Videos

How many of you did it not work for? If the videos didn't work, I will just take photos of the apt. Let me know!

Note on videos

So I don't know what happened with the double video thing. Anyway- just play them! The last video is the same as the first so don't waste your time. Also, mute paris hilton for a second because I talk in my videos. It's really not a big deal so...whatever. Anyway- There is also a post under the videos that is new too. Don't miss it!

Apartment Video's

New Apartement and Idaho International Folk Dance Festival!

SO- today was a big day! I finally got all pictures and decor up and made my curtains and put THEM up. The curtains were a HUGE project simply because the wall that our window is on, is pretty much made of brick! So basically if you look closely the rod is a little to the right of the center of the window. Why? Because I made a billion holes in the wall until I found 3 spots that nails would go in far enough to keep the rod up. It was a nightmare. , it works alright I think. The pictures and videos of course don't do anything justice. I love my curtains, they don't look that amazing in the pictures but I really like them! I spent probably around 3 or 4 hours on them. Crazy huh? Just curtains. But I took careful time ironing before sewing and like measuring EVERYTHING and I really feel that they turned out beautifully! My picture collage thing is in there. I like it...I painted the frames and stuff. Anyway, I know it's not as cute as Amy's but it is still nice. For some reason I struggled with decorating this place. Patty, my mother-in-law, SPOILED us with a few house-warming gifts. She gave us the awesome rug in the living room as well as some rugs in our hallway. She is just too wonderful.

It's up to you to decide if I did a good job! If you don't like it though, don't tell me. If you DO like it, tell me!



Now, Idaho Folk Dance Festival. As I type I am listening to live country music outside my window. It is LOUD. For a few hours now there's been dancing/parade outside our apt. I guess you can tell from the pics what we see when we look out the window. It's pretty fun. There were lots of Asians and Europeans and Americans. I swear all of rexburg is on main street right now. It is PACKED! I put a pic of the street as well just to get an idea. Anyway- there are just a few pics because they were fun looking. They were all taken from our window. Love you ALL!

Today

I couldn't think of a descent post title, so I just put "Today". Hm...nice. Anyway, yesterday Clay's friend Kenny and his wife Faith visited. They live in Michigan but grew up here and visit about twice a year. We went to the river and here are a few pictures!

This is Clayton and Kenny standing in exactly the same position. I don't think either of them were aware.


This is Clayton throwing a big branch into the water. I've never understood why it is SO fun for men to throw big things in water. Kenny previously threw a huge piece of bark in the water. They were both very enthusiastic though! Faith and I were just laughing at our silly men while observing.


Lastly, here is one of Clayton and Me. The snake river is pretty by the "falls". I like it there.

I think I look slightly pregnant right there...I've decided it must've been the wind or something because that is the one shirt like that where I feel confident I DON'T look pregnant. Oh well...just know that I'm not.

As for an update: Today I went to DI. I was motivated from Amy's amazing shopping trip and decided to give it a go. Clayton and I had decided that I really did need a pair of jeans because all of mine were too tight or too short or both. So we thought it would be fine if I got some at american eagle or something on sale. Well, I got to DI and found 3 pairs of jeans that fit me and I liked! They will sound like a fortune compared to Amy's 99cent deals. BUT I got 3 pairs of jeans, and a jean skirt that is long to my ankles ALL for under $20. So basically I spent what i was planning for the jeans, but got 4 times what I was expecting. I am WAY jazzed about it. I DO wish that we had Value Village deals though.

I am going to go pick up my pictures from Walmart in a few minutes and then I can finally hang up my frames! My apartment will then be SOOOO close to being picture-worthy. I might even get some up tonight or tomorrow morning for you all.

Alright, have a good day everyone. I love you!

Just a look at what we've been up to!

This is Amy Conger and I. Amy is a girl from my old ward. She is obsessive about Harry Potter, so we met up at barnes and noble! I know the glasses aren't really right, since they are white, but....obviously the were trying to save money! Harry potter was WONDERFUL! Oh my goodness I LOVED ITTTTTTTT!! The night was fun. We got the book by 12:12 am. It was perfect!

These next pics are from the Phillipp Family Reunion. It was on Saturday, and as you can see...I was a little distracted!!! This picture was taken with my camera and I wasn't even aware. Too into Harry!
This is Clay's family. Makayla is missing though:(. She was at girls camp.
Now. What I've really been up to since Harry Potter is putting together our new apartment! I don't have real pictures yet. Just a little preview. I just think this is kind of funny.
This just shows how old the place is. This little thing is in the center of one of our walls. Just randomly in the middle. You might wonder...what is it for? Kind of odd. Anyway, we asked Paul and Patty what it was when they were here and they said that in the old days they had these for telephones, and that little centimeter high space at the bottom was for phone books! Can you believe that!?!?! There's no way we could fit a phone book in there now. I suggested a ward roster. We put our cell phones on top of it....haha. You can even see the phone hook up thing below it. I just thought it was funny. You will see better pictures of the actual place within a few days!

Lastly, today I made bread! Thank goodness. We have been out for weeks. I must say, I think this is the best batch I've made yet. It is sooo delicious and homemade bread is just the best. So I took a picture to PROVE to you all that I'm not making this stuff up. I can actually make bread! Yummy.
Just one question though. When I freeze my other loaves...they aren't as yummy and don't last as long when I take them out and thaw them. Is there a special secret I don't know about that will make this better? Please let me know if there is.

Well, that's just about all I've been up to lately. Baking, decorating, reading. As of right NOW...I am actually listening to beach boys! Awesome huh? "True to your School" is the song on right now. One of my favorites!

Honestly, I can't stop thinking about Harry Potter. I keep going back to the book and rereading parts. I LOVED IT! I am going to start reading "Culture Warrior" by Bill O'Reiley next. I am excited.

Well, thanks for holding out all that stayed this long...This is a LONG post! Oh well...I love you all soooo much! Have a good day! :-)

Finished

The epic adventures of Harry Potter have finished! Oh my. The book was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Oh how I loved it. Like mother, I will not spoil anything for fear of a reader who hasn't finished. If you haven't finished...HOW DARE YOU be looking on the internet before your done!!! All I can say is JK Rowling is brilliant. Never ceases to amaze me. Ya gotta love her.

Now that I've finished Harry Potter, I truly feel like it's summer. Exciting.

I like that two members of my family hesitated and thought for a mere moment that I thought Harry was a death eater. hehehe.

Well! I love you all. By the way I got an A in statistics, meaning I gained the GPA needed to keep my scholarship! Thank goodness. I was banking on that money. I love BYU-I.

I love you all so much, really-I do. I am so excited to see everyone...whenever that may be!

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you heard it. Tonight is the night. At 12:01, I will be fighting to get my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book. I am sooooo excited! Patty and Paul went to Barnes and Noble this morning and got us in the A group, which is the first hundred people that get their books...and we get in at 11:30!!! Oh my. I am so excited I think today will go by slowly. I will have a distraction tonight though. We are being treated to a place called Mystique. It is a dinner and show type deal. The show is Beauty and the Beast! That will be fun too. Oh man. Tonight is just full of excitement!

For the record, I am putting my predictions like lizzie did about harry potter:

-Snape is GOOD GOOD GOOD! Though, I could see us not truly finding out until the last chapter or so if he is truly good or bad.
-Harry is REALLY a death eater
-haha... just a joke.
-Harry and Voldemort will die. BUT, it will be so happy because he will see his family again and well, JK Rowling will make it wonderful.
-Neville will die.
-Ron and Hermione will have a huge fight (as always) and make up by snogging and expressing their undying love for each other.

Oh MY, I am so excited! Amy, you seriously need to start reading them. They are amazing.

In case you all didn't catch on...I am DONE WITH SCHOOL! Until september at least. Summer semester is over! Thank goodness. I don't know that I could've taken any more. I know 3 of my grades so far. B+, A, A. The last grade I'm waiting on, I know I got an A on the final, but that I'm not sure if it will be an A in the class. I hope. We'll see.

Our apartment is slowly coming along. We don't have cable...or the possibility for cable. There isn't even cable hookups. Or ethernet hookups. I'm starting to realize how much we actually watch TV because so many times already we've sat infront of the tv and wished we'd had cable. Instead we turn on Gilmore Girls because we have that on dvd....we've gone through like 2 disks already! All that watching wasn't just on the couch though, we had it on while we were putting the apartment together and stuff. Anywayyyyyyy....we don't have blinds either. So, as soon as this place is put together, I am making curtains because I don't really like the idea of people seeing me undress at night. I'm sure you would all feel the same way.

We don't really have any food because I haven't gone grocery shopping forever. So I don't know what to eat for breakfast. I don't want to go grocery shopping either because I've already had to go up and down stairs so many times I don't want to have to do it again. I think I'll wait till next week.

WELL, now that I've bored you with my exciting life...I am going to go find some food and shower (I need it considering I've been sweating strait for 48 hours while moving)

LOVE YOU ALL!!! ENJOY HARRY POTTER!!!!

MOVED!

Holy smokes. I've decided that we are living in this apartment the rest of our lives. I just can't bear moving again! And to think, I have only lived in an apartment, and only been married for just over a year...meaning, we can't have THAT much stuff. Still, my feet were aching worse than ever by the end of the day, my face was on fire the ENTIRE day, and now I have to sort through everything. Honestly though, I think it will be fun to actually put everything away. It was just the moving part. I was hoping my feet would feel better by today...BUT they don't. Also, my right buttock is sore. Not my left one, just my right one. There are 27 stairs up to our new apartment. Our old apartment is also on the second floor. Today I must go back to the old apartment and clean the entire thing. I am just hoping some girls will help me, as I've helped people clean their apartments. It shouldn't be too hard considering it's completely empty. I must say one thing though about this experience. Clayton's Mom and Dad- Patty and Paul, helped move everything. I'm not exaggerating when I say they are the most hard working people I've ever seen in my life! They came, started working, QUICKLY, by the way, and didn't stop for breath once. Never complained either. I don't know what we would've done without them! They were amazing.

So, once the place is fixed up, I will video it for you guys and post it so everyone can see our new place. It is going to look awesome. I can't wait!

I must admit though...I am more excited about something else at the moment. HARRY POTTER! Only like 2 days and I'll be reading it. That is going to be wonderful. I can hardly wait.
Love you all!

Addition to the blog!

So, I am sure you all noticed our new addition. Clayton made it. I kind of helped once I figured out what he was doing...but when I get time I am going to play with it and add more pictures. Cool huh? I like it. I know it's kind of cheesy that I have the recently jail-free Paris Hilton as our song...but out of the selection, that was the happiest and most lovy dovy one. AND....I kind of like it! hehehe...Anyway, Love ya! Today we are moving to our new apartment. I already feel tired.

ATTENTION HARRY POTTER MIDNIGHT GOERS

Alright. I just wanted to let EVERYONE know, in case they didn't know. If you are going to barnes and noble book store at midnight to get harry potter, go when they open the store on the 2oth, to get a bracelet for you and anyone else who is going at midnight. They are supposedly calling people by number by the bracelets to get their books. SO if you go get your bracelet when the doors open, you will most likely be near the first people to get the book at midnight! It sounds kind of fishy...I am sure number 60 and number 1 will get their book at the same time...but who knows. I guess it will make it flow better. I can't wait!!!

Take the Quiz! It's rather difficult. Go to www.strangegirl.com/austenquiz

By the way, I think it's kind of weird that I am Elinor Dashwood. I was honest with the test though...

Pretty Good Day

Well, today we saw harry potter and the order of the pheonix! I must say, it was rather good. By far the best out of the 5 movies. The acting was better, special effects were fun, emotionals played a big role. I want to see it again. Not for a while though...we can only afford the big theater for life changing experiences, such as this.

Today is also a good day because...cookies are in the oven as i type! Yes...my weekly treat. I made white chip chocolate cookies. These have become my favorite cookies. I have made them so many times, I have them down to an art. They are one of Clay's favorites as well. They are just so scrumptious, I don't know how anyone could not love them.

Well, that is all. LOVE YA!

Update

I figured I'd give a bit of an update today.

As of tomorrow, classes are officially over! I am done with homework and chapter tests...all I have left are 2 classes tomorrow, a group presentation on Employee Motivation in one of those classes...and 3 finals. I AM SO HAPPY! I think I will do pretty well in all my finals as well. I am not worried. Accounting has been going swell, Statistics...good enough, and Business Communications, well...I hope I have enough common sense to get the right answers. Our teacher wont tell us really what the final is covering. She says...well, I don't know. Note that she says this with an evil smile. We haven't had one test in this class yet, and this final test is 15% of our grade...so we are kind of wondering what her tests are like. She doesn't think it important to tell us. Whoopee.

Clay and I are desperately excited to move. It's all I can think about. The other thing I am most excited about at the moment is Harry Potter! The movie, which I am seeing on friday, and the BOOK!!!!!!!!!! Oh goodness.

Last update: I have decided to cut back on treats. One treat a week...only enough for one serving. For example: 3 cookies each type of thing. I haven't had a treat since saturday night! Sadly, that is quite an accomplishing thing for me. I'm not finding it that hard, honestly. I have actually found it quite easy. BUT, I still desire treats. In fact I wish I could have one right now. I mustn't though.

Alright. Thats all. I love you!

WHERE ARE ALL THE POSTS?

SO, I've been noticing that there has been kind of a dry spell with the family's posting. No one is really doing it. I suppose we are all busy...Clay and I have been a bit busy. I decided to break the spell and post.

I have been in a bit of a rut. I have been moody for days...one minute up, one minute down. I hate it. I was telling Clay this, and he says I am just stressed. I replied that if I was stressed I would be more motivated to read my accounting chapter and do my homework...(i planned on doing that today and just kept procrastinating it and never did it). He said that when you are stressed, it is hard to do anything. I suppose he is right. I think the whole moving thing is on my mind all the time, as well as finals and keeping my scholarship, also it is so dang hot all the time which makes me soooo not motivated to cook or bake. Also, my hair is just gross...my bangs are grown out to the point that they don't really work as cute bangs, but aren't as long as my normal hair...so they are just in the way and I feel not very cute. I would get it cut or something, but I feel that I should be patient and wait until August for Megan to cut it.

Because of these stresses, I have decided to not worry about Harry Potter. I am no longer hurrying to read 5 and 6 before 7. I have read each twice before now, and so I know the books pretty well...I just kind of wanted to read them before. But, I figured I have other things that need to be done besides that, and that I will most likely be just fine without rereading them once again. I am very excited though. AH, bad news though...Clay's family reunion is the 21st. The day it comes out. So...I will only get to read some of it that day. Bummer...oh well. I suppose family IS more important than harry potter :-)

Today we went swimming at this business in town. It is a business where there's tons of stuff for the employees to use. Our friend did construction on the building so he gets a key and gets to use the stuff. So we all went swimming and had the whole pool and hot tub to ourselves for like 2 hours. It was wonderful. Clay had a blast.

Lastly, I think I have officially decided that sewing clothes is not for me. I always start a clothes project and stop for a few months. Try to pick it up and stop for a few more months. It never gets done and I am not very motivated to do it. I love to make pillows or other decorations around the house. I LOVE that. Clothes just are not as easy for me. Maybe I'll take a class one day and be more motivated.

Love you all. Sorry if this was boring.

Moving!

SO- just to clarify, we AREN'T moving to the place I talked about earlier. It turned out to be not what we thought, as well as no openings. That's good though because now we have come upon this place!

So we are moving to a place that is above some shops on main street. There are 6 apartments above the shops, and the building is like...95 years old. Literally. It is a one bedroom apt. There are some quirky things about the apt...because it is so old, but the second we walked in we felt good about it, and felt at home. The family room has a hard wood floor...and is pretty spacious. The bedroom is smaller, and the closet in the bedroom is smaller, and in the kitchen....there is no dishwasher! We figure it doesn't really matter because our dishwasher here doesn't work much anyway. The bathroom sink was dripping a bit when we saw it...anyway, I know you are all thinking...is Danielle moving to the ghetto? Ha, it sounds bad but we actually are way excited.

Here's the awesome part about it: Rent is $385 a month. This includes high-speed internet, and all utilities but electric. They pay for heat though, so the electricity is around $10 a month. We calculated it out, and we are pretty sure we will be saving $100 a month!

OH YEAH. Here's the other thing. Because it is an old building...they don't care what you do to the place. If we wanted, we could paint the walls! I don't know that we ever will paint the walls, but I love the fact that we can. SO...we are moving in 2 weeks! I can't wait. There are positives and negatives towards the move, but overall we feel the positives outweigh the negatives.

By the way, the location is AMAZING. It is one block from clays work so he can walk. It is one block from the grocery store. It is closer to campus. It is all around perfect location.

Today we watched 'The family stone'. It was edited, so if you get it normal don't blame me for bad things...we really liked it! I did anyway, i think clay did too.

WELL...I love you! That is all I have to update for today. Happy early 4th! I love America.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! THE NEWS IS ON AND I JUST FOUND OUT THE LATEST NEWS: Spice Girls are going on a reunion tour! I told Clay we have to go...he said no.

Hehe. I loved Clay's post. It's funny because when I was done talking to Amy, I came out and he had a funny look on his face. I sat down and he said, 'These didn't taste good'. I ask, 'why?' He says, 'I don't know I think there was something wrong with the beans'. I asked if they had mold..he says no..i ask if the cheese was moldy.. he said, 'oh...I didn't think to look...' I asked if he wanted me to make him something else, and he said he was full, but wanted food...but didn't think he could eat, so he ended up just leaving his stomach with icky burritos.

So, Clay and I have been suffering all weekend to horrific sunburns. I thought we hadn't gotten them bad, but after a few hours back from the lake, we were hurting. It's the type of burn where every movement almost makes you cry. I told clay numerous of times that he is lucky he doesn't have to wear a bra. Anyway, I am happy to report, today they are...BETTER! Still a little pain, but way better than the past few days.

I started painting my frames! It's kind of funny because I asked for all your opinions on which color to paint them, and all of you said blue or green. I picked brown. It's just what I feel most comfortable with and what I think would look best. I love the green and blue idea, but I just don't think it's quite me. I will take a picture once I'm done with them though.

We are thinking of moving apartements. This couple we know is moving into a quadplex...don't know if thats the real name, but its like a duplex, but four. So anyway, it is a two bedroom apt for 400 a month! They claim it's spacious (the kitchen is a little smaller, we'll see how I like it) and there's lots of storage space and it basically sounds amazing to me. We'd be saving at least like $50 a month staying there. This place has free cable...and that doesn't, but we decided...we don't really need it; I actually would rather have it that way. So anyway, we are going to check it out and see if we want to move, and if there are any openings. We are also thinking of switching to a landline and cutting off my cell phone. I would of course, get that thing some of you have where you pay a few bucks each month and can call eachother for free? I don't know the name..but I would do that. The rest of you could just call me :-)

8 days left of classes. 3 days of finals. HOORAY. Love you and miss you all!

Blogging, how hard could it be?

So I decided to go blogging today. I have never done it before and it wasn't anything like what I was expecting. I realized during my adventure that you really learn a lot about those who go blogging. I thought it would be different and I was nervous after reading the blogs of others. The passion in Elizabeth's story of permanent teeth marks, the thrill in Greg's camping trip, the love I saw in Steve's eyes with his goat, and lastly Amy's breath taking story of her 2:00am struggles. All are so exciting and fun to read, I said to myself "why would anyone find you fun to read?" But I am going to be a blogger anyways. I guess I will take after my wife Danielle she is an expert blogger. She goes like every day! In her blogs she usually gives a detailed description of some event that has recently happened. Well the most recent event I can think of is the lunch i just had. We came home from church today, and today is fast Sunday by the way, and normally Danielle makes us something exquisite, but today she was on the phone with her sister Amy. So I was left to figure out lunch by myself... this however is not easy you see, I am no cook. My options were slim, it was either a sandwich or bean and cheese burritos. Naturally I went with the burritos but when I went to cook the beans they looked funny and kinda had a smell. So I decided to give them a little run through the microwave and see if they still had a smell. After a time, they seemed okay, so I prepared my meal. I then proceeded to eat the burritos, they were not very good but I was hungry from fasting so I couldn't stop eating. I just sat there by myself eating and thinking "why am I eating these, they are gross." I guess I don't really have a good blogging story... but you get the point and hey I'm new, so its okay, I think? Well I am now a blogger and I just wanted to tell everyone that I enjoy your blogging stories a lot. They really have helped me feel like I know more about each of you and it has been nice! I will go again so you might get to know more about me. Clay