Best Idea EVER!

So I have decided that Jon and I need to go on a road trip.... a fun road trip with AMAZING views. Because, let's be honest, driving from Utah to Arkansas is probably one of the ugliest drives around (right after the drive from Barstow, CA to Arkansas). So where do I want to drive?

PCH

Otherwise known as Pacific Coast Highway. It is one of my favorite drives (I've only taken it as far north as Huntington Beach), and I would love to take it from northern California (like way northern) all the way down to Orange County. I love the views of all the beaches and the ocean. Plus, you get to drive through really cute beach towns, where everyone is walking around ready to go to the beach.

Of course, this probably won't be happening until Jon finishes school, but I think that I can convince him to make this his graduation trip. :)

P.S.

Make this. You will not regret it. It's the most amazing chicken I have had in my life. Seriously.

My New Camera

I'm getting this little guy in the mail (*HOPEFULLY*) this weekend:

My whole paycheck from the week I substituted for a kindergarten classroom went towards it. Plus, a little carrier for it when Jon and I go hiking and the like:

I'm excited, and I hope it's better than my current camera. If the battery life lasts more than a half hour of continuous picture taking, then it'll be better already. Seriously.

So maybe I'll have more pictures this summer... but I can't guarantee anything since Jon and I won't be able to do a whole lot with his job.

My Mother

(My Mother on her wedding day)

Reasons Why I Love My Mother:
She is the best Mom ever and is AMAZING with kids. No joke. She just has that natural gift. At my wedding reception in Arkansas, a little boy she had never met before latched onto her and was her best friend the whole evening. Kids just love her.

She raised five kids, and I can hardly remember her yelling at any of us. The one exception that I recall was my sister and that was maybe once or twice when my sister was a teenager. Although, now my sister has realized that she was a brat a lot of the time growing up, especially after she has finally had a child of her own. I remember hearing from my brother about how my sister called my Mom up one day crying and saying, "I'm SO sorry! I don't know how you did it with five kids. I can't even handle one!" I'm sure I'll probably break down like that one day when I have my own kids. But I know that I can call my Mom up for advice and comfort.

She is always giving. This last time Jon and I went to visit my family, she offered to pay for Jon's and my tickets into Disneyland. She has also offered to pay to fly my brother and me out to California later this summer before my youngest brother leaves on his mission. Last Christmas, both she and my Dad offered to pay for flights out there, so we could spend Christmas with family (we didn't end up taking them up on that offer though). I think that growing up with a family of seven, we weren't able to afford things like that.. and now that most of her kids have grown up and moved out, she wants to be able to use the extra money my parents have now to give those gifts that she couldn't always give us growing up. I know that she can't wait for more grandchildren, so she can spoil them because, right now, my niece is the only grandchild, and she IS spoiled! :) Also, she always put her family before herself.

This is so much more I could say about my Mom, but I don't want to get TOO mushy and boring.

I'm so grateful for my Mom, and I am happy to have her in my life. I am also grateful for all the other Mothers in my life that have inspired me throughout the years. Happy Mother's Day!

A Little Behind, Sorry!

Okay, this may or may not be a long post depending on if I have enough time to type it all out. I'll try to add pictures (none taken by me because I'm still working on getting a new camera) so that this long post won't be too boring. Now...where to begin? Hmm...

Well, we'll just go with spring break last month! Jon and I drove down to Poway (in San Diego) on Tuesday, March 16th. We arrived in warm, beautiful Poway around 9-10 PMish (we left after Jon's classes).

Photo taken by my little brother on my wedding day at the Stone's residence (the reception site).

I was so happy to be back in San Diego. We were outside at night, and it was perfect weather. We didn't need jackets nor long sleeves. I love San Diego weather. The next day, Wednesday, Jon and I went for a walk around my parents' neighborhood because my Mother went into the dentist, and it was WARM... no, it was HOT. When my Mom got home, we headed over to visit my grandma.

My cute grandma. Photo taken by our wedding photographer. Don't mind the fact that my eyes are closed. It was bright!

We visited a bit with Gma, and then she took us all out to lunch at the best place EVER... Pat and Oscar's!!!!

Photo taken from P&O's website. Look at that yummy food!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing.... until the evening, when we went to pick up Jon's sister and nephew, Lacey and Kaden, at the SD airport.

Photo taken from Lacey's Facebook page.

I started getting a sore throat that evening, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having fun at Disneyland the next day! Unfortunately, for whatever reason, my body would not go to sleep that night. I don't understand why because whenever that happens, I usually am stressed out or worried about something. This was neither. I just couldn't sleep, which made Disneyland not so fun the next day. I maybe got about two hours of sleep. It was miserable.

On Thursday morning, we headed up to Disneyland! We had a late start to the day because Kaden was VERY cranky (he did have a long day before and was now in an unfamiliar place). Well, I'll be honest, he was cranky most of the day. We got onto plenty of kiddie rides, but he would only go on with Mom. He would be upset if she wasn't near him, which made it difficult for her to ride some of the bigger rides that he was not allowed on. It wasn't until after dinner that he finally was happy. We took him into ToonTown to play. He had so much fun there! He opened up more to Jon and me and was okay without Mom. Success! Kaden did well on some of the scarier rides (Matterhorn, Pirates, Haunted Mansion). He only got scared when someone screamed in the Haunted Mansion's elevator/growing room. Unfortunately, I was having a hard day because I was SO TIRED and sick. I wanted to go on Splash Mountain, which we had fastpasses for, but around 8 or 9, I was ready to go home. Everyone was exhausted.

Friday was our rest day. We slept in and lounged around for a bit. Then we got ready to go to the beach! So off to La Jolla Shores we went. I was the only one willing to get pretty far into the water with Kaden. Yes, the water is always cold in San Diego, but you get used to it after a bit. Jon had fun with Kaden when the tide went in and out.


Photo also from Lacey. Cutest picture of my husband and nephew, right?

After we were done at the beach (when we were hungry for lunch), we headed back through Mira Mesa in hopes of finding real filipino mangoes for my husband, who served in the Philippines. We thought we found some because they were called "Manila Mangoes," and they were yellow. Unfortunately, after buying them and eating a few, I realized later that day that they said they were from Mexico. Ugh. That was misleading! Poor Jon.

On Saturday, we went to California Adventure. Kaden was much better this time. Lacey was able to go on all the big rides, while Kaden stayed behind with either Jon or me. It was a much better day for everyone.

Sunday was the day we left and drove back up to cold Utah. I was sad that our trip was so short. None of us wanted to leave, but Jon had to be at work on Monday. Anyways, Lacey and Kaden stayed with us the next week. We didn't do a whole lot here (she had already been to Temple Square). We did take them into the Provo Canyon and up near Sundance Resort because Lacey wanted to see what a ski resort looked like. She couldn't imagine people skiing down the mountains since she had only seen the west side of the mountains, which are pretty steep. We did go to the Hogle Zoo one day so that Derek's (Jon and Lacey's brother) girlfriend could meet Lacey. Awkward? Yes, because Derek is in Boston.

So that pretty much brings me to now. I've just been going to school and babysitting my niece. Nothing too exciting. Actually, Jon is done with his current job NEXT WEEK! So that is very exciting. He's going back to wildland firefighting this summer because he just couldn't handle his job, and because I told him he could do it, if he wanted. I felt bad for him, okay? I just want him to be happier. May 1st is when he'll be on call. And as much as I don't want to spend the summer alone, please pray that he'll get called to lots of fires because we're hoping he earns enough money for us to survive on for a year. He starts the fire academy in the fall (if he's accepted). Then he'll be doing the Paramedic program January through August, I think (spring and summer semesters). That's also if he gets accepted. Although, we kind of want to leave Provo for St. George, so he can do the Paramedic program down there. And because we don't want to go through another winter up here. Anyways, so that is why we are hoping for lots of fires- because he won't be able to work full time during his schooling.

My Poll

St. George, huh? Okay... who voted for what?

Jon and I are liking the idea of St. George.... more so for paramedic school though. Hopefully, we can get that to work out. We'll see though. It has just been an idea of ours the last week, and we're both kind of excited about it. He just needs to find out from his advisor if he can do the paramedic program down there (because I still want Jon to get a Bachelor's Degree, which is only available at UVU for what he's going into, and UVU's paramedic program is VERY hard to get into).

Anyways, I'll update more maybe this weekend. I'm kind of a slacker right now and am ready for summer break.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it's my 24th birthday, and I am up at 7 AM. I have a problem with waking up early now, which I don't know is necessarily bad except when I stay up until 12:30 AM (like last night- I've been good the rest of the week). Anyways, my new habit of waking up early (without an alarm, might I add) has helped me with being on time to church two times this year. Yes, I said this year. I have been late to every single sacrament meeting minus two this year. Want to know why? Because church went from 1 PM to 9 AM, and I had no transition time. I think with school and taking Jon to work early, I have finally had that transition time that is telling my body that it needs to be up early. So, hopefully, I'll continue making it on time to church. Did I even mention that our ward always starts sacrament meeting 5 minutes late? Yes, so I have until 9:05 AM, and church is only a less than 1 minute drive or 5 minute walk.

Anyways, onto other things. I have two pictures to post. They aren't of Jon nor me. I just thought that my blog needed some pictures, and since I suck at taking pictures most of the time (I blame my camera because it kills the battery life very quickly- in a manner of a few short hours). The pictures relate to my last post about my apron and the $1 patterns I bought at Joann's. Please excuse our nasty carpet- I swear it's like that all the time and not just because I only vacuum once every three months. Actually, I'm not sure what that white stuff in the first picture is, but I'll say it's paint because the girl that painted these apartments sucked at her job.

I hated that ruffle, and I don't know how I feel about ever making a ruffle again. Maybe a little one. That one was four times the length of the bottom of the apron. Can you see how annoying that was to bunch/ruffle AND sew (especially when my old machine has problems when it has to sew through more than two layers of fabric)? Obviously, I am not done. I still need to do the straps, but I need to go visit my teacher's apartment a few doors down to get help with that.

Here are the patterns I got. I pretty much picked up anything I thought I might want to try someday. Plus, Jon picked out a little something for himself. Although, I did warn him that if I did ever attempt a men's button down shirt, it probably won't be for a while. Umm... but those bibs made me seriously LOL, almost as much as the dog clothing patterns that I really wanted to get (but we don't have a dog nor would Jon let me dress up our future dog... OH WAIT, we don't have children either though........*awkward silence*).

That's all for now. Here's hoping our car will work today, so Jon can drive me to my free birthday lunch at Tucanos and to a movie.... otherwise, we might be walking (not to Tucanos though- that's on the other side of Provo!).

P.S. I'm going to Disneyland AND California Adventure AND San Diego in less than three weeks, and you're not. :P

An Update on Our Lives

I feel like I should update this sometime this month. No, I never got my project done. I went to attempt it maybe a week after my post (I was really busy with homework and such), when I realized the cheap marking pencil that I got in a basic sewing package from Walmart didn't work on my fabric very well. So then I had to wait another week for Jon to get paid.... and then I forgot to buy a water soluble pen when we went grocery shopping the other day. So I'm still working on that one. In other sewing news, I am almost done with my apron. I don't think I ever wrote about that, but I have been going to a sewing class one to two times a month since like November...maybe? My neighbor pretty much is a professional (that's what she did at BYU) and is teaching the class. We started with aprons, and next are skirts. I went to Joann's yesterday and picked up 5 patterns because they were on sale for $1 each! I'm gonna go back tomorrow to find some more. I found some pretty funny ones that I can't wait to try (bibs for babies)! I've also been babysitting my niece three times a week, and I've been going to a kindergarten classroom two times a week. Then I have two classes at UVU, plus my YW calling. I feel like I'm busy all the time now. I don't like it one bit. I can't wait until summer. Although, Jon asked me yesterday if I was planning on getting a job in the summer. I think he wants me to, but I don't really want to. Haha. We'll see....

Jon and I thought his promotion to supervisor would be good for him- he'd have a say in his schedule and would only really have one not so great boss instead of two. However, it is probably worse than before, especially since they only gave him a $0.75 raise. Lame. I told him months ago that he could go back to wildland firefighting this summer, if he wanted to. It wasn't until the end of January that he finally decided to apply, which is when they are usually doing their hiring/already have everyone hired. He hasn't heard back from them, which is not looking like good news for him. I just hope he gets it because I know how much he hates his job, and I'd rather be miserable and lonely at home during the summer than having him miserable every day of his life. Plus, he could possibly make enough in the summer that we wouldn't have to worry too much about him working part-time or me making not very much money this next fall and spring.

I have been enjoying this winter much more than any winter I have experienced outside of California. I don't know that Provo has had a decent snowfall since before Christmas (okay, maybe there was one day- but it definitely melted by the end of the week). It has been unusually warm, and I don't mind it one bit! I'll take rain over snow any day!

13 days until my birthday!!!!

OH, and we paid off our car with our tax returns!!!! YAY! No more car payment! This is probably one of the most exciting things that has occurred recently. Maybe we'll be able to buy another car by the end of this year! That would be wonderful!

Upcoming Project

I went to Old Navy the other day (while Jon was in his theatre class- LOL! That's another story!), and I rummaged through all their clearance racks. There were soo many cute shirts for $2 and $3, so I bought... a few!! :D I have seen some really awesome tutorials on blogs to refashion shirts and make them your own. So that is what I am planning on doing. I will try this first one and see how it goes because it requires no machine sewing (it's all done by hand). So I hope that means it should be easy for me! I'm still working on learning how to work my machine, and how to fix it when it acts up (it's my gma's machine, so it's old!). And until I know I can sew a straight line without my machine going all weird on me, I will hold off on the other shirts. Anyways, here's what I'm going to do either tonight or tomorrow:

P.S. I did not make the spelling error in the picture. Just a FYI, so people don't think I can't spell.

Pictures to come... (if it doesn't look ridiculous). Wish me luck!

2010: Just Another Day

So I just don't really know what to blog about anymore. It seems like in the summer, there was so much going on. However, now that it's winter and freezing outside, Jon and I don't do much other than sit at home and watch movies. Also, Christmas this year was pretty lame for us. Jon's boss decided to be ever so nice and schedule Jon to do two shifts Christmas day. So, I saw Jon for about 40 minutes that day. I sat at home and did nothing... I couldn't go anywhere because there isn't much open on Christmas day, and I kind of feel bad for those who do have to work on that day. I just laugh every time someone asks me how my Christmas was because you know they're expecting a "good" or "wonderful," and instead, I say, "oh, it was okay...I guess." New Year's came and went. Jon and I aren't into New Year's at all. I don't get it. We were in bed just before midnight. Yes, Jon and I have made goals, and I can see that it's nice to start fresh at the beginning of a year... but other than that, what's the fuss?

One goal is something similar to what most people try to do each year: lose weight. We aren't so much looking at it as losing weight as we are wanting to be healthy. We used to eat out at least once a week, if not more because I just didn't want to make dinner or because we love to eat out (who doesn't?). I think it got pretty bad when I was in school too because that's when I just wanted to come home and do nothing. So we have a goal to only go out to eat twice a month. That is where we are starting. We're going to try to cut soda and sweets out too (not totally.. but we probably had soda once a week ... and I have a problem with chocolate and cookies... a serious problem.). We are only going to have soda when we do go out to eat, and the sweets thing- I'm not sure what we're doing yet because we don't want to attempt too many things at one time (plus, we got a lot of sweets recently haha). Moderation, though, is what we're aiming for here. I have done workout videos every day (except Sunday) since Tuesday of last week. I am doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred every other day,

with The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga on the days between (what was I thinking about the yoga? It is ridiculously hard.).

I don't want to just run anymore, I want to start toning. I should definitely have some awesome arms after these two DVDs.

Anyways, I just thought I write all that out for myself mostly. I taught a YW lesson on goals the last Sunday of the year, and it said that writing your goals and progress down helps.

Upcoming events:

Thursday: School starts (Boooo!)

February: My 24th birthday- weird.

April: Jon's 26th birthday- he is getting old, as am I.

May: Disneyland/CA Adventure/San Diego! I'm so excited! I don't know that I can wait that long! I miss home so much. It's been way too long... Also, Jon's sister and her son will be moving to Utah, so I think we will be housing them until she gets a job and an apartment. (Hopefully that won't take long- I like my privacy.)... Oh, school will already be done, so it will be the beginning of summer... the beginning of many adventures for Jon and me (camping lots on his three days off from work each week!).

Oh, we are one year closer to Jon graduating- so excited!!! NEXT YEAR IS OUR YEAR (to get the heck out of Utah and start a family finally)!

Maybe, someday, I'll start taking pictures again so that my posts are a little more interesting.

That's all for now, I think. I better go do my weight loss yoga... kill me now.