Happy One Year to the Love of My Life!

December 29, 2007 was a special day! Marc and I were sealed for time and all eternity! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! It really has been the best year of my life! Marc says of his too! We look forward to many wonderful times to come, and many wonderful years too! I love you babe!

Drive to AZ!

So yes, basically I think we are crazy, we drove to AZ for the second time in 2 and a half weeks! We planned on leaving Sunday after church, then we heard that there were going to be snow storms, so we decided to leave Monday mid-day. We woke up Sunday, and decided to leave after the 1st hour. When we walked outside it was snowing really hard, and it was freezing. We packed up the car and headed on our way, it took us about 1 and a half hours to get on the road after frantically packing, and finding a last minute home for our fish, thanks Beth! We drove to Salt Lake and stayed the night with my aunt. That night on the news there were tons of stories about avalanches and all sorts of scary things because of the horrible weather. We didn't sleep really well, but got on the road by 7:30 am. We drove through tons of snow, actually, Marc drove while I held onto the seat, I was so scared! I do not like snow one bit! The whole tome he drove there was snow falling, plows at every exit, and we couldn't see more than 40 feet in front of us, if that! We had already planned on going through Vegas on the was since Flagstaff was getting about 14 inches of snow! As we got to St. George it was snowing and raining, We planned on stopping there but Marc didn't realize how small it was and drove right through it! From there it rained...HARD!
Here is the snow my hubby so lovingly drove through about 2 hours outside of SLC, it just got worse!


About an hour outside of Vegas Marc decided that he couldn't drive anymore, so he gave me the privilege! The rain seemed to get harder as I started driving. We also made the mistake of printing directions off of google maps and not mapquest, there is a big difference! We felt like we were so lost, it took us on so many little roads! But we made it to the Hoover Dam! Usually it takes a long time to get through, but it was pretty empty! Unfortunately, there was an accident that had just happened, since the tow trucks hadn't come yet, we only had to wait 15 minutes! The roads through there were pretty slick, we saw a sweet blue Mustang that had spun off the road. The lady's front tires were on the road, her back tires were on the mountain, so her car was level, but there was a good three foot ditch underneath the car! She looked fine, but I was so scared, there were cars sliding everywhere! Luckily we made it through that and crossed back into AZ! We made it from SLC to Phoenix in about 13 hours, we did stop twice to eat, but despite the weather we were pretty proud of ourselves! Now we are enjoying the 50 degree temps, and the absence of snow everywhere! We will keep you posted, there is lots to come!
This is the canyon on the way into the Hoover Dam, the clouds were so low and it was so cold! We were glad to get out of there safely!

Popcorn Making and Family Home Evening Adventures!

I decided a couple weeks ago that I was going to make carmel corn and take it to our friends in the ward for Christmas. So Sunday night we made a list of people, visiting teachees, home teachees, the rest of the Relief Society Presidency (I am the secretary), and our friends. We decided that we should hand them out this week since school is ending soon, and we are planning on leaving for the break soon too. We went to the store to gather the few supplies that we didn't have, and set to work. Marc had some homework to do, so I popped the popcorn in our stove top popper! This is what it looked like after I popped all that we thought we needed.


It is in a paper grocery sack, but that it part of the recipe! Don't worry, I'll add it at the end. Next you make the carmel, the best part, it can be done in the microwave in just a few minutes! As I was making the carmel, Marc decided he could put his homework on hold, I think he liked how it smelled! He helped me pour the carmel into the bag, and then shake it up! Here he is working hard on shaking it! We should have used 2 bags since we doubled it!


Then we set it out to cool, and I forgot to take pictures! We then divided it into all the bags to hand out, and realized that it wasn't enough! So, we decided to make one more batch, we knew we didn't have enough brown sugar, so we decided to drizzle chocolate on it! I will apologize to anyone who had it, because I didn't like it too much! I don't know what happened, but it was really gooey even after letting it sit, we used a little in each bag to top it off. I have had it before and it is pretty good! I don't know where we went wrong! Here is what the chocolate popcorn looked like,

Then, we loaded up the bags, and put little Christmas tags on them. This is what they looked like after we finished putting them together.


We then headed off into the cold night air! I forgot to mention that when we woke up Monday morning there was a couple inches of snow covering EVERYTHING (snow pictures to come soon)! So, we made our way to each apartment, luckily we all live in the same place, and delivered the popcorn! When we got home we checked the temperature, it was a toasty 24 degrees! I bundled up pretty good! But my nose was pretty red! Here I am after coming home from our cold adventure!


Here is the recipe, it is super easy, and fun. It goes really fast, and makes yummy carmel corn!

10-12 cups of popped popcorn= 1/2 cup unpopped (Don't use microwave popcorn, air popped is the best!)
Place popcorn in a paper grocery sack.
In a glass container combine:
1 cube butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light Karo Syrup
Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stir, microwave another 2 minutes
Then stir in
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
Pour over popped popcorn, fold down top of bag and shake.
Microwave on high (in the paper bag) 1 1/2 minutes.
Shake and microwave 1 minute.
Shake one last time, then pour onto a greased cookie sheet to cool.

Let me know if you make it and what you think! Marc was surprised that it went so fast and tasted so good!

Broccoli Soda?

My wonderful aunt took a blog quiz that told her what kind of pie she was. I took the same one and was apple pie, just like her! I didn't have much to do because Marc has a study group over and I finished my daily chores, so, I took blog quizzes! I found a great one... What flavor Jones Holiday Soda are you? I have a fond love for Jones Soda, 1. It is really yummy! 2. It is what inspired me to have an Italian Soda bar at our wedding, and 3. One of my favorite advertising campaigns I had to do for a class was for Jones, we spent 2 months researching the products, and learning about their advertising strategies. Needless to say when I saw the quiz, I was excited to see what I was going to be! So, here it is:

You Are Broccoli Casserole Soda

Vegetarians taste better!

What Jones Holiday Soda Are You?

Arizona, Thanksgiving, and Marc's New Hair!

I know I have been slacking lately, but I have a very good reason! Marc and I were not planning on going home for Thanksgiving, then one day I decided that there was no reason that we couldn't, other than plane tickets were expensive and so was gas, but we wanted to be with our families. So we planned on spending about $3.00 a gallon on gas, and the day we filled up it was $1.97, we also found gas cheaper along the way! We were so happy to cut our budget way down, and spend some much needed time in 70+ degree weather! So, we packed up the car and made the 14 hour drive to our favorite place...Arizona!

We left the Thursday before Thanksgiving and stopped in Provo, Utah for the night. We made arrangements before leaving to stop and visit with one of Marcs favorite mission companions. We went out to dinner at a really yummy Chinese restaurant, and visited with them for a while. Luckily for me, they didn't speak in Russian too much, so I could join in on the conversation too! We woke up early that next morning, ate breakfast in our hotel, and started driving for the next 10 hours! We really didn't have to stop too much on the way, we had leftovers from the night before that we were able to keep refrigerated over night and keep in the cooler on the drive. Unfortunately, Marc decided that he wanted one of the REALLY hot peppers that was in the orange chicken, not a good idea! I spent the next 10 minutes or so giving him drinks and chocolate trying to cool his mouth off so he can focus on the drive. We stopped in Kanab, Utah and got an ice cream cone at McDonalds. Marc decided that he needed a rest, so I took over the driving for the next 6 hours! We were so tired when we finally got to Marc parent's house. We sat in the hot tub for a while, then went to bed.

Saturday we went shopping with Marc's parents and filled up on samples at Sam's Club. They were sampling all their holiday treats and appetizers, it was a great lunch! We then drove out to my parents house to spend some time with them. We went to on of our families favorite restaurants. It is this great little Ecuadorian place my family found after I left for school. They make the best tamales, my favorite is the Ecuadorian tamale, it is wrapped in a banana leaf instead of a corn husk, it is basically heaven to my mouth! Marc and I also shared a delicious Carne Asada salad YUM! Then we went back to my parents and played Wii sports with my brother and sister. Then Marc's family called, they were all going out to dinner at a burger place by his brother Bens house. We were still full from both lunches, but somehow we managed to eat again! It was fun to be with his whole family! His oldest brother has a baby who is almost 5 months old, we had fun playing with him, he was such a happy baby!

Sunday we went to Marc's parents ward. We also stopped by his grandparents house, they live in Arizona in the winters and had just gotten into town. His grandpa told us some pretty fun family stories that we hadn't heard before. Then we went to my parents house for a little Thanksgiving dinner with my family, they went to Safford for Thanksgiving so we celebrated with them early. It worked out perfect too, my brother forgot he had to create a device to drop an egg in for his Physics class. Marc loved his Physics class, so we set the two of them to work! The teacher had given them a list of supplies they could use. They spent a while putting together the egg device, and I must say they did a great job! The teacher first dropped the eggs from 3 meters high...it survived! Only a few students moved on after that, next the teacher dropped the eggs from the top of the stadium bleachers...again, it survived. Finally he dropped the very thick Physics book on it, unfortunately it didn't live through that, but only 2 students did. Marc was pretty proud of himself for his mad Physics skills.
Here are the boys hard at work:


Monday, I went with Danielle and Whitney, my sisters in law and mother in law to see Twilight! My family was lucky enough to see it a few days before it came out, so I was glad to have people to go with! It was great! Such a fun movie! I am not ashamed to say I LOVE Twilight! Marc stayed with his Ben and their baby while we went to the movie, he had fun playing with the baby, and his brother! We spent some time playing and talking with them after. Then back to my parents for some really yummy tortilla soup, gotta love moms home cookin'! We sat around the table talking and playing games for a long time after dinner.

Tuesday we woke up early and headed to Marc's grandparents, they live just a few minutes from my parents, they had asked us to help them clean their house. It was pretty dusty after being locked up for half the year! We chatted with them then headed back to my parents to clean up ourselves. Marc then went to lunch with his brother and a friend from work, while I took my mom and sister to lunch for their belated birthdays. We went to this fun shopping center on Happy Valley and I-17! If you are in AZ you should go! It is newer and pretty empty, but there are tons of fun places to eat, and tons of fun shops! We found this cute little gelato place and of course we couldn't pass it up! Then it was back home to spend time with the family!

Wednesday, we took my brother out of school, my sister had the week off, and went to see Bolt. It was really cute! We had fun with them at the movies and staying with them, but we had more plans! Marc's brother Ryan and his wife Whitney had planned a murder mystery dinner for the family! Marc was the groom of the deceased bride "Taffy Puller", she had been found before the reception started! I was the half sister of the bride and a former grateful dead groupie! We had fun dressing up and piecing together all the clues! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of everyone all dressed up! After everyone left Marc and I and his little brother Stefan made Carmel Apple Cheesecake for Thanksgiving dessert!

Thursday when we woke up it was really wet outside, it rained all day Wednesday, so we weren't surprised. It was really pretty, so we took the camera outside and took a ton of desert pictures, Marc has become quite the photographer! We then got ready for everyone to come over! Marc let me watch the Macy's parade and hangout for a little while. We then got put on mashed potato duty! When the rest of the family came over, the boys all hooked up their xboxes each other and played while everyone else sat around and talked. Marc took some cute picutres for Ben and Danielle to send out for Christmas, we had fun making the baby laugh in them! Danielle made a yummy apple dip for us to snack on while we waited, it was super addicting and super delicious! We then enjoyed a huge feast and all gained about 20 pounds! We then sat around and talked until our food settled. Marc's aunt came over later for dessert, and our cheesecake was a hit! We filled up on cheesecake, lemon cream pie, pumkin pie, and chocolate covered creme puffs! Then we all went outside and the boys all played pickle. I played a little at the end, but the grass was cold and muddy! Then Marc, Ben, Danielle, and I all went into the hot tub while it rained on us! It turned out to be a fun relaxing day!
Here are some of the cool shots Marc took:





Friday we met my family and my grandma in Mesa for lunch. After that we went to my Aunt's house for a family dessert day since we were all apart for Thanksgiving. My mom made a delicious pumpkin pie, and my Aunt made a yummy berry pie! We had fun spending time with everyone, and Marc had fun playing Super Smash Brothers on Gamecube with all my boy cousins, they are all younger than me, but he loved it! We then said goodbye to them and went to back to Marc's parents. They took us to a yummy sushi place for dinner! Then we went to Ryan and Whitney's house to visit one last time before their baby comes...any day now!:) We then packed our car with a few more wedding presents. We visited with the family, polished off our cheesecake, and got some rest.

We spent all day Saturday and part of Sunday driving back. It was so nice to be back, and there was not any snow!!!! But, it's coming...

Sunday night Marc decided he needed a hair cut. We have clippers, but I have never cut his hair! I cut my bangs and that it about it! So he gave me a quick lesson, and I think I did a pretty good job!
Before:

After:


Thanks for reading this really long post and catching up with our crazy lives!

Amish Friendship Bread!

A good friend of mine gave me some Amish Friendship Bread. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a bread that takes 10 days to make. You let it sit on the counter and ferment. Then after ten days you mix it all up, and divide it out. You keep one for you that is ready to make, then give the rest of the divided bread dough away, unless you want to be baking bread every 10 days. Anyway, it is a vert yummy sweet bread that would be perfect for a breakfast treat! I now have two loaves of delicious bread, and 3 bags of bread dough. I would keep doing it, but I don't really want to bake in another 10 days since we won't be here anyway! So if you are in Rexburg and need something to do in 10 days, let me know before Wednesday and I can drop off a bag and the recipe. You can't make the bread on your own, you have to have the dough given to you and the work partially done. It is fun if you have never done it before, so if you want some let me know! As an added bonus, it makes the house smell so good! I made it while Marc was in class and he could smell the cinnamon when he walked in the door! Since I really want to get rid of it, if you are in AZ and want it, I will bring it to you since we will be there for Thanksgiving. Let me know!

What a Wonderful Husband I Have!

When Marc and I first met 4 years ago, I was on the Dance Committee for the school. I got free tickets to every dance and was expected to be there. Shortly after we broke up one of the first times... there was a dance that I had to go to. Since we were still good friends I asked if he wanted to come with me. Marc doesn't like dancing, so we sat and talked the whole time, we didn't even get our picture taken! Marc says we did dance, but I was much better about writing in my journal back then and I wrote that we didn't, the journal never lies! I teased him about it forever! Being a dancer, I love to dance, it really doesn't matter where I am. After we got engaged I would tell him we had to dance at least once, I didn't want our first dance at our reception to be our first dance ever! I think we danced once! Even after we got married I would beg him to dance with me, but he really isn't into the dancing thing, even with me. So, a few weeks ago Marc came home with some really pretty flowers, see Flowers, Sushi and Pumpkin Cookies, I also tease him about not buying me flowers, he is just shy, even with me. When he walked in the door with the flowers I was sitting on the couch. He came up to me and said he had a question for me, then he asked me to go to the Fall Formal with him. I was so excited because he really did want to go! We had a lot of fun dancing. The school Jazz Band played all night, and one of the Vocal groups sang throughout the night. Marc actually danced with me! We had so much fun! We felt kind of out of place, everyone else was kind of awkward, there was maybe one other married couple there. Marc even let us get our picture taken! I don't know if you can tell, but I have cute red shoes on! Marc tried to match me too! It was so much fun to reminisce on the past, and now I don't have to tease him about dancing with me! He even let me teach him how to swing dance! What a GREAT Husband I have!
The dance was about 2 weeks ago, but here is the picture!

Election 2008

My dad sent me this e-mail the other day. I showed it to Marc today and we both had a good laugh. Right now we are watching the SNL Presidential Bash. Tina Fey really looks like Sarah Palin, and it reminded me of this e-mail. I decided to post it because it makes me laugh everytime I look at it. You can tell me what you think!

Incase you can't read what the caption says, it says, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Alaska anymore"!
It really doesn't matter your political views, this is really funny! I just can't stop laughing! It wasn't until Marc pointed it out that I realized Obama, Biden, and McCain were all pictured as well! Gotta love Photoshop!

I should also mention that I got a text message from a very republican friend of mine, saying that to prevent long lines at the polls, all Obama voters have been asked to vote on Wednesday. Can you tell who I support...



McCain, Palin '08!

If you are in Arizona, don't forget to vote YES on prop 102!

Picture Tag!

Here are the rules: You have to post the 4th picture in the 4th folder in your pictures folder. Then give a brief description before you tag a few others.

And the Picture is...


I worked at Dillard's in the Men's Fragrance department about 2 years ago. One of my favorite jobs! We always had so much fun! My family loved it too, I would come home smelling like 80 different types of cologne, but they also reaped the benefits of free cologne and perfume! This picture is actually at our store launch party for KISS Cologne. It was a few days before halloween. Our Manager had all the girls in both Men's and Women's come in early. We had a Mac make-up counter in our store, for those of you who really know Mac, they usually wear ridiculously large amounts of make-up. Anyway, they did all of our Make-up for the day free! My eyes were so dark! Anyway, the corporate company wanted a picture of all the launch parties across the country. So this is both the Men's Department, and Women's. We all had t-shirts that said "You'll Never Forget Your First..." on the front with "KISS" and a crazy picture on the back! Here is the creepy part, this crazy guy came in who is a die hard Kiss fan, he had his 5 year old daughter dress up like one of the band members, and I am pretty sure he was in the store all day. We took these pics, and as we were finishing he made us stay where we were and put his daughter in and took another hundred pictures. A few days later he came back and told us that he sent a picture and a story to Gene Simmons (the lead singer, for those that don't know) personal website! Well the picture and a little story were posted! That is why the picture is such bad quality, I had to save it from the website! Anyway, that is my little story...enjoy!

P.S. I am on the top left, crazy huh! The crazy guys daughter is in the front, with the full make-up. Poor kid walked around the mall like that all day!

Now I tag...Beth, Ainsley, Katelyn, and Jaimie

Have fun!

Pumpkin Carving!

This last monday for Family Home Evening Marc and I decided to carve pumpkins. We went to Brolium's, an Idaho grocery chain, because they were selling them by the pound, and not a flat price. All the smaller ones were gone, I guess it was a popular night to carve! We ended up getting two that in total weighed about 50 pounds, but we spent less than $10! We covered the table in newspaper and started. Marc does not like pulling the "guts" out so he did his best! The pumpkins were huge! It took forever to hallow them out and carve them, not to mention the fact that our good knives are in Arizona, so we were using some pretty dull ones! We had fun though, Marc made a pretty big mess, I am thinking when we have kids, the pumpkin carving will take place outside!

Here we are preparing our creative thoughts, or to cut up the pumpkins...


Here are our pumpkins when we were through!



Happy Halloween!!!

Rexburg Temple at Sunset, and Yummy "Bat Cave" Cake!

Marc is taking a digital photography class this semester. Since we both really love to take pictures it has been a fun thing to find places around town and take pictures. Thursday night there was an amazing sunset, and we were hoping that Friday night would bring the same. So, we packed up the camera and tripod and headed for the Temple. We got some pretty good shots, but unfortunately they turned out pretty grainy. Marc wants to play with them in Photoshop, but I was looking at some of them today and decided I would post a few. We might go again, but when we left the Temple a little after 7 it was in the 30's, so we will see if we get back up there soon or not. This is one we took right after we got there, the sun was just starting to set, but the silhouette of the Temple it so pretty!

This is us standing in the field, Marc had to run out to me, the field was so dusty! We both left with messy shoes, and quite the rock collection, there were a ton in my shoes!

We are so blessed to have such a beautiful place so close to us!

We also had our ward Halloween party Saturday night. We made a yummy chocolate bundt cake, that Marc calls "The Chase Family Secret Recipe" We decided that since there was a dessert contest we would get a little creative with the cake. We called it the bat cave. We put a bat stencil on it and powder sugar to add a few bats on it, then we put dry ice in the middle, unfortunately we put too much in the cup so that when we added water it froze into one solid block! The cake looked so lonely on the plate so we added a few candy corn around it! Unfortunately we didn't win, but I promise, this is more than just a chocolate cake! It is so yummy! Marc was so glad we had some left, he isn't very good at sharing yummy treats with others!

No Office = 2 Hour Video Game Session

We were very excited to watch the new episode of The Office last night, but for some reason there was an Idaho debate on. We were both very bummed and needed to take out some of our frustration. We finally found Mario Kart for our Wii about two months ago, and shortly after realized that we could set it on a setting to play every single course, there are 32. We figured it would take us about 2 hours, but we were ready. The time flew by pretty fast, and we basically dominated! Marc came in 1st with over 400 points, and I came in 2nd with about 300 points. It was kind of fun just to play, and it brought back many childhood memories for both of us. I don't know when, if ever, we will do it again, but we were both so sad that there was no office on, we had to take our frustration out on Mario, Luigi and the gang. It did help, although I was pretty upset, I am pretty sure that everyone was ganging up on me the whole time, I mean really I got hit every time anything was thrown! Marc and I decided to team up and help each other out, it actually worked pretty well! We are always up for a little competition though, so if anyone wants to play let us know!

Flowers, Sushi and Pumpkin Cookies!

On Monday Marc surprised me when he came home from class. He got done a little early and decided to stop by the store. He bought some really pretty mums and sushi from da Pineapple Grill, which they so conveniently sell at Broulim's! It was a pretty great surprise! The flowers even matched the color of the shirt I was wearing! I sometimes give him a hard time for not being "romantic" and doing cute stuff like that. But that day he decided to be different! He was so cute when he brought them in too! He can be a romantic sapp when he puts his mind to it!



Last night I really wanted to make pumpkin cookies! I had a Stake Relief Society meeting last week and we had some for dessert. Also when I was working at CFR we used to have them for snacks and they were so good! Before I left I made a copy of the recipe, but had not made them. Well last night was it! They turned out so perfect! I had one today and they were still super soft like they are supposed to be! They taste like fall too! I know that sounds funny, but I know you all know what I am talking about, the warm cinnamon flavors, delicious! Here is the recipe if you want to try them, they are really easy, but they do cook to be softer cookies, and the dough is more like a thick batter, but I promise if you make them you will love them!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

1/2 Cup Shortening
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup Pumpkin pie filling or puree
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Combine Shorting, sugar, egg and pumpkin. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Drop onto cookies sheet by spoon or cookie scoop. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. If you double the recipe don't double the egg, it doesn't come out right!

If you don't have the silicon baking sheet that you put on the cookie sheet, you should get one! They are amazing! You have to give the cookies a little longer to bake, but they don't burn and you really get a perfect cookie every time! You can get them just about anywhere that sells baking supplies. Wilton has a really good one that can go in the dishwasher, or the Professional Bake Mat is also really good, we have and use both! I don't think I will ever go back to making cookies straight on the cookie sheet again, it just isn't the same!



These aren't our cookies, I didn't take a picture, but they look pretty similar. I will add a picture of the flowers later though. I came up to campus with Marc, he is in class and I don't have a picture of them!

The Case of the Mysterious Sock!

We decided that we were going to buy a couch cover. We found someone selling one in the color we wanted on the school bulletin board, so we bought it. When we got it home and put it on the couch and it just didn't work. So we are going to try and sell it to someone else. As we were pushing the couch back to the wall, we found a sock underneath the couch. The strange thing is it is a sock that doesn't belong to either of us! We aren't sure how it got there, or who it belongs too! Marc was holding it to try and figure it out, and being my sometimes OCD self, I made him throw it away and wash his hands. We think that maybe it was in the couch cover and the people we bought it from didn't see it before they gave it to us. Or maybe there is some mysterious portal from one person's dryer to the bottom of someone else's couch. Who knows, either way we are still trying to figure out how the sock got there and who it belongs too!


It has also been getting really cold here. It snowed a couple times this week, but is supposed to be back in the 60's by the end of the week. We aren't really excited about the cold weather kicking in, but we keep reminding ourselves that this is the last winter we have to be here and next year we can be back home with all our family, I think that is the only thing that will get me through the negative temperatures!

Cinnamon Rolls, a General Conference Tradition!

I am not really sure when this tradition started, I was pretty young though because it seems like it was always how we did stuff. My mom started a tradition during General Conference, I am sure as a way to get us awake to watch the Sunday sessions. Every Saturday night of Conference weekend my mom starts making our delicious conference breakfast! She makes a breakfast egg casserole that sits in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning before the first session she starts to work on her amazing homemade cinnamon rolls! Everything is usually ready to eat after the end of the first session. It is a favorite meal of all the family, because it only happens twice a year! The General Conference times that I spent up at school were not quite the same without the yummy food to top off the spiritual weekend. I am big on traditions and want to have a lot for our family. So, our first conference after we were married, I attempted my hand at the fun Sunday breakfast. I don't have a bread machine to make the dough in, so I was stuck doing it the old fashioned way, I didn't realize how long it would take to make the cinnamon rolls by hand, and they were done way later than they should have been. I also put an air tight lid on the egg casserole so it didn't rise like it should have. Well, I learned my mistakes and this time around we had a FABULOUS breakfast to complement the spirit. The casserole turned out perfect and was ready just as the first session started. The cinnamon rolls took a lot of work again, but we were prepared. We even got a little creative and made one pan with dried cranberries and almonds in them. We were so proud of how much better they turned out this time, we took pictures!
Here is a close up before it went into the oven. Marc was so proud of his rolling skill when we started cutting them, I have to admit, he did a great job! Oh, and if you are wondering, there is whipping cream on the bottom of the pan, it helps the rolls to taste extra delicious!

Here is the finished product! We only got one picture before the camera died, but they were delicious and ready to eat at the beginning of the last session! Too bad they were so good and warm, because of that we had a hard time keeping our eyes opened, but it was a great treat to have after the rain we had all weekend!

Candy Corn, Yellow Leaves, and Colder Temps!

I think that my favorite part of October and Halloween is Candy Corn! I actually bought some a week ago, I know I was ahead of schedule, but I couldn't resist! I am pretty sure that there will be more bags to come! Who doesn't like them?! But it is very obvious that it is fall, and that Halloween is just around the corner! I wanted to start buying halloween candy a month ago but Marc wouldn't let me. I guess it comes from my mom slowly building the stash so that she has good candy before it is all gone! Marc doesn't think we are going to have very many kids coming, and if we have it, he...we will eat it! I guess it is still a few weeks away!

All the leaves here are starting to change, it is kind of fun, we don't really have "Fall" in Arizona, so we are having fun watching the trees change, and the weather too! It is 80 during the day and drops to the 40's or lower at night. Let's just hope this weather continues, we aren't too excited for the snow! But thinking positively, this is our last winter here, so we are going to try and get through it! We can't decide if we are going to get costumes, but we don't really have ideas either!

New Hair and a Shameless Plug

I have been getting tired of my hair, and thought I could protest the fast coming winter with a short summer cut. Unfortunately that did not stop the weather from turning colder, but I do think I have pretty cute hair! I wasn't wanting to pay a lot because I didn't really know what I wanted. So, I called The Paul Mitchell Hair Academy that is near our apartment. They usually take a long time to get you in, but the girl said I could come in in an hour! I had never been there before, but I have heard only good things. When the girl came out to get me she gave me a tour of the school. Then I sat down and told her what I wanted. She waited for the instructor to and get her started. Then she said part of the services included a five minute scalp massage with tea tree oil. It relaxed me so much, and of course it felt good! Then it was off to "The Lather Lounge" for the wash. The room is dim and there is soft music playing, like at a spa. I am pretty sure they pump the scent of lavender and vanilla through the room. They do a long massaging wash, I am pretty sure I could have fallen asleep! After that we went back to "The Cutting Floor" and got to work! The instructors come around a couple times during the cut to make sure they are doing the cut right. Then she styled it for me. I think she had to do it straight so they could make sure it was even and everything. She didn't even try to convince me to spend tons of money on hair products either! Not only did the cut look good, I left feeling like I spent an hour at a spa! The best part is it only cost $8! I have been to Beauty Colleges before, but this was by far the best one! So if you live in Rexy and need a good cheap cut, go to Paul Mitchell! (That is the shameless plug!) Now to the pictures...
Here is what it looked like after I got home


I wore it curly the next day...it's pretty short!

G's Dairy!

We decided not to buy ice cream the last couple of times we went to the store. Mostly because we have it if we eat it! Last Wednesday I wanted ice cream really bad, so we walked to a place just down the street that has really yummy super fresh ice cream, among other dairy products! The cones are pretty cheap, but the ice cream is better than any you would buy at a store! I got huckleberry, and Marc got some quadruple chocolate thing! We had so much fun walking there and back with our delicious ice cream cones! The next night Marc got the evil ice cream craving, so, off we went to G's Dairy... again...this time I had black cherry, and Marc had some carmel chocolate vanilla something, I liked mine too much to care what he had! We felt like since we walked there and back that it was more of a work out... even though it wasn't. So, if you are in Rexburg and you want some really yummy ice cream, or cheese, or milk, or soup and sandwiches I would recommend you go to G's!

Here we are eating our ice cream... more like devouring!

I got Tagged!

So, my good friend Ainsley tagged me, so here it goes!

8 TV shows I love to watch
The Office
Arrested Development
Seinfeld
Monk
What Not To Wear
Full House
Terminator
American Gladiator

8 Favorite restaurants
Paradise Bakery
Bajio
Panda Express
Mi Cocina
Pei Wei
da Pineapple Grill
Valle Luna
Chino Bandito

8 Things that happened yesterday
Woke up
Went to Relief Society Presidency Meeting
Ate Breakfast
Went to Church
Called my Grandpa
Made Potato Soup :)
Did a Sudoku
Had Home Teachers over

8 Things I am looking forward to
Marc Graduating
Moving to Arizona
Having a family
Halloween
A new job
Going home for Christmas
Owning a home
Buying a puppy

8 Things on my wish list
Marc to finish school faster
New clothes
To be a mom
A cute puppy
A Kitchen Aid Mixer
A bread machine
To eat sushi this week
To decorate my house cute
8 People I'm tagging...Jaimie, Britney, Stacey, Beth, Becky, Andrea, Marissa, Katelyn

Yes For Marriage Arizona!

As most of you know Arizona is getting ready to vote on the definition of marriage. Since I am in Idaho I can't do a lot to help out, but by posting the link to this blog, and spreading the word, I feel like I can help! I will be voting via absentee ballot, so my voice will be heard! We know from what we are taught in the Bible that Marriage between a Man and Woman is Ordained of God! Please help our state and country by voting YES on Prop 102! There is a link here to their blog http://www.yesformarriageaz.blogspot.com
Their blog gives you more details about Prop 102, (it's only 20 words, yes it really is that simple!) There is also a link to view commercials, and to their main website ( www.yesformarriage.com ) where you can volunteer to help save marriages in Arizona!

AZ Trip!

So we have been home from Arizona for about a week and a half, and I still haven't put anything about our trip up! So, here it is! We had so much fun seeing family and swimming! When we got to AZ we had a BBQ with Marc's family and got to meet our nephew for the first time! We didn't take a lot of pictures, but on Labor day we went with my family hiking to one of our favorite places! We took a ton of pictures there, and thanks to my dad and his fun new camera, he got some great ones of Marc and I.

This is one of my favorites of Marc and I, he really knows how to sport a bucket hat!


This is at the top of the trail. You start here and hike all the way down in. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour. There is a creek that runs through here and you have to hop rocks about three times. It is a lot of fun though!


When you get down into the canyon there are a few places to stop. My family has a spot that most people stop at, there is a very rocky beach, across from that is a very rocky part of the canyon that you can cliff dive from. We usually stop there with a lunch that we bring in. My mom and I usually watch everyone jump, the water is freezing and we stick our feet in just to cool us off. This is a picture is in the canyon, the rocks are pretty high, but the water is deep and so it is pretty safe, although I was scared when Marc jumped in!


We had so much fun while we were there, but we were so busy eating at the places we miss, and visiting with family the time slipped away from us! We are excited to come home at Christmas and see everyone again, and hopefully spend more time with our friends and family! We got a little home sick after we got back, it seems like all the people we love the most are in Arizona and we can't wait to move back out there and be with everyone! If we didn't get to see you when we were there this last time we will make time for you the next time around!

See Ainsley, I told you I would get this stuff up here!

Cupcakes!!

For our wedding someone gave a Westcor gift card. If we didn't use it, it would start subtracting money from the original value. So, when we were down in Arizona we went to Kierland Commons to use it at the Create and Barrel. We had to spend it all since it was going to subtract money if we did not use it soon.  I found this super fun cookbook! It was only $15, and it is amazing! There are quite a few different sections all with tons of fun recipes! There is a "health-freak" section, kid's sections, low-fat, etc! All the recipes are fairly simple and for the most part use baking staples. There are some that use self-rising flour and sweet butter, but those are pretty cheap! At the end of every section there are three variations for every recipe! There are so many fun ones, we didn't know where to start! We made Chocolate Macadamia  Nut cupcakes for our first attempt and they were delicious! Next we are going to try Banana Honey Muffins! The nice thing is that every recipe makes 1 to 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes so you are not taking a giant risk! There are about 6 or 7 other books like this that this company makes, I think I am going to look online for them, this was the only one Create and Barrel had. Anyway, if you want cupcakes, let me know! I would love to make them for you, or, you could go buy it and make them yourself! 

Fun, Lazy Weekend!

This weekend we decided to be lazy! Friday we just ate dinner, and watched the Olympics. Marc also told me when I got home from work that we could go to the store and buy a fish! We got a Calico Fantail, which is slightly larger than a goldfish. We had fun thinking of a name and finally settled on trigger when we put him in his tank because he swam so fast!

 Saturday, we woke up and made a yummy breakfast. Then we cleaned our apartment and headed out to Idaho Falls for the day. There really isn't a lot to do there and the stores were all packed with families getting ready for school to start. It was really Marc's ploy to get me out of the house and away from my book, although we were both at the same spot, so I read on the way there and the way back!

 We went to Bath and Body Works and they were having a sale on their hand soap, so marc let me pic out a few. Then we went to Pita Pit for lunch! It was so yummy! We then ventured to Target were I talked Marc into getting a small power drill so that he could hang some things in the apartment for me! 

We also finally got our living-room organized and set just how we want it! I will have to take pictures and post them, but it finally looks and feels like a home!

Yummy Food!

So, I know it has been awhile since the last post, so it's about time! First off, my parents sent Marc gift cards to Omaha Steaks for his birthday. After much deliberation he finally decided which steaks to get. They came last week in a styrofoam box, complete with dry ice and all! Marc was very excited about the dry ice and brought it all in to show me while I was working on the computer! You can see how excited he was...

 

On Saturday we went shopping and I was thinking since we have been married I have not made Chicken Cordon Blue. So we bought all the stuff, and I taught Marc how to make it! It is actually really inexpensive and really easy! Not to mention that it tastes fabulous! Of course you have to have a colorful meal... so we had peas and carrots! It looked so yummy we just had to take a picture!

That last picture was really just for artistic value, but it looked pretty cool! It was a really yummy dinner! We watched some of the Olympics while we ate! It was a fun night! I realized that the last few posts have been about food, so the next one won't! 

Sundae Adventure

                                                             
After traveling, a hard week of work, and school, we decided to take it easy this weekend. We got all our chores done pretty early, then decided to relax and take a little break! We got "Million Dollar Baby in the mail that day, so we decided to watch it. Before we put it in we decided we should have some ice cream.  Marc said he would take car of it, this is what I found when I walked into the kitchen,

                                                         

Marc had taken brownie and Oreos (both regular and chocolate creme) and placed them on the bottom. He then added GENEROUS scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream to the mix. He then put a large amount of whipped cream on to of that, followed but carmel sauce. We each had our own bowls but were not able to finish the massive sundaes! I am not complaining, but there was so much!  Maybe next time we will just have to share!

San Diego Trip

Last weekend Marc and I were able to take a much needed trip to San Diego, California. Marc's parents and brother were there as well. It was a quick trip, but it was nice to get away from work and school for a few days! We had a ton of fun hanging out on the beach and soaking up the sun. After two days of laying on the beach, and swimming in the ocean we were pretty sun burnt. We did enjoy ourselves though! We played frisbee on the beach with a huge frisbee and after a while had to stop, the beach was really crowded and the people that were napping didn't like the sudden blast of sand rudely waking them. 

We went for a walk on the pier in Oceanside, but that turned out to be less fun than we hoped. There were tons of people fishing all around and the dead fish smell was quite heavy in the air. Not to mention the large amount of fish guts so decoratively covering the railing. There was a restaurant on the end of the pier, it is actually one we like, it is called Ruby's. Unfortunately we were placed at a table right next to the door for those sitting on the patio. Every time the door opened we were blessed with the smell of dead fish. If that isn't a way to get people to leave quick, I don't know what is. We quickly left after losing our appetites for our Strawberry-Banana Milkshake, not without eating the cherry! 

We took a ton of pictures, Marc laughs because I like to take artistic pictures, so there are tons of rocks, the pier, the water, and seaweed. But I just keep telling him that one day he will appreciate the fun pictures and silly memories that we have while it is still just the two of us!

Our Story

I figure since there are a few people that don't know the Marc and Melissa story, I will tell it! Marc and I met in the Fall of 2004 at BYU- Idaho. We were in the same ward, and he came over because he heard we had a Super Nintendo. He came over everyday to play and soon we started dating. It didn't seem to work out and we became best friends. That didn't seem to work either, so we dated again. This went on for about two months, he still had not gone one his mission, I started dating someone else, and so did he. We kind of went our separate ways, talking occasionally. He called me and told me where he was going on his mission, he even came and said good-bye. The whole two years he was gone we didn't talk at all. I was dating another guy in the Summer of 2007, my parents met him and didn't like him. They kept asking about when Marc was coming home, they didn't really know him either, they were just ready to get rid of me. My dad remembered that there were some strange connections to mutual friends of Marc's family and my family. Long story short I got an e-mail with his phone number and home address. Not wanting to be a stalker, I used my facebook stalking skills and found him that way. I ended up working for his dad and we started dating. About two months later Marc came back to school and I stayed home to finish my internship. We kind of left our relationship open, but after 24 hours of him being away we changed our minds. We were married December 29, 2007 in the Mesa Arizona Temple and have been so happy ever since!