Film

This is what I have been working on this semester in the darkroom :)

OctoberNESS

I love this time of year!

I am not a crafty person at all.  I have no vision.

However, I am very pleased to say that I made this!  Katey and I had craft night and it was so fun!

Kyle even helped by sanding the Os.  Hobby Lobby didn't have any left so I broke a g in half.  Good thing he is patient with how picky I am.

I went with my family to Hee Haws corn maze and got to see more piglets at the farm! I also learned that goats eyes are rectangular and that freaks me right out to even look at them!
Kyle even got me to come deer hunting with him this year!
1. Because it wasn't freezing
2. Because it wasn't before the sun ever came up and
3. Because I got to go on a 4-wheeler ride
I'm pretty sure it was the first time I have ever even seen a deer during the hunt.

THEN we got to go to the Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus with Whitney and Preston.  My friends used to always make me go first in the hanted house.  I am the leader cause I don't get scared, but now I make Kyle go in front.  They are so much fun when other people get scared!  My favorite is still Frighmares at Lagoon.

I also learned that one can of pumpkin makes like 5 loaves of pumpkin, chocolate chip bread.  It's so yummy!  Why buy it at Kneaders when you can make it?

I also love the tradition of SPOOKS!  I tried to get it going in our neighborhood and it got passed around a little bit.  I would be a horrible robber though cause I don't know how to get away.  I honestly was scared to get caught when I doorbell ditched our neighbors.  Kyle thought I was crazy, but don't worry, I never even got caught!  I am so sneaky.

  We carved pumpkins with Jon and Sydney.  I did the cleaning and Kyle did the carving.  We are such a great team!  Mosly I just put all the guts from my pumpkin inside of his when he wasn't looking.  Then we baked the pumpkin seeds for a seasonal snack :)

I was a little bummed that Kyle and I didn't have better costumes to wear.  I just put on my footie pajamas with pigtails.  Halloween was so fun though!!  Next year we will plan better in the costume department and hopefully not have to go to class that night!

I made witches brew and a bowl of dirt for our halloween party!  We had some friends over for a halloween dinner. Soup in breadbowls and homemade carmel apples for dessert.

We ended the night watching the classic Hocus Pocus! I first learned what a virgin is by watching that movie.

I think we had a total of 5 trick-or-treaters, but it was definitely a festive night full of fun!

General Conference

I can check another thing off my bucket list!

I have lived in Utah almost my entire life and had never been to General Conference, I have wanted to go so bad! One of my amazing mission companions gave me her tickets!

Kyle and I got to go to the Sunday morning session and it was so wonderful! We got to see Music and the Spoken Word (which I never knew existed until I was in the MTC) and the spirit was amazing.

We were surprised there was ZERO traffic that morning in Salt Lake!

Elder Holland's talk was my favorite! If the Lord wants fish he can get fish, He needs diciples.  The crowning characterisic of love is loyalty.  One day our Savior will look at us and ask us the same question he asked Peter.  "Lovest thou me?"

I am so excited that the mission ages have been lowered!  I hope everyone considers going.  I couldn't see what I learned on my mission until I came home.  I remember thinking that I wouldn't want to send my daughter to serve a mission while I was out because it was hard!  I wondered why nobody ever told me how hard it was.  There are things I will continue to realize that I learned in the field for my whole life I am sure.  Now I am so thankful I got to serve.  It makes me much more confident to teach my family the gospel in the future.  I really came to see how the gospel fits together as I was teaching it.

I came to understand the love of the Savior for all of us as I learned to love people before knowing them.

I learned a small part of what my Savior felt and went though during his mission here.

I am so thankful I could be in the field at the same time as Kyle.  It definitley brought us closer together to be growing in the gospel in the same ways at the same time.
The Lord definitley blesses you for being willing to give a small part of your time to His great work.

My testimony is my greatest possesion and every experience that has brought me to know my Savior and that His true church has been restored is worth it.

The Savior lives.

Claim to Fame

I was on TV!

It was just the news, but even better is that because of my determination a woman in Alabama was arrested who admitted to having have sent over 800 fraudulent checks!

You can watch the story here:

http://www.kutv.com/news/features/gephardt/stories/vid_162.shtml

Happy Birthdays!

On our way to dinner we stopped to look at a car and ended up buying it.  My new 2010 Hyundai Elentra is the best birthday present I ever bought myself. 

My favorite part is the sun roof!!

Now I have AC/heater

brake lights

a side mirror

a back window that rolls up

and a smooth ride that doesn't feel like I may leave the atmosphere at any moment.
Now I am just scared that I am going to get in an accident and ruin my new car.

We missed our first reservation and didn't eat till 10 pm, but dinner at the Melting Pot was AMAZING! 

Just like my husband.

We finished an entire 4 course meal, I was impressed!

He got me flowers for the table that I got to take home too, what a stud :)

For Kyle's birthday we went to Tucanos and I finally filled my much overdue craving for mousse de maracuja! I think I got Kyle hooked too.  We need to go back to get some soon!!

Thank you everyone that made our birthdays special!
You know who you are

Summer is ending

Last night was the first Friday night out of the last 5 that I slept in my own bed!  It has been a FUN summer full of boating and camping at Utah Lake, Yuba, Flaming Gorge, Payson Canyon, Strawberry Reservoir, Salina Canyon, and American Fork Canyon.

We went out on the boat one last time on Labor Day and had some good laughs watching people fly off the tube. Stephanie won the prize when she flew at LEAST 6 feet in the air!! haha

She did not think it was very funny though.

We have also learned a few good lessons the hard way this summer.  Like how to recognize fraudulent checks! And that the 2 panes of glass on our screen door cost $130 to replace :)

I have had some good laughs listening to Kyle talk in his sleep.  He looks for spiders, asks me where I am, tells me I don't need to die anymore and hits me in the face when his dream scares him!

He starts the Police Academy this week so I won't get to see him very much anymore! But he will have short hair again so I am excited for that.

As for me, I finished my mission scrapbook and scrapbooked all my wedding pictures!  It is so nice to be all caught up.  I also tried a few new recipes, including chicken cordon bleu and stuffed peppers.
I started a list of things I won't make again till we have a bigger family cause I don't like eating the leftovers all by myself :)

bye bye summer!

 Can't wait till next year

Slutty Brownies

Kyle found a new treat :)

Slutty Brownies:

a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough,

a layer of oreos,

and a layer of brownies all baked together

If you eat it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream it is so good!

I have been addicted to homemade oreo milkshakes this month too, 

usually its the mango pineapple smoothies at McDonalds

or just plain mangos, they have become a staple to our diet!

Yummy!

I also had to take a 2D design class over the summer, I didn't love it, but I survived!

Flaming Gorge

Every summer Kyle's family goes go Flaming Gorge, so we got to go spend a few days there.  While we were there Kyle and I made a deal.  If he gives up his data plan then he can use the money he will save on golf... I was serious when I agreed, but I know he will never give up his data plan!

I always give Kyle a hard time about how cold the water is, but I still got in to jet ski, tube, and wakeboard (only because Kyley did first!).

Kyle's getting higher and higher :)

Fourth of July

It happened! I finally learned how to wakeboard! It was a Fourth of July almost as good as the one when I went skydiving.  I learned how to wakeboard AND knee board.  We spent the day on the boat at Utah Lake. 

We got stuck on the rocks because the lake is so low and Lyndsey almost got her face chopped off by jumping/falling off the back of the boat, but overall it was a great day!  Lynds was okay so we can all laugh about now.  

It's so fun to watch Kyle wakeboard, he's getting better at jumping the wake.  I tried going over it and went down!  I know I won't ever be good at wakeboarding (or snowboarding) because I am so scared of getting hurt.  Kyle just tells his dad not to go under 18mph, even if Kyle tells him to slow down!

Later we had a BBQ in Elkridge then went to Grandma Liddiards in provo.  She lives right above the stadium so we got to hear the stadium of fire show and see all the amazing fireworks! We got out of there pretty fast too :)


I just LOVE summer!
We went to the Manti Miracle Pageant last weekend and the rodeo the weekend before that and my favorite- sleeping on the TRAMPOLINE!!  Kyle even stays out there with me all night! When I was little everyone would get scared and go inside.
I'm sad summer is half over, but there is still so much fun to be had during the second half!

Jake is Home!

Another missionary returns! It's been fun trying to remember how to speak portuguese again with Jake, he speaks so fast and any time I don't understand him I blame it on the fact that he was in Brazil 10 months longer than me!

We spent the day eating brazilian chocolate and catching up with him then that night all of us went midnight bowling! Kyle and I love bowling, especially when I get the money ball and win $5 :)

FastKart

Group dates are so fun!

Last weekend we went to FastKart speedway in Murray and it was a blast!  All the boys didn't care if they crashed into you to pass you, but I did beat the rest of the girls!  I only got a little bruise on my hip this time :)  I was so proud of myself for getting the guts to pass Sydney on the track. 

We all went to dinner at Chilis and learned that the word "moist" freaks Sydney out and Kyle loves to say that word now.

After dinner we went back to our apt to play Quelf! It is a hilariously fun game.  Dakota did head, shoulders knees and toes in a foreign language, Josh made a mask, and at the end of the game a spider from my ceiling dropped right on my foot!! AHHHH! I freaked out and Kyle just laughed, Dakota was the one that killed it for me! Thanks Dakota :)

I can't wait to play again!

Boating

I never knew that Kyle can slalom too!

We got to go boating last week and it's always fun to watch everyone behind the boat.

I was to cold to try wake-boarding, but I could not pass up the tube! 

I love tubing!

Whip lash is always worth going tubing :)

I got to even hop on it without getting wet, but then Kyle made the tube submarine under the water and I got wet anyways!

Oh well

Life's Lessons

Lesson One:

Do NOT get polyurethane on your hands.

I did this trying to rinse out the brush I used to cover our kitchen table with.  It was right before church so we wouldn't be home while it dried, but we ended up missing the first part of church to go find some paint thinner to get it off my hands! 

Luckily it didn't do anything to my wedding ring.

Lesson Two:

Do NOT look at a solar eclipse through a telescope.

Even if you do have welders glass over the eye piece!

While the telescope was pointed at the sun there began to be smoke coming out of it!  Those rays are strong- like the magnifying glass on Woody's forehead!  

We still got to see the solar eclipse though which was a neat and rare experience.

Meet POKEY

So for some reason while we were in St George last weekend we decided we want a hedgehog.

So when we got home we got one!!

This is Pokey and he is so cute! I had never even seen a hedgehog before, but they are pokey! Just like Kyle when he doesn't shave.  Sometimes Pokey thinks Kyle is his mother :)

Over the years our house has had:

Dogs

Cats 

Fish

Frogs
Parakeets

 a Horney Toad

Rabbits

a Boa Constrictor

the Duck I rescued

litters of Gerbils

Rats

a couple Iguanas

a Chinchilla

Turtles

and why not count the Horse that stayed at my grandpas house

and I am sure the list goes on!  But never a hedgehog, so I'm excited to have him.  Heck maybe one day we will get another snake.  I don't know if I will say yes to every animal my kids ask for quite like my mom did, but I think it's fun to have a few around.  Lucky for us, Pokey isn't even stinky!

We gave him a bath with a toothbrush and feed him treats, but mostly he just likes to hide.

Brian Regan

Best Valentines Day present EVER!

Friday night we stayed in a hotel in St. George and it was so nice to hang out together.  

Saturday morning we went 

swimming, 

shopping, 

and took a nap on the grass at the park.

That night Kyle took me to Red Lobster for dinner, I had been craving it since they started showing all those yummy shrimp commercials on television! 

We decided that crab is our favorite though.

After dinner we went to Tuacahn to see BRIAN REGAN, only the funniest comedian ever, we were laughing so hard! We quote Brian Regan all the time so it was fun to see him live and I love when Kyle laughs and he gets the two big wrinkles at the top of his nose, he is so cute :)

Missions all around

Today we dropped Ben off at the MTC.   He will be a missionary in Boston in just a few short weeks!  And I know he will regret that face he is making while hugging the last girl he will get to hug for 2 years.

Me and Josh thought we were tricky hiding his cell phone in his suitcase, then calling it as he walked in, but Stephanie ruined it and took the phone out before Ben ever even noticed!! oh well

The best was that Josh was wearing his white shirt and tie and the poor nervous host missionaries started welcoming him to the MTC! haha

I will say though, it is a lot happier going to the MTC when it isn't you being left on the curb!

Actually with Ben leaving and Lyndsey getting home I have felt the spirit of my mission the most since I have been home.  I can't believe how much I have missed feeling so much love for people and the constant strength of the Spirit.  

I will never regret the opportunity I had to share the truth of the gospel with the people I met in Brazil and seeing them change their lives, being truly happy and really feeling the love their Savior has for them.  I know that it is only through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and his authority, that we can have eternal life and be happy :) 

Now the count down is on for Jake to come home on June 29th!

Hurrah for Israel!

California

So my mom and sister have been living in California for the last year, but the time has come they are moving back to UTAH! woo hoo! So Kyle and I got to have an adventure.  

We rode the train.

To California.

Actually we barely made it on the train cause the worker never told us the train arrived or that it was about to leave, luckily the conductor came it and got us!  Train people are a different type of people... that is all I have to say!

Mom took us to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and Kyle had mentioned eating there before we even got off the train!  After we finished cleaning on Saturday we took a trip to San Francisco! Saw the Golden Gate Bridge, drove on Lombard Street and went to China Town! I got to finally buy some new china slipper shoes! 

We left that night around seven and drove all night long! When I say we I mean Kyle, he got in that 24 foot long truck and just drove :) after almost 12 hours he let me drive it, even though I was scared.  It was the part after Wendover though so I could handle it.

We got home in time to take a nap before seeing Josh get his Eagle award.  It turned out to be a good trip!

FRIENDS

So I am not a huge fan of television.  I would bet that Kyle has never even seen me turn on the TV because it is a huge waste of time, but I will say that I LOVE Friends!  I just had to make that announcement :)

and this is why I love friends...

First it is funny and I love quoting it pretty much every day.

And second, it is what I wish reality were.  They stay friends no matter what.  Even when Ross is divorced, whether Monica and Chandler are married, or if Joey is single.  They are friends when Rachel has a kid, when Phoebe is pregnant, when Rachel and Ross can't stand each other and even though Monica and Ross are siblings they still hang out!  and it's not a big deal.  

Those are my thoughts about why I love coming home and watching friends with Kyle, it makes me so happy!  If anyone ever wants to come watch it with us I have ALL ten seasons! and Friends Scene It, p.s. I will dominate you!
I also love when Kyle sings from the kitchen in his highest voice possible:
"My name is Aaaamber and I love my Huuusband"

Yes, he is my favorite even more than friends :)

Easter

It was a good Easter this year! We may not have kids yet but heck yes we dyed eggs! That is my favorite so we can eat deviled eggs on Easter! Jon and Sydney humored our acting like children and came to dye eggs with us!

I asked Kyle if he wanted an easter basket, fully intending to make him one just like when we were dating, but he said no :( only cause he didn't want to have to make me one at the last minute! haha Next year I am making one and I don't care what he says!

We visited his grandparents and had a ham dinner with his family on Easter, but even better is remembering that our Saviour lived and died for us.  He was resurrected on Easter morning and I know that He still lives.  He is the Christ and I am so thankful I know that we will all live again too!

Ultimate Weekend!

I am getting so excited for summer and the warm weather! Well I was, but Kyle and I will both be in school and working all day so I shouldn't be to excited.

Last weekend was so fun though!  We planned a camping trip with Jon and Sydney to the hot pots!  All of our stuff barely fit in the car.  The tent was perfect for 2 queen size mattresses, the boys put it up and the girls started the fire :)  We roasted hot dogs and s'mores with reeses and starbursts then played cards and watched a movie in the tent.  For some reason we watched The Cave the day before sitting in the hot pots....

When I cut my foot on the rocks in the hot pots the next day I was sure I would turn into a cave creature!  It was lots of fun once all of the boy scouts filling up the whole hot pot got out!

On the way home we went to the color fest.  HARE HARE HARE! haha we mostly just threw chalk at each other, and a little on the people we walked by as we left.  It was such a fun weekend! Thank you Kyle!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Well I guess you could now call green dinner on St Patrick's Day a tradition.  I think this is the 3rd year I have done it, even though Kyle thinks I'm a weirdo.  I say any reason to celebrate is a good one though!!   We made green pasta alfredo, Kayla brought green breadsticks, Kyley made a green salad, Sariah brought the green drinks and Sydney brought the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! :) I always love getting friends together.  It was a lot easier in college when my friends lived with me, but I will take what I can get.  At least I get to have sleepovers with my best friend every night!

Disney on Ice- Toy Story 3

I have been wanting to go see Disney on Ice for so long, such a kid at heart, so I found out Toy Story 3 was coming to Salt Lake and bought tickets!

Sariah and Zac came with us and it was so much fun!  Kyle was upset most of the night though because on our way up we got in a car accident in his new Mazda 3.  I have never really been in an accident (which is probably why I don't ever feel like wearing my seat-belt), but I got to call the police and everything!  He just has a huge scratch on his door, but nobody was hurt and we made it to Disney on Ice right on time!  Zac was so cute in his Woody hat :)

Snowmobiling

Kyle has found a new love.  It is snowmobiling!  He took me for the first time yesterday and I was worried that I would be cold and bummed that I couldn't just ride on the back of him, but it turned out to be lots of fun!!  I just learned I shouldn't lead... I got stuck a couple times so Kyle and Kelly had to come save me.  I had fun watching Kyle go off the jumps though! Maybe next time I will be brave enough to go up the big hills!

Happy Valentines Day!

For Valentines Day this year Kyle and Jon took Sydney and I to dinner in Salt Lake at the roof. p.s. the little chocolate mousse desserts are sooo yummy!  It was a fun night and before we left us girls gave the boys their present :) tickets to see the Jazz vs. Heat game! So on Friday we got to go on another date!  We went to pizza factory (my favorite restaurant), had to order 3 times cause the waitress didn't just explain the coupon the first time, and then headed to Salt Lake.  It was a close game but the Jazz won 99 to 98!  Yay!  Its been fun having a couple to go do fun things with.  I have always been the type that loves having a group to be with and we can always count on Jon and Sydney be willing to hang out with us! Let the good times roll!

Kyle gave me tickets to see Brian Regan in St George this summer for Valentines, I can not wait!! He is hilarious and I am always quoting him so I am excited to look forward to our summer roadtrip in May.  

One Month Married

Well, Kyle and I have been married one month now and it has been so great!! We had an amazing wedding day, full of surprises that made it so special!  I am so grateful to know that we can be together forever with those that we love.  We spent our honeymoon in Hawaii and it was an adventure to remember!  Kyle was scared he would get sick on a cruise, but he still got sick in Hawaii (don't eat beef curry).  He also got an awesome sunburn on his legs from our nap on the beach, then a cold-sore, but we still had so much fun being with each other and eating sushi!

 We were back in time to spend Christmas with Kyle's family in Elkridge. We got each other a tent and sleeping bags, getting all ready for some summer fun!  We got to talk to Sister and Elder Liddiard and Elder Forsyth that day and of course watched The Grinch.  Later that week we hopped in the suburban with my family and drove to Disneyland!  Kyle rode ALL the rides, except the Tower of Terror.  I love riding rides with him!  We spent the new year driving home.  Kyle and I decided that our goal this year is don't get pregnant!

We now have everything for our apartment except a kitchen table, but that doesn't stop me from cooking!  We have made orange chicken, hawaiian haystacks, lasagna, tacos, philly cheese steak sandwiches etc... We have gone 2 weeks past our goal of not eating out, but Kyle still has gained 15 pounds.  That is a compliment right?  

We have both started the spring semester at UVU.  I am studying photography and Kyle with finish his criminal justice degree in April to go to helicopter school in the fall.  Life is good and I am happy.  We might not quite have it all together yet, but together we have it all :)