This is where we are..

So, I was inspired by my friend Stephanie Mitchell's blog to peruse our photos and find some gems for you. Enjoy!

This picture was taken at my little brother's baptism. Obviously I feel passionate about whatever I'm saying.

This was taken Christmas morning, 2007. One thing you must know is that we absolutely adore my Grandma Neal (my dad's mom), she gives the most interesting Christmas gifts! This is one of my favorites: a flowered, sleeveless housedress. I can hardly contain my excitement! Andy loved it so much he's holding it up for all to see. Also, the 99 cent tag was a nice touch.

One day after I got ready for bed, I came out of the bathroom to find Andy on the couch exactly like this. And he has never given an explanation.


I'm pretty sure this is when I caught Andy checking himself out in the mirror. Such a hottie!

This was taken on Andy's 28th birthday, a night to remember. We went to a pretty shady bowling alley and I caught Andy's excitement over the whole ordeal on camera. If you want to know more, look at my previous post on Andy's birthday!

How could I leave this picture out? Classic.

Also, I apparently like to take pictures of myself to see how my hair looks. And I'm pretty sure I'm wearing that exact same outfit and hairstyle as we speak, although this picture was taken many months ago. Why mess with a good thing?

Going Fishin'

Andy and I have been wanting to go fishing for a while now, we've just been waiting for the weather to clear up a little bit. Monday the Pocatello area finally got a little bit of a break from winter, the clouds cleared, and Andy and I decided we needed to go on a quest for some sweet fishing spots! The only place I knew of was the American Falls resevoir, so off we went! It took some time, but we found some accessible fishing areas, and it was so much fun to go on my very first fishing adventure!

Andy's an awful lot more experienced than I am, so he showed me how to cast and I got hooked!

Mi Casa

So I've gotten a few requests for me to post some pictures of our glorious apartment. It's a one bedroom apartment that I've lived in since I moved to Pocatello a couple of years ago. Before I got married it was so nice to be able to have my own place to live without roommates (although all of my roommates were fabulous). I'm just definitely a person who likes her own space. So, this apartment is definitely cozy for Andy and me, but we have had so much fun figuring out how to fit everything in here. And by "so much fun", I mean "a really terrible time". However, I really think that we've made the most of the space that we have, and we are so grateful to have a home like this to live in while we go to school, work, and try to make sense of our lives.

Below is a picture of our bathroom, which is the bane of Andy's existence. First of all, when you sit on it your knees bang up against the tub, so we end up sitting sideways on it. So much fun. Also, the bathtub tiling is eroding, which basically means that water leaks all over the floor whenever we take a shower. So we have a great little device for preventing water damage as much as possible. It's called a towel that we put next to the tub when we shower. Sophisticated.

Oh, one of our priorities right now is obtaining a year supply of food storage for Andy and me. I got really excited about it a couple of weeks ago when the local grocery store was having their case lot sale. We ended up buying a huge case of honey, tons of wheat, flour, cooking oil, yeast, baking soda, and other canned goods. Also, I bought three 7-gallon jugs for storing water. Now the trick is figuring out where to put all of it! Right now they serve as conversation pieces in our living room. Classy.

Tween

Hey everyone! It has been a pretty busy month for us, March has completely flown by!

So, some of you may know a little singer by the name of David Archuleta! He has an absolutely amazing singing voice and he seems like such a sweet kid! I bought his cd a while ago, which includes mostly teeny-bopper songs (ok, I feel like a 50 year old saying that). There are a few songs on the cd that I like, but mostly it's just nice to hear him sing! Well, a couple of weeks ago my cousin Kathryn Ririe called me up to ask if I wanted to go with her to the David Archuleta concert in Pocatello, and obviously I said YES!

Here are some of the highlights (sorry the lighting/picture isn't as amazing as the actual concert was):









Even though the average age of the audience was like 12, Kathryn and I had a blast! David Archuleta is such a wholesome performer and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to support him and his music. What a great influence for young people today!

A Long Time Comin'

It's been a while since I've posted anything, which I'm sure has broken hearts around the globe. I can't seem to keep up on my personal journal writing either; the last time I wrote in it was right after our wedding (in June) and I gave up halfway through my entry because I was too overwhelmed with everything I wanted to write. I'll return to it almost a year later and continue where I left off, and hopefully I'll bring a different perspective and some newfound wisdom to it.

As far as an update goes, Andy and I are doing wonderfully! I am working on my BA in English here at Idaho State University, and then I plan on getting a Master's in Education at Boise State, or here at ISU depending on the circumstances. Andy is working really early mornings for UPS and is in search of a second job for the rest of the day, which has proven difficult given the job market in southeastern Idaho.

So here's what we've been up to lately:

Last week I went with my cousin Andrea to Boise to watch her three kids while she attended a three-day conference affiliated with the business she runs, Signing4Baby. I've tended children since I was 10 so I'm not typically intimidated by watching kids for an extended period of time, but you don't know Andrea's kids (unless you do, and then you know what I'm talking about). They're awesome kids, just a huge handful. They are 5, almost 3, and 9 months, and they have the energy and mischieviousness of a whole army of children. I was definitely tuckered out after only a few hours, I don't know how Andrea does it all the time! She is a great mom and has some incredible stamina.

Here is Ben and Brandon, asleep and holding hands on our way to Boise. Little did I know...

Annie, Brandon, and Ben

Oh, the love.

Andy came into town on Friday to help relieve me of some of my duties. What a good husband!

My mom and the ever-adorable Sophie (our niece).

On a different note, my laptop which I have had since my high school graduation has been acting up. It's almost three years old now, so it's probably to be expected. Well, I love my computer, we've been through a lot together and so I wanted to do everything possible to save it before I considered replacing it. I checked around with several computer repair services to check prices and see what they might be able to do. The prices were outrageous. So, I figured that it was nearly lost to me anyway, I might as well take a crack at it. I was pretty sure everything just needed to be cleaned, anyway. So Andy and I looked up an HP service manual online, and followed the instructions of how to disassemble an HP Pavillion notebook. I was terrified when our computer looked like this:

When we finally got everything disassembled, we discovered a HUGE pile of lint and other debris inside the heat sink. I diagnosed this as the problem. So we took some compressed air and just cleaned out all of the components we could like the heat sink, fan, and any other nook or cranny. After I was satisfied with our cleaning job, we took action to reassemble the computer. This was the most frightening part. We had all these tiny screws laying on our coffee table and we had to follow the instructions backwards to make sure we put everything back together correctly. I'll tell you, it was a daunting project and I was tense the whole time. Yikes.

I wish I had a picture of the final product: a completely revamped computer which works absolutely wonderfully now! The only problem is that we have three remaining tiny screws...I wonder where they go? Regardless, Andy and I feel extremely accomplished and proud of ourselves for completing a task which probably would have cost us $200+, or a new computer. Hooray for teamwork!

2009

So I just completed my very first online scrapbook! It's just a few pages, but I'm pretty proud of myself and I had the whole thing made into a calendar for 2009! I'll probably continue to do this since it's a lot less expensive, less time consuming, and less messy than actual scrapbooking. Also, you can print your completed creations in a bound book, it's fabulous! I don't mean to sound like an advertisement for them, I just really think it's cool.

Aspirations

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Last month was the season for giving to others and enjoying life's goodness. This month is the season for self reflection and improvement. In other words, I need to get my stinkin' butt in gear and work on some things! Like the rest of you, I've come up with a few things for my New Year's Resolutions. I'm not too embarrassed to share all this because I bet I've already talked to the two people who read my blog about my personal goals for 2009.

1. No pop for the entire year. I used to drink pop rarely, maybe at a party or just for special occassions. Then I married Andy. He drinks pop fairly regularly, and every once in a while I started taking sips of his drinks, and then I got hooked. Before we knew it we were buying pop by the cartload. Well, no more. I am officially off the wagon. Or is it on the wagon?

2. No more fast food. When I was in high school, my cousin Whitney and I made a pact to not eat fast food for the entire year, and if one of us broke the pact we would have to pay the other $100. We both completed the challenge successfully (as far as I know...). I am going to attempt this challenge again, but I still need to come up with a good penalty if I break it.

3. Lose weight with The Biggest Loser. I am an avid fan of The Biggest Loser, and I usually follow each season closely. This time, I won't just be a fan watching from the couch. Instead, I'm going to do my best to work out regularly and lose weight along with the contestants on the show. Although I won't have all the resources and time that the people on the show have, I am committed to doing everything I can to get healthy and take control of my life.

I'm sharing this so it's not just another goal I write down and shove in a drawer. I want to be accountable for all of the claims that I've made about sticking to my goals. Wish me luck!