Getting Old

I just had my 23rd birthday last Tuesday! Yeah I know I'm getting old. It was a great day:) My girl neighbors, Amy Paul and Cheri Ebbert, had me over for My birthday brunch:) Amy made me this yummy spinach salad and Cheri made me brownies (my favorite)! I was over there for 4 hours:) We just talked and talked, it was so much fun! We have the best neighbors! I will miss them when we all have to move:( Ryan got home at 6 with a dozen pink roses that were sooo gorgeous, wrapped all my presents, and then I ravaged through them as fast as I could:) I had been waiting patiently all day:) He got me this cute PJ top and bottom from victoria's secret, this lipgloss pack from MAC that I'd wanted, and an IOU winter boots:) I love all my presents! Ryan was worried about my gifts this year b/c last year I took them all back. He got me good stuff last year that I had pointed out and wanted but then I decided on other things I wanted more:) I'm always buying stuff for myself and then exchanging them a few days later:) You'll be glad to hear that Ryan did great this year and I love all my gifts:) He's relieved, lol! Mimi, Daddy and Maggie sent me this cake bouquet that came with a cute bear and yummy chocolates:) My birthday was the BEST! I got to talk to Mimi, Daddy, Aubry, Eric (Ryans older brother), Hilary (Eric's wife), Ryan's mom, MawMaw, Susan, Duke sent me a really nice text, and Ashley(Ryan's little sis) left me a message:) Thanks everyone for making my birthday so great:) I really wasn't looking forward to my birthday this year b/c we don't really have any family around. It ended up being the best birthday I've had here in Utah:) Thanks to everyone's calls, my girl neighbors, and Ryan of course:) That night we went out and ate at Ruby River Steakhouse which we hadn't been to:) It was sooo yummy! To top off my birthday, Ryan and I came home and watched "Honey I Shrunk the Kids." We watched the entire movie:) It brought back lots of memories:) Here are some pictures from my Birthday:)

Thanksgiving feast!

I know this post is really late but altleast I got another one up before the end of December, lol:) The night before Thanksgiving Ashley and Dorian came over and we made all the desserts and my fruit salad. It was alot of fun baking all night, we didn't finish until 12:30am:) I made Frozen Strawberry dessert which I had typed up the recipe but I must have made a typo. So for the crust I preheated the oven to 550F which was what it said to do on my recipe I typed:) The oven started smoking but I thought it was just b/c our oven was filthy. So I went ahead and put the crust in to bake for 15 minutes at 550F:) Our neighbor Mark had come over and Ryan was talking to him in the front room. Ryan had no idea what was going on in the kitchen, all he knew is that it was smoking up the whole house. I still didn't think anything of it until the timer went off and Ryan went over to take the crust out:) He opened the oven up and this HUGE cloud of smoke came out. Then he reached to get the crust out and showed it to me. It was pitch black, oops:) We had a good laugh after we had to run outside in the freezing cold to get some fresh air in our lungs! I will be made fun of for that for the rest of my life:) Don't worry though we made a new crust and cooked it a 350F and it came out perfectly! On Thanksgiving Ryan and I made our food at our place and took it over to Dorian and Ashley's where they had been making all of there food:) We had sooo much food just for us 4:) That's what Thanksgiving is all about, lots and lots of food:) We barely made a dent in it so we had lots of yummy leftovers:) After we ate we just lounged around for awhile and watched the Turkey Bowl Chowdown, it was disgusting! Overall it was a great Thanksgiving:)

Blog-O-Mania!!

My guilt of not blogging has driven me to an obsession of blogging:) There's a good chance that I will just be taking random pictures and making up completely false stories just so I can get in another blog:) My Birthday package from Mimi, Daddy and Maggie came today!! Thanks so much for all the gifts and magazines:) I love getting packages from you Mimi b/c you try to put as much stuff in the box as possible! I love the wrapping paper:) You will have to let me know where you got it. I love my new jewelry, DVD, and especially the sour flip-flop candies:) Ryan took some pics of me with all my gifts, you can tell I just woke up, lol:) Thanks again for my Birthday package, I love it!!

Lots of Pics:)

You'll be happy to hear that I found some older pics to put on our blog:) Some are from our 1 year anniversary back in April which seems like it was yesterday. We went up to Salt Lake for a long weekend and stayed at the Little America honeymoon sweet:) It was so much fun! I just took a couple pictures of our living room b/c I wanted to show everyone that our walls aren't completely covered in white anymore, lol:) As most of you know Ryan and I are getting back into working out and eating better. Last week at Gold's Gym they had this huge blown up rat, it's so hideous, so I had to get a picture of it. I wanted to get a picture by his disgusting tail, it was huge! Ryan and I got a good laugh:) The other random picture is from a Spanish State Farm fair Ryan had to go to over Labor day weekend. The Neighbear in the picture is actually our next door neighbor, Mark, We talked him into it and he ended up loving it besides being massively hot and sweaty:) That's all the pics for now and I will try to be better at taking pictures!

I Love the Holidays:)

Wow finally a new post:) Well not a whole lot is going on. We are having Ryan's sister Ashley and her fiance Dorian over for Thanksgiving, and possibly Ryan's brother Duke. Me and Ashley are getting together tonight to figure out what yummy treats we are making on Thanksgiving:) Then we are gonna go get all the groceries with the whole crew. We are starting the desserts tomorrow, my favorite part:) If anyone has any good recipes for Thanksgiving let me know, I would love to try them out:) As most of you know Ryan and I have been trying to have a baby for almost a year so we scheduled an appointment to see a infertility doctor which we went to this last friday. It went really good and I was able to go get blood work done right after to see if I'm ovulating. The results came back yesterday and it turns out that I'm not ovulating so they are putting me on clomid, which is a fertility drug. We are really excited and looking forward to getting pregnant soon. Everyone is rooting for twins but Ryan isn't so sure about that. We could do it! We'll see hopefully soon if everything works out. We can't wait to start our family:) I'm still in search of a job, it's really hard right now b/c most places are hiring seasonal positions. I'm thinking I won't be able to find a good job until we get back from Christmas break. Ryan is pushing through school as quick as he can, lol:) He's so ready to be done. I don't blame him. He is loving working at State Farm and I promise he will have all his Licenses soon:) Hang in there Mimi and Daddy, lol! We can't wait until Christmas break, we miss everyone sooo much! It's hard being so far away from family:( We will see everyone real soon, not soon enough though! I don't have any pictures this time. I really need to be better at taking pictures, I need you Susan:) We love and miss ya'll so much!

Same Ole'

Not a whole lot has happened since my last post so nobody has really missed much:) I'm still in search of a job and getting really stir crazy! There are only so many things I can clean and clean until it's completely spotless and I'm left with not a whole lot to do. I've been cooking and baking alot more which is fun:) I attempted to make stromboli the other night and it actually turned out really good:) Duke and Ryan liked it anyway:) We have been hanging out with Duke quite a bit, as usual. I'm glad atleast he likes to hang out with the married couple, lol:) Our next door neighbors, Mark and Cheri, are kind of tied down right now b/c Cheri was put on bedrest. They are having their second little one November 11th. They have an adorable little girl with the biggest blue eyes, Julliet and they are having a boy:) Needless to say we haven't been able to hang out with them too much:( Ryan is really tied down with school and work lately. He has a test on Saturday that he is cramming for and he is taking his Life Insurance test this coming Tuesday, then all of his Midterms. He is really busy and stressed with everything and I really don't want to add to it. So I try and just give him room to study and do good on all of his test. It's hard though b/c I'm alone all day with nobody to talk to and then when he comes home he basically has to start studying all night:( I've been trying to start scrapbooking but it's really expensive, especially initially when you have to get all the basic supplies. So that hobby is out until I get a job and once I start working again I won't have time for it. Hopefully soon I'll get pregnant. We both want to have a baby so bad. As most of you know it's taking a little longer for us to get pregnant. I'm trying to be patient but I just want to have a baby so bad and I want to start that stage of my life. We are praying every night that it will happen so hopefully soon:)
Last Sunday after conference Ryan and I got really stir crazy so we went out to Bridal Veil Falls. It was freezing so we had to bundle up. It was so nice to get out of the house. I love when the leaves start changing all different colors, it's so pretty:) We took some pictures of our walk out there, enjoy! I also have some pictures of us and our neighbors attempting to make fried ice cream :) I video taped our 1st attempt of the fried ice cream and Ryan and Mark taste testing it:) Winter is already here in Utah and I'm not looking forward to the 6 to 7 month winter. I am looking forward to hot chocolate though:) Well I have kind of blabbed enough for one post. I love you all!!

Fun!!

Well as most of you know now I was let go from Pinnacle, they claimed they didn't have to tell me why. I think that they just didn't have a reason at all and were jealous:) Now I'm in search of a new job, I'm hoping to find a good nanny job. I nannied a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. Corporations are obviously not my forte so I will not be applying to any jobs like my previous. It was way too stressful for the amount I got paid and they treat there employees like crap. Susan, Duke and Ashley can definitely agree with me on that one:) I really need a dog or a baby here pretty soon, I would prefer a baby but maybe in the mean time I could get a dog because for some reason babies are harder to make than I thought, lol:) Ryan started school last week and has a very busy schedule, plus he works part time. He has been super stressed so hopefully things will start calming down a little so he can stay focused on getting his last 2 semesters over with. Since last Tuesday when stupid Pinnacle decided to let me go I've had some time to relax and focus on some things I've been wanting to do. I've been wanting to learn some new recipes and be able to cook for Ryan and I. It's frustrating though because we almost never want the same thing. I'm just really picky with what I eat and I'm trying to add more foods to my diet because obviously the diet I'm on isn't working. I'm trying to gain some weight in hopes of getting pregnant. It's hard to change the way you eat though when you have been eating the same way for so long but I'm really trying. My goal by Christmas is to be 108-110 pounds, or if I'm pregnant by then who knows how much I will be:) Ryan just got home from work so I need to give him some attention:)

Miami Trip!!

Ryan and I were lucky enough to be able to go on a nice vacation to Miami:) It was a blast! Mimi, Daddy, Maggie and Grins drove to Miami and Susan, Aubry and Savanna live there. We stayed in a really nice condo by the beach thanks to Mimi and Daddy:) The first day was filled with a 90 minute adventure with Ricky Marlin:) Ricky was our duck tour guide who's questions were promptly answered by Mimi with zealous excitement. Needless to say, the person who enjoyed the duck tour the most was Daddy. It was pretty sad when the tour ended and we had to physically remove him from the tour bus, as he clung for ricky marlin and cried out quacks as the duck bus drove away. For the remainder of the week Daddy had dreams of opening up a duck tour in Kerrville, good luck:) Maggie found grins a new friend, Gilbert, while in Miami. This squishy, sticky little frog spent more time on the condo ceiling with Maggie launching pillows at him then he did getting to know grins:)

Savanna was busy looking cute while Susan managed to snap over 400 pictures! Aubs and Ryan were preoccupied trying to one up me and Susan's "would you rather" scenario:)

Highlights of the trip; Daddy, Ryan and Aubs played like the pros for 18 holes and saw more wildlife than the hogle zoo; Mimi, Susan, Maggie, frogs, Savanna and Alyssa shopping on the strip and managed to not spend a dime:); Ryan's art decco beach trench; Fish net spedo man on Ocean Drive; and the plethera of desserts we walked away with at carrabas:) We already miss everyone so much. It was such a FUN trip!!

Surprise for Alyssa:)

Lately I've been really moody about work and wanting a vacation real bad. We are so excited for the Florida trip and that we are able to go, thanks to all of those who have contributed to us being able to take this much needed vacation! I've also been putting in some overtime this past week so that we aren't completely broke when we get back from our trip:) So anyway on Friday while I was at work Ryan was putting together a nice surprise for me. I left work at 4 since I didn't take a lunch and came straight home not knowing what was in store for me:) I got to our front door and there were two yellow roses taped onto the door with a little lamenated note telling me of my big surprise throughout our apartment. I opened the door to find single roses placed in different spots of our apartment each with a note and a trail of rose petals to show me were to go next. The notes were describing all 15 months we have been married and what moments were special to him each month:) It was the sweetest and cutest thing ever. The finale was our bedroom, I opened the door to find our bed covered in rose petals with a little stuffed bulldog(we've been wanting a bulldog bad) and a final love note to sum up everything:) Ryan is so good to me and I love him so much. I'm the luckiest girl in the world!!

Visit from Grandmom and Grandaddy!!

On their quest to travel across the Western states Grandmom and Grandaddy made a quick pit stop at our little place in Provo. As you can imagine the visit was eventful and ranged from absolutely boggling the mind of a poor Olive Garden waitress over the soup and salad combo and a seperate soup and salad which they adamantly demanded....to watching Grandmom stagger around our apartment in the dark in search of her purse. While here they helped a little with the home decorations (Grandmom) by insisting we hang our homemade painting. Grandaddy watched and approved of the picture placement between conversations about the insurance business with Ryan. Since hanging the painting Ryan had the brilliant idea of drawing more attention to it by adding a little accent light. Here is the finished product; Thanks Grandmom and Grandaddy!!

They have a long journey ahead of them and they are prepared for the trek to say the least. Between about two dozen maps all marked with multiple highlighters and the various mapquests they have printed off it would be a miracle if they did not get to each and every stop at precisely the planned time. It was a blast having them stay with us. Their visit would not have been complete without a visit to the Garden here at Stanford place.

Home Improvement Project!!

Without many friends in the area saturday's are often filled with boredom. This past saturday was no different. In the midst of our boredom I became a driving force in throwing the landlord's rules out the door and undergoing a minor paint project in our bedroom. Before Ryan knew what hit him he was standing in the middle of home depot's paint center with me in all my glory among painting tools and samples. After a dozen unsuccessful calls to Mimi, I was forced to make an executive decision on the paint color because Ryan was voting for bright blue glitter paint:) forty-eight dollars later we found ourselves moving furniture and prepping the walls for a nice new coat of paint:) The moment I rolled on the first stroke of paint there was obviously no turning back.

Clothed in the Stephenson Family Reunion 200,000 shirt I managed to paint not only the wall but every part of my body, while Ryan managed to keep the paint on the wall and not himself:) It was alot of fun and took alot less time than we thought! 2 coats of paint did the job just fine. We managed to avoid boredom for atleast one saturday:) Here are some pics of the project.