Christmas

This was our first Christmas as a married couple... and it rocked!
The Thursday before Christmas, Thomas and I planned a Christmas party for some of our close friends. It was so fun! We had a fire outside, made s'mores, drank hot chocolate, had lots of yummy treats (and I cut up strawberries and bananas and arranged them into candy canes... found it on pinterest of course :) haha) had fun chatting, and watched A Christmas Story! Oh we also played this fun game where you put a paper plate on your head and you have to draw a picture (one person is in charge and says step by step what to draw). It was hilarious haha. It is a lot harder than it sounds. My drawing was terrible haha.
The next night, Friday, we went to Thomas' parents house. All his siblings were there, so it was awesome to have everyone together. We ate a yummy dinner (ham, turkey, potatoes, mmmm), did a nativity with the kids, and had the sibling gift exchange. We got Mario Kart and Beatles Rock Band for the Wii! So fun! We were super excited.
Saturday morning we went with Thomas' family to sing at a nursing home. They do this every year. I thought it rocked. The old people loooooved it. Seeing their faces was amazing. We could tell they were so happy to have us there. Each family took a turn singing a few songs. The little kids singing were the cutest haha. Thomas and I sang a song and then he sang a song and played it on the piano that he wrote. He is amazing. I definitely have a talented husband!
Saturday afternoon and Saturday night we had more family parties! The first one was at the park across the street from the Gilbert Temple, and it was for Thomas' dad's side of the family. We had yummy food and enjoyed talking to family. We then had Thomas' mom's side of the family part that night at the Moyer's house, and again had yummy food. Good stuff.
Sunday I didn't go to church because I didn't feel well. I starting getting sick on Saturday and I got worse and worse throughout the day. I had a bad cold. Uhh not fun. Luckily though I rested all day and that night I felt well enough to go to my dad's side of the family party at my Grandma Crandell's house. I always love this party because we do a white elephant gift exchange. People always bring hilarious gifts! I'm so glad I was feeling well enough to go.
Monday night Thomas and I went to my grandparents house for mexican food for dinner (tradition on Christmas Eve) and then went to my parents for our family party. We did our sibling gift exchange and did the nativity with the kids. Mason gave us an awesome present haha. He is hilarious. He made a Berenstein Bear's book into a book about Mason and I when we were young. He got little pieces of paper and changed words of the book. He totally spent a lot of time on it. It is so great! Haha I love it. He also gave us an In-N-Out gift card :)
Now finally Christmas day! Thomas and I couldn't sleep in! Haha we're like little kids... We woke up at like 7 or maybe even before that. I got him a tool set (so boring I know... but he needed one haha) and we got a mac mini! Super exciting. It was a great day. We went to Thomas' parents in the afternoon for lunch and to open gifts from his parents. Thomas was so excited- he got 4 piano lessons from this amazing teacher. He is soooo stoked about that. I got luggage and new pj's from his parents :)
Oh... my parents gift to everyone in my family is they're paying to take us all to Disneyland... holy crap. We are SO EXCITED!!!! We're going in 2 weeks :) 3 nights and a 2 day park hopper. We can't wait!!
I'm really excited to see Les Miserables by the way... I heard it's amazing. We are going to see it tomorrow night I think! We tried to go on Christmas but it was sold out... we didn't think about getting tickets ahead of time...
This post was super long and probably boring. My bad. It's more of a journal for me :) And I need to be better at taking pictures dangit!
More exciting posts soon to come :)

Thankful

Thanksgiving is a week from tomorrow- holy smokes! Where has the time gone? Seriously October went by in a blur. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! Plans are to sleep in, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in bed, then head over to my grandparent's house to eat glorious food and spend time with the fam! Thomas hasn't met some of my cousins/aunts/uncles yet, so that will be nice to finally introduce him to them. Just wanna talk about some things I'm thankful for :)

My husband. Duh. But really... he rocks. I'm so thankful to be married to him! Cuddling with him in bed, making him dinner, seeing his cute face every morning, going on walks, being silly/weird... and so much more. We have so much fun together.

My family. I have such great siblings and parents on both sides! We love spending time with our families on Sunday. It's definitely something we look forward to.

Our home. We live in a duplex... Thomas' parents are on the other side. They built it on like ten years ago for Thomas' grandparents to live in. After they died, they started renting it out to people. There were four girls living here before we got married, but we kicked them out haha. It is really nice living here! I feel safe and more at home since it is close by my parents... his parents are literally right next to us, etc. I am not a fan of apartments, so I feel super blessed to have been able to live where we do! Rent is cheaper than if we lived somewhere else, it is bigger (vaulted ceilings, 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms) and I just love it. It feels like a house instead of if we lived in an apartment. We go through the side gate and our front door is in the back of the house. We even have a doorbell. Haha I love it.

The gospel. I'm thankful that I belong to the true church and that I get to be married to my husband for eternity!


Friends. In particular, Courtney Cotter, Brian Nielson, and Stephen Moyer! We have so much fun with them! Courtney is like a sister to me and Brian and Stephen are like brothers. They rock.

My job. I am an assistant preschool teacher at a home preschool that is five minutes away from where we live. I love going to work! The kids are adorable and hilarious. Kathy, the teacher, is great to work with. She is an awesome teacher and so fun.

Thomas' job. He's a pool guy! He works for his brother-in-law. His schedule ROCKS. He can work basically whenever he wants. The summer was hard because it was super hot... But it's getting a lot better because of the great weather we're having. He gets home at like 2 at the latest each day. I get to spend lots of time with him :) I love it! I'm thankful that Thomas was able to get this job. It's always nice when family members own businesses.


School. It may be hard sometimes and I basically always have a butt load of homework, but my teachers are great and I have such awesome classmates! I feel like I'm really learning things that will help me a good mom in the future :)


Our bed. And comforter. Both were free! My brother and his wife got a new bed and gave me theirs before Thomas and I got married actually. We saved a lot of money because we didn't have to buy a bed! Oh and it's a king... which is awesome. I love big beds. My mom got me the comforter for Christmas last year. I love it! So pretty.

Dance. It makes me so happy :) Nothing else really to say... I just love it! I'm glad I've been able to do a technique class once a week.

Disneyland. It's the happiest place on Earth! I can't wait to go in January with my whole family! My mom sent a text last night saying that her and my dad are paying for everyone to go and stay 3 nights and get a 2 day park hopper. BEST PRESENT!!! I'm so stoked!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Life has been awesome lately. The weather is perfect, Thanksgiving is almost here, and CHRISTMAS is next month! Basically this is the most wonderful time of the year, exactly like the song says. I LOVE the months  October, November, and December. There is a different feeling in the air. Cheesy? Probably. But you all know what I’m talking about because it’s true. Halloween this year was pretty fun! We didn’t have any plans until last minute. We ended up going to a Halloween party at a friend’s house. We sat around a fire and ate hobo dinners! Mmm so yummy.

School is going good! I am taking classroom management, integrated literacy, educational psychology, and school and society. It is definitely my hardest semester in college so far. Makes sense… because now I’m taking NAU classes instead of CGCC…

Nothing that exciting has happened since I last posted on here 3 months ago… just enjoying married life! Busy with school and work! I love my job. It seriously rocks! I am an assistant preschool teacher. We have the cutest kids in there. They say the funniest things! I have a story to tell Thomas everyday about something a kid said or did.

So Thomas and I are really stoked for our first Christmas as a married couple… so we couldn’t wait to decorate! Haha we put up our Christmas tree a couple nights ago. My parents gave us their old one, which was super awesome! We bought cheap ornaments at Ross and Goodwill. I have randomly been on this Christmas craft kick, which is weird because I am usually not a craft/creative person. I think it’s just because Thomas is super creative and loves to do projects, so he’s rubbing off on me a little :) Which is great! Christmas decorations can be expensive. I made a tree skirt, little Christmas trees, a snowflake to go on our door, and Thomas and I made a star to go on top of the tree. Some people think that we are silly for decorating so early and that we’re forgetting about Thanksgiving, but I don’t care! Plus Thanksgiving is only one day… and I love Thanksgiving for sure! But I don’t really have any Thanksgiving decorations and I like Christmas ones better haha. But I am super excited to see family and eat lots of turkey and mashed potatoes. Mmm and pumpkin pie… So delicious. Thomas and I are also so excited for Black Friday!! I don’t know what we’re going to get… nothing super crazy or expensive because we aren’t going to spend a lot for Christmas… but we’ll probably get things we need, like towels and stuff. Black Friday shopping is one of my favorite things. Something about seeing crazy people fighting over items and being up in the middle of the night… It’s just great :) can’t wait to go with my hubby this year!

My sister and her husband live in Texas, and she’s having a BABY!!! Soon! She’s due December 5th. My last day of school is December 12th, so I am flying to see them and cute baby Payton on December 13th! I couldn’t be more excited! I wish Thomas was coming with me… I will miss him… we’ve never been apart for a night yet since we’ve been married… but I’m only going to be gone for like 4 days. I am super excited to see my new niece! And see my sister and Nick of course… I am also excited to see my Aunt who lives close by them. I’ve never been to Texas so I’m excited to just see what it’s like there. I hear it’s really pretty.

Now for some pictures :)

 Cute Santa I got at Goodwill for like 6 bucks

Halloween! We last minute dressed up as nerds... lame I know. Stephen and Brian dressed up at Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Olympics and such....

I'm seriously sad the Olympics is over! I didn't even start watching it when it started because we don't have cable, but we do have roku and stuff so we can watch netflix, but we didn't have any channels. Finally I decided that we needed to get this box thing and an antenna so we could watch the freaking Olympics! I'm glad I was able to watch MOST of it :) My favorite is gymnastics. So exciting to watch.

I recently finished watching Lost :) Freaking great show. So addicting! The last season though was not my favorite... The beginning seasons were more exciting to me. It just got complicated and didn't make sense. But I still love it. I'm glad I could watch it on netflix and not have to wait a week between like each episode like as if it was on tv because I would have been even more confused because I still got confused haha.

Thomas and I are doing great and loving being married :) It's so fun being married to my best friend! I love our long conversations we have about random things, how we are so silly together, and how we are so comfortable around each other. It's great to know that he supports me in everything I do, and he will always be there for me. He's the best husband! Love him so much.

Speaking of Thomas... he is just having so much fun making lots of videos and exploring new things :) Him and Stephen are super creative and love recording music and building things that help them get cool shots when they're making movies. Thomas has also been working with his other friend, Eric, on a kids show! I'm super excited for when they start filming it, which probably won't be for a while because they gotta write a good script and stuff. Eric made these awesome muppets that they're going to use. So cool! I love how my husband isn't a bum and loves to just be creative and do fun things. He's definitely the perfect man for me!

School starts soon! I'm doing NAU extended campus at CGCC. I'm stoked! I really am excited for school to start. Maybe once it does I'll regret saying that haha. But I love to learn and have more things to do. I'm also excited that 2 of my teachers I'm going to have are teachers I already know! One was my 5th and 6th grade teacher, and the other one was my elementary school principal! How crazy is that? What are the odds? They are both awesome so I'm super excited. It's going to be a great semester! I'm also really grateful that I'm married and poor so I can get financial aid! Haha I hardly have to pay anything this semester, so I'm very grateful for that!

Sorry there aren't any pictures and this post has just been super random! I'm horrible at taking pictures. And we don't really do that many exciting things so there isn't that much to take pictures of haha. But I will try to take more pictures, because I know I'll be grateful I did later!

If You Really Knew Me...

I saw this post on my cousin's blog and I thought it would be fun! 

 If you really knew me.... 

You would know:

I like things to go my way. I know lot's of people are like that, but seriously haha. It's been hard adjusting living with a boy who is not very good at putting dirty clothes where they belong... leaving crumbs all over the table... etc. Haha I have learned the hard way that I can't always have things to go my way. I have learned I need to be patient and not freak out over little things. Sometimes I would rather do a chore than have Thomas do it, even though I know he would, but I'd rather do it so I can make sure it gets done right. Haha oh gosh.... I'm ridiculous. I have a lot to learn :) 

You would know:

I am so excited to be a mom. Ever since I was little I have been excited to be a mom someday. It's crazy to think that I am able to have a baby now. I know I am still young and we will wait a while to have kids, but I seriously don't know how long I'll be able to wait haha. I know that kids are hard of course- they cry, they constantly need attention, they basically make it so you don't have any "you time". But somehow I want that.... I love kids :) 

You would know:

Eating is an obsession. Everything revolves around food. That's basically how it's always been in my family haha. It's great. Well it will be great until the day I weigh 500 pounds... 

You would know:

I am very very very sensitive. Pretty sure my birth control has added to it... but I've always been sensitive. I cry very easily... just ask Thomas haha. One night before we got married I wanted to see him after school, but it was almost 10 and he had to wake up early the next day so he wanted to go to bed, and I was so sad that I cried. Haha I am pretty pathetic I know. 

You would know:

I'm going to school to be a teacher but I probably won't ever teach. Haha maybe I will when my kids are older. But seriously I kind of just want to get my degree and then have a baby.......... :) 

If you really knew Thomas...

You would know:

He is probably the most passionate person I know. He will set his mind on something and stick to it. If he loves doing something, he doesn't just love it, he's passionate about it. He thinks about the things he loves constantly. 

You would know:

Since he was a little boy, he has LOVED to make movies. Check out his youtube videos! He is such a goober. I love him! 

You would know:

He is amazing at the piano. He really is such a talented musician. He easily can make up songs, the arrangement and the words. He proposed to me by writing and singing a song :)

You would know:

He is a pool guy! Yep, he cleans pools for work :) He gets to work outside in the heat... I feel so bad for him! But luckily he only works from about 7:30 until 2 at the latest each day. We get to spend lots of time together everyday when he gets home from work. I love it! 

You would know:

Thomas is so sweet. He is grateful for things he has and things people do for him, and he is just a nice guy. He is also hilarious and so fun to be around! 

If you really knew us...

You would know:

We have been married for 3 months now! Well in 3 days it will be 3 months. Crazy! It has seemed like so much longer than that, though. We love being married and living together! 

You would know:

We are both weird and perfect for each other.... We are both kind of gross, too. Haha I'm glad I could marry someone who loves me for my weird self! I love that we are so comfortable with each other and we can do/say anything around each other. 

You would know:

We love to watch TV and movies together. Pretty much everyday after he gets home is the same: He takes a shower (he gets really stinky and dirty at work... gross) then we cuddle in bed and watch Monk! Haha it's so great. 

You would know:

We cook together a lot. I'm glad I have a husband who is a better cook than me and is willing to help me cook dinner :) haha it's perfect because I don't like cooking and I suck! He makes the best cheese crisps... For reals. I know they are easy to make haha and there's not much to it, but his he makes are so so so yummy. 

You would know:

We say "I love you" like a million times a day... haha maybe it will wear off because we are newlyweds... but we just love each other and we love to tell each other that! 

Our House

Here are some pictures of our little house :) We live in a duplex (connected to his parents house). I love it! It feels bigger than an apartment because of the vaulted ceilings. It's also nice because we have cheaper rent than an apartment and we get free wifi... :) 

Kitchen 

I love the sign "Come what may and love it" It's my favorite. We got it as a wedding gift. 

Family room. PS the white board is for the projector screen :) 

These are my favorite. I love our piano that we painted black that Thomas bought for only $30, and I LOVE the picture of the temple that Thomas painted. It's so awesome. He painted it before his mission. 

Half bath

I finally got pictures to put in this cute frame collage :) 

Our extra bedroom/office/place to put extra crap/room for Thomas to film movies haha 

Thomas' green screen

Our bedroom :) 

weird reflection on the wall from the mirror....

Our bathroom 

I love the hooks on the shower curtain :) 

Married Life :)

Being married has been an interesting thing. I've never been married before, obviously, so I didn't really know what to expect. I have learned that is takes a lot of patience and understanding. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE being married! Thomas is my best friend and I wouldn't want to be with anyone else! It's just funny because when we were dating, I thought hey, we get along great and I want to be with him all the time... being married will be perfect and nothing will ever go wrong! Ok I was kind of being sarcastic haha. But you know what I mean! You can't fully imagine what it will be like being married until you are actually married. Thomas and I, like normal married couples, have disagreements.... That sometimes turn into arguments.... But one thing I love, is that we talk it through. We communicate. We could be better at it, but it has been harder for me to adjust. I'm not the type to share my feelings and know exactly what to say in situations. Thomas, on the other hand, is a great communicator. He knows exactly how to say how he's feeling. I am super jealous. He is definitely helping me get better, though. :)

Anyways, this is a super random post. But I was just thinking about it. I love Thomas and I am so glad I married him. He is my best friend! He is silly, kind, hilarious, and so sweet to me. I know he cares about me. I love how he loves to do projects. He will think of something to do, and he'll just do it. It's like there's nothing you can do to change his mind or distract him from it. His movies he makes for example. He LOVES to make movies. His dream job is to be a creator of a kids show. He is so talented at writing catchy songs. 

Here are some reasons why I love being married to Thomas:

1) I don't have to say goodbye! Just goodnight :) I was so excited for this

2) I get to live with my best friend and learn from him

3) Having someone there who I know loves and cares for me no matter what....

4) Every day is fun! Even if we don't do anything, I just love being with him!

5) I love waking up to him laying beside me. Cuddle time in the morning is my fave. 

6) I get to learn how to be a wife and a future mom. I have learned that I have LOTS more to learn and LOTS more to do before I am a mommy :)

7) We get to have a home together and decorate it

8) I like having things to do.... like laundry, dishes, clean the house, etc. 

9) We have so much fun together... We both love to be silly

10) It's so nice to be around someone that I'm completely comfortable with and can talk to about anything!

So I got a calling a couple Sundays ago.... primary chorister. When the guy in the bishopric told me, I just smiled and said of course that I would accept the calling, but in my head I was freaking out. Primary chorister?? Seriously?? He said he had heard I was "very musical" and this would be a perfect calling for me. I can play hymns on the piano... I don't think I am musical though haha. I always thought this was calling for older ladies (not old... but just older than 19!) so I was surprised to hear this. I wanted to be a young women's leader... But we don't get to pick our callings :)

I have done junior primary and senior primary once, with the other primary chorister in the room (we are going to be switching off weeks so we don't have to do it every week which is really nice...). Yesterday I did both junior and senior by myself. I taught them the song Teach Me to Walk in the Light. I had some kids come up and help me hold pictures, do actions, etc. to help them learn the words. They were pretty well behaved (senior definitely better than junior of course) and I think I did decently well. I'm sure I will feel more comfortable up there soon and I will get more creative. 

I feel bad because I am a horrible cook. Seriously I can only make super easy stuff.... like heat up frozen things... haha. It's ridiculous! It is going to be a challenge to learn to make meals. It's nice though that there are so many recipes easy to access. I have lots pinned on pinterest, plus there's tons on the internet of course, and I have like 5 recipe books. I am not very patient, and I don't really like cooking, so it's just going to be something that will take time for me! Good gosh.... wish me luck.

Nieces and Nephews

Thomas and I have seriously the cutest nieces and nephews. 

Here's Josie! She is Thomas' brother James' little girl. So cute. I love her pretty eyes. I babysat her the other night for a little bit. We had fun playing =] 

Jamison!! Cutest little round face I've ever seen. 

Emery loves to strike a pose. 

Paige on her 2nd birthday! 

This little munchkin is always up to something! 

Here is Jett. He was born 4 days before Thomas and I got married. He is such a sweet little baby. 

Landon and Elliot are very hard to take pictures of haha. They love to run around and play!! 

Jamison loves to listen to Grandpa play the guitar!

My Ian boy!! 

Yeah ASU! 

Haha this one and the one below are from Christmas when we did the nativity with the kids. Landon and Elliot were shepherds. I love Landon's super cheesy smile!