i promise we're still alive.

Yeah... this whole "blogging" thing is a lot harder when I actually have other things to do.

Maybe regular posts will be one of my New Year's resolutions... along with going to the gym, not drinking soda, cooking dinner MUCH more often, and keeping the house clean.  [just don't tell John about that last one!!]

turkey time!!

Oh, my my my. Who ever decided to sell turkeys frozen needs to be severely punished!! Since I started thawing my turkey, I've made a wreath for the door and a tablecloth for dinner on Thursday. I've also eaten enough knock-off Reese's peanut butter and watched enough TLC to last me a lifetime... and the dang bird is STILL FROZEN! I'm just saying, it better all be worth it or we're just gonna order pizza next year.

my wreath... it's kinda boring, but I like it that way.

my tablecloth - conveniently folded so it looks 100% done  :)

Aaaanyway... Since I've got sine time on my hands, I think I'll tell you what else I've been up to recently...

My momma came to visit us a few weekends ago! It was super great to have her in the Burg with us. Especially when it snowed on Saturday and she had to suffer like John and I do! haha. But while she was here we went to eat at Smitty's Pancake and Steak House in Idaho Falls. John was in HEAVEN because he got to have ribs with a side of pancakes! It was a pretty great experience... but I'm a fan of anywhere that serves pancakes 24/7. We also went to get some fabric for the Woodbury x-mas pajamas. I'll be starting up on those shortly... so stay tuned.

My cousins had a little baby boy on 11/11/11! So I made a little gift for him. I forgot to take a picture of the onesie, but just imagine a polka-dot bow tie and this pacifier on a little smoochie face :)

felt + hot glue = awesomeness.

Sometimes I just use the pictures on my phone to remember what we've been up to... I realize that's sort if lame, but it's the truth. Unfortunately I haven't been taking as many pictures as I used to. Let's blame work, ok? Because it's most definitely NOT that I'm too lazy to pull my phone out of my pocket... But here's one to leave you with - while Momma H was here John convinced her to buy this hat for him, and then I stole it :)

i didn't really steal it.  he just left it in my car.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
(and keep your fingers crossed that my turkey dinner doesn't poison anyone!)

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near death.

Yesterday on the way home from the temple, John and I saw a sign outside G's Dairy for "hot chocolate floats".  And at that moment, as our teeth were chattering from the cold, hot chocolate sounded fantastic.  And a scoop of delicious ice cream in there with it?  Even better.  So we turned around and ordered two of them.  John got Rocky Road ice cream in his and I chose something wonderful with Oreos and cookie dough.  And since we were too excited to try them to wait until we got home, we pulled out of the drive-thru window and straight into a parking spot.  Oh my, was it a heavenly treat!

Unfortunately, my dear husband accidentally inhaled a shard of almond and had a horrible coughing attack.  It was the kind of thing where I started to just laugh [because I think it's funny when other people do that instead of me] but then I got really worried because he was coughing a LOT and turning a little bit red and had a panic-stricken look on his face.  And then he stopped coughing and I started laughing AGAIN.  I'm such a kind and concerned wife...

The best part of that whole experience was that he didn't get one drop of chocolate on his church clothes.  Score!!

happy halloween!!!

We have candy... so you should come trick or treating!!

I snapped this picture in Utah wearing my momma's witch hat...  My mom, grandma, and aunts all went to the Witchapalooza! event at Gardner Village.  Unfortunately, I wasn't a part of that bonding experience.  I just hung out by myself in the hotel room, watching TV and eating junk food.  :/

Spring, Krishna, Grandma Hazel, Momma H, and Summer

They got pretty into it.  My aunt Spring made everyone those cloaks, which were pretty legit!  With hoods and fur-lining.  Everyone was dressed up underneath too, in witchy costumes.  [Well, besides my mom.  She's the dud of the family ;) haha.]

It was a fun weekend in Utah for me, though!  I got to see my Little Meg!!  She let me sleep over at her house on Friday night and then she cut my hair on Saturday morning!  She's the best.  [You have to say that in Nacho Libre's voice.]

After my hair was all trimmed -and weighed ten pounds less- I headed straight over to the Provo mall!  Well, actually, I stumbled upon the mall in my search for the freeway.  It was a pleasant surprise.  So then I wandered around aimlessly for a few hours.  I found a shirt for myself that I'd been looking for for.ev.er.  And I bought John a San Diego Super Chargers tie.  He's been wanting one for a LONG time...  And I bought myself a super cute purple headband that I've worn once-and-a-half.  I love headbands, but they don't love me.  After that I headed to the Gateway mall in SLC.  By far one of my favorite malls ever!!  But really I went there to try on some jeans for my Christmas outfit from the Momma.  And that's where I met up with my mom, grandma, and aunts for lunch!!

In other news...  The magnificent Horkley's has changed it's name.  John and I are struggling to accept it.  But we did get some fifty-cent sodas and free hotdogs during their grand re-opening!! They never really officially closed, but that's beside the point.  FREE HOTDOGS!!  And we got some wristbands and a button.  Pretty awesome.

Ever since we made the decision to stop eating out we've failed miserably.  Last week shouldn't have counted, because I was sick and we had no groceries... and did I mention free hotdogs?!  But this is the chili that I had at Frontier Pies.  Isn't the chip-flower cute?

And speaking of no groceries - our kitchen was smelling a little extra funky yesterday so I did a little investigating...  

Umm... I can't really tell you what kind of fruit that used to be.  My best guess is an apple.  It was a general apple-shape.  We did have some pears though, at some point.  And nectarines.  I really don't know how the orange got sucked into that bag with it...  Unless the moldy-orb-of-doom used to be an orange.  There was another orange floating around on the counter, so maybe that other one just didn't get out in time...  I threw them all away, just in case.

John had an ingrown toenail removed? retracted? dislodged? about two weeks ago and he has to soak it in this weird red stuff every night to fight off the infection.  What's really funny though, is that he's still wearing his other shoe and sock while he does it.  I laughed for a good five minutes.  You don't have to think it's funny.  But I thought I'd share anyway.

That's all for now.  I can't think of anything else to tell you about our exciting life.  Oh, if you were on your way to come get some candy, don't bother.  We've already eaten it all.  :)

alone time.

What do you get when you mix school, two jobs, a weekday trip to BYU's law fair, grocery shopping, errands, a doctor's appointment, and a weekend trip to Provo/SLC??

Two very lonely people.

This week was pretty crazy. There's usually one day a week when John's at school all morning, and I work until 7, and then he works from 8 to midnight. We can handle that. But THIS week was a little different. John spent aaaalllllllllll day Wednesday in Provo on a school trip then I worked all day Thursday and he worked all night. And now I'm in Utah for the weekend.

I feel like we're engaged again and living in two different cities. It's a real bummer. I miss my snuggle buddy!!

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six months!!

Ha!!  Can you believe it?!  It's been a whole six months since we got married.

 

I wish I could say that we had some amazing plans this weekend to celebrate, but we didn't.  When I got off work on Friday we went to eat at Winger's.  The plan was to go see The Help after, but I didn't really feel like sitting in a cold theatre for two and a half hours.  Instead we rented a couple of movies and snuggled up on the couch to watch them.  Then this morning [Sunday] I made some german pancakes!!  We love german pancakes...  we maybe just had them last weekend during Conference, too.  :)

This has been the absolute BEST six months of my life.  I love John more than anything.  We have so much fun together.  [Even though it doesn't seem like we ever go anywhere or do anything.]  I love watching him study, and eating dinner with him.  I love it when he comes to my work at lunch time and takes me to Taco Bell.  I love when he gets sleepy and snuggles up next to me on the couch.  I love when I'm sleepy and he carries me to bed.  I love his face and his head and his grody toe.  I love when we're laying in bed, almost asleep, and have the best conversations about our life and future together.

Basically, I love John more and more every day.  He makes me so happy.  I can't wait to see where we are in another six months!!

apparantly i'm lazy.

haha.  Who would have ever thought that?!  But seriously, once I get home from work these days it's the hardest thing NOT to fall asleep.  I fail every.single.day.  It doesn't really help that John is usually right in the middle of his afternoon "resting time" when I get home.  And yes, "resting time" does mean passed-out-napping.

There are different shifts at work: 6-2, 6:30-2:30, 7-3, 8-4... and the last 8-hour shift is 11:30-7:30.  The super early ones are actually kind of my favorite.  I absolutely HATE waking up that early, but I can't tell you how good it feels to come home and have the whole day to get things done.  Not that I'm all that productive... but still!  When I work later and don't get home until 7:30ish I'm much less likely to make a real dinner or be at all pleasant until bedtime.  Poor John.

Today I got off at 2:30 and it was great!!  I hit up the post office, grabbed myself a soda and some redvines, and went home for a nice long nap with the hubby!!  [Yes, I drink caffeine and then go straight to bed - you gotta problem?!!]  When we woke up I made some macaroni and extra cheese and then John had to go to work.  :(  So I've just been sitting on the couch surfing the internets and eating some delicious egg-free cookie dough.  It's a hard-knock life.

And now that song is stuck in my head.

John has a doctor's appointment next week to fix a grody toe-nail.  I'm kind of bummed that I won't be there, because I really wanted to record it!  Haha.  Maybe he can try to get some good angles for me to watch, but I feel like that could involve some weird stretching...  we'll see.  Maybe I'll post something here for all the world to see!  Or, you know, our posterity.

I've done absolutely zero work on the light fixture I mentioned last time... sorry.  But I did get about 93.6% done with a wreath for our door.  It's pretty ugly, but I'm gonna hang it up and show it to you anyway.  As soon as I find the rest of my hot-glue sticks.

work like you don't need the money.

I started my job this week! 

Well, I 'started' last week, but it was all training and following other people and getting passed off on all the different things.

This week I've actually been working, and today I didn't even need my trainer to watch me.  It was a little nerve-wracking this morning, but as soon as I'd screened a couple people without any major problems I was more confident, and the day went by really fast.  I'm still getting used to everything, and I definitely made my fair share of mistakes!  But it's a fun job, and all the people I work with are really nice and helpful.

Anyway, the best part about my job is that I get to wear scrubs  :)  I know that doesn't sound all that great... but believe me - getting dressed at 5 am in the dark is MUCH easier with scrubs.  And I get to wear my hair tied back everyday!  I love braids and pony tails.  It's seriously amazing.  [Remind me of all this once it's been long enough and I start complaining about these exact things!]

The days start a little early - but that just means I get home to my hubby a little earlier, too!  And since he's in school and at the gym and studying for the whole time I'm gone, I don't even feel bad!!  Although there are a couple days coming up where I work until 7 and he goes to work at 8... those nights will probably be a little lonely.

I'm working on a new light-fixture/chandelier kind of thing for our bedroom... and I'm hoping that posting about it will motivate me to finish it and show you!  -all five of you-

Stay tuned!

i heart chalkboard paint.

Whoever it was that invented chalkboard paint is a PURE GENIUS!!  A couple weeks ago I finally figured out how I could salvage our coffee table.  [There wasn't anything officially wrong with it - I just really really didn't like it.]

So I was browsing pinterest, and saw three or four different coffee tables with chalkboard tops.  It was p.e.r.f.e.c.t.  And, lucky for me, the craft store here always has a big Labor Day sale - so I could get the pricey chalkboard spray paint for 40% off!!  Pretty awesome.

Anyway, I had to take the whole table apart, paint it, and then put it back together.  Oh, and spray painting in the wind is pretty difficult - just in case you didn't know.  It's a simple Ikea table, so the dismembering wasn't too hard.  And then I realized that [1] we didn't have the instructions for putting it together anymore, and [2] it's missing about twelve screws/nails/pegs.  And I decided that John is NEVER allowed to build any furniture ever again - especially not any future baby furniture!!

Once I finally had it all put together and only a little wobbly, I primed the chalkboard surface and got to doodling!!!  It's a miracle how in two days my most hated piece of furniture became my absolute favorite!  I love leaving John silly little notes and pictures on it when I leave for work in the morning.  Although he doesn't usually notice them until we're both sitting down at the end of the day...

Ok, here's a picture - because I know you're all dying to see it!!

Tomorrow is my second day of training at work.  And I'm pretty sure they're going to let me make someone bleed!!  I'm excited - and maybe a little nervous.

i like doing things backwards.

It's not my fault that I have ADD.  It's Big Bird's fault.  Seriously.  How do they expect me to pay attention for more than seven minutes at a time when that's how long every segment ran on Sesame Street??  But I digress...

Things have been happening around here - I promise.  I just choose to wait until they're all over and done with before I post anything.  Which means you lovely people get to read all about our adventures in one felled swoop!  Luckies.

Which means... are you ready for it?!  Badly-lit cell phone PICTURES!!  Haha.  I know you're crazy excited  :)

it took us about a week to clean this up.  we kind of wanted to LIVE on that air mattress.

so now we do a lot of this.  it's definitely not as good.

After a loooong couple weeks of doing nothing we took a little trip to Pocatello!!  Such a great city...  I had to take the GRE on campus there and we decided to stay the night.  And let me tell you - Pokey has the most amazing mini-golf course, ever.  For reals.  I only have one picture... but it wasn't all shark-themes.  There were dinosaurs! and an elephant! and everything was neon and glow-in-the-dark and awesome!!!!  Not to mention we were the only two people there and we got a free game!!

The rest of our Pokey-trip involved sleeping and being attacked by housekeeping and food. 

best.breakfast.food.ever

he had a good time, really.  this is just his "sooo hungry" face.

geeerrrrmaaaannnn paaaancaaaaaakess!!  :)

We came home, and then it was Labor Day Weekend!  To celebrate the holiday, we did absolutely nothing!!  It was great  :)  Ok, maybe we did something.

i painted the coffee table.

and ate an entire bag of cracker jacks.  :/

we spent a little time outside, and were ATTACKED by lady bugs.

Next week [or as soon as I load more pictures] I'll show you how aewsome our new chalkboard coffee table is!!  Probably my favorite piece of furniture now...  I want to make everything I see a chalkboard.

Aaannnnnnnnnd...  I started my new job!!  I've survived two whole days of training.  Tomorrow there's a test, and then I start actually learning how to do my job...  Also, I get to wear scrubs!!  There goes all that how-many-different-ways-can-i-wear-these-clothes-before-i-DIE anxiety every morning.  It's going to be awesome.

sometimes...

Sometimes I wonder if John notices when I screw up a recipe.  But then I think of times like this morning, when he ate three scrambled eggs AND a giant bowl of cereal.  That's more breakfast food than I consume in a month.  He's just a growing boy, I guess.

Sometimes I wonder how I ever made it through college with this "Sesame Street" attention span I've got.  And this GRE thing I'm doing tomorrow has got me pretty worried.  I should have been studying the dictionary for the past year.  [Don't tell my mom I said that.]

Sometimes my brain is really motivated to do things - like organize the kitchen drawers or finish the baby blanket for the Moseley's little man - and then I look over and see how lonely the couch is...

Sometimes I have a point when I start to say something but by the time it comes around to the end of the sentence I've forgotten what exactly I meant to say.

lazy summer.

Oh man.  We are sooo lazy!  We do a whole lot of nothing all day, everyday.  And twice on Sunday.

In other news, I made some deeeee-licious strawberry pancakes this morning late afternoon.  FROM SCRATCH.  Which I realize isn't that impressive since they're basically just flour and milk... but the mess in my kitchen begs to differ.

yummm!

We also got a new windshield for my car!  It's nice and crack-free.  Which means I can drive comfortably since the crack in the old one crossed straight through my line of sight  :( 

Yesterday we drove down to Idaho Falls to check out the For Your Basket craft market.  It was kind of a bust.  Although one of the booths did have a pretty sweet shelf.  It was tall and skinny with little file-cabinet labels.  I loved looking at all the cute crafts - but since most of the things were for little baby-nuggets I didn't think buying anything would be very useful.  And John turned down the owl-head beanie I offered to get him.

Sometimes, since we do absolutely nothing all day long it takes us a long time to get to sleep at night.  So the other day we were both just laying there, trying to sleep but not doing a very good job, and I had an idea!  I sent John to Jack in the Box for some tacos and jalapeno poppers and I got to work building a FORT.  Yep, I said it.  We blew up the air-mattress and piled on the pillows, set up some chairs and draped a blanket across them, and then snuggled down for a midnight snack and watched Star Trek.  One day we might grow up and develop normal sleeping patterns - but then we'll have babies and it will all start all over again  :/

pretty cool, huh?

This week I'm taking the GRE in Pocatello.  Hopefully I haven't forgotten everything I learned in college.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don't totally bomb it, please?!

food for thought.

Taking pictures of recipes in magazines is genius.  I should spend more time in doctor's offices...  Parenting magazines have deeelicious-looking food.

I probably should have snapped a shot of the picture too  :/

I really need to figure out some new ways to do my hair... but isn't it sooo pretty?!!  I love my little Meg for doing the best perm-job ever  :)

long and wavy  :)

Red Cross worker:  "What's your full name, age, and gender?"
John:  "John Michael Orr, 23, male."
Red Cross worker:  "Are you pregnant?"
[awkward pause]
John:  "No."

Nope, no baby bump there!!

Arby's is the best way to life your spirits after sitting around for an hour to donate blood.  I mean, how can you be grumpy when you're sippin' a nice cold Pepsi out of this??

and the curly fries... YUM!

Freezer jam is easy.  A lot easier than trying to scrub all the stuck-on strawberry particles from the food processor after it's been sitting there for 24 hours. 

Maybe more sugar next time, though.

If you're going to Walmart for twenty-dollars in cash and some snacks for the movie - DO NOT walk down the fish aisle.  Otherwise you'll come home with a tank, some fake plants, a tiki head, one fish and one little crab.  Only to wake-up the next morning to a weird smell and a couple floaters.

but the tank glows, so that's cool.

Some recipes look so great on the website, and they sound so fun to make, and you're pretty sure it's going to be the most delicious and attractive thing you've ever placed on the dinner table.  And then it takes you over an hour to just assemble the dang things.  But they did taste pretty good...

I call them lasagna towers.  The recipe is great, but maybe just a boring flat-version next time!

John and I love to eat.  And we are trying to be better about not getting so much fast-food.  I've been looking up quick and healthy recipes for dinner and lunch.  Hopefully we'll be able to stick to it!  We do love those Jack in the Box tacos  :)

painting the town.

Rexburg is just a liiiitttttlllle bit slow in the summer.  Which means that John and I have been out and about WAY more than usual.  It might also have something to do with having absolutely nothing else going on...  And so - here's a recap of our week:

 - sleep in until 10:30am... or noon.
 - wander aimlessly around the apartment.
 - think of a reason to go to Walmart.
 - shower and dig some clothes out of the closet.
 - wander aimlessly around Walmart for about thirty minutes.
 - go back home and take a nap.
 - wake up and stare at the computer and/or television.
 - eat a strange meal.
 - go to a movie at the dollar theater [which is really $3... false advertising].
 - go back home and snuggle before falling into deep oblivious sleep.
 - lather, rinse, repeat.

Ok, so it wasn't like that every day.  But it was pretty close.  Monday I had to fill out some paperwork at the plasma center and take a drug test.  Wednesday was our trip to IF - did I mention that I walked from JoAnn's to Barnes and Noble?!  Exercise for the week - check!!  Thursday we rented bikes from the ORC on campus.  I lasted all of twenty minutes.  The gears were being retarded.  And my back had started hurting again the night before.  I'm a complainer, have you noticed?  Today John donated blood and we had the oil changed in my car.  We also got some snow-cones  :)  Love me some saturated sugar!!

Also - for future reference - the Paramount 5 has two-dollar-Tuesdays, and free popcorn on Wednesdays! 

John has recently started using his tomahawk to turn the light on and off in our bedroom... he even taped a wooden spoon to the end of it so he doesn't have to stretch at all.  It would be funny if I didn't actually need that wooden spoon to cook his fave mac&cheese...

We've also decided that we're not going to get a puppy.  At least not until we're living somewhere a little more permanent.  So now I'm lobbying for a ferret, guinea pig, or chinchilla.  :)

I'd love to stay and keep spilling out random little tidbits - but we both know you're bored already.

camel back.

Did you know that if you leave a partially filled camel-back water bottle in the car during the day, it will magically transform into a water gun??!

I'm sure there's a simple scientific explanation for why it happens... But John and I had an epic battle on the drive back from IF today. It was awesome.

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my hubby is awesome.

John's amazing.  For real.  And I'm not just saying that because I married him.  Here are just a few reasons that he's so great:

1 - he folded all the laundry from our vacation AND put it away last night [he didn't get home from work until around midnight, I might add!]

2 - on Saturday night he left the hotel room to go get me some tylenol pm because I had a really bad headache and couldn't get to sleep.

3 - he only grumbled a little when we were packing up all the stuff I accidentally left at my parent's house after the wedding and I kept remembering other stuff to add to the pile.

4 - he let me put off grocery shopping for one more day!!  [which also means we got to eat Jimmy Johns for lunch and order pizza for dinner!]

5 - he left the gym and brought me his water bottle while I was stuck at the doctor's office for a drug test and their drinking fountain didn't work.

6 - he let me take a nap  :)

7 - he went to the grocery store with me to pick out some icecream, and then he scooped it out when we got home.

8 - every time we went swimming at my parent's house he let me lay on the raft and pushed me around the pool for a more even "tan".

9 - he borrowed the Insanity workout dvd's from his friend and isn't going to make me do them if I don't want to!!

10 - just now, he put the movie I want to watch in the dvd player so I wouldn't have to get up.

11 - oh, and he drove the ENTIRE way from Rexburg to San Diego, then from San Diego to Las Vegas, and from Las Vegas back to Rexburg.


Was that enough reasons for you?!  It's pretty obvious that I got the sweet end of this deal! If only he'd known beforehand what marrying me would entail... haha!

I love every single thing about this man.  

I'm such a lucky girl to have him forever!

I love you Johnny Monster!!

h.o.m.e.

Aaaahhh... it feels SO good to be back home. 

We had a really great time on vacation!  Don't get me wrong. 

We just really needed to be back in our apartment with all our stuff.  It's a comfort kind of thing.  And a wishing-I-had-packed-more-clothing-options kind of thing. 

We loved spending time with my family in Vegas.  It was fun and relaxing and there's even a hint of a tan line on my back from those few hours of floating in the pool!!

more vacation... with pictures!

I finally got around to e-mailing all the pictures on my cell phone to myself.  Don't worry... there's only thirteen  :)

san diego!

this is Elvira.  she is teeny-tiny.  but awesome.

go Padres!

this is the place to go for lunch between las vegas and san diego.  they have fried pickles and all their sandwiches are named after old movie stars  :)  and did i mention the giant dinosaur sculptures?!

sooo much traffic heading to California.  zero traffic to Nevada.  that's the way i like it.

las vegas!

chicken salad.  i love when Momma H buys dinner  :)

Shelby and Julian - freshly married!!

pretty cakes are my favorite when they taste delicious too.  like this one!

this is Zoey.  cute, huh?  we've been playing with her all week :)

Now that we're all caught up with pictures, here's what we've been doing since Sunday...

monday
I'm going to go ahead and say we went to the mall on Monday.  I have no real memory of this week's time-line.  We went to the Fashion Show mall and got a couple new shirts for John.  I tried to shop for myself but apparently the mall didn't get the memo and didn't put anything good on sale for me.


tuesday
Was our FOUR-MONTH-IVERSARY!!  To celebrate this great milestone we started the day off with some delicious In-N-Out and a little shopping at Ross.  Then we floated around in my parent's pool for an hour or so to try and soak up a little bit of sun.  For the big date we had some burgers and fries and Steak & Shake and then saw The Rise of the Planet of the Apes in XD.  We're not exactly sure what XD means... but we liked the movie.  Oh, between dinner and the movie we killed a little time at the arcade.  I kicked John's butt at the racing game  :)

wednesday
We went shopping!  Um... again.  And we did some other stuff.  I think.  It was a pretty lazy day.

thursday
Today we went to HOOVER DAM!  haha.  We went on a dam tour, with a dam tour guide, got some dam refreshments, took some dam pictures... I could go on like this all day.  It was fun going with John, since he'd never been there.  Granted the last time I went was with my fourth grade class...

these are the Nevada-side turbines.  only 25% of the power goes to Las Vegas though.  the rest is for SoCal.  lame.

my souvenir cup!!  my dad was soooo jealous.

Tomorrow we've got another lazy day planned.  Probably some last-ditch efforts at tanning our skin and a little raid-party of my mom's homeless home decor.  Then all that's left is fitting everything into my car and heading back to the Burg!!

Also, John would like everyone to know that he finished reading Brave New World on schedule.  Whilst I added six new movies to our Netflix queue  :)

party every day.

We are having a GREAT time on vacation!!  Here's a quick wrap-up... mostly just so I don't forget  :)

monday
14 hours in the car.  Never doing that again.

tuesday
We were in San Diego to see John's family.  It was so much fun!  We had lunch with his grandma in Ocean Beach, then we had dinner with his parents and two brothers before heading to the Padre's game!!  Baseball games are so much fun - hotdogs, cotton candy, John screaming in my ear - what could be better?!

wednesday
More driving - but just four hours this time - to Las Vegas!!  We stopped at Peggy Sue's diner for some FRIED PICKLES! mmmmmm... my favorite.

thursday
I did some craft shopping with my momma.  Poor John was left all alone at my house.  We're also babysitting Teri's little dog for the week [and her house] so we spent some time hanging out with Zoey so she could get used to us. Thursday night we went to a session at the temple with my mom and then had Applebee's for dinner. 

friday
We tried to go swimming on Friday at my house - but it was a teensy bit breezy and too cold for tanning.  I know, I know... how could it ever be too cold in Las Vegas in August?!  But I'm a wimp.  When my mom came home from work, she and I went to develop the wedding pictures and get a few more crafting supplies.  John stayed home because, frankly, craft stores make him sick.  Haha.  We also did a little shopping at Ross and Marshalls where I got another long skirt and some fun decorating stuff for the apartment.  I also got a phone call about a JOB OFFER!!!  That's right.  I finally have a job.  John and I are so excited about it!  And maybe a little nervous about how often we'll get to see each other... we've been spoiled so far being able to spend basically all day together.  This will be a fun semester  :)

saturday
My friend Julian got married!!  I've known Jul since I was about two.  We lived across the street and his little sister and I were attached at the hip!!  Him and Tyler were the same way... and the four of us pretty much terrorized that neighborhood.  Good times.  Jul married the gorgeous Shelby and it was so great to be there at the sealing!  I'm so happy for them and excited for their new life together.

sunday
John and I slept in a little bit late - but we still made it to church with my mom!  Afterward, we went back to my parent's house for a lazy Sunday afternoon.  We wanted to swim but my dad mowed the lawn and all the grass blew into the pool  :(  So we watched some Nascar instead!  Ha!  My mom made a deeelicious dinner and I baked some "knock you naked brownies" for too long - there were crunchy!  Oops! 

So far we've had a great vacation!  I love spending time with my family.  Even stinky Tyler.  I'll be sad to leave next weekend, but not so sad to get away from this heat!! 

the momma.

I really like my mom.  I talk to her every.single.day.  Sometimes twice. 

This weekend she came for a visit and it was GREAT!  It was fun showing her our apartment and all the fancy new things Rexburg's added since last July. 

She came with her friend Teri, and Teri's nieces Elsa & Hayley.  Elsa is coming to school up here in January and this trip was designed to get her even MORE excited about it.  And because everyone's first impression of Rexburg needs to be in the summer... otherwise they'll never come back. 

They got here Thursday night and I took them to Twizleberry for frozen yogurt - and to temporarily blind them with the bright green and orange walls.  Then we drove up the hill for a closer look at the temple.

sooo pretty  :)

Friday morning we woke up bright and early for a quick tour of our apartment before we headed to campus to give Elsa a little look around.  There's quite a bit of construction going on, so we had to do a lot of weaving in & out & around & through the buildings, but I think we covered quite a bit of ground!  We went into the new BYU-I Center [or "devotatorium" as I like to call it] which was a first even for me.  Then we did a little shopping at the University Store and had lunch in the Crossroads to give everyone the full experience.

Then it was time for CORN-ON-A-STICK.  I've been hyping it up to everyone all semester, so it was pretty permanent on the to-do list.  We even waited around for a bit because it wasn't quite ready when we got there so eagerly at exactly 4pm.  Needless to say - it did not disappoint.

please ignore that i'm the whitest of them all - i live in idaho.

that's my lover... yep.

We also did a little bit of shopping at Hemming Village.  This is John - enjoying himself immensely at Lulu&Oliver.

he's got tea parties d.o.w.n.

On Saturday we ended up having a LOT more time to explore the town because of a little scheduling mix-up with a play we were supposed to go to...  Oops.

So - what better way to spend some extra time in south-eastern Idaho than at BEAR WORLD!!

It was a lot of fun!  John even had a good time!!  And we got some huckleberry honey from the gift shop. 

And after driving through the animal enclosures we found this sign where you can measure yourself against a bear...

almost there...

for reals!

And seriously... no trip to Bear World would be complete without this:

me and john - just need some baby bears!  haha.

Teri, Hayley, Elsa and my momma.

The pictures are pretty dark - it was a really nice and sunny day.  Good for hanging out at the petting zoo, bad for taking souvenir pictures.

After our adventure at Bear World we headed into Idaho Falls to do a little shopping.  [It was technically a "girl's trip" after all...]  John was such a champ hanging out at the mall for so long, going in and out of stores, sitting outside dressing rooms...  I did maybe bribe him with a prize and a snack  :)

Later on Saturday night we went to see 17 Miracles at the dollar theater.  The movie was good.  But after the movie we had Cocoa Bean cupcakes!  MmmMmMmMmmMMm.  So delicious.

Overall, it was a great weekend.  It was so much fun being with my momma and all the girls.

And now...  SEVEN WEEK BREAK!!