Oh Baby!

This is happening

Conforming

For some reason, when you get married, everyone suddenly thinks you like to make crafts.

I guess I'm conforming.

Remember this post about how I was getting all crafty and what not?
Well, I have been crafting some more! (and more then just buying a piece of metal)

First up, Thanksgiving Turkey!

The beginning of November we made a trip to Burley so Clayson could kill a turkey. 

While he and his brothers killed, I opted to stay home and create a turkey with his mom and sisters. 

Much more uplifting. And cute  :)

Next, Christmas Trees!

The girls in our neighborhood get together once a month and have a craft night.
I've started going to these, mostly in an attempt to make friends.
It's fun and I am slowly finding my inner craft.

Also, I'm too cheap right now to buy decorations that will only be up for 1 month, so it's a good alternative. 

This is literally all the Christmas decorations we have. 

Call us Scrooge. 

Last, the Christmas Penguin!

On one of our visits to Rexburg, my mom got craft ornaments for the grandkids to make. 

Addy got the Penguin, which was probably the most complex, so I helped her out a little. 

Please excuse my appearance.

She was the boss and I was the labor.

We make a good team.

I'm so proud of my crafty little self  

(lets not talk about the fact that all the above had all the materials provided, an example/picture to follow, and step-by-step instructions/instructor)

Bring on the next craft!

We Made It!

{Flashback to February}

Once upon a time, Clayson & I went to The Lego Movie and on our way out of the theater we saw this poster:

How To Train Your Dragon is Clayson's favorite animated movie. 

"We are going to see that when it comes out." He told me. 

"OK" I said. 

But in my head I thought, "Yeah right! That movie doesn't come out until June! 

By that time he will be in Boise or something. There is no way we will be seeing that movie together."

I honestly thought we would never make it. 

{Flash-forward to last night}

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that we saw How To Train Your Dragon 2! 

Way to prove me wrong Clayson Searle.

We made it!

Getting the hang of this?

I've mentioned before that I am called to teach Gospel Doctrine at church and it is very intimidating for me, to say the least.
But, incredibly, I think I might be getting the hang of this!

This week my lesson is on the Resurrection and I'm actually feeling ok about it!

Shocker, I know.

At least my testimony has been strengthened!

Hopefully I can bring the spirit to touch my little class as well.

The Neighbors

Soo.... this ended up being kind of a long post. oops.

A few months ago, we got new neighbors.
They are three guys - Rich, Jake, and Corey - who are all going to grad school and already have good jobs. They are all very charismatic.
I was immediately impressed.

We gave each other tours of our houses. They have two deer heads and a foosball table. In their garage they have 2 trucks, 4 four wheelers, a cabinet, 2 garbage cans, and I think they also might have 2 dirt bikes or something like that. All in their garage. Crazy! 

So now that you get an idea of who these guys are, I'll tell you what happened.

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

After our initial meeting and house tours, we never really did or even saw any of them again. 

Sometimes we would think, we should invite the neighbors to our game/movie night or whatever the occasion might have been.
But they were never even home!

However, on the rare occasions that we did see each other at church or ward prayer, they were always very good at saying, "Hey neighbor!" (It's a good thing they were good at this because I honestly wouldn't have had a clue who they were otherwise. That's how often we saw them.) Then we would talk - I would give him a hard time about never being home and being bad neighbors, and he would say "Just come over!" But I don't "just come over" because I think it's awkward, so nothing ever happened.
And that was how it went. The end.

After a while, we gave up on ever being actual friends with the neighbors. They were too out of our league.
Jake had gotten a girlfriend, so he was a lost cause. Corey traveled a lot for work and Rich was busy with school.
They would just be nice acquaintance friends and we would be happy with that.

Then, last Monday, we went to home evening at the Bishop's house where we were combined with another group, and who do you think was there - Corey! (the good news is I actually recognized him this time) He greeted us with his usual "Hey neighbor!" and we had our standard conversation. He told us to "just come over!" I responded with "You're never home! How about you guys come over! It would probably work better." And that was it.

Chelsey and I joked, "What if they actually came over. Haha! That would never happen!"

But, the next night around 10:30 something happened. There was a faint buzzing noise that sounded through the house. It was odd and it took me a while to identify the sound as our doorbell, which is apparently broken. 

It was Corey! 

I just stared at him. I think I was in shock that he was actually at my door! I finally offered him a brownie, which I had made earlier that day. We talked for a while and then we said goodnight and he went home. I was amazed! He had actually come over!
I went upstairs to share my shock with Chelsey who was equally as surprised.
Were we were actually making friends with the neighbors? Maybe it was just a fluke. Better not get our hopes up.

Thursday, Richard added me as a friend on Facebook! I was making real progress! It was probably the most exciting part of my day.... until around 10:30 that night when the doorbell/buzzer went off again. This time it was Corey and Rich! Holy smokes! We talked and they casually invited us over for Sunday to watch Home Improvement which they apparently watch on a regular basis. I couldn't tell if it was a real invitation, or just a "one day that might happen" kind of an invitation. We decided to wait and see if they re-invited us.

Friday, I was at work, but apparently Rich and Corey showed up and jumped Cate's car for her. 

Tonight (Sunday) Cate was playing nintendo and I was working on a photo shoot I did yesterday. Around 10:30 there came a now familiar buzzing sound. Corey had come to invite us to watch Home Improvement! I told him we were playing nintendo and that was all it took. Who can pass up the original Mario!? I tell you what, Corey has some impressive Mario skills.

So, in conclusion, I don't know what happened, but we are suddenly friends with the neighbors!
And I think they're pretty cool. 

It is exciting  :)



p.s  I tried to find a Mr Wilson "Howdy Ho Neighbor!" but I guess youtube decided not to put any of those clips up. oh well.

Big News!

I have three matters of the utmost importance that must be shared with the world!

First, last night Chelsey and I played Nintendo! 

Not just any nintendo, this was the really good nintendo - old school style!

We have an area in our house called "the loft" which consists of a bunch of random things we don't know what to do with, most of which doesn't even belong to us - chairs, desk, tv, mattress pad, dresser, food storage.... well, apparently we have a nintendo up there! 

remember this awesome game!? we also played the original mario. so fun!

Now that it has been discovered, rest assure, it will most definitely be used!

Big news number two! I put my hair in a sock bun!

yes, i got a little carried away with the pictures. i was excited.

I never thought this hair style would be possible for my thin little hair to accomplish, but it did so well!

I'm so proud  :)

And last, but not least, we made potato soup!

Delicious!

Toilet Miracle

Ever since I moved into Bridgerland, there has been this nasty black mold stuff growing around the inside of my toilet. 

I hate cleaning bathrooms, so I keep pushing it away, but I knew I would have to face it one day.

Friday night (or Saturday morning) I got to bed late (or maybe it would be early?). The toilet was so gross to me, but I wasn't going to clean it at 2:00 in the morning! In a desperate attempt, I grabbed some Clorox from under the sink and sprayed a few squirts in the toilet. I laughed at myself as I went to bed, thinking how ridiculous it was to think that those few squirts would make a difference.

In the morning, I was astounded! My toilet was clean! there wasn't even a trace of the nasty black stuff left in the bowl! 

It was a toilet miracle!

I wish I would have gotten a before and after picture!

I never knew cleaning the toilet was so easy.

It might just be my new favorite job.

I'm trying it out on the bathtub next!