HAVE YOU EVER.....

-removed your clothes from the dyer only to remember (later that night) that you still had a load sitting in the washing machine?
-had a baked yam smothered in cinnamon butter?
-bitten into a peanut M&M only to discover no peanut?
-dropped more cheerios on the chapel floor than the kids sitting with you?
-gotten home from the grocery store only to discover that you forgot the one thing you really needed?
-bought something for your home for a few hundred dollars without regret?
-poured yourself a bowl of cereal only to realize that it's Fast Sunday?
-finished taking your morning shower only to realize that you left your towel hanging on the rack that's 5 feet away?
-put dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher?
-gone to the mailbox and returned empty handed only to have your husband remind you that it's a holiday?
-had a missionary from Australia and a missionary from New Zealand in your home at the same time?
-washed and then dried the chapstick that was in the back pocket of your jeans?
-bought something that you never wore?
-gone to empty your dishwasher only to discover that every bowel has little specks of food stuck to them?
-left your car unlocked only to discover that you were robbed the next morning?
-been separated from your husband for so long that when he puts is hand on your knee you get all giddy and have tons of little butterflies flying around your tummy?

....I HAVE...(at some point in my life.)

FaMily nIGhT fUn

A couple of weeks ago, around the last time we had a good snow storm , Chad and I busted out the four wheeler for some family night fun. With all the snow that had been shoveled off the drive way we had created some pretty big mounds of snow that made excellent jumps for the wheeler. So, being the mature adults that we are we quickly put them to good use.

After a few jumps and spins through the yard we decided to run over to our neighbors to invite their kids for some sledding. This involved a simple sled, some rope, a four wheeler, and two happy little girls-three if you include me. We didn't get any shots of the sledding, but I had an absolute blast riding around on that sled with those girls. Chad was really good at not going too fast, yet despite his efforts we ended up getting dumped into the snow a few times, which was even more fun! Unfortunately we now have dry, snow free roads which means our sledding adventures have been put on hold for awhile. But as soon as we get some more of the white stuff we'll be back on the roads with the neighborhood kids sledding up a storm!

THE CABIN

Over the holidays Chad and I took off to his grandparents cabin for a little R n' R. We had a great time watching the wildlife, playing in the snow and just being lazy. We got up to the cabin to find that it had been snowed in just enough to prevent us from driving onto the property. So, we made several trips back and forth until we were settled in. The next day Chad got up really early in hope of shooting an elk on the property. I can't even tell you how many elk we ended up seeing the entire time we were there. It was well over 100 head which means that a lot of our time was spent hunting. Which ended up being really fun and exciting.
Kyle, Chad's brother, came up late that first night. It was fun to have him with us for the day. There wasn't quite enough snow for snowmobiling so we took our four wheeler and headed over to the lake to ride around. It was nice to get back onto the wheeler. I forgot how much I enjoy riding. While we were out there we took a quick walk out onto the frozen lake to inspect the fishing holes that people had been creating over the last few days. Now the lake was frozen over with about 18 inches of ice, but let me tell you it was still a little unsettling! There were cracks everywhere and if stepped in just the right place you could hear the ice shifting.
Anyway-we had a really great time and can't wait to get back there. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for the use of the cabin.

6 Years Together!

This New Year's Eve rang in 6 years of marriage for Chad and I. It's been quite the journey with many ups and downs. Yet, through all of the challenges that we've faced together, Chad and I have been able to rely on each other, strengthen one another, and find joy in the journey. I'm grateful for my best friend and his companionship. He is the best person and the love of my life. Happy Anniversary Chad!

(even though it was last week)

Christmas

I suppose I should finally blog about our Christmas. It started off with our Christmas Eve slumber party. Which I had some pictures of, but I'm thinking were deleted by Chad. It was tons of fun. We had some delicious homemade pizza, lots of other junk food, watched movies and crashed on the air mattress under the tree. Christmas morning we woke up around 8:30 and started unwrapping gifts. It was pretty simple this year which was really nice.
Chad got some speakers for his computer, a MP3 player, shirts, pants, and even some new socks!!! He got some smaller items too, but I won't bore you with those details.

I got some scrubs, jewelry, curling iron, and some knee-high black boots. I was honestly really surprised with how well Chad did on picking some of those things out! We also got some fun little gifts from family and friends. My parents gave us some food for our food storage that they had bottled for us. They gave us some homemade applesauce (soooo good!) and some bottled deer meat. I always love getting food storage stuff. We also got a new digital camera from Chad's parents....hence the picture above. (Chad snapped a quick picture as I tried to grab the camera from him.) It's a nice little camera. We wanted a smaller one to take with us when we go four wheeling.

We spent all of Christmas day at home by ourselves. A first for us and I can't tell you how nice that was. We had such a great time just doing nothing. We did go and see family that Friday and Saturday though. We spent Friday playing games, eating pizza and watching the Jazz game with Chad's family. We spent that night at my parents and got up and had breakfast with my family. (A Christmas tradition) Then we played a few games while Chad hiked across the street to snap some pictures of the big horn sheep on the bench of the mountain.Then we headed over to my brother and sister-in-laws to celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday. It was busy couple of days, but nice to get some time in with family. After everything we hurried and rushed home for my work Christmas party. (More details to come.) Thanks to everyone who made our Christmas so special! We had a great one and feel very blessed.

P.S. Sorry about not getting my Christmas cards out. I seriously had no time to do them!

BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!!!!

I have a lot of stuff to blog about.....Christmas, New Year's, my anniversary, and other things, but this has to be the first.
So, I colored my hair. This is the first time I've ever done a full dye. I've highlighted my hair before, but have never done the full head before. My goal was to go a few shades darker. I wanted a richer, slightly darker, golden brown. Instead I ended up with a darkish, purplish, redish, burgundyish, almost blakish color. The girl I went to told me that my hair really soaked up all the red. Yeah.... ya think!? She tried to tone it down, but my cousin told me that red is the hardest color to get rid of, however it's also the color that fades the fastest. So at this point I'm trying to shampoo it a ton and give it a few days to rest. Then I'm hoping to go get an ash color put on to help reduce the red. I went to a friends to get her opinion on the coloring and she told me it looked really stylish, trendy and cool. I appreciated her honesty, but I don't know if I'm really the one who wants to walk into church on Sunday with slightly gothic looking hair. Needless to say.....I will never be doing this again in my life. Or at least for a few years. These pictures don't do the actual color justice. In fact the color looks pretty good in the pictures, but I can promise you it doesn't look that good in person. This one showed the red the best. Yikes!! I love the richer look, but I could really go without the maroon. These next pictures actually look fantastic. This is the look I was going for. I'm hoping the Burgundy color will start to fad fast cause I really cannot handle it.

If anyone out there (PARTICULARLY SARAH!!!!!)has any suggestions on what I can do please let me know!!!!