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.