Christmas Fun

Greg and I had the chance to come to California for Christmas Break. It was so nice to take a nice break and have a vacation in my beautiful hometown. We slaved away all semester up at BYU Idaho, and all our hard work paid off: Greg got 5 A's and a B+, and I got all A's. We definitely worked our butts off. But, during finals week, we decided that we wanted to take a break from studying for a little bit, so we had our very first Christmas together (early) and exchanged gifts.

We made ourselves a candlelight dinner too. We had to sit on the ground and eat next to our tree before we opened presents because we were packing everything up to move, and we had no table.

After dinner, we opened our gifts to each other.

Greg got me an iPod Touch. I was stoked! I had lost my old one back in April, so it was a pleasant surprise to get such an awesome present.

I got Greg a nice watch. He always wears a silver one, which isn't bad because it does really look good, but I decided to get him a brown leather strapped watch. He loves it.

After our last final, and packing up all of our stuff so we could move to Heber, Utah (which was no easy feat), we went down to Park City for a few days before we headed down to California. We had a wonderful early Christmas with Greg's family. Greg and I scored a lot of awesome things from his family, and we all just really had a great time together. We love being in Park City, but mostly, we just love being with Greg's family. They are so wonderful.

We got Sam a sled. He was so excited to open his present.

After our great time in Park City, we went down to good old Garden Grove, California to spend a couple of weeks with my family, and be there for Christmas and the New Year. It took us about 11 hours to get down there, and right when we got there, we went to Naples with my family and Parker and Grace. Naples is down in Long Beach in a harbor where all the expensive houses are lit up and decorated for Christmas. It was beautiful. Parker was so cute with all his questions and excitement to see all the decorations, and Grace was just adorable while we pushed her around in the stroller. We had a lot of fun.

Christmas Day was so great. Greg, Karina, and Savannah got to be here too. Savannah is such a cutie! She has the most beautiful big blue eyes. We all had so much fun being around the tree in the morning and joking and laughing with each other. I love being with my family.

A couple of days after Christmas, Greg, Dad, and I headed out to the desert to go dirtbiking. Kyle Brodowski, Ellis, Kole, and the Levert's were out there camping with us as well. Greg amazed all of us with how well he did. The first day we got there, he got on a YZ 250 and zoomed off. He went up this super steep sand hill and did it like a champ. My dad and I looked at the hill and were both thinking, "Oh my goodness, I don't even want to go up that thing, but now that Greg (the novice) did, I have to now." Greg was just tearing it up the whole four days we were there. He is a natural. We loved being out there, and no one got hurt. I fell a couple times, Greg fell here and there, but it wasn't bad at all. We had a lot of fun around the campfire every night, played games, watched movies, just like the old times in the desert. It was great.

When we got back from the desert, we got to rest. The next day we went to the beach to at least be able to say that we went. It was chilly, but still beautiful. The beach is always beautiful. I was really lucky to have grown up in such a great place. I'd say it's the best place in the world, but I am a little biased.

While I was at home, I got to play the piano a bit. I miss the piano so much, since there really isn't one to play on when I'm at school. I love to play.

New Year's Eve was a lot of fun as well. We had a lot of people over for a party, mostly adults, and played some games. But Scotty and Addison Hicken came over. They loved Greg. He was their best friend! I love those little boys. They are so cute.

I just love being at home with my family. It was such a fun couple of weeks, and I wish I could be down in California with them all the time. But soon Greg and I are going back up to Utah to work at the Park City Mountain Ski Resort. It will be a lot of fun to be able to ski and spend time with Greg's family. Heber will be a nice place to live too. I know that I will always have awesome memories with my family, no matter how long it is before I see them again, which makes me happy when I am not with them. I just love them so much! I love my husband, and I love my life. I sure do have a great one.

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (not really)

Greg and I decorated our apartment for Christmas for FHE the other night. His mom lent us some lights, decorations, and a christmas tree (can I just say that I love her and she is amazing?) It was pretty fun! It's so nice to come home after a long day and turn on the lights to see a beautiful tree with wonderful lights glowing in our living room. We took a few pictures too!

The beginnings of the process

Love

Finishing up

Our masterpiece

Gobble Gobble

What a weekend! Thanksgiving was so much fun! We had lots and lots of food and had great company. It was Greg's grandma's wedding this weekend, so most of his mom's side was in town. It was fun sledding and eating and going to the wedding reception and dancing and being with people we loved. Here are some pictures!

Greg and I made a cool sledding hill slide that all the little cousins and us sledded down. Fun!

What a cutie

Here's Aunt Crysti and one of her kids

Here are some of the kids having fun on the hill

We got to go to temple square after Grandma Sisco's (well now Harvey) wedding. It was beautiful!

On we went to the wedding reception at the Little America hotel in Salt Lake. It was so much fun dancing and spending time with family.

First Dance

Just a cute couple at the reception

Daddy-daughter dance

Lauren dancing with Jake

Bouquet Toss!

Greg and I love being with the people we love! Happy Thanksgiving!

Cinnamon Rolls

Greg and I decided to make some cinnamon rolls last night. We were so excited, especially Greg. We have a bread-maker, so we made the dough, rolled it out after it was finished, spread butter all over it and poured cinnamon and brown sugar onto the dough, rolled it up, cut it into little rolls, and started baking the 17 cinnamon rolls we had created (it sounds more complicated than it really was).

Somebody was a little anxious for the cinnamon rolls to finish baking...

They turned out perfectly! And they are so tasty, and pretty cheap! I love baking with my wonderful husband!

Here's the recipe:

Best Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
•
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
•
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Carving

Well, Greg and I decided it was time to do our pumpkin carving for Halloween (I have been so excited about this ever since the pumpkins started being sold at the store). It was a lot of fun! We both were trying to conceal what we were carving so we couldn't see what the other person was doing. I wanted to carve the Cat in the Hat, but as I was doing it, it was wayyyy too hard, and I ended up ruining one side of the pumpkin! We were using steak knives, so that's my excuse.

I ended up carving a simple pumpkin face on the other side of my pumpkin. That didn't work out so well either, let me just say. Those dang knives were so tricky to use! When I was finished, I decided to see how Greg's was coming along. Of course, his was turning out perfectly despite the horrible knives we were using to carve.

Of course we had to make some pumpkin seeds!

We just had so much fun!

Here are the finished products:
Left side-Greg: He carved Lord Voldemort which looked perfect.
Right side-Sam: I carved a normal pumpkin face with the failed Cat in the Hat on the other side, but you can't see it.

Happy Halloween!

Guess What My Smokin' Husband is Doing

Well, we've got some good news! Greg is going to get his Associate's degree by the end of this semester. Can you believe it? I am going to be married to an Associate's degree holder. Haha Greg said this to me today actually. He just cracks me up. But honestly, it really feels like we are getting things done. We both have our graduation plans figured out, like which classes we are going to take for the rest of our Bachelor's degrees.

The reason why this is so exciting about Greg's Associate's degree is because now it might be a little easier for him to make it into BYU. It will look better to the school that he now has his Associate's. So, we don't have an official plan as to what we are going to do yet, but we will soon.

I'm realizing that there are big decisions that need to be made as new things enter into our lives. It's a lot different than being single because now there's two of us. We act as one. I love it, but it's not very easy at times. I am learning that I have to compromise, and I know that as I do this, I will be happier, and our marriage will run smoothly.

So long BYU

I made it into BYU.

Well, now that they want me, they can't have me!

Greg didn't make it in, unfortunately. I feel bad because I know he really wanted to get into the Marriot School. But hey, he can always try again and maybe he has more important things to do. Who knows?

As for me, yes, I'm bummed that I can't attend the school of my dreams. I've waited all of my life to get into that school, and now that I am finally admitted, I cannot attend. But I know that I have something better than BYU. I have my husband. He is the most important thing in my life, and I wouldn't trade marrying him for anything if I had the choice, not even BYU. True, I have to make sacrifices now to not go to this amazing place to gain an education, and yes, I now have to make decisions that I wouldn't have made before I was married. But I have no regrets. I have no reason to be sad or angry or upset. Because I've got what I need.

So I say, so long BYU. At least for now.

My Wisdom Is Gone!

ALERT! My wisdom has been removed from my mouth. Yep, that's right. My teeth were pulled last week. Can I just say that it is the weirdest feeling to wake up from an oral surgery like that? Let me start from the beginning:

It all started because one of my stupid wisdom teeth started to break through my gums at an extremely rapid rate. My gums swelled up, and my tooth was trying to grow through a very thick piece of my mouth. So, to say the least, it was very painful. I went to the oral surgeon, had an x-ray, and made the date for two days later to get my teeth removed. I was terrified. I kept asking Greg all of these random questions about if it hurt or not, if I was going to wake up or not, if I was going to feel anything during the surgery, etc. I'm sure he thought I was crazy. Anyways, I went and got them out and when I woke up, I felt really drowsy, obviously. In fact, the nurse couldn't understand what I was saying. I also couldn't walk properly. The worst part was that I could feel where they cut into me and it HURT. I told Greg about 8 times on our 20 minute ride to the pharmacy that it really hurt. Needless to say, I got the medicine (painkillers that make me really drowsy and nauseous) and I'm still taking them because it still hurts! When will the pain end? I have no idea.

Wedding Pictures!

We said yes!

Well, life is finally starting to slow down. It has been a crazy past couple of months with the wedding planning, school, travelling arrangements, housing situations, and the fact that Greg and I just wanted to be married already! I am here to say that it finally happened! Greg and I got hitched! We were happily married in the Newport Beach California temple on August 26, 2011. Let's just start out with how I was feeling:

I was extremely nervous. To put it bluntly. I kept asking myself, "Self, am I really ready for this? Am I even mature enough to be doing this? How are we going to pay for the things we need? How can we figure this out?" You know, all of the dumb little things that you think about when something huge is about to happen in your life. I have always known, since I've known Greg, that I wanted to spend eternity with him. I have always had a good feeling about him and us together. So, even though I was so nervous about what I was doing, I remembered that I had someone who would do anything for me, anything at all. I knew I was going to marry someone who was going to take care of me and support me during our lives together. I knew he would always comfort me when I felt down or sad, and would celebrate with me when happy things were happening.

The morning of our wedding, the nervousness was as strong as ever. As I hurried to get my hair and makeup done, it really hit me what was about to take place in a couple of hours. I was making the biggest decision of my life by getting married. I got in the car with my parents, and as we left the house to get to the temple, I got a call from Greg who was already at the temple, asking me if I was almost there. I suddenly felt overwhelmed and told him that we just left. As soon as we hung up, I felt the tears enter my eyes, my face heated up, and I started crying. Mom kept telling me that I was going to ruin my makeup, and honestly, that was a huge reason as to why I held back the tears as much as I could. My parents assured me that everything was going to be all right. As we entered the temple grounds, I caught glimpse of my sweetheart. There he was, just standing there, anxiously awaiting my arrival. As soon as I got out of the car, he gave me the biggest hug he could manage. It made me feel loads better. We entered the holy house of the Lord, filled out paperwork, got changed into our temple clothes, and got to just sit in the temple for a little while by ourselves before our actual ceremony started. The feeling of peace swept over me like a blanket, encompassing me and making me feel comforted and reassured that everything really was all right. I was sitting in the best place on earth with the man of my dreams, ready to be married. We finally went into the sealing room for our ceremony. It was so beautiful. The ceremony itself was amazing, and Greg and I cried throughout the whole thing. I could never imagine myself with anyone else or getting married anywhere else. I loved it. And I love being married!