Busy in December

Well, I thought that things would slow down a bit this December since we are not close to family, but that has hardly been the case. Steve started up his 2nd quarter and is determined to achieve straight A's... I didn't think it was possible to study as hard as he does. While he has been off studying, I have kept myself occupied with making Christmas cards, buying gifts that will easily be transported on a plane, Christmas parties, and training for a 1/2 marathon in January. Although things have been busy, I am so excited to be going up to Salt Lake in a few days to see our family and friends!

Picture we used for our Christmas card:
My work Christmas Party:

These are two of my good friends from work, "Sparky" and Laura.

Mesa Temple Lights

A few weeks ago, Steve and I went to the Mesa Temple with some friends. When we came out of the temple they had just turned on the lights for the very first time this year... it was amazing. I was so sad because we had forgotten our camera. I really wanted to post some pictures, so I decided to just browse for some on the internet. Here is a little taste of what we saw:

A Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I can now say that I have officially hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner! Luckily everything went fairly smooth and our guests seemed to have a great time. We wish that we could have spent this holiday with our family, but this new experience turned out to be so much fun. It not only makes us very grateful for our family, but we are also blessed to have such wonderful friends. Here are a few pics from the special occasion:

We got a great deal on these dishes at Linens and Things (unfortunately they are going out of business).

The turkey turned out really well thanks to Reynold's Wrap Oven Baking Bags.

Turkey carving.

We had 3 couples join us and they all brought yummy dishes to share.
I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Advice for a First-Timer

So, it seems that I have taken upon myself a somewhat challenging task... hosting/cooking a Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah, it sounds somewhat daunting, but I am determined to succeed. Since we are not traveling home for Thanksgiving, I decided to take a leap of faith and invite a few other couples over for the occasion. Although I am not cooking the entire dinner, I am still taking charge of the "meat and potatoes" portion of the meal (turkey, potatoes, and stuffing). So, my question for you is: what advice can you give a first time Thanksgiving cook/host on anything and everything from cooking, decor, food assignments, etc.? Wish me luck!

** just a note: I already put the Turkey in the fridge today to thaw.

Thanksgiving THEN

And NOW

Things sure have changed...

Sedona

Well, Steve's finals are finally over! To celebrate, we decided to head up north to Sedona for the weekend... it was soooo much fun. I'm very excited because Steve gets 2 weeks off for Thanksgiving! He still has some things that he needs to study over the break, but I we will definetly have a lot more time together. Here are some of our adventures this weekend...

We did about 9 miles of hiking on Saturday... it was amazing!
I was a little scared when I walked over to that ledge... it looks a lot higher in real life.
This one reminds me of Lake Powell.
Steve climed up to this little cove... and he even had a sprained ankle from playing basketball the day before! I just think he has a very good pain tolerance.
Hole in the rock... literally.
Taking a nap...
I can't believe he got his whole body in there.
The challenging part is getting out! We saw lots of art too.

This is actually a painting.

DDR

So, it seems that I have a new addiction: Dance Dance Revolution. I know this game is kind of old and its popularity died out long ago, but I have wanted to own one of these things for years. Steve got me one for my birthday a few weeks ago, but the story behind this birthday present is what makes me realize how lucky I am to be married to such an amazing person. Since we have only one vehicle, Steve's current mode of transportation is a bicycle that has a knack for getting flat tires (as some of you may know we sold Steve's car before we moved here). I occupy our vehicle almost everyday of the week and and some weekends because of work. Steve wanted to purchase my birthday present without me knowing and decided to use his bike for transportation. Luckily when he made the trip to Wal-Mart he didn't have a flat tire, but the journey was still quite eventful. Steve rode about 6 miles to Wal-Mart on a very warm Arizona day with his backpacking pack to put the presents in. He not only got me DDR, but also a sewing machine since I can no longer make a trip to my sister's house to use hers. Unfortunately the sewing maching box did not fit in the backpack. Steve rode all the way home with a DDR box in his backpack and a large sewing machine box on his handlebars! I'm such a lucky girl...

You can see the intense concentration.

But, it all pays off in the end... a nearly perfect score.

note: REENACTMENT

Now I just have to figure out how to use this thing...

The Coffee Run

So, not everything that I do at work is related to physical therapy. It seems that everyone I work with is addicted to coffee. Now this is something that I don't really mind because although I do not drink coffee, I still reap the benefits of the weekly coffee run to Starbucks. Little did I know, Starbucks offers a variety of drinks that do not contain coffee or caffeine... they do however contain plently of calories. My current job not only requires me to assist patients with their physical therapy, but I am also required to order 10-15 drinks at Starbucks and manage to have them all safely arrive at the office. In fact, I actually wrap my seatbelt around the cardboard drink holders to ensure their safe arrival. I thought that I would share some of my "non-coffee" favorites:

The Vanilla Bean Frappuccino...

Consisting of iced milk, vanilla bean flavor, and whipped cream (this is my favorite).

The Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino...

This one is VERY chocolately, but it is a yummy dessert.

The Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino...

I love the delicious strawberry flavor. It's kind of like a strawberry shake, but 10 times better.


The Caramel Apple Cider...

This is a yummy holiday treat.


The Pumpkin Spiced Cream....

I have yet to try this one, but it looks very good. I saw it online while I was browsing for these pictures. It consists of steamed milk, pumpkin, cream, and other fall spices.

Our New Home

Well, I finally have my camera... hooray! I know that many of you have been asking about where we are living and how the adjustment has been in gerneral. I am glad to report that I love our new place and we are fortunate to live in a great neighborhood. The ward here is wonderful and Steve and I have met a lot of other couples in our same circumstance. There are also 3 LDS couples that live in our apartment complex which has been really nice. Here is a little tour of our place: Here is our front living room.

The dining area.

I made the cushion for this little bench before we moved and found some organzing bins that fit perfectly in it (that was a headache).

Here is our amazingly spacious kitchen compared to our last apartment.

The master bedroom. We also have a bathroom right off of our bedroom which I really like.

This is outside on our patio/balcony.

The laundry.... I think the magnetic board makes this space kind of fun.

The study.



Here is our guest bathroom... so if anybody wants to come visit, we have plenty of extra room.

Here are a few other pictures that I took before we moved...

Packing everything up... including myself!

Here we are up at Snowbird with my family the day before Steve drove down to AZ.