Summer Activities

Summer has finally arrived, and I'm looking forward to going on adventures with Jake! Over the past few months I've been snooping around online for ideas of what fun outdoor things we could do here in Rexburg, and here are three things I'm excited about trying:

Go to the drive-in theater

There's a drive-in theater fairly close to Rexburg that Jake and I have been dying to try out because it sounds like so much fun! It's only open from late April to August, so we have to get out there soon!

Hike "R" Mountain

"R" Mountain is one of the closest hiking trails to where we live, and we can't wait to try it out! I've never been hiking anywhere outside of California so I'm eager to see what it's like.

Attend some of the events for Idaho SummerFest

According to their website: "Every summer hundreds of performers from around the world descend on Rexburg and nearby Burley...There's always dancing and singing in the streets"

Want to see more of the things Jake and I might do this summer? Check out my Pinterest board for more Idaho stuff!

Summer School

This week was the beginning of my teaching experience at Rigby Middle School! Since the public schools out here got out at the end of May and our semesters at BYU-Idaho don't end until July, for the second half of our semester we're teaching classes for summer school. Rigby Middle School is about 20 minutes outside of Rexburg, in a town about the same size. There are three blocks of summer school courses that last for two weeks, Mondays through Thursdays, for two hours. We're required to teach two blocks, and I didn't sign up to teach for the first block. This week was the start of Block #2 and I'm helping to teach a course on Crime Scene Investigation! Doesn't sound like a "normal" summer school course, right? That's because the summer school out here is also part of the summer "camps" that they offer for kids ages 12-14. The school teaches courses like Math and Spanish for the students who need to retake them, but it also offers fun courses for kids who just need something constructive to do during their summer break.

My Grandma Ethel, Grandpa John, Jake and I
before our wedding reception last August

We weren't given a ton of information on what kind of students we would have or how many, but we were told that this year the summer classes hadn't been advertised as well as previous years, so they weren't expecting very many students. However, I found out when I arrived on Monday that our class was one of the extremely popular ones. We had 26 kids that had signed up! I was super excited until the class started filling up...and I discovered that we had 23 boys, and 3 girls. Between the ages of 12-14. And there were five teachers, all students at BYU-Idaho, as well as our lead teacher from Rigby Middle School who isn't really supposed to get involved in the lessons or classroom management. It was definitely a challenge trying to wrangle that many kids, and helped confirm to me yet again that I'm making the right choice in teaching high school kids, not rambunctious little pre-teens!

This week I found out that my Grandma Ethel passed away. I was so sad to hear about it, but from
what I understand she had been in a lot of pain recently, so this was a blessing for her and her loved ones to finally know that she's no longer feeling that physical pain. I'm grateful for the knowledge that families are forever, and that I'll see her again one day!

Jake and I are almost completely unpacked at our new place, and are in the process of deep-cleaning our old one before we have to check out on the 30th. Cleaning is a lot of work, and it's not exactly a ton of fun when it's 100 degrees outside...ugh!

This Week's Spiritual Thought

This year has proven to be a very eventful one for Jake and I, in good ways and bad. We've been able to move into a better apartment and spend lots of time together growing and loving each other more, but I've also experienced quite a lot of loss: my Nana, my sweet dog Chloe, and now my Grandma Ethel. And it's not even July yet! Up until this year I had never lost anyone close to me, let alone three people (and animals) within the span of just a few months. It's very overwhelming and hard to deal with. However, I've been relying on prayer and scripture study even more lately as I try to find comfort. A quote that I've been reminding myself of over and over recently is this:

"If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I know that God has a plan for me, and that trials and times of sorrow are just a part of life. Everyone will experience them in one way or another, so I am never alone, and I always have Christ that I can turn to.

My Bucket List

Learn to crotchet

Get my Associate Degree

Graduate college

Become a mother

Get married in the temple

Travel through Europe

Go to Harry Potter World

Visit every temple in the United States

Publish an article/short story in a magazine or newspaper

Get my massage therapy license

Officially finish Seashells (my short story)

Serve a mission with my husband

Make a quilt

Write in a journal every day for an entire year

Learn ASL

Live outside of California

Read all of Shakespeare's plays

Swim with dolphins

See the Seven Wonders of the World

Skydive

Ride an elephant

Go to Disney World

Take a photograph every day for a year

Visit Australia

Meet all of the friends I've made online

See a Broadway musical

Visit the real life house from the Pixar movie "Up"

Go cliff jumping

See a drive-in movie

Visit a castle

Buy a homeless person a meal

Write a letter to myself and open it in 10 years

Be the matron of honor at my best friend's wedding

Donate my hair to Locks of Love

Kiss under fireworks

Visit New York City

Go scuba diving

Visit Hawaii

Celebrate 50 years of marriage

Visit Washington D.C.

Adopt a dog

Be part of a flash mob

Create a secret family recipe

Swim in every ocean

Read the entire Bible

Be a bridesmaid

Have the perfect garden

What are some of the things on your bucket list? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Getting Comfy

This week was our first full one in our new apartment, and it was pretty busy! Along with the normal chaos of moving, one of the things I forgot to mention last week was that Jake and I discovered that I had card fraud on my Wells Fargo account. Thankfully we discovered it while the transaction was still pending, and it was only $5, so I called the bank customer service and had to wait on hold, and then was told that they had to transfer me to another line so I had to wait on hold again for even LONGER than the first time, and then I had to answer all these questions, and they had to put my account on hold and issue me a new debit card, which meant that the one I had was invalid. This freaked Jake and I out because we borrowed money from my parents to be able to pay for some of the apartment as well as any extra shelving/other stuff we'd need, and that money was in my account. So I had to go to the bank and get a temporary card. It was just a big mess and another layer of stress for Jake and I to deal with, but I guess that's just what it means to be living the Grown-Up Life! This experience has helped me discover how truly impatient of a person I am...so I'm hoping to work on that.

Monday evening Jake and I finally had a chance to really "test out" our new balcony. We strung up lights around the perimeter (and by "we" I mean Jake, while I stood next to the step stool and handed him nails and told him when he was doing something wrong). Then we lay out a blanket, and made s'mores by roasting marshmallows over some tea light candles! It was so much fun getting to spend time together in our "backyard" especially now that it's warming up out here in Rexburg. I've never lived in a place where summer storms are so common, but they seem to be a normal thing in Idaho--starting around 4 or 5 the clouds got very thick and stormy, and while we were enjoying our s'mores we even got a bit of rain, even though it was about 80 degrees!

Jake's exciting story this week: On Thursday, they received their weekly shipment at the pizza place he works at. While loading things into the freezer, Jake noticed that they had 11 boxes of eggs...which is apparently a LOT more than they need. He asked his boss what to do since they all wouldn't fit in the freezer, and he said "oh just crack them all, and we'll turn them into liquid egg form and store them that way." So Jake proceeded to crack over 2,000 eggs...a process that took nearly 3 hours. Not only was this hard and time-consuming work, but the eggs STILL would not all fit in the freezer! Poor Jake.

This weekend was spent working on homework and finally organizing all of our DVDs on the shelving we bought at last weekend's garage sales. On Sunday we went on a walk around our neighborhood. We exploring our "new" side of the street now that we've moved, and found some HUGE dandelions!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and father figures in our lives!

One of my favorite memories of my dad is from my 11th birthday party. I had a "smiley face" themed party, so my pinata was basically a yellow globe with a smiley face on it. All my friends and I took turns trying to break the pinata, and we just could NOT get it to go! We were starting to get discouraged, when my dad stepped in. He took the pinata off of the rope he'd been using to hang it from our backyard patio, and walked over to the edge of the grass. We all followed eagerly, holding our goody bags. My dad took the pinata, kicked a hole in it, and proceeded to kick it around the backyard like a soccer ball, leaving behind a trail of candy for us kids to gather up.

To me, this is a perfect example of the kind of person my dad is: someone who thinks outside the box, especially when it comes to making his family happy.

Happy Father's Day to the best dad ever: mine. Thanks for your blue eyes, for trying to teach me about cars, for helping me with craft projects that ended up to be too big for me to complete alone, and for your quirky sense of humor and love for life. I didn't inherit your obsessive love for baseball, but hopefully you'll forgive me for that!

This past year I gained another father when Jake and I got married, and I'm grateful to say that Mike is (almost) as cool as my dad. So thanks to my dad-in-law for raising such a great son!

Brighten Someone's Day

Yesterday, I shared this thought along with a quote picture on Facebook and Instagram:

"We all judge others every single day, whether we mean to or not. There is so much anger and sadness in this world and we have a responsibility to do something to change that. If your actions come from a place of genuine concern and love, they are probably going to make the world a better place. But no matter how noble you believe your actions to be, if they come from a place of prejudice or conceit, you're only hurting others. The intent behind our actions is a powerful thing, people. I challenge you to do something for someone who is broken in some way. Not because you pity them, but because you truly want to help. Live your life serving others. Love more authentically."

I think this is a really important concept for people to understand, so I wanted to add a bit more by sharing my top 5 favorite ways of brightening someone's day.

1. Send them a text, email, handwritten letter, etc.

There is nothing I love more than contact that comes from out of the blue and shows that someone was thinking of me and wanting me to know that they love me. It completely brightens my day and helps me to know how appreciated I am, even if I'm hearing from someone that I haven't talked to in quite some time; maybe especially then. Show someone that you care! Words are powerful.

2. Smile.

This sounds SUPER cliche, but it can make all the difference. If someone sees that you're happy to see them, chances are that joy will rub off on them. Just smile! :D

3. Hug them.

This varies from person to person since I know a lot of people don't like to be touched, but a hug can convey a lot of things that can't easily be said in words.

4. Show genuine concern/care for them and their burdens.

This is totally a "duh" concept, but surprisingly one that people forget. Make sure that if you're listening to someone's problems, you're not sitting there waiting for them to stop talking so you can launch into your story of how you/your mom/someone you know went through the same thing, and this happened, and blah blah blah. No. Genuinely listen to what they have to say, and provide feedback/commentary IF USEFUL. Don't say something merely to respond to them, but make what you say count, if you MUST say something. Sometimes your words aren't needed, just someone to vent to can make all the difference.

5. Make them something.

I'm a crafter/baker/creator at heart, so this comes second nature to me: making someone a little gift. Whether that's a handmade card that I've written (using #1 AND #5 in one go!), a plate of cookies, or an embroidered work of art, I love taking time out of my day to create something for someone else. And when someone receives these kinds of gifts, they're usually more touched than you would expect. Give someone the gift of your time, through something you've created for them!

Our New Place

Here are some photos of our new place, before we moved everything in! Since we're still arranging things and the place is a mess, I decided not to take new photos yet.

Our living room!

Our HUGE kitchen! It makes me so happy I can't even put it into words. We even have a WINDOW over our kitchen sink!!

Our little desk area

Our balcony, complete with a storage area! It's bigger than I was expecting, so we've been able to fit a lot of stuff in there and we still have more room

Our hallway

Our HUGE bathroom! We both have space to stand at the sink and brush our teeth! It's a miracle!

Our bedroom. Look at all that natural lighting! *swoon*

Our bedroom closet! I know it's not the greatest picture, but have you ever tried to take a photo of a closet? It's hard.

Hall closet

Moving

On Monday evening Jake and I started our first ever painting project. We took our old entertainment center that won't work in our new living room, and painted over the ugly fake wood to create something new for me to store all my craft supplies in! It took us several days to finish, and we didn't get to see the real finished project until we moved into our new apartment and put the pieces of it back together. We're so happy with how it turned out, though! It was definitely worth the wait!

Friday morning we were up early to get me ready for my morning class, and I went off to school while Jake started the process of packing up our mattress and bed frame. When I came home, we went over to our new place and signed paperwork, took a full tour of the complex, and got our keys!! Then the moving party began. One of Jake's old mission companions and 2 other friends, Blake and Jessica, came over to help us. We were so grateful for all the help, since it made things go ten times faster than we had expected! We had moved over every single piece of furniture and box by 2 pm! We spent the rest of the day unpacking and organizing, which was a lot of work of course. We accomplished a lot on Friday night, thankfully!

Saturday morning we were up at 6 to hit garage sales. We had done research the night before, looking online for people listing that they'd be selling things, and made a huge list of addresses to stop at. We spent about 3 hours hunting through sales, and came home with a free shelf, and two other shelves for $1 each! Not only were we thrilled about that, but at one of the garage sales there was a bake sale and what did they have? A rhubarb pie, Jake's favorite dessert. So of course we had to buy it! I've never seen someone so ecstatic over a dessert before. I had a very happy husband on Saturday!

Sunday was our first day at our new ward. Jake had looked online and figured out what ward and what building we'd be in, but when Sunday came around and we drove over, we were in the wrong building. So we drove down the street and there was another church building not even a full block past that one! We went inside and got seated just as sacrament meeting was starting...only to discover that we were STILL in the wrong place! We finally figured out that the building we were in had TWO chapels, and we had ended up in the wrong one. But it was too late to leave now, so we stayed! However, was that awkward enough? Apparently not. This sacrament meeting was the last one for this ward's bishopric, so the old bishop and his wife and the new bishop and his wife all got up and bore testimony and talked about their love for the ward. Then, at the end, they instructed everyone to exit out the left side of the chapel so that "the bishopric can hug and thank each of you individually for being a part of this ward." Jake and I just looked at each other with fear in our eyes, and I whispered "Run!" We took off like a flash out the opposite door, and made it to the car pretty quickly! We're laughing about it now, but MAN was that painful haha!

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

**Unless otherwise stated, I take NO credit for the creation of these recipes! I can cook, but I'm not usually inclined to experiment on my own!**

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Brownies:

3/4 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate chips and butter for 1-2 min until melted. Stir until smooth. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x9" pan with nonstick spray. Whisk sugar, eggs and vanilla into melted chocolate mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add them to the chocolate mixture, stirring until combined. Spread the batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Layer:

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Drop spoonfuls of the peanut butter mixture over the partially cooked brownies. Bake for 25-30 more min. or until the top is light brown and mixture appears to be set. Let it cool in the pan.

Topping:

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

In a medium, microwave-safe bowl heat the chocolate chips until they are melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in the peanut butter and again mix until smooth. Pour the mixture over the top of the brownies and spread until even. Let stand until set (or refrigerate). Cut into 24 chunks and serve.

THE VERDICT: Jake was in LOVE with these things. They're very rich so a small square is plenty; don't try to eat them in a regular brownie size or you'll get sick (not that Jake did that, of course...)

Stop Asking Me Questions.

If you're reading this right now, it means that you are one of the few people that care about my life, marriage, what I've been up to, etc. And I don't mean that to sound bitter, but it's true that there are a relatively small group of people that actually read my blog compared to the number of "friends" I have on Facebook or other social media.

If you're reading this right now, it also means you either found the title of this post intriguing or offensive. Which was the whole point of using such a rude title. Based on its name, you can probably guess that in this post I am going to be addressing an issue that makes me grouchy/annoyed/peeved. And you would be correct! So here we go.

Our society has become very dependent on social media. I'm not arguing this as either a good or a bad thing, but simply an observational comment. Where do we go when we want to find out if so-and-so has a boyfriend? Social media. If a couple had their baby yet? Social media. If your crush from middle school still has a really creepy beard? Social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more have become the way we receive information about our friends, enemies, and acquaintances. And yet, we are afraid to admit this when talking to people in person. If we share a photo of ourselves at Disneyland, and then talk to someone in person the next day about our trip, they don't usually say "Yeah, I saw your photos!" Even if they have commented on or "liked" the image, they'll still pretend they had no idea you made that trip when they see you next. We're afraid to admit that we keep up with each other's lives, which leads me to my main point. 

Lately on not only my posts but the posts of those I'm friends with, there have been a number of frankly annoying questions or comments. Things like "you're ENGAGED?! How did I not know this?! Congrats!" on the Facebook walls of people who have been engaged for 3 months, or saying "I didn't know you guys were moving. Where are you going?" on a post where that question is answered literally two people above yours, that's when I get grouchy. Don't get me wrong, I love talking to people. Especially friends. But when you ask me a question that I so obviously should have answered in a previous moment, I get annoyed. Lately I've taken to just ignoring the questions or comments because I don't want to respond in a rude way and make these people feel bad. But let me get to the point.

If you don't care about my life, fine. But don't pretend to genuinely care when you could find the answers to the questions yourself, if you chose to look.

I don't post on this blog because I'm bored or seeking attention. The main reason I started this blog was to keep my family and friends updated on my life, since Jake and I are living in Idaho and won't be visiting California together for who knows how long. It's easier for everyone involved if I can post information on here and share news with family and friends, as opposed to calling or sending out ridiculously long text messages explaining what we've got going on in our lives. This blog isn't forcing anyone to look; text messages or phone calls are things that can't really be ignored, so I would not only be spending a LOT of time sending out the information, but I would be forcing anyone who received the information to listen to me. One of the qualities of blogs is that they require action from the reader to actually GET the information! Plus, this gives me another place to look back on for memories when I'm old and can't even remember how to tie my shoes anymore. But that's just a bonus.

In closing: I don't want people to be afraid to ask Jake and I questions about our lives, but please think before you speak. You might end up asking a question that was just addressed. Maybe you think this post is completely distasteful and classless and you would like to slap me upside the head for being so "insensitive." And maybe you're right, what do I know? But this post comes from a place of pent up frustration over the way my life is being treated currently.

Since I'm not normally an angry person, and I don't like ending posts on a grouchy note, hopefully this Ariel pug will make you happy.

June: A Rough Start

This week was the beginning of June, and it was definitely a rough start. On Monday my mom called me to let me know that they had to put our family dog, Chloe, to sleep. She was almost 13 years old, and really hadn't been doing well for about the past year, but things had finally taken a turn for the worse and it wasn't fair to continue to let her suffer. I'm so happy that she's not in pain anymore, but I'll miss her more than I can say! For almost all of my childhood, Chloe was there, and one of my best friends. She slept in my bed every night from when she was a very young puppy up until I left for BYU-I. She was always there to welcome me home after work or school, and always SO excited to see me.

Along with this, midterms were this week. Having just gotten back from my trip to California, I was attempting to recover from all the traveling and busy days, and also prepare for my midterms and assignments that were due as soon as I returned. It's been an overwhelming week emotionally, mentally, and even physically since Jake and I are still packing up our little apartment for our move next weekend. We're doing as much as we can now, so that when Moving Day arrives things aren't quite so insane, but it's frustrating trying to decide what things we can pack and what things we need to wait on. All of our books, DVDs, and most of the small knick-knack decorations have been packed away, as well as a lot of our unused kitchen items and some plates, bowls, and cups. What's nice about packing away kitchen things is that it'll keep us from using too many dishes and then having a TON of them to wash at the end of the day!

On Thursday Jake had the day off of work, and things finally fell into place for us to go over and take a good look at our new apartment! We were SO excited to see what our new home is going to look like. Our kitchen is humongous compared to the one we have now, as well as our bathroom. The balcony outside is a little bit bigger than a twin-sized bed, and we have a GORGEOUS view! And we have a window over the kitchen sink, something I really took for granted when I was living at home! Getting to see our new place made us even more eager for our move this coming Friday!

This Week's Spiritual Thought

Jake and I have been reading The Pearl of Great Price as our scripture study together, and I've been really enjoying it. I haven't read it in a very long time, aside from random little verses here and there when they're discussed in a class or at church, so it's been great getting back and reading the whole thing. And since Jake has served a mission and read a TON of doctrine-related books while he was serving, he has a LOT of knowledge on things that I don't fully understand. I'm so grateful to have a husband who can teach me more about this amazing gospel!