California!

All these pics are from Lizzie's blog- we didn't take pictures because we don't have a camera, so anything on our blog will be from Lizzie or Patty. So, sorry if these are repeats for you!



Well...sadly, we are home again. We woke up, left at 7am- it was 60 degrees outside, and when I got inside my home, it was 46 degrees. Then this morning it was definitely 30's outside. What a change. I think we were more cold in church today simply because we've been in warm weather all week!

Where to start. It was wonderful! The kids loved Clay's family and both Tanner and Kate were OBSESSED with Clay. Saturday morning, Tanner was hanging out with us while we were getting ready to leave and I said, "I'm going to miss you Tanner!" and he pointed at Clay and said, "I'm going to miss Clay". Oh dear.

It was so great to just relax, shop, hot-tub, bake, and spend time with Lizzie and her family. Clay's parents were great- we didn't have to pay for a thing and they totally spoiled us. They were so nice and it was so fun to spend the week with them as well. We saw twilight and I will give my review...now! I really really liked it. I really really want to see it again- I think I had mixed expectations, and for me- the first time I see a movie that I have been waiting to see forever, is always a little dissappointing. This wasn't nearly as much as the Harry Potter's, but I am so excited to see it again because I can tell I will love it, now that I see all that was left out and stuff. There were a few things I thought were absolutely perfect:

1)The Cullens. I LOVED THEM! A few points:

• When I saw pics of Jasper before the movie was out, I thought- ech. Couldn't they have improved on that one? But his acting was AWESOME! He was perfectly serious and torn by feeling all the emotions of everyone around them.
• Alice was amazing- I think my favorite part of the entire movie was when she was pitching in the baseball game. Who else would do a perfect high kick every pitch other than Alice Cullen? And she was so cute, of course. I can't wait to see more from her in the upcoming sequels.
• Carlisle? Hello- perfect moment when he walked in Bella's hospital room. I loved it.
• Esme- so motherly- so loving, I loved her in the scene where Bella first met the family at their home- she was so happy, so true to the book.
• Rosalie- so many people thought- oh she wasn't pretty enought, but I thought she was great! I'm guessing it was hard to find drop dead gorgeous models to play in this small upcoming film. She was dead on with the character. I loved, loved, LOVED her scene when Bella came to the house and wasn't hungry. Perfect.
• Emmet- there wasn't much of him so I dont' know completely. But what I did see, I liked.
• Overall- Cullens couldn't have been better in my opinion. LOVED THEM!

2) Edward and Bella. Edward was way cool, so was bella. Because they were the main characters, of course I was more nitpicky, but I still really like them and will soon love them I'm sure. I thougth Edward's opening scene where he first talked to bella with a simple, "hello"- was perfect. So old-fashioned, so edward.
3) Random actors like Jessica, Mike, Charlie- you know, the human ones, were all way cool. Played their parts perfectly in my opinion.
4) Overall, great film. So excited for New Moon (which has been comfirmed to be made).


Well back to California. If you read my sister, Lizzie's blog, you'll know this- but if not, you should know- we were at the local Zoo and just so happened to run into Kate Hudson and her kid! And some random other people who were probably her family or whatever, but she was standing right next to us! I saw her, thought she looked just like Kate Hudson, then she spoke, and she has a very distinct voice, so I turned to Makayla and at the very same instant we were like- it's Kate Hudson!!! Then I told Lizzie, so of course she told Kate, "You are so cute," and Kate said, "Thank you!" and Lizzie said, "Have a nice weekend!", kate:"You too"...end scene. Then Patty was further behind us, so didn't see any of that- and she is standing two feet from Kate, finally realizes who it is, and stares wide eyed and jaw dropped. It was so funny- us girls were absolute dorks. Anyway- you should also know, my sophisticated husband...while this was all going on, kept turning me around, AWAY from Kate Hudson, to point out to me the big penus a zebra had. Nice. He kept saying, "Hun, look at that zebras thing, it's huge!" I never saw it because I kept saying, stop it! Kate Hudson is right there! He was embarrassed of us I think. Anyway- it was way cool. She was way nice, seemed way down to earth and cool. Blended well. She looked nothing like the pic above. She had a ponytail, big sunglasses that covered half her face, boots, a huge shirt...if you even care...

Anyway, thanksgiving was a blast. Lizzie had the table decorated so beautiful. The food was wonderful and we just had a ball.

Now that I'm home, I have a ton of stuff to do. I really did no homework over the break and I will pay for it this week! Why am I blogging? I am a professional procrastinator.

We're back, and cold, and ready to be done with school in two weeks! Love you all!!!!!!!!

The Library.....

well, the library isn't that fun. I sit here and I try to work on my stupid spreadsheets class assignment and...oh! I don't know how to do it.

What's new.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of cookies I want to make, things I want to sew, and how cold my hands are. My body isn't cold, but my hands are. What do I do about that? Put on gloves while I'm typing? I think not.

So I've been talking to me papa lately about CPA requirements. Well, I just realized I haven't announced our new plans. Ha...oh well. Anyway- we are pretty sure that we will end up staying one more semester in good ol' Rexburg. Meaning- Clay will be done in July. WELL, I was originally going to be done in April, but Crandall & Oseen, the company I worked for last tax season, called and offered me a job for this next tax season! They offered me more money and everything! So anyway- since Clay won't be done until July, I could just put off my last semester, work the tax season, and graduate in July when Clay is done! It is actually quite perfect because I would've had to get a job in May anyway, while I'm waiting for Clay, but this is perfect because it's a good job that I'm already trained in, and its' definite that I will have a job! So back to the CPA requirements. Well, I guess I didn't realize I would be working another tax season, but because of that- that will cause me to have 6 full months of experience in the accounting field. To become a CPA, you need to have 150 college credits, and 1 year of accounting experience under a CPA, and of course- pass the CPA exam. Well...I kind of always thought of 150 hours as getting a masters degree which does NOT sound fun to me. That is like- a whole year more of school at the least. Well, turns out- I don't think I really need to get a masters. I will only need 22 more credits after I graduate to hit 150, meaning...I could really just take independent study ones from BYU or something after I graduate...WHILE I'm working, finishing up my experience requirement...and I could probably be a CPA within 7 months of graduation (if I got a job right away). This is of course- if I actually passed the exam.....WHICH is really scary sounding...quite honestly. Anyway- I'm definitely considering it much more than I was before. I know that was probably really boring to everyone except maybe...my dad...but, oh well.

We are going to Lizzie and Shad's house with Clay's family for thanksgiving week. We are SO excited! It will be such a nice vacation for Clay's family I think. They haven't been down there before and I think they will really like it. I am soooo excited to see the kids and spend time with Lizzie! AND, of course- not be cold.

I am so excited to see Twilight........................I am seeing it when we are at Lizzies. I hope we see it on Monday(we leave saturday for Lizzies- the day after the movie comes out) because I am SO anxious! I also am so excited to see HSM3 when it comes to the cheap seats. If only it was there already!

Well........I'm going to go find Clay and tell him we should eat dinner. We have this event we are required to go to because BYU-Idaho makes everyone go to so many fine arts events in order to graduate. Something about expanding our culture. Whatever. Tonight is: Extravadance! Hopefully it's good. We have to dress up in Sunday clothes for it (shirt and tie for Clay). Clay was going on and on about how it's not fair for him to have to dress up because people who aren't going for the requirement don't have to dress up. (They scan your ID card so that the school knows you've gone- but they won't scan if you're not dressed right, but you can still go in- just not get credit) So anyway, he went off talking about equal rights and how he has none. ha. Silly boy. Do your husbands whine and grine when they have to wear a tie? I always tell him he has to get used it because he'll be wearing one daily once he gets into the workplace.

Well, things are good. We are incredibly blessed- we realize more and more each day how everything is just set up perfectly for us- even when we think we are being given a trial, it really turns out to be a blessing!

Overall in a nutshell......our house is awesome.......Rexburg is cold.....school is hard.....I'm obsessed with chocolate chip cookies lately.....Clay is sick but on the road up.....I can't wait for thanksgiving and christmas break......annnnnnnd that's it! Love you all!

OH.........Harry Potter........

wow.........................I CAN'T WAIT! I guess this preview will be on the big screen with the twilight movie. WHY did they HAVE to move the movie to JULY!?!?! It looks so good! This preview alone has caused Clay and I to decide to have a Harry Potter marathon.

Easy OREO Truffles

PREP TIME: 30 min TOTAL TIME: 1 hr 30 min SERVINGS: 42

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

---------------------------------------------------------------------
MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Back step...Etsy...no go

Yeah....so I know this is crazy- just the past million posts I've done have been ALL about my excitement for etsy right? Well- I don't know what happened, but I just woke up the other day...and thought...I don't really want to do it anymore. I was like- what?! You don't?! You were so excited! But I really am just not feelin it anymore...I still think Etsy is AWESOME- I will probably shop there whenever I get the chance, but I just don't know about being a seller anymore. I looked it up on this list they've made- the top sellers, and basically every top seller was a "supplier"- meaning, they supplied fabric, beads, chains, thread, etc. There were barely ANY hand-made sellers on the top list. So I am really just feeling like it's WAY unlikely that I'd be successful, and I just don't really think I'm up for it right now. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get in that boost again- but I don't know. Then since I was so confused at my U-turn change of mind, I even prayed about it. I still don't feel good about it. So...there's my answer. Halt on the Etsy project! It's cool though- I have my serger, and am loving it! I haven't had a chance to sew that much yet though because I've still been trying to finish moving everything out of boxes and into real places in our house. But I am still loving sewing and excited to try and make more homemade things. Yep...STILL passionate about sewing- just not selling. Anyway............

We went to our new ward today. It's a family ward, LOTS of little kids, LOTS of teenagers, LOTS of people of ALL ages. Huge ward. Anyway, it was fun- people welcomed us. I met the daughter of my hardest accounting teacher. I hope I get a calling soon. I know a lot of people are like...ohhhhhhhhhh rest while you can! or- I wish I didn't have a calling- or whatever. But....I guess I just never really feel like I belong until I have a calling. Also- they have this awesome enrichment this week- cooking with grains and sprouts or something like that- I was way pumped, until they said it was thursday MORNING! at 9am! What the heck! They better not have all their enrichments like that- I would never get to go! They are also having an apron enrichment sometime soon. Isn't that cool? I like their enrichment committee already. It's funny- until today, since we've lived in our house, we have been feeling like we are kind of all alone, don't have to worry about anything cause we dont' know anyone- and all of a sudden we feel like everyone's watching us! Just because our whole ward lives around us you know? It's hard to explain.

In my sewing class we've been making a button up, collared, darted blouse. I will probably be done this tuesday. I'm super excited. It looks awesome. Clay said I should make 15 more! haha. It has little puff sleeves. I love it! I also feel super cool because I made it- you know? I would take a picture, but we don't have a camera. Lovely!!! I think I'm going to just ask for money for christmas so I can get a nice camera.

Well........that's about it! Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Voted...renting...

Well, Clay and I voted today, and I must say- I feel great about it! I just loved going and doing my duty.

Clay and I have decided we simply HATE being renters. We are so stinking excited to have enough money to buy our own home. Our house is fine, our landlord is fine, it's just.......................this is the 3rd place we've lived so we've come to realize that this is just how landlords around here are I guess. When they need to do something, they knock, open the door and say, "hello?" while sticking their head in. LIKE that does any good. So anyway- they feel like they can come in your house whenever they want. Next, we are just sick of having to wait on landlords to do things. When we have our own house, we will hire people and get it done on OUR time table. UGH- so our landlord is redoing our siding of our shower right? Well, we are THRILLED that he has been fixing everything up because that means he's a good lanlord that cares about us living decently right? Well, we have lived here 4 days now, and we wont have a shower until tomorrow. (for your info- we have coincedentally been to Clay's parents house the past 2 days, so that is where we've been showering.) So lastly, managers/lanlords just don't care about you OR your stuff. In our first apartment, we found blood on our bathroom floor once, when we knew neither of us had bled. Come to find out, the manager had been in our apartment to change something on the heater or something. Our second apartment, they brake our plunger and leave it there without saying anything or replacing it. This place, the lanlord took Clay's speaker off of the cynder block it was on, took the cynder block, and used it to help with the shower. Did he ask? No. We came home to find them where they were- in the shower. Clay's speakers on the ground. Clay was FURIOUS! by the way. I mean, that is expensive stuff, and they feel like they can just take whatever they want from our place and use it for whatever they want. The point is- this kind of stuff has happened at EVERY PLACE WE'VE LIVED since we've been married! What is the common factor we want to avoid? RENTING! UGH- We are so excited to live in our own house. Maybe this is an Idaho thing- who knows. I'm just hoping once the shower is done we will never see our lanlord again. He's fine- 10 TIMES BETTER than our last one, but it's just- don't they realize this is our home? We aren't just random objects that don't have minds or lives. We do go to the bathroom, or get dressed, or do things that you wouldn't want people walking in on. We do have belongings that we don't want to be touched. I think that owners around here just look at students like little objects that don't really exist like they do.

Anyway....you all probably think that we are the biggest whiners in the universe. We really aren't. It's just that these things really happen. Would you want them to happen to you? Maybe they do happen to you! I don't know. Oh well.

On a good note, they did tell us we could bathe. Lovely. Like I'm a child that loves to soak in my dirt.

On a sincere good note, I get my serger tomorrow! YAY!

Moved In

Well, all our stuff is moved in, our key from our old place is turned in, and I filled out a change of address form. YAY! We still have a ton to sort through...so the places is kind of messy- NOT NEARLY as messy as our past two apt's when we moved because this place has so many places to put things! We love it! I must say- every part of my body is sore! Feet...back...legs...arms...bum...But the point is- I don't hear any baby cryin next door, heels stomping away upstairs, grossness from the other next door, or the sound of water running- telling us " CRAP! GET IN THE SHOWER NOW! IT WILL BE COLD IN SECONDS!" Nope- we don't hear ANY of that!

So a TON of people came to help us. We were so blessed. Clay's family, of course- they are amazing workers. Then 2 of our neighbors, and I think 5 people from our ward all came to help. It made it a lot easier than last time. However- remember how I said, we don't have too much stuff? I WAS WRONG! We have so much stuff it's insane. I'm sure it's nothing compared to those with houses. Anyway- Clay's dad, the handy guy he is, noticed there was an antenna ontop of the roof, went down to the basement, then the side of the house, and him and Clay somehow figured out how to get us tv! Yeah, it's only like 4 channells and 1 of them (abc) is really crappy- BUT we seriously, seriously, feel like we've died and gone to heaven. Sad, right? But it's true. We were just so happy that we not only have an awesome house to live in, but tv too!

That's pretty much all I have to say for now. Pictures to come. I really want people to visit now...so come on over to idaho and visit us! You can sleep in your own room if you want:) However, it will either be with the turtles (they have cages and stuff) OR with my sewing machines:)

LOVE YA!