Merry Christmas!
I just wanted to say a quick hello and merry christmas. It's been a great season so far! We got DUMPED with snow yesterday! Luckily we got to IF before the highway was closed. We had a wonderful time with Nathan's family on Christmas Eve. We had a family talent show and it was quite enjoyable. Nathan opened his guitar hero game so we had a great time playing that all last night (and a lot of today). That game has got some rocking stars! We're off to go sledding later today so we're all excited. There will be pictures later.

A BREAK!

Well, sort of. I still have to go to work, but I don't have to worry about homework or projects. I finally put my Christmas tree up and I just need to send out my Christmas cards. They probably won't get to anyone in time, but at least they'll get there. As I was decorating my house, I realized I didn't have that many decorations, but I love what I do have. Here is what I do have for Christmas. The saddest thing is that I don't have a nativity (hint hint to anyone who wants to give me one).

I KNOW!!!!

I finally know where I'll be student teaching! I'll be teaching at Sugar Junior High which is just 15 minutes away from where I live! I am so excited that I don't have to drive forever each day! I already know one of my cooperating teachers and I know that she'll be great to work with! I just have two more weeks left and I'll be done with my classes. Let's hope I've been prepared enough for my student teaching. I feel much more positive about it now that I know where I'm going. Sugar is a good, small school and the people there are quite nice. HAPPY DAY!

On other exciting news, I met my weight loss goal! I lost over 15 lbs by December first (yes, that means I am 115 again). As my reward (though it may seem to take me back the wrong direction) was a giant Mr Big candy bar. One of the best candy bars ever. My friend Nikki brought it back from Canada after the Thanksgiving break. You guys need to try this candy bar. It has real chocolate. None of this waxy crap we find in the U.S. Oh my it is heaven!

Anyway, my new goal is to be 110 by the end of the year. I'm wondering if the holiday season was a good idea to make this goal. But I'm confident I can do it.

I saw this little quiz on my sister's blog and instead of doing homework I decided to take it. Enjoy

I love wednesdays!

It's the middle of the week and there is that hope for the weekend. It's funny because it's not the weekend, but there is just something about Wednesday that brings joy and happiness. I think I almost like it better than the weekend because I can fantasize of a productive weekend where I magically freeze time and get everything done that I need to. On the weekend, this disillusionment fades into reality and another week of me procrastinating. Wednesdays give me my second wind for the week. I feel like my various tasks are all manageable and I'll be able to pull through. Without even thinking about it, I give myself just a little extra time on Wednesdays. I read blogs and I do a bit of scrapbooking. This is also why I love the pre-made albums from The Shabby Shoppe! I was able to just edit my photos and add them to the pages! I love it! Here are some I just finished.

I am so excited for my friend Brittney who just had a baby girl. She is such a cutie! It's hard to think that she's a mom. But I know she'll be great!

Also, my nieces are too darn cute. Mckenna is such a rebel, but when it comes to being a big sister she's so sweet.

2 and a half weeks...

and I'm still behind in my school work! I'm so excited for the semester to be over. I've always liked school, but this semester I feel really behind. I'm nervous for student teaching next semester and I don't even know where I'm going yet. I check my e-mail about 3 times a day to see if I have my placement yet. I'm convinced that I am one of ten who doesn't know yet. Okay, there is probably more, but everyone I talk to knows where they are going and has talked to their cooperating teacher. Oh well. This is my test of patience. When I find out where I'm going, I will post right a way!

Oh my it's November!!!

And I am not ready for it to be! I feel like I'm behind. On what I'm not quite sure, but I just feel behind. When Nathan went to help someone with their computer (of course I went too), they were already putting up their Christmas decorations! I thought it was so early, but then I realized that I already have my Christmas cards done and I've had them done for a couple of months now (partially because I got a lot of free prints that I wanted to take advantage of).

But I just feel like I needed to enjoy the fall first before I admit that winter is on its way. I love the snow, but I'll admit, out-of-town drivers don't know how to handle it, and it scares me!

However, yesterday was a relaxing day to do what I wanted. I was able to take the time to get my clock done and also make a really simple apron (I spill way too much).

I had so much laundry to do and I was able to get that done. I really love the smell of clean laundry. It makes folding the laundry so much more bearable. And then it was nice to have an evening with Nathan. We went out to Plum Loco (our favorite Mexican restaurant) and then we went and watched Harry Potter with some friends. But really, we were so tired we fell asleep. It was a nice break from the responsibilities of school/work.

SLOW DOWN!

Okay, so life is way too busy. Maybe not. Maybe I just haven't been taking the time to blog. But let me tell you...I am so ready for a break from school and work. I go to school early in the morning, have a 1-2 hr break and then go to work until late at night. In order to see each other Nathan and I have scheduled classes together. One of those classes is a Military Physical Conditioning class. It is tough but I love it! I am getting so buff. And I've lost more than 10 pounds! Yeah me!!!
Well, let's do a quick review of what's been going on. We finally bought a real couch! We couldn't sit on the dang fouton any longer! We went shopping and found the couch immediately! It is beautiful! We got a steal of a deal! Now I'm all about making our little apartament even cuter.
We've been spending all of our time in school and work, but this is my last semester before student teaching so the end is near. We're taking an intro to family history class. It's so interesting. I'm so excited to get the stories of ancestors. Also, it is helping my journaling for scrapbooking.
To add some color to this blog, I have some more pictures from our philly vacation just because I haven't shared them all yet. These are all from Independence Hall. Enjoy.

Longwood Gardens

Well, as promised, I have the first installment of Philly pictures. While there we went to a place called Longwood Gardens. Kenna calls it her "special gardens." These gardens were HUGE! And oh man are they beautiful! They continually change the flowers depending on the season and there is the most amazing greenhouse with all sorts of plants. Also, every few hors they have a water show that you can watch from the balcony of the greenhouse. Kenna was so cute walking around. We came to a couple of tables and she started having a tea party. However, she did start being a PILL! It was hard not to laugh when she was getting in trouble because of some of the things she came up with. She sure is a ball of energy. Nathan and I surely want to go back to these gardens because they are so big we didn't even make it through all of them. So, if you're ever in Philadelphia, go to the Longwood Gardens.

click image to enlarge

I have the cutest nephew!

Well, I have retrieved most of my kits and things. Here is an adorable page of my new (and first) nephew. He has so much hair! He is so cute. He's just so cuddly and I love holding him. Whitney is so cute with him. She loves her baby brother. I'd love to write more, but I have to go pay my debts to the school. Luckily I got money from the government! I will post my Philly photos soon...I promise!

click image to enlarge

I hate computers right now

Sad news everybody: my hard drive crashed and I lost everything! Not just a couple of things here and there. Nope. I lost it all. Hopefully I can recover some of my albums and kits because I have a copy of them somewhere. The sad thing is that I backed up everthing on the same drive. My purspose was simply to make sure I had a copy incase I accidentally saved something after altering it so I would still have the original. So, if you wanted to see anything I've done recently, those I cannot get back. Luckily I do still have my philly pictures because Nathan has a copy of them as well. But I feel very mad at my computer! I don't even want to get on it because it makes me so mad (I'm using Nathan's computer right now and even it is bugging me). So, I now have an excuse if you don't hear from me for a while. I'm trying to fix my computer and gather what I lost. The thing is what I can get back (my kits and blank albums) aren't really that important because I always knew I could get them back. However, the things that really matter (my pictures and layouts I worked so hard on) are gone. So, now that you all feel sorry for me

On a happier note: I'm doing well otherwise. I've lost some weight and I am starting to feel healty again. However I did discover that eating healthy can cost a lot of money! But I know it will be worth it. I have found some great new recipes that I will share with you (I planned to scrapbook them, but that's going to have to wait). I know you'll enjoy them.

Catch up 2

So, since we're so far behind, we didn't have any Fourth of July coverage. It was a wonderful Holiday! We went to the parade early in the morning and it was so much fun to be around the little kids who just thought everything was amazing and all the tootsie rolls were gifts from heaven. After the parade, we went to lunch with Nathan's family to celebrate his Grandma's birthday. We had a wonderful time with family and I always enjoy visiting so it was absolutely wonderful. It was actually a pretty relaxed day. While waiting for the fireworks we just chilled and played games. We had a perfect spot for the fireworks (no pictures :( ). We sat right at the edge of the river. We were looking straight up. We could feel the ashes on our clothes. I don't know what it is about fireworks but they are always so amazing and fun to watch. I love the colors and I must admit I really love the sounds. And most of all, I've always loved the time with family. What a wonderful way to celebrate the independence of our country.

Let's play Catch up...

So, I have been having a fun and busy summer. Because of this I have been ignoring my blog. Well, we all knew this would happen. I will try for the next few days to catch up on everything. I guess we should start from where it was left off. We've had a couple trips to the zoo, so I want to share those pictures. We have quite a good zoo in Idaho Falls and, even though we don't have kids, Nathan and I really like the zoo. And Nathan loves to play with the features of our camera. He's become quite the photographer (unfortunately I never get control of the nice camera so I still use my point and shoot). So here are some of the pictures.

New Blog

So, I love to follow other people's blogs and read what they have to say. So I was so excited to start one on my own. I hope to share with all of you that I know. Come back to see what goes on in my life.