The End of January

I can't believe that today is the last day of January...this month has flown by! Hopefully February is full of even more awesome memories than this past month has been.

Monday night Jake and I went to our ward activity, an FHE ice cream social. It was a lot of fun eating some yummy ice cream, and getting to know some of the other couples in our ward.

Tuesday night we had one of the couples that are co-chairs of the activities committee over to our apartment to talk about ideas for future activities, and to get to know each other better. They were here for a lot longer than we had anticipated, but we were having too much fun talking and laughing to end our "meeting!"

Wednesday evening after Jake got off of work, we went over to the new Walmart in town to explore. The old Walmart here in Rexburg was pitifully small compared to our new one, which is a Super Walmart. It's AMAZING. I've always preferred Target over Walmart (and I still do), but the closest one is 45 minutes away. The new Walmart is a bit more of a drive than the old one, but it's still much closer than Target, so I suppose I'll have to give it a thumbs up!

Thursday Jake was working the evening shift, so we spent the day together. He helped me gather supplies and make a container for my washi tape, and it turned out SO awesome! I knew what I wanted the finished product to look like and what I wanted the container to be able to do, but Jake had a lot of ideas to make it better/safer/more useful. The two of us working together made something pretty great!

This upcoming week is my last full one to study before taking my PRAXIS exam on February 10th. I'm extremely nervous about it and already starting to lose sleep over the stress that's been building up. I'm ready to just get the dang thing over with, even if I don't pass! Then I'll at least be able to get some sleep and breathe more easily during the day! I'm studying hard and hoping that I'll be able to do well on the exam. Please keep me in your prayers!

Our Chilly, Crafty Week

This week was cold with bits of snow here and there. We're still cold enough that all our old snow keeps freezing over and turning to ice, and then more snow comes and covers the ice so it's very dangerous to walk. You never know exactly what you're stepping on, and you could end up flat on your back in a matter of seconds if you happen to hit a nasty spot of ice! On Monday we got quite a bit of snow; so much that the snow on the grass was taller than Zoe! She wasn't too happy about that. We took her outside and played around for a bit, but she really struggled trying to walk through the snowy grass...she basically had to swim to get through it! Poor short little thing!

Probably my favorite funny moment from this week was on Wednesday evening, when I was making dinner. Jake was in the living room doing homework on his laptop, and Zoe was snuggled up in her bed. I turned away from the stove to glance at the two of them, and turned back to my cooking. Then I said: "I'm surprised she's not in here" referring to Zoe. She's always underfoot when I'm cooking, so to have her avoiding the kitchen was very odd. And what does Zoe do right after I make that remark? She gets out of her bed and trots over and attaches herself to my ankles as usual. It was like she understood what I was saying, even though I'd made sure not to make eye contact with her when I glanced over, since I knew that would get her attention! This dog is something else.

Jake has been hard at work in his classes, and as usual at his job. He's very tired every night from balancing work and school, but he's doing a wonderful job. I've been concentrating on studying for my PRAXIS exam that I'm taking next month, and on my Etsy shop. So far I haven't made any sales, but it's common for Etsy sellers to not get any for their first six months apparently! And while I've had my shop for over a year now, I haven't been selling things on it for very long, or promoting myself like I need to be. I've been working hard on learning some selling techniques that apply just to online stores, and so far I'm seeing positive changes in the amount of views my shop and my social media pages are getting. Sunday morning I had an email from Etsy...and I had my first sale!! I was so excited! I probably scared Jake with how thrilled I was haha. Poor guy, stuck married to crazy old me.

Our Car + IF Adventure

This week was pretty crazy for Jake and I. I've been working on my Etsy shop, and Jake's been up to his ears in homework and hours at work, but we've still had some adventures! 

The starter in our car went out on Wednesday night, but thankfully we were able to get a new one and Jake replaced it himself. Since we just replaced it 18 months ago and we'd bought a lifetime warranty (which we don't even remember doing), we got this new one for free which was a HUGE financial relief! Buying another starter would have completely wiped out our savings. God blesses us in ways we don't expect! That's what happens when you pay your tithing!

A greasy and exhausted Jake! Since 

we've got lots of snow in Idaho, 

he had to lie on a towel under 

the car to "perform surgery." 

He got soaking wet, and his 

hands were frozen, but he did it!

To celebrate that evening, we went to this candy store here in Rexburg that we've been meaning to explore. They have candy from all different parts of the world (for my hometowners: it's like Rocket Fizz, just on a smaller scale). We got a few new candies to try out and it was so much fun!

On Friday Jake and I went out to Idaho Falls for our date night. We even brought Zoe with us, and she was a perfect little lady waiting in the car for us while we went to Target! We had Five Guys for dinner, and got some cheap fresh fruit at Winco. It was a short trip, but still a lot of fun! 

My Top Five Favorite Movies

Those who know me well will probably tell you that I'm pretty picky about my movies. When it comes to picking out a movie to watch at home, I'm a difficult person to work with, I know. I have a hard time watching a movie that I feel I've just recently seen...although "recently seen" to me could be a year ago! So whenever someone asks me my favorite movie, it always takes me a while to come up with a good answer, because I get so easily bored with movies that my favorites are almost always changing. But here are the movies (in no particular order) that I could watch at LEAST once a year, which is saying something for me.

Little Women

This movie is just plain wonderful. I laugh, I cry, I feel inspired. This was always my go-to movie when I was home sick from school.

The Lion King

Need I say more?

The Sword in the Stone

One of my favorite Disney movies, so of course it makes this list. I will never get sick of this film.

BBC Pride & Prejudice

The Keira Knightly version of P&P is just plain CRAP #sorrynotsorry but it's true. To properly do Jane Austen's novel justice, you've gotta have a longer film! This is another movie that I'd watch when home sick from school, or on a rainy day. Colin Firth is the perfect Darcy and no one can convince me otherwise.

She's the Man

This movie never fails to crack me up. If you haven't seen it yet, you are missing out BIG TIME and need to find yourself a copy!

October-December Scrapbooking Pages

Want to see more scrapbooking pages from previous months? Check them out here!