Live gratefully!

Thanksgiving this year was great as always and even better I was able to share it with Andy for the first time as his wife! This time of year we are especially reminded to be grateful for what we have. This video is a great one to remind us to keep that in mind every day of the year. Don't take your loved ones for granted!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi0tqhedHIU

Color on a Gray Day

I can feel it coming. The dreary days in Logan are warning me that absolutely frigid days are on their way. I can feel it in the wind and I can see the snow on the mountains that inches closer with every storm. Today was sunny but chilly. Yesterday was gloomy. Though I felt chilly and not too excited about going to class, something unexpected made me so happy!

People all over campus were carrying brightly colored umbrellas!

There were pink umbrellas, green umbrellas, yellow umbrellas, umbrellas with polka dots, stripes and flowers on them!

 I saw green ones, without frogs, I think seeing this frog umbrella would have made the day even better :) 

It was so fun seeing the bright colors on such a gray day on campus. It may have also had something to do with the fact that my personal umbrella (of the polka dot variety) was keeping the rain and dreaded white stuff off of me, helping me to stay dry and cozy underneath it. I enjoyed my day on campus just for that reason :)

Bang Bang!

Last night Andy talked me into helping him make one of his most favorite foods for dinner. Bang bang chicken and shrimp from the Cheesecake Factory. After 3 hours of shopping (Well, Andy shopped while I babysat our little neighbor, Lilly), several near-arguments and after using about every pan in the kitchen, we didn't bother much with presentation, but it's supposed to look something like this:

I was skeptical, thinking that we could never make it as delicious as the cheesecake factory does. I was wrong. Our dinner was so delicious last night! It was sweet with the perfect kick from the many spices that were added. It may have had something to do with the nostalgia of eating this meal at the cheesecake factory on our wedding night, or the fact that it was 10:30 at night by the time we finally ate and we were starving.. but mostly it was just tasty :) There are tons of spices involved and we did end up with quite a mess in the kitchen, but it was well worth it. If you want to make it yourself, go here for the recipe. And call me so I can let you borrow some of my spices since I already bought them!

A good day :)

Yesterday was a bad day.

False.

But it was very close to being a bad day. I went to school, learned next to nothing at no fault of my own (waste of time!), and then went to orientation for a job that I already knew would be no fun, just to find out that they hadn't told  me the whole truth about hours and pay and such. Boo. Good thing my dear husband woke me up with a sweet song and a big smile and sent me off to school with a hug that was greatly needed. After the misadventures of my day, I came home to see this.

Doesn't it look good!? Andy's done an awesome job putting this thing together. It had been in my driveway for weeks, but this was the first time I saw it with the top off, I like it!

Andy took me on a ride in his Blazer and I must say, it was quite fun! I haven't always been terribly fond of ol' Blue, but he's definitely growing on me! I rode in the wide open back seat and the sun was shining while we drove down the country road near our house. I'm so glad it was still warm! It was such a great ride to end a not great day.

After that we had simple homemade mac and cheese (one of my favorites:) and Andy even did the dishes. He takes good care of me.

First Day of School

    Last week my hilarious little sister went to kindergarten for the first time ever! The day she met her teacher, she told us that it was the best day of her life.

 Yep, That's her in the hello kitty T-shirt.

    Anna was so excited to go to school and she loves it! She told me that they work pretty hard in kindergarten, and when I asked her what kind of work she told me singing and coloring. Wow. I wish that was how my first day of school would have gone!

   My first day of school went a little differently. It started out great, kind of because I get to sleep in, but mostly because my husband took good care of me and made me yummy breakfast! My classes mostly went well until I had Mr. Nervous Plaidshirt as my last teacher of the day. He was awkward and redundant and did I mention awkward? Makes me a little reminiscent  for the days when the sweet old lady teacher would give me a snack and let me color with my friends at school instead of assigning me a hundred pages of reading and sending me home hungry like my teachers do now!

   The day isn't so bad, I got to come home to Andy, and I get to make him yummy chicken parmesan.. or something like it for dinner tonight :)