Happy Holiday's!

Christmas has been amazing for Jason and me this year, but I am afraid I am going to have to wait to describe it though. Jason and I will be out of town until the 4th of January so I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year!

While I will be gone I will be missing a couple of very important days, 

Happy birthday MOM!

Also, Happy birthday Annie and Metta.

 (I'm sorry if I forgot anyone's birthday, I'm afraid my mind doesn't work that well at 4:30 in the A.M.! (Yes, there's a 4:30 in the A.M. now too!!! I was shocked too when I found out! UNBELIEVABLE!)

 When we get back I will hopefully have an amazing plethora of pictures to share!

Yay, another survey!

Five names you go by:
1: Shannon
2: Miss Shannon
3: Shann
4: Little
5: hey you

Three things you are wearing right now:
1: jammie pants
2: long sleeved shirt
3. wedding ring

Two things you want very badly at this moment:
1: A new oven
2: Something delicious made from a new oven.

Three people who will probably fill this out:
1: ?
2: ?
3: ?

Two things you did last night:
1: I had to take Jason to school at 4 to take his last final, and then I had to pick him up at 9.
2: I went to a couple of stores to pick up organizational supplies, and then I worked on cleaning and organizing the apartment.

Two things you ate today:
1: Hot chocolate
2: air...

Two people you last talked to on the phone:
1: Jason, last night.
2: Penny's friend's mom.

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
1: Go to church, not sure where, but we will go.
2: entertain Jason's parents.

Two longest car rides:
1: Utah to Montana
2: Utah to Washington 

Two of your favorite beverages:
1: Water
2: Hot chocolate

Now please copy and paste, add your own answers . Now that I did it I am tagging anyone who wants to do this.

Holiday survey!!!!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate! There shouldn't even be a question about it!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, of course if the present is too big to be wrapped, it isn't.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White! 

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope

5. When do you put your decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving, if not later. There should be a law against people starting one holiday before finishing another... 

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Chocolate mousse pie... Oh wait, excluding dessert.... Ham, and smashed potatoes!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: The year we got the playhouse!! Just sitting in the backyard, waiting for us. Before we saw it, of course we thought we got gipped out of presents, and then all was good.

8. How and When did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember. 

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We used to open christmas jammies, and a grandparent present. Now we just open pixie pal presents!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Since Jason and I don't have a christmas tree, yet!!!, I will count my mom's. White lights, and pretty decorations. 

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Well, since there is snow on the ground outside, and I of course believe it is out to get me, I won't answer this question.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Umm... Nope, I like everything... 

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The birth of Jesus. Of course family is up there too. 

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Chocolate! Chocolate mousse pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?  Christmas eve eve sleepover with Caidy. (This is holiday tradition that is no longer in practice)

17. What tops your tree? Again, no tree, but it will probably alternate between star and angel. 

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Both, the joy of the season!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "Oh Holy Night" either by Celine Dion, or Josh Groban!

20. What is your favorite Christmas story? The birth of Christ

Moving?

Jason and I have been toying with the idea of moving. We have until tomorrow to decide whether or not to move into the other apartment we have been questioning. Jason gave me the chore of deciding what to do with this situation, and believe me, it was a chore. For those of you who care, I have decided to stay where we are at now. 

Christmas wishlist.

I guess it's never too late to post a christmas list...

(This is strictly for entertainment purposes only)

This is an ice-cream maker. I really do want one of these, I wish I had more room in my teeny tiny kitchen, but this is on my list.

The Cricut die cutter. I would love to have one of these, and someday I will. (Hopefully)

Gosh I wanted to go to this SOOO badly! Too bad people in Utah are ridiculous and buy 80 tickets each and then go online and sell them for absurd amounts. The people are just greedy B's! 

I would also love to have a new apartment which includes; NO ants during the summer, NO skateboarding idiot outside of my windows, an oven that works, a decent sized kitchen, and please, for the love,  NO stupid people doing fireworks right outside my window in the middle of the night. 

(But that's just wishful thinking)

I would also love any baking supplies. 

Oh, and one more thing... I would like a baby, not that it's going to happen, yet, but eventually. 

For adult eyes only!

A couple of days ago Jason pulled out our thawed turkey from the fridge and started to pull out the insides and throw them away so we could cook it. (I didn't do it because I think it's gross.)

 He called me into the kitchen so he could show me how to do it. He pulled out the giblets and threw them away. Then he pulled something else out and said, "this is its weewee." I was a little shocked and surprised, not quite sure whether to believe him or not... 

"Are you serious?" I asked him, and then he started to laugh hysterically, and told me that it was it's neck. In my defense Jason's hand had hidden part of the neck from me and I only saw part of it. Anyways... I got a picture of the "weewee" in the garbage can and Jason told me I HAD to blog about this HILARIOUS event. 

I hope no one was offended from this post. Oh, and the turkey turned out delicious!

Wall-E!

Oh glorious day! Jason and I redboxed Wall-e the other night. It was FANTASTIC!! If you haven't seen it yet, go out right now! (You might as well buy it because it is that good) and watch it!!! This is seriously such a great movie. 

Thankful for Thanksgiving.

This year we had a fantastic Thanksgiving! This entire week has been wonderful! It started out by me getting an A on my midterm for American Heritage! Yay, and then a mini vacay from school and work. 

We didn't go around the table this year and say what we are thankful for. So here is my mini-list; the gospel, my husband, my parents, my siblings, my aunts & uncles/cousins/grandparents, school, work, friends, and life. 

 We had a ton of family time and even a bit of shopping. I'm not much of a shopper, but I do enjoy the splurge on black Friday. This year we went to Wal*Mart at about 5 A.M. We only wanted a couple of their 9 dollar movies and Jason wanted some Xbox360 games, which were half off, so we got a few. The place was pretty insane. There were a ton of people, and even worse, they all had shopping carts! I understand the need for a shopping cart if you are planning on buying a Large TV, a bicycle, or even a trampoline, but if you are only getting some movies, LEAVE THE SHOPPING CART ALONE! There were seriously so many "traffic jams" inside that Wal*Mart it was ridiculous, but we eventually got everything we had gone there to get.

Oh ya, and the food was pretty darn good too! 

Coming March 2009!

My heart leapt for joy when I saw what movie is coming out on March 13 of 2009. I am thrilled for the remake of this very old movie. When I was young my sister and I would watch these movies constantly and I always wished they would update them, and my dreams have come true. 

Race to Witch Mountain is going to be great, and I can't wait for it to come out. 

Yummy yummy.

Mmmm marshmallows! Last week I decided to make marshmallows from scratch. They were delicious! 

Not hard to make at all, but pretty messy. Here is the recipe from the fantastic show "Good Eats."

Gelatine unflavored 3 packages 

1/2 c cold water

put in kitchenaid  let sit for a couple minutes.

syrup construction

 

small saucepan

1/2 cup water 

1 1/2 c sugar

1 c corn syrup

1/4 tsp of salt

medium high heat and cover for a couple of minutes.

remove lid and boil until temp reaches 240 degrees (about 8 minutes) (use a candy thermometer for exactness)

take liquid to mixer

put whisk attachment on

start mixing (on stir, or slowest setting) and slowly pour in hot liquid aiming for the side of bowl, not mixer.

once syrup is safely in crank up speed to high for about 15 minutes.

when mixture is 1 minute from being done pour in 1 tsp of vanilla extract.

metal 9x13 pan

spray pan with nonstick spray

 dust in mixture of 1/4 c confectioners sugar and 1/4 c cornstarch. (don’t use all mixture)

cover pan with aluminum foil and shake to coat the pan. 

spray rubber spatula with non stick spray and transfer the marshmallow to the coated pan and spread out.

sprinkle some of the cornstarch/confectioners sugar mixture on top. cool to room temperature and then put aluminum foil on top and let sit for at least 4 hours. 

flip marshmallow out of pan. 

use a pizza cutter and cut into size you desire. The inside will be sticky so sprinkle more of the mixture on top and you have marshmallows.

If you decide to make them tell me how they turn out.

You can also use molds to make different shapes, and dip in colored sugar to make peeps. 

Yay for wal-mart! (also, Pushing Daisies on tonight)

I have said it before, and I will say it again, Wal*mart is AMAZING!!! 

I am the kind of person who hates to buy things. Honestly, I hate spending money! Even more than spending money, I hate spending more money than necessary. Jason and I went to Kohls a few weeks ago to buy something with our credit card. 

There was a special promotion where you buy something from 5 different stores and the credit card company will give you 30 bucks. Since we shop at all of the places except for Kohls regularly, we decided to do it.

While we were at Kohls we found the kitchen section and I fell in love with everything! I love the food network and Kohls carries their items. I was very impressed. I was in need of a candy thermometer and found the one they use on the food network. I also found a flour sifter which I also fell in love with. Jason and I went home and I thought about it, and went back and bought the candy thermometer. The flour sifter was 14 dollars and I just couldn't bring myself to spending the money on it. 

Flash forward a week or two later.

I was at Wal*Mart with my mom and we went down the kitchen aisle. To my great surprise and happiness I found a flour sifter! Exactly the same as the one at Kohls, except this one was only 5 dollars!!! THANK YOU WAL*MART! 

I also found cake decorating supplies for much cheaper than anywhere else. 

My advice to you; Check Wal*Mart's pricing before you waste your money.

P.S. PUSHING DAISIES IS ON TONIGHT! 7 PM ON ABC!

Random...

It's been a little while, but I haven't really had anything to write about. I guess life is pretty boring for us right now. I did buy a candy thermometer so I can finally make marshmallows! Woohoo! I am very excited, I will take pictures and let you all know if they are any good. 

Jason and I haven't had the best luck with home teachers since we've been married, and living in this apartment. We got a home teacher for the first month we were here, and then had a dry spell for probably about 9(ish) months, got a great home teacher, for probably 4(ish) months, and then had another dry spell until this month! We finally have home teachers again! Woohoo! 

Also, I had a get-together with some of my friends from high school, and had so much fun! I wish I would have taken pictures, we will do it again, and I will take pictures then. 

And another thing, I have gotten back into reading! I don't know what it was, but I took a little break and now I am back to my normal ways of reading a book or two a week. Oh how I have missed reading. Anyone have any good suggestions?

Halloween/Murder mystery

I still haven't posted about halloween. We had a great time! We went to the Louder's for a party. they had a lot of great treats and we even carved pumpkins! (I will post that picture later). 

The day after Halloween we went to a MURDER MYSTERY! Our friends Seth and Mariah hosted it. It was great trying to figure out who was the murderer! Anyways, Here is a picture of Jason and me at the party. We got really into the costumes and tried to get as close to what we thought our characters would wear. 

(I also made ecalirs for the party! Also, Jason's fake cigar actually puffed smoke!)

General Conference Ensign November 2008

My brother has recently had a dream (goal) to make it into the ensign. At the October general conference he got to go with one of his friends from South Africa and his girlfriend. As they were walking past the ensign photographers taking pictures of other people, my brother- quite loudly- commented to his friend that the photographer should take a picture of them. The photographer heard and asked my brother and his friends if he could take a picture of them. 

Flash forward a month, I got a phone call while I was at Walmart I got a phone call from Tanner. He doesn't normally call me, he usually sends me a text message. He asked me if I had seen the ensign yet, I hadn't, and neither had he. He then told me one of his friends saw his picture in the ensign! 

We finally got our ensign and sure enough, on page 40, there was my brother! (He's the light gray one)

eclairs...

Here is the recipe. 

boil 1 cup of water with 6 Tablespoons of butter, a pinch of salt, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

Once it gets to a rapid boil, dump in 5 3/4 ounces of bread flour. (Pour all of the flour in at once, it says to weigh the flour, but I just measure a little less than a cup) Stir vigorously. Once the mixture starts to come together turn the heat to low and continue to mix until it is a paste and no longer sticky to the touch. (It should also produce a film on the bottom and sides of the pan, that's when it's ready) dump mixture into mixing bowl (kitchenaid). 

When you can put your finger in the mixture and not get burned, add 4 whole eggs and 2 egg whites one at a time, mixing very well (on low speed) after each egg. When it is finished it should be a smooth paste. 

 

Put paste in a pastry bag with a large circle attachment. 

Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper and squirt out the paste into a messy S (make sure all the sides touch) you can also just squirt out a thick line (which would probably be better). They should be around 2 1/2 inches long and leave about 2 inches in between each paste line.

 

Put in oven at 425 degrees (F) for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes change temperature to 350 degrees (F) until they are brown and a little bit crispy (about 6 ish minutes)

Pull out of oven and stab a hole into the side of the eclair to let the moisture escape. 

FILLING:

Vanilla instant pudding. Follow instructions, but only use 3/4 of the milk. 

Put vanilla pudding in a pastry bag with a small attachment and fill the eclair with the pudding (go slow so it doesn't burst). 

Topping:

Get 1 cup of chocolate chips and about a 1 tsp of oil and melt them together. Only melt halfway and then mix together until smooth.

Dip the eclair into the topping and you're done!

Pate de choux

A couple of days ago Jason asked me to make some treats for his "work" party. (His research group is having a little halloween party) We both thought I was going to make sugar cookies with orange frosting, but yesterday as I was watching "Good Eats" we both decided I should make eclairs. I ran to the store before work to grab some bread flour, and pastry bags. 

          Later last night, at around 10:30, I started to make the eclairs. The first one- the tester- turned out a little off, because our oven sucks. I had to adjust the temperature so they wouldn't burn, but would still cook thoroughly. I finally got it and they turned out great! Here are some pictures. If you want the recipe let me know and I'll think about posting it. ;)

P.S. Watch pushing daisies. You can check it out at abc.com. Fantastic show!

The Piemaker

TV show of the week:

Pushing Daisies!

The other day I was checking out Yahoo's homepage and found a list of shows that are in trouble of going off the air. Arrested development went off the air after only 3 seasons, so I figured I should check out the shows and see if there were any worth saving. I only saw one that looked interesting, Pushing Daisies, so I looked it up online and started watching. I am in love with this show now! It is great! If you haven't seen it, check it out. It is on tonight at 7 on abc (check your local listings just in case the time is different). The show is about a piemaker who can bring things back to life for one minute if he touches them. He has to touch them within the one minute so they will die again, or something else nearby will die. The show is fantastic and I recommend it! Penny and Kate even like it! If you get the chance, you should check it out and tell me what you think of it. 

Prop 8?

Mostly all I hear these days is about proposition 8. When I get on the internet my computer automatically goes to the apple homepage. Today I actually took a little bit of a look at their page and lo and behold, there was apple's opinion on proposition 8. I probably shouldn't have been surprised, because apple is supposed to the "young and hip" company, but it still shocked me. Apple is proud to oppose proposition 8, and if I had the chance, I would vote YES on proposition 8. 

This is my two cents on the matter. I will post something new later on.

6 oddities about me.

I have been meaning to do a post, but I couldn't think of anything to write about, and now I've been tagged! Yay! Thank you Katrina!

The Rules:

• Link the person(s) who tagged you.

• Mention the rules on your blog.

• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

• Tag some fellow bloggers by linking them.

• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged!

So...now...my 6 quirks:

1. Like my aunt Annie, I have to have the volume on an even number. It doesn't matter if it's in the car or on the tv at home. If it's not on an even number it's alright if the number ends in a 5. I guess it's not as bad as it used to be.

2. I hate it when I sleep under the covers and Jason sleeps on top of them. It bothers me so much not being able to move freely. I also hate sleeping in sleeping bags for the same reason, unless it is unzipped.

3. Um... I want to have more pictures taken in my wedding dress. I just think it would be fun, and I want more pictures. :)

4. The only video games that I have played and beat all by myself (mostly) are; Guitar hero and Rock band. 

5. I very much dislike the winter! I can't stand being cold (even though most of the time I am freezing). I very much dislike that snow is wet and cold! I HATE driving in the snow in Utah! 

6. I don't like ribs, the food kind. I didn't grow up eating them, and I think they are kind of gross. Anyways... Jason loves them and every once in a while he will ask me to make them for dinner for him, which I do, but I make myself something else to eat. 

I guess that's it... I'm sure there are many many more weird quirky things about me, but I just can't think about any. 

I tag everyone who has not done this yet, and would like to do it... 

Post coming soon.

There is a new post on the way! I have been tagged and I am just having a hard time picking only 6 quirky things about myself. 

In the meantime I want to talk about two shows I love from the food network! The first one is called Ace of Cakes. It's about a man who does amazing cake decorating! I mean amazing!!! Check it out on Youtube. The second show is Good Eats. The show teaches you how to make food, and gives great random facts about cooking and food. It's really informational and reminds me a little bit of bill nye the science guy, haha. 

SO HOTT!!

My mom, Kate, and Penny just got back from "Mothers weekend" up at BYU-I, and brought with them a gift bag from Janna to Tanner. Tanner opened the bag that was labeled, "TANNER!! Happy un-birthday!!!" Inside the bag were two fantastic items; a pair of ghetto sunglasses and a brand new wig! It wasn't just some lame wig, it was a mullet wig! These are the events of what took place next, through pictures!

Tanner with his new wig and shades.

Tanner trying the wig without the glasses.

Jason wanted to join in on the fun!

Jason becoming Kate and Penny's twin.

Jason and Penny. 

Apparently Penny doesn't like her picture taken with her twin Jason.

Tanner loved Jason's idea of using the beanie with the wig. 

Just another Sunday evening in my family's house.

Food Nanny

Over my birthday weekend we met the author of this book
She is actually the mother-in-law of a girl who grew up in my homeward. It's funny how small of a world we live in. Anyways... If you see this book, I recommend you buy it. It has such great simple recipes!

Birthday pictures...

Per request of aunt Michelle, here are some pictures of my oh-so-gorgeous jewelry from my family. While I'm at it, I might as well post some pictures from temple square... :)

I also got some AMAZING gifts from Jason's parents, but I haven't taken any pictures of them yet.

Birthday Weekend

 Crazy weekend! 

Friday I skipped school and went up to Salt Lake with my mom, dad, Tanner, Janna, Kate, and Penny. Jason had school and couldn't skip, so he wasn't able to come. We went to the Lion House for lunch, it was super good! Then we walked around temple square, took a LOT of pictures, and went to the visitors center. We then went to the Gateway mall. We walked around for a while and went into a kitchen store. As I was looking at the baking things a guy who worked there came up to my mom and me and told us there was a woman in the back promoting her new cookbook and there was food. I went back there and realized I had seen the book before on a blog of a girl who was in my home ward growing up. The book was written by her mother-in-law! I introduced myself and my mom and we eventually bought the cookbook. The recipes are so simple to make and taste really good. We shopped around for a little bit longer, and then my family left. I stayed at the Gateway for about 10 minutes and then Jason picked me up and we were on our way to the BYU vs. USU football game. Jason and I got there a little late and met his parents up there. The game was a lot of fun! The referees were annoying and stupid, but the game was fun. 

The next day Jason's parents went up to conference and then the Weber state vs. MSUB football game, and Jason and I stayed at home and watched General Conference. In between sessions we went to the mall so I could try to figure out what I wanted for my birthday... I ended up not finding anything, but we did get some coldstone ice cream and then go back home to watch more conference.  When Jason's parents got back we went to Los Hermonos for dinner. It was so funny! Denny kept talking to our waiter, as usual. Denny eventually told the waiter he was Norwegian. The waiter told us there was someone who worked there from Norway, and he called her over. Denny said something to her in norwegian, and she responded and he said something else, and she replied, and then he switched to english and asked her what part of Norway she was from. She looked at Denny and said, "Is that all you know, that isn't even very impressive." It was so stinking hilarious (maybe you had to be there). They finished their conversation in english and then as we were walking to our car on the way home Jason told me what Denny had said. It was something along the line of, "Do you speak Norwegian?" "I speak Norwegian." It was hilarious.

Sunday we watched general conference on tv and then went to my moms house, had dinner and then my mom gave me a BEAUTIFUL bracelet and pair of earrings! They are both stunning! 

Today was a little hectic! We went to breakfast and then Jason and I had to go to school. Right after school I had to rush to the store and then rush to work. Work was great. The kids were so good today! I share my birthday with twins in my class so I brought them a treat and little cupcakes for the rest of the class. After work we went to PF Changs and had dinner and then came home and opened presents. 

I have had such a fantastic birthday this year! I got to spend so much time with my family and Jason's family, it's so great to be able to spend time with everyone. 

School/work

My first week of school has been VERY interesting! 

Day one, Monday: I met my Monday volunteers and then the kids came into the lunch room for snack time. They seemed fairly calm and I was pretty excited. We went outside and played kickball and then we went to our classroom. This is where the troubles started. We went into the room and the kids were yelling and hitting each other (kind of wrestling). I tried to get them to do their homework and had no luck. One of the boys sat at a different desk and did his homework, but the rest wouldn't. I tried to have the kids come up with class rules and they refused. (Good luck me.) Finally one of my volunteers starting quizzing the kids about sports teams and where they were located. The boys LOVED it! Luckily I had some M&M's with me and each time someone guessed the correct state of the team they would get M&M's. When the volunteer couldn't think of any more sports teams, he would tell the students a city and have them guess the state. By the time we all got really into the game our time was up and we all went home. 

Day two, Tuesday: I met my Tuesday volunteers and the kids had their snack then went to the gym. (We switch inside/outside days with the younger grades) After play time it was back to the classroom... I was hoping things would be better than they had been on Monday, but they weren't. They were worse. I asked the kids to sit at their desks and start their homework. I came up with rules for the class and tried to motivate them by telling them they could work towards a party and they chose a pizza party. Unfortunately the kids really just didn't care. They didn't want to do their homework, other than the same kid who did his homework the first day, and refused to do much else. The kids did not like the Tuesday volunteers. I felt really bad. The kids kept telling the volunteers that they liked their Monday volunteers better. (I'm going to have to teach these kids to be polite).

Day three, Wednesday: We started the day with a snack and then went back outside to play. Most of the kids wanted to play soccer and the rest wanted to jump rope and hula hoop. FANTASTIC IDEA! By the time we went back into the classroom, the kids were just so tired that they sat right down and only complained a little bit, but they started their homework. It was fantastic! After homework we played a game called, "Whoonu" it's the cranium version of apples to apples. The kids didn't throw the pieces. They didn't even bend the cards! After that game we played the "States" game, and class was over!

Day four, Thursday: The daily ritual began again with snack in the lunchroom, and then in the gym to play. We played tag (great way to get the kids to get tired) and then went to our classroom. Homework was a little bit more difficult than the day before, but still a lot better than the first two days. We played whoonu and one of the kids wanted to play the states game, but the rest of the kids wanted to finish their game of whoonu and then we left.

The kids are so fun, and I am having such a fun time with them. Overall this experience is fabulous so far. I have a couple of ideas to keep the attention of these kids for next week. Jason even suggested getting the game, "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" I'm also going to try to slowly increase the time of homework/ reading (because I'm sneaky like that).

Top 20 "Romantic Movies"

The other day I was checking Yahoo's homepage, because that's what I do when I am bored, and found a list of the top 20 (ish) romantic movies. I found the list to be odd. They had some really stupid movies on it and the order was ridiculous, so I decided to make my own list.

1. The Princess Bride

2. What Dreams May Come
3. The bodyguard

4. The fountain

5. The Notebook

6. Just Like Heaven
7. Love and Basketball

8. Romeo and Juliet

9. Tristan and Isolde

10. Sliding Doors

11. While you were sleeping

12. Fools Rush In

13. Sweet Home Alabama

14. Sabrina

15. Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind

16. Hitch

17. Simply irresistible
18. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
19. The Cutting Edge

20. 50 first dates

(I know I'm missing a few) Does anyone have any that I'm missing?

Jon and Kate plus 8! + babysitting!

I love love love love love!!! Jon and Kate plus 8! Jason thinks I'm crazy for loving this show, but I just can't help it. It is such a stinking cute show! The husband and wife had trouble getting pregnant so they had fertility treatments and ended up having twins! A couple of years later they wanted to have another child. They had to get fertility treatments again and wound up with sextuplets!! Oh my goodness, I don't know what I would do if that happened to me. Anyways here are some pictures, and if you enjoy little kids I am pretty sure you will like this show!


Anyways... Today I got to hang out with a girl in my wards daughter. Yes, she is the super smart 2 1/2 year old I have posted about. Today we watched The muppet christmas carol, we actually only got about 2 minutes into it and Ruby told me she didn't want to watch it anymore and instead wanted to watch Finding Nemo and play with playdough. We started to go on a walk and then Jason called letting us know he was ready to come home from his lab. Luckily we had already put Ruby's carseat into my car, so we got to go on a mini-road trip to BYU. Jason had a basketball in the backseat and Ruby asked if she could hold it while we were going to get him. When we got closer to where Jason was, Ruby said, "I'm going to tell Jason I have his basketball." Haha. We got back to our apartment and finished our walk to the apartment office to get some cookies. My apartment complex offers free fresh baked cookies daily so we went and partook. Here are a few pictures.

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Last night ANTM was on, and I remembered I had not blogged about it yet. I enjoy ANTM a lot. I think it's so fun to look at the pictures, and see their crazy makeup and hair. If I were only 4-5 inches taller (and super thin, not to mention didn't have high standards) I would love to be on the show! That was until this season started... They decided it would be a great ratings hike to put a transgender person on the show. HE is NOT a SHE. He would like to have a sex change but has not undergone the surgery yet. I find it horribly disgusting and disrespectful that they are allowing this. Although I am sure the J's would change if they could... The show is called America's next top model not America's Next Top Female Model, but it is implied when all they have on the show is females. I find it disrespectful to those female models who have tried and tried to get on the show and they get beat out by a man. Honestly I would become massively depressed to get beat out of a beauty contest by a man... I think it is disgusting. If the man wins ANTM this season I will be forced to never watch the show again.

Here are two of the ugliest, in my opinion, people on America's next top model ever... Can you tell which is the man?

Frustration with PC's...

Today I saw that my friend Laura had posted pictures on her blog. Pictures from the past. I decided I wanted to update photo library on my laptop and so I turned on my old desktop to try to retrieve those picture memories. I found them just where I left them (phew, wipe brow) I stuck in my thumb drive to try to transfer them (slowly). I clicked copy, and then paste, but the paste wouldn't work! I would click paste and it would look like the photos were going to move nicely over, but they didn't! I stuck in a burnable dvd... Same thing happened, so I tried a burnable cd... I simply could not move those pictures from my old desktop to any sort of portable device! Then I decided to try to get this old desktop onto the internet so I could, extremely slowly, get those pictures off that desktop. Nope, wasn't happening. 

 

I wish I could say I resolved the problem and show you some awesome pictures of my memories, but I can't, at least not the pictures from my desktop. I am still working on the stupid problem. It is causing me nothing but grief! 

 

The only thing I can do until I figure out what is going on with that desktop is to print the pictures. Luckily I bought photo paper the other day so I could try, but miserably failed, to print new passport photos. 

I will be teaching 5th grade, not 6th, just in case anyone was wondering. 

More Good News

Yay! Things are working out great. I feel so blessed, and know that Heavenly father is looking out for us. A few weeks ago Jason applied for a research position at BYU and has been waiting for an answer. This morning he got it.
His hours will hopefully coincide with the hours I will work. We are both very excited for this opportunity he will have. This semester he will get school credit for this research position and next semester he will be payed, and the cherry on top is that having a research position looks good on applications for med school! Yay!

Also, Tan got a new job too!!! Yay!!

ABC's & 123's.

You might be wondering what in the world I am doing posting a picture of an elementary school on my blog. 

Well, here is my answer.

I have a job. I am a teacher for the after-school program at Westridge Elementary School in Provo, Utah. The perfect hours for me, pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.

It's such a great program they have going there. The students who are signed up for the program stay after school while their parents are still at work, so they don't have to go home to an empty house. It helps the kids learn more, and hopefully by the time they go home at night, they are finished with their homework.

I am so grateful that the lord knows what's right for each and every one of us and that we need to do what we can and then he will provide the rest. 

Anyways... I am really excited and hopefully I am ready to teach 6th graders.

Tagged!

4 Things

4 Random things I adore about my husband
1. He loves movies just as much, if not more than I do.
2. He cooks for me.
3. He loves adidas!
4. He is great with his nephews!!


4 movies I have watched more than once
I see almost every movie twice, if not more, because I usually fall asleep.
1. The Testaments
2. The Princess Bride
3. Meet Joe Black
4. Batman: The Dark Knight

4 TV shows I watch
1. Lost
2. The Office
3. House
4. ANTM

4 Places I have been
1. Paris, France
2. South Africa
3. London, England
4. Montana

4 People I E-mail regularly
I don't really email people regularly... I guess I could pretend it says text instead of email.
1. Jason
2. Janna
3. Kate
4. Tanner

4 Places I would like to visit
1. Jerusalem
2. New York
3. Ireland
4. Norway

4 Things I look forward to in the coming year
1. Vacations...
2. Mini-projects
3. Holiday's
4. More school I guess...

4 People that I Tag
Anyone who wants to do this.

Internet...

A couple of months ago Jason and I decided we wanted to upgrade our internet service. We have internet through our apartment, who gets the internet through a company called HotSite Networks. HotSite Network is wireless, no cables to plug into your computer. We were only able to have one computer on the internet at a time, which we didn't like, so we decided to upgrade to the premiere service. The premiere service is supposed to be a lot faster, and you are allowed to have two computers on the internet at the same time.
A few days ago Jason was logging into the internet here, and noticed a very small yellow link on the screen.
Here is what it said,
"Due to an error by HotSite Networks, the Premier Service at The Branbury was incorrectly advertised as having the ability to have a second computer logged in simultaneously by using the same username and password on two different computers. The policy at The Branbury is that users are able to only use one computer at any given time per account, including Premier Service accounts.
Beginning September 8, 2008 Premier Service accounts will be converted to allow only one computer at a time on the Internet. If you have a need to have two computers online at the same time, a second account will need to be registered. Please see the office to get a second account.

Gaming consoles and other wireless devices can still be registered for free. Usernames and passwords are not computer-specific and can be used on any computer. When logging on to another computer, the first computer will be logged off and a message will be received indicating this action.

We apologize for the error and any inconvenience this may cause."

Umm... Ya, I'm pretty upset. That's the whole reason we upgraded. I'm pretty upset, and since they put it in a place where barely anyone is going to notice, and they announced it after the beginning of the month, we have to pay for the entire month because we weren't able to cancel before the first. Now, if we want to have two computers on the internet at the same time, we will have to pay twice as much, and I am just not willing to pay 40 dollars a month for that slow of internet, especially when they pull stuff like this. So we are looking for better, faster internet.

This is the end of my rant. If anyone knows of any fast internet for not too expensive please let me know!

Brilliance in a small package.

This morning Jason and I had breakfast with two families from our ward. We had so much fun! It was great getting to know these families better. My favorite part was getting to play with the host family's two year old daughter.  

She is brilliant! Her name is Ruby. She told me how they went to see Wall-e in the "the-a-ter" and that she thought it was scary, but she did like it. She correctly identified her "bath friends," which are a "pelican, crabbie, dolphin, turtle, and octopus." She even told me what color each of them were!!! I was shocked and amazed at how smart she was! She has a mind of her own and you can certainly tell. She likes to line up her "bath friends" and have them facing all in the same direction. 

She knows when something is not right. If her mom brings her the "wrong" clothes to wear, she will tell her mom, "Those aren't right." So when her dad showed us her blanket trick we were dumbfounded.

She has a pink blanket and has a favorite corner. On one corner there is white embroidery and the corner straight through the blanket is her favorite corner. She can identify the "right" corner without having to see the white embroidery. If you turn the blanket around it is all pink, you show Ruby the corners and she can tell you which one is the "right" corner. 

Jason played this game with her for quite a while and tried to figure out how she could correctly pick her corner every single time. He would crumble the blanket up and only show her the edges, he would fold the blanket up and show her different corners at a time. He showed her two of the corners and asked her which one was the "right" corner and she said it wasn't either one of them. He had tried to trick her and didn't succeed. He looked closely at the corners and there were only tiny tiny little details that were different. The color was the same, it wasn't wet, Jason said there was tiny stitching differences and that Ruby must pay extremely close attention to detail and that's probably how she knows which corner is hers. 

Even Jason was fascinated by her and it's kind of hard to get Jason super interested in something. Anyways... I just thought it was so neat that she is so smart, and able to express herself to adults at two years old. 

Random pictures

I was looking at some of the pictures on my phone and on my computer the other day and decided I would post a few... 

This was my first attempt at making fondant and I think it turned out quite well. 

This is my father-in-law getting pick-pocketed by a squirrel. (This is not a photography trick, the squirrel was really touching his pocket)

Jason and I did not like these shoes, but my little sisters did. 

We were at a pawn shop in Montana and I saw this! $9,500.00 for a pawned Rolex! Yikes, I'm glad I don't ever want one of these!

We found these shoes at Nordstroms and thought they were hideous as well. When we showed the picture to Janna she freaked out and said she loved all of them.

A day after our one year anniversary I was waiting for Jason at the duck pond and saw this little mommy duck and her babies.

On our way to the 4th of July parade in Provo, we saw this sign and I realized I had to take a picture. 

On my way to pick Jason up from Kaplan two days before our anniversary and the sunset was so pretty I had to take a picture. It was with my phone and through the windshield.

This picture was taken up in Montana. They have such neat weird things up there. 

This was also taken in Montana at a pawn shop. We saw it and thought it was awesome, it is completely beaded. The little eagle is holding the dream catcher by its feet. We thought it was very impressive!

Yay! Another wedding survey!

1. What month and year were you married?
June 2007!

2. How did he ask you?
I knew it was going to be that night. Jason's roommate came into the Brick Oven and told me he went with Jason to get the ring and it had to happen that night because I was to meet his parents the next morning and I didn't want to meet them as just the "girlfriend." He officially proposed right after I got off work from the Brick Oven (so I smelled like ranch dressing, and garlic bread) in a secret location. He got down on one knee (which was pretty impressive for where we were) told me he loved me and stuck the ring on my finger. So cheesy romantical, but perfect!

3. Where did you honeymoon?
We went to the Zermatt for our wedding night and the next day we flew on the most annoying flight ever to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to go on our cruise... Our airline lost our luggage. Jason's suitcase showed up later that night on our cruise, but mine didn't show up until the next night!!! It was horrible!!!! The rest of the cruise was amazing though, and I did end up getting a new outfit on the cruise because I didn't have any clothes.

4. Can you still fit your dress?
Yeah, I just tried tonight! It is a bit snug, but I've been meaning to lose a little bit of weight anyways!

5. What was the worst gift you got?
Some really ugly weird wooden dolls with yarn for hair.

6. What flavor was your wedding cake?
Chocolate for the Utah cake and white cake for the Montana reception.

7. Were you a bridezilla?
Not until we got the luncheon and everyone kept asking what took us so long and in all reality we were taking pictures and then had gotten stuck in stupid traffic! After that I was fine again. Of course there were a few shockers that gave me a bit of an edge, but I didn't freak out on anyone.

8. What's one thing you would change about your wedding?
Not as many pictures of Preston... Another reason why I want to take more wedding pictures.

9. Do you still look at your wedding pictures?
I have them all over my apartment and my computer, it would be hard NOT to look at them.

10. What colors did you use?
Red, orange, and yellow.

11. Where did you tie the knot?
The Salt Lake Temple!

12. What's one funny thing that happened that day?
After looking at our wedding reception pictures we realized my little sisters' good friend Preston, was in more pictures at our reception than we were! (Probably due to the fact we were stuck in the line from 7:00-9:30) We did thankfully get some first dance pictures.

13. How many showers did you have?
A brick oven shower, a family shower, and a friend shower. All were great! I did not get one dirty thing from any of the parties! Haha, thank heavens!

15. Did you give any wedding favors away?
No, we had great refreshments though! Chocolate fountain all the way!

16. Who caught the flowers and garter?
Didn't throw them, we didn't have time. Haha.

17. Who was your officiant or minister?
We had a temple sealer.

18. How much was your wedding dress, undergarments and all?
I can't really remember... I payed for the dress myself I think it was about 800 and I didn't need a slip, I didn't do a veil either, there wasn't one that I fell in love with so I decided I didn't care that much anyways.

19. Was there dancing?
Ya of course, not a ton, but there was dancing. We even had a wedding singer, well, actually two. Jason's aunt and her husband sing at weddings all the time and they were AMAZING!!!! They even learned our two songs to play and sing for us!

20. Where was the reception?
Up at Mt. Timpanogos Park, it was beautiful!!!!! My cousin did all of the decorating and the weather was perfect!

21. Would you go back and do it over again?
Anyday! I would love to marry Jason again, best day of my life. The smartest thing I've ever done!

22. How long did you have to plan your wedding?
About 3 months... We actually kept contemplating eloping to the Vegas temple, but decided it would be much much better for us to have the entire family and all of our friends involved.

23. What kind of car were you in when you drove away?
Our beautiful Acura TL.

24. How many in your wedding party?
We didn't really do anything super traditional. I did have Janna, Kate, Penny, Caidy, and Metta dressed in Orange. The mother's and father's, my grandparents and my brother.

25. Did you do anything different in your wedding or reception?
A lot! We didn't have the traditional garter fling or the bouquet toss. No father daughter or mother son dance.

26. Did you save the top layer of your cake for your 1 year anniversary?
We certainly did! We kept the top of our Montana cake and brought it back with us and it was delicious!! (Check our 1 year anniversary post for pictures)

27. If you saved your cake, did you eat it?
Of course!

28. What was the grand total spent your wedding?
I have no idea. I don't think anyone does, there was money coming from all over the place to pay for that thing it was incredible! Thank you everyone!

Realization...

For the past couple of months I have been wanting to take more pictures in my wedding dress. We didn't have a ton taken and though the ones we have are good, I want more. I also didn't want to take bridals before we were married. Call me old fashioned but I was not letting Jason see me in my wedding dress before the wedding, and we didn't have time to do a lot immediately after (on the day and even weeks later). We got married had a luncheon, got ready for the reception, had the reception, the next day we left for our honeymoon, a week later we got back and then went up to montana for that reception and then my mom took the dress back to Utah while we stayed in Montana for a few months.
Call me greedy, but I just don't think I got enough pictures while in that dress. It is a phenomenal dress! I loved every single thing about it and I still do. It is simple and elegant, and perfect for me.
Tonight while at my moms I decided I would try it on again. It took a tiny bit of finesse to get it zipped up all the way and thanks to my little sister penny zipping it for me it worked. I realized I have probably gained at least 10 lbs since I've been married! GAH! It's a good think Jason and I have started to eat Lean Cuisine's! It's proportioned a lot better for me so I don't end up eating my weight in dinner. Haha.
(Or maybe I could just blame it on my birth control like everyone else does! Haha.)
My goal; lose 15 lbs so I can wear my dress again and get more pictures taken.
Also, get my dress cleaned because it's filthy!

Shannon A-Z

I took this idea from my friend Talyn's blog! I love filling these things out, I don't really know why, but I do. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing it.

A-Attached or Single: Seriously attached!
B-Best Friend: Jason & Caidy... (Family is a given as well)
C-Cake or Pie: Cake!
D-Day: Saturday (No school, just date night!!)
E-Essential Item: My husband ;) (my phone... It has everything!
F-Favorite Color: Red
G-Gummy Bears or Worms: Worms, you can make little mud treats with gummy worms!
H-Hometown: Orem, UT
I-Indulgences: Chocolate and bread.
J-January or July? July (no icy roads!)
K-Kids: Not yet.
L-Life is incomplete without: Jason, Church, and my entire family.
M-Marriage Date: June 26, 2007
N-Number of Siblings: Four, one brother, and three sisters.
O-Obsession: It varies on the month. (I get little hobbies and they change frequently.)
P-Phobias or Fears: Being alone
Q-Quote: "Just knock on the door, he'll come out," said by a native american woman about a bee inside of a soda can.
R-Reason to Smile: Jason making funny faces.
S-Season: Summer/fall. Right in between, where it's not super super hot, but it's not cold enough you need a jacket yet. I can never seem to keep warm during the fall and winter.
T-Tag Three:Anyone who wants to do this.
U-Unknown fact about me: I beat the devil in Guitar hero 3!
V-Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I would say I am not a vegetarian, but I am not an oppressor of animals either. I am a happy medium.
W-Worst Habit: Leaving my clothes on the floor.
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds! Much more fun!
Y-Your favorite food: So hard, enchiladas, mashed potatoes, taco's, sandwiches, anything with bread...
Z-Zodiac Sign: Libra