My Yummy Creation and New Do

I had such a wonderful day! We got a Wii for Christmas so we played tennis for a little while yesterday and then watch Prince of Persia.  Unfortunately we both fell asleep during it, so we'll try to watch it again tonight.  We got to sleep in today and didn't bother to set the alarm clock.  We listened to our internal alarm clock and woke up when we were ready.  I desperately needed to get my hair done, because it was looking like a HOT MESS!  It look her about 4 hours to do it and give me a little trim but I really needed to do it today...

 FINAL OUTCOME

I really like it! :) 

I also made a wonderful dinner....my masterpiece....completely off the top of my head when I got home from the Salon so we could eat dinner together before... here my recipe for 2

Ingredients

2 cups of Buitoni Mixed Cheese Tortellini

1/2 cup of Arrabbiata

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. green bell papper
2 oz. red bell pepper
Onion
1/4 c. fresh grated Parmesan Cheese 
8 oz.  chicken breast
Kickin' chicken seasoning
thyme
fresh basil
fresh parsley
2 cups romaine lettuce
10 cucumber slices
10 baby carrots
1/2 cup broccoli 
4 tbsp.  fat free zesty Italian dressing

Directions
1.  Boil water, add tortellini with 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil cook for 8 minutes.  Be careful that you don't overcook it.
2.  Cut up parsley, basil, green and red peppers, and mix in bowl.  Pound chicken breasts.  Coat chicken with Kickin' chicken seasoning, then thyme.  After mix chicken in bowl with the parsley and other seasonings.
3.  Saute chicken in a pan and add more peppers and onion.
4.  Drain pasta, then add the Arrabbiata and Parmesan cheese, let it sit on a low heat for 5 minutes.
5.  Make tossed salad with lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, and red peppers.  Toss in Italian dressing.
6.  Plate the salad.  Mix the pasta and make sure that it is hot, then serve the chicken over it.  

Nutrition
Makes 2 servings
Calories- 580
Fat- 16. grams
Carbs- 60 grams
Protein- 50 grams  

I'm going to call in Saboroso- from Brittany's Kitchen

Decorating Sugar Cookies

WARNING!!!! This is very messy haha, there is no way to make this not messy, so be prepared for it....you will get dye and frosting all over your hands, they best way to get it off is to mix toothpaste and baking powder and just scrub the heck out of them. 

Recipe for sugar cookies...

Makes 2 dozen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, brandy, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Ideal Sugar Cookies - Martha Stewart Recipes

 

Royal Icing Frosting 

5 cups powdered sugar

2 tbs.  light corn syrup

1/4 cup milk

* when your flooding the cookies, or doing to base color, make it more fluid like by adding more milk till you get the right consistency.

* when doing the details add more powdered sugar to make it thicker, you don't want the details to run

 I'm kind of dumb, and forgot to take pictures after I added the details, but they were delicious and looked cute.  The 2 dozen of sugar cookies were gone by the end of Christmas day!

It's finally over!! :)

Yes the semester is OVER!  We are so happy, are grades came back pretty good I didn't get the grade that I was aiming for with my math class, but I gave it my best.  It was a Crazy semester, and I was getting super stressed out toward the end.

Story with my math grade....

Well my teacher sent out an e-mail a week ago and said the days that we could take our final, then I had to work the whole day so I didn't check my e-mail.  Then the next day I didn't check my e-mail but that was the day my teacher sent out a correction saying that the final actually closed THAT DAY!!

So I wake up the next morning check my e-mail and then I see the e-mail that he sent yesterday, so I missed my FINAL!! I immediately started crying and Ben just runs into the room, and I was pretty much hyperventilating.  I finally calmed down and called my teacher directly on his cell phone that he gave us his number too in case of a math emergency (they are apparently more common then you would think).  See says that I can go and take it right now but I'm going to get 25% off automatically.  So I ran up an took it, did terrible because I was stressed out.  Oh on top of that, when I was dressing to go and take the test I realized that the night before I somehow only put on contact in my case and the other one sitting on the counter.  They were my last stinking pair, and I lost my glasses like a year ago.  Thankfully I had a pair of colored contacts that I could were temporarily until my real ones come in.

Back to the test....So I get back home after taking and and I get an e-mail from him saying that they don't have my scores for the 2nd test I took...HOW?!?!?!?!?! Please someone enlighten me on how you loose the test scores.  So he told me that I could go in an take it again....OH this is the wonderful part (JK) I will be getting  25% off of that one to!!!! ARE YOU FO REAL?!

ANYWAYS, I'm so happy the semester is over....I get a nice break, and I'm excited for next semester.  I'm not going to be a manager at t-bell, because I don't want to work 30 hours a week, so I'm dropping down to 20 a week.  Ben's off track so he'll be working full time so it will be all good.  And I don't think I'll have a problem picking up hours if we need too.  

SO all is well on the home front....

Exercising has been WONDERFUL! I shaved over a minute off my mile! :) Yesterday I did 1.5 miles in 12 minutes...that's pretty good for me!  I did a total of 4 miles between jogging/running, and just 5 miles on the bike.  I feel awesome! 

I'm finally reaping the rewards! I lost 4 lbs. and dropped a pants size, and honestly I just feel fitter which is good.  I didn't gain the freshman 15, but I did gain the engagement 15... and it doesn't help working at t-bell....So I just try to bring food with me, always eat breakfast, and tell myself that I will feel so sick when I'm at the gym later if I eat that...so it's really not worth it to me.  But sometimes I indulge in a little bean burrito! :)  

BABY FEVER...that's all I have to say

Eat Healthy America

Working at T-Bell has really opened my eyes though about taking care of my body.  It's not like a vain thing so people will tell me I look good, but it's more like I want to be really healthy when I get pregnant, and just live a healthy lifestyle because parents are the bets example for their kids! And we want healthy kids!

We were talking the other day in the car about how much money the state and federal government must spend on fighting obesity and promoting a healthy lifestyle ($148 Billion just to treat the ailments in 2008, it's increased since then!), and I was getting so upset because I feel that the biggest reason children are having to be taught how to eat right and exercise by their schools and programs is because parents aren't doing it. I don't mean to offend anyone, but I think it's a parents responsibility to teach their children how to be healthy.  We don't have any kids yet, so it's probably hard for me to understand, but I would feel just terrible if I was setting a bad example for my kids.  To me there isn't a huge difference between smoking in front of your child and eating a big mac on a constant basis in front of them.  I'm all for having treats once in a while, and not depriving yourself and everything in moderation, but for adults to constantly be eating that food and then getting it for their children too, I just think it's not the same plan that I want to have when we start to grow our little family.

Alright.....so now I'm stepping off my soapbox!

On the bite side of things, I've found this awesome website called http://www.eatbetteramerica.com
it's simply wonderful!

Tonight were going to try a Chicken, Rice, and Beans Bake
 

Prep Time:20 min

Start to Finish:1 hr 10 min

makes:6 servings

1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/2 to 3 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks), skinned
2 tablespoons oil
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) Muir Glen® organic diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup tomato juice
1 package (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen whole kernel corn
2/3 cup long grain rice
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

1  Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour, 1 teaspoon of the chili powder, the salt, and pepper. Add half of the chicken pieces. Seal bag; shake to coat. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.

2  In a very large skillet, brown chicken on all sides in hot oil over medium heat about 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside; discard drippings in skillet. Add beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato juice, corn, uncooked rice, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, the cayenne pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Bring to boiling. Transfer rice mixture to a 13x9x2-inch baking dish or 3-quart rectangular casserole. Arrange chicken pieces on top of rice mixture.

3  Bake, covered, for 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170ºF for breasts; 180ºF for thighs and drumsticks) and rice is tender.

Nutritional Information 

1 1/3 cups: Calories 350 (Calories from Fat 70); Total Fat 8g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 65mg; Sodium 600mg; Total Carbohydrate 44g (Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 5g); Protein 28g % Daily Value Vitamin A 15; Vitamin C 30; Calcium 6; Iron 20 Exchanges 2 1/2 Starch, 2 1/2 Lean Meat, 0 Fat Carbohydrate Choices 3

It's the Christmas Season!!

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

It just seems to me like everyone is in a better mood.  We put up our Christmas tree a while ago, but I never blogged about it. 

We love it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What an awesome time of year to be able to show your gratitude to all the wonderful people who bless our lives, and for the opportunities and blessings that our Heavenly Father has given us.  I got the idea to have both me and Ben share what we are grateful for individually

Britt- I'm so grateful for the missionaries that taught my family and that I have been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I'm extremely grateful for the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves, and cares about me and any trials that I face .  I know that Jesus Christ died for me, and that through the Atonement and the sacrifice of my Savior and Heavenly Father I will have an opportunity to return and live with Him again.

Without the gospel in my life, I would be empty and wouldn't know true joy.  I don't think I would be nearly as happy as I am now, and have a wonderful husband.  I'm so thankful for missionaries who are spreading the word of God to all of His children around the world, and I love having missionary opportunities.  I love the temple! I'm so happy to have made covenants with God, and learn His doctrine and strengthen my testimony.

I'm so lucky to be able to get such a great education and to learn!  I actually really enjoy school, and it feels so good to work hard and see the outcome.  I hope that one day everyone will be able to gain a good education and use it to better their lives.  I'm so excited to see where my degree takes me, and to have the opportunity in life to work hard and help make a good life for our family.

I'm so grateful for my job!! Thank you good people of rexburg, who love tacos and burritos.  Without your desire I wouldn't be able to work and pay for school, and just life!  HATS OFF TO YA!

Lastly, I'm so thankful for my husband and my family.  I'm grateful for all of the fun experiences we've shared and the trials that we have faced.  I know that everything really does happen for a reason, and all of our trials have a purpose.  I was completely heartbroken when we miscarried and I felt I would never overcome my grief.  I thought about it everyday, but then one day I didn't.  Then that turned into a few days, then a weeks, then a month.  It get's easier.  I know it has because I feel so much comfort when I pray and ask for help.  This trial has strengthened our marriage, and it has made me so excited to add a little bundle into our family!  I love my family and I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful mom and dad, and sisters that love me, and the cutest niece in the whole world. 

Ben- Thanksgiving has always been a day of gratitude and thanks for the blessings god has given me.  This year a huge thing that has stood out to me is seeing the Lord's hand in our family.  Because we are both in college, and work on a tight budget, I have seen the insight and protection of the Lord over and over.  One very recent example is when our car broke down.  The timing was absolutely perfect, the repair costs were minimal, but we found several key problems with our car that we would not have known if it had not been worked on.  These problems would have caused an accident on the already dangerous roads of Idaho, and I can't reiterate how lucky we are to have those problems found so quickly.

The second thing I am grateful for is Brittany.  She is my everything.  I have never loved somone so fully in my entire life.  Everytime, I see her face, my heart literally swells, and I get so happy.  Usually this gets expressed in a fit of kisses, random songs about her, or something annoying, but I can't help it, she makes me happy.  One of the things I'm grateful for in Brittany is that she is a good manager of our home.  She has beautiful decorating sense, something I could never get.  She is hard working and smart, she's been getting great grades this semester!  When we go to bed, we usually have 5 minutes of tormenting each other with tickles, cover hogging, and teasing--my ideal way to go to bed :-).  She and I have joy in our life together, something that is essential for me. Lastly, when we have kids, I know without a doubt that she will be a perfect mother.  I have already learned from these 7 months in our marriage that she has the motherly instincts to raise them in a home with peace, joy and the spirit. 


I love her because she makes my heart sing, and sometimes its annoying for her to endure my bursts of song, but she's learned to smile and cope with it.  I love her because she makes my life complete, and that is what I'm most thankful for this thanksgiving.

 We had such a great thanksgiving! We weren't able to be with family down in Utah, but we celebrated with my Taco-Bell Family instead! It was so nice just to get together, and there was an insane amount of food.  I brought a couple of dishes, funeral potatoes, an apple pie, and a spinach and strawberry salad....Which is delicious by the way!

Spinach and Strawberry Salad
Bag of spinach
1 quart strawberries, halved
Glazed walnuts
Slivered almonds
Handful of craizins
and some Raspberry Vinaigrette

I'm going to try to make another pie on Sunday, and hopefully it won't get burnt ;)

Carrer Changes and Ker Plunk Goes our Car!

Well,

We have been having a very eventful weekend! I'm a total planner and I can't stand not knowing where we are going to be a year from now for school and work.  Ben is doing his internship next semester (we find out in a couple of weeks where he'll be!), and then he has about 2 semesters left till he graduates!  Oh, and if you haven't heard the big news.  Ben is not applying to a any physicians assistant programs, but is continuing his education in clinical psychology.  We'll be in school forever!!! But it's all good, because this is what he loves and has so much passion for, and is insanely brilliant and it's pretty much just his niche.  So we are looking all over the place.  Except Idaho, I told Ben that he can go anywhere in the world for school and I'd follow him, except Idaho.  I'm over it! Nothing against anyone, I just need a change of scenery :)  I'm trying to convince him to seriously consider schools back in NY, because we will be starting to add to our little family in not to long and I really want to be closer to my family.  I miss them so much! I almost started crying the other day, because I missed my 3 years old niece's birthday party.  Anyone he seems pretty interested in the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, so who knows where on earth we'll end up.  All I know is I'm so excited for our adventures! Ben is going to get his PhD in Clinical Psychology, he wants to teach at a university and do counseling with more severe mental illnesses as well.  It's funny though how we came back to this.  Originally when I first met Ben his was his goal, his desire.  But after we got married he started to get worried that he wouldn't be able to make a lot of money doing it, so he decided to go into the health field as a physicians assistant.  I started doing all this research about schools, programs, requirements, the whole nine yards.  I noticed something though when I talked to Ben about all this on multiple occasions that he didn't seem to have the same excitement like he did with psychology.  Finally a few days ago, I was looking at schools while he was at work.  He called me on his break to say hi, and I just flat out asked him Do you really want to be a physicians assistant?  haha well, he had some surprising news for me, he said that he'd been really thinking about it the last few weeks, and was so confused, so he thought about it some, talked about it with people, and about a week ago he got the strong impression that he should follow his passion in psychology!  He said that he didn't want to tell me until he was 100% positive, because he didn't want to seem like he couldn't make up his mind!   Surprisingly, instead of me freaking out, I was sooooo HAPPY!!! I know that he is going to be a great psychologist, as long as he doesn't practice anything on me haha. 

Another crazy event happened on saturday.  I driving to work I pass the round about and I'm about 2 minutes late,  all of a sudden the car starts to slow down and I can't believe it! I start pumping the gas thinking that i was just running out of gas, and I was 2 blocks away but I didn't have a gas gallon thingy in the trunk to walk to get gas.  I'm able to make it to the gas station, and I was like "thank you!!!", I'm rummaging  through my bag trying to find my wallet, and of course I didn't bring it with me! I start to cry a little, trying to find money somehow in the car! NO LUCK!!!!! 5 mins late for work....I very bravely in my opinion, walked over the the guy pumping his gas next to me, and I used my charm and my watery eyes, and he put $5 of gas in my car!!! YOU ARE A VERY GOOD PERSON GAS GUY!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Well I thought that was the end of my problem, so I drive off and I get like 20 ft.  and it starts to slow down again! CRAP!  I start to cry, get to work and I'm beyond upset...I don't have a very good track record with this car so of course I think that this is my fault.  I'm work for like an hour, then a co-worker comes in and I tell him what happened and I beg him to let me go home and get my wallet to put gas in it, or drop it off with Ben to get it looked at.  So I can barely start the car, and I'm pumping the gas the whole way home trying to get the car to accelerate...By now, I'm pretty sure it's not out of gas because I put like a gallon and a half into it.  Well I'm holding my breath the whole way home, make it into our parking spot and the car just dies, and there is all this black smokey exhaust like stuff coming out of the back of the car.  I walk Ben up freaking out and we call Alan our friend and ask him to pick me up and bring me to work.  HE'S AWESOME!  Turns out we had like a billion things wrong with our car, some belt broke, only the back left brake was working, a couple of weird bolt things were broken, something happened with the spark plugs in something, and we were out of brake fluid. 

You can tell by my description that I know EVERYTHING about cars!! hahaha

Well, Our awesome home teacher's brother is a mechanic and he looked at our car and total cost was like $325, for all the labor (pretty much the whole day) and all the parts! We also lucked out because our car is really old and not common, so when something broke they thought that it would take at least a week for it to get here, which would mean no Thanksgiving in Utah :(

We sure did luck out though, turns out someone ordered this part a year ago and they never came to pick it up! So we bought it and our car is fixed!!!! YEA! The timing was just perfect because it was on a day when Ben didn't work, the mechanic was completely free, and before we headed down to utah.  The mechanic said that if we had driven on the highway something would have snapped when we tried to acclerate that much and we probably would have gotten into a bad accident. 

A terrible day turned into a happy day!

“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.”

Sorry this has taken forever!! I know how anxious you all were JK ;)

Here is a little tour of our home.  We live in Rexburg ID in a complex called Hyde Park, close to the Middle School and Worlds Gym.

We keep on talking about how excited we are to move out of Idaho and move on to another place, but we always talk about how much we are going to miss our little apartment.  You know the saying "home is where you heart it", yea that's true and I totally agree. HOWEVER, I love my home here :) and I'm going to be a mix of happy and sad when we leave in less then a year.  Where are we going your probably wondering??? Yea, when we find out we'll update you!  Right now we are just focusing on school.  Ben is looking at different colleges that have an accredited physicians assistant program, but before he can be accepted he has to have 1,000 hours of working in a patient care/hospital like setting.  So it really depends on when he is able to do that.  BUT we will NOT be in Idaho in a year, I can promise you that! :)

Anyway onto the long awaited and highly anticipated tour....

Home Improvements

I've been meaning to post these for a while but I just haven't been happy with any pictures that were taken...The pictures just don't do them justice for all the work I put into them! :)

Decorating and making our home a comfortable and happy place to live in has been another really great thing about being married.  I remember the first time we saw our apartment and I was so excited!  I couldn't believe how happy I was about having this little 2 bedroom apartment in Rexburg Idaho.  It was so surreal to know that we were going to have a little home of our own.

Here is my latest project

FAMILY sign on shelves

I got a bunch of different sized picture frames and vinyl letters that spell family.  I took the backing off the frames and applied the letters.  After that I hung up the shelves, which probably took me about 30 minutes.  My poor neighbors are probably constantly hearing me hammering a nail into the wall to hang something up.  Then I just hung up the picture frames and decorated with some candles, flowers, and a cute jar.
 

Next is a few little updates to our bathroom :) Nothing big just a little prettying up

I put up a candle wall sconce, and got pretty shower hooks

I added some vinyl letters to the wall...For some reason it looks like it's crooked, but it really isn't!
Maybe my eyes are crooked??

Final Project!

There is it...our small almost claustrophobic bathroom. But it's all ours and I love it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm an Old Lady!

So last night I'm walking around our living room and I get into the hallway and all of a sudden I had this terrible back spasm and I dropped to the ground is SO MUCH FREAKING PAIN!! It was probably one of the worst pains I have ever felt.

Ben came out to see what was going on because he heard me wailing, and he tries to pick me up, and I nearly died.  Just kidding about the dying part, but I wouldn't let Ben touch me and we sat on the ground for about 15 minutes.  It hurt to inhale which completely freaked me out, so I started crying.  That definitely did not help!

So Ben finally picks me up, because obviously I couldn't spent the night on the hallway floor haha.  He puts me in bed and calls Rich to find out what on earth to do.  So we elevated my feet and put and ice pack on me, but I barely slept at all because it hurt so bad.  I wasn't able to move at all without feeling like there was a 100 lb. milestone on my back holding me down.

I wasn't able to work today, which is a definite bummer because we need the money.  But I went to the chiropractor Dr. Egbert (who we've known for about 2 years, because he was in a leadership position in our stake before we got married and moved) today and got some very disappointing news. 

Turns out I somehow pulled the muscles surrounding my rib!!!! Ahh that makes sense why I couldn't breath well at all.  So I spent the afternoon getting my whole back realigned, and got some lovely electroshock therapy.  I feel so much better!!!! Not 100% but enough that I hit the gym tonight.

A little pulled rib muscle won't keep me out of the gym :) I did 45 min. on the elliptical (605 cal burned), 4 sets of weighted hip lifts, 4 sets of crunches, 4 sets of hammer curls, 4 sets of tricep kickbacks, and cooled down with a nice 20 min walk. 

I'M SO SORE!!! And in a little pain lol

Anyway....that's our exciting news!

Have a great night! 

Total Lifestyle Change

           So if you've had any contact with me in the last three weeks you would know that I'm become obsessed with food.  But in a good way.  I have this overwhelming desire to be healthier.  I didn't do it all at once though.  For the first two weeks I had to change my eating habits.  No it's not a diet, it's a total permanent change to live a better life, and be healthier for the day when we have our first child.  Your probably wondering where on earth this desire came from?  Well about two months ago we found out I was pregnant, but unfortunately I miscarried.  And of course it happened the day after we told people (I know bummer right?!), so I was feeling really down, totally cranky, and just wasn't able to bounce back.  So after finally letting it go and coming to an understanding that this wasn't my fault I decided that I wanted to get into shape and be healthier so that when we do decide and plan on having a baby, it will be healthy.

          So for the last two weeks I've changed my eating habits, and know I'm starting to exercise every 6 days a week for at least 45 minutes of cardio and weights every other day.  This sounds kind of crazy but tonight I had the best work out!  I was a little upset when I got home and I didn't know what to do, and I definitely wanted to go for some of that cookie dough ice cream Ben has hidden in the back of the freezer, but I fought the urge and didn't do it! Yea me!!! :)  So I'm working out on the Cross Trainer and all of a sudden I realized that I'm really enjoying what I'm doing, and it just hit me that if I keep this up and really commit to being healthier then I can have a better attitude about anything in my life.  Heavenly Father, Ben, and the Cross Trainer are always there for me! Sounds corny but it really just perked me up and gave me a better attitude.

         In addition to this workout routine and healthy eating I'm using this website called dailyburn.com
It's totally free and allows you to record the food that you have eaten throughout the day.  This definitely helps me eat better because I feel bad when I have to put down something bad that I have eaten.  NO MORE TACO BELL!  It's actually not hard too, I just don't want to eat it anymore, but it kind of hurts our wallet a little because I usually don't have to pay for it cause I'm a manager.  Anyways, back to dailyburn.com  It breaks down all your food into percentages of fat, carbs, and protien.  It also allows you to record the exercises that you have done, miles completed, and calories burned.  Another awesome thing is you can save recipes on there to!  I'm tried programs like this before, but this one is definitely my fave.

         So anywho Life if wonderful! Me and Ben are both working hard to get A's this semester and the outcome is looking really good for me right now.  We FINALLY got our Pell Grants which is a huge huge relief, and I'm picking up hours at work so working around 32 a week.  So I'm really busy with school full-time, working 32-ish hours a week, and just livin' the dream.

         We are so grateful so the great blessings that we have and all the help and guidance from Heavenly Father we have received over the past couple of months and we had truly seen blessings in our lives.  I'm really lucky to have Ben.  He's notice how stressed out I've been so he has been soooo helpful around the house! I was really sick about a week ago, so I didn't really bother keep the house in order and I came home from work one night and it was spotless!  The same thing happened again today!  This time though he tried to play a trick on me, when he picked me up from work he said that the apartment was a disaster, I was like ughhhhh please don't tell me that!  Well when I opened the door everything was clean, bed was made, dishes done, counters wiped down, vacuumed, this list could go on! He's pretty great! Most importantly haha Ben has realized that I need the pillows on the couch a certain way ( I know I'm nuts) so they were done perfectly.  That was just the icing on the cake

PS...MOM if you read this here's a little hint for maybe a Christmas present ;)  Haha just kinding, I'm saving up for some new exercise clothes, so hopefully in a while mine will be too big :)  Anyways here's my sweet pair of sneakers that I LOVE so much!  

Who Knew That Praying and Bowling Went So Well Together

We had a really great Family Home Evening Yesterday!  We don't get to have a ton of family home evening because we are both in school and working and it seems like our schedules just never cooperate.  So this was definitely a treat!

Ben gave a great lesson on prayer, and we made our goals to work on for the week.  That's something that I have really come to love about being married, GOALS! I'm not talking soccer goals, but those desire that you have for each other and yourself to be better people.  It's nice to work on something together and to see each other improve. 

Me and Ben are taking a class together called Building an Eternal Marriage, it's all about strengthening your marriage.  I'd recommend it to anyone! Well in class today a girl said that she and her husband don't really like to prayer together because it feels very repetitive of their personal prayers.  Well my teacher Brother Saterfield gave some great advice.  He said that family prayers should be about your family, but personal prayers are more one on one with God, think of it as like a temple interview.  I'm so grateful that I can feel the love and support from my Heavenly Father, and that I know when I'm praying that he is truly listening and understanding my concerns.  I'm thankful that I am able to communicate with God and express my gratitude for all of our blessings.  We really have it good!

Well after a WONDERFUL lesson we went bowling.  Dang Ben is good!  I however......am not so good, but we had a ton of fun!

My Very First Post

Oh Boy! It's my very first post! I'm hoping to get good at this, but I'm not going to make any promises.  So what to share, what to share..... How we met!

Me and Ben met at the beginning of winter semester, January 2009.  He had been my new roommates FHE brother from a previous semester, so he was just always coming by and saying hi.  When I first saw him it was at a small little dance party and I thought he was pretty cute... Then my roommate invited him and some other guys over to play some fun games, and we decided we wanted to play a trick on them.  We convinced them that our roommate Kelsey was from Sweden and got her to dress like she was living in the Alps and to talk with a crazy accent.  Well Kelsey was getting so embarrassed so we decided to ask her to do her "sheep-herding" dance, she said no and got really red so Ben jumped up and said he'd do it with her if she taught him.  So next thing I know, they are up there doing this funny little skipping dance.  It was down right hilarious!!!

This just shows how fun and outgoing Ben is, he is always a fun time to be around and such a great husband. 


Flash Forward................THE WEDDING!


We got sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple.  It was the best day of my life and I'll never forget being married to Ben for eternity.  I'm so excited for the big family we will have some day, but right now we are happy with just the two of us :)