lawn and an area for a garden. Going downstairs there is another two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and frontroom. There is also a door that goes up to the backyard. I think it is going to be great. Now we are just searching for a fourth roommate so that rent is not out of control.

I've been looking online for some furniture to fill our empty house. It is kinda exciting to have a home to come home to. I'm excited about being "grown up". So anyone who might be in the Bountiful area is welcome to come by and take a look around the place. It might be a little bare for the first little while...but with time it will look just like a home.

YW Basketball

As most of you know, for the past few months I have been helping out with the Young Women's basketball team in our ward. We got together every Wednesday after school to practice and then we had games every Tuesday night. I had a blast as I worked with these young women. I am so proud of them. We only lost two games all season! We got invited to regionals based on our record and even won the first game. Unfortunately the ball didn't fall for us during our second game and we ended up losing. But I am so proud of these girsl. They worked hard and gave it their all. After the season we had a hot tub party at Debby's house with pizza and soda...I mean what can be better than pizza, soda, and a hot tub? The girls had a blast.