Lazy Bum

I have decided that I am gonna be a Lazy Bum NO MORE! I seriously need to lose about 20 pounds and I just need to get myself in gear and do it! When Chris and I got engaged I was really strict and was able to lose 10 pounds during the 7 weeks till our wedding, but 7 months later, and I have gained it all back! So, I need to be strict again and lose it!
I want to be able to look good in skinny jeans, I want to look good in a swimsuit this summer, I want to get rid of this huge roll I have in my tummy! :) So, starting tomorrow I am going count my calories again, just drink water, not eat after 8pm, and be better at working out.
I will try to post my progress each week so I have someone to be accountable to. So if I go more than a week without posting anything, you guys better let me know and make me do it, okay??
Oh, and if any of you have some great advice, I would appreciate it as well. Let's see if I can lose 20 pounds in 10 weeks! Whoop Whoop!

Slacker

I know, I know, I have been a huge slacker with my blogging....maybe it's because we haven't had a whole lot happening around here.....or maybe I am just a slacker! :) Here's what's been happening: we are still living in Chris's parents basement. They have been so nice to let us live with them while we get some debt paid down and figure out where we want to be living. It's been a little frustrating trying to know where we belong and be patient for the Lord's timing. But He always takes care of us so I know that something really good is going to be happening soon since we have been such great patient people. :)

We have made 2 trips to Boise in the past month which has been really fun. We went the end of March to check out the city and see what kind of options are for us. I had never been there so it was nice to finally see the city. We stayed at the TowneSuites by Marriott and it wasn't the greatest experience. There was some gymnastics competition that weekend so the hotel was FULL of little girls and their families who liked to stay up super late, yelling from room to room, running down the hall, hogging the computers and the pool, and running up and down the stairs (our room was right next to the stairwell, so that wasn't fun listening to while we are trying to sleep). And also the food for breakfast was super cold. The muffins were frozen still, they were out of butter and syrup for the waffles, and the biscuits were hard. We definitely won't be staying in that hotel again. The rest of our trip was fun though. We visiting some salons and walked through the awesome mall (ours is really small and lame, so even just going to a 2 story mall is exciting for us :), and ate lots of food! I went to the Kelly Clarkson concert with a few girlfriends and it was AWESOME! She is such a great entertainer and puts on a really fun show.

I was really glad to finally see Boise. What a cute and beautiful city!

Our second trip to Boise was just this past week. I had gotten a call last week from one of the salons I had left my resume at last time, and they wanted to interview me! It's called Panache Salon and Spa and they are opening a new location in the Boise area so they wanted to see if I wanted to become one of their stylists. So I was super excited for that and told them I could come this past Thursday. We spent the next week researching job openings for Chris and see what we could do for him while we were there, but Thursday came and nobody had responded back to Chris about interviewing him, so we just got on the road and hoped we would find something when we got in town. Well, while we were driving there, Chris got a call from one of the jobs he applied for, The Boise School District! He told them we were actually on our way to Boise and so they were really excited to be able to meet him that afternoon.

I went to my interview at 1:30pm, right after we got in town and got checked into our hotel (The Holiday Inn Express). It was a super fancy salon and smelled really good. Everyone there just seemed a little stuffy and serious. I didn't know if I would be able to fit into that place. The lady who interviewed me was even more serious and intimidating. I was really nervous and probably sounded stupid in the answers I gave, but I was just myself so that's all I can do! :) She told me she wanted me to come back for a 2nd interview the next morning with a male and a female model to show my cutting and blowdrying skills. I told her I didn't know anyone in Boise but I would try to find someone!

After that we went over for Chris's interview at the school district. Chris was in there for an hour! So I waited in the car and hoped that it was going well. When he got back in the car he told me he had the best time during that interview and really liked the people he met and was really excited about the job. He really wants to get it. They told him they would call him this next week to let him know if he got it! So cross your fingers for us! :) That night I scoured our hotel, and the street it was on, as well as the BSU campus for someone who wanted a free haircut and could be my models for the next morning, but I couldn't find anyone!! A bunch of people were kind of rude, and wouldn't even look me in the eye and tried to keep walking when I tried to talk to them. So that was a little frustrating. I had to call the lady and tell her I couldn't find anyone. But that's ok cause I havent' been feeling good about the job anyway, and if Chris gets that job then I wouldnt' want it anyway cause it would be too far away.

Friday morning we got up and had a very delicious breakfast at our hotel. The hotel was also super quiet, we had the pool all to ourselves, and the beds were COMFY! :) A much better hotel experience than last time. We went and looked at a few apartment buildings downtown. They were nice, but really small, so we might need to look at places a little further than downtown. Overall, it was a great trip and we will be waiting for the call next week to see what happens!

VEGAS!!

Last weekend, Chris and I got to fly down to Vegas to see my sister and her family, Stephanie and Lyndon, and have some fun in the city! After our flight being delayed 2 hours out of Idaho Falls,we finally made it down there Friday night at about 7pm. We grabbed some Jack in the Box on the way home and got to sit and visit with Beth and Doug till it was time for bed. The next day we got up and went out for a YUMMY breakfast buffet at one of the casinos near their house. They had every breakfast food that you could imagine, and I definitely ate enough breakfast for about a week :)

That night we were wanting to go see Phantom of the Opera so we headed over to the Venetian Hotel and bought our tickets! Because Doug and I still had our BYU ID's, we were able to get student discounted tickets for only $35! What a steal! I had been wanting to see that show for YEARS, so I was very excited to see it, as was Chris. When we got back to the house, Chris and I decided to check out the city of Henderson. We are wanting to move somewhere new, so we wanted to feel it out and see if Henderson was for us. We stopped by an Auto Body shop for Chris to check out a job there. He loved the boss and the feel of the shop. It made him happy to know that there are happy work environments out there unlike his current job. We then went and looked at a house. It was a decent size, lots of light and space. It definitely needed some work done, and we could make it super cute, but it was a short sale, and those are always really risky. But it's a fun town, lots of salons, and things to do, so we will see.

We rested for a little bit when we got back to the house (and Ryder is always there to entertain :), and then we got ready for PHANTOM! I couldn't believe I was finally going to see the show! I have loved Phantom of the Opera since I was really little. We all went out for Chinese food before dropping the boys off at some friends of Beth and Doug, and then went to the Venetian. We got some pictures taken before climbing a million stairs and getting to our seats which were at the very top! Which I thought was perfect cause we were able to see everything that was happening. Their set is amazing, and as soon as the lights went out and the music started, I got chills all the way up my spine. :)If you ever get the chance to go see it, TAKE IT! It's well worth the money.

Sunday morning we woke up and Beth made a very delicious breakfast for us, and then we got to lounge around and take our time getting ready for the day. I love lazy sundays :) While the boys took their naps, the four of us played Ticket to Ride. I LOVE that game! And it was fun to teach Chris and then get beat badly by Doug. haha We then piled in the car and drove to North Las Vegas to Stephanie and Lyndon's new house! I have missed them a lot since they have moved, so it was so nice to see them. Their house is beautiful and they are so happy in their new place. We ate a very yummy meal of ribs and potatoes and salad and got all caught up in each other's lives. Bethany made some amazing peanut butter cup cupcakes that were to die for (yes I ate 2!) and had some good laughs together. It was then time to get the babies to bed, and Chris and I had an early flight the next morning so we needed to get some sleep as well.

Thank you Bethany and Doug for letting us crash your house and visit! Can't wait to come to Vegas again!

Fun on the Farm

Chris's parents have some horses on their land that they are boarding for some friends, and they allow us to ride them whenever we want! So when we have family over, we love to take them out and ride the horses. The kids LOVED doing this on Super Bowl Sunday :)

New Years Resolutions!

Well, it's almost the end of January, and I am finally getting around to our New Years Resolutions! It's been a busy month and a lot has been on my mind. I can just feel that this is going to be an awesome year! I get a little impatient cause I just want things NOW, but I know everything will happen when it's supposed to. There are a few things that I would like to accomplish, and a few things Chris and I want to accomplish together!

*I want to get my credit card paid off and get rid of it! That thing haunts me in my sleep and I want it GONE

*My car will be paid off in April! I am so excited! I have been waiting a long time to have that done.

*Chris and I want to move away from Idaho Falls. It's way too cold here, I need sunshine, and we need to get out on our own together, to be able to rely on each other. There's bad memories for both of us here, and we need a new start!

*I would say that I want to lose a certain amount of weight, but I think I will be safe and just say that I want to work out 3 times a week, and just feel good in my skin. That's what's most important!

*I want to keep learning hair and I want to be a better stylist! More organized and knowledgable. I LOVE DOING HAIR!

*Chris and I want to be able to get sealed this year. We are still in the process of getting clearance, but hopefully by our one year mark we can be sealed for eternity!

*We also want to be able to go on a cruise for our one year anniversary. When we got married we started putting our quarters in a big water jug, and that's what we will use for our trip. There is already A LOT of quarters in there. :)

Well, I am sure I could go on and on, but I will stop there. Don't want to overwhelm myself too much this year! I can't wait to see what this year brings us.

New Years

This New Years was the BEST New Years I have ever had. Chris and I had decided that we wanted to get away for New Years since we spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas at home. So I started doing some research online, looking for anything fun that we could do in either Boise or Salt Lake! And I found this: A party at the Marriott hotel down by the University of Utah! It came with a package deal of 2 tickets to the party (a $45/person value), a room to stay in that night, all of the hotels amenities, and a 1pm check out the next day for $150. I knew that we could not pass this up! So we made our reservations and patiently waited for that day to come. We decided to leave Friday afternoon and head to Logan to visit Chris's friend Brandon and his wife Amanda for the night. They were nice enough to let us stay the night, and it was fun to catch up. We went and ate at a very yummy pizza place (where I ate half of our medium pizza!), chatted for a while, and watched a movie (I can't remember the name....maybe Transporter?) The bed we slept on was a little different then we were used to. It was a memory foam bed and we could tell that it would take more than one night to get used to that thing. haha but it was a lot of fun and my first time seeing Logan! Chris and Brandon had a little male bonding time by playing some Xbox while I browsed the internet, and then we got on the road to Salt Lake around 11am! Driving through Utah made me miss it a little bit. I miss the mountains and all of the things to see and places to go. There isn't much going on in Idaho Falls. :) I DID NOT miss the snow of course since we get a lot of it in Idaho. We found our way to our hotel (thanks to our handy GPS!) and got all checked in. This place was so nice! They had a nice old man to help with bags, a glass elevator, a warm pool and a gym, the bathrooms had granite counters, and the bed was SO COMFY! Chris still talks about that bed and how he wants to go back to it. :) After we got all of our stuff in our room, we went and ate lunch at Cafe Rio, and then we headed down to Eagle Mountain to visit my friends Carrie and Chris Carlton. I hadn't seen their new place and it had been so long since I had seen them, I was so happy when she asked if we could come down! But, once we got into town, we noticed that our battery light was on, so Chris wanted to get that checked out. We stopped at O'Rileys and had them test it.....he told us that our battery wasn't getting enough juice, and our car was probably going to break down in the next hour! We were kind of freaking out since it would take 40 minutes to get back to our hotel. We went to Carrie's and told them what was wrong. Thankfully, they had one of their family members visiting who knew a lot about cars, so him, and both Chris's went out to look at the car, decided it was the alternator, went and bought one, and switched it our themselves! I was very impressed with the men, and I got to chat with Carrie and play with her girls which was super fun! Hopefully we will get to see them again soon and be able to relax and enjoy our visit rather than having to worry about our car. Thanks for all your help Carrie and Chris! By the time we got back to our hotel, we only had a little bit of time to relax before needing to get ready for the party. We were wanting to go to temple square and the Gateway that night, but because of our car issues, it wasn't able to happen. So, before we went down to the party we decided to stay another night at the hotel so we could do those things, and make sure our car would be able to make it back to Idaho since we were almost out of antifreeze as well. So we got all dressed up for the party, booked another night in our room, and partied the night away!This party was very classy, not trashy which I loved. The men were dressed in tux's or ties and suit jackets. I bought a dress that matched Chris's new shirt and tie (which EVERYONE commented on throughout the night. They loved how we matched). This is a picture of our stuffed elevator :) There was a ballroom with dancing and an awesome DJ, food from all over the world, a huge dessert bar, a movie room to watch a movie with a candy buffet, a gaming room to play video games, mashed potato bar served in martini glasses, and a great jazz band. The theme was "An Affair to Remember" which is a movie that came out in the 50's, so they had a few employees dressed up as some famous people during that time, including Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and Charlie Chaplin. It was so fun! Chris and I had a great time tasting all the foods, dancing our butts off, meeting some really great people (couldn't tell your their names though ;), and not worrying about any trashiness that could sometimes come with certain New Years parties. After our midnight countdown and kiss, we headed up to our room and crashed. It was such a good night! The next day we slept in, went and worked out in the gym, went and got some pizza from pizza hut and took it back to our hotel to eat while we watched The House Bunny. I then watched Confessions of a Drama Queen while Chris took a nap. :) We had been wanting to see New Years Eve movie, so we drove down to the Gateway, and saw it! It was a great movie! Funny, entertaining, and even makes you cry a little bit, haha. After that we went to Temple Square to see the lights, visitors center, and visit with the sister missionaries. It was the last night with the lights so I was so happy we got to see them! We grabbed some Del Taco on our way back to the hotel, where we ate, went swimming and sat in the hot tub, and then headed for bed. We did a lot of things, yet it was still a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Monday morning, I went to the gym and worked out while Chris did some laps in the pool. We got all packed, and started heading back to Idaho. But before we left town, we made sure our antifreeze was topped off, and got some lunch at In and Out!! Boy had I missed that place, and Chris had never had In and Out, so it was a treat for him too! We made it back to Idaho Falls safely, ready for the new Bachelor season! :) We will always remember that trip, always recommend that hotel to anyone going to Salt Lake, and always want to go back for more fun memories. Happy 2012 everybody!

Christmas

Chris and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with his family this year. Christmas Eve was spent eating lots of yummy food, like my oreo truffles I made (and Chris helped :). Chris's cousins Melissa and Brandon and their 2 cute babies came over as well as his grandparents.We ate food, sang christmas songs, played a gift exchange game, and watched their old home videos. We went to bed early cause we were so excited for Christmas to come!!

The next morning we had all agreed to wake up at 8am since we didn't want to get up too early but also have enough time to open presents and get ready for 11am church. So we got everybody up and started opening gifts! We drew names this year, and I got Steve. Which by the way, is someone who is EXTREMELY difficult to buy for cause he has everything he ever wants or needs. But he loved the Michael Jordan socks I had gotten him earlier in the year, so I got him some more of those, an iTunes gift card for his iPhone, and the movie The Warrior. Steve also drew MY name, and he went way overboard. He made me feel bad for just getting him a movie. :) He gave me a $200 gift card to Hollister, and a $50 card to Wet Seal. Guess I am going to have to go shopping! My honey gave a gift certificate to get an hour massage (I have been wanting one for so long!), an arm band for my iPod Touch for when I workout, and an awesome camera! My mother in law gave me a super cute new purse, and I also received lotion, and candy, and warm socks! I gave Chris some new dress shirts in black and maroon with a nice tie to match them, a kit of everything he needs to wash his car, new dress shoes, and shoe polish. He also got some new shirts and Fast Five from his parents. His mom drew his name and she gave him a $60 gift card to the movie theater (which we used up the very first week! We saw War Horse, Mission Impossible, and Darkest Hour) hahaha we love our movies!! :)

After presents we ate a yummy french toast breakfast and eggnog, got dressed, and went to church! Esther put together the christmas program for Sacrament and it was BEAUTIFUL. The music was amazing and it brought the spirit so much. There was only Sacrament that day, so we went home and lounged around the rest of the afternoon, played cards, and ate more food. Chris and I were spending Christmas dinner with Stephanie Lee and her family, so I whipped up a green bean casserole and we went over to their house. The dinner was so yummy and it was so fun to see them again since they now live in Vegas. We had a gift exchange which Stephanie gave us a box of my favorite cereal and eggnog cookies from Trader Joes (which I ate the whole box myself :). After that Chris and I went to see War Horse together, which was a really good movie and a little sad too. But, overall, it was a great day! I missed my family a lot, but we are really hoping that we can spend Christmas with them next year!