Pumpkin Carving Tip

My floral design teacher gave us this tip and I wanted to share because it works wonders. Instead of using a metal spoon to clean out the insides of your pumpkin, use the lid of a mason jar (the part in the picture, not the rim) to scrape it out. It is fast, easy, inexpensive, and just plain awesome. Happy carving!

Update

I am not really sure where to even begin. We had a fabulous summer which explains why I haven't blogged at all. I will try to do this in the least words possible with the most pictures possible because Libby informed me she doesn't like to look at my blog because it is just "words."  Summer started out with a move followed shortly by another move. We both worked full-time and I took classes for the first part of the summer. It is safe to say that I hope to never have to work full-time, go to school full-time and move twice in the same semester ever again. It was just plain exhausting but so worth it. School ended mid June which is when the fun began I guess. Brandon already blogged about our fishing trip on the Green River which was amazing. Our next vacation was to Bryce Canyon with Brandon's family.We went hiking in Bryce Canyon a couple of times, hiked to a waterfall, went fishing a lot (Brandon says we caught 50 (post edit I meant to say it was easily 100) fish and by we I mostly mean Brandon, his dad, and his brothers), played games, went four wheeling, had water fights, Brandon got in a cow pie fight with his cousin and got nailed in the face, and mostly just had a lot of fun. We are so glad his family has this tradition!

 

After Panguitch, we headed up to Flaming Gorge with my family. In flaming gorge we went boating as much as the weather would permit, went cliff jumping, we floated the Green River (my personal favorite even though it POURED rain on us), the boys went fishing (this is probably the only time in my entire life that I have not been fishing in Flaming Gorge), we tried to have the annual game of Psychic (another post edit, it is actually called Psychiatrist) but that flamed out fast, we ate (another personal favorite), watched movies, listened to Thomas' latest hit, "This is a cabin, not a trailer" too many times, and relaxed. We especially enjoyed the new "cabin" that my Grandparents got this year.

Other noteworthy events recently that I don't have any pictures of include seeing the Lion King with my family at the Capital Theater, going to the BYU football game with Brandon's family last night, birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays, Libby's baptism, Bear Lake with our friends the Hope's, and I am sure I am forgetting a lot. All in all, it was a great summer and we are loving life right now. I am especially excited that come this winter, I will be done with school! If I don't post until then, just know it is because school is consuming my life.

The Green River

Of the many fishing trips I have gone on over the years this trip was one of the best.  Lauren got me a guided fishing trip on the Green River for graduation, and it sure was "amazing."  Here are some pictures:

First fish of the day.  A little rainbow trout.

This brown trout was only one of the TWO fish that I had hooked at the same time.  The brown trout had taken the fly on top of the water.  While bringing this brown trout in my rod bent even more as a rainbow trout jumped out of the water, which had taken the second fly!  I worked both trout up to the side of the boat, but as the guide netted the brown trout it broke the line leading to the second fly and the rainbow got away. 

This is me hooking a fish in a stretch of the river where we caught at least five fish, one right after the other. 

One fat little rainbow!

This was a hybrid cutthroat rainbow.

Lauren caught a monster white fish, which we had to net while the boat was moving to keep it from breaking the line!

This was one of the two fish we caught fishing a dry fly during a yellow sally hatch.

 

I sure love this girl!  Here is a picture of us right before we ate lunch.  Thanks for the awesome trip Lauren!!

Thought

I am a little hesitant to post this,  number 1 because I am not a mother and number 2 because it is just my opinion and I know my opinion is not always right. In my major, I have the unique opportunity of taking classes that talk a lot about the roles of mothers and fathers so it is something I think often about. Yesterday in Sunday school, we were talking about the divine qualities of mothers and I had this thought that has deeply impressed me.

At the beginning of the semester, one of my teachers told us that she had "found" herself and that she had found what her purpose was in life through her education and job experiences. This made me think about my own experience and I felt kind of bad because I have not felt that I know my individual purpose yet. I love my major and I have loved studying family and interior design, but I just don't feel like it is my purpose to be a "designer" or a "family scientist." I know you must be thinking I chose the wrong major, but I assure you, I did not.

Yesterday, I was thinking how the world would say that in order for women to "find" themselves, they would need to look outside of the home. It seems like it is through education and through having a career that a woman can find who she truly is. This got me thinking about  my own education and job (Not that my job is a career by all means). I was thinking about how I have learned skills and gained knowledge at school and at work but I don't feel like I have learned everything about myself that there is to know.

In Sunday school as we talked about the divine qualities that women have and their ability to nuture, I thought that I do not feel like I know this part of myself yet. I get glimpses of it every once in a while, but I do not think I will fully understand this ability until I have the opportunity to be a mother. I thought about my own mother and the way she is able to comfort and love her children. Over the weekend Brandon and I went to visit Mattie, Scott, and Jonah and Brandon pointed out to me how he noticed the way that Mattie was able to nurture Jonah when he fell down. So I also thought about Mattie. I thought about the change I have seen in her since she has become a mother and how she has developed those nurturing qualities.

This has been a long wind-up but basically my thought was that it is through motherhood, whenever that happens for me,  that I will be able to "find" myself as my teacher did. I cannot think of any job or any field of study that will allow me to develop the divine and inherent qualities of nurturing better than motherhood.

Exciting News

I just registered for my last semester of college and it feels SO good.  I've been looking forward to this moment since I started college. HALLELUJAH!!!!!

inside out

So you know the saying, opposites attract? Well it surely must be true because today when Brandon got home from work he told me that he went half the day at work and one of his co-workers said, "Is there a reason you have your shirt on inside out?" To top it off, he had a big rooster tail in his hair from sleeping on the bus. I care too much, he doesn't care enough. I guess we should meet on the middle on this one.

Intervention

All my life I have had this inner struggle. It's called caring too much about my appearance. You can ask anyone in my family and they will tell you this is so. Ask any of my sisters, they will most likely tell you that I spent more time in front of the mirror than all of them combined. Sadly (not for them) they are all so beautiful that you probably couldn't even tell.

Well today I had an experience and I am calling for a change. I had to get my drivers license renewed today. I woke up late like usual. By the time I got out of the shower, I had a decision to make. Go to class or get ready? I decided to get ready because after all, I would have to get my picture taken for my new license. I would later realize, this was not the best choice. The time came and I went to the Drivers License Division. It was my turn to have my picture taken. I sat down and smiled. The guy didn't do anything so I stopped and then FLASH. He took the picture and I wasn't even paying attention. I had another decision. Should I ask him to retake it, or should I sit down? This might surprise some of you, but I sat down. I thought for one hour how I could have my picture retaken. There was a huge line so I pretty much had decided I was just going to have to deal with the picture they took. They called my number and I went to finish things up. I was highly tempted to ask for a new picture but I didn't. They printed off my temporary one and it was as bad as I thought it would be. I am stuck with this quarter smiling, mug shot until I have to renew my license again. I'm sure I will cringe everytime someone asks to see my ID. This is how I have to remember myself. Why did I spend my time getting ready? A wet ponytail would not have hurt this picture at all. Part of me still has a pit in my stomach when I think of the picture, but another part of me is relieved that I didn't ask for a retake. Today, I took my first step on my road to recovery.

Entropy

Ever heard of that? Well if you have then you know that it is the concept that nature tends to go from order to disorder. The other day in one of my classes, we were talking about this concept and how it is nearly impossible for nature to go from disorder to order. It would be like baking a cookie and then trying to separate the ingredients out again. Not going to happen. Then my teacher said something that really struck me. She said that the atonement is the answer to entropy. It is only through the atonement that we can be made whole again. No matter how disordered our life is, through the atonement, we can put it back together. I am so grateful for a Savior who was willing to suffer for me so that I can be made whole.

ordinary

"God must have loved the ordinary events because he made so many of them. "-Abraham Lincoln

I read this quote in one of my textbooks today and I loved it. It was such a good reminder to me to find joy in everyday life instead of thinking the joy will come later. I always think I will be happier when I have a dishwasher or when I have more money or when I am graduated, but I am so blessed to have all I have today. I am blessed to have a husband to feed and an apartment to clean and clothes to wash and dishes to do and a chance to get an education and feet that can walk me to school everyday and furniture to dust and I could go on and on. I need to be better at finding joy in the ordinary because like Abe said, there are so many of them.

B day

Today is Brandon's 24th birthday!

I am soooooooooo glad he was born!

Hobbies: FISHING, soccer, watching football, anything sports, spending time with yours truly.

Favorite T.V. shows: football, ESPN (if we had it), Simpsons :(, Myth Busters as of late

Favorite Book: Les Miserables

Favorite Candy: Gummy Bears

Future Endeavors: Dental School
Best qualities: HANDSOME, smart, funny, easygoing, THOUGHTFUL, kind, HARDWORKING, the list could go on and on. He's really got it all.
Biggest Fan: ME

I love you Brandon! Happy Birthday!

one.

Today marks one year since I married the love of my life and my best friend.

I never knew marriage could be so great.

It gets better every single day.

I feel so blessed to be married to Brandon.

I love him more every day and as time passes, I realize how much I need him in my life.

Although things are not always easy, and not everything has gone as planned,

this has been the best year of my life to date.

Marrying Brandon is the best decision I have ever made.

Congraduation

Yesterday Brandon finished college at the B-Y-U.

He has worked so hard.

I am so proud of him.

But also a little jealous of him.

But mostly SO Proud!

What the???

 I have been waiting to post for a long time but lately it seems like all I ever do is school related and that's not really post worthy but yesterday I finally thought of something. This is completely random but I just think it is so weird.
So yesterday I got an email from my boss informing me that one of my co-workers had been hit by a car the previous night so she would not be coming into work. My co-worker was fine and walked away without even a bruise. She was just a little shaken up and sore. Now the reason I am blogging about this is because this is not the first time I have heard of BYU students being hit by cars. In fact, this is about the 5th person I have heard of being hit by a car and to top it all off, I have personally witnessed 2 people get hit by a car. Luckily none of them have been seriously injured.
This is why I am so careful crossing the street and why everytime Brandon walks to school, I make sure I tell him to watch for cars, like he is my child or something. Hearing these stories really does nothing for my nerves. I am sure by now that there have been enough students that have been hit by cars to give us some pretty solid statistically significant data. Moral of the story: If you ever come to Provo, please watch for cars.

a few of my favorite things

I sure love this guy

For a lot of reasons, but today because he just made my life a whole lot easier by introducing me to iflash. Any student with a Mac or really anyone who loves making flash cards should have this application. I love technology.

Also, while you are memorizing with iflash, go ahead and give yourself one of these homemade facials. 

Why? Because they really work and you deserve one.

Lastly, while you're looking at the facial recipes, browse through the other recipes on the site. My favs from this site are the rosemary foccacia, lemon-herb zucchini fettucini, breadsticks, creamy pesto pasta, stuffed pizza rolls, let me tell you the list could go on. My stomach has told me that no recipe on this site will disappoint.  P.S. if you need a good laugh or a halloween centerpiece, check out the Shrunken Apple Heads. 

Prague

Brandon and I had the opportunity to go to the Czech and Slovak Repubics and Austria last month. Brandon served his mission in the Czech Republic and Slovakia so it was really fun for him to go back and it was fun for me to see all of the places he served. It was an amazing experiences and we created so many good memories. We were so grateful for the opportunity that we had to go! Warning: This is going to be a very long post. Like seriously, a really long post.

Day 1

First stop, Atlanta Georgia. We had a twelve hour layover in Atlanta and fortunately Brandon's Uncle John and Aunt Debbie who live there were kind enough to pick us up from the airport and show us around. It was so fun to be able to visit them!



While we were in Georgia we got to see Mt. Kennasaw. This was where the last major battle in the Civil War occurred before Sherman made it to Atlanta. John and Debbie also showed us where they lived, took us out to lunch at a good restarauant called Bahama Breeze, were kind enough to let me shower at their house, and we got to see their kids. It was a fun day.

Day 2:

After a long flight we finally arrived in Prague, Czech Republic. We checked in to our Penzion, showered and then went and did the "Prague Walk." We were so exhausted by the end of the day.

Summer Palace

Prague Castle's main gate

The Arch Bishop's house

St. Vitus Cathedral

Brandon in St. Vitus Cathedral

This is a garden right below the Prague Castle that was built by a man who was trying to out do the royal gardens

This was a wall in the garden. It had faces, snakes, and other random things on it.

On Charles Bridge going into Old Town

Tinsky Chram

Vlatislavske Namesti

Brandon drinking the Czech version of coke: Kofola. It tastes like black licorice. Let's just say I took a sip and that was good enough for me.

Day 3:

We took a train to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Brandon spent time here on his mission collecting signatures to register the church in Slovakia. They had to gather 20,000 signatures and they did it in 5 days. When we arrived in Bratislava we got directions to our hotel from a lady working at the trainstation. The directions she gave us were not very good so we got a little lost but eventually arrived to our hotel after hauling our luggage up a long, steep hill. Well I should say after Brandon carried our luggage up the hill. He was kind enough to carry his bag and my bag which was probably good because I might have died. That night we went into the town center.

This is the spot Brandon spent hours at collecting signatures.

I'm sorry but I can't figure out how to rotate this picture. I just want to point out that big bowl of tomatoes in front of me. We went to a pub for dinner and I wasn't hungry so I just decided to order a salad. We asked the lady which one was the best and she showed me one so I just went with it. She brought out our food, Brandon's Halusky (also pictured) which is what he calls "macoroni and cheese on steriods" and my salad which was just a big bowl of tomatoes with a few cucumber chunks mixed in. For those of you who know me, you know that I hate tomatoes! I ate the few cucumbers, Brandon finished his dinner and my tomatoes and then...

I went to McDonalds and got a classic American meal. My apologies for the picture. I'll fix it when I have more time

Day 4:

We woke up and caught an early train to Kosice, Slovakia. Kosice holds great personal meaning for Brandon. He and his companion openened the city. He was pretty much like a movie star to the church members here. Everyone would say as he walked by, "he was the first missionary." When we arrived, a man Brandon baptized named Robert and his wife Ria came and picked us up at the train station. They were kind enough to let us stay in their house. We dropped our luggage off and went to a barbeque that the missionaries put on. This was a lot of fun! Brandon taught at the MTC when he got home from his mission and some of the missionaries he taught were there. It was really fun for him to see the missionaries and see how the church has grown since he left. When he left, there were only 3 members and now there are about 15 (still not a lot but it's a start).

Brandon and Robert at the BBQ

After the barbeque, Robert and Ria took us out to dinner and then we went and walked around the old town center and had the most amazing green apple ice cream.

Day 4:

We went to church which was so cool! Brandon got to speak during sacrament meeting and did a great job. The Sunday we were there was the very first time they had Relief Society in Kosice. I was so grateful that I was able to be a part of it. Some of the sisters shared their conversion stories. I found out that one of the members was one of the only survivors from the concentration camp Aushwitz. I could not believe what amazing stories these women had.

Day 5:

We went to Ria's apartment for breakfast, had some more tomatoes and then Robert had a planned a surprise day for us. We went to a National Park in Slovakia and floated down the river that went through it. We loved this day!

These were our rafts. They tied 5 canoes together and then put pine leaves over the front to keep the water out. This was truly an authentic experience.

Floating down the river. Slovakia was on one side of the river and Poland was on the other side. Robert gave Brandon this funny hat to wear.

After floating down the river, we took a carriage ride up to a lodge where we rented bikes and rode the rest of the way up the river.


We rode across a bridge into poland, ate some cheese, and then went back to Slovakia all in a matter of minutes.

Polish Cheese

Poland

Day 6:

We took a train back to Bratislava and spent the day there. We just went back to the old town and walked around.

Coronation Chapel

Bratislava Castle

Overlooking Bratislava

Day 7:

We went from Bratislava to Vienna, Austria. We loved Vienna! We spent the day site seeing and then met up with one of Brandon's mission companions who is from Austria. We had dinner with him and his wife and ate Wiener Schnitzel. This was probably my favorite meal of the trip. Unfortunately we don't have very many pictures in Vienna because our camera died. The pictures we got were mostly of a Schoenbrunn which was the beautiful palace that once housed Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph. We got to go inside but were not allowed to take pictures so here are some pictures of the outside of the palace and the palace gardens. The gardens were incredible! The pictures really don't do them justice at all.

The Gardens. In the background is a victory arch.

How do you like my new hat?

A fountain in the gardens

The Victory Arch

Another Fountain

Day 8:

We went back to Prague and spent time in Old Town. We also got to see Prague at night which was seriously breathtaking. We couldn't get a good picture with our camera, but if you ever have the chance to go to Prague, make sure to see it at night.

We got to go to a violin concert inside of the Cathedral featuring Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It was amazing.

Day 9:

We flew from Prague to the Paris airport. Unfortunately we didn't have a long enough layover to leave the airport but still I'll just say we went to Paris. We went from Paris to Georgia and then from Georgia to Salt Lake City. We had a wonderful time but boy it felt good to be home and sleep in our own bed!