LIfe in Utah

Life has been pretty great! That's really all I can say. It's been cold though!

Our apartment doesn't have any insulation. I mean...ANY. The crawl space has nothing. The walls are made of bricks and cinder blocks, and we have single paned windows. It kinda stinks, but we're trying to keep warm! We keep our apartment at a comfortable 50 degrees and use a ton of blankets. The heater will sometimes kick on, but for the most part we suck it up, or rather Dustin sucks it up and I'll sometimes whine about it. :)

We have our first Christmas tree too! It's kind of exciting. We even got a special "Our First Christmas" ornament that has our picture in it and everything. It was Dustin's idea so that our future kiddos can say something like, "You and mom looked like that!" It was a funny thought, so we got it.

Other news: There really isn't any. We're both happy and loving life. :)

Craftiness in the Making

I've been addicted to a website called Pinterest.com. I get to go on this website and look at all the things that I can't even dream of making, cooking, living in, going to, and so forth (you get the idea). So, I decided to one up myself (if you can do that) and try to be crafty! This was my inspiration. Dustin hates it when I leave my make up out on the counter. I rarely do, unless I'm in a hurry to get to work, but to avoid this problem, this is my solution!

So we went on a hunt yesterday for a cute frame...we looked in several places, and could not find a single frame that would work. As we were leaving the last one, Dustin saw an old wash board someone had given to the store. He saw the potential in it right away (something that he's teaching me to do) and so we got it. He has already taken it apart for me to spray paint. I would've, but I knew that I would end up breaking it most likely, so I let him. It just needs to be sanded and spray painted! I'm rather excited to see how my first real craft turns out. Wish me luck!!!



He was making a face because I had him stop right before he started taking it apart so I could take a picture. :)

My Birthday

Can I just say...I have the most amazing husband! I thought he had kinda spaced my birthday a little bit. I wouldn't have blamed him at all with school starting and work and just life has been crazy, but he didn't. :) He had my presents, ordered from Amazon, and hidden somewhere in the house. (Who knew? Not me!) So, I came home from work that day, to a spotless apartment (it wasn't when I left) and flowers sitting on the counter. I was on the phone with my Dad when I came in and thought that Dustin was still on campus working (I thought he had done it earlier in the day in between classes), so I continued talking. As I was walking around the downstairs talking, I noticed his wallet and keys sitting on the bookshelves, so I quickly said goodbye and went to investigate. He was waiting, some what patiently, upstairs. We got ready to leave and went to dinner....at the CHEESECAKE FACTORY!!! My man really does love me. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the prices, but he still took me there. :) After the terrible traffic that we went through to get there, we finally got food! I sadly filled up on bread because I was STARVING when we got there, but I still ate my food (some of it that is). We got our cheesecake to go, and headed home. When we arrived, there was a plate of cookies sitting on our door step for me. I didn't think anyone here would remember, but our super nice neighbors, Amy and Scott, did. I had to find my presents when we got inside. It's a good thing our living room is so small, because that's the only hint I got...that they were in the living room.


My gorgeous flowers!


Proof that he took me here. :)


I'm trying to work on my craftiness...so he got me the book I wanted.


Rio! I am just so excited. I loved this movie when we first saw it.


Cookies


Ta-Da! My amazing birthday gifts!


And my hubby who made the day fantastic!

Looking for the Good: #1

Dustin and I have been somewhat what you'd call pessimists when it comes to Provo. He's never particularly liked the fact that this is where we are going to live for the next couple years and ever since I got rear ended twice within a week of each other...Utah just didn't seem as great of a place to live. In hopes to change this, we're going to start looking for the good in this miserable place...I mean wonderful (see, still working on it). Number one on our list is Macey's ice cream cones. We spent, I think, $2.22 on both of our ice cream cones. That's better than Ikea! Bonus, it's real ice cream, and Dustin likes the Kong Kone. It's huge. We specifically had to ask for a cup on the side because normally they automatically put it on.





That's the Kong Kone. I'm incredibly impressed with the workers there. I could never make a cone that big. I'd have a problem with my little one.

Our Apartment and Other Tid-Bits

This is our apartment. It's almost completely furnished. The only things we're lacking now are: a kitchen table w/chairs, a chair for the desk, and a dresser. Those things would all be nice, but at the moment aren't NEEDS, only WANTS. (Thanks for teaching me the difference Dad.) So far, this is what it looks like.

The Bathroom


The "Living Room"- It's really just the entry way, but the actual living room area is sooooo hot.


The stairs are just to the left, but this is what is opposite the door. This is where the table would be at if we had one. :)


The stairway- it's not that interesting.


The top of the stairs with those, amazing if I may say so, pieces of art. (I made them...hehehe)


The widow and the big dark thing is actual a white fan, but the flash did something.


And the Bedroom- this is actually where the living room is supposed to be, but the real bedroom (the door to the left) is the hottest room in the house...so we decided to move things around a bit. It works though, since the real bedroom is also the coldest room in the house in the winter. So...it works! :)


And that's our apartment, besides the kitchen and the real bedroom, which we now call the storage room. I'll get pictures of the kitchen up soon...as soon as it's clean again. :) Homey though, huh?

As for further news, we start school soon. Dustin sooner than I. We're not excited. It's going to go from long days to longer days. Especially for the first few weeks for me...working 10 hour days is a lot! But I have a fun job with babies that make me laugh...so it's not too bad I suppose. Dustin and I together for books spent $140. Not too bad huh? My books have always cost me at least $400. I should've started taking online classes years ago (by years, I just mean three...that's as long as I've been in school). That's all that's happening in this newlywed couples lives.

Ducks

The daycare I work at is right in the industrial area where all the factories are. I think as a ploy to make it look nicer they put a pond there and what do ponds attract? Ducks. Geese. And therefore children who want to feed them. These ducks are ridiculously well trained. During my breaks I'll go out by the pond and read or sleep (depending on the kind of day it's been). Before I've even come to a full stop, they are already surrounding my car! It's crazy!

The ducks swarming (Yes...they did swarm)


I do feel a little bit bad though. I don't intentionally trick them, but it is kind of funny to see them get all excited and "Quack" and then waddle away, heads lowered, when I don't get out and feed them, and nothing comes out of my windows that they can snack on. (Is that cruel of me?) It makes me feel like Gru from Despicable Me when he makes the balloon animal for the little boy...



...And then pops it. Terrible I know.



No worries though! I don't do that to the kids at the daycare...that would just be mean!

Married Life & Presents

Well, I'm married. It's not as different as I was expecting. I figured it would be a monumental change. So far that hasn't happened. People have been asking if it's crazy being married and my typical response has been "It's exactly the same as before, except we don't have to worry about where our hands are anymore." I told that to my new sister in law Jess and she laughed so incredibly hard.

We have been incredibly blessed with the gifts that we got and the cash. So far my favorite present has been the pillow that my sister in law Tricia made us. We hadn't seen it yet since the family loaded all the presents into the car for us, so she came up to us and said that the present from her family was on the front seat of the car. She added that it's for our bed and it's to aid in communication. I about died laughing when I saw it.