Our first Anniversary! 8.8.08

Well, we've successfully made it through our first year of marriage! And we both agree – if the first year is really the "hardest," then we can't wait for the rest of eternity. It is going to be amazing. :)

Yesterday we celebrated with the greatest day ever. We started off by sleeping in until 10:30 (well, I did). I woke up and came into the kitchen and Chase had bought me a bunch of pretty flowers. He is so sweet, and he knows I'm the biggest sap. Then we made raspberry and cream cheese crepes. Yum! After that, Chase took us up to see these beautiful waterfalls called Mesa Falls. I think he mostly wanted to take me because "Mesa" is in the name. It was so beautiful though. That took a good part of the day, and when we got home at 4:30, we really got into the fact that this was our day to do anything we wanted, and so of course, we took a nap.

Then we drove to Idaho Falls to see Star Trek and eat at Olive Garden. My favorite part about that we when we were eating our salad at the restaurant. Chase got this huge green pepper and bit into it, but I guess it was just too huge, because all of the seeds shot out of it across the table and onto the wall (and my arms). Our waitress thought it was pretty funny. After dinner we rounded off the night with ice cream (of course). It was such a fun day spending time together and relaxing.

I am so grateful for Chase. He really is my perfect match. He is my best friend – I never get tired of having him by my side. I think the thing that I've learned the most about him is how patient he is. And with me, you need to be patient. He puts up with all my faults and loves me so perfectly. And every day he teaches me what it really means to be like Christ. I could never, in a million years, find a better or more wonderful eternal companion. I love him so much. And I know he loves me too. Happy Anniversary Chaser!! (Sorry I'm not the greatest at taking pictures...)

Pretty Mesa Falls...

This is a little drawing I made as a gift for Chase.

An (Old) Update!

** So I found this post in my drafts, I guess I forgot to publish it. It is a few months old, but still worth posting I think.

So, I think I'm at that point where although I'm going to school full-time and working part-time, I feel like I have no time to do anything, but I also feel like I waste a lot of time doing nothing. Make sense to you? Me neither.

Anyway, one of the things that is in the "no time to do anything" category is updating this blog.

We are more than halfway done with our second-to-last semester of school! And I can already feel the senior-itis setting it. Next semester I'll be working still and I'll be taking 17.5 credits. I'm so scared! But I'm also really excited to take some more graphic design classes. I really want to learn and get as much experience as I can before we graduate. Chase will be taking 12 credits, so he'll really get to focus on his classes. Let's be honest, him taking 12 credits is probably equivalent to me taking 20 because his classes are so hard. So we are all registered and ready to get done with this whole school thing.

So what has been on our mind's lately?

• Well, Nate and Steph, my brother and sis-in-law, are expecting a little baby! We are really excited for them. We keeping hoping Steph's tummy will be all big when we get to see them in a few weeks.
  
  
• Mama and Papa Child came down to see us this week! It was their first time doing a session in the Rexburg Temple, and they loved it. It really is gorgeous in there. We went and got pizza and ice cream and had a great night catching up with them. They are amazing parents...I couldn't have imagined having greater in-laws. They make me feel so loved and included in their family.
  
  
• Christina, Chase's sister, came down this weekend too! Okay, so we set her up on a blind date with one of Chase's classmates. I feel bad because she has been on a lot of blind dates, and I'm pretty sure blind dates are always awkward no matter what, but I think everyone had a lot of fun. Me and Chris both nailed Chase in the head with the ball when we played Wally Ball, so I know that we had fun at least. Oh, and we had pizza. Again. I'm starting to get the idea that we're not very healthy.
  
  
• Mother's day was last month, and tomorrow is Father's day. My parents have been on my mind a lot, which isn't always a good thing because ever since Chase and I got married I am a big baby and cry more than I ever have in my life. So I've been reflecting a lot lately on my Mom and Dad. They are so amazing. They have both taught me so much about how I should treat others and how I should live my life, but more than anything, they have taught me about what kind of mother (or parent) I want to be.
  
  My mom and dad are not perfect. They are not perfect people or perfect parents. But I have realized that they are perfect at loving their children. They would do anything to help their kids, even when it means that they sacrifice and give up a lot of things that they shouldn't have to go without. My mom is constantly just thinking of any little thing she could do for her children, and given even the slightest opportunity, she is always there – ready to conquer the world for them. She is amazing and always has a solution to a problem. She loves her children so much – they are her whole world. I want to be that kind of mother to my children some day. And then there's my papa. Anyone who really knows me knows that he is my hero. I could list a million reasons why, but it would literally take all day. He sacrifices so much for us. He is so kind and calm and caring and selfless. He is one of those rare people that gives without asking for anything in return. He is a true example of Christ-like love.
  
  So those are my parents. They are so important to me and I will always be forever grateful for all that they have done for me and taught me. They are two of my best friends. :)
  
  
  
  
  
  

Killer Bunnies

Tonight we made Easter eggs with our friends Casey and Aubster from downstairs. They were kind of ugly but in a cool way sort of...The eggs I mean, not our friends. Chase made one that said, "Viva La Mexico." No one could figure out why. But it was a lot of fun, see:






Isn't Chase adorable? Except in the first one he looks kind of homeless. :) After the eggs, we played this game called Killer Bunnies. We've played it a few times, and I always lose... but this time, I won! It's a weird game where you try and kill the other player's bunnies. We thought it was especially appropriate for Easter.

Happy Easter!!

Finals are OVER!!

One semester down, two more to go. We are so glad it's over, even if we only have a week to catch our breaths. It has really been a busy few months. Chase had incredibly hard engineering classes... the kind where half the class fails the tests and it's normal. Luckily, it's also normal for the teacher to curve their grades so they still pass. :) My classes were super busy. Note to self: 17.5 credits is a lot. I don't think I've never been so stressed out as I was this semester, but that may have been because my hard drive crashed and I lost all of my work for my classes. But it worked out - Apple reinstalled a new hard drive with more memory and replaced the keyboard and sent it back all in only 2 days. But I did have to redo my projects. Anyway, we made it through.

Chase just finished his finals yesterday, so I decided to surprise him with his favorite dessert, Cherry Pie! I've never made a pie before, but it turned out awesome! Well, so said Chase and our friends from downstairs... I don't like cherries. I found a great recipe from http://allrecipes.com (this site is amazing!) I was scared to make the crust, but it actually worked somehow! It's really flaky. Okay, I'm sorry for sounding so proud, but I really was excited that it didn't totally bomb. But look how cute it is! :)

Munch & Pi

Okay, so here are the turds. They are super cute little guys. :) Munch is the smaller one. He's really shy and doesn't like to come out of his shell, and he freaks out if you try to pet his head. But Pi loves when you rub his head and he likes to walk around our apartment...mostly I think he just wants to escape though.

Pi looks really big here, but he's just up close to the camera. He is a lot bigger than Munch though... He eats a ton!

This one was taken when we first got them. They've actually grown a lot, if you can believe it.

So yeah, that's Munch and Pi. We're planning on making one of those little signs people put on their walls that say, "All Because Two People Fell in Love," and then putting a picture of Munch and Pi under it.

Sam the Cowboy

Okay, I've given in. Because from what I can tell, you're not really married until you have a blog. And Chase and I have been married for a wonderful 6 months already! I know I've missed a lot of exciting stories, like the baby turtles Chase got me for my birthday, but to start off this blog appropriately, let me tell you about our latest adventure.

This past weekend, Chase and I went out with some friends to a place called BJ's Bayou in the middle of Nowhere, Idaho. It's a weird Paula Dean-ish restaurant in a 107 year old building and has two big gators living in it. And a turtle. They might as well have been stuffed for how much they moved. The place was creepier than most things, but it was fun! We ate fried gator tail, nasty hush puppies, and really big hamburgers. The food wasn't bad. But the best part was the owner of the place. She and her husband moved from New Orleans and started up the restaurant, which they actually lived in on the second floor. We had read somewhere that BJ's was haunted and asked for a spooky story. She gave us a story alright, but it was more perplexing than anything else because she absolutely, with all the sanity she had left, believed that her and her family had constant interactions with ghosts. She told us about Sam, a cowboy who would walk down the hallways of their house. Her 17 year old daughter let us know that Sam would come and sit on her bed almost every night and talk with her. She also let us know that she wanted to be a Psychiatrist. We didn't think it was the best career choice. Anyway, the owner went on and on about dozens of ghosts and how they would steal the dinnerware and scare prom groups that came in for dinner. And Chase, of course, was encouraging her the whole time by asking innocent questions with an impressively straight face. We gave her a good tip for the whole thing, mostly because it wasn't an act. And we felt bad for her kids.