The Bauers

New Career Path

2012-01-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have been completely happy with my current job but since getting my degree, I have been on the look out for anything that I would be interested in that paid more than what I make currently. I happened to come across a job opening for Jordan School District. I thought it would be fun to apply and just see if anything came of it. After a few days, I got a call to go and interview. During the interview they let me know that this would be a new position that would back up their current HR secretary as well as work with them to start up their paperless system this year. I am sad to be leaving MACU and will be even more sad to leave all the people I work with but I am excited to see what is to come with this new opportunity!

Birthday Festivities Continued

2012-01-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time celebrating my birthday with some of our friends. We went to Red Robin with the Booths and the Whitecars. Afterwards, we came back to our house and we played Call of Duty with the Whitecars. It was so much fun and I am slowly getting better and better at playing. On Sunday, we had Allen's family over to have cake and ice cream. Celeste and her kiddos came over and had dinner with us before everyone came over. After dinner we did cake and ice cream and watched some football. It was a great birthday weekend!

Britt's 24!

2012-01-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my 24th birthday! I can't believe it!!! I had a great day celebrating with my family. I had to work which was not the best way to celebrate but we did have Dunford donuts so that made it bearable. After work I rushed home to pick up Allen so we could meet up with my family to go to dinner. Right when I walked into the kitchen, Allen popped out with two dozen pink and red roses and a present! I was totally not expecting that since we had ordered me a new camera for my birthday earlier that day. The roses are beautiful and the present was full of chocolate oranges that he bought clear back around Christmas because he knows how much I love them! We then went to my parents house and we all headed over to Goodwood BBQ. I love their pulled pork sandwiches! Ky got me a kindle cover and my parents got me some jeans, shirts and new black boots that I can wear to work! It was a great birthday! Today, Allen had school and I spent the morning cleaning up our house because Allen had invited the Whitecar's and Booth's over tonight for dinner and games. It was supposed to be a surprise birthday get together but I found out. When Allen got home we went to the store to buy a cake mix for tonight and some treats to share. So now we are going to play Call of Duty and enjoy our clean house, new clothes (just me on this one), muddy dogs (the joys of no grass in the backyard) and extra Dunford donuts until we meet up at Red Robin with our friends. I think this has been one of those birthdays that I will definitely enjoy :)

Fun pics and videos of Mercedes

2012-01-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

She stood here watching the snow for forever!

Finally she decided to sit and watch it.

She hardly ever barks but Diesel barks at everything. Diesel was barking at the door but hiding under the table and Sades decided to join in. Her way of barking is a little woof that sounds like a cough instead of a bark haha.

We let Diesel outside to run around in the snow. She was not happy that she was left behind. Maybe she will learn not to run in the road one day.

Crazy week

2012-01-19T10:54:00.001-07:00

This week had been full of family get togethers. Matthew had his mission farewell on Sunday and he did great! We spent Monday and Tuesday night at the Bauer's so Allen could have some time with Matthew before he leaves. Wednesday was an emotional day. Allen took work off so he could go with his family to drop Matthew off at the MTC. I had to work so Allen just text me all morning so I felt included. We are so proud of Matthew and know he will be an awesome missionary! Allen has had a rough few days missing him and reminiscing on his mission but we are all glad he made this decision.

PS I'm going to be 24 tomorrow!!!! Crazy!!

Guilt

2012-01-12T20:28:00.004-07:00

So not being in school is really messing me up. My normal routine after work was feel guilty for doing laundry/cleaning when I should be doing homework or feeling stressed while doing homework and thinking about all the laundry/cleaning I needed to do. Now that I do not have homework to think about or do, I still feel some anxiety when I am doing anything else around the house. Being able to come home from work and have the option of sitting here and doing absolutely nothing is new to me. I am loving it but at the same time I stress the whole time that I should be doing something else even though there is nothing for me to do! I'm just hoping that this will go away soon and I will be able to enjoy doing nothing :) Here is my first accomplishment since being graduated.

Not a single item of dirty clothes left besides the ones we were wearing :)

Simple but so much happiness came from this accomplishment. I don't think that has happened since we got married. I love being able to check things off my list of To Do's!

The Adventures of Diesel and Mercedes

2012-01-12T19:38:00.003-07:00

Don't they look so innocent and cute??? Well today they both decided to have a little fun while me and Allen were at work. What kind of fun you ask.... Well, lets just say they found out how to collapse their kennel and escape and they had the freedom of our entire basement all day long. Here are some pics of their "party".

Insulation, wreaths and Christmas ornaments shredded and shattered.

Remains of my "decor corner" of the basement.

Needless to say, they are grounded. No toys in their kennel tonight and we have added a little extra sturdiness to their kennel. These little ones are definitely preparing us for toddlers and teenagers I believe. I only felt a little less angry after I saw what this lady had to deal with.

Hope everyone's night is going much better than ours is :)

2012!

2012-01-01T20:23:00.003-07:00

Wow! Where did 2011 go?? It has been a crazy year and I cannot believe how much has happened. Here are a few major things that we accomplished in 2011.

Allen got his first truck.
We bought our first home!
Adopted not one but TWO puppies.
Allen turned 25.
Celebrated our first Anniversary.
Brittany graduated college!!!

To say this past year has been a whirlwind would be an understatement! I found this little survey that I did for 2010 and I thought it would be fun to do the same for 2011 :)

What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
owned a dog
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never make one
Did anyone close to you give birth?
Pretty much everyone.
Did anyone close to you die? not this year :)
What countries did you visit?None.
What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
New jobs still
What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
December 15th. The day I graduated College
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my degree, buying our first house
What was your biggest failure?
Cannot think of one
Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope thank goodness! Unless you count the cold I currently have :(
What was the best thing you bought?
Our house!
Whose behavior merited celebration?
I think everyone made the best of this past year.
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Can't think of anyone
Where did most of your money go?
Buying our house
What did you get really excited about?
Our house
What song will always remind you of 2011? Don't know
Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c)richer or poorer?
Happier-about the same-poorer.. we bought a house remember!?
What do you wish you’d done more of?
Saved and managed my time better
What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing out.
Did you fall in love in 2011?
Every day :)
What was your favorite TV program?NCIS, One Tree Hill, and Criminal Minds
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of.
What was the best book you read? The only books we read were textbooks.. and I hated them all! :)
What was your greatest musical discovery?
I have no idea
What was your favorite film of this year?
Breaking Dawn (always love Twilight)
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
23/25 for my birthday we did not do much since we just got back from our honeymoon. Allen's birthday we had friends and family over to our new house.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?If we could have had the money to travel.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Work clothes and Allen pretty much wears basketball shorts and a tshirt
What kept you sane?
Chocolate!! and Allen :)
Who did you miss?
Our families.. it's hard not seeing them as much as we used to when we lived with them.
Who was the best new person you met?
The girls that I work with. I love having people in my same situation and are LDS.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. Money Management
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Bills-Bills-bills?

Final Finals!

2011-12-11T19:35:00.001-07:00

It feels weird to be able to say that this will be my last finals week EVER! I only have one more assignment left to finish and then I will be done FOREVER!!

Thanksgiving and such...

2011-12-02T19:40:00.001-07:00

So I have been a horrible blogger lately! With finals coming up, I am going to use that as my excuse! All has been well at the Bauer household. We had a great Thanksgiving with our families! We went to the Dietrich party and had fun listening to Denver. He has such a cute personality! We also went to Bountiful for the Muir party. It was fun to hang out with everyone and see how big our family has grown in the past couple years! It was also funny to see the difference in personalities from our Puggles and my grandma's Shizhu (who knows how you spell it).

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we had a Bauer family Thanksgiving/Christmas party. It was so much fun to play games and see his grandparents again! After the party his family decided to go see the lights at temple square. So me, Allen, Kirby, ValLynn, Bryant, Sarah, Matthew, Michelle, Bethany, Emmalie, Madi, Tyler, Kimberlie and Denver all walked around Temple Square and watched the Nativity. My favorite part of the night was when we went up to the visitors center and saw "The Christus". Me and Allen were holding Denver's hands and asked him if he knew who that was. He said after a few seconds of thinking, "YES! That's Jesus.... man he is TALL!!!" That made the cold and crowds all worth it! We all missed Jacob, Kaelynn, Warren, Madilyn, Celeste and Hannah though! Poor Madilyn and Hannah had the flu! (little did we know that most of the rest of the family would end up with it later that night!!)

www.lds.org

Since the holiday festivities, our lives have been full of homework, studying and trying to sneak in some fun every once in a while. One fun thing that we did was sell our couch and buy an entire new living room set from all the Black Friday sales! Finally no more target $10 coffee table!!!!! It is so nice to have more seating and actually have a nice coffee table and end tables! I was also in charge of hosting our Bunco group this week too. It was fun to show off our new furniture (even though most people wouldn't know we just got it) and catch up with friends!

Well what is coming up for our little family in the next few weeks??? Tomorrow we take Diesel to get neutered... I am super dreading that because he makes me so sad whenever we take him to the vet. More homework and studying until December 15th and I will then be done with school FOREVER!! Lastly, spending time with family and enjoying our new couches :)

Bauer Family Pics 2011

2011-11-13T20:53:00.001-07:00

Yes we are crazy...

2011-11-13T17:24:00.001-07:00

Meet Mercedes (aka Sadie)

She has stolen everyone's heart

She is Diesel's new buddy

Cutest little thing ever!

Loves to take naps

Allen is her and Diesel's favorite place to sleep

Yes, I know we are crazy to have 2 puppies at the same time but isn't she just the cutest!!?? We decided that Diesel needed a pal since we are gone all day at work. We called the couple that sold us Diesel and after a few weeks of deciding, we got this little one! We named her Mercedes but call her Sadie most of the time. She is very happy all of the time unless Diesel tries to steal her toys. She has quite the growl! She loves to be held and will lay by anyone that will let her and sleep all day if she could. She also can pound food and would probably eat all day long if we allowed it. Her and Diesel are best of friends and continually play fight and follow each other around the house all day.

Halloween!

2011-11-13T16:58:00.001-07:00

Corn Maze with the Whitecar's and Booth's

Diesel's Costume

My cupcake stand and cupcakes I made :)

Best Buds

Our family

Awesome punch I made for my work party!

Long time no blog!!! Sorry for the lack of updates but it has been a crazy few weeks! We had such a blast this Halloween! It was so fun to have our friends over for a celebration and to see all the cute trick or treaters in our neighborhood! We also went to a corn maze with Ashley and Brandon Whitecar and Ryne and Shannae Booth! They are so much fun to be with and we always laugh a ton! For my work party I was put in charge of the punch. Since a girl I work with made an awesome one last year, I asked her for the recipe so we could do it again this year. Click here for the recipe!

Videos of Diesel

2011-10-16T21:41:00.001-06:00

Thought I would add these movies so everyone can see how well he is doing now. So glad the vet said he would never use his right leg again right???!!! Can't wait to show the vet on Wednesday how awesome my puppy is! His new thing is to be our guard dog when people walk by our house or come to the door. He is also learning some new tricks like sit, lay down and shake. Shake is one of the cutest things ever! We are now working on roll over but that seems to be a harder one for him :)

I Love Fall!

2011-10-09T23:01:00.002-06:00

Fall is just a happy season for me!

Fall means...

Jackets
Fall colors
Warm foods
Family time
Home decor

These are the two things I am most proud of purchasing/making so far this season.

Toy box for Diesel's chew toys so they aren't all over my house.

Killer deal for this sign! $8!!! So in love!!!

Also quick update on Diesel's recovery. He is officially moving his right leg and walking!! He walks like a baboon right now because his left side moves faster than the right and he keeps is hips turned outward to help keep his balance but besides walking like a "creature" (as Kylie pointed out) he is back to his normal self! He is able to chase us around and play with other dogs and put up a decent fight again. He also has began being brave enough to go down our porch steps too. He has attempted going up and made it up one but face planted on the second so it might be a while longer before that will be tried again. It's so great to have him back to his normal behavior again but I am now remembering all the trouble that he managed to find and get into before. He actually escaped from his brand new kennel today too!! It was partially my fault because I didn't zip the zipper all the way so he could fit his paw through and move the zipper. Now we know that he is smart enough to use zippers and will have to tie the two ends together at night so he doesn't run crazy all night or day while we are at work ! :) What a smart puppy we have! So smart that he gets himself into trouble every day!!

He's tough!

2011-10-04T18:45:00.002-06:00

His cute new way to take a nap by me :)

Diesel has been making progress. He had a check up on Monday to let the vet see if he thought he would need pain meds or an anti inflammatory. After spending a few hours there while I was at work, the vet said that his back left leg is moving a lot better but the back right one is probably not going to move. He still has some feeling in the right leg but he hasn't started moving it at all. Good news is that he doesn't seem to be in any pain and the swelling has gone down so no meds needed. (our checking account is happy about that) Some things he has been doing is trying to stand with his back left leg. He also hops around and supports himself somewhat while he eats. At first he would drag both back legs but now the left one pushes him along and he only drags the right one. The vet said if his left one gets strong enough to support his weight he will be able to hop along just fine. If not, we might have to invest in a doggie wheelchair to keep him from dragging his legs and causing scraps and cuts to form on them. So Diesel might be getting some wheels!! :) Looks like we picked a good name for him if that is the case. We are still very hopeful for the left leg and we are working with the right one to hopefully get some movement to return. Good news is that we found an awesome play pen/kennel for him that is going to be awesome!! I am so excited for it to be delivered this week so we can see if he likes it (I love it because it will match my decor around the house and not be too ugly to have around!).

Escape Artist...Fail!

2011-10-02T14:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning Allen had a flag football game. Since it was so early he decided not to take Diesel out and would let me do it. As soon as Diesel heard the garage open he started barking. I decided I would hurry and jump in the shower and then blow dry my hair before going down to get the dog out because he is terrified of the blow dryer and just tries to attack me the whole time I am using it. After I finished blow drying my hair I realized he was still howling down there. He usually stops barking once he is sure one of us is up and has heard him. I went running down there to see what all the commotion was about and I found our poor little puppy half way out of his cage. He had somehow managed to get himself stuck in between the two ends of the cage that are held together by a clip so we can open and shut it easily. I tried to pick him up and he yelped and I could not get the clip undone to release the gate. At this point I was totally freaking out and so was the dog. He was barking so much there was drool and foam coming from his mouth. Finally I called Kylie and Allen and told them to get here ASAP. Since Allen was reffing and could not leave I called his mom to see if she could come help. Well to make a long story short, after 2 hours of brainstorming and finding something that would cut through the wire on the cage we finally got him out. After that we noticed he was in shock and would not move his back legs (that's the only part that was left in the cage the rest of him was outside the cage). We rushed him to the vet and they took him for a few hours to check him out. Finally the vet called me and said that he is wanting to take an X ray because Diesel would not move his back right leg. After the X ray the Dr said that his vertebra in his lower spine have been expanded from one another which is probably why he cannot move his leg. So now we have a poor little puppy that just wants to run around and play but is on bed rest for a few weeks and he can't really walk. His left leg is a little slow and not strong enough to support him and his right one does not move at all but he can feel when you touch it. All we can do now is wait and see if he regains movement in his legs so he can be a normal puppy again. Last night, he woke up around 2 am so Allen got up to take him outside. After that he would yelp and bark if Allen left his side. Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind of a weekend so far and a very emotional one at that! :(

Allen sleeping in the puppy's room on the air mattress all night

Meet Diesel

2011-09-18T20:57:00.001-06:00

The day we brought him home

Instant buddies :)

His first "trick" he sits on command already!

He loved outside

Sunday nap... He's lucky I didn't notice he moved off the blanket until now...

This is our newest addition to the Bauer Family: He is an 8 week old Puggle (pug/beagle mix). He is very active unless he is somewhere new. He loves attention and he's a great nap pal. If you leave him in his kennel and he hears you are moving around he will remind you that he is there by howling just like a beagle would so you can't miss it. He also loves to play fetch and pounces on anything that he can find to chew on.

How we got him: After a long deliberation and falling in love with him when we saw him on ksl.com, we decided to get a puppy. We both have wanted one but our apartment charged an arm and a leg if you had one. Now that we have a fenced yard and plenty of space for this little guy to play, we decided it was time. Allen always wanted a big dog. I'm terrified of big dogs. So Allen compromised and said we can start off with a small dog and work our way up in the future. Plus, small dogs are cheaper then big ones ;) Having a puppy is basically like having a kid I have decided. We have to watch him everywhere he goes to make sure he isn't eating something he shouldn't or digging up our carpet or peeing or pooping in the house. We have been very lucky though because he learns pretty fast. We have only had him since Tuesday and he is basically potty trained and has learned to sit on command. We have now tried to move on to new tricks like lay down and shake (little bit harder to do since he smells the treat and just sits there expecting us to hand it over). He has been such a joy to have around and he keeps us very busy!

PS: House pictures still to come.. can't find my camera charger and I am hoping to get a little more decorating done before I show everyone :)

Complete Craziness!

2011-08-28T21:08:00.000-06:00

It has been way too long since I have been able to update my blog!! We are officially homeowners!! Moving was so stressful! Both me and Allen worked the day we got the keys to our house so my mom and sister were awesome and moved a ton of stuff while we were at work. After work, we finally got to help out and got everything moved in to the house and got the necessary things like our bed and bathroom stuff put away so we could function the next couple days until we finished unpacking. Well the next week or two has all been unpacking and working on our yard to get it living again. This week we were supposed to get our internet up and running finally. I was so excited especially because school starts tomorrow. Well when we plugged everything in, it didn't work. I called Qwest and they couldn't even figure it out. So now they think something is wrong with the outside wiring and will be sending someone out tomorrow to fix it! I was so bummed that we had to wait even longer to have internet!! I have been so lost without it!! I can't check my email or anything at work besides SLCC and UVU's websites. So at least I have been able to keep up on me and Allen's schooling. Let's hope the Qwest Technician figures out the problem and fixes it soon so I can not get behind in my classes already!

Almost there!!

2011-08-07T21:54:00.000-06:00

We almost have a house! We should be able to close this week and move in this coming weekend! I am so excited! We thought we would be able to move in this weekend but the bank that we bought the house from is being slow to get back to us. Since we have to be out of our apartment Saturday morning, we asked our realtor if we could sneak in to the house and do all the cleaning we wanted to do before we can move our stuff in before Friday. We spent all Saturday morning in cleaning carpets, filling holes in the wall, washing walls and baseboards and scrubbing the crap out of the bathrooms! It was a lot of work but so much fun to be able to spend so much time there and get some things done.

Now all we have to focus on is packing up our stuff, finals and moving in over the weekend! I have never been so excited to move before in my life!! Here is the plan.. as soon as we get settled in and unpacked, we want to have a party with all of our friends and play night games at the park across the street.. so get your ideas of fun activities ready! Everyone is welcome! More pictures to come when we finally get to move in and get things situated! :)

Accepted

2011-07-19T14:53:00.002-06:00

They accepted our offer! Finally! Best day ever!! Let's hope the financing and selling our contract goes well!!! If you know of anyone looking for an apartment let us know!!

One step closer!!

2011-07-16T20:12:00.000-06:00

I passed my senior exam!!! Best day ever! It was pretty tough but I passed!!! Also, I finally went blonde again! It feels so good to be back to my normal color! Loving it! Here is a pic!

Pics

2011-07-15T21:20:00.000-06:00

People ask for pics... I deliver :)

Great counter space!!!

Family room

Master

Beautiful closet!

Love all the windows!

Another view of the kitchen

RV parking

So cute! Needs some water on the grass though :)

View of the park from the porch.

Huge park field right across the street

From the field to our house.. literally across the street!

They backed out!!!

2011-07-15T13:36:00.000-06:00

Our realtor just called me and said that all the other offers that they had on that house backed out!!! We are the only offer that they could send to the bank this morning!!! Now we just wait on the bank's decision to accept or counter our offer!!!! I'm so excited!!! Hope they accept it!!!! :) :) :)

12 hours...

2011-07-14T21:38:00.000-06:00

We placed an offer on a house in West Jordan on Monday. Sadly, they got more than just one offer that same day and decided to ask for highest and best by Friday. We decided to keep our offer the same and hope for the best. Offers have to be in by Friday at 9 AM. That is in 12 hours. I am so nervous!!! I want this house so bad!! It was a great size and across the street is the cutest little park with a huge field! It also has a ton of RV parking that Allen could not get enough of! I really felt like we had finally found the place that we will be living. Of course that means we probably won't get the house. As I have said for many posts now "every house we like we can't have". Everyone cross your fingers for us that they will accept our offer and we will be able to sell our apartment lease if we do :) Who would have thought that a 3 month lease would have so many people interested in it?! We have had 4 different couples call us about it! Oh did I mention that Allen and his family are all up camping this weekend with no cell phone service? Ya... that means if we do get this house, Allen will have no idea until Sunday!!! How will I ever survive without being able to tell him the news??!! I guess I rather surprise him with great news compared to sad news when he gets home... also, here is a big surprise that I'm trying to work up for him.. I am going to use my aunt's gift card that she gave me and get my hair did finally. I'm going back blonde since pretty much everyone has said they like my hair blonde instead. On top of that.. I'm going for a new look as well!

What do you think?? Think I can pull it off? Let's hope so since I have made up my mind!

One last comment for this blog post....

I MISS MY HUBBY :(

Frustrated

2011-07-07T13:29:00.000-06:00

Why is it that the houses we love we can't get? We have found so many houses that we want to see and it always seems that they have offers already or people are working the system so they can sell their house for cheap to a family member. It's really making house buying stressful! We have started to look more in Lehi right now. Cheaper housing plus easy access to Salt Lake and Utah County is a real plus! It opens up a lot more opportunity for both me and Allen in the future I think. Also, another frustration I have is that my one class has 4 different tests that I have had to go to the testing center to take in the past week and the rest this week or next. Who does that to us poor college seniors??? I have had no time for anything but studying and complaining to my poor hubby. Laundry is everywhere, pantry is empty, car needs gas and I can't remember the last time I actually vacuumed. This is getting ridiculous!!! I have to keep telling myself only 5 more months and I will never have to think about homework or tests again! If only I had more time to study and at the same time have the next 5 months fly by. :(

St George and another offer

2011-06-28T19:32:00.001-06:00

We finally found another house that we love!! We decided to put an offer on it that night. It has only been on the market for 6 days and already has 3 offers. The sellers are meeting tomorrow to decide on their top offer. We are hoping they pick us!! This house is amazing and everything we both want in a house! The kitchen is perfect. The picture does not do it justice! It has a huge island that could sit at least 6 people at it and has beautiful cabinets. The basement is unfinished but has been framed and they have installed a bathtub in the roughed in bathroom. It also has a great backyard and massive garage!! It's a three car garage but the third car goes back the entire length of the house so you could fit two cars just on that one side making it a 4 car garage technically. The master bedroom is huge and has the cutest bathroom and huge closet. I can't even describe how perfect this house would be for us! I am really hoping we get it!

We also got to go to St. George to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday! It was so much fun! None of us wanted to go back home!

I've never been one to wish bad things...

2011-06-07T13:32:00.000-06:00

but I'm pretty sure I can't help myself!! I want this house!!!! This house is perfect!!! 5 bedrooms 4 bathrooms. Apartment in the basement or just additional rooms for the future. RV parking, big backyard, 2 laundry rooms, his and hers closets!!! Everything me and Allen ever wanted in a house. Here is the problem. It has 2 offers on it already. Since it is a short sale, the first couple that made an offer gets a chance to accept any amount that the bank counters with. If they decline then the second couple gets too. This means that we will not likely get this house!!! :( Most depressing news ever!!!! So I have caught myself hoping that those two couples either lose their job or get hit by a bus... not normally my way of thinking! So I have decided to hope that they find another house in the meantime that they like more, or find out they are expecting and cannot afford the payment anymore or they get relocated for a better job promotion. Positive thinking but still in my favor right??? Everyone please pray that one of those things happens so we can get this house!! I love it and must have it!!!!!!!!! <3

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

2011-05-30T19:35:00.000-06:00

Packing up the truck

Playing horseshoes with the Booths

Denver loved his helmet and was always prepared to go on a 4 wheeler ride

Trying Madilyn's bike out

Allen, Denver, Emmalie and Madison

What a weekend!! We went camping and it was a lot of fun on Saturday. A little chilly but nothing that a long sleeve shirt couldn't fix. Later that day I realized I was sunburned. Also, it started raining around 5 so we were stuck in our tents for the remainder of the day. That night was crazy with wind, rain and hail but we all stayed pretty warm. The next morning we woke up and it was still raining. We all bundled up and braved the weather. Eventually the rain let up and we packed everything up and did one last 4 wheeler ride and then went home. Once we got home, we showered and then Kylie called me and informed me that Leslie and the baby were over at my parents house. I went over and I'm pretty sure I'm stealing that baby!! She is so adorable!!!! It was so great to see Les again!!! I have missed her!! Today (Monday), I woke up with a swollen face! This sunburn has my whole right side of my face all swollen to the point that I could see my cheek by just looking down. Allen was such a great husband and got me IB Profen and ice packs to put on my face to help the swelling go down. After a few hours of ice packs, the swelling went down enough that I felt okay to go out in public. We went over to his grandparents house and had lunch with his extended family. It has been a very eventful weekend. I am not looking forward to work and school starting up again tomorrow. :(

Football

2011-05-30T19:34:00.000-06:00

Allen is still having a blast playing flag football with his friends. I have done a horrible job at taking pictures because I lost my camera charger. I have finally found it and decided I should post some pictures on our blog of this team. They just got new jerseys so I will post more pictures in the future of their new look :)

Great day!

2011-05-26T13:35:00.000-06:00

Boss paid for iHop today for our department.

Got called into her office and received a promotion to Processor 3 (was currently a Processer 1)

$$$$This promotion comes with a nice raise! $$$$

Found out the house we wanted to look at today is under contract :(

Found a house just listed today that we are going to go see after work! It's just off 13th west too!! So close to the freeway just like we wanted!! Crossing our fingers!

Work tomorrow-cousins wedding reception- camping!!!

Nice surprise

2011-05-20T23:39:00.001-06:00

This is the beautiful face that showed up on my phone when I woke up from a nap today. Leslie sent me a pic of her beautiful baby Brynlee. I love her already! Totally the best picture to wake up too! I know Leslie has been slacking on blogging lately so I decided the world needed to see this baby!!! :)

6 months!

2011-05-13T17:52:00.000-06:00

So I know I've been posting like crazy lately.. but so much has been happening!!! Today marks me and Allen's 6 months since we got married!! We are halfway to our first anniversary!!! So crazy to think how fast time has flown by since then! I am such a lucky girl!! I think I will dedicate this post to six things that I have learned about Allen since we have been married

He loves watching Little House on the Prairie, Criminal Minds, Pawn Stars, Swamp Wars, and Myth Busters.
He loves to scare me. I'm warning everyone now that this WILL be the way that I die. Heart attack by fright.
He is always playing a sport. Yes, I knew this before we got married BUT I didn't realize how much he really played. I swear every time I put one of his sports bags away another one is gone.
He sleeps with his right arm above his head. Quite annoying since I sleep on his right side.. elbow to my head if he moves at all :)
He is very helpful! There are days I get home from work and dishes are all done or he did his laundry or vacuumed! It's great!
He is a great primary teacher! The kids just love him and he always explains things to them in ways they can understand.

Now how about 6 things I love about him...

He almost always lets me watch whatever shows I want to watch on TV. Whether it be American Idol, One Tree Hill or Disney channel, he will usually let me watch it.
He is always making me laugh even when I don't want to! He's pretty funny :) (Don't tell him I said that haha)
He always includes me. Every time he wants to play XBox he always asks me if I want to play too. Trust me I don't think he likes when I play because I'm horrible but it's cute he still asks :)
He loves me even though I never find time to make trips to the grocery store and he has to go a few days without a real lunch.
He is always texting me and asking me how my day is going.
He gives THE best back scratches in the world!

Yep I am truly one very lucky girl!!!! :) <3

Update

2011-05-12T13:43:00.000-06:00

The sellers accepted our offer!! Now just wait to see what the bank has to say!! So excited!!

I Passed!!

2011-05-10T18:40:00.003-06:00

I have finally passed stats!!! This means I can finally matriculate and set my graduation date!!! I have never been so excited in my life!! It's so great!!! Loving life right now!!

Now lets hope the good news keeps on coming!! We are still waiting to hear if they accepted our offer. The couple is divorced so they both have to agree on a price. Keeping our fingers crossed!!

Our first offer!

2011-05-05T22:45:00.000-06:00

Our realtor informed us today that the house I love has had 4 people go through it just today!! After talking to Allen we decided to place an offer tonight so we are the first offer that the bank will look at! Let's cross our fingers!! :)

My life rests in your hands..

2011-05-04T21:53:00.000-06:00

Dear Stats Professor,
Please pass me!! I have never studied so hard in my life! I took all of the practice test, did all of the homework you assigned and have prayed my brains out that I will finally understand this stats stuff. So please, if I didn't do as well as I feel I did on my final just pass me anyways. I'm sure everyone would really appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Brittany

Now that I got my pleading out of me.. now for the update on life :) We are still looking at houses. We have a few that we are still waiting to look at and the one that I love just reduced the price to below our maximum so we are going through it again to see if I can convince Allen to put an offer in on the house :) Today we went out to dinner for the first time in forever just us two! We decided since I just took my last final that we should celebrate before summer semester starts for me next week :P Of course we went to Red Robin (Allen let me pick where we went)! It was delightful! Also, I was able to purchase the Children of the Promise book series on audiobook for a killer deal on LDSaudio.com.! I loved reading this books in high school but I never finished the last book because I started college and haven't been able to read anything fun since then. I was just going to buy the last book so I could finish the series but I realized as I was reading the summary on the website that I could not remember anything that really happened. It's been a week and I am already on the last book! I just cannot stop listening to this series! It is so insightful and I love how he puts the LDS faith into the story and makes all of the characters so easy to relate to and fall in love with! I have probably cried at least once a day at work while I was listening to the books. I highly recommend this series to everyone! Leslie also told me that the author wrote a second series about the same family just a different generation! I think that will be my next adventure!

So excited!

2011-04-25T13:28:00.002-06:00

So tonight I get to start looking at homes!! I'm so excited and I'm hoping that we find one we love and it all works out!! So everyone cross your fingers for us! :)

Debbie Downer

2011-04-13T22:26:00.000-06:00

Today I realized something about myself.. I have way to many pet peeves! Just TODAY I noticed myself thinking these things:

I hate when you have 3 shirts left to hang up and you run out of hangers.
I hate when you get the motivation to finally take the dishes out of the dish washer and end up putting the same ones back in because your dishwasher is horrible.
I hate garbage and taking it out to the dumpster.
I hate when I go to get the mail and there isn't anything in there.
I hate when I finally catch up on laundry and feel so accomplished just to realize that tomorrow the stack will start piling up again.
I hate that there never seems to be enough counter space.
I hate that I keep finding bills and papers everywhere right after I just filed that huge stack in the kitchen.
I hate school.
I hate when you ask professors questions and they say refer to this, how hard is it to type out the dates of the final.
I hate when I put so much work into approving a loan just to have the member say they just decided to pay in cash.
I hate crappy weather.
I hate when Allen plays NCAA Football 2011 not because he is playing but because the stupid fight songs all sound the same and make the BYU fight song get stuck in my head all night. Rise and Shout!
I hate that I can wake up an hour before work some days but the days that I wake up with only 30 minutes to get ready I seem to have extra time to just sit around.
I hate that people keep voting for these people on American Idol just because they like the person not because they would actually buy their CD.
I hate school (yes I put this twice because it is on my mind all day)
I hate my crappy phone.

Well now that you all can agree that I am a Debbie Downer I can now say that today made me realize I need to be more grateful for the things I have in my life instead of all the things I wish were not in my life. My goal is every time my thought starts out with "I hate.." I'm going to change it to "I'm grateful.." for example:

I have a job
I have a dishwasher
I have clothes
I will have a degree soon
I have a phone
I have an awesome husband who is a great help around the house
I am happy
I can pay my bills
I actually know a college fight song (this might be stretching a little bit)
I have the gospel in my life.

I know this is a shorter list than the other but that is mainly because most of the hates were similar.. and because I'm just starting this. I will need more practice :)

2011-04-11T21:54:00.001-06:00

Dear Laundry Basket,
I see that you are overflowing with clothes... yet I do not have the energy or motivation to do anything about it. You will just have to wait a few more days. For now, it looks like me and Allen will have to wear clothes from the back of our closet. Please let everyone know that they shouldn't judge us just because we are wearing our ugly clothes.
Sincerely,
The Lazy One

Never looked forward to a weekend as much as this one!

2011-04-08T23:30:00.000-06:00

Boy has it been a long week! It started with me realizing I forgot to do a book report that is 30% of my grade... never a good way to start a week. Then I was able to have a full week of doing loans at work. I was excited to be able to pull my weight and help out with the huge amount of loans we have been getting because of our amazing promotion going on right now. Things started out okay until the end of the week... that is when okay turned into horrible. First, my boss called me to tell me that a member that I had worked up a loan for the first week I learned how to do loans had called in a complaint on me. She is claiming that I never told her that the rate had increased from 2.99% to 5% after I ran the car information. I distinctly remember telling her the new rate but of course I have no proof. So that will now go against my annual review which is next month. What great timing! Also, who waits an entire month before complaining?? Get real! Then, I was working with this member that we needed tax information to verify his income. Well I sent the information to the lady to work up his income and she was not getting back to me. The member called me probably 5 times asking if he could purchase the car yet. Finally around 5:30 he called and was completely pissed off. He was very nice about it but was very frustrated (as was I). He said if we didn't get this worked out by noon on Monday he would close all his accounts with us and tell his family members to do the same. Talk about a way to end a crappy day. His wife called me shortly after this phone call to make sure I wasn't offended by him which was nice. She let me know that they were not mad at me just at the process taking so long. That was good to hear.. but it looks like next week could start out bad too if I can't finalize their loan.
Besides all this crap.. I found some happiness to look forward to.... its something that we have been looking into and I'm really hoping this place is still around in 3 months so I can buy it!! I'm in love!!

So everyone cross your fingers that this house stays on the market for another 3 months and that they bring the price down just a little in the meantime as well :)

Happy Weekend!

Repair man...

2011-03-27T21:39:00.000-06:00

So on Friday we got a notice on our door that the maintenance guy would be coming over on Monday to replace the hoses on our washing machine. We have not had any problems with them but apparently a lot of other apartments have so they are replacing everyones just to be safe. Because of this, I have felt this deep need to have my apartment spotless before Monday when he comes. Mainly because I hate the idea of someone in my home when no one will be there. I figure if everything is put away and in it's place, then I will know if anything has gone missing easier. Also, I don't want someone thinking we are complete slobs and live like we have been the past two weeks all the time. I have really been slacking on the whole housekeeper part of life lately because of work and school. So this weekend I made it my priority to get everything clean. All I really need to clean now is the second bedroom... but I think I will save that room for an entire weekend itself. Shutting the door is probably the only way to keep someone from seeing it. Also, now that our apartment is basically spotless I feel like I can now focus better on school. I always feel so guilty when I am doing homework because I keep thinking of all the cleaning I should be doing. But when I'm cleaning I'm thinking about all the homework I should be doing. So now I have done all my cleaning and have threatened Allen to keep it clean for as long as possible and I can worry about homework with a clean conscience :) LOVING IT!!
For our lesson today, we taught about the house built on a rock. This is one of my favorite scripture stories ever! I was so excited! So of course I embellished on the lesson quite a bit. It was such a hit! We got a big tub and filled it with sand (pink sand actually) and built the houses out of popsicle sticks. Allen found me a big rock to put under the second house so we would know it would stay put. The kids were so excited for us to get to the end of the lesson so we could see what would happen when we poured the water on the houses. It worked perfectly! The foolish man's house sunk to the bottom and filled up with sand and water. The wise man's house sat on the rock and didn't even have the water reach the bottom of the house. It was the perfect visual aid for this lesson! The kids even told us that it was the coolest thing they had ever seen at church before! After this visual aid, we had cut out a bunch of paper in the shape of a roof, house, windows and doors and had them build their own houses on a piece of paper with a big rock at the bottom. I thought they would color the background with trees and a sun and everything but they all colored water around the bottom of the rock. This was so cute to me because I felt like they actually learned something from the lesson! All in all I feel it was a very successful weekend :)

Spring Break

2011-03-20T15:15:00.000-06:00

Spring break always brings back so many memories for me!! First, this is how we celebrated our spring break.

I started working full time at work.. It was hard to get in the habit of being so busy all the time!
Of course Allen played in the Murray alumni basketball tournament which is where we met each other 2 years ago!
We also spent time with family and friends and of course we went to leatherby's after the last basketball game of the tournament :)
Also, we watched a ton of basketball!! I am not normally a huge basketball fan but this year I decided since Allen would be glued to the TV, I would fill out my own bracket and watch with him so I wasn't so bored out of my mind :) It has been a lot of fun! I'm glad I decided to watch because me and Allen have had fun cheering on our teams especially when we both picked different teams to win the game.

A random bit of excitement that happened this week was that I bought a filing cabinet! So stupid I know, but I was really stressing that we didn't have anywhere to file bills, our birth certificates or marriage license and other random stuff we had to hold on too. It was so exciting to finally have it show up so we could build it (rather I build it while Allen watched the BYU game) and finally have a place to put all those papers we had stashed around our apartment.

My plan for spring break was to do so much homework and be ahead in all of my classes by Monday.. did that happen???? Of course not!! Do I feel guilty?? Not at all!! I had too much fun and just relaxed! I felt that I needed the break from the stress of school. I'm sure I will regret it next week when I have homework to do, but as of right now I'm refreshed and ready for the challenge!!

Teaching our primary class was a lot better this week too! Last week was rough because the kids loved their old teacher and did not want us to be their new teachers. This week was better because they were more talkative and actually had fun trying to memorize the scripture. They were also probably the most reverent class during sharing time (we bribed them with candy because they were so hyper by the end of class time). It was so much better to know they had fun with us. Also, the one girl that was really upset that she had a new teacher saved me a seat by her in sharing time. I think I won her over finally! :)

One last random excitement.. Minnie (our hamster) finally is getting used to me. She will now walk into my hand and eat the treats I give her. We still have a ways to go though because if I move at all she runs away and it takes her a while to trust me again. Hopefully this will get better the more I try it!

Wait.. Back up??!!

2011-03-09T23:21:00.001-07:00

So today I had a routine Dr's appointment. I was pretty nervous about it but other than that it should have been a routine check up.. Well I was wrong... First let me clarify that I am NOT pregnant for those of you who have this in mind. I actually found out I have strep. So not that exciting but here is the weird story. The Dr came in and was talking to me and she asked if I was sick. I said no I've felt completely fine besides being nervous. She then proceeds to tell me that I had a fever and asked to just do a quick strep test just in case. Every time I have ever been given a strep test it always comes out negative. I just figured I had a fever from being so nervous or something. After the rest of the appointment she left the room to check on the test. Well guess what.. it was positive for strep! WTH? I go to the doctor feeling completely healthy and come out from the doctor with a prescription and strep throat!! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?? You go to the doctor when you get sick not go to the doctor then get sick. WEIRD STUFF!

Anyways.. more exciting news.. Allen and I bought Allen a truck! It is sweet! I tried to upload pictures but it won't let me.. so they will be posted later. We got a great deal on it and we both just love it!

Also more news. My boss offered to let me go full time in our department. She said she is going to work with me with school still as long as I get the 40+ hours a week! I'm pretty excited! Hopefully I can manage my time better with school and work.

Valiant 9

2011-03-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

We are official Primary teachers to the Valiant 9B class! I am so excited! I figured we would be called to be primary teachers but I'll be honest I was hoping for younger kids. After we got the calling, I started thinking about how much pressure there is to teach kids that are already baptized and at the age where they understand everything you are teaching them. I was freaking out just a little bit. After church, we went to be set apart. I just love that you get a little blessing at the same time. After that I felt so much better about our new calling. I know Allen is pretty excited and will help me out tons if I don't know how to respond to a kids question or something. Also, I just love the Primary President. Not only did she make sure we had the manual as soon as possible, she sat down with us and gave us a heads up about each kid in our class. She also gave us tons of idea books that will help us find fun activities to do for each lesson. After talking to her I feel so much more confident that I can teach these kids and that this is the perfect calling for us. But just in case.. I would like everyone to cross their fingers for us next week and hopefully the kids will like us and learn what they need too! :)

Money galore!!

2011-03-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ok so it might not be money that we get to use on whatever we want.. BUT.. it's still money we can use towards school! Monday we found out that Allen was able to receive grants for Fall 2010 and Spring 2011. Since we have already paid for Fall and half of Spring, we get reimbursed that money!!! It ends up being like $1200.00 in our pockets!! Then on Tuesday I received the same email saying that I qualified for grants for the same semesters too!! Since I'm going full time I was able to receive $3000.00! Of course my parents have already paid my tuition for these semesters so I was going to give them the money.. but my parents are the best and said that we can keep the money and use it for summer semester's tuition and books! I am so excited!! This was exactly what we needed right now! We finally worked out a budget that was working perfectly and now we won't have to make tuition payments so we have an extra $400 a month now to put towards paying off debt and saving!! BEST WEEK EVER!!!

Loving life!

2011-02-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

https://new.familysearch.org/en/action/unsec/welcome

I have a new found love of the LDS family search site. It is so much fun to see what our ancestors names are and how we all fit together! I have figured out that if you get back to great grandparents (only if they have passed away) it will fill in a lot more people automatically. Most of the information was done by my grandparents which was also cool to see their names as contributors :)

I am still loving doing loans at work! I feel like I'm actually learning things at work again which is really helping me not be so restless. Another thing that I have started to do is look at cheaper apartments for me and Allen to move too. I know our lease is not up until November, but, it is fun to look at places and check KSL and see if any nice apartments have promotions. We are hoping to get closer to the freeway and not spend as much on rent each month. So far it's looking like we will end up in Murray or Taylorsville.

So I know a few posts ago I was complaining that time has gone by way to fast.. but now I am hoping time goes by a little faster for the next 6 months. I feel like once I graduate college we will be able to do so much more! Not only will we be hopefully making more $$$, but we will be able to look for new places to live and start saving up for a house or other life changing events ;) Also, I am planning on trading in my car for a nicer new car for a graduation gift!! I cannot wait! I also told Allen if we pay off both of our credit cards and insurance won't be too high that we can get him a truck too :) He is so determined to get all the overtime possible so we can pay those off ha ha! So far, working my extra 10 hours a paycheck and Allen's new job at Cintas has really made the future look so much better for us! We had a few times there where I thought Allen would have to drop out of school because we didn't have the money for his tuition. Luckily, we have been able to save enough now that making both of our tuition payments each month is easy and we don't have to put it on our credit cards! We also hope that SLCC finally decides to tell us what they can offer us with financial aid. It's been a month since we finished the requirements. It's just starting to get annoying that they haven't told us anything yet! Everyone cross you fingers that we get the grant! :)

Valentine's, Birthdays and School

2011-02-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

We have had quite the month so far! Allen's brother Matthew and our nephew Tyler both had their birthday so far this month. We had a big get together on Saturday to celebrate. It was a ton of fun to get together and have the best chocolate cake I have had in a long time! Sunday we celebrated his Grandma Dietrich's birthday. Her birthday was actually Monday but we all got together on Sunday since Monday was Valentine's day. We also learned that her parents named her after the day she was born. Her name is Valda. No one ever caught on until she told us. It was really cool to learn something new about her. For Valentine's day, Allen had class so we decided to wait to celebrate. BUT since I was home alone for 3 hours while he was in class.. I decided to surprise him. I made probably the best dinner I have ever made if I do say so myself. I told him we were having mac and cheese. I think he was pretty surprised and I know he liked it because we didn't have much left over. :) I was pretty excited that my surprise worked. This month is going to be super busy. We have many more birthdays to celebrate, Katie is getting married, and school... (not too happy about the last one).
Last night I got home from my parent's house and Allen was asleep on the couch :) For some reason the thought popped into my head to go read our Patriarchal blessings. I went into our room and got them out. Of course I read Allen's first because I love to point things out to him that I think are so cool. I just love reading his and realizing how amazing he is and how many blessings he has in store for him. I feel like such a lucky girl that I get to be married to such an amazing person! Then I read mine and I realized it was exactly what I needed. I feel so much more motivation for life than I did before. I was a little down about school and work but after reading it I have a new outlook on everything and have decided to change my attitude about them. This is why I love the gospel and being able to have something to turn to when you are having a rough time. :) I think Allen even noticed a change in me when he woke up (of course this only happened because I ran out and jumped on him so I could share with him the cool things in his blessing). All in all.. I am happy and very grateful for the things I have in my life! :)

Lots to say today.

2011-02-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

Senior Dinner Dance 2006

Graduation Party 2006

Graduation

Original fab five!

Freshman year of college

Yearbook camp in Park City

Senior Dinner Dance 2006

Graduation trip to Hawaii

So the past couple days I have realized how much things have changed in just a few years! I swear I just graduated from high school! Now I am almost graduated from COLLEGE and I have finally found my Prince Charming. It is so much fun thinking about all the changes that have happened and how many goals I have achieved and how many hopes and dreams are reality. We went to a super bowl party that Danica and Jake put together. It was such a blast to see everyone! Danica made a little statement that really got me realizing how fast things are changing. She said "just think in a few years our friend parties are going to be us sitting here watching all of our kids playing together and sharing stories about what little Johnny learned this week". I don't know why that hit me as so profound but it did. Maybe it's because everyone I know are having kids. Also it could be that my best friend since I was 7 is moving away so she can be with her husband :( I'm so excited for her and her new adventure! It is still a little sad though because I'm pretty sure we made a pact that me, Leslie, Lauren, and Carlie were all going to move into the same neighborhood. Apparently none of them remember our deal because Leslie and Carlie keep thinking it would be fun to move away.. I might have to get a court order to keep them here :) I always looked forward to this part of life especially being able to watch Allen with his little sisters and nieces and nephews. He is going to be an awesome dad one day! Now that it's here and more than half of my friends have kids or are pregnant it just makes me more excited for the future. Now let me make sure everyone knows that because I feel this way it does not mean I'm planning on having kids super soon. I just love to think that me and Allen have a few years to have fun together and when we are ready for that next step we will have so many people we can get advice from and share stories with. So be prepared friends :)

Ok enough with my sad reminiscing.

This week has already become such a challenge for me. I am going through loan training at work. I am so excited to learn something new! I have always wanted to learn about loans and how they work and what financial institutions look at to determine eligibility. Today we learned all about credit reports and visas. I hate to say, but credit reports and how they are used to determine a person's ability to receive loans was probably the best part of the day. I actually started to consider looking to see if Experian has any job openings. How boring am I? Who actually wants to work at a credit bureau!?

Update on our new addition to our family.

Minnie is doing great. She lets us feed her turkey and bananas out of our hands. Kylie came over and tried to hold her... that was interesting. Good thing we had the idea to make Kylie sit in the bath tub before we took Minnie out. Minnie instantly jumped out of her hands and ran around like crazy! It probably took us like 10 minutes to finally catch her and get her back in her cage.. and remember she was stuck in the bath tub. She is a fast little bugger. I am so glad Allen finally caved and let me get Minnie. I know it sounds stupid, but it is a lot of fun having the responsibility of taking care of something. (Allen doesn't count because he could survive on Ramen if I let him.)

Well congrats if you made it to the end of this post! Sorry I am a little talkative today. Being in training and not being able to talk all day has me exploding with information and wanting to talk a lot now that I am home. Everyone probably should feel bad for Allen when he gets home tonight.. I might not shut up for a while! :)

Coupons!

2011-02-04T13:41:00.001-07:00

I never thought I would be a coupon saver! BUT I found out that Smith's allows you to add coupons from their ads to your fresh values card ONLINE! No more carrying coupons in my purse and having to scan each one! I just scan my fresh values card and Wa La SAVINGS! Today I decided to try it out... and well.. I saved $50 on my groceries! I am so proud of myself and my bank account is SO much nicer to look at because of it! I think me and Smith's have a new relationship beginning and I am looking forward to shopping there again next month! I LOVE SAVING $$$!

Introducing Minnie!!

2011-01-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

So let me explain... our apartment complex charges us more if we own a dog or a cat. Since we cannot afford that plus food and vet and all that fun stuff that dogs require, we decided to go in a different direction. We figured fish were no fun, reptiles are creepy and birds are too loud.. so we settled on a HAMSTER!! Yes we know we are crazy and you all are wondering if we are 6 years old.. but when we went to the pet store just to look around and see if it was even affordable and if we really wanted one.. I fell in love with the dwarf hamsters! They only grow to be 2 inches long!!! Cutest things in the world!


Size of a Robo Dwarf Hamster

So of course I had to beg and plead for Allen to let me get one of the small ones. (They are a lot faster and they are harder to train). Obviously he caved! We had Emmalie and Kimberlie with us, so they helped us pick out the cage and food and we were all trying to come up with names the entire drive home. When we showed Allen's family our new addition to our family, his sister said "oh it's like a mini hamster"! Instantly I was hooked! Minnie will be her name!

She's tricky to get a picture of. She is scared if you come to close :)

I'm sure no one else is excited as I am BUT I think once she gets used to us and having people touch her, she will be a great addition to our family!

<3 Funny stories to add about our adventure to the pet store with the little girls <3

Funny Kimberlie comment #1

(dogs barking)

"Allen we need to go over there!"

"Why? We already saw the dogs."

"They barked and told me they needed me!" :)

Funny Kimberlie comment #2

"Allen? Can I eat this?"

"No that's a doggie treat"

"Allen, I wish I was a dog right now so I could eat this."

Funny Kimberlie comment #3

"Allen, who is that?"

"That's the guy who is going to get the hamster out of the cage for us so we can buy it."

(stares at guy for a minute)

"I don't like him." (luckily the guy had a sense of humor and just laughed)

Funny Kimberlie comment #4

"Brittany, what IS he doing?!" (talking about the petsmart worker getting the hamster for us)

"He's trying to catch the hamster so we can take her home"

"But he's making her sad. She is saying 'hey don't catch me!'"

Man you got to LOVE that little girl!!

Tabs?

2011-01-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm not so sure I understand this whole tabs thing that blogger has added. I wish I could post under each page separately but you can only update each page like it is one big post. Not loving it.. but it is fun to be able to add more things about yourself or your blog to your blogger. Only problem I see is having random people know way to much about you... might have to go private if I feel like there is too much info out for creepers to see :)

23!!

2011-01-22T08:08:00.003-07:00

Holy cow! Am I really 23??? Man time flies! Well I didn't take any pictures of my birthday festivities so this will be a boring post. BUT I did have an amazing birthday! Allen and I went to dinner with my mom and Kylie at Red Robin and it was super yummy! Ky got me the dance game for Kinect and I'm so excited to try it out! My mom got me the cutest shirts and shoes! After, Allen gave me his gift! I am so excited about it! He got me the cutest skirts for church and the coolest hoodie ever! It has built in earphones for your iPod in the drawstrings! AND it is still machine washable!!! Cool huh!??! Yesterday, ValLynn dyed my hair for my birthday present! Yep I am now a burnette!! I love it! It's a huge change but I've been wanting to try it for many years! We had cake and ice cream with Allen's family later that night! It was so much fun! Allen had fun being a monster and hiding while all the little kids walked around the dark house trying to find him haha! It was so funny to see Kimberlie and Denver's faces when he would jump out and scare them! Today.. I'm at school.. at the crack of dawn again! This is really going to be a long semester! But!.. after class I get to race back to So Jo and meet Allen and his family at the temple to do a sealing session! I'm excited because it will be the first time I have been back since we got married! Allen is really liking his new job so far! It will be nice when the insurance kicks in and we can not have to worry about that as well! All in all it has been a really great week! :)

Just some incite I received today in class that really got me thinking. My professor happened to mention how we always want new jobs and challenges and once we accomplish those goals, we either look back on how easy life used to be or how "easy" our jobs are and want more. This hit me because I recently have felt this way. I look back at being a teller or working at the pool and think "man life was so much more fun then". I took my current job thinking "this will challenge me and I can learn so much more". I have learned a lot from my job. I have been able to go to training courses that have helped me understand more about the banking procedures. I get to go to loan training in two weeks which I am really looking forward to! But at the same time I have been thinking "my job is so easy. I need more of a challenge or a new job in a different field for a change". The only thing that is holding me back from taking the next step is school. Either the jobs I would want are only offered full time or they require a degree. After class today I came to the conclusion that I need to just enjoy where I am today. The research department has been a huge stepping stone in my life and has been so great to work with my schooling. I love all of my co workers and have great relationships with them. I know if I left them I would miss them and my job and probably wish I could have such an "easy" job again. I think this class has really opened my eyes to enjoying the journey and to stop wishing my life away. I have so much in my life to be grateful for!

2011-01-16T21:18:00.002-07:00

Studying away :)

2 months!

2011-01-13T14:24:00.001-07:00

Today is our 2 months of being married! Crazy how time flies! In just 2 months so much has happened to us and it only shows me that we have so much more that will happen to us this first year of marriage. Some of the major things will be: Allen starting a new job on Monday, hopefully both of us getting a degree, possibly moving since our contract is up in November, and either going full time at the Credit Union or finding a career somewhere for me :) These will all be huge milestones in our lives that could really change our lives in the future. What a busy year we will have our first year of marriage! Lets just hope nothing else really big happens this first year or we might become a little overwhelmed! ;)

Busy as Bees!

2011-01-12T10:42:00.002-07:00

Penguins at Sea World!

California Adventure

We are back! We had so much fun in Cali! We were able to go to Disneyland, California Adventure and Sea World! We had to pack it all in with one less day so we missed out on Universal Studios and the zoo :( Besides that, we had a blast! We got home on Wednesday night and then Friday night we left for St. George for Warren's baptism. It was so much fun to spend time with Allen's family. Besides seeing the kids so excited for Warren, my favorite part of the trip was going swimming with Michelle and all the little girls. We tried to help the girls learn how to float on their backs. It was so cute to see them get so excited that they could do it!

Well this week has been busy to say the least. Me and Allen have different schedules with school so we don't get as much time after work to see each other :( On a positive note.. Allen got a new job! It was a tough decision to make because the new job was for more pay and more overtime potential to help pay for tuition but when he told his boss he was quitting, they came back with an offer to try to keep him. After their offer, we had to really think about leaving or not. After writing all of the pros and cons down, we decided that the best choice for us was to try out the new job and see where it takes us. So everyone cross their fingers for us!

Day 1 = Disappointment

2011-01-02T14:36:00.001-07:00

Well we are at home.. here is how our day went.

Got to gate at 8. Plane doesn't leave until 8:50.
Plane arrives late new departure time=9:30.
Board plane at 9.
Plane has smoke detector problem. May be another 20 minutes.
11:00 must get off plane so they can fix the problem.
Eat lunch at airport with meal vouchers.
12:30 plane isn't going to be fixed today they will try to un-thaw another plane to fly out.
New plane will not thaw, they are seeing if a plane (plane 3) that is coming in from Las Vegas will be able to take us to Cali.
Can't find enough staff members to fly plane 3.
GO HOME!
So we are now flying out tomorrow morning. What a day! Happy honeymoon to us! :(
Nugget at the airport BK! It's a crown! So cute!

Day 1

2011-01-02T10:36:00.005-07:00

Been sitting on the airplane for an hour now and still at the terminal! Didn't realize smoke detectors could cause such delays! This is interrupting our mickey time!

2010 Survey

2011-01-01T23:02:00.001-07:00

What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Got married! :)
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made one last year.. I don't like making goals and then being disappointed when I fail to reach them :)
Did anyone close to you give birth?
Pretty much everyone our age.
Did anyone close to you die?
Allen's dog Maggie :(
What countries did you visit?None. We are homebodies!
What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
New jobs and to get our degrees! We also hope to save up enough money to be able to start looking for a house by next Christmas!
What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 13, 2010!!!!
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting married.. moving out.. ??
What was your biggest failure?
Not passing stats :(
Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope thank goodness! We were as healthy as horses :)
What was the best thing you bought?
Our x box 360? It is pretty fun!
Whose behavior merited celebration?
We celebrate all of our family and friends behavior when they accomplish their goals.. that's all I can think of.
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Can't think of anyone
Where did most of your money go?
BILLS and school. Rent sucks up most of our money :(
What did you get really excited about?
Our wedding!
What song will always remind you of 2010? Whatever it is by Zac Brown Band
Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c)richer or poorer?
Happier-about the same-poorer.. what married couple isn't poorer??
What do you wish you’d done more of?
Saved!! Also studied stats more :(
What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing out. I became very good at being stressed!
Did you fall in love in 2010?
Every day :)
What was your favorite TV program? NCIS, One Tree Hill, and Criminal Minds
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of.
What was the best book you read? The only books we read were textbooks.. and I hated them all! :)
What was your greatest musical discovery?
I have no idea
What was your favorite film of this year?
Hangover, Twilight :)
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
22/24 Don't remember what I did.. but for Allen's we had a halloween party with our friends
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?If I would have passed stats??
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Work clothes and Allen pretty much wears basketball shorts and a tshirt
What kept you sane?
Chocolate!! and Allen :)
Who did you miss?
Our families.. it's hard not seeing them as much as we used to when we lived with them.
Who was the best new person you met?
Kaelynn's new husband and his three kids :)
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.Patience :)
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. and I thought I loved you then- Brad Paisley

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-01T22:32:00.001-07:00

We had a fun New Year party! Allen's family gets together and pulls an all nighter and plays games. It was a blast! The little kids loved not having a bed time! We are packing for our trip tomorrow so I don't have much time to write.. I'll just post the pictures so you can see all the fun we had! :)

Kimberlie loves to wear my shoes

Dancing in some cowgirl boots

Madilyn wearing my boots

Denver with his cars and spiderman slippers

Last picture of 2010

Me and Emmalie

Tyler and Madison playing games

Madilyn playing dress up

Warren

First picture of 2011!!!

Denver and his friend Emily right after midnight

Denver loved the confetti

Allen picking games

Me and Denver

Ring-less

2010-12-31T15:30:00.001-07:00

You would think this would not be a big deal.. I'm getting my wedding band and my engagement ring soldered together and I am way excited about it! Having my wedding band spin around backwards and not match up has been driving me crazy! But now that Allen has taken it to the jewelers to solder it, I have been going crazy not having it on my finger! It's weird how used to having it on I am and how it drives me crazy the moment I realize I don't have it on! I am hoping my class ring will make an easy substitute for the next week until my beautiful ring can be back on my finger! Let's hope I can manage and not go crazy for the next 7 days! I think being in CALIFORNIA might help take my mind off of it for a while :) YAY!!! I'm so excited!!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-27T21:29:00.002-07:00

So I left my camera with Kylie at our wedding... so I still have no camera. This means that I have to steal all of the pictures I post from family members :( This is our Christmas Eve Muir Family party. It was so much fun! It was so great to catch up on my family's lives and get to know my cousins' fiances better! It was also so much fun watching Melissa open her presents! She is always so excited for everything she gets! She is one very grateful and easy to please girl! Watching her open her brand new Barbie Christmas Tree was probably one of those memories of Christmas that none of us will forget! She was so excited! We also were able to get a family picture with everyone. We haven't had one taken since we were all little, so it is fun to compare the pictures and see how much our family has grown.

Trying to open the last present

She's so excited!

She loved her pillow pet!

My uncle told her to pose like a gangster and this is what she did :)

First Family Picture since we have been married :)

Muir Family Picture :)

Me and Allen slept over at his parents house this year so that we would be there when the little kids woke up to see if Santa came or not. It was a long night full of wrapping and stuffing stockings... but it was a lot of fun as well. I loved seeing the little kids open their toys and get so excited about Santa coming! I also got quite a few things from Santa and Allen that I am pretty excited about! I will have to post more pictures from Christmas Day once I can steal my mother in law's camera and load some of the pictures she took onto my computer. Hope everyone had a great holiday! <3

Snowflakes

2010-12-21T15:25:00.001-07:00

Somedays I wish snow was not cold. I think it is so beautiful! I am dying to go see temple square now that it has snowed! Allen promised we will go this week so I'm pretty excited!

On another note... Allen passed his classes last semester! Yay Allen! I'm still waiting on my grades.. but I'm hoping I have the same outcome as he did :S

Goodbye Fall 2010 Semester!

2010-12-16T21:37:00.002-07:00

Dear Finals Week,
I have made it through. Please be good to me and reward me with passing grades! It was a good semester... but... I have to say... you will NOT be missed. I will see you again in April.
Love,
Brittany

So close to happiness!!!!

2010-12-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

Our Hotel

The Lobby

The rooms

DISNEYLAND!!!

SeaWorld!

The ZOO!!! They have Panda Bears!! I'm so excited!!!

January 2nd will be the best day ever!! We finally get to go on our honeymoon! We are so excited! Here are some pics of the things we will get to do :)

Blast from the past

2010-12-08T10:27:00.002-07:00

Today while writing my Human Resources final paper I was procrastinating and surfing through the channels. Since our apartment only has maybe 3 big person channels, I had to resort to watching a Disney or Nickelodeon channel. All the Disney channels were Mickey Mouse in "3D" which is kind of creepy so I went to the Nick Jr. channel.. and Little Bear was on! I have totally forgotten about this show! Perfect show to have on TV so I don't hear the neighbors but not entertaining enough to distract me from doing my paper! Love this show! It made me sad to think that all these little kids might miss out on these great shows in the future! These new cartoons for little kids are pretty annoying or are not actual animals or people.. they are just blobs of weirdness haha :)
PS: Has anyone else used Word 2010's citation helper?? It is amazing and so much faster than doing it by hand! You can pick APA or MLA format and everything! Perfect for final papers! Who wants to spend a great deal of time on the reference page anyways?

Let's hope I make it through the next 2 weeks!

2010-12-02T12:41:00.001-07:00

School... let's recap...

I have so much I have to do in just these last 2 weeks. This includes: 5 tests, 7 papers, 3 case studies, 2 discussion posts, 1 resume portfolio, 1 final interview, 1 journal, 1 stats final. Shoot me!! Looking forward to next semester when I only have 2-3 classes!

Our Thanksgiving Extravaganza

2010-11-27T21:21:00.001-07:00

Talk about a crazy week! Turns out the "blizzard" was a bust. It was a scary drive home from work though.. We pretty much just hunkered down in our apartment and worked on getting it in order and unpacking more things that we just threw in our second bedroom.

My view driving home in the snow

Thanksgiving day, Allen had a Turkey bowl game with all of his buddies.. since it was freezing cold, I decided to stay home and invited Danica and Hadley to come over and spend time with me. After his game, we went over to the Dietrich Thanksgiving dinner. We had a ton of fun. We left there early and headed up to the Muir Thanksgiving dinner soon after we ate at the Dietrich side. It was great to hang out with my cousins that I never see and meet their new fiances! It's crazy how everyone is getting married on that side of the family. Thanksgiving night we were able to just spend some time together at our apartment. I love spending time with just me and Allen. We have so much fun just watching movies and talking about life! I am very thankful for such an awesome husband who is my very best friend!

Friday morning we woke up early to a phone call from his mom.. she had found a 6 foot Christmas tree at Target for only $25 and wanted to know if we wanted one!! We were so excited to have our first Christmas tree! After a few more hours of sleep we got ready so we could go take care of a few errands that we needed to do. Allen had the day off so it was the only day we have had that we could get things done. I had to go into work earlier than usual that day though so it was only a few hours.. but it was a very productive morning. Allen went to his friends house and watched movies and talked about married life while I was at work and then he came and picked me up from work. We went straight to his parents house for their family gingerbread house party! It was a blast! It's so much fun to see how different everyone's houses turn out!

Our gingerbread house

Allen's final touch to our gingerbread house

This morning (Saturday), we had the annual Bauer family Christmas party. It was a blast! We played a ton of fun games and had a blast watching the little kids hit the pinata. His grandma also gave us a ton of Christmas decorations that she didn't want anymore! It was so exciting! She also prepared a little Christmas present bag full of Christmas things like Santa salt and pepper shakers and a calendar with everyone's birthday's already in it! Such a great idea! They also gave us a beautiful statue of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus! I love it!

The statue

Snowman Nativity! Love it!

Of course, after the party, we headed to my parent's house to watch the BYU/Utah game.. talk about intense! It was fun to spend time with my family and watch the game. I'm glad it was a close game and BYU didn't get killed like I expected them to be! Once we got home, we decorated our tree and our apartment with all of the things we have been given and collected for Christmas. Our apartment looks so festive now! I just love the holidays! Now if only we had the presents to go under the tree haha! Well for now the rest of the weekend is homework and watching marathons of Home Alone! :)

Our first Christmas Tree

Snowman we got at Sears! I love him!

Some of our favs..

2010-11-17T11:02:00.002-07:00

Can't decide which one I like more :)

So freaking cute!

Love these girls!

Nieces and Nephew

Bridesmaids

Parents

Married!!!

2010-11-16T12:16:00.001-07:00

We are married!! It has been a fun couple of days! We have been setting up a ton of our stuff at our apartment. Which means our apartment is a mess right now!! We are hoping to get it all cleaned up tonight after work. Saturday was such a great day! I loved the ceremony and reception! It all worked out just perfectly! The only stressful part has been trying to get all our stuff to our apartment this week. It's hard to live somewhere when all your stuff is spread out between two places. Hopefully it will all pull together soon :) I will definitely add pics from our special day as soon as the photographer sends them to me! Thanks to all of you that came and for all the support and love we have received! We are so blessed to have such great friends and family!!!

It's the final countdown!

2010-11-03T12:09:00.003-06:00

10 days!!! It has been quite the crazy few weeks! Between bridal showers, meeting with our bishops and stake presidents and moving we both have been super busy! Here are a few pictures of what we have been up too :)

Bridal shower at Leslie's!

Me and Allen's pumpkin! Freaking awesome!!

Halloween party at Bert and Amber's! So much fun!

After the neighborhood shower :)

Funny story about getting our marriage license...

While me and Allen were filling out the application to get our license, a couple came over and asked us to be their witnesses for their wedding. Since we were the only two people in the room we figured we had to say yes. So we walked to the smallest room ever that barely fit a couch and a small table in it and the judge came in. She had us sign the marriage license and then she performed the "ceremony". It was short and sweet for sure. The couple was foreign so they had thick accents and the sister or friend that came with them was snapping pictures left and right. When the judge said "you may now kiss your bride" he just kissed her cheek and they hugged. It was pretty awkward. Almost gave us the sense that they just met and decided to get married or something. After they let us go back out and finish filling out the forms. I just thought that was a funny experience to have when we were getting our marriage license. Definitely a day we will always remember :)

Moving day!

2010-11-01T14:36:00.001-06:00

This is Ky carrying in our table.. 3 flights of stairs :)

Our couch and view of the kitchen

Family room.. kind of bare until we get the tv in

Kitchen.. I just love my apple clock :)

Master bath. We don't have anything in the guest bathroom yet :)

We are pretty excited to be moving some of our stuff in already! It's been pretty fun besides the three flights of stairs. It will all be worth it once we are done moving everything in though!!

Tick-tock... Tick-tock...

2010-10-28T12:24:00.001-06:00

Pretty much 2 weeks left to go!!!!! I am so excited for the next two weeks. We have sooooo much going on! Friday is Allen's birthday! The big 24! We are going to a Halloween party at Bert and Amber's that night so We are going to celebrate Saturday :) Allen has a flag football game Saturday morning which will be freezing I'm sure.. so instead of going.. I am going to go to our APARTMENT!!! I am so excited to start cleaning and moving stuff in. We also get to pick up our new couch on Saturday :) Things are just flying along! I still have another bridal shower next week and then it's all wedding prep like get our marriage license, take out my endowments, meet with stake president. It's pretty exciting! Let's just hope I make it through this weekend with school (it's midterms). If I can do that, I think we both will be happy campers!

Things are chuggin' along

2010-10-18T17:50:00.001-06:00

Well today marks 26 days till November 13th!! I can't believe how fast it's gone! This weekend was crazy!! I had my friend bridal shower on Friday and it was a blast!! We played a ton of fun games and it was great to catch up with everyone again! Saturday morning was my family bridal shower. We got so much fun stuff and I cannot wait to use it all! I just love kitchen stuff :) Right after the shower, I had to rush home and get ready for my bridal pictures! It was quite the adventure.. not only did I have to walk around Memory Grove in my huge dress.. afterwards when I was changing out of my dress, I accidently stepped on the blanket that Taylor was holding up so no one could see me in my undies.. and well.. lets just say a lot of people got quite a show :S It was a very intense moment.. and I think one of my most embarrassing moments as well :) I will have to update this when I get home and add some pictures from my showers. (don't tell my boss but I'm blogging at work haha)
PS. Invites go out next week so I need addresses if I don't already have yours :)

Tonight... stress relief?

2010-10-09T11:45:00.001-06:00

So I have decided that I need a day to organize myself and I think today is the perfect day to do so. School is overwhelming me right now so I've noticed I've just forgotten about it and focused on wedding planning instead. Wedding planning has been my escape. The time to get my crap together and be my usually organized and on top of things self is now! Allen is going to Ryne's bachelor party tonight so I won't have anything to do but organize my thoughts and stop procrastinating :) First stop- Target to get a planner. Second stop- get gas so I can have gas before I have to be to school on Monday. Third- clean my room. Fourth- homework central! Hopefully I can keep the motivation that I woke up with for the rest of the day. I think if I can get my school in order and feel caught up or ahead in my classes than a lot of this stress will disappear. I also have a few crafts I want to do with some of my old frames I found in my college stuff. Pink and blue and green don't really match my new married life style. Painting and decorating is my next "just to relax" move.

By the way.. has anyone else realized that I get to marry my BFF in 35 days?!?! I am so excited!!! (I think he is too haha)
Other exciting news.. we get our apartment in 2 weeks! I am so excited to see it and be able to decorate and clean it before hand so it is all ready when we get home after our wedding :)

Goodbye September.. Hello October

2010-09-29T11:25:00.003-06:00

Does anyone know where September went?? I seem to have missed it!! It's already October and if October goes as fast as September did... well.. than that means November is right around the corner!! While I am stoked about that fact, I am also FREAKING OUT! I still feel like I have so much left to do! Hopefully after meeting with our reception center on Saturday I won't feel as behind as I do right now. I get to pick my cake, flowers, table linens, invitations, napkin color, food, center pieces, and of course my ice sculpture (so was not on my list of things I wanted, but it comes with the rest so why not right?). The only things left are ordering the rest of the flower girl dresses, taking bridals, partying it up with my girls at my bridal shower and bachelorette party, taking out my endowments and moving some of our stuff in to our apartment (which we get it 31 days and I am pretty stoked and I totally found us a couch!!)

Well I know a lot of people have been wanting to see our engagement pictures.. well you all will have to wait :) I want them to be a surprise when you get the invitations! So I let you all have a sneak peek above.. but that is the only one you get to see for now :) As soon as we send out the invites, we will post the rest on Facebook so you can see the ones we didn't pick as well.

Also I am in need of some serious help! What do I get Allen for his birthday???? It's Oct 29th and I am at a loss! Any ideas are welcome.. but he does get emails if you comment on here.. so if you have suggestions for that text or email them to me haha :)

The "Craziness" Life Can Bring

2010-09-21T20:46:00.001-06:00

The past few weeks have been completely crazy but so much fun as well. Between the "semesterly" break down I have at the beginning of each semester and having Allen's dad in the hospital we have been able to check a lot of stuff off of our lists. We were able to book our photographer for this coming Saturday, find outfits for engagement pics, and start sorting through pictures to put in our wedding video. As for the random fun things.. we went to see Hadley and Jake and Dani on Thursday with our friends Amber and Bert. We had a blast! After we left Jake and Dani's house we went back to Bert and Amber's and watched I Love You Man and ate skookies (more like inhaled them! Those things are amazing!). Also, my family was out of town all weekend which was fun because I was able to make dinner for me and Allen and we got to play house for the weekend (with strict curfews and rules of course). It was fun to pretend that my house was me and Allen's house for the weekend. Allen had a flag football game this weekend too. Besides it being scorching hot outside at 10 am it was a lot of fun to watch. I love close games! After the game, I went to Allen's house and picked up his little sister Kimberlie to lighten the baby sitting load for his sisters so they could go see Kirby in the hospital. Leslie was waiting for her husband Matt to get out of training so she came over as well. We had fun! Kimberlie was a very hungry little girl the whole afternoon. She had nuggets, fries, fruit, bread with ranch (she asked for some haha) and plenty of snacks. We also had fun playing with the Disney princess figurines that my mom had in the toy closet. It was great to spend time with Leslie and catch up! We don't get to do that as much as we would like!
This week has been a crazy homework week for me though! I've had three 5 pg papers and 2 quizzes and a test that starts on Friday to work on. This basically means no Allen time for me since Sunday :( It's been rough! Every day after work I've been wanting to hang out with Allen not sitting at my computer writing about other people's jobs and what I suggest they change. It's pretty lame!
Looking through the pictures for our wedding video has been fun though! Some of the pictures just make me laugh! Me and Ky were pretty funny kids! Here are two of my favorites!

Wedding Planning Update :)

2010-09-13T22:53:00.001-06:00

I have never had so many things written on my calendar as I do right now! It is crazy how much there is to do in the next 2 months! So what have we done?? Let's see....

Took wedding dress to be altered
Found jackets for bridesmaid dresses
Ordered flower girl dresses
Looked at cakes, invites, and centerpieces
Taste tested the cakes and reception food (the red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and the rocky road brownies are to die for!!)

Yummy!!!

Hired photographer
Picked day to take engagement pics
Picked out Allen's engagement picture shirts.. I'm making him wear a button up shirt and he is not to thrilled if you couldn't tell.. but I think he looks great in it!!

This is his "I'll pretend I'm happy face"

We have so much more to do but I finally feel like we have started to make a dent in the list. Next I need to figure out what in the world I am going to wear for engagement pictures... also I need everyone's help on picking songs for our wedding video that will be playing during the reception (baby pics of both of us and engagements) So far we have "Whatever It is"-Zac Brown Band (our song) and that's about it.. that song is going to get old if we don't find any others to add haha! Let me know your suggestions I need the help!!

PS: Dani had her baby! Hadley Skye Rugg and she is beautiful!! I just love her already!

Gotta Love Three-Day Weekends!!

2010-09-07T10:21:00.001-06:00

We had such an eventful weekend!!! I love when we both get extra days off and can spend so much more time together! Here are some things we got to do:
-Look at apartments
-Watch football
-Go bowling with Matt, Courtney, Mac and Kty
-Watch a movie with Ryne and Shannae
-Do homework (not so fun)
-Watch many episodes of One Tree Hill
-Place our deposit down on our soon to be apartment!!!
-Fill out the applications to our soon to be apartment
-Make our temple reservations (10:20 am November 12th SLC Temple!)
-Go bowling with Allen's family
-Register at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond (this was probably the funnest thing ever for me! haha)
-Go buy Allen yet another sports bag. He now has every single brand of sports bag and he is proud of it
It was a great weekend! I feel like we got a lot of stuff accomplished and we had a blast at the same time! It was great to hang out with our friends that we haven't seen in a while as well! I can't wait to move in to our new apartment either! Allen hasn't seen the floor plan I finally decided on.. but I know he will love it! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!!

PS: Kayleene I know you will be blog-stalking and come across this post hahah :) - you and Jeff need to go look at Boulder Canyon Apartments. They are on 7800 S and 5600 W. They are brand new and they are priced really low compared to San Moritz :) We would love to be your neighbors :)

And the winner is.....

2010-09-05T00:43:00.001-06:00

Boulder Canyon apartments!! We looked at all the apartments that we could possibly afford today. We decided on this complex for a few reasons. 1. It is pretty close to my work and once Allen's work rebuilds their plant it will be right down the street. 2. They have a great discount going right now that makes it possible for us to get a bigger apartment for the price we would pay other complexes for their smallest apartment. 3. They are brand new.. no one else has lived in the apartment before us. 4. They will be available to move into at the end of October which is perfect!!! 5. We both just felt really good about it and we easily agreed on wanting to live there and what size we would choose. So Monday morning we will be calling and placing our deposit down on one!! I am pretty excited!! Now I feel like we can get started with registering cuz I now know what type of space and rooms we will have to decorate :) This weekend has been super productive for me. I am loving the fact that I can see things moving along so great and easy. Let's just hope things keep going this well for a while longer :)

November 13, 2010!!!

2010-09-01T11:37:00.001-06:00

Mark your calendars!!! We are getting married on November 13th!! We are pretty excited about it too :) It's going to be pretty stressful to pull together because of school and work but I think we can do it!! A lot of people have asked why we picked this day... well we looked at all of our class schedules and test dates and this is the only week that we both did not have something due. We are planning on the Salt Lake Temple and the reception at Millennial Falls in Draper. We look forward to seeing you all there :)

First Week of Fall 2010

2010-08-26T23:06:00.001-06:00

Well the first week of school is officially over! I am super excited about my stats teacher this semester. He told the class that every one of his students over the summer passed his class. All of the exams are take home tests except for the final (which we work on in small groups!). I'm hoping this is a good sign on how my semester will go! All my other classes look very interesting. I will be writing essays left and right but I am usually pretty good at that. Allen's classes are going to be very time consuming as well. His English class has assignments due almost every other day. He is also taking Math 1050... let's hope he has a good teacher.. I can't help him much on that subject.

New discovery:

I just found this awesome website that allows you to download church books to your computer and put them on your iPod. You can get the Book of Mormon for free too! I downloaded the 4th book of Work and the Glory today as well as the Book of Mormon. I am excited to listen to the Book of Mormon! I think this will help me get to my daily scripture reading more often. School always seems to get in the way of my scripture study time. Now I can listen to it in the car on my way to school/work every day!

Flag football starts up this weekend. Allen is pretty stoked! I am excited to go and watch too even though it might not be the same without Dani there every game :( Flag football does give me and Allen something fun to look forward too after a long week of school!

Go Team Get Some!!!!

I don't wanna grow up...

2010-08-11T11:51:00.001-06:00

Has anyone else noticed that renting an apartment lately is impossible!!??? We found out this week that we make too much a year to qualify for low income housing. So that means that we have to pay an arm and a leg to rent an apartment! We have looked a few places but we really don't know what we are going to do. On top of that, I have to pay for another semester at SLCC. I also will be adding on many other grown up expenses in the next couple months. This is not ok! I am supposed to graduate in May not August! I need to go full time if we are going to afford to live. What ever will we do??? This growing up thing is not very easy :(
This week has been pretty crappy for me if you couldn't tell. But there are some things to look forward too... raging waters Saturday, being done with finals, enjoying a week with no school or homework to think about :)
Feel free to look at some of the places we are looking at to live. We need all the input and opinions we can get :)
www.riverwalkutah.com
http://www.isyourhome.com/san-marino-apartments
http://www.cowboy.us/libertylanding.php
http://www.liveatalliance.com/PinnacleSouth/index.aspx

End in sight?

2010-08-05T22:05:00.001-06:00

One of these days I will have one of these!! I realized today that this could possibly be my last summer semester ever! I have never taken such a hard final as I did on Wednesday. 1 1/2 hours for 4 questions! It was pretty intense! Everyone pray that I pass that final and never have to find the standard deviation of a group of numbers again! Also, I have completed my internship as of 5 minutes ago! 6 page final paper completed now I just need my boss's signature and I turn it in and go back to my 20 hours a week until I graduate! What ever will I do with all that extra time on my hands?...? oh ya.. Fall semester starts up in 2 weeks.... Guess I better enjoy the next few weeks as much as possible!

Where has the time gone??

2010-07-31T20:36:00.001-06:00

This month has flown!! So much has happened and so much is coming up so fast!! The past few weeks have been crazy! Between homework, work, and camping trips; me and Allen have been extremely busy. I won't bore you with all the lame things. So here are all the good things that have happened! We have done tons of camping this month! We got to spend time with our friends Amber, Bert, Jake and Dani. We had a ton of fun (besides freezing most of the nights :))

Last week, we got to go to Potter's Pond's with Allen's family. We had a blast! We fished (I actually caught 5 fish!!!), we went on the four wheelers (and I didn't fall off haha), and we had the funnest fire pit the last night we were there. I had a blast getting to know his extended family better. I think I also surprised myself that I could have that much fun camping. I am pretty horrible at remembering to take pictures though so I only got a few of everyone else but me and just a few of Allen. Oops! Hopefully his mom got a few and I can steal them from her :) Here are the ones that I did get.

I am excited to see what else will happen in the next few months :)

Top Secret..

2010-07-19T22:30:00.001-06:00

So I hate to admit this.. but I am totally obsessed with the bachelor/bachelorette show. I was totally sucked in last season when Jake chose Vienna.. (are people really surprised they didn't work out btw???) I loved Ali right from the start of Jake's season and was sooooo sad that she left. When I found out she was the next Bachelorette, I knew I would not be missing an episode. She deserves to find that special guy. Well I almost had to stop watching when she kept giving the weatherman a rose.. but there were these really cute guys on the show that kept me hanging on. Well I was so happy that Ali had picked the three cutest and nicest guys for the top 3. I am positive that Frank was the one she knew she was going to end up with.. so yes, I cried when he was telling her he loved his ex. I thought I would start to hate him.. but I just can't get myself too.. I really think he was falling for her and I don't see him leading her on.. he was just confused right?? Well everyone will probably disagree with me on this but I still think Frank was an outstanding guy just with a lot of thinking he had to do. Anyways now that I am done ranting about the bachelorette I just have one more thing I want to get off my chest.....

I HATE MICROECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STATISTICS!!!!

I just had to get that out there so that I can work on my homework again and not throw my computer across the room.

Thanks for listening to my rants for the day :)

4th of July :)

2010-07-06T22:24:00.001-06:00

Wow what a weekend!! I have never had so much fun for the 4th of July like I did this weekend! Friday I was able to go with Allen and his family to a fireworks show! We had a blast! Kimberlie and Denver were so excited and they were so much fun to watch them interact with each other while we waited for the show to start!

On Saturday I got to go to the Stadium of Fire with Kylie and Lauren. It was tons of fun to see Carrie Underwood perform on stage! She is amazing!!

We also got to spend time with Dani and Jake. We had a fire pit with HUGE marshmellows!! It was great fun!!

Halfway there!

2010-06-18T13:20:00.001-06:00

Summer school is finally starting to calm down. One class is over, but another one starts. Hopefully it will be less work then this last one has been. The only good thing is that I don't have to drive to Orem every other day for the rest of the summer!! Also, no more full time at MACU!! Just 12-6.. Maybe I will now have time to keep my life in order haha. Also, I just have to tell everyone that I am 96% done with school.. 2 more semesters and I am outta here!! I'm pretty excited!!

I love summer!!!! It just makes me happy :) Everything seems to be looking up :)

Busy as a bee!

2010-05-20T22:32:00.001-06:00

This is me.. the busiest, stressed out, overwhelmed person in the world. I have noticed that all I do is go to work, go to class, go to work and do homework. But I am going to admit that it has helped me feel like myself again. I'm actually liking my alone time to do homework and being productive and responsible again.. the only drawback is that my car looks like a tornado blew through it because I practically live in it now.. and my room.. well.. it looks like the above picture but with clothes. Maybe I can catch up on that this weekend. The stress.. well that comes from not having any time to just sit and relax without having a million things on my mind... the biggest thing being how I'm going to find time to go take my marketing exam. Looks like I might have to make an early morning run to the testing center this weekend. :( The overwhelmed part comes from learning so much at work now that I am there more often.. and taking 15 credits at UVU (6 being my internship at work) and another 4 credits at SLCC (long story ;)) Luckily my SLCC class doesn't start for another week.. and my Business Presentations class (aka death-to-shy-people like me) ends at the end of June.. So pray that I can pass all these classes and keep my sanity the rest of this summer!

Conference Weekend

2010-04-05T11:17:00.001-06:00

On Friday, I was able to go to Carlie and Seth's 3rd Annual April Fools Dinner! It was a blast!! I went with Danica and Amber!

Conference was great this season! We went over to Amber and Bert's house on Saturday to watch it with all our friends. We had a blast. In between sessions we played games and just had a great time. After the last session, I started to clean my car and ended up getting sick and just laid on the couch until bed time.

This was my favorite conference talk!

Jeffrey R Holland Talk

I just loved this talk! I think he did a great job explaining the difference of love and lust. I also think I felt like it related to a lot of my friends. I have a few friends that are divorced because of some of these reasons. That is what first caught my attention. I think it's about time that they addressed this problem in conference. I also loved how he talks about severing all relationships that are with the other gender not with your significant other and don't leave a forwarding address :)

Comments

2010-04-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

So it took me an hour but I finally figured out how to fix my page so that people can comment on my posts. Thank you Google! I was trying everything I could think of to fix it but I couldn't get it to work. Then I Googled the problem and wha-la! FIXED!!! So go ahead and comment your hearts out on my future posts!! I am excited what you all have to say :)

Surprise!!

2010-03-30T12:36:00.001-06:00

So my friends are the best!! They all planned this surprise trip to Mesquite for me this weekend! It was a blast!! I thought we were going to dinner.. but when I asked where we are going we were already to Payson and they told me where we were off too! It was a great surprise!! The drive there was a little scary with a snow storm.. but once we got to Cedar it was great. We stayed at the Casa Blanca. All we really did all weekend was lay out by the pool and eat.. we did a little shopping but not a whole lot. We also stopped by the St. George temple on the way back to South Jordan. It was such a great weekend.. I did not want to come back :(

Virgin River Buffet and Laying out at the pool :)

Love these Girls!!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-20T10:37:00.001-07:00

We are engaged!

2009-11-20T10:36:00.004-07:00