Family

Corey and I can't wait for Thanksgiving. We are going to my parents' house in TEXAS!! We are really excited to go visit them! And the best part is my whole family is going to be there...now if I could just get my face to clear up before family photos are taken :(
Don't worry about the dogs, we have a family friend house and dog sitting for us! Thanks Alex!

I finally got a picture of the Boston Temple framed and hung up in our home. Doesn't it look so nice on my wall? Kudos to Ryan (my brother in law) who took the pics. And kudos to Corey for being patient and hanging everything up just the way I wanted it!

Family Home Evening-Pumpkin carving

Corey and I carved pumpkins for FHE tonight. It was fun, especially since Corey broke out the power tools! You can see pics below!

ROCK

Corey and I completed the boarder around our backyard today. With the help of some friends we moved 17 tons of decorative rock into our backyard. Corey is a beast! And Corey and I set up the kiddie pool and went swimming...aka sat in the pool. It was very refreshing after a long day of moving rock! Now, my back is sore.

My Least Favorite day of the Week

Wednesdays are my least favorite day of the week because Wednesdays are when Corey is at school all night. So, I feel lonely and sad because I am without my partner. I feel like a pea without the pod, a cracker without cheese, a chip without dip, fries without ketchup...well you get the idea...I miss him. Wednesdays seem to drag on forever!

Pump it Up

Last night, Corey humored me and went to a work party with me! It was an odd work event because it was at a place called Pump it Up. It is a place where kids normally have parties. It has all the super huge blow up things like obstacle courses and boxing arenas with the super huge gloves. We had fun wearing ourselves out like we were little kids again. In the obstacle courses there was no question, I was the winner! The obstacle courses are made so two people can race each other through it and both times we did it I beat him by a long shot! GO ME!!! Wooh! But, when it came to the jousting and boxing arenas Corey beat me up pretty good! During jousting he nearly broke my finger! (My nail accidentally bent back, OUCH!) SO, I guess that marital dispute has been settled, although I am the quickest, Corey is the strongest! I'm not sure it was ever a debate...I think I already knew that.

The Best and the Worst thing all at once!

I must share a story about what I think is the best and worst thing all at the same time. It is when my two puppies (who are no longer puppies) go in the back yard when the sprinklers are on! By the time I realize what has happened they are soaking wet and covered in mud and grass! They come to the doggy door and I stop them from coming in-just in time to save my floor from the mud! They stand there all wet and muddy with the happiest, goofiest grins on their faces like they were having a blast! That is the best thing-those silly grins on their faces! The worst part though is knowing I have to go out in the back yard and hose all the mud off before they can come inside! LOL, I love those 2 poochies!

Not much going on...

I feel terrible...I have not blogged in what feels like forever! The last 3 weeks have been super busy with me. I feel like I have been working non-stop since the new school year started. Being a teacher so far is going well, my students have not made me cry...yet. The toughest part of the job is trying to teach everything I need to in one school day and getting all the of my work done within a day. Needless to say, I spend 10 or more houtrs at work a day. I think things well get better, time wise, as the year goes on and I get ina smoother routine for grading papers, preping my classroom, etc. There is one good thing about being so busy, the day goes by super fast. But, enough about work...at least enough about my work!

Corey officially received a promotion this past week. He is very excited to be doing something new at work and showing what he can do. He is so amazing! That is why I love him...so, so much! He is my sweetie pie!

Work

So, I have just completed my first week of new teacher training and I have one more week to go. The training for the reading program is a little tough to sit through but I am really excited to use the program in my class. I am also very excited about my 3rd grade team. My fellow 3rd grade teachers have been so helpful with answering my questions. I am also looking forward to being in a brand new school with a new classroom. I just hope I can make it look welcoming and fun for my students!

Family Vaca

A week ago Corey and I went on vacation with my family. We went to the Grand Canyon National Park and Zion's National Park. It was really neat to see the Grand canyon and it was soo fun to see my family and spend some time with them. It was a lot fo fun. While at Zion's we went Canyoneering which was the craziest thing I have ever done. Below is a slide show of some of the pics I took on vacation.

Vacation

midnight madness

Like many people in the world I am a fan of Harry Potter. I read all the books and have seen the movies. I am also excited to see the new movie that has been released. However, I do not understand the crazy people who go to see a movie in the middle of the week at midnight. Yes, I am excited for it, but not sooo excited that I want to lose sleep just so I can be one of the first to see it. I mean yes, it is a classic series full of teenage love, magic, and bad guys, but come on...let's not forget it is just a movie. And, to just see a movie I am happy to wait a week or two before going to the theater to see it. Mostly, to avoid all the crazy fans and annoying teenagers who will be seeing the movie the first weekend it comes out. There is nothing worse than a teenie-bopper sitting behind you shouting out she loves Harry in the middle of your movie theater experience.

breakthrough

Yesterday we had a huge breakthrough at our house. Yesterday was the first time Roxy went in and out of the doggie door all by herself!!!! It was AMAZING! Normally, to get her to go through the doggie door I have to lift up the flap and coax her to go through. I think it will still take a few more weeks before she figures out that she can go in and out whenever she wants but we are making progress.

foster care

Corey and I are fostering a child starting today...ending in 6 months (possibly). Some of you may know him, his name is Alex Bryson. He is 20 years old I think...or maybe 19...
Anyway, so technically he is not a child, and technically we are not his foster parents, but Corey and I have taken him into our home. He is actually more like a brother to us seeing as our families have crossed paths so frequently and he is too old to be our unrelated nephew.
We think it will be fun. Corey and I have pretty boring lives so this should no doubt add a little bit more spice to life...I mean look at what it has done already, it gave me something to blog about.

So far he has been sleeping.

Happy 4th!

I am sooo happy this weekend because...
1) Corey is back from CT!!! so, I am no longer lonely!!!
2) Corey's Mom is all moved in in her new house down the street...and is making some tasty food for our BBQ...which leads to #3
3) It is the 4th of July so we are BBQing...the usual of course...hotdogs and hamburgers!!
4) We have our friends from Sahuarita here spening the holiday with us!
5) We are going to see fireworks!! I love fireworks...and yet I am a little afraid of them when they go BOOM too loud!!!!
6) I have my freedom, which so many fought to protect...and keep fighting for.

And those are the reasons I am happy this weekend! Happy Independance Day!

Grass in the Backyard

Daunting Tasks

So, Corey and I, in an attempt to get our backyard done and grassy as soon as possible, plan to in the next couple days level our backyard with some dirt, put up a border and lay down seed and HOPE for the best! I look forward to it being done, but I do not look forward to sweating to death as I haul dirt, lay rock, and spread seed! I must say though I would rather do it myself than pay someone!

Oh and another update: We got our trash bins delivered today! It is pretty sweet to get brand new trash receptacles of my very own-now I just have to call Waste Management and find out what can go in the recycle bin!!! I am sooo excited

WeEkEnD

It has been a crazy weekend. I spent Friday and Saturday at the Arizona Teaching Expo with one of my friends. It was fun and I got some cool teaching supplies. Corey was a very busy bee on Saturday. He put in our whole backyard sprinkler system!!! We are hoping to have the backyard mostly done by the end of June.

We also put in the doggie door. Abby figured it out pretty quick because she is sooo smart, but Roxy is a little afraid of it. I think it will take some work to get her to use it.
Roxy is also afraid of the garage now that the garage door opener is installed.

Today Corey and I went to our new ward and now we are relaxing.

I will finish my post with a joke: Why were the Dark Ages so dark?



...because there were so many KNIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha...i thought it was funny

THREE YEARS

Corey and I celebrated our third year anniversary yesterday!!!!! We celebrated by wacthing a chick flick (which turned out to be a crappy movie..oh well). We snuggled on the couch together while we enjoyed homemade ice cream sundaes.

We also discussed celebrating our third year by getting a third dog! HAHA...just kidding...I think 2 poochies is enough for me...kids on the other hand...well...we wll see about that! Haha!

Also, for today I am creating my first Crock Pot meal. It is the recipe my sister Katie gave me for pulled pork. Hopefully mine comes out as tasty as my sisters.

Chillin

The dogs and I are chillin right now. Most of the boxes are unpacked and we just got our internet hooked up so I am getting reconnected with the cyberworld. You dont realize how much you miss the internet until you go without it for a week.

99.9% Done

Construction Almost DONE!!!!

Current Construction

Updated Construction

Framed House

Construction

As many of you know Corey and I are in the process of building our first home. As youc an see from the pictures the framing is almost done. Corey and I walked through the framing on Friday. It was cool to walk through our future home. It is expected to be completed in the next 2 months. We are soooo excited!! Abby and Roxy are excited to have a new yard too.

Spring Break

Two weeks ago I went to my parents' new home in Texas to visit. It was a lot of fun. I got to see all of my siblings (even the ones who live in Utah) an my two nieces! We all got to be home for my Mom's Birthay which was really special for her I think. I spent the week hanging out and shopping with my Mom which was a lot of fun. It was nice to spend some quality time with her. And of course it was great to see my Dad and it was also great to spend time with my siblings Lauren, James, an Matt. Unfortunately, Corey could not come due to having to work and us needing someone to take care of the dogs. But, he was a good sport and took care of the puppies all week and he even cleaned the house for when I got home! He is so great. :)