Tax Return Woes

So Sam and I got our tax return already and we were so excited about it. I had these little hopes (okay really big hopes) that we would be able to use the money to go on a trip, or pay off a bunch of debt, or maybe even save it. Well, those hopes were dashed to pieces when my lovely 1994 Corsica decided to need two different repairs in one week. The first was a problem that I will admit I have been ignoring for months (your car is not supposed to shake when you turn the wheel left while going between 55-65 mph right?) yeah I didn't think so. It finally got to the point that it could not be ignored so grudgingly we took it in to get repaired. Then yesterday I was on my way to my sister's when that little light that tells you something is definitely wrong with your car came on again, yes after already being "fixed." Turns out that this time I had a flat tire, how I do not know. So two  new tires later I am driving home from Big-O Tires and what comes on again? That stupid little light! We called the car place and they said that unless it keeps staying on my life is not in danger so just keep driving. I think it is official that the Corsica is becoming unrepairable (I know that is not a real word). I wish I could just get a new car but it is just not possible for us right now. So that is where half of our lovely tax return went. And even though it is not my fault, I feel guilty that it was my car that needed repairs. Life is awesome right?

I should really just be grateful that I still have a car that runs. Anyone who knows of the Corsica knows how old that thing is. And besides, we did do one thing we vowed to use the money for, which was to buy a printer. So yes, we are the owners of a real printer. It is so sad how excited we were about getting this thing. I feel like I am on the road to true adulthood. I don't have to go to my parent's to print things anymore and I can finally print off the bazillion Joanne's coupons I get. So there are good things in life.

Here it is people. The HP Deskjet 3150 in all it's glory.

And this is how happy we were about it.

 Happy Friday Eve!

Happy Spring!

Happy first real, official, legitimate day of spring. Although it is cold and rainy outside, it feels like spring rain, not a winter storm, so I am okay with it. Well Sam and I went to Moab for his spring break, and although it was not the most exciting Moab trip I have ever had it was still worth it. It was just nice to get away from Bountiful even if it only meant slightly warmer and slightly less windy weather. We really only went on one hike to a place called Negro Bill Canyon (yes that is the real name). The hike is a lot prettier when all the plants are green, but it was still fun. One advantage to going to Moab so early is that no one is there. We pretty much had any pick of camp site, and while we were hiking we only ran into about 5 other groups. I think there was a time when we were the only ones on the trail for a while. While we were hiking we saw these really cool sheets of ice that looked like frozen waterfalls. Sam said it reminded him of Zelda.... which made reminded me of why we needed to get out more. Here are some pictures. They don't do it justice at all because I have zero photography skills, but just imagine being in the desert and seeing frozen waterfalls. Awesome right?

Even though we did have a good time, we both decided we should probably start camping when the weather is a little warmer, it just makes things easier.

So I am in the process of looking for a full time teaching job right now. As I was updating all my documents and resume and stuff, I came across my student teaching evaluations and was flooded with many interesting memories. Let's just say I am so glad to be done with that phase in my life. Oh how far I have come in just a year. Isn't it funny how in the moment you think that things will last forever, but then, bam, a year has gone by and it is like, really? Where did time go? But in the case of student teaching I am glad that is far gone. So I am about to embark on a new teaching adventure. One of the teacher's I TA for is going on maternity leave and she has asked me to long term sub for her class. This is a 5th grade class people. I am very nervous and excited all at the same time. I know all the kids and it is a great class, but I feel a little out of my element. I am looking forward to the change though, and hey, if it is horrible, then it's fine because its only temporary. Well, I hope you are enjoying this first day of spring as much as I am :)

Same Old Same Old

Can you believe it is March already? I would like to say I can't believe it is already here and yet I sort of can. I have been craving spring for so long. I think it's because I have to work outside for part of the day and I am just tired of being stuck in the cold layered in way to many coats. I don't know why I even bother to do my hair for work anymore. Anyways...

So I have had a hard time getting back into blogging since our computer died and I had a forced break for a while. I guess it is mostly because I don't think our lives are exciting enough to write about and hope that random people in the cyber world would find it interesting. I wish I could write about some great recipe I am using, but honestly I don't think I am good enough of a cook to give anyone advice. Or I wish we lived these super interesting lives where we traveled to awesome places and had interesting jobs, but the truth is that we really don't. I guess you can say that we are in a bit of a rut. The problem is that Sam and I can be completely content watching tv all night (our latest obsession is Downton Abbey) or play Zelda (our new video game obsession). We need to start getting out more, hanging out with other people (and babysitting my nieces does not count). Maybe it is just the winter blues, but I think I need something new in my life. What have you done when life starts to get a little too repetitive? Also, any advice on how to spice up a boring blog? Because this thing needs a face lift.

In good news Sam and I are off to Moab tomorrow. We seriously need a vacation. The bad news is that it is supposed to rain. But we don't care, we are still going. We figure if it is miserable then we can just pack up and go home. It is Sam's spring break and this is kind of our only chance to go somewhere for longer than a short weekend. So this trip might be a little interesting.

By the way, aren't my nieces cute? Izzy was a monkey in her school play The Jungle Book. It was adorable. Oh and don't mind the random foot in the picture... Well blogging world, until next time.

The Week of Birthdays

This past week has been crazy with birthdays, which is a good thing, but still very busy. My Mom's birthday was on Tuesday and being the good daughter that I am I offered to make dinner for my Mom. I also thought it would be nice to invite the rest of the family over for dessert. Well even though we are in a house now it is still pretty cramped and crazy when you have 8 adults and 7 kids in one room. I was glad to do something for my Mom but by the end of the night I was exhausted. It was also my brother in law's birthday on Tuesday so the next day Sam and I went to visit him and his cute little family, so that is day 2 of birthday week. Then on Thursday (also Valentine's Day) was my Dad's birthday. We decided to do a surprise birthday party for him, which worked out pretty well. Even though it was a great day and a great Valentine's Day, it was also exhausting. By the time Friday came I was so ready for the week to be over with all the party planning, and errand running, and family time, as well as our everyday things we do normally.

But there was still one more birthday to go, yes the Mr. himself, Sam. He turned 24 yesterday and you know what? I think it was a pretty good day. I had no idea what to do for his birthday because he honestly had no clue what he wanted. We got so spoiled for Christmas that he didn't really need anything or have any ideas for gifts so it was extra hard to think of what to do. I like to made a big deal out of birthdays. They should be special and wonderful right? After such a busy week I just tried to make the day as fun and relaxing as possible. It started out by having some delicious breakfast burritos and then played a little Zelda. We was the movie Beautiful Creatures, which was interesting, but not that bad, and then went home and played a little more Zelda :) Sam's parents took us out for a delicious dinner and I, being such wonderful wife, had our friends Torrie Matt, and Richard and Haley waiting out our house to surprise him with a little party. After eating some delicious chocolate cake, and opening presents, we went bowling where I realized I am still a terrible bowler. It was a pretty great day and the fact that this is a 3 day weekend makes this whole weekend pretty amazing.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is also my best friend. One of my favorite things about Sam is when we just laugh together. We are so weird, but we have a lot of fun. I love him so much and I am so happy he is the man I get to spend my life with. Happy Birthday sweet Sammy! I love you!

Isn't he handsome? I think so.

Time to start blogging again

Well, I am back to the blogging world. Sam and I went without our computer and the internet for about a month and a half and so I guess I just got out of the habit of blogging. Now we finally have our computer back for reals and our internet is all set up in our new residence. That's right we have moved to a new place. In fact a lot has happened since my last post. So here is an update of what we have been up to.

Of course we celebrated Christmas and decorated our awesome, real, from the forest Christmas tree.

We spent a lot of time in these awesome wedding gifts we got. They are called "forever-lazies." We may have actually worn them to bed on multiple occasions.

My family had our annual Christmas in Bethlehem dinner made by my Mom, which as usual, was amazing. I love Christmas Eve probably more than Christmas day because that is when my family dos the most stuff together.

I made my Mom's English toffee all by myself for the first time. Yes, this is a notable event. And I only ruined one batch of the toffee by breaking the candy thermometer and poisoning it with mercury. The batch pictured is my second attempt, which was quite delicious.

We actually had Christmas breakfast with Bethany and John and my parents at our little apartment. It was so delicious! I was pretty much full the entire day, but continued to eat more food just because.

We actually had a pretty great first Christmas. We thought it would be pretty small because let's face it, we are poor. But Sam got a surprise extra big Christmas bonus, so we were able to actually buy each other gifts as well as getting way to spoiled by our families.

 And yes we wore our forever lazies for Christmas morning.

Of course we had a visit to Temple Square to see the lights.

And I turned 26. Which is weird.

And now we live with 3 cats. Sam is a lot nicer to them than I am. But being allergic to cats does have something to do with it.

 We moved at the very beginning of January into my sister Bethany's house. Well it's actually her husband John's parent's house. It is a little complicated. But the bottom line is that we live here now and it is way better than our apartment because we have a ton more room, a giant TV in the basement to play video games, cheaper rent, and a way friendlier ward. The only down side is that it is temporary and we will likely be moving again around summer time. But for now we are just enjoying the upgrade. That's about it for us. Sam is back in school, I am still just working. Life is slowly just going back to normal after having about a good month of trying to adjust to everything. I finally am back to blogging, and our internet and computer better not have any more problems.

Thursday Thoughts

So I realized I have not blogged all week, and even some of last week. I guess it is because I feel like nothing too exciting has happened recently, which is kind of okay. But I guess you don't have to only blog when things are happening, so here is a blog about things not happening... if that makes sense.

Sam is officially finished with the semester as of today! YES! I am totally more excited than him. He is just tired. What is also amazing is that we both have the whole week of Christmas off, and even better Sam gets paid for it! But I don't... but that's okay.

Speaking of not getting paid for Christmas break, it is so nice working for a school and getting holidays off. Now I just can't wait until I have a job so I can get paid days off.

So I have always thought I was a pretty good cook but lately I feel like everything I make is a big fail. I blame pinterest for giving me all these ideas that are in reality very terrible. The worst thing I have made? An Asian peanut sauce for ramen noodles that "tastes just like it's from a Japanese restaurant." Basically it was like eating dry peanut butter over soggy noodles. I could not eat more than a couple of bites and it kind of makes me sick thinking about it. Amazingly enough my husband who won't eat whipped cream ate his whole serving. I don't understand him.

Has anyone else heard about the whole wear pants to church on Sunday thing? If not, some women have decided to protest what they believe are the inequalities in the LDS church by wearing pants to church. I have been so so so tempted to post all my very opinionated thoughts about it on the movement's facebook page, but I have stood by my own motto to "not give into the crazy." However, this is my very own blog and so I can post whatever I want. Can I just say how stupid? Who cares if you wear pants? If you feel the need to protest, come up with something more meaningful please. Also, and more importantly, how sad that so many women feel inequality in the LDS church? To me, it seems as though if you are a woman who feels unequal because you don't hold the priesthood or don't serve in certain callings then you are missing the doctrines of the church, or even if you don't feel equal for any other reasons. I can fully say that as an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and as a woman who believes in feminism and the power of being a woman, I have never felt belittled, looked down upon, less than, or unappreciated by the church. So I feel bad if any women ever has and I hope that they can see it is the actions of individuals and not the doctrines of the church. Okay, moving on now.

Is anyone else super excited about Christmas? Well I hope so. And if you are not then you had better listen to Silent Night, drink some egg nog, and decorate a Christmas tree because Christmas is 12 days away! I am so excited I think I will go wrap some presents. Well, that's all for now. Until next time.

Back to Normal

I feel like the last two weeks have been crazy. Last week was one of the worst and longest weeks I have had in a long time. The week before was Thanksgiving so it was good, but also bad because I was super sick. Speaking of sick, my Mom is doing well. She is up and running again and back to work and everything. It was quite the scare though. There is nothing like a scare like that to really remind you how important family is.

Even though I was sick, Thanksgiving was still fun. We ate dinner with Sam's family and it was full of good food and just hanging out which is my kind of Thanksgiving. I made some pies, and I won't lie, they were pretty tasty.

Sam and I are now both very healthy and feeling good. We are back to work and now Sam is just trying to survive finals. Seriously being graduated from college is amazing. Not having homework at night is such a good feeling. But having a spouse in school is almost just as bad as being in school. I think I am just as excited for the semester to be over as he is.

I think I am seriously turning into an old woman and I am taking Sam down with me. Over the break we went to a concert to see one of my favorite singers Rachael Yamagata. The show didn't even start until 9:00 and by the time she came out it was like 10:30 and I was like, ok well I am about ready for bed. Poor Sam was so tired that he ended up really not having that great of a time. We went and saw her last year and it was a blast, but a year later we have aged and are not quite as fun I guess.

Have you noticed the wonderful facial hair on Sam in those pictures? Sam decided he would do No Shave November and you know what? He stuck with it and did not shave his beard all month long. Now I am the kind of girl who likes facial hair, but sadly not my husband's. Not that it looked too bad, but Sam is not a very hairy man, which I like, so he doesn't really grow a very full beard. I am pretty sure I could probably grow a bigger mustache than him. Needless to say, I am glad that he shaved on Dec. 1st.

I can't believe it is December, and yet I can. It is the last month of another year. This has been such an eventful year in my life. I am just going to try to cherish this month instead of getting caught up in all the whoop-la. I can really see myself getting caught up with all the stress of planning and spending money, but after last week I have resolved to just enjoy Christmas for what it really is. To celebrate the birth of Christ and to be close to family and friends. So Happy December to all.

P.S. I bought my very first ornament. It says First Christmas Together. We are official now.