Memorial Day To Remember

Happy Memorial Day... 

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

       It has been such a fun spring so far! Scott and I have enjoyed some bike rides together (finally) and walks.  I've been able to take a lot of my clients outside and work with them in the parks- yes it is such a hard job ;) We've been really busy with school though- especially Scott and so we are mostly enjoying the sunlight by studying with the windows open.

We celebrated our 1st year anniversary April 9th and spent the day recovering from Winter semester finals.  We had a Sandra Bullock marathon with: The Blind Side, While You Were Sleeping, and Miss Congeniality. We also ate the best cheesecake in the world! I got it off of a blog, it's called Reeses Cup Cheesecake and it is TO DIE FOR. Here's a link to the recipe: http://www.mmmmbrains.com/archives/2007_03.html#001218  


We also recently celebrated Mother's Day a couple of days ago and Scott bought me flowers for the first time!!! They are just beautiful and he knew what my favorite kind were too- Gerber daisies!!! He hand-picked them himself which means I have the most thoughtful and romantic husband ever.

      Scott and I have really gotten a lot closer this first year of marriage and I cannot imagine life without him now. We're not perfect and I know we have a lot to work on, but we're happy and in love and for that I'm grateful. We have a lot to work towards together and it's exciting to think about the adventures ahead of us. Life is so much better with someone to love. Speaking of which- Collette (my big sister), is getting married in 3 days! We can't wait to go to Portland tomorrow morning for her wedding, so more on that later!

   Well I will leave you dear reader, with a hot new review on a local fro-yo joint that just opened up a couple blocks away from campus: it's called Kiwi Loco. I thought I hated frozen yogurt until I tried their's- it's so great! Totally reccomend it as the service and atmosphere is fun and accommodating. We went there one night as an excuse to stop our homework...


After a winter like this last one we had here in Rexburg, I don't think I can ever take advantage of great weather ever again! I thank God when I feel heat from the sun now or taste the fruit in season right now, and it is humbling to remember how much He has given us. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy life!

The Good Life.

Well we have two more days in the winter semester and then it is OVER!!! Goodbye 20 credits, hello 12 and part-time internship!!! I could not be more excited to start my last semester here in Rexy.  I started orientation today at the place I will be interning at. It's located in Idaho Falls and is a Family Services company.  I will be working in the Developmental Therapy section right now.  My job title for my internship is: Developmental Therapist or D.T. Makes me sound legit huh? ;) Here is a link to an informational video about the kind of therapy this company uses a lot- it's based off of behavioral neuropsychology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyCx-OLzgJw&feature=related

One of the things I love most about the progress made in the field of psychology thus far is taking abnormal psychological  disorders and helping people with them have an opportunity to live life to their fullest capacity despite their set backs.  That's why I'm especially excited to work with kids with autism. Autism is the fastest growing disorder in the US and its currently estimated that nearly 1/150 kids are diagnosed with some form of autism.  Today I met some autistic kids at my work- they were so adorable and such a handful!  I have no doubt in my mind that it will be hard work, but this job is an opportunity I am honored to have.

 It is a humbling experience to see people who struggle with disabilities.  It makes me realize how much I've taken for granted my whole life.  These kids I met spend hours in therapy learning how to sit still or count or look you in the eye- seemingly meaningless things the rest of us do every day and don't realize how important they are in helping us function properly.  I hope research continues to move forward and I'm lucky to be able to take part in this kind of work.

(neither pictures posted are mine)

Saturday Shooting Range

Okay, so most blogs I read involve stories of my friends' kids doing crazy stuff and getting captured on camera. I really enjoy these kind of posts- it reminds me not to take things too seriously. If you ever want a good laugh, there is a mom who I found that does a blog called the "meanest mom" and it is hilarious! : http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/ .

Anyways, I usually don't have funny stuff like that to share because it's just Scott and I right now and we don't have kids doing crazy things yet. But I kind of felt like I had come home to a 6 year-old boy the other day...
I work Saturday mornings from 6am to whenever catering orders get done ( I cut vegetables and fruit all morning pretty much). So Scott gets to have Saturday mornings all to himself.

I'll come home and sometimes he'll have the whole apartment spotless- bathroom cleaned and everything.  Sometimes he'll make a really good lunch or brunch for me to come home to. Sometimes he just decided to sleep in and I'll come home while he's still in the shower. None of these things have ever been out of the ordinary for me. Until the past 2 Saturdays- yes, not just one Saturday, the past two- which means this might become a tradition in our household...

Since it's winter and we sold our truck my poor husband has to resort to some indoor, inexpensive way for target practice. Here is his fortress on one side of the living room.


Here is his target. (Ingenious, really.)

My personal favorite part of all of this was he continued to scream "Die Quakers! Die!"... The quaker oats guy didn't stand a chance against Scott's BB gun.

What was nice was the cereal box caught all the BB's so it was an easy clean-up as well.

Gotta love a creative mind!

Waiting for Spring... !

So Scott and I are getting pretty darn tired of Rexburg right about now...  But we just decided we are going to stay here another 2.6 years until he is done with his BA (he has switched his degree to Agribusiness). I'm in the process of interviewing with jobs for after I graduate in July with my BA in Psych, so hopefully I'll find something that'll be rewarding for the next while.

But if anybody has any tips for ways to cope with living in a snowy hell for 7-8 months out of the year, we could really use em!  We are happy with each other of course and that is my saving grace while living here.

I shouldn't complain so much though- we've been doing a couple things lately to brighten up the crappy weather we have!

I recently dyed my hair to a lighter color and LOVE it! Having your hair done really helps you to remember to actually style it and try to look nice during the day. Here's a before and after shot: 

So that was fun. 

We've also been trying different foods and school snacks out lately. I made orange chicken curry yesterday with country-fried squash. Strangely wonderful...  We also just discovered "pepperjack crackers", and "oatmeal fudge stripe cookies"- both new on the market and received a 2-thumbs up from us!

 

I've been really proud of Scott lately- he's been a good example to me in persistence with working out. He does yoga pretty regularly now and I think he has a "man-crush" on the freakishly lean asian man wearing a speedo in the workout videos. I just bought Scott a yoga set for Valentines Day and he's loving it. ** Tip for people with sore backs and aches and pains---- Yoga works! Here's the guy Scott loves: 

....... This pretty much speaks for itself....

So those are just a few of our everyday "pick-me-ups" that seem to work for us. Any more suggestions would be great! 

Lonely, Lazy Thursdays...

    On Thursdays, I see Scott for dinner and that is pretty much it. He then goes back to school for a night class 7-10pm.  Today one of my classes was canceled, which means I got home at 10:30am.  It is now 1:30pm, and I haven't gotten any homework done yet... BUT the kitchen is clean:)

It all started when I logged onto the book of face when I got home. I was looking for a message in my inbox and got distracted by that darn "news feed" that sucks me in so often.  I saw that it was my good friend Rachel's birthday! Since she is one of the few friends from Portland that live here in Rexy, I thought it would be a nice gesture to make something for her birthday.  I started by making a card. Here is the picture I decided to make for it. I was going for creepy and funny at the same time:)

Needless to say, I think she will be both delighted and scared.....

  

Well, I didn't stop there.  I decided I needed something to go with the card.  So, I hopped on to allrecipes.com- my personal fav, and some food blogs I like to try to find a good chocolate cake I could make for her.  I got distracted by homemade oreos and decided I would make those.  I forgot the sugar and didn't realize it till they were half-way done baking.... 

So with a newly lowered self-esteem and diminished pride, I whipped out some majorly fatty recipes. After about 3 hours of surfing the net, printing out a creepy card, and wasting 1/2 a cup of Hershey's cocoa powder, I picked this little gem to make: Chocolate Peanut Butter Icecream Pie. It took 20 minutes. 

I used 1 qt of Reeses icecream, 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter, bits of a hershey bar- and creamed it all together in my freaking awesome kitchen aid.  Then I dumped it into a homemade chocolate graham cracker crust (so easy to make), and added whipped cream, chocolate sauce and peanuts on top.                     

Am I a good friend or what?

I'm such a good friend:) ... Until I realized, if Scott knows I made this and gave it away without even letting him sample it, I'm not sure he would ever talk to me again. This thing just SCREAMS Scott. 

So.... I'm giving her the card and a glass bottle of rootbeer we have in the fridge.... so lame.  I'm gonna go get started on homework now.

"A Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils"

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."  This has to be one of my favorite movie quotes  (You've Got Mail) and with all the excitement of a new semester starting, I think back to sharpened pencil bouquets.

       

  Even though I start a new semester every four months, I still feel that excitement every time another one rolls around. Of course it wares off after about three days and then I start to dread the alarm sounding off at 5am everyday.  But I still have to give the "back to school" magic the attention it deserves since it has been apart of my life for so long. 

   The back to school rush makes me want to buy mechanical pencils, sharpies, fancy page dividers, and printer paper. I secretly feel a twinge of pleasure while reading a new syllabus.  I feel like giving my teacher an apple, buying myself a new pair of shoes, and wearing my hair up a little more often.  I guess I just prefer all the changes that go on every so often- it's like a breath of fresh air.  I also love meeting my new classmates and teachers each semester.       
       
 I went to one class recently where the students went around the room introducing themselves.  One girl did a river dance for the entire class (in snow boots nonetheless). Another girl didn't have a social security number till she was eight because her mom forgot about it. Another guy used to be morbidly obese (he pulled out a picture from his wallet and showed us all), and another girl had been to 20 countries in three months....  That was just in one class. You just can't beat that.  
      
  It's my second to last semester here at BYUI and I'm trying to soak up everything I can while it lasts. I really enjoy my professors- I had no idea you could travel to so many places, hold so many degrees, have so many kids, and still only be 50 or 60 years old! The psych faculty is full of brilliant scholars, who are all so anxious to share their love of learning with you. I'm starting to catch on now and it's a good feeling to love learning. 

       

 Lastly and most importantly, Scott's birthday is tomorrow. I asked him a million times what he wants to do and three days before his birthday he finally told me he just wants to have the two of us do an Adam Sandler movie marathon and a birthday dinner- he chose brats on the grill, rootbeer in glass bottles, and potato chips with dip.  -- That's my kind of man! So tomorrow after a long day of classes, we'll curl up and laugh to the brilliant lines from "The Water Boy", "Billy Madison", and "Happy Gilmore".  If it sounds boring to you, just think of it as a six-hour cuddle-fest!  

       

I'm so happy to have Scott in my life. He brings me up everyday and makes me realize how blessed we are to be together forever.  I love his quirky sense of humor, his love for adventures, his supportive and understanding attitude, and his gentle, sensitive heart that has so much capacity to love. He is my best friend and I wouldn't have my life any other way than with him.  Happy Birthday and Back-to-School Week Scott!