........

May all the new folks you meet be interesting and kind.

I thought this was so cute. Tel and I can really relate to this picture right now. We have been meeting a lot of new people in Carlsbad that are very interesting, but kind.

4 Month Anniversary..

Tel has been so funny trying to remember the 29th of each month, the day of the month that we got married. He will usually say a few days after the 29th, "Happy 2nd or 3rd month anniversary!" But on December 29th, our 4 month anniversary, Tel made dinner! He thinks he is the omelet king, which he did teach me how to make omelets, so he pretty much is. Whenever he volunteers to make dinner, my options are usually omelets or baked potatoes. Those two things, he has mastered. So he made omelets! Look at my massive omelet and with avocado on the side! My new favorite side to everything. My mom always tells me to only eat half of the avocado because of the loads of calories and fat that are in them. But they are just so dang good, so I usually just tell myself that it's the good kind of oils and fat in the avocado, so I can eat all I want! But since it was our 4 month anniversary, I could eat anything I wanted anyways right?! You only celebrate being married for 4 months one time!

 

I'm going on a Trek..

Sunday felt like a very busy day for me. After we got out of church, Tel and I headed out to AJ and Bethany Bluth's for Sunday dinner. Marcus, Cami and their kids were there too. We had such a yummy pork roast for dinner. It made it seem like an actual Sunday dinner. Tel and I usually don't make ourselves roast and mashed potatoes like we are used to having back home. So that was nice. The Bluths live out in Loving, kind of in the country. They recently finished building and moving into their new home. It is a beautiful home.

After dinner I had a youth council meeting to attend. We got a lot accomplished there. We decided on doing a "Pioneer Trek" for Youth Camp this year and our theme is, "Faith in every footstep."
The stake here has never gone on a pioneer trek, so it should be a cool experience. I've never participated in a pioneer trek either. I had the opportunity to when I was in high school, but it was one of the things that I didn't take advantage of, when I could of. So now, I get the opportunity to! I am really excited about it. It's funny because our Young Women presidency is really busy right now. Our president is pregnant and expecting this summer, the first councilor is also pregnant, the third councilor has 3 little children, and then there is me. Most of them aren't going to be able to attend girls camp or youth council this summer, so they are kind of relying on me to be able to attend. But I am really excited about it. After church Tel and I had a relaxing rest of the evening. Ready for another week!

Did somebody say homemade pizza?

Saturday we woke up to 40 mph winds! I seriously thought our house was going to blow away. Our house isn't sealed up that great either, making wind storms really loud. So anything outdoors was out of the question, at least for me. So we went and had lunch with Sara and Lawrence at "Danny's Place." We had some yummy green chili burgers! My new favorite hamburger topping...green chili. I don't think I can eat a hamburger without it anymore. Good thing every restaurant in New Mexico offers it! Afterward, the boys played some wii, and Sara and I talked about books. Sara talked me into reading more Nicholas Sparks books. I already started, "Nights in Rodanthe," so we'll see how it is! We also looked through the entire book, "Cook this, Not that."

I have read, "Eat this, Not that." But I have never read this book. It's so good. I immediately ordered it when I got home. It has some great recipes and tips in it!

Later that evening we all made homemade pizza! It was quite the process. When we got back over to Sara and Lawrence's around 7:00pm, Sara had already started making the pizza dough in the bread maker. It takes about 2 hours in the bread maker. The time left on the machine was down to like 10 minutes, when Sara realized that she had forgot to add salt and sugar into the dough. So, we had to start over and remake the dough. Sara was so upset. But it was funny. We ate an entire bag of chips and salsa why we waited for the new batch of dough.While we waited for the new batch, we played "Battle of the Sexes!" The boys were really getting competitive. They couldn't handle loosing. Sara and I were really far ahead most of the game, which brought out the boys competitive attitudes. It was really funny! When the dough was done, we each made our individual pizza's on a paper plate. This was a BAD IDEA! Than we faced the issue of transporting the super gooey, dough onto the pizza brick to cook it. This was really hard with all the sauce and toppings. Telford thought he was going to be smart and he tried cutting the paper plate our from under the pizza and then dropping it on the pizza brick. Yah, that didn't work. So Tel's pizza looked more like lasagna. Lawrence found a way to transfer the rest of our pizza's.We finally ate our homemade pizza's around 10:45pm. But it was worth the wait and now I know how to make homemade pizza dough. Which leaves me wanting a bread maker!!!!! 

Book Review -"Dear John"

My friend Sara let me borrow this book to read. I wanted a book to read during the carpool to and from work everyday. So she suggested "Dear John." "Dear John" is about to be released in theaters. I love reading books that are being made into movies. The movies are never as good as the book, but I still enjoy reading and then watching the story. So I decided to read this. A girl in my carpool warned me about reading Nicholas Spark books and how sad they were. But I decided to read it anyways. The book was sad, but really made me appreciate the relationship that I have with my dad. 

Dear John is the story of a military man called John, and it revolves around his relationship with his girlfriend Savannah as well as his father, and how his being in the military affects both. John is somewhat of a rebel when he is a youngster, and his relationship with his father is under immense strain on account of his father’s apparent lack of communication. It is under these circumstances that he joins the military. He meets Savannah when he is on a vacation, and the usual thing happens. They fall in love.

It is Savannah who points out that John’s father might have Asperger’s Syndrome, a disorder that could be the reason behind his unwillingness to talk about anything except his passion for coins. This brings the realization that it is not that his father does not want to communicate, maybe he just cannot do it. This realization considerably improves the father-son relationship, which makes John see Savannah in a different light.

John and Savannah share some special moments on the vacation, after which he goes back to the military. They write to each other and decide to wait till John’s term in the military gets over to get married. However, the stress of military life and the long distance between them creates a strain on John and Savannah’s relationship. Circumstances make her come close to Tim, Savannah’s childhood friend, a guy whom John has met and liked. She writes a "Dear John Letter" to John, and that’s the end of their relationship. Then 9/11 happens, and John decides to extend the term of his service in the military. Life is tough on him, and he loses his father during this period.

Several years later, John goes back to Savannah’s hometown, where he discovers that Tim is dying of a melanoma. Savannah is working on a ranch, trying to help autistic children, something that has always been her dream, and leading a tough life. All three of them – Savannah, John and Tim – realize that the old flames between Savannah and John have not died down. In spite of Tim and Savannah’s attempts to reignite these flames, John feels that it is best to move out. And that is exactly what he does – leaving Tim with the proceeds from the sale of his father’s coin collection, so that he can continue with his expensive treatment.
The epilogue shows John returning to Savannah’s place secretly one more time, and he sees a recovered Tim leading a happy life with Savannah. He also notices something that proves that Savannah still has a soft corner for him, and with that satisfaction, he returns back to his routine life.

I found the book to be average. The love story isn't what broke my heart, it was John and his father's relationship. It was so sad to read about it. John never understood his father, and therefor treated his father really horrible. He was embarrassed of the way his father raised him and the lack of worldly possessions they had.  The only connection they had with each other, was a coin collection. John also diminished that tie with his father, because he was sick of only talking about coins with his father. But, because of his father's Autism, that's all he could handle. When John finally learned of his father's Autism and accepted it, things changed between him and his father. John understood his father's daily routines and his lack of communication. For the next two years, John and his father talked and spent more time with each other than they had in all of the prior 20 years.  Then John's father died of a heart attack. This just about killed me to read. I can't comprehend not having a personal relationship with my dad like I have. And for John to finally find his father and then to loose him, is rough. But John was left with peace and understanding. He knew that his father had raised him the best he could. I probably wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you want to cry. I would rather cry because the book is so happy. This book ended, with nothing good for John, he lost his father and the love of his life.   

Tie Dye Extravaganza!!!!

This past weekend was full of "Tie-dye" events. It started with Papa Murphys pizza on Friday night, followed by the first round of shirt tie dying. After everyone did 1 shirt, we all wanted to do another one. So we sent Tel and Lawrence to Walmart to get more shirts to dye. Telford and I have never tie dyed before, so it was a lot of fun.The night ended with Mario Kart on the Wii. The next morning we rinsed our shirts and dried them. Lawrence sent us a picture of him wearing his tie dye shirt and holding a golf club and said "lets go golf!" So that's what we did. It was a Saturday so I was a little worried about golfing in our bright shirts and everyone being annoyed at us. But we played the Par 3 course and had a blast. After golfing the boys retreated back to playing nintendo and started complaining at our hungry they were. So of course, Sara and I made them dinner. We got a little crazy, we ate breakfast for dinner in our tie dye shirts! WHOA! Later that evening we played "Clue" the office style. Lawrence kicked our butt at it. Then we endulged ourselves and played the game, "Eat It." It is the weirdest game ever. It is a trivia game about food, specifically ice cream, cookies, candy, chocolate, and snacks! Talk about gross! They have the most ridiculous questions. There was one question that asked to describe a Funyon. Sara answered "chip." The correct answer was "an onion flavored ring!" I mean seriously, who could ever come up with that answer! Anyways, it was an eventful weekend.

So Telford had one of his tie dye shirts turn out! He was being a bit sloppy when he was making them, so he had me worried. But this is his good one.

The second shirt he did, Tel thought he could make up his own pattern..

And this is how it turned out..Ew.

 

 

This is the second shirt I made. I didn't like it as much as the first shirt I made.

This is my first shirt. Ta da..how lovely I know!

This is Tel and I right after we woke up. We had to let the shirts sit all night wrapped up, so we were really excited to wake up and look at our creations!

 

Sara and Lawrence about to make their shirt. Lawrence was obsessed with "Packer" colors, so both of his shirts he did in yellow and green.

 

Waaala! Our first Tie Dye experience was a success.

 

The four of us.

So we decided we had to do something in our tie-dye shirts. So golfing it was..

 

 

 

Everyone wanted to be us out on the golf course.

Not everyone can go golfing in the middle of January.... suckers!

Got the Bug to be Crafty..

So with Tel starting up a new semester and most of his classes are in the evenings I am feeling like accomplishing a few projects. I wasn't passed on the craftiness talent from my mom like I wish I was. So if I have an example of something I want to create right in front of me, I can do it. It's the coming up with new ideas and doing them that I struggle with. So I have 2 specific projects that I am going to do. One is a really cute recipe book made out of chipboard and the other is a "Countdown to Valentines" box. I have all the materials to complete these projects, so there is no reason I shouldn't get them done. I started on the recipe book last night while Tel was at his Chemistry class, and I got all the cutting done. So I will post pictures of the completed projects when that happens! I've never actually done anything crafty all by myself. I usually just help my mom do them, and then say I did most of it. So I am looking forward to feeling accomplished. Lately at work I feel like I'm so overwhelmed, but I get lots of things done there. But as far as myself away from work, I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything. I am used to being in school where I can see direct results of my life progressing with each completed class. Anyways, I'm just really excited to do these projects!

A through Z about ME!

A = ADVOCATE FOR: Kids in car seats and seatbelts.
B = BEST FEATURE: I'd have to go with my long legs
C = COULD DO WITHOUT: washing my car
D = DREAMS AND DESIRES: Having a cute family one day
E = ESSENTIAL ITEM: Toothpaste. Brushing without it would be gross.
F= FAVORITE PAST TIME: Being outdoors in Idaho.
G = GOOD AT: Playing sports
H = HAVE NEVER TRIED: To play the violin.
I = IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: I'd be rich!
J = JUNKIE FOR: Sno-cones, Twizzlers, and Sour Patch Kids (it came from the TV show Kyle XY).
K = KINDRED SPIRIT: Probably Sara Sammann
L = LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I was born with clubbed feet.
M = MEMORABLE MOMENT: Getting accepted into the Huntsman Scholars Program
N = NEVER AGAIN WILL I: Hike Guadalupe Peak
O = OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Tanning (it feels so good).
P= POLKA DOTS OR STRIPES: Stripes if I had to choose one of them.
Q = QUOTE: “You’re the Peanut to my Butter, Star to my Burst, Pop to my Tart, Fruit to my Loop, But most importantly….You’re the Best to my FRIEND!”
R = REASON TO SMILE: I have the cutest husband ever!
S = SORRY ABOUT: Not cleaning the bathroom as much as I should.
T = TAG SOME FRIENDS: I'd love to hear any tid bit about you!
U = UNINTERESTED IN: Play Station 3
V = VERY SCARED OF: Failing (at anything).
W = WORST HABIT: Stretching my neck constantly
X = X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Anywhere I have never been before. I’m game for any Vacation!
Y = YESTERYEAR DECADE OF CHOICE: Bring on some of that 1990's music!
Z = ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

Root Canal! AHHHHHH!

So last night there wasn't any running or racquetball playing for me. I had the pleasure of enduring my second root canal.There was much more drilling and grinding than I remember. I think I sweated through the entire procedure because of how loud the drilling was and because of how much pressure he had to use on my tooth. I actually started crying before before the dentist even gave me a shot. Pathetic huh? I couldn't believe how many zillion tools and drills he had to use though. I of course had to look up the root canal process when I got home to figure out what they actually did to my poor tooth for an hour and a half. . It is pretty disgusting and if I ever have to do a research paper, I could probably take on Root Canals.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

So I am finally going to blog about Christmas 2009.Getting home was a bit of a miserable process but we made it. We originally had a flight scheduled at 6:45 pm on the evening of the 18th of December. But we decided we were going to try and catch a 6:00am flight that morning out of El Paso. So this meant we had to leave Carlsbad by 2:00am to get to El Paso by 4:30 to try and get on stand by. So after about an hour or 2 of tossing and turning sleep, Tel and I headed on our way to the airport. We counted over 25 bunnies and a few coyotes on our drive, exciting I know. Anyways, to make a long story shorter, we caught all the flights we wanted and made it to Salt Lake City by 11am where Lisa was waiting to pick us up.The first thing I wanted to do when I got to Utah was eat at Cafe Rio. I had been looking toward it for forever. So we stopped in Logan at their Cafe Rio. And we had a pleasant surprise there! Noel, Lacey, and Drew were all having lunch there already! It was really funny running into them there. So we had a great lunch with them, and it was the first time Tel has seen Drew in 2 years.

Santa Claus even eats at Cafe Rio! I bet he loves the Sweet Pork the best!

Anyways, we got into Soda way earlier than our parents were expecting. So we got to surprise them and we made it to Sasha's basketball game that night. So that was fun getting to watch her play while we were home.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Alpine with my family to snow mobile up to Granite Hot Springs. On our drive there, it was looking as if we might not be able to ride because or the lack of snow. But as soon as we pulled into the parking lot to unload, there was plenty of snow for us. It was a perfect day to be there. We basically had the entire hot pool to ourselves and we didn't have to share the small changing cabin with a bunch of naked women! Yah!

Getting ready to head out!

 

The Crew.

 

I love this pic. I miss the mountains. But not as much as Tel does.

 

Before swim time.

 

 

 

Lunch Break

 

  

  What..

 

Swim time over

 

 

Hanging with Mitch, Hayley, and Boston!

After we got home that evening from Granite. Hayley, Mitch, and Boston came over. It was a good time. Boston is such a good little guy. I think he watched three full movies while he was there. Taylor and Annie came over a little later and we played "Partinee." It was girls vs. boys and the boys cheated the whole game especially on the category "What Not." They would never describe the opposites like they were supposed to. But I do have to admit that they did have one thing going for them that we didn't, "The Humdingers." Mitch was super funny when he did it. "Whoop there it is, Whoop there it is" and "Number 1" by Ludacris were probably his best performances. After playing games, Ivan came over for a little while and we all reminisced until like 1 or 2am. I was proud of us old married farts for staying up so late and "being cool." Hayley and Mitch even had to drive back to Poci that night. I guess you get cooler when you get married, because Taylor and Annie couldn't even handle doing that (Taylor I hope you read this and next time you don't bail on us, that is if we invite you! jk haha).But it was such a good night with Hayley and Mitch. We decided we are going to be Vacation buddies and basically go somewhere really rad. The end.

Myers Christmas Shin Dig

Sunday morning we went to Ron and Lorraine's ward for Church.After Church we headed to Tauna and Dustin's house in Poci for our gift exchange and dinner. We had a really yummy ham dinner and I learned a new game, Rumikub! I decided I need to buy that game now. I also did my first leg wrestle against Tel. I beat him with my left leg and he always beat me on the right leg. Everyone had to play one game of leg wrestle before dinner. It was entertaining. We exchanged our gifts after dinner and everyone got really fun stuff.

Shopping and  Avatar

On Monday Tel and I went to Pocatello with my parents to do some last minute shopping and to see Avatar. Like a said in an earlier post about Avatar, it was amazing. It was a fun day. When we got home, my mom made Pork and Sauerkraut. Nammer came over for dinner and we played some 4-handed pinochle. After that I headed over to Telfords where Marcus, Quintin, Jeff, Ashley Gambles, Colter, and Lacey all came over and we played guestures and hung out. It was good hanging out with some old high school buds.

On Tuesday we had a really relaxed day. That evening Telford and I went to the Boys basketball game with my parents.

On Wednesday I got my hair colored and cut at Peggy's which was long over due. My mom came with me to attempt to pick out the perfect shade of red to put in my hair. All the boys went snow mobiling that day. Tel had a lot of fun soaking up as much snow as he could.

Christmas Eve!

Mom made the best prime rib this year for dinner. I ate like 3 pieces and didn't touch much of any of the other food. The prime rib was too good. Aaron and Jeb's families both came over for our "Ugly Sweater" party. Everyone actually participated by wearing a sweater! Great Success. To start off the party Dad played the accordion while mom and all the grand kids sang Jingle Bells. It was cute.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

After hours of researching Ebay for ugly sweater ideas, dad came up with slippers to hold his pop and jingle bells on his sleeve. Only he would think of that.

 

I played Jingle Bells on the Harmonica.

 

We played lots of games and had a great time.

On Christmas morning we had the traditional breakfast burritos. They were so yummy. Then we unraveled all of the presents. I got pretty spoiled. Tel even surprised me with a Garmin Forerunner watch that I wasn't expecting at all. It makes running so much funner having it!

 

This Tel while we were stuck in the airport waiting for our delayed flight. We were supposed to fly out at 8pm and didn't fly out till 11:30pm.  So we ended up pulling into our driveway at 4:30am. It was a long night.