Todd & Kara

Lucky Number 3

2010-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

And what a great year it was!!! I've had this post saved to edit for a year now, and since this weekend is our 4th year anniversary, I thought I'd post it--that way on the next post, I can cover exactly 1 year! Lol. Well, 3 years ago (From last summer) on July 26th, 2007, Todd and I took the deep plunge to get married! and 4 years ago on July 24th, 2006, we had our first date at the Spanish Fork Carnival. And 4 years and 1 month before that, I thought he was a hot head return missionary, and he thought I was a brat! Funny how those things happen. Now onto year NUMBER 4! I think it's going to be epic! What do you think?? :)

Very belated: Andrews Cabin and July 24th

2010-08-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

In July Todd and I were invited to spend the weekend up at our brother in laws, Andrews, cabin. We had a lot of fun and was sad that we had to leave early for my stupid work. Here are just some very belated pictures of it:

Apparently, Andrews cabin is a very nice place to take naps because those are the only pictures I got.

This is my nephew Charlie. He is so adorable.

And this is Todd and I out on the lake it a canoe! It was scary!

Then we ended the evening roasting some marshmallows and stuffing our faces! Yumm!

And last but not least, here is some pics of our 24th of July.

Looks exciting huh? ;)

We had a lot of fun. I LOVE July!

STAY TUNE!
More very belated July posts to come!!

New Summer Movies!

2010-08-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Check out my movie blog and read about what movies I saw this Summer and what I thought about them.

Click here: www.moviesbykara.blogspot.com

The cause behind all the madness

2010-07-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure most people could care less that I have back pain, which is fine. But having it be apart of my life for a while now, I've been seeking for a lot of answers, and thanks to having a husband going into physical therapy, going to a physical therapist, and my 2 uncles being physical therapist, I have come to this: (Who knows, maybe this could be helpful information for someone else down the road).

This is where my pain is at.

My symptoms include pinching in the center when I extend my back, lower left pain and around the left hip, and sacrum pain.

And here is why:

Anterial Tilt

After doing some X-rays, I found out that my pelvis tips forward quite a bit, which causes my sacrum to stick out further, putting pressure on it when I sit or lay down for long periods of time.

S.I. Joint Dysfunction
After doing some test, I found that my left SI joint locks up. This could be caused by my anterior tilt, bad posture, and/or lax joints. Lax joints being my joints are more pliable- easily put out of place, because I'm "too" flexible (since when is being TOO flexable bad?) Anyway, when my SI joint locks up or is under stress (possibly due to my anterial tilt), it causes pain around my left hip as well.

Kissing Spine

All the therapist I have talked to think the pinching I am feeling, which causes the most pain, is due to Kissing Spine. That's when the Spinous processes bones touch during extension, causing a sharp pain or "pinch" in my case. This could be caused my my anterial tilt and the exaggerated curve in my lower back.

So, pretty much, all of my pain and symptoms are apart of one large crappy back pain cycle!

But now that I have come to understand what I have, I'm ready to fix it! And hopefully fix it for good! The way I will do this is by stabilization exercises, where I build muscle in my core and butt, tighten up muscles that have been elongated, and stretch muscles that have been shortened. I have been given certain exercises to do this, and I need to do them 2-3 times a day, and hopefully within time, maybe a month or so, my back will go back to it's usual self.

YAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I have learned so much with this experience, even though it has been hard and it's not over, but it makes me realize what Todd is going into and what a great career it is. To want to help people in physical pain is a gift, a selfless gift, and I'm so glad people, like Todd, choose to do it just so they can help people live a better and happier life. :)

The annoying things that get you down...

2010-07-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

It was the summer of 2009. I was studying for a biology test. (I HATE science!) I had been cramming the material in all morning long. Then, as I leaded to the edge of my chair to stretch with my arms way above my head, a horrible shot of pain ripped through my lower back.

And my back has never been the same since...

That was a year ago, and here I am now. In the same situation. Luckily being married to someone going into physical therapy has helped take the edge off of the pain, but it's never gone completely away. It's sad that something like "back pain" can just make everything else suck. I feel so frustrated about it. Why wont it get better? I have to admit that I haven't done EVERYTHING I can in the "physical therapy" world to fix it. Not only do I need to stretch 2-3 times A DAY- which I do, I need to build up muscle in my back, stomach, and butt! That's the hard part. I've never been good with "toning up." I prefer doing cardio. Which brings me to my next dilemma.

A couple posts back I stated that I had become unhappy with my body, and that I was finally ready to do something about it. Well, "doing something about it" to me meant, get up and go jogging. I use to jog and I LOVED it! And I was so excited to push myself and get back into it again. In fact, I told myself I wanted to be able to run the 5K for Salem days in August. I've always wanted to do it, but I never have (and I've lived her my ENTIRE life)! So I started. But to my great dismay, I found out very quickly that a bad back and jogging does NOT mix. I have never been in so much back pain in my entire life! And that's when i realized, I couldn't be a runner. Not now anyways. It's sad, now when I drive to work and see all these runners, instead of saying "I need to do that, " I think, "I wish I could do that." I believe I can get to that point again, but it just sucks feeling this way. Feeling like your so fragile and broken, watching every move you make to make sure you don't strain your back. My house is a mess because every time I try to pick up, it hurts. I feel bad for Todd. He is a better Wife than I am... in the manly husband way of course. ;) I know there's a lot more worse things out there than having back pain, so I really shouldn't complain. So now, instead of going jogging. I'm walking with my mom 3 miles 2 time a week, stretching everyday in the morning and night, doing strengthening excises 2-3 times a week (like palates or yoga), and then I'll be getting on my Elliptical 2 times a week for cardio. I haven't lost a pond since I started my exercise fix, but I'm not going to give up. Maybe this time around this new schedule will be a better one for me. For me, my body, and my back.

Our St. George Trip

2010-05-13T21:18:00.001-07:00

After Todd's graduation and my crazy finals we needed to get away. So we decided to take a small but amazing trip down to St. George! We had been so sick of the weather tricking us here, and we wanted to go somewhere where we didn't have to drive forever, so St. George sounded like the perfect place. When we first got there we checked into our hotel, and then went to a dinner and a movie. A perfect and relaxing way to start off a vacation. Then the next day we woke up bright and early and drove down to Zion where we took most of our pictures.

Todd giving thumbs up on our first hike

The water fall to the Lower Emerald Pools

It's hard to see, but we're standing under the water fall

Moving on up...

I liked this picture

Just the two of us

I didn't realize to get to the upper pools was going to be this... rocky!

And here is my victory stance once we got past the steep rocky trail (Or I was airing out my arm pitts- I guess you'll never know) ;)

Beautiful Sights... of Todd that is! Isn't he a cutie!

And finally we reached the waterfall!

These next pictures are just some from the River Walk trail. Sooo much fun!

The River Side trail

Next we went to Weeping Rock. Here are some pictures of that:

By the end of the day I was taking more pictures of nature than of Todd and I. Ha ha!

Well, it was a fun filled perfect day at Zions, and when we got back to our hotel we fell right asleep to get ready for our next activity.

The Temple.

Isn't it beautiful! It was a great experience!

It was a short trip, but we had so much fun! Now its back to school for Todd and work for me. Even though that stinks, it makes trips like this worth the while. ;)

Todd's Graduation

2010-05-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

On April 30th, Todd graduated from UVU with his Bachelors of Exercise Science, and I couldn't be more proud of him! He worked so hard and graduated with a 3.6 GPA! You go hun! Here is just a few pics we took of the eventful day:

Getting his diploma

It was fun because my sisters husband also graduated! Good Job Spencer!

The Graduates

The Callan Clan

The proud wives

Doesn't he look so handsome! Good job Hun! Now its off to Physical Therapy school! You'll do great! :)

You know you're too fat when...

2010-05-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

WARNING!!! What I wrote is pertaining to me and only me, any offense taken is not my intentions.

You know you're too fat when...

You can barely fit into your pants and you even have to unbutton them at times.

You know you're too fat when...

Your grandma asks you if you're pregnant while pointing at your belly fat.

You know you're too fat when...

You have to hike up your "G's" to your belly button to cover your new love handles.

You know you're too fat when...

You go shopping and you're suddenly looking at larges instead of mediums and the size of pants you use to wear are extremely hard to get on.

You know you're too fat when...

Every time you take a picture, you have a double chin.

You know you're too fat when...

You prefer sugar and a lot of it over more healthy foods in your fridge

You know you're too fat when...

Your pregnant sister weighs just as much as you do

You know you're too fat when...

Your mom and dad weigh less than you

And you know you're too fat when you're the biggest you've ever been in your entire life!

My average weight for most of my adult life is 125 lbs. I weighed 2 or 3 lbs lighter in High School and when I got married, and I'm currently 10-12 lbs over that. Yeah that's not a huge deal, but I don't like it. I don't feel good about myself and I don't feel comfortable in my body. My lowest weight has been 116-118 lbs but I didn't feel healthy. I was hardly eating. My best weight and new goal is between 120-122 lbs. That means I need to lose about 15 lbs. I know I can do it cause I've done it before. I just need to do it and stay committed. I use to run a lot. I want to be a runner again. I miss it and I miss the way I felt when i was healthy. So yeah, I'm starting this Monday with my new diet and exercise. I'm going to try and exercise 3 times a week starting- for 30 minutes, drink more water, reduce my sugar to 200 grams, and a full serving of fruit and vegetables every day. I know if I do these things, I can reach my goal. So wish me luck to a better, healthier, new ME! :)

New Movies!

2010-05-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Check them out on my new movie blog

New Blog

2010-04-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

So I decided to separate my personal blog from the movies I've commented about. I've gotten a few comments and requests so I just thought it would be nice to just have a blog dedicated to the movies I went and saw and what i think about them. Its nothing special, but check it out if your interested. You might just save yourself $20 bucks!
I know i wont. ;)

Its on my side panel underneath my "artwork of the month" so...
Check it out!

Or go to www.moviesbykara.blogspot.com

Celebrating Feb. 14th

2010-02-22T19:29:00.001-08:00

~Valentines Day 2010~

Todd and I went to Macaroni Grill for the 2nd time to celebrate Valentines Day. It was a lot of fun! What place wouldn't be fun when you can draw on the tables?! I should be a portrait artist, don't you think? ;)

These are the Roses Todd got me, along with chocolate and a wooden doll holding a puppy. (See 1st picture above). I got Todd a bunch of SNL movies and an Itunes card.

Todd also surprised me with this funny card.

In case you can't read it, it says "I Ruv U Wit Al My Hart!" Signed Dexter. I couldn't stop laughing. Todd said he used my charcoal to rub on Dext's paw. Then after, the dog jumped all over him, causing him to have to change his pants before I saw him. It was one of the high lights of the night. Ha ha.

Then we took random pics of us before we went and got some ice cream. We did this last year trying to kill some time before a movie, so we did it again. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into a tradition. Anyways, It was a really fun Valentines!

More Movies Part 2

2010-02-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

It was my Grandmas birthday the other day and one of the ways we celebrated it was by having a girls night out! Its was my Grandma, my cousin Jeni, and I. We first met up at the Provo mall where we went and saw "When in Rome."

I really liked the idea of the movie, but I feel like it could have been done a little better. I liked the beginning and where it was going and I tried really hard to get into it, but as it went on, I felt like it started to crumble. You know those "Full House" moments, when a lesson is being learned and you hear the music playing in the back round and everyone gets all sentimental?? Well, the rest of the movie was like that and you just wanted to slap the girl in the face cause she was being stupid. I think these two are good actors and dang, Josh Duhamel (from Transformers) is way hot, but maybe their not so good together... actually, them being together didn't bother me, it was more so the writing... Anyways, I give it 2 1/2 stars! :)

After seeing "When in Rome" in theaters, my Grandma, Jeni, and I went and got some food at Red Robin, then headed back to my Grandmas house to watch another movie. (Can you tell I came from a family that LOVES movies??) Anyways, Jeni had bought the movie "The Time Traveler's Wife," and Okay. Let me just tell you a little about this. When this movie first came out I wanted to see it! BAD! Call me pathetic, but I actually cried during the previews of this movie! I just knew it was going to be good! Then I found out it was a book, and I thought it would be fun to read the book first. Well, my little sister actually got a hold of it and read it before me and said it was only "okay." She said it had some not so good parts, and thought it would be better. This made me sooo sad! But I wanted to find out for myself. So I started to read it, skipping over the not so good parts of course, and while reading I kind of thought the same as my sister. I mean, it was interesting but it kind of drug on and had some really weird parts. So about 2/3rd's of the way through the book, i stopped reading it, then when the movie came out, I didn't hear much talk about it so I just assumed it wasn't good. So I never went and saw it. Well... we brought it home and watched it at my Grandmas house and I LOVED IT!!! It was everything I thought it was going to be and more! Granite, I would have preferred it to end a little differently, but I still liked it! In fact, I liked it so much I already downloaded it onto my ipod. Ha ha. I really like Rachel McAdams (from the Notebook), I think she is a good actress and really cute! and Eric Bana (From Troy) was amazing! I loved the story, and I loved their relationship. You do see a few bums in this movie because when he time travels he can't take clothes with him, so yeah. If that bothers you then... keep that in mind. But overall, I give it 4 stars!!!

Last but not least, the next movie on my movie list is "Valentine's Day." Todd and I went and saw this on Monday. I know this movie had a lot of hype... but I found that when you put too many strong actors in a movie, its sometimes doesn't turn out so good. There were too many people in it, showing their individual lives, causing it not to go deep enough. I think a good movie is when you can relate to it or you can see yourself in it at times. Kind of why a book needs charater development- so you can know the charater and have empathy for them. Anyways, I just felt like it was just scratching the surface of a love story and I found myself half way through wondering when it was going to end. (Never a good sign). It was almost too predictable and definitely too long. I even had low expectations going in, and that still didn't help. There were a few laugh out loud parts, but i wouldn't say it was a funny movie. But I don't know. Maybe I'm completely off about all these movies. Maybe you would really like it. I tend to like movies that are a little different and not the same old same old. However, I still like traditional movies as long as they are good! Looking back I don't think there were any bad parts in this movie so that was good. Anyways, I didn't think it was horrible (compared to "All About Steve"), but I didn't really like it either. So with that, I give it 2 1/2 stars!

Todd still wants to see Avatar and I want to see Sherlock Holmes, so maybe someday! To bad movies are really expensive. The only way we go and see movies is if we have a gift card to them. So if you're ever in need of gift ideas for Todd and I....

(hint hint).
;)
See ya!

More Movies!!!

2010-01-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

Todd and I love going to movies, and the ones we've seen recently have been pretty good ones! -with the exception of a few bad ones (my opinion only). So I just wanted to post about some and how I would rate them out of 4 stars. :)

I know this movie came out a while ago, but it has been one of my favorites of the year! It was a Sundance movie and won a lot of awards. Its about a boy who falls in love with a girl but then has its own unique twist on the story. What I love most about this movie is how dead on they relate things to real life. Its really funny and I feel like a lot of people can relate to it!

I give it 4 stars!

I really like Sandra Bullock. In fact, I don't think I've seen a movie that she's been it that I haven't liked... except this one! This movie (in my opinion) was NOT good. It wasn't really funny at all, just extremely awkward and weird. I think they were trying to make a statement that you can find beauty in everyone, no matter how different they are- which is a great statement to make, but it didn't show through in this movie. Nope. it was just WEIRD!

I give it 1 star!

I LOVED this movie! "Adam" is a also a Sundance movie, and as far as I know it didn't come out in theaters. Its about a boy named Adam who has a slight mental disorder, and one day a girl moves into his Apt complex and finds him rather sweet and fascinating. Its a cute story of friendship, love, and triumph. I'd definitely recommend this movie!

I give it 4 stars!

This movie isn't a new one and maybe most of you have seen it by now, but after seeing "Monsters vs. Aliens" I didn't care to see this movie. (No offense to anyone who liked Monsters vs. Aliens"- I didn't think it was all that funny). So when Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs came out I had low expectations. But it was SOOOO FUNNY! I loved it! Bill Hader does the voice for the main character and he does such a great job. I was surprised by the creativity of this movie and how fun they made it. It is a little long and there's one part at the end that is pretty "out there" but overall, it was a good movie!

I give it 3 1/2 stars!

I heard so many good things about this movie. And it really was a cute story... except I didn't really like the type of bad guy the went with. I know in that culture, black magic is really popular, but do I really want my kids to see that? Voodoo stuff and creepy spirits? It was a little too "dark" for me on that end, but I really liked everything else about the movie. It was a fun love story and ended well. So with saying that I give it 3 stars!

There's a lot to say about this movie. Todd and I just went and saw this on Saturday. If you don't know what its about, it about a 14 year old girl who get murdered and how she waits in the "in between" (between heaven and earth) trying to reach back to her family and help them solver her case. It gets a little disturbing because she's the narrator and you know from the very beginning that she is going to be murdered, so when that time comes, your just hoping it'll change. Its definitely a movie that keeps you interested the whole way through and has some parts that put you on the edge of your seat, but it leaves you feeling a little... disturbed, because there are real people out there like that! It also makes you think a lot about death. But I thought the main girl did a GREAT job at acting her part. The ending doesn't leave you with a lot of closure but it still ends well. It took me a while to decided how much i liked this movie and if I would recommend it. So I'll just say this, if you find stories like this interesting and you like different perspective movies, then you should go see it. I know I'd see it again.
I give it 4 stars!

So there you have it. We still want to see Sherlock Holmes and Avatar, so stay in tune for that.
Thanks for stopping by! :)

Vegas Part 2

2010-01-06T21:57:00.000-08:00

Right after New Years, Todd and I took another trip to Las Vegas to hang out with my cousin Amanda and Shaun. They came down from Minnesota to spend a week with Shaun's good friend Collin. It was a quick trip but it was a lot of fun! Walker and Lianne also joined us so it was like old times! :) Here are just a few pictures of what we did:

Amanda and I in Cezars Palace

Amanda enjoying the fountains

I hope this picture doesn't offend anyone, but there's nothing to say except Vegas makes you do weird things. Especially if your names are Kara and Amanda.

Todd and the Eiffel Tower

Enjoying some drinks at the bar... don't worry, its just juice! ;)

Besides, I wouldn't drink anything bad with Todd around. Lol.

Just hanging out in one of the Casino's

Now, if me and Amanda were drunk- this is what we might look like. Ha ha.

Todd on one of the slot machines

Then after a night on the strip, Todd and I spent the night with Walker and Lianne in the Stratosphere. It was a lot of fun. Then the next day we went over to Collins where we hung out with them all day.

I love this picture of Shaun. I would think if you didn't know Shaun he might seem a little scary... oh wait. No, no, he wouldn't.

And this is Amanda and Shaun's BEAUTIFUL baby Kayliegh! I LOVE this picture of her. She is soooooo freakin adorable!

Awe, I already miss you Amanda and Shaun!!! :(

We had a lot of fun! But we always have fun as long as we are together.

Thanksgiving and wonderful husbands

2010-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, I didn't get a lot of pictures. In fact, this is the only picture I got. But as you can see, it was a very "filling" dinner. We had it at my Grandma LaRae's house where we had the best yams ever (Thanks to Jeni)!!! Then we left to go up to Farmington to have desert with Todd's family. It was a lot of fun. I wish I would have taken more pictures...

Then shortly after Thanksgiving, we were invited to go eat over at Todd's friend Steve's house where we at some "Sopes." (I think that's what they are called). Steve's Mom doesn't talk a lot in English, so we spent most of the evening talking in Spanish while Todd translated for me. I really got to learn some Spanish! Todd's good friend Jordan and his wife Angie also came. It was really fun to get together!

Here's a picture of the whole gang.

Then, some of you may already know this story, but I just wanted to write about it because it was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I was so swamped with school and finals the last couple of weeks in December that I literally had no time to eat or sleep. I was so overwhelmed, exhausted, and upset that I didn't have any time to decorate for Christmas. One night I cried to Todd about all the things I had to do and how I had no time, and by the time I had time to decorate, It would be a couple days before Christmas, and then I would just have to take it all down. Anyways, so the next day was a Saturday, and I had to work all day at my Copy Central job and I was just so upset all day. Todd dropped me off cuz he needed my car to run some errands. When 6:00pm finally rolled around, Todd came and picked me up and had Dexter in the car with him to greet me. Just seeing my Husband and my puppy made everything so much better! Then as we drove home, Todd stopped at my parents house and I asked him what we were doing and he said he was picking up the Laundry that I had also complained about not being done. I know its lame, but I totally teared up cuz I was so thankful he did that for me! Then we parked outside our house and went inside, and as I walked into the kitchen I noticed the living room was glowing! I walked a little further to see that Todd had put up the Christmas Tree, decorated it, along with the fireplace, and cleaned the whole house. I just stomped my foot and started sobbing. It was the kindest most thoughtful thing he could have done, and he spend all that Saturday doing it. One thing I loved about it was the way he decorated it. It was so obviously done by a boy, but I didn't care, I wouldn't touch it. So I just wanted to post some pictures of it.

When I walked in, this is the first thing I saw!

This is the Ugly fireplace you've heard so much about, that I'm going to repaint; But Todd had even gone to the store and bought garland and poinsettia flowers, and made our stockings to decorate the fireplace. I thought it looked great!

Thanks Hun for everything you do!

It was a GREAT Christmas!

Our new and not so new place

2010-01-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

Like the rest of my posts, this one is long over due. Most of you know that in October Todd and I moved out of my parents basement into my Great Grandma's house next door. I've been wanting to post pictures of it forever, but just never got around to it. (It takes a long time to settle in a house!) Anyways, my Dad decided to remodel it and it turned out a lot better than we could have imagined. We feel so blessed to live here. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) It was a lot of fun for me because I got to help pick out a lot of the things, like the paint colors, light fixtures, the flooring, and kitchen cabinets. We were going for a french country cottage type look, so its very colorful! WE LOVE IT!!!

The Living Room

(We also have a fireplace in this room behind the camera, but its old and kind of ugly, so I'm going to repaint it!)

The Kitchen

Bathroom

(My little brother Branden did the tile in the shower! He did a great job!)

The Master Bedroom

(This isn't the best picture of this room, it a lot bigger than it looks and the blue isn't as intense as in this photo. Maybe some day i'll post a better one. Maybe...)

So that's it. Oh, and our little Family

So yeah! There's our new place. We also have a second bedroom but its currently holding all of our junk right now, and then there's an attic that we're going to work on to make it my Art Studio! (I know, I'm spoiled!) So when those things are done, I'll post them.

Then, I attached this picture onto this post just because I wanted to give anyone who cared a small glimpse of what I worked on this last semester. This is a picture of my sister Tiffany holding a baby all wrapped up (or so that's what its suppose to look like...) I build my own canvas, gesso'd it, put a layer of Lace over the canvas, then painted on top of it. I painted her monochromatic (One color, adding white or black), trying to create a timeless scene, capturing her in this "intimate" moment of holding her baby. I had her model for me and I took pictures, then a couple months later she found out she was pregnant. Go figure! :)

Anyways, it was one of my favorite projects

Halloween 2009!

2009-11-22T15:41:00.001-08:00

For Halloween this year , Todd and I thought it would be funny to be Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. We don't really know how we decided on it. It just kind of happened. Here are just some pics to compare.

And here is us...

Ha Ha!

I think Todd pulled off a great Malfoy!

As far as me... I just looked funny with really short black hair. :)

This next picture I tried to reenact a scene in the 4th Harry Potter- if your a fan, you'll probably recognize what I'm talking about. (How did I do?)

We had a lot of fun. And the funny thing about all of this is... we're not even really big fans of Harry Potter and we've never read the books!
Ha ha.
Oh well!
Maybe some day :)

Some scenery pics

2009-11-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year when the tree's just begin to change colors.

So beautiful!

I love seeing the green leaves mixed with the red, yellow, and orange leaves!

Fall is my favorite time of the year!

Then of course as winter comes creeping up, so does the rain! Followed by beautiful rainbows! I took these next pictures in Salem.

I love seeing the soft colors of a rainbow!

Then come the SNOW!

I LOVE our mountains! Aren't we so lucky to live in such a beautiful place where we can experience all the seasons!!!

This post is WAY long over due...

2009-11-22T11:03:00.001-08:00

September 30th came around and we all had to say goodbye to our little brother Branden. He was called to serve a mission in Ventura California, Spanish speaking. We were all so excited for him and know he will be a great missionary! We already miss him so much and are so proud of him! This is a pic I took of him right before he left to go the the MTC.

Right after saying goodbye to Branden, me and my family took a small trip down to St. George where we got to see the play "Aida" at the Tuacahn theater. While the girls went shoping, the guys went golfing. Here is a pic of Todd showing off his great golfing moves.

Then on Saturday and Sunday we all hung out at the Condo where we watched General Conference. (Dalen is such a poser!)

During the St. George trip, Todd and I found some time to sneak off to Vegas! (Wahoo!) Where we got to walk the strip and see my cousin Brent. Here are just some pics of us enjoying that evening.

Bellagio and the fountain show! So cool!

While walking through one of the Casino's we saw this slot machine, and just had to take a picture of it. It was HUGE!

And then this is just a pic of me I thought turned out kind of cool. :)

We had a lot of fun and plan on going back to St. George next May to see Brain Regan perform. Maybe we'll hit up Las Vegas again! :) Any takers???

Summer in a Nutshell!

2009-09-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

So its been a long time since I've updated our blog. A lot has been going on, being that we're both going to school, working, and trying to get the new house remodeled by October- hasn't left me a lot of time to sit and blog. But finally I'm doing it. We both took summer school as well, so these things all happened at the very end of summer in a 2 weeks span of time. (Sad I know), but it was a blast! So here's what our summer has consisted of this year. FYI: Pictures should enlarge when you click on them.

LAKE POWELL!

We had a huge water slide!

Then right after Lake Powell, we drove 6 hours the opposite direction and met up with Todd's family where we stayed at Island Park and went to Yellow Stone. It was so much fun, being that I've never been there before. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Callan! We had a blast! :)

This is the famous old faithful. I've heard so much about her, and it was great to finally see it. Seriously, look how beautiful nature is!

I didn't get any pictures of our cabin, but we stayed with Lindsey, Shafer and kids, Rob, Rachel and Jack, where we had a lot of fun hanging out and playing games!

When we first got to our cabin we saw a moose out our back window. It was a mother and a baby so we had to be really careful! It was Awesome! We also saw some buffalo, elk, and cute little squirrels! We never did see a bear. :( But maybe next time.

Then after Island Park, I took a flight the next day out to Minnesota to see my cousin Amanda and her husband Shaun and new baby Kayliegh in Minnesota. It was soooo much fun, and soooo good to see them! :)

(Click to enlarge pictures)

Thanks again Shaun for letting us shop for 10 hours! Lol.

I thought these pictures were pretty funny. They pretty much speak for themselves.

And then on Sunday we went to this park by the Mississippi River that had the prettiest gardens! I took some pictures and I just loved how they turned out. (I guess Minnesota isn't so bad after all.... hmmm..... or maybe it is). ;)

Pretty huh? I had sooooo much fun up there with the Dukes! Seriously, being there for 5 days wasn't long enough! Thanks again guys for being such great hosts!

Well, that is it really. The pictures sum it up a lot. But we had so much fun spending time with family and friends this summer. We really are truly blessed to have such great people in our lives! So hopefully I can stay up to date now that I'm all caught up. (Ha ha). But I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Take Care.

2 Years!!!

2009-07-29T22:28:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it to our 2nd year Anniversary! Its crazy how time fly's by. My mom says its really important to celebrate each year because now days its harder for young people to stay married. But I'm happy to say that we are still very much in love and still kicking! :) So to celebrate, Todd did a really good job at keeping it secret, and took me up to Salt Lake City where we ate at an Italian Restaurant named "Al Fornos." I ordered the Salmon special while Todd got the classic Chicken Alfredo. It was really yummy! Then even though I told Todd not to get me anything, he got me a really cute silver bracelet. (Thanks sweetie!) Here are just some pics below at the restaurant.

After dinner Todd took me to a cute little bed and breakfast where we checked in and watched the movie Coraline. I thought the room we stayed in was so cute and creative. Very Victorian style and old fashion. I LOVED it. Here are some pics of it.

K! I thought this was so cool. The main room and the bathroom was separated by these curtains and I just loved the idea.

Oh okay, I had to take this picture of Todd because i caught him watching baseball... on our Anniversary! Lol.

The next morning we woke up to breakfast at our door, put together in a basket. I thought it was so clever. It was the perfect way to end such a fun Anniversary!

Thanks babe! I'm excited for our 3rd year together and all the adventure it'll bring. Love you! :)

Birthday Fun and More...

2009-07-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, just catching up on the summer, I just recently had my 23rd birthday! It was quite the interesting birthday this year. I celebrated it with my family a week early cuz they were going to be out of town on the 13th. So me, Tyson, Jen (who i share my birthday with) and Kaylor who had her birthday in June, were all celebrated on that day. Unfortunately that same weekend Todd threw out his back so he was hopped up on drugs the whole time. I think this picture belows really shows it! Ha ha.

Well, one of the more "entertaining" things that happened that day was that my mom accidentally put "Happy Birthday Tiffany" on MY birthday cake! So in my little bothers attempt to fix it, he scratched off tiff's name and stuck a huge toothpick into the cake and put my table name tag on the top with a candle. Even though everyone made fun of me, I'd have to admit it was pretty funny! And of course it happened to me! (Those of you who know my childhood would find this a lot more funny!) Heres the pic below.

I got a lot of nice presents from my family. On Saturday I went to the Payson Scottish festival (in which i love and try to go every year but i had missed the last couple ones). I LOVE their jewelry! So with some of grandma and grandpa Callans birthday money, i got me some jewelry and a light blue wrap. I was sooo excited!! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Callan! :)

Then that same evening we went up to Todd's family's house where they took us out to dinner and then the next day made me a cake and sang happy birthday to me. I definitely got spoiled up there too! Thanks Kristie and Paul!!! The cake Todd's mom made was to die for. I don't' think i've ever had a chocolate cake so mouth watering before. I couldn't keep my hands off it! Then Emily got me this mini pink iron which i told Todd I wanted. Ironically, he never told Emily that, so good job Emily! I love it!

Then the next day was my real birthday where Todd took me out to lunch and got me plane tickets to go visit my cousin Amanda in Minnesota! (AMANDA I'M COMING!!!!) What a great gift! :) Then my sister Tiffany took me out to lunch where my parents sent with her a brand new birthday cake that had my name big and bright on it because they felt bad about the last one! LOL! They crack me up! Then i finished off my birthday at Jen and Ro's house where we had Chocolate soup! I told Ro he had to make it for my birthday, which was also his wife's birthday so it all worked out! So yeah.... that was my birthday. It was a long one but a great one! THANK YOU TO ALL FOR YOUR LOVE AND GIFTS!!! :)

Then I just wanted to post a few pictures of when Todd went to Bryce Canyon. He took a lot of pictures and they are sooo beautiful. Todd said he had a great time and would love to go back but take me this time! Here are just a few pictures of his trip. The scenery is gorgeous!!!

Angel? or Devil?

2009-06-06T12:23:00.001-07:00

Looking at this cute little face you might think my puppy Dexter is an angel right??? WRONG! he is such a terror, and I've been told he acts just like a kid! He wines when he wants something, he gets mad if he doesn't get what he wants. He wont leave you alone if he doesn't have your full attention, and he begs for food like there is no tomorrow! Okay, so maybe children don't beg for food.... or... maybe they do. I don't know. But anyways, yesterday Todd and I were headed up to my cousin Jen's house to spend the night. We were in separate cars cuz we had to leave separately in the morning. We brought Dex along cuz I don't like leaving him home alone. (The only people at my house right now is my Mom! My little brother Branden is in Texas visiting old friends, and my Dad and little brother Dalen are in CHINA!) So being the nice owners that we are, i took Dexter up with me in my car. I've done this before so no big deal right??? So I'm driving along and we take the back roads up to her house and I see some kids on the street selling cookies. I'm usually not the kind of person who would stop and buy some, but i noticed they were PUMPKIN COOKIES!!! Immediately I turned around, after all, they were only 2 for a $1! :) So i pull over on the side of the street, knowing it was just going to take me a few seconds to get my delicious cookies and leave. I Left my car running and Dexter in it as well. Sure enough, a few seconds later i was headed back into my car when suddenly my door was locked!!! "What the" I thought. And there Dexter was inside wagging his cute little tail with his paw on the lock button!! I felt sooo stupid standing there in front of those kids selling cookies. I had to call Todd and he came, then we called the police to see if they could help us cuz we didn't want to pay a lock smith $75 bucks!!! While we waited for the police man to show up, Dexter started to go crazy inside. Going back and forth from seat to seat. He was wondering why the heck we wouldn't let him out! I don't know if it was survival instinct or if he was just nervous, but I had a cup of ice inside the car and he was just going to town on it, as if he "knew" he was stuck in the car and that was his only survival for food! Lol. Thankfully, the police man showed up, and with his swanky tool, he got my car unlocked. (I decided I do this far to often, and that i need to get me one of those tools!) But this cop was soooo cool about it. He just laughed and then told us to have a nice day. I was so embarrassed but thankful that he wasn't a jerk about it. So yeah... quite the unwanted adventure, but what can you do? Its funny now thinking back on it. And even though Dexter can definitely be the worst dog ever, he is so sweet and has such a big heart. I wouldn't trade him for any other dog in the world! ;)

Movie Ratings...

2009-06-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

It seems lately, Todd and I have been seeing a lot of movies. Well, that doesn't really surprise me since I come from a family who goes to movies like every week! I don't know what it is, but we have always been movie people. Todd and I probably go see a new movie at least every other to 2 weeks.- (and yes, it gets expensive!) But it seems like the majority of the movies we've seen recently have been pretty good. So i just wanted to post about some of the ones we've seen and how we felt about them. But don't worry, I wont spoil any movie, so if you haven't seen them yet, you can still read on. ;)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

What can I say. Wolverine KICKED BUTT in this movie. We really liked how the story tied into the other X-Men Movies. There was a little too much up close and personal violence for me, but I still thought it was pretty good. The only hard part for me really, was having Ryan Reynolds as the bad guy. I couldn't really take him seriously, and lets be honest. Ryan Reynolds vs. Wolverine...
I give it 3 Stars.

Star Trek

We were really impressed on how this movie came about. For us it held some personal interest already since my Dad has watched Star Trek since the beginning of time! The action was incredible and even though i didn't know the history of Star Trek that well, I still enjoyed it. Captain Kirk may get his butt kicked a lot, but he and Spock really connected well with their parts.
I give it 3 1/2 Stars

Angels & Demons

Okay, for those of you who didn't like The DaVinci Code, you probably wouldn't like this movie. However, I thought this movie was a lot better than The DaVinci Code. It still had some sac religious parts I could have done with out, but what I liked about it was that its a mystery involving art history to revel its secrets. Me being an Art Major, I really enjoyed the movie and found it very interesting. Overall, I thought it was very clever.
I give it 3 Stars.

Terminator Salvation

I actually never went and saw this one. Todd had a guys night with my little brother and went and saw it. But I was okay with that. :) So I asked him what he thought about the movie and he said he really liked it. Then i asked him to rate it, and he said he would give it 3 Stars, but still liked it better than Wolverine.

Night at the Museum II

For starters, the 1st Night of the Museum was just okay for me. It had some funny parts, but i guess i was just expecting more. So when this movie came out, I already had some doubts. But Todd really wanted to see it, so we went. I think I would have enjoyed it better if all the funny parts were not shown previous in all the previews. However, I thought Amy Adams did an amazing job being Amelia Earhart. I personally think she stole the show. I was really impressed with her performance. So with that...
I give it 2 1/2 Stars.

UP

Wow, is all I have to say. I was so impressed by the creativity of this movie. I think it is one of the best family movies I've seen in a long time. It was funny, cute, and had good morals behind it. We really enjoyed the adventure and true charisma this movie held. Everyone should go see this!
I give it 4 Stars!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I know this movie came out a while ago, but I just recently saw it with my cousin Jeni and was reminded how great of a movie it was. Not only was this movie creative and unique, but it also held everything you love about a movie: Meaning, Family, Love, Heart Ache, Adventure, Ect. If you have not yet seen this movie, I definitely recommend you do!
I give it 4 Stars!

So there you have it. Now maybe you can decide which ones are worth seeing. I don't know. Like I said earlier, overall, i think most of these did a great job and are worth seeing, but maybe you'll rate them completely different.
Let me know. ;)

Our Trip to Missouri

2009-05-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally taking the time to update our blog! Yeah!!! Not a whole lot has been going on with us... maybe that's why I haven't been writing, but not to long ago, Todd and I took a trip over to Missouri. We went there for 2 reasons really. #1. Because I have some family out there and I've always wanted to take Todd there to visit. And #2. Because Missouri State University has a really good Doctorate Program in Physical Therapy where 2 of my Uncles work... So Todd really wanted to check that out. Todd liked the school a lot and says he could really see himself going there, the only problem is, I don't know if I'm entirely sold on it. I would love to live closer to my other family out there, but its just the little things that I don't know if i could handle. I'll list a few examples. Like the weather there- a lot of rain and TORNADO SEASON!!! (Scary!!!) Also, the rolling hills out there made me so nauseated! -I don't know if I could handle that for 4 years. There are tons of bugs which i hate, and above all, I don't want to have to deal with allergies again!!! For the first time in my life I got allergies when Todd and I moved out to Ohio and lived there for 4 months! It was Awful! I don't know how people who have it all the time can handle it. I was so sick and so stressed out about it, and it took a long time for them to go away when i moved back to Utah. So yeah... Those are my thoughts on it. We are also considering other schools as well. We've looked into Idaho State, U of U, UNLV, Arizona, and Army Baylor in TX. But we still have a while until Todd applies so I guess we're stuck here for now. ;)

Anyways, now that I went off on a tangent about that, i'd like to talk a little bit about our trip. It really was a lot fo fun. Because of the weather we were confined to do some of the things we wanted to do, but on the best day we decided to go to Branson. We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel, did some shopping, went to the "believe it or not" Museum, and then went to a dinner and show at the Dolly Parton arena. We were going to go to the Titanic museum, but tickets were like 18$ a person!!! But I really liked how the museum looked, So instead i just stood outside it and got a picture taken. :)

The Believe it or not museum was really cool. We saw things like shrunken heads, worlds tallest man, worlds biggest ball of yarn, replica of cathedrals made out of toothpicks and teeth, a Chinese guy with a horn on the back of his head, Brain teasers and more!!! Lol! We really enjoyed ourselves. We were hoping to make it over to the celebrity wax museum, but we ran out of time. :(

They also had this wall full of different colors of butterfly's at the museum. It was sooooo pretty, but sad to think that they were all dead. :( I hope they weren't killed just to be put in this! I would very much be against that.

Here's a wax model of the tallest man in the world. He was almost 9 ft! and only lived to be 22 years old. It was fun to put Todd and Chan next to him because Todd towers over our family while chantel is the smallest standing at 4 ft. 7in. (Go Chan!)

Then last but not least, we went to the Dolly Parton Show where they fed us dinner and we got to be involved in a Rodeo competition. Todd will never admit it, but he loved it! After words we got to see some of the horses. Look how big this one was!!! Crazy huh.

After that we mostly just relaxed and hung out with the family. We stayed at my Aunt Karla and Uncle Scott's house which was sooooo gorgeous!!! That's where we had a little bonn fire and I took tons of pictures of my little nephew Ashton. I have a couple video's i'd like to put on here... as soon as i figure out how to do it... Anyways, it was a lot of fun even though it was very easy going. But i'm like my mother in that way. A vacation should be stress free and relaxing, but to my dad, you don't go on a vacation unless your entire day is planned out of things to do. Lol. I think i got a pretty good balance between the two. :)

Here are just a few pics I put together of my nephew Ashton.

He is soooo cute!!!

His bib said "Kiss Me, I'm Irish!" Oh yeah, what a cool kid!

Him on the John Deer

He pulls such cute faces!!! I love this little guy!

So yeah, that was our little trip. We had a lot of fun and we will miss everyone there! :)

SEE YA!!!

Excuses Excuses!

2009-05-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I haven't posted anything in a long time, but I've been super busy! But now that my hours at work have been cut in half (which isn't the best thing, but sure leaves a lot of time to do nothing!) I'll be posting things again real soon! So stay in tune. ;)

Midnight Showing...

2009-04-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last night, Todd and I went with my little brothers to the midnight showing of "17 Again." Call me a nerd, but I LOVED it!!!!

Happy Birthday Dexter!!!

2009-03-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Dexter's 1st birthday! I know, I know, who celebrates their dogs birthday??? Well, I DO!!! Lol. It was actually my first time ever doing something like this for one of my animals, but it was kind of fun!! I made a little Dogie Cake out of hot dogs, scrambled eggs, and dog food- topped with a treat! I was pretty proud of it. Then I just made dexter's birthday hat out of paper and string, and wrapped his little present in tissue paper. Lol. I know, i went all out. I even got most of my family to come out and sing happy birthday to him!!! We all had a pretty big laugh singing Happy Birthday to a dog, but Dexter could tell something big was going on. He was soooo excited!! And when I put him on the floor to eat his "cake," He devoured it!!! Then we gave him his present and he wasn't all sure about it, but warmed up to it later that night. So yeah! Pretty fun and interesting day for us. I know, I'm a nerd. :) But oh well. Here are just a few pictures of that night.

The Master Piece

(I think Ro would be proud of my dogi art food!) ;)

Getting ready to sing to him!

Yumm Yumm! I make good Cake!

Not sure about his new toy...

Awe, what a cute little family!!! Dexter is such a good puppy and we had a great time celebrating his birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEX! (Now its time to get your 1 year shots!) :S

WE LIVE!!!

2009-03-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know its been an eternity since I last posted, but I'm sure no one has really cared but me. Lol. But if you do care, then FINALLY, here's an update. Ready? Here we go. First thing first. Valentines Day. It was a great day and Todd and I had a lot of fun. First we opened gifts from one another. I got him a candy letter poster with a little crafty card I made, while he got me beautiful flowers and Dark chocolate! Man, he knows me well!!! Then we went to Macaroni Grill where i got to eat tons of their bread that i love so much! IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! Then we ended the night by going to the movie "He's just not that into you." We thought it was pretty good, except for the affair part kind of ruined it, but with out it, it was pretty good. Anyways, so that was that. And now here are some pictures:

Oh yeah, and we killed some time before the movie taking some funny pictures. :)

Next thing that went down was the Celin Dion Concert we got to go to! Okay, for those of you who know me well, can only imagine how excited I was to go to this. I know this is kind of geeky to admit but I've LOVED Celin Dion FOREVER! Seriously, i sang to her songs when I was little and had a Karaoke Machine! (Oh yeah!) Anywho... the concert was phenomenal. When she came up from the stage to sing for the first time, my eyes filled up with tears! That's how pathetic i am! Ha ha. But I loved it. Todd was surprised by the amount of songs he knew, and didn't realize she sang them. I bet he enjoyed it more than he says he did. ;) She was a little different than i thought personality wise... but her voice was amazing!!! She is definitely better live! I thought maybe cause she was getting older and how recording studios can help your voice sound better that it wouldn't be quite as good. But boy was i wrong! If anything, she has only gotten better with age!!! The only sad thing about that evening was that my sisters weren't there to enjoy it with me. But here are a few pics from that night:

These last couple of pictures are just random ones of Dexter. I just think he is the cutest dog on the entire planet. I love it when he gets all tired and snuggles up to me. And the last one of him hiding under the bed just kills me! Lol.

So yeah... that's basically all the really big updates. Now every ones life can go on in peace. ;)
See ya!

Happy Birthday to Todd!!!

2009-02-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

Finally, I'm getting to my posts! Last weekend was Todd's birthday and I decided to throw him a surprise one! I did it the night before his birthday so I could catch him off guard. And it worked!! He was so surprised and it ended up being a great turn out. Thanks to our friends Paige and Donivan, they kept him away while all his friends gathered. Then we all waited in the kitchen and jumped out when he walked in. It was pretty funny. Then we just swam, hung out, played some games, and watched a movie. It was a lot of fun and I was so happy that a lot of his close friends got to come (Thanks to all who traveled far). So here are just some pictures of that night. I hope everyone had fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE! :)

Ice Skating

2009-02-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

Not to long ago, Todd and I went ice skating. Here are some pictures of our attempt to do so, Lol. (Well, at least me).

What a fun and crazy night!

Update

2009-01-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, for those of you who don't already know. I got a job. Finally! I work in Payson at a scrap booking and copy center. It's pretty fun, I like it. But its not so good for my spending habits... Lol. Its a little different to go back to work and do school at the same time. I'm wondering how I did it all before. But anyways, Todd got a Supervisor position at his work, so that is good. They will probably make him the manager again soon- since he's worked there for like 3 years! That's a long time. As far as everything else, well, nothing else is really going on. We went ice skating recently so that was fun. I'll probably be posting about that soon. so look for the pictures. ;) See ya.

"Fancy Pants" Dinner Party

2009-01-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

After new years Todd and I got invited to attend a Fancy Pants Dinner at my cousin Jeni and Ro's house. Ro was the chef! He is an amazing gourmet cook, and he prepared us an 8 course meal!!! By the end of the night, we left bulging our of our "fancy pants." Just kidding, but It was a lot of fun! I was planning on taking a lot of pictures of the food, but i kept eating them up too fast! So here are just a few.

Here's me and Todd after eating our first course! (Ro's going to kill me for messing this up cuz I don't know the proper name) but it was a crussant like pastry filled with french cheese and topped with some fruity sauce! Yummm! What a great way to start it off! :)

Another course we had was a lettuce wedge for a salad with blue cheese on top. I was a little nervous at first to eat it cuz i don't like blue cheese. But this was rediculously good! It was seriously one of my favorite courses of the night!

Okay, this was probably the weirdest thing we ate. (No offense Ro). It wasn't bad, just different. I think Ro called it a Pallet Cleanser. And it tasted like lavender! Okay girls, remember all that lavender you have in your bathroom. Imagine eating it! ha ha.

For the main meal, Ro cooked an AMAZING steak! I have never had a steak soooo good. That's probably why i devoured it before I could even take a picture!!!

It was a great night and we ended it with a bang! We had an amazing rich chocolate cake with raspberry sauce on top!

IT WAS TO DIE FOR!!!!

This was our famous chef Ro for the night!

Thanks Ro! It was delicious!!!!!

The Big Christmas Break

2008-12-29T18:09:00.000-08:00

So I'm sure most of you have realized that I've become obsessed with scrapblog! Its true. I just think its so much fun. Anyways, a lot has happened this Christmas break and I finally have the time to sit down and write about it all. For Christmas eve, me and Todd spend it over at his parents house. It was my first time spending Christmas eve with his family, and it was really fun to do something new. My favorite part was when the little kids dressed up and did the nativity. It was the cutest thing ever! And being that Todd is the "baby" of his family, we made him be the angel. Lol.

Then for the rest of the night we sang some Christmas carols, hung out, and opened a few gifts. We got an awesome game from Lindsey and Shafer, followed by some great movies and a golf bag from Todd's parents. Our nephew Andrew entertained us with some Christmas songs he learned in school! It was definetly one of the high lights of the night. :)

And then for MY family's tradition, we always open a pair of pajama's on Christmas Eve so we can sleep in them. So Todd got me some cute pink Pj's while i got him some BYU basketball shorts.

I posted this picture of my family because #1: We hardly ever have EVERYONE together and #2: We spend Christmas day with them and for some reason, I didn't take any pictures! :( But it was a lot of fun to wake up at my house on Christmas morning. My parents definitely spoiled us good. (But not as bad as they spoiled my cute nephew Ashton! ;) Ha ha. We got a few cloths, some gift cards, and every day needs. Thanks Mom and Dad!

The next thing that went down was my cousins surprise bridal shower! It was the day after Christmas, and it was so funny to see the look on her face when she walked in. She had no idea! I love that girl. I'm sad she had to leave so soon, but she is due in May, and is having a girl!!! I'm soooo excited for her.

Here's just a picture of my cousin Amanda and her husband Shaun and us right before they left to go back to Minnesota! :( I'll miss you Panda!!!

And last but not least, we had a wedding on the 27th. My cousin Hiedi got married and we were fortune enough to make her center pieces. I know I'm a nerd for posting this, but I was pretty happy with how they turned out. They didn't have a high budget, especially around Christmas time, so me and my mom were happy to help them out.

So yeah... that's pretty much what has been going on with us lately. Its been pretty crazy, but a lot of fun at the same time. We are sad to see Christmas come and go so fast, but are glad we were able to spend it with the people we love. :)

See ya!!!

A little picture happy...

2008-12-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

My Brother Josh and his family are here for Christmas and I just can't believe how big my little nephew Ashton is getting!!! He is 10 months and already walking! He runs around and screams while he gets into everything! He's adorable!!! So, one day I decided to follow him around and take a whole bunch of pictures... And that's where these come in:

What a Cutie! Huh!

Cute Animals

2008-12-13T17:02:00.001-08:00

Ever since Ceaser got his fur coat taken from him, he's been snuggling up to me and especially Todd. I almost feel like I've been replaced! ;) Ha ha. One day I walked into the bedroom and found Ceaser and Todd like this. It was pretty cute. I just had to take a picture.

Then my little brother Branden bought this Christmas outfit for our family dog Harvey, but being that he is practically anorexic, it didn't fit him, so we decided to put it on Dexter. He pulled a pretty cute face while he was wearing it. :)

Ha ha ha! Funny huh. Yes I'm obsessed with my animals, but I guess that's what happens when you don't have kids yet. Well, I hope these pictures at least brought a smile to your faces.

Merry Christmas!!!

For Better or Worse...

2008-12-09T00:23:00.000-08:00

So for those of you who don't know (but I'm sure most of you do) I have a cat named Ceaser that I've had for about 3 years. I got him when all my friends were getting married off and I found myself a little... well, lonely. I specifically got him because of his bright blue eyes and his white fluffy coat. He was gorgeous, and was meant to be an indoor cat. For a while now my cat has been staying at my parents house, and since then he's turned into an outdoor cat- leaving his white fluffy coat harder and harder to maintain. We noticed his hair was getting pretty matted so my mom set up an appointment to take him into the groomers. Well when I got home, this is how I found him.

This picture doesn't even do its justice, but they ended up having to give him a "Lion Cut," where they shaved his entire body but left his head and legs long. Then they left a big puff ball at the end of his tail! Yeah, it looks ridiculous! I don't know why, but when I saw him I just started crying! (I blame it on the birth control). However, Todd thought it was the funniest thing ever! I guess the benefit of it is that he doesn't shed half as bad- which is nice, but still... I miss his white fluffy coat. :(

Lord of the Rings Marathon

2008-11-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Todd and I had our Annual Lord of the Rings Marathon over at the Shearers! It was a lot of fun! Its a tradition me and my cousin Amanda started once we graduated high school, we had it every year between Nov-Dec for 3 years, then she moved away. :( But I'm glad to say that we've still continued it. Last year we had it at our apt, and this year we had it at Jen and Ro's. So yeah... it was my 5th LOTR Marathon and Todd's 3rd! Crazy huh. People might think its a little silly, but we love it!!! :)

1st Year Early Birds

2008-11-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving day, Todd and I were up at his house looking through some of the Holiday ads with his family, when we spotted this really great deal on a digital camera! You may remember, I fell into lake Powell with my old camera- so getting a new one had been on our minds for a while. So anyways, we saw a Canon Camera for $129.99 at Inkley's which is usually $160 and it came with a free $100 value coat! Todd needed a coat, so we thought it would be good to kill 2 birds with one stone. We were a little hesitant at first because we had no idea what would be in store for us if we woke up early and got to the doors. The store opened at 6am and we figured getting there 15 minutes early was good enough. WRONG! People had been lining up since 4am! It wasn't a large crowed. We maybe had about 15 people in front of us and 10 behind us, but we were nervous everyone was going for the same thing! Well, we finally got into the store and thankfully we were able to get help pretty quick. We told them we wanted the Canon camera with the free coat. Then she asked us if we wanted the free printer that went a long with it. "YES!" we decided on the spot. Then we saw that they were also giving away three 4GB memory cards! For FREE! So we snatched them as well!!! When we left and added everything up, we realized we had gotten over $400 worth of stuff for only $130!!!! We were stoked! When we got home we were so excited to tell everyone about our great deal. I can see now why people like to do this every year- it was awesome getting the deal that we got and it was kind of like a mini high. Ha ha. But I was so excited that i wanted to post it on our blog! So enjoy! ;)

Finally!

2008-11-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

Twilight finally came out on Friday, and me, my sisters, and my mom woke up early to catch the first show. We all got pretty into it, which was fun. We each wore a Twilight shirt and some red hair strands in our hair! Lol. Call us nerds, but the night before the show we had a little party where we made Twilight bracelets and talked about our favorite parts in the book! We had a good time laughing at our obsessions, especially Chantel's with Edward! ;)

(Click to make bigger)

When we got to the show early the next day, we were confronted with a HUGE line. Luckily we were still able to find some good seats! Before the previews began, me and my sisters wrote some Twilight "art" on each other. Lets just say, some people looked at us a little funny... but we didn't care because WE ARE TWILIGHT NERDS!!!

We were a little nervous that the movie was going to be really lame and cheesy, but we left absolutely loving it! In fact, I saw it again with Todd that night up in Bountiful! Ha ha. Oh yeah, and guys... he liked it too! So if you haven't seen it already... GO!!!

Weekend

2008-11-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

So I haven't written anything for a while, because not a whole lot has been going on. However, this weekend turned out to be a good one! On Friday night, me and Todd invited some friends and family over to come down and have a bomb fire. We roasted marshmallows, listened to some music, told some stories, and then ended the night by getting in the hot tub. It was a lot of fun because it was something new! If theres one thing i hate, is doing the same thing every weekend. Then on Saturday me and Todd watched the the byu football game with my sister Tiff and Spenc. The game got pretty intense, which is always fun- when we came up on top anyways. :) Then after the game, we met up with Todd's sister Emily and Andrew at IKEA where we walked around and got some great ideas for decorating. (I love decorating!) Then we ate some dinner there and hung out for the rest of the time. It was a lot of fun. On the way home, me and Todd stopped at block buster where we got two movies. We got "Duplex" and "Fever Pitch." Drew Berrymore is in both of them, which we thought was pretty funny cuz Todd usually doesn't like her. We watched "Duplex" when we got home and it was really funny! If anyone hasn't seen it, and you like Ben Stiller and your looking for a comedy, I recommend it. Then today, Sunday, we just stayed here, ate a great ham and cheesy potato dinner with my family and watched Kunfu Panda! I was good. We liked it. :) I'm really excited for next weekend because of two things. Twilight is on Friday (Yes I'm a twilight fan!), and me and my sisters are going to the Celin Dion Concert in SLC! Lol. Its going to be awesome!!!! So yeah...... pretty fun stuff. But that's all that's been going on. Nothing too interesting, but SOMETHING! Hopefully next time I'll have something more exciting to post. :)

Makin' Babies...

2008-11-11T00:20:00.000-08:00

So I saw this on my friends blog and thought it would be fun to try it out! Lol. I put in mine and Todd's pictures and this is "supposedly" what our kids could look like! I was a little nervous at first... "What if they are ugly?" I thought. But I was pretty happy with the results. So i guess in five years or so i can look back on this and see how close they were. I actually don't think these pictures look anything like either of us, or our baby pictures, but oh well. It was fun! :) Hope you enjoy!

Halloween Party!

2008-10-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Me and my sister Tiffany hosted a Halloween costume party on Saturday night and it was soooo fun! We had a great turn out. It was at my sisters apartment, and we spent all Friday decorating for it! I looked sweet! First we made Ginger Dead Houses, where me, Todd, Rob, & Rachel pared up and made the coolest Ginger Dead House ever! We actually won the over all prize, so YAY to us! :) Then after that we played a couple games. One was the game "spoons" but we played with eye balls instead. It got kind of crazy. The last two in was Todd & Spencer- the brothers in law! Dun dun dun! Todd was a little cocky, and well... he lost. (But way to get to the end babe!) Ha ha. Then after that we played the mummy game, and that got kind of hectic... I felt like i was playing football. (Those for you that were there, know what i mean.) Then we turned on a scary movie to finish it off- "Wait Until Dark." Its an older movie, but for an old one it was pretty good. And that concluded our Halloween party! It was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who came! :) We hope you have a happy Halloween!!!

Fred & Dafney~ Jack & The Bean Stalk & The Goose ~ Santaquin Sheriff & Jackie Sparrow

Some Party fun!

Uh... Adam Family Parents? ~ Mexican Walker & Punk Rocker Chick :)

Yay!!! Engagements!

2008-10-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so between me and Todd getting married and moving into our apt and then moving out of it again, I lost our Engagement disk and i couldn't find it anywhere! I kept telling myself that i would put them on my computer soon but just never got around to it. I finally got nervous enough and decided to call my photographer. Thank goodness she still had us in her system even though they were taken a year and a half ago. She sent them in the mail and i just got them yesterday, and then put them on my computer asap! It was fun looking through them again cause we haven't seen them forever! So i just thought I'd post a few of them. :)

Sister Crafts!

2008-10-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

So Me and my sisters, Tiffany and Chan, got together the other day to do some crafts! We had bought these sayings like a month ago and finally found a time to do them. It was a lot of fun. Some how I became the head help. :S I'm just glad everyone's turned out okay. It really wasn't as hard as we thought it was going to be. It only took a few hrs and we were done! Here are just a few pics we took of our adventure:

Me helping Tiff centering her lettering... can you see me shaking?!! ;)

Go Tiff Go!

Chan's so cute! I loved the way hers turned out!

Say Cheese!

Looking at the final finish

And done! Don't they look great!!! :) Good job girls!

St. George!!!

2008-10-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

For Fall Break, Todd and I went with my family to St. George. Other than that I never really saw Todd during the days (cause he was golfing), it was a lot of fun! Todd went to the Coral Canyon golf course with my brothers, while Me, my mom, and sisters spend our days shopping and then going to a spa. We got a facial, a full body message, and a manicure. It was soooo nice! (Thanks Mom!) :) I'm glad Todd was able to go out and do something he doesn't get to do very often. He had a lot of fun as well. Then in the evenings we spent our time at the Tuacahn Theater where we saw "Les Mis" and "Big River,"- the story about Huckleberry Finn, which were both AMAZING!!! We had so much fun just being in the nice weather and with family. It was the perfect vacation and we're sad to be back and going to school. But that's life. ;) So here's a few pictures of our trip.

Tiffany, Chan, & Me @ Tuacahn

I love this picture! We're such posers!

Todd & shinny me at Les Mis

Todd & Spencer golfing

The boys!

Isn't this mask sweet!? My inner self. Maybe I should be a cat for Halloween...

Shopping with my sisters! Cute glasses huh. I should have bought them!

All Smiles! :)

Husband Tag!

2008-10-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

I figure since I'm really the only one who writes on this blog (for the both of us), that I would do this tag for Todd!!!

1. Where did you meet your husband? I met him through my cousin's husband's missionary buddies friend- Walker.
2. How long did you date before you married? 1 year
3. How long have you been married? 1 year and 2 1/2 months ;)
4. What does he do that surprises you? He'll clean out my car and vacuums it since I never do it. Ha ha. He's always trying to do little things like that to surprise me. But half the time I catch him in the act.
5. What is your favorite feature on him? His gorgeous blue eyes
6. What is your favorite quality that he has? He's soooo kind hearted and self-less
7. Does he have a nickname for you? ummm... he'll call me babe every once in a while... and maybe Kar-bear but I grew up with that nickname.
8. What is his favorite food? I wanna say Mexican food or anything spicy!!!
9. What is his favorite sport? BYU football!
10. When & where was your first kiss? Eh... it was just a few days after our first date on the 24th of July... I didn't kiss him again for like a week or two! ha ha.
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Hangout with friends, play games, and tease each other.
12. Do you have any children? Try again in a year or two...
13. Does he have any hidden talents? He plays the guitar, and i love it!
14. How old is he? 23
15. Who said I love you first? I did. He told me about a month after that. Lol.
16. What is his favorite music? Punk and Alternative Rock
17. What do you admire most about him? I admire what a great person he is all around! He is out going, funny, and super spiritual, and non judgemental. He loves to serve and be happy! He loves life and is such a hard worker! Go Todd!!! ;)
18. What is his favorite color? Blue
19. Will he read this? Yes, cuz I'll make him check it and see how right i am on some of these
20. Who do you tag? Anyone who wants to do it! Have fun!

The Salt Lake Temple

2008-10-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my pictures and saw that i had a lot of the Salt Lake Temple. These are only a few, but it just reminded me of how much i love this temple. My parents got married there in 1982, and growing up I've always wanted to get married there too. It was an exciting day to finally go there and be sealed to Todd. Not only was this temple special to me from the beginning, its always been a symbol of home. It wasn't until i moved out of Utah when I realized how much i truly missed this temple. I see now why people travel from all over to experience this great historical site. It still amazes me that pioneers were able to build such an incredible temple and how much hard work they put into it. It constantly reminds me that you give your best to the lord.

The Greatness of Futurama

2008-10-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, i just love Futurama and wanted to post about it! And since MY words can't express how great and funny it is, i decided to just put a few lines down from it. Here are some:

Fry: Man, I thought Ultimate Robot Fighting was real, like pro wrestling, but it turns out it's fixed, like boxing.

Fry is one of my favorites. So is Bender. Here's another one:

Fry: That clover helped my rat-faced brother steal my dream of going into space. Now I'll never get there.
Leela: You went there this morning- for doughnuts.

Ha ha. Here's another:

Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Above all else it is our responsibility to preserve the timeline. [Fry walks in]
Fry: Well, I've killed my grandfather.
Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Whaaaaaaaa?!!
Leela: Wait, if you killed your grandfather, why do you still exist?
Fry: I don't know. Maybe God loves me.
Bender: [Starts laughing hysterically]

And another:

Bender: I was a hero to broken robots 'cause I was one of them, but how can I sing about being damaged if I'm not? That's like Christina Aguilera singing Spanish. Ooh, wait! That's it! I'll fake it!

Lol. Okay, a few more:

Fry: You know what the worst thing about being a slave is? They make you work hard without paying you or letting you go.
Leela: Fry, that's the only thing about being a slave.

I could go on for hours.

Leela: After all this time, somebody else with one eye... who ISN'T a clumsy carpenter or a kid with a BB gun.

Last one:

[Surprise funeral for Bender]
Fry: Dearly beloved, we are here today to remember Bender, who was taken from us in the prime of his life, when he was crushed by a runaway semi driven by the incredible Hulk.
Bender: Awe, you knew my favorite cause of death.

Okay, this is the last one- i mean it this time. :)

Bender: Com'on! Surely their must be someone here who knows how great I was!
Fry: Yes there is Bender. [Fry stands up and moves to the front] Bender was a lot of things to a lot of people, but the looking back the number one things I can say about him is this. And simply this. [Fry puts his hand over his heart] Bender was my friend.
Bender: What?! That's it? Who are you! Your no body! This is the worst funeral ever! I hope your all happy! You've succeeded in convincing me life is worth living, by showing me how bad my funeral will suck!

Ha ha! Well, i'll stop there. Now i'm going to go watch me some more Futurama! Hope you enjoyed. See ya! :)

True Blonde

2008-09-26T11:21:00.001-07:00

So, I just thought this would be a funny story to share. Those of you who know me well, will probably find this more humorous because its something I would sooooooo do. Last Sunday I woke up and left the lights turned off for Todd, because he didn't have to wake up for like another 2o minutes. So I thought I'd be a nice wife and just dress in the dark, trying my hardest not to disturb him. Well, like a usual Sunday morning I was hurrying to get ready, -being that church starts at 9am, i'm always in a rush. So I finished getting ready just in time to jump in the car and head down to church. I had gone through 2 sessions already and was sitting in relief society next to my grandma when i put my feet up on the chair in front of me. I looked down in confusion and realized i had two different shoes on!! And that I was wearing them like that the whole day! I was soooo embarrassed as i nudged my grandma and showed her. She just busted up laughing as i took a picture of it! Ha ha. I spend the rest of church trying to hide my feet underneath me, and as soon as it was time to go, I got out of there. Me and my family had a pretty good laugh about it later at the dinner table. :)

Todd vs. Frolfing

2008-09-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

So i decided to take my friends advise and write about Todd's Frolfing experience today. I had a test this morning and Todd decided to come up with me to meet up with his friend Devin to play Frolfing. I've never heard of such a silly sport before. I got done with my test early and decided to join them. I was actually surprised how fun it was. The little Frolf baskets went around a small pond on the campus. Sometimes we had to be careful when we threw our Frisbee's because the pond was so close. On one throw Todd got it close enough to the water where his Frisbee just rolled in. He hurried and took off his shoes and shocks to step into the water-only being a few inches deep. Walker ran over to his side and told him as he was stepping into the water that it was going to be slippery, but by that time it was too late. Todd slipped on the moss and fell in the water. The water came all the way up to his neck as he called out for help. Walker reached out his hand and pulled him out just soon enough so he could throw out his phone on the grass. By this point i was laughing my head off, but hurried to his side to help him. But he was soaked! So that was the end of our Frolfing game. We walked back to my car and i gave Todd the only dry cloths i had in my car. They were some spandex pants and a small black hoodie. He changed in the parking lot and just looked hilarious wearing my cloths. It really made for a good story. Todd was a good sport as me and Devin laughed and took pictures of him with our phones. Ha ha. I love you Todd.

God Bless America...

2008-09-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

I was reading my friend Amanda's blog where she posted a little clip on "where you were" when 9-11 hit, and I too wanted to say a little bit about it and where i was. I was a sophomore in high school and when i woke up that morning, i remember my parents telling me a plane had hit one of the twin towers in NYC. It didn't really hit me how bad it was until i actually saw it on TV. Then when the 2nd plane hit, i knew, right then, something was very wrong. I knew it couldn't have been an accident but an attack on us personally. As i went to school i know what Amanda means when she said it was really quiet that day. A sense of unknowing fear crept through the hall ways. Instead of a normal day of class, my health teacher turned on the TV and we watched the news instead. Then I remember coming home to the news on and how everyone was stuck to the TV just watching. Waiting... And i remembered watching the twin towers collapse and seeing the horror in my mothers eyes. I couldn't believe i was witnessing an attack on America and how it would go down in history. It didn't really hit me how bad it was for everyone there until stories started to unfold- How people put their lives on the line to save one another. How we acted as real hero's in a time of real crises. And how many lives were lost... so many lives... My heart goes out to all of the people who lost their loved ones that day. I was very grateful to be standing in my house with my family at that time. But even after all that, I remember how America stood tall and how we worked together and become closer as a nation. It made me proud to be an American, and i hope God continues to bless us and America!

No Camera... No Posts...

2008-09-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

So... we haven't updated anything for a while because I like to put pictures up with most of my post, and being that i don't have a camera that works... well, you see where I'm getting at. We are hoping to get one soon though, and hopefully we do so i can start to put up more exciting posts. Other than that, nothing really exciting has been going on. However, we did go up to Farmington to celebrate Emily's birthday over the weekend. It was a lot of fun! I think she just turned 25! ;) Then on Sunday we attended Lindsay and Shafers Baby blessing for little Maxwell. He is sooo cute! And it was really fun to see where they live now. Then we've just been busy trying to get everything settled in. I swear by the time we get everything organized, it'll be time to move again!!!! Lol. well, see ya.

We're Home!!!

2008-09-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, most of you already know that Todd and I are officially home. Yipee!!! The drive here was 25 hours and I thought i was gonna die for the last 2 hours of it. But now we are finally home, living at my parents house and jumping right into school. :( Sad huh. But we'll try to come visit as many people as we can as soon as we can- we just gotta get settled first. Other than that, nothing too exciting is going on. I'm currently on the market for a job so if anyone see's anything they think i might like, let me know. Thanks! Talk to you all later. See ya. :)

Last blog from Ohio

2008-08-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well... today is the last day I will be blogging from Ohio. We are taking our WOW cable connections back in tomorrow, which means i'll have 2 or 3 days with no Internet!!! Sad huh. What am i going to do when i'm not surfing the web and blogging nonsense??? Hmmm.... Well, I am happy to say, the next time I do post anything we'll be back in Utah! Haray!!!! :) So I guess we'll see you all soon! Take care.

Halloween...

2008-08-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know Halloween is still pretty far away, but it is Todd's favorite Holiday, (Don't ask why) ;) Lol. Anyways, we were talking about what we should be this year for Halloween and we seriously can't think of anything. Last year we were Sharpay & Ryan (Bro & Sis) from High School Musical. We thought it would be funny since everyone tells us we look like brother and sister. And because that movie totally rocks!!!! Ha ha ha. So anyways, i'm writing this post to see if anyone has any good ideas for us??? Our friend Walker said we should be Dwight and Angela from The Office. Hmmmm..... What do you all think? Let us know if you got anything. Thanks! :)

(Here is a comparison on how we did last year. I think you can click on the image to make bigger).

Home Sweet Home

2008-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to say that Todd and I are leaving one week from today to go back home to Utah!!! I am so excited!!! But i just know that this last week is going to draggggggg oonnnnnnnnnn and oooonnnnnnnnnnnn........ I'm getting to the point where I'm pacing in my apt wondering what else i can do to entertain myself. Dexter helps a little, (when he isn't driving me crazy!!!) Todd only needs 5 or 6 more sales! So everyone pray for him so he can reach his goal. he's worked so hard, and it would be really great to leave this summer with a purpose. I'll be seeing you all soon! Take care!!!

Pet Peeve!!!

2008-08-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

So I've noticed in the last
couple of weeks more cigarette buds on the grass near my apt then usual. And today, I found out the source behind it. We just recently had someone move in upstairs, but a crossed from us. And as i was walking Dexter today, i saw her light up and then throw her bud down on the grass with the rest of her collection. Its disgusting how many are there now! I can't even walk Dexter over there anymore cuz he's always trying to eat them! Does she not have any respect for the world and people around her. It made me sooo mad. I mean, its non of my business that she smokes, and i could really care less if she does, but when its to the point where there is like 50 or more buds out on the grass, and i can see more white than green, right next to where i live.... Ewww! that just bugs! Seriously, how hard is it to throw it away! I found this sign and it made me laugh. But seriously! Take care of your trash!!!

Lake Powell!

2008-08-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

So Todd and I just got home from Lake Powell late last night. Its tradition for my family to go every summer in August and i was soooo happy we were able to go. It was soooo much fun!!! I took a few pictures, that is, until my camera fell in the water!!! Yup. So that's the end of my picture taking for a while. Luckily i was able to save my SIM card, so this is all i got:

This is Spencer and Tiffany, my sister, and Todd and I. This was the view of our beach on top of the sand hill. Our beach was amazing! We even had our own family Olympics where we started from the top of this hill and ended at the bottom. It was soooo much fun! My team won! Go team!!! ;)

Chantel and Baby Ashton. It was his first time in the water and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Lol.

Tiff & Chan just swimming

The boys: Spencer & Todd

And this just looked like a cool picture so i took it. Its my little brother Dalen and Todd. So yeah... it was soooo much fun! And I'm sad we had to leave early to come back to Ohio, but i only need to endure 2 more weeks of it! i can do it. :)

Taped Faces!

2008-08-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

So we got bored on Sunday evening and decided to tape each others faces. We got a pretty good laugh out of it, so we hope you enjoy it too. Lol. :)

To Andrew, Branden, & Jackie!!!

2008-08-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

So last night was mine and Todd's nephew Andrews Birhtday. I believe he just turned 6 years old. Its crazy to think he's that big because when i met him he was only like 3 or 4 years old. We talked to him a little bit on the phone last night and he told us he got some Transformers! Lol. You could hear the excitement in his voice. It was soooo fun to get to talk to him. I remember when birthdays we're that exciting... ;)

Then today is my little brother Branden's Birthday! Happy Birthday Bud! He's 18 years old!!! Ahhh! My family is getting soooo old! Okay, so this kid is Amazing!!! He is so down to earth, cool & funny. He's handsome (& he knows it) Lol, He is artistically talented, and is such a romantic! Watching him get older i've been so proud of him. He's such a good kid and a fighter in everything he does. I miss him like crazy out here and the good ol' talks we have when he shares me his writings and i find myself almost in tears! Yes, he's THAT good. Happy Birthday Branden! Now everyone check out how good looking he is. ;)

Next is my friend Jackie. Her birthday is actually tomorrow, and i don't have a recent photo of her but i just love this girl. She has gone through so much in her life and to be where she is, i definitely look up to her for it. She is such a good friend and i'm excited for her and what her new future holds. ;) I'm excited to move home and hopefully see more of her. Happy Birthday Jackie! I hope its a good one for ya.

So Yeah... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL! I LOVE AND MISS YOU!!! Take care.

Channy Mae- I love this Girl!

2008-07-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture of my little sister on her facebook profile, and it really just made my day. Lol. I seriously couldn't stop laughing. She is such a funny girl, and i just miss hanging out with her. She was my little buddy in Florida, and during my birthday. I'm sure i annoyed her a lot with my Kara-ness, but i had a lot of fun. Your awesome Chan! I'll see you soon! :)

Our exciting last 24 hours

2008-07-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

So Saturday night, Todd and I celebrated our 1 year Anniversary. It was soooo much fun! Todd really spoiled me good! First we went to Dinner at "McCormicks & Schmick's," A really nice sea food restaurant, where on the top of the menu had in bold letters "Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary Todd & Kara." We started out with a Crab, Shrimp, and Artichoke Dip with fried Pita chips for an appetizer- it was sooooo good! Then Todd got a stake while i got an Alaskan salmon. Yummm! We ended our dinner with an AMAZING desert! It was a dark chocolate replica of a paper sack with fresh strawberries, blueberries, whip cream, and raspberry moose on the bottom. It was seriously to die for!!!! Then Todd surprised me by giving me a really nice necklace from Kay's Jewelers. It was perfect! Then we ended our awesome night by going down to Gahanna where we stayed the night at a bed and breakfast. Besides the fact that the house was built in the 1800's and a little creepy, it was a lot of fun to have the whole place to our selves. Lol. We stayed in a little antique white room where Todd surprised me again with some roses and some sparkling cider. It was so much fun! What a great way to start off another year.

Then the next day we went to Kirkland with a bunch of friends where we took a tour inside the Kirkland Temple. It was really neat learning about the history there and the saints that use to live there. Here are a few pictures of the fun we had there.

A night out with the girls...

2008-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Another high light on my trip to Utah was meeting up with my girlfriends and going out to dinner. It was sooo much fun to see them again and hear about their new lives. I hope we can stay friends forever and continue to do things like this often. Love you guys! Oh, and happy birthday to you all!!! :)

Amanda, me, Shelley, and Steph

Oh, and Jackson (that's stephs boy) ;)

I love these girls!

Friends Forever!

Tiffany's Wedding

2008-07-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

My sister Tiffany just got married last friday to the love of her life, Spencer Taylor. It was such a beautiful wedding, these pictures don't even compare. It was sooo fun to be with family again as we celebrated their new lives together. I'm sooo excited for her and just think they are the cutest couple. CONGRATS you guys and good luck with everything! :)

Birthday Fun!!!

2008-07-15T22:37:00.001-07:00

Here's just a few pics of the birthday party on Sunday evening. It was sooo much fun to have everyone there! :)

Also, my mom wrote me a birthday poem. After reading it, you'll be able to tell why i couldn't stop laughing as i read it aloud to everyone.

"Kara! Kara! Kara!
We love you more than air'a

You are so cute and fair'a

We wouldn't want to share ya

You look good in what you wear'a

We love your golden hair'a

Your beauty has no err'a

It makes everybody stare'a

Kara! Kara! Kara!

We adore the one you marr'ad

There's not a better pair'a

Your kindness is so rare'a

Don't ever let it ver'a

Find a better poem, I dare ya!

Our love will never terr'a

Kara! Kara! Kara!"

Ha ha ha! Isn't that sooooo funny.

You can tell i get my creativity from my mom! ;) Love you Mom!

Family Vacation to Florida

2008-07-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Walt Disney World: The most magical place on earth!

Alicia & I at Universal Studios! We had VIP passes- oh yeah!

Walle was one of the high lights of my trip. This movie is adorable!

My nephew Ashton! He's gotten soooo big, and is so much fun! I can't believe how smart he is.

Branden, me (Josh & Alicia behind us) on Thunder Moutain!

I love this picture! Ha ha. My cousin Desi and the lobsters she ordered.

Isn't this couch HUGE!!! Ha ha ha.

Look how cute he is! I love this little guy!

Okay, so this is a funny story. Me and my cousin Kaylor ended up with a lot of the same things by the end of our vacation. It all started with her ipod. She bought an ipod cover and i really wanted one too, but they were out of all the other styles. She was really nice and told me to go a head and buy the same one she got. So i did. Then i was trying to find a Walle toy figure but all i could find was all the Eva's. Kaylor really wanted one too, so we spend a lot of our time shopping from one park to another looking for them, but they were all sold out. :( So we finally bought Eva! Next, i really wanted to get a Jonas Brothers t-shirt. I know, way nerdy right. But everyone there was obssesed with it, and i'm not going to lie, i started to jam out a little bit myself. So me and Kaylor found these cute pink shirts and decided to get them together. Then the night before we left to come home we shopped one more time and found another shirt of tinkerbell cuz we are both obssesed with her too. (that's the white shirt on our laps). It was just sooo funny how we ened up getting a lot of the same things. So we put it all together and took a picture! It was so funny! I love that girl!

Our crazy flight home! It was scary cuz we traveled in a storm and the plane shook a whole lot! Someone even passed out on it! It was scary! :S

Missing You...

2008-07-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, its been 1 week and 1 day since i left todd all alone in Ohio. (sorry babe). And i'm missing him like crazy! This will be the longest we've been away from each other since we've been married! But i'm glad to see that i only have a few more days until he is finally here. We are both really excited to see his family and the new baby, Maxwell Taylor. Well, i don't really have much more to say except I'm also missing my cute little puppy Dexter. Thanks to Lianne, i haven't worried too much! :)

Our 4th of July!

2008-07-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so our 4th of July wasn't anything big (like fire works at Disney world--which i'm sure was amazing Dad!) but i still had a really good time just hanging out with Todd. We bought some glow sticks and that was really the high light of our night. Lol. We went down town to Columbus to try to find some fire works where we sat in a ghetto street and watched some in our car. That's where we started to experiment with the camera and our glow sticks with shapes. Then when we came back, todd sang "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond on his guitar, ha ha. It made me laugh. Then we ended our night by walking over to Jon and Nancy's where we watched a movie. It was fun. Here are just some random pics of our fun and crazy night.

I LoVe GoOd DeALs!!!

2008-07-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

So i got some birthday money in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma Callan (Thank you by the way) ;) and i took a trip over to kholes where i found some pretty great deals. I was really excited and was happy to see my money go a long way. Grandma Callan would be proud! Here is just a few things of what i got! :)

I also took Dexter into the vet today. He had a strange bump on his head, but i'm glad to say that he's healthier than ever!!! I just took a few pics of him when i got back. I love this one where he is tilting his head at me like "what are you doing?" He's a cutie!

A little glimpse...

2008-06-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Tiff, here's a little glimpse of some pages in your sign in book me & Lianne made. They are so cute! I'm sooo excited to show you the full thing, and i'm even more excited to finally put the photo's in their spot. I hope you like what you see. Let me know what you think. :)

I love this man!

2008-06-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

I've just been sitting here thinking how lucky I am to be with such a great man like Todd. His mother definitely raised him right. ;) He's so caring and sweet. He's done such a great job this summer going out in the hot hot sun everyday while i stay home and go tanning. its definitely not fair. But as i was just looking through some pictures of us, i couldn't help but smile because I really truly feel so lucky to have him in my life. He is the most unselfish person i know and he definitely puts up a lot being married to me! I love you Hun! :)

To Chantel

2008-06-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my little sister Chantel! She just turned 20 years old, so she's not a teenager anymore! Its crazy to think she is 20! My littler sister-Channy Mae-20!!! it blows my mind. She is the most caring person i know! Even though she is no longer a kid, she's a kid at heart and i love that about her. She's always been a great little sister to me, even though i haven't always been the greatest to her. I would always make her do everything for me, split the room in half to clean and always throwing things on her side, make her do things she didn't want to do like stand on my shoulders, I even tried to convince her she came from another planet- ha ha ha. I was awful, but still, we've grown up and become very close. She's one of my best friends. Thanks for putting up with me Sis! I hope you have a great Birthday!!!! :)

Worry Prone!

2008-06-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

K! so i'm pretty sure i'm going to be the most paranoid parent ever when i have kids. We took Dexter in this morning to get his first vaccine shot, and it was the saddest thing. He was so scared. The doctor told us he might have an allergic reaction to the shot and if he did, to bring him back. They told us to look for white gums, and a swollen face. A few hours later Dexter started to act abnormal. He wouldn't hold still and he was whimpering everywhere he went. I also noticed his gums weren't as pink and that his cheeks looked a little bigger. I called the vet back to see if i should bring him in, but they told me to give him some Benadryl first to see if that would help. Lets just say, I keep looking over at him to see if he's more swollen or has other symptoms. Then before todd left, he was petting him and felt a small lump in his hair. Todd dug through his hair to get it out and it looked like a piece of food or like a bean stuck in his head. As soon as we got a better look at it, i told todd it was a big bug! We got the tweezers and pulled it out, and it was a HUGE tick! Like, i've seen ticks before, and this was huge! I couldn't believe it and i almost started gagging. I HATE bugs. Poor Dexter. We just bathed him yesterday and we found no sign of it. We didn't know how long it had been there, so i called the doggy hospital and they said he should be fine as long as we got the head out- which we did. Now i'm just sitting here wondering what else i can get worried about! If i'm like this with my dog, i can't imagine what its going to be like when i have children!!! I'm pretty sure i get it from my mother. ;) sorry mom, but its true. Ha ha.

This is a picture of his swollen face. I guess you wouldn't be able to tell unless you were around him more. :(

Obsessed!!!

2008-06-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

So I forgot how much I LOVE the Twilight books. When i first read them i couldn't put them down. Then I got to the third book when school started and i was so swamped that i never finished it. I just picked it back up this summer, and i have just fallen in love with them all over again. Call me a nerd (or a Twerd -ha ha), but I'm just in awe how Stephenie Meyer writes. Maybe its because I also like to write and hope to write a short story someday. I admire her work, and how she's able to relate everything, and also tie it all together. Also for creating the perfect man- Edward (even though he is a vampire). Lol. I'm soooo excited for the movie to come out. December is too far away! Me and Lianne have watched a couple snap shots here and there and it looks sweet!!! Anyone who hasn't read these books yet, your missing out!!!

Moving on up

2008-06-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, i just wanted to post where Todd is right now because he is doing such a GREAT job! I can't even imagine how stressful it would be to go out door to door selling all day long! He's definitely a trooper, and i'm so proud of him. We went on the Apx website today and found out that Todd is ranked 11 out of 28 people. He also has 15 sales and feels like he is really getting everything down. Keep up the good work Hun! :)

A first for everything

2008-06-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

So Dexter got his first bath yesterday. It was the saddest thing, cause he was so scared! He wouldn't trust me or todd for a while after, but we took some pretty cute pics of him. :)

Flash Floods and Tornado Warnings

2008-06-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

So last night the sky's lit up and rumbled all night long while the hard rain beat against the windows. I don't think i've ever experienced a storm that lasted-literally- all day and all night long. We woke up and our little pond out back had seriously gone up like a foot or more! We couldn't believe how much it rained and how long it was going to continue. We turned on the news and we are right in the middle of flash floods and tornado warnings. They even mentioned our little county of New Albany. Its a little scary. Immediately i didn't think todd should go out, but i guess nothing can stop a working man... All i know is if that tornado siren goes off, i'm taking off to Liannes apt! We're gonna sit in her bath tub and play cards or something. Lol. Anyways, I took a few pics to show the depressing weather we are experiencing right now and I just hope it doesn't get any worse.

Some Updates

2008-06-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Carrotts

Pees

Green Peppers

Dexter likes to sleep on his back

Look how cute he is!!!

Hey Everyone, I'm so excited how far along our garden has come that i wanted to post some more pics up. I can already see some green peppers growing in! Yay!!! Also, i took a few more pics of Dexter, he's so cute! but don't let the pictures fool you, when he's awake he's kind of a monster! Lol. Well, we love you and miss you all! :) Chow!

Saying Goodbye to home

2008-05-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

So i'm really sad right now because me and todd wont have a home to go home to when we get back from Ohio. We are selling our contract to my soon to be newly wed sister tiffany. I am sad because its mine and todd's first home. its an older home but has a lot of character! I've loved the wood floors in the living room with the fireplace to decorate. Our bedroom and closet were huge!!! We had so much space and what was great was that we paid so little. Our kitchen has a nice dinning area and a lot of white cabinets that reached to the vaulted ceiling. Yes, vaulted ceilings! I'm really sad to let it go. It was a great first home for me and todd and holds a lot of precious memories.

Picnic Fun

2008-05-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Just a little bit of picnic fun for us and the Walkers. it was fun to get out in the hot hot sun! :)

Guess what we did...

2008-05-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well... i bet you figured it out by now. :)

Counting down...

2008-05-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

So... i'm counting down the days to go to Florida to see my entire family! it's gonna be awesome. I am so excited for Tiff and all her wedding plans that are coming together! its going to be such a beautiful wedding!!! But most of all, i'm so excited to see my newest nephew baby Ashton! I miss holding him and just trying to get him to laugh. He is such a cutie!!! Everyone, check out how cute he is!

Garden!!!

2008-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, Todd and I decided to copy our good friends Devin & Lianne in having a little garden on our back porch. We decided to try and grow peas, green peppers, and carrots. I was a little nervous at first because i've never really taken care of plants before, but Devin was good and letting me know what i needed to do. Just the other day i walked out and saw that they were actually growing!!! I was so excited so i decided to post some pics on here of what they look like so far. Yeah! we have a garden! :)

To Family & Friends

2008-05-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

So today it kind of hit me how much i really miss home. Don't get me wrong, its been fun being here not having to go to school, being with Todd, and some of our close friends. But I miss that whenever I got bored, i always had places to go and people to see! I miss going to my Grandma's and watching good old church movies with her while we talked about everything and anything! I miss going over to Jen and Ro's to just hang out for hours, or playing games with them! I miss going home and seeing my precious Mom and loving Dad and my freakin' awesome little brothers. ;) I miss seeing Josh and Alicia and holding cute baby Ashton! :( I miss going over to my mother and father in laws over the weekend and spending time with them, as well as Emily and Andrew and their kids. I miss just going over to my sisters apt to bug them and borrow all their cloths. And i miss just being around my friends at work and seeing them everyday and getting to talk to them about who knows what! I miss it all!!!!!! It's just made me realize how important family's and good friends are, and how much joy they bring to our lives! So thank you all for letting me feel so loved and welcome. I love and miss you all!

Tornado!

2008-05-11T14:48:00.001-07:00

So I'm pretty sure I about had a heart attack today at church. It was storming all morning long and while we were in R.S. we heard the Tornado Siren! Warning us of a tornado! All the women stood up, grabbed there stuff, while us wives from Utah sat there dumbfounded. We didn't know what to do, and I was freaking out inside! We went out to the hall where everyone was, while someone made a phone call to see where the tornado was and what direction it was taking. We heard two opinions. That it was above us, moving north, and that it was below us heading our way! Everyone there seemed so calm, "welcome to Ohio" they would say. So the bishop came up and told us we could stay at the church or go home, but that he didn't know where the storm was and that at this point he didn't guarantee us safety. Yeah, that made me feel all warm and bubbly inside! So we decided to leave. Storms where all around us, and Walker decided to take a detour home! I'm pretty sure i was freaking out yet again. As we drove home we heard the sirens louder and louder. Until finally we got to our apt's. A women at church told us to get in our bath tub if it were to head our way. That still didn't give me comfort. Until we turned on the News and saw that we were in the clear. The tornado was a head of us going north. Feeewwwww. I don't think i want to live out in the middle east anytime in the future. yeah, I'm pretty sure about it. Well, that's all i had to say, but pretty crazy story eh?

The Zoo!

2008-05-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

So, all the wives here decided to go to the Zoo today while our husbands were out working hard. I haven't been to a Zoo in like 10 years! So I was pretty excited! Here are just a few pictures of my great adventure there!

Our New Blog

2008-05-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, since its like the new "cool" thing to have a blog, me and todd decided to get one! We will keep any updated on this so feel free to check us out anytime. Todd is doing a great job selling and i'm learning to cook more. Lol. Funny story for the day: Todd was out selling yesterday and he knocked on an older mans door. The old man invited Todd in and pretty much told him that he was a homosexual. Imediatly todd felt awkward and wanted to leave, but the old man kept pushing Todd to go down into the basement! Yikes! Todd was out of there quick. We had a pretty good laugh about it later. :)