Double up...

We love love love double dates. That's right. double dates are so much fun. With so many of our friends moving away to far away places like Washington, California and even far away Utah we miss double dates! But this last weekend we decided we had enough!!! We were going on a double date. We got together with my childhood friend Lora (she is the best!) and her husband Jared and went out to the Olympic Oval. It was so much fun! We raced, skated, raced, skated backwards, raced and skated some more until our feet were sore and we were starving. Then off to Applebee's we went. It was a lovely night and reminded me how much I love good friends.

A Memorial Day of Memories...

This last Sunday and Monday was one for the history books. In spite of the constant rain that we experienced in Eastern Idaho all weekend long, we packed up the car to go camping. I was determined to go and no amount of rain was going to stop me. Amy came up for the weekend and Lara is all up for our crazy adventures. It was a delightful time. Some of my personal favorites of the trip include the following:
-The campground hosts face when we pulled up and I told him we were ready for the rain and cold.
- Michael taking over chopping wood after I axed my finger.
- Hot chocolate.
- The perfectly cooked tin foil dinners. 
- The enthusiasm everyone had.
- The skunk we were initially intrigued by but soon turned to irritation with. He even chased Amy and I resulting in us hiding out in the car.
- The fact that we attempted to build a fire in the pouring rain.
- The prayer that stopped the rain.
- Michael's que for thunder.
- Lara reaching for a flaming mallow on the end of my roasting stick.
- Spotting a bear. Living with a skunk. Hanging out with a fox.
- The quote "I've been training for this my entire life!"
- Picnics by the outhouse along the Scenic Byway.
- Using a paper towel as toilet paper.
- Amy's hideous green pants that I made her take off before we could go to Mesa Falls.
- Signing in as Bill and Jeanie from Iowa with our 5 kids at Mesa Falls.
- Using my new sleeping bag in a real case scenario. (Up to this point it had only been tested indoors.)
- Forgetting about homework for a day.
- Being with family.
- Using the outhouse. Call me crazy but it's all part of the experience. And thanks to the camphosts these bad boys were spotless.

It simply was a grand old time. I love making memories!

Be glad you can only see our upper halves.... I'm the only one looking ridiculous here.

Straight up down pour.... Yes that's an umbrella over the fire... what's wrong with that?

SO delicious.

There is a skunk behind me.... This is right before we darted for us.

My love... Mdill 06 ;)

Being All Homemaker-ish

 So in an effort to be all homemaker-ish we decided to give making our own laundry detergent a shot. It is actually quite simple and works great. To buy everything we needed to start up (like a borax, washing soda, a large pot and grater) it cost about 20 bucks. All the stuff lasts for quite awhile so we will be making this for quite awhile with that little amount of what we bought.

We got the recipe for the detergent here.

Enjoy some pictures from our adventure!

Most of the Ingredients

Grating the Soap

Cooking the Laundry Detergent

All in all it was a success. Due to having a smaller pot, we weren't able to add all of the water into the pot at the end, so our detergent is a little thicker than it probably should be.

Another Adventure...

Being off track from school is quite wonderful. Yesterday Michael and I went to run a few things to the Post Office. It was our only little errand. Michael insisted that we didn't go home. So, we made a stop at the D.I. just to see if there were any unforseen treasures, but the darn place was practically empty. I've seriously never seen it that bare. Our treasure seeking was very short lived. Michael still didn't want to go home. So I told him I would take him to a geological sight.... that's right ladies and gents the Teton Dam. We began driving and once we passed this little beauty... 

 

....we just couldn't resist not to keep on driving. Oh Idaho! So that's what we did. We just kept on driving right past that Dam and onto bigger and better things. 

Those beauties to be exact. The drive was absolutely beautiful. There was hardly any snow compared to what I've seen in past winters, but the small amount of white with the yellow poking through was perfectly perfect!

Yup we kept on going and going and going and got closer and closer and closer. The drive was very relaxing, had great tunes, and great great company.

I loved going over the pass and seeing all the backcountry skiers out skiing and the fun trails they left behind. It only made my desire to learn to ski even greater, my fingers are still crossed that I can go sometime this season.

And here we are folks, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We went into town square, walked around for an hour or so, sipped a hot cocoa, stopped at the candy store (if you know us you know we have a very pathetic addiction to candy and candy stores), and then got back on the road so we could make it over the slippery pass before dark.
The drive home from Jackson was just as pretty, if not more so, than the ride there. The sun was setting, the moon was rising, and our whim turned out pretty awesome. Here are a few more pictures of the ride back. Now no judging, I realize these pictures aren't really all that great, but hey I was in a moving vehicle!

And last but not least we did visit that Dam...

very merry belated Christmas!

I really really wanted to send out a Christmas Card this year, but dagnabit... They can get to be quite expensive, so here is my card I created weeks ago, but never got out. Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Patience

"Be Patient with yourself... Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next. Don't demand things that are unreasonable, but demand of yourself improvement."

The other night I had work and Jenny stayed home working on homework and other things around the house. When I got home she said that she had gone over to our neighbor's house, Thomas and Kayla's, for Family Home Evening. She said they had watched a Mormon Message video titled "Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them". When I got home from work (yes I work a ton it seems like) this evening I had the chance to sit down and watch it. For those of you who haven't watched it yet, watch it here:



This video could not have come at a more appropriate time in my life. Tonight on my break Jenny and I were texting back and forth about our lives and how we need to keep on being better together. Not that we aren't happy or aren't successful in life, but we need to keep on improving daily. If one finds themselves standing still, they are not progressing. In church I remember as a kid hearing you're either moving forward or backwards, there is no standing still on the journey to God. I find this true more and more every day. Every day we have the opportunity to do things that will bring us closer to God. If we fail to do those things, we are only hurting ourselves and distancing ourselves from Him. That is not say He distances Himself from us, but rather we are choosing to pursue other things that instead could be filled drawing closer to Him.

I know that as we strive daily to find ways to improve, we can. The Savior will help us as we draw on His strength. He went through all that we have so that we can be strengthened when we need it. I know this to be true. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to live it daily in a country that allows that religious freedom. We are so fortunate to have so many blessings in this life.

This is for the Grandparents

Well Jenny has been the one that has kept this blog alive, so I figured it was my turn to blog a bit! (this is Michael if you were confused) We have sure been busy. When Jenny is busy one week, I find myself having great nights off of work, perfect to want to spend time with her. But when I have the craziest work schedule, I am also slammed with homework, and Jenny seems to have nothing to do. It's all about finding that balance right? Haha. Things sure are good and we still find time make each other laugh and feel special.
So some updates since last time we blogged (for a more comprehensive list look at Jenny's blog here...)

1. We flew home for my brother's wedding in California.
2. Halloween has come and passed
3. I had my 23rd Birthday. 
4. Daylight savings was maybe one of the best late birthday presents ever- I love sleeping in :)

So the real reason I thought of blogging tonight was at dinner. As Jenny was putting the food on the table I noticed a couple things she had set out. 

Jenny's Place at dinner-
Her vitamins that she takes each day

My plate at dinner-
The doctor ordered me to eat an Activia daily

I laughed to myself as I looked at our table and thought of eating dinner with my grandparents. I remember as a kid that immediately following the dinner prayer, both grandparents would take their medicine. I love that we are now starting that dinner tradition so early in life together- I guess it will make it easier when were old right?

Today was a great day. It was a good end to a great week and weekend. This past week I celebrated my 23rd birthday. One of the highlights is captured in this picture below

note: not my baby.

I got to hold baby Carter as everyone sang me Happy Birthday. I love that little guy. He's our neighbor's baby and is about a month old. Some of our neighbors and my sister came over to wish me a Happy Birthday. It was a ton of fun, and my cake was awesome! Jenny did such a great job. It made me excited for our own children's birthday and the themes they will all have.

Going backwards in time, Halloween was two days before that.. We carved pumpkins and had a great time. This was the first year ever that I gutted my own pumpkin. I don't know how I liked the experience. It was so mushy and gross. For those of you who don't know, textures bother me so much. If it is something I'm not used to, it makes me gag. It made me grateful for my parents and all the pumpkins they have gutted out for me. To add to it, I'm not a fan of the smell of pumpkins which also adds to the gag reflex. But we had a great time, Jenny even put on the Halloween Pandora station. It was a ton of fun.

Our pumpkins!

A couple days later, it snowed, which I love love love! Snow means a couple things- cuddling, movies, and hot chocolate. It's been great! While it wasn't a ton of snow, it was enough to get me excited for Christmas- so much in fact that our Christmas stocking are hung up and a few Christmas decorations are making their way out of boxes from our spare bedroom.

The tree outside our apartment

We are doing so well, and are so blessed with all that we are given. We are both extremely busy, but are both so amazed at how much you can love someone even when it feels like you never see them. We find the time to make it happen, and cherish the time we do have together.

My favorite picture of us that we have recently taken--

gotta love photobooth!!