We wished it was a Merry Christmas

Dear Faithful blog followers,
I have not written about our Christmas on my blog yet, because it was a little less than picture perfect. In fact, you really don't want to see any pictures from that day. We all had the flu. Actually, I should clarify a little. Our friend Criag (our adopt a college student program) came down with the flu on Tuesday before Christmas. Jonathan was then blessed with it on Christmas eve thus we were not able to attend midnight mass or our friends Christmas eve dinner. Then, Jonathan being ever so generous and despite 2 cans of Lysol, the flue was my Christmas gift. Needless to say, it was not exactly fun at our house, but we made the best of it. Jonathan got a set of Looney Tunes DVDs which he watched most of the day while I lay sick in bed watching a gift from Matthew MeConaughey. (He sends me something every year!) Santa brought Jonathan a train set which Lady wasn't sure she wanted in her house at first, but then took to watching it go around the track all day while Jonathan I were too sick to play with her. While I had planned a nice Christmas dinner complete with a Birthday cake for Jesus, we changed plans and had chicken noodle soup which, while a little less exciting, was exactly what we needed. We have since had fun with our new Christmas gifts and it is starting to feel a little more like the holidays, but it still seems like Christmas never happened! I hope that you had a very merry Christmas!

I don't like snow!

So, I could go on and on about how I ran my car off the road last week, hit a fence and then got a ticket for driving on unplowed roads, but I think that would not help me in my healing process. The winter season wouldn't be so bad if they would just PLOW THE ROADS! I like building a snowman as much as the next guy (okay maybe just snowballs) but driving in this snow is a nightmare! I grew up with lots of snow... never ran off the road or got stuck, but ever since I have been driving in Idaho, my love for snow has more than dissipated! I guess marring a Florida boy didn't help that situation either! I do have to give a shout out to my friend Craig. He has been staying with us for his Christmas break (part of our "adopt a college student program") and he has shoveled the driveway many times since this "manna from heaven" (as the Idahoans call it...JoJo and I call it manna from somewhere else) has started falling. Thanks Craig! We are the only house in the neighborhood that you can actually see the driveway! There are a few blessings from all of this snow. For one thing, it covers up all the ugly brown around (and the weeds that I never pulled) and there was so much snow this morning, that Jonathan couldn't get to work! I'm trying to think positive! Well anyone who sees this blog, is sitting in 60 degree weather and would like to experience a VERY white Christmas, is more than welcome to come on over! How about we trade???

What I did in Vegas..

No gambling! Instead, I helped my sister-in-law create a sweet playhut for her boys! What was suppost to be a tent, turned into a jungle theme playroom complete with a Swiss famliy Robinson play fort. In true Donna and Rebecca for, we went a little crazy! As you can see by the pictures, we went a bit overboard! We had tons of fun planning it...and some fun making it. I really don't enjoy sanding, but I am a Randall now, so I guess I have to get used to it! I had a blast painted the animals on the wall though. I think my favorite part was watching the boys do laps from the ladder, down the slide and back up the ladder again!

I'm not dead

So, I'm not dead...I just haven't been able to blog in a while. My computer, which has a mind of it's own, hates me. Really! The night before Thanksgiving, I was going to go online and order a new laptop and knowing that it was going to be replaced, the computer decided to freeze all of our programs. After trying everything we could possibly think of (including control-alt-delete which is suppost to fix everything right?) we gave up. We ordered a new laptop which just arrived this week. So, I am back to the blogging world! I have lots to blog about!

Annual photo shoot

I hate getting my picture taken! We have started trying to get our picture taken once a year, so here are some pictures we had taken for this year. One of them will be in our Christmas card!

1319 Cornerstone Dr

Our first home. What a lot of work! When we lived in an apartment, all we kept thinking about was how much fun it would to have a home! Little did we know what we were getting into! The great thing is that we both really do love doing yard work. Jonathan has a lovely rose garden (sorry no pictures) and I enjoy working on the other flower beds around the yard. We are constantly learning what grows in Idaho..actually more like what doesn't grow here! We have several fruit trees as well as a raspberry patch, strawberry patch and a 200 sq foot garden all along the back fence. The picture is not a current picture because right now...our yard...well is covered in leaves! Here's a shout out to Aunt Pattie...thanks for the suggestion! Extra credit for the idea!

Jonthan's Birthday Party

So, after a few requests, I thought I would post some pictures of the surprise party I threw Jonathan this past summer. The party actually took place in June, so I guess I am a little late getting these pictures out. In order to fully appreciate the party, you have to know that Jonathan, who grew up in Florida, HATES flamingos. Well, I should clarify; not the animal as much as the plastic imitation of the animal that people put in their front yards. Knowing that, I took it upon myself to collect every tacky flamingo thing I could find and throw him a surprise party with that theme! It was great because he didn't even have a clue! The best part, in my opinion, is that I bought a great deal of the stuff when we were home in NY, and he carried it all the way home to Idaho in his carry on suitcase and didn't even know it!

Bind-It-All 2.0!

So this is the newest addition to my scrapbooking addiction! I LOVE IT! It's a Bind-It-All machine. I can't wait to try all my new ideas!I saw the license plate ideas and I just had to try it! My friend Sabra Ann was getting rid of a car, so we took the plates off and made this adorible album! I also made a little book to keep track of all my Christmas plans,wish lists and cookies I want to make.

Tuesday, November 18th

So, I have been thinking for a while that I should put some pictures up of things that I have been making. I love to look at other people's blogs for ideas, so I guess I should give back! =0) Normally, when I make our Christmas cards, I stress over what to do. I end up buying all the stuff to make the cards one way, and then after making about 2 I decide I don't like it and have to go back to the store and buy more stuff to make them another way. This year was different! I decided that I was going to make them all unique just like the people I was sending them to. I bought a pad of coordinating Christmas paper and a pad a solid Christmas colors. I then played for two days! Some I like better than others, but all in all, I think they came out okay! These pictures are just a few of my favorites!

Election Day

I am watching all the election coverage right now and I have a lot on my mind. While I am a republican, there is just so much that I don't know about. I worry about a lot of things, and while I believe that McCain is more in line with what I believe, there are still many things about him that worry me. Unfortunately, I feel like he promises a lot of things that I don't think he can follow through with.
On a more optimistic note, I am so grateful that I am able to vote. Many people have suffered and even died so that I can have this opportunity, so I am not going to take it for granted. This country is going to change in the near future, and it needs to change. The economy is struggling and we feel the pinch. All of our money that was in the stock market is almost gone. It kills me to think about how much we just lost! I really worry about same sex marriage becoming legal. I do not believe that this will continue to be a blessed nation if we endorse such immoral behaviors. While all I can really do is make my voice heard, I worry that I am not using it loud enough. Is it enough that I vote? Should I have done more to share my opinion? What can I do now to help others to become educated about important issues?

Merry Christmas!

Okay so it's not Christmas....it is October 12th, but it sure looks like it should be Christmas! Just yesturday morning, we picked the rest of the garden. I guess you could say just in the nick of time!

Did I mention I am already sick of snow?

Our Humble Abode

Our first home buying experience was a fun one. Sadly, not nearly as dramatic as our wedding, but none the less, a major step in our lives. Actually, the process of purchasing our home wasn't the trial, but the getting the builder to finish everything was less then productive. Long story short, I believe that our next home will not be a brand new one. =0)
Maybe I will just describe our first home. It is a cute split entry home located on a cozy 1/4 acre in the booming metropolis of Idaho Falls. We have 3 bed rooms and 3 full baths compete with a now fully finished basement. Our yard is very pretty in the spring and summer surrounding the house with lush grass and beautiful flower gardens. We have a cherry tree in the front yard, (the birds tell me that the cherries were delicious!) and 2 apple trees in the backyard right along side a small little raspberry patch. We have a 200 sq ft garden bed along the backyard and a rose garden along the other side. The best part though is the entertaining features. Not only do we have a built in fire pit (built by yours truly without plans might I add) but a 16x16 stone patio canopied by a pergola that soon should be covered by grapes (that is if the plants grow a lot this year!).
If I had to choose a favorite room in the house, it would now have to be my craft room. Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite color is purple, so it is only natural that my craft room be purple right? According to my husband and a few other skeptics, Barney would feel right at home in my new craft room. So what if it has a purple ceiling, purple walls with purple stripes! I love it and I can never be sad while I'm in the room! Jonathan built me a beautiful countertop that extends on two walls and built in shelves that cover the wall with the window. I think it’s pretty and that’s all that should matter!
While I’m not a huge fan of Idaho, (I am trying to be positive) I have decided that there are worse places to live. Our ward is mostly composed of our neighborhood which is still strange to me. Just yesterday our mailman stopped and thanked me for taking the call to be a Sunday school teacher and gave me the new manual. You know you’re in Mormon-vill when… It’s not so bad sometimes….I can walk to do my visiting teaching and our “drive to church” is less than 2 minutes (only because we hit 2 stop signs on the way and half the neighborhood is leaving at the same time!) Sunday mornings at about 10:55 is high traffic time around here. (Church starts at 11 am.) We have nice neighbors and for the most part it is quiet.
Due to the fact that school is really cheep here and Jonathan has about 2½ years left, we will be moving in hopefully 3 years.

Once upon a time...

I guess it's offical now....I'm part of the blogging world. I wonder if I should get some of those clicking shoes and dance around in an outfit that even a square dancer would be ahamed of. =0)
Okay. Well let's see.... what to say. Since my life is already 25 years old....a lot has happened. So to catch you up to speed on the last few years of my life...
Now to the once upon a time part. Once upon a time...I went to college at BYU- Idaho. For some reason, I chose Idaho. Dont ask. =0) I was a music major and majored on cello and the string bass. For those of you who know me....and know that I am exactly 5 feet tall, I am sure that picturing me as a string bassist is quite funny. Stop laughing. Please. The good news is that while playing the cello, I met my sweetheart Jonathan (who was a bass major at the time) and I couldn't get close enough to him in Symphony, so I decided to switch to being a bass major. He graduated before we sat together in the school symphony, but we now sit together in the community symphony. After being best friends for 3 years, we thought it might be nice to get married. Our wedding will soon be published into a movie....well it should be. Eveyblushing bride should watch this movie so as to feel better about herself and all the things that she thinks are going wrong, but could very easly be worse as demonstraited at my wedding. The Readers Digest verson: The groom was late because he was left at his appartment 2 miles way, without a car. After months of planning a beautiful outdoor summer wedding, a tornato blew down the tent. The guest of honnor was not so much the bride or the groom but perhaps the Sherrif who came to tell us that we must take shelter and abandon the gazzebo and tent that were so beautifully decorated before the wind blew away all of the flowers and tule. We forgot the cake at the bakery. It closed before we got there. We had a "lovely" reception in the foyer of the music building (suting isn't it?) complete with a metal mixing bowl filled with water from the bathroom sink for our punch bowl. The string quartet (less 2 musicans who didn't want to play in the rain) was nice. =0) The fact that we lost the marriage license and almost went through all of that fun an excitement for nothing was, well almost killed me. But, about an hour before the cerimony would have been null and void with the John Hanncok of the two witnesses, the license was found and saved the day...well kind of. Let's not forget that my little brother forgot to bring pants to Idaho, so he had to borrow some. Oh and the best man forgot that he was the best man. Did I mention there was only one emergancy room visit. I guess that could be my happy thought! While there was plently more little things that go wrong at a wedding, I try not to think about them all. I just keep in mind that if the old wives tale about rain on your wedding day being good luck, well than NOTHING bad will ever happen to us. In fact, there was enough rain that day that I dare say that our grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren should be feeling the blessing. =0)
I am lucky enough to be married to my best friend and that is enough for me. While it did take me several months just to look at my wedding pictures, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I guess you could say I like drama.
Tune in next time to learn about our first home buying adventure!