Looking back on 2010

Here is a little summary of events we remember from 2010:
Thomas graduated as an x-ray tech.
We moved from Washington to Idaho.
Bought our first non-piece of crap car.
I ran three half marathons, one four mile race, one 6K, one 10K, and two 5K's. Thomas ran one four mile race, one 6K, and two 5K's and was there cheering me on and taking pictures at all the other races.
Had fun vacations in California, Oregon, and Yellowstone.
Celebrated our one year anniversary.
After being away from college for three years I earned all A's in my classes fall semester.

It's good to look back and see what we have accomplished this year.  It has been a really fun year with lots of changes and traveling.  I look back on 2010 and don't have any regrets.

Looking ahead, 2011 promises to be another year of changes as I finish up school and student teach in Boise this spring and Thomas gears up to attend Boise State in the fall.  I will continue to keep running. I have signed up for a half marathon in June and we'll see what other races come my way. 

Let's try this snowboarding thing again

Thomas has had a cold the last couple days so we weren't sure if we would be going snowboarding today but we did! Last night he told me that he still wanted me to go so if he didn't feel well he'd just sit in the lodge while I boarded. There is no way that I would go snowboarding by myself.  I know my husband has before and other guys have but I would never. I like to have somebody to talk to and share the experience with. I wonder if it's a male/female thing. 

We went to a place that's about 30 minutes away called Kelly Canyon.  We weren't sure it would be that great because it doesn't seem like there are high enough mountains that close to us.  But it was a great mountain with four lifts and plenty of different runs to go down. 
I was a much happier camper this time.  I just let myself have fun and didn't worry about not being as good as Thomas and as a result I think I naturally improved a bit.  I felt more comfortable going down flat without breaking on my heels and I was able to get some speed and didn't have many falls at all.  Last time I was extremely sore pretty much immediatly afterwards, like more sore than having just ran a marathon.  This time I feel great! We went for the half day which is 12:30-4:30pm and that was just perfect with a little lodge/hot chocolate break somewhere in between.
It was 12 degrees today! Freezing! I wore an earwarmer headband and a beanie to keep my ears warm and a thin pair of gloves plus my snowboarding gloves to keep my hands warm. Luckily my new snowboarding outfit rocks and kept me warm.  My face was the coldest thing but once I zipped the coat up all the way it covered up to my nose.
I'm starting to see little improvements so I am excited to see how much I can improve by the end of the snowboarding season.

New home decor and haircut

I'm ready for school to start so I can get the semester over! Plus it's lonely with the hubby working and being at home.  I was thinking how it's weird that once you are married that you can't really just hang out with a girl friend, cause now most of my friends are couple friends so it's weird to hang out with one half of the couple and not the other (maybe it's just me).
To keep myself busy the past couple days I have:
Got my hair cut and highlighted. I decided to try a new hairdresser.  I really liked my old one, she is super nice and we chat away the whole time but I didn't like how my hair seemed greasy afterwards and wasn't styled how I liked it.  So I would just go home and shower right away and re-do it myself.  One of my friend Karlee has adorable hair so I asked who she went to and set up and appointment with Ali.  I  really liked her.  She was quick (2 hours for a highlight, cut, shampoo, and style) and reasonably priced ($80).  Also I liked how she styled it afterwards and she pretty much nailed the color.  It's a little darker than I like but it always fades a bit.  The highlights are super subtle which I love.

Went shopping in Idaho Falls where they actually have a mall. Here we just have a Walmart.  I was looking for some skinny jeans and some pillows to go on our new couch covers.  I didn't find any skinny jeans I liked but I did find some adorable pillows from bed bath and beyond for $20 for a set of two.  I got a set of black pillows and a set of spring green ones. Funny how once you have your own place you want to make it look cute and it's fun shopping for decor. 

Once I got done shopping I started un-decorating.  It is kind of nice having everything put away and the house being back to normal.
We are planning on going snowboarding tomorrow for a half day at a place we haven't been before! I have to remind myself "I will not be so hard on myself!" I'm planning on doing my best and having fun with my lover while getting some good exercise.

Raquetball and New Cookbook

I loved today.  This morning Thomas and I went and played raquetball at the gym.  I couldn't believe how out of shape I felt.  Raquetball requires totally different muscles than I am use to using.  I loved it though and got nice and sweaty.  After playing for about 40 minutes we went for a mile run around campus.  I love working out with my lover.
After working out we showered off all the sweat and headed to the grocery store.  We were seriously in need of groceries after being gone to Washington for a week.  Sunday night I made a menu plan using all recipes from a Smart Cooking the Costco Way cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas.  I love the recipes! Tonight we had a steak stir fry which was delish.  I'm not a huge stir fry fan but this one had an awesome sauce that really made the dish.  Another thing I like about the cookbook is that it gives tons of salad recipes and salsa recipes to use as toppings for your salads.  I have two new goals for myself: one is to eat more veggies by having a salad for lunch every day and the second is to drink two glasses of water with each meal.  Small little changes that will make a healthier me.  This is the first time I divided up the grocery list into sections: Fruits/Veggies, Bread, Meat, Dairy, and Canned Items.  Dividing the list up this way made grocery shopping quick and easy. 
After the grocery store we rushed home to put groceries away and then headed to the movie theater to see Tangled.  LOVED IT!!! It's my new favorite Disney movie (Disney did a great job for it's 50th animated film). I am planning on getting the DVD and the soundtrack when it comes out.  There was a variety of people at the show and everybody seemed to like it kids, adults, men, women, everybody.

Nap Time

I love this picture! My dad took it over Thanksgiving break. When I first started watching my nephew Alex at the beginning of fall semester he would cry and cry when I put him down for his nap in his pack n play.  I tried to make a routine for him so I would read two books and sing two songs and then put him down.  He still ended up crying.  I would leave the door open because I think he was afraid of being shut in a room all by himself.  Usually he would cry a little and then fall asleep.  I hated having him cry though.  So after awhile I just started laying down with him on the couch and after about 10 minutes he would fall asleep. He first drinks his bottle and then when he finishes he'll try and be silly to keep himself awake by making himself laugh and pointing at things around the room.  Then he'll try and cry but if you just wrap your arm around him and sing he'll fall asleep pretty quick. 
Over the thanksgiving and christmas breaks his nap schedule gets a little messed up so he gets to be a Mr. Cranky pants sometimes.  I liked to lay down with him and apparently this time I fell asleep.  My dad cam in to check on us and snapped this picture with his camera.  I love that Alex's pants are unbuttoned like he just ate a big meal :)

Christmas Extravaganza

My family celebrated Christmas on the 23rd because of all of us kids' differing work schedules.  Thomas, unfortunately, had to work Christmas day so that meant we had to leave Christmas eve morning to head back to Idaho.
Since my dad didn't get off work till 5:30pm on Wednesday, we were all eagerly anticipating his arrival with my grandparents so that we could start opening presents.  It was pretty funny watching all of us sitting around in the dining room listening for the car to pull up.  Around 6pm we started opening presents.

My sister Ashley was sad I didn't have christmas jammies so right before we opened presents we ran to walmart and got some for me.

Usually somebody is designated as "santa" and hands out presents to everybody.  This year we all just kind of passed the presents to whoever they belonged to.  It was so fun watching my nephew Alex with his new toys.  He got a music set with drums and tambourines and bells and was just enthralled with it.  For about 15 minutes he sat banging on the drum with a look of deep concentration on his face.  He was hitting it so hard that it ended up breaking on one side.  He's a strong little guy. 

My big gift from Thomas was a Kindle.  I love it so far! It's awesome not having to lug around a bunch of books while on vacation.  I also like that you can put games on it too.  So far I have read Self magazine on it and started reading a book called "Run like a Mother"  which I like a lot.  We exchange names within our immediate families and have a $100 limit on that gift.  My sister had me and got me the suede couch covers that I had been wanting.  Thomas got some new snowboarding pants that he had been wanting from our brother-in-law.
Thomas' big gift was Guitar Hero World Tour with the whole band set up for his PS2.  We've had some problems setting it up so haven't played it yet but we are hoping to do so tonight. 
After everybody had opened their presents we played the $10 gift exchange game, which is a tradition we started a few years ago.  Everybody buys a $10 gift and then you pick numbers and starting with number one you choose a gift or steal one.  A gift can only be stolen two times and then it's safe.  I was the last one and so had my choice of gifts.  I went for the Yahtzee game (which I had bought) and Thomas got the belgium waffle maker (another one I had bought).  We were very happy with our choices :) Today I made pumpkin waffles on the waffle maker and the tasted wonderful. 
After all the gifts we sat down for Christmas dinner.  My dad recently learned how to smoke turkey so we had smoked turkey and ham.  I love the dark turkey meat.
I think we ended up playing Yahtzee that night.  Yahtzee has become our families go-to game lately.  I like it cause it's quick, fun, and exciting.
While home in Washington I think I went to bed at 10pm every night.  I'm such an old lady.  But I like going to bed at a decent hour because then I can get up before everybody else does to workout and not feel like I'm missing out on anything.  This trip I brought my Jillian Michael's DVD's and worked out to them every morning.  (I also got some new 3lb weights for Christmas)
Thomas and I both agreed that one of our top three favorite things we did on our Christmas trip was going sledding. Wednesday, before all of the present opening we went with my Mom to the nearby Junior High that has a great sledding hill.  We started off on a smaller little hill that was in between two of the buildings and then decided to move to the bigger hill.  It's a little worrisome because you end up right next to the building and if you go fast enough you could definetly crash into it.  I was a wimp and scared of the little jumps people made and would avoid them at all costs by bailing out of the sled.  I don't remember the last time I went sledding and had forgotten how fun it can be.



I love that my mom is up for any adventure and that she went sledding with us.

 Thursday we went over to Thomas' parents house for most of the day.  I loved walking into the house and Kayden, Lexi, Savannah, and Katie all shouted "LINDSEY'S HERE!!!" and ran to hug me.  That is exactly why I want to be a teacher.  Kids are just so fun and make life so happy.  The nieces and nephews were very entertaining.  We told knock knock jokes, I braided the girls hair, painted fingernails (even Kayden wanted his done), read christmas books, sang christmas songs, and danced.  Very fun.

Lexi and Katie Bug showing off their painted nails.

 The nieces and nephews even wanted to put on a little performance for Thomas and I so they sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Adorable. 
We opened more presents there and ate lots of yummy food. 
Christmas eve was spent traveling home and we lucked out with clear roads all the way home. 

In front of the in-laws tree

Sleigh Bells Ring

We left for christmas break on Sunday night.  Thomas worked from 7am-7pm so I spent the day with my MTC mission companion.  We went to church together and then hung out the whole day.  I picked Thomas up around 7pm and we were off, headed to Boise for the night.  We spent the night at my friend and old roommate Tess's house.  I love being able to see them pretty frequently when we stop over on our trips home.  Monday morning we were off again.  I had borrowed some books on CD from the library to try out for the trip.  The only problem is, whenever I put the CD on I ended up falling asleep and missing part of the story.  This was a bonus too though because the 6 hour trip home, I slept most of the way so it went by super fast.  The CD was actually a huge failure, it took forever to get to the plot of the story and then had a sick twist where the mentally disabled sister runs off to be a lesbian.  Very weird.
Monday night we spent with my parents and played Yahtzee with them and my younger sister and her hubby. 
Tuesday was Thomas' parents day. We had six neices and nephews over there so we were very entertained.  We went sledding and played a million games of Go Fish. Instead of sleds the kids used sheets of plastic to slide down the little hill next to Thomas' parents house.  They worked very well, I was impressed.

Miss Lexie

Miss Katie

Lil' daredevil Savannah

Kayden giving his cousin Katie some hugs.

My lover.  His job was to stop the kids from running into the little pump/rock at the end of the hill.

Mr. Kayden

The little girls and I going down the hill.

Lovers for life

Thomas and the little ones.

We could fit a lot of kids on that little piece of plastic.

Mr. Dillan

At the end of the night we were all in the living room chatting.  Thomas was laying on the couch next to me and got up to go check on the jerky he was making.  Savannah (7) and Katie (4) asked if they could snuggle with me.  They found out a spoke spanish and spent the next half hour asking "How do you make _____ spanish?" I was very surprised how well they could pronounce the words. Especially Savannah.  Another half hour was spend playing name that tune christmas version by humming.  Then another half hour they told Thomas and I there favorite parts of Home Alone.  It was so entertaining and I loved it.

Story Time

Funny story: Yesterday I was watching my nephew for a bit while his mom took a final.  He is super sick with a fever, sore throat, and an ear infection.  Normally he doesn't like to be just held cause he wants to be moving and playing, but because he's so sick he just wanted to be cuddled and held.  He is normally really smiley and you can get him to laugh pretty easily but while he's been sick he has the saddest little face.  Right before he left my sister was telling me that he was touching her boobs so she told him "Those are mommy's boobies." He got this big smile on his face and said "boobies!".  So I turned to him with his sad little sick face and said "Boobies!" and he broke out this huge smile and laughed.  Such a boy :)

Happy Story: I'm done with classes this semester!! Last night I got done with my last final at 8:45pm.  YES!!! Just one more semester here on campus and then student teaching in the spring.  Next semester is going to be soooooooooo killer! I hope I don't turn into a monster. I will be taking 18 credits and I will be in school most days from 7:45pm-6pm.  But right now I am just enjoying the fact that I have one more semester done. 

Happy/Sad

What makes me happy:
I passed the PRAXIS exams!!! In order to be an elementary teacher you have to take two tests, Elementary Ed. Content Knowledge and Principles of Teaching Learning.  I passed the content knowledge test with a 182/200 and they sent me a nice little certificate saying I was in the top 15% of test takers :)

Too bad they didn't give you your money back as a little prize :) Those tests are pricey.  I had felt pretty good about the PLT test but when I found out how I did on the content knowledge which I hadn't felt that great about I started psyching myself out.  But I am happy to report I got a 198 out of 200 on the PLT!!!! Yay! We are going to eat mexican food tonight and frozen yogurt to celebrate and then watch the season finale of The Biggest Loser.  Can't wait.
Thomas and I did a little Bob Harper workout today.  On his cardio DVD there is a 25 minute Butt and Balance workout.  It get's a good bod burn going.  Then we did a little ab ball workout.  Feeling good :)
What makes me sad:
I got to my car today after class and there was a parking ticket! It was only $10 but I was ticked.  The reason why was because the decal was attached with some tape.  We got a new car a month or so ago so we switched the decal to the new car.  I had made sure to go to the parking services office and switch the information to the new car.  The guy was going to charge me for a new decal but I told him we still had the other one and he said okay.  Well apparently you can't tape the decals on.  I was sooooooooo mad! So I find that same guy at the office and kind of angrily explain to him what happened.  And then I start to cry.  I have no idea why! Okay maybe it's becuase it's finals week and that was just one more thing to add to my stress.  But the guy felt really bad and started telling me how one of his teachers brought a guitar to class and sang Free Falling while the whole class screamed and how that really helped.  Haha. But what made me stop crying is when he told me he'd take the fine off my account and he gave me a temporary parking pass full day of the semester.  This school thing makes me an emotional person.  For like the last 10 years I have seriously only cried twice every year.  Now I have cried like three times in the last three months. I will say that it does feel good to just cry and get the emotions out rather than stew over them.

I love my husband

Today I just felt an overwhelming happiness and love for Thomas.  It hit me while I was walking from one class to another.  I was just thinking how awesome it is that everyday I get to go home to my best friend.  I always have someone to go home and to talk to.  That man knows exactly how to handle my moods and he knows just what to say to help me feel better in any situation.  He makes me laugh every single day.  If you get to know him well enough he will show you the funniest impressions.  The other day he walked in when I was watching "America's Next Top Model".  He does the funniest model impression EVER! Thomas is so good about sharing the work around the house.  I'll often just walk into a room and realize he's cleaned it without me even noticing.  Today he was telling me a funny story about work.  He was transporting a really old lady from the ER up to a room.  He had the wheelchair ready and she walked around it and said "Do you want to piss me off?! Do you want to mess with me? I'll show you what I got." Thomas just said "No I don't want to mess with you.  Why don't you just sit down here."  Her reply was "Okay, sure I'll sit down.  Thank you."  Haha! I know he'll treat me just as well when I'm an old crazy lady too.

Snowboarding: Season 2

I had been looking forward to Saturday all week, it's what got me through what seemed like the longest week of the semester.  The reason why was because Thomas and I had plans to go to Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Alta, Wyoming for our first snowboarding day of this season.  Last year I went like three times and so I was excited to see what I could do this year.

It was the most perfect day for snowboarding.  Clear and the snow wasn't too hard, perfect.  We bought a 4 day pass that lets us go full day for the price of a half day.  We got there around 9am and headed right up the mountain.  I was nervous about the lift because I hadn't quite perfected getting off it last year.  I'm happy to report that this time I had no troubles at all.  Didn't knock myself or anybody down :) We stayed pretty much on the same part of the mountain the first part of the day and I was feeling pretty good about the improvements I was making.  I have a hard time going from heelside to toeside and tend to stay on my heels the whole way down.  But that first half of the day I had some good transitions from heel to toeside.  We went down a different side of the mountain after a couple times down our preferred side but it had a lot of cat tracks and up and downs.  I wouldn't get enough speed going down and then didn't have enough momentum to go up the hill.  So I'd either have to akwardly crawl or bounce up.  Eventually Thomas just told me to take one of my feet out of the bindings.  That helped. 
For lunch we had planned brilliantly and brought a little propane stove and a pot to make chili dogs.  It was wonderful to not have to pay a bunch of money to eat at the lodge but still get a hot meal.  We'll definetly keep that little tradition going. 
After lunch we met up with our friends Karlee and Will who came for the half day.  We started going down that same cat trail that was hard for me before but cut off through some powder.  Powder is hard! You are in a lot of trouble if you biff it cause then when you try to get up you sink like three feet and it takes a lot of energy to get out.  This really tired me out.  Then we tried some more trails that were really to advanced for me.  I felt horrible because everybody had to keep waiting for me to get unstuck.  I really just wanted them to go ahead cause I felt like I was slowing them down and that made me feel guilty and I was embarrassed for my lack of skills.  The confidence I had at the beginning of the day was totally zapped.  Finally, Thomas and I just decided to call it a day and ended up walking a half mile out of the cat tracks with our boards.  I was really upset at myself and swore that I hated snowboarding and was done doing it. 

This is my sad snowboarding face.

Thomas was so patient with me.  He knows that I am very hard on myself and explained that I am a beginner and can't expect to be able to do everything right when I want to.  I told him I know but this is like my 4th or 5th time going and I swear there is something wrong with me cause I still have to stay on my heels most of the time.  And I let him know that I felt bad holding him back.  He explained to me that he just wants snowboarding to be something that we enjoy doing together and doesn't care if he has to wait, if he wants to he'll do his thing and then wait for me.  His explanation totally made sense to me when I put it into context.  If I were teaching him to play volleyball I wouldn't care if he shanked the ball a ton of times and wasn't as good as I was.  I'd just be happy that he was playing with me and willing to learn.  I love that guy!!!
So after a little pep talk I felt a lot better.  It totally reminded me of having a bad volleyball game and being so mad at myself.  On the car ride home my mom would make me repeat out loud over and over "I will not be so hard on myself! I will not be so hard on myself!"

My sexy snowboarding lova'

So I will be snowboarding again :) After I recover though.  I am so sore in the weirdest places.  My knees, ankles, wrists, and most of all my kneck.  I had a really bad spill where I flipped over a couple times and my head flopped all around, luckily I was wearing a helmet.  I would never ever go snowboarding without a helmet! As we were getting on the lift one time, we saw this kid with blood running down his face and on his head.  He obviously wasn't wearing a helmet when he crashed and he was totally out of it.  His ski had split in two it was crazy! I don't care how good you are you should always wear a helmet. (I'll get off my soap box now).
I love seeing the little kids skiing and snowboarding.  I seriously saw a little three year old learning to snowboard on the bunny hill.  His mom would be at the top and push him down and his dad would be a few feet down the hill to catch him.  Adorable!

I heart ZUMBA!!

This week I just wasn't feeling like doing workout videos.  So instead I tried some workout classes at the gym on campus.  Monday I went to a kickboxing class.  The first warning sign to me was that it was like two minutes til class started and there were only three other people there. When there aren't many people at a class that says something. The first girl was singing some song at the top of her lungs and had her shorts rolled and her shirt tucked into her shorts.  She then proceeds to get three excersice balls, line them up, and then run across the room at them and roll on her stomach across all three. I left after I saw that.  So I got in a good cardio workout with 30 minutes on the stairmaster, 10 on the elliptical, and 10 on the treadmill. 
Tuesday I went to my first ever zumba class.  I heart zumba!! I can't believe that I haven't tried it before.  Well actually I can.  I have no rythm and can not dance for the life of me.  But some girls in my math class were raving about it so another girl asked me to go with her.  I also invited my friend Karlee and we all absolutely loved it.  I am picky about the classes I go to because I want to get just as good as or a better workout than I could do on my own.  This zumba class is taught by a guy from belgium and he is wonderful.  Plus the class is so packed it doesn't matter at all that I look like a fool.  I was definetly sweaty afterwards and I was smiling the whole time becuase it is so much fun.  LOVE ZUMBA!!!
Wednesday was another attempt at a class that failed.  Karlee and I met to go to cycling but the instructor was sick.  We did our own little class and took turns choosing what we did. 
And tonight was another wonderfully fun Zumba class.  I would totally recommend this to anybody.  The workout will fly by, you will have so much fun.  Just don't be embarrassed and give it a shot.

Running in winter

This week I've actually ran! I haven't in a couple months or so because of the freezing cold weather and instead have opted for Bob and Jillian workout videos in the morning.  On Wednesday, I got out of my Exceptional Students class early so I headed to the gym which is where I have my weight training class.  I was able to hop on the treadmill for about 20 minutes before class started.  Then on Friday since I only have one class I went to the gym directly afterwards and did a bangin interval workout on the treadmill.  1 minute at 2.0 incline and 4.0 speed followed by one minute at 2.0 incline and 8.0 speed for 30 minutes total.  It felt awesome! Then on Saturday I was determined to get in a "long run"  it's funny how depending on where you are in your training depends on how long a "long run" really feels.  If I were half marathon training right now the 5 miles I did on Saturday would have been a short run.  I was really proud of myself because a few times I tried to convince myself to stop at four miles but I knew that I could push through it and I did.  I did sort of intervals with this workout too and it rounded out to about a 9:30 minute miles.  I would run half a mile @ 10min. mile speed, half a mile for 9:30min/mile, and half a mile for 9:00min/mile.  I felt wonderful afterwards.  I'm definetly going to have to sneak to the gym more often to run during the winter.  I find my problem is that now I make time to workout in the morning and it's so much easier to just pop in a workout video then take them time to get ready and drive in the cold to the gym. 
Notice I said "I make time".  I hate it when people tell me "I don't have time to workout".  That's bull, working out just isn't one of your top priorities so you don't make time.  I could totally just sleep in an extra hour everyday and then say that I don't have time.  But that's a lie, I do have the time but I decided to use it to sleep rather than workout.  I promise myself I will never make the excuse that I don't have time... promise.

The Holiday Season

Here are the highlights of our Thanksgiving Break:
-Driving 15 hours to get back to Idaho when it normally only takes 11.
-Playing Wii biking, table tennis, and bowling.
-Black Friday shopping for the first time with my mom- I was very proud of my purchases.  Our first stop was Michaels at 8:30pm Thanksgiving night.  I got beautiful, bright christmas tree ornaments and ribbons for the tree for a grand total of $25! Next stop around 11:30pm was Wal-mart. We were ready in line with our purchases by 12pm when they opened up the registers.  After Wal-mart we went home till 3:30am and I did a little online shopping.  After that we stood in line for a half hour in the freezing cold outside of Target.  At Target I got a pre-lit 6-foot Christmas tree for $25 and a microwave for $33.  After Target we went to Big 5 and then finally arrived home at 6am.  And I slept until 2pm:)
-We celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday since my Dad had to work Thanksgiving day and Thomas had to head back to Idaho.  Our family has the tradition of going to a movie on Thanksgiving day.  This year we saw the Harry Potter movie.  I haven't read any of the books or seen all of the movies so I'm sure a lot was lost on me, but still a good movie. 
- Thanksgiving day we went to the hospital where my Dad works and had dinner with him in the cafeteria.  I was a little nervous to eat in a hospital cafeteria but it was actually pretty good. 
- My best friend from high school and her hubby Rob and their 2 month old baby Collin came to chat and have a little game night at my parents house.  Collin is such a cutie and I'm so glad that I got to see their little family. 
- I worked out 4 out of 6 days in Washington.  Very happy about that. 
- On the way to Washington we spent the night with my friend/old roomie Tess in Boise.  Love her and I love that we live closer and are able to see her family more often.  They are so generous to let us come at all ours of the night and crash at their place.
- It was soooooo nice not worrying about school and not having anything that I HAD to do for a whole week!
It is always nice to get back into routine once vacation is over.  Here is what has happened since being back:
- Lots of projects and tests in my classes.
-Put up the Christmas tree!

I learned how to fold the bow topper from an online video.

-Thomas and I went on a date to Idaho Falls to see The Forgotten Carols play.  So nice.  I had been before but I feel like this year the singers/actors were exceptional and I swear they changed the play up a bit. 
- We have half of our Christmas cards sent out and are almost done addressing the second half. 
- Thomas and mine schedule's have been pretty much opposite this whole week so the day that he had off he came with me to a forum about classroom motivation and management for two hours.  He's such a trooper :)

Almost Thanksgiving Break!

Even though I'm officially done with my ten days of thankfulness, that little project made we want to continue to remember the things that I have to be thankful for.  I'm thankful that yesterday I was featured on one of my favorite bloggers, skinnyrunner's, blog! See it here.
This morning I got up bright and early along with my honey who had to go to work.  I was up to go meet my group for a group project.  We made a podcast for our hispanic civilizations class about the state of our countries we are studying, Venezuela and Colombia.  Everybody was pretty much ready to go with there parts so it only took about an hour to put together.  Since I am getting and endorsement in spanish this is my second to the last spanish class I am taking.  I'll be honest, I don't really enjoy history.  It's kind of interesting but all the dates and people get jumbled together in my head and I have a really hard time remembering them after the test.
 Since we were done an hour and a half before my class started this morning I went to Jamba Juice and got a low-cal Mango Mantra smoothie.  I have been on a smoothie kick lately. I have such a sweet tooth and smoothies satisfie it in a healthy way. 
I have been really good lately about doing either a Jillian Michaels or Bob Harper workout video every morning during the week, plus my weight training class.  I rotate weeks with Jillian and Bob being my trainer :) This next week I'm taking Bob with me to Washington and my goal is to stay on track while on vacation. 
This is only the second year that the university has had the whole week of Thanksgiving off and for that I am truly grateful.  I'll be leaving this afternoon for Boise caravaning with my sister and her fam. We are staying at a friend's house for the night and then making the rest of the trip to Washington on Saturday. Poor Thomas has to work till Sunday so he is coming up Monday. I'm so glad I can be homework and stress free for a week!

Day of Thanks #10

Today I am thankful for...
#1 Smoothies.  I made one this morning that was so yummy it totally tasted like one from Jamba juice.  One cup of light vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen fruit, and one cup of airborne (weird I know) it was so delish.  And then for dinner we had smoothies too.
#2 My hubby had lunch all ready for me when I got home from class which I was so grateful for because I was starving!
#3 A warm apartment and a night to cuddle with my babes.

Day of Thanks #9

Today I am thankful that..
#1 My hubby did a whole sink full of dishes. 
#2 My science experiment presentation went well.  In my Science Teaching Methods class we were required to write up two science experiments and guide a group of students in doing our experiment.  The topic this time was earth science.  My project was to model the layers of the earth.  For the inner core the students put a Dot gummy inside a large marshmallow.  The marshmallow represented the outer core.  Then they made rice krispy treats and formed it in a ball around the marshmall to represent the mantle.  Then they poured Magic Shell chocolate over their ball.  I thought it was very successful and fun.
#3 I got ahead on some of my end of the semester projects.

Day of Thanks #8

Today I am thankful for...
#1 My healthy body.  I am critical of my body often and today I want to express my appreciation for all it does for me.  It is strong and allows me to workout every morning.  It is full of energy, it gets me through long days of school and homework.  My brain is sharp and alert and let's me learn new things everyday. I can walk, I can see, I can run, I can jump, I can speak, I can sleep soundly, my body is wonderful and I really appreciate it.
#2 I am thankful that I could go visiting teaching today. One of the girls I visit teach just had a baby on Friday.  Her baby was sleeping and so sweet and beautiful and the mom just looked so happy.  The message that my visiting teaching companion shared was just perfect.  It was the talk from Elder Uchtdorf about when life gets crazy we need to slow down and get back to the basic relationships: God, Family, and our relationships with ourselves.
#3 I am so grateful that my husband is THE BEST back massager in the world.  Seriously! And he almost always will give me a back massage when I request one.  And I ask for one pretty much every day. 

Yay For Shutterfly!

I am so excited to get our holiday greeting cards this year from Shutterfly.  They have the cutest designs and you can choose whether you want one or more pictures on your card.  You can also choose what kind of colors you want on your card (so for example if you want the card color to match what you are wearing in your family picture) and it will show you all the cards with those specific colors. I loved that they had really modern, stylish designs to choose from.  You can get the standard postcard like greeting cards or you can get an actual card with the picture on the outside and then room on the inside to write a message or insert a Christmas newsletter.  I love getting Christmas cards and seeing what everybody looks like and how they are doing.  Can't wait to get ours and to start receiving some as well.  Here are some of my faves from their website.  I like that they use lots of different color combinations not just the standard green and red.

Here is the link to see the variety of Christmas Cards that they have, http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
And for the fold out card option go here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
I also loved their Valentines day cards! Adorable ideas for a more personal card. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/valentines-day-cards-and-stationery

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Day of Thanks #7

Today I am so thankful...
#1 That our Sunday School Lesson went so well.  There are now four sunday school classes offered so that means less people in each class.  Normally we had at least 50 people in the class and that meant most people didn't participate but just sat back and relaxed.  Today our class was about 14 people and it was awesome! There was lots of participation and learning.
#2 I ate cauliflower.  I really don't like cauliflower but we got some in our bountiful basked this week from the co-op.  So I found a recipe for cauliflower pizza dough and made it.  It was alright but I'm happy to have eaten healthy and gotten rid of the stinky cauliflower.
#3 I'm thankful that I went to church today.  Lately I just haven't been feeling it and today at church the hymns and the messages just really spoke to me and really uplifted me. 

Mean People

I can't stand rude, disrespectful, mean people.  I've just gotten to the point in my life where I can't put up with them. I hate it when people think they can intimidate others because they are higher in status (according to them) or for whatever reason.  Here is the story:
On Saturday I took my Praxis exam, which is the exam you have to teach in order to be a teacher.  The exam is proctored.  I got there around 7:20am and waited till they let us in the room around 8am.  As you go in the room you show them your entrance ticket and ID.  Then I get in the room and this old man is standing there yelling at students "Test Code! Test Code! Test Code!" Well I knew what he was talking about and told him the test code number and then he directed me to "Seat two."  Well hello the seats aren't numbered and there are about 10 rows with seat two's.  I sit there for a minute and see him intimidate a bunch of students who are already intimidated enough about having to take this huge test.  He's just yelling away "Test Code! Test Code!"  Obviously if they are hesitating they can't find the test code and by him screaming at them it's not going to help. So finally I say "You need to be kind!" He looks at me and says "This is a highly secure test site."  I told him "Well ya, but you can still be kind." He looked kind of shocked and just said "I can be kind."  And I'm like "Yes! You can!"  Well then as he is leading us through the bubble sheet to fill out with our personal information there is a spot that asks you to fill in the test form number.  One male student asked where exactly that could be found on our test and the proctors response was "On the paper".  Really?!? So as the test goes on I cool down a bit and decide to just let it go.  But then I get done a little early and really have to go to the bathroom.  You are allowed to go, you just hand your test to the proctor and go and come back.  Well I hand mine to the woman proctor but the old guy comes up when he sees me and says "You can wait."  OOOOOOOH! It was on after that.  They were letting people go left and right before me but I think he just was discriminating against me cause I called him out.  So after the test in my sweetest voice I said to him "Could I get your name please?" He told me no and if I had a problem I could talk to his supervisor.  I explained to him that I would need his name in order to talk to his supervisor.  He was just like "He knows who I am."  I told him I would be sure to do that and then just let him know how extremely rude and disrespectful he was to students who were already intimidated and nervous about this test.  His whole excuse was that it was a highly secure test.  So! You can still be nice! Then to make it worse as I'm leaving this goody two shoes girl comes up and tells him "I thought you were nice". Wow! Really? Cause she came in at the very last and didn't see what he put other students through.  When she said that he was like a little school boy "See! See! She liked me!" Well I went out into the hall to go find his supervisor and a guy came up to me and thanked me for sticking up for everybody.  We both went and talked to the supervisor who was very nice and understanding to let him know what happened.  Then of course a bunch of other people made comments to me about how rude this man was.  And to top it off I had to take a second test that day and lucky me, he was the proctor again. 
I just do not put up with rudeness.  I must be getting old and tired.  If I am ever rude you can call me out on it. I hope to have a good enough consious to realize it and feel bad and change. And it's not as if I enjoy calling people out, but I feel like if nobody says anything then they will assume their behavior is okay and continue. 
This does make me appreciate kind, respectuful people more.  Last night we went to see "Life as We Know It".  Thomas' boss gave him two free movie tickets because she was so grateful to him for working the night shift at the hospital all by himself last weekend.  So we used those and then went to Chuck-a-Rama for dinner.  Neither of us had ever been and we thought we'd give it a try.  I was so impressed with the service there and how kind everybody was.  We really did like the place. Lot's of good food and I loved that they had a hot chocolate machine and a slurpee machine! I needed that night out so bad.  I could just feel myself relaxing as we drove away from Rexburg and throughout the whole night. 
I desperately need Thanksgiving break!! Which brings me to what I am grateful for, Saturday's edition:
#1 I am grateful that I am done with my Praxis exams. (As long as I passed! Pray for me!! I'll find out my results in four weeks.)
#2 I'm grateful for a date night with Thomas.  I love romantic comedies!
#3 I'm grateful that we could plan a fun Sunday School lesson for today.  I decided to use a bunch of techniqes that I've learned in my elementary ed. classes.  Instead or asking people what their favorite old testament story is and having them raise their hands we are going to have them write it on a piece of paper and throw it to the front of the class like snowballs.  We are going to start off the class by playing name that tune. Two people predict how many notes it will take them to name the hymn and whoever predicts the least gets to attempt to name it.  All the hymns have to do with our lesson topic which is the gathering of Israel and having God's law written in our hearts. 
We are trying these things because it is such a big class and a lot of times the same people participate and others just sit back and are bored so we need to switch things around a bit.

Day of Thanks #5

Today I am thankful..
#1 That I only had one class to go to.
#2 That I got a great 30 minute Bob workout.
#3 That I have a wonderful smelling pot roast in the crockpot just waiting for my lover to eat when he gets home from work. (I'm not a huge pot roast fan but this one smells pretty darn good).
#4 That I could chat with my mom on the phone.
#5 That there is just one more week left of classes until Thanksgiving break.

Day of Thanks #4

Today I am thankful...
#1 That I was able to sleep in until 8am!
#2  That Thomas didn't have to work today so he could take me and pick me up from school.
#3 That I was able to get a lot of homework done today so that this weekend will be mostly homework free.

Thankful day #3

Today I am thankful for:
1. Warm clothes and a warm apartment. 
2. A reduction in the homework load since midterms.
3. Great friends in my classes that make school more fun.

Day of Thanks #2

Today I am thankful that...
#1 I have the Bob Harper workouts videos to work out to every morning. And that I can workout in my living room and still get an amazing workout.
#2 We can have people over for dinner tonight and that my hubby helps by slicing veggies and fruit which I hate doing.
#3 I have such an adorable nephew who makes me happy with his cute little laugh.  He loves it when I chase after him and give him tickles. 

Personal Discipleship Project

For the religion class that I am taking right now every two weeks we submit a proposal for the next two weeks personal discipleship project.  Basically what this project is, is you choose a scripture and based on that scripture decide on a project that will help you be a better follower of Christ.  Some of my projects have been; getting in touch with people I taught on my mission, going to the temple once a week, and reading scriptures with my hubby and saying prayers together while on vaction.  This week I found a scripture about being grateful and made it my goal to say in every single prayer for the next two weeks at least three sincere things that I am grateful for that day and to post at least ten blogs documenting these things.  So today is day number one of being grateful.  I thought this was a very appropriate project considering the holiday season that is coming up. 
D&C 59:7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.
The three things that I am grateful for today:
#1.  Thomas is done working nights for a week or so.  This means I get to spend lots of time with him. Tonight we went grocery shopping together and grocery shopping is so much better with him along side me.
#2.  It snowed a good four inches today and this means snowboarding season is coming quickly!
#4 We had such a yummy warm meal for dinner tonight, easy chili and cornbread with butter and honey.  Warmed my insides and made both Thomas and I so happy.

Fall Fun

The weather in Rexburg the past week has been AMAZING! It has been in the mid sixties.  This past Friday we had a really fun time taking little Alex to the park.  The day before Thomas had taken Alex to the park while I was studying (he is such a good Uncle).  So on Friday we walked to the nearby park and played with Alex in the huge lawn.  He loved just kicking around the volleyball we brought while Thomas and I threw a frisbee around. I think Alex kept himself entertained with that ball for about 20 minutes.  After he lost interest in the ball we took him on the toys and he just loved the slide.  I would stay at the top while he went down and Thomas would catch him at the bottom and then hand him back up to me.  Alex had the biggest smile on his face as he was coming down the slide and then again when Thomas would hand him back up to me :) He also enjoyed throwing the bark on the slide and then wiping it off.  Alex is just becoming the most fun little boy.  When he came over to our house the other day it just made my day when he reached out for me while Bea was about to leave for class.  He is saying all kinds of sounds and loves to say ball and book, but they sound like "bah" and "bahck" (like the sound a chicken makes).  He learned how to do the sign for please and will smile when he does it cause he is so proud of himself.  I just love that little guy.

Halloween and New Car

Thomas and I have been busy, busy, busy.  Thomas has been working a lot at the hospital and I've been busy with school and watching my little nephew.  Just this week I had my first opportunity to be an "assistant chef" for Rexburg Catering.  I was hired at the end of August but they haven't had any events since then.  My friend Karlee is the head chef and she needed an assistant.  Saturday we spent about four hours preparing some of the food and the event was Monday evening and we spent four hours that night getting food plated and served.  It's nice to have a little side job to do every once in awhile. 
This past weekend we celebrated Halloween by going to our ward halloween party.  It was a trunk or treat and then a soup dinner and dessert.  We invited Bea and Ivan so that Alex could do some trunk or treating.  Thomas and I dressed up as soccer players.  I was really amazed by how many soccer jerseys my husband has! I'm guessing he has around 20 soccer jerseys. 

The Giles are numero uno!

The tired housewife and the soccer player sisters.

We love our Mr. Stinky pants

The Lion, The Nerd, and The Housewife



Thanks to Bea for provoding the decorations for our car.



Mrs. Witchy guarding the candy.

We got a new (to us) car.  We really like it a lot.  It fits our style and lifestyle perfectly.  It's a 2005 Saturn Vue.  We were planning on getting a Toyota Avalon but the day we were planning on sealing the deal we saw this beauty, took her for a test drive and changed our minds. 

Thomas' Birthday

Last Sunday my lover boy turned 26. I felt bad because that was the day we were driving home from California so he spent most of the day in the car.  I know that on my birthdays I want to feel special and be surprised and acknowledged and I didn't feel like he really got that.  His brother did call him and he got to talk to his neice and nephews.  We can't believe how much our little neice Lexi is talking now!
We celebrated on Monday with a cake and ice cream and that morning I left out one of his presents so that when he got up for work he would see it.  Thomas has this Puma jacket that he loves and wears all the time.  I tease him cause he's always wearing it in pictures.  So I got him a new one :) That day he got to wear it and the new jeans I got him to work.  I don't know about him but I love wearing new clothes. He's such a hottie I should have gotten a picture of his outfit. 

Happy birthday to my Tommy-jandro!!